Hafiz, Amin al-
1921-2009
Syrian politician, military officer and leader of the Ba'ath Party.
Amin al-Hafiz (or Hafez) led a coup d'etat against the government of Syria in 1963, in the turbulent years after the break-up of the United Arab Republic (UAR). After the coup he installed the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) at the head of government. The NCRC was dominated by the Syrian branch of the radical, pan-Arab Ba'ath Party, and Hafiz became its President. As President, he instituted socialist reforms and oriented his country towards the Eastern Bloc.
On February 23, 1966, Hafiz was overthrown by a radical Ba'athist faction headed by Chief of Staff Salah Jadid. A late warning telegram of the coup d'état was sent from President Gamal Abdel Nasser to Nasim Al Safarjalani (The General Secretary of the Presidential Council), on the early morning of the coup d'état. The coup sprung out of factional rivalry between Jadid's "regionalist" (qutri) camp of the Ba'ath Party, which promoted ambitions for a Greater Syria and the more traditionally pan-Arab Hafiz faction, called the "nationalist" (qawmi) faction. Jadid's supporters were also seen as more radically left-wing. But the coup was also supported and led by officers from Syria's religious minorities, especially the Alawite Muslims and the Druze, whereas Hafiz belonged to the majority Sunni population. Alawis have ruled Syria ever since.
After the coup, Hafiz lived in exile until 2005, when he was quietly permitted to return to Syria. He died in Aleppo on December 17, 2009.
1921-2009
Syrian politician, military officer and leader of the Ba'ath Party.
Amin al-Hafiz (or Hafez) led a coup d'etat against the government of Syria in 1963, in the turbulent years after the break-up of the United Arab Republic (UAR). After the coup he installed the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) at the head of government. The NCRC was dominated by the Syrian branch of the radical, pan-Arab Ba'ath Party, and Hafiz became its President. As President, he instituted socialist reforms and oriented his country towards the Eastern Bloc.
On February 23, 1966, Hafiz was overthrown by a radical Ba'athist faction headed by Chief of Staff Salah Jadid. A late warning telegram of the coup d'état was sent from President Gamal Abdel Nasser to Nasim Al Safarjalani (The General Secretary of the Presidential Council), on the early morning of the coup d'état. The coup sprung out of factional rivalry between Jadid's "regionalist" (qutri) camp of the Ba'ath Party, which promoted ambitions for a Greater Syria and the more traditionally pan-Arab Hafiz faction, called the "nationalist" (qawmi) faction. Jadid's supporters were also seen as more radically left-wing. But the coup was also supported and led by officers from Syria's religious minorities, especially the Alawite Muslims and the Druze, whereas Hafiz belonged to the majority Sunni population. Alawis have ruled Syria ever since.
After the coup, Hafiz lived in exile until 2005, when he was quietly permitted to return to Syria. He died in Aleppo on December 17, 2009.
Halabi, Suleiman al-
1777-1800
The assassin of Jean Baptiste Kleber.
Suleiman al-Halabi (1777-1800), also known as Soleyman El-Halaby (Kurdish: Seleman Ous Qopar), was a Syrian student who assassinated French general Jean Baptiste Kléber. He was tortured by burning his hand to the bone before being executed by impalement.
Suleiman al-Halabi was born in 1777 in Kukan village, Afrin. His religious father, Mohammad Amin, worked in the profession of selling butter and olive oil.
In 1797, al-Halabi's father sent him to Cairo, Egypt to study Islamic sciences at Al-Azhar University. After three years of study, al-Halabi returned to Kukan. There he was surprised to learn of his father's poverty as a result of heavy fines and taxation demanded by Ottoman authorities.
The authorities offered to lift his imprisoned father's financial burden if he would assassinate French Army General Jean Baptiste Kléber. He agreed and traveled to Cairo to carry out the assassination.
On June 14, 1800, al-Halabi approached Kléber's home in the guise of a beggar seeking an audience with Kléber. After they shook hands, he violently pulled the general toward him and stabbed him four times with a stiletto. Kléber's chief engineer tried to defend him and was stabbed but not mortally wounded.
Al-Halabi subsequently hid in a nearby park where he was found by French soldiers. He was searched him and they found his stiletto. He was arrested and tortured, his right arm burnt to the bone while he denied any relationship with Sheikh Al-Sharkawi or the popular resistance movements. He was tried and sentenced to death by impalement.
Today, al-Halabi’s skull and stiletto are on display at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, under the caption, "Criminal," written in French.
1777-1800
The assassin of Jean Baptiste Kleber.
Suleiman al-Halabi (1777-1800), also known as Soleyman El-Halaby (Kurdish: Seleman Ous Qopar), was a Syrian student who assassinated French general Jean Baptiste Kléber. He was tortured by burning his hand to the bone before being executed by impalement.
Suleiman al-Halabi was born in 1777 in Kukan village, Afrin. His religious father, Mohammad Amin, worked in the profession of selling butter and olive oil.
In 1797, al-Halabi's father sent him to Cairo, Egypt to study Islamic sciences at Al-Azhar University. After three years of study, al-Halabi returned to Kukan. There he was surprised to learn of his father's poverty as a result of heavy fines and taxation demanded by Ottoman authorities.
The authorities offered to lift his imprisoned father's financial burden if he would assassinate French Army General Jean Baptiste Kléber. He agreed and traveled to Cairo to carry out the assassination.
On June 14, 1800, al-Halabi approached Kléber's home in the guise of a beggar seeking an audience with Kléber. After they shook hands, he violently pulled the general toward him and stabbed him four times with a stiletto. Kléber's chief engineer tried to defend him and was stabbed but not mortally wounded.
Al-Halabi subsequently hid in a nearby park where he was found by French soldiers. He was searched him and they found his stiletto. He was arrested and tortured, his right arm burnt to the bone while he denied any relationship with Sheikh Al-Sharkawi or the popular resistance movements. He was tried and sentenced to death by impalement.
Today, al-Halabi’s skull and stiletto are on display at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, under the caption, "Criminal," written in French.
Hamengkubuwono IV
1804-1828
The fourth sultan of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Hamengkubuwono IV, also spelled Hamengkubuwana IV (1804 – 1828), was the fourth sultan of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, reigning from April 3, 1814 - December 6, 1822, and then from August 17, 1826 - January 2, 1828. His reign was a period of political deterioration that ultimately led up to the Java War. Upon his death, rumors circulated that he had been poisoned. His three-year-old son, Hamengkubuwana V, ascended the throne amid controversy over who would act as regent.
1804-1828
The fourth sultan of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Hamengkubuwono IV, also spelled Hamengkubuwana IV (1804 – 1828), was the fourth sultan of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, reigning from April 3, 1814 - December 6, 1822, and then from August 17, 1826 - January 2, 1828. His reign was a period of political deterioration that ultimately led up to the Java War. Upon his death, rumors circulated that he had been poisoned. His three-year-old son, Hamengkubuwana V, ascended the throne amid controversy over who would act as regent.
Hamza El Din
1929-2006
Nubian oud player and composer.
Hamza El Din was graduated as an electrical engineer when electrical engineers were a scarcity in his homeland of Sudan and in Egypt where he got his degree. However, without any musical background, his heart was drawn to Nubian music, and he learned the oud to a level of becoming one of the few living masters of this instrument. Hamza managed to re-invent Nubian music traditions. His Sufi background which included listening to the lectures of his grandfather on Rumi and other famous Sufi mystics and poets led him to become adept at Sufism and Sufi music as well.
Hamza El Din was born in Nubia (Wadi Haifa, Sudan) in 1929 along the Nile River near the southern Egyptian border (Aswan). He was one of the many thousands suffering from the Nubian Diaspora following the loss of hometowns and villages after inundation by the waters of the Aswan High Dam. His sentiments were deeply expressed through his songs, where his longing is expressed by calling Nubia the daughter of mother earth. The name of Hamza El Din became synonymous with Nubia and Nubian music and culture. His long and cumbersome journey was accompanied by his oud (lute) and tar (a traditional Nubian instrument). His style was simple and majestically powerful. With a charismatic voice, and only a few taps on the tar and some tender play on the oud, Hamza El Din is capable of making all Nubians hear themselves.
Hamza El Din grew up in a culture rich in melodius and rhythmic music. While studying engineering in Cairo, he took up the oud, A six-string lute which is a principal instrument of Arabic classical music. Later, while holding down full-time jobs, he began studing music formally at the Conservatory of Music in Cairo. During this time, and during subsequent study at the Academy of St. Cecelia in Rome, his work began to combine elements of Nubian and Egyptian traditional music within formal structures.
After Hamza's hometown of Toshka was flooded following the building of a dam in the 1960s, Hamza became determined to preserve the culture of that region. He studied music at Ibrahim Shafiq's Institute of Music and at the King Fuad Institute for Middle Eastern Music.
First discovered by Western audiences through his performances at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, Hamza got his first recording contract through the help of Joan Baez.
In 1964, he made his first recording, Music of Nubia, for Vanguard Recordings. In the same year, he embarked on his first concert tour of the United States.
Hamza's 1970 Nonesuch recording, Escalay: Water Wheel is legendary among musicians and connoisseurs. His best known recording in the United States is Eclipses, produced and engineered by Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart. Hamza's music was part of the sound track for such movies such as the Francis Ford Coppola's Black Stallion, You Are What You Eat, and Robinson's Garden of Japan. His latest releases (on Japanese labels) include: Nubiana Suite "Live Tokyo", a King recording Songs of the Nile (on the JVC World Sounds series), and a companion release to his best-selling album of the same title, (Nile no Nagareno Yoni). Hamza appeared regularly with the Kronos Quartet, which includes Escalay: Water Wheel on their chart-topping Pieces of Africa album.
After that, he traveled, performed and taught music in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In 1981, he went to Japan to make a comparative study of Biwa and Oud (funded by a Japan Foundation grant). Impressed with the country and its peoples, he performed there frequently.
Performing brilliantly on the Oud (the precursor to the lute, pipa and biwa) and the Tar (the ancient single-skinned drum of the upper Nile), along with haunting voice and spellbinding compositions, Hamza El Din combined the pleasures and subtleties of Arabic music with his indigenous music of his native Nubia. In his masterful hands, the oud became a virtuoso instrument as well as an accompaniment to his gentle and hypnotic singing. He single handedly created a new music, essentially a Nubian-Arabic fusion, but one in line with both traditions and informed by Western conservatory training. His music captured the interest of millions of listeners from Europe, Japan, and North America.
Hamza El Din died on May 22, 2006, in Berkeley, California, from a gall bladder infection.
1929-2006
Nubian oud player and composer.
Hamza El Din was graduated as an electrical engineer when electrical engineers were a scarcity in his homeland of Sudan and in Egypt where he got his degree. However, without any musical background, his heart was drawn to Nubian music, and he learned the oud to a level of becoming one of the few living masters of this instrument. Hamza managed to re-invent Nubian music traditions. His Sufi background which included listening to the lectures of his grandfather on Rumi and other famous Sufi mystics and poets led him to become adept at Sufism and Sufi music as well.
Hamza El Din was born in Nubia (Wadi Haifa, Sudan) in 1929 along the Nile River near the southern Egyptian border (Aswan). He was one of the many thousands suffering from the Nubian Diaspora following the loss of hometowns and villages after inundation by the waters of the Aswan High Dam. His sentiments were deeply expressed through his songs, where his longing is expressed by calling Nubia the daughter of mother earth. The name of Hamza El Din became synonymous with Nubia and Nubian music and culture. His long and cumbersome journey was accompanied by his oud (lute) and tar (a traditional Nubian instrument). His style was simple and majestically powerful. With a charismatic voice, and only a few taps on the tar and some tender play on the oud, Hamza El Din is capable of making all Nubians hear themselves.
Hamza El Din grew up in a culture rich in melodius and rhythmic music. While studying engineering in Cairo, he took up the oud, A six-string lute which is a principal instrument of Arabic classical music. Later, while holding down full-time jobs, he began studing music formally at the Conservatory of Music in Cairo. During this time, and during subsequent study at the Academy of St. Cecelia in Rome, his work began to combine elements of Nubian and Egyptian traditional music within formal structures.
After Hamza's hometown of Toshka was flooded following the building of a dam in the 1960s, Hamza became determined to preserve the culture of that region. He studied music at Ibrahim Shafiq's Institute of Music and at the King Fuad Institute for Middle Eastern Music.
First discovered by Western audiences through his performances at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, Hamza got his first recording contract through the help of Joan Baez.
In 1964, he made his first recording, Music of Nubia, for Vanguard Recordings. In the same year, he embarked on his first concert tour of the United States.
Hamza's 1970 Nonesuch recording, Escalay: Water Wheel is legendary among musicians and connoisseurs. His best known recording in the United States is Eclipses, produced and engineered by Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart. Hamza's music was part of the sound track for such movies such as the Francis Ford Coppola's Black Stallion, You Are What You Eat, and Robinson's Garden of Japan. His latest releases (on Japanese labels) include: Nubiana Suite "Live Tokyo", a King recording Songs of the Nile (on the JVC World Sounds series), and a companion release to his best-selling album of the same title, (Nile no Nagareno Yoni). Hamza appeared regularly with the Kronos Quartet, which includes Escalay: Water Wheel on their chart-topping Pieces of Africa album.
After that, he traveled, performed and taught music in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In 1981, he went to Japan to make a comparative study of Biwa and Oud (funded by a Japan Foundation grant). Impressed with the country and its peoples, he performed there frequently.
Performing brilliantly on the Oud (the precursor to the lute, pipa and biwa) and the Tar (the ancient single-skinned drum of the upper Nile), along with haunting voice and spellbinding compositions, Hamza El Din combined the pleasures and subtleties of Arabic music with his indigenous music of his native Nubia. In his masterful hands, the oud became a virtuoso instrument as well as an accompaniment to his gentle and hypnotic singing. He single handedly created a new music, essentially a Nubian-Arabic fusion, but one in line with both traditions and informed by Western conservatory training. His music captured the interest of millions of listeners from Europe, Japan, and North America.
Hamza El Din died on May 22, 2006, in Berkeley, California, from a gall bladder infection.
Harun
c,1250 B.C.T.
Prophet of Islam.
Harun was a prophet mentioned in the Qur'an. In the Bible he is known as Aaron (Aharōn in Hebrew).
Harun was the younger brother of Musa, who is known as Moses in the Bible. Like his brother, he was a prophet who was tasked by God with saving the Israelites from the tyrannical Pharaoh. Harun was a gifted speaker, and would often speak for Musa who suffered from a speech impediment. He was largely responsible for teaching the Israelites the way of worship as it was laid out in the Torah of that time.
According to the Qur'an, Musa prayed to God to grant his brother Harun the gift of prophecy so that he could help him in all his tasks ahead. God granted Musa his request and told him that he could take his brother along with him, and that he should be gentle in his language and patient in all his dealings.
Islam holds that Harun held no part in causing the Israelites to worship the golden calf. Rather, he was overpowered and was threatened with being killed by his people. When Musa returned from the mount, he immediately blamed Harun and seized him by his beard, but Harun then gave his explanation, after which Musa prayed to God to forgive both of them.
He died at Mount Hor.
Islamic tradition holds that Aaron's sons were Shabbar, Shabbir and Mushabbar.
References to Aaron in the Qur'an are:
* Aaron's prophecy: [Qur'an 4:163], [Qur'an 6:84], [Qur'an 10:75], [Qur'an 10:87], [Qur'an 19:53], [Qur'an 21:48], [Qur'an 23:45], [Qur'an 25:35], [Qur'an 26:13], [Qur'an 28:34], [Qur'an 28:35], [Qur'an 37:114], [Qur'an 37:118], [Qur'an 37:119], [Qur'an 37:120], [Qur'an 37:122]
* Aaron and Moses: [Qur'an 7:150], [Qur'an 20:94]
Muslims identify the prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by Allah to teach mankind. According to Islamic tradition, each prophet conveyed the same basic ideas of Islam (defined as submission to God, to his words and to his orders). They brought the belief in a single God and in the avoidance of idolatry and sin. Each came to preach Islam and told of the coming of the final law-bearing prophet and messenger of God: Muhammad. Each prophet directed a message to a different group and each prophet taught minor variations in sharia (or the practice of religion) to a different target audience.
Islamic tradition holds that God sent messengers to every nation. Muslims believe that God finally sent Muhammad to "seal" and to convey the divine message to the whole world (to sum up and to finalize the word of God), whereas he had previously sent the other messengers (rusul) to convey their messages to a specific group of people or to an individual nation.
Muslims regard Adam as the first prophet and Muhammad as the last prophet; (from the traditional interpretation of Muhammad's title Seal of the Prophets). Islam regards Jesus as a rasul (and sometimes as a nabi) because he received wahy (revelation) from God, through which God revealed the Injil (Gospel) to him. Muslims have great respect for Jesus (known by the Arabic form of his given name as Eesa or Isa) and for his mother Maryam. They do not, however, regard Jesus as the son of God.
Islamic theology recognises as many as 224,000 prophets. According to Wheeler, the Qur'an identifies 25 prophets by name, starting with Adam and ending with Muhammad.
In the Hebrew Bible, Aaron (Hebrew; Ahărōn, Arabic: Hārūn), sometimes called Aaron the Levite, was the brother of Moses, (Exodus 6:16-20) and represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites. While Moses was receiving his education at the Egyptian royal court and during his exile among the Midianites, Aaron and his sister remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt (Goshen). Aaron there gained a name for eloquent and persuasive speech; so that when the time came for the demand upon the Pharaoh to release Israel from captivity, Aaron became his brother’s nabi, or spokesman, to his own people (Exodus 7:1) and, after their unwillingness to hear, to the Pharaoh himself (Exodus 7:9). Various dates for his life have been proposed, ranging from approximately 1600 to 1200 BC In Islam, Aaron is a prophet sent to spread the message of God and he is frequently mentioned in the Qur'an.
The meaning of the name "Aaron" is enlightened, exalted, mountain of strength. Aaron’s function included the duties of speaker and implied personal dealings with the Egyptian royal court on behalf of Moses, who was always the central moving figure. The part played by Aaron in the events that preceded the Exodus was, therefore, ministerial, and not directive. He, along with Moses, performed “signs” before his people which impressed them with a belief in the reality of the divine mission of the brothers (Exodus 4:15–16).
At the command of Moses, Aaron stretched out his rod in order to bring on the first three plagues (Exodus 7:19, 8:1,12). In the infliction of the remaining plagues he appears to have acted merely as the attendant of Moses, whose outstretched rod drew the divine wrath upon the Pharaoh and his subjects (Exodus 9:23, 10:13,22). The potency of Aaron’s rod had already been demonstrated by its victory over the rods of the Egyptian magicians, which it swallowed after all the rods alike had been turned into serpents (Exodus 7:9). During the journey in the wilderness, Aaron is not always prominent or active; and he sometimes appears guilty of rebellious or treasonable conduct. At the battle with Amalek, he is chosen with Hur to support the hand of Moses that held the “rod of God” (Exodus 17:9). When the revelation was given to Moses at Mount Sinai, he headed the elders of Israel who accompanied Moses on the way to the summit. Joshua, however, was admitted with his leader to the very presence of the Lord, while Aaron and Hur remained below to look after the people Exodus 24:9-14. It was during the prolonged absence of Moses that Aaron yielded to the clamors of the people, and made a Golden Calf as a visible image of the divinity who had delivered them from Egypt (Exodus 32:1-6). (It should be noted that in the account given of the same events, in the Qur'an, Aaron is not the idol-maker and upon Moses' return begged his pardon as he had felt mortally threatened by the Israelites (Quran 7:142-152).) At the intercession of Moses, Aaron was saved from the plague which smote the people (Deuteronomy 9:20, Exodus 32:35), although it was to Aaron’s tribe of Levi that the work of punitive vengeance was committed (Exodus 32:26).
At the time when the tribe of Levi was set apart for the priestly service, Aaron was anointed and consecrated to the priesthood, arrayed in the robes of his office, and instructed in its manifold duties (Exodus 28, Exodus 29).
On the very day of his consecration, his sons, Nadab and Abihu, were consumed by fire from the Lord for having offered incense in an unlawful manner (Leviticus 10).
Scholarly consensus is that in Aaron's high priesthood the sacred writer intended to describe a model, the prototype, so to say, of the Jewish high priest. God, on Mount Sinai instituting a worship, also instituted an order of priests. According to the patriarchal customs, the firstborn son in every family used to perform the functions connected with God's worship. It might have been expected, consequently, that Reuben's family would be chosen by God for the ministry of the new altar. However, according to the biblical narrative it was Aaron who was the object of God's choice. To what jealousies this gave rise later, has been indicated above. The office of the Aaronites was at first merely to take care of the lamp which was to burn perpetually before the veil of the tabernacle Exodus 27:21. A more formal calling soon followed (Exodus 28:1). Aaron and his sons, distinguished from the commoners by their sacred functions, were also to receive holy garments suitable to their office.
Aaron offered the various sacrifices and performed the many ceremonies of the consecration of the new priests, according to the divine instructions (Exodus 29), and repeated these rites for seven days, during which Aaron and his sons were entirely separated from the rest of the people. When, on the eighth day, the high priest had inaugurated his office of sacrifice by killing the animals, he blessed the people (very likely according to the prescriptions of Numbers 6:24-26) and, with Moses, entered into the tabernacle to possess it. They "came forth and blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the multitude: And behold a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces" (Leviticus 9:23-24). In this way the institution of the Aaronic priesthood was established.
From the time of the sojourn at Mount Sinai, where he became the anointed priest of Israel, Aaron ceased to be the minister of Moses, his place being taken by Joshua. He is mentioned in association with Miriam in a jealous complaint against the exclusive claims of Moses as the Lord’s prophet. The presumption of the murmurers was rebuked, and Miriam was smitten with Tzaraath. Aaron entreated Moses to intercede for her, at the same time confessing the sin and folly that prompted the uprising. Aaron himself was not struck with the plague on account of sacerdotal immunity; and Miriam, after seven days’ quarantine, was healed and restored to favor (Numbers 12). Micah a prophet in Judaism, mentions Moses, Aaron, and Miriam as the leaders of Israel after the Exodus (a judgment wholly in accord with the tenor of the narratives). In the present instance it is made clear by the express words of the oracle (Numbers 12:6-8) that Moses was unique among men as the one with whom the Lord spoke face to face. The failure to recognize or concede this prerogative of their brother was the sin of Miriam and Aaron.
The validity of the exclusive priesthood of the family of Aaron was attested after the ill-fated rebellion of Korah, who was a first cousin of Aaron. When the earth had opened and swallowed up the leaders of the insurgents (Numbers 16:25-35), Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was commissioned to take charge of the censers of the dead priests. And when the plague had broken out among the people who had sympathized with the rebels, Aaron, at the command of Moses, took his censer and stood between the living and the dead till the plague was stayed (Numbers 17:1-15, 16:36-50).
Another memorable transaction followed. Each of the tribal princes of Israel took a rod and wrote his name upon it, and the twelve rods were laid up over night in the tent of meeting. The next morning Aaron’s rod was found to have budded and blossomed and produced ripe almonds (Numbers 17:8). The miracle proved merely the prerogative of the tribe of Levi; but now a formal distinction was made in perpetuity between the family of Aaron and the other Levites. While all the Levites (and only Levites) were to be devoted to sacred services, the special charge of the sanctuary and the altar was committed to the Aaronites alone (Numbers 18:1-7).
Aaron, like Moses, was not permitted to enter Canaan with the others. The reason alleged is that the two brothers showed impatience at Meribah (Kadesh) in the last year of the desert pilgrimage (Numbers 20:12-13), when Moses brought water out of a rock to quench the thirst of the people. The action was construed as displaying a want of deference to the Lord, since they had been commanded to speak to the rock, whereas Moses struck it with the staff, twice (Numbers 20:7-11).
Of the death of Aaron we have two accounts. The principal one gives a detailed statement that soon after the incident at Meribah, Aaron, with his son Eleazar and Moses, ascended Mount Hor. There Moses stripped Aaron of his priestly garments and transferred them to Eleazar. Aaron died on the summit of the mountain, and the people mourned for him thirty days (Numbers 20:22-29; compare 33:38-39). The other account is found in Deuteronomy 10:6, where Moses is reported as saying that Aaron died at Moserah and was buried there. There is a significant amount of travel between these two points, as the itinerary in Numbers 33:31–37 records seven stages between Moseroth (Mosera) and Mount Hor.
The older prophets and prophetical writers beheld in their priests the representatives of a religious form inferior to the prophetic truth; men without the spirit of God and lacking the will-power requisite to resist the multitude in its idolatrous proclivities. Thus Aaron, the first priest, ranks below Moses: he is his mouthpiece, and the executor of the will of God revealed through Moses, although it is pointed out that it is said fifteen times in the Pentateuch that “the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron.” Under the influence of the priesthood which shaped the destinies of the nation under Persian rule, a different ideal of the priest was formed, as is learned from Malachi 2:4–7; and the prevailing tendency was to place Aaron on a footing equal with Moses.
Recently, the tradition that Kohanim are actually descended from a single patriarch, Aaron, was found to be apparently consistent with genetic testing. The majority of Kohanim, but not all, share a direct male lineage with a common Y chromosome, and testing was done across sectors of the Jewish population to see if there was any commonality between the Y chromosomes of Kohanim. The results were found to cluster rather closely around a specific DNA signature, found in the Semitic Haplogroup J1, which the researchers named the Cohen modal haplotype, implying that many of the Kohanim do share a distinctive common ancestry. This information was also used to support the claim that the Lemba (a sub-Saharan African tribe) are in fact descendant from a group of Jewish priests.
Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon (Exod 6:23). The sons of Aaron were Eleazar, Ithamar, Nadab and Abihu. A descendant of Aaron is an Aaronite, or Kohen, meaning Priest.
Aaron was Moses' older brother. He was born three years before Moses, before the Pharaoh's edict requiring the death of male Hebrew children. He was the ancestor of all koheins, the founder of the priesthood, and the first Kohein Gadol (High Priest). Aaron and his descendants tended the altar and offered sacrifices. Aaron's role, unlike Moses', was inherited; his sons continued the priesthood after him (Num. 20:26).
Aaron served as Moses' spokesman. As discussed above, Moses was not eloquent and had a speech impediment, so Aaron spoke for him (Ex. 4:10-16). Contrary to popular belief, it was Aaron, not Moses, who cast down the staff that became a snake before Pharaoh (Ex. 7:10-12). It was Aaron, not Moses, who held out his staff to trigger the first three plagues against Egypt (Ex. 7:19-20; Ex. 8:1-2 or 8:5-6; Ex. 8:12-13 or 8:16-17). According to Jewish tradition, it was also Aaron who performed the signs for the elders before they went to Pharaoh (Ex. 4:30).
Aaron's most notable personal quality is that he was a peacemaker. In fact, Aaron loved peace so much that he participated in the incident of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32), constructing the idol in order to prevent dissension among the people. Aaron intended to buy time until Moses returned from Mount Sinai (he was late, and the people were worried), to discourage the people by asking them to give up their precious jewelry in order to make the idol, and to teach them the error of their ways in time (Ex. 32:22).
Aaron is described in the Old Testament book of Exodus as a son of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi, three years older than his brother Moses. He acted together with his brother in the desperate situation of the Israelites in Egypt and took an active part in the Exodus. Although Moses was the actual leader, Aaron acted as his “mouth.” The two brothers went to the pharaoh together, and it was Aaron who told him to let the people of Israel go, using his magic rod in order to show the might of Yahweh. When the pharaoh finally decided to release the people, Yahweh gave the important ordinance of the Passover, the annual ritual remembrance of the Exodus, to Aaron and Moses. But Moses alone went up on Mount Sinai, and he alone was allowed to come near to Yahweh. Moses later was ordered to “bring near” Aaron and his sons, and they were anointed and consecrated to be priests “by a perpetual statute.” Aaron’s sons were to take over the priestly garments after him. Aaron is not represented as wholly blameless. It was he who, when Moses was delayed on Mount Sinai, made the golden calf that was idolatrously worshiped by the people.
Once a year, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Aaron was allowed to come into the Holy of Holies, the most sacred part of the tabernacle, or sanctuary, in which the Hebrew tribes worshiped, bringing his offering. Together with his sister, Miriam, Aaron spoke against Moses because he had married a foreigner (a Cushite woman); but, as in the episode of the golden calf, the narrative tells how Aaron was merely reproved, though Miriam was punished, for the offense. In the rebellion of Korah the Levite, however, Aaron stood firmly at the side of Moses.
Aaron is a central figure in the traditions about the Exodus, though his role varies in importance. At the beginning he seems to be coequal with Moses, but after the march out of Egypt he is only a shadow at Moses’ side. Moses is obviously the leading figure in the tradition, but it is also clear that he is pictured as delegating his authority in all priestly and cultic matters to Aaron and his sons.
c,1250 B.C.T.
Prophet of Islam.
Harun was a prophet mentioned in the Qur'an. In the Bible he is known as Aaron (Aharōn in Hebrew).
Harun was the younger brother of Musa, who is known as Moses in the Bible. Like his brother, he was a prophet who was tasked by God with saving the Israelites from the tyrannical Pharaoh. Harun was a gifted speaker, and would often speak for Musa who suffered from a speech impediment. He was largely responsible for teaching the Israelites the way of worship as it was laid out in the Torah of that time.
According to the Qur'an, Musa prayed to God to grant his brother Harun the gift of prophecy so that he could help him in all his tasks ahead. God granted Musa his request and told him that he could take his brother along with him, and that he should be gentle in his language and patient in all his dealings.
Islam holds that Harun held no part in causing the Israelites to worship the golden calf. Rather, he was overpowered and was threatened with being killed by his people. When Musa returned from the mount, he immediately blamed Harun and seized him by his beard, but Harun then gave his explanation, after which Musa prayed to God to forgive both of them.
He died at Mount Hor.
Islamic tradition holds that Aaron's sons were Shabbar, Shabbir and Mushabbar.
References to Aaron in the Qur'an are:
* Aaron's prophecy: [Qur'an 4:163], [Qur'an 6:84], [Qur'an 10:75], [Qur'an 10:87], [Qur'an 19:53], [Qur'an 21:48], [Qur'an 23:45], [Qur'an 25:35], [Qur'an 26:13], [Qur'an 28:34], [Qur'an 28:35], [Qur'an 37:114], [Qur'an 37:118], [Qur'an 37:119], [Qur'an 37:120], [Qur'an 37:122]
* Aaron and Moses: [Qur'an 7:150], [Qur'an 20:94]
Muslims identify the prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by Allah to teach mankind. According to Islamic tradition, each prophet conveyed the same basic ideas of Islam (defined as submission to God, to his words and to his orders). They brought the belief in a single God and in the avoidance of idolatry and sin. Each came to preach Islam and told of the coming of the final law-bearing prophet and messenger of God: Muhammad. Each prophet directed a message to a different group and each prophet taught minor variations in sharia (or the practice of religion) to a different target audience.
Islamic tradition holds that God sent messengers to every nation. Muslims believe that God finally sent Muhammad to "seal" and to convey the divine message to the whole world (to sum up and to finalize the word of God), whereas he had previously sent the other messengers (rusul) to convey their messages to a specific group of people or to an individual nation.
Muslims regard Adam as the first prophet and Muhammad as the last prophet; (from the traditional interpretation of Muhammad's title Seal of the Prophets). Islam regards Jesus as a rasul (and sometimes as a nabi) because he received wahy (revelation) from God, through which God revealed the Injil (Gospel) to him. Muslims have great respect for Jesus (known by the Arabic form of his given name as Eesa or Isa) and for his mother Maryam. They do not, however, regard Jesus as the son of God.
Islamic theology recognises as many as 224,000 prophets. According to Wheeler, the Qur'an identifies 25 prophets by name, starting with Adam and ending with Muhammad.
In the Hebrew Bible, Aaron (Hebrew; Ahărōn, Arabic: Hārūn), sometimes called Aaron the Levite, was the brother of Moses, (Exodus 6:16-20) and represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites. While Moses was receiving his education at the Egyptian royal court and during his exile among the Midianites, Aaron and his sister remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt (Goshen). Aaron there gained a name for eloquent and persuasive speech; so that when the time came for the demand upon the Pharaoh to release Israel from captivity, Aaron became his brother’s nabi, or spokesman, to his own people (Exodus 7:1) and, after their unwillingness to hear, to the Pharaoh himself (Exodus 7:9). Various dates for his life have been proposed, ranging from approximately 1600 to 1200 BC In Islam, Aaron is a prophet sent to spread the message of God and he is frequently mentioned in the Qur'an.
The meaning of the name "Aaron" is enlightened, exalted, mountain of strength. Aaron’s function included the duties of speaker and implied personal dealings with the Egyptian royal court on behalf of Moses, who was always the central moving figure. The part played by Aaron in the events that preceded the Exodus was, therefore, ministerial, and not directive. He, along with Moses, performed “signs” before his people which impressed them with a belief in the reality of the divine mission of the brothers (Exodus 4:15–16).
At the command of Moses, Aaron stretched out his rod in order to bring on the first three plagues (Exodus 7:19, 8:1,12). In the infliction of the remaining plagues he appears to have acted merely as the attendant of Moses, whose outstretched rod drew the divine wrath upon the Pharaoh and his subjects (Exodus 9:23, 10:13,22). The potency of Aaron’s rod had already been demonstrated by its victory over the rods of the Egyptian magicians, which it swallowed after all the rods alike had been turned into serpents (Exodus 7:9). During the journey in the wilderness, Aaron is not always prominent or active; and he sometimes appears guilty of rebellious or treasonable conduct. At the battle with Amalek, he is chosen with Hur to support the hand of Moses that held the “rod of God” (Exodus 17:9). When the revelation was given to Moses at Mount Sinai, he headed the elders of Israel who accompanied Moses on the way to the summit. Joshua, however, was admitted with his leader to the very presence of the Lord, while Aaron and Hur remained below to look after the people Exodus 24:9-14. It was during the prolonged absence of Moses that Aaron yielded to the clamors of the people, and made a Golden Calf as a visible image of the divinity who had delivered them from Egypt (Exodus 32:1-6). (It should be noted that in the account given of the same events, in the Qur'an, Aaron is not the idol-maker and upon Moses' return begged his pardon as he had felt mortally threatened by the Israelites (Quran 7:142-152).) At the intercession of Moses, Aaron was saved from the plague which smote the people (Deuteronomy 9:20, Exodus 32:35), although it was to Aaron’s tribe of Levi that the work of punitive vengeance was committed (Exodus 32:26).
At the time when the tribe of Levi was set apart for the priestly service, Aaron was anointed and consecrated to the priesthood, arrayed in the robes of his office, and instructed in its manifold duties (Exodus 28, Exodus 29).
On the very day of his consecration, his sons, Nadab and Abihu, were consumed by fire from the Lord for having offered incense in an unlawful manner (Leviticus 10).
Scholarly consensus is that in Aaron's high priesthood the sacred writer intended to describe a model, the prototype, so to say, of the Jewish high priest. God, on Mount Sinai instituting a worship, also instituted an order of priests. According to the patriarchal customs, the firstborn son in every family used to perform the functions connected with God's worship. It might have been expected, consequently, that Reuben's family would be chosen by God for the ministry of the new altar. However, according to the biblical narrative it was Aaron who was the object of God's choice. To what jealousies this gave rise later, has been indicated above. The office of the Aaronites was at first merely to take care of the lamp which was to burn perpetually before the veil of the tabernacle Exodus 27:21. A more formal calling soon followed (Exodus 28:1). Aaron and his sons, distinguished from the commoners by their sacred functions, were also to receive holy garments suitable to their office.
Aaron offered the various sacrifices and performed the many ceremonies of the consecration of the new priests, according to the divine instructions (Exodus 29), and repeated these rites for seven days, during which Aaron and his sons were entirely separated from the rest of the people. When, on the eighth day, the high priest had inaugurated his office of sacrifice by killing the animals, he blessed the people (very likely according to the prescriptions of Numbers 6:24-26) and, with Moses, entered into the tabernacle to possess it. They "came forth and blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the multitude: And behold a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces" (Leviticus 9:23-24). In this way the institution of the Aaronic priesthood was established.
From the time of the sojourn at Mount Sinai, where he became the anointed priest of Israel, Aaron ceased to be the minister of Moses, his place being taken by Joshua. He is mentioned in association with Miriam in a jealous complaint against the exclusive claims of Moses as the Lord’s prophet. The presumption of the murmurers was rebuked, and Miriam was smitten with Tzaraath. Aaron entreated Moses to intercede for her, at the same time confessing the sin and folly that prompted the uprising. Aaron himself was not struck with the plague on account of sacerdotal immunity; and Miriam, after seven days’ quarantine, was healed and restored to favor (Numbers 12). Micah a prophet in Judaism, mentions Moses, Aaron, and Miriam as the leaders of Israel after the Exodus (a judgment wholly in accord with the tenor of the narratives). In the present instance it is made clear by the express words of the oracle (Numbers 12:6-8) that Moses was unique among men as the one with whom the Lord spoke face to face. The failure to recognize or concede this prerogative of their brother was the sin of Miriam and Aaron.
The validity of the exclusive priesthood of the family of Aaron was attested after the ill-fated rebellion of Korah, who was a first cousin of Aaron. When the earth had opened and swallowed up the leaders of the insurgents (Numbers 16:25-35), Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was commissioned to take charge of the censers of the dead priests. And when the plague had broken out among the people who had sympathized with the rebels, Aaron, at the command of Moses, took his censer and stood between the living and the dead till the plague was stayed (Numbers 17:1-15, 16:36-50).
Another memorable transaction followed. Each of the tribal princes of Israel took a rod and wrote his name upon it, and the twelve rods were laid up over night in the tent of meeting. The next morning Aaron’s rod was found to have budded and blossomed and produced ripe almonds (Numbers 17:8). The miracle proved merely the prerogative of the tribe of Levi; but now a formal distinction was made in perpetuity between the family of Aaron and the other Levites. While all the Levites (and only Levites) were to be devoted to sacred services, the special charge of the sanctuary and the altar was committed to the Aaronites alone (Numbers 18:1-7).
Aaron, like Moses, was not permitted to enter Canaan with the others. The reason alleged is that the two brothers showed impatience at Meribah (Kadesh) in the last year of the desert pilgrimage (Numbers 20:12-13), when Moses brought water out of a rock to quench the thirst of the people. The action was construed as displaying a want of deference to the Lord, since they had been commanded to speak to the rock, whereas Moses struck it with the staff, twice (Numbers 20:7-11).
Of the death of Aaron we have two accounts. The principal one gives a detailed statement that soon after the incident at Meribah, Aaron, with his son Eleazar and Moses, ascended Mount Hor. There Moses stripped Aaron of his priestly garments and transferred them to Eleazar. Aaron died on the summit of the mountain, and the people mourned for him thirty days (Numbers 20:22-29; compare 33:38-39). The other account is found in Deuteronomy 10:6, where Moses is reported as saying that Aaron died at Moserah and was buried there. There is a significant amount of travel between these two points, as the itinerary in Numbers 33:31–37 records seven stages between Moseroth (Mosera) and Mount Hor.
The older prophets and prophetical writers beheld in their priests the representatives of a religious form inferior to the prophetic truth; men without the spirit of God and lacking the will-power requisite to resist the multitude in its idolatrous proclivities. Thus Aaron, the first priest, ranks below Moses: he is his mouthpiece, and the executor of the will of God revealed through Moses, although it is pointed out that it is said fifteen times in the Pentateuch that “the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron.” Under the influence of the priesthood which shaped the destinies of the nation under Persian rule, a different ideal of the priest was formed, as is learned from Malachi 2:4–7; and the prevailing tendency was to place Aaron on a footing equal with Moses.
Recently, the tradition that Kohanim are actually descended from a single patriarch, Aaron, was found to be apparently consistent with genetic testing. The majority of Kohanim, but not all, share a direct male lineage with a common Y chromosome, and testing was done across sectors of the Jewish population to see if there was any commonality between the Y chromosomes of Kohanim. The results were found to cluster rather closely around a specific DNA signature, found in the Semitic Haplogroup J1, which the researchers named the Cohen modal haplotype, implying that many of the Kohanim do share a distinctive common ancestry. This information was also used to support the claim that the Lemba (a sub-Saharan African tribe) are in fact descendant from a group of Jewish priests.
Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon (Exod 6:23). The sons of Aaron were Eleazar, Ithamar, Nadab and Abihu. A descendant of Aaron is an Aaronite, or Kohen, meaning Priest.
Aaron was Moses' older brother. He was born three years before Moses, before the Pharaoh's edict requiring the death of male Hebrew children. He was the ancestor of all koheins, the founder of the priesthood, and the first Kohein Gadol (High Priest). Aaron and his descendants tended the altar and offered sacrifices. Aaron's role, unlike Moses', was inherited; his sons continued the priesthood after him (Num. 20:26).
Aaron served as Moses' spokesman. As discussed above, Moses was not eloquent and had a speech impediment, so Aaron spoke for him (Ex. 4:10-16). Contrary to popular belief, it was Aaron, not Moses, who cast down the staff that became a snake before Pharaoh (Ex. 7:10-12). It was Aaron, not Moses, who held out his staff to trigger the first three plagues against Egypt (Ex. 7:19-20; Ex. 8:1-2 or 8:5-6; Ex. 8:12-13 or 8:16-17). According to Jewish tradition, it was also Aaron who performed the signs for the elders before they went to Pharaoh (Ex. 4:30).
Aaron's most notable personal quality is that he was a peacemaker. In fact, Aaron loved peace so much that he participated in the incident of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32), constructing the idol in order to prevent dissension among the people. Aaron intended to buy time until Moses returned from Mount Sinai (he was late, and the people were worried), to discourage the people by asking them to give up their precious jewelry in order to make the idol, and to teach them the error of their ways in time (Ex. 32:22).
Aaron is described in the Old Testament book of Exodus as a son of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi, three years older than his brother Moses. He acted together with his brother in the desperate situation of the Israelites in Egypt and took an active part in the Exodus. Although Moses was the actual leader, Aaron acted as his “mouth.” The two brothers went to the pharaoh together, and it was Aaron who told him to let the people of Israel go, using his magic rod in order to show the might of Yahweh. When the pharaoh finally decided to release the people, Yahweh gave the important ordinance of the Passover, the annual ritual remembrance of the Exodus, to Aaron and Moses. But Moses alone went up on Mount Sinai, and he alone was allowed to come near to Yahweh. Moses later was ordered to “bring near” Aaron and his sons, and they were anointed and consecrated to be priests “by a perpetual statute.” Aaron’s sons were to take over the priestly garments after him. Aaron is not represented as wholly blameless. It was he who, when Moses was delayed on Mount Sinai, made the golden calf that was idolatrously worshiped by the people.
Once a year, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Aaron was allowed to come into the Holy of Holies, the most sacred part of the tabernacle, or sanctuary, in which the Hebrew tribes worshiped, bringing his offering. Together with his sister, Miriam, Aaron spoke against Moses because he had married a foreigner (a Cushite woman); but, as in the episode of the golden calf, the narrative tells how Aaron was merely reproved, though Miriam was punished, for the offense. In the rebellion of Korah the Levite, however, Aaron stood firmly at the side of Moses.
Aaron is a central figure in the traditions about the Exodus, though his role varies in importance. At the beginning he seems to be coequal with Moses, but after the march out of Egypt he is only a shadow at Moses’ side. Moses is obviously the leading figure in the tradition, but it is also clear that he is pictured as delegating his authority in all priestly and cultic matters to Aaron and his sons.
Hasan di Tiro
1925-2010
Founder of the Free Aceh Movement.
Tengku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro (25 August 1925 – 3 June 2010) was the founder of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), an organization which attempted to separate Aceh from Indonesia during the 1970s. The Free Aceh Movement surrendered its separatist goals and was disarmed as agreed to in the Helsinki peace deal of 2005.
Tengku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro was a grandson of Tengku Cik di Tiro, an Indonesian national hero who was killed fighting the Dutch in 1891.
Coming from a prominent family, with blood links to former Aceh sultans, from the village of Tiro (Pidie Regency), di Tiro studied in Yogyakarta before proceeding to pursue further studies in the United States, where he did part-time work for the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations. While a student in New York in 1953, he declared himself the "foreign minister" of the rebellious Darul Islam movement, which in Aceh was led by Daud Bereueh. Due to this action, he was immediately stripped of his Indonesian citizenship, causing him to be imprisoned for a few months on Ellis Island as an illegal alien. The Darul Islam rebellion in Aceh ended in a peace deal in 1962. Under the peace deal Aceh was granted autonomy.
Di Tiro re-appeared in Aceh in 1974, where he applied for a pipeline contract in the new Mobil Oil gas plant to be built in Lhokseumawe area. He was outbid by Bechtel, in a controverted process in which di Tiro thought the central government had too much control. As a result of this loss, and the death of his brother due to what he considered to be deliberate neglect by a doctor of Javanese ethnicity, di Tiro began organising a separatist movement using his old Darul Islam contacts.
He declared his organisation as the Free Aceh Movement ("Gerakan Aceh Merdeka") on December 4, 1976. Amongst its goals was the total independence of Aceh from Indonesia. Di Tiro chose independence as one of GAM's goals instead of autonomy due to his focus on Acehnese ethnic-nationalism, as opposed to the former Darul Islam rebellion who sought to overthrow the secular Pancasila ideology of Indonesia and create a pan-Indonesian Islamic state based on sharia. In his "Declaration of Independence", he questioned Indonesia's right to exist as it was a multi-cultural nation consisting of multitudes of ethnicities with little in common except a common history of Dutch colonialism. As such, the Acehnese ethnic-group, who according to him was superior due to their particularly strong resistance to Dutch colonialism, should be separate from the "fraudulent" state of Indonesia and revert to its independent status as prior to the Dutch invasion of 1873.
Due to this new focus on ethnic-chauvinism, GAM's major activities mostly consisted of attacking non-Acehnese in an effort to cleanse Aceh of other ethnic groups, particularly the Javanese people.
In 1977, after leading a GAM attack in which one American engineer was killed and another American and South Korean engineer injured, Hasan di Tiro was hunted by the Indonesian military. He was shot in the leg in a military ambush, and fled to Malaysia.
After 1980, di Tiro lived in Stockholm, Sweden, and obtained Swedish citizenship. After the tsunami of 2004, the GAM and the Indonesian government agreed to a peace treaty in which more autonomy for Aceh was accepted by di Tiro and his followers. In October 2008, after 30 years of exile, di Tiro returned to the Indonesian province of Aceh.
Hasan di Tiro returned to Aceh after 30 years of exile on October 11, 2008. However, he was too frail even to deliver his own speech at his welcome rally. He stayed for two weeks before returning to Sweden. On October 17, 2009 he returned to Aceh for the second time and stayed there. In June 2010, he obtained his Indonesian citizenship back after living years with a Swedish passport. Shortly afterwards, he died on June 3, 2010, in a Banda Aceh hospital after two weeks in intensive care.
1925-2010
Founder of the Free Aceh Movement.
Tengku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro (25 August 1925 – 3 June 2010) was the founder of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), an organization which attempted to separate Aceh from Indonesia during the 1970s. The Free Aceh Movement surrendered its separatist goals and was disarmed as agreed to in the Helsinki peace deal of 2005.
Tengku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro was a grandson of Tengku Cik di Tiro, an Indonesian national hero who was killed fighting the Dutch in 1891.
Coming from a prominent family, with blood links to former Aceh sultans, from the village of Tiro (Pidie Regency), di Tiro studied in Yogyakarta before proceeding to pursue further studies in the United States, where he did part-time work for the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations. While a student in New York in 1953, he declared himself the "foreign minister" of the rebellious Darul Islam movement, which in Aceh was led by Daud Bereueh. Due to this action, he was immediately stripped of his Indonesian citizenship, causing him to be imprisoned for a few months on Ellis Island as an illegal alien. The Darul Islam rebellion in Aceh ended in a peace deal in 1962. Under the peace deal Aceh was granted autonomy.
Di Tiro re-appeared in Aceh in 1974, where he applied for a pipeline contract in the new Mobil Oil gas plant to be built in Lhokseumawe area. He was outbid by Bechtel, in a controverted process in which di Tiro thought the central government had too much control. As a result of this loss, and the death of his brother due to what he considered to be deliberate neglect by a doctor of Javanese ethnicity, di Tiro began organising a separatist movement using his old Darul Islam contacts.
He declared his organisation as the Free Aceh Movement ("Gerakan Aceh Merdeka") on December 4, 1976. Amongst its goals was the total independence of Aceh from Indonesia. Di Tiro chose independence as one of GAM's goals instead of autonomy due to his focus on Acehnese ethnic-nationalism, as opposed to the former Darul Islam rebellion who sought to overthrow the secular Pancasila ideology of Indonesia and create a pan-Indonesian Islamic state based on sharia. In his "Declaration of Independence", he questioned Indonesia's right to exist as it was a multi-cultural nation consisting of multitudes of ethnicities with little in common except a common history of Dutch colonialism. As such, the Acehnese ethnic-group, who according to him was superior due to their particularly strong resistance to Dutch colonialism, should be separate from the "fraudulent" state of Indonesia and revert to its independent status as prior to the Dutch invasion of 1873.
Due to this new focus on ethnic-chauvinism, GAM's major activities mostly consisted of attacking non-Acehnese in an effort to cleanse Aceh of other ethnic groups, particularly the Javanese people.
In 1977, after leading a GAM attack in which one American engineer was killed and another American and South Korean engineer injured, Hasan di Tiro was hunted by the Indonesian military. He was shot in the leg in a military ambush, and fled to Malaysia.
After 1980, di Tiro lived in Stockholm, Sweden, and obtained Swedish citizenship. After the tsunami of 2004, the GAM and the Indonesian government agreed to a peace treaty in which more autonomy for Aceh was accepted by di Tiro and his followers. In October 2008, after 30 years of exile, di Tiro returned to the Indonesian province of Aceh.
Hasan di Tiro returned to Aceh after 30 years of exile on October 11, 2008. However, he was too frail even to deliver his own speech at his welcome rally. He stayed for two weeks before returning to Sweden. On October 17, 2009 he returned to Aceh for the second time and stayed there. In June 2010, he obtained his Indonesian citizenship back after living years with a Swedish passport. Shortly afterwards, he died on June 3, 2010, in a Banda Aceh hospital after two weeks in intensive care.
Hassan Nooraddeenul Iskandhar I
? - 1799
The Sultan of the Maldives.
Sultan Al hajj Hassan Nooraddeenul Iskandhar I was the Sultan of the Maldives from 1779–1799. He was the son of Sultan Muhammad Mu'iz ud-din. Nooraddeen went on hajj twice and on the second occasion he battled with the Sharif of Mecca. He died in Jeddah, together with 238 of the men of the Maldivian army, from an infectious disease called kashividhuri or smallpox.
? - 1799
The Sultan of the Maldives.
Sultan Al hajj Hassan Nooraddeenul Iskandhar I was the Sultan of the Maldives from 1779–1799. He was the son of Sultan Muhammad Mu'iz ud-din. Nooraddeen went on hajj twice and on the second occasion he battled with the Sharif of Mecca. He died in Jeddah, together with 238 of the men of the Maldivian army, from an infectious disease called kashividhuri or smallpox.
Hayek, Nicolas George
1928-2010
Swiss-Lebanese entrepreneur, co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Swatch Group.
Nicolas George Hayek (19 February 1928, Beirut – 28 June 2010, Biel), was born, the second of three children, to a Lebanese mother and a Lebanese-American father, both from well-regarded Greek-Orthodox Christian Lebanese families with deep roots in Lebanon's Northern Governorate of El-Koura. His father was trained as a dentist at Loyola University Chicago. His older sister Mona is the widow of the renowned Lebanese architect Joseph Philippe Karam. His younger brother Sam, also a Swiss citizen, is a former CEO of the Swiss group Sibra (Biere Cardinal).
In his early twenties, Hayek met his Swiss wife Marianne in Beirut. They moved to Switzerland and had two children, Nayla and Nicolas (Nick), Jr.
Hayek started his business career as a management consultant. He was the founder, Chairman of the Board and C.E.O. of Hayek Engineering Inc., a management consulting firm headquartered in Zurich. Hayek made his mark quickly on the Swiss and European business scene by consulting and effecting successful turnarounds at several of the largest European multinationals.
In the early 1980s, Hayek, by then one of the most trusted business figures in Switzerland, was called upon by a group of Swiss bankers to oversee a liquidation of ASUAG and SSIH, two Swiss watch-making firms which were in turmoil due to heavy competition from Japanese watch manufacturers such as Seiko and Citizen Watch. Hayek believed that the Swiss watch manufacturing industry could remain competitive with a restructuring and a focus on different business areas. After having engineered and implemented the reorganization of the ASUAG and SSIH watch companies for more than four years, finally bringing about their merger, Hayek, with a group of Swiss investors, took over a majority shareholding in the new group in 1985. He became Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer in 1986.
Hayek played a decisive role in the recovery of the Swatch Group with its watch brands Swatch, Blancpain, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Pierre Balmain, Calvin Klein, Flik Flak, Breguet and Lanco. The strategies he developed in the early 1980s led to the success of the entire Swiss watch industry and regained its leading position worldwide since 1984.
Hayek was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the Faculty of Beni Culturali of the University of Bologna (Italy) in June 1998, after being awarded doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) in 1996.
Hayek is also credited with having a fundamental role in the creation of the Smart Car, a small European car created for inner city use by Mercedes Benz. Original names for the car revolved around the Swatch name — and even today aspects of the car such as its interchangeable body panels are clearly linked with the Swatch philosophy.
In 1995, Hayek's daughter, Nayla Hayek joined the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group and in early 2010, she became co-Vice-Chairman of the Board. In 2003, his son, Nick Hayek, Jr. became the CEO of the Swatch Group. Hayek remained Chairman of the Board of the Swatch Group until his death.
In 2010, Hayek was rated the world's 232nd richest person with an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion.
Hayek died on June 28, 2010 of cardiac arrest during work at the Swatch Group headquarters in Biel.
On June 30, 2010, two days after his passing, the Board elected Hayek's daughter, Nayla, to replace him as Chairman.
1928-2010
Swiss-Lebanese entrepreneur, co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Swatch Group.
Nicolas George Hayek (19 February 1928, Beirut – 28 June 2010, Biel), was born, the second of three children, to a Lebanese mother and a Lebanese-American father, both from well-regarded Greek-Orthodox Christian Lebanese families with deep roots in Lebanon's Northern Governorate of El-Koura. His father was trained as a dentist at Loyola University Chicago. His older sister Mona is the widow of the renowned Lebanese architect Joseph Philippe Karam. His younger brother Sam, also a Swiss citizen, is a former CEO of the Swiss group Sibra (Biere Cardinal).
In his early twenties, Hayek met his Swiss wife Marianne in Beirut. They moved to Switzerland and had two children, Nayla and Nicolas (Nick), Jr.
Hayek started his business career as a management consultant. He was the founder, Chairman of the Board and C.E.O. of Hayek Engineering Inc., a management consulting firm headquartered in Zurich. Hayek made his mark quickly on the Swiss and European business scene by consulting and effecting successful turnarounds at several of the largest European multinationals.
In the early 1980s, Hayek, by then one of the most trusted business figures in Switzerland, was called upon by a group of Swiss bankers to oversee a liquidation of ASUAG and SSIH, two Swiss watch-making firms which were in turmoil due to heavy competition from Japanese watch manufacturers such as Seiko and Citizen Watch. Hayek believed that the Swiss watch manufacturing industry could remain competitive with a restructuring and a focus on different business areas. After having engineered and implemented the reorganization of the ASUAG and SSIH watch companies for more than four years, finally bringing about their merger, Hayek, with a group of Swiss investors, took over a majority shareholding in the new group in 1985. He became Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer in 1986.
Hayek played a decisive role in the recovery of the Swatch Group with its watch brands Swatch, Blancpain, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Pierre Balmain, Calvin Klein, Flik Flak, Breguet and Lanco. The strategies he developed in the early 1980s led to the success of the entire Swiss watch industry and regained its leading position worldwide since 1984.
Hayek was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the Faculty of Beni Culturali of the University of Bologna (Italy) in June 1998, after being awarded doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) in 1996.
Hayek is also credited with having a fundamental role in the creation of the Smart Car, a small European car created for inner city use by Mercedes Benz. Original names for the car revolved around the Swatch name — and even today aspects of the car such as its interchangeable body panels are clearly linked with the Swatch philosophy.
In 1995, Hayek's daughter, Nayla Hayek joined the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group and in early 2010, she became co-Vice-Chairman of the Board. In 2003, his son, Nick Hayek, Jr. became the CEO of the Swatch Group. Hayek remained Chairman of the Board of the Swatch Group until his death.
In 2010, Hayek was rated the world's 232nd richest person with an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion.
Hayek died on June 28, 2010 of cardiac arrest during work at the Swatch Group headquarters in Biel.
On June 30, 2010, two days after his passing, the Board elected Hayek's daughter, Nayla, to replace him as Chairman.
Hayek, Salma
b. 1966
Mexican-Lebanese actress, director, and producer.
Salma Hayek, in full Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault (b. September 2, 1966, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico), was Mexican-Lebanese actress, director, and producer known for her sultry good looks and intelligence. At the end of the 20th century, she broke barriers as one of the first Latina actresses to establish a successful film career in the United States.
Hayek grew up in Mexico but attended Catholic school in New Orleans before enrolling at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. In the capital she was noticed by television producers who cast her in the Mexican daytime television drama Teresa (1989). In 1991, Hayek moved to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. After taking a small part in Mi Vida Loca (1993; My Crazy Life), she was noticed by director Robert Rodriguez, who cast her in Desperado (1995), alongside Antonio Banderas. Exposure in the action film catapulted the young actress into stardom. Her next major role was in another Rodriguez film, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), a gory vampire movie that also starred George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino. In 1997 she appeared opposite Matthew Perry in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In and two years later portrayed an exotic dancer and muse in the religious satire Dogma (1999).
In 2002 Hayek both produced and starred in Frida, a biopic about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including a best actress nod for Hayek. She also earned critical praise for her directorial debut, the television movie The Maldonado Miracle (2003). The inspirational drama, set in a struggling small town that becomes the site of an alleged miracle, earned Hayek an Emmy Award for outstanding direction. Hayek later became executive producer of the hit television series Ugly Betty (2006–10), a comedy set at a fashion magazine. She also had recurring roles on that show, in 2006–07, and on the sitcom 30 Rock, in 2009. Meanwhile, she continued to act in such films as Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), with Banderas and Johnny Depp; After the Sunset (2004); Ask the Dust (2006); Lonely Hearts (2006); and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009). In 2010 she costarred with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in the comedy Grown Ups, and the following year she provided a voice in the animated Puss in Boots, which featured Banderas in the title role.
Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, the daughter of Diana Jiménez Medina, an opera singer and talent scout, and Sami Hayek Dominguez, an oil company executive who once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos. Hayek's father is of Lebanese descent, while her mother is of Spanish descent. Her first given name, Salma, is Arabic for "safe". Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Roman Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of twelve. She attended college in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
b. 1966
Mexican-Lebanese actress, director, and producer.
Salma Hayek, in full Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault (b. September 2, 1966, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico), was Mexican-Lebanese actress, director, and producer known for her sultry good looks and intelligence. At the end of the 20th century, she broke barriers as one of the first Latina actresses to establish a successful film career in the United States.
Hayek grew up in Mexico but attended Catholic school in New Orleans before enrolling at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. In the capital she was noticed by television producers who cast her in the Mexican daytime television drama Teresa (1989). In 1991, Hayek moved to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. After taking a small part in Mi Vida Loca (1993; My Crazy Life), she was noticed by director Robert Rodriguez, who cast her in Desperado (1995), alongside Antonio Banderas. Exposure in the action film catapulted the young actress into stardom. Her next major role was in another Rodriguez film, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), a gory vampire movie that also starred George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino. In 1997 she appeared opposite Matthew Perry in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In and two years later portrayed an exotic dancer and muse in the religious satire Dogma (1999).
In 2002 Hayek both produced and starred in Frida, a biopic about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including a best actress nod for Hayek. She also earned critical praise for her directorial debut, the television movie The Maldonado Miracle (2003). The inspirational drama, set in a struggling small town that becomes the site of an alleged miracle, earned Hayek an Emmy Award for outstanding direction. Hayek later became executive producer of the hit television series Ugly Betty (2006–10), a comedy set at a fashion magazine. She also had recurring roles on that show, in 2006–07, and on the sitcom 30 Rock, in 2009. Meanwhile, she continued to act in such films as Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), with Banderas and Johnny Depp; After the Sunset (2004); Ask the Dust (2006); Lonely Hearts (2006); and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009). In 2010 she costarred with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in the comedy Grown Ups, and the following year she provided a voice in the animated Puss in Boots, which featured Banderas in the title role.
Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, the daughter of Diana Jiménez Medina, an opera singer and talent scout, and Sami Hayek Dominguez, an oil company executive who once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos. Hayek's father is of Lebanese descent, while her mother is of Spanish descent. Her first given name, Salma, is Arabic for "safe". Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Roman Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of twelve. She attended college in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
Hazzard, Walt
1942-2011
American college, Olympic, and professional basketball player and college basketball coach.
Walter "Walt" Raphael Hazzard Jr. (April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011), also known as Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, was an American college, Olympic, and professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He is best known for his association with the men's basketball team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), having been a star player for that team in the 1960s and having served as the team's head coach in the 1980s.
Hazzard attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his teams went 89-3 and he was named the city's player of the year when he was a senior. Hazzard then went on to UCLA, where he became an important player on the varsity basketball team. In Hazzard's first season on the varsity squad, the UCLA Bruins made their first Final Four appearance in the 1962 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. They lost to the eventual champion, the Cincinnati Bearcats in the semi-finals.
UCLA's undefeated season, 1963–64, was in no small part due to Hazzard, his backcourt partner Gail Goodrich, and the team's coach John Wooden. The team won the NCAA Championship, and Hazzard was selected by the Associated Press as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Hazzard was chosen as an All-American and also selected as College Player of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). His number 42 jersey was retired by UCLA in 1996 in Pauley Pavilion, but Hazzard gave his permission for stand-out recruit Kevin Love to wear the number.
Hazzard earned a spot on the 1964 Olympic basketball team for the United States, which won the gold medal. He was the number 1 draft pick in the NBA (National Basketball Association) draft of 1964 by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hazzard later played in the NBA, first with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1964–1967, then the Seattle SuperSonics, the Atlanta Hawks, the Buffalo Braves, and briefly for the Golden State Warriors. He returned to the SuperSonics for the 1973-74 season, after which he retired from professional basketball.
While playing for the SuperSonics in their inaugural 1967-68 season, Hazzard scored a career high 24.0 points per game, averaged 6.2 assists per game, and was selected to play in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game. Seattle traded him to the Hawks during the off-season for Lenny Wilkens. Hazzard's career high average in assists came during the 1969-70 season, when he averaged 6.8 assist per game while playing for the Hawks.
In 1984, Hazzard returned to UCLA as its men's basketball coach. That same year, he was inducted (as Walt Hazzard) into the UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame. He coached for four seasons, winning 77 out of 125 games. The 1984-1985 UCLA Bruin basketball team won the NIT championship. The 1986-1987 UCLA Bruin basketball team won both the Pac-10 regular season championship as well as the inaugural Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
During his professional basketball career, Hazzard converted to Islam and changed his name to Mahdi Abdul-Rahman. However, he felt that the name change was poorly received in basketball circles, believing that it cost him opportunities, both during and after his playing career. Therefore, although he remained devout in his Muslim faith, he chose to return to using the name Walt Hazzard professionally.
Hazzard and his wife, Jaleesa, had four children: Yakub, Jalal, Rasheed, and Khalil, the last being a record producer, well known in hip-hop circles by the stage name DJ Khalil.
On March 22, 1996, Hazzard was hospitalized following a stroke. Although he had made a substantive recovery over the ensuing years, he became much less publicly active.
Before the stroke he worked as primary West Coast advance NBA scout for the Los Angeles Lakers. He later was a special consultant with the Lakers.
On November 18, 2011, Hazzard died at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center due to complications following heart surgery.
1942-2011
American college, Olympic, and professional basketball player and college basketball coach.
Walter "Walt" Raphael Hazzard Jr. (April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011), also known as Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, was an American college, Olympic, and professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He is best known for his association with the men's basketball team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), having been a star player for that team in the 1960s and having served as the team's head coach in the 1980s.
Hazzard attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his teams went 89-3 and he was named the city's player of the year when he was a senior. Hazzard then went on to UCLA, where he became an important player on the varsity basketball team. In Hazzard's first season on the varsity squad, the UCLA Bruins made their first Final Four appearance in the 1962 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. They lost to the eventual champion, the Cincinnati Bearcats in the semi-finals.
UCLA's undefeated season, 1963–64, was in no small part due to Hazzard, his backcourt partner Gail Goodrich, and the team's coach John Wooden. The team won the NCAA Championship, and Hazzard was selected by the Associated Press as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Hazzard was chosen as an All-American and also selected as College Player of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). His number 42 jersey was retired by UCLA in 1996 in Pauley Pavilion, but Hazzard gave his permission for stand-out recruit Kevin Love to wear the number.
Hazzard earned a spot on the 1964 Olympic basketball team for the United States, which won the gold medal. He was the number 1 draft pick in the NBA (National Basketball Association) draft of 1964 by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hazzard later played in the NBA, first with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1964–1967, then the Seattle SuperSonics, the Atlanta Hawks, the Buffalo Braves, and briefly for the Golden State Warriors. He returned to the SuperSonics for the 1973-74 season, after which he retired from professional basketball.
While playing for the SuperSonics in their inaugural 1967-68 season, Hazzard scored a career high 24.0 points per game, averaged 6.2 assists per game, and was selected to play in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game. Seattle traded him to the Hawks during the off-season for Lenny Wilkens. Hazzard's career high average in assists came during the 1969-70 season, when he averaged 6.8 assist per game while playing for the Hawks.
In 1984, Hazzard returned to UCLA as its men's basketball coach. That same year, he was inducted (as Walt Hazzard) into the UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame. He coached for four seasons, winning 77 out of 125 games. The 1984-1985 UCLA Bruin basketball team won the NIT championship. The 1986-1987 UCLA Bruin basketball team won both the Pac-10 regular season championship as well as the inaugural Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
During his professional basketball career, Hazzard converted to Islam and changed his name to Mahdi Abdul-Rahman. However, he felt that the name change was poorly received in basketball circles, believing that it cost him opportunities, both during and after his playing career. Therefore, although he remained devout in his Muslim faith, he chose to return to using the name Walt Hazzard professionally.
Hazzard and his wife, Jaleesa, had four children: Yakub, Jalal, Rasheed, and Khalil, the last being a record producer, well known in hip-hop circles by the stage name DJ Khalil.
On March 22, 1996, Hazzard was hospitalized following a stroke. Although he had made a substantive recovery over the ensuing years, he became much less publicly active.
Before the stroke he worked as primary West Coast advance NBA scout for the Los Angeles Lakers. He later was a special consultant with the Lakers.
On November 18, 2011, Hazzard died at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center due to complications following heart surgery.
Hikmat, Mohammad Ghani
1929-2011
Iraqi sculptor and artist.
Born in the Kadumiya neighborhood of Baghdad, Mohammad Ghani Hikmat graduated from Iraq's Fine Arts Institute in 1953 and from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome four years later. He became a member of the Baghdad Group of Modern Art in 1953 and Al-Zawiya Group in 1967. He designed many monuments in Baghdad and Iraq such as the triumphal sword arch and the statue of Scheherazade and King Shahryar in Abu Nuwas street, Baghdad.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Hikmat created many sculptures that were inspired by the Middle Eastern fables "1,001 Nights." Placed in bustling parts of the city, they include "Kahramana," a sculpture of a woman pouring oil on thieves hiding in jars, and statues of the two main characters of "1,001 Nights," King Shahryar and Queen Scheherazade. Other sculptures and wood carvings of his depicted idealized scenes of everyday Iraqi life.
Hikmat also had a role in creating one Baghdad's most famous sculptures, the crossed sword arches that became a symbol of the Hussein dictatorship. Saddam Hussein had ordered the arches built as a symbol of Iraq's might during its war with Iran. After Khalid al-Rahal, who designed the arches, died in 1987, Hikmat completed them. When the arches were completed in 1989, Saddam Hussein triumphantly rode a horse through them.
The post-Saddam Iraqi government began to dismantle the arches in 2007 but stopped after protests. Subsequently, the Iraqi government began restoring the arches in 2011, citing their importance as part of Iraqi history.
Hikmat fled Iraq a month before the United States led invasion in 2003 and returned shortly after the regime of Saddam Hussein fell. Upon his return, he found that looters had stolen about 150 of his works from the National Museum and that his studio and many of his sculptures there had been damaged. He was devastated by the loss.
In the wake of the American occupation, Hikmat left Iraq for seven years but remained in the Middle East and formed a committee to buy back many of Iraq's artworks stolen in the looting. The committee recovered about 100 pieces of art.
Hikmat returned to live in Baghdad in 2010.
Mohammad Ghani Hikmat died of kidney failure in Amman, Jordan on September 12, 2011. He was survived by his wife, Gaya al-Rahal, a son, Yasir Mohammad, and a daughter, Hajeer Mohammad Ghani.
1929-2011
Iraqi sculptor and artist.
Born in the Kadumiya neighborhood of Baghdad, Mohammad Ghani Hikmat graduated from Iraq's Fine Arts Institute in 1953 and from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome four years later. He became a member of the Baghdad Group of Modern Art in 1953 and Al-Zawiya Group in 1967. He designed many monuments in Baghdad and Iraq such as the triumphal sword arch and the statue of Scheherazade and King Shahryar in Abu Nuwas street, Baghdad.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Hikmat created many sculptures that were inspired by the Middle Eastern fables "1,001 Nights." Placed in bustling parts of the city, they include "Kahramana," a sculpture of a woman pouring oil on thieves hiding in jars, and statues of the two main characters of "1,001 Nights," King Shahryar and Queen Scheherazade. Other sculptures and wood carvings of his depicted idealized scenes of everyday Iraqi life.
Hikmat also had a role in creating one Baghdad's most famous sculptures, the crossed sword arches that became a symbol of the Hussein dictatorship. Saddam Hussein had ordered the arches built as a symbol of Iraq's might during its war with Iran. After Khalid al-Rahal, who designed the arches, died in 1987, Hikmat completed them. When the arches were completed in 1989, Saddam Hussein triumphantly rode a horse through them.
The post-Saddam Iraqi government began to dismantle the arches in 2007 but stopped after protests. Subsequently, the Iraqi government began restoring the arches in 2011, citing their importance as part of Iraqi history.
Hikmat fled Iraq a month before the United States led invasion in 2003 and returned shortly after the regime of Saddam Hussein fell. Upon his return, he found that looters had stolen about 150 of his works from the National Museum and that his studio and many of his sculptures there had been damaged. He was devastated by the loss.
In the wake of the American occupation, Hikmat left Iraq for seven years but remained in the Middle East and formed a committee to buy back many of Iraq's artworks stolen in the looting. The committee recovered about 100 pieces of art.
Hikmat returned to live in Baghdad in 2010.
Mohammad Ghani Hikmat died of kidney failure in Amman, Jordan on September 12, 2011. He was survived by his wife, Gaya al-Rahal, a son, Yasir Mohammad, and a daughter, Hajeer Mohammad Ghani.
Hirsi Ali, Ayaan
1969-
Somalia born writer and politician.
Hirsi Ali was born on November 13, 1969 in Mogadishu, Somalia, into the Majeerteen sub-clan of the Darod clan. Her first name, Ayaan, means "lucky person" or "luck" in the Somali language. Her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was a prominent member of the Somali Salvation Democratic Fron and a leading figure in the Somalian Revolution. Although her father, who had studied abroad, was opposed to the Somali tradition of female genital cutting, Ayaan's grandmother had the procedure performed on five year old Hirsi Ali while her father was away.
When she was six, Ayaan's family left the country for Saudi Arabia, later moving to Ethiopia and then to Kenya, where the family obtained political asylum. In Kenya, Ayaan attended the English language Muslim Girls' Secondary School in Nairobi under sponsorship of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). Following the invasion by the secular nation of Iraq of the Islamic republic of Iran, Ayaan sympathized with Iran and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, and wore a hijab together with her school uniform. Following secondary school, she attended a secretarial course at Valley Secretarial College in Nairobi (near Yaya Centre) for one year.
Hirsi Ali arrived in the Netherlands in 1992. There is considerable lack of clarity about the events leading up to her arrival, because she has since admitted to making false statements in her application for asylum. Hirsi Ali maintains that in 1992 her father arranged for her to marry a distant cousin living in Canada. Her family has denied this, however. It is not disputed that in 1992 she traveled from Kenya to visit family in Dusseldorf and Berlin, Germany. Others have put the story of her forced marriage in doubt. After a brief stay in Germany, she decided to go to the Netherlands instead of Canada.
Once in the Netherlands, Hirsi Ali requested political asylum and received a residence permit. After receiving asylum, Hirsi Ali held various short-term jobs, ranging from cleaning to mail sorting. During this time, she took courses in Dutch and a one-year course in Social Work. Following her initial studies, she studied political science at the University of Leiden until 2000. Between 1995 and 2001, she also worked as an independent interpreter and translator speaking for Somali women in asylum centers, hostels for battered women, and the National Migration Service. Through these activities, she saw first hand the way certain practices she thought she had left behind in Africa continued in the West. While working for the National Migration Services, she saw inside the workings of the Dutch immigration system, and became severely critical of the way it handled asylum seekers.
After earning a master's degree in political science, Hirsi Ali became a fellow at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, a scientific institute linked to the social democratic party PvdA, of which Leiden University Professor Ruud Koole was steward. Inspired by The Atheist Manifesto (Atheistisch Manifest) of Leiden philosopher Herman Philipse, she renounced Islam and became an atheist in 2002. During this period, she began to formulate her critique of Islamic culture, published many news articles, and became a frequent speaker on television news programs and public debate forums, and she then wrote up her ideas in a book entitled De Zoontjesfabriek (The Son Factory). It was at this time that she first began to receive death threats.
In November 2002, after some disagreements with the PvdA about her security measures, she sought advice from Cisca Dresselhuys, the editor of the feminist magazine Opzij. Dresselhuis introduced Hirsi Ali to Gerrit Zalm, the parliamentary leader of the conservative Liberal party (VVD) and party member Neelie-Smit Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition. Hirsi Ali agreed to switch to the VVD and stood for election to parliament. Between November 2002 and January 2003, Hirsi Ali lived abroad and was put on the payroll as an assistant of the VVD parliamentary party. From January 2003 to June 2006, Hirsi Ali worked as a shortlisted member of parliament for the party. She was forced to step down as an member of parliament when Verdonk (also VVD) announced that her Dutch nationality had to be considered invalid, because she had admitted in a television interview that it had been acquired using a false name and a false date of birth.
Because of her statements about the Islamic prophet Muhammad in an interview, a discrimination complaint was filed against her on April 24, 2003. The Prosecutor's office decided not to initiate a case.
Hirsi Ali wrote the script and provided the voice over for Submission, a film directed by Theo van Gogh, which criticized the treatment of women in Islamic society. Juxtaposed with passages from the Qur'an were images of Muslim women who had been abused by men. One woman was provocatively dressed in a semi-transparent burqah, under which texts from the Qur'an were projected on her skin. The texts referred to the subordinate role of women. Other women in the film showed signs of physical abuse. The film's release sparked much controversy, and became violent when radical Islamist Mohammed Bouyeri, a member of the Hofstad Group, murdered Van Gogh in an Amsterdam street on November 2, 2004. A letter attached to Van Gogh's body with a knife was primarily a death threat to Hirsi Ali. After this incident, the Dutch secret service raised the level of security that they provided to her. Hirsi Ali said that although she deeply regretted the murder of Van Gogh, she was proud of the film and did not regret having made it.
Earlier that year, the group The Hague Connection produced a rap son, "Hirsi Ali Dis," and distributed it on the Internet. The lyrics included violent threats against her life. The rappers were prosecuted under Article 121 of the Dutch criminal code, because they hindered the execution of her tasks as politician. In 2005, they were sentenced to community service and a suspended prison sentence.
After the murder of Theo Van Gogh, Hirsi Ali went into hiding in the Netherlands, and even spent some time in New York, until January 18, 2005, when she returned to parliament. On February 18, 2005, she revealed the location of herself and her colleague Geert Wilders, who had also been in hiding. She demanded a normal, secured house, which she was granted one week later. On November 16, 2005, she reported being seriously threatened by Sachemic Faa. This imam, who worked in a mosque in The Hague, announced on the Internet that Hirsi Ali would be "blown away by the wind of changing times" and that she should anticipate "the curse of Allah."
In January 2006, Hirsi Ali used her acceptance speech for the Reader's Digest "European of the Year" award to urge action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to say that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be taken at his word in wanting to organize a conference to investigate objective evidence of the Holocaust.
In March 2006, Hirsi Ali co-signed a letter entitled "MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism." The most notable of the eleven other signatories was British writer Salman Rushdie, whose fatwa Hirsi Ali had supported as a teen. The letter was published in response to violent and deadly protests in the Islamic world surrounding the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
On April 27, 2006, a Dutch judge ruled that Hirsi Ali had to abandon her house -- a highly secured secret address in the Netherlands. Her neighbors had complained that living next to her was an unacceptable security risk to them, although the police had testified in court that it was one of the safest places in the country due to the many police personnel that had been assigned there. In early 2007, Hirsi Ali stated that the Dutch state spent about 3.5 million euros providing armed guards for her, and the threats made her live "in fear and looking over my shoulder," but she was willing to endure this for the sake of speaking her mind.
In May 2006, the television program Zembla reported that Hirsi Ali had given false information about her real name, her age and the country she arrived from when originally applying for asylum. The program also presented evidence that she was untruthful about the main reason for her asylum application being forced marriage. Hirsi Ali admitted that she had lied about her full name, her date of birth and the manner in which she had come to the Netherlands. However, several sources, includieng her first book The Son Factory, which had been published in 2002, stated her real name and date of birth, and she had also publicly stated these in a September 2002 interview published in the political magazine HP/De Tijd, and in an interview in the VARA gids (2002). Accordingly, these details were considered by many to be public knowledge. Furthermore, Hirsi Ali has asserted that she made full disclosure of the matter to VVD officials when she was invited to run for parliament in 2002.
Media speculation arose that Hirsi Ali could lose her Dutch citizenship because of this "identity fraud," rendering her ineligible for parliament. At first, the government refused to investigate the matter, but later, at the urging of some politicians, an investigation did occur. The findings of the investigation were that Hirsi Ali had not legitimately received Dutch citizenship, because she had lied about her name and date of birth.
On May 15, 2006, after the broadcast of the Zembla documentary, news stories erupted saying that Hirsi Ali was likely to move to the United States in September, and was expected to write a book entitled Shortcut to Enlightenment and work for a conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute.
On May 16, 2006, Hirsi Ali resigned from Parliament after admitting that she had lied on her asylum application. On that day, she gave a press conference in which she restated that, although she felt it was wrong to be granted asylum under false pretences, the facts had been publicly known since 2002 when they had been reported in the media and in one of her publications. In the press conference, she also restated that she had spoken the truth about the reason for seeking asylum, which had been the threat of forced marriage, despite a claim to the contrary by some of her relatives. Her stated reason for resigning immediately was not the continuous threats, which had made her job as a parliamentarian "difficult" but "not impossible," but rather the news that the Minister would strip her of her Dutch citizenship.
After a long and emotional debate in the Dutch Parliament, all major parties supported a motion, requesting the Minister to explore the possibility of special circumstances in Hirsi Ali's case. Although Verdonk remained convinced that the applicable law did not leave her any room to consider such circumstances, she decided to accept the motion. During the debate, she astonished the members of Parliament by claiming that Hirsi Ali still had Dutch citizenship during the period or re-examination. Apparently, the "decision" she made public had been merely a report of the current position of the Dutch government. Hirsi Ali, at that point, had six weeks to react to the report before any final decision about her citizenship was taken. Verdonk was heavily criticized for not acting more prudently in a case that had so many political implications.
Apart from a Dutch passport, Hirsi Ali would still retain a Dutch residency permit (similar to a Permanent Resident Card) on the grounds that she was a political refugee. According to the Minister, this permit could not be taken away from her since it was granted in 1992.
On May 23, 2006, Hirsi Ali made available some letters she believed would provide insight into her 1992 asylum application. In one letter, her sister, Haweya, warned her that the entire extended family was searching for her (after she had fled to the Netherlands), and in another letter her father denounced her.
On June 27, 2006, the Dutch government announced that Hirsi Ali would keep her Dutch citizenship. On the same day, a letter was disclosed in which Hirsi Ali expressed regret that she had misinformed Minister Verdonk. Apparently Hirsi Ali was allowed after all to carry that name because the Dutch government believed that Somalis were allowed to carry the name of their grandfather, and Hirsi Ali's grandfather had used the last name Ali until his thirties and only then switched to Magan.
Later that same day, Hirsi Ali, through her lawyer in the television interviews, made a statement declaring that she had signed the letter that was drafted by the Justice Department under duress. She felt she was pressured into signing the statement in exchange for the passport, but that she agreed to do it, swallowing her pride, in order not to complicate her pending visa application for the United States. Currently, Hirsi Ali still carries her Dutch passport.
In a special parliamentary session on June 28, questions were raised concerning the alleged coercion of the Hirsi Ali statement by minister Verdonk, the dismissal by the minister of the false date of birth as a relevant issue, and whether Somali law prevails over Dutch law. The ensuing political upheaval on June 29, 2006, ultimately led to the ball fo the Second Balkenende cabinet.
Hirsi Ali subsequently took up a position at the American Enterprise Institute, published her autobiography, Infidel, began work on another book, Shortcut to Enlightenment, a philosophical fantasy about a visit by Muhammad to the New York Public Library, in which he examines the ideas of various enlightenment philosophers, compares them to the state of Islam in the early 21st century of the Christian calendar, and then comes to a number of important conclusions.
1969-
Somalia born writer and politician.
Hirsi Ali was born on November 13, 1969 in Mogadishu, Somalia, into the Majeerteen sub-clan of the Darod clan. Her first name, Ayaan, means "lucky person" or "luck" in the Somali language. Her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was a prominent member of the Somali Salvation Democratic Fron and a leading figure in the Somalian Revolution. Although her father, who had studied abroad, was opposed to the Somali tradition of female genital cutting, Ayaan's grandmother had the procedure performed on five year old Hirsi Ali while her father was away.
When she was six, Ayaan's family left the country for Saudi Arabia, later moving to Ethiopia and then to Kenya, where the family obtained political asylum. In Kenya, Ayaan attended the English language Muslim Girls' Secondary School in Nairobi under sponsorship of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). Following the invasion by the secular nation of Iraq of the Islamic republic of Iran, Ayaan sympathized with Iran and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, and wore a hijab together with her school uniform. Following secondary school, she attended a secretarial course at Valley Secretarial College in Nairobi (near Yaya Centre) for one year.
Hirsi Ali arrived in the Netherlands in 1992. There is considerable lack of clarity about the events leading up to her arrival, because she has since admitted to making false statements in her application for asylum. Hirsi Ali maintains that in 1992 her father arranged for her to marry a distant cousin living in Canada. Her family has denied this, however. It is not disputed that in 1992 she traveled from Kenya to visit family in Dusseldorf and Berlin, Germany. Others have put the story of her forced marriage in doubt. After a brief stay in Germany, she decided to go to the Netherlands instead of Canada.
Once in the Netherlands, Hirsi Ali requested political asylum and received a residence permit. After receiving asylum, Hirsi Ali held various short-term jobs, ranging from cleaning to mail sorting. During this time, she took courses in Dutch and a one-year course in Social Work. Following her initial studies, she studied political science at the University of Leiden until 2000. Between 1995 and 2001, she also worked as an independent interpreter and translator speaking for Somali women in asylum centers, hostels for battered women, and the National Migration Service. Through these activities, she saw first hand the way certain practices she thought she had left behind in Africa continued in the West. While working for the National Migration Services, she saw inside the workings of the Dutch immigration system, and became severely critical of the way it handled asylum seekers.
After earning a master's degree in political science, Hirsi Ali became a fellow at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, a scientific institute linked to the social democratic party PvdA, of which Leiden University Professor Ruud Koole was steward. Inspired by The Atheist Manifesto (Atheistisch Manifest) of Leiden philosopher Herman Philipse, she renounced Islam and became an atheist in 2002. During this period, she began to formulate her critique of Islamic culture, published many news articles, and became a frequent speaker on television news programs and public debate forums, and she then wrote up her ideas in a book entitled De Zoontjesfabriek (The Son Factory). It was at this time that she first began to receive death threats.
In November 2002, after some disagreements with the PvdA about her security measures, she sought advice from Cisca Dresselhuys, the editor of the feminist magazine Opzij. Dresselhuis introduced Hirsi Ali to Gerrit Zalm, the parliamentary leader of the conservative Liberal party (VVD) and party member Neelie-Smit Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition. Hirsi Ali agreed to switch to the VVD and stood for election to parliament. Between November 2002 and January 2003, Hirsi Ali lived abroad and was put on the payroll as an assistant of the VVD parliamentary party. From January 2003 to June 2006, Hirsi Ali worked as a shortlisted member of parliament for the party. She was forced to step down as an member of parliament when Verdonk (also VVD) announced that her Dutch nationality had to be considered invalid, because she had admitted in a television interview that it had been acquired using a false name and a false date of birth.
Because of her statements about the Islamic prophet Muhammad in an interview, a discrimination complaint was filed against her on April 24, 2003. The Prosecutor's office decided not to initiate a case.
Hirsi Ali wrote the script and provided the voice over for Submission, a film directed by Theo van Gogh, which criticized the treatment of women in Islamic society. Juxtaposed with passages from the Qur'an were images of Muslim women who had been abused by men. One woman was provocatively dressed in a semi-transparent burqah, under which texts from the Qur'an were projected on her skin. The texts referred to the subordinate role of women. Other women in the film showed signs of physical abuse. The film's release sparked much controversy, and became violent when radical Islamist Mohammed Bouyeri, a member of the Hofstad Group, murdered Van Gogh in an Amsterdam street on November 2, 2004. A letter attached to Van Gogh's body with a knife was primarily a death threat to Hirsi Ali. After this incident, the Dutch secret service raised the level of security that they provided to her. Hirsi Ali said that although she deeply regretted the murder of Van Gogh, she was proud of the film and did not regret having made it.
Earlier that year, the group The Hague Connection produced a rap son, "Hirsi Ali Dis," and distributed it on the Internet. The lyrics included violent threats against her life. The rappers were prosecuted under Article 121 of the Dutch criminal code, because they hindered the execution of her tasks as politician. In 2005, they were sentenced to community service and a suspended prison sentence.
After the murder of Theo Van Gogh, Hirsi Ali went into hiding in the Netherlands, and even spent some time in New York, until January 18, 2005, when she returned to parliament. On February 18, 2005, she revealed the location of herself and her colleague Geert Wilders, who had also been in hiding. She demanded a normal, secured house, which she was granted one week later. On November 16, 2005, she reported being seriously threatened by Sachemic Faa. This imam, who worked in a mosque in The Hague, announced on the Internet that Hirsi Ali would be "blown away by the wind of changing times" and that she should anticipate "the curse of Allah."
In January 2006, Hirsi Ali used her acceptance speech for the Reader's Digest "European of the Year" award to urge action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to say that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be taken at his word in wanting to organize a conference to investigate objective evidence of the Holocaust.
In March 2006, Hirsi Ali co-signed a letter entitled "MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism." The most notable of the eleven other signatories was British writer Salman Rushdie, whose fatwa Hirsi Ali had supported as a teen. The letter was published in response to violent and deadly protests in the Islamic world surrounding the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
On April 27, 2006, a Dutch judge ruled that Hirsi Ali had to abandon her house -- a highly secured secret address in the Netherlands. Her neighbors had complained that living next to her was an unacceptable security risk to them, although the police had testified in court that it was one of the safest places in the country due to the many police personnel that had been assigned there. In early 2007, Hirsi Ali stated that the Dutch state spent about 3.5 million euros providing armed guards for her, and the threats made her live "in fear and looking over my shoulder," but she was willing to endure this for the sake of speaking her mind.
In May 2006, the television program Zembla reported that Hirsi Ali had given false information about her real name, her age and the country she arrived from when originally applying for asylum. The program also presented evidence that she was untruthful about the main reason for her asylum application being forced marriage. Hirsi Ali admitted that she had lied about her full name, her date of birth and the manner in which she had come to the Netherlands. However, several sources, includieng her first book The Son Factory, which had been published in 2002, stated her real name and date of birth, and she had also publicly stated these in a September 2002 interview published in the political magazine HP/De Tijd, and in an interview in the VARA gids (2002). Accordingly, these details were considered by many to be public knowledge. Furthermore, Hirsi Ali has asserted that she made full disclosure of the matter to VVD officials when she was invited to run for parliament in 2002.
Media speculation arose that Hirsi Ali could lose her Dutch citizenship because of this "identity fraud," rendering her ineligible for parliament. At first, the government refused to investigate the matter, but later, at the urging of some politicians, an investigation did occur. The findings of the investigation were that Hirsi Ali had not legitimately received Dutch citizenship, because she had lied about her name and date of birth.
On May 15, 2006, after the broadcast of the Zembla documentary, news stories erupted saying that Hirsi Ali was likely to move to the United States in September, and was expected to write a book entitled Shortcut to Enlightenment and work for a conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute.
On May 16, 2006, Hirsi Ali resigned from Parliament after admitting that she had lied on her asylum application. On that day, she gave a press conference in which she restated that, although she felt it was wrong to be granted asylum under false pretences, the facts had been publicly known since 2002 when they had been reported in the media and in one of her publications. In the press conference, she also restated that she had spoken the truth about the reason for seeking asylum, which had been the threat of forced marriage, despite a claim to the contrary by some of her relatives. Her stated reason for resigning immediately was not the continuous threats, which had made her job as a parliamentarian "difficult" but "not impossible," but rather the news that the Minister would strip her of her Dutch citizenship.
After a long and emotional debate in the Dutch Parliament, all major parties supported a motion, requesting the Minister to explore the possibility of special circumstances in Hirsi Ali's case. Although Verdonk remained convinced that the applicable law did not leave her any room to consider such circumstances, she decided to accept the motion. During the debate, she astonished the members of Parliament by claiming that Hirsi Ali still had Dutch citizenship during the period or re-examination. Apparently, the "decision" she made public had been merely a report of the current position of the Dutch government. Hirsi Ali, at that point, had six weeks to react to the report before any final decision about her citizenship was taken. Verdonk was heavily criticized for not acting more prudently in a case that had so many political implications.
Apart from a Dutch passport, Hirsi Ali would still retain a Dutch residency permit (similar to a Permanent Resident Card) on the grounds that she was a political refugee. According to the Minister, this permit could not be taken away from her since it was granted in 1992.
On May 23, 2006, Hirsi Ali made available some letters she believed would provide insight into her 1992 asylum application. In one letter, her sister, Haweya, warned her that the entire extended family was searching for her (after she had fled to the Netherlands), and in another letter her father denounced her.
On June 27, 2006, the Dutch government announced that Hirsi Ali would keep her Dutch citizenship. On the same day, a letter was disclosed in which Hirsi Ali expressed regret that she had misinformed Minister Verdonk. Apparently Hirsi Ali was allowed after all to carry that name because the Dutch government believed that Somalis were allowed to carry the name of their grandfather, and Hirsi Ali's grandfather had used the last name Ali until his thirties and only then switched to Magan.
Later that same day, Hirsi Ali, through her lawyer in the television interviews, made a statement declaring that she had signed the letter that was drafted by the Justice Department under duress. She felt she was pressured into signing the statement in exchange for the passport, but that she agreed to do it, swallowing her pride, in order not to complicate her pending visa application for the United States. Currently, Hirsi Ali still carries her Dutch passport.
In a special parliamentary session on June 28, questions were raised concerning the alleged coercion of the Hirsi Ali statement by minister Verdonk, the dismissal by the minister of the false date of birth as a relevant issue, and whether Somali law prevails over Dutch law. The ensuing political upheaval on June 29, 2006, ultimately led to the ball fo the Second Balkenende cabinet.
Hirsi Ali subsequently took up a position at the American Enterprise Institute, published her autobiography, Infidel, began work on another book, Shortcut to Enlightenment, a philosophical fantasy about a visit by Muhammad to the New York Public Library, in which he examines the ideas of various enlightenment philosophers, compares them to the state of Islam in the early 21st century of the Christian calendar, and then comes to a number of important conclusions.
Hoveyda, Fereydoun
1924-2006
Iranian ambassador to the United Nations.
Hoveyda was born in Damascus, Syria, on September 21, 1924, the younger son of Habibollah Eynol-Molk Hoveyda, the then Iranian consul general to Syria, and Afsar-ol-Molouk Fatmeh. He earned a Ph.D. in international law and economics from the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1948, he participated in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
From 1952 to 1966 Hoveyda worked in UNESCO's mass communications department. In 1965, his brother, Amir Abbas Hoveyda, became prime minister of Iran (and would serve in that capacity for 13 years). The next year Fereydoun Hoveyda became Iran's deputy foreign minister in charge of international organizations.
During the reign of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Hoveyda served as Iran's ambassador to the United Nations from 1971 to 1979, the year that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led the revolution that overthrew the shah and the year that his brother was executed after Iran's Islamic revolution. A month after his brother's execution, Hoveyda published a letter in the New York Times in which Hoveyda called his brother's execution, murder, "because no other word can be used for the king of mock justice he was subjected to in the dead of night in front of masked 'judges.'"
After leaving the Iranian foreign service, Hoveyda became a senior fellow at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
His books include "What Do the Arabs Want?" (1991), "The Broken Crescent: The Threat of Militant Islamic Fundamentalism" (2002), and "The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian Mythology and Islamic Revolution" (2003).
Hoveyda was also a founding contributor of "Cahiers du Cinema," the influential French film magazine. He wrote the screenplay for Roberto Rosselini's 1959 film "India."
Although Hoveyda and his brother had served in the shah's government, Hoveyda was not uncritical. In another book, "The Fall of the Shah," he wrote that "corruption ran wild at the heart of the royal family" and that "the example of the royal family was a source of contamination which infected every level of society."
Hoveyda died at his home in Clifton, Virginia. He was survived by his wife, Gisela, and two daughters, Mandana and Roxana.
1924-2006
Iranian ambassador to the United Nations.
Hoveyda was born in Damascus, Syria, on September 21, 1924, the younger son of Habibollah Eynol-Molk Hoveyda, the then Iranian consul general to Syria, and Afsar-ol-Molouk Fatmeh. He earned a Ph.D. in international law and economics from the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1948, he participated in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
From 1952 to 1966 Hoveyda worked in UNESCO's mass communications department. In 1965, his brother, Amir Abbas Hoveyda, became prime minister of Iran (and would serve in that capacity for 13 years). The next year Fereydoun Hoveyda became Iran's deputy foreign minister in charge of international organizations.
During the reign of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Hoveyda served as Iran's ambassador to the United Nations from 1971 to 1979, the year that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led the revolution that overthrew the shah and the year that his brother was executed after Iran's Islamic revolution. A month after his brother's execution, Hoveyda published a letter in the New York Times in which Hoveyda called his brother's execution, murder, "because no other word can be used for the king of mock justice he was subjected to in the dead of night in front of masked 'judges.'"
After leaving the Iranian foreign service, Hoveyda became a senior fellow at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
His books include "What Do the Arabs Want?" (1991), "The Broken Crescent: The Threat of Militant Islamic Fundamentalism" (2002), and "The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian Mythology and Islamic Revolution" (2003).
Hoveyda was also a founding contributor of "Cahiers du Cinema," the influential French film magazine. He wrote the screenplay for Roberto Rosselini's 1959 film "India."
Although Hoveyda and his brother had served in the shah's government, Hoveyda was not uncritical. In another book, "The Fall of the Shah," he wrote that "corruption ran wild at the heart of the royal family" and that "the example of the royal family was a source of contamination which infected every level of society."
Hoveyda died at his home in Clifton, Virginia. He was survived by his wife, Gisela, and two daughters, Mandana and Roxana.
Husain, Maqbool Fida
1915-2011
Indian artist.
Maqbool Fida Husain (also spelled Hussain) (b. September 17, 1915, Pandharpur, Maharashtra state, India—d. June 9, 2011, London, England), His narrative paintings, executed in a modified Cubist style, could be caustic and funny as well as serious and sombre. His themes—usually treated in series—included topics as diverse as Mohandas K. Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the British raj, and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. One of the most celebrated and internationally recognized Indian artists of the 20th century, he also received recognition as a printmaker, photographer, and fimmaker.
1915-2011
Indian artist.
Maqbool Fida Husain (also spelled Hussain) (b. September 17, 1915, Pandharpur, Maharashtra state, India—d. June 9, 2011, London, England), His narrative paintings, executed in a modified Cubist style, could be caustic and funny as well as serious and sombre. His themes—usually treated in series—included topics as diverse as Mohandas K. Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the British raj, and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. One of the most celebrated and internationally recognized Indian artists of the 20th century, he also received recognition as a printmaker, photographer, and fimmaker.
Ibn Durayd
837-933
Arab philologist.
Ibn Durayd's full name was Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Azdī ibn Durayd. He was born in 837 in Basra, Iraq. He died on August 13, 933, in Baghdad.
Ibn Durayd wrote a large Arabic dictionary, Jamharat al-lughah (“Collection of Language”). Ibn Durayd traced his descent to an Arab tribe of Oman, and in 871, to avoid the Zanj (black African) slave rebellion, during which Basra was sacked, he moved to Oman. He stayed there more than a decade. After returning to Basra and later living in Fārs (southwestern Iran), Ibn Durayd settled in Baghdad in 920. He was given a pension there by the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Muqtadir. The anthologist Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī was his student at this time.
Ibn Durayd’s dictionary was written in Fārs and was inspired in part by the earlier dictionary Kitāb al-ʿayn of the grammarian al-Khalīl. Words are listed alphabetically in Jamharat al-lughah, but all permutations of the root letters are given together. Among Ibn Durayd’s other works are Kitāb al-ishtiqāq (“Book of Derivation”), on the etymology of Arab names, and al-Malāḥin (“Ambiguities of Speech”), a book of ambivalent words for the use of persons forced to swear. Ibn Durayd was also a gifted poet.
837-933
Arab philologist.
Ibn Durayd's full name was Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Azdī ibn Durayd. He was born in 837 in Basra, Iraq. He died on August 13, 933, in Baghdad.
Ibn Durayd wrote a large Arabic dictionary, Jamharat al-lughah (“Collection of Language”). Ibn Durayd traced his descent to an Arab tribe of Oman, and in 871, to avoid the Zanj (black African) slave rebellion, during which Basra was sacked, he moved to Oman. He stayed there more than a decade. After returning to Basra and later living in Fārs (southwestern Iran), Ibn Durayd settled in Baghdad in 920. He was given a pension there by the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Muqtadir. The anthologist Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī was his student at this time.
Ibn Durayd’s dictionary was written in Fārs and was inspired in part by the earlier dictionary Kitāb al-ʿayn of the grammarian al-Khalīl. Words are listed alphabetically in Jamharat al-lughah, but all permutations of the root letters are given together. Among Ibn Durayd’s other works are Kitāb al-ishtiqāq (“Book of Derivation”), on the etymology of Arab names, and al-Malāḥin (“Ambiguities of Speech”), a book of ambivalent words for the use of persons forced to swear. Ibn Durayd was also a gifted poet.
Ibrahim Nasir
1926-2008
Prime Minister of the Maldives under Sultan Muhammad Fareed Didi from 1957 to 1968 who succeeded Sultan Didi to become the first President of the Second Republic from 1968 to 1978.
Ibrahim Nasir was born on September 2, 1926, to Ahmad Didi of the infamous Velaanaage family and Nayaage Aishath Didi. Nasir is descended from the famous Huraa and Dhiyamigili royal dynasties of the Maldives. Nasir's mother, Aishath Didi, was the daughter of Moosa Didi, son of Dhadimagu Ganduvaru Maryam Didi, daughter of Husain Didi, son of Al-Nabeel Karayye Hassan Didi, son of Prince Ibrahim Faamuladheyri Kilegefan, son of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar II, son of Sultan Muhammad Imaduddin II of the Dhiyamigili dynasty.
Ibrahim Nasir studied at the then Madharasatu Saniyya in Male', which later became Majeediyya School in 1969. After studying in Male' he also spent time studying in Sri Lanka. Ibrahim Nasir served as the Prime Minister under the rule of Muhammad Fareed Didi from December 12, 1957 until the former was sworn in as the first President of the second republic of Maldives.
Ibrahim Nasir was sworn into the office as the first president of the Republic of the Maldives on November 11, 1968. He was widely credited witn modernizing the long-isolated and nearly unknown Maldives and opening them up to the rest of the world. His foremost work included that of bringing the Maldives to the United Nations even with the opposition of some nations that felt awkward at including a nation of such a small size. He laid the foundations of the nation by modernizing the fisheries industry with mechanized vessels and starting the tourism industry.
Ibrahim Nasir was also credited with many other improvements such as introducing an English-based modern curriculum to government-run schools. He brought television and radio to the country with formation of Television Maldives and Radio Maldives for broadcasting radio signals nationwide. Nasir abolished Vaaru, a tax on the people living on islands outside Male', as well as many other taxes on various imports to the country, some of which have been since re-instated. He brought about the independence of the Maldives from being a protectorate of the British Empire. Before his resignation, he proposed to the Parliament a motion that no one could be elected as President for more than two terms. However, the motion was rejected.
Ibrahim Nasir also constructed the first international airport in the Maldives (Male International Airport).
During his career, Nasir was criticized for his authoritarian methods and repression of political activity. Most notably, he was criticized for his iron-fisted methods in handling an insurrection by the people of Thinadhoo, Addu and Huvadu Atolls, who formed a breakaway government -- United Suvadives Republic -- with closer ties to the British, for a brief period of time.
Nasir was succeeded by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who was then Minister of Transport and former permanent representative of the Maldives to the United States. The former president went into exile in Singapore on December 7, 1978 after resigning from his post. In 1981, Gayoom sentenced him to jail in absentia for alleged corruption charges and plotting a coup d'etat. None of the allegations were proven and Nasir was pardoned.
Nasir married three times and have five children. His first wife was Aisha Zubair (Tuttudon Goma), whom he married in 1950. They had a son named Ahmad Nasir. In 1953, he married Mariyam Saeed Didi with whom he had two sons, Ali Nasir and Muhammad Nasir. In 1969, Nasir married Naseema Muhammad Kaleyfan, with whom he had a son and daughter, Ismail Nasir and Aishath Nasir, respectively.
On November 22, 2008, at the age of 82, Nasir died at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. He left behind three children, Ahmad Nasir, Ismail Nasir and Aishath Nasir. His other two sons, Ali Nasir and Muhammad Nasir, had predeceased their father by several years.
1926-2008
Prime Minister of the Maldives under Sultan Muhammad Fareed Didi from 1957 to 1968 who succeeded Sultan Didi to become the first President of the Second Republic from 1968 to 1978.
Ibrahim Nasir was born on September 2, 1926, to Ahmad Didi of the infamous Velaanaage family and Nayaage Aishath Didi. Nasir is descended from the famous Huraa and Dhiyamigili royal dynasties of the Maldives. Nasir's mother, Aishath Didi, was the daughter of Moosa Didi, son of Dhadimagu Ganduvaru Maryam Didi, daughter of Husain Didi, son of Al-Nabeel Karayye Hassan Didi, son of Prince Ibrahim Faamuladheyri Kilegefan, son of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar II, son of Sultan Muhammad Imaduddin II of the Dhiyamigili dynasty.
Ibrahim Nasir studied at the then Madharasatu Saniyya in Male', which later became Majeediyya School in 1969. After studying in Male' he also spent time studying in Sri Lanka. Ibrahim Nasir served as the Prime Minister under the rule of Muhammad Fareed Didi from December 12, 1957 until the former was sworn in as the first President of the second republic of Maldives.
Ibrahim Nasir was sworn into the office as the first president of the Republic of the Maldives on November 11, 1968. He was widely credited witn modernizing the long-isolated and nearly unknown Maldives and opening them up to the rest of the world. His foremost work included that of bringing the Maldives to the United Nations even with the opposition of some nations that felt awkward at including a nation of such a small size. He laid the foundations of the nation by modernizing the fisheries industry with mechanized vessels and starting the tourism industry.
Ibrahim Nasir was also credited with many other improvements such as introducing an English-based modern curriculum to government-run schools. He brought television and radio to the country with formation of Television Maldives and Radio Maldives for broadcasting radio signals nationwide. Nasir abolished Vaaru, a tax on the people living on islands outside Male', as well as many other taxes on various imports to the country, some of which have been since re-instated. He brought about the independence of the Maldives from being a protectorate of the British Empire. Before his resignation, he proposed to the Parliament a motion that no one could be elected as President for more than two terms. However, the motion was rejected.
Ibrahim Nasir also constructed the first international airport in the Maldives (Male International Airport).
During his career, Nasir was criticized for his authoritarian methods and repression of political activity. Most notably, he was criticized for his iron-fisted methods in handling an insurrection by the people of Thinadhoo, Addu and Huvadu Atolls, who formed a breakaway government -- United Suvadives Republic -- with closer ties to the British, for a brief period of time.
Nasir was succeeded by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who was then Minister of Transport and former permanent representative of the Maldives to the United States. The former president went into exile in Singapore on December 7, 1978 after resigning from his post. In 1981, Gayoom sentenced him to jail in absentia for alleged corruption charges and plotting a coup d'etat. None of the allegations were proven and Nasir was pardoned.
Nasir married three times and have five children. His first wife was Aisha Zubair (Tuttudon Goma), whom he married in 1950. They had a son named Ahmad Nasir. In 1953, he married Mariyam Saeed Didi with whom he had two sons, Ali Nasir and Muhammad Nasir. In 1969, Nasir married Naseema Muhammad Kaleyfan, with whom he had a son and daughter, Ismail Nasir and Aishath Nasir, respectively.
On November 22, 2008, at the age of 82, Nasir died at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. He left behind three children, Ahmad Nasir, Ismail Nasir and Aishath Nasir. His other two sons, Ali Nasir and Muhammad Nasir, had predeceased their father by several years.
Ibrahim Sarim Pasha
1801-1853
An Ottoman statesman.
Ibrahim Sarim Pasha (1801-1853) was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from April 29, 1848 until August 12, 1848.
1801-1853
An Ottoman statesman.
Ibrahim Sarim Pasha (1801-1853) was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from April 29, 1848 until August 12, 1848.
Inan, Ayse Afet
1908-1985
Turkish historian and sociologist.
Ayşe Afet İnan (30 October 1908 – June 8, 1985) was one of the adopted daughters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Afet İnan was born in 1908 in Selanik, then in the Ottoman Empire. She graduated from the Bursa Teachers College for Girls in 1925, and started to work as a primary school teacher in İzmir. She met Mustafa Kemal Atatürk the same year in October during his visit to İzmir.
Afet was sent in 1925 by Atatürk to Lausanne, Switzerland, to learn French. After returning to Turkey in 1927, she attended the French "Notre Dame de Sion High School for Girls" in İstanbul. Finishing the school, she was appointed as a secondary school teacher for history. In 1935, Afet İnan went to Switzerland again to study history at the University of Geneva. After graduating, she obtained a PhD degree in sociology in 1939. In 1950, she became a professor at the University of Ankara.
She was the co-founder and a leading member of the Turkish Historical Society.
İnan died on June 8, 1985 in Ankara, leaving behind her husband Dr. Rıfat İnan, her daughter Arı and her son Demir.
The "Afet İnan Historical Studies Award" is given biennially by the Turkish History Foundation in cooperation with İnan's family.
1908-1985
Turkish historian and sociologist.
Ayşe Afet İnan (30 October 1908 – June 8, 1985) was one of the adopted daughters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Afet İnan was born in 1908 in Selanik, then in the Ottoman Empire. She graduated from the Bursa Teachers College for Girls in 1925, and started to work as a primary school teacher in İzmir. She met Mustafa Kemal Atatürk the same year in October during his visit to İzmir.
Afet was sent in 1925 by Atatürk to Lausanne, Switzerland, to learn French. After returning to Turkey in 1927, she attended the French "Notre Dame de Sion High School for Girls" in İstanbul. Finishing the school, she was appointed as a secondary school teacher for history. In 1935, Afet İnan went to Switzerland again to study history at the University of Geneva. After graduating, she obtained a PhD degree in sociology in 1939. In 1950, she became a professor at the University of Ankara.
She was the co-founder and a leading member of the Turkish Historical Society.
İnan died on June 8, 1985 in Ankara, leaving behind her husband Dr. Rıfat İnan, her daughter Arı and her son Demir.
The "Afet İnan Historical Studies Award" is given biennially by the Turkish History Foundation in cooperation with İnan's family.
Jaber III
1926-2006
Thirteenth emir of Kuwait (r. 1977-2006).
Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah was born in Kuwait City on June 29, 1926. Jaber (of the al-Sabah dynasty) was the third son of Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who served as Kuwait's emir from 1921 to 1950. Jaber received his early education at Al-Mubarakiya School, Al-Ahmediya School, and Al-Sharqiya School, and was subsequently tutored privately in religion, English, Arabic, and the sciences. In 1949, Jaber served as Director of Public Service for the Ahmadi region. In 1962, he was appointed as Kuwait's first Minister of Finance and Economy. Under Jaber, the country's oil revenues transformed it from a largely tribal society to a modern, urbanized state with one of the world's largest per capita incomes. He introduced Kuwait's first currency, the Kuwaiti Dinar (K. D.). Jaber was appointed Prime Minister of Kuwait in 1965, and subsequently named Crown Prince in 1966. He succeeded his cousin Sabah III al-Salim al-Sabah in December 1977, and had been Prime Minister of Kuwait for a decade before.
In 1981, Jaber dissolved the National Assembly of Kuwait, exercising his powers as foreseen in Kuwait's Constitution. In May 1985, he survived an assassination attempt when unknown assailants drove a car bomb into his procession. In 1991, after the Gulf War, Jaber reinstated the National Assembly.
On August 3, after much discussion of a border dispute between Kuwait and Iraq, Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait, with the stated intent of annexing it. Jaber escaped to Saudi Arabia, where he set up a government in exile. In March 1991, Jaber returned to a liberated Kuwait.
In 1999, Jaber proposed an amendment to Kuwait's Election Law, allowing women to vote and hold office. The bill was rejected by the National Assembly, however, and was not re-introduced for the members of parliament until 2005, when Kuwait's parliament had finally granted Kuwait's women political rights.
Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah is credited with his involvement in the creation of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the creation of the Future Generations Funds, and assistance in the unification of North and South Yemen.
Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah died on January 15, 2006. He was succeeded by the Crown Prince Saad al-Abdullah al-Salim al-Sabah. The government announced a 40 day period of mourning.
Jaber was known to have married at least nine times, and had thirty-nine children.
1926-2006
Thirteenth emir of Kuwait (r. 1977-2006).
Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah was born in Kuwait City on June 29, 1926. Jaber (of the al-Sabah dynasty) was the third son of Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who served as Kuwait's emir from 1921 to 1950. Jaber received his early education at Al-Mubarakiya School, Al-Ahmediya School, and Al-Sharqiya School, and was subsequently tutored privately in religion, English, Arabic, and the sciences. In 1949, Jaber served as Director of Public Service for the Ahmadi region. In 1962, he was appointed as Kuwait's first Minister of Finance and Economy. Under Jaber, the country's oil revenues transformed it from a largely tribal society to a modern, urbanized state with one of the world's largest per capita incomes. He introduced Kuwait's first currency, the Kuwaiti Dinar (K. D.). Jaber was appointed Prime Minister of Kuwait in 1965, and subsequently named Crown Prince in 1966. He succeeded his cousin Sabah III al-Salim al-Sabah in December 1977, and had been Prime Minister of Kuwait for a decade before.
In 1981, Jaber dissolved the National Assembly of Kuwait, exercising his powers as foreseen in Kuwait's Constitution. In May 1985, he survived an assassination attempt when unknown assailants drove a car bomb into his procession. In 1991, after the Gulf War, Jaber reinstated the National Assembly.
On August 3, after much discussion of a border dispute between Kuwait and Iraq, Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait, with the stated intent of annexing it. Jaber escaped to Saudi Arabia, where he set up a government in exile. In March 1991, Jaber returned to a liberated Kuwait.
In 1999, Jaber proposed an amendment to Kuwait's Election Law, allowing women to vote and hold office. The bill was rejected by the National Assembly, however, and was not re-introduced for the members of parliament until 2005, when Kuwait's parliament had finally granted Kuwait's women political rights.
Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah is credited with his involvement in the creation of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the creation of the Future Generations Funds, and assistance in the unification of North and South Yemen.
Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah died on January 15, 2006. He was succeeded by the Crown Prince Saad al-Abdullah al-Salim al-Sabah. The government announced a 40 day period of mourning.
Jaber was known to have married at least nine times, and had thirty-nine children.
Jackson, Jermaine LaJaune
1954-
Grammy Award nominated singer, bass guitarist, former member of the Jackson 5 and older brother of music stars Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson.
Jermaine LaJaune Jackson was born on December 11, 1954. Born to parents Joseph and Katherine Jackson in Gary, Indiana, Jermaine became the original lead singer of the Jackson Brothers and of an earlier incarnation of The Jackson Five until 1967 when younger brother Michael assisted with lead vocals, but would co-lead with Michael for many years. Jermaine graduated from Birmingham High School in 1973, where the yearbook shows he was elected "most talented" and "best dressed".
Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, he embraced Islam in 1989 after a trip to Bahrain and took the name Muhammad Abdul-Aziz. Jermaine has publicly expressed his religious belief especially after being a part of Big Brother UK, where he prayed and fasted in the house.
Jermaine married Hazel Gordy (daughter of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy) in 1973. Their first child, Jermaine Jr. (often called Jay), was born in 1977. Their daughter Autumn was born the following year.
After Jermaine's divorce from Hazel was finalized in 1987, Margaret Maldonado and Jermaine spent eight years together. The couple had two children: Jeremy Maldonado Jackson (b. 1986) and Jourdynn Michael Jackson (b. 1989).
Shortly after separating from Maldonado in 1995, Jermaine married Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza. The couple had sons Jaffar (b. 1996) and Jermajesty (b. 2000). Jermaine filed for divorce in November 2004, which was finalized in May 2008.
He married his fourth wife, Halima Rashid. They lived in Los Angeles, but traveled frequently to London and Bahrain. Jermaine has 6 children: 2 with Gordy, 2 with Maldonado and 2 with Genevieve. During his brother Michael Jackson's 2005 child-abuse trial, he was a staunch supporter of his brother, coming to Michael's defense on CNN's Larry King Live and appearing with him in court on numerous occasions.
Jermaine and his brothers signed with Motown Records in 1969. As the co-lead singer of The Jackson 5 after his brother Michael, Jermaine sang notable parts of "I Want You Back", "I'll Be There", "I Am Love", "Dancing Machine" and many other Jackson 5 songs. In 1975, after fourteen years performing with his brothers, Jermaine split from the Jackson 5 to continue his solo career at Motown Records while the other Jackson brothers left to sign with Epic Records. During the Jackson 5's last years in Motown, Jermaine didn't partake in lead vocals at all on songs such as "Hum Along and Dance", and only had a small co-lead part in the group's 1974 hit "Dancing Machine".
Like Michael, Jermaine also began a successful solo career concurrent to his tenure in The Jackson 5, and had a hit with the 1972 Shep and the Limelites cover "Daddy's Home". When The Jackson 5 left Motown, Jermaine left the group and stayed at Motown, as he was married to Hazel Gordy, the daughter of Motown founder Berry Gordy.
Jackson was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his 1980 album Let's Get Serious. He had numerous Hot 100 Top 20 hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including "Daddy's Home" (#9), "That's How Love Goes", "Let's Be Young Tonight", "Bass Odyssey", "Feel the Fire", "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" (featuring Devo on backing vocals) (#18), "Let's Get Serious" (#9, also only one of two of his UK hits, peaking at #8), "Dynamite" (#15), "Do What You Do" (#13), and "I Think It's Love" (#16). A duet with his brother Michael, "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)", hit #1 on the dance chart in 1984. He and Michael also collaborated with Rockwell, both providing guest vocals on his 1984 hit single, "Somebody's Watching Me". In 1985, his duet with Pia Zadora, "When the Rain Begins to Fall", topped several singles charts in Europe. His final chart success, 1989's "Don't Take It Personal", hit #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1991 a pre-commercial release version of his song "Word to the Badd!!" (from the L.A. & Babyface-produced album You Said,) was released to radio stations. In that version he criticized his brother Michael. During this time, Michael confronted Jermaine and the two brothers discussed the issue, with Michael asking for the song to be withdrawn from airplay. Jermaine refused and was criticized for his insult to Michael. The lyrics were reworked for final release, making the song instead about a former lover. Several other singles were released from this album, which was the second album to appear on the newly-formed LaFace Records label, including "You Said, You Said," and "I Dream, I Dream." However, the album turned out to be a commercial failure because of public backlash over his cynical attack on Michael, and Jermaine was soon dropped from his record label. Jermaine remains unsigned to any label.
Jermaine is proficient on the electric guitar and various types of bass guitars.
In 1992, he produced The Jacksons: An American Dream, an award-winning and highly-rated miniseries about the history of The Jackson 5. Jermaine Jr. portrayed his father as a young teenager in the miniseries.
Jackson was the first housemate to enter the Celebrity Big Brother UK house in 2007. He steered clear of the controversy caused by the series, avoiding confrontation and offering moral support to fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty against bullying from fellow housemates Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, and Jo O'Meara. During a task in the Big Brother house, the housemates had to create a tribute band for The Jackson 5. The performance of "I Want You Back" helped put The Jackson 5 back in the UK charts at #53. On January 28, 2007, Jackson came in second place to Shilpa Shetty in the Big Brother finale. The final three consisted of Dirk Benedict, Jermaine Jackson, and Shilpa Shetty, the winner. After leaving Big Brother, Jackson did several interviews on UK television, stating why and how he took his peaceful and mediating stance in the Big Brother house. He also spoke about the Jackson 5 reuniting for a performance. Jackson denied he was a racist after calling Jackiey Budden "white trash" and said he was not declaring that that was what she was, but rather explaining to Shilpa how others might describe Jackiey.
Jackson was part of the second season of the CMT reality show Gone Country.
Jackson returned to the United Kingdom in March 2007 to take part in the Channel 4 show Musicool as a mentor.
He was also involved in several charity projects and worked on projects to help orphaned children around the world. Among other countries, he visited Bangladesh as part of his work to raise funds and help children. Jackson also figured heavily on the Islam Channel in the United Kingdom where he talked about his Islamic faith and announced several charity projects that he planned to undertake.
In April 2007, Jackson returned to the United Kingdom to take part in a one-off special of ITV's Challenge Anneka. On the same trip he appeared in Glasgow with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking in support of Searchlight magazine's anti-racism campaign, the Daily Mirror "Hope Not Hate bus".
On November 23, 2007, Jackson appeared on Katie & Peter: Unleashed and again talked of a reunion with his brothers on a tour the following year.
In 2008, Jackson flew to Australia to be a guest judge and mentor for the top 5 Michael Jackson night on Australian Idol.
In March 2008, Jackson was the guest of honor at the Muslim Writers Awards in Birmingham, where he was interviewed live on stage by chat show host Sajid Varda.
1954-
Grammy Award nominated singer, bass guitarist, former member of the Jackson 5 and older brother of music stars Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson.
Jermaine LaJaune Jackson was born on December 11, 1954. Born to parents Joseph and Katherine Jackson in Gary, Indiana, Jermaine became the original lead singer of the Jackson Brothers and of an earlier incarnation of The Jackson Five until 1967 when younger brother Michael assisted with lead vocals, but would co-lead with Michael for many years. Jermaine graduated from Birmingham High School in 1973, where the yearbook shows he was elected "most talented" and "best dressed".
Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, he embraced Islam in 1989 after a trip to Bahrain and took the name Muhammad Abdul-Aziz. Jermaine has publicly expressed his religious belief especially after being a part of Big Brother UK, where he prayed and fasted in the house.
Jermaine married Hazel Gordy (daughter of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy) in 1973. Their first child, Jermaine Jr. (often called Jay), was born in 1977. Their daughter Autumn was born the following year.
After Jermaine's divorce from Hazel was finalized in 1987, Margaret Maldonado and Jermaine spent eight years together. The couple had two children: Jeremy Maldonado Jackson (b. 1986) and Jourdynn Michael Jackson (b. 1989).
Shortly after separating from Maldonado in 1995, Jermaine married Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza. The couple had sons Jaffar (b. 1996) and Jermajesty (b. 2000). Jermaine filed for divorce in November 2004, which was finalized in May 2008.
He married his fourth wife, Halima Rashid. They lived in Los Angeles, but traveled frequently to London and Bahrain. Jermaine has 6 children: 2 with Gordy, 2 with Maldonado and 2 with Genevieve. During his brother Michael Jackson's 2005 child-abuse trial, he was a staunch supporter of his brother, coming to Michael's defense on CNN's Larry King Live and appearing with him in court on numerous occasions.
Jermaine and his brothers signed with Motown Records in 1969. As the co-lead singer of The Jackson 5 after his brother Michael, Jermaine sang notable parts of "I Want You Back", "I'll Be There", "I Am Love", "Dancing Machine" and many other Jackson 5 songs. In 1975, after fourteen years performing with his brothers, Jermaine split from the Jackson 5 to continue his solo career at Motown Records while the other Jackson brothers left to sign with Epic Records. During the Jackson 5's last years in Motown, Jermaine didn't partake in lead vocals at all on songs such as "Hum Along and Dance", and only had a small co-lead part in the group's 1974 hit "Dancing Machine".
Like Michael, Jermaine also began a successful solo career concurrent to his tenure in The Jackson 5, and had a hit with the 1972 Shep and the Limelites cover "Daddy's Home". When The Jackson 5 left Motown, Jermaine left the group and stayed at Motown, as he was married to Hazel Gordy, the daughter of Motown founder Berry Gordy.
Jackson was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his 1980 album Let's Get Serious. He had numerous Hot 100 Top 20 hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including "Daddy's Home" (#9), "That's How Love Goes", "Let's Be Young Tonight", "Bass Odyssey", "Feel the Fire", "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" (featuring Devo on backing vocals) (#18), "Let's Get Serious" (#9, also only one of two of his UK hits, peaking at #8), "Dynamite" (#15), "Do What You Do" (#13), and "I Think It's Love" (#16). A duet with his brother Michael, "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)", hit #1 on the dance chart in 1984. He and Michael also collaborated with Rockwell, both providing guest vocals on his 1984 hit single, "Somebody's Watching Me". In 1985, his duet with Pia Zadora, "When the Rain Begins to Fall", topped several singles charts in Europe. His final chart success, 1989's "Don't Take It Personal", hit #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1991 a pre-commercial release version of his song "Word to the Badd!!" (from the L.A. & Babyface-produced album You Said,) was released to radio stations. In that version he criticized his brother Michael. During this time, Michael confronted Jermaine and the two brothers discussed the issue, with Michael asking for the song to be withdrawn from airplay. Jermaine refused and was criticized for his insult to Michael. The lyrics were reworked for final release, making the song instead about a former lover. Several other singles were released from this album, which was the second album to appear on the newly-formed LaFace Records label, including "You Said, You Said," and "I Dream, I Dream." However, the album turned out to be a commercial failure because of public backlash over his cynical attack on Michael, and Jermaine was soon dropped from his record label. Jermaine remains unsigned to any label.
Jermaine is proficient on the electric guitar and various types of bass guitars.
In 1992, he produced The Jacksons: An American Dream, an award-winning and highly-rated miniseries about the history of The Jackson 5. Jermaine Jr. portrayed his father as a young teenager in the miniseries.
Jackson was the first housemate to enter the Celebrity Big Brother UK house in 2007. He steered clear of the controversy caused by the series, avoiding confrontation and offering moral support to fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty against bullying from fellow housemates Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, and Jo O'Meara. During a task in the Big Brother house, the housemates had to create a tribute band for The Jackson 5. The performance of "I Want You Back" helped put The Jackson 5 back in the UK charts at #53. On January 28, 2007, Jackson came in second place to Shilpa Shetty in the Big Brother finale. The final three consisted of Dirk Benedict, Jermaine Jackson, and Shilpa Shetty, the winner. After leaving Big Brother, Jackson did several interviews on UK television, stating why and how he took his peaceful and mediating stance in the Big Brother house. He also spoke about the Jackson 5 reuniting for a performance. Jackson denied he was a racist after calling Jackiey Budden "white trash" and said he was not declaring that that was what she was, but rather explaining to Shilpa how others might describe Jackiey.
Jackson was part of the second season of the CMT reality show Gone Country.
Jackson returned to the United Kingdom in March 2007 to take part in the Channel 4 show Musicool as a mentor.
He was also involved in several charity projects and worked on projects to help orphaned children around the world. Among other countries, he visited Bangladesh as part of his work to raise funds and help children. Jackson also figured heavily on the Islam Channel in the United Kingdom where he talked about his Islamic faith and announced several charity projects that he planned to undertake.
In April 2007, Jackson returned to the United Kingdom to take part in a one-off special of ITV's Challenge Anneka. On the same trip he appeared in Glasgow with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking in support of Searchlight magazine's anti-racism campaign, the Daily Mirror "Hope Not Hate bus".
On November 23, 2007, Jackson appeared on Katie & Peter: Unleashed and again talked of a reunion with his brothers on a tour the following year.
In 2008, Jackson flew to Australia to be a guest judge and mentor for the top 5 Michael Jackson night on Australian Idol.
In March 2008, Jackson was the guest of honor at the Muslim Writers Awards in Birmingham, where he was interviewed live on stage by chat show host Sajid Varda.
Jackson, O'Shea (Ice Cube)
1969-
American rapper, actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer.
O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson was born on June 15, 1969 in South Central Los Angeles, California, the son of Doris Jackson (née Benjamin), a hospital clerk and custodian, and Hosea Jackson, who worked as a groundskeeper at UCLA. At the age of sixteen, Jackson developed an interest in hip hop music, and began writing raps in Taft High School's keyboarding class. He attended the Phoenix Institute of Technology in the fall of 1987, and studied Architectural Drafting. With his friend Sir Jinx, Jackson formed the C.I.A. (Cru' in Action!), and they performed at parties hosted by Dr. Dre.
In 1987, Jackson and Dr. Dre released the single My Posse, under the alias CIA. After the collaboration, Jackson showed Eazy-E the lyrics to "Boyz-n-the-Hood". Eazy-E, although initially rejecting the lyrics, eventually recorded the song for N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) and the Posse, the debut album for the group N.W.A that included Jackson, Easy-D, Dre, and other rappers MC Ren and DJ Yella.
By this point, Jackson was a full-time member of N.W.A along with Dr. Dre and MC Ren. Jackson wrote Dr. Dre and Eazy-E's rhymes for the group's landmark album, Straight Outta Compton, released in 1988. However, as 1990 approached, Jackson found himself at odds with the group's manager, Jerry Heller, after Heller responded to the group's financial questions by drafting up a new agreement.
Since Jackson wrote the lyrics to approximately half of both Straight Outta Compton, and Eazy-E's solo album, Eazy-Duz-It, he was advised of the amounts he was truly owed by Heller, and proceeded to take legal action, soon after leaving the group and the label. In response, the remaining N.W.A members attacked him on the EP 100 Miles and Runnin', as well as their next and final album, Efil4zaggin (Niggaz4life spelled backwards).
In late 1989, Jackson recorded his debut solo album in Los Angeles with the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy's production team). AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was released in May 1990 and was an instant hit, riding and contributing to the rising tide of rap's popularity in mainstream society. The album was charged with controversy, and he was accused of misogyny, and racism. Subsequently, Jackson appointed the female rapper Yo-Yo (who appeared on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted) to the head of his own record label and helped produce her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode. This was followed by a critically acclaimed role as 'Doughboy' in John Singleton's hood-based drama, Boyz n the Hood. In the same year as AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Jackson released the acclaimed EP, Kill At Will which sold well, becoming the first hip hop EP to go both Gold and Platinum.
Jackson's 1991 follow-up, Death Certificate was regarded as more focused, yet even more controversial, and critics accused him again of being anti-white, misogynist, and anti-semitic. The album is thematically divided into the 'Death Side' ("a vision of where we are today") and the 'Life Side' ("a vision of where we need to go"). It features "No Vaseline", a scathing response to N.W.A's attacks and "Black Korea," a track regarded by some as prophetic of the Los Angeles riots, but was also interpreted as racist by many. Jackson toured with Lollapalooza in 1992, which widened his fan base.
Jackson released The Predator in November 1992, which was recorded amidst the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Referring specifically to the riots, in the first single, "Wicked", he rapped "April 29 was power to the people and we might just see a sequel". The Predator debuted at number one on both the pop and R&B charts, the first album in history to do so. Singles from The Predator included "It Was a Good Day" and the "Check Yo Self" remix, and the songs had a two part music video. The album was Jackson's most successful release, with over three million copies sold in the United States. However, after The Predator, Ice Cube's rap audience slowly began to diminish. Lethal Injection which was released at the end of 1993 and represented Jackson's first attempt at imitating the G-Funk sound of Dr. Dre's The Chronic, was not well received by critics. He had more successful hits from Lethal Injection, including "Really Doe", "Bop Gun (One Nation)", "You Know How We Do It" and "What Can I Do?". After 1994, Jackson took a hiatus from music and concentrated on film work and developing the careers of other rap musicians, Mack 10, Mr. Short Khop, Kausion, and Da Lench Mob.
In 1995, Jackson reunited with former N.W.A member Dr. Dre, who was then part of Death Row Records, in their duet "Natural Born Killaz". In 1998, he released his long-awaited solo album, War & Peace Volume 1. The delayed second part, War & Peace Volume 2, was released in 2000. The albums featured appearances from Westside Connection as well as a reunion with fellow N.W.A members, Dr. Dre and MC Ren, though many fans maintained that the two albums were not on par with his past work, especially the second volume. In 2000, Jackson also joined Dr. Dre, Eminem & Snoop Dogg on the Up In Smoke Tour.
In 2006, Jackson released his seventh solo album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, on his Da Lench Mob Records label, debuting at number four on the Billboard Charts and selling 144,000 units in the first week. The album featured production from Lil Jon and Scott Storch, who produced the lead single "Why We Thugs".
He released his eighth studio album, Raw Footage, on August 19, 2008. It features the controversial single "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It".
On Oct 12, 2009, Jackson released a non album track called 'Raider Nation' in tribute to the Oakland Raiders' football team he supports.
On May 11, 2010, Jackson released a 30 for 30 documentary, Straight Outta L.A., for ESPN on the relationship between the gangster rap scene in Los Angeles and the tenure of the Raiders football team there.
In 1996, Jackson formed Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC, and together they released an album called Bow Down. Most of the album was used to engage in the war of words between the East and West Coasts of the 90s. The album's eponymous single reached number twenty-one on the singles charts, and the album itself was certified Platinum by the end of 1996. With Bow Down, Westside Connection brought their own agenda to the hip hop scene. Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC had grown tired of being overlooked by most East Coast media outlets. The album was designed to instill a sense of pride in West Coast rap fans and to start a larger movement that anyone who felt underappreciated might identify with. Songs like "Bow Down" and "Gangstas Make the World Go 'Round" make reference to this. Jackson would also eventually make amends with Eazy-E shortly before the latter's death in 1995. After a seven-year hiatus, Westside Connection returned with their second effort Terrorist Threats in 2003. The album fared well critically, but its commercial reception was less than that of Bow Down. "Gangsta Nation" was the only single released from the album, which was produced by Fredwreck and featured Nate Dogg. "Gangsta Nation" was a radio hit. After a rift occurred between Jackson and Mack 10 about Jackson's commitments to film work rather than touring with the group, Westside Connection disbanded. WC, however, remained friends with Jackson and released a new solo album on Lench Mob Records entitled Guilty by Affiliation on August 14, 2007.
In 1992, while taking a break from his own recording efforts, Jackson assisted on the debut albums from Da Lench Mob (Guerillas in tha Mist, 1992) and Kam (Neva Again, 1993), both of which enjoyed critical acclaim and some moderate commercial success. Jackson handled most of the production on Guerillas in tha Mist.
In 1993, Lench Mob member, J-Dee, was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder, and Jackson did not produce their next album, Planet of tha Apes. Around this time, in 1993, Jackson also worked with Tupac Shakur on his album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., appearing on the track "Last Wordz" with Ice-T. He also did a song with Dr. Dre for the first time since he left N.W.A: "Natural Born Killaz", for the Murder Was The Case soundtrack, and also contributed to the Office Space soundtrack. He was featured on Kool G Rap's song "Two To The Head" from the Kool G Rap & DJ Polo album "Live And Let Die". Jackson appeared on the song "Children of the Korn" by the band Korn, and lent his voice to British DJ Paul Oakenfold's solo debut album, Bunkka, on the track "Get Em Up".
Following his role as 'Doughboy' in Boyz n the Hood, in 1992, he starred alongside Ice-T, and Bill Paxton in Walter Hill's action film, Trespass, and then in The Glass Shield.
Jackson was offered to co-star with Janet Jackson in the 1993 film Poetic Justice, but he refused because he claimed that he was not at a point in his career where he would play in a romantic movie, so the role was given to Tupac Shakur instead.
John Singleton encouraged Jackson to try his hand at screenwriting. With this encouragement, Jackson wrote the screenplay for what became the 1995 comedy Friday, in which he also starred, alongside then-up-and-coming comedian Chris Tucker. Friday became a hit, earning $28 million worldwide on a $3.5 million budget, and spawned two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next.
That year, Jackson also starred in his second collaboration with John Singleton, Higher Learning, as world-weary university student, "Fudge".
In 1997 Jackson starred in the action thriller Dangerous Ground as a South African exiled from his country who escapes to America and returns fifteen years later, he also had a supporting role in the film Anaconda that same year. He wrote, executive produced, and made his directorial debut in The Players Club in 1998, and in 1999, starred alongside George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the critically acclaimed Three Kings. In 2000, he wrote and appeared in the Friday sequel Next Friday. In 2002, Ice Cube starred in the commercially successful movie Barbershop, as well as All About the Benjamins and the third film in the Friday trilogy, Friday after Next (which he again wrote). In 2004, he appeared in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and Torque. In 2005, Jackson starred in the action movie XXX: State of the Union, and the comedy Are We There Yet?, co-starring Nia Long.
Ice Cube's Are We There Yet television series premiered on TBS on June 2, 2010. Based on the 2005 feature film of the same name, the show revolves around a family adjusting to the new addition of the matriarch's new husband, played by Terry Crews, and trying to deal with normal family situations. On August 16, 2010, it was announced that Are We There Yet? had been renewed for 90 additional episodes.
In 2004, Ice Cube's hit singles "Check Yo Self", "It Was a Good Day" and the affiliated song "Guerrillas in tha Mist" with Da Lench Mob appeared on the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on fictional radio station Radio Los Santos.
In late 2005, Jackson and R. J. Cutler, teamed up to create the six-part documentary series titled Black. White., which was broadcast on cable network FX. Jackson's other movie projects include Teacher of the Year, released in 2007,[23] and The Extractors, released in 2008.
In October 2006, Ice Cube was honored at VH1's Annual Hip Hop Honors by Xzibit, Lil Jon and WC from the Westside Connection, all performing some classic Ice Cube tracks, and Ice Cube also performed "Why We Thugs" and "Go To Church" from his latest album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, where the strong N.Y.C crowd were greeted with Cube's vintage California sound.
After launching his new come-back album Laugh Now, Cry Later, Jackson began touring across the world to promote the new album. The tour was known as the "Straight Outta Compton Tour", and accompanying him along the way was his friend and fellow rapper WC from the Westside Connection.
Jackson collaborated with Tech N9ne on the song "Blackboy" that appears on Tech N9ne's July 2008 album Killer.
The eighth Ice Cube studio LP, titled Raw Footage, was released on August 19, 2008, and featured the singles Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It and Do Ya Thang.
Jackson appeared on a song by rapper The Game titled "State of Emergency" off The Game's Album, L.A.X.
Jackson's ninth studio album I Am the West was released on September 28, 2010. The album was released independently under his label Lench Mob.
Jackson married Kimberly Woodruff in 1992, with whom he had four children (three boys, one girl). Jackson became a Muslim, having converted sometime in the 1990s. He described his Muslim faith as a simple, personal one that does not involve attending prayer services or following rituals. Although he spoke favorably of the Nation of Islam, he denied ever being in the organization.
Ice Cube discography
Studio albums
* 1990: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
* 1991: Death Certificate
* 1992: The Predator
* 1993: Lethal Injection
* 1998: War & Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc)
* 2000: War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc)
* 2006: Laugh Now, Cry Later
* 2008: Raw Footage
* 2010: I Am the West
Filmography
As an actor
* 1991: Boyz n the Hood
* 1992: Trespass
* 1993: CB4
* 1995: The Glass Shield
* 1995: Higher Learning
* 1995: Friday
* 1997: Dangerous Ground
* 1997: Anaconda
* 1998: The Players Club
* 1998: I Got The Hook Up
* 1999: Three Kings
* 1999: Thicker Than Water
* 2000: Next Friday
* 2001: Ghosts of Mars
* 2002: All About The Benjamins
* 2002: BarberShop
* 2002: Friday After Next
* 2004: Torque
* 2004: BarberShop 2: Back in Business
* 2005: Are We There Yet?
* 2005: XXX: State of the Union
* 2007: Are We Done Yet?
* 2008: First Sunday
* 2008: The Longshots
* 2009: Janky Promoters
* 2010: Lottery Ticket
Television
Are We There Yet? TV series 2010–present
Video games
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2010
As director/writer/producer
* Friday (1995) writer, executive producer
* Dangerous Ground (1997) executive producer
* The Players Club (1998) writer, director, executive producer
* Next Friday (2000) writer, producer
* All About The Benjamins (2002) writer, producer
* Friday After Next (2002) writer, producer
* BarberShop 2: Back in Business (2004) executive producer
* BarberShop: The Series (2005) executive producer
* Are We There Yet? (2005) producer
* Beauty Shop (2005) executive producer
* Black. White. (2006) executive producer
* Are We Done Yet? (2007) producer
* Friday: The Animated Series (2007) executive producer
* Pirate Island (2008) producer
* The Longshots (2008) producer
* First Sunday (2008) producer
* Straight Outta L.A. (2010) director
* Are We There Yet? (TV series) (2010) executive producer
Film award history
Ice Cube has received nominations for several films in the past. To date, he has won two awards:
* 2000: Blockbuster Entertainment Award: Favorite Action Team (for Three Kings)
* 2002: MECCA Movie Award: Acting Award
Music awards
* VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2006
o 2006 Honoree Snoop Dogg
* BET Hip-Hop Awards2011
o I Am Hip-Hop Award
1969-
American rapper, actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer.
O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson was born on June 15, 1969 in South Central Los Angeles, California, the son of Doris Jackson (née Benjamin), a hospital clerk and custodian, and Hosea Jackson, who worked as a groundskeeper at UCLA. At the age of sixteen, Jackson developed an interest in hip hop music, and began writing raps in Taft High School's keyboarding class. He attended the Phoenix Institute of Technology in the fall of 1987, and studied Architectural Drafting. With his friend Sir Jinx, Jackson formed the C.I.A. (Cru' in Action!), and they performed at parties hosted by Dr. Dre.
In 1987, Jackson and Dr. Dre released the single My Posse, under the alias CIA. After the collaboration, Jackson showed Eazy-E the lyrics to "Boyz-n-the-Hood". Eazy-E, although initially rejecting the lyrics, eventually recorded the song for N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) and the Posse, the debut album for the group N.W.A that included Jackson, Easy-D, Dre, and other rappers MC Ren and DJ Yella.
By this point, Jackson was a full-time member of N.W.A along with Dr. Dre and MC Ren. Jackson wrote Dr. Dre and Eazy-E's rhymes for the group's landmark album, Straight Outta Compton, released in 1988. However, as 1990 approached, Jackson found himself at odds with the group's manager, Jerry Heller, after Heller responded to the group's financial questions by drafting up a new agreement.
Since Jackson wrote the lyrics to approximately half of both Straight Outta Compton, and Eazy-E's solo album, Eazy-Duz-It, he was advised of the amounts he was truly owed by Heller, and proceeded to take legal action, soon after leaving the group and the label. In response, the remaining N.W.A members attacked him on the EP 100 Miles and Runnin', as well as their next and final album, Efil4zaggin (Niggaz4life spelled backwards).
In late 1989, Jackson recorded his debut solo album in Los Angeles with the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy's production team). AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was released in May 1990 and was an instant hit, riding and contributing to the rising tide of rap's popularity in mainstream society. The album was charged with controversy, and he was accused of misogyny, and racism. Subsequently, Jackson appointed the female rapper Yo-Yo (who appeared on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted) to the head of his own record label and helped produce her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode. This was followed by a critically acclaimed role as 'Doughboy' in John Singleton's hood-based drama, Boyz n the Hood. In the same year as AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Jackson released the acclaimed EP, Kill At Will which sold well, becoming the first hip hop EP to go both Gold and Platinum.
Jackson's 1991 follow-up, Death Certificate was regarded as more focused, yet even more controversial, and critics accused him again of being anti-white, misogynist, and anti-semitic. The album is thematically divided into the 'Death Side' ("a vision of where we are today") and the 'Life Side' ("a vision of where we need to go"). It features "No Vaseline", a scathing response to N.W.A's attacks and "Black Korea," a track regarded by some as prophetic of the Los Angeles riots, but was also interpreted as racist by many. Jackson toured with Lollapalooza in 1992, which widened his fan base.
Jackson released The Predator in November 1992, which was recorded amidst the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Referring specifically to the riots, in the first single, "Wicked", he rapped "April 29 was power to the people and we might just see a sequel". The Predator debuted at number one on both the pop and R&B charts, the first album in history to do so. Singles from The Predator included "It Was a Good Day" and the "Check Yo Self" remix, and the songs had a two part music video. The album was Jackson's most successful release, with over three million copies sold in the United States. However, after The Predator, Ice Cube's rap audience slowly began to diminish. Lethal Injection which was released at the end of 1993 and represented Jackson's first attempt at imitating the G-Funk sound of Dr. Dre's The Chronic, was not well received by critics. He had more successful hits from Lethal Injection, including "Really Doe", "Bop Gun (One Nation)", "You Know How We Do It" and "What Can I Do?". After 1994, Jackson took a hiatus from music and concentrated on film work and developing the careers of other rap musicians, Mack 10, Mr. Short Khop, Kausion, and Da Lench Mob.
In 1995, Jackson reunited with former N.W.A member Dr. Dre, who was then part of Death Row Records, in their duet "Natural Born Killaz". In 1998, he released his long-awaited solo album, War & Peace Volume 1. The delayed second part, War & Peace Volume 2, was released in 2000. The albums featured appearances from Westside Connection as well as a reunion with fellow N.W.A members, Dr. Dre and MC Ren, though many fans maintained that the two albums were not on par with his past work, especially the second volume. In 2000, Jackson also joined Dr. Dre, Eminem & Snoop Dogg on the Up In Smoke Tour.
In 2006, Jackson released his seventh solo album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, on his Da Lench Mob Records label, debuting at number four on the Billboard Charts and selling 144,000 units in the first week. The album featured production from Lil Jon and Scott Storch, who produced the lead single "Why We Thugs".
He released his eighth studio album, Raw Footage, on August 19, 2008. It features the controversial single "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It".
On Oct 12, 2009, Jackson released a non album track called 'Raider Nation' in tribute to the Oakland Raiders' football team he supports.
On May 11, 2010, Jackson released a 30 for 30 documentary, Straight Outta L.A., for ESPN on the relationship between the gangster rap scene in Los Angeles and the tenure of the Raiders football team there.
In 1996, Jackson formed Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC, and together they released an album called Bow Down. Most of the album was used to engage in the war of words between the East and West Coasts of the 90s. The album's eponymous single reached number twenty-one on the singles charts, and the album itself was certified Platinum by the end of 1996. With Bow Down, Westside Connection brought their own agenda to the hip hop scene. Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC had grown tired of being overlooked by most East Coast media outlets. The album was designed to instill a sense of pride in West Coast rap fans and to start a larger movement that anyone who felt underappreciated might identify with. Songs like "Bow Down" and "Gangstas Make the World Go 'Round" make reference to this. Jackson would also eventually make amends with Eazy-E shortly before the latter's death in 1995. After a seven-year hiatus, Westside Connection returned with their second effort Terrorist Threats in 2003. The album fared well critically, but its commercial reception was less than that of Bow Down. "Gangsta Nation" was the only single released from the album, which was produced by Fredwreck and featured Nate Dogg. "Gangsta Nation" was a radio hit. After a rift occurred between Jackson and Mack 10 about Jackson's commitments to film work rather than touring with the group, Westside Connection disbanded. WC, however, remained friends with Jackson and released a new solo album on Lench Mob Records entitled Guilty by Affiliation on August 14, 2007.
In 1992, while taking a break from his own recording efforts, Jackson assisted on the debut albums from Da Lench Mob (Guerillas in tha Mist, 1992) and Kam (Neva Again, 1993), both of which enjoyed critical acclaim and some moderate commercial success. Jackson handled most of the production on Guerillas in tha Mist.
In 1993, Lench Mob member, J-Dee, was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder, and Jackson did not produce their next album, Planet of tha Apes. Around this time, in 1993, Jackson also worked with Tupac Shakur on his album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., appearing on the track "Last Wordz" with Ice-T. He also did a song with Dr. Dre for the first time since he left N.W.A: "Natural Born Killaz", for the Murder Was The Case soundtrack, and also contributed to the Office Space soundtrack. He was featured on Kool G Rap's song "Two To The Head" from the Kool G Rap & DJ Polo album "Live And Let Die". Jackson appeared on the song "Children of the Korn" by the band Korn, and lent his voice to British DJ Paul Oakenfold's solo debut album, Bunkka, on the track "Get Em Up".
Following his role as 'Doughboy' in Boyz n the Hood, in 1992, he starred alongside Ice-T, and Bill Paxton in Walter Hill's action film, Trespass, and then in The Glass Shield.
Jackson was offered to co-star with Janet Jackson in the 1993 film Poetic Justice, but he refused because he claimed that he was not at a point in his career where he would play in a romantic movie, so the role was given to Tupac Shakur instead.
John Singleton encouraged Jackson to try his hand at screenwriting. With this encouragement, Jackson wrote the screenplay for what became the 1995 comedy Friday, in which he also starred, alongside then-up-and-coming comedian Chris Tucker. Friday became a hit, earning $28 million worldwide on a $3.5 million budget, and spawned two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next.
That year, Jackson also starred in his second collaboration with John Singleton, Higher Learning, as world-weary university student, "Fudge".
In 1997 Jackson starred in the action thriller Dangerous Ground as a South African exiled from his country who escapes to America and returns fifteen years later, he also had a supporting role in the film Anaconda that same year. He wrote, executive produced, and made his directorial debut in The Players Club in 1998, and in 1999, starred alongside George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the critically acclaimed Three Kings. In 2000, he wrote and appeared in the Friday sequel Next Friday. In 2002, Ice Cube starred in the commercially successful movie Barbershop, as well as All About the Benjamins and the third film in the Friday trilogy, Friday after Next (which he again wrote). In 2004, he appeared in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and Torque. In 2005, Jackson starred in the action movie XXX: State of the Union, and the comedy Are We There Yet?, co-starring Nia Long.
Ice Cube's Are We There Yet television series premiered on TBS on June 2, 2010. Based on the 2005 feature film of the same name, the show revolves around a family adjusting to the new addition of the matriarch's new husband, played by Terry Crews, and trying to deal with normal family situations. On August 16, 2010, it was announced that Are We There Yet? had been renewed for 90 additional episodes.
In 2004, Ice Cube's hit singles "Check Yo Self", "It Was a Good Day" and the affiliated song "Guerrillas in tha Mist" with Da Lench Mob appeared on the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on fictional radio station Radio Los Santos.
In late 2005, Jackson and R. J. Cutler, teamed up to create the six-part documentary series titled Black. White., which was broadcast on cable network FX. Jackson's other movie projects include Teacher of the Year, released in 2007,[23] and The Extractors, released in 2008.
In October 2006, Ice Cube was honored at VH1's Annual Hip Hop Honors by Xzibit, Lil Jon and WC from the Westside Connection, all performing some classic Ice Cube tracks, and Ice Cube also performed "Why We Thugs" and "Go To Church" from his latest album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, where the strong N.Y.C crowd were greeted with Cube's vintage California sound.
After launching his new come-back album Laugh Now, Cry Later, Jackson began touring across the world to promote the new album. The tour was known as the "Straight Outta Compton Tour", and accompanying him along the way was his friend and fellow rapper WC from the Westside Connection.
Jackson collaborated with Tech N9ne on the song "Blackboy" that appears on Tech N9ne's July 2008 album Killer.
The eighth Ice Cube studio LP, titled Raw Footage, was released on August 19, 2008, and featured the singles Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It and Do Ya Thang.
Jackson appeared on a song by rapper The Game titled "State of Emergency" off The Game's Album, L.A.X.
Jackson's ninth studio album I Am the West was released on September 28, 2010. The album was released independently under his label Lench Mob.
Jackson married Kimberly Woodruff in 1992, with whom he had four children (three boys, one girl). Jackson became a Muslim, having converted sometime in the 1990s. He described his Muslim faith as a simple, personal one that does not involve attending prayer services or following rituals. Although he spoke favorably of the Nation of Islam, he denied ever being in the organization.
Ice Cube discography
Studio albums
* 1990: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
* 1991: Death Certificate
* 1992: The Predator
* 1993: Lethal Injection
* 1998: War & Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc)
* 2000: War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc)
* 2006: Laugh Now, Cry Later
* 2008: Raw Footage
* 2010: I Am the West
Filmography
As an actor
* 1991: Boyz n the Hood
* 1992: Trespass
* 1993: CB4
* 1995: The Glass Shield
* 1995: Higher Learning
* 1995: Friday
* 1997: Dangerous Ground
* 1997: Anaconda
* 1998: The Players Club
* 1998: I Got The Hook Up
* 1999: Three Kings
* 1999: Thicker Than Water
* 2000: Next Friday
* 2001: Ghosts of Mars
* 2002: All About The Benjamins
* 2002: BarberShop
* 2002: Friday After Next
* 2004: Torque
* 2004: BarberShop 2: Back in Business
* 2005: Are We There Yet?
* 2005: XXX: State of the Union
* 2007: Are We Done Yet?
* 2008: First Sunday
* 2008: The Longshots
* 2009: Janky Promoters
* 2010: Lottery Ticket
Television
Are We There Yet? TV series 2010–present
Video games
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2010
As director/writer/producer
* Friday (1995) writer, executive producer
* Dangerous Ground (1997) executive producer
* The Players Club (1998) writer, director, executive producer
* Next Friday (2000) writer, producer
* All About The Benjamins (2002) writer, producer
* Friday After Next (2002) writer, producer
* BarberShop 2: Back in Business (2004) executive producer
* BarberShop: The Series (2005) executive producer
* Are We There Yet? (2005) producer
* Beauty Shop (2005) executive producer
* Black. White. (2006) executive producer
* Are We Done Yet? (2007) producer
* Friday: The Animated Series (2007) executive producer
* Pirate Island (2008) producer
* The Longshots (2008) producer
* First Sunday (2008) producer
* Straight Outta L.A. (2010) director
* Are We There Yet? (TV series) (2010) executive producer
Film award history
Ice Cube has received nominations for several films in the past. To date, he has won two awards:
* 2000: Blockbuster Entertainment Award: Favorite Action Team (for Three Kings)
* 2002: MECCA Movie Award: Acting Award
Music awards
* VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2006
o 2006 Honoree Snoop Dogg
* BET Hip-Hop Awards2011
o I Am Hip-Hop Award
Jamri, Abdul-Amir al-
1937-2006
Shiite cleric who led pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in the 1990s.
Jamri was born in 1937 in the village of Bani Jamra. The son of a teacher of Qur'an, he learned his basic education from his father and state schools.
From 1962 to 1973, Jamri studied Islamic theology and law at Al-Najaf Religious Institute. He authored several books which included: Islamic Duties, Islamic Teachings, Women in Islam, Poetry among others.
In 1973, Jamri was elected by the 14th regional constituency for the National Assembly. As an active opposition member, he lobbied vigorously against the imposition of the State Security Law which was issued by the Amir (ruler) in October 1974. The constitution specifies sharing the legislative power between the Amir and the National Assembly. Both branches of the legislature must mutually agree on any bill before it can become a statutory law. The Amir disregarded this, dissolved the elected parliament and suspended the important articles of the constitution in August 1975. The State Security Law empowered the Interior Minister to order the administrative detention of opponents for up to three years renewable. Beginning in 1975, this law was utilized to suppress the opposition.
From 1975 to 1977, as a religious scholar and an active member of the Islamic Enlightenment Society, Jamri was involved in many cultural, social, charitable and educational activities for the promotion of religious teachings and social justice.
In 1977, Jamri accepted an offer to join the Religious Court as a judge. The religious courts are a part of the Ministry of Justice and were established in the 1920s for resolving cases pertaining to personal affairs, such as marriages, divorces, inheritance and other community religious affairs. The courts are divided into two departments, one for the Shi'a community and one for the Sunni community, being the two major Muslim sects of Bahrain. Jamri was a member of the Shi'a court. As a prominent figure in the society, his domain of activities extended beyond the courts to include all cultural activities, including peaceful opposition to the social injustices caused by the banning of the parliament and the rough implantation of the State Security Law.
In 1988, the Bahraini authorities decided to punish Jamri for his open opposition. On May 14, 1988, the security forces surrounded and searched around the Mosque where Jamri led the daily prayers. This was considered as a muscle show by the security forces. Although Bahrain Law did not allow the sacking of any judge, in July 1988 Jamri was suspended from duty. Then, in September both his son (Mohammed Jamil) and son-in-law (Abdul Jalil Khalil Ebrahim) were arrested, severely tortured, charged with anti-government activities and were respectively sentenced to ten and seven years imprisonment. Jamri himself was arrested on September 6, 1988, but was released after a few hours when people demonstrated against the government action. The sentencing of both his son and son-in-law was a substitution for Jamri punishment.
From 1988 to 1993, from his house and the neighborhood mosque, Jamri resorted to his usual activities in addition to authoring books and forming educational circles in the mosque. Jamri continued campaigning against the government's unjust policies. Jamri largely orchestrated Shiite led protests to press for the reinstatement of parliament and a fairer distribution of economic resources. At least 38 people died during anti-government unrest between 1994 and 1999.
In the ensuing years, Jamri would be jailed twice for his political organizing, first in 1996, when he was sentenced to three years in prison, then in July 1999, when he was convicted and sentenced to ten years. He never served that second term, however, because he was pardoned the next day by King Hamad al-Khalifa, the emir's successor, as part of a reconciliation effort that promised sweeping reforms, including the election of a new Parliament.
Optimism over the initiative soon wore off, when the king imposed a Constitution establishing a second, appointed legislative house, which significantly curtailed the power of the elected one. Gerrymandering ensured a Sunni advantage in the elected house as well.
Jamri dropped out of public life in 2002, when he suffered the first of many strokes. Jamri died on December 18, 2006, shortly after a Shiite dominated parliamentary bloc won a majority of the seats in Bahrain's Parliament last month, promising to change Bahrain's politics.
1937-2006
Shiite cleric who led pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in the 1990s.
Jamri was born in 1937 in the village of Bani Jamra. The son of a teacher of Qur'an, he learned his basic education from his father and state schools.
From 1962 to 1973, Jamri studied Islamic theology and law at Al-Najaf Religious Institute. He authored several books which included: Islamic Duties, Islamic Teachings, Women in Islam, Poetry among others.
In 1973, Jamri was elected by the 14th regional constituency for the National Assembly. As an active opposition member, he lobbied vigorously against the imposition of the State Security Law which was issued by the Amir (ruler) in October 1974. The constitution specifies sharing the legislative power between the Amir and the National Assembly. Both branches of the legislature must mutually agree on any bill before it can become a statutory law. The Amir disregarded this, dissolved the elected parliament and suspended the important articles of the constitution in August 1975. The State Security Law empowered the Interior Minister to order the administrative detention of opponents for up to three years renewable. Beginning in 1975, this law was utilized to suppress the opposition.
From 1975 to 1977, as a religious scholar and an active member of the Islamic Enlightenment Society, Jamri was involved in many cultural, social, charitable and educational activities for the promotion of religious teachings and social justice.
In 1977, Jamri accepted an offer to join the Religious Court as a judge. The religious courts are a part of the Ministry of Justice and were established in the 1920s for resolving cases pertaining to personal affairs, such as marriages, divorces, inheritance and other community religious affairs. The courts are divided into two departments, one for the Shi'a community and one for the Sunni community, being the two major Muslim sects of Bahrain. Jamri was a member of the Shi'a court. As a prominent figure in the society, his domain of activities extended beyond the courts to include all cultural activities, including peaceful opposition to the social injustices caused by the banning of the parliament and the rough implantation of the State Security Law.
In 1988, the Bahraini authorities decided to punish Jamri for his open opposition. On May 14, 1988, the security forces surrounded and searched around the Mosque where Jamri led the daily prayers. This was considered as a muscle show by the security forces. Although Bahrain Law did not allow the sacking of any judge, in July 1988 Jamri was suspended from duty. Then, in September both his son (Mohammed Jamil) and son-in-law (Abdul Jalil Khalil Ebrahim) were arrested, severely tortured, charged with anti-government activities and were respectively sentenced to ten and seven years imprisonment. Jamri himself was arrested on September 6, 1988, but was released after a few hours when people demonstrated against the government action. The sentencing of both his son and son-in-law was a substitution for Jamri punishment.
From 1988 to 1993, from his house and the neighborhood mosque, Jamri resorted to his usual activities in addition to authoring books and forming educational circles in the mosque. Jamri continued campaigning against the government's unjust policies. Jamri largely orchestrated Shiite led protests to press for the reinstatement of parliament and a fairer distribution of economic resources. At least 38 people died during anti-government unrest between 1994 and 1999.
In the ensuing years, Jamri would be jailed twice for his political organizing, first in 1996, when he was sentenced to three years in prison, then in July 1999, when he was convicted and sentenced to ten years. He never served that second term, however, because he was pardoned the next day by King Hamad al-Khalifa, the emir's successor, as part of a reconciliation effort that promised sweeping reforms, including the election of a new Parliament.
Optimism over the initiative soon wore off, when the king imposed a Constitution establishing a second, appointed legislative house, which significantly curtailed the power of the elected one. Gerrymandering ensured a Sunni advantage in the elected house as well.
Jamri dropped out of public life in 2002, when he suffered the first of many strokes. Jamri died on December 18, 2006, shortly after a Shiite dominated parliamentary bloc won a majority of the seats in Bahrain's Parliament last month, promising to change Bahrain's politics.
Jobs, Steve
1955-2011
Co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc. and a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer era.
Steve Jobs, in full Steven Paul Jobs (b. February 24, 1955, San Francisco, California, United States — d. October 5, 2011, Palo Alto, California), was born in San Francisco to University of Wisconsin graduate students Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, a Syrian Muslim from the city of Homs and Joanne Carole Schieble (later Simpson, via marriage), an American of German descent. Jandali went on to become a political science professor who later developed a career in the leisure industry and Schieble became a speech language pathologist. Jobs was placed for adoption against Jandali's wishes, after Schieble's father opposed their marriage. Schieble and Jandali married in December 1955 four months after her father died and ten months after giving up their baby boy. They divorced in 1962. Their daughter, Jobs's biological sister, award-winning novelist and UCLA professor Mona Simpson was born in 1957. The siblings first met in 1984, and kept their relationship a secret until 1986. As adults, they developed a close relationship, with Jobs regularly visiting Simpson in Manhattan. When Jobs learned more about their birth parents from Mona Simpson, he invited Joanne Simpson to some events.
Jobs was adopted by the family of Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs (née Hagopian) who moved to Mountain View, California when he was five years old. Paul and Clara later adopted a daughter, Patti. Paul Jobs, a machinist for a company that made lasers, taught his son rudimentary electronics and how to work with his hands. His adoptive mother was an accountant.
Jobs attended Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. He frequented after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California, and was later hired there, working with Steve Wozniak as a summer employee. Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Although he dropped out after only one semester, he continued auditing classes at Reed, while sleeping on the floor in friends' rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.
In 1974, Jobs took a job as a technician at Atari, Inc., a manufacturer of video games, with the primary intent of saving money for a spiritual retreat to India.
Jobs then traveled to India to visit Neem Karoli Baba at his Kainchi Ashram with a Reed College friend (and, later, an early Apple employee), Daniel Kottke, in search of spiritual enlightenment. He came back a Buddhist with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothing. During this time, Jobs experimented with psychedelics, calling his LSD experiences one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life. He later said that people around him who did not share his counter-cultural roots could not fully relate to his thinking.
Jobs returned to Atari and was given the task of creating a circuit board for the game Breakout. According to Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Atari offered $100 for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. Jobs had little interest in or knowledge of circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the bonus evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Much to the amazement of Atari, Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, a design so tight that it was impossible to reproduce on an assembly line.
Jobs began attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club with Wozniak in 1975. He greatly admired Edwin H. Land, the inventor of instant photography and founder of Polaroid Corporation, and explicitly modeled his career after him.
When Wozniak told Jobs of his progress in designing his own computer logic board, Jobs suggested that they go into business together, which they did after Hewlett-Packard formally turned down Wozniak’s design in 1976. The Apple I, as they called the logic board, was built in the Jobses’ family garage with money they obtained by selling Jobs’s Volkswagen minibus and Wozniak’s programmable calculator.
Jobs was one of the first entrepreneurs to understand that the personal computer would appeal to a broad audience, at least if it did not appear to belong in a junior high school science fair. With Jobs’s encouragement, Wozniak designed an improved model, the Apple II, complete with a keyboard, and they arranged to have a sleek, molded plastic case manufactured to enclose the unit.
Though Jobs had long, unkempt hair and eschewed business garb, he managed to obtain financing, distribution, and publicity for the company, Apple Computer, incorporated in 1977—the same year that the Apple II was completed. The machine was an immediate success, becoming synonymous with the boom in personal computers. In 1981 the company had a record-setting public stock offering and, in 1983, made the quickest entrance (to that time) into the Fortune 500 list of America’s top companies. In 1983 the company recruited PepsiCo, Inc., president John Sculley to be its chief executive officer (CEO) and, implicitly, Jobs’s mentor in the fine points of running a large corporation.
During that same period, Jobs was heading the most important project in the company’s history. In 1979 he led a small group of Apple engineers to a technology demonstration at the Xerox Corporation’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) to see how the graphical user interface could make computers easier to use and more efficient. Soon afterward, Jobs left the engineering team that was designing Lisa, a business computer, to head a smaller group building a lower-cost computer. Both computers were redesigned to exploit and refine the PARC ideas, but Jobs was explicit in favoring the Macintosh, or Mac, as the new computer became known. Jobs coddled his engineers and referred to them as artists, but his style was uncompromising. At one point he demanded a redesign of an internal circuit board simply because he considered it unattractive. He would later be renowned for his insistence that the Macintosh be not merely great but “insanely great.” In January 1984 Jobs himself introduced the Macintosh in a brilliantly choreographed demonstration that was the centerpiece of an extraordinary publicity campaign. It would later be pointed to as the archetype of “event marketing.”
However, the first Macs were underpowered and expensive, and they had few software applications—all of which resulted in disappointing sales. Apple steadily improved the machine, so that it eventually became the company’s lifeblood as well as the model for all subsequent computer interfaces. But Jobs’s apparent failure to correct the problem quickly led to tensions in the company, and in 1985 Sculley convinced Apple’s board of directors to remove the company’s famous co-founder.
Jobs quickly started another firm, the NeXT Corporation, designing powerful workstation computers for the education market. His funding partners included Texas entrepreneur Ross Perot and Canon Inc., a Japanese electronics company. Although the Next computer was notable for its engineering design, it was eclipsed by less costly computers from competitors such as Sun Microsystems, Inc. As an alternative, in the early 1990s, Jobs focused the company on its innovative software system, NextStep.
Meanwhile, in 1986 Jobs bought Pixar Animation Studios, a computer-graphics firm founded by Hollywood movie director George Lucas. Over the following decade Jobs built Pixar into a major animation studio that, among other achievements, produced the first full-length feature film to be completely computer-animated, Toy Story, in 1995. Also in 1995, Pixar’s public stock offering made Jobs, for the first time, a billionaire.
In late 1996, Apple, saddled by huge financial losses and on the verge of collapse, hired a new chief executive, semiconductor executive Gilbert Amelio. When Amelio learned that the company, following intense and prolonged research efforts, had failed to develop an acceptable replacement for the Macintosh’s aging operating system (OS), he chose NextStep, buying Jobs’s company for more than $400 million—and bringing Jobs back to Apple as a consultant. However, Apple’s board of directors soon became disenchanted with Amelio’s inability to turn the company’s finances around and in June 1997 requested Apple’s prodigal co-founder to lead the company once again. Jobs quickly forged an alliance with Apple’s erstwhile foe, the Microsoft Corporation, scrapped Amelio’s Mac-clone agreements, and simplified the company’s product line. He also engineered an award-winning advertising campaign that urged potential customers to “think different” and buy Macintoshes. Just as important is what he did not do: he resisted the temptation to make machines that ran Microsoft’s Windows OS; nor did he, as some urged, spin off Apple as a software-only company. Jobs believed that Apple, as the only major personal computer maker with its own operating system, was in a unique position to innovate.
Innovate he did. In 1998, Jobs introduced the iMac, an egg-shaped, one-piece computer that offered high-speed processing at a relatively modest price and initiated a trend of high-fashion computers. (Subsequent models sported five different bright colors.) By the end of the year, the iMac was the nation’s highest-selling personal computer, and Jobs was able to announce consistent profits for the once-moribund company. The following year, he triumphed once more with the stylish iBook, a laptop computer built with students in mind, and the G4, a desktop computer sufficiently powerful that (so Apple boasted) it could not be exported under certain circumstances because it qualified as a supercomputer. Though Apple did not regain the industry dominance it once had, Steve Jobs had saved his company, and in the process re-established himself as a master high-technology marketer and visionary.
In 2001, Jobs started reinventing Apple for the 21st century. That was the year that Apple introduced iTunes, a computer program for playing music and for converting music to the compact MP3 digital format commonly used in computers and other digital devices. Later the same year, Apple began selling the iPod, a portable MP3 player, which quickly became the market leader. In 2003 Apple began selling downloadable copies of major record company songs in MP3 format over the Internet. By 2006 more than one billion songs and videos had been sold through Apple’s online iTunes Store. In recognition of the growing shift in the company’s business, Jobs officially changed the name of the company to Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007.
In 2007, Jobs took the company into the telecommunications business with the introduction of the touch-screen iPhone, a mobile telephone with capabilities for playing MP3s and videos and for accessing the Internet. Later that year, Apple introduced the iPod Touch, a portable MP3 and gaming device that included built-in Wi-Fi and an iPhone-like touch screen. Bolstered by the use of the iTunes Store to sell Apple and third-party software, the iPhone and iPod Touch soon boasted more games than any other portable gaming system. Jobs announced in 2008 that future releases of the iPhone and iPod Touch would offer improved game functionality. In an ironic development, Apple, which had not supported game developers in its early years out of fear of its computers not being taken seriously as business machines, was now staking a claim to a greater role in the gaming business to go along with its move into telecommunications.
In 2003 Jobs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. He put off surgery for about nine months while he tried alternative medicine approaches. In 2004 he underwent major reconstructive surgery, known as the Whipple operation. During the procedure, part of the pancreas, a portion of the bile duct, the gallbladder, and the duodenum are removed, after which what is left of the pancreas, the bile duct, and the intestine is reconnected to direct the gastrointestinal secretions back into the stomach. Following a short recovery, Jobs returned to running Apple.
Throughout 2008 Jobs lost significant weight, which produced considerable speculation that his cancer was back. (The average survival rate for patients who have undergone Whipple operations is only 20 percent at five years.) Perhaps more than those of any other large corporation, Apple’s stock market shares were tied to the health of its CEO, which led to demands by investors for full disclosure of his health—especially as the first reasons given for his weight loss seemed insufficient to explain his sickly appearance. On January 9, 2009, Jobs released a statement that he was suffering from a hormonal imbalance for which he was being treated and that he would continue his corporate duties. Less than a week later, however, he announced that he was taking an immediate leave of absence through the end of June in order to recover his health. Having removed himself, at least temporarily, from the corporate structure, Jobs resumed his previous stance that his health was a private matter and refused to disclose any more details.
In June 2009 the Wall Street Journal reported that Jobs had received a liver transplant the previous April. Not disclosed was whether the pancreatic cancer he had been treated for previously had spread to his liver. The operation was performed in Tennessee, where the average waiting period for a liver transplant is 48 days, as opposed to the national average of 306 days. Jobs came back to work on June 29, 2009, fulfilling his pledge to return before the end of June. In January 2011, however, Jobs took another medical leave of absence.
Jobs announced his resignation as Apple's CEO on August 24, 2011. Jobs became chairman of the board and named Tim Cook his successor. Jobs worked for Apple until the day before his death.
Jobs died at his California home around 3 p.m. on October 5, 2011, due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer, resulting in respiratory arrest. He had lost consciousness the day before, and died with his wife, children and sister at his side.
1955-2011
Co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc. and a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer era.
Steve Jobs, in full Steven Paul Jobs (b. February 24, 1955, San Francisco, California, United States — d. October 5, 2011, Palo Alto, California), was born in San Francisco to University of Wisconsin graduate students Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, a Syrian Muslim from the city of Homs and Joanne Carole Schieble (later Simpson, via marriage), an American of German descent. Jandali went on to become a political science professor who later developed a career in the leisure industry and Schieble became a speech language pathologist. Jobs was placed for adoption against Jandali's wishes, after Schieble's father opposed their marriage. Schieble and Jandali married in December 1955 four months after her father died and ten months after giving up their baby boy. They divorced in 1962. Their daughter, Jobs's biological sister, award-winning novelist and UCLA professor Mona Simpson was born in 1957. The siblings first met in 1984, and kept their relationship a secret until 1986. As adults, they developed a close relationship, with Jobs regularly visiting Simpson in Manhattan. When Jobs learned more about their birth parents from Mona Simpson, he invited Joanne Simpson to some events.
Jobs was adopted by the family of Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs (née Hagopian) who moved to Mountain View, California when he was five years old. Paul and Clara later adopted a daughter, Patti. Paul Jobs, a machinist for a company that made lasers, taught his son rudimentary electronics and how to work with his hands. His adoptive mother was an accountant.
Jobs attended Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. He frequented after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California, and was later hired there, working with Steve Wozniak as a summer employee. Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Although he dropped out after only one semester, he continued auditing classes at Reed, while sleeping on the floor in friends' rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.
In 1974, Jobs took a job as a technician at Atari, Inc., a manufacturer of video games, with the primary intent of saving money for a spiritual retreat to India.
Jobs then traveled to India to visit Neem Karoli Baba at his Kainchi Ashram with a Reed College friend (and, later, an early Apple employee), Daniel Kottke, in search of spiritual enlightenment. He came back a Buddhist with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothing. During this time, Jobs experimented with psychedelics, calling his LSD experiences one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life. He later said that people around him who did not share his counter-cultural roots could not fully relate to his thinking.
Jobs returned to Atari and was given the task of creating a circuit board for the game Breakout. According to Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Atari offered $100 for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. Jobs had little interest in or knowledge of circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the bonus evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Much to the amazement of Atari, Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, a design so tight that it was impossible to reproduce on an assembly line.
Jobs began attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club with Wozniak in 1975. He greatly admired Edwin H. Land, the inventor of instant photography and founder of Polaroid Corporation, and explicitly modeled his career after him.
When Wozniak told Jobs of his progress in designing his own computer logic board, Jobs suggested that they go into business together, which they did after Hewlett-Packard formally turned down Wozniak’s design in 1976. The Apple I, as they called the logic board, was built in the Jobses’ family garage with money they obtained by selling Jobs’s Volkswagen minibus and Wozniak’s programmable calculator.
Jobs was one of the first entrepreneurs to understand that the personal computer would appeal to a broad audience, at least if it did not appear to belong in a junior high school science fair. With Jobs’s encouragement, Wozniak designed an improved model, the Apple II, complete with a keyboard, and they arranged to have a sleek, molded plastic case manufactured to enclose the unit.
Though Jobs had long, unkempt hair and eschewed business garb, he managed to obtain financing, distribution, and publicity for the company, Apple Computer, incorporated in 1977—the same year that the Apple II was completed. The machine was an immediate success, becoming synonymous with the boom in personal computers. In 1981 the company had a record-setting public stock offering and, in 1983, made the quickest entrance (to that time) into the Fortune 500 list of America’s top companies. In 1983 the company recruited PepsiCo, Inc., president John Sculley to be its chief executive officer (CEO) and, implicitly, Jobs’s mentor in the fine points of running a large corporation.
During that same period, Jobs was heading the most important project in the company’s history. In 1979 he led a small group of Apple engineers to a technology demonstration at the Xerox Corporation’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) to see how the graphical user interface could make computers easier to use and more efficient. Soon afterward, Jobs left the engineering team that was designing Lisa, a business computer, to head a smaller group building a lower-cost computer. Both computers were redesigned to exploit and refine the PARC ideas, but Jobs was explicit in favoring the Macintosh, or Mac, as the new computer became known. Jobs coddled his engineers and referred to them as artists, but his style was uncompromising. At one point he demanded a redesign of an internal circuit board simply because he considered it unattractive. He would later be renowned for his insistence that the Macintosh be not merely great but “insanely great.” In January 1984 Jobs himself introduced the Macintosh in a brilliantly choreographed demonstration that was the centerpiece of an extraordinary publicity campaign. It would later be pointed to as the archetype of “event marketing.”
However, the first Macs were underpowered and expensive, and they had few software applications—all of which resulted in disappointing sales. Apple steadily improved the machine, so that it eventually became the company’s lifeblood as well as the model for all subsequent computer interfaces. But Jobs’s apparent failure to correct the problem quickly led to tensions in the company, and in 1985 Sculley convinced Apple’s board of directors to remove the company’s famous co-founder.
Jobs quickly started another firm, the NeXT Corporation, designing powerful workstation computers for the education market. His funding partners included Texas entrepreneur Ross Perot and Canon Inc., a Japanese electronics company. Although the Next computer was notable for its engineering design, it was eclipsed by less costly computers from competitors such as Sun Microsystems, Inc. As an alternative, in the early 1990s, Jobs focused the company on its innovative software system, NextStep.
Meanwhile, in 1986 Jobs bought Pixar Animation Studios, a computer-graphics firm founded by Hollywood movie director George Lucas. Over the following decade Jobs built Pixar into a major animation studio that, among other achievements, produced the first full-length feature film to be completely computer-animated, Toy Story, in 1995. Also in 1995, Pixar’s public stock offering made Jobs, for the first time, a billionaire.
In late 1996, Apple, saddled by huge financial losses and on the verge of collapse, hired a new chief executive, semiconductor executive Gilbert Amelio. When Amelio learned that the company, following intense and prolonged research efforts, had failed to develop an acceptable replacement for the Macintosh’s aging operating system (OS), he chose NextStep, buying Jobs’s company for more than $400 million—and bringing Jobs back to Apple as a consultant. However, Apple’s board of directors soon became disenchanted with Amelio’s inability to turn the company’s finances around and in June 1997 requested Apple’s prodigal co-founder to lead the company once again. Jobs quickly forged an alliance with Apple’s erstwhile foe, the Microsoft Corporation, scrapped Amelio’s Mac-clone agreements, and simplified the company’s product line. He also engineered an award-winning advertising campaign that urged potential customers to “think different” and buy Macintoshes. Just as important is what he did not do: he resisted the temptation to make machines that ran Microsoft’s Windows OS; nor did he, as some urged, spin off Apple as a software-only company. Jobs believed that Apple, as the only major personal computer maker with its own operating system, was in a unique position to innovate.
Innovate he did. In 1998, Jobs introduced the iMac, an egg-shaped, one-piece computer that offered high-speed processing at a relatively modest price and initiated a trend of high-fashion computers. (Subsequent models sported five different bright colors.) By the end of the year, the iMac was the nation’s highest-selling personal computer, and Jobs was able to announce consistent profits for the once-moribund company. The following year, he triumphed once more with the stylish iBook, a laptop computer built with students in mind, and the G4, a desktop computer sufficiently powerful that (so Apple boasted) it could not be exported under certain circumstances because it qualified as a supercomputer. Though Apple did not regain the industry dominance it once had, Steve Jobs had saved his company, and in the process re-established himself as a master high-technology marketer and visionary.
In 2001, Jobs started reinventing Apple for the 21st century. That was the year that Apple introduced iTunes, a computer program for playing music and for converting music to the compact MP3 digital format commonly used in computers and other digital devices. Later the same year, Apple began selling the iPod, a portable MP3 player, which quickly became the market leader. In 2003 Apple began selling downloadable copies of major record company songs in MP3 format over the Internet. By 2006 more than one billion songs and videos had been sold through Apple’s online iTunes Store. In recognition of the growing shift in the company’s business, Jobs officially changed the name of the company to Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007.
In 2007, Jobs took the company into the telecommunications business with the introduction of the touch-screen iPhone, a mobile telephone with capabilities for playing MP3s and videos and for accessing the Internet. Later that year, Apple introduced the iPod Touch, a portable MP3 and gaming device that included built-in Wi-Fi and an iPhone-like touch screen. Bolstered by the use of the iTunes Store to sell Apple and third-party software, the iPhone and iPod Touch soon boasted more games than any other portable gaming system. Jobs announced in 2008 that future releases of the iPhone and iPod Touch would offer improved game functionality. In an ironic development, Apple, which had not supported game developers in its early years out of fear of its computers not being taken seriously as business machines, was now staking a claim to a greater role in the gaming business to go along with its move into telecommunications.
In 2003 Jobs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. He put off surgery for about nine months while he tried alternative medicine approaches. In 2004 he underwent major reconstructive surgery, known as the Whipple operation. During the procedure, part of the pancreas, a portion of the bile duct, the gallbladder, and the duodenum are removed, after which what is left of the pancreas, the bile duct, and the intestine is reconnected to direct the gastrointestinal secretions back into the stomach. Following a short recovery, Jobs returned to running Apple.
Throughout 2008 Jobs lost significant weight, which produced considerable speculation that his cancer was back. (The average survival rate for patients who have undergone Whipple operations is only 20 percent at five years.) Perhaps more than those of any other large corporation, Apple’s stock market shares were tied to the health of its CEO, which led to demands by investors for full disclosure of his health—especially as the first reasons given for his weight loss seemed insufficient to explain his sickly appearance. On January 9, 2009, Jobs released a statement that he was suffering from a hormonal imbalance for which he was being treated and that he would continue his corporate duties. Less than a week later, however, he announced that he was taking an immediate leave of absence through the end of June in order to recover his health. Having removed himself, at least temporarily, from the corporate structure, Jobs resumed his previous stance that his health was a private matter and refused to disclose any more details.
In June 2009 the Wall Street Journal reported that Jobs had received a liver transplant the previous April. Not disclosed was whether the pancreatic cancer he had been treated for previously had spread to his liver. The operation was performed in Tennessee, where the average waiting period for a liver transplant is 48 days, as opposed to the national average of 306 days. Jobs came back to work on June 29, 2009, fulfilling his pledge to return before the end of June. In January 2011, however, Jobs took another medical leave of absence.
Jobs announced his resignation as Apple's CEO on August 24, 2011. Jobs became chairman of the board and named Tim Cook his successor. Jobs worked for Apple until the day before his death.
Jobs died at his California home around 3 p.m. on October 5, 2011, due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer, resulting in respiratory arrest. He had lost consciousness the day before, and died with his wife, children and sister at his side.
Karman, Tawakkul
b. 1979
Yemeni women's rights activist who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her role in leading a pro-democracy protest movement in Yemen.
Tawakkul Karmān (Tawakul Karman) (Tawakel Karman) (Tawakkol Karman) (Tawakel Abdel-Salam Karman) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her role in leading the Yemeni pro-democracy protest movement. She shared the prize with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee, who were also recognized for leading non-violent campaigns for women’s rights and democratic freedoms.
Karmān was born on February 7, 1979, into a politically active family in Taʿizz, Yemen. When she was young, her family moved to Sanaa, where her father, ʿAbd al-Salām Karmān, a lawyer, served as minister of legal affairs before resigning in 1994 over the government’s war against secessionists in southern Yemen. She graduated from the University of Science and Technology in Sanaa with a degree in commerce in 1999 and later earned a master’s degree in political science. After completing her education, Karmān began a career in journalism, writing articles, producing documentary films, and disseminating news alerts via text messages. When she encountered restrictions and threats from the Yemeni government, Karmān and several of her colleagues founded Women Journalists Without Chains in 2005 to advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, and freedom of expression. In 2007, Karmān began staging weekly sit-ins in Sanaa to demand a variety of democratic reforms. She continued the practice for several years and was arrested multiple times for her activism. Although Karmān was a senior member of the Iṣlāḥ (Reform) party, Yemen’s main Islamist opposition party, she occasionally clashed with the party’s religious conservatives. In 2010, for example, she criticized members of her own party for opposing legislation to raise the legal marriage age for women to 17.
On January 23, 2011, as a protest movement known as the Arab Spring swept through the Middle East and North Africa, shaking some of the region’s longest-standing governments, Karmān was arrested after leading a small protest in Sanaa against the government of ʿAlī ʿAbd Allāh Ṣāliḥ, the president of Yemen. Her arrest sparked larger protests, which soon developed into mass demonstrations against the Ṣāliḥ regime. Karmān, released the following day, soon became a leader of the movement, helping to set up the protest encampment on the grounds of Sanaa University, where thousands of protesters staged a sit-in that lasted for months. For her role in leading protests, Karmān was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2011. At age 32, Karman was one of the youngest-ever recipients of the prize.
b. 1979
Yemeni women's rights activist who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her role in leading a pro-democracy protest movement in Yemen.
Tawakkul Karmān (Tawakul Karman) (Tawakel Karman) (Tawakkol Karman) (Tawakel Abdel-Salam Karman) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her role in leading the Yemeni pro-democracy protest movement. She shared the prize with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee, who were also recognized for leading non-violent campaigns for women’s rights and democratic freedoms.
Karmān was born on February 7, 1979, into a politically active family in Taʿizz, Yemen. When she was young, her family moved to Sanaa, where her father, ʿAbd al-Salām Karmān, a lawyer, served as minister of legal affairs before resigning in 1994 over the government’s war against secessionists in southern Yemen. She graduated from the University of Science and Technology in Sanaa with a degree in commerce in 1999 and later earned a master’s degree in political science. After completing her education, Karmān began a career in journalism, writing articles, producing documentary films, and disseminating news alerts via text messages. When she encountered restrictions and threats from the Yemeni government, Karmān and several of her colleagues founded Women Journalists Without Chains in 2005 to advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, and freedom of expression. In 2007, Karmān began staging weekly sit-ins in Sanaa to demand a variety of democratic reforms. She continued the practice for several years and was arrested multiple times for her activism. Although Karmān was a senior member of the Iṣlāḥ (Reform) party, Yemen’s main Islamist opposition party, she occasionally clashed with the party’s religious conservatives. In 2010, for example, she criticized members of her own party for opposing legislation to raise the legal marriage age for women to 17.
On January 23, 2011, as a protest movement known as the Arab Spring swept through the Middle East and North Africa, shaking some of the region’s longest-standing governments, Karmān was arrested after leading a small protest in Sanaa against the government of ʿAlī ʿAbd Allāh Ṣāliḥ, the president of Yemen. Her arrest sparked larger protests, which soon developed into mass demonstrations against the Ṣāliḥ regime. Karmān, released the following day, soon became a leader of the movement, helping to set up the protest encampment on the grounds of Sanaa University, where thousands of protesters staged a sit-in that lasted for months. For her role in leading protests, Karmān was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2011. At age 32, Karman was one of the youngest-ever recipients of the prize.
Karzai, Hamid
b. 1957
President of Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai (b. December 24, 1957, Kandahār, Afghanistan), Afghan politician who was the first elected president of Afghanistan (2004– ).
Karzai was the son of the chief of the Popalzai Pashtuns, and both his father and grandfather served in the government of Mohammad Zahir Shah. Under the Soviet-imposed regime in the 1980s, the Karzai family left Afghanistan and settled in Pakistan. Karzai attended Himachal Pradesh University in India, earning a master’s degree (1982) in political science. During the Afghan War, he worked with the mujahideen, who sought to overthrow the Soviet-backed government, and often traveled to the United States to seek support for the cause. When the communist government of Mohammad Najibullah fell in April 1992, the mujahideen established a coalition government, with Karzai serving as deputy foreign minister. In 1994, however, he resigned, tired of the infighting within the government. The growing strife escalated until the mujahideen turned on one another, and in the ensuing turmoil, the Taliban, an ultra-conservative political and religious faction, came to power.
Although initially supportive of the Taliban and the order that it introduced to the country, Karzai came to oppose the regime and again went into exile in Pakistan. In July 1999 his father was assassinated, an act that he blamed on the Taliban, and leadership of the Popalzai passed to Karzai. Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States led a military campaign to topple the Taliban and to capture terrorists that were based in the country. Karzai returned to Afghanistan to rally support for the United States-led mission, and by mid-November the Taliban regime had collapsed. To avert a destructive power struggle, representatives from various Afghan groups, aided by the international community, named Karzai chair of an interim administration. He was sworn into office in late December 2001. In June 2002, a Loya Jirga, a traditional Afghan assembly, chose Karzai as president of a transitional government.
Karzai faced numerous challenges, including controlling the country’s powerful traditional leaders and preventing the Taliban from recovering power. He also sought to rebuild the war-torn country. Violence continued to plague Afghanistan, and Karzai was the target of several assassination attempts. In January 2004 a new constitution was approved that called for a directly elected president. Later that year Karzai won the presidential election and was sworn into office.
As Karzai entered office, he enjoyed strong support from Western allies, but he faced enormous challenges. Continued violence and instability and an inability to effectively build up Afghani institutions and provide basic services took its toll on his popularity at home and abroad, as did allegations of government corruption. The country was also plagued by an increase in drug trafficking—the country’s opium-poppy harvest reached record levels in 2007—as well as by the resurgence of the Taliban, which mounted attacks with increasing frequency. As a result, pointed criticism, even from the United States, began to emerge.
Karzai’s term as president was due to expire in May 2009, and at that time he was constitutionally obligated to step down. Because of logistical and security reasons, however, the approaching presidential election—in which Karzai would be a candidate—was postponed from May to August of that year. Karzai asserted that for reasons of security he should remain in office until the election took place. Critics were concerned that maintaining his position would give Karzai an undue electoral advantage, and they urged him to step down as mandated by the constitution and turn power over to an interim government. In March 2009 the Supreme Court ruled that Karzai could legally retain his position until the election in August. Discontent with Karzai’s leadership produced a number of presidential hopefuls, though Karzai was deftly able to neutralize or secure the backing of most of those who might have challenged him.
The presidential election was held on August 20, 2009, and was followed by weeks of political turmoil. In September a preliminary count awarded Karzai almost 55 percent of the vote, thus indicating that he had won an outright victory over his closest challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. With more than 2,000 complaints of fraud and intimidation, however, the United Nations-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ordered an audit of suspect polling stations and began an investigation into fraud allegations. In mid-October the ECC ruled that the fraudulent activity was pervasive enough to invalidate votes from more than 200 polling stations, which included almost one-third of Karzai’s votes. As a result, Karzai’s proportion of the vote slipped to 49.7 percent, low enough to warrant a second round of elections. Although Karzai initially resisted the call for a runoff, on October 20 he conceded to a second round of polling between himself and Abdullah, which was scheduled for November 7. Shortly thereafter, however, Abdullah withdrew from the race, a decision he cited as being in the country’s best interest. The runoff election was canceled, and shortly thereafter Karzai was inaugurated as president for a second term.
b. 1957
President of Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai (b. December 24, 1957, Kandahār, Afghanistan), Afghan politician who was the first elected president of Afghanistan (2004– ).
Karzai was the son of the chief of the Popalzai Pashtuns, and both his father and grandfather served in the government of Mohammad Zahir Shah. Under the Soviet-imposed regime in the 1980s, the Karzai family left Afghanistan and settled in Pakistan. Karzai attended Himachal Pradesh University in India, earning a master’s degree (1982) in political science. During the Afghan War, he worked with the mujahideen, who sought to overthrow the Soviet-backed government, and often traveled to the United States to seek support for the cause. When the communist government of Mohammad Najibullah fell in April 1992, the mujahideen established a coalition government, with Karzai serving as deputy foreign minister. In 1994, however, he resigned, tired of the infighting within the government. The growing strife escalated until the mujahideen turned on one another, and in the ensuing turmoil, the Taliban, an ultra-conservative political and religious faction, came to power.
Although initially supportive of the Taliban and the order that it introduced to the country, Karzai came to oppose the regime and again went into exile in Pakistan. In July 1999 his father was assassinated, an act that he blamed on the Taliban, and leadership of the Popalzai passed to Karzai. Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States led a military campaign to topple the Taliban and to capture terrorists that were based in the country. Karzai returned to Afghanistan to rally support for the United States-led mission, and by mid-November the Taliban regime had collapsed. To avert a destructive power struggle, representatives from various Afghan groups, aided by the international community, named Karzai chair of an interim administration. He was sworn into office in late December 2001. In June 2002, a Loya Jirga, a traditional Afghan assembly, chose Karzai as president of a transitional government.
Karzai faced numerous challenges, including controlling the country’s powerful traditional leaders and preventing the Taliban from recovering power. He also sought to rebuild the war-torn country. Violence continued to plague Afghanistan, and Karzai was the target of several assassination attempts. In January 2004 a new constitution was approved that called for a directly elected president. Later that year Karzai won the presidential election and was sworn into office.
As Karzai entered office, he enjoyed strong support from Western allies, but he faced enormous challenges. Continued violence and instability and an inability to effectively build up Afghani institutions and provide basic services took its toll on his popularity at home and abroad, as did allegations of government corruption. The country was also plagued by an increase in drug trafficking—the country’s opium-poppy harvest reached record levels in 2007—as well as by the resurgence of the Taliban, which mounted attacks with increasing frequency. As a result, pointed criticism, even from the United States, began to emerge.
Karzai’s term as president was due to expire in May 2009, and at that time he was constitutionally obligated to step down. Because of logistical and security reasons, however, the approaching presidential election—in which Karzai would be a candidate—was postponed from May to August of that year. Karzai asserted that for reasons of security he should remain in office until the election took place. Critics were concerned that maintaining his position would give Karzai an undue electoral advantage, and they urged him to step down as mandated by the constitution and turn power over to an interim government. In March 2009 the Supreme Court ruled that Karzai could legally retain his position until the election in August. Discontent with Karzai’s leadership produced a number of presidential hopefuls, though Karzai was deftly able to neutralize or secure the backing of most of those who might have challenged him.
The presidential election was held on August 20, 2009, and was followed by weeks of political turmoil. In September a preliminary count awarded Karzai almost 55 percent of the vote, thus indicating that he had won an outright victory over his closest challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. With more than 2,000 complaints of fraud and intimidation, however, the United Nations-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ordered an audit of suspect polling stations and began an investigation into fraud allegations. In mid-October the ECC ruled that the fraudulent activity was pervasive enough to invalidate votes from more than 200 polling stations, which included almost one-third of Karzai’s votes. As a result, Karzai’s proportion of the vote slipped to 49.7 percent, low enough to warrant a second round of elections. Although Karzai initially resisted the call for a runoff, on October 20 he conceded to a second round of polling between himself and Abdullah, which was scheduled for November 7. Shortly thereafter, however, Abdullah withdrew from the race, a decision he cited as being in the country’s best interest. The runoff election was canceled, and shortly thereafter Karzai was inaugurated as president for a second term.
Kasem, Casey
b. 1932
American radio personality and voice actor.
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (b. April 27, 1932) is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.
Kasem, along with Don Bustany and Ron Jacobs, founded the popular American Top 40 franchise in 1970, hosting it from 1970 to 1988 and then from 1998 to 2004. Between 1989 and 1998, he was the host of Casey's Top 40, Casey's Hot 20, and Casey's Countdown. He is currently heard on Premiere Radio Networks' weekly syndicated radio programs based on the American Top 40 franchise: Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The '70s and Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The '80s are replays of AT40 shows from the respective decades. He also hosted American Top 20 and American Top 10. Kasem retired from AT20 and AT10 on July 4, 2009 and both shows ended on that day.
In addition to his radio shows, Kasem provided the voice of many commercials, did many voices for Sesame Street, was the voice of NBC, helped out with the annual Jerry Lewis telethon, and provided the cartoon voice of Robin in Super Friends, Mark on Battle of the Planets, and a number of characters for the Transformers cartoon series of the 1980s. In 2008, he was the voice of "Out of Sight Retro Night" which aired on WGN America, but recently was replaced by rival Rick Dees. After 40 years, Kasem retired from his role of voicing Shaggy from Scooby-Doo in 2009, instead voicing Shaggy's father in the 2010 TV series, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
Kasem's signature sign-off is "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."
Kasem was born in Detroit, Michigan to Lebanese Druze parents who emigrated from the British Mandate of Palestine to Lebanon. After arriving in the United States, they settled in Michigan, where they worked as grocers. Kasem is a graduate of Northwestern High School in Detroit and Wayne State University.
Kasem was married to Linda Myers from 1972 to 1979, and they have three children together: Mike, Kerri, and Julie. In 1980 Kasem married his second wife actress Jean Thompson. Casey and Jean have a daughter, Liberty. The "Little Miss Liberty" upscale baby cribs, designed by Jean Kasem and best known for their appearances as prizes on The Price Is Right, are named after Liberty.
Casey's son Mike Kasem is a voice-over actor who, in 1997, presented the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown. From 2007-2009, Mike was the regular substitute host for his father on American Top 20 and American Top 10. He also recorded new segments for American Top 40 repeat broadcasts prior to Casey's departure from Premiere Radio Networks.
Kasem is of Lebanese Druze heritage, and he is a vegan. He has also been active in politics for years, supporting Lebanese-American and Arab-American causes and politicians. Kasem has written a brochure published by the Arab-American Institute entitled "Arab-Americans: Making a Difference."
Kasem supported Ralph Nader for president in 2000, supported progressive Democrat Dennis Kucinich in his 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, and narrated a campaign ad for George McGovern's 1984 presidential campaign.
In 1985, Casey Kasem was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame radio division.
b. 1932
American radio personality and voice actor.
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (b. April 27, 1932) is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.
Kasem, along with Don Bustany and Ron Jacobs, founded the popular American Top 40 franchise in 1970, hosting it from 1970 to 1988 and then from 1998 to 2004. Between 1989 and 1998, he was the host of Casey's Top 40, Casey's Hot 20, and Casey's Countdown. He is currently heard on Premiere Radio Networks' weekly syndicated radio programs based on the American Top 40 franchise: Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The '70s and Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The '80s are replays of AT40 shows from the respective decades. He also hosted American Top 20 and American Top 10. Kasem retired from AT20 and AT10 on July 4, 2009 and both shows ended on that day.
In addition to his radio shows, Kasem provided the voice of many commercials, did many voices for Sesame Street, was the voice of NBC, helped out with the annual Jerry Lewis telethon, and provided the cartoon voice of Robin in Super Friends, Mark on Battle of the Planets, and a number of characters for the Transformers cartoon series of the 1980s. In 2008, he was the voice of "Out of Sight Retro Night" which aired on WGN America, but recently was replaced by rival Rick Dees. After 40 years, Kasem retired from his role of voicing Shaggy from Scooby-Doo in 2009, instead voicing Shaggy's father in the 2010 TV series, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
Kasem's signature sign-off is "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."
Kasem was born in Detroit, Michigan to Lebanese Druze parents who emigrated from the British Mandate of Palestine to Lebanon. After arriving in the United States, they settled in Michigan, where they worked as grocers. Kasem is a graduate of Northwestern High School in Detroit and Wayne State University.
Kasem was married to Linda Myers from 1972 to 1979, and they have three children together: Mike, Kerri, and Julie. In 1980 Kasem married his second wife actress Jean Thompson. Casey and Jean have a daughter, Liberty. The "Little Miss Liberty" upscale baby cribs, designed by Jean Kasem and best known for their appearances as prizes on The Price Is Right, are named after Liberty.
Casey's son Mike Kasem is a voice-over actor who, in 1997, presented the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown. From 2007-2009, Mike was the regular substitute host for his father on American Top 20 and American Top 10. He also recorded new segments for American Top 40 repeat broadcasts prior to Casey's departure from Premiere Radio Networks.
Kasem is of Lebanese Druze heritage, and he is a vegan. He has also been active in politics for years, supporting Lebanese-American and Arab-American causes and politicians. Kasem has written a brochure published by the Arab-American Institute entitled "Arab-Americans: Making a Difference."
Kasem supported Ralph Nader for president in 2000, supported progressive Democrat Dennis Kucinich in his 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, and narrated a campaign ad for George McGovern's 1984 presidential campaign.
In 1985, Casey Kasem was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame radio division.
Khalid bin Mahfouz
1949-2009
Saudi Arabian and Irish businessman accused of supporting al-Qaeda.
Khalid bin Mahfouz was the eldest son of Salim Ahmed bin Mahfouz, a Saudi who rose from being an illiterate moneychanger to the founder of the first bank in his country, the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia (NCB).
Mahfouz's father was Salem bin Mahfouz, who was six when he and his brothers arrived in Mecca in 1912. Salem bin Mahfouz was employed for many years exchanging currency for pilgrims to Mecca. In 1949, he became a partner in a lucrative currency business and quickly decided that the enterprise would be much more successful if it were constituted as a bank.
Banks, however, were illegal because the Qur'an condemned the charging of interest as usury. So the elder Sheik Mahfous, who was illiterate, went to the Saudi royal family and argued that Saudi Arabia should be self-sufficient in banking. At the time, the only two banks in the kingdom were foreign. He proved persuasive. The National Commercial Bank was established in 1953, and it became the bank of the royal family at a time when oil revenues soared. The bank laid the foundation for Saudi Arabia to join the global financial community.
Salem bin Mahfouz handed management of NCB, the largest bank in the country, to Khalid sometime in the 1980s. Khalid took over the bank after his father died, while his eleven siblings and his mother consolidated their inheritance into a large holding company. In 1990 Khalid bin Mahfouz acquired Irish citizenship through inward-investment procedures.
Khalid bin Mahfouz was born in 1949 and received his primary and secondary education in Jidda. When he joined National Commercial Bank, he first worked as a cashier. Later, as an executive, he developed securities trading, investment funds and corporate banking.
In 1977, he joined John Connally, a Washington insider and others to buy the Main Bank of Houston. Connally introduced Sheik Mahfouz to William Herbert Hunt and Nelson Bunker Hunt, Texas billionaires who recruited Sheik Mahfouz to join them in an ultimately unsuccessful scheme to corner the silver market.
Bin Mahfouz was married to Na'elah Kaaki, and they had three children, Abdulrahman, Sultan, and Eman. His personal net worth was $3.2 billion in 2006, making him one of the richest people in the world. His family fortune was worth over $4 billion. He was involved in various business and charitable organizations throughout his life.
Bin Mahfouz was a non-executive director of Bank of Credit and Commerce International, a financial conglomerate later convicted of money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, and many other crimes. Mahfouz personally owned a twenty percent (20%) stake in BCCI. He was indicted by a New York state grand jury for fraud but denied any culpability. The fraud charges were settled for $225 million in lieu of fines. Bin Mahfouz claimed that he simply settled as a business decision rather than using resources to fight further.
Mahfouz acknowledged donating over $270,000 to Osama bin Laden's Islamist organization at the request of Osama's brother Salem bin Laden. However, the donation was made when Bin Laden was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. At the time, the United States was also supporting Bin Laden and the insurgents there.
Khalid bin Mahfouz denied that NCB, his bank, was involved in funding an al-Qaeda group. According to reports, high-placed Saudi businessmen transferred millions of dollars through NCB to charities operating as fronts for al-Qaeda. Mahfouz stated that he could not have been aware of every wire transfer moving through the bank, and that he would not have allowed such transactions had he known they were taking place. There is no evidence that Mahfouz was personally involved in any of these transactions.
Khalid bin Mahfouz helped set up a charity organization called the Muwafaq Foundation, Muwafaq being Arabic for "blessed relief". He funded this charity with $30 million, and put his eldest son, Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz, on the board of directors. In October of 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department named Muwafaq an al-Qaeda front organization. Neither Khalid nor Abdulrahman were accused of funding terrorism by the United States; however Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi national hired to run the charity, was named a supporter of terrorism by and had his assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Khalid bin Mahfouz claimed that he was not aware of the charity being used to fund terrorists. He claimed further that he had initiated an investigation of his own into Muwafaq's activities.
Khalid bin Mahfouz died on August 16, 2009. The cause was a heart attack.
1949-2009
Saudi Arabian and Irish businessman accused of supporting al-Qaeda.
Khalid bin Mahfouz was the eldest son of Salim Ahmed bin Mahfouz, a Saudi who rose from being an illiterate moneychanger to the founder of the first bank in his country, the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia (NCB).
Mahfouz's father was Salem bin Mahfouz, who was six when he and his brothers arrived in Mecca in 1912. Salem bin Mahfouz was employed for many years exchanging currency for pilgrims to Mecca. In 1949, he became a partner in a lucrative currency business and quickly decided that the enterprise would be much more successful if it were constituted as a bank.
Banks, however, were illegal because the Qur'an condemned the charging of interest as usury. So the elder Sheik Mahfous, who was illiterate, went to the Saudi royal family and argued that Saudi Arabia should be self-sufficient in banking. At the time, the only two banks in the kingdom were foreign. He proved persuasive. The National Commercial Bank was established in 1953, and it became the bank of the royal family at a time when oil revenues soared. The bank laid the foundation for Saudi Arabia to join the global financial community.
Salem bin Mahfouz handed management of NCB, the largest bank in the country, to Khalid sometime in the 1980s. Khalid took over the bank after his father died, while his eleven siblings and his mother consolidated their inheritance into a large holding company. In 1990 Khalid bin Mahfouz acquired Irish citizenship through inward-investment procedures.
Khalid bin Mahfouz was born in 1949 and received his primary and secondary education in Jidda. When he joined National Commercial Bank, he first worked as a cashier. Later, as an executive, he developed securities trading, investment funds and corporate banking.
In 1977, he joined John Connally, a Washington insider and others to buy the Main Bank of Houston. Connally introduced Sheik Mahfouz to William Herbert Hunt and Nelson Bunker Hunt, Texas billionaires who recruited Sheik Mahfouz to join them in an ultimately unsuccessful scheme to corner the silver market.
Bin Mahfouz was married to Na'elah Kaaki, and they had three children, Abdulrahman, Sultan, and Eman. His personal net worth was $3.2 billion in 2006, making him one of the richest people in the world. His family fortune was worth over $4 billion. He was involved in various business and charitable organizations throughout his life.
Bin Mahfouz was a non-executive director of Bank of Credit and Commerce International, a financial conglomerate later convicted of money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, and many other crimes. Mahfouz personally owned a twenty percent (20%) stake in BCCI. He was indicted by a New York state grand jury for fraud but denied any culpability. The fraud charges were settled for $225 million in lieu of fines. Bin Mahfouz claimed that he simply settled as a business decision rather than using resources to fight further.
Mahfouz acknowledged donating over $270,000 to Osama bin Laden's Islamist organization at the request of Osama's brother Salem bin Laden. However, the donation was made when Bin Laden was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. At the time, the United States was also supporting Bin Laden and the insurgents there.
Khalid bin Mahfouz denied that NCB, his bank, was involved in funding an al-Qaeda group. According to reports, high-placed Saudi businessmen transferred millions of dollars through NCB to charities operating as fronts for al-Qaeda. Mahfouz stated that he could not have been aware of every wire transfer moving through the bank, and that he would not have allowed such transactions had he known they were taking place. There is no evidence that Mahfouz was personally involved in any of these transactions.
Khalid bin Mahfouz helped set up a charity organization called the Muwafaq Foundation, Muwafaq being Arabic for "blessed relief". He funded this charity with $30 million, and put his eldest son, Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz, on the board of directors. In October of 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department named Muwafaq an al-Qaeda front organization. Neither Khalid nor Abdulrahman were accused of funding terrorism by the United States; however Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi national hired to run the charity, was named a supporter of terrorism by and had his assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Khalid bin Mahfouz claimed that he was not aware of the charity being used to fund terrorists. He claimed further that he had initiated an investigation of his own into Muwafaq's activities.
Khalid bin Mahfouz died on August 16, 2009. The cause was a heart attack.
Khalil, Mustafa
1920-2008
Egyptian premier.
As former secretary general of the ruling Arab Socialist Union party, Khalil accompanied then-president Anwar Sadat in his historic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977. The visit paved the way for the negotiations mediated by then United States President Jimmy Carter. Khalil, who served as Egypt's prime minister from 1978 to 1980, then headed the Egyptian negotiations with the Israelis at Camp David, which ended with the 1979 Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the first such treaty between an Arab country and Israel. Khalil also served as deputy chairman of the governing National Democratic Party. He stepped down in November of 2007.
Mustafa Khalil died on June 7, 2008 in Cairo.
1920-2008
Egyptian premier.
As former secretary general of the ruling Arab Socialist Union party, Khalil accompanied then-president Anwar Sadat in his historic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977. The visit paved the way for the negotiations mediated by then United States President Jimmy Carter. Khalil, who served as Egypt's prime minister from 1978 to 1980, then headed the Egyptian negotiations with the Israelis at Camp David, which ended with the 1979 Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the first such treaty between an Arab country and Israel. Khalil also served as deputy chairman of the governing National Democratic Party. He stepped down in November of 2007.
Mustafa Khalil died on June 7, 2008 in Cairo.
Khamenei, Ali
b. 1939
Iranian cleric and politician.
Ali Khamenei, (b. July 15, 1939?, Meshed, Iran), is an Iranian cleric and politician who served as president of Iran (1981–89) and as that country’s rahbar, or leader, from 1989. A religious figure of some significance, Khamenei was generally addressed with the honorific ayatollah.
Khamenei began his advanced religious studies at Qom under the most prominent Shīʿite scholars of the day, including Ruhollah Khomeini. From 1963 he was actively involved in protests against the monarchy, for which he was imprisoned several times by Iran’s security services. Khamenei remained closely associated with the exiled Khomeini during this time and immediately after the latter’s return to Iran in 1979 was appointed to the Revolutionary Council. After its dissolution he became deputy minister of defense and Khomeini’s personal representative on the Supreme Defense Council.
A fiery orator in support of the pro-Khomeini Islamic Republican Party (IRP) and an ardent advocate of the concept of velāyat-e faqīh (governance by the religious jurist), Khamenei was injured in 1981 in one of a series of terrorist bombings that devastated the IRP’s upper echelon. Following the death of the secretary-general of the IRP in another such blast later that year, Khamenei was appointed to fill the vacant position and within weeks announced his intention to run for the presidency. He was elected president in October 1981 and re-elected in 1985. Although not considered one of Iran’s senior clerics—he was then generally accorded the somewhat less lofty title of hojatolislam—Khamenei rose to the position of rahbar following the death of Khomeini in 1989. Khamenei enjoyed a good working relationship with President Hashemi Rafsanjani in the early 1990s, but his relations were strained with reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who served from 1997 to 2005.
Although Khamenei projected an official neutrality, subtle support for the candidacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—a conservative former mayor of Tehrān and a relative unknown—was detectable in some of Khamenei’s speeches prior to Ahmadinejad’s victory in the 2005 presidential elections. Many found Ahmadinejad’s success surprising, and it was clear that he would not have been elected without Khamenei’s support. In spite of this support, during Ahmadinejad’s presidency Khamenei sometimes publicly rebuked him, leading some to speculate about the extent to which the president had fallen from Khamenei’s favor.
In the presidential election of June 2009, Ahmadinejad faced several challengers, each of whom was approved by the Council of Guardians—a body of jurists that reviews legislation and supervises elections and half of whose members were directly appointed by Khamenei. One candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi—a former prime minister (1981–89) around whom the country’s reformist contingent had coalesced—mounted a surprisingly powerful campaign, especially in its final days. Pre-election polls suggested a tight contest. Shortly after the polls closed, however, Ahmadinejad was declared the clear victor with an absolute majority of more than 60 percent, and Khamenei quickly endorsed the results. Led by Mousavi, the opposition rejected the legitimacy of the outcome and gathered to protest, with massive popular demonstrations in Tehrān and elsewhere. Khamenei subsequently called for an official inquiry by the Council of Guardians into the allegations of electoral irregularities. The decision was followed shortly thereafter by an announcement by the Council of Guardians that the vote would be subject to a partial recount. The motion was rejected by the opposition, which had called for an annulment. Following nearly a week of protests, Khamenei issued his first public response to the unrest, again supporting Ahmadinejad’s victory and warning the opposition against further demonstrations.
b. 1939
Iranian cleric and politician.
Ali Khamenei, (b. July 15, 1939?, Meshed, Iran), is an Iranian cleric and politician who served as president of Iran (1981–89) and as that country’s rahbar, or leader, from 1989. A religious figure of some significance, Khamenei was generally addressed with the honorific ayatollah.
Khamenei began his advanced religious studies at Qom under the most prominent Shīʿite scholars of the day, including Ruhollah Khomeini. From 1963 he was actively involved in protests against the monarchy, for which he was imprisoned several times by Iran’s security services. Khamenei remained closely associated with the exiled Khomeini during this time and immediately after the latter’s return to Iran in 1979 was appointed to the Revolutionary Council. After its dissolution he became deputy minister of defense and Khomeini’s personal representative on the Supreme Defense Council.
A fiery orator in support of the pro-Khomeini Islamic Republican Party (IRP) and an ardent advocate of the concept of velāyat-e faqīh (governance by the religious jurist), Khamenei was injured in 1981 in one of a series of terrorist bombings that devastated the IRP’s upper echelon. Following the death of the secretary-general of the IRP in another such blast later that year, Khamenei was appointed to fill the vacant position and within weeks announced his intention to run for the presidency. He was elected president in October 1981 and re-elected in 1985. Although not considered one of Iran’s senior clerics—he was then generally accorded the somewhat less lofty title of hojatolislam—Khamenei rose to the position of rahbar following the death of Khomeini in 1989. Khamenei enjoyed a good working relationship with President Hashemi Rafsanjani in the early 1990s, but his relations were strained with reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who served from 1997 to 2005.
Although Khamenei projected an official neutrality, subtle support for the candidacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—a conservative former mayor of Tehrān and a relative unknown—was detectable in some of Khamenei’s speeches prior to Ahmadinejad’s victory in the 2005 presidential elections. Many found Ahmadinejad’s success surprising, and it was clear that he would not have been elected without Khamenei’s support. In spite of this support, during Ahmadinejad’s presidency Khamenei sometimes publicly rebuked him, leading some to speculate about the extent to which the president had fallen from Khamenei’s favor.
In the presidential election of June 2009, Ahmadinejad faced several challengers, each of whom was approved by the Council of Guardians—a body of jurists that reviews legislation and supervises elections and half of whose members were directly appointed by Khamenei. One candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi—a former prime minister (1981–89) around whom the country’s reformist contingent had coalesced—mounted a surprisingly powerful campaign, especially in its final days. Pre-election polls suggested a tight contest. Shortly after the polls closed, however, Ahmadinejad was declared the clear victor with an absolute majority of more than 60 percent, and Khamenei quickly endorsed the results. Led by Mousavi, the opposition rejected the legitimacy of the outcome and gathered to protest, with massive popular demonstrations in Tehrān and elsewhere. Khamenei subsequently called for an official inquiry by the Council of Guardians into the allegations of electoral irregularities. The decision was followed shortly thereafter by an announcement by the Council of Guardians that the vote would be subject to a partial recount. The motion was rejected by the opposition, which had called for an annulment. Following nearly a week of protests, Khamenei issued his first public response to the unrest, again supporting Ahmadinejad’s victory and warning the opposition against further demonstrations.
Khan, Ali Akbar
1922-2009
Sarod virtuoso.
Ali Akbar Khan, often referred to as Khansahib or by the title Ustad (master), was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Khan was instrumental in popularizing Indian classical music in the West, both as a performer (often in conjunction with Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar), and as a teacher. He established a music school in Calcutta in 1956, and the Ali Akbar College of Music in 1967, which is now located in San Rafael, California and has a branch in Basel, Switzerland. Khan also composed several classical ragas and filmscores.
Trained as a musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, Khan first came to America in 1955 on the invitation of violinist Yehudi Menuhin and later settled in California. Khan was nominated for five Grammy Awards and was accorded India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 1989. He also won the MacArthur Genius Grant and the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship.
Ali Akbar Khan was born on April 14, 1922, in the village of Shibpur, Comilla, in present-day Bangladesh (then East Bengal), to revered musician and teacher, Allauddin Khan and Madina Begum. Soon after his birth, Khan's family returned to Maihar (in present day Madhya Pradesh, India) where his father was the primary court musician for the Maharaja of the princely state.
From an early age, Khan received training from his father in various instruments as well as vocal composition, but finally gravitated towards the sarod. Allauddin was a perfectionist and a strict taskmaster, and Khan's lessons started before dawn and often lasted 18 hours a day. Khan also learned to play the tabla and the pakhavaj from his uncle, Aftabuddin Khan, who he visited at Shibpur. During this period he met several prominent musicians, such as the sarodist Timir Baran and flutist Pannalal Ghosh, who came to study with his father. In later years, he was joined in his lessons by his sister Annapurna Devi, who became an accomplished player of the surbahar, and fellow student Ravi Shankar. Shankar and Annapurna Devi were married in 1941.
Of his training on the sarod, he wrote:
"If you practice for ten years, you may begin to please yourself, after 20 years you may become a performer and please the audience, after 30 years you may please even your guru, but you must practice for many more years before you finally become a true artist—then you may please even God."
Ali Akbar Khan, after years of rigorous training gave his debut performance at a music conference in Allahabad in 1936, at the age of 13. Three years later, in December 1939, he accompanied Ravi Shankar on the sarod during the latter's debut performance at the same conference; this was the first of many jugalbandis (duets) between the two musicians. In 1938 Khan gave his first recital on All India Radio (AIR), Bombay (accompanied on the tabla by Alla Rakha), and starting in January 1940, he gave monthly performances on AIR, Lucknow. Finally in 1944, both Shankar and Khan left Maihar to start their professional careers as musicians; Shankar went to Bombay, while Khan became the youngest Music Director for AIR, Lucknow and was responsible for solo performances and composing for the radio orchestra.
In 1943, on his father's recommendation, Khan was appointed a court musician for the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Hanumant Singh. There, he taught and composed music in addition to giving recitals and was accorded the title of Ustad by the Maharaja. After the princely states declined with India's independence in 1947, and after Hanumant Singh died in a plane crash in 1948, Khan moved to Bombay.
In Bombay, Khan won acclaim as a composer of several film scores, including Chetan Anand's Aandhiyan, Satyajit Ray's Devi, Merchant-Ivory's The Householder, and Tapan Sinha's Kshudista Pashan ("Hungry stones"), for which he won the "Best Musician of the Year" award. Later in 1993, he would score some of the music for Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha.
Beginning in 1945, Khan also started recording a series of 78 rpm disks (which could record about 3 minutes of music) at the HMV Studios in Bombay. For one such record he conceived a new composition Raga Chandranandan ("moonstruck"), based on four evening ragas, Malkauns, Chandrakauns, Nandakauns and Kaushi Kanra. This record was a huge success in India and the raga found a worldwide audience when a 22 minute rendition was re-recorded for the Master musician of India LP in 1965 - one of Khan's seminal recordings.
Khan performed in India and traveled extensively in the West. In 1956, Khan founded the Ali Akbar College of Music in Calcutta, with the mission to teach and spread Indian classical music. He founded another school of the same name in Berkeley, California in 1967 and later moved it to San Rafael, California. In 1985 he founded another branch of the Ali Akbar College of Music in Basel, Switzerland. Khan was the first Indian musician to record an LP album of Indian classical music in the United States and to play sarod on American television.
Khan participated in a number of classic jugalbandi pairings, most notably with Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee and violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam. A few recordings of duets with Vilayat Khan also were made. Khan also collaborated with Western musicians. In 1971 Khan performed at Madison Square Garden for the the Concert for Bangladesh along with Ravi Shankar, Alla Rakha and Kamala Chakravarty. Other musicians at the concert included Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. An album and a movie of the concert were later released.
Khan was based in the United States for the last four decades of his life. He toured extensively until he was prevented from doing so by ill-health in the period prior to his death from renal failure. Ali Akbar Khan died on June 18, 2009.
Ali Akbar Khan married three times and is survived by seven sons and four daughters. His eldest son, Aashish Khan is also a renowned sarod player.
Khan was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1989, among other awards. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991. In 1997, Khan received the National Endowment for the Arts' prestigious National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' highest honor in the traditional arts. Khan received two Grammy nominations.
1922-2009
Sarod virtuoso.
Ali Akbar Khan, often referred to as Khansahib or by the title Ustad (master), was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Khan was instrumental in popularizing Indian classical music in the West, both as a performer (often in conjunction with Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar), and as a teacher. He established a music school in Calcutta in 1956, and the Ali Akbar College of Music in 1967, which is now located in San Rafael, California and has a branch in Basel, Switzerland. Khan also composed several classical ragas and filmscores.
Trained as a musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, Khan first came to America in 1955 on the invitation of violinist Yehudi Menuhin and later settled in California. Khan was nominated for five Grammy Awards and was accorded India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 1989. He also won the MacArthur Genius Grant and the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship.
Ali Akbar Khan was born on April 14, 1922, in the village of Shibpur, Comilla, in present-day Bangladesh (then East Bengal), to revered musician and teacher, Allauddin Khan and Madina Begum. Soon after his birth, Khan's family returned to Maihar (in present day Madhya Pradesh, India) where his father was the primary court musician for the Maharaja of the princely state.
From an early age, Khan received training from his father in various instruments as well as vocal composition, but finally gravitated towards the sarod. Allauddin was a perfectionist and a strict taskmaster, and Khan's lessons started before dawn and often lasted 18 hours a day. Khan also learned to play the tabla and the pakhavaj from his uncle, Aftabuddin Khan, who he visited at Shibpur. During this period he met several prominent musicians, such as the sarodist Timir Baran and flutist Pannalal Ghosh, who came to study with his father. In later years, he was joined in his lessons by his sister Annapurna Devi, who became an accomplished player of the surbahar, and fellow student Ravi Shankar. Shankar and Annapurna Devi were married in 1941.
Of his training on the sarod, he wrote:
"If you practice for ten years, you may begin to please yourself, after 20 years you may become a performer and please the audience, after 30 years you may please even your guru, but you must practice for many more years before you finally become a true artist—then you may please even God."
Ali Akbar Khan, after years of rigorous training gave his debut performance at a music conference in Allahabad in 1936, at the age of 13. Three years later, in December 1939, he accompanied Ravi Shankar on the sarod during the latter's debut performance at the same conference; this was the first of many jugalbandis (duets) between the two musicians. In 1938 Khan gave his first recital on All India Radio (AIR), Bombay (accompanied on the tabla by Alla Rakha), and starting in January 1940, he gave monthly performances on AIR, Lucknow. Finally in 1944, both Shankar and Khan left Maihar to start their professional careers as musicians; Shankar went to Bombay, while Khan became the youngest Music Director for AIR, Lucknow and was responsible for solo performances and composing for the radio orchestra.
In 1943, on his father's recommendation, Khan was appointed a court musician for the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Hanumant Singh. There, he taught and composed music in addition to giving recitals and was accorded the title of Ustad by the Maharaja. After the princely states declined with India's independence in 1947, and after Hanumant Singh died in a plane crash in 1948, Khan moved to Bombay.
In Bombay, Khan won acclaim as a composer of several film scores, including Chetan Anand's Aandhiyan, Satyajit Ray's Devi, Merchant-Ivory's The Householder, and Tapan Sinha's Kshudista Pashan ("Hungry stones"), for which he won the "Best Musician of the Year" award. Later in 1993, he would score some of the music for Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha.
Beginning in 1945, Khan also started recording a series of 78 rpm disks (which could record about 3 minutes of music) at the HMV Studios in Bombay. For one such record he conceived a new composition Raga Chandranandan ("moonstruck"), based on four evening ragas, Malkauns, Chandrakauns, Nandakauns and Kaushi Kanra. This record was a huge success in India and the raga found a worldwide audience when a 22 minute rendition was re-recorded for the Master musician of India LP in 1965 - one of Khan's seminal recordings.
Khan performed in India and traveled extensively in the West. In 1956, Khan founded the Ali Akbar College of Music in Calcutta, with the mission to teach and spread Indian classical music. He founded another school of the same name in Berkeley, California in 1967 and later moved it to San Rafael, California. In 1985 he founded another branch of the Ali Akbar College of Music in Basel, Switzerland. Khan was the first Indian musician to record an LP album of Indian classical music in the United States and to play sarod on American television.
Khan participated in a number of classic jugalbandi pairings, most notably with Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee and violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam. A few recordings of duets with Vilayat Khan also were made. Khan also collaborated with Western musicians. In 1971 Khan performed at Madison Square Garden for the the Concert for Bangladesh along with Ravi Shankar, Alla Rakha and Kamala Chakravarty. Other musicians at the concert included Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. An album and a movie of the concert were later released.
Khan was based in the United States for the last four decades of his life. He toured extensively until he was prevented from doing so by ill-health in the period prior to his death from renal failure. Ali Akbar Khan died on June 18, 2009.
Ali Akbar Khan married three times and is survived by seven sons and four daughters. His eldest son, Aashish Khan is also a renowned sarod player.
Khan was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1989, among other awards. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991. In 1997, Khan received the National Endowment for the Arts' prestigious National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' highest honor in the traditional arts. Khan received two Grammy nominations.
Khan, Feroz
1939-2009
Indian actor, film editor, producer and director in the Hindi film industry.
For his flamboyant style, with cowboyish swagger and cigar toting persona which revolutionized the style of the otherwise conventional Bollywood hero, Feroz Khan (September 25, 1939 - April 27, 2009), became known as the Clint Eastwood of the East.
Feroz Khan appeared in over 50 films in the 1970s and 1980s, and became one of India's best-loved heroes with his role in the 1980 hit film Qurbani, which he also directed. Khan followed this multi-disciplinary achievement by directing more successful films like Dayavan (1988) and Janbaaz (1986). He won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi Aur Insaan in 1970, and was honored with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.
Feroz Khan was born in Bangalore, India, on September 29, 1939. His father was Sadiq Ali Khan Tanoli, who was a Pathan originally from the Ghazni province of Afghanistan. His mother, Fatima, was of Iranian origin. He has four brothers Sanjay Khan, Sameer Khan, Akbar Khan, and Shahrukh Ali Khan, and one sister, Dilshad Begum. After his schooling in Bangalore, he went to Mumbai where he made his debut as second lead hero in Didi in 1960.
For the next five years, Feroz Khan was forced to play the second to last lead in most of the movies in which he appeared. Through the early 1960s and 1970s, he made low-budget thrillers opposite starlets. In 1962, he appeared in an English-language film titled Tarzan Goes to India opposite Simi Garewal. His first big hit was in 1965, with Phani Majumdar's Oonche Log, where he was pitted against screen idols Raaj Kumar and Ashok Kumar, and in which he gave a notably sensitive performance. Again, in the same year, he played a sacrificing lover in the mushy musical Arzoo, starring Sadhana. With this, Khan earned his entry into the A-list of leading men. With the film Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969), Khan won his first Filmfare award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also appeared alongside his real-life brother Sanjay Khan in the hit films Upaasna (1967), Mela (1971) and Nagin (1976).
He turned into a successful producer and director so as to improve his career opportunities as a leading man. He produced, directed and starred in the 1975 film Dharmatma which was the first Indian film to be shot in Afghanistan and was also his first blockbuster hit as producer, director and star. Dharmatma also marked the appearance of actress Hema Malini as a glamourous avatar. This movie was inspired by the Hollywood film The Godfather. In 1976, Feroz Khan was one of the many actors to appear in the cult classic horror film Nagin which also had his brother Sanjay in one of the lead roles.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Feroz Khan was a leading Bollywood star. He directed and starred in many of his films. He also starred in the Punjabi film Bhagat Dhanna Jat (1974). The movie Qurbani (1980), with Zeenat Aman was the biggest hit of his career and also launched the singing career of the iconic Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan, with her memorable track 'Aap Jaisa Koi'.
In 1986, Feroz Khan directed and starred in Janbaaz which was a box office hit, which some consider to be one of his best movies, featured an all star cast, and was possessed of great songs and excellent cinematography. In 1988, Feroz Khan directed and starred in Dayavan which was a remake of a South Indian film titled Nayagan. After directing and starring in Yalghaar (1992), he took a long break from acting for 11 years and took to producing, directing and even editing a few films.
He launched his son Fardeen Khan's career with the 1998 film Prem Aggan which, however, proved to be a box office disappointment. In 2003, he made his acting comeback as well as produced and directed Janasheen (2003) which also starred his son Fardeen. He always used performing animals in his films - a chimpanzee and lion were used in Janasheen but People for Animals (PFA) Haryana chairman Naresh Kadyan filed a complaint in the court of law at Faridabad for animal cruelty against the Feroz Khan as the producer, director and actor. He starred alongside his son again in Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005) and made his last film appearance in Welcome (2007).
Feroz Khan was ahead of his time in terms of his style which was uniquely reflected in his movies and music. His movies like Qurbani and Dharmatma became cult favourites in Hindi cinema.
In 1965, Feroz Khan married Sundari, a designer and member of the Page Three circuit in Mumbai. They had two children together, Laila and Fardeen Khan (b. 1974). In 1985, after 20 years of marriage, he divorced his wife.
The son Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan, married Natasha Madhwani, the daughter of his occasional on-screen lover Mumtaz. His daughter Laila married the Indian tennis player Rohit Rajpal.
Feroz Khan died on Monday, 27 April, 2009 at the age of 69, at his Bengaluru farm house after being discharged from a Mumbai hospital, where he was undergoing cancer treatment, after being diagnosed with lung cancer over a year prior to his death.
Despite the complaint filed in by the People for Animals Haryana, Feroz Khan was an animal lover and to show respect and as a homage and tribute to him, a representative of the International Organization for Animal Protection - OIPA in India - lit a candle for Feroz Khan upon his death.
Among the awards garnered by Feroz Khan are: Filmfare Best Debut Award for Didi (1960); Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi Aur Insaan (1970); Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for International Crook (1974); Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (2000); Filmfare Nomination as Best Villain for Janasheen (2003); Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement (2008) and "Pride of the industry" at the Max Stardust Awards (2009).
1939-2009
Indian actor, film editor, producer and director in the Hindi film industry.
For his flamboyant style, with cowboyish swagger and cigar toting persona which revolutionized the style of the otherwise conventional Bollywood hero, Feroz Khan (September 25, 1939 - April 27, 2009), became known as the Clint Eastwood of the East.
Feroz Khan appeared in over 50 films in the 1970s and 1980s, and became one of India's best-loved heroes with his role in the 1980 hit film Qurbani, which he also directed. Khan followed this multi-disciplinary achievement by directing more successful films like Dayavan (1988) and Janbaaz (1986). He won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi Aur Insaan in 1970, and was honored with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.
Feroz Khan was born in Bangalore, India, on September 29, 1939. His father was Sadiq Ali Khan Tanoli, who was a Pathan originally from the Ghazni province of Afghanistan. His mother, Fatima, was of Iranian origin. He has four brothers Sanjay Khan, Sameer Khan, Akbar Khan, and Shahrukh Ali Khan, and one sister, Dilshad Begum. After his schooling in Bangalore, he went to Mumbai where he made his debut as second lead hero in Didi in 1960.
For the next five years, Feroz Khan was forced to play the second to last lead in most of the movies in which he appeared. Through the early 1960s and 1970s, he made low-budget thrillers opposite starlets. In 1962, he appeared in an English-language film titled Tarzan Goes to India opposite Simi Garewal. His first big hit was in 1965, with Phani Majumdar's Oonche Log, where he was pitted against screen idols Raaj Kumar and Ashok Kumar, and in which he gave a notably sensitive performance. Again, in the same year, he played a sacrificing lover in the mushy musical Arzoo, starring Sadhana. With this, Khan earned his entry into the A-list of leading men. With the film Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969), Khan won his first Filmfare award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also appeared alongside his real-life brother Sanjay Khan in the hit films Upaasna (1967), Mela (1971) and Nagin (1976).
He turned into a successful producer and director so as to improve his career opportunities as a leading man. He produced, directed and starred in the 1975 film Dharmatma which was the first Indian film to be shot in Afghanistan and was also his first blockbuster hit as producer, director and star. Dharmatma also marked the appearance of actress Hema Malini as a glamourous avatar. This movie was inspired by the Hollywood film The Godfather. In 1976, Feroz Khan was one of the many actors to appear in the cult classic horror film Nagin which also had his brother Sanjay in one of the lead roles.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Feroz Khan was a leading Bollywood star. He directed and starred in many of his films. He also starred in the Punjabi film Bhagat Dhanna Jat (1974). The movie Qurbani (1980), with Zeenat Aman was the biggest hit of his career and also launched the singing career of the iconic Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan, with her memorable track 'Aap Jaisa Koi'.
In 1986, Feroz Khan directed and starred in Janbaaz which was a box office hit, which some consider to be one of his best movies, featured an all star cast, and was possessed of great songs and excellent cinematography. In 1988, Feroz Khan directed and starred in Dayavan which was a remake of a South Indian film titled Nayagan. After directing and starring in Yalghaar (1992), he took a long break from acting for 11 years and took to producing, directing and even editing a few films.
He launched his son Fardeen Khan's career with the 1998 film Prem Aggan which, however, proved to be a box office disappointment. In 2003, he made his acting comeback as well as produced and directed Janasheen (2003) which also starred his son Fardeen. He always used performing animals in his films - a chimpanzee and lion were used in Janasheen but People for Animals (PFA) Haryana chairman Naresh Kadyan filed a complaint in the court of law at Faridabad for animal cruelty against the Feroz Khan as the producer, director and actor. He starred alongside his son again in Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005) and made his last film appearance in Welcome (2007).
Feroz Khan was ahead of his time in terms of his style which was uniquely reflected in his movies and music. His movies like Qurbani and Dharmatma became cult favourites in Hindi cinema.
In 1965, Feroz Khan married Sundari, a designer and member of the Page Three circuit in Mumbai. They had two children together, Laila and Fardeen Khan (b. 1974). In 1985, after 20 years of marriage, he divorced his wife.
The son Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan, married Natasha Madhwani, the daughter of his occasional on-screen lover Mumtaz. His daughter Laila married the Indian tennis player Rohit Rajpal.
Feroz Khan died on Monday, 27 April, 2009 at the age of 69, at his Bengaluru farm house after being discharged from a Mumbai hospital, where he was undergoing cancer treatment, after being diagnosed with lung cancer over a year prior to his death.
Despite the complaint filed in by the People for Animals Haryana, Feroz Khan was an animal lover and to show respect and as a homage and tribute to him, a representative of the International Organization for Animal Protection - OIPA in India - lit a candle for Feroz Khan upon his death.
Among the awards garnered by Feroz Khan are: Filmfare Best Debut Award for Didi (1960); Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi Aur Insaan (1970); Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for International Crook (1974); Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (2000); Filmfare Nomination as Best Villain for Janasheen (2003); Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement (2008) and "Pride of the industry" at the Max Stardust Awards (2009).
Khan, Ghulam Ishaq
1915-2006
President of Pakistan from 1988 to 1993.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in Bannu District of the North-West Frontier Province to a Pashtun family. He completed his education in chemistry and joined the Indian civil service prior to Pakistani independence. Upon independence, he was involved in irrigation projects in West Pakistan, and later went on to join the Finance Ministry, eventually becoming the Finance Minister.
In the 1985 elections, he won a Senate seat, shortly after which he was elected as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. Immediately after the death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Khan became acting President in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession, and was formally elected to the position in December of that year. He held the position of President until 1993.
Khan reportedly vetoed the appointment of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Hamid Gul as Army Chief, appointing the moderately reformist general Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua instead. Khan's presidency also saw the resignation of General Rahimuddin Khan from the post of Governor of Sindh, due to differences between the two after Khan started restricting Rahimuddin's vast amount of legislative power. Khan's presidency was also marked by his use of Eighth Amendment reserve powers to check the government. While the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, Khan was able to dismiss the governments of both Benazir Bhutto (in 1990) and Nawaz Sharif (in 1993) on charges of corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism, thereby triggering new elections, which the incumbent parties lost. The second dismissal of government exacerbated institutional and political opposition to Khan, leading to his resignation in 1993. Despite coming to an arrangement with the Pakistani government to be re-elected to the presidency after the 1993 elections, Khan was eventually dropped as a candidate in favor of Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari.
Khan subsequently retired from politics and avoided contacts with the media. He died in Peshawar on October 27, 2006, after a bout with pneumonia.
1915-2006
President of Pakistan from 1988 to 1993.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in Bannu District of the North-West Frontier Province to a Pashtun family. He completed his education in chemistry and joined the Indian civil service prior to Pakistani independence. Upon independence, he was involved in irrigation projects in West Pakistan, and later went on to join the Finance Ministry, eventually becoming the Finance Minister.
In the 1985 elections, he won a Senate seat, shortly after which he was elected as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. Immediately after the death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Khan became acting President in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession, and was formally elected to the position in December of that year. He held the position of President until 1993.
Khan reportedly vetoed the appointment of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Hamid Gul as Army Chief, appointing the moderately reformist general Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua instead. Khan's presidency also saw the resignation of General Rahimuddin Khan from the post of Governor of Sindh, due to differences between the two after Khan started restricting Rahimuddin's vast amount of legislative power. Khan's presidency was also marked by his use of Eighth Amendment reserve powers to check the government. While the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, Khan was able to dismiss the governments of both Benazir Bhutto (in 1990) and Nawaz Sharif (in 1993) on charges of corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism, thereby triggering new elections, which the incumbent parties lost. The second dismissal of government exacerbated institutional and political opposition to Khan, leading to his resignation in 1993. Despite coming to an arrangement with the Pakistani government to be re-elected to the presidency after the 1993 elections, Khan was eventually dropped as a candidate in favor of Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari.
Khan subsequently retired from politics and avoided contacts with the media. He died in Peshawar on October 27, 2006, after a bout with pneumonia.
Khashoggi, Adnan
1935-
Turkish businessman.
Born on July 25, 1935, the son of Muhammad Khashoggi, a doctor of medicine. He was educated at Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt, Chico State College and Stanford University in California. Khashoggi headed a company called Triad Holding Company which amongst other things built the Triad Centre in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was famed as a broker of arms between United States firms and the Saudi government during the 1960s and 1970s. Among his overseas clients were defense contractors Lockheed Corporation (now Lockheed Martin Corporation), Raytheon, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation and Northrop Corporation (which have now merged into Northrop Grumman). A shrewd business man, he established companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to handle his commissions as well as developed contacts with such notables as Bebe Rebozo, a close associate of President Richard Nixon.
In the 1980s, Khashoggi was implicated during the Iran-Contra Affair as a key middleman in the arms-for-hostages exchange along with Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, and in a complex series of events, was found to have borrowed money for these arms purchases from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) with Saudi and United States backing. He was arrested in October 1988 in Switzerland accused of concealing funds, held for three months and then extradited to the United States of America where he was released on bail and subsequently acquitted.
1935-
Turkish businessman.
Born on July 25, 1935, the son of Muhammad Khashoggi, a doctor of medicine. He was educated at Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt, Chico State College and Stanford University in California. Khashoggi headed a company called Triad Holding Company which amongst other things built the Triad Centre in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was famed as a broker of arms between United States firms and the Saudi government during the 1960s and 1970s. Among his overseas clients were defense contractors Lockheed Corporation (now Lockheed Martin Corporation), Raytheon, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation and Northrop Corporation (which have now merged into Northrop Grumman). A shrewd business man, he established companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to handle his commissions as well as developed contacts with such notables as Bebe Rebozo, a close associate of President Richard Nixon.
In the 1980s, Khashoggi was implicated during the Iran-Contra Affair as a key middleman in the arms-for-hostages exchange along with Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, and in a complex series of events, was found to have borrowed money for these arms purchases from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) with Saudi and United States backing. He was arrested in October 1988 in Switzerland accused of concealing funds, held for three months and then extradited to the United States of America where he was released on bail and subsequently acquitted.
Kleber, Jean-Baptiste
1753-1800
A French general during the French Revolution and a governor of Egypt.
Appointed governor of Egypt in 1799 by Napoleon Bonaparte, Jean-Baptiste Kleber spent most of the year prior to his assassination in suppressing the many revolts against French rule. At the same time, he negotiated with Sir Sidney Smith for the withdrawal of French troops from the country. The convention that the two men concluded was subsequently rejected by the British who decided to maintain their formal intervention on behalf of the Ottomans. Kleber met this challenge and defeated an Ottoman army advancing on Cairo in March 1800. He restored order in much of Cairo, and benefitted from the decision of Murad Bey to accept the governorship of Upper Egypt on behalf of the French. However, opposition to French control continued and in June (June 14) 1800 Kleber was assassinated by a member of the Janissary corps. He was succeeded by Baron Menou.
1753-1800
A French general during the French Revolution and a governor of Egypt.
Appointed governor of Egypt in 1799 by Napoleon Bonaparte, Jean-Baptiste Kleber spent most of the year prior to his assassination in suppressing the many revolts against French rule. At the same time, he negotiated with Sir Sidney Smith for the withdrawal of French troops from the country. The convention that the two men concluded was subsequently rejected by the British who decided to maintain their formal intervention on behalf of the Ottomans. Kleber met this challenge and defeated an Ottoman army advancing on Cairo in March 1800. He restored order in much of Cairo, and benefitted from the decision of Murad Bey to accept the governorship of Upper Egypt on behalf of the French. However, opposition to French control continued and in June (June 14) 1800 Kleber was assassinated by a member of the Janissary corps. He was succeeded by Baron Menou.
Kordan, Ali
1958-2009
Iranian conservative politician who was impeached over a scandal.
Ali Kordan was born on October 23, 1958. He was an Iranian conservative politician who served in the Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary and as deputy oil minister, before becoming interior minister of Iran in 2008 for just 90 days. He was impeached by the Iranian Parliament on November 4, 2008 after a doctorate he claimed to hold turned out to be fraudulent.
A former revolutionary guard, Kordan was appointed deputy oil minister in around October 2007. He had turned down the offer of the same position in 2006.
Kordan had previously served as deputy labor minister, president of Iran's Technical and Vocational Organization, deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) for provincial and parliamentary affairs, deputy head of IRIB for administrative and financial affairs, and deputy minister for culture and Islamic guidance for administrative and financial affairs.
During his tenure as the deputy head of IRIB in financial affairs, Ali Kordan was accused of a high profile financial corruption (525 billion Tomans). However, the Judiciary system did not charge him after a long investigation.
In 2008, President Ahmadinejad chose Kordan as the Minister of Interior. However, during his confirmation debate in the Iranian parliament, questions arose among MPs and in the media over his qualifications and over a doctorate he claimed to have received. On August 5, 2008, Kordan was approved by the Parliament for the position of Minister of Interior by "a relatively slim margin" of around 160 of the 269 lawmakers present.
Kordan claimed to have an Honorary Doctorate in law from Oxford University. When this was questioned he released a document stating that such a degree had been confirmed on him in June 2000 and under-signed by three Oxford University professors. A copy of the certificate was released and Alef, a website "associated with one of Ahmadinejad's critics", pointed to "typing errors, garbled English and misspellings".
Responding to an inquiry by Alef news agency, on August 11, 2008, Oxford University denied it had awarded Kordan an honorary doctorate of law or any other degree. Four days later the University published an official statement on its website that the University had no record of Kordan having received any degree, honorary or otherwise. Oxford noted that none of the professors whose alleged signatures were on the certificate were working in the field of law, and none of them would sign degree certificates. As a result, chairman of Iranian parliament Ali Larijani initiated an investigation into the validity of Kordan's degree. It was later revealed, according to the news service msnbc, that Kordan did not receive two other degrees he had claimed, a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Iran's Open University.
Two days after the Oxford University response, the state news agency IRNA reported that the Tehran prosecutors office announced that the investigating Alef news website had been "banned based on complaints by legal entities". It was reported that the Alef News Website (Alef.ir), had been blocked by the Iranian "authorities". As of August 27, 2008, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic denied announcing any statement on Kordan's Doctorate Degree.
On September 27, 2008, in a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kordan admitted that the degree was fake, explaining that he had been deceived by a "person who claimed to represent Oxford University in Tehran". After holding the degree for eight years he was astonished to learn that "the university did not confirm (the degree) when my representative went there". Kordan said his search for this fraudulent Oxford intermediary had proven fruitless but that he had filed a complaint against the person, whom he did not name, on September 14. Kordan also accused the media of a smear campaign by portraying him as a "terrorist".
On November 4, 2008, the Iranian parliament voted to impeach Interior Minister Ali Kordan for lying about his credentials and presenting a fake degree from Oxford University. Out of 247 MPs present, 188 voted to impeach Kordan, with 14 lawmakers against the motion and 45 abstentions.
Kordan died of multiple myeloma at Tehran's Masihe Daneshvari hospital on November 22, 2009. He had also suffered from influenza and a brain hemorrhage.
1958-2009
Iranian conservative politician who was impeached over a scandal.
Ali Kordan was born on October 23, 1958. He was an Iranian conservative politician who served in the Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary and as deputy oil minister, before becoming interior minister of Iran in 2008 for just 90 days. He was impeached by the Iranian Parliament on November 4, 2008 after a doctorate he claimed to hold turned out to be fraudulent.
A former revolutionary guard, Kordan was appointed deputy oil minister in around October 2007. He had turned down the offer of the same position in 2006.
Kordan had previously served as deputy labor minister, president of Iran's Technical and Vocational Organization, deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) for provincial and parliamentary affairs, deputy head of IRIB for administrative and financial affairs, and deputy minister for culture and Islamic guidance for administrative and financial affairs.
During his tenure as the deputy head of IRIB in financial affairs, Ali Kordan was accused of a high profile financial corruption (525 billion Tomans). However, the Judiciary system did not charge him after a long investigation.
In 2008, President Ahmadinejad chose Kordan as the Minister of Interior. However, during his confirmation debate in the Iranian parliament, questions arose among MPs and in the media over his qualifications and over a doctorate he claimed to have received. On August 5, 2008, Kordan was approved by the Parliament for the position of Minister of Interior by "a relatively slim margin" of around 160 of the 269 lawmakers present.
Kordan claimed to have an Honorary Doctorate in law from Oxford University. When this was questioned he released a document stating that such a degree had been confirmed on him in June 2000 and under-signed by three Oxford University professors. A copy of the certificate was released and Alef, a website "associated with one of Ahmadinejad's critics", pointed to "typing errors, garbled English and misspellings".
Responding to an inquiry by Alef news agency, on August 11, 2008, Oxford University denied it had awarded Kordan an honorary doctorate of law or any other degree. Four days later the University published an official statement on its website that the University had no record of Kordan having received any degree, honorary or otherwise. Oxford noted that none of the professors whose alleged signatures were on the certificate were working in the field of law, and none of them would sign degree certificates. As a result, chairman of Iranian parliament Ali Larijani initiated an investigation into the validity of Kordan's degree. It was later revealed, according to the news service msnbc, that Kordan did not receive two other degrees he had claimed, a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Iran's Open University.
Two days after the Oxford University response, the state news agency IRNA reported that the Tehran prosecutors office announced that the investigating Alef news website had been "banned based on complaints by legal entities". It was reported that the Alef News Website (Alef.ir), had been blocked by the Iranian "authorities". As of August 27, 2008, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic denied announcing any statement on Kordan's Doctorate Degree.
On September 27, 2008, in a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kordan admitted that the degree was fake, explaining that he had been deceived by a "person who claimed to represent Oxford University in Tehran". After holding the degree for eight years he was astonished to learn that "the university did not confirm (the degree) when my representative went there". Kordan said his search for this fraudulent Oxford intermediary had proven fruitless but that he had filed a complaint against the person, whom he did not name, on September 14. Kordan also accused the media of a smear campaign by portraying him as a "terrorist".
On November 4, 2008, the Iranian parliament voted to impeach Interior Minister Ali Kordan for lying about his credentials and presenting a fake degree from Oxford University. Out of 247 MPs present, 188 voted to impeach Kordan, with 14 lawmakers against the motion and 45 abstentions.
Kordan died of multiple myeloma at Tehran's Masihe Daneshvari hospital on November 22, 2009. He had also suffered from influenza and a brain hemorrhage.
Kunjahi, Shareef
1915-2007
Punjabi poet.
Shareef Kunjahi was a leading writer and poet of Punjabi. He was among the first faculty members of the Department of Punjabi Language at University of Punjab in the 1970s and contributed to Punjabi literature as a poet, prose writer, teacher, research scholar, linguist, lexicographer and translator.
Shareef was born in 1915 in Kunjah, a small town of Gujrat District in Punjab. His father was a school teacher. Shareef completed his matriculation in 1930 from a school in Kunjah and higher secondary in 1933 at the Government Intermediate College, Jehlum. By that time, he had started writing poetry and was known as a progressive writer sympathetic to the Indian National Congress. This affiliation became a hindrance for him to get police clearance for entry level jobs in the government service. After getting fired from the army as a clerk for failing to get the certificate of good character from police and his other failed attempts to land a job, he went back to Kunjah to live with his parents.
In 1943, he completed his Munshi Fazal and BA from Punjab University as a private student and later completed teacher’s training from Lahore. He then continued teaching at various schools until he obtained the degree of MA Urdu in 1954, and of MA Persian in 1956. In 1959, he was hired as lecturer in Persian language at Government College, Campbalpur. He was transferred to Government College Jehlum from where he retired in 1973. From 1973 to 1980, he taught at the newly established Punjabi Department at the Punjab University Lahore.
Shareef Kunjahi died on January 20, 2007 and was interred in the compound of Ghanimat Kunjahi’s mazar in Kunjah.
Although Shareef. wrote poetry in both the Urdu and Persian languages, and even made a name as an Urdu poet quite early in his writing career, Punjabi was always his first love. For an up-and-coming Muslim writer of that period, especially among the early progressive writers and poets, adopting Punjabi for his creative articulation was a rare phenomenon.
He became among the pioneers of modern Punjabi poetry from 1930s at about the same time when Mohan Singh introduced secular themes and a new style in Punjabi poetry. His first collection of Punjabi poetry Jagrate (sleepless nights) was first published in Gurmukhi in East Punjab in 1958, and was not published in Shahmukhi in West Punjab until 1965. It contained only 37 poems. His second anthology Orak Hondi Lou (dimming light) was published in 1995.
Kunjahi’s poetry is a complete break from the qissa and Sufi traditions. Even his earliest poems have all the elements of modern poetry: secularism, expression of individualist experience, and awareness of social and political changes around him. His deep sense of departure from the existing value system was expressed in many of his early poems.
Without being overburdened by excessive symbolism or extreme emotions, Kunjahi’s poetry is a realistic and balanced expression of his social consciousness in a relatively simple and straightforward manner. He played a crucial role in setting new directions for Punjabi poetry and he opened doors for Punjabi poets to move away from the traditional style of writing poetry and experiment with new modes and techniques.
Just like he had done in poetry, Shareef Kunjahi also broke new grounds in Punjabi prose. It was through his translations in Punjabi of two books of Bertrand Russell and Allama Iqbal’s lectures — ‘Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts’ — among the numerous other translations, that he demonstrated that Punjabi language is capable of eloquently communicating even the most complex philosophical thoughts. He developed many new terms by creatively employing the vast treasure of Punjabi vocabulary. Perhaps his masterpiece is his translation of the Qur'an in idiomatic and fluent Punjabi of such a high order that it set a new standard for writing Punjabi prose.
Shareef Kunjahi was among the earliest writers who employed modern techniques of literary criticism. In a different field, his research in identifying many linguistic similarities in the Punjabi and Scandinavian languages is another pioneering piece of work.
Through his lifelong work on various aspects of Punjabi literature and language, Shareef Kunjahi carried the burden of serving his language during a time when most Muslim Punjabis had rejected their own language for all literary and creative expression. Sharif Kunjahi enriched the Punjabi language in so many different ways that his contributions are enshrined in the history of Punjabi literature.
1915-2007
Punjabi poet.
Shareef Kunjahi was a leading writer and poet of Punjabi. He was among the first faculty members of the Department of Punjabi Language at University of Punjab in the 1970s and contributed to Punjabi literature as a poet, prose writer, teacher, research scholar, linguist, lexicographer and translator.
Shareef was born in 1915 in Kunjah, a small town of Gujrat District in Punjab. His father was a school teacher. Shareef completed his matriculation in 1930 from a school in Kunjah and higher secondary in 1933 at the Government Intermediate College, Jehlum. By that time, he had started writing poetry and was known as a progressive writer sympathetic to the Indian National Congress. This affiliation became a hindrance for him to get police clearance for entry level jobs in the government service. After getting fired from the army as a clerk for failing to get the certificate of good character from police and his other failed attempts to land a job, he went back to Kunjah to live with his parents.
In 1943, he completed his Munshi Fazal and BA from Punjab University as a private student and later completed teacher’s training from Lahore. He then continued teaching at various schools until he obtained the degree of MA Urdu in 1954, and of MA Persian in 1956. In 1959, he was hired as lecturer in Persian language at Government College, Campbalpur. He was transferred to Government College Jehlum from where he retired in 1973. From 1973 to 1980, he taught at the newly established Punjabi Department at the Punjab University Lahore.
Shareef Kunjahi died on January 20, 2007 and was interred in the compound of Ghanimat Kunjahi’s mazar in Kunjah.
Although Shareef. wrote poetry in both the Urdu and Persian languages, and even made a name as an Urdu poet quite early in his writing career, Punjabi was always his first love. For an up-and-coming Muslim writer of that period, especially among the early progressive writers and poets, adopting Punjabi for his creative articulation was a rare phenomenon.
He became among the pioneers of modern Punjabi poetry from 1930s at about the same time when Mohan Singh introduced secular themes and a new style in Punjabi poetry. His first collection of Punjabi poetry Jagrate (sleepless nights) was first published in Gurmukhi in East Punjab in 1958, and was not published in Shahmukhi in West Punjab until 1965. It contained only 37 poems. His second anthology Orak Hondi Lou (dimming light) was published in 1995.
Kunjahi’s poetry is a complete break from the qissa and Sufi traditions. Even his earliest poems have all the elements of modern poetry: secularism, expression of individualist experience, and awareness of social and political changes around him. His deep sense of departure from the existing value system was expressed in many of his early poems.
Without being overburdened by excessive symbolism or extreme emotions, Kunjahi’s poetry is a realistic and balanced expression of his social consciousness in a relatively simple and straightforward manner. He played a crucial role in setting new directions for Punjabi poetry and he opened doors for Punjabi poets to move away from the traditional style of writing poetry and experiment with new modes and techniques.
Just like he had done in poetry, Shareef Kunjahi also broke new grounds in Punjabi prose. It was through his translations in Punjabi of two books of Bertrand Russell and Allama Iqbal’s lectures — ‘Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts’ — among the numerous other translations, that he demonstrated that Punjabi language is capable of eloquently communicating even the most complex philosophical thoughts. He developed many new terms by creatively employing the vast treasure of Punjabi vocabulary. Perhaps his masterpiece is his translation of the Qur'an in idiomatic and fluent Punjabi of such a high order that it set a new standard for writing Punjabi prose.
Shareef Kunjahi was among the earliest writers who employed modern techniques of literary criticism. In a different field, his research in identifying many linguistic similarities in the Punjabi and Scandinavian languages is another pioneering piece of work.
Through his lifelong work on various aspects of Punjabi literature and language, Shareef Kunjahi carried the burden of serving his language during a time when most Muslim Punjabis had rejected their own language for all literary and creative expression. Sharif Kunjahi enriched the Punjabi language in so many different ways that his contributions are enshrined in the history of Punjabi literature.
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers Party (in Kurdish: Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan or PKK; in Turkish: Kurdistan isci Partisi, also called KADEK, Kongra-Gel, and KCK) was a militant group founded in the 1970s and was led by Abdullah Ocalan until his capture in 1999. The PKK's ideology was founded on revolutionary Marxism-Leninism and Kurdish nationalism. The PKK's goal has been to create an independent socialist Kurdish state in a territory that it claims as Kurdistan, an area that comprises parts of south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, north-eastern Syria and north-western Iran. Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran oppose such a change. Over time, the Kurdistant Workers Party became an ethnic secessionist organization that used force and the threat of force against both civilian and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal.
The Kurdistan Workers Party was listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union. Between 1984 and 2007, more than 37,000 people were killed in the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (in Kurdish: Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan or PKK; in Turkish: Kurdistan isci Partisi, also called KADEK, Kongra-Gel, and KCK) was a militant group founded in the 1970s and was led by Abdullah Ocalan until his capture in 1999. The PKK's ideology was founded on revolutionary Marxism-Leninism and Kurdish nationalism. The PKK's goal has been to create an independent socialist Kurdish state in a territory that it claims as Kurdistan, an area that comprises parts of south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, north-eastern Syria and north-western Iran. Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran oppose such a change. Over time, the Kurdistant Workers Party became an ethnic secessionist organization that used force and the threat of force against both civilian and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal.
The Kurdistan Workers Party was listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union. Between 1984 and 2007, more than 37,000 people were killed in the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party.
Laban, Ahmad Abu
1946-2007
Leader of the Islamic Society in Denmark.
Laban was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1946. In 1948, his family emigrated to Egypt, and he grew up there. In 1969, Laban graduated as a mechanical engineer. In 1974, he married his cousin Inam. The couple had seven children.
Laban studied Islamic theology with scholars in different Muslim countries. He was employed in the Persian Gulf oil industry from 1970 to 1982, and with a contracting company in Nigeria from 1982 to 1984. He contributed to Islamic projects in education in different states of Nigeria.
Laban emigrated to Denmark in 1984 and lived there for the rest of his life. He came to work as a religious advisor with the Islamic Society in Denmark, and was a member of the Co-ordination Council of Imams in Europe.
Laban was thrust into the international spotlight during the controversy which erupted in Denmark after the appearance of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad appeared in the conservative newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The twelve (12) cartoons, one depicting Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, offended many Muslims because Islamic law (the shari'a) prohibits any depiction of the Prophet for fear that it could lead to idolatry. Laban described the cartoons as an attempt to insult and degrade the Prophet. He also accused Denmark of being disrespectful to Islam and Muslim immigrants. At the time, in 2005 and 2006, Denmark had a population of 5.4 million with Muslims accounting for about 210,000 of that number.
Laban angered many Danes by seeking support from the Middle East in his fight against the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. In November 2005, he was one of the leaders of a delegation that toured the Middle East to ask for diplomatic support, one of the factors that sparked the widespread anger in the region in early 2006, and which set off large and sometimes violent protests against Denmark in Muslim countries. Along with Akhmed Akkari, he authored the Akkari-Laban Dossier which was used on that tour.
Jyllands-Posten later apologized for the cartoons, saying the purpose was not to offend Muslims but to challenge a perceived self-censorship among artists dealing with Muslim issues.
On January 19, 2007, the Islamic Society in Denmark announced that Abu Laban had cancer. Abu Laban died of lung cancer on February 1, 2007, at Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen. He was survived by his wife, Inam, and their seven children.
1946-2007
Leader of the Islamic Society in Denmark.
Laban was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1946. In 1948, his family emigrated to Egypt, and he grew up there. In 1969, Laban graduated as a mechanical engineer. In 1974, he married his cousin Inam. The couple had seven children.
Laban studied Islamic theology with scholars in different Muslim countries. He was employed in the Persian Gulf oil industry from 1970 to 1982, and with a contracting company in Nigeria from 1982 to 1984. He contributed to Islamic projects in education in different states of Nigeria.
Laban emigrated to Denmark in 1984 and lived there for the rest of his life. He came to work as a religious advisor with the Islamic Society in Denmark, and was a member of the Co-ordination Council of Imams in Europe.
Laban was thrust into the international spotlight during the controversy which erupted in Denmark after the appearance of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad appeared in the conservative newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The twelve (12) cartoons, one depicting Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, offended many Muslims because Islamic law (the shari'a) prohibits any depiction of the Prophet for fear that it could lead to idolatry. Laban described the cartoons as an attempt to insult and degrade the Prophet. He also accused Denmark of being disrespectful to Islam and Muslim immigrants. At the time, in 2005 and 2006, Denmark had a population of 5.4 million with Muslims accounting for about 210,000 of that number.
Laban angered many Danes by seeking support from the Middle East in his fight against the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. In November 2005, he was one of the leaders of a delegation that toured the Middle East to ask for diplomatic support, one of the factors that sparked the widespread anger in the region in early 2006, and which set off large and sometimes violent protests against Denmark in Muslim countries. Along with Akhmed Akkari, he authored the Akkari-Laban Dossier which was used on that tour.
Jyllands-Posten later apologized for the cartoons, saying the purpose was not to offend Muslims but to challenge a perceived self-censorship among artists dealing with Muslim issues.
On January 19, 2007, the Islamic Society in Denmark announced that Abu Laban had cancer. Abu Laban died of lung cancer on February 1, 2007, at Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen. He was survived by his wife, Inam, and their seven children.
Layla bint al-Minhal
7th century
Sahaba (companion) of Muhammad and the wife of Malik ibn Nuwayra.
Layla was the daughter of al-Minhal and was later also known as Umm Tamim. She was acclaimed as one of the most beautiful women in Arabia. When she came of age, she was pursued by many men, but rejected their advances. Finally, she met and married Malik ibn Nuwayra.
Malik ibn Nuwayra was a chief of some distinction -- a warrior, noted for his generosity, and a famous poet. Bravery, generosity and poetry were the three qualities most admired among the Arabs. During the Ridda wars, which broke out in Arabia after the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr sent his most talented general Khalid ibn Walid into Najd with 4000 men, to submit the tribes of the surrounding areas. Malik ibn Nuwayra was guilty for his acts against the state of Medina. After the death of Muhammad, he broke in open revolt against Medina. At the time of Muhammad, he had been appointed as a Tax collector for the Tribe of Banu Tamim. As soon as Malik heard of the death of Muhammad, he gave back all the tax to his tribespeople, saying that "Now you are the owner of your wealth." Moreover, he was to be charged because he signed a pact with the self-proclaimed prophet Sajjah. This agreement stated that first they would deal with local enemy tribes together, and then they would confront the state of Medina. When Malik heard about Khalid ibn Walid's victories against powerful Arab tribes, he ordered his tribesmen not to engage the approaching Khalid ibn Walid in battle, to stay at home, and hope for peace.
Malik himself apparently moved away across the desert with his family. Also, so as to prove himself loyal to the state of Medina (the future Islamic empire), he collected the Tax and sent it to Medina. His riders were stopped by Khalid ibn Walid's army at the town of Battah. Khalid asked them about the signing of the pact with Sajjah. Malik's riders said that Malik had signed the pact because he wanted revenge against the local enemy tribes.
When Khalid reached Najd, he found no opposing army, so he sent his cavalry to nearby villages and ordered them to call the Azan (call for prayers) to each party they met. Zirrar bin Azwar, a group leader, arrested the family of Malik claiming that they did not answer the call to prayer.
According to the Shi'a, when arrested, Malik was asked by Khalid about his crimes. Malik's response was "your master said this, and your master said that" referring to Abu Bakr. Khalid declared Malik to be a rebel apostate and ordered his execution. Khalid bin Walid killed Malik ibn Nuwayra and raped his wife, Layla bint al-Minhal. In response to the Sunni claim that Khalid actually married Layla that same night, the Shi'a note that under Islam law, Layla would have had to go through a waiting period (iddah), which is between four months and one year, before she could re-marry.
According to the Sunni, in November 632, when Malik was arrested, he was asked by Khalid ibn Walid about his crimes. Khalid's interpretation of Malik's response was "your master said this, and your master said that" (referring to Muhammad). Khalid understood this to be a transparent attempt by Malik to save his own life by any means at his disposal. Khalid having clear evidence of Malik's distributing the tax money on getting news of Muhammad's death and of his pact with Sajjah, declared Malik an apostate and ordered his execution. Khalid ibn Walid ordered Malik's execution because he knew that Malik had betrayed the Islamic state of Medina, and was a traitor.
Additionally, according to the Sunni viewpoint, on the same night that Malik was executed, Khalid married Malik's widow Layla bint al-Minhal. The marriage of Khalid to Layla later became a controversial issue because there was a group of people who thought that Khalid had killed Malik to get Layla. This group included Khalid's cousin Umar. Khalid was called by Caliph Abu Bakr to explain the matter. After due consideration, the Caliph decided that Khalid was not guilty. He did, however, upbraid his general for marrying Layla and thus leaving himself open to criticism, and since there was some possibility of a mistake, as certain people believed that Malik was a Muslim, Abu Bakr ordered the payment of blood-money to the heirs of Malik.
7th century
Sahaba (companion) of Muhammad and the wife of Malik ibn Nuwayra.
Layla was the daughter of al-Minhal and was later also known as Umm Tamim. She was acclaimed as one of the most beautiful women in Arabia. When she came of age, she was pursued by many men, but rejected their advances. Finally, she met and married Malik ibn Nuwayra.
Malik ibn Nuwayra was a chief of some distinction -- a warrior, noted for his generosity, and a famous poet. Bravery, generosity and poetry were the three qualities most admired among the Arabs. During the Ridda wars, which broke out in Arabia after the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr sent his most talented general Khalid ibn Walid into Najd with 4000 men, to submit the tribes of the surrounding areas. Malik ibn Nuwayra was guilty for his acts against the state of Medina. After the death of Muhammad, he broke in open revolt against Medina. At the time of Muhammad, he had been appointed as a Tax collector for the Tribe of Banu Tamim. As soon as Malik heard of the death of Muhammad, he gave back all the tax to his tribespeople, saying that "Now you are the owner of your wealth." Moreover, he was to be charged because he signed a pact with the self-proclaimed prophet Sajjah. This agreement stated that first they would deal with local enemy tribes together, and then they would confront the state of Medina. When Malik heard about Khalid ibn Walid's victories against powerful Arab tribes, he ordered his tribesmen not to engage the approaching Khalid ibn Walid in battle, to stay at home, and hope for peace.
Malik himself apparently moved away across the desert with his family. Also, so as to prove himself loyal to the state of Medina (the future Islamic empire), he collected the Tax and sent it to Medina. His riders were stopped by Khalid ibn Walid's army at the town of Battah. Khalid asked them about the signing of the pact with Sajjah. Malik's riders said that Malik had signed the pact because he wanted revenge against the local enemy tribes.
When Khalid reached Najd, he found no opposing army, so he sent his cavalry to nearby villages and ordered them to call the Azan (call for prayers) to each party they met. Zirrar bin Azwar, a group leader, arrested the family of Malik claiming that they did not answer the call to prayer.
According to the Shi'a, when arrested, Malik was asked by Khalid about his crimes. Malik's response was "your master said this, and your master said that" referring to Abu Bakr. Khalid declared Malik to be a rebel apostate and ordered his execution. Khalid bin Walid killed Malik ibn Nuwayra and raped his wife, Layla bint al-Minhal. In response to the Sunni claim that Khalid actually married Layla that same night, the Shi'a note that under Islam law, Layla would have had to go through a waiting period (iddah), which is between four months and one year, before she could re-marry.
According to the Sunni, in November 632, when Malik was arrested, he was asked by Khalid ibn Walid about his crimes. Khalid's interpretation of Malik's response was "your master said this, and your master said that" (referring to Muhammad). Khalid understood this to be a transparent attempt by Malik to save his own life by any means at his disposal. Khalid having clear evidence of Malik's distributing the tax money on getting news of Muhammad's death and of his pact with Sajjah, declared Malik an apostate and ordered his execution. Khalid ibn Walid ordered Malik's execution because he knew that Malik had betrayed the Islamic state of Medina, and was a traitor.
Additionally, according to the Sunni viewpoint, on the same night that Malik was executed, Khalid married Malik's widow Layla bint al-Minhal. The marriage of Khalid to Layla later became a controversial issue because there was a group of people who thought that Khalid had killed Malik to get Layla. This group included Khalid's cousin Umar. Khalid was called by Caliph Abu Bakr to explain the matter. After due consideration, the Caliph decided that Khalid was not guilty. He did, however, upbraid his general for marrying Layla and thus leaving himself open to criticism, and since there was some possibility of a mistake, as certain people believed that Malik was a Muslim, Abu Bakr ordered the payment of blood-money to the heirs of Malik.
Madani, Abdul Nasser
1965-
Muslim political leader and the founder of the political party People's Democratic Party.
Abdul Nasser Madani also known as Abdul Nasser Maudani or simply Madani or Maudany (born 1965, Sasthamkotta, Kerala) was a Muslim political leader and the founder of the political party Peoples Democratic Party from Kerala, southern India. Maudani organized an outfit known as the Islamic Sewak Sangh, which was banned in 1993. Following the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, he launched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with the stated objective of "Muslim-Dalit-backward caste" alliance. Madani had in the past been charged for inflammatory speeches and had police cases against him for the same, including one at Kozhikode in 1992.
In 1992, Madani became the target of an assassination attempt, allegedly by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists, in which he lost his right leg. Madani is largely viewed in a suspicious light by the non-Muslims of the state. However, in some Muslim pockets in Kerala, Madani is looked upon as a hero and a savior for standing up to Hindutva forces.
Maudani was arrested on April 8, 1998 in connection with 1998 Coimbatore bombings in which 60 people were killed. He was indicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code - spreading communal hatred, criminal conspiracy, and sedition. He was imprisoned for eight years in Coimbatore prison without any trial or bail and was released on August 1, 2007 after being acquitted of all charges. Madani publicly denied all types of fundamentalist activities, and proclaimed himself to be secular. He also said that he repented for the mistake he had committed in the past. He explained that there was a radical change in his way of thinking during his imprisonment at Coimbatore jail.
However, Madani himself admitted his acquaintance with Lashkar-e-Toiba's South Indian commander Thadiyantavide Naseer, the prime accused in the 2008 Bangalore serial blasts, 2006 Kozhikode twin blasts and other cases related to recruitment of Muslim youth as terrorists. But Madani denied any complicity in those crimes while talking to press-persons. Madani’s wife Sufiya Madani was arrested on terror charges in the Kalamassery bus arson case, which was choreographed by Thadiyantavide Naseer; and for complicity in 2008 Bangalore serial blasts.
A few close accomplices of Madani have been found guilty of attempting to murder the former Kerala Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar,whose government had nabbed Madani after the Coimbatore blasts.
The Kerala assembly on March 16, 2006, passed a unanimous resolution seeking the release of Abdul Nasser Maudani, on “humanitarian” grounds.
In the 2009 general elections, Madani's PDP made an alliance with the Left Democratic Front (LDF), a coalition headed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)); in an effort to tap Muslim votes. But the LDF showcased poor performance, by winning only 4 seats out of 20.
1965-
Muslim political leader and the founder of the political party People's Democratic Party.
Abdul Nasser Madani also known as Abdul Nasser Maudani or simply Madani or Maudany (born 1965, Sasthamkotta, Kerala) was a Muslim political leader and the founder of the political party Peoples Democratic Party from Kerala, southern India. Maudani organized an outfit known as the Islamic Sewak Sangh, which was banned in 1993. Following the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, he launched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with the stated objective of "Muslim-Dalit-backward caste" alliance. Madani had in the past been charged for inflammatory speeches and had police cases against him for the same, including one at Kozhikode in 1992.
In 1992, Madani became the target of an assassination attempt, allegedly by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists, in which he lost his right leg. Madani is largely viewed in a suspicious light by the non-Muslims of the state. However, in some Muslim pockets in Kerala, Madani is looked upon as a hero and a savior for standing up to Hindutva forces.
Maudani was arrested on April 8, 1998 in connection with 1998 Coimbatore bombings in which 60 people were killed. He was indicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code - spreading communal hatred, criminal conspiracy, and sedition. He was imprisoned for eight years in Coimbatore prison without any trial or bail and was released on August 1, 2007 after being acquitted of all charges. Madani publicly denied all types of fundamentalist activities, and proclaimed himself to be secular. He also said that he repented for the mistake he had committed in the past. He explained that there was a radical change in his way of thinking during his imprisonment at Coimbatore jail.
However, Madani himself admitted his acquaintance with Lashkar-e-Toiba's South Indian commander Thadiyantavide Naseer, the prime accused in the 2008 Bangalore serial blasts, 2006 Kozhikode twin blasts and other cases related to recruitment of Muslim youth as terrorists. But Madani denied any complicity in those crimes while talking to press-persons. Madani’s wife Sufiya Madani was arrested on terror charges in the Kalamassery bus arson case, which was choreographed by Thadiyantavide Naseer; and for complicity in 2008 Bangalore serial blasts.
A few close accomplices of Madani have been found guilty of attempting to murder the former Kerala Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar,whose government had nabbed Madani after the Coimbatore blasts.
The Kerala assembly on March 16, 2006, passed a unanimous resolution seeking the release of Abdul Nasser Maudani, on “humanitarian” grounds.
In the 2009 general elections, Madani's PDP made an alliance with the Left Democratic Front (LDF), a coalition headed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)); in an effort to tap Muslim votes. But the LDF showcased poor performance, by winning only 4 seats out of 20.
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