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
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
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
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
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
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
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