Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al- (Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi) (Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi) (al-Maqdisi) (al-Mukaddasi) (al-Bashshari) (c. 945/946-1000). Author of the most original and one of the most valuable geographical treatises in Arabic literature during the tenth century. The work is called The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions. Its object is to treat only the Islamic world, made up of the Arab world and non-Arab world, and that afte a division into regions (in Arabic, aqalim; in singular form, iqlim), individualized through their physical characteristics.
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi was a notable medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions).
Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem. He had the advantage of an excellent education and after having made the Pilgrimage to Mecca (Mekka) in his twentieth year, determined to devote himself to the study of geography. For the purpose of acquiring the necessary information he undertook a series of journeys which lasted over a score of years, and carried him in turn through all the countries of Islam. It was only in 985 that he set himself to write his book, which gives us a systematic account of all the places and regions he had visited.
Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Maqdisi, al- see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Mukaddasi, al- see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Bashshari, al- see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
The Hierosolomite see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi was a notable medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions).
Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem. He had the advantage of an excellent education and after having made the Pilgrimage to Mecca (Mekka) in his twentieth year, determined to devote himself to the study of geography. For the purpose of acquiring the necessary information he undertook a series of journeys which lasted over a score of years, and carried him in turn through all the countries of Islam. It was only in 985 that he set himself to write his book, which gives us a systematic account of all the places and regions he had visited.
Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Maqdisi, al- see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Mukaddasi, al- see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Bashshari, al- see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
The Hierosolomite see Muqaddasi, Shams al-Din al-
Muqanna, al-
Muqanna, al- (al-Muqanna') (Hashim ibn Hakim) (d. 779). Epithet (meaning “the veiled one”) of the leader of a religious-political revolt against Abbasid rule in Transoxiana in the eighth century of the Christian calendar. Al-Muqanna’s insurrection received support from villagers in the Zeravshan and Kashkadarya valleys, the surrounding Turkish tribes, and even the Bukhar-Khuda Bunyat. It probably reflected resentment about Arab colonization, taxation, and efforts to bring this remote area under the control of the central administration. Al-Muqanna allegedly taught heterodox doctrines (such as metempsychosis), permitted antinomian practices (including the common possession of women), and used deceptions, such as causing a false moon to rise from a well, to persuade people of his own divinity. The revolt was crushed, and al-Muqanna killed, in 779-780. A sect known as the White Raiments survived and awaited the messianic return of al-Muqanna to rule.
Al-Muqanna‘, the "veiled one", was a Persian man who claimed to be a prophet and is viewed as a heretic by mainstream Muslims.
Al-Muqanna‘ was an ethnic Persian from Merv named Hashim ibn Hakim, originally a clothes pleater. He became a commander for Abū Muslim of Khorasan. After Abū Muslim's murder, al-Muqanna‘ claimed to be an incarnation of God, a role, he insisted, passed to him from Abū Muslim, who received it via ‘Alī from the Prophet Muhammad.
Al-Muqanna‘ was reputed to wear a veil in order to cover up his beauty; however, the Abbasids claimed that he wore it to hide his ugliness, being one-eyed and bald. His followers wore white clothes in opposition to the Abbasids' black. He is reputed to have engaged in magic and quackery to impress his followers as a maker of miracles.
Al-Muqanna‘ was instrumental to the formation of the Khurramiyya, a sect that claimed Abū Muslim to be the Mahdi and denied his death.
When Al-Muqanna‘'s followers started raiding towns and mosques of other Muslims and looting their possessions, the Abbasids sent several commanders to crush the rebellion. Al-Muqanna‘ poisoned himself rather than surrender to the Abbasids, who set fire to his house when he was on the verge of being captured.
After his death, the sect continued to exist until the 12th century, waiting for al-Muqanna‘ to return again.
The first poem in Lalla Rookh (1817) by Thomas Moore is titled The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, and the character Mokanna is modeled loosely on al-Muqanna‘.
St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen referenced Moore's poem in 1878 when they created the Veiled Prophet Organization and concocted a legend of Mokanna as its founder. For many years the organization put on an annual fair and parade called the "Veiled Prophet Fair," which was renamed Fair Saint Louis in 1992. The organization also gives a debutante ball each December called the Veiled Prophet Ball.
The Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophet of the Enchanted Realm (founded 1889), a social group with membership restricted to Master Masons, and its related organization, The Daughters of Mokanna (founded 1919), also take their names from Thomas Moore's poem.
Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges used a fictionalized al-Muqanna‘ as the central character of The Masked Dyer, Hakim of Merv, a 1934 short story, and in another story fifteen years later, The Zahir, as a past avatar of the titular object.
Hashim ibn Hakim see Muqanna, al-
The Veiled One see Muqanna, al-
Muqanna, al- (al-Muqanna') (Hashim ibn Hakim) (d. 779). Epithet (meaning “the veiled one”) of the leader of a religious-political revolt against Abbasid rule in Transoxiana in the eighth century of the Christian calendar. Al-Muqanna’s insurrection received support from villagers in the Zeravshan and Kashkadarya valleys, the surrounding Turkish tribes, and even the Bukhar-Khuda Bunyat. It probably reflected resentment about Arab colonization, taxation, and efforts to bring this remote area under the control of the central administration. Al-Muqanna allegedly taught heterodox doctrines (such as metempsychosis), permitted antinomian practices (including the common possession of women), and used deceptions, such as causing a false moon to rise from a well, to persuade people of his own divinity. The revolt was crushed, and al-Muqanna killed, in 779-780. A sect known as the White Raiments survived and awaited the messianic return of al-Muqanna to rule.
Al-Muqanna‘, the "veiled one", was a Persian man who claimed to be a prophet and is viewed as a heretic by mainstream Muslims.
Al-Muqanna‘ was an ethnic Persian from Merv named Hashim ibn Hakim, originally a clothes pleater. He became a commander for Abū Muslim of Khorasan. After Abū Muslim's murder, al-Muqanna‘ claimed to be an incarnation of God, a role, he insisted, passed to him from Abū Muslim, who received it via ‘Alī from the Prophet Muhammad.
Al-Muqanna‘ was reputed to wear a veil in order to cover up his beauty; however, the Abbasids claimed that he wore it to hide his ugliness, being one-eyed and bald. His followers wore white clothes in opposition to the Abbasids' black. He is reputed to have engaged in magic and quackery to impress his followers as a maker of miracles.
Al-Muqanna‘ was instrumental to the formation of the Khurramiyya, a sect that claimed Abū Muslim to be the Mahdi and denied his death.
When Al-Muqanna‘'s followers started raiding towns and mosques of other Muslims and looting their possessions, the Abbasids sent several commanders to crush the rebellion. Al-Muqanna‘ poisoned himself rather than surrender to the Abbasids, who set fire to his house when he was on the verge of being captured.
After his death, the sect continued to exist until the 12th century, waiting for al-Muqanna‘ to return again.
The first poem in Lalla Rookh (1817) by Thomas Moore is titled The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, and the character Mokanna is modeled loosely on al-Muqanna‘.
St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen referenced Moore's poem in 1878 when they created the Veiled Prophet Organization and concocted a legend of Mokanna as its founder. For many years the organization put on an annual fair and parade called the "Veiled Prophet Fair," which was renamed Fair Saint Louis in 1992. The organization also gives a debutante ball each December called the Veiled Prophet Ball.
The Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophet of the Enchanted Realm (founded 1889), a social group with membership restricted to Master Masons, and its related organization, The Daughters of Mokanna (founded 1919), also take their names from Thomas Moore's poem.
Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges used a fictionalized al-Muqanna‘ as the central character of The Masked Dyer, Hakim of Merv, a 1934 short story, and in another story fifteen years later, The Zahir, as a past avatar of the titular object.
Hashim ibn Hakim see Muqanna, al-
The Veiled One see Muqanna, al-
Muqatila
Muqatila. Term refers to a tribal army.
Muqatila. Term refers to a tribal army.
Muqawqis, al-
Muqawqis, al-. Individual who in Arab tradition played the leading part on the side of the Copts and Greeks during the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640.
Al-Muqawqis is mentioned in Islamic history as a ruler of Egypt, who corresponded with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is often identified with Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who administered Egypt on behalf of the Byzantine Empire. However, this identification is challenged as being based on untenable assumptions. An alternative view identifies al-Muqaqis with the Sassanid governor of Egypt.
Ibn Ishaq and other Muslim historians record that some time between February 628 and 632, Muhammad sent out letters to Arabian and non-Arabian leaders, including to al-Muqawqis.
The letter that Muhammad sent to al-Muqawqis was written sometime in between February 628 and July 629.
Muhammad's letter to Muqawqis, was eventually preserved in the Christian monastery of Akhmim in Egypt. There a recluse pasted it on his Bible. The letter was written on a parchment. From there a French orientalist obtained it and sold it to Sultan Abdülmecid of Turkey, for a consideration of 300 pounds. The Sultan had the letter fixed in a golden frame and had it preserved in the treasury of the royal palace, along with other sacred relics. Some Muslim scholars have affirmed that the letter was written by Abu Bakr.
Muqawqis, al-. Individual who in Arab tradition played the leading part on the side of the Copts and Greeks during the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640.
Al-Muqawqis is mentioned in Islamic history as a ruler of Egypt, who corresponded with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is often identified with Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who administered Egypt on behalf of the Byzantine Empire. However, this identification is challenged as being based on untenable assumptions. An alternative view identifies al-Muqaqis with the Sassanid governor of Egypt.
Ibn Ishaq and other Muslim historians record that some time between February 628 and 632, Muhammad sent out letters to Arabian and non-Arabian leaders, including to al-Muqawqis.
The letter that Muhammad sent to al-Muqawqis was written sometime in between February 628 and July 629.
Muhammad's letter to Muqawqis, was eventually preserved in the Christian monastery of Akhmim in Egypt. There a recluse pasted it on his Bible. The letter was written on a parchment. From there a French orientalist obtained it and sold it to Sultan Abdülmecid of Turkey, for a consideration of 300 pounds. The Sultan had the letter fixed in a golden frame and had it preserved in the treasury of the royal palace, along with other sacred relics. Some Muslim scholars have affirmed that the letter was written by Abu Bakr.
Muqtadir bi-‘llah, al-
Muqtadir bi-‘llah, al- (895-932). ‘Abbasid caliph. His reign was marked by a gradual decline, and it inaugurated a period of unparalleled impotence and disaster for the central power of the caliphate.
Al-Muqtadir was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 908 to 932. After the previous Caliph, al-Muktafi, was confined for several months to his sick-bed, intrigue was made for some time as to his successor. The choice was between al-Muktafi's minor brother whom the Caliph himself favored, and a descendant of al-Mu'tazz who was only thirteen at the time. The Vazir, hoping for more power, chose the minor. The boy assumed the title of al-Muqtadir, Mighty by the help of the Lord, a sad misnomer; for even in manhood he was but a weak hedonist in the hands of women of the Court, and of their favorites. His twenty-five year reign is the constant record of his thirteen Vazirs, one rising on the fall, or on the assassination, of another.
The stand made during the last three Abbasid reigns to stay downward progress at last came to an end. From al-Muqtadir onward, the Abbasid caliphate continued its decline. At the same time many names famous in the world of literature and science fell under this and the following reigns. Among the best known are: Ishaq ibn Hunain (d. 911) (son of Hunain ibn Ishaq), the physician and translator of Greek philosophical works into Arabic; Ibn Fadlan, the explorer; al Battani (d. 923), astronomer; Tabari (d. 923), historian and theologian; al-Razi (d. 930), philosopher who made fundamental and lasting contributions to the fields of medicine and chemistry; al-Farabi (d. 950), chemist and philosopher; Abu Nasr Mansur (d. 1036), mathematician; Alhazen (d. 1040), mathematician; al-Biruni (d. 1048), mathematician, astronomer, physicist; Omar Khayyám (d. 1123), poet, mathematician, and astronomer; and Mansur Al-Hallaj a mystic, writer and teacher of Sufism most famous for his apparent, but disputed, self-proclaimed divinity, his poetry and for his execution for heresy by Caliph Al-Muqtadir.
There had been war for some years between the Muslims and the Greeks in Asia, with heavy loss for the most part on the side of the Muslims, of whom great numbers were taken prisoners. The Byzantine frontier, however, began to be threatened by Bulgarian hordes; and so the Empress Zoe Karbonopsina sent two ambassadors to Baghdad with the view of securing an armistice, and arranging for the ransom of the Muslim prisoners. The embassy was graciously received and peace restored. A sum of 120,000 golden pieces was paid for the freedom of the captives. All this only added to the disorder of the city. The people, angry at the success of the "Infidels" in Asia Minor and at similar losses in Persia, cast it in the Caliph's teeth that he cared for none of these things, but, instead of seeking to restore the prestige of Islam, passed his days and nights with slave-girls and musicians. Uttering such reproaches, they threw stones at the Imam, as in the Friday service he named the Caliph in the public prayers.
Some twelve years later, al-Muqtadir was a second time subjected to the indignity of deposition. The leading courtiers having conspired against him, he was forced to abdicate in favor of his brother al-Qahir, but, after a scene of rioting and plunder, and loss of thousands of lives, the conspirators found that they were not supported by the troops; and so al-Muqtadir, who had been kept in safety, was again placed upon the throne. The finances fell after this outbreak into so wretched a state that nothing was left with which to pay the city guards. Al-Muqtadir was eventually slain outside the city gate in 932.
The long reign of al-Muqtadir brought the Empire to the lowest ebb. External losses were of secondary moment. Even so, Africa was lost, and Egypt nearly. Mosul had thrown off its dependence, and the Greeks could make raids at pleasure on the helpless border. Yet in the East there still was kept up a formal recognition of the Caliphate, even by those who virtually claimed their independence; and nearer home, the terrible Carmathians had been for the time put down. In Baghdad, al-Muqtadir, the mere tool of a venal court, was at the mercy of foreign guards, which, commanded for the most part by Turkish and other officers of foreign descent, were frequently breaking out into rebellion. Thus, abject and reduced, twice dethroned, and at last slain in opposing a loyal officer whom he had called to his support, the prestige which his immediate predecessors had regained was lost, and that the throne became again the object of contempt at home, and a tempting prize for attack from abroad.
Mighty by the Help of the Lord see Muqtadir bi-‘llah, al-
Muqtadir bi-‘llah, al- (895-932). ‘Abbasid caliph. His reign was marked by a gradual decline, and it inaugurated a period of unparalleled impotence and disaster for the central power of the caliphate.
Al-Muqtadir was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 908 to 932. After the previous Caliph, al-Muktafi, was confined for several months to his sick-bed, intrigue was made for some time as to his successor. The choice was between al-Muktafi's minor brother whom the Caliph himself favored, and a descendant of al-Mu'tazz who was only thirteen at the time. The Vazir, hoping for more power, chose the minor. The boy assumed the title of al-Muqtadir, Mighty by the help of the Lord, a sad misnomer; for even in manhood he was but a weak hedonist in the hands of women of the Court, and of their favorites. His twenty-five year reign is the constant record of his thirteen Vazirs, one rising on the fall, or on the assassination, of another.
The stand made during the last three Abbasid reigns to stay downward progress at last came to an end. From al-Muqtadir onward, the Abbasid caliphate continued its decline. At the same time many names famous in the world of literature and science fell under this and the following reigns. Among the best known are: Ishaq ibn Hunain (d. 911) (son of Hunain ibn Ishaq), the physician and translator of Greek philosophical works into Arabic; Ibn Fadlan, the explorer; al Battani (d. 923), astronomer; Tabari (d. 923), historian and theologian; al-Razi (d. 930), philosopher who made fundamental and lasting contributions to the fields of medicine and chemistry; al-Farabi (d. 950), chemist and philosopher; Abu Nasr Mansur (d. 1036), mathematician; Alhazen (d. 1040), mathematician; al-Biruni (d. 1048), mathematician, astronomer, physicist; Omar Khayyám (d. 1123), poet, mathematician, and astronomer; and Mansur Al-Hallaj a mystic, writer and teacher of Sufism most famous for his apparent, but disputed, self-proclaimed divinity, his poetry and for his execution for heresy by Caliph Al-Muqtadir.
There had been war for some years between the Muslims and the Greeks in Asia, with heavy loss for the most part on the side of the Muslims, of whom great numbers were taken prisoners. The Byzantine frontier, however, began to be threatened by Bulgarian hordes; and so the Empress Zoe Karbonopsina sent two ambassadors to Baghdad with the view of securing an armistice, and arranging for the ransom of the Muslim prisoners. The embassy was graciously received and peace restored. A sum of 120,000 golden pieces was paid for the freedom of the captives. All this only added to the disorder of the city. The people, angry at the success of the "Infidels" in Asia Minor and at similar losses in Persia, cast it in the Caliph's teeth that he cared for none of these things, but, instead of seeking to restore the prestige of Islam, passed his days and nights with slave-girls and musicians. Uttering such reproaches, they threw stones at the Imam, as in the Friday service he named the Caliph in the public prayers.
Some twelve years later, al-Muqtadir was a second time subjected to the indignity of deposition. The leading courtiers having conspired against him, he was forced to abdicate in favor of his brother al-Qahir, but, after a scene of rioting and plunder, and loss of thousands of lives, the conspirators found that they were not supported by the troops; and so al-Muqtadir, who had been kept in safety, was again placed upon the throne. The finances fell after this outbreak into so wretched a state that nothing was left with which to pay the city guards. Al-Muqtadir was eventually slain outside the city gate in 932.
The long reign of al-Muqtadir brought the Empire to the lowest ebb. External losses were of secondary moment. Even so, Africa was lost, and Egypt nearly. Mosul had thrown off its dependence, and the Greeks could make raids at pleasure on the helpless border. Yet in the East there still was kept up a formal recognition of the Caliphate, even by those who virtually claimed their independence; and nearer home, the terrible Carmathians had been for the time put down. In Baghdad, al-Muqtadir, the mere tool of a venal court, was at the mercy of foreign guards, which, commanded for the most part by Turkish and other officers of foreign descent, were frequently breaking out into rebellion. Thus, abject and reduced, twice dethroned, and at last slain in opposing a loyal officer whom he had called to his support, the prestige which his immediate predecessors had regained was lost, and that the throne became again the object of contempt at home, and a tempting prize for attack from abroad.
Mighty by the Help of the Lord see Muqtadir bi-‘llah, al-
Murad I
Murad I (Hüdavendigâr) (Khodāvandgār - "the God-like One") (Murat I) (March or June 29, 1326, Sogut or Bursa – June 15/20/28 or August 28, 1389, Kosovo). Ottoman bey (r.1362-1389). He was the first great Ottoman conqueror in the Balkan Peninsula, following the footsteps of his brother Suleyman Pasha and of other Turkish emirs. Under him, the state founded by ‘Uthman rose to be more than merely one of the existing Turkmen principalities in Asia Minor.
Murad is often referred to as sultan, and even if he called himself “sultan,” it was not until 1394 that the title was officially introduced.
Murad’s reign witnessed rapid Ottoman expansion in Anatolia and the Balkans and the emergence of new forms of government and administration to consolidate Ottoman rule in these areas.
Murad ascended the throne in succession to his father, Orhan. Shortly after Murad’s accession, his forces penetrated western Thrace and took Adrianople and Philippopolis and forced the Byzantine emperor John V Palaeologus to become a vassal. Adrianople was renamed Edirne, and it became Murad’s capital. In 1366 a crusade commanded by Amadeus VI of Savoy rescued the Byzantines and occupied Gallipoli on the Dardanelles, but the Turks recaptured the town the next year. In 1371 Murad crushed a coalition of southern Serbian princes at Chernomen in the Battle of the Maritsa River, took the Macedonian towns of Dráma, Kavála, and Seres (Sérrai), and won a significant victory over a Bulgarian-Serbian coalition at Samakow (now Samokovo). These victories brought large territories under direct Ottoman rule and made the princes of northern Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as the Byzantine emperor, Murad’s vassal.
In the 1380s Murad resumed his offensive in the west. Sofia was taken in 1385 and Niš in 1386. Meanwhile, in Anatolia, Murad had extended his power as far as Tokat and consolidated his authority in Ankara. Through marriage, purchase, and conquest he also acquired territories from the principalities of Germiyan, Tekke, and Hamid. A coalition of Turkmen principalities led by the Karaman was formed to stem Ottoman expansion, but it was defeated at Konya (1386).
In 1387 or 1388 a coalition of northern Serbian princes and Bosnians stopped the Ottomans at Pločnik, but in 1389 Murad and his son Bayezid (later Bayezid I) defeated them at the first Battle of Kosovo, although Murad was killed by a Serbian noble who pretended to defect to the Ottoman camp.
Under Murad I the seeds of some of the basic Ottoman imperial institutions were sown. The administrative military offices of kaziasker (military judge), beylerbeyi (commander in chief), and grand vizier (chief minister) crystallized and were granted to persons outside the family of Osman I, founder of the dynasty. The origins of the Janissary corps (elite forces) and the devşirme (child-levy) system through which the Janissaries were recruited are also traced to Murad’s reign.
Hudavendigar see Murad I
Khodavandgar see Murad I
Murat I see Murad I
Murad I (Hüdavendigâr) (Khodāvandgār - "the God-like One") (Murat I) (March or June 29, 1326, Sogut or Bursa – June 15/20/28 or August 28, 1389, Kosovo). Ottoman bey (r.1362-1389). He was the first great Ottoman conqueror in the Balkan Peninsula, following the footsteps of his brother Suleyman Pasha and of other Turkish emirs. Under him, the state founded by ‘Uthman rose to be more than merely one of the existing Turkmen principalities in Asia Minor.
Murad is often referred to as sultan, and even if he called himself “sultan,” it was not until 1394 that the title was officially introduced.
Murad’s reign witnessed rapid Ottoman expansion in Anatolia and the Balkans and the emergence of new forms of government and administration to consolidate Ottoman rule in these areas.
Murad ascended the throne in succession to his father, Orhan. Shortly after Murad’s accession, his forces penetrated western Thrace and took Adrianople and Philippopolis and forced the Byzantine emperor John V Palaeologus to become a vassal. Adrianople was renamed Edirne, and it became Murad’s capital. In 1366 a crusade commanded by Amadeus VI of Savoy rescued the Byzantines and occupied Gallipoli on the Dardanelles, but the Turks recaptured the town the next year. In 1371 Murad crushed a coalition of southern Serbian princes at Chernomen in the Battle of the Maritsa River, took the Macedonian towns of Dráma, Kavála, and Seres (Sérrai), and won a significant victory over a Bulgarian-Serbian coalition at Samakow (now Samokovo). These victories brought large territories under direct Ottoman rule and made the princes of northern Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as the Byzantine emperor, Murad’s vassal.
In the 1380s Murad resumed his offensive in the west. Sofia was taken in 1385 and Niš in 1386. Meanwhile, in Anatolia, Murad had extended his power as far as Tokat and consolidated his authority in Ankara. Through marriage, purchase, and conquest he also acquired territories from the principalities of Germiyan, Tekke, and Hamid. A coalition of Turkmen principalities led by the Karaman was formed to stem Ottoman expansion, but it was defeated at Konya (1386).
In 1387 or 1388 a coalition of northern Serbian princes and Bosnians stopped the Ottomans at Pločnik, but in 1389 Murad and his son Bayezid (later Bayezid I) defeated them at the first Battle of Kosovo, although Murad was killed by a Serbian noble who pretended to defect to the Ottoman camp.
Under Murad I the seeds of some of the basic Ottoman imperial institutions were sown. The administrative military offices of kaziasker (military judge), beylerbeyi (commander in chief), and grand vizier (chief minister) crystallized and were granted to persons outside the family of Osman I, founder of the dynasty. The origins of the Janissary corps (elite forces) and the devşirme (child-levy) system through which the Janissaries were recruited are also traced to Murad’s reign.
Hudavendigar see Murad I
Khodavandgar see Murad I
Murat I see Murad I
Murad II
Murad II (Murat II) (b. June 1404, Amasya, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey] — d. February 3, 1451, Edirne). Ottoman Sultan (r. 1421-1444 and 1446-1451). In 1422, he began a siege of Constantinople, but the siege had to be raised. Most of his campaigns were directed to the west. In 1444, he abdicated in favor of his son Muhammad but had to come back when the Hungarians were preparing a new crusade. He is described as a truthful, mild and humane ruler and was the first Ottoman prince whose court became a brilliant center of poets, literary men and Muslim scholars.
Murad II was an Ottoman sultan (1421–44 and 1446–51) who expanded and consolidated Ottoman rule in the Balkans, pursued a policy of restraint in Anatolia, and helped lead the empire to recovery after its near demise at the hands of Timur following the Battle of Ankara (1402).
Early in his reign, Murad had to overcome several claimants to the Ottoman throne who were supported by the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus and by many of the Turkmen principalities in Anatolia. By 1425 Murad had eliminated his rivals, had re-established Ottoman rule over the Turkmen principalities of western Anatolia, and had once again forced Byzantium to pay tribute. He then turned his attention to the Balkans. In 1430, after a five-year struggle, he captured Salonika (modern Thessaloníki), in northern Greece, which had been under Venetian control. At first the Ottoman armies were successful against a Hungarian-Serbian-Karaman alliance; but after 1441, when the alliance expanded to include German, Polish, and Albanian forces, the Ottomans lost Niš and Sofia (1443) and were soundly defeated at Jalowaz (1444). After signing a peace treaty at Edirne (June 12, 1444), Murad abdicated in favor of his 12-year-old son, Mehmed II.
European powers, under the auspices of Pope Eugenius IV, soon broke the truce; and Murad, leading the Ottoman army, inflicted a severe defeat on the Christian forces at the Battle of Varna in November 1444. Under pressure from court notables and faced with external threats, Murad reassumed control of the state in 1446. In 1448, he defeated the Hungarians at the second Battle of Kosovo (October 17).
In Anatolia, Murad pursued a policy of caution because of the westward advance of the Timurid Shah Rokh, who posed as protector of the Turkmen principalities. The Ottomans gained suzerainty over the Turkmen rulers in the Çorum-Amasya region and in western Anatolia, but the principality of Karaman, which through its alliances with the Balkan Christian rulers was a major threat to the Ottomans, was left autonomous.
During Murad’s reign the office of grand vizier (chief minister) came to be dominated by the Çandarlı family. The Janissary corps (elite forces) gained in prominence, and the hereditary Turkish frontier rulers in the Balkans often acted independently of the sultan.
Murat II see Murad II
Murad II (Murat II) (b. June 1404, Amasya, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey] — d. February 3, 1451, Edirne). Ottoman Sultan (r. 1421-1444 and 1446-1451). In 1422, he began a siege of Constantinople, but the siege had to be raised. Most of his campaigns were directed to the west. In 1444, he abdicated in favor of his son Muhammad but had to come back when the Hungarians were preparing a new crusade. He is described as a truthful, mild and humane ruler and was the first Ottoman prince whose court became a brilliant center of poets, literary men and Muslim scholars.
Murad II was an Ottoman sultan (1421–44 and 1446–51) who expanded and consolidated Ottoman rule in the Balkans, pursued a policy of restraint in Anatolia, and helped lead the empire to recovery after its near demise at the hands of Timur following the Battle of Ankara (1402).
Early in his reign, Murad had to overcome several claimants to the Ottoman throne who were supported by the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus and by many of the Turkmen principalities in Anatolia. By 1425 Murad had eliminated his rivals, had re-established Ottoman rule over the Turkmen principalities of western Anatolia, and had once again forced Byzantium to pay tribute. He then turned his attention to the Balkans. In 1430, after a five-year struggle, he captured Salonika (modern Thessaloníki), in northern Greece, which had been under Venetian control. At first the Ottoman armies were successful against a Hungarian-Serbian-Karaman alliance; but after 1441, when the alliance expanded to include German, Polish, and Albanian forces, the Ottomans lost Niš and Sofia (1443) and were soundly defeated at Jalowaz (1444). After signing a peace treaty at Edirne (June 12, 1444), Murad abdicated in favor of his 12-year-old son, Mehmed II.
European powers, under the auspices of Pope Eugenius IV, soon broke the truce; and Murad, leading the Ottoman army, inflicted a severe defeat on the Christian forces at the Battle of Varna in November 1444. Under pressure from court notables and faced with external threats, Murad reassumed control of the state in 1446. In 1448, he defeated the Hungarians at the second Battle of Kosovo (October 17).
In Anatolia, Murad pursued a policy of caution because of the westward advance of the Timurid Shah Rokh, who posed as protector of the Turkmen principalities. The Ottomans gained suzerainty over the Turkmen rulers in the Çorum-Amasya region and in western Anatolia, but the principality of Karaman, which through its alliances with the Balkan Christian rulers was a major threat to the Ottomans, was left autonomous.
During Murad’s reign the office of grand vizier (chief minister) came to be dominated by the Çandarlı family. The Janissary corps (elite forces) gained in prominence, and the hereditary Turkish frontier rulers in the Balkans often acted independently of the sultan.
Murat II see Murad II
Murad III
Murad III (Murād-i sālis) (Murat III) (b. July 4, 1546, Bozdagan or Manisa, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey]– d. January 15/16, 1595, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul). Ottoman sultan (r.1574-1595).
The reign of Murad III saw lengthy wars against Iran and Austria and social and economic deterioration within the Ottoman state.
Externally Murad continued the military offensive of his predecessors. He took Fez (now Fès, Morocco) from the Portuguese in 1578. He fought an exhausting war against Iran (1578–90), which extended his rule over Azerbaijan, Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia), Nahāvand, and Hamadān (now in Iran). In Europe he began a long war against Austria (1593–1606), which saw an alliance in 1594 of the Ottoman vassal rulers of Moldavia, Transylvania, and Walachia with Austria in defiance of Ottoman authority.
Murad came under the influence of the women in his harem and of his courtiers, and he ignored the advice of the brilliant grand vizier (chief minister) Mehmed Sokollu, who was assassinated in 1579. Under Murad, nepotism, heavy taxes necessitated by the long wars, and inflation, aggravated by the influx of cheap South American silver from Spain, all contributed to the decline of the major Ottoman administrative institutions. The tımar (fief) system suffered dislocation when the peasants, because of high taxes, were forced to leave their lands. The highly effective Janissary corps (elite forces), because of a policy of indiscriminate recruitment, degenerated into a body of ruffians that threatened the urban and rural populations.
Murad III was the eldest son of sultan Selim II (1566–74) and Valide Sultan Nurbanu Sultan (a Sephardic Jew and Venetian noblewoman, originally named Cecilia Venier-Baffo). Murad succeeded his father in 1574. Murad began his reign by having his five younger brothers strangled. His authority was undermined by the harem influences, more specifically, those of his mother and later of his favorite wife Safiye Sultan. The power had only been maintained under Selim II by the genius of the all-powerful Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu who remained in office until his assassination in October 1579. The reign of Murad III was marked by wars with Iran and Austria and Ottoman economic decline and institutional decay.
Murad-i salis see Murad III
Murat III see Murad III
Murad III (Murād-i sālis) (Murat III) (b. July 4, 1546, Bozdagan or Manisa, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey]– d. January 15/16, 1595, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul). Ottoman sultan (r.1574-1595).
The reign of Murad III saw lengthy wars against Iran and Austria and social and economic deterioration within the Ottoman state.
Externally Murad continued the military offensive of his predecessors. He took Fez (now Fès, Morocco) from the Portuguese in 1578. He fought an exhausting war against Iran (1578–90), which extended his rule over Azerbaijan, Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia), Nahāvand, and Hamadān (now in Iran). In Europe he began a long war against Austria (1593–1606), which saw an alliance in 1594 of the Ottoman vassal rulers of Moldavia, Transylvania, and Walachia with Austria in defiance of Ottoman authority.
Murad came under the influence of the women in his harem and of his courtiers, and he ignored the advice of the brilliant grand vizier (chief minister) Mehmed Sokollu, who was assassinated in 1579. Under Murad, nepotism, heavy taxes necessitated by the long wars, and inflation, aggravated by the influx of cheap South American silver from Spain, all contributed to the decline of the major Ottoman administrative institutions. The tımar (fief) system suffered dislocation when the peasants, because of high taxes, were forced to leave their lands. The highly effective Janissary corps (elite forces), because of a policy of indiscriminate recruitment, degenerated into a body of ruffians that threatened the urban and rural populations.
Murad III was the eldest son of sultan Selim II (1566–74) and Valide Sultan Nurbanu Sultan (a Sephardic Jew and Venetian noblewoman, originally named Cecilia Venier-Baffo). Murad succeeded his father in 1574. Murad began his reign by having his five younger brothers strangled. His authority was undermined by the harem influences, more specifically, those of his mother and later of his favorite wife Safiye Sultan. The power had only been maintained under Selim II by the genius of the all-powerful Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu who remained in office until his assassination in October 1579. The reign of Murad III was marked by wars with Iran and Austria and Ottoman economic decline and institutional decay.
Murad-i salis see Murad III
Murat III see Murad III
Murad IV
Murad IV (Murat IV) (Murad Oglu Ahmed I) (b. July 27, 1612, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]—d. February 8, 1640, Constantinople). Ottoman Sultan (r.1623- 1640). In 1632, he had to suppress an army mutiny. In 1635, the Safavid fortress of Eriwan was taken, and in 1638, Baghdad itself surrendered, followed by a peace treaty with the Safavids in 1639. He possessed some literary talent and was interested in literary debate, Ewliya’ Celebi being his most famous favorite.
Murad IV was the Ottoman sultan from 1623 to 1640 whose heavy-handed rule put an end to prevailing lawlessness and rebelliousness. Murad IV is renowned as the conqueror of Baghdad.
Murad, who came to the throne at age 11, ruled for several years through the regency of his mother, Kösem, and a series of grand viziers. Effective rule, however, remained in the hands of the turbulent spahis (from Turkish sipahiyan, quasi-feudal cavalries) and the Janissaries, who more than once forced the execution of high officials. Corruption of government officials and rebellion in the Asiatic provinces, coupled with an empty treasury, perpetuated the discontent against the central government.
Embittered by the excesses of the troops, Murad was determined to restore order both in Constantinople and in the provinces. In 1632, the spahis invaded the palace and demanded (and got) the heads of the grand vizier and 16 other high officials. Soon thereafter Murad gained full control and acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He suppressed the mutineers with a bloody ferocity. He banned the use of tobacco and closed the coffeehouses and the wineshops (no doubt as nests of sedition); violators or mere suspects were executed.
In his foreign policy, Murad took personal command in the continuing war against Iran and set out to win back territories lost to Iran earlier in his reign. Baghdad was reconquered in 1638 after a siege that ended in a massacre of garrison and citizens alike. In the following year peace was concluded.
A man of courage, determination, and violent temperament, Murad did not follow closely the precepts of the Sharīʿah (Islamic law) and was the first Ottoman sultan to execute a shaykh al-islām (the highest Muslim dignitary in the empire). He was able to restore order, however, and to straighten out state finances. Murad’s death was caused by his addiction to alcohol.
Murad IV was born in Istanbul, the son of Sultan Ahmed I (1603–17) and the ethnic Greek Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan (also known as Mahpeyker), originally named Anastasia. Brought to power by a palace conspiracy in 1623, he succeeded his mad uncle Mustafa I (1617–18, 1622–23). He was only eleven when he took the throne. He married Aisha, without issue.
Murad Oglu Ahmed I see Murad IV
Murad IV (Murat IV) (Murad Oglu Ahmed I) (b. July 27, 1612, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]—d. February 8, 1640, Constantinople). Ottoman Sultan (r.1623- 1640). In 1632, he had to suppress an army mutiny. In 1635, the Safavid fortress of Eriwan was taken, and in 1638, Baghdad itself surrendered, followed by a peace treaty with the Safavids in 1639. He possessed some literary talent and was interested in literary debate, Ewliya’ Celebi being his most famous favorite.
Murad IV was the Ottoman sultan from 1623 to 1640 whose heavy-handed rule put an end to prevailing lawlessness and rebelliousness. Murad IV is renowned as the conqueror of Baghdad.
Murad, who came to the throne at age 11, ruled for several years through the regency of his mother, Kösem, and a series of grand viziers. Effective rule, however, remained in the hands of the turbulent spahis (from Turkish sipahiyan, quasi-feudal cavalries) and the Janissaries, who more than once forced the execution of high officials. Corruption of government officials and rebellion in the Asiatic provinces, coupled with an empty treasury, perpetuated the discontent against the central government.
Embittered by the excesses of the troops, Murad was determined to restore order both in Constantinople and in the provinces. In 1632, the spahis invaded the palace and demanded (and got) the heads of the grand vizier and 16 other high officials. Soon thereafter Murad gained full control and acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He suppressed the mutineers with a bloody ferocity. He banned the use of tobacco and closed the coffeehouses and the wineshops (no doubt as nests of sedition); violators or mere suspects were executed.
In his foreign policy, Murad took personal command in the continuing war against Iran and set out to win back territories lost to Iran earlier in his reign. Baghdad was reconquered in 1638 after a siege that ended in a massacre of garrison and citizens alike. In the following year peace was concluded.
A man of courage, determination, and violent temperament, Murad did not follow closely the precepts of the Sharīʿah (Islamic law) and was the first Ottoman sultan to execute a shaykh al-islām (the highest Muslim dignitary in the empire). He was able to restore order, however, and to straighten out state finances. Murad’s death was caused by his addiction to alcohol.
Murad IV was born in Istanbul, the son of Sultan Ahmed I (1603–17) and the ethnic Greek Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan (also known as Mahpeyker), originally named Anastasia. Brought to power by a palace conspiracy in 1623, he succeeded his mad uncle Mustafa I (1617–18, 1622–23). He was only eleven when he took the throne. He married Aisha, without issue.
Murad Oglu Ahmed I see Murad IV
Murad V
Murad V (Murat V) (Mehmed Murad V) (b. September 21/22 1840, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey] - d. August 29, 1904, Constantinople). Ottoman Sultan who ruled from May to September in 1876. In 1876, the new Grand Council decided to proclaim a constitution, but this could not be carried through because of Murad’s mental state. He was deposed in 1876 and replaced by his brother Abdulhamid II.
Murad V was the Ottoman sultan from May to September 1876, whose liberal disposition brought him to the throne after the deposition of his autocratic uncle Abdülaziz.
A man of high intelligence, Murad received a good education and was widely read in both Turkish and European literature. In 1867 he accompanied Abdülaziz on his European tour and made a favorable impression. During the tour, he secretly contacted exiled nationalist-liberal Young Turks, for which Abdülaziz placed him under close surveillance.
Upon Abdülaziz’ deposition by a group of ministers led by Midhat Paşa, the great advocate of constitutional government, Murad was brought to the throne. The new sultan was determined to introduce constitutional reforms, but, under the impact of Abdülaziz’ suicide and the murder of some of his key ministers, Murad suffered mental collapse. After declaration by Turkish and foreign doctors that his illness was incurable, Murad was deposed by the same men who had brought him to the throne. During the reign (1876–1909) of his brother Abdülhamid II, several attempts to restore him to the throne failed, and he spent the remaining years of his life confined in the Çiragan Palace.
Murad V was born in the Topkapi Palace in Constantinople. His father was Abdülmecid I. His mother, whom his father married in Constantinople on August 1, 1839, was Valide Sultan Shevkefza, (b. December 12, 1820, Poti - d. September 17, 1889, Ciragan Palace, Ortakoy, Constantinople), originally named Vilma, a Circassian.
Murat V see Murad V
Mehmed Murad V see Murad V
Murad V (Murat V) (Mehmed Murad V) (b. September 21/22 1840, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey] - d. August 29, 1904, Constantinople). Ottoman Sultan who ruled from May to September in 1876. In 1876, the new Grand Council decided to proclaim a constitution, but this could not be carried through because of Murad’s mental state. He was deposed in 1876 and replaced by his brother Abdulhamid II.
Murad V was the Ottoman sultan from May to September 1876, whose liberal disposition brought him to the throne after the deposition of his autocratic uncle Abdülaziz.
A man of high intelligence, Murad received a good education and was widely read in both Turkish and European literature. In 1867 he accompanied Abdülaziz on his European tour and made a favorable impression. During the tour, he secretly contacted exiled nationalist-liberal Young Turks, for which Abdülaziz placed him under close surveillance.
Upon Abdülaziz’ deposition by a group of ministers led by Midhat Paşa, the great advocate of constitutional government, Murad was brought to the throne. The new sultan was determined to introduce constitutional reforms, but, under the impact of Abdülaziz’ suicide and the murder of some of his key ministers, Murad suffered mental collapse. After declaration by Turkish and foreign doctors that his illness was incurable, Murad was deposed by the same men who had brought him to the throne. During the reign (1876–1909) of his brother Abdülhamid II, several attempts to restore him to the throne failed, and he spent the remaining years of his life confined in the Çiragan Palace.
Murad V was born in the Topkapi Palace in Constantinople. His father was Abdülmecid I. His mother, whom his father married in Constantinople on August 1, 1839, was Valide Sultan Shevkefza, (b. December 12, 1820, Poti - d. September 17, 1889, Ciragan Palace, Ortakoy, Constantinople), originally named Vilma, a Circassian.
Murat V see Murad V
Mehmed Murad V see Murad V
Murad, Banu
Murad, Banu (Banu Murad). Arab tribe belonging to the great southern group of the Madhhij. One of their chiefs went to Medina in 631 and concluded a treaty with the Prophet.
Banu Murad see Murad, Banu
Murad, Banu (Banu Murad). Arab tribe belonging to the great southern group of the Madhhij. One of their chiefs went to Medina in 631 and concluded a treaty with the Prophet.
Banu Murad see Murad, Banu
Murad, Ferid
Ferid Murad (b. September 14, 1936, Whiting, Indiana — d. September 4, 2023, Menlo Park, California), American pharmacologist who, along with Robert F. Furchgott and Louis J. Ignarro, was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that nitric oxide (NO) acts as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. Their combined work uncovered an entirely new mechanism for how blood vessels in the body relax and widen.
Ferid Murad was born in Whiting, Indiana, on September 14, 1936. His parents were Henrietta Josephine Bowman of Alton, Illinois, and Xhabir Murat Ejupi, an Albanian immigrant from Gostivar in present-day North Macedonia, who subsequently changed his name to John Murad after being processed at Ellis Island in 1913. His mother was from a Baptist family family and ran away from home in 1935, aged 17, to marry Murad's father, who was 39 and Muslim. Murad was the oldest of three boys. Murad and his brothers were raised as Catholics. He was later baptized an Episcopalian while in college. The family owned a small restaurant while Murad was growing up, and he spent his youth working at the family business.
In the eighth grade, he was asked to write an essay of his top three career choices, which he indicated as physician, teacher and pharmacist (in 1948, clinical pharmacology was not yet a discipline in medicine). He became a board-certified physician and internist doing both basic and clinical research with considerable teaching in medicine, pharmacology and clinical pharmacology and with a PhD in pharmacology.
Murad competed successfully for a Rector Scholarship at DePauw, University in Greencastle, Indiana a small and excellent liberal arts university on a tuition scholarship. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the pre-med program at DePauw University in 1958. During his senior year of college, he began to apply to medical schools when his faculty advisor Forst Fuller, a professor in the biology department suggested that he consider a new MD-PhD program at Case Western Reserve University. A fraternity brother, Bill Sutherland, also advised that he consider this new combined degree program that his father, Earl Sutherland, Jr. initiated in Cleveland in 1957. The program paid full tuition for both degrees and provided a modest stipend of $2,000 per year. Murad ultimately decided to attend and became an early graduate of the first explicit MD and pharmacology Ph.D. program (which would later lead to the development of the prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program) obtaining his degrees from Case Western Reserve University in 1965. He was an Intern in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital (1965–66), Resident in Internal Medicine (1966–67), Clinical Associate and Senior Assistant Surgeon, Public Health Service, National Heart and Lung Institute (1967–69) and Senior Staff Fellow there from 1969–70.
In addition to his clinical practice, Murad taught pharmacology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville (1975–81), at Stanford University (1981–89), and then at Northwestern University (1988). While at Stanford he ventured into the private sector as a vice president of Abbott Laboratories (1988–92) and then became president of the Molecular Geriatrics Corporation (1993–95). He began teaching at the medical school of the University of Texas, Houston, in 1997. Murad moved to the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 2011.
In 1977, Murad showed that nitroglycerin and several related heart drugs induce the formation of nitric oxide and that the colorless, odorless gas acts to increase the diameter of blood vessels in the body. Furchgott and Ignarro built on this work. About 1980 Furchgott demonstrated that cells in the endothelium, or inner lining, of blood vessels produce an unknown signaling molecule, which he named endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). This molecule signals smooth muscle cells in blood vessel walls to relax, dilating the vessels. Ignarro’s research, conducted in 1986 and done independently of Furchgott’s work, identified EDRF as nitric oxide. These discoveries led to the development of the anti-impotence drug sildenafil citrate (Viagra) and had the potential to unlock new approaches for understanding and treating other diseases.
The Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which presented the prize, said that the identification of a biological role for nitric oxide was surprising for several reasons. Nitric oxide was known mainly as a harmful air pollutant, released into the atmosphere from automobile engines and other combustion sources. In addition, it was a simple molecule, very different from the complex neurotransmitters and other signaling molecules that regulate many biological events. No other gas is known to act as a signaling molecule in the body.
Murad was also the recipient of the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1996 for his discovery. Murad and Ignarro collaborated on Nitric Oxide: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Therapeutic Implications (1995).
Ferid Murad died in Menlo Park, California, on September 4, 2023, at the age of 86.
Muradi, al-
Muradi, al-. Name of a family of Sayyids and scholars established at Damascus in the seventeenth through eighteenth centuries.
Muradi, al-. Name of a family of Sayyids and scholars established at Damascus in the seventeenth through eighteenth centuries.
Muridiyya
Muridiyya (The Mouride Brotherhood) (Muride Brotherhood) (Aṭ-Ṭarīqat al-Murīdiyya). The word murid is Arabic for the candidate in a Sufi initiation. The word murid (Mouride) took on a particular meaning in Senegal to describe the adepts of a movement founded by Ahmadu Bamba, a Senegalese mystic and man of letters (circa 1850-1927), which was repressed for a long time by French authorities. Basing its economic strength on the cultivation of peanuts, Muridism offers an original example of a religious fraternity engaged in agricultural production.
After the death of its founder, the Muridiyya became the mediator for all powers currently in place. Buoyed by the extreme fervor of its adherents, the movement seeks, even though it does not represent a majority in the country, to become the national fraternity of Senegal.
The best known of the Sufi brotherhoods in Senegal, both within and outside of the country, is the Muridiyah. Its name comes from murid, the postulant who seeks the path to spiritual knowledge. The word was already in use when the French and the followers of the founder of the order, Amadu Bamba M’Backe, came into conflict in the 1890s in western Senegal.
Amadu Bamba (c.1850-1927) was born into a family of itinerant scholars who moved through the Wolof kingdoms of Baol, Cayor, and Jolof, states taht disintegrated rather rapidly in the late nineteenth century under the impact of internecine wars, French penetration, and opportunities provided by the cultivation of peanuts in the sandy soil fo the Sahel. His father Momar Antassali had close attachments to the royal dynasty of Cayor and particularly to the ruler or damel, Lat Dior, and it was in a combination of court settings and rural retreats that Amadu Bamba acquired his apprenticeship in Islam and Senegalese politics.
By the 1880s, he had achieved a significant reputation as a poet, scholar, and spiritual advisor in his own right. Bamba was able to maintain a growing following, particularly among the ceddos or slave warriors of the courts and other people who were increasingly marginalized with the decline of the kingdoms and growing violence. He affiliated with Qadiriyah shaykhs in Mauritania, although later his particular approaches to islam often caused the Muridiyah to be categorized as an autonomous if not separate order.
In the dramatically changing situation of late nineteenth century Senegal, Bamba was careful to keep his distance from both the traditional courts, which were failing in their efforts to resist.
European conquest, and the Europeans themselves, who were working from coastal bases such as St. Louis and Dakar. In Senegalese lore he is closely identified with the defeat and death of Lat Dior in 1886, but in fact he did not advise the king to resist. Bamba was able to maintain his following on the fringes of areas of French control for several more years. The regime in St. Louis finally captured him in 1895, conducted a summary trial, and sent him into exile in Gabon for a period of seven years. Bamba spent a great deal of time during his exile in meditation and the writing of poetry, and the period has become enshrined in the memories of his followers as a series of constantly retold miracles of escape from French entrapments.
Some of Bamba’s family and friends, particularly his brother Shaykh Anta and his lieutenant Ibra Fall, were quite active on his behalf during his exile. The actively encouraged the pattern of peanut cultivation and the acquisition of property in both rural and urban settings. The Senegalese deputy to the French Assembly, Francois Carpot, played a role in gaining the return of Bamba from exile in 1902, but the anxiety of the French and their Senegalese chiefs alike provoked a second exile (1903-1907), this time to Butilimit and the home of a close Mauritanian friend of the colonial regime, Sidiya Baba. From 1907 to 1912, the French kept Bamba in a remote area of Jolof in northern Senegal before finally allowing him to move to Diourbe, near the headquarters of the Muridiyah but still under close surveillance.
During all this time of exile, Bamba’s family and friends continued to develop their interests in peanut farming and in closer ties with the French administration. By World War I, in the midst of French needs for troops and endorsement of their cause, Bamba himself was ready to give his blessing to this tissue of cooperation. When he died in 1927, the French played a significant role in ensuring the succession of his son Muhammad Mustapha against the claims of Bamba’s brother Shaykh Anta. They continued the close relationship with another son, Falilu, who served as successor or khalifa general from 1945 until his death in 1968, and the Senegalese government has enjoyed generally good relationships with the M’backe successors since.
Bamba was a man of great scholarly acumen and spirituality, and many of his descendants and associates have had the same orientation. Many Murid followers, however, had little or no education in matters Islamic, and they were encouraged by the leaders to work hard, particularly in the cultivation of peanuts, and to allow the marabouts, the Islamic authorities, to carry out intercession on their behalf. This has been particularly true of the group called the Baye Fall, followers of Ibra Fall who were always ready to carry out any physical task for their leaders. Recently, however, Murid cells throughout Senegal and in major French urban centers modified this image of the “unlettered Murid” by their zeal for learning the teachings of Islam and the heritage of the founder.
The Mouride Brotherhood see Muridiyya
Muride Brotherhood see Muridiyya
At-Tariqat al-Muridiyya see Muridiyya
Muridiyya (The Mouride Brotherhood) (Muride Brotherhood) (Aṭ-Ṭarīqat al-Murīdiyya). The word murid is Arabic for the candidate in a Sufi initiation. The word murid (Mouride) took on a particular meaning in Senegal to describe the adepts of a movement founded by Ahmadu Bamba, a Senegalese mystic and man of letters (circa 1850-1927), which was repressed for a long time by French authorities. Basing its economic strength on the cultivation of peanuts, Muridism offers an original example of a religious fraternity engaged in agricultural production.
After the death of its founder, the Muridiyya became the mediator for all powers currently in place. Buoyed by the extreme fervor of its adherents, the movement seeks, even though it does not represent a majority in the country, to become the national fraternity of Senegal.
The best known of the Sufi brotherhoods in Senegal, both within and outside of the country, is the Muridiyah. Its name comes from murid, the postulant who seeks the path to spiritual knowledge. The word was already in use when the French and the followers of the founder of the order, Amadu Bamba M’Backe, came into conflict in the 1890s in western Senegal.
Amadu Bamba (c.1850-1927) was born into a family of itinerant scholars who moved through the Wolof kingdoms of Baol, Cayor, and Jolof, states taht disintegrated rather rapidly in the late nineteenth century under the impact of internecine wars, French penetration, and opportunities provided by the cultivation of peanuts in the sandy soil fo the Sahel. His father Momar Antassali had close attachments to the royal dynasty of Cayor and particularly to the ruler or damel, Lat Dior, and it was in a combination of court settings and rural retreats that Amadu Bamba acquired his apprenticeship in Islam and Senegalese politics.
By the 1880s, he had achieved a significant reputation as a poet, scholar, and spiritual advisor in his own right. Bamba was able to maintain a growing following, particularly among the ceddos or slave warriors of the courts and other people who were increasingly marginalized with the decline of the kingdoms and growing violence. He affiliated with Qadiriyah shaykhs in Mauritania, although later his particular approaches to islam often caused the Muridiyah to be categorized as an autonomous if not separate order.
In the dramatically changing situation of late nineteenth century Senegal, Bamba was careful to keep his distance from both the traditional courts, which were failing in their efforts to resist.
European conquest, and the Europeans themselves, who were working from coastal bases such as St. Louis and Dakar. In Senegalese lore he is closely identified with the defeat and death of Lat Dior in 1886, but in fact he did not advise the king to resist. Bamba was able to maintain his following on the fringes of areas of French control for several more years. The regime in St. Louis finally captured him in 1895, conducted a summary trial, and sent him into exile in Gabon for a period of seven years. Bamba spent a great deal of time during his exile in meditation and the writing of poetry, and the period has become enshrined in the memories of his followers as a series of constantly retold miracles of escape from French entrapments.
Some of Bamba’s family and friends, particularly his brother Shaykh Anta and his lieutenant Ibra Fall, were quite active on his behalf during his exile. The actively encouraged the pattern of peanut cultivation and the acquisition of property in both rural and urban settings. The Senegalese deputy to the French Assembly, Francois Carpot, played a role in gaining the return of Bamba from exile in 1902, but the anxiety of the French and their Senegalese chiefs alike provoked a second exile (1903-1907), this time to Butilimit and the home of a close Mauritanian friend of the colonial regime, Sidiya Baba. From 1907 to 1912, the French kept Bamba in a remote area of Jolof in northern Senegal before finally allowing him to move to Diourbe, near the headquarters of the Muridiyah but still under close surveillance.
During all this time of exile, Bamba’s family and friends continued to develop their interests in peanut farming and in closer ties with the French administration. By World War I, in the midst of French needs for troops and endorsement of their cause, Bamba himself was ready to give his blessing to this tissue of cooperation. When he died in 1927, the French played a significant role in ensuring the succession of his son Muhammad Mustapha against the claims of Bamba’s brother Shaykh Anta. They continued the close relationship with another son, Falilu, who served as successor or khalifa general from 1945 until his death in 1968, and the Senegalese government has enjoyed generally good relationships with the M’backe successors since.
Bamba was a man of great scholarly acumen and spirituality, and many of his descendants and associates have had the same orientation. Many Murid followers, however, had little or no education in matters Islamic, and they were encouraged by the leaders to work hard, particularly in the cultivation of peanuts, and to allow the marabouts, the Islamic authorities, to carry out intercession on their behalf. This has been particularly true of the group called the Baye Fall, followers of Ibra Fall who were always ready to carry out any physical task for their leaders. Recently, however, Murid cells throughout Senegal and in major French urban centers modified this image of the “unlettered Murid” by their zeal for learning the teachings of Islam and the heritage of the founder.
The Mouride Brotherhood see Muridiyya
Muride Brotherhood see Muridiyya
At-Tariqat al-Muridiyya see Muridiyya
Murji‘a
Murji‘a (Murjiah). Name of a politico-religious movement in early Islam, derived from the Qur’anic usage of the verb which means “to defer judgment.” The word murji‘a is derived from the Arabic word irja’ meaning “postponement” or “deferment.” The Murji‘a is a quietist sect of early Islam. In the opinion of the Murji‘a, sinners should not be condemned, because faith can offset sins. The Murji‘a were politically uninvolved and believed that outward confession of faith was sufficient for a good Muslim. The sect emerged mainly in reaction to the Kharijis, who saw sin in more absolute terms.
Murji’a were a sectarian group in Islam, that during the middle of the seventh century, claimed that wrong-doings could only be judged by man, and not God, in those cases where the common good was in jeopardy. Moreover, they believed that questions on whether or not a man was a believer was a question that should be totally left to God on the Day of Judgment. They also claimed that sin should not be punished with the expulsion from the believer’s community. Many of their thoughts lived on with the Umayyad Caliphs. From opponents in their own time, the Murji’is were accused of lack of piety.
In later times, the name Murji‘a refers to all those who identified faith with belief, or confession of belief, to the exclusiong of acts. They generally admitted that God might either punish or forgive Muslim offenders, which punishment, according to some, would be eternal, others affirming that it would be temporal and that all would eventually enter Paradise through the intercession of the Prophet. The latter view agrees with predominant Sunni traditionalist doctrine.
Murji'ah is an early Islamic school, whose followers are known in the English language as Murjites or Murji'ites.
During the early centuries of Islam, Muslim thought encountered a multitude of influences from various ethnic and philosophical groups that it absorbed. Murji'ah emerged as a theological school that was opposed to the Kharijites on questions related to early controversies regarding sin and definitions of what is a true Muslim.
As opposed to the Kharijites, Murjites advocated the idea of deferred judgment of peoples’ belief. Murjite doctrine held that only God has the authority to judge who is a true Muslim and who is not, and that Muslims should consider all other Muslims as part of the community. This theology promoted tolerance of Ummayyads and converts to Islam who appeared half-hearted in their obedience.
In another contrast to the Kharijites, who believed that committing a grave sin would render a person non-Muslim, Murjites considered genuine belief in and submission to God to be more important than acts of piety and good works. They believed Muslims committing grave sins would remain Muslim and be eligible for paradise if they remained faithful.
The Murjite opinion on the issue of whether one committing a grave sin remains a believer was adapted with modifications by later theological schools – Maturidi, Ash'ari, and Mu'tazili.
The Murjites exited the way of the Sunnis when they declared that no Muslim would enter the hellfire, no matter what his sins. This contradicts the traditional Sunni belief which states that some Muslims will enter the fire of hell temporarily. Therefore the Murjites are classified as "Ahlul Bid'ah" or "People of Innovation" by traditional Sunni Muslims.
Murjiah see Murji‘a
Murji‘a (Murjiah). Name of a politico-religious movement in early Islam, derived from the Qur’anic usage of the verb which means “to defer judgment.” The word murji‘a is derived from the Arabic word irja’ meaning “postponement” or “deferment.” The Murji‘a is a quietist sect of early Islam. In the opinion of the Murji‘a, sinners should not be condemned, because faith can offset sins. The Murji‘a were politically uninvolved and believed that outward confession of faith was sufficient for a good Muslim. The sect emerged mainly in reaction to the Kharijis, who saw sin in more absolute terms.
Murji’a were a sectarian group in Islam, that during the middle of the seventh century, claimed that wrong-doings could only be judged by man, and not God, in those cases where the common good was in jeopardy. Moreover, they believed that questions on whether or not a man was a believer was a question that should be totally left to God on the Day of Judgment. They also claimed that sin should not be punished with the expulsion from the believer’s community. Many of their thoughts lived on with the Umayyad Caliphs. From opponents in their own time, the Murji’is were accused of lack of piety.
In later times, the name Murji‘a refers to all those who identified faith with belief, or confession of belief, to the exclusiong of acts. They generally admitted that God might either punish or forgive Muslim offenders, which punishment, according to some, would be eternal, others affirming that it would be temporal and that all would eventually enter Paradise through the intercession of the Prophet. The latter view agrees with predominant Sunni traditionalist doctrine.
Murji'ah is an early Islamic school, whose followers are known in the English language as Murjites or Murji'ites.
During the early centuries of Islam, Muslim thought encountered a multitude of influences from various ethnic and philosophical groups that it absorbed. Murji'ah emerged as a theological school that was opposed to the Kharijites on questions related to early controversies regarding sin and definitions of what is a true Muslim.
As opposed to the Kharijites, Murjites advocated the idea of deferred judgment of peoples’ belief. Murjite doctrine held that only God has the authority to judge who is a true Muslim and who is not, and that Muslims should consider all other Muslims as part of the community. This theology promoted tolerance of Ummayyads and converts to Islam who appeared half-hearted in their obedience.
In another contrast to the Kharijites, who believed that committing a grave sin would render a person non-Muslim, Murjites considered genuine belief in and submission to God to be more important than acts of piety and good works. They believed Muslims committing grave sins would remain Muslim and be eligible for paradise if they remained faithful.
The Murjite opinion on the issue of whether one committing a grave sin remains a believer was adapted with modifications by later theological schools – Maturidi, Ash'ari, and Mu'tazili.
The Murjites exited the way of the Sunnis when they declared that no Muslim would enter the hellfire, no matter what his sins. This contradicts the traditional Sunni belief which states that some Muslims will enter the fire of hell temporarily. Therefore the Murjites are classified as "Ahlul Bid'ah" or "People of Innovation" by traditional Sunni Muslims.
Murjiah see Murji‘a
Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al- (Hamid ibn Muhammad al-Murjibi) (Tippu Tip) (Tippu Tib) (Muhammed Bin Hamid) (b. 1837 - d. June 14, 1905, Zanzibar [now in Tanzania]). Personality of Afro-Arab stock who played a role in the history of East Africa and the Congo. Born in Zanzibar, he led caravan expeditions to the area around Lake Tanganyika and encountered David Livingstone. He was appointed governor of the Stanley Falls District of the Congo Free State in 1887 by King Leopold of Belgium on the advice of Stanley. He returned to Zanzibar in 1891 and remained a highly-respected person.
Tippu Tib was the most famous late 19th-century Arab trader in central and eastern Africa. His ambitious plans for state building inevitably clashed with those of the sultan of Zanzibar and the Belgian King Leopold II. The ivory trade, however, apparently remained his chief interest, with his state-building and political intrigues serving as means to that enterprise.
Tippu Tib’s first trading trip to the African interior was in the late 1850s or early 1860s, accompanied by only a few men. By the late 1860s he was leading expeditions of 4,000 men, and shortly thereafter he began to establish a rather loosely organized state in the eastern and central Congo River basin. Ruling over an increasingly large area in the 1870s, he either confirmed local chiefs or replaced them with loyal regents. His main interests, however, were commercial. He established a monopoly on elephant hunting, had roads built, and began to develop plantations around the main Arab settlements, including Kasongo on the upper Congo River, where he himself settled in 1875.
In 1876–77, he accompanied the British explorer Henry Morton Stanley partway down the Congo River, and later he sent expeditions as far as the Aruwimi confluence, 110 miles (180 km) downriver of Stanleyville (now Kisangani, Congo [Kinshasa]). In the early 1880s he threw in his lot with Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar, who hoped to use him to extend Arab influence in the Congo region against the threat of Leopold’s International Association of the Congo (the king’s private development enterprise). Tippu Tib returned to Stanley Falls in 1883 to try to take over as much of the Congo basin as possible on behalf of Barghash. He remained in the Congo until 1886, when he again went to Zanzibar with more ivory.
By that time Leopold’s claim to the Congo basin had been recognized by other European nations, and Tippu Tib had apparently decided that an accommodation with the International Association was inevitable. In February 1887 he signed an agreement making him governor of the district of the Falls in the Congo Free State (now Congo [Kinshasa]). It proved to be an impossible position. The Europeans expected him to keep all the Arab traders in the area under control but would not allow him the necessary weapons, and many Arabs resented his alliance with the Europeans against them. In April 1890 he left the Falls for the last time and returned to Zanzibar.
Hamid ibn Muhammad al-Murjibi see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Tippu Tip see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Tippu Tib see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Muhammed Bin Hamid see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al- (Hamid ibn Muhammad al-Murjibi) (Tippu Tip) (Tippu Tib) (Muhammed Bin Hamid) (b. 1837 - d. June 14, 1905, Zanzibar [now in Tanzania]). Personality of Afro-Arab stock who played a role in the history of East Africa and the Congo. Born in Zanzibar, he led caravan expeditions to the area around Lake Tanganyika and encountered David Livingstone. He was appointed governor of the Stanley Falls District of the Congo Free State in 1887 by King Leopold of Belgium on the advice of Stanley. He returned to Zanzibar in 1891 and remained a highly-respected person.
Tippu Tib was the most famous late 19th-century Arab trader in central and eastern Africa. His ambitious plans for state building inevitably clashed with those of the sultan of Zanzibar and the Belgian King Leopold II. The ivory trade, however, apparently remained his chief interest, with his state-building and political intrigues serving as means to that enterprise.
Tippu Tib’s first trading trip to the African interior was in the late 1850s or early 1860s, accompanied by only a few men. By the late 1860s he was leading expeditions of 4,000 men, and shortly thereafter he began to establish a rather loosely organized state in the eastern and central Congo River basin. Ruling over an increasingly large area in the 1870s, he either confirmed local chiefs or replaced them with loyal regents. His main interests, however, were commercial. He established a monopoly on elephant hunting, had roads built, and began to develop plantations around the main Arab settlements, including Kasongo on the upper Congo River, where he himself settled in 1875.
In 1876–77, he accompanied the British explorer Henry Morton Stanley partway down the Congo River, and later he sent expeditions as far as the Aruwimi confluence, 110 miles (180 km) downriver of Stanleyville (now Kisangani, Congo [Kinshasa]). In the early 1880s he threw in his lot with Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar, who hoped to use him to extend Arab influence in the Congo region against the threat of Leopold’s International Association of the Congo (the king’s private development enterprise). Tippu Tib returned to Stanley Falls in 1883 to try to take over as much of the Congo basin as possible on behalf of Barghash. He remained in the Congo until 1886, when he again went to Zanzibar with more ivory.
By that time Leopold’s claim to the Congo basin had been recognized by other European nations, and Tippu Tib had apparently decided that an accommodation with the International Association was inevitable. In February 1887 he signed an agreement making him governor of the district of the Falls in the Congo Free State (now Congo [Kinshasa]). It proved to be an impossible position. The Europeans expected him to keep all the Arab traders in the area under control but would not allow him the necessary weapons, and many Arabs resented his alliance with the Europeans against them. In April 1890 he left the Falls for the last time and returned to Zanzibar.
Hamid ibn Muhammad al-Murjibi see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Tippu Tip see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Tippu Tib see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Muhammed Bin Hamid see Murjibi, Hamid ibn Muhammad al-
Murshid
Murshid. Arabic term that means “guide” or “spiritual leader.” The term murshid is used to refer to a Sufi master and teacher.
Murshid is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher". Particularly in Sufism it refers to a Sufi teacher. The path of Sufism starts when a student takes an oath of allegiance (Bai'ath) with a teacher. After this oath, the student is called a Murid.
The Murshid's role is to guide and instruct the disciple on the Sufi path, by general lessons (called Suhbas) and individual guidance.
A Murshid usually has authorizations to be a teacher for one (or more) Tariqas (paths). A tariqa may have more than one Murshid at a time. A Murshid is accorded that status by his murshid (Shaikh) by way of Khilafath: the process in which the Shaikh identifies one of his disciples as his successor, the Khalifa. A Murshid can have more than one khalifa.
Other words that refer to a murshid include, Pir and Sarkar.
Guide see Murshid.
Spiritual Leader see Murshid.
Teacher see Murshid.
Murshid. Arabic term that means “guide” or “spiritual leader.” The term murshid is used to refer to a Sufi master and teacher.
Murshid is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher". Particularly in Sufism it refers to a Sufi teacher. The path of Sufism starts when a student takes an oath of allegiance (Bai'ath) with a teacher. After this oath, the student is called a Murid.
The Murshid's role is to guide and instruct the disciple on the Sufi path, by general lessons (called Suhbas) and individual guidance.
A Murshid usually has authorizations to be a teacher for one (or more) Tariqas (paths). A tariqa may have more than one Murshid at a time. A Murshid is accorded that status by his murshid (Shaikh) by way of Khilafath: the process in which the Shaikh identifies one of his disciples as his successor, the Khalifa. A Murshid can have more than one khalifa.
Other words that refer to a murshid include, Pir and Sarkar.
Guide see Murshid.
Spiritual Leader see Murshid.
Teacher see Murshid.
Murshid Quli Khan
Murshid Quli Khan (Muhammad Hadi) (d. 1727). Title of Muhammad Hadi, perhaps born a brahman, who was purchased and adopted by Haji Shafi Isfahani, a successful diwan (revenue administrator) in India from 1668 to 1690. The son began service under the diwan of Berar. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb noticed his ability, leading to his appointment as diwan of Bengal in 1700. Orissa and Bihar were added to his domain in 1703 and 1704. Succession politics caused his transfer to the Deccan in 1708, but he returned home in 1710 and secured quasi-independent status in 1717. When he died, he bequeathed Bengal to his son-in-law, Shuja ud-Din Muhammad Khan. His exceptional administrative abilities made Bengal orderly and yielded high revenues, but English economic dominance beginning in his rule led to their political dominance as well.
Murshid Quli Khan was the first Nawab of Bengal. In fact circumstances resulted in his being the first independent ruler of Bengal after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb. Though he continued to recognize the nominal overlordship of the Mughal Emperor, for all practical purposes he was the de facto ruler of Bengal.
The decay and downfall of the Mughal Empire began in earnest after the reign of Aurangzeb. The Peacock Throne in Delhi became a "musical chair" for the successors of Aurangzeb and fueled by court intrigues of numerous nobles the tenure between 1707 and 1719 saw no less than eight Mughal Emperors (more than the sum of the last 180 years) namely Bahadur Shah I, Jahandar Shah, Farrukh Siyar, Rafi ud-Darajat, Rafi ud-Daulah, Neku Siyar, Muhammad Ibrahim and finally some stability came in the form of Muhammad Shah in 1719.
Such instability saw the rise of three notable nobles; Saadat Ali Khan the Subahdar of Oudh, Murshid Quli Khan the Subahdar of Orissa and Nazim of Bengal and Qamar ud-din Khan (also known as Asaf Jah I) the Subahdar of Deccan.
Muhammad Hadi see Murshid Quli Khan
Hadi, Muhammad see Murshid Quli Khan
Murshid Quli Khan (Muhammad Hadi) (d. 1727). Title of Muhammad Hadi, perhaps born a brahman, who was purchased and adopted by Haji Shafi Isfahani, a successful diwan (revenue administrator) in India from 1668 to 1690. The son began service under the diwan of Berar. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb noticed his ability, leading to his appointment as diwan of Bengal in 1700. Orissa and Bihar were added to his domain in 1703 and 1704. Succession politics caused his transfer to the Deccan in 1708, but he returned home in 1710 and secured quasi-independent status in 1717. When he died, he bequeathed Bengal to his son-in-law, Shuja ud-Din Muhammad Khan. His exceptional administrative abilities made Bengal orderly and yielded high revenues, but English economic dominance beginning in his rule led to their political dominance as well.
Murshid Quli Khan was the first Nawab of Bengal. In fact circumstances resulted in his being the first independent ruler of Bengal after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb. Though he continued to recognize the nominal overlordship of the Mughal Emperor, for all practical purposes he was the de facto ruler of Bengal.
The decay and downfall of the Mughal Empire began in earnest after the reign of Aurangzeb. The Peacock Throne in Delhi became a "musical chair" for the successors of Aurangzeb and fueled by court intrigues of numerous nobles the tenure between 1707 and 1719 saw no less than eight Mughal Emperors (more than the sum of the last 180 years) namely Bahadur Shah I, Jahandar Shah, Farrukh Siyar, Rafi ud-Darajat, Rafi ud-Daulah, Neku Siyar, Muhammad Ibrahim and finally some stability came in the form of Muhammad Shah in 1719.
Such instability saw the rise of three notable nobles; Saadat Ali Khan the Subahdar of Oudh, Murshid Quli Khan the Subahdar of Orissa and Nazim of Bengal and Qamar ud-din Khan (also known as Asaf Jah I) the Subahdar of Deccan.
Muhammad Hadi see Murshid Quli Khan
Hadi, Muhammad see Murshid Quli Khan
Murtada, Abu’l-Qasim al-
Murtada, Abu’l-Qasim al- (Abu’l-Qasim al-Murtada) (967-1044). Imami theologian, grammarian, writer and poet from Baghdad.
Abu’l-Qasim al-Murtada see Murtada, Abu’l-Qasim al-
Murtada, Abu’l-Qasim al- (Abu’l-Qasim al-Murtada) (967-1044). Imami theologian, grammarian, writer and poet from Baghdad.
Abu’l-Qasim al-Murtada see Murtada, Abu’l-Qasim al-
Murtada Ansari
Murtada Ansari (Shaykh Murtada Ansari) (Morteza Ansari) (Mortaza Ansari) (Murtada al-Ansari) (1781/1799-1864, Dezful). Shi‘ite mujtahid of Iran. His widely recognized religious leadership in the Shi‘ite world has not yet been surpassed.
Morteza Ansari was a Shi'a jurist who "was generally acknowledged as the most eminent jurist of the time." Ansari has also been called the "first effective" model or Marja of the Shi'a or "the first scholar universally recognized as supreme authority in matters of Shii law", and the first to develop the theory of Vilayat-e Faqih, later made famous by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a political ideology.
Morteza Ansari was born in Dezful around 1781, the time the Qajar dynasty was establishing its power in Iran. He commenced his religious studies in Defzul, under the tutelage of his uncle, himself a notable scholar. At the age of twenty, he made Ziyarat with his father to Kerbala, Iraq, where he met Mohammad Mujtahid Karbala'i, the leader of the city's scholars. Ansari demonstrated considerable promise during a debate with the senior Mujtahid, who was so impressed that he induced his father to allow Ansari to continue his studies with them.. Ansari studied in Kerbala for four years, until the city was besieged by Dawud Pasha and his rebels, causing the scholars of Kerbala and their students to flee to Baghdad and the shrine of al-Kazim. From there, Ansari returned to his homeland, where he quickly became restless and resolving to find teachers to continue his religious instruction. After about a year of traveling, he spent two years in Najaf studying under Musa al-Ja'fari and Sharif Mazandarani and a year in Najaf studying with Kashf ul-Ghita. Returning from a pilgrimage to Mashhad, Khurasan, he encountered Ahmad al-Naraqi, an authority in fiqh, usul al-fiqh and irfan, and - although Ansari was already a mujtahid in his own right when he left Karbala - studied with him for a further four years. After again traveling for a number of years, he returned to Najaf where he completed his studies under Kashf ul-Ghita and Muhammad Hasan Najafi (author of Jawahir ul-Kalam) and began teaching.
When the last of the prominent scholars of the generation senior to Ansari died in 1849, Ansari was universally recognized as the 'most learned Mujtahid' (marja') in the Twelver Shi'ah community. His lessons in Fiqh and Usul al-fiqh became incredibly popular, attracting hundreds of students. Furthermore, it is estimated that 200,000 Tomans a year of Khums money was tithed to Ansari's base in Najaf "from all over the Islamic world". Despite this, Ansari lived humbly, generously provided stipends to his Talebeh (Islamic students) with these funds, and this resulted in a confirmation of Najaf's standing as center of Shiah learning. In spite of the tremendous prestige attached to his position, Ansari lived the life of an ascetic. When he died, his two daughters were unable to pay for his funeral expenses from his inheritance. He rarely used his authority in the Shia community, seldom judging cases or giving fatawa.
Ansari was celebrated for his piety and generosity and "more than that of any mullah leader of the past two centuries, his leadership celebrated his learning." Through the expansion of rational devices in Usul al-fiqh, Ansari implicitly admitted the uncertainty of much of the sacred law. For this reason, he emphasized that only a learned Mujtahid could interpret scripture (i.e. the Qur'an and Hadith) and employ reason to produce legal doctrines. The rest of the community was obliged to follow (Taqlid) the doctrines of these legal scholars.
The author of some thirty books and treatises, his work is noted for its clarity and readability. Most of his works center on Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh. Of the former, his most important work is the Makasib, a detailed exposition of Islamic Commercial Law, which is still taught today in the Hawza. Of the latter, his Fara'id ul-Usul remains an extremely important work. In it, he is credited with expanding the scope of the usul 'amaliyyah (practical principles, as opposed to semantic principles) in Shi'i jurisprudence. For this reason, Ansari is said to have laid the foundations of modern Twelver jurisprudence and his style - more than any other classical scholar - is imitated by the modern jurists. He also developed the theory of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists (Vilayat-e Faqih), by which jurists were to become legal guardians of orphans, the mentally incompetent, etc. However, he did not extend this so far as to give the jurists general political leadership, and was personally extremely reluctant to intervene in politics in any way.
Shaykh Murtada Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Morteza Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Mortaza Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Murtada al-Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Ansari, Murtada see Murtada Ansari
Ansari, Morteza see Murtada Ansari
Murtada Ansari (Shaykh Murtada Ansari) (Morteza Ansari) (Mortaza Ansari) (Murtada al-Ansari) (1781/1799-1864, Dezful). Shi‘ite mujtahid of Iran. His widely recognized religious leadership in the Shi‘ite world has not yet been surpassed.
Morteza Ansari was a Shi'a jurist who "was generally acknowledged as the most eminent jurist of the time." Ansari has also been called the "first effective" model or Marja of the Shi'a or "the first scholar universally recognized as supreme authority in matters of Shii law", and the first to develop the theory of Vilayat-e Faqih, later made famous by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a political ideology.
Morteza Ansari was born in Dezful around 1781, the time the Qajar dynasty was establishing its power in Iran. He commenced his religious studies in Defzul, under the tutelage of his uncle, himself a notable scholar. At the age of twenty, he made Ziyarat with his father to Kerbala, Iraq, where he met Mohammad Mujtahid Karbala'i, the leader of the city's scholars. Ansari demonstrated considerable promise during a debate with the senior Mujtahid, who was so impressed that he induced his father to allow Ansari to continue his studies with them.. Ansari studied in Kerbala for four years, until the city was besieged by Dawud Pasha and his rebels, causing the scholars of Kerbala and their students to flee to Baghdad and the shrine of al-Kazim. From there, Ansari returned to his homeland, where he quickly became restless and resolving to find teachers to continue his religious instruction. After about a year of traveling, he spent two years in Najaf studying under Musa al-Ja'fari and Sharif Mazandarani and a year in Najaf studying with Kashf ul-Ghita. Returning from a pilgrimage to Mashhad, Khurasan, he encountered Ahmad al-Naraqi, an authority in fiqh, usul al-fiqh and irfan, and - although Ansari was already a mujtahid in his own right when he left Karbala - studied with him for a further four years. After again traveling for a number of years, he returned to Najaf where he completed his studies under Kashf ul-Ghita and Muhammad Hasan Najafi (author of Jawahir ul-Kalam) and began teaching.
When the last of the prominent scholars of the generation senior to Ansari died in 1849, Ansari was universally recognized as the 'most learned Mujtahid' (marja') in the Twelver Shi'ah community. His lessons in Fiqh and Usul al-fiqh became incredibly popular, attracting hundreds of students. Furthermore, it is estimated that 200,000 Tomans a year of Khums money was tithed to Ansari's base in Najaf "from all over the Islamic world". Despite this, Ansari lived humbly, generously provided stipends to his Talebeh (Islamic students) with these funds, and this resulted in a confirmation of Najaf's standing as center of Shiah learning. In spite of the tremendous prestige attached to his position, Ansari lived the life of an ascetic. When he died, his two daughters were unable to pay for his funeral expenses from his inheritance. He rarely used his authority in the Shia community, seldom judging cases or giving fatawa.
Ansari was celebrated for his piety and generosity and "more than that of any mullah leader of the past two centuries, his leadership celebrated his learning." Through the expansion of rational devices in Usul al-fiqh, Ansari implicitly admitted the uncertainty of much of the sacred law. For this reason, he emphasized that only a learned Mujtahid could interpret scripture (i.e. the Qur'an and Hadith) and employ reason to produce legal doctrines. The rest of the community was obliged to follow (Taqlid) the doctrines of these legal scholars.
The author of some thirty books and treatises, his work is noted for its clarity and readability. Most of his works center on Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh. Of the former, his most important work is the Makasib, a detailed exposition of Islamic Commercial Law, which is still taught today in the Hawza. Of the latter, his Fara'id ul-Usul remains an extremely important work. In it, he is credited with expanding the scope of the usul 'amaliyyah (practical principles, as opposed to semantic principles) in Shi'i jurisprudence. For this reason, Ansari is said to have laid the foundations of modern Twelver jurisprudence and his style - more than any other classical scholar - is imitated by the modern jurists. He also developed the theory of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists (Vilayat-e Faqih), by which jurists were to become legal guardians of orphans, the mentally incompetent, etc. However, he did not extend this so far as to give the jurists general political leadership, and was personally extremely reluctant to intervene in politics in any way.
Shaykh Murtada Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Morteza Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Mortaza Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Murtada al-Ansari see Murtada Ansari
Ansari, Murtada see Murtada Ansari
Ansari, Morteza see Murtada Ansari
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