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Mahdi, El
Mahdi, El (El Mahdi) (Muhammad Ahmad) (Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah) (Muhammad Ahmed Al Mahdi) Muhammad Ahmad ibn ‘Abdallah al-Mahdi (Muhammad Ahmad ibn 'Abdallah) (the Mahdi) (August 12, 1844 - June 22, 1885). Sudanese politician and religious leader. His original name was Muhammad Ahmad, and he was arguably the single most influential personality in the history of the modern Sudan. A descendant of an “Arabized Nubian” family from Dongola, he was born in 1844 in Dirar Island off Dongola.
His father was a descendant of a respected religious man, a shariff known for his good “faith” among the people of that area. He migrated to Khartoum for better prospects for his family. All Muhammad’s brothers preferred to master the father’s profession of building boats, but he found himself attracted to religious studies like his great grandfather, the shariff.
Muhammad Ahmad learned the Qur’an in Khartoum and Kararie and later he studied fiqh under Sheikh Muhammad Kheir’s patronage. Muhammad Ahmad mastered different aspects of Islamic Studies and was known for his Sufi tendency among his mates. In 1861, he approached Sheik Muhammad Sheief, the leader of the Sammaniyya Sect, and requested to join his students and learn more on Sufism. Muhammad had shown a great deal of devotion and dedication to his Sheikh and teacher as well as a great deal of faith which distinguished him from his colleagues. When sheikh Muhammad realized Muhammad’s dedication and devotion, he appointed him shaykh and permitted him to give tariqa and uhud to new followers wherever he wanted to be.
In 1871, Muhammad Ahmad migrated with the rest of his family to Aba Island in western Sudan where he built a mosque for prayers and started to teach the Qur’an and Islamic Studies. Shortly he could gather all the inhabitants of Aba Island around him and got a wide popularity and fame among them.
The following years, and until he declared himself Mahdi, he spent time visiting people in different neighboring areas warning them and asking them to follow the “path of God Almighty.” He roamed all the areas as far as Dongola in the north, the Blue Nile region, Kordofan in the west, Sinnar and East of Sudan. He noticed the people’s discontent with the ruling Turks (the Ottoman-Egyptians) and their desire to get rid of the Turks – a desire that made many wish for the appearance of the awaited Mahdi to save them. Thus, whenever the people found in a man a great deal of knowledge, dedication and devotion to the religion they thought that he was the Mahdi.
Muhammad found in the people the desire and belief that he was the awaited Mahdi. Meanwhile, he was very much concerned by the bleak condition of Islam in Sudan under the self-proclaimed Shaykhs. Compelled by all this, in addition to his consideration of the wish and desire of the majority of the people and the sense of expectation of El Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad started to prepare himself to proclaim Mahdism.
During this period, the Khalifa Abdullahi came to recognize Muhammad Ahmad as “Mahdi” even before Muhammad himself had proclaimed it. From then on, and until the fall of Khartoum, to the Mahdi’s forces in January 1885, there was a continuous triumphal progress of volunteer armies fighting for the victory of Islam and the accomplishment of the eschatological mission.
It was in 1881 at Aba Island that Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself as the “Mahdi” and started to unify central and southern Sudanese tribes to exploit their increasing social and economical discontent with the ruling Turks and their exploitation of the country’s resources and mal-administration. El Mahdi led a national revolution and an “Islamic revivalism” uprising against the ruling Turks which was culminated by the fall of Khartoum and the assassination of Gordon Pasha in 1885.
Even though El Mahdi died shortly after the fall of Khartoum, his Mahdist Islamic regime survived until 1898 when the Anglo-Egyptian forces under Kitchener captured Khartoum, regained control and proclaimed a British-Egyptian condominium dominated mainly by British policies. The British presence would last until 1956 when Sudan achieved its independence.
Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah (otherwise known as the Mahdi or Muhammad Ahmed Al Mahdi (August 12, 1844 – June 22, 1885) was a Sufi sheikh of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, on June 29, 1881, proclaimed himself as the Mahdi or messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith. His proclamation came during a period of widespread resentment among the Sudanese population of the oppressive policies of the Turco-Egyptian rulers, and capitalized on the messianic beliefs popular among the various Sudanese sufi sects (or tariqa/turuq) of the time. More broadly, the Mahdiyya, as Muhammad Ahmad's movement was called, was influenced by earlier Mahdist movements in West Africa, as well as Wahabism and other puritanical forms of Islamic revivalism that developed in reaction to the growing military and economic dominance of the European powers throughout the 19th century.
From his announcement of the Mahdiyya in June 1881 until the fall of Khartoum in January 1885, Muhammad Ahmad led a successful military campaign against the Turco-Egyptian government of the Sudan (known as the Turkiyya). During this period, many of the theological and political doctrines of the Mahdiyya were established and promulgated among the growing ranks of the Mahdi's supporters. After Muhammad Ahmad's unexpected death on 22 June 1885, a mere six months after the conquest of Khartoum, his chief deputy, the Khalifa Abdullah took over the administration of the nascent Mahdist state.
Muhammad Ahmad was born on August 12, 1844 on Labab Island in the province of Dongola in Northern Sudan to a family that claimed to be descendants of the Prophet Muhammad through the line of his grandson Hassan. As a child, the family moved to the town of Karari, north of Khartoum, where Muhammad Ahmad's father, Abdullah, could find a supply of timber for his boat-building business.
While his siblings joined his father's trade, Muhammad Ahmad showed a proclivity for religious study. He studied first under Sheikh al-Amin al-Suwaylih in the Gezira region around Khartoum, and subsequently under Sheikh Muhammad al-Dikayr 'Abdallah Khujali near the town of Berber in North Sudan.
In 1870, his family moved again in search for timber, this time to Aba Island on the White Nile south of Khartoum. On Aba Island, Muhammad Ahmad built a mosque and started to teach the Qur'an. He soon gained a notable reputation among the local population as an excellent speaker and mystic. The broad thrust of his teaching followed that of other reformers, his Islam was one devoted to the words of Muhammad and based on a return to the virtues of strict devotion, prayer, and simplicity as laid down in the Qur'an. Any deviation from the Qur'an was therefore heresy.
In 1872, Muhammad Ahmad invited Sheikh Sharif to move to al-Aradayb, an area on the White Nile neighboring Aba Island. Despite initially amicable relations, in 1878 the two religious leaders had a dispute motivated by Sheikh Sharif's resentment of his former student's growing popularity. The dispute led to violence between their followers, and while they temporarily reconciled their differences, the experience revealed to Muhammad Ahmad his mentor's faults. At a subsequent celebration in honor of the circumcision of Sheikh Sharif's sons, Muhammad Ahmad expressed his disapproval of the dancing and music, which reignited the latent tension between the two men. As a result of this second dispute, Sheikh Sharif expelled his former student from the Samaniyya order, and despite numerous apologies and emotional appeals, refused to forgive and re-admit him.
After recognizing that the split with Sheikh Sharif was irreconcilable, Muhammad Ahmad approached a rival leader of the Samaniyya order named Sheikh al-Qurashi wad al-Zayn. The elderly sheikh eagerly accepted him and his followers, and under his new master, Muhammad Ahmad resumed his life of piety and religious devotion at Aba Island. During this period, he also travelled to the province of Kordofan, west of Khartoum, where he visited with the notables of the capital, el-Obeid, who were enmeshed in a power struggle between two rival claimants to the governorship of the province. While in Kordofan, he also enhanced his reputation by granting baraka to the common people who attended his sermons en masse.
On July 25, 1878, Sheikh al-Qurashi died and his followers recognized Muhammad Ahmad as their new leader. Around this time, Muhammad Ahmad first met Abdallahi bin Muhammad al-Ta'aishi, who was to become his chief deputy and successor in the years to come.
On June 29, 1881, Muhammad Ahmad publicly announced his claim to be the Mahdi. In part, his claim was based on his status as a prominent Sufi sheikh with a large following in the Samaniyya order and among the tribes in the area around Aba Island. Yet the idea of the Mahdiyya had been central to the belief of the Samaniyya prior to Muhammad Ahmad's manifestation. The previous Samaniyya leader, Sheikh al-Qurashi Wad al-Zayn, had asserted that the long-awaited-for redeemer would come from the Samaniyya line. According to Sheikh al-Qurashi, the Mahdi would make himself known through a number of signs, some established in the early period of Islam and recorded in the Hadith literature, and others having a more distinctly local origin, such as the prediction that the Mahdi would ride the sheikh's pony and erect a dome over his grave after his death.
Drawing from aspects of the Sufi tradition that were intimately familiar to both his followers and his opponents, Muhammad Ahmad claimed that he had been appointed as the Mahdi by a prophetic assembly or hadra. A hadra, in the Sufi tradition, is a gathering of all the prophets from the time of Adam to Muhammad, as well as many Sufi holy men who are believed to have reached the highest level of affinity with the divine during their lifetime. The hadra is chaired by the Prophet Muhammad, known as Sayyid al-Wujud, and at his side are the seven Qutb, the most senior of whom is known as Ghawth az-Zaman. In the belief system of the Mahdiyya, it was this divine assembly that bestowed upon Muhammad Ahmad the title of al-Mahdi. The hadra was also the source of a number of central beliefs about the Mahdi, including that Muhammad Ahmad was created from the sacred light at the center of the Prophet's heart, that the Mahdiyya was eternal and the basic institution of the universe, and that all living creatures had acknowledged the Mahdi's claim since his birth.
In order to frame the Mahdiyya as a return to the early days of Islam, when the Muslim community, or Ummah, was unified under the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors, Muhammad Ahmad drew many parallels between his manifestation as the Mahdi and the career of the Prophet. For example, he referred to himself as the Successor of the Messenger of God (Arabic: Khalifat Rusul Allah), and named his four closest deputies after the four successors to the Prophet Muhammad. Later, in order to distinguish his followers from adherents of other Sufi sects, he forbid the use of the word darwish (commonly known as "dervish" in English) to describe his followers, replacing it with the title Ansar, the term the Prophet Muhammad used for the people of Medina who welcomed him and his followers after their flight from Mecca.
Despite his popularity among Sufis of the Samaniyya and other sects, and among the tribes of western Sudan, the Ulema, or Orthodox religious authorities, ridiculed Muhammad Ahmad's claim to be the Mahdi. Among his most prominent critics were the Sudanese Ulema loyal to the Ottoman Sultan and in the employ of the Turco-Egyptian government, such as the Mufti Shakir al-Ghazi, who sat on the Council of Appeal in Khartoum, and the Qadi Ahmad al-Azhari in Kordofan.
These critics were careful not to deny the concept of the Mahdi as such, but rather to discredit Muhammad Ahmad's claim to it. They pointed out that Muhammad Ahmad's manifestation did not conform to the prophecies laid out in the Hadith literature. In particular, they argued that he had been born in Dongola, that he lacked proof of descent from Fatima, that he did not have the prophesied physical characteristics of the Mahdi, and that his manifestation did not conform with the "time of troubles" "when the land is filed with oppression, tryanny, and enmity."
While his challenge to the legitimacy of Turco-Egyptian rule, and the Sublime Porte by extension, set many of the religious elite against him, some of his radical changes to Islamic doctrine and practice alienated other Muslim scholars, both Sudanese and foreign. In particular, the Mahdi abolished the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence (Arabic: madhahib), rejected all authoritative texts in the history of tafsir or Qur'anic exegesis, changed the Sha'hada, or profession of faith, to include the phrase, "Muhammad al-Mahdi is the Khalifa of the Prophet of God," and revised the five pillars of Islam by replacing the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca with the obligation to undertake jihad, and adding a sixth pillar, which was belief in the Mahdiyya.
Linguistically, the Arabic term "al-Mahdi" can be translated as "the one who guides". The term is not found explicitly in the Qur'an, nor is it recorded in two of the most prominent collections of hadith, that of Bukhari and Muslim.
Beyond his charismatic leadership, early military success, and religious appeal, there were numerous social and political factors that led to the rapid growth of Muhammad Ahmad's influence and the ultimate success of the Mahdiyya under his command. One of the most salient factors was the way in which Turco-Egyptian rule (1821–1885) interfered with local power structures, disenfranchised many influential segments of the Sudanese population, and subjected Sudan to the increasing penetration of the European powers.
Throughout the period of Turco-Egyptian rule, many segments of the Sudanese population suffered extreme hardship due to the system of taxation imposed by the central government. Under this system, a flat tax was imposed on farmers and small traders and collected by government-appointed tax collectors from the Sha'iqiyya tribe of northern Sudan. In bad years, and especially during times of drought and famine, farmers were unable to pay the high taxes. Fearing the brutal and unjust methods of the Sha'iqiyya, many farmers fled their villages in the fertile Nile Valley to the remote areas of Kordofan and Darfur. These migrants, known as "Jallaba" after their loose-fitting style of dress, began to function as small traders and middlemen for the foreign trading companies that had established themselves in the cities and towns of central Sudan. At the time, trade was dominated by two goods: ivory and slaves. The slaves were kidnapped in extensive slave raids led by Egyptian, European, and Sudanese slave traders in the provinces of Bahr Al-Ghazal and elsewhere in what is today South Sudan. While in the early years of the Turco-Egyptian rule, many slaves were sent north to serve as soldiers in Muhammad Ali's army, those taken captive later in the century were often forced to undertake the labor-intensive cultivation of crops in the Nile Valley.
In 1863, concern in Europe about the slave trade was ignited by the Speke and Grant expedition to discover the source of the Nile. The British government, increasingly involved in the administration of Egyptian affairs under the Khedive Ismail, began to target slave-ships transporting their cargo up the Nile. Recognizing that this approach was ineffective, the British eventually succeeded in establishing The Convention for the Suppression of the Slave Trade, which granted the British navy the right to search Egyptian ships leaving from Suakin (the site of Port Sudan today) on the Red Sea. This two-pronged assault on the slave trade not only threatened the prosperity of all those involved directly in the procurement and sale of slaves, but also the large segments of northern Sudanese society that relied on slave labor for agricultural and domestic work. In many cases, the same Jallaba that had been forced to flee their land due to excessive taxation were now under threat of losing their livelihood from the slave trade.
By the middle 19th century the Ottoman Imperial subject administration in Egypt was in the hands of Khedive Ismail. Although not a competent or devoted leader, Khedive Ismail had grandiose schemes about Egypt. His spending had put Egypt into huge debt and when his financing of the Suez Canal started to crumble, Great Britain stepped in and repaid his loans in return for controlling shares in the canal. As the canal took on a vast strategic importance as a control point for British trade with India, the need to ensure its security and stability became paramount. Thus, control of the canal required an ever increasing role in Egyptian affairs. With Khedive Ismail's spending and corruption causing instability, in 1873 the British government supported a program where an Anglo-French debt commission assumed responsibility for managing Egypt's fiscal affairs. This commission eventually forced Khedive Ismail to abdicate in favor of his son Tawfiq in 1877, leading to a period of political turmoil.
Ismail had appointed General Charles "Chinese" Gordon Governor of the Equatorial Provinces of Sudan in 1873. For the next three years, General Gordon fought against a native chieftain of Darfur, Zobeir, who had erected, on the basis of slave-traffic, a dangerous military power. Zobeir's organisation was eventually dismantled. Although unsuccessful at total pacification, Gordon was successful in limiting the power of the slave traders. Thus, he was made Governor-General of the Sudan in 1877. Soon after he arrived at his new post he started to end the slave trade, which at that point dominated the economy and was controlled by the tiny minority of Arabs. Before his arrival some 7 out of 8 blacks in the Sudan were enslaved by the tiny minority of Arabs; the native Africans formed well over 80% of the overall population. Gordon's policies were effective, but the effects on the economy were disastrous, and soon the Arab Social Ascendancy came to see this not a liberation from slavery, but a modern-day European Christian crusade and a threat to Muslim and Arab social dominance. It was this anger that fed the Ansars' ranks.
Upon Ismail's abdication, Gordon found himself with dramatically decreased support. He eventually resigned his post in 1880, exhausted by years of work, and left early the next year. His policies were soon abandoned by the new governors, but the anger and discontent of the dominant Arab minority was left unaddressed.
Although the Egyptians were fearful of the deteriorating conditions, the British refused to get involved, "Her Majesty’s Government are in no way responsible for operations in the Sudan", the Foreign Secretary Earl Granville noted.
Among the forces historians see as the causes of the uprising are ethnic Sudanese anger at the foreign Turkish Ottoman rulers, Muslim revivalist anger at the Turks' lax religious standards and willingness to appoint non-Muslims such as the Christian Charles Gordon to high positions and Sudanese Sufi resistance to "dry, scholastic Islam of Egyptian officialdom".
In 1881, Muhammad Ahmed declared himself Mahdi and ruler so as to prepare the way for the second coming of the Prophet Isa (Jesus),. "After consulting the ulama", Egyptian authorities "attempted to arrest him for spreading false doctrine." A military expedition was sent to reassert the government's authority on Aba Island, but the government's forces were ambushed and nearly annihilated by the Mahdi's followers.[citation needed] Muhammad Ahmed retaliated by declaring jihad.
I am the Mahdi, the Successor of the Prophet of God. Cease to pay taxes to the infidel Turks and let everyone who finds a Turk kill him, for the Turks are infidels
Unlike other Muslim reformers, the Mahdi did not advocate the application of ijtihad but "claimed to receive direct inspiration from God", so that his own proclamations superseded traditional jurisprudence. This, however, did not usurp the prophet Muhammad's position as seal of the Prophets, because the Prophet was — in some way — the intermediary of his revelations.
Information came from the Apostle of God that the angel of inspiration is with me from God to direct me and He has appointed him. So from this prophetic information I learnt that that with which God inspires me by means of the angel of inspiration, the Apostle of God would do, were he present.
The Mahdi and a party of his followers, the Ansār -- the "Helpers" (known in the West as "the Dervishes") --, made a long march to Kurdufan. There he gained a large number of recruits, especially from the Baqqara, and noble leaders such as Sheikh Madibbo ibn Ali of Rizeigat and Abdallahi ibn Muhammad of Ta'aisha tribes. They were also joined by the Hadendoa Beja, who were rallied to the Mahdi by an Ansār captain in east of Sudan in 1883, Osman Digna.
The Khatmiyya sufi order which had enjoyed popular support in east and north Sudan rejected the Mahdi's claim outright. Mahdist forces attacked the Khatmiyya adherents and even ransacked the tomb of sayyid Al-Hassan grandson of the revered religious leader Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani al-Khatim in Kassala. The head of the Khatmiyya sufi order was forced into exile in Egypt for fear of assassination.
Late in 1883, the Ansār, armed only with spears and swords, overwhelmed an 4000-man Egyptian force not far from Al Ubayyid ("El Obeid"), and seized their rifles and ammunition. The Mahdi followed up this victory by laying siege to al-Ubayyid and starving it into submission after four months. The town remained the headquarters of the Ansar for much of the decade.
The Ansār, now 40,000 strong, then defeated an 8000-man Egyptian relief force led by British officer William Hicks at Sheikan, in the battle of El Obeid. The defeat of Hicks sealed the fate of Darfur, which until then had been effectively defended by Rudolf Carl von Slatin. Jabal Qadir in the south was also taken. The western half of Sudan was now firmly in Ansārī hands.
Their success emboldened the Hadendoa, who under the generalship of Osman Digna wiped out a smaller force of Egyptians under the command of Colonel Valentine Baker near the Red Sea port of Suakin. Major-General Gerald Graham was sent with a force of 4000 British soldiers and defeated Digna at El Teb on February 29, but were themselves hard-hit two weeks later at Tamai. Graham eventually withdrew his forces.
Given their general lack of interest in the area, the British decided to abandon the Sudan in December 1883, holding only several northern towns and Red Sea ports, such as Khartoum, Kassala, Sannar, and Sawakin. The evacuation of Egyptian troops and officials and other foreigners from Sudan was assigned to General Gordon, who had been reappointed governor general with orders to return to Khartoum and organize a withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons there.
Gordon reached Khartoum in February 1884. At first he was greeted with jubilation as many of the tribes in the immediate area were at odds with the Mahdists. Transportation northward was still open and the telegraph lines intact. However, the uprising of the Beja soon after his arrival changed things considerably, reducing communications to runners.
Gordon considered the routes northward to be too dangerous to extricate the garrisons and so pressed for reinforcements to be sent from Cairo to help with the withdrawal. He also suggested that his old enemy Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, a fine military commander, be given tacit control of the Sudan in order to provide a counter to the Ansār. London rejected both proposals, and so Gordon prepared for a fight.
In March 1884, Gordon tried a small offensive to clear the road northward to Egypt but a number of the officers in the Egyptian force went over to the enemy and their forces fled the field after firing a single salvo. This convinced him that he could carry out only defensive operations and he returned to Khartoum to construct defensive works.
By April 1884, Gordon had managed to evacuate some 2500 of the foreign population that were able to make the trek northwards. His mobile force under Colonel Stewart then returned to the city after repeated incidents where the 200 or so Egyptian forces under his command would turn and run at the slightest provocation.
That month the Ansār reached Khartoum and Gordon was completely cut off. Nevertheless, his defensive works, consisting mainly of mines, proved so frightening to the Ansār that they were unable to penetrate into the city. Stewart maintained a number of small skirmishes using gunboats on the Nile once the waters rose, and in August managed to recapture Berber for a short time. However, Stewart was killed soon after in another foray from Berber to Dongola, a fact Gordon only learned about in a letter from the Mahdi himself.
Under increasing pressure from the public to support him, the British Government under Prime Minister Gladstone eventually ordered Lord Garnet Joseph Wolseley to relieve Gordon. He was already deployed in Egypt due to the attempted coup there earlier, and was able to form up a large force of infantry, moving forward at an extremely slow rate. Realizing they would take some time to arrive, Gordon pressed for him to send forward a "flying column" of camel-borne troops across the Bayyudah Desert from Wadi Halfa under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Stuart. This force was attacked by the Hadendoa Beja, or "Fuzzy Wuzzies", twice, first at the Battle of Abu Klea and two days later nearer Metemma. Twice the British square held and the Mahdists were repelled with heavy losses.
At Metemma, 100 miles (160 km) north of Khartoum, Wolseley's advance guard met four of Gordon's steamers, sent down to provide speedy transport for the first relieving troops. They gave Wolseley a dispatch from Gordon claiming that the city was about to fall. However, only moments later a runner brought in a message claiming the city could hold out for a year. Deciding to believe the latter, the force stopped while they refit the steamers to hold more troops.
They finally arrived in Khartoum on January 28, 1885 to find the town had fallen during the Battle of Khartoum two days earlier. When the Nile had receded from flood stage, Faraz Pasha had opened the river gates and let the Ansār in. The garrison was slaughtered, and Gordon was killed fighting the Mahdi's warriors on the steps of the palace, hacked to pieces and beheaded which the Mahdi had forbade. When Gordon's head was unwrapped at the Mahdi's feet, he ordered the head transfixed between the branches of a tree "....where all who passed it could look in disdain, children could throw stones at it and the hawks of the desert could sweep and circle above." When Wolseley's force arrived, they retreated after attempting to force their way to the center of the town on ships, being met with a hail of fire.
The Mahdi Army continued its sweep of victories. Kassala and Sannar fell soon after and by the end of 1885 the Ansār had begun to move into the southern regions of Sudan. In all Sudan, only Suakin, reinforced by Indian troops, and Wadi Halfa on the northern frontier remained in Anglo-Egyptian hands.
With Sudan now in Sudanese hands, the Mahdi formed a government. The Mahdiyya (Mahdist regime) modified the Shariah, (Islamic law) which would be implemented by Islamic courts headed by various Islamic imams, in accordance with the view of an Islamic state. The courts enforced a Sharia law that the Mahdi claimed was founded on instructions conveyed to him by God in visions.
According to this doctrine loyalty to him was essential to true belief. The recitation of the shahada was modified to include and Muhammad Ahmad is the Mahdi of God and the representative of His Prophet. Among the five pillars, service in the "jihād" replaced the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) as a duty incumbent on the faithful (though Jihad-warfare is central to orthodox Islam, it is not considered one of the five pillars of faith).
He also authorized the burning of lists of pedigrees and books of law and theology because of their association with the old regime and because he believed that they accentuated tribalism at the expense of religious unity.
Six months after the capture of Khartoum, Muhammad Ahmad died of typhus. He was buried in Omdurman. The Mahdi had planned for this eventuality and had chosen three deputies to replace him, in imitation of the Prophet Muhammad. This led to a long period of disarray, due to rivalry among the three, each supported by people of his native region. This continued until 1891, when Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, with the help primarily of the Baqqara Arabs, emerged as unchallenged leader. Abdallahi, referred to as the "Khalifa" (Caliph, lit. "successor"), purged the Mahdiyya of members of the Mahdi's family and many of his early religious disciples.
The "Khalifa" was committed to the Mahdi's vision of extending the Mahdiyah through jihād, which led to strained relations with practically everyone else. For example, the "Khalifa" rejected an offer of an alliance against the Europeans by Ethiopia's Emperor, Yohannes IV. Instead, in 1887 a 60,000-man Ansar army invaded Ethiopia, penetrated as far as Gonder, and captured prisoners and booty. The Khalifa then refused to conclude peace with Ethiopia.
In March 1889, an Ethiopian force commanded personally by the Nəgusa nagast (Emperor, lit. "King of Kings") marched on Gallabat; however, after Yohannes IV fell in battle, the Ethiopians withdrew.
After the final defeat of the Khalifa by the British under General Kitchener, Muhammad Ahmad's tomb was destroyed and his bones were thrown into the Nile. Kitchener retained his skull. Allegedly the skull was later buried at Wadi Halfa. The tomb was eventually rebuilt.
In modern-day Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad is sometimes seen as a precursor of Sudanese nationalism. The Umma party claim to be his political descendants. Their leader Imam Sadiq al-Mahdi, is also the imam of the Ansar, the religious order that pledges allegiance to Muhammad Ahmad. Sadiq al-Mahdi was Prime Minister of Sudan on two occasions: first briefly in 1966–67, and then between 1986 and 1989.
El Mahdi see Mahdi, El
Muhammad Ahmad see Mahdi, El
Ahmad, Muhammad see Mahdi, El
Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah see Mahdi, El
Muhammad Ahmed Al Mahdi see Mahdi, El
Muhammad Ahmad ibn ‘Abdallah al-Mahdi see Mahdi, El
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Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin (Mahmud of Ghazna) (Mahmud of Ghazni) (Yamin al-Dawlah Mahmud) (Yamin al-Dawlah 'Abd al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sebuk Tegin) (November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030). Ghaznavid ruler (r.998-1030). During his long reign, he almost ceaselessly campaigned over a vast expanse of southern Asia, particularly in India. He assembled an empire greater than any known in eastern Islam since the decline of the ‘Abbasids. His centralized, despotic machinery of state typifies the Perso-Islamic “power-state.” His court was a congenial center for the scientist al-Biruni and for leading poets such as Farrukhi, ‘Unsuri and, for a short time, Firdawsi.
Mahmud's grandfather was Alptigin, a Turkic slave-guard of the Samanids in Balkh who crossed the Hindu Kush mountains to seize Ghazni from the declining Samanid kingdom, located strategically on the road between Kabul and Kandahar. Alptigin was succeeded in 977 by his Turkic slave and son-in-law, Sebuktigin, father of Mahmud, who enlarged upon Alptigin's conquests, extending his domain north to Balkh, west to Kandahar including most of Khorasan, and east to the Indus River. According to Ferishta, Mahmoud's mother was a Persian noble from Zabulistan.
In 994, Mahmud was engaged with his father Sebuktigin in the capture of Khorasan from the rebel Fa'iq in aid of the Samanid Emir Nuh II. During this period the Samanid state became highly unstable, with shifting internal political tides as various factions vied for control, chief being Abu'l-Qasim Simjuri, Fa'iq, Abu 'Ali, the General Behtuzun as well as the neighboring Buyid and Qarakhanids.
Sebuktigin was recognized by the Caliph in Baghdad as governor of his dominions. He died in 997, and was succeeded by his younger son Sultan Isma'il of Ghazni. Mahmud rebelled against his younger brother, Sultan Isma'il of Ghazni, and took over the Ghazni as the new sultan.
Mahmud's first campaign was against the Qarakhanid Empire in the North to his Empire. After his defeat, he had to enlist the alliance of Seljuk Turks in southern Soghdia and Khwarazm and diplomatically secure his north by 998. In 999, under the reign of 'Abd al-Malik II, the Samanids engaged in hostilities with Mahmud over Khorasan after political alliances shifted under a new Samanid Emir. These forces were defeated when the Qarakhanids under Nasr Khan invaded them from the North even as Fa'iq died. He then solicited an alliance and cemented it by marrying Nasr Khan's daughter.
Mahmud's first campaign to the south was against the Isma'ili Fatimid Kingdom at Multan in a bid to curry political favor and recognition with the 'Abbasid Caliphate engaged with the Fatimids elsewhere. Raja Jayapala of the Hindu Shahi Dynasty of Gandhara attempted to gain of Ghazni under Mahmud's father in the late 980s that had cost him extensive territory, but was again defeated. His son Anandapala succeeded him and continued the struggle, assembling a powerful confederacy which was defeated once more at Lahore in 1008 bringing Mahmud control of the Hindu Shahi dominions of Updhanpura.
According to the writings of al-Biruni, Soghidan, Uyghur and Manichean texts the Buddhists, Hindus and Jains were accepted as People of the Book and references to Buddha as Burxan or as a prophet can be found. After the initial destruction and pillage Buddhists, Jains and Hindus were granted protected subject status as dhimmis.
Following the defeat of the Rajput Confederacy, after deciding to teach them all a lesson for combining against him, discovering that they were rich, and that their temples were great repositories of wealth, Mahmud set out on regular expeditions against them, leaving the conquered kingdoms in the hands of Hindu vassals annexing the Punjab region.
Mahmud had relationships with the leadership in Balkh through marriage. Balkh's local Emir, Abu Nasr Mohammad, offered his services to the Sultan and his daughter to Mahmud's son, Muhammad. After Nasr's death Mahmud brought Balkh under his leadership. This alliance greatly helped him during his expeditions into Northern India.
The Indian kingdoms of Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kanauj, Gwalior, and Ujjain were all conquered and left in the hands of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist kings as vassal states. Mahmud was pragmatic enough not to shirk making alliances and enlisting local peoples into his armies at all ranks.
The later invasions of Mahmud were specifically directed to temple towns (Nagarkot, Thanesar, Mathura, Kanauj, Kalinjar and Somnath) as Indian temples were depositories of great wealth, in golden idols, diamonds, and jewelry. Mahmud's armies stripped the temples of their wealth and then destroyed them at Varanasi, Ujjain, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, and Dwarka.
The last four years of Mahmud's life were spent contending with the influx of Oghuz Turkic horse tribes from Central Asia, the Buyid Dynasty and rebellions by Seljuqs.
Sultan Mahmud died on April 30, 1030 in Ghazni at the age of 59. Mahmud had contracted malaria during his last invasion. The medical complication from malaria caused lethal tuberculosis. He had been a gifted military commander, and during his rule, universities were founded to study various subjects such as mathematics, religion, the humanities, and medicine. Islam was the main religion of his kingdom and the Hanafi school thought favored. The Perso-Afghan dialect Dari was made the official language. Mahmud's mausoleum is located at Ghazni (in modern Afghanistan).
Mahmud of Ghazna was the most important ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty and, according to the contemporary political scientist Nizam al-Mulk, the first Islamic “sultan.” He succeeded in 998 to the command of all the territories his father Sebuktigin had administered from Ghazna in central Afghanistan on the Samanids’ behalf. After he took Khurasan from the Buyids in 999, his authority was recognized by the caliph al-Qadir. Thus, his line was established as an independent line.
Of greater historical significance, however, were Mahmud’s continuous campaigns to the Punjab and parts of Sind, campaigns that opened a new era of Muslim expansion into the the Indian subcontinent. These conquests, along with his taxation policies in Khurasan, have made Mahmud a controversial figure. Mahmud is frequently criticized for his desecration of temples and for his enslavement of many people as plunder. Mahmud is also accused of attempting to convert non-Muslims by force. However, what is undisputed is Mahmud's success at building the largest empire of its day, extending from central Iran through Afghanistan and into northern India.
Mahmud supported Sunni causes, patronized poetry and learning, and built magnificent palaces, apparently motivated, however, more by convention than conviction. Nonetheless, he achieved nearly legendary status in literary and folk traditions.
Today, in Afghanistan, Mahmud is celebrated as a national hero and a great patron of the arts, architecture and literature as well as a vanguard of Islam and a paragon of virtue and piety.
In modern Pakistan, he is hailed as a conquering hero who established the standard of Islam upon heathen land, while in India he may be depicted as raiding iconoclastic invader, bent upon the loot and plunder of a peaceful Hindu population. Conversion to Islam of the native population also became a controversial topic with the versions of sword enforced mass conversions versus inspirational missionary activity. With the rise of Hindutva and the partition of India, a lot more attention has been focused on casualties, temple destructions, slavery and forced conversions to Islam than before. This controversy has been further stoked by the depictions of teh historical Mahmud as either a hero or a villain by the polarization of nationalist or ideological orientations.
Iranians remember Mahmud as an Orthodox Sunni who was responsible for the revival of the Persian culture by commissioning and appointing Persians to high offices in his administration as ministers, viziers and generals. In addition, Iranians remember Mahmud for the promotion and preference of Persian language.instead of Turkish and patronage of great nationalist poets and scholars such as Firdawsi, al-Biruni, and Ferishta as well as his "Lion and Sun" flag which is still a national symbol in the modern state of Iran.
Under the reign of Mahmud, Ghazni broke away clearly from the Samanid sphere of influence and hastened their end. While he nominally acknowledged the Abbasids as Caliph as a matter of form, he was also granted the title of Sultan as recognition of his independence.
By the end of his reign, the Ghaznavid Empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the northeast, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamama. Although his raids carried his forces across Indian sub-continent, only the Punjab and Sindh, modern Pakistan, came under his permanent rule.
The wealth brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians, such as Abolfazl, Beyhaghi, and Firdawsi, give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conqueror's munificent support of literature. He transformed Ghazni, the first center of Persian literature, into one of the leading cities of Central Asia, patronizing scholars, establishing colleges, laying out gardens and building mosques, palaces, and caravansaries. He patronized Firdawsi to write the Shahnama, and after his expedition across the Gangetic plains in 1017 of al-Biruni to compose his Tarikh al-Hind in order to understand the Indians and their beliefs.
The Ghaznavid Empire was ruled by his successors for 157 years, but after Mahmud it never reached anything like the same splendor and power. The expanding Seljuk Turkish empire absorbed most of the Ghaznavid west. The Ghorids captured Ghazni around 1150, and Muhammad Ghori captured the last Ghaznavid stronghold at Lahore in 1187.
Mahmud of Ghazna see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
Mahmud of Ghazni see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
Yamin al-Dawlah Mahmud see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
Yamin al-Dawlah 'Abd al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sebuk Tegin see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
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Malik ‘Ambar (Malik Anbar) (c. 1548/1549-1626). Habshi vizier and military commander who served the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar. Purchased as a slave in Baghdad, he supported several Maratha families and thus contributed to the subsequent rise of Maratha power in western India.
Malik 'Ambar was born in Harar, a province of Ethiopia. He was born in the capital of the dying Adal Sultanate in eastern Ethiopia. both Ethiopia and the rebellious Adal sultanate were devastated after two decades of war with each other. His Ethiopian name was Shambu and, aside from his Ethiopian name, little is known of his youth except that he was sold into slavery. During his youthful enslavement, Shambu would be sold several times in such Arab cities as Hejaz, Mocha (al-Mukha) and Baghdad.
According to the Futuhat-i 'adil Shahi, Shambu was sold into slavery by his parents. He ended up in Mocha in Yemen. While in Mocha, Shambu's Arab owner, Kazi Hussein, came to recognize that his slave had certain intellectual abilities and decided to train him in the areas of finance and administration. As the relationship between Shambu and Hussein became stronger, Shambu became a Muslim and Hussein gave him the name 'Ambar.
When Hussein died, 'Ambar was sold to a slave dealer, who sold Malik 'Ambar again for twenty ducats. Malik 'Ambar was then taken taken to the slave market in Baghdad, where he was sold a third time to the Qadi al-Qudat of Mecca and again in Baghdad to Mir Qasim al-Baghdadi, who took him to India.
Around 1575, 'Ambar was purchased by Chingiz Khan, the prime minister to Nizam mul-Mulk Bani -- the King of Ahmadnagar. It is reported that Chingiz Khan was also of African origin and may very well have been a descendant of African mercenaries who served in India as early as the 1200s.
Chingiz Khan was impressed by 'Ambar's knowledge of Arabic, his loyalty, and his general intelligence. Seeking to solidify his control of the rather prominent (and mercenary) contingent of African (Habshi) slaves in the Deccan region, Chingiz Khan appointed 'Ambar as a key lieutenant with significant military and administrative responsibilities.
'Ambar's future was for a time hopeful. However, Chingiz Khan unexpectedly died, and 'Ambar was once again sold.
First 'Ambar was sold to the Shah of Golconda and later to the King of Bijapur. (Golconda and Bijapur were both kingdoms in the Deccan area of India.) Because of the training he had received from Kazi Hussein and Chingiz Khan, 'Ambar soon found favor with the King of Bijapur. So impressed was the King that he gave 'Ambar the title of Malik ("like a king").
While at Bijapur, Malik 'Ambar became a military commander. As a military commander, Malik 'Ambar was well respected by the Arab and African troops which were subject to his commands. Contrary to policy, Malik 'Ambar habitually promoted Arabs (as opposed to Indians) to positions of authority. This practice led to a dispute between Malik 'Ambar and the King of Bijapur which resulted in Malik 'Ambar's desertion in 1590 from the service of the King.
Malik 'Ambar became a wild card mercenary. He attracted not only independent Arab and African warriors but also Deccani (Indian) warriors. Eventually, Malik 'Ambar built a personal (private) army of over 1,500 well-trained cavalrymen and infantrymen. These soldiers of fortune were employed in various conflicts by various rulers in India.
In 1595, the King of Ahmadnagar organized a Habshi (African) army and his wise counselor, the Habshi (African) prime minister Abhangar Khan, invited Malik 'Ambar and his men to join him.
The return of Malik 'Ambar to Ahmadnagar was providential. Malik 'Ambar's return provided the opportunity for him to become a great champion of the Deccanis (Hindu Indians) against the Mughals (Muslim Indians). Malik 'Ambar and a Deccani, Mian Raju Dakhani, combined their military efforts on several occasions to repel attacks by the Mughals. Although Malik 'Ambar and Mian Raju Dakhani would become political and military rivals, on this occasion they worked together to defend the province of Ahmadnagar from the Mughals.
After repulsing the Mughals, the rivalry between Malik 'Ambar and Mian Raju Dakhani came to the fore. Both men sought to usurp the throne of King Murtaza II. In 1602, Malik 'Ambar imprisoned Murtaza and named himself regent-minister. As regent minister, Malik 'Ambar repelled a series of Mughal attacks and prevented the Great Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, from fulfilling his aim of conquering the Indian subcontinent.
By the time that Jahangir had succeeded Akbar as the Mughal Emperor in 1605, Malik 'Ambar had established a capital at Kirkee and had become well entrenched in the Deccan. During all this time, Malik 'Ambar also fought off the ventures of his rival Mian Raju Dakhani. In 1607, Malik 'Ambar captured Raju and had him executed. After this act, Malik 'Ambar was the supreme lord of Ahmadnagar.
Upon consolidation of his power, Malik 'Ambar organized an estimated 60,000 horse army. His light cavalry was very effective as a mobile unit. Malik 'Ambar also enlisted the naval support of the Siddis (fellow Africans) of Janjira Island in 1616 in order to cut the Mughal supply lines and to conduct harassing missions.
Malik 'Ambar thrust defeats on the Mughal General Khan Khanan many times and attacked Ahmadnagar often. The guerrilla tactics employed by Malik 'Ambar proved to be very successful against the Mughals. On one occasion, the Mughal Emperor Jahangir was moved to remark: "'Ambar, the black-faced, who had himself in command of the enemy, continually brought up reinforcements till he assembled a large force. ... It was deemed expedient to retreat and prepare for a new campaign."
'Ambar built his greatest fortifications at Daulatabad to protect his kingdom from Prince Shah Jahan -- the Prince destined to become the next Mughal Emperor. In 1621, Shah Jahan's forces launched an attack on Daulatabad. Surprisingly, the Mughal forces were defeated and forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses at the hands of Malik 'Ambar.
However, while this victory over the Mughals was welcomed by Malik 'Ambar, it also brought the realization that he could not continue to resist without reinforcements. Seeking the support of the Deccani ruler, Ibrahim Adil Shah II, Malik 'Ambar had his daughter married to the Shah's favorite courtier. Additionally, his long and distinguished service in Golconda and Bijapur (along with their realization that Malik 'Ambar provided a buffer from the Mughals for them) brought support from those kingdoms. For a time, Malik 'Ambar was able to continue to resist the power of the Mughals.
Nevertheless, by the 1620s, Malik 'Ambar was having difficulty in maintaining the loyalty of his officers and forces. Almost continuous warfare for over a twenty year period of time had demoralized the army and drained the local economy. Although he was never defeated, Malik 'Ambar died a besieged man in 1626.
Malik 'Ambar was succeeded as regent minister of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar by his son Fettah Khan (Fatehkhan). But Fettah Khan was not Malik 'Ambar. He was deposed in 1629. Thus ended the short but glorious reign of the Africans in the Deccan.
During his time, Malik 'Ambar founded and inhabited Aurangabad on the site of the Kirkee (Khadke - "Big Rock") village in 1610. After his death in 1626, the name was changed to Fatehpur by his son Fatehkhan. When Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor invaded Deccan in the year 1653, he made Fatehpur his capital and renamed it Aurangabad.
'Ambar, Malik see Malik ‘Ambar
Shambu see Malik ‘Ambar
Malik Anbar see Malik ‘Ambar
Anbar, Malik see Malik ‘Ambar
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Malik ibn Anas (Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi) (Mālik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Āmr al-Asbahi) ("Imam Malik") ("Sheikh of Islam") ("Proof of the Community") ("Imam of the Abode of Emigration") (c. 710/711-795/796). Muslim jurist and the imam of the law school of the Malikites, which is named after him. He is frequently called the Imam of Medina. His great work, the Muwatta’ -- the Book of the Smoothed Path -- , is the earliest surviving Muslim law book. Malik introduced the recognition of the unanimous practice of Medina, which he established as an organized judicial system. He thus created a theoretical standard for matters which were not settled from the point of view of consensus.
Born in Medina, where he spent most of his life, Malik became the most prominent jurist of that city. Malik was born the son of Anas ibn Malik and Aaliyah bint Shurayk al-Azdiyya. His family was originally from the al-Asbahi tribe of Yemen, but his great grandfather Abu 'Amir relocated the family to Medina after converting to Islam in the second year after the hijra.
Little is known about Malik’s early life, although many legends abound. Malik is supposed, for example, to have spent two or three years in his mother’s womb and to have been taught fiqh by some nine hundred teachers. Malik seems to have been in competition for a time with Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad’s biographer, until Ibn Ishaq abandoned both fiqh and Medina.
Malik’s Muwatta’ is the earliest work on fiqh written to develop a basis for law by means of a survey of custom in Medina, but he was writing at a stage when the rules for transmission of hadith had not been fully formed and his work was subjected to modification and correction by later scholars. Nevertheless, Malik’s criticism of his authorities was so rigorous that even today his reputation in this area has remained high.
Malik did not start from a theoretical position but with the law as it existed, so his work seems somewhat disorganized under the larger topics of contracts, penal law, marriage, etc. However, despite this failing, Malik’s work was so influential that Islamic legal treatises continued this pattern.
While Malik did not start a school, his name came to be used by a branch of Islamic law found in the Maghrib, Africa, and Upper Egypt. A particularly famous adherent of this school was Ibn Rushd (Averroes), who wrote a systematic treatise on the legal system.
Malik took advantage of the fact that he was contemporary to many of the Tabi'in to formulate his famous school of thought which gave precedence to the acts of the people of Medina over the hadith if they were in conflict. This was done due to the sizeable amount of scholars, and companions of Muhammad, residing in the city where Malik's reputation grew immensely. Malik nevertheless showed hesitancy in issuing religious verdicts.
Despite his reluctance to render religious verdicts, Malik was outspoken. He issued fatwas against being forced to pledge allegiance to the Caliph al-Mansur, and was punished via flogging for his stance. Al-Mansur apologized to Malik and offered him money and residence in Baghdad, but Malik refused to leave the city of Muhammad. Later, Harun al-Rashid asked Malik to visit him while Harun was performing the hajj. The Imam refused, and instead he invited the new caliph to his class.
Malik died in Medina in 796 and was buried in the famous Jannat ul-Baqi cemetery across from the Masjid al-Nabawi. He is recognized as one of the most highly respected scholars of fiqh in Sunni Islam. Imam Shafi, who was one of Malik's students for nine years and a scholarly giant in his own right, stated, "when scholars are mentioned, Malik is like the star among them." The Maliki Madhab, named after Malik, is one of the five schools of Islamic jurisprudence and remains popular among Muslims to this day.
Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi see Malik ibn Anas
Asbahi, Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al- see Malik ibn Anas
Imam of Medina see Malik ibn Anas
Imam of the Abode of Emigration see Malik ibn Anas
Sheikh of Islam see Malik ibn Anas
Proof of the Community see Malik ibn Anas
Malik Ibrahim
The history of arrival and spread of Islam in Indonesia is unclear. One theory states it arrived directly from Arabia before the 9th century, while another credits Sufi merchants and preachers for bringing Islam to Indonesian islands in the 12th or 13th century either from Gujarat in India or directly from the Middle East. Before the arrival of Islam, the predominant religions in Indonesia were Hinduism and Buddhism.
Initially, the spread of Islam was slow and gradual. Though historical documents are incomplete, the limited evidence suggests that the spread of Islam accelerated in the 15th century, as the military power of Melaka Sultanate in Malay Peninsular today Malaysia and other Islamic Sultanates dominated the region aided by episodes of Muslim coup such as in 1446, wars and superior control of maritime trading and ultimate markets. During 1511, Tome Pires found animists and Muslims in the north coast of Java. Some rulers were Islamized Muslims, others followed the old Hindu and Buddhism.
By the reign of Sultan Agung of Mataram, most of the older Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Indonesia, had at least nominally converted to Islam. The last one to do so was Makassar in 1605. After the fall of the Majapahit empire, Bali became the refuge for the Hindu upper class, Brahmins and their followers that fled from Java, thus transferring the Hindu culture of Java to Bali. Hinduism and Buddhism remained extant in some areas of East Java where it syncretized with animism. Their traditions also continued in East and Central Java where they earlier held a sway. Animism was also practiced in remote areas of other islands of Indonesia.
The spread of Islam in eastern islands of Indonesia is recorded in 1605 when three Islamic pious men collectively known as Dato' Tallu came to Makasar, namely Dato'ri Bandang (Abdul Makmur or Khatib Tunggal), Dato'ri Pattimang (Sulaiman Ali or Khatib Sulung) and Dato'ri Tiro (Abdul Jawad or Khatib Bungsu). According to Christian Pelras (1985), Dato' Tallu converted the Kings of Gowa and Tallo to Islam and changed their name to Sultan Muhammad.
The spread of Islam was initially driven by increasing trade links outside of the archipelago. Traders and the royalty of major kingdoms were usually the first to convert to Islam. Dominant kingdoms included Mataram in Central Java, and the sultanates of Ternate and Tidore in the Maluku Islands to the east. By the end of the 13th century, Islam had been established in North Sumatra; by the 14th in northeast Malaya, Brunei, the southern Philippines northeast and among some courtiers of East Java; and the 15th in Malacca and other areas of the Malay Peninsula. Although it is known that the spread of Islam began in the west of the archipelago, the fragmentary evidence does not suggest a rolling wave of conversion through adjacent areas; rather, it suggests the process was complicated and slow.
Despite being one of the most significant developments in Indonesian history, historical evidence is fragmentary and generally uninformative such that understandings of the coming of Islam to Indonesia are limited. There is considerable debate amongst scholars about what conclusions can be drawn about the conversion of Indonesian peoples. The primary evidence, at least of the earlier stages of the process, are gravestones and a few travellers' accounts, but these can only show that indigenous Muslims were in a certain place at a certain time. This evidence cannot explain more complicated matters such as how lifestyles were affected by the new religion or how deeply it affected societies. It should not be assumed, for example, that because a ruler was known to be a Muslim, that the process of Islamization of that area was complete. Instead, what is known is that the Islamization process was, and remains to this day, continuous in Indonesia. Nevertheless, a clear turning point occurred when the Hindu empire Majapahit in Java fell to the Islamized Demak Sultanate. In 1527, the Muslim ruler renamed newly conquered Sunda Kelapa as Jayakarta (meaning "precious victory") which was eventually shortened to Jakarta. Islamization increased rapidly in the wake of this conquest, spurred on by the spiritual influences of the revered Sufi saints Wali Songo (or Nine Saints).
Malik Ibrahim (b. before 1350, Kashan, Persia - d. April 7, 1419, Gapurosukolilo, Gresik), also known as Sunan Gresik or Kakek Bantal, was the first of the Wali Songo, the nine men generally thought to have introduced Islam to Java (Indonesia).
Ibrahim's origin is unclear, although it is generally agreed that he originated from outside of Java. He is thought to have been born in the first half of the 14th century. Ibrahim is known by several names in the Babad Tanah Jawi and other texts. In the texts, Ibrahim is identified as Makhdum Ibrahim as-Samarqandy (localised to Syekh Ibrahim Asmarakandi). This indicates a possible origin from Samarkand in modern-day Uzbekistan.
Malik Ibrahim was born in Kashan, Persia (modern day Iran). Malik Ibrahim belonged to a Sayyid and highly educated family in Kashan. His great grandfather migrated from Samarkand to Kashan. Ibrahim came to Java with his father, Syekh Jumadil Qubro or Kubro, and his brother Maulana Ishaq, from Persia. They were descendants of Muhammad through Hussein ibn Ali. According to this version, Qubro stayed in Java while his sons went abroad for dakwah. Ibrahim went to Champa (in modern-day Vietnam), while his brother went to Pasai in northern Sumatra. During his 13 years in Champa, Ibrahim provided healthcare and taught farmers more efficient ways to grow crops. He also married one of the king's daughters, whose name has been Indonesianised as Dewi Candrawulan, and had two sons. When he felt that he had converted enough people in Champa to Islam, Ibrahim returned to Java without his family.
Ibrahim landed at Sembalo, Learn, Manyar (9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north of modern-day Gresik) in the late 14th century, where he became acquainted with the local people. He began trading out of the harbor, dealing equally with people from different castes - different social classes based on the dominant Hindu religion. By doing so, Ibrahim found popular support from the lower castes, which led to numerous conversions. He also continued his work from Champa, teaching the locals ways to improve harvests and treating the ill.
Through his trading, Ibrahim also became acquainted with the ruling class and nobles. After journeying to Trowulan to meet the king of Majapahit, he was granted a landing on the outskirts of Gresik which was used for preaching. Ibrahim also founded an Islamic boarding school there.
A legend associated with Ibrahim is that one day, while travelling, he came across a young woman about to be sacrificed to the gods in order to end a long-standing drought. After stopping a group of men from stabbing the woman, Ibrahim prayed for rain. When his prayers were answered, the group he had faced converted to Islam.
Ibrahim died on 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, 822 AH (April 7, 1419 CC). He was buried in Gapura village, Gresik, East Java.
Before the 19th century, Ibrahim was not considered one of the Wali Songo, the saints who spread Islam to Java. After his grave was rediscovered in the early 19th century, he was included in the core group. He was first listed as a Wali Songo in Babad Dipanegara. Today his grave, which is without a headstone, is a common destination for pilgrims, who read the Qu'ran and the life of Muhammad; they also partake in a dish unique to the area, harisah rice porridge. In 2005 over 1.5 million pilgrims went to the grave, for which there is an entry fee. Most come on the anniversary of his death, based on the Islamic calendar.
Near Ibrahim's grave is a stone marker bearing an inscription in Arabic, translated below:
Both of Ibrahim's sons went on to spread Islam to Java after they became adults. The eldest, Ali Rahmatullah, is better known as Sunan Ampel and is a member of the Wali Songo himself. The youngest was named Ali Murthada. Ibrahim's work in eastern Java was continued by Raden Paku (later known as Susuhunan Giri) in Giri (now part of the Jepara Regency of Central Java) and Raden Rahmat, who founded an Islamic school in Ngampel, near Surabaya.
Every year, the Gresik city government holds a festival to celebrate Ibrahim's birth. Known as Gebyar Maulid, the festival also serves to promote local culture.
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Wali Songo
The Wali Songo (also transcribed as Wali Sanga) are revered saints of Islam in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java, because of their historic role in the spread of Islam in Indonesia. The word wali is Arabic for "trusted one" ("guardian" in other contexts in Indonesia) or "friend of God" ("saint" in this context), while the word sanga is Javanese for group of monks or the number nine. Thus, the term is often translated as "Sangha of saints".
Although referred to as a group, there is good evidence that fewer than nine were alive at any given time. Also, there are sources that use the term "Wali Sanga" to refer to saintly mystic(s) other than the most well-known nine individuals.
Each man is often attributed the title sunan in Javanese, which may derive from suhun, in this context meaning "honored".
Most of the wali were also called raden during their lifetimes, because they were members of royal houses.
The graves of the Wali Sanga are venerated as locations of ziarah (ziyarat) or local pilgrimage in Java. The graves are also known as pundhen in Javanese.
The earliest Wali Sanga was Malik Ibrahim. He is thought to have been in the first half of the 14th century. Malik Ibrahim was of Sayyid lineage and came from a highly educated family in Kashan. His great-grandfather migrated from Samarqand, and that is why his family is also known as Samarqandi. They were originally a converted Central Asian Muslim pir from Samarkand. With centuries of Turkish, Mongol and Ottoman rule over Middle East, many of them started claiming Sayyid ancestry to legitimize their rule over the population.
Syekh Jumadil Kubra, to whom all the saints of Java appear to be related, is a name that appears to almost certainly be a corruption of Najmuddin al-Kubra. The name Syekh Jumadil Kubra has attached itself to various legendary and mythical personalities,. These personalities have a common connection in that they are the ancestors or preceptors of the founders of Islam in Java - an oblique acknowledgement, perhaps, of the prestige of the Qubrowi in the period of Islamization.
The sufis themselves traced their ancestors to erstwhile Hindu and Buddhist Javanese kings. Tracing the lineage earlier than Malik Ibrahim is problematic, but most scholars agree that Kubra's lineages are of Chinese descent and not Arab. Although Kubra's silsila -- his spiritual genealogy -- is listed in various Javanese royal chronicles (such as Sejarah Banten) to denote ancestral lineage from erstwhile Hindu Kings, the term in Sufism refers to a lineage of teachers.
Although popular belief sometimes refers to the wali sanga as "founders" of Islam on Java, the religion was present by the time the Chinese Muslim admiral Zheng He arrived during his first voyage (1405-1407 CC).
Many of the earliest Wali Sanga had Chinese ancestry both paternally and maternally. For example, Sunan Ampel (Chinese name Bong Swi Ho), Sunan Bonang (Ampel's son, Bong Ang), and Sunan Kalijaga (Gan Si Cang).
Dewi Candrawulan, a Muslim Princess from Champa, was the mother of Raden Rahmat (Prince Rahmat), who was later known by the name of Sunan Ampel. Sunan Ampel was the son of Maulana Malik Ibrahim, and the ancestor or teacher of some of the other Wali Sanga.
The composition of the nine saints varies, depending on different sources. The following list is widely accepted, but its authenticity relies much on repeated citations of a handful of early sources, reinforced as "facts" in school textbooks and other modern accounts. This list differs somewhat from the names suggested in the Babad Tanah Jawi manuscripts.
One theory about the variation of composition is that there was a loose council of nine religious leaders, and that as older members retired or died, new members were brought into this council. However, it should be borne in mind that the term "wali sanga" was created retroactively by historians, and so there was no official "group of nine" that had membership. Further, the differences in chronology of the wali suggest that there might never have been a time when nine of them were alive contemporaneously.
At first, it was not easy for Islam to enter and thrive in the archipelago. Even in the historical record, in a span of about 800 years, Islam had not been able to establish a substantial presence. Notes from the time of the Tang Dynasty of China indicated that merchants from the Middle East had come to the kingdom of Shih-li-fo-shi (Srivijaya) in Sumatra, and Holing (Kalinga) in Java in the year 674 CC, i.e., in the transitional period of Caliph Ali to Muawiyah. In the 10th century, a group of Persians called the Lor came to Java. They lived in an area in Ngudung (Kudus), also known as Loram (from the word "Lor" which means North). They also formed other communities in other areas, such as in Gresik. The existence of the gravestone of Fatimah binti Maimun bin Hibatallah in Gresi, dated to the 10th century CC, is considered evidence of the incoming migration of the Persian tribes.
In his notes, Marco Polo relates that when returning from China to Italy in 1292 CC, he did not travel via the Silk Road, but instead traveled by sea towards the Persian Gulf. He stopped in Perlak, a port city in Aceh, southern Malacca. According to Polo, in Perlak there were three groups, namely (1) ethnic Chinese, who were all Muslims; (2) Westerners (Persians), also entirely Muslim; and (3) indigenous people in the hinterland, who worshipped trees, rocks, and spirits. In his testimony, Polo said, regarding the "Kingdom of Ferlec (Perlak)" - "This kingdom, you must know, is so much frequented by the Saracen merchants that they have converted the natives to the Law of Mohammet — I mean the townspeople only, for the Java hill-people live for all the world like beasts, and eat human flesh, as well as all other kinds of flesh, clean or unclean. And they worship this, that, and the other thing; for in fact the first thing that they see on rising in the morning, that they do worship for the rest of the day.
One hundred years after Polo, the Chinese Muslim Admiral Zheng He came to Java in 1405 CC. When he stopped in Tuban, he noted that there were 1,000 Chinese religious Muslim families there. In Gresik, he also found there were 1,000 Chinese Muslim families, with the same amount reported in Surabaya. On Zheng He's seventh (last) visit to Java in 1433 CC, he invited his scribe named Ma Huan. According to Ma Huan, the Chinese and the Arab population of the cities on the northern beaches of Java were all Muslim, while the indigenous population were mostly non-Muslim as they were worshipping the trees, rocks, and spirits.
Early in the 15th century CC, Ali Murtadho and Ali Rahmat, sons of Malik Ibrahim (also known as Sheikh Ibrahim Samarqandi), relocated from the Kingdom of Champa (Southern Vietnam) to Java, and settled in the Tuban area, precisely in the Gesikharjo Village at Palang District. Malik Ibrahim was buried there in 1419. After the funeral, both of his sons then headed to the capital of Majapahit, because their aunt (Princess Dwarawati) was married to the King of Majapahit. By the King's order, both of them then were appointed as officials of the Majapahit Empire. Ali Murtadho as Raja Pandhita (Minister of Religion) for the Musims, while Ali Rahmat was appointed as Imam (High Priest for Muslims) in Surabaya. Ali Rahmat was known as Raden Rahmat (Prince Rahmat), who then became Sunan Ampel.
In sum, multiple sources and conventional wisdom agree that the Wali Sanga contributed to the propagation of Islam (but not its original introduction) in the area now known as Indonesia. However, it is difficult to prove the extent of their influence in quantitative terms such as an increase in the number of adherents or masjids in the areas of their work in contrast to localities where they were not active.
Some of the family relationships described below are well-documented; others are less certain. Even today, it is common in Java for a family friend to be called "uncle" or "brother" despite the lack of a blood relationship.
- Sunan Gresik (Malik Ibrahim): Arrived on Java 1404 CC, died in 1419 CC, buried in Gresik, East Java. Activities included commerce, healing, and improvement of agricultural techniques. Father of Sunan Ampel and uncle of Sunan Giri.
- Sunan Ampel: Born in Champa (Southern Vietnam) in 1401 CC, died in 1481 CC in Demak, Central Java. Can be considered a focal point of the wali sanga. He was the son of Sunan Gresik and the father of Sunan Bonang and Sunan Dradjat. Sunan Ampel was also the cousin and father-in-law of Sunan Giri. In addition, Sunan Ampel was the grandfather of Sunan Kudus. Sunan Bonang in turn taught Sunan Kalijaga, who was the father of Sunan Muria. Sunan Ampel was also the teacher of Raden Patah.
- Sunan Giri: Born in Blambangan (now Banyuwangi, the easternmost part of Java) in 1442 CC. His father Maulana Ishak was the brother of Maulana Malik Ibrahim. Sunan Giri's grave is in Gresik near Surabaya.
- Sunan Bonang: Born in 1465 CC in Rembang (near Tuban) on the north coast of Central Java. Died in 1525 CC and buried in Tuban. Brother of Sunan Drajat. Composed songs for gamelan orchestra.
- Sunan Drajat: Born in 1470 CC. Brother of Sunan Bonang. Composed songs for gamelan orchestra.
- Sunan Kudus: Died 1550 CC, buried in Kudus. Possible originator of wayang golek puppetry.
- Sunan Kalijaga: His birth name is Raden Mas Said, and he is the son of Adipati Tuban. Buried in Kadilangu, Demak. Used wayang kulit shadow puppets and gamelan music to convey spiritual teachings.
- Sunan Muria: Buried in Gunung Muria, Kudus. Son of Sunan Kalijaga and Dewi Soejinah (sister of Sunan Giri).
- Sunan Gunung Jati: Buried in Cirebon. Founder and first ruler of the Cirebon Sultanate. His son, Maulana Hasanudin, became the founder and the first ruler of the Banten Sultanate.
Malikites (in Arabic, Malikiyya) (Maliki). Juridico-religious group of orthodox Islam which formed itself into a school after the adoption of the doctrine of imam Malik ibn Anas. The success of the school is due to Malik’s intolerance towards the Qadariyya and the Kharijites. Nor is there any place in it for mysticism, although a number of Maliki mystics are known. In Medina, all trace of the school was lost after the demise of Malik’s first disciples. It only returned with the triumph of Sunnism in the fourteenth century. Malikism is predominant in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It was the sole official rite of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) during the eighth and ninth centuries. At the present time, the majority of the Muslims of the Sudan belong to the Maliki school of law and there are Maliki Muslims in Senegal, Mali, Niger, Togo, Chad and Nigeria.
Malikites comprise one of the four orthodox schools of law in Islam. Their sect was named after Malik ibn Anas, who died in the Arabian city of Medina in 796. A celebrated legal scholar, Malik is known above all as the author of Kitab al-Muwatta, the earliest surviving work on law in Islam. Its contents in general reflect the outlook of that early legal tradition associated with the Hijaz. While the Maliki school owed its formative inspiration to the teaching of Malik, the elaboration of its doctrine into a unified, distinctive code of law was in the main the work of his leading disciples, in particular of al-Sulami (d. 852), al-Tanukhi, known also as Sahnun (d. 854), and Isma‘il ibn Ishaq (d. 895). In addition to the Qur’an, Malikis based their legal rulings on the consensus (ijma) or customary law of Medina, and when these failed to provide an adequate basis for law they had recourse to personal judgment (ijtihad/ra’y). Malikis did make use of the hadith (the traditions of the Prophet) as a basis for law, but these never constituted the highest court of appeal for them. If Malikis and Hanafis were largely in agreement on the role of reason in the juridical process, they sometimes differed substantively in the realm of positive law, a fact explained largely by their different geographical roots. Apart from isolated cases, and for reasons that are not entirely clear, Maliki law never won acceptance in the eastern lands of Islam. However, it has been and remains the dominant school of North Africa.
Malikiyya see Malikites
Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al- (Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-Ma’mun) ('Abdallah al-Mamun) (Abu Jafar al-Mamun ibn Harun) (September 14, 786 - August 9, 833). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 813-833). He restored the unity of the empire and, in 827, proclaimed Mu‘tazilism as the official doctrine. One of the logical consequences of this step was imposing the doctrine that the Qur’an was created. This measure inaugurated a period of “trial” (in Arabic, mihna) which was to last officially during the caliphates of his successors al-Mu‘tasim bi-Allah and al-Wathiq bi-‘llah. Al-Ma’mun’s measure was revoked by the Caliph al-Mutawakkil. This doctrine was strongly opposed by many, the most prominent among them being Ahmad ibn Hanbal, whom the caliph had flogged. Al-Ma’mun excelled in Hanafi jurisprudence and was distinguished by his love of knowledge. He encouraged the translation into Arabic of Greek and Syriac works on philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and medicine.
Al-Mamun was the son of Harun al-Rashid and a Persian slave girl, Marajil. Born about 786, he was slightly older than his half brother Amin, son of the Arab Zubayda, but Amin was first heir to the caliphate and al-Mamun second.
In 802, Harun al-Rashid father of al-Mamun and Amin ordered that Amin would succeed him and that al-Mamun would serve as governor of Khurasan (with Fadl ibn-Sahl as vizier) and as caliph after the death of Amin. Al-Mamun was reportedly the older of the two brothers, but his mother was a Persian woman while Amin's mother was a member of the reigning 'Abbasid family. After al-Rashid's death in 809, the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated. In response to al-Mamun's moves toward independence, Amin declared his own son Musa to be his heir. This violation of al-Rashid's testament led to a civil war in which al-Mamun's newly recruited Khurasani troops, led by Tahir bin Husain, defeated Amin's armies and laid siege to Baghdad. In 811, Amin was beheaded and al-Mamun was recognized as caliph throughout the empire.
Al-Mamun became caliph but continued to reside in the East despite disturbances in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. In the struggle of rival interest groups, al-Mamun, hoping for wider support, in 817 designated as his successor Ali ar-Rida, head of the descendants of Ali, Muhammad's cousin. This step provoked a revolt in Baghdad, and Ibrahim, al-Mamun's uncle, was proclaimed caliph. Al-Mamun moved slowly back toward Iraq, entered Baghdad without difficulty, and ended the revolt (819). Ali ar-Rida had meanwhile died at Meshed.
(Al-Mamun, in an attempt to win over the Shi'a Muslims to his camp, named the eighth Imam, Ali ar-Rida, his successor, if he should oulive al-Mamun. Most Shi'ites realized, however, that ar-Rida was too old to survive al-Mamun and saw al-Mamun's gesture as empty. Indeed, ar-Rida died in 818. The incident served to further alienate the Shi'ites from the 'Abbasids, who had already been promised and denied the Caliphate by al-'Abbas.)
A significant development during al-Mamun's reign was the rise of a semi-independent hereditary dynasty under the caliph. A Persian general called Tahir played a large part in al-Mamun's success against his brother. After some time in the West, he was, in 821, made governor of Khurasan, where there was serious trouble. Tahir gave signs of aiming at independence, and, when he died in 822, al-Mamun, who could not risk losing the province, appointed Tahir's son Talha to the governorship. One of Talha's brothers succeeded in 828. On the model of the Tahirid, independent dynasties, nominally appointed by and subordinate to the caliph, became a feature of the Islamic world, until the caliphs had no real power left.
(Al-Mamun had been named governor of Khurasan by Harun, and after his ascension to power, the caliph named Tahir as governor for his military services in order to assure his loyalty. It was a move that al-Mamun soon regretted, as Tahir and his family became entrenched in Persian politics and became increasingly powerful in the state, contrary to al-Mamun's desire to centralize and strengthen Caliphal power. The rising power of the Tahirid dynasty became a threat as al-Mamun's own policies alienated them and his other opponents.)
For most of the rest of his reign, there were disorders to be suppressed in various parts of the empire. Despite this fact, however, trade flourished, and the 'Abbasids were at the zenith of their prosperity. By 830, al-Mamun felt capable of mounting annual expeditions against the Byzantines. It was on one of these that he died in August 9, 833 at Tarsus. He was succeeded by his half-brother, al-Mu'tasim.
(At-Tabari recounts how al-Mamun was sitting on the river bank telling those with him hw splendid the water was. He asked what would go best with this water and was told a specific kind of fresh date. Noticing supplies arriving, he asked someone check whether such dates were included. As they were, he invited those with him to enjoy the water with these dates. All who did this fell ill. Others recovered. Al-Mamun died. As he was dying, he spoke, expressing his belief in the unity of God and his reliance on God's mercy. He encouraged his successor to continue his policies and not burden the people with more than they could bear.)
Al-Mamun became an enthusiast for Greek thought and is credited with the founding of the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma), an institute for translating foreign, especially Greek, books into Arabic. Translations had been made of Sanskrit and Persian works in the time of his great-grandfather and of Greek books of that of his father. Many Greek books were already extant in Iraq in Syriac translations, and most of the first translations into Arabic were made by Christians from these Syriac versions. The earliest interest of the Arabs was in astronomy (with astrology) or medicine, but Greek philosophy also attracted attention.
The interest in Greek philosophy is linked with the rise of the theological school of the Mutazilites. Nineteenth century European scholars admired their apparent rationalism and liberal views, such as a belief in freedom of the will. It is now realized that, despite their interest in Greek ideas, they remained close to their Islamic basics. Several leading Mutazilites were prominent at al-Mamun's court, notably Thumama and Ahmad ibn-Abi Duad. Al-Mamun was probably attracted not only by the philosophical but also by the political aspect of their thought, for they were attempting to reconcile contemporary tensions. The stimulation of interest in Greek works influence the whole subsequent course of Islamic thought.
In accordance with Mutazilite teaching, al-Mamun established toward the end of his reign (perhaps in 827) the inquisition, or mihna. All higher officials had publicly to profess that they believed the Qur'an to be the created not the uncreated, word of God. This was not mere theological hairsplitting but the basis of a hoped for compromise between opposing forces. Most officials made the required declaration, but a leading jurist, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, refused and was prevented from lecturing. The inquisition lasted until about 850.
The mihna is comparable to Medieval European inquisitions only in the sense that it involved imprisonment, a religious text, and a loyalty oath. The casualties of 'Abbasid inquisition would not approach a fraction of those executed in Europe under similar circumstances. In the effort to centralize power and test the loyalty of his subjects, al-Mamun required elites, scholars, judges and other government officials to undergo the test, which was a series of questions relating to theology and faith. The penalty for failing the mihna could include death.
The controversy over the mihna was exacerbated by al-Mamun's sympathy for Mu'tazili theology. Mu'tazili theology was deeply influenced by Aristotelian thought and Greek rationalism, and stated that matters of belief and practice should be decided by reasoning on the basis of the Qur'an. This defied the literalist position, according to which everything a believer needed to know about faith and practice was spelled out literally in the Qur'an and the hadith. Moreover, the Mu'tazilis stated that the Qur'an was created rather than eternal, in opposition to general Muslim opinion that the Qur'an and the Divine were co-eternal. The fact that the Mu'tazili school had its foundations in teh paganism of Greece further disenchanted a majority of Islamic clerics.
Although al-Mahdi had proclaimed that the caliph was the protector of Islam against heresy, and had claimed the ability to declare orthodoxy, religious schlars in the Islamic world believed that al-Ma'mun was overstepping his bounds in the mihna. The penalties of the mihna became increasingly difficult to enforce as the ulama became firmer and more united in their opposition. Although the mihna persisted through the reigns of two more caliphs, al-Mutawakkil abandoned it in 848. The failure of the mihna seriously damaged caliphal authority and ruined the reputation of the office for succeeding caliphs. The caliph would lose much of his religious authority to the opinion of the ulama as a result of the mihna.
The ulama and the major Islamic law schools became truly defined in the period of al-Ma'mun and Sunnism, as a religion of legalism, became defined in parallel. Doctrinal differences between Sunni and Shi'a began to become more pronounced. Ibn Hanbal, the founder of the Hanbali legal school, became famous for his opposition to the mihna. Al-Mamun's simultaneous opposition and patronage of intellectuals led to the emergence of important dialogues on both secular and religious affairs, and the Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) became an important center of translation for Greek and other ancient texts into Arabic. This Islamic renaissance spurred the rediscovery of Hellenism and ensured the survival of these texts into the European renaissance.
Al-Mamun's reign is marked by his efforts to the translation of Greek philosophy and science. Al-Mamun gathered scholars of many religions at Baghdad, whom he treated magnificently and with tolerance. He sent an emissary to the Byzantine Empire to collect the most famous manuscripts there, and had them translated into Arabic. It is said that, victorious over the Byzantine Emperor, Al-Mamun made a condition of peace be that the emperor hand over a copy of the Almagest. Al-Mamun also conducted, in the plains of Mesopotamia, two astronomical operations intended to determine the value of a terrestrial degree, Almanon crater, on the Moon, was named in recognition of al-Mamun's contributions to astronomy.
There were a number of other key developments in the reign of al-Mamun. The shakiriya, which were to trigger the movement of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra during al-Mu'tasim's reign, were raised in al-Mamun's time. The shakiriya were military units from Central Asia and North Africa, hired, complete with their commanders, to serve under the Caliph.
Al-Mamun also attempted to divorce his wife during his reign because she had failed to bear him any children. His wife hired a Syrian judge of her own before al-Mamun was able to select one himself. The judge, who sympathized with the caliph's wife, refused the divorce. Following al-Mamun's experience, no further 'Abbasid caliphs were to marry, preferring to find their heirs in the harem.
Shortly before his death, during a visit to Egypt in 832, al-Mamun ordered the breaching of the Great Pyramid of Giza. He apparently entered the pyramid by unblocking a tunnel made by grave robbers in ancient times. Because the pyramid had already been robbed, his expedition found only the empty granite sarcophagus.
The 'Abbasid empire grew during the reign of al-Mamun. Hindu rebellions in Sindh were put down, and most of Afghanistan was absorbed with the surrender of the leader of Kabul. Mountainous regions of Iran were brought under a tighter grip of the central 'Abbasid government, as were areas of Turkestan. However, battles against the Byzantine Empire continued in Asia Minor, and al-Mamun would die while leading an expedition in Sardis.
Abu'l-'Abbas 'Abd Allah al-Ma'mun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
'Abdallah al-Mamun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
Abu Jafar al-Mamun ibn Harun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
Mansa Musa
Musa I (b.c. 1280, Mali Empire – d.c. 1337, Mali Empire), or Mansa Musa, was the ninth Mansa -- the ninth Emperor -- of the Mali Empire, one of the most powerful West African states in history. He has sometimes been called the wealthiest person in history, though his wealth is impossible to accurately quantify and it is difficult to meaningfully compare the wealth of historical figures. At the time of Musa's ascension to the throne, Mali in large part consisted of the territory of the former Ghana Empire, which Mali had conquered. The Mali Empire consisted of land that is now part of Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia and the modern state of Mali.
Musa went on hajj to Mecca in 1324, and traveled with an enormous entourage and a vast supply of gold. En route, he spent time in Cairo, where his lavish gift-giving caused a noticeable drop in the price of gold for over a decade and garnered the attention of the wider Muslim world.
Musa expanded the borders of the Mali Empire, in particular incorporating the cities of Gao and Timbuktu into its territory. He sought closer ties with the rest of the Muslim world, particularly the Mamluk Sultanate and Marinid Sultanate. He recruited scholars from the wider Muslim world to travel to Mali, such as the Andalusian poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, and helped establish Timbuktu as a center of Islamic learning. His reign is associated with numerous construction projects, including part of Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu. Musa's reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali's power and prestige.
Mansa Musa's personal name was Musa, the Arabic form of Moses. Mansa means "ruler" or "king" in Mande, and was the title of the ruler of the Mali Empire. It has also been translated as "conqueror" and "priest-king". In oral tradition and the Timbuktu Chronicles, Musa is known as Kanku Musa. In Mandé tradition, it was common for one's name to be prefixed by their mother's name, so the name Kanku Musa means "Musa, son of Kanku", although it is unclear if the genealogy implied is literal. He is also called Hidji Mansa Musa in oral tradition in reference to his hajj.
In the Songhai language, rulers of Mali such as Musa were known as the Mali-koi, koi being a title that conveyed authority over a region: in other words, the "ruler of Mali".
Much of what is known about Musa comes from Arabic sources written after his hajj, especially the writings of Al-Umari and Ibn Khaldun. While in Cairo during his hajj, Musa befriended officials such as Ibn Amir Hajib, who learned about him and his country from him and later passed on that information to historians such as Al-Umari. Additional information comes from two 17th-century manuscripts written in Timbuktu, the Tarikh as-Sudan and Tarikh al-fattash. Oral tradition, as performed by the jeliw (sg. jeli), also known as griots, includes relatively little information about Musa compared to some other parts of the history of Mali.
Musa's father was named Faga Leye and his mother may have been named Kanku. Faga Leye was the son of Abu Bakr, a brother of Sunjata, the first mansa of the Mali Empire. Ibn Battuta, who visited Mali during the reign of Musa's brother Sulayman, said that Musa's grandfather was named Sariq Jata. Sariq Jata may be another name for Sunjata, who was actually Musa's great-uncle. The date of Musa's birth is unknown, but he still appeared to be a young man in 1324. The Tarikh al-fattash claims that Musa accidentally killed Kanku at some point prior to his hajj.
Musa ascended to power in the early 1300s under unclear circumstances. According to Musa's own account, his predecessor as mansa of Mali, presumably Muhammad ibn Qu, launched two expeditions to explore the Atlantic Ocean (200 ships for the first exploratory mission and 2,000 ships for the second). The mansa led the second expedition himself, and appointed Musa as his deputy to rule the empire until he returned. When he did not return, Musa was crowned as mansa himself, marking a transfer of the line of succession from the descendants of Sunjata to the descendants of his brother Abu Bakr. Some modern historians have cast doubt on Musa's version of events, suggesting he may have deposed his predecessor and devised the story about the voyage to explain how he took power. Nonetheless, the possibility of such a voyage has been taken seriously by several historians.
According to the Tarikh al-Fattash, Musa had a wife named Inari Konte.
Musa was a devout Muslim, and his pilgrimage to Mecca, also known as hajj, made him well known across Northern Africa and the Middle East. To Musa, Islam was "an entry into the cultured world of the Eastern Mediterranean". He would have spent much time fostering the growth of the religion within his empire.
Musa made his pilgrimage between 1324 and 1325 spanning 2,700 miles. His procession reportedly included 60,000 men, all wearing brocade and Persian silk, including 12,000 slaves, who each carried 1.8 kg (4 lb) of gold bars, and heralds dressed in silks, who bore gold staffs, organized horses, and handled bags. Musa provided all necessities for the procession, feeding the entire company of men and animals. Those animals included 80 camels which each carried 23–136 kg (50–300 lb) of gold dust. Musa gave the gold to the poor he met along his route. Musa not only gave to the cities he passed on the way to Mecca, including Cairo and Medina, but also traded gold for souvenirs. It was reported that he built a mosque every Friday.
Musa's journey was documented by several eyewitnesses along his route. These eyewitnesses invariably were in awe of his wealth and the extensive procession that followed him. Records exist in a variety of sources, including journals, oral accounts, and histories. Musa is known to have visited the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, Al-Nasir Muhammad in July 1324. Al-Umari, who visited Cairo shortly after Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca, noted that it was "a lavish display of power, wealth, and unprecedented by its size and pageantry". Musa made a major point of showing off his nation's wealth. His goal was to make his kingdom known to the outside world. He succeeded greatly in this, so much so that he landed himself and Mali on the Catalan Atlas of 1375.
Musa embarked on a large building program, raising mosques and madrasas in Timbuktu and Gao. Most notably, the ancient center of learning Sankore Madrasah (or University of Sankore) was constructed during his reign.
In Niani, Musa built the Hall of Audience, a building connected by an interior door to the royal palace. It was an admirable monument, surmounted by a dome and adorned with arabesques of striking colors. The wooden window frames of an upper story were plated with silver foil; those of a lower story with gold. Like the Great Mosque, a contemporaneous and grandiose structure in Timbuktu, the Hall was built of cut stone.
During the reign of Mansa Musa, there was an advanced level of urban living in the major centers of Mali. At the height of his power, Mali had at least 400 cities, and the interior of the Niger Delta was very densely populated.
It is recorded that Mansa Musa traveled through the cities of Timbuktu and Gao on his way to Mecca, and made them a part of his empire when he returned around 1325. He brought architects from Andalusia, a region in Spain, and from Cairo to build his grand palace in Timbuktu and the great Djinguereber Mosque that still stands today.
Timbuktu soon became the center of trade, culture, and Islam. Markets brought in merchants from Hausaland, Egypt, and other African kingdoms. A university was founded in the city (as well as in the Malian cities of Djenne and Segou), and Islam was spread through the markets and university, making Timbuktu a new center for Islamic scholarship. News of the Malian empire's city of wealth even traveled across the Mediterranean to southern Europe, where traders from Venice, Granada, and Genoa soon added Timbuktu to their maps to trade manufactured goods for gold.
The University of Sankore in Timbuktu was restaffed under Musa's reign with jurists, astronomers, and mathematicians. The university became a center of learning and culture, drawing Muslim scholars from around Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu.
In 1330, the kingdom of Mossi invaded and conquered the city of Timbuktu. Gao had already been captured by Musa's general, and Musa quickly regained Timbuktu, built a rampart and stone fort, and placed a standing army to protect the city from future invaders.
While Musa's palace has since vanished, the university and mosque still stand in Timbuktu today.
By the end of Mansa Musa's reign, the Sankoré University had been converted into a fully staffed University with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria. The Sankoré University was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with roughly 1,000,000 manuscripts.
The date of Mansa Musa's death is not certain. Using the reign lengths reported by Ibn Khaldun to calculate back from the death of Mansa Suleyman in 1360, Musa would have died in 1332. However, Ibn Khaldun also reports that Musa sent an envoy to congratulate Abu al-Hasan Ali for his conquest of Tlemcen, which took place in May 1337, but by the time Abu al-Hasan sent an envoy in response, Musa had died and Suleyman was on the throne, suggesting that Musa died in 1337. In contrast, al-Umari, writing twelve years after Musa's hajj, in approximately 1337, claimed that Musa returned to Mali intending to abdicate and return to live in Mecca but died before he could do so, suggesting that he died even earlier than 1332. It is possible that it was actually Musa's son Maghan who congratulated Abu al-Hasan, or Maghan who received Abu al-Hasan's envoy after Musa's death. The latter possibility is corroborated by Ibn Khaldun calling Suleyman Musa's son in that passage, suggesting he may have confused Musa's brother Suleyman with Musa's son Maghan. Alternatively, it is possible that the four-year reign Ibn Khaldun credits Maghan with actually referred to his ruling Mali while Musa was away on the hajj, and he only reigned briefly in his own right. Nevertheless, 1337 is deemed to be the most likely date for Musa's death and is the one set forth here.
Musa's hajj has been regarded as the most illustrious moment in the history of West Africa. Musa's reign is commonly regarded as Mali's golden age, but this perception may be the result of his reign being the best recorded by Arabic sources, rather than him necessarily being the wealthiest and most powerful mansa of Mali.
Musa is less renowned in Mandé oral tradition as performed by the jeliw. He is criticized for being unfaithful to tradition, and some of the jeliw regard Musa as having wasted Mali's wealth. However, some aspects of Musa appear to have been incorporated into a figure in Mandé oral tradition known as Fajigi, which translates as "father of hope". Fajigi is remembered as having traveled to Mecca to retrieve ceremonial objects known as boliw, which feature in Mandé traditional religion. As Fajigi, Musa is sometimes conflated with a figure in oral tradition named Fakoli, who is best known as Sunjata's top general. The figure of Fajigi combines both Islam and traditional beliefs.
The name "Musa" has become virtually synonymous with pilgrimage in Mandé tradition, such that other figures who are remembered as going on a pilgrimage, such as Fakoli, are also called Musa.
Musa has been considered the wealthiest human ever. Though some sources have estimated his wealth as equivalent to US$400 billion, his actual wealth is impossible to accurately calculate. Contemporary Arabic sources may have been trying to express that Musa had more gold than they thought possible, rather than trying to give an exact number. Furthermore, it is difficult to meaningfully compare the wealth of historical figures such as Mansa Musa, due to the difficulty of separating the personal wealth of a monarch from the wealth of the state and the difficulty of comparing wealth in highly different societies. Musa may have brought as much as 18 tons of gold on his hajj, equal in value to over US$957 million in 2022. Musa himself further promoted the appearance of having vast, inexhaustible wealth by spreading rumors that gold grew like a plant in his kingdom.
Mas‘udi, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali al- (Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Mas‘udi) (Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi) (b. 893/896, Baghdad - d. September 956, Cairo, Egypt). One of the most eminent Arab writers. His works comprise geography, history, heresiography, comparativism, general philosophy, science, Muslim law and its principles. He also wrote the history of ‘Ali, of the Family of the Prophet, of the Twelver Shi‘a, and of the Imamate.
Born in Baghdad in the late ninth century, he spent twenty years travelling in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and parts of eastern Africa. In 915/916, he journeyed to Madagascar, apparently visiting Zanzibar and various east African towns along the way. However, the places he named cannot be identified today. His description of Islamic culture in east Africa helped to give rise to the false notion that there was a centralized Zanj Empire.
Al-Mas‘udi never visited West Africa. However, he recorded other travellers’ accounts of the western Sudan. His writings contain an important description of the “silent barter” through which traders of the ancient Ghana Empire obtained gold from their southern neighbors.
The best known among the 36 titles listed are a great history of the world, which is said to have filled 30 volumes; a work containing generalities regarding the universe and information of a historical nature on non-Muslim peoples (including the pre-Islamic Arabs) and the history of Islam, from the Prophet up to the caliphate of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mut‘i li-‘llah, and finally, a work called Warning and Revision, which is basically an overall review.
Al-Mas‘udi traveled extensively, gathering enormous quantities of information on poorly known lands. His work helped set the tone for future Arabic scholarship. He has been called the Herodotus of the Arabs.
Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Husain al-Mas‘udi came from an Arab family in Baghdad which claimed descent from one of the early Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, though some sources erroneously describe him as of North African origin. His educational background is unknown, but his career reflects a catholic and almost insatiable thirst for knowledge.
By the standards of the tenth century, al-Mas‘udi was a peerless traveler and explorer, whose feats surpass those of Marco Polo more than three centuries later. He began his travels as a young man, visiting Iran, including the cities of Kerman and Istakhr, around 915. Subsequently, he fell in with a group of merchants bound for India and Ceylon. Later, al-Mas‘udi seems to have found his way as far as southern China. On his return from China, he made a reconnaisance of the East African coast as far as Madagascar, then visited Oman and other parts of southern Arabia. There followed a visit to Iran, particularly the region of the Elburz Mountains, south of the Caspian Sea.
On yet another journey, al-Mas‘udi visited the Levant. He examined various ruins in Antioch and reported on relics in the possession of a Christian church in Tiberias in 943. Two years later, he returned to Syria, settling there for most of the remainder of his life. From Syria, he paid several extended visits to Egypt. Although it is uncertain whether he traveled there, al-Mas‘udi’s writing also demonstrates detailed knowledge of the lands of North Africa.
Al-Mas‘udi’s written work is characterized by his adherence to the rationalist Mutazilite school of Islamic thought. The Mutazilites, who applied logical analysis to fundamental questions of human existence and religious law, combined an intellectual disposition with a preference for vocal activism.
Regrettably, much of al-Mas‘udi’s literary work has been lost, so that in modern times it is known only by the references of others and from his own summaries in extant material. Only a single volume remains extant, for example, out of perhaps thirty that constituted al-Mas‘udi’s monumental attempt to write a history of the world. The surviving volume covers the myth of creation and geographical background as well as the legendary history of early Egypt.
The major work of al-Mas‘udi which has survived is Muruj al-Dhahab wa-Ma‘adin al-Jawhar (947 -- partial translation as Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems [1841]). Apparently, there was a considerably larger, revised 956 edition of this work, but it is not extant. Al-Mas‘udi laid out his philosophy of history and the natural world in Kitab al-Tanbih w’al-Ishraf (book of indications and revisions), a summary of his life’s work.
In his books, al-Mas‘udi presents a remarkable variety of information. His material on peoples and conditions on the periphery of the Islamic world is of vital importance, as modern knowledge of this aspect of Islamic history is extremely scanty. For modern scholars, however, al-Mas‘udi’s style and critical commentary leave something to be desired. His presentation jumps from subject to subject, without following a consistent system. Al-Mas‘udi made little attempt to distinguish among his sources or to obtain original versions of information, as, for example, the eleventh century geographer/historian al-Biruni was careful to do. He treated a sailor’s anecdote or a folktale in the same way as he did a map or a manuscript.
On the other hand, al-Mas‘udi’s uncritical approach doubtless led to the preservation of material, much of it useful, which would not have found its way into the work of a more conventional scholar. Al-Mas ‘udi expressed none of the condescension one sometimes finds in other writings of the time for non-Muslim authorities. He displays as much enthusiasm for learning what lay outside Islam as he does for Islamic teaching. The broad scope of his investigations was without precedent.
The juxtaposition of sources of varying authority in al-Masudi’s work is enough to raise skeptical questions in the minds of modern readers. In discussing the geography of the Indian Ocean, for example, he first presents the “official” version, heavily dependent on erroneous ideas borrowed from Ptolemy and other Hellenistic writers, who regarded the sea as largely landlocked and accessible only through a few narrow entrances. Al-Mas‘udi then lays out contrary -- and more accurate -- information about the Indian Ocean drawn from sailors’ tales and from his own experience, indicative of the vastness of the ocean and the cultural diversity of the countries surrounding it. He also presents the orthodox notion of his time that the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea were connected, followed by an account of his own explorations which revealedthat they are separate bodies of water.
Al-Mas‘udi departed from established form in presenting his information in a loosely topical manner, organized around ethnic groups, dynasties, and the reigns of important rulers instead of the year-by-year chronicle method typical of the time. In this respect, he anticipated the famed fourteenth century Islamic historian Ibn Khaldun, whose work, in turn, represents a major step toward modern historical scholarship.
A noteworthy feature of al-Mas‘udi’s observations of nature is his attention to geologic forces which shape the environment. Although his comments sprang mostly from intuition, they were often prescient of modern scientific theory. He wrote, for example, of physical forces changing what once was seabed into dry land and of the nature of volcanic activity.
Al-Mas‘udi deserves to be included among the major Arabic historians, despite the loss of most of his work. His career marks the introduction of a new intellectual curiosity in Islam, one that sought knowledge for its own sake and paid scant attention to the boundaries between Islam and the rest of the world. His fascination with geographical elements in history and human affairs would be taken up by many later Arabic scholars.
Western historians have suggested that al-Mas‘udi’s intellectual disposition reflects the development of Hellenistic influence in Islamic scholarship, foreshadowing the pervasive Greek character in non-theological Islamic writing in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, particularly in Mediterranean lands. He has been conpared both to Herodotus of the fifth century B.C. T. And to the first century of the Christian calendar. Roman geographer/historian Pliny the Elder. Lack of knowledge about al-Mas‘udi’s training and education makes such judgments problematic, but there can be no doubt that his work is in many respects prototypical of what was to come in Islam.
Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Mas‘udi see Mas‘udi, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali al-
Mehmed II (Mehmed II Fatih) (Mehmet II) (Muhammad II) (Meḥmed-i s̠ānī) (el-Fātiḥ -- "the Conqueror") (Fatih Sultan Mehmet) (Mahomet II) (March 30, 1432, Edirne – May 3, 1481, Hünkârçayırı, near Gebze). Ottoman sultan (1444-1446 and 1451-1481). His byname (Fatih) means, in Turkish, “the Conqueror.”
Mehmed II was born on March 30, 1432, in Edirne as son of sultan Murad II and a slave girl. In 1444, according to the tradition of the sultan’s sons, he was sent to Manisa (near Izmir) for training. His father abdicated, and gave the throne to Mehmed when he was only 12 years old. The task proved to be very difficult for the boy, as there were many tensions inside the empire as well as serious threats along the border.
In May 1446, against Mehmed’s will, Murad returned to power, in order to bring stability to the empire.
On February 18, 1451, following his father’s death earlier in the month, Mehmed ascended the throne for the second time. His authority in the empire was, at this point, far from established. The first group he had to take control over were the Janissaries – a group that had been strong enough to play a crucial part in getting him removed from power five years earlier.
In 1452, Mehmed began the preparations for the conquering of Constantinople. He managed to sign favorable peace treaties with Venice and Hungary, in order to make them neutral. He started several important projects to prepare for war, like building the fortress of Bagazkesen in order to control the Strait of Bosphorus, and constructing thirty-one galleys and building canons and cast guns of a caliber yet unknown in Europe.
On April 6, 1453, the siege of Constantinople began, despite the heavy opposition of the grand vizier Candarli. On May 29, 1453, Constantinople gave in, and was sacked by the Ottoman troops. On May 30, 1453, Mehmed stopped the looting of Constantinople; converted the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, and began planning for the new city, which would be known as Istanbul. This day he also had his grand vizier Candarli arrested and later executed.
Later in 1453, a big effort was begun to repopulate Constantinople by encouraging Greek and Genoese traders to return, deporting Muslims and Christians to Istanbul, and promoting religious institutions for Jews, Armenians, and other Christian groups.
On August 11, 1473, Mehmed achieved what was arguably his most strategic victory when he defeated the Turmen leader Uzun Hasan at Bashkent. With this victory, Mehmed achieved full control over Anatolia.
Mehmed died on May 3, 1481, in Hunkarcayiri near Maltepe near Istanbul.
Mehmed was sultan twice. The first time was a very problematic period, as his court was weakened by the conflict between his grand vizier Candarli hall and the 2 viziers Zaganos and Sihabeddin. Along the borders, Christian Crusaders were attacking from the north (near Varna, in today’s Romania). It was his father, the abdicated sultan Murad I who first defeated the Crusaders, and later returned to office in order to bring stability back to the empire.
While Mehmed’s first period as sultan was a flop, his return was a great one. He is deemed to be one of the greatest of the Ottoman sultans. In addition to conquering Constantinople, Mehmed put great emphasis on culture, science and law. He brought some of the greatest European minds to his court, built libraries, colleges, and invited peoples of different races and religions to move to Istanbul (as Constantinople was named) – thereby creating the foundations for the greatness for this city in centuries to follow. His success and fame was for a time so strong that he assumed the title Kayser-i Rum (Roman Caesar).
Mehmed II Fatih see Mehmed II
Mehmed the Conqueror see Mehmed II
Mehmet II see Mehmed II
Muhammad II see Mehmed II
Mehmed-i sani see Mehmed II
Fatih Sultan Mehmet see Mehmed II
Mu‘awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan
Muʿāwiyah I was an early Islamic leader and founder of the great Umayyad dynasty of caliphs. He fought against the fourth caliph, ʿAlī (Muhammad’s son-in-law), seized Egypt, and assumed the caliphate after ʿAlī’s assassination in 661. He restored unity to the Muslim empire and made Damascus its capital. He reigned from 661 to 680.
It is ironic that a man who was to become the political-religious head of Islam was born into a clan (ʿAbd Shams) that rejected the Prophet Muhammad in his home city, Mecca, and continued to oppose him on the battlefield after he had emigrated to Medina. Muʿāwiyah did not become a Muslim until Muhammad had conquered Mecca and had reconciled his former enemies by gifts. Possibly as a part of Muhammad’s policy of conciliation, Muʿāwiyah was made a scribe in his service. But Muʿāwiyah’s contributions to Islamic history are wholly associated with his career in Syria, which began shortly after the death of the Prophet, when he, along with his brother Yazīd, served in the tribal armies sent from Arabia against the Byzantine forces in Syria.
Upon the death of Yazīd in 640, Muʿāwiyah was appointed governor of Damascus by the caliph ʿUmar and gradually gained mastery over other areas of Syria. By 647 Muʿāwiyah had built a Syrian tribal army strong enough to repel a Byzantine attack and in subsequent years to take the offensive against the Byzantines in campaigns that resulted in the capture of Cyprus (649) and Rhodes (654) and a devastating defeat of the Byzantine navy off the coast of Lycia in Anatolia (655). At the same time, Muʿāwiyah periodically dispatched land expeditions into Anatolia. All these campaigns, however, came to a halt with the accession of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib to the caliphate, when a new and decisive phase of Muʿāwiyah’s career began.
As a kinsman of the slain caliph ʿUthmān, Muʿāwiyah bore the duty of revenge. Because ʿAlī neglected to apprehend and punish ʿUthmān’s murderers, Muʿāwiyah regarded him as an accomplice to the murder and refused to acknowledge his caliphate. Thereupon ʿAlī marched to the Euphrates border of Syria and engaged Muʿāwiyah’s troops at the famous Battle of Ṣiffīn (657). Muʿāwiyah’s guile turned near defeat into a truce. Resorting to a trick that played upon the religious sensibilities of ʿAlī’s forces, he persuaded the enemy to enter into negotiations that ultimately cast doubt on the legitimacy of ʿAlī’s caliphate and alienated a sizable number of his supporters. When these former supporters—the Khārijites—rose in rebellion against ʿAlī, Muʿāwiyah took advantage of ʿAlī’s difficulties in Iraq to send a force to seize control of Egypt. Thus, when ʿAlī was assassinated in 661, Muʿāwiyah held both Syria and Egypt and, as commander of the largest force in the Muslim empire, had the strongest claim to the caliphate. ʿAlī’s son Ḥasan was persuaded to remove himself from public life in exchange for a subsidy, which Muʿāwiyah provided.
During his 20-year governorship of Syria and during the war against ʿAlī, Muʿāwiyah had succeeded in recruiting and training a large Arab tribal army that was remarkably loyal to him. It was therefore natural that he should base his caliphate in Syria, with Damascus as the new capital of Islam. But, if Muʿāwiyah’s chief support came from the tribes of Syria, the tribes of other areas posed the chief threat to his reign. It is not surprising then that early Umayyad government followed certain tribal principles as a means of retaining and winning the loyalty of the Arabs. The clearest examples of such a policy are provided by Muʿāwiyah’s adoption of two tribal institutions: the council of notables—the shūrā—which was convoked by the caliph for consultation and the delegations—wufūd—which were sent by tribes to keep the caliph informed of their interest. Within this context, Muʿāwiyah ruled as a traditional Arab chieftain. Although he may not have consciously encouraged renewed warfare against non-Muslim territory as a means of directing Bedouin aggressive tendencies into channels that would aggrandize Islam and stabilize his own power, there is no doubt that warfare served these purposes during his reign, and in this respect it is significant that Muʿāwiyah used the Syrian army only for domestic defense and for campaigns against the Byzantines, who threatened the borders of Syria.
During the civil war, Muʿāwiyah had purchased a truce with the Byzantines in order to free his army for the struggle against ʿAlī. Soon after his accession to the caliphate, however, he curtailed the payment of tribute and sent expeditions against the Byzantines almost yearly. These campaigns served both to fulfill Muʿāwiyah’s obligation to conduct holy war (jihad) against unbelievers and to keep his Syrian troops in fighting trim. Otherwise, the war against Byzantium was inconclusive. Even though two expeditions reached the vicinity of Constantinople, the Arabs never succeeded in permanently occupying territory in Asia Minor beyond the Taurus Mountains. Troops stationed in other parts of Muʿāwiyah’s empire were sent on campaigns into remote areas. In North Africa, raids were conducted as far west as Tlemcen in present-day Algeria. More permanent, however, was the conquest of Tripolitania and Ifrīqīyah, which was consolidated by the foundation in 670 of the garrison city of Kairouan, soon to become the base for further expansion later in the Umayyad period. At the same time, a vigorous campaign was being conducted in the east by means of which Muslim borders were extended to the Oxus River and Khorāsān was established as an Umayyad province.
It had become apparent during the reigns of the first caliphs that tribal tradition and the practices of Muhammad in Medina were inadequate resources for administering a vast empire. To solve this problem, Muʿāwiyah resorted to a solution that lay at hand in Syria—that is, the imitation of administrative procedures that had evolved during centuries of Roman and Byzantine rule there. Although the process by which the borrowing took place is not fully known, it is clear that Muʿāwiyah initiated certain practices that were apparently inspired by the previous tradition. Basically, he aimed at increased organization and centralization of the caliphal government in order to exert control over steadily expanding territories. This he achieved by the establishment of bureaus—dīwāns—in Damascus to conduct the affairs of government efficiently. Early Arabic sources credit two dīwāns in particular to Muʿāwiyah: the dīwān al-khatam, or chancellery, and the barīd, or postal service, both of which were obviously intended to improve communications within the empire. Prominent positions within the nascent bureaucracy were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments. The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious tolerance that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, especially in Syria itself.
Such administrative innovations coupled with the observance of tribal traditions caused historians of a later period to deny Muʿāwiyah the religious title of caliph and to characterize him as a king (malik) instead. As a symbol of the increasingly secular nature of the caliphate, derived in part from a non-Islamic tradition, the title is apt for Muʿāwiyah and for most of the Umayyads. It is particularly appropriate for the most startling of all of Muʿāwiyah’s innovations, the one by which he secured the allegiance of the tribes for the caliphate of his son Yazīd and thereby established the practice of hereditary rule in Islam. As an alternative to the various unreliable precedents for selecting a caliph, this measure was certainly consonant with Muʿāwiyah’s policy and achievement as caliph, which, in summary, consisted of invigorating the theocratic origins of Islamic governance with borrowings from other traditions better adapted to the demands of tribesmen and the needs of an empire.
Muʿāwiyah stands out as one of the few caliphs who is depicted both in Muslim historiography and in modern scholarship as a decisive force in Islamic history. Undoubtedly one reason for the prominence that is assigned to him is that he was a controversial figure. Pious scholars of the dominant Sunni sect of Islam, together with writers of the minority, dissenting Shīʿites, have always heaped opprobrium on Muʿāwiyah: the Sunni because of his deviations from the pattern of leadership set by the Prophet Muhammad and the “rightly guided” caliphs, the Shīʿites because he had usurped the caliphate from ʿAlī.
Although Muʿāwiyah has been and still is condemned for his sins from these two quarters, he has also been the subject of lavish praise in Arabic literature as the ideal ruler. Unlike most of the other caliphs, Muʿāwiyah looms large in Islamic history because he has consistently aroused partisanship at different extremes. But, beneath the biased portraits given in traditional Muslim historiography, there is a person whose actual accomplishments were of great magnitude quite apart from partisan value judgments and interpretations. These accomplishments lay primarily in political and military administration, through which Muʿāwiyah was able to rebuild a Muslim state that had fallen into anarchy and to renew the Arab Muslim military offensive against unbelievers.
Mu'awiyah I see Mu‘awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan
Moawiyah see Mu‘awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan
Muhammad (Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh) (Muhammed) (Mohammed) (ca. 570/571, Mecca – June 8, 632). The Prophet of Islam. Belief that Muhammad is the Messenger of God is second only to belief in the Oneness of God according to the Muslim profession of faith (in Arabic, shahada), the quintessential Islamic creed. Muhammad has a highly exalted role at the heart of Muslim faith. At the same time the Qur’an and Islamic orthodoxy insist that he was fully human with no supernatural powers.
Born around 570, Muhammad grew up as an orphan. At the age of 25, he married Khadija, and it was at the age of 40 or 43 that he began to have visions and hear mysterious voices. Key themes in his early recitations include the idea of the moral responsibility of man who was created by God, and the idea of judgment to take place on the Day of Resurrection. To these are added vivid descriptions of the tortures of the damned in hellfire and the pleasures of the believers in Paradise. The religious duties that the Qur’an imposed on the Prophet and his followers during the Meccan years were few in number: one should believe in God, appeal to God for forgiveness of sins, offer prayers frequently, including long night vigils, assist others (especially those who are in need), free oneself from the love of delusive wealth and from all forms of cheating, lead a chaste life, and not expose new born girls to die in the desert.
When the Meccan merchants discovered that the Prophet attacked on principle the gods of Mecca, they realized that a religious revolution might be dangerous for their fairs and their trade. But during the Meccan years, the Prophet had not thought of founding a new religion. His task was only that of a warner, charged with the task of informing the Arabs, to whom no prophet had been sent before, that the Day of Judgment was approaching. The Jews and Christians must also testify to the truth of his preaching, since the same revelation had been sent down to them previously. It is in this context that the meaning of the repeatedly discussed term ummi, often translated as “illiterate,” is best understood. As applied to the Prophet in Sura 7:157, the term appears to mean “one who has not previously been given the Book of God.” After the emigration of some of the Prophet’s followers to Abyssinia, a few notables in Mecca were won for the new teaching, but the religious reform of his native city must be regarded as having failed, as also an attempt to establish himself in Ta’if failed. It is at this point that some accounts place the Night Journey to Jerusalem (in Arabic, isra’) and the Ascension to Heaven (in Arabic, mi‘raj). The Prophet persevered in his search for a new sphere of activity outside of Mecca, and found it in Yathrib (later called Medina).
After he had entered into relations with some Medinans who had come as pilgrims to Mecca in 621, the latter began to spread Islam in their native town. After a preliminary conference in al-‘Aqaba, he was able to conclude at the same place, during the pilgrimage of 622, a formal agreement with a considerable number of Medinans, in they pledged themselves to take him into their community and to protect him. These negotiations produced great bitterness in Mecca, and the believers slipped away to Medina, on September 24, 622.
Slowly at first, and then in larger numbers, the Medinans adopted Islam. During his first year in Medina, the Prophet devoted considerable attention to the Jews. His relations with any Christians who may have been in Medina can only be surmised from references in the Qur’an. In the so-called “Constitution of Medina,” the Prophet established a formal agreement with all of the significant tribes and families and he revealed his great diplomatic skills in his dealings with the Jews. But they would not accept his claims to a new religion, and the Qur’an accuses them of concealing parts of their holy scriptures. The Prophet also came to believe that the Christian scriptures did not preserve the actual message and teachings of the prophet Jesus.
It was at this point that the nascent Muslim community took on a pronounced national character through the adoption of various elements from ancient Arabian worship. This decisive change in the course of Islam occurred in the second year of the Hijra (July 623-June 624), and was signaled by the much discussed “change of the Qibla” from Jerusalem to the ancient sanctuary
Now the inevitable necessity arose of forcing admission to Mecca. The Prophet sent some of his followers to Nakhla, where they succeeded in capturing a Meccan caravan. In 624, the Muslims succeeded in completely routing the far more numerous Meccan enemy in the battle of Badr. The Jewish tribe of Qaynuqa’ was forced to leave Medina, while alliances were concluded with a number of Bedouin tribes. At the battle of Uhud in 624, the Prophet was wounded and the Meccans were victorious, but the expected negative consequences of this setback did not materialize in Medina. A second Medinan Jewish tribe, the Banu’l-Nadir, who were delighted at the Prophet’s misfortune, were forced to emigrate to Khaybar.
In 626, the Meccans set out with a large army against Medina. The Prophet had a trench (in Persian, khandaq) dug, and after the siege had dragged on, the besiegers gradually began to retire. After that the Prophet declared war on the Jewish tribe of the Qurayza, and all of their men were killed.
He then turned his major attention to the north and led two of the expeditions himself, one against the Banu Lihyan in 627, the other against the Banu Mustaliq. In 628, he felt strong enough to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca. He encamped at al-Hudaybiya, where he agreed to the proposal of the Meccans that the Muslims would return the following year to perform the so-called “little pilgrimage” (in Arabic, ‘umra). He also concluded a ten years’ truce with the Quraysh. This so-called “Treaty of al-Hudaybiya” represented a brilliant act of diplomacy on his part, in that he had induced the Meccans to recognize him as an equal. In 628, the fertile oasis of Khaybar, inhabited by Jews, was captured.
At about this time, hadith puts the dispatch of letters from the Prophet to the Muqawqis of Alexandria, the Negus of Abyssinia, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, the Persian king, and a number of others, in which he demanded that they adopt Islam.
Early in 629, the Prophet performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and accomplished the reconciliation with his family, the clan of Hashim. A few of the most important Meccans, such as the military men Khalid ibn al-Walid and ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, became Muslims. In the meantime, the Prophet continued his military expeditions. His forces suffered a serious reverse in the battle of Mu’ta in Transjordan against the Byzantines. The belligerent party in Mecca decided to support one of their client clans, the Banu Bakr, against the Banu Khuza‘a, who were allied to the Prophet. This, according to the custom among the Arabs at that time, was seen on both sides as breaking the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya, freeing the Prophet to attack Meccan caravans and even the city itself.
In December 629, Muhammad set out against Mecca. Not far from the town he was met by some Quraysh, who paid homage to him and obtained an amnesty for all Quraysh who abandoned armed resistance. Thus, the Prophet was able to enter his native city practically without a struggle. He acted with great generosity and demanded only the destruction of all idols in and around Mecca. After that he returned to Medina. His forces then routed the Hawazin tribes of central Arabia at Hunayn, but were unable to take Ta’if, which only surrendered in 630.
In 630, many embassies came to Medina from different parts of Arabia to submit to the conqueror of Mecca on behalf of their tribes. Although the Prophet’s appeal for a campaign against northern Arabia met with little support, he carried through with his plan. The campaign against Tabuk in 630 was indecisive by itself, but the petty Christian and Jewish states in the north of Arabia submitted to him, as did small groups of Bedouins in regions so far away from Medina as Bahrain, Oman and South Arabia.
In March 632, the Prophet carried through the first truly Islamic pilgrimage, the so-called “Farewell Pilgrimage.” Only a month before his death, Muhammad began preparations for a great expedition against Trans-jordan that he intended to lead himself. At about this time the appearance of rival “prophet’s,” such as al-Aswad, Musaylima and Tulayha, provoked disturbances.
The Prophet suddenly fell ill and died on June 8, 632. The really powerful factor in his life and the essential clue to his extraordinary success was his unshakable belief from beginning to end that he had been called by God.
Stories about the Prophet, his life and his intercession have permeated popular Muslim thought everywhere, and although he never claimed to have performed any miracle, traditional folk poetry indulges in extensive descriptions of his marvellous attributes and actions.
Immediately after the first Arab conquests, the professional story-tellers began to compose and disseminate stories of the life of the Prophet. A specimen of this sort of literature, which belonged to the historical novel rather than to history, was the “Book of the military campaigns” of Wahb ibn Munabbih. The oldest author of a biography of the Prophet was ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr. Oral transmissions by Aban ibn ‘Uthman (642-723), a son of the third caliph, were collected by ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Mughira (d. before 742). These earliest productions are given the name “military campaigns.” Works of historians like Shihab al-Zuhri (671-741) and Musa ibn ‘Uqba (d. 758) also bear this title. The most famous biography of the Prophet is that of Ibn Ishaq -- the Sirah -- in the recension of Ibn Hisham, who preserved almost intact the primitive text of Ibn Ishaq. Other famous biographers in early Islam were Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Waqidi and Muhammad ibn Sa‘d (d. 844).
Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah see Muhammad
Muhammed see Muhammad
Mohammed see Muhammad
The Prophet of Islam see Muhammad
The Messenger of God see Muhammad
‘Abduh, Muhammad (Muhammad 'Abduh) (Muhammed 'Abduh) (1849 - July 11, 1905). Egyptian scholar and reformer who is regarded as the architect of Islamic modernism. The birth year of Muhammad ‘Abduh coincided with the death of Muhammad ‘Ali, the Albanian adventurer and creator of modern Egypt. ‘Ali’s regime, in political terms, generated the issues of modern change associated in intellectual terms with ‘Abduh’s pioneer leadership as a journalist, theologian, jurist and – in the last six years of his life – grand mufti of Egypt. The initial factors in his career were his traditional studies at al-Azhar University and an early commitment to Sufism with the Shadhili order of mystical discipline and the practice of dhikr and ta‘widh. His university studies ensured not only his grounding in the skills of an ‘alim but also his awareness of the inhibitions of taqlid (adherence to tradition), against which his reforming energies were later directed. Although he intellectually renounced his Sufi background, it continued to impart a quality of piety to his academic concerns for liberation from the harmful effects of taqlid.
The crucial influence in his development was the impact of Jalal al-Din al-Afghani (1839-1897), a strenuous advocate of a unitary Islam who emphasized the concept of umma (community) against the regionalism that in the twentieth century of the Christian calendar was to break up allegiance to the Ottoman empire into nationalism and the nation state. Pan-Islam was al-Afghani’s response to British rule in Egypt and to European domination in general. ‘Abduh was drawn into the cause and became editor of the journal Al-‘urwah al-wuthqa (“Firm Handhold” or "The Firmest Bond"), which took its title from a Qur’anic phrase (Suras 2:256 and 31:22). Despite the brevity of its publication in the 1880s, the journal kindled the enthusiasm of a generation of writers, including Rashid Rida, ultimately ‘Abduh’s biographer and his chief literary legatee.
‘Abduh was exiled from Egypt between 1882 and 1888, when he made wide contact with kindred minds in Syria and North Africa, with a short sojourn also in France. After his return to Cairo, his thoughts and efforts were drawn increasingly toward education and a renewal of Islamic theology. Given the ambiguities implicit in Arab Ottomanism and the actualities of British power in Egypt, he sensed that political activism had to be accompanied, if not overtaken, by the invigoration of the Muslim mind. Western influences had taken hold ever since Napoleon’s intrusion into the Arab East, but largely in practical forms – arms, trade, travel, and finance. A response to modernity had to be made in the way Islam perceived itself. ‘Abduh’s training in the familiar scholastic patterns of tafsir (Qur’anic exegesis or commentary) and fiqh (jurisprudence) had made him aware of the impediment to critical self-awareness in those habits and attitudes. The zest he had acquired from al-Afghani he now harnessed to intellectual ends. The attitude and training of the ‘ulama’, as he saw them, had entrenched them in the citation of authority, the appeal to sacrosanct exegesis, and a supine satisfaction with static norms. This taqlid, or “hideboundness” (to adopt a harsh translation), had its origins in the bases of Islam’s concept of wahy (“revelation”) in the Qur’an and in the assumption of isnad (“reliance”) on which its handling of tradition had long relied. Once an instinct of loyalty to the past and as such characteristic of Muslim scholarship, taqlid had come to sap the genuine articulation of Islam’s meaning and quality.
To achieve emancipation from the mentality of taqlid and yet retain Islamic authenticity was therefore a formidable task. ‘Abduh shouldered it with admirable tenacity, patience, and resilience, corroborating his scholarly credentials by earning increasing personal stature, despite the toll on his health and resources caused by pressure from reactionary forces. The idea that the shari‘a could be subject to wise discretion and that even theology could be flexible within limits served to enliven theological education, to increase student initiative, and to give scope to existing ideas of istihsan and istislah (considerations of equity through appeal to well-being and good sense).
The main ground of ‘Abduh’s “liberal-loyal” equation was the conviction that revelation and reason, each rightly perceived, were inherently harmonious. In Risalat al-tawhid ("The Theology of Unity" or "On Monotheism"), his most popular work, ‘Abduh expounded his conviction that “every sound speculation led to a belief in God as He is described in the Qur’an.” ‘Abduh held that the premise on which this belief rested was such as to make proof unnecessary. There were things about which it was not permissable to inquire, where curiosity could lead only to “confusion of belief.” Nevertheless, what was given in revelation should be rationally possessed – a task incumbent on every generation. There was no need to raise questions of theodicy, but sound exegesis should avoid crudely reading into the Qur’an anticipations of new discoveries and inventions. The purpose of revelation was essentially religious. What reason as science could achieve on its own, God had left it to do, and faith must respect its methods. ‘Abduh sustained the traditional case for the ‘ijaz (matchlessness) of the Qur’an as conclusive evidence of its divine origin. He identified as a form of shirk (“associationalism,” or more broadly “not letting God be God”) any reluctance to apply rationality to issues of society or to refuse its scientific fruits. Such reluctance would be a disavowal of divine creation. Shari‘a law was to be interpreted by the same principle of divinely created status and human custody in harmony.
At the time of his death, ‘Abduh was in his middle fifties. The bitter opposition he suffered from both academic and legal foes was proof of the measure of his influence and the range of his vision for a renewed Islam. His ideas found some continuing expression through the pages of the influential journal Al-manar (“Lighthouse”), but his disciples lacked his stature, and there is evidence of an adverse reaction to his legacy soon after his demise. From a historical perspective, however, he came to epitomize an incipient modernism, opening up a fresh viewpoint yet leaving many issues unresolved.
He died on July 11, 1905 in Alexandria, Egypt.
Muhammad ‘Abduh see ‘Abduh, Muhammad
Muhammed 'Abduh see ‘Abduh, Muhammad
Architect of Islamic Modernism see ‘Abduh, Muhammad
Muhammad bin Qasim (Muhammad bin Qasim al-Thaqafi) (Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi) (c. 693 – July 18, 715). Arab general known for his conquest of Sind in 711 at the age of seventeen. Having consolidated his authority at Debulk, he defeated Dahir and captured Brahmanabad, becoming master of Lower Sind. Aror (near modern day Rohri), Multan, and the outskirts of Kashmir came under his control. A military leader par excellence, he was recalled at the zenith of his success and executed. It is untrue that he fell from grace for having molested slave girls meant for the caliph. Instead, the death of his father-in-law, Hajjaj, and the consequent political changes were responsible for his fall. His Brahmanabad Declaration assured religious and economic freedom to the Indians and won the cooperation of Indian officers like Moka, Sisakar, and Kaksa. The Sindhis constructed statues of him at Kiraj.
Muhammad bin Qasim al-Thaqafi was an Umayyad general who, at the age of 17, began the conquest of the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River (now a part of Pakistan) for the Umayyad Caliphate. He was born in the city of Taif (in modern day Saudi Arabia). Qasim's conquest of Sindh and Punjab laid the foundations and began the era of Islamic rule in South Asia.
A member of the Thaqeef tribe, which is still settled in and around the city of Taif, Muhammad bin Qasim's father was Qasim bin Yusuf who died when Muhammad bin Qasim was young, leaving his mother in charge of his education. The Umayyad governor Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Muhammad bin Qasim's paternal uncle, was instrumental in teaching Muhammad bin Qasim about warfare and governance. Muhammad bin Qasim married his cousin Zubaidah, Hajjaj's daughter, shortly before going to Sindh. Another paternal uncle of Muhammad bin Qasim was Muhammad bin Yusuf, governor of Yemen. Under Hajjaj's patronage, Muhammad bin Qasim was made governor of Persia, where he succeeded in putting down a rebellion. At the age of seventeen, he was sent by Caliph Al-Walid I to lead an army towards the Indian sub-continent to release the Muslim children and women who were kidnapped by Hindu pirates, when they reached the port of Debul (Karachi) in what are today the Sindh and Punjab regions of Pakistan.
Umayyad interest in the region stemmed from their desire to control the trade route down the Indus River valley to the seaports of Sindh, an important link in the ancient Silk Road. They had earlier unsuccessfully sought to gain control of the route, via the Khyber Pass, from the Turki-Shahis of Gandhara. But by taking Sindh, Gandhara's southern neighbor, they were able to open a second front against Gandhara; a feat they had, on occasion, attempted before.
Umayyad interest in the region was galvanized by the operation of the Mids and others. They had preyed upon Sassanid shipping in the past, from the mouth of the Tigris to the Sri Lankan coast, in their bawarij and now were able to prey on Arab shipping from their bases at Kutch, Debal and Kathiawar. At the time, Sindh was the wild frontier region of al-Hind, inhabited mostly by semi-nomadic tribes whose activities disturbed much of the Western Indian Ocean. Muslim sources insist that it was these persistent activities along increasingly important Indian trade routes by Debal pirates and others which forced the Arabs to subjugate the area, in order to control the seaports and maritime routes of which Sindh was the nucleus, as well as, the overland passage. During Hajjaj's governorship, the Mids of Debal in one of their raids had kidnapped Muslim women travelling from Sri Lanka to Arabia, thus providing a casus belli to the rising power of the Umayyad Caliphate that enabled them to gain a foothold in the Makran, Balochistan and Sindh regions.
The campaign for the conquest of Sindh under Qasim was launched during the same period as the Umayyad conquest of Hispania and an offensive against the Kabul Shahan. It was a period of great expansion of the Umayyads under the governorship of Hajjaj, the first governor of both the Arabi and Ajami halves of the ex-Sassanid domains. Conflict was endemic among the frontier Muslims, with a considerable number seeking refuge with the king of Sindh. The period also experienced an intensification of the rivalry between Arab conquerors and the mawali; new non-Arab converts; who were usually allied with Hajjaj's political opponents and thus were frequently forced to participate in the Jihads on the frontier - such as Kabul, Sindh and Transoxania. Through conquest, the Umayyad Caliphate intended to protect its maritime interest, while also cutting off refuge for fleeing rebel chieftains as well as Sindhi military support to the Sassanid rump state. An actual push into the region had been out of favor as an Arab policy since the time of the Rashidun Caliph Umar bin Khattab, who upon receipt of reports of it being an inhospitable and poor land had stopped further expeditionary ventures into the region.
Muhammad bin Qasim's expedition was actually the third attempt, the first having failed due to stiffer-than-expected opposition as well as heat exhaustion. Hajjaj put more care and planning into the campaign of Muhammad bin Qasim than the first campaign under Badil bin Tuhfa. Hajjaj superintended this campaign from Kufa by maintaining close contact with Muhammad bin Qasim in the form of regular reports and then regularly issuing orders. The army which departed from Shiraz in 710 under Muhammad bin Qasim was 6,000 Syrian cavalry and detachments of mawali from Iraq. At the borders of Sindh he was joined by an advance guard and six thousand camel riders and later reinforcements from the governor of Makran transferred directly to Debal by sea along with five catapults. The army that eventually captured Sindh would later be swelled by the Jats and Mids as well as other irregulars that heard of successes in Sindh. When Muhammad bin Qasim passed through Makran while raising forces, he had to re-subdue the restive Umayyad towns of Fannazbur and Arman Belah (Lasbela). The first town assaulted was Debal and, upon the orders of Al-Hajjaj, Muhammad bin Qasim exacted a bloody retribution on Debal by giving no quarter to its residents or priests and destroying its great temple in the process of freeing the kidnapped women. He then settled a garrison of four thousand colonists in one quarter of Debal, building a masjid over the remains of the original temple.
From Debal, the Arab army then marched north taking towns such as Nerun and Sadusan (Sehwan) peacefully. Again the main temples were razed and masjid were built to replace them, often using their components; additionally one-fifth of the booty including slaves were dispatched to Hajjaj and the Caliph. The conquest of these towns was accomplished easily; however, Dahir's armies being prepared on the other side of the Indus were yet to be fought. In preparation to meet them, Muhammad bin Qasim moved back to Nerun to resupply and receive reinforcements sent by Hajjaj. Camped on the east bank of the Indus, Qasim sent emissaries and bargained with the river Jats and boatmen. Upon securing the aid of Mokah Basayah, "the King of the island of Bet", Muhammad bin Qasim crossed over the river where he was joined by the forces of the Thakore of Bhatta and the western Jats.
At Ar-rur (Nawabshah) he was met by Dahir's forces and the eastern Jats in battle. Dahir died in the battle, his forces were defeated and a triumphant Muhammad bin Qasim took control of Sind. In the wake of the battle enemy soldiers were put to death - but not artisans, merchants or farmers - and Dahir and his chiefs, the "daughters of princes" and the usual fifth of the booty and slaves was sent on to Hajjaj. Soon the capitals of the other provinces, Brahmanabad, Alor (Aror) and Multan, were captured alongside other in-between towns with only light Muslim casualties. Usually after a siege of a few weeks or months the Arabs gained a city through the intervention of heads of mercantile houses with whom subsequent treaties and agreements would be settled. After battles all fighting men were executed and their wives and children enslaved in considerable numbers and the usual fifth of the booty and slaves were sent to Hajjaj. The general populace was encouraged to carry on with their trades and taxes and tributes settled.
With Sindh secured Qasim sent expeditions to Surashtra, where his generals made peaceful treaty settlements with the Rashtrakuta. Sea trade from Central India passed to Byzantium via the ports there. Muhammad bin Qasim wrote out letters to "kings of Hind" to surrender and accept Islam, and subsequently 10,000 cavalry were sent to Kannauj asking them to submit and pay tribute before his recall ended the campaign.
The Arabs' first concern was to facilitate the conquest of Sindh with the fewest casualties while also trying to preserve the economic infrastructure. Towns were given two options: submit to Islamic authority peacefully or be attacked by force (anwattan), with the choice governing their treatment upon capture. The capture of towns was usually accomplished by means of a treaty with a party from among the enemy, who were then extended special privileges and material rewards. There were two types of such treaties, "Sulh" or "ahd-e-wasiq (capitulation)" and "aman (surrender/ peace)". Among towns and fortresses that were captured through force of arms, Muhammad bin Qasim performed executions as part of his military strategy, but they were limited to the ahl-i-harb (fighting men), whose surviving dependents were also enslaved.
Where resistance was strong, prolonged and intensive, often resulting in considerable Arab casualties, Muhammad bin Qasim's response was dramatic, inflicting 6,000 deaths at Rawar, between 6,000 and 26,000 at Brahmanabad, 4,000 at Iskalandah and 6,000 at Multan. Conversely, in areas taken by sulh, such as Armabil, Nirun, and Aror, resistance was light and few casualties occurred. Sulh appeared to be Muhammad bin Qasim's preferred mode of conquest, the method used for more than sixty percent (60%) of the towns and tribes recorded by Baladhuri or the Chachnama. At one point, he was actually berated by Hajjaj for being too lenient. Meanwhile, the common folk were often pardoned and encouraged to continue working. Hajajj ordered that this option not be granted to any inhabitant of Daybul, yet Qasim still bestowed it upon certain groups and individuals.
After each major phase of his conquest, Muhammad bin Qasim attempted to establish law and order in the newly-conquered territory by showing religious tolerance and incorporating the ruling class – the Brahmins and Shramanas – into his administration.
Muhammad bin Qasim's success has been partly ascribed to Dahir being an unpopular Hindu king ruling over a Buddhist majority who saw Chach of Alor and his kin as usurpers of the Rai Dynasty. This is attributed to having resulted in support being provided by Buddhists and inclusion of rebel soldiers serving as valuable infantry in his cavalry-heavy force from the Jat and Meds. Brahman, Buddhist, Greek, and Arab testimony however can be found that attests towards amicable relations between the adherents of the two religions up to the 7th century.
Along with this were:
1. Superior military equipment; such as siege engines and the Mongol bow.
2. Troop discipline and leadership.
3. The concept of Jihad as a morale booster.
4. Religion; the widespread belief in the prophecy of Muslim success, as well as Dahir's marriage to his sister which alienated him from others.
5. The Samanis persuading the population to submit and not take up arms in self-defense because Buddhism was a religion of peace.
6. The laboring under disabilities of the Lohana Jats.
7. Defections from among Dahirs chiefs and nobles.
After the conquest, Muhammad bin Qasim's task was to set up an administrative structure for a stable Muslim state that incorporated a newly conquered alien land, inhabited by non-Muslims. He adopted a conciliatory policy, asking for acceptance of Muslim rule by the natives in return for non-interference in their religious practice, so long as the natives paid their taxes and tribute. He established Islamic Sharia law over the people of the region. However Hindus were allowed to rule their villages and settle their disputes according to their own laws, and traditional hierarchical institutions, including the Village Headmen (Rais) and Chieftains (dihqans) were maintained. A Muslim officer called an amil was stationed with a troop of cavalry to manage each town on a hereditary basis.
Everywhere taxes (mal) and tribute (kharaj) were settled and hostages taken - occasionally this also meant the custodians of temples. Non-Muslim natives were excused from military service and payment of the religiously mandated tax system levied upon Muslim subjects - Zakat, the tax system levied upon them instead was known as the jizya - it was a progressive tax, being heavier on the upper classes and light for the poor. In addition, three percent of government revenue was allocated to the Brahmins.
During his administration, Hindus and Buddhists were inducted into the administration as trusted advisors and governors. A Hindu, Kaksa, was at one point the second most important member of his administration. Dahir's prime minister and various chieftains were also incorporated into the administration.
No mass conversions were attempted and the destruction of temples such as the Sun Temple at Multan was forbidden. However, Qasim was not entirely deferential to the native religions. Many town temples containing idols were converted into mosques. At Multan, 6000 custodians of the Sun-temple were made captive and their wealth confiscated. The temple housing the great idol (sanam) was a source of great wealth for the town, receiving pilgrims from across the region. Muhammad bin Qasim left the idol where it was; but he hung a piece of cow flesh on its neck by way of mockery, and he then built a mosque in the same bazaar at the center of the town.
A small minority who converted to Islam were granted exemption from Jizya. Hindus and Buddhists were given the status of Dhimmi (protected people).
An eccelastical office, "sadru-I-Islam al affal", was created to oversee the secular governors. While some proselytization occurred, the social dynamics of Sind were no different from other regions newly conquered by Muslim forces such as Egypt, where conversion to Islam was slow and took centuries.
Muhammad bin Qasim had begun preparations for further expansions when Hajjaj died, as did Caliph Al-Walid I, who was succeeded by Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, who then took revenge against all who had been close to Hajjaj. Sulayman owed political support to opponents of Hajjaj and so recalled both of Hajjaj's successful generals Qutaibah bin Muslim and Qasim. He also appointed Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, once tortured by Hajjaj and a son of Al Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah, as the governor of Fars, Kirman, Makran and Sindh. He immediately placed Qasim in chains.
There are two different accounts regarding the details of Qasim's fate:
1. The account from the Chachnama narrates a tale in which Qasim's demise is attributed to the daughters of Dahir who had been taken captive during the campaign. Upon capture they had been sent on as presents to the Khalifa for his harem. The account relates that they then tricked the Khalifa into believing that Muhammad bin Qasim had violated them before sending them on and as a result of this subterfuge, Muhammad bin Qasim was wrapped in oxen hides and returned to Syria, which resulted in his death en route from suffocation. This narrative attributes their motive for this subterfuge to securing vengeance for their father's death. Upon discovering this subterfuge, the Khalifa is recorded to have been filled with remorse and ordered the sisters buried alive in a wall.
2. The Persian historian Baladhuri, however, states that the new Khalifa was a political enemy of the Umayyad ex-governor Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Muhammad bin Qasim’s paternal uncle and thus persecuted all those who were considered close to Hajjaj. Muhammad bin Qasim was therefore recalled in the midst of a campaign of capturing more territory up north. Upon arrival, he was promptly imprisoned in Mosul, (in modern day Iraq) and subjected to torture, resulting in his death.
Whichever account is true, is unknown. What is known however is that he was 22 years old when he was killed by his own Caliph.
Muhammad bin Qasim had a son named Umro bin Muhammad who later became governor of Sindh.
Muhammad bin Qasim al-Thaqafi see Muhammad bin Qasim
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi see Muhammad bin Qasim
Mu'in al-Din Chishti
Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan Sijzī (b. February 1, 1143 CC, Herat, Ghaznavid Empire – d. March 15, 1236 CC, Ajmer, Delhi Sultante), known more commonly as Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī or Moinuddin Chishti, or by the epithet Ghareeb Nawaz (lit. "comfort to the poor"), or reverently as a Shaykh Muʿīn al-Dīn or Muʿīn al-Dīn or Khwājā Muʿīn al-Dīn by Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, was a Persian Sunni Muslim preacher and a Sayyid, ascetic, religious scholar, philosopher, and mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontinent in the early 13th-century of the Christian calendar, where he promulgated the famous Chishtiyya order of Sunni mysticism. This particular tatiqa (order) became the dominant Muslim spiritual group in medieval India and many of the most beloved and venerated Indian Sunni saints. were Chishti in their affiliation, including Nizamuddin Awliya (d. 1325) and Amir Khusrow (d. 1325).
Having arrived in Delhi during the reign of the Sultan Iltutmish (d. 1236), Muʿīn al-Dīn moved from Delhi to Ajmer shortly thereafter, at which point he became increasingly influenced by the writings of the famous Sunni Hanbali scholar and mystic 'Abdallah Ansari (d. 1088), whose famous work on the lives of the early Islamic saints, the Ṭabāqāt al-ṣūfiyya, may have played a role in shaping Muʿīn al-Dīn's worldview. It was during his time in Ajmer that Muʿīn al-Dīn acquired the reputation of being a charismatic and compassionate spiritual preacher and teacher. Biographical accounts of his life written after his death report that due to his display of the gifts of many spiritual marvels (karāmāt), such as miraculous travel, clairvoyance, and visions of angels in his Ajmer years, Muʿīn al-Dīn seems to have been unanimously regarded as a great saint after his passing.
As a saint, Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī's legacy rests primarily on his having been one of the most outstanding figures in the annals of Islamic mysticism. Additionally Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī is also notable for having been one of the first major Islamic mystics to formally allow his followers to incorporate the use of music in their devotions, liturgies, and hymns to God (Allah), which he did in order to make the foreign Arab faith more relatable to the indigenous peoples who had recently entered the religion .
Born in 1143, Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī was sixteen years old when his father, Sayyid G̲h̲iyāt̲h̲ al-Dīn (d. c. 1155), died, leaving his grinding mill and orchard to his son. His father, G̲h̲iyāt̲h̲ al-Dīn, and his mother, Bibi Ummalwara (alias Bibi Mahe-Noor), were Sayyids, or descendants of Muhammad, through his grandsons Hassan and Husayn.
Despite planning to continue his father's business, Mu'in developed mystic tendencies in his personal piety and soon entered a life of destitute itineracy. He enrolled at the seminaries of Bukhara and Samarkand, and visited the shrines of Muhammad al-Bukhari (d. 870) and Abu Mansur al-Maturidi Abu (d. 944), two widely venerated figures in the Islamic world.
While traveling to Iraq, in the district of Nishapur, he came across the famous Sunni mystic Ḵh̲wāj̲a ʿUt̲h̲mān, who initiated him. Accompanying his spiritual guide for over twenty years on the latter's journeys from region to region, Muʿīn al-Dīn also continued his own independent spiritual travels during the time period. It was on his independent wanderings that Muʿīn al-Dīn encountered many of the most notable Sunni mystics of the era, including Abdul-Qadir Gilani (d. 1166) and Najmuddin Kubra (d. 1221), as well as Naj̲īb al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḳāhir Suhrawardī, Abū Saʿīd Tabrīzī, and ʿAbd al-Waḥid G̲h̲aznawī, all of whom were destined to become some of the most highly venerated saints in the Sunni tradition.
Arriving at South Asia in the early thirteenth century, Muʿīn al-Dīn first travelled to Lahore to meditate at the tomb-shrine of the famous Sunni mystic and jurist Ali Hujwiri (d. 1072).
From Lahore, he continued towards Ajmer where he settled and married two wives, the first was a daughter of Saiyad Wajiuddin, whom he married in the year 1209/10. The second was the daughter of a local Hindu raja. He went on to have three sons—Abū Saʿīd, Fak̲h̲r al-Dīn and Ḥusām al-Dīn — and one daughter Bībī Jamāl. Both sons are believed to be from the daughter of the Hindu raja. After settling in Ajmer, Muʿīn al-Dīn strove to establish the Chishti order of Sunni mysticism in India. Many later biographic accounts relate the numerous miracles wrought by God at the hands of the Mu'in al-Din during this period.
Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī was not the originator or founder of the Chishtiyya order of mysticism as he is often erroneously thought to be. On the contrary, the Chishtiyya was already an established Sufi order prior to his birth, being originally an offshoot of the older Adhamiyya order that traced its spiritual lineage and titular name to the early Islamic saint and mystic Ibrahim ibn Adham (d. 782). Thus, this particular branch of the Adhamiyya was renamed the Chishtiyya after the 10th-century Sunni mystic Abū Isḥāq al-Shāmī (d. 942) migrated to Chishti Sharif, a town in the present-day Herat Province of Afghanistan in around 930, in order to preach Islam in that area. The order spread into the Indian subcontinent, however, at the hands of the Persian Muʿīn al-Dīn in the 13th-century, after Mu'in al-Din is believed to have had a dream in which the Prophet Muhammad appeared and told him to be his "representative" or "envoy" in India.
According to the various chronicles, Muʿīn al-Dīn's tolerant and compassionate behavior towards the local population seems to have been one of the major reasons behind conversion to Islam at his hand. Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī is said to have appointed Bakhtiar Kaki (d. 1235) as his spiritual successor, who worked at spreading the Chishtiyya in Delhi. Furthermore, Muʿīn al-Dīn's son, Fakhr al-Dīn (d. 1255), is said to have further spread the order's teachings in Ajmer, whilst another of the saint's major disciples, Ḥamīd al-Dīn Ṣūfī Nāgawrī (d. 1274), preached in Nagaur, Rajasthan.
The tomb (dargah) of Mu'in al-Din became a deeply venerated site in the century following the saint's death in March 1236. Honored by members of all social classes, the tomb was treated with great respect by many of the era's most important Sunni rulers, including Muhammad bin Tughuq, the Sultan of Delhi from 1324–1351, who paid a famous visit to the tomb in 1332 to commemorate the memory of the saint. In a similar way, the later Mughal emperor Akbar (d. 1605) visited the shrine no less than fourteen times during his reign.
In the present day, the tomb of Muʿīn al-Dīn continues to be one of the most popular sites of religious visitation for Sunni Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the Indian sub-continent assembling there on the occasion of [the saint's ʿurs or death anniversary. Additionally, the site also attracts many Hindus, who have also venerated the Islamic saint since the medieval period.
A bomb blast on October 11, 2007 in the Dargah of Mu'in al-Din during the time of Roza Iftaar had left three pilgrims dead and 15 injured. A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur punished with life imprisonment the two individuals convicted in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case.
In recognition of the enduring legacy of Mu'in al-Din Chishti, Indian films about the saint and his dargah at Ajmer include Mere Gharib Nawaz by G. Ishwar, Sultan E Hind (1973) by K. Sharif, Khawaja Ki Diwani (1981) by Akbar Balam, Mere Data Garib Nawaz (1994) by M Gulzar Sultani. A song in the 2008 Indian film Jodhaa Akbar named "Khwaja Mere Khwaja," composed by A. R. Rahman, pays tribute to Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī.
Various qawwalis portray devotion to the saint including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Khwaja E Khwajgan" and the Sabri Brothers "Khawaja Ki Deewani".
Mulla Sadra (Sadr al-Din Shirazi) (Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī) (Molla Sadra) (Mollasadra) (Sadrol Mote'allehin) (1571-1640/1641). Persian philosopher. His Secrets is widely regarded in Iran as the most advanced text in the field of mystical philosophy.
Mulla Sadra was born into a noble Persian family. His life coincided with the reign of Shah Abbas the First, during whose rule Shi‘ism and the propagation of Islamic law, philosophy, and theology reached its climax in Iran. He devoted himself to the study of the intellectual sciences -- in particular, the philosophies of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Suhrawardi, and the Neoplatonists, especially Ibn ‘Arabi. His intense studies of philosophy intimidated some of the orthodox jurists who held much political power and who regarded philosophy as a heretical activity. Due to the hostility of the orthodoxy to his serious pursuit of philosophy by the studying and teaching of it, Mulla Sadra was forced to leave Isfahan, where he had been studying, and move to a small village outside of the city of Qum. In exile, Mulla Sadra spent twelve years in contemplation and ascetic practices, which led to the strengthening of his intellectual intuition (dhawq).
Mulla Sadra is important in the history of Islamic philosophy for several reasons. First, his work, in particular his magnum opus, the al-Afsar al-arba ‘ah (The Four Journeys of the Soul), is a compendium of the history of Islamic philosophy. Having presented the ideas of his predecessors in great detail, Mulla Sadra goes on to offer a thorough examination and critique of their philosophical ideas. Second, Mulla Sadra consolidated the School of Isfahan, which his teacher Mir Damad had established. This philosophical school was a turning point in the history of Islamic philosophy in Iran and produced some of the greatest masters of Islamic philosophy. The philosophical tradition of the School of Isfahan that was perfected by such masters as Mulla Sadra came to be known as “transcendental wisdom” (al-hikmat al-muti‘aliya), a rapprochement of discursive reasoning, intellectual intuition and practical wisdom.
Mulla Sadra wrote three distinct types of works: commentaries on the Qur’an and hadith, polemical works, and philosophical treatises. His commentaries on various verses of the Qur’an, such as the verses on light, is an indication of his esoteric reading of the scripture. He also wrote a monumental commentary upon the sayings of the Shi‘ite Imams, bringing out their more esoteric aspects. His polemics are directed towards the anti-nomian Sufis and their violations of the religious law. Finally, there are the philosophical writings of Mulla Sadra, most of which were written for the intellectual elite and the learned scholars who had sufficient training in traditional Islamic philosophy.
Mulla Sadra synthesized the theological (kalam) discussions, Ibn Sinan (Avicennian) metaphysics, and the mystical thoughts of Ibn ‘Arabi. The result is a tradition of wisdom that relates to the traditional concerns of the theologians, the discursive reasoning of the philosophers, and the direct experience of the Sufis. Mulla Sadra in particular was influenced by two figures, Ibn Sina, the philosopher of Being, and Suhrawardi, the philosopher of light and the founder of the School of Illumination (Ishraq) in Islamic philosophy. Mulla Sadra interprets Ibn Sinan philosophy from a Suhrawardian point of view while making some fundamental revisions in Suhrawardi’s ontology.
Theology, which by the time of Mulla Sadra was well developed, relied on the same vocabulary as that of the philosophers. Mulla Sadra takes note of the similarity in the use of technical terms by philosophers and theologians and of their methodologies. The second point Mulla Sadra alludes to is that Islamic theology is developed, not as an independent branch of intellectual sciences, but as a discipline that is primarily concerned with Islamic law.
Mulla Sadra, in his treatment of kalam, adopts a two-pronged approach, arguing against the theological methodology on one hand while affirming the truth of the objectives of the theologians on the other. Mulla Sadra demonstrates how and why it is that theological arguments fail to prove their purported conclusions while at the same time he is careful not to question the validity of the theological beliefs. In his work on the problem of eternity versus creation in time and the problem of bodily resurrection, Mulla Sadra brings some of the controversial positions of philosophers closer to the views of the theologians.
Mulla Sadra retains the general structure of the Ibn Sinan philosophy that asserts the existence of the Necessary Being and the gradations of Being that emanate from the Necessary Being. However, he departs from Ibn Sina by putting more emphasis on the centrality of a personal insight leading to the discoveries of the immutable principles of philosophy. It is precisely these experiences that serve as the foundation upon which Sadrian philosophy is established. Whereas Ibn Sinan principles are derived from discursive philosophy and his logic is based on rationalization of philosophical categories, Mulla Sadra’s “logic of transcendence” is derived from his mots inward and noetic insight. Mulla Sadra refers to these principles as the “Principles of Oriental Philosophy” (Qa‘ida Mashraqiyah) and “Transcendental Principles” (Qa‘ida Laduniya).
Mulla Sadra was profoundly influenced by the mystics of Islam, both by theoretical and practical dimensions of Sufism. With regard to theoretical Sufism, Mulla Sadra was highly influenced by Ibn ‘Arabi, the great Andalusian mystic. In fact, a great number of the technical terminologies that Mulla Sadra uses are borrowed from Ibn ‘Arabi and his massive commentary upon Islamic gnosticism. In particular, Mulla Sadra finds Ibn ‘Arabi’s treatment of such issues as human understanding of the experience of the divine and various problems associated with that understanding to be quite illuminating.
As to the practical aspects of the Sufi path, Mulla Sadra endorses asceticism as part of the path of knowledge whle he rejects the excesses and the antinomian practices of the Sufis.
Mulla Sadra divides knowledge into two types -- that which is learned by sense perception or instruction and that which is learned through intellectual intuition, a mode of knowledge marked by directness and the absence of mediation. The knowledge that is learned through the senses or instruction itself is divided into the traditional divisions of knowledge most commonly held by the Peripatetics, namely, theoretical and practical. The theoretical sciences consist of logic, mathematics, natural philosophy, and metaphysics; practical wisdom includes ethics, politics, and economics.
Mulla Sadra goes on to subdivide the sciences, leading to a unified theory of knowledge, which despite the multiplicity of different branches of knowledge leads the intellect to that knowledge of unity that lies at the heart of Sadrian philosophy. This view of knowledge (hikmah) integrates various modes of knowing, including that of practical wisdom, since knowledge for Mulla Sadra is not only informative but also transformative.
Mulla Sadra, whose encyclopedic knowledge of Islamic philosophy provided him with the basis for illuminating analyses of the philosophical ideas of his predecessors, makes three major contributions to the field of Islamic philosophy. They include (1) his commentary on Being, leading to the Doctrine of the Unity of Being, (2) his account of the occurrence of change in motion, known as “Substantial Motion,” and (3) his theory of the unity of the knower, the known, and knowledge itself.
Mulla Sadra takes issue with Suhrawardi, the founder of the School of Illumination, and his own teacher Mir Damad, reversing their scheme based on the principality of essence (mahiyyah) over existence (wujud). He argues that existence is the primary and principal aspect of an existent being and that essences are accidents of Being. Furthermore, Existence or Being (which for most of the Islamic philosophers, including Mulla Sadra, are the same) has an independent existence, whereas essences are contingent upon Being and therefore without a reality of their own.
Regarding the classical divisions of Being, Mulla Sadra accepts Ibn Sina’s division of Being into necessary, contingent, and impossible. Mulla Sadra also elaborates on copulative and non-copulative Being. Copulative Being is that which connects the subject to the predicate such as in “Socrates is a philosopher.” The term “is” here has a twofold function -- a copulative one, which connects the adjective of being a philosopher to Socrates, and a second one, namely, the existential function, which alludes to the existence of an existent being, in this case Socrates. Mulla Sadra, who is interested in the latter use of “is,” argues that “is” in the corporeal world is always copulative except for the Being of God, who is pure and without essences.
Mulla Sadra accepts Plato’s concept of archetypes as the “master of species” (arbab al-anwa’). According to Mulla Sadra, the corporeal world as a level of Being derives its characteristics from the archetypal world. The separation of the corporeal world from its archetypal world leads to the principle of “the possibility of that which is superior” (Qa‘ida imkan al-ashraf), a principle for which Mulla Sadra is known. This principle entails that for everything that journeys from the imperfect to perfect in the material world, there is its cosmic counterpart in the incorporeal world.
Mulla Sadra’s criticism of the Illuminationists goes beyond the priority and principality of existence over essence and includes the theory of hylomorphism. Accordingly, matter manifests itself in various domains of existence according to the ontological status of each level. Whereas the world of objects is immersed in the lowest level of matter, the soul belongs to a higher level of matter suitable for it. This process continues until it culminates in the intelligible world, where realities are completely free from matter.
Mulla Sadra is unique in the history of Islamic philosophy in that he allows for motion to exist in substance (al-harakat al-jawhariyyah). This is a deviation from Ibn Sina (Avicenna), who considered motion in substance to lead to a continuous change and the loss of that which constitutes the identity of a thing.
Mulla Sadra uses a number of arguments in support of his theory of the existence of motion in substance. When an apple has become ripe, it is not only the accidents that have changed, but the substance of the apple must have changed as well. In fact, when a potentiality becomes actualized, Mulla Sadra argues, it signifies a change both in accidents and in substance. Mulla Sadra states that for every change that occurs in accident, there has to be a corresponding change in substance, for accidents depend on their substance for their properties. Therefore, change in an apple is an example of the created order and signifies several points: first, that the world is like a river that is constantly in a state of flux; second, change occurs out of necessity and nothing remains the same except God; third, this change is not an accident in the universe, but is part of its very nature. This change, according to Mulla Sadra, acts as a force that moves the universe towards becoming; becoming is fundamentally a spiritual journey that all beings yearn for and accounts for both the ripening of an apple as well as for the yearning of the human being for transcendence.
Mulla Sadra uses the notion of Substantial Motion to shed light on the concept of time. For Mulla Sadra, as for Aristotle, time is the quantity of motion, except that for Mulla Sadra the change in quantity is the quantity of change in substance. Time is not to be viewed only quantitatively but has an ontological aspect as well. Motion in substance is also the measurement of the perfection and therefore has a purpose and direction, and carries a sense of necessity with it.
The fact that all things are in motion and that motion goes from less perfect to more perfect is an indication for Mulla Sadra that the entire universe is yearing for the ultimate perfection, God. This view also entails tha in some sense the universe is conscious of its own state of being and yearns for an eventual unity with its origin. Since Substantial Motion also entails that the identity of the object in question is always changing, Mulla Sadra concludes that this type of motion brings about a type of creation at every given moment. In other words, God through Substantial Motion creates the universe instantaneously at every moment. The Reality of God manifests itself through creation, which then goes through successive creations.
What Mulla Sadra was trying to achieve was to bring about a rapprochement between the Peripatetic who argued for the eternity of the world and the theologian view who insisted on creation ex nihilo. According to Mulla Sadra, the world as an extension of God has always existed, but yet it was created in time that ceases to exist, and is then recreated.
The unity of the knower, the known, and knowledge is deeply embedded in the Sadrian philosophy. Since God’s essence and Being are the same and all things emanate from God, God is at once the knower, the known, and the knowledge.
From the above it follows that in order for any person to achieve a similar status, one has to achieve unity with God. The reverse is also true: anyone who attains the knowledge of unity is in his or her very being the knower, the known, and the knowledge; in knowing unity, one has become unified. It is for this reason that Mulla Sadra’s al-Asfar al-arba ‘ah (the Four Journeys of the Soul) alludes to the spiritual journey of the soul from the time that it departs from God until it achieves unity once again.
Mulla Sadra not only offers complex philosophical arguments but also uses gnostic imagery as a mirror representing Divine Essence within which God witnesses the essence of all things. Although Mulla Sadra never explicitly states that unity with God is the necessary condition of knowledge, the thrust of his philosophy is such that this notion is implied.
Mulla Sadra and his teachings were a turning point in the history of Islamic philosophy. One of the greatest achievements of Mulla Sadra was the training of several students who themselves became masters of Islamic philosophy and propagators of Sadrian philosophy. Among them we can name ‘Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji, Mulla Muhsin Fayd Kashani, and Qadi Sa‘id Qummi.
Sadrian philosophy, which had gone through a period of decline, was once again revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Iran by such notable figures as Sabziwari, Ali Nuri, Ahsa’i, and the Zunuzi family. The teaching of Mulla Sadra and his students was well received by the Islamic philosophers of the subcontinent of India, and some of his books became the official texts of traditional schools. Islamic philosophy today in Iran and the eastern parts of the Islamic world is still under the influence of Mulla Sadra and his teachings.
Sadra, Mulla see Mulla Sadra
Sadr al-Din Shirazi see Mulla Sadra
Shirazi, Sadr al-Din see Mulla Sadra
Sadr ad-Din Muhammad Shirazi see Mulla Sadra
Molla Sadra see Mulla Sadra
Sadrol Mote'allehin see Mulla Sadra
Mumtaz Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Bob) (Arjumand Banu Begum) (April, 1593 - June 17, 1631). Wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It was for her that the Taj Mahal was builtMumtāz Mahal; meaning "beloved ornament of the palace", is the common nickname of Arjumand Banu Bob, an Empress of India during the Mughal Dynasty. She was born in Agra, India. Her father was the Persian noble Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan, the brother of Empress Nur Jehan (who subsequently became the wife of the emperor Jahangir). She was religiously a Shi'a Muslim. She was married at the age of 19, on May 10, 1612, to Prince Khurram, who would later ascend the Peacock Throne as the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan I. She was his third wife, and became his favorite. She died in Burhanpur in the Deccan (now in Madhya Pradesh) during the birth of their fourteenth child, a daughter named Gauhara Begum. Her body remained at Burhanpur for 23 years until the Taj was completed. Only then was her coffin shifted to Agra. Her body was then buried in the Taj Mahal in Agra.
In 1607, Prince Khurram was betrothed to Arjumand Banu Begum, who was just 14 years old at the time. She would become the unquestioned love of his life. They would however, have to wait five years before they were married in 1612, on a date selected by the court astrologers as most conducive to ensuring a happy marriage. After their wedding celebrations, Khurram "finding her in appearance and character elect among all the women of the time", gave her the title 'Mumtaz Mahal' Begum (Chosen One of the Palace). The intervening years had seen Khurram take two other wives. By all accounts however, Khurram was so taken with Mumtaz, that he showed little interest in exercising his polygamous rights with the two earlier wives, other than dutifully siring a child with each. According to the official court chronicler, Qazwini, the relationship with his other wives "had nothing more than the status of marriage. The intimacy, deep affection, attention and favor which His Majesty had for the Cradle of Excellence (Mumtaz) exceeded by a thousand times what he felt for any other."
Mumtaz Mahal had a very deep and loving marriage with Shah Jahan. Even during her lifetime, poets would extol her beauty, gracefulness and compassion. Mumtaz Mahal was Shah Jahan's trusted companion, travelling with him all over the Mughal Empire. His trust in her was so great that he even gave her his imperial seal, the Muhr Uzah. Mumtaz was portrayed as the perfect wife with no aspirations to political power in contrast to Nur Jehan, the wife of Jahangir who had wielded considerable influence in the previous reign. Mumtaz Mahal was a great influence on Shah Jahan, apparently often intervening on behalf of the poor and destitute. However, she also enjoyed watching elephant and combat fights performed for the court. It was quite common for women of noble birth to commission architecture in the Mughal Empire. Mumtaz devoted some time to a riverside garden in Agra.
Despite her frequent pregnancies, Mumtaz traveled with Shah Jahan's entourage throughout his earlier military campaigns and the subsequent rebellion against his father. She was his constant companion and trusted confidant and their relationship was intense. Indeed, the court historians go to unheard lengths to document the intimate and erotic relationship the couple enjoyed. In their nineteen years of marriage, they had fourteen children together, seven of whom died at birth or at a very young age.
Mumtaz died in Burhanpur in 1631, while giving birth to their fourteenth child. She had been accompanying her husband whilst he was fighting a campaign in the Deccan Plateau. Her body was temporarily buried at Burhanpur in a walled pleasure garden known as Zainabad originally constructed by Shah Jahan's uncle Daniyal on the bank of the Tapti River. The contemporary court chroniclers paid an unusual amount of attention to Mumtaz Mahal's death and Shah Jahan's grief at her demise. In the immediate aftermath of his bereavement, the emperor was reportedly inconsolable. Apparently after her death, Shah Jahan went into secluded mourning for a year. When he appeared again, his hair had turned white, his back was bent, and his face worn. Jahan's eldest daughter, the devoted Jahanara Begum, gradually brought him out of grief and took the place of Mumtaz at court.
Mumtaz's personal fortune valued at 10,000,000 rupees was divided by Shah Jahan between Jahanara Begum, who received half and the rest of her surviving children. Burhanpur was never intended by her husband as his wife's final resting spot. As a result her body was disinterred in December 1631 and transported in a golden casket escorted by her son Shah Shuja and the head lady in waiting of the deceased Empress back to Agra. There it was interred in a small building on the banks of the Yamuna River. Shah Jahan stayed behind in Burhanpur to conclude the military campaign that had originally bought him to the region. While there he began planning the design and construction of a suitable mausoleum and funerary garden in Agra for his wife, a task that would take more than 22 years to complete, the Taj Mahal.
Today, the Taj Mahal stands as the ultimate monument to love, and a homage to Mumtaz's beauty and life.
The children of Mumtaz were:
1. Shahzadi (Imperial Princess) Huralnissa Begum (1613–1616)
2. Shahzadi (Imperial Princess) Jahanara Begum (1614–1681)
3. Shahzada (Imperial Prince) Dara Shikoh (1615–1659)
4. Shahzada Mohammed Sultan Shah Shuja Bahadur (1616–1660)
5. Shahzadi Roshanara Begum (1617–1671)
6. Badshah Mohinnudin Mohammed Aurangzeb (1618–1707)
7. Shahzada Sultan Ummid Baksh (1619–1622)
8. Shahzadi Surayya Banu Begum (1621–1628)
9. Shahzada Sultan Murad Baksh (1624–1661)
10. Shahzada Sultan Luftallah (1626–1628)
11. Shahzada Sultan Daulat Afza (1628 - ?)
12. Shahzadi Husnara Begum (1630 - ?)
13. Shahzadi Gauhara Begum (1631–1707)
Mahal, Mumtaz see Mumtaz Mahal
Beloved Ornament of the Palace see Mumtaz Mahal
Arjumand Banu Bob see Mumtaz Mahal
Bob, Arjumand Banu see Mumtaz Mahal
Arjumand Banu Begum see Mumtaz Mahal
Begum, Arjumand Banu see Mumtaz Mahal
Musa ibn Nusayr (Musa bin Nusair) (Musa ben Nusair) (640-716). Conqueror of the western Maghrib and of Spain. In 698, he was given the governorship of Ifriqiya by the governor of Egypt ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Marwan. He crossed to Spain in 712 and left the following year with immense booty.
Musa ibn Nusayr was an Azdi of Assir (south west Saudi Arabia) who served as a governor and general under the Umayad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa (Ifriqiya), and directed the Islamic opening of the Visigothic kingdom in Hispania.
Musa's father was an Arab of either Syria or Western Iraq (there are several different opinions) who was captured during the first Muslim expeditions and made a slave. Musa according to the most reliable reports state that he was the son of a Jewish convert to Islam. This convert had preferred relations with Muawiya (first Muslim Governor of Syria and first Umayyad Dynasty Caliph). He advised Muawiyah that the only way to capture Constantinople was from both sides. His son Musa was groomed to be the leader of the army to start the western invasion starting from Spain. However this plan was delayed because of the outbreak of civil war among Muslims.
Uqba bin Nafi was sent to continue the Islamic opening in North Africa all the way to Morocco. However, his policies were quite strict and he did not tolerate Berber traditions. This caused fierce resistance from the Berbers, leading to his demise in a battle against an alliance of Byzantines and Berbers. Musa bin Nusair was then sent to renew the attacks against the Berbers. But he did not impose Islam by force, rather, he respected Berber traditions and used diplomacy in subjugating them. This proved highly successful, as many Berbers converted to Islam and even entered his army as soldiers and officers, amongst whom would be Tariq bin Ziyad who would lead the later Islamic expedition in Iberia.
A few years earlier in 698, Musa had been made the governor of Ifriqiya and was responsible for completing the Umayyad conquest of North Africa and reopening of Cyprus, the Balearic Islands and Sardinia. He was the first governor of Ifriqiya not to be subordinate to the governor of Egypt. He was the first Muslim general to take Tangiers and occupy it. His troops also conquered the Sous, effectively taking control of all of modern Morocco. He also had to deal with constant harassment from the Byzantine navy. He built a navy that would go on to conquer the islands of Ibiza, Majorca, and Minorca.
While Musa bin Nusair was eager to cross the strait to the land mass of the Iberian peninsula, he was only encouraged to do so when a Visigoth nobleman, Julian, had come to Musa encouraging him to invade Iberia, telling him of the people's sufferings and the injustice of their king, Roderick, while giving him additional cause by telling him of the riches that would be found, and the many palaces, gardens and beauties of Iberia.
After a successful minor raid on the coast of today's Portugal, and the raiding force returning with a booty they captured without any reported resistance, Musa decided to land a larger invasion force. Tariq bin Ziyad crossed the strait with approximately 7,000 Berbers and Arabs, and landed at Gibraltar (from Jebel Tariq, meaning Tariq's mountain in Arabic). The expedition's purpose must have been to conduct further raids and explore the territory. Tariq's army contained some guides supplied by Julian. Three weeks after his landing, the Muslims were faced with a superior Visigoth army of nearly 20,000 led by King Roderick. The Muslims won the Battle of Guadalete and the entire Visigoth nobility was all but exterminated at the battle. The Muslims then marched towards Córdoba, bypassing several strong fortifications. The ill defended city fell and Tariq established a garrison there comprised mainly of the city's Jews who welcomed the invaders, having been subjected to persecution from the Visigoths for centuries. Tariq then continued on his way to Toledo.
Musa, learning of Tariq's successes, landed in Iberia with an army of 18,000 Berbers and Arabs. He planned to rendezvous with Tariq at Toledo, but first proceeded to take Seville, which Tariq had bypassed, and where Musa met stiff resistance, and succeeded after three months of siege. He then campaigned in the area that is today Portugal, eliminating the remaining Gothic resistance there. His last destination before meeting Tariq was to subdue Mérida. After five months of siege and inconclusive fighting, a group of Ceutans pretended to be Christian reinforcements and managed to convince the guards into opening the gates. Once inside, the "reinforcements", nearly 700, overwhelmed the guards and managed to keep the gates open for the Muslims to enter the city and capture it.
After Mérida, Musa divided his forces, taking the majority with him to meet Tariq at Toledo where he would remain for winter. The remainder of his forces were led by his son 'Abd al-Aziz, who would return to Sevilla to deal with an uprising. 'Abd al-Aziz made short work of the rebellion. He then conducted several campaigns on the return journey in the territories comprising future Portugal. Coimbra and Santarém were captured in the spring of 714. 'Abd al-Aziz then campaigned in Murcia. The Duke of Murcia, Theodemir, or Tudmir as he was called by the Muslims, surrendered to 'Abd al-Aziz after several hard-fought engagements in April 713. The terms imposed on Theodemir declared that the duke would keep the citadel of Orihuela and several other settlements, including Alicante and Lorca on the Mediterranean; that his followers would not be killed, taken prisoner, forced into Islam; and that their churches would not be burned. It also demanded that Theodemir not encourage or support others to resist the Muslims, and that he pay an annual tax in money and other goods.
Musa finally met up with Tariq where there was an argument over the latter's booty, which reportedly included a table holding gems and other precious stones that belonged to King Solomon. Meanwhile, Musa's messenger, Mughith al-Rumi (the Roman) who had been sent to Caliph al-Walid I to inform him of the situation in Iberia, had returned. The Caliph requested Musa to withdraw and to report in person to Damascus. Musa chose to ignore this order temporarily, knowing that if he did not continue his advance, Visigoth resistance would increase and turn the tables against the Muslims. Having done so, he continued with Tariq to the north; Musa heading for Zaragoza, to which he lay siege, while Tariq continued to the provinces of León and Castile, capturing the towns of León and Astorga. Musa continued after taking Zaragoza to the north, taking Oviedo and reaching as far as the Bay of Biscay. The Islamic opening of Iberia now complete, Musa proceeded to place governors and prefects throughout the newly conquered Al-Andalus, before returning to Damascus with most of the booty captured from the Jihad.
Both North African leaders were thereafter summoned by the caliph to Damascus. Tariq arrived first. But then the caliph was taken ill. So the caliph's brother, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik became temporarily in charge, and asked Musa, who was arriving with a cavalcade of soldiers and spoils, to delay his grand entry into the city. He most certainly intended to claim the glories brought from the conquest for himself. But Musa dismissed this request, triumphantly entered Damascus anyway, and brought the booty before the ailing Al-Walid I, which brought Musa and Tariq unprecedented popularity amongst the people of Damascus. Al-Walid I then died a few days later and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman, who demanded that Musa deliver up all his spoils. When Musa complained, Sulayman stripped him of his rank and confiscated all the booty, including a table which had reputedly once belonged to Solomon. He ordered that Musa (a very old man by then) be paraded through the city's streets with a rope around his neck and Musa said "Oh, Caliph, I deserve a better rewarding than this". Reports claim he was seen begging at a mosque door in the last days of his life.
One of Musa's sons, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, married a Spanish woman, who was the daughter of Roderick. She asked 'Abd al-Aziz why his guests did not bow to him as they used to do in the presence of her father. It was reported that he began to force guests to bow to him. It was rumored that he had secretly become a Christian, and a group of Arabs assassinated him, cut off his head and sent it to the caliph. Sulayman had Musa in his audience when the head arrived, and seeing whose it was, callously asked Musa if he recognized it. Musa maintained his dignity, saying he recognized it as belonging to someone who had always practiced the faith fervently, and cursed the men who had killed him.
Musa died naturally while on the Hajj pilgrimage with Sulayman in about the year 715-716. Because of his disgrace, and the misfortunes of his sons, there was a tendency among medieval historians of the Maghreb to attribute his deeds (the Islamic opening of Tangiers and the Sous) to Uqba ibn Nafi.
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
Abū al-Ḥusayn ‘Asākir ad-Dīn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj ibn Muslim ibn Ward ibn Kawshādh al-Qushayri an-Naysābūrī (b. after 815 [200 AH], Nishapur, Abbasid Caliphate – d. May 875 CC [261 AH], Nasarabad, Abbasid Caliphate) or Muslim Nayshāpūrī (commonly known as Imam Muslim), was an Islamic scholar from the city of Nishapur (early Khorasan and present day Iran), particularly known as a muhaddith (scholar of hadith). His hadith collection, known as Sahih Muslim, is one of the six major hadith collections in Sunni Islam and is regarded as one of the two most authentic (sahih) collections, alongside Sahih al-Bukhari.
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj was born in the town of Nishapur in the Abbasid province of Khorasan, in present-day northeastern Iran.
According to scholars Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj was of Arab or Persian origin. The nisbah of "al-Qushayri" signifies Muslim's belonging to the Arab tribe of Banu Qushayr, members of which migrated to the newly conquered Persian territory during the expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate. A scholar named Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī introduced the idea that he may have been a mawla (a new convert to Islam) of Persian descent, attributed to the Qushayr tribe by way of wala' (alliance). An ancestor of Muslim may have been a freed slave of a Qushayri, or may have accepted Islam at the hands of a Qushayri. According to two other scholars, Ibn al-Athīr and Ibn al-Salāh, he was actually an Arab member of that tribe of which his family had migrated to Iran nearly two centuries earlier following the conquest.
Estimates on the number of hadiths in his books vary from 3,033 to 12,000, depending on whether duplicates are included, or only the text (isnad) is. His Sahih ("authentic") is said to share about 2000 hadiths with Bukhari's Sahih.
Al-Hajjaj's teachers included Harmala ibn Yahya, Sa'id ibn Mansur, Abd-Allah ibn Maslamah al-Qa'nabi, al-Dhuhali, al-Bukhari, Ibn Ma'in, Yahya ibn Yahya al-Nishaburi al-Tamimi, and others. Among his students were al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, and Ibn Khuzaymah, each of whom also wrote works on hadith. After his studies throughout the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria, al-Hajjaj settled in his hometown of Nishapur, where he met, and became a lifelong friend of al-Bukhari.
The Sunni scholar, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh (b. 161 AH [777-778 CC] - d. 238 AH [852-853 CC] was the first scholar to recommend Muslim's work. Ishaq's contemporaries did not at first accept his recommendation. Abu Zur‘a al-Razi objected that al-Hajjaj had omitted too much material which al-Hajjaj himself recognized as authentic and that he included transmitters who were weak.
Nevertheless, Ibn Abi Hatim (d. 327 [938 CC]) later accepted al-Hajjaj as "trustworthy, one of the hadith masters with knowledge of hadith"; and this assessment was bolstered by the much more enthusiastic praise of Abu Zur‘a, Abu Hatim, and Ibn al-Nadim.
Al-Hajjaj's collection of hadith gradually increased in stature such that his Sahih Muslim is considered among Sunni Muslims to be the most authentic collection of hadith, second only to Sahih Bukhari.
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Mutanabbi, al-
The Arabs regard al-Mutanabbi as one of their greatest poets. He is the principal figure of the “Modern” school which began to break away from the traditional themes and ways of expression of the Pre-Islamic poets, long regarded as the only ones suitable for poetry. The “Moderns” made considerable use of Badi’ (Innovation) -- their new, and, to conservative poets and critics, shocking images, figures of speech and plays on words. The old type of poetry, in which poets who had scarcely ever seen the desert wept over the deserted camping sites of their loved ones, and described in painstaking detail the points of their camels, continued to be written, side by side with the “Modern” type. Al-Mutanabbi did not abandon the qasida (ode), but transformed it, and made it into an organic whole, with theme leading naturally to theme, instead of a series of almost unconnected lines.
Al-Mutanabbi was educated in Damascus, as well as choosing to live among bedouins in the desert, with the tribe Banu Qalb. It was during his youth that he got his name, which means “the one who wants to become Prophet,” when he participated in revolutionary movements.
During imprisonment he started to compose his poetry. From 948 to 957, al-Mutanabbi worked close to the Syrian prince Sayfu ad-Dawla in Aleppo, and wrote a number of panegyrics for him. But as al-Mutanabbi was still politically active, he was eventually forced to flee to Egypt, but as he wrote satires taht presented the court in a negative way, he had to move again, now back to Iraq,.to Baghdad.
Later on he worked as a court poet in Shiraz. While being without a patron, al-Mutanabbi was in 965 slain by brigands during a trip, near Baghdad.
With a flowery style, use of the ode, and changing way from the traditional Arabic qasida, al-Mutanabbi stands out as the most important representative for the panegyrical poetic style.
Abu’l-Tayyib Ahmad al-Ju‘fi see Mutanabbi, al-
Ahmad ibn al-Husain al-Mutanabbi see Mutanabbi, al-
Mutanabbi, Ahmad ibn al-Husain al- see Mutanabbi, al-
Ju'fi, Abu'l-Tayyib Ahmad al- see Mutanabbi, al-
Abou-t-Tayyib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Mutanabbi see Mutanabbi, al-
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