1.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
2.
Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
3.
Mecca
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Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca
4.
Saudi Arabian National Guard
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The Saudi Arabian National Guard is one of the three major branches of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The national guard is under the control of the Ministry of the National Guard. The current Minister is Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who was appointed to this position by King Abdullah on 27 May 2013. It differs from the regular Saudi army in being forged out of tribal elements loyal to the House of Saud, the Saudi Arabian National Guard has a standing force of 200,000 troops and a tribal militia of some 25,000 troops. It serves both as a force against external attack and as an Internal security force. Its duties include protecting the House of Saud, guarding against military coups, guarding strategic facilities and resources, and providing security for the cities of Mecca and Medina. It reports directly to the king through the Minister of the National Guard and, unlike the army, navy, the Guards command structure and communication network are entirely separate from those of the Ministries of Defense and the Interior. Its personnel are drawn from tribes loyal to the king and the royal family and it has been described as an institution that ties the tribes to the House of Saud. It also draws recruits from official Wahhabi religious establishment, according to journalist John R. Bradley, it is one of the best-trained and well-equipped armies in the world. The force was reorganised and retrained by the Vinnell Corporation in the 1980s. The United States support for the SANG has been delivered both through private contractors and the U. S. armys Office of the Program Manager, the SANG was founded as the successor to the Ikhwan, the tribal army of King Abdulaziz. The Ikhwan had helped King Abdulaziz conquer the Arabian Peninsula and take it from Ottoman Turkey in World War I, however, the Ikhwan committed many excesses and atrocities not just on Turks but on other Arabs as well. The various tribal groups of the Ikhwan also had a tendency to go off and do their own things, the SANG acquired its moniker of the White Army during this period due to its wearing of traditional Arab dress instead of Western-style military uniforms. In 1954, the office of Jihad and Mujahidin was transformed into the modern National Guard, training of the National Guard became the responsibility of the US Vinnell corporation in 1975. These contractors were supervised by a United States military group with the designation Office of the Program Manager—Saudi Arabian National Guard, extensive military infrastructure facilities have been built to ensure the comfort and well-being of national guard units. Other National Guard military cities were located at At-Taif, Dammam, during the 1950s and early 1960s, the regular army and the national guard were both small and of roughly equal strength. The guards mobility over desert terrain was assured by 1,100 Commando V-150 armoured cars, firepower came from 105 mm and 155 mm towed howitzers,106 mm recoilless rifles, and various wheeled BGM-71 TOW platforms. The second component of the guard, made up of tribal battalions under the command of local sheikhs, was organised into four infantry brigades
5.
Ikhwan
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The Ikhwan later became the Saudi Arabian National Guard. The Ikhwan first appeared around 1902, the newly Islamicized Bedouin would be converted from nomad raiders to soldiers for Islam. After the conquest of the Hejaz in 1924 brought all of the current Saudi state under Ibn Sauds control and he crushed their power at the Battle of Sabilla in 1929, following which the militia was reorganised into the Saudi Arabian National Guard. According to scholar David Cummins, around 1913, the time that Ibn Saud regained al-Hasa. Sunni ulama went out to domesticate nomadic tribesmen, to them from idolatry to Islam. The Ikhwan became zealous religious warriors united and motivated by more than allegiance to Ibn Saud. The result was a rebellion by some of the Ikhwan against their creator, the arid, remote region of Najd had been ruled by the House of Saud and religiously dominated by the Islamic revival movement known as since the mid-18th century. Ikhwant-men-tah-allah was a movement of townspeople, and traditionally thought of the nomadic herders as bearers of religious ignorance, jahiliyyah. To remedy this situation, the beduin were gathered in agricultural settlements known as hijra, there were 52 hujar by 1920 and 120 by 1929. Ikhwan were known for wearing white rather than the traditional Arab Kufiya. The pacification of the tribesmen was not entirely a success, and the nomads continued their raids. Unlike nomadic raiders, the Ikhwan earned notoriety for routinely killing male captives, from 1914 to 1926 Ibn Saud and Ikhwan-men-tah-allah leadership allied with him urged the Ikhwan to not attack or harass other nomads and townspeople of the Najd. From 1926 and 1930, the conflict was more serious, and effectively a rebellion, some Ikhwan leaders wanted to continue the expansion of the Ikhwan realm into these states, and launched raids into them. This left Ibn Saud responsible for military attacks originating in his country, ik, while Ibn Saud was willing to tolerate their practices. In 1926 meeting of Ikhwan leaders at al-Artawiya, found Ibn Saud at fault for not upholding the separation of belief. The Ikhwan, being irregular tribesmen, relied mainly on traditional weapons such as lances and swords, usually, they attacked in the forms of raids which is a style Bedouins had always used in the deserts of Arabia. Those raiders travelled mainly on camels and some horses, typically, every male captured was killed by cutting his throat. Two notable raids on Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in August 1922, some 1,500 Ikhwan camel mounted fighters led by Eqab bin Mohaya, attacked Transjordan
6.
Grand Mosque seizure
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The Grand Mosque seizure occurred during November and December 1979 when extremist insurgents calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud took over Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The insurgents declared that the Mahdi had arrived in the form of one of their leaders – Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani –, for nearly two weeks, Saudi Special Forces assisted by Pakistani and French commandos fought pitched battles to reclaim the compound. The siege ended two weeks after the takeover began and the mosque was cleared, following the attack, the Saudi state implemented a stricter enforcement of Islamic code. The seizure was led by Juhayman al-Otaybi, a member of a family in Najd. He declared his brother-in-law Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani to be the Mahdi, or redeemer, who arrives on earth several years before Judgement Day. The date of the attack,20 November 1979, was the first day of the year 1400 according to the Islamic calendar, al-Otaybi was from one of the foremost families of Najd. His grandfather had ridden with Ibn Saud in the decades of the century. He was a preacher, a corporal in the Saudi National Guard. Juhayman had turned against al-Baaz, and began advocating a return to the ways of Islam, among other things. He proclaimed that the ruling Al-Saud dynasty had lost its legitimacy because it was corrupt, al-Otaybi and Qahtani had met while being imprisoned together for sedition, when al-Otaybi claimed to have a vision sent by God telling him that Qahtani was the Mahdi. Their declared goal was to institute a theocracy in preparation for the imminent apocalypse and they differed from the original Ikhwan and other earlier Wahhabi purists in that they were millenarians, they rejected the monarchy and they condemned the Wahhabi ulama. Many of their followers were drawn from students at the Islamic University in Medina. The followers preached their radical message in different mosques in Saudi Arabia without being arrested, the government was reluctant to confront religious extremists. Even after the seizure of the Grand Mosque, a level of forbearance by ulama for the rebels remained. When the government asked for a fatwa allowing armed force in the Grand Mosque, the scholars did not declare al-Otaibi and his followers non-Muslims, despite their violation of the sanctity of the Grand Mosque, but only termed them al-jamaah al-musallahah. The senior scholars also insisted that security forces attack them. Because of donations from followers, the group was well-armed and trained. Some members, like al-Otaybi, were military officials of the National Guard
7.
Great Mosque of Mecca
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The Great Mosque of Mecca, also called the Grand Mosque, is the largest mosque in the world and surrounds Islams holiest place, the Kaaba, in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muslims face in the Qibla while performing Salat, the Quran states that Abraham, together with his son Ishmael, raised the foundations of a house that is identified by most commentators as the Kaaba. Allah had shown Abraham the exact site, very near to the Well of Zamzam, after Abraham had built the Kaaba, an angel brought to him the Black Stone, a celestial stone that, according to tradition, had fallen from Heaven on the nearby hill Abu Qubays. According to a saying attributed to Muhammad, the Black Stone had descended from Paradise whiter than milk, the Black Stone is believed to be the only remnant of the original structure made by Abraham. Quran 22,27 Going by the dates attributed to the patriarchs, Ishmael is believed to have been born around 2150 BCE, therefore, Islamic scholars have generally assumed that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham around 2130 BC. The Kaaba is, therefore, believed by Muslims to be more than an older than Solomons Temple in Jerusalem. These dates remain consistent with the Muslim belief that the Kaaba is the first, in Samaritan literature, the Samaritan Book of the Secrets of Moses claims that Ishmael and his eldest son Nebaioth built the Kaaba as well as the city of Mecca. Upon Muhammads victorious return to Mecca in 630, he and his son-in-law, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, broke the idols in and around the Kaaba, similar to what Ibrahim did as stated in and ended its pagan use. This began the Islamic rule over the Kaaba and the building of the Masjid al-Haram around it, the first major renovation to the mosque took place in 692. Before this renovation, which included the outer walls being raised and decoration added to the ceiling. The spread of Islam in the Middle East and the influx of pilgrims required an almost complete rebuilding of the site which included adding more marble, in 1570, Sultan Selim II commissioned the chief architect Mimar Sinan to renovate the mosque. These features are the oldest surviving parts of the building, during heavy rains and flash floods in 1621 and 1629, the walls of the Kaaba and the mosque suffered extensive damage. In 1629, during the reign of Sultan Murad IV, the Kaaba was rebuilt with stones from Mecca, in the renovation of the mosque, a new stone arcade was added, three more minarets were built, and the marble flooring was retiled. This was the state of the mosque for nearly three centuries. The first major renovation under the Saudi kings was done between 1955 and 1973, in this renovation, four more minarets were added, the ceiling was refurnished, and the floor was replaced with artificial stone and marble. The Masa gallery is included in the Masjid via roofing and enclosements, during this renovation many of the historical features built by the Ottomans, particularly the support columns, were demolished. The second Saudi renovations under King Fahd, added a new wing, the new wing, which is also for prayers, is accessed through the King Fahd Gate. This extension was performed between 1982 and 1988, the third Saudi extension saw the building of more minarets, the erecting of a Kings residence overlooking the mosque and more prayer area in and around the mosque itself
8.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
9.
House of Saud
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The House of Saud is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. The family has thousands of members, the most influential member of the Royal family is the King of Saudi Arabia, currently King Salman. The succession to the Saudi Arabian throne was designed to pass from one son of the first king, Ibn Saud, to another. The next in line, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef is also from the ruling House of Saud, while the monarchy is hereditary now, future Saudi kings will be chosen by a committee of Saudi princes, in line with a 2006 royal decree. The family is estimated to comprise 15,000 members, but the majority of the power, House of Saud is a translation of Al Saud. The latter is an Arabic dynastic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin, the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. Today, the surname Al Saud is carried by any descendant of Muhammad bin Saud or his three brothers Farhan, Thunayyan, and Mishari. Al Sauds other family branches like Saud al-Kabir, the Al Jiluwi, the Al Thunayan, the Al Mishari, members of the cadet branches hold high and influential positions in government though they are not in line of succession to Saudi throne. Many cadet members intermarry within the Al Saud to reestablish their lineage, the earliest recorded ancestor of the Al Saud was Mani ibn Rabiah Al-Muraydi who settled in Diriyah in 1446–1447 with his clan, the Mrudah. Although the Mrudah are believed to be descended from the Rabiah tribal confederation, Mani was invited by a relative named Ibn Dir. Ibn Dir was the ruler of a set of villages and estates that make up modern-day Riyadh, manis clan had been on a sojourn in east Arabia, near al-Qatif, from an unknown point in time. Ibn Dir handed Mani two estates called al-Mulaybeed and Ghusayba, Mani and his family settled and renamed the region al-Diriyah, after their benefactor Ibn Dir. The Mrudah became rulers of al-Diriyah, which prospered along the banks of Wadi Hanifa, as the clan grew larger, power struggles ensued, with one branch leaving for nearby Dhruma, while another branch left for the town of az-Zubayr in southern Iraq. The Al Migrin became the family among the Mrudah in Diriyah. The name of the clan comes from Sheikh Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin who died in 1725, the First Saudi State was founded in 1744. This period was marked by conquest of neighboring areas and by religious zeal, at its height, the First Saudi State included most of the territory of modern-day Saudi Arabia, and raids by Al Sauds allies and followers reached into Yemen, Oman, Syria, and Iraq. Islamic Scholars, particularly Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and his descendants, are believed to have played a significant role in Saudi rule during this period, the Saudis and their allies referred to themselves during this period as the Muwahhidun or Ahl al-Tawhid. Later they were referred to as the Wahhabis, a group of particularly strict Sunni, leadership of the Al Saud during the time of their first state passed from father to son without incident
10.
Ibn Saud
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He reconquered his familys ancestral home city of Riyadh in 1902, starting three decades of conquests that made him the ruler of nearly all of central Arabia. He consolidated his control over the Najd in 1922, then conquered the Hejaz in 1925 and he extended his dominions into, what later became, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. As King, he presided over the discovery of petroleum in Saudi Arabia in 1938 and he fathered many children, including 45 sons, and all of the subsequent kings of Saudi Arabia. Ibn Saud was born on 15 January 1875 in Riyadh in the region of Najd in central Arabia and he was the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, last ruler of the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, a tribal sheikhdom centered on Riyadh. His family, the House of Saud, had been a power in central Arabia for the previous 130 years, Ibn Sauds mother was a member of the Sudairi family, Sarah Al Sudairi. In 1890, the House of Sauds long-term regional rivals, the Rashidis, Ibn Saud was 15 at the time. He and his family took refuge with the Al Murrah. Later, the Al Sauds moved to Qatar and stayed there for two months and their next stop was Bahrain, where they stayed briefly. Their final destination was Kuwait, where lived for nearly a decade. As the raid proved profitable, it attracted more participants, the raiders numbers peaked at over 200, but numbers dwindled over the ensuing months. In the autumn, the made camp in the Yabrin oasis. While observing Ramadan, he decided to attack Riyadh and retake it from the Al Rashid, on the night of 15 January 1902, he led 40 men over the walls of the city on tilted palm trees and took the city. The Rashidi governor of the city, Ajlan, was killed in front of his own fortress, the Saudi recapture of the city marked the beginning of the Third Saudi State. Following the capture of Riyadh, many supporters of the House of Saud rallied to Ibn Sauds call to arms. He was a leader and kept his men supplied with arms. Over the next two years, he and his forces recaptured almost half of the Najd from the Rashidis, in 1904, Abdulaziz of Al Rashid appealed to the Ottoman Empire for military protection and assistance. The Ottomans responded by sending troops into Arabia, on 15 June 1904, Ibn Sauds forces suffered a major defeat at the hands of the combined Ottoman and Rashidi forces. His forces regrouped and began to wage guerrilla warfare against the Ottomans, over the next two years, he was able to disrupt their supply routes, forcing them to retreat
11.
Wahhabism
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Wahhabism is an Islamic doctrine and religious movement founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The term Wahhabi is often used polemically and adherents commonly reject its use, the movement emphasises the principle of tawhid. Wahhabism is named after a preacher and activist, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The alliance between followers of ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad bin Sauds successors proved to be a durable one, today Ibn Abd Al-Wahhabs teachings are the official, state-sponsored form of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia. With the help of funding from Saudi petroleum exports, the movement underwent explosive growth beginning in the 1970s, However, Wahhabism has also been called a particular orientation within Salafism, or an ultra-conservative, Saudi brand of Salafism. Estimates of the number of adherents to Wahhabism vary, with one giving a figure of fewer than 5 million Wahhabis in the Persian Gulf region. The majority of mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims worldwide strongly disagree with the interpretation of Wahhabism, Islamic scholars, including those from the Al-Azhar University, regularly denounce Wahhabism with terms such as Satanic faith. It has also criticized for the destruction of historic shrines of saints, mausoleums. A misguided creed that fosters intolerance, promotes simplistic theology, and restricts Islams capacity for adaption to diverse, a term used by opponents of Salafism in hopes of besmirching that movement by suggesting foreign influence and conjuring up images of Saudi Arabia. The term is most frequently used in countries where Salafis are a minority of the Muslim community but have made recent inroads in converting the local population to Salafism. The British also adopted it and expanded its use in the Middle East, Wahhabis do not like – or at least did not like – the term. Ibn Abd-Al-Wahhab was averse to the elevation of scholars and other individuals, according to Robert Lacey the Wahhabis have always disliked the name customarily given to them and preferred to be called Muwahhidun. Another preferred term was simply Muslims since their creed is pure Islam, However, critics complain these terms imply non-Wahhabis are not monotheists or Muslims, and the English translation of that term causes confusion with the Christian denomination. Early Salafis referred to simply as Muslims, believing the neighboring Ottoman Caliphate was al-dawlah al-kufriyya. The prominent 20th-century Muslim scholar Nasiruddin Albani, who considered himself of the Salaf, a New York Times journalist writes that Saudis abhor the term Wahhabism, feeling it sets them apart and contradicts the notion that Islam is a monolithic faith. Ingrid Mattson argues that, Wahhbism is not a sect and it is a social movement that began 200 years ago to rid Islam of rigid cultural practices that had acquired over the centuries. Journalist Karen House calls Salafi, a politically correct term for Wahhabi. In any case, according to Lacey, none of the terms have caught on
12.
Ulama
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Ulama are those recognized as scholars or authorities in the religious hierarchy of the Islamic religious studies. They are the guardians of legal and religious tradition in Islam, often they are Imams of important mosques, judges, teachers in the religious faculties of universities. Most ulama specialize in fiqh, and are considered the arbiters of law by mainstream Muslims. Ulama may also include specialists in areas such as muhaddith. Ulama is the plural of the word ‘alīm, which is derived from the word ‘ilm, sources used in the development of Sharia such as hadith, Ijma, and Qias, or for Shia ulama aql, are all the province of the ulama. At times in Muslim history the ulama have even served as a branch of government. On the other hand, the term is no longer confined to the Arabic bounds and is now taken with a broader meaning, the word ‘alīm is used twice in the Quran, but not necessarily in the same manner as its application in the Muslim community today. Syed, ‘alīm in the Quran refers to scientists, indicating the high importance afforded by the Quran to the physical sciences, the formative period of Islamic jurisprudence stretches back to the time of the early Muslim communities. In this period, jurists were more concerned with issues of authority. Progress in theory began to develop with the coming of the early Muslim jurist Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafii, laws were decided based on the Ijma of the Ummah, which was most often represented by the legal scholars. In order to qualify as a scholar, it was necessary obtain a doctorate known as the ijazat attadris wa l-ifttd from a Madrasah. In many ways, classical Islamic law functioned like a constitutional law, during the Ottoman era, the term ulama was commonly applied to scholars who had completed their madrasa training and gained an icazet. They had to be an expert in all the religious sciences, in addition, the student had to have been tested and approved by higher ranking ulama. Such assessment by experts gave the ulama legitimacy in the eyes of the public, in 14th and 15th century Ottoman Empire, there were not many madrasahs, and so the ulama traveled to countries such as Persia and Egypt to further their education. Upon the conquering of Istanbul, the sultan converted eight churches into madrasahs, Ulama worked as priest-like authorities who had the role of interpreting and enforcing Islamic shariah law. These jobs were distributed between two types of ulama, the Muftis, who interpreted Shariah law, and the Qadi, the Ottomans had a strict hierarchy of ulama, with the Sheikh ul-Islam holding the highest rank. A Sheikh ul-Islam was chosen by a royal warrant amongst the qadis of important cities, the Sheikh ul-Islam had the power to confirm new sultans, but once the sultan was affirmed, the sultan retained a higher authority than the Sheik ul-Islam. The Sheikh ul-Islam issued fatwas, which were written interpretations of the Quran that had authority over the community, the Sheikh ul-Islam represented the law of shariah and in the 16th century its importance rose which led to increased power
13.
Special Service Group
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The Special Service Group is the primary special operations force of the Pakistan Army. The SSG is a unit, and is headquartered at Tarbela Cantonment. It is headed by a major-general and divided into eight battalions, Each battalion consists of 700 men in four companies, with each company split into platoons and then into 10-man teams. Each battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel, SSG Pak was raised by amalgamating 7th/10th Baluch and 312 Garrison Company. Based out of Cherat and Attock, the SSG was created in 1956 and that year,19 Baluch was selected for conversion to a special operation force. As a result of this, the SSG has inherited many of the traditions, the 19th Baluch Regiments first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Aboobaker Osman Mitha who commanded it for six years till 1961. The first commander of its Alpha Company was Major Gaideen Khan Abdullai Mahsud and their initial training and orientation as regards tactics was based on the US Special Forces pattern with whom they co-operated closely in the Cold War years. The SSG initially had 6 companies and each company had specialization units, specialized in desert, mountain, ranger, the desert companies participated in training exercises with US Army Special Forces Mobile Training Team in late 1964. In August 1965, scope of SSG was raised from a battalion size force to larger Special Operations outfit, the scuba company in Karachi was renowned for its tough physical training. Later on, Chinese training, tactics, weapons, and equipment were also introduced, the SSG guerrillas were initially deployed along the Afghan border to repel Afghan incursions into Pakistan, but their first major deployment came during the war of 1965. By 1971, the SSG had grown to 3 battalions with 1 permanently stationed in East Pakistan, in 1971, SSG comprised three battalions of which one was stationed in East Pakistan. In one of the raids on an Indian artillery regiment during the 1971 Indo-Pak war,1 Commando Battalion incapacitated number of their guns, during Operation Magistral, it is alleged that the SSG came into regular contact with Soviet forces. One of these incidents was the Battle for Hill 3234, where a company of Soviet paratroopers engaged a force of Mujahideen believed to be SSG, the Mujahideen wore black uniforms with rectangular black-yellow-red stripes. It is claimed by at least two sources that the Mujahideen were actually members of the Special Services Group, according to the Soviet estimates, the SSG lost over 200 men. Another battle reported as having been fought between the Pakistanis and Soviet troops occurred in Kunar Province in March 1986, the SSG was also active on the eastern border with India and they have fought in Siachen. In the Kargil war SSG performed rather well in the initial stages, during the period of snowfall all the Indian posts were empty and they didnt have to face any repulsion. In 1980, the SSGs Musa Company, which was formed in 1970 as a combat diver unit, was given the anti-terrorist operations role. Musa Company got the best founders in the beginning like Major Faiz Akbar Shah and they were UDT/SEAL qualified from class 79 of American Navy SEALs
14.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
15.
Tear gas
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Tear gas, formally known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator, is a chemical weapon that causes severe eye, respiratory, and skin irritation, pain, vomiting, and even blindness. In the eye, it stimulates the nerves of the gland to produce tears. Common lachrymators include pepper spray, CS gas, CR gas, CN gas, nonivamide, bromoacetone, xylyl bromide, syn-propanethial-S-oxide, lachrymatory agents are commonly used for riot control. Their use in warfare is prohibited by international treaties. During World War I, increasingly toxic lachrymatory agents were used, tear gas works by irritating mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs, and causes crying, sneezing, coughing, difficulty breathing, pain in the eyes, and temporary blindness. With CS gas, symptoms of irritation typically appear after 20–60 seconds of exposure, with pepper spray, the onset of symptoms, including loss of motor control, is almost immediate. There can be variation in tolerance and response, according to the National Research Council Committee on Toxicology. The California Poison Control System analyzed 3,671 reports of pepper spray injuries between 2002 and 2011, severe symptoms requiring medical evaluation were found in 6. 8% of people, with the most severe injuries to the eyes, respiratory system and skin. The most severe occurred in law enforcement training, intentionally incapacitating people. Lachrymators are thought to act by attacking sulfhydryl functional groups in enzymes, one of the most probable protein targets is the TRPA1 ion channel that is expressed in sensory nerves of the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs. As with all non-lethal, or less-lethal weapons, there is risk of serious permanent injury or death when tear gas is used. This includes risks from being hit by tear gas cartridges, which include severe bruising, loss of eyesight, skull fracture, skin exposure to CS may cause chemical burns or induce allergic contact dermatitis. When people are hit at close range or are severely exposed, use of tear gas in warfare is prohibited by various international treaties that most states have signed. Police and private use is not banned in the same manner. Armed forces can legally use tear gas for drills and for riot control, first used in 1914, xylyl bromide was a popular tearing agent since it was easily prepared. The US Chemical Warfare Service developed tear gas grenades for use in control in 1919. Certain lachrymatory agents are used by police to force compliance. In some countries, another common substance is mace, the self-defense weapon form of mace is based on pepper spray, and comes in small spray cans, and versions including CS are manufactured for police use
16.
Al-Qassim Region
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Al-Qassim Region, also spelled Qassim, Al-Qaseem, Al-Qasim, or Gassim internationally, is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Saudi Arabia. Located at the heart of the country, and almost in the center of the Arabian Peninsula, it has a population of 1,370,727 and it is known to be the alimental basket of the country, for its agricultural assets. Al-Qassim is the richest region per capita in Saudi Arabia and it is the seventh most populated region in the country after Jizan and the fifth most densely populated. It has more than 400 cities, towns, villages, and Bedouin settlements and its capital city is Buraydah, which is inhabited by approximately 49% of the regions total population. The governor of the province from 1992 to 29 January 2015 was Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Al Qassim is derived from the word Qassimah, a reference to قصائم الغضا, meaning the regions sand dunes from which the white saxaul trees grow. The region is known to contain a group of Calligonum plants such as comosum. The province is located in the center of Saudi Arabia approximately 400 km northwest of Riyadh and it is bordered by Riyadh Region to the south and east, by Hail Region to the north, and by Al Madinah Region to the west. The region is connected to almost every part of Saudi Arabia by a complicated network of highways. The regional airport, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport, connects Al Qassim to the provinces of the country. There is not much known about Al Qassim the province in the times of Pre-Islamic Arabia. Unaizah was repeatedly mentioned as a watering hole in the poems of Imru Al Qais. Moreover, AlJiwa, which is about 60 km north of Unzaizah, was mentioned by the heroic Absi poet Antarah bin Shaddad, Al Qassim Province had some important foyers on the road of pilgrims and traders coming from the east in the era of the Abbasid Empire. The Zubeida road was a long road that started from the city of Kufa in Iraq. The road was constructed in the reign of Harun Al Rashid and was named after his wife Zubeida and it had pilgrims foyers in many of the regions cities including Unaizah. The Al Abu Olayan - dynasty from the Banu Tamim tribe established the emirate of Buraydah in the late 16th century by its leader and he built Buraydah and made it the provinces capital. However, Unaizah was ruled by Al Sulaim dynasty, the emirate was later captured by Muhanna Salih Abalkhail, the leader of the Abalkhail dynasty. In 1890, the Rashidi dynasty based in Hail annexed the province, in 1904, the Abalkhail recaptured the province. In 1907, the province was integrated under the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the province is Saudi Arabias most conservative region
17.
Otaibah
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Otaibah is one of the largest predominantly after Qahtan tripe Sunni Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. Today, they are found in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Palestine. Otaibah are originally from Hejaz and Najd, in 1912, however, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, began an ambitious plan to settle the nomadic tribes within his domains. The new settlements were to be known as hijras and the religious movement was called Ikhwan. As a result, a number of Utaybi hijras sprung up across the land. The most famous Utaybi hijras were Afif near Dwadmi, and Sajir near Shaqraa, a large contingent of Utaybah, led by Sultan ibn Bjad Bin Humaid aka Sultanaldeen, and also Eqab bin Mohaya Alotaibi was one of the most influential leaders. Moreover, Eqab bin Mohaya belonged to movement, and he was the head of his tribe. Sultan bin Bajad joined the Ikhwan and became the leader of Ikhwan, the Ikhwan were instrumental in gaining control of the Hejaz for Ibn Saud, but they then grew resentful and restless. The Utaybi hijras remained, however, and the hijra of Afif became particularly prosperous and is now considered a city in its own right, lying approximately halfway between Riyadh and Mecca. Many Utaybis have entered the Saudi armed forces in the last few decades, and their presence with other tribes is particularly heavy in the National Guard
18.
Najd
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Najd or Nejd is the geographical central region of Saudi Arabia in which twenty-eight percent of Saudis live. Najd consists of the regions of Riyadh, al-Qassim, and Hail, Najdis were sometimes referred to in the past as the dominant minority in Saudi Arabia. Unlike Hejaz, Najd is very remote and had largely avoided falling under foreign control, in pre-Islamic times the region of Nejd was settled by many tribes like the Kindites, Tayy and many others. Led by Usma bin Luai the Tayy invaded the mountains of Aja and these mountains are now known as Jabal Shammar. The Tayy became nomadic camel herders and horse breeders in northern Najd for centuries, in the 5th century CE, the tribes of North Arabia became a major threat to the trade line between Yemen and Syria. The Ḥimyarites decided to establish a state that controlled Central. The Kindites gained strength and numbers to play that role, and their first capital was Qaryat Dhāt Kāhil, today known as Qaryat al-Fāw. In the 5th and 6th centuries CE the Kindites made the first real concerted effort to all the tribes of Central Arabia through alliances. Al-Ḥārith ibn Amr, the most famous of their kings, finally succeeded in capturing the Lakhmid capital of al-Ḥirah in southern modern day Iraq, later however in about 529, al-Mundhir recaptured the city and put King Ḥārith and about fifty members of his family to death. In 525 CE, the Aksumites invaded Ḥimyar, and this Kindites, had an effect with the Kindites who lost the support of the Ḥimyarites. Within three years the Kindite kingdom had split into four groups, Asad, Taghlib, Qays and Kinānah and these small principalities were then overthrown in the 530s and 540s in a series of uprisings of the Adnānī tribes of Najd and Ḥijāz. In 540 CE, the Lakhmids destroyed all the Kindite settlements in Nejd, the Kindites and most of the Arab tribes switched their alliances to the Lakhmids. During the Islamic Prophet Muhammads era, Muhammad carried out expeditions in the area. The first was the Nejd Caravan Raid against the Quraysh, which place in 624. The Meccans led by Safwan ibn Umayyah, who lived on trade, after Muhammad received intelligence about the Caravans route, Muhammad ordered Zayd ibn Haritha to go after the Caravan, and they successfully raided it and captured 100,000 dirhams worth of booty. The Invasion of Nejd, happened in Rabi‘ Ath-Thani or Jumada Al-Ula,4 A. H i. e. in October,625 AD, Muhammad led his fighters to Nejd to scare off some tribes he believed had suspicious intentions. Some scholars say the Expedition of Dhat al-Riqa took place in Nejd as part of this invasion, the most authentic opinion according to Saifur Rahman al Mubararakpuri, however, is that Dhat Ar-Riqa‘ campaign took place after the fall of Khaibar. This is supported by the fact that Abu Hurairah and Abu Musa Al-Ash‘ari witnessed the battle, Abu Hurairah embraced Islam only some days before Khaibar, and Abu Musa Al-Ash‘ari came back from Abyssinia and joined Muhammad at Khaibar
19.
Ikhwan Revolt
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The relationship between the House of Saud and the Ikhwan deteriorated into an open bloody feud in December 1928. The main instigators of the rebellion were defeated in the Battle of Sabilla, Ikhwan tribesmen and troops loyal to Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud clashed again in the Jabal Shammar region in August 1929, and Ikhwan tribesmen attacked the Awazim tribe on 5 October 1929. Faisal al-Dawish, the leader of the rebellion and the Mutair tribe, fled to Kuwait in October 1929 before being detained by the British. Faisal Al-Dawish would die in Riyadh on 3 October 1931 from what appears to have been a heart condition, government troops had finally suppressed the rebellion on 10 January 1930, when other Ikhwan rebel leaders surrendered to the British. In the aftermath, the Ikhwan leadership was slain, and the remains were incorporated into regular Saudi units. Sultan bin Bajad, one of the three main Ikhwan leaders, was killed in 1931, while al-Dawish died in prison in Riyadh on 3 October 1931. In the beginning of the 20th century Arabia was an arena of tribal wars, the main tool for achieving these conquests was the Ikhwan, the Wahhabist-Bedouin tribal army led by Sultan bin Bajad al-Otaibi and Faisal al-Dawish. On 10 January 1926 Abdul-Aziz declared himself King of the Hejaz and, then, after the conquest of the Hejaz, some Ikhwan leaders wanted to continue the expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait. The tribesmen had already tried to gain territory in the Kuwait-Najd Border War and raids on Transjordan, elements of the Ikhwan also raided Kuwait in January 1928. On both occasions they looted camels and sheep, though they raided brutally, they suffered heavy retaliations from the Royal Air Force and Kuwaitis. With no signs of Ibn Saud mobilizing his forces to rein in the Ikhwan and stop the raids, Abdul-Aziz, however, refused to agree to the wild Ikhwani raids. Although the Ikhwan had been taught that all non-Wahabbis were infidels and he himself had just won British recognition as an independent ruler only a year earlier, and recognized the danger of a direct conflict with the British. The Ikhwan therefore openly revolted in December 1928, the largest confrontation of the parties occurred in 30–31 March 1929, in the Battle of Sabilla, where the Ikhwan leadership were massacred. The Battle of Sabilla was the last major battle of camel raiders and it had become a scene of carnage for the technologically mediocre Ikhwan against the cavalry and machine-guns of Ibn Sauds army. In the aftermath of the battle some 500 Ikhwan tribesmen died, ikhwan-affiliated tribesmen and loyal Saudi troops clashed again in the Jabal Shammar region in August 1929, resulting in the deaths of some 1,000 men. Despite their losses, the remnant of the Ikhwan tribesmen went on with their rebellion by attacking the Awazim tribe in Arabia on 5 October 1929, resulting in the deaths of some 250 individuals. Faisal Al-Dawish fled to Kuwait in October 1929, and government troops suppressed the rebellion on 10 January 1930. In the aftermath, the Ikhwan leadership was slain, and the remains were incorporated into regular Saudi units
20.
Sultan bin Bajad Al-Otaibi
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Sultan bin Bajad bin Hameed Al-Otaibi was a leader of the Ikhwan movement in Saudi Arabia. This movement was the army that supported King Abdul-Aziz to build his kingdom between 1910 and 1927. Along with his colleague and friend Faisal Al-Dawish, he led the Arab tribal forces in the occupation of Al-Hasa, Hail, Al-Baha, Jizan, Asir and Mecca and he was illiterate and very religious—strongly believing in Salafi principles. He fought the enemies of the Saudi kings, while considering them infidels, Al-Otaibi and his associates considered this a sin and challenged the agreements, made by Ibn Saud with the British and neighbouring powers. Bin Bajad entered into a rebellion against Ibn Sauds forces. Sultan bin Bajad was eventually killed in Al Artaweeiyah in 1931, utaybah Eqab bin Mohaya Grand Mosque Seizure
21.
Battle
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A battle is a combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. A war sometimes consists of many battles, Battles generally are well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. Wars and military campaigns are guided by strategy, whereas battles take place on a level of planning, German strategist Carl von Clausewitz stated that the employment of battles. To achieve the object of war was the essence of strategy, where the duration of the battle is longer than a week, it is often for reasons of staff operational planning called an operation. Battles can be planned, encountered, or forced by one force on the other when the latter is unable to withdraw from combat, a battle always has as its purpose the reaching of a mission goal by use of military force. However, a battle may end in a Pyrrhic victory, which favors the defeated party. If no resolution is reached in a battle, it can result in a stalemate, a conflict in which one side is unwilling to reach a decision by a direct battle using conventional warfare often becomes an insurgency. Until the 19th century the majority of battles were of short duration and this was mainly due to the difficulty of supplying armies in the field, or conducting night operations. The means of prolonging a battle was typically by employment of siege warfare, improvements in transportation and the sudden evolving of trench warfare, with its siege-like nature during World War I in the 20th century, lengthened the duration of battles to days and weeks. This created the requirement for unit rotation to prevent combat fatigue, trench warfare had become largely obsolete in conflicts between advanced armies by the start of the Second World War. The space a battle depends on the range of the weapons of the combatants. A battle in this sense may be of long duration and take place over a large area. Until the advent of artillery and aircraft, battles were fought with the two sides within sight, if not reach, of each other. Conversely, some of the Allied infantry who had just dealt a defeat to the French at the Battle of Waterloo fully expected to have to fight again the next day. Battlespace is a strategy to integrate and combine armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea. It includes the environment, factors and conditions that must be understood to successfully apply combat power, protect the force and this includes enemy and friendly armed forces, facilities, weather, terrain, and the electromagnetic spectrum within the operational areas and areas of interest. Battles are decided by various factors, the number and quality of combatants and equipment, the skill of the commanders of each army, and the terrain advantages are among the most prominent factors. A unit may charge with high morale but less discipline and still emerge victorious and this tactic was effectively used by the early French Revolutionary Armies
22.
Medina
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Medina, also transliterated as Madīnah, is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also the capital of the Al Madinah Region. The city contains al-Masjid an-Nabawi, which is the place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It served as the base of Islam in its first century where the early Muslim community developed. Medina is home to the three oldest mosques, namely the Quba Mosque, al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, Muslims believe that the chronologically final surahs of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad in Medina, and are called Medinan surahs in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs. Similar to Mecca, non-Muslims are forbidden from entering the core of Medina or the city centre by the national government. The Arabic word al-Madīnah simply means the city, before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib. The word Yathrib has been recorded in Surat al-Ahzab of the Quran, an alternative name is al-Madīnah an-Nabawīyah or al-Madīna-tu an-Nabī. As of 2010, the city of Medina has a population of 1,183,205, in addition to its Arab inhabitants, during the pre-Islamic era Yathrib was inhabited by Jewish tribes. Later the citys name was changed to al-Madīna-tu n-Nabī or al-Madīnatu l-Munawwarah, Medina is celebrated for containing al-Masjid an-Nabawi and also as the city which gave refuge to him and his followers, and so ranks as the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca. Muhammad was buried in Medina, under the Green Dome, as were the first two Rashidun caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, who were buried next to him in what used to be Muhammads house. Medina is 210 miles north of Mecca and about 120 miles from the Red Sea coast and it is situated in the most fertile part of all the Hejaz territory, the streams of the vicinity tending to converge in this locality. An immense plain extends to the south, in every direction the view is bounded by hills and mountains. The historic city formed an oval, surrounded by a wall,30 to 40 feet high, dating from the 12th century CE. Of its four gates, the Bab-al-Salam, or Egyptian gate, was remarkable for its beauty, beyond the walls of the city, west and south were suburbs consisting of low houses, yards, gardens and plantations. These suburbs also had walls and gates, almost all of the historic city has been demolished in the Saudi era. The rebuilt city is centred on the vastly expanded al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the graves of Fatimah and Hasan, across from the mosque at Jannat al-Baqi, and Abu Bakr, and of Umar, the second caliph, are also here. The mosque dates back to the time of Muhammad, but has been twice reconstructed, because of the Saudi governments religious policy and concern that historic sites could become the focus for idolatry, much of Medinas Islamic physical heritage has been altered. Medinas importance as a religious site derives from the presence of al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the mosque was expanded by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I
23.
Salafi movement
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It advocated a return to the traditions of the devout ancestors. Some scholars define this movement as Modernist Salafism, some 21st-century scholars have suggested there was a medieval form of Salafism, but there is little evidence of this. Generally scholars believe the Modernist form has been superseded since the century by what is called Purist Salafism. The Salafist doctrine can be summed up as taking a fundamentalist approach to Islam, emulating Muhammad and his earliest followers – al-salaf al-salih and they reject religious innovation or bidah, and support the implementation of sharia. The Salafi movement is described as being synonymous with Wahhabism. At other times, Salafism has been described as a hybrid of Wahhabism, Salafism has become associated with literalist, strict and puritanical approaches to Islam. Particularly in the West it is associated with Salafi jihadists, who espouse jihad as an expression of Islam against those they deem to be enemies of Islam. In legal matters, Salafis are divided between those who, in the name of independent legal judgement, reject strict adherence to the four Sunni schools of law, and others who remain faithful to these. Salafism takes its name from the Arabic term salaf, used to identify the earliest Muslims and they consider a hadith that quotes Muhammad saying, The best of my community are my generation, the ones who follow them and the ones who follow them. As a call to Muslims to follow the example of those first three generations, known collectively as the salaf. or pious Predecessors, the salaf are believed to include Muhammad himself, the Companions, the Followers, and the Followers of the Followers. Since the fifth Muslim generation or earlier, Sunni theologians have used the examples of the Salaf to understand the texts and tenets of Islam, according to Bernard Haykel, temporal proximity to the Prophet Muhammad is associated with the truest form of Islam among many Sunni Muslims. Salafis believe that the Quran, the Hadith and the consensus of approved scholarship, the Salafi dawa is a methodology, but it is not a madhhab in fiqh as is commonly misunderstood. Salafis may be influenced by the Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali or the Hanafi schools of Sunni fiqh, Salafis condemn certain common practices among Muslims such as polytheism and tawassul of religious figures. In North African cultures for instance, historically there were practices to venerate the graves of Islamic prophets and saints, Salafis place great emphasis on practicing actions in accordance with the known sunnah, not only in prayer but in every activity in daily life. For instance, many are careful always to use three fingers when eating, to water in three pauses, and to hold it with the right hand while sitting. In legal matters, Salafis are divided between those who, in the name of independent legal judgement, reject strict adherence to the four schools of law and others who remain faithful to these. Salafi scholars from Saudi Arabia are generally bound by Hanbali fiqh and advocate following an Imam rather than having individuals try to interpret, other Salafi scholars, however, believe that taqlid is unlawful. From their perspective, Muslims who follow a madhab without searching personally for direct evidence may be led astray, the latter group of scholars include Rashid Rida, al-Khajnadee, Muhammad Abduh, Saleem al-Hilali and Nasir al-Din al-Albani
24.
Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz
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Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz, was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar and a leading proponent of the Salafi form of Islam. He was the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999, Bin Baz issued a fatwa authorizing a wealth tax to support the Mujahideen during the anti-Soviet jihad. His endorsement of In Defense of Muslim Lands, principally written by Abdullah Azzam, was an influence in the successful call for jihad against the Soviet Union. It is said to be the first official call for jihad by a nation state against another state in modern times. Osama bin Laden bitterly condemned Bin Baz and his rulings that supported Saudi Arabias foreign policy, Ibn Baz was born in the city of Riyadh during the month of Dhu al-Hijjah,1910 to a family with a reputation for their interest in Islam. His father died when he was only three, by the time he was thirteen he had begun working, selling clothing with his brother in a market. He also took lessons of the Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh, in 1927, when he was sixteen, he started losing his eyesight after being afflicted with a serious infection in his eyes. By the time he was twenty, he had totally lost his sight and had become blind, at that time, Saudi Arabia lacked a modern university system. Ibn Baz received an education in Islamic literature with Islamic scholars. He had assumed a number of posts and responsibilities such as, in 1992 he was appointed Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Head of the Council of Senior Scholars and was granted presidency of the administration for scientific research and legal rulings. President and member of the Constituent Assembly of the Muslim World League, in 1981 he was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam. He was the only Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia not to come from the Al ash-Sheikh family, Ibn Bāz had undertaken a number of charitable and other activities such as, His support for Dawah organizations and Islamic centers in many parts of the world. The popular radio program, Nurun Ala Darb, in which he discussed current issues, Bin Baz urged donations be given to the Taliban in Afghanistan, who in the late 1990s were seen by many Saudis as pure, young Salafi warriors fighting against destructive warlords. Ibn Bāz was considered by many to be prolific speaker both in public and privately at his mosque and he also used to invite people after Isha prayer to share a meal with him. Ibn Bāz was among the Muslim scholars who opposed regime change using violence and he called for obedience to the people in power unless they ordered something that went against God. The number of written by Ibn Bāz exceeds sixty and the subject matter covered topics such as Hadith, Tafsir, Faraed, Tawheed, Fiqh, Salat, Zakat, Dawah, Hajj. He also authored a criticism of the concept of nationhood, Bin Baz wives and children lived in the Shumaysi neighborhood of Riyadh in a little cluster of modern two-story buildings. Like all senior Saudi clerics, his home was a gift from a wealthy benefactor or a foundation for his distinguished religious work
25.
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi
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Al-Masjid an-Nabawī is a mosque established and originally built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, situated in the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. Al-Masjid an-Nabawi was the mosque built in the history of Islam and is now one of the largest mosques in the world. It is the second-holiest site in Islam, after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and it is always open, regardless of date or time. The site was adjacent to Muhammads house, he settled there after his Hijra to Medina in 622 CE. He shared in the work of construction. The original mosque was an open-air building, the mosque served as a community center, a court, and a religious school. There was a platform for the people who taught the Quran. Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated it, in 1909, it became the first place in the Arabian Peninsula to be provided with electrical lights. The mosque is under the control of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the mosque is located in what was traditionally the center of Medina, with many hotels and old markets nearby. It is a pilgrimage site. Many pilgrims who perform the Hajj go on to Medina to visit the mosque due to its connections to the life of Muhammad. After an expansion during the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, it now incorporates the final resting place of Muhammad and the first two Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar. One of the most notable features of the site is the Green Dome in the south-east corner of the mosque, originally Aishas house, where the tomb of Muhammad is located. In 1279, a cupola was built over the tomb which was later rebuilt and renovated multiple times in late 15th century. The current dome was added in 1818 by the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II, the mosque was built by Muhammad in 622 after his arrival in the city of Medina. After the Battle of Khaybar, the mosque was enlarged, the mosque extended for 47.32 metres on each side and three rows of columns were built beside the west wall, which became the place of praying. The mosque remained unaltered during the reign of the first Rashidun caliph Abu Bakr, the second caliph Umar demolished all the houses around the mosque except that of Muhammads wives to expand it. The new mosques dimensions became 57.49 metres ×66.14 metres, sun-dried mud bricks were used to construct the walls of the enclosure
26.
Quran
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The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature, the Quran is divided into chapters, which are then divided into verses. The word Quran occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names, according to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammads death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and these codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthmans codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with minor differences in meaning. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures and it summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and it sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law, during prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz, some Muslims read Quranic ayah with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers, in order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself and it is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, meaning he read or he recited. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to reading or lesson. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammads lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the act of reciting, as reflected in an early Quranic passage, It is for Us to collect it, in other verses, the word refers to an individual passage recited. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example, So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it, the word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran, each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb, āyah, and sūrah, the latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with an article, the word is referred to as the revelation
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Saudi riyal
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The Saudi riyal, is the currency of Saudi Arabia. It is abbreviated as ر. س or SR and it is subdivided into 100 halalas. The Hejaz riyal was based on but not equivalent to the Ottoman 20 kuruş coin and was divided into 20 qirsh. However, although the Hejaz riyal was the weight as the Ottoman 20 kuruş, it was minted in.917 fineness. The system remained even though the riyal was subsequently debased to an equivalent, in silver content. In 1960, the system was changed to 20 qirsh to a riyal, some Saudi coins still bear denominations in qirsh, but it is no longer commonly used. In 1925, transitional copper coins for 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 qirsh were minted in Makkah by Ibn Saud and they were followed, in 1926, by 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and 1 qirsh cupro-nickel pieces carrying the title King of Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd. In 1927, the title was changed to King of Hejaz and Nejd and Dependencies and coins were issued in denominations of 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and 1 qirsh in cupro-nickel and 1⁄4. In 1935, the first coins were issued in the name of Saudi Arabia and these were silver 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and 1 riyal coinswhich were nearly 50% lighter than the previous issue. Cupro-nickel 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and 1 qirsh were also issued from 1937, in 1946, many of the cupro-nickel coins were countermarked with the Arabic numerals 65 in what Krause and Mishler describe as a move to break money changers monopoly on small coins. Cupro-nickel 2 and 4 qirsh were introduced in 1957, in 1963, the halala was introduced, and bronze 1 halala coins were issued. That was the year they were struck. Cupro-nickel 5,10,25 and 50 halala followed in 1972, in 1976, cupro-nickel 1 riyal coins were introduced, which are also inscribed with the denomination 100 halala. Bimetallic 1 riyal coins, also marked 100 halala, were issued in 1999, in 2017, a new serie of seven coins is introduced and replace previous coins in a aim to make coins more popular. The following denomination are introduced In 1953, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency began issuing Haj Pilgrim Receipts for 10 riyals, with 1 and 5 riyals following in 1954 and 1956 and these resembled banknotes and were initially intended for use by pilgrims who exchanged foreign currency for them. However, they became widely accepted in Saudi Arabia and largely replaced silver riyal coins in major financial transactions, consequently, the Monetary Agency began issuing regular banknotes for 1,5,10,50 and 100 riyals on 15 June 1961. The Pilgrim Receipts were withdrawn on 1 February 1965,500 Riyal notes were introduced in 1983. 20 and 200 riyal banknotes were issued in 2000 to commemorate the centenary of the founding of what became the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the 5th series of banknotes bearing the face of King Abdullah were issued in 2007
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Riyadh
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Riyadh is the capital and most populous city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province and belongs to the regions of Najd. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, the current mayor of Riyadh is Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Sultan. He was appointed mayor in 2015 and it has been designated a global city. During the Pre-Islamic era the city at the site was called Hajr, Hajr served as the capital of the province of Al Yamamah, whose governors were responsible for most of central and eastern Arabia during the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. Al-Yamamah broke away from the Abbasid Empire in 866 and the area fell under the rule of the Ukhaydhirites, the city then went into a long period of decline. In the 14th century, North African traveller Ibn Battuta wrote of his visit to Hajr, describing it as the city of Al-Yamamah. Later on, Hajr broke up several separate settlements and estates. The most notable of these were Migrin and Mikal, though the name Hajr continued to appear in local folk poetry, the earliest known reference to the area by the name Riyadh comes from a 17th-century chronicler reporting on an event from the year 1590. In 1737, Deham ibn Dawwas, a refugee from neighboring Manfuha, Ibn Dawwas built a single wall to encircle the various quarters of Riyadh, making them effectively a single town. In 1744, Muhammad ibn Abdel Wahhab formed an alliance with Muhammad ibn Saud, Ibn Saud then set out to conquer the surrounding region with the goal of bringing it under the rule of a single Islamic state. Ibn Dawwas of Riyadh led the most determined resistance, allied forces from Al Kharj, Al Ahsa. However, Ibn Dawwas fled and Riyadh capitulated to the Saudis in 1774, ending years of wars. The First Saudi State was destroyed by forces sent by Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Ottoman forces razed the Saudi capital Diriyah in 1818. They had maintained a garrison at Najd and this marked the decline of the House of Saud for a short time. In 1823, Turki ibn Abdallah chose Riyadh as the new capital, following the assassination of Turki in 1834, his eldest son Faisal killed the assassin and took control, and refused to be controlled by the Viceroy of Egypt. Najd was then invaded and Faisal taken captive and held in Cairo, in 1889, Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, the third son of Faisal again regained control over Najd and ruled till 1891, where after the control was regained by Muhammad bin Raschid. Internecine struggles between Turkis grandsons led to the fall of the Second Saudi State in 1891 at the hand of the rival Al Rashid clan, the al-Masmak fort dates from that period
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Sunnah
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Sunnah is the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as various reports about Muhammads companions. The Quran and the Sunnah make up the two sources of Islamic theology and law. The Sunnah is also defined as a path, a way, in the pre-Islamic period, the word sunnah was used with the meaning manner of acting, whether good or bad. During the early Islamic period, the term came to refer to any good precedent set by people of the past, the sunnah of Muhammad includes his specific words, habits, practices, and silent approvals. Instituting these practices was, as the Quran states, a part of Muhammads responsibility as a messenger of God, recording the sunnah was an Arabian tradition and, once people converted to Islam, they brought this custom to their religion. The word Sunnah is also used to refer to religious duties that are optional, Sunnah is an Arabic word that means habit or usual practice. Sunni Muslims are also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jamāah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short, some early Sunnî Muslim scholars reportedly used the term the Sunnah narrowly to refer to Sunnî Doctrine as opposed to the creeds of Shia and other non-Sunni sects. According to Fazlur Rhaman, Sunnah is a behavior concept and this concept could be applied on mental and physical acts, in other words, sunnah counted as a law of behavior. This behavior belongs to conscious agents who can possess their acts, besides, sunnah counted as normative moral law. Sunnah also means the practice which gains the status of normative. A similar in that We have sent among you a Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our Signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and Wisdom, and in new knowledge. Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, the teachings of wisdom have been declared to be a function of Muhammad along with the teachings of the scripture. Several Quranic verses mention wisdom coupled with scripture or the book, surah 4, ayah 113 states, For Allah hath sent down to thee the Book and wisdom and taught thee what thou Knewest not, And great is the Grace of Allah unto thee. Surah 2, ayah 231. but remember Allahs grace upon you, surah 33, ayah 34, And bear in mind which is recited in your houses of the revelations of God and of wisdom. Therefore, along with divine revelation the sunnah was directly taught by God, modern Sunni scholars are beginning to examine both the sira and the hadith in order to justify modifications to jurisprudence. The sunnah, in one form or another, would retain its role in providing a moral example. For Muslims the imitation of Muhammad helps one to know and be loved by God, and We have also sent down unto you the reminder and the advice, that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought. And We have not sent down the Book to you, except that you may explain clearly unto them those things in which they differ, and a guidance and a mercy for a folk who believe
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Mahdi
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In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for five, seven, nine, or nineteen years before the Day of Judgement and will rid the world of evil. There is no reference to the Mahdi in the Quran. According to Islamic tradition, the Mahdis tenure will coincide with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, differences exist in the concept of the Mahdi between Shia Muslims and adherents of the Sunni tradition. For Sunnis, the Mahdi is the Muslims future leader who is yet to come, for most Shia Muslims, the Mahdi was born but disappeared and will remain hidden from humanity until he reappears to bring justice to the world, a doctrine known as the Occultation. For Twelver Shia, this hidden Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam, throughout history, various individuals have claimed to be the Mahdi. The term mahdi does not occur in the Quran, but it is derived from the Arabic root h-d-y, the term al-Mahdi was employed from the beginning of Islam, but only as an honorific epithet and without any messianic significance. As an honorific it has used in some instances to describe Muhammad, as well as Abraham, al-Hussain. During the second war, after the death of Muʾawiya. In Kufa during the rebellion in 680s, Al-Mukhtar proclaimed Muhammad al-Hanafiyyah as the Mahdi in this heightened sense. Among the Umayyads, Sulayman encouraged the belief that he was the Mahdi, early discussions about the identity of al-Mahdi by religious scholars can be traced back to the time after the Second Fitna. These discussions developed in different directions and were influenced by traditions attributed to Muhammad, by the time of the Abbasid Revolution in the year 750, Mahdi was already a known concept. Evidence shows that the first Abbasid caliph As-Saffah assumed the title of the Mahdi for himself and they became known as Kaysanites, and introduced what later became two key aspects of the Shias concept of the Mahdi. The first was the notion of return of the dead, particularly of the Imams, the second was that after al-Hanafiyyahs death they believed he was, in fact, in hiding in the Razwa mountains near Medina. This later developed into the known as the Occultation. The Mahdi appeared in early Shi’ite narratives, spread widely among Shi’ite groups and became dissociated from its historical figure, during the 10th century, based on these earlier beliefs, the doctrine of Mahdism was extensively expanded by Al-Kulayni, Ibrahim al-Qummi and Ibn Babawayh. In particular, in the early 10th century, the doctrine of the Occultation, the Mahdi became synonymous with the Hidden Imam who was thought to be in occultation awaiting the time that God has ordered for his return. This return is envisaged as occurring shortly before the final Day of judgment, in fact, the concept of the hidden Imam was attributed to several Imams in turn. Some historians suggest that the term itself was introduced into Islam by southern Arabian tribes who had settled in Syria in the mid-7th century
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Husayn ibn Ali
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Al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, was the grandson of the Islamic Nabi Muhammad, and the son of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah the daughter of Muhammad. He is an important figure in Islam, as he was a member of the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad and Ahl al-Kisa’, Al-Husayn became the Imam of Shi‘ites after the death of his older brother, Al-Hasan, in 670 ACE. His fathers supporters in Al-Kufah gave their allegiance to him, however, he told them he was still bound to the peace treaty between Al-Hasan and Muawiyah I and they should wait until Mu‘awiyahs death. Later, Al-Husain did not accept the request of Mu‘awiyah for the succession of his son, Yazid I and he insisted on his legitimacy based on his own special position as a direct descendant of Muhammad and his legitimate legatees. As a consequence, he left Medina, his home town, there, the people of Al-Kufah sent letters to him, asking his help and pledging their allegiance to him. So he travelled towards Al-Kufah, but, at a place near it known as Karbala’ and he was killed and beheaded in the Battle of Karbala’ on 10 October 680 by Shimr Ibn Thil-Jawshan, along with most of his family and companions. Anger at Al-Husayns death was turned into a rallying cry that helped undermine the Umayyad caliphates legitimacy, Al-Husayn is highly regarded by Shi‘ite Muslims for refusing to pledge allegiance to Yazid, the Umayyad caliph, because he considered the rule of the Umayyads unjust. His action at Karbala fuelled the later Shia movements, Al-Husayn was the son of ‘Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib, and his wife Fatimah. His maternal grandparents were Muhammad and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, and his grandparents were Abu Talib. Husayn and his brother Hasan were the last descendants of Muhammad living during his lifetime, there are many accounts of his love for them which refer to them together. Allah loves those who love Hussain, Hussain is a grandson among grandsons. A narration declares them the Masters of the Youth of Paradise, the Shia maintain that the infallibility of the Imam is a basic rule in the Imamate. According to Wilferd Madelung, Muhammad loved them and declared them as people of his Bayt very frequently and he has also said, Every mothers children are associated with their father except for the children of Fatima for I am their father and lineage. Thus, the descendants of Fatimah were descendants of Muhammad, according to popular Sunni belief, it refers to the household of Muhammad. Shia popular view is the members of Muhammads family that were present at the incident of Mubahalah, according to Muhammad Baqir Majlisi who compiled Bihar al-Anwar, a collection of ahadith, Chapter 46 Verse 15 and Chapter 89 Verses 27-30 of the Qur’an are regarding Al-Husayn. In the year AH10 a Christian envoy from Najran came to Muhammad to argue which of the two parties erred in its doctrine concerning ‘Isa. Accordingly, in the verse of Mubahalah, in the Shi‘ite perspective, the phrase our sons would refer to Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn, our women would refer to Fatimah, and ourselves would refer ‘Ali. Mu‘awiyah, who was the governor of Al-Sham under ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, had refused ‘Alis demands for allegiance, after ‘Ali was assassinated and people gave allegiance to Al-Hasan, Mu‘awiyah prepared to fight with him
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Ali
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‘Ali ibn Abi Talib was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic Nabi Muhammad, ruling over the Caliphate from 656 to 661 ACE, and was Imam of Shi‘ite from 632 to 661 ACE. ‘Ali was the first young male who accepted Islam, after migrating to Medina, he married Muhammads daughter Fatimah. Ali took part in the early caravan raids from Mecca and later in almost all the battles fought by the nascent Muslim community and he was appointed caliph by Muhammads Companions in 656, after Caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated. ‘Alis reign saw wars and in 661, he was attacked and assassinated by a Kharijite while praying in the Great Mosque of Kufa. ‘Ali is important to various Sunni and Shi‘ite denominations politically, legislatively and spiritually, while Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun caliphs, Shi‘ites regard ‘Ali as the first Imam after Muhammad due to their interpretation of the events at Ghadir Khumm. Shias also believe that ‘Ali and the other Shi‘ite Imams are the successors to Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah into the Sunni and Shia branches, ‘Alis father, Abu Talib, was the custodian of the Kabah and a sheikh of the Banu Hashim, an important branch of the powerful Quraysh tribe. He was also an uncle of Muhammad, Alis mother, Fatima bint Asad, also belonged to Banu Hashim, making Ali a descendant of Ismail, the son of Ibrahim. Many sources, especially Shii ones, attest that Ali was born inside the Kaaba in the city of Mecca, according to a tradition, Muhammad was the first person whom Ali saw as he took the newborn in his hands. Muhammad named him Ali, meaning the exalted one, Muhammad had a close relationship with Alis parents. When Muhammad was orphaned and later lost his grandfather Abdul Muttalib, Ali was born two or three years after Muhammad married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. When Ali was five or six years old, a famine occurred in and around Mecca, affecting the economic conditions of Alis father, Muhammad took Ali into his home to raise him. The second period of life began in 610 when he declared Islam at the age of 10. When Muhammad reported that he had received a revelation, Ali, then only about ten years old, believed him. According to Ibn Ishaq and some authorities, Ali was the first male to embrace Islam. Tabari adds other traditions making the claim of being the first Muslim in relation to Zayd ibn Harithah or Abu Bakr. Some historians and scholars believe Alis conversion is not worthy enough to him the first male Muslim because he was a child at the time. Hence the Shia say of Ali that his face is honoured, the Sunnis also use the honorific Karam Allahu Wajhahu, which means Gods Favour upon his Face
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Fatimah
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Fatimah bint Muhammad was the youngest daughter of the Islamic Nabi Muhammad and Khadijah, therefore, one of the members of Muhammads Bayt. She was a wife of ‘Ali and mother of Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn, the 11th century dynasty ruling Egypt at the time of the Crusades, the Fatimids, claimed descent from her. For Muslims, Fatimah is an example and Fatimah is one of the most popular girls names throughout the Muslim world. Fatimah is a character in the religion of Islam and is considered a role model for all Muslim women. Although there is controversy between different sects of Islam regarding her role, she is the daughter of Muhammad and is loved and venerated by all Muslims. Fatimah was born in Mecca to Khadija, the first of Muhammads wives. Twelver Shia sources, however, state that she was either two or five years after the first Quranic revelations, but that timeline would imply her mother was over fifty at the time of her birth. Fatimah had three sisters named Zainab, Umm Kulthum, and Ruqayyah and two brothers named Tayyab and Qasim respectively, Iranians celebrate Fatima Zahra’s birth anniversary which is also designated as Mothers Day in the country. Fatimah is given titles by Muslims to show their admiration of her moral and physical characteristics. The most used title is al-Zahra, meaning the shining one and she was also known as al-Batul as she spent much of her time in prayer, reciting the Quran and in other acts of worship. Besides, amongst 125 famous veneration titles, she has also honored with the title of Umm-ul-Aaima. Umm Abeeha Umm al-Hasanayn Umm al-Hasan Umm al-Husayn Umm-ul-Aaima, following the birth of Fatimah, she was personally nursed, especially she was brought up by her father, contrary to local customs where the newborn were sent to wet nurses in surrounding villages. She spent her early youth under the care of her parents in Mecca in the shadow of the tribulations suffered by her father at the hands of the Quraysh. One time, while Muhammad was performing the salat in the Kaaba, Amr ibn Hishām, Fatimah, upon hearing the news, rushed to her father and wiped away the filth while scolding the men. Following the death of her mother, Fatimah was overcome by sorrow and she was consoled by her father, who informed her that he had received word from angel Gabriel that God had built for her a palace in paradise. Many of Muhammads companions asked for Fatimahs hand in marriage, including Abu Bakr, Muhammad turned them all down, saying that he was awaiting a sign of her destiny. Ali, Muhammads cousin, also had a desire to marry Fatimah, when he went to see Muhammad, he could not vocalise his intention but remained silent. Muhammad understood the reason for his being there and prompted Ali to confirm that he had come to seek Fatimah in marriage and he suggested that Ali had a shield, which if sold, would provide sufficient money to pay the bridal gift
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Muhammad
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Muhammad is the prophet of Islam. From a secular historical perspective he was a religious, political, from an Islamic perspective, he was Gods Messenger sent to confirm the essential teachings of monotheism preached previously by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is viewed as the prophet of God in all branches of Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings, practices, born approximately 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, Muhammad was orphaned at an early age, he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad gained few early followers, and met hostility from some Meccan tribes, to escape persecution, Muhammad sent some followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, in Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. In December 629, after eight years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts, the attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed. In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, he fell ill, before his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. The revelations, which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the Word of God and around which the religion is based. Besides the Quran, Muhammads teachings and practices, found in the Hadith and sira literature, are upheld by Muslims. The name Muhammad means praiseworthy and appears four times in the Quran, Muhammad is sometimes addressed by designations deriving from his state at the time of the address, thus he is referred to as the enwrapped in Quran 73,1 and the shrouded in Quran 74,1. In Sura Al-Ahzab 33,40 God singles out Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets, the Quran also refers to Muhammad as Aḥmad more praiseworthy. The name Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, begins with the kunya Abū, the Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe it represents the words of God revealed by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, the Quran, however, provides minimal assistance for Muhammads chronological biography, most Quranic verses do not provide significant historical context. An important source may be found in the works by writers of the 2nd. These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, which additional information about Muhammads life. The earliest surviving written sira is Ibn Ishaqs Life of Gods Messenger written c.767 CE, although the work was lost, this sira was used verbatim at great length by Ibn Hisham and Al-Tabari. Another early history source is the history of Muhammads campaigns by al-Waqidi, many scholars accept the earliest biographies as accurate, though their accuracy is unascertainable
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Sayyid Qutb
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Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamic theorist, poet, and the leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1966 he was convicted of plotting the assassination of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and was executed by hanging and his magnum opus, Fi Zilal al-Quran, is a 30-volume commentary on the Quran. During most of his life, Qutbs inner circle consisted of influential politicians, intellectuals, poets and literary figures. By the mid-1940s, many of his writings were officially among the curricula of schools and he has been described by followers as a great thinker and martyr for Islam, while many Western observers see him as a key originator of Islamist ideology. Others in the West believe Qutb is an inspiration for violent groups such as al-Qaeda, today, his supporters are identified by their opponents as Qutbists or Qutbi. Qutb was born on 9 October 1906 and he was raised in the Egyptian village of Musha, located in Upper Egypts Asyut Province. His father was a landowner and the family estates administrator, but he was well known for his political activism, holding weekly meetings to discuss the political events. At this young age, Sayyid Qutb first learned about melodic recitations of the Quran, in his teens, Qutb was critical of the religious institutions with which he came into contact, holding in contempt the way in which those institutions were used to form public opinion and thoughts. At this time, Qutb developed his bent against the imams and this confrontation would persist throughout his life. He moved to Cairo where between 1929 and 1933 he received a based on the British style of schooling before starting his career as a teacher in the Ministry of Public Instruction. During his early career, Qutb devoted himself to literature as an author and critic, writing novels as Ashwak. In 1939, he became a functionary in Egypts Ministry of Education, from 1948 to 1950, he went to the United States on a scholarship to study its educational system, spending several months at Colorado State College of Education in Greeley, Colorado. Qutbs first major work of religious social criticism, Al-adala al-Ijtimaiyya fi-l-Islam, was published in 1949. Though Islam gave him peace and contentment, he suffered from respiratory and other health problems throughout his life and was known for his introvertedness, isolation, depression. In appearance, he was pale with sleepy eyes, Qutb never married, in part because of his steadfast religious convictions. While the urban Egyptian society he lived in was becoming more Westernized, Qutb lamented to his readers that he was never able to find a woman of sufficient moral purity and discretion and had to reconcile himself to bachelorhood. He would have a big collection of books, and another small collection specifically for Syed Qutb. If Syed never had the money, he would tell him that I dont have the now, so let me borrow it
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Deobandi
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Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam. It is centered in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, has spread to the United Kingdom. The name derives from Deoband, India, where the school Darul Uloom Deoband is situated, the movement was inspired by scholar Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, and was founded in 1867 in the wake of the failed Sepoy Rebellion a decade earlier. The group founded an Islamic seminary known as Darul Uloom Deoband, in time, the Darul Uloom Deoband became the second largest focal point of Islamic teaching and research after the Al-Azhar University, Cairo. Through the organisations such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and Tablighi Jamaat, the Deobandi ideology began to spread, graduates of Deoband from countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and Malaysia opened thousands of madrasas throughout South Asia, specifically in parts of present day Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 1919, a group of Deobandi scholars formed the political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. A minority group joined Muhammad Ali Jinnahs Muslim League, forming the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in 1945, the Deobandi Movement in India is controlled by the Darul Uloom Deoband and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. About 20% of the Indian Muslims identify as Deobandi, even though a minority, the Deobandis form the dominant group among Indian Muslims due to their access to state resources and representation in Muslim bodies etc. The Deobandis are referred to as Wahhabis by their opponents — the Barelvis, in reality, they are not Wahhabis, even though they share many of their beliefs. The true Wahhabis among Indian Muslims are said to be fewer than 5 percent, some 20 percent of Pakistans Sunni Muslims consider themselves Deobandi. According to Heritage Online, nearly 65% of the seminaries in Pakistan are run by Deobandis, whereas 25% are run by Barelvis, 6% by Ahl-i Hadith. Having seen Deoband as a counterbalance to Iranian influence in the region, the same investigative report further said that 17 of the countrys 26 Islamic seminaries follow the ultra-conservative Deobandi teachings which had given birth to the Taliban. According to Times almost 80% of all domestically trained Ulema were being trained in these hardline seminaries, the Deobandi movement sees itself as a scholastic tradition, situated within orthodox Sunni Islam. Deobandis are strong proponents of the doctrine of Taqlid, in other words, they believe that a Muslim must adhere to one of the four schools of Sunni Islamic Law and generally discourage inter-school eclecticism. They themselves are predominantly followers of the Hanafi school and they often accuse those who adhere to the rulings of one scholar or legal school of blind imitation, and frequently demand scriptural evidence for every argument and legal ruling. Almost since the beginnings of the movement, Deobandi scholars have generated a copious amount of scholarly output in an attempt to defend their adherence to a madhhab in general. In particular, Deobandis have penned much literature in defense of their argument that the Hanafi madhhab is in accordance with the Quran. In response to this need to defend their madhhab in the light of scripture, in a Deobandi madrasa, the position of Shaykh al-Hadith, or the resident professor of Sahih Bukhari, is held in much reverence
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
38.
Karen Elliott House
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Karen Elliott House is an American journalist and former managing editor at The Wall Street Journal and its parent company Dow Jones. She served as President of Dow Jones International and then publisher of the Wall Street Journal before her retirement in the spring of 2006. A native of Matador, Texas, House received a bachelors in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and she was also a member of Orange Jackets, an honorary organization for women at UT. She joined the Journal as a reporter in 1974 and she was named assistant foreign editor in 1983, foreign editor in 1984, vice-president of the Dow Jones International Group, and president of the International Group in 1995. In 1984, House was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for her coverage of the Middle East while a reporter with the Wall Street Journal. The prize was awarded for a series of interviews with Jordans King Hussein, hood Award for Excellence in Diplomatic Reporting. In 2002, she was appointed publisher by the board of Dow Jones, as publisher she was the architect of the Journals Weekend Edition, among other ambitious and often controversial projects. At the Journal, House worked under her husband, Peter R. Kann, Dow Jones CEO, in February 2007, House wrote a series of articles for the WSJ following a month-long tour of Saudi Arabia. She is a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and Boston University, where she befriended the universitys late president. She is serving as the Chairman on the board of trustees for RAND Corporation since 2009 and she is married and is the mother of four children ages 17 to 39. On Saudi Arabia, Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future
39.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
40.
William B. Quandt
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Quandt is an American scholar, author, professor emeritus in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. He was actively involved in the negotiations led to the Camp David Accords. His areas of expertise include Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, the Peace Process, Quandt was born in 1941 in Los Angeles, California. He received his BA in International Relations from Stanford University in 1963 and he has received several research grants, including ones from the Social Science Research Council, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Quandt served as a member on the National Security Council in the Nixon. He was actively involved in the negotiations led to the Camp David Accords. Quandts involvement and the institution are noted in John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walts 2007 book The Israel Lobby, Foreign Policy, saying, Take the Brookings Institution. For many years, its senior expert on the Middle East was William Quandt, today, Brookingss coverage is conducted through the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. What was once a non-partisan policy institute is now part of the pro-Israel chorus, from 1987 to 1988, William Quandt was President of the Middle East Studies Association, a learned society. He joined the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia in 1994 and he teaches courses on the Middle East and American Foreign Policy. From 2000 to 2003, he served as their Vice Provost for International Affairs. In 2004, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts, after the fall semester of 2012, Quandt will retire from his teaching career at UVa. Its an amazing opportunity for me to be able to work so closely with such a distinguished scholar in this way, I dont think many people have that kind of chance. Quandts book, Peace Process, along with The Other Arab–Israeli Conflict by Steven L and he is married to the writer Helena Cobban, has one daughter and two stepchildren, and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo, William Quandt has written numerous books, and his articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications
41.
The Siege of Mecca
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Hundreds of Islamic radicals led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaybi invaded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Islams holiest shrine, on Nov.20,1979. The intruders included men from all over the Muslim world and a handful of American converts, tens of thousands of worshipers were trapped inside the compound. The battle for the shrine lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and ending only after the intervention of Saudi National Guard, yaroslav Trofimovs book provides the first detailed account of this siege. The book is based on interviews with surviving participants and eyewitnesses, including former terrorist supporters of Juhayman al-Otaybi, publishers Weekly review of Siege of Mecca Siege of Mecca website Jerusalem Post review of The Siege of Mecca
42.
Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
Saudi Arabia 
National Guard 
