Raage Ugaas
Ugaas, Raage see Raage Ugaas.
ra‘aya. See re'aya.
Rabah (Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah) (Rabih Fadlallah) (Rabeh Zubayr) (Rabeh Zubair). (c. 1842-April 22, 1900). Chief lieutenant of Sulayman ibn Zubayr Pasha, the Egyptian governor of Bahr al-Ghazal. Sulayman, who had joined Harun, the dethroned sultan of Dar Fur, in order to rebel against Egypt, was defeated by Ghessi Pasha, sent by Gordon. Rabah then began a series of raids in Central Sudan, and was finally defeated by Commandant Lamy.
Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah or Rabih Fadlallah, usually known as Rabah in French, was a Sudanese warlord who established a powerful empire west of Lake Chad, in today's Chad. Born around 1842 to an Arab family in Halfaya Al-Muluk, a suburb of Khartoum, he first served with the irregular Egyptian cavalry in the Ethiopian campaign, during which he was wounded. When Rabih left the army in the 1860s, he became the principal lieutenant of the Sudanese slaveholder Sebehr Rahma.
In the 19th century Khartoum had become a very important slave market, supplied through companies of Khartumi established in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, where they resided in zaribas, fortified bases kept by bazingirs (slave soldiers). The warlord and slaveholder al-Zubayr assumed control of the region's zaribas, and was nominated in 1872 pasha and governor of Bahr el Ghazal for the khedive Isma'il, ruler of Egypt. Rabih, who was possibly a relative of al-Zubayr, was the chief lieutenant of the pasha.
In 1874, az-Zubayr conquered the sultanate of Darfur. In 1876, he went to Cairo to request the khedive to officially sanction his position in Darfur, but was instead imprisoned. This caused in 1878 the revolt of az-Zubayr's son Suleyman, and of his lieutenants, like Rabih. In reaction the governor-general of Sudan, Gordon Pasha, made Romolo Gessi governor of Bahr el Ghazal, and sent him to suppress the rebellion; Suleyman surrendered July 15, 1879, and was executed. Rabih instead is said to have left Suleyman the day before he surrendered, but Gessi reports instead that he had retreated in June, after having suffered heavy losses.
To escape from the Egyptians, Rabih left the Bahr el Ghazal, heading south with 700–800 bazingiris and 400 rifles. Using the tactics of the Khartumi, in the 1880s he carved out a kingdom between the basins of the Nile and the Ubangi, in the country of Kreich and Dar Benda, south of Ouaddai, a region he utterly devastated.
In 1885, he attempted to return to Sudan following the invitation of the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad, who had taken Khartoum from the Egyptians. The Mahdi had sent as ambassadors Zin el-Abeddin and Jabar, and Rabih followed them back to Darfur, proposing to meet the Mahdi at Omdurman; but when he learned of a plot to kill him, he changed his mind and returned to Chad.
In 1887, Rabih's forces invaded Darfur, recruited bazingirs, and settled down in Dar Kouti. However, his campaign against the aguid Salamat Cherif ed-Din, commander of the sultan of Ouaddai's troops, failed. In 1890, he attacked the Muslim chief Kobur in the north of Oubangui-Chari, deposed him and established in his place his nephew Mohammed al-Senoussi, on whom he imposed his suzerainty. This alliance was sealed by the marriage of Khadija, daughter of Mohammed al-Senoussi, with Rabih's son Fadlallah. Together Mohammed and Rabih attacked Dar Runga, Kreich, Goula and then Banda Ngao.
Mohammed al-Senoussi's alliance with Rabih worried the colonial powers, especially France that was considering taking control of central Africa. Mohammed al-Senoussi remained faithful to Rabih and in 1891 killed the Frenchman Paul Crampel in Dar Banda. Rabih recovered the expedition's weapons.
In the south-east of Lake Chad, he attacked the Baguirmi Kingdom in 1892, blaming the Mbang (king) Abd ar Rahman Gwaranga for having signed a protectorate with the French. Gwaranga was besieged for three to five months in Manjaffa, and was later forced to leave his capital, which was completely destroyed in March 1893.
In 1893, Rabih also turned his attentions to the Bornu Empire of shehu (king) Hashim ibn Omar. Bornu was a Sahelian region that traced its origins back to the Middle Ages. That year, the empire consisted of 80,000 soldiers, mostly slaves commanded by slaves, and was in full decline.
On the road to Bornu, Rabih made prisoner the sultan of Karnak Logone, whose capital promptly opened its doors to him.. Shehu Hashim sent 15,000 men to confront Rabih; the latter routed them in May or September 1893 first at Am Hobbio (south of Dikoa) and then at Legaroua. Hashim fled north of the Komadougou Yobe from where he may have tried to negotiate with Rabih; but he was assassinated at the instigation of his nephew Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Amin (called Kiyari), who then became shehu and decided to fight Rabih. Rabih met Kiyari at Gashegar, a two days' walk from Kukawa, the capital of Bornu. Kiyari defeated Rabih and captured his camp. The following day Rabih gathered his forces, and ordered 100 lashes be given to all his bannermen, including his own favored son Fadlallah. Only Boubakar, who had fought bravely, was spared. Then he ordered a victorious counter-offensive; Kiyari, who had refused to flee, was captured and beheaded. As for the capital city, Kukawa, it was plundered and razed to the ground.
Rabah made Dikoa his capital, and there built a palace which was to later win the admiration of the French governor Émile Gentil.
Wanting to modernize his army, Rabih attempted in 1895 to make an accord with the British Royal Niger Company in Yola and Ibi so as to obtain gunpowder and ammunition, but without success. He started confronting the British in 1896 and the following year even started marching on Kano, while his vassal Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi founded a fortified capital, Ndele, between Bahr Aouk and the Ubangi River, which he held until 1911.
For seven years, Rabih was shehu of the Bornu Empire, and spent much effort to reinvigorate a decadent empire that had until then maintained the same feudal structures it had in the 16th century. Rabih kept the vassal sultans in place, but subjected them to his lieutenants, mostly Arab Sudanese like him. He promulgated a legal code based on the sharia, rationalized taxation through the creation of a budget, imposed on Bornu a military dictatorship, which aroused the attention of the colonial powers. Émile Gentil was to speak of Rabih's reforms in Bornu with a certain degree of interest; they would later inspire him in organizing the territory of Chad.
Much is told about his brutality (for example, he once had one of his concubines executed because she kept a talisman designed to obtain Rabih's love, and with her the marabout had deciphered the talisman); or about the evenings he passed listening to Ali, the poet who sang his exploits.
More importantly, Rabih launched a regular series of razzias to plunder and capture slaves; this was a return to the traditional activity of the sultans of Bornu. It is estimated that 1500–2000 slaves were exported every year by his vassal Mohammed ibn Ali as-Senoussi, excluding the deaths, casualties, and other losses he inflicted. The totals for Rabah must have been much higher.
In 1899 Rabah disposed of 10,000 men among infantry and cavalry, all provided with rifles (mostly obsolete, except for 400 rifles of newer make), plus a great number of auxiliaries equipped with lances or arcs. He kept garrisons at Baggara and Karnak Logone.
In 1899, Rabih received in Dikoa the French explorer Ferdinand de Béhagle. The talks between them degenerated, and Béhagle was arrested. On July 17, Lieutenant Bretonnet, who had been sent by France against Rabih, was killed with most of his men at Togbao, at the edge of the Chari River, in present-day Sarh. Rabih gained three cannons from this victory (which the French recaptured at Kousséri) and ordered his son Fadlallah, who he had left in Dikoa, to hang Béhagle.
In response, a French column proceeding from Gabon and lead by Émile Gentil, supported by the steamboat Leon Blot, confronted Rabih at Kouno at the end of the year. Even if the French were repulsed with losses, this did not prevent them from continuing and taking Kousséri. Here, they combined with the Lamy column, which had arrived from Algeria, and the Joalland-Meynier column, which had marched from Niger. Lamy assumed command of the combined forces.
The final showdown between Rabih and the French took place on April 22, 1900. The French forces disposed of 700 men, plus the 600 riflemen and 200 cavalry provided by the allied Baguirmians. Leaving Kousséri in three columns, the French attacked Rabih's camp. Although the commander Lamy was killed in the ensuing battle, Rabih's forces were overwhelmed and, while fleeing across the Chari River, Rabih was killed.
With Rabih's defeat, his empire rapidly disintegrated. A year later his son Fadlallah was defeated and killed, while his chief vassal, Mohammed al-Senussi, was murdered in 1911 at French instigation. All Rabih's territories fell into French hands, except for Bornu which went to Britain.
Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah see Rabah
Rabih Fadlallah see Rabah
Fadlallah, Rabih see Rabah
Rabeh Zubayr see Rabah
Rabeh Zubair see Rabah
Zubayr, Rabeh see Rabah
Rabeh Zubayr (Rabeh Zubair). See Rabah.
Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya (Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya) (Rābiʻa al-Basrī) (713/717-801). Mystic and saint of Basra. She gathered round her many disciples, and many miracles were attributed to Rabia al-Adawiyya
Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya was a female Muslim Sufi saint who is highly regarded and has been conferred the status of Half-Qalander.
She was born in Basra, Iraq. Much of her early life is narrated by Farid al-Din Attar, a later Sufi saint and poet, who used earlier sources. Rabia herself did not leave any written works.
Apart from tradition, all we know is that Rabi'a lived in Basra, Iraq, in the second half of the 700s (the second Islamic century), that she was probably a freed slave, and that she is considered one of the first of the Sufis (from the Arabic for "mystic"), those Muslims who emphasize an intensely personal relationship with Allah.
According to tradition, Rabi'a was born free, but sold into slavery at her parents' death. She was freed by a miracle, and, except for at least one pilgrimage to Mecca, lived all of her life in Basra as a celibate ascetic who debated with and taught the major religious figures of her time. We have descriptions of Rabi'a from scholars of the 800s and 900s, but most of the stories of her come down to us from the writings of Farid al-Din 'Attar (d. c.1230). It is through 'Attar that we have Rabi'a's words; she herself left no written documents.
Basra, near the Persian Gulf, was an important military and trading site, both for sea trade and for overland routes from the Arabian peninsula. From its foundation in the mid-600s, it was a center of Islamic religious and intellectual thought. Hasan al-Basri (d.728) was the city's first major ascetic figure; since he was probably dead before Rabi'a reached adulthood, the anecdotes about their meetings may reflect conflict between their respective disciples. Rabi'a represents those who, while never going outside the bounds of Muslim orthodoxy, moved from an emphasis on ritual to a total concentration on Allah and identification with his will.
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path. A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God.
Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made". During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?"
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved."
She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold". She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug, for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?"
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants. Emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..."
She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied. She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all God's glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend God and God's mysteries.
Above all, she was a lover. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover God's will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us:
"I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
But my body is available for those who seek its company,
And my body is friendly towards its guests,
But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224]
Another:
"O my Joy and my Desire, my Life and my Friend. If Thou art satisfied with me, then, O Desire of my heart, my happiness is attained."
She was asked once if she hated Satan.
"My love to God has so possessed me that no place remains for loving or hating any save Him."
To such lovers, she taught, God unveiled himself in all his beauty and revealed the Beatific Vision. For this vision, she willingly gave up all lesser joys.
"O my Lord," she prayed, "if I worship Thee from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me thence, but if I worship Thee for Thine own sake, then withhold not from me Thine Eternal Beauty."
Rabi'a was in her early to mid eighties when she died, having followed the mystic Way to the end. By then, she was continually united with her Beloved. As she told her Sufi friends, "My Beloved is always with me"
Rabi‘a’s role in the development of Sufi thought is highlighted by numerous anecdotes concerning her relationship with Hasan of Basra (d. 728). Hasan was the most famous religious authority of his time, an expert of hadith (traditions of the Prophet) and an acquaintance with many of the Prophet’s companions. He was one of the first advocates of ascetic piety in Islam and at the same time one of the first critical investigators into the issue of divine pre-determination and human free will. Indeed, Hasan is considered by many to be the founder of both Sufism and Islamic scholastic theology (kalam).
If, as the anecdotes suggest, Rabi‘a knew Hasan, he must have been very old at the time, and she very young. The crucial point in the Hasan and Rabi‘a stories is not their objective historicity, however, but the key Sufi concepts that are built upon the medieval Sufi convention of the spiritual contest in which two sages compete verbally with one another, one of them coming out as the wiser or more sincere. The humble former slave Rabi‘a continually wins in her jousts with Hasan, the most famous religious and intellectual figure of his time. What binds these stories together, and what links them with other anecdotes and sayings, is Rabi‘a’s ability to synthesize ascetic piety with theological concerns (two areas that seemed to remain compartmentalized with Hasan) into a new way of thinking that was to become the ground of Sufism.
This synthesis combined the Qur’anic doctrine of the unity of God (tawhid) with ascetic impulses and a continuing investigation of the issue of human free will and divind predetermination. For Rabi‘a, affirmation of one God was not a matter of mere verbal correctness. Divine unity could be authentically affirmed only by turning one’s entire life and consciousness toward that one deity. To consider anything else was, in effect, a form of idolatry. She constantly criticized Hasan and other spiritual leaders for becoming attached to the ascetic piety and treating it as an end in and of itself. Rabi‘a offered a devastating critique of those claiming to despise the world for the sake of God. She opined that if those who despised the world had truly achieved an affirmation of one God, they would not by paying enough attention to anything else, including the world, to bother despising it.
Thus, the doctrinal affirmation of one God as a theistic principle was combined with a spiritual quest in which only one thing could be the object of one’s concern. This combination led to Rabi‘a’s celebrated notion of sincerity (sidq), or sincere love. For Rabi‘a, sincerity is not compatible with acting out of hope for reward or fear of punishment.
The passages in the Qur’an on the day of judgment or moment of truth are among the most compelling and most beautiful examples of prophetic discourse. They are open to many interpretations. Yet by Rabi‘a’s time, it is clear that they had become associated in the popular mind with a complex topography of Heaven and Hell (with seven levels in each and various descriptions of the joys and torments of the inhabitants) and with a psychology of reward and punishment. Hasan of Basra was famous for his continual intensification of fear of Hell in meditation as a way of motivating and overcoming the appetites of the carnal self.
Rabi‘a rejected the entire edifice of reward and punishment. In numerous prayers, she is quoted as asking the Deity to deny her Paradise if she desires or worships out of hope for Paradise, and to condemn her to Hell if she worships out of fear of Hell. The most famous anecdote represents Rabi‘a as running down the path with fire in the one hand and water in the other. When asked what she was doing, Rabi‘a responded that she wished to burn Paradise and douse the fires of Hell, so that no one will ever love God except out of pure love, devoid considerations of reward and punishment. To be concerned with anything (even Heaven and Hell) beside the one God is in effect to affirm something else as God.
Rabi‘a was implacably consistent in her articulation of this notion of sincere love. When asked if she hated Satan, she responded no, she was too busy loving God to think about Satan. When asked if she loved the Prophet Muhammad, she said no, with the most profound respect to the Prophet, she had room for only One Beloved. To love another would be to take another being as one’s God.
Connected with this conception of sincerity was Rabi‘a’s rigorous understanding of the virtue of trust-in-God (tawakkul). In numerous anecdotes, Rabi‘a is depicted as not only refusing to plan for the future, but even to consider it. To make plans for the future, hoard up supplies, or build up furnishings is to fail to put one’s full trust in the Deity. It is also a contradiction of the rigorous affirmation of one God; to put one’s trust in one’s own plan is to make of that plan one’s God.
The resultant way of life and thought can be characterized as one of active acceptance (rida), that is, absolute acceptance of the infinite divine will. It is crucial to distinguish between Rabi‘a’s active notion of acceptance and passive resignation or fatalism. In several anecdotes, Rabi ‘a’ refuses to ask anything of any human creature, because to do so would violate the principle of trust-in-God and the unity of God. She goes on to refuse to ask the Deity for anything, on the grounds that the Deity knows her condition already, and has forewilled it. Such petition then would violate the principle of acceptance. Rather than leading to passivity or fatalism, this absolute acceptance is viewed as the key to authentic action. In the anecdotes about Rabi‘a it is this active acceptance that is the proof of her authenticity to those around her.
The depth of Rabi‘a’s sincerity acted as a protection for her in an often insecure world; as a freed woman she had more prerogatives for refusing marriage than other women, but she could not have led the public and vocal life she lived had she not been, in the words of ‘Attar, veiled by the veil of sincerity.
Ultimately, the major concepts of Rabi‘a’s thought are tied together in the ultimate intellectual and spiritual goal: extinction (fana’) of the ego-self in union with the Divine Beloved. It is only in such extinction that the extreme versions of trust, active acceptance, sincerity beyond hope for reward and fear of punishment, and true affirmation of divine unity can be attained. In such extinction, the Deity works in and through the human in the state of the annihilation of the ego-self.
The concept of the annihilation of the self in mystical union, central for all subsequent Sufi philosophy, would be further developed by the other major thinkers of early Sufism: Junayd (d. 910), Bistami (d. c. 875), Tustari (d. 896), and Hallaj (d. 922). Later Sufis such as Qushayri would go on to place concepts of trust, sincerity, acceptance, poverty, and divine unity into complex categories of “stations” (maqamat) and momentary states (ahwal), but the essential configuration is, according to the biographers of Rabi‘a’, the great achievement of this self-educated former slave girl of Basra. Ultimately, Rabi‘a ‘al-Adawiyya is recognized by Sufi tradition as central in forging the new synthesis of theology and ascesis that would come to be known as Sufism
Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya see Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya
Rābiʻa al-Basrī see Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya
Rabia, Aliyah
Dakota Staton (b. June 3, 1930, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – d. April 10, 2007, New York, New York) was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No. 4 hit "The Late, Late Show". She was also known by her Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period due to her conversion to Islam and affiliation with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Born in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she attended George Westinghouse High School, and studied music at the Filion School of Music in Pittsburgh. Later she performed regularly in the Hill District, a jazz hotspot, as a vocalist with the Joe Westray Orchestra, a popular Pittsburgh orchestra. She next spent several years in the nightclub circuit in such cities as Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland and St. Louis. While in New York, she was noticed singing at a Harlem nightclub called the Baby Grand by Dave Cavanaugh, a producer for Capitol Records. She was signed and released several singles, her success leading her to win Down Beat magazine's "Most Promising Newcomer" award in 1955.
In 1958, Staton wed Talib Dawud, a black Antigua-born Ahmadi Muslim who was a jazz trumpeter and a noted critic of Elijah Muhammad. Staton subsequently converted to Islam and used the name Aliyah Rabia for some time. The marriage ultimately ended in divorce.
Staton released several critically acclaimed albums in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including: The Late, Late Show (1957), whose title track was her biggest hit; In the Night (1958), a collaboration with pianist George Shearing, Dynamic! (1958) and Dakota at Storyville (1962), a live album recorded at the Storyville jazz club in Boston. In the mid-1960s, Staton moved to England, where she recorded the album Dakota ′67. Returning to the United States in the early 1970s, she continued to record semi-regularly, her recordings reflecting an increasingly strong gospel and blues influence.
Staton suffered a stroke in 1999, after which her health deteriorated. Dakota Staton died in New York City on April 10, 2007 at the age of 76.
Rabi‘a and Mudar. Two largest and most powerful combinations of tribes in ancient northern Arabia. Legend records very old connections of the Mudar with the Meccan sanctuary, while Christianity was widespread among the Rabi‘a in the Prophet’s time. Later, the tribes of Rabi‘a and Mudar are mentioned as important contingents in the Muslim armies.
Mudar see Rabi‘a and Mudar.
Rachel (in Arabic, Rahil) (Rahel). Wife of Jacob is referred to in the Qur’an, and is spoken of in hadith. She also plays a role in the story of Joseph.
Rachel, meaning "ewe {idiomatically: one with purity}", as described in the Hebrew Bible, is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs. She is also the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Jacob was her first cousin, as Jacob's mother Rebecca was Laban's sister.
Rachel is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is watering her lamb. He had traveled a great distance to find his mother’s brother, Laban. Rebekah had sent him there to be safe from his furious twin brother.
During Jacob's stay, he fell in love with Rachel and agreed to work seven years for Laban in return for her hand in marriage. On the night of the wedding, the bride was veiled and Jacob did not notice that Leah, Rachel’s older sister, had been substituted for Rachel. Whereas “Rachel was lovely in form and beautiful,” “Leah had weak eyes.” Later Jacob confronted Laban, who excused his own deception by insisting that the older sister should marry first. He assured Jacob that after his wedding week was finished, he could take Rachel as a wife as well, and work another seven years as payment for her.
After Leah had given birth to four sons, Rachel remained barren. She became jealous of Leah and gave Jacob her maidservant, Bilhah, to be a surrogate mother for her. Bilhah gave birth to two sons: Dan and Naphtali. After Leah conceived again, Rachel was finally blessed with a son, Joseph, who would become Jacob's favorite child.
After Joseph's birth, Jacob decided to return to the land of Canaan with his family. Fearing that Laban would deter him, he fled with his four wives and twelve children without informing his father-in-law. Laban chased him and accused him of stealing his idols. Indeed, Rachel had taken her father's idols, hidden them inside her camel's seat cushion, and sat upon them. Not knowing that the idols were in his wife's possession, Jacob pronounced a curse on whoever had them: "With whoever you will find your gods, he will not live" (Genesis 31:32). Laban proceeded to search the tents of Jacob and his wives, but when he came to Rachel's tent, she told her father, "Let not my lord be angered that I cannot rise up before you, for the way of women is upon me" (Genesis 31:35). Laban left her alone, but the curse Jacob had pronounced came true shortly thereafter.
At the outskirts of the land of Judah, approaching Efrat, Rachel went into a difficult labor with her second son, Benjamin. The midwife tells her in the middle of the birth that her child is a boy. Before she died, Rachel named her son Ben Oni ("son of my mourning"), but Jacob called him Ben Yamin (Benjamin). Rashi explains that Ben Yamin either means "son of the right" (i.e., "south"), since Benjamin was the only one of Jacob's sons born in Canaan, which is to the south of Paddan Aram; or it could mean "son of my days," as Benjamin was born in Jacob's old age.
Rachel was buried by Jacob on the road to Efrat, just outside Bethlehem. Today Rachel's Tomb, located between Bethlehem and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, is visited by tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Rachel's son, Joseph, is destined to be the leader of Israel's tribes between exile and nationhood. This role is exemplified in the Biblical story of Joseph, who prepared the way in Egypt for his family's exile there, and in the future figure of Mashiach ben Yosef (Messiah, son of Joseph), who will fight the apocalyptic Wars of Gog and Magog, preparing the way for the kingship of Mashiach ben David (Messiah, son of David) and the messianic age.
Rahil see Rachel
Rahel see Rachel
Radi bi-‘llah, al- (b. 909). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 934-940). Government was in the hands of Muhammad ibn Yaqut, and after the latter’s fall in 935, Ibn Muqla gained control but only for a year. Power then passed into the hands of Muhammad ibn Ra’iq. In 938, he was replaced by Bejkem, a manumitted slave of Turkish origin (d. 941), who had to fight the advancing Buyids while in Baghdad militant Hanbalis were harassing the population.
Radiyya, Jalalat al-Din Begum (Jalalat al-Din Begum Radiyya) (Raziya) (Razia al-Din) (1205– October 14, 1240). Female ruler of the Mu‘izzi dynasty of Delhi (r. 1236-1240). She was a daughter of sultan Iltutmish (Altamsh), and was proclaimed queen by the people of Delhi. She favored the “Abyssinian” (in Arabic, habashi) Malik Jamal al-Din Yaqut (Jamaluddin Yaqut), which led the Turkish amirs to depose and kill her. She was the only woman to succeed to the throne of Delhi during the period of Muslim rule and, with the exception of the Mameluke Shajar al-Durr of Egypt, the only recognized female sovereign in the history of Islam.
Sultan Altamsh enlarged and strengthened the Muslim Empire of northern India, escaped destruction by the Mongol hordes of Jenghiz Khan, and conquered Bengal and Sind. Altamsh was succeeded by his son Ruknuddin Feroz Shah but Ruknuddin was overthrown by the court nobles within six months because of his vices and was killed in November of 1236. Ruknuddin was succeeded by his sister Raziya. Raziya became the first woman to rule in the subcontinent of India and the first woman to head a Muslim state.
In 1240, Turkish nobles rebelled against Sultana Raziya because of her favoritism towards an Abyssinian slave named Jamaluddin Yakut. Raziya had bestowed the highest honor on Jamaluddin and there were suspicions that the two might be lovers. Raziya was subsequently captured and imprisoned.
On October 14, 1240, Turkish backed Hindu troops murdered Sultana Raziya and her husband, Altuniyya after a surprise attack near Kaithal. Raziya had been deposed earlier in the year and imprisoned. While in prison, she married her jailer, Altuniyya, and persuaded him and his army to travel with her to Delhi. It was while enroute to Delhi that Raziya and Altuniyya were assassinated.
After Raziya, Muizuddin Behram Shah, another son of Iltutmish became the Sultan for a brief time.
Raziya is said to have pointed out that the spirit of religion was more important than its parts, and that even the Islamic prophet Muhammad spoke against overburdening the non-Muslims. On another occasion, Raziya reportedly tried to appoint an Indian Muslim convert from Hinduism to an official position but again ran into opposition from the nobles.
Raziya was reportedly devoted to the cause of her empire and to her subjects. There is no record that she made any attempt to remain aloof from her subjects, rather it appears she preferred to mingle among them. Her tolerance of Hinduism would later bring her criticism from Muslim historians.
Raziya established schools, academies, centers for research, and public libraries that included the works of ancient philosophers along with the Qur'an and the traditions of Muhammad. Hindu works in the sciences, philosophy, astronomy, and literature were reportedly studied in schools and colleges.
Raziya refused to be addressed as Sultana because it meant "wife or mistress of a sultan". She would answer only to the title "Sultan".
Jalalat al-Din Begum Radiyya see Radiyya, Jalalat al-Din Begum
Raziya see Radiyya, Jalalat al-Din Begum
Razia al-Din see Radiyya, Jalalat al-Din Begum
Rafsanjani, Ali Akbar Hashimi (Ali Akbar Hashimi Rafsanjani) (Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) (b. August 25, 1934, Nough, Iran - d. January 8, 2017, Tehran, Iran). President of Iran from August 3, 1989 to August 2, 1997.
Rafsanjani was the son of a prosperous farmer in the town of Rafsanjān, in the Kermān region of Iran. He moved to the Shīʿite holy city of Qom in 1948 to pursue his religious studies, and in 1958 he became a disciple of Ruhollah Khomeini. Rafsanjani became a hojatoleslām (from the Arabic ḥujjat al-Islām: “proof of Islam”), the second highest Shīʿite Muslim rank (after that of ayatollah). Like Khomeini, he opposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s modernization program, and when Khomeini was exiled from Iran in 1962, Rafsanjani became his chief fund-raiser inside the country. He spent the years 1975–78 in jail in Iran on charges of links with left-wing terrorists.
With the shah’s overthrow and Khomeini’s return to Iran in 1979, Rafsanjani became one of Khomeini’s chief lieutenants. He helped found the Islamic Republican Party, served on the Revolutionary Council, and was acting interior minister during the early years of the revolution. He was also elected to the Majles (Islamic Consultative Assembly) in 1980, and he became that body’s speaker the same year. As the dominant voice in the Majles for the next nine years, Rafsanjani gradually emerged as the second most powerful figure in Iran’s government. He was intimately involved in Iran’s prosecution of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), and he helped persuade Khomeini to agree to the cease-fire of August 1988 that effectively ended the war.
After Khomeini’s death in June 1989, Rafsanjani was instrumental in securing the position of President Ali Khamenei—who was hastily elevated from the less lofty position of hojatoleslām to the rank of ayatollah—as Khomeini’s successor as supreme leader. Rafsanjani himself was elected Iran’s president by an overwhelming margin shortly thereafter. He quickly garnered increased powers for a previously weak executive office, and he showed considerable political skill in promoting his pragmatic policies in the face of resistance from Islamic hard-liners.
Rafsanjani favored reducing Iran’s international isolation and renewing its ties with Europe as part of a strategy to use foreign investment and free enterprise to revive the country’s war-torn economy. Domestically, he implemented family-planning practices, in effect reversing previous policies encouraging population growth. Although human rights abuses and the suppression of dissent continued, there was a degree of cultural openness under Rafsanjani, and a certain level of criticism was tolerated. Nevertheless, demonstrations and protests against the government in the early 1990s were harshly repressed.
Rafsanjani was re-elected in 1993, though his victory was not as overwhelming as in 1989; voter turnout was significantly lower, and he won only two-thirds of the votes in 1993 as compared with more than nine-tenths four years earlier. Barred by the constitution from serving a third consecutive term in office, Rafsanjani nevertheless remained active in political life, serving several terms as head of the Committee to Determine the Expediency of the Islamic Order, a body created to mediate disputes between the Majles and the Council of Guardians (itself empowered to vet legislation and oversee elections).
In the elections to the Majles in 2000, Rafsanjani initially fared poorly—he finished 30th in Tehrān, capturing that city’s final seat. However, the Council of Guardians contended that the election had been marred by fraud, and they ordered a recount; after numerous votes had been discounted and the candidates shuffled, Rafsanjani’s position improved to 20th. This new outcome was criticized by many to be the result of manipulation, and Rafsanjani resigned his seat.
Following Mohammad Khatami’s two-term presidency (1997–2005), Rafsanjani again sought the presidency in 2005. Although largely considered the favorite, Rafsanjani failed to secure a majority by a significant margin and was defeated by the mayor of Tehrān, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was backed by the country’s conservative establishment.
In 2007 Rafsanjani was elected to lead the Assembly of Experts (Majles-e Khobregān), a body empowered to select Iran’s supreme leader. Rafsanjani assumed his position at the head of this assembly while continuing to lead the Committee to Determine the Expediency of the Islamic Order.
In the presidential election of 2009 Rafsanjani was a vocal critic of the incumbent, President Ahmadinejad, and made clear his support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister (1981–89) and the leading reformist candidate. When Ahmadinejad was declared the victor by a large margin in spite of Mousavi’s apparent popularity and a record turnout that many thought would favor the reformist contingent, questions of voting irregularities were raised by the opposition. Amid the cycle of protests that followed the election, several of Rafsanjani’s relatives, including his daughter, were briefly detained. Rafsanjani himself was conspicuously absent from the public sphere and noticeably silent in the days that followed the election—a silence some observers suggested belied his activity behind the scenes, although the details of his whereabouts and the precise nature his efforts remained subject to speculation.
In 2011 Rafsanjani did not run for another term as leader of the Assembly of Experts after Ahmadinejad supporters waged a campaign to unseat him, alleging that he was too close to the opposition. He was succeeded by Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani—a traditional conservative supported by the pro-Ahmadinejad camp—who won election in March.
In May 2013 Rafsanjani registered to be a candidate in Iran’s upcoming presidential election, attracting the support of prominent reformers, including Mohammad Khatami. His candidacy ended abruptly later that month when he was disqualified from running by the Council of the Guardians. Rafsanjani protested his disqualification in the media but did not appeal.
Ali Akbar Hashimi Rafsanjani see Rafsanjani, Ali Akbar Hashimi
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani see Rafsanjani, Ali Akbar Hashimi
Raghib al-Isfahani, al- (Abul-Qasim Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Raghib al-Isfahani). (d. 1108/1109). Arab theological writer. He compiled a dictionary of the Qur’an arranged alphabetically according to the initial letters.
Raghib Isfahani was an Islamic scholar. His full name was Abul-Qasim Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Raghib al-Isfahani. He worked in the lines of Philosophical and religious ethics. His works include:
* Al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Quran
* al-Maudhoorath
* Muhadarat al Udaba
Abul-Qasim Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Raghib al-Isfahani see Raghib al-Isfahani, al-
Raghib Pasha (Mehmet Ragib) (Koca Ragip Pasha) (Koca Mehmet Ragip Pasha) (1698/1699, Istanbul - 1763, Istanbul). Ottoman Grand Vizier. He was also one of the classical authors of Turkish literature.
Koca Ragıp Pasha (or more formally Koca Mehmet Ragıp Pasha) (1698 Constantinople[ was an Ottoman (Turkish) grand vizier. He is also known as a good poet.
After completing his education, worked in various parts of the empire as a civil servant. He worked as the chief treasurer in Baghdad, Iraq (then a part of the Ottoman Empire), as the secretary of the grand vizier, chief secretary of the porte (a post equivalent to a modern day foreign minister) in 1740 and governor of Egypt (then a part of the Ottoman Empire) in 1743.
He was appointed as a grand vizier in January 12, 1757 by the sultan Osman III. Ten months later, Osman III died and he continued under the new sultan Mustafa III with whom he had very good relations. He married the sultan’s sister and gained the title damat. (English: bridegroom).
Ragıp’s term was a part of Ottoman decline. However, he did his best to reform Ottoman administration and treasury. He was an adherent of a peace policy and the Ottoman Empire lived its last peaceful days during his term. He died on April 8, 1763 while still on duty. Upon his death, Mustafa III wrote an elegy (Turkish: ağıt) expresing his sorrow.
Ragıp made no striking formal innovations, but the language of his gazels shows a happy synthesis of the canonical tradition of Bâkî with the “fresh” (or “Indian”) style of Nâʾilî. By this period, such stylistic departures no longer aroused the acrimony of a century earlier.
Mehmet Ragib see Raghib Pasha
Ragib, Mehmet see Raghib Pasha
Koca Ragip Pasha see Raghib Pasha
Koca Mehmet Ragip Pasha see Raghib Pasha
Rahman, Fazlur (Fazlur Rahman) (Fazlur Rahman Malik) (September 21, 1919 – July 26, 1988). Pakistani philosopher and educator and prominent liberal reformer of Islam. Born in what is now Pakistan in 1919, Fazlur Rahman received a master’s degree in Arabic from Punjab University, Lahore, in 1942, and a doctorate in Islamic philosophy from Oxford University in 1949. He was lecturer in Persian studies and Islamic philosophy at Durham University from 1950 to 1958, associate professor at McGill University’s Institute of Islamic Studies from 1958 to 1961, visiting professor at Pakistan’s Central Institute of Islamic Research from 1961 to 1962, and that Institute’s director from 1962 to 1968. He left Pakistan under criticism for his reformist views and was appointed visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the Spring of 1969. That fall he went to the University of Chicago as professor of Islamic thought. In 1986, he was named Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor at Chicago, a title he held until his death in July 1988.
Rahman first achieved international renown with the publication of Avicenna’s Philosophy (1952), in which he demonstrated the influence of the Muslim philosopher-physician Ibn Sina (d. 1037) on the medieval Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas (d. 1275). An expert in medieval philosophy, Rahman wrote two more books on Ibn Sina (Prophecy in Islam [1958] and Avicenna’s De Anima [1959]), but he was best known for his pioneering work in Islamic hermeneutics (Islamic Methodology in History [1965]) and educational reform (Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition [1984]).
Rahman believed that contemporary Muslim conservatives, in trying to maintain the status quo in religious tradition, and fundamentalists, in interpreting the Qur’an literally, are a misguided as secularists who deny Islam’s relevance to the political and economic spheres. Both conservatives and fundamentalists have failed to distinguish the prescriptive or normative elements of revelation from the merely descriptive elements that are pertinent only to the time and place in which revelation occurred. In order to make Islam relevant to today’s specific circumstances, he believed, Muslims must go beyond a literal or traditional interpretation of the Qur’an to an understanding of its spirit. They must study the background or “occasions” of each verse in order to find the true essence of reveleation. Muslims must also study in detail the specific circumstances of their own time in order to be able to apply the principles derived from revelation.
Overall, he was convinced that the disarray of the modern Muslim world was caused by inadequate understanding of Qur’anic teachings. This he attributed to stagnation in Islamic education, beginning in the early middle ages and incorporated into traditional formulations, including Islamic law. He, therefore, devoted himself to to educational reform and the revival of Islamic interpretation (ijtihad) through his later writings and teaching.
Rahman was greatly respected by other Islamic reformers such as ‘Abd Allah al-Na‘im of Sudan. He was, however, criticized by those he considered fundamentalist as being overly liberal in his interpretation of the Qur’an, the sunnah, and classical Islamic law. In Pakistan his detractors referred to him as “the destroyer of hadiths” because of his insistence on judging the weight of hadith reports in light of the overall spirit of the Qur’an. However, he believed his reformist views would eventually be vindicated. He felt that contemporary Islamic fundamentalism was a defensive and temporary posture taken in response to the political and economic setbacks experienced by the Muslim world.
Fazlur Rahman see Rahman, Fazlur
Fazlur Rahman Malik see Rahman, Fazlur
Malik, Fazlur Rahman see Rahman, Fazlur
Rahmaniyya. Religious order in Algeria. It is a branch of the Khalwatiyya order and is named after its founder Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Gushtuli (d. 1793).
Rahman, Ziaur (Ziaur Rahman) (b. January 19, 1936, India Bogra District, Bengal, British India - d. May 30, 1981, Bangladesh Chittagong, Bangladesh). Effective leader of Bangladesh (1975-1981). He was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1953, and served in regular posts. In March 1971, Zia led his unit in Chittagong against Pakistanis and proclaimed Bangladeshi independence on March 27. He led the “Z Force” during the civil war, from which he emerged a hero. He held Bangladesh Army appointments and became chief of staff in August 1975, following the assassination of Mujibur Rahman. Zia became deputy chief martial law administrator in November 1975, and chief martial law administrator in 1976. He was president of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981, having been elected to that post by popular vote in 1978, when he resigned from the army. He was assassinated on May 30, 1981. Zia is widely regarded as a capable, pragmatic, and charismatic leader whose efforts were directed toward rural development, food self-sufficiency, and family planning at home, and toward the creation of the South Asia Regional Cooperation organization in the wider area.
Ziaur Rahman was a Bangladeshi war hero, politician and statesman. He was the strongman President of Bangladesh from 1977 until 1981 and founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the two largest political parties in the country. His widow, Begum Khaleda Zia, was Prime Minister of Bangladesh three times and was the Leader of Opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad (Bangladeshi parliament). Ziaur is popularly known as Shaheed president Zia, meaning martyred Zia, in reference to his assassination in 1981.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Zia served in the Khemkaran sector in Punjab as the commander of a Pakistani company unit of 300–500 soldiers. The sector was the scene of the most intense battles between the rival armies. The Pakistani government awarded Zia's unit with the highest numbers of gallantry awards for heroic performances during the war. Ziaur Rahman himself won the distinguished and prestigious Hilal-e-Jurat medal , and his unit won 2 Sitara-e-Jurat medals and 9 Tamgha-e-Jurat medals from the Army for their brave roles in the 1965 War with India.
On the night of March 25, 1971, when the West Pakistani Army started a genocide against the Bengalis of East Pakistan, Major Zia revolted and announced this in front of the soldiers of his regiment. On March 27, Major Zia's unit (2/5 East Bengal Regiment) took control of the Kalurghat radio station in Chittagong and declared independence of Bangladesh. On the circumstances, he declared himself as the provisional president of Bangladesh and the supreme commander of Bangladesh Liberation Army. After getting a request from Awami League Leaders on March 28 he again declared independence on behalf of the Bengali nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Ziaur made the most widely transmitted declaration of independence of East Pakistan. After the declaration of independence of Bangladesh, when the Liberation War of Bangladesh started, Ziaur Rahman served as the commander of sector no.1 and later commanded the 'Z' force against the Pakistan Army. Recognized as a war hero in Bangladesh, the government of Bangladesh honored him with the second highest gallantry award Bir Uttom in 1972. A high-ranking accomplished officer in the Bangladesh Army, Zia was appointed chief of army staff in course of dramatic events that evolved following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 by a group of junior military officers. This was followed shortly by another coup and counter-coup and ultimately led to the consolidation of power under Zia as Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator. The counter-coup, sometimes referred to as a sepoy mutiny was organized by the socialist Colonel Abu Taher.
Ziaur Rahaman assumed the office of the President of the country in 1977 and won a popular referendum held in 1978 in support of his policies and leadership. He engaged himself in politics by floating a political party that came to be known as Jagodal. Later he founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Zia won widespread popular support for stabilizing the nation and leading it in a new direction. Zia who turned out to be a right-wing politician, established free market economic policies in a 19-point program of industrialization and development. For achieving popular support, he adopted policies bringing the government increasingly under Islam, which he included in the national constitution. It has been alleged that Zia helped individuals involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujib rehabilitate home and abroad, given impunity by the Indemnity Act.
A popular yet controversial leader, Zia was assassinated in 1981 in an abortive military coup.
Ziaur Rahman see Rahman, Ziaur
Rahmat Ali, Chaudhuri (Chaudhuri Rahmat Ali) (Chaudhary Rahmat Ali) (November 16, 1897, Balachaur, Nawanshahr District - February 3, 1951, Cambridge, England). Achieved his only significant political act with the publication of a pamphlet in 1933 entitled Now or Never that was signed by himself and three other Cambridge students. Although a number of leaders in the 1930s, most notably Muhammad Iqbal, called for the establishment of an independent Muslim political entity in northwestern India, they did not have a name for it. Rahmat Ali is best known for having supplied the initial letters for the country name Pakistan from the various “homelands” of Muslims: "P" for Punjab, "A" for Afghania (the North-west Frontier Province), "K" for Kashmir, "S" for Sindh, "Tan" for Baluchistan (and also Tukharistan and Afghanistan). From these letters, Rahmat Ali came up with "Pak-i-stan", meaning “land of the pure.” Bengal was not included in the scheme until 1937. However, significantly (prophetically?), Bengal never received its own letter. When working politicians like Mohammad Ali Jinnah took over the name, they dismissed Rahmat Ali as a grandiose dreamer.
Chaudhary Rahmat Ali was a Pakistani Muslim nationalist who was one of the earliest proponents of the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is credited with creating the name "Pakistan" for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia. He propagated the Scheme of Pakistan with a missionary zeal since its inception in 1933. He also founded Pakistan National Movement to propagate his ideas. Being a political thinker and an idealist, he condemned Muhammad Ali Jinnah for accepting a smaller Pakistan in 1947. He wanted to save every Indian Muslim from Hindu domination. In 1933, he wrote his ideas in the famous pamphlet entitled "Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever" also known as the Pakistan Declaration. The pamphlet started with this famous sentence:
“ At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitution for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN - by which we mean the five Northern units of India, Viz: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan. ”
Chaudhuri Rahmat Ali see Rahmat Ali, Chaudhuri
Chaudhary Rahmat Ali see Rahmat Ali, Chaudhuri
Raisi, Ebrahim
Ebrahim Raisi (b. December 14, 1960, Mashhad, Iran — d. May 19, 2024, near Uzi, Iran) was President of Iran (2021–24) before his sudden death in a helicopter crash. The unpopular prosecutor — called the “Butcher of Tehran” for his role in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988—was thrust to power by the clerical establishment as a potential successor to Ali Khamenei, Iran’s aging leader. He was one of the few figures trusted by hard-liners in both the clerical and security establishments, but his career proved emblematic of the corruption of the Islamic Republic and the suffering of the Iranian people. During his short presidency, the disconnect between the regime and the people erupted following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in 2022 with the wide-reaching "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests that bordered on revolutionary.
Raisi grew up in the city of Mashhad, an important religious center for the Twelver Shi'a as the burial place of the eighth imam 'Ali al-Rida. Raisi was born at the advent of land reform (1960–63) and the White Revolution development program (1963–79), when Iran was undergoing profound changes in its distribution of power and wealth. Although the country saw rapid modernization and urbanization, the clerical establishment was among those most visibly disenfranchised by the shah’s reforms. This was especially true in Mashhad, where the clerical establishment had extensive property holdings and enormous influence on the local economy.
Raised in a clerical family, Raisi received a religious education. In 1975 he attended seminary in Qom, the foremost intellectual center of Shi'i Islam, and studied under some of Iran’s most prominent clerics. At a time when Iranians were broadly dissatisfied with the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, many of the seminarians at Qom were inspired by the revolutionary ideals of Ruhollah Khomeini, whose interpretation of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist) sought to ensure clerical oversight of the government’s policy and administration. Raisi was purportedly an active participant in the events of 1978–79 that drove the shah into exile and established a system of government based on Khomeini’s vision.
After the Iranian Revolution, the fledgling Islamic republic faced a number of immediate challenges, ranging from the Western-educated loyalists of the shah to secularist left-wing dissidents to all-out war with neighboring Iraq. Raisi dedicated his career from the start to upholding the nascent regime against internal opposition. He underwent training in administration and soon joined the prosecutor’s office in Masjed Soleyman in southwestern Iran. Over the next six years, he gained further experience as a prosecutor for various jurisdictions, including Karajcity, Hamadan city, and Hamadan province. In 1985, he became deputy prosecutor in the country’s capital, Tehran. In 1988, as the burdens of instability and the Iran-Iraq War weighed heavily on the regime, Khomeini ordered the execution of thousands of political prisoners (which he accused of collaborating with Iraq) and appointed Raisi to a committee tasked with determining whether prisoners were disloyal to the government.
After Ali Khamenei became rahbar (leader of Iran) in 1989, Raisi began to attain senior ranks within Iran’s judicial system. After serving as prosecutor of Tehran (1989–94), Raisi's most prominent positions included head of the General Inspection Organization (1994–2004) and prosecutor general of the Special Court for the Clergy (2012–21), posts that oversee the integrity of government bodies and officials. As first deputy to the chief justice (2004–14), Raisi played a key role in the crackdown on dissidents after the unrest that followed the 2009 presidential election. Outside of the judiciary, Raisi also became a member of the Assembly of Experts (2007–24), a deliberative body tasked with replacing the rahbar if the office becomes vacant.
In 2016, Khamenei appointed Raisi custodian of the shrine of ʿAlī al-Riḍā in Mashhad, placing him in charge of Iran’s largest bonyad (charitable trust). The appointment, which lasted until 2019, placed billions of dollars’ worth of assets—and a sizable chunk of Iran’s gross domestic product—under Raisi’s control and without formal oversight. Many observers saw the appointment as an opportunity to raise Raisi’s clout with the country’s clerical and business elite.
Despite his own high-level position within the regime, Raisi built an image as a principled government critic who was tough on corruption. He ran against the incumbent Hassan Rouhani in the 2017 presidential election, criticizing Rouhani for concluding an international nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) that conceded too much while also failing to improve the socioeconomic condition of all but the wealthiest Iranians. Rouhani won in a landslide, apparently reflecting voters’ approval of the nuclear deal, but Raisi’s ability to garner 38 percent of the vote seemed to demonstrate that his populist rhetoric had nonetheless struck a chord. The withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA a year later, accompanied by the reimposition of United States sanctions on Iran, left Raisi vindicated in the eyes of many Iranians.
Upon his appointment as head of the judiciary in 2019, Raisi immediately pursued corruption cases against government officials and prominent businessmen, albeit selectively. Televised proceedings lent bite to his bark as he continued to criticize Rouhani’s government. Heightened tensions with the United States also gave resonance to his criticism, especially after a series of skirmishes with United States forces in late 2019 and early 2020. When the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) downed Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 in January 2020, mistaking the passenger plane for a United States cruise missile, Raisi oversaw the investigation into the tragic event. The investigation did little to hold Iranian officials publicly accountable, however, blaming the incident on errors of low-ranking operators.
When Raisi ran in the presidential election of 2021, he continued to project himself as a principled defender against government corruption. At the same time, he voiced support for negotiating an international nuclear agreement that would take into account Iranian interests. But it was his high profile that made him the clear front-runner on the ballot, his most serious challengers having been disqualified in the weeks before the election. With voter turnout slightly below 50 percent, he won by an overwhelming margin and was inaugurated in August 2021.
Although Raisi inherited a pervasive crisis that was brought about by international sanctions and the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, he showed more concern for regime security than economic relief at the beginning of his term. His first budget proposal allocated a significant increase in funding for the defense establishment but maintained austerity in domestic spending. The government ramped up its COVID-19 vaccination drive early in his presidency, but little was done to remedy the ailing economy, despite a water shortage and rising inflation. Little urgency was shown toward renewing the JCPOA, which would have lifted sanctions; Raisi first sought to strengthen ties with China and with Iran’s neighbors (including restoring relations with nearby Saudi Arabia in 2023) before engaging seriously in negotiations with the West. By the time a renewed deal was close at hand, new geopolitical developments had made the timing difficult for closing the deal.
In line with the increased investment in regime security, the government clamped down on dissent. It stepped up surveillance and censorship, including the enforcement of state-sanctioned attire by the so-called morality police (Gasht-e Ershad), and the number of executions spiked. Women, as well as ethnic and religious minorities, were disproportionately affected.
Meanwhile, the economy deteriorated further, as inflation soared and unemployment grew. Additionally, food prices increased because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In May, Raisi announced a program of “economic surgery” that included a sudden cut to subsidies for food. The price of some food items nearly tripled overnight.
The combined push for austere economic measures and regime security infuriated many Iranians. Protests picked up in May with the sudden spike in food prices. Although they were massive and widespread, those protests were dwarfed by the rage that brought Iranians to the street in September: Iranians demonstrated en masse after a Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, died while in custody for “improper” clothing. Her death represented a microcosm of Iranians’ varying and many grievances, from the subjugation of women to the suppression of minorities and the overall indifference of the government toward its citizens’ welfare. Women took a leading role in the protest movement, removing their veils and cutting their hair in public demonstrations, and a chant long used by Kurdish activists— "Woman, Life, Freedom"(Kurdish: "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî”; Persian: “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi”)—was widely adopted. Although the protests transcended the boundaries of Iranian society, and even included Shiʿi clerics who favored having hijab covering be voluntary, Raisi blamed foreign actors for fomenting the unrest.
During the Israel-Hamas War that began in October 2023, Raisi grew increasingly confrontational towards Israel. Amid his rising rhetoric against Israel — and a historic visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss the war — Iran’s allies across the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi forces in Yemen, stepped up attacks on Israel. When Israeli forces killed senior officers of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Damascus in April 2024, Iran responded two weeks later by firing drones and missiles into Israeli air space for the first time in the history of the two countries. Raisi threatened a “severe” response if Israel retaliated. But when Israel attacked a military complex in Iran days later, Raisi remained silent on the matter as Iranian officials claimed that the Israeli strikes had been intercepted.
Days after the strikes, Raisi embarked on a renewed tour to build ties with neighboring countries. A high-profile visit to Pakistan culminated in an agreement to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion over five years. Raisi then traveled to Sri Lanka, where he inaugurated a hydropower project that had been constructed using Iranian technology and financial assistance. On May 19, as Raisi was returning from a trip to inaugurate new dams that were jointly constructed with Azerbaijan along the countries’ border, his helicopter crashed amid bad weather in the mountainous border terrain. The helicopter was located by rescuers the following day, but no survivors were found.
On May 19, 2024, Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and several other officials were killed when Raisi's helicopter crashed near the village of Uzi in East Azerbaijan province. Iran's semi-official news agency, Mehr News, described them as having been "martyred in the crash." Raisi was the second president of Iran to have died in office, following Mohammed-Ali Rajai, who died in a 1981 bombing.
Following confirmation of Raisi's death, Khamenei declared five days of national mourning. Hundreds gathered in Vali-e ,Asr square in mourning for the president. At a meeting of the Assembly of Experts on May 21, 2024, a flower-ringed portrait of Raisi was placed on his seat.
Leaders and officials of several countries and international organizations extended their condolences and sympathies. The United Nations Security Council stood for a minute of silence for Raisi. Raisi's death received mixed reactions among the public in Iran, with some mourning and others celebrating. Police in Tehran warned that anyone who appeared publicly happy about Raisi's death would be prosecuted.
Funerals for the helicopter crash victims began on May 21, 2024, in Tabriz. A procession of the remains, which were carried on a lorry, was attended by crowds estimated to be in the tens of thousands who were addressed by Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi. Raisi's and Amir-Abdollahian's remains were then taken to Tehran and transported to Qom before being returned to Tehran University for another funeral ceremony on May 22 presided by Khamenei and attended by Mokhber and foreign dignitaries, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who spoke at the event. Other attendees included Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a delegation from the Taliban regime of Afghanistan led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The Tehran funeral ceremony was also estimated to have had tens of thousands in attendance. The procession down Tehran's main boulevard was estimated to have been followed by hundreds of thousands. However, the funeral service turnout for Raisi was noticeably lower than that of Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Raisi's remains were taken to Birjand on May 23 before being transported to Raisi's hometown of Mashhad, where he was buried on the same day at the Imam Reza shrine.
Raja Muda. Traditional title of the heir apparent in a Malay state. It normally was not an executive post, but in the early eighteenth century Raja Muda Tun Mahmud of Johor displaced the four chief ministers and took control of affairs in an attempt to strengthen the hold of his family on the throne. His effort failed, and the Bugis who restored his nephew to the throne demanded the post of raja muda in perpetuity. Throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the Malays struggled constantly to regain their old power, but the Bugis stood their ground, and the Malay nobles finally withdrew to the outer territories.
Muda, Raja see Raja Muda.
Rajputs. Large group of tribes and clans in India who claim to be the modern representatives of the Kshatriyas. The term has no racial significance. After the Muslim conquest of the eastern Punjab and the Ganges valley, the Rajputs maintained their independence in Rajasthan. In the seventeenth century, they accepted Mughal overlordship and, after the Maratha wars, submitted to the British in 1818. In 1947, the Rajput states formed the state of Rajasthan within the Indian Union.
A Rajput is a member of one of the major Hindu Kshatriya (warrior) groups of India. They enjoy a reputation as soldiers; many of them serve in the Indian Armed Forces, while persons of Rajput ancestry also serve in the Pakistani Armed Forces. During the British Raj, the Government accepted them and recruited them heavily into their armies. Current-day Rajasthan is home to most of the Rajputs, although demographically the Rajput population and the former Rajput states are found spread through much the subcontinent, particularly in North India and central India.
Rajputs rose to prominence during the 9th to 11th centuries. The four Agnivanshi clans, namely the Pratiharas (Pariharas), Solankis (Chaulukyas), Paramaras (Parmars), and Chauhans (Chahamanas) rose to prominence first. Rajputs ruled more than four hundred of the estimated six hundred princely states at the time of India's independence in 1947. Rajputs ruled 81 of out the 121 Salute states extant at the time of independence.
A Rajput (from Sanskrit raja-putra, “son of a king”) is any of about 12 million landowners organized in patrilineal clans and located mainly in central and northern India, especially in former Rajputana (“Land of the Rajputs”). The Rajputs regard themselves as descendants or members of the Kshatriya (warrior ruling) class, but they actually vary greatly in status, from princely lineages, such as the Guhilot and Kachwaha, to simple cultivators. Most authorities agree that successful claims to Rajput status frequently were made by groups that attained secular power; invaders from central Asia as well as patrician lines of indigenous tribal peoples were probably absorbed in this way. There are numbers of Muslim Rajputs in the northwest, and Rajputs generally have adopted the custom of purdah (seclusion of women). Their ethos includes an intense pride in ancestry and a mettlesome regard for personal honor. They seek hypergamous marriages (i.e., the bride marrying into a social group higher than her own).
The Rajputs’ origins seem to date from a great breakup of Indian society in northern and northwestern India under the impact of the Hephthalites (White Huns) and associated tribes from the mid-5th century of the Christian calendar onward. Following the breakup of the Gupta empire (late 6th century), invading groups were probably integrated within the existing society, with the present pattern of northwestern Indian society being the result. Tribal leaders and nobles were accepted as Kshatriyas, the second order of the Hindus, while their followers entered the fourth (Sudra, or cultivating) order to form the basis of tribal castes, such as the Jats, the Gujars, and the Ahirs. Some of the invaders’ priests became Brahmans (the highest-ranking caste). Some indigenous tribes also attained Rajput status, such as the Rathors of Rajasthan and the Chandelas, Paramaras, and Bundelas of central India. Rajput ancestry can be divided between Suryavanshi (“House of the Sun,” or Solar people), or those descended from Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana; and Chandravanshi (“House of the Moon,” or Lunar people), or those descended from Krishna, the hero of the epic Mahabharata. A third group, Agnikula (“Family of the Fire God”), is the group from which the Rajputs derive their claim to be Kshatriyas. Rajput habits of eating meat (except beef) and other traits suggest both foreign and aboriginal origins.
The Rajputs emerged into political importance in the 9th and 10th centuries. From about 800, Rajput dynasties dominated northern India, and the many petty Rajput kingdoms there were among the main obstacles to the complete Muslim domination of Hindu India. After the Muslim conquest of the eastern Punjab and the Ganges (Ganga) River valley, the Rajputs maintained their independence in the fastnesses of Rajasthan and the forests of central India. Sultan ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Khaljī of Delhi (reigned 1296–1316) took the two great Rajput forts of Chitor and Ranthambhor in eastern Rajasthan but could not hold them. The Rajput state of Mewar under Rana Sanga made a bid for supremacy but was defeated by the Mughal emperor Bābur at Khanua (1527). Bābur’s grandson Akbar took the forts of Chitor and Ranthambhor (1568–69) and then made a settlement with all the Rajasthan princes except Mewar. Accepting Mughal overlordship, the princes were admitted to the court and the emperor’s privy council and were given governorships and commands of armies. Although damaged by the intolerance of the emperor Aurangzeb (reigned 1658–1707), this arrangement continued until the Mughal Empire itself collapsed in the 18th century. The Rajputs then fell victims to the Maratha chiefs until they accepted British suzerainty (1818) at the end of the last Maratha war. After independence (1947) the Rajput states in Rajasthan were merged to form the state of Rajasthan within the Indian union.
Ramadan-oghullari. Petty Anatolian dynasty of Turkmen origin. They ruled over southwestern Anatolia from 1379 to about 1600.
Ramada-zade Mehmed Pasha (Kucuk Nishanji) (d.1571). Ottoman historian. At the bidding of the Ottoman Sultan Sulayman II, he compiled a history of the Ottoman Empire down to 1561. It became one of the most widely used handbooks of Ottoman history.
Kucuk Nishanji see Ramada-zade Mehmed Pasha
Nishanji, Kucuk see Ramada-zade Mehmed Pasha
Ramadi, Abu ‘Umar Yusuf al- (Abu ‘Umar Yusuf al-Ramadi) (d.1013). Poet from Cordoba. His life was dominated by his attachment to Abu ‘Ali al-Qali, by his devotion to the cause of the chamberlain Abu’l-Hasan al-Mushafi, and by his love of Khalwa.
Abu ‘Umar Yusuf al-Ramadi see Ramadi, Abu ‘Umar Yusuf al-
Rami, Hasan ibn Muhammad al- (Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Rami). Persian stylist of the fourteenth century. He wrote a treatise on the most common poetical figures for describing the different parts of the human body.
Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Rami see Rami, Hasan ibn Muhammad al-
Rami Mehmed Pasha (1654-1707). Ottoman Grand Vizier and poet. He was one of the plenipotentiaries at Carlowicz.
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