Hafiz, ‘Abd al-
Hafiz, ‘Abd al- (‘Abd al-Hafiz) (Moulay Hafid) (b. 1880-1937). Filali Sharif of Morocco (r.1907-1912). The Agadir Incident, provoked by a German attempt to challenge French rights in Morocco by sending a warship to the Moroccan port of Agadir, took place in 1911. The Sharif abdicated in 1912 after the French General Lyautey had been appointed Resident Commissioner General.
>‘Abd al-Hafiz see Hafiz, ‘Abd al-
Moulay Hafid see Hafiz, ‘Abd al-
Hafiz, ‘Abd al- (‘Abd al-Hafiz) (Moulay Hafid) (b. 1880-1937). Filali Sharif of Morocco (r.1907-1912). The Agadir Incident, provoked by a German attempt to challenge French rights in Morocco by sending a warship to the Moroccan port of Agadir, took place in 1911. The Sharif abdicated in 1912 after the French General Lyautey had been appointed Resident Commissioner General.
>‘Abd al-Hafiz see Hafiz, ‘Abd al-
Moulay Hafid see Hafiz, ‘Abd al-
Hafiz, al-
Hafiz, al- (1073-1149). Regnal name of a Fatimid caliph (r.1130/31-1149). His rule was marked by continuous internal troubles.
Al-Ḥāfiz assumed the caliphate as the cousin of the murdered Al-Amir (1101-1130). Since al-Amir had not named an heir when he died, the succession of al-Ḥāfiz was not uncontested - a group of Shī‘a recognized al-Amīr's son Ṭayyib Abī al-Qāṣim as rightful heir, leading to a new schism. Additionally, Abu Ali Ahmad bin al-Afdal, whose father was regent to al-Musta'li before he was thrown when al-Amer succeeded him, challenged and jailed al-Hafiz and in fact ruled for a brief while before he was assassinated, presumably by supporters of al-Hafiz.
Under al-Ḥāfiz, Fāṭimid power was confined to Egypt, and even there it was not unchallenged. There were constant power struggles between ministers, governors and generals, hampering the ability of the empire to resist the expansion of the Crusader states.
Hafiz, al- (1073-1149). Regnal name of a Fatimid caliph (r.1130/31-1149). His rule was marked by continuous internal troubles.
Al-Ḥāfiz assumed the caliphate as the cousin of the murdered Al-Amir (1101-1130). Since al-Amir had not named an heir when he died, the succession of al-Ḥāfiz was not uncontested - a group of Shī‘a recognized al-Amīr's son Ṭayyib Abī al-Qāṣim as rightful heir, leading to a new schism. Additionally, Abu Ali Ahmad bin al-Afdal, whose father was regent to al-Musta'li before he was thrown when al-Amer succeeded him, challenged and jailed al-Hafiz and in fact ruled for a brief while before he was assassinated, presumably by supporters of al-Hafiz.
Under al-Ḥāfiz, Fāṭimid power was confined to Egypt, and even there it was not unchallenged. There were constant power struggles between ministers, governors and generals, hampering the ability of the empire to resist the expansion of the Crusader states.
Hafiz-i Abru
Hafiz-i Abru. Nickname of a Persian historian of the Timurid period (1370-1506) recording part of the text of the Qur’an published in Cairo in 1923.
Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū was apparently educated in the city of Hamadān. Later he became an extensive traveler and went with the Turkic conqueror Timur on a number of campaigns, including those in the Middle East against Aleppo and Damascus in 1400–01. After the ruler’s death, Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū entered the service of Timur’s son, Shāh Rokh (1405–46), and his grandson, Prince Baysunqur (d. 1433), as court historian.
Abru, Hafiz-i see Hafiz-i Abru.
Hafiz-i Abru. Nickname of a Persian historian of the Timurid period (1370-1506) recording part of the text of the Qur’an published in Cairo in 1923.
Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū was apparently educated in the city of Hamadān. Later he became an extensive traveler and went with the Turkic conqueror Timur on a number of campaigns, including those in the Middle East against Aleppo and Damascus in 1400–01. After the ruler’s death, Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū entered the service of Timur’s son, Shāh Rokh (1405–46), and his grandson, Prince Baysunqur (d. 1433), as court historian.
Abru, Hafiz-i see Hafiz-i Abru.
Hafiz Ibrahim
Hafiz Ibrahim (Hafez Ibraheem) (Shai'er al-Neel - "Poet of the Nile") (1872-1932). Egyptian poet and writer. His poetry is the echo of the sufferings and hopes of the Egyptian people.
Hafez Ibrahim was an Egyptian poet, called Shāiʻer al-Neel which means the Poet of the Nile. He was one of several poets that revived Arabic poetry during the latter half of the 19th Century. While still using the classical Arabic system of meter and rhyme, these poets wrote to express new ideas and feelings unknown to the classical poets. Hafez is noted for writing poems on political and social commentary.
He was born on a ship floating in the Nile near Dairout, which is a city in Asyut District. His father was Egyptian, and his mother was Turkish. Both died when he was young. Before his mother died, she brought him to Cairo. There, he lived with his poor uncle, a government engineer. His uncle later moved to Tanta, where Hafez went to school. Hafez was touched by his uncle's poverty. However, after a time, he left his uncle. ِ After this, Hafez spent some time living on the Tanta streets. He eventually ended up in the office of Mouhamed Abou Shadi, who was one of the 1919 revolution leaders.
Many poems were written by Hafez, for example:
* Albasoka Al-deema' Fawq Al-deema', (They have dressed you the blood over blood)
* Ya Saidy wa Emami, (O, My Mister and my Imam)
* Shakrto Jameela Sonekom, (I've thanked your favor)
* Masr Tataklam 'an Nafseha, (Egypt talks about herself)
* Le Kes'a An'em behe mn Kes'a, (I've a dress, and what an excellent dress)
* Qol lel ra'ies Adama Allah Dawlatahu, (Tell the President, May Allah eternized his state)
Ibrahim, Hafiz see Hafiz Ibrahim
Hafez Ibraheem see Hafiz Ibrahim
Ibraheem, Hafez see Hafiz Ibrahim
Sha'ier al-Neel see Hafiz Ibrahim
"Poet of the Nile" see Hafiz Ibrahim
Hafiz Ibrahim (Hafez Ibraheem) (Shai'er al-Neel - "Poet of the Nile") (1872-1932). Egyptian poet and writer. His poetry is the echo of the sufferings and hopes of the Egyptian people.
Hafez Ibrahim was an Egyptian poet, called Shāiʻer al-Neel which means the Poet of the Nile. He was one of several poets that revived Arabic poetry during the latter half of the 19th Century. While still using the classical Arabic system of meter and rhyme, these poets wrote to express new ideas and feelings unknown to the classical poets. Hafez is noted for writing poems on political and social commentary.
He was born on a ship floating in the Nile near Dairout, which is a city in Asyut District. His father was Egyptian, and his mother was Turkish. Both died when he was young. Before his mother died, she brought him to Cairo. There, he lived with his poor uncle, a government engineer. His uncle later moved to Tanta, where Hafez went to school. Hafez was touched by his uncle's poverty. However, after a time, he left his uncle. ِ After this, Hafez spent some time living on the Tanta streets. He eventually ended up in the office of Mouhamed Abou Shadi, who was one of the 1919 revolution leaders.
Many poems were written by Hafez, for example:
* Albasoka Al-deema' Fawq Al-deema', (They have dressed you the blood over blood)
* Ya Saidy wa Emami, (O, My Mister and my Imam)
* Shakrto Jameela Sonekom, (I've thanked your favor)
* Masr Tataklam 'an Nafseha, (Egypt talks about herself)
* Le Kes'a An'em behe mn Kes'a, (I've a dress, and what an excellent dress)
* Qol lel ra'ies Adama Allah Dawlatahu, (Tell the President, May Allah eternized his state)
Ibrahim, Hafiz see Hafiz Ibrahim
Hafez Ibraheem see Hafiz Ibrahim
Ibraheem, Hafez see Hafiz Ibrahim
Sha'ier al-Neel see Hafiz Ibrahim
"Poet of the Nile" see Hafiz Ibrahim
Hafiz Shirazi
Hafiz Shirazi (Muhammad Shams al-Din Hafiz Shirazi) (Shams al-Din Muhammad Shirazi) (Khwāja Šams ud-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Šīrāzī) (Hafez) (1315-1390). Known by his pen name Hāfez, Hafiz Shirazi was the most celebrated Persian lyric poet and is often described as a poet's poet. His collected works (Divan) are to be found in the homes of most Iranians, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day. His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, and have influenced post-Fourteenth Century Persian writing more than anything else has.
Hafiz was a Persian poet who, by common consent, is deemed to be the greatest and most popular poet of ghazals (lyrics) in the Persian language. Originally named Muhammad Shams al-Din, he gained the respectful title Hafiz, meaning “one who has memorized the Qur’an,” as a teacher of the Qur’an. He was a member of the order of Sufi mystics and also, at times, a court poet. His poems on one level celebrate the pleasures of drinking, hunting, and love at the court of Shiraz. On a deeper level, according to some scholars, they reflect his consuming devotion as a Sufi to union with the divine. They also satirize hypocritical Muslim religious leaders.
Hafiz was born in Shiraz (now in Iran) into a poor family. His father, Baha al-Din, was a petty businessman from Isfahan who had settled in Shiraz. The poet’s mother was from Kazirun, a town to the southwest of Shiraz. The death of Baha al-Din left the family in dire poverty. Shams al-Din had to earn his living (reportedly as a baker’s apprentice) at a young age, but he managed to receive a sound education in his hometown, which, despite repeated political turmoil, was still a major center of learning in the Islamic world. He mastered the Arabic language, studied religious sciences, and attained the status of hafiz. His poetry bears witness to his thorough knowledge of the early masters of Persian poetry.
Hafiz Shirazi, the supreme lyricist in the classical Persian language, lived his whole life in his native Shiraz (except for a brief interlude in the early 1370s). Though Hafiz lived in poverty in his youth, his brilliant academic record won him a position of influence and wealth at the royal court in Shiraz.
Hafiz lived in troubled times, witnessing the fall of two dynasties. His first royal patron was Shaikh Abu Ishaq Inju, under whose liberal rule Hafiz seems to have enjoyed the comforts of life. But Abu Ishaq was defeated and killed in 1353 by the Muzaffarid Mubariz al-Din Muhammad, who decided to make Shiraz his capital. Muhammad was a ruthless religious zealot who had no use for Hafiz and his poetry, although his vizier seems to have patronized the poet. Muhammad’s stern religious restrictions imposed on the wine-loving Shirazis gave him the sobriquet Muhtasib (“one who restricts”) that Hafiz immortalized in more than one ode. However, in 1358, Muhammad was deposed and blinded by his son, Shah Shoja, himself a poet of some merit. Hafiz could not but express his delight at the turn of events, but for reasons that are not entirely clear he lost the new monarch’s favor and had to try his fortune at Isfahan and Yazd, other centers of Muzaffarid rule. Disappointed, he returned to Shiraz after a year or two, calling Yazd “Alexander’s Prison.” In 1387, Shiraz was captured by Timur, who reportedly had an encounter with the poet and, impressed with his wit, granted him royal favor.
Except for short sojourns in Isfahan and Yazd and a reported trip as far as Hormuz on the way to India, Hafiz spent all of his life in his beloved Shiraz, which he has characterized as “Solomon’s Dominion” (Mulk-i Sulayman). He is reported to have had a teaching job at a religious college in Shiraz, but his main source of income seems to have been the allowances and gifts he received from the court and the nobles whom he panegyrized. Particularly in his old age, however, he led a life of poverty. His poetry is rich in Sufi symbolism and imagery, but we have no report concerning his attachment to any particular Sufi order.
Hafiz died and was buried in Shiraz. His wife and son predeceased him. His mausoleum (the Hafiziyya) in Shiraz is the best-known monument there and a site frequenty visited by tourists. During the last ten years of the Pahlavi regime parts of the much-publicized annual art festival of Shiraz were held in the Hafiziyya.
Hafiz is considered the pre-eminent master of the ghazal form of poetry. He excelled not only in selection of lyrical phrases but also in juxtaposition of metaphors that maximize the ambiguity of his dominant theme. For Hafiz, the theme of love in all its variations (bodily and spiritual, profane and sacred, terrestrial and celestial) absorbs the attention of man and draws man to the heights, and the depths, of emotional, aesthetic and mystical experience.
Hafiz’s poems have traditionally been interpreted as mystical allegories, to such an extent that his poems, like Virgil’s in Europe, were opened at random in search of a guide to conduct. However, Western scholarship now inclines to take them literally. Thus, the use of the term “Beloved” in his love poems is today taken to stand for a human beauty and not for God.
Hafiz’s work, collected under the title of Divan, contains more than 500 poems, most of them in the form of a ghazal, a short traditional Persian form that he perfected. Each consists of up to 15 highly structured rhyming couplets dealing with one subject. The language is simple, lyrical, and heartfelt. Hafiz is greatly admired both in Iran and, in translation, in the West. Especially appealing are his love for the common person and his relation of daily life to the search of humanity for the eternal.
Shirazi, Hafiz see Hafiz Shirazi
Muhammad Shams al-Din Hafiz Shirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Shams al-Din Muhammad Shirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Muhammad Shams al-Din see Hafiz Shirazi
Khwaja Sams ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Sirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Hafez see Hafiz Shirazi
Hafiz lived in troubled times, witnessing the fall of two dynasties. His first royal patron was Shaikh Abu Ishaq Inju, under whose liberal rule Hafiz seems to have enjoyed the comforts of life. But Abu Ishaq was defeated and killed in 1353 by the Muzaffarid Mubariz al-Din Muhammad, who decided to make Shiraz his capital. Muhammad was a ruthless religious zealot who had no use for Hafiz and his poetry, although his vizier seems to have patronized the poet. Muhammad’s stern religious restrictions imposed on the wine-loving Shirazis gave him the sobriquet Muhtasib (“one who restricts”) that Hafiz immortalized in more than one ode. However, in 1358, Muhammad was deposed and blinded by his son, Shah Shoja, himself a poet of some merit. Hafiz could not but express his delight at the turn of events, but for reasons that are not entirely clear he lost the new monarch’s favor and had to try his fortune at Isfahan and Yazd, other centers of Muzaffarid rule. Disappointed, he returned to Shiraz after a year or two, calling Yazd “Alexander’s Prison.” In 1387, Shiraz was captured by Timur, who reportedly had an encounter with the poet and, impressed with his wit, granted him royal favor.
Except for short sojourns in Isfahan and Yazd and a reported trip as far as Hormuz on the way to India, Hafiz spent all of his life in his beloved Shiraz, which he has characterized as “Solomon’s Dominion” (Mulk-i Sulayman). He is reported to have had a teaching job at a religious college in Shiraz, but his main source of income seems to have been the allowances and gifts he received from the court and the nobles whom he panegyrized. Particularly in his old age, however, he led a life of poverty. His poetry is rich in Sufi symbolism and imagery, but we have no report concerning his attachment to any particular Sufi order.
Hafiz died and was buried in Shiraz. His wife and son predeceased him. His mausoleum (the Hafiziyya) in Shiraz is the best-known monument there and a site frequenty visited by tourists. During the last ten years of the Pahlavi regime parts of the much-publicized annual art festival of Shiraz were held in the Hafiziyya.
Hafiz is considered the pre-eminent master of the ghazal form of poetry. He excelled not only in selection of lyrical phrases but also in juxtaposition of metaphors that maximize the ambiguity of his dominant theme. For Hafiz, the theme of love in all its variations (bodily and spiritual, profane and sacred, terrestrial and celestial) absorbs the attention of man and draws man to the heights, and the depths, of emotional, aesthetic and mystical experience.
Hafiz’s poems have traditionally been interpreted as mystical allegories, to such an extent that his poems, like Virgil’s in Europe, were opened at random in search of a guide to conduct. However, Western scholarship now inclines to take them literally. Thus, the use of the term “Beloved” in his love poems is today taken to stand for a human beauty and not for God.
Hafiz’s work, collected under the title of Divan, contains more than 500 poems, most of them in the form of a ghazal, a short traditional Persian form that he perfected. Each consists of up to 15 highly structured rhyming couplets dealing with one subject. The language is simple, lyrical, and heartfelt. Hafiz is greatly admired both in Iran and, in translation, in the West. Especially appealing are his love for the common person and his relation of daily life to the search of humanity for the eternal.
Shirazi, Hafiz see Hafiz Shirazi
Muhammad Shams al-Din Hafiz Shirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Shams al-Din Muhammad Shirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Muhammad Shams al-Din see Hafiz Shirazi
Khwaja Sams ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Sirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Hafez see Hafiz Shirazi
Hafiz Tanish
Hafiz Tanish (Nakhli). Historian of ‘Abd Allah Khan II, the Shaybanid ruler of Bukhara (r.1583-1596).
Nakhli see Hafiz Tanish
Tanish, Hafiz see Hafiz Tanish
Hafiz Tanish (Nakhli). Historian of ‘Abd Allah Khan II, the Shaybanid ruler of Bukhara (r.1583-1596).
Nakhli see Hafiz Tanish
Tanish, Hafiz see Hafiz Tanish
Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin (Hafizollah Amin) (August 1, 1929 - December 27, 1979). President of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from September 1979 until his assassination on December 27, 1979. He was born in Paghman, Kabul Province. He was of the Kharoti (Ghilzai Pashtun) tribe whose family came to Paghman in the 19th century of the Christian calendar. He was educated in Afghanistan and the United States, where he was known as a Pashtun nationalist. Graduating with a master’s degree from Teachers’ College at Columbia University in 1958, he became a teacher and later a principal of Ibn Sina and Teachers Training schools in Kabul. Between 1963 and 1965, Amin spent two additional years at Columbia but returned to Afghanistan before receiving his Ph.D. According to Amin, it was in the United States that he gained his “political consciousness.”
Amin’s conversion to Marxism is said to have occurred in 1964. In 1965, he joined the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan and was sympathetic to the Khalqi faction. He was elected to a four year term in the 13th session of the Afghan Parliament in 1969 as a representative from Paghman.
Amin’s principal function in the party was to recruit and organize sympathizers in the armed forces. During the republican period (1973-1978), he successfully recruited followers in the army in competition with Parchami efforts. Because of this role, after the April 1978 coup the official press called Amin the “commander of the revolution.” Between April 1978 and September 1979, while Nur Muhammad Taraki (Noor Mohammed Taraki) was the Afghan president, Amin was generally regarded as the regime’s strongman.
After the Saur Revolt he was appointed vice premier and minister of Foreign Affairs. In April 1979, he became prime minister and, after he ousted Nur Muhammad Taraki, he became president on September 16, 1979. He was at odds with Alexandr Puzanov, the Soviet ambassador to Kabul, and successfully demanded his recall. Some observers called him the Afghan “Tito” because of his independence and nationalistic inclinations. He was accused of responsibility in the assassination of thousands. Soviet special forces attacked him in a bloody battle with his troops in Darulaman and assassinated him on December 27, 1979. He was replaced by Babrak Karmal of the Parchami faction of the PDPA.
Amin, Hafizullah see Hafizullah Amin
Hafizollah Amin see Hafizullah Amin
Amin, Hafizollah see Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin (Hafizollah Amin) (August 1, 1929 - December 27, 1979). President of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from September 1979 until his assassination on December 27, 1979. He was born in Paghman, Kabul Province. He was of the Kharoti (Ghilzai Pashtun) tribe whose family came to Paghman in the 19th century of the Christian calendar. He was educated in Afghanistan and the United States, where he was known as a Pashtun nationalist. Graduating with a master’s degree from Teachers’ College at Columbia University in 1958, he became a teacher and later a principal of Ibn Sina and Teachers Training schools in Kabul. Between 1963 and 1965, Amin spent two additional years at Columbia but returned to Afghanistan before receiving his Ph.D. According to Amin, it was in the United States that he gained his “political consciousness.”
Amin’s conversion to Marxism is said to have occurred in 1964. In 1965, he joined the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan and was sympathetic to the Khalqi faction. He was elected to a four year term in the 13th session of the Afghan Parliament in 1969 as a representative from Paghman.
Amin’s principal function in the party was to recruit and organize sympathizers in the armed forces. During the republican period (1973-1978), he successfully recruited followers in the army in competition with Parchami efforts. Because of this role, after the April 1978 coup the official press called Amin the “commander of the revolution.” Between April 1978 and September 1979, while Nur Muhammad Taraki (Noor Mohammed Taraki) was the Afghan president, Amin was generally regarded as the regime’s strongman.
After the Saur Revolt he was appointed vice premier and minister of Foreign Affairs. In April 1979, he became prime minister and, after he ousted Nur Muhammad Taraki, he became president on September 16, 1979. He was at odds with Alexandr Puzanov, the Soviet ambassador to Kabul, and successfully demanded his recall. Some observers called him the Afghan “Tito” because of his independence and nationalistic inclinations. He was accused of responsibility in the assassination of thousands. Soviet special forces attacked him in a bloody battle with his troops in Darulaman and assassinated him on December 27, 1979. He was replaced by Babrak Karmal of the Parchami faction of the PDPA.
Amin, Hafizullah see Hafizullah Amin
Hafizollah Amin see Hafizullah Amin
Amin, Hafizollah see Hafizullah Amin
Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab
Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (Hafsah bint 'Umar - "Daughter of a Lion") (609-665). Wife of the Prophet, who married her in 625.
Ḥafsa bint ‘Umar was the daughter of Umar (Umar ibn al-Khattab) and wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and therefore a Mother of the Believers.
She was married to Khunais ibn Hudhaifa, but became a widow when she was eighteen and according to Islamic tradition her father offered her to Abu Bakr and Uthman Ibn Affan. They both refused to marry her because Muhammad had told them that he was interested in her, which they failed to mention to 'Umar. When her father, 'Umar, went to the Prophet Muhammad to complain about their behavior, Muhammad replied, "Hafsa will marry one better than Uthman and Uthman will marry one better than Hafsa."
Muhammad married Hafsa after the battle of Badr in 2 AH. At the time of the marriage, Hafsa was around twenty years old and Muhammad fifty-six. With this marriage, Muhammad strengthened his ties to 'Umar, who now became his father-in-law.
According to Islamic tradition, Hafsa had memorized the Qur'an. The copy of Zayd ibn Thabit which was recorded by the instructions of Abu Bakr was given to Hafsa. Uthman ibn Affan, when he became Caliph, used Hafsa's copy when he authorized a single text of the Qur'an to be designated.
Sunnis believe that the reason why Abu Bakr and Uthman did not agree to marry Hafsa was that they knew Muhammad wanted to marry her.
Hafsah bint 'Umar see Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab
"Daughter of a Lion" see Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab
Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (Hafsah bint 'Umar - "Daughter of a Lion") (609-665). Wife of the Prophet, who married her in 625.
Ḥafsa bint ‘Umar was the daughter of Umar (Umar ibn al-Khattab) and wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and therefore a Mother of the Believers.
She was married to Khunais ibn Hudhaifa, but became a widow when she was eighteen and according to Islamic tradition her father offered her to Abu Bakr and Uthman Ibn Affan. They both refused to marry her because Muhammad had told them that he was interested in her, which they failed to mention to 'Umar. When her father, 'Umar, went to the Prophet Muhammad to complain about their behavior, Muhammad replied, "Hafsa will marry one better than Uthman and Uthman will marry one better than Hafsa."
Muhammad married Hafsa after the battle of Badr in 2 AH. At the time of the marriage, Hafsa was around twenty years old and Muhammad fifty-six. With this marriage, Muhammad strengthened his ties to 'Umar, who now became his father-in-law.
According to Islamic tradition, Hafsa had memorized the Qur'an. The copy of Zayd ibn Thabit which was recorded by the instructions of Abu Bakr was given to Hafsa. Uthman ibn Affan, when he became Caliph, used Hafsa's copy when he authorized a single text of the Qur'an to be designated.
Sunnis believe that the reason why Abu Bakr and Uthman did not agree to marry Hafsa was that they knew Muhammad wanted to marry her.
Hafsah bint 'Umar see Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab
"Daughter of a Lion" see Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab
Hafs al-Fard
Hafs al-Fard. Ninth century theologian from Egypt. He taught that, on the Day of Resurrection, God will create the sixth sense in order to enable God’s creatures to see God.
Fard, Hafs al- see Hafs al-Fard.
Hafs al-Fard. Ninth century theologian from Egypt. He taught that, on the Day of Resurrection, God will create the sixth sense in order to enable God’s creatures to see God.
Fard, Hafs al- see Hafs al-Fard.
Hafs ibn Sulayman
Hafs ibn Sulayman. Transmitter of al-‘Asim’s “reading” of the Qur’an. The “reading” passed down by his efforts was adopted for the establishment of the text of the Qur’an published in Cairo in 1923.
Hafs ibn Sulayman. Transmitter of al-‘Asim’s “reading” of the Qur’an. The “reading” passed down by his efforts was adopted for the establishment of the text of the Qur’an published in Cairo in 1923.
Hafsids
Hafsids (Banu Hafs). Berber dynasty in Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripoli (r. 1228-1574). Their main capital was Tunis. The Banu Hafs, a Masmuda tribe in the High Atlas, were named after Abu Hafs Umar (1090-1175), one of the first supporters of, and a close adviser to, the founding father of the Almohads, Ibn Tumart. His son became the hereditary governor of the Almohads in Tunisia.
Abu Zakariya Yahya I ( r. 1228-1249), gained independence in 1228 and set up the largest empire to succeed the Almohads. The founder of the dynasty, amir Abu Zakariyya’ Yahya, had commercial treaties with Provence, Languedoc, Sicily and Aragon. His son and successor Abu ‘Abd Allah (r.1249-1277) adopted the caliphal title of al-Mustansir bi-‘llah. Al-Mustansir bi-‘llah (Muhammad I al-Mustansir), fended off the Seventh Crusade in 1270. It was after this crusade that the good relations with Christendom suffered a temporary setback, and it was during this crusade that Louis IX died at Carthage in 1270.
The death of al-Mustansir bi-‘llah was followed by bloody power struggles at the end of the thirteenth century between pretenders and the branches of the dynasty in Bougie and Constantine, and the occupation of territory by the Marinids (Merinids) from Morocco in the mid-14th century. The recovery and greatest political advance came under the rulers Abu’l-Abbas Ahmad (r. 1370-1394; and from 1357 joint-ruler of Constantine), Abu Faris Azzuz (r. 1394-1434), and Abu Amr Uthman (r. 1435-1488). During this period of peace and prosperity, Tunis became the most important center of the Levant trade.
After 1494, there came a rapid decline in the power and independence of different towns and regions. Under the political dominance of the Ottoman corsairs (Aruj and Khair al-Din Barbarossa) from 1505, they were forced to accept the occupation of Tunis by Emperor Charles V in 1535. The last Hafsids struggled to maintain their position between the resident Ottoman authorities and the attacking Spaniards. The Ottomans conquered Tunis in 1534, again in 1569, and definitively in 1574. In 1574, the Ottomans finally occupied Tunis and deposed the Hafsids.
Banu Hafs see Hafsids
Hafsids (Banu Hafs). Berber dynasty in Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripoli (r. 1228-1574). Their main capital was Tunis. The Banu Hafs, a Masmuda tribe in the High Atlas, were named after Abu Hafs Umar (1090-1175), one of the first supporters of, and a close adviser to, the founding father of the Almohads, Ibn Tumart. His son became the hereditary governor of the Almohads in Tunisia.
Abu Zakariya Yahya I ( r. 1228-1249), gained independence in 1228 and set up the largest empire to succeed the Almohads. The founder of the dynasty, amir Abu Zakariyya’ Yahya, had commercial treaties with Provence, Languedoc, Sicily and Aragon. His son and successor Abu ‘Abd Allah (r.1249-1277) adopted the caliphal title of al-Mustansir bi-‘llah. Al-Mustansir bi-‘llah (Muhammad I al-Mustansir), fended off the Seventh Crusade in 1270. It was after this crusade that the good relations with Christendom suffered a temporary setback, and it was during this crusade that Louis IX died at Carthage in 1270.
The death of al-Mustansir bi-‘llah was followed by bloody power struggles at the end of the thirteenth century between pretenders and the branches of the dynasty in Bougie and Constantine, and the occupation of territory by the Marinids (Merinids) from Morocco in the mid-14th century. The recovery and greatest political advance came under the rulers Abu’l-Abbas Ahmad (r. 1370-1394; and from 1357 joint-ruler of Constantine), Abu Faris Azzuz (r. 1394-1434), and Abu Amr Uthman (r. 1435-1488). During this period of peace and prosperity, Tunis became the most important center of the Levant trade.
After 1494, there came a rapid decline in the power and independence of different towns and regions. Under the political dominance of the Ottoman corsairs (Aruj and Khair al-Din Barbarossa) from 1505, they were forced to accept the occupation of Tunis by Emperor Charles V in 1535. The last Hafsids struggled to maintain their position between the resident Ottoman authorities and the attacking Spaniards. The Ottomans conquered Tunis in 1534, again in 1569, and definitively in 1574. In 1574, the Ottomans finally occupied Tunis and deposed the Hafsids.
Banu Hafs see Hafsids
Hagar
Hagar (Arabic: Hajar) - "Stranger", Latin: Agar). According to the Abrahamic faiths, an Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah, wife of Abraham. At Sarah's suggestion, she became Abraham's second wife. Her story is reported in the Book of Genesis in Judeo-Christian tradition. In Islam, her story is alluded to in the Qur'an, but her name is not mentioned. Her role is elaborated in Hadith. She was the mother of Abraham's son, Ishmael, who is regarded as the patriarch of the Ishmaelites i.e. the Arabs.
Hagar was Abraham’s second wife. She was the mother of Ishmael (Isma‘il) – the proverbial forebear of the Arabs. In the Old Testament, Hagar is designated as the concubine of the patriarch Abraham. Hagar was the handmaid of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, who, because she was barren, gave Hagar to her husband in the hope of producing heirs. When Hagar conceived a child, however, Sarah became jealous and regretted her decision. To escape Sarah’s persecution, Hagar was forced to flee into the desert. Reassured by an angel, she returned to bear Abraham a son, Ishmael {see Genesis 16}. Eventually, Sarah conceived and bore a child, who was named Isaac. After Isaac’s birth, Sarah persuaded Abraham to drive Ishmael and his mother away. They wandered into the desert, where an angel appeared to them and prophesied greatness for Ishmael {see Genesis 21:1-21}.
The story of Hagar has been interpreted in various ways. According to some scholars, Hagar personifies a tribe that at one time had been closely related to some of the Hebrew clans. Rivalry resulted in a separation, which is pictured as a dismissal of the inferior by the superior clan.
The story of Hagar is introduced in the New Testament and in rabbinical literature. She is allegorically contrasted with Sarah by Paul, who represents Hagar, the bondwoman, as the earthly Jerusalem and Sarah, the free woman, as the heavenly Jerusalem. Paul also similarly contrasts Ishmael and Isaac {see Galatians 4:22-31}. A Jewish tradition identifies Hagar with Abraham’s second wife, Keturah {see Genesis 25:1}, and another makes her the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh.
In Islamic tradition, Hagar is Abraham’s true wife, and Ishmael (Isma‘il), the favorite son. Ishmael is identified as the progenitor of the Arabs.
Neither Sarah nor Hagar are mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but the story is traditionally understood to be referred to in a line from Abraham's prayer in Sura Ibrahim (14:37): "I have settled some of my family in a barren valley near your Sacred House". While Hagar is not named, the reader lives Hagar's predicament indirectly through the eyes of Abraham. She is also frequently mentioned in the books of hadiths.
According to Qisas Al-Anbiya, an Islamic collection of tales about the prophets, Hagar was the daughter of the King of Maghreb, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Salih. Her father was killed by Pharaoh Dhu l-'arsh and she was captured and taken as slave. Later, because of her royal blood, she was made mistress of the female slaves and given access to all of Pharaoh's wealth. Upon conversion to Abraham's faith, the Pharaoh gave Hagar to Sarah who gave her to Abraham. In this account, the name "Hagar" (called Hajar in Arabic) comes from Ha ajruka (Arabic for "here is your recompense").
According to another Islamic tradition, Hagar was the daughter of the Egyptian king, who gifted her to Abraham as a wife, thinking Sarah was his sister. According to Ibn Abbas, Ishmael's birth to Hagar caused strife between her and Sarah, who was still barren. Abraham brought Hagar and their son to a land called Paran or (Faran in Arabic) which is the land surrounding Mecca, where the angel Gabriel showed him the Ka'aba. The objective of this journey was to "resettle" rather than "expel" Hagar.
The journey began in Syria, when Ishmael was still a suckling. Gabriel personally guided them on the journey (part of which took place on a winged steed). Upon reaching the site of the Kaaba, Abraham left Hagar and son Ishmael under a tree and provided them with water. Hagar, learning that God had ordered Abraham to leave her in the desert of Paran, respected his decision. Muslims believe that God ordered Abraham to leave Hagar in order to test his obedience to God's commands.
However, soon Hagar ran out of water, and baby Ishmael began to die. Hagar, according to Islamic tradition, panicked and climbed two nearby mountains repeatedly in search for water. After her seventh climb, Gabriel rescued her, pounding the ground with his staff and causing a miraculous well to spring out of the ground. This is called Zamzam Well today and is located near the Ka'aba in Mecca.
The story of Hagar's repeated attempts to find water for her son by running between the hills Safa and Marwah has developed into a Muslim rite (known as the sa`i). During the two Muslim pilgrimages (the Hajj and Umra), pilgrims are required to walk between the two hills seven times in memory of Hagar's quest for water. The rite symbolizes the celebration of motherhood in Islam, as well as leadership of the women.
To complete the rite, Muslims drink from the well of Zamzam. Muslims will often take back some of the water, regarding it as sacred, in memory of Hagar.
Hajar see Hagar
"Stranger" see Hagar
Agar see Hagar
Ha ajruka see Hagar
"here is your recompense" see Hagar
Hagar (Arabic: Hajar) - "Stranger", Latin: Agar). According to the Abrahamic faiths, an Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah, wife of Abraham. At Sarah's suggestion, she became Abraham's second wife. Her story is reported in the Book of Genesis in Judeo-Christian tradition. In Islam, her story is alluded to in the Qur'an, but her name is not mentioned. Her role is elaborated in Hadith. She was the mother of Abraham's son, Ishmael, who is regarded as the patriarch of the Ishmaelites i.e. the Arabs.
Hagar was Abraham’s second wife. She was the mother of Ishmael (Isma‘il) – the proverbial forebear of the Arabs. In the Old Testament, Hagar is designated as the concubine of the patriarch Abraham. Hagar was the handmaid of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, who, because she was barren, gave Hagar to her husband in the hope of producing heirs. When Hagar conceived a child, however, Sarah became jealous and regretted her decision. To escape Sarah’s persecution, Hagar was forced to flee into the desert. Reassured by an angel, she returned to bear Abraham a son, Ishmael {see Genesis 16}. Eventually, Sarah conceived and bore a child, who was named Isaac. After Isaac’s birth, Sarah persuaded Abraham to drive Ishmael and his mother away. They wandered into the desert, where an angel appeared to them and prophesied greatness for Ishmael {see Genesis 21:1-21}.
The story of Hagar has been interpreted in various ways. According to some scholars, Hagar personifies a tribe that at one time had been closely related to some of the Hebrew clans. Rivalry resulted in a separation, which is pictured as a dismissal of the inferior by the superior clan.
The story of Hagar is introduced in the New Testament and in rabbinical literature. She is allegorically contrasted with Sarah by Paul, who represents Hagar, the bondwoman, as the earthly Jerusalem and Sarah, the free woman, as the heavenly Jerusalem. Paul also similarly contrasts Ishmael and Isaac {see Galatians 4:22-31}. A Jewish tradition identifies Hagar with Abraham’s second wife, Keturah {see Genesis 25:1}, and another makes her the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh.
In Islamic tradition, Hagar is Abraham’s true wife, and Ishmael (Isma‘il), the favorite son. Ishmael is identified as the progenitor of the Arabs.
Neither Sarah nor Hagar are mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but the story is traditionally understood to be referred to in a line from Abraham's prayer in Sura Ibrahim (14:37): "I have settled some of my family in a barren valley near your Sacred House". While Hagar is not named, the reader lives Hagar's predicament indirectly through the eyes of Abraham. She is also frequently mentioned in the books of hadiths.
According to Qisas Al-Anbiya, an Islamic collection of tales about the prophets, Hagar was the daughter of the King of Maghreb, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Salih. Her father was killed by Pharaoh Dhu l-'arsh and she was captured and taken as slave. Later, because of her royal blood, she was made mistress of the female slaves and given access to all of Pharaoh's wealth. Upon conversion to Abraham's faith, the Pharaoh gave Hagar to Sarah who gave her to Abraham. In this account, the name "Hagar" (called Hajar in Arabic) comes from Ha ajruka (Arabic for "here is your recompense").
According to another Islamic tradition, Hagar was the daughter of the Egyptian king, who gifted her to Abraham as a wife, thinking Sarah was his sister. According to Ibn Abbas, Ishmael's birth to Hagar caused strife between her and Sarah, who was still barren. Abraham brought Hagar and their son to a land called Paran or (Faran in Arabic) which is the land surrounding Mecca, where the angel Gabriel showed him the Ka'aba. The objective of this journey was to "resettle" rather than "expel" Hagar.
The journey began in Syria, when Ishmael was still a suckling. Gabriel personally guided them on the journey (part of which took place on a winged steed). Upon reaching the site of the Kaaba, Abraham left Hagar and son Ishmael under a tree and provided them with water. Hagar, learning that God had ordered Abraham to leave her in the desert of Paran, respected his decision. Muslims believe that God ordered Abraham to leave Hagar in order to test his obedience to God's commands.
However, soon Hagar ran out of water, and baby Ishmael began to die. Hagar, according to Islamic tradition, panicked and climbed two nearby mountains repeatedly in search for water. After her seventh climb, Gabriel rescued her, pounding the ground with his staff and causing a miraculous well to spring out of the ground. This is called Zamzam Well today and is located near the Ka'aba in Mecca.
The story of Hagar's repeated attempts to find water for her son by running between the hills Safa and Marwah has developed into a Muslim rite (known as the sa`i). During the two Muslim pilgrimages (the Hajj and Umra), pilgrims are required to walk between the two hills seven times in memory of Hagar's quest for water. The rite symbolizes the celebration of motherhood in Islam, as well as leadership of the women.
To complete the rite, Muslims drink from the well of Zamzam. Muslims will often take back some of the water, regarding it as sacred, in memory of Hagar.
Hajar see Hagar
"Stranger" see Hagar
Agar see Hagar
Ha ajruka see Hagar
"here is your recompense" see Hagar
Haidalla
Haidalla (Mohammed Khouna Ould Haidalla) (b. 1940). Prime minister of Mauritania (1978 -1980) and president of Mauritania (1980-1984). Haidalla was born in Beir Enzaran, Western Sahara, and received military training at St. Cyr in France, graduating as a second lieutenant in 1964. Haidalla was a hero in Mauritania’s war against the Polisarios of the Western Sahara, who were fighting against the absorption of their territory by Mauritania and Morocco after Spain’s abandonment of the Western Sahara in 1975.
Divisiveness over the unpopular war led to the overthrow of Mauritania’s first president, Moktar Ould Daddah, in 1978. Haidalla was first appointed defence minister and then prime minister and first vice-president under Lieutenant Colonel Moustapha Ould Salak, also serving as military chief of staff. Salak later resigned as president and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Louly.
In 1979, Haidalla renounced Mauritania’s territorial claims to the Western Sahara. However, Morocco continued to lay claim to the territory, and Moroccan incursions into Mauritanian territory caused continuing conflict between the two countries.
In January 1980, Haidalla led a coup against Louly, assuming the positions of both president and prime minister. Former president Ould Daddah was released from prison and went to France, where he formed an opposition movement. In that year, Haidalla announced the abolition of slavery, and a compensation plan for slave owners was established. Haidalla formed a civilian government and distributed a draft constitution permitting multiple political parties. The constitution was abandoned in 1981 in the wake of continuing political instability caused by tensions over the Western Sahara issue and strained relations with Morocco.
In 1984, Haidalla formally recognized the political arm of the Polisarios. This action caused increased tension in the military, which was split over the question of support for the guerrillas in the Western Sahara. Shortly thereafter, Haidally was ousted in a bloodless coup led by Colonel Sid Ahmed Taya and placed under house arrest.
Haidalla had been at a Franco-African Summit in Burundi and learned of the coup in Brazzaville, during his return to Mauritania, from Denis Sassou Nguesso, the president of the Republic of the Congo. Haidallah returned to Mauritania anyway and was arrested at the airport in Nouakchott. He was eventually released in December 1988. Taya promised to install democracy, but his rule was considered dictatorial by many. He was deposed by a military coup in 2005.
Haidallah was the head of state of Mauritania (Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation, CMSN) from January 4, 1980 to December 12, 1984. He was also an unsuccessful candidate in the 2003 presidential election and the 2007 presidential election.
Haidallah's main achievement was to make peace with the Western Saharan Polisario Front, which had been fighting Mauritania since it annexed part of the former Spanish colony in 1975. The CMSN opted for complete withdrawal from the conflict, evacuating southern Rio de Oro (which had been annexed as Tiris El Gharbiya) and recognizing the Polisario as the representative of the Sahrawi people. This led to a crisis in relations with the country's until-then ally Morocco, which had similarly annexed the remainder of Western Sahara, with Haidallah's government facing an attempted coup, troop clashes and military tension. Relations were completely severed between 1981 and 1985, when they were restored by Haidalla's successor. However, relations improved with Polisario's main regional backer, Algeria, with the Algerian government sending arms and supplies to bolster his regime. Haidalla's 1984 recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR, the Polisario's government-in-exile) as a sovereign nation appears to have been one of the triggering causes for Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's coup in 1984.
On the domestic front, Haidallah's most notable policies were the institution of Islamic sharia law in 1980-83, as well as several failed attempts to rebuild the political system shattered by the 1978 coup — first as a multi-party system, and then, after the first coup attempt against him, as a one-party state. It was also during Haidallah's rule that slavery was formally abolished in Mauritania, although the practice continues at a diminished level still today. He made a statement announcing the abolition of slavery in July 1980, and this was followed by a legal decree in November 1981. Political opponents were treated harshly, with imprisonments and those responsible for one of the failed coups against his government were executed.
After returning to Mauritania in 1984, Haidallah was held in administrative detention for several years by Ould Taya, during which time he fell sick. After his release, he stayed outside of politics until 2003, when he returned to head the opposition. He then unsuccessfully ran for president against Taya in November, campaigning on a moderately Islamist platform, whereas Taya, who had established full diplomatic ties with Israel, was considered pro-Western. Haidallah officially came in second with about 19% of the vote, although he alleged fraud; he was arrested immediately after the election, accused of plotting a coup. Haidallah had also been briefly detained just prior to the vote. On December 28, 2003 he received a five-year suspended sentence and, therefore, was set free, but barred from politics for five years. An appeals court confirmed this sentence in April 2004. Also, in April, his supporters attempted to register a political party, the Party for Democratic Convergence.
Haidalla was arrested again on November 3, 2004, accused of involvement in coup plots. The prosecutor sought a five-year prison sentence, but he was acquitted on February 3, 2005 at the end of a mass trial of 195 people.
Following a military coup against Taya in August 2005, an amnesty in early September freed Haidallah from his sentence, along with more than a hundred others sentenced for political offenses. On December 27, 2006, Haidalla announced that he would be a candidate in the presidential election scheduled for March 11, 2007. He campaigned on a nationalist-islamist platform, citing the struggle against poverty and slavery as priorities. On February 3, he gained the support of another registered presidential candidate, former opposition politician and prisoner under Ould Taya, Chbih Ould Cheikh Melainine, who dropped out of the race.
However, no longer having the political base that came with being the main candidate of the opposition under Ould Taya, Haidallah was even less successful in the 2007 election, coming in tenth place and receiving 1.73% of the vote.
After the election, which was won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Haidalla announced his support for Abdallahi in October 2007. However, following the the coup that ousted Abdallahi in August 2008, Haidalla expressed his support for the coup in a statement on August 29, 2008, saying that it was necessary under the circumstances and urging all Mauritanians to support it. He also criticized the negative reactions of Western governments to the coup, alleging that they were interfering in Mauritanian affairs.
Mohammed Khouna Ould Haidalla see Haidalla
Haidalla (Mohammed Khouna Ould Haidalla) (b. 1940). Prime minister of Mauritania (1978 -1980) and president of Mauritania (1980-1984). Haidalla was born in Beir Enzaran, Western Sahara, and received military training at St. Cyr in France, graduating as a second lieutenant in 1964. Haidalla was a hero in Mauritania’s war against the Polisarios of the Western Sahara, who were fighting against the absorption of their territory by Mauritania and Morocco after Spain’s abandonment of the Western Sahara in 1975.
Divisiveness over the unpopular war led to the overthrow of Mauritania’s first president, Moktar Ould Daddah, in 1978. Haidalla was first appointed defence minister and then prime minister and first vice-president under Lieutenant Colonel Moustapha Ould Salak, also serving as military chief of staff. Salak later resigned as president and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Louly.
In 1979, Haidalla renounced Mauritania’s territorial claims to the Western Sahara. However, Morocco continued to lay claim to the territory, and Moroccan incursions into Mauritanian territory caused continuing conflict between the two countries.
In January 1980, Haidalla led a coup against Louly, assuming the positions of both president and prime minister. Former president Ould Daddah was released from prison and went to France, where he formed an opposition movement. In that year, Haidalla announced the abolition of slavery, and a compensation plan for slave owners was established. Haidalla formed a civilian government and distributed a draft constitution permitting multiple political parties. The constitution was abandoned in 1981 in the wake of continuing political instability caused by tensions over the Western Sahara issue and strained relations with Morocco.
In 1984, Haidalla formally recognized the political arm of the Polisarios. This action caused increased tension in the military, which was split over the question of support for the guerrillas in the Western Sahara. Shortly thereafter, Haidally was ousted in a bloodless coup led by Colonel Sid Ahmed Taya and placed under house arrest.
Haidalla had been at a Franco-African Summit in Burundi and learned of the coup in Brazzaville, during his return to Mauritania, from Denis Sassou Nguesso, the president of the Republic of the Congo. Haidallah returned to Mauritania anyway and was arrested at the airport in Nouakchott. He was eventually released in December 1988. Taya promised to install democracy, but his rule was considered dictatorial by many. He was deposed by a military coup in 2005.
Haidallah was the head of state of Mauritania (Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation, CMSN) from January 4, 1980 to December 12, 1984. He was also an unsuccessful candidate in the 2003 presidential election and the 2007 presidential election.
Haidallah's main achievement was to make peace with the Western Saharan Polisario Front, which had been fighting Mauritania since it annexed part of the former Spanish colony in 1975. The CMSN opted for complete withdrawal from the conflict, evacuating southern Rio de Oro (which had been annexed as Tiris El Gharbiya) and recognizing the Polisario as the representative of the Sahrawi people. This led to a crisis in relations with the country's until-then ally Morocco, which had similarly annexed the remainder of Western Sahara, with Haidallah's government facing an attempted coup, troop clashes and military tension. Relations were completely severed between 1981 and 1985, when they were restored by Haidalla's successor. However, relations improved with Polisario's main regional backer, Algeria, with the Algerian government sending arms and supplies to bolster his regime. Haidalla's 1984 recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR, the Polisario's government-in-exile) as a sovereign nation appears to have been one of the triggering causes for Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's coup in 1984.
On the domestic front, Haidallah's most notable policies were the institution of Islamic sharia law in 1980-83, as well as several failed attempts to rebuild the political system shattered by the 1978 coup — first as a multi-party system, and then, after the first coup attempt against him, as a one-party state. It was also during Haidallah's rule that slavery was formally abolished in Mauritania, although the practice continues at a diminished level still today. He made a statement announcing the abolition of slavery in July 1980, and this was followed by a legal decree in November 1981. Political opponents were treated harshly, with imprisonments and those responsible for one of the failed coups against his government were executed.
After returning to Mauritania in 1984, Haidallah was held in administrative detention for several years by Ould Taya, during which time he fell sick. After his release, he stayed outside of politics until 2003, when he returned to head the opposition. He then unsuccessfully ran for president against Taya in November, campaigning on a moderately Islamist platform, whereas Taya, who had established full diplomatic ties with Israel, was considered pro-Western. Haidallah officially came in second with about 19% of the vote, although he alleged fraud; he was arrested immediately after the election, accused of plotting a coup. Haidallah had also been briefly detained just prior to the vote. On December 28, 2003 he received a five-year suspended sentence and, therefore, was set free, but barred from politics for five years. An appeals court confirmed this sentence in April 2004. Also, in April, his supporters attempted to register a political party, the Party for Democratic Convergence.
Haidalla was arrested again on November 3, 2004, accused of involvement in coup plots. The prosecutor sought a five-year prison sentence, but he was acquitted on February 3, 2005 at the end of a mass trial of 195 people.
Following a military coup against Taya in August 2005, an amnesty in early September freed Haidallah from his sentence, along with more than a hundred others sentenced for political offenses. On December 27, 2006, Haidalla announced that he would be a candidate in the presidential election scheduled for March 11, 2007. He campaigned on a nationalist-islamist platform, citing the struggle against poverty and slavery as priorities. On February 3, he gained the support of another registered presidential candidate, former opposition politician and prisoner under Ould Taya, Chbih Ould Cheikh Melainine, who dropped out of the race.
However, no longer having the political base that came with being the main candidate of the opposition under Ould Taya, Haidallah was even less successful in the 2007 election, coming in tenth place and receiving 1.73% of the vote.
After the election, which was won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Haidalla announced his support for Abdallahi in October 2007. However, following the the coup that ousted Abdallahi in August 2008, Haidalla expressed his support for the coup in a statement on August 29, 2008, saying that it was necessary under the circumstances and urging all Mauritanians to support it. He also criticized the negative reactions of Western governments to the coup, alleging that they were interfering in Mauritanian affairs.
Mohammed Khouna Ould Haidalla see Haidalla
Haidar Ali
Haidar Ali (Hyder Ali) (Haidarlī) (1721/22–1782). Muslim ruler of Mysore, who figured prominently in the fight against British encroachment in India during the eighteenth century. The son of a soldier, he learned the art of warfare and diplomacy in the Anglo-French wars of 1751 to 1755 and supplanted his own master, the raja Nanjaraj, in 1761. A soldier of fortune, he soon extended his dominions over most of south India, and defeated the British Bombay army in 1768. In the First Mysore War (1767-1769), he appeared before the gates of Madras and dictated terms to the British. Eleven years later, during the Second Mysore War (1780-1784), he allied himself with the nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas against the British, again fighting them successfully until they managed to split the alliance. He caused the British great embarrassment by defeating their armies and by occupying large tracts of their territories. Haidar was then defeated at the Battle of Porto Novo (1781). He fought on, aided by his son and successor, Tipu Sahib, but died before the war was concluded.
Today, history records that Haidar Ali enlarged the Mysore kingdom and endowed it with an efficient system of administration and a well-disciplined army. Although occasionally allying with his enemies, Haidar Ali fought constant wars with his neighbors, the Marathas and the nizam, who remained unreconciled to his rise as a power. Haidar Ali is best remembered as the Indian ruler who inflicted severe blows on the English and damaged their reputation as an invincible power in India.
Ali, Haidar see Haidar Ali
Hyder Ali see Haidar Ali
Ali, Hyder see Haidar Ali
Haidarli see Haidar Ali
Haidar Ali (Hyder Ali) (Haidarlī) (1721/22–1782). Muslim ruler of Mysore, who figured prominently in the fight against British encroachment in India during the eighteenth century. The son of a soldier, he learned the art of warfare and diplomacy in the Anglo-French wars of 1751 to 1755 and supplanted his own master, the raja Nanjaraj, in 1761. A soldier of fortune, he soon extended his dominions over most of south India, and defeated the British Bombay army in 1768. In the First Mysore War (1767-1769), he appeared before the gates of Madras and dictated terms to the British. Eleven years later, during the Second Mysore War (1780-1784), he allied himself with the nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas against the British, again fighting them successfully until they managed to split the alliance. He caused the British great embarrassment by defeating their armies and by occupying large tracts of their territories. Haidar was then defeated at the Battle of Porto Novo (1781). He fought on, aided by his son and successor, Tipu Sahib, but died before the war was concluded.
Today, history records that Haidar Ali enlarged the Mysore kingdom and endowed it with an efficient system of administration and a well-disciplined army. Although occasionally allying with his enemies, Haidar Ali fought constant wars with his neighbors, the Marathas and the nizam, who remained unreconciled to his rise as a power. Haidar Ali is best remembered as the Indian ruler who inflicted severe blows on the English and damaged their reputation as an invincible power in India.
Ali, Haidar see Haidar Ali
Hyder Ali see Haidar Ali
Ali, Hyder see Haidar Ali
Haidarli see Haidar Ali
Ha’ik
Ha’ik (Muhammad al-Ha’ik). An eighth century compiler of the texts of songs deriving from Andalusian Arabic music. A great number of these texts have been transmitted orally down to the present day.
Muhammad al-Ha’ik see Ha’ik
Ha’ik (Muhammad al-Ha’ik). An eighth century compiler of the texts of songs deriving from Andalusian Arabic music. A great number of these texts have been transmitted orally down to the present day.
Muhammad al-Ha’ik see Ha’ik
Ha’iri
Ha’iri (Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim Yazdi Ha’iri) (Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi) (‘Abd al-Karī̄m al-Ḥa’irī̄ al-Yazdī</I>̄) (1859 — January 30, 1937). Persian religious leader. He argued that politics in the Muslim world were being controlled by Western powers and were consequently hostile to Islam. In order to prevent the extinction of Islam, therefore, a responsible religious leader must not interfere in politics. He trained many disciples who later on became religious leaders and who, unlike their master, undertook political activities, the best known example being Ruhollah (in Arabic, Ruh Allah) Khomeini.
Ha’iri was the most prominent teacher among the ‘ulama’ (community of religious scholars) in the city of Qom from 1921 to 1936. He received religious training in Iraq from Mirza Hasan Shirazi (d. 1896), Muhammad al-Fisharaki al-Isfahani (d. 1899), and Mulla Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (d. 1911). He persisted throughout his life in maintaining a position of strict non-involvement in political matters. Between 1900 and 1913, he moved between the western Iranian town of Arak, where he had established a center of learning, and Iraq in order to avoid being involved in political matters, such as the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1909 and the anti-British movement in Iraq. From Karbala, Iraq, he moved to Arak in 1913, and then to Qom in 1920. There, he founded a seminary called the Hawzah-yi ‘Ilmiyah, which became the premier institution of religious education in Iran.
Ha’iri maintained his policy of strict non-intervention in political affairs throughout his stay in Qom and until the end of his life in 1936. This is clear from his silence during the British expulsion of Shi‘a leaders from Iraq in 1923 and the insurrection by some Isfahan clergy in Iran in 1924 (over opium production) and in the case of the exiling of Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Bafqi (owing to his criticism of the behavior of ladies of the royal court in the Qom shrine) in 1928. Apart from his wish not to invite military intervention by Reza Khan Pahlavi, which might hurt the Hawzah-yi ‘Ilmiyah, there was also the fact that he considered these activities as political. This position of political non-interference over the years was a cause of wonderment to many, but, according to one of his sons, was rooted in his natural disposition. During his stay in Qom, he became involved with political issues only twice, and even then only momentarily and against his better judgment. It was Ha’iri, together with Muhammad Husayn Na’ini (d. 1936) and Abu al-Hasan Isfahani (d. 1945), who convinced Reza Khan in 1924 to drop the idea of making Iran a republic. In 1932, Ha’iri sent a strongly worded message to Reza Shah in which he said that, although up to then he had not interfered in any political matters, certain new policies (the Dress Law of 1928 and the general curtailment of the social standing of the ‘ulama’) were contrary to Shi‘a law and that he was duty bound to inform the shah that his actions were intolerable.
Ha’iri did not press this and other issues and, out of concern for the long-term well-being of Islam in the clerical community, he did not exhort other ‘ulama’ or his followers to openly revolt against the government. He once publicly stated, “It is due to this security [brought by Reza Shah] that I can fulfill my durites to Islam and teach in this city,” and he exhorted all Iranians to follow their monarch. Ha’iri’s most famous student was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (d. 1989), who clearly disagreed with his teacher on the role of the marja‘ al-taqlid, the most distinguished rank among the religious leaders. Ha’iri advanced the notion that a Shi‘a could follow more than one marja‘ al-taqlid on different aspects of Islamic law, a position later supported by Ayatollah Murtaza Mutahhari (d. 1979), who was one of Khomeini’s most famous students and who believed that Islamic jurisprudence had grown too complex to be mastered by one individual in all its aspects.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim Yazdi Ha’iri see Ha’iri
Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi see Ha’iri
Yazdi, Abdolkarim Haeri see Ha’iri
'Abd al-Karim al-Ha'iri al-Yazdi see Ha’iri
Yazdi, 'Abd al-Karim al-Ha'iri al- see Ha’iri
Ha’iri (Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim Yazdi Ha’iri) (Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi) (‘Abd al-Karī̄m al-Ḥa’irī̄ al-Yazdī</I>̄) (1859 — January 30, 1937). Persian religious leader. He argued that politics in the Muslim world were being controlled by Western powers and were consequently hostile to Islam. In order to prevent the extinction of Islam, therefore, a responsible religious leader must not interfere in politics. He trained many disciples who later on became religious leaders and who, unlike their master, undertook political activities, the best known example being Ruhollah (in Arabic, Ruh Allah) Khomeini.
Ha’iri was the most prominent teacher among the ‘ulama’ (community of religious scholars) in the city of Qom from 1921 to 1936. He received religious training in Iraq from Mirza Hasan Shirazi (d. 1896), Muhammad al-Fisharaki al-Isfahani (d. 1899), and Mulla Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (d. 1911). He persisted throughout his life in maintaining a position of strict non-involvement in political matters. Between 1900 and 1913, he moved between the western Iranian town of Arak, where he had established a center of learning, and Iraq in order to avoid being involved in political matters, such as the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1909 and the anti-British movement in Iraq. From Karbala, Iraq, he moved to Arak in 1913, and then to Qom in 1920. There, he founded a seminary called the Hawzah-yi ‘Ilmiyah, which became the premier institution of religious education in Iran.
Ha’iri maintained his policy of strict non-intervention in political affairs throughout his stay in Qom and until the end of his life in 1936. This is clear from his silence during the British expulsion of Shi‘a leaders from Iraq in 1923 and the insurrection by some Isfahan clergy in Iran in 1924 (over opium production) and in the case of the exiling of Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Bafqi (owing to his criticism of the behavior of ladies of the royal court in the Qom shrine) in 1928. Apart from his wish not to invite military intervention by Reza Khan Pahlavi, which might hurt the Hawzah-yi ‘Ilmiyah, there was also the fact that he considered these activities as political. This position of political non-interference over the years was a cause of wonderment to many, but, according to one of his sons, was rooted in his natural disposition. During his stay in Qom, he became involved with political issues only twice, and even then only momentarily and against his better judgment. It was Ha’iri, together with Muhammad Husayn Na’ini (d. 1936) and Abu al-Hasan Isfahani (d. 1945), who convinced Reza Khan in 1924 to drop the idea of making Iran a republic. In 1932, Ha’iri sent a strongly worded message to Reza Shah in which he said that, although up to then he had not interfered in any political matters, certain new policies (the Dress Law of 1928 and the general curtailment of the social standing of the ‘ulama’) were contrary to Shi‘a law and that he was duty bound to inform the shah that his actions were intolerable.
Ha’iri did not press this and other issues and, out of concern for the long-term well-being of Islam in the clerical community, he did not exhort other ‘ulama’ or his followers to openly revolt against the government. He once publicly stated, “It is due to this security [brought by Reza Shah] that I can fulfill my durites to Islam and teach in this city,” and he exhorted all Iranians to follow their monarch. Ha’iri’s most famous student was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (d. 1989), who clearly disagreed with his teacher on the role of the marja‘ al-taqlid, the most distinguished rank among the religious leaders. Ha’iri advanced the notion that a Shi‘a could follow more than one marja‘ al-taqlid on different aspects of Islamic law, a position later supported by Ayatollah Murtaza Mutahhari (d. 1979), who was one of Khomeini’s most famous students and who believed that Islamic jurisprudence had grown too complex to be mastered by one individual in all its aspects.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim Yazdi Ha’iri see Ha’iri
Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi see Ha’iri
Yazdi, Abdolkarim Haeri see Ha’iri
'Abd al-Karim al-Ha'iri al-Yazdi see Ha’iri
Yazdi, 'Abd al-Karim al-Ha'iri al- see Ha’iri
Haitham
Haitham (Abu Ali Hasan ibn al-Haitham) (Alhazen) (Al-Hazen) (Haithem, al-) (965-c.1039). Considered in the West to be the “Father of Modern Optics.” See Ibn al-Haytham.
Ptolemy the Second see Haitham
Ptolemaeus Secundus see Haitham
Basri, al- see Haitham
The Physicist see Haitham
Ibn al-Haitham see Haitham
Ibn al-Haytham see Haitham
Haitham (Abu Ali Hasan ibn al-Haitham) (Alhazen) (Al-Hazen) (Haithem, al-) (965-c.1039). Considered in the West to be the “Father of Modern Optics.” See Ibn al-Haytham.
Ptolemy the Second see Haitham
Ptolemaeus Secundus see Haitham
Basri, al- see Haitham
The Physicist see Haitham
Ibn al-Haitham see Haitham
Ibn al-Haytham see Haitham
Haji
Haji (Raja Haji) (Raja Haji Fisabililah) (r.1777-1784). Fourth Bugis yang di pertuan muda of Johor/Riau. Raja Haji controlled the state during the minority of Sultan Mahmud III. He is credited in the Tufhat al-Nafis (written by his grandson) with spreading the influence of Riau throughout the western part of the archipelago and with bringing Riau to a high point of economic prosperity. Fearing that he might unite the Malays against them, the Dutch attacked Riau in 1784. Breaking the siege, Raja Haji led an attack on Dutch Melaka. There, he was shot and killed, whereupon the Dutch sacked Riau and effectively destroyed the state.
Raja Haji see Haji
Raja Haji Fisabililah see Haji
Fisabililah, Raja Haji see Haji
Haji (Raja Haji) (Raja Haji Fisabililah) (r.1777-1784). Fourth Bugis yang di pertuan muda of Johor/Riau. Raja Haji controlled the state during the minority of Sultan Mahmud III. He is credited in the Tufhat al-Nafis (written by his grandson) with spreading the influence of Riau throughout the western part of the archipelago and with bringing Riau to a high point of economic prosperity. Fearing that he might unite the Malays against them, the Dutch attacked Riau in 1784. Breaking the siege, Raja Haji led an attack on Dutch Melaka. There, he was shot and killed, whereupon the Dutch sacked Riau and effectively destroyed the state.
Raja Haji see Haji
Raja Haji Fisabililah see Haji
Fisabililah, Raja Haji see Haji
Hajjaj
Hajjaj (al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi) (Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf) (Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Kulayb) (June 661-714). Most famous general and governor of the Umayyads and of ‘Abd al-Malik. He besieged the anti-caliph ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr at Mecca, had the Holy City bombarded and took it after seven months in 692. He then became governor of the Hejaz, the Yemen and the Yamama and had the Ka ‘ba restored. In 694, he was entrusted with the governorship of Iraq, in turmoil because of the intrigues of the Kharijites. The sermon with which he installed himself in Kufa has found its place in Arabic literature. Having removed the Kharijite danger in Iraq, he was appointed governor of Khurasan and Sijistan. When he was beleaguered in Basra by Ibn al-Ash‘ath, Syrian troops came to his rescue and the Iraqi Arabs were defeated. Having pacified the Kurdish and Daylami brigands, he built the fortified town of Wasit to isolate the Syrians from the Iraqis. The conquests of Transoxiana by Qutayba ibn Muslim, of Oman by Mujja‘a ibn Si‘r, and of India by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi during the caliphate of the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I were the results of al-Hajjaj’s efforts. He sponsored a new text of the Qur’an, began to strike purely Arabic coins, and made efforts to improve agriculture. Al-Hajjaj is considered one of the greatest statesmen, not only of the Umayyads, but of the whole Islamic world.
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi see Hajjaj
Thaqafi, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al- see Hajjaj
Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf see Hajjaj
Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Kulayb see Hajjaj
Kulayb, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al- see Hajjaj
Hajjaj (al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi) (Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf) (Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Kulayb) (June 661-714). Most famous general and governor of the Umayyads and of ‘Abd al-Malik. He besieged the anti-caliph ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr at Mecca, had the Holy City bombarded and took it after seven months in 692. He then became governor of the Hejaz, the Yemen and the Yamama and had the Ka ‘ba restored. In 694, he was entrusted with the governorship of Iraq, in turmoil because of the intrigues of the Kharijites. The sermon with which he installed himself in Kufa has found its place in Arabic literature. Having removed the Kharijite danger in Iraq, he was appointed governor of Khurasan and Sijistan. When he was beleaguered in Basra by Ibn al-Ash‘ath, Syrian troops came to his rescue and the Iraqi Arabs were defeated. Having pacified the Kurdish and Daylami brigands, he built the fortified town of Wasit to isolate the Syrians from the Iraqis. The conquests of Transoxiana by Qutayba ibn Muslim, of Oman by Mujja‘a ibn Si‘r, and of India by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi during the caliphate of the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I were the results of al-Hajjaj’s efforts. He sponsored a new text of the Qur’an, began to strike purely Arabic coins, and made efforts to improve agriculture. Al-Hajjaj is considered one of the greatest statesmen, not only of the Umayyads, but of the whole Islamic world.
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi see Hajjaj
Thaqafi, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al- see Hajjaj
Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf see Hajjaj
Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Kulayb see Hajjaj
Kulayb, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al- see Hajjaj
Hajji Bayram Wali
Hajji Bayram Wali (1352-1429). Patron saint of Ankara and the founder of the order of the Bayramiyya.
Wali, Hajji Bayram see Hajji Bayram Wali
Hajji Bayram Wali (1352-1429). Patron saint of Ankara and the founder of the order of the Bayramiyya.
Wali, Hajji Bayram see Hajji Bayram Wali
Hajji Giray
Hajji Giray (d. 1466). Founder of the Giray dynasty of khans of the Crimea.
Giray, Hajji see Hajji Giray
Hajji Giray (d. 1466). Founder of the Giray dynasty of khans of the Crimea.
Giray, Hajji see Hajji Giray
Hajji Khalfa
Hajji Khalfa. See Katib Celebi.
Khalfa, Hajji see Hajji Khalfa.
Hajji Khalfa. See Katib Celebi.
Khalfa, Hajji see Hajji Khalfa.
Hajji Pasha
Hajji Pasha (Jelal al-Din Hajji Pasha). Fifteenth century Turkish physician and the author of several medical texts.
Jelal al-Din Hajji Pasha see Hajji Pasha
Hajji Pasha (Jelal al-Din Hajji Pasha). Fifteenth century Turkish physician and the author of several medical texts.
Jelal al-Din Hajji Pasha see Hajji Pasha
Hajjiyya
Hajjiyya. Islamic title for a person that has performed the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, or is in the course of performing it. The term hajjiyy (masculine) or hajjiyya (feminine) is added to the name of the person and is considered an honorable title. For many Muslims, earlier in Islamic history, going on hajj was an act that could only be performed once in a lifetime by the few, due to long distances, dangers and the costs. This percentage has increased in modern times, as better boats and overland transportation (as well as airplanes) have made distances less of a problem.
As more people (but still only a low number, below ten percent) go on the hajj, the importance of being a hajjiyy or hajjiyya, has been watered down. While the total time used on the hajj in old times could be years, now many Muslims manage to squeeze the full hajj into an extended holiday of three to six weeks.
Some of the old days’ grandeur is also lost with the ease and safety of the modern hajj. Medical personnel, accessibility to water, and the extension of the Great Mosque of Mecca has drastically reduced the number of people dying or getting hurt or sick while on the hajj.
hajjiyy see Hajjiyya.
Hajjiyya. Islamic title for a person that has performed the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, or is in the course of performing it. The term hajjiyy (masculine) or hajjiyya (feminine) is added to the name of the person and is considered an honorable title. For many Muslims, earlier in Islamic history, going on hajj was an act that could only be performed once in a lifetime by the few, due to long distances, dangers and the costs. This percentage has increased in modern times, as better boats and overland transportation (as well as airplanes) have made distances less of a problem.
As more people (but still only a low number, below ten percent) go on the hajj, the importance of being a hajjiyy or hajjiyya, has been watered down. While the total time used on the hajj in old times could be years, now many Muslims manage to squeeze the full hajj into an extended holiday of three to six weeks.
Some of the old days’ grandeur is also lost with the ease and safety of the modern hajj. Medical personnel, accessibility to water, and the extension of the Great Mosque of Mecca has drastically reduced the number of people dying or getting hurt or sick while on the hajj.
hajjiyy see Hajjiyya.
Hajj ‘Umar Tal, al-
Hajj ‘Umar Tal, al- (al-Hajj 'Umar ibn Sa'id Tall) (El Hadj Umar ibn Sa'id Tall) (1797-1864). Celebrated Tukulor conqueror, who founded a short-lived kingdom in west Sudan. He became the khalifa of the Tijaniyya order for the Sudan and established himself in Futa Jallon in 1838, preaching Holy War against the Bambara kingdom of Segu and the Kaarta. He was defeated by the French in 1857. In 1861, he took the town of Segu, and Hamdallahi, the capital of the Fulani of Masina, and had the latter’s king Ahmadu-Ahmadu killed in 1862.
Umar Tall's name is spelled variously: in particular, his first name is commonly transliterated in French as Omar; the patronymic, ibn Sa'id, is often omitted; and the final element of his name, Tall, is spelt variously as Taal or Tal.
The honorific El Hadj (also al-Hajj or el-Hadj), reserved for a Muslim who has successfully made the Hajj to Mecca, almost always precedes Umar Tall's name.
Born Umar bin Sa'id in Halwar in the Kingdom of Fouta Tooro (present-day Senegal), Umar Tall attended a madrassa before embarking on the Hajj in 1820. In 1826, after many years of scholarship, Umar Tall returned with the title El Hadj and assumed the caliphate of the Tijaniyya sufi brotherhood in the Sudan.
Settling in Sokoto, he took several wives, one of whom was a daughter of the Fula Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammed Bello. In 1836, El Hajj Umar Tall moved to the Kingdom of Fouta Djallon and then to Dinguiraye, in present-day Guinea, where he began preparations for his jihad.
In 1848, El Hajj Umar Tall's Toucouleur army, equipped with European light arms, invaded several neighboring, non-Muslim, Malinké regions and met with immediate success. Umar Tall pressed on into what is today the region of Kayes in Mali, conquering a number of cities and building a tata (fortification) near the city of Kayes that is today a popular tourist destination.
In April 1857, Umar Tall declared war on the Khasso kingdom and besieged the French colonial army at Medina Fort. The siege failed on July 18 of the same year when Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrived with relief forces.
After his failure to defeat the French, El Hadj Umar Tall launched a series of assaults on the Bambara kingdoms of Kaarta and Ségou. The Kaarta capital of Nioro du Sahel fell quickly to Umar Tall's mujahideen, followed by Ségou on March 10, 1861.
While Umar Tall's wars thus far had been against the animist Bambara or the Christian French, he now turned his attention to the smaller Islamic states of the region. Installing his son Ahmadu Tall as imam of Ségou, Umar Tall marched down the Niger, on the Massina imamate of Hamdullahi. More than 70,000 died in the three battles that followed until the final fall and destruction of Hamdullahi on March 16, 1862.
Now controlling the entire Middle Niger, Umar Tall moved against Timbuktu, only to be repulsed in 1863 by combined forces of the Tuaregs, Moors, and Fulani tribes. Meanwhile, a rebellion broke out in Hamdullahi under Balobo, brother of executed Massina monarch Amadu Amadu; in 1864, Balobo's combined force of Peuls and Kountas drove Umar Tall's army from the city and into Bandiagara, where Umar Tall died in an explosion of his gunpowder reserves on February 12. His nephew Tidiani Tall succeeded him as the Toucouleur emperor, though his son Ahmadu Seku did much of the work to keep the empire intact from Ségou. However, the French continued to advance, finally entering Ségou itself in 1890.
El Hadj Umar Tall remains a legendary figure in Senegal, Guinea, and Mali, though his legacy varies by country. Where the Senegalese tend to remember him as a hero of anti-French resistance, Malian sources tend to describe him as an invader who prepared the way for the French by weakening West Africa. Umar Tall also figures prominently in Maryse Condé's historical novel Segu.
al-Hajj 'Umar ibn Sa'id Tall see Hajj ‘Umar Tal, al-
El Hadj Umar ibn Sa'id Tall see Hajj ‘Umar Tal, al-
Hajj Umar Taal, al- see Hajj ‘Umar Tal, al-
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