Mutarrifiyya
Mutarrifiyya. Zaydi sect in Yemen named after its founder Mutarrif ibn Shihab (d. 1067). They constituted a pietist movement which was destroyed by the Zaydi Imam ‘Abd Allah al-Mansur ibn Hamza (r. 1198-1217) in 1214.
Mutarrizi, Burhan al-Din al-
Mutarrizi, Burhan al-Din al- (Burhan al-Din al-Mutarrizi) (1144-1213). Philologist, jurist and man of letters. His compendium of Arabic grammar has found the widest circulation.
Burhan al-Din al-Mutarrizi see Mutarrizi, Burhan al-Din al-
Mutarrizi, Burhan al-Din al- (Burhan al-Din al-Mutarrizi) (1144-1213). Philologist, jurist and man of letters. His compendium of Arabic grammar has found the widest circulation.
Burhan al-Din al-Mutarrizi see Mutarrizi, Burhan al-Din al-
Mu‘tasim, Abu Yahya al-
Mu‘tasim, Abu Yahya al- (Abu Yahya al-Mu‘tasim). Ruler of the dynasty of the Tujibids of the kingdom of Almeria (r. 1051-1091). He took part in the Battle of Zallaqa.
Abu Yahya al-Mu‘tasim see Mu‘tasim, Abu Yahya al-
Mu‘tasim, Abu Yahya al- (Abu Yahya al-Mu‘tasim). Ruler of the dynasty of the Tujibids of the kingdom of Almeria (r. 1051-1091). He took part in the Battle of Zallaqa.
Abu Yahya al-Mu‘tasim see Mu‘tasim, Abu Yahya al-
Mu‘tasim bi-‘llah, al-
Mu‘tasim bi-‘llah, al-. ‘Abbasid caliph (r.833-842). He fought the Khurami leader Babak, the Byzantines, the Qarinids in Tabaristan and rebels in Damascus, in Palestine and in Jordan.
Mu‘tasim bi-‘llah, al-. ‘Abbasid caliph (r.833-842). He fought the Khurami leader Babak, the Byzantines, the Qarinids in Tabaristan and rebels in Damascus, in Palestine and in Jordan.
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Abu’l-Fadl al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Abu’l-Fadl al- (Abu’l-Fadl al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah) (al-Mutawakkil ˤAlā Allāh Jaˤfar ibn al-Muˤtasim) (March 821 – December 861). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 847-861). He was determined from the beginning to assert the independence of the caliph and to break the dominance of the Turkish military and the bureaucracy. He broke with the Mu‘tazili position which had been the official doctrine of the ‘Abbasid government since the Caliph al-Ma’mun had introduced the mihna. In its place, he stressed his adherence to the doctrines of the Hanbalis and other traditionists. His murder plunged the caliphate into anarchy.
Al-Mutawakkil was an Abbasid caliph who reigned in Samarra from 847 until 861. He succeeded his brother al-Wāthiq and is known for putting an end to the Mihna "ordeal", the Inquisition-like attempt by his predecessors to impose a single Mu'tazili version of Islam.
While al-Wathiq was caliph, his vizier, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik, had poorly treated al-Mutawakkil. On September 22, 847, al-Mutawakkil had him arrested. The former vizier's property was plundered and he was tortured in his own iron maiden. He finally died on November 2nd. The caliph had others who had mistreated him in the previous reign punished.
In 849, al-Mutawakkil had the prominent military commander Itakh al-Khazari seized in Baghdad. Itakh was imprisoned and died of thirst on December 21st. One Mahmud ibn al-Faraj al-Naysaburi arose claiming to be a prophet. He and some followers were arrested in Baghdad. He was imprisoned, beaten and on June 18, 850 he died.
In 851-852, Armenians rebelled and defeated and killed the Abbasid governor. Al-Mutawakkil sent his general Bugha al-Kabir to handle this. Bugha scored successes this year and the following year he attacked and burned Tiflis, capturing Ishaq ibn Isma'il. The rebel leader was executed. That year, Byzantines attacked Damietta.
In 854-855, the police chief in Hims killed a prominent person stirring an uprising. The police chief was driven out of office. Al-Mutawakkil offered up another police chief. When the next year saw a revolt against this new police chief, al-Mutawakkil had the revolt firmly suppressed. As Christians had joined in the second round of disturbances, the caliph had Christians expelled from Hims.
Also in 854-855, occurred the firm response to the revolt by the Bujah, people of African descent just beyond Upper Egypt. They had been paying a tax on their gold mines. They ceased paying this, drove out Muslims working in the mines and terrified people in Upper Egypt. Al-Mutawakkil sent al-Qummi to restore order. Al-Qummi sent seven ships with supplies that enabled him to persevere despite the very harsh terrain of this distant territory. He retook the mines, pressed on to the Bujah royal stronghold and defeated the king in battle. The Bujah resumed payment of the tax.
On February 23, 856, there was an exchange of captives with the Byzantines. A second such exchange took place some four years later.
Al-Mutawakkil's reign is remembered for its many reforms and viewed as a golden age of the Abbasids. He would be the last great Abbasid caliph. After his death, the dynasty would fall into a decline.
Al-Mutawakkil continued to rely on Turkish statesmen and slave soldiers to put down rebellions and lead battles against foreign empires, notably the Byzantines, from who Sicily was captured. His vezir, Al-fath bin Khaqan, who was Turkish, was a famous figure of Al-Mutawakkil's era.
His reliance on Turkish soldiers would come back to haunt him. Al-Mutawakkil would have his Turkish commander-in-chief killed. This, coupled with his extreme attitudes towards the Shia, made his popularity decline rapidly.
Al-Mutawakkil was murdered by a Turkish soldier on December 11, 861. Some have speculated that his murder was part of a plot hatched by his son, al-Muntasir, who had grown estranged from his father. Al-Muntasir feared his father was about to move against him and struck first.
Al-Mutawakkil is said to have been slender, with a light tan complexion, a sparse beard and attractive eyes. He was also a cold blooded and ruthless killer of unorthodox Muslims and non-Muslims.
Mutawakkiil ordered Jews and Christians to wear different dress.They were forbidden to ride on animals other than donkeys.They could not build churches or synagogues.
Al-Mutawakkil was unlike his brother and father in that he was not known for having a thirst for knowledge, but he had an eye for magnificence and a hunger to build. The Great Mosque of Samarra was at its time, the largest mosque in the world; its minaret is a vast spiraling cone 55 meters high with a spiral ramp. The mosque had 17 aisles and its walls were paneled with mosaics of dark blue glass.
The Great Mosque was just part of an extension of Samarra eastwards that built upon part of the walled royal hunting park inherited from the Sassanians. Al-Mutawakkil built as many as 20 palaces (the numbers vary in documents). Samarra became one of the largest cities of the ancient world, even the archaeological site of its ruins is one of the world's most extensive. The Caliph's building schemes extended in 859-860 to a new city, al-Jaˤfariyya, which al-Mutawakkil built on the Tigris some eighteen kilometers from Samarra. Al-Mutawakkil ordered a canal to be built to divert water from the Tigris, entrusting the project to two courtiers, who ignored the talents of a local engineer of repute and entrusted the work to al-Farghanī, the great astronomer and writer. Al-Farghanī, who was not a specialist in public works, made a miscalculation and it appeared that the opening of the canal was too deep so that water from the river would only flow at near full flood.
News leaked to the infuriated caliph might have meant the heads of all concerned save for the gracious actions of the engineer, Sind ibn ˤAlī, who vouched for the eventual success of the project, thus risking his own life. Al-Mutawakkil was assassinated shortly before the error became public.
Al-Mutawakkil was keen to involve himself in many religious debates, something that would show in his actions against different minorities. His father had tolerated the Shīˤa Imām who taught and preached at Medina, and for the first years of his reign al-Mutawakkil continued the policy. Imām ˤAlī al-Hadī's growing reputation inspired a letter from the Governor of Medina, ˤAbdu l-Lāh ibn Muħammad, suggesting that a coup was being plotted, and al-Mutawakkil extended an invitation to Samarra to the Imām, an offer he could not refuse. In Samarra, the Imām was kept under virtual house arrest and spied upon. However, no excuse to take action against him ever appeared. After al-Mutawakkil's death, his successor had the Imām poisoned. Al-Hadī is buried at Samarra. The general Shīˤa population faced repression and this was embodied in the destruction of the shrine of Hussayn ibn ˤAlī, an action that was carried out ostensibly in order to stop pilgrimages to that site, and the flogging and incarceration of the Alid Yahya ibn Umar.
During his reign, the influence of the Muˤtaziliyya was reversed and questions about over the divinity of the Qur'an were ended. This resulted from the caliph's personal devotion to studying as-Sunna.
Also during his reign, al-Mutawakkil met the famous Byzantine theologian Constantine the Philosopher, who was sent by the Byzantine Emperor Michael III to strengthen the diplomatic relations between the Empire and the Caliphate.
Abu’l-Fadl al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Abu’l-Fadl al-
Mutawakkil ˤAlā Allāh Jaˤfar ibn al-Muˤtasim, al- see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Abu’l-Fadl al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Abu’l-Fadl al- (Abu’l-Fadl al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah) (al-Mutawakkil ˤAlā Allāh Jaˤfar ibn al-Muˤtasim) (March 821 – December 861). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 847-861). He was determined from the beginning to assert the independence of the caliph and to break the dominance of the Turkish military and the bureaucracy. He broke with the Mu‘tazili position which had been the official doctrine of the ‘Abbasid government since the Caliph al-Ma’mun had introduced the mihna. In its place, he stressed his adherence to the doctrines of the Hanbalis and other traditionists. His murder plunged the caliphate into anarchy.
Al-Mutawakkil was an Abbasid caliph who reigned in Samarra from 847 until 861. He succeeded his brother al-Wāthiq and is known for putting an end to the Mihna "ordeal", the Inquisition-like attempt by his predecessors to impose a single Mu'tazili version of Islam.
While al-Wathiq was caliph, his vizier, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik, had poorly treated al-Mutawakkil. On September 22, 847, al-Mutawakkil had him arrested. The former vizier's property was plundered and he was tortured in his own iron maiden. He finally died on November 2nd. The caliph had others who had mistreated him in the previous reign punished.
In 849, al-Mutawakkil had the prominent military commander Itakh al-Khazari seized in Baghdad. Itakh was imprisoned and died of thirst on December 21st. One Mahmud ibn al-Faraj al-Naysaburi arose claiming to be a prophet. He and some followers were arrested in Baghdad. He was imprisoned, beaten and on June 18, 850 he died.
In 851-852, Armenians rebelled and defeated and killed the Abbasid governor. Al-Mutawakkil sent his general Bugha al-Kabir to handle this. Bugha scored successes this year and the following year he attacked and burned Tiflis, capturing Ishaq ibn Isma'il. The rebel leader was executed. That year, Byzantines attacked Damietta.
In 854-855, the police chief in Hims killed a prominent person stirring an uprising. The police chief was driven out of office. Al-Mutawakkil offered up another police chief. When the next year saw a revolt against this new police chief, al-Mutawakkil had the revolt firmly suppressed. As Christians had joined in the second round of disturbances, the caliph had Christians expelled from Hims.
Also in 854-855, occurred the firm response to the revolt by the Bujah, people of African descent just beyond Upper Egypt. They had been paying a tax on their gold mines. They ceased paying this, drove out Muslims working in the mines and terrified people in Upper Egypt. Al-Mutawakkil sent al-Qummi to restore order. Al-Qummi sent seven ships with supplies that enabled him to persevere despite the very harsh terrain of this distant territory. He retook the mines, pressed on to the Bujah royal stronghold and defeated the king in battle. The Bujah resumed payment of the tax.
On February 23, 856, there was an exchange of captives with the Byzantines. A second such exchange took place some four years later.
Al-Mutawakkil's reign is remembered for its many reforms and viewed as a golden age of the Abbasids. He would be the last great Abbasid caliph. After his death, the dynasty would fall into a decline.
Al-Mutawakkil continued to rely on Turkish statesmen and slave soldiers to put down rebellions and lead battles against foreign empires, notably the Byzantines, from who Sicily was captured. His vezir, Al-fath bin Khaqan, who was Turkish, was a famous figure of Al-Mutawakkil's era.
His reliance on Turkish soldiers would come back to haunt him. Al-Mutawakkil would have his Turkish commander-in-chief killed. This, coupled with his extreme attitudes towards the Shia, made his popularity decline rapidly.
Al-Mutawakkil was murdered by a Turkish soldier on December 11, 861. Some have speculated that his murder was part of a plot hatched by his son, al-Muntasir, who had grown estranged from his father. Al-Muntasir feared his father was about to move against him and struck first.
Al-Mutawakkil is said to have been slender, with a light tan complexion, a sparse beard and attractive eyes. He was also a cold blooded and ruthless killer of unorthodox Muslims and non-Muslims.
Mutawakkiil ordered Jews and Christians to wear different dress.They were forbidden to ride on animals other than donkeys.They could not build churches or synagogues.
Al-Mutawakkil was unlike his brother and father in that he was not known for having a thirst for knowledge, but he had an eye for magnificence and a hunger to build. The Great Mosque of Samarra was at its time, the largest mosque in the world; its minaret is a vast spiraling cone 55 meters high with a spiral ramp. The mosque had 17 aisles and its walls were paneled with mosaics of dark blue glass.
The Great Mosque was just part of an extension of Samarra eastwards that built upon part of the walled royal hunting park inherited from the Sassanians. Al-Mutawakkil built as many as 20 palaces (the numbers vary in documents). Samarra became one of the largest cities of the ancient world, even the archaeological site of its ruins is one of the world's most extensive. The Caliph's building schemes extended in 859-860 to a new city, al-Jaˤfariyya, which al-Mutawakkil built on the Tigris some eighteen kilometers from Samarra. Al-Mutawakkil ordered a canal to be built to divert water from the Tigris, entrusting the project to two courtiers, who ignored the talents of a local engineer of repute and entrusted the work to al-Farghanī, the great astronomer and writer. Al-Farghanī, who was not a specialist in public works, made a miscalculation and it appeared that the opening of the canal was too deep so that water from the river would only flow at near full flood.
News leaked to the infuriated caliph might have meant the heads of all concerned save for the gracious actions of the engineer, Sind ibn ˤAlī, who vouched for the eventual success of the project, thus risking his own life. Al-Mutawakkil was assassinated shortly before the error became public.
Al-Mutawakkil was keen to involve himself in many religious debates, something that would show in his actions against different minorities. His father had tolerated the Shīˤa Imām who taught and preached at Medina, and for the first years of his reign al-Mutawakkil continued the policy. Imām ˤAlī al-Hadī's growing reputation inspired a letter from the Governor of Medina, ˤAbdu l-Lāh ibn Muħammad, suggesting that a coup was being plotted, and al-Mutawakkil extended an invitation to Samarra to the Imām, an offer he could not refuse. In Samarra, the Imām was kept under virtual house arrest and spied upon. However, no excuse to take action against him ever appeared. After al-Mutawakkil's death, his successor had the Imām poisoned. Al-Hadī is buried at Samarra. The general Shīˤa population faced repression and this was embodied in the destruction of the shrine of Hussayn ibn ˤAlī, an action that was carried out ostensibly in order to stop pilgrimages to that site, and the flogging and incarceration of the Alid Yahya ibn Umar.
During his reign, the influence of the Muˤtaziliyya was reversed and questions about over the divinity of the Qur'an were ended. This resulted from the caliph's personal devotion to studying as-Sunna.
Also during his reign, al-Mutawakkil met the famous Byzantine theologian Constantine the Philosopher, who was sent by the Byzantine Emperor Michael III to strengthen the diplomatic relations between the Empire and the Caliphate.
Abu’l-Fadl al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Abu’l-Fadl al-
Mutawakkil ˤAlā Allāh Jaˤfar ibn al-Muˤtasim, al- see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Abu’l-Fadl al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Ibn al-Aftas al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Ibn al-Aftas al- (Ibn al-Aftas al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah) (1022-1094). Last ruler of the Aftasid dynasty in the petty state of Badajoz.
Ibn al-Aftas al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Ibn al-Aftas al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Ibn al-Aftas al- (Ibn al-Aftas al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah) (1022-1094). Last ruler of the Aftasid dynasty in the petty state of Badajoz.
Ibn al-Aftas al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Ibn al-Aftas al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Isma‘il al- (Isma‘il al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah). First Qasimi Zaydi Imam to rule Yemen completely independent of the Ottoman Turks. He ruled from 1644 to 1676. He conducted successful campaigns against Aden and Lahj, al-Bayda’ and Yafi’, Hadhramaut and even Dhofar in Oman.
Isma‘il al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Isma‘il al- (Isma‘il al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah). First Qasimi Zaydi Imam to rule Yemen completely independent of the Ottoman Turks. He ruled from 1644 to 1676. He conducted successful campaigns against Aden and Lahj, al-Bayda’ and Yafi’, Hadhramaut and even Dhofar in Oman.
Isma‘il al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Sharaf al-Din al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Sharaf al-Din al- (Sharaf al-Din al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah) (1473-1555). Zaydi Imam in whose time the Ottoman Turks first became established in Yemen. He ruled from 1535 to 1547.
Sharaf al-Din al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Sharaf al-Din al-
Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Sharaf al-Din al- (Sharaf al-Din al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah) (1473-1555). Zaydi Imam in whose time the Ottoman Turks first became established in Yemen. He ruled from 1535 to 1547.
Sharaf al-Din al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah see Mutawakkil ‘ala ‘llah, Sharaf al-Din al-
Mu‘tazila
Mu‘tazila (Mu'tazilis) (Muʿtazilah). Rationalist formulation of Islamic theology, best known for stressing that God created all things, including the Qur’an.
The Arabic word mu‘tazila means “standing aloof” or “withdrawal.” The term Mu‘tazila came to be applied to the celebrated “rationalist” school of early Islamic theology (kalam), whose name may have arisen from a neutral position taken by its antecedents on the question of the status of the Muslim who commits a grave sin. The advocates preferred to call themselves the “People of Justice and Unity.” The origins of the movement are obscure, but by the mid-ninth century of the Christian calendar, the characteristic principles of the Mu‘tazila had been worked into a coherent philosophical and political theology which combined Greek logical and metaphysical conceptions with the Qur’anic revelation, ideally granting them equal status while in practice favoring reason, at least implicitly. Crucial to the Mu‘tazilite notion of a just God were human freedom and responsibility. So insistent was the emphasis upon God’s unity that even the Qur’an, God’s Speech, was considered to be created in time so as not to suggest division in the godhead.
Mu‘tazili is name used for an adherent of the religious movement called Mu‘tazila. Mu‘tazila was the name of a religious movement founded at Basra by Wasil ibn ‘Ata’, subsequently becoming one of the most important theological schools of Islam. The term indicates those who take a position of neutrality in the face of two opposing factions, in particular in the question of how to define a Muslim guilty of a grave sin. For the Kharijites, he was an infidel (in Arabic, kafir), for the Murji’is a believer in spite of his sinfulness (in Arabic, fisq), and for Hasan al-Basri, Wasil’s teacher, a hypocrite (in Arabic, munafiq). The distinctive theses of Mu‘tazilism were propounded by Abu’l-Hudhayl al-‘Allaf in the form of the following “five principles”: (1) uniqueness of God; (2) justice of God; (3) every Muslim guilty of a serious offence, who dies without repentance, will suffer for eternity the torments of Hell; (4) the same sinful Muslim cannot hear on earth be classed either as “believing” or as “disbelieving,” but belongs to a separate category, that of the “malefactor” (the theory of an “intermediate state” [in Arabic, al-manzila bayn al-manzilatayn]); and (5) every believer has the obligation to intervene in public affairs to uphold the Law and oppose impiety. Under the rubric of the first thesis, Mu‘tazilis declared the Qur’an to be created in time, since to affirm otherwise would be tantamount to positing a quality in God distinct from his essence and thus to deny his unity.
Far from being “freethinkers,” the Mu‘tazilites were earnest, at times even puritanical, defenders of Islam from both its external and internal enemies. An inquisition was instituted in Baghdad when the school was for a time in a dominant position under its champion, the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun (813-833). However, unlike the orthodox Sunni kalam which was destined to replace it, Mu‘tazilism also ventured into highly speculative issues with an intellectual rigor -- and apparent delight -- which would later be condemned as heresy.
For a period of some thirty years, the Mu‘tazili school enjoyed the favor of the ‘Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad, until Caliph al-Mutawakkil in 848 revoked the decrees imposing the view that the Qur’an had been created. But the Mu‘tazila continued to be supported in numerous regions of the Islamic world, especially in Persia, and by powerful princes such as the Buyids, during a second period, which lasted from the last quarter of the ninth century to the middle of the eleventh century.
Al-Ash‘ari (d.935) was influential in stemming the influence in Sunni Islam of this school, although he had originally distinguished himself in it. The Shi(ites have continued to cultivate Mu(tazilite principles in theological reflection. Al-Zamakhshari (d. 1144) filled his celebrated Qur’an commentary with Mu‘tazilite interpretations, which Sunni students are warned to resist while absorbing the uniquely valuable philological discussions.
The most characteristic feature of the first period is the extreme diversity of scholars and of doctrines, whereas in the second period genuine schools were established. Even after the end of the second period, Mu‘tazilism did not disappear. Its theses have been adopted by Imami and Zaydi Shi‘is, and in the twentieth century a significant trend of the rehabilitation of Mu‘tazilism has been observed, especially in Egypt.
Mu‘tazilis formed an opposition group in early Islam. The Mu‘tazilis stressed free will and responsibility and divine justice.
During the heyday of its influence, the Mu‘tazili school established itself in many of the great centers of the Muslim world from Spain to Transoxiana. In general it found its greatest acceptance in those lands where Hanafi law prevailed.
Mu‘tazilis was a theological school inside Islam. The school of the Mu‘tazilis can be dated back to schism around Caliph Ali, when Islam divided into three main orientations, Sunni, Shi‘a, and Khariji.
The name mu‘tazili comes probably from the Arabic verb I‘tazala, “to separate from,” and was used for a group that neither fought for Ali, nor against him (which was the main subject for the schism). Mu‘tazilism as it is known now, grew forward in the city Basra (now Iraq), in the beginning of the eighth century, and under the Caliph al-Ma’mun their teaching was elevated to the officially accepted, and was the starting point of the Muslim inquisition, called Mihna.
The Mu‘tazilis were the first Muslims to address heresy and to challenge non-Muslim thinkers. At first the opponents of the Mu‘tazilis were the traditionalists, who claimed that the only way of understanding Islam was through the literal reading of the Qur’an and the hadiths, called bilaa kayfa, “without questions.”
There were five fundamental principles to the Mu‘tazilis:
1. tawhid -- the unity of God. God could not be conceived by any human conception. There they argued that ayas, verses, in the Qur’an describing God as sitting on a throne were allegorical. The Mu‘tazilis argued that the Qur’an could not be eternal, but created by God. Otherwise the uniqueness of God would be impossible.
2. ‘adl -- divine justice. Facing the problem of existence of evil in a world where God is omnipotent, the Mu‘tazilis pointed at the free will of human beings, so that evil was defined as something that stems from the errors in human acts. God does no evil, and he demands not from any human to perform any evil act. If man’s evil acts had been from the will of God, then punishment would have been meaningless, as man performed God’s will no matter what he did.
3. ‘al-wa‘d wa-l-wa‘id -- promise and threat. This comprised questions on the Last Day and the Day of Judgment.
4. ‘al-manzila bayna al-manzilatayn -- the position between the two extremes of Kharijis and Murji’is.
5. ‘al-amru bil-ma‘ruuf wal-nahy ‘ani al-munkar -- commanding the good and prohibiting the evil. This involved spreading the message of Islam.
This way of dividing theological questions into five groups, was adopted even by the opponents of the Mu‘tazilis. But as theology, Mu‘tazilism lost officially to Ash‘arism, but it survived through a sub-existence with the theologians up to modern times, when it had been partly revived. Mu’tazilism had great influence on Shi‘a Islam, though.
Mu'tazilis see Mu‘tazila
Mu'tazilah see Mu‘tazila
Mu‘tazila (Mu'tazilis) (Muʿtazilah). Rationalist formulation of Islamic theology, best known for stressing that God created all things, including the Qur’an.
The Arabic word mu‘tazila means “standing aloof” or “withdrawal.” The term Mu‘tazila came to be applied to the celebrated “rationalist” school of early Islamic theology (kalam), whose name may have arisen from a neutral position taken by its antecedents on the question of the status of the Muslim who commits a grave sin. The advocates preferred to call themselves the “People of Justice and Unity.” The origins of the movement are obscure, but by the mid-ninth century of the Christian calendar, the characteristic principles of the Mu‘tazila had been worked into a coherent philosophical and political theology which combined Greek logical and metaphysical conceptions with the Qur’anic revelation, ideally granting them equal status while in practice favoring reason, at least implicitly. Crucial to the Mu‘tazilite notion of a just God were human freedom and responsibility. So insistent was the emphasis upon God’s unity that even the Qur’an, God’s Speech, was considered to be created in time so as not to suggest division in the godhead.
Mu‘tazili is name used for an adherent of the religious movement called Mu‘tazila. Mu‘tazila was the name of a religious movement founded at Basra by Wasil ibn ‘Ata’, subsequently becoming one of the most important theological schools of Islam. The term indicates those who take a position of neutrality in the face of two opposing factions, in particular in the question of how to define a Muslim guilty of a grave sin. For the Kharijites, he was an infidel (in Arabic, kafir), for the Murji’is a believer in spite of his sinfulness (in Arabic, fisq), and for Hasan al-Basri, Wasil’s teacher, a hypocrite (in Arabic, munafiq). The distinctive theses of Mu‘tazilism were propounded by Abu’l-Hudhayl al-‘Allaf in the form of the following “five principles”: (1) uniqueness of God; (2) justice of God; (3) every Muslim guilty of a serious offence, who dies without repentance, will suffer for eternity the torments of Hell; (4) the same sinful Muslim cannot hear on earth be classed either as “believing” or as “disbelieving,” but belongs to a separate category, that of the “malefactor” (the theory of an “intermediate state” [in Arabic, al-manzila bayn al-manzilatayn]); and (5) every believer has the obligation to intervene in public affairs to uphold the Law and oppose impiety. Under the rubric of the first thesis, Mu‘tazilis declared the Qur’an to be created in time, since to affirm otherwise would be tantamount to positing a quality in God distinct from his essence and thus to deny his unity.
Far from being “freethinkers,” the Mu‘tazilites were earnest, at times even puritanical, defenders of Islam from both its external and internal enemies. An inquisition was instituted in Baghdad when the school was for a time in a dominant position under its champion, the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun (813-833). However, unlike the orthodox Sunni kalam which was destined to replace it, Mu‘tazilism also ventured into highly speculative issues with an intellectual rigor -- and apparent delight -- which would later be condemned as heresy.
For a period of some thirty years, the Mu‘tazili school enjoyed the favor of the ‘Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad, until Caliph al-Mutawakkil in 848 revoked the decrees imposing the view that the Qur’an had been created. But the Mu‘tazila continued to be supported in numerous regions of the Islamic world, especially in Persia, and by powerful princes such as the Buyids, during a second period, which lasted from the last quarter of the ninth century to the middle of the eleventh century.
Al-Ash‘ari (d.935) was influential in stemming the influence in Sunni Islam of this school, although he had originally distinguished himself in it. The Shi(ites have continued to cultivate Mu(tazilite principles in theological reflection. Al-Zamakhshari (d. 1144) filled his celebrated Qur’an commentary with Mu‘tazilite interpretations, which Sunni students are warned to resist while absorbing the uniquely valuable philological discussions.
The most characteristic feature of the first period is the extreme diversity of scholars and of doctrines, whereas in the second period genuine schools were established. Even after the end of the second period, Mu‘tazilism did not disappear. Its theses have been adopted by Imami and Zaydi Shi‘is, and in the twentieth century a significant trend of the rehabilitation of Mu‘tazilism has been observed, especially in Egypt.
Mu‘tazilis formed an opposition group in early Islam. The Mu‘tazilis stressed free will and responsibility and divine justice.
During the heyday of its influence, the Mu‘tazili school established itself in many of the great centers of the Muslim world from Spain to Transoxiana. In general it found its greatest acceptance in those lands where Hanafi law prevailed.
Mu‘tazilis was a theological school inside Islam. The school of the Mu‘tazilis can be dated back to schism around Caliph Ali, when Islam divided into three main orientations, Sunni, Shi‘a, and Khariji.
The name mu‘tazili comes probably from the Arabic verb I‘tazala, “to separate from,” and was used for a group that neither fought for Ali, nor against him (which was the main subject for the schism). Mu‘tazilism as it is known now, grew forward in the city Basra (now Iraq), in the beginning of the eighth century, and under the Caliph al-Ma’mun their teaching was elevated to the officially accepted, and was the starting point of the Muslim inquisition, called Mihna.
The Mu‘tazilis were the first Muslims to address heresy and to challenge non-Muslim thinkers. At first the opponents of the Mu‘tazilis were the traditionalists, who claimed that the only way of understanding Islam was through the literal reading of the Qur’an and the hadiths, called bilaa kayfa, “without questions.”
There were five fundamental principles to the Mu‘tazilis:
1. tawhid -- the unity of God. God could not be conceived by any human conception. There they argued that ayas, verses, in the Qur’an describing God as sitting on a throne were allegorical. The Mu‘tazilis argued that the Qur’an could not be eternal, but created by God. Otherwise the uniqueness of God would be impossible.
2. ‘adl -- divine justice. Facing the problem of existence of evil in a world where God is omnipotent, the Mu‘tazilis pointed at the free will of human beings, so that evil was defined as something that stems from the errors in human acts. God does no evil, and he demands not from any human to perform any evil act. If man’s evil acts had been from the will of God, then punishment would have been meaningless, as man performed God’s will no matter what he did.
3. ‘al-wa‘d wa-l-wa‘id -- promise and threat. This comprised questions on the Last Day and the Day of Judgment.
4. ‘al-manzila bayna al-manzilatayn -- the position between the two extremes of Kharijis and Murji’is.
5. ‘al-amru bil-ma‘ruuf wal-nahy ‘ani al-munkar -- commanding the good and prohibiting the evil. This involved spreading the message of Islam.
This way of dividing theological questions into five groups, was adopted even by the opponents of the Mu‘tazilis. But as theology, Mu‘tazilism lost officially to Ash‘arism, but it survived through a sub-existence with the theologians up to modern times, when it had been partly revived. Mu’tazilism had great influence on Shi‘a Islam, though.
Mu'tazilis see Mu‘tazila
Mu'tazilah see Mu‘tazila
Mu‘tazz bi-‘llah, al-
Mu‘tazz bi-‘llah, al- (al-Mu'tazz). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.866-869). His reign marks the beginning of what was in effect autonomy for Egypt under Ahmad ibn Tulun and, among other upheavals, the advance into southern Persia of the Saffarid Ya‘qub ibn al-Layth (r. 867-879).
Al-Mu'tazz was the title of the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 866 to 869. Placed upon the throne by the Turks, he proved but too apt a pupil of his Turkish masters.He became the caliph at 19 he was the youngest Abbasaid Caliph to assume power. He was surrounded by parties each jealous of the other. At Samarra, the Turks were having problems with the "Westerns" (Berbers and Moors). While the Arabs and Persians at Baghdad, who had supported al-Musta'in, regarded both with equal hatred. Al-Mu'tazz was thus surrounded by people who were ready for plot or treachery whether against each other or against al-Mu'tazz:—a poor justification, however, for the course of betrayal and bloodshed which he, not less than they, pursued.
First he put to death the former Caliph al-Musta'in. Then his own brother Al-Mu'eiyyad, being next heir to the throne, was also cruelly put to death. Also another brother, Abu Ahmed, who had bravely led the troops in the late struggle on his side, was thrown into prison. The Turks attempted his release, but al-Mu'tazz, the more alarmed, resolved on his death. He was smothered in a downy robe (or, as others say, frozen in a bed of ice); and the body was then exposed before the Court, as if, being without mark of violence, he had died a natural death.
The revenues were squandered at the reckless Court, and little was left to pay the troops. The city guards at the Capital surrounded the palace at Baghdad, demanding their pay. The Governor wrote to al-Mu'tazz for an advance; but he, prompted by the Turks, replied that "if the guards were needed for himself, he himself might pay them; if for the Caliph, he cared not for them." Thereupon the insurgency was renewed; the mob refused to let the Caliph be named in the Mosque, and so there were no prayers observed that Friday. Before the revolt was put down, the Governor had to burn one of the bridges, and set fire to an adjoining bazaar, in order to keep the rebels off. But the next year all joined together—Turks, Africans, and Persians—storming the palace for their pay.
The army's pay having been withheld, Salih, son of Wasif, one of the rebels, seized the personal secretaries of al-Mu'tazz and demanded the money embezzled or concealed by them. There being no answer but an empty treasury, they were put in irons. The Caliph implored the rebels to release his private secretary, but they were deaf to his plea. The accounts of the unfortunate ministers were seized, but nothing could be extracted from them.
Salih, and another rebel Musa, planned to depose al-Mu'tazz, and carried out the design with brutal inhumanity. Followed by clamorous troops, they seated themselves at the palace gate, and called for the Caliph to come out. Not suspecting treachery, the Caliph called them in. Entering, they beat him with clubs and kicked him. Then dragging him by his torn robes outside; they left him seated there in the scorching heat of a mid-summer sun. He was then shut up in a room alone without food or water; and so after three days the wretched Caliph died, at the early age of twenty-four.
Mu'tazz, al- see Mu‘tazz bi-‘llah, al-
Mu‘tazz bi-‘llah, al- (al-Mu'tazz). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.866-869). His reign marks the beginning of what was in effect autonomy for Egypt under Ahmad ibn Tulun and, among other upheavals, the advance into southern Persia of the Saffarid Ya‘qub ibn al-Layth (r. 867-879).
Al-Mu'tazz was the title of the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 866 to 869. Placed upon the throne by the Turks, he proved but too apt a pupil of his Turkish masters.He became the caliph at 19 he was the youngest Abbasaid Caliph to assume power. He was surrounded by parties each jealous of the other. At Samarra, the Turks were having problems with the "Westerns" (Berbers and Moors). While the Arabs and Persians at Baghdad, who had supported al-Musta'in, regarded both with equal hatred. Al-Mu'tazz was thus surrounded by people who were ready for plot or treachery whether against each other or against al-Mu'tazz:—a poor justification, however, for the course of betrayal and bloodshed which he, not less than they, pursued.
First he put to death the former Caliph al-Musta'in. Then his own brother Al-Mu'eiyyad, being next heir to the throne, was also cruelly put to death. Also another brother, Abu Ahmed, who had bravely led the troops in the late struggle on his side, was thrown into prison. The Turks attempted his release, but al-Mu'tazz, the more alarmed, resolved on his death. He was smothered in a downy robe (or, as others say, frozen in a bed of ice); and the body was then exposed before the Court, as if, being without mark of violence, he had died a natural death.
The revenues were squandered at the reckless Court, and little was left to pay the troops. The city guards at the Capital surrounded the palace at Baghdad, demanding their pay. The Governor wrote to al-Mu'tazz for an advance; but he, prompted by the Turks, replied that "if the guards were needed for himself, he himself might pay them; if for the Caliph, he cared not for them." Thereupon the insurgency was renewed; the mob refused to let the Caliph be named in the Mosque, and so there were no prayers observed that Friday. Before the revolt was put down, the Governor had to burn one of the bridges, and set fire to an adjoining bazaar, in order to keep the rebels off. But the next year all joined together—Turks, Africans, and Persians—storming the palace for their pay.
The army's pay having been withheld, Salih, son of Wasif, one of the rebels, seized the personal secretaries of al-Mu'tazz and demanded the money embezzled or concealed by them. There being no answer but an empty treasury, they were put in irons. The Caliph implored the rebels to release his private secretary, but they were deaf to his plea. The accounts of the unfortunate ministers were seized, but nothing could be extracted from them.
Salih, and another rebel Musa, planned to depose al-Mu'tazz, and carried out the design with brutal inhumanity. Followed by clamorous troops, they seated themselves at the palace gate, and called for the Caliph to come out. Not suspecting treachery, the Caliph called them in. Entering, they beat him with clubs and kicked him. Then dragging him by his torn robes outside; they left him seated there in the scorching heat of a mid-summer sun. He was then shut up in a room alone without food or water; and so after three days the wretched Caliph died, at the early age of twenty-four.
Mu'tazz, al- see Mu‘tazz bi-‘llah, al-
Mutesa I
Mutesa I (Mukabaya) (Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira) (c. 1838-1884). Ruler of the Ganda kingdom (Buganda -- Uganda) (r.1856- 1884). He opened Buganda to the outside world and oversaw the beginning of a religious and political revolution.
Mutesa was considered by many Ganda to be too young and too weak to become king when his father Suna II died in 1856. Nevertheless, Mutesa’s election and installation by government ministers was achieved with relatively little disorder, demonstrating the power of appointed officials.
If Mutesa’s supporters had counted on his being a compliant puppet, they were disappointed. Mutesa soon developed into one of the most powerful kings (Kabaka) in Ganda history.
Mutesa continued his father’s military reforms. He imported increasing numbers of firearms -- over which he maintained a monopoly -- from Arab sources to the north and to the east. Mutesa also raided his neighbors and maintained pressure on the Nyoro kingdom of Bunyoro to the west.
During the 1870s, Mutesa -- like his neighbors -- was exposed to the threat of conquest from the north when Egypt began an attempt to control the headwaters of the Nile. During the last fifteen or so years of his life, Mutesa’s foreign policy was dominated by his desire to improve his position over that of his neighbors. Mutesa was particularly concerned about besting the Bunyoro.
Mutesa had an eclectic attitude towards new ideas. The secularization of his state left him largely free of traditional ritual obligations. Muslim traders had been resident in Buganda since the time of Suna and Mutesa was attracted to Islam. However, his aversion to the rite of circumcision prevented his formal “conversion.”
By the late 1860s, Mutesa was reading the Qur’an in Arabic and was faithfully observing Islamic practices. In 1862, the explorers John Speke and J. A. Grant visited Mutesa’s court and brought Uganda to the attention of the outside world. By the time Europeans next visited him, thirteen years later, Mutesa was seriously concerned with Egyptian-Sudanese encroachments in northern Uganda and was anxious to form new alliances.
Henry Stanley visited Mutesa in 1875 and made a favorable impression by actively aiding Mutesa in a military campaign. Mutesa assented to Stanley’s proposal to introduce Christian missionaries, hoping that they would assist him militarily.
The first Protestant missionaries arrived in 1877.
Catholic missionaries soon followed in 1879 and the seeds for a cultural and political revolution were planted.
Among the comparatively tolerant Ganda, the missions flourished. However, doctrinal in-fighting between the Protestants, Catholics and Muslims gave rise to sectarian political factions.
The Protestants assisted Mutesa to send emmissaries to London in 1879, but Mutesa was disappointed by the failure of the missionaries to assist him militarily.
By the end of the decade, the Egyptian threat to the Ganda kingdom had subsided. However, internal factionalism had replaced the Egyptian threat as the dominant issue confronting Mutesa. Mutesa grew interested in Christianity, but was denied baptism by both Protestant and Catholic missions because of his political need to retain his many wives and because of his seemingly doubtful sincerity.
Mutesa ended his days sympathetic to Islam while many of his chiefs were converted to Christianity.
During Mutesa’s last five years, deteriorating health weakened his ability to rule the Ganda kingdom. His infirmity allowed power to shift into the hands of his ministers. Meanwhile, cholera and plague epidemics ravaged his subjects. He kept his army increasingly busy, but his commanders suffered several major setbacks. These developments helped to prepare for changes after his death in 1884.
Mukabaya see Mutesa I
Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira see Mutesa I
Mutesa I (Mukabaya) (Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira) (c. 1838-1884). Ruler of the Ganda kingdom (Buganda -- Uganda) (r.1856- 1884). He opened Buganda to the outside world and oversaw the beginning of a religious and political revolution.
Mutesa was considered by many Ganda to be too young and too weak to become king when his father Suna II died in 1856. Nevertheless, Mutesa’s election and installation by government ministers was achieved with relatively little disorder, demonstrating the power of appointed officials.
If Mutesa’s supporters had counted on his being a compliant puppet, they were disappointed. Mutesa soon developed into one of the most powerful kings (Kabaka) in Ganda history.
Mutesa continued his father’s military reforms. He imported increasing numbers of firearms -- over which he maintained a monopoly -- from Arab sources to the north and to the east. Mutesa also raided his neighbors and maintained pressure on the Nyoro kingdom of Bunyoro to the west.
During the 1870s, Mutesa -- like his neighbors -- was exposed to the threat of conquest from the north when Egypt began an attempt to control the headwaters of the Nile. During the last fifteen or so years of his life, Mutesa’s foreign policy was dominated by his desire to improve his position over that of his neighbors. Mutesa was particularly concerned about besting the Bunyoro.
Mutesa had an eclectic attitude towards new ideas. The secularization of his state left him largely free of traditional ritual obligations. Muslim traders had been resident in Buganda since the time of Suna and Mutesa was attracted to Islam. However, his aversion to the rite of circumcision prevented his formal “conversion.”
By the late 1860s, Mutesa was reading the Qur’an in Arabic and was faithfully observing Islamic practices. In 1862, the explorers John Speke and J. A. Grant visited Mutesa’s court and brought Uganda to the attention of the outside world. By the time Europeans next visited him, thirteen years later, Mutesa was seriously concerned with Egyptian-Sudanese encroachments in northern Uganda and was anxious to form new alliances.
Henry Stanley visited Mutesa in 1875 and made a favorable impression by actively aiding Mutesa in a military campaign. Mutesa assented to Stanley’s proposal to introduce Christian missionaries, hoping that they would assist him militarily.
The first Protestant missionaries arrived in 1877.
Catholic missionaries soon followed in 1879 and the seeds for a cultural and political revolution were planted.
Among the comparatively tolerant Ganda, the missions flourished. However, doctrinal in-fighting between the Protestants, Catholics and Muslims gave rise to sectarian political factions.
The Protestants assisted Mutesa to send emmissaries to London in 1879, but Mutesa was disappointed by the failure of the missionaries to assist him militarily.
By the end of the decade, the Egyptian threat to the Ganda kingdom had subsided. However, internal factionalism had replaced the Egyptian threat as the dominant issue confronting Mutesa. Mutesa grew interested in Christianity, but was denied baptism by both Protestant and Catholic missions because of his political need to retain his many wives and because of his seemingly doubtful sincerity.
Mutesa ended his days sympathetic to Islam while many of his chiefs were converted to Christianity.
During Mutesa’s last five years, deteriorating health weakened his ability to rule the Ganda kingdom. His infirmity allowed power to shift into the hands of his ministers. Meanwhile, cholera and plague epidemics ravaged his subjects. He kept his army increasingly busy, but his commanders suffered several major setbacks. These developments helped to prepare for changes after his death in 1884.
Mukabaya see Mutesa I
Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira see Mutesa I
Muthanna ibn Haritha, al-
Muthanna ibn Haritha, al- (d. 635). Arab tribal chieftain and hero of the early Islamic conquest of Iraq.
Muthanna ibn Haritha, al- (d. 635). Arab tribal chieftain and hero of the early Islamic conquest of Iraq.
Muti’ li-‘llah, al-
Muti’ li-‘llah, al- (al-Muti). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.946-974). Arab chroniclers regard his reign as the lowest ebb of the caliphate before events began to revive somewhat under his successors al-Qadir bi-‘llah and al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah.
Al-Muti (or Obedient to the Lord) was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 946 to 974. He had long aspired to the office. Between him and the previous Caliph, al-Mustakfi, bitter enmity existed, which led him to retire into hiding.
When the Buwayhids entered Baghdad, al-Muti came forth from his retirement and established himself at the new court. But even he, after he became caliph, was no longer allowed a voice in nominating the vizier. The office was shorn of every token of respect and dignity. Shi'a observances were set up, such as public mourning on the anniversary of Husayn's death, and rejoicing of the Prophet's supposed testimony in Ali's favor. On one occasion they went so far as to post upon the various mosques sheets inscribed with curses against the early Caliphs, and even against Aisha, Muhammad's favorite spouse. The city was exasperated by the insult, and the placards torn down by the infuriated mob.
Buwayhids maintained their hold on Baghdad for over one hundred years. The material position of the Caliphs throughout the Buwayhid reign was at its lowest ebb. Buwayhid Sultan Muiz ud-Daula was only prevented from raising to the throne a Shi'a Caliph by alarm for his own safety, and fear of rebellion, not in the capital alone, but all around. However, the Caliphate of Baghdad, on its spiritual side, was still recognized throughout the Muslim world wherever the orthodox faith prevailed, except Spain. The Fatimid Caliphs, on the other hand, claimed spiritual supremacy not only in Egypt, but also contested the pulpits of Syria. In the East the spiritual dominance varied, but, except Persia and the Deilem, the balance clearly favored orthodoxy. The Turks were staunch Sunnis. The great Mahmud of Ghazni, of Eastern fame, held always a friendly attitude towards the Caliphs, and his victories in the Indian Empire were accordingly announced from the pulpits of Baghdad in grateful and glowing terms.
Muti, al- see Muti’ li-‘llah, al-
Obedient to the Lord see Muti’ li-‘llah, al-
Muti’ li-‘llah, al- (al-Muti). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.946-974). Arab chroniclers regard his reign as the lowest ebb of the caliphate before events began to revive somewhat under his successors al-Qadir bi-‘llah and al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah.
Al-Muti (or Obedient to the Lord) was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 946 to 974. He had long aspired to the office. Between him and the previous Caliph, al-Mustakfi, bitter enmity existed, which led him to retire into hiding.
When the Buwayhids entered Baghdad, al-Muti came forth from his retirement and established himself at the new court. But even he, after he became caliph, was no longer allowed a voice in nominating the vizier. The office was shorn of every token of respect and dignity. Shi'a observances were set up, such as public mourning on the anniversary of Husayn's death, and rejoicing of the Prophet's supposed testimony in Ali's favor. On one occasion they went so far as to post upon the various mosques sheets inscribed with curses against the early Caliphs, and even against Aisha, Muhammad's favorite spouse. The city was exasperated by the insult, and the placards torn down by the infuriated mob.
Buwayhids maintained their hold on Baghdad for over one hundred years. The material position of the Caliphs throughout the Buwayhid reign was at its lowest ebb. Buwayhid Sultan Muiz ud-Daula was only prevented from raising to the throne a Shi'a Caliph by alarm for his own safety, and fear of rebellion, not in the capital alone, but all around. However, the Caliphate of Baghdad, on its spiritual side, was still recognized throughout the Muslim world wherever the orthodox faith prevailed, except Spain. The Fatimid Caliphs, on the other hand, claimed spiritual supremacy not only in Egypt, but also contested the pulpits of Syria. In the East the spiritual dominance varied, but, except Persia and the Deilem, the balance clearly favored orthodoxy. The Turks were staunch Sunnis. The great Mahmud of Ghazni, of Eastern fame, held always a friendly attitude towards the Caliphs, and his victories in the Indian Empire were accordingly announced from the pulpits of Baghdad in grateful and glowing terms.
Muti, al- see Muti’ li-‘llah, al-
Obedient to the Lord see Muti’ li-‘llah, al-
Muttaqi li-‘llah, al-
Muttaqi li-‘llah, al- (al-Muttaqi) (920-968). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.940-944). He was deposed by the Turkish general Tuzun.
Al-Muttaqi was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 940 to 944.
Of such little importance the Caliphate had become by 940 that when the previous Caliph al-Radi died, Bajkam, Amir al-Umara (Amir of Amirs), contented himself with dispatching to Baghdad his secretary, who assembled the chief men to elect a successor. The choice fell on the deceased Caliph's brother al-Muttaqi, who assumed the office after it had been some days vacant; and whose first act was to send a banner and dress of honor to Bajkam, a needless confirmation of his rank.
Bajkam, before returning to Wasit, where he now held his court, went out on a hunting party, and met his death at the hands of a band of marauding Kurds. The Capital again became the scene of renewed anarchy. Ibn Raik, the Caliph's amir, persuaded the Caliph to flee with him to Mosul.
Al-Muttaqi was welcomed in Mosul by the Hamdanid princes, who organized a campaign to restore him to the Capital. But their ends were purely selfish; they assassinated Ibn Raik, and having added his Syrian government to their own, turned their ambition towards Baghdad. The Hamdanid chief, with the title of Nasir ad-Daula, advanced on Baghdad with the Caliph.
But however powerful the Hamdanid chiefs were at home amongst their Arab brethren, and splendid their victories over the Greeks, they found it a different thing to rule at Baghdad, due to foreign mercenaries and the well-organized Turkish forces in the city.
In less than a year, the Hamdanid chieftains had to return to Mosul. A Turkish general called Tuzun, entered Baghdad in triumph, and was saluted as Amir al-Umara. But fresh proceedings against his enemy obliged Tuzun to quit the Capital. During his absence, a conspiracy broke out which placed the Caliph in danger, and obliged him again to appeal to the Hamdanid prince for help. Troops sent in response enabled him to escape. He fled to Mosul and after that to Nasibin.
Shortly after, peace being restored between Tuzun and the Hamdanid chiefs, al-Muttaqi took up his residence at ar Raqqah, — a fugitive in the city which had so often been the proud Court of his illustrious ancestors.
Latter al-Muttaqi threw himself into the hands of Tuzun, who swore with the most sacred oaths that he would render true and faithful service. But he soon after deposed him from the Caliphate, and had his sight destroyed.
The same day, Tuzun installed the blinded Caliph's cousin as his successor, with the title of al-Mustakfi -- For whom the Lord sufficeth.
Muttaqi, al- see Muttaqi li-‘llah, al-
Muttaqi li-‘llah, al- (al-Muttaqi) (920-968). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.940-944). He was deposed by the Turkish general Tuzun.
Al-Muttaqi was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 940 to 944.
Of such little importance the Caliphate had become by 940 that when the previous Caliph al-Radi died, Bajkam, Amir al-Umara (Amir of Amirs), contented himself with dispatching to Baghdad his secretary, who assembled the chief men to elect a successor. The choice fell on the deceased Caliph's brother al-Muttaqi, who assumed the office after it had been some days vacant; and whose first act was to send a banner and dress of honor to Bajkam, a needless confirmation of his rank.
Bajkam, before returning to Wasit, where he now held his court, went out on a hunting party, and met his death at the hands of a band of marauding Kurds. The Capital again became the scene of renewed anarchy. Ibn Raik, the Caliph's amir, persuaded the Caliph to flee with him to Mosul.
Al-Muttaqi was welcomed in Mosul by the Hamdanid princes, who organized a campaign to restore him to the Capital. But their ends were purely selfish; they assassinated Ibn Raik, and having added his Syrian government to their own, turned their ambition towards Baghdad. The Hamdanid chief, with the title of Nasir ad-Daula, advanced on Baghdad with the Caliph.
But however powerful the Hamdanid chiefs were at home amongst their Arab brethren, and splendid their victories over the Greeks, they found it a different thing to rule at Baghdad, due to foreign mercenaries and the well-organized Turkish forces in the city.
In less than a year, the Hamdanid chieftains had to return to Mosul. A Turkish general called Tuzun, entered Baghdad in triumph, and was saluted as Amir al-Umara. But fresh proceedings against his enemy obliged Tuzun to quit the Capital. During his absence, a conspiracy broke out which placed the Caliph in danger, and obliged him again to appeal to the Hamdanid prince for help. Troops sent in response enabled him to escape. He fled to Mosul and after that to Nasibin.
Shortly after, peace being restored between Tuzun and the Hamdanid chiefs, al-Muttaqi took up his residence at ar Raqqah, — a fugitive in the city which had so often been the proud Court of his illustrious ancestors.
Latter al-Muttaqi threw himself into the hands of Tuzun, who swore with the most sacred oaths that he would render true and faithful service. But he soon after deposed him from the Caliphate, and had his sight destroyed.
The same day, Tuzun installed the blinded Caliph's cousin as his successor, with the title of al-Mustakfi -- For whom the Lord sufficeth.
Muttaqi, al- see Muttaqi li-‘llah, al-
Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al- (Talha ibn Ja'far al-Muwaffaq) (Abu Ahmad ibn al-Muwaffaq al-Mutawakkil) (Abu Ahmad) (Muwaffaq, al-) (842 - June 2/5, 891). Regent and virtual ruler during the time of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mu‘tamid ‘ala ‘llah (r. 870-892). In 883, he extinguished the rebellion of the Zanj.
Al-Muwaffaq (842-June 2, 891) was the brother and regent of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tamid. He assumed the leadership of the imperial administration in Baghdad in 875. Soon, he replaced the weak al-Mu'tamid largely by ousting the government.
Under al-Muwaffaq, the Abbasid Caliphate again stabilized. He put down the uprising in southern Iraq known as the Zanj Rebellion in 883. He increased control over the provinces and also fought the Tulunids of Syria vigorously.
Suffering increasingly from elephantiasis, his son Abu al-Ahmad Abbas al-Mu'tadid took charge of government business from 889. After the death of Al-Muwaffaq, his offices were officially transferred to his son al-Mu'tadid who would later succeed his uncle as Caliph al-Mu'tadid (892-902).
Talha ibn Ja'far al-Muwaffaq see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Abu Ahmad see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Abu Ahmad ibn al-Muwaffaq al-Mutawakkil see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Muwaffaq, al- see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al- (Talha ibn Ja'far al-Muwaffaq) (Abu Ahmad ibn al-Muwaffaq al-Mutawakkil) (Abu Ahmad) (Muwaffaq, al-) (842 - June 2/5, 891). Regent and virtual ruler during the time of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mu‘tamid ‘ala ‘llah (r. 870-892). In 883, he extinguished the rebellion of the Zanj.
Al-Muwaffaq (842-June 2, 891) was the brother and regent of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tamid. He assumed the leadership of the imperial administration in Baghdad in 875. Soon, he replaced the weak al-Mu'tamid largely by ousting the government.
Under al-Muwaffaq, the Abbasid Caliphate again stabilized. He put down the uprising in southern Iraq known as the Zanj Rebellion in 883. He increased control over the provinces and also fought the Tulunids of Syria vigorously.
Suffering increasingly from elephantiasis, his son Abu al-Ahmad Abbas al-Mu'tadid took charge of government business from 889. After the death of Al-Muwaffaq, his offices were officially transferred to his son al-Mu'tadid who would later succeed his uncle as Caliph al-Mu'tadid (892-902).
Talha ibn Ja'far al-Muwaffaq see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Abu Ahmad see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Abu Ahmad ibn al-Muwaffaq al-Mutawakkil see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Muwaffaq, al- see Muwaffaq, Talha ibn Ja‘far al-
Muwahhidun
Muwahhidun. Members of a movement in Islam from mid-18th century, calling for a renewal of the Muslim spirit, with cleansing of the moral, and removal of all innovations to Islam. The movement has played an important role in the funding of Saudi Arabia. Wahhabism is known for its conservative regulations which have impact on all aspects of life. It has been recognized as being in accordance with Ibn Hanbali doctrine. The term wahhabism is not used by themselves. The term they use is muwahhidun. Wahhabism is a term given to them by their opponents, and is now used by both European scholars and most Arabs. The name wahhibims comes from their founder Abdul Wahhab. The term muwahhidun is Arabic, and means “unitarians.” The muwahhiduns started in 1912 to establish agricultural colonies, where people from different tribes lived together. The inhabitants of these colonies were known as “brothers.” Each colony could house from 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants. The colonies were established near water sources, and were defended by arms. Mud huts were built in place of traditional tents.
The prohibitions of Wahhabism are:
1. No other object for worship but God.
2. Holy men or women must not be used to win favors from God.
3. No other name than the names of Allah may enter a prayer
4. No smoking of tobacco.
5. No shaving of beard.
6. No abusive language.
7. Rosaries are forbidden.
8. Mosques must be built without minarets and all forms of ornaments.
The commandments of Wahhabism are:
1. All men must attend prayer (salat).
2. Alms (zakat) must be paid from all income.
3. Butchers slaughtering animals according to halal must have their life styles scrutinized. It is not sufficient that they perform the basic rituals correctly.
The movement was started by a religious scholar from Najd (Saudi Arabia), Muhammad ibn Abd alWahhab (1703 - 1792), schooled by ulama (Islamic clergy) in what is now Iraq, Iran, and the Hijaz (western Arabia). He called for a return to the sources of Islam, stressing the absolute unity of Allah (tawhid) and strict obedience to the Qurʾan (the sacred book of Islam) and the hadith (sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad). His understanding of tawhid was somewhat unique, following the teachings of Ahmad ibn Hanbal's (780 - 855) school of law (madhhab) and its later interpretation by Ibn Taymiyya (1263 - 1328). By 1736, his followers - often called the Muwahhidun (Unitarians), today known as Wahhabis - rejected religious innovation (bidʿa) that promoted polytheism (shirk) and unbelief (kufar), and the tradition of ziyaret, or visits to saints believed to be intercessors between humans and Allah. Muwahhidun do not necessarily consider themselves members of a sect; rather, they reject esoterism on the basis of being people of tradition (Ahl al-Hadith).
The present-day structure of the Saudi government can be traced to the religious and political alliance sealed in 1744 between Ibn al-Wahhab with his marriage to the daughter of Muhammad ibn Saʿud, ruler of the Dariyya near the modern city of Riyadh. Together they created the model of a state wherein allegiance to the shariʿa (Islamic law), not tribal customs, reigned supreme. The movement spread rapidly, perhaps due to Abd al-Wahhab's introduction of firearms among Bedouin tribes accustomed to wielding the sword and lance. After his death, the Wahhabi forces had by 1806 sacked the Shiʿite shrines of Karbala (in southwestern Iraq), occupied the holy cities of Mecca and Medina where they destroyed the tombs of revered saints, and raided the Syrian interior.
Ottoman Turkish and Egyptian garrisons in the Hijaz were not able to prevent the emergence of the Wahhabi state in the twentieth century by the Al Saʿud family in their capital, Riyadh. It began when their relations with the Al Rashid family, a Wahhabi clan governing the Shammar region, became strained and, in 1884, the Saudi family was forced to seek sanctuary with the Mubarak rulers of Kuwait. In 1901, Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Saʿud, son of the last Saudi governor of Riyadh, led a daring raid that restored his family's power.
By 1912 a renewal in Wahhabi doctrine led to a consolidation of various tribes, or the Ikhwan (the brothers). In 1912 Abd al-Aziz (ibn Saʿud) appealed to other Bedouins to join the Ikhwan and steadily enlarged his domains by creating militarized agricultural colonies (hujar) to transcend tribal loyalties. The Bedouin tribes posed a threat to the unification of the Saudi kingdom, and the colonies were an attempt to make farmers of seminomadic warriors. The hujar were built on the sacred principle of hijra (emigration or flight, referring to the Prophet Muhammad's flight to Medina when he was forced to leave Mecca). In 1921 Abd al-Aziz entered Haʾil, the capital of Shammar, overthrowing the Rashid family in the process. In 1924 he occupied the site of Islam's holiest cities and shrines and overthrew caliph Sharif Husayn ibn Ali.
An important shift occurred in the late 1920s. Abd al-Aziz deemed the ferocity of the Ikhwan and particularly their mutawwiʿun (enforcers of obedience), Wahhabism's religious police, unfavorable to the modern Saudi state he wished to create. The Ikhwan wished to continue their advances into other areas under British protection only to be prohibited by Abd al-Aziz, who in 1926 had been proclaimed king of the Hijaz. The Ikhwan revolted in 1927 but were crushed with difficulty in 1929. However, their defeat did not mean the end of puritanical Wahhabism.
In 1932 Hijaz and Najd became a single country, which was officially named the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and fortunes of the Wahhabis became inextricably linked to it. King Abd al-Aziz strove to consolidate his power in those areas of the Arabian peninsula where he ruled. In alliance with the ulama, he strictly imposed the shariʿa and paid careful attention to the services accorded to the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). He placated Hijazi opinion by allowing ijtihad (learned opinion) in the cases brought against the government before the mazalim courts. In dire financial straits, he signed a petroleum concession with a U.S. company in 1932, and oil was discovered in 1936. His famous 1945 meeting with U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt on the U.S. destroyer on the Suez Canal stressed the growing international importance of Saudi Arabia, and by the end of World War II, oil production began.
The Wahhabi model appealed to other Islamic reform movements, such as the Salafiyya movement in Egypt in the late nineteenth century and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan alMuslimun) founded by Shaykh Hasan al-Banna in 1928. Like other Arab potentates, King Abd al-Aziz was greatly preoccupied with Palestine, and he sent a military contingent to participate in the Arab - Israel War of 1948, when Israel became a state. Wary of Western influence, Saudi Arabia joined Egypt and Syria in the 1950s in resisting a regional Middle East defense organization. The threat of a Nasser-type military coup brought Saudi Arabia's defection from that alliance and placed it more in line with the Hashimites.
As oil wealth began to permeate Saudi society in the early 1960s, the Wahhabi movement retained a profound influence on the social and economic development of Saudi Arabia. The mutawwiʿun, a carryover from the Ikhwan, oversaw strict observance - challenging the melodious recitation of the Qurʾan, excessive veneration at saints' tombs, desegregation of the sexes, and the appearance of the full (unveiled) female form on television.
In 1953, King Abd al-Aziz died. By the 1960s, King Faisal's call for an Islamic pact politically split the Arab world. It put him in hostile ideological conflict with the Egyptian Gamel Abdel Nasser's revolutionary, socialist and secular brand of nationalism. Egypt's swift defeat by Israel in the Arab - Israel War of 1967 seemed to vindicate King Faisal's position. Conversely, he successfully coordinated with Egypt's new president, Anwar al-Sadat, to achieve more attention to Islamic symbolism in the Arab - Israel War of 1973.
The 1973 Arab oil embargo and rise in OPEC's (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil prices brought riches to Saudi Arabia. This wealth aided a Pan Islamic "revival" and the Wahhabi kingdom built mosques and provided aid throughout Muslim countries, contributing to the strengthening of Islamist fundamentalist political groups and parties worldwide. Different local varieties of Wahhabi philosophy exist today in such varied places as Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Mali, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Uzbekistan, as well as some mosques in the United States.
The Islamic revolution in Iran (1979) and Israel's pursuit of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) into Lebanon (1982), however, ushered in a new radical wave of politically motivated Islamic neo-fundamentalism that does not share either the Wahhabi doctrinal approach to Islam or Saudi Arabia's pro-American policy. In 1988, Saudi Arabia broke relations with Iran when Iranian pilgrims to Mecca rioted and the Iranian navy fired on Saudi vessels in the Gulf. Saudi aid given to anticommunist Mojahedin (holy warriors) in Afghanistan may be seen as keeping in line with the martial spirit of the early Wahhabi movement. During the Cold War, the U.S. supported the Mojahedin in an attempt to help Afghanistan overthrow Russian control. This support inadvertantly strengthened Mojahedin and Taliban forces in the area. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the ensuing Gulf Crisis caused Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to align themselves with the U.S. - led United Nations Coalition.
Wahhabism has softened a great deal since its emergence in the eighteenth century. If Islamic neo-fundamentalism and Islamist political parties are perceived as anti-Western, it will be left to see how much the Wahhabiyya will influence the direction taken by the Islamic reformist movements.
Muwahhidun. Members of a movement in Islam from mid-18th century, calling for a renewal of the Muslim spirit, with cleansing of the moral, and removal of all innovations to Islam. The movement has played an important role in the funding of Saudi Arabia. Wahhabism is known for its conservative regulations which have impact on all aspects of life. It has been recognized as being in accordance with Ibn Hanbali doctrine. The term wahhabism is not used by themselves. The term they use is muwahhidun. Wahhabism is a term given to them by their opponents, and is now used by both European scholars and most Arabs. The name wahhibims comes from their founder Abdul Wahhab. The term muwahhidun is Arabic, and means “unitarians.” The muwahhiduns started in 1912 to establish agricultural colonies, where people from different tribes lived together. The inhabitants of these colonies were known as “brothers.” Each colony could house from 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants. The colonies were established near water sources, and were defended by arms. Mud huts were built in place of traditional tents.
The prohibitions of Wahhabism are:
1. No other object for worship but God.
2. Holy men or women must not be used to win favors from God.
3. No other name than the names of Allah may enter a prayer
4. No smoking of tobacco.
5. No shaving of beard.
6. No abusive language.
7. Rosaries are forbidden.
8. Mosques must be built without minarets and all forms of ornaments.
The commandments of Wahhabism are:
1. All men must attend prayer (salat).
2. Alms (zakat) must be paid from all income.
3. Butchers slaughtering animals according to halal must have their life styles scrutinized. It is not sufficient that they perform the basic rituals correctly.
The movement was started by a religious scholar from Najd (Saudi Arabia), Muhammad ibn Abd alWahhab (1703 - 1792), schooled by ulama (Islamic clergy) in what is now Iraq, Iran, and the Hijaz (western Arabia). He called for a return to the sources of Islam, stressing the absolute unity of Allah (tawhid) and strict obedience to the Qurʾan (the sacred book of Islam) and the hadith (sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad). His understanding of tawhid was somewhat unique, following the teachings of Ahmad ibn Hanbal's (780 - 855) school of law (madhhab) and its later interpretation by Ibn Taymiyya (1263 - 1328). By 1736, his followers - often called the Muwahhidun (Unitarians), today known as Wahhabis - rejected religious innovation (bidʿa) that promoted polytheism (shirk) and unbelief (kufar), and the tradition of ziyaret, or visits to saints believed to be intercessors between humans and Allah. Muwahhidun do not necessarily consider themselves members of a sect; rather, they reject esoterism on the basis of being people of tradition (Ahl al-Hadith).
The present-day structure of the Saudi government can be traced to the religious and political alliance sealed in 1744 between Ibn al-Wahhab with his marriage to the daughter of Muhammad ibn Saʿud, ruler of the Dariyya near the modern city of Riyadh. Together they created the model of a state wherein allegiance to the shariʿa (Islamic law), not tribal customs, reigned supreme. The movement spread rapidly, perhaps due to Abd al-Wahhab's introduction of firearms among Bedouin tribes accustomed to wielding the sword and lance. After his death, the Wahhabi forces had by 1806 sacked the Shiʿite shrines of Karbala (in southwestern Iraq), occupied the holy cities of Mecca and Medina where they destroyed the tombs of revered saints, and raided the Syrian interior.
Ottoman Turkish and Egyptian garrisons in the Hijaz were not able to prevent the emergence of the Wahhabi state in the twentieth century by the Al Saʿud family in their capital, Riyadh. It began when their relations with the Al Rashid family, a Wahhabi clan governing the Shammar region, became strained and, in 1884, the Saudi family was forced to seek sanctuary with the Mubarak rulers of Kuwait. In 1901, Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Saʿud, son of the last Saudi governor of Riyadh, led a daring raid that restored his family's power.
By 1912 a renewal in Wahhabi doctrine led to a consolidation of various tribes, or the Ikhwan (the brothers). In 1912 Abd al-Aziz (ibn Saʿud) appealed to other Bedouins to join the Ikhwan and steadily enlarged his domains by creating militarized agricultural colonies (hujar) to transcend tribal loyalties. The Bedouin tribes posed a threat to the unification of the Saudi kingdom, and the colonies were an attempt to make farmers of seminomadic warriors. The hujar were built on the sacred principle of hijra (emigration or flight, referring to the Prophet Muhammad's flight to Medina when he was forced to leave Mecca). In 1921 Abd al-Aziz entered Haʾil, the capital of Shammar, overthrowing the Rashid family in the process. In 1924 he occupied the site of Islam's holiest cities and shrines and overthrew caliph Sharif Husayn ibn Ali.
An important shift occurred in the late 1920s. Abd al-Aziz deemed the ferocity of the Ikhwan and particularly their mutawwiʿun (enforcers of obedience), Wahhabism's religious police, unfavorable to the modern Saudi state he wished to create. The Ikhwan wished to continue their advances into other areas under British protection only to be prohibited by Abd al-Aziz, who in 1926 had been proclaimed king of the Hijaz. The Ikhwan revolted in 1927 but were crushed with difficulty in 1929. However, their defeat did not mean the end of puritanical Wahhabism.
In 1932 Hijaz and Najd became a single country, which was officially named the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and fortunes of the Wahhabis became inextricably linked to it. King Abd al-Aziz strove to consolidate his power in those areas of the Arabian peninsula where he ruled. In alliance with the ulama, he strictly imposed the shariʿa and paid careful attention to the services accorded to the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). He placated Hijazi opinion by allowing ijtihad (learned opinion) in the cases brought against the government before the mazalim courts. In dire financial straits, he signed a petroleum concession with a U.S. company in 1932, and oil was discovered in 1936. His famous 1945 meeting with U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt on the U.S. destroyer on the Suez Canal stressed the growing international importance of Saudi Arabia, and by the end of World War II, oil production began.
The Wahhabi model appealed to other Islamic reform movements, such as the Salafiyya movement in Egypt in the late nineteenth century and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan alMuslimun) founded by Shaykh Hasan al-Banna in 1928. Like other Arab potentates, King Abd al-Aziz was greatly preoccupied with Palestine, and he sent a military contingent to participate in the Arab - Israel War of 1948, when Israel became a state. Wary of Western influence, Saudi Arabia joined Egypt and Syria in the 1950s in resisting a regional Middle East defense organization. The threat of a Nasser-type military coup brought Saudi Arabia's defection from that alliance and placed it more in line with the Hashimites.
As oil wealth began to permeate Saudi society in the early 1960s, the Wahhabi movement retained a profound influence on the social and economic development of Saudi Arabia. The mutawwiʿun, a carryover from the Ikhwan, oversaw strict observance - challenging the melodious recitation of the Qurʾan, excessive veneration at saints' tombs, desegregation of the sexes, and the appearance of the full (unveiled) female form on television.
In 1953, King Abd al-Aziz died. By the 1960s, King Faisal's call for an Islamic pact politically split the Arab world. It put him in hostile ideological conflict with the Egyptian Gamel Abdel Nasser's revolutionary, socialist and secular brand of nationalism. Egypt's swift defeat by Israel in the Arab - Israel War of 1967 seemed to vindicate King Faisal's position. Conversely, he successfully coordinated with Egypt's new president, Anwar al-Sadat, to achieve more attention to Islamic symbolism in the Arab - Israel War of 1973.
The 1973 Arab oil embargo and rise in OPEC's (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil prices brought riches to Saudi Arabia. This wealth aided a Pan Islamic "revival" and the Wahhabi kingdom built mosques and provided aid throughout Muslim countries, contributing to the strengthening of Islamist fundamentalist political groups and parties worldwide. Different local varieties of Wahhabi philosophy exist today in such varied places as Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Mali, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Uzbekistan, as well as some mosques in the United States.
The Islamic revolution in Iran (1979) and Israel's pursuit of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) into Lebanon (1982), however, ushered in a new radical wave of politically motivated Islamic neo-fundamentalism that does not share either the Wahhabi doctrinal approach to Islam or Saudi Arabia's pro-American policy. In 1988, Saudi Arabia broke relations with Iran when Iranian pilgrims to Mecca rioted and the Iranian navy fired on Saudi vessels in the Gulf. Saudi aid given to anticommunist Mojahedin (holy warriors) in Afghanistan may be seen as keeping in line with the martial spirit of the early Wahhabi movement. During the Cold War, the U.S. supported the Mojahedin in an attempt to help Afghanistan overthrow Russian control. This support inadvertantly strengthened Mojahedin and Taliban forces in the area. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the ensuing Gulf Crisis caused Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to align themselves with the U.S. - led United Nations Coalition.
Wahhabism has softened a great deal since its emergence in the eighteenth century. If Islamic neo-fundamentalism and Islamist political parties are perceived as anti-Western, it will be left to see how much the Wahhabiyya will influence the direction taken by the Islamic reformist movements.
Muwaylihi, al-
Muwaylihi, al-. Name of a well-to-do family of silk merchants in Egypt. Two of its members, Ibrahim (1844-1906) and his son Muhammad (1859-1930), became famous as journalists and writers.
Muwaylihi, al-. Name of a well-to-do family of silk merchants in Egypt. Two of its members, Ibrahim (1844-1906) and his son Muhammad (1859-1930), became famous as journalists and writers.
Muyaka ibn Haji al-Ghassani
Muyaka ibn Haji al-Ghassani (1776-1840). Swahili poet. He was friend of the Mazrui governors of Fort Jesus, Mombasa. He wrote prolifically in verse on contemporary affairs. More than any other Swahili writer, Muyaka succeeded in transferring Swahili poetry from the mosque to the market-place. An anthology of his poems, Diwani ya Muyaka, was published in 1940.
Muyaka ibn Haji al-Ghassani (1776-1840). Swahili poet. He was friend of the Mazrui governors of Fort Jesus, Mombasa. He wrote prolifically in verse on contemporary affairs. More than any other Swahili writer, Muyaka succeeded in transferring Swahili poetry from the mosque to the market-place. An anthology of his poems, Diwani ya Muyaka, was published in 1940.
Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar (Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar) (Muẓaffari’d-Dīn Shāh Qājār) (March 23, 1853 – January 3, 1907). Shah of Persia (r.1896- 1907). When he came to the throne, Persia was the focus of intense rivalry between Britain and Russia, and corruption was widespread. In 1897, Belgian officials were employed to re-organize and run the country’s Customs service. The shah, who had weak health, made three journeys to Europe.
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar was the fifth Qajarid Shah of Persia. He ruled between the years 1896 and 1907. He is credited with the start of Iranian Cinema, the creation of the Iranian constitution, the first Iranian national anthem, and often wrongly credited with the rise of the Persian Constitutional Revolution which took place immediately after his death. He is often remembered as a largely ineffectual ruler who often suffered from ill health.
The son of the Qajar ruler Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah was named crown prince and sent as governor to the northern province of Azarbaijan in 1861. He spent his 35 years as crown prince in the pursuit of pleasure; his relations with his father were frequently strained, and he was not consulted in important matters of state. Thus, when he ascended the throne in May 1896, he was unprepared for the burdens of office.
At Mozaffar ad-Din's accession Iran faced a financial crisis, with annual governmental expenditures far in excess of revenues due to the policies of his father. During his reign, Mozzafar ad-Din attempted some reforms of the central treasury. However, the previous debt incurred by the Qajar court, owed to both England and Russia, significantly undermined this effort. He had to make up the existing deficit by contracting more unpopular loans from Russia, which exacted political concessions in return.
Like his father, Mozaffar ad-Din visited Europe three times. During these periods, on the encouragements of his chancellor Amin-os-Soltan , he borrowed money from Nicholas II of Russia to pay for his extravagant traveling expenses. During his first visit he was introduced to the "cinematographe" in Paris, France. Immediately falling in love with the silver screen the Shah ordered his personal photographer to acquire all the equipment and knowledge needed to bring the moving picture to Iran, thus starting Iranian Cinema.
Additionally, in order to manage the costs of the state and his extravagant personal lifestyle Mozaffar ad-din Shah was forced to sign many concessions, providing foreigners with monopolistic control of various Iranian industries and markets. One example being the D'Arcy Oil Concession.
Widespread fears amongst the aristocracy, educated elites, and religious leaders about the concessions and foreign control resulted in some protests in 1906. These resulted in the Shah accepting a suggestion to create a Majles (National Consultative Assembly) in October 1906, by which the monarch's power was curtailed as he granted a constitution and parliament to the people. Mozaffar ad-Din died of a heart attack 40 days after granting this constitution.
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Muẓaffari’d-Dīn Shāh Qājār see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Qajar, Muzaffari'd-Din Shah see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Qajar, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Qajar, Muzaffar al-Din Shah see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar (Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar) (Muẓaffari’d-Dīn Shāh Qājār) (March 23, 1853 – January 3, 1907). Shah of Persia (r.1896- 1907). When he came to the throne, Persia was the focus of intense rivalry between Britain and Russia, and corruption was widespread. In 1897, Belgian officials were employed to re-organize and run the country’s Customs service. The shah, who had weak health, made three journeys to Europe.
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar was the fifth Qajarid Shah of Persia. He ruled between the years 1896 and 1907. He is credited with the start of Iranian Cinema, the creation of the Iranian constitution, the first Iranian national anthem, and often wrongly credited with the rise of the Persian Constitutional Revolution which took place immediately after his death. He is often remembered as a largely ineffectual ruler who often suffered from ill health.
The son of the Qajar ruler Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah was named crown prince and sent as governor to the northern province of Azarbaijan in 1861. He spent his 35 years as crown prince in the pursuit of pleasure; his relations with his father were frequently strained, and he was not consulted in important matters of state. Thus, when he ascended the throne in May 1896, he was unprepared for the burdens of office.
At Mozaffar ad-Din's accession Iran faced a financial crisis, with annual governmental expenditures far in excess of revenues due to the policies of his father. During his reign, Mozzafar ad-Din attempted some reforms of the central treasury. However, the previous debt incurred by the Qajar court, owed to both England and Russia, significantly undermined this effort. He had to make up the existing deficit by contracting more unpopular loans from Russia, which exacted political concessions in return.
Like his father, Mozaffar ad-Din visited Europe three times. During these periods, on the encouragements of his chancellor Amin-os-Soltan , he borrowed money from Nicholas II of Russia to pay for his extravagant traveling expenses. During his first visit he was introduced to the "cinematographe" in Paris, France. Immediately falling in love with the silver screen the Shah ordered his personal photographer to acquire all the equipment and knowledge needed to bring the moving picture to Iran, thus starting Iranian Cinema.
Additionally, in order to manage the costs of the state and his extravagant personal lifestyle Mozaffar ad-din Shah was forced to sign many concessions, providing foreigners with monopolistic control of various Iranian industries and markets. One example being the D'Arcy Oil Concession.
Widespread fears amongst the aristocracy, educated elites, and religious leaders about the concessions and foreign control resulted in some protests in 1906. These resulted in the Shah accepting a suggestion to create a Majles (National Consultative Assembly) in October 1906, by which the monarch's power was curtailed as he granted a constitution and parliament to the people. Mozaffar ad-Din died of a heart attack 40 days after granting this constitution.
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Muẓaffari’d-Dīn Shāh Qājār see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Qajar, Muzaffari'd-Din Shah see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Qajar, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Qajar, Muzaffar al-Din Shah see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar
Muzaffar, al-Malik Taqi’l-Din al-
Muzaffar, al-Malik Taqi’l-Din al- (al-Malik al-Muzaffar) (1139-1191). Nephew and army commander of Saladin. He was the founder of the branch of the Ayyubids which ruled in Hamat from 1178 until 1341 and one of the leading military and administrative personalities of the twelfth century.
Malik al-Muzaffar, al- see Muzaffar, al-Malik Taqi’l-Din al-
Malik al- Taqi'l-Din al-Muzaffar, al- see Muzaffar, al-Malik Taqi’l-Din al-
Muzaffar, al-Malik Taqi’l-Din al- (al-Malik al-Muzaffar) (1139-1191). Nephew and army commander of Saladin. He was the founder of the branch of the Ayyubids which ruled in Hamat from 1178 until 1341 and one of the leading military and administrative personalities of the twelfth century.
Malik al-Muzaffar, al- see Muzaffar, al-Malik Taqi’l-Din al-
Malik al- Taqi'l-Din al-Muzaffar, al- see Muzaffar, al-Malik Taqi’l-Din al-
Muzaffarids
Muzaffarids. One of the successor dynasties (r. 1314-1393) which arose in Kirman, Fars and Jibal following the disintegration of the Il-Khanid Empire. The Muzaffarids were an Arab dynasty in southern Iran (Fars, Kerman), Kurdistan, and for a time throughout Persia which ruled from 1314 to 1393. Their main capitals were, beginning in 1319, Yazd and, from 1353, Shiraz. The dynasty is named from Sharaf al-Din Muzaffar, grandson of a ruler in Khurasan, who advanced in the court of the Ilkhanids and became governor of Maibod near Isfahan. His brutal son, Mubariz al-Din Muhammad (r. 1314-1358), succeeded his father in 1314 and occupied Yazd in 1318, where he was acknowledged as governor. When the Ilkhanids fell (in 1335), he became independent, conquered Kerman in 1341 and Fars with Shiraz in 1353, and occupied Isfahan and Tabriz in 1357, making the Muzaffarids the most important political power in Iran. Subsequently, there were battles with the Jalayirids for dominance over the Iran-Iraq region. Cultural achievement and wealth arrived under Shah Shuja (r. 1358-1384). From 1387, the Muzaffarids became absorbed in a battle between pretenders, until they were removed by Timur in 1393. The Muzaffarids took pains to display an unimpeachable orthodoxy, and were patrons of men of letters. Hafiz, one of the greatest of Persian poets, was one of the many artists who flourished under Shah Shuja’s rule. Shortly after Shah Shuja’s death, Timur defeated the Muzaffarids and ended their rule.
The Muzaffarids were a Sunni family that came to power in Iran following the breakup of the Ilkhanate in the 14th century. The Muzaffarids originated as an Arab family that settled in Khorasan from the beginning of Caliphal rule there. They stayed in Khorasan up until the Mongol invasion of that province, at which point they fled to Yazd. Serving under the Il-Khans, they gained prominence when Sharaf al-Din Muzaffar was made governor of Maibud. He was tasked with crushing the robber-bands that were roaming around the country.
Sharaf al-Din's son, Mubariz ad-Din Muhammad, was brought up at the Il-Khan's court but returned to Maibud upon the death of the Il-Khan Öljeitü. In around 1319, he overthrew the atabeg of Yazd and was subsequently recognized as governor of the city by the central Il-Khan government. Following this, he began fighting against the Neguderis, a Mongol tribal group. He managed to face this crisis with a minimum of loss.
In the wake of the loss of Il-Khan authority in central Iran following the death of Abu Sa'id (Ilkhanid dynasty), Mubariz ad-Din continued to carry out his expansionary policy. In 1339 or 1340 he invaded the province of Kirman and seized it from its Mongol governor, Kutb al-Din ibn Nasir. Kutb al-Din was able to retake the province for a short time after receiving aid from the Kartid dynasty of Herat, but Mubariz al-Din permanently gained control of Kirman in late 1340. The city of Bam was besieged and conquered a few years after this.
After the conquest of Kirman, Mubariz al-Din became a rival of the neighboring Injuids, who controlled Shiraz and Isfahan. Although the Muzaffarids and Injuids had traditionally been on friendly terms with one another, the Injuid Abu Ishaq's desire to gain Kirman led him to start a drawn-out conflict with the Muzaffarids in 1347. He unsuccessfully besieged Yazd (1350-1351), after which his fortunes declined rapidly. Defeated on the field in 1353, Abu Ishaq was forced to take refuge in Shiraz and finally surrender. He managed to escape from Shiraz and fled to Isfahan, but Mubariz al-Din pursued him, took the city and executed the Injuid ruler. Fars and western Iran were now under his control.
With the destruction of Injuid authority, the Muzaffarids were the strongest power in central Iran, and Shiraz was made their capital. Mubariz al-Din's strength was such that when the khan of the Golden Horde, Jani Beg, sent an offer to become his vassal, he was able to decline. In fact, he pushed on into Azerbaijan, which Jani Beg had conquered in 1357. He defeated the khan's governor Akhichuq and occupied Tabriz, but realized that he could not hold his position against the Jalayirid troops marching from Baghdad and soon retreated. The Jalayirids would therefore maintain a hold on Tabriz, despite further attempts by the Muzaffarids to take it.
Mubariz al-Din was known as a cruel ruler, and soon afterwards, in 1358, his son Abu'l Fawaris Shah Shuja blinded and imprisoned him. A temporary reconciliation was reached, but it failed to last and he died, again in prison, in 1363.
Shah Shuja proved to be less of a tyrannic figure, but he was constantly fighting with his brothers, causing a long period of instability. In 1363, he marched against his first brother Shah Mahmud, who had been given control of Isfahan, although a peace was soon brokered. In the following year, however, Shah Mahmud, with the support of his father-in-law Shaikh Uvais of the Jalayirids, invaded Fars and captured Shiraz. Shah Shuja would not be able to reconquer his capital until 1366. Shah Mahmud would continue to play an influential role in Iranian politics, using his marriage alliance to claim Tabriz from the Jalayirids after Shaikh Uvais died in 1374. He occupied the city but soon gave up after he was struck by illness. He died the next year, allowing Shah Shuja to occupy Isfahan.
Shah Shuja then marched on Tabriz himself, but was forced to turn back when internal conditions in Fars deteriorated. His second brother Shah Muzaffar's son, Shah Yahya, rose in revolt in Isfahan. Having to make peace with the Jalayirids, Shah Shuja offered to marry his son Zain Al-Abidin to a sister of the Jalayirid ruler Husain. The Jalayirids refused the offer and invaded, although Shah Shuja managed to prevent them from getting any further than Sultaniyya. Before dying in 1384, he named his son Zain al-Abidin his successor and his third brother 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad as governor of Kirman. Not satisfied with the arrangement, Shah Yahya advanced against Shiraz, but was expelled from Isfahan by the city's populace and was forced to flee to Yazd. On his deathbed, Shah Shuja wrote a letter to Timur, who was then campaigning in Azerbaijan, in which he gave his sons' loyalty to the conqueror.
When Zain Al-Abidin succeeded his father, he quickly ignored the declaration of loyalty. Timur therefore marched into the Muzaffarid lands. He came to Isfahan, where the governor gave him control of the city, but a rebellion in the city killed any goodwill Timur had, resulting in a slaughter of the populace. Zain Al-Abidin fled from Shiraz in an attempt to make it to the Jalayirids in Baghdad, who were enemies of Timur. However, he encountered Shah Yahya's brother Shah Mansur, who imprisoned him. Shiraz soon fell to Timur. Shah Mansur and 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad, along with other Muzaffarid princes, went to Shiraz to declare their loyalty, whereupon Timur restored them to their positions. The conqueror soon after returned to Transoxiana; Shiraz was given to Shah Yahya.
Unfortunately, the Muzaffarids soon began to resume their local feuding. Shah Mansur began by expelling Shah Yahya from Shiraz, whereupon Shah Yahya again fled to Yazd. Shah Mansur then conquered Arbaquh, but failed to take Isfahan. Meanwhile, Zain al-Abidin escaped from prison and reached Isfahan. An alliance was then formed between Zain al-Abidin, Shah Yahya and 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad against Shah Mansur. The alliance proved to be unstable, however, and when they met Shah Mansur's army at Furg, Shah Yahya failed to show and 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad quickly retreated. The latter met Shah Mansur again, this time at Fasa, but lost and was captured in Ray. He was blinded and imprisoned. Shah Mansur then approached Kirman, where Sultan Ahmad and Shah Yahya had gone after the events at Furg. He offered a common alliance against Timur, but was rebuffed and thereafter returned to Shiraz.
Timur, who while campaigning elsewhere took note of these events, decided in 1392 that a campaign against Shah Mansur was in order. Shah Mansur gained the Sarbadar Muluk as his ally; Muluk was sent to defend Kashan and the Muzaffarid northern front. By March 1393 Timur had advanced down to Shushtar and Dizful, installing a Sarbadar as governor there. He also freed 'Imad-Din Ahmad from imprisonment. Shah Mansur fled Shiraz, but then turned around and met Timur's forces. With an army weakened by desertions, he fought bravely but was forced to retreat. Attempting to reach Shiraz, he was captured by forces of prince Shah Rukh and was decapitated. The other Muzaffarid princes then again swore allegiance to Timur. They were received honorably by the conqueror, but on May 22 in Qumisha they were executed. Only Zain al-Abidin and Sultan Shibli (another son of Shah Shuja) survived the purge. They were sent to Samarkand.
The Muzaffarid rulers were:
* Mubariz ad-Din Muhammad ibn al-Muzaffar (1314-1358)
* Abu'l Fawaris Djamal ad-Din Shah Shuja (first Yazd, then Shiraz 1353) (1335-1364, 1366-1384) with...
* Qutb Al-Din Shah Mahmud (at Isfahan) (1358-1366) d. 1375
* Mujahid ad-Din Zain Al-Abidin 'Ali (1384-1387)
* To the Timurid Empire...
o 'Imad ad-Din Sultan Ahmad (at Kerman)........1387-1391 with...
o Mubariz ad-Din Shah Yahya (at Shiraz)........1387-1391 and...
o Sultan Abu Ishaq (in Sirajan)................1387-1391
o Shah Mansur (Persia) (at Isfahan).....................1391-1393
Muzaffarids. One of the successor dynasties (r. 1314-1393) which arose in Kirman, Fars and Jibal following the disintegration of the Il-Khanid Empire. The Muzaffarids were an Arab dynasty in southern Iran (Fars, Kerman), Kurdistan, and for a time throughout Persia which ruled from 1314 to 1393. Their main capitals were, beginning in 1319, Yazd and, from 1353, Shiraz. The dynasty is named from Sharaf al-Din Muzaffar, grandson of a ruler in Khurasan, who advanced in the court of the Ilkhanids and became governor of Maibod near Isfahan. His brutal son, Mubariz al-Din Muhammad (r. 1314-1358), succeeded his father in 1314 and occupied Yazd in 1318, where he was acknowledged as governor. When the Ilkhanids fell (in 1335), he became independent, conquered Kerman in 1341 and Fars with Shiraz in 1353, and occupied Isfahan and Tabriz in 1357, making the Muzaffarids the most important political power in Iran. Subsequently, there were battles with the Jalayirids for dominance over the Iran-Iraq region. Cultural achievement and wealth arrived under Shah Shuja (r. 1358-1384). From 1387, the Muzaffarids became absorbed in a battle between pretenders, until they were removed by Timur in 1393. The Muzaffarids took pains to display an unimpeachable orthodoxy, and were patrons of men of letters. Hafiz, one of the greatest of Persian poets, was one of the many artists who flourished under Shah Shuja’s rule. Shortly after Shah Shuja’s death, Timur defeated the Muzaffarids and ended their rule.
The Muzaffarids were a Sunni family that came to power in Iran following the breakup of the Ilkhanate in the 14th century. The Muzaffarids originated as an Arab family that settled in Khorasan from the beginning of Caliphal rule there. They stayed in Khorasan up until the Mongol invasion of that province, at which point they fled to Yazd. Serving under the Il-Khans, they gained prominence when Sharaf al-Din Muzaffar was made governor of Maibud. He was tasked with crushing the robber-bands that were roaming around the country.
Sharaf al-Din's son, Mubariz ad-Din Muhammad, was brought up at the Il-Khan's court but returned to Maibud upon the death of the Il-Khan Öljeitü. In around 1319, he overthrew the atabeg of Yazd and was subsequently recognized as governor of the city by the central Il-Khan government. Following this, he began fighting against the Neguderis, a Mongol tribal group. He managed to face this crisis with a minimum of loss.
In the wake of the loss of Il-Khan authority in central Iran following the death of Abu Sa'id (Ilkhanid dynasty), Mubariz ad-Din continued to carry out his expansionary policy. In 1339 or 1340 he invaded the province of Kirman and seized it from its Mongol governor, Kutb al-Din ibn Nasir. Kutb al-Din was able to retake the province for a short time after receiving aid from the Kartid dynasty of Herat, but Mubariz al-Din permanently gained control of Kirman in late 1340. The city of Bam was besieged and conquered a few years after this.
After the conquest of Kirman, Mubariz al-Din became a rival of the neighboring Injuids, who controlled Shiraz and Isfahan. Although the Muzaffarids and Injuids had traditionally been on friendly terms with one another, the Injuid Abu Ishaq's desire to gain Kirman led him to start a drawn-out conflict with the Muzaffarids in 1347. He unsuccessfully besieged Yazd (1350-1351), after which his fortunes declined rapidly. Defeated on the field in 1353, Abu Ishaq was forced to take refuge in Shiraz and finally surrender. He managed to escape from Shiraz and fled to Isfahan, but Mubariz al-Din pursued him, took the city and executed the Injuid ruler. Fars and western Iran were now under his control.
With the destruction of Injuid authority, the Muzaffarids were the strongest power in central Iran, and Shiraz was made their capital. Mubariz al-Din's strength was such that when the khan of the Golden Horde, Jani Beg, sent an offer to become his vassal, he was able to decline. In fact, he pushed on into Azerbaijan, which Jani Beg had conquered in 1357. He defeated the khan's governor Akhichuq and occupied Tabriz, but realized that he could not hold his position against the Jalayirid troops marching from Baghdad and soon retreated. The Jalayirids would therefore maintain a hold on Tabriz, despite further attempts by the Muzaffarids to take it.
Mubariz al-Din was known as a cruel ruler, and soon afterwards, in 1358, his son Abu'l Fawaris Shah Shuja blinded and imprisoned him. A temporary reconciliation was reached, but it failed to last and he died, again in prison, in 1363.
Shah Shuja proved to be less of a tyrannic figure, but he was constantly fighting with his brothers, causing a long period of instability. In 1363, he marched against his first brother Shah Mahmud, who had been given control of Isfahan, although a peace was soon brokered. In the following year, however, Shah Mahmud, with the support of his father-in-law Shaikh Uvais of the Jalayirids, invaded Fars and captured Shiraz. Shah Shuja would not be able to reconquer his capital until 1366. Shah Mahmud would continue to play an influential role in Iranian politics, using his marriage alliance to claim Tabriz from the Jalayirids after Shaikh Uvais died in 1374. He occupied the city but soon gave up after he was struck by illness. He died the next year, allowing Shah Shuja to occupy Isfahan.
Shah Shuja then marched on Tabriz himself, but was forced to turn back when internal conditions in Fars deteriorated. His second brother Shah Muzaffar's son, Shah Yahya, rose in revolt in Isfahan. Having to make peace with the Jalayirids, Shah Shuja offered to marry his son Zain Al-Abidin to a sister of the Jalayirid ruler Husain. The Jalayirids refused the offer and invaded, although Shah Shuja managed to prevent them from getting any further than Sultaniyya. Before dying in 1384, he named his son Zain al-Abidin his successor and his third brother 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad as governor of Kirman. Not satisfied with the arrangement, Shah Yahya advanced against Shiraz, but was expelled from Isfahan by the city's populace and was forced to flee to Yazd. On his deathbed, Shah Shuja wrote a letter to Timur, who was then campaigning in Azerbaijan, in which he gave his sons' loyalty to the conqueror.
When Zain Al-Abidin succeeded his father, he quickly ignored the declaration of loyalty. Timur therefore marched into the Muzaffarid lands. He came to Isfahan, where the governor gave him control of the city, but a rebellion in the city killed any goodwill Timur had, resulting in a slaughter of the populace. Zain Al-Abidin fled from Shiraz in an attempt to make it to the Jalayirids in Baghdad, who were enemies of Timur. However, he encountered Shah Yahya's brother Shah Mansur, who imprisoned him. Shiraz soon fell to Timur. Shah Mansur and 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad, along with other Muzaffarid princes, went to Shiraz to declare their loyalty, whereupon Timur restored them to their positions. The conqueror soon after returned to Transoxiana; Shiraz was given to Shah Yahya.
Unfortunately, the Muzaffarids soon began to resume their local feuding. Shah Mansur began by expelling Shah Yahya from Shiraz, whereupon Shah Yahya again fled to Yazd. Shah Mansur then conquered Arbaquh, but failed to take Isfahan. Meanwhile, Zain al-Abidin escaped from prison and reached Isfahan. An alliance was then formed between Zain al-Abidin, Shah Yahya and 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad against Shah Mansur. The alliance proved to be unstable, however, and when they met Shah Mansur's army at Furg, Shah Yahya failed to show and 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad quickly retreated. The latter met Shah Mansur again, this time at Fasa, but lost and was captured in Ray. He was blinded and imprisoned. Shah Mansur then approached Kirman, where Sultan Ahmad and Shah Yahya had gone after the events at Furg. He offered a common alliance against Timur, but was rebuffed and thereafter returned to Shiraz.
Timur, who while campaigning elsewhere took note of these events, decided in 1392 that a campaign against Shah Mansur was in order. Shah Mansur gained the Sarbadar Muluk as his ally; Muluk was sent to defend Kashan and the Muzaffarid northern front. By March 1393 Timur had advanced down to Shushtar and Dizful, installing a Sarbadar as governor there. He also freed 'Imad-Din Ahmad from imprisonment. Shah Mansur fled Shiraz, but then turned around and met Timur's forces. With an army weakened by desertions, he fought bravely but was forced to retreat. Attempting to reach Shiraz, he was captured by forces of prince Shah Rukh and was decapitated. The other Muzaffarid princes then again swore allegiance to Timur. They were received honorably by the conqueror, but on May 22 in Qumisha they were executed. Only Zain al-Abidin and Sultan Shibli (another son of Shah Shuja) survived the purge. They were sent to Samarkand.
The Muzaffarid rulers were:
* Mubariz ad-Din Muhammad ibn al-Muzaffar (1314-1358)
* Abu'l Fawaris Djamal ad-Din Shah Shuja (first Yazd, then Shiraz 1353) (1335-1364, 1366-1384) with...
* Qutb Al-Din Shah Mahmud (at Isfahan) (1358-1366) d. 1375
* Mujahid ad-Din Zain Al-Abidin 'Ali (1384-1387)
* To the Timurid Empire...
o 'Imad ad-Din Sultan Ahmad (at Kerman)........1387-1391 with...
o Mubariz ad-Din Shah Yahya (at Shiraz)........1387-1391 and...
o Sultan Abu Ishaq (in Sirajan)................1387-1391
o Shah Mansur (Persia) (at Isfahan).....................1391-1393
Muzani, Abu Ibrahim al-
Muzani, Abu Ibrahim al- (Abu Ibrahim al-Muzani) (791-878). “Champion” of the Shafi‘i school of law. He compiled a celebrated compendium of the writings and lectures of his teacher al-Shafi‘i.
Abu Ibrahim al-Muzani see Muzani, Abu Ibrahim al-
Muzani, Abu Ibrahim al- (Abu Ibrahim al-Muzani) (791-878). “Champion” of the Shafi‘i school of law. He compiled a celebrated compendium of the writings and lectures of his teacher al-Shafi‘i.
Abu Ibrahim al-Muzani see Muzani, Abu Ibrahim al-
Mwana Kupona
Mwana Kupona (Mwana Kupona binti Msham) (1810, Pate Island - 1860/1865). Swahili poetess. She was the wife of Bwana Mataka, the Sheikh of Siu in Kenya, who for 20 years carried on a guerrilla warfare against Sayyid Said, Sultan of Zanzibar. She wrote one very well-known poem called Utendi wa Mwana Kupona (“The Homilectic of Mwana Kupona”).
Mwana Kupona binti Msham was a Swahili poetess of the 19th century, author of a poem known as Utendi wa Mwana Kupona ("the book of Mwana Kupona"), which is one of the most well-known works of early Swahili literature.
Relatively little is known about her life. Her grandson Muhammed bin Abdalla reported in the 1930s that Mwana Kupona was born in Pate, and that she was the last wife of sheikh Bwana Mataka, ruler of Siu (or Siyu), with whom she had two children. Mataka died in 1856; two years later, Mwana Kupona wrote her famous poem, dedicated to her 14 year old daughter Mwana Heshima. Mwana Kupona died around 1865 of womb hemorrhaging.
The poem Utendi wa Mwana Kupona dates to ca. 1858 and is centered on the teachings and advice of Mwana Kupona to her daughter concerning marriage and wifely duties. Despite the seemingly secular subject, the book is prominently religious and even mystical. It has been compared to the biblical Book of Proverbs. A few lines of the poem are dedicated to the author herself.
The Kenyan writer and Swahili literature scholar Kitula King'ei published in 2000 a children's book entitled Mwana Kupona: Poetess from Lamu, based on the work and life of Mwana Kupona.
Kupona, Mwana see Mwana Kupona
Mwana Kupona binti Msham see Mwana Kupona
Mwana Kupona (Mwana Kupona binti Msham) (1810, Pate Island - 1860/1865). Swahili poetess. She was the wife of Bwana Mataka, the Sheikh of Siu in Kenya, who for 20 years carried on a guerrilla warfare against Sayyid Said, Sultan of Zanzibar. She wrote one very well-known poem called Utendi wa Mwana Kupona (“The Homilectic of Mwana Kupona”).
Mwana Kupona binti Msham was a Swahili poetess of the 19th century, author of a poem known as Utendi wa Mwana Kupona ("the book of Mwana Kupona"), which is one of the most well-known works of early Swahili literature.
Relatively little is known about her life. Her grandson Muhammed bin Abdalla reported in the 1930s that Mwana Kupona was born in Pate, and that she was the last wife of sheikh Bwana Mataka, ruler of Siu (or Siyu), with whom she had two children. Mataka died in 1856; two years later, Mwana Kupona wrote her famous poem, dedicated to her 14 year old daughter Mwana Heshima. Mwana Kupona died around 1865 of womb hemorrhaging.
The poem Utendi wa Mwana Kupona dates to ca. 1858 and is centered on the teachings and advice of Mwana Kupona to her daughter concerning marriage and wifely duties. Despite the seemingly secular subject, the book is prominently religious and even mystical. It has been compared to the biblical Book of Proverbs. A few lines of the poem are dedicated to the author herself.
The Kenyan writer and Swahili literature scholar Kitula King'ei published in 2000 a children's book entitled Mwana Kupona: Poetess from Lamu, based on the work and life of Mwana Kupona.
Kupona, Mwana see Mwana Kupona
Mwana Kupona binti Msham see Mwana Kupona
Mwinyi, Ali Hassan
Ali Hassan Mwinyi (b. May 8,1925, Kivure, Pwani Region, Tanganyika Territory [now Tanzania] – b. February 29, 2024, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) was a Tanzanian politician who served as the second president of the United Republic of Tanzania from 1985 to 1995. Previous posts included Minister for Home Affairs and Vice President. He also was chairman of the ruling party, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from 1990 to 1996.
During Mwinyi's terms, Tanzania took the first steps to reverse the socialist policies of Julius Nyerere. He relaxed import restrictions and encouraged private enterprise. It was during his second term that multi-party politics were introduced under pressure for reform from foreign and domestic sources. Often referred to as Mzee Rukhsa ("Everything goes"), he pushed for liberalization of morals, beliefs, values (without breaking the law) and the economy.
Mwinyi was born on May 8, 1925, in the village of Kivure, Pwani Region, where he was also raised. He then moved to Zanzibar and got his primary education at Mangapwani Primary School in Mangapwani, Zanzibar West Region. Mwinyi then attended Mikindani Dole Secondary School in Dole, Zanzibar West Region. From 1945 to 1964, Mwinyi worked successively as a tutor, teacher, and head teacher at various schools before deciding to enter national politics.
Concurrently, Mwinyi earned his General Certificate of Education through correspondence (1950–1954) and then studied for a teaching diploma at the Institute of Education at Durham University in the United Kingdom. He did not leave England until 1962, being appointed principal of Zanzibar Teaching Training College in Zanzibar West Region, upon his return.
President Julius Nyerere retired in October 1985 and picked Ali Hassan Mwinyi to be his successor. Nyerere remained chairman of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), until 1990, which would later cause tensions between the government and the party regarding economic reform ideology. When the transition of power took place, Tanzania's economy was in the midst of a slump. From 1974 to 1984, the GDP was growing at an average of 2.6% per year while the population was increasing at a faster rate of 3.4% each year. Rural incomes and urban wages had both fallen by the early 1980s, despite Tanzania's minimum wage laws. Furthermore, the currency was overpriced, basic goods were scarce, and the country had over three billion dollars of foreign debt. Agricultural production was low, and the general opinion was that Nyerere's Ujamaa socialist policies had failed economically.
Such policies included the nationalization of major production, the forced re-villagization of the rural population into communal farms, and the banning of any opposition parties. Nyerere's supporters were opposed to involving the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in domestic economic reforms, believing it would cause instability and conflict with their socialist values. Also, Tanzania's relationship with the IMF had been strained since Nyerere's government failed to meet the loan conditions from a 1980 financial package agreement.
Early in this political transition, many believed that Mwinyi was unlikely to deviate from Nyerere's policies since he was viewed as a loyal supporter of his predecessor. However, Ali Hassan Mwinyi and his followers called for economic and political reform to liberalize the market and review traditional socialist ideologies. He surrounded himself with reformists, even replacing three cabinet members and other ministers who were opposed to change. The Prime Minister at the time, Joseph Warioba, along with the finance minister Clement Msuya were also quite supportive of new policies. During his first address to Tanzania's Parliament in 1986, Mwinyi promised to resume negotiations with the IMF and World Bank, assuming that any resulting agreement would be beneficial to the citizens of Tanzania.
In 1986, Mwinyi made an agreement with the IMF to receive a $78 million standby loan, which was Tanzania's first foreign loan in over six years. Bilateral donors approved his austerity plan and agreed to reschedule Tanzania's debt payments. They agreed to do so for a period of five years, requiring that Tanzania pay only 2.5% of their debts in the meantime. In an interview, Mwinyi urged donor countries to use Canada as an example and write off Tanzania's debts all together. If this request was not possible, he asked instead for a minimum of ten years to pay off loans but said that twenty to twenty-five years was a more ideal range. He predicted that by this time, the country's economy would be recovered and that they would be in a position to repay their debts without it hurting them. In the same interview, he also asked aid donors for lower interest rates.
Mwinyi claimed that his negotiations with the IMF were on behalf of the people: for example, he agreed to the Fund's request that he decrease the number of public institutions, but only when doing so was necessary and could be done gradually. Furthermore, he declined their recommendation to freeze pay raises within the government and to cut free public services.
The following year, Mwinyi negotiated Tanzania's first structural adjustment facility (SAF) with the IMF, followed by subsequent agreements in 1988 and again in 1990. In addition to these developments, the World Bank provided structural adjustment credits for reforms in the agricultural, industrial, and financial sectors. In 1989, President Mwinyi began the second phases of his reform program with the intention of reforming social sectors, specifically by increasing government spending on education.
In 1991, the first stages of the transition towards multipartyism began when Mwinyi appointed Chief Justice Francis Nyalali to lead a commission to gage the amount of popular support for the current single-party system. This commission submitted their report to the President in 1992, recommending that the government transition into a multi-party system. They made this recommendation despite the fact that only twenty-one percent out of the 36,299 Tanzanians who were interviewed favored this change. However, fifty-five percent of the seventy-seven percent who supported the current system were in favor of some sort of reform. Justice Nyalali pointed to twenty specific laws that were in need of revision in order to comply with the requirements of a multi-party system. Mwinyi supported their recommendation and the CCM Extraordinary National Party Conference ratified changes through constitutional amendments in February 1992. However, not all twenty of these laws were revised, including the controversial Preventative Detention Act that was left-over from colonial times.
During the years of Julius Nyerere's presidency, corruption was viewed as a sort of oppression that undermined Tanzania's egalitarian values. However, reports of corruption increased along with the state's economic decline. Under Mwinyi's presidency, corrupt practices worsened under his economically liberal policies. It became so endemic that some donors froze aid in 1994 in response.
During the first multi-party election in 1995, the opposition parties used the people's resentments towards the ongoing corruption as political fuel. However, the CCM candidate Benjamin Mkapa was also able to use corruption in his favor, as he was viewed as untainted by any of the corruption scandals that marred the Mwinyi administration.
Brothers and well-known businessmen V.G. Chavda and P.G. Chavda received a $3.5 million loan from a debt conversion program (DCP) in 1993. They promised to use these funds to revamp rundown plantations in Tanga. This included upgrading worker housing, repairing old machines, and replanting farmland. They claimed their projects would create 1,400 jobs and would generate $42 million in foreign exchange money. In reality, they had diverted the funds outside of the country through the purchase of fake machines and parts. It was later uncovered that high-ranking politicians had covered for them, including the Minister for Home Affairs, Augustine Mrema. They were able to evade prosecution.
In early 1995, the well-known company Mohamed Enterprises was accused of allegedly distributing food that was unfit for human consumption. Mrema claimed he would punish the company but was demoted to Minister of Youth and Culture before he could take action. Mrema criticized Mwinyi's administration for tolerating high levels of corruption and being complicit about anti-corruption enforcement. He was then removed from the cabinet, and later became a candidate for one of the opposition parties, NCCR-Mageuzi.
In a 1989 interview, when asked about his views regarding apartheid, Mwinyi advocated for tough, comprehensive sanctions to be carried out against South Africa. He also called for Western nations to assist "frontline states" in dealing with any destabilization attempts made by the South African government against those who oppose them. Mwinyi said that practicing these measures concurrently would help to dismantle apartheid. He called the Reagan administration's hesitance to enact tougher sanctions a "stumbling block," and expressed his hope that future American leaders would take more action against South Africa's regime.
Ali Hassan Mwinyi married Siti Mwinyi in 1960, with whom he had six sons and six daughters. In retirement, Ali Hassan Mwinyi stayed out of the limelight and continued to live in Dar es Salaam.
In November 2023, Mwinyi was hospitalized for a chest illness. He died of lung cancer at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, on February 29, 2024, at the age of 98.
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