Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Urdu: محمد اقبال ) (November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938), widely known as Allama Iqbal (علامہ اقبال), was a poet, philosopher, and politician, as well as an academic, barrister and scholar in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is called the “Spiritual father of
Read More
ITTIHAD-I MUHAMMADI CEMIYETI. A political and religious organization was founded around the newspaper Volkan (Volcano) in February I9o9 by Hafiz Dervis Vahdeti, a Naqshbandi from Cyprus. Named Ittihad-i Muhammadi Cemiyeti (Muhammadan Union), it is known for its role in the insurrection of April I9o9 in Istanbul that aimed to destroy the Committee of Union and
Read More
ITHNA ASHARIYAH. The followers of the twelve imams regarded as the rightful successors of the Prophet, the Ithna `Ashariyah, or Twelvers, constitute the major subdivision within Shi’i Islam. The Ithna `Ashariyah are also known as Imamiyah because of their main tenet regarding the necessity of the imam for the establishment of the ideal Muslim community
Read More
ISTIQLAL. The leading Moroccan nationalist party in the period 1943-1962, the Istiqlal (Hizb al-Istiqlal, “Independence party”) was founded in December 1943 by Ahmad Balafrej and a group of younger Moroccan nationalists drawn from the urban bourgeoisie of Fez, Rabat, Tangier, and Tetouan. Together with King Muhammad V, Istiqlal played a major role in bringing about
Read More
ISRAEL. In 1992 the Arab minority in Israel numbered approximately 914,000, or 18.5 percent of the total Israeli population (the figures include the Arab residents of East Jerusalem, estimated at 146,ooo, but not of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). Seventy-seven percent of the Arab minority (704,000) were Muslim, while the rest were Christian
Read More
ISMAILIYAH. The Shi movement called the Isma’iliyah, with a number of widely differing subsects, deeply influenced Islamic intellectual life in the tenth through thirteenth centuries. It is quite separate from the majority sect of Shi-I Muslims, the Twelvers or Imamis. The origins and early history of the Isma’I1lyah are obscure. Following the death in 765
Read More
ISLAMIC STUDIES. [This entry comprises two articles. The first presents a history of the study of Islam from its origins to the present, emphasizing scholarship in the West; the second provides a critical analysis of methods developed in Western academies to study Islam as a religion, a civilization, and a culture.] History of the
Read More
ISLAMIC STATE. Although the original Islamic sources (the Qur’an and the hadiths) have very little to say on matters of government and the state, the first issue to confront the Muslim community immediately after the death of its formative leader, the prophet Muhammad, in 632 CE was in fact the problem of government and of
Read More
ISLAMIC FOUNDATION. Established in 1973, the aims of the Islamic Foundation are to encourage research into the implementation of Islam in the modern world, to project the image of Islam in Britain and Europe, and to meet the educational needs of Muslims, especially young people. To implement these objectives, the foundation works with young people
Read More
ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK. The Islamic Development Bank is a unique aid institution, as all its funding is on an interest-free basis using financing techniques which are permissible under sharI `ah. It is a development assistance agency rather than a charity or a commercial bank, but, given that overheads are not fully covered, there is an
Read More
