Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim - Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas


Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim
Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim (Ahmed ibn Ibrahim Resmi) (Ahmed Resmi Efendi) (Ahmed Efendi of Resmo) (Ahmed ibn Ibrahim Giridi) (1694- August 1783).  Ottoman statesman and historian.  He wrote descriptions of his embassies to Vienna (1757) and Berlin (1763), an eye-witness account of the Russo-Turkish war of 1769-1774, and some biographical collections.

Ahmed Resmî Efendi, also called Ahmed bin İbrahim Giridî ("Ahmed the son of İbrahim the Cretan"), was an Ottoman statesman, diplomat and author of the late 18th century. In international relations terms, his most important - and unfortunate - task was to act as the chief of the Ottoman delegation during the negotiations and the signature of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. In the literary domain, he is remembered for various works among which his sefâretnâme recounting his embassies in Berlin and Vienna occupy a prominent place. He was Turkey's first ever ambassador in Berlin.

He was born in Resmo (Rethymno) in 1694. According to Muhammed Muradî, the source for the little that is known concerning his early life, Ahmed Resmî arrived in İstanbul towards his forties, in 1734. Most sources credit him with expertise in the calligraphic and epistolary arts. Rising through the Ottoman bureaucracy, he allied himself with a circle of reformers, who transformed diplomatic relations of the Ottomans with Europe in the 18th century and established some of the first privately-endowed public libraries of Istanbul.

When his father-in-law and first patron Tavukçubaşı Mustafa, a diplomat and one of the prominent figures in grand vizier Koca Mehmed Ragıp Pasha's entourage, died in 1749, Ahmed Resmî began writing his first work, the bibliographical compilation of Ottoman chief scribes "Sefinet ür-rüesa". It was in this period that he wrote "İstinas fi ahval el-efras", to demonstrate his scribal and literary skills, celebrating the spring ritual of releasing the royal horses for grazing and which served as an encomium to the Sultan Mahmud I. These works also served as a means of introduction to potential patrons, such as grand vizier Köse Bahir Mustafa Pasha.

Ahmed Resmî was appointed in late 1757 to an embassy to Vienna to announce the accession of Mustafa III to the throne. In 1749, he also composed "Hamilet el-kübera", a biographical list of the chief black eunuchs (kızlar ağaları) of the Palace.

The embassy to Vienna was followed by a similar appointment, the first ever Turkish embassy to the court of Frederick the Great in Berlin in 1763/1764. After both embassies, Ahmed Resmî submitted detailed reports on the geography of his passage and the politics of the courts he encountered. In the case of the Berlin embassy, he left behind not just an account of diplomatic niceties but also a portrayal of Frederick and the description of the Seven Years’ War. His tentative observations inaugurated a new emphasis for the Ottoman Empire on the need to study European politics.

Upon his return from Berlin, he was appointed chief correspondence officer (mektupçu) to the grand vizier. In 1765, he became chief sergeant-at-arms (çavuşbaşı) and began his long connection with Muhsinzade Mehmed Pasha, who was twice appointed grand vizier. Among his other appointments to the highest offices was his brief posting as second-in-command (sadaret kethüdası) to grand vizier Moldovanlı Ali Pasha in 1769 while the grand vizier was on the Bulgarian battlefront. He served in this capacity again with Muhsinzade Mehmed Pasha from 1771 until the grand vizier’s death at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. Ahmed Resmî was present at many of the war councils on the battlefield and was noted for his largesse toward wounded soldiers. His quarrels with and observations on the head of the Ottoman delegation during the ten-month truce between the two episodes of the war, Çenebaz Osman Efendi or Yenişehirli Osman Efendi, by the name either of a town near Bursa or now in Greece, was recorded by him in one of most vivid accounts of the war.

Even though the above-mentioned three posts were considered stepping-stones to the office of grand vizier, he never achieved that status. It is likely that Ahmed Resmî’s regular and scathing criticism of the state of Ottoman military organization played a major role in this turn of events.

Ahmed Resmî acted as first plenipotentiary (murahhas-ı evvel) to the Küçük Kaynarca peace negotiations in 1774 and became one of the signatories of the resulting treaty. He understandably disappeared from the appointment rolls for some time after 1775. Ahmed Resmî resurfaced one last time as chief of the palace cavalry bureau (süvari mukabelecisi) under grand vizier Halil Hamid Pasha, probably in recognition of his continuous service behind the scenes in difficult negotiations with Russia over the future of the Crimea and the Tatars. Ahmed Resmî died in August 1783, shortly before the Aynalıkavak Convention ceding the Crimea to Catherine II was signed in early 1784. One son is said to have preceded Ahmed Resmî to the grave; no other information has been discovered to date concerning his family life.

The literary works of Ahmed Resimi include:

    * Hamiletü’l-kübera (1749): A biographical list of the chief black eunuchs from Mehmed Ağa (1574-1590) until Moralı Beşir Ağa (the second eunuch with the same name, who served between 1746-1752) dedicated to Koca Ragıp Mehmed Pasha. It includes biographies of thirty-eight eunuchs, focusing on their origins and professional careers. A concluding part addresses the history of the downfall and execution of Moralı Beşir Aga and provides as much justification for, as explication of, the events.
    * Hülasat el-itibar (1781): Critical and satirical history of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. Ahmed Resmî was on the battlefield and acutely aware of the failings of the Janissary corps.
    * Layiha: A memorandum presented to grand vizier İvazzade Halil Pasha in 1769 concerning the need for reorganization and control of military headquarters.
    * Layiha: A political memoir on the Russians during the temporary truce and the negotiations to end the 1768-1774 war presented to Muhsinzade Mehmed Pasha and Abdürrezzak Efendi, chief negotiator on the battlefront in 1772. Ahmed Resmî presented this Layiha as the Ottomans undertook ultimately abortive negotiations with the Russians between 1772-1773, in which he pressed for peace, arguing that the Russians were badly overextended, and that both sides should recognize their military and territorial limitations. Such language was still novel in Ottoman negotiations. Ahmed Resmî’s view in this last work as well as in Hülasat el-itibar represents an understanding of the balance of power diplomacy he observed in the courts of Vienna and Berlin.
    * Sefaretname-i Ahmed Resmî or Sefaretname-i Prusya: Report of Ahmed Resmî’s embassy to Berlin in 1763-1764 containing a logbook for the journey, reflections on the cities of passage, as well as a record of the official meetings with Frederick the Great, and many reflections on the rise of Frederick, his kind of rule, and his parsimony. Both this and the Vienna embassy report have been edited and transcribed numerous times, and discussed at length in English and Turkish.
    * Sefinet er-rüesa or Halifet er-rüesa: This is the only biographical compilation of Ottoman chief scribes (reis ül-küttab) until 1744, started by Ahmed Resmî around 1749, and continued by Süleyman Faik until 1804. The work ends with the entries on Ahmed Resmî’s own patrons, Tavukçubaşı Mustafa and Koca Ragıp Mehmed Pasha, and constitutes the main source of information on these two personalities.
    * Viyana Sefaretnamesi: Report of Ahmed Resmî’s embassy to Vienna in 1757-1758, written immediately upon his return.

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Ahmed ibn Ibrahim Resmi see Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim
Ahmed Resmi Efendi see Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim
Ahmed Efendi of Resmo see Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim
Ahmed ibn Ibrahim Giridi see Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim
Ahmed the son of Ibrahim the Cretan see Resmi, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim


Revolucao Praiera
Revolucao Praiera. In Brazil, one of the last rebellions of Muslim slaves in Bahia organized by the COTW (child of two worlds) Figuereido in 1848.  Its purpose was to massacre the planters, expel the Portuguese, and divide the plantations into small lots to be distributed to black slaves.
 


Revolutionary Guards
Revolutionary Guards (Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) (Sepāh e Pāsdārān e Enqelāb e Eslāmi) (Sepāh) (Pasdaran) (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) (IRGC).   Refers to the Iranian organized Islamic guerrilla movement active in various Southwest Asian countries.

The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is a branch of Iran's military, founded after the Iranian revolution.

Like many young Iranians during the 1980-88 Iran–Iraq War, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a member of the Army of Guardians, in the Basij militia. In recent years the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has become a vast military-based conglomerate. It is active in oil and gas, telecom, and farming, to name a few sections, and has considerable economic and political influence. The Guard's expanding economic role is mirrored by an even greater role in politics and security since the presidential election in June 2009.

Since its origin as an ideologically driven militia, the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution has taken an ever more assertive role in virtually every aspect of Iranian society. Its expanded social, political, military, and economic role under president Ahmadinejad's administration — especially during the 2009 presidential election and post-election suppression of protest — has led many analysts to argue that its political power has surpassed even that of the Shiite clerical system.

In Iran, due to the frequent use of referencing government organizations with one word names (that generally denotes their function) as opposed to acronyms or shortened versions, the general populace universally refer to the organization as Sepāh (Army). Although Artesh also means army as well, Sepāh has a connotation that is more security driven as opposed to Artesh, which is more militaristic, and henceforth, is used to refer to the general Armed Forces. However the Iranian Government, media, and those who identify to the organization generally use Sepāh e Pāsdārān (Army of Guardians), although it is not uncommon to hear Pāsdārān e Enqelāb (Revolutionary Guards), or simply Pāsdārān (Guardians) as well.

The United States Government and the English-speaking media usually use the term Iranian Revolutionary Guards ("IRG"). In the United States media, the force is frequently referred to as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ("IRGC"), although this force is rarely described as a "corps" by non-United States media.

The IRGC is a combined arms force with its own ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence, and special forces. It also controls the Basij militia, which has a potential strength of eleven million. The Basij is a volunteer-based force, with (in 2010) 90,000 regular soldiers and 300,000 reservists. The IRGC is officially recognized as a component of the Iranian military under Article 150 of the Iranian Constitution. It is separate from, and parallel to, the other arm of the Iran's military, which is called Artesh (another Persian word for army).

The IRGC controls the borders of Iran. This is a source for much of the widespread corruption commonly known throughout the IRGC.

The force's main role is in national security. It is responsible for internal and border security, law enforcement, and also Iran's missile forces. IRGC operations are geared towards asymmetric warfare and less traditional duties. These include the control of smuggling, control of the Strait of Hormuz, and resistance operations. The IRGC is intended to complement the more traditional role of the regular Iranian military, with the two forces operating separately and focusing on different operational roles.

The IRGC was formed in May 1979 as a force loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, but later became a full military force alongside the army in the Iran–Iraq War. It was infamous for its human wave attacks, for example during Operation Ramadan, an assault on the city of Basra.

During the Lebanese Civil War, the IRGC allegedly sent troops to train fighters in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. In Lebanon, political parties had staunch opinions regarding the IRGC's presence. Some, mainly the Christian militias such as the Lebanese Forces, Phalanges, and most of the Christian groups declared war on the IRGC, claiming they violated Lebanese sovereignty, while others, including Muslim militias, were neutral to their presence. Groups such as the PSP and Mourabiton did not approve of their presence, but to serve political alliances they decided to remain silent on the matter.

The 1992 Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires and the 1994 AMIA Bombing also in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for which the Argentinian government issued an arrest warrant for Imad Mugniyah of Hezbollah, have been linked to Iran.  Mugniyah was believed to be an IRGC operative.

During the 2006 Lebanon War, the IRGC played a key role. Revolutionary Guards directed the firing of a missile on the Israeli Naval vessel INS Hanit, which killed four sailors. This vessel was responsible for bombing targets in Beirut. Revolutionary Guards also assisted Hezbollah in the firing of rockets into Israel. During the war, several Iranian Revolutionary Guards were reportedly killed by Israeli forces in Baalbek, a town close to the Syrian border.

In January 2006, an IRGC Falcon crashed near Oroumieh. All fifteen passengers died, including twelve senior IRGC commanders. Among the dead was General Ahmad Kazemi, the IRGC ground forces commander.

On July 7, 2008, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist and author Seymour Hersh wrote an article in the New Yorker stating that the Bush Administration had signed a Presidential Finding authorizing the CIA's Special Activities Division to begin cross border paramilitary operations from Iraq and Afghanistan into Iran. These operations would be against the Quds Force, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that had been blamed for repeated acts of violence in Iraq, and “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror.

In October 2009, several top commanders of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in a suicide bombing in the Pishin region of Sistan-Baluchistan, in the south-east of Iran. The Iranian state television said 31 people died in the attack, and more than 25 were injured. Shia and Sunni tribal leaders were also killed. The Sunni resistance group, Jundullah claimed this attack.

Ayatollah Khomeini urged that the country's military forces should remain unpoliticized. However, the Constitution, in Article 150, defines the IRGC as the "guardian of the Revolution and of its achievements" which is at least partly a political mission. His original views have therefore been the subject of debate. Supporters of the Basiji have argued for politicization, while reformists, moderates and Hassan Khomeini opposed it. President Rafsanjani forced military professionalization and ideological de-radicalization on the IRGC to curb its political role, but the IRGC became natural allies of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei when reformists threatened him. The IRGC grew stronger under President Ahmedinejad, and assumed formal command of the Basiji militia in early 2009.

As an elite group, members of IRGC have influence in Iran's political world. President Ahmadinejad joined the IRGC in 1985, serving first in military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan before leaving the front line to take charge of logistics. A majority of his first cabinet consisted of IRGC veterans. Nearly one third of the members elected to Iran's Majlis in 2004 are also "Pásdárán". Others have been appointed as ambassadors, mayors, provincial governors and senior bureaucrats.

In the days before the 2009 presidential election, the Revolutionary Guard warned against a "velvet revolution" and vowed to crush any attempt at one. Three weeks after the election the Guard's commander, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, publicly acknowledged they had taken over the nation's security during the post-election unrest.

IRGC first expanded into commercial activity through informal social networking of veterans and former officials. IRGC officials confiscated assets of many refugees who had fled Iran after the fall of the Bani-sadr regime. It is now a vast conglomerate, controlling Iran’s missile batteries and nuclear program but also a multi-billion dollar business empire reaching almost all economic sectors. It is thought to control around a third of Iran's economy through a series of subsidiaries and trusts.

The IRGC also exerts influence over bonyads, wealthy, non-governmental ostensibly charitable foundations controlled by key clerics. The pattern of revolutionary foundations mimics the style of informal and extralegal economic networks from the time of the Shah. Their development started in the early 1990s, gathered pace over the next decade, and accelerated even more with many lucrative no-bid contracts from the Ahmadinejad presidency.

From its origin as an ideologically driven militia, the IRGC has taken an ever more assertive role in virtually every aspect of Iranian society. Its part in suppressing dissent has led many analysts to describe the events surrounding the June 12, 2009 presidential election as a military coup, and the IRGC as an authoritarian military security government for which its Shiite clerical system is no more than a facade.

In September 2009, the Government of Iran sold 51% of the shares of the Telecommunication Company of Iran to the Mobin Trust Consortium (Etemad-e-Mobin), a group affiliated with the Guards, for the sum of $7.8 billion. This was the largest transaction on the Tehran Stock Exchange in history. A private firm was excluded from bidding one day before shares were put on sale - despite being initially approved by Iran’s Privatization Organization - because of a “security condition.”


Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution see Revolutionary Guards
Sepāh e Pāsdārān e Enqelāb e Eslāmi see Revolutionary Guards
Sepāh see Revolutionary Guards
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps see Revolutionary Guards
IRGC see Revolutionary Guards
Pasdaran see Revolutionary Guards


Rewani
Rewani (Ilyas) (d.1523).   Ottoman poet.  In a poem written in rhyming couplets he describes the drinking bouts of his time in detail.
Ilyas see Rewani


Reza Khan Pahlavi
Reza Khan Pahlavi (Reza Shah) (Reza Shah Pahlavi) (Reza Pahlavi).  See Pahlavi, Reza.


Rida‘i, Aqa
Rida‘i, Aqa (Aqa Rida‘i).  Seventeenth century Indo-Persian miniature painter from Harat.  He worked at the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir.
Aqa Rida'i see Rida‘i, Aqa


Rida Quli Khan
Rida Quli Khan (Hidayat) (d. 1871).  Persian scholar and man of letters.  He wrote lyrical poetry and works of a historical nature.
Hidayat see Rida Quli Khan


Ridwan ibn Tutush
Ridwan ibn Tutush (d. 1113).  Saljuq ruler in Aleppo.  He waged war with his brother Duqaq, conquered Edessa and was recognized as lord of Damascus, where he was joined by his step-father Tughtigin.  He failed to take Jerusalem, which had fallen into the hands of the Fatimids.  In 1100, he was defeated by the Crusader Bohemond of Antioch and in 1105 by Bohemond’s successor Tancred.  Ridwan was accused of favoring the Isma‘ilis.


Rifa‘iyah
Rifa‘iyah. Sunni Sufi order known as the Rifa‘iyah played an important role in the institutionalization of Sufism.  In all likelihood, until the fifteenth century it was the most prevalent Sufi order.  Thereafter the popularity of the Rifa‘iyah continued in the Arab world, where at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth the Rifa‘i order possessed the greatest number of tekkes.  Since then the order experienced a decline until recent years, when Rifa‘i activity began to increase.

The shaykh most responsible for its early renown was Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Rifa‘i (1106-1182), who spent nearly his entire life in southern Iraq’s marshlands.  His Sufi lineages include both Junayd al-Baghdadi (d. 910) and Sahl al-Tustari (d. 896).  In 1145, al-Rifa‘i became shaykh of the order when his uncle (who was also his shaykh) appointed him to be his successor.  Al-Rifa‘i then established his center in Umm ‘Abidah, a village in the district of Wasit, where he later died.  Under his guidance, the order flourished.  The spreading of the order beyond Iraq was due to disciples who fanned out throughout the Middle East.  New Rifa‘i branches and even distinct orders were formed by these disciples who initially had been affiliated with al-Rifa‘i.  The most important of these new orders were the Badawiyah, Dasuqiyah, and Alwaniyah.  In time, branches of the Rifa‘i order increased, with the position of shaykh generally becoming hereditary.

Rifat, Oktay
Rifat, Oktay (Oktay Rifat Horozcu) (b. June 10, 1914, Trabzon, Turkey - April 18, 1988, Istanbul, Turkey).  Islamic poet.

Oktay Rifat Horozcu, better known as Oktay Rifat, was a Turkish writer and playwright, and one of the forefront poets of modern Turkish poetry since the late 1930s. He was the founder of the Garip movement, together with Orhan Veli and Melih Cevdet.

Oktay Rifat had a great influence on modern Turkish poetry, standing outside traditional poetic conventions and creating a new movement.

Oktay Rifat was born on June  10, 1914 in the city of Trabzon, son of poet and linguist Samih Rifat Horozcu, who was also governor of Trabzon.

He graduated from Ankara Erkek Lisesi (Ankara High School) in 1932, and completed a bachelor of law from the University of Ankara. He was sent to Paris, France, by the State Ministry to do his doctorate.  However, he came back after three years without completing his degree due to outbreak of World War II.

Oktay Rifat moved to Istanbul in 1955, and started to work as a legal adviser for the Turkish State Railways in 1961. He retired in 1973, and died in Istanbul on April 18, 1988. He was interred at Karacaahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar district of Istanbul.

Oktay Rifat started writing poetry as a high school student, and his first poems were published between 1936 and 1944 in the literature journal Varlık (Existence).

In 1941, together with his friends Orhan Veli Kanık and Melih Cevdet Anday, he published the famous book Garip, which formed the first example of the Garip, or 'Strange' movement.

His poems, which use all the richness of his native Turkish language, include Karga ile Tilki (The Crow and the Fox), for which he won the Yeditepe Poetry Prize in 1955. His work rejected older, complex forms, favoring simplicity and fresh rhythms.

Oktay Rifat also published novels such as Bir Kadının Penceresinden (Through a Woman’s Window) and Danaburnu (Calf Nose), theatre plays such as Kadınlar Arasında (Among Women, first staged in 1948) and translated older works into Turkish from Latin and Greek.
 
The works of Oktay Rifat include:

    * Garip (with Orhan Veli and Melih Cevdet, 1941)
    * Yaşayıp Ölmek Aşk ve Avarelik Üstüne Şiirler (1945)
    * Güzelleme (1945)
    * Aşağı Yukarı (1952)
    * Karga ile Tilki

(1954)
    * Perçemli Sokak (1956)
    * Âşık Merdiveni (1958)
    * İkilik (Aşağı Yukarı ve Karga ile Tilki'nin ikinci baskısı,1963)
    * Elleri Var Özgürlüğün (1966)
    * Şiirler (1969)
    * Yeni Şiirler (1973)
    * Çobanıl Şiirler (1976)
    * Bir Cıgara İçimi (1979)
    * Elifli (1980)
    * Denize Doğru Konuşma (1982)
    * Dilsiz ve Çıplak (1984)
    * Koca Bir Yaz (1987)
    * Bütün Şiirleri (1991)



Oktay Rifat  see Rifat, Oktay
Oktay Rifat Horozcu see Rifat, Oktay
Horozcu, Oktay Rifat see Rifat, Oktay


Rightly guided caliphs
Rightly guided caliphs.  See Rashidun.


Riyah, Banu
Riyah, Banu (Banu Riyah).  Arab tribe.  It was the most powerful of the tribes that left Upper Egypt and invaded North Africa in the middle of the eleventh century.
Banu Riyah see Riyah, Banu


Riza Shah Pahlavi
Riza Shah Pahlavi.  See Pahlavi, Reza..


Roestam Effendi
Roestam Effendi (b. 1903).   Indonesian lyric poet and literary pioneer.  Roestam Effendi’s collection of poems, Pertjikan Permenungan (“Thoughts at Random”) was published in 1924.  Always an innovator and rebel, Roestam Effendi was once a Communist Deputy in the Dutch Parliament.  Roestam Effendi experimented extensively with new forms of verse and successfully adapted European forms to the natural rhythms of the Malay language.  Roestam Effendi’s meaning is often obscured by his use of unusual words from his native Minangkabau dialect.  He also wrote a play called Bebasari which was published in 1928.


Rohillas
Rohillas.  Originally from the region of Roh in Afghanistan, the Rohillas ruled Rohilkhand in India (territory now including Moradabad, Bijnor, and Bareilly, in western Uttar Pradesh) from approximately 1740 to 1785.  The founder, Ali Muhammad Khan (d. 1749), a soldier whom the Mughal emperor recognized as nawab of Rohilkhand, rose to power amid the unsettled conditions of invasions by Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali.  The Rohillas had an uneasy relationship with neighboring Awadh (Oudh), but became allies under the Maratha threat.  Their possessions were repeatedly overrun by the Marathas between about 1750 and 1770, and they were decisively defeated in 1774 by the combined forces of Awadh and the British.  In 1801, Rohilkhand became British territory.  

The Rohilla are a community of Urdu speaking Pashtun also known as Pathan, historically found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in North India. Many are now also found in Pakistan. They form one of the largest Pashtun diaspora communities in India, and have given their name to the Rohilkhand region. Many members of Rohilla community migrated to Pakistan after independence and settled in Karachi, Sindh.


Roman Catholics
Roman Catholics.  Members of the Roman Catholic Church which is headquartered in the Vatican in Rome, Italy.  In Southwest Asia and North Africa, the Roman Catholic Church is present on two levels: (1) the Roman Catholic Church and its local churches and (2) the semi-independent churches through the Eastern Rite Churches.

Local churches are administered through the Patriarch in Jerusalem.  In three major cities, there are nuncios (apostolic delegates): Baghdad, Beirut and Cairo.  About half of all Catholics in Southwest Asia and North Africa are members of the Roman Catholic Church.  Many are Catholics as a result of missionary activities, especially in Sudan, while others belong to expatriate population in oil producing countries.  In some countries, like Kuwait and United Arab Emirates, Roman Catholics represent a major percentage (up to fifteen percent) of the population.

In North Africa, the Catholics are mainly French, Spanish, and Italian descendants of the colonialists from earlier centuries.  These are people that often have retained their European identity, orientation and lifestyles.  In Spanish North Africa, the Roman Catholics even represent the majority.

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. Its leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 Eastern Catholic churches, it comprised a total of 2,795 dioceses in 2008. The Church defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity. It operates social programs and institutions throughout the world including schools, universities, hospitals, missions, shelters and charities.

The Church is the oldest continuous institution in the Western world, and has played a prominent role since the 3rd century of the Christian calendar. It teaches that it is the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church" founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are consecrated successors of his Apostles and that the Pope as the successor of Saint Peter possesses a universal primacy of jurisdiction and pastoral care. Church doctrines have been defined through 21 ecumenical councils and the Church maintains that it is guided by the Holy Spirit from falling into doctrinal error. Catholic beliefs are based on the Holy Bible and Sacred Tradition interpreted by the Church's teaching authority and detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Catholic worship is called the liturgy, the central component of which is the Eucharist.


Rouhani, Hassan
Hassan Rouhani (Persian:  حسن روحانی‎), born November 12, 1948, became the 7th President of Iran in 2013. He is also a former lawmaker, academic and diplomat. Beginning in 1999, Rouhani became a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts.  He was also a member of the Expediency Council since 1991, a member of the Supreme National Security Council since 1989, and head of the Center for Strategic Research since 1992.

Rouhani was deputy speaker of the 4th and 5th terms of the Parliament of Iran (Majlis) and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. In the latter capacity, Rouhani was the country's top negotiator with the EU three,  the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, on nuclear technology in Iran, and has also served as a Shi'ite ijtihadi cleric, and economic trade negotiator. He expressed official support for upholding the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. In 2013, he appointed former miner and Isfahani legislator Eshaq Jahangiri as his vice-president.

On May 7, 2013, Rouhani registered for the presidential election that was held on June 14, 2013. He said that, if elected, he would prepare a "civil rights charter", restore the economy and improve rocky relations with Western nations.  Rouhani was viewed as politically moderate. As early vote counts began coming in, he took a large lead. He was elected as President of Iran on June 15, defeating Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and four other candidates. He took office on August 3, 2013. In 2013, TIME magazine named him 9th of the Most Influential People in the World.  In domestic policy, he encouraged personal freedom and free access to information, improved women's rights by appointing female foreign ministry spokespersons, and was described as a centrist and reformist who improved Iran's diplomatic relations with other countries through exchanging conciliatory letters.


Ru‘ba ibn al-‘Ajjaj al-Tamimi
Ru‘ba ibn al-‘Ajjaj al-Tamimi (c. 685-762).  Arab poet of rajaz verses.   His poems are among the most difficult in Arabic literature as they are full of words unknown from elsewhere.


Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far
Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far (Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far Rudaki) (Abū ʿAbdollāh Jaʿfar ibn Moḥammad) (Abu Abdullah Jafar ibn Mohammad ibn Hakim ibn Abdurrahman ibn Adam Rudaki Samarghandi) (Ādam ul-Shoara) (Adam of Poets) (Rudagi) (Rudhagi) (b.c. 858/859, Rudak, Khorasan - 940/941).  One of the great Persian poets.  He was a master of the panegyric, excelled in bacchic poetry, and was remarkable for his original similes and his descriptions of nature.

Rudaki was the first poet of note to compose poems in the “New Persian,” written in Arabic alphabet, widely regarded as the father of Persian poetry.

A talented singer and instrumentalist, Rūdakī served as a court poet to the Sāmānid ruler Naṣr II (914–943) in Bukhara until he fell out of favor in 937. He ended his life in wretched poverty. Approximately 100,000 couplets are attributed to Rūdakī, but of that enormous output, fewer than 1,000 have survived, and these are scattered among many anthologies and biographical works. His poems are written in a simple style, characterized by optimism and charm and, toward the end of his life, by a touching melancholy. In addition to parts of his divan (collection of poems), one of his most important contributions to literature is his translation from Arabic to New Persian of Kalīlah wa Dimnah, a collection of fables of Indian origin. Later re-tellings of these fables owe much to this lost translation of Rūdakī, which further ensured his fame in Perso-Islamic literature.

Rudaki was a Persian poet, and is regarded as the first great literary genius of the Modern Persian, who composed poems in the Perso-Arabic alphabet or "New Persian" script. Rudaki is considered as a founder of the Tajik/Persian classical literature.

Rudaki was born in 858 in Rudak (Panjrud), a village located in Panjakent, Tajikistan. He was the court poet to the Samanid ruler Nasr II (914–943) in Bukhara, although he eventually fell out of favor.  His life ended in poverty.

Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far Rudaki see Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far
Abū ʿAbdollāh Jaʿfar ibn Moḥammad see Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far
Abu Abdullah Jafar ibn Mohammad ibn Hakim ibn Abdurrahman ibn Adam Rudaki Samarghandi see Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far
Ādam ul-Shoara see Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far
Adam of Poets see Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far
Rudagi see Rudaki, Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja‘far


Rudhrawar
Rudhrawar.  District in Iran between Hamadhan and Nihawand.  It produced many kinds of fruit and was widely renowned for its saffron.


Rudhrawari, Zahir al-Din Abu Shuja’ al-
Rudhrawari, Zahir al-Din Abu Shuja’ al- (Zahir al-Din Abu Shuja’ al-Rudhrawari) (1045-1095).  ‘Abbasid vizier.  He is praised for his piety, his eloquence and poetical gifts.
Zahir al-Din Abu Shuja’ al-Rudhrawari see Rudhrawari, Zahir al-Din Abu Shuja’ al-


Ruete, Emily
Ruete, Emily (Emily Ruete) (Sayyida Salme)  (1844-1924).  The daughter of Sayyid Said bin Sultan al-Busaid, the Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman.

Emily Ruete was born in Zanzibar as Sayyida Salme, Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. She was a daughter of Sayyid Said bin Sultan Al-Busaid, Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman.

Sayyida Salme was born on August 30, 1844, as daughter of Sultan Said and Jilfidan, a Circassian concubine. Her first years were spent in the huge Bet il Mtoni palace, by the sea about eight kilometers north of Stone Town. (The palace was mostly demolished in 1914). She grew up bilingual in Arabic and Swahili. In 1851 she moved to Bet il Watoro, the house of her brother Majid bin Said of Zanzibar, the later sultan. Her brother taught her to ride and to shoot. In 1853 she moved with her mother to Bet il Tani. She secretly taught herself to write, a skill which was unusual for women at the time.

When her father died in 1856 she was declared of age, twelve years old, and received her paternal inheritance. This consisted of a plantation with a residence, and 5,429 pounds. After her father's death, her brother Sayyid Thuwaini bin Said al-Said became Sultan of Muscat and Oman, while her brother Majid became Sultan of Zanzibar.

In 1859, her mother died and Salme received her maternal inheritance, three plantations. The same year a dispute broke out between her brothers Majid and Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar. Though she favored Majid, her favorite sister Khwala made her side with Barghash. Because she could write she acted (at the age of fifteen) as secretary of Barghash's party. With the help of an English gunboat the insurrection of Barghash was soon brought to an end. Barghash was sent into exile in Bombay for two years and Salme withdrew to Kisimbani, one of her estates.

Salme eventually moved back to Stone Town and made up with Majid. This earned her the lasting enmity from Barghash, as well as a split with her favorite sister Khwala.

While living in Stone Town she became acquainted with her neighbor, a German merchant, Rudolph Heinrich Ruete (b. March 10, 1839 - d. August 6, 1870) and became pregnant by him. In August 1866, after her pregnancy had become obvious, she fled on board the British frigate "H.M.S. Highflyer" commanded by Captain [Thomas] Malcolm Sabine Pasley and was given passage on his ship to Aden. There she took Christian instruction and was baptized prior to her marriage at Aden on May 30, 1867. She had given birth to a son, Heinrich, in Aden in December 1866, and he died in France en route to Germany in the summer of 1867. She and her husband settled in Hamburg, Germany.

The Ruetes settled in Hamburg, where they had another son and two daughters. They were:

    * Antonia Thawke Ruete (March  24, 1868-?), who married Eugene Brandeis (1846-1919) in 1898 and had two daughters.

    * Rudolf Said-Ruete (April 13, 1869 - May 1, 1946). A journalist and author, with the rise of the Nazi Party, he resigned his German citizenship in 1934 and settled in London, becoming a British subject and dying at Lucerne, Switzerland after World War II. In 1901, he married Mary Therese Matthias (1872-?) and had a son and a daughter, Werner Heinrich (1902-?) and Salme Matilda Benvenuta Olga (1910-?).

    * Rosalie Ghuza Ruete (16 April 1870-?), who married Major-General Martin Troemer of the Royal Prussian Army.

Rudolph Ruete died in 1870 after a tram accident, leaving Emily Ruete in difficult economic circumstances because the authorities denied her heritage claims. Partly to alleviate these economic problems she wrote Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar, first published in the German Empire in 1886, later published in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The book provides the first known autobiography of an Arab woman. The book presents the reader with an intimate picture of life in Zanzibar between 1850 and 1865, and an inside portrait of her brothers Majid bin Said of Zanzibar and Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar, the later sultans of Zanzibar.

After the death of her husband, Emily Ruete was caught up in the colonial plans of Otto von Bismarck. There were speculations that Bismarck wanted to install her son as Sultan of Zanzibar. She revisited Zanzibar in 1885 and in 1888. Between 1889 and 1914 she lived in Beirut, Lebanon and Jaffa. She died in Jena, Germany, at the age of 79, from severe pneumonia.

In 1992 An Arabian Princess Between Two Worlds was published, making her letters home, with her reactions on life in Europe, finally available to the public.

There is a permanent exhibition about Emily Ruete in the People's Palace in Stonetown, the palace constructed by her brother, Sultan Barghash.

Emily Ruete appears as a minor character in M.M. Kaye's novel Trade Wind. The book, set in Zanzibar during the late 1850s, mentions her involvement with her brother Barghash's failed attempt to take the throne from their brother Majid and her subsequent interest in and marriage to Rudolph.
Emily Ruete see Ruete, Emily
Sayyida Salme see Ruete, Emily
Salme, Sayyida see Ruete, Emily


Ruh
Ruh.  The Arabic word ruh means “spirit” or “soul.”  The term ruh is sometimes the equivalent of qalb.  According to many early Islamic theorists, ruh was identical with nafs.  Both terms were thought to refer to a single spiritual substance, with refined material form, light in weight, mobile, and capable of penetrating all parts of the human body.  Though created, it was everlasting and at death went to heaven for a preliminary judgment before returning to the grave to await the final Day of Resurrection.  Only the spirits of prophets -- nabi -- and martyrs -- shahid -- went straight to heaven at death.

Sufis, however, distinguish between ruh and nafs in terms of function.  According to some Sufi theologians, “The spirit is the mine of good and the soul is the mine of evil.”  Other Sufis see man as composed of spirit, soul and body, with spirit and soul combatting each other for control of the body and the ultimate destiny of man.


Spirit see Ruh.
Soul see Ruh.


Ruhi
Ruhi (1548-1605).   Ottoman historian and poet of the sixteenth century.  His history of the Ottomans ends in 1511.


Rukn al-Dawla, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Buya
Rukn al-Dawla, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Buya (Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Buya Rukn al-Dawla) (Rukn al-Daula) (d. September 976).  Second in age of the three brothers who founded the Buyid dynasty.  When his elder brother ‘Ali, later ‘Imad al-Dawla, occupied Fars in 934, he was given the governorship of Kazarun.  But shortly afterwards ‘Imad al-Dawla sent him as a hostage to the Ziyarid Mardawij, their former overlord, whom he wanted to conciliate.  On Mardawij’s assassination in 935, Rukn escaped, took Isfahan but was ejected from this city in 939 by Washmgir, Mardawij’s brother.  Soon afterwards, however, he succeeded in recovering Isfahan and, when the Samanid Nasr ibn Ahmad died in 943, he was able to drive Washmgir out of Rayy, and so gained control of the whole Jibal.  His contest with Washmgir lasted until the latter’s death in 965.  In 949, at ‘Imad al-Din’s death, he became the head of the family.  The remarkable Abu’l-Fadl ibn al-‘Amid was Rukn al-Dawla’s vizier for thirty years.  

Rukn al-Dawla (Hasan), was the first Buyid amir of northern and central Iran (c. 935-976). He was the son of Buya.

In around 928, Hasan's brother 'Ali joined the services of Makan, who was the Samanid governor of Ray. 'Ali then managed to gain military positions for Hasan and another brother named Ahmad. At the time, Hasan was about thirty years old. When Makan attacked his Samanid overlords and was subsequently defeated by the Ziyarid prince Mardavij, the brothers transferred their allegiance to the latter.

In the following years, 'Ali repudiated his subservience to Mardavij and, after some time, managed to create an empire in Fars. During this time, Hasan distinguished himself in the battles over that province. Mardavij, however, marched south and forced 'Ali to recognize his authority in around 934. Hasan was sent to Madavij's court as a hostage. The death of Mardavij in 935 allowed Hasan to escape, and also provided an opportunity for the Buyids to expand into central Iran. 'Ali therefore sent Hasan to take Isfahan. The Ziyarids, now under Vushmgir, were busy dealing with the Samanids, allowing the Buyid to easily take the city. This success did not last, however. Internal disruptions, combined with an invasion by Vushmgir, forced Hasan to abandon Isfahan to the Ziyarids three years later.

Although he did not receive much support from 'Ali, Hasan continued to be involved in central Iran. In 940 he recaptured Isfahan, then defeated Vushmgir in battle and occupied Ray, which had been taken by the Samanids, in 943. Meanwhile, in 945, Hasan's brother Ahmad had managed to capture Baghdad, occupying the Caliphate. The caliph gave Ahmad the title of "Mu'izz al-Daula", while Ali' received the title of "'Imad al-Daula". Hasan himself was bestowed with the title "Rukn al-Daula".

That same year, 945, saw Rukn al-Daula expelled from all of central Iran by Ibn Muhtaj, the governor of Samanid Khurasan. Only in 946 or 947 was he able to make his return to Ray. He was, however, able to expand his territory after doing so, stripping Vushmgir of Gurgan and Tabaristan.

In 948 or 949, the Sallarid ruler of Azerbaijan, al-Marzuban, became angry over a diplomatic insult sent to him by Mu'izz al-Daula. He sought revenge against the Buyids by attempting to seize Ray from Rukn al-Daula. The amir, however, convinced al-Marzuban by diplomatic measures to delay his expedition until his brothers sent him additional armies. He then defeated al-Marzuban near Qazvin and imprisoned him.

In around 948, 'Imad al-Daula named Rukn al-Daula's eldest son, Fana Khusrau ('Adud al-Daula) as his successor. In September 949 he died, and Rukn al-Daula claimed the title of senior amir for himself. He traveled to Shiraz and stayed there for at least nine months in order to secure his son's succession there, despite the fact that the Samanids were threatening his own possessions. Mu'izz al-Daula, meanwhile, accepted Rukn al-Daula's position of senior amir and also sent troops to Shiraz to assist 'Adud al-Daula.

With his substantial territories in central Iran, as well as pledges to respect his authority by both Mu'izz al-Daula and 'Adud al-Daula, Rukn al-Daula was now the most powerful ruler in the Buyid empire. The center of power therefore shifted from Shiraz to Ray. As a consequence of this, Rukn al-Daula was able to request troops from the other Buyid rulers. His own position was not secure; during his time in Shiraz the governor of Samanid Khurasan seized Jibal for a time.

Following his defeat of the Sallarids, Rukn al-Daula sent Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Razzaq, who was formerly the governor of Samanid Tus, to Azerbaijan with orders to take control of the province. The latter suffered difficulties, however, and returned in 949 or 950 to Ray. In 952 or 953 al-Marzuban escaped, and after some fighting retook control of Azerbaijan. By 955, Rukn al-Daula made peace with him, and married his daughter.

The fight between the Buyids and the Ziyarids, along with their Samanid overlords over Gurgan and Tabaristan also continued until 955, with control of the provinces switching hands several times. Rukn al-Daula was forced to sign a treaty with the Samanids, in which he promised to respect the independence of the Ziyarids in exchange for peace. The peace did not last long, however; in 958 Vushmgir occupied Ray for a short time, while in 960 Rukn al-Daula briefly gained control of Gurgan. In 962, the Buyid managed to take both Gurgan and Tabaristan for a short time. Eventually, this fighting began to work in Rukn al-Daula's favor, and he was able to sign a less humiliating treaty with the Samanids in 971 or 972, though he continued to pay tribute.

In 974 Rukn al-Daula sent 'Adud al-Daula to suppress a large revolt against 'Izz al-Daula, who had succeeded Mu'izz al-Daula in Iraq in 967. 'Izz al-Daula had also recognized Rukn al-Daula as senior amir, but he and 'Adud al-Daula had a dislike of each other. 'Adud al-Daula successfully destroyed the rebellion, but ended up deposing his cousin as well and proclaimed himself the ruler of Iraq. Rukn al-Daula, however, vehemently protested this, claiming that the line of Mu'izz al-Daula could not be removed from power. 'Adud al-Daula's offer to his father to pay tribute for his possession of Iraq was rejected, and he reluctantly reinstated 'Izz al-Daula and returned to Fars.

'Adud al-Daula began to grow concerned that his father would deny him the succession as senior amir. Although he had never been explicitly designated as successor, it was assumed that as the eldest son that the position would be his upon Rukn al-Daula's death. The fiasco in Iraq, however, cooled the relationship between the two. At this point, Abu'l-Fath ibn al-'Amid, Rukn al-Daula's vizier, attempted to reconcile them by arranging a meeting in Isfahan in January of 976.

The meeting proved to be a success, at least for 'Adud al-Daula. Rukn al-Daula may have been pressured to give in to his son's demands; in any case he agreed to name 'Adud al-Daula as his successor to the senior amirate. All he asked for in exchange was that Ray would go to his second son, Fakhr al-Daula, while Hamadan would go to a third son, Mu'ayyad al-Daula. Both sons would recognize 'Adud al-Daula as senior amir. The issue of Iraq was not discussed.

Only a few months later, Rukn al-Daula died. He was succeeded by his two younger sons in Ray and Hamadan, while 'Adud al-Daula claimed the senior amirate. 'Izz al-Daula, however, refused to recognize this, paving the way for conflict between the two sides.

Rukn al-Daula's campaigns in central Iran were done almost entirely without the support of 'Imad al-Daula. As a result of this, Rukn al-Daula was in nearly all aspects independent of his brother. His coins bear only his name after that of the caliph's, and he was considered by contemporary sources to be an independent ruler. For the remainder of the Buyid presence in central Iran, the amirs there were either independent of the rest of the empire, or were the senior amirs that ruled the empire.

The failure of 'Imad al-Daula to extend his authority over the Buyids of central Iran was later to present problems for the Buyid state, as the descendants of both brothers each considered themselves to be the best candidate for the senior amirate. This led to multiple independent rulers, destroying the unity of the Buyid state and allowing for internal dissent.

In terms of a capital, Isfahan at first served as Rukn al-Daula's city of choice, and continued to be a favorite even after Ray was captured and the court was moved there. His successors would continue to use Ray as the capital. Like the other Buyids, Rukn al-Daula was a Shi'ite. While he recognized the authority of the caliph on his coins and allowed the caliph's name to be said in the Friday prayers, in all other aspects he ruled as a Shi'ite. On the other hand, he was no fanatic; he recognized that the Sunni citizens of his empire had to be protected in order to prevent internal discord.
Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Buya Rukn al-Dawla see Rukn al-Dawla, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Buya
Rukn al-Daula see Rukn al-Dawla, Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Buya


Rukn al-Din Mas‘ud I
Rukn al-Din Mas‘ud I.  Rum Saljuq ruler (r. 1116-1156).  He was a son of Qilij Arslan I and succeeded in founding a securely established dominion in Konya, which he gradually extended. 


Rukn al-Din Sulayman II ibn Qilij Arslan II
Rukn al-Din Sulayman II ibn Qilij Arslan II.  Rum Saljuq ruler (r. 1196-1204).  In his old age, Qilij Arslan II divided his kingdom among his many sons, who set up as independent rulers.  In the course of time, Rukn al-Din was able to bring the whole kingdom under his sway.


Rum
Rum (Roum) (Rhum) (Rum, ar-).  Name used in Arabic, Persian and Turkish for the Byzantine Empire (or for Anatolia), and later for Europeans in general, and collectively to refer to Greek Orthodox Christians.  The term means the land and people of the Rhomaeans (Romaioi).  A branch of the Saljuqs, ruling from Konya, are known as Rum Saljuqs.  

Rûm is a very indefinite term used at different times in the Muslim world to refer to the Balkans and Anatolia generally, and for the Byzantine Empire in particular, for the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in Asia Minor, and for Greeks inhabiting Ottoman or modern Turkish territory as well as for Greek Cypriots. The name is loaned from the Byzantine Greek self-designation "Romans". The city of Rome itself, by contrast, is known in Arabic as Rūmā.

Already the Qur'an includes Surat Ar-Rum (i.e., the Sura dealing with "The Romans" or "The Byzantines"). The Byzantine Greeks, as the continuation of the Roman Empire, called themselves Rhomaioi, Romans, and the Arabs, therefore, called them "the Rûm", their territory "the land of the Rûm", and the Mediterranean "the Sea of the Rûm." They called ancient Greece by the name "Yūnān" (Ionia) and ancient Greeks "Yūnānī" (similar with Hebrew "Yavan" for the country and "Yevanim" for the people). The ancient Romans were called either "Rūm" or sometimes "Latin'yun" (Latins).

Later, because Muslim contact with the Byzantine Greeks most often took place in Asia Minor, the term Rûm became fixed there geographically and remained even after the conquest by the Seljuk Turks, so that their territory was called the land of the Seljuks of Rûm, or the Sultanate of Rûm. But as the Mediterranean was "the Sea of the Rûm", so all peoples on its north coast were called sweepingly "the Rûm".

After the Fall of Constantinople, Mehmed II declared himself Kayser-i Rum, literally "Caesar of the Romans". However, later Ottoman Sultans abandoned this title and did not persist in claiming it. During the 16th century the Portuguese used "rume" and "rumes" (plural) as a generic term to refer to the Mamluk-Ottoman forces they faced then in the Indian Ocean.

Under the Ottoman Empire's Millet system, Greeks were in the "Rum Millet" (Millet-i Rum). The term "Urums", also derived from the same origin, is still used in contemporary ethnography to denote Turkic-speaking Greek populations. "Rumaiic" is a Greek dialect identified mainly with the Ottoman Greeks.

In Al-Andalus any Christian slave girl who had embraced Islam was named Roumiya. Also the legendary lover of King Roderic and daughter of Count Julian is named La Cava Rumía  — her affair being the putative cause of the Moorish invasion of Hispania in 711. The crusades introduced the Franks (Ifranja), and later Arabic writers recognize them and their civilization on the north shore of the Mediterranean west from Rome; so Ibn Khaldun wrote in the latter part of the 14th century.

Al-Rūmī is a nisbah designating people originating in the Byzantine empire. Historical people so designated include:

    * Suhayb ar-Rumi, a companion of Muhammad
    * Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Rumi), the 13th century Persian poet
    * Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī, 14th century mathematician
    * Tadj ol-Molouk Ayrumlu, Former Queen of Iran

Roum see Rum
Rhum see Rum
Rum, ar- see Rum

Rumi, Jalal ad-Din
Rumi, Jalal ad-Din (Jalal ad-Din Rumi) (Jalal al-Din Rumi) (Mawlana) (Jelaluddin Balkhi) (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī) (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī) (Mowlānā) (b. c. September 30, 1207, Balkh [now in Afghanistan] — d. December 17, 1273).  Paramount mystical poet of Islam in the Persian language and the founder of the Mevlevi Order (the “Dancing Dervishes” or the “Whirling Dervishes”).  

Persians and Afghanis call Rumi “Jelaluddin Balkhi.”  He was born on September 30, 1207, in Balkh, in north Afghanistan, which was then part of the Persian Empire.  The name Rumi means “from Roman Anatolia.”  He was not known by that name, of course, until after his family, fleeing the threat of the invading Mongol armies, emigrated to Konya, Turkey, sometime between 1215 and 1220.  His father, Bahauddin Walad, was a theologian and jurist and a mystic of uncertain lineage.  Bahauddin Walad’s Maarif, a collection of notes, diarylike remarks, sermons, and strange accounts of visionary experiences, has shocked most of the conventional scholars who have tried to understand them.  He shows a startlingly sensual freedom in stating his union with God.  Rumi was instructed in his father’s secret inner life by a former student of his father, Burhanuddin Mahaqqiq.  Burhan and Rumi also studied Sanai and Attar.  At his father’s death, Rumi took over the position of sheikh in the dervish learning community in Konya.

Jalal ad-Din, who had been partially trained in mystical and traditional scholarship by his father, succeeded Baha ad-Din and remained at Konya, except for one brief journey, until his own death.

The life of Jalal ad-Din turns on a dramatic meeting in 1244 with the itinerant Dervish Shams ad-Din Tabrizi (Shams al-Din of Tabriz).  Shams moved into Rumi’s home and so dominated his life and thought that many of his writings, including a vast collection of poems, were dedicated to Shams and written under the pen name Shams.  Shams disappeared from Rumi’s life in 1248 as mysteriously as he had entered it, but, by that time, Rumi had begun an irreversible spiritual odyssey.  

With regards to the initial meeting with Shams, Rumi’s life seems to have been a fairly normal one for a religious scholar -- teaching, meditating, helping the poor -- until in the late fall of 1244 when he met a stranger who put a question to him.  That stranger was the wandering dervish, Shams of Tabriz, who had traveled throughout the Middle East searching and praying for someone who could “endure my company.”  A voice came, “What will you give in return?” “My head!” “The one you seek is Jelaluddin of Konya.”

The question Shams spoke made the learned professor faint to the ground.  We cannot be entirely certain of the question, but according to the most reliable account Shams asked who was greater, Muhammad or Bestami, for Bestami had said, “How great is my glory,” whereas Muhammad had acknowledged in his prayer to God, “We do not know You as we should.”

Rumi heard the depth out of which the question came and fell to the ground.  He was finally able to answer that Muhammad was greater, because Bestami had taken one gulp of the divine and stopped there, whereas for Muhammad the way was always unfolding.  There are various versions of this encounter, but whatever the facts, Shams and Rumi became inseparable.  Their friendship is one of the mysteries.  They spent months together without any human needs, transported into a region of pure conversation.  This ecstatic connection caused difficulties in the religious community.  Rumi’s students felt neglected.  Sensing the trouble, Shams disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.  

Word came that Shams was in Damascus.  Rumi sent his son, Sultan Velad, to Syria to bring his friend back to Konya.  When Rumi and Shams met for the second time, they fell at each other’s feet, so that “no one knew who was lover and who the beloved.”  Shams stayed in Rumi’s home and was married to a young girl who had been brought up in the family.  Again the long mystical conversation (sohbet) began, and again the jealousies grew.

On the night of December 5, 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door.  He went out, never to be seen again.  Most likely, he was murdered with the connivance of Rumi’s son, Allaedin.  If so, Shams indeed gave his head for the privilege of this mystical friendship.

The mystery of the Friend’s absence covered Rumi’s world.  He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.  It was there that he realized, Why should I seek? I am the same as he.  His essence speaks through me.  

I have been looking for myself?

The union became complete.  There was full fana, annihilation in the Friend.  Rumi’s devotion to Shams unleashed a torrent of rapturous lyric poems, many written in the name of the vanished dervish, with whom, as the “mirror” reflecting the Godhead, Rumi had come to identify himself.  Indeed, Rumi called the huge collection of his odes and quatrains Divani-i Shams-i Tabriz -- The Works of Shams of Tabriz.  After Sham’s death and Rumi’s merging with him, another companion was found, Saladin Zarkub, the goldsmith.  Saladin the Friend to whom Rumi addressed his poems, not so fierily as to Shams, but with quiet tenderness.  When Saladin died, Husam Chelebi, Rumi’s scribe and favorite student, assumed this role.  Rumi claimed that Husam was the source, the one who understood the vast secret order of the Mathnawi, that great work that shifts so fantastically from theory to folklore to jokes to ecstative poetry.  For the last twelve years of his life, Rumi dictated the six volumes of this masterwork to Husam.  Comprising six books and some 27,000 couplets, the Mathnavi (Mathnawi-i Ma‘nawi) sets forth loosely connected themes, often narrated as parables or anecdotes in picturesque, highly alliterative verse.  Among mystically minded Muslims, the Mathnavi is known as “the Qur’an in Persian.”  Commentaries on it, imitations of it, works relating to it or inspired by it abound in various languages throughout the Muslim world.

Rumi also inspired an independent Sufi order (a tariqa), the Mawlawiya (Mevlevi), named after the respectful

title mawlana accorded the Shaikh by his disciples.  The order was later publicized among European travelers as the “Whirling Dervishes,” a name that reflects the prominent role of ritual dance in the Mawlawis’ weekly observance of sama’ -- congregational music.

Jalal ad-Din Rumi died on December 17, 1273.  He was buried beside his father at Konya.  His shrine, around which the Mevlevi (Mawlawi) conventicle grew up, remains, even under the secular Turkish republic, a revered place of pilgrimage.

Rumi see Rumi, Jalal ad-Din
Jalal ad-Din Rumi see Rumi, Jalal ad-Din
Jalal al-Din Rumi see Rumi, Jalal ad-Din
Mawlana see Rumi, Jalal ad-Din
Jelaluddin Balkhi see Rumi, Jalal ad-Din
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī see Rumi, Jalal ad-Din


Ruqayya bint Muhammad
Ruqayya bint Muhammad (Ruqayyah bint Muhammad) (d. 624).  One of the daughters of the Prophet.  She is said to have married a son of the Prophet’s uncle Abu Lahab.  After her divorce, she married the future Caliph ‘Uthman ibn Affan and went with him to Abyssinia.  After her return, she accompanied the Prophet to Medina and died in 625, the year of the battle of Badr.

Ruqayyah is viewed as the daughter of Muhammad and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid by Sunni Muslims. Other Muslim sects such as Shia Muslims debate her being the daughter of Muhammed (or even of Khadijah).

She was first married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab. His father, Abu Lahab, forced Utbah to repudiate Ruqayyah due to Abu Lahab's opposition to Muhammad and his teachings. The Muslim convert Uthman ibn Affan had long admired Ruqayyah and was then able to ask for her hand in marriage. Ruqayyah's son was Abd-Allah ibn Uthman, who died when he was 2 years old.

She participated in the Migration to Abyssinia.

The daughters attributed to Muhammad are:

   1. Zainab bint Muhammad, married to her maternal cousin Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabee before al-Hijra
   2. Ruqayyah bint Muhammad, was first married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab & then to Uthman ibn Affan
   3. Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, was first married to Utaybah bin Abu Lahab and then to Uthman ibn Affan after the death of her sister Ruqayyah
   4. Fatimah, was married to Ali ('Ali bin Abi Talib)

According to some Shia Muslim sources Ruqayyah only had one daughter, Fatimah. The others either belonged to her sister or were orphaned girls raised by her. Possibly, all of them were Khadijah's but only Fatimah was born to Muhammad. Sunni Muslims however do not contest the parentage of her daughters.


Ruqayyah bint Muhammad see Ruqayya bint Muhammad


Rus
Rus (Ros). Name first used for the Northmen, then for the Scandinavian-Slav adventurers who founded the principality of Kiev.

Originally, the name Rus referred to the people, the region, and the medieval states (9th to 12th centuries) of the Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus' polities. The territories of the latter are today distributed among Belarus, Ukraine, and a part of the European section of Russia.

The name of Russia (Rossiya) that came into use in the 17th century is derived from an early Greek name for the people of Rus'.

To distinguish the medieval "Rus" state from other states that derived from it, modern historiography calls it "Kievan Rus'." Its predecessor, the 9th-century "Rus' Khaganate," is a somewhat hypothetical state whose existence is inferred from a handful of early medieval Byzantine and Persian/Arabic sources that mention that the Rus' people were governed by a khagan.

"Rus'" as a state had no proper name; by its inhabitants it was called "ruska zemlya" (with ruska alternatively spelled rouska, ruska, rus'ka, and russka), which might be translated as "Land of the Rus".

The Rus are an ancient people who gave their name to the land of Russia. Their origin and identity are much in dispute. Traditional Western scholars believe them to be Scandinavian Vikings, an offshoot of the Varangians, who moved southward from the Baltic coast and founded the first consolidated state among the eastern Slavs, centering on Kiev. Russian scholars, along with some Westerners, consider the Rus to be a southeastern Slavic tribe that founded a tribal league; the Kievan state, they affirm, was the creation of Slavs and was attacked and held only briefly by Varangians.

The Viking, or “Normanist,” theory was initiated in the 18th century by such German historian-philologists as Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer (1694–1738) and August Ludwig von Schlözer (1735–1809).  Bayer was an early member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. These two relied on The Russian Primary Chronicle, an account written in the 12th century and covering the period 852 to 1110. It says that the Rus, a Norman people, were first asked to come to Novgorod by the local population to put an end to their feuds. The Rus later extended their rule to Kiev, making it their keystone of defense. This theory was advanced in the 19th century by the Danish philologist Vilhelm Thomsen (1842–1927) and the German-Russian historian-philologist Ernst Eduard Kunik (1814–99). It was noted that early Arabian writers had represented the seat of Rus as an island covered with woods and marshes; excavations of 9th- and 10th-century tumuli confirmed the presence of Norse warriors in such a region around Lake Ilmen, near the ancient town of Novgorod, and Lake Ladoga, where the Neva River has its origin. These Baltic regions seemed to indicate the origin of the Rus.

Russian scholars have rejected The Russian Primary Chronicle as unreliable and have insisted that the eastern Slavs, before the entry of the Varangians, had evolved a sophisticated feudal state comparable to the Carolingian empire in the West. The Rus were simply a southern Slavic tribe living on the Ros River.

Ros see Rus


Rushdie, Salman
Rushdie, Salman (Salman Rushdie) (b. June 19, 1947). Anglo-Indian novelist. Rushdie was born in Bombay (Mumbai), India, to a middle-class Muslim family.  His paternal grandfather was an Urdu poet, and his father a Cambridge-educated businessman.  At the age of fourteen Rushdie was sent to Rugby School in England.  In 1964, Rushdie’s parents moved to Karachi, Pakistan, joining reluctantly the Muslim exodus -- during these years there was a war between India and Pakistan, and the choosing of sides and divided loyalties burdened Rushdie heavily.

Rushdie continued his studies at King’s College, Cambridge, where he read history.  After graduating in 1968, he worked for a time in television in Pakistan.  After graduating in 1968, Rushdie worked for a time in television in Pakistan.  He was an actor in a theatre group at the oval House in Kennington and from 1971 to 1981 he worked intermittently as a freelance advertising copywriter for Ogilvy and Mather and Charles Barker.

As a novelist Rushdie made his debut with Grimus in 1975, an exercise in fantastical science fiction, which draws on the 12th century Sufi poem The Conference of Birds.  The title of the novel is an anagram of the name “Simurg,” the immense, all-wise, fabled bird of pre-Islamic Persian mythology.  Rushdie’s next novel, Midnight’s Children (1981), won the Booker Prize and brought him international fame.  Written in exuberant style, the comic allegory of Indian history revolves around the lives of the narrator Saleem Sinai and the one thousand children born after the Declaration of Independence.  All of the children are given some magical property.  Saleem has a very large nose, which grants him the ability to see “into the hearts and minds of men.”  His chief rival is Shiva, who has the power of war.  Saleem, dying in a pickle factory near Bombay, tells his tragic story with special interest in its comical aspects.  The work aroused a great deal of controversy in India because of its unflattering portrait of Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay who was involved in a controversial sterilization campaign.  Midnight’s Children took its title from Nehru’s speech delivered at the stroke of midnight, August 14, 1947, as India gained its independence from Great Britain.

Shame (1983) centered on a well-to-do Pakistani family, using the family history as a metaphor for the country.  The story included two thinly veiled historical characters -- Iskander Harappa, a playboy turned politician, modeled on the former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and General Raza Hyder, Iskander’s associate and later his executioner.

In 1988, Rushdie won the Whitbread Award with his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses.  The Satanic Verses opens spectacularly.  Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, two Indian actors, fell to earth after an Air India jumbo jet explodes 30,000 feet above the English Channel.  This refers to a real act of terrorism, when an Air India Boeing 747 was blown up in 1985 -- supposedly by Sikh terrorists.  Gibreel Farishta in Urdu, means Gabriel Angel, which makes him the archangel whom Islamic tradition regards as “bringing down” the Qur’an from God to Muhammad.  

Gibreel Farista and Saladin are miraculously saved, and chosen as protagonists in the fight between Good and Evil.  In the following cycle of bizarre adventures, dreams, and tales of past and future, the reader meets Mahound, the Prophet of Jahilia, the recipient of a revelation in which satanic verses mingle with divine.  “I told you a long time back,” Gibreel Farishta quietly said, “that if I thought the sickness would never leave me, that it would always return, I would not be able to bear up to it.”  Then, very quickly, before Salahuddin could move a finger, Gobreel put the barrel of the gun into his own mouth; and pulled the trigger; and was free.”  The character modeled on the Prophet Muhammad and his transcription of the Qur’an is portrayed in an unconventional light.  The quotations from the Qur’an are composites of the English version of New Jersey. Dawood and of Maulana Muhammad Ali, with a few touches of Rushdie’s own.

The Satanic Verses was banned in India and South Africa and burned on the streets of Bradford, Yorkshire.  On February 14, 1989, Rushdie was condemned to death by the former Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for Rushdie’s publication of The Satanic Verses.  When Khomeini called on all zealous Muslims to execute Rushdie and his publishers, Rushdie was forced into hiding.  Adding to the fear was an offer made by an aide to Khomeini which announced a million dollar reward for Rushdie’s death.  In 1993, Rushdie’s Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was wounded in an attack outside his house.  In 1997, the reward was doubled, and the next year the highest Iranian state prosecutor Morteza Moqtadale renewed the death sentence.  

During this period of fatwa violent protest in India, Pakistan, and Egypt caused several deaths. Naguib Mahfouz, the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, criticized Khomeini for “intellectual terrorism” but changed his view later and said that Rushdie did not have “the right to insult anything, especially a prophet or anything considered holy.”   Another Nobel winner, V. S. Naipaul, described Khomeini’s fatwa as “an extreme form of literary criticism.”  In 1990, Rushdie published an essay In Good Faith to appease his critics and issued an apology in which he reaffirmed his respect for Islam.  However, Iranian clerics did not repudiate their death threat.

After the religious decree, Rushdie shunned publicity, hiding from assassins.  However, he continued to write and publish books. Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990) was written for children, and wove into the story an affable robot, genies, talking fish, dark villains, and an Arabian princess in need of saving.  The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995) focused on contemporary India, and explored those activities, directed at Indian Muslims and lower castes, of right-wing Hindu terrorists.  The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999) was set in the world of hedonistic rock stars, a mixture of mythology and elements from the repertoire of science fiction.  In Fury (2001), Malik Solanka, a former Cambridge professor, tries to find a new life in New York City.  He has left his wife and son and created an animated philosophizing doll, Little Brain, which has its own successful television series.  In New York, he has blackouts and violent rages and becomes involved with two women, Mila, who looks like Little Brain, and a beautiful freedom fighter named Neela Mahendra.   

Rushdie was married twice, in 1976 to Clarissa Luard and in 1988 to the American writer Marianne Wiggins.  The marriage broke up during their enforced underground life.  The spouses of Salman Rushdie were: Clarissa Luard (1976–1987); Marianne Wiggins (1988–1993); Elizabeth West (1997–2004); and Padma Lakshmi (2004–2007).

However, in September 1998, the Iranian government announced that the state was not going to put into effect the fatwa nor encourage anyone to do so.  Rushdie then decided to end his hiding.

In February 1999, Ayatollah Hassan Sanei promised a $2.8 million dollar reward for killing the author.     

Rushdie uses in his works tales from various genres – fantasy, mythology, religion, and oral tradition.  Rushdie’s narrative technique connected his books to magic realism, which includes such English language authors as Peter Carey, Angela Carter, E. L. Doctorow, John Fowles, Mark Helprin or Emma Tenant.

Rushdie was knighted for services to literature in the Queen's Birthday Honours on June 16, 2007. In response to his knighthood, many nations with Muslim majorities protested. Parliamentarians of several of these countries condemned the action, and Iran and Pakistan called in their British envoys to protest formally. Controversial condemnation issued by Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq was in turn rebuffed by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Ironically, their respective fathers Zia-ul-Haq and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had been earlier portrayed in Rushdie's novel Shame. Mass demonstrations against Rushdie's knighthood took place in Pakistan and Malaysia. Several called publicly for his death. Some non-Muslims were disappointed by Rushdie's knighthood, believing that the writer did not merit such an honor and there were several other writers who deserved the knighthood more than Rushdie.

In the wake of the 'Danish Cartoons Affair' in March 2006 – which many considered to be an echo of the death threats and fatwā which had followed the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1989 – Rushdie signed the manifesto 'Together Facing the New Totalitarianism', a statement warning of the dangers of religious extremism. The Manifesto was published in the left-leaning French weekly Charlie Hebdo in March 2006.

The books of Salman Rushdie include:

    * Grimus (1975)
    * Midnight's Children (1981)
    * Shame (1983)
    * The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey (1987)
    * The Satanic Verses (1988)
    * Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990)
    * Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism, 1981–1991 (1992)
    * Homeless by Choice (1992, with R. Jhabvala and V. S. Naipaul)
    * East, West (1994)
    * The Moor's Last Sigh (1995)
    * The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999)
    * The Screenplay of Midnight's Children (1999)
    * Fury (2001)
    * Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992 - 2002 (2002)
    * Shalimar the Clown (2005)
    * The Enchantress of Florence (2008)
    * The Best American Short Stories (2008, as Guest Editor)


Rushdi, Husayn
Rushdi, Husayn (Husayn Rushdi) (Hussein Rushdi Pasha) (1863-1928). Egypt’s prime minister from 1914 to 1919.

Husayn Rushdi was an Egyptian political figure who served as Prime Minister of Egypt between 1914 and 1919. Under pressure from British authorities, Rushdi issued a “Decision of the Council of Ministers” which essentially declared war against the Central Powers in the First World War. He was later forced to resign for failing to resolve a strike by government officials demanding mandatory recognition of the Egyptian delegation by the cabinet and the withdrawal of British sentries and guards.

Husayn Rushdi see Rushdi, Husayn
Hussein Rushdi Pasha see Rushdi, Husayn


Rustamids
Rustamids (Rostamids) (Rustumids) (Rostemids).  Dynasty of Ibadite imams in the city-state of Tahart (Algeria) (r. 776-909).  The dynasty’s founder, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam, was briefly governor of Kairouan in 758 and, following his escape to Tahart, was chosen as imam (776-784).  A claim to political authority over parts of Algeria was made by his son, Abd al-Wahhab (784-823), who yielded to the protection of the Spanish Umayyads, with whom he always had an excellent relationship.  Internal peace and prosperity under Abu Said al-Aflah (r. 823-868) and Abu Hatim Yusuf (r. 868-906) transformed Tahart into the intellectual and religious center of the Kharijites in northern Africa.  Ousted and expelled in 908 by the Shi‘ite leader, Abu Abdallah al-Shii, in the name of the aspiring Fatimids, the Ibadites migrated to southern Algeria, where they still live today in Wadi M’Zab (and are known as Mozabites).

Rustamid, also spelled Rostamid, was an Islāmic state on the high plateau of northern Algeria, founded by followers of the Ibaḍīyah branch of Khārijism. It was one of several kingdoms that arose in opposition to the new ʿAbbāsid dynasty and its Eastern orientation. The Khārijites preached a puritanical, democratic, and egalitarian theocracy that found support among the Berber tribes. The state was governed by imams descended from ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Rustam, the austere Persian who founded the state. These imams were themselves under the supervision of the religious leaders and the chief judge. The kingdom was renowned for its religious toleration and secular learning. The state was very active in the trans-Saharan trade, and its size fluctuated with the power of its leaders. The Rustamid kingdom ended with the capture of its capital, Tāhart (near modern Tihert), by the Shīʿite Fāṭimids in 909.

The Rustamid Imams were:

    * Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rustam ibn Bahram (776-784)
    * Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd ar-Rahman (784-832)
    * Aflah ibn Abd al-Wahhab (832-871)
    * Abu Bakr ibn Aflah (871)
    * Muhammad Abul-Yaqzan ibn Aflah (871-894)
    * Yusuf Abu Hatim ibn Muhammad Abil-Yaqzan (894-897)
    * Yaqub ibn Aflah (897-901)
    * Yusuf Abu Hatim ibn Muhammad Abil-Yaqzan, again (901-906)
    * Yaqzan ibn Muhammad Abil-Yaqzan (906-909)




Rostamids see Rustamids
Rustumids see Rustamids
Rostemids see Rustamids


Rustem Pasha
Rustem Pasha (Damat Rustem Pasha) (Hirvat Rustem Pasa) (1500/1505 - July 10, 1561).  Ottoman Grand Vizier and historian.  Born near Sarajevo, he became very wealthy and erected many mosques in various parts of the empire, employing the great architect Sinan.  His reputation as an historian is based on his History of the Family of ‘Othman, which is important for the events of his time.  

Rüstem Pasha was a Croatian from Bosnia who became an Ottoman general and statesman. Rüstem Pasha is also known as Damat Rüstem Pasha (Damat meaning Bridegroom to the Ottoman dynasty) and Hırvat Rüstem Paşa.

Rüstem Pasha was born in Sarajevo. He was taken as a child to Istanbul, where he built a great military career. On November 26, 1539 he married Princess Mihrimah, a daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent. Rüstem Pasha held the title Grand Vizier twice, first from 1544–1553 and second from 1555–1561, until his death. As Grand Vizier he collected a vast wealth, much of it through bribes. However, the bribes in his time were moderate, and he spent his wealth raising public buildings, mosques and charitable foundations. When he died, his personal property included 815 lands in Rumelia and Anatolia, 476 mills, 1700 slaves, 2900 war horses, 1106 camels, 800 Qur’an, etc.

The Rüstem Pasha Mosque (Turkish: Rüstem Paşa Camii) is an Ottoman mosque located in Hasırcılar Çarşısı (Strawmat Weavers Market) in Eminönü, Istanbul, Turkey, which was designed by Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha. It was built between 1561 and 1563.
Damat Rustem Pasha see Rustem Pasha
Hirvat Rustem Pasa see Rustem Pasha


Saadawi, Nawal El
Saadawi, Nawal El (Nawal al-Sa'dawi) (b. October 27, 1931, Kafr Tahlah, Egypt).  Egyptian doctor, author and feminist.  Saadawi’s works deal with the Arab female psyche, which she perceives as difficult and troubled.  She has set out to liberate the mind of the Arab woman, her sexuality, as well as her legal position.  Saadawi has been a prolific writer, both of books and of articles.  Her writings were, for a long time, considered dangerous for the society, and she had her works published in Beirut, Lebanon, as these were banished in here native Egypt.  

Saadawi was prevented from working as a medical doctor, and she was jailed from 1981 to 1982.  After incarceration, she worked in rural Egypt, with information work directed at women, in order to liberate them economically from male dominance.

Saadawi is especially famous for the book Women at Point Zero (‘Al-Wajhu al-‘ariyy lil-mar’ati al-‘arabiyya) which was published in 1977.

Nawāl al-Saʿdāwī was an Egyptian public health physician, psychiatrist, author, and advocate of women’s rights. Sometimes described as “the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab world,” El Saadawi was a feminist whose writings and professional career were dedicated to political and sexual rights for women.

El Saadawi was educated at Cairo University (M.D., 1955), Columbia University in New York (M.P.H., 1966), and ʿAyn Shams University in Cairo (where she performed psychiatric research in 1972–74). In 1955–65 she worked as a physician at Cairo University and in the Egyptian ministry of health, and in 1966 she became the director-general of the health education department within the ministry. In 1968 she founded Health magazine, which was shut down by Egyptian authorities several years later, and in 1972 she was expelled from her professional position in the ministry of health because of her book Al-marʾah wa al-jins (1969; Women and Sex), which was condemned by religious and political authorities. El Saadawi was jailed in September 1981, and during the two months of her imprisonment she wrote Mudhakkirāt fī sijn al-nisāʾ (1984; Memoirs from the Women’s Prison) on a roll of toilet paper using a smuggled cosmetic pencil.

In 1982 El Saadawi founded the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association (AWSA) and later served as editor of the organization’s publication, Al-nūn. In 1991 the government closed down Al-nūn and then, several months later, AWSA itself. Due to her outspoken views, El Saadawi continued to face frequent legal challenges from political and religious opponents, including accusations of apostasy. In 2002 a legal attempt was made by an Islamist lawyer to forcibly divorce her from her husband, and in May 2008 she won a case that had been brought against her by al-Azhar University, the major center of Islamic learning, that included charges of apostasy and heresy.

El Saadawi’s novels, short stories, and nonfiction deal chiefly with the status of Arab women, as in Mudhakkirāt tabībah (1960; Memoirs of a Woman Doctor), Al-khayt wa al-jidār (1972; The Thread and the Wall), Al-wajh al-ʿarī lī al-marʾah al-arabiyyah (1977; The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World), Al-ḥubb fī zaman al-nafṭ (1993; Love in the Kingdom of Oil), and Al-riwāyah (2004; The Novel). The oppression of women by men through religion is the underlying theme of El Saadawi’s novel set in a mental institution, Jannāt wa Iblīs (1992; Jannāt and Iblīs). The female protagonists are Jannāt, whose name is the plural of the Arabic word for paradise, and Iblīs, whose name refers to the devil.

Saadawi has written prolifically, placing some of her works online. Her works include:

    * Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (1960, 1980; translated by Catherine Cobham, 1989)
    * Searching (1968; translated by Shirley Eber, 1991)
    * The Death of the Only Man in the World (1974; translated by Sherif Hetata, 1985) Published in English under the title God Dies by the Nile
    * The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World (1977; transl. by Sherif Hetata, 1980)
    * The Circling Song (1978; transl. by Marilyn Booth, 1989)
    * Death of an Ex-Minister (1980; transl. by Shirley Eber, 1987)
    * She Has No Place in Paradise (1979; transl. by Shirley Eber)
    * Woman at Point Zero (1979)
    * Two Women in One (1983; transl. by Osman Nusairi and Jana Gough, 1985)
    * The Fall of the Imam (1987; transl. by Sherif Hetata, 1988)
    * Memoirs from the Women's Prison (1984; transl. by Marilyn Booth, 1994)
    * The Innocence of the Devil (1994; transl. by Sherif Hetata, 1994)
    * North/South: The Nawal El Saadawi Reader (1997)
    * A Daughter of Isis
    * Dissidenza e scrittura (2008)
    * L'amore ai tempi del petrolio, translated by Marika Macco, introduction by Luisa Morgantini, Editrice il Sirente, Fagnano Alto, 2009.



Nawal El Saadawi see Saadawi, Nawal El
Nawal al-Sa'dawi see Saadawi, Nawal El
Sa'dawi, Nawal al- see Saadawi, Nawal El


Saba’
Saba’ (Sheba) (Sh'va). Name of a people and kingdom in southwestern Arabia (Yemen) in the first millennium B.C.T.  At the period of the rise of Islam, Saba’ was beginning to disappear from the memory of the Arab world.  The most valuable items of information about Saba’s geography, history and architecture are given by Abu Muhammad al-Hamdani.  The legendary Queen of Sheba (in Arabic, Bilqis) is said to have reigned in Saba’.

Sheba is a kingdom in pre-Islamic southwestern Arabia, frequently mentioned in the Bible (notably in the story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba) and variously cited by ancient Assyrian, Greek, and Roman writers from about the 8th century B.C.T. to about the 5th century. Its capital, at least in the middle period, was Maʾrib, which lies 75 miles (120 km) east of present-day Sanaa, in Yemen. A second major city was Ṣirwāḥ.

The Sabaeans were a Semitic people who, at an unknown date, entered southern Arabia from the north, imposing their Semitic culture on an aboriginal population. Excavations in central Yemen suggest that the Sabaean civilization began as early as the 10th–12th century B.C.T. By the 7th–5th century B.C.T., besides “kings of Sabaʾ” there were individuals styling themselves “mukarribs of Sabaʾ,” who apparently either were high priest–princes or exercised some function parallel to the kingly function. This middle period was characterized above all by a tremendous outburst of building activity, principally at Maʾrib and Ṣirwāḥ, and most of the great temples and monuments, including the great Maʾrib Dam, on which Sabaean agricultural prosperity depended, date back to this period. Further, there was an ever-shifting pattern of alliances and wars between Sabaʾ and other peoples of southwestern Arabia—not only the important kingdoms of Qatabān and Ḥaḍramawt but also a number of lesser but still independent kingdoms and city-states.

Sabaʾ was rich in spices and agricultural products and carried on a wealth of trade by overland caravan and by sea. For centuries it controlled Bāb el-Mandeb, the straits leading into the Red Sea, and it established many colonies on the African shores. That Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was peopled from South Arabia is proved linguistically; but the difference between the Sabaean and Ethiopian languages is such as to imply that the settlement was very early and that there were many centuries of separation, during which the Abyssinians were exposed to foreign influences. New colonies, however, seem occasionally to have followed, and some parts of the African coast were under the suzerainty of the Sabaean kings as late as the 1st century B.C.T.

Toward the end of the 3rd century, a powerful king named Shamir Yuharʿish (who seems incidentally to be the first really historical personage whose fame has survived in the Islamic traditions) assumed the title “king of Sabaʾ and the Dhū Raydān and of Ḥaḍramawt and Yamanāt.” By this time, therefore, the political independence of Ḥaḍramawt had succumbed to Sabaʾ, which had thus become the controlling power in all southwestern Arabia. In the mid-4th century ad, it underwent a temporary eclipse, for the title of “king of Sabaʾ and the Dhū Raydān” was then claimed by the king of Aksum on the east African coast. At the end of the 4th century, southern Arabia was again independent under a “king of Sabaʾ and the Dhū Raydān and Ḥaḍramawt and Yamanāt.” But within two centuries the Sabaeans would disappear as they were successively overrun by Persian adventurers and by the Muslim Arabs.


Sheba see Saba’
Sh'va see Saba’


Sabaens
Sabaens (in Arabic, al-Sabi’a).  The name has been given to two quite distinct sects.  One is that of the Mandaeans or Subbas, a Judeo-Christian sect practicing the rite of baptism in Mesopotamia, the so-called Christians of John the Baptist.  The other is that of the Sabaeans of Harran, a pagan sect which survived for a considerable time under Islam.  The Sabaeans mentioned in the Qur’an are apparently the Mandaeans.  The Sabaeans of Harran believed in a creator of the world, who is reached through the intermediary of astral spirits.  They were persecuted by the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Qahir bi-‘llah.  After the middle of the eleventh century all traces of the Sabaeans of Harran are lost.  Some great scholars belonged to this sect, among them Thabit ibn Qurra and Sinan ibn Thabit, the physician of the Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908-932).

The Sabaeans were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who lived in what is today Yemen, in the south west of the Arabian Peninsula. Some Sabaeans also lived in D'mt, located in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, due to their hegemony over the Red Sea.

Some scholars suggest a link between the Sabaeans and the Biblical land of Sheba.

The ancient Sabaean Kingdom lasted from the early 2nd millennium to the 1st century B.C.T. In the 1st century B.C.T. it was conquered by the Himyarites, but after the disintegration of the first Himyarite empire of the Kings of Saba' and Dhu-Raydan the Middle Sabaean Kingdom reappeared in the early 2nd century. It was finally conquered by the Himyarites in the late 3rd century. Its capital was Ma'rib. The kingdom was located along the strip of desert called Sayhad by medieval Arab geographers and that is called now Ramlat al-Sab`atayn.

The Sabaean people were South Arabian people. Each of these had regional kingdoms in ancient Yemen, with the Minaeans in the north along the Red Sea, the Sabeans on the south western tip, stretching from the highlands to the sea, the Qatabanians to the east of them and the Hadramites east of them.

The Sabaeans, like the other Yemenite kingdoms of the same period, were involved in the extremely lucrative spice trade, especially frankincense and myrrh. They left behind many inscriptions in the monumental Musnad (Old South Arabian) alphabet, as well as numerous documents in the cursive Zabur script.


Sabah
Sabah(al-Sabah) (as-Sabah).  Ruling clan of Kuwait since 1752.

The Āl Ṣabāḥ (the “Ṣabāḥ family”) is the ruling family of Kuwait since 1752. In that year the Banū ʿUtūb, a group of families of the ʿAnizah tribe living in what is now Kuwait, appointed a member of the Ṣabāḥ family, Ṣabāḥ ibn Jābir (r. c. 1752–64), to be their ruler. The dynasty frequently depended politically or militarily on outsiders but maintained its autonomy. Its dependence on the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century was subsequently a cause for Iraq to claim hegemony over Kuwait. It later enjoyed the patronage of the United Kingdom and, more recently, the support of the United States. Despite the existence of deliberative institutions in modern Kuwait, the dynasty retains absolute power.

A chronology of the al-Sabah reads as follows:

In 1710, the first members of the Sabah clan, which belonged to the Amarat tribe, arrived on the shores in the inner part of the Persian Gulf and established Kuwait.  As one of three leading families they took charge of administration and defense.  

In 1752, the Sabah clan developed its power into becoming rulers of the society.  The first ruler, Sabah I as-Sabah took the title “shaykh”.  

In 1899, Shaykh Mubarak I gave the British exclusive rights over trade and foreign relations, in return of an annual subsidy of 1,500 pounds.

In 1917, Shaykh Jaber III was deposed by the British as a retaliation of his sympathieswith the Ottomans during World War I.

In 1921, after the death of Shaykh Salim I, the Jaber branch and the Salim branch, agreed to share power.

In 1965, the title of the ruler changed from shaykh to emir.

The Sabah clan rests its power on traditions, and great presence in, and control over, Kuwaiti society.  While all of the inhabitants (even immigrant workers) of Kuwait have benefits from the country’s high oil revenues, Kuwait remains a divided society economically and politically.  Recent decades have seen the Sabar rulers reducing popular influence on politics, rather than extending it.  This has resulted in great dissatisfaction in Kuwait, even among the traditional supporters of the Sabah clan.  All indications show that the Sabah clan would have been wiped out if there were democratic elections in Kuwait.  

The ruler of Kuwait is called emir.  There are two branches of the Sabah clan, Jaber and Salim, that have agreed to share power.  Each clan should have second each emir, while the head of the brannch not holding the throne, shall act as crown prince and prime minister.

The Emir of Kuwait is the head of the executive branch. He is nominated by a family council headed by the most senior and prominent members of the Al-Sabah. The leadership is not strictly hereditary and although many Emirs have succeeded their fathers, the family chooses the leader from each succeeding generation. For example, the late Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah appointed his cousin, Sheikh Sheikh Saad, as heir apparent.

The Kuwaiti parliament has a say in the appointment of the emir. Although customs prohibit the use of such measures, the parliament (per article 3 of the constitution) has a constitutional right to approve or disapprove of an emir's appointment. The parliament effectively removed then crown prince Sheikh Saad after the death of Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah in early 2006 due to Saad's inability to rule because of illness.

All members of the ruling family receive a monthly stipend from the Amiri Diwan and a year-end bonus. The prime minister is selected by the emir and has to be a member of the ruling family. Precedents dictate that the Al-Sabahs hold key cabinet posts such as the ministry of defense, the foreign ministry, the ministry of interior, the oil ministry and, most importantly, the office of prime minister. With an estimated trillion dollar fortune, mainly from oil revenues, the Al-Sabahs are known for aiding other royal houses in the region who have little or no natural resources like oil for nothing in return.

All members of the Al Sabah family regardless of gender receive special passports (royal passports) which differ from regular passports by color and also mean they are treated like diplomats. They have a monthly income, the Diwan Al Amiri salary (maash Al Diwan Al Amiry), that varies depending on the person's age. The Al Sabah family are known to have weaker salaries than the other royal families in the region. The family also has access to a royal area at Kuwait International Airport. They have immunity in Kuwait against arrests and some other issues, but only the emir and crown prince are immune and inviolable. It is frowned upon for any member of the Al Sabah family to run for or vote for parliament. The Al Sabah family are very well respected even with the problems between some ministers from the family and some of the parliament members.

The emir of Kuwait holds family meetings and gatherings every year during which they discuss a lot of important issues. The emir holds meetings with the head people of the Al Sabah family who are 40 years old or older.

Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah was removed by parliamentary action after a prolonged stalemate following the death of the previous emir, Jaber, on January 15, 2006. He was earlier offered the chance to abdicate after taking power provisionally as stipulated by the constitution, but his inability to recite the oath of office prevented his ratification by parliament.

The then prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was nominated for the post of emir by invoking Article 3 of the Kuwaiti constitution. He was sworn in on January 29, 2006.

The emir appointed his brother, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, as crown prince. The emir also appointed his nephew, Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, as prime minister.

On May 13, 2008 the former emir, Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, died after battling health problems for years. He was buried the following day in accordance with Muslim tradition. He was 78 years old.


Sabah, al- see Sabah
Sabah, as- see Sabah


Sabah
Sabah (Arabic: صباح‎; born Jeanette Gergis Al-Feghali) (b. November 10,1927 – d. November 26, 2014) was a Lebanese singer and actress. Considered a "Diva of Music" in the Arab World, (the same title often given to Oum Kalthoum, Warda Al-Jazairia and Fairuz), she released over 50 albums and acted in 98 movies as well as over 20 stage plays. She had a reported 3,500 songs in her repertoire. She was one of the first Arabic singers to perform at Olympia in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, Piccadilly Theatre in London and the Sydney Opera House in Sydney. She was considered one of the four Lebanese icons along with Fairus, Wadih El Safi and Zaki Nassif and was nicknamed "Empress of the Lebanese Song" (Arabic: إمبراطورة الأغنية اللبنانية‎) for it.  Sabah, known locally as “Al-Sabbouha” was born in Bdadoun, Lebanon. Her father was severe towards her, even beating her sometimes. When she started making a small amount of money out of her movies, he used to take it away from her. She married early to leave her father’s overbearing financial control. Her brother killed her mother because he believed she was seeing someone outside marriage.  She began singing and acting in the 1940s in Egyptian movies when Egyptian filmmaker Henry Barakat recognized her talent. Her first featured film was El-Qalb Louh Wahid (El Alb Laho Wahed) produced by Asia Dagher. Although a Lebanese national, the majority of her films were co-produced with or focused on Egypt. She starred with many famous actors, such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Kamal El Chenawi, Ahmad Mazhar, Rushdy Abaza and Hussein Fahmy.
She released her first song in 1940 at just 13 years of age. The singer soon caught the eye of Egyptian film producer Asia Dagher, who immediately signed her for three films. The first of these, El-Qalb Louh Wahid (The Heart Has Its Reasons), made her a star - and she was known by her character's name - Sabah, which is Arabic for morning - thereafter.  She also acquired several other affectionate nicknames, including "Shahroura", Arabic for "singing bird", and "Sabbouha," a diminutive of Sabah. Among her most popular films were Soft Hands (1964), Ataba Square (1959) and The Second Man (1960), in which she played a cabaret singer who vows to avenge her brother's death at the hands of a smuggling ring. In her parallel music career, she recorded more than 3,000 songs, working with a string of legendary Egyptian composers, including the late Mohammed Abdul-Wahhab. She specialized in a Lebanese folk tradition called the mawal, and her most famous songs included Zay el-Assal (Your Love is Like Honey on my Heart) and Akhadou el-Reeh (They Took the Wind). The star held Egyptian, Jordanian and United States citizenship as well as Lebanese, and continued to perform and make television appearances into her 80s.
Sabah released over 50 albums and acted in 98 films during her career. She married nine times, most most notably to Egyptian actor Roshdi Abaza  (Rushdy Abaza) and Lebanese author-director Wassim Tabbara. Her last marriage, to Lebanese artist Fadi Lubnan, lasted 17 years. She had two children, Dr. Sabah Shammas and actress Howayda Mansy, both of whom live in the United States.
  • Iyam El Loulou written by Karim Abou Chakra (As well as Nousi Nousi a play written and directed by Karim Abou Chakra)
  • Kanat Ayyam (1970)
  • Nar el shawk (1970)
  • Mawal (1966)
  • El Aydi el naema (1963) aka Soft Hands
  • El Motamarreda (1963)
  • Jaoz marti (1961)
  • El Rajul el thani (1960)
  • El Ataba el khadra (1959)
  • Sharia el hub (1958)
  • Salem al habaieb (1958)
  • Izhay ansak (1956)
  • Wahabtak hayati (1956)
  • Khatafa mirati (1954)
  • Lahn hubi (1953)
  • Zalamuni el habaieb (1953)
  • Khadaini abi (1951)
  • Ana Satuta (1950)
  • Sabah el khare (1948)
  • Albi wa saifi(1947)
  • lubnani fi al gamiaa (1947)

Sabah, Abdullah III ibn Salim as-
Sabah, Abdullah III ibn Salim as- (Abdullah III ibn Salim as-Sabah) (1895- November 24, 1965).  Ruler of Kuwait (r. 1950-1965).  He was born the son of Salim, who later became shaykh of Kuwait.  

In July of 1938, Abdullah became president of the first elected Kuwaiti parliament.  In December of the same year, Shaykh Ahmad I had the parliament dissolved.  

In 1950, Ahmad I died, and Abdullah became the new shaykh of Kuwait.  

In 1956, Abdullah demanded more freedom from the British to act in internal affairs.  

In June of 1961, the Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreementof 1899 was abrogated and the United Kingdom recognized Kuwait as an independent country.  Shortly after the independence, Iraq claimed that Kuwait was Iraqi territory.  The United Kingdom sent 6,000 troops to Kuwait to prevent Iraq from intervening.

In November of 1962, a constitution was drafted. According to this document, a National Assembly should be elected by a selection of the male population, that only represented five percent of the total adult population in the country.

In 1965, Abdullah died, and was succeeded by Sabah III ibn Salim, who belonged to the same branch as himself.

Abdullah was the son of Salim I (r. 1917-1921).  He, therefore, belonged to the Salim branch.  During his reign, Kuwait first gradually liberated itself from British dominance, but this eventually led to independence for the country.  There were several reasons for this development: Large oil revenues had given Kuwait much more power than before, the Suez- Sinai War of 1956 made the population of Kuwait more anti-British, and the fall of the pro-Western monarchy of Iraq in 1958 dwarfed the British power in the region.  The arrival of independence came in a peaceful way.

Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah was the last Sheikh and first Emir of Kuwait from January 29, 1950 until his death, and the eldest son of Salem Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. As the eleventh ruler of the al-Sabah dynasty in Kuwait, he took power after the death of his cousin Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He also ruled as regent upon the death of his father until the election of Sheikh Ahmad.

Unlike his predecessors, he was more pro-Arab than pro-British. He effectively ended the British "protectorate" status of Kuwait by signing a treaty with the British on June 19, 1961. As a man he was known to be modest, of considerable intelligence and for having a keen interest in matters of the intellect. His reign coincided with turbulent times in the middle-east as well as the rest of the third world. He introduced the Constitution of Kuwait in 1962, followed by the parliament in 1963. He also declared himself as “Emir” and head of state.

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim died two years later after suffering a heart attack and was succeeded by his half-brother, Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah. He was also the father of Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, who ruled briefly in January 2006.

Abdullah III ibn Salim as-Sabah see Sabah, Abdullah III ibn Salim as-


Sabah, Ahmad I ibn Jaber as-
Sabah, Ahmad I ibn Jaber as- (Ahmad I ibn Jaber as-Sabah) (Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah) (1885 - 29 January 1950).  Shaykh of Kuwait (1921-1950).  He was born in Kuwait, the son of Jaber, who became shaykh of Kuwait from 1915 until 1917.  

In 1921, Ahmad became shaykh of Kuwait.  

In 1934, Ahmad granted the first oil concessions to Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), which had Western owners.  Ahmad considered fees and advance royalties as his personal income, something that angered the Kuwaiti notables.

In 1938, after much popular pressure, Ahmad accepted that much of his power is transferred to a parliament with fourteen chosen by limited popular elections.  In July of 1938, the parliament elected a president, Abdullah as-Sabah, who came to succeed him as shaykh.  In December, with support from KOC and the British, Ahmad had the parliament dissolved, and he started a campaign to suppress opposition.  

From 1939 to 1945, contrary to the popular sentiments, Ahmad sided with the British during World War II.

In 1950, Ahmad died, and was succeeded by Abdullah III ibn Salim.

During his reign, Kuwait went from being a poor nation making some limited revenue from pearl fishing and exports, into becoming a growing oil exporting nation.  His rule was also one of great changes, since the old forms of government could not survive a time of enormous economic growth.  Due to changes wrought by Ahmad, there were small revolutionary tendencies.  However, Ahmad had these stopped with the help from the British.  Nevertheless, even though oil revenues improved the lives of all Kuwaitis, Ahmad never managed to become a popular ruler.

Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was sheikh of Kuwait from March 29, 1921 until January 29, 1950, and the 10th ruler of the Al-Sabah dynasty of Kuwait.

Ahmad was the eldest son of Jabir II Al-Sabah, who was shaykh of Kuwait between 1915-17. Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah rose to power after the death of his uncle Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah in 1921. During his reign, the borders of Kuwait were re-drawn at a meeting in 'Uqayr by Percy Cox. Ahmad and many Kuwaitis were angry over the new borders, because approximately one-third of Kuwait's territory was ceded to 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd al-Rahman, the ruler of Najd (and later, Saudi Arabia).

Ahmad died at Kuwait's Dasman Palace in 1950. His son Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was the Emir of Kuwait from 1977 to 2006. His son Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah became emir in 2006.


Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah see Sabah, Ahmad I ibn Jaber as-


Sabah, Jaber II ibn Ahmad as-
Sabah, Jaber II ibn Ahmad as- (Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah) (June 29, 1926 – January 15, 2006).   Became the emir of Kuwait in 1977.  He was born in Kuwait as the son of Shaykh Ahmad I.  In May of 1966, Jaber was appointed prime minister by Emir Sabah III.  In 1977, with the death of Emir Sabah III, Jabeh became the new emir of Kuwait.

In 1979, following the Islamic revolution in Iran, and demonstrations among the Shi‘a of Kuwait, Jaber put more restrictions on press freedom in Kuwait than before.  

In 1980, changes were made to the constituion that allowed for slightly more democracy.  In February of 1981, there were elections for fifty seats in the National Assembly.  None of the parties opposing Jaber won many seats (only the Islamists had some success with six seats.)

In September of 1982, the stock exchange of Kuwait collapgsed, damaging the image of Jaber’s regime.  

In 1985, Nationalists and Islamists won far more seats than in the last elections, proving growing dissatisfaction with Jaber’s regime.  On May 25, 1985, there was an attempt to assassinate Jaber, much as a reaction to his support of Iraq in the war against Iran.  On July 3, 1985, Jaber dissolved the National Assembly, and imposed hard censorship on the press.

In 1988, Jaber introduced the National Council, which would be an advisory body without legislative powers, instead of restoring the National Assembly.

In June of 1990, elections for the National Council were boycotted by the opposition.  

After much discussion of a border dispute between Kuwait and Iraq, Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor on August 2, 1990 with the stated intent of annexing it. Apparently, the task of the invading Iraqi army was to capture or kill Sheikh Jaber. However, the Iraqi army was never able to accomplish this goal because Sheikh Jaber and his government escaped to Saudi Arabia within hours of the invasion. In Saudi Arabia, they ran the Kuwaiti government from exile in a hotel in Dhahran. The Kuwaiti government-in-exile was one of the most effective governments to ever operate in exile. From the mountain city of Taif resort in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Jaber set up his government so that its ministers were still in control and were in constant communication with the people still in Kuwait. The government was able to direct an underground armed resistance made up of both military and civilian forces and was able to provide public services to the Kuwaiti people who remained, such as emergency care through the funds that it had saved from oil revenues. Sheikh Jaber also received help from a United Nations mandated coalition led by the United States.

Jaber and his government lobbied hard and supported military action against Iraq before and during the Gulf War. Five billion dollars were given from Jaber’s own funds to the military campaign to liberate Kuwait. When the war ended on February 28, 1991, Sheikh Jaber remained in Saudi Arabia while declaring three months of martial law, leading to the accusation that he was trying to monopolize too much power for the small constitutional monarchy. By declaring martial law, those who were appointed to government positions were able to ensure the safety of the people. By imposing martial law, government officials were able to ensure that there were no Iraqis still in Kuwait who may have attempted to once again overthrow the government. They were also tasked with making sure that the country was safe enough for Sheikh Jaber and his government to return, which they eventually did on March 15, 1991. Sheikh Jaber held additional advantages in comparison to most leaders who have been forced to deal with invasions, as he had the loyalty of the Kuwaitis who were both in the country and those who had fled. After a great deal of international sponsored post-war diplomacy, in 1994, Iraq accepted the UN-demarcated boarder with Kuwait on the basis of the 1932 and 1963 agreements and United Nations Security Resolutions.

While in exile during the Persian Gulf War, Sheikh Jaber promised women the right to vote and run for office after Kuwait was liberated. However, it was not until May 15, 2005 that the parliament passed the law allowing women to vote and hold office after long years of pressure was placed on Jaber’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. It had taken many tries before the law was passed. The movement started when Sheikh Jaber took the opportunity of having a dissolved parliament to issue a decree allowing women to vote in the 2003 election. He then suffered from a backlash from the parliament when they rejected the 1999 measure that would have given women the right to vote and run for office. Lawmakers claimed that it was not that they opposed the measure rather it was out of protest because it was legislated by decree. Following the passage of the law, women were able to vote and run for office for the first time in June 2006. More than 195,000 women voted and twenty-eight ran for seats in the parliament.

The family of Jaber was quite complex. It is unclear how many wives and children he had. It is believed that he had over forty wives, only maintaining four at a time as dictated by Muslim law.  He also sired at least forty children.. In September 2000, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah suffered from a stroke and went to the United Kingdom for treatment. He died on January 15, 2006, aged 79, from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was succeeded by the Crown Prince Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah. The government announced a 40-day period of mourning and closed for three days.

The rule of Jaber was one of dramatic events.  There were many internal battles over democratization of the society and press freedom.  Although the economy saw much instability, there were demonstrations and assassination attempts on Jaber’s life.  But most dramatic was the invasion by Iraq in 1990, where Jaber was driven out of the country for a period of seven months.  

Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah see Sabah, Jaber II ibn Ahmad as-


Sabah, Sabah III ibn Salim as-
Sabah, Sabah III ibn Salim as- (Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah) (1913 - December 31, 1977).  Emir of Kuwait (1965-1977).  Sabah was born in Kuwait, the son of Salim ibn Mubarak, who later became shaykh (1917-1921).

In 1938, Sabah was appointed commander of the police force.  In 1959, Sabah became head of the public health department.  In 1961, Sabah established the ministry of foreign affairs, and became its first minister.  

In October of 1962, Shaykh Abdullah III appointed Sabah crown prince, even if they belong to the same branch, and the crown prince should this time have come from the Jaber-branch.

In January 1963, Sabah was appointed prime minister.  

In November 1965, upon the death of Abdullah III, Sabah became the new ruler of Kuwait.  He had the title changed from “shaykh” to “emir.”   Sabah also appointed a new cabinet, where many of the new names aroused so much discontent that many parliament deputies resigned.

In May 1966, Sabah appointed Jaber II ibn Ahmad as prime minister, and Sa’ad ibn Abdullah as minister of defense and interior.  Under the three, heavy censorship was imposed.

During the 1970s, Kuwait’s oil revenues increased to fantastic proportions, where only parts of the state budget can be used.  There were periods of press freedom, but this was curbed in 1976.

In 1977, the National Assembly was dissolved.   Later on, Sabah died, and was succeeded by Jaber III.

Sabah’s rule was one of fantastic economic growth due to increased oil revenues.  This was especially the case after the heavy increase in oil prices following the oil embargo on Israel’s allies after the war in 1973.  Much of this growth came to benefit the entire Kuwaiti population.  At times during Sabah’s rule, there was great press freedom, but never much political freedom.

Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah was the Emir of Kuwait from 1965 to 1977.  He was the youngest son of Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah succeeded his half-brother Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah upon his death on November 24, 1965. He was the 12th ruler of the Al-Sabah dynasty of Kuwait, and the second bearing the title of "Emir". He died from cancer on December 31, 1977. Prior to his ascension, he served as the president of the police department from 1953 to 1959, President of the public health department from 1959 to 1961, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1962 to 1963, and Prime Minister from 1963 to 1965. He was appointed as Crown Prince on October 29, 1962.


Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah see Sabah, Sabah III ibn Salim as-


Sabi, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-
Sabi, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al- (Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Sabi) (d.994). Member of the Sabaeans of Harran and a high official under the Buyids.  He was chief secretary of the Department of State documents under the Buyids of Iraq Mu‘izz al-Dawla and his son ‘Izz al-Dawla (r. 967-978), but was put in prison by the latter’s uncle ‘Adud al-Dawla Fana-Khusraw.  His official letters have been preserved as well as his poems.  
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Sabi see Sabi, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-


Sabi, Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al-
Sabi, Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al- (Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al-Sabi) (Hilal al-Sabi') (Abū'l-Ḥusayn Hilāl ibn Muḥassin ibn Ibrahīm al-Ṣābi') (969-1056).  Secretary to the Buyid vizier Abu Ghalib Muhammad ibn Khalaf (d.1016).  Only some fragments of the nine works which he composed have been preserved .

Abū'l-Ḥusayn Hilāl ibn Muḥassin ibn Ibrahīm al-Ṣābi' was a historian, bureaucrat, and writer of Arabic. Born into a family of Sabian bureaucrats, al-Ṣābi converted to Islam in 1012. First working under the Buyid amir Ṣamṣām al-Dawla, he later became the Director of the Chancery under Baha' al-Daula's vizier Fakhr al-Mulk.

Hilal al-Sabi' is the author of numerous books, not all of which have survived. Bureaucratic matters and matters of the court were his main themes, along with history.

Some of the works of Hilal al-Sabi':

    * The Rules and Regulations of the Abbasid Court - (Arabic: Rusum dar al-khilafa)

Perhaps his most famous book is the Rusum dar al-khilafa which is a manual for behavior and work in the Abbasid court of late Buyid Baghdad. Though it is designed as a set of instructions and advice, the book contains numerous statistics, anecdotes and historical asides.

    * The Book of Viziers - (Arabic: Kitab al-wuzara)

Only the beginning of this work has survived, which deals with the viziers of the caliph Al-Muqtadir.

    * History of Hilal al-Sabi' - (Arabic: Tarikh Hilal al-Sabi)

This work also survives only in fragmentary form, but its fragments fill a much needed gap in the chronicles of the late Buyid era, up to the year 1003 of the Christian calendar.
Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al-Sabi see Sabi, Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al-
Hilal al-Sabi' see Sabi, Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al-
Abu'l-Husayn Hilal ibn Muhassin ibn Ibrahim al-Sabi' see Sabi, Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al-


Sabili’llah
Sabili’llah (Sabil Allah) (“The Way of God”).  Indonesian Islamic guerrilla organization that fought the Dutch between 1945 and 1950.   Sabili’llah was founded in November 1945 to serve as an instrument for the general mobilization of the Islamic population in the struggle against the Dutch.  Founded alongside Hizbu’llah, it was intended for all who could not join Hizbu’llah (for instance, because they were too old).  In practice, the distinction between the two was not as clear cut as on paper.
Sabil Allah see Sabili’llah
The Way of God see Sabili’llah


Sab‘iyya
Sab‘iyya. The Arabic word sab‘iyya means “sevener.”  The term sab‘iyya is a name applied to the Isma‘iliyya (especially Qarmatians), who restricted the imams to seven, the seventh being Muhammad ibn Isma‘il, grandson of Ja‘far al-Sadiq, who was expected to be the Mahdi.

The term sab‘iyya was in all probability first used to signify the Ismaili doctrine that history is divided into seven eras, each inaugurated by a natiq -- a speaking prophet.  Each natiq brings a revealed message for the people amongst whom the prophet lives.

Ismailis believed in seven silent imams, one of whom followed each of the seven prophets and disclosed the esoteric aspects of the revelation.  The seventh imam in each era becomes the natiq of the following era, abrogating the law (sharia) of the previous natiq and instituting a new one.  In the sixth of these eras, Muhammad was the natiq, Ali was the silent imam, and, counting from his son al-Hasan, the seventh imam was Muhammad ibn Isma‘il, who was to become the seventh natiq -- the Mahdi, thus ushering in the seventh era and abrogating the sharia instituted by Muhammad.  Muhammad ibn Isma‘il was to take power as soon as the organization of his loyal followers was complete.

Ja‘far al-Sadiq had designated his son Isma‘il to succeed him as imam, and since such a designation was regarded as divine providence, a controversy arose when Isma’il died before his father, and another son, Musa al-Kazim, succeeded to the office.  Al-Kazim is regarded as the seventh in the series of twelve imams of the Imamiyya.

The Qarmatians were probably an offshoot of a group called Mubarakiyya, who regarded Isma‘il’s son Muhammad as successor to his grandfather al-Sadiq.  They rejected the claims of the surviving sons of al-Sadiq on the grounds that the imamate could not again be vested in two brothers after al-Hasan and al-Husayn, the sons of Ali, and that the imamate must continue among the offspring of the deceased imam.  The Qarmatians differed from the Mubarakiyya in maintaining that prophecy ended with Muhammad, and that there would be seven imams after him, ending with Muhammad ibn Isma‘il, who, they asserted, was alive as the Mahdi and would not die until he had conquered the world.  In support of this they cited traditions that the seventh among the imams would be the Mahdi.

Also important were the beliefs of the Khattabiyya, followers of Abu al-Khattab Muhammad ibn Abi Zaynab al-Asadi al-Kufi, who seems to have shaped the Qarmatian doctrines of the esoteric interpretation of the Qur’an and of the transference of spiritual authority.  Abu al-Khattab, who was al-Sadiq’s disciple in Kufa, had asserted that the latter had transferred his authority to him by designating him to be his deputy and executor of his will and entrusting to him the “Greatest Name,” which was supposed to empower its possessor with extraordinary ability in comprehending hidden matters.  This authority was then transferred to Muhammad ibn Isma’il after Abu al-Khattab’s disappearance.

The belief that the seventh imam, whoever he was, was the Mahdi, seems to have been widespread, because after the death of al-Sadiq many Shi‘ite groups restricted the number of their imams to seven.  The adherents of Musa al-Kazim refused to acknowledge his death, maintaining that he was alive and would return as the Mahdi.  These are known as waqifiyya, meaning “those who stopped,” i.e., with the imamate of al-Kazim.  The term implies uncertainty about the imam’s death, in contrast to those who affirmed that al-Kazim had died, and that the line of imams continued.  Al-Shahrastani used the term also for those Ismailis who expected the return of Isma‘il.  The waqifiyya are thus those who held that the seventh imam, whether Isma‘il or al-Kazim, was the Mahdi.

Several other Shi‘ite factions could be classified as Sab‘iyya.  In all cases, the seventh imam was proclaimed as the hidden imam, and in his absence the leadership of these factions rested in the hands of the prominent disciples of the imams.  Dissemination of the Sab‘iyya doctrines in different parts of the Muslim world resulted in the appearance of the revolutionary governments of the Qarmatians, Fatimids, Assassins, and other Ismaili groups.  The Druzes also can be traced back to the early Sab‘iyya.  The considerable importance which the Sab‘iyya movement attained is indicated in the religious as well as the political success of these groups.  However, the early beliefs of the Sab‘iyya were essentially transformed, and its revolutionary aims gradually gave way to the esoteric and hence quietistic posture of the present day Nizari and of the Must‘ali Ismailis.




Sevener see Sab‘iyya.


Sabuktigin
Sabuktigin.  See Sebuktigin, Abu Mansur.

Sabuktigin
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Abu Mansur Sabuktigin (Urdu: ابو منصور سبکتگین) (ca 942 - August 997), also spelled as Sabuktagin, Sabuktakin, Sebüktegin and Sebük Tigin, is generally regarded by historians as the founder of the Ghaznavid Empire and dynasty centered in modern day Afghanistan in the city of Ghazni. The empire extended throughout parts of Iran, Pakistan, and Central Asia. Amir Sebük Tigin was the son-in-law of Alptigin who actually seized Ghazni in a political fallout for the throne of the Samanids.
Contents
[hide]

    * 1 Lineage
    * 2 Military career
    * 3 Censuring the People of Innovation
    * 4 Legacy
    * 5 See also
    * 6 References
    * 7 External links

[edit] Lineage

Sebüktigin, aged twelve years, was taken prisoner by a neighbouring warring tribe and sold as a slave to a merchant named Nasr the Haji. He was purchased by Alptigin, the Lord Chamberlain of the Samani ruler of Khurasan. However, when Alptigin later rebelled against the Saminid influence, capturing Zabulistan and Ghazni, he raised Sebüktigin to the position of General and married his daughter to him. He served Alptigin, and his two successors Ishaq and Balkatigin. He later succeeded another slave of Alptagin to the throne, and in 977 became the popular ruler of Ghazni.

Sebüktigin enlarged upon Alptigin's conquests, extending his domain north to Balkh, west to Kandahar including most of Khorasan, and east to the Indus River.

Sebüktigin was recognized by the Caliph in Baghdad as governor of his dominions. He died in 997, and was succeeded by his younger son Sultan Ismail of Ghazni. Mahmud rebelled against his younger brother, Sultan Ismail of Ghazni, and took over Ghazni as the new Sultan.

Ferishta records Sebük Tigin's genealogy as descended from the Sassanid Emperors: "Subooktu-geen, the son of Jookan, the son of Kuzil-Hukum, the son of Kuzil-Arslan, the son of Ferooz, the son of Yezdijird, king of Persia." Some doubt has been cast on this due the lineage been reckoned too short to account for the 320 intervening years.[citation needed] What is known about Sebük Tigin is that he was of Turkic origin,[1] born in Barskhan and bought by Alptigin as a boy in Bokhara. According to Grousset,

    The Turkic mercenary army which Alptigin had raised in Ghazni, and which was already profoundly influenced by Islam, was from 977 onward led by another Turkic ex-slave -another Mameluke- named Sebüktigin, who made himself master of Tokharistan (Balkh-Kunduz) and Kandahar, and embarked upon the conquest of Kabul.[2]

[edit] Military career

He grew up in the court circles of Alptigin and was conferred the titles of Amīr ul-Umra (Chief of the Nobles), and Wakīl-e Mūtlak (Representative). He was then heavily involved in the defence of Ghaznis independence for the next 15 years until Alptigins death as his general.

Upon Alptigin's death in 975, both Sebüktegin and Alptigin's son Abu Ishaq went to Bokhara to mend fences with the Samanids. Mansur I of Samanid then officially conferred upon Abu Ishaq the governorship of Ghazni and acknowledged Sebüktegin as the heir. Abu Ishaq died soon after in 977 and Sabuktigin succeeded him to the governorship of Ghazni and married Alptigin's daughter.

In 977 he marched against Toghan, who had opposed his succession. Toghan fled to Būst, so Sebüktegin marched upon it and captured Kandahar and its surrounding area. This prompted the Shahi prince Jayapala to launch a pre-emptive strike at Ghazni. Despite the Jayapala amassing approximately 100,000 troops for the battle, Sebüktegin was soundly victorious.[3] The battle was fought at Laghman (near Kabul) and the Jayapala was forced to pay a large tribute. He defaulted upon this, imprisoned Sebüktegin's collectors, and assembled an army allied with forces from the kingdoms of Delhi, Ajmer, Kalinjar, and Kannauj which was defeated at the banks of the Neelum. Sebüktegin then annexed Afghanistan and Peshawar, and all land west of the Neelum.

In 994 he was involved in aiding Nuh II of the Samanids against internal uprisings and defeated the rebels at Balkh and then to Nishapur, thereby earning for himself the title of Nāsir ud-Dīn ("Hero of the Faith") and for his son Mahmud the title of Governor of Khorasan and Saif ud-Dawlah ("Sword of the State").

Sebüktegin had increased upon Alptigin's domains by extending his domain north to Balkh, west to Kandahar and Khorasan, and east to the Indus River; he was eventually recognized by the Caliph in Baghdad as governor of his dominions.
[edit] Censuring the People of Innovation

A pious ruler, Sebüktegin grew concerned over the increasing amount of innovation (commonly known as bidah) in the Islamic creed, and consequently censured those who he believed were promulgating heretical doctrines or beliefs that contravened orthodox Sunni principles.[4] Ibn Taymiyyah duly eulogizes Sebüktegin, stating that he:
  commanded that Ahlul Bidah be publicly cursed on the minbars, and as a result the Jahmiyyah, Rafida, Hulooliyah, Mu'tazilah, and Qadariyah were all publicly cursed, along with the Asharites.[5]  
[edit] Legacy

Sultan Sebüktegin grew sick in Balkh during his campaign and retired to Ghazni, and his body has been buried in Termez or Ghazni[6] where he was succeeded by his son, Ismail. Sebüktegin is generally regarded as the architect of the Ghaznavid Empire.


Encyclopædia Britannica
in full Abū Manṣūr Sebüktigin

born c. 942 ce, Barskhan, Afg. died August 997, Balkh

founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, which ruled much of the area of present-day Afghanistan for more than 150 years.

Once a Turkish slave, Sebüktigin married the daughter of the governor of the town of Ghazna (modern Ghaznī), which was under the control of the Sāmānid dynasty. He succeeded the governor in 977 and later rejected Sāmānid control. In the next 20 years Sebüktigin extended his rule over much of what is now Afghanistan. At his own request, he was succeeded in 977 by a younger son, Ismāʿīl. Many of the nobles, however, preferred his eldest son, Maḥmūd, as their sovereign. Maḥmūd was able to defeat his brother in battle (and imprison him for the rest of his life) and to ascend the throne in 998, to become the great Maḥmūd of Ghazna.


Sabur ibn Ardashir, Abu Nasr
Sabur ibn Ardashir, Abu Nasr (Abu Nasr Sabur ibn Ardashir) (d. 1025).  Vizier of Baha’ al-Dawla, the Buyid of Fars and Khuzistan.  In the first period of his vizierate he had founded a great library.  In 1000, he witnessed the mutiny of the Turkish mercenaries at Baghdad.  
Abu Nasr Sabur ibn Ardashir see Sabur ibn Ardashir, Abu Nasr


Sabzawari, Hajji Hadi
Sabzawari, Hajji Hadi (Hajji Hadi Sabzawari) (Hajji Hadi Sabzevari) (1797/98, Sabzevar, Iran – 1878, Sabzevar, Iran).  Persian philosopher and poet.  He disseminated and clarified the doctrines of Mulla Sadra Shirazi.  The Qajar Shah Nasir al-Din ordered a mausoleum to be built for him at Mashhad.

Hajji Hadi Sabzevari was a famous scholar and teacher in the hikmah school of Islamic philosophy. He wrote on the subjects of gnosis, philosophy, and revelation to further the works of Mulla Sadra.

Raised in the center for Shia and Sufi studies, Sabzevar, he went on to be educated in Mashhad, and in Eşfahān where he would encounter the teachings about hikmat. He returned to his city to found a religious school (madrassa) which more than one thousand people would graduate from during his lifetime.

Sabzevari was an Iranian teacher and philosopher who advanced the ḥikmah (wisdom) school of Islāmic philosophy. His doctrines—composed of diverse elements of gnosis (esoteric spiritual knowledge), philosophy, and revelation—are an exposition and clarification of the philosophical concepts of Mullā Ṣadrā. But he differed to some extent by classifying knowledge as an essence, rather than an outward quality, of the human soul.

After spending his early childhood in Sabzevār, a center for Shīʿī and Ṣūfī studies, Sabzevārī was educated in Meshed, and in Eṣfahān, where he was first influenced by the teachings of the ḥikmat. On completing his studies, he returned to his native city, where he founded a madrasah (school) that attracted students of philosophy from as far away as Arabia and India.

The fame of Sabzevārī was such that Nāṣer od-Dīn Shāh, the fourth Qājār king of Iran, visited him in 1877/78. At the request of the Shāh, he wrote the Asrār al-ḥikmah (“The Secrets of Wisdom”), which, together with his Arabic treatise Sharḥ manzumah (“A Treatise on Logic in Verse”), remains a basic text for the study of ḥikmat doctrines in Iran. Not limited to philosophy, he also wrote poetry under the name of Asrār and completed a commentary on the Māsnavī of Jalāl ad-Dīn ar-Rūmī, the great mystic poet of Islām. Devout and pious, Sabzevāri led the ascetic life of a mystic. Miracles were attributed to him, and he is said to have cured the sick. On his death, the Shāh ordered that a mausoleum be constructed for him in Meshed.
Hajji Hadi Sabzawari see Sabzawari, Hajji Hadi
Hajji Hadj Sabzevari see Sabzawari, Hajji Hadi
Sabzevari, Hajji Hadj see Sabzawari, Hajji Hadi


Sa‘d al-Din Kopek
Sa‘d al-Din Kopek (Gobek).  High official at the time of the Rum Saljuq Kaykhusraw II of the thirteenth century.  He built the large khan still standing near Konya.
Kopek, Sa'd al-Din see Sa‘d al-Din Kopek
Gobek see Sa‘d al-Din Kopek


Sadama
Sadama (Sidamo). The Ethiopian people who refer to themselves as Sadama may include several differing, but related, ethnic groups in the southwest part of Ethiopia.  Perhaps ten percent are Muslim.  They live in a trapezoidal shape area marked by Lake Awasa, Lake Abaya, the upper branches of the Loghita River and the Billate River.  Though it is likely that the inter-ethnic trade of the last century would have provided the Sadama with some knowledge of Islam, informants are of the belief that only recently (within the last twenty years) have there been any significant numbers of converts.  

There are several aspects of Sidamo (Sadama) culture which provide for ease of syncretic accommodation with Islam.  These include dreams as a means of communication with the supernatural, importance of a traditional life code, revered elders as code interpreters, the use of conditional vows and reverence for spirits in the healing process.

The principal means of conversion to Islam is through dreams, an important element in Sidamo culture.  One informant, after losing four of his children through serious illness in the space of a few months, dreamed that the loss was a message from Magano that he should become a Muslim.  Three of his relatives had the same dream at approximately the same time.  One convert suggested that the dream is conditional, like the one in which a dead father appears demanding to be honored.  In the Islamic dream, however, the spirit of Shaikh Husain is manifest, and if one does not obey his summons death will occur.  (Shaikh Husain was one of the first Muslim missionaries in the region.  His revered tomb is in Balke on the plain near Goba.)  The Shaikh is said to have been beloved by Magano, hence given the power to transform himself or other mortals into anything he desires.  This is in keeping with the orthodox Muslim belief that saints are especially favored by God and after death constitute a link between the latter and the material world.  For this reason saints signify their presence to mortals by appearing in dreams.




Sidamo see Sadama


Sadaqa ibn Mansur ibn Dubays
Sadaqa ibn Mansur ibn Dubays (d.1108).  Ruler of al-Hilla.  He founded the town in 1102 from Kufa, which he had occupied in 1101.  In the fight between the Great Saljuq Berkyaruq and his brother Muhammad I, he stood on the latter’s side.  In 1103, Sadaqa extended his power over a great part of Iraq, and took Hit, Wasit, Basra and Takrit.  He was finally defeated by Muhammad I.


Sadat, Anwar al-
Sadat, Anwar al- (Anwar al-Sadat) (Anwar el-Sādāt) (Muḥammad Anwar el-Sādāt) (Muḥammad Anwar as-Sādāt) (b. December 25, 1918, Mit Abū al-Kawm, Al-Minūfiyyah governorate, Egypt — d. October 6, 1981, Cairo).  Egyptian military leader and president (1970-1981), best rememberd for his work toward peace in the Middle East, in the course of which he became the first Arab leader to recognize Israel.  

Sadat was born on December 25, 1918, in the Nile delta village of Mit Abu al-Kawm.  The son of a poor hospital clerk, he was chosen for the military academy, where he joined Gamal Abdel Nasser in plotting against the British dominated Egyptian monarchy.  He was jailed twice for contacts with Germans in World War II (1939-1945) and later tried and acquitted on charges of conspiring to assassinate a pro-British politician in 1946.  Sadat took part in the coup of 1952, in which Nasser ousted King Faruk.  He then held several public posts and was vice president in 1964 to 1966 and again in 1969 to 1970.  

After Nasser’s death in 1970 Sadat was elected president, and he soon consolidated his hold on power.  Smarting from the defeat by Israel in the Six Day War of 1967, he built up his military strength and in October 1973 launched the Arab-Israeli (Yom Kippur) War of 1973.  The Egyptian army quickly advanced across the Suez Canal, breaking Israel’s defenses and penetrating Israeli-occupied territory.  Israel soon recovered and surrounded the Egyptian army.  The fighting ended with Israel still in control of the areas it occupied in 1967.  Nevertheless, because Egypt had proven that Israeli forces were not invincible, Sadat managed to turn the war into a moral victory.  He subsequently established close relations with the United States.  

In 1977, due to worsening economic conditions and the desire to regain the Sinai Peninsula for Egypt, Sadat boldly risked the ire of other Arab states by traveling to Jerusalem, where he offered recognition of Israel on certain conditions. In Israel, Sadat spoke with prime minister Menachim Begin and gave a speech in the national assembly of Israel, the Knesset.  His initiative eventually led to a peace treaty (the Camp David Accord) with Israel, signed on March 26, 1979, and the gradual withdrawal by Israel from the entire Sinai Peninsula. The treaty was in two parts.  First, Israel was to give up land taken from Egypt in exchange for peace, and second, that Israel would refrain from building settlements on the territories occupied since the Six Day War, thereby insuring the establishment of a Palestinian state.  For their leadership in the peace negotiations, Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin were jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.  

The treaty with Israel isolated Egypt in the Arab world, and strong opposition was expressed from the Islamists.  Bitterly opposed by many Arab leaders and hated by Islamic fundamentalists, Sadat was forced to order the rounding up of 1,600 dissidents, Islamists and Communists in September 1981.  One month later, on October 6, 1981, Sadat was assassinated during a military parade in Cairo by religious extremists within his own army.

Anwar el-Sādāt was an Egyptian army officer and politician who was president of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination in 1981. He initiated serious peace negotiations with Israel, an achievement for which he shared the 1978 Nobel Prize for Peace with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Under their leadership, Egypt and Israel made peace with each other in 1979.

Sādāt graduated from the Cairo Military Academy in 1938. During World War II he plotted to expel the British from Egypt with the help of the Germans. The British arrested and imprisoned him in 1942, but he escaped two years later. In 1946 Sādāt was arrested after being implicated in the assassination of pro-British minister Amīn ʿUthmān. He was imprisoned until his acquittal in 1948. In 1950 he joined Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Free Officers organization. He participated in its armed coup against the Egyptian monarchy in 1952 and supported Nasser’s election to the presidency in 1956. Sādāt held various high offices that led to his serving in the vice presidency (1964–66, 1969–70). He became acting president upon Nasser’s death, on September 28, 1970, and was elected president in a plebiscite on October 15.

Sādāt’s domestic and foreign policies were partly a reaction against those of Nasser and reflected Sādāt’s efforts to emerge from his predecessor’s shadow. One of Sādāt’s most important domestic initiatives was the open-door policy known as infitāḥ (Arabic: “opening”), a program of dramatic economic change that included decentralization and diversification of the economy as well as efforts to attract trade and foreign investment. Sādāt’s efforts to liberalize the economy came at significant cost, including high inflation and an uneven distribution of wealth, deepening inequality and leading to discontent that would later contribute to food riots in January 1977.

It was in foreign affairs that Sādāt made his most dramatic efforts. Feeling that the Soviet Union gave him inadequate support in Egypt’s continuing confrontation with Israel, he expelled thousands of Soviet technicians and advisers from the country in 1972. In addition, Egyptian peace overtures toward Israel were initiated early in Sādāt’s presidency, when he made known his willingness to reach a peaceful settlement if Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula (captured by that country in the June [Six-Day] War of 1967). Following the failure of this initiative, Sādāt launched a military attack in coordination with Syria to retake the territory, sparking the October (Yom Kippur) War of 1973. The Egyptian army achieved a tactical surprise in its attack on the Israeli-held territory, and, though Israel successfully counterattacked, Sādāt emerged from the war with greatly enhanced prestige as the first Arab leader to have actually retaken some territory from Israel.

After the war, Sādāt began to work toward peace in the Middle East. He made a historic visit to Israel (November 19–20, 1977), during which he traveled to Jerusalem to place his plan for a peace settlement before the Israeli Knesset (parliament). This initiated a series of diplomatic efforts that Sādāt continued despite strong opposition from most of the Arab world and the Soviet Union. United States President Jimmy Carter mediated the negotiations between Sādāt and Begin that resulted in the Camp David Accords (September 17, 1978), a preliminary peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Sādāt and Begin were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1978, and their continued political negotiations resulted in the signing on March 26, 1979, of a treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel—the first between the latter and any Arab country.

While Sādāt’s popularity rose in the West, it fell dramatically in Egypt because of internal opposition to the treaty, a worsening economic crisis, and Sādāt’s suppression of the resulting public dissent. In September 1981 he ordered a massive police strike against his opponents, jailing more than 1,500 people from across the political spectrum. The following month Sādāt was assassinated by Muslim extremists during the Armed Forces Day military parade commemorating the Yom Kippur War.

Sādāt’s autobiography, In Search of Identity, was published in 1978.

Sadat was married twice. He was first married to Ehsan Madi at age 22, and divorced her several years later, just 17 days after the birth of their third daughter, Camelia. He then married Jehan Raouf (later known as Jehan Sadat), who was only 15 years and 9 months at the time, on May 29, 1949. They had one son, Gamal, and three daughters: Lobna, Noha and Jehan (named after her mother). It was Gamal who represented his father when he was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan. Jehan Sadat was the 2001 recipient of the Pearl S. Buck Award.

In 1983, Sadat, a miniseries based on the life of Anwar Sadat, aired on United States television with Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr. in the title role. The film was promptly banned by the Egyptian government, as were all other movies produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures, over allegations of historical inaccuracies. A civil lawsuit was brought by Egypt's artists' and film unions against Columbia Pictures and the film's directors, producers and scriptwriters before a court in Cairo, but was dismissed; the court held that "the distortions and the slanders found in the film took place outside the country," so that "the crimes were not within the Egyptian courts' jurisdiction."

Western authors attributed the film's poor reception to racism — Gossett being African American — in the Egyptian government or Egypt in general. Sadat himself was an ethnic Nubian and is considered by Egyptians to have been of black skin color. The two-part series earned Gossett an Emmy nomination in the United States. The first Egyptian depiction of Sadat's life came in 2001, when Ayyam El Sadat (English: Days of Sadat) was released in Egyptian cinemas. This movie, by contrast, was a major success in Egypt, and was hailed as Ahmad Zaki's greatest performance.



   
Anwar al-Sadat see Sadat, Anwar al-
Anwar el-Sadat see Sadat, Anwar al-
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat see Sadat, Anwar al-
Muhammad Anwar as-Sadat see Sadat, Anwar al-


Saddam Husayn
Saddam Husayn.  See Hussein, Saddam.


 


Sa‘di, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Sa‘di, ‘Abd al-Rahman al- (‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa‘di) (Abd al-Sadi) (May 28, 1594 - c.1656).  Historian of the Songhai kingdom in the Sudan.  His history of the Sudan contains the early history of the tribes of the Songhai, the Melli and the Tuareg, as well as of the towns of Dienne and Timbuktu.  He was an aristocrat and high government official from Timbuktu, who also lived for a time in Jenne and visited Macina.  In 1656, he completed the famous Ta’rikh al-Sudan, a history of Songhay emphasizing Jenne and Timbuktu.  Much of it incorporated earlier Songhay traditions.  The book also contains a good deal of information on Mali.  The Ta’rikh was discovered by the explorer Barth in 1853.

The Tarikh al-Sudan (also Tarikh es-Sudan - the "History of the Sudan") is a chronicle written in Arabic in around 1655 by Abd al-Sadi. It provides the single most important primary source for the history of the Songhay Empire.

The author, Abd al-Sadi, was born on May 28, 1594, and died at an unknown date sometime around 1655-56, the last date to be mentioned in his chronicle. He spent most of his life working for the Moroccan Arma bureaucracy, initially in the administration of Djenné and the massina region of the Inland Niger Delta. In 1646 he became chief secretary to the Arma administration of Timbuktu.

The early sections of the chronicle are devoted to brief histories of earlier Songhay dynasties, of the Mali Empire and of the Tuareg, and to biographies of the scholars and holymen of both Timbuktu and Djenné. The main part of the chronicle covers the history of the Songhay from the middle of the 15th century until the Moroccan invasion in 1591, and then the history of Timbuktu under Moroccan rule up to 1655. Al-Sadi rarely acknowledges his sources. For the earlier period much of his information is presumably based on oral tradition. From around 1610 the information would have been gained first hand.
‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa‘di see Sa‘di, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Abd al-Sadi see Sa‘di, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-



Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas
Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas (Saad ibn Abi Waqqas) (b. 595, Mecca, Arabia - d. 664/671, Medina, Arabia).  An Arab general.  He was one of the oldest Companions of the Prophet and took part in the battles of Badr and Uhud and in the following campaigns. He defeated the Persians at the famous battle of al-Qadisiyya and captured Ctesiphon-Seleucia (in Arabic, al-Mada’in).  He also built a strong military camp, which was to be the town of Kufa.  On his death bed, the Caliph ‘Umar appointed him as one of the six Companions to choose a new caliph.  He refused to pay homage to ‘Ali.  

Saad ibn Abī Waqqās was an early convert to Islam and one of the important companions of the Prophet Muhammad.  Born in 595, he was from the Banu Zuhrah clan of the Quraysh tribe, and was a cousin of Aminah bint Wahb, mother of Muhammad. He was one of the first to accept Islam.

In 614 the Muslims were on their way to the hills of Mecca to hold a secret meeting with the prophet Muhammad, when a group of polytheists observed their suspicious movements and began to abuse and fight them. Sa`ad beat a polytheist and shed his blood, reportedly becoming the first to draw blood on the behalf of Islam.

Sa'ad fought at the battle of Badr with his young brother Umayr who was only in his early teens. Umayr was denied access to the battle but because he struggled and cried was later given permission to join the battle by the prophet. Sa`d returned to Medina alone; Umayr was one of the fourteen Muslims who died in the battle.

At the battle of Uhud, Sa`d was chosen as an archer together with Zayd, Sa`īb (the son of Uthmān ibn Mazūn) and others. Sa`d was among those who fought in defense of Muhammad after some Muslims had deserted their positions.

Sa`d also fought under Umar's command against the Sassanid army in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah. He was later appointed governor of Kufa and Nejd during the caliphate of Umar.

Some narrations state that although Umar deposed him from his post as governor, he recommended that the caliph who succeeded him reinstall Sa'd, since Umar had not deposed Sa'd due to any treachery.

He was one of six people nominated by Umar ibn al-Khattab for the third caliphate.

Uthman carried out Umar's recommendation and appointed Sa'd as governor of Kufa.

S'ad has been traditionally credited by Chinese Muslims with introducing Islam to China in 650, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.  However, modern secular scholars have not found any historical evidence for him actually traveling to China.

Sa'd was mentioned in a hadith relevant to the Umayyad tradition of cursing Ali.

Sa'd outlived all ten blessed companions and died a wealthy man.

Sunnī Muslims regard Sa'd as one of the ten to whom paradise was promised.


Saad ibn Abi Waqqas see Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas


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