Ibrahim
Ibrahim. Arabic version of the name Abraham. Ibrahim is one of the most central figures to Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Ibrahim is believed to have lived between 2200 and 1700 B.C.T., and, according to the Bible and derivative Muslim sources, died at the age of 175. However, aside from the Bible, there are no independent sources confirming the existence of Ibrahim or of his abnormally long lifespan.
Ibrahim is of great importance to Judaism because he is the forefather of the Jews, through the line of his son, Isaac. Ibrahim is important to Muslims because, from the Muslim perspective, (1) Ibrahim is a prophet of the same message from God as Muhammad; (2) Ibrahim was responsible for erecting the Ka‘ba, the most holy place in earthly Islam; and (3) Ibrahim was the father of Isma‘il, the individual who is deemed to be the progeniture of the Arabs.
For Christians, the importance of the Jewish genealogy is less important than in Judaism, even though there are two unsuccessful attempts to construct kinship between Jesus and Ibrahim in the gospels. {See Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 where it actually is the stepfather of Jesus, Joseph, who is in familial line of Ibrahim, and not Mary, Jesus' only human parent.}
In Judaism, Abraham (his name was at first Abram) is the first of the Hebrew patriarchs. A central theme in Judaism is Abraham’s exodus from Ur in Mesopotamia to Canaan. In Canaan, Abram and his tribe settle, and from this stems the Jewish claim to all of the lands between the Nile and the Euphrates (covering today’s Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and eastern Egypt) being the promised land. {See Genesis 15:18.}
The second story about Abram, is when he has to take refuge in Egypt because of drought in Canaan. In this story, Abram gives away his wife Sarai to Pharaoh saying she is his sister. But when Pharaoh finds out that Abram has lied, Abram has to return to Canaan. Next we learn that Abram and his nephew Lot divide the land of Canaan between them, Lot in the east and Abram in the west.
Abram is worried that he has no children, so his wife Sarai gives him her maidservant Hajar (Hagar). Hajar becomes pregnant, and gives birth to Isma‘il (Ishmael or Ishmail) when Abram is 86 years old. God promises Hajar that his descendants will reach uncountable numbers.
When Abram was 99 years old, God gave him a new name, Abraham, and told him also to change the name of his wife to Sarah. According to Jewish tradition, the reason given for the name change was God's promise to make Abram the father of a large people, through a son which would be named Isaac (Ishaq). Kings would come from his kin, and there would be a pact between God and Abraham’s people. The symbol of that pact would be circumcision of all boys at the age of 8 days. Abraham then had himself and all of his fellow men circumcised.
However, between the time of the promise, and the birth of Isaac, Abraham for a second time is deceptive and says that Sarah is his sister. King Abimelek sends his men to bring the 89 year old Sarah to him to become his wife, but is warned by God in a dream, saying what Abraham had not said, that Sarah was the wife of someone else.
As promised, Isaac is born to 90 year old Sarah and 100 year old Abraham.
Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his son to God. No reason for this demand was given, but Abraham went ahead, without telling his son anything else than that they were going to perform a sacrifice. At the point where Abraham was about to kill his son, God intervened, and gave Abraham a lamb instead, while stating that he now knew that Abraham feared Him. Abraham then moved to Beer Sheba.
At some point, Sarah makes Abraham send Hajar and Isma‘il away. In the desert, near Beer Sheba the two cannot find water, but are saved by God, who creates a water source for them. (This story also appears in Islam, except for the geography. According to Islamic tradition, this event occurred in Mecca.)
Sarah died at the age of 127, and Abraham bought the Machpelah cave in Hebron from the local Hittites.
Abraham sent out his servant to bring home a wife from a foreign people to his son Isaac. He found Rebecca in Mesopotamia. Later, Abraham remarried. He married Keturah, with whom he had six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Abraham died at the age of 175 from natural causes, and was buried in the Machpelah cave with Sarah.
With this ends the story of Abraham, and the story of the Jews begins.
In Islam, the Qur‘an clearly states that Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but rather a “God-seeker” (Sura 3:60). He has the status of being one of the earlier messengers of God, together with Adam, Moses, Jesus and others. According to Muslim theology, the message of Ibrahim was the very same as Muhammad‘s, but it was corrupted by the Jews.
Central in the Qur‘an is the conflict between Ibrahim and his father, Azar. Azar was an idolater, and Ibrahim turned away from him, when he could not make his father follow the message of God (Sura 19:42-49).
Ibrahim’s mission has many parallels to Muhammad‘s, and throughout the Qur‘an, the reader reads about the scepticism and hostility that Ibrahim faced when bringing the message of a new rite of one God only to his contemporaries.
In the Qur'an, relatively little is told about Ibrahim’s journeys. However, it is noted that Abraham settled by God’s command in the place of what would become the Ka‘ba (Sura 22:27). Most of the stories about Ibrahim in the Islamic tradition (hadith) come from other sources than the Qur‘an, and there are many parallels to the life of Moses. Around the time of the birth of Ibrahim, king Namrud had a dream about a threat to his kingdom. He introduced laws to have all pregnant women watched and their newborn sons killed. But when the mother of Ibrahim was examined, the child in her stomach hid from the slayers hands, so he was spared.
As a grown man, Ibrahim and his men defeat Namrud (Nimrod), after which they set out for Palestine. Other important parts from these stories tell that Ibrahim circumcised himself at the age of 120, and that he died at the age of 175. On the day of resurrection, Ibrahim will sit on the left side of God, and lead the pious into Paradise.
In the Christianity, the Judaic stories concerning Abraham are maintained but with a different emphasis. In Christianity, Abraham plays a different role than with the Jews. For Christians, Abraham belongs to the old religion, both before Moses got the covenant, and Judaism was transformed into Christianity by Jesus.
Although Abraham gives a certain legitimacy to the traditions of Christianity, there are no Christian celebrations of any sort in his remembrance. Theologically, there are many details regarding the story of Abraham that are frowned upon in Christianity. Stories concerning Abraham’s being married to his half-sister Sarah; Lot having children with his own daughters; and Abraham’s deceptions concerning his marriage to Sarah, all appear to be foreign to the theology of Christianity. However, Abraham's total obedience to the one God is an element that lives on as the purest virtue in Christianity.
Abraham see Ibrahim.
Abram see Ibrahim.
Forefather of the Jews see Ibrahim.
Forefather of the Muslims see Ibrahim.
Forefather of the Christians see Ibrahim.
Ibrahim. Arabic version of the name Abraham. Ibrahim is one of the most central figures to Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Ibrahim is believed to have lived between 2200 and 1700 B.C.T., and, according to the Bible and derivative Muslim sources, died at the age of 175. However, aside from the Bible, there are no independent sources confirming the existence of Ibrahim or of his abnormally long lifespan.
Ibrahim is of great importance to Judaism because he is the forefather of the Jews, through the line of his son, Isaac. Ibrahim is important to Muslims because, from the Muslim perspective, (1) Ibrahim is a prophet of the same message from God as Muhammad; (2) Ibrahim was responsible for erecting the Ka‘ba, the most holy place in earthly Islam; and (3) Ibrahim was the father of Isma‘il, the individual who is deemed to be the progeniture of the Arabs.
For Christians, the importance of the Jewish genealogy is less important than in Judaism, even though there are two unsuccessful attempts to construct kinship between Jesus and Ibrahim in the gospels. {See Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 where it actually is the stepfather of Jesus, Joseph, who is in familial line of Ibrahim, and not Mary, Jesus' only human parent.}
In Judaism, Abraham (his name was at first Abram) is the first of the Hebrew patriarchs. A central theme in Judaism is Abraham’s exodus from Ur in Mesopotamia to Canaan. In Canaan, Abram and his tribe settle, and from this stems the Jewish claim to all of the lands between the Nile and the Euphrates (covering today’s Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and eastern Egypt) being the promised land. {See Genesis 15:18.}
The second story about Abram, is when he has to take refuge in Egypt because of drought in Canaan. In this story, Abram gives away his wife Sarai to Pharaoh saying she is his sister. But when Pharaoh finds out that Abram has lied, Abram has to return to Canaan. Next we learn that Abram and his nephew Lot divide the land of Canaan between them, Lot in the east and Abram in the west.
Abram is worried that he has no children, so his wife Sarai gives him her maidservant Hajar (Hagar). Hajar becomes pregnant, and gives birth to Isma‘il (Ishmael or Ishmail) when Abram is 86 years old. God promises Hajar that his descendants will reach uncountable numbers.
When Abram was 99 years old, God gave him a new name, Abraham, and told him also to change the name of his wife to Sarah. According to Jewish tradition, the reason given for the name change was God's promise to make Abram the father of a large people, through a son which would be named Isaac (Ishaq). Kings would come from his kin, and there would be a pact between God and Abraham’s people. The symbol of that pact would be circumcision of all boys at the age of 8 days. Abraham then had himself and all of his fellow men circumcised.
However, between the time of the promise, and the birth of Isaac, Abraham for a second time is deceptive and says that Sarah is his sister. King Abimelek sends his men to bring the 89 year old Sarah to him to become his wife, but is warned by God in a dream, saying what Abraham had not said, that Sarah was the wife of someone else.
As promised, Isaac is born to 90 year old Sarah and 100 year old Abraham.
Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his son to God. No reason for this demand was given, but Abraham went ahead, without telling his son anything else than that they were going to perform a sacrifice. At the point where Abraham was about to kill his son, God intervened, and gave Abraham a lamb instead, while stating that he now knew that Abraham feared Him. Abraham then moved to Beer Sheba.
At some point, Sarah makes Abraham send Hajar and Isma‘il away. In the desert, near Beer Sheba the two cannot find water, but are saved by God, who creates a water source for them. (This story also appears in Islam, except for the geography. According to Islamic tradition, this event occurred in Mecca.)
Sarah died at the age of 127, and Abraham bought the Machpelah cave in Hebron from the local Hittites.
Abraham sent out his servant to bring home a wife from a foreign people to his son Isaac. He found Rebecca in Mesopotamia. Later, Abraham remarried. He married Keturah, with whom he had six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Abraham died at the age of 175 from natural causes, and was buried in the Machpelah cave with Sarah.
With this ends the story of Abraham, and the story of the Jews begins.
In Islam, the Qur‘an clearly states that Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but rather a “God-seeker” (Sura 3:60). He has the status of being one of the earlier messengers of God, together with Adam, Moses, Jesus and others. According to Muslim theology, the message of Ibrahim was the very same as Muhammad‘s, but it was corrupted by the Jews.
Central in the Qur‘an is the conflict between Ibrahim and his father, Azar. Azar was an idolater, and Ibrahim turned away from him, when he could not make his father follow the message of God (Sura 19:42-49).
Ibrahim’s mission has many parallels to Muhammad‘s, and throughout the Qur‘an, the reader reads about the scepticism and hostility that Ibrahim faced when bringing the message of a new rite of one God only to his contemporaries.
In the Qur'an, relatively little is told about Ibrahim’s journeys. However, it is noted that Abraham settled by God’s command in the place of what would become the Ka‘ba (Sura 22:27). Most of the stories about Ibrahim in the Islamic tradition (hadith) come from other sources than the Qur‘an, and there are many parallels to the life of Moses. Around the time of the birth of Ibrahim, king Namrud had a dream about a threat to his kingdom. He introduced laws to have all pregnant women watched and their newborn sons killed. But when the mother of Ibrahim was examined, the child in her stomach hid from the slayers hands, so he was spared.
As a grown man, Ibrahim and his men defeat Namrud (Nimrod), after which they set out for Palestine. Other important parts from these stories tell that Ibrahim circumcised himself at the age of 120, and that he died at the age of 175. On the day of resurrection, Ibrahim will sit on the left side of God, and lead the pious into Paradise.
In the Christianity, the Judaic stories concerning Abraham are maintained but with a different emphasis. In Christianity, Abraham plays a different role than with the Jews. For Christians, Abraham belongs to the old religion, both before Moses got the covenant, and Judaism was transformed into Christianity by Jesus.
Although Abraham gives a certain legitimacy to the traditions of Christianity, there are no Christian celebrations of any sort in his remembrance. Theologically, there are many details regarding the story of Abraham that are frowned upon in Christianity. Stories concerning Abraham’s being married to his half-sister Sarah; Lot having children with his own daughters; and Abraham’s deceptions concerning his marriage to Sarah, all appear to be foreign to the theology of Christianity. However, Abraham's total obedience to the one God is an element that lives on as the purest virtue in Christianity.
Abraham see Ibrahim.
Abram see Ibrahim.
Forefather of the Jews see Ibrahim.
Forefather of the Muslims see Ibrahim.
Forefather of the Christians see Ibrahim.
Ibrahim
Ibrahim (Ibrahim I) (Ibrahim the Mad) (Deli Ibrahim) (November 5, 1615 - August 12/18, 1648). Ottoman sultan (r.1640-1648).
Ibrahim I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648. He was born in Istanbul the son of Ahmed I by Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Anastasia. He was unofficially called Ibrahim the Mad (Turkish: Deli İbrahim) due to his mental condition.
One of the most famous Ottoman Sultans, he was released from the Kafes and succeeded his brother Murad IV (1623–40) in 1640, though against the wishes of Murad IV, who had ordered him killed upon his own death. Murad IV had himself succeeded their older brother Osman II in 1622, and had ordered his three other brothers executed. Ibrahim I was allowed to live because he was too mad to be a threat. Ibrahim brought the empire almost to collapse in a very short space of time — paralleled only perhaps, by the rule of Phocas (602–610) in the Byzantine Empire. Probably mentally unstable, he is claimed to have suffered from neurasthenia, and was also depressed after the death of his brother. His reign was essentially that of his Greek mother, Kösem Sultan, who was no longer hindered in controlling the empire as she willed.
Ibrahim is known to have had an obsession with obese women, urging his agents to find the fattest woman possible. A candidate was tracked down in Georgia or Armenia who weighed over 330 pounds and was given the pet name Sheker Pare (literally, "piece of sugar"). Ibrahim was so pleased with her that he gave her a government pension and the title of Governor General of Damascus. When he heard a rumor his concubines were compromised by another man, he had 280 members of his harem drowned in the Bosporus Sea. He was seen feeding coins to fish living in the palace's pool. These feats earned him the nickname "mad".
Ibrahim at first stayed away from politics, but eventually he took to raising and executing a number of viziers. A war with Venice was fought, and in spite of the decline of La Serenissima, Venetian ships won victories throughout the Aegean, capturing Tenedos (1646), the gateway to the Dardanelles. Ibrahim's rule grew ever more unpredictable. Eventually, he was deposed in a coup led by the Grand Mufti. There is an apocryphal story to the effect that the Grand Mufti acted in response to Ibrahim's decision to drown all 280 members of his harem, but there is other evidence to suggest that at least two of Ibrahim's concubines survived him (particularly Turhan Hatice, who was responsible for the death three years later of Kösem, then serving as regent for Ibrahim's son by Hatice, Mehmed IV. Chances are this story was circulated after the coup to silence those who for whatever reason preferred a mad sultan. Ibrahim was strangled in Istanbul.
Ibrahim was married to Valide Sultan Turhan Hatice, a Ukrainian (the mother of Mehmed IV), to Valide Sultan Saliha Dilaşub (the mother of Suleiman II), and to Valide Sultan Khadija Muazzez (the mother of Ahmed II).
Until about 1644, Ibrahim concerned himself with his empire, establishing peaceful relations with Persia and Austria. Afterwards, however, he came increasingly under the influence of concubines and court favorites. In 1645, he embarked on a war with Venice, which was to last for 24 years.
Ibrahim was born on November 4, 1615, in Istanbul. In 1640, he became sultan. In 1642, peace treaties were signed with Austria and Persia. The Sea of Azov (north of the Black Sea) was taken back from the Cossacks.
In 1644, Ibrahim had his grand vizier, Kemankes Kara Mustafa, executed. Later that year, an expedition was dispatched towards Crete.
In 1645, provoked by the Ottoman aggression towards Crete, Venice entered into war against the Ottomans. This war would last for twenty-four years.
On August 8, 1648, Ibrahim was deposed by an uprising of the Janissaries and the ulama.
Ibrahim was a relatively weak leader. He was interested in governing the empire and extending and securing its borders, but he had an unstable character and he led a life of excess. He was also strongly influenced by the women of his harem and his viziers.
In order to pay for his luxurious life style, Ibrahim imposed heavy taxes, which led to discontent among both the average person and the elite in the society. This was the main reason why an unusual union between the Janissaries and the ulama had Ibrahim removed from power, and executed.
Ibrahim I see Ibrahim
Ibrahim the Mad see Ibrahim
Deli Ibrahim see Ibrahim
Ibrahim (Ibrahim I) (Ibrahim the Mad) (Deli Ibrahim) (November 5, 1615 - August 12/18, 1648). Ottoman sultan (r.1640-1648).
Ibrahim I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648. He was born in Istanbul the son of Ahmed I by Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Anastasia. He was unofficially called Ibrahim the Mad (Turkish: Deli İbrahim) due to his mental condition.
One of the most famous Ottoman Sultans, he was released from the Kafes and succeeded his brother Murad IV (1623–40) in 1640, though against the wishes of Murad IV, who had ordered him killed upon his own death. Murad IV had himself succeeded their older brother Osman II in 1622, and had ordered his three other brothers executed. Ibrahim I was allowed to live because he was too mad to be a threat. Ibrahim brought the empire almost to collapse in a very short space of time — paralleled only perhaps, by the rule of Phocas (602–610) in the Byzantine Empire. Probably mentally unstable, he is claimed to have suffered from neurasthenia, and was also depressed after the death of his brother. His reign was essentially that of his Greek mother, Kösem Sultan, who was no longer hindered in controlling the empire as she willed.
Ibrahim is known to have had an obsession with obese women, urging his agents to find the fattest woman possible. A candidate was tracked down in Georgia or Armenia who weighed over 330 pounds and was given the pet name Sheker Pare (literally, "piece of sugar"). Ibrahim was so pleased with her that he gave her a government pension and the title of Governor General of Damascus. When he heard a rumor his concubines were compromised by another man, he had 280 members of his harem drowned in the Bosporus Sea. He was seen feeding coins to fish living in the palace's pool. These feats earned him the nickname "mad".
Ibrahim at first stayed away from politics, but eventually he took to raising and executing a number of viziers. A war with Venice was fought, and in spite of the decline of La Serenissima, Venetian ships won victories throughout the Aegean, capturing Tenedos (1646), the gateway to the Dardanelles. Ibrahim's rule grew ever more unpredictable. Eventually, he was deposed in a coup led by the Grand Mufti. There is an apocryphal story to the effect that the Grand Mufti acted in response to Ibrahim's decision to drown all 280 members of his harem, but there is other evidence to suggest that at least two of Ibrahim's concubines survived him (particularly Turhan Hatice, who was responsible for the death three years later of Kösem, then serving as regent for Ibrahim's son by Hatice, Mehmed IV. Chances are this story was circulated after the coup to silence those who for whatever reason preferred a mad sultan. Ibrahim was strangled in Istanbul.
Ibrahim was married to Valide Sultan Turhan Hatice, a Ukrainian (the mother of Mehmed IV), to Valide Sultan Saliha Dilaşub (the mother of Suleiman II), and to Valide Sultan Khadija Muazzez (the mother of Ahmed II).
Until about 1644, Ibrahim concerned himself with his empire, establishing peaceful relations with Persia and Austria. Afterwards, however, he came increasingly under the influence of concubines and court favorites. In 1645, he embarked on a war with Venice, which was to last for 24 years.
Ibrahim was born on November 4, 1615, in Istanbul. In 1640, he became sultan. In 1642, peace treaties were signed with Austria and Persia. The Sea of Azov (north of the Black Sea) was taken back from the Cossacks.
In 1644, Ibrahim had his grand vizier, Kemankes Kara Mustafa, executed. Later that year, an expedition was dispatched towards Crete.
In 1645, provoked by the Ottoman aggression towards Crete, Venice entered into war against the Ottomans. This war would last for twenty-four years.
On August 8, 1648, Ibrahim was deposed by an uprising of the Janissaries and the ulama.
Ibrahim was a relatively weak leader. He was interested in governing the empire and extending and securing its borders, but he had an unstable character and he led a life of excess. He was also strongly influenced by the women of his harem and his viziers.
In order to pay for his luxurious life style, Ibrahim imposed heavy taxes, which led to discontent among both the average person and the elite in the society. This was the main reason why an unusual union between the Janissaries and the ulama had Ibrahim removed from power, and executed.
Ibrahim I see Ibrahim
Ibrahim the Mad see Ibrahim
Deli Ibrahim see Ibrahim
Ibrahim
Ibrahim (Ibrahim Pasha) (1789, Kavalla, Rumelia [now Kaval, Greece] – November 10, 1848, Cairo, Egypt). Conqueror and governor of Syria (1832-1840). Ibrahim was the son of Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt.
Ibrahim Pasha was a 19th century general of Egypt. He is better known as the son of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. Ibrahim served as Regent for his father from July to November 10, 1848.
A son, or adopted son, of the famous vali Muḥammad ʿAlī, in 1805 Ibrahim joined his father in Egypt, where he was made governor of Cairo. During 1816–18, he successfully commanded an army against the Wahhabite rebels in Arabia. Muḥammad ʿAlī sent him on a mission to the Sudan in 1821–22, and on his return he helped train the new Egyptian army along European lines. When the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II asked for Egyptian assistance to crush the Greek revolt, an expedition commanded by Ibrahim landed in Greece in 1824 and subdued the Morea (Peloponnese), but a combined British, French, and Russian squadron eventually compelled the Egyptian force to withdraw.
It was in Syria that Ibrahim and his French chief of staff, O.J.A. Sève (Suleiman Pasha al-Faransawi), won military fame. In 1831–32, after a disagreement between Muḥammad ʿAlī and the Ottoman sultan, Ibrahim led an Egyptian army through Palestine and defeated an Ottoman army at Homs. He then forced the Bailan Pass and crossed the Taurus, gaining a final victory at Konya on December 21, 1832. By the Convention of Kütahya, signed on May 4, 1833, Syria and Adana were ceded to Egypt, and Ibrahim became governor-general of the two provinces.
Ibrahim’s administration was relatively enlightened. At Damascus, he created a consultative council of notables and suppressed the feudal regime. But his measures were harshly applied and roused sectarian opposition. Sultan Mahmud resented the Egyptian occupation, and in 1839 an Ottoman army invaded Syria. At Nizip on June 24 Ibrahim won his last and greatest victory; the Ottoman fleet deserted to Egypt. Fearing the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the European powers negotiated the Treaty of London in July 1840, by which Muḥammad ʿAlī forfeited Syria and Adana in return for the hereditary rule of Egypt. British naval forces threatened the Egyptians, who evacuated the occupied territories in the winter of 1840–41. By 1848 Muḥammad ʿAlī had become senile, and Ibrahim was appointed viceroy but ruled for only 40 days before his death on November 10, 1848.
Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim
Ibrahim (Ibrahim Pasha) (1789, Kavalla, Rumelia [now Kaval, Greece] – November 10, 1848, Cairo, Egypt). Conqueror and governor of Syria (1832-1840). Ibrahim was the son of Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt.
Ibrahim Pasha was a 19th century general of Egypt. He is better known as the son of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. Ibrahim served as Regent for his father from July to November 10, 1848.
A son, or adopted son, of the famous vali Muḥammad ʿAlī, in 1805 Ibrahim joined his father in Egypt, where he was made governor of Cairo. During 1816–18, he successfully commanded an army against the Wahhabite rebels in Arabia. Muḥammad ʿAlī sent him on a mission to the Sudan in 1821–22, and on his return he helped train the new Egyptian army along European lines. When the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II asked for Egyptian assistance to crush the Greek revolt, an expedition commanded by Ibrahim landed in Greece in 1824 and subdued the Morea (Peloponnese), but a combined British, French, and Russian squadron eventually compelled the Egyptian force to withdraw.
It was in Syria that Ibrahim and his French chief of staff, O.J.A. Sève (Suleiman Pasha al-Faransawi), won military fame. In 1831–32, after a disagreement between Muḥammad ʿAlī and the Ottoman sultan, Ibrahim led an Egyptian army through Palestine and defeated an Ottoman army at Homs. He then forced the Bailan Pass and crossed the Taurus, gaining a final victory at Konya on December 21, 1832. By the Convention of Kütahya, signed on May 4, 1833, Syria and Adana were ceded to Egypt, and Ibrahim became governor-general of the two provinces.
Ibrahim’s administration was relatively enlightened. At Damascus, he created a consultative council of notables and suppressed the feudal regime. But his measures were harshly applied and roused sectarian opposition. Sultan Mahmud resented the Egyptian occupation, and in 1839 an Ottoman army invaded Syria. At Nizip on June 24 Ibrahim won his last and greatest victory; the Ottoman fleet deserted to Egypt. Fearing the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the European powers negotiated the Treaty of London in July 1840, by which Muḥammad ʿAlī forfeited Syria and Adana in return for the hereditary rule of Egypt. British naval forces threatened the Egyptians, who evacuated the occupied territories in the winter of 1840–41. By 1848 Muḥammad ʿAlī had become senile, and Ibrahim was appointed viceroy but ruled for only 40 days before his death on November 10, 1848.
Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim
Ibrahim
Ibrahim (d. 1846). Titular ruler of the Kanuri state of Bornu (r.1820-1846). He and his son were the last kings of the ancient Sefawa dynasty. Ibrahim’s older brother, Dunama, had allied with al-Kanemi to protect Bornu against the invading Fula armies of ‘Uthman dan Fodio. However, al-Kanemi gradually usurped power and Dunama was killed trying to eliminate him. Ibrahim immediately tried to reassert Sefawa authority, but failed. Nine years later, Ibrahim persuaded the sultan of neighboring Wadai to invade Bornu when the Bornu army was away from Kakawa, the capital (in 1846). The invasion forced ‘Umar to flee, but he had uncovered the plot and killed Ibrahim first. The sultan of Wadai installed Ibrahim’s son, ‘Ali Minargema, as the new ruler, but fled when ‘Umar’s armies advanced to recapture the capital. ‘Ali’s supporters were quickly defeated, while Ibrahim himself was killed and his family dispersed ending the thousand year history of the Sefawa dynasty.
Ibrahim IV was a titled Mai of the Kanuri state of Bornu from 1820-1846. He was one of the last rulers from the Sefawa ruling dynasty. Ibrahim's father, and previous ruler of Bornu, had called on El-Kanemi, an Islamic Scholar and Warrior, to help him fight against the Fulani's and their leader Goni Mukhtar. The two were able to push back the Fulani from much of Bornu. In the process, El-Kanemi grew powerful and was a threat to the Sefawa ruling house which had produced Ibrahim and his father, Dunama. Dunama was later killed in a failed putsch to murder El-Kanemi. His son, Ibrahim succeeded him. When El Kanemi died in 1837, he was succeeded by his son, Umar. The two figures became enmeshed in a battle of supremacy and they renewed hostilities between the Kanemis and the Sefawas. Ibrahim hatched a plan to kill Umar by inviting an external army from Wadai under the command of the Sultan of Wadai. However, Umar knew about the plan and had Ibrahim killed before fleeing Bornu, further continuing the assault on the Sefawa ruling dynasty.
Ibrahim IV see Ibrahim
Ibrahim (d. 1846). Titular ruler of the Kanuri state of Bornu (r.1820-1846). He and his son were the last kings of the ancient Sefawa dynasty. Ibrahim’s older brother, Dunama, had allied with al-Kanemi to protect Bornu against the invading Fula armies of ‘Uthman dan Fodio. However, al-Kanemi gradually usurped power and Dunama was killed trying to eliminate him. Ibrahim immediately tried to reassert Sefawa authority, but failed. Nine years later, Ibrahim persuaded the sultan of neighboring Wadai to invade Bornu when the Bornu army was away from Kakawa, the capital (in 1846). The invasion forced ‘Umar to flee, but he had uncovered the plot and killed Ibrahim first. The sultan of Wadai installed Ibrahim’s son, ‘Ali Minargema, as the new ruler, but fled when ‘Umar’s armies advanced to recapture the capital. ‘Ali’s supporters were quickly defeated, while Ibrahim himself was killed and his family dispersed ending the thousand year history of the Sefawa dynasty.
Ibrahim IV was a titled Mai of the Kanuri state of Bornu from 1820-1846. He was one of the last rulers from the Sefawa ruling dynasty. Ibrahim's father, and previous ruler of Bornu, had called on El-Kanemi, an Islamic Scholar and Warrior, to help him fight against the Fulani's and their leader Goni Mukhtar. The two were able to push back the Fulani from much of Bornu. In the process, El-Kanemi grew powerful and was a threat to the Sefawa ruling house which had produced Ibrahim and his father, Dunama. Dunama was later killed in a failed putsch to murder El-Kanemi. His son, Ibrahim succeeded him. When El Kanemi died in 1837, he was succeeded by his son, Umar. The two figures became enmeshed in a battle of supremacy and they renewed hostilities between the Kanemis and the Sefawas. Ibrahim hatched a plan to kill Umar by inviting an external army from Wadai under the command of the Sultan of Wadai. However, Umar knew about the plan and had Ibrahim killed before fleeing Bornu, further continuing the assault on the Sefawa ruling dynasty.
Ibrahim IV see Ibrahim
Ibrahim
Ibrahim (Ibrahim Iskandar Al-Masyhur ibni Abu Bakar) (September 17, 1873 - May 8, 1959). Sultan of Johor. He became sultan in 1895 on the death of his father, Sultan Abu Bakar. He ruled the state through the turbulent period in which it passed from nominal independence to British colonial rule to Japanese rule (from 1942 to 1945) and finally to independence within the Federation of Malaya. Educated in England, Ibrahim traveled widely after becoming a sultan, making frequent visits to Europe and Britain.
Although a general adviser from Britain was accepted in 1910 and Johor became an “unfederated” state, the Malay administrators of Johor continued to exercise significant control over the state’s day-to-day affairs. Ibrahim’s administration oversaw the beginnings of modernization in Johor, including the opening of a railroad linking the west to Singapore and to the Malay states to the north and the expansion of rubber planting. In the postwar period, he played an important role in opposing the Malayan Union plan.
Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar Al-Masyhur ibni Abu Bakar was the 22nd Sultan of Johor, in Malaysia. He was known as one of the richest men in the world during his reign.
An Anglophile, Sultan Ibrahim continued the policy of friendly relations with the crown of the United Kingdom, often manipulating his friendship with the reigning kings of Britain to thwart the expansionist ambitions of the British Colonial Office.
He became highly unpopular later due to him being known as an Anglophile and opposed to Malayan independence. This led him to spend most of his time away from his state, travelling to Europe, particularly Britain.
Wan Ibrahim was born September 17, 1873 in Istana Bidadari, Singapore, and received his education at a boarding school in England during his formative years. He was appointed a Second Lieutenant of the Johor Military Forces during his teenage years and was formally installed as the first Tunku Mahkota of Johor on May 23, 1891 and was brought to Europe by his father where he was being introduced to the European royal families. During his term as the Tunku Mahkota, Tunku Ibrahim occasionally acted as the state's regent and was delegated a few state duties whenever the Sultan was travelling overseas. In his free time, Tunku Ibrahim spent most of his time in hunting and horseracing.
Tunku Ibrahim acted as one of the three signatories when Sultan Abu Bakar promogated the Johor state constitution in April 1895. The following month, Tunku Ibrahim accompanied Abu Bakar to London. Abu Bakar had the intent of seeking further negotiations with the Colonial Office on state affairs. Abu Bakar was by then a very sick man when he reached England, and Tunku Ibrahim spent much of his time by his father's bedside before Abu Bakar died the following month.
Tunku Ibrahim was proclaimed as the Sultan of Johor on the day of Abu Bakar's burial on September 7, 1895, while his one-year old son, Tunku Ismail was proclaimed as his heir-apparent. A formal coronation ceremony took place on November 2, 1895. He took over the state government the following year, and one of his first reports was the financial difficulties which the state was facing. Many of his employees complained of delays in receiving their salaries; which was often paid in installments. Sultan Ibrahim then took charge of closely supervising the state treasury, and personally witnessed the payment of the state's employees during payment day. In the same year, he also took on the task of appointing the committee members of the Johor Gambier and Pepper Society (also known as Kongkek in Malay). Sultan Ibrahim was inexperienced in public administration skills and heavily relied on his private secretary, Abdul Rahman bin Andak on advice and assistance in running the affairs of the state.
The Resident General of the Federated Malay States, Frank Swettenham proposed to Sultan Ibrahim in November 1899 for the construction of a railway line into Johor, in conjunction with his plan for the North-South Main Trunk Railway line in the Malay Peninsula. Sultan Ibrahim welcomed Swettenham but was weary of political British influence in Johor and insisted on financing the construction of the railway line himself. Swettenham was comfortable with Sultan Ibrahim's prospect of financing the railway line using the state's revenues, and submitted his proposals to the Colonial Office in England. The proposals drew skepticism from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, who was aware of Johor's financial difficulties and withheld decision. Sultan Ibrahim then sent his Abdul Rahman the following May to London to negotiate with the Colonial Office, and in April 1901, Sultan Ibrahim made a year-long trip to London to seek private English financiers to fund the construction of the railway line and negotiated with the Colonial Office for a railway loan. The Sultan did, however, manage to obtain a loan for the construction of the railway and the Johor Railway Convention was signed in July 1904 by his adviser, Abdul Rahman, that gave provisions for an extension of the Malayan railway line to be extended into Johor.
Sultan Ibrahim returned to Johor the following year, and expanded the state's military forces. He instituted the Johor Volunteer Forces (JVF), which consisted of young Malay boys and served as the state's reservist soldiers. In 1906, he granted land concessions to English capitalists and financiers for development purposes. This drew the concern of the Straits Governor, Sir John Anderson, who was not very favorable with Sultan Ibrahim's intents to detach Johor's economic dependence from Singapore. He successfully pressured Sultan Ibrahim to dispense with the services of Abdul Rahman as well as ceding the administrative powers of the railway line to the colonial government the following year after reports of the state's troubled finances were revealed.
Sultan Ibrahim was also facing political challenges from the British colonial government, who were ostensibly unhappy his negligence in his state affairs and were seeking to extend greater political influence into the state. The Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements, Victor Bruce, Lord Elgin had met Sultan Ibrahim in 1906 and advised him to administer the state in favor of British interests and to cut down on his overseas travels to Europe. Sultan Ibrahim was adamant against Elgin's advice, was indignant to accept British advice, and was later warned by Lord Elgin two years later on the British possibility of enacting constitutional changes in the state administration. In 1910, Sultan Ibrahim accepted a British adviser for Johor after immense pressure from the colonial government. The British were extremely unhappy with the condition of Johor's finances, which were depleted as a result of Sultan Ibrahim's extensive overseas travels. The British-Resident of Negeri Sembilan, Douglas Graham Campbell was appointed the first adviser of Johor.
Relations between Sultan Ibrahim and Campbell were excellent within Campbell's first year as an adviser, and Sultan Ibrahim gave him support to improve the state administrative system. However, a tenacious relationship was developed as Campbell proposed numerous administrative reforms which were disapproved by the Sultan. A political scandal erupted in 1912 after Campbell publicly revealed malpractices of the Johor Bahru Prison. Campbell was particularly unhappy with the way the prisoners were incarcerated and lobbied to the British authorities to take charge of the administrative affairs of the prison, thereby igniting protest from the Sultan. Grievances between the Sultan's administration and the colonial government over the administrative control of the state railway remained unabated during this period, and the Menteri Besar of Johor, Dato' Abdullah bin Jaafar was delegated to handle these matters.
Shortly after his fallout with Campbell, Sultan Ibrahim implemented a state executive council (Malay: Masyurat Kerja) to oversee the administration of state agricultural and mining activities. The Sultan distanced himself from Campbell and the state's legal adviser, Michael Henry Whitley, and took administrative matters into his own hands. This incited worry and unhappiness in Campbell and Whitley, and they submitted a memorandum to the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir Arthur Henderson Young, to appeal for greater British administrative control over the state. Young gave provisions to Campbell with the power similar to a British Resident-General from other states, but kept the title of "General Adviser" to show protocol deference to the Sultan. Sultan Ibrahim was unhappy with the new proposals as the British adviser would have more direct control over the state affairs, but Young assured the Sultan that he would be available for consultation in the event opinion differences may arise between Campbell and Sultan Ibrahim. A treaty was signed on May 12, 1914, which formalized the powers of the state's General Adviser.
The state economy experienced a budget surplus as a result of an increase in rubber prices for the rest of the 1910s. Campbell served as the state's General Adviser until his death in June 1918, and between June 1918 until December 1920, five General Advisers were appointed in succession, each of whom only took office for a few months. As the colonial government lacked a decisiveness in the state administration, Sultan Ibrahim attempted to extend his influence in the state administration. Hayes Marriot was appointed as the state's new General Adviser in December 1920 and reorganized the state administration.
Sultan Ibrahim took on the role of a ceremonial monarch from the 1920s onwards, and his duties were largely limited to gracing various opening ceremonies around the state. He occasionally expressed his views on the state administration and economic developments whenever he had grievances, which the British colonial government often took into account as a result of
his political influence in the state. He began to take time off to travel abroad from 1928, after he began to suffer from chronic gout and myocardial degeneration. London was one destination which he often visited, and frequented the Colonial Office whenever he had grievances with the state administration. As a result of his frequent complaints of maladministration of state affairs by the local British government, Sultan Ibrahim's relations with each General Adviser became strained.
Sir Cecil Clementi, who served as the Governor of the Straits Settlements as well as the High Commissioner of the Malay States from 1930 to 1934, remarked in December 1932 that Sultan Ibrahim was too independent in state affairs and proposed to the Sultan that he should approach Clementi in the future under the capacity of the High Commissioner instead of the Straits Governor. Clementi's proposals apparently angered the Sultan, who boycotted the Durbar in February 1934.
Sultan Ibrahim was a close friend of Frank Buck and often assisted Buck in his animal collecting endeavors.
Early Malay nationalism took root in Johor during the 1920s as a Malay aristocrat, Onn Jaafar, whom the Sultan had treated as an adopted son, became a journalist and wrote articles on the welfare of the Malays. Some of Onn's articles were critical of Sultan Ibrahim's policies, which led to strained personal relations with the Sultan. In particular, Sultan Ibrahim expelled Onn from Johor after he published an article in the Sunday Mirror, a Singapore-based English tabloid and criticized the Sultan's poor treatment of the Johor Military Forces personnel and the welfare of the Orang Asli. Onn became very popular after he continued to cover issues on Malay grievances, and Sultan Ibrahim invited Onn to return to Johor in 1936.
Sultan Ibrahim became an active patron of the state's forestry department around 1930, and encouraged the state forestry department to designate some of the remaining virgin forests in the state as nature reserves, as Johor witnessed a reduction in timber supplies due to extensive logging in the past. Nature reserves covered about 15 per cent of the state's land area by 1934, mainly in the northern regions of the state.
Sultan Ibrahim's relations with Clementi's successor, Sir Shenton Thomas did not fare well as Thomas attempted to form a centralized Malayan Union by bringing Johore and other Unfederated Malay States under the direct charge of the Straits Governor. As the Second World War broke out in 1939, Thomas introduced the Pan-Malayan war tax scheme to fund Britain's war efforts. Sultan Ibrahim's rejected these proposals, but made a £250,000 cash gift to George VI of the United Kingdom on his 44th birthday in 1939 during his trip to Europe in 1939.
Sultan Ibrahim became a personal friend of Tokugawa Yoshichika during the 1920s. Tokugawa was a scion of the Tokugawa clan, and his ancestors were military leaders (Shogun in Japanese) which ruled Japan from the 16th to the 19th centuries. When the Japanese invaded Malaya, Tokugawa accompanied General Yamashita Tomoyuki's troops and was warmly received by Sultan Ibrahim when they reached Johor Bahru at the end of January 1942. Yamashita and his officers then stationed themselves at the Sultan's residence, Istana Bukit Serene and the state secretariat building, Sultan Ibrahim Building, to plan for the invasion of Singapore.
The Japanese established a military government in February, shortly after they settled down in Malaya. Tokugawa was appointed as the Japanese political adviser at the recommendation of Sultan Ibrahim. Relations between the military government and the monarchy were initially cordial throughout the Japanese occupation years, and Tokugawa briefly envisioned a plan for a united Malay Sultanate over the Malay Peninsula (including Pattani) with Sultan Ibrahim as its figurehead. However, as the Japanese began to experience economic difficulties and military defeats in the Pacific War from 1943 onwards, these plans were dropped and the military government channeled its efforts towards state agriculture. The Japanese continued the British policy of appointing a state adviser in Johor, and Sultan Ibrahim spent most of his time in his leisure activities.
Sultan Ibrahim on his part, became resentful of the Japanese military government during the later part of the occupation years. The Japanese gave orders to the Malay Sultans to contribute an annual stipend of $10,000 to support the Japanese war efforts, and public speeches which the rulers made were drafted by the propaganda department. In particular, Sultan Ibrahim was once publicly rebuked for leaning on his walking stick before Japanese officers thereby humiliating him in the process. Shortly before the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Sultan Ibrahim was expelled from his residence at Istana Bukit Serene and was forced to reside at Istana Pasir Pelangi, the crown prince's palace.
The British Military Administration set about the task of reviving pre-war plans for centralized control over the Malay states within days after British Allied forces landed in Singapore on September 5, 1945. A former Malayan Civil Service legal officer, H.C. Willan, was ordered to interview the Malay rulers and Willan approached Sultan Ibrahim on September 8. Sultan Ibrahim was living at Istana Pasir Pelangi with his Romanian wife, and reportedly warmed up to Willan when he first saw him. During the interview with Willan, Sultan Ibrahim spoke bitterly of his experiences during the Japanese occupation years, and offered to serve under the British Military Administration. The Sultan asked Willan's permission to fly the Union Jack on his car to attend the surrender ceremony on September 12, and the British military government granted his requests.
Willan made further interviews with other Malay rulers over the next few days, and made assessments of the political situation in each state. His studies were forwarded to the military administration, and Sir Harold MacMichael, the former high commissioner of Palestine was empowered to sign official treaties with the Malay rulers over the Malayan Union proposal scheme. MacMichael made several visits to the Malay rulers, beginning with Sultan Ibrahim in October 1945. The Sultan quickly consented to MacMichael's proposal scheme, which was motivated by his strong desire to visit England at the end of the year. MacMichael paid further visits to other Malay rulers over the proposal, and sought their consent over the proposal scheme. Many Malay rulers expressed strong reluctance in signing the treaties with MacMichael, partly because they feared losing their royal status and the prospect of their states falling into Thai political influence.
The treaties provided that the United Kingdom had full administrative powers over the Malay states except in areas pertaining to Islamic customs. The Malays strongly protested against the treaties, as the treaties had the effect of circumscribing the spiritual and moral authority of the Malay rulers. Communal tensions between the Malays and Chinese were high, and the prospect of granting citizenship to non-Malays was deemed unacceptable to the Malays. In particular, politicians in Johor were extremely unhappy with the willingness of Sultan Ibrahim to sign the treaties with MacMichael, and voiced that Sultan Ibrahim had violated the terms in the Johor state constitution which explicitly forbade any foreign powers to assume legitimate control over the state. In early February 1946, seven political dissidents led by Awang bin Hassan organized a rally to protest against the Sultan's decision for signing the treaties, and Onn Jaafar, who was then serving as a district officer in Batu Pahat, was invited to attend the rally.
The rally was held on February 1, 1946 at the Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque, and protesters shouted nationalistic slogans and called for the dethronement of Sultan Ibrahim. Malay nationalistic slogans were raised during the rally, many of whom were directed against the Sultan himself, whom they accused of committing treason against the Malay race by signing the treaties. News of the rally reached Sultan Ibrahim on 22 February, who was then residing at Grosvenor House in London. Sultan Ibrahim approached the colonial office and expressed his withdrawal of support for the proposal scheme, but this did not appease the political dissidents and Onn continued to organize more rallies in the other Malay states to muster further support for his calls against the Malayan Union, and formed United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in May.
Sultan Ibrahim returned to Johor in early September 1947 and attended UMNO's second general meeting at Istana Besar, which was led by its youth chief, Hussein Onn. Although many Johor politicians still held a critical opinion of Sultan Ibrahim over the treaties with MacMichael, the UMNO delegates gave him a rousing welcome when he arrived at the palace. Critical opinions against the Sultan waned after the Federation of Malaya was established the following January, which restored the rulers' powers. Shortly before Sultan Ibrahim left for England in May, he personally donated a lump sum of $5,000 to UMNO, hoping to improve relations with UMNO leaders and Onn himself, who was appointed the Menteri Besar of Johor in 1946.
The establishment of the Federation did not go down well with the Chinese, whereby favorable conditions for obtaining citizenship for the Chinese and other non-Malays were withdrawn. The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) was formed in 1949 under the leadership of a Straits Chinese businessman, Tan Cheng Lock who frequently raised grievances over the citizenship terms that were set when the Federation was established. As a result, communal tensions between the Malays and Chinese surfaced, and Onn kept his distance from Tan. Tan encountered initial difficulties with meeting the Sultan, who was not accustomed to working with Chinese businessmen. Sultan Ibrahim also became increasingly disappointed in Onn's work commitment, which he saw as neglecting state affairs as a result of his commitments towards UMNO. In early 1950, Sultan Ibrahim approached Onn, who was asked to choose between committing his efforts for UMNO and the state. Onn chose to the latter, and resigned as the Menteri Besar of Johor in May.
Sultan Ibrahim became increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of Johor as a state within the Federation of Malaya, particularly when the prospect of an independent Federation free from British interference became increasingly clearer under Tunku Abdul Rahman's leadership. In a letter which he wrote to The Straits Times in 1953, "Straits Settlement Forever", Sultan Ibrahim expressed a skeptical opinion of Johor's future as part of an independent Malaya, and voiced support for the continuation of British Adviser system in Johor. At his diamond jubilee celebrations in September 1955, Sultan Ibrahim publicly called for Johor's secession from the Federation. Sultan Ibrahim's calls for secession inspired the formation of Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Johor (PKMJ) the following month, a secessionist movement led by Ungku Abdullah bin Omar, a relative of Sultan Ibrahim who was serving as one of Johor's state executive councillors. The Sultan voiced public support for PKMJ during a public gathering in mid-December 1955, and PKMJ courted considerable support from the grassroots within the first half of 1956.
The Alliance party reacted strongly to the events which motivated the formation of the PKMJ, and called for the Alliance-dominated Johor state executive council to vet all future state-policy speeches that will be made by the Sultan or members of the royal family. In particular, the Alliance reacted with great hostility to the existence of the PKMJ, and actively attempted to suppress and discredit the party. PKMJ rapidly lost most of its members to UMNO, and by mid-1957 Ungku Abdullah only had ten members left within the party. Meanwhile, at the Conference of Rulers in March 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman expressed his desire to elect Sultan Ibrahim as the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, but Sultan Ibrahim declined on grounds of his old age and desire to lead his final years in retirement.
Four months later in July 1957, Ungku Abdullah made one last call to urge Sultan Ibrahim not to sign the Malayan Federal Constitution. The Sultan, who was now residing in London, replied to Ungku Abdullah that he had empowered the Tunku Mahkota, Tunku Ismail (later Sultan Ismail) to decide on the matter. Ungku Abdullah then called upon Tunku Ismail not to sign the constitution, but his calls were ignored and Tunku Ismail proceeded to sign the constitution at the ruler's meeting. Following the ordeal, Ungku Abdullah formally disbanded the party a few days before Malaya's Independence day.
During his reign, the Sultan was known as one of the richest men in the world. He also had a reputation as a wild international playboy. His exploits ranged from changing the color of his racing horse to present it as an unknown – with better odds of course – to less savory behavior in the red-light area of Vienna. To be fair, he spread his wealth around, giving a magnificent pair of Malayan tigers to Edinburgh Zoo on the one hand and, on the other, sending a huge cash present to King George V on his Jubilee.
The Sultan was an Anglophile and spent much of his life away from Johor, preferring the more liberal delights of Europe. He sent his sons, by his Malay wives, to be educated in Britain.
The Sultan was reported to have given Sultanah Helen Ibrahim a spectacular jewel collection, reputedly giving her an emerald on her birthday and a diamond on their wedding anniversary, even after the divorce. It is little wonder that her jewellery collection was held to be the finest in the world.
Sultan Ibrahim spent the last two years of his life at his apartment at Grosvenor House in London. He spent most of his time watching television and visiting theaters and enjoyed the company of his sixth wife, Marcella Mendl and their beloved daughter, Tunku Meriam. The Sultan died on May 8, 1959 at his apartment, with his wife reportedly at his bedside during his last hours. Tunku Ismail was appointed as the Sultan of Johor in place of his father, and many Malay and British leaders who had worked with him publicly expressed their condolences to the late Sultan within the first two weeks of his death. The Sultan's body was shipped back to Johor Bahru and arrived the following month, whereby he was given a state funeral and his body laid in state between June 4-6 at Istana Besar.
At the time of his death, Sultan Ibrahim was probably the longest reigning Malay sultan in Malayan history after having ruled for 64 years.
Sultan Ibrahim was the only son of Che Wan Abu Bakar, Temenggung of Johor by Che Puan Besar Zubaidah (née Cecilia Catharina Lange, 1848-1939). Zubaidah was the daughter of Mads Johansen Lange; a Balinese-based Danish businessman and his Chinese wife, Nonna Sang Nio (born Ong Sang Nio). Nonna, who was born in Southern China, lived in East Java for a time prior to her marriage to Lange. He had one sister, Meriam (born 1871).
Sultan Ibrahim married at least four official wives who became sultanahs of Johor. They were:
* Ungku Maimunah binti Ungku Abdul Majid (d 1909); married 1892, they had one son, Sultan Ismail (1894-1981)
* Che Rogayah (d 1926); married in 1920, they had one son, Tunku Abu Bakar (1898-1956)
* Helen Bartholomew Wilson (1889-1977), former wife of William Brockie Wilson; married 15 October 1930, divorced 30 March 1938
* Marcella Mendl (1915-1982), daughter of Edgar Mendl and cousin of British diplomat Sir Charles Mendl. Upon converting to Islam, she took the name Fawzia binti ‘Abdu’llah and was known as Lady Marcella Ibrahim (1940-1955) and Her Highness Sultana Fawzia binti 'Abdu'llah (1955-1982). Married in 1940, they had one daughter, Tunku Miriam binti al-Marhum Sultan Sir Ibrahim (born September 18, 1950) (married 1978-1980, Barry Sapherson, aka Barry Ryan)
He also had a son by Hasnah bte Jaffar: Tunku Ahmad, 1898-1983.
Efforts were made by the sultan's heirs to rehabilitate his image and paint him as a benevolent ruler. However, Sultan Ibrahim is largely remembered as an anti-independence figure, a wastrel and a close (almost deferential) ally of the British. The posthumous title of "the Great" (in Malay, mil Masyhur) conferred on him by his grandson Sultan Iskandar, never caught on.
The honors bestowed upon Sultan Ibrahim include:
* Grand Commander of the Family Order of Johor (DK)-1891
* Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor (SPMJ)-1891
* Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal-1897
* Imperial Order of the Osmans (Nishan-i-Osmanieh), 1st Class-1898
* King Edward VII Coronation Medal-1902
* King George V Coronation Medal-1911
* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)-1916 (KCMG-1897)
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania-1920
* Grand Cordon of the Order of the White Elephant of Siam-1924
* Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia-1933
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Dragon of Annam-1933
* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun-1934
* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE)-1935 (KBE-1918)
* King George V Silver Jubilee Medal-1935
* King George VI Coronation Medal-1937
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy-1938
* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar
* Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal-1953
* Order of the Crown of State of Malaysia (DMN)-1958
Ibrahim Iskandar Al-Masyhur ibni Abu Bakar see Ibrahim
Sir Cecil Clementi, who served as the Governor of the Straits Settlements as well as the High Commissioner of the Malay States from 1930 to 1934, remarked in December 1932 that Sultan Ibrahim was too independent in state affairs and proposed to the Sultan that he should approach Clementi in the future under the capacity of the High Commissioner instead of the Straits Governor. Clementi's proposals apparently angered the Sultan, who boycotted the Durbar in February 1934.
Sultan Ibrahim was a close friend of Frank Buck and often assisted Buck in his animal collecting endeavors.
Early Malay nationalism took root in Johor during the 1920s as a Malay aristocrat, Onn Jaafar, whom the Sultan had treated as an adopted son, became a journalist and wrote articles on the welfare of the Malays. Some of Onn's articles were critical of Sultan Ibrahim's policies, which led to strained personal relations with the Sultan. In particular, Sultan Ibrahim expelled Onn from Johor after he published an article in the Sunday Mirror, a Singapore-based English tabloid and criticized the Sultan's poor treatment of the Johor Military Forces personnel and the welfare of the Orang Asli. Onn became very popular after he continued to cover issues on Malay grievances, and Sultan Ibrahim invited Onn to return to Johor in 1936.
Sultan Ibrahim became an active patron of the state's forestry department around 1930, and encouraged the state forestry department to designate some of the remaining virgin forests in the state as nature reserves, as Johor witnessed a reduction in timber supplies due to extensive logging in the past. Nature reserves covered about 15 per cent of the state's land area by 1934, mainly in the northern regions of the state.
Sultan Ibrahim's relations with Clementi's successor, Sir Shenton Thomas did not fare well as Thomas attempted to form a centralized Malayan Union by bringing Johore and other Unfederated Malay States under the direct charge of the Straits Governor. As the Second World War broke out in 1939, Thomas introduced the Pan-Malayan war tax scheme to fund Britain's war efforts. Sultan Ibrahim's rejected these proposals, but made a £250,000 cash gift to George VI of the United Kingdom on his 44th birthday in 1939 during his trip to Europe in 1939.
Sultan Ibrahim became a personal friend of Tokugawa Yoshichika during the 1920s. Tokugawa was a scion of the Tokugawa clan, and his ancestors were military leaders (Shogun in Japanese) which ruled Japan from the 16th to the 19th centuries. When the Japanese invaded Malaya, Tokugawa accompanied General Yamashita Tomoyuki's troops and was warmly received by Sultan Ibrahim when they reached Johor Bahru at the end of January 1942. Yamashita and his officers then stationed themselves at the Sultan's residence, Istana Bukit Serene and the state secretariat building, Sultan Ibrahim Building, to plan for the invasion of Singapore.
The Japanese established a military government in February, shortly after they settled down in Malaya. Tokugawa was appointed as the Japanese political adviser at the recommendation of Sultan Ibrahim. Relations between the military government and the monarchy were initially cordial throughout the Japanese occupation years, and Tokugawa briefly envisioned a plan for a united Malay Sultanate over the Malay Peninsula (including Pattani) with Sultan Ibrahim as its figurehead. However, as the Japanese began to experience economic difficulties and military defeats in the Pacific War from 1943 onwards, these plans were dropped and the military government channeled its efforts towards state agriculture. The Japanese continued the British policy of appointing a state adviser in Johor, and Sultan Ibrahim spent most of his time in his leisure activities.
Sultan Ibrahim on his part, became resentful of the Japanese military government during the later part of the occupation years. The Japanese gave orders to the Malay Sultans to contribute an annual stipend of $10,000 to support the Japanese war efforts, and public speeches which the rulers made were drafted by the propaganda department. In particular, Sultan Ibrahim was once publicly rebuked for leaning on his walking stick before Japanese officers thereby humiliating him in the process. Shortly before the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Sultan Ibrahim was expelled from his residence at Istana Bukit Serene and was forced to reside at Istana Pasir Pelangi, the crown prince's palace.
The British Military Administration set about the task of reviving pre-war plans for centralized control over the Malay states within days after British Allied forces landed in Singapore on September 5, 1945. A former Malayan Civil Service legal officer, H.C. Willan, was ordered to interview the Malay rulers and Willan approached Sultan Ibrahim on September 8. Sultan Ibrahim was living at Istana Pasir Pelangi with his Romanian wife, and reportedly warmed up to Willan when he first saw him. During the interview with Willan, Sultan Ibrahim spoke bitterly of his experiences during the Japanese occupation years, and offered to serve under the British Military Administration. The Sultan asked Willan's permission to fly the Union Jack on his car to attend the surrender ceremony on September 12, and the British military government granted his requests.
Willan made further interviews with other Malay rulers over the next few days, and made assessments of the political situation in each state. His studies were forwarded to the military administration, and Sir Harold MacMichael, the former high commissioner of Palestine was empowered to sign official treaties with the Malay rulers over the Malayan Union proposal scheme. MacMichael made several visits to the Malay rulers, beginning with Sultan Ibrahim in October 1945. The Sultan quickly consented to MacMichael's proposal scheme, which was motivated by his strong desire to visit England at the end of the year. MacMichael paid further visits to other Malay rulers over the proposal, and sought their consent over the proposal scheme. Many Malay rulers expressed strong reluctance in signing the treaties with MacMichael, partly because they feared losing their royal status and the prospect of their states falling into Thai political influence.
The treaties provided that the United Kingdom had full administrative powers over the Malay states except in areas pertaining to Islamic customs. The Malays strongly protested against the treaties, as the treaties had the effect of circumscribing the spiritual and moral authority of the Malay rulers. Communal tensions between the Malays and Chinese were high, and the prospect of granting citizenship to non-Malays was deemed unacceptable to the Malays. In particular, politicians in Johor were extremely unhappy with the willingness of Sultan Ibrahim to sign the treaties with MacMichael, and voiced that Sultan Ibrahim had violated the terms in the Johor state constitution which explicitly forbade any foreign powers to assume legitimate control over the state. In early February 1946, seven political dissidents led by Awang bin Hassan organized a rally to protest against the Sultan's decision for signing the treaties, and Onn Jaafar, who was then serving as a district officer in Batu Pahat, was invited to attend the rally.
The rally was held on February 1, 1946 at the Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque, and protesters shouted nationalistic slogans and called for the dethronement of Sultan Ibrahim. Malay nationalistic slogans were raised during the rally, many of whom were directed against the Sultan himself, whom they accused of committing treason against the Malay race by signing the treaties. News of the rally reached Sultan Ibrahim on 22 February, who was then residing at Grosvenor House in London. Sultan Ibrahim approached the colonial office and expressed his withdrawal of support for the proposal scheme, but this did not appease the political dissidents and Onn continued to organize more rallies in the other Malay states to muster further support for his calls against the Malayan Union, and formed United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in May.
Sultan Ibrahim returned to Johor in early September 1947 and attended UMNO's second general meeting at Istana Besar, which was led by its youth chief, Hussein Onn. Although many Johor politicians still held a critical opinion of Sultan Ibrahim over the treaties with MacMichael, the UMNO delegates gave him a rousing welcome when he arrived at the palace. Critical opinions against the Sultan waned after the Federation of Malaya was established the following January, which restored the rulers' powers. Shortly before Sultan Ibrahim left for England in May, he personally donated a lump sum of $5,000 to UMNO, hoping to improve relations with UMNO leaders and Onn himself, who was appointed the Menteri Besar of Johor in 1946.
The establishment of the Federation did not go down well with the Chinese, whereby favorable conditions for obtaining citizenship for the Chinese and other non-Malays were withdrawn. The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) was formed in 1949 under the leadership of a Straits Chinese businessman, Tan Cheng Lock who frequently raised grievances over the citizenship terms that were set when the Federation was established. As a result, communal tensions between the Malays and Chinese surfaced, and Onn kept his distance from Tan. Tan encountered initial difficulties with meeting the Sultan, who was not accustomed to working with Chinese businessmen. Sultan Ibrahim also became increasingly disappointed in Onn's work commitment, which he saw as neglecting state affairs as a result of his commitments towards UMNO. In early 1950, Sultan Ibrahim approached Onn, who was asked to choose between committing his efforts for UMNO and the state. Onn chose to the latter, and resigned as the Menteri Besar of Johor in May.
Sultan Ibrahim became increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of Johor as a state within the Federation of Malaya, particularly when the prospect of an independent Federation free from British interference became increasingly clearer under Tunku Abdul Rahman's leadership. In a letter which he wrote to The Straits Times in 1953, "Straits Settlement Forever", Sultan Ibrahim expressed a skeptical opinion of Johor's future as part of an independent Malaya, and voiced support for the continuation of British Adviser system in Johor. At his diamond jubilee celebrations in September 1955, Sultan Ibrahim publicly called for Johor's secession from the Federation. Sultan Ibrahim's calls for secession inspired the formation of Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Johor (PKMJ) the following month, a secessionist movement led by Ungku Abdullah bin Omar, a relative of Sultan Ibrahim who was serving as one of Johor's state executive councillors. The Sultan voiced public support for PKMJ during a public gathering in mid-December 1955, and PKMJ courted considerable support from the grassroots within the first half of 1956.
The Alliance party reacted strongly to the events which motivated the formation of the PKMJ, and called for the Alliance-dominated Johor state executive council to vet all future state-policy speeches that will be made by the Sultan or members of the royal family. In particular, the Alliance reacted with great hostility to the existence of the PKMJ, and actively attempted to suppress and discredit the party. PKMJ rapidly lost most of its members to UMNO, and by mid-1957 Ungku Abdullah only had ten members left within the party. Meanwhile, at the Conference of Rulers in March 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman expressed his desire to elect Sultan Ibrahim as the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, but Sultan Ibrahim declined on grounds of his old age and desire to lead his final years in retirement.
Four months later in July 1957, Ungku Abdullah made one last call to urge Sultan Ibrahim not to sign the Malayan Federal Constitution. The Sultan, who was now residing in London, replied to Ungku Abdullah that he had empowered the Tunku Mahkota, Tunku Ismail (later Sultan Ismail) to decide on the matter. Ungku Abdullah then called upon Tunku Ismail not to sign the constitution, but his calls were ignored and Tunku Ismail proceeded to sign the constitution at the ruler's meeting. Following the ordeal, Ungku Abdullah formally disbanded the party a few days before Malaya's Independence day.
During his reign, the Sultan was known as one of the richest men in the world. He also had a reputation as a wild international playboy. His exploits ranged from changing the color of his racing horse to present it as an unknown – with better odds of course – to less savory behavior in the red-light area of Vienna. To be fair, he spread his wealth around, giving a magnificent pair of Malayan tigers to Edinburgh Zoo on the one hand and, on the other, sending a huge cash present to King George V on his Jubilee.
The Sultan was an Anglophile and spent much of his life away from Johor, preferring the more liberal delights of Europe. He sent his sons, by his Malay wives, to be educated in Britain.
The Sultan was reported to have given Sultanah Helen Ibrahim a spectacular jewel collection, reputedly giving her an emerald on her birthday and a diamond on their wedding anniversary, even after the divorce. It is little wonder that her jewellery collection was held to be the finest in the world.
Sultan Ibrahim spent the last two years of his life at his apartment at Grosvenor House in London. He spent most of his time watching television and visiting theaters and enjoyed the company of his sixth wife, Marcella Mendl and their beloved daughter, Tunku Meriam. The Sultan died on May 8, 1959 at his apartment, with his wife reportedly at his bedside during his last hours. Tunku Ismail was appointed as the Sultan of Johor in place of his father, and many Malay and British leaders who had worked with him publicly expressed their condolences to the late Sultan within the first two weeks of his death. The Sultan's body was shipped back to Johor Bahru and arrived the following month, whereby he was given a state funeral and his body laid in state between June 4-6 at Istana Besar.
At the time of his death, Sultan Ibrahim was probably the longest reigning Malay sultan in Malayan history after having ruled for 64 years.
Sultan Ibrahim was the only son of Che Wan Abu Bakar, Temenggung of Johor by Che Puan Besar Zubaidah (née Cecilia Catharina Lange, 1848-1939). Zubaidah was the daughter of Mads Johansen Lange; a Balinese-based Danish businessman and his Chinese wife, Nonna Sang Nio (born Ong Sang Nio). Nonna, who was born in Southern China, lived in East Java for a time prior to her marriage to Lange. He had one sister, Meriam (born 1871).
Sultan Ibrahim married at least four official wives who became sultanahs of Johor. They were:
* Ungku Maimunah binti Ungku Abdul Majid (d 1909); married 1892, they had one son, Sultan Ismail (1894-1981)
* Che Rogayah (d 1926); married in 1920, they had one son, Tunku Abu Bakar (1898-1956)
* Helen Bartholomew Wilson (1889-1977), former wife of William Brockie Wilson; married 15 October 1930, divorced 30 March 1938
* Marcella Mendl (1915-1982), daughter of Edgar Mendl and cousin of British diplomat Sir Charles Mendl. Upon converting to Islam, she took the name Fawzia binti ‘Abdu’llah and was known as Lady Marcella Ibrahim (1940-1955) and Her Highness Sultana Fawzia binti 'Abdu'llah (1955-1982). Married in 1940, they had one daughter, Tunku Miriam binti al-Marhum Sultan Sir Ibrahim (born September 18, 1950) (married 1978-1980, Barry Sapherson, aka Barry Ryan)
He also had a son by Hasnah bte Jaffar: Tunku Ahmad, 1898-1983.
Efforts were made by the sultan's heirs to rehabilitate his image and paint him as a benevolent ruler. However, Sultan Ibrahim is largely remembered as an anti-independence figure, a wastrel and a close (almost deferential) ally of the British. The posthumous title of "the Great" (in Malay, mil Masyhur) conferred on him by his grandson Sultan Iskandar, never caught on.
The honors bestowed upon Sultan Ibrahim include:
* Grand Commander of the Family Order of Johor (DK)-1891
* Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor (SPMJ)-1891
* Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal-1897
* Imperial Order of the Osmans (Nishan-i-Osmanieh), 1st Class-1898
* King Edward VII Coronation Medal-1902
* King George V Coronation Medal-1911
* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)-1916 (KCMG-1897)
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania-1920
* Grand Cordon of the Order of the White Elephant of Siam-1924
* Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia-1933
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Dragon of Annam-1933
* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun-1934
* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE)-1935 (KBE-1918)
* King George V Silver Jubilee Medal-1935
* King George VI Coronation Medal-1937
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy-1938
* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar
* Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal-1953
* Order of the Crown of State of Malaysia (DMN)-1958
Ibrahim Iskandar Al-Masyhur ibni Abu Bakar see Ibrahim
Ibrahim I
Ibrahim I (Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab) (756-812). Founder of the Ifriqiyan dynasty of the Aghlabids and first Emir (r.800-812) of the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya. In 801, he received the envoys of Charlemagne at Qasr al-Qadim (al-‘Abbasiyya near Qayrawan).
He was the son of al-Aghlab, who successfully quelled the revolt of the Kharijites in Ifriqiya at the end of the 8th century. In 800, Ibrahim became Emir of Ifriqiya and founded the Aghlabid dynasty, and was recognised as the hereditary ruler by the Caliph Harun ar-Rashid.
After the pacification of the country, he established a residence at al-Abbasiya to keep his distance from the restless jurists of Kairuan, who were always ready to incite the people into revolt. A guard of 5000 black African slaves was set up to avoid total dependence on Arab troops, the necessity of this measure was proven by the revolts of Arab soldiers in 802, 805 and 810. Ibrahim built up a strong administrative framework for the state which lay the foundations for the prosperity of Ifriqiya in the following century.
He was succeeded by his son Abdallah I (812-817).
Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab see Ibrahim I
Ibrahim I (Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab) (756-812). Founder of the Ifriqiyan dynasty of the Aghlabids and first Emir (r.800-812) of the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya. In 801, he received the envoys of Charlemagne at Qasr al-Qadim (al-‘Abbasiyya near Qayrawan).
He was the son of al-Aghlab, who successfully quelled the revolt of the Kharijites in Ifriqiya at the end of the 8th century. In 800, Ibrahim became Emir of Ifriqiya and founded the Aghlabid dynasty, and was recognised as the hereditary ruler by the Caliph Harun ar-Rashid.
After the pacification of the country, he established a residence at al-Abbasiya to keep his distance from the restless jurists of Kairuan, who were always ready to incite the people into revolt. A guard of 5000 black African slaves was set up to avoid total dependence on Arab troops, the necessity of this measure was proven by the revolts of Arab soldiers in 802, 805 and 810. Ibrahim built up a strong administrative framework for the state which lay the foundations for the prosperity of Ifriqiya in the following century.
He was succeeded by his son Abdallah I (812-817).
Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab see Ibrahim I
Ibrahim II
Ibrahim II (Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibrahim II) (Abu Is`haq Ibrahim II) (850-October 23, 902). After Ibrahim I (Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab), Ibrahim II was the most outstanding personality of the Aghlabid dynasty. He ruled from 875 to 902. He is distinguished for his exceptional qualities but, affected by a mental illness, he ultimately built up a system of complete despotism and thus prepared the way for the triumph of the Fatimids. During his reign the conquest of Sicily was completed in 901. He abdicated in 902, became an ascetic and died in the same year..
Ibrahim II was the ninth Emir of the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya. He ruled from 875 to 902. He succeeded to the Emirate on the death of his brother Muhammad II (864-875). Although he inherited a kingdom depopulated by the plague of 874, his reign was economically prosperous. In 876 he built a new palace, Ar-Raqqada, near Kairuan and sought to develop agriculture by building up the irrigation system.
Nevertheless, the start of the decline of the dynasty can be dated to his reign. Although the conquest of Sicily was completed in 878, the Byzantines drove the Muslims out of Bari and Taranto in Apulia after a naval victory. Also, in 882 an attack by the Tulunids of Egypt had to be fought off and several Berber revolts against the tyrannical rule of Ibrahim had to be put down. From 893 there began the missionary work of the Ismaili under Abu 'Abdullah al-Shi'i amongst the Kutama Berbers in Algeria - this would eventually lead to the downfall of the Aghlabids and the rise of the Fatimids.
As unrest amongst the population against his tyrannical rule deepened, he was forced to abdicate by his son Abu'l-Abbas Abdallah. Ibrahim went to Sicily to carry on the campaign against the Byzantines, and died of dysentery during an invasion of Calabria.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibrahim II see Ibrahim II
Abu Is`haq Ibrahim II see Ibrahim II
Ibrahim II (Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibrahim II) (Abu Is`haq Ibrahim II) (850-October 23, 902). After Ibrahim I (Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab), Ibrahim II was the most outstanding personality of the Aghlabid dynasty. He ruled from 875 to 902. He is distinguished for his exceptional qualities but, affected by a mental illness, he ultimately built up a system of complete despotism and thus prepared the way for the triumph of the Fatimids. During his reign the conquest of Sicily was completed in 901. He abdicated in 902, became an ascetic and died in the same year..
Ibrahim II was the ninth Emir of the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya. He ruled from 875 to 902. He succeeded to the Emirate on the death of his brother Muhammad II (864-875). Although he inherited a kingdom depopulated by the plague of 874, his reign was economically prosperous. In 876 he built a new palace, Ar-Raqqada, near Kairuan and sought to develop agriculture by building up the irrigation system.
Nevertheless, the start of the decline of the dynasty can be dated to his reign. Although the conquest of Sicily was completed in 878, the Byzantines drove the Muslims out of Bari and Taranto in Apulia after a naval victory. Also, in 882 an attack by the Tulunids of Egypt had to be fought off and several Berber revolts against the tyrannical rule of Ibrahim had to be put down. From 893 there began the missionary work of the Ismaili under Abu 'Abdullah al-Shi'i amongst the Kutama Berbers in Algeria - this would eventually lead to the downfall of the Aghlabids and the rise of the Fatimids.
As unrest amongst the population against his tyrannical rule deepened, he was forced to abdicate by his son Abu'l-Abbas Abdallah. Ibrahim went to Sicily to carry on the campaign against the Byzantines, and died of dysentery during an invasion of Calabria.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibrahim II see Ibrahim II
Abu Is`haq Ibrahim II see Ibrahim II
Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Ibrahim al-Mawsili (Ibrahim al-Mausili) (742-804). One of the greatest musicians and composers of the early ‘Abbasid period. Having learned the Persian style of singing at Rayy, he reached the summit of his career under the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. With his colleagues Ibn Jami‘ and Fulayh ibn Abi‘l-‘Awra‘ he made a selection of 100 songs which form the framework of the Book of Songs of Abu‘l-Faraj al-Isfahani.
Ibrahim al-Mausili was born of Persian parents who settled in Kufa. In his early years, his parents died and he was trained by an uncle. Singing, not study, attracted him, and at the age of twenty-three he fled to Mosul, where he joined a band of wild youths.
After a year he went to Rai (Rei, Rhagae), where he met an ambassador of the caliph Al-Mansur, who enabled him to come to Basra and take singing lessons. His fame as a singer spread, and the caliph Mahdi brought him to the court. There he remained a favorite under Hadi, while Harun al-Rashid kept him always with him until his death, when he ordered his son Al-Ma'mun to say the prayer over his corpse.
Ibrahim, as might be expected, was not a strict Muslim. Two or three times he was imprisoned for excess in wine-drinking, but was always taken into favor again. His powers of song were far beyond anything else known at the time. Two of his pupils, his sons Isiaq and Muariq, attained celebrity after him.
Mawsili, Ibrahim al- see Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Ibrahim al-Mausili see Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Mausili, Ibrahim al- see Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Ibrahim al-Mawsili (Ibrahim al-Mausili) (742-804). One of the greatest musicians and composers of the early ‘Abbasid period. Having learned the Persian style of singing at Rayy, he reached the summit of his career under the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. With his colleagues Ibn Jami‘ and Fulayh ibn Abi‘l-‘Awra‘ he made a selection of 100 songs which form the framework of the Book of Songs of Abu‘l-Faraj al-Isfahani.
Ibrahim al-Mausili was born of Persian parents who settled in Kufa. In his early years, his parents died and he was trained by an uncle. Singing, not study, attracted him, and at the age of twenty-three he fled to Mosul, where he joined a band of wild youths.
After a year he went to Rai (Rei, Rhagae), where he met an ambassador of the caliph Al-Mansur, who enabled him to come to Basra and take singing lessons. His fame as a singer spread, and the caliph Mahdi brought him to the court. There he remained a favorite under Hadi, while Harun al-Rashid kept him always with him until his death, when he ordered his son Al-Ma'mun to say the prayer over his corpse.
Ibrahim, as might be expected, was not a strict Muslim. Two or three times he was imprisoned for excess in wine-drinking, but was always taken into favor again. His powers of song were far beyond anything else known at the time. Two of his pupils, his sons Isiaq and Muariq, attained celebrity after him.
Mawsili, Ibrahim al- see Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Ibrahim al-Mausili see Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Mausili, Ibrahim al- see Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Ibrahima Musa
Ibrahima Musa (Karamoko Alfa) (d. c. 1770). Originator of the Fula Islamic revolution in Futa Jalon. He belonged to a group of Muslim Fula who settled among the non-Muslim Fula and Jalonke (Yalunka) in the 17th century. Clashes between the two groups over land and religion were frequent. In 1727-1728, Ibrahima Musa united the Muslim Fula and declared a jihad. Ibrahima Musa was a religious leader, and did not direct the military campaigns himself. Around 1776, Ibrahima went insane, and was replaced by a cousin, Ibrahima Sori, who successfully concluded the jihad in 1778.
Karamoko Alfa see Ibrahima Musa
Alfa, Karamoko see Ibrahima Musa
Musa, Ibrahima see Ibrahima Musa
Ibrahima Musa (Karamoko Alfa) (d. c. 1770). Originator of the Fula Islamic revolution in Futa Jalon. He belonged to a group of Muslim Fula who settled among the non-Muslim Fula and Jalonke (Yalunka) in the 17th century. Clashes between the two groups over land and religion were frequent. In 1727-1728, Ibrahima Musa united the Muslim Fula and declared a jihad. Ibrahima Musa was a religious leader, and did not direct the military campaigns himself. Around 1776, Ibrahima went insane, and was replaced by a cousin, Ibrahima Sori, who successfully concluded the jihad in 1778.
Karamoko Alfa see Ibrahima Musa
Alfa, Karamoko see Ibrahima Musa
Musa, Ibrahima see Ibrahima Musa
Ibrahim, Anwar
Ibrahim, Anwar (Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim) (b. August 10, 1947). Malaysian Muslim activist, thinker, and politician. Anwar was born at Cerok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang; both his parents were active in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). He received a secular education and also, like most Malay children of the time, studied religion in the afternoon. While at the prestigious Malay College in Kuala Kangsar, Perak (1960-1966), Anwar became noted as an interscholastic debater and a school captain. He was also active in religious functions and read widely on Islam and society.
As a student of Malay studies at the University of Malaya (1967-1970), he presided over the two major student organizations, the Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar-pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM, National Union of Malaysian Students) and Persatuan Bahasa Melayu Universiti Malaya (PBMUM, Malay Language Society of the University of Malaya). Following the communal
riots of 1969, Anwar and Dr. Mahathir Mohamed formed an alliance against Premier Tunku Abdul Rahman and pushed for Malay educational and economic rights. However, anti-poverty demonstrations in Baling, Kedah in 1974 set them politically apart for some time.
The establishment of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) in 1971 made Anwar the most influential young leader of Malaysia. While earnestly calling for the islamization of Malaysian life and an integrated form of development, he also argued for justice, including safeguards for the rights of the non-Muslim population. Through ABIM Anwar had extensive contacts with most Malaysian leaders, Muslim intellectuals, and activists at home and abroad. However, neither UMNO nor its Malay Muslim opponent PAS (Partai Islam Se-Malaysia) was able to enlist Anwar, even though he shared some of the Islamic ideals of the PAS leadership. Meanwhile, Anwar concentrated on his school, Yayasan Anda, and on youth activities. His career was interrupted when he was detained for two years (1974-1976) without trial under the Internal Security Act following the Baling demonstrations. Nonetheless, on his release his popularity increased tremendously at home and abroad, so that the government could not simply ignore his stand on Islam and other issues. Hence joint programs on da‘wah (missionary activity) and related issues were held with the cooperation of various government religious agencies. In 1980, Anwar married Dr. Wan Azizah, a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.
As a thinker, Anwar has consistently stressed justice, an integrated form of development, and excellence in education and economic production. He is influenced by such intellectuals as Syed Naguib al-Attas, Isma‘il al-Faruqi, Yusuf al-Qardhawi, Hasan al-Turabi, Malik Bennabi, and Mohammad Natsir. He also shows familiarity with such varied writers as Ibn Khaldun, al-Ghazali, R. G. Collingwood, Malcolm X, Edward Said, and Francis Fukiyama.
Among his many activities, he served as the leader of Malaysian Youth Council (1972), as a member of United Nations Advisory Group on Youth (1973-1974), as a representative of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) for Southeast Asia (1976-1982), and as a co-founder of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Washington, D. C. He was chancellor of the International Islamic University (IIU) at Kuala Lumpur. His 1982 entry into UMNO on Mahathir’s invitation caused displeasure, especially among those who aspired to the party’s top posts. Nevertheless, with charisma and determination, he rose to lead UMNO’s youth wing and later to serve as one of its three vice presidents. Within the government, he rose rapidly to positions including deputy minister in the prime minister’s department; minister of youth, culture, and sports; agricultural minister; and education minister. In 1993, he was minister of finance. His efforts led to the establishment of such institutions as the Islamic Bank, IIU, the Curriculum for Islamic Civilization, and other Islamically oriented programs.
Anwar served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. Early in his career, he became a protégé of the Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, but subsequently emerged as the most prominent critic of Mahathir's administration.
In 1999, he was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, and in 2000, to another nine years for sodomy. In 2004, the Federal Court reversed the second conviction and he was released. In July 2008, he was arrested over allegations he sodomized a male aide, and faced new sodomy charges in the Malaysian courts.
On August 26, 2008, Anwar won the Permatang Pauh by-election with a majority of 15,671, returning to Parliament as leader of the Malaysian opposition. He has stated the need for liberalization, including an independent judiciary and free media, to combat the endemic corruption that he considers pushed Malaysia close to failed state status.
Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim see Ibrahim, Anwar
The establishment of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) in 1971 made Anwar the most influential young leader of Malaysia. While earnestly calling for the islamization of Malaysian life and an integrated form of development, he also argued for justice, including safeguards for the rights of the non-Muslim population. Through ABIM Anwar had extensive contacts with most Malaysian leaders, Muslim intellectuals, and activists at home and abroad. However, neither UMNO nor its Malay Muslim opponent PAS (Partai Islam Se-Malaysia) was able to enlist Anwar, even though he shared some of the Islamic ideals of the PAS leadership. Meanwhile, Anwar concentrated on his school, Yayasan Anda, and on youth activities. His career was interrupted when he was detained for two years (1974-1976) without trial under the Internal Security Act following the Baling demonstrations. Nonetheless, on his release his popularity increased tremendously at home and abroad, so that the government could not simply ignore his stand on Islam and other issues. Hence joint programs on da‘wah (missionary activity) and related issues were held with the cooperation of various government religious agencies. In 1980, Anwar married Dr. Wan Azizah, a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.
As a thinker, Anwar has consistently stressed justice, an integrated form of development, and excellence in education and economic production. He is influenced by such intellectuals as Syed Naguib al-Attas, Isma‘il al-Faruqi, Yusuf al-Qardhawi, Hasan al-Turabi, Malik Bennabi, and Mohammad Natsir. He also shows familiarity with such varied writers as Ibn Khaldun, al-Ghazali, R. G. Collingwood, Malcolm X, Edward Said, and Francis Fukiyama.
Among his many activities, he served as the leader of Malaysian Youth Council (1972), as a member of United Nations Advisory Group on Youth (1973-1974), as a representative of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) for Southeast Asia (1976-1982), and as a co-founder of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Washington, D. C. He was chancellor of the International Islamic University (IIU) at Kuala Lumpur. His 1982 entry into UMNO on Mahathir’s invitation caused displeasure, especially among those who aspired to the party’s top posts. Nevertheless, with charisma and determination, he rose to lead UMNO’s youth wing and later to serve as one of its three vice presidents. Within the government, he rose rapidly to positions including deputy minister in the prime minister’s department; minister of youth, culture, and sports; agricultural minister; and education minister. In 1993, he was minister of finance. His efforts led to the establishment of such institutions as the Islamic Bank, IIU, the Curriculum for Islamic Civilization, and other Islamically oriented programs.
Anwar served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. Early in his career, he became a protégé of the Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, but subsequently emerged as the most prominent critic of Mahathir's administration.
In 1999, he was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, and in 2000, to another nine years for sodomy. In 2004, the Federal Court reversed the second conviction and he was released. In July 2008, he was arrested over allegations he sodomized a male aide, and faced new sodomy charges in the Malaysian courts.
On August 26, 2008, Anwar won the Permatang Pauh by-election with a majority of 15,671, returning to Parliament as leader of the Malaysian opposition. He has stated the need for liberalization, including an independent judiciary and free media, to combat the endemic corruption that he considers pushed Malaysia close to failed state status.
Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim see Ibrahim, Anwar
Ibrahima Sori
Ibrahima Sori (Ibrahima Yoro Pate) (d. c. 1792). Leader of the Fula Islamic revolution in Futa Jalon. He became leader of the jihad against the Jalonke (Yalunka) and non-Muslim Fula in 1776 after the movement’s founder Ibrahima Musa went insane. His final military victory came in 1778 when he defeated the combined forces of the Jalonke and Konde Birama, a powerful military leader from Sankaran who had previously scored a number of costly victories against the jihadists. Ibrahima established his capital at Timbo, and divided Futa into nine provinces. He was succeeded in 1791/92 by his son, Sadou, who was murdered by five years later by relatives of Ibrahima Musa. In the 19th century, the descendants of Ibrahima Sori and those of Ibrahima Musa devised a plan of alternating rule at two year intervals.
Sori, Ibrahima see Ibrahima Sori
Ibrahima Yoro Pate see Ibrahima Sori
Pate, Ibrahima Yoro see Ibrahima Sori
Ibrahima Sori (Ibrahima Yoro Pate) (d. c. 1792). Leader of the Fula Islamic revolution in Futa Jalon. He became leader of the jihad against the Jalonke (Yalunka) and non-Muslim Fula in 1776 after the movement’s founder Ibrahima Musa went insane. His final military victory came in 1778 when he defeated the combined forces of the Jalonke and Konde Birama, a powerful military leader from Sankaran who had previously scored a number of costly victories against the jihadists. Ibrahima established his capital at Timbo, and divided Futa into nine provinces. He was succeeded in 1791/92 by his son, Sadou, who was murdered by five years later by relatives of Ibrahima Musa. In the 19th century, the descendants of Ibrahima Sori and those of Ibrahima Musa devised a plan of alternating rule at two year intervals.
Sori, Ibrahima see Ibrahima Sori
Ibrahima Yoro Pate see Ibrahima Sori
Pate, Ibrahima Yoro see Ibrahima Sori
Ibrahim Bey al-Kabir
Ibrahim Bey al-Kabir (d. 1816). With Murad Bey, Ibrahim Bey occupied the beylicate of Egypt in a duumvirate between 1768 and 1798.
Kabir, Ibrahim Bey al- see Ibrahim Bey al-Kabir
Ibrahim Bey al-Kabir (d. 1816). With Murad Bey, Ibrahim Bey occupied the beylicate of Egypt in a duumvirate between 1768 and 1798.
Kabir, Ibrahim Bey al- see Ibrahim Bey al-Kabir
Ibrahim Edhem Pasha
Ibrahim Edhem Pasha (1818/1819-1893). Ottoman Grand Vizier. He is held responsible for the disastrous Turco-Russian war of 1877, but he also contributed to the modernization of Turkey.
İbrahim Edhem Pasha was an Ottoman statesman who held the office of Grand Vizier in the beginning of Abdulhamid II's reign between February 5, 1877 and January 11, 1878. He was born of Greek ancestry. As a young boy of 4 years old in 1822 he was orphaned following a revolt during the massacre of the Greek population of Chios. He was sold into slavery, brought to Constantinople and adopted by the (later) grand vizier Koca Mehmed Hüsrev Pasha. Hüsrev Pasha was well-known for his love of children and had adopted up to ten children as such, many of them ascending to important positions in society.
The child, now named İbrahim Edhem, quickly distinguished himself with his intelligence and after having attended schools in Turkey, he was dispatched along with a number of his peers, and under the supervision of his father, then grand vizier, and of the sultan Mahmud II himself, to Paris to pursue his studies under state scholarship. There, he was a classmate and a friend of Louis Pasteur. He became Turkey's first mining engineer in the modern sense, and he started his career in this field.
İbrahim Edhem Pasha was the father of Osman Hamdi Bey, a well-known archaeologist and painter, as well the founder of the İstanbul Archaeology Museum and of the İstanbul Academy of Fine Arts. Another son, Halil Edhem Eldem took up the archaeology museum after Osman Hamdi Bey's death and was a deputy for ten years under the newly founded Turkish Republic. Yet another son, İsmail Galib Bey, is considered as the founder of numismatics as a scientific discipline in Turkey.
Edhem, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Edhem Pasha
Ibrahim Edhem Pasha (1818/1819-1893). Ottoman Grand Vizier. He is held responsible for the disastrous Turco-Russian war of 1877, but he also contributed to the modernization of Turkey.
İbrahim Edhem Pasha was an Ottoman statesman who held the office of Grand Vizier in the beginning of Abdulhamid II's reign between February 5, 1877 and January 11, 1878. He was born of Greek ancestry. As a young boy of 4 years old in 1822 he was orphaned following a revolt during the massacre of the Greek population of Chios. He was sold into slavery, brought to Constantinople and adopted by the (later) grand vizier Koca Mehmed Hüsrev Pasha. Hüsrev Pasha was well-known for his love of children and had adopted up to ten children as such, many of them ascending to important positions in society.
The child, now named İbrahim Edhem, quickly distinguished himself with his intelligence and after having attended schools in Turkey, he was dispatched along with a number of his peers, and under the supervision of his father, then grand vizier, and of the sultan Mahmud II himself, to Paris to pursue his studies under state scholarship. There, he was a classmate and a friend of Louis Pasteur. He became Turkey's first mining engineer in the modern sense, and he started his career in this field.
İbrahim Edhem Pasha was the father of Osman Hamdi Bey, a well-known archaeologist and painter, as well the founder of the İstanbul Archaeology Museum and of the İstanbul Academy of Fine Arts. Another son, Halil Edhem Eldem took up the archaeology museum after Osman Hamdi Bey's death and was a deputy for ten years under the newly founded Turkish Republic. Yet another son, İsmail Galib Bey, is considered as the founder of numismatics as a scientific discipline in Turkey.
Edhem, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Edhem Pasha
Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha
Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha (Ibrahim Hakki Pasha) (1862-1918). Ottoman statesman, diplomat and Grand Vizier. He was a moderate influence in the conflict between the Committee of Union and Progress and the opposition.
Haqqi, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha
Ibrahim Hakki Pasha see Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha
Hakki, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha
Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha (Ibrahim Hakki Pasha) (1862-1918). Ottoman statesman, diplomat and Grand Vizier. He was a moderate influence in the conflict between the Committee of Union and Progress and the opposition.
Haqqi, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha
Ibrahim Hakki Pasha see Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha
Hakki, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Haqqi Pasha
Ibrahimi, al-
Ibrahimi, al-. Algerian reformist scholar and writer. He propagated the separation of the Muslim religion from the state, the independence of the Muslim judicial system, and the official recognition of the Arabic language.
Ibrahimi, al-. Algerian reformist scholar and writer. He propagated the separation of the Muslim religion from the state, the independence of the Muslim judicial system, and the official recognition of the Arabic language.
Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd Allah
Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd Allah (716-763). Rebel against the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur. He was a full brother of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.
Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd Allah (716-763). Rebel against the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur. He was a full brother of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.
Ibrahim ibn Adham
Ibrahim ibn Adham (Abu Ben Adhem) (Abou Ben Adhem) (730-777). Sufi of Balkh in Khurasan. Legends about his life spread to Persia, India and Indonesia.
Ibrahim ibn Adham, also known as Abu Ben Adhem or Abou Ben Adhem, was an Arab Muslim saint and Sufi mystic. His full name was Sultan Ibrahim ibn Adham, Bin Mansur al-Balkhi al-Ijli, Abu Ishaq.
Mewlana Rumi has extensively described the legend of Sultan Ibrahim ibn Adham in his famous Masnavi. Ibrahim ibn Adham was born in Balkh on the east of Khurasan. His family was from Kufa, the Capital of the Caliphate of Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and a major Shi'a center to this day. While some writers traced his lineage back to Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Caliph, the family tree of his most prominent Sufi descendant according to a more reliable source, Nasab o-Nisbat Farid traces the lineage of Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin Adham bin Mansur back to 'Abdullah, the brother of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, and son of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, the grandson of Imam Abu Abd Allah Husayn ibn Ali. From a historical point of view, it is understandable that the descendents of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib would conceal their identity, as they were regarded as rebels and heretics by the Ummayyad rulers and later even the Abbasid rulers, who not only murdered each of the Twelve Imams, except for the Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi the son of Imam Hasan al-Askari, but also murdered countless Sayyids for the sake of their throne and securing the Caliphate (succession) of Prophet Muhammad to themselves. As such, in his book 'Mashaikh e-Chisht', while writing about Sultan Ibrahim ibn Adham ibn Mansur al-Balkhi; the famous Indian Hadith scholar Shaykh al-Hadith Muhammad Zakariya al-Kandahlawi wrote,
"His ancestry through the medium of five predecessors, links up with Hadhrat Umar (radhiyallahu anhu). Some people claim that he was a Sayyid of the line of Hadhrat Husain (radhiyallahu anhu). He was born in the city of Balkh. His nickname was Abu Ishaq. Khwajah Fudhail Bin Iyadh (radhiyallahu anhu) had conferred the mantle of Khilaafate to him. Besides being the Khalifah of Hadhrat Fudhail, he was also the Khalifah of Khwajah Imran Ibn Musa, Khwajah Imam Baqir, Khwajah Shaikh Mansur Salmi and Khwajah Uwais Qarni (rahmatullah alayhim)".
Ibrahim was the King of Balkh but abandoned the throne to become a "zahid" (ascetic worshiper). According to Arabic and Persian sources like al-Bukhari and others, Ibrahim ibn Adham received a warning from God, through al-Khidr who appeared to him twice, and as such, Ibrahim abdicated his throne to take up the ascetic life in Syria. Again, since Ibrahim abandoned the throne, it is understandable that he would be forced to conceal his true identity, and accordingly his true genealogy. It is also clear then, that since Ibrahim ibn Adham migrated to Syria, the capital of the Ummayyads, which was under turmoil, as the Abbasids were
planning their successful revolt, which resulted in the Battle of the Zab which spelled the end of the Ummayyad rule, that Ibrahim ibn Adham would conceal his lineage for his own safety. Ibrahim bin Adham died in 777 and is believed to be buried in Syrian town of Jabala.[1] His mentor was Fudhail Bin Iyadh, whose mentor was Abdul Waahid Bin Zaid. His successor was Huzaifah Al-Mar’ashi.
His legend enlarged gradually from al-Bukhari to Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani and after its full formation around the eleventh century, expanded to central Asia under the Mongols, Anatolia under Ottoman rule, North India in the age of the Tughluqids, and Malaysia during the seventeenth century as revealed in the works by R. Jones.
James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) made him famous in the Western world with the poem Abou Ben Adhem, which was published for a general audience in 1838. Hunt had written it out, and perhaps had composed it expressly, for Mrs Samuel Carter Hall's drawing-room album; it was first published by her husband in a gift book, The Amulet, in 1834.[2] Leigh Hunt had read in Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville's Bibliothèque Orientale (1781) of the Islamic belief that on the night of Shab-i-Barat, "The Night of Records’ in the month of "Sha'ban" Allah takes the golden book of mankind and crosses off the names of those whom he is calling to him in the coming year, those whom he loves." The poem is by far the most famous that Hunt wrote.
As an interesting side note, he was quoted during the opening of the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1901 as follows: "Abou Ben Adhem awakened from a dream, found an angel, writing in a book of gold the name of those whom love of God has blessed. "And is mine there?" he asked. But the angel answered, "Nay." "I pray thee, then," he said, "write me as one who loves his fellow men." The angel wrote and vanished. The next night it came again, with a great awakening light, and showed the names whom love of God had blessed. And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest." "[3]
[edit] See also
Abu Ben Adhem see Ibrahim ibn Adham
Abou Ben Adhem see Ibrahim ibn Adham
His legend enlarged gradually from al-Bukhari to Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani and after its full formation around the eleventh century, expanded to central Asia under the Mongols, Anatolia under Ottoman rule, North India in the age of the Tughluqids, and Malaysia during the seventeenth century as revealed in the works by R. Jones.
James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) made him famous in the Western world with the poem Abou Ben Adhem, which was published for a general audience in 1838. Hunt had written it out, and perhaps had composed it expressly, for Mrs Samuel Carter Hall's drawing-room album; it was first published by her husband in a gift book, The Amulet, in 1834.[2] Leigh Hunt had read in Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville's Bibliothèque Orientale (1781) of the Islamic belief that on the night of Shab-i-Barat, "The Night of Records’ in the month of "Sha'ban" Allah takes the golden book of mankind and crosses off the names of those whom he is calling to him in the coming year, those whom he loves." The poem is by far the most famous that Hunt wrote.
As an interesting side note, he was quoted during the opening of the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1901 as follows: "Abou Ben Adhem awakened from a dream, found an angel, writing in a book of gold the name of those whom love of God has blessed. "And is mine there?" he asked. But the angel answered, "Nay." "I pray thee, then," he said, "write me as one who loves his fellow men." The angel wrote and vanished. The next night it came again, with a great awakening light, and showed the names whom love of God had blessed. And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest." "[3]
[edit] See also
Abu Ben Adhem see Ibrahim ibn Adham
Abou Ben Adhem see Ibrahim ibn Adham
Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali ibn Hasan al-Saqqa‘
Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali ibn Hasan al-Saqqa‘ (1797-1881). Teacher and preacher from Cairo. He gave an oration at the ceremony of the opening of the Suez Canal.
Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali ibn Hasan al-Saqqa‘ (1797-1881). Teacher and preacher from Cairo. He gave an oration at the ceremony of the opening of the Suez Canal.
Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi
Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (779-839). ‘Abbasid prince. He was a son of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi and was proclaimed caliph in 817 against the reigning al-Ma‘mun, but had to resign in 819. Afterwards he led the life of a poet-musician.
Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (779-839). ‘Abbasid prince. He was a son of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi and was proclaimed caliph in 817 against the reigning al-Ma‘mun, but had to resign in 819. Afterwards he led the life of a poet-musician.
Ibrahim ibn al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik
Ibrahim ibn al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. Umayyad Caliph in 744. After the death of his brother Caliph Yazid II, who reigned for a couple of months in 744, Ibrahim was recognized as a caliph in the southern part of Syria but he soon submitted to the new Caliph Marwan II and became a member of the latter’s coterie of advisers.
Ibrahim ibn Al-Walid (Arabic: ابراهيم ابن الوليد بن عبد الملك) was an Umayyad caliph. He only ruled for a short time in 744 before he abdicated, and went into hiding out of fear of his political opponents. The shortness of this time and his incomplete acceptance led Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari to state that he did not succeed in becoming caliph (v. 26, p. 247). However, at Tabari (p. 13) does record that Ibrahim as caliph did confirm the appointment of Abdallah ibn Umar as governor of Iraq. (v. 27, p. 13)
Ibrahim was named heir apparent by his brother Yazid III. Marwan II decided to oppose Yazid III, and even though he later gave allegiance to Yazid, on the early death of that caliph, Marwan continued his own ambitions. Ibrahim requested and was granted Marwan's assurance of personal safety. He travelled with Marwan to former Caliph Hisham's residence at Rusafah in Syria.
[edit] Bibliography
Ibrahim ibn al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. Umayyad Caliph in 744. After the death of his brother Caliph Yazid II, who reigned for a couple of months in 744, Ibrahim was recognized as a caliph in the southern part of Syria but he soon submitted to the new Caliph Marwan II and became a member of the latter’s coterie of advisers.
Ibrahim ibn Al-Walid (Arabic: ابراهيم ابن الوليد بن عبد الملك) was an Umayyad caliph. He only ruled for a short time in 744 before he abdicated, and went into hiding out of fear of his political opponents. The shortness of this time and his incomplete acceptance led Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari to state that he did not succeed in becoming caliph (v. 26, p. 247). However, at Tabari (p. 13) does record that Ibrahim as caliph did confirm the appointment of Abdallah ibn Umar as governor of Iraq. (v. 27, p. 13)
Ibrahim was named heir apparent by his brother Yazid III. Marwan II decided to oppose Yazid III, and even though he later gave allegiance to Yazid, on the early death of that caliph, Marwan continued his own ambitions. Ibrahim requested and was granted Marwan's assurance of personal safety. He travelled with Marwan to former Caliph Hisham's residence at Rusafah in Syria.
[edit] Bibliography
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad (Ibrahim al-Imam) (701-749). Leader of the ‘Abbasid propaganda against the Umayyads.
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad (Arabic script إبرهيم بن محمد) was the male child of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and Maria al-Qibtiyya. He was born in the last month of the year 8 AH. The child was named after Abraham, the common ancestor of both Muslims and Jews. The child was placed in the care of a wet nurse called Umm Sayf, wife of Abu Sayf, the blacksmith, in the tradition of the Arabs of the time, to whom Muhammad gave some goats to complement her milk supply.
Ibrahim fell seriously ill sometime after the Battle of Tabuk at which time he was reported as being either sixteen or eighteen months old. He was moved to a date orchard near the residence of his mother, under her care and her sister Sirin. When it was clear that he would not likely survive Muhammad was informed.
His reaction to the news is reported as:
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad (Ibrahim al-Imam) (701-749). Leader of the ‘Abbasid propaganda against the Umayyads.
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad (Arabic script إبرهيم بن محمد) was the male child of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and Maria al-Qibtiyya. He was born in the last month of the year 8 AH. The child was named after Abraham, the common ancestor of both Muslims and Jews. The child was placed in the care of a wet nurse called Umm Sayf, wife of Abu Sayf, the blacksmith, in the tradition of the Arabs of the time, to whom Muhammad gave some goats to complement her milk supply.
Ibrahim fell seriously ill sometime after the Battle of Tabuk at which time he was reported as being either sixteen or eighteen months old. He was moved to a date orchard near the residence of his mother, under her care and her sister Sirin. When it was clear that he would not likely survive Muhammad was informed.
His reaction to the news is reported as:
“He was so shocked at the news that he felt his knees could no more carry him, and asked `Abd al Rahman ibn `Awf to give him his hand to lean upon. He proceeded immediately to the orchard and arrived in time to bid farewell to an infant dying in his mother's lap. Muhammad took the child and laid him in his own lap with shaking hand. His heart was torn apart by the new tragedy, and his face mirrored his inner pain. Choking with sorrow, he said to his son, "O Ibrahim, against the judgement of God, we cannot avail you a thing," and then fell silent. Tears flowed from his eyes. The child lapsed gradually, and his mother and aunt watched and cried loudly and incessantly, but the Prophet never ordered them to stop. As Ibrahim surrendered to death, Muhammad's hope which had consoled him for a brief while completely crumbled. With tears in his eyes he talked once more to the dead child: "O Ibrahim, were the truth not certain that the last of us will join the first, we would have mourned you even more than we do now." A moment later he said: "The eyes send their tears and the heart is saddened, but we do not say anything except that which pleases our Lord. Indeed, O Ibrahim, we are bereaved by your departure from us.”
Muhammad is also reported as having informed Mariyah and Sirin that Ibrahim would have his own nurse in Paradise. Different accounts relate that the ghusl for Ibrahim was performed by either Umm Burdah, or al-Fadl ibn `Abbas, in preparation for burial. Thereafter, he was carried to the cemetery upon a little bed among others by the Prophet, his uncle al-`Abbas. Here, after a funeral prayer led by the Prophet, he was interred. Muhammad then filled the grave with sand, sprinkled some water upon it, and placed a landmark on it, whereupon he is reported as saying that "Tombstones do neither good nor ill, but they help appease the living. Anything that man does, God wishes him to do well."
Abbas, the uncle of Muhammad has reported the following narration which is recorded by Ibn Maja.
The occasion of the death of Ibrahim also coincided with an eclipse of the sun (probably the annular eclipse which occurred in the early morning of 27 January 632, equivalent with the last or the penultimate day of Shawwal, 10 AH), a phenomenon the Muslims began to circulate by rumor as a miracle. The word went out saying that the sun was eclipsed in sadness over the death of Ibrahim. Upon hearing this Muhammad is reported as saying "The sun and the moon are signs of God. They are eclipsed neither for the death nor birth of any man. On beholding an eclipse, therefore, remember God and turn to Him in prayer."
Ibrahim al-Imam see Ibrahim ibn Muhammad
Imam, Ibrahim al- see Ibrahim ibn Muhammad
Ibrahim ibn Shirkuh
Ibrahim ibn Shirkuh. Ayyubid prince of Aleppo and Damascus and cousin of Saladin (r.1240-1246). He several times defeated the Khwarazmians.
Ibrahim ibn Shirkuh. Ayyubid prince of Aleppo and Damascus and cousin of Saladin (r.1240-1246). He several times defeated the Khwarazmians.
Ibrahim Lodi
Ibrahim Lodi (d. April 21, 1526). Last of the Lodi Sultans of Delhi. He indulged in acts of capricious tyranny. The Punjab rose in rebellion under Dawlat Khan Lodi, who invited the Chagatay Turk Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, to attack India. The battle of Panipat of 1526, in which Ibrahim was killed, marked the beginning of Mughal rule in India.
Ibrahim Lodi was the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. He was an Afghan (specifically of the Ghilzai tribe of Pashtuns) who ruled over much of India from 1517-1526, when he was defeated by the Mughals, who established a new dynasty that would last some three centuries.
Lodi attained the throne upon the death of his father, Sikandar Lodi, but was not blessed with the same ruling capability. He faced a number of rebellions. The Mewar ruler Rana Sanga extended his empire right up to western Uttar Pradesh and threatened to attack Agra. There was rebellion in the East also. Lodi also displeased the nobility when he replaced old and senior commanders with younger ones who were loyal to him. He was feared and loathed by his subjects. His Afghan nobility eventually invited Babur of Kabul to invade India.
Ibrahim died in the Battle of Panipat, where Babur's superior fighters and the desertion of many of Lodi's soldiers led to his downfall, despite superior troop numbers.
Lodi, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Lodi
Ibrahim Lodi (d. April 21, 1526). Last of the Lodi Sultans of Delhi. He indulged in acts of capricious tyranny. The Punjab rose in rebellion under Dawlat Khan Lodi, who invited the Chagatay Turk Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, to attack India. The battle of Panipat of 1526, in which Ibrahim was killed, marked the beginning of Mughal rule in India.
Ibrahim Lodi was the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. He was an Afghan (specifically of the Ghilzai tribe of Pashtuns) who ruled over much of India from 1517-1526, when he was defeated by the Mughals, who established a new dynasty that would last some three centuries.
Lodi attained the throne upon the death of his father, Sikandar Lodi, but was not blessed with the same ruling capability. He faced a number of rebellions. The Mewar ruler Rana Sanga extended his empire right up to western Uttar Pradesh and threatened to attack Agra. There was rebellion in the East also. Lodi also displeased the nobility when he replaced old and senior commanders with younger ones who were loyal to him. He was feared and loathed by his subjects. His Afghan nobility eventually invited Babur of Kabul to invade India.
Ibrahim died in the Battle of Panipat, where Babur's superior fighters and the desertion of many of Lodi's soldiers led to his downfall, despite superior troop numbers.
Lodi, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Lodi
Ibrahim Muteferriqa
Ibrahim Muteferriqa (1670/1674-1745). Ottoman statesman, diplomat, and founder of the first Turkish printing press. He wrote a passionate condemnation of Catholicism and of the temporal power of the Papacy. The work seems to have been written to prove the link between the author’s early Unitarianism and his passage to Islam. His printing press began operation in 1727 to promote Islamic learning.
Ibrahim Müteferrika was a Transylvanian-born Ottoman polymath: a publisher, printer, courtier, diplomat, man of letters, astronomer, historian, historiographer, Islamic scholar and theologian, sociologist, and the first Muslim to run a printing press with movable Arabic type. His volumes, printed in Istanbul and using custom-made fonts, are occasionally referred to as "Turkish incunabula". Muteferrika, whose last name is derived from his employment as a müteferrika, head of the household, under Sultan Ahmed III and during the Tulip Era, was also a geographer, astronomer, and philosopher.
Born in Kolozsvár (present-day Cluj-Napoca, Romania), he was an ethnic Hungarian Unitarian who converted to Islam. His original Hungarian language name is unknown.
Following a 1726 report on the efficiency of the new system, which he drafted and presented simultaneously to Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, the Grand Mufti, and the clergy, and a later request submitted to Sultan Ahmed, he received permission to publish non-religious books (despite opposition from some calligraphers and religious leaders). Muteferrika's press published its first book in 1729, and, by 1743, issued 17 works in 23 volumes (each having between 500 and 1,000 copies).
Among the works published by Müteferrika were historical and generically scientific works, as well as Katip Çelebi's world atlas Cihannüma (loosely translated as The Mirror of the World or the World Seer). In the appendices that he added to his printing, Müteferrika discussed the Copernican view of astronomy in detail, with references to relatively up-to-date scientific arguments for and against it. In this regard, he is considered one of the first people to properly introduce heliocentrism to Ottoman readers.
A statue of Müteferrika can be found just outside the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.
Muteferriqa, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Muteferriqa
Ibrahim Muteferriqa (1670/1674-1745). Ottoman statesman, diplomat, and founder of the first Turkish printing press. He wrote a passionate condemnation of Catholicism and of the temporal power of the Papacy. The work seems to have been written to prove the link between the author’s early Unitarianism and his passage to Islam. His printing press began operation in 1727 to promote Islamic learning.
Ibrahim Müteferrika was a Transylvanian-born Ottoman polymath: a publisher, printer, courtier, diplomat, man of letters, astronomer, historian, historiographer, Islamic scholar and theologian, sociologist, and the first Muslim to run a printing press with movable Arabic type. His volumes, printed in Istanbul and using custom-made fonts, are occasionally referred to as "Turkish incunabula". Muteferrika, whose last name is derived from his employment as a müteferrika, head of the household, under Sultan Ahmed III and during the Tulip Era, was also a geographer, astronomer, and philosopher.
Born in Kolozsvár (present-day Cluj-Napoca, Romania), he was an ethnic Hungarian Unitarian who converted to Islam. His original Hungarian language name is unknown.
Following a 1726 report on the efficiency of the new system, which he drafted and presented simultaneously to Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, the Grand Mufti, and the clergy, and a later request submitted to Sultan Ahmed, he received permission to publish non-religious books (despite opposition from some calligraphers and religious leaders). Muteferrika's press published its first book in 1729, and, by 1743, issued 17 works in 23 volumes (each having between 500 and 1,000 copies).
Among the works published by Müteferrika were historical and generically scientific works, as well as Katip Çelebi's world atlas Cihannüma (loosely translated as The Mirror of the World or the World Seer). In the appendices that he added to his printing, Müteferrika discussed the Copernican view of astronomy in detail, with references to relatively up-to-date scientific arguments for and against it. In this regard, he is considered one of the first people to properly introduce heliocentrism to Ottoman readers.
A statue of Müteferrika can be found just outside the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.
Muteferriqa, Ibrahim see Ibrahim Muteferriqa
Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha (1789, Kavalla, Rumelia [now Kaval, Greece] – November 10, 1848, Cairo, Egypt). Conqueror and governor of Syria (1832-1840). Ibrahim was the son of Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt.
Ibrahim Pasha was a 19th century general of Egypt. He is better known as the son of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. Ibrahim served as Regent for his father from July to November 10, 1848.
A son, or adopted son, of the famous vali Muḥammad ʿAlī, in 1805 Ibrahim joined his father in Egypt, where he was made governor of Cairo. During 1816–18, he successfully commanded an army against the Wahhabite rebels in Arabia. Muḥammad ʿAlī sent him on a mission to the Sudan in 1821–22, and on his return he helped train the new Egyptian army along European lines. When the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II asked for Egyptian assistance to crush the Greek revolt, an expedition commanded by Ibrahim landed in Greece in 1824 and subdued the Morea (Peloponnese), but a combined British, French, and Russian squadron eventually compelled the Egyptian force to withdraw.
It was in Syria that Ibrahim and his French chief of staff, O.J.A. Sève (Suleiman Pasha al-Faransawi), won military fame. In 1831–32, after a disagreement between Muḥammad ʿAlī and the Ottoman sultan, Ibrahim led an Egyptian army through Palestine and defeated an Ottoman army at Homs. He then forced the Bailan Pass and crossed the Taurus, gaining a final victory at Konya on December 21, 1832. By the Convention of Kütahya, signed on May 4, 1833, Syria and Adana were ceded to Egypt, and Ibrahim became governor-general of the two provinces.
Ibrahim’s administration was relatively enlightened. At Damascus, he created a consultative council of notables and suppressed the feudal regime. But his measures were harshly applied and roused sectarian opposition. Sultan Mahmud resented the Egyptian occupation, and in 1839 an Ottoman army invaded Syria. At Nizip on June 24 Ibrahim won his last and greatest victory; the Ottoman fleet deserted to Egypt. Fearing the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the European powers negotiated the Treaty of London in July 1840, by which Muḥammad ʿAlī forfeited Syria and Adana in return for the hereditary rule of Egypt. British naval forces threatened the Egyptians, who evacuated the occupied territories in the winter of 1840–41. By 1848 Muḥammad ʿAlī had become senile, and Ibrahim was appointed viceroy but ruled for only 40 days before his death on November 10, 1848.
Ibrahim Pasha (1789, Kavalla, Rumelia [now Kaval, Greece] – November 10, 1848, Cairo, Egypt). Conqueror and governor of Syria (1832-1840). Ibrahim was the son of Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt.
Ibrahim Pasha was a 19th century general of Egypt. He is better known as the son of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. Ibrahim served as Regent for his father from July to November 10, 1848.
A son, or adopted son, of the famous vali Muḥammad ʿAlī, in 1805 Ibrahim joined his father in Egypt, where he was made governor of Cairo. During 1816–18, he successfully commanded an army against the Wahhabite rebels in Arabia. Muḥammad ʿAlī sent him on a mission to the Sudan in 1821–22, and on his return he helped train the new Egyptian army along European lines. When the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II asked for Egyptian assistance to crush the Greek revolt, an expedition commanded by Ibrahim landed in Greece in 1824 and subdued the Morea (Peloponnese), but a combined British, French, and Russian squadron eventually compelled the Egyptian force to withdraw.
It was in Syria that Ibrahim and his French chief of staff, O.J.A. Sève (Suleiman Pasha al-Faransawi), won military fame. In 1831–32, after a disagreement between Muḥammad ʿAlī and the Ottoman sultan, Ibrahim led an Egyptian army through Palestine and defeated an Ottoman army at Homs. He then forced the Bailan Pass and crossed the Taurus, gaining a final victory at Konya on December 21, 1832. By the Convention of Kütahya, signed on May 4, 1833, Syria and Adana were ceded to Egypt, and Ibrahim became governor-general of the two provinces.
Ibrahim’s administration was relatively enlightened. At Damascus, he created a consultative council of notables and suppressed the feudal regime. But his measures were harshly applied and roused sectarian opposition. Sultan Mahmud resented the Egyptian occupation, and in 1839 an Ottoman army invaded Syria. At Nizip on June 24 Ibrahim won his last and greatest victory; the Ottoman fleet deserted to Egypt. Fearing the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the European powers negotiated the Treaty of London in July 1840, by which Muḥammad ʿAlī forfeited Syria and Adana in return for the hereditary rule of Egypt. British naval forces threatened the Egyptians, who evacuated the occupied territories in the winter of 1840–41. By 1848 Muḥammad ʿAlī had become senile, and Ibrahim was appointed viceroy but ruled for only 40 days before his death on November 10, 1848.
Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha (Pargalı İbrahim Pasha) (Frenk İbrahim Pasha) (Maqbul – “the favorite”; Maqtul – “the executed”) (1493-1536) was the Ottoman Grand Vizier. Having been appointed Grand Vizier and beylerbey of Rumeli by Sultan Sulayman II at the very early age of thirty, he reached the zenith of his power after having occupied Tabriz and Baghdad in 1534. In 1536, he quite unexpectedly was strangled.
Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, also called Frenk İbrahim Pasha, was an Albanian and was the first Grand Vizier appointed by Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520 to 1566). In 1523, he replaced Piri Mehmed Pasha, who had been appointed in 1518 by Süleyman I's father, the preceding sultan Selim I, and remained in office for 13 years. He attained a level of authority and influence rivalled by only a handful of other Grand Viziers of the Empire, but in 1536 he was executed by the Sultan and his property was confiscated by the State.
Albanian by birth, born in the town of Parga, he was sold as a slave at the age of six to the Ottoman palace for future sultans situated in Manisa in Western Anatolia. There he was befriended by Suleiman who was of the same age, and later, upon Suleiman's accession, was awarded various posts, the first being falconer to the Sultan. He was so rapidly promoted that at one point he begged Suleiman to not promote him too rapidly for fear of arousing jealousy. Pleased with this display of modesty, Suleiman purportedly swore that he would never be put to death during his reign. Later, after being appointed Grand Vizier, he continued to receive many gifts from the sultan, and his power in the Ottoman Empire was absolute, just as his master's.
Although he married Süleyman's sister and was as such a bridegroom to the Ottoman dynasty (Damat), this title is not frequently used in association with him, possibly in order not to confuse him with other grand viziers who were namesakes (Damat İbrahim Pasha (a Bosniak) and Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha (Turkish). He is usually referred to as "Pargalı İbrahim Pasha" or "Frenk (the European) İbrahim Pasha" due to his tastes and manners. Yet another name given by his contemporaries was "Makbul Maktul (loved and killed) İbrahim Pasha".
His magnificent palace still standing in İstanbul is called Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. Built according to a design which is unmistakably defensive in concept (he had fearsome rivals), his palace is the only residence built by someone outside the Ottoman dynasty that is deemed worthy enough to be designated as a palace.
On the diplomatic front, İbrahim's work with Western Christendom was a complete success. Portraying himself as "the real power behind the Ottoman Empire", İbrahim used a variety of tactics to negotiate favorable deals with the leaders of the Catholic powers. The Venetian diplomats even referred to him as "İbrahim the Magnificent", a play on Suleiman's usual sobriquet. In 1533, he convinced Charles V to turn Hungary into an Ottoman vassal state. In 1535, he completed a monumental agreement with Francis I that gave France favorable trade rights within the Ottoman empire in exchange for joint action against the Habsburgs. This agreement would set the stage for joint Franco-Ottoman naval maneuvers, including the basing of the entire Ottoman fleet in southern France (in Nice) during the winter of 1543.
A skilled commander of Suleiman's army, he eventually fell from grace after an imprudence committed during a campaign against the Persian Safavid empire, when he awarded himself a title including the word Sultan. This incident launched a series of events which culminated in his execution in 1536, thirteen years after having been promoted as Grand Vizier. It has also been suggested by a number of sources that Ibrahim Pasha had been a victim of Hürrem Sultan's (Roxelana, the sultan's wife) rising influence on the sovereign, especially in view of his past support for the cause of Sehzade Mustafa, Suleiman I's first son and heir to the throne, who was later strangled to death by his father on October 6, 1553, through a series of plots put in motion by Roxelana.
Since Suleiman had sworn not to take Ibrahim's life during his reign, he acquired a fetva, which permitted him to take back the oath by building a mosque in İstanbul. He announced the fetva one week before İbrahim's execution and dined alone with him seven times before the final move, so to give his life-long friend a chance to flee the country or to take the sultan's own life. It was later discovered in İbrahim's letters that he was perfectly aware of the situation but nevertheless decided to stay true to Suleiman.
Suleiman later greatly regretted İbrahim's execution and his character changed dramatically, to the point where he became completely secluded from the daily work of governing. His regrets are reflected in his poems, in which even after twenty years he continually stresses topics of friendship and of love and trust between friends and often hints on character traits similar to Ibrahim's.
Maqbul see Ibrahim Pasha
The Favorite see Ibrahim Pasha
Maqtul see Ibrahim Pasha
The Executed see Ibrahim Pasha
Pargalı İbrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha
Frenk İbrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha (Pargalı İbrahim Pasha) (Frenk İbrahim Pasha) (Maqbul – “the favorite”; Maqtul – “the executed”) (1493-1536) was the Ottoman Grand Vizier. Having been appointed Grand Vizier and beylerbey of Rumeli by Sultan Sulayman II at the very early age of thirty, he reached the zenith of his power after having occupied Tabriz and Baghdad in 1534. In 1536, he quite unexpectedly was strangled.
Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, also called Frenk İbrahim Pasha, was an Albanian and was the first Grand Vizier appointed by Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520 to 1566). In 1523, he replaced Piri Mehmed Pasha, who had been appointed in 1518 by Süleyman I's father, the preceding sultan Selim I, and remained in office for 13 years. He attained a level of authority and influence rivalled by only a handful of other Grand Viziers of the Empire, but in 1536 he was executed by the Sultan and his property was confiscated by the State.
Albanian by birth, born in the town of Parga, he was sold as a slave at the age of six to the Ottoman palace for future sultans situated in Manisa in Western Anatolia. There he was befriended by Suleiman who was of the same age, and later, upon Suleiman's accession, was awarded various posts, the first being falconer to the Sultan. He was so rapidly promoted that at one point he begged Suleiman to not promote him too rapidly for fear of arousing jealousy. Pleased with this display of modesty, Suleiman purportedly swore that he would never be put to death during his reign. Later, after being appointed Grand Vizier, he continued to receive many gifts from the sultan, and his power in the Ottoman Empire was absolute, just as his master's.
Although he married Süleyman's sister and was as such a bridegroom to the Ottoman dynasty (Damat), this title is not frequently used in association with him, possibly in order not to confuse him with other grand viziers who were namesakes (Damat İbrahim Pasha (a Bosniak) and Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha (Turkish). He is usually referred to as "Pargalı İbrahim Pasha" or "Frenk (the European) İbrahim Pasha" due to his tastes and manners. Yet another name given by his contemporaries was "Makbul Maktul (loved and killed) İbrahim Pasha".
His magnificent palace still standing in İstanbul is called Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. Built according to a design which is unmistakably defensive in concept (he had fearsome rivals), his palace is the only residence built by someone outside the Ottoman dynasty that is deemed worthy enough to be designated as a palace.
On the diplomatic front, İbrahim's work with Western Christendom was a complete success. Portraying himself as "the real power behind the Ottoman Empire", İbrahim used a variety of tactics to negotiate favorable deals with the leaders of the Catholic powers. The Venetian diplomats even referred to him as "İbrahim the Magnificent", a play on Suleiman's usual sobriquet. In 1533, he convinced Charles V to turn Hungary into an Ottoman vassal state. In 1535, he completed a monumental agreement with Francis I that gave France favorable trade rights within the Ottoman empire in exchange for joint action against the Habsburgs. This agreement would set the stage for joint Franco-Ottoman naval maneuvers, including the basing of the entire Ottoman fleet in southern France (in Nice) during the winter of 1543.
A skilled commander of Suleiman's army, he eventually fell from grace after an imprudence committed during a campaign against the Persian Safavid empire, when he awarded himself a title including the word Sultan. This incident launched a series of events which culminated in his execution in 1536, thirteen years after having been promoted as Grand Vizier. It has also been suggested by a number of sources that Ibrahim Pasha had been a victim of Hürrem Sultan's (Roxelana, the sultan's wife) rising influence on the sovereign, especially in view of his past support for the cause of Sehzade Mustafa, Suleiman I's first son and heir to the throne, who was later strangled to death by his father on October 6, 1553, through a series of plots put in motion by Roxelana.
Since Suleiman had sworn not to take Ibrahim's life during his reign, he acquired a fetva, which permitted him to take back the oath by building a mosque in İstanbul. He announced the fetva one week before İbrahim's execution and dined alone with him seven times before the final move, so to give his life-long friend a chance to flee the country or to take the sultan's own life. It was later discovered in İbrahim's letters that he was perfectly aware of the situation but nevertheless decided to stay true to Suleiman.
Suleiman later greatly regretted İbrahim's execution and his character changed dramatically, to the point where he became completely secluded from the daily work of governing. His regrets are reflected in his poems, in which even after twenty years he continually stresses topics of friendship and of love and trust between friends and often hints on character traits similar to Ibrahim's.
Maqbul see Ibrahim Pasha
The Favorite see Ibrahim Pasha
Maqtul see Ibrahim Pasha
The Executed see Ibrahim Pasha
Pargalı İbrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha
Frenk İbrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
Ibrahim Pasha, Damad (Damad Ibrahim) (Damat Ibrahim Pasha) (1550-1601). Ottoman vizier under Ahmed II. Of Bosnian origin, he took command of the Ottoman armies engaged in the Hungarian war.
Damat İbrahim Pasha was an Ottoman statesman who held the office of Grand Vizier three times (the first time from April 4 to October 27, 1596; the second time from December 5, 1596 to November 3, 1597; and for the third and last time, from January 6, 1599 to July 10, 1601. He is known as the conqueror of Kanije.
Ibrahim is also called with the title "Damat", because he was a bridegroom to the ruling Ottoman monarch. He is not to be confused with either Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, illustrious grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent with Greek origins, also a "Damat", or with Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, who held office in early 18th century during the Tulip Era in the Ottoman Empire.
Damat İbrahim Pasha was of Serbian extraction. He rose in the ranks during the period when virtual authority and influence was held by Mehmed-paša Sokolović. In 1581, shortly after Mehmet Pasha's death, İbrahim Pasha married Ayşe Sultan, daughter of the reigning Murad III and became the Governor of Egypt. But due to his absence from the capital and with Sokollu Mehmet Pasha dead, his influence waned for the rest of the reign of Murad III.
He made a comeback under the reign of Mehmed III, becoming grand vizier in 1596 for the first time. His recall was particularly due to the loss of territories in the border regions between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy in Hungary. Rather than dashing toward immediate action, he distinguished himself as an orderly, methodical and prudent statesman who preferred to start by conducting a review of the entire Ottoman administrative system based on the focal point of the prepared campaign against Austria. The campaign as such proved a success and İbrahim Pasha acquired the title of "the conqueror of Eger" (north-east of Budapest) for his sultan, although he was the one who held the effective command. Since he favored solidifying the state structure and the gains acquired rather than pursuing Austrians, for which he had been dismissed from the post of grand vizier, at first for a short interval of forty-five days at the end of 1596, and then for a second time at the end of the following year.
Damat Ibrahim Pasha was called back to the post in 1599 on the condition that he was to launch a campaign against Austria. He started his campaign by feigning to menace Vienna directly by heading toward Esztergom (conquered by Süleyman the Magnificent in 1543 and lost back in 1595) but finally spent the winter in Belgrade. Then he began to put pressure on Austria through a more southern route by besieging the castle of Kanije. The Turkish slaves in the castle exploded the powder magazines and very badly damaged the walls. But the castle still did not surrender and an army of 20,000 soldiers commanded by Philippe Emanuel arrived to the assistance of the besieged. However, the Ottoman Army finally defeated both of the armies and the castle surrendered. Tiryaki Hasan Pasha was appointed as the governor of the newly conquered city.
Kanije was transformed into the center of new Ottoman attacks in Central Europe. In September 1601, an attempt by a huge Austrian army to take back the castle was thwarted by the governor Tiryaki Hasan Pasha. Damat İbrahim Pasha died the same year. Esztergom was retaken by the Ottoman Empire in 1605.
Damad Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
Damad Ibrahim see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
Damat Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
"The Conqueror of Eger" see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
Ibrahim Pasha, Damad (Damad Ibrahim) (Damat Ibrahim Pasha) (1550-1601). Ottoman vizier under Ahmed II. Of Bosnian origin, he took command of the Ottoman armies engaged in the Hungarian war.
Damat İbrahim Pasha was an Ottoman statesman who held the office of Grand Vizier three times (the first time from April 4 to October 27, 1596; the second time from December 5, 1596 to November 3, 1597; and for the third and last time, from January 6, 1599 to July 10, 1601. He is known as the conqueror of Kanije.
Ibrahim is also called with the title "Damat", because he was a bridegroom to the ruling Ottoman monarch. He is not to be confused with either Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, illustrious grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent with Greek origins, also a "Damat", or with Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, who held office in early 18th century during the Tulip Era in the Ottoman Empire.
Damat İbrahim Pasha was of Serbian extraction. He rose in the ranks during the period when virtual authority and influence was held by Mehmed-paša Sokolović. In 1581, shortly after Mehmet Pasha's death, İbrahim Pasha married Ayşe Sultan, daughter of the reigning Murad III and became the Governor of Egypt. But due to his absence from the capital and with Sokollu Mehmet Pasha dead, his influence waned for the rest of the reign of Murad III.
He made a comeback under the reign of Mehmed III, becoming grand vizier in 1596 for the first time. His recall was particularly due to the loss of territories in the border regions between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy in Hungary. Rather than dashing toward immediate action, he distinguished himself as an orderly, methodical and prudent statesman who preferred to start by conducting a review of the entire Ottoman administrative system based on the focal point of the prepared campaign against Austria. The campaign as such proved a success and İbrahim Pasha acquired the title of "the conqueror of Eger" (north-east of Budapest) for his sultan, although he was the one who held the effective command. Since he favored solidifying the state structure and the gains acquired rather than pursuing Austrians, for which he had been dismissed from the post of grand vizier, at first for a short interval of forty-five days at the end of 1596, and then for a second time at the end of the following year.
Damat Ibrahim Pasha was called back to the post in 1599 on the condition that he was to launch a campaign against Austria. He started his campaign by feigning to menace Vienna directly by heading toward Esztergom (conquered by Süleyman the Magnificent in 1543 and lost back in 1595) but finally spent the winter in Belgrade. Then he began to put pressure on Austria through a more southern route by besieging the castle of Kanije. The Turkish slaves in the castle exploded the powder magazines and very badly damaged the walls. But the castle still did not surrender and an army of 20,000 soldiers commanded by Philippe Emanuel arrived to the assistance of the besieged. However, the Ottoman Army finally defeated both of the armies and the castle surrendered. Tiryaki Hasan Pasha was appointed as the governor of the newly conquered city.
Kanije was transformed into the center of new Ottoman attacks in Central Europe. In September 1601, an attempt by a huge Austrian army to take back the castle was thwarted by the governor Tiryaki Hasan Pasha. Damat İbrahim Pasha died the same year. Esztergom was retaken by the Ottoman Empire in 1605.
Damad Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
Damad Ibrahim see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
Damat Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
"The Conqueror of Eger" see Ibrahim Pasha, Damad
Ibrahim Pasha, Nevshehirli
Ibrahim Pasha, Nevshehirli (Nevshehirli Ibrahim Pasha) (Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha) (d. October 16, 1730) Ottoman Grand Vizier. His vizierate began in 1718 and is known as “The Tulip Period.”
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha was married to the daughter of the sultan, Princess Hatice, who was reported to have a certain degree on influence on both him and her father; some sources even called her the real ruler of the Tulip Era.
The abilities of Sultan Ahmed’s Grand Vizier Ibrahim, who directed the government from 1718 to 1730, preserved an unusual internal peace in the empire, though the frontier provinces were often the scenes of disorder and revolt. This was repeatedly the case in Egypt and Arabia, and still more frequently in the districts northward and eastward of the Black Sea, especially among the fierce Noghai tribes of the Kuban. The state of the countries between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea was rendered still more unsettled by the rival claims of Russia and the Porte; it was difficult to define a boundary between the two empires in pursuance of the partition treaty of 1723.
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha was executed in 1730 during the Patrona Halil rebellion.
The epithet "Nevşehirli" (meaning "from Nevşehir") is used to distinguish this Grand Vizier from another, Damat İbrahim Pasha (died 1601).
Nevshehirli Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Nevshehirli
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Nevshehirli
Ibrahim Pasha, Nevshehirli (Nevshehirli Ibrahim Pasha) (Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha) (d. October 16, 1730) Ottoman Grand Vizier. His vizierate began in 1718 and is known as “The Tulip Period.”
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha was married to the daughter of the sultan, Princess Hatice, who was reported to have a certain degree on influence on both him and her father; some sources even called her the real ruler of the Tulip Era.
The abilities of Sultan Ahmed’s Grand Vizier Ibrahim, who directed the government from 1718 to 1730, preserved an unusual internal peace in the empire, though the frontier provinces were often the scenes of disorder and revolt. This was repeatedly the case in Egypt and Arabia, and still more frequently in the districts northward and eastward of the Black Sea, especially among the fierce Noghai tribes of the Kuban. The state of the countries between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea was rendered still more unsettled by the rival claims of Russia and the Porte; it was difficult to define a boundary between the two empires in pursuance of the partition treaty of 1723.
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha was executed in 1730 during the Patrona Halil rebellion.
The epithet "Nevşehirli" (meaning "from Nevşehir") is used to distinguish this Grand Vizier from another, Damat İbrahim Pasha (died 1601).
Nevshehirli Ibrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Nevshehirli
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha see Ibrahim Pasha, Nevshehirli
Samira Ibrahim (Arabic: سميرة إبراهيم) (born c. 1987) is an Egyptian activist who came to prominence during the Egyptian revolution .
On March 9, 2011, she participated in a sit-in at Tahrir Square in Cairo. The military violently dispersed protest participants, and Samira and other women were beaten, given electric shocks, strip searched, and videotaped by the soldiers. They were also subjected to virginity tests. The tests were allegedly carried out to protect the soldiers from claims of rape.
After succeeding in placing the case in front of a civilian court, a court order was issued in December 2011 to stop the practice of “virginity tests”. However in March 2012, a military court exonerated Dr. Adel El Mogy from charges laid in connection with the virginity testing of Ibrahim.
Ibrahim vowed to take her case to the international courts.
In early March 2013, Ibrahim came under criticism after Samuel Tadros, writing in The Weekly Standard, accused her of posting anti-Semitic and anti-American statements on her Twitter account. These statements included quoting Adolf Hitler, writing: "I have discovered with the passage of days, that no act contrary to morality, no crime against society, takes place, except with the Jews having a hand in it. Hitler.” In reaction to a suicide bombing of a bus of Israelis in Bulgaria, she wrote "Today is a very sweet day with a lot of very sweet news.” In 2012, on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, she tweeted "Today is the anniversary of 9/11. May every year come with America burning".
The United States State Department subsequently announced that it would not be giving the International Women of Courage Award to Samira Ibrahim in light of these comments.
Initially, Ibrahim claimed that her Twitter account had been "previously stolen" and that "any tweet on racism and hatred is not me”. However, she later stated "I refuse to apologize to the Zionist lobby in America regarding my previous anti-Zionist statements under pressure from American government therefore they withdrew the award." The United States State Department later stated that Ibrahim had since left the United States to return to Egypt.
On March 8, 2013, a spokeswoman for the United States State Department stated that "Upon further review, the department has decided not to present her with the award" as American officials "didn't consider some of the public statements that she had made appropriate. They didn't comport with our values" while adding that "There were obviously some problems in our review process, and we're going to do some forensics on how that happened."
Ibrahim Shah Sharqi
Ibrahim Shah Sharqi. Ruler of the dynasty of the Sharqi Sultans of Jawnpur (r.1402-1440). He was a patron of art and letters and graced his capital with many fine buildings.
Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi was the Sultan of the Sharqi dynasty in South Asia.
Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, the most noted ruler of this dynasty was a patron of Islamic learning and established a number of colleges for this purpose. A large number of scholarly works on Islamic theology and law was produced during his reign. He constructed a number of monuments in a new regional style of architecture known as the Sharqi. During his reign, Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah II Tughluq took refuge in Jaunpur in order to get rid of the control of Mallu Iqbal Khan over him. However, Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi did not treat Sultan Mahmud Shah well. As a result, his relations with the Sultan became bitter and Mahmud Shah occupied Kanauj. In 1407, Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi tried to recover Kanauj but failed. Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi attempts to conquer Bengal also failed. Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi was succeeded by his son Sultan Saifuddin Mahmud Shah Sharqi after his death.
The Jaunpur sultanate was ruled by the Sharqi dynasty. The Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar, the first ruler of the dynasty was a Wazir (minister) under Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah III Tughluq (1390 – 1394 CE). In 1394 CE, he established himself as an independent ruler of Jaunpur and extended his authority over Awadh and a large part of Ganga-Yamuna doab. The dynasty founded by him was named so because of his title Malik-us-Sharq (the ruler of the east). The most acclaimed ruler of this dynasty was Ibrahim Shah. The last ruler Hussain Shah was overthrown by Bahlul Lodi, and Jaunpur sultanate was permanently annexed to Delhi sultanate by Sikandar Lodi.
Sharqi, Ibrahim Shah see Ibrahim Shah Sharqi.
Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi see Ibrahim Shah Sharqi.
Sharqi, Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah see Ibrahim Shah Sharqi.
Ibrahim Shah Sharqi. Ruler of the dynasty of the Sharqi Sultans of Jawnpur (r.1402-1440). He was a patron of art and letters and graced his capital with many fine buildings.
Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi was the Sultan of the Sharqi dynasty in South Asia.
Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, the most noted ruler of this dynasty was a patron of Islamic learning and established a number of colleges for this purpose. A large number of scholarly works on Islamic theology and law was produced during his reign. He constructed a number of monuments in a new regional style of architecture known as the Sharqi. During his reign, Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah II Tughluq took refuge in Jaunpur in order to get rid of the control of Mallu Iqbal Khan over him. However, Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi did not treat Sultan Mahmud Shah well. As a result, his relations with the Sultan became bitter and Mahmud Shah occupied Kanauj. In 1407, Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi tried to recover Kanauj but failed. Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi attempts to conquer Bengal also failed. Sultan Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi was succeeded by his son Sultan Saifuddin Mahmud Shah Sharqi after his death.
The Jaunpur sultanate was ruled by the Sharqi dynasty. The Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar, the first ruler of the dynasty was a Wazir (minister) under Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah III Tughluq (1390 – 1394 CE). In 1394 CE, he established himself as an independent ruler of Jaunpur and extended his authority over Awadh and a large part of Ganga-Yamuna doab. The dynasty founded by him was named so because of his title Malik-us-Sharq (the ruler of the east). The most acclaimed ruler of this dynasty was Ibrahim Shah. The last ruler Hussain Shah was overthrown by Bahlul Lodi, and Jaunpur sultanate was permanently annexed to Delhi sultanate by Sikandar Lodi.
Sharqi, Ibrahim Shah see Ibrahim Shah Sharqi.
Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah Sharqi see Ibrahim Shah Sharqi.
Sharqi, Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah see Ibrahim Shah Sharqi.
Ibshihi, al-
Ibshihi, al- (1388-c.1446). Egyptian author of one of the most famous anthologies of Arabic literature.
Ibshihi, al- (1388-c.1446). Egyptian author of one of the most famous anthologies of Arabic literature.
Idi Amin
Idi Amin (Idi Amin Dada Oumee) (1924/1925, Koboko, Uganda - August 16, 2003, Jiddah, Saudi Arabia). President of Uganda (1971-1979). Born in Koboko of Muslim parents, Amin received a primary education before joining the British colonial army in 1946. He was one of only two native officers in Uganda’s military forces when the country became independent in 1962. A supporter of President Milton Obote, Amin rose quickly through the ranks and was promoted to major general and commander of the armed forces in 1968. However, in January 1971, Amin overthrew Obote. As president, Amin followed an erratic, tyrannical, and increasingly bloody course that left the country in shambles. He expelled some 50,000 Asians in 1972, nationalized foreign companies, and had up to 300,000 Ugandans killed. The economy collapsed, and in 1979, Amin was overthrown by an invasion force from Tanzania supported by Ugandan rebels. Amin found refuge in Saudi Arabia.
A member of the small Kakwa ethnic group of northwestern Uganda, Amin had little formal education and joined the King’s African Rifles of the British colonial army in 1946 as an assistant cook. He quickly rose through the ranks, serving in the Allied forces’ Burma (Myanmar) campaign during World War II and in the British action against the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya (1952–56). Amin was one of the few Ugandan soldiers elevated to officer rank before Ugandan independence in 1962, and he became closely associated with the new nation’s prime minister and president, Milton Obote. He was made chief of the army and air force (1966–70). Conflict with Obote arose, however, and on January 25, 1971, Amin staged a successful military coup. He became president and chief of the armed forces in 1971, field marshal in 1975, and life president in 1976.
Amin ruled directly, shunning the delegation of power. He was noted for his abrupt changes of mood, from buffoonery to shrewdness, from gentleness to tyranny. He was often extreme in his nationalism. He expelled all Asians from Uganda in 1972, an action that led to the breakdown of Uganda’s economy, and he publicly insulted Great Britain and the United States as well as numerous world leaders. A Muslim, he reversed Uganda’s amicable relations with Israel and befriended Libya and the Palestinians. In July 1976 he was personally involved in the hijacking of a French airliner to Entebbe. He also took tribalism, a long-standing problem in Uganda, to its extreme by allegedly ordering the persecution of Acholi, Lango, and other ethnic groups. Amin came to be known as the “Butcher of Uganda” for his brutality, and it is believed that some 300,000 people were killed and countless others tortured during his presidency.
In October 1978 Amin ordered an attack on Tanzania. Aided by Ugandan nationalists, Tanzanian troops eventually overpowered the Ugandan army. As the Tanzanian-led forces neared Kampala, Uganda’s capital, on April 13, 1979, Amin fled the city. Escaping first to Libya, he finally settled in Saudi Arabia.
Amin stayed for a number of years on the top two floors of the Novotel Hotel on Palestine Road in Jeddah. Having covered the war for the BBC as chief Africa correspondent, in 1980 Brian Barron, in partnership with cameraman Mohammed Amin of Visnews in Nairobi, located Amin and secured the first interview with him since his deposition.
Amin held that Uganda needed him and never expressed remorse for the nature of his regime. In 1989, he attempted to return to Uganda, apparently to lead an armed group organized by Colonel Juma Oris. He reached Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), before Zairian President Mobutu forced him to return to Saudi Arabia.
On July 20, 2003, one of Amin's wives, Madina, reported that he was in a coma and near death at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She pleaded with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to allow him to return to die in Uganda. Museveni replied that Amin would have to "answer for his sins the moment he was brought back." Amin died in Saudi Arabia on August 16, 2003. He was buried in Ruwais Cemetery in Jeddah.
A polygamist, Idi Amin married at least six women, three of whom he divorced. He married his first and second wives, Malyamu and Kay, in 1966. The next year, he married Nora and then Nalongo Madina in 1972. On March 26, 1974, he announced on Radio Uganda that he had divorced Malyamu, Nora and Kay. Malyamu was arrested in Tororo on the Kenyan border in April 1974 and accused of attempting to smuggle a bolt of fabric into Kenya. She later moved to London. Kay died on August 13, 1974. Her body was found dismembered. In August 1975, during the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit meeting in Kampala, Amin married Sarah Kyolaba. Sarah's boyfriend, whom she had been living with before she met Amin, vanished and was never heard from again. According to The Monitor, Amin married again a few months before his death in 2003.
Sources differ widely on the number of children Amin fathered; most say that he had 30 to 45. Until 2003, Taban Amin, Idi Amin's eldest son, was the leader of West Nile Bank Front (WNBF), a rebel group opposed to the government of Yoweri Museveni. In 2005, he was offered amnesty by Museveni, and in 2006, he was appointed Deputy Director General of the Internal Security Organisation. Another of Amin’s sons, Haji Ali Amin, ran for election as Chairman (i.e. mayor) of Njeru Town Council in 2002 but was not elected. In early 2007, the award-winning film The Last King of Scotland prompted one of his sons, Jaffar Amin, to speak out in his father's defense. Jaffar Amin said he was writing a book to rehabilitate his father's reputation.
On August 3, 2007, Faisal Wangita, one of Amin's sons, was convicted for playing a role in a murder in London.
Idi Amin has been featured in a number of films, documentaries and books including the following:
Films
* Victory at Entebbe (1976), a TV film about Operation Entebbe. Julius Harris plays Amin in a comic, almost vaudeville-type, manner. Godfrey Cambridge had originally been cast as Amin in the production, but died of a heart attack on the set.
* Raid on Entebbe (1977), a film depicting the events of Operation Entebbe. Yaphet Kotto plays Amin as a charismatic, but short-tempered, political and military leader.
* Mivtsa Yonatan (1977) (also known as Operation Thunderbolt), an Israeli film about Operation Entebbe. Jamaican-born British actor Mark Heath plays Amin who first appears angered at the German terrorists for the airplane hijacking and setting up their base at Entebbe Airport, but he later changes his mood to supporting them over news of Israel's agreement to the hijackers' demands.
* Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), a film recreating Idi Amin's atrocities. Amin is played by Kenyan actor Joseph Olita.
* The Naked Gun (1988), a comedy film which begins portraying Idi Amin (played by Prince Hughes) along with characters depicting other world leaders such as Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ruhollah Khomeini, and Muammar al-Gaddafi who are meeting in Beirut, Lebanon to conspire a plan to attack the United States.
* Mississippi Masala (1991), a film depicting the resettlement of an Indian family after the expulsion of Asians from Uganda by Idi Amin. Joseph Olita again plays Amin in a cameo.
* The Last King of Scotland (2006), a film adaptation of Giles Foden's 1998 fictional novel of the same name. For his portrayal of Idi Amin in this film, actor Forest Whitaker won the Academy Award for Best Actor, a BAFTA, the Screen Actors' Guild award for Best Actor (Drama), and a Golden Globe.
* In the 1989 Indian TV film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, the character Kasozi sometimes makes an unusual noise while sleeping. There is a legend in the hostel that he did that when he was dreaming about Idi Amin, who 'had killed his pop or something...'
Documentaries
* General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1974), directed by French filmmaker Barbet Schroeder.
* Idi Amin: Monster in Disguise (1997), a television documentary directed by Greg Baker.
* The Man Who Ate His Archbishop's Liver? (2004), a television documentary written, produced and directed by Elizabeth C. Jones for Associated-Rediffusion and Channel 4.
* The Man Who Stole Uganda (1971), World In Action first broadcast April 5, 1971.
* Inside Idi Amin's Terror Machine (1979), World In Action first broadcast June 13, 1979.
Books
* State of Blood: The Inside Story of Idi Amin (1977) by Henry Kyemba
* The General Is Up by Peter Nazareth
* Ghosts of Kampala: The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1980) by George Ivan Smith
* The Last King of Scotland (1998) by Giles Foden (fictional)
* Idi Amin Dada: Hitler in Africa (1977) by Thomas Patrick Melady
* General Amin (1975) by David Martin
* The Collected Bulletins of Idi Amin (1974) and Further Bulletins of President Idi Amin (1975) by Alan Coren, portraying Amin as an amiable, if murderous, buffoon in charge of a tin-pot dictatorship. Alan was also responsible in part for a music release - "The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin". It was a British comedy album parodying Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, released in 1975 on Transatlantic Records. It was performed by John Bird and written by Alan Coren, based on columns he wrote for Punch magazine.
* I Love Idi Amin: The Story of Triumph under Fire in the Midst of Suffering and Persecution in Uganda (1977) by Festo Kivengere
* Impassioned for Freedom: Uganda, Struggle Against Idi Amin (2006) by Eriya Kategaya
* The Feast of the Nine Virgins (2001) by Jameela Siddiqi
* Bombay Gardens (2006) by Jameela Siddiqi
* A Distant Grief (1979) by F. Kefa Sempangi
* Kahawa (1981) by Donald E. Westlake
* Confessions of Idi Amin: The chilling, explosive expose of Africa's most evil man - in his own words (1977) compiled by Trevor Donald
* Child of Dandelions, Governor General Award Finalist (2008) Shenaaz Nanji
Idi Amin Dada Oumee see Idi Amin
Oumee, Idi Amin Dada see Idi Amin
Idi Amin (Idi Amin Dada Oumee) (1924/1925, Koboko, Uganda - August 16, 2003, Jiddah, Saudi Arabia). President of Uganda (1971-1979). Born in Koboko of Muslim parents, Amin received a primary education before joining the British colonial army in 1946. He was one of only two native officers in Uganda’s military forces when the country became independent in 1962. A supporter of President Milton Obote, Amin rose quickly through the ranks and was promoted to major general and commander of the armed forces in 1968. However, in January 1971, Amin overthrew Obote. As president, Amin followed an erratic, tyrannical, and increasingly bloody course that left the country in shambles. He expelled some 50,000 Asians in 1972, nationalized foreign companies, and had up to 300,000 Ugandans killed. The economy collapsed, and in 1979, Amin was overthrown by an invasion force from Tanzania supported by Ugandan rebels. Amin found refuge in Saudi Arabia.
A member of the small Kakwa ethnic group of northwestern Uganda, Amin had little formal education and joined the King’s African Rifles of the British colonial army in 1946 as an assistant cook. He quickly rose through the ranks, serving in the Allied forces’ Burma (Myanmar) campaign during World War II and in the British action against the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya (1952–56). Amin was one of the few Ugandan soldiers elevated to officer rank before Ugandan independence in 1962, and he became closely associated with the new nation’s prime minister and president, Milton Obote. He was made chief of the army and air force (1966–70). Conflict with Obote arose, however, and on January 25, 1971, Amin staged a successful military coup. He became president and chief of the armed forces in 1971, field marshal in 1975, and life president in 1976.
Amin ruled directly, shunning the delegation of power. He was noted for his abrupt changes of mood, from buffoonery to shrewdness, from gentleness to tyranny. He was often extreme in his nationalism. He expelled all Asians from Uganda in 1972, an action that led to the breakdown of Uganda’s economy, and he publicly insulted Great Britain and the United States as well as numerous world leaders. A Muslim, he reversed Uganda’s amicable relations with Israel and befriended Libya and the Palestinians. In July 1976 he was personally involved in the hijacking of a French airliner to Entebbe. He also took tribalism, a long-standing problem in Uganda, to its extreme by allegedly ordering the persecution of Acholi, Lango, and other ethnic groups. Amin came to be known as the “Butcher of Uganda” for his brutality, and it is believed that some 300,000 people were killed and countless others tortured during his presidency.
In October 1978 Amin ordered an attack on Tanzania. Aided by Ugandan nationalists, Tanzanian troops eventually overpowered the Ugandan army. As the Tanzanian-led forces neared Kampala, Uganda’s capital, on April 13, 1979, Amin fled the city. Escaping first to Libya, he finally settled in Saudi Arabia.
Amin stayed for a number of years on the top two floors of the Novotel Hotel on Palestine Road in Jeddah. Having covered the war for the BBC as chief Africa correspondent, in 1980 Brian Barron, in partnership with cameraman Mohammed Amin of Visnews in Nairobi, located Amin and secured the first interview with him since his deposition.
Amin held that Uganda needed him and never expressed remorse for the nature of his regime. In 1989, he attempted to return to Uganda, apparently to lead an armed group organized by Colonel Juma Oris. He reached Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), before Zairian President Mobutu forced him to return to Saudi Arabia.
On July 20, 2003, one of Amin's wives, Madina, reported that he was in a coma and near death at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She pleaded with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to allow him to return to die in Uganda. Museveni replied that Amin would have to "answer for his sins the moment he was brought back." Amin died in Saudi Arabia on August 16, 2003. He was buried in Ruwais Cemetery in Jeddah.
A polygamist, Idi Amin married at least six women, three of whom he divorced. He married his first and second wives, Malyamu and Kay, in 1966. The next year, he married Nora and then Nalongo Madina in 1972. On March 26, 1974, he announced on Radio Uganda that he had divorced Malyamu, Nora and Kay. Malyamu was arrested in Tororo on the Kenyan border in April 1974 and accused of attempting to smuggle a bolt of fabric into Kenya. She later moved to London. Kay died on August 13, 1974. Her body was found dismembered. In August 1975, during the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit meeting in Kampala, Amin married Sarah Kyolaba. Sarah's boyfriend, whom she had been living with before she met Amin, vanished and was never heard from again. According to The Monitor, Amin married again a few months before his death in 2003.
Sources differ widely on the number of children Amin fathered; most say that he had 30 to 45. Until 2003, Taban Amin, Idi Amin's eldest son, was the leader of West Nile Bank Front (WNBF), a rebel group opposed to the government of Yoweri Museveni. In 2005, he was offered amnesty by Museveni, and in 2006, he was appointed Deputy Director General of the Internal Security Organisation. Another of Amin’s sons, Haji Ali Amin, ran for election as Chairman (i.e. mayor) of Njeru Town Council in 2002 but was not elected. In early 2007, the award-winning film The Last King of Scotland prompted one of his sons, Jaffar Amin, to speak out in his father's defense. Jaffar Amin said he was writing a book to rehabilitate his father's reputation.
On August 3, 2007, Faisal Wangita, one of Amin's sons, was convicted for playing a role in a murder in London.
Idi Amin has been featured in a number of films, documentaries and books including the following:
Films
* Victory at Entebbe (1976), a TV film about Operation Entebbe. Julius Harris plays Amin in a comic, almost vaudeville-type, manner. Godfrey Cambridge had originally been cast as Amin in the production, but died of a heart attack on the set.
* Raid on Entebbe (1977), a film depicting the events of Operation Entebbe. Yaphet Kotto plays Amin as a charismatic, but short-tempered, political and military leader.
* Mivtsa Yonatan (1977) (also known as Operation Thunderbolt), an Israeli film about Operation Entebbe. Jamaican-born British actor Mark Heath plays Amin who first appears angered at the German terrorists for the airplane hijacking and setting up their base at Entebbe Airport, but he later changes his mood to supporting them over news of Israel's agreement to the hijackers' demands.
* Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), a film recreating Idi Amin's atrocities. Amin is played by Kenyan actor Joseph Olita.
* The Naked Gun (1988), a comedy film which begins portraying Idi Amin (played by Prince Hughes) along with characters depicting other world leaders such as Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ruhollah Khomeini, and Muammar al-Gaddafi who are meeting in Beirut, Lebanon to conspire a plan to attack the United States.
* Mississippi Masala (1991), a film depicting the resettlement of an Indian family after the expulsion of Asians from Uganda by Idi Amin. Joseph Olita again plays Amin in a cameo.
* The Last King of Scotland (2006), a film adaptation of Giles Foden's 1998 fictional novel of the same name. For his portrayal of Idi Amin in this film, actor Forest Whitaker won the Academy Award for Best Actor, a BAFTA, the Screen Actors' Guild award for Best Actor (Drama), and a Golden Globe.
* In the 1989 Indian TV film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, the character Kasozi sometimes makes an unusual noise while sleeping. There is a legend in the hostel that he did that when he was dreaming about Idi Amin, who 'had killed his pop or something...'
Documentaries
* General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1974), directed by French filmmaker Barbet Schroeder.
* Idi Amin: Monster in Disguise (1997), a television documentary directed by Greg Baker.
* The Man Who Ate His Archbishop's Liver? (2004), a television documentary written, produced and directed by Elizabeth C. Jones for Associated-Rediffusion and Channel 4.
* The Man Who Stole Uganda (1971), World In Action first broadcast April 5, 1971.
* Inside Idi Amin's Terror Machine (1979), World In Action first broadcast June 13, 1979.
Books
* State of Blood: The Inside Story of Idi Amin (1977) by Henry Kyemba
* The General Is Up by Peter Nazareth
* Ghosts of Kampala: The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1980) by George Ivan Smith
* The Last King of Scotland (1998) by Giles Foden (fictional)
* Idi Amin Dada: Hitler in Africa (1977) by Thomas Patrick Melady
* General Amin (1975) by David Martin
* The Collected Bulletins of Idi Amin (1974) and Further Bulletins of President Idi Amin (1975) by Alan Coren, portraying Amin as an amiable, if murderous, buffoon in charge of a tin-pot dictatorship. Alan was also responsible in part for a music release - "The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin". It was a British comedy album parodying Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, released in 1975 on Transatlantic Records. It was performed by John Bird and written by Alan Coren, based on columns he wrote for Punch magazine.
* I Love Idi Amin: The Story of Triumph under Fire in the Midst of Suffering and Persecution in Uganda (1977) by Festo Kivengere
* Impassioned for Freedom: Uganda, Struggle Against Idi Amin (2006) by Eriya Kategaya
* The Feast of the Nine Virgins (2001) by Jameela Siddiqi
* Bombay Gardens (2006) by Jameela Siddiqi
* A Distant Grief (1979) by F. Kefa Sempangi
* Kahawa (1981) by Donald E. Westlake
* Confessions of Idi Amin: The chilling, explosive expose of Africa's most evil man - in his own words (1977) compiled by Trevor Donald
* Child of Dandelions, Governor General Award Finalist (2008) Shenaaz Nanji
Idi Amin Dada Oumee see Idi Amin
Oumee, Idi Amin Dada see Idi Amin
Idris
Idris (Idriz) (Enoch) (Nabiyullah Idris). Non-biblical figure mentioned twice in the Qur‘an at Suras 19:57-58 and 21:85-86. Idris has been identified both with the biblical prophet Enoch and with Hermes of mythological fame. Hermes, in turn, was sometimes linked to Idris/Enoch by pseudo-scientific medieval Muslim commentators. Other times, Idris/Hermes was linked to a person who allegedly appeared in Babylonia after the flood and revived the study of talismanic and other esoteric sciences before migrating to Egypt. Idris/Hermes sparked the imagination of numerous Muslim writers and, through them, some early Renaissance scholars.
Enoch is a figure in the Generations of Adam. Enoch is described as Adam's greatx4 grandson, through Seth, and the text reads--uniquely in the Generations--that Enoch "walked with God: and he was not; for God took him," avoiding the mortal death ascribed to Adam's other descendants. Additionally, Enoch is described as the father of Methuselah and great-grandfather of Noah (Genesis 5:22-29).
Despite the brief descriptions of him, Enoch is one of the main two focal points for much of the 1st millennium BC Jewish mysticism, notably in the Book of Enoch.
In Islam, he is usually referred to as Idris and is regarded as a prophet. Additionally, Enoch is important in some Christian denominations: he features in the Latter Day Saint Movement, and is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church on July 26.
The Qur'an refers to Enoch as Idris, meaning the instructor, regarding him as a man of truth and a prophet, as well as a model of patience. Popular Muslim traditions credit Idris as inventor of astronomy, writing, and arithmetic. Idris is often described as having been compelled to defend his life with the sword, against the depraved children of earth. Among his lesser inventions, in popular Muslim tradition, were said to be scales, to enable just weights, and tailoring.
He is mentioned twice in the Quran in the following verses:
19:56-57
21:85-86
The person whom the Qur’an mentions twice under the name Idris or Idriz is most frequently identified with the seventh patriarch in the book of Genesis, more rarely with Elijah or al-Khidr. Astrologers and alchemists identified him with Hermes (in Arabic, Hirmis).
Idris, or Idriz, is a prophet of Islam. There are four verses related to the Prophet Idris in the Qur'an. These are found as consecutive verses in the surahs Maryam (Mary) and Al-Anbiya (The Prophets).
In a hadith Idris is mentioned as one of the earlier prophets that spoke with the Prophet Muhammed in one of the heavens during Mi'raj.
In Islamic tradition, Idris is a predecessor prophet before Noah (Arabic: Nuh). Idris is credited with learning many useful skills or inventing things which humans now use such as writing, mathematics, astronomy, etc". According to Islamic tradition, his time was one when many people had forgotten God, and the world was thus punished with a drought. However, Idris prayed for them, and it began to rain, ending the drought.
In Islamic tradition, according to the book The Prophet of God Enoch: Nabiyullah Idris, Idris and Enoch are the same person. He is mentioned in the Qur'an as being so preferred by God that God raised Idris to Heaven. (In the Enoch book of the bible preserved by the Ethiopian church, we also read that he was raised up by God). Idris is said to have come back from heaven in the area of Gizan (current day Giza in Egypt) where he taught people writing, and he described how he saw in his journey the sources of water (i.e. the Snow caps of mountains, especially in the polar areas) and the reasons behind astronomy. He described different skies where he saw imprisoned devils and Jinns tormented by the angels, some of whom are awaiting punishment, and some awaiting release. Idris is a prominent prophet between Adam and Noah for Muslims.
One non-traditional explanation for the building of the pyramids is that they were built in reverence to him, since it is the area where he was said to have ascended back to heaven.
Enoch see Idris
Idriz see Idris
Nabiyullah Idris see Idris
Idris (Idriz) (Enoch) (Nabiyullah Idris). Non-biblical figure mentioned twice in the Qur‘an at Suras 19:57-58 and 21:85-86. Idris has been identified both with the biblical prophet Enoch and with Hermes of mythological fame. Hermes, in turn, was sometimes linked to Idris/Enoch by pseudo-scientific medieval Muslim commentators. Other times, Idris/Hermes was linked to a person who allegedly appeared in Babylonia after the flood and revived the study of talismanic and other esoteric sciences before migrating to Egypt. Idris/Hermes sparked the imagination of numerous Muslim writers and, through them, some early Renaissance scholars.
Enoch is a figure in the Generations of Adam. Enoch is described as Adam's greatx4 grandson, through Seth, and the text reads--uniquely in the Generations--that Enoch "walked with God: and he was not; for God took him," avoiding the mortal death ascribed to Adam's other descendants. Additionally, Enoch is described as the father of Methuselah and great-grandfather of Noah (Genesis 5:22-29).
Despite the brief descriptions of him, Enoch is one of the main two focal points for much of the 1st millennium BC Jewish mysticism, notably in the Book of Enoch.
In Islam, he is usually referred to as Idris and is regarded as a prophet. Additionally, Enoch is important in some Christian denominations: he features in the Latter Day Saint Movement, and is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church on July 26.
The Qur'an refers to Enoch as Idris, meaning the instructor, regarding him as a man of truth and a prophet, as well as a model of patience. Popular Muslim traditions credit Idris as inventor of astronomy, writing, and arithmetic. Idris is often described as having been compelled to defend his life with the sword, against the depraved children of earth. Among his lesser inventions, in popular Muslim tradition, were said to be scales, to enable just weights, and tailoring.
He is mentioned twice in the Quran in the following verses:
19:56-57
21:85-86
The person whom the Qur’an mentions twice under the name Idris or Idriz is most frequently identified with the seventh patriarch in the book of Genesis, more rarely with Elijah or al-Khidr. Astrologers and alchemists identified him with Hermes (in Arabic, Hirmis).
Idris, or Idriz, is a prophet of Islam. There are four verses related to the Prophet Idris in the Qur'an. These are found as consecutive verses in the surahs Maryam (Mary) and Al-Anbiya (The Prophets).
In a hadith Idris is mentioned as one of the earlier prophets that spoke with the Prophet Muhammed in one of the heavens during Mi'raj.
In Islamic tradition, Idris is a predecessor prophet before Noah (Arabic: Nuh). Idris is credited with learning many useful skills or inventing things which humans now use such as writing, mathematics, astronomy, etc". According to Islamic tradition, his time was one when many people had forgotten God, and the world was thus punished with a drought. However, Idris prayed for them, and it began to rain, ending the drought.
In Islamic tradition, according to the book The Prophet of God Enoch: Nabiyullah Idris, Idris and Enoch are the same person. He is mentioned in the Qur'an as being so preferred by God that God raised Idris to Heaven. (In the Enoch book of the bible preserved by the Ethiopian church, we also read that he was raised up by God). Idris is said to have come back from heaven in the area of Gizan (current day Giza in Egypt) where he taught people writing, and he described how he saw in his journey the sources of water (i.e. the Snow caps of mountains, especially in the polar areas) and the reasons behind astronomy. He described different skies where he saw imprisoned devils and Jinns tormented by the angels, some of whom are awaiting punishment, and some awaiting release. Idris is a prominent prophet between Adam and Noah for Muslims.
One non-traditional explanation for the building of the pyramids is that they were built in reverence to him, since it is the area where he was said to have ascended back to heaven.
Enoch see Idris
Idriz see Idris
Nabiyullah Idris see Idris
Idris
Idris (1849-1916). Sultan of Perak. He was the son of a bendahara (chief minister) and great-grandson of a sultan of Perak, Idris at first supported his cousin, Sultan Abdullah, against James W. W. Birch, a British officer who had been appointed as an “adviser” to Perak, but did not join the Perak rising in November 1875. Idris later served on the State Council and as judge of the Supreme Court. In 1887, although he was not in direct line according to the Perak custom of rotation, Idris succeeded his father-in-law, Yusuf, to the throne. A staunch believer in British “protection,” Idris was much respected by the British, but at the 1903 durbar (official reception), he deprecated the increasing centralization of the Federated Malay States.
Idris (1849-1916). Sultan of Perak. He was the son of a bendahara (chief minister) and great-grandson of a sultan of Perak, Idris at first supported his cousin, Sultan Abdullah, against James W. W. Birch, a British officer who had been appointed as an “adviser” to Perak, but did not join the Perak rising in November 1875. Idris later served on the State Council and as judge of the Supreme Court. In 1887, although he was not in direct line according to the Perak custom of rotation, Idris succeeded his father-in-law, Yusuf, to the throne. A staunch believer in British “protection,” Idris was much respected by the British, but at the 1903 durbar (official reception), he deprecated the increasing centralization of the Federated Malay States.
Idris I
Idris I (Idris ibn Abdullah) (al-Akbar) (d. 793). Founder of the Idrisid dynasty (r.788-793). Of ‘Alid descent, he escaped the massacre at Fakhkh in 786 and settled at Walila (Volubilis), from where he consolidated his authority in the valley of the Wargha.
Proclaimed imam by Berber tribes in northern Morocco, Idris I extended his territory as far as Tlemcen in 789 and founded Fez. Poisoned in 793, probably at the instigation of Harun al-Rashid, he is regarded as the national saint of Morocco. His son, Idris II (r. 793-828, ruling imam from 804) settled more and more Andalusian and Tunisians, developed Fez into the capital, and consolidated political power. When the son of Idris II, Muhammad (828-836), divided the realm between his eight brothers in 836, the dynasty fell apart, and was destroyed by internal power struggles.
In 788, Idris I became involved in an anti-‘Abbasid revolt near Mecca and was forced into exile to escape the persecution of Harun al-Rashid, the ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Idris sought refuge in present day Morocco, which some fifty years earlier had shaken caliphal rule. There he was welcomed by a recently converted Berber tribe, the Banu Awrabah. These Berbers were impressed with the idea of having a descendant of the Prophet to lead them and soon made Idris their chief. He rapidly united the Berber tribes of the area into a confederacy, and from this union emerged the first independent Islamic dynasty in Morocco.
Idris’s rule was short-lived. He was poisoned in 793 by an agent of Harun al-Rashid. Idris left no male heir at the time of his death, but he did leave behind a pregnant concubine, and it was her child, Idris II, who was to continue his father’s work.
Akbar, al- see Idris I
Idris ibn Abdullah see Idris I
Idris I (Idris ibn Abdullah) (al-Akbar) (d. 793). Founder of the Idrisid dynasty (r.788-793). Of ‘Alid descent, he escaped the massacre at Fakhkh in 786 and settled at Walila (Volubilis), from where he consolidated his authority in the valley of the Wargha.
Proclaimed imam by Berber tribes in northern Morocco, Idris I extended his territory as far as Tlemcen in 789 and founded Fez. Poisoned in 793, probably at the instigation of Harun al-Rashid, he is regarded as the national saint of Morocco. His son, Idris II (r. 793-828, ruling imam from 804) settled more and more Andalusian and Tunisians, developed Fez into the capital, and consolidated political power. When the son of Idris II, Muhammad (828-836), divided the realm between his eight brothers in 836, the dynasty fell apart, and was destroyed by internal power struggles.
In 788, Idris I became involved in an anti-‘Abbasid revolt near Mecca and was forced into exile to escape the persecution of Harun al-Rashid, the ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Idris sought refuge in present day Morocco, which some fifty years earlier had shaken caliphal rule. There he was welcomed by a recently converted Berber tribe, the Banu Awrabah. These Berbers were impressed with the idea of having a descendant of the Prophet to lead them and soon made Idris their chief. He rapidly united the Berber tribes of the area into a confederacy, and from this union emerged the first independent Islamic dynasty in Morocco.
Idris’s rule was short-lived. He was poisoned in 793 by an agent of Harun al-Rashid. Idris left no male heir at the time of his death, but he did leave behind a pregnant concubine, and it was her child, Idris II, who was to continue his father’s work.
Akbar, al- see Idris I
Idris ibn Abdullah see Idris I
Idris I
Idris I (Sayyid Muhammad Idris bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Senussi) (March 12, 1890 – May 25, 1983). King of Libya from 1951 until the coup of 1969. Idris was born on March 13, 1890, in Jarabub, Cyrenaica. In 1902, he succeeded his father as leader of the Sufi brotherhood Sanusiyya in Cyrenaica. Due to his being underage, the active rule rested with his cousin, Ahmadu ash-Sharif.
In 1916, Idris became the ruler of the Sanusiyya, and in 1917, with the agreement of Arcoma with the Italians, Idris obtained support for his rule in inland Cyrenaica.
In 1919, a Cyrenaican parliament was established, and Idris began to receive financial support from the Italians. In 1922, Idris went into exile in Egypt, after the Italians had started to wage military campaigns against the Libyan hinterland. From Egypt, Idris directed his followers.
In 1942, Idris returned to Libya after Great Britain had occupied Libya. Idris then formed an official government. In December 1951, after representatives from Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan had decided to establish a constitutional monarchy, Idris became king of Libya. Libya then declared its independence.
On September 1, 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed by the Libyan army under the leadership of Colonel Gadhafi in a bloodless coup. Idris eventually went into exile in Egypt.
In 1974, Idris was convicted in absentia for corruption by a Libyan court.
On May 25, 1983, Idris died in Cairo, Egypt.
Idris‘ politics were very conservative, and he was not active in the pan-Arab identification and with Arab nationalism, ideologies that were very strong during this period.
The political structures under Idris were based upon tribal structures. Townsmen and tribal leaders were strong in each of their regions, but they all supported the king. Stability was further helped by political and military support from his Western allies.
Sayyid Muhammad Idris bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Senussi see Idris I
Idris I (Sayyid Muhammad Idris bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Senussi) (March 12, 1890 – May 25, 1983). King of Libya from 1951 until the coup of 1969. Idris was born on March 13, 1890, in Jarabub, Cyrenaica. In 1902, he succeeded his father as leader of the Sufi brotherhood Sanusiyya in Cyrenaica. Due to his being underage, the active rule rested with his cousin, Ahmadu ash-Sharif.
In 1916, Idris became the ruler of the Sanusiyya, and in 1917, with the agreement of Arcoma with the Italians, Idris obtained support for his rule in inland Cyrenaica.
In 1919, a Cyrenaican parliament was established, and Idris began to receive financial support from the Italians. In 1922, Idris went into exile in Egypt, after the Italians had started to wage military campaigns against the Libyan hinterland. From Egypt, Idris directed his followers.
In 1942, Idris returned to Libya after Great Britain had occupied Libya. Idris then formed an official government. In December 1951, after representatives from Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan had decided to establish a constitutional monarchy, Idris became king of Libya. Libya then declared its independence.
On September 1, 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed by the Libyan army under the leadership of Colonel Gadhafi in a bloodless coup. Idris eventually went into exile in Egypt.
In 1974, Idris was convicted in absentia for corruption by a Libyan court.
On May 25, 1983, Idris died in Cairo, Egypt.
Idris‘ politics were very conservative, and he was not active in the pan-Arab identification and with Arab nationalism, ideologies that were very strong during this period.
The political structures under Idris were based upon tribal structures. Townsmen and tribal leaders were strong in each of their regions, but they all supported the king. Stability was further helped by political and military support from his Western allies.
Sayyid Muhammad Idris bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Senussi see Idris I
Idris II
Idris II (al-Ashgar) (al-Azhar) (793-828). Ruler of the Idrisid dynasty of North Africa, and especially Morocco. He attempted to end the Berber predominance near Fez. He refounded the city of Fez and began to unify the Maghrib under Islam. His tomb in the mosque of the Chorfa remains the object of veneration.
Proclaimed imam by Berber tribes in northern Morocco, Idris I extended his territory as far as Tlemcen in 789 and founded Fez. Poisoned in 793, probably at the instigation of Harun al-Rashid, he is regarded as the national saint of Morocco. His son, Idris II (r. 793-828, ruling imam from 804) settled more and more Andalusian and Tunisians, developed Fez into the capital, and consolidated political power. When the son of Idris II, Muhammad (828-836), divided the realm between his eight brothers in 836, the dynasty fell apart, and was destroyed by internal power struggles.
In 788, Idris I became involved in an anti-‘Abbasid revolt near Mecca and was forced into exile to escape the persecution of Harun al-Rashid, the ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Idris sought refuge in present day Morocco, which some fifty years earlier had shaken caliphal rule. There he was welcomed by a recently converted Berber tribe, the Banu Awrabah. These Berbers were impressed with the idea of having a descendant of the Prophet to lead them and soon made Idris their chief. He rapidly united the Berber tribes of the area into a confederacy, and from this union emerged the first independent Islamic dynasty in Morocco.
Idris’s rule was short-lived. He was poisoned in 793 by an agent of Harun al-Rashid. Idris left no male heir at the time of his death, but he did leave behind a pregnant concubine, and it was her child, Idris II, who was to continue his father’s work.
Idris II was the true founder of the modern Moroccan state. Although his father had subjugated and converted many tribes adhering to Christianity, Judaism, or indigenous religions, he still remained dependent on the Awrabah tribe. Idris II stressed the Islamic-Arab character of Morocco in an attempt to detach himself from the Awrabah, inviting Arab chiefs and warriors from Spain to his court. In 809, Idris II achieved what could be considered one of the most durable and important results of the dynasty – the refounding of the city of Fez. Originally founded in 789 by Idris I, Fez was still a Berber market town when Idris II decided to establish his authority independently from the Awrabah and make Fez his capital city. The arrival of several waves of immigrants, first from Cordoba and later from Tunisia, gave Fez a definitive Arab character.
Among his political achievements, Idris II managed to consolidate under his rule most of what is today northern Morocco. To stabilize the government he organized Morocco’s first true makhzan (central government), an Arabic concept hitherto unknown to the Berber tribes of the region. In addition, the construction of the Qarawiyin and Andalus mosques as well as the Qarawiyin University, the oldest in the Muslim world, helped make Fez an important cultural and religious center.
Idris II was succeeded by his son Muhammad II. While retaining the title of imam and rule over the capital, Muhammad divided his father’s kingdom among his brothers, demonstrating a departure from the political sagacity that had been evident in both his father and grandfather. This also effectively undermined centralized control held by the Idrisids, as sections of the royal family and tribal groups engaged in a long struggle for power that characterized later Idrisid rule. Although a strong centralized state was not established in the Idrisid era, the political role of the sharifs was confirmed and has remained a significant element in Moroccan politics ever since. {See also Idrisids.}
Idris II (791 - 828 AD) was son of Idris I, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty in North Africa. He was born in Volubilis (nowadays in Morocco) two months after the death of his father.
[edit] History
The death of Idris I, and the resulting destabilisation of the fledgling Idrisid dynasty state, delighted the Caliph in Baghdad. However, two months later, Kenza, the wife of Idris I who was the daughter of Ishaq ben Mohammed the chief of the Awarba tribe, gave birth to Idriss II, who became a quick prodigy. In reference to Idris II, the historian Rom Landau, says: "In the lore of the Moroccans, Idris II was a being of almost magical attributes. An exceptional young man he certainly must have been. At many points we are reminded of one of the greatest sages of Islam, Ibn Sina or Avicenna. At the age of four, Idris apparently could read, at five write, at eight he knew the Koran by heart, and by then is said to have mastered the wisdom of all the outstanding savants. He was of real physical strength as well, and when he became officially sovereign in 805 at the age of thirteen, he had already accomplished feats of endurance that men twice his age could not emulate. His profound Islamic faith enhanced all these advantages and increased the veneration accorded him."
Twenty years after his father had done so, Idris II refounded the city Fez on the left bank of the River Fez, opposite to where his father had founded it on the right bank. From there, Idris II began to unify Magreb under Islam, establishing its firm allegiance to the belief. After spending 19 years pursuing such purposes, this prodigy died at 35 in 828. For twelve hundred years after, the tradition of monarchy, established by Idris I and II, were continued. Idris II, who married a descendant of Suleyman the sultan of Tlemcen (a brother of Idriss I) was the father of twelve sons: Muhammed, Abdullah, Aïssa, Idriss, Ahmed, Jaâfar, Yahia, Qassim, Omar, Ali, Daoud and Hamza.
Preceded by
Idris I Idrisid dynasty
802–828 Succeeded by
Muhammad ibn Idris
Stub icon This Moroccan biogra
Ashgar, al- see Idris II
Azhar, al- see Idris II
Idris II (al-Ashgar) (al-Azhar) (793-828). Ruler of the Idrisid dynasty of North Africa, and especially Morocco. He attempted to end the Berber predominance near Fez. He refounded the city of Fez and began to unify the Maghrib under Islam. His tomb in the mosque of the Chorfa remains the object of veneration.
Proclaimed imam by Berber tribes in northern Morocco, Idris I extended his territory as far as Tlemcen in 789 and founded Fez. Poisoned in 793, probably at the instigation of Harun al-Rashid, he is regarded as the national saint of Morocco. His son, Idris II (r. 793-828, ruling imam from 804) settled more and more Andalusian and Tunisians, developed Fez into the capital, and consolidated political power. When the son of Idris II, Muhammad (828-836), divided the realm between his eight brothers in 836, the dynasty fell apart, and was destroyed by internal power struggles.
In 788, Idris I became involved in an anti-‘Abbasid revolt near Mecca and was forced into exile to escape the persecution of Harun al-Rashid, the ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Idris sought refuge in present day Morocco, which some fifty years earlier had shaken caliphal rule. There he was welcomed by a recently converted Berber tribe, the Banu Awrabah. These Berbers were impressed with the idea of having a descendant of the Prophet to lead them and soon made Idris their chief. He rapidly united the Berber tribes of the area into a confederacy, and from this union emerged the first independent Islamic dynasty in Morocco.
Idris’s rule was short-lived. He was poisoned in 793 by an agent of Harun al-Rashid. Idris left no male heir at the time of his death, but he did leave behind a pregnant concubine, and it was her child, Idris II, who was to continue his father’s work.
Idris II was the true founder of the modern Moroccan state. Although his father had subjugated and converted many tribes adhering to Christianity, Judaism, or indigenous religions, he still remained dependent on the Awrabah tribe. Idris II stressed the Islamic-Arab character of Morocco in an attempt to detach himself from the Awrabah, inviting Arab chiefs and warriors from Spain to his court. In 809, Idris II achieved what could be considered one of the most durable and important results of the dynasty – the refounding of the city of Fez. Originally founded in 789 by Idris I, Fez was still a Berber market town when Idris II decided to establish his authority independently from the Awrabah and make Fez his capital city. The arrival of several waves of immigrants, first from Cordoba and later from Tunisia, gave Fez a definitive Arab character.
Among his political achievements, Idris II managed to consolidate under his rule most of what is today northern Morocco. To stabilize the government he organized Morocco’s first true makhzan (central government), an Arabic concept hitherto unknown to the Berber tribes of the region. In addition, the construction of the Qarawiyin and Andalus mosques as well as the Qarawiyin University, the oldest in the Muslim world, helped make Fez an important cultural and religious center.
Idris II was succeeded by his son Muhammad II. While retaining the title of imam and rule over the capital, Muhammad divided his father’s kingdom among his brothers, demonstrating a departure from the political sagacity that had been evident in both his father and grandfather. This also effectively undermined centralized control held by the Idrisids, as sections of the royal family and tribal groups engaged in a long struggle for power that characterized later Idrisid rule. Although a strong centralized state was not established in the Idrisid era, the political role of the sharifs was confirmed and has remained a significant element in Moroccan politics ever since. {See also Idrisids.}
Idris II (791 - 828 AD) was son of Idris I, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty in North Africa. He was born in Volubilis (nowadays in Morocco) two months after the death of his father.
[edit] History
The death of Idris I, and the resulting destabilisation of the fledgling Idrisid dynasty state, delighted the Caliph in Baghdad. However, two months later, Kenza, the wife of Idris I who was the daughter of Ishaq ben Mohammed the chief of the Awarba tribe, gave birth to Idriss II, who became a quick prodigy. In reference to Idris II, the historian Rom Landau, says: "In the lore of the Moroccans, Idris II was a being of almost magical attributes. An exceptional young man he certainly must have been. At many points we are reminded of one of the greatest sages of Islam, Ibn Sina or Avicenna. At the age of four, Idris apparently could read, at five write, at eight he knew the Koran by heart, and by then is said to have mastered the wisdom of all the outstanding savants. He was of real physical strength as well, and when he became officially sovereign in 805 at the age of thirteen, he had already accomplished feats of endurance that men twice his age could not emulate. His profound Islamic faith enhanced all these advantages and increased the veneration accorded him."
Twenty years after his father had done so, Idris II refounded the city Fez on the left bank of the River Fez, opposite to where his father had founded it on the right bank. From there, Idris II began to unify Magreb under Islam, establishing its firm allegiance to the belief. After spending 19 years pursuing such purposes, this prodigy died at 35 in 828. For twelve hundred years after, the tradition of monarchy, established by Idris I and II, were continued. Idris II, who married a descendant of Suleyman the sultan of Tlemcen (a brother of Idriss I) was the father of twelve sons: Muhammed, Abdullah, Aïssa, Idriss, Ahmed, Jaâfar, Yahia, Qassim, Omar, Ali, Daoud and Hamza.
Preceded by
Idris I Idrisid dynasty
802–828 Succeeded by
Muhammad ibn Idris
Stub icon This Moroccan biogra
Ashgar, al- see Idris II
Azhar, al- see Idris II
Idris Aloma
Idris Aloma (c. 1542-1619[?]). Ruler of the Kanuri Empire of Bornu. He rebuilt the declining state, introduced new military administrative tactics, and encouraged the spread of Islam. He is the most famous mai (ruler) in the 1000 year history of the Sefawa dynasty of Kanem-Bornu, largely because he had his own chronicler, Imam Ahmed ibn Fartua, who recorded an “official” history.
Idris‘ father, mai ‘Ali, had died after ruling only one year (c.1545). The throne then passed to another branch of the family. Idris‘ mother was a princess of the Bulala people who had driven the Kanuri out of Kanem years before. Fearing that the reigning mai would make an attempt on Idris‘ life, she sent him to her family at Kanem to be raised. According to Kanuri tradition, the throne finally fell to a woman Aisa Kili Ngirmaramma who, although from the other branch of the family, handed over the crown to Idris around 1570.
Idris ascended during a difficult period. Externally, the Bulala remained strong antagonists, the Hausa states regularly raided Bornu, and Taureg and Tega nomads harassed the northern frontiers of the empire. Internally, Bornu was recovering from a long famine, and there was a continuing threat of interdynastic strife. Idris solved his problems by building a strong army. Early in his reign, he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, where he was impressed with firearms. After his return, he brought Turkish musketeers into his army to train an elite corps. He also built up a large infantry and a cavalry of the nobility, impressively uniformed. For long range expeditions, he created a special camel cavalry. Idris personally led many military campaigns and was generally successful. His most important victory was against the Bulala of Kanem. Although he was unable to reintegrate Kanem into the empire, Bornu became suzerain over it, and formal boundaries were established.
Idris’s administrative reforms reduced the possibility of revolt. The territories outside his immediate control were ruled by trustworthy appointees, rather than by relatives who might try to break away, as had happened earlier in the history of the empire. He financed the state through taxes, tribute, and the slave trade. Although he did not design his administration to conform with Islamic law, his chronicler depicts him as a devout Muslim who instituted an Islamic judicial system, built mosques, and established a hostel in Mecca. He made diplomatic contacts with the sultans of Turkey and Morocco, apparently to obtain aid in defending Bornu’s northern borders. Scholars have placed his death at various times between 1603 and 1619. It is believed that he died while putting down a revolt. He was succeeded by three of his sons.
Aloma, Idris see Idris Aloma
Idris Aloma (c. 1542-1619[?]). Ruler of the Kanuri Empire of Bornu. He rebuilt the declining state, introduced new military administrative tactics, and encouraged the spread of Islam. He is the most famous mai (ruler) in the 1000 year history of the Sefawa dynasty of Kanem-Bornu, largely because he had his own chronicler, Imam Ahmed ibn Fartua, who recorded an “official” history.
Idris‘ father, mai ‘Ali, had died after ruling only one year (c.1545). The throne then passed to another branch of the family. Idris‘ mother was a princess of the Bulala people who had driven the Kanuri out of Kanem years before. Fearing that the reigning mai would make an attempt on Idris‘ life, she sent him to her family at Kanem to be raised. According to Kanuri tradition, the throne finally fell to a woman Aisa Kili Ngirmaramma who, although from the other branch of the family, handed over the crown to Idris around 1570.
Idris ascended during a difficult period. Externally, the Bulala remained strong antagonists, the Hausa states regularly raided Bornu, and Taureg and Tega nomads harassed the northern frontiers of the empire. Internally, Bornu was recovering from a long famine, and there was a continuing threat of interdynastic strife. Idris solved his problems by building a strong army. Early in his reign, he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, where he was impressed with firearms. After his return, he brought Turkish musketeers into his army to train an elite corps. He also built up a large infantry and a cavalry of the nobility, impressively uniformed. For long range expeditions, he created a special camel cavalry. Idris personally led many military campaigns and was generally successful. His most important victory was against the Bulala of Kanem. Although he was unable to reintegrate Kanem into the empire, Bornu became suzerain over it, and formal boundaries were established.
Idris’s administrative reforms reduced the possibility of revolt. The territories outside his immediate control were ruled by trustworthy appointees, rather than by relatives who might try to break away, as had happened earlier in the history of the empire. He financed the state through taxes, tribute, and the slave trade. Although he did not design his administration to conform with Islamic law, his chronicler depicts him as a devout Muslim who instituted an Islamic judicial system, built mosques, and established a hostel in Mecca. He made diplomatic contacts with the sultans of Turkey and Morocco, apparently to obtain aid in defending Bornu’s northern borders. Scholars have placed his death at various times between 1603 and 1619. It is believed that he died while putting down a revolt. He was succeeded by three of his sons.
Aloma, Idris see Idris Aloma
Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-(Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Idrisi) (al-Sharif al-Idrisi) (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Idres Ash-Sharif) (Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti) (al-Sharif al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi) (Dreses) (1100-1165/1166). Arab geographer, scientist, and author of one of the greatest geographic works of the medieval world.
Widely travelled throughout the Mediterranean region, he joined the court of Roger II of Sicily in about 1145 and worked in Palermo the remainder of his life. His major works include a silver planisphere showing a world map, a sectional map of the world, and a geography text (the Book of Roger) that contains information about his own travels and reports from persons sent from Sicily to obtain new information.
Al-Idrisi owes his fame to The Book of Roger, which he produced in 1154 on the orders of Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily. Al-Idrisi is best known in the West as a geographer, who made a globe of silver -- a sphere weighing 400 kilograms for King Roger II of Sicily. Some scholars regard him as the greatest geographer and cartographer of the Middle Ages. He also made original contributions in the study of medicinal plants.
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Idres Ash-Sharif was born in 1100 in Ceuta (North Africa) but he was raised and educated in Cordova in Spain. He is also known by his short name al-Sharif al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi.
Al-Idrisi was educated in Cordova. As was common with Muslim geographers, he traveled to many distant places, including Europe, to gather geographical data. The Muslim geographers by his time had already made accurate measurements of the Earth’s surface, and several maps of the whole world were available. Al-Idrisi added this available knowledge to his own findings. It is for this comprehensive knowledge of all parts of the known world that he became famous and began to get the attention of European sea navigators and military planners.
Al-Idrisi’s fame and competence eventually led to the attention of Roger II, the Norman King of Sicily, who invited him to produce an up-to-date world map. Sicily was under Muslim rule before King Roger, and Muslim works were freely available for transmission to Europe through the Latin West. Al-Idrisi procured a ball of silver weighing approximately 400 kilograms and meticulously recorded on it the known continents with trade routes, lakes and rivers, major cities, and plains and mountains. His globe was accompanied by his book Al-Kitab al-Rujari (Roger’s Book). He also made a representation of the known world on a disk.
Al-Idrisi’s book Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq (The Delight of Him Who Desires to Journey Through the Climates) is a geographical encyclopedia which contains detailed maps and information on European countries, Africa and Asia. Later, he compiled a more comprehensive encyclopedia, entitled Rawd-Unnas wa-Nuzhat al-Nafs (Pleasure of Men and Delight of Souls). Al-Idrisi’s knowledge of the Niger above Timbuktu, the Sudan, and of the head waters of the Nile was remarkable for its accuracy.
Al-Idrisi also made major contributions in the science of medicinal plants and wrote several books. The most popular among them is entitled Kitab al-Jami-li-Sifat Ashtat al-Nabatat. He reviewed and synthesized all the literature on the subject of medicinal plants and associated drugs available to him from Muslim scientists and added to it his research collected from his travels. He contributed this material to the subject of botany with emphasis on medicinal plants. He describes the names of the drugs in several languages including Berber, Syriac, Persian, Hindi, Greek, and Latin. Idrisi also wrote on zoology and fauna.
Al-Idrisi became famous in Europe more than other Muslim geographers because ships and navigators from the North Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranenan frequented Sicily, which is located near the middle of the Mediterranean. Several of al-Idrisi’s books were translated into Latin and his books on geography were popular for several centuries. The translation of one of his books was published in 1619 in Rome. This translation was an abridged edition and the translator did not give credit to al-Idrisi. It is interesting that Europe took several centuries to make use of his globe and the world map. Christopher Columbus used the map which was originally taken from al-Idrisi’s work.
Al-Idrisi wrote about the empires of the western and central Sudanic regions of Africa and the east African city-states in his most famous work of world geography, The Book of Roger. The work, named for its commissioner Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily, was completed in 1154. Al-Idrisi was the first Arabic author to impute a European origin to the Sudanic states, perhaps because he wrote shortly after the conquests of Ghana by the north African Muslim Almoravids. He incorrectly reported that the Niger River flowed to the west, thereby creating much confusion among later geographers and explorers.
A world traveler, al-Idrisi’s collaboration with the Norman king of Sicily, Roger II, produced a major geography and several significant maps of the medieval world. These works served as models for productions in the field for more than five hundred years.
Al-Idrisi, whose full name was Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ‘Abd Allah ibn Idris al-Hammudi al-Hasani al-Idrisi, was born in 1100 in Sabtah (now Ceuta), Morocco. As his full name indicates, he was a Shi‘a Muslim, descended from the Prophet Muhammad, of the noble house of Alavi Idris, claimants to the caliphate. His family had migrated from Malaga and Algeciras in Spain to Sabtah and Tangiers in the eleventh century, and al-Idrisi studied in Cordoba, the capital of Islamic Spain.
Al-Idrisi was a student of medicine, a poet, a world traveler, and a merchant-adventurer. His wanderings, which began at age sixteen, eventually took al-Idrisi on the routes of many of the historic Muslim conquests. He traveled far and wide across much of the known world -- west to Madeira and the Canary Islands, north to France and England, and east to Asia Minor and Central Asia -- meticulously gathering information along the way about what he saw and what lay beyond.
A natural curiosity about the world, along with the wealth and freedom to satisfy it, was probably the principal motivation behind these journeys. Al-Idrisi’s identity as a great noble and a descendant of Muhammad periodically put his life in danger from assassins hired by rival Islamic noble houses or religious factions. This ever present danger probably kept him on the move. Whatever the cause of his wanderings, they gradually gained for him the reputation of a worldly-wise and learned man. Under the pretext of offering him protection from his enemies, but probably because of his growing fame as a scholar and traveler, in 1140 the Norman Christian king of Sicily, Roger II, invited al-Idrisi to join his court. Al-Idrisi’s acceptance of the offer led to a twenty-year stay at the Sicilian court and initiated a fifteen-year geographic and cartographic collaboration with Roger.
Sicily had been granted to Roger II and the Normans under the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1139, and he promptly made Palermo his capital. Before the coming of the Normans, Palermo also had been the capital of Islamic Sicily. During the Middle Ages, under both the Muslims and the Normans, Palermo was a major crossroads of the Mediterranean world. It was a traditional meeting place for sailors, merchants, pilgrims, crusaders, scholars, adventurers, and other travelers.
During Roger’s reign, Palermo also became an intellectual center of medieval Europe. Roger was interested in fostering learning of any kind, and he was generous with his patronage. Perhaps for pragmatic reasons of expansionism and trade, Roger was devoted to geography. Undoubtedly, he believed that al-Idrisi’s princely status might help him further his own political aims. In any case, he seems to have been dissatisfied with the existing Arabic and Greek works on geography and cartography. Thus, one of the major reasons for the summons to al-Idrisi.
At Roger’s court, al-Idrisi was honored as a noble, scholar, and traveler, and it was there that his real fame as a geographer and cartographer came. During the fifteen years of their collaboration, al-Idrisi produced a celestial globe, a disk-shaped 1.5 by 3.5 meter tablet map of the known world, and many other maps. The globe and the world map were made of solid silver, weighing 450 Roman pounds. The globe and map in turn were based on al-Idrisi’s encyclopedic geography, Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq (The Book of the Pleasure Excursion of One Who is Eager to Traverse the Regions of the World -- 1154, also known as Kitab ar-Rujari, or Book of Roger), which was completed under Roger’s patronage.
The world map and presumably also the globe fell into the hands of a mob in 1160 and were smashed, but many of the seventy manuscript maps made by al-Idrisi from the world map shortly before Roger’s death in 1154 luckily survived. Sadly, no complete version of Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq survives in any language. It first appeared in the West in Rome in an abridged version in1592 and was translated into Latin in Paris in 1619, but no full translation into English ever has been made.
After the death of Roger, al-Idrisi continued to work for his son and successor, King William I (William the Bad), and wrote another geographic treatise. No complete version of this second book survives either, but a shortened version, a seventy-three map atlas, remains.
In about 1160, al-Idrisi left Sicily for his native Morocco to live out his life, where sometime between 1164 and 1166 he died, probably near Sabtah.
Al-Idrisi’s great world map was a monument to medieval Islamic geography and cartography, but today it exists only in several reconstructions created by scholars from the surviving fragments of his works. It was divided into seven horizontal climatic zones (probably derived from the classical Greco-Roman worldview and the works of Ptolemy), each divided vertically into eleven sections to create a primitive grid, a system of longitude and latitude for more accurate place location. The map also contained a wealth of information, an abundance of detail, and a degree of clarity rarely achieved previously. It was most accurate for the Mediterranean region: perhaps understandably, Sicily is shown as an exceptionally large island. Its accuracy and detail also extended elsewhere. For example, al-Idrisi showed the source of the Nile River as an unnamed lake in Central Africa. Yet, while his maps were drawn very correctly for the time, they were not drawn mathematically.
On al-Idrisi’s world map, the Islamic and Norman worlds were joined. In preparation for the creation of al-Idrisi’s maps and geographies, Roger had sent out reliable agents and draftsmen to collect data from many lands. Al-Idrisi relied heavily on classic Muslim sources, such as the works of al-Khwarizmi and al-Masudi, and classic Greek, Roman, and Hellenistic sources, such as the works of Ptolemy, the father of modern geography and cartography. Al-Idrisi’s grid system (but not his projections) probably was based on those of Ptolemy and a copy of Ptolemy’s altered version of the world map of Marinus of Tyre. As his great world map demonstrates, however, al-Idrisi was often much more than a mere modifier of Ptolemy. Al-Idrisi also utilized Indian astronomical studies. Yet, perhaps most important, he relied heavily on his own journeys and those of other travelers for reliable information.
Al-Idrisi’s work was far more influential than Ptolemy’s in the East, but less so in Europe. Still, his maps opened European eyes to some of what the Muslims knew about Africa and Asia in the Middle Ages. Perhaps because he spent much of his adult life in the service of the Christian kings of Sicily, for centuries -- even into the twentieth century -- al-Idrisi and his achievements were ignored by Muslim scholars. In so doing, they deprived their Western counterparts of a fuller understanding of him as well. Only recently has al-Idrisi’s full impact begun to be realized, especially within the context of the study of the history of science and the history of cartography.
In short, al-Idrisi represents by far the best example of Islamic-Christian scientific collaboration in the Middle Ages in geography. Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq was the most important geographic work of the period, and in its various forms it served as a major European and Muslim textbook for several centuries. Maps clearly based on those of al-Idrisi were produced well into the seventeenth century. He applied scientific methodology and precision to the heretofore largely imaginative arts of geography and cartography. Al-Idrisi truly deserved the epithet “Strabo of the Arabs,” which was applied to him in his own lifetime.
Abu 'Abd Allah al-Idrisi see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Qurtubi, al-Sharif al-Idrisi al- see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Idres Ash-Sharif see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Sharif al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi, al- see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Dreses see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Strabo of the Arabs see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-(Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Idrisi) (al-Sharif al-Idrisi) (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Idres Ash-Sharif) (Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti) (al-Sharif al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi) (Dreses) (1100-1165/1166). Arab geographer, scientist, and author of one of the greatest geographic works of the medieval world.
Widely travelled throughout the Mediterranean region, he joined the court of Roger II of Sicily in about 1145 and worked in Palermo the remainder of his life. His major works include a silver planisphere showing a world map, a sectional map of the world, and a geography text (the Book of Roger) that contains information about his own travels and reports from persons sent from Sicily to obtain new information.
Al-Idrisi owes his fame to The Book of Roger, which he produced in 1154 on the orders of Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily. Al-Idrisi is best known in the West as a geographer, who made a globe of silver -- a sphere weighing 400 kilograms for King Roger II of Sicily. Some scholars regard him as the greatest geographer and cartographer of the Middle Ages. He also made original contributions in the study of medicinal plants.
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Idres Ash-Sharif was born in 1100 in Ceuta (North Africa) but he was raised and educated in Cordova in Spain. He is also known by his short name al-Sharif al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi.
Al-Idrisi was educated in Cordova. As was common with Muslim geographers, he traveled to many distant places, including Europe, to gather geographical data. The Muslim geographers by his time had already made accurate measurements of the Earth’s surface, and several maps of the whole world were available. Al-Idrisi added this available knowledge to his own findings. It is for this comprehensive knowledge of all parts of the known world that he became famous and began to get the attention of European sea navigators and military planners.
Al-Idrisi’s fame and competence eventually led to the attention of Roger II, the Norman King of Sicily, who invited him to produce an up-to-date world map. Sicily was under Muslim rule before King Roger, and Muslim works were freely available for transmission to Europe through the Latin West. Al-Idrisi procured a ball of silver weighing approximately 400 kilograms and meticulously recorded on it the known continents with trade routes, lakes and rivers, major cities, and plains and mountains. His globe was accompanied by his book Al-Kitab al-Rujari (Roger’s Book). He also made a representation of the known world on a disk.
Al-Idrisi’s book Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq (The Delight of Him Who Desires to Journey Through the Climates) is a geographical encyclopedia which contains detailed maps and information on European countries, Africa and Asia. Later, he compiled a more comprehensive encyclopedia, entitled Rawd-Unnas wa-Nuzhat al-Nafs (Pleasure of Men and Delight of Souls). Al-Idrisi’s knowledge of the Niger above Timbuktu, the Sudan, and of the head waters of the Nile was remarkable for its accuracy.
Al-Idrisi also made major contributions in the science of medicinal plants and wrote several books. The most popular among them is entitled Kitab al-Jami-li-Sifat Ashtat al-Nabatat. He reviewed and synthesized all the literature on the subject of medicinal plants and associated drugs available to him from Muslim scientists and added to it his research collected from his travels. He contributed this material to the subject of botany with emphasis on medicinal plants. He describes the names of the drugs in several languages including Berber, Syriac, Persian, Hindi, Greek, and Latin. Idrisi also wrote on zoology and fauna.
Al-Idrisi became famous in Europe more than other Muslim geographers because ships and navigators from the North Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranenan frequented Sicily, which is located near the middle of the Mediterranean. Several of al-Idrisi’s books were translated into Latin and his books on geography were popular for several centuries. The translation of one of his books was published in 1619 in Rome. This translation was an abridged edition and the translator did not give credit to al-Idrisi. It is interesting that Europe took several centuries to make use of his globe and the world map. Christopher Columbus used the map which was originally taken from al-Idrisi’s work.
Al-Idrisi wrote about the empires of the western and central Sudanic regions of Africa and the east African city-states in his most famous work of world geography, The Book of Roger. The work, named for its commissioner Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily, was completed in 1154. Al-Idrisi was the first Arabic author to impute a European origin to the Sudanic states, perhaps because he wrote shortly after the conquests of Ghana by the north African Muslim Almoravids. He incorrectly reported that the Niger River flowed to the west, thereby creating much confusion among later geographers and explorers.
A world traveler, al-Idrisi’s collaboration with the Norman king of Sicily, Roger II, produced a major geography and several significant maps of the medieval world. These works served as models for productions in the field for more than five hundred years.
Al-Idrisi, whose full name was Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ‘Abd Allah ibn Idris al-Hammudi al-Hasani al-Idrisi, was born in 1100 in Sabtah (now Ceuta), Morocco. As his full name indicates, he was a Shi‘a Muslim, descended from the Prophet Muhammad, of the noble house of Alavi Idris, claimants to the caliphate. His family had migrated from Malaga and Algeciras in Spain to Sabtah and Tangiers in the eleventh century, and al-Idrisi studied in Cordoba, the capital of Islamic Spain.
Al-Idrisi was a student of medicine, a poet, a world traveler, and a merchant-adventurer. His wanderings, which began at age sixteen, eventually took al-Idrisi on the routes of many of the historic Muslim conquests. He traveled far and wide across much of the known world -- west to Madeira and the Canary Islands, north to France and England, and east to Asia Minor and Central Asia -- meticulously gathering information along the way about what he saw and what lay beyond.
A natural curiosity about the world, along with the wealth and freedom to satisfy it, was probably the principal motivation behind these journeys. Al-Idrisi’s identity as a great noble and a descendant of Muhammad periodically put his life in danger from assassins hired by rival Islamic noble houses or religious factions. This ever present danger probably kept him on the move. Whatever the cause of his wanderings, they gradually gained for him the reputation of a worldly-wise and learned man. Under the pretext of offering him protection from his enemies, but probably because of his growing fame as a scholar and traveler, in 1140 the Norman Christian king of Sicily, Roger II, invited al-Idrisi to join his court. Al-Idrisi’s acceptance of the offer led to a twenty-year stay at the Sicilian court and initiated a fifteen-year geographic and cartographic collaboration with Roger.
Sicily had been granted to Roger II and the Normans under the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1139, and he promptly made Palermo his capital. Before the coming of the Normans, Palermo also had been the capital of Islamic Sicily. During the Middle Ages, under both the Muslims and the Normans, Palermo was a major crossroads of the Mediterranean world. It was a traditional meeting place for sailors, merchants, pilgrims, crusaders, scholars, adventurers, and other travelers.
During Roger’s reign, Palermo also became an intellectual center of medieval Europe. Roger was interested in fostering learning of any kind, and he was generous with his patronage. Perhaps for pragmatic reasons of expansionism and trade, Roger was devoted to geography. Undoubtedly, he believed that al-Idrisi’s princely status might help him further his own political aims. In any case, he seems to have been dissatisfied with the existing Arabic and Greek works on geography and cartography. Thus, one of the major reasons for the summons to al-Idrisi.
At Roger’s court, al-Idrisi was honored as a noble, scholar, and traveler, and it was there that his real fame as a geographer and cartographer came. During the fifteen years of their collaboration, al-Idrisi produced a celestial globe, a disk-shaped 1.5 by 3.5 meter tablet map of the known world, and many other maps. The globe and the world map were made of solid silver, weighing 450 Roman pounds. The globe and map in turn were based on al-Idrisi’s encyclopedic geography, Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq (The Book of the Pleasure Excursion of One Who is Eager to Traverse the Regions of the World -- 1154, also known as Kitab ar-Rujari, or Book of Roger), which was completed under Roger’s patronage.
The world map and presumably also the globe fell into the hands of a mob in 1160 and were smashed, but many of the seventy manuscript maps made by al-Idrisi from the world map shortly before Roger’s death in 1154 luckily survived. Sadly, no complete version of Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq survives in any language. It first appeared in the West in Rome in an abridged version in1592 and was translated into Latin in Paris in 1619, but no full translation into English ever has been made.
After the death of Roger, al-Idrisi continued to work for his son and successor, King William I (William the Bad), and wrote another geographic treatise. No complete version of this second book survives either, but a shortened version, a seventy-three map atlas, remains.
In about 1160, al-Idrisi left Sicily for his native Morocco to live out his life, where sometime between 1164 and 1166 he died, probably near Sabtah.
Al-Idrisi’s great world map was a monument to medieval Islamic geography and cartography, but today it exists only in several reconstructions created by scholars from the surviving fragments of his works. It was divided into seven horizontal climatic zones (probably derived from the classical Greco-Roman worldview and the works of Ptolemy), each divided vertically into eleven sections to create a primitive grid, a system of longitude and latitude for more accurate place location. The map also contained a wealth of information, an abundance of detail, and a degree of clarity rarely achieved previously. It was most accurate for the Mediterranean region: perhaps understandably, Sicily is shown as an exceptionally large island. Its accuracy and detail also extended elsewhere. For example, al-Idrisi showed the source of the Nile River as an unnamed lake in Central Africa. Yet, while his maps were drawn very correctly for the time, they were not drawn mathematically.
On al-Idrisi’s world map, the Islamic and Norman worlds were joined. In preparation for the creation of al-Idrisi’s maps and geographies, Roger had sent out reliable agents and draftsmen to collect data from many lands. Al-Idrisi relied heavily on classic Muslim sources, such as the works of al-Khwarizmi and al-Masudi, and classic Greek, Roman, and Hellenistic sources, such as the works of Ptolemy, the father of modern geography and cartography. Al-Idrisi’s grid system (but not his projections) probably was based on those of Ptolemy and a copy of Ptolemy’s altered version of the world map of Marinus of Tyre. As his great world map demonstrates, however, al-Idrisi was often much more than a mere modifier of Ptolemy. Al-Idrisi also utilized Indian astronomical studies. Yet, perhaps most important, he relied heavily on his own journeys and those of other travelers for reliable information.
Al-Idrisi’s work was far more influential than Ptolemy’s in the East, but less so in Europe. Still, his maps opened European eyes to some of what the Muslims knew about Africa and Asia in the Middle Ages. Perhaps because he spent much of his adult life in the service of the Christian kings of Sicily, for centuries -- even into the twentieth century -- al-Idrisi and his achievements were ignored by Muslim scholars. In so doing, they deprived their Western counterparts of a fuller understanding of him as well. Only recently has al-Idrisi’s full impact begun to be realized, especially within the context of the study of the history of science and the history of cartography.
In short, al-Idrisi represents by far the best example of Islamic-Christian scientific collaboration in the Middle Ages in geography. Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq was the most important geographic work of the period, and in its various forms it served as a major European and Muslim textbook for several centuries. Maps clearly based on those of al-Idrisi were produced well into the seventeenth century. He applied scientific methodology and precision to the heretofore largely imaginative arts of geography and cartography. Al-Idrisi truly deserved the epithet “Strabo of the Arabs,” which was applied to him in his own lifetime.
Abu 'Abd Allah al-Idrisi see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Qurtubi, al-Sharif al-Idrisi al- see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Idres Ash-Sharif see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Sharif al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi, al- see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Dreses see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Strabo of the Arabs see Idrisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Idrisids
Idrisids (Adarisa). First independent dynasty in Morocco (r.788-974). Their main capitals were Walila, and from 807, Fez. The Idrisids were founded by Idris I ibn Abdallah (r. 788-793), a descendant of the Prophet’s grandson, al-Hasan, who survived the massacre of the Abbasids following a revolt in Ali’s family in 786 and fled to Walila (Morocco). The Idrisids were thus connected with the line of the Shi‘a Imams.
Proclaimed imam by Berber tribes in northern Morocco, Idris I extended his territory as far as Tlemcen in 789 and founded Fez. Poisoned in 793, probably at the instigation of Harun al-Rashid, he is regarded as the national saint of Morocco. His son, Idris II (r. 793-828, ruling imam from 804) settled more and more Andalusian and Tunisians, developed Fez into the capital, and consolidated political power. When the son of Idris II, Muhammad (828-836), divided the realm between his eight brothers in 836, the dynasty fell apart, and was destroyed by internal power struggles.
In 788, Idris I became involved in an anti-‘Abbasid revolt near Mecca and was forced into exile to escape the persecution of Harun al-Rashid, the ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Idris sought refuge in present day Morocco, which some fifty years earlier had shaken caliphal rule. There he was welcomed by a recently converted Berber tribe, the Banu Awrabah. These Berbers were impressed with the idea of having a descendant of the Prophet to lead them and soon made Idris their chief. He rapidly united the Berber tribes of the area into a confederacy, and from this union emerged the first independent Islamic dynasty in Morocco.
Idris’s rule was short-lived. He was poisoned in 793 by an agent of Harun al-Rashid. Idris left no male heir at the time of his death, but he did leave behind a pregnant concubine, and it was her child, Idris II, who was to continue his father’s work.
Idris II was the true founder of the modern Moroccan state. Although his father had subjugated and converted many tribes adhering to Christianity, Judaism, or indigenous religions, he still remained dependent on the Awrabah tribe. Idris II stressed the Islamic-Arab character of Morocco in an attempt to detach himself from the Awrabah, inviting Arab chiefs and warriors from Spain to his court. In 809, Idris II achieved what could be considered one of the most durable and important results of the dynasty – the refounding of the city of Fez. Originally founded in 789 by Idris I, Fez was still a Berber market town when Idris II decided to establish his authority independently from the Awrabah and make Fez his capital city. The arrival of several waves of immigrants, first from Cordoba and later from Tunisia, gave Fez a definitive Arab character.
Among his political achievements, Idris II managed to consolidate under his rule most of what is today northern Morocco. To stabilize the government he organized Morocco’s first true makhzan (central government), an Arabic concept hitherto unknown to the Berber tribes of the region. In addition, the construction of the Qarawiyin and Andalus mosques as well as the Qarawiyin University, the oldest in the Muslim world, helped make Fez an important cultural and religious center.
Idris II was succeeded by his son Muhammad II. While retaining the title of imam and rule over the capital, Muhammad divided his father’s kingdom among his brothers, demonstrating a departure from the political sagacity that had been evident in both his father and grandfather. This also effectively undermined centralized control held by the Idrisids, as sections of the royal family and tribal groups engaged in a long struggle for power that characterized later Idrisid rule. Although a strong centralized state was not established in the Idrisid era, the political role of the sharifs was confirmed and has remained a significant element in Moroccan politics ever since.
Yahya I ibn Muhammad (r. 849-863) founded in 859 the two great mosques of Fez, that of the Qarawiyyin and that of al-Andalus.
After 917, the Idrisids fell first under the sovereignty of the Fatimids and from 932 of the Spanish Umayyads, who attacked Morocco on numerous occasions and forced the Idrisids from power. After various attempts at retreiving poltical freedom, the last Idrisids were captured by the troops of the Spanish Umayyads in the Rif and northwest Morocco in 974 and then deported to Cordoba, where the last ruler died in 985.
The Idrisid legacy was a foundation for independent Moroccan monarchic rule and sharifian political power.
A branch of the puritanical Idrisiya brotherhood arose in Yemen. Ahmad al-Idrisi, ruled from 1911 to 1934 over the highlands of Asir (on the Red Sea coast between the Hijaz and Yemen), until the highlands were annexed by Saudi Arabia.
A list of the Idrisid rulers includes:
* Idriss I - (788-791)
* Idris II - (791-828)
* Muhammad ibn Idris - (828-836)
* Ali ibn Idris, known as "Ali I" - (836-848)
* Yahya ibn Muhammad, known as "Yahya I" - (848-864)
* Yahya ibn Yahya, known as "Yahya II" - (864-874)
* Ali ibn Umar, known as "Ali II" - (874-883)
* Yahya ibn Al-Qassim, known as "Yahya III" - (883-904)
* Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar, known as "Yahya IV" - (904-917)
* Fatimid overlordship - (922-925)
* Al-Hajjam al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qassim - (925-927)
* Fatimid overlordship - (927-937)
* Al Qasim Guennoun - (937-948)
* Abu l-Aish Ahmad - (948-954)
* Al-Hasan ibn Guennoun, known as "Hassan II" - (954-974)
* Ali, Caliph of Cordoba in 1016
Adarisa see Idrisids
Idrisids (Adarisa). First independent dynasty in Morocco (r.788-974). Their main capitals were Walila, and from 807, Fez. The Idrisids were founded by Idris I ibn Abdallah (r. 788-793), a descendant of the Prophet’s grandson, al-Hasan, who survived the massacre of the Abbasids following a revolt in Ali’s family in 786 and fled to Walila (Morocco). The Idrisids were thus connected with the line of the Shi‘a Imams.
Proclaimed imam by Berber tribes in northern Morocco, Idris I extended his territory as far as Tlemcen in 789 and founded Fez. Poisoned in 793, probably at the instigation of Harun al-Rashid, he is regarded as the national saint of Morocco. His son, Idris II (r. 793-828, ruling imam from 804) settled more and more Andalusian and Tunisians, developed Fez into the capital, and consolidated political power. When the son of Idris II, Muhammad (828-836), divided the realm between his eight brothers in 836, the dynasty fell apart, and was destroyed by internal power struggles.
In 788, Idris I became involved in an anti-‘Abbasid revolt near Mecca and was forced into exile to escape the persecution of Harun al-Rashid, the ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Idris sought refuge in present day Morocco, which some fifty years earlier had shaken caliphal rule. There he was welcomed by a recently converted Berber tribe, the Banu Awrabah. These Berbers were impressed with the idea of having a descendant of the Prophet to lead them and soon made Idris their chief. He rapidly united the Berber tribes of the area into a confederacy, and from this union emerged the first independent Islamic dynasty in Morocco.
Idris’s rule was short-lived. He was poisoned in 793 by an agent of Harun al-Rashid. Idris left no male heir at the time of his death, but he did leave behind a pregnant concubine, and it was her child, Idris II, who was to continue his father’s work.
Idris II was the true founder of the modern Moroccan state. Although his father had subjugated and converted many tribes adhering to Christianity, Judaism, or indigenous religions, he still remained dependent on the Awrabah tribe. Idris II stressed the Islamic-Arab character of Morocco in an attempt to detach himself from the Awrabah, inviting Arab chiefs and warriors from Spain to his court. In 809, Idris II achieved what could be considered one of the most durable and important results of the dynasty – the refounding of the city of Fez. Originally founded in 789 by Idris I, Fez was still a Berber market town when Idris II decided to establish his authority independently from the Awrabah and make Fez his capital city. The arrival of several waves of immigrants, first from Cordoba and later from Tunisia, gave Fez a definitive Arab character.
Among his political achievements, Idris II managed to consolidate under his rule most of what is today northern Morocco. To stabilize the government he organized Morocco’s first true makhzan (central government), an Arabic concept hitherto unknown to the Berber tribes of the region. In addition, the construction of the Qarawiyin and Andalus mosques as well as the Qarawiyin University, the oldest in the Muslim world, helped make Fez an important cultural and religious center.
Idris II was succeeded by his son Muhammad II. While retaining the title of imam and rule over the capital, Muhammad divided his father’s kingdom among his brothers, demonstrating a departure from the political sagacity that had been evident in both his father and grandfather. This also effectively undermined centralized control held by the Idrisids, as sections of the royal family and tribal groups engaged in a long struggle for power that characterized later Idrisid rule. Although a strong centralized state was not established in the Idrisid era, the political role of the sharifs was confirmed and has remained a significant element in Moroccan politics ever since.
Yahya I ibn Muhammad (r. 849-863) founded in 859 the two great mosques of Fez, that of the Qarawiyyin and that of al-Andalus.
After 917, the Idrisids fell first under the sovereignty of the Fatimids and from 932 of the Spanish Umayyads, who attacked Morocco on numerous occasions and forced the Idrisids from power. After various attempts at retreiving poltical freedom, the last Idrisids were captured by the troops of the Spanish Umayyads in the Rif and northwest Morocco in 974 and then deported to Cordoba, where the last ruler died in 985.
The Idrisid legacy was a foundation for independent Moroccan monarchic rule and sharifian political power.
A branch of the puritanical Idrisiya brotherhood arose in Yemen. Ahmad al-Idrisi, ruled from 1911 to 1934 over the highlands of Asir (on the Red Sea coast between the Hijaz and Yemen), until the highlands were annexed by Saudi Arabia.
A list of the Idrisid rulers includes:
* Idriss I - (788-791)
* Idris II - (791-828)
* Muhammad ibn Idris - (828-836)
* Ali ibn Idris, known as "Ali I" - (836-848)
* Yahya ibn Muhammad, known as "Yahya I" - (848-864)
* Yahya ibn Yahya, known as "Yahya II" - (864-874)
* Ali ibn Umar, known as "Ali II" - (874-883)
* Yahya ibn Al-Qassim, known as "Yahya III" - (883-904)
* Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar, known as "Yahya IV" - (904-917)
* Fatimid overlordship - (922-925)
* Al-Hajjam al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qassim - (925-927)
* Fatimid overlordship - (927-937)
* Al Qasim Guennoun - (937-948)
* Abu l-Aish Ahmad - (948-954)
* Al-Hasan ibn Guennoun, known as "Hassan II" - (954-974)
* Ali, Caliph of Cordoba in 1016
Adarisa see Idrisids
Idrisiyah
Idrisiyah. The thought and teachings of Ahmad ibn Idris (1749/50-1837) gave rise to a spiritual tradition and various Sufi orders. The term Idrisiyah is used here in two senses: (1) to refer to various Sufi brotherhoods and schools established by his students, and (2) to the tariqah established by his descendants over a generation after Ibn Idris’s death.
In its first sense, Idrisiyah may be used to describe the geographically very widespread and multi-faceted tradition derived from Ahmad ibn Idris through his numerous students. By no means have all the branches of this tradition been fully charted. Within the Idrisiyah tradition, one can distinguish a group of students, direct and indirect, including the Egyptians ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Haqq al-Qusi (1788-1877) and Muhammad Nur al-Din al-Husayni (1813-1887), who spread knowledge of Ibn Idris’s prayers and litanies in Egypt and the Balkans. There were several such figures within the Ottoman Empire. Similar figures elsewhere include the noted Sudanese teacher Muhammad al-Majdhub (d. 1832) from the Majadhib holy clan. Most of these figures did not attempt to establish tariqahs as such.
Ahmad ibn Idris himself did not attempt to found any form of organized brotherhood. Although earlier writers have described a conflict over spiritual succession following the master’s death, in reality his students seem each to have gone his own way. His senior students Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Sanusi, and Muhammad ‘Uthman al-Mirghani worked to establish their own orders, the Sanusiyah and Khatmiyah, respectively. A Sudanese student, Ibrahim al-Rashid al-Duwayhi (1813-1874), seems to have been recognized at least by Ibn Idris’s sons as their father’s spiritual heir. He established a tariqah called the Idrisiyah, but later known as the Rashidiyah. This order spread in the Hejaz, India, Somalia, and the Sudan.
After his death in Mecca, Ibrahim al-Rashid’s nephew al-Shaykh ibn Muhammad al-Duwayhi (c. 1845-1919) took over the order, which became known as the Salihiyah. The Salihiyah spread widely in Somalia, where one of its most active proponents was the Somali leader Muhammad ‘Abd Allah Hasan (1864-1920), the so-called “Mad Mullah” who led Somali resistance to the British, Italians, and Ethiopians. From Somalia, the Salihiyah tariqah spread along the East African coast as far as Zanzibar. Much less is known of the diffusion of the Idrisiyah, Salihiyah (and later, the Dandarawiyah) tariqah to Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia from about the 1880s onward, presumably by pilgrims returning from the holy cities. There is now a considerable literature on this tradition in the various Malay languages, including translations of Ibn Idris’s prayers.
An important and vigorous offshoot of the Salihiyah was established by the Egyptian Muhammad Ahmad al-Dandarawi (d. 1910/11) and his son, Abu al-‘Abbas (d. 1953). The Dandarawiyah spread in Egypt, where it has become one of the most active and influential brotherhoods, as well as in Syria, Somalia and East Africa, Europe, and Malaysia. Several scholars within the Dandarawiyah tradition, including the Egyptian Muhammad ibn Khalil al-Hajrasi (d. 1910) and the Syrian Muhammad Baha‘ al-Din al-Baytar (d. 1910), wrote extensive commentaries on the prayers and litanies of Ibn Idris.
Ibn Idris’s eldest son, known as Muhammad al-Qutb (1803/04-1889), lived his long life in seclusion in Yemen. It was a younger son, ‘Abd al-‘Al (otherwise ‘Abd al-Muta ‘al, 1830/31-1878), who worked actively to propagate his father’s way in Egypt and the Sudan. Educated by al-Sanusi, whom he accompanied to Cyrenaica, ‘Abd al-‘Al left the Sanusiyah after al-Sanusi’s death in 1859. He settled first in Egypt at al-Zayniyya (Luxor) where his father had lived from 1813 to 1816. Until today, this has remained the center of the Idrisiyah family and order in Egypt. He then traveled in the northern Sudan, where he married several times. He died and was buried in Dongola. It was ‘Abd al-‘Al’s son Muhammad al-Sharif (1866/67-1937) and his son Mirghani al-Idrisi (d. 1959) who consolidated the Idrisiyah in both Upper Egypt and the Sudan.
In contrast to the Khatmiyah and Sanusiyah, the Idrisiyah of Egypt and the Sudan have never played a particularly overt political role. Membership has remained small and confined to particular tribes or regions. Generally a “silent” dhikr is practiced, and no attempt has been made to “modernize” the order. In Egypt, there is a small offshoot founded by Salih ibn Muhammad al-Ja‘fari (d. 1981), and al-Azhar ‘alim who published numerous works by or on Ibn Idris.
An exception to this political quietism was the career of Ibn Idris’s great-grandson Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Idrisi (1876-1923). Sometimes called “al-Yamani,” he was often referred to in contemporary European sources as “The Idrisi.” Born in Asir, he studied in Mecca, at al-Azhar in Cairo, and with the Sanusiyah in Libya before spending a period with his Idrisi relatives in Egypt and the Sudan. In 1905/06 he returned to Asir and in the following year led a successful revolt against the local Turkish administration. Between 1908 and 1932, the Idrisi state of Asir was a factor of some importance in the politics of Arabia. Al-Idrisi negotiated with the Italians, the Young Turks, and the British, published a proclamation denouncing the Ottoman state and urging Arab independence, and built up a local army. After his death, the state rapidly declined and was peacefully absorbed into the Saudi state in 1932.
Idrisiyah. The thought and teachings of Ahmad ibn Idris (1749/50-1837) gave rise to a spiritual tradition and various Sufi orders. The term Idrisiyah is used here in two senses: (1) to refer to various Sufi brotherhoods and schools established by his students, and (2) to the tariqah established by his descendants over a generation after Ibn Idris’s death.
In its first sense, Idrisiyah may be used to describe the geographically very widespread and multi-faceted tradition derived from Ahmad ibn Idris through his numerous students. By no means have all the branches of this tradition been fully charted. Within the Idrisiyah tradition, one can distinguish a group of students, direct and indirect, including the Egyptians ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Haqq al-Qusi (1788-1877) and Muhammad Nur al-Din al-Husayni (1813-1887), who spread knowledge of Ibn Idris’s prayers and litanies in Egypt and the Balkans. There were several such figures within the Ottoman Empire. Similar figures elsewhere include the noted Sudanese teacher Muhammad al-Majdhub (d. 1832) from the Majadhib holy clan. Most of these figures did not attempt to establish tariqahs as such.
Ahmad ibn Idris himself did not attempt to found any form of organized brotherhood. Although earlier writers have described a conflict over spiritual succession following the master’s death, in reality his students seem each to have gone his own way. His senior students Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Sanusi, and Muhammad ‘Uthman al-Mirghani worked to establish their own orders, the Sanusiyah and Khatmiyah, respectively. A Sudanese student, Ibrahim al-Rashid al-Duwayhi (1813-1874), seems to have been recognized at least by Ibn Idris’s sons as their father’s spiritual heir. He established a tariqah called the Idrisiyah, but later known as the Rashidiyah. This order spread in the Hejaz, India, Somalia, and the Sudan.
After his death in Mecca, Ibrahim al-Rashid’s nephew al-Shaykh ibn Muhammad al-Duwayhi (c. 1845-1919) took over the order, which became known as the Salihiyah. The Salihiyah spread widely in Somalia, where one of its most active proponents was the Somali leader Muhammad ‘Abd Allah Hasan (1864-1920), the so-called “Mad Mullah” who led Somali resistance to the British, Italians, and Ethiopians. From Somalia, the Salihiyah tariqah spread along the East African coast as far as Zanzibar. Much less is known of the diffusion of the Idrisiyah, Salihiyah (and later, the Dandarawiyah) tariqah to Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia from about the 1880s onward, presumably by pilgrims returning from the holy cities. There is now a considerable literature on this tradition in the various Malay languages, including translations of Ibn Idris’s prayers.
An important and vigorous offshoot of the Salihiyah was established by the Egyptian Muhammad Ahmad al-Dandarawi (d. 1910/11) and his son, Abu al-‘Abbas (d. 1953). The Dandarawiyah spread in Egypt, where it has become one of the most active and influential brotherhoods, as well as in Syria, Somalia and East Africa, Europe, and Malaysia. Several scholars within the Dandarawiyah tradition, including the Egyptian Muhammad ibn Khalil al-Hajrasi (d. 1910) and the Syrian Muhammad Baha‘ al-Din al-Baytar (d. 1910), wrote extensive commentaries on the prayers and litanies of Ibn Idris.
Ibn Idris’s eldest son, known as Muhammad al-Qutb (1803/04-1889), lived his long life in seclusion in Yemen. It was a younger son, ‘Abd al-‘Al (otherwise ‘Abd al-Muta ‘al, 1830/31-1878), who worked actively to propagate his father’s way in Egypt and the Sudan. Educated by al-Sanusi, whom he accompanied to Cyrenaica, ‘Abd al-‘Al left the Sanusiyah after al-Sanusi’s death in 1859. He settled first in Egypt at al-Zayniyya (Luxor) where his father had lived from 1813 to 1816. Until today, this has remained the center of the Idrisiyah family and order in Egypt. He then traveled in the northern Sudan, where he married several times. He died and was buried in Dongola. It was ‘Abd al-‘Al’s son Muhammad al-Sharif (1866/67-1937) and his son Mirghani al-Idrisi (d. 1959) who consolidated the Idrisiyah in both Upper Egypt and the Sudan.
In contrast to the Khatmiyah and Sanusiyah, the Idrisiyah of Egypt and the Sudan have never played a particularly overt political role. Membership has remained small and confined to particular tribes or regions. Generally a “silent” dhikr is practiced, and no attempt has been made to “modernize” the order. In Egypt, there is a small offshoot founded by Salih ibn Muhammad al-Ja‘fari (d. 1981), and al-Azhar ‘alim who published numerous works by or on Ibn Idris.
An exception to this political quietism was the career of Ibn Idris’s great-grandson Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Idrisi (1876-1923). Sometimes called “al-Yamani,” he was often referred to in contemporary European sources as “The Idrisi.” Born in Asir, he studied in Mecca, at al-Azhar in Cairo, and with the Sanusiyah in Libya before spending a period with his Idrisi relatives in Egypt and the Sudan. In 1905/06 he returned to Asir and in the following year led a successful revolt against the local Turkish administration. Between 1908 and 1932, the Idrisi state of Asir was a factor of some importance in the politics of Arabia. Al-Idrisi negotiated with the Italians, the Young Turks, and the British, published a proclamation denouncing the Ottoman state and urging Arab independence, and built up a local army. After his death, the state rapidly declined and was peacefully absorbed into the Saudi state in 1932.
Idris Katagarmabe
Idris Katagarmabe (d. c. 1526). Ruler of the Kanuri state of Bornu from around 1503 to around 1526. His father, ‘Ali Gaji, had ended a long period of strife between two families within the Sefawa royal dynasty. Idris thus felt strong enough to march against the Bulala people, who had forced the Kanuri to abandon Kanem for Bornu in the late 14th century. He defeated the Bulala in two campaigns, and briefly reoccupied the old Kanem capital. Despite these victories, the Bulala state remained more powerful than Bornu according to Leo Africanus.
Katagarmabe, Idris see Idris Katagarmabe
Idris Katagarmabe (d. c. 1526). Ruler of the Kanuri state of Bornu from around 1503 to around 1526. His father, ‘Ali Gaji, had ended a long period of strife between two families within the Sefawa royal dynasty. Idris thus felt strong enough to march against the Bulala people, who had forced the Kanuri to abandon Kanem for Bornu in the late 14th century. He defeated the Bulala in two campaigns, and briefly reoccupied the old Kanem capital. Despite these victories, the Bulala state remained more powerful than Bornu according to Leo Africanus.
Katagarmabe, Idris see Idris Katagarmabe
Ifran, Banu
Ifran, Banu (Banu Ifran) (Banou Ifran) (Ifran) (Ifranid) . Most important branch of the large Berber tribe of the Zanata, whose presence in Tripolitania, Wargla, Ifriqiya, the Maghrib and Spain is recorded from the seventh century onwards.
The Banu Ifran or Ifran or Ifranid, a Berber tribe, prominent in the history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic North Africa. Tlemcen in present-day Algeria was a capital of the Kingdom of Banu Ifran (790 - 1068).
The Banu Ifran, the children of the Afri resisted or revolted against the foreign occupiers of their Africa -(Romans, Vandals, Byzantines). In the 7th century, they sided with Kahina in her resistance against the Muslim Umayyad invaders. In the 8th century, they mobilized around the dogma of Sufri in revolting against the Arab Umayyads and Abbasids. In the 10th century, they founded a dynasty opposed to the Fatimids, the Zirids, the Umayyads, the Hammadids and the Maghraoua. The Banu Ifran was defeated by the Almoravids and the invading Yemeni Arabs Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym - Hammadid to the end of the 11th century. The Ifranid dynasty was recognized as the only dynasty that defended the indigenous people of the Maghreb, and, by the Romans, were referred to as the Africani.
In 11th century Iberia, the Banou Ifran conquered and built the city of Ronda in Andalusia and governed from Cordoba for several centuries.
The Roman name Africa means Land of the Afri, the indigenous inhabitants of North Africa. Ifran is a plural for Afar, Efri or Ifri, and ifri means cave in Berber and was also the name of a cave goddess.
The Banu Ifran were one of the four major tribes of the Zenata or Gaetulia confederation. Their name probably derives from ifri, a Berber word meaning cave. They first came to notice when their chief Abu Qurra rebuilt the city of Tlemcen in Algeria in 765 (formerly it was a Roman city named Pomaria). They opposed the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate, aligning themselves with the Maghrawa tribe and the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, although they themselves became Kharijites. Led by Abu Yazid, they surged east and attacked Kairouan in 945. Another leader, Ya'la ibn Muhammad captured Oran and constructed a new capital, Ifgan, near Mascara. The Fatimids struck back hard. Their able general Jawhar killed Ya'la in battle in 954 and destroyed Ifgan, and for some time afterward the Banu Ifran reverted to being scattered nomads in perpetual competition with their Sanhaja neighbors. Some went to Spain, where they settled in Malaga and other places. Others, led by Hammama, managed to gain control of the Moroccan province of Tadla. Later, led by Abu al-Kamāl, they established a new capital at Salé on the Atlantic coast. During this period they began conflict with the Barghawata tribes on the seaboard.
During the 11th century the Banu Ifran contested with the Maghrawa tribe for the sovereignty over the former Idrisid Kingdom of Fes. Ya'la's son Yaddū took Fes by surprise in January 993 and held it for some months until the Maghrawa ruler Ziri ibn Atiyya returned from Spain and regained control after some bloody battles.
In May or June of 1033, Fes was recaptured by Ya'la's grandson Tamīm. Fanatically devoted to religion, he began a persecution of the Berber Jews, and is said to have killed 6000 of their men while confiscating their wealth and women . Sometime in the period 1038-1040 the Maghrawa tribe re-took Fes, forcing Tamīm to flee to Salé.
Soon after that time, the Almoravids began their rise to power and effectively eliminated and exterminated both the Banu Ifran and their brother-rivals the Maghrawa.
The leaders of the Banu Ifran have included:
* Abu Qurra Tlemcen 736 - 790.
o Abou Yazid Tozeur 873 - 947
+ Abd-Allah-Ibn-Bekkar Tlemcen
# Yala Ibn Mohamed Ifgan near Mascara 950 - 958
* Yeddou 958 - Fez 993
o Habbous 993 - Fez 1029
+ Temim Ibn Ziri 1029 Salé - 1035
# Abou -l- Kemal 1036 Salé - 1054
# Yocuf 1055-1056
# Hammad 1056- 1066
# Mohamed 1066
Banu Ifran see Ifran, Banu
Ifran see Ifran, Banu
Ifranid see Ifran, Banu
Banou Ifran see Ifran, Banu
Ifran, Banu (Banu Ifran) (Banou Ifran) (Ifran) (Ifranid) . Most important branch of the large Berber tribe of the Zanata, whose presence in Tripolitania, Wargla, Ifriqiya, the Maghrib and Spain is recorded from the seventh century onwards.
The Banu Ifran or Ifran or Ifranid, a Berber tribe, prominent in the history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic North Africa. Tlemcen in present-day Algeria was a capital of the Kingdom of Banu Ifran (790 - 1068).
The Banu Ifran, the children of the Afri resisted or revolted against the foreign occupiers of their Africa -(Romans, Vandals, Byzantines). In the 7th century, they sided with Kahina in her resistance against the Muslim Umayyad invaders. In the 8th century, they mobilized around the dogma of Sufri in revolting against the Arab Umayyads and Abbasids. In the 10th century, they founded a dynasty opposed to the Fatimids, the Zirids, the Umayyads, the Hammadids and the Maghraoua. The Banu Ifran was defeated by the Almoravids and the invading Yemeni Arabs Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym - Hammadid to the end of the 11th century. The Ifranid dynasty was recognized as the only dynasty that defended the indigenous people of the Maghreb, and, by the Romans, were referred to as the Africani.
In 11th century Iberia, the Banou Ifran conquered and built the city of Ronda in Andalusia and governed from Cordoba for several centuries.
The Roman name Africa means Land of the Afri, the indigenous inhabitants of North Africa. Ifran is a plural for Afar, Efri or Ifri, and ifri means cave in Berber and was also the name of a cave goddess.
The Banu Ifran were one of the four major tribes of the Zenata or Gaetulia confederation. Their name probably derives from ifri, a Berber word meaning cave. They first came to notice when their chief Abu Qurra rebuilt the city of Tlemcen in Algeria in 765 (formerly it was a Roman city named Pomaria). They opposed the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate, aligning themselves with the Maghrawa tribe and the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, although they themselves became Kharijites. Led by Abu Yazid, they surged east and attacked Kairouan in 945. Another leader, Ya'la ibn Muhammad captured Oran and constructed a new capital, Ifgan, near Mascara. The Fatimids struck back hard. Their able general Jawhar killed Ya'la in battle in 954 and destroyed Ifgan, and for some time afterward the Banu Ifran reverted to being scattered nomads in perpetual competition with their Sanhaja neighbors. Some went to Spain, where they settled in Malaga and other places. Others, led by Hammama, managed to gain control of the Moroccan province of Tadla. Later, led by Abu al-Kamāl, they established a new capital at Salé on the Atlantic coast. During this period they began conflict with the Barghawata tribes on the seaboard.
During the 11th century the Banu Ifran contested with the Maghrawa tribe for the sovereignty over the former Idrisid Kingdom of Fes. Ya'la's son Yaddū took Fes by surprise in January 993 and held it for some months until the Maghrawa ruler Ziri ibn Atiyya returned from Spain and regained control after some bloody battles.
In May or June of 1033, Fes was recaptured by Ya'la's grandson Tamīm. Fanatically devoted to religion, he began a persecution of the Berber Jews, and is said to have killed 6000 of their men while confiscating their wealth and women . Sometime in the period 1038-1040 the Maghrawa tribe re-took Fes, forcing Tamīm to flee to Salé.
Soon after that time, the Almoravids began their rise to power and effectively eliminated and exterminated both the Banu Ifran and their brother-rivals the Maghrawa.
The leaders of the Banu Ifran have included:
* Abu Qurra Tlemcen 736 - 790.
o Abou Yazid Tozeur 873 - 947
+ Abd-Allah-Ibn-Bekkar Tlemcen
# Yala Ibn Mohamed Ifgan near Mascara 950 - 958
* Yeddou 958 - Fez 993
o Habbous 993 - Fez 1029
+ Temim Ibn Ziri 1029 Salé - 1035
# Abou -l- Kemal 1036 Salé - 1054
# Yocuf 1055-1056
# Hammad 1056- 1066
# Mohamed 1066
Banu Ifran see Ifran, Banu
Ifran see Ifran, Banu
Ifranid see Ifran, Banu
Banou Ifran see Ifran, Banu
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