Noah
Noah (Nuh) (Noe) (Novach). In the Qur’an, Noah is the first prophet of punishment and an admonisher with whom God enters into a covenant, just as God did with Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the Prophet. Many details about him are worked out in later hadith.
Noah was, according to the Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs, and a prophet and messenger according to the Qur'an. The biblical story of Noah is contained in the book of Genesis, chapters 6–9; he is also found in the passage 'Noah's sons", while the Qur'an has an entire sura named after and devoted to his story, with other references elsewhere. In the Genesis account, Noah saves his family and representatives of all animals in groups of two or seven from the flood. In the Islamic account, a group of 72 others are also saved. Noah receives a covenant from God, and his sons re-populate the earth.
While the Deluge and Noah's Ark are the best-known elements of the Noah tradition, Noah is also mentioned in Genesis as the "first husbandman" and possibly the inventor of wine, as he planted the first vineyard. The account of Noah is the subject of much elaboration in the later Abrahamic traditions, and was immensely influential in Western culture.
The Qur'an contains 43 references to Noah in 28 suras (chapters), notably Sura Nuh and Sura Hud. Sura 11 (Hud) is largely an account of the Flood. Sura 71 (i.e., Sura Nuh), of 28 verses, consists of a divine injunction to Noah to preach, a short sermon of Noah’s to his idolatrous contemporaries on the monotheism of Allah (God), and Noah’s complaint to God about the hardness of the people’s hearts when his preaching is met by ridicule.
The Qur'an's Noah lives for a total of 1000 years with the Flood coming in his 950th year. It is mankind's obduracy which eventually brings the wrath of God on the unbelievers. (In later tradition, only 83 people are willing to submit, i.e., become Muslim, "those who accept a peaceful yield to the god" with God; these 83 are saved with Noah).
The theme of the Quranic story is the unity of Allah and the need to seek peace with Him. The narrative does not include the Genesis account of Noah's drunkenness, and the possibility of the Curse of Ham narrative is in fact implicitly excluded. The Qur'an does not mention the number of Noah’s sons. Nevertheless the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad clearly mention that Noah had three sons, and that all the population descended from them., and a fourth son who does not join his father despite Noah's final plea to be saved ("O my son! Come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers!"). Instead the fourth son flees to the mountains and drowns in the flood. God tells Noah that this is because he is an evildoer. (In later Islamic tradition the son is given the name Kenan, "Canaan").
Nuh see Noah
Noe see Noah
Novach see Noah
Noah (Nuh) (Noe) (Novach). In the Qur’an, Noah is the first prophet of punishment and an admonisher with whom God enters into a covenant, just as God did with Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the Prophet. Many details about him are worked out in later hadith.
Noah was, according to the Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs, and a prophet and messenger according to the Qur'an. The biblical story of Noah is contained in the book of Genesis, chapters 6–9; he is also found in the passage 'Noah's sons", while the Qur'an has an entire sura named after and devoted to his story, with other references elsewhere. In the Genesis account, Noah saves his family and representatives of all animals in groups of two or seven from the flood. In the Islamic account, a group of 72 others are also saved. Noah receives a covenant from God, and his sons re-populate the earth.
While the Deluge and Noah's Ark are the best-known elements of the Noah tradition, Noah is also mentioned in Genesis as the "first husbandman" and possibly the inventor of wine, as he planted the first vineyard. The account of Noah is the subject of much elaboration in the later Abrahamic traditions, and was immensely influential in Western culture.
The Qur'an contains 43 references to Noah in 28 suras (chapters), notably Sura Nuh and Sura Hud. Sura 11 (Hud) is largely an account of the Flood. Sura 71 (i.e., Sura Nuh), of 28 verses, consists of a divine injunction to Noah to preach, a short sermon of Noah’s to his idolatrous contemporaries on the monotheism of Allah (God), and Noah’s complaint to God about the hardness of the people’s hearts when his preaching is met by ridicule.
The Qur'an's Noah lives for a total of 1000 years with the Flood coming in his 950th year. It is mankind's obduracy which eventually brings the wrath of God on the unbelievers. (In later tradition, only 83 people are willing to submit, i.e., become Muslim, "those who accept a peaceful yield to the god" with God; these 83 are saved with Noah).
The theme of the Quranic story is the unity of Allah and the need to seek peace with Him. The narrative does not include the Genesis account of Noah's drunkenness, and the possibility of the Curse of Ham narrative is in fact implicitly excluded. The Qur'an does not mention the number of Noah’s sons. Nevertheless the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad clearly mention that Noah had three sons, and that all the population descended from them., and a fourth son who does not join his father despite Noah's final plea to be saved ("O my son! Come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers!"). Instead the fourth son flees to the mountains and drowns in the flood. God tells Noah that this is because he is an evildoer. (In later Islamic tradition the son is given the name Kenan, "Canaan").
Nuh see Noah
Noe see Noah
Novach see Noah
Nogai
Nogai (Nogay) (Noghai). Increasing assimilation by Russian culture appears to be threatening the survival of Islam among the Nogai. They are a scattered people in Russia, although they may still be classified as Muslims ofthe Volga. The Nogai are also referred to as the Nogailar, Nogaitsy and Mangkyt. There are also small groups in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, for whom no valid population estimates exist but who number probably no more than 50,000. In Russia, there are Nogai in the Volga steppe region between the Terek and Kuma rivers, others live in the Crimea near the town of Perekop. In Romania, Nogai are found in the Dobruja.
The name “Nogai” is often linked with the historical name “Nogai,” an identification that is of dubious validity. Nogai (“dog” in Mongol) seems to be derived from the Emir Nogai, a general of the Golden Horde at the end of the thirteenth century. His territory, centered on the Ponto Caspian steppes between the Caspian and the Dobruja, acquired his name in the traditional fashion of steppe nomads, who used a heroic name to identify an entire federation of loosely united tribes. In further traditional fashion, whatever unity existed seems not to have long survived the death of the Emir in 1300. Two large, loosely organized groups emerged, the northern, “lesser” Nogai and the southern, “greater” Nogai. It is out of this division of peoples that today’s Nogai emerge. The difficulty lies in identifying what role the later groups calling themselves Nogai played in the earlier confederation. The “lesser” Nogai seem to have formed the nucleus out of which the present-day Nogai of the Dobruja emerged, while the “greater” Nogai seem to have been the antecedents of the more nomadic Nogai of the Volga steppes. There is thus great diversity among the modern Nogai, especially in terms of their dialects.
Islam came to the Nogai Horde early in its history, with references to the faith occurring as early as the sixteenth century. The close association of the Nogai with Turkic khanates of the Crimea and with the Ottoman sultans led to a firm Sunni faith among them. Today, as the Nogai become increasingly assimilated by the Russian culture which surrounds them, it seems doubtful that Islam will long survive as a major element in Nogai society.
Nogay see Nogai
Noghai see Nogai
Nogai (Nogay) (Noghai). Increasing assimilation by Russian culture appears to be threatening the survival of Islam among the Nogai. They are a scattered people in Russia, although they may still be classified as Muslims ofthe Volga. The Nogai are also referred to as the Nogailar, Nogaitsy and Mangkyt. There are also small groups in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, for whom no valid population estimates exist but who number probably no more than 50,000. In Russia, there are Nogai in the Volga steppe region between the Terek and Kuma rivers, others live in the Crimea near the town of Perekop. In Romania, Nogai are found in the Dobruja.
The name “Nogai” is often linked with the historical name “Nogai,” an identification that is of dubious validity. Nogai (“dog” in Mongol) seems to be derived from the Emir Nogai, a general of the Golden Horde at the end of the thirteenth century. His territory, centered on the Ponto Caspian steppes between the Caspian and the Dobruja, acquired his name in the traditional fashion of steppe nomads, who used a heroic name to identify an entire federation of loosely united tribes. In further traditional fashion, whatever unity existed seems not to have long survived the death of the Emir in 1300. Two large, loosely organized groups emerged, the northern, “lesser” Nogai and the southern, “greater” Nogai. It is out of this division of peoples that today’s Nogai emerge. The difficulty lies in identifying what role the later groups calling themselves Nogai played in the earlier confederation. The “lesser” Nogai seem to have formed the nucleus out of which the present-day Nogai of the Dobruja emerged, while the “greater” Nogai seem to have been the antecedents of the more nomadic Nogai of the Volga steppes. There is thus great diversity among the modern Nogai, especially in terms of their dialects.
Islam came to the Nogai Horde early in its history, with references to the faith occurring as early as the sixteenth century. The close association of the Nogai with Turkic khanates of the Crimea and with the Ottoman sultans led to a firm Sunni faith among them. Today, as the Nogai become increasingly assimilated by the Russian culture which surrounds them, it seems doubtful that Islam will long survive as a major element in Nogai society.
Nogay see Nogai
Noghai see Nogai
Nomads
Nomads. People who generally live a wandering way of life. The term nomads is usually limited to those who engage in “pastoral nomadism,” a regular pattern of migration within a specific area in which all of the population participates, based on year-round herding in the open. In Asia, nomads are found in the polar deserts and tundra zone (where they herd reindeer). In the steppes and deserts that stretch from the Danube River to North China in the temperate zone; as well as in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia. In recent times, peoples that were formerly nomadic have increasingly settled down. In the past, however, nomads have often played a critical role in Asian history, one out of all proportion to their actual numbers.
As raiders, conquerors, and empire-builders in the steppe, Central Asia, and China, nomads have decisively affected the development of Asian civilization. Among the more important nomadic empires have been those of the Xiongnu (c. third century B.C.T.- fourth century C.C.); the Turks (sixth to eighth century); the Uighurs (eighth to ninth century); and the Mongols (twelfth to fifteenth century), the last creating a world empire whose influences are still felt from China to Eastern Europe. Modern China, Russia, and Southwest Asia would undoubtedly have taken quite different shapes without repeated infusions of nomadic rulers, populations, institutions, and ideas. Yet nomads themselves have left few records or monuments, while histories written by settled peoples have stereotypically portrayed them as greedy, cruel, and uncivilized, and have provided little information about their actual life. Reconstruction of their histories is thus difficult, and has depended to a large extent on insights derived from the anthropological study of nomadic communities in the modern world, as well as on historical sources. This process is further complicated by the difficulty of fitting nomadic life into general theories, a problem that has given rise to an extensive literature on such questions as the existence of nomadic feudalism.
Formerly believed to be a survival of a general primitive way of life that antedated agriculture, nomadism is now more commonly believed to have evolved in marginal areas out of settled agriculture, at a time after the domestication of animals. A highly specialized way of life, it permits exploitation to the limit of the scarce resources of the narrow ecological niche provided by the steppes, deserts, and other areas too dry for agriculture, but where herding is possible. The narrow specificity of nomadic adaptation to the environment renders such societies inherently unstable and vulnerable. Nomads lack reserves of fodder that would enable them to survive setbacks. They have few economic skills other than herding, and thus little possibility of shifting livelihood. Furthermore, their culture is so closely attuned to the needs of their life as to render difficult the adoption of another way. Grazing disasters, the jud so feared by the Mongols, can devastate a population, with the effects still reflected (e.g., in the age structure of herds) a decade or more later. In nomadic societies balance and stability in the short run are difficult to attain, a fundamental fact that determines much about their relationship with the settled world.
Insofar as nomads are not autarkic, requiring products of sedentary cultures such as grains and metals, and since demands are not always reciprocal (settled peoples generally need few nomadic products, although horses for warfare have been an exception), economic tensions between the two realms have frequently arisen. Because the instability of the nomadic life has made the establishment of regular trade relations difficult, and because sedentary polities have often been unwilling to deal with nomads on equal terms, or at all, this tension has often as not led to warfare. To extract what they need, nomads have turned to raiding and to conquest.
That societies as rudimentary as nomadic ones should transform themselves into organizations capable of successfully waging coordinated warfare on settled areas may appear paradoxical. Nomadic society usually lacks much organization above small herding units, loosely linked to one another, and certainly lacks a fixed state structure. Divorced from settled life, nomadic societies furthermore appear relatively static. Their economies do not evolve, nor does their population become socially differentiated. In other words, the sorts of dynamic internal processes usually credited with state formation in other societies appear to be lacking, yet nomadic states nevertheless appear.
Historical reconstruction suggests this happens for purely political and military reasons: state formation seems to occur primarily for the purpose of extracting wealth from neighboring sedentary states. Modern anthropological fieldwork has not documented this process, however, probably because the nomadic groups studied are no longer warriors. They have been conquered and incorporated into a larger polity, although they still retain many specific nomadic traits. Historians have argued convincingly that the Huns of Europe, far from being of exclusively Inner Asian composition, in fact contained many local people, assimilated by fictive kinship ties, and survived to a considerable extent on subsidies extorted from the Romans that supplemented the pastoral economy. Analysis of the Xiongnu Empire likewise shows a pattern of nomadic state formation for the purpose of entering into economic relations with China. Similar linkage may be traced between Mongol polities and the Ming dynasty.
At times, nomads took an even more active role within settled areas, as contenders for power or as conquerors. Such a role was evident in North China during the period between the fall of the Han (220 C.C.) and the emergence of the Tang (618), a dynasty that manifested many nomadic traits; and in the Yuan (1279-1368), which saw direct Mongol rule extended over China proper. While one should not underestimate the degree to which nomads ruled through existing sedentary institutions and were themselves assimilated (the Mongol Yuan even faced difficulties with dissident nomadic Mongols in the north), neither should one neglect to note that many settled states have nomadic origins and take basic organizational features from the nomadic world. The governmental institutions of late imperial China well illustrate the synthesis of nomadic elements into an enduring sedentary civilization.
Nomads. People who generally live a wandering way of life. The term nomads is usually limited to those who engage in “pastoral nomadism,” a regular pattern of migration within a specific area in which all of the population participates, based on year-round herding in the open. In Asia, nomads are found in the polar deserts and tundra zone (where they herd reindeer). In the steppes and deserts that stretch from the Danube River to North China in the temperate zone; as well as in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia. In recent times, peoples that were formerly nomadic have increasingly settled down. In the past, however, nomads have often played a critical role in Asian history, one out of all proportion to their actual numbers.
As raiders, conquerors, and empire-builders in the steppe, Central Asia, and China, nomads have decisively affected the development of Asian civilization. Among the more important nomadic empires have been those of the Xiongnu (c. third century B.C.T.- fourth century C.C.); the Turks (sixth to eighth century); the Uighurs (eighth to ninth century); and the Mongols (twelfth to fifteenth century), the last creating a world empire whose influences are still felt from China to Eastern Europe. Modern China, Russia, and Southwest Asia would undoubtedly have taken quite different shapes without repeated infusions of nomadic rulers, populations, institutions, and ideas. Yet nomads themselves have left few records or monuments, while histories written by settled peoples have stereotypically portrayed them as greedy, cruel, and uncivilized, and have provided little information about their actual life. Reconstruction of their histories is thus difficult, and has depended to a large extent on insights derived from the anthropological study of nomadic communities in the modern world, as well as on historical sources. This process is further complicated by the difficulty of fitting nomadic life into general theories, a problem that has given rise to an extensive literature on such questions as the existence of nomadic feudalism.
Formerly believed to be a survival of a general primitive way of life that antedated agriculture, nomadism is now more commonly believed to have evolved in marginal areas out of settled agriculture, at a time after the domestication of animals. A highly specialized way of life, it permits exploitation to the limit of the scarce resources of the narrow ecological niche provided by the steppes, deserts, and other areas too dry for agriculture, but where herding is possible. The narrow specificity of nomadic adaptation to the environment renders such societies inherently unstable and vulnerable. Nomads lack reserves of fodder that would enable them to survive setbacks. They have few economic skills other than herding, and thus little possibility of shifting livelihood. Furthermore, their culture is so closely attuned to the needs of their life as to render difficult the adoption of another way. Grazing disasters, the jud so feared by the Mongols, can devastate a population, with the effects still reflected (e.g., in the age structure of herds) a decade or more later. In nomadic societies balance and stability in the short run are difficult to attain, a fundamental fact that determines much about their relationship with the settled world.
Insofar as nomads are not autarkic, requiring products of sedentary cultures such as grains and metals, and since demands are not always reciprocal (settled peoples generally need few nomadic products, although horses for warfare have been an exception), economic tensions between the two realms have frequently arisen. Because the instability of the nomadic life has made the establishment of regular trade relations difficult, and because sedentary polities have often been unwilling to deal with nomads on equal terms, or at all, this tension has often as not led to warfare. To extract what they need, nomads have turned to raiding and to conquest.
That societies as rudimentary as nomadic ones should transform themselves into organizations capable of successfully waging coordinated warfare on settled areas may appear paradoxical. Nomadic society usually lacks much organization above small herding units, loosely linked to one another, and certainly lacks a fixed state structure. Divorced from settled life, nomadic societies furthermore appear relatively static. Their economies do not evolve, nor does their population become socially differentiated. In other words, the sorts of dynamic internal processes usually credited with state formation in other societies appear to be lacking, yet nomadic states nevertheless appear.
Historical reconstruction suggests this happens for purely political and military reasons: state formation seems to occur primarily for the purpose of extracting wealth from neighboring sedentary states. Modern anthropological fieldwork has not documented this process, however, probably because the nomadic groups studied are no longer warriors. They have been conquered and incorporated into a larger polity, although they still retain many specific nomadic traits. Historians have argued convincingly that the Huns of Europe, far from being of exclusively Inner Asian composition, in fact contained many local people, assimilated by fictive kinship ties, and survived to a considerable extent on subsidies extorted from the Romans that supplemented the pastoral economy. Analysis of the Xiongnu Empire likewise shows a pattern of nomadic state formation for the purpose of entering into economic relations with China. Similar linkage may be traced between Mongol polities and the Ming dynasty.
At times, nomads took an even more active role within settled areas, as contenders for power or as conquerors. Such a role was evident in North China during the period between the fall of the Han (220 C.C.) and the emergence of the Tang (618), a dynasty that manifested many nomadic traits; and in the Yuan (1279-1368), which saw direct Mongol rule extended over China proper. While one should not underestimate the degree to which nomads ruled through existing sedentary institutions and were themselves assimilated (the Mongol Yuan even faced difficulties with dissident nomadic Mongols in the north), neither should one neglect to note that many settled states have nomadic origins and take basic organizational features from the nomadic world. The governmental institutions of late imperial China well illustrate the synthesis of nomadic elements into an enduring sedentary civilization.
Noor
Noor (Lisa Najeeb Halaby) (Noor al-Hussein -- "Light of Hussein") (Nur al-Husayn) (b. August 23, 1951, Washington, D.C.). Queen of Jordan (r.1978-1999) while married to King Hussein I. Educated with degrees in architecture and urban planning, she worked with aviation planning in Jordan in the middle of the 1970s. Lisa Halaby married the King of Jordan, Hussein I, on June 15, 1978, and became Queen Noor. They had four children, Hamzah (b. 1980), Hashim (b. 1981), Iman (b. 1983), and Raiyah (b. 1986). Queen Noor was highly active in social and cultural activities both home in Jordan and on the international scene.
Born into a prominent Arab American family, Halaby was raised in an atmosphere of affluence. She attended the elite National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., transferring to the exclusive Chapin School in New York City in 1965 and to the Concord Academy in Boston in 1967. In 1969 she matriculated with the first co-educational freshman class at Princeton University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in architecture and urban planning in 1975. After graduation, Halaby worked in urban design in Philadelphia, in Sydney, Australia, and in Tehrān. She first went to Jordan while working for Arab Air Services, a company partly owned by her father, and in 1977 she became director of facilities design and architecture for Alia, the Royal Jordanian Airline. It was during that time that she met the Jordanian monarch, and the two wed soon thereafter. Halaby took Jordanian citizenship, embraced the Islamic faith, and adopted an Arabic name.
Queen Noor undertook numerous philanthropic duties at home and abroad, many of which were concerned with children. Among the agencies she established were the Royal Endowment for Culture and Education (1979), the National Music Conservatory (1985), and the Jubilee School for gifted students (1993). In 1980, the queen convened the first annual Arab Children’s Congress, and from 1995 she was chair of the National Task Force for Children. In 1985, the Noor al-Ḥussein Foundation was established to consolidate the queen’s various initiatives, and, when the king died in 1999, she was entrusted with the chair of the King Ḥussein Foundation, the purpose of which is also to promote humanitarian interests. In the late 1990s, she became involved in the international movement to ban anti-personnel land mines, particularly with two organizations, the Landmine Survivors Network and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
Lisa Najeeb Halaby see Noor
Halaby, Lisa Najeeb see Noor
Noor al-Hussein see Noor
Hussein, Noor al- see Noor
Nur al-Husayn see Noor
Husayn, Nur al- see Noor
Noor (Lisa Najeeb Halaby) (Noor al-Hussein -- "Light of Hussein") (Nur al-Husayn) (b. August 23, 1951, Washington, D.C.). Queen of Jordan (r.1978-1999) while married to King Hussein I. Educated with degrees in architecture and urban planning, she worked with aviation planning in Jordan in the middle of the 1970s. Lisa Halaby married the King of Jordan, Hussein I, on June 15, 1978, and became Queen Noor. They had four children, Hamzah (b. 1980), Hashim (b. 1981), Iman (b. 1983), and Raiyah (b. 1986). Queen Noor was highly active in social and cultural activities both home in Jordan and on the international scene.
Born into a prominent Arab American family, Halaby was raised in an atmosphere of affluence. She attended the elite National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., transferring to the exclusive Chapin School in New York City in 1965 and to the Concord Academy in Boston in 1967. In 1969 she matriculated with the first co-educational freshman class at Princeton University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in architecture and urban planning in 1975. After graduation, Halaby worked in urban design in Philadelphia, in Sydney, Australia, and in Tehrān. She first went to Jordan while working for Arab Air Services, a company partly owned by her father, and in 1977 she became director of facilities design and architecture for Alia, the Royal Jordanian Airline. It was during that time that she met the Jordanian monarch, and the two wed soon thereafter. Halaby took Jordanian citizenship, embraced the Islamic faith, and adopted an Arabic name.
Queen Noor undertook numerous philanthropic duties at home and abroad, many of which were concerned with children. Among the agencies she established were the Royal Endowment for Culture and Education (1979), the National Music Conservatory (1985), and the Jubilee School for gifted students (1993). In 1980, the queen convened the first annual Arab Children’s Congress, and from 1995 she was chair of the National Task Force for Children. In 1985, the Noor al-Ḥussein Foundation was established to consolidate the queen’s various initiatives, and, when the king died in 1999, she was entrusted with the chair of the King Ḥussein Foundation, the purpose of which is also to promote humanitarian interests. In the late 1990s, she became involved in the international movement to ban anti-personnel land mines, particularly with two organizations, the Landmine Survivors Network and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
Lisa Najeeb Halaby see Noor
Halaby, Lisa Najeeb see Noor
Noor al-Hussein see Noor
Hussein, Noor al- see Noor
Nur al-Husayn see Noor
Husayn, Nur al- see Noor
Novice
Novice (in Arabic, Murid). Arabic term means “he who seeks” and is used, in Sufi mystical parlance, for the novice or postulant or the seeker of spiritual enlightenment, by means of traversing the Sufi path, in obedience to a spiritual director.
Murid is a Sufi term meaning 'committed one'. It refers to a person who is committed to a teacher in the spiritual path of Sufism.
It also means "willpower" or "self-esteem,". Also known as a Salik, a murid is an initiate into the mystic philosophy of Sufism. The initiation process is known as 'ahd or Bai'ath. Before initiation, a Murid is guided and taught by a Murshid or Pir who must first accept the initiate as his or her disciple. Throughout the instruction period, the murid typically experiences visions and dreams during personal spiritual exercises. These visions are interpreted by the murshid. The murid is invested in the cloak of the order upon initiation, having progressed through a series of increasingly difficult and significant tasks on the path of mystical development. Murids often receive books of instruction from murshids and often accompany itinerant murshids on their wanderings.
Murid see Novice
He who seeks see Novice
Committed one see Novice
Novice (in Arabic, Murid). Arabic term means “he who seeks” and is used, in Sufi mystical parlance, for the novice or postulant or the seeker of spiritual enlightenment, by means of traversing the Sufi path, in obedience to a spiritual director.
Murid is a Sufi term meaning 'committed one'. It refers to a person who is committed to a teacher in the spiritual path of Sufism.
It also means "willpower" or "self-esteem,". Also known as a Salik, a murid is an initiate into the mystic philosophy of Sufism. The initiation process is known as 'ahd or Bai'ath. Before initiation, a Murid is guided and taught by a Murshid or Pir who must first accept the initiate as his or her disciple. Throughout the instruction period, the murid typically experiences visions and dreams during personal spiritual exercises. These visions are interpreted by the murshid. The murid is invested in the cloak of the order upon initiation, having progressed through a series of increasingly difficult and significant tasks on the path of mystical development. Murids often receive books of instruction from murshids and often accompany itinerant murshids on their wanderings.
Murid see Novice
He who seeks see Novice
Committed one see Novice
Nuba
Nuba. The term “Nuba” refers to the non-Arab inhabitants of the more than 80 small hill communities in the Nuba Mountains of Kordofan Province, Sudan. This term, known.to everyone familiar with the region and commonly used in government publications and censuses, is nota a term used by any specific local group, each of whom has its own term for itself and acknowledges no necessary common kinship or political unity with any other. There is no “Nuba” ethnic group.
“Nuba” actually has a varied history and should be distinguished from “Nubia,” although some of the northernmost of the many languages of the Nuba are indeed related to the languages of the Nubia of the Upper Nile Valley. Culture histories, however, are much more difficult to specify, and it is safest at the stage of current knowledge to discourage speculation on the origins of the Nuba or their relationships elsewhere. Certainly there are relationships to others in such elements as language and culture traits. But the inhabitants of the hill communities themselves (as well as historians) have claims, demonstrations, myths and speculations on the origins of specific Nuba groups from north to south (Ghulfan, Dair, Dilling), from west to east (Nyimang, Tira), from east to west (Kao, Taqali, Kaduru) and even from the south to north (Fungor).
While some hill communities have specific histories and traditions, some have had distinct political developments and differential experiences with Islam and other Muslims. This is particularly true for the northeastern Nuba people of Taqali (Teqale, Taqwi) and, to a lesser extent, their neighbors of Dair, who developed a state form with distinct kingly genealogies during medieval time. This was allied with, if not derived from, the Funj state of Sennar. Both were Muslim kingdoms, and as a consequence the northern and eastern Nuba became progressively Islamic. The Taqali kingdom at its maximum in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries extended well into the Tira hills to the south. And even today there is a tradition among some local people that they are not Nuba but really Funj.
The Nuba conversion to Islam has a contradictory history, encouraged by force on the one hand and inhibited by force on the other. It was encouraged during the Mahdiyya (1885-1889) with the formation of the jihadiya with many Nuba troops and inhibited by later British colonial policy to stem Islamic influence in the Nuba Mountains. Local nomadic Baggara Arabs (the closest non-Nuba neighbors) have rarely been influential in conversion, and, of course, earlier slaving by Muslims discouraged conversion.
Islam in the Nuba Mountains has normally meant some form of Arabization (and vice versa). Mercantilists and traders as well as nomads throughout the area brought Arab culture. And relations generally have been cordial between the Nuba and these Arabs. Often friendships, treatises and close ties of mutual dependence developed, usually to be compromised by exploitive state forms and outside economic pressures. British colonial policy, with the Closed Districts Ordinances of the 1920s, sought to inhibit the spread of Islam with prohibitions on the movements of Muslim clerics and traders without special permission. This sometimes extended to the prohibition of Arabic names, Arab dress and and Arabic as a medium of instruction. This last resulted in a series of misguided policies in which English and the local vernacular were used, neither of which was found commonly in Sudan outside the village.
The adoption of Islam, much like the adoption of Arabic and Arab culture traits, was mixed and syncretic. Subsequent to independence in 1956, Christian influence in the Nuba Mountains declined and Islam expanded ever more rapidly through the various channels of commerce, education and expanded contact with the Arab north. Specific conversion, however, most frequently took place at the hands of the fuqura (singular, faqi, “cleric”), who were often of West African origin and not by specific proselytizing by government or neighboring Arabs.
Nuba is a collective term used for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in the states of Southern Sudan, Africa. Although the term is used to describe them as if they composed a single group, the Nuba are multiple distinct peoples and speak different languages. Estimates of the Nuba population vary widely; the Southern Sudanese government estimated that they numbered 1.07 million in 2003.
Leni Riefenstahl, better known for directing Triumph of the Will and Olympia, published a collection of her photographs of the peoples titled The Last of the Nuba in 1976.
The majority of the Nuba—those living in the east, west and northern parts of the mountains—are Muslims, while those living to the south are either Christians or practice traditional animistic religions. In those areas of the Nuba mountains where Islam has not deeply penetrated, ritual specialists and priests hold as much control as the clan elders, for it is they who are responsible for rain control, keeping the peace, and rituals to insure successful crops. Many are guardians of the shrines where items are kept to insure positive outcomes of the rituals (such as rain stones for the rain magic), and some also undergo spiritual possession.
In the 1986 elections, the Umma Party lost several seats to the Nuba Mountains General Union and to the Sudan National Party, due to the reduced level of support from the Nuba Mountains region. There is reason to believe that attacks by the government-supported militia, the Popular Defense Force (P.D.F.), on several Nuba villages were meant to be in retaliation for this drop in support, which was seen as signaling increased support of the S.P.L.A. The P.D.F. attacks were particularly violent, and have been cited as examples of crimes against humanity that took place during the Second Sudanese Civil War (Salih 1999).
The Nuba people reside in one of the most remote and inaccessible places in all of Sudan—the foothills of the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan. At one time the area was considered a place of refuge, bringing together people of many different tongues and backgrounds who were fleeing oppressive governments and slave traders. As a result, over 100 hundred languages are spoken in the area and are considered Nuba languages, although many of the Nuba also speak Sudanese Arabic, the official language of Sudan.
The Nuba Mountains mark the southern border of the sands of the desert and the northern limit of good soils washed down by the Nile River. Many Nubas, however, have migrated to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to escape persecution and the effects of Sudan’s civil war. Most of the rest of the 1,000,000 Nuba people live in villages of between 1,000 and 50,000 inhabitants in areas in and surrounding the Nuba mountains. Nuba villages are often built where valleys run from the hills out on to the surrounding plains, because water is easier to find at such points and wells can be used all year long. There is no political unity among the various Nuba groups who live on the hills. Often the villages do not have chiefs but are instead organized into clans or extended family groups with village authority left in the hands of clan elders.
After some earlier incursions by the SPLA, the Sudanese civil war started full scale in the Nuba Mountains when the Volcano Battalion of the SPLA under the command of the Nuba Yousif Kuwa Mekki and Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hillu entered the Nuba Mountains and began to recruit Nuba volunteers and send them to SPLA training facilities in Ethiopia.The volunteers walked to Ethiopia and back and many of them perished on the way.
During the war, the SPLA generally held the Mountains, while the Sudanese Army held the towns and fertile lands at the feet of the Mountains, but was generally unable to dislodge the SPLA, even though the latter was usually very badly supplied. The Governments of Sudan under Sadiq al-Mahdi and Omar al-Bashir also armed militias of Baggara Arabs to fight the Nuba and transferred many Nuba forcibly to camps. In 1998, Yousif Kuwa was diagnosed with cancer and died early 2001.
In early 2002, the Government and the SPLA agreed on an internationally supervised ceasefire. International observers and advisors were quickly dispatched to the Kadugli base camp and several deployed into the mountains to co-locate with the SPLA command elements. The base camp at Kauda for several observers included Swiss African advisor, French diplomat, an Italian and a former United States Army officer.
At that time, Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hillu was the governor of the Nuba Mountains. During the course of the following months, relief supplies from the United Nations were air dropped to stem the starvation of many in the Nuba Mountains.
The ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains was the foundation for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in January 2005. The south was to vote on whether to secede from Sudan and form its own country in 2011. This provision was agreed to in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Nuba. The term “Nuba” refers to the non-Arab inhabitants of the more than 80 small hill communities in the Nuba Mountains of Kordofan Province, Sudan. This term, known.to everyone familiar with the region and commonly used in government publications and censuses, is nota a term used by any specific local group, each of whom has its own term for itself and acknowledges no necessary common kinship or political unity with any other. There is no “Nuba” ethnic group.
“Nuba” actually has a varied history and should be distinguished from “Nubia,” although some of the northernmost of the many languages of the Nuba are indeed related to the languages of the Nubia of the Upper Nile Valley. Culture histories, however, are much more difficult to specify, and it is safest at the stage of current knowledge to discourage speculation on the origins of the Nuba or their relationships elsewhere. Certainly there are relationships to others in such elements as language and culture traits. But the inhabitants of the hill communities themselves (as well as historians) have claims, demonstrations, myths and speculations on the origins of specific Nuba groups from north to south (Ghulfan, Dair, Dilling), from west to east (Nyimang, Tira), from east to west (Kao, Taqali, Kaduru) and even from the south to north (Fungor).
While some hill communities have specific histories and traditions, some have had distinct political developments and differential experiences with Islam and other Muslims. This is particularly true for the northeastern Nuba people of Taqali (Teqale, Taqwi) and, to a lesser extent, their neighbors of Dair, who developed a state form with distinct kingly genealogies during medieval time. This was allied with, if not derived from, the Funj state of Sennar. Both were Muslim kingdoms, and as a consequence the northern and eastern Nuba became progressively Islamic. The Taqali kingdom at its maximum in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries extended well into the Tira hills to the south. And even today there is a tradition among some local people that they are not Nuba but really Funj.
The Nuba conversion to Islam has a contradictory history, encouraged by force on the one hand and inhibited by force on the other. It was encouraged during the Mahdiyya (1885-1889) with the formation of the jihadiya with many Nuba troops and inhibited by later British colonial policy to stem Islamic influence in the Nuba Mountains. Local nomadic Baggara Arabs (the closest non-Nuba neighbors) have rarely been influential in conversion, and, of course, earlier slaving by Muslims discouraged conversion.
Islam in the Nuba Mountains has normally meant some form of Arabization (and vice versa). Mercantilists and traders as well as nomads throughout the area brought Arab culture. And relations generally have been cordial between the Nuba and these Arabs. Often friendships, treatises and close ties of mutual dependence developed, usually to be compromised by exploitive state forms and outside economic pressures. British colonial policy, with the Closed Districts Ordinances of the 1920s, sought to inhibit the spread of Islam with prohibitions on the movements of Muslim clerics and traders without special permission. This sometimes extended to the prohibition of Arabic names, Arab dress and and Arabic as a medium of instruction. This last resulted in a series of misguided policies in which English and the local vernacular were used, neither of which was found commonly in Sudan outside the village.
The adoption of Islam, much like the adoption of Arabic and Arab culture traits, was mixed and syncretic. Subsequent to independence in 1956, Christian influence in the Nuba Mountains declined and Islam expanded ever more rapidly through the various channels of commerce, education and expanded contact with the Arab north. Specific conversion, however, most frequently took place at the hands of the fuqura (singular, faqi, “cleric”), who were often of West African origin and not by specific proselytizing by government or neighboring Arabs.
Nuba is a collective term used for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in the states of Southern Sudan, Africa. Although the term is used to describe them as if they composed a single group, the Nuba are multiple distinct peoples and speak different languages. Estimates of the Nuba population vary widely; the Southern Sudanese government estimated that they numbered 1.07 million in 2003.
Leni Riefenstahl, better known for directing Triumph of the Will and Olympia, published a collection of her photographs of the peoples titled The Last of the Nuba in 1976.
The majority of the Nuba—those living in the east, west and northern parts of the mountains—are Muslims, while those living to the south are either Christians or practice traditional animistic religions. In those areas of the Nuba mountains where Islam has not deeply penetrated, ritual specialists and priests hold as much control as the clan elders, for it is they who are responsible for rain control, keeping the peace, and rituals to insure successful crops. Many are guardians of the shrines where items are kept to insure positive outcomes of the rituals (such as rain stones for the rain magic), and some also undergo spiritual possession.
In the 1986 elections, the Umma Party lost several seats to the Nuba Mountains General Union and to the Sudan National Party, due to the reduced level of support from the Nuba Mountains region. There is reason to believe that attacks by the government-supported militia, the Popular Defense Force (P.D.F.), on several Nuba villages were meant to be in retaliation for this drop in support, which was seen as signaling increased support of the S.P.L.A. The P.D.F. attacks were particularly violent, and have been cited as examples of crimes against humanity that took place during the Second Sudanese Civil War (Salih 1999).
The Nuba people reside in one of the most remote and inaccessible places in all of Sudan—the foothills of the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan. At one time the area was considered a place of refuge, bringing together people of many different tongues and backgrounds who were fleeing oppressive governments and slave traders. As a result, over 100 hundred languages are spoken in the area and are considered Nuba languages, although many of the Nuba also speak Sudanese Arabic, the official language of Sudan.
The Nuba Mountains mark the southern border of the sands of the desert and the northern limit of good soils washed down by the Nile River. Many Nubas, however, have migrated to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to escape persecution and the effects of Sudan’s civil war. Most of the rest of the 1,000,000 Nuba people live in villages of between 1,000 and 50,000 inhabitants in areas in and surrounding the Nuba mountains. Nuba villages are often built where valleys run from the hills out on to the surrounding plains, because water is easier to find at such points and wells can be used all year long. There is no political unity among the various Nuba groups who live on the hills. Often the villages do not have chiefs but are instead organized into clans or extended family groups with village authority left in the hands of clan elders.
After some earlier incursions by the SPLA, the Sudanese civil war started full scale in the Nuba Mountains when the Volcano Battalion of the SPLA under the command of the Nuba Yousif Kuwa Mekki and Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hillu entered the Nuba Mountains and began to recruit Nuba volunteers and send them to SPLA training facilities in Ethiopia.The volunteers walked to Ethiopia and back and many of them perished on the way.
During the war, the SPLA generally held the Mountains, while the Sudanese Army held the towns and fertile lands at the feet of the Mountains, but was generally unable to dislodge the SPLA, even though the latter was usually very badly supplied. The Governments of Sudan under Sadiq al-Mahdi and Omar al-Bashir also armed militias of Baggara Arabs to fight the Nuba and transferred many Nuba forcibly to camps. In 1998, Yousif Kuwa was diagnosed with cancer and died early 2001.
In early 2002, the Government and the SPLA agreed on an internationally supervised ceasefire. International observers and advisors were quickly dispatched to the Kadugli base camp and several deployed into the mountains to co-locate with the SPLA command elements. The base camp at Kauda for several observers included Swiss African advisor, French diplomat, an Italian and a former United States Army officer.
At that time, Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hillu was the governor of the Nuba Mountains. During the course of the following months, relief supplies from the United Nations were air dropped to stem the starvation of many in the Nuba Mountains.
The ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains was the foundation for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in January 2005. The south was to vote on whether to secede from Sudan and form its own country in 2011. This provision was agreed to in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Nubar Pasha
Nubar Pasha (Nūbār Pasha Nūbārian) (Nubar Nubarian) (b. January 4, 1825, Smyrna, Ottoman Empire [now İzmir, Tur.] — died January 14, 1899, Paris, France). Egyptian statesman. He conducted negotiations in Istanbul and Paris with the object of securing the territorial sovereignty of Egypt against the Suez Canal Company, which had obtained lands along the Canal. His endeavor to organize a mixed system of justice composed of Egyptian and European elements was opposed by Western Powers who wanted to maintain their privileges. In 1873, he succeeded in obtaining from the Ottoman sultan the decree (in Turkish, firman) in which the title of Khedive (“lord”) was conferred on the viceroy. In 1876, he appealed to Great Britain to intervene in Egypt because of the enormous debts which had been contracted. In 1878, a European ministry was formed to support European policy and high finance, which was not responsible to the Khedive. This led to the outbreak of 1879, which in its turn caused the deposition of the Khedive and in the end the British occupation of the country in 1882.
Nūbār Pasha was an Egyptian statesman of Armenian descent who was instrumental in the negotiation of important treaties with the European powers and in the division of authority between Egyptian and British administrators.
Raised and educated in Europe, Nūbār learned numerous foreign languages and became intimately familiar with European culture and customs — skills that served him well later in his life. It was his uncle, who served as Muḥammad ʿAlī’s chief interpreter, who brought Nūbār to Egypt. Nūbār’s first important work involved the Suez Canal. The Ottoman khedive (viceroy) of Egypt, Ismāʿīl Pasha (r. 1863–79), wanted to speed construction of the canal, which was impeded by disputes with the canal company. Nūbār represented the Egyptian government in negotiations to annul the disputed provisions. He also helped to establish a system of mixed courts (begun in 1875) to try cases involving Egyptians and Europeans. He proposed that the courts be staffed with Egyptian and foreign judges, who would administer a body of law based on French law and compiled by an international commission.
Nūbār was caught up in the events that led to Ismāʿīl’s deposition in 1879. Under pressure by Britain and France in 1878, Ismāʿīl named Nūbār prime minister in a government that was to institute financial and political reforms. These reforms, however, infringed upon Ismāʿīl’s authority, and he soon dismissed Nūbār. After the British occupation of Egypt (1882), Nūbār again became prime minister, in 1884. Under the British, khedival authority was considerably curtailed while the authority of the prime minister was increased. Nūbār successfully asserted Egyptian control of the Ministries of Justice and Interior and thereby helped to establish a dividing line between British and Egyptian authority in Egypt. His administrative talents provided an element of stability that was important for the peaceful continuance of British rule. However, when, in 1888, he became too independent and tried to assert his authority over the provincial police, Britain secured his dismissal. In 1894 Nūbār again became prime minister, but ill health and impatience with British domination led to his resignation the following year.
In November 1895 Nubar completed his fifty years of service, and, accepting a pension, retired from office. He lived little more than three years longer, spending his time between Cairo and Paris, where he died in January 1899.
Nubarashen, a suburb of Yerevan, was founded with his help and is named after him.
Nubar Pasha Nubarian see Nubar Pasha
Nubar Nubarian see Nubar Pasha
Nubarian, Nubar see Nubar Pasha
Nubar Pasha (Nūbār Pasha Nūbārian) (Nubar Nubarian) (b. January 4, 1825, Smyrna, Ottoman Empire [now İzmir, Tur.] — died January 14, 1899, Paris, France). Egyptian statesman. He conducted negotiations in Istanbul and Paris with the object of securing the territorial sovereignty of Egypt against the Suez Canal Company, which had obtained lands along the Canal. His endeavor to organize a mixed system of justice composed of Egyptian and European elements was opposed by Western Powers who wanted to maintain their privileges. In 1873, he succeeded in obtaining from the Ottoman sultan the decree (in Turkish, firman) in which the title of Khedive (“lord”) was conferred on the viceroy. In 1876, he appealed to Great Britain to intervene in Egypt because of the enormous debts which had been contracted. In 1878, a European ministry was formed to support European policy and high finance, which was not responsible to the Khedive. This led to the outbreak of 1879, which in its turn caused the deposition of the Khedive and in the end the British occupation of the country in 1882.
Nūbār Pasha was an Egyptian statesman of Armenian descent who was instrumental in the negotiation of important treaties with the European powers and in the division of authority between Egyptian and British administrators.
Raised and educated in Europe, Nūbār learned numerous foreign languages and became intimately familiar with European culture and customs — skills that served him well later in his life. It was his uncle, who served as Muḥammad ʿAlī’s chief interpreter, who brought Nūbār to Egypt. Nūbār’s first important work involved the Suez Canal. The Ottoman khedive (viceroy) of Egypt, Ismāʿīl Pasha (r. 1863–79), wanted to speed construction of the canal, which was impeded by disputes with the canal company. Nūbār represented the Egyptian government in negotiations to annul the disputed provisions. He also helped to establish a system of mixed courts (begun in 1875) to try cases involving Egyptians and Europeans. He proposed that the courts be staffed with Egyptian and foreign judges, who would administer a body of law based on French law and compiled by an international commission.
Nūbār was caught up in the events that led to Ismāʿīl’s deposition in 1879. Under pressure by Britain and France in 1878, Ismāʿīl named Nūbār prime minister in a government that was to institute financial and political reforms. These reforms, however, infringed upon Ismāʿīl’s authority, and he soon dismissed Nūbār. After the British occupation of Egypt (1882), Nūbār again became prime minister, in 1884. Under the British, khedival authority was considerably curtailed while the authority of the prime minister was increased. Nūbār successfully asserted Egyptian control of the Ministries of Justice and Interior and thereby helped to establish a dividing line between British and Egyptian authority in Egypt. His administrative talents provided an element of stability that was important for the peaceful continuance of British rule. However, when, in 1888, he became too independent and tried to assert his authority over the provincial police, Britain secured his dismissal. In 1894 Nūbār again became prime minister, but ill health and impatience with British domination led to his resignation the following year.
In November 1895 Nubar completed his fifty years of service, and, accepting a pension, retired from office. He lived little more than three years longer, spending his time between Cairo and Paris, where he died in January 1899.
Nubarashen, a suburb of Yerevan, was founded with his help and is named after him.
Nubar Pasha Nubarian see Nubar Pasha
Nubar Nubarian see Nubar Pasha
Nubarian, Nubar see Nubar Pasha
Nubians
Nubians. People of northern Sudan and southern Egypt. With a history and traditions which can be traced to the dawn of civilization, the Nubians first settled along the banks of the Nile from Aswan south of Egypt to the sixth cataract just south of Khartoum (capital of Sudan).
Along this great river they developed one of the oldest and greatest civilizations in Africa. Until they lost their last kingdom (Christian Nubia) only five centuries ago, the Nubians remained as the main rivals to the other great African civilization of Egypt. This great civilization is one of the main concerns of contemporary archaeologists, scholars, museums and universities around the world.
Although Sudan had remained the main homeland of Nubians through their long history, many of their descendants today live in Egypt. But still the majority of Nubians of today are Sudanese. With only a population of slightly above 300,000 they are a minority in both countries. Nevertheless being of African descent they resemble other Sudanese people more than Egyptians.
Nubians in both Sudan and Egypt have suffered a lot from intentional overlooking to their history and culture as well as displacement, relocation due to flooding and inundation of their homeland by dams constructed south of Egypt. During this century the Nubian homeland had been inundated three times, however the 1960 Nubian exodus is the most painful to all Nubians. Following the construction of Aswan High Dam in 1960 the land of Nubia between Aswan in Egypt and the fourth cataract in Sudan (main area of Nubians) was the subject of flooding and inundation. Nubians were displaced and relocated in other areas in both Sudan and Egypt. Great Nubian monuments and historical sites were drowned and lost for good.
The influx of Arabs to Egypt and Sudan had contributed to the suppression of the Nubian identity following the collapse of the last Nubian kingdom in 1900. A major part of the Nubian population were totally arabized or claimed to be Arabs (Jaa’leen -- the majority of Northern Sudanese and some Donglawes in Sudan, Kenuz and Koreskos in Egypt). However, all Nubians were converted to Islam, and Arabic became their main media of communication in addition to their indigenous old Nubian language. The unique characteristic of Nubian is shown in their culture (dress, dances, traditions and music) as well as their indigenous language which is the common feature of all Nubians.
The distinguished and soft rhythms of the Nubian music and songs are borrowed by other ethnic groups in Sudan. In Egypt, these rhythms are commonly used by some Egyptian-Nubian who sing in Arabic. With its very distinctive chantings and intonation the Nubian songs and music has a noticeable acclamation and acceptance among non-Nubian Sudanese and Egyptians.
Nubian is the name commonly given to the people whose native villages were located between Aswan, Egypt, and the Dongola region of northern Sudan until the building of the High Dam at Aswan in the years 1962-1965. The building of the High Dam necessitated massive resettlement of the inhabitants of these villages. The Egyptian Nubian population was relocated in New Nubia, a government project located near Kom Omo, 20 miles north of Aswan. The Sudanese Nubians living near Wadi Halfa moved to Khasim al Ghurba, east of Khartoum.
Historically, the Nubians’ physical situation on the Nile placed them in a strategic position between Egypt to the north and the African kingdoms on the southern stretches of the river. In the sixth century, missionaries from Byzantium sent by Queen Theodora introduced a theocratic regime to the region. After a brief period of Arab conquests, this government was officially recognized by the Arab ruler of Egypt, Abdullah ibn Sa’d, in the seventh century, and a treaty was concluded which lasted for 600 years. Under the terms of the treaty, a tributary relationship was established between Christian Nubia and the much more powerful Muslim community of greater Egypt, a condition marked by an annual ritual exchange of goods between the two states. The kingdoms of Nubia were not to be the site of Muslim settlement, although merchants were allowed to visit the region. After a brief period of Arab conquests, this government was officially recognized by the Arab ruler of Egypt, Abdullah ibn Sa’d, in the seventh century, and a treaty was concluded which lasted for 600 years. Under the terms of the treaty, a tributary relationship was established between Christian Nubia and the much more powerful Muslim community of greater Egypt, a condition marked by an annual ritual exchange of goods between the two states. The kingdoms of Nubia were not to be the site of Muslim settlement, although merchants were allowed to visit the region. Thus Nubia became involved in the overland trade between Africa and the Egyptian world and was particularly important as a source of slaves. In Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, harem guards and slaves were often identified as Nubian, but it is possible that this name was broadly applied to Africans who had entered the Muslim world as part of the Nubian slave trade. Of course, Nubian villages themselves were subject to slave raids by Arab tribesmen, since they lacked the religious protection which prevents one Muslim from enslaving another. However, there were free Nubians who belonged to the guilds of medieval Egypt, specializing in porterage and transportation as well as other occupations and crafts. Nubians are also mentioned as agricultural overseers in the Nile delta, and many villagers may have come to Egypt as traders as well as slaves.
During the the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Nubian lands were flooded by wters from the dam constructed at Aswan in 1897 and subsequently heightened in 1912 and 1927. For these losses the Nubians received compensation, and many constructed elaborate homes for themselves, placed higher on the sand and rocks above the river. The styles of these homes involved large spacious courtyards and numerous rooms for guests as well as those for family use. Often such homes were built in anticipation of eventual retirement from city work and provided a luxurious contrast to the frequently crowded servant quarters where many Nubians lived in the cities. By this time, the Nubians had responded to the demand for service occupations which developed during the colonial period in Egypt and Sudan. In many hotels and restaurants as well as private homes. Nubians from the same villages, often kinsmen, monopolized the job opportunities and established themselves as a mark of aristocratic elegance in both public and private settings.
The total conversion of Nubia to Islam, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was of overwhelming importance to the Nubians, ending forever the dangers of slavery from which the region had both profited and suffered in the past. Movements of Islamic conservatism were still evident throughout Nubia in the 1960s and continue to the present. These movements have ended many customs from pre-Islamic period in villages. Even the songs and dances which were distinctive in style and form have come under attack from members of the Marghaniyya brotherhood, which is popular among many Nubian men.
Some prominent Nubians include:
* Anwar El Sadat, late third President of Egypt (Lower Egyptian father, Sudanese Nubian mother)
* Gaafar Nimeiri, former Sudanese president
* Mohammed Wardi, singer
* Mohamed Mounir, singer
* Ali Hassan Kuban, singer and musician
* Hamza El Din, singer and musicologist
* Khalil Kalfat, literary critic, political and economic thinker and writer
* Abdullah Khalil, Sudanese prime minister, founder and leader of the Umma Party
* Ibrahim Ahmed, prominent Sudanese politician responsible for the signing of the Sudanese declaration of independence
Nubians. People of northern Sudan and southern Egypt. With a history and traditions which can be traced to the dawn of civilization, the Nubians first settled along the banks of the Nile from Aswan south of Egypt to the sixth cataract just south of Khartoum (capital of Sudan).
Along this great river they developed one of the oldest and greatest civilizations in Africa. Until they lost their last kingdom (Christian Nubia) only five centuries ago, the Nubians remained as the main rivals to the other great African civilization of Egypt. This great civilization is one of the main concerns of contemporary archaeologists, scholars, museums and universities around the world.
Although Sudan had remained the main homeland of Nubians through their long history, many of their descendants today live in Egypt. But still the majority of Nubians of today are Sudanese. With only a population of slightly above 300,000 they are a minority in both countries. Nevertheless being of African descent they resemble other Sudanese people more than Egyptians.
Nubians in both Sudan and Egypt have suffered a lot from intentional overlooking to their history and culture as well as displacement, relocation due to flooding and inundation of their homeland by dams constructed south of Egypt. During this century the Nubian homeland had been inundated three times, however the 1960 Nubian exodus is the most painful to all Nubians. Following the construction of Aswan High Dam in 1960 the land of Nubia between Aswan in Egypt and the fourth cataract in Sudan (main area of Nubians) was the subject of flooding and inundation. Nubians were displaced and relocated in other areas in both Sudan and Egypt. Great Nubian monuments and historical sites were drowned and lost for good.
The influx of Arabs to Egypt and Sudan had contributed to the suppression of the Nubian identity following the collapse of the last Nubian kingdom in 1900. A major part of the Nubian population were totally arabized or claimed to be Arabs (Jaa’leen -- the majority of Northern Sudanese and some Donglawes in Sudan, Kenuz and Koreskos in Egypt). However, all Nubians were converted to Islam, and Arabic became their main media of communication in addition to their indigenous old Nubian language. The unique characteristic of Nubian is shown in their culture (dress, dances, traditions and music) as well as their indigenous language which is the common feature of all Nubians.
The distinguished and soft rhythms of the Nubian music and songs are borrowed by other ethnic groups in Sudan. In Egypt, these rhythms are commonly used by some Egyptian-Nubian who sing in Arabic. With its very distinctive chantings and intonation the Nubian songs and music has a noticeable acclamation and acceptance among non-Nubian Sudanese and Egyptians.
Nubian is the name commonly given to the people whose native villages were located between Aswan, Egypt, and the Dongola region of northern Sudan until the building of the High Dam at Aswan in the years 1962-1965. The building of the High Dam necessitated massive resettlement of the inhabitants of these villages. The Egyptian Nubian population was relocated in New Nubia, a government project located near Kom Omo, 20 miles north of Aswan. The Sudanese Nubians living near Wadi Halfa moved to Khasim al Ghurba, east of Khartoum.
Historically, the Nubians’ physical situation on the Nile placed them in a strategic position between Egypt to the north and the African kingdoms on the southern stretches of the river. In the sixth century, missionaries from Byzantium sent by Queen Theodora introduced a theocratic regime to the region. After a brief period of Arab conquests, this government was officially recognized by the Arab ruler of Egypt, Abdullah ibn Sa’d, in the seventh century, and a treaty was concluded which lasted for 600 years. Under the terms of the treaty, a tributary relationship was established between Christian Nubia and the much more powerful Muslim community of greater Egypt, a condition marked by an annual ritual exchange of goods between the two states. The kingdoms of Nubia were not to be the site of Muslim settlement, although merchants were allowed to visit the region. After a brief period of Arab conquests, this government was officially recognized by the Arab ruler of Egypt, Abdullah ibn Sa’d, in the seventh century, and a treaty was concluded which lasted for 600 years. Under the terms of the treaty, a tributary relationship was established between Christian Nubia and the much more powerful Muslim community of greater Egypt, a condition marked by an annual ritual exchange of goods between the two states. The kingdoms of Nubia were not to be the site of Muslim settlement, although merchants were allowed to visit the region. Thus Nubia became involved in the overland trade between Africa and the Egyptian world and was particularly important as a source of slaves. In Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, harem guards and slaves were often identified as Nubian, but it is possible that this name was broadly applied to Africans who had entered the Muslim world as part of the Nubian slave trade. Of course, Nubian villages themselves were subject to slave raids by Arab tribesmen, since they lacked the religious protection which prevents one Muslim from enslaving another. However, there were free Nubians who belonged to the guilds of medieval Egypt, specializing in porterage and transportation as well as other occupations and crafts. Nubians are also mentioned as agricultural overseers in the Nile delta, and many villagers may have come to Egypt as traders as well as slaves.
During the the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Nubian lands were flooded by wters from the dam constructed at Aswan in 1897 and subsequently heightened in 1912 and 1927. For these losses the Nubians received compensation, and many constructed elaborate homes for themselves, placed higher on the sand and rocks above the river. The styles of these homes involved large spacious courtyards and numerous rooms for guests as well as those for family use. Often such homes were built in anticipation of eventual retirement from city work and provided a luxurious contrast to the frequently crowded servant quarters where many Nubians lived in the cities. By this time, the Nubians had responded to the demand for service occupations which developed during the colonial period in Egypt and Sudan. In many hotels and restaurants as well as private homes. Nubians from the same villages, often kinsmen, monopolized the job opportunities and established themselves as a mark of aristocratic elegance in both public and private settings.
The total conversion of Nubia to Islam, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was of overwhelming importance to the Nubians, ending forever the dangers of slavery from which the region had both profited and suffered in the past. Movements of Islamic conservatism were still evident throughout Nubia in the 1960s and continue to the present. These movements have ended many customs from pre-Islamic period in villages. Even the songs and dances which were distinctive in style and form have come under attack from members of the Marghaniyya brotherhood, which is popular among many Nubian men.
Some prominent Nubians include:
* Anwar El Sadat, late third President of Egypt (Lower Egyptian father, Sudanese Nubian mother)
* Gaafar Nimeiri, former Sudanese president
* Mohammed Wardi, singer
* Mohamed Mounir, singer
* Ali Hassan Kuban, singer and musician
* Hamza El Din, singer and musicologist
* Khalil Kalfat, literary critic, political and economic thinker and writer
* Abdullah Khalil, Sudanese prime minister, founder and leader of the Umma Party
* Ibrahim Ahmed, prominent Sudanese politician responsible for the signing of the Sudanese declaration of independence
Nuh ibn Mansur
Nuh ibn Mansur (Nuh II ibn Mansur ibn Nuh) (964-997). Samanid amir (r. 977-997). Rebellions separated Khurasan from the direct authority of Bukhara, the Samanid capital. In the end, Ahmad I Arlsan Qara Khan, the founder of the Ilek-Khans, and Nasir al-Dawla Sebktegin, the founder of the Ghaznavids, divided the Samanid territories among themselves.
Having ascended the throne as a youth, Nuh was assisted by his mother and his vizier Abu'l-Husain 'Abd-Allah ibn Ahmad 'Utbi. Sometime around his ascension, the Karakhanids invaded and captured the upper Zarafshan Valley, where the Samanid silver mines were located. In 980 they struck again, seizing Isfijab. 'Utbi, however was focused on removing Abu'l-Hasan Simjuri, the Samanid governor of Khurasan. The vizier considered Abu'l-Husain to be too powerful. He managed to remove him from the post in 982. He replaced him with one of his own partisans, a Turkish general called Tash. Abu'l-Hasan fled to his appendage in Kuhistan, to the south of Herat.
An expedition against the Buyids was mobilized in Khurisan, also in 982. It was initially successful, but the Samanid forces were subsequently crushed. A Buyid invasion of the Samanid state was prevented only by the death of 'Adud al-Daula. 'Utbi attempted to regroup the army, but was assassinated by supporters of Abu'l-Hasan and Fa'iq.
'Utbi's death sparked an uprising in the capital Bukhara. Nuh was forced to request Tash's assistance in crushing the revolt. The governor succeeded in this task, and prepared to fight the armies of Abu'l-Hasan and his son Abu 'Ali, along with Fa'iq. Eventually, however, he changed his mind and made peace with the Simjuris and Fa'iq. Tash convinced Nuh to give Fa'iq control of Balkh and to Abu 'Ali control of Herat. Abu'l-Hasan was restored in Khurasan, while Tash kept his governorship of Khurasan.
This peace was broken by 'Utbi's successor Muhammad ibn 'Uzair. The vizier had been rivals with 'Utbi and therefore disliked Tash. Nuh, due to Muhammad's advice, stripped Tash of his office and reinstated Abu'l-Hasan to the governorship. Tash fled to the Buyids, who provided him with assistance. The Simjuris and Fa'iq defeated him near the end of 987, however, and he fled to Gurgan, where he died in 988.
Abu'l-Hasan also died around this time. His son Abu 'Ali succeeded him as governor of Khurasan. This greatly increased his power, a move which alarmed Fa'iq. The quarrel between the two turned hostile. Abu 'Ali defeated Fa'iq in battle in around 990. During his retreat, Fa'iq attempted to seize Bukhara, but Nuh's Turkish general Bektuzun inflicted another defeat on him. Fa'iq then headed back to Balkh. Nuh managed to convince several of his vassals to mobilize their forces against Fa'iq, but the latter managed to retain his position.
The Karkhanids, who in addition to their seizures of Samanid territory had inherited several petty Turkish principalities that had been virtually independent from Bukhara, launched a full-scale invasion in the end of 991. Their ruler, Bughra Khan, destroyed an army sent by Nuh to stop him. The amir then pardoned Fa'iq and gave him the governorship of Samarkand, in exchange for a promise from the latter to fight the Karkhanids. After some time, however, Fa'iq surrendered to Bughra Khan, who then marched toward Bukhara. Nuh fled, and the Karakhanids entered the capital in the late spring of 992. The amir then turned to Abu 'Ali, still residing in Nishapur, Khurasan's provincial capital. He requested his assistance, but the latter initially refused. The situation changed when Bughra Khan fell sick in Bukhara. Bughra Khan traveled to Samarkand, and then died on the road northward. The garrison left in Bukhara was defeated by Nuh in the summer of that year.
Fa'iq attempted to take Bukhara himself, but was defeated. He then fled to Abu 'Ali; the two settled their past differences and resolved to put an end to Samanid rule. Nuh then requested assistance from Sebük Tigin of Ghazna. The Ghaznavid agreed to provide assistance, and Nuh's forces were further strengthened by the help of Khwarazm and several other of his vassals. A battle in Khurasan in August 994 resulted in a crushing victory for the amir and his allies. The rebels fled to Gurgan. Nuh rewarded Sebük Tigin and his son Mahmud with titles, and gave the governorship of Khurasan to Mahmud as well.
In 995 Abu 'Ali and Fa'iq returned with new forces and expelled Mahmud from Nishapur. Sebük Tigin met up with his son and together they defeated the rebels near Tus. Abu 'Ali and Fa'iq fled northward. The latter sought refuge with the Karkhanids. Nuh, however, pardoned Abu 'Ali, and sent him to Khwarazm. The Khwarazm Shah, who held southern Khwarazm as a Samanid vassal, imprisoned Abu 'Ali. Both of them were captured when the Samanid governor of northern Khwarazm invaded from Gurganj. He annexed southern Khwarazm and sent Abu 'Ali back to Nuh. The amir sent him to Sebük Tigin in 996, and he was subsequently executed by the Ghaznavids.
Fa'iq, meanwhile, had tempted Bughra Khan's successor Nasr Khan to launch a campaign against the Samanids. The Karakhanid, however, instead made peace with Nuh. Fa'iq was pardoned and handed back the governorship of Samarkand. Although peace had finally been established, the years of conflict preceding it had heavily hurt the Samanids. The Karkhanids had taken control of much of the northeast, while the Ghazvanids had entrenched themselves in Khurasan and the lands south of the Oxus. The governor of Khwarazm only nominally accepted Nuh's authority. It was in this greatly weakened condition that Nuh left the Samanid state in when he died in 997. He was succeeded by his son Mansur II.
Nuh II ibn Mansur ibn Nuh see Nuh ibn Mansur
Nuh ibn Mansur (Nuh II ibn Mansur ibn Nuh) (964-997). Samanid amir (r. 977-997). Rebellions separated Khurasan from the direct authority of Bukhara, the Samanid capital. In the end, Ahmad I Arlsan Qara Khan, the founder of the Ilek-Khans, and Nasir al-Dawla Sebktegin, the founder of the Ghaznavids, divided the Samanid territories among themselves.
Having ascended the throne as a youth, Nuh was assisted by his mother and his vizier Abu'l-Husain 'Abd-Allah ibn Ahmad 'Utbi. Sometime around his ascension, the Karakhanids invaded and captured the upper Zarafshan Valley, where the Samanid silver mines were located. In 980 they struck again, seizing Isfijab. 'Utbi, however was focused on removing Abu'l-Hasan Simjuri, the Samanid governor of Khurasan. The vizier considered Abu'l-Husain to be too powerful. He managed to remove him from the post in 982. He replaced him with one of his own partisans, a Turkish general called Tash. Abu'l-Hasan fled to his appendage in Kuhistan, to the south of Herat.
An expedition against the Buyids was mobilized in Khurisan, also in 982. It was initially successful, but the Samanid forces were subsequently crushed. A Buyid invasion of the Samanid state was prevented only by the death of 'Adud al-Daula. 'Utbi attempted to regroup the army, but was assassinated by supporters of Abu'l-Hasan and Fa'iq.
'Utbi's death sparked an uprising in the capital Bukhara. Nuh was forced to request Tash's assistance in crushing the revolt. The governor succeeded in this task, and prepared to fight the armies of Abu'l-Hasan and his son Abu 'Ali, along with Fa'iq. Eventually, however, he changed his mind and made peace with the Simjuris and Fa'iq. Tash convinced Nuh to give Fa'iq control of Balkh and to Abu 'Ali control of Herat. Abu'l-Hasan was restored in Khurasan, while Tash kept his governorship of Khurasan.
This peace was broken by 'Utbi's successor Muhammad ibn 'Uzair. The vizier had been rivals with 'Utbi and therefore disliked Tash. Nuh, due to Muhammad's advice, stripped Tash of his office and reinstated Abu'l-Hasan to the governorship. Tash fled to the Buyids, who provided him with assistance. The Simjuris and Fa'iq defeated him near the end of 987, however, and he fled to Gurgan, where he died in 988.
Abu'l-Hasan also died around this time. His son Abu 'Ali succeeded him as governor of Khurasan. This greatly increased his power, a move which alarmed Fa'iq. The quarrel between the two turned hostile. Abu 'Ali defeated Fa'iq in battle in around 990. During his retreat, Fa'iq attempted to seize Bukhara, but Nuh's Turkish general Bektuzun inflicted another defeat on him. Fa'iq then headed back to Balkh. Nuh managed to convince several of his vassals to mobilize their forces against Fa'iq, but the latter managed to retain his position.
The Karkhanids, who in addition to their seizures of Samanid territory had inherited several petty Turkish principalities that had been virtually independent from Bukhara, launched a full-scale invasion in the end of 991. Their ruler, Bughra Khan, destroyed an army sent by Nuh to stop him. The amir then pardoned Fa'iq and gave him the governorship of Samarkand, in exchange for a promise from the latter to fight the Karkhanids. After some time, however, Fa'iq surrendered to Bughra Khan, who then marched toward Bukhara. Nuh fled, and the Karakhanids entered the capital in the late spring of 992. The amir then turned to Abu 'Ali, still residing in Nishapur, Khurasan's provincial capital. He requested his assistance, but the latter initially refused. The situation changed when Bughra Khan fell sick in Bukhara. Bughra Khan traveled to Samarkand, and then died on the road northward. The garrison left in Bukhara was defeated by Nuh in the summer of that year.
Fa'iq attempted to take Bukhara himself, but was defeated. He then fled to Abu 'Ali; the two settled their past differences and resolved to put an end to Samanid rule. Nuh then requested assistance from Sebük Tigin of Ghazna. The Ghaznavid agreed to provide assistance, and Nuh's forces were further strengthened by the help of Khwarazm and several other of his vassals. A battle in Khurasan in August 994 resulted in a crushing victory for the amir and his allies. The rebels fled to Gurgan. Nuh rewarded Sebük Tigin and his son Mahmud with titles, and gave the governorship of Khurasan to Mahmud as well.
In 995 Abu 'Ali and Fa'iq returned with new forces and expelled Mahmud from Nishapur. Sebük Tigin met up with his son and together they defeated the rebels near Tus. Abu 'Ali and Fa'iq fled northward. The latter sought refuge with the Karkhanids. Nuh, however, pardoned Abu 'Ali, and sent him to Khwarazm. The Khwarazm Shah, who held southern Khwarazm as a Samanid vassal, imprisoned Abu 'Ali. Both of them were captured when the Samanid governor of northern Khwarazm invaded from Gurganj. He annexed southern Khwarazm and sent Abu 'Ali back to Nuh. The amir sent him to Sebük Tigin in 996, and he was subsequently executed by the Ghaznavids.
Fa'iq, meanwhile, had tempted Bughra Khan's successor Nasr Khan to launch a campaign against the Samanids. The Karakhanid, however, instead made peace with Nuh. Fa'iq was pardoned and handed back the governorship of Samarkand. Although peace had finally been established, the years of conflict preceding it had heavily hurt the Samanids. The Karkhanids had taken control of much of the northeast, while the Ghazvanids had entrenched themselves in Khurasan and the lands south of the Oxus. The governor of Khwarazm only nominally accepted Nuh's authority. It was in this greatly weakened condition that Nuh left the Samanid state in when he died in 997. He was succeeded by his son Mansur II.
Nuh II ibn Mansur ibn Nuh see Nuh ibn Mansur
Nuh ibn Nasr
Nuh ibn Nasr (Nuh I ibn Nasr) (Nuh I) (d. 954). Samanid amir of Khurasan and Transoxiana from 943 to 954. During his reign, which showed unmistakable symptoms of decline, much trouble was caused by the rebel governor of Khurasan.
Nuh I was amir of the Samanids (943-954). He was the son of Nasr II.
Nuh came to power after preventing a revolt against his father in 943. Several army officers, unhappy over Nasr's support of Ismaili missionaries, planned to assassinate him. Nuh, given notice of the plot, arrived at a banquet held to organize the assassination, and seized and killed the leader of the plotters. To placate the others, he promised to put an end to the activities of the Ismailis, and convinced his father to abdicate in his favor.
Shortly after Nuh's ascension, he was forced to put down a revolt in Khwarazm. Another revolt, launched by Abu 'Ali Chaghani, proved to be much more serious. Abu 'Ali, in addition to being the ruler of the Samanid vassal state of Chaghaniyan, had been the governor of Khurasan since 939. In 945 he was removed from the latter post by Nuh, who desired to replace him with a Turk named Ibrahim ibn Simjur. Abu 'Ali joined forces with Nuh's uncle Ibrahim ibn Ahmad and rebelled.
In 947, Ibrahim gained control of Bukhara, forcing Nuh to flee to Samarkand. Ibrahim, however, proved to be unpopular in the city, enabling Nuh to capture and blind his uncle as well as two of his brothers. Abu 'Ali's capital in Chaghaniyan was sacked, but in 948 peace was made between the two, and Abu 'Ali was confirmed as ruler of Chaghaniyan. Following the death of the governor of Khurasan, Mansur ibn Qara-Tegin, in 952, Abu 'Ali regained that post as well.
Nuh removed Abu 'Ali from the governorship of Khurasan a second time after receiving a complaint from Vushmgir, the Ziyarid ruler of Tabaristan. Nuh had previously supported Vushmgir. The latter had gained possession of Gurgan for a short time with Samanid support, and after losing it to the Buyids, he used a Samanid army to take back Gurgan and Tabaristan in 947. The Ziyarids, along with the Samanids, and the Buyids subsequently fought over the region for the next few years, each side gaining temporary control of the area several times. Vushmgir, who was an ally of the Samanids, had been pleased when Abu 'Ali had gone to war against the Buyids, but was angered when Abu 'Ali made peace with the Buyids of Ray. His complaint, which consisted of accusations that Abu 'Ali was conspiring with the Buyids, resulted in Nuh's decision to remove him. Abu 'Ali then fled to the Buyids, and received a grant from the Caliph Al-Muti for control of Khurasan. Nuh's death in 954 prevented him from solving this problem. He was succeeded by his son 'Abd al-Malik I.
Nuh I ibn Nasr see Nuh ibn Nasr
Ibn Nasr, Nuh see Nuh ibn Nasr
Nuh I see Nuh ibn Nasr
Nuh ibn Nasr (Nuh I ibn Nasr) (Nuh I) (d. 954). Samanid amir of Khurasan and Transoxiana from 943 to 954. During his reign, which showed unmistakable symptoms of decline, much trouble was caused by the rebel governor of Khurasan.
Nuh I was amir of the Samanids (943-954). He was the son of Nasr II.
Nuh came to power after preventing a revolt against his father in 943. Several army officers, unhappy over Nasr's support of Ismaili missionaries, planned to assassinate him. Nuh, given notice of the plot, arrived at a banquet held to organize the assassination, and seized and killed the leader of the plotters. To placate the others, he promised to put an end to the activities of the Ismailis, and convinced his father to abdicate in his favor.
Shortly after Nuh's ascension, he was forced to put down a revolt in Khwarazm. Another revolt, launched by Abu 'Ali Chaghani, proved to be much more serious. Abu 'Ali, in addition to being the ruler of the Samanid vassal state of Chaghaniyan, had been the governor of Khurasan since 939. In 945 he was removed from the latter post by Nuh, who desired to replace him with a Turk named Ibrahim ibn Simjur. Abu 'Ali joined forces with Nuh's uncle Ibrahim ibn Ahmad and rebelled.
In 947, Ibrahim gained control of Bukhara, forcing Nuh to flee to Samarkand. Ibrahim, however, proved to be unpopular in the city, enabling Nuh to capture and blind his uncle as well as two of his brothers. Abu 'Ali's capital in Chaghaniyan was sacked, but in 948 peace was made between the two, and Abu 'Ali was confirmed as ruler of Chaghaniyan. Following the death of the governor of Khurasan, Mansur ibn Qara-Tegin, in 952, Abu 'Ali regained that post as well.
Nuh removed Abu 'Ali from the governorship of Khurasan a second time after receiving a complaint from Vushmgir, the Ziyarid ruler of Tabaristan. Nuh had previously supported Vushmgir. The latter had gained possession of Gurgan for a short time with Samanid support, and after losing it to the Buyids, he used a Samanid army to take back Gurgan and Tabaristan in 947. The Ziyarids, along with the Samanids, and the Buyids subsequently fought over the region for the next few years, each side gaining temporary control of the area several times. Vushmgir, who was an ally of the Samanids, had been pleased when Abu 'Ali had gone to war against the Buyids, but was angered when Abu 'Ali made peace with the Buyids of Ray. His complaint, which consisted of accusations that Abu 'Ali was conspiring with the Buyids, resulted in Nuh's decision to remove him. Abu 'Ali then fled to the Buyids, and received a grant from the Caliph Al-Muti for control of Khurasan. Nuh's death in 954 prevented him from solving this problem. He was succeeded by his son 'Abd al-Malik I.
Nuh I ibn Nasr see Nuh ibn Nasr
Ibn Nasr, Nuh see Nuh ibn Nasr
Nuh I see Nuh ibn Nasr
Nukkaris
Nukkaris. One of the main branches of the Ibadiyya in North Africa. It was founded by Abu Qudama Yazid ibn Fendin al-Ifreni in 784. The Nukkaris acquired preponderance among the Ibadis after ‘Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi (r.909-934) had established the Fatimids in North Africa, but they revolted under Abu Yazid al-Nukkari (d. 947), and again in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Remnants of the sect have survived on the island of Jerba.
Nukkaris. One of the main branches of the Ibadiyya in North Africa. It was founded by Abu Qudama Yazid ibn Fendin al-Ifreni in 784. The Nukkaris acquired preponderance among the Ibadis after ‘Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi (r.909-934) had established the Fatimids in North Africa, but they revolted under Abu Yazid al-Nukkari (d. 947), and again in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Remnants of the sect have survived on the island of Jerba.
Nu‘man bin al-Mundhir, al
Nu‘man bin al-Mundhir, al (al-Nu‘man III). Last Lakhmid king of al-Hira. He reigned from 580 to 602 C.C. Al-Nu‘man was a vassal of Sasanian Persia and is often mentioned by Arab poets, according to circumstances, as a subject of panegyrics or of lampoons. Al-Nu‘man was imprisoned by the Sasanian king Khusraw II.
Nu'man III, al- see Nu‘man bin al-Mundhir, al
Nu‘man bin al-Mundhir, al (al-Nu‘man III). Last Lakhmid king of al-Hira. He reigned from 580 to 602 C.C. Al-Nu‘man was a vassal of Sasanian Persia and is often mentioned by Arab poets, according to circumstances, as a subject of panegyrics or of lampoons. Al-Nu‘man was imprisoned by the Sasanian king Khusraw II.
Nu'man III, al- see Nu‘man bin al-Mundhir, al
Nu‘man ibn Abi ‘Abd Allah, al-
Nu‘man ibn Abi ‘Abd Allah, al- (d. 974). Isma‘ili jurist and protagonist of the early Fatimids in Egypt. He was a prolific and versatile writer. His greatest work is The Pillars of Islam, the official corpus juris in the Fatimid Empire.
Nu‘man ibn Abi ‘Abd Allah, al- (d. 974). Isma‘ili jurist and protagonist of the early Fatimids in Egypt. He was a prolific and versatile writer. His greatest work is The Pillars of Islam, the official corpus juris in the Fatimid Empire.
Nupe
Nupe. The Nupe people live along the banks of the rivers Niger and Kaduna in west-central Nigeria between Lokoja at the rivers’ confluence and New Busa near the new Kainji Dam. The reorganization of states dating from 1975 left the Nupe the majority in Niger State, although the capital was located in Minna, traditionally a Gbari area. The Nupe living on the south bank of the Niger River are presently in Kwara State.
When they enter the record of oral history, the Nupe seem to have been divided into a number of riverine kingdoms, drawing their wealth from trade in fish and transit goods passing up and down the Niger. Seventeenth century Yoruba traditions mention them as already a political force. They must have been well organized when the jihad of Uthman dan Fodio began to impinge on their frontiers in the second decade of the nineteenth century. Some traditions make the conversion of the rulers of Nupe occur in the late eighteenth century, and certainly, previous to the military conquest by the Fulani, their involvement with the long-distance trade would have meant contact with Muslims.
The principal figure remembered in Nupe tradition as the purveyor of Islam is Mallam Dendo, an itinerant Fulani preacher and seller of charms who reached Nupeland around 1810. Mallam Dendo rapidly became a political figure of considerable importance and was intimately involved in the complex struggles that eventually wrested power from the Nupe rulers and placed it in the hands of the Fulani. A unified political capital was established for Nupe at Raba, and it was here that the first European travellers made contact with the Fulani rulers. Later in the century, the capital was moved to Bida, more central in Nupeland and, significantly, not on the river, reflecting a shift in economic base to grain growing and long-distance trade.
Islam was an essentially urban phenomenon among the Nupe, where it was the religion of the traders and ruling classes. As Hausa, not Nupe, was the language of these classes, Islam was strongly associated with “foreignness.” Later in the century, as the Nupe element became stronger and the rulers began to identify themselves as Nupe, Islamic prayers and observances were translated into Nupe, and, indeed, Bida became a well-known locus of Islamic scholarship in the late nineteenth century. The Muslim legal system was Maliki.
Islam made little impression on the rural areas in this period for the simple reason that the urban Nupe/Fulani were raiding the countryside for slaves. Virtually all hinterland settlements were atop the inselbergs and mesa hill formations that abound in this area. Relations with the towns were hostile. Only with the suppression of slaving did Islam begin to penetrate the countryside, mostly through the agency of traders, but also through the conversion of villagers who had gone to cities to work. As a result, it was diffused principally along the roads, and today there is a strong correlation between the distribution of Muslims and the accessibility of the villages.
Another factor inhibiting the spread of Islam was Christianity. Mission stations were first established at Lokoja in the 1860s, and with the establishment of the authority of the Royal Niger Company at the end of the century they began to have a broader impact. The initial response to Christianity in Bida was entirely negative, but in the nearby villages it was widely adopted at a ceremonial level. Its expansion continues today. Part of the reason, undoubtedly, is the need for rural populations, who have defined themselves in opposition to the town for a century, also to define themselves ideologically. Christianity provides a coherent means of doing this.
Something less than thirty percent of the Nupe would claim to be Muslims, and of these, perhaps only one-half could in any sense be said to practice their religion.
Nupe. The Nupe people live along the banks of the rivers Niger and Kaduna in west-central Nigeria between Lokoja at the rivers’ confluence and New Busa near the new Kainji Dam. The reorganization of states dating from 1975 left the Nupe the majority in Niger State, although the capital was located in Minna, traditionally a Gbari area. The Nupe living on the south bank of the Niger River are presently in Kwara State.
When they enter the record of oral history, the Nupe seem to have been divided into a number of riverine kingdoms, drawing their wealth from trade in fish and transit goods passing up and down the Niger. Seventeenth century Yoruba traditions mention them as already a political force. They must have been well organized when the jihad of Uthman dan Fodio began to impinge on their frontiers in the second decade of the nineteenth century. Some traditions make the conversion of the rulers of Nupe occur in the late eighteenth century, and certainly, previous to the military conquest by the Fulani, their involvement with the long-distance trade would have meant contact with Muslims.
The principal figure remembered in Nupe tradition as the purveyor of Islam is Mallam Dendo, an itinerant Fulani preacher and seller of charms who reached Nupeland around 1810. Mallam Dendo rapidly became a political figure of considerable importance and was intimately involved in the complex struggles that eventually wrested power from the Nupe rulers and placed it in the hands of the Fulani. A unified political capital was established for Nupe at Raba, and it was here that the first European travellers made contact with the Fulani rulers. Later in the century, the capital was moved to Bida, more central in Nupeland and, significantly, not on the river, reflecting a shift in economic base to grain growing and long-distance trade.
Islam was an essentially urban phenomenon among the Nupe, where it was the religion of the traders and ruling classes. As Hausa, not Nupe, was the language of these classes, Islam was strongly associated with “foreignness.” Later in the century, as the Nupe element became stronger and the rulers began to identify themselves as Nupe, Islamic prayers and observances were translated into Nupe, and, indeed, Bida became a well-known locus of Islamic scholarship in the late nineteenth century. The Muslim legal system was Maliki.
Islam made little impression on the rural areas in this period for the simple reason that the urban Nupe/Fulani were raiding the countryside for slaves. Virtually all hinterland settlements were atop the inselbergs and mesa hill formations that abound in this area. Relations with the towns were hostile. Only with the suppression of slaving did Islam begin to penetrate the countryside, mostly through the agency of traders, but also through the conversion of villagers who had gone to cities to work. As a result, it was diffused principally along the roads, and today there is a strong correlation between the distribution of Muslims and the accessibility of the villages.
Another factor inhibiting the spread of Islam was Christianity. Mission stations were first established at Lokoja in the 1860s, and with the establishment of the authority of the Royal Niger Company at the end of the century they began to have a broader impact. The initial response to Christianity in Bida was entirely negative, but in the nearby villages it was widely adopted at a ceremonial level. Its expansion continues today. Part of the reason, undoubtedly, is the need for rural populations, who have defined themselves in opposition to the town for a century, also to define themselves ideologically. Christianity provides a coherent means of doing this.
Something less than thirty percent of the Nupe would claim to be Muslims, and of these, perhaps only one-half could in any sense be said to practice their religion.
Nur al-Din Arslan Shah
Nur al-Din Arslan Shah (Arslan Shah) (Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah I). Zangid atabeg of Mosul (r.1193-1211). In 1199, he defeated the future Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kamil, but was himself routed in 1204 by his cousin Qutb al-Din, who ruled in Sinjar. An alliance, first with and later against the Ayyubid of Egypt, al-Malik al-‘Adil, was abandoned.
Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah I, or Arslan Shah was the Zengid Emir of Mosul 1193-1211. He was successor of Izz ad-Din Mas'ud.
Arslan Shah see Nur al-Din Arslan Shah
Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah see Nur al-Din Arslan Shah
Nur al-Din Arslan Shah (Arslan Shah) (Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah I). Zangid atabeg of Mosul (r.1193-1211). In 1199, he defeated the future Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kamil, but was himself routed in 1204 by his cousin Qutb al-Din, who ruled in Sinjar. An alliance, first with and later against the Ayyubid of Egypt, al-Malik al-‘Adil, was abandoned.
Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah I, or Arslan Shah was the Zengid Emir of Mosul 1193-1211. He was successor of Izz ad-Din Mas'ud.
Arslan Shah see Nur al-Din Arslan Shah
Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah see Nur al-Din Arslan Shah
Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi (Nur ad-Din Zangi</I) (al-Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi) (Nūr al-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī) (Nur ed-Din) (Nur al-Din) (Nūr ad-Dīn -- "Light of the Faith") (February 1118 - May 15, 1174, Damascus [Syria]). Zangid atabeg of Damascus and Aleppo. He was born in 1118 and ruled from 1146 to 1174. In 1144, he captured Edessa from Count Joscelyn II, which made him the hero of the Sunnis, but which also provoked the Second Crusade. Nur al-Din continued to fight the Franks and captured Damascus in 1154. He made peace with Baldwin III of Jerusalem, but war broke out again and Baldwin suffered a disastrous defeat in 1157. In 1158, the Franks inflicted a severe defeat on Nur al-Din on the Jordan. Around 1160, his attention was drawn to the declining Fatimid rule in Egypt, and his history then became closely linked up with that of Saladin. In 1173, Nur al-Din Mahmud invaded Asia Minor and took several towns from the Rum Saljuq Qilij Arslan II. The ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi’ bi-Amr Allah recognised him as lord of Mosul, al-Jazira, Irbil, Khilat, Syria, Egypt and Konya. Nur al-Din was a pious Muslim, a lover of justice, and Damascus shows his great activity as a builder. His constant aim was the expulsion of the Christians from Syria and Palestine, and he paved the way for Saladin’s career and the constituting of the Ayyubid Empire.
Nūr al-Dīn was a Muslim ruler who reorganized the armies of Syria and laid the foundations for the success of Saladin.
Nūr al-Dīn succeeded his father as the atabeg (ruler) of Halab in 1146, owing nominal allegiance to the ʿAbbāsid caliph of Baghdad. Before his rule, a major reason for the success of the Crusaders was the disunity of the Muslim rulers of the region, who were unable to present a unified military front against the invaders. Nūr al-Dīn waged military campaigns against the Crusaders in an attempt to expel them from Syria and Palestine. His forces recaptured Edessa shortly after his accession, invaded the important military district of Antakiya in 1149, and took Damascus in 1154. Egypt was annexed by stages in 1169–71.
An able general and just ruler, Nūr al-Dīn was also noted for piety and personal bravery. He was austere and ascetic, disclaiming the financial rewards of his conquests: instead, he used the booty to build numerous mosques, schools, hospitals, and caravansaries. At the time of his death, his rule was recognized in Syria, in Egypt, and in parts of Iraq and Asia Minor.
Nur ad-Din Zangi see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi, al- see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad al-Din Zangi see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur ed-Din see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Light of the Faith see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi (Nur ad-Din Zangi</I) (al-Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi) (Nūr al-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī) (Nur ed-Din) (Nur al-Din) (Nūr ad-Dīn -- "Light of the Faith") (February 1118 - May 15, 1174, Damascus [Syria]). Zangid atabeg of Damascus and Aleppo. He was born in 1118 and ruled from 1146 to 1174. In 1144, he captured Edessa from Count Joscelyn II, which made him the hero of the Sunnis, but which also provoked the Second Crusade. Nur al-Din continued to fight the Franks and captured Damascus in 1154. He made peace with Baldwin III of Jerusalem, but war broke out again and Baldwin suffered a disastrous defeat in 1157. In 1158, the Franks inflicted a severe defeat on Nur al-Din on the Jordan. Around 1160, his attention was drawn to the declining Fatimid rule in Egypt, and his history then became closely linked up with that of Saladin. In 1173, Nur al-Din Mahmud invaded Asia Minor and took several towns from the Rum Saljuq Qilij Arslan II. The ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi’ bi-Amr Allah recognised him as lord of Mosul, al-Jazira, Irbil, Khilat, Syria, Egypt and Konya. Nur al-Din was a pious Muslim, a lover of justice, and Damascus shows his great activity as a builder. His constant aim was the expulsion of the Christians from Syria and Palestine, and he paved the way for Saladin’s career and the constituting of the Ayyubid Empire.
Nūr al-Dīn was a Muslim ruler who reorganized the armies of Syria and laid the foundations for the success of Saladin.
Nūr al-Dīn succeeded his father as the atabeg (ruler) of Halab in 1146, owing nominal allegiance to the ʿAbbāsid caliph of Baghdad. Before his rule, a major reason for the success of the Crusaders was the disunity of the Muslim rulers of the region, who were unable to present a unified military front against the invaders. Nūr al-Dīn waged military campaigns against the Crusaders in an attempt to expel them from Syria and Palestine. His forces recaptured Edessa shortly after his accession, invaded the important military district of Antakiya in 1149, and took Damascus in 1154. Egypt was annexed by stages in 1169–71.
An able general and just ruler, Nūr al-Dīn was also noted for piety and personal bravery. He was austere and ascetic, disclaiming the financial rewards of his conquests: instead, he used the booty to build numerous mosques, schools, hospitals, and caravansaries. At the time of his death, his rule was recognized in Syria, in Egypt, and in parts of Iraq and Asia Minor.
Nur ad-Din Zangi see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi, al- see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Imad al-Din Zangi see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur ed-Din see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nur al-Din see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Light of the Faith see Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi
Nurbakhshiyya
Nurbakhshiyya. Religious Shi‘a order named after its founder Muhammad bin Muhammad bin ‘Abd Allah who was known as Nurbakhsh (“light-gift”) and who came from Qa’in in Kuhistan. Nurbakhsh lived from 1392 to 1464. As the founder of the Nurbakhshiyya, Nurbakhsh received the title of Mahdi in virtue of his supposed descent from the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim, and was proclaimed caliph by a number of his followers. This proclamation provided the reason for the the Timurid ruler in Samarkand, Shahrukh Mirza, to arrest Nurbakhsh. In his poems, Nurbakhsh emphasizes Sufi pantheism.
Nurbakhshiyya. Religious Shi‘a order named after its founder Muhammad bin Muhammad bin ‘Abd Allah who was known as Nurbakhsh (“light-gift”) and who came from Qa’in in Kuhistan. Nurbakhsh lived from 1392 to 1464. As the founder of the Nurbakhshiyya, Nurbakhsh received the title of Mahdi in virtue of his supposed descent from the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim, and was proclaimed caliph by a number of his followers. This proclamation provided the reason for the the Timurid ruler in Samarkand, Shahrukh Mirza, to arrest Nurbakhsh. In his poems, Nurbakhsh emphasizes Sufi pantheism.
Nurcholish Madjid
Nurcholish Madjid (Cak Nur) (March 17, 1939 - August 29, 2005). Indonesian scholar and advocate of religious tolerance. Nurcholish Madjid was among Indonesia’s most daring theologians. His vision of Islam was pluralistic, tolerant, and intended to meet the spiritual needs of a modern urban population. Like other modernist thinkers, Nurcholish rooted his theology in the doctrine of tajdid or a return to the Islam of the prophet Muhammad. Unlike other modernists he was more concerned with spirituality than with ritual and social behavior.
Born in east Java, Nurcholish was a scion of one of Indonesia’s most celebrated families of Islamic scholars. He was educated at traditional Islamic schools (pesantren) and at the modernist school at Gontor, which emphasizes English and secular subjects as well as the traditional Islamic curriculum. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the State Institute of Islamic Studies in Jakarta in 1968. From 1966 until 1971, he was chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association. He studied with Fazlur Rahman at the University of Chicago, receiving his Ph.D. in 1984 with a dissertation on Ibn Taymiyah’s understanding of the relationship between reason and revelation. In the early 1990s Nurcholish held positions at the State Institute of Islamic Studies in Jakarta and the Indonesian Academy of Sciences.
Nurcholish’s thought was highly controversial. In the 1960s, he challenged the “modernist” position that advocates a literal application of the Qur’an and hadith in contemporary society. As an alternative he advocated a return to the spirit or underlying principles of Islam as a guide for contemporary conduct. In 1970 he introduced the concept of “Islamic secularization.” This does not mean secularization in the Western sense, but rather the desacralization of certain aspects of human life and knowledge, which, in view of the spirit of Islam, are not properly religious. During this period, Nurcholish was influenced by two American scholars, the sociologist Robert Bellah and the theologian Harvey Cox. Older, shari‘a centered Indonesian modernists, including Nurcholish’s mentor Mohammad Natsir, were outraged.
In numerous publications Nurcholish has emphasized the concept of Islamic brotherhood and has attempted to extend the boundaries of the Muslim community as broadly as possible. He was a strident opponent of all forms orf sectarianism. In his dissertation and in Indonesian publications based on it he emphasizes the philosophically tolerant side of Ibn Taymiyah, who is better known for his polemical castigations of popular Islam. He describes his work as an attempt to apply the uinversal Islamic values in the cultural and historical contest of contemporary Indonesia. In a series of works, Madjid denounced sectarian and fundamentalist groups as cults and defined Islam as being nothing more nor less than submission to God -- a definition that allows him to apply the word “Islam” in discussions of Christians and Jews.
Nurcholish’s call for an inclusive, tolerant Islam and for dialogue with other faiths was a bold attempt to resolve the problems of bigotry and intolerance that plague not only Islam but also other major religions. Although he has many supporters among Indonesian intellectuals, the virulent polemics his works incite indicate that such an idealistic vision will be at best difficult to realize.
Nurcholish Madjid, in his homeland affectionately known as Cak Nur, was a prominent Indonesian Muslim intellectual. Early in his academic career, Nurcholish was a leader in various student organizations. He soon became well known as a proponent for modernization within Islam. Throughout his career he continued to argue that for Islam to be victorious in the global struggle of ideas, it needs to embrace the concepts of tolerance, democracy and pluralism.
Born in Jombang, East Java, Madjid received his early education in religious institutions in Indonesia, so called pesantren. He later received his doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in the United States where he studied under the noted Pakistani-American scholar, Fazlur Rahman. In 2003 he participated in Indonesia's national elections as a candidate for the presidency. He served as Rector of Paramadina University in Jakarta from 1998 up until his death. Madjid was married and had two children, one of whom married an American Jew.
In 1972, Cak Nur shocked Indonesia when he proclaimed: 'Islam, yes; Islamic parties, no?' He was convinced that Islamic parties would be deemed so sacred that it would be construed to be a grave sin for Muslims not to vote for them.[1] However, the two most successful Muslim parties in the country's 2004 general elections, the moderate National Awakening and United Development Parties, received 10.6% and 8.1% of the vote, respectively.
Madjid, Nurcholish see Nurcholish Madjid
Cak Nur see Nurcholish Madjid
Nur, Cak see Nurcholish Madjid
Nurcholish Madjid (Cak Nur) (March 17, 1939 - August 29, 2005). Indonesian scholar and advocate of religious tolerance. Nurcholish Madjid was among Indonesia’s most daring theologians. His vision of Islam was pluralistic, tolerant, and intended to meet the spiritual needs of a modern urban population. Like other modernist thinkers, Nurcholish rooted his theology in the doctrine of tajdid or a return to the Islam of the prophet Muhammad. Unlike other modernists he was more concerned with spirituality than with ritual and social behavior.
Born in east Java, Nurcholish was a scion of one of Indonesia’s most celebrated families of Islamic scholars. He was educated at traditional Islamic schools (pesantren) and at the modernist school at Gontor, which emphasizes English and secular subjects as well as the traditional Islamic curriculum. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the State Institute of Islamic Studies in Jakarta in 1968. From 1966 until 1971, he was chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association. He studied with Fazlur Rahman at the University of Chicago, receiving his Ph.D. in 1984 with a dissertation on Ibn Taymiyah’s understanding of the relationship between reason and revelation. In the early 1990s Nurcholish held positions at the State Institute of Islamic Studies in Jakarta and the Indonesian Academy of Sciences.
Nurcholish’s thought was highly controversial. In the 1960s, he challenged the “modernist” position that advocates a literal application of the Qur’an and hadith in contemporary society. As an alternative he advocated a return to the spirit or underlying principles of Islam as a guide for contemporary conduct. In 1970 he introduced the concept of “Islamic secularization.” This does not mean secularization in the Western sense, but rather the desacralization of certain aspects of human life and knowledge, which, in view of the spirit of Islam, are not properly religious. During this period, Nurcholish was influenced by two American scholars, the sociologist Robert Bellah and the theologian Harvey Cox. Older, shari‘a centered Indonesian modernists, including Nurcholish’s mentor Mohammad Natsir, were outraged.
In numerous publications Nurcholish has emphasized the concept of Islamic brotherhood and has attempted to extend the boundaries of the Muslim community as broadly as possible. He was a strident opponent of all forms orf sectarianism. In his dissertation and in Indonesian publications based on it he emphasizes the philosophically tolerant side of Ibn Taymiyah, who is better known for his polemical castigations of popular Islam. He describes his work as an attempt to apply the uinversal Islamic values in the cultural and historical contest of contemporary Indonesia. In a series of works, Madjid denounced sectarian and fundamentalist groups as cults and defined Islam as being nothing more nor less than submission to God -- a definition that allows him to apply the word “Islam” in discussions of Christians and Jews.
Nurcholish’s call for an inclusive, tolerant Islam and for dialogue with other faiths was a bold attempt to resolve the problems of bigotry and intolerance that plague not only Islam but also other major religions. Although he has many supporters among Indonesian intellectuals, the virulent polemics his works incite indicate that such an idealistic vision will be at best difficult to realize.
Nurcholish Madjid, in his homeland affectionately known as Cak Nur, was a prominent Indonesian Muslim intellectual. Early in his academic career, Nurcholish was a leader in various student organizations. He soon became well known as a proponent for modernization within Islam. Throughout his career he continued to argue that for Islam to be victorious in the global struggle of ideas, it needs to embrace the concepts of tolerance, democracy and pluralism.
Born in Jombang, East Java, Madjid received his early education in religious institutions in Indonesia, so called pesantren. He later received his doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in the United States where he studied under the noted Pakistani-American scholar, Fazlur Rahman. In 2003 he participated in Indonesia's national elections as a candidate for the presidency. He served as Rector of Paramadina University in Jakarta from 1998 up until his death. Madjid was married and had two children, one of whom married an American Jew.
In 1972, Cak Nur shocked Indonesia when he proclaimed: 'Islam, yes; Islamic parties, no?' He was convinced that Islamic parties would be deemed so sacred that it would be construed to be a grave sin for Muslims not to vote for them.[1] However, the two most successful Muslim parties in the country's 2004 general elections, the moderate National Awakening and United Development Parties, received 10.6% and 8.1% of the vote, respectively.
Madjid, Nurcholish see Nurcholish Madjid
Cak Nur see Nurcholish Madjid
Nur, Cak see Nurcholish Madjid
Nureddin
Nureddin. See Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi.
Nureddin. See Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn ‘Imad al-Dinn Zangi.
Nuri al-Sa‘id
Nuri al-Sa‘id (1888-1958). Pro-Western Iraqi statesman. During World War I, Nuri al-Sa‘id was on the side of the British and of Sharif Husayn of Mecca against the Turks. He was fourteen times Prime Minister of Iraq and remained Britain’s most faithful servant, until he was killed at the hands of a hostile crowd in Baghdad on the day after the revolution in 1958.
Sa'id, Nuri al- see Nuri al-Sa‘id
Nuriddin, Jalaluddin Mansur
Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin (b. July 24, 1944, Brooklyn, New York – d. June 4, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia) was an African American poet and musician. He was one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in New York City.
Nuriddin was born Lawrence Padilla on July 24, 1944, in Brooklyn and grew up in a housing project in the Fort Greene neighborhood. Information on survivors was not immediately available.Earlier in his career he used the names Lightnin' Rod and Alafia Pudim. He is sometimes called "The Grandfather of Rap".
He cofounded the Last Poets in May 1968, with fellow poets Omar Ben Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole, and percussionist Nilijah.
The Last Poets, the critically-acclaimed spoken-word group, won early hip-hop fans over with their political rap vocals behind percussion accompaniments in the early 1970s.
Nuriddin, under the name Lightnin' Rod, also appeared on a 1973 solo album "Hustlers Convention," an album considered to be a cornerstone in the development of what is now a part of global and hip-hop culture.
"Hustlers Convention" became one of the most sampled albums ever made, with groups like the Wu-Tang Clan, Beastie Boys, and Red Hot Chili Peppers lifting ideas from it.
At some point in 1973, Lightnin' Rod transitioned to the name of Jalal Mansur Nuriddin.
Music icons like Miles Davis and Quincy Jones hailed the Last Poets as groundbreakers in the genre that became rap and hip-hop music. After converting to Islam, the artist changed his name from Alafia Pudim to Jalal Mansur Nuriddin. When Hassan and Oyewole left the Last Poets in 1973, poet Sulaiman El Hadi joined and the group and started using poetry over tribal percussive beats, to an all-out band with spoken word at its core.
Jalal Mansur Nuriddin died after a long battle with cancer on June 4, 2018.
Nuri, Fazl Allah
Nuri, Fazl Allah (Fazlollah Noori) (Hajj Shaykh Fazlullah ibn Mulla ‘Abbas Mazandarani Nuri Tihrani) (1842 - d. July 31, 1909, Tehran) was an Iranian religious scholar chiefly known for his promotion of mashruta-yi mashru’a (constitutional government in accordance with Islamic law) during the Constitutional Revolution. An early supporter of constitutionalism, Nuri began to express reservations in early 1907, when a supplementary fundamental law passed the Majlis with the inclusion of provisions he regarded as incompatible with Islam. He organized a protest meeting at the shrine of Shah Abd al-Azim to the south of Tehran, published broadsheets attacking the allegedly secularist turn taken by the constitutional movement, and effectively became an ally of the court in the suppression of the constitution. When the constitutionalism triumphed in the spring of 1909, Nuri was arrested. He was executed on July 31, 1909. Long execrated in Iran, Nuri was rehabilitated after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979.
Sheikh Fazlollah Noori was a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric in Iran during the late 19th and early 20th century who fought against the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and was executed for treason as a result. Today he is considered a martyr (shahid) in the fight against democracy by Islamic conservatives in Iran.
Noori was one of, if not the most vigorous opponents of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, a movement to remove foreign influence from Iran, limit the power of the Shah and to establish a national consultative assembly that would give the people a voice in the affairs of state. The movement was led principally by merchants, intellectuals and some clerics. Noori initially gave restrained support to the uprising, but he soon became an extreme critic and enemy of the constitutionalists. He authored pamphlets and encited mobs against Constitutionalism and constitutionalists preaching that they would bring vice to Iran. He issued fatwa declaring all members of the new parliament and government "apostates", "atheists," "secret Babis," and koffar al-harbi (warlike pagans) whose blood ought to be shed by the faithful.
Noori allied himself with the new Shah, Mohammad Ali Shah who with the assistance of Russian troops staged a coup against the Majlis (parliament) in 1907. In 1909, however, constitutionalists marched onto Tehran (the capital of Iran). Noori was arrested, tried and found guilty of `sowing corruption and sedition on earth, and in July 1909, Noori was hanged as a traitor.
Since then, and especially after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Noori has been honored by the most conservative sections of the Shiite Muslim clergy in Iran, including Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (the spiritual and political leader of the revolution) and the current leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He is celebrated as "the rose of Iran's clergy" and said to have been "martyred for his defense of Islam against democracy and representative government." Today he is honored in Iran's capital, Tehran, by billboards graced with his image and the Sheikh Fazlollah Noori Highway.
Noori is said to be the only ayatollah executed in the modern history of Iran.
Noori also had an influence on cinema in Iran. When motion pictures first arrived in Iran, Sheikh Fazlollah Noori issued a fatwa declaring the watching of films an unpardonable sin. Very few pious Iranians dared go to the movies thereafter.
Fazi Allah Nuri see Nuri, Fazl Allah
Fazlollah Noori see Nuri, Fazl Allah
Noori Fazlollah see Nuri, Fazl Allah
Hajj Shaykh Fazlullah ibn Mulla ‘Abbas Mazandarani Nuri Tihrani see Nuri, Fazl Allah
Tihrani, Hajj Shaykh Fazlullah ibn Mulla ‘Abbas Mazandarani Nuri see Nuri, Fazl Allah
Nuri, Fazlullah
Nuri, Fazlullah. See Nuri, Fazl Allah.
Nuri, Fazlullah. See Nuri, Fazl Allah.
Nuristanis
Nuristanis. In the final decade of the nineteenth century, a little known people called the Kafirs became the last pawns in the “Great Game” between British and Russian imperialism in Afghanistan. The warlike Kafirs formed a hitherto impenetrable island of Aryan polytheism in the surrounding ocean of Islam. In the West, their mysteriousness and steadfast resistance to Islam inspired Kiplingesque stories, and their geopolitical fate was chronicled in the headlines. Although the Kafirs lay in the westward path of the expanding British Raj, Britain conceded the Kafirs to the sphere of influence of the Amir of Afghanistan, whose kingdom formed a buffer between the converging British and Russian empires. In the winter of 1895-1896, the Amir’s army subjugated the Kafirs, and his mullahs set about converting them to Islam. By 1898, all the Kafirs within the Amir’s domain had embraced Sunni Islam. To commemorate their acceptance of the light of Islam, the Amir changed the name of their country from Kafiristan, “Land of Infidels,” to Nuristan, “Land of Light.”
Nuristan lies on the southern watershed of the Hindu Kush range in northeastern Afghanistan. It comprises the area drained by three roughly parallel valley systems which arise at the crest of the Hindu Kush ridge and debouche southward into the Kunar and Kabul rivers.
After their incorporation into Afghanistan in 1896, the Nuristanis regarded themselves as dominated by a corrupt and oppressive regime of their traditional enemies, the Pushtun. However, the Pushtun kings treated the Nuristanis nobly and provided the Nuristanis with opportunities for advancement in the military, exploiting their skill as mountain warriors. Several Nuristanis rose to the highest military ranks, and it was through these prominent Nuristanis that the otherwise isolated peoples of Nuristan felt any personal integration into the national community.
After the Communist coup of April 1978, many nationally prominent Nuristanis were liquidated in the ensuing purge. The Nuristanis saw no personal ties to a Communist Afghanistan, and fearing that the new regime would forcibly try to supplant Islam with Communist atheism, political leaders from throughout Nuristan convened and resolved to expel the Communist government from their region. In October 1978, the Nuristanis launched the attack that sparked the nationwide uprising against the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan.
Led by the Koms tribe, the Nuristani were the first citizens of Afghanistan to successfully revolt against the communist overthrow of their government in 1978. Thereafter, Nuristanis were behind some of the bloodiest guerrilla fighting with the Soviet forces from 1979 through 1989. The Nuristanis inspired others to fight and contributed to the demise of the Afghan communist regime in 1992.
Nuristanis. In the final decade of the nineteenth century, a little known people called the Kafirs became the last pawns in the “Great Game” between British and Russian imperialism in Afghanistan. The warlike Kafirs formed a hitherto impenetrable island of Aryan polytheism in the surrounding ocean of Islam. In the West, their mysteriousness and steadfast resistance to Islam inspired Kiplingesque stories, and their geopolitical fate was chronicled in the headlines. Although the Kafirs lay in the westward path of the expanding British Raj, Britain conceded the Kafirs to the sphere of influence of the Amir of Afghanistan, whose kingdom formed a buffer between the converging British and Russian empires. In the winter of 1895-1896, the Amir’s army subjugated the Kafirs, and his mullahs set about converting them to Islam. By 1898, all the Kafirs within the Amir’s domain had embraced Sunni Islam. To commemorate their acceptance of the light of Islam, the Amir changed the name of their country from Kafiristan, “Land of Infidels,” to Nuristan, “Land of Light.”
Nuristan lies on the southern watershed of the Hindu Kush range in northeastern Afghanistan. It comprises the area drained by three roughly parallel valley systems which arise at the crest of the Hindu Kush ridge and debouche southward into the Kunar and Kabul rivers.
After their incorporation into Afghanistan in 1896, the Nuristanis regarded themselves as dominated by a corrupt and oppressive regime of their traditional enemies, the Pushtun. However, the Pushtun kings treated the Nuristanis nobly and provided the Nuristanis with opportunities for advancement in the military, exploiting their skill as mountain warriors. Several Nuristanis rose to the highest military ranks, and it was through these prominent Nuristanis that the otherwise isolated peoples of Nuristan felt any personal integration into the national community.
After the Communist coup of April 1978, many nationally prominent Nuristanis were liquidated in the ensuing purge. The Nuristanis saw no personal ties to a Communist Afghanistan, and fearing that the new regime would forcibly try to supplant Islam with Communist atheism, political leaders from throughout Nuristan convened and resolved to expel the Communist government from their region. In October 1978, the Nuristanis launched the attack that sparked the nationwide uprising against the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan.
Led by the Koms tribe, the Nuristani were the first citizens of Afghanistan to successfully revolt against the communist overthrow of their government in 1978. Thereafter, Nuristanis were behind some of the bloodiest guerrilla fighting with the Soviet forces from 1979 through 1989. The Nuristanis inspired others to fight and contributed to the demise of the Afghan communist regime in 1992.
Nur Jahan
Nur Jahan (Begum Nur Jahan) (Noor Jahan) (Nur Jehan) (Nor Jahan) (Mihr al-Nisa') (Mehr-un-Nisa) (1577–1645). Name given to Mihr al-Nisa’, the famous queen of Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor. Nur Jahan ( was the title of Mehrunnisa (Mihr al-Nisa’), the daughter of I’timad ud-Daulah, who had moved from Persia to India to enter into the service of the Mughal court. Mehrunnisa was married to Ali Quli Khan, who served Prince Salim (later Jahangir), in military campaigns and was given the title Sher Afghan. They had a daughter. Following his coronation, Jahangir raised I’timad ud-Daulah and his son, Asaf Khan, to high positions. In his sixth regnal year Jahangir married Mehrunnisa, who had been a widow for four years, and gave her the title Nur Jahan (“Light of the World”). Nur Jahan was cultured, courageous, and ambitious. An extraordinarily beautiful woman, well-versed in Persian literature, she entirely dominated her husband. She saw to it that her daughter married a prince and sought to promote him at Shah Jahan’s expense. She inherited all privileges of her father’s office on his death and generally dominated the court in the last decade of Jahangir’s life. On Jahangir’s death in 1627 she withdrew herself from the court until her own death.
Begum Nur Jahan was the twentieth and favorite wife of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, who was her second husband - and the most famous Empress of the Mughal Empire. The story of the couple's infatuation for each other and the relationship that abided between them is the stuff of many (often apocryphal) legends. She remains historically significant for the sheer amount of imperial authority she wielded - the true "power behind the throne," as Jahangir was battling serious addictions to alcohol and opium throughout his reign - and is known as one of the most powerful women who ruled India with an iron fist.
Begum Nur Jahan was born in 1577 in Kandahar (now in Afghanistan) to traveling Persians from Tehran (now in Iran). Her Persian-born grandfather, who was in the service of Shah Tahmasp I, died in Yazd, laden with honors. His heirs, however, soon fell upon hard times. His son Mirza Ghias Beg (known as Itmad-ud-Daulah, "Pillar of the State", a title conferred on him by Akbar) travelled to India with his family where he rose to become an administrative official in the Mughal court. For their journey, Ghias Beg and his wife, Asmat Begum, joined a caravan travelling southward under the leadership of a merchant noble named Malik Masud. While still in Persian territory, less than half the way to their destination, Ghias Beg's party was attacked by robbers and the family lost almost everything it owned. Left with only two mules, Ghias Beg, his expectant wife, their children, Muhammad Sharif, Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan, and one daughter, took turns riding on the backs of the animals. When the group reached Kandahar, Asmat Begum gave birth to her fourth child and second daughter, Mehr-un-Nisaa.
Mehr-Un-Nisaa was married to Sher Afghan Quli Khan when she was seventeen in 1594, the marriage arranged by Akbar. In 1605, Mehr-Un-Nisaa gave birth to a daughter, also called Mehr-Un-Nisaa (later at court she was named Ladli), Mehr-Un-Nisaa was the one and only child she ever had. In 1607, Sher Afghan Quli Khan was killed during a misunderstanding. During this time Sher Afghan Quli Khan had held the title of Sher Afghan, granted to him by Jahangir as Quli saved his life from an angry tigress. Also, during this time, Jahangir may have been asking Sher Afghan Quli Khan to give Mehr-Un-Nisaa to him, for his harem, although the truth of this is uncertain, as Jahangir married her in 1611, after she had been at court for four years.
The emperor Akbar died in 1605 and was succeeded by prince Salim, who took the regal name Jahangir. After her husband Sher Afghan (who was appointed as jagirdar of Bardhaman, a city in Bengal) was killed in 1607, Mehr-un-Nisaa became a lady-in-waiting to one of the Jahangir's stepmothers, Ruqayya Sultana Begum. Ruqayya was the most senior woman in the harem and had been Akbar's first and principal wife and was also the daughter of Mirza Hindal. The father of Mehr-un-Nisaa was, at that time, a diwan to an amir-ul-umra, decidedly not a very high post.
The year 1607 had not been particularly good for Mehr-un-Nisaa. Her family had fallen into disgrace. Her father, who had been holding important posts under Akbar and Jahangir, had succumbed to his only weakness, money, and had been charged with embezzlement. Moreover, due to possible involvement in the pro-Khusrau assassination attempt on Jahangir in 1607, two of Mehr-un-Nisaa's family members (one brother named Muhammad Sharif and her mother's cousin) were executed on the orders of the Emperor.
In March 1611, her fortune took a turn for the better. She met Jahangir at the palace meena bazaar during the spring festival Nowruz new year. Jahangir grew so infatuated by her beauty that he proposed immediately and they were married on May 25 of the same year becoming his twentieth wife.
Mehr-un-Nisaa received the name Nur Mahal (Light of the Palace), upon her marriage in 1611 and was conferred the title Nur Jahan (Light of the World) in 1616. Jahangir's actual name was Nur-ud-din Muhammad, and thus the name that he gave to his wife was his own first name combined with the first part of his regal name.
For Mehr-un-Nisaa's own immediate family, marriage to Jahangir became a great boon with several members receiving sizeable endowments and promotions as a result. This affection led to Nur Jahan wielding a great deal of actual power in affairs of state. The Mughal state gave absolute power to the emperor, and those who exercised influence over the emperor gained immense influence and prestige. Jahangir's addiction to opium and alcohol made it easier for Nur Jahan to exert her influence. For many years, she effectively wielded imperial power and was recognized as the real force behind the Mughal throne. She even gave audiences at her palace and the ministers consulted with her on most matters. Indeed, Jahangir even permitted coinage to be struck in her name, something that traditionally defined sovereignty.
Through Nur Jahan's influence, her family, including her brother Asaf Khan, consolidated their position at court. Asaf Khan was appointed grand Wazir (minister) to Jahangir, and his daughter Arjumand Banu Begum (later known as Mumtaz Mahal) was wed to Prince Khurram (the future Shah Jahan), the third son of Jahangir, born by a Rajput princess, Jagat Gosaini. Jahangir's eldest son Khusrau had rebelled against the Emperor and was blinded as a result. The second son, Parviz, was weak and addicted to alcohol. The fourth son was Prince Shahryar, born by a royal concubine. Khurram rebelled against his father and a war of succession broke out. Due to Khurram's intransigence, Nur Jahan shifted her support to his younger brother, Shahryar. She arranged the marriage of her own daughter Ladli Begum, born of her first marriage, to her stepson Shahryar. The two weddings ensured that one way or another, the influence of Nur Jahan's family would extend over the Mughal Empire for at least another generation.
Jahangir was captured by rebels in 1626 while he was on his way to Kashmir. Nur Jahan intervened to get her husband released. Jahangir was rescued but died on October 28, 1627. After Jahangir's death, Nur Jahan devoted some of her life to the making of perfume, an art form her mother had passed down.
When Jahangir died in 1628, Nur Jahan's brother Asaf Khan took the side of his son-in-law Khurrum against his sister. It was Khurram who became the new Mughal emperor under the regal name Shah Jahan. Nur Jahan was confined to a comfortable mansion for the rest of her life.
During this period, she paid for and oversaw the construction of her father's mausoleum in Agra, known now as Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb, and occasionally composed Persian poems under the assumed name of Makhfi.
Nur Jahan died in 1645 at age 68, and is buried at Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan in a tomb she had built herself, near the tomb of Jahangir. Her brother Asaf Khan's tomb is also located nearby. The tomb attracts many visitors, both Pakistani and foreign, who come to enjoy pleasant walks in its beautiful gardens. All had been personally laid out and designed by Nur Jahan herself.
Begum Nur Jahan see Nur Jahan
Noor Jahan see Nur Jahan
Nur Jehan see Nur Jahan
Light of the World see Nur Jahan
Mihr al-Nisa' see Nur Jahan
Mehr-un-Nisa see Nur Jahan
Nur Jahan (Begum Nur Jahan) (Noor Jahan) (Nur Jehan) (Nor Jahan) (Mihr al-Nisa') (Mehr-un-Nisa) (1577–1645). Name given to Mihr al-Nisa’, the famous queen of Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor. Nur Jahan ( was the title of Mehrunnisa (Mihr al-Nisa’), the daughter of I’timad ud-Daulah, who had moved from Persia to India to enter into the service of the Mughal court. Mehrunnisa was married to Ali Quli Khan, who served Prince Salim (later Jahangir), in military campaigns and was given the title Sher Afghan. They had a daughter. Following his coronation, Jahangir raised I’timad ud-Daulah and his son, Asaf Khan, to high positions. In his sixth regnal year Jahangir married Mehrunnisa, who had been a widow for four years, and gave her the title Nur Jahan (“Light of the World”). Nur Jahan was cultured, courageous, and ambitious. An extraordinarily beautiful woman, well-versed in Persian literature, she entirely dominated her husband. She saw to it that her daughter married a prince and sought to promote him at Shah Jahan’s expense. She inherited all privileges of her father’s office on his death and generally dominated the court in the last decade of Jahangir’s life. On Jahangir’s death in 1627 she withdrew herself from the court until her own death.
Begum Nur Jahan was the twentieth and favorite wife of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, who was her second husband - and the most famous Empress of the Mughal Empire. The story of the couple's infatuation for each other and the relationship that abided between them is the stuff of many (often apocryphal) legends. She remains historically significant for the sheer amount of imperial authority she wielded - the true "power behind the throne," as Jahangir was battling serious addictions to alcohol and opium throughout his reign - and is known as one of the most powerful women who ruled India with an iron fist.
Begum Nur Jahan was born in 1577 in Kandahar (now in Afghanistan) to traveling Persians from Tehran (now in Iran). Her Persian-born grandfather, who was in the service of Shah Tahmasp I, died in Yazd, laden with honors. His heirs, however, soon fell upon hard times. His son Mirza Ghias Beg (known as Itmad-ud-Daulah, "Pillar of the State", a title conferred on him by Akbar) travelled to India with his family where he rose to become an administrative official in the Mughal court. For their journey, Ghias Beg and his wife, Asmat Begum, joined a caravan travelling southward under the leadership of a merchant noble named Malik Masud. While still in Persian territory, less than half the way to their destination, Ghias Beg's party was attacked by robbers and the family lost almost everything it owned. Left with only two mules, Ghias Beg, his expectant wife, their children, Muhammad Sharif, Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan, and one daughter, took turns riding on the backs of the animals. When the group reached Kandahar, Asmat Begum gave birth to her fourth child and second daughter, Mehr-un-Nisaa.
Mehr-Un-Nisaa was married to Sher Afghan Quli Khan when she was seventeen in 1594, the marriage arranged by Akbar. In 1605, Mehr-Un-Nisaa gave birth to a daughter, also called Mehr-Un-Nisaa (later at court she was named Ladli), Mehr-Un-Nisaa was the one and only child she ever had. In 1607, Sher Afghan Quli Khan was killed during a misunderstanding. During this time Sher Afghan Quli Khan had held the title of Sher Afghan, granted to him by Jahangir as Quli saved his life from an angry tigress. Also, during this time, Jahangir may have been asking Sher Afghan Quli Khan to give Mehr-Un-Nisaa to him, for his harem, although the truth of this is uncertain, as Jahangir married her in 1611, after she had been at court for four years.
The emperor Akbar died in 1605 and was succeeded by prince Salim, who took the regal name Jahangir. After her husband Sher Afghan (who was appointed as jagirdar of Bardhaman, a city in Bengal) was killed in 1607, Mehr-un-Nisaa became a lady-in-waiting to one of the Jahangir's stepmothers, Ruqayya Sultana Begum. Ruqayya was the most senior woman in the harem and had been Akbar's first and principal wife and was also the daughter of Mirza Hindal. The father of Mehr-un-Nisaa was, at that time, a diwan to an amir-ul-umra, decidedly not a very high post.
The year 1607 had not been particularly good for Mehr-un-Nisaa. Her family had fallen into disgrace. Her father, who had been holding important posts under Akbar and Jahangir, had succumbed to his only weakness, money, and had been charged with embezzlement. Moreover, due to possible involvement in the pro-Khusrau assassination attempt on Jahangir in 1607, two of Mehr-un-Nisaa's family members (one brother named Muhammad Sharif and her mother's cousin) were executed on the orders of the Emperor.
In March 1611, her fortune took a turn for the better. She met Jahangir at the palace meena bazaar during the spring festival Nowruz new year. Jahangir grew so infatuated by her beauty that he proposed immediately and they were married on May 25 of the same year becoming his twentieth wife.
Mehr-un-Nisaa received the name Nur Mahal (Light of the Palace), upon her marriage in 1611 and was conferred the title Nur Jahan (Light of the World) in 1616. Jahangir's actual name was Nur-ud-din Muhammad, and thus the name that he gave to his wife was his own first name combined with the first part of his regal name.
For Mehr-un-Nisaa's own immediate family, marriage to Jahangir became a great boon with several members receiving sizeable endowments and promotions as a result. This affection led to Nur Jahan wielding a great deal of actual power in affairs of state. The Mughal state gave absolute power to the emperor, and those who exercised influence over the emperor gained immense influence and prestige. Jahangir's addiction to opium and alcohol made it easier for Nur Jahan to exert her influence. For many years, she effectively wielded imperial power and was recognized as the real force behind the Mughal throne. She even gave audiences at her palace and the ministers consulted with her on most matters. Indeed, Jahangir even permitted coinage to be struck in her name, something that traditionally defined sovereignty.
Through Nur Jahan's influence, her family, including her brother Asaf Khan, consolidated their position at court. Asaf Khan was appointed grand Wazir (minister) to Jahangir, and his daughter Arjumand Banu Begum (later known as Mumtaz Mahal) was wed to Prince Khurram (the future Shah Jahan), the third son of Jahangir, born by a Rajput princess, Jagat Gosaini. Jahangir's eldest son Khusrau had rebelled against the Emperor and was blinded as a result. The second son, Parviz, was weak and addicted to alcohol. The fourth son was Prince Shahryar, born by a royal concubine. Khurram rebelled against his father and a war of succession broke out. Due to Khurram's intransigence, Nur Jahan shifted her support to his younger brother, Shahryar. She arranged the marriage of her own daughter Ladli Begum, born of her first marriage, to her stepson Shahryar. The two weddings ensured that one way or another, the influence of Nur Jahan's family would extend over the Mughal Empire for at least another generation.
Jahangir was captured by rebels in 1626 while he was on his way to Kashmir. Nur Jahan intervened to get her husband released. Jahangir was rescued but died on October 28, 1627. After Jahangir's death, Nur Jahan devoted some of her life to the making of perfume, an art form her mother had passed down.
When Jahangir died in 1628, Nur Jahan's brother Asaf Khan took the side of his son-in-law Khurrum against his sister. It was Khurram who became the new Mughal emperor under the regal name Shah Jahan. Nur Jahan was confined to a comfortable mansion for the rest of her life.
During this period, she paid for and oversaw the construction of her father's mausoleum in Agra, known now as Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb, and occasionally composed Persian poems under the assumed name of Makhfi.
Nur Jahan died in 1645 at age 68, and is buried at Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan in a tomb she had built herself, near the tomb of Jahangir. Her brother Asaf Khan's tomb is also located nearby. The tomb attracts many visitors, both Pakistani and foreign, who come to enjoy pleasant walks in its beautiful gardens. All had been personally laid out and designed by Nur Jahan herself.
Begum Nur Jahan see Nur Jahan
Noor Jahan see Nur Jahan
Nur Jehan see Nur Jahan
Light of the World see Nur Jahan
Mihr al-Nisa' see Nur Jahan
Mehr-un-Nisa see Nur Jahan
Nur Muhammadi
Nur Muhammadi (“The Light of Muhammad”). Technical term for the pre-existence of the soul of the Prophet. The pre-destined essence of the Prophet is said to have been created find of all, in the form of a dense and luminous point. Among the Sunnis, the idea began to dominate popular worship from the ninth century onwards. Among the Shi‘is, it appeared earlier, and it is a fundamental dogma of the Isma‘ilis.
The Light of Muhammad see Nur Muhammadi
Nur Muhammadi (“The Light of Muhammad”). Technical term for the pre-existence of the soul of the Prophet. The pre-destined essence of the Prophet is said to have been created find of all, in the form of a dense and luminous point. Among the Sunnis, the idea began to dominate popular worship from the ninth century onwards. Among the Shi‘is, it appeared earlier, and it is a fundamental dogma of the Isma‘ilis.
The Light of Muhammad see Nur Muhammadi
Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Nuruddin Ar-Raniri (Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri) (Nur ud-Din ar-Raniri) (d. 1658). Sumatran Malay theologian and Muslim historian. Born in Gujerat, West India of South Arabian origin. Nuruddin went to Mecca in 1621, travelled perhaps to Malaya, and then to Acheh where he arrived in 1637. Nuruddin enjoyed royal patronage there for seven years before returning to India, where he died.
Nuruddin’s most popular works were theological in content, e.g., Sirat al-Mustakim (1634-1644), Asrar al-Insan fi ma’rifat al-ruh wa’l rahman (c.1640) and Akhbar al-‘akhirah fi ahwal al-kiamah (1642). Nuruddin attacked the religious views of Hamzah Fansuri and Shamsu’ddin Pasai. Nuruddin’s most valuable work is now considered to be Bustan a’s-Salatin (1638), in seven parts and based on Persian models, containing popularized accounts of Muslim cosmology, some historical material on Acheh, Malacca and Pahang, and many ethical examples and precepts. His Malay is normally easy and fluent in spite of some imperfections of idiom and many Arabicisms. Nuruddin was a highly educated man of his time and fully conversant with the works of the orthodox Muslim mystics.
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri was an Islamic scholar from Gujarat, India, who worked for several years in the court of the sultan of Aceh in what is now Indonesia. He was the most prolific of the authors of the Acehnese court, and helped contribute to its international reputation as a center of scholarship.
Ar-Raniri was born into a Gujarati family of Hadhrami lineage. He arrived in Aceh in 1637 and enjoyed the patronage of Iskandar Thani (reigned 1636-1641). He denounced his predecessors at the Acehnese court, Hamzah Pansuri and Syamsuddin of Pasai, for what he saw as their heresy in violation of the Islamic belief that God was unchanged by his creation. He ordered their books to be burned, while he wrote numerous works setting what he insisted were orthodox religious standards.
His most notable work was the Bustan as-Salatin ("The Garden of Kings"), begun in 1638 and written in Malay based on Arabic sources. It is a seven-volume encyclopedic work, covering the history of the world from the creation through the period of prophets of Islam and the Muslim kings of the Middle East and the Malay area, as well as several sciences.
Ar-Raniri's works were translated into other Indonesian languages, and had considerable influence in Malay literature. He lost favor with the court of Iskandar Thani's successor, his widow Taj ul-Alam, and left Aceh in 1644, and died in India in 1658.
Raniri, Nuruddin Ar- see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Ibn Ali ar-Raniri, Nuruddin see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Nur ud-Din ar-Raniri see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Nuruddin Ar-Raniri (Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri) (Nur ud-Din ar-Raniri) (d. 1658). Sumatran Malay theologian and Muslim historian. Born in Gujerat, West India of South Arabian origin. Nuruddin went to Mecca in 1621, travelled perhaps to Malaya, and then to Acheh where he arrived in 1637. Nuruddin enjoyed royal patronage there for seven years before returning to India, where he died.
Nuruddin’s most popular works were theological in content, e.g., Sirat al-Mustakim (1634-1644), Asrar al-Insan fi ma’rifat al-ruh wa’l rahman (c.1640) and Akhbar al-‘akhirah fi ahwal al-kiamah (1642). Nuruddin attacked the religious views of Hamzah Fansuri and Shamsu’ddin Pasai. Nuruddin’s most valuable work is now considered to be Bustan a’s-Salatin (1638), in seven parts and based on Persian models, containing popularized accounts of Muslim cosmology, some historical material on Acheh, Malacca and Pahang, and many ethical examples and precepts. His Malay is normally easy and fluent in spite of some imperfections of idiom and many Arabicisms. Nuruddin was a highly educated man of his time and fully conversant with the works of the orthodox Muslim mystics.
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri was an Islamic scholar from Gujarat, India, who worked for several years in the court of the sultan of Aceh in what is now Indonesia. He was the most prolific of the authors of the Acehnese court, and helped contribute to its international reputation as a center of scholarship.
Ar-Raniri was born into a Gujarati family of Hadhrami lineage. He arrived in Aceh in 1637 and enjoyed the patronage of Iskandar Thani (reigned 1636-1641). He denounced his predecessors at the Acehnese court, Hamzah Pansuri and Syamsuddin of Pasai, for what he saw as their heresy in violation of the Islamic belief that God was unchanged by his creation. He ordered their books to be burned, while he wrote numerous works setting what he insisted were orthodox religious standards.
His most notable work was the Bustan as-Salatin ("The Garden of Kings"), begun in 1638 and written in Malay based on Arabic sources. It is a seven-volume encyclopedic work, covering the history of the world from the creation through the period of prophets of Islam and the Muslim kings of the Middle East and the Malay area, as well as several sciences.
Ar-Raniri's works were translated into other Indonesian languages, and had considerable influence in Malay literature. He lost favor with the court of Iskandar Thani's successor, his widow Taj ul-Alam, and left Aceh in 1644, and died in India in 1658.
Raniri, Nuruddin Ar- see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Ibn Ali ar-Raniri, Nuruddin see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
Nur ud-Din ar-Raniri see Nuruddin Ar-Raniri
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