Mustafa
Mustafa. Name of several princes belonging to the Ottoman dynasty. Among them may be mentioned Mustafa Celebi (d. 1422 or 1430), Duzme, the eldest son of Sultan Bayezid I and counter-sultan or pretender; Mustafa Celebi (d. 1423), Kucuk Mustafa, son of Sultan Muhammad I and counter-sultan; and Mustafa (1515-1553), son of Suleyman II, who was executed at the orders of his father.
Mustafa. Name of several princes belonging to the Ottoman dynasty. Among them may be mentioned Mustafa Celebi (d. 1422 or 1430), Duzme, the eldest son of Sultan Bayezid I and counter-sultan or pretender; Mustafa Celebi (d. 1423), Kucuk Mustafa, son of Sultan Muhammad I and counter-sultan; and Mustafa (1515-1553), son of Suleyman II, who was executed at the orders of his father.
Mustafa I
Mustafa I (Mustafa I Deli) (b. 1591/1592 in Manisa Palace – d. January 20, 1639 at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul). Ottoman sultan twice (r.1617-1618 and 1622-1623).
Mustafa was born in Manisa in what is today Turkey. In 1617, Mustafa was instated as sultan, but was unable to take personal control of the empire.
In 1618, Mustafa was removed from power, and the young but apt Osman II took over.
On May 19, 1622, afraid for their own position, the Janissaries had Osman removed and soon killed. With solely their own interests in mind, they put Mustafa back in the position of sultan and formal ruler.
In 1623, Mustafa did not remain in power long, and was removed for a second time. He was replaced by the eleven year old Murad IV.
On January 20, 1639, Mustafa died in Istanbul.
Mustafa I Deli, the son of Mehmed III, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1617 to 1618 and from 1622 to 1623. His mother was Valide Sultan Handan Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Helena.
The brother of Ahmed I (1603–17), who died because of typhus at a young age, Mustafa I was reported to be mentally retarded or at least neurotic and was never more than a tool of court cliques at the Topkapı Palace. During the reign of his brother, he was confined to his room in virtual imprisonment, a system called Kafes, for fourteen years.
In 1618, after a short rule, he was deposed in favor of his young nephew Osman II (1618–22) and was sent back to Kafes. The conflict between the Janissaries and Osman II presented him with a second chance. After the assassination of Osman II in 1622 by Janisaries, he was placed back on the throne and held it for another year. He had the participants in the coup against Osman II executed and believed that Osman II was still alive. He was seen searching for him throughout the palace, knocking on doors and crying out to his nephew to relieve him from the burden of sovereignty. His inability to rule led to deposition and confinement by Osman II's younger half-brother, Murad IV (1623–40). He died sixteen years later.
Mustafa I Deli see Mustafa I
Mustafa I (Mustafa I Deli) (b. 1591/1592 in Manisa Palace – d. January 20, 1639 at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul). Ottoman sultan twice (r.1617-1618 and 1622-1623).
Mustafa was born in Manisa in what is today Turkey. In 1617, Mustafa was instated as sultan, but was unable to take personal control of the empire.
In 1618, Mustafa was removed from power, and the young but apt Osman II took over.
On May 19, 1622, afraid for their own position, the Janissaries had Osman removed and soon killed. With solely their own interests in mind, they put Mustafa back in the position of sultan and formal ruler.
In 1623, Mustafa did not remain in power long, and was removed for a second time. He was replaced by the eleven year old Murad IV.
On January 20, 1639, Mustafa died in Istanbul.
Mustafa I Deli, the son of Mehmed III, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1617 to 1618 and from 1622 to 1623. His mother was Valide Sultan Handan Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Helena.
The brother of Ahmed I (1603–17), who died because of typhus at a young age, Mustafa I was reported to be mentally retarded or at least neurotic and was never more than a tool of court cliques at the Topkapı Palace. During the reign of his brother, he was confined to his room in virtual imprisonment, a system called Kafes, for fourteen years.
In 1618, after a short rule, he was deposed in favor of his young nephew Osman II (1618–22) and was sent back to Kafes. The conflict between the Janissaries and Osman II presented him with a second chance. After the assassination of Osman II in 1622 by Janisaries, he was placed back on the throne and held it for another year. He had the participants in the coup against Osman II executed and believed that Osman II was still alive. He was seen searching for him throughout the palace, knocking on doors and crying out to his nephew to relieve him from the burden of sovereignty. His inability to rule led to deposition and confinement by Osman II's younger half-brother, Murad IV (1623–40). He died sixteen years later.
Mustafa I Deli see Mustafa I
Mustafa II
Mustafa II (Mustafa II Ghazi) (Muṣṭafā-yi sānī) (February 6/June 5, 1664 – December 28/30, 1703). Ottoman sultan (r.1695-1703). In 1699, peace was concluded with Austria, Poland and Venice at Carlowicz. The sultan abdicated in 1703 and died in the same year. Under him, the imperial cipher (in Turkish, tughra) appeared for the first time on the Ottoman coins.
Mustafa II Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. He was born at Edirne Palace a son of sultan Mehmed IV (1648–87) and his mother Valide Sultan Mah-Para Ummatullah Rabia Gül-Nush, originally named Evemia, who was of Greek Cretan descent. Mustafa II abdicated in favor of his brother Ahmed III (1703–30) in 1703.
The most traumatic event of his reign was the loss of Hungary by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. This event marked the beginning of the long decline of the Ottoman Empire.
At the end of his reign, Mustafa II sought to restore power to the Sultanate, which had been an increasingly symbolic position since the middle of the 17th century, when Mehmed IV had signed over his executive powers to the Grand Vizier. Mustafa II's strategy was to create an alternative base of power for himself by making the position of timars, the Ottoman cavalrymen, hereditary and thus loyal to him. The timars, however, were at this point increasingly an obsolete part of the Ottoman military machine.
The strategem (called the "Edirne event" by historians) failed, and Mustafa II was deposed in the same year, 1703. He died at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
He married twice, to Valide Sultan Saliha Sabkati, mother of Mahmud I, and to Valide Sultan Shehsuvar, mother of Osman III.
Mustafa II Ghazi see Mustafa II
Mustafa-yi sani see Mustafa II
Mustafa II (Mustafa II Ghazi) (Muṣṭafā-yi sānī) (February 6/June 5, 1664 – December 28/30, 1703). Ottoman sultan (r.1695-1703). In 1699, peace was concluded with Austria, Poland and Venice at Carlowicz. The sultan abdicated in 1703 and died in the same year. Under him, the imperial cipher (in Turkish, tughra) appeared for the first time on the Ottoman coins.
Mustafa II Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. He was born at Edirne Palace a son of sultan Mehmed IV (1648–87) and his mother Valide Sultan Mah-Para Ummatullah Rabia Gül-Nush, originally named Evemia, who was of Greek Cretan descent. Mustafa II abdicated in favor of his brother Ahmed III (1703–30) in 1703.
The most traumatic event of his reign was the loss of Hungary by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. This event marked the beginning of the long decline of the Ottoman Empire.
At the end of his reign, Mustafa II sought to restore power to the Sultanate, which had been an increasingly symbolic position since the middle of the 17th century, when Mehmed IV had signed over his executive powers to the Grand Vizier. Mustafa II's strategy was to create an alternative base of power for himself by making the position of timars, the Ottoman cavalrymen, hereditary and thus loyal to him. The timars, however, were at this point increasingly an obsolete part of the Ottoman military machine.
The strategem (called the "Edirne event" by historians) failed, and Mustafa II was deposed in the same year, 1703. He died at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
He married twice, to Valide Sultan Saliha Sabkati, mother of Mahmud I, and to Valide Sultan Shehsuvar, mother of Osman III.
Mustafa II Ghazi see Mustafa II
Mustafa-yi sani see Mustafa II
Mustafa III
Mustafa III (Muṣṭafā-yi sālis) (January 18/28, 1717 – January 21, 1774) . Ottoman sultan (r.1757-1774). In 1768, a disastrous war with Russia broke out. Mustafa III is praised in the Turkish sources as a good ruler.
Mustafa III was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30) and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774–89). He was born in Edirne. His mother was Valide Sultan Amina Mihr-i Shah.
An energetic and perceptive ruler, Mustafa III sought to modernize the army and the internal state machinery to bring his empire in line with the Powers of Europe.
Unfortunately, the Ottoman state had declined so far that any general attempts at modernization were too little too late, while any major plans to change the administrative status quo immediately roused the conservative Janissaries and imams to the point of rebellion. Mustafa III did secure the services of foreign generals to initiate a reform of the infantry and artillery. The Sultan also ordered the founding of Academies for Mathematics, Navigation and the Sciences.
Well aware of his own military weakness, Mustafa III assiduously avoided war and was powerless to prevent the annexation of the Crimea by Catherine II of Russia (1762–96). However this action, combined with further Russian aggression in Poland compelled Mustafa III to declare war on Russia shortly before his death.
He died at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
Mustafa married Valide Sultan Mihr-i shah (originally from Genoa), and had two sons: Selim, son of Mihr-i shah, and Mohammed. He also had five daughters.
Mustafa-yi salis see Mustafa III
Mustafa III (Muṣṭafā-yi sālis) (January 18/28, 1717 – January 21, 1774) . Ottoman sultan (r.1757-1774). In 1768, a disastrous war with Russia broke out. Mustafa III is praised in the Turkish sources as a good ruler.
Mustafa III was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30) and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774–89). He was born in Edirne. His mother was Valide Sultan Amina Mihr-i Shah.
An energetic and perceptive ruler, Mustafa III sought to modernize the army and the internal state machinery to bring his empire in line with the Powers of Europe.
Unfortunately, the Ottoman state had declined so far that any general attempts at modernization were too little too late, while any major plans to change the administrative status quo immediately roused the conservative Janissaries and imams to the point of rebellion. Mustafa III did secure the services of foreign generals to initiate a reform of the infantry and artillery. The Sultan also ordered the founding of Academies for Mathematics, Navigation and the Sciences.
Well aware of his own military weakness, Mustafa III assiduously avoided war and was powerless to prevent the annexation of the Crimea by Catherine II of Russia (1762–96). However this action, combined with further Russian aggression in Poland compelled Mustafa III to declare war on Russia shortly before his death.
He died at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
Mustafa married Valide Sultan Mihr-i shah (originally from Genoa), and had two sons: Selim, son of Mihr-i shah, and Mohammed. He also had five daughters.
Mustafa-yi salis see Mustafa III
Mustafa ‘Abd al-Raziq
Mustafa ‘Abd al-Raziq (1882-1946). Egyptian journalist who became Rector of al-Azhar. He was a disciple of Muhammad ‘Abduh.
Raziq, Mustafa 'Abd al- see Mustafa ‘Abd al-Raziq
Mustafa ‘Abd al-Raziq (1882-1946). Egyptian journalist who became Rector of al-Azhar. He was a disciple of Muhammad ‘Abduh.
Raziq, Mustafa 'Abd al- see Mustafa ‘Abd al-Raziq
Mustafa ‘Ali
Mustafa ‘Ali (Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî bin Ahmed bin Abdülmevlâ Çelebi</I) (b. 1541, Gallipoli - d. 1600 in Jeddah). One of the most outstanding representatives of Turkish literature of the sixteenth century. He owes his fame to a history of Islam, extremely valuable for the century in which he lived. Mustafa 'Ali was an Ottoman historian and bureaucrat of Croatian ancestry. He also wrote poetry and essays on religious and other subjects.
'Ali, Mustafa see Mustafa ‘Ali
Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî bin Ahmed bin Abdülmevlâ Çelebi see Mustafa ‘Ali
Mustafa ‘Ali (Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî bin Ahmed bin Abdülmevlâ Çelebi</I) (b. 1541, Gallipoli - d. 1600 in Jeddah). One of the most outstanding representatives of Turkish literature of the sixteenth century. He owes his fame to a history of Islam, extremely valuable for the century in which he lived. Mustafa 'Ali was an Ottoman historian and bureaucrat of Croatian ancestry. He also wrote poetry and essays on religious and other subjects.
'Ali, Mustafa see Mustafa ‘Ali
Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî bin Ahmed bin Abdülmevlâ Çelebi see Mustafa ‘Ali
Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mustafa Barzani, Mulla (Mulla Mustafa Barzani) (Mustafa Barzani) (Mistefa Barzani) (Muṣṭafa al-Barzānī) (b. March 14, 1903, Barzān, Iraq — d. March 1, 1979, Washington, D.C., United States). Kurdish leader from Iraq. His father, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Salam was hanged in Mosul in 1915 for his defiance of the Ottoman state, and his brother Shaykh Ahmad was defeated by the Iraqi army with the help of the British Royal Air Force. In 1943, Mulla Mustafa raised a revolt in northern Iraq but was expelled into Persia, where the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) had been founded in Mahabad. In 1947, he was chased back into Iraq and escaped to the Soviet Union where he stayed until 1948. During his absence, the KPD was led by Ibrahim Ahmad, under whom it gradually developed into a political as distinct from a nationalist party, which led to a rift in the Kurdish movement in later years. After the Revolution of 1958, ‘Abd al-Karim Qasim invited Mulla Mustafa back to Iraq, but by 1961 relations with the government had greatly deteriorated and fighting began. In 1970, a Manifesto for Kurdish autonomy was announced, but by 1973 Mulla Mustafa had come to the conclusion that the Ba‘th government of Iraq did not have any serious intention of implementing it. He had resumed his relations with Persia and began a serious dialogue with the United States. In 1975, Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran signed the Algiers Agreement, which effectively ended Iranian support to the Kurds. Mulla Mustafa went into exile in Tehran, and eventually died in the United States. The leadership of the KPD passed to his son Mas‘ud. A new movement, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, was formed by Jalal Talabani.
Muṣṭafa al-Barzānī was the Kurdish military leader who for 50 years strove to create an independent nation for the millions of Kurds living on the borders of Iran, Iraq, and the Soviet Union.
The son of a landlord, Barzānī succeeded his elder brother, Shaykh Ahmad (Sheikh Ahmed), who led the Kurdish national struggle from World War I until the late 1930s. In 1946 Barzānī emerged as commander of the army of the short-lived Kurdish Mahabad Republic, which had been established with Soviet aid in northwestern Iran. After the Soviet forces withdrew in 1947, the republic was overrun by Iran’s army, and Barzānī took refuge in Soviet Azerbaijan, where he remained until he was allowed to return to Iraq after that country’s 1958 revolution. Barzānī rejected the Iraqi government’s subsequent offer of autonomy for the Kurdish area in northern Iraq, and in 1960 he escaped to the mountains and started a guerrilla war against the Iraqi forces. After 10 years of intermittent fighting, a cease-fire agreement was reached followed by a general amnesty for the insurgent Kurds, and in 1974 a law defining the Kurdish autonomous region was promulgated by Iraq. Barzānī found this compromise unacceptable and ordered his Pesh Merga (“Forward to Death”) Kurdish forces to resume fighting, this time with considerable support from Iran. When Iranian support ended in 1975, the Kurdish guerrillas were overrun by the Iraqi forces. Barzānī took up residence in Tehrān but then requested asylum in the United States. He went into exile in the United States, and died on March 1, 1979, in Georgetown Hospital in Washington, DC. He was buried just west of Mahabad, in Iranian Kurdistan.
In October, 1993, Barzani's remains were brought across the border from Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan, to be reburied in the land he fought for.
Barzani's son, Massoud Barzani, is the current leader of the KDP and was re-elected as the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region by the Parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan in July 2009.
Barzani was the primary political and military leader of the Kurdish revolution until his death in March 1979. He led campaigns of armed struggle against both the Iraqi and Iranian governments. His family now dictates Iraqi Kurdistan and have been in power for more than 50 years.
Mulla Mustafa Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Barzani, Mulla Mustafa see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mustafa Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mistefa Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mustafa al-Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Barzani, Mistefa see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mustafa Barzani, Mulla (Mulla Mustafa Barzani) (Mustafa Barzani) (Mistefa Barzani) (Muṣṭafa al-Barzānī) (b. March 14, 1903, Barzān, Iraq — d. March 1, 1979, Washington, D.C., United States). Kurdish leader from Iraq. His father, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Salam was hanged in Mosul in 1915 for his defiance of the Ottoman state, and his brother Shaykh Ahmad was defeated by the Iraqi army with the help of the British Royal Air Force. In 1943, Mulla Mustafa raised a revolt in northern Iraq but was expelled into Persia, where the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) had been founded in Mahabad. In 1947, he was chased back into Iraq and escaped to the Soviet Union where he stayed until 1948. During his absence, the KPD was led by Ibrahim Ahmad, under whom it gradually developed into a political as distinct from a nationalist party, which led to a rift in the Kurdish movement in later years. After the Revolution of 1958, ‘Abd al-Karim Qasim invited Mulla Mustafa back to Iraq, but by 1961 relations with the government had greatly deteriorated and fighting began. In 1970, a Manifesto for Kurdish autonomy was announced, but by 1973 Mulla Mustafa had come to the conclusion that the Ba‘th government of Iraq did not have any serious intention of implementing it. He had resumed his relations with Persia and began a serious dialogue with the United States. In 1975, Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran signed the Algiers Agreement, which effectively ended Iranian support to the Kurds. Mulla Mustafa went into exile in Tehran, and eventually died in the United States. The leadership of the KPD passed to his son Mas‘ud. A new movement, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, was formed by Jalal Talabani.
Muṣṭafa al-Barzānī was the Kurdish military leader who for 50 years strove to create an independent nation for the millions of Kurds living on the borders of Iran, Iraq, and the Soviet Union.
The son of a landlord, Barzānī succeeded his elder brother, Shaykh Ahmad (Sheikh Ahmed), who led the Kurdish national struggle from World War I until the late 1930s. In 1946 Barzānī emerged as commander of the army of the short-lived Kurdish Mahabad Republic, which had been established with Soviet aid in northwestern Iran. After the Soviet forces withdrew in 1947, the republic was overrun by Iran’s army, and Barzānī took refuge in Soviet Azerbaijan, where he remained until he was allowed to return to Iraq after that country’s 1958 revolution. Barzānī rejected the Iraqi government’s subsequent offer of autonomy for the Kurdish area in northern Iraq, and in 1960 he escaped to the mountains and started a guerrilla war against the Iraqi forces. After 10 years of intermittent fighting, a cease-fire agreement was reached followed by a general amnesty for the insurgent Kurds, and in 1974 a law defining the Kurdish autonomous region was promulgated by Iraq. Barzānī found this compromise unacceptable and ordered his Pesh Merga (“Forward to Death”) Kurdish forces to resume fighting, this time with considerable support from Iran. When Iranian support ended in 1975, the Kurdish guerrillas were overrun by the Iraqi forces. Barzānī took up residence in Tehrān but then requested asylum in the United States. He went into exile in the United States, and died on March 1, 1979, in Georgetown Hospital in Washington, DC. He was buried just west of Mahabad, in Iranian Kurdistan.
In October, 1993, Barzani's remains were brought across the border from Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan, to be reburied in the land he fought for.
Barzani's son, Massoud Barzani, is the current leader of the KDP and was re-elected as the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region by the Parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan in July 2009.
Barzani was the primary political and military leader of the Kurdish revolution until his death in March 1979. He led campaigns of armed struggle against both the Iraqi and Iranian governments. His family now dictates Iraqi Kurdistan and have been in power for more than 50 years.
Mulla Mustafa Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Barzani, Mulla Mustafa see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mustafa Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mistefa Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mustafa al-Barzani see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Barzani, Mistefa see Mustafa Barzani, Mulla
Mustafa Kamil Pasha
Mustafa Kamil Pasha (b. August 14, 1874, Cairo, Egypt – d. February 10, 1908, Cairo, Egypt) (1874-1908). Leader of the second nationalist movement in Egypt. In 1894, he founded the second Egyptian nationalist party, the first being that of ‘Urabi Pasha who had been defeated by the British in 1882. The object was to induce Britain by appeals to justice to abandon the occupation and restore the complete independence of Egypt.
Muṣṭafā Kāmil Pasha was an Egyptian journalist and political figure. The son of an Egyptian army officer, Mustafa Kamil was trained as a lawyer at the French law school in Cairo and the Law Faculty at the University of Toulouse in France. He began his career as an Egyptian nationalist by collaborating with the French, the Ottoman sultan, and Khedive Abbas Hilmi II. As he matured, however, he gradually grew more independent of outside backers and appealed mainly to the Egyptian people to demand the withdrawal of the British army of occupation from Egypt. He also called on Khedive Abbas to grant constitutional government to his subjects.
He was strongly backed by one of Egypt's nobles "Pasha" Mohammad Farid, who spent his last penny on the Egyptian independence case even after Mustafa's death - as he became the leader of the National Party - and he was the one who made it possible for Kamil to visit France and Britain.
In 1900, Kamil founded the newspaper Al-Liwa' ("The Standard") as a platform for his views and utilized his skill as both a journalist and lawyer. He also founded a boys' school open to Egyptian Muslims, Christians, and Jews. His cause was aided by an atrocity known as the Dinshaway Incident (June 1906), in which four peasants were hastily tried and hanged for having assaulted uniformed British officers who were shooting pigeons in their village. He founded the National Party in December 1907, two months before his death. His funeral was the occasion for a massive demonstration of popular grief. He is remembered as a fervent patriot and an articulate advocate of Egyptian independence.
The mausoleum of Mustafa Kamil built in 1949-53 close to the Citadel of Cairo in neo-Mameluke style is now open to the public as a museum and holds in a side room a display of memorabilia related to him.
Two historical footnotes associated with Mustafa Kamil are:
- The current Egyptian national anthem (Bilady) is thought to have been inspired by one of Mustafa Kamil's speeches.
- "If I weren't an Egyptian, I would have wished to be an Egyptian," one of most famous quotes in Egyptian modern history, was said by Mustafa Kamil.
Kamil, Mustafa see Mustafa Kamil Pasha
Mustafa Kamil Pasha (b. August 14, 1874, Cairo, Egypt – d. February 10, 1908, Cairo, Egypt) (1874-1908). Leader of the second nationalist movement in Egypt. In 1894, he founded the second Egyptian nationalist party, the first being that of ‘Urabi Pasha who had been defeated by the British in 1882. The object was to induce Britain by appeals to justice to abandon the occupation and restore the complete independence of Egypt.
Muṣṭafā Kāmil Pasha was an Egyptian journalist and political figure. The son of an Egyptian army officer, Mustafa Kamil was trained as a lawyer at the French law school in Cairo and the Law Faculty at the University of Toulouse in France. He began his career as an Egyptian nationalist by collaborating with the French, the Ottoman sultan, and Khedive Abbas Hilmi II. As he matured, however, he gradually grew more independent of outside backers and appealed mainly to the Egyptian people to demand the withdrawal of the British army of occupation from Egypt. He also called on Khedive Abbas to grant constitutional government to his subjects.
He was strongly backed by one of Egypt's nobles "Pasha" Mohammad Farid, who spent his last penny on the Egyptian independence case even after Mustafa's death - as he became the leader of the National Party - and he was the one who made it possible for Kamil to visit France and Britain.
In 1900, Kamil founded the newspaper Al-Liwa' ("The Standard") as a platform for his views and utilized his skill as both a journalist and lawyer. He also founded a boys' school open to Egyptian Muslims, Christians, and Jews. His cause was aided by an atrocity known as the Dinshaway Incident (June 1906), in which four peasants were hastily tried and hanged for having assaulted uniformed British officers who were shooting pigeons in their village. He founded the National Party in December 1907, two months before his death. His funeral was the occasion for a massive demonstration of popular grief. He is remembered as a fervent patriot and an articulate advocate of Egyptian independence.
The mausoleum of Mustafa Kamil built in 1949-53 close to the Citadel of Cairo in neo-Mameluke style is now open to the public as a museum and holds in a side room a display of memorabilia related to him.
Two historical footnotes associated with Mustafa Kamil are:
- The current Egyptian national anthem (Bilady) is thought to have been inspired by one of Mustafa Kamil's speeches.
- "If I weren't an Egyptian, I would have wished to be an Egyptian," one of most famous quotes in Egyptian modern history, was said by Mustafa Kamil.
Kamil, Mustafa see Mustafa Kamil Pasha
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. See Ataturk.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. See Ataturk.
Mustafa Khayri Efendi, Urguplu
Mustafa Khayri Efendi, Urguplu (Urguplu Mustafa Khayri Efendi) (Hayri Ürgüplü Mustafa Efendi) (1867-1921). Shaykh al-Islam of the Ottoman Empire. In 1914, he issued the ill-famed fatwa sanctioning the “Great Holy War” against Russia, Great Britain, France and their allies.
Urguplu Mustafa Khayri Efendi see Mustafa Khayri Efendi, Urguplu
Hayri Ürgüplü Mustafa Efendi see Mustafa Khayri Efendi, Urguplu
Mustafa Khayri Efendi, Urguplu (Urguplu Mustafa Khayri Efendi) (Hayri Ürgüplü Mustafa Efendi) (1867-1921). Shaykh al-Islam of the Ottoman Empire. In 1914, he issued the ill-famed fatwa sanctioning the “Great Holy War” against Russia, Great Britain, France and their allies.
Urguplu Mustafa Khayri Efendi see Mustafa Khayri Efendi, Urguplu
Hayri Ürgüplü Mustafa Efendi see Mustafa Khayri Efendi, Urguplu
Mustafa Khaznadar
Mustafa Khaznadar (Mustapha Khaznadar) (Georgios Kalkias Stravelakis) (1817-1878). Tunisian official. He was successively Prime Minister to three Beys: Ahmad (r. 1837-1855); Muhammad (r. 1855-1859); and Muhammad al-Sadiq (r. 1859-1873).
Mustapha Khaznadar was Prime Minister of the Beylik of Tunis from 1837 to 1873. He was one of the most influential people in modern Tunisian history.
Mustapha Khaznadar was born of Greek ancestry as Georgios Kalkias Stravelakis on the island of Chios in 1817. In January 1822, the Greeks of Chios declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman sultan soon sent an army of ten thousand to the island of Chios, where roughly twenty thousand Greek inhabitants were massacred and many women and children were taken into slavery. During the Chios massacre, Georgios's father Stephanis Kalkias Stravelakis was killed, Georgios along with his brother Yannis were captured and sold into slavery by the Ottomans. He was then taken to Smyrna and then Constantinople, where he was sold as a slave to an envoy of the Husainid Dynasty who were Beys of Tunis and originally of Greek origin.
Stravelakis converted to Islam and took the name Mustafa and was raised in the family by Mustapha Bey, then by his son Ahmad I Bey while he was still crown prince. Initially, he worked as the prince's private treasurer before becoming Ahmad I Bey's treasurer (khaznadar). He managed to climb to the highest offices of the Tunisian state and married Princess Lalla Kalthoum in 1839; was promoted to lieutenant-general of the army; made bey in 1840; and then president of the Grand Council from 1862 to 1878. In 1864, Mustapha Khaznadar, then Prime Minister, attempted to squeeze more taxes out of the Tunisian peasants, the countryside rebelled and rose in a revolt nearly overthrowing the regime. However, the government was swift to act and ultimately suppressed the uprising through a combination of brutality and guile. Mustafa Khaznadar retained memories of his Greek origin and contact with his native Greece, even sending ten thousand riyals from the state treasury to pay for his two Greek nephews who he was educating in Paris. Khaznadar died in 1878 and is buried in a mausoleum at Tourbet El Bey, in the heart of the Medina of Tunis.
Khaznadar, Mustafa see Mustafa Khaznadar
Mustapha Khaznadar see Mustafa Khaznadar
Khaznadar, Mustapha see Mustafa Khaznadar
Georgios Kalkias Stravelakis see Mustafa Khaznadar
Stravelakis, Georgios Kalkias see Mustafa Khaznadar
Stravelakis converted to Islam and took the name Mustafa and was raised in the family by Mustapha Bey, then by his son Ahmad I Bey while he was still crown prince. Initially, he worked as the prince's private treasurer before becoming Ahmad I Bey's treasurer (khaznadar). He managed to climb to the highest offices of the Tunisian state and married Princess Lalla Kalthoum in 1839; was promoted to lieutenant-general of the army; made bey in 1840; and then president of the Grand Council from 1862 to 1878. In 1864, Mustapha Khaznadar, then Prime Minister, attempted to squeeze more taxes out of the Tunisian peasants, the countryside rebelled and rose in a revolt nearly overthrowing the regime. However, the government was swift to act and ultimately suppressed the uprising through a combination of brutality and guile. Mustafa Khaznadar retained memories of his Greek origin and contact with his native Greece, even sending ten thousand riyals from the state treasury to pay for his two Greek nephews who he was educating in Paris. Khaznadar died in 1878 and is buried in a mausoleum at Tourbet El Bey, in the heart of the Medina of Tunis.
Khaznadar, Mustafa see Mustafa Khaznadar
Mustapha Khaznadar see Mustafa Khaznadar
Khaznadar, Mustapha see Mustafa Khaznadar
Georgios Kalkias Stravelakis see Mustafa Khaznadar
Stravelakis, Georgios Kalkias see Mustafa Khaznadar
Mustafa Pasha al-Nashshar
Mustafa Pasha al-Nashshar. Ottoman governor of Yemen (1540-1545 and 1551-1555). In 1542, he supplied troops and weapons to Ahmad Gran in Abyssinia. He is known for having instituted the first annual pilgrims’ caravan to Mecca from Ottoman Yemen.
Nashshar, Mustafa Pasha al- see Mustafa Pasha al-Nashshar.
Mustafa Pasha al-Nashshar. Ottoman governor of Yemen (1540-1545 and 1551-1555). In 1542, he supplied troops and weapons to Ahmad Gran in Abyssinia. He is known for having instituted the first annual pilgrims’ caravan to Mecca from Ottoman Yemen.
Nashshar, Mustafa Pasha al- see Mustafa Pasha al-Nashshar.
Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar (‘Alemdar) (Bayraqdar Mustafa Pasha) (Bayrakdar Mustafa Pasha) (Alemdar Mustafa Pasha) (Bairaktar Mustafa Pasha) (1765-1808). Ottoman Grand Vizier. He revived aspects of the modernization program envisaged by Sultan Selim III.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman military commander and a Grand Vizier born in Khotyn in Turkish-occupied Ukraine in 1765. Both alemdar and bairaktar mean "the standard bearer" and were the names given to the same rank in the Janissary corps.
He was originally the ayan (provincial notable) of Rusçuk, and one of the strongest ayans of his time. The deposition of the reformer Sultan Selim III in 1807, and his replacement with the reactionary Mustafa IV by the Janissaries and other opponents of reform, provoked Alemdar Mustafa Pasha to lead his army of Albanians and Bosnians to Istanbul in an attempt to reinstate Selim III and restore his reforms. After he arrived, Mustafa IV ordered Selim III and Mahmud II to be killed, he succeeded in getting the former killed. Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, seeing Selim III dead, showed fealty to Mahmud II (Selim's cousin), and he was instated the sultan, with Alemdar as his Grand Vizier. As vizier, Bayrakdar purged the soldiers who had rebelled against Selim, removed conservatives from governmental positions and replaced them with men sympathetic to reform. Bayrakdar modernized the army and navy and attempted to reform the Janissaries, but Mahmud, fearing a political backlash of the elite corps, halted such change. Bayrakdar's power and influence and his arrogance wielding it caused a rebellion against his position. In November 1808, the Janissairies attacked the Porte and laid siege to the stone powder magazine where he and his personal guard had taken refuge. As the Janissaries were about to break in the powder barrels exploded, killing Bayrakdar, his guard, and several hundred Janissaries. It is uncertain if the explosion was an accident or intentionally set off by Bayrakdar.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha rose through the Janissary corps. After having been promoted to commandership, he took part in the wars against Austria and Russian Empire.
In 1808, when the Sultan Mustafa IV ascended the throne with the help of the reactionaries who opposed the reform efforts undertook by Selim III, and the deposed Selim III was imprisoned, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was the governor of the city of Rusçuk (today "Rousse") in Bulgaria.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha had always been a keen supporter of Sultan Selim III. With Mustafa IV on the throne and the reactionary rebels commanded by Kabakçı Mustafa in command of the Ottoman capital, Mustafa Pasha gathered a council in Rusçuk and the council decided to take action.
On June 21, 1808, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha and his army of about 15,000 men came to İstanbul. They easily took control of the situation and with the order of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, the rebels were killed or exiled.
When Mustafa IV learned of the events, he decided to have his uncle, Selim III, as well as his younger brother, Prince Mahmut, killed in order to remain the only member of the imperial family. The executioners arrived first in the room of Selim III in the palace. Selim III, who was playing reed flute and had no weapons, resisted with his flute, but his efforts proved futile and he was strangled. His dead body was brought in front of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, who began weeping, thinking that he had failed in all his objectives.
While he was weeping, his men warned him that Mustafa IV's men were going to kill Prince Mahmud as well. In fact, in those very moments, the executioners had raided the prince's room, the Prince was put to hiding on the roof by the servants. Alemdar Mustafa and his men arrived and broke the palace doors. They killed the rebels and eventually saved the prince.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha declared prince Mahmud the new sultan with the name Sultan Mahmud II, and he became his grand vizier.
However, differences of opinion soon emerged between the two. First of all, he made an agreement with the rebel representative from Anatolian lands, which was named “Sened-i Ittifak”("The Alliance Treaty"). Sultan Mahmud thought that his authority was limited with that agreement and he lifted his support of the Pasha.
Secondly, he re-established the army of Nizam-ı Cedid under a different name: Sekban-ı Jedid. Nizam-i Jedid army was an alternative to the corps of Janissaries, therefore the Janissaries were hateful against this army. Pasha's opting for another name can be explained as an effort not to anger Janissaries. Furthermore, he conducted an investigation among the Janissary corps and he fired the men who were not in fact Janissaries but were receiving Janissary salaries all the same.
His steps would eventually lay the ground for further reforms in the Ottoman Empire. But in the meantime, the ruling elites were resentful of the Pasha. On November 15, 1808, about a thousand Janissaries raided Alemdar Mustafa Pasha's house. Realizing he could not survive the assault, he ignited the gunpowder reserves that were in place in the cellar of his house, killing himself and approximately 400 Janissaries in the ensuing explosion. Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was buried in the courtyard of the Zeynep Sultan Mosque in Istanbul.
'Alemdar see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Bayraqdar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Bairaktar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Bayrakdar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar (‘Alemdar) (Bayraqdar Mustafa Pasha) (Bayrakdar Mustafa Pasha) (Alemdar Mustafa Pasha) (Bairaktar Mustafa Pasha) (1765-1808). Ottoman Grand Vizier. He revived aspects of the modernization program envisaged by Sultan Selim III.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman military commander and a Grand Vizier born in Khotyn in Turkish-occupied Ukraine in 1765. Both alemdar and bairaktar mean "the standard bearer" and were the names given to the same rank in the Janissary corps.
He was originally the ayan (provincial notable) of Rusçuk, and one of the strongest ayans of his time. The deposition of the reformer Sultan Selim III in 1807, and his replacement with the reactionary Mustafa IV by the Janissaries and other opponents of reform, provoked Alemdar Mustafa Pasha to lead his army of Albanians and Bosnians to Istanbul in an attempt to reinstate Selim III and restore his reforms. After he arrived, Mustafa IV ordered Selim III and Mahmud II to be killed, he succeeded in getting the former killed. Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, seeing Selim III dead, showed fealty to Mahmud II (Selim's cousin), and he was instated the sultan, with Alemdar as his Grand Vizier. As vizier, Bayrakdar purged the soldiers who had rebelled against Selim, removed conservatives from governmental positions and replaced them with men sympathetic to reform. Bayrakdar modernized the army and navy and attempted to reform the Janissaries, but Mahmud, fearing a political backlash of the elite corps, halted such change. Bayrakdar's power and influence and his arrogance wielding it caused a rebellion against his position. In November 1808, the Janissairies attacked the Porte and laid siege to the stone powder magazine where he and his personal guard had taken refuge. As the Janissaries were about to break in the powder barrels exploded, killing Bayrakdar, his guard, and several hundred Janissaries. It is uncertain if the explosion was an accident or intentionally set off by Bayrakdar.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha rose through the Janissary corps. After having been promoted to commandership, he took part in the wars against Austria and Russian Empire.
In 1808, when the Sultan Mustafa IV ascended the throne with the help of the reactionaries who opposed the reform efforts undertook by Selim III, and the deposed Selim III was imprisoned, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was the governor of the city of Rusçuk (today "Rousse") in Bulgaria.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha had always been a keen supporter of Sultan Selim III. With Mustafa IV on the throne and the reactionary rebels commanded by Kabakçı Mustafa in command of the Ottoman capital, Mustafa Pasha gathered a council in Rusçuk and the council decided to take action.
On June 21, 1808, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha and his army of about 15,000 men came to İstanbul. They easily took control of the situation and with the order of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, the rebels were killed or exiled.
When Mustafa IV learned of the events, he decided to have his uncle, Selim III, as well as his younger brother, Prince Mahmut, killed in order to remain the only member of the imperial family. The executioners arrived first in the room of Selim III in the palace. Selim III, who was playing reed flute and had no weapons, resisted with his flute, but his efforts proved futile and he was strangled. His dead body was brought in front of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, who began weeping, thinking that he had failed in all his objectives.
While he was weeping, his men warned him that Mustafa IV's men were going to kill Prince Mahmud as well. In fact, in those very moments, the executioners had raided the prince's room, the Prince was put to hiding on the roof by the servants. Alemdar Mustafa and his men arrived and broke the palace doors. They killed the rebels and eventually saved the prince.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha declared prince Mahmud the new sultan with the name Sultan Mahmud II, and he became his grand vizier.
However, differences of opinion soon emerged between the two. First of all, he made an agreement with the rebel representative from Anatolian lands, which was named “Sened-i Ittifak”("The Alliance Treaty"). Sultan Mahmud thought that his authority was limited with that agreement and he lifted his support of the Pasha.
Secondly, he re-established the army of Nizam-ı Cedid under a different name: Sekban-ı Jedid. Nizam-i Jedid army was an alternative to the corps of Janissaries, therefore the Janissaries were hateful against this army. Pasha's opting for another name can be explained as an effort not to anger Janissaries. Furthermore, he conducted an investigation among the Janissary corps and he fired the men who were not in fact Janissaries but were receiving Janissary salaries all the same.
His steps would eventually lay the ground for further reforms in the Ottoman Empire. But in the meantime, the ruling elites were resentful of the Pasha. On November 15, 1808, about a thousand Janissaries raided Alemdar Mustafa Pasha's house. Realizing he could not survive the assault, he ignited the gunpowder reserves that were in place in the cellar of his house, killing himself and approximately 400 Janissaries in the ensuing explosion. Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was buried in the courtyard of the Zeynep Sultan Mosque in Istanbul.
'Alemdar see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Bayraqdar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Bairaktar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Bayrakdar Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bayraqdar
Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli
Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli (Bushatli Mustafa Pasha) (Mustafa Bushati) (1797-1860). Ottoman statesman of Albanian origin. He rebelled against the Ottoman power, was defeated in 1831, but rejoined the administration from 1846 onwards.
Mustafa (Pasha) Bushati was an Ottoman Pasha and a noble of the Bushati family in Ottoman controlled Albania. He ruled the Pashalik of Shkodra from 1774 until 1778, when he was succeeded by Kara Mahmud Bushati.
Bushatli Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli
Mustafa Bushati see Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli
Bushati, Mustafa see Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli
Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli (Bushatli Mustafa Pasha) (Mustafa Bushati) (1797-1860). Ottoman statesman of Albanian origin. He rebelled against the Ottoman power, was defeated in 1831, but rejoined the administration from 1846 onwards.
Mustafa (Pasha) Bushati was an Ottoman Pasha and a noble of the Bushati family in Ottoman controlled Albania. He ruled the Pashalik of Shkodra from 1774 until 1778, when he was succeeded by Kara Mahmud Bushati.
Bushatli Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli
Mustafa Bushati see Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli
Bushati, Mustafa see Mustafa Pasha, Bushatli
Mustafa Pasha, Lala
Mustafa Pasha, Lala (Lala Mustafa Pasha) (Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha) (c.1500-1580). Ottoman commander. He conquered Cyprus in 1570-1571 and campaigned in Georgia in 1578.
Lala Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman Albanian general and statesman. He rose to the position of Beylerbey of Damascus and then to that of Fifth Vizier. He commanded the Ottoman land forces during the Siege of Malta in 1565, during the conquest of previously Venetian Cyprus in 1570/71, and in the campaign against Georgia in 1578. He later was (briefly) Grand Vizier from April 28 to August 7, 1580.
The honorific "Lala" means "tutor to the Sultan"; he had been tutor to the Sultan's sons. Mustafa was known for his cruelty towards vanquished opponents, a reputation that was amply borne out by his treatment of Marco Antonio Bragadin, the Venetian defender of Famagusta, whom he had skinned alive.
Lala Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Lala
Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Lala
Mustafa Pasha, Lala (Lala Mustafa Pasha) (Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha) (c.1500-1580). Ottoman commander. He conquered Cyprus in 1570-1571 and campaigned in Georgia in 1578.
Lala Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman Albanian general and statesman. He rose to the position of Beylerbey of Damascus and then to that of Fifth Vizier. He commanded the Ottoman land forces during the Siege of Malta in 1565, during the conquest of previously Venetian Cyprus in 1570/71, and in the campaign against Georgia in 1578. He later was (briefly) Grand Vizier from April 28 to August 7, 1580.
The honorific "Lala" means "tutor to the Sultan"; he had been tutor to the Sultan's sons. Mustafa was known for his cruelty towards vanquished opponents, a reputation that was amply borne out by his treatment of Marco Antonio Bragadin, the Venetian defender of Famagusta, whom he had skinned alive.
Lala Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Lala
Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha see Mustafa Pasha, Lala
Mustafa, Shukri
Mustafa, Shukri (Shukri Mustafa) (1942-1978). Egyptian Islamist militant who worked for the moral reformation of society. The Islamist movement in Egypt is characterized by internal divisions. The Muslim Brotherhood represents the more accommodationist groups who work to reform the system by working within it. Al-Jihad is the most famous of the anti-regime elements while al-Takfir wa al-Hijrah epitomizes the anti-society Muslim groups. The last was founded in the early 1970s by Shukri Mustafa, who defected from the Muslim Brotherhood in protest over that group’s willingness to work with the secular regime. Mustafa and his group sought, instead, to focus on the reform of society first before attempting to revolutionize the state system. Society was seen by Mustafa as corrupt, decadent, and sinful and thus in need of a moral reformation.
Al-Takfir wa al-Hijrah is not the real name of the organization, formally the Society of Muslims. This informal title was given to it by the state and the Egyptian press. It suggests the group’s tactics. Takfir means, in essence, to excommunicate the infidels from society. Hijrah means “flight” and evokes the prophet Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to Medina to abandon the immoral society in order to establish the new, faithful order. Here, it referes to the way in which this contemporary group separated itself from Egyptian society and formed a communal living arrangement, living in caves in Upper Egypt and cramped flats in Cairo.
Shukri Mustafa was born in 1942 in Asyut Province in Upper Egypt. He attended Asyut University’s Faculty of Agriculture and in 1965 was arrested for distributing Muslim Brotherhood leaflets on campus. First incarcerated in Tura prison, he was transferred to Abu Za’bal concentration camp in 1967. He was released from prison in 1971 as part of President Anwar el-Sadat’s general amnesty of many Islamists in Sadat’s quest to garner their support against his leftist opponents.
Mustafa to Asyut University to complete his studies. He also began to build his Society of Muslims by preaching throughout the province. Impressed by Sayyid Qutb’s Signposts on the Road, which declared the whole of Egyptian society as Jahiliyah (a state of infidelity, decadence, and ignorance as in pre-Islamic Arabia), Mustafa built his Society of Muslims by preaching that Egyptian society must be declared to be unfaithful to God and Muhammad’s teachings. This Society of Muslims (i.e., true believers) must then withdraw, take flight, and separate itself from society as a whole. Mustafa attracted a following that eventually totaled a few thousand highly committed members.
Ostensibly, the group sought no confrontation with the state until it had won over and transformed society into a truly pious Islamic community. Then it would seek the immediate destruction of the secular system to establish the Islamic state reflective of the new Islamic society. But in transforming society and in attempting to prevent defections from its ranks, Mustafa used violence, and this brought him into conflict with the state. Mustafa felt that quitting his group was equivalent to quitting Islam, an apostasy punishable by death. In 1976, he led a raid against dissidents who had quit his group to join rival Islamists. Egyptian police caught many of his loyalists, but Mustafa escaped. In July 1977, his group kidnapped Muhammad al-Dhahabi, a former minister of awqaf (religious endowments; e.g., waqf), in order to exchange him for their captured brethren. With Sadat on a visit to Morocco, the political leaders left in charge failed to respond to the demands of Mustafa. Hearing no response, Mustafa had the ex-minister killed. The government now responded. A manhunt for Mustafa and other leaders of the group resulted in scores dead and wounded and hundreds arrested and tried. Mustafa and four other leaders of al-Takfir were sentenced to death. Others were imprisoned for five to twenty-five years. Shukri Mustafa was executed in 1978 at the age of thirty-seven.
Although the group apparently collapsed with the death of its leaders, many of the members of al-Takfir simply joined other anti-society and anti-regime groups, including al-Jihad, which became very active after 1977.
Shukri Mustafa see Mustafa, Shukri
Mustafa, Shukri (Shukri Mustafa) (1942-1978). Egyptian Islamist militant who worked for the moral reformation of society. The Islamist movement in Egypt is characterized by internal divisions. The Muslim Brotherhood represents the more accommodationist groups who work to reform the system by working within it. Al-Jihad is the most famous of the anti-regime elements while al-Takfir wa al-Hijrah epitomizes the anti-society Muslim groups. The last was founded in the early 1970s by Shukri Mustafa, who defected from the Muslim Brotherhood in protest over that group’s willingness to work with the secular regime. Mustafa and his group sought, instead, to focus on the reform of society first before attempting to revolutionize the state system. Society was seen by Mustafa as corrupt, decadent, and sinful and thus in need of a moral reformation.
Al-Takfir wa al-Hijrah is not the real name of the organization, formally the Society of Muslims. This informal title was given to it by the state and the Egyptian press. It suggests the group’s tactics. Takfir means, in essence, to excommunicate the infidels from society. Hijrah means “flight” and evokes the prophet Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to Medina to abandon the immoral society in order to establish the new, faithful order. Here, it referes to the way in which this contemporary group separated itself from Egyptian society and formed a communal living arrangement, living in caves in Upper Egypt and cramped flats in Cairo.
Shukri Mustafa was born in 1942 in Asyut Province in Upper Egypt. He attended Asyut University’s Faculty of Agriculture and in 1965 was arrested for distributing Muslim Brotherhood leaflets on campus. First incarcerated in Tura prison, he was transferred to Abu Za’bal concentration camp in 1967. He was released from prison in 1971 as part of President Anwar el-Sadat’s general amnesty of many Islamists in Sadat’s quest to garner their support against his leftist opponents.
Mustafa to Asyut University to complete his studies. He also began to build his Society of Muslims by preaching throughout the province. Impressed by Sayyid Qutb’s Signposts on the Road, which declared the whole of Egyptian society as Jahiliyah (a state of infidelity, decadence, and ignorance as in pre-Islamic Arabia), Mustafa built his Society of Muslims by preaching that Egyptian society must be declared to be unfaithful to God and Muhammad’s teachings. This Society of Muslims (i.e., true believers) must then withdraw, take flight, and separate itself from society as a whole. Mustafa attracted a following that eventually totaled a few thousand highly committed members.
Ostensibly, the group sought no confrontation with the state until it had won over and transformed society into a truly pious Islamic community. Then it would seek the immediate destruction of the secular system to establish the Islamic state reflective of the new Islamic society. But in transforming society and in attempting to prevent defections from its ranks, Mustafa used violence, and this brought him into conflict with the state. Mustafa felt that quitting his group was equivalent to quitting Islam, an apostasy punishable by death. In 1976, he led a raid against dissidents who had quit his group to join rival Islamists. Egyptian police caught many of his loyalists, but Mustafa escaped. In July 1977, his group kidnapped Muhammad al-Dhahabi, a former minister of awqaf (religious endowments; e.g., waqf), in order to exchange him for their captured brethren. With Sadat on a visit to Morocco, the political leaders left in charge failed to respond to the demands of Mustafa. Hearing no response, Mustafa had the ex-minister killed. The government now responded. A manhunt for Mustafa and other leaders of the group resulted in scores dead and wounded and hundreds arrested and tried. Mustafa and four other leaders of al-Takfir were sentenced to death. Others were imprisoned for five to twenty-five years. Shukri Mustafa was executed in 1978 at the age of thirty-seven.
Although the group apparently collapsed with the death of its leaders, many of the members of al-Takfir simply joined other anti-society and anti-regime groups, including al-Jihad, which became very active after 1977.
Shukri Mustafa see Mustafa, Shukri
Musta‘in I bi-‘llah, al-
Musta‘in I bi-‘llah, al-. ‘Abbasid caliph (r.862-866). He was made caliph by the Turkish commanders at Samarra after the death of his cousin al-Muntasir.
Musta‘in I bi-‘llah, al-. ‘Abbasid caliph (r.862-866). He was made caliph by the Turkish commanders at Samarra after the death of his cousin al-Muntasir.
Musta‘in II bi-‘llah, al-
Musta‘in II bi-‘llah, al- (d. 1430). ‘Abbasid “shadow” caliph in Egypt (r.1406-1414). He abdicated as sultan and was deposed as caliph.
Musta‘in II bi-‘llah, al- (d. 1430). ‘Abbasid “shadow” caliph in Egypt (r.1406-1414). He abdicated as sultan and was deposed as caliph.
Mustakfi bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al-
Mustakfi bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al- (Abu’l-Qasim al-Mustakfi bi-‘llah) (b. 1074). Fatimid caliph (r.1094-1101). Throughout his reign, the actual power was entirely in the hands of the vizier al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali. His name is connected with the Musta‘li Isma‘ilis in western India, also known as Bohoras. In 1099, Jerusalem was lost to the Crusaders.
Abu’l-Qasim al-Mustakfi bi-‘llah see Mustakfi bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al-
Mustakfi bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al- (Abu’l-Qasim al-Mustakfi bi-‘llah) (b. 1074). Fatimid caliph (r.1094-1101). Throughout his reign, the actual power was entirely in the hands of the vizier al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali. His name is connected with the Musta‘li Isma‘ilis in western India, also known as Bohoras. In 1099, Jerusalem was lost to the Crusaders.
Abu’l-Qasim al-Mustakfi bi-‘llah see Mustakfi bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al-
Mustakfi bi-‘llah, al-
Mustakfi bi-‘llah, al- (903-949). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 944-946). He was forced to recognize the Buyid leader Mu‘izz al-Dawla Ahmad as in effect ruler of Iraq, and then was deposed and imprisoned.
Mustakfi bi-‘llah, al- (903-949). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 944-946). He was forced to recognize the Buyid leader Mu‘izz al-Dawla Ahmad as in effect ruler of Iraq, and then was deposed and imprisoned.
Mustanjid I bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Muzaffar al-
Mustanjid I bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Muzaffar al- (Abu’l-Muzaffar al-Mustanjid I bi-‘llah) (1116-1170). ‘Abbasid caliph in Baghdad (r. 1160-1170). His reign was dominated by powerful viziers and court officials. Policies aimed at the exclusion of the Saljuqs from Iraq, and al-Mustanjid’s reign witnessed the continuing flowering of Hanbalism. The caliph was famous as a poet and had a first-hand knowledge of astronomy.
Al-Mustanjid was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1160 to 1170. He was the son of previous Caliph al-Muqtafi. One of al-Muqtafi's wives wanted her own son to succeed. She gained over many Amirs to her side, and had their slave-girls armed with daggers to kill the new Caliph. Al-Mustanjid discovered the plot and placed the rebel son and mother in prison.
Around this time, the Fatimid dynasty was at last extinguished, having lasted for 260 years. Their conqueror, Saladin, though himself an orthodox Muslim, initially did not proclaim the Sunni faith in the midst of a people still devoted to the tenets and practice of the Shi'a sect. But he soon found himself able to do so; and thus the spiritual supremacy of the Abbasids again prevailed, not only in Syria, but throughout Egypt and all its dependencies.
Mustanjid I bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Muzaffar al- (Abu’l-Muzaffar al-Mustanjid I bi-‘llah) (1116-1170). ‘Abbasid caliph in Baghdad (r. 1160-1170). His reign was dominated by powerful viziers and court officials. Policies aimed at the exclusion of the Saljuqs from Iraq, and al-Mustanjid’s reign witnessed the continuing flowering of Hanbalism. The caliph was famous as a poet and had a first-hand knowledge of astronomy.
Al-Mustanjid was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1160 to 1170. He was the son of previous Caliph al-Muqtafi. One of al-Muqtafi's wives wanted her own son to succeed. She gained over many Amirs to her side, and had their slave-girls armed with daggers to kill the new Caliph. Al-Mustanjid discovered the plot and placed the rebel son and mother in prison.
Around this time, the Fatimid dynasty was at last extinguished, having lasted for 260 years. Their conqueror, Saladin, though himself an orthodox Muslim, initially did not proclaim the Sunni faith in the midst of a people still devoted to the tenets and practice of the Shi'a sect. But he soon found himself able to do so; and thus the spiritual supremacy of the Abbasids again prevailed, not only in Syria, but throughout Egypt and all its dependencies.
Mustanjid II bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Mahasin al-
Mustanjid II bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Mahasin al- (Abu’l-Mahasin al-Mustanjid II bi-‘llah) (b. c. 1396). ‘Abbasid “shadow” caliph of Egypt (r.1455-1479). Khushqadam, one of the six successive Mameluke sultans who dominated him, kept him in the Citadel of Cairo until his death.
Mustanjid II bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Mahasin al- (Abu’l-Mahasin al-Mustanjid II bi-‘llah) (b. c. 1396). ‘Abbasid “shadow” caliph of Egypt (r.1455-1479). Khushqadam, one of the six successive Mameluke sultans who dominated him, kept him in the Citadel of Cairo until his death.
Mustansir II bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al-
Mustansir II bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al- (Abu’l-Qasim al-Mustansir II bi-‘llah). First ‘Abbasid “shadow” caliph of Egypt who ruled in 1261. When the Mongols captured Baghdad in 1258, he was brought to Cairo, where he was given a ceremonious welcom by the Mameluke sultan Baybars I. The caliph invested Baybars with the black livery of the ‘Abbasids and conferred on him the universal sultanate with plenary powers. Baybars sent the caliph to Iraq, to regain his ancestral dominions from the Mongols. He joined forces with a kinsman and rival, who had been proclaimed as the caliph al-Hakim by Aqqush al-Barli, the Mameluke warlord of Aleppo. Al-Mustansir was killed in a Mongol ambush, while al-Hakim made his way to Cairo, where he was installed as caliph in 1262. His descendants continued the titular caliphate until it lapsed after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517.
Mustansir II bi-‘llah, Abu’l-Qasim al- (Abu’l-Qasim al-Mustansir II bi-‘llah). First ‘Abbasid “shadow” caliph of Egypt who ruled in 1261. When the Mongols captured Baghdad in 1258, he was brought to Cairo, where he was given a ceremonious welcom by the Mameluke sultan Baybars I. The caliph invested Baybars with the black livery of the ‘Abbasids and conferred on him the universal sultanate with plenary powers. Baybars sent the caliph to Iraq, to regain his ancestral dominions from the Mongols. He joined forces with a kinsman and rival, who had been proclaimed as the caliph al-Hakim by Aqqush al-Barli, the Mameluke warlord of Aleppo. Al-Mustansir was killed in a Mongol ambush, while al-Hakim made his way to Cairo, where he was installed as caliph in 1262. His descendants continued the titular caliphate until it lapsed after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517.
Mustansir I bi-‘llah, Abu Ja’far al-
Mustansir I bi-‘llah, Abu Ja’far al- (Abu Ja‘far al-Mustansir I bi-‘llah) (b. 1192). ‘Abbasid caliph. At least two major figures at the court were Shi‘is. Al-Mustansir’s caliphate spans an uneasy lull between Mongol onslaughts. He stands out as a great patron of architecture, among other works through the Mustansiriyya madrasa in Baghdad. He was also a great bibliophile.
Mustansir I bi-‘llah, Abu Ja’far al- (Abu Ja‘far al-Mustansir I bi-‘llah) (b. 1192). ‘Abbasid caliph. At least two major figures at the court were Shi‘is. Al-Mustansir’s caliphate spans an uneasy lull between Mongol onslaughts. He stands out as a great patron of architecture, among other works through the Mustansiriyya madrasa in Baghdad. He was also a great bibliophile.
Mustansir bi-‘llah
Mustansir bi-‘llah (Abu Tamim al-Mustansir bi-‘llah) (Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh) (July 5, 1029 – January 10, 1094). Fatimid caliph (r.1036-1094). He had the longest recorded reign of any Muslim ruler. The breakdown of the civil administration, the subsequent exhaustion of the treasury and the fightings between the Turkish and Berber troops and the many Sudani slaves led to the neglect of agriculture. The result was a famine, which lasted from 1067 to 1072. In 1073, the caliph invited the Armenian Badr al-Jamali, who saved the Fatimid caliphate but at the cost of abandoning its temporal authority to a series of military commanders. The success of the Saljuqs affected the position of the Fatimids in the Holy Cities, where the ‘Abbasid caliph was acknowledged, in the Hejaz and in Yemen, as well as in the West, where Ifriqiya was lost. Diplomatic relations were entertained with the Georgians, the Daylamis, the khaqan of Turkestan and with Delhi, all hostile to the Saljuqs and the Ghaznavids. It came however to a breach with Constantinople. The state religion of the Fatimids, Isma‘ili Shi‘ism, was disseminated in Persia and in Yemen, where it was supported by the Sulayhids.
Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh was born in Cairo and eight months afterwards was declared to succeed his father. His name was Ma'd Abu Tamim, surnamed al-Mustansir bil-Lah "The Victorious By God". He ascended on June 13, 1036 at the age of 6. During the early years, the state affairs were administered by his mother. His period of Caliphate lasted for 60 years, the longest of all the caliphs, either in Egypt or elsewhere in the Islamic states.
Ali bin Ahmad Jarjarai, an able vizir, whose period was one of prosperity in Egypt, died in 1044. He was followed by Ibn al-Anbari and Abu Mansur Sadaqa, but neither of them were competent. In 1050, there came forward a capable vizir Abu Muhammad Hasan bin Abdur Rehman Yazuri, who held the office for 8 years, and was an earnest reformer. He was followed by about 40 vizirs one after another during 15 years (1058-1073), but none equaled him, because they squandered the royal treasury.
Between 1065 and 1072, the famine made the condition of Egypt from bad to worse. Meanwhile, in 1062 and again in 1067, the struggle between the Turkish and Sudanese soldiery deteriorated into open warfare, ending in a victory for the Turks and their Berber allies.
The Berbers in lower Egypt deliberately aggravated the distress by ravaging the country, destroying the embankments and canals, and seeking every way to reduce the capital and the neighboring districts by sheer starvation. Makrizi sees in this incident the beginning of the crisis in Egypt, which he refers by the appellations, disorder (fitna), civil war (al-shidda al-mashhura), corruption of state (fasad ad-dawla) and days of calamity and dearth (ayyam al-shidda wal ghala).
In al-Mustansir's stable where there had been ten thousand animals there were now only three thin horses, and his escort once fainted from hunger as it accompanied him through the streets. As long as the calamity lasted, al-Mustansir alone possessed a horse, and, when he rode out, the courtiers followed on foot, having no beast to carry them. The condition of the country deteriorated with the protracted famine that followed by plague, and whole districts were absolutely denuded of population and house after house lay empty.
Meanwhile, the Turkish mercenaries had drained the treasury, the works of art and valuables of all sorts in the palace were sold to satisfy their demands. Often they themselves were the purchasers at merely nominal prices and sold the articles again at a profit. Emeralds valued at 300,000 dinars were bought by one Turkish general for 500 dinars, and in one fortnight of the year 1068 articles to the value of 30,000,000 dinars were sold off to provide pay for the Turks. The precious library which had been rendered available to the public and was one of the objects for which many visited Cairo was scattered, the books were torn up, thrown away, or used to light fires. At length, the Turks began fighting amongst themselves. Nasir ad-Dawla, the Turkish general of the Fatimid army, had attacked the city which was defended by the rival faction of the Turkish guard and, after burning part of Fustat and defeating the defenders, he entered as conqueror. When he reached the palace, he found al-Mustansir lodged in rooms which had been stripped bare, waited on by only three slaves, and subsisting on two loaves which were sent him daily by the daughters of Ibn Babshand, the grammarian.
The victorious Turks dominated Cairo, held the successive vizirs in subjection, treated al-Mustansir with contempt, and used their power to deplete the treasury by enhancing their pay to nearly twenty times its former figure. Nasir ad-Dawla became so overbearing and tyrannical in his conduct that he provoked even his own followers, and so at length he was assassinated in 1074. Unfortunately, this left the city in a worse condition than ever, for it was now at the mercy of the various Turkish factions which behaved no better than troops of brigands. In sum, the condition of Egypt continued to rage with unabated violence.
Abu Tamim al-Mustansir bi-‘llah see Mustansir bi-‘llah
Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh see Mustansir bi-‘llah
Mustansir bi-‘llah (Abu Tamim al-Mustansir bi-‘llah) (Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh) (July 5, 1029 – January 10, 1094). Fatimid caliph (r.1036-1094). He had the longest recorded reign of any Muslim ruler. The breakdown of the civil administration, the subsequent exhaustion of the treasury and the fightings between the Turkish and Berber troops and the many Sudani slaves led to the neglect of agriculture. The result was a famine, which lasted from 1067 to 1072. In 1073, the caliph invited the Armenian Badr al-Jamali, who saved the Fatimid caliphate but at the cost of abandoning its temporal authority to a series of military commanders. The success of the Saljuqs affected the position of the Fatimids in the Holy Cities, where the ‘Abbasid caliph was acknowledged, in the Hejaz and in Yemen, as well as in the West, where Ifriqiya was lost. Diplomatic relations were entertained with the Georgians, the Daylamis, the khaqan of Turkestan and with Delhi, all hostile to the Saljuqs and the Ghaznavids. It came however to a breach with Constantinople. The state religion of the Fatimids, Isma‘ili Shi‘ism, was disseminated in Persia and in Yemen, where it was supported by the Sulayhids.
Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh was born in Cairo and eight months afterwards was declared to succeed his father. His name was Ma'd Abu Tamim, surnamed al-Mustansir bil-Lah "The Victorious By God". He ascended on June 13, 1036 at the age of 6. During the early years, the state affairs were administered by his mother. His period of Caliphate lasted for 60 years, the longest of all the caliphs, either in Egypt or elsewhere in the Islamic states.
Ali bin Ahmad Jarjarai, an able vizir, whose period was one of prosperity in Egypt, died in 1044. He was followed by Ibn al-Anbari and Abu Mansur Sadaqa, but neither of them were competent. In 1050, there came forward a capable vizir Abu Muhammad Hasan bin Abdur Rehman Yazuri, who held the office for 8 years, and was an earnest reformer. He was followed by about 40 vizirs one after another during 15 years (1058-1073), but none equaled him, because they squandered the royal treasury.
Between 1065 and 1072, the famine made the condition of Egypt from bad to worse. Meanwhile, in 1062 and again in 1067, the struggle between the Turkish and Sudanese soldiery deteriorated into open warfare, ending in a victory for the Turks and their Berber allies.
The Berbers in lower Egypt deliberately aggravated the distress by ravaging the country, destroying the embankments and canals, and seeking every way to reduce the capital and the neighboring districts by sheer starvation. Makrizi sees in this incident the beginning of the crisis in Egypt, which he refers by the appellations, disorder (fitna), civil war (al-shidda al-mashhura), corruption of state (fasad ad-dawla) and days of calamity and dearth (ayyam al-shidda wal ghala).
In al-Mustansir's stable where there had been ten thousand animals there were now only three thin horses, and his escort once fainted from hunger as it accompanied him through the streets. As long as the calamity lasted, al-Mustansir alone possessed a horse, and, when he rode out, the courtiers followed on foot, having no beast to carry them. The condition of the country deteriorated with the protracted famine that followed by plague, and whole districts were absolutely denuded of population and house after house lay empty.
Meanwhile, the Turkish mercenaries had drained the treasury, the works of art and valuables of all sorts in the palace were sold to satisfy their demands. Often they themselves were the purchasers at merely nominal prices and sold the articles again at a profit. Emeralds valued at 300,000 dinars were bought by one Turkish general for 500 dinars, and in one fortnight of the year 1068 articles to the value of 30,000,000 dinars were sold off to provide pay for the Turks. The precious library which had been rendered available to the public and was one of the objects for which many visited Cairo was scattered, the books were torn up, thrown away, or used to light fires. At length, the Turks began fighting amongst themselves. Nasir ad-Dawla, the Turkish general of the Fatimid army, had attacked the city which was defended by the rival faction of the Turkish guard and, after burning part of Fustat and defeating the defenders, he entered as conqueror. When he reached the palace, he found al-Mustansir lodged in rooms which had been stripped bare, waited on by only three slaves, and subsisting on two loaves which were sent him daily by the daughters of Ibn Babshand, the grammarian.
The victorious Turks dominated Cairo, held the successive vizirs in subjection, treated al-Mustansir with contempt, and used their power to deplete the treasury by enhancing their pay to nearly twenty times its former figure. Nasir ad-Dawla became so overbearing and tyrannical in his conduct that he provoked even his own followers, and so at length he was assassinated in 1074. Unfortunately, this left the city in a worse condition than ever, for it was now at the mercy of the various Turkish factions which behaved no better than troops of brigands. In sum, the condition of Egypt continued to rage with unabated violence.
Abu Tamim al-Mustansir bi-‘llah see Mustansir bi-‘llah
Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh see Mustansir bi-‘llah
Mustaqim-zade, Sa‘d al-Din
Mustaqim-zade, Sa‘d al-Din (Sa‘d al-Din Mustaqim-zade) (1719-1788). Ottoman scholar and calligrapher. He composed around 150 books, most of them in Turkish but some also in Arabic and Persian, dealing with religious sciences, belles-lettres and Sufism.
Sa‘d al-Din Mustaqim-zade see Mustaqim-zade, Sa‘d al-Din
Mustaqim-zade, Sa‘d al-Din (Sa‘d al-Din Mustaqim-zade) (1719-1788). Ottoman scholar and calligrapher. He composed around 150 books, most of them in Turkish but some also in Arabic and Persian, dealing with religious sciences, belles-lettres and Sufism.
Sa‘d al-Din Mustaqim-zade see Mustaqim-zade, Sa‘d al-Din
Mustarshid bi-‘llah, al-
Mustarshid bi-‘llah, al- (b. 1093). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 1118-1135). He initially juggled with the various factions among the Saljuqs of Iraq and western Persia, depending on one group or another for military support. He finally was defeated by the Saljuq Mas‘ud ibn Muhammad ibn Malik Shah in 1135 and murdered, allegedly by Assassins. He was a fine calligrapher and an accomplished poet.
Mustarshid bi-‘llah, al- (b. 1093). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 1118-1135). He initially juggled with the various factions among the Saljuqs of Iraq and western Persia, depending on one group or another for military support. He finally was defeated by the Saljuq Mas‘ud ibn Muhammad ibn Malik Shah in 1135 and murdered, allegedly by Assassins. He was a fine calligrapher and an accomplished poet.
Musta‘sim bi-‘llah, al-
Musta‘sim bi-‘llah, al- (al-Musta'sim Billah) (al-Musta'sim-Billah Abu-Ahmad Abdullah bin al-Mustansir-Billah) (1212/1213 – February 20, 1258). Last ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (r.1247-1258). Having refused to meet the demands of the Mongol Il-Khan Hulegu, the caliph was captured and put to death.
Al-Musta'sim Billah was the last Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad; he ruled from 1242 until his death.
In 1258, the Abbasid domain, comprising of a little more than what is now Iraq and Syria, was invaded by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. In an advance on Baghdad, Hulagu Khan had several columns advance simultaneously on the city, and laid siege to it. The Caliph had been deluded by promises from his Vizier that the Mongols could be driven off literally by the women of the city throwing stones at them, and did the worst of all things: nothing. He neither raised an army to defend Baghdad from the largest Mongol army ever assembled – one Mongol in ten had been conscripted into the forces advancing on the Caliphate – nor did he attempt to negotiate with Hulagu. Instead he sent weak threats to the Mongol warlord.
Baghdad was sacked on February 10, and the caliph was massacred by Hulagu Khan soon afterwards. It is reckoned that the Mongols did not want to shed "royal blood," so they wrapped him in a rug and trampled him to death with their horses. Some of his sons were massacred as well; one of the surviving sons was sent as a prisoner to Mongolia, where Mongolian historians report he married and fathered children, but played no role in Islam thereafter.
The Travels of Marco Polo reports that upon finding the caliph's great stores of treasure which could have been spent on the defense of his realm, Hulagu Khan locked him in his treasure room without food or water, telling him "eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it."
The Mameluke sultans and Syria later appointed an Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, but they were even more symbolic than by now marginalized Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad. They were ignored by the rest of the Muslim world. Even though they kept the title for about 250 years more, other than installing the Sultan in ceremonies, these Caliphs had little importance.
After the Ottomans conquered Egypt in 1517, the Abbasid Caliph of Egypt, Al-Mutawakkil III was transported to Constantinople, and Sultan Selim I announced himself to be a Caliph.
Musta'sim Billah, al- see Musta‘sim bi-‘llah, al-
Musta'sim-Billah Abu-Ahmad Abdullah bin al-Mustansir-Billah, al- see Musta‘sim bi-‘llah, al-
Musta‘sim bi-‘llah, al- (al-Musta'sim Billah) (al-Musta'sim-Billah Abu-Ahmad Abdullah bin al-Mustansir-Billah) (1212/1213 – February 20, 1258). Last ‘Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (r.1247-1258). Having refused to meet the demands of the Mongol Il-Khan Hulegu, the caliph was captured and put to death.
Al-Musta'sim Billah was the last Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad; he ruled from 1242 until his death.
In 1258, the Abbasid domain, comprising of a little more than what is now Iraq and Syria, was invaded by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. In an advance on Baghdad, Hulagu Khan had several columns advance simultaneously on the city, and laid siege to it. The Caliph had been deluded by promises from his Vizier that the Mongols could be driven off literally by the women of the city throwing stones at them, and did the worst of all things: nothing. He neither raised an army to defend Baghdad from the largest Mongol army ever assembled – one Mongol in ten had been conscripted into the forces advancing on the Caliphate – nor did he attempt to negotiate with Hulagu. Instead he sent weak threats to the Mongol warlord.
Baghdad was sacked on February 10, and the caliph was massacred by Hulagu Khan soon afterwards. It is reckoned that the Mongols did not want to shed "royal blood," so they wrapped him in a rug and trampled him to death with their horses. Some of his sons were massacred as well; one of the surviving sons was sent as a prisoner to Mongolia, where Mongolian historians report he married and fathered children, but played no role in Islam thereafter.
The Travels of Marco Polo reports that upon finding the caliph's great stores of treasure which could have been spent on the defense of his realm, Hulagu Khan locked him in his treasure room without food or water, telling him "eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it."
The Mameluke sultans and Syria later appointed an Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, but they were even more symbolic than by now marginalized Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad. They were ignored by the rest of the Muslim world. Even though they kept the title for about 250 years more, other than installing the Sultan in ceremonies, these Caliphs had little importance.
After the Ottomans conquered Egypt in 1517, the Abbasid Caliph of Egypt, Al-Mutawakkil III was transported to Constantinople, and Sultan Selim I announced himself to be a Caliph.
Musta'sim Billah, al- see Musta‘sim bi-‘llah, al-
Musta'sim-Billah Abu-Ahmad Abdullah bin al-Mustansir-Billah, al- see Musta‘sim bi-‘llah, al-
Mustazhir bi-‘llah, al-
Mustazhir bi-‘llah, al- (al-Mustadhir) (1078-1118). ‘Abbasid caliph who ruled from 1094 to 1118. He was never able to turn the debilitating disputes between the Saljuq sultans Berkyaruq, Tutush and Muhammad Tapar to his own advantage. The Nizari schism had further weakened the Fatimid caliphate and unleashed the Assassins’ campaigns within Saljuq territory.
Al-Mustadhir was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1094 to 1118. He succeeded his father al-Muqtadi. During his twenty-four year incumbency he was politically irrelevant, despite the civil strife at home and the appearance of the First Crusade in Syria. An attempt was even made by crusader Raymond IV of Toulouse to attack Baghdad, but he was defeated near Tokat. The global Muslim population had climbed to about 5 per cent as against the Christian population of 11 per cent by 1100.
In the year 1099, Jerusalem was captured by the crusaders and its inhabitants were massacred. Preachers travelled throughout the caliphate proclaiming the tragedy and rousing men to recover from infidel hands the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the scene of the Prophet's heavenly flight. But whatever the success elsewhere, the mission failed in the eastern provinces, which were occupied with their own troubles, and moreover cared little for the Holy Land, dominated as it then was by the Fatimid faith. Crowds of exiles, seeking refuge in Baghdad, joined there with the populace in crying out for war against the Franks (the name used by Muslims for the crusaders). For two Fridays in 1111 the insurgents, incited by Ibn al-Khashshab, the qadi of Aleppo, stormed the Great Mosque, broke the pulpit and throne of the Caliph in pieces, and shouted down the service, but neither the Sultan nor the Caliph were interested in sending an army west.
Mustadhir, al- see Mustazhir bi-‘llah, al-
Mustazhir bi-‘llah, al- (al-Mustadhir) (1078-1118). ‘Abbasid caliph who ruled from 1094 to 1118. He was never able to turn the debilitating disputes between the Saljuq sultans Berkyaruq, Tutush and Muhammad Tapar to his own advantage. The Nizari schism had further weakened the Fatimid caliphate and unleashed the Assassins’ campaigns within Saljuq territory.
Al-Mustadhir was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1094 to 1118. He succeeded his father al-Muqtadi. During his twenty-four year incumbency he was politically irrelevant, despite the civil strife at home and the appearance of the First Crusade in Syria. An attempt was even made by crusader Raymond IV of Toulouse to attack Baghdad, but he was defeated near Tokat. The global Muslim population had climbed to about 5 per cent as against the Christian population of 11 per cent by 1100.
In the year 1099, Jerusalem was captured by the crusaders and its inhabitants were massacred. Preachers travelled throughout the caliphate proclaiming the tragedy and rousing men to recover from infidel hands the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the scene of the Prophet's heavenly flight. But whatever the success elsewhere, the mission failed in the eastern provinces, which were occupied with their own troubles, and moreover cared little for the Holy Land, dominated as it then was by the Fatimid faith. Crowds of exiles, seeking refuge in Baghdad, joined there with the populace in crying out for war against the Franks (the name used by Muslims for the crusaders). For two Fridays in 1111 the insurgents, incited by Ibn al-Khashshab, the qadi of Aleppo, stormed the Great Mosque, broke the pulpit and throne of the Caliph in pieces, and shouted down the service, but neither the Sultan nor the Caliph were interested in sending an army west.
Mustadhir, al- see Mustazhir bi-‘llah, al-
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