The only European country with a Muslim majority. Albania emerged in 1992 from nearly half a century of communism and state-sponsored suppression of religious beliefs. The Balkan nation, which borders Serbia,Macedonia, and Greece, is the poorest and most isolated country in Europe. The rugged Albanian countryside is dotted with hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers-a
Read More
A term derived from the name of the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, `Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661), `Alawiyah was applied originally to those who supported `Ali’s exclusive right to lead the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet in 632. The tenth-century Shi`i writer al-Nawbakht-1 called them al-Shi’ah al-`Alawiyah in
Read More
`ALAWID DYNASTY. A family of religious notables, the `Alawis gained political dominion and the status of a royal house in Morocco during the seventeenth century and have ruled there continuously since that time, playing a significant, formative role in its development as a modern nation-state. The dynasty is also known as the Filalis or Filalians
Read More
`ALAWI, AHMAD AL-, (1869-1934), more fully Abu al `Abbas Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-`Alawl, Algerian Sfifi and poet. Characterized by the French Orientalist Emile Dermenghem as “one of the most celebrated mystic shaikhs of our times,” al-`Alawi overcame humble origins and lack of formal education to create a substantial religious clientele with disciples and affiliated zdwiyahs
Read More
Several meanings for akhund, a Persian word meaning “religious scholar” or “leader,” have been proposed by Iranian, Turkish, and Western writers. One states that the prefix a is actually a corrupted form of agha, meaning “lord” or “master.” Focusing on the khund, another source states that this is derived from the Persian khdndan, meaning “to
Read More
AHMAD KHAN, SAYYID (1817-1898), Indian Islamic modernist writer and political activist. The family of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan claimed lineal descent from the prophet Muhammad; his ancestors had settled in Heratin Afghanistan and then migrated to Mughal Indiain the seventeenth century. Despite their residence in India for nearly two hundred years, Sir Sayyid’s family retained
Read More
A messianic movement in modern Islam, the Ahmadiyah has been one of the most active and controversial movements since its inception in British Indiain 1889. It has sustained its activities for more than a century and has been unrivaled in its dedication to the propagation of the faith. Ahmadi mosques and missionary centers have been
Read More
