(a., mifʿāl form from w-ḳ-t , plural mawāḳīt ) appointed or exact time. In this sense the term occurs several times in the Ḳurʾān (II, 185; VII, 138, 139, 154; XXVI, 37; XLIV, 40; LVI, 50; LXXVIII, 17). 1. Legal aspects. In ḥadīt̲h̲ and fiḳh, the term is applied to the times of prayer and to the places where those who enter the ḥaram are bound to put on the iḥrām . For the latter meaning of the term, see iḥrām. Although some general indications for the times at which some ṣalāt s are to be performed occur in the Ḳurʾān (cf. II, 239; XI, 116; XVII, 80; XXIV, 29), i…

, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī , astronomer of Mag̲h̲ribī origin who worked in Cairo. In ca. 680/1281-2, he compiled a compendium of spherical astronomy and astronomical instruments entitled Kitāb D̲j̲āmiʿ al-mabādiʾ wa ’l-ghāyāt fī ʿilm al-mīḳāt , which is perhaps the most valuable single source for the history of Islamic astronomical instrumentation. In this work, which exists in several manuscript copies, al-Marrākus̲h̲ī presented a detailed discussion of the standard problems of spherical astronomy [see mīḳāt. 2. Astronomical aspects], and then dealt with different ki…

(a.), a term in Islamic astronomy denoting the sighting of the lunar crescent. In this article, astronomical aspects are covered. Muslim astronomers from the 2nd/8th century onwards performed calculations to predict the visibility of the lunar crescent, of particular importance for the fixing the beginning and end of Ramaḍān and the festivals [see hilāl , i. In religious law; ʿīd; ramaḍān ; ṣawm ; taʾrīk̲h̲ ]. Over the centuries, the techniques and visibility conditions that they used became more sophisticated. Even the simplest procedures involved a knowledg…

(a.), literally “that which rises”. 1. Astronomical aspects. Al-ṭāliʿ is that point of the ecliptic which is rising over the horizon at a given moment, called the ascendent or horoscopus (and sometimes, incorrectly, the horoscope); see the diagram in maṭāliʿ . The determination of the ascendent is necessary in mathematical astrology [see nud̲j̲ūm , aḥkām al- ] before one can calculate the instantaneous positions of the 12 astrological houses ( al-buyūt ); with these determined, one can then investigate in which houses the sun, moon and five na…

(a.), sundial. This term and sāʿa s̲h̲amsiyya are used in modern Arabic, but in mediaeval Islamic times horizontal sundials were referred to either as ruk̲h̲āma , lit. “marble” or basīṭa , lit. “flat”, and vertical sundials as munḥarifa , lit. “inclined”. The gnomon was usually called s̲h̲ak̲h̲ṣ , s̲h̲āk̲h̲iṣ or miḳyās . One expression of the Muslim concern with timekeeping and regulating the times of prayer [see mīḳāt ] was an avid interest in gnomonics, the theory and practice of sundial construction. Muslim astronomers made substantial c…

(a.), the verbal noun of the form II verb ḳawwama meaning “to correct, to rectify”, in particular used by Muslim astronomers for determining the positions of the sun, the moon and the planets; hence, ephemeris or astronomical almanac. 1. Its use in astronomy. For the computation of the true solar position [see al-s̲h̲ams ], Muslim astronomers first calculated the mean solar position ( wasaṭ al-s̲h̲ams ). They then had to adjust or “correct” this by the amount of the equation of the sun ( taʿdīl al-s̲h̲ams ), and the result was the true solar position ( muḳawwam al-s̲h̲ams ). The determination ¶…

, in Islamic science an astronomical handbook with tables, after the models of the Sāsānid Persian Zīk -i S̲h̲ahriyār , the Indian Sindhind [ q.v.], and Ptolemy’s Almagest and Handy Tables [see baṭlamiyūs ]. A typical zīd̲j̲ might contain a hundred folios of text and tables, though some are substantially larger than this. Most of the relevant astronomical and astrological concepts are clearly explained in the Tafhīm of al-Bīrūnī [ q.v.]. The history of Islamic zīd̲j̲s constitutes a major part of the history of Islamic astronomy [see ʿilm al-hayʾa ]. i. Etymology Arabic zīd̲j̲ (pl. zīd̲j̲ā…

, S̲h̲ihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Mād̲j̲id b. Muḥammad b. ʿAmr b. Duwayk b. Yūsuf b. Ḥasan b. Ḥusayn b. Abī Maʿlaḳ al-Saʿdī b. Abī ’l-Rakāʾib al-Nad̲j̲dī , was one of the greatest Arab navigators of the Middle Ages. He lived in the second half of the 9th/15th century; the exact dates of his birth or death are not known. Ibn Mād̲j̲id ¶ belonged to an illustrious family of navigators. His father and grandfather were both muʿallims (“master of navigation”, see G. Ferrand, Instructions nautiques, iii, 182-3) by profession and were well-known as experts of the Red Sea. They wrote treatise…

(in English normally “Mecca”, in French “La Mecque”), the most sacred city of Islam, where the Prophet Muḥammad was born and lived for about 50 years, and where the Kaʿba [ q.v.] is situated. 1. The pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods Geographical description. Mecca is located in the Ḥid̲j̲āz about 72 km. inland from the Red Sea port of Jedda (D̲j̲udda [ q.v.]), in lat. 21° 27′ N. and long. 39° 49′ E. It is now the capital of the province ( manātiḳ idāriyya ) of Makka in Suʿūdī Arabia, and has a normal population of between 200,000 and 300,000, which …

(a.) “date, dating, chronology, era”, then also “annals, history”. ¶ I. Dates and Eras in the Islamic World 1. In the sense of “date, dating”, etc. i. Etymology . The non-Arabic origin of this word was recognised by the mediaeval philologists, but the often-cited derivation of the participle muʾarrak̲h̲ “dated”, from a supposed Persian compound māh-rōz “month-day”, is naturally fanciful. In fact, it clearly belongs to the common Semitic root for “moon” and “month”; cf. Akkadian ( w) arḫu , Sabaic wrḫ , Ethiopic wärḫ , Mehri wark̲h̲ , or, with the usual Northwe…