2022: Muhibbi - Muizz

 Muhibbi, al- Muhibbi, al-.  Name of a family of scholars and jurists in Damascus in the sixteenth through seventeenth centuries of which three members distinguished themselves in literature: Muhibb al-Din Abu’l-Fadl (1542-1608); his grandson Fadl Allah (1621-1671); the latter’s son Muhammad al-Amin (1651-1699).  Muhammad’s principal work is a collection of biographies of scholars, poets etc. of his time and the period immediately preceding it.

Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad. See Aurangzib.

Muhsin-i Fayd-i Kashani Muhsin-i Fayd-i Kashani (Mulla Muhsin Fayd) (1598-1679).  One of the greatest scholars of Safavid Persia.  He wrote on hadith, philosophy and theoretical Sufism, ethics, jurisprudence, and composed commentaries on the Qur’an, poetry and prayers.
Kashani, Muhsin-i Fayd-i see Muhsin-i Fayd-i Kashani Mulla Muhsin Fayd see Muhsin-i Fayd-i Kashani Fayd, Mulla Muhsin see Muhsin-i Fayd-i Kashani

Muhtasham-i Kashani, Shams al-Shu‘ara’ Muhtasham-i Kashani, Shams al-Shu‘ara’ (Shams al-Shu‘ara’ Muhtasham-i Kashani) (c. 1500-c. 1587) was a Persian poet.  He wrote panegyrics, convential qasidas, enigmatic verses, poetical chronograms, love poetry and elegies.
Shams al-Shu‘ara’ Muhtasham-i Kashani see Muhtasham-i Kashani, Shams al-Shu‘ara’ Kashani, Shams al-Shu'ara' Muhtasham see Muhtasham-i Kashani, Shams al-Shu‘ara’

Muhtasib Muhtasib.  Muslim market inspector.  The muhtasib was the official entrusted with ensuring that individuals complied with the requirements of the codes of behavior and the law in their public dealings. 

A holder of the office of al-hisbah, an executive function falling roughly between the offices of qadi (judge) and wali al-mazalim (mazalim -- court magistrate), the muhtasib was charged with enforcing public morality, overseeing the public welfare, and supervising the markets, fulfilling thereby the community’s collective obligation to command the good and forbid evil (al-amr bi-al-ma‘ruf wa-al-nahy ‘an al-munkar).  The muhtasib had no jurisdiction to hear legal cases per se but only to settle common disputes and well-known breaches of the law in which the facts were obvious of where there was an admission of guilt.  He was also vested with certain discretionary powers through which he could intervene in such matters as commercial fraud and public nuisances.  In addition, he could levy discretionary punishments (ta‘zir) up to but not equaling the prescribed shari‘a penalties (hudud) for such indiscretions as private intermingling of the sexes or abuse of pack animals.

Early manuals on al-hisbah lay out precise (and extremely broad) jurisdictional boundaries.  According to Ibn Taymiyah (d. 1328), however, the muhtasib’s actual function was determined in large part by the time and place in which he operated as well as local custom and the political agenda of the particular under whom he served.  What belonged to the police (shurtah) or to the courts in one place could fall under the jurisdiction of the muhtasib in another.  Prominent scholars and jurists are known to have held the office, but it was also known to have been occupied by merchants and other persons of suprisingly little legal training.

Later sources reflect a gradual evolution in the muhtasib’s function from matters connected with public morality to a more restricted emphasis on policing the markets and overseeing the activities of merchants and artisans.  In this capacity, in addition to his traditional duties of standardizing and inspecting weights and measures, the muhtasib was often called on to collect certain taxes, for example, import and export duties, or to impose penalties on artisans and other guild-members found in violation.

By the nineteenth century, the office of the muhtasib had all but disappeared in most parts of the Muslim world, its many functions being redistributed among various modern, secular jurisdictions.  The Ottomans formally abolished the office in Istanbul in 1854 and it appears also to have disappeared in Persia around the same time.  In the Indian subcontinent, the office had been in steady decline since the sixteenth century and enjoyed only a brief but futile revival under the Mughal ruler, Awrangzib.  Little is known about the impact of colonial rule on the office of the muhtasib.

There remains today a few possible vestiges of the medieval office of the muhtasib in certain parts of the Islamic world.  In Morocco, for example, the ra’is al-masalih al-iqtisadiyah (chief of economic welfare), appears to be a possible descendent of his intrusive tendencies, had acquired the nickname, al-fuduli (busybody).  The nizam-al-tilbah (system of appropriations) or halaqat al-‘azabiyah (discipline corps) found among certain Ibadi communities in Algeria might also be considered a modern descendant of al-hisbah.

A muḥtasib was a supervisor of bazaars and trade in the medieval Islamic countries. His duty was to ensure that public business was conducted in accordance with the law of sharia. In the reign of the Sultan Barqūq, for example, the duties of the muḥtasib of Cairo included "the regulation of weights, money, prices, public morals, and the cleanliness of public places, as well as the supervision of schools, instruction, teachers, and students, and attention to public baths, general public safety, and the circulation of traffic." In addition, craftsmen and builders were usually responsible to the muhtasib for the standards of their craft.

A muḥtasib often relied on manuals called ḥisba, which were written specifically for instruction and guidance in his duties; they contained practical advice on management of the marketplace, as well as other things a muhtasib needed to know -- for example, manufacturing and construction standards.

Among the Tatars of the Russian Empire the möxtäsip was a Muslim functionary expected to keep vigilant watch on the execution of the sharia. In 1920s, after the October Revolution and ban on religion, their service was abolished. Since the 1990s they have been re-established, but play only a religious role, as the sharia has no official role among Muslims of the Russian Federation.

Muhyi‘l-Din Lari Muhyi‘l-Din Lari (d. 1526).  Persian writer.  He is the author of a famous poetical description of the Holy Cities Mecca and Medina.
Lari, Muhyi'l-Din see Muhyi‘l-Din Lari

Muhyi‘l-Din Mehmed Muhyi‘l-Din Mehmed (Molla Celebi) (d. 1550).  Turkish theologian and historian.  He edited the anonymous Ottoman chronicles, which run from the beginnings of the Ottoman Empire and were continued by him down to 1549.
Mehmed, Muhyi'l-Din see Muhyi‘l-Din Mehmed Molla Celebi see Muhyi‘l-Din Mehmed Celebi, Molla see Muhyi‘l-Din Mehmed

Mu'in al-Din Chishti

Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan Sijzī (b. February 1, 1143 CC, Herat, Ghaznavid Empire – d. March 15, 1236 CC, Ajmer, Delhi Sultante), known more commonly as Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī or Moinuddin Chishti, or by the epithet Ghareeb Nawaz (lit. "comfort to the poor"), or reverently as a Shaykh Muʿīn al-Dīn or Muʿīn al-Dīn or Khwājā Muʿīn al-Dīn by Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, was a Persian Sunni Muslim preacher and a Sayyid, ascetic, religious scholar, philosopher, and mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontinent in the early 13th-century of the Christian calendar, where he promulgated the famous Chishtiyya order of Sunni mysticism. This particular tatiqa (order) became the dominant Muslim spiritual group in medieval India and many of the most beloved and venerated Indian Sunni saints. were Chishti in their affiliation, including Nizamuddin Awliya (d. 1325) and Amir Khusrow (d. 1325).

Having arrived in Delhi during the reign of the Sultan Iltutmish (d. 1236), Muʿīn al-Dīn moved from Delhi to Ajmer shortly thereafter, at which point he became increasingly influenced by the writings of the famous Sunni Hanbali scholar and mystic 'Abdallah Ansari (d. 1088), whose famous work on the lives of the early Islamic saints, the Ṭabāqāt al-ṣūfiyya, may have played a role in shaping Muʿīn al-Dīn's worldview. It was during his time in Ajmer that Muʿīn al-Dīn acquired the reputation of being a charismatic and compassionate spiritual preacher and teacher. Biographical accounts of his life written after his death report that due to his display of the gifts of many spiritual marvels (karāmāt), such as miraculous travel, clairvoyance, and visions of angels in his Ajmer years, Muʿīn al-Dīn seems to have been unanimously regarded as a great saint after his passing.

As a saint, Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī's legacy rests primarily on his having been one of the most outstanding figures in the annals of Islamic mysticism. Additionally Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī is also notable for having been one of the first major Islamic mystics to formally allow his followers to incorporate the use of music in their devotions, liturgies, and hymns to God (Allah), which he did in order to make the foreign Arab faith more relatable to the indigenous peoples who had recently entered the religion .

Born in 1143, Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī was sixteen years old when his father, Sayyid G̲h̲iyāt̲h̲ al-Dīn (d. c. 1155), died, leaving his grinding mill and orchard to his son. His father, G̲h̲iyāt̲h̲ al-Dīn, and his mother, Bibi Ummalwara (alias Bibi Mahe-Noor), were Sayyids, or descendants of Muhammad, through his grandsons Hassan and Husayn. 

Despite planning to continue his father's business, Mu'in developed mystic tendencies in his personal piety and soon entered a life of destitute itineracy. He enrolled at the seminaries of Bukhara and Samarkand, and visited the shrines of Muhammad al-Bukhari (d. 870) and Abu Mansur al-Maturidi Abu (d. 944), two widely venerated figures in the Islamic world.

While traveling to Iraq, in the district of Nishapur, he came across the famous Sunni mystic Ḵh̲wāj̲a ʿUt̲h̲mān, who initiated him. Accompanying his spiritual guide for over twenty years on the latter's journeys from region to region, Muʿīn al-Dīn also continued his own independent spiritual travels during the time period. It was on his independent wanderings that Muʿīn al-Dīn encountered many of the most notable Sunni mystics of the era, including Abdul-Qadir Gilani (d. 1166) and Najmuddin Kubra (d. 1221), as well as Naj̲īb al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḳāhir Suhrawardī, Abū Saʿīd Tabrīzī, and ʿAbd al-Waḥid G̲h̲aznawī, all of whom were destined to become some of the most highly venerated saints in the Sunni tradition.

Arriving at South Asia in the early thirteenth century, Muʿīn al-Dīn first travelled to Lahore to meditate at the tomb-shrine of the famous Sunni mystic and jurist Ali Hujwiri (d. 1072).

From Lahore, he continued towards Ajmer where he settled and married two wives, the first was a daughter of Saiyad Wajiuddin, whom he married in the year 1209/10. The second was the daughter of a local Hindu raja. He went on to have three sons—Abū Saʿīd, Fak̲h̲r al-Dīn and Ḥusām al-Dīn — and one daughter Bībī Jamāl. Both sons are believed to be from the daughter of the Hindu raja. After settling in Ajmer, Muʿīn al-Dīn strove to establish the Chishti order of Sunni mysticism in India. Many later biographic accounts relate the numerous miracles wrought by God at the hands of the Mu'in al-Din during this period.

 

Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī was not the originator or founder of the Chishtiyya order of mysticism as he is often erroneously thought to be. On the contrary, the Chishtiyya was already an established Sufi order prior to his birth, being originally an offshoot of the older Adhamiyya order that traced its spiritual lineage and titular name to the early Islamic saint and mystic Ibrahim ibn Adham (d. 782). Thus, this particular branch of the Adhamiyya was renamed the Chishtiyya after the 10th-century Sunni mystic Abū Isḥāq al-Shāmī (d. 942) migrated to Chishti Sharif, a town in the present-day Herat Province of Afghanistan in around 930, in order to preach Islam in that area. The order spread into the Indian subcontinent, however, at the hands of the Persian Muʿīn al-Dīn in the 13th-century, after Mu'in al-Din is believed to have had a dream in which the Prophet Muhammad appeared and told him to be his "representative" or "envoy" in India. 

According to the various chronicles, Muʿīn al-Dīn's tolerant and compassionate behavior towards the local population seems to have been one of the major reasons behind conversion to Islam at his hand.  Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī is said to have appointed Bakhtiar Kaki (d. 1235) as his spiritual successor, who worked at spreading the Chishtiyya in Delhi. Furthermore, Muʿīn al-Dīn's son, Fakhr al-Dīn (d. 1255), is said to have further spread the order's teachings in Ajmer, whilst another of the saint's major disciples, Ḥamīd al-Dīn Ṣūfī Nāgawrī (d. 1274), preached in Nagaur, Rajasthan. 

The tomb (dargah) of Mu'in al-Din became a deeply venerated site in the century following the saint's death in March 1236. Honored by members of all social classes, the tomb was treated with great respect by many of the era's most important Sunni rulers, including Muhammad bin Tughuq, the Sultan of Delhi from 1324–1351, who paid a famous visit to the tomb in 1332 to commemorate the memory of the saint. In a similar way, the later Mughal emperor Akbar (d. 1605) visited the shrine no less than fourteen times during his reign.

In the present day, the tomb of Muʿīn al-Dīn continues to be one of the most popular sites of religious visitation for Sunni Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the Indian sub-continent assembling there on the occasion of [the saint's ʿurs or death anniversary. Additionally, the site also attracts many Hindus, who have also venerated the Islamic saint since the medieval period.

A bomb blast on October 11, 2007 in the Dargah of Mu'in al-Din during the time of Roza Iftaar had left three pilgrims dead and 15 injured. A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur punished with life imprisonment the two individuals convicted in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case.

In recognition of the enduring legacy of Mu'in al-Din Chishti, Indian films about the saint and his dargah at Ajmer include Mere Gharib Nawaz by G. Ishwar, Sultan E Hind (1973) by K. Sharif, Khawaja Ki Diwani (1981) by Akbar Balam, Mere Data Garib Nawaz (1994) by M Gulzar Sultani.  A song in the 2008 Indian film Jodhaa Akbar named "Khwaja Mere Khwaja," composed by A. R. Rahman, pays tribute to Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī.

Various qawwalis portray devotion to the saint including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Khwaja E Khwajgan" and the Sabri Brothers "Khawaja Ki Deewani".

Mu‘in al-Din Sulayman Parwana Mu‘in al-Din Sulayman Parwana (d. 1277).  De facto ruler of the Saljuq state of Rum in Anatolia during most of the Mongol Protectorate.  Of Persian stock, he attempted to maintain stability both amongst the Turkish emirs and between them and the ever-increasing number of Mongols resident on Anatolian soil.  He is said to have enjoyed a close relationship with Jalal al-Din Rumi.
Parwana, Mu'in al-Din Sulayman see Mu‘in al-Din Sulayman Parwana

Mu‘in al-Din Yazdi Mu‘in al-Din Yazdi (d. 1387).  Persian historiographer.  He adopted an avowed positive attitude towards the representatives of the despotic Muzaffarids who, after the decay of Mongol power, ruled from 1314 until 1394 in Fars, Isfahan and Yazd.
Yazdi, Mu'in al-Din see Mu‘in al-Din Yazdi

Mu‘izz al-Dawla, Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad Mu‘izz al-Dawla, Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad (Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad Mu‘izz al-Dawla) (915 - April 8, 967).  Founder of the Buyid rule in Baghdad (r. 945-967).  Appointed supreme amir by the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Muti’, he made the latter the instrument of his policy.  He had to defend himself against the Hamdanids of Mosul and against the Daylami mercenaries, who had helped the Buyids to build their power.  He began to rely more and more on Turkish mercenaries and distributed leases without any financial return, which was to become a characteristic of Buyid financial policy.

Ahmad was the first of the Buwayhid (Buyid) emirs of Iraq, ruling from 945 until his death. He was the son of Buya.

During the Buwayhid conquest of Fars, Ahmad distinguished himself in battle. In 935 or 936, Ahmad's oldest brother 'Ali sent Ahmad to Kerman with the task of conquering that province from the Banu Ilyas. He overran much of Kerman, but encountered resistance from the Baluchis and Arab Qafs, receiving a wound to the head and losing a hand and several fingers on the other. Direct Buyid control over Kerman was not established, resulting in 'Ali's recall of Ahmad. The latter was then sent to Istakhr to await further orders.

Ahmad's next opportunity to expand the possessions of the Buyids came when the Baridis requested help from 'Ali. The Baridis, who ruled in Khuzestan, were nominally subordinate to the Caliphate, but were attempting to establish their independence. Ahmad was sent by 'Ali to the area. He succeeded in uprooting the authority of the Baridis and taking control of that province. From Khuzestan he launched several campaigns into Iraq, where the Caliphate was in serious internal disarray. These expeditions were of his own initiative. 'Ali had not ordered them and did not send support for them.

The fighting in Iraq took several years, but at last Ahmad gained control of Baghdad on December 19, 945 without a struggle. He took charge of the administration of the Caliphate by taking the position of amir al-umara'. The Caliph Al-Mustakfi also gave him the honorific title of "Mu'izz al-Daula". 'Ali was given the title of "'Imad al-Daula"; another of Ahmad's brothers, Hasan, who had gained control of northern Persia, gained the title of "Rukn al-Daula". Despite Al-Mustakfi's apparent acceptance of Buyid authority, Mu'izz al-Daula blinded and deposed him in 946, and installed Al-Muti as Caliph.

The next two years of Mu'izz al-Daula's life were spent securing his control over Iraq. The Hamdanids of Mosul attempted to seize Baghdad in 946. When they failed to do so, they gave up on the campaign, but remained hostile against the Buyids. The Baridis, who still controlled Basra and Wasit, were defeated and their lands taken by the Buyids in 947. Their defeat marked the end of major fighting. Mu'izz al-Daula's only failure was against an amirate situated in the marshlands between Basra and Wasit. However, this was of little concern due to the amirate's small size.

Despite the fact that Mu'izz al-Daula had taken control of Iraq by himself, he remained subordinate to 'Imad al-Daula, who ruled in Shiraz. Coins bearing 'Imad al-Daula's name in addition to his own were made. His title of amir al-umara', which in theory made him the senior amir of the Buyids, meant little in reality and was soon claimed by 'Imad al-Daula. Although he maintained a certain level of independence, it was clear that he had to respect the authority of 'Imad al-Daula.

When 'Imad al-Daula died in 949 and Rukn al-Daula took the title of senior amir, Mu'izz al-Daula accepted the change of rulers. He also sent troops to Shiraz to ensure that Fana-Khusrau, who was the son of Rukn al-Daula and 'Imad al-Daula's successor, would take power there. Still, he raised objections when Fana-Khusrau requested the title of "Taj al-Daula". The title of "Taj" ("crown") implied that Fana-Khusrau was superior to his father and uncle, provoking a reaction from Mu'izz al-Daula A more suitable title ("'Adud al-Daula") was instead chosen.

Rukn al-Daula's struggles in northern Persia against various enemies caused Mu'izz al-Daula to send military aid for several years. This, combined with continually having to deal with the Hamdanids, prevented Mu'izz al-Daula from expanding the borders of his state for several years. Despite this, he managed to annex Oman with military support from 'Adud al-Daula, and shortly afterwards undertook a campaign against the Shahinids of the Mesopotamian marshlands. It was during this campaign that he died, in 967. His son 'Izz al-Daula, whom he had named his successor during a serious illness in 955, took power following his death.

Mu'izz al-Daula's entrance into Baghdad in 945 marked over a century of Buyid rule in Iraq, and also of Shi'ite Buyid control over the Sunni Caliphate. Nevertheless, by the time of his death several problems remained unsolved. The Buyids had difficulty becoming accustomed to Baghdad; Mu'izz al-Daula almost left the city in favor of Ahvaz. The enemies of the Buyids, such as the Hamdanids and the Byzantines, continued to pose a threat. The struggle for power between Baghdad and Shiraz that first showed itself during Mu'izz al-Daula's lifetime exploded into violence soon after his death.

Finally, the hostility between the Turks and Dailamites in Baghdad continued to pose a problem. The Sunni Turks, who found their privileges eroded by the Dailamite troops that had entered Baghdad with their master in 945, constantly threatened to upset the internal stability of the state. Mu'izz al-Daula at first favored the Dailamite troops but later attempted to compromise between the two groups, making a Turk named Sebük-Tegin his chief commander. 'Izz al-Daula's ascension would soon upset this balance, however, resulting in internal disunity.
Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad Mu‘izz al-Dawla see Mu‘izz al-Dawla, Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad Dawla, Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad Mu‘izz al- see Mu‘izz al-Dawla, Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad

Mu‘izzi Mu‘izzi (Slave Kings).  Name of a dynasty which ruled in northern India (r. 1206-1290).  It was founded by Qutb al-Din Aybak.
Slave Kings see Mu‘izzi

Mu‘izz ibn Badis, al- Mu‘izz ibn Badis, al- (1007/1008-1062).  Ruler of the Zirid dynasty (r.1016-1062).  In the history of Ifriqiya, he remains the artisan of the restoration of Maliki orthodoxy, itself linked to the Hilali invasion of 1057.

Al-Muizz ibn Badis was the fourth ruler of the Zirids in Ifriqiya, reigning from 1016 to 1062.  Al-Muizz ascended the throne as a minor following the death of his father Badis ibn Mansur, with his aunt acting as regent. In 1016 there was a bloody revolt in Ifriqiya in which the Fatimid residence Al-Mansuriya was completely destroyed and 20,000 Shiites were massacred. The unrest forced a ceasefire in the conflict with the Hammadids of Algeria, and their independence was finally recognized in 1018.

Al-Muizz took over the government in 1022 following the overthrow of his aunt. The relationship with the Fatimids was strained, when in 1027 they supported a revolt of the Zanatas in Tripolitania which resulted in permanent loss of control of the region. His son Abdallah shortly ruled Sicily in 1038-1040, after intervening with a Zirid army in the civil war that broke out in the island.

The political turmoil notwithstanding, the general economic well-being initially made possible an extensive building program. However, the kingdom found itself in economic crisis in the 1040s, reflected in currency devaluation, epidemic and famine. This may have been related to the high level of tribute which the Zirids were compelled to pay annually to the Fatimids (one million gold dinars a year).

When al-Muizz, under the influence of Sunni jurists in Kairouan, recognised the Abbasids in Baghdad as rightful Caliphs in 1045, the break with the Fatimids was complete.

The Fatimids then deported the Bedouin tribes of the Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym from Egypt to Ifriqiya. The invasion of the Bedouin (1051-1052) led to great hardship after the defeat at Jabal Haydaran, severely impacting agriculture in Ifriqiya. The conquest of Kairouan in 1057 resulted in further anarchy. The Zirids lost control over the hinterland and were only able to retain the coastal areas, the capital being moved to Mahdia. With the growth of Bedouin Emirates and the continuing insecurity inland, the economy of Ifriqiya looked increasingly towards the Mediterranean, with the result the coastal cities grew in importance through maritime trade and piracy.

Al-Muizz is usually thought to be the author of the famous Kitab `umdat al-kuttab wa `uddat dhawi al-albab (Staff of the Scribes).

Al-Muizz was succeeded by his son Tamim ibn Muizz.

Mu‘izzi, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik Mu‘izzi, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik (Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik Mu‘izzi) (Abdollah Muhammad Mu'izzi) (1048/1049-c.1125).  Persian panegyrist of the Saljuq period and poet laureate of the Great Saljuqs Malik Shah II and Sanjar.

Amir Abdollah Muhammad Mu'izzi was an 11th century and 12th century poet of Persia. He was the poet laureate of Sanjar. Born in 1048 and originating from Nisa, he ranks as one of the great masters of the Persian panegyric qasideh.

Mu'izzi lived in the courts of Malik Shah I and Sultan Sanjar. His divan of 18,000 distichs remain. Anvari accused Mu'izzi of copying the verses of other poets (which cannot be proven for certain), yet Anvari himself is known to have copied Mu'izzi's verses. Mu'izzi is said to have died by the arrow shot at him by the King's son in 1125 for unknown reasons. He was accidentally shot by Sanjar.



Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik Mu‘ izzi see Mu‘izzi, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik

Mu‘izz li-Din Allah, Ma‘add al- Mu‘izz li-Din Allah, Ma‘add al-  (Ma‘add al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah) (Ma‘ādh Abū Tamīm al-Mu‘izz li Dīn Allāh) (al-Moezz) ("Fortifier of the Religion of God") (931/932-975).  Last caliph of the Fatimid dynasty (r. 953-975).  After asserting his control over the central Maghrib against the Kharijites, he turned against the Spanish Umayyad ‘Abd al-Rahman III and his successor al-Hakam II.  Hostilities against Byzantium, the ally of the Spanish Umayyads, were resumed in 955.  In 963, a Byzantine expeditionary body was destroyed in Sicily and an agreement concluded.  In 969, the freedman Jawhar started the famous expedition against Egypt where the Ikhshidids were removed and Cairo was founded.  In order to check the Carmathians of Syria, al-Mu‘izz transferred the seat of the Imamate to Egypt in 972.

Ma‘ādh Abū Tamīm al-Mu‘izz li Dīn Allāh was the fourth Fatimid Caliph and reigned from 953 to 975. It was during his caliphate that the center of power of the Fatimid dynasty was moved from Ifriqiya (northern Africa) to the newly-conquered Egypt. Fatimids founded the city of al-Qāhiratu ("the Victorious") in 969 as the new capital of the Fāṭimid caliphate in Egypt.  Al-Qahiratu is today known by the name Cairo.

After the Fāṭimids, under the third caliph, Ismail al-Mansur (946-953), had defeated the Khārijite rebellion of Abu Yazid, they began, under his son al-Mu‘izz, to turn their attentions back to their ambition of establishing their caliphate throughout the Islamic world and overthrowing the Abbasids. Although the Fāṭimids were primarily concerned with Egypt and the Near East, there were nevertheless campaigns fought by General Jawhar as-Siqilli against the Berbers of Morocco and the Umayyads of Spain. At the same time, Fatimid raids on Italy enabled naval superiority in the Western Mediterranean to be affirmed, at the expense of Byzantium, even capturing Sicily for a period of time.

The way to Egypt was then clear for the Fāṭimids, the more so given the state of crisis that the incumbent Ikhshidid dynasty found itself in and the inability of the Abbasids to counterattack. The country fell to Jawhar in 969 without any great resistance. After he had secured his position, al-Muˤizz transferred the royal residence from Al-Mansuriya to the newly-founded city of al-Qāhiratu l-Muˤizzīyatu ("al-Muˤizz's Victory"), i.e. Cairo, thereby shifting the center of gravity of the Fatimid realm eastwards. In Africa, the Zirids were installed as regents. In Egypt, several attacks by the Carmathians had to be fought off (972-974) before the restructuring of state finances under Yaqub ibn Killis could be embarked upon. Al-Muˤizz was succeeded by his son Al-Aziz (975-996).

Al-Muˤizz was renowned for his tolerance of other religions, and was popular among his Jewish and Christian subjects. He is also credited for having commissioned the invention of the first fountain pen. In 953, al-Muizz demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir.

Coptic Christians were allowed a degree of freedom under al-Muizz. Copts were among those appointed to the highest offices of the empire and were allowed to freely practice their religion. Under Al-Muizz, the viceroy of Syria was Quzman ibn-Nima, a Copt who remained a Christian. The Nayrouz festival, the celebration of the Coptic New Year, was permitted though prohibitions on some of the activities, such as fire illumination and water splashing, were instituted.

The relationship between al-Muizz and the Copts of Egypt has been the subject of a number of legends written later by Coptic Christians. One such legend involves al-Muizz challenge of Pope Abraham of Alexandria to move the Mokattam mountain in Cairo, recalling a verse in the Gospel of Matthew which says:

    If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

According to Coptic sources, Pope Abraham of Alexandria ordered the Coptic community to keep vigil and to pray for three days and nights. On the third night, Pope Abraham had a dream in which Mary directed him to search for Simon the Tanner. The legend continues that with the prayers of the Coptic community, led by the Pope and Simon, the Mokattam mountain moved. This story is recounted in the book History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, written by Severus Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ. Later Coptic sources would further assert that this miracle led al-Muizz to convert to Christianity, and that he was baptized at the church of Saint Mercurius in Cairo in a baptismal font that continues to exist to this day, and which is known today as the Sultan's Baptistry. According to this legend, al-Muizz abdicated the throne in favor of his son, and spent the rest of his life in a monastery. This story is rejected by influential Muslim historians such as Ahmad Zaki Pasha and Muhammad Abdullah Enan.
Ma‘add al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah see Mu‘izz li-Din Allah, Ma‘add al- Ma‘ādh Abū Tamīm al-Mu‘izz li Dīn Allāh see Mu‘izz li-Din Allah, Ma‘add al- Moezz, al- see Mu‘izz li-Din Allah, Ma‘add al- Fortifier of the Religion of God see Mu‘izz li-Din Allah, Ma‘add al-

2022: Mujahid - Mujir

 

Mujahid, al-Muwaffaq ibn ‘Abd Allah Mujahid, al-Muwaffaq ibn ‘Abd Allah (al-Muwaffaq ibn ‘Abd Allah Mujahid) was the ruler of Denia (in Arabic, Daniya) in Spain and of the Balearics from 1014 to 1044.  Like many other monarchs of the Muluk al-Tawa’if, he was a patron of studies, of theology in particular.


Muwaffaq ibn ‘Abd Allah Mujahid, al- see Mujahid, al-Muwaffaq ibn ‘Abd Allah

Mujahidin Mujahidin (Mujahedin).  Arabic term which is applied to the “Soldiers of God.”  The word mujahidin comes from the same root as the word jihad.

A Mujahid (Arabic: muǧāhid, literally "struggler", "justice-fighter" or "freedom-fighter") is a person who is fighting for freedom. The plural is mujahideen. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad ("struggle").

Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, muđahedin, mujaheddīn and variants.

The best-known mujahideen were the various loosely-aligned Afghan opposition groups, which initially rebelled against the incumbent pro-Soviet Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) government during the late 1970s. At the DRA's request, the Soviet Union intervened. The mujahideen then fought against Soviet and DRA troops during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. After the Soviet Union pulled out of the conflict in the late 1980s the mujahideen fought each other in the subsequent Afghan Civil War.

Afghanistan's resistance movement was born in chaos and, at first, virtually all of its war was waged locally by regional warlords. As warfare became more sophisticated, outside support and regional coordination grew. Even so, the basic units of mujahideen organization and action continued to reflect the highly segmented nature of Afghan society. Eventually, the seven main mujahideen parties allied themselves into the political bloc called Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen.

Many Muslims from other countries assisted the various mujahideen groups in Afghanistan, and gained significant bombs in suicidal warfare. Some groups of these veterans have been significant factors in more recent conflicts in and around the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden, originally from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia, was a prominent organizer and financier of an all-Arab Islamist group of foreign volunteers. His Maktab al-Khadamat funnelled money, arms, and Muslim fighters from around the Muslim world into Afghanistan, with the assistance and support of the Saudi and Pakistani governments. These foreign fighters became known as "Afghan Arabs" and their efforts were coordinated by Abdullah Yusuf Azzam.

The mujahideen were significantly financed and armed (and are alleged to have been trained) by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the administrations of Carter and Reagan, and also by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq, Iran, the People's Republic of China and several Western European countries. Pakistan's secret service, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was used as an intermediary for most of these activities to disguise the sources of support for the resistance. One of the CIA's longest and most expensive covert operations was the supplying of billions of dollars in arms to the Afghan mujahideen militants. The arms included Stinger missiles, shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft weapons that they used against Soviet helicopters and that later were in circulation among terrorists who fired such weapons at commercial airliners. Osama bin Laden was among the recipients of United States arms. Between $3–$20 billion in United States funds were funneled into the country to train and equip troops with weapons, including Stinger surface-to-air missiles.

Under Reagan, United States support for the mujahideen evolved into an official United States foreign policy, known as the Reagan Doctrine, which included United States support for anti-Soviet movements in Afghanistan, Angola, Nicaragua, and elsewhere. Ronald Reagan praised the mujahideen as "freedom fighters".

United States financing of the mujahideen Islamic insurgency started, however, before the Soviets invaded and, indeed, the support was provided to "suck" the Soviets into Afghanistan. United States policy, unbeknownst even to the Mujahideen, was part of a larger strategy "to induce a Soviet military intervention."

With instability and bloody civil strife raging in a country on their border, the Soviets invaded in December 1979, fulfilling the hopes of Washington.

More than a half billion dollars of American funding through Pakistan went to the Hizb party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, making Hekmatyar the recipient of the highest percentage of covert American funding through the Pakistani ISI. Hekmatyar had "almost no grassroots support and no military base inside Afghanistan." Hekmatyar also received the lion's share of aid from Saudi Arabia. The CIA allegedly also gave Hekmatyar immunity for his illegal drug trade activities.

The main base station of mujahideen in Pakistan was the town Badaber, 24 km from Peshawar. Afghan mujahideen were trained at Badaber by military instructors from the United States, Pakistan, and the Republic of China. The base served as the concentration camp for Soviet and DRA P.O.W.s as well. In 1985, a prisoner rebellion destroyed the base, but the incident was concealed by the Pakistani and Soviet governments until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Mujahideen forces caused serious casualties to the Soviet forces, and made the war very costly for the Soviet Union. Thus in 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew its forces from Afghanistan. Many districts and cities then fell to the mujahideen.  In 1992 the DRA's last president, Mohammad Najibullah, was overthrown.

However, the mujahideen did not establish a united government, and many of the larger mujahideen groups began to fight each other over power in Kabul. After several years of devastating fighting, a village mullah organized a new armed movement with the backing of Pakistan. This movement became known as the Taliban ("students" in Arabic), referring to the Saudi-backed religious schools known for producing extremism. Veteran mujahideen were confronted by this radical splinter group in 1996.

The mujahideen militants were portrayed favorably in several mainstream American and Western films:

    * The Living Daylights, (1987), a James Bond film
    * Rambo III (1988)
    * The Beast (1988)
    * Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

By 1996, with backing from the Pakistani ISI and Military of Pakistan, as well as al-Qaeda, the Taliban had largely defeated the militias and controlled most of the country. The opposition factions allied themselves together again and became known as the Northern Alliance. In 2001, with U.S.-NATO intervention, the Taliban were ousted from power and a new Afghan government was formed. Many of the former mujahideen gradually were incorporated into the new Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.

At present, the term "mujahideen" is sometimes used to describe insurgent groups (including Taliban and al-Qaeda) who are fighting NATO troops and the Military of Afghanistan and Pakistan.



Mujahedin see Mujahidin “Soldiers of God”   see Mujahidin Strugglers see Mujahidin Justice Fighters see Mujahidin Freedom Fighters see Mujahidin

Mujahidin-i Khalq
Mujahidin-i Khalq (Saziman-i Mujahidin-i Khalq-i Iran). The Saziman-i Mujahidin-i Khalq-i Iran (Holy Warrior Organization of the Iranian People) is better known simply as the Iranian Mujahidin.  It is a religious, but anti-clerical, organization and constitutes the main opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Mujahidin’s ideology combines Shiism with Marxism.  It interprets Islam, especially the Qur’an, the hadiths (sayings of the Prophet and imams), and Shi‘a teachings, to be a divine message for social, economic, and political revolution. It also finds much of Marxism, but not dialectical materialism, to be an indispensible tool for analyzing politics, society, and history.  As one of its handbooks declares: “We say ‘no’ to Marxist philosophy, especially atheism.  But we say ‘yes’ to Marxist social thought, particularly to its analysis of feudalism, capitalism, and imperialism.”  Mujahidin ideas are so similar to those of ‘Ali Shari ‘ati, the famous contemporary thinker, that many commentators have jumped to the erroneous conclusion that Shari‘ati inspired the organization.  Actually, the two developed their ideas independently of each other.

The Mujahidin organization was created in the mid-1960s by a group of recent graduates from Tehran University, most from the Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture, who had also studied the Qur’an and Imam ‘Ali’s Nahj al-balaghah (Way of Eloquence) with Ayatollah Mahmud Taleqani.  The founding leaders had been members of Mehdi Bazargan’s Nahzat-i Azadi-yi Iran (Liberation Movement of Iran), but after the bloody demonstrations of June 1963, they found their parent party too moderate and too wedded to conventional politics.  Even more important, they were all deeply impressed by contemporary guerrilla movements, especially those in Cuba, Vietnam, and Algeria.  They concluded that the only way to challenge the Pahlavi regime was through armed struggle and heroic deeds of martyrdom.  In their own words: “After June 1963, militants -- irrespective of ideology -- realized one cannot fight tanks with bare hands.  We had to ask the question ‘what is to be done?’  Our answer was straightforward: ‘armed struggle.’” In their early discussion groups, they studied Che Guevara’s Guerrilla Warfare, Lenin’s What Is to Be Done?, Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth, Regis Debray’s Revolution within the Revolution, and most important of all, Amar Ouzegan’s Le meilleur combat.  Ouzegan, a former communist who had become the leading theoretician of the Algerian FLN, argued that Islam was a revolutionary socialist creed and that the only way to fight imperialism and its local lackeys was to resort to the armed struggle and appeal to the religious sentiments of eh masses.  The early Mujahidin adopted Le meilleur combat as their main handbook.

In the late 1960s, the Mujahidin collectively wrote a path-breaking book of their own entitled Nahzat-i Husayni (The Husaynite Movement).  In this book they argued that Imam Husayn had taken up arms because the Ummayyad Caliphate was exploiting the masses and betraying the Prophet’s

true cause -- the establishment of a classless society, which they termed nizam-i tawhidi (unitary order).  This became their battle cry first against the shah and later against the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.  The eternal message of the holy month of Muharram, when Husayn was martyred, Nahzat-i Husayni stressed, was that human beings, unlike animals, had the sacred duty to fight political oppression and class exploitation.  The Shi‘a martyrs, the book concluded, were like Che Guevara: they accepted martyrdom as a revolutionary duty and considered the armed struggle against class oppression as their sacred obligation.  In short, both the martyrs and Guevara had died fro the cause of social equality.  The Mujahidin developed similar ideas in pamphlets entitled Takamul (Evolution toward Perfection), Shinakht (Knowledge), and Iqtisad bih zaban-i sadah (Economics in a Simple Language).

The Mujahidin also developed their own tafsir (explanatory method) for understanding scriptural texts, especially the Qur’an and the Nahj al-balaghah.  These texts, they argued, should be treated not as dead parchments, but as “guides” and “living inspirations for revolutionary action.”  They should be placed in their proper “historical context” and read for their “real radical essence.” They further argued that the clergy had done to these texts what the reformist Social Democrats of Europe had tried to do to Marx and Engels -- paid lip service to them, turned their teachings into harmless banalities, and emasculated their revolutionary essence.

These early works gave new meanings to old Islamic and Shi‘a terms.  For example, the meaning of mustaz‘afan changed from “the meek” to “the exploited masses” (as in Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth); ummah, from “a religious community” to “a dynamic society in constant motion toward a classless society”; jihad, from “crusade” to “liberation struggle”; mu’min, from “the pious believer” to “the true fighter for social justice”; shahid, from “religious martyr” to “revolutionary hero”; mujahid, from “holy warrior” to “freedom fighter”; and most ironic of all, imam, from “religious leader” to “charismatic revolutionary leader.”  Some of these new meanings eventually found their way into Khomeini’s own pronouncements.

The Mujahidin launched their guerrilla struggle in 1971 with a series of bombings and armed attacks.  In the course of the next eight years, the organization gained a nationwide reputation for courage, determination, and efficiency.  At the same time, however, it lost many of its leaders and cadres through arrests, executions, and street shootouts.  Of the eighty-three Mujahids who lost their livers from 1971 to 1979; almost all came from the ranks of the young intelligentsia in Tehran and the central Persian-speaking provinces.  They were engineers, teachers, accountants, and most often, university students.  By the mid-1970s, the Mujahidin, as well as the Marxist Fida’iyan, were considered to constitute the main opposition to the shah.

Despite this success, the Mujahidin suffered a major schism in 1975.  Some members declared themselves Marxist-Leninists and denounced Islam as a “conservative petit bourgeois ideology.”  Their religious disillusionment was caused by the discovery that Khomeini and the clergy, with the notable exception of Taleqani, refused to support their armed struggles.  These Marxists later renamed themselves the Saziman-i Paykar dar Rah-i Azadi-yi Tabaqah-yi Kargar (The Combat Organization for the Emancipation of the Working Class) -- Paykar, in short.  Ibrahim Yazdi, a Nahzat-i Azadi leader, argued that this schism so weakened the Mujahidin that it paved the way for the clergy to come to power.  The split, he claimed, changed the whole course of Iranian history Akharin Talash-ha dar akharin ruz-ha (The Last Struggles in the Last Days).

By late 1978 and early 1979 little remained of the Mujahidin -- those who were left were incarcerated in prison and led by Mas’ud Rajavi, one of the few early members to have survived the executions and the armed confrontations.  A graduate of Tehran University’s law school, Rajavi had been arrested in 1972 and condemned to death.  An international effort made on his behalf by his brother, a student in Switzerland, had persuaded the shah to commute Rajavi’s death sentence to life imprisonment.  Rajavi did not leave prison until late 1978, but when released, he promptly regrouped his followers, who then helped deliver the old regime its coup de grace in the final street battles of February 1979.

In the two years after the Iranian Revolution, the Mujahidin grew rapidly into a major force.  It established branches throughout the country.  It rebuilt an underground armed network -- much to the consternation of the new authorities.  Its organ, Mujahid, became one of the country’s largest circulation newspapers.  Its parliamentary candidates drew substantial votes, in some constituencies posing serious challenges to the clerical favorites.  Its electorarl supporters included not only numerous trade unions, leftist organizations, professional associations, and regional parties -- notably, the Kurdish Democratic party -- but also an impressive array of prominent writers, lawyers, politicians, anti-shah politicians, and even some maverick clergymen.  Its rallies drew tens of thousands -- sometimes hundreds of thousands -- of enthusiastic supporters.  Gradually, the Mujahidin became allied with Abol-Hasan Bani Sadr, the popularly elected president, who, after taking office, accused the clergy of monopolizing power and plotting to establish the “dictatorship of the mullatariat.”

The Mujahidin grew for a numberof reasons.  It had a well-earned mystique of revolutionary martyrdom.  It adhered to Shiism, but opposed Khomeini’s brand of Islam.  It denounced his concept of vilayat-i faqih (wilayat al-faqih – jurist’s trusteeship) and his claim that the clergy had the divine right to rule.  It dismissed as “medieval” his attitutdes toward women and his interpretation of shari‘a -- especially on the questions of corporal punishment and laws of vengeance.  The Mujahidin often cited Taleqani’s famous warning that “the most dangerous form of tyranny is that of the clergy.”  It called for political pluralism, freedom of the press, elected councils in towns, villages, and workplaces, and complete equality for all citizens (men and women, clerics and non-clerics, Muslims and non-Muslims, Shi‘as and Sunnis alike).  Moveover, the Mujahidin advocated far-reaching social changes, including land reform, literacy campaigns, medical services, low-income housing, work projects, income redistribution, nationalization of large companies, and worker’s control of industrial factories.  In short, the Mujahidin presented a radical but modernist interpretation of Islam.

The Islamic Republic’s restrictions on the Mujahidin intensified as the latter’s popularity increased -- especially after Taleqani, who had tried to mediate between the two, suffered a fatal heart attack.  The regime labeled the Mujahidin iltiqati (“eclectic”) and gharbzadah (contaminated with the disease of Westernism).  It barred Mujahidin spokesmen from the radio television network; disqualified Rajavi from the presidential race; periodically closed down Mujahid and its provincial offices; and stopped the ballot count in constituencies where Mujahidin candidates were doing well.  The Khomeini regime also refused to grant demonstration permits, and it used club-wielders, known as Hizbullahis (those of the Party of God), to break up Mujahidin rallies.  More than seventy Mujahids lost their lives in such incidents in 1980 and 1981 almost as many as had been killed in nine years of guerrilla warfare against the shah.  Most of the victims were college and high school students.  Finally, in June 1981, Khomeini pronounced the Mujahidin to be munafiqin (“hypocrites”), and cited the Qur’an to argue that the “munafiqin were more dangerous than the kafir [infidels].”  The regime promptly declared the Mujahidin to be the “enemies of God” and ordered the revolutionary guards to execute summarily Mujahidin demonstrators, irrespective of age.

The Mujahidin countered state terror with its own brand of “revolutionary terror” -- ambushes, suicide attacks, bombings, and assassinations.  The regime, in turn, retaliated with a reign of terror unprecedented in Iranian history: mass arrests, torture, executions, and even public hangings.  During the height of this terror -- which lasted from June 1981 until September 1985 -- the Mujahidin suffered more than nine thousand dead.  Most of them came from the young generation of the intelligentsia: they were teachers, civil servants, doctors, veterinarians, technicians, accountants, and most important, college and high school students.  The dead also included some factory workers, especially ones with high school diplomas.  In terms of geography, most came from Tehran, the Caspian region, and the Shi‘a and Persian speaking regions of central Iran and northern Khurasan.

The reign of terror forced the leadership, especially Rajavi, to move into exile, first to Paris, after June 1986, to Iraq. In Paris, the Mujahidin created a broad coalition named the Shura-yi Milli-yi Muqavamat (National Council of Resistance).  Its avowed goal was to replace the Islamic Republic with a Democratic Islamic Republic.  Initially the council included Bani Sadr, the Kurdish Democratic party, and a number of leftist and liberal organizations as well as prominent national figures.  In Iraq, the Mujahidin set up training camps, a radio station named Sada-yi Mujahid (Mujahid Voice), and most important, the National Liberation Army -- a well-equipped force of some seven thousand men and women.  Moreover, the Mujahidin, using the National Council name, established public-relations offices in the United Nations and in many capitals -- in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, as well as in the West.  These offices hold press conferences, fax news bulletins, publish pamphlets, and circulate videos to convince their host publics both that the present Iranian regime is highly unstable and that the National Council is the only viable alternative to the Islamic Republic.  In early 1986, for example, these offices collected signatures from more than five thousand public figures -- including thirty-five hundred legislators in Western countries -- denouncing mass executions and violations of human rights in Iran.

Although it remains a significant force in exile, the Mujahidin lost much of its social basis within Iran.  The open alliance with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein -- especially during the Iran-Iraqi War -- alienated the general public.  Important allies, notably Bani Sadr and the Kurdish Democratic party, have gone their separate ways.  In fact, the National Council has been reduced to a mere front organization.  The Mujahidin has lost some of its own cadres; some have dropped out of politics, others have created rival off-shoots, yet others have made their peace with Tehran.  The organization’s denunciation of former allies as “traitors,” “leeches,” “garbage,” and “parasites” has led many to wonder whether its version of Islam would be any more tolerant than that of Khomeini.

The Mujahidin increasingly became an inward looking religio-political sect.  It surrounded its leader with an intense personality cult, proclaiming that “Rajavi is Iran, and Iran is Rajavi.”  It purged the half-hearted and denounced them as the enemies of Iran.  It ceased publishing intellectual works, serious analyses, and even regular newspapers.  For some secular observers, it became another sect -- albeit an armed one -- eagerly awaiting the New Revolution, much in the same way as the early Shi‘as expected the Return of the Mahdi.


Saziman-i Mujahidin-i Khalq-i Iran see Mujahidin-i Khalq
Holy Warrior Organization of the Iranian People see Mujahidin-i Khalq

Mujibur Rahman
Mujibur Rahman (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) (Shekh Mujibur Rôhman) (Sheikh Mujib) (b. March 17, 1920, Tungipara, India [now in Bangladesh] — d. August 15, 1975, Dhaka, Bangladesh).  Prime minister of Bangladesh (1972-1975) and was the president of Bangladesh in 1975.  Mujibur began his political career as a student in Calcutta in 1940.  He joined with Hussain Shahid Suhrawardy in forming the Awami League in 1949 and became organizer for East Bengal (later East Pakistan).  He served jail terms under the Muslim League and Ayub Khan governments.  He was minister of commerce in East Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and assumed leadership of the East Pakistan Awami League after Suhrawardy’s death in 1963.  Mujib announced his six-point program for East Pakistani autonomy in 1966; the plan would have retained Pakistan as a confederal entity.  He led the Awami League to overwhelming victory in the 1970 elections, winning all but two national assembly seats in East Pakistan and a majority in all of Pakistan.  He was arrested by the Pakistan government as part of a military crackdown in March 1971 and held in jail in West Pakistan.  He was released and returned to Bangladesh in January 1972.  Mujibur led the new Bangladeshi parliament to adopt a parliamentary constitution and became prime minister.  In the face of growing opposition he obtained parliamentary approval for a presidential system with himself as president in January 1975.  This was followed by creation of a one-party state in June 1975 and increasing authoritarianism.  He was assassinated on August 15, 1975, by disgruntled middle-grade military officers.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali politician and the founding leader of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, generally considered in the country as the father of the Bangladeshi nation. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He is popularly referred to as Sheikh Mujib, and with the honorary title of Bangabandhu (Bôngobondhu, "Friend of Bengal"). His eldest daughter Sheikh Hasina Wajed became the leader of the Awami League and

the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

A student political leader, Mujib rose in East Pakistani politics and within the ranks of the Awami League as a charismatic and forceful orator. An advocate of socialism, Mujib became popular for his leadership against the ethnic and institutional discrimination of Bengalis. He demanded increased provincial autonomy, and became a fierce opponent of the military rule of Ayub Khan. At the heightening of sectional tensions, Mujib outlined a 6-point autonomy plan, which was seen as separatism in West Pakistan. He was tried in 1968 for allegedly conspiring with the Indian government but was not found guilty. Despite leading his party to a major victory in the 1970 elections, Mujib was not invited to form the government.

After talks broke down with President Yahya Khan and West Pakistani politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Sheikh Mujib on March 26, 1971 announced the declaration of independence of East Pakistan and announced the establishment of the sovereign People's Republic of Bangladesh. Subsequently he was arrested and tried by a military court during his nine month detention. Guerrilla war erupted between government forces and Bengali nationalists aided by India. An all out war between the Pakistan Army and Bangladesh-India Joint Forces led to the establishment of Bangladesh, and after his release Mujib assumed office as a provisional president, and later prime minister. Even as a constitution was adopted, proclaiming socialism and a secular democracy, Mujib struggled to address the challenges of intense poverty and unemployment, coupled with rampant corruption. Amidst rising popular agitation, he banned other political parties and established a one party state. After only seven months, Mujib was assassinated along with most of his family by a group of army officers.

Mujib, the son of a middle-class landowner, studied law and political science at the Universities of Calcutta and Dacca (now Dhaka). Although jailed briefly as a teenager for agitating for Indian independence, he began his formal political career in 1949 as a co-founder of the Awami League. The league advocated political autonomy for East Pakistan, the detached eastern part of Pakistan. Mujib’s arrest in the late 1960s incited mob violence that eroded the Pakistani president’s authority in East Pakistan. In the elections of December 1970, Mujib’s Awami League secured a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, and Mujib demanded independence for East Pakistan. Troops from West Pakistan were sent to regain control of the eastern province but were defeated with the help of India. East Pakistan, renamed Bangladesh, was proclaimed an independent republic in 1971, and in January 1972 Mujib, recently released from prison, became the country’s first prime minister. Faced with increasing problems, Mujib took tighter control and assumed the presidency in January 1975. He, along with most of his family, was killed in a coup d’état just seven months later. His daughter, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, who was out of the country at the time of the overthrow, also served as prime minister of Bangladesh (1996–2001; 2009– ).
 
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman see Mujibur Rahman
Shekh Mujibur Rohman see Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujib see Mujibur Rahman
Bangabandhu see Mujibur Rahman
Bongobondhu see Mujibur Rahman
Friend of Bengal see Mujibur Rahman

Mujir al-Din al-‘Ulaymi
Mujir al-Din al-‘Ulaymi (Mujir al-Din) ('Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-'Ulaymi) (1456-1522).  Arab historian. His principal work is a history of Jerusalem and Hebron.

Mujīr al-Dīn al-'Ulaymī was a Jerusalemite qadi and Arab historian whose principal work chronicled the history of Jerusalem and Hebron in the Middle Ages. Entitled al-Uns al-Jalil bi-tarikh al-Quds wal-Khalil ("The glorious history of Jerusalem and Hebron") (c. 1495), it is considered to be invaluable, constituting "the most comprehensive and detailed source for the history of Jerusalem" written in its time.

Commonly known simply as Mujir al-Din, he was born 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-'Ulaymi during the period of Mameluke rule over Palestine into a family of notables native to the city of Jerusalem. Among his many nisbas is al-Hanbali, referring to the Islamic school of thought to which he adhered. Another is al-'Umari, denoting that his ancenstral lineage traces back to 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb (c. 590-644), the second Rashidun caliph. This nisba and a third, the shuhra ("nickname") of al-'Ulaymi, indicate his association with a prominent 15th century Jerusalemite family of Hanbali scholars and judges, one of whom was the chief Hanbali judge of the city, Shams al-Din al-'Umari al-'Ulaymi.

Mujir al-Din's father, Muhammad ibn 'Adb al-Rahman, was a scholar, and he instructed his son in the religious sciences. His formal education began early, and by the age of six, Mujir al-Din was successfully tested on his knowledge of Arabic grammar by another of his instructors, Taqi al-Din al-Qarqashandi, a Shafi'i sheikh, with whom he also studied the hadiths. At ten years old, he studied Quranic recitation with a Hanafi faqih (one who received the Islamic equivalent of a Master of Law).

He attended Islamic jurisprudence classes given by Kamal al-Din al-Maqdisi, a prominent Shafi'i scholar and qadi, at al-Madrassa al-Salahiyya, the most prestigious college in the city, and at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Al-Maqdisi granted Mujir al-Din an ijaza when he was thirteen years old. In his youth in Jerusalem, he also studied hadith with two other Hanafi scholars (ibn Qamuwwa, a faqih, and the sheikh Shams al-Din al-Ghazzi al-Maqdisi), studying grammar and Hanbali fiqh with a Maliki scholar (the chief judge Nur al-Din al-Misri). When he was approximately eighteen years old, he left for Cairo, where he pursued his studies under the tutlelage of Muhammad al-Sa'di, a qadi, for about ten years, returning to Jerusalem in 1484.

Extensive knowledge of Arabic, Hanbali jurisprudence, and Islamic theology, as well as his hailing from a highly regarded and well-connected family, led to Mujir al-Din's procuring important posts as a public servant. He was appointed the qadi of Ramla in 1484, and the chief Hanbali qadi of Jerusalem in 1486, holding this position for almost three decades until completing his service in 1516.

Mujir al-Din's writings included two volumes of Quranic exegesis, a biographical dictionary of Hanbali scholars, a general history from the time of Adam through to the Middle Ages, and a work on the visitation of holy places, but the only one of these to be published was "The glorious history of Jerusalem and Hebron". The central focus of the book, despite its title, is the history of Jerusalem. Though many books had been written by other Arab and Muslim authors on the virtues of Jerusalem, including about 30 composed during the Mameluke period alone, none of these set out to provide a comprehensive history of the city, making Mujir al-Din's work unique in both scope and design.

The book is divided into four parts. The first outlines the history of Jerusalem, and to a lesser degree Hebron, from the time of Adam to the end of the 13th century of the Christian calendar, incorporating both political developments and events of importance to Islamic and pre-Islamic monotheistic traditions. The second part provides a physical description of shrines and landmarks in Hebron and Jerusalem, with a focus on Muslim sites. Biographies of the various governors of Jerusalem and Hebron in the Ayyubid and Mameluke periods, as well as those of notable Mameluke figures who undertook special works in these cities are provided in part three. The fourth part concerns itself with the history of Jerusalem during Mujir al-Din's own lifetime, under the rule of Mameluke Sultan Qait Bay. Composed in Jerusalem, Mujir al-Din alternates in referring to his place of residence as Filastin ("Palestine") and al-Ard al-Muqaddasa ("the Holy Land").

Mujir al-Din's writings are quoted extensively in the works of 19th century Orientalists and 20th and 21st century scholars alike. It is particularly valuable for what it reveals about the topography and social life of 15th century Jerusalem.

Mujir al-Din died in 1522. He was buried at the base of the Mount of Olives just outside the walls of the Old City, a little to the north of the Garden of Gethsemane, between it and the Tomb of Mary. His tomb, with its gondola-shaped dome, lies in the middle of the sidewalk on the main road and there are steps leading down from it on both sides to the Tomb of the Virgin.

There is also a shrine in Nablus dedicated to the memory of Mujir Al-Din.

Members of the Jerusalemite family of Quttainah are documented to be the descendants of Mujir al-Din al-Hanbali. On a Palestinian geneaology website, they write that the nickname Quttainah (meaning "dried fig") was given to the al-Hanbali family some 300 years ago due to their use of dried figs to cover gold they were trading in within Palestine from road robbers. The Quttainah family continues to own numerous properties in and around the Old City, including waqf properties. Since the 1948 Palestinian exodus, some members of the family live in the Palestinian diaspora, in other Middle Eastern countries and the Persian Gulf region.



Mujir al-Din see Mujir al-Din al-‘Ulaymi
'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-'Ulaymi see Mujir al-Din al-‘Ulaymi

2022: Mujtahid - Mumtaz

 mujtahid

mujtahid (or mujahid). Arabic term used to describe a learned Muslim who interprets the shari‘a, especially in Shi‘a jurisprudence.  The mujtahid is a person who is qualified to exercise ijtihad and give authoritative opinions on Islamic law.

In Shi‘ism, a mujtahid is a scholar of religious law -- of shari‘a ‑-, who practices ijtihad, the issuance of independent rulings on legal or theological questions.  These rulings are based on the four sources of sharia: (1) the Qur’an; (2) the sunna; (3) consensus (ijma’); and (4) reason.  Any mujtahid can attract a following and can attain the title of ayatollah.

The Arabic term mujtahid denotes one who possesses the aptitude to form his own judgment on questions concerning Islamic law, using personal effort (in Arabic, ijtihad) in the interpretation of the fundamental principles (in Arabic, usul) of the law.

In Sunni circles, a consensus was gradually established towards the turn of the tenth century that ijtihad could no longer be practised.  Only the founders of the four schools of law Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and certain of their contemporaries or immediate successors could be regarded as mujtahids in the strict sense.  Like other devout Muslims, jurists were obliged to adopt the utterances of the mujtahids as authoritative (in Arabic, taqlid).

In the Twelver Shi‘a, the Persian term marja‘-i taqlid is used.

In India, growing influence was exercised by the mujtahids of Lakhnaw during the period of the Nawwabs of Awadh (Oudh) (1714-1856).

In the modern Arab countries, mujtahids have played very varied roles, ranging from traditional quietism to political activism.


mujahid see mujtahid

Mukhtar al-Kunti, al-
Mukhtar al-Kunti, al- (Sidi al-Mukhtar ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Kunti) (1729-1811).  Uniter of the Berbers of the middle Niger region.  He was a Kunta Islamic scholar who through skillful diplomacy brought together the factionalized Kunta and allied them with their Berber neighbors.  He was able to do so because of his enormous prestige as a theologian and leader of the Qadiriyya brotherhood, which he also reunited.  Perhaps the most difficult part of the task was to check the aggression of the bellicose Tuareg, whom he brought under his religious authority.  His preaching and prolific writing renewed waning Islamic scholarship, and probably influenced the militant Islamic revolutionaries such as ‘Uthman dan Fodio, in the 19th century.
Sidi al-Mukhtar ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Kunti see Mukhtar al-Kunti, al-

Mukhtar ibn Abi ‘Ubayd al-Thaqafi, al-
Mukhtar ibn Abi ‘Ubayd al-Thaqafi, al- (Mukhtar bin Abu Ubaid) (622-687).  Leader of a pro-‘Alid movement which controlled Kufa (685-687).  He played a role in the development of Muslim sectarianism.

Al-Mukhtār ibn Abī ‘Ubayd al-Thaqafī was an early Islamic revolutionary who led an abortive rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphs who ruled the Muslim world after the murder of Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala.

Al-Mukhtar was born in Ta’if, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia in 622, 1 AH, the year the Islamic prophet Muhammad began the Migration to Medina. He went to Medina along with his father during Umar's Caliphate. He was the son of a martyr in the Battle of Yamul Hajr, and grew up in Medina while it was under the rule of Muhammad.

When Yazid I, the third Umayyad Caliph, took power in 683, an increasing number of Muslims were dissatisfied with their government, and the hereditary succession of men they saw as usurpers of rights and oppressive rulers.

The rebellion which broke out in 686 was supported by a faction of Muslims. Al-Mukhtar led the rebellion, which was launched from Kufa, in present-day Iraq. It is rumored that he was rebelling on behalf of Ali's son Husayn ibn Ali, after he was martyred in Karbala by the army of Yazid. Al-Mukhtar was in prison whilst the tragedy of Karbala was taking place. After he was out of prison, he found out about what happened in Karbala and set out to avenge the death of the grand son of Muhammad.

Al-Mukhtar caught many of the men that killed Husayn ibn Ali and his companions in the tragedy of Karbala but was later killed by the forces under the command of Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr outside of Kufa in April 687. Many of his followers were killed in the subsequent repression as well.

According to the records, al-Mukhtar's struggle was not a revolution for power rather it was to avenge the oppression and killing of the Household of Muhammad. He found and killed the men that had killed or helped in the killing of the Household of Muhammad. At the moment he was about to be sentenced and killed by a governor of Yazid, he said that he had not finished the task which Ali had said he would be doing so no one can kill him. In an interesting sequence he was saved.

The grave of al-Mukhtar can be found within Masjid al-Kūfa in Kūfa, Iraq.

Some of al-Mukhtar's remaining followers constituted a distinct sect, known as the Kaysanites Shi'a, which continued to exist-awaiting al-Hanifiya's return-for the next two hundred years.

A large scale television series about al-Mukhtar is being produced in Iran. Filming began in 2003 and was finished in 2009.  The series was named Mokhtarnameh.

Mukhtar bin Abu Ubaid see Mukhtar ibn Abi ‘Ubayd al-Thaqafi, al-

Mukhtar Pasha
Mukhtar Pasha (1839-1919).  Ottoman Turkish general and statesman.  He became Grand Vizier in July 1912 but had to resign in the following October. 

Mukhtar, ‘Umar al-
Mukhtar, ‘Umar al- ('Umar al-Mukhtar) ('Umar al-Mukhtar ibn 'Umar al-Minifi) (Omar Mukhtar) (1858/1862 - September 16, 1931).  Libyan resistance leader.  ‘Umar al-Mukhtar ibn ‘Umar al-Minifi grew up in a religious family connected to the Sanusiyah Sufi order in Cyrenaica (eastern Libya).  He came from the ‘A’ilat Farhat branch of the Minifiyah, an independent client tribe.  ‘Umar studied at the lodge of Zanzur, moving on to the Sanusi capital and university of Jaghbub in 1887, then moving with the leadership to Kufra in the Libyan desert in 1895.

Two years later he was appointed shaykh of the al-Qasur lodge in western Cyrenaica, in the territory of the unruly ‘Abid tribe.  ‘Umar was successful in solidifying the authority of the order in the region.  His success noted, he was again called south in 1899, when the order was expanding into Borku (northern Chad).  He was appointed shaykh of the ‘Ayn Qalakkah lodge.  Here he had his military experiences fighting the French forces.  In 1903, he moved back to al-Qasur as shaykh of the lodge.

When the Italians invaded Libya in 1911, ‘Umar led the ‘Abid in the ensuing jihad.  By the time the first war ended in a truce in 1917, ‘Umar had gained great influence with the new leader of the Sanusiyah, Muhammad Idris.  In 1923, the Italians reopened hostilities.  Idris went into exile in Egypt and appointed ‘Umar as one of the leaders for the campaign in Cyrenaica.  Already more than sixty years old, as na’ib al-‘amm (general representative) he became a charismatic figure who inspired the tribes to join and maintain the struggle.

‘Umar displayed considerable tactical skill and was able to lead themostly tribal units in a campaign that for more than six years confounded the Italians in spite of their great numerical and material superiority.  Eventually the guerrilla forces started to be worn down, and in 1929, after a series of defeats, ‘Umar asked for truce negotiations.  They led nowhere, and after three months he resumed fighting.  But Italian superiority was now evident, in particular after they in 1930 began rounding up the bedouin population into concentration camps and cut off supply lines by closing the Egyptian border with barbed wire.  ‘Umar’s fighters became hunted groups, and on September 11, 1931, ‘Umar himself was captured in a chance encounter.

Mukhtar’s struggle of nearly twenty years came to an end on September 11, 1931, when he was wounded in battle, then captured by the Italian army. The Italians treated the native leader hero as a prize catch. His resilience had an impact on his jailers, who later remarked upon his steadfastness. His interrogators stated that Mukhtar recited verses of peace from the Qur'an.

In three days, Mukhtar was tried, convicted, and, on September 14, 1931, sentenced to be hanged publicly. When asked if he wished to say any last words, Mukhtar replied with a Qur'anic phrase: "We are Allah's -properties-, and to Allah we will return." On September 16, 1931, on the orders of the Italian court and with Italian hopes that Libyan resistance would die with him, Mukhtar was hanged before his followers in the concentration camp of Solluqon at the age of 70 years.

Mukhtar's final years were depicted in the movie The Lion of the Desert (1981), starring Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, and Irene Papas. On June 10, 2009, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi arrived in Rome, on his first visit to Italy, wearing the famous picture of Mukhtar's arrest on his lapel when meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

What made ‘Umar al-Mukhtar such a charismatic leader was a combination of religious authority and personal skill.  While the forces he led were largely tribal, he himself came from a relatively minor, client tribe. His first military power was based on the ‘Abid tribe, among whom he was the leader of the Sanusi Sufi lodge.  With this basis he could use his political and military skill, which combined with a personal reputation for uprightness to stand up to the Italian forces for almost a decade.


'Umar al-Mukhtar see Mukhtar, ‘Umar al-
'Umar al-Mukhtar ibn 'Umar al-Minifi see Mukhtar, ‘Umar al-
Omar Mukhtar see Mukhtar, ‘Umar al-

Muktafi bi-‘llah, al-
Muktafi bi-‘llah, al-.  ‘Abbasid caliph (r.902-908).  He fought the Carmathians in Syria, put an end to the rule of the Tulunids in Egypt and vigorously pursued the war with the Byzantines.

mulla
mulla (molla) (mollah) (mullah).  Persian title, derived from Arabic, indicating in the first instance any Muslim scholar who has acquired a certain degree of religious education and the aptitude to communicate it.  In current usage, the title is most often applied to the ‘ulama’, the religious scholars.  Having completed their elementary classes, the students, between the ages of eleven and fifteen years, are admitted to the madrasa, where they pursue a traditional education.  Few among them succeed in completing the full cursus of fifteen to eighteen years which will lead them to the superior rank (among the Shi‘is) of mujtahid.  They wear the turban (black for the Sayyids, white for others), a long and ample cloak, sandals, a relatively long beard and a trimmed mustache.  Exercising the basic prerogatives in matters of education, ritual functions (prayers, marriages, funerals, etc.) and judicial functions, the mullahs constitute the basis of what has been called, erroneously in the view of some, a veritable clergy.

The term mullah is often used on the Indian subcontinent.  The term mullah is the equivalent of the term ‘alim.

Among the Shi‘ites, a mullah is a scholar of the religious law -- sharia.  The mullah performs minor religious functions, such as leading prayer in the smaller mosques, teaching the Qur’an, preaching the faith, and recounting the ta’ziya (stories of the imams). 

The Persian construction of mullah probably comes from the Arabic mawla (“master,” “leader,” “lord”), mullah is the title used to identify a religious functionary, a cleric, a learned man, or someone with religious education.  The title is very much similar to akhund in the range of meanings it invokes.

From the Safavid period (1501-1722) onward, the term mullah began to be used for various clerical functionaries.  During the Qajar period (1342-1925), the term was institutionalized as a designation of lower-ranking clerics.  Beginning with the Constitutional Revolution in Iran (1906-1911), the term assumed an additional derogatory connotation, used by secular individuals to designate anti-modern and reactionary tendencies.

The term mullah invariably refers to a male cleric, but in such constructions as mullabaji (“sister-mullah”) it has been extended to female clerics, particularly to female teachers at girls’ schools.  The term mullakhanah, which has been used for traditional schools, indicates that at least since the Qajar period the word mullah has had an exclusive application to elementary teachers at traditional schools.  The term mullanuqati also refers to a person who is very particular about details (of punctualities).  Probably because some high-ranking mullahs owned land, there are quite a number of small villages in Iran with the term attached to a proper name, such as Mulla-Baqir in Arak, or Mulla-Budaq and Mulla-Piri in Zanjan.

In the Safavid administrative apparatus, the term mullabashi referred to a high-ranking religious official in charge of a number of functions, including the religious education of the court.  The office of mullabashi was subsequently developed into the most prestigious religious position at the Safavid court.

Among the clerics themselves, the term mullah is the highest expression of reverence for religious learning.  Perhaps the most distinguished philosopher of the Safavid period, Mulla Sadra Shirazi (d. 1640) received his name from the combination of mullah, here meaning “the most learned,” and Sadr al-Din, his honorific title.  Even in popular culture, the term mullah has strong connotations of learning and erudition.  The verb mullashudan (literally, “to become a mullah”) in Persian means “to become learned.” 

During the Qajar period the term mullah was applied as an honorific title to a number of teachers at the court.  Mullah ‘Ali Asghar Hazarjaribi, known as “Mullahbashi” (d. 1798), was a teacher of the celebrated Qajar prince ‘Abbas Mirza and a number of other princes.  The most distinguished philosopher of the Qajar period, Hajj Mullah Hadi Sabzawari (d. 1872) also carried the honorific title of mullah.

After the Constitutional Revolution in Iran the derogatory implications of the term in secular contexts increased.  To call someone a mullah is to accuse him of reactionary ideas.  Opposition to the establishment of new schools during the constitutional period in Iran, for example, is identified with “the mullahs.”  The expression mullakhur (“embezzled by the mullahs” or “edible by the mullahs”) refers either to financial embezzlement or to fruits and vegetables that have become rotten and can be purchased for a cheap price.  In Persian folklore, the term mullah appears most familiarly in the name of Mullah Nasr al-Din, a legendary figure at the center of innumerable tales of either naive simplicity, or sometimes wit and wisdom.

As a self-conscious social group, the mullahs have performed a major role in the social history of Iran at least since the Qajar period.  Their active participation during the Constitutional Revolution, both for and against it, continued well into the twentieth century.  The Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 was largely led by Iranian mullahs.  Beyond the crucial realm of politics, the mullahs are principally in charge of the religious functions and ceremonies in Iran.  They are particularly visible in public places during the months of Muharram, Safar, and Ramadan when their religious functions lead them into the mosques, markets, and other public places.  As a class, also known as the akhunds, the ruhaniyun, or the ‘ulama’, they are the principal interpreters of the Islamic law of the Shi‘as.  They preside over such crucial events in the life of a Muslim as circumcision, wedding, hajj pilgrimage, and burial.  Their religious and juridical training is institutionalized in madrasahs (seminaries).  The curriculum of a mullah’s training includes the study of the Qur’an, the prophetic traditions, and the lives and sayings of the Shi‘a imams.



molla see mulla
mollah see mulla
mullah see mulla

Mullabashi
Mullabashi. Institution designating a high religious functionary in Shi‘a Islam, which seems to have come into usage toward the very end of the Safavid period (1501-1722), and slowly disappeared in the nineteenth century, mullabashi was intended to replace the more established term Shaykh al-Islam, but it did not succeed in doing so.  A passing reference to it is encountered as late as 1906.  The term itself comes from a Perso-Arabic word, mulla (“mullah” -- a Muslim clergyman) and a Turkish word, bash (or bas – “head or chief”), thus having the general meaning of “head of the clergy.”  In point of fact, however, the mullabashi did not possess such an important function. 

One of the earliest references to the term occurs in Tadhkirat al-muluk, completed about 1726.  The anonymous author states that the mullabashi was the chief mullah, foremost religious scholar, and had a privileged seat next to the shah on formal occasions.  The duties of the mullabashi included soliciting pensions for students and men of merit, generally upholding virtuous conduct, and giving advice on legal matters.  Thus, the mullabashi was more an adviser rather than an executive.  The contemporary Zubdat al-tavarikh makes the mullabashi sound more like the shah’s boon companion, joining him in discussing literary problems and poetry and the preparation of dishes and medicines. 

Some scholars believe that the office of mullabashi was formally instituted for Mir Muhammad Baqir Khatun-abadi in 1712, disproving Minorsky’s conjecture that the first occupant of the office was Mullah Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (d. 1699 or 1700), the most powerful Shaykh al-Islam of Isfahan toward the end of the Safavid period.  Other scholars claim that (Madjlisi’s title was changed to Mullabashi on Sultan Husayn’s accession to the throne in 1694.

The mullabashi had his rivals in the “mujtahid of the age,” the Sadr, and the Shaykh al-Islam.  There is some indication, however, that the mullabashi was the most powerful of them all.  This is shown by the Dastur al-muluk, a work on the Safavid administration from the same period as Tadhkirat al-muluk, whose author refers to the mullabashi as the leader and most learned of the ‘ulama’ (community of religious scholars).

The position of mullabashi became more of a public relations office during the reign of Nadir Shah Afshar (d. 1747).  The shah, anxious to reach some kind of reconciliation between the Shi‘a Iranians and the Sunni Ottomans, sent his mullabashi, Mulla ‘Ali Akbar, as his chief representative to the conference at Najar in 1743 where he defended the Shi‘a views in lively conversations with Shaykh ‘Abd Allah al-Suwaydi, an Iraqi Sunni scholar, whowas accepted by both sides as an impartial mediator.  This reconciliation attempt ended in failure.  In any case, it was essentially a political ploy by Nadir Shah, who at the same time was actually at war with the Ottomans.

The office of mullabashi kept an attenuated existence throughout the Zand and Qajar periods.  The incumbent often became tutor of the royal princes.

Mulla Sadra
Mulla Sadra (Sadr al-Din Shirazi) (Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī) (Molla Sadra) (Mollasadra) (Sadrol Mote'allehin) (1571-1640/1641).  Persian philosopher.  His Secrets is widely regarded in Iran as the most advanced text in the field of mystical philosophy.

Mulla Sadra was born into a noble Persian family.  His life coincided with the reign of Shah Abbas the First, during whose rule Shi‘ism and the propagation of Islamic law, philosophy, and theology reached its climax in Iran.  He devoted himself to the study of the intellectual sciences -- in particular, the philosophies of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Suhrawardi, and the Neoplatonists, especially Ibn ‘Arabi.  His intense studies of philosophy intimidated some of the orthodox jurists who held much political power and who regarded philosophy as a heretical activity.  Due to the hostility of the orthodoxy to his serious pursuit of philosophy by the studying and teaching of it, Mulla Sadra was forced to leave Isfahan, where he had been studying, and move to a small village outside of the city of Qum.  In exile, Mulla Sadra spent twelve years in contemplation and ascetic practices, which led to the strengthening of his intellectual intuition (dhawq). 

Mulla Sadra is important in the history of Islamic philosophy for several reasons.  First, his work, in particular his magnum opus, the al-Afsar al-arba ‘ah (The Four Journeys of the Soul), is a compendium of the history of Islamic philosophy.  Having presented the ideas of his predecessors in great detail, Mulla Sadra goes on to offer a thorough examination and critique of their philosophical ideas.  Second, Mulla Sadra consolidated the School of Isfahan, which his teacher Mir Damad had established.  This philosophical school was a turning point in the history of Islamic philosophy in Iran and produced some of the greatest masters of Islamic philosophy.  The philosophical tradition of the School of Isfahan that was perfected by such masters as Mulla Sadra came to be known as “transcendental wisdom” (al-hikmat al-muti‘aliya), a rapprochement of discursive reasoning, intellectual intuition and practical wisdom. 

Mulla Sadra wrote three distinct types of works: commentaries on the Qur’an and hadith, polemical works, and philosophical treatises.  His commentaries on various verses of the Qur’an, such as the verses on light, is an indication of his esoteric reading of the scripture.  He also wrote a monumental commentary upon the sayings of the Shi‘ite Imams, bringing out their more esoteric aspects.  His polemics are directed towards the anti-nomian Sufis and their violations of the religious law.  Finally, there are the philosophical writings of Mulla Sadra, most of which were written for the intellectual elite and the learned scholars who had sufficient training in traditional Islamic philosophy. 

Mulla Sadra synthesized the theological (kalam) discussions, Ibn Sinan (Avicennian) metaphysics, and the mystical thoughts of Ibn ‘Arabi.  The result is a tradition of wisdom that relates to the traditional concerns of the theologians, the discursive reasoning of the philosophers, and the direct experience of the Sufis.  Mulla Sadra in particular was influenced by two figures, Ibn Sina, the philosopher of Being, and Suhrawardi, the philosopher of light and the founder of the School of Illumination (Ishraq) in Islamic philosophy.  Mulla Sadra interprets Ibn Sinan philosophy from a Suhrawardian point of view while making some fundamental revisions in Suhrawardi’s ontology.

Theology, which by the time of Mulla Sadra was well developed, relied on the same vocabulary as that of the philosophers.  Mulla Sadra takes note of the similarity in the use of technical terms by philosophers and theologians and of their methodologies.  The second point Mulla Sadra alludes to is that Islamic theology is developed, not as an independent branch of intellectual sciences, but as a discipline that is primarily concerned with Islamic law.

Mulla Sadra, in his treatment of kalam, adopts a two-pronged approach, arguing against the theological methodology on one hand while affirming the truth of the objectives of the theologians on the other.  Mulla Sadra demonstrates how and why it is that theological arguments fail to prove their purported conclusions while at the same time he is careful not to question the validity of the theological beliefs.  In his work on the problem of eternity versus creation in time and the problem of bodily resurrection, Mulla Sadra brings some of the controversial positions of philosophers closer to the views of the theologians.  

Mulla Sadra retains the general structure of the Ibn Sinan philosophy that asserts the existence of the Necessary Being and the gradations of Being that emanate from the Necessary Being.  However, he departs from Ibn Sina by putting more emphasis on the centrality of a personal insight leading to the discoveries of the immutable principles of philosophy.  It is precisely these experiences that serve as the foundation upon which Sadrian philosophy is established.  Whereas Ibn Sinan principles are derived from discursive philosophy and his logic is based on rationalization of philosophical categories, Mulla Sadra’s “logic of transcendence” is derived from his mots inward and noetic insight.  Mulla Sadra refers to these principles as the “Principles of Oriental Philosophy” (Qa‘ida Mashraqiyah) and “Transcendental Principles” (Qa‘ida Laduniya).

Mulla Sadra was profoundly influenced by the mystics of Islam, both by theoretical and practical dimensions of Sufism.  With regard to theoretical Sufism, Mulla Sadra was highly influenced by Ibn ‘Arabi, the great Andalusian mystic.  In fact, a great number of the technical terminologies that Mulla Sadra uses are borrowed from Ibn ‘Arabi and his massive commentary upon Islamic gnosticism.  In particular, Mulla Sadra finds Ibn ‘Arabi’s treatment of such issues as human understanding of the experience of the divine and various problems associated with that understanding to be quite illuminating. 

As to the practical aspects of the Sufi path, Mulla Sadra endorses asceticism as part of the path of knowledge whle he rejects the excesses and the antinomian practices of the Sufis.

Mulla Sadra divides knowledge into two types -- that which is learned by sense perception or instruction and that which is learned through intellectual intuition, a mode of knowledge marked by directness and the absence of mediation.  The knowledge that is learned through the senses or instruction itself is divided into the traditional divisions of knowledge most commonly held by the Peripatetics, namely, theoretical and practical.  The theoretical sciences consist of logic, mathematics, natural philosophy, and metaphysics; practical wisdom includes ethics, politics, and economics.

Mulla Sadra goes on to subdivide the sciences, leading to a unified theory of knowledge, which despite the multiplicity of different branches of knowledge leads the intellect to that knowledge of unity that lies at the heart of Sadrian philosophy.  This view of knowledge (hikmah) integrates various modes of knowing, including that of practical wisdom, since knowledge for Mulla Sadra is not only informative but also transformative.

Mulla Sadra, whose encyclopedic knowledge of Islamic philosophy provided him with the basis for illuminating analyses of the philosophical ideas of his predecessors, makes three major contributions to the field of Islamic philosophy.  They include (1) his commentary on Being, leading to the Doctrine of the Unity of Being, (2) his account of the occurrence of change in motion, known as “Substantial Motion,” and (3) his theory of the unity of the knower, the known, and knowledge itself.

Mulla Sadra takes issue with Suhrawardi, the founder of the School of Illumination, and his own teacher Mir Damad, reversing their scheme based on the principality of essence (mahiyyah) over existence (wujud).  He argues that existence is the primary and principal aspect of an existent being and that essences are accidents of Being.  Furthermore, Existence or Being (which for most of the Islamic philosophers, including Mulla Sadra, are the same) has an independent existence, whereas essences are contingent upon Being and therefore without a reality of their own.

Regarding the classical divisions of Being, Mulla Sadra accepts Ibn Sina’s division of Being into necessary, contingent, and impossible. Mulla Sadra also elaborates on copulative and non-copulative Being.  Copulative Being is that which connects the subject to the predicate such as in “Socrates is a philosopher.”  The term “is” here has a twofold function -- a copulative one, which connects the adjective of being a philosopher to Socrates, and a second one, namely, the existential function, which alludes to the existence of an existent being, in this case Socrates.  Mulla Sadra, who is interested in the latter use of “is,” argues that “is” in the corporeal world is always copulative except for the Being of God, who is pure and without essences.

Mulla Sadra accepts Plato’s concept of archetypes as the “master of species” (arbab al-anwa’).  According to Mulla Sadra, the corporeal world as a level of Being derives its characteristics from the archetypal world.  The separation of the corporeal world from its archetypal world leads to the principle of “the possibility of that which is superior” (Qa‘ida imkan al-ashraf), a principle for which Mulla Sadra is known.  This principle entails that for everything that journeys from the imperfect to perfect in the material world, there is its cosmic counterpart in the incorporeal world.

Mulla Sadra’s criticism of the Illuminationists goes beyond the priority and principality of existence over essence and includes the theory of hylomorphism.  Accordingly, matter manifests itself in various domains of existence according to the ontological status of each level.  Whereas the world of objects is immersed in the lowest level of matter, the soul belongs to a higher level of matter suitable for it.  This process continues until it culminates in the intelligible world, where realities are completely free from matter.

Mulla Sadra is unique in the history of Islamic philosophy in that he allows for motion to exist in substance (al-harakat al-jawhariyyah).  This is a deviation from Ibn Sina (Avicenna), who considered motion in substance to lead to a continuous change and the loss of that which constitutes the identity of a thing.

Mulla Sadra uses a number of arguments in support of his theory of the existence of motion in substance.  When an apple has become ripe, it is not only the accidents that have changed, but the substance of the apple must have changed as well.  In fact, when a potentiality becomes actualized, Mulla Sadra argues, it signifies a change both in accidents and in substance.  Mulla Sadra states that for every change that occurs in accident, there has to be a corresponding change in substance, for accidents depend on their substance for their properties.  Therefore, change in an apple is an example of the created order and signifies several points: first, that the world is like a river that is constantly in a state of flux; second, change occurs out of necessity and nothing remains the same except God; third, this change is not an accident in the universe, but is part of its very nature.  This change, according to Mulla Sadra, acts as a force that moves the universe towards becoming; becoming is fundamentally a spiritual journey that all beings yearn for and accounts for both the ripening of an apple as well as for the yearning of the human being for transcendence.

Mulla Sadra uses the notion of Substantial Motion to shed light on the concept of time.  For Mulla Sadra, as for Aristotle, time is the quantity of motion, except that for Mulla Sadra the change in quantity is the quantity of change in substance.  Time is not to be viewed only quantitatively but has an ontological aspect as well.  Motion in substance is also the measurement of the perfection and therefore has a purpose and direction, and carries a sense of necessity with it.

The fact that all things are in motion and that motion goes from less perfect to more perfect is an indication for Mulla Sadra that the entire universe is yearing for the ultimate perfection, God.  This view also entails tha in some sense the universe is conscious of its own state of being and yearns for an eventual unity with its origin.  Since Substantial Motion also entails that the identity of the object in question is always changing, Mulla Sadra concludes that this type of motion brings about a type of creation at every given moment.  In other words, God through Substantial Motion creates the universe instantaneously at every moment.  The Reality of God manifests itself through creation, which then goes through successive creations.

What Mulla Sadra was trying to achieve was to bring about a rapprochement between the Peripatetic who argued for the eternity of the world and the theologian view who insisted on creation ex nihilo.  According to Mulla Sadra, the world as an extension of God has always existed, but yet it was created in time that ceases to exist, and is then recreated. 

The unity of the knower, the known, and knowledge is deeply embedded in the Sadrian philosophy.  Since God’s essence and Being are the same and all things emanate from God, God is at once the knower, the known, and the knowledge.

From the above it follows that in order for any person to achieve a similar status, one has to achieve unity with God.  The reverse is also true: anyone who attains the knowledge of unity is in his or her very being the knower, the known, and the knowledge; in knowing unity, one has become unified.  It is for this reason that Mulla Sadra’s al-Asfar al-arba ‘ah (the Four Journeys of the Soul) alludes to the spiritual journey of the soul from the time that it departs from God until it achieves unity once again.

Mulla Sadra not only offers complex philosophical arguments but also uses gnostic imagery as a mirror representing Divine Essence within which God witnesses the essence of all things. Although Mulla Sadra never explicitly states that unity with God is the necessary condition of knowledge, the thrust of his philosophy is such that this notion is implied.

Mulla Sadra and his teachings were a turning point in the history of Islamic philosophy.  One of the greatest achievements of Mulla Sadra was the training of several students who themselves became masters of Islamic philosophy and propagators of Sadrian philosophy.  Among them we can name ‘Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji, Mulla Muhsin Fayd Kashani, and Qadi Sa‘id Qummi.

Sadrian philosophy, which had gone through a period of decline, was once again revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Iran by such notable figures as Sabziwari, Ali Nuri, Ahsa’i, and the Zunuzi family.  The teaching of Mulla Sadra and his students was well received by the Islamic philosophers of the subcontinent of India, and some of his books became the official texts of traditional schools.  Islamic philosophy today in Iran and the eastern parts of the Islamic world is still under the influence of Mulla Sadra and his teachings.





Sadra, Mulla see Mulla Sadra
Sadr al-Din Shirazi see Mulla Sadra
Shirazi, Sadr al-Din see Mulla Sadra
Sadr ad-Din Muhammad Shirazi see Mulla Sadra
Molla Sadra see Mulla Sadra
Sadrol Mote'allehin see Mulla Sadra

Multezim
Multezim.  Ottoman tax-collector allowed by the government to keep a share of what he collected.

Muluk al-Tawa’if
Muluk al-Tawa’if (in Spanish, Reyes de Taifas).  Name means “rulers of the factions”, or “Party Kings”, and is used for a number of local Muslim dynasties, which ruled in the various parts of al-Andalus between the final collapse of the Spanish Umayyads in the early part of the eleventh century and the coming of the Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashfin in 1086.

Reyes de Taifas see Muluk al-Tawa’if
Rulers of the Factions see Muluk al-Tawa’if
Party Kings see Muluk al-Tawa’if

mu’minin, al-
mu’minin, al-.  Term means “true believers.”

Mumtaz Mahal

Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Bob) (Arjumand Banu Begum) (April, 1593 - June 17, 1631).  Wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.  It was for her that the Taj Mahal was built

Mumtāz Mahal; meaning "beloved ornament of the palace", is the common nickname of Arjumand Banu Bob, an Empress of India during the Mughal Dynasty. She was born in Agra, India. Her father was the Persian noble Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan, the brother of Empress Nur Jehan (who subsequently became the wife of the emperor Jahangir). She was religiously a Shi'a Muslim. She was married at the age of 19, on May 10, 1612, to Prince Khurram, who would later ascend the Peacock Throne as the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan I. She was his third wife, and became his favorite. She died in Burhanpur in the Deccan (now in Madhya Pradesh) during the birth of their fourteenth child, a daughter named Gauhara Begum. Her body remained at Burhanpur for 23 years until the Taj was completed. Only then was her coffin shifted to Agra. Her body was then buried in the Taj Mahal in Agra.

In 1607, Prince Khurram was betrothed to Arjumand Banu Begum, who was just 14 years old at the time. She would become the unquestioned love of his life. They would however, have to wait five years before they were married in 1612, on a date selected by the court astrologers as most conducive to ensuring a happy marriage. After their wedding celebrations, Khurram "finding her in appearance and character elect among all the women of the time", gave her the title 'Mumtaz Mahal' Begum (Chosen One of the Palace). The intervening years had seen Khurram take two other wives. By all accounts however, Khurram was so taken with Mumtaz, that he showed little interest in exercising his polygamous rights with the two earlier wives, other than dutifully siring a child with each. According to the official court chronicler, Qazwini, the relationship with his other wives "had nothing more than the status of marriage. The intimacy, deep affection, attention and favor which His Majesty had for the Cradle of Excellence (Mumtaz) exceeded by a thousand times what he felt for any other."

Mumtaz Mahal had a very deep and loving marriage with Shah Jahan. Even during her lifetime, poets would extol her beauty, gracefulness and compassion. Mumtaz Mahal was Shah Jahan's trusted companion, travelling with him all over the Mughal Empire. His trust in her was so great that he even gave her his imperial seal, the Muhr Uzah. Mumtaz was portrayed as the perfect wife with no aspirations to political power in contrast to Nur Jehan, the wife of Jahangir who had wielded considerable influence in the previous reign. Mumtaz Mahal was a great influence on Shah Jahan, apparently often intervening on behalf of the poor and destitute. However, she also enjoyed watching elephant and combat fights performed for the court. It was quite common for women of noble birth to commission architecture in the Mughal Empire. Mumtaz devoted some time to a riverside garden in Agra.

Despite her frequent pregnancies, Mumtaz traveled with Shah Jahan's entourage throughout his earlier military campaigns and the subsequent rebellion against his father. She was his constant companion and trusted confidant and their relationship was intense. Indeed, the court historians go to unheard lengths to document the intimate and erotic relationship the couple enjoyed. In their nineteen years of marriage, they had fourteen children together, seven of whom died at birth or at a very young age.

Mumtaz died in Burhanpur in 1631, while giving birth to their fourteenth child. She had been accompanying her husband whilst he was fighting a campaign in the Deccan Plateau. Her body was temporarily buried at Burhanpur in a walled pleasure garden known as Zainabad originally constructed by Shah Jahan's uncle Daniyal on the bank of the Tapti River. The contemporary court chroniclers paid an unusual amount of attention to Mumtaz Mahal's death and Shah Jahan's grief at her demise. In the immediate aftermath of his bereavement, the emperor was reportedly inconsolable. Apparently after her death, Shah Jahan went into secluded mourning for a year. When he appeared again, his hair had turned white, his back was bent, and his face worn. Jahan's eldest daughter, the devoted Jahanara Begum, gradually brought him out of grief and took the place of Mumtaz at court.

Mumtaz's personal fortune valued at 10,000,000 rupees was divided by Shah Jahan between Jahanara Begum, who received half and the rest of her surviving children. Burhanpur was never intended by her husband as his wife's final resting spot. As a result her body was disinterred in December 1631 and transported in a golden casket escorted by her son Shah Shuja and the head lady in waiting of the deceased Empress back to Agra. There it was interred in a small building on the banks of the Yamuna River. Shah Jahan stayed behind in Burhanpur to conclude the military campaign that had originally bought him to the region. While there he began planning the design and construction of a suitable mausoleum and funerary garden in Agra for his wife, a task that would take more than 22 years to complete, the Taj Mahal.

Today, the Taj Mahal stands as the ultimate monument to love, and a homage to Mumtaz's beauty and life.

The children of Mumtaz were:

1. Shahzadi (Imperial Princess) Huralnissa Begum (1613–1616)
2. Shahzadi (Imperial Princess) Jahanara Begum (1614–1681)
3. Shahzada (Imperial Prince) Dara Shikoh (1615–1659)
4. Shahzada Mohammed Sultan Shah Shuja Bahadur (1616–1660)
5. Shahzadi Roshanara Begum (1617–1671)
6. Badshah Mohinnudin Mohammed Aurangzeb (1618–1707)
7. Shahzada Sultan Ummid Baksh (1619–1622)
8. Shahzadi Surayya Banu Begum (1621–1628)
9. Shahzada Sultan Murad Baksh (1624–1661)
10. Shahzada Sultan Luftallah (1626–1628)
11. Shahzada Sultan Daulat Afza (1628 - ?)
12. Shahzadi Husnara Begum (1630 - ?)
13. Shahzadi Gauhara Begum (1631–1707)

14. Samedia (Imperial Princess) (? - ?)

Mahal, Mumtaz see Mumtaz Mahal
Beloved Ornament of the Palace see Mumtaz Mahal
Arjumand Banu Bob see Mumtaz Mahal
Bob, Arjumand Banu see Mumtaz Mahal
Arjumand Banu Begum see Mumtaz Mahal
Begum, Arjumand Banu see Mumtaz Mahal