SAFAVID DYNASTY

SAFAVID DYNASTY. The Safavid dynasty ruled Iran from 1501 to 1722, its end occasioned by the Afghan invasion. After 1722 a few members of the […]

SADR, MUHAMMAD BAQIR AL

SADR, MUHAMMAD BAQIR AL- (March 1, 1935 – April 9, 1980), innovative and influential Iraqi Islamic thinker and political leader. “An important figure not only […]

SADR

SADR. Originally an Arabic honorific, sadr has been used informally since at least the tenth century to denote a prominent member of the `ulama’ (community […]

SACRIFICE

SACRIFICE. The ritual and symbolic practice of sacrifice also has socioeconomic and political connotations in modern Islam. In its ritual facet, the notion of sacrifice […]

RUSHDIE AFFAIR

RUSHDIE AFFAIR. On 26 September 1988, Viking Penguin published The Satanic Verses in London. The author, Salman Rushdie, was already a well-known and esteemed writer. […]

RITES OF PASSAGE

RITES OF PASSAGE. Rituals conducted at different stages of life, from conception until death and after, are means through which human beings live and act […]

RIGHTLY GUIDED CALIPHS

RIGHTLY GUIDED CALIPHS. Sunni Muslims see the first four successors of the Prophet as caliphs who were “rightly guided” or “following the right path,” and […]

RIFA’IYAH

RIFA’IYAH. The Sunni Sufi order known as the Rifa’iyah played an important role in the institutionalization of Sufism. In all likelihood, until the fifteenth century […]

REVOLUTION

REVOLUTION. In contemporary Islamic discourse, there are various terms that bear on the social-science concept of revolution as a rising up against constituted authority. However, […]

REVIVAL AND RENEWAL

REVIVAL AND RENEWAL. The Arabic terms ihya’ (revival) and tajdid (renewal) are often used in the context of modern Islamic movements, but they also have […]