Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

[see aḥmad al-hība , above].

, one of many Arabic words used to express the concept of “gift”, and the preferred legal term for it, see following article. The giving of gifts, that is, the voluntary transfer of property, serves material and psychological purposes. In the pre-history of man, it probably antedates the contractual payment for goods and services. In Islam, it has retained its inherited functions as an important component of the social fabric and has exercised a considerable influence on political life. Literature (in the narrow sense…

, gift inter vivos, transfers the ownership of a thing during the lifetime of the donor, and with no consideration payable by the donee. The term ṣadaḳa is used to designate charitable donation, which does not require offer and acceptance and which, moreover, is always irrevocable. As for the term hadiyya , this is preferably applied to the donation of a movable object, given as a present; according to certain S̲h̲āfiʿīs it would be valid even without acceptance on the part of the donee. Gift is a contract. It is formed, say the scholars, by īd̲j̲āb wa-ḳabūl , by offer…

[see ibn d̲j̲amīʿ ].

[see abu ’l-barakāt ].

b. al-Muṭṭalib mad̲j̲d al-Dīn abu ’l-Maʿālī , vizier of the caliph al-Mustaẓhir. Hibat Allāh was appointed vizier in Muḥarram 501/August-September 1107, but he was dismissed in Ramaḍān under pressure from the Sald̲j̲ūḳ sultan Muḥammad b. Maliks̲h̲āh. It is true that the caliph soon restored him to office, forbidding him to employ any d̲h̲immīs [ q.v.], but in 502/1108-9 or 503/1109-10 Hibat Allāh was once again dismissed and he and his family were forced to seek the protection of the sultan. (K.V. Zetterstéen) Bibliography Ibn al-At̲h̲īr, x, 305, 309, 318, 330, 335.

[see kitāba ].

, mak̲h̲laṣ of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ḥasan (b. Edirne 1012/1603-4, d. Serez 1087/1676), historian of Edirne. His father, ‘Sal-bas̲h̲’ or ‘K̲h̲abbāz-zāde’ Ḥasan Efendi, held a series of posts in the ʿilmiyye career, dying in 1039/1630 as a müderris at the Ṣaḥn in Istanbul (ʿAṭāʾī, 733). Ḥibrī, after studying at his native Edirne and at Istanbul, followed the same career: he held a series of posts as müderris, mostly at Edirne, but after 1070/1659 was appointed ḳāḍī of various places, the last being Serez, where he is buried. His minor works are (1) a version in Turkish, entitled Riyāḍ al-ʿārifīn …

[see g̲h̲ināʾ ].

[see ʿidda , libās ].

(b. 17 February 1903; d. 9 April 1951) was perhaps the most revolutionary of modern Persian writers. The variety of his literary output is represented by works of diverse interest, but it is essentially as a writer of fiction, especially of the short story, that he enjoys his real position. His daring experiments in technique and in thought have exercised a powerful influence on the development of modern Persian fiction. Apart from his early education, Hidāyat does not seem to have pursued any regular course of studies. He held various minor jobs at different time…

[see libās ].

, Arabic term often translated by “satire”, but more precisely denoting a curse, an invective diatribe or insult in verse, an insulting poem, then an epigram, and finally a satire in prose or verse. The etymological sense of the Arabic root h.d̲j̲.w may perhaps be deduced from the Hebrew root the basic sense of which is “to utter a sound in a low voice, to murmur” and hence “to meditate” (so too in Syriac), but also “to pronounce incantations in a low voice” (see L. Koehler, Lexicon in Vet . Test . libros , 1949, 224; König, Hebräisches Wörterbuch , 75; Genesius, Lexicon, Leipzig 1833, 266; Jast…

(a., from the verb ḥad̲j̲aba “to hide from view, conceal”) is used of any veil placed in front of a person or an object in order to conceal it from view or to isolate it. In medicine, it is a membrane which separates certain parts of the organism: al-ḥid̲j̲āb al-ḥād̲j̲iz or ḥid̲j̲āb al-d̲j̲awf “diaphragm”, al-ḥid̲j̲āb al-mustabṭin “pleura” and ḥid̲j̲āb al-bukūriyya “hymen” (al-Tahānawī, Kas̲h̲s̲h̲āf; LA Dozy, Suppl). Scarcely anything is known of the pre-Islamic use of this word; but the Ḳurʾān, though it is found there only seven times, provides as valuable i…

[see ḥād̲j̲ib ].

[see ḥurūf al-hid̲j̲āʾ ].

(sing, hid̲j̲ra ), settlements established by ʿAbd ai-ʿAzīz b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Āl Suʿūd (d. 1373/1953), then Sultan of Nad̲j̲d, to promote the sedentarization of the Bedouins of Saudi Arabia during the first quarter of this century. During the first decade of his career, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd attempted to revive the old religious enthusiasm among the virile, but often volatile, Bedouins as a basis for the recovery and the control of his realm. After the muṭawwiʿūn (preachers) had spread religious enlightenment and prepared for the idea of an agric…

, the birthplace and still the spiritual centre of Islam, is the north-western part of the Arabian Peninsula. As the site of the Kaʿba, as the home of the Prophet Muḥammad and the scene of Allāh’s revelations to him ( manzil al-waḥy ), and as the capital district of the early Islamic state, al-Ḥid̲j̲āz is for Muslims as much the Holy Land ( al-bilād al-muḳaddasa ) as Palestine is for Jews and Christians. Muslims are, in fact, even more zealous in guarding the inviolate character of their chief shrines; the areas surrounding Mecca (Makka)…

, one of the two major railway projects (the other being the Bag̲h̲dād Railway) of the reign of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd II. Its ostensible purpose was to facilitate the ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ by means of a railway laid between Damascus and the Holy Cities, and its construction was used to further the Pan-Islamic policies and propaganda of the Sultan. It also served the more practical strategic and military purpose of transporting troops to the often turbulent Arabian provinces of the Empire and thus establishing effective …

, ancient ruin site in north-western Saudi Arabia (approx. 37° 50′ E. and 26° 45′ N.) near the small settlement of Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ, some 70 miles (110 km.) south-west of Taymā. It has been identified as the ῎Εϒρα of Strabo and the Hegra of Pliny. The name al-Ḥid̲j̲r has fallen into disuse and Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ has been substituted. As used by the Bedouins of the region, the name refers to a flat area, about 3 km. from North to South and 2 km. from East to We…