TIJANI, AHMAD AL- (1737-1815), founder of the Tijaniyah Sufi order. Abu al-`Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tijani was born at `Ayn Madi in southern Algeria. At the age of twenty he visited Fez, where he successively experimented with the litanies of several Sufi orders and was disappointed with all of them. Ten years later, in 1767,
Read More
Commonly taught Muslim creed differs from the highly technical scholarship found in theological works composed under the religious discipline of kaldm (lit., “the speech”), which also includes philosophical and mystical theology. The common creed includes the sources of authority, the minimal and essential articles of faith, and the prominent differences among the major Muslim schools
Read More
THAILAND. About 90 percent of the Thai population of approximately 54 million adheres to the Theravada Buddhist faith. The second-largest religious affiliation is Islamic. Approximately four million people in Thailand profess the Islamic faith and maintain about 2,300 mosques. The Muslims in Thailand comprise two broad, self-defined categories consisting of Malay Muslims residing primarily in
Read More
TEXTILES. The achievements of the weavers, dyers, embroiderers, and pattern designers in the lands of Islam have been acclaimed for more than fifteen hundred years. Textiles were the mainstay of many premodern societies, and they continue to be important in many modern ones. They are woven into the workings of societies in complex ways, distinguishing
Read More
TERRORISM is the deliberate, unjustifiable, and random use of violence for political ends against protected persons. Obviously, there is no inextricable connection between Islam, or any other great religion, and terrorism. In fact, there is often a great confusion between the phenomenon of political violence and terrorism. The term terrorism applies to a special category
Read More
TECHNOLOGY AND APPLIED SCIENCES. Between 100 and 1300 CE, the “golden age of science,” the Arab and greater Islamic world excelled in scientific activity and many fields of technology, such as civil engineering and optics. This edge disappeared with the invasion and destruction of urban Islamic life by the Mongols, the decline of agriculture and
Read More
TA’ZIYAH. The Shi`i passion play called ta’ziyah is the only serious drama ever developed in the Islamic world, except for contemporary Western theater. Ta`ztyah (from the Arabic word `aza’, “mourning”) is mainly performed in Iran. It reenacts the passion and death of Husayn, the beloved grandson of the prophet Muhammad and the third imam of
Read More
Tazir refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state. It is one of three major types of punishments or sanctions under Sharia Islamic law — hadd, qisas and tazir. The punishments for the hudud offenses are fixed by the Qur’an or Hadith (i.e. “defined by God”),
Read More
TAXATION. Islam makes specific provision for taxation, the payment of which is viewed as a religious duty. The most important tax is zakdt, a tax based on wealth, which is paid annually at a rate of one-fortieth of the value of personal or business liquid assets. Property and equipment are excluded, but cash holdings and
Read More
TAWHID. An Arabic term meaning literally “making one” or “unifying,” is considered by many twentieth century Islamic activists to be the axial or defining doctrine of Islam. Although tawhid has traditionally been recognized as a fundamental doctrine of Islam, its popularity as Islam’s defining characteristic is a modern development. Indeed, the term is not mentioned
Read More
