Thursday, October 6, 2022

2022: Muhammad, Elijah - Muhammad 'Izzat

  Muhammad, Elijah

Muhammad, Elijah (Elijah Muhammad) (October 7, 1897 - February 25, 1975).  Leader of the Nation of Islam from 1934, when the founder, W. D. Fard, disappeared, to 1975.  Known as “Prophet” and “Messenger of Allah,” under Elijah Muhammad the Nation of Islam gained national prominence and international recognition.

Elijah Muhammad was born Elijah Poole on October 7, 1897, in rural Sandersville, Georgia.  His parents, Wali and Marie Poole, were former slaves who worked as sharecroppers. His father was also a Baptist preacher. .

Young Elijah went to school through the fourth grade and learned the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic before economic conditions forced him to join the rest of his family working in the fields.  As a boy, Elijah worked at various jobs involving manual labor.  But there was little future in Sandersville, especially for a black boy who was one of thirteen children, so at the age of sixteen he left home. 

In 1919, he married Clara Evans, and in 1923, he, Clara, and their two young children (there would be six more children) moved to Detroit, joining a mass of African Americans who migrated north seeking jobs after World War I.  There, he held a series of jobs -- including a stint on a Chevrolet assembly line -- before the Great Depression hit and devastated the United States economy. 

In 1930, Poole met Fard Muhammad, also known as Wallace D. Fard, who had founded the Lost-Found Nation of Islam.  Fard had appeared in Detroit in the summer of that year, selling raincoats and later silks.  He charmed his customers with tales of black history and showed them -- through ingenious interpretations of the Bible -- that Islam, not Christianity, was the religion of black men in Asia and Africa.  Fard’s message struck a chord, and his initial sessions grew to gatherings in homes and then to mass assemblies in a hall that he and his followers hired and named the Temple of Islam. 

Each person wishing to join the temple was required to write a letter asking for his original (Islamic) name to replace the slave name the white man gave his ancestors.  When Elijah Poole and his two brothers applied for names, they neglected to indicate that they were related.  The prophet -- as Fard was called -- inadvertently gave them three different surnames: Sharrieff, Karriem, and Muhammad. 

Once accepted, Elijah Karriem -- as Poole was then called -- devoted himself to Fard and the movement.  Opposed by some of the more moderate members of the Nation of Islam, Poole nevertheless became Fard’s most trusted lieutenant.  Fard acknowledged his higher status by renaming Elijah Karriem, Elijah Muhammad, and by appointing Elijah Muhammad chief minister of the Nation of Islam. 

In 1932, Fard sent Muhammad to Chicago to establish the Southside Mosque, which was later called Temple No. 2.  Muhammad was successful in that venture, but at the same time back in Detroit, Fard was being subjected to severe scrutiny by the Detroit police.  Fard was sent to jail in 1932 and was subsequently ordered out of Detroit in 1933.  Fard went to Chicago in 1933 where he was arrested almost immediately and placed behind prison bars. 

Fard was not the only object of policy interest.  Elijah Muhammad himself was arrested in 1934 when he refused to transfer his children from the movement’s school, the University of Islam, to a public school.  Tried in Detroit, he was found guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and placed on six months’ probation.

Likewise, the police were not the only organization with an interest in the Nation of Islam.  Communists, anti-union, pro-Ethiopian, and pro-Japanese elements all tried to take over the movement for their own ends.  Despite these pressures, Fard established effective organization, implemented ritual and worship, founded the University of Islam school for Muslim children, and instituted the Fruit of Islam, a paramilitary organization meant to protect the organization from police and other unbelievers. 

When Fard disappeared in June of 1934, most saw Elijah Muhammad, his chief minister, as a natural successor.  But Detroit was filled with rivals, so Muhammad returned to Chicago and Temple No. 2.  There he set up new headquarters and began to reshape the movement under his own highly militant leadership.  He equated Fard with “Allah” and instituted prayers and sacrifices to Fard.  He also assumed the mantle of “Prophet,” which “Allah” had worn during this mission in Detroit.  

Small of stature (only five feet, five inches tall) and thin voiced, Elijah Muhammad was physically an unlikely leader of a mass movement.  However, what he lacked in physical stature he more than made up for in intensity and radicalism.  European Americans, according to Elijah Muhammad, had created and perpetuated the oppressive conditions of African Americans, but the African American had allowed the oppression to continue by remaining “in a land not his own.”  According to Elijah Muhammad, racial separation was the only answer.  The racial separation Elijah Muhammad was talking about was not the “back to Africa” movement that black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey had proposed a generation previously, but rather a carving out of a black nation either from the lands of Africa or from the continental United States itself. 

According to Elijah Muhammad, African Americans were the original, superior race of humans on earth.  The tribe of Shabazz -- the black race -- began when an explosion divided the earth and the moon sixty-six trillion years ago.  Whites, Elijah Muhammad claimed, were created by the evil magician Yakub.  Yakub had grafted the weaker of two germs that exist within blacks, and the end product of his biological experiment was the white race.  As a result of their unnatural creation, whites were, according to Elijah Muhammad, evil and degraded.  Elijah Muhammad believed that the white man’s reign on earth was to last 6,000 years before Allah came, at which time the white race would reach its end.  For the members of the Nation of Islam, the coming of Allah was the coming of the Supreme Black Man, -- the Supreme Being presiding over a mighty nation of divine black men.

The Nation of Islam became known for fostering black pride and self-sufficiency among its predominantly young, male, lower-class members.  Elijah Muhammad promoted an effective program of good health, self-improvement, and moral guidelines for members of the movement to follow.  Alcohol, tobacco, and the “slave diet” of pork and cornbread were prohibited.  One meal of fresh food was encouraged.  Male members were required to recruit new followers to the faith, and a strict code of marital fidelity was enforced.  Elijah Muhammad also encouraged members to improve themselves economically and provided schooling and training in business enterprises to assist them in attaining the goal of financial independence. 

Throughout the 1930s, Elijah Muhammad and his staff continued to build temples in the heart of black communities throughout the United States.   During World War II, federal authorities saw the Nation of Islam’s separatist ideology as a threat to the war effort.  In 1942, Elijah Muhammad was arrested and charged with sedition and violation of the Selective Service Act.  Cleared of sedition charges, Elijah Muhammad was convicted of exhorting his followers to avoid the draft.  He spent the remaining years of the war in a federal prison in Milan, Michigan, where he was able to control the movement from his prison quarters. 

Although he suffered from asthma and bronchitis, Elijah Muhammad was nevertheless able to keep the movement going.  His column in the Pittsburgh Courier was widely read and commented on in the African American community.  In the late 1940s, Malcolm Little joined the movement while serving in a Massachusetts prison.  Renamed Malcolm X, after his release Malcolm became Muhammad’s chief disciple and bore Muhammad’s message across the country.  And the movement grew.

By 1960, the Nation of Islam had 69 temples or missions in 27 states.  Tiny compared to conventional churches, its growth nevertheless became a matter of concern for both conservative and liberal factions.   Many believed that Elijah Muhammad’s anti-white diatribes could only lead to greater enmity between blacks and whites.  However, while many criticized the Nation of Islam’s anti-white rhetoric, its positive effects could not be overlooked.  Intermixed with the discourse on “white devils,” there was an inspirational message.   The point of Elijah Muhammad’s message was the worth, the competence and the solidarity of black folks.  He urged them to express it through a meld of puritan morals (no cigarettes, liquor, drugs or non-marital sex) and Protestant work ethics. 

Perhaps because of the movement’s tremendous growth and Malcolm X’s pivotal role in creating that growth, some say a rift had developed and that Muhammad was looking for an opportunity to put Malcolm X in his place.  That opportunity arose in November of 1963 when Malcolm told a Black Muslim rally at Manhattan Center that the assassination of President Kennedy was an instance of “the chickens coming home to roost.”  While Malcolm’s statement was not against Nation of Islam dogma, it was not the kind of utterance Muhammad wanted him to make in public.  As punishment, Malcolm was silenced for 90 days.

Malcolm accepted the punishment, but on March 8, 1964, he broke with Muhammad, telling the press that he was leaving the Nation of Islam to organize his own organization, to the great consternation and even anger of Elijah Muhammad.

Internal differences between Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, followed by the break between the two men and Malcolm’s assasination (for which three Black Muslims were later convicted), provided a great deal of unfavorable media coverage, but this did not slow the growth of the movement.

However, after Malcolm X was assassinated in February of 1965, Muhammad kept close to his Chicago mansion, giving few interviews and rarely appearing in public.  When he did appear it was in the company of hundreds of Fruit of Islam security guards.  Mostly he worked in the Nation of Islam offices, planning recruitment strategies and tending to the movement’s growing network of businesses, farmlands, and restaurants.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Elijah Muhammad moderated the Nation’s criticism of European Americans without compromising its message of black integrity.  But, in the early 1970s, an increasing radicalism made itself felt in the Black Muslim movement.  A January 1972 shootout between police and a Louisiana Nation of Islam splinter group brought to light a split in the movement.  Younger activists began to become disenchanted with the relatively exorbitant sums of money the Nation of Islam was spending on mansions for Elijah Muhammad, his family, and his aides in Chicago. 

On January 30, 1975, Elijah Muhammad entered Mercy Hospital in Chicago suffering from heart trouble, bronchitis, asthma, and diabetes.  He died on February 25, 1975.

When Muhammad died in 1975, the Nation of Islam had become an important religious, political, and economic force among African Americans, especially in the country’s major cities.  Today, his legacy is not just one organization but two.  His spiritual successor, Louis Farrakhan, continued Elijah Muhammad’s separatist philosophy, while Elijah Muhammad’s genetic successor, Wallace D. Muhammad, reformed his father’s movement into a more orthodox Islamic movement which received commendations from around the world. 

Ultimately, it must be noted that Elijah Muhammad was not original in his rejection of Christianity as the religion of the oppressor.  Noble Drew Ali and the Black Jews had arrived at this conclusion well before him.  But Muhammad was the most successful salesman for this brand of African American religion.  Thus he was able to build the first strong, African American religious group in the United States that appealed primarily to the unemployed and underemployed city dweller, and ultimately to some in the African American middle class.  In addition, his message on the virtues of being black was explicit and uncompromising.  Elijah Muhammad sought with at least a little success to bolster the economic independence of African Americans by establishing schools and businesses under the auspices of the Nation of Islam.


Elijah Muhammad see Muhammad, Elijah
Elijah Poole see Muhammad, Elijah
Poole, Elijah see Muhammad, Elijah

Muhammad, Ghazi

Ghazi Muhammad, also known as Qazi Mullah or Ghazi Mollah (b. 1793, Ghimry, Dagestan – d. 1832, Ghimry, Dagestan, Caucasian Imamate), became an Islamic scholar and ascetic, who became the first Imam of the Caucasian Imamate (from 1828 to 1832). He promoted the Sacred Law of Sharia, spiritual purification (tasawwuf), and facilitated a jihad against the invading Russians. He was also one of the prime supporters of Muridism, a strict obedience to Quranic laws used by imams to increase religio-patriotic fervor in the Caucasus. 


Ghazi Muhammad preached that jihad would not occur until the Caucasians followed sharia completely rather than following a mixture of sharia and adat (customary traditions). By 1828, Ghazi Muhammad had begun proselytizing and claiming that obeying sharia, giving zakat, faithfully praying, and performing the hajj would not be accepted by Allah if the Russians were still present in the area. He even went on to claim that marriages would become void and children bastards if any Russians were still in the Caucasus.


Ghazi Muhammad became one of the most prominent preachers of Islam in the Caucasus. His memorization of over four hundred hadith allowed him to win many debates against rival preachers in the area. As his reputation grew, he was invited by many khanates and kingdoms loyal, indifferent, and hostile to the Czar.  As a sign of humility and austerity, he refused to ride, but would walk.


During the early to mid 19th century of the Christian calendar, Russian political strategy in Dagestan included supporting local, indigenous law, known as 'adat.  This was a careful and strategic investment against the growing religiosity and resistance founded on sharia law, which was championed by Ghazi Muhammad. The popularity and rise of Ghazi Muhammad has been attributed both to his charismatic personality and to an indigenous Dagestani population that had grown tired of Russian intrusion and reorganization of local land and resources. Due to conflicting local political, legal, and religious interests, the war led by Ghazi Muhammad has been characterized as a war in the name of Muslim resistance just as much as a war against Russian Imperial encroachment into the North Caucasus.  While Ghazi Muhammad gained popular support for his religious policies and military tactics, he did not find widespread support among the region's other political leaders. This lack of support prompted Ghazi Muhammad to launch assaults both against local leaders who preferred to ascribe to ‘adat and against the encroaching Russians. As such, support for Ghazi Muhammad was not ubiquitous in Dagestan and his rise to power resulted in unrest among local political stakeholders.


In 1829, Ghazi Muhammad was proclaimed the first Imam of Caucasian Imamate in Ghimry.  Soon thereafter, Ghazi Muhammad formally made the call for a holy war -- for a jihad. He also decreed that all wine should be destroyed publicly. 


In 1830, Ghazi Muhammad and Shamil unsuccessfully tried to capture the Avar capital of Khunzakh from the khanum Pakkou-Bekkhe. Following the setback, Shamil prevailed upon Ghazi to bide his time for a while, until all the tribes became united in following sharia law. 


In 1831, after a few months of quiet, Ghazi Muhammad attacked Northern Dagestan, and met with success there. His guerilla tactics caught the Russians unprepared. By 1832, Ghazi Muhammad (Qazi Mullah) was able to menace Vladikavkaz. However, the Russians repulsed the Imam's assault and, when the Russians took Ghimry, according to legend, they found

Qazi Mullah dead but seated, legs folded on his prayer carpet, one hand on his beard, and the other pointing toward the sky.

The Russians took the body of Ghazi Muhammad to Tarku, the capital of the Kumyk state, and gave it to the Kumyk Khan, who had been loyal to them. The body was displayed in the marketplace for a few days before being buried in the hills.



Muhammad Husayn Haykal
Muhammad Husayn Haykal (Muhammad Husayn Haikal) (Muhammad Hussein Haekal) (August 20, 1888 – December 8 1956).  Egyptian writer.  He played a political role as minister and president of the Senate, but above all he was active in literature and in the study of Muslim religion.  His first and best novel is called Zaynab (1914), and in his well-known Life of Muhammad he defended Islam and Arabism, but without sectarianism.

Muhammad Hussein Haekal was an Egyptian writer, journalist, politician and Minister of Education in Egypt.

Haekal was born in Mansoura, Ad Daqahliyah in 1888. He obtained a bachelor of arts degree in Law in 1909 and a juris doctor degree from the Sorbonne University in 1912. After returning to Egypt, he worked as a lawyer for 10 years, then as a journalist. He was elected as editor-in-chief of Al Siyasa newspaper, the organ of "The Constitutional Tory Party" for which he was also an advisor. In 1937, he was appointed as Minister of State for the Interior Ministry in Muhammad Mahmoud Pasha's second government. Then he was appointed as a Minister of Education where he introduced several reforms, including decentralization, by establishing educational zones and making programs and curricula nationally oriented. He was greatly influenced and inspired by the comprehensive reforms of Mohammad Abduh, Ahmad Lutfy El Sayed and Qasim Amin. Haekal is the father of Fayza Haekal.

He died in 1956.

His works include:

    * Zeinab, 1914; the first modern Egyptian novel
    * Biographies of Egyptian and Western Personalities, 1929
    * The Life of Muhammad, 1933, a biography of Muhammad
    * In the House of Revelation, 1939
    * Al Farouq Omar,1944/45
    * Memories on Egyptian politics, 1951-53
    * Thus Was I Created, 1955
    * Faith, Knowledge and Philosophy, 1964
    * The Islamic Empire and sacred places, 1964.
    * Egyptian short stories, 1967
    * Othman Ibn Affan, 1968
    * Mehraj-ud-din beigh

Haykal, Muhammad Husayn see Muhammad Husayn Haykal
Muhammad Hussein Haekal see Muhammad Husayn Haykal
Haekal, Muhammad Hussein see Muhammad Husayn Haykal
Muhammad Husayn Haikal see Muhammad Husayn Haykal
Haikal, Muhammad Husayn see Muhammad Husayn Haykal


Muhammad Husayn Tabrizi
Muhammad Husayn Tabrizi. Persian calligrapher of the sixteenth century.  He was a pupil of Mirza Sayyid Ahmad Mashhadi and teacher of Mir ‘Imad.


Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (Muhammad ibn Abdillah Al-Mahd ibn al-Hasan al-Muthanna ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib) (Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya) (“the Pure Soul”) (d. December 6, 762).  Grandson of ‘Ali’s son al-Hasan.  Together with his full brother Ibrahim, he rebelled in Medina against the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur and died in battle.

Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya ("Muhammad the Pure Souled") was a descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Known for his commanding oratory skills, amiable demeanor, and impressive build, he led a failed rebellion in Medina against the second Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mansur, on December 6, 762.

Initially, Dhu al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah hoped to rebel against Umayyad rule, when the children of Hashim paid their allegiance to him at Abwa. Among them were Ibrahim al-Imam, As-Saffah and Al-Mansur. But it soon became clear that Abbasid rule was established, so those who had paid allegiance to him deserted him, and another group of Shiites flocked around him.

Muhammad was an inspirational figure to many throughout the caliphate, who believed that he was destined for glory due to his ancestry—though some viewed him as overly idealistic. For years he disguised himself and travelled stealthily, since his descent from the prophet meant that he posed a threat to the established political order. He was eventually able to amass a sizable but ragtag army and seize the city of Medina. He then left Medina in the year 762 and took over Mecca and Yemen (only to be killed in Medina a few months later).

Medina was an exceptionally poor place for any large-scale rebellion due to its dependency on other provinces for goods. Additionally, Muhammad's motley army of devotees never stood a chance against the Caliph's imperial soldiers. Despite the obvious advantage held by the Abbasid troops, Muhammad refused to step down in the hours before battle, blindly believing that utilizing the historic trenches dug by the Prophet to fortify the city decades earlier would result in victory. His naiveté led to a crushing defeat at the hands of the Abbasids, quelling for the time the possibility that the prophet's family would ascend to political power.

Due to the unrealistically high expectation among his followers of success, a section of his followers were shocked and could not bear the news of his defeat, and did not believe his murder, since they believed he was the Mahdi, whose appearance they had been awaiting for a very long time. They believed he was alive and did not die, nor was he killed, but was staying on the Mount of Ilmiyyah (between Makkah and Najd) till the time when he would reappear. This faction of his followers held onto the supposed hadith of Muhammad, which states that the Mahdi’s name is like Muhammad’s name and the Mahdi’s father’s name is like Muhammad’s father’s name (Abdallah).

Zakiyya, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al- see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
Muhammad ibn Abdillah Al-Mahd ibn al-Hasan al-Muthanna ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
Zakiyya, Muhammad al-Nafs al- see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
Muhammad the Pure Souled see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
The Pure Soul see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya


Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan (Sayyīd Muhammad `Abd Allāh al-Hasan) (Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xasan) (Sayyid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan) (Mohammed Abdullah Hassan) (Muhammad 'Abdullah Hassan) (b. April 7, 1864, Dulbahante area, British Somaliland [now Doli Bahanta, Somalia] — d. December 21, 1920, Imi, Ethiopia).  Local Somali equivalent of the Sudanese Mahdi.  Called by his British opponents “the Mad Mullah,” he preached the puritanical message of the Salihiyya order, and was led to proclaim a “Holy War” against the Christian missionary activities and increasing Ethiopian military pressure in the Ogaden.  In 1904, he signed a peace treaty (the “Illig Agreement”) with the Italians.  By 1908, the Dervishes renewed their campaign and were finally defeated in 1920.  He was the leading Somali poet of his epoch and was admired for his brilliant command of Somali rhetoric.

Sayyīd Muhammad `Abd Allāh al-Hasan was a Somali religious and nationalist leader. Referred to as the Mad Mullah by the British, he established the Dervish State in Somalia that fought an anti-imperial war for a period of over 20 years against British, Italian, and Ethiopian forces.

Because of his active resistance to the British and his vision of a Somalia united in a Muslim brotherhood transcending clan divisions, Sayyid Maxamed is seen as a forerunner of modern Somali nationalism. He also is revered for his skill as an oral poet.

Maxamed’s father belonged to a clan from the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, but he was raised among his mother’s Dulbahante clan. At a young age he showed great learning in the Qurʾān, and, during a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1894, he joined the Ṣaliḥīyah, a militant, reformist, and puritanical Ṣūfī order. Soon after his return to Somaliland, he began urging the expulsion of the English “infidels” and their missionaries and a strict observance by all Somalis of the Islamic faith. Through his stirring oratory and didactic verse (some of his poems are considered classics in Somalia), Maxamed attracted a fanatical group of followers who became known as dervishes. In 1899 he declared a holy war (jihad) on the colonial powers and their Somali collaborators. Between 1900 and 1904, four major British, Ethiopian, and Italian expeditions were made against Maxamed. By 1905 he was forced to conclude a truce, under which he and his followers constructed a small theocratic state in the Italian protectorate. In 1908 he began his holy war again, winning a major victory at Dulmadobe in 1913. Early in 1920, however, the dervish stronghold at Taalex (Taleh) was bombed, and Maxamed escaped to the Ogaden, where he died of influenza. With his death the dervish rebellion ceased.


Hassan, Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan
Sayyid Muhammad 'Abd Allah al-Hasan see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan
Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xasan see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan
Sayyid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan
Mohammed Abdullah Hassan see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan
Muhammad 'Abdullah Hassan see Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Hassan


Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (b. 1703, ʿUyaynah, Arabia [now in Saudi Arabia] — d. 1792, Ad-Dirʿīyah).  Founder of the Wahhabi movement, which attempted a return to the “true” principles of Islam.

Having completed his formal education in the holy city of Medina, in Arabia, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb lived abroad for many years. He taught for four years in Basra, Iraq, and in Baghdad he married an affluent woman whose property he inherited when she died. In 1736, in Iran, he began to teach against what he considered to be the extreme ideas of various exponents of Sufi doctrines. On returning to his native city, he wrote the Kitāb at-tawḥīd (“Book of Unity”), which is the main text for Wahhābī doctrines. His followers call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn, or “Unitarians”; the term Wahhābī is generally used by non-Muslims and opponents.

ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s teachings have been characterized as puritanical and traditional, representing the early era of the Islamic religion. He made a clear stand against all innovations (bidʿah) in Islamic faith because he believed them to be reprehensible, insisting that the original grandeur of Islam could be regained if the Islamic community would return to the principles enunciated by the Prophet Muhammad. Wahhābī doctrines, therefore, do not allow for an intermediary between the faithful and Allah and condemn any such practice as polytheism. The decoration of mosques, the cult of saints, and even the smoking of tobacco were condemned.

When the preaching of these doctrines led to controversy, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb was expelled from ʿUyaynah in 1744. He then settled in Ad-Dirʿīyah, capital of Ibn Saʿūd, a ruler of the Najd (now in Saudi Arabia).

The spread of Wahhābīsm originated from the alliance that was formed between ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and Ibn Saʿūd, who, by initiating a campaign of conquest that was continued by his heirs, made Wahhābīsm the dominant force in Arabia after 1800.

Muhammad ibn 'Abd Al-Wahhab had four sons; Hussain, Abdullah, Ali and Ibrahim and a fifth son who died in his youth. All his surviving sons established religious schools close to their homes and taught the young students from Diriyah and other places.

The works of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab include:

    * Usuulu Thalaatha (The Three Fundamental Principles)
    * Al Qawaaid Al ‘Arbaa’ (The Four Fundamental Principles)
    * The Six Fundamental Principles
    * Adab al-Mashy Ila as-Salaa (Manners of Walking to the Prayer)
    * Usul al-Iman (Foundations of Faith)
    * Fada`il al-Islam (Excellent Virtues of Islam)
    * Fada`il al-Qur’an (Excellent Virtues of the Qur’an)
    * Kitab at-Tauhid (The Book of the Unity of God)
    * Kitab Kashf as-Shubuhat (The Book of Clarification of Uncertainties)
    * Majmu’a al-Hadith ‘Ala Abwab al-Fiqh {Compendium of the Hadith on the Main Topics of the Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)}
    * Mukhtasar al-Iman (Literally Abridgement of the Faith, means the summarized version of a work on Faith)
    * Mukhtasar al-Insaf wa`l-Sharh al-Kabir (Abridgement of the Equity and the Great Explanation)
    * Mukhtasar Seerat ar-Rasul (Summarized Biography of the Prophet)
    * Mukhtasar al-Sawa`iq (Literally Summary of the Lightning Bolt, a summary of a criticism of Shi’as written in Palestine by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani).
    * Mukhtasar Fath al-Bari (Fath al-Bari, a commentary on the Sahih al-Bukhari by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani).
    * Mukhtasar al-Minhaj (Summary of the Path, most likely referring to Minhaj al-Sunna by Ibn Taymiyya)
    * Kitaabu l-Kabaair (The Book of Great Sins)
    * Kitabu l-Imaan (The Book of Trust/Belief)


Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (Askia al-Hajj Muhammad) (Muḥammad I Askia) (Mohammed I Askiya) (Askia Muḥammad) (Muḥammad Ture) (Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr Ture) (d. March 2, 1538, Gao, Songhai empire). Founder of the Askia dynasty of Songhai.

Muḥammad I Askia was a West African statesman and military leader who usurped the throne of the Songhai empire (1493) and, in a series of conquests, greatly expanded the empire and strengthened it. He was overthrown by his son, Askia Mūsā, in 1528.

Both Muḥammad’s place and date of birth are unknown. For a long time, he was thought to be a Silla (a Tukulor clan of Senegal) or a Touré of Soninke origin, but it now seems that his name, as spelled in Arabic by 18th-century Timbuktu chroniclers, was Muḥammad al-Ṭūrī, or Muḥammad of the Toro (Fouta-Toro of Senegal). It is thus believed that he was probably of Tukulor origin, from a Senegalese family that had settled in Gao. The name of his clan was probably Kan, or Dyallo. Oral tradition, however, which is still very much alive, makes Mamar (Muḥammad’s popular name) out to be Sonni ʿAlī’s nephew, his sister Kasey’s son by a jinni, a supernatural being.

After the death of Sonni ʿAlī, the ruler who had solidified the Songhai empire from 1464 to 1492, Muḥammad tried, as early as February 1493, to wrest power from Sonni ʿAlī’s son Sonni Baru, who had been elected by acclamation on January 21. In the Battle of Anfao on April 12, 1493, Muḥammad’s forces, though inferior in number, were victorious. Traditional religions tinged with the esoteric Songhai Islam of the Sonnis gave way to an Islamic state whose civil code was the Qurʾān and whose official writing was Arabic. After conquering the enemy, Muḥammad assumed the title of Askia (or Askiya) in order to ridicule, it is said, the daughters of the fallen Sonnis who said of him a si tya, or “he will not be.” The name Askia became the name of the dynasty that he founded and the name of its leaders.

While Sonni ʿAlī had been a warrior, Muḥammad was above all a statesman. He set up an efficient administration of the regions conquered by his predecessor. He began by dividing Songhai into provinces and placed each under a governor. A standing army and a fleet of war canoes were organized under the command of a general and an admiral. Moreover, Muḥammad created the positions of director of finance, justice, interior, protocol, agriculture, waters and forests, and of “tribes of the white race” (Moors and Tuaregs who at that time were vassals of the Songhai and furnished them with squadrons of dromedary-mounted troops). All these officials were for the most part chosen from among the nobles and were brothers, sons, or cousins of Muḥammad.

This exemplary organization of an African state was completed by a religious organization. Although a faithful believer, Muḥammad was not very well informed in matters of religious orthodoxy and, therefore, took as an adviser the Moroccan reformer al-Maghīlī, persecutor of the Jews of Touat, to help him put his realm in order, in particular to recover the possessions belonging to the descendants of the defeated Sonnis and to subservient groups not converted to Islam. Establishing Islam as the official religion of the nobles was without doubt the only error of this statesman. From then on, it was no longer a popular religion but an imported one that later was to justify the conquest of the Songhai by Moroccan Muslims.

Nevertheless, it was to receive the necessary counsel directly from “God’s House” that in 1495, two years before his accession to power, Muḥammad undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca. This pilgrimage has remained famous as much for the pomp with which it was carried out as for the marvelous tales to which it gave rise. The chronicler Mahmud Kati, who accompanied Muḥammad, wrote in Taʾrīkh al-fattāsh that the jinn of Mecca had Muḥammad named caliph and told him what his rights were over the former vassal groups of the Sonnis. By the time he returned in 1497, he was a leader deeply converted to Islam. Next he would proceed to consolidate and enlarge Songhai.

Militarily he met with uneven success. Although between 1498 and 1502 he was victorious over the Mossi of Yatenga and the inhabitants of the Aïr (Niger), a few years later (1505–06) he undertook an unsuccessful campaign against Borgu (the present boundary region of Niger and Nigeria). Similarly, although during 1507 and 1514 he reduced the insurgent Fulani factions in Senegal and the Bornu factions near Agadez, one of his lieutenants, the Karta of Kabi, revolted against him in turn and, despite his efforts during 1516 and 1517, remained independent. As an organizer of an effective administrative system he was more successful.

During the course of his lengthy sojourns in the capital, Gao (1502–04 and 1506–07), he set up with rare talent the system of tithes and taxes, the regulation of agriculture and fishing, and the recruitment and training of his administrators and governors.

The extent of the Songhai empire of this period remains conjectural. Sadi, the Timbuktu chronicler, has said that the territory that Muḥammad conquered “by fire and sword” extended west as far as the Atlantic Ocean, northwest to the salt mines of Teghaza (on the northern border of present-day Mali), southwest as far as Bendugu (Segu), southeast to Bussa, and northeast to Agadez. It is certain that the influence of Songhai during Muḥammad’s time was considerable and extended even beyond these boundaries. All the surrounding states, whether allies or enemies, experienced its civilizing ferment.

This influence was reinforced by an indirect, though nonetheless profound, Islamic propaganda. Muslim scholars went into areas they would not have been able to penetrate without the Gao ruler’s support. For several centuries to come, the small African states and the neighboring leaders would take as their model the Islamic empire of Songhai and its prestigious leader, Muḥammad. Even today, according to oral tradition, Muḥammad appears as a jinni, who either took after his father or after those with whom, by a special gift, he was able to consult during his pilgrimage to Mecca.

The end of Muhammad's reign was, however, tragic. Little by little his dream of an Islamized Sudan, whose emir he would be, evaporated. Even during his lifetime, his children were quarreling over the spoils. After the death of his commander in chief, Kanfari Omar, one of his brothers, in 1519, Muḥammad was no longer safe even in Gao, and the Songhai people seemed to him “as crooked as the course of the Niger River . . .” Embittered, half blind, the old man had no one left but his friend and adviser, his servant Ali Folen. The almost religious fear that he inspired gave way to contempt. Musa, his eldest son, plotted against him and in 1528 killed his new general in chief, Yaya, another of Muḥammad’s brothers, who had remained faithful to him. Musa then dispossessed his father, taking the name Askia Mūsā. He kept this title for three years before being assassinated himself by one of his brothers. Now deposed, the old Askia Muḥammad was banished to an island in the river, a place “infested with mosquitoes and toads.” There, from 1528 to 1537, he was a blind and despairing witness to the murderous quarrels of his children over the territory of Songhai.

In 1537 his third successor, his son Askia Ismaïl, recalled his father to Gao. To reward him, Muḥammad bequeathed to him his green turban and his caliph’s sabre. In 1538, during a period of temporary calm, the founder of a dynasty died. He was buried in Gao, under a pyramid of earth surmounted by wooden spikes. His tomb is still standing and has become one of the most venerated mosques in all of West Africa.







Askia al-Hajj Muhammad see Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Muhammad I Askia see Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Mohammed I Askiya see Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Askia Muhammad see Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Muhammad Ture see Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Ture see Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr


Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa
Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa (Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhaifa)  (d. 657).  Companion of the Prophet.  He was born in Abyssinia.  In 655, he took the functions of the governor of Egypt into his own hands, was confirmed by the Caliph ‘Ali but killed by Mu‘awiya’s troops.

Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhaifa was the son of Abu Hudhaifa ibn 'Utba. He was born in Abyssinia in during the Prophet Muhammad's life. His father was killed in Al-Yamama, after which he was raised by 'Uthman ibn 'Affan. He played part in the revolt against 'Uthman when the latter refused to appoint him as ruler for any province.

Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhaifa  see Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa

Muhammad ibn
 Ahmad al-Askandarani Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Askandarani. Twentieth century Arab physician, who is regarded as the first Qur’an interpreter in modern times to discuss non-Arab occidental sciences in Qur’an commentaries.


Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya (637-700).  Son of the Prophet’s son-in-law.  The ‘Alid al-Mukhtar stirred up a movement in Iraq in 685, as champion of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya’s rights, but the latter acted with great restraint.  In the end, he recognized the Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik as the legitimate ruler and visited him in 697 at Damascus.

Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, surnamed "Abu'l-Qasim", was an early Muslim leader. He was the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shi'ite Imam and the fourth Sunni Caliph. He was called Ibn al-Hanafiyyah after his mother, Khawlah bint Ja'far; who was known as Hanafiyyah after her tribe Banu Hanifah. After the death of Muhammad, the people of Yamamah were declared apostates by the Muslims for refusing to pay the zakat (religious tax). The men were killed, and the women were taken to Medina as slaves, Khawlah bint Ja'far among them. When her tribesmen found out, they approached Ali ibn Abi Talib and asked him to save her from slavery and to protect her family’s honor and prestige. Consequently, Ali ibn Abi Talib purchased her, set her free, and, after the death of Fatimah, married her.

Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was born during Umar's era, the third of Ali's sons (he had more than a dozen) and the only child of Khawlat bint Ja'far. During his father's lifetime he distinguished himself for piety, rectitude, and courage and effectiveness in war. He particularly distinguished himself at the battles of Jamal and Siffin.

When Imam Husayn undertook the expedition to Kufa that ended at Karbala, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah advised him not to go, pointing out that the men of Kufa had betrayed and turned against their father Ali and their brother Hasan ibn Ali, and saying that he feared that they would betray Husayn as well. Husayn replied that he feared that if he stayed in Mecca, Yazid ibn Muawiya would have him killed there, and violate the sanctity of the Holy City. Muhammad ibn al-Hanifiyyah then urged him to go instead to Yemen, where he could indefinitely elude an army. The next day Husayn replied that his grandfather Muhammad had appeared to him in a dream and required him to undertake this sacrificial expedition.

After Husayn and so many of his kinsmen died at Karbala and the young Ali ibn Husayn adopted a life of retirement and prayer, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah became the visible head of the house of Ali. It was in his name that Al-Mukhtar rebelled in Kufa in 686. In the hajj of 688, four men led their respective followers in the rites of pilgrimage, claiming the headship of Islam. One was Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, leading the Shi'ites. The others were Abdullah ibn Zubayr, who ruled in Mecca; Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad, who ruled in Damascus; and Najdah ibn 'Amir, leader of the Kharijites.

Ibn al-Hanafiyyah was called "the Mahdi," "the rightly-guided," which then was simply a pledge of confidence in his knowledge, character, and judgment over those of the rival caliphs. In 692, he traveled to Damascus and swore allegiance to Abd al-Malik. In 700, he died in Medina, but thereafter a legend grew up that he was not dead, but living in seclusion on a mountain near Medina, protected and fed by wild animals, and that he would, in God's good time, return to establish justice and true religion in the world. Thus arose the legend of the Mahdi as savior. This is not to be confused with the Twelver Shia Mahdi, who is the son of the 11th Imam Hasan al-Askari.

After Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya died, his son Abu Hashim claimed the imamate. After his death the Abbasids claimed that on his deathbed Abu Hashim nominated his distant cousin Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas ibn Abdu'l-Muttalib ibn Hashim as the imam. This man's son Abu'l-Abbas Abdullah as-Saffah became the first Abbasid caliph, repudiating Shi'ism, which effectively extinguished the sect that had recognized Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah as an imam.


Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Dinar Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Dinar (Ibn Dinar al-Ahwal) (d. after 864).  Transmitter of ancient Arabic poetry (in Arabic, rawi) of Baghdad.  His lasting fame is based on a commentary on the diwan of Dhu’l-Rumma.
Ibn Dinar al-Ahwal see Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Dinar


Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Rida Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Rida. Ninth Imam of the Twelver Shi‘a (r.811-835).  His succession to the imamate as a minor after his father’s death in 818 stirred up considerable controversy.


Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn al-‘Abbas Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn al-‘Abbas (d. 743).  Great grandson of the Prophet’s uncle al-‘Abbas and father of the ‘Abbasid Caliphs al-Saffah and al-Mansur.


Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin.  See Muhammad al-Baqir.


Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi.  See Muhammad bin Qasim.


Muhammad ibn Habib, Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Habib, Abu Ja‘far (Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Habib) (d. 860).  Arab philologist of the school of Baghdad.  He studied especially the history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic times and the genealogy of their leaders and representatives.
Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Habib see Muhammad ibn Habib, Abu Ja‘far


Muhammad ibn ‘Isa al-Mahani Muhammad ibn ‘Isa al-Mahani (Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Īsa Māhānī). Persian mathematician and astronomer of the ninth century.  He wrote commentaries on Euclid’s Elements, on Archimedes, and a partial revision of the deficient translation of the Spherics of Menelaus.

Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Īsa Māhānī, was a Persian mathematician and astronomer from Mahan, Kermān, Persia.

A series of observations of lunar and solar eclipses and planetary conjunctions, made by him from 853 to 866, was in fact used by Ibn Yunus.

He wrote commentaries on Euclid and Archimedes, and improved Ishaq ibn Hunain's translation of Menelaus of Alexandria's Spherics. He tried vainly to solve an Archimedean problem: to divide a sphere by means of a plane into two segments being in a given ratio of volume. That problem led to a cubic equation,

    x3 + c2b = cx2

which Muslim writers called al-Mahani's equation.

Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Īsa Māhānī see Muhammad ibn ‘Isa al-Mahani


Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Malik Shah Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Malik Shah (b. 1128).  Saljuq sultan in western Persia (r.1153-1159).  He besieged Baghdad in 1156, but had to raise the siege on hearing news of the appearance at Hamadhan of Il-deniz, the atabeg of Azerbaijan.


Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin (b. c. 997).  Ghaznavid sultan in Ghazna and northwestern India (r.1030-1031 and 1040-1041).  He was deposed by his brother Mas‘ud, but after the latter had been defeated by the Saljuqs at Dandanqan in 1040 and his army had mutinied, Muhammad became sultan for a second time.  In 1041, however, he was defeated by Mas‘ud’s son Mawdud near Jalalabad.


Muhammad ibn Makki Muhammad ibn Makki (al-Shahid al-Awwal) (Shahid Awwal) (ash-Shahid al-Awwal) (1333-1384/1385).  Imami Shi‘a jurist, traditionist, poet and litterateur.  He was put to death at Damascus at the order of a Maliki judge.

Shahid Awwal was the first Islamic martyr and the author of al-Lum'ah al-Dimashqiya. He was one of the greatest Shi'a scholars.

Shahid Awwal was born in Jabal 'Amel. According to the fatwa of a jurisprudent from the Maliki sect which was endorsed by a jurisprudent of the Shaf'i sect, he was martyred.

He was a pupil of the pupils of Allamah Hilli, amongst them Allamah's son, Fakhr ul-Muhaqqeqin. The Shi'a schools were banned and declined in Jabal 'Amel. When Mohammad bin Makki was 16 years old he ventured to al-Hilla in Iraq where he was certified by Fakhr al-MuHaqqiqin, the son of the famous al-Hilli.

By the age 21, he returned to Jabal 'Amel and was certified to narrate hadiths by many other famous scholars of Shi'a and Sunni doctrines of Najaf, Hebron, Makka, Medina, Quds, Damascus, and Baghdad. He also built good relations with Sultan Ali ibn al-Mu'ayyad of Khorasan.

He was killed by the sword then crucified and then stoned in Damascus in the days of the Sultan Barquq after he was imprisoned one full year. Due to the crusaders' wars the area was suffering from poverty and ignorance was rampant as the Mamelukes took over and established a despotic rule in the region.

Shahid Awwal came from a very distinguished family, and the generations that succeeded him preserved this honor. He had three sons who were all 'ulema and jurisprudents, and his wife and daughter were likewise jurisprudents.

While imprisoned he wrote the most famous Shi'a book of the time and still referenced today, The Damascene Glitter
(Arabic: al-lum'ah al-Dimashqiya) in which he combined all religious practices according to the Shi'a school of thought. It is said that he wrote it in seven days.

Muhammad ibn Makki, known as Shahid Awal ("the First Martyr"), was one of the great Shi'ite jurisprudents. He is of the rank of Muhaqqiq Hilli and Allamah Hilli. He was from Jabal 'Amel, an area in today's south Lebanon which is one of the oldest centers of Shi'ites and still is today a Shi'ite area.

The famous books of Shahid Awal on jurisprudence include Al-lum'ah which he composed during the brief period he remained in prison awaiting his martyrdom. Amazingly, this noble book was subject to a commentary two centuries later by another great jurisprudent who suffered the same fate as the author. He too was martyred and thus became called Shahid al-Thani ("The Second Martyr"). The famous book Sharh ul-lum'ah which has been the primal textbook of the students of jurisprudence ever since is the commentary of Shahid Thani.

Other books of Shahid Awwal include Durou, Thikra, Bayan, Alfiyeh and Qawa'id. All of the books of the First Martyr are among the most esteemed writings of Shi'a jurisprudence.


Shahid al-Awwal, al- see Muhammad ibn Makki Shahid Awwal see Muhammad ibn Makki Awwal, Shahid see Muhammad ibn Makki Shahid al-Awwal, ash see Muhammad ibn Makki The First Martyr see Muhammad ibn Makki


Muhammad ibn Malik Shah II Muhammad ibn Malik Shah II (b. 1082).  Great Saljuq sultan in Iraq and western Persia (r.1105-1118).  In 1104, his half-brother Sultan Berkyaruq agreed to a division of power, with Muhammad to have northwestern Persia, al-Jazira and Syria, whilst Muhammad’s full brother Sanjar was to remain in Khurasan acknowledging Muhammad as his overlord.  The period after Muhammad’s death saw the rise of the Turkish atabegs.


Muhammad ibn Marwan Muhammad ibn Marwan (d. 719).  Umayyad commander and governor.  He was a son of the Caliph Marwan I ibn al-Hakam and half-brother of the Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik.


Muhammad ibn Sahnun Muhammad ibn Sahnun (817-870).  Maliki jurisconsult from Qayrawan.  He was responsible for the definitive implantation of Malikism in the Maghrib.

Muhammad ibn Sam, Mu‘izz al-Din
Muhammad ibn Sam, Mu‘izz al-Din (Mu‘izz al-Din Muhammad ibn Sam) (Muhammad of Ghor) (Muʿizz Muḥammad Ghūrī) (Shihāb al-Dīn Muḥammad Ghūrī) (d. March 15, 1206, Damyak, India).  Ruler of the Ghurid dynasty (1202-1206).  He ruled in Ghazna from 1173 onwards and had helped his brother Ghiyath al-Din (r. 1163-1202) to build an empire stretching almost from the Caspian Sea to northern India.

Muhammad of Ghor was the Afghan conqueror of northern India.  A brother of the sultan of Ghor, he was made governor of Ghazni in 1173 and from there launched a series of invasions of India. By 1186, he had conquered the Muslim principalities in the Punjab. He was severely defeated by the Rajputs under Prithvi Raj Prithvi Raj (prĭt`vē räj), d. 1192, ruler of the Chauan dynasty of northern India in 1191, but the following year he routed their army, and Delhi was captured. Muhammad's generals then overran Bihar and Bengal. He succeeded his brother as sultan in 1203 but was murdered in 1206. After his death his empire in northern India fell apart and passed to his generals, one of whom founded the Delhi Sultanate. The Delhi Sultanate refers to the various Muslim dynasties that ruled in India (1210–1526). It was founded after Muhammad of Ghor defeated Prithvi Raj and captured Delhi in 1192.

Muʿizz al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Sām was one of the founders of Muslim rule in India.  Muʿizz al-Dīn’s elder brother, Ghiyāṣ al-Dīn, acquired power east of Herāt in the region of Ghūr (Ghowr, in present Afghanistan) about 1162. Muʿizz al-Dīn always remained his brother’s loyal subordinate. Thus Muʿizz al-Dīn expelled the Oğuz Turkmen nomads from Ghazna (Ghaznī) in 1173 and came as required to his brother’s assistance in his contest with Khwārezm for the lordship of Khorāsān.

After Ghiyāṣ al-Dīn’s death in 1202, the rivalry between the two powers came to a head with Muʿizz al-Dīn’s attack in 1204 on the Khwārezmian capital, Gurganj (in present Uzbekistan). In Hindustan, Muʿizz al-Dīn captured Multān and Uch in 1175 and annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186. After being defeated by a coalition of Rajput kings at Taraori in 1191, he returned the next year with an army of mounted archers and won a great victory over them on the same field, opening the way for his lieutenants to occupy most of northern India in the years that followed. Muʿizz al-Dīn was assassinated, according to
some, by Hindu Khokars, according to others, by Ismāʿīlīs.

Mu‘izz al-Din Muhammad ibn Sam see Muhammad ibn Sam, Mu‘izz al-Din
Muhammad of Ghor see Muhammad ibn Sam, Mu‘izz al-Din
Mu'izz Muhammad Ghuri see Muhammad ibn Sam, Mu‘izz al-Din
Shihab al-Din Muhammad Ghuri see Muhammad ibn Sam, Mu‘izz al-Din


Muhammad ibn Sa‘ud
Muhammad ibn Sa‘ud (1727-1765).  Founder of the first Sa‘udi state in Najd.  His claim to fame rests on his association with the religious reformer Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab.

"Imam" Muhammad ibn Saud is considered the first head of the House of Saud, which is technically named for his father, Saud ibn Muhammed ibn Muqrin. The initial power base was the town of Ad-Dar'iyah, where he met Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, who came to Saud for protection. Ibn Saud granted this, and the two decided to work together to rid the Arabian peninsula of what they saw as innovations (heretics) in the practice of Islam by bringing the religion back to its purest form. They formed an alliance, and this was formalized by the wedding of Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab's daughter to Abdul Aziz, son and successor of Ibn Saud.

Using the ideology of Ibn Al-Wahhab, Ibn Saud helped establish the House of Saud among other tribes in the Arabian peninsula. The use of religion as a basis for legitimacy differentiated the House of Saud from neighboring tribes and built support. Accordingly, Ibn Saud is considered the founder of the First Saudi State. The way he set up his government served as a model for rulers of the House of Saud until the present day. The government was based on Islamic principles and made use of shura. He ruled from 1744 until his death in 1765.


Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Harithi
Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Harithi (d. 1188).  Prominent figure of the Musta‘li-Tayyibi Isma‘ilis of Yemen.  He composed a chrestomathy of Isma‘ili literature, which became a classic.


Muhammad ibn Tughluq
Muhammad ibn Tughluq (Muhammad bin Tughluq) (Prince Fakhr Malik) (Jauna Khan) (Ulugh Khan) (b. c.1290, Delhi, India – d. March 20, 1351, Sonda Sindh [now in Pakistan]).  Sultan of the Tughluqid dynasty in Delhi (r.1325-1351).  Under him, the Delhi Empire reached its greatest territorial extent.

Muhammad ibn Tughluq was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughlug. Ghiyath al-din sent the young Muhammad to the Deccan to campaign against king Prataparudra of the Kakatiya dynasty whose capital was at Warangal. Muhammad succeeded to the Delhi throne upon his father's death in 1325.

Muhammad Tughluq was a scholar versed in logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and physical sciences. He had knowledge of medicine and was skillful in dialectics. He was also a calligrapher. Ibn Battuta (Moroccan traveler) visited him during his reign.

Muḥammad ibn Tughluq was the second sultan of the Tughluq dynasty (reigned 1325–51), who briefly extended the rule of the Delhi sultanate of northern India over most of the subcontinent. As a result of misguided administrative actions and unexampled severity toward his opponents, he eventually lost his authority in the south and, at the end of his reign, the sultanate had begun to decline in power.

Muḥammad was the son of the sultan Ghiyās al-Dīn Tughluq. Very little is known of his childhood, but he apparently received a good education. He possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Qurʾān, Muslim jurisprudence, astronomy, logic, philosophy, medicine, and rhetoric. In 1321–22 his father sent him against the city of Warangal in the Deccan, in which campaign, after initial reverses, he subdued the rebellious Hindu rajas. From his accession to the throne in 1325 until his death in 1351, Muḥammad contended with 22 rebellions, pursuing his policies consistently and ruthlessly. Ziyāʾ al-Dīn Baranī, his close companion and counsellor for 17 years, often advised him to abdicate, but Muḥammad disdainfully rejected his advice.

As his reign began, Muḥammad attempted, without much success, to enlist the services of the ʿulamāʾ, the Muslim clergy, and the Ṣūfīs, the ascetic mystics. Failing to win the ʿulamāʾ over, he tried to curtail their powers, as some of his predecessors had, by placing them on an equal footing with other citizens. The Sultan wanted to use the Ṣūfīs’ prestigious position to stabilize his authority as ruler. Yet they had always refused any association with government and would not accept any grants or offices except under duress. Muḥammad tried every measure, conciliatory or coercive, to yoke them to his political wagon. Although he humiliated them, he could not break their opposition and succeeded only in dispersing them from the towns of northern India.

In the four pages of his autobiography, Muḥammad’s only surviving literary work, he confesses that he had wavered from traditional orthodoxy to philosophic doubts and then found his way to a rational faith. To still his own doubts, as well as to counteract the opposition of the Muslim clergy, he obtained from the caliph in Cairo a manshūr (patent of royalty) legitimizing his authority.

The transfer of the capital in 1327 to Deogir (now Daulatabad) was intended to consolidate the conquests in southern India by large-scale—in some cases forced—migration of the people of Delhi to Deogir. As an administrative measure it failed, but it had far-reaching cultural effects. The spread of the Urdu language in the Deccan may be traced to this extensive influx of Muslims. He introduced several reforms in the monetary system, and his coins, in design as well as in workmanship and purity of metal, excelled those of his predecessors. His introduction of token currency, coins of baser metal with the face value of silver coins, however, failed dismally.

A projected Khorāsān expedition (1327–28) that never materialized was intended to secure more defensible frontiers in the west. The Karajil (Garhwal-Kumaon) expedition (1329–30), an attempt to adjust the boundary dispute with the northern hill states then dominated by China, ended in disaster, but it was followed by an exchange of emissaries between China and Delhi. The conquest of Nagarkot in the foothills of the Himalayas in northwestern India was based on Muḥammad’s policy of establishing secure frontiers.

Between 1328 and 1329 the Sultan increased the land tax in the Doab—the land between the Ganges (Ganga) and Yamuna rivers—but the taxpayers resisted it, especially because a severe drought coincided. Muḥammad was the first ruler to introduce rotation of crops, establish state farms, and tend cultivation and improve artificial irrigation by establishing a department of agriculture. When famine broke out in northern India (1338–40), he moved his residence to Swargdawari to supervise famine relief measures himself.

Muḥammad’s last expedition, against the rebel Ṭaghī, ended with his death at Sonda in Sindh in 1351. He died with a smile on his face and verses of his own composition on his lips. In the words of a contemporary, “the Sultan was rid of the people and the people of the Sultan.”

Muḥammad was among the most controversial and enigmatic figures of the 14th century. A dauntless soldier, he was tolerant in religion and was normally humane and humble, but these traits were vitiated at times by cruelty sometimes approaching the inhuman. He lived in constant conflict between faith and action, faith in the correctness of his policies and action in the means by which he sought to implement them. A born revolutionary, he desired to create a more equitable social order by making Islam a religion of service rather than a means of exploitation. This end, he believed, could be achieved only by a strong centralized authority based on justice and patronage of the poor, the learned, and the pious and on the suppression of rebellions mainly of the privileged classes in a tradition-ridden society.

All contemporary historians based their assessment of Muḥammad on his administrative measures, which were neither vicious nor visionary. They failed because of the harshness of the Sultan in executing them, the challenge they posed to the privileged classes, the general lethargy and conservatism of his subjects, and the expansion of the empire with which Muḥammad’s administrative machinery could not cope.

Muhammad bin Tughluq see Muhammad ibn Tughluq
Prince Fakhr Malik see Muhammad ibn Tughluq
Jauna Khan see Muhammad ibn Tughluq
Ulugh Khan see Muhammad ibn Tughluq


Muhammad ibn Wasif
Muhammad ibn Wasif. One of the first known poets to write verse in New Persian according to the rules of the Arabic quantitative meter during the ninth century.


Muhammad ibn Yusuf
Muhammad ibn Yusuf (Mohammed V) (Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef).  See Muhammad V.


Muhammad V (of Morocco) see Muhammad ibn Yusuf
Mohammed V (of Morocco) see Muhammad ibn Yusuf
Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef see Muhammad ibn Yusuf


Muhammad ibn Zayd
Muhammad ibn Zayd (d. 900).  Zaydi Imam who reigned over Tabaristan and Jurjan. 


Muhammad, Idris
Idris Muhammad (Arabic: إدريس محمد‎; born Leo Morris; November 13, 1939 – July 29, 2014) was an American jazz drummer who recorded extensively with many musicians, including Ahmad Jamal, Lou Donaldson, and Pharoah Sanders, among many others.

At 16 years old, one of Muhammad's earliest recorded sessions as a drummer was on Fats Domino's 1956 hit "Blueberry Hill".   He changed his name in the 1960s upon his conversion to Islam. In 1966, he married Dolores "LaLa" Brooks, former member of the singing group known as the Crystals.  Brooks converted to Islam with Muhammad and went for a time under the name Sakinah Muhammad. They separated in 1999. Together, they had two sons and two daughters, and Muhammad had one daughter from a previous marriage to Gracie Lee Edwards-Morris. Pharoah Sanders's son Idris is named after Idris Muhammad

Muhammad was an endorser of Istanbul Agop Cymbals. 

In 2012, Xlibris released the book Inside The Music: The Life of Idris Muhammad, which Muhammad wrote with his friend Britt Alexander.

He died on July 29, 2014.

The principal discography of Idris Muhammad reads as follows:
  • 1970: Black Rhythm Revolution! (Prestige)
  • 1971: Peace and Rhythm (Prestige)
  • 1974: Power of Soul (Kudu)
  • 1976: House of the Rising Sun (Kudu)
  • 1977: Turn This Mutha Out (Kudu)
  • 1977: Could Heaven Ever Be Like This
  • 1978: Boogie to the Top
  • 1978: You Ain't No Friend of Mine
  • 1979: Fox Huntin'
  • 1980: Kabsha (Theresa Records)
  • 1980: Make It Count
  • 1992: My Turn
  • 1998: Right Now

Muhammadiyah
Muhammadiyah (Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah). Mission minded Indonesian social and educational organization for Muslims adhering to reformist teachings.  Founded in Yogyakarta,  Java, in 1912 by Kyai Haji Ahmad Dahlan (1868-1923), Muhammadiyah grew rapidly in the politicized atmospher of the late Dutch colonial period in Indonesia.  By 1983, it had achieved a membership of some 250,000. Muhammadiyah has been the dominating organizational force among modernist Muslims in Indonesia since the mid-1920s.  It avoids overt political activity and concentrates instead upon its fundamentally social and religious mission, which it promotes through its nationwide branches and its network of schools, mosques, libraries, hospitals, clinics, and welfare institutions. 

Muhammadiyah (full name: Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Muhammadiyah, literally means "followers of Muhammad" (from Arabic). The organization was founded in 1912 by Ahmad Dahlan in the city of Yogyakarta as a reformist socio-religious movement, advocating ijtihad - individual interpretation of Qur'an and sunnah, as opposed to taqlid - the acceptance of the traditional interpretations propounded by the ulama.

Muhammadiyah was chiefly inspired by an Egyptian reform movement, led by Muḥammad ʿAbduh, that had tried to bring the Muslim faith into harmony with modern rational thought. The Muhammadiyah advocated the abolition of all superstitious customs, mostly relics of pre-Islāmic times, and the loosening of the stiff traditional bonds that tended to strangle modern cultural life. To achieve these aims, the Muhammadiyah employed many methods of the Christian missionaries. It established schools along modern lines, where Western subjects (including Dutch) as well as religion were taught. It set up orphanages, hospitals, and other social services. By the 1920s, the Muhammadiyah was the dominant force in Indonesian Islām and the most effective organization in the country.

The Muhammadiyah was willing to cooperate with the Dutch colonial government, and its schools were qualified to receive government financial assistance. It was therefore criticized by radical Indonesian nationalists, who had adopted a non-cooperation policy toward the Dutch authorities. The membership of the Muhammadiyah increased steadily, however, and by 1937 there were 913 branches, although more than half of them were in the outer islands. The Muhammadiyah was paralyzed by the Japanese occupation during World War II and never fully recovered afterward.

Today, the Muhammadiyah is the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia. Although Muhammadiyah leaders and members are often actively involved in shaping the politics in Indonesia, the Muhammadiyah is not a political party. It has devoted itself to social and educational activities.


Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah see Muhammadiyah


Muhammadiyya
Muhammadiyya.  Term denoting four distinct ‘Alid groups: (1) the descendants of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya; (2) the believers in the Mahdiship of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, who are divided into the extremist Mansuriyya and the Mughiriyya; (3) the believers in the Imamate of Abu Ja‘far Muhammad, son of the tenth Imam al-‘Askari; (4) the believers in the divinity of the Prophet, also called Mimiyya. 


Muhammad ‘Izzat Darwaza
Muhammad ‘Izzat Darwaza (Darwazeh) (1888-1984).  Advocate of Arab nationalism in Palestine.  He was a close associate of Amin al-Husayni and a prolific author.

Muhammad 'Izzat Darwaza was a Palestinian politician, historian, and educator from Nablus. Early in his career, he worked as an Ottoman bureaucrat in Palestine and Lebanon. Darwaza had long been a sympathizer of Arab nationalism and became an activist of that cause following the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1916, joining the nationalist al-Fatat society. As such, he campaigned for the union of Greater Syria (modern-day Levant) and vehemently opposed Zionism and foreign mandates in Arab lands. From 1922 to 1927, he served as an educator and as the principal at the an-Najah National School where he implemented a pro-Arab nationalist educational system, promoting the ideals of Arab independence and unity. Darwaza's particular brand of Arab nationalism was influenced by Islam and his belief in Arab unity and in the oneness of Arabic culture.

Later, Darwaza founded the nationalist Istiqlal party in Palestine and was a primary organizer of anti-British demonstrations. In 1937, he was exiled to Damascus as a result of his activities and from there he helped support the Arab revolt in the British Mandate of Palestine. He was incarcerated in Damascus by French authorities for his involvement in the revolt, and while in prison he began to study the Qur'an and its interpretations. In 1945, after he was released, Darwaza eventually compiled his own interpretation entitled al-Tafsir al-Hadith.

In 1946, he joined the Arab Higher Committee led by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, but resigned the next year after being disenfranchised by al-Husayni's methods. He left for Syria afterward and briefly aided in the unity talks between Syria and Egypt in the mid-1950s. By the time of his death in 1984, Darwaza had written over thirty books and published numerous articles on the Palestinian question, Arab history, and Islam.

A list of the works of Darwaza includes:

    * Turkīya al-ḥadīta (1946)
    * Ta'rīḫ Banī Isrā'īl min asfārihim (1958)
    * Al-äḍīya al-filasṭīnīya muḫtalaf marāḥilihā (1959)
    * Al-'Arab wal-'urūba min al-qarn at-tālit ḥatta l-qarn ar-rābi' 'ašar al-hiǧrī (1959)
    * 'Urūbat Misr fi l-qadīm wal-hadīt au qåbl al-islām wa-ba'dahu (1963)
    * 'Asr an-nabī 'alaih as-salām wa-bai'atuhu qabl al-ba'ta (1964)
    * Našʼat al-ḥaraka al-ʻarabīja al-ḥadīta (1971)
    * Fī sabīl qaḍīyat Filasṭīn wal-waḥda al-'arabīya wa-min waḥy an-nakba wa li-aǧl mu'āla-ǧatihā (1972)
    * al-Jihād fī sabīl Allāh fi l-Qur'an̄ wal-ḥadīt (1975)
    * Az-ziʻāmāt wa-'l-usar al-lubnānīja al-iqṭāʻīja ʻalā iḫtilāf aṭ-ṭawā'if (1978)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī Lubnān (1978)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi Jazīrat al-Furāt wa-šamāl Sūrīya (1978)
    * al- Yahūd fi 'l-qurān al-karīm: sīratuhum wa-ah̲lāquhum wa-aḥwāluhum qabla 'l-baʻt̲a. Wa-ǧinsīyat al-Yahūd fi 'l-Ḥiǧāz fī zaman an-nabī. Wa-aḥwāluhum wa-ah̲lāquhum wa-mawāqifuhum min ad-daʻwa al-islāmīya wa-ma (1980)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī šarq al-Urdunn wa-Filasṭīn (1981)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī Wādi 'n-Nīl (1981)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi 'l-Maġrib al-aqṣā wa-'l-Jazā'ir wa-Tūnis wa-Lībīya (1981)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī Sūrīya al-wusṭā (1981)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi 'l-ʻIrāq (1981)
    * Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi Jazīrat al-ʻarab (1983)
    * Mudakkirāt: siǧill ḥāfil bi-masīrat al-ḥaraka al-ʻarabīya wa-'l-qaḍīya al-filasṭīnīya hilal qarn min az-zaman: 1305-1404 hijra, 1887-1984 (1993)

A list of Darwaza's Islamic works include:

    * Ad-Dustūr al-qur 'ānī fī šu'ūn al-ḥayāt (1956)
    * At-Tafsīr al-ḥadīt̲ as-Suwar (1962)
    * Sīrat ar-Rasūl (1965)
    * Ad-Dustūr al-qur'ānī was-sunna an-nabawīya fī šu'ūn al-ḥayāt (1966)
    * Al-Mar'a fi l-Qur'ān was-sunna (1967)




Darwaza, Muhammad 'Izzat see Muhammad ‘Izzat Darwaza
Darwazeh see Muhammad ‘Izzat Darwaza

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