The only European country with a Muslim majority. Albania emerged in 1992 from nearly half a century of communism and state-sponsored suppression of religious beliefs. […]
Tag: encyclopedia
ALAWIYAH
A term derived from the name of the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, `Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661), `Alawiyah was applied originally […]
`ALAWI, AHMAD AL
`ALAWI, AHMAD AL-, (1869-1934), more fully Abu al `Abbas Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-`Alawl, Algerian Sfifi and poet. Characterized by the French Orientalist Emile Dermenghem as […]
AKHUND
Several meanings for akhund, a Persian word meaning “religious scholar” or “leader,” have been proposed by Iranian, Turkish, and Western writers. One states that the […]
AKHBARIYAH
An emphatically traditionalist tendency in Shi’i jurisprudence, Akhbariyah first crystallized into a distinct school in the twelfth century. Its designation comes from the word akhbar […]
AHMAD KHAN, SAYYID
AHMAD KHAN, SAYYID (1817-1898), Indian Islamic modernist writer and political activist. The family of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan claimed lineal descent from the prophet Muhammad; […]
AHMADIYAH
A messianic movement in modern Islam, the Ahmadiyah has been one of the most active and controversial movements since its inception in British Indiain 1889. […]