Nabataeans (in Arabic, Nabat). The Arabs distinguish between the Nabataeans of Syria, installed at Petra towards the end of the Hellenistic imperial era and at the beginning of the Roman one, and those of Iraq.
The Nabataeans (Arabic: al-Anbāṭ) were an ancient Semitic people, Arabs of southern Jordan, Canaan and the northern part of Arabia, whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus (37 – c. 100), gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. Their loosely-controlled trading network, which centered on strings of oases that they controlled, where agriculture was intensively practiced in limited areas, and on the routes that linked them, had no securely defined boundaries in the surrounding desert. Trajan conquered the Nabataean kingdom, annexing it to the Roman Empire, where their individual culture, easily identified by their characteristic finely-potted painted ceramics, became dispersed in the general Greco-Roman culture and was eventually lost.
Many examples of graffiti and inscriptions — largely of names and greetings — document the area of Nabataean culture, which extended as far north as the north end of the Dead Sea, and testify to widespread literacy. However, no Nabataean literature has survived, nor was any noted in antiquity, and the temples bear no inscriptions. Analysis has suggested that the Nabataean culture may have embraced multiple ethnicities. Classical references to the Nabataeans begin with Diodorus Siculus. They suggest that the Nabataeans' trade routes and the origins of their goods were regarded as trade secrets, and disguised in tales that should have strained outsiders' credulity. Diodorus Siculus (book ii) described them as a strong tribe of some 10,000 warriors, pre-eminent among the nomads
of Arabia, eschewing agriculture, fixed houses, and the use of wine, but adding to pastoral pursuits a profitable trade with the seaports in frankincense and myrrh and spices from Arabia Felix (today's Yemen), as well as a trade with Egypt in bitumen from the Dead Sea. Their arid country was their best safeguard, for the bottle-shaped cisterns for rain-water which they excavated in the rocky or clay-rich soil were carefully concealed from invaders.
The extent of Nabataean trade resulted in cross-cultural influences that reached as far as the Red Sea coast of southern Arabia. The gods worshipped at Petra were headed by Dushara and al-Uzza.
The Babylonian captivity of Hebrews that began in 586 B.C.T. opened a power vacuum in Judah, and as Edomites moved into Judaean grazing lands, Nabataean inscriptions began to be left in Edomite territory. The first definite appearance was in 312 B.C.T., when they were attacked at Petra without success by Antigonus I. At that time, Hieronymus of Cardia, a Seleucid officer, mentioned the Nabateans in a battle report.
Petra or Sela was the ancient capital of Edom. The Nabataeans must have occupied the old Edomite country, and succeeded to its commerce, after the Edomites took advantage of the Babylonian captivity to press forward into southern Judaea. This migration, the date of which cannot be determined, also made them masters of the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba and the important harbor of Elath. Here, according to Agatharchides, they were for a time very troublesome, as wreckers and pirates, to the reopened commerce between Egypt and the East, until they were chastised by the Ptolemaic rulers of Alexandria.
The Nabataeans had already some tincture of foreign culture when they first appear in history. That culture was naturally Aramaic; they wrote a letter to Antigonus in Syriac letters, and Aramaic continued to be the language of their coins and inscriptions when the tribe grew into a kingdom, and profited by the decay of the Seleucids to extend its borders northward over the more fertile country east of the Jordan. They occupied Hauran, and in about 85 B.C.T. their king Aretas III became lord of Damascus and Coele-Syria. Nabataeans became the Arabic name for Aramaeans, whether in Syria or Iraq, a fact which has been incorrectly held to prove that the Nabataeans were originally Aramaean immigrants from Babylonia. Proper names on their inscriptions suggest that they were true Arabs who had come under Aramaic influence.
The language of the Nabataean inscriptions, attested from the 2nd century B.C.T., shows a local development of the Aramaic language, which had ceased to have super-regional importance after the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire (330 B.C.T.). The Nabataean alphabet itself also developed out of the Aramaic alphabet.
This Aramaic dialect was increasingly affected by the Arabic dialect of the local population. From the 4th century of the Christian calendar, the Arabic influence becomes overwhelming, in a way that it may be said the Nabataean language shifted seamlessly from Aramaic to Arabic. The Arabic alphabet itself developed out of cursive variants of the Nabataean script in the 5th century of the Christian calendar..
The Nabataeans were allies of the first Hasmoneans in their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. They then became rivals of the Judaean dynasty in the period of its splendor, and a chief element in the disorders which invited Pompey's intervention in Judea. Many Nabataeans were forcefully converted to Judaism by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus. It was this King who after putting down a local rebellion invaded and occupied the Nabatean towns of Moab and Gilead and imposed a tribute of an unspecified amount. Obodas I knew that Alexander would attack, so was able to ambush Alexander's forces near Gaulane destroying the Judean army (90 B.C.T.).
The Roman military was not very successful in their campaigns against the Nabataeans. In 62 B.C.T., Marcus Aemilius Scaurus accepted a bribe of 300 talents to lift the siege of Petra, partly because of the difficult terrain and the fact Scaurus had run out of food provisions. Hyrcanus who was a friend of Aretas was dispatched by Scaurus to the King to buy peace. In so obtaining peace King Aretas retained his whole possessions, including Damascus and became a Roman vassal.
During the King Malichus II reign, in 32 B.C.T., Herod the Great started a war against Nabatea, with the support of Cleopatra. The war started with Herod's army plundering Nabataea and with a large cavalry force, and the occupation of Dium. After this defeat the Nabatean forces amassed near Canatha in Syria, but were attacked and routed. Athenio (Cleopatra's General) sent Canathans to the aid of the Nabateans, and this force crushed Herod's army which then fled to Ormiza. One year later, Herod's army overran Nabataea.
After an earthquake in Judea, the Nabateans rebelled and invaded Israel, but Herod at once crossed the Jordan river to Philadelphia (modern Amman) and both sides set up camp. The Nabateans under Elthemus refused to give battle, so Herod forced the issue when he attacked their camp. A confused mass of Nabateans gave battle but were defeated. Once the defeated had retreated to their defenses, Herod laid siege to the camp and over time some of the defenders surrendered. The remaining Nabatean forces offered 500 talents for peace but this was rejected. Lacking water, the Nabateans were forced out of their camp for battle, but were defeated in this last battle.
An ally of the Roman Empire, the Nabataean kingdom continued to flourish throughout the first century. Its power extended far into Arabia along the Red Sea to Yemen, and Petra was a cosmopolitan marketplace, though its commerce was diminished by the rise of the Eastern trade-route from Myoshormus to Coptos on the Nile. Under the Pax Romana they lost their warlike and nomadic habits, and were a sober, acquisitive, orderly people, wholly intent on trade and agriculture.
The kingdom was a bulwark between Rome and the wild hordes of the desert but for Trajan, who reduced Petra and broke up the Nabataean nationality as the short-lived Roman province of Arabia Petraea.
By the third century, the Nabateans had stopped writing in Aramaic and begun writing in Greek instead, and by the fourth century they had converted to Christianity. The new Arab invaders who soon pressed forward into their seats found the remnants of the Nabataeans transformed into-- peasants. Their lands were divided between the new Qahtanite Arab tribal kingdoms of the Byzantine vassals the Ghassanid Arabs and the Himyarite vassals the Kindah Arab Kingdom in North Arabia.
The city of Petra was brought to the attention of Westerners by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.
Nabat see Nabataeans
Anbat, al- see Nabataeans
The extent of Nabataean trade resulted in cross-cultural influences that reached as far as the Red Sea coast of southern Arabia. The gods worshipped at Petra were headed by Dushara and al-Uzza.
The Babylonian captivity of Hebrews that began in 586 B.C.T. opened a power vacuum in Judah, and as Edomites moved into Judaean grazing lands, Nabataean inscriptions began to be left in Edomite territory. The first definite appearance was in 312 B.C.T., when they were attacked at Petra without success by Antigonus I. At that time, Hieronymus of Cardia, a Seleucid officer, mentioned the Nabateans in a battle report.
Petra or Sela was the ancient capital of Edom. The Nabataeans must have occupied the old Edomite country, and succeeded to its commerce, after the Edomites took advantage of the Babylonian captivity to press forward into southern Judaea. This migration, the date of which cannot be determined, also made them masters of the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba and the important harbor of Elath. Here, according to Agatharchides, they were for a time very troublesome, as wreckers and pirates, to the reopened commerce between Egypt and the East, until they were chastised by the Ptolemaic rulers of Alexandria.
The Nabataeans had already some tincture of foreign culture when they first appear in history. That culture was naturally Aramaic; they wrote a letter to Antigonus in Syriac letters, and Aramaic continued to be the language of their coins and inscriptions when the tribe grew into a kingdom, and profited by the decay of the Seleucids to extend its borders northward over the more fertile country east of the Jordan. They occupied Hauran, and in about 85 B.C.T. their king Aretas III became lord of Damascus and Coele-Syria. Nabataeans became the Arabic name for Aramaeans, whether in Syria or Iraq, a fact which has been incorrectly held to prove that the Nabataeans were originally Aramaean immigrants from Babylonia. Proper names on their inscriptions suggest that they were true Arabs who had come under Aramaic influence.
The language of the Nabataean inscriptions, attested from the 2nd century B.C.T., shows a local development of the Aramaic language, which had ceased to have super-regional importance after the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire (330 B.C.T.). The Nabataean alphabet itself also developed out of the Aramaic alphabet.
This Aramaic dialect was increasingly affected by the Arabic dialect of the local population. From the 4th century of the Christian calendar, the Arabic influence becomes overwhelming, in a way that it may be said the Nabataean language shifted seamlessly from Aramaic to Arabic. The Arabic alphabet itself developed out of cursive variants of the Nabataean script in the 5th century of the Christian calendar..
The Nabataeans were allies of the first Hasmoneans in their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. They then became rivals of the Judaean dynasty in the period of its splendor, and a chief element in the disorders which invited Pompey's intervention in Judea. Many Nabataeans were forcefully converted to Judaism by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus. It was this King who after putting down a local rebellion invaded and occupied the Nabatean towns of Moab and Gilead and imposed a tribute of an unspecified amount. Obodas I knew that Alexander would attack, so was able to ambush Alexander's forces near Gaulane destroying the Judean army (90 B.C.T.).
The Roman military was not very successful in their campaigns against the Nabataeans. In 62 B.C.T., Marcus Aemilius Scaurus accepted a bribe of 300 talents to lift the siege of Petra, partly because of the difficult terrain and the fact Scaurus had run out of food provisions. Hyrcanus who was a friend of Aretas was dispatched by Scaurus to the King to buy peace. In so obtaining peace King Aretas retained his whole possessions, including Damascus and became a Roman vassal.
During the King Malichus II reign, in 32 B.C.T., Herod the Great started a war against Nabatea, with the support of Cleopatra. The war started with Herod's army plundering Nabataea and with a large cavalry force, and the occupation of Dium. After this defeat the Nabatean forces amassed near Canatha in Syria, but were attacked and routed. Athenio (Cleopatra's General) sent Canathans to the aid of the Nabateans, and this force crushed Herod's army which then fled to Ormiza. One year later, Herod's army overran Nabataea.
After an earthquake in Judea, the Nabateans rebelled and invaded Israel, but Herod at once crossed the Jordan river to Philadelphia (modern Amman) and both sides set up camp. The Nabateans under Elthemus refused to give battle, so Herod forced the issue when he attacked their camp. A confused mass of Nabateans gave battle but were defeated. Once the defeated had retreated to their defenses, Herod laid siege to the camp and over time some of the defenders surrendered. The remaining Nabatean forces offered 500 talents for peace but this was rejected. Lacking water, the Nabateans were forced out of their camp for battle, but were defeated in this last battle.
An ally of the Roman Empire, the Nabataean kingdom continued to flourish throughout the first century. Its power extended far into Arabia along the Red Sea to Yemen, and Petra was a cosmopolitan marketplace, though its commerce was diminished by the rise of the Eastern trade-route from Myoshormus to Coptos on the Nile. Under the Pax Romana they lost their warlike and nomadic habits, and were a sober, acquisitive, orderly people, wholly intent on trade and agriculture.
The kingdom was a bulwark between Rome and the wild hordes of the desert but for Trajan, who reduced Petra and broke up the Nabataean nationality as the short-lived Roman province of Arabia Petraea.
By the third century, the Nabateans had stopped writing in Aramaic and begun writing in Greek instead, and by the fourth century they had converted to Christianity. The new Arab invaders who soon pressed forward into their seats found the remnants of the Nabataeans transformed into-- peasants. Their lands were divided between the new Qahtanite Arab tribal kingdoms of the Byzantine vassals the Ghassanid Arabs and the Himyarite vassals the Kindah Arab Kingdom in North Arabia.
The city of Petra was brought to the attention of Westerners by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.
Nabat see Nabataeans
Anbat, al- see Nabataeans
Nabhan, Banu
Nabhan, Banu (Banu Nabhan). Name of a tribe in Oman, whose offshoots are found in Pate, in the Lamu archipelago of East Africa, and in Kilwa.
Banu Nabhan see Nabhan, Banu
Nabhan, Banu (Banu Nabhan). Name of a tribe in Oman, whose offshoots are found in Pate, in the Lamu archipelago of East Africa, and in Kilwa.
Banu Nabhan see Nabhan, Banu
Nabi
Nabi. Arabic word which means “prophet.”
Muhammad is regarded as not only the greatest of the prophets, but also as the “seal of the prophets,” that is, the last of the prophets, who authenticates the messages of the prophets who came before him. The term nabi has Hebrew and Aramaic antecedents, as does the exposition of the concept of prophets in the Qur’an.
Islam’s relationship to its Semitic, monotheistic predecessors is evident in the prophetology outlined by Muhammad. Sura 6:83-86 of the Qur’an sets forth what is tantamount to a catechismal listing of the prophets whom Allah guided to the straight path before Muhammad. Most are to be found in the Old and New Testaments, although not always as prophets and often with a different emphasis to the anecdotes for which they have become renowned. First and foremost among them is Abraham, the hanif or rightly guided one. Abraham is followed by Isaac and Jacob, Noah, David and Solomon, Job and Joseph, Moses and Aaron, Zachariah and John, Jesus and Elijah, Ishmael (Isma’il) and Elisha, Jonah and Lot. Elsewhere in the Qur’an, Shu’aib and Idris are also lauded as prophets.
The Qur’anic prophets do not attract equal attention; Moses and Jesus, together with Abraham, are considerably more important than, for instance, Aaron, Elisha, or Lot. Yet all the above are deemed prophets because they appeared among the People of the Book. In this respect, they differ from apostles -- from the rasul --, such as Hud and Salih, who were sent to the Arabs before the latter were given a book. Often apostles and prophets are bracketed together as related but variant terms. In addition to Muhammad, we find Noah, Lot, Ishmael, Moses, and Jesus depicted as both apostles and prophets for their respective generations. It may be possible to pinpoint a theological distinction between the Qur’anic usage of apostle and prophet, that every apostle is a prophet but not every prophet is an apostle. Except for Hud and Salih, that distinction would appear to be valid, but more important, it seems, is to remember that both terms refer to an inspired religious leader, with nabi stressing the relationship of the leader to a revealed book -- a kitab -- while rasul underscores his advocacy of truth to a community of people. Muhammad, therefore, is described in the Qur’an as God’s first apostle to the Arabs (Hud and Salih notwithstanding) and God’s last prophet to mankind, revealing a book without error or contradiction, the Qur’an.
It is the pivotal role of Muhammad as prophet and apostle which has enlivened Muslim fascination with other prophets, both in and beyond the pages of the Qur’an. The total number of prophets was said to have reached 124,000, of whom 315 were reportedly apostles. All were endowed with legendary traits, and “proved” their prophetic missions through the performance of extraordinary feats (i.e., miracles). Thus, Adam, who is not specifically labeled a prophet in the Qur’an, becomes a prophet in Islamic tradition by virtue of his encounter with Iblis (Satan) and his designation as God’s successor on earth (Qur’an 2:29-38). Subsequent stories elaborate Adam’s precreation existence, his foreknowledge of world history, and his experiences on Sarandip (Sri Lanka), where he landed following his expulsion from Paradise.
Some of the stories concerning Adam have rabbinic, or occasionally Christian, parallels. The stories about Adam and each of the prophets came in time to comprise an independent and widely popular literary genre known as qisas al-anhiya -- “tales of the prophets”. The stories were exposited in every major Islamic language and dialect. They became integral to the world view of medieval Muslims, adorning Qur’anic commentaries, works of poetry, moral treatises, and also Sufi speculative writings. An example of the latter is the Fusas al-hakim – “The Wisdom of the Prophets” -- written by the renowned Andalusian mystic Muhyi ‘d-Din ibn ‘Arabi. Each chapter describes a major prophet with reference to his distinctive or dominant spiritual quality. Abraham is the epitome of intimacy, Moses of transcendence, and Jesus of prophecy itself. The book, of course, concludes with the wisdom of Muhammad, to underscore the finality of his prophethood and also his summation of all the qualities exemplified by earlier prophets.
Popular piety, and perhaps theological necessity, gradually elevated Muhammad from the role of a mere mortal messenger to the status of a cosmic being equivalent to the perfect man (al-insan al-kamil). As a result, Muhammad’s prophethood, like his humanity, came to acquire an aura of sanctity. The doctrine of sinlessness – ‘isma --, resembling the doctrine of infallibility accorded their imams by the Shi‘ites, was attached to Muhammad, suggesting that he did not sin as other men. By analogy, some theologians reasoned, all prophets were to be viewed as sinless; and to emphasize their lofty status, they were categorically compared and contrasted with saints.
Prophets never sinned; saints did, though only in minor matters. Prophets had foreknowledge of their ability to do the extraordinary or unexpected, and they performed miracles (mu’jizat) as proofs of their divine mission. Saints, on the other hand, never knew for certain that they could contravene nature’s laws and, even if they could, they were advised to restrain themselves. Lacking restraint, they produced only isolated wonders -- karamat.
Despite the numerous ways in which prophets were extolled, the fundamental doctrine at stake, in both dogmatic theology and popular piety, was the finality of Muhammad’s prophethood. Saints challenged that doctrine obliquely by asserting that their authority was derivative from, and yet similar to, that of the prophets. Consider the popular tradition, ascribed to Muhammad, that “the shaikh among his group is like the prophet among his community.” Some mystic leaders went still further, claiming to be renovators -- mujaddidun -- of the entire Islamic community. Two Indian Muslims, Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (d.1621) and Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani (d. 1908) for instance, arrogated prophetic functions to themselves, in order, they argued, to restore the law of Muhammad which had been corrupted by intervening generations. Most pious Muslims, including the ‘ulama’, have also sensed that corruption has infected and weakened the community of Muhammad’s followers, but they have not viewed the redefinition of Muhammad’s finality as an acceptable expedient for removing that corruption. Instead, they have found solace in reaffirming the traditional doctrine, as have progressive, modernist Muslims, such as the rationalist-reformer Sayyid Ahmad Khan (d.1898).
prophet see Nabi.
Nabi. Arabic word which means “prophet.”
Muhammad is regarded as not only the greatest of the prophets, but also as the “seal of the prophets,” that is, the last of the prophets, who authenticates the messages of the prophets who came before him. The term nabi has Hebrew and Aramaic antecedents, as does the exposition of the concept of prophets in the Qur’an.
Islam’s relationship to its Semitic, monotheistic predecessors is evident in the prophetology outlined by Muhammad. Sura 6:83-86 of the Qur’an sets forth what is tantamount to a catechismal listing of the prophets whom Allah guided to the straight path before Muhammad. Most are to be found in the Old and New Testaments, although not always as prophets and often with a different emphasis to the anecdotes for which they have become renowned. First and foremost among them is Abraham, the hanif or rightly guided one. Abraham is followed by Isaac and Jacob, Noah, David and Solomon, Job and Joseph, Moses and Aaron, Zachariah and John, Jesus and Elijah, Ishmael (Isma’il) and Elisha, Jonah and Lot. Elsewhere in the Qur’an, Shu’aib and Idris are also lauded as prophets.
The Qur’anic prophets do not attract equal attention; Moses and Jesus, together with Abraham, are considerably more important than, for instance, Aaron, Elisha, or Lot. Yet all the above are deemed prophets because they appeared among the People of the Book. In this respect, they differ from apostles -- from the rasul --, such as Hud and Salih, who were sent to the Arabs before the latter were given a book. Often apostles and prophets are bracketed together as related but variant terms. In addition to Muhammad, we find Noah, Lot, Ishmael, Moses, and Jesus depicted as both apostles and prophets for their respective generations. It may be possible to pinpoint a theological distinction between the Qur’anic usage of apostle and prophet, that every apostle is a prophet but not every prophet is an apostle. Except for Hud and Salih, that distinction would appear to be valid, but more important, it seems, is to remember that both terms refer to an inspired religious leader, with nabi stressing the relationship of the leader to a revealed book -- a kitab -- while rasul underscores his advocacy of truth to a community of people. Muhammad, therefore, is described in the Qur’an as God’s first apostle to the Arabs (Hud and Salih notwithstanding) and God’s last prophet to mankind, revealing a book without error or contradiction, the Qur’an.
It is the pivotal role of Muhammad as prophet and apostle which has enlivened Muslim fascination with other prophets, both in and beyond the pages of the Qur’an. The total number of prophets was said to have reached 124,000, of whom 315 were reportedly apostles. All were endowed with legendary traits, and “proved” their prophetic missions through the performance of extraordinary feats (i.e., miracles). Thus, Adam, who is not specifically labeled a prophet in the Qur’an, becomes a prophet in Islamic tradition by virtue of his encounter with Iblis (Satan) and his designation as God’s successor on earth (Qur’an 2:29-38). Subsequent stories elaborate Adam’s precreation existence, his foreknowledge of world history, and his experiences on Sarandip (Sri Lanka), where he landed following his expulsion from Paradise.
Some of the stories concerning Adam have rabbinic, or occasionally Christian, parallels. The stories about Adam and each of the prophets came in time to comprise an independent and widely popular literary genre known as qisas al-anhiya -- “tales of the prophets”. The stories were exposited in every major Islamic language and dialect. They became integral to the world view of medieval Muslims, adorning Qur’anic commentaries, works of poetry, moral treatises, and also Sufi speculative writings. An example of the latter is the Fusas al-hakim – “The Wisdom of the Prophets” -- written by the renowned Andalusian mystic Muhyi ‘d-Din ibn ‘Arabi. Each chapter describes a major prophet with reference to his distinctive or dominant spiritual quality. Abraham is the epitome of intimacy, Moses of transcendence, and Jesus of prophecy itself. The book, of course, concludes with the wisdom of Muhammad, to underscore the finality of his prophethood and also his summation of all the qualities exemplified by earlier prophets.
Popular piety, and perhaps theological necessity, gradually elevated Muhammad from the role of a mere mortal messenger to the status of a cosmic being equivalent to the perfect man (al-insan al-kamil). As a result, Muhammad’s prophethood, like his humanity, came to acquire an aura of sanctity. The doctrine of sinlessness – ‘isma --, resembling the doctrine of infallibility accorded their imams by the Shi‘ites, was attached to Muhammad, suggesting that he did not sin as other men. By analogy, some theologians reasoned, all prophets were to be viewed as sinless; and to emphasize their lofty status, they were categorically compared and contrasted with saints.
Prophets never sinned; saints did, though only in minor matters. Prophets had foreknowledge of their ability to do the extraordinary or unexpected, and they performed miracles (mu’jizat) as proofs of their divine mission. Saints, on the other hand, never knew for certain that they could contravene nature’s laws and, even if they could, they were advised to restrain themselves. Lacking restraint, they produced only isolated wonders -- karamat.
Despite the numerous ways in which prophets were extolled, the fundamental doctrine at stake, in both dogmatic theology and popular piety, was the finality of Muhammad’s prophethood. Saints challenged that doctrine obliquely by asserting that their authority was derivative from, and yet similar to, that of the prophets. Consider the popular tradition, ascribed to Muhammad, that “the shaikh among his group is like the prophet among his community.” Some mystic leaders went still further, claiming to be renovators -- mujaddidun -- of the entire Islamic community. Two Indian Muslims, Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (d.1621) and Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani (d. 1908) for instance, arrogated prophetic functions to themselves, in order, they argued, to restore the law of Muhammad which had been corrupted by intervening generations. Most pious Muslims, including the ‘ulama’, have also sensed that corruption has infected and weakened the community of Muhammad’s followers, but they have not viewed the redefinition of Muhammad’s finality as an acceptable expedient for removing that corruption. Instead, they have found solace in reaffirming the traditional doctrine, as have progressive, modernist Muslims, such as the rationalist-reformer Sayyid Ahmad Khan (d.1898).
prophet see Nabi.
Nabigha al-Ja‘di, al-
Nabigha al-Ja‘di, al- (d. c. 698). Poet and Companion of the Prophet. He took the part of ‘Ali and consequently suffered great harm under Mu‘awiya’s rule. In his poetry, he is influenced by Labid ibn Rabi‘a.
Nabigha al-Ja‘di, al- (d. c. 698). Poet and Companion of the Prophet. He took the part of ‘Ali and consequently suffered great harm under Mu‘awiya’s rule. In his poetry, he is influenced by Labid ibn Rabi‘a.
Nabi, Yusuf
Nabi, Yusuf (Yusuf Nabi) (Yusef Nabi) (1642 – April 10, 1712). Ottoman poet from Urfa. His most famous poetical work is a book of advice from father to son meant as a guide for life.
Yusef Nabi was a Turkish Divan poet in the court of Mehmet IV. He was famous for his brilliant lyrics filled with popular sayings and critiques of the age accompanied by verses commemorating innumerable important occasions.
At the age of 24, Nabi left Şanlıurfa Province and went to Istanbul.
Yusuf Nabi see Nabi, Yusuf
Yusef Nabi see Nabi, Yusuf
Nabi, Yusef see Nabi, Yusuf
Nabi, Yusuf (Yusuf Nabi) (Yusef Nabi) (1642 – April 10, 1712). Ottoman poet from Urfa. His most famous poetical work is a book of advice from father to son meant as a guide for life.
Yusef Nabi was a Turkish Divan poet in the court of Mehmet IV. He was famous for his brilliant lyrics filled with popular sayings and critiques of the age accompanied by verses commemorating innumerable important occasions.
At the age of 24, Nabi left Şanlıurfa Province and went to Istanbul.
Yusuf Nabi see Nabi, Yusuf
Yusef Nabi see Nabi, Yusuf
Nabi, Yusef see Nabi, Yusuf
Nabob
Nabob. Corruption of the Indo-Persian word nawab (“deputy”). Originally, the term denoted the deputy of a Mughal emperor. In eighteenth century India it came to designate an autonomous prince or ruler. In England, at that time nabob became an epithet applied to nouveau riche. Europeans who returned from the East with fortunes that they spent in an extravagant, ostentatious, and profligate manner, Rober Clive was undoubtedly the first and prehaps the archetypal nabob, even though many earlier servants of the East India Company made fortunes. Buying country estates and “rotten boroughs” (or even titles) that enabled them to get seats in Parliament, the peddled influence or became part of the India “interest” (i.e., lobby). Old and noble families scorned them for their lavish, loud, and boorish ways. The term was also applied to all Europeans who lived well in IndiIn colloquial usage in English (since 1612), adopted in other Western languages, the form nabob refers to commoners: a merchant-leader of high social status and wealth.
"Nabob" derives from the Bengali pronunciation of "nawab". During the 18th century in particular, it was widely used as a disparaging term for British merchants or administrators who, having made a fortune in India, returned to Britain and aspired to be recognized as having the higher social status that their new wealth would enable them to maintain. Jos Sedley in Thackeray's Vanity Fair is probably the best known example in fiction. From this specific usage it came to be sometimes used for ostentatiously rich businesspeople in general. It can also be used metaphorically for people who have a grandiose style or manner of speech, as in the famous dismissal of the news media as "nattering nabobs of negativism" in a speech that was delivered by Spiro Agnew and written by William Safire.
Nabob. Corruption of the Indo-Persian word nawab (“deputy”). Originally, the term denoted the deputy of a Mughal emperor. In eighteenth century India it came to designate an autonomous prince or ruler. In England, at that time nabob became an epithet applied to nouveau riche. Europeans who returned from the East with fortunes that they spent in an extravagant, ostentatious, and profligate manner, Rober Clive was undoubtedly the first and prehaps the archetypal nabob, even though many earlier servants of the East India Company made fortunes. Buying country estates and “rotten boroughs” (or even titles) that enabled them to get seats in Parliament, the peddled influence or became part of the India “interest” (i.e., lobby). Old and noble families scorned them for their lavish, loud, and boorish ways. The term was also applied to all Europeans who lived well in IndiIn colloquial usage in English (since 1612), adopted in other Western languages, the form nabob refers to commoners: a merchant-leader of high social status and wealth.
"Nabob" derives from the Bengali pronunciation of "nawab". During the 18th century in particular, it was widely used as a disparaging term for British merchants or administrators who, having made a fortune in India, returned to Britain and aspired to be recognized as having the higher social status that their new wealth would enable them to maintain. Jos Sedley in Thackeray's Vanity Fair is probably the best known example in fiction. From this specific usage it came to be sometimes used for ostentatiously rich businesspeople in general. It can also be used metaphorically for people who have a grandiose style or manner of speech, as in the famous dismissal of the news media as "nattering nabobs of negativism" in a speech that was delivered by Spiro Agnew and written by William Safire.
Nader Afshar
Nader Afshar (Nadir Shah) (Nāder Shāh Afshār) (Nādr Qoli Beg) (Tahmāsp Qoli Khān) (b. October 22, 1688/November, 1688, Kobhan, Safavid Iran – d. June 19, 1747, Fathabad) . Military leader who was shah of Iran (1736-1747). Nader Afshar expelled the Afghan invaders and conquered part of India.
Nādir Shah was the Iranian ruler and conqueror who created an Iranian empire that stretched from the Indus River to the Caucasus Mountains.
Nadr Qolī Beg had an obscure beginning in the Turkish Afshar tribe, which was loyal to the Ṣafavid shahs of Iran. After serving under a local chieftain, Nadr formed and led a band of robbers, showing marked powers of leadership. In 1726, as head of this group of bandits, he led 5,000 followers in support of the Ṣafavid shah Ṭahmāsp II, who was seeking to regain the throne his father had lost four years earlier to the Ghilzay Afghan usurper Maḥmūd. Nadr reformed Iran’s military forces and utterly defeated the Ghilzay Afghans in a series of brilliant victories, after which he restored Ṭahmāsp to the Iranian throne.
Nadr then attacked and routed the Ottoman Turks, who had occupied adjacent areas of Azerbaijan and Iraq. Meanwhile, Ṭahmāsp had rashly attacked the Turks while Nadr was absent quelling a revolt in Khorāsān, but the shah was heavily defeated and was forced to conclude peace with the Turks on ignominious terms. Enraged at this, Nadr hurried back, deposed Ṭahmāsp, placed the latter’s infant son on the throne, and declared himself regent. After sustaining a defeat at the hands of the Turks in Iraq, Nadr revenged himself by driving them completely out of Iran. Then, by threatening Russia with war, he forced that nation to relinquish its Caspian provinces to Iran. In 1736, Nadr deposed the youthful ʿAbbās III (as Ṭahmāsp II’s son was styled) and ascended the Iranian throne himself, taking the title of Nādir Shāh.
With the navy he proceeded to build, Nādir Shāh was able not only to take Bahrain from the Arabs but also to invade and conquer Oman. In February 1739, after capturing several cities of the Mughal Empire of northern India, he moved against the main Mughal armies at Karnal, India. He won the battle and entered Delhi, returning to Iran with vast amounts of loot, including the fabulous Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-noor diamond. He then attacked the Uzbeks around the cities of Bukhara and Khiva. His empire had reached its furthest expansion and rivaled the territorial extent of the ancient Iranian empires.
In 1741, after an assassination attempt on him had failed, Nādir Shāh suspected his eldest son of complicity and had him blinded. He also attempted to make the largely Shīʿite populace of Iran adopt the Sunni form of Islam. In 1743, Nādir Shāh again attacked the Ottoman Turks, but revolts in Iran forced him to conclude a truce. He renewed hostilities with the Turks as soon as possible, winning a great victory over them near Yerevan. Peace was concluded in 1746.
Although brilliantly successful as a soldier and general, Nādir Shāh had little talent for statesmanship or administration, and Iran became utterly exhausted during the later years of his reign. Tens of thousands of people perished in his ceaseless military campaigns, and the exactions of his tax gatherers ruined the country’s economy. Nādir Shāh had always been harsh and ruthless, but these traits became more pronounced as he grew older. His suspiciousness and capricious cruelty continued to grow, and wherever he went he had people tortured and executed. The consequence was that revolt after revolt against him occurred. In the end he was assassinated by his own troops while attempting to crush an uprising in Khorāsān. Nādir Shāh’s only interests were war and conquest. Once, when informed that there was no warfare in paradise, he remarked: “How then can there be any delights there?”
Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran (1736–47) and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander. Nader Shah was a member of the Turcophone Afshar tribe of northern Persia, which had supplied military power to the Safavid state since the time of Shah Ismail I. Nader rose to power during a period of anarchy in Persia after a rebellion by Afghans had overthrown the weak Shah Soltan Hossein, and both the Ottomans and the Russians had seized Persian territory for themselves. Nader reunited the Persian realm and removed the invaders. He became so powerful that he decided to depose the last members of the Safavid dynasty, which had ruled Persia for over 200 years, and become shah himself in 1736. His campaigns created a great empire that briefly encompassed what is now Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of the Caucasus region, and parts of Central Asia, but his military spending had a ruinous effect on the Persian economy. Nader idolized Genghis Khan and Timur, the previous conquerors from Central Asia. Nader imitated their military prowess and—especially later in his reign—their cruelty. Nader Shah's victories briefly made him the Middle East's most powerful sovereign, but his empire quickly disintegrated after he was assassinated in 1747. Nader Shah has been described as the last great Asian military conqueror. He is credited for restoring Iranian power as an eminence between the Ottomans and the Mughals.
Nadir Shah see Nader Afshar
Shah, Nadir see Nader Afshar
Afshar, Nader see Nader Afshar
Nader Shah Afshar see Nader Afshar
Nadr Ooli Beg see Nader Afshar
Tahmasp Ooli Khan see Nader Afshar
Nader Afshar (Nadir Shah) (Nāder Shāh Afshār) (Nādr Qoli Beg) (Tahmāsp Qoli Khān) (b. October 22, 1688/November, 1688, Kobhan, Safavid Iran – d. June 19, 1747, Fathabad) . Military leader who was shah of Iran (1736-1747). Nader Afshar expelled the Afghan invaders and conquered part of India.
Nādir Shah was the Iranian ruler and conqueror who created an Iranian empire that stretched from the Indus River to the Caucasus Mountains.
Nadr Qolī Beg had an obscure beginning in the Turkish Afshar tribe, which was loyal to the Ṣafavid shahs of Iran. After serving under a local chieftain, Nadr formed and led a band of robbers, showing marked powers of leadership. In 1726, as head of this group of bandits, he led 5,000 followers in support of the Ṣafavid shah Ṭahmāsp II, who was seeking to regain the throne his father had lost four years earlier to the Ghilzay Afghan usurper Maḥmūd. Nadr reformed Iran’s military forces and utterly defeated the Ghilzay Afghans in a series of brilliant victories, after which he restored Ṭahmāsp to the Iranian throne.
Nadr then attacked and routed the Ottoman Turks, who had occupied adjacent areas of Azerbaijan and Iraq. Meanwhile, Ṭahmāsp had rashly attacked the Turks while Nadr was absent quelling a revolt in Khorāsān, but the shah was heavily defeated and was forced to conclude peace with the Turks on ignominious terms. Enraged at this, Nadr hurried back, deposed Ṭahmāsp, placed the latter’s infant son on the throne, and declared himself regent. After sustaining a defeat at the hands of the Turks in Iraq, Nadr revenged himself by driving them completely out of Iran. Then, by threatening Russia with war, he forced that nation to relinquish its Caspian provinces to Iran. In 1736, Nadr deposed the youthful ʿAbbās III (as Ṭahmāsp II’s son was styled) and ascended the Iranian throne himself, taking the title of Nādir Shāh.
With the navy he proceeded to build, Nādir Shāh was able not only to take Bahrain from the Arabs but also to invade and conquer Oman. In February 1739, after capturing several cities of the Mughal Empire of northern India, he moved against the main Mughal armies at Karnal, India. He won the battle and entered Delhi, returning to Iran with vast amounts of loot, including the fabulous Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-noor diamond. He then attacked the Uzbeks around the cities of Bukhara and Khiva. His empire had reached its furthest expansion and rivaled the territorial extent of the ancient Iranian empires.
In 1741, after an assassination attempt on him had failed, Nādir Shāh suspected his eldest son of complicity and had him blinded. He also attempted to make the largely Shīʿite populace of Iran adopt the Sunni form of Islam. In 1743, Nādir Shāh again attacked the Ottoman Turks, but revolts in Iran forced him to conclude a truce. He renewed hostilities with the Turks as soon as possible, winning a great victory over them near Yerevan. Peace was concluded in 1746.
Although brilliantly successful as a soldier and general, Nādir Shāh had little talent for statesmanship or administration, and Iran became utterly exhausted during the later years of his reign. Tens of thousands of people perished in his ceaseless military campaigns, and the exactions of his tax gatherers ruined the country’s economy. Nādir Shāh had always been harsh and ruthless, but these traits became more pronounced as he grew older. His suspiciousness and capricious cruelty continued to grow, and wherever he went he had people tortured and executed. The consequence was that revolt after revolt against him occurred. In the end he was assassinated by his own troops while attempting to crush an uprising in Khorāsān. Nādir Shāh’s only interests were war and conquest. Once, when informed that there was no warfare in paradise, he remarked: “How then can there be any delights there?”
Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran (1736–47) and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander. Nader Shah was a member of the Turcophone Afshar tribe of northern Persia, which had supplied military power to the Safavid state since the time of Shah Ismail I. Nader rose to power during a period of anarchy in Persia after a rebellion by Afghans had overthrown the weak Shah Soltan Hossein, and both the Ottomans and the Russians had seized Persian territory for themselves. Nader reunited the Persian realm and removed the invaders. He became so powerful that he decided to depose the last members of the Safavid dynasty, which had ruled Persia for over 200 years, and become shah himself in 1736. His campaigns created a great empire that briefly encompassed what is now Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of the Caucasus region, and parts of Central Asia, but his military spending had a ruinous effect on the Persian economy. Nader idolized Genghis Khan and Timur, the previous conquerors from Central Asia. Nader imitated their military prowess and—especially later in his reign—their cruelty. Nader Shah's victories briefly made him the Middle East's most powerful sovereign, but his empire quickly disintegrated after he was assassinated in 1747. Nader Shah has been described as the last great Asian military conqueror. He is credited for restoring Iranian power as an eminence between the Ottomans and the Mughals.
Nadir Shah see Nader Afshar
Shah, Nadir see Nader Afshar
Afshar, Nader see Nader Afshar
Nader Shah Afshar see Nader Afshar
Nadr Ooli Beg see Nader Afshar
Tahmasp Ooli Khan see Nader Afshar
Nadhir Ahmad Dihlawi
Nadhir Ahmad Dihlawi (1836-1912). Urdu prose writer. He is often described as “the first real novelist” in that language.
Dihlawi, Nadhir Ahmad see Nadhir Ahmad Dihlawi
Nadhir Ahmad Dihlawi (1836-1912). Urdu prose writer. He is often described as “the first real novelist” in that language.
Dihlawi, Nadhir Ahmad see Nadhir Ahmad Dihlawi
Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi (Kazi Nazrul Islam) (May 25, 1899 - August 29, 1976). Revolutionary Bengali poet. He was the greatest Muslim contributor to modern Bengali literature.
Kazi Nazrul Islam was an Indian Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet). Accomplishing a large body of acclaimed works through his life, Nazrul is officially recognized as the national poet of Bangladesh and commemorated in India.
Born into a poor Muslim family, Nazrul received religious education and worked as a muezzin at a local mosque. He learned of poetry, drama, and literature while working with theatrical groups. After serving in the British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as "Bidrohi" ("The Rebel") and "Bhangar Gaan" ("The Song of Destruction"), as well as his publication "Dhumketu" ("The Comet"). His impassioned activism in the Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the "Rajbandir Jabanbandi" ("Deposition of a Political Prisoner"). Exploring the life and conditions of the downtrodden masses of India, Nazrul worked for their emancipation.
Nazrul's writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best-known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records), collectively known as Nazrul geeti (Nazrul songs), which are widely popular today. At the age of 43 (in 1942) he began suffering from an unknown disease, losing his voice and memory. Eventually diagnosed as Pick's disease, it caused Nazrul's health to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation for many years. Invited by the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul and his family moved to Dhaka in 1972, where he died four years later.
Qadi Nadhr al-Islam see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Kazi Nazrul Islam see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Islam, Qadi Nadhr al- see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Islam, Kazi Nazrul see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Kazi Nozrul Islam see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Islam, Kazi Nozrul see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi (Kazi Nazrul Islam) (May 25, 1899 - August 29, 1976). Revolutionary Bengali poet. He was the greatest Muslim contributor to modern Bengali literature.
Kazi Nazrul Islam was an Indian Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet). Accomplishing a large body of acclaimed works through his life, Nazrul is officially recognized as the national poet of Bangladesh and commemorated in India.
Born into a poor Muslim family, Nazrul received religious education and worked as a muezzin at a local mosque. He learned of poetry, drama, and literature while working with theatrical groups. After serving in the British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as "Bidrohi" ("The Rebel") and "Bhangar Gaan" ("The Song of Destruction"), as well as his publication "Dhumketu" ("The Comet"). His impassioned activism in the Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the "Rajbandir Jabanbandi" ("Deposition of a Political Prisoner"). Exploring the life and conditions of the downtrodden masses of India, Nazrul worked for their emancipation.
Nazrul's writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best-known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records), collectively known as Nazrul geeti (Nazrul songs), which are widely popular today. At the age of 43 (in 1942) he began suffering from an unknown disease, losing his voice and memory. Eventually diagnosed as Pick's disease, it caused Nazrul's health to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation for many years. Invited by the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul and his family moved to Dhaka in 1972, where he died four years later.
Qadi Nadhr al-Islam see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Kazi Nazrul Islam see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Islam, Qadi Nadhr al- see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Islam, Kazi Nazrul see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Kazi Nozrul Islam see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Islam, Kazi Nozrul see Nadhr al-Islam, Qadi
Nadim, al-Sayyid ‘Abd Allah al-
Nadim, al-Sayyid ‘Abd Allah al- (al-Sayyid ‘Abd Allah al-Nadim) (1843-1896). Radical Egyptian orator and propagandist. In 1881, he founded a newspaper which became the organ of the movement led by ‘Urabi Pasha.
Sayyid 'Abd Allah al-Nadim, al- see Nadim, al-Sayyid ‘Abd Allah al-
Nadim, al-Sayyid ‘Abd Allah al- (al-Sayyid ‘Abd Allah al-Nadim) (1843-1896). Radical Egyptian orator and propagandist. In 1881, he founded a newspaper which became the organ of the movement led by ‘Urabi Pasha.
Sayyid 'Abd Allah al-Nadim, al- see Nadim, al-Sayyid ‘Abd Allah al-
Nadir
Nadir. See Nader Afshar.
Nadir. See Nader Afshar.
Nafi ‘al-Laythi
Nafi ‘al-Laythi (d. 785). One of the seven canonical Qur’an “readers.”
Laythi, Nafi 'al- see Nafi ‘al-Laythi
Nafi ‘al-Laythi (d. 785). One of the seven canonical Qur’an “readers.”
Laythi, Nafi 'al- see Nafi ‘al-Laythi
Nafi ‘ ibn al-Azraq
Nafi ‘ ibn al-Azraq (d. 685). Leader of an extremist Khariji fraction, known after him as the Azariqa. He gave military assistance to the anti-caliph ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, seized control of Basra but was defeated by Muslim ibn ‘Ubays. He is considered as the first theoretician of Kharijism.
Ibn al-Azraq, Nafi ' see Nafi ‘ ibn al-Azraq
Nafi ‘ ibn al-Azraq (d. 685). Leader of an extremist Khariji fraction, known after him as the Azariqa. He gave military assistance to the anti-caliph ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, seized control of Basra but was defeated by Muslim ibn ‘Ubays. He is considered as the first theoretician of Kharijism.
Ibn al-Azraq, Nafi ' see Nafi ‘ ibn al-Azraq
Nafisi, Sa‘id
Nafisi, Sa‘id (Sa‘id Nafisi) (Saeed Nafisi) (Naficy) (June 8, 1896 - November 13, 1966). Persian scholar, fiction writer and poet. He acquired a great love of the French language and its literature and was a prolific writer.
Saeed Nafisi was an Iranian scholar, fiction writer and poet. He was a prolific writer in Persian.
Nafisi was born in Tehran where he conducted numerous research projects on Iranian culture, literature and poetry. He first emerged as a serious thinker when he joined Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani, Gholam-Reza Rashid Yasemi and Abdolhossein Teymourtash to found one of the first literary magazines published in Iran and referred to as Daneshkadein 1918. He subsequently published many seminal articles on Iran, Persian literary texts and Sufism and his works were translated into more than 20 languages worldwide. He died in a Russian hospital in Tehran.
Saeed Nafisi's relatives include Moadeb Naficy, the guardian and doctor of the Shah of Iran (Reza Pahlavi); and Moadeb's son Habib Naficy, a senior statesman, founder of Iran's labor laws, United States-Iran attache, and founder of multiple technical universities in Tehran, as well as acclaimed author, Azar Nafisi, a niece of his.
Nafisi taught at Tehran University, Kabul University, Cairo University and San José State University.
Sa'id Nafisi see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Saeed Nafisi see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Nafisi, Saeed see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Naficy see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Nafisi, Sa‘id (Sa‘id Nafisi) (Saeed Nafisi) (Naficy) (June 8, 1896 - November 13, 1966). Persian scholar, fiction writer and poet. He acquired a great love of the French language and its literature and was a prolific writer.
Saeed Nafisi was an Iranian scholar, fiction writer and poet. He was a prolific writer in Persian.
Nafisi was born in Tehran where he conducted numerous research projects on Iranian culture, literature and poetry. He first emerged as a serious thinker when he joined Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani, Gholam-Reza Rashid Yasemi and Abdolhossein Teymourtash to found one of the first literary magazines published in Iran and referred to as Daneshkadein 1918. He subsequently published many seminal articles on Iran, Persian literary texts and Sufism and his works were translated into more than 20 languages worldwide. He died in a Russian hospital in Tehran.
Saeed Nafisi's relatives include Moadeb Naficy, the guardian and doctor of the Shah of Iran (Reza Pahlavi); and Moadeb's son Habib Naficy, a senior statesman, founder of Iran's labor laws, United States-Iran attache, and founder of multiple technical universities in Tehran, as well as acclaimed author, Azar Nafisi, a niece of his.
Nafisi taught at Tehran University, Kabul University, Cairo University and San José State University.
Sa'id Nafisi see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Saeed Nafisi see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Nafisi, Saeed see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Naficy see Nafisi, Sa‘id
Nafusa, Banu al-
Nafusa, Banu al- (Banu al-Nafusa) (in Berber, Infusen). Name of a Berber tribe, at present dwelling to the southwest of Tripoli in Libya. They are one of the four branches of the large body of the Butr. Their name is recorded for the first time in connection with the capture of the town of Tripoli by ‘Amr ibn al-‘As in 642. Their greatest activities took place during the Khariji revoltes between 739 and the beginning of the era of the Fatimids in the early tenth century. They embraced the Ibadiyya and remained ever faithful to it, as they did to their Berber vernacular. They were faithful subjects during the period of Italian rule.
Banu al-Nafusa see Nafusa, Banu al-
Infusen see Nafusa, Banu al-
Nafusa, Banu al- (Banu al-Nafusa) (in Berber, Infusen). Name of a Berber tribe, at present dwelling to the southwest of Tripoli in Libya. They are one of the four branches of the large body of the Butr. Their name is recorded for the first time in connection with the capture of the town of Tripoli by ‘Amr ibn al-‘As in 642. Their greatest activities took place during the Khariji revoltes between 739 and the beginning of the era of the Fatimids in the early tenth century. They embraced the Ibadiyya and remained ever faithful to it, as they did to their Berber vernacular. They were faithful subjects during the period of Italian rule.
Banu al-Nafusa see Nafusa, Banu al-
Infusen see Nafusa, Banu al-
Nafusi, Abu Sahl al-
Nafusi, Abu Sahl al-. Ibadi scholar of the Rustamid princes of Tahert during the eighth century. He is best known as the author of an extensive Berber diwan.
Abu Sahl al-Nafusi see Nafusi, Abu Sahl al-.
Nafusi, Abu Sahl al-. Ibadi scholar of the Rustamid princes of Tahert during the eighth century. He is best known as the author of an extensive Berber diwan.
Abu Sahl al-Nafusi see Nafusi, Abu Sahl al-.
Nafzawa
Nafzawa. Berber tribe belonging to the Butr. They are known for having given their name to a region of Tunisia to the south-southeast of the Chott el Jerid.
Nafzawa. Berber tribe belonging to the Butr. They are known for having given their name to a region of Tunisia to the south-southeast of the Chott el Jerid.
Nagib, Muhammed
Nagib, Muhammed (Muhammed Nagib) (Mohammed Neguib) (Muhammad Naguib) (b. February 20, 1901, Khartoum, the Sudan – August 29, 1984, Cairo, Egypt). Titular leader of the 1952 Egyptian revolution.
Muḥammad Naguib, also spelled Moḥammed Neguib, was an Egyptian army officer and statesman who played a prominent role in the revolutionary overthrow of King Farouk I in 1952.
A professional soldier, Naguib distinguished himself during the Egyptian defeat at the hands of Israel (1948) and won the respect of the Free Officers, a nationalist military group led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1952, the Free Officers helped Naguib win election as president of the officers club in opposition to a man backed by King Farouk. The Free Officers engineered a coup that overthrew Farouk that July, and they saw Naguib as the man to represent their new regime to the public. Thus, in 1953, he became president of the newly formed republic, although he had a more conservative political outlook than did Nasser and many of the other Free Officers. Naguib wanted to see a speedy return to constitutional government and objected to the summary sentences that were passed on various politicians by the Revolutionary Tribunal. In February 1954 he resigned the presidency, but demands by civilian and military groups impelled him to resume the office. Nasser, however, steadily consolidated his own position and became prime minister. He shrewdly acceded to some of Naguib’s wishes by allowing the revival of political parties and calling for a constituent assembly to draft a constitution. An assassination attempt was made on Nasser in 1954 in which Naguib was vaguely implicated. Naguib was placed under house arrest, which was eased in 1960 and ended in 1972. However, after 1954, Naguib ceased to play any role in Egyptian politics.
Muhammad Naguib served as the first President of Egypt from the declaration of the Republic on June 18, 1953 to November 14, 1954. Along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, he was the primary leader of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which ended the rule of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in Egypt and Sudan. Disagreements with Nasser led to his forced removal from office, and subsequent 18 year house arrest until his release by President Anwar El-Sadat in 1972.
Muhammed Nagib see Nagib, Muhammed
Muhammad Naguib see Nagib, Muhammed
Naguib, Muhammad see Nagib, Muhammed
Nagib, Muhammed (Muhammed Nagib) (Mohammed Neguib) (Muhammad Naguib) (b. February 20, 1901, Khartoum, the Sudan – August 29, 1984, Cairo, Egypt). Titular leader of the 1952 Egyptian revolution.
Muḥammad Naguib, also spelled Moḥammed Neguib, was an Egyptian army officer and statesman who played a prominent role in the revolutionary overthrow of King Farouk I in 1952.
A professional soldier, Naguib distinguished himself during the Egyptian defeat at the hands of Israel (1948) and won the respect of the Free Officers, a nationalist military group led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1952, the Free Officers helped Naguib win election as president of the officers club in opposition to a man backed by King Farouk. The Free Officers engineered a coup that overthrew Farouk that July, and they saw Naguib as the man to represent their new regime to the public. Thus, in 1953, he became president of the newly formed republic, although he had a more conservative political outlook than did Nasser and many of the other Free Officers. Naguib wanted to see a speedy return to constitutional government and objected to the summary sentences that were passed on various politicians by the Revolutionary Tribunal. In February 1954 he resigned the presidency, but demands by civilian and military groups impelled him to resume the office. Nasser, however, steadily consolidated his own position and became prime minister. He shrewdly acceded to some of Naguib’s wishes by allowing the revival of political parties and calling for a constituent assembly to draft a constitution. An assassination attempt was made on Nasser in 1954 in which Naguib was vaguely implicated. Naguib was placed under house arrest, which was eased in 1960 and ended in 1972. However, after 1954, Naguib ceased to play any role in Egyptian politics.
Muhammad Naguib served as the first President of Egypt from the declaration of the Republic on June 18, 1953 to November 14, 1954. Along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, he was the primary leader of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which ended the rule of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in Egypt and Sudan. Disagreements with Nasser led to his forced removal from office, and subsequent 18 year house arrest until his release by President Anwar El-Sadat in 1972.
Muhammed Nagib see Nagib, Muhammed
Muhammad Naguib see Nagib, Muhammed
Naguib, Muhammad see Nagib, Muhammed
Nago
Nago. Term originally used to refer to a subgroup of the northern Yoruba Kingdom but gradually extended to include any Yoruba speaking people and perhaps any slave sent to the New World from the Bight of Benin. The latter group was comprised of several inland tribes, including the Arada, Fon, Ouidah, Popo, Oyo, and others. Nago slaves were found in Cuba, the West Indies, and Brazil.
Nago. Term originally used to refer to a subgroup of the northern Yoruba Kingdom but gradually extended to include any Yoruba speaking people and perhaps any slave sent to the New World from the Bight of Benin. The latter group was comprised of several inland tribes, including the Arada, Fon, Ouidah, Popo, Oyo, and others. Nago slaves were found in Cuba, the West Indies, and Brazil.
Nahdatul Ulama
Nahdatul Ulama (Nahdlatul Ulama) (NU). Indonesian council of Islamic scholars and mullahs. It was founded in 1926 by traditional Islamic leaders from East Java who resisted the advance of modernist Islamic thought. Although it was originally a non-political organization, Nahdatul Ulama joined MIAI and its successor, Masjumi (then a political party uniting the Indonesian Islamic organization), during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. In 1952, it left the Masjumi and became an independent political party, receiving 18.4 percent of the vote in the general elections of 1955. In 1973, Nahdatul Ulama delegated its political role to the new Islamic party, the Partai Pesatuan Indonesia, and once again became a non-political organization. East Java is still its main area of support.
Nahdatul Ulama is a traditionalist Sunni Islam group in Indonesia. Its traditionalist nature is evident in the name Ulama, referring to the scholar-preachers of Islam, trained in Qur'anic studies, including the interpretation of the religious laws contained therein.
NU was established on January 31, 1926, by Wahab Chasbullah with supported from Hasyim Asy'ari, the most respected ulema in East Java. Hasyim also sat as the first NU chairman. NU built up as a reaction to the Muhammadiyah. NU also developed in the other areas of Indonesia, but East Java remained as the central base. In 1942, the organization had 120 branches in all of Java and South Kalimantan. In 1965, the group took sides with the General Suharto-led army and was heavily involved in the mass killings of Indonesian communists. However, the NU later began to oppose Suharto's regime. In 1984, Abdurrahman Wahid, the grandson of NU founder Hasyim Asy'ari, inherited the leadership from his father, and was later elected President of Indonesia in 1999.
NU is also one of the largest independent Islamic organizations in the world. Some estimations of their membership range as high as 30 million, although it is hard to account for this number. NU acts as a large charitable body helping to fill in many of the shortcomings of the Indonesian government in society. It funds schools, hospitals, and organizes communities or "kampungs" into more coherent groups in order to help combat poverty.
Ulama, Nahdatul see Nahdatul Ulama
Nahdlatul Ulama see Nahdatul Ulama
Ulama Nahdlatul see Nahdatul Ulama
NU see Nahdatul Ulama
Nahdatul Ulama (Nahdlatul Ulama) (NU). Indonesian council of Islamic scholars and mullahs. It was founded in 1926 by traditional Islamic leaders from East Java who resisted the advance of modernist Islamic thought. Although it was originally a non-political organization, Nahdatul Ulama joined MIAI and its successor, Masjumi (then a political party uniting the Indonesian Islamic organization), during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. In 1952, it left the Masjumi and became an independent political party, receiving 18.4 percent of the vote in the general elections of 1955. In 1973, Nahdatul Ulama delegated its political role to the new Islamic party, the Partai Pesatuan Indonesia, and once again became a non-political organization. East Java is still its main area of support.
Nahdatul Ulama is a traditionalist Sunni Islam group in Indonesia. Its traditionalist nature is evident in the name Ulama, referring to the scholar-preachers of Islam, trained in Qur'anic studies, including the interpretation of the religious laws contained therein.
NU was established on January 31, 1926, by Wahab Chasbullah with supported from Hasyim Asy'ari, the most respected ulema in East Java. Hasyim also sat as the first NU chairman. NU built up as a reaction to the Muhammadiyah. NU also developed in the other areas of Indonesia, but East Java remained as the central base. In 1942, the organization had 120 branches in all of Java and South Kalimantan. In 1965, the group took sides with the General Suharto-led army and was heavily involved in the mass killings of Indonesian communists. However, the NU later began to oppose Suharto's regime. In 1984, Abdurrahman Wahid, the grandson of NU founder Hasyim Asy'ari, inherited the leadership from his father, and was later elected President of Indonesia in 1999.
NU is also one of the largest independent Islamic organizations in the world. Some estimations of their membership range as high as 30 million, although it is hard to account for this number. NU acts as a large charitable body helping to fill in many of the shortcomings of the Indonesian government in society. It funds schools, hospitals, and organizes communities or "kampungs" into more coherent groups in order to help combat poverty.
Ulama, Nahdatul see Nahdatul Ulama
Nahdlatul Ulama see Nahdatul Ulama
Ulama Nahdlatul see Nahdatul Ulama
NU see Nahdatul Ulama
Nahhas, Mustafa al-
Nahhas, Mustafa al- (Mustafa al-Nahhas) (Mustafa el-Nahhas Pasha) (1879-1965). Egyptian statesman. He took over leadership of the Wafd party after the death of its founder Sa‘d Zaghlul in 1927.
Mustafa al-Nahhas was an Egyptian political figure. He was born in Samanud (Gharbiyya), where his father was a lumber merchant. He graduated from el-Nassereyya Elementary School in Cairo in 1891 and the Khedivial Secondary School in 1896. After earning his license from the Khedivial Law School in 1900, he worked in Mohammad Farid's law office before opening his own practice in Mansoura. In 1904, he became a judge in the Tanta National Court. He was dismissed from the bench in 1919 when he joined the Wafd as a representative of the Egyptian National Party. Exiled with Saad Zaghlul to the Seychelles in 1921-1923, Nahhas was chosen upon his repatriation to represent Samanud in the first Chamber of Deputies elected under the 1923 Constitution.
Mustafa al-Nahhas became minister for communications in 1924. Re-elected in 1926 as a deputy from Sir Abu Nanna (Gharbiyya) and barred by the British from taking another cabinet post, he was elected one of the Chamber's two vice presidents and, in 1927, its president. Upon Sa'd Zaghlul's death in August 1927, he defeated Sa'd's nephew in the contest to lead the Wafd Party. He served as Prime Minister of Egypt in 1928, 1930, between 1936 and 1937, from 1942 until 1944, and finally between 1950 and 1952. Nahhas married a much younger wife, Zeinab el-Wekil, who was more than 30 years younger than him. His wife was said to have great influence on him, and is alleged to have played a big role in spoiling the friendship between Mustafa el-Nahhas and Makram Ebeid.
Mustafa al-Nahhas also helped found the Arab League in 1944. He was prime minister for only a few months in 1928 after clashing with the king over his desire to strictly limit royal power. When the Great Palestinian Revolt of 1936-1939 started el-Nahhas helped to found the Arab Higher Committee to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people. He was one of the signers of the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, but in 1951 he denounced it. This led to anti-British riots, which led to his dismissal as Prime Minister in January, 1952. After the military coup of July, 1952, the Wafd party was dissolved. Both he and his wife were imprisoned from 1953 to 1954. He then retired to private life. His death on August 23, 1965 led to a mass demonstration at his funeral, one that was allowed but not welcomed by Gamal Abdel Nasser's government.
Mustafa al-Nahhas see Nahhas, Mustafa al-
Mustafa el-Nahhas Pasha see Nahhas, Mustafa al-
Nahhas, Mustafa al- (Mustafa al-Nahhas) (Mustafa el-Nahhas Pasha) (1879-1965). Egyptian statesman. He took over leadership of the Wafd party after the death of its founder Sa‘d Zaghlul in 1927.
Mustafa al-Nahhas was an Egyptian political figure. He was born in Samanud (Gharbiyya), where his father was a lumber merchant. He graduated from el-Nassereyya Elementary School in Cairo in 1891 and the Khedivial Secondary School in 1896. After earning his license from the Khedivial Law School in 1900, he worked in Mohammad Farid's law office before opening his own practice in Mansoura. In 1904, he became a judge in the Tanta National Court. He was dismissed from the bench in 1919 when he joined the Wafd as a representative of the Egyptian National Party. Exiled with Saad Zaghlul to the Seychelles in 1921-1923, Nahhas was chosen upon his repatriation to represent Samanud in the first Chamber of Deputies elected under the 1923 Constitution.
Mustafa al-Nahhas became minister for communications in 1924. Re-elected in 1926 as a deputy from Sir Abu Nanna (Gharbiyya) and barred by the British from taking another cabinet post, he was elected one of the Chamber's two vice presidents and, in 1927, its president. Upon Sa'd Zaghlul's death in August 1927, he defeated Sa'd's nephew in the contest to lead the Wafd Party. He served as Prime Minister of Egypt in 1928, 1930, between 1936 and 1937, from 1942 until 1944, and finally between 1950 and 1952. Nahhas married a much younger wife, Zeinab el-Wekil, who was more than 30 years younger than him. His wife was said to have great influence on him, and is alleged to have played a big role in spoiling the friendship between Mustafa el-Nahhas and Makram Ebeid.
Mustafa al-Nahhas also helped found the Arab League in 1944. He was prime minister for only a few months in 1928 after clashing with the king over his desire to strictly limit royal power. When the Great Palestinian Revolt of 1936-1939 started el-Nahhas helped to found the Arab Higher Committee to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people. He was one of the signers of the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, but in 1951 he denounced it. This led to anti-British riots, which led to his dismissal as Prime Minister in January, 1952. After the military coup of July, 1952, the Wafd party was dissolved. Both he and his wife were imprisoned from 1953 to 1954. He then retired to private life. His death on August 23, 1965 led to a mass demonstration at his funeral, one that was allowed but not welcomed by Gamal Abdel Nasser's government.
Mustafa al-Nahhas see Nahhas, Mustafa al-
Mustafa el-Nahhas Pasha see Nahhas, Mustafa al-
Nahin, Luiza
Nahin, Luiza (Luiza Nahin). African-born princess who was violently uprooted and taken to Brazil where she was sold into slavery. A Muslim Hausa, she was one of the most outstanding leaders of the Hausa insurrection in 1835. Her house in Bahia became a center for the meetings of the chiefs during the great revolt. Luiza Nahin, mistress of a profligate and dissolute Portuguese planter, gave birth to the most famous Brazilian intellectual and abolitionist, Luiz da Gama. Her end is obscure, but her name remains in history and legend as a symbol of the black woman’s courage and audacity.
Luiza Nahin see Nahin, Luiza
Nahin, Luiza (Luiza Nahin). African-born princess who was violently uprooted and taken to Brazil where she was sold into slavery. A Muslim Hausa, she was one of the most outstanding leaders of the Hausa insurrection in 1835. Her house in Bahia became a center for the meetings of the chiefs during the great revolt. Luiza Nahin, mistress of a profligate and dissolute Portuguese planter, gave birth to the most famous Brazilian intellectual and abolitionist, Luiz da Gama. Her end is obscure, but her name remains in history and legend as a symbol of the black woman’s courage and audacity.
Luiza Nahin see Nahin, Luiza
Nahrawali, Qutb al-Din al-
Nahrawali, Qutb al-Din al- (Nahrawani) (Qutb al-Din al-Nahrawali) (1511-1582). Scholar and chronicler from Lahore who lived in Mecca. He wrote a well-known chronicle of the Holy City and another of early Ottoman Yemen.
Qutb al-Din al-Nahrawali see Nahrawali, Qutb al-Din al-
Nahrawani see Nahrawali, Qutb al-Din al-
Nahrawali, Qutb al-Din al- (Nahrawani) (Qutb al-Din al-Nahrawali) (1511-1582). Scholar and chronicler from Lahore who lived in Mecca. He wrote a well-known chronicle of the Holy City and another of early Ottoman Yemen.
Qutb al-Din al-Nahrawali see Nahrawali, Qutb al-Din al-
Nahrawani see Nahrawali, Qutb al-Din al-
na‘ib al-saltana
na‘ib al-saltana. Arabic term which refers to the viceroy or a person in command of the delegation of royal power who is a substitute for the ruler.
saltana, na'ib al- see na‘ib al-saltana.
na‘ib al-saltana. Arabic term which refers to the viceroy or a person in command of the delegation of royal power who is a substitute for the ruler.
saltana, na'ib al- see na‘ib al-saltana.
Na’ili
Na’ili (Piri-zade) (Na’ili-yi Qadim) (d. 1666). Ottoman poet. His most important work is his collection of 390 ghazals.
Piri-zade see Na’ili
Na'ili-yi Qadim see Na’ili
Qadim, Na'ili-yi see Na’ili
Na’ili (Piri-zade) (Na’ili-yi Qadim) (d. 1666). Ottoman poet. His most important work is his collection of 390 ghazals.
Piri-zade see Na’ili
Na'ili-yi Qadim see Na’ili
Qadim, Na'ili-yi see Na’ili
Na‘ima
Na‘ima (1655-1716). Ottoman historian from Aleppo. His fame rests upon what is generally called The History of Na‘ima. It is a compilation in largely traditional, annalistic format, covering the years 1591-1660. In 1733, it was one of the first Ottoman printed works.
Na‘ima (1655-1716). Ottoman historian from Aleppo. His fame rests upon what is generally called The History of Na‘ima. It is a compilation in largely traditional, annalistic format, covering the years 1591-1660. In 1733, it was one of the first Ottoman printed works.
Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad
Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad (Mirza Muhammad Na'ini) (Muhammad Husayn Na‘ini) (1860-1936). Shi‘a religious leader. He was an active supporter of the Persian constitutional revolution of 1906, and a noted constitutional ideologue. In his celebrated The Admonition and Refinement of the People (1909) he argued that constitutionalism, despite its being a Western idea, was in harmony with Shi‘ism.
Muhammad Husayn Na‘ini was the leading theoretician of the 1903-1909 Persian constitutional movement and the leading clergyman who granted legitimacy to the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi. His life can be divided into three periods. During the first, he was actively engaged in bringing about the Constitutional Revolution and wrote a famous treatise. During the second period, he was an important lecturer and became one of the most important Shi‘a mujtahids, clergymen entitled to exercise ijtihad (individual inquiry into legal matters). He led the Iraqi nationalists against the British and worked actively for independence. During the last period, he lost his fighting spirit, devoted his life to teaching, and acquiesced to the powers that be.
Na’ini studied in Samarra, Iraq, with Muhammad al-Fisharaki al-Isfahani (d. 1899) and Muhammad Hasan Shirazi (d. 1896), whose secretary he became. After his master’s death, he moved to Karbala and studied with Mullah Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (d. 1911). Both Shirazi and Khurasani played important roles in political events in Iran. Na’ini drafted the telegrams that Khurasani sent to Iran during the Constitutional Revolution. He was heavily involved in the planning of ‘ulama’ (religious scholars) involvement in the politics of Iran. However, he and other constitutionalists became disillusioned with subsequent events. Na’ini therefore concentrated on teaching, became involved in Iraqi politics at the outset of World War I, and led the Iraqi opposition against the subsequent British mandate. This latter action led to his departure from Iraq in 1923. Na’ini was then drawn into Iranian politics, namely, the campaign to establish a republic in that country. Together with ‘Abd al-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi (d. 1936) and Abu al-Hasan Isfahani, he was able to convince Reza Khan to give up his idea in 1924. Reza Khan assisted in the return of Na’ini to Iraq by first arranging compensation for the British insult against him in expelling him in the first place, followed by an invitation to return to that country. Na’ini showed his gratitude by sending a letter plus portrait of Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib to Reza Khan, thus conferring legitimacy on his regime. One year later, he and Isfahani jointly sent a letter depicting those opposing Reza Khan’s rule as enemies of Islam. This opened the road to the deposing of the Qajar dynasty (1785-1925). On Reza Khan’s accession to the throne, Na’ini sent a telegram of congratulations to the shah and continued to send him similar messages on holy festival days. The remainder of his years he spent teaching in Najaf, Iraq.
Na’ini’s most famous work was Tanbih al-ummah va tanzih al-millah dar asas va usul-i mashrutiyat (An Admonition to the Nation and an Exposition to the People Concerning the Foundations and Principles of Constitutional Government), written in 1909. It is still the most detailed and coherent justification of constitutional government from a Shi‘a point of view. It aims to reconcile the impossibility of legitimate rule (in the absence of the Hidden Imam) with the practical need for government that promotes the well-being of the Shi‘a community, but in a way that is not too much at odds with the dictates of religion. In his book, Na’ini does not advocate actual administration of government by the ‘ulama’, but he embraces an islamization of constitutionalist principles, and he accepts certain principles of democracy that are in conformity with Islam. The importance of the book, even for modern times, is emphasized by the fact that its third edition (1955), with notes, was prepared by Ayatollah Mahmud Taleqani (d. 1979), a major religious figure who played an important role in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
Mirza Muhammad Na'ini see Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad
Muhammad Husayn Na'ini see Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad
Na'ini, Muhammad Husayn see Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad
Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad (Mirza Muhammad Na'ini) (Muhammad Husayn Na‘ini) (1860-1936). Shi‘a religious leader. He was an active supporter of the Persian constitutional revolution of 1906, and a noted constitutional ideologue. In his celebrated The Admonition and Refinement of the People (1909) he argued that constitutionalism, despite its being a Western idea, was in harmony with Shi‘ism.
Muhammad Husayn Na‘ini was the leading theoretician of the 1903-1909 Persian constitutional movement and the leading clergyman who granted legitimacy to the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi. His life can be divided into three periods. During the first, he was actively engaged in bringing about the Constitutional Revolution and wrote a famous treatise. During the second period, he was an important lecturer and became one of the most important Shi‘a mujtahids, clergymen entitled to exercise ijtihad (individual inquiry into legal matters). He led the Iraqi nationalists against the British and worked actively for independence. During the last period, he lost his fighting spirit, devoted his life to teaching, and acquiesced to the powers that be.
Na’ini studied in Samarra, Iraq, with Muhammad al-Fisharaki al-Isfahani (d. 1899) and Muhammad Hasan Shirazi (d. 1896), whose secretary he became. After his master’s death, he moved to Karbala and studied with Mullah Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (d. 1911). Both Shirazi and Khurasani played important roles in political events in Iran. Na’ini drafted the telegrams that Khurasani sent to Iran during the Constitutional Revolution. He was heavily involved in the planning of ‘ulama’ (religious scholars) involvement in the politics of Iran. However, he and other constitutionalists became disillusioned with subsequent events. Na’ini therefore concentrated on teaching, became involved in Iraqi politics at the outset of World War I, and led the Iraqi opposition against the subsequent British mandate. This latter action led to his departure from Iraq in 1923. Na’ini was then drawn into Iranian politics, namely, the campaign to establish a republic in that country. Together with ‘Abd al-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi (d. 1936) and Abu al-Hasan Isfahani, he was able to convince Reza Khan to give up his idea in 1924. Reza Khan assisted in the return of Na’ini to Iraq by first arranging compensation for the British insult against him in expelling him in the first place, followed by an invitation to return to that country. Na’ini showed his gratitude by sending a letter plus portrait of Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib to Reza Khan, thus conferring legitimacy on his regime. One year later, he and Isfahani jointly sent a letter depicting those opposing Reza Khan’s rule as enemies of Islam. This opened the road to the deposing of the Qajar dynasty (1785-1925). On Reza Khan’s accession to the throne, Na’ini sent a telegram of congratulations to the shah and continued to send him similar messages on holy festival days. The remainder of his years he spent teaching in Najaf, Iraq.
Na’ini’s most famous work was Tanbih al-ummah va tanzih al-millah dar asas va usul-i mashrutiyat (An Admonition to the Nation and an Exposition to the People Concerning the Foundations and Principles of Constitutional Government), written in 1909. It is still the most detailed and coherent justification of constitutional government from a Shi‘a point of view. It aims to reconcile the impossibility of legitimate rule (in the absence of the Hidden Imam) with the practical need for government that promotes the well-being of the Shi‘a community, but in a way that is not too much at odds with the dictates of religion. In his book, Na’ini does not advocate actual administration of government by the ‘ulama’, but he embraces an islamization of constitutionalist principles, and he accepts certain principles of democracy that are in conformity with Islam. The importance of the book, even for modern times, is emphasized by the fact that its third edition (1955), with notes, was prepared by Ayatollah Mahmud Taleqani (d. 1979), a major religious figure who played an important role in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
Mirza Muhammad Na'ini see Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad
Muhammad Husayn Na'ini see Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad
Na'ini, Muhammad Husayn see Na’ini, Mirza Muhammad
Naitias
Naitias (Na’itas). Regional Indian term that is applied to Muslims of Arab and Persian descent who settled on the coast of Konkan, the coastal plain of Maharashtra, and in Kanara, a region along the Malabar coast of the Arabian Sea. They are the descendants of the earliest Muslim trading communities on the western coast of India.
Na'itas see Naitias
Naitias (Na’itas). Regional Indian term that is applied to Muslims of Arab and Persian descent who settled on the coast of Konkan, the coastal plain of Maharashtra, and in Kanara, a region along the Malabar coast of the Arabian Sea. They are the descendants of the earliest Muslim trading communities on the western coast of India.
Na'itas see Naitias
Najahids
Najahids. Dynasty of Abyssinian slaves in Yemen who had their capital in Zabid (r.1022-1158). It is named after Najah, one of the slave governors of Marjan, the independent Abyssinian vizier of the last member of the Ziyadids. Najah was recognized in 1022 by the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Qadir bi-‘llah and ruled until 1060, when he was killed by the first Sulayhid ‘Ali ibn Muhammad (r. 1047-1067). After the death of his son Jayyash (c. 1107), confusion reigned. In 1159, the Mahdids entered Zabid. Like the Ziyadids before them, the Najahids continually brought over to Yemen shiploads of Abyssinian slaves. They also struck their own coins.
The Najahids were a Muslim dynasty of Ethiopian Mamelūkes (slaves) that ruled Yemen in the period 1022–1158 from its capital at Zabīd. The Ziyādid kingdom at Zabīd (819–1018) had, in its final years, been controlled by Mamelūke viziers, the last of whom divided Yemen between two slaves, Nafīs and Najāḥ. Nafīs murdered the last Ziyādid ruler in 1018, and, after several years of bitter fighting and the death of Nafīs, Najāḥ emerged victorious and took control of Zabīd early in 1022. Najāḥ obtained the recognition of the ʿAbbāsid caliph and established his rule over the Tihāmah (coastal lands), though the highlands, a stronghold of tribal chieftains, remained recalcitrant. Najāḥ’s murder around 1060 threw the kingdom into chaos, allowing the Ṣulayḥid ruler ʿAlī to take Zabīd, and reduced Najāḥid history to a series of intrigues.
Two of Najāḥ’s sons, Saʿīd and Jayyāsh, who had fled the capital, plotted to restore themselves to the Najāḥid throne and in 1081 killed ʿAlī. Saʿīd, supported by the large Ethiopian Mamelūke population, easily secured control of Zabīd. ʿAlī’s son al-Mukarram, however, heavily influenced by his mother, took Zabīd around 1083, forcing the Najāḥids to flee again. Saʿīd regained power briefly (1086–88) but was finally murdered by al-Mukarram’s wife as-Sayyidah. Jayyāsh, meanwhile, had fled to India. He returned in disguise and assumed power with little difficulty, restoring equilibrium to the Yemeni kingdom during his reign (1089–c. 1106). After much family feuding over a successor to Jayyāsh, his grandson al-Manṣūr was installed in Zabīd c. 1111 by the Ṣulayḥids as their vassal. Manṣūr was poisoned in 1123 by his Mamelūke vizier Mann Allāh, who proceeded to fight off an attempted invasion by the Fāṭimids of Egypt and to reduce the Najāḥid ruler to a puppet figure. The Yemeni government passed from one Mamlūk vizier to another after Mann Allāh’s murder in 1130, as rival factions struggled among themselves for primacy. The threat of ʿAli ibn Mahdī, a Khārijite who had murdered the vizier Surūr in 1156, forced the Ethiopians to seek outside help from the Zaydī imām of Ṣanʿāʾ, Aḥmad al-Mutawakkil, and to agree to recognize him as ruler of Zabīd. The Ethiopians were, however, defeated, and ʿAli ibn Mahdī took the Najāḥid capital in 1159.
Najahids. Dynasty of Abyssinian slaves in Yemen who had their capital in Zabid (r.1022-1158). It is named after Najah, one of the slave governors of Marjan, the independent Abyssinian vizier of the last member of the Ziyadids. Najah was recognized in 1022 by the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Qadir bi-‘llah and ruled until 1060, when he was killed by the first Sulayhid ‘Ali ibn Muhammad (r. 1047-1067). After the death of his son Jayyash (c. 1107), confusion reigned. In 1159, the Mahdids entered Zabid. Like the Ziyadids before them, the Najahids continually brought over to Yemen shiploads of Abyssinian slaves. They also struck their own coins.
The Najahids were a Muslim dynasty of Ethiopian Mamelūkes (slaves) that ruled Yemen in the period 1022–1158 from its capital at Zabīd. The Ziyādid kingdom at Zabīd (819–1018) had, in its final years, been controlled by Mamelūke viziers, the last of whom divided Yemen between two slaves, Nafīs and Najāḥ. Nafīs murdered the last Ziyādid ruler in 1018, and, after several years of bitter fighting and the death of Nafīs, Najāḥ emerged victorious and took control of Zabīd early in 1022. Najāḥ obtained the recognition of the ʿAbbāsid caliph and established his rule over the Tihāmah (coastal lands), though the highlands, a stronghold of tribal chieftains, remained recalcitrant. Najāḥ’s murder around 1060 threw the kingdom into chaos, allowing the Ṣulayḥid ruler ʿAlī to take Zabīd, and reduced Najāḥid history to a series of intrigues.
Two of Najāḥ’s sons, Saʿīd and Jayyāsh, who had fled the capital, plotted to restore themselves to the Najāḥid throne and in 1081 killed ʿAlī. Saʿīd, supported by the large Ethiopian Mamelūke population, easily secured control of Zabīd. ʿAlī’s son al-Mukarram, however, heavily influenced by his mother, took Zabīd around 1083, forcing the Najāḥids to flee again. Saʿīd regained power briefly (1086–88) but was finally murdered by al-Mukarram’s wife as-Sayyidah. Jayyāsh, meanwhile, had fled to India. He returned in disguise and assumed power with little difficulty, restoring equilibrium to the Yemeni kingdom during his reign (1089–c. 1106). After much family feuding over a successor to Jayyāsh, his grandson al-Manṣūr was installed in Zabīd c. 1111 by the Ṣulayḥids as their vassal. Manṣūr was poisoned in 1123 by his Mamelūke vizier Mann Allāh, who proceeded to fight off an attempted invasion by the Fāṭimids of Egypt and to reduce the Najāḥid ruler to a puppet figure. The Yemeni government passed from one Mamlūk vizier to another after Mann Allāh’s murder in 1130, as rival factions struggled among themselves for primacy. The threat of ʿAli ibn Mahdī, a Khārijite who had murdered the vizier Surūr in 1156, forced the Ethiopians to seek outside help from the Zaydī imām of Ṣanʿāʾ, Aḥmad al-Mutawakkil, and to agree to recognize him as ruler of Zabīd. The Ethiopians were, however, defeated, and ʿAli ibn Mahdī took the Najāḥid capital in 1159.
Najashi, al-
Najashi, al- (al-Negashi) (Negus -- the “king”) (Ashama ibn Abjar) The term refers to the Ethiopian ruler.
According to Arabic sources, Aṣḥama ibn Abjar was Emperor or al-Najashi of Aksum at the time of Muhammad, and gave refuge to several Muslims in the Kingdom of Aksum. The term "al-Najashi" has the variant al-Negashi. It corresponds to the ancient Aksumite title Negus, with the variant Negash. The name Ashama ibn Abjar seems to correspond to the original Ge'ez name Ella-Seham, variant Sahama. This is an Aksumite king known from coinage. According to other authors, Ashama may have been the same person as king Armah, or his father or son. Taddesse Tamrat records that the inhabitants of Wiqro, where he is known as Ashamat al-Negashi claim his tomb is located in their village.
Due to persecution from the then current Arab leadership in Mecca, a number of Muslims emigrated to Abyssinia. In response, the Arab leaders sent Amr ibn al-Aas to bring them back. Amr was a friend of al-Najashi, and at the same time also had good relations with Abu Sufyan, the then leader of Quraish.
Ashama did not act in a hurry but showed patience and demanded the holy scripture of Muslims to be read. At this, Ja`far ibn Abi Talib recited some verses from the Quran from the chapter of Maryam (Mary). According to Ibn Hisham, al-Najashi and the priests in his court were so greatly affected by the touching verses that they began to shed tears. And so, al-Najashi firmly denied Amr's request to be handed the Muslim refugees. The very next day, Amr tried to play a trick, in order to sow dissension between al-Najashi and the Muslim refugees. Amr was greatly distressed, and promised Ja`far and other Muslims that he was going to cause a great schism between them and King Ashama. Amr arrived the next day at the court of Ashama, and demanded in his presence that the Muslims make known their creed about Jesus. This was a difficult situation because Jesus is not considered as the son of God in the Qur'an, and that was expected to greatly enrage a devout Christian like King Ashama. To this, he explained that Jesus is considered in Islam to be a messenger of God, the word of God, and the miraculously born son of the Virgin Mary. In reply to this statement, King Ashama made a line on the sand with his mace and said, "By God, Jesus is not more than what you have described him. By God, I will never give you up to anyone." He then declared that Muslims could live in Abyssinia for as long as they wished for. According to Muslim tradition, it is during this situation that King Ashama converted to Islam. However, such a conversion is not corroborated by independent historical sources.
Some accounts state that Ashama read the Nikah at one of Muhammad's marriages.
The Sahabī Abu Huraira narrates that Muhammad announced the death of al-Najashi (Ashama) on the same day that he died, and even before any news became known about it for anyone in the city.
In a letter from Muhammad to Negus, king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Muhammad invites Negus and his men to follow his message and believe in Allah. When this letter was presented to Negus, he took the parchment and placed it on his eye, descended to the floor, confessed his faith in Islam. He then responded to [Muhammad] acknowledging him as the Messenger of Allâh and surrendering himself "through him to the Lord of the worlds."
Islamic scholar al-Nawawi wrote in his Commentary on Sahih Muslim that Imam Shafi`i and those who agree to his doctrine in fiqh see in this hadith a proof for praying in absence over a dead Muslim. There is in the hadith an evident miracle of the Prophet's due to his proclamation of the Negus's death on the same day that the latter died in Abyssinia. There is also in the hadith the desirability of proclaiming the death of someone, but not in the pre-Islamic fashion which means to glorify and so forth.
Muhammad had asked the Negus to send Ja‘far and his companions, the emigrants to Abyssinia, back home. They came back to see Muhammad in Khaibar.
Another king succeeded Negus to the throne and another letter was sent to him by Muhammad but whether or not he embraced Islam is still a question not yet answered.
Ashama ibn Abjar see Najashi, al-
Negashi, al- see Najashi, al-
Negus see Najashi, al-
The King see Najashi, al-
Najashi, al- (al-Negashi) (Negus -- the “king”) (Ashama ibn Abjar) The term refers to the Ethiopian ruler.
According to Arabic sources, Aṣḥama ibn Abjar was Emperor or al-Najashi of Aksum at the time of Muhammad, and gave refuge to several Muslims in the Kingdom of Aksum. The term "al-Najashi" has the variant al-Negashi. It corresponds to the ancient Aksumite title Negus, with the variant Negash. The name Ashama ibn Abjar seems to correspond to the original Ge'ez name Ella-Seham, variant Sahama. This is an Aksumite king known from coinage. According to other authors, Ashama may have been the same person as king Armah, or his father or son. Taddesse Tamrat records that the inhabitants of Wiqro, where he is known as Ashamat al-Negashi claim his tomb is located in their village.
Due to persecution from the then current Arab leadership in Mecca, a number of Muslims emigrated to Abyssinia. In response, the Arab leaders sent Amr ibn al-Aas to bring them back. Amr was a friend of al-Najashi, and at the same time also had good relations with Abu Sufyan, the then leader of Quraish.
Ashama did not act in a hurry but showed patience and demanded the holy scripture of Muslims to be read. At this, Ja`far ibn Abi Talib recited some verses from the Quran from the chapter of Maryam (Mary). According to Ibn Hisham, al-Najashi and the priests in his court were so greatly affected by the touching verses that they began to shed tears. And so, al-Najashi firmly denied Amr's request to be handed the Muslim refugees. The very next day, Amr tried to play a trick, in order to sow dissension between al-Najashi and the Muslim refugees. Amr was greatly distressed, and promised Ja`far and other Muslims that he was going to cause a great schism between them and King Ashama. Amr arrived the next day at the court of Ashama, and demanded in his presence that the Muslims make known their creed about Jesus. This was a difficult situation because Jesus is not considered as the son of God in the Qur'an, and that was expected to greatly enrage a devout Christian like King Ashama. To this, he explained that Jesus is considered in Islam to be a messenger of God, the word of God, and the miraculously born son of the Virgin Mary. In reply to this statement, King Ashama made a line on the sand with his mace and said, "By God, Jesus is not more than what you have described him. By God, I will never give you up to anyone." He then declared that Muslims could live in Abyssinia for as long as they wished for. According to Muslim tradition, it is during this situation that King Ashama converted to Islam. However, such a conversion is not corroborated by independent historical sources.
Some accounts state that Ashama read the Nikah at one of Muhammad's marriages.
The Sahabī Abu Huraira narrates that Muhammad announced the death of al-Najashi (Ashama) on the same day that he died, and even before any news became known about it for anyone in the city.
In a letter from Muhammad to Negus, king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Muhammad invites Negus and his men to follow his message and believe in Allah. When this letter was presented to Negus, he took the parchment and placed it on his eye, descended to the floor, confessed his faith in Islam. He then responded to [Muhammad] acknowledging him as the Messenger of Allâh and surrendering himself "through him to the Lord of the worlds."
Islamic scholar al-Nawawi wrote in his Commentary on Sahih Muslim that Imam Shafi`i and those who agree to his doctrine in fiqh see in this hadith a proof for praying in absence over a dead Muslim. There is in the hadith an evident miracle of the Prophet's due to his proclamation of the Negus's death on the same day that the latter died in Abyssinia. There is also in the hadith the desirability of proclaiming the death of someone, but not in the pre-Islamic fashion which means to glorify and so forth.
Muhammad had asked the Negus to send Ja‘far and his companions, the emigrants to Abyssinia, back home. They came back to see Muhammad in Khaibar.
Another king succeeded Negus to the throne and another letter was sent to him by Muhammad but whether or not he embraced Islam is still a question not yet answered.
Ashama ibn Abjar see Najashi, al-
Negashi, al- see Najashi, al-
Negus see Najashi, al-
The King see Najashi, al-
Najjar, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-
Najjar, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al- (al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Najjar). Murji’i theologian of the period of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun. His opinions influenced the Mu‘tazila in their formative period by his keen opposition to some of their views, and paved the way for the Sunni scholars’ defense of their doctrine on the basis of reasoned arguments.
Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Najjar, al- see Najjar, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-
Najjar, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al- (al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Najjar). Murji’i theologian of the period of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun. His opinions influenced the Mu‘tazila in their formative period by his keen opposition to some of their views, and paved the way for the Sunni scholars’ defense of their doctrine on the basis of reasoned arguments.
Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Najjar, al- see Najjar, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-
Najm al-Din Razi Daya
Najm al-Din Razi Daya (Najm al-Din Daya) (Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh ibn Moḥammad ibn Šahāvar al-Asadī al-Rāzī) (1177-1256). Sufi of the Kubrawi order and author. His Observation Post treats the major themes of Sufism and exercised wide and lasting influence throughout the lands where Persian was spoken.
Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh ibn Moḥammad ibn Šahāvar al-Asadī al-Rāzī was commonly know by the laqab, or sobriquet, of Najm al-Dīn Dāya, meaning "wetnurse." Hamid, Algar, translator of the Persian Merṣād to English, states the application of "wetnurse" to the author of the Merṣād derives from the idea of the initiate on the Path being a newborn infant who needs suckling to survive.
Dāya was born in Rayy and died in Baghdad. He was a 13th century Sufi Persian from Khwarezmia. Dāya followed the Sufi order, Kubrawiyya, established by one of his greatest influences, Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Dāya traveled to Kārazm and soon became a morīd (pupil, one who follows the shaykh master and learns from him, undergoing spiritual training) of Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Kubrā then appointed Shaikh Majd al-Dīn Bagdādī as the spiritual trainer who also became Dāya's biggest influence. Dāya constantly refers to al-Dīn Bagdādī as "our shaikh."
When his master, Najm al-Dīn Kubrā, was murdered in 1221, Dāya fled to Hamadan, then to Ardabil, and then to Anatolia where he finally settled with a fellow contemporary master Rumi.
There he put the teachings of his master Najmeddin Kubra into a writing in Persian called Merṣād al-ʻebād men al-mabdāʼ elāʼl-maʻād which is shortly known as Merṣād al-ʻebād, and has gained prominence as a major reference text on Sufism and Islamic theology.
Najm al-Dīn Rāzī lived at a time when the Islamic Middle East was going through a turbulent period of its history, marked by many disruptions and calamities, culminating in the Mongol invasion. The Crusaders descended on the Islamic world from the west, and the Mongols from the east. But Rāzī, who like Ghazālī adhered to the Sunnite branch of Islam and followed the Ash'arite theology, focused his attention on the exploration and analysis of the visionary states experienced by the Sufis in the course of their mystical journey.
Dāya was born in Rayy when it was one of the major centers of urban life and culture in pre-Mongol Iran. At the age of 26, Rāzī left Rayy to travel through Syria, Egypt, Ḥejāz, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. He finally settled in Kārazm and became a morīd to Najm al-Dīn Kubrā, famous mystical Sufi and founder of the Kubrawiyya Order. Rāzī was then tutored by Shaikh Majd al-Dīn Baḡdādī, who Rāzī often referred to as "our shaikh." Rāzī then fled Kārazm due to Kubrā’s prophecy of a Mongol invasion. Finally, Rāzī fled Rayy as well, willingly abandoning his family to the Mongol invasion. Traveling via Hamadān, Erbīl, and Diyarbekir, he reached Kayseri in central Anatolia in Ramadān 618 (October 1221). Thanks to Saljuq patronage, Anatolia was a center for the cultivation of Persian literature. Anatolia witnessed the career of Rūmī (d. 1273). Then in Malatya, Daya met Shaikh Sehab al-Din Abu Hafs ‘Omar al-Sohravardi (d. 1234), nephew of the founder of the Sohravardi order. Razi was on his way back from Baghdad. Daya's Mersad was completed after this event. The Mersad was completed in October 1221 and was intended as “a gift to true seekers and veracious lovers”. A copy of the Mersad was completed in Sivas in August 1223 and dedicated to Keyqobad. Of course, Daya did not mention the first copy to make it seem the monarch inspired the whole work. The different between the two versions is largely one of style, the second being more ornate and prolix than the first.
The literary importance of the Merṣād is considerable: it ranks among the masterpieces of Persian literature, and certain sections- particularly the narrative of the creation and appointment of Adam -bear comparison with the best prose written in Persian. Dāya's choice of illustrative verses- both those of his own composition and those of his predecessors -is judicious, and makes his work an incidental anthology of Sufi poetry, particularly quatrains. The Merṣād is unique in that Dāya excels beyond earlier expository texts which lack the degree of elaboration, systematization, and explicitness that characterized the Sufism of the thirteenth century of the Christian calendar.
The works of Najm al-Din Daya include:
* His most famous was Merṣād al-'ebād men al-mabdā' elā'l-ma'ād or The Path of God's Bondsmen: From Origin to Return.
* Marmūzāt-e Asadī dar mazmūrāt-e Dā'ūdī or The Symbolic Expressions of Asadī Concerning the Psalms of David. Also known as the "special edition" of the Merṣād because it includes much of the same material while diminishing the strictly Sufi portion and expanding the section on kingly power.
* Dāya's own Arabic version of the Merṣād, Manārāt al-sā'erin elām'llāh wa maqāmāt al-ṭā'erīn be 'llāh or Light Towers for Those Voyaging to God. and the Stations of Those Plying with God.
* Tafsīr al-Ta'wīlāt al-najmīya, 'Ayn al-ḥayāt, or Baḥr al-ḥaqā'eq.
* A brief allegory in Persian called Resālat al-ṭoyūr or Treatise of the Birds.
* Me'yār al-ṣedq fī meṣdāq al-'ešq or The Criterion of Veracity Concerning the Touchstone of Love.
Daya, Najm al-Din Razi see Najm al-Din Razi Daya
Najm al-Din Daya see Najm al-Din Razi Daya
Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh ibn Moḥammad ibn Šahāvar al-Asadī al-Rāzī see Najm al-Din Razi Daya
Najm al-Din Razi Daya (Najm al-Din Daya) (Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh ibn Moḥammad ibn Šahāvar al-Asadī al-Rāzī) (1177-1256). Sufi of the Kubrawi order and author. His Observation Post treats the major themes of Sufism and exercised wide and lasting influence throughout the lands where Persian was spoken.
Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh ibn Moḥammad ibn Šahāvar al-Asadī al-Rāzī was commonly know by the laqab, or sobriquet, of Najm al-Dīn Dāya, meaning "wetnurse." Hamid, Algar, translator of the Persian Merṣād to English, states the application of "wetnurse" to the author of the Merṣād derives from the idea of the initiate on the Path being a newborn infant who needs suckling to survive.
Dāya was born in Rayy and died in Baghdad. He was a 13th century Sufi Persian from Khwarezmia. Dāya followed the Sufi order, Kubrawiyya, established by one of his greatest influences, Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Dāya traveled to Kārazm and soon became a morīd (pupil, one who follows the shaykh master and learns from him, undergoing spiritual training) of Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Kubrā then appointed Shaikh Majd al-Dīn Bagdādī as the spiritual trainer who also became Dāya's biggest influence. Dāya constantly refers to al-Dīn Bagdādī as "our shaikh."
When his master, Najm al-Dīn Kubrā, was murdered in 1221, Dāya fled to Hamadan, then to Ardabil, and then to Anatolia where he finally settled with a fellow contemporary master Rumi.
There he put the teachings of his master Najmeddin Kubra into a writing in Persian called Merṣād al-ʻebād men al-mabdāʼ elāʼl-maʻād which is shortly known as Merṣād al-ʻebād, and has gained prominence as a major reference text on Sufism and Islamic theology.
Najm al-Dīn Rāzī lived at a time when the Islamic Middle East was going through a turbulent period of its history, marked by many disruptions and calamities, culminating in the Mongol invasion. The Crusaders descended on the Islamic world from the west, and the Mongols from the east. But Rāzī, who like Ghazālī adhered to the Sunnite branch of Islam and followed the Ash'arite theology, focused his attention on the exploration and analysis of the visionary states experienced by the Sufis in the course of their mystical journey.
Dāya was born in Rayy when it was one of the major centers of urban life and culture in pre-Mongol Iran. At the age of 26, Rāzī left Rayy to travel through Syria, Egypt, Ḥejāz, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. He finally settled in Kārazm and became a morīd to Najm al-Dīn Kubrā, famous mystical Sufi and founder of the Kubrawiyya Order. Rāzī was then tutored by Shaikh Majd al-Dīn Baḡdādī, who Rāzī often referred to as "our shaikh." Rāzī then fled Kārazm due to Kubrā’s prophecy of a Mongol invasion. Finally, Rāzī fled Rayy as well, willingly abandoning his family to the Mongol invasion. Traveling via Hamadān, Erbīl, and Diyarbekir, he reached Kayseri in central Anatolia in Ramadān 618 (October 1221). Thanks to Saljuq patronage, Anatolia was a center for the cultivation of Persian literature. Anatolia witnessed the career of Rūmī (d. 1273). Then in Malatya, Daya met Shaikh Sehab al-Din Abu Hafs ‘Omar al-Sohravardi (d. 1234), nephew of the founder of the Sohravardi order. Razi was on his way back from Baghdad. Daya's Mersad was completed after this event. The Mersad was completed in October 1221 and was intended as “a gift to true seekers and veracious lovers”. A copy of the Mersad was completed in Sivas in August 1223 and dedicated to Keyqobad. Of course, Daya did not mention the first copy to make it seem the monarch inspired the whole work. The different between the two versions is largely one of style, the second being more ornate and prolix than the first.
The literary importance of the Merṣād is considerable: it ranks among the masterpieces of Persian literature, and certain sections- particularly the narrative of the creation and appointment of Adam -bear comparison with the best prose written in Persian. Dāya's choice of illustrative verses- both those of his own composition and those of his predecessors -is judicious, and makes his work an incidental anthology of Sufi poetry, particularly quatrains. The Merṣād is unique in that Dāya excels beyond earlier expository texts which lack the degree of elaboration, systematization, and explicitness that characterized the Sufism of the thirteenth century of the Christian calendar.
The works of Najm al-Din Daya include:
* His most famous was Merṣād al-'ebād men al-mabdā' elā'l-ma'ād or The Path of God's Bondsmen: From Origin to Return.
* Marmūzāt-e Asadī dar mazmūrāt-e Dā'ūdī or The Symbolic Expressions of Asadī Concerning the Psalms of David. Also known as the "special edition" of the Merṣād because it includes much of the same material while diminishing the strictly Sufi portion and expanding the section on kingly power.
* Dāya's own Arabic version of the Merṣād, Manārāt al-sā'erin elām'llāh wa maqāmāt al-ṭā'erīn be 'llāh or Light Towers for Those Voyaging to God. and the Stations of Those Plying with God.
* Tafsīr al-Ta'wīlāt al-najmīya, 'Ayn al-ḥayāt, or Baḥr al-ḥaqā'eq.
* A brief allegory in Persian called Resālat al-ṭoyūr or Treatise of the Birds.
* Me'yār al-ṣedq fī meṣdāq al-'ešq or The Criterion of Veracity Concerning the Touchstone of Love.
Daya, Najm al-Din Razi see Najm al-Din Razi Daya
Najm al-Din Daya see Najm al-Din Razi Daya
Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh ibn Moḥammad ibn Šahāvar al-Asadī al-Rāzī see Najm al-Din Razi Daya
Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din
Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din (Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi) (d. 1350). Persian author of the fourteenth century. He used his knowledge of Indian languages to translate Indian books into Persian. The best known of them is the The Book of the Parrot.
Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi was an 14th-century Persian physician and Sufi living in India. According to a statement in a manuscript now at The National Library of Medicine, Nakhshabi himself transcribed and illustrated a Persian translation made of a Hindi version of a Sanskrit treatise on sexual hygiene.
There are 5 full-page miniatures painted in a variety of opaque watercolors with gilt and two half or three-quarter miniatures, all of a provincial Mughal style typical of north-west India, especially Kashmir, in the 18th century.
No other particulars are known of Nakhshabi.
There are however a number of other Persian manuscripts which associate the name Ziya' Nakhshabi or Dhiya' al-Din Nakhshabi with versions of this ultimately Sanskrit treatise on sexual hygiene. He is also known to have edited and added his own verses to a Persian translation called Tutinama of a Sanskrit collection of 52 tales narrated by a parrot (tuti in Persian) and a nightingale (sharak) to a woman in order to keep her away from a lover while her husband, a traveling merchant, was absent.
Shaykh Diya' al-Din Nakhshabi see Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din
Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi see Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din
Nakhshabi, Ziya' al-Din see Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din
Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din (Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi) (d. 1350). Persian author of the fourteenth century. He used his knowledge of Indian languages to translate Indian books into Persian. The best known of them is the The Book of the Parrot.
Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi was an 14th-century Persian physician and Sufi living in India. According to a statement in a manuscript now at The National Library of Medicine, Nakhshabi himself transcribed and illustrated a Persian translation made of a Hindi version of a Sanskrit treatise on sexual hygiene.
There are 5 full-page miniatures painted in a variety of opaque watercolors with gilt and two half or three-quarter miniatures, all of a provincial Mughal style typical of north-west India, especially Kashmir, in the 18th century.
No other particulars are known of Nakhshabi.
There are however a number of other Persian manuscripts which associate the name Ziya' Nakhshabi or Dhiya' al-Din Nakhshabi with versions of this ultimately Sanskrit treatise on sexual hygiene. He is also known to have edited and added his own verses to a Persian translation called Tutinama of a Sanskrit collection of 52 tales narrated by a parrot (tuti in Persian) and a nightingale (sharak) to a woman in order to keep her away from a lover while her husband, a traveling merchant, was absent.
Shaykh Diya' al-Din Nakhshabi see Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din
Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi see Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din
Nakhshabi, Ziya' al-Din see Nakhshabi, Shaykh Diya’ al-Din
Nanak
Nanak (b. April 15, 1469, Rai Bhoi di Talvandi [now Nankana Sahib, Pakistan], near Lahore, India —
d. 1539, Kartarpur, Punjab). Founder of the Sikh faith. Nanak was the second child and only son of Mehta Kalian Das Bedi, a minor official in the revenue department, and his wife Tripta.
Most of Nanak’s childhood was spent in the village of his birth, Talwandi Rai Bhoe, now named after him Nankana Sahib, about forty miles from Lahore, Pakistan. The family being Bedis (those who know the Vedas), a subject of the Ksatriya caste, Nanak was taught the rudiments of Hindu religion. He also had a Muslim teacher who taught him something of the Qur’an and the traditions -- the hadith. According to the Janam Sakhis -- the “birth stories,” Nanak was a precocious child who took little interest in his studies or his shepherding responsibilities and preferred talking to itinerant Hindu and Muslim holy men.
Nanak was betrothed at the age of twelve to Sulakhni, daughter of Mool Chand Chona of Batala. When he was nineteen Sulakhni came to live with him. She bore him two sons, Sri Chand (b. 1494) and Lakhni Das (b. 1497). Nanak took little interest in family affairs. For some years, Nanak worked as an accountant with the viceroy Daulat Khan Lodhi at Sultanpur and stayed with his elder sister, Nanaki, whose husband was also in the service of the viceroy. Under the influence of a Muslim family retainer who could play the rebeck (an ancient three stringed musical instrument with a pear shaped body and slender neck), Nanak began to compose hymns, and the two of them organized community hymn singing.
When he was in his thirtieth year, Nanak had his first mystical experience. While bathing in the stream Bein, he disappeared and was assumed to have drowned. According to later biographies, Nanak was summoned by God and charged with the mission to teach mankind to pray. He emerged from the stream three days later and announced: “There is no Hindu, the is no Muslim.” Nanak then proceeded to give away all that he had and to become a beggar.
The birth stories, whose authenticity has been questioned by scholars, maintain that Nanak undertook four long voyages. The first voyage took him eastward to Hindu holy cities, Mathura, Banaras, and Gaya, through Bengal to Assam. On his return journey, Nanak visited the Jagannatha Temple in Puri as well as the whole of Orissa. Nanak then toured the Punjab, visiting Muslim Sufi establishments, and proceeded to the South of India, returning via the Himalayan mountains as far as Ladakh. The fourth and last odyssey took him westward to Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad. On his return journey, while passing through Saidpur, Nanak is said to have been detained in prison by the Mogul invader Babar, who sacked the town. After these journeys, Nanak settled down with his family in Kartarpur, a town he had built on the banks of the river Ravi.
The birth stories recount many incidents from these journeys. While at Hardvar on the Ganges, he saw bathers throwing water toward the sun as offerings to their dead ancestors. Nanak began throwing water in the opposite direction. When questioned, Nanak replied: “I am throwing water to my fields in the Punjab. If you can throw water to your ancestors in heaven which is millions of miles away, surely I can send it to my fields which are only 250 kos from here.” The other incident is said to have taken place while Nanak was on his way to Mecca. He fell asleep with his feet toward the Ka’ba. When a Muslim woke him and angrily scolded Nanak for this disrespect to the house of God, Nanak is said to have replied, “Then turn my feet toward some direction where there is no God nor the Ka’ba.”
Nanak spent the last years of his life at Kartarpur, where he built a dharmala -- an abode of righteousness. At Kartarpur, Nanak also preached and sang hymns. Nanak appointed a disciple, Lehna, renamed Angad, as his successor in preference to his two sons. The birth stories, obviously borrowing the incident from the life Kabir, maintain that both Hindus and Muslims claimed Nanak’s body, the former to cremate him, the latter to bury him. The issue was settled by placing flowers on either side of Nanak’s body. The side whose flowers remained fresh was to dispose of the body according to its custom. The next morning the mourners found flowers on either side still fresh, but the body had disappeared.
The Janam Sakhis, on which the traditional account of Nanak’s life is based, have been scrutinized by Sikh and foreign scholars and found unreliable as historical evidence. The first was written more than fifty years after Nanak’s death, and they contradict each other on material detail.
Nanak has practically nothing to say of incidents in his life except his presence in Saidpur when it was sacked by Babar in 1521. Even this incident does not correspond with the sequence of events narrated in the Janam Sakhis. Later writings of Sikh theologians and historians are equally unenlightening. The only remaining evidence are tablets discovered in Dacca and Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh and one in Baghdad which make oblique references to Nanak’s visits there. But none of these tablets can be regarded as conclusive evidence.
What is known is that the remaining years of Nanak's life were spent in Kartarpur, another village of central Punjab. Tradition holds that the village was actually built by a wealthy admirer to honor Nanak. It was presumably during this final period that the foundations of the new Sikh community were laid. By this time it must be assumed that Nanak was recognized as a Guru, an inspired teacher of religious truth, and that, in accordance with the custom of India, disciples who accepted him as their Guru gathered around him in Kartarpur. Some probably remained as permanent residents of the village; many more made periodic visits to obtain his blessing. All of them listened to the teachings expressed there in numerous devotional hymns intended for communal singing, many of which survive to this day.
The actual year of Nanak’s death is disputed, tradition being divided between 1538 and 1539. Of these two possibilities, the latter appears to be the more likely. One of his disciples, Angad, was chosen by Nanak as his spiritual successor, and following Nanak’s death he assumed the leadership of the young Sikh community as Guru Angad.
In view of the size of the following that Nanak attracted, numerous anecdotes concerning the deeds of the Guru began to circulate within the community soon after his death. Many of these were borrowed from the current Hindu and Muslim traditions, and others were suggested by Nanak’s own works. These anecdotes were called sakhis, or “testimonies,” and the anthologies into which they were gathered in rough chronological order are known as Janam-sakhis. The interest of the narrators and compilers of the Janam-sakhis has largely concentrated on the childhood of Nanak and above all on his travels. Among the earlier traditions are tales of visits he is supposed to have made to Baghdad and Mecca. Ceylon is a later addition, and later still the Guru is said to have traveled as far east as China and as far west as Rome. Today the Janam-sakhis offer a substantial corpus of hagiographical material, and the more important of these collections continue to be the basis of “biographies” of Nanak.
Nanak’s message can be briefly summarized as a doctrine of salvation through disciplined meditation on the divine name. Salvation is understood in terms of escape from the transmigratory round of death and rebirth to a mystical union with God. The divine name signifies the total manifestation of God, a single Being, immanent both in the created world and within the human spirit. Meditation must be strictly inward, and all external aids such as idols, temples, mosques, scriptures, and set prayers are explicitly rejected. The Muslim influence is relatively slight; the influence of Hindu mystical and devotional beliefs is much more apparent. Always, though, the coherence and beauty of Nanak’s own expression dominates early Sikh theology.
Most of Nanak’s childhood was spent in the village of his birth, Talwandi Rai Bhoe, now named after him Nankana Sahib, about forty miles from Lahore, Pakistan. The family being Bedis (those who know the Vedas), a subject of the Ksatriya caste, Nanak was taught the rudiments of Hindu religion. He also had a Muslim teacher who taught him something of the Qur’an and the traditions -- the hadith. According to the Janam Sakhis -- the “birth stories,” Nanak was a precocious child who took little interest in his studies or his shepherding responsibilities and preferred talking to itinerant Hindu and Muslim holy men.
Nanak was betrothed at the age of twelve to Sulakhni, daughter of Mool Chand Chona of Batala. When he was nineteen Sulakhni came to live with him. She bore him two sons, Sri Chand (b. 1494) and Lakhni Das (b. 1497). Nanak took little interest in family affairs. For some years, Nanak worked as an accountant with the viceroy Daulat Khan Lodhi at Sultanpur and stayed with his elder sister, Nanaki, whose husband was also in the service of the viceroy. Under the influence of a Muslim family retainer who could play the rebeck (an ancient three stringed musical instrument with a pear shaped body and slender neck), Nanak began to compose hymns, and the two of them organized community hymn singing.
When he was in his thirtieth year, Nanak had his first mystical experience. While bathing in the stream Bein, he disappeared and was assumed to have drowned. According to later biographies, Nanak was summoned by God and charged with the mission to teach mankind to pray. He emerged from the stream three days later and announced: “There is no Hindu, the is no Muslim.” Nanak then proceeded to give away all that he had and to become a beggar.
The birth stories, whose authenticity has been questioned by scholars, maintain that Nanak undertook four long voyages. The first voyage took him eastward to Hindu holy cities, Mathura, Banaras, and Gaya, through Bengal to Assam. On his return journey, Nanak visited the Jagannatha Temple in Puri as well as the whole of Orissa. Nanak then toured the Punjab, visiting Muslim Sufi establishments, and proceeded to the South of India, returning via the Himalayan mountains as far as Ladakh. The fourth and last odyssey took him westward to Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad. On his return journey, while passing through Saidpur, Nanak is said to have been detained in prison by the Mogul invader Babar, who sacked the town. After these journeys, Nanak settled down with his family in Kartarpur, a town he had built on the banks of the river Ravi.
The birth stories recount many incidents from these journeys. While at Hardvar on the Ganges, he saw bathers throwing water toward the sun as offerings to their dead ancestors. Nanak began throwing water in the opposite direction. When questioned, Nanak replied: “I am throwing water to my fields in the Punjab. If you can throw water to your ancestors in heaven which is millions of miles away, surely I can send it to my fields which are only 250 kos from here.” The other incident is said to have taken place while Nanak was on his way to Mecca. He fell asleep with his feet toward the Ka’ba. When a Muslim woke him and angrily scolded Nanak for this disrespect to the house of God, Nanak is said to have replied, “Then turn my feet toward some direction where there is no God nor the Ka’ba.”
Nanak spent the last years of his life at Kartarpur, where he built a dharmala -- an abode of righteousness. At Kartarpur, Nanak also preached and sang hymns. Nanak appointed a disciple, Lehna, renamed Angad, as his successor in preference to his two sons. The birth stories, obviously borrowing the incident from the life Kabir, maintain that both Hindus and Muslims claimed Nanak’s body, the former to cremate him, the latter to bury him. The issue was settled by placing flowers on either side of Nanak’s body. The side whose flowers remained fresh was to dispose of the body according to its custom. The next morning the mourners found flowers on either side still fresh, but the body had disappeared.
The Janam Sakhis, on which the traditional account of Nanak’s life is based, have been scrutinized by Sikh and foreign scholars and found unreliable as historical evidence. The first was written more than fifty years after Nanak’s death, and they contradict each other on material detail.
Nanak has practically nothing to say of incidents in his life except his presence in Saidpur when it was sacked by Babar in 1521. Even this incident does not correspond with the sequence of events narrated in the Janam Sakhis. Later writings of Sikh theologians and historians are equally unenlightening. The only remaining evidence are tablets discovered in Dacca and Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh and one in Baghdad which make oblique references to Nanak’s visits there. But none of these tablets can be regarded as conclusive evidence.
What is known is that the remaining years of Nanak's life were spent in Kartarpur, another village of central Punjab. Tradition holds that the village was actually built by a wealthy admirer to honor Nanak. It was presumably during this final period that the foundations of the new Sikh community were laid. By this time it must be assumed that Nanak was recognized as a Guru, an inspired teacher of religious truth, and that, in accordance with the custom of India, disciples who accepted him as their Guru gathered around him in Kartarpur. Some probably remained as permanent residents of the village; many more made periodic visits to obtain his blessing. All of them listened to the teachings expressed there in numerous devotional hymns intended for communal singing, many of which survive to this day.
The actual year of Nanak’s death is disputed, tradition being divided between 1538 and 1539. Of these two possibilities, the latter appears to be the more likely. One of his disciples, Angad, was chosen by Nanak as his spiritual successor, and following Nanak’s death he assumed the leadership of the young Sikh community as Guru Angad.
In view of the size of the following that Nanak attracted, numerous anecdotes concerning the deeds of the Guru began to circulate within the community soon after his death. Many of these were borrowed from the current Hindu and Muslim traditions, and others were suggested by Nanak’s own works. These anecdotes were called sakhis, or “testimonies,” and the anthologies into which they were gathered in rough chronological order are known as Janam-sakhis. The interest of the narrators and compilers of the Janam-sakhis has largely concentrated on the childhood of Nanak and above all on his travels. Among the earlier traditions are tales of visits he is supposed to have made to Baghdad and Mecca. Ceylon is a later addition, and later still the Guru is said to have traveled as far east as China and as far west as Rome. Today the Janam-sakhis offer a substantial corpus of hagiographical material, and the more important of these collections continue to be the basis of “biographies” of Nanak.
Nanak’s message can be briefly summarized as a doctrine of salvation through disciplined meditation on the divine name. Salvation is understood in terms of escape from the transmigratory round of death and rebirth to a mystical union with God. The divine name signifies the total manifestation of God, a single Being, immanent both in the created world and within the human spirit. Meditation must be strictly inward, and all external aids such as idols, temples, mosques, scriptures, and set prayers are explicitly rejected. The Muslim influence is relatively slight; the influence of Hindu mystical and devotional beliefs is much more apparent. Always, though, the coherence and beauty of Nanak’s own expression dominates early Sikh theology.
Naqib
Naqib. Term which refers to a syndic (a municipal magistrate) or headman.
Naqib. Term which refers to a syndic (a municipal magistrate) or headman.
naqib al-ashraf
naqib al-ashraf. Term which refers to the syndic (the municipal magistrate) or the headman of the groups of descendants of the Prophet found in many Muslim countries.
naqib al-ashraf. Term which refers to the syndic (the municipal magistrate) or the headman of the groups of descendants of the Prophet found in many Muslim countries.
Naqqash, Marun ibn Ilyas al-
Naqqash, Marun ibn Ilyas al- (Marun ibn Ilyas al-Naqqash) (1817-1855). Pioneer of modern playwriting in Arabic. His five and three act plays were inspired by Moliere’s plays and by the Thousand and One Nights.
Marun ibn Ilyas al-Naqqash see Naqqash, Marun ibn Ilyas al-
Naqqash, Marun ibn Ilyas al- (Marun ibn Ilyas al-Naqqash) (1817-1855). Pioneer of modern playwriting in Arabic. His five and three act plays were inspired by Moliere’s plays and by the Thousand and One Nights.
Marun ibn Ilyas al-Naqqash see Naqqash, Marun ibn Ilyas al-
Naqshbandiyya
Naqshbandiyya (Naqshbandiyah)) (Naqshbandi). Important and still active Sufi order, named after Khwaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband (1318-1389) from Bukhara. In the extent of its diffusion it has been second only to the Qadiriyya.
In Transoxiana, it rose to supremacy in the time of its founder, and spread southward to Herat. In northwestern Persia, however, it was relatively short-lived. With their strong loyalty to Sunnism, the Naqshbandis became a special target of persecution for the Shi‘a Safavids. In the nineteenth century, the Khalidi branch of the Naqshbandiyya, established by Mawlana Khalid Baghdadi (d. 1827), almost entirely supplanted all other branches and wrested supremacy from the Qadiriyya in Kurdistan. At present, the Naqshbandiyya remain strong among the Kurds of Persia, particularly in the region of Mahabad, and in Talish. By contrast, they are now moribund among the Turkmen.
In Turkey, the first implantation took place in the fifteenth century. It gained the loyalty of the Ottoman Turks with its emphatically Sunni identity and insistence on sober respect for Islamic law. The Mujaddidi branch of the order, established in India by Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi “the Renewer,” was transmitted to Turkey in the seventeenth century. Soon afterwards, a second transmission took place through Mecca, which remained until the late nineteenth century an important center for the diffusion of the Naqshbandiyya. In Turkey too, it was the Khalidi branch which made the Naqshbandiyya the paramount order, a position it has retained even after the official dissolution of the orders.
Naqshbandiyya was a Sufi order (tariqa) that began in Central Asia. Its legends identify Ahmad Ata Yaswi (d. 1116) as the order’s founder, but the name derives from Khwaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband (Bahauddin an-Naqshband) (d. 1389). The order arrived in India at a fairly late date. Although the Mughal emperor Babar supposedly invited its adherents to India, Shaikh Baqi Bi’llah (Khwaja Baqi Bi’llah) (1564-1603), who arrived in Delhi during Akbar’s reign, was the first influential Naqshbandi to make his home there. During this period, the spiritual program of the Naqshbandis was not yet solidly established. Baqi Bi’llah’s own son was attracted to the pantheistic views of the Spanish mystic philosopher Ibn Arabi.
Baqi Bi’llah’s favorite disciple, Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), however, took a much more scripturalist approach, attacking Arabi’s thought and bemoaning the influence of Shi‘ites and Hindus in the royal court, Sirhindi’s emphasis on the Qur’an, shari’a, and the personality of the Prophet as revealed in hadith literature helped to place Indian Naqshbandis at the center of the religious revival that took place in the Muslim world in the century after Sirhindi’s death. Indian Naqshbandis living in the holy cities intiated many Indonesians and Central Asians into the order. The hospice of Mirzah Mazhar Jan-i Janan (d. 1780) was another notable Naqshbandi center. In contrast to the Chishtis, Naqshbandis favored private meditation (particularly intense concentration on the images of one’s master) and rejected the use of music as a spiritual aid.
In India, the Naqshbandiyya remained for two centuries the principal order, especially through the Mujaddid branch. Its main characteristic has been its rejection of innovations and its involvement in political struggles.
Naqshbandiyah see Naqshbandiyya
Naqshbandi see Naqshbandiyya
Naqshbandiyya (Naqshbandiyah)) (Naqshbandi). Important and still active Sufi order, named after Khwaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband (1318-1389) from Bukhara. In the extent of its diffusion it has been second only to the Qadiriyya.
In Transoxiana, it rose to supremacy in the time of its founder, and spread southward to Herat. In northwestern Persia, however, it was relatively short-lived. With their strong loyalty to Sunnism, the Naqshbandis became a special target of persecution for the Shi‘a Safavids. In the nineteenth century, the Khalidi branch of the Naqshbandiyya, established by Mawlana Khalid Baghdadi (d. 1827), almost entirely supplanted all other branches and wrested supremacy from the Qadiriyya in Kurdistan. At present, the Naqshbandiyya remain strong among the Kurds of Persia, particularly in the region of Mahabad, and in Talish. By contrast, they are now moribund among the Turkmen.
In Turkey, the first implantation took place in the fifteenth century. It gained the loyalty of the Ottoman Turks with its emphatically Sunni identity and insistence on sober respect for Islamic law. The Mujaddidi branch of the order, established in India by Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi “the Renewer,” was transmitted to Turkey in the seventeenth century. Soon afterwards, a second transmission took place through Mecca, which remained until the late nineteenth century an important center for the diffusion of the Naqshbandiyya. In Turkey too, it was the Khalidi branch which made the Naqshbandiyya the paramount order, a position it has retained even after the official dissolution of the orders.
Naqshbandiyya was a Sufi order (tariqa) that began in Central Asia. Its legends identify Ahmad Ata Yaswi (d. 1116) as the order’s founder, but the name derives from Khwaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband (Bahauddin an-Naqshband) (d. 1389). The order arrived in India at a fairly late date. Although the Mughal emperor Babar supposedly invited its adherents to India, Shaikh Baqi Bi’llah (Khwaja Baqi Bi’llah) (1564-1603), who arrived in Delhi during Akbar’s reign, was the first influential Naqshbandi to make his home there. During this period, the spiritual program of the Naqshbandis was not yet solidly established. Baqi Bi’llah’s own son was attracted to the pantheistic views of the Spanish mystic philosopher Ibn Arabi.
Baqi Bi’llah’s favorite disciple, Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), however, took a much more scripturalist approach, attacking Arabi’s thought and bemoaning the influence of Shi‘ites and Hindus in the royal court, Sirhindi’s emphasis on the Qur’an, shari’a, and the personality of the Prophet as revealed in hadith literature helped to place Indian Naqshbandis at the center of the religious revival that took place in the Muslim world in the century after Sirhindi’s death. Indian Naqshbandis living in the holy cities intiated many Indonesians and Central Asians into the order. The hospice of Mirzah Mazhar Jan-i Janan (d. 1780) was another notable Naqshbandi center. In contrast to the Chishtis, Naqshbandis favored private meditation (particularly intense concentration on the images of one’s master) and rejected the use of music as a spiritual aid.
In India, the Naqshbandiyya remained for two centuries the principal order, especially through the Mujaddid branch. Its main characteristic has been its rejection of innovations and its involvement in political struggles.
Naqshbandiyah see Naqshbandiyya
Naqshbandi see Naqshbandiyya
Naraqi, Hajji Mullah Ahmad
Naraqi, Hajji Mullah Ahmad (Hajji Mullah Ahmad Naraqi) (1771-1829). Shi‘a religious leader, man of letters, social critic and religious polemicist. Despite his friendly relations with the Qajar Fath ‘Ali Shah, he refused to recognize the legitimacy of his rule. It is only the qualified jurists who carry the authority of the Hidden Imam as his General Agents and are genuinely legitimate rulers of the Muslim community. This line of argument provided an important source of reasoning for Ayatollah Khomeini.
Hajji Mullah Ahmad Naraqi see Naraqi, Hajji Mullah Ahmad
Naraqi, Hajji Mullah Ahmad (Hajji Mullah Ahmad Naraqi) (1771-1829). Shi‘a religious leader, man of letters, social critic and religious polemicist. Despite his friendly relations with the Qajar Fath ‘Ali Shah, he refused to recognize the legitimacy of his rule. It is only the qualified jurists who carry the authority of the Hidden Imam as his General Agents and are genuinely legitimate rulers of the Muslim community. This line of argument provided an important source of reasoning for Ayatollah Khomeini.
Hajji Mullah Ahmad Naraqi see Naraqi, Hajji Mullah Ahmad
Nasafi, Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al-
Nasafi, Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al- (Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al-Nasafi) (d. 943). Philosopher-theologian of the Isma‘lis in Khurasan and Transoxiana. He is generally credited with the introductionof Neo-Platonic philosophy into Isma(ili circles.
Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al-Nasafi see Nasafi, Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al-
Nasafi, Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al- (Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al-Nasafi) (d. 943). Philosopher-theologian of the Isma‘lis in Khurasan and Transoxiana. He is generally credited with the introductionof Neo-Platonic philosophy into Isma(ili circles.
Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al-Nasafi see Nasafi, Abu’l-Hasan al-Bazdawi al-
Nasafi, Hafiz al-Din al-
Nasafi, Hafiz al-Din al- (Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi) (d. 1310). Hanafi legist and theologian. He owes his fame to a number of works on Islamic law, among them a concise account of the foundations of law, and a synopsis of another work, used as late as the nineteenth century in Damascus and at the al-Azhar in Cairo.
Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi see Nasafi, Hafiz al-Din al-
Nasafi, Hafiz al-Din al- (Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi) (d. 1310). Hanafi legist and theologian. He owes his fame to a number of works on Islamic law, among them a concise account of the foundations of law, and a synopsis of another work, used as late as the nineteenth century in Damascus and at the al-Azhar in Cairo.
Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi see Nasafi, Hafiz al-Din al-
Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al- (Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa‘i) (al-Nasa'i) (Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī) (829/830-915). Author of one of the six canonical collections of traditions.
Al-Nasā'ī, full name Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī, was a noted collector of hadith (sayings of Muhammad), and wrote one of the six canonical hadith collections recognized by Sunni Muslims, Sunan al-Sughra, or "Al-Mujtaba", which he selected from his "As-Sunan al-Kubra". He also wrote fifteen (15) other books, six (6) dealing with the science of hadith.
Al-Nasa'i was born in Nasā (in Khorasan) about 829, and traveled extensively in order to hear traditions. He resided in Egypt for a while, and then in Damascus. He died in 915, murdered by supporters of the Umayyads after speaking out against them. His final burial place is unknown but it may be in Mecca or Ramalah (Palestine).
Al-Nasa'i died a brutal death for praising Ali and denouncing Mu'awiya in Damascus, which was then in the grip of anti-Ali fever stoked by the Umayyads.
Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa‘i see Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī see Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Nasa'i, al- see Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al- (Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa‘i) (al-Nasa'i) (Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī) (829/830-915). Author of one of the six canonical collections of traditions.
Al-Nasā'ī, full name Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī, was a noted collector of hadith (sayings of Muhammad), and wrote one of the six canonical hadith collections recognized by Sunni Muslims, Sunan al-Sughra, or "Al-Mujtaba", which he selected from his "As-Sunan al-Kubra". He also wrote fifteen (15) other books, six (6) dealing with the science of hadith.
Al-Nasa'i was born in Nasā (in Khorasan) about 829, and traveled extensively in order to hear traditions. He resided in Egypt for a while, and then in Damascus. He died in 915, murdered by supporters of the Umayyads after speaking out against them. His final burial place is unknown but it may be in Mecca or Ramalah (Palestine).
Al-Nasa'i died a brutal death for praising Ali and denouncing Mu'awiya in Damascus, which was then in the grip of anti-Ali fever stoked by the Umayyads.
Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa‘i see Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī see Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Nasa'i, al- see Nasa‘i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Nasawi, Shihab al-Din al-
Nasawi, Shihab al-Din al- (Shihab al-Din al-Nasawi) (d. 1249). Secretary and biographer of the Khwarazm-Shah Jalal al-Din Mingburnu (Mangubirti). He fled with his master before the Mongols from Tabriz into Mughan, in Azerbaijan, and was employed in unsuccessful missions for support against the Mongols. He escaped during the Khwarazm-Shah’s final battle with the Mongols in 1231, and died in Aleppo.
Shihab al-Din al-Nasawi see Nasawi, Shihab al-Din al-
Nasawi, Shihab al-Din al- (Shihab al-Din al-Nasawi) (d. 1249). Secretary and biographer of the Khwarazm-Shah Jalal al-Din Mingburnu (Mangubirti). He fled with his master before the Mongols from Tabriz into Mughan, in Azerbaijan, and was employed in unsuccessful missions for support against the Mongols. He escaped during the Khwarazm-Shah’s final battle with the Mongols in 1231, and died in Aleppo.
Shihab al-Din al-Nasawi see Nasawi, Shihab al-Din al-
Nasif, Malak Hifni
Nasif, Malak Hifni (Malak Hifni Nasif) (b. December 25, 1886 in Cairo - d. October 17, 1918). Feminist and writer known as Bahithat al-Badiyah (Searcher in the Desert). Daughter of a scholar and litterateur, Nasif entered the ‘Abbas Primary School when the state opened a girls’ section in 1895. Receiving her diploma in 1901, she began to teach while enrolled in in the Teachers’ Training Program at Saniyah School, where she received her certificate in 1905. She left her teaching post two years later upon marriage to ‘Abd al-Sattar al-Bassal, bedouin chief, and settled with him in Fayyum oasis. Although obliged by the Ministry of Education as well as personal circumstances to stop teaching after marriage, Nasif continued to write, publishing under the name Bahithat al-Badiyah. She spoke in the women’s lecture series begun in 1909 and held at the Egyptian University and in the offices of the liberal newspaper, Al-jaridah. Her essays, newspaper articles, and speeches were collectively published in Al-nisa’iyat (Women’s [Feminist] Pieces), a pioneering feminist book.
A reformer in the Islamic modernist tradition focusing on gender, Nasif inveighed against men’s abuses relating to divorce and polygamy. Appropriating a male Muslim nationalist forum, the Egyptian Congress meeting in Heliopolis in 1911, she sent a list of feminist demands insisting specifically that women be allowed to participate in congregational worship in mosques, to study in all fields, and to enter all occupations and professions, and, more generally, that women be permitted to develop themselves (as enjoined by Islam upon all believers) and to contribute to the welfare of the ummah (the community and nation). She also called for reform of the Muslim Personal Status Code. Unswerving in her goals but cautious in her methods, Nasif did not advocate uncovering of the face (although she knew this form of veiling was not ordained by Islamic religion) until society was better prepared to accept this change. Following the Italian invasion of Libya in 1911, Nasif initiated a program in Cairo to train women as nurses. In 1914, she participated in founding the Women’s Refinement (al-Ittihad al-Nisa’i al-Tahdhibi) and the Ladies Literary Improvement Society (Jam‘iyat al-Raqy al-Adabiyah lil-Sayyidat al-Misriyat). When Nasif died in 1918, at the age of thirty-two, women and men alike paid her homage. In commemorating the life and work of Malak Hifni Nasif, future feminist leader Huda Sha‘rawi publicly pledged to continue her struggle on behalf of women.
Malak Hifni Nasif see Nasif, Malak Hifni
Nasif, Malak Hifni (Malak Hifni Nasif) (b. December 25, 1886 in Cairo - d. October 17, 1918). Feminist and writer known as Bahithat al-Badiyah (Searcher in the Desert). Daughter of a scholar and litterateur, Nasif entered the ‘Abbas Primary School when the state opened a girls’ section in 1895. Receiving her diploma in 1901, she began to teach while enrolled in in the Teachers’ Training Program at Saniyah School, where she received her certificate in 1905. She left her teaching post two years later upon marriage to ‘Abd al-Sattar al-Bassal, bedouin chief, and settled with him in Fayyum oasis. Although obliged by the Ministry of Education as well as personal circumstances to stop teaching after marriage, Nasif continued to write, publishing under the name Bahithat al-Badiyah. She spoke in the women’s lecture series begun in 1909 and held at the Egyptian University and in the offices of the liberal newspaper, Al-jaridah. Her essays, newspaper articles, and speeches were collectively published in Al-nisa’iyat (Women’s [Feminist] Pieces), a pioneering feminist book.
A reformer in the Islamic modernist tradition focusing on gender, Nasif inveighed against men’s abuses relating to divorce and polygamy. Appropriating a male Muslim nationalist forum, the Egyptian Congress meeting in Heliopolis in 1911, she sent a list of feminist demands insisting specifically that women be allowed to participate in congregational worship in mosques, to study in all fields, and to enter all occupations and professions, and, more generally, that women be permitted to develop themselves (as enjoined by Islam upon all believers) and to contribute to the welfare of the ummah (the community and nation). She also called for reform of the Muslim Personal Status Code. Unswerving in her goals but cautious in her methods, Nasif did not advocate uncovering of the face (although she knew this form of veiling was not ordained by Islamic religion) until society was better prepared to accept this change. Following the Italian invasion of Libya in 1911, Nasif initiated a program in Cairo to train women as nurses. In 1914, she participated in founding the Women’s Refinement (al-Ittihad al-Nisa’i al-Tahdhibi) and the Ladies Literary Improvement Society (Jam‘iyat al-Raqy al-Adabiyah lil-Sayyidat al-Misriyat). When Nasif died in 1918, at the age of thirty-two, women and men alike paid her homage. In commemorating the life and work of Malak Hifni Nasif, future feminist leader Huda Sha‘rawi publicly pledged to continue her struggle on behalf of women.
Malak Hifni Nasif see Nasif, Malak Hifni
Nasikh, Shaykh Imam Bakhsh
Nasikh, Shaykh Imam Bakhsh (Shaykh Imam Bakhsh Nasikh) (Ustaad Imam Baksh Nasikh) (1771/1776-1838). Urdu poet and arbiter of the language. He aimed at replacing many idioms, current in Delhi, by others considered superior. His reform of the Urdu language included, among others, the elimination of Hindi words and preference for those of Arabic and Persian origin. His reputation as a poet declined during the twentieth century.
Ustaad Imam Baksh Nasikh was born in Faizabad, India, which was ruled by the Mughals at the time. His poor father died early in his childhood. Afterwards, a wealthy merchant from Lahore, Khuda Buksh Kheema Doz, adopted him and gave him a good educaton. Nasikh remained carefree during the early period of his life. When his adoptive father died, his brothers tried to challenge the inheritance. An attempt was made to poison Nasikh unsuccessfully. Ultimately, the inheritance issue went to court, and the court decided in favor of Nasikh.
Nasikh learned Persian with Hafiz Waris Ali and other learned scholars of Farangi Mahal, a quarter of Lucknow noted for its erudition and boasting of a noted academy of Persian and Arabic learning. He was not proficient in Arabic, but knew it well enough for the Urdu poetry.
Nasikh learned poetry on his own, and was not known to be a pupil of any notable figure in poetry.
After Lucknow became the capital city of Oudh, Nasikh moved to the city, and spent the rest of his life there in a neighorhood called Teksilla. It was reported that during Nasikh's learning years (when the well known Urdu poet of Lucknow, Mir Taqi Mir was alive), Nasikh once went to Mir to seek his guidance in poetry. For some reason, Mir did not help him, and Nasikh returned broken-hearted. He vowed to perfect his skills in poetry with a new vigor on his own.
Nasikh took the takhalus (or poetical name) of 'Nasikh', which implies that his splendor eclipsed and abrogated that of all other poets.
It is not very much evident from his poetry, but it seems that Nasikh was a Sufi Muslim. Much like Mir Taqi Mir, his predecessor, he was probably a follower of the “Malamati” or “Blameworthy” aspect of the Sufi tradition. Using this technique, a person ascribes to oneself an unconventional aspect of a person or society, and then plays out its results, either in action or in verse. As in Ghalib or Mir's poetry, Nasikh's ridicule of Abrahamic/Koranic concepts of paradise, hell, zahid, etc are very much found in his poetry.
Shaykh Imam Bakhsh Nasikh see Nasikh, Shaykh Imam Bakhsh
Ustaad Imam Baksh Nasikh see Nasikh, Shaykh Imam Bakhsh
Nasikh, Shaykh Imam Bakhsh (Shaykh Imam Bakhsh Nasikh) (Ustaad Imam Baksh Nasikh) (1771/1776-1838). Urdu poet and arbiter of the language. He aimed at replacing many idioms, current in Delhi, by others considered superior. His reform of the Urdu language included, among others, the elimination of Hindi words and preference for those of Arabic and Persian origin. His reputation as a poet declined during the twentieth century.
Ustaad Imam Baksh Nasikh was born in Faizabad, India, which was ruled by the Mughals at the time. His poor father died early in his childhood. Afterwards, a wealthy merchant from Lahore, Khuda Buksh Kheema Doz, adopted him and gave him a good educaton. Nasikh remained carefree during the early period of his life. When his adoptive father died, his brothers tried to challenge the inheritance. An attempt was made to poison Nasikh unsuccessfully. Ultimately, the inheritance issue went to court, and the court decided in favor of Nasikh.
Nasikh learned Persian with Hafiz Waris Ali and other learned scholars of Farangi Mahal, a quarter of Lucknow noted for its erudition and boasting of a noted academy of Persian and Arabic learning. He was not proficient in Arabic, but knew it well enough for the Urdu poetry.
Nasikh learned poetry on his own, and was not known to be a pupil of any notable figure in poetry.
After Lucknow became the capital city of Oudh, Nasikh moved to the city, and spent the rest of his life there in a neighorhood called Teksilla. It was reported that during Nasikh's learning years (when the well known Urdu poet of Lucknow, Mir Taqi Mir was alive), Nasikh once went to Mir to seek his guidance in poetry. For some reason, Mir did not help him, and Nasikh returned broken-hearted. He vowed to perfect his skills in poetry with a new vigor on his own.
Nasikh took the takhalus (or poetical name) of 'Nasikh', which implies that his splendor eclipsed and abrogated that of all other poets.
It is not very much evident from his poetry, but it seems that Nasikh was a Sufi Muslim. Much like Mir Taqi Mir, his predecessor, he was probably a follower of the “Malamati” or “Blameworthy” aspect of the Sufi tradition. Using this technique, a person ascribes to oneself an unconventional aspect of a person or society, and then plays out its results, either in action or in verse. As in Ghalib or Mir's poetry, Nasikh's ridicule of Abrahamic/Koranic concepts of paradise, hell, zahid, etc are very much found in his poetry.
Shaykh Imam Bakhsh Nasikh see Nasikh, Shaykh Imam Bakhsh
Ustaad Imam Baksh Nasikh see Nasikh, Shaykh Imam Bakhsh
No comments:
Post a Comment