Kabakci-oghlu Mustafa
Kabakci-oghlu Mustafa (d. 1808). Architect of the rebellion which overthrew the Ottoman sultan Selim III in 1807.
Mustafa, Kabakci-oghlu see Kabakci-oghlu Mustafa
Kabakci-oghlu Mustafa (d. 1808). Architect of the rebellion which overthrew the Ottoman sultan Selim III in 1807.
Mustafa, Kabakci-oghlu see Kabakci-oghlu Mustafa
Ka‘b al-Ahbar
Ka‘b al-Ahbar (Abū Iṣḥaq Ka‘b ibn Mati‘ al-Humyari al-Aḥbār) (d. 652). Yemenite Jew who became a convert to Islam and is considered the oldest authority on Judeo-Islamic traditions.
Ka‘b al-Aḥbār was a prominent rabbi (turned Muslim) from Yemen of the clan of Dhu Ra'in or Dhu al-Kila. He is counted among the Tabi‘in and narrated many Isra'iliyat.
Ka‘b moved from Yemen to Bilad al-Sham.
Ka‘b came to Medina during the time of Umar where he converted to Islam. He lived there until Uthman's era. Ka‘b did not meet Muhammad.
Ka'b accompanied Khalif Umar in his voyage to Jerusalem (Al-Quds) He helped locate the foundations of the ancient Jewish temple where Umar built the Aqsa Mosque. He also helped find the place of the Rock while he was looking for the Holy of Holies. Umar cleaned it from rubble and fenced it and an Umayyad Khalif later built the Dome of the Rock over it as an integral part of the Aqsa Mosque.
Ka‘b went to Syria and became one of Mu‘awiyah's advisers. He died in Hims, during the Caliphate of Uthman exceeding 100 years of age.
Ahbar, Ka'b al- see Ka‘b al-Ahbar
Abū Iṣḥaq Ka‘b ibn Mati‘ al-Humyari al-Aḥbār see Ka‘b al-Ahbar
Ka‘b al-Ahbar (Abū Iṣḥaq Ka‘b ibn Mati‘ al-Humyari al-Aḥbār) (d. 652). Yemenite Jew who became a convert to Islam and is considered the oldest authority on Judeo-Islamic traditions.
Ka‘b al-Aḥbār was a prominent rabbi (turned Muslim) from Yemen of the clan of Dhu Ra'in or Dhu al-Kila. He is counted among the Tabi‘in and narrated many Isra'iliyat.
Ka‘b moved from Yemen to Bilad al-Sham.
Ka‘b came to Medina during the time of Umar where he converted to Islam. He lived there until Uthman's era. Ka‘b did not meet Muhammad.
Ka'b accompanied Khalif Umar in his voyage to Jerusalem (Al-Quds) He helped locate the foundations of the ancient Jewish temple where Umar built the Aqsa Mosque. He also helped find the place of the Rock while he was looking for the Holy of Holies. Umar cleaned it from rubble and fenced it and an Umayyad Khalif later built the Dome of the Rock over it as an integral part of the Aqsa Mosque.
Ka‘b went to Syria and became one of Mu‘awiyah's advisers. He died in Hims, during the Caliphate of Uthman exceeding 100 years of age.
Ahbar, Ka'b al- see Ka‘b al-Ahbar
Abū Iṣḥaq Ka‘b ibn Mati‘ al-Humyari al-Aḥbār see Ka‘b al-Ahbar
Ka‘b al-Ashraf
Ka‘b al-Ashraf (Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf) (d. 624). Jewish opponent of the Prophet at Medina who, by his poetic gifts, incited the Quraysh to fight the Muslims.
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was a chief of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir and a poet, who was assassinated by an order of Muhammad. Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was born to a Jewish-Arab mother from the Banu Nadir tribe and a Muslim-Arab father, and he followed his mother's religion.
According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad called upon his followers to kill Ka'b because the latter "had gone to Mecca after Badr and provoked Quraysh to fight the prophet. He also composed verses in which he bewailed the victims of Quraysh who had been killed at Badr. Shortly afterwards he returned to Medina and composed amatory verses of an insulting nature about the Muslim women." Other historiographical sources state that the reason for killing of Ka'b was that he had plotted with a group of Jews to kill Muhammad. The writings of the later commentators such as al-Zamakhshari, al-Tabarsi, al-Razi and al-Baydawi provide another distinct report according to which Ka'b was killed because Gabriel had informed Muhammad about a treaty signed by himself and Aba Sufyan creating an alliance between the Quraysh and forty Jews against Muhammad during Ka'b's visit to Mecca.
Ka'b was infuriated at Muhammad's execution of a number of Meccan notables of the Quraysh tribe who had been captured after the Muslim victory in the Battle of Badr in March 624. The traditional Muslim biography of Muhammad reports Ka'b as saying "...if Muhammad has indeed struck down those people, then it were better to be buried in the earth than to walk upon it!"
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf rode to the Quraish at Mecca, in order to lament the loss at Badr and to incite them to take up arms to regain lost honor, noting the statement of Muhammad: "He (Ka'b) has openly assumed enmity to us and speaks evil of us and he has gone over to the polytheists (who were at war with Muslims) and has made them gather against us for fighting". Some sources suggest that during his visit to Mecca, Ka'b concluded a treaty with Abu Sufyan, stipulating cooperation between the Quraysh and Jews against Muhammad.
Upon returning to Medina, Ka'b also wrote erotic poetry about Muslim women, which Muhammad and his followers found offensive.
Muhammad called upon his followers to kill Ka'b, and Muhammad ibn Maslama offered his services, collecting four others, including a foster-brother of Ka'b. By pretending to have turned against Muhammad, they enticed Ka'b out of his fortress on a moonlit night for what was supposed to be negotiations of Ka'b's sale of food to them. After Ka'b walked out of his fortress to meet Muhammad ibn Maslama and his companions, they attacked Ka'b and killed him in spite of his vigorous resistance.
A number of reasons are given for the assassination. One reason is that al-Ashraf had tried to provoke the Quraysh against Muhammad, and later composed verses insulting Muslim women. Another reason is his attempt to assassinate Muhammad. Finally, Muhammad was acting in accordance with the norms of the Arab society of that period which demanded retaliation for a slight to a group's honor.
The Jews were terrified at the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, and as a Muslim biographer of Muhammad put it "...there was not a Jew who did not fear for his life". Shortly after the killing of Ka'b, Muhammad attacked Banu Nadir and expelled them from Medina.
Ashrab, Ka'b al- see Ka‘b al-Ashraf
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf see Ka‘b al-Ashraf
Ka‘b al-Ashraf (Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf) (d. 624). Jewish opponent of the Prophet at Medina who, by his poetic gifts, incited the Quraysh to fight the Muslims.
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was a chief of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir and a poet, who was assassinated by an order of Muhammad. Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was born to a Jewish-Arab mother from the Banu Nadir tribe and a Muslim-Arab father, and he followed his mother's religion.
According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad called upon his followers to kill Ka'b because the latter "had gone to Mecca after Badr and provoked Quraysh to fight the prophet. He also composed verses in which he bewailed the victims of Quraysh who had been killed at Badr. Shortly afterwards he returned to Medina and composed amatory verses of an insulting nature about the Muslim women." Other historiographical sources state that the reason for killing of Ka'b was that he had plotted with a group of Jews to kill Muhammad. The writings of the later commentators such as al-Zamakhshari, al-Tabarsi, al-Razi and al-Baydawi provide another distinct report according to which Ka'b was killed because Gabriel had informed Muhammad about a treaty signed by himself and Aba Sufyan creating an alliance between the Quraysh and forty Jews against Muhammad during Ka'b's visit to Mecca.
Ka'b was infuriated at Muhammad's execution of a number of Meccan notables of the Quraysh tribe who had been captured after the Muslim victory in the Battle of Badr in March 624. The traditional Muslim biography of Muhammad reports Ka'b as saying "...if Muhammad has indeed struck down those people, then it were better to be buried in the earth than to walk upon it!"
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf rode to the Quraish at Mecca, in order to lament the loss at Badr and to incite them to take up arms to regain lost honor, noting the statement of Muhammad: "He (Ka'b) has openly assumed enmity to us and speaks evil of us and he has gone over to the polytheists (who were at war with Muslims) and has made them gather against us for fighting". Some sources suggest that during his visit to Mecca, Ka'b concluded a treaty with Abu Sufyan, stipulating cooperation between the Quraysh and Jews against Muhammad.
Upon returning to Medina, Ka'b also wrote erotic poetry about Muslim women, which Muhammad and his followers found offensive.
Muhammad called upon his followers to kill Ka'b, and Muhammad ibn Maslama offered his services, collecting four others, including a foster-brother of Ka'b. By pretending to have turned against Muhammad, they enticed Ka'b out of his fortress on a moonlit night for what was supposed to be negotiations of Ka'b's sale of food to them. After Ka'b walked out of his fortress to meet Muhammad ibn Maslama and his companions, they attacked Ka'b and killed him in spite of his vigorous resistance.
A number of reasons are given for the assassination. One reason is that al-Ashraf had tried to provoke the Quraysh against Muhammad, and later composed verses insulting Muslim women. Another reason is his attempt to assassinate Muhammad. Finally, Muhammad was acting in accordance with the norms of the Arab society of that period which demanded retaliation for a slight to a group's honor.
The Jews were terrified at the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, and as a Muslim biographer of Muhammad put it "...there was not a Jew who did not fear for his life". Shortly after the killing of Ka'b, Muhammad attacked Banu Nadir and expelled them from Medina.
Ashrab, Ka'b al- see Ka‘b al-Ashraf
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf see Ka‘b al-Ashraf
Kabards
Kabards. Muslim people of the Caucasus, completely Islamicized by the end of the seventeenth century.
Kabards. Muslim people of the Caucasus, completely Islamicized by the end of the seventeenth century.
Kabbah, Ahmad
Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (February 16, 1932 – March 13, 2014) was the third President of Sierra Leone from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by professions, Kabbah spent many years working for the United Nations Development Programme. He retired from the United Nations and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992.
In early 1996, Kabbah was elected leader of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and the party's presidential candidate in the 1996 presidential election. He was elected President of Sierra Leone in the 1996 presidential election with 59% of the vote defeating his closest rival John Karefa-Smart of the United National People's Party (UNPP) who had 40% in the runoff vote and conceded defeat. International observers declared the election free and fair. In his inauguration speech in Freetown, Kabbah promised to end the civil war, which he indeed achieved later in his presidency.
An ethnic Mandingo, Kabbah was Sierra Leone's first Muslim head of state. Kabbah was born in Pendembu, Kailahun District in Eastern Sierra Leone, though he was largely raised in the capital Freetown.
Most of Kabbah's time in office was influenced by the civil war with the Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday Sankoh, which involved him being temporarily ousted by the military Armed Forces Revolutionary Council from May 1997 to March 1998. He was soon returned to power after a military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Nigeria. Another phase of the civil war led to United Nations and British involvement in the country in 2000.
As President, Kabbah opened direct negotiations with the RUF rebels in order to end the civil war. He signed several peace accords with the rebel leader Foday Sankoh, including the 1999 Lome Peace Accord, in which the rebels, for the first time, agreed to a temporary cease fire with the Sierra Leone government. When the cease fire agreement with the rebels virtually collapsed, Kabbah campaigned for international assistance from the British, the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to help defeat the rebels and restored peace and order in Sierra Leone.
Kabbah declared the civil war officially over in early 2002. Tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans across the country took to the streets to celebrate the end of the war. Kabbah went on to easily win his final five year term in office in the presidential election later that year with 70.1% of the vote, defeating his main opponent Ernest Bai Koroma of the main opposition All People's Congress (APC). International observers declared the election free and fair.
Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was born on February 16, 1932 in the rural town of Pendembu, Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone to devout Muslim parents. Kabbah's father was an ethnic Mandingo and a deeply religious Muslim of Guinean descent and a native of Kambia District in the north of Sierra Leone. His mother was also a Muslim and a member of the Mende ethnic group from the Coomber family, a Chieftaincy ruling house based in the small rural town of Mobai, Kailahun District. Kabbah's first name Ahmad means "highly praised" or "one who constantly thanks God" in the Arabic language. Kabba himself was a devout Muslim and a member of the Mandingo ethnic group. Kabbah was a fluent speaker of his native Mandingo language and was also a fluent speaker of the local Susu language. Though born in the Kailahun District, Kabbah was largely raised in the capital Freetown.
Though a devout Muslim, Kabbah received his secondary education at the St. Edward's secondary school in Freetown, the oldest Catholic secondary school in Sierra Leone. Kabbah married a Catholic, the late Patricia Kabbah, (born Patricia Tucker), who was an ethnic Sherbro from Bonthe District in Southern Sierra Leone. Together the couple had five children. Kabbah received his higher education at the Cardiff College of Technology and Commerce, and University College Aberystwyth, Wales, in the United Kingdom, with a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1959. He later studied law, and in 1969 he became a practicing Barrister-at-Law, member of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, London.
Kabbah spent nearly his entire career in the public sector. He served in the Western Area and in all the Provinces of Sierra Leone. He was a District Commissioner in Bombali and Kambia (Northern Province), in Kono (Eastern Province) and in Moyamba and Bo (Southern Province). He later became Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, including Trade and Industry, Social Welfare, and Education.
Kabbah was an international civil servant for almost two decades. After serving as deputy Chief of the West Africa Division of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York, he was reassigned in 1973 to head the Programme's operation in the Kingdom of Lesotho, as Resident Representative. He also headed UNDP operations in Tanzania and Uganda, and just before Zimbabwe's independence, he was temporarily assigned to that country to help lay the groundwork for cooperation with the United Nations system.
After a successful tour of duty in Eastern and Southern Africa, Kabbah returned to New York to head UNDP's Eastern and Southern Africa Division. Among other things, he was directly responsible for coordinating United Nations system assistance to liberation movements recognized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), such as the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, and the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia.
Before his retirement in 1992, Kabbah held a number of senior administrative positions at UNDP Headquarters in New York, including those of Deputy Director and Director of Personnel, and Director, Division of Administration and Management.
After the military coup in 1992, Kabbah was asked to chair the National Advisory Council, one of the mechanisms set up by the military to alleviate the restoration of constitutional rule, including the drafting of a new constitution for Sierra Leone. He reputedly intended his return to Sierra Leone to be a retirement, but was encouraged by those around him and the political situation that arose to become more actively involved in the politics of Sierra Leone.
Kabbah was seen as a compromise candidate when he was put forward by the Mende-dominated Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) as their presidential hopeful in the 1996 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the first multi-party elections in twenty-three years. The SLPP won the legislative vote overwhelmingly in the South and Eastern Province of the country, they split the vote with the UNPP in the Western Area and they lost in the Northern Province. On March 29, 1996, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was sworn in as President of Sierra Leone. Guided by his philosophy of "political inclusion" he appointed the most broad-based government in the nation's history, drawing from all political parties represented in Parliament, and ‘technocrats’ in civil society. One minority party did not accept his offer of a cabinet post.
The President's first major objective was to end the rebel war which, in four years had already claimed hundreds of innocent lives, driven thousands of others into refugee status, and ruined the nation's economy. In November 1996, in Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, Kabbah signed a peace agreement with the rebel leader, former Corporal Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
The President's first major objective was to end the rebel war which, in four years had already claimed hundreds of innocent lives, driven thousands of others into refugee status, and ruined the nation's economy. In November 1996, in Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, Kabbah signed a peace agreement with the rebel leader, former Corporal Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
The rebels reneged on the Agreement, resumed hostilities, and later perpetrated on the people of Sierra Leone what has been described as one of the most brutal internal conflicts in the world.
In 1996, a coup attempt involving Johnny Paul Koroma and other junior officers of the Sierra Leone Army was unsuccessful, but served as notice that Kabbah's control over military and government officials in Freetown was weakening.
In May 1997, a military coup forced Kabbah into exile in neighboring Guinea. The coup was led by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, and Koroma was freed and installed as the head of state. In his Guinea exile, Kabbah began to marshal international support. Just nine months after the coup, Kabbah's government was revived as the military-rebel junta was removed by troops of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the command of the Nigerian led ECOMOG (ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group) and loyal civil and military defense forces, notably the Kamajos led by Samuel Hinga Norman.
Once again, in pursuit of peace, President Kabbah signed the Lome Peace Accord with the RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh on July 7, 1999. Notwithstanding repeated violations by the RUF, the document, known as the Lomé Peace Agreement, remained the cornerstone of sustainable peace, security, justice and national reconciliation in Sierra Leone. On January 18, 2002, at a ceremony marking the conclusion of the disarmament and demobilization of ex-combatants under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), he declared that the rebel war was over.
Although elected as president, he faced the task of fighting a brutal enemy. His most crucial military support was however from outside. Nigeria was the foremost participant as they crucially intervened under the leadership of the late General Sani Abacha, who was then the military head of his country. On February 1998, he sent his troops to push out the infamous military junta and rebel alliance of Johnny Paul Koroma and Sam Bockarie, known as Maskita. The rebels, however, continued their attempt to dethrone Kabbah's government, despite signing numerous peace accords with President Kabbah. In May 2000, Foday Saybanah Sankoh, who was then part of Kabbah's cabinet, kidnapped several UN troops, and then ordered his rebels to march to Freetown. Trouble was looming as the capital was once more threatened with another January 6, 1999 scenario. But with the timely intervention of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, 800 British troops were sent to Freetown to halt the impending rebel march to the city. President Kabbah was very grateful to the British Prime Minister, calling his intervention "timely" and one that "Sierra Leonean people will never forget".
Once again, in pursuit of peace, President Kabbah signed the Lome Peace Accord with the RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh on July 7, 1999. Notwithstanding repeated violations by the RUF, the document, known as the Lomé Peace Agreement, remained the cornerstone of sustainable peace, security, justice and national reconciliation in Sierra Leone. On January 18, 2002, at a ceremony marking the conclusion of the disarmament and demobilization of ex-combatants under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), he declared that the rebel war was over.
Although elected as president, he faced the task of fighting a brutal enemy. His most crucial military support was however from outside. Nigeria was the foremost participant as they crucially intervened under the leadership of the late General Sani Abacha, who was then the military head of his country. On February 1998, he sent his troops to push out the infamous military junta and rebel alliance of Johnny Paul Koroma and Sam Bockarie, known as Maskita. The rebels, however, continued their attempt to dethrone Kabbah's government, despite signing numerous peace accords with President Kabbah. In May 2000, Foday Saybanah Sankoh, who was then part of Kabbah's cabinet, kidnapped several UN troops, and then ordered his rebels to march to Freetown. Trouble was looming as the capital was once more threatened with another January 6, 1999 scenario. But with the timely intervention of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, 800 British troops were sent to Freetown to halt the impending rebel march to the city. President Kabbah was very grateful to the British Prime Minister, calling his intervention "timely" and one that "Sierra Leonean people will never forget".
As president, Kabbah opened direct negotiations with the RUF rebels in order to end the civil war. He signed several peace accords with the rebel leader Foday Sankoh, including the 1999 Lome Peace Accord, in which the rebels, for the first time agreed to a temporary cease fire with the Sierra Leone government. When the cease fire agreement with the rebels virtually collapsed, Kabbah campaigned for international assistant from the British, the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to help defeat the rebels and restored peace and order in Sierra Leone.
In October 1999, the United Nations agreed to send peacekeepers to help restore order and disarm the rebels. The first of the 6,000-member force began arriving in December, and the United Nations Security Council voted in February 2000 to increase the force to 11,000, and later to 13,000. The UN peacekeeping forces were made up mainly of soldiers from the British special forces, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The African Union special forces sent to Sierra Leone to assist the government in fighting the rebels were made up mainly of soldiers from Nigeria, Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Zambia and The Gambia. The international forces, led by the British troops, launched many successful military operations in repelling the RUF rebels and retook many of the areas of the country that were under the rebel control. The rebel lines of communication were severely destroyed and many senior rebel leaders were captured or fled the country, including the RUF leader Foday Sankoh, who was captured.
The fragile rebels finally agreed to be dissarmed. In return the Sierra Leone government, lead by Kabbah, offered the rebels amnesty, career opportunities and mental institutions. The child rebels were reinstated in public schools, also offered mental institutions and reunited with family members. In 2001, United Nation forces moved in rebel-held areas and began to dissarm the rebels.
The civil war was officially declared over in early 2002 by Kabbah. Tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans across the country took to the streets celebrating the end of the war. Kabbah went on to easily win his final five year term in office in the presidential election later that year with 70.1% of the vote, defeating his main opponent Ernest Bai Koroma of the main opposition All People's Congress (APC). International observers declared the election free and fair.
As the first leader after the civil war, Kabbah's main task was to disarm the different parties involved in the war and to build unity of the country. Time magazine called Kabbah a "diamond in the rough" for his success as the first civilian elected ruler of Sierra Leone in 34 years and his role in the end of what became a decade long conflict from 1992 until 2000. Although he himself was not considered corrupt, Kabbah was accused of an inability to deal with corrupt officials in his government many of whom were said to be profiting from the diamond trade. Kabbah struggled with this problem and invited the British to help set up an anti-corruption commission.
As the first leader after the civil war, Kabbah's main task was to disarm the different parties involved in the war and to build unity of the country. Time magazine called Kabbah a "diamond in the rough" for his success as the first civilian elected ruler of Sierra Leone in 34 years and his role in the end of what became a decade long conflict from 1992 until 2000. Although he himself was not considered corrupt, Kabbah was accused of an inability to deal with corrupt officials in his government many of whom were said to be profiting from the diamond trade. Kabbah struggled with this problem and invited the British to help set up an anti-corruption commission.
Kabbah left office in September 2007 at the end of his second 5-year term. Constitutionally, he was not eligible to seek re-election. His Vice-President, Solomon Berewa, ran as the SLPP candidate to succeed Kabbah but was defeated by the opposition candidate Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC.
Kabbah was the head of the Commonwealth's observer mission for the December 2007 Kenyan election, as well as the head of the African Union's observer mission for the March 2008 Zimbabwean election.
Kabbah died at his residential home in Juba Hill, a middle class neighborhood in the west end of Freetown at the age of 82 on March 13, 2014, after a short illness. Following the announcement of Kabbah's death, Sierra Leone's president Ernest Bai Koroma declared a week of national mourning; and he ordered the country's flags to be flown at half mast throughout Sierra Leone.
A state funeral was held for Kabbah. Kabbah's funeral service was attended by several former Heads of State, international delegations, former and current government officials, regardless of their political paties, and members of the civil services.
On March 21, 2014, Kabbah's casket was carried by soldiers of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces into the Sierra Leone House of Parliament were members of parliament paid their last respects to the former Head of State. On March 23, 2014 Kabbah's casket was brought to the National Stadium, as thousands of Sierra Leoneans lined the streets of Freetown to say goodbye to their former leader. Kabbah's body was then carried by soldiers to the Mandingo Central Mosque in Freetown where an Islamic prayer service was held before he was finally laid to rest at the Kissi Road Cemetery, next to his mother Hajah Adama Kabbah's grave.
Kabbah's wife Patricia, an ethnic Sherbro, died in 1998. They had five children: Mariama, Abu, Michael, Isata and Tejan Jr., and three grandchildren: Simone, Isata, and Aidan.
Ka‘b, Banu
Ka‘b, Banu (Banu Ka‘b). Arab tribe which occupies, at present, parts of Khuzistan in Southwestern Iran. Like other Arab tribes inhabiting Iran, they mingled with the Non-Arab population and began to slowly lose their Arab identity.
Banu Ka'b see Ka‘b, Banu
Ka‘b, Banu (Banu Ka‘b). Arab tribe which occupies, at present, parts of Khuzistan in Southwestern Iran. Like other Arab tribes inhabiting Iran, they mingled with the Non-Arab population and began to slowly lose their Arab identity.
Banu Ka'b see Ka‘b, Banu
Ka‘b ibn Malik
Ka‘b ibn Malik (d. 673). One of the poets supporting the Prophet.
Ka‘b ibn Malik (d. 673). One of the poets supporting the Prophet.
Ka’b ibn Zuhayr
Ka’b ibn Zuhayr. Arab poet and contemporary of the Prophet. He at first wrote some satirical verses against the Prophet, but later accepted Islam by reciting his famous piece known as “Su‘ad has departed,” which is an authentic example of the eulogistic poetry of the period.
Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr was a pagan in the time of Muḥammad, the eldest son of Zuhayr ibn Abî Sûlmâ, and one of six men who refused the prophet's attempts to convert them.
Presenting a poem entitled the Bdnat Sudd to the Prophet, he was rewarded with the mantle that Muhammad was wearing (the burda), and converted to Islam.
Ka’b ibn Zuhayr. Arab poet and contemporary of the Prophet. He at first wrote some satirical verses against the Prophet, but later accepted Islam by reciting his famous piece known as “Su‘ad has departed,” which is an authentic example of the eulogistic poetry of the period.
Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr was a pagan in the time of Muḥammad, the eldest son of Zuhayr ibn Abî Sûlmâ, and one of six men who refused the prophet's attempts to convert them.
Presenting a poem entitled the Bdnat Sudd to the Prophet, he was rewarded with the mantle that Muhammad was wearing (the burda), and converted to Islam.
Kabir
Kabir (Kabīra) (b. 1440, Varanasi, Jaunpur, India - d. 1518, Maghar). Iconoclastic Indian poet-saint revered by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs alike.
Kabīr (Arabic for "Great") was a legendary Indian saint. Over the centuries so many stories have been attached to the name of Kabir that even the dates of his life are uncertain. Kabir has become more than a historical figure. He is a symbol of religious tolerance and serves as an example of the possibility of synthesis between Islam and Hinduism.
Kabir was the son of a Muslim weaver and his wife in North India. Later Hindu writers sought to remove this stigma of low birth by claiming Kabir was an avatar -- a miracle child conceived by the word or God. Alternatively, some claimed that Kabir was like the infant Moses, a baby found floating on a lotus leaf in a pond.
As a youth living in the sacred Hindu city of Benares, Kabir was greatly influenced by Hinduism, so much so that Kabir became fond of chanting the divine name of Rama. This practice not only infuriated the Muslims, who were firmly opposed to polytheism, but it also irritated the Hindus because they considered such chanting on the part of a non-Hindu to be a grave blasphemy.
Traditions of the yogi Gorakhnath and his successors’ teaching strengthened Kabir’s conviction of the value of subjective experience of God, and of the uselessness of esoteric theory and outward observances. However, Kabir was led to reject the doctrine of Ram as an avatar of Vishnu and to see in Ram rather a divine principle, independent of creed, with which all other gods might be equated. The influence of Muslim Sufi mysticism is also evident in Kabir’s thought, where it reinforces the spirit of bhakti or loving devotion to the divine which he had inherited from Vaisnavism.
Kabir came to reject all outward forms of religion. Scriptures, the concept of caste, idolatry, and elaborate rituals were all discarded by Kabir. Instead, Kabir preached a simple love of God. It is obvious that he was influenced by the Sufi sect of Islam. However, Kabir purposely avoided religious labels of any kind. Kabir’s beliefs were expressed more in his actions than in any detailed theology. For example, legend has it that his chosen guru, Swami Ramanand, once sent Kabir to fetch cow’s milk to be offered to the ancestors. The disciple disappeared for some time and was finally discovered seated by a dead cow to which he had been trying to feed a handful of grass. The startled Ramanand asked Kabir the meaning of his odd behavior. Ramanand remarked “Surely you must know that a dead cow cannot eat grass or give milk.” Kabir replied, “If a recently deceased cow cannot eat, how can your long-dead ancestors drink the milk you intend to offer them?”
Kabir’s beliefs were incorporated into his poems. His choice of vocabulary borrowed freely from both Sanskrit and Persian, just as Kabir’s beliefs combined the best of Hinduism and Islam. Kabir’s simple philosophy is summed up in the following verses:
"I do not ring the temple bell: I do not set the idol on its throne: I do not worship the image with flowers. It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh which are pleasing to the Lord. When you leave off your clothes and kill your senses, you do not please the Lord: The man who is kind and who practices righteousness, who remains passive amidst the affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self, he attains the Immortal Being, the true God is ever with him."
Kabir’s poetry is the expression of his religious eclecticism. He probably taught only orally, and the canon of his works is uncertain. Three collections written in a mixture of Hindi dialects are generally considered authentic: the Bijak (“Account Book”), a collection in the Sikh Adi Granth, and the Granthavali (“Collected Writings”). These poems are in rhyming couplets and a variety of other stanzas. Their style is often rough and their themes obscure in detail, but they can express their author’s broad religious convictions with great effectiveness.
During Kabir’s lifetime, a religious community of monks and nuns (the Kabir Panth) was organized to preserve Kabir’s teachings on tolerance and on the perfect love of God.
Kabira see Kabir
"The Great" see Kabir
Kabir (Kabīra) (b. 1440, Varanasi, Jaunpur, India - d. 1518, Maghar). Iconoclastic Indian poet-saint revered by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs alike.
Kabīr (Arabic for "Great") was a legendary Indian saint. Over the centuries so many stories have been attached to the name of Kabir that even the dates of his life are uncertain. Kabir has become more than a historical figure. He is a symbol of religious tolerance and serves as an example of the possibility of synthesis between Islam and Hinduism.
Kabir was the son of a Muslim weaver and his wife in North India. Later Hindu writers sought to remove this stigma of low birth by claiming Kabir was an avatar -- a miracle child conceived by the word or God. Alternatively, some claimed that Kabir was like the infant Moses, a baby found floating on a lotus leaf in a pond.
As a youth living in the sacred Hindu city of Benares, Kabir was greatly influenced by Hinduism, so much so that Kabir became fond of chanting the divine name of Rama. This practice not only infuriated the Muslims, who were firmly opposed to polytheism, but it also irritated the Hindus because they considered such chanting on the part of a non-Hindu to be a grave blasphemy.
Traditions of the yogi Gorakhnath and his successors’ teaching strengthened Kabir’s conviction of the value of subjective experience of God, and of the uselessness of esoteric theory and outward observances. However, Kabir was led to reject the doctrine of Ram as an avatar of Vishnu and to see in Ram rather a divine principle, independent of creed, with which all other gods might be equated. The influence of Muslim Sufi mysticism is also evident in Kabir’s thought, where it reinforces the spirit of bhakti or loving devotion to the divine which he had inherited from Vaisnavism.
Kabir came to reject all outward forms of religion. Scriptures, the concept of caste, idolatry, and elaborate rituals were all discarded by Kabir. Instead, Kabir preached a simple love of God. It is obvious that he was influenced by the Sufi sect of Islam. However, Kabir purposely avoided religious labels of any kind. Kabir’s beliefs were expressed more in his actions than in any detailed theology. For example, legend has it that his chosen guru, Swami Ramanand, once sent Kabir to fetch cow’s milk to be offered to the ancestors. The disciple disappeared for some time and was finally discovered seated by a dead cow to which he had been trying to feed a handful of grass. The startled Ramanand asked Kabir the meaning of his odd behavior. Ramanand remarked “Surely you must know that a dead cow cannot eat grass or give milk.” Kabir replied, “If a recently deceased cow cannot eat, how can your long-dead ancestors drink the milk you intend to offer them?”
Kabir’s beliefs were incorporated into his poems. His choice of vocabulary borrowed freely from both Sanskrit and Persian, just as Kabir’s beliefs combined the best of Hinduism and Islam. Kabir’s simple philosophy is summed up in the following verses:
"I do not ring the temple bell: I do not set the idol on its throne: I do not worship the image with flowers. It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh which are pleasing to the Lord. When you leave off your clothes and kill your senses, you do not please the Lord: The man who is kind and who practices righteousness, who remains passive amidst the affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self, he attains the Immortal Being, the true God is ever with him."
Kabir’s poetry is the expression of his religious eclecticism. He probably taught only orally, and the canon of his works is uncertain. Three collections written in a mixture of Hindi dialects are generally considered authentic: the Bijak (“Account Book”), a collection in the Sikh Adi Granth, and the Granthavali (“Collected Writings”). These poems are in rhyming couplets and a variety of other stanzas. Their style is often rough and their themes obscure in detail, but they can express their author’s broad religious convictions with great effectiveness.
During Kabir’s lifetime, a religious community of monks and nuns (the Kabir Panth) was organized to preserve Kabir’s teachings on tolerance and on the perfect love of God.
Kabira see Kabir
"The Great" see Kabir
Kadare, Ismail
Ismail Kadare (b. January 28, 1936, Gjirokaster, Albania — d. July 1, 2024, Tirana, Albania) was an Albanian novelist and poet whose work explored his country’s history and culture and gained an international readership.
Kadare, whose father was a post office employee, attended the University of Tirana. He later went to Moscow to study at the Gorky Institute of World Literature. Upon returning to Albania in 1960, he worked as a journalist and then embarked on a literary career. He endured periods of controversy in his native country during the long rule of Enver Hoxha, whose dictatorial government Kadare alternately praised and criticized. In 1990, feeling threatened by the government and fearing arrest, Kadare defected to France.
Kadare first attracted attention in Albania as a poet, but it was his prose works that brought him worldwide fame. Gjenerali i ushtrisë së vdekur (1963; The General of the Dead Army [film 1983]), his best-known novel, was his first to achieve an international audience. It tells the story of an Italian general on a grim mission to find and return to Italy the remains of his country’s soldiers who died in Albania during World war II. Among Kadare’s other novels dealing with Albanian history are Kështjella (1970; The Castle or The Siege), a recounting of the armed resistance of the Albanian people against the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century, and Dimri i madh (1977; “The Great Winter”), which depicts the events that produced the break between Albania and the Soviet Union in 1961. Kronikë në gur (1971; Chronicle in Stone) is an autobiographical novel that is as much about Kadare’s childhood in wartime Albania as about the town of Gjirokastër itself.
The novel Ura me tri harqe (1978; The Three-Arched Bridge), set in medieval Albania, received wide critical acclaim. Muzgu i perëndive të stepës (1978; Twilight of the Eastern Gods) is a roman a clef about Kadare’s time at the Gorky Institute. His subsequent works of fiction included Nëpunësi i pallatit të ëndrrave (1981; The Palace of Dreams), Dosja H. (1990; The File on H.), and Piramida (1995; The Pyramid). Tri këngë zie për Kosovën (1999; Three Elegies for Kosovo, or Elegy for Kosovo) comprises three stories about a 14th-century battle between Balkan leaders and the Ottoman Empire. Lulet e ftohta të marsit (2000; Spring Flowers, Spring Frost) tells the story of a painter in postcommunist Albania, and Pasardhësi (2003; The Successor) examines the fate of one of Hoxha’s presumed successors. Darka e gabuar (2008; The Fall of the Stone City) traces the lives of two doctors following a series of strange events linked to the entry of Nazi troops into Gjirokastër—still reeling from the recent Italian occupation—in 1943. In Aksidenti (2010; The Accident) a researcher tries to shed light on the mysterious backgrounds of a couple killed in a car accident. The autobiographical Kukulla (2015; The Doll) was based on Kadare’s relationship with his mother.
Among Kadare’s nonfiction volumes are Eskili, ky humbës i madh (1988; “Aeschylus, This Great Loser”), which examines the affinity between Albanian and Greek cultures from antiquity to modern times, and Nga një dhjetor në tjetrin (1991; “From One December to Another”; Eng. trans. Albanian Spring: The Anatomy of Tyranny), which expresses his views on Albanian politics and government between 1944 and 1990.
The themes of Kadare’s works, which often draw heavily on his own life, include Albanian history, politics, and folklore, blood-feud tradition, and ethnicity. His fiction has elements of romanticism, realism, and surrealism. He has been likened to the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko for dissenting from state-imposed guidelines for literature and to the Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in part because of their common interest in the grotesque and the surreal. Kadare was granted membership in the French Academy in 1996 and was later made an officer of the French Legion of Honour. In 2005, he became the first winner of the Man Booker International Prize. Kadare’s other honors included the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (2020).
Kadazan
Kadazan. A people who were formerly known as Dusun, a group of closely related peoples living in western Sabah, Malaysia. Most Kadazans grow wet rice on the coastal plains or in upland valleys, but some practice shifting cultivation. Long contact and intermarriage with Malayo-Muslim coastal peoples and, more recently, with Chinese and Europeans have greatly modified traditional Kadazan culture. Many have embraced Islam or Christianity, but a proportion still practices the traditional religion. Efforts by coastal Kadazan leaders since the 1950s to promote a stronger socio-political unity have been only partly successful. Today, many Kadazans are active in politics, government, business, or other professions.
The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Dusun ethnic group, and also because of other political initiatives, a new unified term called "Kadazan-dusun" was created. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah.
Dusun see Kadazan.
Kadazan. A people who were formerly known as Dusun, a group of closely related peoples living in western Sabah, Malaysia. Most Kadazans grow wet rice on the coastal plains or in upland valleys, but some practice shifting cultivation. Long contact and intermarriage with Malayo-Muslim coastal peoples and, more recently, with Chinese and Europeans have greatly modified traditional Kadazan culture. Many have embraced Islam or Christianity, but a proportion still practices the traditional religion. Efforts by coastal Kadazan leaders since the 1950s to promote a stronger socio-political unity have been only partly successful. Today, many Kadazans are active in politics, government, business, or other professions.
The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Dusun ethnic group, and also because of other political initiatives, a new unified term called "Kadazan-dusun" was created. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah.
Dusun see Kadazan.
Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Kafur, Abu’l-Misk (Abu’l-Misk Kafur) (Abu al-Misk Kafur) (905–968). Black eunuch who became the dominant personality of the Ikhshidid dynasty in Egypt.
Abu al-Misk Kafur, also called al-Laithi, al-Suri, al-Labi was a dominant personality of Ikhshidid Egypt and Syria. Originally a black slave from Ethiopia, he was promoted as vizier of Egypt, becoming its de facto ruler (from 946). After the death of his master, Muhammad bin Tughj, Kafur succeeded the latter to become the de jure ruler of the Ikshidid domains, Egypt and southern Syria (including Damascus), until his death in 968.
Muhammad bin Tughj, the founder of the Ikhshidid dynasty of Egypt, bought Abu al-Misk Kafur as a slave from Ethiopia in 923. He is recorded as having a dark complexion and being a eunuch. Recognizing the slave's intelligence and talent, ibn Tughj freed him. The story goes that Kafur was freed because he kept his eyes fastened upon his master, while others kept their eyes on the master's gifts.
Ibn Tughj appointed Kafur to be the supervisor of princely education for his two sons. The Egyptian ruler then promoted Kafur as a military officer. As a field commander, Kafur conducted a military mission to Syria in 945. He was put in charge of some campaigns in the Hejaz. Kafur was involved in some diplomatic exchanges between the Ikhshidids and the caliph of Baghdad.
Kafur became the de-facto ruler of Egypt in 946. (Since al-Misk was the guardian of bin Tughj's sons, al-Misk ruled in their stead upon the death of their father.) He died in Cairo and was probably buried in Jerusalem. Though subsequent historians have portrayed him as a just and moderate ruler, he owes a great deal of his fame to the scathing satirical poems directed against him by Al-Mutanabbi, the most famous Arab poet.
Kafur's status as former slave did not hinder him from rising to power under the Ikhshidids. In fact, his status helped him, as it had become customary for former slaves to enter the military organization and even reach high positions in it. Kafur's rise to power, from being an African slave to the ruler of Egypt and parts of Syria, is one of the first examples in Islamic history of a sovereign with the lowliest of origins. In Muslim states in general, Africans such as Kafur did not continue to be slaves. They were employed in various occupations and maintained a cohesive culture interacting with that of their hosts.
While Kafur held de facto control over Egypt, he operated behind the facade of Ikhshdid rulers. On his deathbed, ibn Tughj appointed Kafur as guardian over his two sons. In 946, Kafur helped Anūdjūr secure the succession to ibn Tughj. And in 961, he helped ʿAlī ibn al-Ikhshīd Anūdjūr's younger brother (and his late master ibn Tughj's second) secure the Egyptian throne. Only in 966, following the death of ʿAlī, did Kāfūr publicly declare himself as the sole master of Egypt.
Kafur, despite tremendous pressure on him, maintained stability inside Egypt. From 947-948, he fought and put down the rebellion by Ghalbūn. In 954, he successfully averted an abortive coup d'état by Anūdjūr. He also survived the spread of subversive Ismāʿīlī propaganda against him. His ability to resolve internal political complications is considered as having signnificantly prolonged the lifespan of the Ikhshidids.
One of Abu al-Misk Kafur's greatest achievements is his successful protection of the Ikhshidid establishment from the Hamdanids (in Syria), Fatimids (in northern Africa, to the west of Egypt), Qarmatians (in the Arabian peninsula), and the Nubians (from south of Egypt).
Very early on Kafur's master, Muhammad ibn Tughj, trusted him to handle the military campaigns of Syria and Hejaz (in the Arabian peninsula). His military and diplomatic measures secured Damascus for the Ikhshidids (from the Hamdanids) in 947. Sayf ad-Dawla, governor of Aleppo, tried to run over Syria, but his efforts were frustrated by Kafur, and the former recognized the latter's lordship over parts of Syria.
He was also able to delay the Fatimid expansion into Egypt, frustrating the efforts of the latter's agents. So long as Kafur was alive, the Ikhsidid establishment kept the Fatimids at bay; upon his death, the Fatimids took over.
Kafur generally maintained economic stability in Egypt, despite serious setbacks:
* a fire devastated the business section of Fustat in 954;
* a major earthquake rocked Egypt in 955;
* recurrence of food-price inflation (sometimes resulting in famine), and consequent civil disturbances, in 949, 952, 955, and 963-968.
Excepting the heavy government expenditure, Kafur's administration refrained from extortionate fiscal practices. His gold coinage displayed remarkable stability, though it did fluctuate. Kafur also enrolled the services of competent administrators, and merchants, (such as the famous Yaqub ibn Killis), contributing to his economic accomplishments.
Abu al-Misk Kafur gained popularity by being the patron of scholars and writers. Perhaps the most celebrated patronage is that of the great poet al-Mutanabbi. In return al-Mutanabbi praised the former slave. However, after Kafur's failure to reward him with high office that he aspired, al-Mutanabbi ridiculed Kafur. Thus Kafur was immortalized in the poetry of al-Mutanabbi - the greatest poet of Kafur's time.
As he was a pious man, Kafur was more comfortable with the ulema than the poets. He surrounded himself with religious men, some of whom he showered with gifts. He constructed two mosques (in Giza and on al-Muqattam) and a hospital. Nevertheless he still clung to superstitions, abandoning a home once, believing it to be under a jinn.
Kafur also maintained a magnificent and luxurious court. This, however, at times of famine, accorded poorly with the general population. In addition to the mosques and the hospital, Kafur had constructed a number of sumptuous palaces, and the Kāfūriyya gardens in his capital. No archaeological remains of his contributions have been thus far found.
Abu'l-Misk Kafur see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Abu al-Misk Kafur see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Laithi, al- see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Suri, al- see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Labi, al- see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Kafur, Abu’l-Misk (Abu’l-Misk Kafur) (Abu al-Misk Kafur) (905–968). Black eunuch who became the dominant personality of the Ikhshidid dynasty in Egypt.
Abu al-Misk Kafur, also called al-Laithi, al-Suri, al-Labi was a dominant personality of Ikhshidid Egypt and Syria. Originally a black slave from Ethiopia, he was promoted as vizier of Egypt, becoming its de facto ruler (from 946). After the death of his master, Muhammad bin Tughj, Kafur succeeded the latter to become the de jure ruler of the Ikshidid domains, Egypt and southern Syria (including Damascus), until his death in 968.
Muhammad bin Tughj, the founder of the Ikhshidid dynasty of Egypt, bought Abu al-Misk Kafur as a slave from Ethiopia in 923. He is recorded as having a dark complexion and being a eunuch. Recognizing the slave's intelligence and talent, ibn Tughj freed him. The story goes that Kafur was freed because he kept his eyes fastened upon his master, while others kept their eyes on the master's gifts.
Ibn Tughj appointed Kafur to be the supervisor of princely education for his two sons. The Egyptian ruler then promoted Kafur as a military officer. As a field commander, Kafur conducted a military mission to Syria in 945. He was put in charge of some campaigns in the Hejaz. Kafur was involved in some diplomatic exchanges between the Ikhshidids and the caliph of Baghdad.
Kafur became the de-facto ruler of Egypt in 946. (Since al-Misk was the guardian of bin Tughj's sons, al-Misk ruled in their stead upon the death of their father.) He died in Cairo and was probably buried in Jerusalem. Though subsequent historians have portrayed him as a just and moderate ruler, he owes a great deal of his fame to the scathing satirical poems directed against him by Al-Mutanabbi, the most famous Arab poet.
Kafur's status as former slave did not hinder him from rising to power under the Ikhshidids. In fact, his status helped him, as it had become customary for former slaves to enter the military organization and even reach high positions in it. Kafur's rise to power, from being an African slave to the ruler of Egypt and parts of Syria, is one of the first examples in Islamic history of a sovereign with the lowliest of origins. In Muslim states in general, Africans such as Kafur did not continue to be slaves. They were employed in various occupations and maintained a cohesive culture interacting with that of their hosts.
While Kafur held de facto control over Egypt, he operated behind the facade of Ikhshdid rulers. On his deathbed, ibn Tughj appointed Kafur as guardian over his two sons. In 946, Kafur helped Anūdjūr secure the succession to ibn Tughj. And in 961, he helped ʿAlī ibn al-Ikhshīd Anūdjūr's younger brother (and his late master ibn Tughj's second) secure the Egyptian throne. Only in 966, following the death of ʿAlī, did Kāfūr publicly declare himself as the sole master of Egypt.
Kafur, despite tremendous pressure on him, maintained stability inside Egypt. From 947-948, he fought and put down the rebellion by Ghalbūn. In 954, he successfully averted an abortive coup d'état by Anūdjūr. He also survived the spread of subversive Ismāʿīlī propaganda against him. His ability to resolve internal political complications is considered as having signnificantly prolonged the lifespan of the Ikhshidids.
One of Abu al-Misk Kafur's greatest achievements is his successful protection of the Ikhshidid establishment from the Hamdanids (in Syria), Fatimids (in northern Africa, to the west of Egypt), Qarmatians (in the Arabian peninsula), and the Nubians (from south of Egypt).
Very early on Kafur's master, Muhammad ibn Tughj, trusted him to handle the military campaigns of Syria and Hejaz (in the Arabian peninsula). His military and diplomatic measures secured Damascus for the Ikhshidids (from the Hamdanids) in 947. Sayf ad-Dawla, governor of Aleppo, tried to run over Syria, but his efforts were frustrated by Kafur, and the former recognized the latter's lordship over parts of Syria.
He was also able to delay the Fatimid expansion into Egypt, frustrating the efforts of the latter's agents. So long as Kafur was alive, the Ikhsidid establishment kept the Fatimids at bay; upon his death, the Fatimids took over.
Kafur generally maintained economic stability in Egypt, despite serious setbacks:
* a fire devastated the business section of Fustat in 954;
* a major earthquake rocked Egypt in 955;
* recurrence of food-price inflation (sometimes resulting in famine), and consequent civil disturbances, in 949, 952, 955, and 963-968.
Excepting the heavy government expenditure, Kafur's administration refrained from extortionate fiscal practices. His gold coinage displayed remarkable stability, though it did fluctuate. Kafur also enrolled the services of competent administrators, and merchants, (such as the famous Yaqub ibn Killis), contributing to his economic accomplishments.
Abu al-Misk Kafur gained popularity by being the patron of scholars and writers. Perhaps the most celebrated patronage is that of the great poet al-Mutanabbi. In return al-Mutanabbi praised the former slave. However, after Kafur's failure to reward him with high office that he aspired, al-Mutanabbi ridiculed Kafur. Thus Kafur was immortalized in the poetry of al-Mutanabbi - the greatest poet of Kafur's time.
As he was a pious man, Kafur was more comfortable with the ulema than the poets. He surrounded himself with religious men, some of whom he showered with gifts. He constructed two mosques (in Giza and on al-Muqattam) and a hospital. Nevertheless he still clung to superstitions, abandoning a home once, believing it to be under a jinn.
Kafur also maintained a magnificent and luxurious court. This, however, at times of famine, accorded poorly with the general population. In addition to the mosques and the hospital, Kafur had constructed a number of sumptuous palaces, and the Kāfūriyya gardens in his capital. No archaeological remains of his contributions have been thus far found.
Abu'l-Misk Kafur see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Abu al-Misk Kafur see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Laithi, al- see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Suri, al- see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Labi, al- see Kafur, Abu’l-Misk
Kafur, Malik
Kafur, Malik (Malik Kafur) (d. 1316). Eunuch general and minister of ‘Ala’ al-Din Muhammad Shah I, the Khalji sultan of Delhi (r. 1296-1316).
Malik Kafur (fl. 1296 - 1316), was a eunuch slave who became a general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 A.D. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat. Alauddin Khilji fell in love with the effeminate beauty of Malik Kafur, castrated him and converted him to Islam. Kafur was also called "Thousand Dinar Kafur", probably the amount paid by the sultan for his possession. Kafur rose quickly in the army. He was made malik naib, the senior commander of the army. In 1294 he led the sultan's army against the capital city of the Yadava kingdom, Devagiri. He led further invasions southward into the Kakatiya dynasty, winning immense riches for the sultanate and sacking many Hindu temples.
The booty from Warangal included the famous diamond Koh-i-Noor. During the course of the attack he sacked and plundered many Hindu temples including the famous Hoyasaleshwara temple in Halebidu.
According to Muslim historian Jiauddin Barani, Kafur came back to Delhi with 241 tons of gold, 20,000 horses and 612 elephants laden with the looted treasure.
Malik Kafur see Kafur, Malik
"Thousand Dinar Kafur" see Kafur, Malik
Kafur, Malik (Malik Kafur) (d. 1316). Eunuch general and minister of ‘Ala’ al-Din Muhammad Shah I, the Khalji sultan of Delhi (r. 1296-1316).
Malik Kafur (fl. 1296 - 1316), was a eunuch slave who became a general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 A.D. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat. Alauddin Khilji fell in love with the effeminate beauty of Malik Kafur, castrated him and converted him to Islam. Kafur was also called "Thousand Dinar Kafur", probably the amount paid by the sultan for his possession. Kafur rose quickly in the army. He was made malik naib, the senior commander of the army. In 1294 he led the sultan's army against the capital city of the Yadava kingdom, Devagiri. He led further invasions southward into the Kakatiya dynasty, winning immense riches for the sultanate and sacking many Hindu temples.
The booty from Warangal included the famous diamond Koh-i-Noor. During the course of the attack he sacked and plundered many Hindu temples including the famous Hoyasaleshwara temple in Halebidu.
According to Muslim historian Jiauddin Barani, Kafur came back to Delhi with 241 tons of gold, 20,000 horses and 612 elephants laden with the looted treasure.
Malik Kafur see Kafur, Malik
"Thousand Dinar Kafur" see Kafur, Malik
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