Naqshband, Khwaja Baha' al-Din
Khwaja Baha' al-Din Naqshband (Hazrat Khwaja Baha-ud-Din Naqshband) (Hazrat Khwaja Baha-ud-Din bin Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Muhammad Naqshband) (b. 1318 CC [718 AH], Bukhara, Chagatai Khanate - d. 1389 CC [791 AH], Bukhara, Timurid Empire) was a 14th century Central Asian Sufi saint after whom the Naqshbandi order takes its name. The name Naqshband is sometimes understood in connection with the craft of embroidering, and Hazrat Baha' al-Din is said to have in fact assisted his father in weaving cloaks (kimkha) in Bukhara. More commonly, however, it is taken to refer to the fixing of the divine name of God to the heart by means of dhikr.
To the people of Bukhara, whose patron saint he became, Baha' al-Din was known posthumoulsy as khwadja-yi bala-gardan ("the averter of disaster"), referring to protective powers bestowed on him during his training period. Elsewhere, especially in Turkey, he is popularly called Shahi Naqshband.
In his youth, Baha' al-Din experienced visionary revelations and before the age of 20 was recognized as a brilliant Islamic scholar. He is said to have received training through the spirit (ruhaniyat) of earlier masters of the lineage including Hazrat Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujadawani, the well known khalifa of Hazrat Yusuf al-Hamadani and by Hazrat Khidr (alaihis salam).
Khwaja Baha' al-Din Naqshband was born in 718 AH (1318 CC) at Qasr-i-Arifan, a village in Bukhara, in the Chagatai Khanate. Later on he shifted to Revertun village of Bukhara and spent his life there.
Little is known about his details except some brief hints. Khwaja Baha' al-Din had great regard for the saints of the time. Just three days after his birth, Hazrat Baha' al-Din was taken by his father, Muhammad, to Khwaja Muhammad Babai Sammasi to receive his blessings. Khwaja Muhammad Babai Sammasi had come to Qasr-i-Arifan along with a group of his followers. Khwaja Muhammad Babai Sammasi adopted Baha' al-Din as his son and foretold his followers that ‘this son shall be the leader of the time.’
Baha' al-Din was married at the age of 18 and in those early days he was blessed with remaining in the service of Khwaja Babai Muhammad Sammasi. On the passing of Khwaja Babai Muhammad Sammasi in 755 AH, Baha' al-Din's father took him to Samarkand. In Samarkand, Baha' al-Din obtained blessings from the dervishes.
On reaching maturity, Baha' al-Din entered into the service of Hazrat Amir Kalal, the successor of Babai Sammasi, who trained him in ‘zikr’ -- a form of Islamic meditation in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remember God.
Baha' al-Din became immersed in prayers and ‘mujahada’ -- the spiritual struggle against his own baser impulses. Hazrat Sayid Amir Kalal left no stone unturned in the education of Baha' al-Din utlizing training and instructions as dictated by his predecessor Murshid Khwaja Muhammad Sammasi.
On completion of his course, Baha' al-Din decided to leave. On account of Baha' al-Din's evident God-given capabilities, Hazrat Sayid Amir Kalal allowed him to leave to try to attain higher spiritual perfection.
Thereafter, Baha' al-Din served Moulana Arif Deg-garai for seven years and twelve years in the service of a Turkistani Murshid Khalil Aata. Baha' al-Din also spent time with scholars where he learned the knowledge of hadith and became acquainted with the biographies of the sahaba -- the Companions of the Prophet.
Baha' al-Din performed the Hajj twice. In one of these travels, the king of Herat, Muiz-ud-Din Husain bin Gayas-ud-Din gave Baha' al-Din a grand reception where he invited the scholars of Herat to inquire of Baha' al-Din concerning issues about tariqat -- the regimen of mystical teaching and spiritual practices with the aim of seeking haqiqa -- the ultimate truth. Baha' al-Din also imparted irfan -- knowledge, awareness and wisdom.
In the second Hajj, Baha' al-Din went to see the famous saint, Hazrat Zain-ud-Din Abu Bakr Taib-Abadi and remained in his company for three days. Hazrat Zain-ud-Din passed away in 791 AH.
Little is known about the family background of Hazrat Khwaja Naqshband, though much has been written on Naqshbandi order. It is known that Hazrat Khwaja Baha' al-Din Muhammad Naqshband left this temporal world on a Monday night of third Rabi-al-Awal, 791 AH (1389 CC). His age was 73 years. He lies buried in his home town Bukhara. This village is now known as Baha-ud-Din.
The character of Hazrat Khwaja Baha' al-Din Naqshband is revealed by the way he lived. Baha' al-Din gave up the world. He had no relationships and adopted a lonely life of abstinence. His pious breaths were devoted to the grace of the dervish and he would tell, with great love, that whatever he had found was found by him with it's original attributes.
In his simple abode, there would be dust in his house in the winter, which would be falling from the mosque. In the summer there would be an old mat. Baha' al-Din would always be careful in self-introspection and would be cautious about his diet. He would often relate Hadith about a pious (halal) diet.
Baha' al-Din was full of the desire for sacrifice and servitude. Whatever gift was brought to him, he would return a similar or better gift, in keeping with the practice of the Prophet. He would entertain his guest with befitting diet and would see that there was no laxity in making him at ease. He would provide his own clothes/coverings to cover the guest in his sleep to make him comfortable. Hazrat Khwaja would grow his paddy/wheat himself from his fields. He would be cautious in the selection of seeds and the selection of oxen with broad horns. Scholars coming in his service would eat from his kitchen, considering it to be a blessing from him. His personality is described to be so impressive that King and Amirs of Herat would remain dumbfounded on seeing him. He would be well dressed and duly scented; social with friends and guests; attending to domestic work himself.
Baha' al-Din would go to inquire about sick people, and would even provide advice regarding their treatment. He would treat the wounds of animals, and would pray for the welfare of faithful. He was a guide for the etiquette ettiquete, and would always preach for a just (hahal) diet and a clean and pious life.
Baha' al-Din attained the fame of a Perfect friend of Allah (Wali). Great scholars, amirs, wazirs,and even kings from far and wide would attend his gatherings to receive his blessings. He would pray for their welfare and also for the abstinence (taqwa) of their hearts. Besides the hard prayers, he would follow in the footsteps of the Prophet in all prayers. He would always perform ablution (Wazoo), be punctual in prayers (Salat) and recitation of Qur'an, seek repentance (Toba-Istigfar); urge remembrance of Allah (Zikir); and observe fasting.
Baha' al-Din classified knowledge in three categories. One is bookish knowledge, which perishes with the death of the writer and the eating of the book by moths. Many such types of knowledge have come and are lost.
The second form of knowledge is that of science. Again this too is not reliable as a theory put forward today is disproved tomorrow. Yesterday we were told that the sun is stationary, today we are told that it is moving. Hence knowledge based on science is not reliable.
The third form of knowledge neither needs books nor scientific verification. It is transferred from person to person and one must think that a person having this type of knowledge has reached it’s climax, when he says that he knows nothing, as this knowledge is so vast that it has no boundaries. Baha' al-Din says that being a student of this knowledge, time and distance is no bar to him, that means he could travel both through time and over distance without means and that is the lowest stage of this knowledge. The highest form of this knowledge (The Miraj) is the ascension performed by the Prophet. The purpose of knowledge should be to take you to the Source of knowledge, which is ALLAH.
In India, the Naqshbandi order was introduced by Hazrat Khwaja Razi-ud-Din Muhammad Baqi known as Khwaja Baqi Billah. It was with his efforts lasting three to four years that a strong foundation of the order was laid in India.
The urs of Hazrat Khwaja Baha-ud-Din Muhammad Naqshband is celebrated on the 3rd Rabi-ul-Awal every year.
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Naqshbandiyya (Naqshbandiyah)) (Naqshbandi). An important and still active Sufi order, named after Khwaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband (1318-1389) from Bukhara. In the extent of its diffusion it has been second only to the Qadiriyya.
In Transoxiana, it rose to supremacy in the time of its founder, and spread southward to Herat. In northwestern Persia, however, it was relatively short-lived. With their strong loyalty to Sunnism, the Naqshbandis became a special target of persecution for the Shi‘a Safavids. In the nineteenth century, the Khalidi branch of the Naqshbandiyya, established by Mawlana Khalid Baghdadi (d. 1827), almost entirely supplanted all other branches and wrested supremacy from the Qadiriyya in Kurdistan. At present, the Naqshbandiyya remain strong among the Kurds of Persia, particularly in the region of Mahabad, and in Talish. By contrast, they are now moribund among the Turkmen.
In Turkey, the first implantation took place in the fifteenth century. It gained the loyalty of the Ottoman Turks with its emphatically Sunni identity and insistence on sober respect for Islamic law. The Mujaddidi branch of the order, established in India by Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi “the Renewer,” was transmitted to Turkey in the seventeenth century. Soon afterwards, a second transmission took place through Mecca, which remained until the late nineteenth century an important center for the diffusion of the Naqshbandiyya. In Turkey too, it was the Khalidi branch which made the Naqshbandiyya the paramount order, a position it has retained even after the official dissolution of the orders.
Naqshbandiyya was a Sufi order (tariqa) that began in Central Asia. Its legends identify Ahmad Ata Yaswi (d. 1116) as the order’s founder, but the name derives from Khwaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband (Bahauddin an-Naqshband) (d. 1389). The order arrived in India at a fairly late date. Although the Mughal emperor Babar supposedly invited its adherents to India, Shaikh Baqi Bi’llah (Khwaja Baqi Bi’llah) (1564-1603), who arrived in Delhi during Akbar’s reign, was the first influential Naqshbandi to make his home there. During this period, the spiritual program of the Naqshbandis was not yet solidly established. Baqi Bi’llah’s own son was attracted to the pantheistic views of the Spanish mystic philosopher Ibn Arabi.
Baqi Bi’llah’s favorite disciple, Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), however, took a much more scripturalist approach, attacking Arabi’s thought and bemoaning the influence of Shi‘ites and Hindus in the royal court, Sirhindi’s emphasis on the Qur’an, shari’a, and the personality of the Prophet as revealed in hadith literature helped to place Indian Naqshbandis at the center of the religious revival that took place in the Muslim world in the century after Sirhindi’s death. Indian Naqshbandis living in the holy cities intiated many Indonesians and Central Asians into the order. The hospice of Mirzah Mazhar Jan-i Janan (d. 1780) was another notable Naqshbandi center. In contrast to the Chishtis, Naqshbandis favored private meditation (particularly intense concentration on the images of one’s master) and rejected the use of music as a spiritual aid.
In India, the Naqshbandiyya remained for two centuries the principal order, especially through the Mujaddid branch. Its main characteristic has been its rejection of innovations and its involvement in political struggles.
Naqshbandiyah see Naqshbandiyya
Naqshbandi see Naqshbandiyya
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Tusi, Nasir al-Din Abu Ja‘far al- (Nasir al-Din Abu Ja‘far al-Tusi) (Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan Nasir al-Din al-Tusi) (Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ṭūsī) (b. February 18, 1201, Ṭūs, Khorasan – d. June 26, 1274, al-Kāżimiyyah, Baghdad). Astronomer and Shi‘a politician. In 1256, he lured the Assassin leader Rukn al-Din Khurshah into the hands of the Il-Khan Hulegu, accompanied the latter to Baghdad and founded the observatory of Maragha. He had a strong sympathy with the Twelver Shi‘a, to whom a certain degree of mercy was shown during the Mongol holocaust and whose sanctuaries were spared. He wrote on dogmatics, logic and philosophy, law and belles-lettres, and above all on the sciences, in particular on astronomy.
Al-Tusi was one of the greatest scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, philosophers, theologians and physicians of his time. He was a prolific writer. He wrote many treatises on such varied subjects as algebra, arithmetic, trigonometry, geometry, logic, metaphysics, medicine, ethics, and theology.
Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan Nasir al-Din al-Tusi was born in Tus, Khurasan (present day Iran) in 1201. He studied sciences and philosophy under the tutelage of Kamal al-Din ibn Yunus. Al-Tusi was kidnapped by the Isma‘ili Hasan ibn Sabah’s agents and sent to Alamut where he remained until its capture by the Mongol Hulegu Khan in 1256.
Impressed by al-Tusi’s exceptional abilities and astrological competency, Il-Khanid Hulegu Khan appointed him as one of his ministers. Later, he served as an administrator of Auqaf. In 1262, he built an observatory at Meragha and directed its activity. It was equipped with the best instruments from Baghdad and other Islamic centers of learning. It contained a twelve foot wall quadrant made from copper and an azimuth quadrant and turquet invented by al-Tusi. Other instruments included astrolabes, representations of constellation, epicycles and shapes of spheres. Al-Tusi designed several other instruments for the observatory.
Al-Tusi produced a very accurate table of planetary movements and a star catalogue, and he published it under the title al-Zij Ilkhani which was dedicated to the Ilkhan, Hulegu Khan. The tables were developed from observations over a twelve year period and were primarily based on original observations. Al-Tusi calculated the value of 51 feet for the precession of equinoxes. Al-Tusi was among the first of several Muslim astronomers who pointed out several serious shortcomings in Ptolemy’s models based on mechanical principles and modified it. His critique on the Ptolemy’s theories convinced future astronomers of the need to develop an alternative model ending in Copernicus’ famous work. The al-Zij Ilkhani was the most popular book among astronomers until fifteenth century. His memoir on astronomy entitled Tadhkira fi Ilm al-Hayy, includes his ingenious device for generating rectilinear motion along the diameter of the outer circle from two circular motions. At the end of his long outstanding career, he moved to Baghdad and died within a year in 1274 in Kadhimain (near Baghdad, in present day Iraq).
Al-Tusi pioneered spherical trigonometry which includes six fundamental formulas for the solution of spherical right angled triangles. One of his most important mathematical contributions was the treatment of trigonometry as a new mathematical discipline. He wrote on binomial coefficients which Pascal later introduced.
Al-Tusi revived the philosophy of Ibn Sina. His book Akhlaq-i-Nasri (Nasirean Ethics) was regarded as the most important book on ethics and was popular for centuries. Al-Tusi’s Tajrid-al-‘Aqaid was an excellent work on Islamic scholastic philosophy. He also composed a few verses of poetry.
Al-Tusi was a prolific writer. He wrote his works in Arabic and Persian. Sixty-four treatises are known to have survived. Al-Tusi’s works were translated into Latin and other European languages in the Middle Ages. Al-Tusi’s book Shaq al-Qatta was translated into Latin by the title Figura Cata. Among al-Tusi’s well-known students are Nizam al-Araj, who wrote a commentary on the Almagest, and Qutb ad-Din ash-Shirazi, who gave the first satisfactory mathematical explanation of the rainbow.
Nasir al-Din Abu Ja'far al-Tusi see Tusi, Nasir al-Din Abu Ja‘far al-
Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan Nasir al-Din al-Tusi see Tusi, Nasir al-Din Abu Ja‘far al-
Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ṭūsī see Tusi, Nasir al-Din Abu Ja‘far al-
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Nawawi
Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (b. Muharram 631 AH [October 1233 CC], Nawa, Ayyubid Sultanate – d. 24 Rajab 676 AH [December 21, 1277 CC], Nawa, Mamluk Sultanate), popularly known as al-Nawawī or Imam Nawawī, was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar. He authored numerous and lengthy works ranging from hadith, to theology, biography, and jurisprudence. Al-Nawawi never married.
Al-Nawawi was born at Nawa near Damascus, Syria. As with Arabic and other Semitic languages, the las part of his full name -- "Al-Nawawi" -- refers to his hometown -- "Nawa".
Yasin bin Yusuf Marakashi, says: "I saw Imam Nawawi at Nawa when he was a youth of ten years of age. Other boys of his age used to force him to play with them, but Imam Nawawi would always avoid the play and would remain busy with the recitation of the Noble Qur'an. When they tried to domineer and insisted on his joining their games, he bewailed and expressed his no concern over their foolish action. On observing his sagacity and profundity, a special love and affection developed in my heart for young Nawawi. I approached his teacher and urged him to take exceptional care of this lad as he was to become a great religious scholar. His teacher asked whether I was a soothsayer or an astrologer. I told him I am neither soothsayer nor an astrologer but Allah caused me to utter these words." His teacher conveyed this incident to Imam's father and in keeping with the learning quest of his son, Nawawi's father decided to dedicate the life of his son for the service and promotion of the cause of Islam.
He studied in Damascus from the age of 18 and after making the pilgrimage in 1253, he settled there as a private scholar.
During his stay in Damascus, al-Nawawi studied from more than twenty teachers who were regarded as masters of their subject field and disciplines. Al-Nawawi studied Hadith and Islamic Jurisprudence, its principles, syntax and etymology.
Al-Nawawi drew the ire of Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars, when he petitioned on behalf of residents of Damascus who sought relief from heavy tax burdens during a drought that lasted many years. This prompted Baybars to threaten to expel al-Nawawi from Damascus. To this, he responded:
Al-Nawawi died at Nawa at the relatively young age of 44.
An-Nawawi's lasting legacy is his contribution to hadith literature through his momentous works: Forty Hadiths and Riyadh as-Saaliheen. This made him respected in all madhabs, despite his being a proponent of Shafi'i jurisprudence.
In 2015, during the Syrian Civil War, al-Nawawi's tomb was demolished by rebels linked to Al Nusra.
During his life, al-Nawawi wrote at least fifty books on Islamic studies and other topics. These include:
- Al Minhaj bi Sharh Sahih Muslim, one of the best commentaries on Sahih Muslim
- Riyadh as-Saaliheen, a collection of hadith on ethics, manners, conduct, popular in the Muslim world
- Al-Majmu' sharh al-Muhadhab, a comprehensive manual of Islamic law according to the Shafi'i school
- Minhaj al-Talibin, a classical manual on Islamic Law according to Shafi'i fiqh
- Tahdhib al-Asma wa'l-Luqhat (edited as the Biographical Dictionary of Illustrious Men chiefly at the Beginning of Islam by F. Wustenfeld (Göttingen, 1842–1847)
- Taqrib al-Taisir, an introduction to the study of hadith
- al-Arbaʿīn al-Nawawiyya (Forty Hadiths), a collection of forty-two fundamental traditions, frequently published along with numerous commentaries
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Nizam al-Mulk, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan
Nizam al-Mulk, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan (Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan Nizam al-Mulk) (Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Tusi Nizam al-Mulk) (Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi) (1017/1018 – October 14, 1092) (1017/1018-1092). Vizier of the Saljuq sultans Alp Arslan and Malik Shah. Nizam al-Mulk (literally “order of the realm”) was the honorific title of Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi, the vizier to the Seljuk sultans Alp Arslan and Malikshah. Nizam al-Mulk was also a writer on the art of government.Nizam al-Mulk was born near Tus, where his father was a minor official. The Ghaznavid sultan Mas‘ud ibn Mahmud having been defeated by the Saljuqs at Dandanqan in 1040, Nizam al-Mulk left the Ghaznavids for the Saljuqs. Nizam al-Mulk served the Seljuk prince Chaghri Beg and gained the regard of his son Alp Arslan, then governing Khorasan for his father.
Nizam al-Mulk was Alp Arslan’s right hand man throughout his reign (1063-1072), and upon the accession of his young son Malik-shah (1072-1092) became the virtual ruler of the empire. After the assassination of Alp Arslan in 1072, Nizam al-Mulk, for the next twenty years, was the real ruler of the Saljuq Empire, residing with the young Malik Shah at Isfahan. He was a champion of orthodoxy and a generous patron of learning, fostering both by founding the Nizamiyya College in Baghdad.
His relations with the ‘Abbasid caliphs al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah and al-Muqtadi were strained, but after he had been received graciously at Baghdad in 1086, he became a champion of the caliphate, while relations with Malik Shah and the princely family deteriorated. His vigorous repression of heresy led to his murder by an emissary of the “Assassins” of Alamut.
Nizam al-Mulk was assassinated in 1092, probably by an emissary of the Nizari Isma‘ili al-Hasan ibn al-Sabbah, who had obtained possession of Alamut. He was a lavish patron of religious men and poets. In 1091 and 1092, he wrote a monarch’s primer, in which he deals with dangers that threatened the empire, in particular from the Isma‘ilis. After his death, members of his family, known as Nizamiyya, held office under princes of the Saljuqs for the next sixty years, except for a gap between 1123 and 1134.
Nizam al-Mulk’s Siyasat-nama, written in unadorned Persian prose in 1091 at the invitation of Malik-shah and somewhat expanded by a later editor, is a practical manual of statecraft, illustrated by historical anecdotes.
Nizam al-Mulk is generally regarded as the principal architect of the Seljuk state. He began his administrative career under the Ghaznavids, from whom he would draw inspiration for both theory and practice throughout his life. Then, following the victories of the Seljuks, he entered their service in Khurasan, becoming Alp Arslan’s vizier and succeeding with him to imperial power.
Nizam al-Mulk combined his administrative skills with the military ventures of his sovereign to consolidate Seljuk authority from the Mediterranean to beyond the Oxus River. Although he was able to dominate the young Malikshah, Alp Arslan’s son and successor, the vizier and the sultan later fell out, probably because of Nizam al-Mulk’s arrogance as well as resistance at the court, due in part to his extensive use of nepotism.
Nizam al-Mulk’s greatness lies in his championing of traditional Perso-Islamic practices of government and his attempt to adapt them to the new context of the Islamic Middle Ages. His goal was to return substantial power to a civilian Persian bureaucracy. Here he was unable to reverse the trend toward Turkish military dominance. Ironically, he contributed to the growing autonomy of local military leaders. By introducing reforms in the land grant (iqta) system, he institutionalized it to the point that it would serve as a basis for their expanded power, influence, and independence. He was able, however, to contribute to the spread of a common educational and intellectual standard throughout Islam by supporting his own schools for Islamic scholars, the Nizamiyya madrasas.
Nizam al-Mulk’s practice was complemented by his theories, which were articulated in the Siyasatnama (Book of Government), a collection of advice, quotations, traditions, sayings, anecdotes, longer stories, contemporary events, and historical narratives, written in the last five years of his life. The Siyasatnama takes a well-deserved place in both the development of Persian literature and the refinement of Islamic political theory.
The first part of the book contains chapters about the king’s public function (“Concerning assignees of land and inquiry into their treatment of the peasantry,” “On obtaining information about the conduct of tax-collectors, judges ...”) as well as his more personal life (“Concerning boon companions and intimates ...,” “Concerning the rules and arrangements for drinking parties ...”). The second part is foreboding, dealing almost exclusively with heresy and various revolts, in particular with the contemporary activities of the Isma‘ilis.
Nizam al-Mulk’s pessimism was warranted. He was assassinated in 1092 by an Isma‘ili, possibly with the complicity of the enemies he had gathered at court over three decades. Malikshah died shortly thereafter. These dual voids would not be filled. Thus the decline of the Seljuk Empire in favor of smaller regional and local states was ensured.
Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan Nizam al-Mulk see Nizam al-Mulk, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan
Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Tusi Nizam al-Mulk see Nizam al-Mulk, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan
Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi see Nizam al-Mulk, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan
Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi (Nur ad-Din Zangi) (al-Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi) (Nūr al-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī) (Nur ed-Din) (Nur al-Din) (Nūr ad-Dīn -- "Light of the Faith") (February 1118 - May 15, 1174, Damascus [Syria]). Zangid atabeg of Damascus and Aleppo. He was born in 1118 and ruled from 1146 to 1174. In 1144, he captured Edessa from Count Joscelyn II, which made him the hero of the Sunnis, but which also provoked the Second Crusade. Nur al-Din continued to fight the Franks and captured Damascus in 1154. He made peace with Baldwin III of Jerusalem, but war broke out again and Baldwin suffered a disastrous defeat in 1157. In 1158, the Franks inflicted a severe defeat on Nur al-Din on the Jordan. Around 1160, his attention was drawn to the declining Fatimid rule in Egypt, and his history then became closely linked up with that of Saladin. In 1173, Nur al-Din Mahmud invaded Asia Minor and took several towns from the Rum Saljuq Qilij Arslan II. The ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi’ bi-Amr Allah recognised him as lord of Mosul, al-Jazira, Irbil, Khilat, Syria, Egypt and Konya. Nur al-Din was a pious Muslim, a lover of justice, and Damascus shows his great activity as a builder. His constant aim was the expulsion of the Christians from Syria and Palestine, and he paved the way for Saladin’s career and the constituting of the Ayyubid Empire.
Nūr al-Dīn was a Muslim ruler who reorganized the armies of Syria and laid the foundations for the success of Saladin.
Nūr al-Dīn succeeded his father as the atabeg (ruler) of Halab in 1146, owing nominal allegiance to the ʿAbbāsid caliph of Baghdad. Before his rule, a major reason for the success of the Crusaders was the disunity of the Muslim rulers of the region, who were unable to present a unified military front against the invaders. Nūr al-Dīn waged military campaigns against the Crusaders in an attempt to expel them from Syria and Palestine. His forces recaptured Edessa shortly after his accession, invaded the important military district of Antakiya in 1149, and took Damascus in 1154. Egypt was annexed by stages in 1169–71.
An able general and just ruler, Nūr al-Dīn was also noted for piety and personal bravery. He was austere and ascetic, disclaiming the financial rewards of his conquests: instead, he used the booty to build numerous mosques, schools, hospitals, and caravansaries. At the time of his death, his rule was recognized in Syria, in Egypt, and in parts of Iraq and Asia Minor.
Nur ad-Din Zangi see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi, al- see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad al-Din Zangi see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur ed-Din see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Light of the Faith see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
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