PAKISTAN. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with a population of 122.8 million (1993 estimate), is the second largest Muslim nation in the world. Although they belong to five distinct ethnic groups-Punjabi, Sindhi, Pathan, Baluch, and Muhajirs (Urdu-speaking immigrants from prepartition India)-the overwhelming majority (97 percent) of Pakistanis are Muslims. NonMuslim minorities include Christians, Hindus, and
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PAINTING. With very few exceptions, there is no tradition of figural imagery in a religious context in Islam. Religious structures have been lavishly decorated with non-figural imagery in a variety of media, and religious texts are ornamented with illuminated frontispieces and chapter and verse headings. An exception to the general tendency against figural imagery in
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PAHLAVI, REZA SHAH (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944), Iranian monarch and founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. Of modest origins and without a formal education, Reza joined the Cossack Brigade at an early age. In February 1921, with the support or approval of the British military and civilian personnel in Iran, Reza (then a brigadier
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PAHLAVI, MUHAMMAD REZA SHAH (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), last ruling monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran. Born in Tehran, Crown Prince Muhammad was elevated to shah in August 1941 by the British and Russians who had invaded Iran and ousted his father in fear of growing German influence in Iran. The shah
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PROPHET HOOD. The commonest term for prophet-hood in the Islamic religious vocabulary is nubuwah, from the Arabic root n-b-‘, meaning “elevate” or “announce.” The latter meaning is predominant in the Qur’anic understanding of the prophet, nab!, as “one who announces.” The first meaning is also employed by Islamic religious scholars to express the elevated status
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