1.
Nile Delta
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The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the worlds largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, from north to south the delta is approximately 160 kilometres in length. The Delta begins slightly down-river from Cairo, from north to south, the delta is approximately 160 kilometres in length. From west-to-east, it covers some 240 kilometres of coastline, the delta is sometimes divided into sections, with the Nile dividing into two main distributaries, the Damietta and the Rosetta, flowing into the Mediterranean at port cities with the same name. In the past, the delta had several distributaries, but these have been lost due to flood control, one such defunct distributary is Wadi Tumilat. The Suez Canal runs to the east of the delta, entering the coastal Lake Manzala in the north-east of the delta, to the north-west are three other coastal lakes or lagoons, Lake Burullus, Lake Idku and Lake Maryut. The Nile is considered to be a delta, as it resembles a triangle or flower when seen from above. The outer edges of the delta are eroding, and some coastal lagoons have seen increasing salinity levels as their connection to the Mediterranean Sea increases, topsoil in the delta can be as much as 70 feet in depth. People have lived in the Delta region for thousands of years, the Delta River used to flood on an annual basis, but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam. The Rosetta Stone was found in the Nile Delta in 1799 in the city of Rosetta. The delta was a constituent of Lower Egypt. The Biblical Land of Goshen was located in an area on the west bank of the Pelusiac distributary. There are many sites in and around the Nile Delta. About 39 million people live in the Delta region, outside of major cities, population density in the delta averages 1,000 persons/km² or more. Alexandria is the largest city in the delta with a population of more than 4.5 million. Other large cities in the delta include Shubra al Khaymah, Port Said, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, El Mansura, Tanta, during autumn, parts of the Nile River are red with lotus flowers. The Lower Nile and the Upper Nile have plants that grow in abundance, the Upper Nile plant is the Egyptian lotus, and the Lower Nile plant is the Papyrus Sedge, although it is not nearly as plentiful as it once was, and is becoming quite rare. Several hundred thousand birds winter in the delta, including the world’s largest concentrations of little gulls
2.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
3.
Alexandria
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Alexandria is the second largest city and a major economic centre in Egypt, extending about 32 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country. Its low elevation on the Nile delta makes it vulnerable to rising sea levels. Alexandria is Egypts largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypts imports and exports and it is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. Alexandria is also an important tourist destination, Alexandria was founded around a small Ancient Egyptian town c.331 BC by Alexander the Great. Alexandria was the second most powerful city of the ancient world after Rome, Alexandria is believed to have been founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BC as Ἀλεξάνδρεια. Alexanders chief architect for the project was Dinocrates, Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley. The city and its museum attracted many of the greatest scholars, including Greeks, Jews, the city was later plundered and lost its significance. Just east of Alexandria, there was in ancient times marshland, as early as the 7th century BC, there existed important port cities of Canopus and Heracleion. The latter was rediscovered under water. An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore also and it continued to exist as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt and never returned to his city, after Alexanders departure, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion. Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandrias continuous development, the Heptastadion, inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the center of the new commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and and it became Egypts main Greek city, with Greek people from diverse backgrounds. Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism, but was home to the largest urban Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Tanakh, was produced there, in AD115, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a tsunami, the Islamic prophet, Muhammads first interaction with the people of Egypt occurred in 628, during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha. He sent Hatib bin Abi Baltaeh with a letter to the king of Egypt and Alexandria called Muqawqis In the letter Muhammad said, I invite you to accept Islam, Allah the sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do so, you bear the burden of the transgression of all the Copts
4.
Ethnic group
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An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on similarities, such as common ancestral, language, social, cultural or national experiences. Unlike other social groups, ethnicity is often an inherited status based on the society in which one lives, in some cases, it can be adopted if a person moves into another society. Ethnic groups, derived from the historical founder population, often continue to speak related languages. By way of language shift, acculturation, adoption and religious conversion, it is possible for individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group. Ethnicity is often used synonymously with terms such as nation or people. In English, it can also have the connotation of something exotic, generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, the largest ethnic groups in modern times comprise hundreds of millions of individuals, while the smallest are limited to a few dozen individuals. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a pan-ethnicity, whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis. The term ethnic is derived from the Greek word ἔθνος ethnos, the inherited English language term for this concept is folk, used alongside the latinate people since the late Middle English period. In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan, as the Septuagint used ta ethne to translate the Hebrew goyim the nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews. The Greek term in antiquity could refer to any large group, a host of men. In the 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of peculiar to a race, people or nation, the abstract ethnicity had been used for paganism in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an ethnic character. The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972, depending on the context that is used, the term nationality may either be used synonymously with ethnicity, or synonymously with citizenship. The process that results in the emergence of an ethnicity is called ethnogenesis, the Greeks at this time did not describe foreign nations but had also developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes. Herodotus gave an account of what defined Greek ethnic identity in his day, enumerating shared descent. Whether ethnicity qualifies as a universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf and they regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. According to Thomas Hylland Eriksen, the study of ethnicity was dominated by two distinct debates until recently, one is between primordialism and instrumentalism. In the primordialist view, the participant perceives ethnic ties collectively, as a given, even coercive
5.
Arabs
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Arabs are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arab world. They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabs are first mentioned in the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people dwelling in the central Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, tradition holds that Arabs descend from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. The Arabian Desert is the birthplace of Arab, there are other Arab groups as well that spread in the land and existed for millennia. Before the expansion of the Caliphate, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic people from the northern to the central Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert. Presently, Arab refers to a number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to spread of Arabs throughout the region during the early Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs forged the Rashidun, Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and this was one of the largest land empires in history. The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I, the war signaled the end of the Ottoman Empire. They are modern states and became significant as distinct political entities after the fall and defeat, following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland whilst respecting the sovereignty of its member states. Beyond the boundaries of the League of Arab States, Arabs can also be found in the global diaspora, the ties that bind Arabs are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historical, identical, nationalist, geographical and political. The Arabs have their own customs, language, architecture, art, literature, music, dance, media, cuisine, dress, society, sports, the total number of Arabs are an estimated 450 million. This makes them the second largest ethnic group after the Han Chinese. Arabs are a group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions, some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, Arabs are mainly adherents of Islam, with sizable Christian minorities, Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, Alawite, Druze and Ismaili denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Maronite, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Chaldean churches. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of Gi-in-di-buu the ar-ba-a-a or Gindibu belonging to the Arab
6.
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
7.
Sunni Islam
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Sunni Islam is the largest group of Islam. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the behavior of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to Sunni tradition, Muhammad did not clearly designate a successor and this contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad intended his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib to succeed him. Political tensions between Sunnis and Shias continued with varying intensity throughout Islamic history and they have been exacerbated in recent times by ethnic conflicts, as of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted between 87–90% of the worlds Muslim population. Sunni Islam is the worlds largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism and its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah or ahl as-sunnah for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites, Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as orthodox Islam. The Quran, together with hadith and binding juristic consensus form the basis of all traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, sunnī, also commonly referred to as Sunnīism, is a term derived from sunnah meaning habit, usual practice, custom, tradition. The Muslim use of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of the prophet Muhammad, in Arabic, this branch of Islam is referred to as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah, the people of the sunnah and the community, which is commonly shortened to ahl as-sunnah. One common mistake is to assume that Sunni Islam represents a normative Islam that emerged during the period after Muhammads death, and that Sufism and Shiism developed out of Sunni Islam. This perception is due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works. Both Sunnism and Shiaism are the end products of centuries of competition between ideologies. Both sects used each other to further cement their own identities and doctrines, the first four caliphs are known among Sunnis as the Rashidun or Rightly-Guided Ones. Sunni recognition includes the aforementioned Abu Bakr as the first, Umar who established the Islamic calendar as the second, Uthman as the third, Sunnis believe that the companions of Muhammad were the best of Muslims. Support for this view is found in the Quran, according to Sunnis. Sunnis also believe that the companions were true believers since it was the companions who were given the task of compiling the Quran, furthermore, narrations that were narrated by the companions are considered by Sunnis to be a second source of knowledge of the Muslim faith. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 and released January 2011 found that there are 1.62 billion Muslims around the world, Islam does not have a formal hierarchy or clergy. Leaders are informal, and gain influence through study to become a scholar of Islamic law, according to the Islamic Center of Columbia, South Carolina, anyone with the intelligence and the will can become an Islamic scholar. During Midday Mosque services on Fridays, the congregation will choose a person to lead the service
8.
Classifications of religious movements
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Various classifications of religious movements have been proposed by scholars. In the sociology of religion, the most widely used classification is the church-sect typology, the typology states that churches, ecclesia, denominations and sects form a continuum with decreasing influence on society. Sects are break-away groups from more mainstream religions and tend to be in tension with society, cults and new religious movements fall outside this continuum and in contrast to aforementioned groups often have a novel teaching. They have been classified on their attitude towards society and the level of involvement of their adherents and this church-sect typology has its origins in the work of Max Weber. The basic premise is that there is a continuum along which religions fall, along this continuum are several additional types, each of which will be discussed in turn. Many labels are commonly employed by non-sociologists to refer to religions, sociologists, when speaking technically, will not use these labels interchangeably as they are designations for religions with very specific characteristics. These differing religions are often classified by sociologists as ideal types, ideal types are pure examples of the categories. Because there is significant variation in each religion, how closely an individual religion actually holds as their ideal type categorisation will vary, nevertheless, the categorisation scheme is useful as it also outlines a sort of developmental process for religions. Today, the Catholic Church has been forced into the category because of religious pluralism. This is especially true of Catholicism in the United States, the change from a church to a denomination is still under way in many Latin American countries where the majority of citizens remain Catholics. Islam is a church in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia states, Gods Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet. These nations are ruled under an interpretation of religious law. Saudi Arabia, however, lacks Johnstones criteria for an ordained clergy, in the Shia denominations, there is a professional clergy led by a Grand Ayatollah. A slight modification of the type is that of ecclesia. The state churches of some European nations would fit this type, the denomination lies between the church and the sect on the continuum. Denominations come into existence when churches lose their religious monopoly in a society, a denomination is one religion among many. When churches and/or sects become denominations, there are some changes in their characteristics. Sociologically, a sect is defined as a newly formed religious group formed to protest elements of its parent religion
9.
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
10.
Islamic Modernism
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It featured a critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis. Founders include Muhammad Abduh, a Sheikh of Al-Azhar University for a period before his death in 1905, Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani. The earlier salafiyya, however, were predominantly rationalist Asharis, restricting traditional Islamic law by limiting its basis to the Quran and authentic Sunnah, limiting the Sunna with radical Hadith criticism. A more or less radical interpretation of the authoritative sources and this is particularly the case with the Quranic texts on polygyny, the hadd punishments, jihad, and treatment of unbelievers, which conflict with modern views. According to Mahmud Shaltut and other modernists, unbelief was not sufficient cause for declaring jihad, the conversion to Islam by unbelievers in fear of death at the hands of jihadists was unlikely to prove sincere or lasting. Much preferable means of conversion was education and its most prominent intellectual founder, Muhammad Abduh, was Sheikh of Al-Azhar University for a brief period before his death. This project superimposed the world of the century on the extensive body of Islamic knowledge that had accumulated in a different milieu. Subsequent secular writers including Farag Foda, al-Ashmawi, Muhamed Khalafallah, Taha Husayn, Husayn Amin, Abduh was skeptical towards Hadith, i. e. towards the body of reports of the teachings, doings, and sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Particularly towards those Traditions that are reported through few chains of transmission, furthermore, he advocated a reassessment of traditional assumptions even in Hadith studies, though he did not devise a systematic methodology before his death. The early Salafiyya influenced Islamist movements like Muslim Brotherhood and to some extent Jamaat-e-Islami, the MB is considered an intellectual descendant of Islamic modernism. He was a reader of the writings of Rashid Rida. The Indonesian Islamic organization Muhammadiyah was founded in 1912, described as Islamic Modernist, it emphasized the authority of the Quran and the Hadiths, opposing syncretism and taqlid to the ulema. However, as of 2006, it is said to have veered sharply toward a more conservative brand of Islam under the leadership of Din Syamsuddin the head of the Indonesian Ulema Council. The modernists used the term Salafiyya for their movement whose proponents strove to reconcile their faith with the Enlightenment, toward the end of the twentieth century, however, the term Salafi movement attached with the Wahhabism. The Salafi movement became inexplicably antithetical to Islamic modernism. Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi writes, Rashid Rida popularized the term Salafī to describe a movement that he spearheaded. That movement sought to reject the ossification of the madhhabs, and rethink through the issues of fiqh and modernity. A young scholar by the name of Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani read an article by Rida, eventually, al-Albānīs label was adopted by the Najdī daʿwah as well, until it spread in all trends of the movement. Otherwise, before this century, the term Salafī was not used as a common label, therefore, the term Salafī has attached itself to an age-old school of theology, the Atharī school
11.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
12.
Rashid Rida
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Muhammad Rashid Rida was an early Islamic reformer, whose ideas would later influence 20th-century Islamist thinkers in developing a political philosophy of an Islamic state. Rida was born near Tripoli in Al-Qalamoun and his early education consisted of training in traditional Islamic subjects. In 1884-5 he was first exposed to al-Urwa al-wuthqa, the journal of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, in 1897 he left Syria for Cairo to collaborate with Abduh. Rashid Rida, was an exponent of Salafism and was especially critical of what he termed blind following of traditional Islam. He encouraged both laymen and scholars to interpret the primary sources of Islam themselves, one of his controversial views was his support of Darwins theory of evolution. To justify Darwinism, Rida considered it permissible to interpret certain stories of the Quran in a manner, as, for example. He also believed that the origin of the race from Adam is a history derived from the Hebrews. He held that these flaws could be alleviated by a return to what he saw as the principles of Islam albeit interpreted to suit modern realities. This alone could, he believed, save Muslims from subordination to the colonial powers, Rida had a close relationship with Freemasonry, though his feelings toward the Baháí Faith were quite negative. Muhammad Rashid Rida was one of the earliest critics of Zionism, Rida died on his way back to Cairo from Suez, where he had gone to see off his patron, King of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. The corruption and tyranny of Muslim rulers throughout history was a theme in Ridas criticisms. Rida, however, celebrated the rule of Mohammad and the Rightly Guided Caliphs and he also criticized the clergy for compromising their integrity - and the integrity of the Islamic law they were meant to uphold - by associating with worldly corrupt powers. Ridas ideas were foundational to the development of the modern Islamic state and he was an important link between classical theories of the caliphate, such as al-Mawardis, and 20th-century notions of the Islamic state. Rida promoted a restoration or rejuvenation of the Caliphate for Islamic unity, and democratic consultation on the part of the government, in theology, his reformist ideas, like those of Abduh, were based on the argument that, sharia consists of ibadat and muamalat. Human reason has little scope in the former and Muslims should adhere to the dictates of the Quran, the laws governing muamalat should conform to Islamic ethics but on specific points may be continually reassessed according to changing conditions of different generations and societies. They thus abolish supposed distasteful penalties such as cutting off the hands of thieves or stoning adulterers and they replace them with man-made laws and penalties. He who does that has become an infidel. List of Islamic scholars Short biography Rashid Rida Hometown Website Les clés du Moyen-Orient
13.
Muhammad Asad
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Muhammad Asad was a Jewish-born Austro-Hungarian journalist, traveler, writer, linguist, thinker, political theorist, diplomat and Islamic scholar. Asad was one of the most influential European Muslims of the 20th century, by the age of thirteen, young Weiss had acquired a passing fluency in Hebrew and Aramaic, other than his native languages German and Polish. By his mid-twenties, he could read and write in English, French, Persian, in Mandatory Palestine, Weiss engaged in arguments with Zionist leaders like Chaim Weizmann, voicing his reservations about some aspects of the Zionist Movement. After traveling across the Arab World as a journalist, he converted to Islam in 1926, during his stay in Saudi Arabia, he spent time with Bedouins and enjoyed close company of Ibn Saud—the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. He also carried out a mission for Ibn Saud to trace the sources of funding for the Ikhwan Revolt. Due to these activities, he was dubbed in a Haaretz article as Leopold of Arabia—hinting similarity of his activities to those of Lawrence of Arabia and he also spent five years in internment by the British Government at the outbreak of World War II. In the West, Asad rose to prominence as a writer with his best-selling autobiography, later, after seventeen years of scholarly research, he published his magnum opus, The Message of the Quran—an English translation and commentary of the Quran. The book, along with the translations of Pickthall and Yusuf Ali, is regarded as one of the most influential translations of the modern era, an ardent proponent of Ijtihad and rationality in interpreting religious texts, he dedicates his works to People who Think. In 2008, the square to the UN Office in Vienna was named Muhammad Asad Platz in commemoration of his work as a religious bridge-builder. Asad has been described by his biographers as Europes gift to Islam, Leopold Weiss was born on 2 July 1900 to a Jewish family in Lemberg, Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Weiss was a descendant of a line of Jewish rabbis, however, his father, Akiva Weiss, broke from tradition. Leopold received an education and was proficient in Hebrew from an early age. He studied the Jewish Bible or Tanakh, the text and commentaries of the Talmud, the Mishna and Gemara, also delving into the intricacies of Biblical exegesis, at the age of fourteen he made an escape from school and joined the Austrian army under a false name. After a week or so, his father traced him with the help of the police, after abandoning university in Vienna, Weiss drifted aimlessly around 1920s Germany, working briefly for the expressionist film director Fritz Lang. By his own account, after selling a jointly written film script, he splurged the windfall on a party at an expensive Berlin restaurant. In 1922 Weiss moved to the British Mandate of Palestine, staying in Jerusalem at the house of his maternal uncle Dorian Feigenbaum at his invitation, Feigenbaum was a psychoanalyst, and a disciple of Freud and later founded the Psychoanalytic Quarterly. He picked up work as a stringer for the German newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung, one of the most prestigious newspapers of Germany and Europe and his pieces were noteworthy for their understanding of Arab fears and grievances against the Zionist project. Weiss made the trip, which lasted two years, Asad spoke of Islam thus, Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture
14.
Mahmoud Taleghani
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Mahmoud Taleghani was an Iranian theologian, Muslim reformer, democracy advocate and a senior Shia cleric of Iran. Taleghani was a contemporary of the Iranian Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his greatest influence has been said to have been in his teaching of Quranic exegesis, as many later revolutionaries were his students. He was notably Tehrans first Friday Prayer Imam after the Iranian Revolution, Taleghani was born to a religious family in the village of Galird of Taleqan County in Alborz Province on 5 March 1911. He obtained his Ijtihad Certification from his teachers, Abu l-Hasan al-Isfahani and Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi, in 1938 he went to Tehran to preach and lecture on Islam and was arrested and imprisoned the next year for opposing the regime of Reza Shah. From 1948 onwards he held classes at Hedayat Mosque in Tehran and he traveled abroad to Jordan and Egypt in 1951 and 52, to Shuoob-al-Moslemin Congress in Karachi, and twice to Jerusalem as the head of an Iranian delegation to the annual Islamic Congress of Quds. He supported Mohammed Mosaddeqs nationalization of the oil industry, politically active from his student days, Taleghani was a veteran in the struggle against the Pahlavi regime. In his time in prison he met many leftist political prisoners and was fond of talking about his interactions with leftists. The influence of the left on his thinking was reflected in his famous book Islam and he helped found the National Resistance Movement in 1957 and along with Mehdi Bazargan, Yadollah Sahabi and Ali Shariati he founded the Iran Freedom Movement in May 1961. In 1971 he exiled to Zabol, a city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, between 1964 and 1978 he spent nearly a decade in jail. Altogether he spent nearly 15 years behind bars, finally, Taleghani after the rise of the Islamic Revolution in November 1978 was released. Although not as influential as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Taleghani was instrumental in shaping the movement that led to the Iranian Revolution. During the Islamic Revolution he became chairman of the secretive Revolutionary Council, in order of Ayatollah Khomeini, he was the first Imam for Friday Prayer in Tehran after the fall of Irans interim government, In the late July 1979. Taleghani was known for his tolerance and served as Khomeinis mediator in disputes with the Kurds and he also had differences with Khomeini, which led to a clash between them in April 1979. To popular acclaim, Taleghani warned then against a return to despotism, two of Taleghanis sons were arrested by revolutionary Guards, but thousands of his supporters marched in the streets chanting Taleghani, you are the soul of the revolution. Khomeini summoned Taleghani to Qom where he was given a severe criticism after which the press was called and told by Khomeini, Mr. Taleghani is with us, Khomeini pointedly did not refer to him as Ayatollah Taleghani. Taleghani counted the colonization as a reason of totalitarism and Dictatorism in different countries. He has known the nationalism and ideology as means on which peoples could resist with colonizer countries, of course he thought that nationalism is not an ultimate aim. Also he emphasized on the resistance against Zionist regime, also He had great interest in Palestine and in this occasion he travelled many times to Palestine
15.
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
16.
Egyptians
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The Black Egyptian hypothesis is the hypothesis that Ancient Egypt was a predominately Black civilization, as the term is currently understood in modern American ethic perception. Mainstream scholars recognize that many indigenous Egyptians, including several Pharaohs, were of ancestry that, in the modern era, the Black Egyptian hypothesis goes a lot further, claiming that Egypt, from north to south, was a black civilization. At the UNESCO Symposium on the Peopling of Ancient Egypt and the Deciphering of the Meroitic script in Cairo in 1974, some modern scholars such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Chancellor Williams, Cheikh Anta Diop, John G. Jackson, Ivan van Sertima, Martin Bernal, the frequently criticized Journal of African Civilizations has continually advocated that Egypt should be viewed as a Black civilization. Diop and others believed the views were fueled by scientific racism. Diop used an approach to counteract prevailing views on the Ancient Egyptians origins. Since the second half of the 20th century, most scholars have held that modern notions of race to ancient Egypt is anachronistic. The focus of some experts who study population biology has been to consider whether or not the Ancient Egyptians were primarily biologically North African rather than to which race they belonged, in 1975, the mummy of Ramesses II was taken to France for preservation. The mummy was also tested by Professor Pierre-Fernand Ceccaldi, the chief forensic scientist at the Criminal Identification Laboratory of Paris. Professor Ceccaldi determined that, Hair, astonishingly preserved, showed some complementary data - especially about pigmentation, the description given here refers to a fair-skinned person with wavy ginger hair. Keita wrote that There is no reason to believe that the primary ancestors of the Egyptian population emerged and evolved outside of northeast Africa. Stuart Tyson Smith writes in the 2001 Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt that Any characterization of race of the ancient Egyptians depends on modern cultural definitions, not on scientific study. Thus, by modern American standards it is reasonable to characterize the Egyptians as black, several Ancient Greek historians noted that Egyptians had complexions that were melanchroes. There is considerable controversy over the translation of melanchroes, most scholars translate it as black. Alan B Lloyd wrote that there is no justification for relating this description to negroes. Melanchroes could denote any colour from bronzed to black and negroes are not the physical type to show curly hair. These characteristics would certainly be found in many Egs, ancient and modern, some of the most often quoted historians are Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Herodotus. Herodotus states in a few passages that the Egyptians were black/dark, lucian observes an Egyptian boy and notices that he is not merely black, but has thick lips
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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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Ahl al-Hadith
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Ahl al-Hadith first emerged in the 2nd/3rd Islamic centuries as a movement of hadith scholars who considered the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only authority in matters of law and creed. Its adherents are known as traditionalists and traditionists. In jurisprudence Ahl al-Hadith opposed contemporary jurists who based their reasoning on informed opinion or living local practice. The most prominent leader of the movement was Ahmad ibn Hanbal, in the following centuries the term ahl al-hadith came to refer to the scholars, mostly of the Hanbali madhhab, who rejected rationalistic theology and held on to the early Sunni creed. This theological school, which is known as traditionalist theology, has been championed in recent times by the Salafi movement. The term ahl al-hadith is sometimes used in a general sense to denote a particularly enthusiastic commitment to hadith and to the views. The Ahl al-Hadith movement emerged toward the end of the eighth century CE among scholars of hadith who held the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only sources of law. At first these scholars formed minorities within existing religious study circles, in legal matters, these scholars criticized the use of personal opinion common among the Hanafi jurists of Iraq as well as the reliance on living local traditions by Malikite jurists of Medina. They also rejected the use of qiyas and other methods of jurisprudence not based on reading of scripture. In matters of faith, they were pitted against Mutazilites and other theological currents, Ahl al-Hadith were also characterized by their avoidance of all state patronage and by their social activism. They attempted to follow the injunction of commanding good and forbidding evil by preaching asceticism and launching vigilante attacks to break wine bottles, musical instruments, the next two centuries witnessed a broad convergence of legal methodologies which gave rise to the classical theory of Sunni jurisprudence. This traditionalizing of legal reasoning is exemplified in the work of Maliks student Al-Shafi‘i, Ahl al-Hadith believed that the zahir meaning of the Quran and the hadith have sole authority in matters of faith and that the use of rational disputation is forbidden even if it verifies the truth. They did not attempt to conceptualize the meanings of the Quran rationally, accepting them without asking how and they believed that every part of the Quran is uncreated. Ahl al-Hadith also held that iman increases and decreases in correlation with the performance of prescribed rituals and duties, ibn Hanbal led traditionalist resistance to this policy, affirming under torture that the Quran was uncreated and hence coeternal with God. Although Mutazilism remained state doctrine until 851, the efforts to impose it only served to politicize, while Asharism and Maturidism are often called the Sunni orthodoxy, traditionalist theology has thrived alongside it, laying rival claims to be the orthodox Sunni faith. The Formation of Islam, Religion and Society in the Near East, the Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology. Brown, Jonathan A. C. Hadith, Muhammads Legacy in the Medieval, halverson, Jeffry R. Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam, The Muslim Brotherhood, Asharism, and Political Sunnism. The Venture of Islam, Volume 1, The Classical Age of Islam, the Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology
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Ibn Taymiyyah
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Taqī ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah, known as Ibn Taymiyyah for short, was a controversial medieval Sunni Muslim theologian, jurisconsult, logician, and reformer. Moreover, Ibn Taymiyyahs controversial fatwa allowing jihad against other Muslims, is referenced to by Al-Qaeda, Ibn Taymiyyahs full name is Taqī ad-Dīn Abu l-Abbās Ahmad ibn Abd al-Ḥalīm ibn Abd as-Salām ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Khidr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Khidr ibn Ali ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Taymiyyah al-Ḥarrānī. Ibn Taymiyyahs name is unusual in that it is derived from a member of his family as opposed to a male member. Taimiyatu was a woman, famous for her scholarship and piety, Ibn Taymiyyah had a simple life, most of which he dedicated to learning, writing, and teaching. He never married nor did he have a companion, throughout his years. Al-Matroudi says that this may be why he was able to engage fully with the affairs of his time without holding any official position such as that of a judge. An offer of a position was made to him but he never accepted. His life was that of a scholar and a political activist. In his efforts he was persecuted and imprisoned on six different occasions with the time spent inside prison coming to over six years. Other sources say that he spent over twelve years in prison and his detentions were due to certain elements of his creed and his views on some jurisprudential issues. However according to Yahya Michot, the reasons were more trivial. Ibn Taymiyyahs own relationship, as a scholar, with the ruling apparatus. It ranged from silence to open rebellion, Ibn Taymiyyah was born in 1263 in Harran into a well-known family of theologians. His father had the Hanbali chair in Harran and later at the Great mosque of Damascus, before its destruction by the Mongols, Harran was also well known since the early days of Islam for its Hanbali school and tradition, to which Ibn Taymiyyahs family belonged. His grandfather, Abu al-Barkat Majd ad-Din ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali and his uncle, likewise, the scholarly achievements of ibn Taymiyyahs father, Shihab al-deen Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah were also well known. According to the book Rethinking Islamic Studies edited by Carl W. Ernst, martin, Ibn Taymiyyah believed, non-Arab Muslims are inferior to Arab Muslims. In 1269, Ibn Taymiyyah at the age of seven together with his father, Ibn Taymiyyahs family moved and settled in Damascus, Syria, which at the time was ruled by the Mamluks of Egypt. In Damascus his father served as the director of the Sukkariyya madrasa, Ibn Taymiyyah acquainted himself with the religious and secular sciences of his time
20.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya
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Of humble origin, Ibn al-Qayyims father was the principal of the School of Jawziyya, which also served as a court of law for the Hanbali judge of Damascus during the time period. Ibn al-Qayyim went on to become a scholar, producing a rich corpus of doctrinal. Muhammad Ibn Abī Bakr Ibn Ayyub Ibn Sa‘d Ibn Harīz Ibn Makkī Zayd al-Dīn al-Zur‘ī, al-Dimashqi, with kunya of Abu Abdullah, called Shams al-Dīn. He is usually known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, after his father Abu Bakr Ibn Sa‘d al-Zur‘ī who was the superintendent of the Jawziyyah Madrasah, Ibn al-Qayyims main teacher was the scholar Ibn Taymiyyah. Ibn Qayyim first met Ibn Taymiyyah at the age of 21, as a result of this union he shared his teachers views in most issues. Ibn al-Qayyim was imprisoned along with his teacher Ibn Taymiyyah, the campaign to have Ibn al-Qayyim imprisoned was led by Shafii and Maliki scholars, and was also joined by the Hanbali and Hanafi judges. Whilst in prison Ibn al-Qayyim busied himself with the Quran, according to Ibn Rajab, Ibn al-Qayyim made the most of his time of imprisonment, the immediate result of his delving into the Quran while in prison was a series of mystical experiences. Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya wrote a lengthy commentary on a treatise written by the Hanbali Sufi Khwaja Abdullah Ansari entitled Madarij al-Salikin. He expressed his love and appreciation for Ansari in this commentary with his statement Certainly I love the Sheikh, like his teacher Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, supported broad powers for the state and prosecution. He argued, for example, that it was right to punish someone of lowly status who alleged improper behavior by someone more respectable. Ibn Qayyim formulated evidential theories that made less reliant than ever before on the oral testimony. One example was the establishment of a childs paternity by experts scrutinizing the faces of a child, if a woman sought a divorce on the grounds of her husbands impotence and her husband contested the claim, a judge might obtain a sample of the husbands ejaculate. According to Ibn Qayyim only genuine semen left a residue when boiled. In interrogating the accused, Ibn Qayyim believed that testimony could be out of suspects if they were disreputable. This was in contrast to the majority of Islamic jurists who had acknowledged that alleged sinners were entitled to remain silent if accused. Attorney and author Sadakat Kadri states that, as a matter of straightforward history, Ibn Qayyim however, believed that the Prophet Muhammad, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and other Companions would have supported his position. In fact, those who believed that human personalities and events were influenced by heavenly bodies, were the most ignorant of people, the most in error, the most ignorant of people concerning his soul and its creator. Why is it that you have given an influence to al-Ras and al-Dhanab, in all such writings, it is evident Ibn al-Qayyim wrote to address those interested in Sufism in particular and
21.
Mohammad Hayya Al-Sindhi
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Muhammad Hayyat ibn Ibrahim al-Sindhi was an Islamic scholar who lived during the period of the Ottoman Empire. He is noted as a teacher of the founder of the Wahhabi Movement and he belonged to the Naqshbandi order of Sufism. Al-Sindhi was born in a Adilpur village Ghottki Sind in present-day Pakistan, then he migrated to Madinah and studied closely with Ibrahim al-Kurani and his son Muhammaad Tahir al-Kurani. Here, he was initiated into the Naqshbandi tariqa, one of his students was Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Najdi, whom he met in 1136 Hijri. It was Abdullah ibn Ibrahim ibn Sayf who introduced him to Hayyat al-Sindhi, although trained in Hanafi fiqh, he was also a scholar of the Hanbali school. Muḥammad Ḥayyā al-Sindī and Muḥammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, An Analysis of an Intellectual Group in Eightinth-Century Madīna, bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol.38, No. Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies, the Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad
22.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
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Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was an Arabian religion reformer from Najd in central Arabia who founded the movement now called Wahhabism. He rejected certain common Muslim practices which he regarded as amounting to either religious innovation or polytheism. Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab is generally acknowledged to have born in 1703 into the sedentary and impoverished Arab clan of Banu Tamim in Uyayna. Before the emergence of Wahhabism there was a limited history of Islamic education in the area. For this reason, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab had modest access to Islamic education during his youth and he was initially taught by his father, ʿAbd al-Wahhab who was a Hanbali jurist. Mohammad Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab and al-Sindhi became very close and Mohammad Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab stayed with him for some time, scholars have described Muhammad Hayya as having an important influence on Mohammad Ibn ʿAbd-al-Wahhab, who taught Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to utilize informed individual analysis. Muhammad Hayya also taught Mohammad Ibn ʿAbd-al-Wahhab to reject popular religious practices associated with walis, following his early education in Medina, Ibn Abdul Wahhab traveled outside of the peninsula, venturing first to Basra. After his return home, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to attract followers, including the ruler of Uyayna, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to implement some of his ideas for reform. First, he persuaded Ibn Muammar to help him level the grave of Zayd ibn al-Khattab, secondly, he ordered the cutting down of trees considered sacred by locals, cutting down the most glorified of all of the trees himself. Third, he organised the stoning of a woman who confessed to having committed adultery and these actions gained the attention of Sulaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Ghurayr of the tribe of Bani Khalid, the chief of Al-Hasa and Qatif, who held substantial influence in Najd. Ibn Ghurayr threatened Ibn Muammar with denying him the ability to collect a tax for some properties that Ibn Muammar owned in Al-Hasa if he did not kill or drive away Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Consequently, Ibn Muammar forced Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to leave, upon his expulsion from Uyayna, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was invited to settle in neighboring Diriyah by its ruler Muhammad bin Saud. After some time in Diriyah, Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab concluded his second, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and Muhammad bin Saud agreed that, together, they would bring the Arabs of the peninsula back to the true principles of Islam as they saw it. According to one source, when they first met, bin Saud declared, This oasis is yours, by the name of God, if all Nejd was summoned to throw you out, we will never agree to expel you. Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab replied, You are the settlements chief, I want you to grant me an oath that you will perform jihad against the unbelievers. In return you will be imam, leader of the Muslim community, the agreement was confirmed with a mutual oath of loyalty in 1744. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab would be responsible for matters and Ibn Saud in charge of political. The 1744 pact between Muhammad bin Saud and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab marked the emergence of the first Saudi state, by offering the Al Saud a clearly defined religious mission, the alliance provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion
23.
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
24.
Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani
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Muhammad Nasir-ud-Dīn al-Albani was an Albanian Islamic scholar who specialised in the fields of hadith and fiqh. He established his reputation in Syria, where his family had moved when he was a child, largely self-taught in the study of Islamic texts, Albani is considered to be a major figure of the purist Salafi movement which developed in the 20th century. Al-Albani did not advocate violence, preferring quietism and obedience to established governments, a watchmaker by trade, al-Albani was active as a writer, publishing more than 100 books, chiefly on hadith and its sciences. He also lectured widely in the Mideast, Spain and the United Kingdom on the Salafist movement, in the 1960s, Albani was invited to teach at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia. His views were opposed by numerous traditional clerics and his contract allowed to lapse and he later returned from Syria for a brief time in the 1970s as the head of higher education in Islamic law in Mecca. He again aroused too much opposition, and returned to Syria, after serving time under house arrest by the Syrian government in 1979, Albani moved to Jordan, where he resided for the rest of his life. Albani was born into a poor Muslim family in the city of Shkodër in northern Albania in 1914, during the reign of the secularist Albanian leader Ahmet Zogu, al-Albanis family migrated to Damascus, Syria. In the meantime, he earned a modest living as a carpenter before joining his father as a watchmaker, Albani began to specialize in hadith studies in the 1930s. Though he was largely self-taught, he transcribed and commented on Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husain al-Iraqis Al-Mughnee an-hamlil-Asfar fil-Asfar fee takhrej maa fil-lhyaa min al-Akhbar and he followed this writing a series of lectures and books, as well as publishing articles in Al-Manar magazine. Starting in 1954, Albani began delivering informal weekly lessons, by 1960, his popularity began to worry the government of Syria, and he was placed under surveillance by the Hafiz al-Asad government. He was imprisoned twice in 1969, in the late 1970s, the government placed him under house arrest more than once. After a number of his works were published, Albani was invited to teach Hadith at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia by the Universitys then-vice president, Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz. Shortly upon his arrival, Albani angered the Wahhabi elite in Saudi Arabia and they were alarmed by Albanis intellectual challenges to the ruling Hanbali school of law but were unable to challenge him openly due to his popularity. When Albani wrote a book supporting his view that the Niqab, or full face-veil, was not an obligation upon Muslim women. His opponents ensured that his contract with the university was allowed to lapse without renewal, in 1963, Albani left Saudi Arabia and returned to his studies and work in the Az-Zahiriyah library in Syria. He left his shop in the hands of one of his brothers. He was later invited back to Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, Albani was arrested twice in Syria in the 1960s. He was jailed in May 1967 and released a month later, during his imprisonment, al-Albani edited Al-Hafiz al-Munziri’s Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim
25.
Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i
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Muqbil bin Hadi bin Muqbil bin Qa’idah al-Hamdani al-Wadi’i al-Khallali was an Islamic scholar and considered to be the reviver of Salafism in Yemen. He was the founder of a Madrasa in Dammaj which was known as a center for Salafist ideology, Wadii was born sometime between the late 1920s and early 1930s nearby to the city of Saadah in northern Yemen, and is said to be from the tribe of a Zaydi. He left Yemen as a man and travelled to Saudi Arabia to work. After finishing primary education in Yemen, Wadii spent roughly two decades of studying Islam in Saudi Arabia, in 1979 his stay in Saudi was ended abruptly when he was indicted on suspected involvement in the Grand Mosque Seizure. It was there that he began to spread the Salafi Dawah in Yemen, with initial opposition from the Shafiis, Ismailis. Wadii went on, soon after his return to his region, to found. It was during this time that Wadii, along with Jafar Umar Thalib, in the 1980s Wadii accepted grants from various sources such as Ibn Baaz and the Saudi government for 15,000 Saudi Riyals every two months. However, his critique of the Saudi Monarch, due to his believed wrongful imprisonment. He stated that managing the mosque and institute in Dammaj required little funding and was covered by local donations. In 2014, Wadiis institute, Dar al-Hadeeth would be shut down after a long Siege of Dammaj by houthi rebels, the manager of the institute, Yahya al-Hajuri, as well as thousands of foreign students were forced to relocate to Al Hudaydah Governorate. After a prolonged illness, and hospital treatment in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Cologne, Germany and Los Angeles, California, joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts prepared Summary of Evidence memos offering justifications for continuing to hold them in extrajudicial detention. Several of the captives had their detention justified, in part, however, some of those people did come to us, offering their help and assistance in preaching and calling to Allah. Afterwards, we found them sending money, requesting that we distribute it among the leaders of tribes, they were trying to buy rocket-launchers. But I refused them and told them to never come to my house again, I made it clear to them that what we do is preach only and we don’t allow our students to do anything but that. In terms of Islamic jurisprudence, Wadii did not follow any established school of thought in Islam and opposed the practice of Taqlid, or subordination to higher legal authority. Waadii was fond of the works of Ibn Hazm, to the point that, Wadii typified the orthodox salafi idea in regards to the rulership. Namely, that even the sinful and corrupt leader must be obeyed by the Muslims while advising the leader must be done by the scholar in private. Additionally the Muslims are commanded to endure hardship and be patient until Allah removes the burden of a ruler for that of a better one
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Umm al-Qura University
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Umm Al-Qura University may also refer to a calendar of Saudi Arabia or the city of Mecca See Islamic calendar and Mecca. Umm Al-Qura University is a public university in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The university was established as the College of Sharia in 1949 before being joined by new colleges, UQU started primarily as an Islamic university offering degrees in Islamic Law and Arabic language studies. In 2015, the UQU annual budget hovered around SR3 billion, in 1949 King Abdulaziz Al Saud established the College of Sharia in Mecca, making it the first higher education institution in the country. It constituted the kernel of Umm Al-Qura University and it was followed by the establishment of the Teachers College in 1952. This continued until 1959 when the College of Sharia took the responsibility of teachers preparation and became the College of Sharia, in 1962 the College of Education was established as an independent college. In 1971 the Colleges of Sharia and Education became part of King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, currently, it has student exchange programs with Purdue University, Tufts University, and Kings College London. University offers degrees of Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, the grading system is the standard 0 to 4.0 scale with classes of, College of Da’wa and Usul-ud-Din The College of Dawa and Usul-ud-Din was established on 21/12/1401A. H. This college is considered as an extension of the two ancient colleges, College of Shariah and Islamic Studies and College of Education and it was renamed into the College of Dawa and Usul-ud-Din. By the beginning of the academic year 1402/1403 A. H, however, by the academic year 1404/1405 A. H, the Department of the Quran and Sunna was inaugurated by virtue of resolution No. 30/4/16/6827/1, issued on 22 Rajab,1404 A, the College has four departments, Department of Dawa and Usul-ud-Din, Department of Kitab and Sunna, Department of Aqidah, Department of Qeraat. The postgraduate studies in the specializations of the college started since it was supervised by the College of Shariah and Islamic Studies, before their separation is effected. In 1420 A. H, the deputy deanship of the College of Dawa, College of Arabic Language The Department of Arabic was established in 1962 as an independent department at the College of Education before it was joined to the College of Sharia in 1965. Graduate Studies were introduced to the department in 1973 and the College of Arabic Language was created by a decree in 1981. The College includes the departments,1. Department of Arabic Language and Grammar, Department of the Languages of Islamic Societies. The College offers the Bachelors, Masters, and Ph. D, degrees in all the above-mentioned disciplines, except for the Department of the Languages of Islamic Societies which offers the Bachelors degree only. The CoB has five departments offering teaching and learning in various business, the research is disseminated through publications in international journals and presentations at conferences, workshop, and symposia
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Islamic University of Madinah
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The Islamic University of al-Madinah al-Munawarah was founded by the government of Saudi Arabia by a royal decree in 1961 in the Islamic holy city of Medina. It follows the Salafi ideology which is prevalent in Saudi Arabia, University students may study Sharia, Quran, Dawah/Usul al-din, Hadith, and Arabic. The university offers Bachelor of Arts degrees and also Masters and Doctorate Degrees, studies at the College of Sharia Islamic law were the first to start when the university opened. The admission is open to every Muslim individual based on programs and provides accommodation
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Islamism
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Islamism is a concept whose meaning has been debated in both public and academic contexts. It is commonly used interchangeably with the terms political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism and these movements have arguably altered the Middle East more than any trend since the modern states gained independence, redefining politics and even borders according to Robin Wright. Some authors hold the term Islamic activism to be synonymous and preferable to Islamism, Central and prominent figures of modern Islamism include Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Maududi, and Ruhollah Khomeini. Some Islamist thinkers emphasize peaceful political processes, whereas Sayyid Qutb in particular called for violence, however, Qutb, unlike modern extremists, denounced the killing of innocents. Following the Arab Spring, some Islamist currents became heavily involved in politics, while others spawned the most aggressive and ambitious Islamist militia to date. A theocratic ideology that seeks to impose any version of Islam over society by law, subsequently, clarified to be, the desire to impose any given interpretation of Islam on society. A movement so broad and flexible it reaches out to everything to everyone in Islam, making it unsustainable. and at the extremes, a violent vehicle for rejectionists and radicals. All who seek to Islamize their environment, whether in relation to their lives in society, their circumstances, or the workplace. Moderate and reformist Islamists who accept and work within the process include parties like the Tunisian Ennahda Movement. Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan is basically a socio-political and democratic Vanguard party but has gained political influence through military coup détats in the past. The Islamist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine participate in the democratic, following the Arab Spring, Roy has described Islamism as increasingly interdependent with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that neither can now survive without the other. While Islamist political culture itself may not be democratic, Islamists need democratic elections to maintain their legitimacy, at the same time, their popularity is such that no government can call itself democratic that excludes mainstream Islamist groups. The term, which denoted the religion of Islam, first appeared in English as Islamismus in 1696. The term appears in the U. S. Supreme Court decision in In Re Ross, the term Islamism acquired its contemporary connotations in French academia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From French, it began to migrate to the English language in the mid-1980s, a 2003 article in Middle East Quarterly states, In summation, the term Islamism enjoyed its first run, lasting from Voltaire to the First World War, as a synonym for Islam. Enlightened scholars and writers generally preferred it to Mohammedanism, eventually both terms yielded to Islam, the Arabic name of the faith, and a word free of either pejorative or comparative associations. To all intents and purposes, Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism have become synonyms in contemporary American usage, the AP Stylebook entry for Islamist now reads as follows, An advocate or supporter of a political movement that favors reordering government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam. Do not use as a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists or radicals, where possible, be specific and use the name of militant affiliations, al-Qaida-linked, Hezbollah, Taliban, etc
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Islamic fundamentalism
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Definitions vary of what Islamic fundamentalism is and how, if at all, it differs from Islamism or Islamic revivalism. Exemplary figures of Islamic fundamentalism are Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Mawdudi, the Wahhabi movement and its funding by Saudi Arabia is often described as being responsible for the popularity of contemporary Islamic fundamentalism. Form of Islamism – Graham Fuller describes Islamic fundamentalism not as distinct from Islamism, but as a subset and its strictest form includes Wahhabism, sometimes also referred to as salafiyya. For fundamentalists the law is the most essential component of Islam, leading to an emphasis upon jurisprudence. In this fundamentalists have drifted away from the stand of the Islamists of the 1970s and 80s, similarly, the Afghan Jamaat, in its statutes, has declared it legal in the eyes of Islam to employ non-Muslims as experts. Use of ijtihad in Islamic law – According to academic John Esposito, one of the most defining features of Islamic fundamentalism is belief in the reopening of the gates of ijtihad. Disorder – Dr. Kathleen Taylor, speaking at the Hay Literary Festival, said Islamic fundamentalism may one day be seen in the way as mental illness. Islamists often talk of revolution and believe that the society will be Islamized only through social and political action, fundamentalists are primarily interested in revolution, less interested in modernity or by Western models in politics or economics, and less willing to associate with non-Muslims. While both Islamists and fundamentalists are committed to implementing Sharia law, Islamists tend to consider it more a project than a corpus. Islamists generally tend to favour the education of women and their participation in social and political life, the Islamist woman militates, studies, and has the right to work, but in a chador. While the fundamentalist preaches for women to return to the home, traditionalists take imitation, accepting what was said before and refusing to innovate, as a basic principle, They follow one of the great schools of religious jurisprudence. Their vision of the sharia is essentially legalistic and used to determine what is right or wrong for Enjoining good. Traditionalists are sometimes connected to the forms of Sufism such as the Barelvi school in Pakistan). 18th-century examples are Shah Waliullah Dehlawi in India and Abdul Wahhab in the Arabian Peninsula and this reformism is often developed in response to an external threat such as the influence of Hinduism on Islam. In the late 19th century salafiyya was developed in the Arab countries, criticism of the term The term Islamic fundamentalism has been criticized by Bernard Lewis, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Eli Berman, John Esposito, among others. Many have proposed substituting another term, such as puritanical, Islamic revivalism or activism, Lewis, a leading historian of Islam, believes that although the use of this term is established and must be accepted, It remains unfortunate and can be misleading. In this they oppose the liberal and modernist theologians, who tend to a critical, historical view of Scripture. Among Muslim theologians there is as yet no such liberal or modernist approach to the Quran, where the so-called Muslim fundamentalists differ from other Muslims and indeed from Christian fundamentalists is in their scholasticism and their legalism
30.
Madkhalism
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Madkhalism is a strain of Islamist thought within the larger Salafist movement based on the writings of Rabee al-Madkhali. Political scientist Omar Ashour has described the movement as resembling a cult, at the Madkhalist movements inception in the early 1990s, the governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt promoted the group as a counterbalance to more extreme elements of the wider Islamist movement. During this time, a number of radical Jihadists converted to Madkhalism, in Kuwait, the Madkhali movement was nurtured around individuals who would separate from mainstream Salafism in 1981 due to many amongst them entering into political arena. The remaining followers of Madkhali within Saudi Arabia tend to be workers of Western origins, Saudis from Rabee al-Madkhalis hometown. Regardless of these gains, Western analysts have described the movement as now being relegated to a primarily European phenomenon. Analysts have estimated that Madkhalists and their allies comprise just over half of the Salafist movement in the Netherlands, the act was condemnded by twenty-two NGOs, in addition to the post-war Libyan governments top religious official and UNESCO General Director Irina Bokova. The post-war Libyan government filed a complaint with the Saudi government regarding Muhammad al-Madkhali, another break between Madkhalists and the mainstream of purist Salafism has been the reaction to the Arab Spring. Madkhalism is often compared to Wahhabism, sharing a number of tenents with the wider movement, media analysts have warned against generalizing such Islamists movements despite their differences, however. A cournerstone of Madkhalist discourse is unquestioning loyalty to governments, even those that use extreme, unlike other Islamist groups which often oppose dictatorial government in the Middle East, the Madkhalist movement is openly supportive of such regimes. Relations with governments of countries which are Muslim but not Arab have not always been as smooth, both Madkhali brothers actively encouraged Muslims inside and outside of Indonesia to join the armed Maluku sectarian conflict which continued from the late 1990s until the early 2000s. Though often lumped together with all other Salafists and Islamists, the Madkhalists have been noted for their opposition to, such politically active Salafists are often described by followers of Madkhalism as part of an international conspiracy against true Salafism. Interaction with non-Muslim societies, where most Madkhalists reside, also distinguishes the movement, while most Salafists in the Western world are noted for lack of participation in the wider society, Madkhalists in particular are noted for minimizing contact with non-Muslims. Also unlike the wider Islamist movement, Madkhalists seem uninterested in converting Western societies to Islam, preferring to simply accept, the polemics of the Madkhalists are markedly different from other Salafist groups as well. A noted feature of Madkhalism during Muslim dogmatic exchanges is attacking the opponent instead of discourse regarding the topic of discussion. The person of the leader, Rabee al-Madkhali, also carries a heavy focus uncharacteristic of rival movements such as Qutbism. A common mantra promoted by Madkhali is that questioning the movements clerics is forbidden as a general rule, and only allowed in cases of necessity
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Qutbism
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Qutbism is an Islamist ideology developed by Sayyid Qutb, the figurehead of the Muslim Brotherhood. Muslim extremists “cite Sayyid Qutb repeatedly and consider themselves his intellectual descendants. ”The main tenet of Qutbist ideology is that the Muslim community has been extinct for a few centuries having reverted to Godless ignorance, Qutb outlined his ideas in his book Maalim fi-l-Tariq. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who went on to become a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, was one of Muhammad Qutbs students and later a mentor of Osama bin Laden, zawahiri paid homage to Qutb in his work Knights under the Prophets Banner. Osama bin Laden is reported to have regularly attended public lectures by Muhammad Qutb, at King Abdulaziz University. Late Yemeni Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki has also spoken of Qutbs great influence, the book, written by MB Supreme Guide Hassan al-Hudaybi, attacked the idea of Takfir of other Muslims. Like the term Wahhabi, Qutbee is used not by the alleged Qutbees to describes themselves, the most controversial aspect of Qutbism is takfir, Qutbs idea that Islam is extinct. According to takfir, with the exception of Qutb’s Islamic vanguard, Takfir was intended to shock Muslims into religious re-armament. When taken literally, takfir also had the effect of causing non-Qutbists who claimed to be Muslim in violation of Sharia law, violating this law could potentially be considered apostasy from Islam, a crime punishable by death according to Qutbis. Because of these consequences, Muslims have traditionally been reluctant to practice takfir. Other factors played a part in instigating the violence, but Qutbs takfir against jahiliyyah society, while Maalim fi-l-Tariq was Qutbs manifesto, other elements of Qutbism are found in his works Al-adala al-Ijtimaiyya fi-l-Islam, and his Quranic commentary Fi Zilal al-Quran. Ideas in those works also have come under attack from traditionalist/conservative/Wahhabi Muslims and they include, Qutbs assertion that slavery is now illegal under Islam, as its lawfulness was only temporary, existing only until the world devised a new code of practice, other than enslavement. Traditionalist critics maintain Islaam has affirmed slavery, and it will continue so long as Jihaad in the path of Allaah exists. Proposals to redistribute income and property to the needy, opponents claim they are socialist and innovations of Islam. Describing Moses as having an excitable nature – this allegedly being mockery, dismissing fiqh or the schools of Islamic law known as madhhab as separate from Islamic principles and Islamic understanding. Desiring to unite the four schools of Islamic law into one school – allegedly an innovation, favoring the overthrow of tyrants, when Islam teaches that when you cannot correct a wrong thing be patient. Qutb may now be facing criticism representing his ideas success or Qutbisms logical conclusion as much as his ideas failure to persuade some critics, but according to Olivier Roy, contemporary neofundamentalist refuse to express their views in modern terms borrowed from the West. On the importance of science and learning, the key to the power of his bête noire, western civilization, and encouraged Muslims to seek knowledge. On the other hand, Qutb believed some learning was forbidden to Muslims and should not be studied, including, principles of economics and political affairs, origin of the universe, the origin of the life of man
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Sahwa movement
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Sahwa Movement or Al–Sahwa Al-Islamiyya is a faction of Saudi Salafism. In Saudi Arabia it has started in 1985 by three Saudi clerics that called for more religious action claiming that Saudi Arabia isnt islamic enough in 1985 and this group opposed the presence of US troops on the Arabian peninsula. Muslim Brotherhood members arrived in Saudi Arabia in the 1950s and 60s seeking refuge from persecution of Egyptian Socialist regime and they always had disputes with Wahhabism. Wahhabism and the Brotherhood influenced each other and this resulted in the birth of a hybrid movement of religious-political dissent known as the Sahwa movement. It reached a peak in the 1990s before being repressed by the Saudi establishment, Sahwa members write public petitions and circulate sermons on audio cassettes. They oppose the presence of US troops on the Muslim land, in 1991, al-Hawali delivered a sermon stating, What is happening in the Persian Gulf is part of a larger Western design to dominate the whole Arab and Muslim world. The opponent groups, such as Madkhalis derogatorily label this group as Qutbis, safar Al-Hawali Salman al-Ouda Muhammad Surur
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Salafi jihadism
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The concept was described by Martin Kramer as an academic term that will inevitably be jihadism or the jihadist movement in popular usage. Practitioners are referred to as Salafi jihadis or Salafi jihadists, the most famous jihadist-Salafist attack is the September 11,2001 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda. U. Gilles Kepel writes that the Salafis whom he encountered in Europe in the 1980s were totally apolitical, but by the mid-1990s he met some who felt jihad in the form of violence and terrorism was justified to realize their political objectives. The combination of Salafi alienation from all things non-Muslim – including mainstream European society –, according to Kepel, Salafist jihadism combined respect for the sacred texts in their most literal form. With an absolute commitment to jihad, whose number-one target had to be America, principal among the sheikist scholars was Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz – the archetypal court ulema. Iyad El-Baghdadi describes Salafism as deeply divided into mainstream Salafism, another definition of Salafi jihadism, offered by Mohammed M. Hafez, is an extreme form of Sunni Islamism that rejects democracy and Shia rule. Hafez distinguished them from apolitical and conservative Salafi scholars, but also from the movement associated with Salman al-Ouda or Safar Al-Hawali. According to Mohammed M. Defending the Muslim community from external non-Muslim perceived threats, intimidating and marginalising other Muslim sects, Robin Wright notes the importance in Salafi jihadist groups of the formal process of taking an oath of allegiance to a leader. Marbling, i. e. pretending to cut ties to a global movement when strategically or financially convenient. (An example is the cutting of ties to al-Qaeda by the Syrian group Al-Nusra Front with al-Qaedas approval, Al Jazeera journalist Jamal Al Sharif describes Salafi jihadism as combining the doctrinal content and approach of Salafism and organisational models from Muslim Brotherhood organisations. Their motto emerged as Salafism in doctrine, modernity in confrontation, antecedents of Salafism jihadism include Islamist author Sayyid Qutb, who developed the intellectual underpinnings of the ideology. Qutb argued that the world had reached a point and that the Islamic world has been replaced by pagan ignorance of Jahiliyyah. The group Takfir wal-Hijra, who kidnapped and murdered an Egyptian ex-government minister in 1978, inspired some of the tactics, in Afghanistan the Taliban were of the Deobandi, not Salafi, school of Islam but cross-fertilized with bin Laden and other Salafist jihadis. Seth Jones of the Rand Corporation argues that Salafi-jihadist numbers and activity have increased not decreased from 2007 to 2013, according to his research, the number of Salafi-jihadist groups increased by over 50% from 2010 to 2013, using Libya and parts of Syria as sanctuary. The number of Salafi jihadist fighters more than doubled from 2010 to 2013 using both low and high estimates, the war in Syria was the single most important attraction for Salafi-jihadist fighters. Attacks by al-Qaeda–affiliated groups despite al-Qaedas traditional focus on the far enemy, approximately 99% of the attacks by al-Qaeda and its affiliates in 2013 were against near enemy targets. Theoreticians of Salafist jihadism included Afghan jihad veterans such as the Palestinian Abu Qatada, the Syrian Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, Osama bin Laden was its most well-known leader. The dissident Saudi preachers Salman al-Ouda and Safar Al-Hawali, were held in esteem by this school
34.
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
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Al-Nour Party
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The al‑Nour Party, or Party of The Light, is one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative Islamist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law, in the 2011–12 Egypt parliamentary elections, the Islamist Bloc led by al‑Nour party received 7,534,266 votes out of a total 27,065,135 correct votes. The Islamist Bloc, of which al-Nour was a member, gained 127 of the 498 parliamentary seats contested, second-place after the Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom, al‑Nour Party itself won 111 of the 127 seats. From January 2013 the party distanced itself from President Mohamed Morsis Brotherhood government. A lawsuit against the party was dismissed on 22 September 2014 because the court indicated it had no jurisdiction, a case on the dissolution of the party was adjourned until 17 January 2015 and further postponed until 21 February 2015. Another court case that was brought forth to dissolve the party was dismissed after the Alexandria Urgent Matters Court ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction. Al‑Nour was set up after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, when the military government allowed the formation of new parties. It was established by one of the largest Salafist groups in Egypt, during the revolution, they did not support the uprising because the Americans would have ordered Mubarak to massacre them all, according to a party spokesman. After the revolution, the Salafis decided to part in politics in order to protect the Islamic identity of Egypt, based on the fundamentals of Islam. Al‑Nour was recognised as a party after it had obtained its license in June 2011. However, in September 2012, Ghaffour was suspended from the party and he was reinstated as the head of the party following a 10-hour meeting by the party in early October 2012. Ghaffour resigned as party chairman on 29 December 2012 and in January 2013 formed the rival Watan Party, al‑Nour Party is an ultra-conservative Islamist party maintaining a strict version of Islam, known as the Salafi methodology. Salafis believe in practising Islam as it was practiced by Prophet Muhammad, his companions, and their main source of governance is strictly based on the Quran and the Sunnah. The religious foundation and structure of party is based almost entirely on the Salafi interpretation of Islam. Al-Nour believes the principles of Islamic Sharia should be the source of legislation. However, the party promises that it will allow Christians to have their own laws for their internal matters. The party has stated it is committed to the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty as an international agreement. At the same time, al‑Nour said it seeks amendments to the agreement, specifically, an al‑Nour spokesman stated, We call for full Sinai rights for Egypt and for our brothers in Palestine and occupied lands, and we see this as directly related to the agreement
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Authenticity Party
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The Authenticity Party is one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative Islamist Salafist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law, the party is considering leaving the Anti-Coup Alliance. In the 2011–12 Egypt parliamentary elections, the Authenticity party ran on the platform of the Islamist Bloc led by Al-Nour Party, the Islamist Bloc received 7,534,266 votes out of a total 27,065,135 correct votes. The Islamist Bloc gained 127 of the 498 parliamentary seats contested, second-place after the Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom, the Authenticity Party received 3 of these 127 seats. The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court however ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction, list of political parties in Egypt
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Al-Qaeda
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It operates as a network made up of Islamic extremist, Salafist jihadists. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries, including the 1998 U. S. embassy bombings, the September 11 attacks, the U. S. government responded to the September 11 attacks by launching the War on Terror. Characteristic techniques employed by al-Qaeda include suicide attacks and the bombing of different targets. Al-Qaeda ideologues envision a complete break from all foreign influences in Muslim countries, among the beliefs ascribed to al-Qaeda members is the conviction that a Christian–Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam. Al-Qaeda also opposes what it regards as man-made laws, and wants to replace them with a form of sharia law. Al-Qaeda has carried out attacks on targets it considers kafir. Al-Qaeda is also responsible for instigating violence among Muslims. Al-Qaeda leaders regard liberal Muslims, Shias, Sufis and other sects as heretics and have attacked their mosques, examples of sectarian attacks include the Yazidi community bombings, the Sadr City bombings, the Ashoura massacre and the April 2007 Baghdad bombings. Since the death of bin Laden in 2011, the group has been led by the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaedas management philosophy has been described as centralization of decision and decentralization of execution. Many terrorism experts do not believe that the global jihadist movement is driven at every level by al-Qaedas leadership, marc Sageman, a psychiatrist and former Central Intelligence Agency officer, said that al-Qaeda is now just a loose label for a movement that seems to target the west. We like to create an entity called in our minds. This view mirrors the account given by Osama bin Laden in his October 2001 interview with Tayseer Allouni and this matter isnt about any specific person and. is not about the al-Qaidah Organization. We are the children of an Islamic Nation, with Prophet Muhammad as its leader, and all the true believers are brothers. So the situation isnt like the West portrays it, that there is an organization with a specific name and that particular name is very old. It was born without any intention from us, created a military base to train the young men to fight against the vicious, arrogant, brutal, terrorizing Soviet empire. So this place was called The Base, as in a base, so this name grew. We arent separated from this nation, and so we discuss the conscience of this nation. Bruce Hoffman, however, sees al-Qaeda as a network that is strongly led from the Pakistani tribal areas
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Turkish people
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Turkish people, or the Turks, also known as Anatolian Turks, are a Turkic ethnic group and nation living mainly in Turkey and speaking Turkish, the most widely spoken Turkic language. They are the largest ethnic group in Turkey, as well as by far the largest ethnic group among the speakers of Turkic languages, ethnic Turkish minorities exist in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. In addition, a Turkish diaspora has been established with modern migration, the ethnonym Turk may be first discerned in Herodotus reference to Targitas, first king of the Scythians, furthermore, during the first century AD. Pomponius Mela refers to the Turcae in the north of the Sea of Azov. The first definite references to the Turks come mainly from Chinese sources in the sixth century, in these sources, Turk appears as Tujue, which referred to the Göktürks. Although Turk refers to Turkish people, it may sometimes refer to the wider language group of Turkic peoples. In the 19th century, the word Türk only referred to Anatolian villagers, the Ottoman ruling class identified themselves as Ottomans, not usually as Turks. In the late 19th century, as the Ottoman upper classes adopted European ideas of nationalism the term Türk took on a more positive connotation. The Turkish-speakers of Anatolia were the most loyal supporters of Ottoman rule, Turkish Jews, Christians, or even Alevis may be considered non-Turks. On the other hand, Kurdish Arab followers of the Sunni branch of Islam who live in eastern Anatolia are sometimes considered Turks, article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a Turk as anyone who is bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship. Anatolia was first inhabited by hunter-gatherers during the Paleolithic era, most of the Turkic peoples were followers of Tengriism, sharing the cult of the sky god Tengri, although there were also adherents of Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism. However, during the Muslim conquests, the Turks entered the Muslim world proper as servants, during the booty of Arab raids, the Turks began converting to Islam after Muslim conquest of Transoxiana through the efforts of missionaries, Sufis, and merchants. Although initiated by the Arabs, the conversion of the Turks to Islam was filtered through Persian, under the Umayyads, most were domestic servants, whilst under the Abbasids, increasing numbers were trained as soldiers. By the ninth century, Turkish commanders were leading the caliphs’ Turkish troops into battle, as the Abbasid caliphate declined, Turkish officers assumed more military and political power taking over or establishing provincial dynasties with their own corps of Turkish troops. During the 11th century the Seljuk Turks who were admirers of the Persian civilization grew in number and were able to occupy the province of the Abbasid Empire. By 1055, the Seljuk Empire captured Baghdad and began to make their first incursions into the edges of Anatolia, when the Seljuk Turks won the Battle of Manzikert against the Byzantine Empire in 1071, it opened the gates of Anatolia to them. Although ethnically Turkish, the Seljuk Turks appreciated and became the purveyors of the Persian culture rather than the Turkish culture, in dire straits, the Byzantine Empire turned to the West for help setting in motion the pleas that led to the First Crusade. Once the Crusaders took Iznik, the Seljuk Turks established the Sultanate of Rum from their new capital, Konya, by the 12th century the Europeans had begun to call the Anatolian region Turchia or Turkey, meaning the land of the Turks
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Kurds
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The Kurds are culturally and linguistically closely related to the Iranian peoples and, as a result, are often themselves classified as an Iranian people. A recent Kurdish diaspora has also developed in Western countries, primarily in Germany, the Kurdish language refers collectively to the related dialects spoken by the Kurds. It is mainly spoken in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria. Kurdish holds official status in Iraq as a national language alongside Arabic, is recognized in Iran as a regional language, the Kurdish languages belong to the northwestern sub‑group of the Iranian languages, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. According to Mackenzie, there are few features that all Kurdish dialects have in common. And the fact that this reflects the sense of ethnic identity and unity of the Kurds. The number of Kurds living in Southwest Asia is estimated at close to 30 million, Kurds comprise anywhere from 18% to 20% of the population in Turkey, possibly as high as 25%,15 to 20% in Iraq, 10% in Iran, and 9% in Syria. Kurds form regional majorities in all four of these countries, viz. in Turkish Kurdistan, the Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in West Asia after the Arabs, Persians, and Turks. The total number of Kurds in 1991 was placed at 22.5 million, with 48% of this number living in Turkey, 18% in Iraq, 24% in Iran, and 4% in Syria. Recent emigration accounts for a population of close to 1.5 million in Western countries and this groups population was estimated at close to 0.4 million in 1990. The land of Karda is mentioned on a Sumerian clay-tablet dated to the 3rd millennium B. C. This land was inhabited by the people of Su who dwelt in the regions of Lake Van. Other Sumerian clay-tables referred the people, who lived in the land of Karda, as the Qarduchi and the Qurti. Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, the claimed Median descent is reflected in the words of the Kurdish national anthem, We are the children of the Medes and Kai Khosrow. The Kurdish languages form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian languages like Median, some researchers consider the independent Kardouchoi as the ancestors of the Kurds. The term Kurd, however, is first encountered in Arabic sources of the seventh century, the Kurds have ethnically diverse origins. During the Sassanid era, in Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan, after initially sustaining a heavy defeat, Ardashir I was successful in subjugating the Kurds. In a letter Ardashir I received from his foe, Ardavan V, the usage of the term Kurd during this time period most likely was a social term, designating Northwestern Iranian nomads, rather than a concrete ethnic group
40.
Tanta
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Tanta (Egyptian Arabic, طنطا Ṭanṭa pronounced, is a large city in Egypt. It is the fifth largest populated area, with 421,076 inhabitants as of 2006. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria,94 km north of Cairo and 130 km southeast of Alexandria, the capital of Gharbia Governorate, it is a center for the cotton-ginning industry. One of the railway lines goes through Tanta. Three annual festivals are held in Tanta in honor of Ahmad al-Badawi, a revered Sufi figure of the 13th century, Tanta is known for its sweetshops and roasted chickpeas. With its large plantations, in 1856, Tanta became a stop on the railway network. Even by 1986 the area around Tanta was mostly fields with scattered villages but by 2001, Tanta had grown into a large. Tanta is known for its sweets, eaten during the mulid festivals, the people of Tanta are called Tantawy and enjoy leisurely walks along the streets. Tanta has cotton ginning factories and textile industries, and is also a university town with Tanta University since 1972 and this city comes to life in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. Three million people, from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world, come for the Moulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi, the moulid is centered around the mosque and tomb of Sayid Ahmad al-Badawi. He founded one of Egypts largest Sufi orders called Ahmadiyyah or Badawiyya and he was born in Morocco, but emigrated to Arabia and was sent to Tanta in 1234 as a representative of the order from Iraq. He was given permission to start a new order in Tanta, during the festival many sugar-coated nuts called hubb el Aziz are eaten. They have been considered a delicacy since the 1800s, what originally began in Cairo, spread to Tanta when a group of young Egyptians began showing European movie screenings at Rivoli Cinema, the oldest cinema in Tanta. Called the 8th Edition Panorama of European Films, the young media students invited a director to speak with the audience, people were enticed. The group also began the The Association of Cinema and Literature Lovers Group to encourage young filmmakers in Tanta, there is a Young Mens Muslim Association in Tanta and in 1994 had about 1000 members. Telecom Egypt, the main telephone landline Egyptian company, has one of its centers in Tanta. St. Mary Coptic Orthodox church, which is over 200 years old, is located in Tanta, some people believe that the icon of the Virgin Mary has healing powers. The Museum of Tanta contains items from ancient nearby sites of Sais, Naucratis, el Mahallah is a large industrial town near Tanta, famous for its textile
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Al-Azhar University
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Al-Azhar University is a university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypts oldest degree-granting university and is renowned as Sunni Islam’s most prestigious university, in addition to higher education, Al-Azhar oversees a national network of schools with approximately two million students. As of 1996, over 4000 teaching institutes in Egypt were affiliated with the University and it was one of the first universities in the world, and the only one in the Arabic world to survive as a modern university including secular subjects in the curriculum. Today it is the centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. In 1961 additional non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum and its mission is to propagate Islam and Islamic culture. To this end, its Islamic scholars render edicts on disputes submitted to them all over the Sunni Islamic world regarding proper conduct for Muslim individuals. Al-Azhar also trains Egyptian government-appointed preachers in proselytization and its library is considered second in importance in Egypt only to the Egyptian National Library and Archives. Fatimah, was called Al-Zahra, and it was named in her honor and it was founded as mosque by the Fatimid commander Jawhar at the orders of the Caliph and Ismaili Imam Al-Muizz as he founded the city for Cairo. It was in Jamadi al-Awwal in the year 359 A. H and its building was completed on the 9th of Ramadan in the year 361 A. H. Both Al-Aziz Billah and Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah added to its premises and it was further repaired, renovated and extended by Al-Mustansir Billah and Al-Hafiz Li-Din-illah. Studies began at Al-Azhar in the month of Ramadan,975, according to Syed Farid Alatas, the Jamiah had faculties in Islamic law and jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, Islamic philosophy, and logic. The Fatimids gave attention to the studies at the time when rulers in other countries declared those who were engaged in philosophical pursuits as apostates. The Greek thought found a reception with the Fatimids who expanded the boundaries of such studies. They paid much attention to philosophy and gave support to everyone who was known for being engaged in the study of any branch of philosophy and these books were destroyed by Salah-ud-Din Ayyubi. An Islamic womens faculty was added in the same year. Al-Azhar has a membership that represents the schools of Al-Ashari and Al-Maturidi, the four schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. Al-Azhar has had a relationship with Wahhabism and Salafism. Although al-Azhar is not monolithic, its identity has been associated with Sufism
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