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, also called al-Ḥusayniyya , the followers of al-Ḥusayn al-Nad̲j̲d̲j̲ār [ q.v.], an early, specifically Ḥanafī sect of kalām (see W. Madelung, Religious trends in early Islamic Iran , Albany 1988, 29) which flourished during the reign of al-Maʾmūn (198-218/813-33), and whose representatives took part in the controversies throughout the course of the miḥna [ q.v.] or inquisition. But this doctrine, unlike the Muʿtazila, was compelled to ¶ withdraw from Bag̲h̲dād and from the borders of ʿIrāḳ and to move on to the eastern provinces in the wake of the abolition of the miḥna by al-Mutawakk…

(a.), a term denoting private militias fighting under the patronage of princes from the ruling dynasty, or commanders belonging to the class of military nobility, during the reign of the Umayyad and ʿAbbāsid dynasties. Classical Arabic lexicography does not provide a satisfactory explanation for this term, correctly associating it with the Persian term Čākir ; for a discussion of possible etymologies, see C.E. Bosworth, The History of al-Ṭabarī , xxxiii, 179 and n. 506. The institution of the s̲h̲ākiriyya , from the historical standpoint, probably exi…

, également appelés al-Ḥusayniyya, partisans d’al-Nad̲j̲d̲j̲ār [ q.v.], ancienne école de kalām (voir W. Madelung, Religious trends in early Islamic Iran, Albany 1988, 29), ou théologie apologétique défensive, qui se développa sous le règne d’al-Maʾmūn (198-218/813-33), et dont les représentants ¶ prirent part aux controverses qui ont marqué le cours de la miḥna [ q.v.] ou inquisition. Mais à l’inverse des Muʿtazila, ce groupe fut contraint de quitter Bag̲h̲dād et le voisinage du ʿIrāḳ et de s’exiler dans les provinces orientales à la suite de l’abolition de la miḥna par al-Mutawak…

Abū Mikhnaf Lūṭ b. Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd b. Mikhnaf al-Azdī (d. 157/774), of Kufa, in Iraq, was an early Muslim historian. His grandfather Mikhnaf b. Sulaym al-Azdī, who gave his name to this Azdī clan to which Abū Mikhnaf belonged, was considered a Companion of the Prophet. He ranked among the dignitaries of his kinfolk of the Azdī tribe and so, accompanied by two of his brothers, he joined the Azdī delegation that went to Mecca to meet the Prophet and pay homage to him and to embrace Islam. Soon after the death of the Prophet, Mikhnaf b. Sulaym responded to the call for jihād made by the second caliph,…

Abū ʿUbayda ʿĀmir b. ʿAbdallāh Ibn al-Jarrāḥ (d. 18/639) was an early Companion of the Prophet, from the tribe of Banū l-Ḥārith, of the Qurayshī clan of Fihr, one of the ten aristocratic clans of Mecca—the so-called al-Abtaḥiyyūn—who were settled in the lower quarters of Mecca by the ancestor of Muḥammad Quṣayy b. Kilāb. Abū ʿUbayda’s family had joined the internal covenant of al-muṭayyabūn (the perfumed ones), headed by the clan of Banū ʿAbd Manāf, against the rival camp headed by Banū ʿAbd al-Dār. His family was also involved in the clashes between the Qu…

Abān b. ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (d. between 101/719 and 105/723) was the son of the third Rightly Guided Caliph, ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (r. 23–35/644–55), and an early author of maghāzī, accounts of the military campaigns of the Prophet. He is considered a member of the jīl al-tābiʿīn or Successors (of the Companions of the Prophet), the second generation of the early Muslim community. His mother, Umm ʿAmr, was not of Qurayshī origin; she was descended from the Daws, a subgroup of the Azd tribe, and sources portray her as a silly woman. When his fathe…

Caesarea Maritima (Ar. Qayṣariyya, Heb. Keisarya, Qesarya) of classical antiquity was a Palestinian harbour some twenty-five miles south of the site of present-day Haifa. The construction of the harbour on the Phoenician ruins known as the Tower of Strabo (one of the ancient kings of Sidon) was begun by the Edomite king Herod the Great (r. 37–4 B.C.E.), in honour of his suzerain, the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, and thus bore the latter’s name (Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land. An archaeological guide from earliest times to 1700 (London 1980), 160; Muir’s historical atlas, Londo…

Badr, the site of an important battle in 2/624 between the early Muslims and the Meccan clan of Quraysh, is a small town about 150 kilometres southwest of Medina, almost fifty kilometres inland from the Red Sea. 1. The place It lies in a rectangular plain surrounded by steep hills and sand dunes. While the surrounding region is arid, Badr itself was built on a fertile plain, with abundant springs and wells of fresh water and large areas covered with palm trees, bananas, vineyards, and other fruits. The name Badr originated, according to genealogical reports, with a certain tribal …

Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (d. 13/634) was the first caliph, the successor to the Prophet Muḥammad in his political function as leader of the young Muslim community in Arabia. He was known as ʿAbdallāh b. ʿUthmān and was probably born after 570, the year of the Prophet’s birth, as he was said to be almost three years younger than the Prophet. His father, ʿUthmān, was known as Abū Quḥāfa b. ʿĀmir, and was a member of the Qurashī clan of Banū Taym. His mother, Salma bt. Ṣakhr, was also of Qurashī origin, a…

ʿAbdallāh al-Baṭṭāl al-Anṭākī (d. 123/740) was a prominent Muslim general whose military activity was concentrated on the Syrian-Byzantine front during the Umayyad period. The Muslim chronicles always refer to him by his kunya, as Abū Muḥammad or Abū Yaḥyā, or Abū l-Ḥusayn, perhaps a reference to his father, who was named Ḥusayn. His nisba, al-Anṭākī, which connects him with Antioch rather than with an Arab tribal lineage as is usual in similar cases of ascription, indicates clearly that he was of non-Arab origin. He was presumably born to a nativ…

, terme désignant les milices privées combattant sous les auspices de princes issus de la dynastie au pouvoir, ou de commandants appartenant à la classe noble militaire, durant le règne des dynasties umayyades et ʿabbāsides. La lexicographie arabe classique ne donne pas d’explication satisfaisante concernant ce terme, l’associant à juste titre au terme persan čākir (sur le débat au sujet des étymologies possibles, voir C. E. Bosworth, The History of al-Ṭabarī, XXXIII, 179 et n. 506). D’un point de vue historique, l’institution de la s̲h̲ākiriyya existait probablement sur les te…

Ajnādayn is the traditional name of the site in Palestine of a battle (Maʿrakat Ajnādayn) in 13/634 between the Byzantine army and the Muslim-Arab invaders attacking the Byzantine territories in Bilād al-Shām (greater Syria), during the early Muslim caliphate. Although Islamic literary sources report precisely that Ajnādayn lay between Ramla and Bayt Djibrin, no site by that name is attested by classical or modern geographers. On topographical grounds, Meidnik located the site of the battle on the Wādī al-Samṭ. There are two small vi…

, al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad Abū ʿAbd Allāh , Murd̲j̲iʾī D̲j̲abrī theologian of the period of al-Maʾmūn. Born in the city of Bamm, he apparently grew up there as well, and worked as a weaver at the embroidery house ( dār al-ṭirāz ); according to another version, he worked at a factory which ¶ produced metal weights. The sources are silent with regard to the dates of his birth and death; however, if we accept as true the report that he died of sorrow over his argument with al-Naẓẓām, the Muʿtazilī theologian, it is reasonable to assume that al-Nad̲j̲d̲…

, al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad, Abū ʿAbd Allāh, théologien murd̲j̲iʾite d̲j̲abrite de l’époque d’al-Maʾmūn. Né dans la ville de Bamm, il ¶ semble aussi y avoir grandi et travaillé comme tisserand à l’atelier de tissage ( dār al-ṭirāz); selon une autre source, il y aurait travaillé dans une fabrique de poids métalliques. On ignore tout des dates de sa naissance et de sa mort. Toutefois, si l’on admet l’indication selon laquelle il serait mort de chagrin à la suite d’une controverse avec al-Naẓẓā m [ q.v.], il mourut vraisemblablement après la fin de la troisième décennie du IIIe/IXe siècle. La doctr…