MAWDUDI, SAYYID ABU AL-A’LA (also rendered from Urdu as Abu’l-A`la Maududi; 25 September 1903 – 22 September 1979) Islamic ideologue and politician. Sayyid Abu al-A’la Mawdudi was one of the most influential and prolific of contemporary Muslim thinkers. His interpretive reading of Islam has contributed greatly to the articulation of Islamic revivalist thought and has
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MAURITANIA. The place of Mauritania in the Islamic history of the Maghrib dates at least from the birth of the Almoravid dynasty, but it was the gradual southward migration of the Hilalian Banu Maghfar group, the Bani Hassan, that accounts for the arabization of nomadic populations in the territory by the sixteenth century. The traditional
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MATHEMATICS. The mathematical sciences occupy a prominent place in Islamic intellectual history. Historically called `ulum riyadiyah or ta’limiyah (pedagogic mathematics), they comprised the four main branches-arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music- of the quadrivium of the ancient schools. The establishment of the classical scientific heritage in the first few centuries of the spread of Islam further
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MASLAHAH. Public interest (al-masalih almursalah) is regarded in shari `ah (the divine law) as a basis of law. According to necessity and particular circumstances, it consists of prohibiting or permitting a thing on the basis of whether or not it serves a “useful purpose” or maslahah. It can be defined as the establishment of
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MASJUMI. One of Indonesia’s main political parties during the period of parliamentary democracy in the 1950s, the Masjumi (also spelled Masyumi under the new system of spelling introduced in 1972) can trace its origins to a body also called Masjumi, the Majlis Sjuro Muslimin Indonesia (Consultative Council of Indonesian Muslims), which was established in 1943
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MASHHAD. An Arabic word meaning “a place where a martyr died,” mashhad is the gravesite of an imam of Ithna `Ashari Shiism believed to have suffered shahddah (martyrdom). The Qur’an attests that a martyr is granted special heavenly privileges, and the concept of exalting divine purposes by suffering violent death played an important role in
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MARYAM JAMEELAH (May 23, 1934 – October 31, 2012), revivalist ideologist. Maryam Jameelah was born Margaret Marcus to a Jewish family in New Rochelle, New York on 23 May 1934 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
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MARTYRDOM. Islam accords a special status to those who lose or sacrifice their lives in the service of their religion. This is clear from the earliest sources (Qur’an, hadith) and the auxiliary sources (sirah, maghdzi, `ilm al-rijal and tafsir). The word which these sources agree on for designating a martyr is shahid (“witness”). The most
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MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. [To articulate religious values and traditions reflected in marriage and divorce in modern Islamic societies, this entry comprises two articles: Legal Foundations and Modern Practice. For related discussions, see Family Law; Mut`ah; Polygyny; Women and Islam, article on Role and Status of Women.] Legal Foundations The Qur’an is the foundation of all
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MARJA` AL-TAQLID. The term marja al-taglid designates the highest ranking authorities of the Twelver Shi`i community. They are usually few in number. In local or national communities (Iraq, Iran) the term can be loosely applied to between four and eight high-ranking jurists (or ayatollahs). On a world scale, and at particular times, the term is
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