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[German version] ( Hārūn ar-Rašı̄d). Fifth Abbasid ( Abbasids)  Caliph (AD 786-809). Popular because of the narratives from the ‘Arabian Nights’. His term of office was characterized by political unrest in the Arab lands from North Africa to Yemen, by difficulties in consolidating  Islam in the eastern parts of his realm, as well as by wars against Byzantium. His main achievement in the cultural area is the promotion of translations into Arabic of Greek natural scientific and philosophical literature. Schönig, Hanne (Halle/Saale) Bibliography F. Omar, s.v. Hārūn al-Rashı̄d, E…

[German version] (Uṯmān ibn Affān; Οὐθμάν/ Outhmán; Persian-Turkish Osman). Third of the four 'rightly-guided' caliphs (AD 644-655). After the glittering rule of his predecessor Omar, whose (expansionist) policies he continued, U. instead received reproach and dissatisfaction, e.g. owing to nepotism. His compilation of divine revelations into a final canonical edition (Qur'ān), a move towards strengthening central authority, was also heavily criticized in its implementation. Unexplained happenings a…

[German version] (< Shia/ Šı̄a, literally 'party', elliptical for 'Party of Ali'). Term for the supporters of Ali in the struggle for the caliphate (Caliph). According to the number of imams (Imam) they recognise, Fiver (e.g. Zaidites in Yemen), Sevener (e.g. Ismailites in Pakistan and central Asia; Fatimids 909-1171 in northern Africa and Egypt, Fatima) and Twelver Shiites (group with the largest number of adherents, today in e.g. Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon) are distinguished. Martyrdom, i.e…

[German version] (Ḥusain). Grandson of the Prophet  Muhammad (Muḥammad), son of his daughter  Fatima (Fāṭima) and cousin of  Ali (ʿAlı̄). Third  Imām of the  Shiites. After the death of the  Caliph  Muʿāwiya he was forced by members of his father's party to take over power from the  Umayyads, and was killed by their troops at Kerbela (ʿIrāq) in 680. His martyr's death is remembered by the Shiites annually in passion plays, his supporters' failure to succour him is atoned for in processions of flagellators. Schönig, Hanne (Halle/Saale) Bibliography H. Halm, Der schiitische Islam, 1994 Id…

[German version] ( Muḥammad, Greek Μουάμεδ/ Mouámed, Μωάμετ/ Mōámet). Founder of Islam (born about AD 570 in Mecca, died AD 632 in Medina). Muslims believe that M. was the recipient of divine revelations (Qur'an) brought by the angel Gabriel [1] and the ‘seal of the prophets’. A belief in M. as God's messenger is an integral part of the Islamic faith. M. was influenced by a tribal society that was undergoing social restructuring, with certain monotheistic ideas and currents beginning to appear in its polytheistic religion (Monotheism). In 610, when he was…

[German version] (Abū Bakr). First of the four righteous caliphs (AD 632-34), i. e. the first successor of  Muhammad. As one of the latter's first followers and close advisor, A. became caliph after his death though not without opposition ( Ali). After subduing the apostasy movement he is credited with the initial consolidation of the young Islamic community and laid the foundation for its rapid initial expansion.   Caliph Schönig, Hanne (Halle/Saale) Bibliography W. M. Watt, Abū Bakr, in: EI2 I, 109b-111a.

[German version] ( Makka; Μακόραβα; Makóraba, Ptol. 6,7,32). The most important of the holy cities of Islam only accessible to Muslims, located in modern Saudi Arabia. Mecca is the place where the prophet Muhammad was born and worked until he emigrated ( Hejira) to Medina ( Yaṯrib). It is the direction of prayer and the destination of pilgrimage ( Kaaba). Mecca was already an important centre of trade in the pre-Islamic period. The first Koranic revelations ( Qur'an) are primarily a critique of the materialism and lack of faith of Meccan merchants. Macoraba Schönig, Hanne (Halle/Saale) Bib…

( Banū Umayya). [German version] A. The dynasty AD 661-750 First Islamic dynasty (AD 661-750), with its capital at Damascus. Under the Umayyads, the Islamic expansion reached Central Asia in the east and the Pyrenees in the west. The Byzantines were driven out of North Africa, but kept resisting the Arabs in Asia Minor. This - ethnically and religiously heterogeneous - extensive empire required a new internal organization and administration, modelled on Byzantine and Persian-Sassanid institutions. Its hey…

[German version] (Arab. imām, in general ‘conductor, leader’). 1. conductor of prayer, i.e. prayer-leader in the mosque, 2. leader of the community of all Muslims in succession to the prophet  Mohammed (Muḥammad), i.e. religious and political head. The schools of law and lines of belief evidently have different views about qualifications, investiture and offices/duties of the imam. Among the  Sunnites: defender of faith, (religious) law and justice. The imam following on from the four  Caliphs, who…

[German version] ( ḥarı̄m). A sacred, inviolable, prohibited place, i.e. those parts of the house where the women (mother, wife/wives, daughters, unmarried sisters, concubines) of a family live and which can only be entered by those male members of the family who have a particular family relationship. Also a term for the female members of a family. The segregation of the sexes is based on statements in the Koran (Surah 33,53-59). In Europe, an erotically-exotic image of the harem prevailed for a lo…

[German version] (Alī). Ali ben Abu Talib, last of the four righteous caliphs (AD 656-661). Cousin, son-in-law and one of the first followers of  Muhammad. After differences in opinion and struggles with the  Omayyad Muāwiya, the Kharijites, who eventually assassinated A., separated. Shiites believe A. is the first rightful successor of Mohammed, the first Caliph  Imam.  Caliph;  Shiites Schönig, Hanne (Halle/Saale) Bibliography V. Vaglieri, Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, in: EI 1, 381b-386a.

[German version] ( kalām). In Islam, (scholastic) theology, (defensive) apologetic. In fact: ʿilm al-kalām, literally: ‘science of the word, of speech’, which means presentation and explanation, dispute, discussion, (rational and dialectical) argumentation, reasoning, and the defence of Islamic beliefs and of the divine unity, against persons of different faiths, infidels, doubters, and heretics ( Heresiology). A theological discipline since the 7th cent. The emphasis is on a rational-dialectical, and, from …

[German version] ( ḫalı̄fa). ‘Successor’, ‘representative’, elliptical for ‘successor of the Prophet’  Muhammad, since the Umayyads (661-750; contested, perhaps even earlier) ‘representative of Allah’. The following caliphs were regarded as ‘rightfully appointed’ (by election; Muhammad did not leave any regulations):  Abu Bakr (632-634),  Omar (634-644), who was the first to also hold the title ‘ruler of the believers’,  Othman (644-656), and  Ali (656-661). Since the  Umayyads, we find hereditary …

[German version] ( masǧid; ‘place where one prostrates oneself (in prayer)’; the Arabic word is of Syrian origin: masgeḏā). Muslim (Islam) place of prayer; also, a social meeting-point and a place of teaching. In the course of time several architectural types of mosques developed and already existing cult buildings were taken over (Hagia Sophia, Constantinople; Ummayad Mosque, Damascus). All mosques have a prayer niche facing Mecca, washing facilities and usually one or more minarets (Muezzin). In special Friday mosques ( ǧāmi) the Friday prayer is performed together in th…

[German version] ( taṣawwuf). As early as the initial period of Islam, Islamic mysticism developed out of a striving for an ascetic way of life and renunciation of the world, partly under the influence of Christian monasticism, but also of Neoplatonic philosophy (Neoplatonism) and Iranian elements of learning. According to the beliefs of Sufism, the fear of God and faith in God, with the aid of meditation and remembrance of God (recitations, standardized in content and technique, of religious formu…

[German version] ( ahl as-sunna). Islamic orthodoxy based primarily on the sunna (that is, the exemplary words and deeds) of the prophet Muhammad and on the Qurʾān. The S., who constitute the majority of Muslims (more than four fifth), distinguish themselves from the Shiites i.a. in their interpretation of the Koran, in the relatively low significance of martyrdom and in areas of law. Even within the S., various schools of law have developed (Islam). Islam; Kalam Schönig, Hanne (Halle/Saale) Bibliography G. H. A. Juynboll, D. W. Brown, s.v. Sunna, EI 9, 878a-881b.

[German version] ( kaʿba). The most important shrine of Islam. It is the point towards which prayer is directed, and the destination of pilgrimage, located in the interior court of the Great Mosque in Mecca (accessible only to Muslims). Pilgrims ritually kiss the black stone in the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the exterior walls of which are covered with a black cloth, which is replaced yearly. The name (‘cube’) comes from the shape of the building supposed to have been built by Abraham [1] and I…

[German version] ( Umar b. al-Ḫaṭṭāb). Second of the four 'rightly-guided' caliphs (AD 634-644). O. established the foundation of the Islamic empire and its political institutions through expansion as well as domestic organization. His negative and reserved attitude toward Jews and Christians was reflected in a number of religious-law and political decisions. The Sunnites revere O. even today as an ideal Muslim and just ruler, while the Shiites despise him as an advocate of Abu Bakr and hence an ene…

[German version] (al-Manṣūr). Abū Ǧafar al-Manṣūr, second Abbasid caliph (AD 754-775). Actual founder of the dynasty, founder of Baghdad (763). Consolidated the realm by suppressing uprisings and making improvements in administration, transportation, communications, economy and commerce. He designated his son al-Mahdī as his successor despite objections.  Abbasids Schönig, Hanne (Halle/Saale) Bibliography H. Kennedy, Manṣūr, in: EI 6, 427a-428b.

[German version] (Latin Bisseni, Greek Πατζινάκαι/ Patzinákai). Turkic-speaking group of tribes, first mentioned in AD 834, to the north of the Caspian Sea. After the collapse of the kingdom of the Chazars in 969 they were driven by the Oghuz Turks across the Volga into the Pontic steppes and in 971 they were defeated by the Byzantines and the Kievan Rus. The B. fled from the Rus to Bulgaria in 1036 and fought bitter battles (including in alliance with the Oghuz) with Byzantium (in 1091 and 1122) and …