Henna (ḥinnāʾ) denotes the shrub Lawsonia inermis L. (Lythraceae) and the reddish dye obtained from it that is mentioned in the Prophetic ḥadīth as a dye for the body and hair, and as a remedy. It is widely cultivated and used from Morocco to Indonesia for aesthetic, ritual, magical, and medicinal reasons. The plant is widespread in Arabia, Africa, and Asia (map in Aubaile-Sallenave, Voyages, 130), and has also been introduced to the New World tropics. The Arabic word ḥinnāʾ has entered Persian (ḥinā), Turkish (kına), and Turkic languages, while in the Indian subcontinent deriva…

Muḥammad al-ʿAnqāʾ (M’hamed El Anka, 20 May 1907–23 November 1978), whose real name was Aït Ouarab Mohamed Idir Halo, was one of the creators, as well as the most renowned representative, of the popular musical genre that developed in Algeria after World War I and became known as shaʿbī (Fr. châabi). After attending various schools (1912–18), al-ʿAnqāʾ had to contribute to his family’s upkeep by doing casual jobs, but the allure of music soon encouraged him to become a musician, against his parents’ wishes. He performed at henna ceremonies and marriages, first as a tār (tambourine) playe…

Occidentalism (istighrāb) refers broadly to stereotyped images of “the West” as a metageographical concept. Studies of occidentalism are few, compared with the many studies reflecting on orientalism and its cultural reifications. A reason for this lies in the imbalance of power that leads academics to study the orientalist discourse in its context of Western hegemony, more than occidentalism in its various contexts of relative marginalisation. This has, in turn, produced an imbalance of knowledge about the means and functions of othering in various parts of the world. Since the la…

Baraq Baba (d. 707/1307–8) was a prominent dervish leader in Anatolia and Iran. The earliest and most informative Turkish source about him (Yazıcızāde) relates that he was a son of the Anatolian Saljūq ruler ʿIzz al-Dīn Kaykā’ūs II (d. 678/1279–80, in the Crimea). He was baptized as a child and received priestly training from the Greek patriarch in Constantinople, but was reconverted to Islam by Ṣarı Ṣalṭūq, the most famous “warrior-saint” associated with the partial Islamization and Turkificatio…

Al-Bashīr Khurayyif (1917–83), a Tunisian novelist and author of short stories, contributed to the development of modern Tunisian literature at the dawn of national independence. Although his works address multiple aspects of Tunisian society, including the condition of women and the hardships of the working class, Khurayyif is best remembered for his detailed historical fiction, his social realist style, and his pioneering use of Tunisian colloquial Arabic. Khurayyif was born to a literary family in the oasis town of Nafṭa. He was educated in Tunis, where he w…

Galatat-ı meşhure (Ghalaṭāt-ı meşhūre, “well-known errors”) is the name given to a word or group of words that are commonly used in Turkish although they are incorrect, but whose use is acceptable. The word galat ( ghalaṭ, “error, corruption of a word”), as an infinitive in Arabic (“to be mistaken, to err”), is given various meanings in Arabic dictionaries, such as “error,” “mistake,” or even “a slip.” It is also possible to describe galat as an incompatibility that occurs between what is expressed and what the speaker actually desires to express, without any element…

Berber music is that music that has played, and continues to play, an important role in Berber life. Often linked to poetry, dance, and movement, the music among the Berber people involves the entire community during certain times of the year (as dictated by agricultural life) and at important moments of human life. It manifests itself differently, however, depending on the region, the natural environment, and the way in which a Berber community has developed alongside Arab and African population…

The majdhūb , one attracted (by God), is an important Islamic spiritual figure found throughout the Islamicate world (for the Maghrib, see Amri, Croire). The characteristics of the majdhūb were first described in texts of the third/ninth century. The majdhūbs were most often distinguished by their antinomian appearance and their social and religious practice, in which freedom of speech played an important role. They attracted the interest of the urban masses, who saw them as recipients of divine influence and a force of social critic…