Mari-Djata II
Mari-Djata II (Mari Diata II) (d. 1373/1374). Ruler of the Mali Empire (r.1360-1373/1374). He was a grandson of the famous Mansa Musa. Although Musa had been succeeded by his son, the next two rulers were not his direct descendants. In 1360, Mari-Djata challenged Qasa, the second of these. After a nine month civil war Mari-Djata emerged victorious, thereby restoring power to the descendants of Musa. Ibn Khaldun reported that Mari-Djata was Mali’s most oppressive ruler. He died of sleeping sickness and was succeeded by his son, Musa II (r. 1373/1374-1387).
Mari Diata II was mansa of the Mali Empire from 1360 to 1374. Son of Mansa Maghan, he assumed the throne following the brief 1360 reign of Mansa Kankan Musa I's nephew Kassa. Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun records that Mari Diata II was remembered as a tyrant, increasing the tax burden on his people to finance "debauchery and follies of all kinds."
Mari Diata was succeeded by his sons Musa II (1374-1387) and Magha II (1387-1389).
Mari Diata II see Mari-Djata II
Mari-Djata II (Mari Diata II) (d. 1373/1374). Ruler of the Mali Empire (r.1360-1373/1374). He was a grandson of the famous Mansa Musa. Although Musa had been succeeded by his son, the next two rulers were not his direct descendants. In 1360, Mari-Djata challenged Qasa, the second of these. After a nine month civil war Mari-Djata emerged victorious, thereby restoring power to the descendants of Musa. Ibn Khaldun reported that Mari-Djata was Mali’s most oppressive ruler. He died of sleeping sickness and was succeeded by his son, Musa II (r. 1373/1374-1387).
Mari Diata II was mansa of the Mali Empire from 1360 to 1374. Son of Mansa Maghan, he assumed the throne following the brief 1360 reign of Mansa Kankan Musa I's nephew Kassa. Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun records that Mari Diata II was remembered as a tyrant, increasing the tax burden on his people to finance "debauchery and follies of all kinds."
Mari Diata was succeeded by his sons Musa II (1374-1387) and Magha II (1387-1389).
Mari Diata II see Mari-Djata II
Marinid
Marinid (Merinid) (Benemerine) (Mariniyun) (Banu Marin). Berber dynasty of the Zanata group in Morocco (r.1244-1465). Their main capital was Fez. The first period of their reign (1269-1358) was characterized by military exploits, urban expansion and governmental stability, the second (1359-1464) by a slow erosion of the political structures, a territorial regression and internal division. The Banu Marin, a nomadic Zanata tribe from the eastern border territories of the Zahara, settled in eastern and southeastern Morocco from the start of the twelfth century. After increasing tension with the ruling Almohads, the Merinids, under the brothers Abu Yahya Abd al-Haqq (r. 1244-1258) and Abu Yusuf Yaqub (r. 1258-1286) took Meknes (in 1244), Fez (in 1248), and other important towns in Morocco. They deposed the last Almohads in Marrakech in 1269 and extended their power until they were the most important towns in Morocco. They deposed the last Almohads in Marrakech in 1269 and extended their power until they were the most important military attacks in Spain. Under Abu Yaqub Yusuf (r. 1286-1307) they spread as far as Algeria. A period of political success followed under Abu’l-Hasan Ali (r. 1331-1374) and Abu Inan Faris (r. 1351-1358), who also drove out the Abdalwadids and occupied Tlemcen, even advancing as far as Tunisia for a short time. A rapid decline came after 1358. Child sultans ruled from 1358 to 1374 and 1393 to 1458 under the tutelage of the related Wattasids and between 1374 and 1393, the Nasrids of Granada. The last Merinid ruler, Abd al-Haqq (1421-1465), temporarily ended the rule of the Wattasids with a massacre in 1458, but died shortly afterwards during a popular uprising in Fez. Morocco fell to the Wattasids.
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. They overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244, and most of the Maghreb from the mid-1300s to the 15th century, and also supported the Kingdom of Granada, in Al-Andalus, in the 13th and 14th centuries. The last Marinid fortress in the Iberian Peninsula fell to Castile in 1344, and they were in turn replaced by the Wattasids in 1465.
The Marinids originally came from Ifriqiya, through the southeast of present-day Morocco, from which they were expelled in 1224 by the Arab Hilali tribes. As early as 1145, the Marinids engaged in battles with the Almohads, which defeated them until 1169.
In 1169, the Marinids began their pursuit of taking Morocco from the Almohads, the ruling dynasty at the time. Following their expulsion from the south, they moved northwards under command of Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq and took Fes in 1244, making it their capital. This marked the beginning of the Marinid dynasty.
The Marinid leadership installed in Fes declared war on the Almohads with the aid of Christian mercenaries. Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259–1286) captured Marrakech in 1269, and then took control of most of the Maghreb towards the end of 1268, including present-day Morocco, Algeria and part of Tunisia. After the Nasrids cession of Algeciras to the Marinids, Abu Yusuf went to Al-Andalus to support them in their struggle against the Kingdom of Castile.
Having obtained this control, the Marinid dynasty tried to extend its control to the commercial traffic of the Strait of Gibraltar. To this end, they declared jihad on the Christians and occupied the cities of Rota, Algiers and Gibraltar successively, surrounding Tarifa for the first time in 1294.
Internal power struggles among the Merinids followed, which did not, however, prevent Abu Said Uthman II (1310–1331) from substantial construction work in Fez. Several madrassas for the education of public servants were founded, in order to support the centralization of administration and to reduce the influence of the not always reliable Marabuts.
The Marinids also strongly influenced the policy of the Kingdom of Granada, from which they enlarged their army in 1275. In the mid 1300s, Castile made several incursions into Morocco and in 1267 a full-scale invasion of Morocco, but the Marinids successfully defended Morocco and drove out the Castilians.
Under Abu al-Hasan (1331–1348) another attempt to reunite the Maghreb was made. In 1337, the empire of the Abdalwadids in (what is now called) Algeria was conquered, followed in 1347 by the empire of the Hafsids in Ifriqiya (Tunisia). However, in 1340, the Marinids suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a Portuguese-Castilian coalition at the Battle of Rio Salado, and finally had to withdraw from Andalusia. Abu l-Hasan was deposed by his son Abu Inan Faris (1348–1358), who tried to reconquer Algeria and Tunisia. Despite several successes, the dynasty began to decline after the murder of Abu Inan Faris, strangled by his own vizier in 1358.
Unruly Bedouin and Berber tribes increasingly spread anarchy in Morocco, which accelerated the fall of the empire. The support of the Marabuts also declined, after the Merinids reduced their financial support in the 15th century due to a financial crisis. The empire became fractured into multiple small kingdoms and city-states.
Merinid rulers after 1358 came under the control of the Wattasids which exercised the real power in the empire as viziers. They rotated Merinid sultans, often still children, in quick succession to ensure a strong viziership. The Wattasids were however equally unable to consolidated the empire, so that in 1415 Portugal occupied the town of Ceuta and by 1513 had occupied all important harbors on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. After Abdalhaqq II (1421–1465) tried in vain to break the power of the Wattasids, they finally toppled the dynasty of the Merinids.
A chronology of events for the Marinid dynasty reads:
* 1215: Banu Marin (Marinids) attack the Almohads when the young 16 year old Almohad caliph Yusuf II Al-Mustansir took power in 1213. The battle took place on the coast of Rif. Under the reign of Yusuf II Al-Mustansir a great tower to protect the royal palace in Seville was erected.
* 1217: Abd al-Haqq I dies during a victorious combat against Almohads. His son Uthman ibn Abd al-Haqq (Uthman I) succeeds to the throne. Marinids take possession of Rif and seemed to want to remain there. The Almohades take the initiative of vain counter-attacks.
* 1240: Uthman I is assassinated by one of his Christian slaves. His brother Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Haqq (Muhammad I) succeeds him.
* 1244: Muhammad I is killed by an officer of his own Christian mercenaries' militia. Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq, the third son of Abd Al-Haqq, succeeds him.
* 1249: Severe repression of an anti-marinids in Fes.
* 1258: Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq dies of disease. After a period of abandonment of the ancient city of Chellah, a necropolis is built[3] there and Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq is buried at Chellah. His uncle Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq, fourth son of Abd Al-Haqq succeeds to the throne.
* 1260: Raid of the Castilians over Salé.
* 1269: Seizure of Marrakesh and the end of the Almohad domination in Western Maghreb. The Marinids prefer build a new city Fes Jdid that will replace Marrakesh as a capital city 1276.
* 1274: The marinids seizure of Sijilmassa.
* 1276: Founding of Fes Jdid (New Fes), a new city beside Fes which is considered rather as a new district of Fes in opposition to Fes el Bali (Old Fes).
* 1286: Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq dies of disease in Algeciras (nowadays in Spain) after a fourth expedition to the Iberian Peninsula. His son Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr replaces him.
* 1286: Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr fights against the revolts which occurred in around Draa River and the province of Marrakesh.
* 1296: Construction of Sidi Boumediene mosque , or Sidi Belhasan in Tlemcen (nowadays Algeria).
* 1299: Beginning of Tlemcen's siege by the Marinids which will last nine years.
* 1288: Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr receives envoys of king de Granada in Fes to which it was returned the town of Cadiz (nowadays Spain).
* 1291: Construction of the mosque of Taza, the first preserved Marinid building.
* 1306: conquest & destroy Taroudant
* 1307: Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr is assassinated by a eunuch for an obscure business of harem. His son Abu Thabit Amir succeeds him to the throne.
* 1308: Abu Thabit dies of disease in Tetouan, a city which he had just founded. He dies of a disease after one year in power. His brother, Abu al-Rabi Sulayman succeeds him.
* 1309: Abu al-Rabi Sulayman enters Ceuta.
* 1310: Abu al-Rabi dies carried of disease after having repressed a revolt of army official in Taza. Among them Gonzalve, chief of the Christian militia. His brother Abu Said Uthman succeeds him to the throne.
* 1323: Construction of the Attarin's madrasa in Fes.
* 1325: Ibn Battuta begins his epic 29 year journey throughout Afro-Eurasia.
* 1329: Victory against the Castilians in Algeciras, establish a foothold in the south of the Iberian peninsula with the hope of reversing the Reconquista.
* 1331: Abu Said Uthman dies. His son Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman succeeds him .
* 1337: First occupation of Tlemcen.
* 1340: A combined Portuguese-Castilian army defeats the Marinids at the battle of Rio Salado close to Tarifa, the southernmost town of the Iberian peninsula. At that point the Marinids move back to Africa.[4]
* 1344: The Castilians take over Algeciras. Marinids ejected from Iberia.
* 1347: Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman destroys the Hafsid dynasty of Tunis and restores his authority on all Maghreb but this success was of short duration.
* 1348: Abu al-Hasan dies, his son Abu Inan Faris succeeded him as Maririd ruler.
* 1348: The Black Death and the rebellions of Tlemcen and Tunis mark the beginning of the decline of Marinids which will not manage to drive back the Portuguese and the Castilians, thus allowing them, by the means also of their successors Wattasids settling on the coast.
* 1350: Construction of Bou Inania's medersa in Meknes.
* 1351: Second seizure of Tlemcen.
* 1357: Defeat of Abu Inan Faris in front of Tlemcen. Construction of another Bou Inania's medersa in Fes.
* 1358: Abu Inan is assassinated by his vizir. Confusions started. Each vizier tries to install his weakest candidate on the throne.
* 1358: Abu Zian as-Said Muhammad ibn Faris was named a Marinid Sultan by the vizirs, just after the assassination of Abu Inan. His reign will last a few months only. Abu Yahya abu Bakr ibn Faris comes to power. He also reigned only a few months.
* 1359: Abu Salim Ibrahim is nominated a Sultan by the vizirs. He is one of sons of Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman. He is supported by king of Castille Pedro the Cruel.
* 1359: Resurgence of the Zianids of Tlemcen.
* 1361: Abu Salim Ibrahim is replaced by Abu Umar Tachfin. This one was supported by the Christian militia and was named successor of Abu Salim Ibrahim by the vizirs. He reigned only a few months.
* 1361: The period called the "reign of the vizirs" is over.
* 1362: Muhammad ibn Yaqub takes power. He is a small son of Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman who had taken refuge in Castille.
* 1366: Muhammad ibn Yaqub is assassinated by his vizir. He is replaced by Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ali, one of the sons of Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman who until this time, had been held locked up in the palace of Fes.
* 1370: Third seizure of Tlemcen.
* 1372: Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ali dies of disease leaving the throne to his very young son Muhammad as-Said. This led to a new period marked by instability. The vizirs try on several occasions to impose a puppet sovereign.
* 1373: Muhammad as-Said who is presented like an heir to his father Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ali at the 5 years old cannot reign as he dies in 1373.
* 1374: Abu al-Abbas Ahmad, supported by the Nasrid princes of Granada takes power.
* 1374: Partition of the empire into two Kingdoms; the Kingdom of Fes and the Kingdom of Marrakech.
* 1384: Abu al-Abbas is removed temporarily by the Nasrids after 10 years of reign. Nasrids replace him with Abu Faris Musa ibn Faris, a disabled person and son of Abu Inan Faris which ensured a kind of interim during the reign of Abu al-Abbas Ahmad from 1384 to 1386.
* 1384: Abu Zayd Abd ar-Rahman reigns over the Kingdom of Marrakech from 1384 to 1387 while the Marinid throne is still based in Fes.
* 1386: Al-Wathiq ensures the second part of the interim in the reign of Abu al-Abbas from 1386 to 1387.
* 1387: Abu Al-Abbas begins to give vizirs more power. Morocco knows six years of peace again although Abu Al-Abbas benefits from this period to reconquer Tlemcen and Algiers.
* 1393: Abu Al-Abbas dies. Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad is designated as the new Sultan. The troubles which followed the sudden death of Abu Al-Abbas in Taza made it possible to the Christian sovereigns to carry the war in Morocco.
* 1396: Abu Amir Abdallah succeeds to the throne.
* 1398: Abu Amir dies. His brother Abu Said Uthman ibn Ahmad takes power.
* 1399: Benefitting from the anarchy within the Marinid kingdom, the king Henry III of Castile unloads in Morocco, seizes Tetouan, massacres half of the population and reduced it to slavery.
* 1415: King John I of Portugal seizes Ceuta. This conquest marks the beginning of the overseas European expansion.
* 1420: Abu Said Uthman dies. He is replaced by his son Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq at the age of 1 year.
* 1437: Failure of a Portuguese at an expedition to Tangier. Many prisoners are being held and the infant Fernando, the Saint Prince is kept as a hostage. A treaty intervened where the Portuguese obtained to be able to re-embark themselves in condition of returning Ceuta back. Fernando is kept as a hostage to guarantee the execution of this pact. Influenced by Pope Eugene IV, Edward of Portugal sacrifices his brother for the national trade interests.
* 1458: The king Afonso V of Portugal prepares an army for a crusade against the Ottomans after the call of Pope Pius II. He finally preferred to turn over his force against a small port located between Tangier and Ceuta.
* 1459: Abu Muhammad Abd Al-Haqq revolts against his own Wattasid viziers. Only two brothers survived. They will become the first Watassids sultans in 1472.
* 1462: Ferdinand IV of Castille takes over Gibraltar.
* 1465: Abu Muhammad Abd Al-Haqq has his throat cut in Fes when a popular revolt breaks out against his having appointed a Jewish vizier, Aaron ben Batash. The Portuguese king Afonso V finally manages to take Tangier while benefitting from the troubles in Fes.
* 1472: Abu Abdallah sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya, one of the two Wattasid viziers survivors of 1459 massacre will install himself in Fes where he would found the Wattasid dynasty.
The rulers of the Marinid dynasty were:
* Abd al-Haqq I (1195–1217)
* Uthman I (1217–1240)
* Muhammad I (1240–1244)
* Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq (1244–1258)
* Umar (1258–1259)
* Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259–1286)
* Abu Yaqub Yusuf (1286–1306)
* Abu Thabit Amir (1307–1308)
* Abu al-Rabi Sulayman (1308–1310)
* Abu Said Uthman II (1310–1331)
* Abu al-Hasan 'Ali (1331–1348)
* Abu Inan Faris (1348–1358)
* Muhammad II as Said (1359)
* Abu Salim Ali II (1359–1361)
* Abu Umar Taschufin (1361)
* Abu Zayyan Muhammad III (1362–1366)
* Abu l-Fariz Abdul Aziz I (1366–1372)
* Abu l-Abbas Ahmad (1372–1374)
* Abu Zayyan Muhammad IV (1384–1386)
* Muhammad V (1386–1387)
* Abu l-Abbas Ahmad (1387–1393)
* Abdul Aziz II (1393–1398)
* Abdullah (1398–1399)
* Abu Said Uthman III (1399–1420)
* Abdalhaqq II (1420–1465)
The rulers of the Wattasid dynasty were:
* 1420-1448 : Abu Zakariya Yahya
* 1448-1458 : Ali ibn Yusuf
* 1458-1459 : Yahya ibn Abi Zakariya Yahya
Merinid see Marinid
Benemerine see Marinid
Mariniyun see Marinid
Banu Marin see Marinid
Marinid (Merinid) (Benemerine) (Mariniyun) (Banu Marin). Berber dynasty of the Zanata group in Morocco (r.1244-1465). Their main capital was Fez. The first period of their reign (1269-1358) was characterized by military exploits, urban expansion and governmental stability, the second (1359-1464) by a slow erosion of the political structures, a territorial regression and internal division. The Banu Marin, a nomadic Zanata tribe from the eastern border territories of the Zahara, settled in eastern and southeastern Morocco from the start of the twelfth century. After increasing tension with the ruling Almohads, the Merinids, under the brothers Abu Yahya Abd al-Haqq (r. 1244-1258) and Abu Yusuf Yaqub (r. 1258-1286) took Meknes (in 1244), Fez (in 1248), and other important towns in Morocco. They deposed the last Almohads in Marrakech in 1269 and extended their power until they were the most important towns in Morocco. They deposed the last Almohads in Marrakech in 1269 and extended their power until they were the most important military attacks in Spain. Under Abu Yaqub Yusuf (r. 1286-1307) they spread as far as Algeria. A period of political success followed under Abu’l-Hasan Ali (r. 1331-1374) and Abu Inan Faris (r. 1351-1358), who also drove out the Abdalwadids and occupied Tlemcen, even advancing as far as Tunisia for a short time. A rapid decline came after 1358. Child sultans ruled from 1358 to 1374 and 1393 to 1458 under the tutelage of the related Wattasids and between 1374 and 1393, the Nasrids of Granada. The last Merinid ruler, Abd al-Haqq (1421-1465), temporarily ended the rule of the Wattasids with a massacre in 1458, but died shortly afterwards during a popular uprising in Fez. Morocco fell to the Wattasids.
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. They overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244, and most of the Maghreb from the mid-1300s to the 15th century, and also supported the Kingdom of Granada, in Al-Andalus, in the 13th and 14th centuries. The last Marinid fortress in the Iberian Peninsula fell to Castile in 1344, and they were in turn replaced by the Wattasids in 1465.
The Marinids originally came from Ifriqiya, through the southeast of present-day Morocco, from which they were expelled in 1224 by the Arab Hilali tribes. As early as 1145, the Marinids engaged in battles with the Almohads, which defeated them until 1169.
In 1169, the Marinids began their pursuit of taking Morocco from the Almohads, the ruling dynasty at the time. Following their expulsion from the south, they moved northwards under command of Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq and took Fes in 1244, making it their capital. This marked the beginning of the Marinid dynasty.
The Marinid leadership installed in Fes declared war on the Almohads with the aid of Christian mercenaries. Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259–1286) captured Marrakech in 1269, and then took control of most of the Maghreb towards the end of 1268, including present-day Morocco, Algeria and part of Tunisia. After the Nasrids cession of Algeciras to the Marinids, Abu Yusuf went to Al-Andalus to support them in their struggle against the Kingdom of Castile.
Having obtained this control, the Marinid dynasty tried to extend its control to the commercial traffic of the Strait of Gibraltar. To this end, they declared jihad on the Christians and occupied the cities of Rota, Algiers and Gibraltar successively, surrounding Tarifa for the first time in 1294.
Internal power struggles among the Merinids followed, which did not, however, prevent Abu Said Uthman II (1310–1331) from substantial construction work in Fez. Several madrassas for the education of public servants were founded, in order to support the centralization of administration and to reduce the influence of the not always reliable Marabuts.
The Marinids also strongly influenced the policy of the Kingdom of Granada, from which they enlarged their army in 1275. In the mid 1300s, Castile made several incursions into Morocco and in 1267 a full-scale invasion of Morocco, but the Marinids successfully defended Morocco and drove out the Castilians.
Under Abu al-Hasan (1331–1348) another attempt to reunite the Maghreb was made. In 1337, the empire of the Abdalwadids in (what is now called) Algeria was conquered, followed in 1347 by the empire of the Hafsids in Ifriqiya (Tunisia). However, in 1340, the Marinids suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a Portuguese-Castilian coalition at the Battle of Rio Salado, and finally had to withdraw from Andalusia. Abu l-Hasan was deposed by his son Abu Inan Faris (1348–1358), who tried to reconquer Algeria and Tunisia. Despite several successes, the dynasty began to decline after the murder of Abu Inan Faris, strangled by his own vizier in 1358.
Unruly Bedouin and Berber tribes increasingly spread anarchy in Morocco, which accelerated the fall of the empire. The support of the Marabuts also declined, after the Merinids reduced their financial support in the 15th century due to a financial crisis. The empire became fractured into multiple small kingdoms and city-states.
Merinid rulers after 1358 came under the control of the Wattasids which exercised the real power in the empire as viziers. They rotated Merinid sultans, often still children, in quick succession to ensure a strong viziership. The Wattasids were however equally unable to consolidated the empire, so that in 1415 Portugal occupied the town of Ceuta and by 1513 had occupied all important harbors on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. After Abdalhaqq II (1421–1465) tried in vain to break the power of the Wattasids, they finally toppled the dynasty of the Merinids.
A chronology of events for the Marinid dynasty reads:
* 1215: Banu Marin (Marinids) attack the Almohads when the young 16 year old Almohad caliph Yusuf II Al-Mustansir took power in 1213. The battle took place on the coast of Rif. Under the reign of Yusuf II Al-Mustansir a great tower to protect the royal palace in Seville was erected.
* 1217: Abd al-Haqq I dies during a victorious combat against Almohads. His son Uthman ibn Abd al-Haqq (Uthman I) succeeds to the throne. Marinids take possession of Rif and seemed to want to remain there. The Almohades take the initiative of vain counter-attacks.
* 1240: Uthman I is assassinated by one of his Christian slaves. His brother Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Haqq (Muhammad I) succeeds him.
* 1244: Muhammad I is killed by an officer of his own Christian mercenaries' militia. Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq, the third son of Abd Al-Haqq, succeeds him.
* 1249: Severe repression of an anti-marinids in Fes.
* 1258: Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq dies of disease. After a period of abandonment of the ancient city of Chellah, a necropolis is built[3] there and Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq is buried at Chellah. His uncle Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq, fourth son of Abd Al-Haqq succeeds to the throne.
* 1260: Raid of the Castilians over Salé.
* 1269: Seizure of Marrakesh and the end of the Almohad domination in Western Maghreb. The Marinids prefer build a new city Fes Jdid that will replace Marrakesh as a capital city 1276.
* 1274: The marinids seizure of Sijilmassa.
* 1276: Founding of Fes Jdid (New Fes), a new city beside Fes which is considered rather as a new district of Fes in opposition to Fes el Bali (Old Fes).
* 1286: Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq dies of disease in Algeciras (nowadays in Spain) after a fourth expedition to the Iberian Peninsula. His son Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr replaces him.
* 1286: Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr fights against the revolts which occurred in around Draa River and the province of Marrakesh.
* 1296: Construction of Sidi Boumediene mosque , or Sidi Belhasan in Tlemcen (nowadays Algeria).
* 1299: Beginning of Tlemcen's siege by the Marinids which will last nine years.
* 1288: Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr receives envoys of king de Granada in Fes to which it was returned the town of Cadiz (nowadays Spain).
* 1291: Construction of the mosque of Taza, the first preserved Marinid building.
* 1306: conquest & destroy Taroudant
* 1307: Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr is assassinated by a eunuch for an obscure business of harem. His son Abu Thabit Amir succeeds him to the throne.
* 1308: Abu Thabit dies of disease in Tetouan, a city which he had just founded. He dies of a disease after one year in power. His brother, Abu al-Rabi Sulayman succeeds him.
* 1309: Abu al-Rabi Sulayman enters Ceuta.
* 1310: Abu al-Rabi dies carried of disease after having repressed a revolt of army official in Taza. Among them Gonzalve, chief of the Christian militia. His brother Abu Said Uthman succeeds him to the throne.
* 1323: Construction of the Attarin's madrasa in Fes.
* 1325: Ibn Battuta begins his epic 29 year journey throughout Afro-Eurasia.
* 1329: Victory against the Castilians in Algeciras, establish a foothold in the south of the Iberian peninsula with the hope of reversing the Reconquista.
* 1331: Abu Said Uthman dies. His son Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman succeeds him .
* 1337: First occupation of Tlemcen.
* 1340: A combined Portuguese-Castilian army defeats the Marinids at the battle of Rio Salado close to Tarifa, the southernmost town of the Iberian peninsula. At that point the Marinids move back to Africa.[4]
* 1344: The Castilians take over Algeciras. Marinids ejected from Iberia.
* 1347: Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman destroys the Hafsid dynasty of Tunis and restores his authority on all Maghreb but this success was of short duration.
* 1348: Abu al-Hasan dies, his son Abu Inan Faris succeeded him as Maririd ruler.
* 1348: The Black Death and the rebellions of Tlemcen and Tunis mark the beginning of the decline of Marinids which will not manage to drive back the Portuguese and the Castilians, thus allowing them, by the means also of their successors Wattasids settling on the coast.
* 1350: Construction of Bou Inania's medersa in Meknes.
* 1351: Second seizure of Tlemcen.
* 1357: Defeat of Abu Inan Faris in front of Tlemcen. Construction of another Bou Inania's medersa in Fes.
* 1358: Abu Inan is assassinated by his vizir. Confusions started. Each vizier tries to install his weakest candidate on the throne.
* 1358: Abu Zian as-Said Muhammad ibn Faris was named a Marinid Sultan by the vizirs, just after the assassination of Abu Inan. His reign will last a few months only. Abu Yahya abu Bakr ibn Faris comes to power. He also reigned only a few months.
* 1359: Abu Salim Ibrahim is nominated a Sultan by the vizirs. He is one of sons of Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman. He is supported by king of Castille Pedro the Cruel.
* 1359: Resurgence of the Zianids of Tlemcen.
* 1361: Abu Salim Ibrahim is replaced by Abu Umar Tachfin. This one was supported by the Christian militia and was named successor of Abu Salim Ibrahim by the vizirs. He reigned only a few months.
* 1361: The period called the "reign of the vizirs" is over.
* 1362: Muhammad ibn Yaqub takes power. He is a small son of Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman who had taken refuge in Castille.
* 1366: Muhammad ibn Yaqub is assassinated by his vizir. He is replaced by Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ali, one of the sons of Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman who until this time, had been held locked up in the palace of Fes.
* 1370: Third seizure of Tlemcen.
* 1372: Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ali dies of disease leaving the throne to his very young son Muhammad as-Said. This led to a new period marked by instability. The vizirs try on several occasions to impose a puppet sovereign.
* 1373: Muhammad as-Said who is presented like an heir to his father Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ali at the 5 years old cannot reign as he dies in 1373.
* 1374: Abu al-Abbas Ahmad, supported by the Nasrid princes of Granada takes power.
* 1374: Partition of the empire into two Kingdoms; the Kingdom of Fes and the Kingdom of Marrakech.
* 1384: Abu al-Abbas is removed temporarily by the Nasrids after 10 years of reign. Nasrids replace him with Abu Faris Musa ibn Faris, a disabled person and son of Abu Inan Faris which ensured a kind of interim during the reign of Abu al-Abbas Ahmad from 1384 to 1386.
* 1384: Abu Zayd Abd ar-Rahman reigns over the Kingdom of Marrakech from 1384 to 1387 while the Marinid throne is still based in Fes.
* 1386: Al-Wathiq ensures the second part of the interim in the reign of Abu al-Abbas from 1386 to 1387.
* 1387: Abu Al-Abbas begins to give vizirs more power. Morocco knows six years of peace again although Abu Al-Abbas benefits from this period to reconquer Tlemcen and Algiers.
* 1393: Abu Al-Abbas dies. Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad is designated as the new Sultan. The troubles which followed the sudden death of Abu Al-Abbas in Taza made it possible to the Christian sovereigns to carry the war in Morocco.
* 1396: Abu Amir Abdallah succeeds to the throne.
* 1398: Abu Amir dies. His brother Abu Said Uthman ibn Ahmad takes power.
* 1399: Benefitting from the anarchy within the Marinid kingdom, the king Henry III of Castile unloads in Morocco, seizes Tetouan, massacres half of the population and reduced it to slavery.
* 1415: King John I of Portugal seizes Ceuta. This conquest marks the beginning of the overseas European expansion.
* 1420: Abu Said Uthman dies. He is replaced by his son Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq at the age of 1 year.
* 1437: Failure of a Portuguese at an expedition to Tangier. Many prisoners are being held and the infant Fernando, the Saint Prince is kept as a hostage. A treaty intervened where the Portuguese obtained to be able to re-embark themselves in condition of returning Ceuta back. Fernando is kept as a hostage to guarantee the execution of this pact. Influenced by Pope Eugene IV, Edward of Portugal sacrifices his brother for the national trade interests.
* 1458: The king Afonso V of Portugal prepares an army for a crusade against the Ottomans after the call of Pope Pius II. He finally preferred to turn over his force against a small port located between Tangier and Ceuta.
* 1459: Abu Muhammad Abd Al-Haqq revolts against his own Wattasid viziers. Only two brothers survived. They will become the first Watassids sultans in 1472.
* 1462: Ferdinand IV of Castille takes over Gibraltar.
* 1465: Abu Muhammad Abd Al-Haqq has his throat cut in Fes when a popular revolt breaks out against his having appointed a Jewish vizier, Aaron ben Batash. The Portuguese king Afonso V finally manages to take Tangier while benefitting from the troubles in Fes.
* 1472: Abu Abdallah sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya, one of the two Wattasid viziers survivors of 1459 massacre will install himself in Fes where he would found the Wattasid dynasty.
The rulers of the Marinid dynasty were:
* Abd al-Haqq I (1195–1217)
* Uthman I (1217–1240)
* Muhammad I (1240–1244)
* Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq (1244–1258)
* Umar (1258–1259)
* Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259–1286)
* Abu Yaqub Yusuf (1286–1306)
* Abu Thabit Amir (1307–1308)
* Abu al-Rabi Sulayman (1308–1310)
* Abu Said Uthman II (1310–1331)
* Abu al-Hasan 'Ali (1331–1348)
* Abu Inan Faris (1348–1358)
* Muhammad II as Said (1359)
* Abu Salim Ali II (1359–1361)
* Abu Umar Taschufin (1361)
* Abu Zayyan Muhammad III (1362–1366)
* Abu l-Fariz Abdul Aziz I (1366–1372)
* Abu l-Abbas Ahmad (1372–1374)
* Abu Zayyan Muhammad IV (1384–1386)
* Muhammad V (1386–1387)
* Abu l-Abbas Ahmad (1387–1393)
* Abdul Aziz II (1393–1398)
* Abdullah (1398–1399)
* Abu Said Uthman III (1399–1420)
* Abdalhaqq II (1420–1465)
The rulers of the Wattasid dynasty were:
* 1420-1448 : Abu Zakariya Yahya
* 1448-1458 : Ali ibn Yusuf
* 1458-1459 : Yahya ibn Abi Zakariya Yahya
Merinid see Marinid
Benemerine see Marinid
Mariniyun see Marinid
Banu Marin see Marinid
Mariya
Mariya (d. 637). Copt maiden sent by al-Muqawqis of Egypt in 627 to the Prophet as a gift of honor. The Prophet was very devoted to her and she bore him a son Ibrahim, who died in infancy.
Mariya al-Qibtiyya is said to have married the Islamic prophet Muhammed and certainly everyone gave her the same title of respect as the Prophet's wives, 'Umm al Muminin' 'Mother of the Believers'. Mariya was born in upper Egypt of a Coptic father and Greek mother and moved to the court of the Muqawqis when she was still very young. She arrived in Medina to join the Prophet's household just after the Prophet returned from the treaty with Quraish which was contracted at al-Hudaybiyya. Mariya gave birth to a healthy son in 9 AH (630/631), the same year that Muhammad's daughter Zaynab died. The Prophet named his new son Ibrahim, after the ancestor of both the Jews and the Christians, and the Prophet from whom all the Prophets who came after him were descended. Unfortunately, when he was only eighteen months old, Ibrahim became seriously ill and died.
Muhammad lived in a mud-brick dwelling next to the Medina mosque, and each of his wives had her own mud-brick room, built in a line next to his. Maria, however, was lodged in a house on the edge of Medina. Maria is also not listed as a wife in some of the earliest sources, such as Ibn Hisham's notes on Ibn Ishaq's Sira.[3] Muslim sources are unanimous in saying that she was accorded the same honor and respect given Muhammad's wives, pointing out that she was given the same title as Muhammad's wives – "Mother of the Believers."
Mariya al-Qibtiyya see Mariya
Qibtiyya, Mariya al- see Mariya
Mariya (d. 637). Copt maiden sent by al-Muqawqis of Egypt in 627 to the Prophet as a gift of honor. The Prophet was very devoted to her and she bore him a son Ibrahim, who died in infancy.
Mariya al-Qibtiyya is said to have married the Islamic prophet Muhammed and certainly everyone gave her the same title of respect as the Prophet's wives, 'Umm al Muminin' 'Mother of the Believers'. Mariya was born in upper Egypt of a Coptic father and Greek mother and moved to the court of the Muqawqis when she was still very young. She arrived in Medina to join the Prophet's household just after the Prophet returned from the treaty with Quraish which was contracted at al-Hudaybiyya. Mariya gave birth to a healthy son in 9 AH (630/631), the same year that Muhammad's daughter Zaynab died. The Prophet named his new son Ibrahim, after the ancestor of both the Jews and the Christians, and the Prophet from whom all the Prophets who came after him were descended. Unfortunately, when he was only eighteen months old, Ibrahim became seriously ill and died.
Muhammad lived in a mud-brick dwelling next to the Medina mosque, and each of his wives had her own mud-brick room, built in a line next to his. Maria, however, was lodged in a house on the edge of Medina. Maria is also not listed as a wife in some of the earliest sources, such as Ibn Hisham's notes on Ibn Ishaq's Sira.[3] Muslim sources are unanimous in saying that she was accorded the same honor and respect given Muhammad's wives, pointing out that she was given the same title as Muhammad's wives – "Mother of the Believers."
Mariya al-Qibtiyya see Mariya
Qibtiyya, Mariya al- see Mariya
marja‘i-taqlid
marja‘i-taqlid (Marja') (Marja dini). Term which means “source of imitation.” It is a term which refers to the title and function of a hierarchal nature in the Twelver Shi‘a. It denotes a mujtahid, who is to be considered during his lifetime, by virtue of his qualities and his wisdom, a model for reference by every observant Imami Shi‘a (with the exception of other mujtahids) on all aspects of religious practice and law. The first Imami doctrinal formulation was produced in the era of the Buyids. The establishment of Imami Shi‘ism as the state religion under the Safavids gave the mujtahids a dominant spiritual and temporal influence. It was supported by their economic power in the Shi‘a shrine cities of Iraq, Najaf, Karbala’, Kazimayn and Samarra, and by endowments received from the Qajar Fath ‘Ali Shah. During the nineteenth century, there existed a precarious equilibrium between the state and the religious authorities, which was apparently also upheld in the early years of the reign of Reza Khan (later Shah) Pahlavi. After the rebirth of Qum as an educational center in the 1920s, the Imami hierarchy was restructured around the politically neutral Ayatollah Burujirdi, sole Marja‘-i Taqlid since 1947. Doubts concerning his succession in 1961 led to discussions, during which Ayatollah Khomeini again politicized the Imami leadership. The publication of these debates led to the imprisonment of Ayatollah Taliqani (d. 1979) and Mihdi Bazargan, following the demonstrations against the “white revolution” of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, in which Ayatollah Khomeini played a prominent role. The doctrine of the “Rule of the Jurist” (in Persian, wilayat-i faqih) is enshrined in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Today, in Iran, the term marja‘i-taqlid refers to just and learned scholars of law qualified to give authoritative legal opinions. In Iran, the common people are obligated to accept the marja‘i-taqlid as absolute religious authorities.
Marjaʿ, also known as a marja-i taqlid or marja dini, literally means "Source to Imitate/Follow" or "Religious Reference". It is the label provided to Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and less-credentialed clerics. After the Qur'an and the Prophets and Imams, marjas are the highest authority on religious laws in Usuli Twelver Shia Islam.
Currently, marjas are accorded the title Grand Ayatollah (Ayatollah al-Uthma), however, when referring to one, the use of Ayatollah is acceptable. Previously, the titles of Allamah and Imam have also been used.
Marja' see marja‘i-taqlid
Marja dini see marja‘i-taqlid
Source to Imitate/Follow see marja‘i-taqlid
Religious Reference see marja‘i-taqlid
marja‘i-taqlid (Marja') (Marja dini). Term which means “source of imitation.” It is a term which refers to the title and function of a hierarchal nature in the Twelver Shi‘a. It denotes a mujtahid, who is to be considered during his lifetime, by virtue of his qualities and his wisdom, a model for reference by every observant Imami Shi‘a (with the exception of other mujtahids) on all aspects of religious practice and law. The first Imami doctrinal formulation was produced in the era of the Buyids. The establishment of Imami Shi‘ism as the state religion under the Safavids gave the mujtahids a dominant spiritual and temporal influence. It was supported by their economic power in the Shi‘a shrine cities of Iraq, Najaf, Karbala’, Kazimayn and Samarra, and by endowments received from the Qajar Fath ‘Ali Shah. During the nineteenth century, there existed a precarious equilibrium between the state and the religious authorities, which was apparently also upheld in the early years of the reign of Reza Khan (later Shah) Pahlavi. After the rebirth of Qum as an educational center in the 1920s, the Imami hierarchy was restructured around the politically neutral Ayatollah Burujirdi, sole Marja‘-i Taqlid since 1947. Doubts concerning his succession in 1961 led to discussions, during which Ayatollah Khomeini again politicized the Imami leadership. The publication of these debates led to the imprisonment of Ayatollah Taliqani (d. 1979) and Mihdi Bazargan, following the demonstrations against the “white revolution” of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, in which Ayatollah Khomeini played a prominent role. The doctrine of the “Rule of the Jurist” (in Persian, wilayat-i faqih) is enshrined in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Today, in Iran, the term marja‘i-taqlid refers to just and learned scholars of law qualified to give authoritative legal opinions. In Iran, the common people are obligated to accept the marja‘i-taqlid as absolute religious authorities.
Marjaʿ, also known as a marja-i taqlid or marja dini, literally means "Source to Imitate/Follow" or "Religious Reference". It is the label provided to Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and less-credentialed clerics. After the Qur'an and the Prophets and Imams, marjas are the highest authority on religious laws in Usuli Twelver Shia Islam.
Currently, marjas are accorded the title Grand Ayatollah (Ayatollah al-Uthma), however, when referring to one, the use of Ayatollah is acceptable. Previously, the titles of Allamah and Imam have also been used.
Marja' see marja‘i-taqlid
Marja dini see marja‘i-taqlid
Source to Imitate/Follow see marja‘i-taqlid
Religious Reference see marja‘i-taqlid
Maronite Catholics
Maronite Catholics (Maronites). Members of the Maronite Church, a Christian church centered in Lebanon and affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church through the Eastern Rite arrangement. There are also smaller groups in Palestine and Syria, as well as in Cyprus and the United States. The total number of Maronites is about 1.6 million with 800,000 living in Lebanon. Maronites represent about twenty-five percent (25%) of the population of Lebanon. According to the Lebanese constitution, the president of the country must be a Maronite Christian.
In Syria, about 40,000 Maronites live, headed by the archdioceses of Aleppo and Damascus, and the Diocese of Latakia. Over centuries, the Maronites lived isolated in the mountains, where religion came to play an important role in all aspects of their lives. In modern times, they have become much more urban and represent an important part of the population in Lebanon’s largest cities.
The spiritual head of the Maronites is the Patriarch of Antioch, who actually resides no longer in Antakia (now Turkey) but in Jounieh north of Beirut. The liturgy was developed inside the Maronite Church prior to the affiliation to Rome in the twelfth century, but Roman Catholic elements have been introduced. Even in modern times, Syriac language is used for the services, even though the Maronites use Arabic as the vernacular tongue.
The Maronites claim to adhere to the Orthodox theology of the Catholic Church, but this is not quite accurate. From the seventh century onwards, the Maronites were supporters of the doctrines of the patriarch of Constantinople, Sergius, who claimed that Jesus had no human qualities, that Jesus was solely divine. This doctrine is known as the Monothelite doctrine and is not in compliance with Roman Catholic orthodoxy. Also, unlike for Roman Catholics, celibacy is not a prerequisite for the Maronite clergy, but is regulated according to local traditions.
A brief history of the Maronite Church read as follows:
Early in the fifth century of the Christian calendar, the hermit Maron, living in northeast Syria fetched the attention of local Christians, and a group started to develop around his domain. This group survived his death and continued to grow. Soon the group was known as the “Maronites.”
Late in the seventh century of the Christian calendar, with the arrival of Islam in Syria, the Maronites, under the leadership of Joannes Maro (John Maro), abandoned Syria for the Lebanon mountains. Over the following centuries, many other Christians fled to the same mountains, where most of them came to join the Maronite Church.
In the twelfth century, the Maronites cooperated with the Crusaders in their battle against the Muslims. In 1182, the Maronite Church received part affiliation with the Catholic Church, but was allowed to preserve its liturgy and keep the organization with a patriarch in Lebanon.
In 1585, the Maronite College was established in Rome by the pope and was subsequently administered by Jesuits. The Maronite College became an important training center for the church over the next 350 years.
In 1648, France declared itself protector of the Catholics living in the Ottoman Empire. From this time onwards, close ties have existed between France and the Maronites. This relationship would, centuries later, become one of the central foundations for the creation of the state of Lebanon.
In 1858, Maronite peasants rebelled against the Maronite aristocracy, destroying their feudal privileges.
On May 31, 1860, after two years of tensions between Maronites and Druze, the Druze attacked Maronite towns alike Hasbaiya, Bkassine and Jezzine, killing around 1,500 people. In June of 1860, Lebanon fell into a state of civil war, causing many more killed. The Ottoman rulers granted the Maronites autonomy, in order to make them feel safe. Still, the happenings this summer caused many Christians to emigrate to the Americas.
In 1920, the Maronites attained self rule under the French mandate.
In 1943, Lebanon obtained its independence, and its constitution secured the Maronites the position of president.
From 1975 to 1990, the Lebanese Civil War occurred. The Maronites were one of the main groups involved in the war. During most of this time, the Maronites were supported by Syria.
Maronites see Maronite Catholics
Maronite Catholics (Maronites). Members of the Maronite Church, a Christian church centered in Lebanon and affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church through the Eastern Rite arrangement. There are also smaller groups in Palestine and Syria, as well as in Cyprus and the United States. The total number of Maronites is about 1.6 million with 800,000 living in Lebanon. Maronites represent about twenty-five percent (25%) of the population of Lebanon. According to the Lebanese constitution, the president of the country must be a Maronite Christian.
In Syria, about 40,000 Maronites live, headed by the archdioceses of Aleppo and Damascus, and the Diocese of Latakia. Over centuries, the Maronites lived isolated in the mountains, where religion came to play an important role in all aspects of their lives. In modern times, they have become much more urban and represent an important part of the population in Lebanon’s largest cities.
The spiritual head of the Maronites is the Patriarch of Antioch, who actually resides no longer in Antakia (now Turkey) but in Jounieh north of Beirut. The liturgy was developed inside the Maronite Church prior to the affiliation to Rome in the twelfth century, but Roman Catholic elements have been introduced. Even in modern times, Syriac language is used for the services, even though the Maronites use Arabic as the vernacular tongue.
The Maronites claim to adhere to the Orthodox theology of the Catholic Church, but this is not quite accurate. From the seventh century onwards, the Maronites were supporters of the doctrines of the patriarch of Constantinople, Sergius, who claimed that Jesus had no human qualities, that Jesus was solely divine. This doctrine is known as the Monothelite doctrine and is not in compliance with Roman Catholic orthodoxy. Also, unlike for Roman Catholics, celibacy is not a prerequisite for the Maronite clergy, but is regulated according to local traditions.
A brief history of the Maronite Church read as follows:
Early in the fifth century of the Christian calendar, the hermit Maron, living in northeast Syria fetched the attention of local Christians, and a group started to develop around his domain. This group survived his death and continued to grow. Soon the group was known as the “Maronites.”
Late in the seventh century of the Christian calendar, with the arrival of Islam in Syria, the Maronites, under the leadership of Joannes Maro (John Maro), abandoned Syria for the Lebanon mountains. Over the following centuries, many other Christians fled to the same mountains, where most of them came to join the Maronite Church.
In the twelfth century, the Maronites cooperated with the Crusaders in their battle against the Muslims. In 1182, the Maronite Church received part affiliation with the Catholic Church, but was allowed to preserve its liturgy and keep the organization with a patriarch in Lebanon.
In 1585, the Maronite College was established in Rome by the pope and was subsequently administered by Jesuits. The Maronite College became an important training center for the church over the next 350 years.
In 1648, France declared itself protector of the Catholics living in the Ottoman Empire. From this time onwards, close ties have existed between France and the Maronites. This relationship would, centuries later, become one of the central foundations for the creation of the state of Lebanon.
In 1858, Maronite peasants rebelled against the Maronite aristocracy, destroying their feudal privileges.
On May 31, 1860, after two years of tensions between Maronites and Druze, the Druze attacked Maronite towns alike Hasbaiya, Bkassine and Jezzine, killing around 1,500 people. In June of 1860, Lebanon fell into a state of civil war, causing many more killed. The Ottoman rulers granted the Maronites autonomy, in order to make them feel safe. Still, the happenings this summer caused many Christians to emigrate to the Americas.
In 1920, the Maronites attained self rule under the French mandate.
In 1943, Lebanon obtained its independence, and its constitution secured the Maronites the position of president.
From 1975 to 1990, the Lebanese Civil War occurred. The Maronites were one of the main groups involved in the war. During most of this time, the Maronites were supported by Syria.
Maronites see Maronite Catholics
Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al-
Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al- (Abu 'Ali al-Marrakushi) (Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi al-Azdi) (Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi) (December 1256 – c. 1321) . Astronomer who worked in Cairo during the thirteenth century. He compiled a compendium of spherical astronomy and astronomical instruments, which is perhaps the most valuable single source for the history of Islamic astronomical instrumentation.
Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi al-Azdi was an Arab mathematician and astronomer. The crater Al-Marrakushi on the Moon is named after him.
Al-Banna, the son of an architect, was born in Marrakesh in 1256. Having learned basic mathematical and geometrical skills he proceeded to translate Euclid's Elements into Arabic.
Al-Banna wrote between 51 to 74 treatises, encompassing such varied topics as Algebra, Astronomy, Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Logic. One of his works, called Talkhis amal al-hisab (Summary of arithmetical operations), includes topics such as fractions, sums of squares and cubes etc. Another, called Tanbih al-Albab, covers topics related to:
* calculations regarding the drop in irrigation canal levels,
* arithmetical explanation of the Muslim laws of inheritance
* determination of the hour of the Asr prayer,
* explanation of frauds linked to instruments of measurement,
* enumeration of delayed prayers which have to be said in a precise order,and
* calculation of legal tax in the case of a delayed payment
Yet another work by al-Banna was Raf al-Hijab (Lifting the Veil) which included topics such as computing square roots of a number and theory of continued fractions. This work was also the first mathematical work since Brahmagupta to use an algebraic notation, which was then further developed by his successor Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī two centuries later.
Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi al-Azdi see Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al-
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi see Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al-
Abu 'Ali al-Marrakushi see Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al-
Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al- (Abu 'Ali al-Marrakushi) (Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi al-Azdi) (Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi) (December 1256 – c. 1321) . Astronomer who worked in Cairo during the thirteenth century. He compiled a compendium of spherical astronomy and astronomical instruments, which is perhaps the most valuable single source for the history of Islamic astronomical instrumentation.
Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi al-Azdi was an Arab mathematician and astronomer. The crater Al-Marrakushi on the Moon is named after him.
Al-Banna, the son of an architect, was born in Marrakesh in 1256. Having learned basic mathematical and geometrical skills he proceeded to translate Euclid's Elements into Arabic.
Al-Banna wrote between 51 to 74 treatises, encompassing such varied topics as Algebra, Astronomy, Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Logic. One of his works, called Talkhis amal al-hisab (Summary of arithmetical operations), includes topics such as fractions, sums of squares and cubes etc. Another, called Tanbih al-Albab, covers topics related to:
* calculations regarding the drop in irrigation canal levels,
* arithmetical explanation of the Muslim laws of inheritance
* determination of the hour of the Asr prayer,
* explanation of frauds linked to instruments of measurement,
* enumeration of delayed prayers which have to be said in a precise order,and
* calculation of legal tax in the case of a delayed payment
Yet another work by al-Banna was Raf al-Hijab (Lifting the Veil) which included topics such as computing square roots of a number and theory of continued fractions. This work was also the first mathematical work since Brahmagupta to use an algebraic notation, which was then further developed by his successor Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī two centuries later.
Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi al-Azdi see Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al-
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi see Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al-
Abu 'Ali al-Marrakushi see Marrakushi, Abu ‘Ali al-
Marsafi, al-Husayn al-
Marsafi, al-Husayn al- (1815-1890). Egyptian scholar and teacher. Blind from the age of three, he became professor of Arabic linguistic disciplines. He is regarded as the first to have formulated what was to become the attempt at a renaissance (in Arabic, nahda) in regard to literature.
Marsafi, al-Husayn al- (1815-1890). Egyptian scholar and teacher. Blind from the age of three, he became professor of Arabic linguistic disciplines. He is regarded as the first to have formulated what was to become the attempt at a renaissance (in Arabic, nahda) in regard to literature.
Martolos
Martolos. Salaried members of the Ottoman internal security forces who were recruited predominantly in the Balkans from among chosen land-owning Christians. By 1722, the institution was merged with the Muslim local security police.
Martolos. Salaried members of the Ottoman internal security forces who were recruited predominantly in the Balkans from among chosen land-owning Christians. By 1722, the institution was merged with the Muslim local security police.
Martyrs
Martyrs (Shuhada') (Shahid) (Sahid) (Shaheed). Those who lose or sacrifice their lives in the service of their religion. Martyrs are accorded a special status in Islam. This is clear from the earliest sources (Qur’an, hadith) and the auxiliary sources (sirah, maghazi, ‘ilm al-rijal and tafsir). The word which these sources agree on for designating a martyr is shahid (“witness”). The most usual meaning of shahid, which appears no less than fifty-six times in singular, plural, and adverbial forms in the Qur’an, is “eyewitness” or “witness” in a legal sense. There is a close relationship between Islam and Christianity that centers on this meaning; the Christian technical term martyr also means “witness.” Both traditions share a similar development involving ancient Semitic and Hellenistic religious motifs. Whatever the previous development that led to the choice of “witness” to designate a believer who has made the ultimate gesture in the path of religion, it is clear that the idea of martyrdom in Islam was thoroughly at home in the early religion.
The problem for philologists resides in the fact that the Qur’an does not appear to use the word shahid in any completely unambiguous way, at least in the singular form, although there is one instance of the use of the plural which has readily lent itself to the martyrdom interpretation. But apart from the direct reference to the plural shuhada’, the Qur’anic glorification of sabr (endurance in times of difficulty) and the related theme of the suffering of apparently all the prophets at the hands of persecutors, to name only two motifs, blends perfectly with the Islamic admiration of martyrdom, long suffering, and patience. This theme would reach apotheosis in the poetic expressions of the mystics of Islam who saw as their starting point in this regard such hadith qudsi as: “Who My beauty kills, I am his blood money,” or Hallaj’s “Happiness is from Him, but suffering is He Himself.”
A discussion of martyrdom is anchored in the Qur’an rather than in history as such, because of the central position of scripture in Islam. It is through the Qur’an that Islam gained its general understanding of the shape and purpose of history -- not to mention many historical details and facts -- whether that history be of the Jahiliyah period or of the epochs of various previous religions and cultures. Ayoub has pointed out that even in the earliest portion of the Qur’an, that is, in those revelations that came even before the duty of jihad was made incumbent on Muslims, there is a divine confirmation of the ideal of martyrdom, namely, Sura 85:3-8, which many commentators say refers to the famous Christian martyrs of Najran. But regardless of the actual identities of the persons and events being alluded to, the meaning of the text is unambiguous.
The most important verse to do with martyrdom is one in which shuhada’ (“witnesses”) has come to mean martyrs for so much of exegesis. Sura 4:69 runs as follows “Whosoever obeys God, and the Messenger -- they are with those whom God has blessed. Prophets, just men, martyrs [shuhada’], the righteous; good companions they!” Some authorities, faithful to the exegetical tradition, unhesitatingly uses “martyrs” to translate shuhada’, whereas other translators more cautiously use the English word “witnesses” instead. This verse is the locus classicus for the later exegetical and theological discussions about the hierarchy of the inhabitants of Paradise. About the rank of a “witness” (shahid), some offer the following comment: “[These] are the noble army of Witnesses, who testify to the truth. The testimony may be by martyrdom, as in the case of the Imams Hasan Husain. Or it may be by the tongue of the true Preacher or the pen of the devoted scholar, or the life of a man devoted to service.” Thus shahadat, translated as “martyrdom” depending on the context, in its strict sense takes in much more in Islam than the sacrificing of life in the path of God (sabil Allah), indeed it is also the word for the act of confessing adherence to Islam by uttering, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” Nonetheless, shahadat as martyrdom is regarded as highly praiseworthy. The Qur’an has many passages which indicate an authentic appreciation and inchoate theory of martyrdom: “Say not of those who die in the path of God that they are dead. Nay rather they live” (Sura 2:154); “Count not those who were slain in God’s way as dead, but rather living with their Lord, by Him provided, rejoicing in the bounty of God has given them, and joyful in those who remain behind and have not joined them, because no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow, joyful in blessing and bounty from God, and that God leaves not to waste the wage of the believers” (Suras 3:157-158; 3:169-171; 9: 20-22; 47:4; and 61:11). These few verses suffice to illustrate that even though the word “martyr” as such is not found in the Qur’an, and that subject is represented through circumlocutions, nonetheless the virtue is emphatically taught in the verses of the Holy Book. The Islamic ideal of martyrdom can be thought to be the logical adjunct to the overall Qur’anic view of death as illusory. This view is perhaps nowhere more succinctly represented in the Qur’an than at 62:6-7. “Say: ‘You of Jewry, if you assert that you are the friends of God, apart from the men, then do you long for death, if you speak truly.’”
The doctrine of the Hereafter (akhirah) caused Muhammad a great deal of trouble with his early audiences, who stubbornly refused to accept the idea of life beyond the grave. So in Islam death is paradoxical and it is the paradox which supplies the energy for the strong belief in the spiritual station of martyrs. Thus, the pre-Islamic Arab literary and cultural motif of fakhr, honor or pride in prowess on the field of tribal warfare found throughout the Ayyam literature, was deemed by Islami “vainglory” and replaced by a glorification of the pious dedication to the struggle for the promotion of the Word of God. In Muslim’s hadith collection we find the following statement by the prophet Muhammad: “Whosoever partakes of the battle from desire of glory or in order to show his courage, is no martyr; a martyr is only he who fights in order that Allah’s Word may be prevalent.” Even though it remains to be seen whether or not the pre-Islamic phenomenon does not a more positive relationship with the Islamic ideal of martyrdom, the change in ethos indicated here between the period of Jahiliyah and the Islamic era is quite analogous to the change Christianity wrought in the pagan world.
The theme of martyrdom in Islam is intimately connected with the theme of the rewards of Paradise. This becomes quite clear in the hadith literature which served as a basis for the final elaboration of the doctrine of martyrdom by the fuqaha’ (religious scholars) of Islam.
The hadith literature is vastly more supportive of and unambiguous about martyrdom than the Qur'an. Countless explicit statements attributed to the Prophet exist in which it is quite clear that those who die for Islam enjoy a special rank.
On the theme that martyrs are those who are distinguish in Paradise by their desire to leave their bliss and return to earth to be martyred again (up to ten times), Muhammad is credited with having said that had he followed his personal wish he would not have missed a single battle or campaign in order to be killed in the first and to return to life in each subsequent one. And on the general theme of desiring death, which would come to be neutralized in later centuries Bukhari preserves a prayer ascribed to ‘Umar in which the second caliph expresses the desire to be killed in the Prophet’s country.
All Muslims, no matter what their madhhab, tariqah, or ta’ifah, esteem martyrdom highly. This esteem can be ritualistic or devotional, as in the case of the ta‘ziyah commemorations in Shiism, or historical, as in the manner in which all Muslims idealize the formative struggle of the early band of Muslims under the leadership of Muhammad. It can in fact be existential: that is, Muslims seek to become martyrs. All three responses to the ideal have existee at all times in Islamic history. The ideal of martyrdom can be read into the very name of the religion: Islam means submission to the will of God. And the primary, not to say archetypal, act of submission, according to the Islamic tradition, is Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, and, presumably, his son’s willingness to comply, thereby rendering Isma‘il (or according to some traditions Ishaq) a martyr, or more accurately, one who was willing to become a martyr. In its veneration of the individual act of self-sacrifice for a higher moral, ethical, spiritual idea or cause, Islami is no different from any of the other great religious traditions of the world. However, Islam as a whole is distinguished from other traditions that have theologized away the challenging blade of the martyrdom ideal through metaphor and other abstractions. This fact accounts for the simultaneous feelings of unease and admiration which occur to the non-Muslim observer of the contemporary scene and its examples of shahadah. To put it bluntly: martyrdom has become very unfashionable in the West, at least any martyrdom associated with a religious purpose.
There have been times even within the Islamic community when the ideal of martyrdom was also emasculated. Within the larger Sunni religious culture which was firmly consolidated no earlier than the late ninth century, the personal ethos and ideal of martyrdom had become quiescent as an urgent religious motif. Even though Sunni theologians recognized the power of the idea and even perpetuated the veneration of the early martyrs of Islam, such as Hamzah, the original sayyid al-shuhada’ or “Prince of Martyrs” (a title which is most familiarly attached to the hero par excellence of the Shi‘a, Husayn ibn ‘Ali), and to venerate the various sacrifices made by the early community as acts of martyrdom, they nonetheless rigorously opposed the cultivation of a contemporary cult of martyrdom in their respective societies by emphasizing the illegality of suicide and equating the seeking of a martyr’s death with this. This was no doubt at lest partly in response to the activities of Khawarij and Shi‘a whose activities were disruptive to the greater unity of Muslims, the ahl al-sunnah wa al-jama’. The seeking of martyrdom (talab al-shahadah) thus was discouraged by theologians because of its easy confusion with suicide (and of course, the challenges an active doctrine of martyrdom poses to stable community life) -- an act unequivocably forbidden in islam. The same theologians elevated the accomplishment of moral and ethical challenges as equal if not prefereable to death: (1) fasting; (2) regularity in prayer; (3) reading the Qur’an; (4) filial devotion; and (5) rectitude in the collection of taxes. All of these count as valorous deeds in the way of God (fi sabil Allah). So now the rank of martyr could be sought in the normal acts of worship: the ritiual perfection and purity of motive with which these were performed then determined how close a believer might come to being granted the prize of martyrdom.
In addition, hadith also contain lists of categories of believers whose deaths occur in such a violent or painful way that they are counted as martyrs. This can be five, seven, or eight types of death. The most explicit list is from the Muwatta’ of Malik ibn Anas:
"The martyrs are seven, apart from death in Allah’s way. He that dies as a victim of an epidemic is a martyr; he that dies by being drowned, is a martyr; he that dies from pleuresy, is a martyr; he that dies from diarrhoea, is a martyr; he that dies by fire is a martyr; he that dies by being struck by a wall falling into ruins, is a martyr; the woman who dies in childbed, is a martyr."
Such scriptural raw material would eventually produce doctrinal statements like the following one from the pen of the preeminent Sunni theologian, Muhammad Abu Hamid al-Ghazali:
"Every one who gives himself wholly to God (tajarrada illahi) in the war against his own desires [nafs}, is a martyr when he meets death going forward without turning back. So the holy warrior is he who makes war against his own desires, as it has been explained by the apostle of God. And the “greater war” is the war against one’s own desires, as the Companions said. We have returned from the lesser war unto the greater one, meaning thereby the war against their own desires.
It is indicative of this transition that none of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, each of whom is recognized by Islamic tradition as having been murdered, is typically given the rank or title of martyr. This fact is interesting because Abu Bakr is the only one of the four Rashidun not to have been killed in an open act of violence and might mean that all four are regarded as martyrs, although it is not a common observation in discussing this early period of Islamic history. It is also true that Sunni Islam has recognized as martyrs those who have died for Islam after the time of the Rashidun. In keeping with Islam’s communal ethos, martyrdom is treated by the fuqaha’ as not necessarily or foremost a means for individual salvation or felicity in the next world. Rather, it has the pragmatic value of ensuring the continued existence of the group through its being a mere by-product of communal defense.
Shi‘a Islam, however, is often identified by the way in which the ideal of martyrdom has been kept a vital if not essential element of belief. The potency of the ideal here can be seen by referreing to the only Islamic movement of the modern period to have acquired a universally recognized distinct or non-Islamic identity -- the Baha’i faith. In this religion, which began in a Shi‘a milieu, the ideal of martyrdom is retained as an important element of contemporary religious belief. Shiism, particularly from the beginning of the sixteenth century, with the establishment of the Safavids, took the motif of martyrdom to its bosom and cultivated it as a religio-cultural ideal to a degree unwitnessed earlier. The Twelver Shi‘a list of martyrs begins with Abel (Qabil) and continues through history to include the prophet Muhammad and eleven of the twelve imams, the exception being, of course, the expected twelfth Imam who has in fact never died. The martyrdom tradition in Shiism is more difficult to explain. It is indisputable, for example, that the success of the 1978-1979 Iranian Revolution owes much to the Shi‘a veneration of martyrs and the concomitant willingess of the “average believer” to suffer martyrdom. The Shi‘a tradition has been the main guardian of the martyrdom ideal for the entire Islamic tradition, for it is within Shiism that the visiting of the graves of the martyrs -- preeminently but not exclusively the imams -- has special significance, that weeping for them, or even pretending to weep, has special religious value, and suffering similar distresses as for example Husayn and his companions, such as thirst, in however slight a degree also has religious value. Indeed, according to some contemporary Shi‘a authorities, the true meaning of the erstwhile purely mystical term fana’ (annihilation, selflessness) is none other than the sacrifice of the physical life in the path of Islam.
Within Sufism the theme of martyrdom is also highly important. The Islamic world is adorned with thousands of shrines to pious Muslims who have been regarded as martyrs, although, it should be added, not all places known as mashhad claim for this reason to hold the remains of a bona fide martyr. (In Turkish, for example, a word for cemetery in general is meshhed.) In any case, these tombs are the objects of special veneration and pilgrimage, the practice of which is traced to the Prophet himself, who is said to have visited the graves of the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud interred in al-Baqi’ cemetery to pay special homage to them. The shahid ganj in India is said to be the tomb of no less than 150,000 martyrs. However, in Sufism martyrdom acquires many of the same features associated with the type of martyr hero most readily exemplified by Jesus in the Gospel accounts of the passion, the most important example here being of course Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj (whose act of martyrdom is frequently conflated with Husan ibn ‘Ali’s) who was crucified in Baghdad in the early tenth century snd has been “kept alive” as an ideal of piety and spiritual valor within not only the Sufi tradition but in some aspects of the wider Islamic cultural context as well: Hallaj is the preeminent martyr hero. But there have been many others, including his son Mansur, Suhrawardi of Aleppo, ‘Ayn al-Quzat of Hamadan, Nesimi in Turkey, ibn Sab‘in in Spain, and Sarmad in Mughal India, to name only a few of the most famous. It is important to note that even at the time of Hallaj’s crucifixion, visitation to the tombs of martyrs was such a firmly established practice that Hallaj’s remains were cremated and the ashes scattered on the Euphrates in order that no tomb to him could be erected which would then perhaps become the object of a cult. A study of the Sufi martyr Mas‘ud Beg in India of the late fourteenth century shows the literary process involved in the acknowledgment of a saint as also a martyr. It has been noted that Islamic historiography reverses the relationship between passio and vita. The Islamic martyrologies are later and derive their authority from the norms established by the Prophet and the Imams.
The Islamic faith is based on “bearing witness” to the truth of God’s revelation through his last prophet Muhammad, and that insofar as the most dramatic, and according to some most meaningful, form of bearing witness is to do so with one’s “self” nafs (“self,” soul, life), then Islam is also based on martyrdom. But, as we have seen, the act of bearing witness is accomplished in Islam in a number of ways, ranging from the uttering of the words la ilaha illa Allah Muhammad rasul Allah to the ultimate act of witnessing, the sacrificing of one’s own life in the pursuit of the establishment of Islamic ideals or the defense of those ideals. Between these two possibilities are a number of other acts and gestures that have been recognized by fuqaha’ as constituting shahadah within the purview of the Islamic holy law, shari’a. Some of these other acts are: dying during pilgrimage, dying from a number of particularly virulent and painful diseases, for women dying during childbirth, and so forth. Today, Islam is distinguished among the world religions by the degree to which and the intensity with which the motif or ideal of martyrdom, in the sense of relinquishing one’s life for faith, is consciously kept alive and cultivated. The motif within Sunni Islam has been seen to reside chiefly in veneration of the struggles of the early Islamic community with the Meccan Arabs and their Jahili culture. With the severe dislocations experienced by a large part of the Muslim world since the eighteenth century, a new period of understanding martyrdom has come into being. In some ways, the importance of the theme in the contemporary world transcends the always somewhat misleading divisions of Sunni, Shi‘a, and Sufi. Martyrdom was a prominent theme in the Iran-Iraq War where both sides relied heavily on the ideal to motivate military troops.
From the point of view of the cultural tastes of the non-Muslim world, namely, Europe and North America, anyone who aspires to be a shahid in the physical/existential sense is neither a witness nor martyr, but rather a terrorist or fanatic. From the point of view of Islamic religio-cultural presuppositions, these people, especially those who lose their lives in the course of an action, are seen as martyrs and knights (fida’iyin). However, in recent times, event the Western popular press has come to recognize the possible significance in such a disparity of interpretation of the same act. For example, those who have been indicted for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism in North America and Egypt at considerable risk to personal life have also been recognized as belonging to organizations without whose existence the vast majority of impoverished Egyptians would have no health care, postal service, or education.
In conclusion, a Muslim martyr, that is one who has died in the service of Islam, is distinguished from other Muslims in the life after death in a number of ways: (1) a martyr is spared the post-mortem interrogation by the two angels Munkar and Nakir: (2) a martyr bypasses purgatory (barzakh) and proceeds directly on death to the highest station in Paradise, those locations nearest the divine throne; (3) this station is called in a hadith the most beautiful abode and the dar al-shuhada’: (4) martyr’s wounds will glow red and smell of musk on the Day of Judgment; (5) of all the inhabitants of Paradise, only the martyrs wish for and are theoretically allowed to return to earth for the purpose of suffering martyrdom; (6) by virtue of their meritorious act, a martyr is rendered free of sin and therefore does not require the Prophet’s intercession (shafa‘ah); (7) some traditions even portray notable martyrs as intercessors for others: (8) as a result of their purity, martyrs are buried in the clothes in which they died and are not washed before burial; (9) according to Ghazali, a martyr enjoys the third highest position in post-mortem existence after the prophets and the ‘ulama’ (religious scholars); according to an earlier authority (Abu Talib al-Makki, d. 996), the martyrs rank second as intercessors after the prophets.
Shahid see Martyrs
Shuhada' see Martyrs
Witnesses see Martyrs
Sahid see Martyrs
Shaheed see Martyrs
Martyrs (Shuhada') (Shahid) (Sahid) (Shaheed). Those who lose or sacrifice their lives in the service of their religion. Martyrs are accorded a special status in Islam. This is clear from the earliest sources (Qur’an, hadith) and the auxiliary sources (sirah, maghazi, ‘ilm al-rijal and tafsir). The word which these sources agree on for designating a martyr is shahid (“witness”). The most usual meaning of shahid, which appears no less than fifty-six times in singular, plural, and adverbial forms in the Qur’an, is “eyewitness” or “witness” in a legal sense. There is a close relationship between Islam and Christianity that centers on this meaning; the Christian technical term martyr also means “witness.” Both traditions share a similar development involving ancient Semitic and Hellenistic religious motifs. Whatever the previous development that led to the choice of “witness” to designate a believer who has made the ultimate gesture in the path of religion, it is clear that the idea of martyrdom in Islam was thoroughly at home in the early religion.
The problem for philologists resides in the fact that the Qur’an does not appear to use the word shahid in any completely unambiguous way, at least in the singular form, although there is one instance of the use of the plural which has readily lent itself to the martyrdom interpretation. But apart from the direct reference to the plural shuhada’, the Qur’anic glorification of sabr (endurance in times of difficulty) and the related theme of the suffering of apparently all the prophets at the hands of persecutors, to name only two motifs, blends perfectly with the Islamic admiration of martyrdom, long suffering, and patience. This theme would reach apotheosis in the poetic expressions of the mystics of Islam who saw as their starting point in this regard such hadith qudsi as: “Who My beauty kills, I am his blood money,” or Hallaj’s “Happiness is from Him, but suffering is He Himself.”
A discussion of martyrdom is anchored in the Qur’an rather than in history as such, because of the central position of scripture in Islam. It is through the Qur’an that Islam gained its general understanding of the shape and purpose of history -- not to mention many historical details and facts -- whether that history be of the Jahiliyah period or of the epochs of various previous religions and cultures. Ayoub has pointed out that even in the earliest portion of the Qur’an, that is, in those revelations that came even before the duty of jihad was made incumbent on Muslims, there is a divine confirmation of the ideal of martyrdom, namely, Sura 85:3-8, which many commentators say refers to the famous Christian martyrs of Najran. But regardless of the actual identities of the persons and events being alluded to, the meaning of the text is unambiguous.
The most important verse to do with martyrdom is one in which shuhada’ (“witnesses”) has come to mean martyrs for so much of exegesis. Sura 4:69 runs as follows “Whosoever obeys God, and the Messenger -- they are with those whom God has blessed. Prophets, just men, martyrs [shuhada’], the righteous; good companions they!” Some authorities, faithful to the exegetical tradition, unhesitatingly uses “martyrs” to translate shuhada’, whereas other translators more cautiously use the English word “witnesses” instead. This verse is the locus classicus for the later exegetical and theological discussions about the hierarchy of the inhabitants of Paradise. About the rank of a “witness” (shahid), some offer the following comment: “[These] are the noble army of Witnesses, who testify to the truth. The testimony may be by martyrdom, as in the case of the Imams Hasan Husain. Or it may be by the tongue of the true Preacher or the pen of the devoted scholar, or the life of a man devoted to service.” Thus shahadat, translated as “martyrdom” depending on the context, in its strict sense takes in much more in Islam than the sacrificing of life in the path of God (sabil Allah), indeed it is also the word for the act of confessing adherence to Islam by uttering, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” Nonetheless, shahadat as martyrdom is regarded as highly praiseworthy. The Qur’an has many passages which indicate an authentic appreciation and inchoate theory of martyrdom: “Say not of those who die in the path of God that they are dead. Nay rather they live” (Sura 2:154); “Count not those who were slain in God’s way as dead, but rather living with their Lord, by Him provided, rejoicing in the bounty of God has given them, and joyful in those who remain behind and have not joined them, because no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow, joyful in blessing and bounty from God, and that God leaves not to waste the wage of the believers” (Suras 3:157-158; 3:169-171; 9: 20-22; 47:4; and 61:11). These few verses suffice to illustrate that even though the word “martyr” as such is not found in the Qur’an, and that subject is represented through circumlocutions, nonetheless the virtue is emphatically taught in the verses of the Holy Book. The Islamic ideal of martyrdom can be thought to be the logical adjunct to the overall Qur’anic view of death as illusory. This view is perhaps nowhere more succinctly represented in the Qur’an than at 62:6-7. “Say: ‘You of Jewry, if you assert that you are the friends of God, apart from the men, then do you long for death, if you speak truly.’”
The doctrine of the Hereafter (akhirah) caused Muhammad a great deal of trouble with his early audiences, who stubbornly refused to accept the idea of life beyond the grave. So in Islam death is paradoxical and it is the paradox which supplies the energy for the strong belief in the spiritual station of martyrs. Thus, the pre-Islamic Arab literary and cultural motif of fakhr, honor or pride in prowess on the field of tribal warfare found throughout the Ayyam literature, was deemed by Islami “vainglory” and replaced by a glorification of the pious dedication to the struggle for the promotion of the Word of God. In Muslim’s hadith collection we find the following statement by the prophet Muhammad: “Whosoever partakes of the battle from desire of glory or in order to show his courage, is no martyr; a martyr is only he who fights in order that Allah’s Word may be prevalent.” Even though it remains to be seen whether or not the pre-Islamic phenomenon does not a more positive relationship with the Islamic ideal of martyrdom, the change in ethos indicated here between the period of Jahiliyah and the Islamic era is quite analogous to the change Christianity wrought in the pagan world.
The theme of martyrdom in Islam is intimately connected with the theme of the rewards of Paradise. This becomes quite clear in the hadith literature which served as a basis for the final elaboration of the doctrine of martyrdom by the fuqaha’ (religious scholars) of Islam.
The hadith literature is vastly more supportive of and unambiguous about martyrdom than the Qur'an. Countless explicit statements attributed to the Prophet exist in which it is quite clear that those who die for Islam enjoy a special rank.
On the theme that martyrs are those who are distinguish in Paradise by their desire to leave their bliss and return to earth to be martyred again (up to ten times), Muhammad is credited with having said that had he followed his personal wish he would not have missed a single battle or campaign in order to be killed in the first and to return to life in each subsequent one. And on the general theme of desiring death, which would come to be neutralized in later centuries Bukhari preserves a prayer ascribed to ‘Umar in which the second caliph expresses the desire to be killed in the Prophet’s country.
All Muslims, no matter what their madhhab, tariqah, or ta’ifah, esteem martyrdom highly. This esteem can be ritualistic or devotional, as in the case of the ta‘ziyah commemorations in Shiism, or historical, as in the manner in which all Muslims idealize the formative struggle of the early band of Muslims under the leadership of Muhammad. It can in fact be existential: that is, Muslims seek to become martyrs. All three responses to the ideal have existee at all times in Islamic history. The ideal of martyrdom can be read into the very name of the religion: Islam means submission to the will of God. And the primary, not to say archetypal, act of submission, according to the Islamic tradition, is Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, and, presumably, his son’s willingness to comply, thereby rendering Isma‘il (or according to some traditions Ishaq) a martyr, or more accurately, one who was willing to become a martyr. In its veneration of the individual act of self-sacrifice for a higher moral, ethical, spiritual idea or cause, Islami is no different from any of the other great religious traditions of the world. However, Islam as a whole is distinguished from other traditions that have theologized away the challenging blade of the martyrdom ideal through metaphor and other abstractions. This fact accounts for the simultaneous feelings of unease and admiration which occur to the non-Muslim observer of the contemporary scene and its examples of shahadah. To put it bluntly: martyrdom has become very unfashionable in the West, at least any martyrdom associated with a religious purpose.
There have been times even within the Islamic community when the ideal of martyrdom was also emasculated. Within the larger Sunni religious culture which was firmly consolidated no earlier than the late ninth century, the personal ethos and ideal of martyrdom had become quiescent as an urgent religious motif. Even though Sunni theologians recognized the power of the idea and even perpetuated the veneration of the early martyrs of Islam, such as Hamzah, the original sayyid al-shuhada’ or “Prince of Martyrs” (a title which is most familiarly attached to the hero par excellence of the Shi‘a, Husayn ibn ‘Ali), and to venerate the various sacrifices made by the early community as acts of martyrdom, they nonetheless rigorously opposed the cultivation of a contemporary cult of martyrdom in their respective societies by emphasizing the illegality of suicide and equating the seeking of a martyr’s death with this. This was no doubt at lest partly in response to the activities of Khawarij and Shi‘a whose activities were disruptive to the greater unity of Muslims, the ahl al-sunnah wa al-jama’. The seeking of martyrdom (talab al-shahadah) thus was discouraged by theologians because of its easy confusion with suicide (and of course, the challenges an active doctrine of martyrdom poses to stable community life) -- an act unequivocably forbidden in islam. The same theologians elevated the accomplishment of moral and ethical challenges as equal if not prefereable to death: (1) fasting; (2) regularity in prayer; (3) reading the Qur’an; (4) filial devotion; and (5) rectitude in the collection of taxes. All of these count as valorous deeds in the way of God (fi sabil Allah). So now the rank of martyr could be sought in the normal acts of worship: the ritiual perfection and purity of motive with which these were performed then determined how close a believer might come to being granted the prize of martyrdom.
In addition, hadith also contain lists of categories of believers whose deaths occur in such a violent or painful way that they are counted as martyrs. This can be five, seven, or eight types of death. The most explicit list is from the Muwatta’ of Malik ibn Anas:
"The martyrs are seven, apart from death in Allah’s way. He that dies as a victim of an epidemic is a martyr; he that dies by being drowned, is a martyr; he that dies from pleuresy, is a martyr; he that dies from diarrhoea, is a martyr; he that dies by fire is a martyr; he that dies by being struck by a wall falling into ruins, is a martyr; the woman who dies in childbed, is a martyr."
Such scriptural raw material would eventually produce doctrinal statements like the following one from the pen of the preeminent Sunni theologian, Muhammad Abu Hamid al-Ghazali:
"Every one who gives himself wholly to God (tajarrada illahi) in the war against his own desires [nafs}, is a martyr when he meets death going forward without turning back. So the holy warrior is he who makes war against his own desires, as it has been explained by the apostle of God. And the “greater war” is the war against one’s own desires, as the Companions said. We have returned from the lesser war unto the greater one, meaning thereby the war against their own desires.
It is indicative of this transition that none of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, each of whom is recognized by Islamic tradition as having been murdered, is typically given the rank or title of martyr. This fact is interesting because Abu Bakr is the only one of the four Rashidun not to have been killed in an open act of violence and might mean that all four are regarded as martyrs, although it is not a common observation in discussing this early period of Islamic history. It is also true that Sunni Islam has recognized as martyrs those who have died for Islam after the time of the Rashidun. In keeping with Islam’s communal ethos, martyrdom is treated by the fuqaha’ as not necessarily or foremost a means for individual salvation or felicity in the next world. Rather, it has the pragmatic value of ensuring the continued existence of the group through its being a mere by-product of communal defense.
Shi‘a Islam, however, is often identified by the way in which the ideal of martyrdom has been kept a vital if not essential element of belief. The potency of the ideal here can be seen by referreing to the only Islamic movement of the modern period to have acquired a universally recognized distinct or non-Islamic identity -- the Baha’i faith. In this religion, which began in a Shi‘a milieu, the ideal of martyrdom is retained as an important element of contemporary religious belief. Shiism, particularly from the beginning of the sixteenth century, with the establishment of the Safavids, took the motif of martyrdom to its bosom and cultivated it as a religio-cultural ideal to a degree unwitnessed earlier. The Twelver Shi‘a list of martyrs begins with Abel (Qabil) and continues through history to include the prophet Muhammad and eleven of the twelve imams, the exception being, of course, the expected twelfth Imam who has in fact never died. The martyrdom tradition in Shiism is more difficult to explain. It is indisputable, for example, that the success of the 1978-1979 Iranian Revolution owes much to the Shi‘a veneration of martyrs and the concomitant willingess of the “average believer” to suffer martyrdom. The Shi‘a tradition has been the main guardian of the martyrdom ideal for the entire Islamic tradition, for it is within Shiism that the visiting of the graves of the martyrs -- preeminently but not exclusively the imams -- has special significance, that weeping for them, or even pretending to weep, has special religious value, and suffering similar distresses as for example Husayn and his companions, such as thirst, in however slight a degree also has religious value. Indeed, according to some contemporary Shi‘a authorities, the true meaning of the erstwhile purely mystical term fana’ (annihilation, selflessness) is none other than the sacrifice of the physical life in the path of Islam.
Within Sufism the theme of martyrdom is also highly important. The Islamic world is adorned with thousands of shrines to pious Muslims who have been regarded as martyrs, although, it should be added, not all places known as mashhad claim for this reason to hold the remains of a bona fide martyr. (In Turkish, for example, a word for cemetery in general is meshhed.) In any case, these tombs are the objects of special veneration and pilgrimage, the practice of which is traced to the Prophet himself, who is said to have visited the graves of the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud interred in al-Baqi’ cemetery to pay special homage to them. The shahid ganj in India is said to be the tomb of no less than 150,000 martyrs. However, in Sufism martyrdom acquires many of the same features associated with the type of martyr hero most readily exemplified by Jesus in the Gospel accounts of the passion, the most important example here being of course Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj (whose act of martyrdom is frequently conflated with Husan ibn ‘Ali’s) who was crucified in Baghdad in the early tenth century snd has been “kept alive” as an ideal of piety and spiritual valor within not only the Sufi tradition but in some aspects of the wider Islamic cultural context as well: Hallaj is the preeminent martyr hero. But there have been many others, including his son Mansur, Suhrawardi of Aleppo, ‘Ayn al-Quzat of Hamadan, Nesimi in Turkey, ibn Sab‘in in Spain, and Sarmad in Mughal India, to name only a few of the most famous. It is important to note that even at the time of Hallaj’s crucifixion, visitation to the tombs of martyrs was such a firmly established practice that Hallaj’s remains were cremated and the ashes scattered on the Euphrates in order that no tomb to him could be erected which would then perhaps become the object of a cult. A study of the Sufi martyr Mas‘ud Beg in India of the late fourteenth century shows the literary process involved in the acknowledgment of a saint as also a martyr. It has been noted that Islamic historiography reverses the relationship between passio and vita. The Islamic martyrologies are later and derive their authority from the norms established by the Prophet and the Imams.
The Islamic faith is based on “bearing witness” to the truth of God’s revelation through his last prophet Muhammad, and that insofar as the most dramatic, and according to some most meaningful, form of bearing witness is to do so with one’s “self” nafs (“self,” soul, life), then Islam is also based on martyrdom. But, as we have seen, the act of bearing witness is accomplished in Islam in a number of ways, ranging from the uttering of the words la ilaha illa Allah Muhammad rasul Allah to the ultimate act of witnessing, the sacrificing of one’s own life in the pursuit of the establishment of Islamic ideals or the defense of those ideals. Between these two possibilities are a number of other acts and gestures that have been recognized by fuqaha’ as constituting shahadah within the purview of the Islamic holy law, shari’a. Some of these other acts are: dying during pilgrimage, dying from a number of particularly virulent and painful diseases, for women dying during childbirth, and so forth. Today, Islam is distinguished among the world religions by the degree to which and the intensity with which the motif or ideal of martyrdom, in the sense of relinquishing one’s life for faith, is consciously kept alive and cultivated. The motif within Sunni Islam has been seen to reside chiefly in veneration of the struggles of the early Islamic community with the Meccan Arabs and their Jahili culture. With the severe dislocations experienced by a large part of the Muslim world since the eighteenth century, a new period of understanding martyrdom has come into being. In some ways, the importance of the theme in the contemporary world transcends the always somewhat misleading divisions of Sunni, Shi‘a, and Sufi. Martyrdom was a prominent theme in the Iran-Iraq War where both sides relied heavily on the ideal to motivate military troops.
From the point of view of the cultural tastes of the non-Muslim world, namely, Europe and North America, anyone who aspires to be a shahid in the physical/existential sense is neither a witness nor martyr, but rather a terrorist or fanatic. From the point of view of Islamic religio-cultural presuppositions, these people, especially those who lose their lives in the course of an action, are seen as martyrs and knights (fida’iyin). However, in recent times, event the Western popular press has come to recognize the possible significance in such a disparity of interpretation of the same act. For example, those who have been indicted for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism in North America and Egypt at considerable risk to personal life have also been recognized as belonging to organizations without whose existence the vast majority of impoverished Egyptians would have no health care, postal service, or education.
In conclusion, a Muslim martyr, that is one who has died in the service of Islam, is distinguished from other Muslims in the life after death in a number of ways: (1) a martyr is spared the post-mortem interrogation by the two angels Munkar and Nakir: (2) a martyr bypasses purgatory (barzakh) and proceeds directly on death to the highest station in Paradise, those locations nearest the divine throne; (3) this station is called in a hadith the most beautiful abode and the dar al-shuhada’: (4) martyr’s wounds will glow red and smell of musk on the Day of Judgment; (5) of all the inhabitants of Paradise, only the martyrs wish for and are theoretically allowed to return to earth for the purpose of suffering martyrdom; (6) by virtue of their meritorious act, a martyr is rendered free of sin and therefore does not require the Prophet’s intercession (shafa‘ah); (7) some traditions even portray notable martyrs as intercessors for others: (8) as a result of their purity, martyrs are buried in the clothes in which they died and are not washed before burial; (9) according to Ghazali, a martyr enjoys the third highest position in post-mortem existence after the prophets and the ‘ulama’ (religious scholars); according to an earlier authority (Abu Talib al-Makki, d. 996), the martyrs rank second as intercessors after the prophets.
Shahid see Martyrs
Shuhada' see Martyrs
Witnesses see Martyrs
Sahid see Martyrs
Shaheed see Martyrs
Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi
Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi (1875-1945). Leading poet of modern Iraq. He was extremely audacious and outspoken in expressing his political views, defending the Arab spiritual revival within the framework of the Ottoman Empire. He wrote the most vicious poems against King Faisal I and the British and owes his great fame to his political and social poetry.
Karkhi, Ma'ruf al- see Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi
Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi (1875-1945). Leading poet of modern Iraq. He was extremely audacious and outspoken in expressing his political views, defending the Arab spiritual revival within the framework of the Ottoman Empire. He wrote the most vicious poems against King Faisal I and the British and owes his great fame to his political and social poetry.
Karkhi, Ma'ruf al- see Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi
Marwan al-Akbar ibn Abi Hafsa
Marwan al-Akbar ibn Abi Hafsa (d. c. 797). Classical Arab poet of a family which included several poets. He was a fierce opponent of the ‘Alids.
Marwan al-Akbar ibn Abi Hafsa (d. c. 797). Classical Arab poet of a family which included several poets. He was a fierce opponent of the ‘Alids.
Marwan al-Ashgar ibn Abi’l-Janub
Marwan al-Ashgar ibn Abi’l-Janub. Grandson of Marwan al-Akbar ibn Abi Hafsa and a remarkable satirist during the ninth century.
Marwan al-Ashgar ibn Abi’l-Janub. Grandson of Marwan al-Akbar ibn Abi Hafsa and a remarkable satirist during the ninth century.
Marwan ibn al-Hakam
Marwan ibn al-Hakam (Marwan I ibn al-Hakam) (623-685). Umayyad caliph, the first of the so-called Marwanid branch of the dynasty (r.684-685). He must have known the Prophet and is reputed to have had a considerable reputation for his profound knowledge of the Qur’an. He helped in the recension of the canonical text during the reign of the Caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan. He acquired extensive personal fortune which he invested in property in Medina. After the battle of the Camel, in which he fought on ‘A’isha’s side, he somewhat surprisingly gave allegiance to ‘Ali. At a meeting of the Syrians at al-Jabiya after the death of Mu‘awiya II in 683, Marwan was hailed as caliph. With the help of the Banu Kalb, he defeated the Banu Qays at the battle of Marj Rahit. His short reign was filled with military activity in Egypt and Iraq.
Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the fourth Umayyad Caliph. He took over the dynasty after Muawiya II abdicated in 684. Marwan's ascension pointed to a shift in the lineage of the Umayyad dynasty from descendants of Abu Sufyan to those of Hakam, both of whom were grandsons of Umayya (for whom the Umayyad dynasty is named). Hakam was a first cousin of Uthman ibn Affan.
During the "Battle of the Camel", Marwan ibn al-Hakam is said to have shot his general Talha with an arrow to the thigh, resulting in his death. Marwan killed Talha in revenge for Talha's alleged betrayal of the third Caliph Uthman:
Marwan was removed from his position by Ali, only to be reappointed by Muawiya I. Marwan was eventually removed from the city when Abdullah ibn Zubayr rebelled against Yazid I. From here, Marwan went to Damascus, where he was made the caliph after Muawiya II abdicated.
Marwan's short reign was marked by a civil war among the Umayyads as well as a war against Abdullah ibn Zubayr who continued to rule over the Hejaz, Iraq, Egypt and parts of Syria. Marwan was able to win the Umayyad civil war, the result of which was a new Marwanid line of Umayyad caliphs. He was also able to recapture Egypt and Syria from Abdullah, but was not able to completely defeat him.
Marwan I ibn al-Hakam see Marwan ibn al-Hakam
Marwan ibn al-Hakam (Marwan I ibn al-Hakam) (623-685). Umayyad caliph, the first of the so-called Marwanid branch of the dynasty (r.684-685). He must have known the Prophet and is reputed to have had a considerable reputation for his profound knowledge of the Qur’an. He helped in the recension of the canonical text during the reign of the Caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan. He acquired extensive personal fortune which he invested in property in Medina. After the battle of the Camel, in which he fought on ‘A’isha’s side, he somewhat surprisingly gave allegiance to ‘Ali. At a meeting of the Syrians at al-Jabiya after the death of Mu‘awiya II in 683, Marwan was hailed as caliph. With the help of the Banu Kalb, he defeated the Banu Qays at the battle of Marj Rahit. His short reign was filled with military activity in Egypt and Iraq.
Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the fourth Umayyad Caliph. He took over the dynasty after Muawiya II abdicated in 684. Marwan's ascension pointed to a shift in the lineage of the Umayyad dynasty from descendants of Abu Sufyan to those of Hakam, both of whom were grandsons of Umayya (for whom the Umayyad dynasty is named). Hakam was a first cousin of Uthman ibn Affan.
During the "Battle of the Camel", Marwan ibn al-Hakam is said to have shot his general Talha with an arrow to the thigh, resulting in his death. Marwan killed Talha in revenge for Talha's alleged betrayal of the third Caliph Uthman:
Marwan was removed from his position by Ali, only to be reappointed by Muawiya I. Marwan was eventually removed from the city when Abdullah ibn Zubayr rebelled against Yazid I. From here, Marwan went to Damascus, where he was made the caliph after Muawiya II abdicated.
Marwan's short reign was marked by a civil war among the Umayyads as well as a war against Abdullah ibn Zubayr who continued to rule over the Hejaz, Iraq, Egypt and parts of Syria. Marwan was able to win the Umayyad civil war, the result of which was a new Marwanid line of Umayyad caliphs. He was also able to recapture Egypt and Syria from Abdullah, but was not able to completely defeat him.
Marwan I ibn al-Hakam see Marwan ibn al-Hakam
Marwan ibn Muhammad
Marwan ibn Muhammad (Marwan II ibn Muhammad) (Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan) (Marwan al-Himaar</I.) (al-Himar) (688/695-750). Last of the Umayyad caliphs of Syria (r.744-750). With the death of the Caliph Yazid III in 744, he refused to accept the authority of the nominated successor Ibrahim, brother of Yazid, and seized power. However, it was only in 746 that he finally established his control over Syria. By 746, he had overcome the Kharijites in Iraq, but by 749 the ‘Abbasids had risen in Khurasan and their caliphate had been proclaimed in Kufa. In 750, Marwan was defeated at the battle of the Greater Zab, fled to Egypt but fell in a struggle with a pursuing ‘Abbasid force.
In A.H. 114 (732-733), Caliph Hisham appointed Marwan governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In A.H. 117 (735-736), Marwan took three fortresses of the Alans and made peace with Tumanshah. In A.H. 121 (739-740), he launched further raids and obtained tribute. In A.H. 126 (744-745), on hearing news of the plot to overthrow al-Walid II, Marwan wrote to his relatives from Armenia strongly discouraging such an act. He urged them to harmoniously preserve the stability and well being of the Umayyad house.
When Yazid III persisted in overthrowing al-Walid II, Marwan at first opposed him, then rendered allegiance to him. On Yazid's early death, Marwan renewed his ambitions, ignored Yazid's named successor Ibrahim and became caliph. Ibrahim initially hid, then requested Marwan give him assurances of personal safety. This Marwan granted and Ibrahim even accompanied the new caliph to Hisham's residence of Rusafah.
Marwan named his two sons Ubaydallah and Abdallah heirs. He appointed governors and proceeded to assert his authority by force. However, anti-Umayyad feeling was very prevalent, especially in Iran and Iraq. The Abbasids had gained much support. As such, Marwan's reign as caliph was almost entirely devoted to trying to keep the Umayyad empire together.
Marwan took Hims (Emesa) after a bitter ten month siege. Al-Dahhak led a Kharijite rebellion. He defeated Syrian forces and took Kufa. Sulayman ibn Hisham turned against Marwan, but suffered a severe defeat. The Kharijites advanced on Mosul and were defeated. Sulayman joined them. Al-Dahhak's successor al-Khaybari was initially successful in pushing back Marwan's center and even took the caliph's camp and sat on his carpet. However, he and those with him fell in fighting in the camp. Shayban succeeded him. Marwan pursued him and Sulayman to Mosul and besieged them there for six months. Then reinforced, the caliph drove them out. Shayban fled to Bahrayn (Bahrain) where he was killed; Sulayman sailed to India.
In Khurasan, there was internal discord with the Umayyad governor Nasr ibn Sayyar facing opposition from al-Harith and al-Kirmani. They also fought each other. In addition Abbasid envoys arrived. There had long been religious fervor and a kind of messianic expectation of Abbasid ascendency. During Ramadan 747 (May 16-June 14), they unfurled the standards of their revolt. Nasr sent his retainer Yazid against them. Yazid, however, was bested, taken and held captive. He was impressed by the Abbasids and when released told Nasr he wanted to join them, but his obligations to Nasr brought him back.
Fighting continued throughout Khurasan with the Abbasids gaining increasing ascendency. Finally, Nasr fell sick and died at Rayy on November 9, 748 at the age of eighty five. The Abbasids achieved success in the Hijaz. Marwan suffered a decisive defeat by Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah on the banks of the Zab River in a battle called Battle of the Zab. At this battle alone, over 300 members of the Umayyad family died. Marwan fled, leaving Damascus, Jordan and Palestine and reaching Egypt, where he was caught and killed on August 6, 750. His heirs Ubaydallah and Abdallah escaped to Ethiopia. Ubaydallah died in fighting there.
Marwan's death signaled the end of Umayyad fortunes in the East, and was followed by the mass-killing of Umayyads by the Abbasids. Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed, except for the talented prince Abd ar-Rahman who escaped to Spain and founded an Umayyad dynasty there.
Marwan II ibn Muhammad see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Himar, al- see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Marwan al-Himaar see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Marwan ibn Muhammad (Marwan II ibn Muhammad) (Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan) (Marwan al-Himaar</I.) (al-Himar) (688/695-750). Last of the Umayyad caliphs of Syria (r.744-750). With the death of the Caliph Yazid III in 744, he refused to accept the authority of the nominated successor Ibrahim, brother of Yazid, and seized power. However, it was only in 746 that he finally established his control over Syria. By 746, he had overcome the Kharijites in Iraq, but by 749 the ‘Abbasids had risen in Khurasan and their caliphate had been proclaimed in Kufa. In 750, Marwan was defeated at the battle of the Greater Zab, fled to Egypt but fell in a struggle with a pursuing ‘Abbasid force.
In A.H. 114 (732-733), Caliph Hisham appointed Marwan governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In A.H. 117 (735-736), Marwan took three fortresses of the Alans and made peace with Tumanshah. In A.H. 121 (739-740), he launched further raids and obtained tribute. In A.H. 126 (744-745), on hearing news of the plot to overthrow al-Walid II, Marwan wrote to his relatives from Armenia strongly discouraging such an act. He urged them to harmoniously preserve the stability and well being of the Umayyad house.
When Yazid III persisted in overthrowing al-Walid II, Marwan at first opposed him, then rendered allegiance to him. On Yazid's early death, Marwan renewed his ambitions, ignored Yazid's named successor Ibrahim and became caliph. Ibrahim initially hid, then requested Marwan give him assurances of personal safety. This Marwan granted and Ibrahim even accompanied the new caliph to Hisham's residence of Rusafah.
Marwan named his two sons Ubaydallah and Abdallah heirs. He appointed governors and proceeded to assert his authority by force. However, anti-Umayyad feeling was very prevalent, especially in Iran and Iraq. The Abbasids had gained much support. As such, Marwan's reign as caliph was almost entirely devoted to trying to keep the Umayyad empire together.
Marwan took Hims (Emesa) after a bitter ten month siege. Al-Dahhak led a Kharijite rebellion. He defeated Syrian forces and took Kufa. Sulayman ibn Hisham turned against Marwan, but suffered a severe defeat. The Kharijites advanced on Mosul and were defeated. Sulayman joined them. Al-Dahhak's successor al-Khaybari was initially successful in pushing back Marwan's center and even took the caliph's camp and sat on his carpet. However, he and those with him fell in fighting in the camp. Shayban succeeded him. Marwan pursued him and Sulayman to Mosul and besieged them there for six months. Then reinforced, the caliph drove them out. Shayban fled to Bahrayn (Bahrain) where he was killed; Sulayman sailed to India.
In Khurasan, there was internal discord with the Umayyad governor Nasr ibn Sayyar facing opposition from al-Harith and al-Kirmani. They also fought each other. In addition Abbasid envoys arrived. There had long been religious fervor and a kind of messianic expectation of Abbasid ascendency. During Ramadan 747 (May 16-June 14), they unfurled the standards of their revolt. Nasr sent his retainer Yazid against them. Yazid, however, was bested, taken and held captive. He was impressed by the Abbasids and when released told Nasr he wanted to join them, but his obligations to Nasr brought him back.
Fighting continued throughout Khurasan with the Abbasids gaining increasing ascendency. Finally, Nasr fell sick and died at Rayy on November 9, 748 at the age of eighty five. The Abbasids achieved success in the Hijaz. Marwan suffered a decisive defeat by Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah on the banks of the Zab River in a battle called Battle of the Zab. At this battle alone, over 300 members of the Umayyad family died. Marwan fled, leaving Damascus, Jordan and Palestine and reaching Egypt, where he was caught and killed on August 6, 750. His heirs Ubaydallah and Abdallah escaped to Ethiopia. Ubaydallah died in fighting there.
Marwan's death signaled the end of Umayyad fortunes in the East, and was followed by the mass-killing of Umayyads by the Abbasids. Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed, except for the talented prince Abd ar-Rahman who escaped to Spain and founded an Umayyad dynasty there.
Marwan II ibn Muhammad see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Himar, al- see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Marwan al-Himaar see Marwan ibn Muhammad
Marwanids
Marwanids. Branch of the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs in Syria which began with Marwan I ibn al-Hakam in 684 and came to an end with Marwan II ibn Muhammad (al-Himar) in 750.
Marwanids. Branch of the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs in Syria which began with Marwan I ibn al-Hakam in 684 and came to an end with Marwan II ibn Muhammad (al-Himar) in 750.
Marwanids
Marwanids. Dynasty of Kurdish origin which ousted the Hamdanids and ruled Diyarbakr from 990 to 1085. The greatest ruler was Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad.
The Marwanid dynasty was a Kurdish dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) and Armenia, centered around the city of Amed (Diyarbakır). Other cities under rule were Arzan, Mayyāfāriqīn (today Silvan), Hisn Kayfa (Hasankeyf), Khilāṭ, Manzikart, Arjish. The founder of the dynasty was a Kurdish shepherd, Abu Shujā Bādh bin Dustak. He left his cattle, took up arms and became a valiant chief of war, obtaining celebrity. When a member of the Iranian dynasty of Buyid, Adud al Dawla, who ruled the Islamic empire, died in 983, Badh took Mayyāfāriqīn, a city of the North-Eastern Diyarbakır. He also seized Akhlat and Nisibis, too.
The Marwanid rulers were:
1. Abu Shujā' Badh bin Dustak (983-990)
2. Al-Hasan ibn Marwān (990-997)
3. Mumahhid al-Dawla Sa’īd (997-1010)
4. Sharwin ibn Muhammad (1010), usurper
5. Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwān (1011–1061)
6. Nizām al-Dawla Nasr (1061–1079)
7. Nasir al-Dawla Mansur (1079–1085)
Bādh bin Dustak founded the Kurdish emirate and conquered Diyarbakır, as well as a variety of urban sites on the northern shores of Lake Van in Armenia. During the Phocas revolt, Bādh took advantage of the mayhem inside Byzantium to raid the plain of Mus in Taron, an Armenian princedom annexed by Byzantium in 966.
Elias of Nisibis, a Syriac chronicler, mentioned shortly the life of Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan. After the death of his uncle Badh, the elder son of Marwan came back to Hisn-Kayfa, married the widow of the old warrior chief. He fought the last Hamdanids, confused them and took again all the fortresses. Elias related the tragic end of this prince who was killed in Amed (Diyarbakır) in 997 by insurged inhabitants. His brother Abu Mansur Sa’id succeeded to him, under the name of Mumahhid al-Dawla. In 992, after Bad's death and a series of Byzantine punitive raids around Lake Van, Basil II was able to negotiate a lasting peace with the Kurdish emirate.
Mumahhid, a skillful diplomat, made use of the Byzantines' ambitions, who were present in Northern-Anatolia. The relations of this prince with the Emperor Basil II (976-1025) were quite friendly. When Basil learnt the murderer of the Georgian potentate David III of Tao, who had left by testament his kingdom to the Byzantine empire, he stopped the campaign that he had begun in Syria for making sure of Arabian emirs' obedience and he crossed the Euphrates. He annexed David's state, received Mumahhid ed Daula merrily and made peace with him. Mumahhid ed Daula took advantage of peace for restoring the walls of his capital Maïpherqat (Mayyafarikin), the siege of his sovereignty, and made inscribe on it his name, that is still shining nowadays.
In 1000 when Basil II travelled from Cilicia to the lands of David III Kuropalates (Akhlat and Manzikert), Mumahhid al-Dawla came to offer his submission to the emperor and in return he received the high rank of magistros and doux of the East.
In 1010, Mumahhid al-Dawla was assassinated by his ghulam, slave, Sharwin ibn Muhammad, who assumed rulership. He legitimized his rule with the ancient 'law of the Turks', that who kills the ruler becomes himself the successor. However this archaic rule and Sharwin rulership were soon contested, and Sharwin was overthrown.
Nasr al-Dawla was the third Marwan's son, acceded to the throne. As a clever politician, he could skillfully impose on the Buyid emir Sultan al-Dawla, the Fatimid caliph of Egypt Al Hakim and on the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. All of them sent him congratulations. They represented the great powers that surrendered the state-plug of Mayyafarikin. Nasr al-Dawla, "the victorious emir", subdued Ibn Dimne, his vassal in Diyarbakır, in 1011. He signed with the Empire of Istanbul, a pact of mutual non-aggression, but violated it once or twice.
Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan took the city of Edessa in 1026, and added it to his possessions. However, while Nasr al-Dawla annexed Edessa, the city was retaken by the Byzantine Empire in 1031. In 1032, he sent an army of 5000 horsemen, under the command of the his general Bal, to re-take the town from Arab tribes supported by Byzantium. The Kurdish commander Bal took the city and killed the Arab tribal chief, then he wrote to his lord Nasr al-Dawla asking for reinforcements "if you want to save your Lordship on Kertastan (Kurdistan)". The long rule of Nasr al-Dawla was the apogee of Marwanids' power. He built a new citadel on a hill of Mayyafariqin where stood the Church of Virgin. He built bridges and public baths. He restored the observatory. Some libraries were placed in the mosques of Mayyafarikin and Amed. He invited well-known scholars, historians and poets to his royal court, among them Ibn al-Athir, ‘Abd Allah al-Kazaruni (poet), al-Tihami. He sheltered political refugees as the future Abbassid caliph Al-Muqtadi (1075–1099). Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan, in 1054, had to acknowledge as his own liege Toghrul Beg the Seljuk, who ruled on the largest part of Jazira, but he kept his territories. This fine period of peace and good feelings between Kurds and Syriacs was rich in creations in the field of cultural life. It was dense for trade, active for arts and crafts, impressive in short. Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan left in Diyarbakır monumental inscriptions that show the artistic brightness of his reign.
After Nasr al-Dawla's death, the Marwanids' power declined. His second son, Nizam, succeeded him and ruled until 1079, then followed his son Nasir al-Dawla Mansur. The end of the Marwanid dynasty drifted along, in a scent of treason. Ibn Jahir, a former vizir, left the Diyarbakır, and went to Baghdad. There, he convinced the sultan Malik Shah I (1072–1092), a grand-nephew of Toghrul Beg, and the famous vizir Nizam al-Mulk, to allow him to assault Mayyafarikin. When the city was taken, Ibn Jahir took off the great treasures that belonged to the Marwanids and detained them greedily for himself. Afterwards, the Diyarbakır fell almost entirely under the direct rule of Seljukids. The last emir, Nasir al-Dawla Mansur, kept only the city of Jazirat Ibn ‘Umar (present-day Cizre in south-eastern Turkey).
Marwanids. Dynasty of Kurdish origin which ousted the Hamdanids and ruled Diyarbakr from 990 to 1085. The greatest ruler was Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad.
The Marwanid dynasty was a Kurdish dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) and Armenia, centered around the city of Amed (Diyarbakır). Other cities under rule were Arzan, Mayyāfāriqīn (today Silvan), Hisn Kayfa (Hasankeyf), Khilāṭ, Manzikart, Arjish. The founder of the dynasty was a Kurdish shepherd, Abu Shujā Bādh bin Dustak. He left his cattle, took up arms and became a valiant chief of war, obtaining celebrity. When a member of the Iranian dynasty of Buyid, Adud al Dawla, who ruled the Islamic empire, died in 983, Badh took Mayyāfāriqīn, a city of the North-Eastern Diyarbakır. He also seized Akhlat and Nisibis, too.
The Marwanid rulers were:
1. Abu Shujā' Badh bin Dustak (983-990)
2. Al-Hasan ibn Marwān (990-997)
3. Mumahhid al-Dawla Sa’īd (997-1010)
4. Sharwin ibn Muhammad (1010), usurper
5. Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwān (1011–1061)
6. Nizām al-Dawla Nasr (1061–1079)
7. Nasir al-Dawla Mansur (1079–1085)
Bādh bin Dustak founded the Kurdish emirate and conquered Diyarbakır, as well as a variety of urban sites on the northern shores of Lake Van in Armenia. During the Phocas revolt, Bādh took advantage of the mayhem inside Byzantium to raid the plain of Mus in Taron, an Armenian princedom annexed by Byzantium in 966.
Elias of Nisibis, a Syriac chronicler, mentioned shortly the life of Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan. After the death of his uncle Badh, the elder son of Marwan came back to Hisn-Kayfa, married the widow of the old warrior chief. He fought the last Hamdanids, confused them and took again all the fortresses. Elias related the tragic end of this prince who was killed in Amed (Diyarbakır) in 997 by insurged inhabitants. His brother Abu Mansur Sa’id succeeded to him, under the name of Mumahhid al-Dawla. In 992, after Bad's death and a series of Byzantine punitive raids around Lake Van, Basil II was able to negotiate a lasting peace with the Kurdish emirate.
Mumahhid, a skillful diplomat, made use of the Byzantines' ambitions, who were present in Northern-Anatolia. The relations of this prince with the Emperor Basil II (976-1025) were quite friendly. When Basil learnt the murderer of the Georgian potentate David III of Tao, who had left by testament his kingdom to the Byzantine empire, he stopped the campaign that he had begun in Syria for making sure of Arabian emirs' obedience and he crossed the Euphrates. He annexed David's state, received Mumahhid ed Daula merrily and made peace with him. Mumahhid ed Daula took advantage of peace for restoring the walls of his capital Maïpherqat (Mayyafarikin), the siege of his sovereignty, and made inscribe on it his name, that is still shining nowadays.
In 1000 when Basil II travelled from Cilicia to the lands of David III Kuropalates (Akhlat and Manzikert), Mumahhid al-Dawla came to offer his submission to the emperor and in return he received the high rank of magistros and doux of the East.
In 1010, Mumahhid al-Dawla was assassinated by his ghulam, slave, Sharwin ibn Muhammad, who assumed rulership. He legitimized his rule with the ancient 'law of the Turks', that who kills the ruler becomes himself the successor. However this archaic rule and Sharwin rulership were soon contested, and Sharwin was overthrown.
Nasr al-Dawla was the third Marwan's son, acceded to the throne. As a clever politician, he could skillfully impose on the Buyid emir Sultan al-Dawla, the Fatimid caliph of Egypt Al Hakim and on the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. All of them sent him congratulations. They represented the great powers that surrendered the state-plug of Mayyafarikin. Nasr al-Dawla, "the victorious emir", subdued Ibn Dimne, his vassal in Diyarbakır, in 1011. He signed with the Empire of Istanbul, a pact of mutual non-aggression, but violated it once or twice.
Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan took the city of Edessa in 1026, and added it to his possessions. However, while Nasr al-Dawla annexed Edessa, the city was retaken by the Byzantine Empire in 1031. In 1032, he sent an army of 5000 horsemen, under the command of the his general Bal, to re-take the town from Arab tribes supported by Byzantium. The Kurdish commander Bal took the city and killed the Arab tribal chief, then he wrote to his lord Nasr al-Dawla asking for reinforcements "if you want to save your Lordship on Kertastan (Kurdistan)". The long rule of Nasr al-Dawla was the apogee of Marwanids' power. He built a new citadel on a hill of Mayyafariqin where stood the Church of Virgin. He built bridges and public baths. He restored the observatory. Some libraries were placed in the mosques of Mayyafarikin and Amed. He invited well-known scholars, historians and poets to his royal court, among them Ibn al-Athir, ‘Abd Allah al-Kazaruni (poet), al-Tihami. He sheltered political refugees as the future Abbassid caliph Al-Muqtadi (1075–1099). Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan, in 1054, had to acknowledge as his own liege Toghrul Beg the Seljuk, who ruled on the largest part of Jazira, but he kept his territories. This fine period of peace and good feelings between Kurds and Syriacs was rich in creations in the field of cultural life. It was dense for trade, active for arts and crafts, impressive in short. Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan left in Diyarbakır monumental inscriptions that show the artistic brightness of his reign.
After Nasr al-Dawla's death, the Marwanids' power declined. His second son, Nizam, succeeded him and ruled until 1079, then followed his son Nasir al-Dawla Mansur. The end of the Marwanid dynasty drifted along, in a scent of treason. Ibn Jahir, a former vizir, left the Diyarbakır, and went to Baghdad. There, he convinced the sultan Malik Shah I (1072–1092), a grand-nephew of Toghrul Beg, and the famous vizir Nizam al-Mulk, to allow him to assault Mayyafarikin. When the city was taken, Ibn Jahir took off the great treasures that belonged to the Marwanids and detained them greedily for himself. Afterwards, the Diyarbakır fell almost entirely under the direct rule of Seljukids. The last emir, Nasir al-Dawla Mansur, kept only the city of Jazirat Ibn ‘Umar (present-day Cizre in south-eastern Turkey).
Mary
Mary (in Arabic, Maryam). Mother of Jesus. The name occurs frequently in the Qur’an in the combination (‘Isa) ibn Maryam – “(Jesus) son of Mary,” no father being mentioned, because, according to Muslim tradition, Jesus had no earthly father. Maryam is much venerated in Muslim folk tradition, often along with Fatima.
Maryam is the Islamic name given to Mary, the mother of Jesus -- the mother of ‘Isa. Maryam is frequently mentioned in the Qur’an. In Sura 19:20ff., which is named “Mary,” the doctrine of the Virgin Birth is mentioned, as also in Sura 66:12 and 3:47. The Qur’an also knows a version of the Immaculate Conception {Sura 3:36} , where Mary and Jesus are kept clean from Satan’s (Iblis’s) touch, giving rise to the Islamic doctrine of impeccability -- the ‘isma. The Qur’an also attributes to some a belief that Mary was part of the Trinity {Sura 5:116} , which has led Western scholars to search for Marist sects in pre-Islamic Arabia. Two different genealogies of Mary are known to the commentators, as are numerous stories found in the apocryphal Gospels, such as the Palm Tree story.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is considered one of the most righteous women in the Islamic tradition. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur'an and her name is mentioned more times than it is in the New Testament.
According to the Qur'an, Jesus (called 'Isa in Arabic) was born miraculously by the will of God without a father. His mother is regarded as a chaste and virtuous woman and is a highly respected figure in Islam. The Qur'an states that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth, but that neither Mary nor her son were divine.
In the Qur'an, no other woman is given more attention than Mary. The nineteenth sura of the Qur'an is named after her and is, to some extent, about her life. Of the Qur'an's 114 suras, she is among only eight people who have a sura named after them. In Islam, she is generally referred to as Maryam, Umm Isa (Mary, the mother of Jesus). For Muslims she is a symbol of submission to God and piety.
Mary is one of the most highly-regarded women in Islam; there are several verses in the Qur'an praising her and confirming that she was an extremely chaste and pious woman. Other righteous women in Islam, include: Asiyah, foster mother of the Prophet Musa (Moses); Khadijah, a wife of Prophet Muhammad; and Fatimah, a daughter of Muhammad.
According to the Qur'an, Mary's father was 'Imran. The name which in Arabic means prosperity, not only links Mary to her direct father but also to her ancestor, Amram the father of Moses and of Aaron, whence the description "sister of Aaron" which the Qur'an likewise uses, is to show that Mary is of the same race as the two brother prophets, as commentators such as Al-Ghazzali have stated.
Mary's mother, although unnamed, is identified as Hannah in Arabic or Saint Anne in Judeo-Christian tradition.
Mary's story in the Qur'an, begins while she is still in her mother's womb. The mother of Mary said, "O my Lord! I do dedicate into Thee what is in my womb for Thy special service: So accept this of me: For Thou hearest and knowest all things." (Qur'an 3:35). When Mary was delivered, she said, "O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!" (Qur'an 3:36). She had expected her baby to be a boy who would grow up to be a scholar or religious leader. Qur'an 3:36 continues "...and God knew best what she brought forth — 'And no wise is the male like the female. I have named her Maryam, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from Satan, the Rejected.'"
In Qur'an 3:37, God states that He accepted Mary as her mother had asked. She was assigned into the care of a priest named Zacharias (Zakariya). "Every time that he entered (her) Mihrab to see her, he found her supplied with sustenance. He said, 'O Mary! Whence (comes) this to you?' She said, 'From God. For God provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure.'" (Qur'an 3:37).
The word Mihrab which first appears in Mary's story is the reference to a place in the Temple of Jerusalem, which according to the Muslim tradition, was reserved for Mary. The association of ideas between Mary and Mihrab (prayer niche) in mosques in commonly found among Muslims. In many mosques the verse of Zachariah and Mary is inscribed above the Mihrab, notably in Hagia Sophia and Sultan Ahmet Mosque in Istanbul, which remained dedicated to Saint Mary even after the Byzantine era and under the Ottoman Empire.
Zacharias in Islam is not only regarded as a priest but as a prophet as well. Although his wife was barren and he was very old, God blesses Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth with John. John is known as "John the Baptist" in the Bible and as Yahya in the Qur'an.
The Qur'an states that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth, but describes Mary and her son not as divine but as "honored servants" (21.26). To deny Jesus divinity, he is compared in Q 3:59 with Adam who was created with neither father nor mother. The most detailed account of the annunciation and birth of Jesus is provided in Suras 3 and 19 of the Qur'an wherein it is written that God sent an angel to announce that she could shortly expect to bear a son, despite being a virgin.
After conceiving Jesus, Mary went away with the baby to a distant place (Qur'an 19:22). "And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree. She cried (in her anguish): 'Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten!'" (Qur'an 19:23).
The miracle of the palm-tree which is mentioned in the Qur'an but not in the Bible is an important miracle for Muslims. In this narration, Mary finds herself behind a withered palm-tree in the wilderness and she wishes if she had died before this. A voice came from beneath her "shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee" (Quran 19:25) The miracle is counterpart to the miracle of the Mihrab. In both instances, Mary is nourished by Allah, however, in the first case, the fruits come without her having to do anything other than remember God in the prayer-niche. Whereas, in the second case, she must have participated in the miracle by shaking the tree. Commentators on the Quran have stated the two miracles are miracles of pure grace and active faith. It is also stated that Mary's substance is the substance of original sanctity. According to some Muslims, Mary personifies clemency and Mercy, therefore, she is the human manifestation of the Basmalah.
Joseph, the magi, and the manger are not mentioned in the Qur'anic narration. In the Qur'an and Hadith, Allah was Mary's only Provider. Muslims do not accept the virgin birth of Jesus as evidence of Jesus being God.
The Qur'an states: "The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: 'Be.' And he was." (Qur'an 3:59).
(Remember) When the angels said O Mary! God Gives thee Good News of a son through a Word from Him! His name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and in the next, and of those who Are Granted Nearness to God! (3.45)
And he shall speak to the people in the cradle, and when of middle age, and he shall be of The Righteous (3.46)
She said My Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me ? He Said, That is as it shall be. God Creates what He Pleases. When He decrees a thing He says to it "Be" and it is! (3.47)
The Qur'an also declares that one of the reasons (amongst many listed) for the punishments of God upon the People of the Book – "God has sealed their hearts" (4.155) – is for their "uttering a monstrous lie against Mary" (4.156).
Mary's names and titles in Islam include:
* Qānitah: "of the Qanitin". Mary is so called in Surah of the Banning (Quran 66:12). The Arabic term implies the meaning, not only of constant submission to Allah, but also absorption in prayer and invocation, meanings that coincides with the image of Mary spending her childhood in the Mihrab. In this way, Mary personifies prayer and contemplation in Islam.
* Siddiqah: “She who accepts as true” or “She who has faith”. Mary is called Siddiqah twice in the Quran. (5:73-75 62:12). The term has also been translated “She who believes sincerely totally”.
* Sājidah: “She who prostrates to Allah in worship”. The Quran states: “O Mary! Worship your Lord devoutly: prostrate yourself”(Quran 3:43). While in Sujud, a Muslim is to praise Allah and glorify him. In this motion, which Muslims believe to be derived from Marian nature, hands, knees and the forehead touch the ground together.
* Rāki’ah: “She who bows down to Allah in worship”. The Quran states: “O Mary! Bow down in prayer with those men who bow down.” The command was repeated by angels only to Mary, according to the Muslim view. Ruku' in Muslim prayer Salat has been derived from Mary’s practice.
* Tāhirah: “She who was purified” (Quran 3:42). According to a Hadith, the devil did not touch Mary when she was born, therefore she did not cry. (Nisai 4:331)
* Mustafia: “She who was chosen”. The Quran states: “O Mary! Allah has chosen you and purified you and again he has chosen you above all women of all nations of the worlds” (Quran 3:42). According to the interpretations, the first election is intrinsic. Allah has chosen the virgin in herself and for herself, and the second time he has chosen her in regard to the world and for a divine plan.
* Nur: "Light". In the Verse of Light, Mary is called Nur (Light) and Umm Nur (the mother of one who was Light). The Verse of Light also contains the virginal symbols of the crystal, the star, the blessed olive tree, and oil, which according to Muslims, refer to the purity of Mary. It is one of the most important passages, both from the generally Islamic as well as from the specifically Maryami point of view, along with the tree verses that follow it.
* Waliyah: "Saint". There is among Muslims a divergence of opinion concerning whether Mary was a Nabiyah (Prophetess) or a Waliah (Saint). Most Muslims believe that prophecy is reserved for men only and that Mary was simply a saint. Even those who believe Mary was a prophetess agree that she had no law-giving function.
* Sa’imah: “She who fasts”. Mary is reported to fast one half of a year in Muslim tradition. The Quran says God told Mary “And if any man sees you, say, I have vowed a fast to the Most Gracious, and this day I will enter into no talk with any human being.”
* Ma’suma: “She who never sinned”. According to the Quran, Allah protected Mary from Satan.(Quran 3:35-36)
Many other names of Mary can be found in various other books and religious collections. In Hadith, she has been referred to by names such as Batul and Adhraa (Ascetic Virgin), Masturah ("veiled") and Marhumah ("enveloped in Allah's Mercy").
Maryam see Mary
Mother of Jesus see Mary
Mother of Jesus see Mary
Maryam Jameelah
Maryam Jameelah (b. May 23, 1934). Revivalist ideologist. She was born Margaret Marcus to a Jewish family in New Rochelle, New York. She grew up in a secular environment, but at the age of nineteen, while a student at New York University she developed a keen interest in religion. Unable to find spiritual guidance in her immediate environment, she looked to other faiths. Her search brought her into contact with an array of spiritual orders, religious cults, and world religions. She became acquainted with Islam around 1954. She was then greatly impressed by Marmaduke Pickthall’s The Meaning of the Glorious Koran and by the works of Muhammad Asad, himself a convert from Judaism to Islam. Maryam Jameelah cites Asad’s The Road to Mecca and Islam at Crossroads as critical influences on her decision to become a Muslim. Through her readings on Islam she developed a bond with that religion and soon became its spokesperson, defending Muslim beliefs against Western criticism and championing such Muslim causes as that of the Palestinians. Her views created much tension in her personal life, but she continued to pursue her cause.
On May 24, 1961, she embraced Islam in New York, and soon after began to write for the Muslim Digest of Durban, South Africa. Her articles outlined a pristine view of Islam and sought to establish the truth of the religion through debates with its critics. Through this journal she became acquainted with the works of Mawlana Sayyid Abu al-A’la Mawdudi I (d. 1979), the founder and leader of the Jama‘at-i Islami (Islamic Party) of Pakistan, who was also a contributor to the journal. Maryam Jameelah was impressed by Mawdudi’s views and began to correspond with him. Their letters between 1960 and 1962, later published in a volume entitled Correspondences between Maulana Mawdoodi and Maryam Jameelah, discussed a variety of issues from the discourse between Islam and the West to Maryam Jameelah’s personal spiritual concerns.
Maryam Jameelah’s attachment to Islam created great difficulties for her in her family and community. Her anguish was relayed to Mawdudi, who advised her to move to Pakistan and live among Muslims. Maryam Jameelah traveled to Pakistan in 1962 and joined the household of Mawlana Mawdudi in Lahore. She soon married a member of the Jama‘at-i Islami, Muhammad Yusuf Khan, as his second wife. After settling in Pakistan she wrote an impressive number of books, which adumbrated Jama‘at-i Islami’s ideology in a systematic fashion. Although she never formally joined the party, she became one of its chief ideologists.
Maryam Jameelah was particularly concerned with the debate between Islam and the West, an important, albeit not central, aspect of Mawdudi’s thought. She sharpened the focus of the Muslim polemic against the West and laid out the revivalist critique of Christianity, Judaism, and secular Western thought in methodical fashion. Her works often fall into the trap of citing the worst moral and ethical transgressions of the West -- usually isolated incidents -- to condemn the West in its entirety. Maryam Jameelah’s significance, however, does not lie in the force of her observations, but in the manner in which she articulates an internally consistent paradigm for revivalism’s rejection of the West. In this regard, her influence far exceeds the boundaries of Jama‘at-i Islami and has been important in the development of revivalist thought across the Muslim world.
The logic of her discursive approach led Maryam Jameelah away from revivalism and Jama‘at-i Islami. Increasingly aware of revivalism’s own borrowing from the West, she distanced herself from the revivalist exegesis and even criticized her mentor Mawdudi for his assimilation of modern concepts into Jama‘at-Islami’s ideology. Her writings in later years embodied this change in orientation and reveal the influence of traditional Islam.
Some of the books Maryam Jameelah has written are:
* Islam and Modernism
* Westernization and Human Welfare
* Three Great Islamic Movements in the Arab World of the Recent Past
* The Generation Gap - Its Causes and Consequences
Jameelah, Maryam see Maryam Jameelah
Margaret Marcus see Maryam Jameelah
Marcus, Margaret see Maryam Jameelah
Maryam Jameelah (b. May 23, 1934). Revivalist ideologist. She was born Margaret Marcus to a Jewish family in New Rochelle, New York. She grew up in a secular environment, but at the age of nineteen, while a student at New York University she developed a keen interest in religion. Unable to find spiritual guidance in her immediate environment, she looked to other faiths. Her search brought her into contact with an array of spiritual orders, religious cults, and world religions. She became acquainted with Islam around 1954. She was then greatly impressed by Marmaduke Pickthall’s The Meaning of the Glorious Koran and by the works of Muhammad Asad, himself a convert from Judaism to Islam. Maryam Jameelah cites Asad’s The Road to Mecca and Islam at Crossroads as critical influences on her decision to become a Muslim. Through her readings on Islam she developed a bond with that religion and soon became its spokesperson, defending Muslim beliefs against Western criticism and championing such Muslim causes as that of the Palestinians. Her views created much tension in her personal life, but she continued to pursue her cause.
On May 24, 1961, she embraced Islam in New York, and soon after began to write for the Muslim Digest of Durban, South Africa. Her articles outlined a pristine view of Islam and sought to establish the truth of the religion through debates with its critics. Through this journal she became acquainted with the works of Mawlana Sayyid Abu al-A’la Mawdudi I (d. 1979), the founder and leader of the Jama‘at-i Islami (Islamic Party) of Pakistan, who was also a contributor to the journal. Maryam Jameelah was impressed by Mawdudi’s views and began to correspond with him. Their letters between 1960 and 1962, later published in a volume entitled Correspondences between Maulana Mawdoodi and Maryam Jameelah, discussed a variety of issues from the discourse between Islam and the West to Maryam Jameelah’s personal spiritual concerns.
Maryam Jameelah’s attachment to Islam created great difficulties for her in her family and community. Her anguish was relayed to Mawdudi, who advised her to move to Pakistan and live among Muslims. Maryam Jameelah traveled to Pakistan in 1962 and joined the household of Mawlana Mawdudi in Lahore. She soon married a member of the Jama‘at-i Islami, Muhammad Yusuf Khan, as his second wife. After settling in Pakistan she wrote an impressive number of books, which adumbrated Jama‘at-i Islami’s ideology in a systematic fashion. Although she never formally joined the party, she became one of its chief ideologists.
Maryam Jameelah was particularly concerned with the debate between Islam and the West, an important, albeit not central, aspect of Mawdudi’s thought. She sharpened the focus of the Muslim polemic against the West and laid out the revivalist critique of Christianity, Judaism, and secular Western thought in methodical fashion. Her works often fall into the trap of citing the worst moral and ethical transgressions of the West -- usually isolated incidents -- to condemn the West in its entirety. Maryam Jameelah’s significance, however, does not lie in the force of her observations, but in the manner in which she articulates an internally consistent paradigm for revivalism’s rejection of the West. In this regard, her influence far exceeds the boundaries of Jama‘at-i Islami and has been important in the development of revivalist thought across the Muslim world.
The logic of her discursive approach led Maryam Jameelah away from revivalism and Jama‘at-i Islami. Increasingly aware of revivalism’s own borrowing from the West, she distanced herself from the revivalist exegesis and even criticized her mentor Mawdudi for his assimilation of modern concepts into Jama‘at-Islami’s ideology. Her writings in later years embodied this change in orientation and reveal the influence of traditional Islam.
Some of the books Maryam Jameelah has written are:
* Islam and Modernism
* Westernization and Human Welfare
* Three Great Islamic Movements in the Arab World of the Recent Past
* The Generation Gap - Its Causes and Consequences
Jameelah, Maryam see Maryam Jameelah
Margaret Marcus see Maryam Jameelah
Marcus, Margaret see Maryam Jameelah
al-Marzubani, Abu ‘Ubayd Allah
al-Marzubani, Abu ‘Ubayd Allah (Abu ‘Ubayd Allah al-Marzubani) (910-994). One of the most versatile and prolific of Arab scholars in the vast field of belles-lettres.
Abu ‘Ubayd Allah al-Marzubani see al-Marzubani, Abu ‘Ubayd Allah
al-Marzubani, Abu ‘Ubayd Allah (Abu ‘Ubayd Allah al-Marzubani) (910-994). One of the most versatile and prolific of Arab scholars in the vast field of belles-lettres.
Abu ‘Ubayd Allah al-Marzubani see al-Marzubani, Abu ‘Ubayd Allah
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