Jemal Pasha
Jemal Pasha (Cemal Pasa) (Ahmed Cemal Paşa) (b. May 6, 1872, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Tur.]—died July 21, 1922, Tiflis, Georgia, Transcaucasian S.F.S.R. [now Tbilisi, Georgia]). Young Turk soldier and statesman and a governor of Syria (1915-1918). From 1913 until the end of World War I, he formed, together with Enver Pasha and Tal‘at Pasha, the informal dictatorial triumvirate which ruled the Ottoman Empire. From his headquarters in Damascus, he reacted severely against political disaffection among the local Arab leaders. In 1918, he fled to Berlin and Switzerland. From Moscow, he facilitated the diplomatic contacts between the Bolsheviks and Kemalist regimes.
Cemal Paşa was a Turkish army officer and a leading member of the Ottoman government during World War I.
Cemal joined the secret Committee of Union and Progress while a staff officer, becoming a member of the military administration after the Revolution of 1908. A forceful provincial governor, he was made head of security forces in Istanbul and then minister of public works. When World War I broke out, Cemal was, with Talat Paşa and Enver Paşa, one of the government’s most influential men. After attempting unsuccessfully to invade Egypt, he was made governor of Syria, and he persecuted the Armenian minority there. After the war he served the new Turkish republic until his assassination by an Armenian nationalist.
Cemal Pasa see Jemal Pasha
Ahmed Cemal Pasa see Jemal Pasha
Cemal Paşa was a Turkish army officer and a leading member of the Ottoman government during World War I.
Cemal joined the secret Committee of Union and Progress while a staff officer, becoming a member of the military administration after the Revolution of 1908. A forceful provincial governor, he was made head of security forces in Istanbul and then minister of public works. When World War I broke out, Cemal was, with Talat Paşa and Enver Paşa, one of the government’s most influential men. After attempting unsuccessfully to invade Egypt, he was made governor of Syria, and he persecuted the Armenian minority there. After the war he served the new Turkish republic until his assassination by an Armenian nationalist.
Cemal Pasa see Jemal Pasha
Ahmed Cemal Pasa see Jemal Pasha
Jenghiz Khan
Jenghiz Khan (Genghis Khan) (Chinggis Khan) (Temujin) (1162/1167-1227). Mongol commander and conqueror who became the ruler of most of Asia. His original name “Temujin” was changed into that of Jenghiz Khan or “Universal Ruler” when he was acclaimed khan by the Mongol princes.
Jenghiz Khan was born with the name of Temujin near Lake Baikal (now in the USSR), the son of Yesukai (Yesugai), a Mongol chief and ruler of a large region between the Amur River and the Great Wall of China. His father was murdered by a rival tribe when Temujin was only eight years old. His mother thus assumed the principal responsibility of teaching Temujin the skills he needed to be a Mongol chief. He owed some of his proficiency in hunting and warfare to her. The most important principle she taught him was that he needed to create a network of loyal friends and allies in order to increase his power and to do battle against his enemies. Early in his career, he began to develop such a coterie of associates; one explanation for his ultimate success in unifying the Mongols was that he was adept at forging alliances with influential leaders.
At the age of 13, Temujin succeeded his father as tribal chief. His early reign was marked by successive revolts of his subject tribes and an intense struggle to retain his leadership, but the Mongol ruler soon demonstrated his military genius and conquered not only his intractable subjects but his hostile neighbors as well. Temujin cooperated with his allies in campaigning against other tribes, but his standard practice was to turn against his allies when he no longer needed them. After all, Temujin wanted to be the ruler and the unifier of the Mongols, not simply one member of a coalition. During his rise to power, he attacked, captured, and executed his “sworn brother” Jamukha and his first patron, the Ong Khan. Throughout the 1180s and 1190s, he assembled a trustworthy private army -- his nokod -- which he rewarded by dividing among them the spoils that accrued from their campaigns.
By the beginning of the thirteenth century, Temujin was ready to challenge the more important Mongol tribes. He first crushed the Tartars who had murdered his father. Then he defeated, in rapid succession, the Kereit, the Naiman, and the Merkid.
By 1206, Temujin was master of almost all of Mongolia. In that year, a convocation of the subjugated tribes gathered together at an assembly (known as a khuriltai) and proclaimed Temujin “Jenghiz Khan” (Chinese, cheng-sze, “precious warrior;” Turkish, khan, “lord”), leader of the united Mongol and Tatar tribes. Kocochu, the leading shaman among the Mongols, challenged Jenghiz’s supremacy, but Jenghiz won the battle and ordered his loyal aides to execute Kocochu by breaking the shaman’s back. Thereafter, the city of Karakorum was designated as Jenghiz’s capital.
The khan then began his conquest of China. Jenghiz first attacked the Tanguts, who had established a Chinese-style dynasty, the Xixia, and who controlled northwest China. Commercial disputes and Jenghiz’s desire to dominate the trade routes to the West inevitably led to war.
By 1208, Jenghiz had established a foothold inside the Great Wall and, by 1209, the Tanguts submitted and pledged to offer tribute to the Mongols, even though they had not been completely subdued.
Conflicts over trade gave rise also to a war with the Jurchen (Juchen Chin), who ruled North China as the Jin (Kin) dynasty (1122-1234). In 1213, Jenghiz led his armies south and west into the area dominated by the Jin dynasty, not stopping until he reached the Shantung Peninsula. In 1215, his armies captured the Jin capital, Yenking (Yanjing, now Peking), the last Chin stronghold in northern China. With this victory, the Mongols proved themselves capable of besieging and occupying towns.
Jenghiz’s next military engagement is often portrayed as a reaction to the provocation of his opponent. In 1216, Jenghiz sent an embassy and a trading caravan to the Khwaramian shah Ala al-Din Muhammad, who governed much of Central Asia. One of the shah’s officials killed the merchants. When Jenghiz learned of the fate of his men, he sent a second embassy demanding that the shah hand over his official for punishment. Instead, the shah executed the unfortunate envoys, and Jenghiz was handed an excellent pretext for the declaration of war. To all outward appearances, the shah had provoked the conflict that was about to erupt. Jenghiz made elaborate and detailed preparations before embarking on the campaign. In 1219, leading about 200,000 troops, many of whom were non-Mongols who had decided to ally themselves with Jenghiz, Jenghiz set forth for Central Asia. By this time, his soldiers had become adept at besieging towns. Employing catapults, which could hurl enormous rocks at the enemy, they devastated one town after another. In 1220, they entered and sacked the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, and within a year they occupied Balkh, Merv, and Nishapur. The destruction and the loss of life were, according to the Persian chroniclers staggering. Jenghiz inflicted a stiff penalty for the murder of his envoys. The shah died in 1221, and his son Jalal al-Din fled to North India accompanied by a small detachment.
Proceeding onward, in what are now northern India and West Pakistan, the Mongol invaders conquered the cities of Peshawar and Lahore and the surrounding countryside. In 1222, they marched into Russia and plundered the region between the Volga and Dnepr River and from the Persian Gulf almost to the Arctic Ocean.
Jenghiz remained in Central Asia from 1222 to 1225, but his underlings conducted campaigns in other areas. Jebe and Subotei briefly occupied Tiflis (in Georgia) and reached all the way to the Crimean Sea before rejoining Jenghiz. Mukhali persisted in attacking the tottering Jin dynasty. Another of Jenghiz’s armies coerced the Korean king into submitting tribute. From the time of his investiture as khan of the Mongols in 1206, Jenghiz had expanded the territory under Mongol control enormously.
However, the Tanguts, the first group Jenghiz had subjugated, were now uncooperative. They refused to accede to Jenghiz’s demands that they send troops for his forays into Central Asia. Their ruler also refused to send his son as a hostage to the Mongols. Jenghiz was determined to punish them for their insolence. In 1226, he headed for Ningxia, the Tangut capital. This campaign turned out to be his last, for he died in August of 1227 without having pacified the Tanguts. The body of the dead khan was transported to Burkhan Khaldun (“Buddha Cliff”), a mountain range in northeast Mongolia. He was buried there in 1229 with forty young women. Forty horses were sacrificed at his tomb. The Mongols deliberately concealed the precise location of his burial site to stymie grave robbers.
The greatness of Jenghiz Khan as a military leader was borne out not only by his conquests but by the excellent organization, discipline, and maneuverability of his armies. Much of Jenghiz’s success lay in his military organization and tactics. His army was divided into groups of one thousand, each of which constituted a chiliarchy with each chiliarchy being headed by a nobleman known as a noyan. This new organization was designed to undermine the authority of the old clan and tribal leaders, who would be superceded by the noyan. The noyan levied taxes, raised the military forces, and, most important, obeyed Jenghiz’s commands. Jenghiz also selected an imperial guard -- a keshigden -- from the aristocratic families of Mongolia and assigned them responsible positions in civil and especially military affairs. He thus created a new nobility that was loyal to him. The campaigns that he and his noyan initiated were meticulously planned. Tactics and strategy were carefully worked out to capitalize on the information about the enemy obtained from spies and allies. His troops consisted primarily of cavalry, who had the advantage of mobility. He sought an edge over his enemies through the use of psychological terror. His deliberate massacres so frightened his opponents that they often surrendered without putting up a fight. The actual massacres he condoned have led later historians to exaggerate his ruthlessness and savagery. However, there is no proof that Jenghiz Khan planned to conquer the world; one military campaign simply led to another.
There is no single satisfactory explanation for the sudden eruption of the Mongols. The gradual desiccation of Mongolia; the decline in the mean annual temperature, which led to a shorter growing season and thus less grass; the reluctance of the dynasty in China to trade and thus to provide essential goods to the Mongols; and Jenghiz’s own ambitions have all been suggested as possible reasons for the Mongol conquests.
However, in addition to his miltary acumen, the Mongol ruler was also an admirable statesman. His empire was so well organized that, so it was claimed, travelers could go from one end of his domain to the other without fear or danger. At his death, on August 18, 1227, the Mongol Empire was divided among his three sons. Jenghiz bequeathed not only a vast territory to his descendants but also policies that were to prove invaluable in ruling the diverse ethnic, religious, and national groups in the domains he had conquered. One of his most important legacies was his policy of religious toleration. He recognized that good relations with the religious potentates in a region facilitated Mongol control over its inhabitants. His principal interest was to use religion to help him govern. However, he was also eager to meet with learned men and talk about different religions with them. Having heard that the Daoists had developed an elixir of immortality, he invited Changchun, one of their leaders, to his camp in Central Asia. Changchun disabused him of that view, responding, “I have means of protecting life, but no elixir that will prolong it.” Despite this disappointment, Jenghiz did not withdraw his invitation. In fact, he was so delighted with his guest that he exempted Changchun’s pupils and Daoist monks in general from taxation. Similarly, Jenghiz was generous to Islam, Nestorian Christianity, and the other foreign religions he encountered.
Jenghiz’s toleration extended not only to different religions but also to different ethnic groups and nationalities. He placed quite a few foreigners in influential positions in government because he realized that the Mongols lacked the administrative skills to rule a great empire. He recruited a sinicized Khitan official named Yelu Chucai to devise plans for an administrative structure. He ordered a Turk named Ta-ta Tong-a to adapt the Uighur Turkic script to provide a written language for the Mongols. He employed Uighurs as tutors for his sons, advisers, secretaries, and interpreters. During his own lifetime, Jenghiz did not truly develop a sophisticated administration, but he laid the foundations for his descendants to do so. He also promoted commerce, from which his descendants also profited handsomely.
One of Jenghiz’s most enduring legacies to his successors was the Jasagh, a series of rules that is often cited as the first Mongol law code. His descendants added to and amended the Jasagh, but most of the laws refer to early Mongol society and appear to mirror Jenghiz’s own views. They reflect the mores and customs of a nomadic society. There are no provisions concerning ownership of land, the rights and duties of tenants, or the inheritance of property; the specifics of the tax structure are not described; and commerce is not mentioned. Instead, the edicts emphasize the concerns of a pastoral society. They provide for capital punishment for horse thieves, inflict severe punishments on soldiers who did not perform their duties properly, and prohibit the washing of clothes.
On the other hand, a few of the pronouncements in the Jasagh reflect the new responsibilities and concerns imposed upon the Mongols by their conquests. It officially prohibits religious discrimination and forbids favoritism toward any specific foreign sect. It exhibits a desire for a more centralized military and political organization that was essential in ruling the new domains. Jenghiz, through these orders, mandated the decimal system of organizing the army. Mongol troops were divided into units of tens, thousands, and ten thousands, each with its own commander. The commanders, in turn, were obliged to carry out the orders of the khan. Even the most important commanders were to follow the dictates of the khan.
The lack of a precise and orderly means of succession proved to be the Mongol’s undoing. An assemblage of the leading Mongol nobles convened to elect the new khan. In theory, the most talented or oldest chieftain was selected as the khan. Jenghiz himself had four sons from his principal wife, Borte. Jochi, the oldest son (c.1184-1227), may not have been Jenghizi’s son since Borte had been kidnapped and raped by Jenghiz’s enemies and Jochi was born just a few months after Jenghiz had rescued Borte. Nevertheless, Jenghiz accepted Jochi as his son, although their relationship was fraught with tension. Thus, Jochi was not considered as a candidate for the succession.
Chagatai, the second son (c. 1185-1242), was a fierce warrior and a stern upholder of Mongol traditions. Chagatai’s repressive acts earned him the wrath of Persian historians. They characterized him as “a tyrannical man, cruel, sanguinary, and an evil-doer.” Chagatai’s lack of toleration and his severity ruled him out as the sovereign of a great empire that governed a diversity of peoples and tribes.
Jenghiz’s youngest son, Tolui (c. 1190-1231 [1232?]), might have seemed the logical choice to succeed his father as the khan. He was probably the most accomplished of Jenghiz’s sons in warfare, but he was a rough-and-tumble military man who did not have the administrative skills to govern a great empire. Tolui’s son Kublai (1215-1294) later became the great khan and established Mongol rule in China. The third son, Ogedei (1186-1241), was flexible, tolerant, and conciliatory, and recognized that a civilian government was needed to rule the Mongol empire. Ogedei was clearly the optimal choice for the khanate, and sources written much later indicate that Jenghiz chose Ogedei as his successor. Even with such an anointment, two years elapsed before Ogedei was selected as the khan, as it appears that Tolui challenged him. However, Jenghiz’s choice seems to have tipped the scales in Ogedei’s favor, although the lack of an orderly system of succession inevitably provoked conflicts later and finally led to the destruction of Jenghiz’s empire.
Genghis Khan see Jenghiz Khan
Chinggis Khan see Jenghiz Khan
Temujin see Jenghiz Khan
"Universal Ruler" see Jenghiz Khan
Jenghiz Khan (Genghis Khan) (Chinggis Khan) (Temujin) (1162/1167-1227). Mongol commander and conqueror who became the ruler of most of Asia. His original name “Temujin” was changed into that of Jenghiz Khan or “Universal Ruler” when he was acclaimed khan by the Mongol princes.
Jenghiz Khan was born with the name of Temujin near Lake Baikal (now in the USSR), the son of Yesukai (Yesugai), a Mongol chief and ruler of a large region between the Amur River and the Great Wall of China. His father was murdered by a rival tribe when Temujin was only eight years old. His mother thus assumed the principal responsibility of teaching Temujin the skills he needed to be a Mongol chief. He owed some of his proficiency in hunting and warfare to her. The most important principle she taught him was that he needed to create a network of loyal friends and allies in order to increase his power and to do battle against his enemies. Early in his career, he began to develop such a coterie of associates; one explanation for his ultimate success in unifying the Mongols was that he was adept at forging alliances with influential leaders.
At the age of 13, Temujin succeeded his father as tribal chief. His early reign was marked by successive revolts of his subject tribes and an intense struggle to retain his leadership, but the Mongol ruler soon demonstrated his military genius and conquered not only his intractable subjects but his hostile neighbors as well. Temujin cooperated with his allies in campaigning against other tribes, but his standard practice was to turn against his allies when he no longer needed them. After all, Temujin wanted to be the ruler and the unifier of the Mongols, not simply one member of a coalition. During his rise to power, he attacked, captured, and executed his “sworn brother” Jamukha and his first patron, the Ong Khan. Throughout the 1180s and 1190s, he assembled a trustworthy private army -- his nokod -- which he rewarded by dividing among them the spoils that accrued from their campaigns.
By the beginning of the thirteenth century, Temujin was ready to challenge the more important Mongol tribes. He first crushed the Tartars who had murdered his father. Then he defeated, in rapid succession, the Kereit, the Naiman, and the Merkid.
By 1206, Temujin was master of almost all of Mongolia. In that year, a convocation of the subjugated tribes gathered together at an assembly (known as a khuriltai) and proclaimed Temujin “Jenghiz Khan” (Chinese, cheng-sze, “precious warrior;” Turkish, khan, “lord”), leader of the united Mongol and Tatar tribes. Kocochu, the leading shaman among the Mongols, challenged Jenghiz’s supremacy, but Jenghiz won the battle and ordered his loyal aides to execute Kocochu by breaking the shaman’s back. Thereafter, the city of Karakorum was designated as Jenghiz’s capital.
The khan then began his conquest of China. Jenghiz first attacked the Tanguts, who had established a Chinese-style dynasty, the Xixia, and who controlled northwest China. Commercial disputes and Jenghiz’s desire to dominate the trade routes to the West inevitably led to war.
By 1208, Jenghiz had established a foothold inside the Great Wall and, by 1209, the Tanguts submitted and pledged to offer tribute to the Mongols, even though they had not been completely subdued.
Conflicts over trade gave rise also to a war with the Jurchen (Juchen Chin), who ruled North China as the Jin (Kin) dynasty (1122-1234). In 1213, Jenghiz led his armies south and west into the area dominated by the Jin dynasty, not stopping until he reached the Shantung Peninsula. In 1215, his armies captured the Jin capital, Yenking (Yanjing, now Peking), the last Chin stronghold in northern China. With this victory, the Mongols proved themselves capable of besieging and occupying towns.
Jenghiz’s next military engagement is often portrayed as a reaction to the provocation of his opponent. In 1216, Jenghiz sent an embassy and a trading caravan to the Khwaramian shah Ala al-Din Muhammad, who governed much of Central Asia. One of the shah’s officials killed the merchants. When Jenghiz learned of the fate of his men, he sent a second embassy demanding that the shah hand over his official for punishment. Instead, the shah executed the unfortunate envoys, and Jenghiz was handed an excellent pretext for the declaration of war. To all outward appearances, the shah had provoked the conflict that was about to erupt. Jenghiz made elaborate and detailed preparations before embarking on the campaign. In 1219, leading about 200,000 troops, many of whom were non-Mongols who had decided to ally themselves with Jenghiz, Jenghiz set forth for Central Asia. By this time, his soldiers had become adept at besieging towns. Employing catapults, which could hurl enormous rocks at the enemy, they devastated one town after another. In 1220, they entered and sacked the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, and within a year they occupied Balkh, Merv, and Nishapur. The destruction and the loss of life were, according to the Persian chroniclers staggering. Jenghiz inflicted a stiff penalty for the murder of his envoys. The shah died in 1221, and his son Jalal al-Din fled to North India accompanied by a small detachment.
Proceeding onward, in what are now northern India and West Pakistan, the Mongol invaders conquered the cities of Peshawar and Lahore and the surrounding countryside. In 1222, they marched into Russia and plundered the region between the Volga and Dnepr River and from the Persian Gulf almost to the Arctic Ocean.
Jenghiz remained in Central Asia from 1222 to 1225, but his underlings conducted campaigns in other areas. Jebe and Subotei briefly occupied Tiflis (in Georgia) and reached all the way to the Crimean Sea before rejoining Jenghiz. Mukhali persisted in attacking the tottering Jin dynasty. Another of Jenghiz’s armies coerced the Korean king into submitting tribute. From the time of his investiture as khan of the Mongols in 1206, Jenghiz had expanded the territory under Mongol control enormously.
However, the Tanguts, the first group Jenghiz had subjugated, were now uncooperative. They refused to accede to Jenghiz’s demands that they send troops for his forays into Central Asia. Their ruler also refused to send his son as a hostage to the Mongols. Jenghiz was determined to punish them for their insolence. In 1226, he headed for Ningxia, the Tangut capital. This campaign turned out to be his last, for he died in August of 1227 without having pacified the Tanguts. The body of the dead khan was transported to Burkhan Khaldun (“Buddha Cliff”), a mountain range in northeast Mongolia. He was buried there in 1229 with forty young women. Forty horses were sacrificed at his tomb. The Mongols deliberately concealed the precise location of his burial site to stymie grave robbers.
The greatness of Jenghiz Khan as a military leader was borne out not only by his conquests but by the excellent organization, discipline, and maneuverability of his armies. Much of Jenghiz’s success lay in his military organization and tactics. His army was divided into groups of one thousand, each of which constituted a chiliarchy with each chiliarchy being headed by a nobleman known as a noyan. This new organization was designed to undermine the authority of the old clan and tribal leaders, who would be superceded by the noyan. The noyan levied taxes, raised the military forces, and, most important, obeyed Jenghiz’s commands. Jenghiz also selected an imperial guard -- a keshigden -- from the aristocratic families of Mongolia and assigned them responsible positions in civil and especially military affairs. He thus created a new nobility that was loyal to him. The campaigns that he and his noyan initiated were meticulously planned. Tactics and strategy were carefully worked out to capitalize on the information about the enemy obtained from spies and allies. His troops consisted primarily of cavalry, who had the advantage of mobility. He sought an edge over his enemies through the use of psychological terror. His deliberate massacres so frightened his opponents that they often surrendered without putting up a fight. The actual massacres he condoned have led later historians to exaggerate his ruthlessness and savagery. However, there is no proof that Jenghiz Khan planned to conquer the world; one military campaign simply led to another.
There is no single satisfactory explanation for the sudden eruption of the Mongols. The gradual desiccation of Mongolia; the decline in the mean annual temperature, which led to a shorter growing season and thus less grass; the reluctance of the dynasty in China to trade and thus to provide essential goods to the Mongols; and Jenghiz’s own ambitions have all been suggested as possible reasons for the Mongol conquests.
However, in addition to his miltary acumen, the Mongol ruler was also an admirable statesman. His empire was so well organized that, so it was claimed, travelers could go from one end of his domain to the other without fear or danger. At his death, on August 18, 1227, the Mongol Empire was divided among his three sons. Jenghiz bequeathed not only a vast territory to his descendants but also policies that were to prove invaluable in ruling the diverse ethnic, religious, and national groups in the domains he had conquered. One of his most important legacies was his policy of religious toleration. He recognized that good relations with the religious potentates in a region facilitated Mongol control over its inhabitants. His principal interest was to use religion to help him govern. However, he was also eager to meet with learned men and talk about different religions with them. Having heard that the Daoists had developed an elixir of immortality, he invited Changchun, one of their leaders, to his camp in Central Asia. Changchun disabused him of that view, responding, “I have means of protecting life, but no elixir that will prolong it.” Despite this disappointment, Jenghiz did not withdraw his invitation. In fact, he was so delighted with his guest that he exempted Changchun’s pupils and Daoist monks in general from taxation. Similarly, Jenghiz was generous to Islam, Nestorian Christianity, and the other foreign religions he encountered.
Jenghiz’s toleration extended not only to different religions but also to different ethnic groups and nationalities. He placed quite a few foreigners in influential positions in government because he realized that the Mongols lacked the administrative skills to rule a great empire. He recruited a sinicized Khitan official named Yelu Chucai to devise plans for an administrative structure. He ordered a Turk named Ta-ta Tong-a to adapt the Uighur Turkic script to provide a written language for the Mongols. He employed Uighurs as tutors for his sons, advisers, secretaries, and interpreters. During his own lifetime, Jenghiz did not truly develop a sophisticated administration, but he laid the foundations for his descendants to do so. He also promoted commerce, from which his descendants also profited handsomely.
One of Jenghiz’s most enduring legacies to his successors was the Jasagh, a series of rules that is often cited as the first Mongol law code. His descendants added to and amended the Jasagh, but most of the laws refer to early Mongol society and appear to mirror Jenghiz’s own views. They reflect the mores and customs of a nomadic society. There are no provisions concerning ownership of land, the rights and duties of tenants, or the inheritance of property; the specifics of the tax structure are not described; and commerce is not mentioned. Instead, the edicts emphasize the concerns of a pastoral society. They provide for capital punishment for horse thieves, inflict severe punishments on soldiers who did not perform their duties properly, and prohibit the washing of clothes.
On the other hand, a few of the pronouncements in the Jasagh reflect the new responsibilities and concerns imposed upon the Mongols by their conquests. It officially prohibits religious discrimination and forbids favoritism toward any specific foreign sect. It exhibits a desire for a more centralized military and political organization that was essential in ruling the new domains. Jenghiz, through these orders, mandated the decimal system of organizing the army. Mongol troops were divided into units of tens, thousands, and ten thousands, each with its own commander. The commanders, in turn, were obliged to carry out the orders of the khan. Even the most important commanders were to follow the dictates of the khan.
The lack of a precise and orderly means of succession proved to be the Mongol’s undoing. An assemblage of the leading Mongol nobles convened to elect the new khan. In theory, the most talented or oldest chieftain was selected as the khan. Jenghiz himself had four sons from his principal wife, Borte. Jochi, the oldest son (c.1184-1227), may not have been Jenghizi’s son since Borte had been kidnapped and raped by Jenghiz’s enemies and Jochi was born just a few months after Jenghiz had rescued Borte. Nevertheless, Jenghiz accepted Jochi as his son, although their relationship was fraught with tension. Thus, Jochi was not considered as a candidate for the succession.
Chagatai, the second son (c. 1185-1242), was a fierce warrior and a stern upholder of Mongol traditions. Chagatai’s repressive acts earned him the wrath of Persian historians. They characterized him as “a tyrannical man, cruel, sanguinary, and an evil-doer.” Chagatai’s lack of toleration and his severity ruled him out as the sovereign of a great empire that governed a diversity of peoples and tribes.
Jenghiz’s youngest son, Tolui (c. 1190-1231 [1232?]), might have seemed the logical choice to succeed his father as the khan. He was probably the most accomplished of Jenghiz’s sons in warfare, but he was a rough-and-tumble military man who did not have the administrative skills to govern a great empire. Tolui’s son Kublai (1215-1294) later became the great khan and established Mongol rule in China. The third son, Ogedei (1186-1241), was flexible, tolerant, and conciliatory, and recognized that a civilian government was needed to rule the Mongol empire. Ogedei was clearly the optimal choice for the khanate, and sources written much later indicate that Jenghiz chose Ogedei as his successor. Even with such an anointment, two years elapsed before Ogedei was selected as the khan, as it appears that Tolui challenged him. However, Jenghiz’s choice seems to have tipped the scales in Ogedei’s favor, although the lack of an orderly system of succession inevitably provoked conflicts later and finally led to the destruction of Jenghiz’s empire.
Genghis Khan see Jenghiz Khan
Chinggis Khan see Jenghiz Khan
Temujin see Jenghiz Khan
"Universal Ruler" see Jenghiz Khan
Jeremiah
Jeremiah (in Arabic, Irmiya). Biblical prophet is not mentioned in the Qur’an, but Muslim folklore makes use of the details found in the Bible.
Jeremiah was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and traditionally, authorship of the Book of Lamentations is ascribed to him.
Irmiya see Jeremiah
Jeremiah (in Arabic, Irmiya). Biblical prophet is not mentioned in the Qur’an, but Muslim folklore makes use of the details found in the Bible.
Jeremiah was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and traditionally, authorship of the Book of Lamentations is ascribed to him.
Irmiya see Jeremiah
Jesus
Jesus. See ‘Isa.
Jesus. See ‘Isa.
Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah
Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah (‘Abd Allah Jewdet) (Abdullah Cevdet) (1869-1932). Turkish poet, translator, politician, free-thinker and publicist of Kurdish origin. He made the study of psychology known to his compatriots.
Abdullah Cevdet was an Ottoman intellectual and a medical doctor by profession. He was of Kurdish descent. He was also a poet, translator, radical free-thinker and an ideologist of the Young Turks who led the Westernization movement in the Ottoman Empire from 1908 until 1918.
Cevdet was influenced by materialistic philosophies of the West and antagonistic towards institutionalized religion. He published articles on socio-religious, political, economic and literary issues in the periodical İctihad, which he founded in 1904 in Geneva and used to promote his modernist thoughts and enlighten the Muslim masses. He was arrested and expelled from his country several times due to his political activities and lived in Europe (e.g. London, Paris).
The overall goal of Young Turks such as Cevdet was to bring to an end the despotic regime of Sultan Abdülhamid II. For this purpose, Cevdet and 4 other medical students at the Military Medical Academy in Istanbul founded the secret "Committee of Union and Progress" (CUP) in 1889. Initially with no political agenda, it became politicized by several leaders and factions and mounted a revolution against Abdülhamid in 1908. However, Abdullah Cevdet was not politically involved in the CUP but promoted his secular ideas until his death.
He was also involved in several Kurdish organizations formed after the 1908 revolution. He wrote of the Kürd Teavün ve Tarakki newspaper as well as the two journals published by the Kürd Hevi organization. Prior to the First World War, his involvement with the Kurdish associations did not contradict his Ottomanism. However, after 1918, he took part in the Kürdistan Teali organization which did in fact advocate Kurdish self rule.
He was tried a few times because some of his writings were considered as blasphemy against Islam and the prophet Muhammad. For this reason he was labelled as the "eternal enemy of Islam" (Süssheim, EI) and called "Aduvullah" (the enemy of God). Probably his most famous court case was due to his praising the Bahá'í Faith in his article in İctihad on March 1, 1922. Abdullah Cevdet was one of the intellectuals who influenced Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in his reforms of secularization in Turkey.
'Abd Allah Jewdet see Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah
Abdullah Cevdet see Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah
Cevdet, Abdullah see Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah
Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah (‘Abd Allah Jewdet) (Abdullah Cevdet) (1869-1932). Turkish poet, translator, politician, free-thinker and publicist of Kurdish origin. He made the study of psychology known to his compatriots.
Abdullah Cevdet was an Ottoman intellectual and a medical doctor by profession. He was of Kurdish descent. He was also a poet, translator, radical free-thinker and an ideologist of the Young Turks who led the Westernization movement in the Ottoman Empire from 1908 until 1918.
Cevdet was influenced by materialistic philosophies of the West and antagonistic towards institutionalized religion. He published articles on socio-religious, political, economic and literary issues in the periodical İctihad, which he founded in 1904 in Geneva and used to promote his modernist thoughts and enlighten the Muslim masses. He was arrested and expelled from his country several times due to his political activities and lived in Europe (e.g. London, Paris).
The overall goal of Young Turks such as Cevdet was to bring to an end the despotic regime of Sultan Abdülhamid II. For this purpose, Cevdet and 4 other medical students at the Military Medical Academy in Istanbul founded the secret "Committee of Union and Progress" (CUP) in 1889. Initially with no political agenda, it became politicized by several leaders and factions and mounted a revolution against Abdülhamid in 1908. However, Abdullah Cevdet was not politically involved in the CUP but promoted his secular ideas until his death.
He was also involved in several Kurdish organizations formed after the 1908 revolution. He wrote of the Kürd Teavün ve Tarakki newspaper as well as the two journals published by the Kürd Hevi organization. Prior to the First World War, his involvement with the Kurdish associations did not contradict his Ottomanism. However, after 1918, he took part in the Kürdistan Teali organization which did in fact advocate Kurdish self rule.
He was tried a few times because some of his writings were considered as blasphemy against Islam and the prophet Muhammad. For this reason he was labelled as the "eternal enemy of Islam" (Süssheim, EI) and called "Aduvullah" (the enemy of God). Probably his most famous court case was due to his praising the Bahá'í Faith in his article in İctihad on March 1, 1922. Abdullah Cevdet was one of the intellectuals who influenced Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in his reforms of secularization in Turkey.
'Abd Allah Jewdet see Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah
Abdullah Cevdet see Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah
Cevdet, Abdullah see Jewdet, ‘Abd Allah
Jews
Jews (Yahud). The Qur’an speaks of Jews as “those to whom the scripture was given,” as “the Children of Israel” (in Arabic, Banu Isra‘il) and as “the descendants of Abraham.” Revelation is considered to have been granted them through Moses, and they have been given many clear signs, but, as with the Christians, they have distorted the sense of the words of the scriptures. They were invited to believe in Allah, in the Last Judgment and in the Prophet’s mission, but they refused and finally were regarded, with the idolaters, as the greatest enemies of the Believers.
Jews comprise the third largest religious group in the Middle East. There are about five million adherents, about ninety percent of whom live in Israel.
Central in the Jewish belief is that there is only one God, and that there is a special pact between God and the Jews. Jews are obliged to observe the Law given by God. The purpose of this pact is to bring the world forward to the point where the Messiah arrives in order to recreate order and stability in the world, with Jerusalem and Israel as the center.
Judaism is a term that is often used to refer to the whole tradition of the religion of the Jews. This is inaccurate, as there was a drastic shift in the religion in the early first millennium B.C.T., when true monotheism was established. It is from this time that the religion got its name, from the land of the Hebrews, Judah: Judaism.
Judaism was surpassed only by the religion of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism as the first monotheistic religions in the world. However, Judaism was a religion before monotheism took hold, with a complex yet purified image of deities. It has often been suggested that Akhenaten’s religion and Zoroastrianism have influenced the monotheistic development of Judaism.
Even if the schisms of Judaism have been less dramatic and profound than in some of the other important religions of the Middle East, there are, nevertheless, numerous orientations inside the religion. Some of the most heated discussions have come in modern times, where some orientations have wanted to adjust to the society, while others have claimed that the regulations of Judaism should remain unchanged.
The largest community of Jews live in the United States with about six million adherents. Many others live in Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and there are between 200,000 and 300,000 on the African continent.
The largest communities in the Middle East are in Israel and Palestine. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world.
Almost all countries in the Middle East once had Jewish communities. However, since the establishment of the state of Israel, large percentages have emigrated. Today, only Morocco, Iran and Turkey have significant Jewish communities of some size.
There is a rich tradition for texts in Judaism, which have been developed over a period of between 2,000 and 3,000 years. While the core texts have remained unchanged, interpretations and explanations have been added to the great body of material that is now revered by most Jews.
The central core of all Jewish learning is the Tanakh, which includes the Torah and which more or less corresponds to the Christian Old Testament. The other major work of Judaism is the Talmud, which has two parts: the oral law and its interpretations. The Talmud was completed in the middle of the fifth century B.C.T.
The central theme of Judaism is the covenant between the Jews and God. The covenant was first made with Abraham, from whom the Jewish believe they are descended. This covenant was renewed with Abraham’s son Isaac, and Abraham’s grandson Jacob. The covenant was extended as Moses was given the Ten Commandments and other laws. From this, the Jews learned how they should lead their lives. The covenant implies that the Jews are a chosen people, giving them certain privileges as well as certain responsibilities.
Judaism is a religion of “waiting,” waiting for the Messiah, the God sent ruler who would liberate the Jews and bring back justice and security to the earth. The ideas of the Messiah have gone through changes, and while some Jewish groups still wait for the Messiah’s coming, other groups have come to interpret the Messiah as being mainly symbolic. For this latter interpretation, cooperation between peoples will bring forth a Messianic age.
Judaism has a rich tradition of festivals. While the main festival is the weekly Sabbath, other festivals are performed only once a year, while some occur only once in a lifetime.
According to their traditions, Jews pray three times a day: morning prayer is called shaharith; afternoon prayer is called minhah; and evening prayer is called maarib. These times are set in remembrance of the schedule of sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed in 70 C.C.
Throughout the day, Jews will recite numerous benedictions, before doing certain actions, both religious and secular. This has its background in the doctrine that everything in nature and all incidents have their origin with God.
In Conservative and Orthodox congregations, there are daily services. Reform Judaism limits this to the Sabbath and festivals. During these services, the rabbi reads a section from the Torah and prayers are chanted from the Siddur (prayer book). Over one year, the congregation will have read through the entire Torah.
The main feast for many Jews is the Sabbath celebrated from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon, every week. The different Jewish groups have the same core celebration, but they differ much in the level of complexity and strictness. For some Jews, no secular activity is allowed, while others allow themselves to perform normal activities beyond the core celebration.
There are many colorful and important feasts in Judaism. All Jews are supposed to fast on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Yom Kippur is part of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most holy days of the year for Jews.
The light feast of Chanukah is held in remembrance of the re-dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 B.C.T. Chanukah corresponds in time with the Christian Christmas, and many Jews have adopted elements from the Christmas celebration in their private Chanukah celebrations.
Sukkoth and Pesach, Jewish Easter, are two celebrations close in their content. Pesach is a celebration held in remembrance of when the Jews were allowed to leave Egypt after 400 years, while Sukkoth remembers the Exodus and the 40 years of wandering in Sinai.
A third festival in remembrance of the Exodus is Shavuoth. Shavuoth remembers the giving of the Law to Moses.
The most joyous Jewish festival is Purim, which commemorates the salvation of the Jews from destruction at the hands of a Persian king in the first millennium B.C.T.
Each Jewish family has their own celebrations on the anniversary of the deceased in the family. On this day, they recite the prayer Kaddish and burn a candle.
When a Jewish boy is eight days old, he is circumcised by the rabbi. This is a symbol of belonging to the pact between God and Abraham. Bar Mitzvah for boys and Bat Mitzvah for girls marks the entering upon adulthood for boys age 13 and girls age 12.
Marriage is not very religious in Judaism in terms of regulations, even though it is considered to be a sacred arrangement. Nevertheless, marriage is always celebrated inside the Jewish community and in conjunction with the synagogue.
When a Jew dies, he or she is buried as soon as possible. Then the family starts a seven day mourning period called Shiva. During this period they recite the prayer Kaddish.
There are a number of dietary regulations imposed on Jews which seem quite complex when viewed from the outside. According to the dietary rules, pork and shellfish like shrimp and oysters cannot be eaten. Animals are to be killed by a ritual slaughter called shehitah in which the throat is cut and the animal is allowed to bleed to death while still being conscious. There are also regulations on how food should be stored. For instance, milk and meat should be kept separately.
Food collected or slaughtered, and then prepared in accordance with Jewish law is called Kosher. Strict observance of Kosher is considered a sign of faith by most Jews.
Judaism is not headed by a single authority. The main figure of every congregation is the rabbi, who is learned in the Torah. His or her position corresponds much to that of the priest in Christianity. The rabbi is elected by the members of the congregation. The rabbi can be a woman in Reform and Conservative congregations, but not in Orthodox.
During services, there is a cantor who chants the prayers. The cantor is often a person who has undergone special training for this position. The congregation gathers in a synagogue, which is often both a sanctuary for religious services and a place for religious education and community activities. In Orthodox congregations, men and women sit separate, but together in Reform and Conservative congregations.
In many cases, Jews perform their rituals in the home as well. This involves daily prayers, Sabbath rituals and some of the yearly festivals. There is no form of mission activity prevalent in Judaism. However, the religion is open for conversion, although only under special circumstances.
There are two ways of dividing Jews today. One way is according to historical and geographical background with the Ashkenazi coming from northern, central and eastern Europe, while the Sephardi come from the Iberian peninsula and North Africa.
The other way of dividing Jews stems from their conduct of their religious lives. The modern division along these lines are Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. Reform Jews tend to be liberal and open to varying interpretations of Judaism. Orthodox Jews have a more fundamentalist and rigid interpretation of Judaism. Orthodox Jews tend to be negative towards elements of modern society.
Conservative Jews practice their faith in a manner that is closer to Orthodox Jews than to Reform Jews. However, their attitudes towards modern society tend not to be as negative as those of the Orthodox Jews.
Due to its discontinuation during the Jewish Diaspora, Judaism has developed relatively fewer holy places than Christianity and Islam. Most of the sacred places of Judaism date back between 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. Because of the diaspora, the Jewish mentality has focused on themes of exile and migration. Many Jews have felt in exile when living in European countries, and many have known that their future in one spot cannot always be taken for granted.
Nevertheless, Jerusalem is clearly the most holy place in Judaism, For Jews, Jerusalem is more important than any place is for Christians, and is just as important as Mecca is for Muslims. It is mainly because of the destroyed Temple that Jerusalem has become so important to Jewish identity. The only remaining part of it, the Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall as it is called, is the holiest place on earth.
The second most holy place is Hebron, Palestine, where Abraham was buried. Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, is also important, but is not central to Jewish life.
For many Jews, the synagogue, in Jerba, Tunisia, is considered to be the oldest synagogue in Africa and is therefore sacred.
A brief history of the Jewish people reads as follows:
Around 1900 B.C.T., a certain religious orientation, where one god was more important than other gods, began to slowly develop. This came with the development of a people identifying themselves with words close to “Hebrew” or “Israel”.
Around 1300 B.C.T., a new orientation in the religion of the Hebrews occurred with the development of the Mosaic Covenant. With this, the complexity of rituals and obligations reached a new level in the religion. The idea of just worshiping one God was presented but did not, at that time, become a part of the religious life. Even among ancient theologians, there was an acceptance of the gods of other peoples. However, for the Hebrews, there was only YHWH (vowels were not written in Hebrew, thus the two main pronunciations of God’s name were Yahweh (Jahveh) and Jehovah).
Around 1200 B.C.T., Hebrews settled in Canaan. There they would slowly grow into an important political force in the region.
Around 1000 B.C.T., the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, hence making this the center of the Hebrew religion.
Around 950 B.C.T., the first Temple of Jerusalem was constructed by King Solomon.
Around 800 B.C.T., with the development of the religion of the Hebrews, Israel in the north broke away from Judah in the south.
In 722 B.C.T., Israel, the northern Jewish kingdom, was conquered by Assyria.
In 605 B.C.T., Judah, the southern Jewish kingdom, was conquered by Babylonia, and a great number of its inhabitants were taken into exile by the Babylonians.
In 586 B.C.T., Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple razed. The Israelis were exiled.
In 538 B.C.T., the Jews (the name had established itself even for those of Israeli origin) are allowed to return to their lands by King Cyrus the Great of Persia.
In 515 B.C.T., the second Temple of Jerusalem was completed.
During the middle of the fifth century B.C.T., King Artaxerxes of Persia declared the Torah to be the law of the Jews.
In 168 B.C.T., Antiochus IV banned Judaism.
In 166 B.C.T., the Maccabean revolt, led by Judas Maccabaeus, who fought to win back Jewish rights.
In 163 B.C.T., Judas Maccabaeus succeeded in obtaining religious freedom for the Jews, but continues to fight for creating an independent kingdom for the Jews.
In 160 B.C.T., Judas Maccabaeus was killed, and the Maccabean revolt came to an end.
During the second half of the second century B.C.T., the Torah was translated into Greek. During this time, there was also a split in Judaism, between the supporters of the Written Law, the Sadduccees, and the supporters of the Oral Law, the Pharisees.
In 63 B.C.T., the land of the Jews was captured by the Roman Empire.
Between 30 and 40 of the Christian calendar, the religious revolutionary Jesus tried to reform Judaism, but failed. Instead a new religious orientation, at first Jesus-Judaism, later Christianity emerges.
In 66 C.C., a Jewish revolt against the Romans and their restrictions on Judaism occurred in Palestine.
In 70 C.C., the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed for the second time, and the revolt was suppressed.
During the first century of the Christian calendar, contrary to what many seem to believe, the Jews were not driven out of Palestine, but Jerusalem was closed for Jews, and turned into a military colony. By this, the Jews had no chance of practicing their religion close to their ritual center, and many chose instead to settle in other parts of the Roman Empire.
Around 200 C.C., the oral traditions of Judaism began to be compiled by Jewish scholars, like Judah ha-Nasi and these traditions had interpretations added to them.
During the fifteenth century of the Christian calendar, due to geographical differences, the Jews of the Iberian peninsula and North Africa started orienting themselves in a different direction than the Jews of northern, central and eastern Europe. The first branch came to be known as Sephardi, the second as Ashkenazi.
Around 1800, a process of enlightenment took place among Ashkenazi Jews, resulting in Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism.
In 1938, organized persecutions of Jews in German controlled areas started (after the start of World War II in 1939, the German controlled area came to cover large parts of Europe). Many Jews were killed.
In 1942, industrialized killing of Jews and other groups, began. Over the next three years, some 5.7 million Jews were killed.
In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Jews managed to garner great sympathy from Europe and North America and thereafter obtained support for their own country in Palestine.
In 1948, with the establishment of the state of Israel, the Jews achieved a homeland state. Israel became a country that gave protection for all citizens, but it was defined as a Jewish state. Organized immigration began, allowing Jews from Africa, Asia and Europe in particular to settle in the new state. Around this time, politics in Europe changed, giving Jews full civil rights protection.
Yahud see Jews
Children of Israel see Jews
Those to Whom the Scripture was Given see Jews
Banu Isra'il see Jews
Descendants of Abraham see Jews
Jews (Yahud). The Qur’an speaks of Jews as “those to whom the scripture was given,” as “the Children of Israel” (in Arabic, Banu Isra‘il) and as “the descendants of Abraham.” Revelation is considered to have been granted them through Moses, and they have been given many clear signs, but, as with the Christians, they have distorted the sense of the words of the scriptures. They were invited to believe in Allah, in the Last Judgment and in the Prophet’s mission, but they refused and finally were regarded, with the idolaters, as the greatest enemies of the Believers.
Jews comprise the third largest religious group in the Middle East. There are about five million adherents, about ninety percent of whom live in Israel.
Central in the Jewish belief is that there is only one God, and that there is a special pact between God and the Jews. Jews are obliged to observe the Law given by God. The purpose of this pact is to bring the world forward to the point where the Messiah arrives in order to recreate order and stability in the world, with Jerusalem and Israel as the center.
Judaism is a term that is often used to refer to the whole tradition of the religion of the Jews. This is inaccurate, as there was a drastic shift in the religion in the early first millennium B.C.T., when true monotheism was established. It is from this time that the religion got its name, from the land of the Hebrews, Judah: Judaism.
Judaism was surpassed only by the religion of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism as the first monotheistic religions in the world. However, Judaism was a religion before monotheism took hold, with a complex yet purified image of deities. It has often been suggested that Akhenaten’s religion and Zoroastrianism have influenced the monotheistic development of Judaism.
Even if the schisms of Judaism have been less dramatic and profound than in some of the other important religions of the Middle East, there are, nevertheless, numerous orientations inside the religion. Some of the most heated discussions have come in modern times, where some orientations have wanted to adjust to the society, while others have claimed that the regulations of Judaism should remain unchanged.
The largest community of Jews live in the United States with about six million adherents. Many others live in Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and there are between 200,000 and 300,000 on the African continent.
The largest communities in the Middle East are in Israel and Palestine. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world.
Almost all countries in the Middle East once had Jewish communities. However, since the establishment of the state of Israel, large percentages have emigrated. Today, only Morocco, Iran and Turkey have significant Jewish communities of some size.
There is a rich tradition for texts in Judaism, which have been developed over a period of between 2,000 and 3,000 years. While the core texts have remained unchanged, interpretations and explanations have been added to the great body of material that is now revered by most Jews.
The central core of all Jewish learning is the Tanakh, which includes the Torah and which more or less corresponds to the Christian Old Testament. The other major work of Judaism is the Talmud, which has two parts: the oral law and its interpretations. The Talmud was completed in the middle of the fifth century B.C.T.
The central theme of Judaism is the covenant between the Jews and God. The covenant was first made with Abraham, from whom the Jewish believe they are descended. This covenant was renewed with Abraham’s son Isaac, and Abraham’s grandson Jacob. The covenant was extended as Moses was given the Ten Commandments and other laws. From this, the Jews learned how they should lead their lives. The covenant implies that the Jews are a chosen people, giving them certain privileges as well as certain responsibilities.
Judaism is a religion of “waiting,” waiting for the Messiah, the God sent ruler who would liberate the Jews and bring back justice and security to the earth. The ideas of the Messiah have gone through changes, and while some Jewish groups still wait for the Messiah’s coming, other groups have come to interpret the Messiah as being mainly symbolic. For this latter interpretation, cooperation between peoples will bring forth a Messianic age.
Judaism has a rich tradition of festivals. While the main festival is the weekly Sabbath, other festivals are performed only once a year, while some occur only once in a lifetime.
According to their traditions, Jews pray three times a day: morning prayer is called shaharith; afternoon prayer is called minhah; and evening prayer is called maarib. These times are set in remembrance of the schedule of sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed in 70 C.C.
Throughout the day, Jews will recite numerous benedictions, before doing certain actions, both religious and secular. This has its background in the doctrine that everything in nature and all incidents have their origin with God.
In Conservative and Orthodox congregations, there are daily services. Reform Judaism limits this to the Sabbath and festivals. During these services, the rabbi reads a section from the Torah and prayers are chanted from the Siddur (prayer book). Over one year, the congregation will have read through the entire Torah.
The main feast for many Jews is the Sabbath celebrated from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon, every week. The different Jewish groups have the same core celebration, but they differ much in the level of complexity and strictness. For some Jews, no secular activity is allowed, while others allow themselves to perform normal activities beyond the core celebration.
There are many colorful and important feasts in Judaism. All Jews are supposed to fast on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Yom Kippur is part of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most holy days of the year for Jews.
The light feast of Chanukah is held in remembrance of the re-dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 B.C.T. Chanukah corresponds in time with the Christian Christmas, and many Jews have adopted elements from the Christmas celebration in their private Chanukah celebrations.
Sukkoth and Pesach, Jewish Easter, are two celebrations close in their content. Pesach is a celebration held in remembrance of when the Jews were allowed to leave Egypt after 400 years, while Sukkoth remembers the Exodus and the 40 years of wandering in Sinai.
A third festival in remembrance of the Exodus is Shavuoth. Shavuoth remembers the giving of the Law to Moses.
The most joyous Jewish festival is Purim, which commemorates the salvation of the Jews from destruction at the hands of a Persian king in the first millennium B.C.T.
Each Jewish family has their own celebrations on the anniversary of the deceased in the family. On this day, they recite the prayer Kaddish and burn a candle.
When a Jewish boy is eight days old, he is circumcised by the rabbi. This is a symbol of belonging to the pact between God and Abraham. Bar Mitzvah for boys and Bat Mitzvah for girls marks the entering upon adulthood for boys age 13 and girls age 12.
Marriage is not very religious in Judaism in terms of regulations, even though it is considered to be a sacred arrangement. Nevertheless, marriage is always celebrated inside the Jewish community and in conjunction with the synagogue.
When a Jew dies, he or she is buried as soon as possible. Then the family starts a seven day mourning period called Shiva. During this period they recite the prayer Kaddish.
There are a number of dietary regulations imposed on Jews which seem quite complex when viewed from the outside. According to the dietary rules, pork and shellfish like shrimp and oysters cannot be eaten. Animals are to be killed by a ritual slaughter called shehitah in which the throat is cut and the animal is allowed to bleed to death while still being conscious. There are also regulations on how food should be stored. For instance, milk and meat should be kept separately.
Food collected or slaughtered, and then prepared in accordance with Jewish law is called Kosher. Strict observance of Kosher is considered a sign of faith by most Jews.
Judaism is not headed by a single authority. The main figure of every congregation is the rabbi, who is learned in the Torah. His or her position corresponds much to that of the priest in Christianity. The rabbi is elected by the members of the congregation. The rabbi can be a woman in Reform and Conservative congregations, but not in Orthodox.
During services, there is a cantor who chants the prayers. The cantor is often a person who has undergone special training for this position. The congregation gathers in a synagogue, which is often both a sanctuary for religious services and a place for religious education and community activities. In Orthodox congregations, men and women sit separate, but together in Reform and Conservative congregations.
In many cases, Jews perform their rituals in the home as well. This involves daily prayers, Sabbath rituals and some of the yearly festivals. There is no form of mission activity prevalent in Judaism. However, the religion is open for conversion, although only under special circumstances.
There are two ways of dividing Jews today. One way is according to historical and geographical background with the Ashkenazi coming from northern, central and eastern Europe, while the Sephardi come from the Iberian peninsula and North Africa.
The other way of dividing Jews stems from their conduct of their religious lives. The modern division along these lines are Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. Reform Jews tend to be liberal and open to varying interpretations of Judaism. Orthodox Jews have a more fundamentalist and rigid interpretation of Judaism. Orthodox Jews tend to be negative towards elements of modern society.
Conservative Jews practice their faith in a manner that is closer to Orthodox Jews than to Reform Jews. However, their attitudes towards modern society tend not to be as negative as those of the Orthodox Jews.
Due to its discontinuation during the Jewish Diaspora, Judaism has developed relatively fewer holy places than Christianity and Islam. Most of the sacred places of Judaism date back between 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. Because of the diaspora, the Jewish mentality has focused on themes of exile and migration. Many Jews have felt in exile when living in European countries, and many have known that their future in one spot cannot always be taken for granted.
Nevertheless, Jerusalem is clearly the most holy place in Judaism, For Jews, Jerusalem is more important than any place is for Christians, and is just as important as Mecca is for Muslims. It is mainly because of the destroyed Temple that Jerusalem has become so important to Jewish identity. The only remaining part of it, the Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall as it is called, is the holiest place on earth.
The second most holy place is Hebron, Palestine, where Abraham was buried. Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, is also important, but is not central to Jewish life.
For many Jews, the synagogue, in Jerba, Tunisia, is considered to be the oldest synagogue in Africa and is therefore sacred.
A brief history of the Jewish people reads as follows:
Around 1900 B.C.T., a certain religious orientation, where one god was more important than other gods, began to slowly develop. This came with the development of a people identifying themselves with words close to “Hebrew” or “Israel”.
Around 1300 B.C.T., a new orientation in the religion of the Hebrews occurred with the development of the Mosaic Covenant. With this, the complexity of rituals and obligations reached a new level in the religion. The idea of just worshiping one God was presented but did not, at that time, become a part of the religious life. Even among ancient theologians, there was an acceptance of the gods of other peoples. However, for the Hebrews, there was only YHWH (vowels were not written in Hebrew, thus the two main pronunciations of God’s name were Yahweh (Jahveh) and Jehovah).
Around 1200 B.C.T., Hebrews settled in Canaan. There they would slowly grow into an important political force in the region.
Around 1000 B.C.T., the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, hence making this the center of the Hebrew religion.
Around 950 B.C.T., the first Temple of Jerusalem was constructed by King Solomon.
Around 800 B.C.T., with the development of the religion of the Hebrews, Israel in the north broke away from Judah in the south.
In 722 B.C.T., Israel, the northern Jewish kingdom, was conquered by Assyria.
In 605 B.C.T., Judah, the southern Jewish kingdom, was conquered by Babylonia, and a great number of its inhabitants were taken into exile by the Babylonians.
In 586 B.C.T., Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple razed. The Israelis were exiled.
In 538 B.C.T., the Jews (the name had established itself even for those of Israeli origin) are allowed to return to their lands by King Cyrus the Great of Persia.
In 515 B.C.T., the second Temple of Jerusalem was completed.
During the middle of the fifth century B.C.T., King Artaxerxes of Persia declared the Torah to be the law of the Jews.
In 168 B.C.T., Antiochus IV banned Judaism.
In 166 B.C.T., the Maccabean revolt, led by Judas Maccabaeus, who fought to win back Jewish rights.
In 163 B.C.T., Judas Maccabaeus succeeded in obtaining religious freedom for the Jews, but continues to fight for creating an independent kingdom for the Jews.
In 160 B.C.T., Judas Maccabaeus was killed, and the Maccabean revolt came to an end.
During the second half of the second century B.C.T., the Torah was translated into Greek. During this time, there was also a split in Judaism, between the supporters of the Written Law, the Sadduccees, and the supporters of the Oral Law, the Pharisees.
In 63 B.C.T., the land of the Jews was captured by the Roman Empire.
Between 30 and 40 of the Christian calendar, the religious revolutionary Jesus tried to reform Judaism, but failed. Instead a new religious orientation, at first Jesus-Judaism, later Christianity emerges.
In 66 C.C., a Jewish revolt against the Romans and their restrictions on Judaism occurred in Palestine.
In 70 C.C., the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed for the second time, and the revolt was suppressed.
During the first century of the Christian calendar, contrary to what many seem to believe, the Jews were not driven out of Palestine, but Jerusalem was closed for Jews, and turned into a military colony. By this, the Jews had no chance of practicing their religion close to their ritual center, and many chose instead to settle in other parts of the Roman Empire.
Around 200 C.C., the oral traditions of Judaism began to be compiled by Jewish scholars, like Judah ha-Nasi and these traditions had interpretations added to them.
During the fifteenth century of the Christian calendar, due to geographical differences, the Jews of the Iberian peninsula and North Africa started orienting themselves in a different direction than the Jews of northern, central and eastern Europe. The first branch came to be known as Sephardi, the second as Ashkenazi.
Around 1800, a process of enlightenment took place among Ashkenazi Jews, resulting in Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism.
In 1938, organized persecutions of Jews in German controlled areas started (after the start of World War II in 1939, the German controlled area came to cover large parts of Europe). Many Jews were killed.
In 1942, industrialized killing of Jews and other groups, began. Over the next three years, some 5.7 million Jews were killed.
In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Jews managed to garner great sympathy from Europe and North America and thereafter obtained support for their own country in Palestine.
In 1948, with the establishment of the state of Israel, the Jews achieved a homeland state. Israel became a country that gave protection for all citizens, but it was defined as a Jewish state. Organized immigration began, allowing Jews from Africa, Asia and Europe in particular to settle in the new state. Around this time, politics in Europe changed, giving Jews full civil rights protection.
Yahud see Jews
Children of Israel see Jews
Those to Whom the Scripture was Given see Jews
Banu Isra'il see Jews
Descendants of Abraham see Jews
Jeza’irli Ghazi Hasan Pasha
Jeza’irli Ghazi Hasan Pasha (Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha) (Hasan Pasha of Algiers) (1713-1790). Grand Vizier and one of the most famous Grand Admirals of the Turkish navy.
Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha was an Ottoman grand vizier, Kaptan Pasha and an army commander of the late 18th century.
He is known to have been bought as a slave in eastern Turkey by a Turkish merchant of Tekirdağ, who raised him in that city considering him on a par with his own sons.
He rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military hierarchy and was for a time with the Barbary Coast pirates based in Algiers (thence his name, Cezayirli meaning from Algiers in Turkish). He was a fleet commander during the Naval Battle of Chesma and could extirpate the forces depending on him from the general disaster for the Turkish navy there. He arrived at the Ottoman capital with the bad news, but was highly praised for his own accomplishment and was promoted, first as chief of staff and later as grand vizier. He dislodged the Russian navy which had established a base in the Aegean island of Limni (Lemnos).
Anecdotal evidence indicates that, immediately after the defeat in Çeşme, he and his men were lodged by a local priest in Ayvalık who did not know who they were. Hasan Pasha did not forget the kindness shown at that hour of crisis and later accorded virtual autonomy to the Greek-dominated town of Ayvalık, paving the way for its becoming an important cultural center for that community in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.
The defeat of Çeşme prompted Hasan Pasha to establish the Turkish Naval Academy in 1773.
In the Russian-Turkish War of 1787-1791, Hasan Pasha, then 85, was commanding the Turkish troops in the beginning of the campaigns and was killed in combat in 1790.
The statue of Hasan Pasha garnishes today the resort town of Çeşme, along with that of the lion that he had domesticated while in Africa and that he took along with him everywhere, creating quite an impression.
Hasan, Jeza'irli Ghazi see Jeza’irli Ghazi Hasan Pasha
Jeza’irli Ghazi Hasan Pasha (Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha) (Hasan Pasha of Algiers) (1713-1790). Grand Vizier and one of the most famous Grand Admirals of the Turkish navy.
Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha was an Ottoman grand vizier, Kaptan Pasha and an army commander of the late 18th century.
He is known to have been bought as a slave in eastern Turkey by a Turkish merchant of Tekirdağ, who raised him in that city considering him on a par with his own sons.
He rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military hierarchy and was for a time with the Barbary Coast pirates based in Algiers (thence his name, Cezayirli meaning from Algiers in Turkish). He was a fleet commander during the Naval Battle of Chesma and could extirpate the forces depending on him from the general disaster for the Turkish navy there. He arrived at the Ottoman capital with the bad news, but was highly praised for his own accomplishment and was promoted, first as chief of staff and later as grand vizier. He dislodged the Russian navy which had established a base in the Aegean island of Limni (Lemnos).
Anecdotal evidence indicates that, immediately after the defeat in Çeşme, he and his men were lodged by a local priest in Ayvalık who did not know who they were. Hasan Pasha did not forget the kindness shown at that hour of crisis and later accorded virtual autonomy to the Greek-dominated town of Ayvalık, paving the way for its becoming an important cultural center for that community in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.
The defeat of Çeşme prompted Hasan Pasha to establish the Turkish Naval Academy in 1773.
In the Russian-Turkish War of 1787-1791, Hasan Pasha, then 85, was commanding the Turkish troops in the beginning of the campaigns and was killed in combat in 1790.
The statue of Hasan Pasha garnishes today the resort town of Çeşme, along with that of the lion that he had domesticated while in Africa and that he took along with him everywhere, creating quite an impression.
Hasan, Jeza'irli Ghazi see Jeza’irli Ghazi Hasan Pasha
Jinn
Jinn (Djinn) (Genie) (Jinni). Invisible creatures living on earth. The jinn are capable of doing good or evil. The jinn were thought to be composed of vapors or flames.
Jinn is an Arabic word which literally means “demons.” The jinn are a group of beings created from smokeless fire (men and angels, on the other hand, were created from clay and light). According to some, the jinn can change their size and shape; can help or harm people; and are capable of receiving salvation or damnation, since the Qur’an was sent to them as well as to humans. In pre-Islamic Arabia, the jinn were thought to be a class of minor deities related in some way to Allah and which existed to assist Allah. Muslims generally have accepted the existence of jinn since they are mentioned several times in the Qur’an and since relations between men and the jinn have been discussed in Islamic law -- in shari'a -- with regards to matters like marriage and inheritance. Legal scholars have debated the status of the jinn under religious law, and early Muslim scientists speculated about the physics of their nature.
Iblis (Satan) is reckoned to be one of the jinn. However, Iblis is also deemed to be an angel. Some commentators have meshed this dichotomy and have deemed the jinn to be a “tribe” of angels.
The jinn would listen to what was said in heaven but were fended off by meteors. The jinn worked for Solomon. Post-Qur’anic commentaries join these ideas with elements of folklore, and stories about the jinn and their relations with humans abound throughout the Islamic world. Most familiar to the West are the stories that are found in the Arabian Nights.
The word jinn has been adopted in most languages where Islam predominates and has replaced the names for evil spirits. The jinn came to play an important role in Arabic, Turkish, Indian and Indonesian folklore.
Jinn were evidently thought to be able to possess a person, making the person majnun -- “crazy or possessed.” Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad was accused of being majnun by his detractors.
In Arabic, a genie (or jinn, Djinn, or jinnī) is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind, and together with humans and angels makes up the three sentient creations of God (Allah). According to the Qur'an, there are two creations that have free will: humans and jinns (djinns). We do not know much details about them, however the Qur'an mentions that jinns are made of 'smokeless fire' and they form communities just like humans and just like humans, they can be good or evil.
The Jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur'an, and there is a Surah entitled Al-Jinn. While Christian tradition suggests that Lucifer was an angel that rebelled against God's orders, Islam maintains that Iblis was a Djinn who had been granted special privilege to live amongst angels prior to his rebellion. After the rebellion, he was granted a respite to lead humans astray until the Day of Judgment. However, Iblis has no power to mislead true believers in God. Although some scholars have ruled that it is apostasy to disbelieve in one of God's creations, the belief in Jinn has fallen comparably to the belief in angels in other Abrahamic traditions.
Djinn see Jinn
Genie see Jinn
Jinni see Jinn
Jinn (Djinn) (Genie) (Jinni). Invisible creatures living on earth. The jinn are capable of doing good or evil. The jinn were thought to be composed of vapors or flames.
Jinn is an Arabic word which literally means “demons.” The jinn are a group of beings created from smokeless fire (men and angels, on the other hand, were created from clay and light). According to some, the jinn can change their size and shape; can help or harm people; and are capable of receiving salvation or damnation, since the Qur’an was sent to them as well as to humans. In pre-Islamic Arabia, the jinn were thought to be a class of minor deities related in some way to Allah and which existed to assist Allah. Muslims generally have accepted the existence of jinn since they are mentioned several times in the Qur’an and since relations between men and the jinn have been discussed in Islamic law -- in shari'a -- with regards to matters like marriage and inheritance. Legal scholars have debated the status of the jinn under religious law, and early Muslim scientists speculated about the physics of their nature.
Iblis (Satan) is reckoned to be one of the jinn. However, Iblis is also deemed to be an angel. Some commentators have meshed this dichotomy and have deemed the jinn to be a “tribe” of angels.
The jinn would listen to what was said in heaven but were fended off by meteors. The jinn worked for Solomon. Post-Qur’anic commentaries join these ideas with elements of folklore, and stories about the jinn and their relations with humans abound throughout the Islamic world. Most familiar to the West are the stories that are found in the Arabian Nights.
The word jinn has been adopted in most languages where Islam predominates and has replaced the names for evil spirits. The jinn came to play an important role in Arabic, Turkish, Indian and Indonesian folklore.
Jinn were evidently thought to be able to possess a person, making the person majnun -- “crazy or possessed.” Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad was accused of being majnun by his detractors.
In Arabic, a genie (or jinn, Djinn, or jinnī) is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind, and together with humans and angels makes up the three sentient creations of God (Allah). According to the Qur'an, there are two creations that have free will: humans and jinns (djinns). We do not know much details about them, however the Qur'an mentions that jinns are made of 'smokeless fire' and they form communities just like humans and just like humans, they can be good or evil.
The Jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur'an, and there is a Surah entitled Al-Jinn. While Christian tradition suggests that Lucifer was an angel that rebelled against God's orders, Islam maintains that Iblis was a Djinn who had been granted special privilege to live amongst angels prior to his rebellion. After the rebellion, he was granted a respite to lead humans astray until the Day of Judgment. However, Iblis has no power to mislead true believers in God. Although some scholars have ruled that it is apostasy to disbelieve in one of God's creations, the belief in Jinn has fallen comparably to the belief in angels in other Abrahamic traditions.
Djinn see Jinn
Genie see Jinn
Jinni see Jinn
Jinnah, Fatima
Jinnah, Fatima (Fatima Jinnah) (Khatun-e Pakistan) (Mader-e Millat) (July 30, 1893 — July 8, 1967). Youngest sister of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. After becoming a dentist in 1922, she opened a clinic in Bombay. She moved into her brother’s house after the death of this wife and remained his constant companion until his death in 1948. Her main contribution to the Pakistan Movement was giving up her clinic in order to take charge of Jinnah’s household, enabling him to devote his time to public life. After Jinnah’s death, although she remained politically active, she always championed the cause of democracy, women’s rights, refugees, and the underprivileged. In 1965, she ran in the presidential election against Ayub Khan as a candidate of the Combined Opposition Parties, but lost. The electors who made up the electoral college were Basic Democrats, who were highly amenable to official persuasion.
Fatima Jinnah was the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and an active political figure in the movement for independence from the British Raj. She is commonly known in Pakistan as Khātūn-e Pākistān (Urdu: — "Lady of Pakistan") and Māder-e Millat ("Mother of the Nation.") She was born in Karachi, (in the part of British India that later became Pakistan). She was an instrumental figure in the Pakistan movement and the primary organiser of the All India Muslim Women Students Federation. After the formation of Pakistan and the death of her brother, she remained an active member of the nation's politics. She continued to work for the welfare of the Pakistani people until she died in Karachi on July 8, 1967.
Fatima Jinnah was born in Karachi, British India on July 30, 1893. Jinnah's parents, Poonja Jinnahbhai and Mithibai Jinnahbhai, had seven children: Muhammad Ali, Ahmad Ali, Bunde Ali, Rahmat Ali, Maryam, Fatima and Shireen. Of a family of seven brothers and sisters, she was the closest to Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Her illustrious brother became her guardian upon the death of their father in 1901. She joined the Bandra Convent in Bombay in 1902. In 1919, she was admitted to the highly competitive University of Calcutta where she attended the Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College. After she graduated, she opened a dental clinic in Bombay in 1923.
Jinnah lived with her brother until 1918, when he married Rattanbai Petit. Upon Rattanbai's death in February 1929, Jinnah closed her clinic, moved into her brother Muhammad Ali Jinnah's bungalow, and took charge of his house. This began the life-long companionship that lasted until her brother's death on September 11, 1948.
During the transfer of power in 1947, Jinnah formed the Women's Relief Committee, which later formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA). She also played a significant role in the settlement of Muhajirs in the new state of Pakistan.
In the 1960s, Jinnah returned to the forefront of political life when she ran for the presidency of Pakistan as a candidate for the Combined Opposition Party of Pakistan (COPP). She described her opponent, Ayub Khan, as a dictator. Her early rallies nearly 250,000 people turned out to see her in Dhaka, and a million lined the 293 mile route from there to Chittagong. Her train, called the Freedom Special, was 22 hours late because men at each station pulled the emergency cord, and begged her to speak. The crowds hailed her as the mother of the nation.
In her rallies Jinnah argued that, by coming to terms with India on the Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers to India. Jinnah lost the election, but only narrowly, winning a majority in some provinces. The election did not conform to international standards and journalists, as well as subsequent historians, have often suggested it was rigged in favor of Ayub Khan.
Fatima Jinnah, popularly acclaimed as the Madar-i-Millat, or "Mother of the Nation" for her role in the Freedom Movement, contested the 1965 elections at the age of 71. Except for her brief tour to East Pakistan in 1954, she had not participated in politics since Independence. After the imposition of Martial Law by Ayub Khan, she once wished the regime well. But after the Martial Law was lifted, she sympathized with the opposition as she was strongly in favor of democratic ideals. Being the Quaid's sister, she was held in high esteem, and came to symbolize the democratic aspirations of the people. The electoral landscape changed when Fatima Jinnah decided to contest the elections for the President's office in 1965. She was challenging the incumbent President Ayub Khan in the indirect election, which Ayub Khan had himself instituted. Presidential candidates for the elections of 1965 were announced before commencement of the Basic Democracy elections, which was to constitute the Electoral College for the Presidential and Assembly elections. There were two major parties contesting the election. The Convention Muslim League and the Combined Opposition Parties. The Combined Opposition Parties consisted of five major opposition parties. It had a nine-point program, which included restoration of direct elections, adult franchise and democratization of the 1962 Constitution. The opposition parties of Combined Opposition Parties were not united and did not possess any unity of thought and action. They were unable to select presidential candidates from amongst themselves; therefore they selected Fatima Jinnah as their candidate.
Elections were held on January 2, 1965. There were four candidates; Ayub Khan, Fatima Jinnah and two obscure persons with no party affiliation. There was a short campaigning period of one month, which was further restricted to nine projection meetings that were organized by the Election Commission and were attended only by the members of the Electoral College and members of the press. The public was barred from attending the projection meetings, which would have enhanced Fatima Jinnah's image.
Ayub Khan had a great advantage over the rest of the candidates. The Second Amendment of the Constitution confirmed him as President till the election of his successor. Armed with the wide-ranging constitutional powers of a President, he exercised complete control over all governmental machinery during elections. He utilized the state facilities as head of state, not as the President of the Convention Muslim League or a presidential candidate, and didn't even hesitate to legislate on electoral maters. Bureaucracy and business, the two beneficiaries of the Ayub Khan regime, helped him in his election campaign. Being a political opportunist, he brought all the discontented elements together to support him. Students were assured the revision of the University Ordinance and journalists the scrutiny of the Press Laws. Ayub Khan also gathered the support of the ulema who were of the view that Islam does not permit a woman to be the head of an Islamic state.
Fatima Jinnah's greatest advantage was that she was the sister of the Founder of Pakistan. She had detached herself from the political conflicts that had plagued Pakistan after the Founder's death. The sight of this dynamic lady moving in the streets of big cities, and even in the rural areas of a Muslim country, was both moving and unique. She proclaimed Ayub Khan to be a dictator. Jinnah's line of attack was that by coming to terms with the Republic of India on the Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers over to India. Her campaign generated tremendous public enthusiasm. She drew enormous crowds in all cities of East and West Pakistan. The campaign however suffered from a number of drawbacks. An unfair and unequal election campaign, poor finances, and indirect elections through the Basic Democracy System were some of the basic problems she faced.
Fatima Jinnah lost the election of 1965 and Ayub Khan was elected as the President of Pakistan. It is believed that had the elections been held via direct ballot, Fatima Jinnah would have won. The Electoral College consisted of only 80,000 Basic Democrats, who were easily manipulated. The importance of this election lay in the fact that a woman was contesting the highest political office of the country. The orthodox religious political parties, including the Jamaat-i-Islami led by Maulana Maududi, which had repeatedly declared that a woman could not hold the highest office of a Muslim country, modified their stance and supported the candidature of Fatima Jinnah. The election showed that the people had no prejudice against women holding high offices, and they could be key players in politics of the country.
Fatima Jinnah died in Karachi on July 8, 1967. The official cause of death was heart failure, but rumours persist that she was murdered by the same group who killed Liaquat Ali Khan. In 2003, the nephew of the Quaid-i-Azam, Akbar Pirbhai, reignited the controversy by suggesting that she was assassinated.
Fatima Jinnah's unfinished biography of the Quaid, My Brother, was published by the Quaid-i-Azam Academy in 1987.
Fatima Jinnah see Jinnah, Fatima
Khatun-e Pakistan see Jinnah, Fatima
"Lady of Pakistan" see Jinnah, Fatima
Mader-e Millat see Jinnah, Fatima
"Mother of the Nation" see Jinnah, Fatima
Jinnah, Fatima (Fatima Jinnah) (Khatun-e Pakistan) (Mader-e Millat) (July 30, 1893 — July 8, 1967). Youngest sister of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. After becoming a dentist in 1922, she opened a clinic in Bombay. She moved into her brother’s house after the death of this wife and remained his constant companion until his death in 1948. Her main contribution to the Pakistan Movement was giving up her clinic in order to take charge of Jinnah’s household, enabling him to devote his time to public life. After Jinnah’s death, although she remained politically active, she always championed the cause of democracy, women’s rights, refugees, and the underprivileged. In 1965, she ran in the presidential election against Ayub Khan as a candidate of the Combined Opposition Parties, but lost. The electors who made up the electoral college were Basic Democrats, who were highly amenable to official persuasion.
Fatima Jinnah was the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and an active political figure in the movement for independence from the British Raj. She is commonly known in Pakistan as Khātūn-e Pākistān (Urdu: — "Lady of Pakistan") and Māder-e Millat ("Mother of the Nation.") She was born in Karachi, (in the part of British India that later became Pakistan). She was an instrumental figure in the Pakistan movement and the primary organiser of the All India Muslim Women Students Federation. After the formation of Pakistan and the death of her brother, she remained an active member of the nation's politics. She continued to work for the welfare of the Pakistani people until she died in Karachi on July 8, 1967.
Fatima Jinnah was born in Karachi, British India on July 30, 1893. Jinnah's parents, Poonja Jinnahbhai and Mithibai Jinnahbhai, had seven children: Muhammad Ali, Ahmad Ali, Bunde Ali, Rahmat Ali, Maryam, Fatima and Shireen. Of a family of seven brothers and sisters, she was the closest to Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Her illustrious brother became her guardian upon the death of their father in 1901. She joined the Bandra Convent in Bombay in 1902. In 1919, she was admitted to the highly competitive University of Calcutta where she attended the Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College. After she graduated, she opened a dental clinic in Bombay in 1923.
Jinnah lived with her brother until 1918, when he married Rattanbai Petit. Upon Rattanbai's death in February 1929, Jinnah closed her clinic, moved into her brother Muhammad Ali Jinnah's bungalow, and took charge of his house. This began the life-long companionship that lasted until her brother's death on September 11, 1948.
During the transfer of power in 1947, Jinnah formed the Women's Relief Committee, which later formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA). She also played a significant role in the settlement of Muhajirs in the new state of Pakistan.
In the 1960s, Jinnah returned to the forefront of political life when she ran for the presidency of Pakistan as a candidate for the Combined Opposition Party of Pakistan (COPP). She described her opponent, Ayub Khan, as a dictator. Her early rallies nearly 250,000 people turned out to see her in Dhaka, and a million lined the 293 mile route from there to Chittagong. Her train, called the Freedom Special, was 22 hours late because men at each station pulled the emergency cord, and begged her to speak. The crowds hailed her as the mother of the nation.
In her rallies Jinnah argued that, by coming to terms with India on the Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers to India. Jinnah lost the election, but only narrowly, winning a majority in some provinces. The election did not conform to international standards and journalists, as well as subsequent historians, have often suggested it was rigged in favor of Ayub Khan.
Fatima Jinnah, popularly acclaimed as the Madar-i-Millat, or "Mother of the Nation" for her role in the Freedom Movement, contested the 1965 elections at the age of 71. Except for her brief tour to East Pakistan in 1954, she had not participated in politics since Independence. After the imposition of Martial Law by Ayub Khan, she once wished the regime well. But after the Martial Law was lifted, she sympathized with the opposition as she was strongly in favor of democratic ideals. Being the Quaid's sister, she was held in high esteem, and came to symbolize the democratic aspirations of the people. The electoral landscape changed when Fatima Jinnah decided to contest the elections for the President's office in 1965. She was challenging the incumbent President Ayub Khan in the indirect election, which Ayub Khan had himself instituted. Presidential candidates for the elections of 1965 were announced before commencement of the Basic Democracy elections, which was to constitute the Electoral College for the Presidential and Assembly elections. There were two major parties contesting the election. The Convention Muslim League and the Combined Opposition Parties. The Combined Opposition Parties consisted of five major opposition parties. It had a nine-point program, which included restoration of direct elections, adult franchise and democratization of the 1962 Constitution. The opposition parties of Combined Opposition Parties were not united and did not possess any unity of thought and action. They were unable to select presidential candidates from amongst themselves; therefore they selected Fatima Jinnah as their candidate.
Elections were held on January 2, 1965. There were four candidates; Ayub Khan, Fatima Jinnah and two obscure persons with no party affiliation. There was a short campaigning period of one month, which was further restricted to nine projection meetings that were organized by the Election Commission and were attended only by the members of the Electoral College and members of the press. The public was barred from attending the projection meetings, which would have enhanced Fatima Jinnah's image.
Ayub Khan had a great advantage over the rest of the candidates. The Second Amendment of the Constitution confirmed him as President till the election of his successor. Armed with the wide-ranging constitutional powers of a President, he exercised complete control over all governmental machinery during elections. He utilized the state facilities as head of state, not as the President of the Convention Muslim League or a presidential candidate, and didn't even hesitate to legislate on electoral maters. Bureaucracy and business, the two beneficiaries of the Ayub Khan regime, helped him in his election campaign. Being a political opportunist, he brought all the discontented elements together to support him. Students were assured the revision of the University Ordinance and journalists the scrutiny of the Press Laws. Ayub Khan also gathered the support of the ulema who were of the view that Islam does not permit a woman to be the head of an Islamic state.
Fatima Jinnah's greatest advantage was that she was the sister of the Founder of Pakistan. She had detached herself from the political conflicts that had plagued Pakistan after the Founder's death. The sight of this dynamic lady moving in the streets of big cities, and even in the rural areas of a Muslim country, was both moving and unique. She proclaimed Ayub Khan to be a dictator. Jinnah's line of attack was that by coming to terms with the Republic of India on the Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers over to India. Her campaign generated tremendous public enthusiasm. She drew enormous crowds in all cities of East and West Pakistan. The campaign however suffered from a number of drawbacks. An unfair and unequal election campaign, poor finances, and indirect elections through the Basic Democracy System were some of the basic problems she faced.
Fatima Jinnah lost the election of 1965 and Ayub Khan was elected as the President of Pakistan. It is believed that had the elections been held via direct ballot, Fatima Jinnah would have won. The Electoral College consisted of only 80,000 Basic Democrats, who were easily manipulated. The importance of this election lay in the fact that a woman was contesting the highest political office of the country. The orthodox religious political parties, including the Jamaat-i-Islami led by Maulana Maududi, which had repeatedly declared that a woman could not hold the highest office of a Muslim country, modified their stance and supported the candidature of Fatima Jinnah. The election showed that the people had no prejudice against women holding high offices, and they could be key players in politics of the country.
Fatima Jinnah died in Karachi on July 8, 1967. The official cause of death was heart failure, but rumours persist that she was murdered by the same group who killed Liaquat Ali Khan. In 2003, the nephew of the Quaid-i-Azam, Akbar Pirbhai, reignited the controversy by suggesting that she was assassinated.
Fatima Jinnah's unfinished biography of the Quaid, My Brother, was published by the Quaid-i-Azam Academy in 1987.
Fatima Jinnah see Jinnah, Fatima
Khatun-e Pakistan see Jinnah, Fatima
"Lady of Pakistan" see Jinnah, Fatima
Mader-e Millat see Jinnah, Fatima
"Mother of the Nation" see Jinnah, Fatima
Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali (Mohammad Ali Jinnah) (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948). 20th century politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of Pakistan. He served as leader of The Muslim League and Pakistan's first Governor-General. He is officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-i-Azam (Qaid-i-Azam) (Urdu: "Great Leader") and Baba-e-Qaum ("Father of the Nation"). .
Born in Karachi in a Khoja mercantile family, Jinnah had his early education at Karachi and Bombay and then proceeded to Lahore. There he joined the Lincoln’s Inn and in 1895 became the youngest Indian barrister to be called to the bar. He returned to Karachi in 1896 and a year later moved to Bombay, where he was able to build a flourishing practice, becoming in due course one of India’s foremost lawyers. He became a member of the Indian National Congress, joined the Muslim League in 1913 and negotiated the “Lucknow Pact” which guaranteed the rights of the Muslim community.
Jinnah’s first wife died while he was in England. In 1918, he married Ruttenbai, the daughter of Dinshaw Petit, a wealthy Bombay Parsi, despite her parents’ tenacious opposition. After a period of estrangement, Ruttenbai died in 1929. Jinnah’s sister, Fatima, remained his close companion until his death.
During his student days in England, Jinnah had come under the spell of nineteenth century British liberalism. He admired Gladstone and Morley and became associated with Dababhai Naoroji, the first Indian member of the British Parliament. When he returned to India his faith in liberalism and evolutionary politics was confirmed through his close association with three Indian National Congress stalwarts -- Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Surendranath Banerjee. These chief formative influences in his early life, buttressed by his own experience as a lawyer in a predominantly non-Muslim but cosmopolitan metropolis convinced him of the primacy of initiative, enterprise, and hard work, and goaded him to start his political career in 1905 from the Congress platform. He was secretary to its president Naoroji in 1906, and he soon became prominent in national politics.
In 1910, Jinnah was elected by Bombay Muslims to the Imperial Council. His parliamentary career would eventually span some thirty-seven years. From 1912 onward, Jinnah began wielding increasing influence in Muslim politics. At his insistence, the Muslim League (founded in 1906) adopted self-government as its ideal. He joined the league in 1913, becoming its president three years later. He brought the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League togther and was chiefly responsible for the Congress-League Pact [“The Lucknow Pact”] (1916), a joint scheme for postwar reforms, which conceded Muslims the right to separate electorates. For his untiring efforts to effect a communal settlement, the poet and political leader Sarojini Naidu hailed him as “the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.” Since he stood for civil liberties, he resigned from the council in 1919, when the Rowlatt Bill was passed into law; and since he stood for “ordered progress,” moderation, gradualism, and constitutionalism, he left the Congress in 1920 when it opted for Mohandas Gandhi’s direct action and non-cooperation platform. Jinnah also resigned from the Home Rule League, whose Bombay branch he headed, when Gandhi, upon his election as president, unilaterally changed its constitution and nomenclature. Jinnah’s ascendancy to national leadership thus received a serious setback, obliging him to withdraw from active politics for the next three years.
In 1924, Jinnah reorganized the Muslim League, of which he had been president since 1919, and devoted the next seven years attempting to bring about unity among the disparate ranks of Muslims and to develop a rational formula to effect a Hindu-Muslim settlement, which he considered the pre-condition for Indian freedom. He attended several unity conferences, wrote the Delhi Muslim Proposals (1927), pleaded for the incorporation of basic Muslim demands in the Nehru Report (1928), formulated the “Fourteen Points” (1929) as minimum Muslim demands for any constitutional settlement and as a riposte to the Nehru Report, and participated in the Round Table Conference (begun in 1930) in London, called by the British to formulate a new constitution for India.
Despairing alike of the “negative” Congress attitude and of chronic disunity in Muslim ranks, he went into self-exile in London (1931), but returned to India in 1934 at the fervent pleas of his followers. From 1936 onward, despite heavy odds, he breathed new life into the moribund Muslim League, gave it a coherent all-India policy and program, set up a machinery to fight elections in early 1937, and co-operated with the Congress against pro-British parties. The poor showing of the Muslim League in the 1937 elections led to the formation of one party Congress governments and the exclusion of the Muslim League from power in the Hindu majority provinces. Jinnah responded to the developing Congress policy by reorganizing the league in October 1937 on a more popular basis, changing its creed to “full independence” and going to Muslim masses for grassroots support. Jinnah was thus able to exploit both Muslim passion for freedom and heightened disenchantment with the Congress in order to gain support for the league’s platform; to put pressure on the otherwise reluctant provincial leadership to fall in line; and ti consolidate his claim as the sole spokesman of Indian Muslims. He was rewarded by overwhelming league victories in by-elections from 1938 onward and the celebration, at his call, of a “deliverance day” by Muslims in December 1939, on the Congress’ exit from power. His leadership of Muslims was also recognized by the British when they needed the league’s support in the war effort.
In March 1940, at the league’s session, Jinnah pronounced the 100 million Indian Muslims a nation in its own right, and on that basis demanded a separate independence for predominantly Muslim regions of northwestern and eastern India. Popularly known as Pakistan, this demand was first ridiculed and then vehemently opposed by the Congress. Nor were the British amenable to the idea of partitioning the subcontinent. But Jinnah organized his movement so adroitly that the Pakistan demand gathered momentum within a few years, became the central issue in all subsequent constitutional proposals, and was overwhelmingly voted for by Muslims in the 1945-1946 general elections. In the long, drawn-out controversy centering on certain provisions of the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), Jinnah proved himself a strategist of a rare caliber and outmaneuvered the Congress, causing an insoluble deadlock that led directly to the plan of June 3, 1947, under which India was partitioned. Pakistan was established in August 1947.
Because of Jinnah’s critical role in its emergence, Pakistan has been termed a “one-man achievement.” For the same reason, the Muslim League nominated him as governor-general, and the Pakistan Constituent Assembly elected him as president. Although aged and weak, he carried the heaviest burden in Pakistan and worked hard to secure its survival under rather treacherous circumstances. He died on September 11, 1948, from overwork, after a brief illness.
Today his birthday is a national holiday in Pakistan.
Muhammad 'Ali Jinnah see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Mohammad Ali Jinnah see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Quaid-i-Azam see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
The Great Leader see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Baba-e-Qaum see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
"Father of the Nation" see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali (Mohammad Ali Jinnah) (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948). 20th century politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of Pakistan. He served as leader of The Muslim League and Pakistan's first Governor-General. He is officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-i-Azam (Qaid-i-Azam) (Urdu: "Great Leader") and Baba-e-Qaum ("Father of the Nation"). .
Born in Karachi in a Khoja mercantile family, Jinnah had his early education at Karachi and Bombay and then proceeded to Lahore. There he joined the Lincoln’s Inn and in 1895 became the youngest Indian barrister to be called to the bar. He returned to Karachi in 1896 and a year later moved to Bombay, where he was able to build a flourishing practice, becoming in due course one of India’s foremost lawyers. He became a member of the Indian National Congress, joined the Muslim League in 1913 and negotiated the “Lucknow Pact” which guaranteed the rights of the Muslim community.
Jinnah’s first wife died while he was in England. In 1918, he married Ruttenbai, the daughter of Dinshaw Petit, a wealthy Bombay Parsi, despite her parents’ tenacious opposition. After a period of estrangement, Ruttenbai died in 1929. Jinnah’s sister, Fatima, remained his close companion until his death.
During his student days in England, Jinnah had come under the spell of nineteenth century British liberalism. He admired Gladstone and Morley and became associated with Dababhai Naoroji, the first Indian member of the British Parliament. When he returned to India his faith in liberalism and evolutionary politics was confirmed through his close association with three Indian National Congress stalwarts -- Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Surendranath Banerjee. These chief formative influences in his early life, buttressed by his own experience as a lawyer in a predominantly non-Muslim but cosmopolitan metropolis convinced him of the primacy of initiative, enterprise, and hard work, and goaded him to start his political career in 1905 from the Congress platform. He was secretary to its president Naoroji in 1906, and he soon became prominent in national politics.
In 1910, Jinnah was elected by Bombay Muslims to the Imperial Council. His parliamentary career would eventually span some thirty-seven years. From 1912 onward, Jinnah began wielding increasing influence in Muslim politics. At his insistence, the Muslim League (founded in 1906) adopted self-government as its ideal. He joined the league in 1913, becoming its president three years later. He brought the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League togther and was chiefly responsible for the Congress-League Pact [“The Lucknow Pact”] (1916), a joint scheme for postwar reforms, which conceded Muslims the right to separate electorates. For his untiring efforts to effect a communal settlement, the poet and political leader Sarojini Naidu hailed him as “the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.” Since he stood for civil liberties, he resigned from the council in 1919, when the Rowlatt Bill was passed into law; and since he stood for “ordered progress,” moderation, gradualism, and constitutionalism, he left the Congress in 1920 when it opted for Mohandas Gandhi’s direct action and non-cooperation platform. Jinnah also resigned from the Home Rule League, whose Bombay branch he headed, when Gandhi, upon his election as president, unilaterally changed its constitution and nomenclature. Jinnah’s ascendancy to national leadership thus received a serious setback, obliging him to withdraw from active politics for the next three years.
In 1924, Jinnah reorganized the Muslim League, of which he had been president since 1919, and devoted the next seven years attempting to bring about unity among the disparate ranks of Muslims and to develop a rational formula to effect a Hindu-Muslim settlement, which he considered the pre-condition for Indian freedom. He attended several unity conferences, wrote the Delhi Muslim Proposals (1927), pleaded for the incorporation of basic Muslim demands in the Nehru Report (1928), formulated the “Fourteen Points” (1929) as minimum Muslim demands for any constitutional settlement and as a riposte to the Nehru Report, and participated in the Round Table Conference (begun in 1930) in London, called by the British to formulate a new constitution for India.
Despairing alike of the “negative” Congress attitude and of chronic disunity in Muslim ranks, he went into self-exile in London (1931), but returned to India in 1934 at the fervent pleas of his followers. From 1936 onward, despite heavy odds, he breathed new life into the moribund Muslim League, gave it a coherent all-India policy and program, set up a machinery to fight elections in early 1937, and co-operated with the Congress against pro-British parties. The poor showing of the Muslim League in the 1937 elections led to the formation of one party Congress governments and the exclusion of the Muslim League from power in the Hindu majority provinces. Jinnah responded to the developing Congress policy by reorganizing the league in October 1937 on a more popular basis, changing its creed to “full independence” and going to Muslim masses for grassroots support. Jinnah was thus able to exploit both Muslim passion for freedom and heightened disenchantment with the Congress in order to gain support for the league’s platform; to put pressure on the otherwise reluctant provincial leadership to fall in line; and ti consolidate his claim as the sole spokesman of Indian Muslims. He was rewarded by overwhelming league victories in by-elections from 1938 onward and the celebration, at his call, of a “deliverance day” by Muslims in December 1939, on the Congress’ exit from power. His leadership of Muslims was also recognized by the British when they needed the league’s support in the war effort.
In March 1940, at the league’s session, Jinnah pronounced the 100 million Indian Muslims a nation in its own right, and on that basis demanded a separate independence for predominantly Muslim regions of northwestern and eastern India. Popularly known as Pakistan, this demand was first ridiculed and then vehemently opposed by the Congress. Nor were the British amenable to the idea of partitioning the subcontinent. But Jinnah organized his movement so adroitly that the Pakistan demand gathered momentum within a few years, became the central issue in all subsequent constitutional proposals, and was overwhelmingly voted for by Muslims in the 1945-1946 general elections. In the long, drawn-out controversy centering on certain provisions of the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), Jinnah proved himself a strategist of a rare caliber and outmaneuvered the Congress, causing an insoluble deadlock that led directly to the plan of June 3, 1947, under which India was partitioned. Pakistan was established in August 1947.
Because of Jinnah’s critical role in its emergence, Pakistan has been termed a “one-man achievement.” For the same reason, the Muslim League nominated him as governor-general, and the Pakistan Constituent Assembly elected him as president. Although aged and weak, he carried the heaviest burden in Pakistan and worked hard to secure its survival under rather treacherous circumstances. He died on September 11, 1948, from overwork, after a brief illness.
Today his birthday is a national holiday in Pakistan.
Muhammad 'Ali Jinnah see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Mohammad Ali Jinnah see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Quaid-i-Azam see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
The Great Leader see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
Baba-e-Qaum see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
"Father of the Nation" see Jinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali
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