Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
Al-Azhar University

Al-Azhar University

Egypt]] Al-Azhar University, or Al-Azhar Al-Shareef (الأزهر الشريف; literally, "The Noble Al-Azhar"), is connected to the mosque in Cairo named to honor Fatima Az-Zahraa, the daughter of Muhammad, from whom the Fatimid Dynasty claimed descent. The mosque was built in two years from 971 CE. The school of theology (madrassa) connected with it was founded in 988 as an Ismaili Shia school, but it later became a Sunni school, which it remains to this day. It is one of the oldest operating universities in the world. Al-Azhar is considered by most Sunni Muslims to be the most prestigious school of Islamic law, and its scholars are seen as the highest scholars in the Muslim world. Its stated objectives remain the propagation of Islamic culture and the Arabic language. To that end it maintains a committee of ulemas to judge on individual Islamic questions, a printing establishment for printing the Qur'an, and trains preachers trained in da'wa and the propagation of religious publicity. Al-Azhar is run by a Supreme Council forming general policy, headed by a Grand Imam, styled the "Sheikh Al-Azhar." Unlike most universities it does not admit students who are not practicing Muslims, thus it combines the institutions of a Western theological seminary with faculties, established in 1961, of medicine and engineering. Its library, which was consolidated in 1897, is considered second in range and importance only to Dar Al-kotob Al-Masriah in Egypt, as far as the number of Islamic books and manuscripts are concerned. The library comprises of 99,062 books consist of 595,668 volumes of the most precious manuscripts and rare books, some as old as the 8th century. The library is center of attraction to the researchers of Al-Azhar students and other Islamic universities. It contributes in propagating knowledge by making photo copies of some of the manuscripts available for the benefit of researchers from Egypt, Arab and Islamic countries. The library does not collect non-Islamic literature. Since 1929 Al-Azhar has published a magazine (now monthly) whose stated purpose is to promulgate religious rules, subjects related to the propagating of Islamic literature, and basic jurisprudence (shariah), including sections on history, biographies, translated texts and news concerning the Muslim world. In 1961, Al-Azhar was reorganized by the Nasser Government and several secular faculties were added to the university, such as medicine, engineering, agriculture, as well as an Islamic women's faculty. Muhammad Sayid Tantawy, the current Imam of Al-Azhar, has declared that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks and suicide bombers are "heretics" who are not following the true path of Islam. In a recent conference in Indonesia, he asked all "true believers" to deny speakers of violently heretical Islam places to speak in the mosque, thus preventing the spread of violent ideologies. However, Abd Al-Sabour Shahin, a prominent professor at the University, denies that Muslims were even involved in the attacks, claiming a "dirty Zionist hand" was behind them. [http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=800] Ali Gomaa', the Egyptian Mufti associated with Al Azhar, has declared that insurgents who kidnap and kill civilans in Iraq are the ones which Islam has authorized to kill since they wreak havoc in the Earth. In 2005 the Al Azhar online document archive was launched (see link below). This is a joint venture between the university and the HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum IT Education Project (ITEP) in Dubai. The archive will eventually give access to all 42,000 manuscripts (c. 7 million pages) in the Al Azhar library; as of writing there are around 1.5 million pages available to view.

See also


- Timeline of Islamic history
- Islamic architecture
- Islamic art
- List of mosques Fatwas:
- Historical Shi'a-Sunni relations

External links


- [http://www.alazhar.org Al-Azhar Mosque and University] (official site)
- [http://www.frcu.eun.eg/www/universities/html/azhar.html History and organization of Al-Azhar]
- [http://www.islamfortoday.com/alazhar.htm islamfortoday.com/alazhar.htm]
- [http://www.muslimheritage.com/islamonline/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=161 muslimheritage.com/islamonline/topics]
- [http://hrw.org/reports/2005/egypt0605/ Human Rights Watch: The Repression of Academic Freedom in Egyptian Universities.]
- [http://www.alazharonline.org/ The Al Azhar online document archive] The Al Azhar online document archive (Arabic only) Category:Universities and colleges in Egypt Category:Mosques in Egypt Category:Cairo Category:Islamic architecture

Egypt

The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر, romanized Misr), is a republic in North Africa. While it is geographically located in Africa, it is sometimes associated with the Middle East for political reasons. Covering an area of about 1,020,000 km², Egypt shares land borders with Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the northeast and has coasts on the north and east by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, respectively. Egypt is the second most populous country in Africa, second only to Nigeria, and the vast majority of its 77 million population (2005) live near the banks of the Nile River (about 40,000 km²), where the only arable agricultural land is found. Large areas of land are part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. The majority of Egyptians today are urban, living in the great Arab population centers of greater Cairo, the largest city in Africa, and Alexandria. Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most stunning ancient monuments, including the Giza Pyramids, the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as the main political and cultural centre of the Arab and Middle Eastern regions.

Origin and history of the name

Misr, the Arabic and official name for modern Egypt, is of Semitic origin directly cognate with the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם Misráyim meaning "the two straits", and possibly means "a country" or "a state." The ancient name for the country, kemet, or "black land," is derived from the fertile black soils deposited by the Nile floods, distinct from the 'red land' (deshret) of the desert. This name became keme in a later stage of Coptic. The English name "Egypt" came via the Latin word Aegyptus derived from the ancient Greek word Αίγυπτος Aiguptos (see also List of traditional Greek place names), which in turn is derived from the ancient Egyptian phrase ḥwt-k3-ptḥ ("Hwt ka Ptah") meaning "home of the Ka (part of the soul) of Ptah," the name of a temple of the god Ptah at Memphis. For details see the article Copt.

History

Main article: History of Egypt The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom was founded circa 3200 BC by King Menes, and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty, known as the Thirtieth Dynasty, fell to the Persians in 341 BC who dug the predecessor of the Suez canal and connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Later, Egypt fell to the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Persians again. It was the Muslim Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the seventh century changing Egypt into a linguistically and mostly ethnically "Arab" nation. Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern even after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub; however, the country also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. Between 1924-1936 there existed a short-lived attempt to model Egypt's constitutional government after the European style of government; known as Egypt's Liberal Experiment. In 1952 a popularly-supported military coup d'état forced King Farouk I, a constitutional monarch, to abdicate in support of his son King Ahmed Fouad II. Finally the Egyptian Republic was declared on 18 June 1953 with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic. After Naguib resigned in 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real architect of the 1952 Revolution, assumed power as President and nationalized the Suez Canal leading to the 1956 Suez Crisis. Nasser came out of the war an Arab hero, and Nasserism won widespread influence in the region. Between 1958 and 1961 Egypt and Syria formed a union known as the United Arab Republic. Three years after the 1967 Six Day War, in which Egypt lost the Sinai to Israel, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat, who presented his takeover in terms of a Corrective Revolution. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972, and launched the Infitah economic reform, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition alike. In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched a surprise attack on Israel in the October War,which despite not being a complete military success was by most accounts a political victory. Both the United States and the USSR intervened and a cease-fire was reached between Egypt and Israel. In 1979, Sadat made peace with Israel in exchange for the Sinai, a move which sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League (it was readmitted in 1989). Sadat was murdered by a religious fundamentalist in 1981, and succeeded by Hosni Mubarak. Hosni Mubarak

Politics

Main article: Politics of Egypt Egypt has been a republic since 18 June 1953. President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has been the President of the Republic since October 14 1981, following the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat on October 6 1981. Mubarak is currently serving his fifth term in office. He is the leader of the ruling National Democratic Party. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 July 2004, following the resignation of Dr. Atef Ebeid from his office. The permanent headquarters for the League of Arab States is located in Cairo. Egypt was the first Arab state to establish peace with the State of Israel after the signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty after the Camp David Accords. Egypt also has a major influence on the other Arab states. Historically, Egypt has played the role of a mediator in resolving disputes of various Arab nations. Most Arab nations still use Egypt in that role. Egypt supposedly operates under a multi-party semi-presidential system where the executive power is divided between the President and the Prime Minister. Egypt holds regular single-candidate presidential and multi-party parliamentary elections. The last presidential election was held in September 2005, in which Mubarak won again. However, after the September elections there has been expressed concern from international human rights observers concerning freedom of speech, government interference in local elections and vote-rigging. I had been, as previous elections, just a pantomime. There had been many cases of misrespect for the oposition candidates and their followers' human right. In late February 2005, Mubarak announced on a surprise television broadcast that he has ordered the reform of the country's presidential election law, paving the way for multi-candidate polls in the coming election. For the first time in Egypt's history, the people will have a chance to elect their leader in a closely watched election. The President said his initiative came "out of my full conviction of the need to consolidate efforts for more freedom and democracy." However, the new law places draconian restrictions on the filing of presidential candidacies designed to pave the road for Mubarak's easy re-election. As a result most Egyptians are sceptical about the process of democratisation and the role of elections. As expected, Mubarak was re-elected. Newspapers however have exhibited an increasing freedom in criticizing the president, and the results of the parlimentary elections genuinely indicate that a democratic transition is underway, as evidenced by the strong showing of rival political parties.

Military

Main article: Military of Egypt The Egyptian Armed Forces (Arabic: القوات المسلحة المصرية) consists of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Air Defense. The Coast Guard and Border Guard operate as subordinates to the Navy and Army Command respectively. The Egyptian military is the strongest military power on the African continent, and the second largest in the Middle East, after Israel - (Source: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual Middle East Strategic Balance). The Egyptian Armed Forces also ranks among the most battle-trained armed forces in the region. Its inventory includes F-16s, Mirage 2000 aircraft, Apache helicopters, M1 Abrams Tanks and medium-long range missiles. The Egyptian Armed forces, has a combined troop strength of 450,000 active personel. The Commander-in-Chief is Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The Chief of Staff is Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan. Conscription is compulsory for egyptian men of 18 years of age. Full-time students may defer their service until the age of 28. The length of the service depend on the level of education achieved by the conscripted. Military relations between Egypt and the US are strong. Military cooperation between the two countries covers a number of strategic areas, including cooperation in the ongoing process of modernising Egyptian armaments and training the Egyptian armed forces. While military cooperation between the US and Egypt is close and diversified this does not constitute a form of military alliance. Nothing could furnish clearer proof of this than the high degree of transparency surrounding all aspects of Egyptian-US military cooperation. Bilateral exercises, mutual training are carried out regularly and according to one US source, reflect the great esteem in which the US holds the high levels of professionalism and commitment and the growing excellence of the fighting men and women in the various branches of the Egyptian armed forces. Egypt take part regularely in military exercises with the US and other European and Arab allies, including the manoeuvres that take place in Egypt every two years. Egypt continues to contribute regularly to United Nations peacekeeping missions, most recently in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

Governorates

Liberia Main article: Governorates of Egypt Egypt is divided into 26 governorates (Muhafazat; singular – Muhafazah):

- Aswan
- Asyut
- al-Bahr al-Ahmar (Red Sea)
- Bani Suwayf
- al-Buhayrah
- Bur Sa'id (Port Said)
- ad-Daqahliyah
- Dumyat (Damietta)
- al-Fayyum
- al-Gharbiyah
- al-Iskandariyah (Alexandria)
- al-Isma'iliyah
- Janub Sina' (South Sinai)
- al-Jizah (Giza)
- Kafr ash Shaykh
- Matruh
- al-Minufiyah
- al-Minya
- al-Qahirah (Cairo)
- al-Qalyubiyah
- Qina
- Shamal Sina' (North Sinai)
- ash-Sharqiyah
- Suhaj
- as-Suways (Suez)
- al-Wadi al-Jadid (New Valley)

Foreign relations

al-Wadi al-Jadid al-Wadi al-Jadidal-Wadi al-Jadid al-Wadi al-Jadid and the Middle East]]Middle Easts]]Middle East]]Middle East Geography, population, history, military strength, and diplomatic expertise give Egypt extensive political influence in the Middle East. Cairo has been a crossroads of Arab commerce and culture for millennia, and its intellectual and Islamic institutions are at the center of the region's social and cultural development. The League of Arab States headquarters is in Cairo. The Secretary General of the League has traditionally been an Egyptian. Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa is the present Secretary General of the Arab League. Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali served as Secretary General of the United Nations from 1991 to 1996. Egypt is on good terms with all of its neighbours, and was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel. It has a territorial dispute with Sudan over the Hala'ib Triangle.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Egypt Egypt's economy depends mainly on agriculture, media, petroleum exports, and tourism; there are also more than 5 million Egyptians working abroad, mainly in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf area like UAE, and Europe. The United States as well has a large population of Egyptian immigrants. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to ready the economy for the new millennium through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure, much financed from U.S. foreign aid (since 1979, an average of 2.2 billion dollars per year). Egypt is the third largest recipient of such funds from the United States following the Iraq war. Economic conditions are starting to improve considerably after a period of stagnation due to the adoption of more liberal economic policies by the government, as well as increased revenues from tourism and a booming stock market. In its annual report, the IMF has rated Egypt as one of the top countries in the world undertaking economic reforms.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Egypt Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world, at about 77,500,000 people. Nearly all the population is concentrated along the River Nile, notably Alexandria and Cairo, and along the Nile Delta and near the Suez Canal. Approximately 90% of the population adheres to Islam and most of the remainder to Christianity (primarily the Coptic denomination). The Egyptians are a fairly homogeneous people. In the northern part of the country, North African and Mediterranean elements are more predominant, and the south is home to populations more closely related to Ethiopians and Somalis from the Horn of Africa. The bulk of the modern Egyptian people still maintain a homogenous genetic tie to ancient Egyptian society, which has always been regarded as rural and most populous compared to the neighboring demographics. The Egyptian people have spoken only languages from the Afro-Asiatic family (previously known as Hamito-Semitic) throughout their history starting with Old Egyptian, to modern Egyptian-Arabic. Ethnic minorities include a small number of Bedouin Arab nomads in the Sinai and eastern and western deserts, as well as a Nubian minority clustered along the Nile in Upper (southern) Egypt who are estimated for about 0.8% of the population. The once-vibrant Jewish community in Egypt has disappeared, but several important archeological and historical sites remain.

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Egypt Geography of Egypt Towns and cities include Alexandria, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Giza, Hurghada, Luxor, Kom Ombo, Port Safaga, Port Said, Sharm el Sheikh, Shubra-El-Khema, Suez, Zagazig,Al-Minya. Deserts: Egypt includes parts of the Sahara Desert and of the Libyan Desert Oases include: Bahariya Oasis, Dakhleh Oasis, Farafra Oasis, Kharga Oasis, Siwa Oasis. Egypt borders on Libya on the west, on Sudan on the south and on Israel on the northeast. It controls the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Egypt's important role in geopolitics stems from its strategic position: as a land bridge between Africa and Asia, and as a passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Egypt Egypt's capital city, Cairo, is Africa's largest city and has been renowned for centuries as a center of learning, culture and commerce. The Egyptian Academy of the Arabic Language is responsible for regulating the Arabic Language throughout the world. Egypt also hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar University, the oldest Islamic institution for higher studies (founded around 970 CE) with its corresponding mosque Al-Azhar. The head of Al-Azhar is traditionally regarded as the supreme leader of Sunni Muslims all over the world. Egypt also has a strong Christian heritage as evidenced by the existence of the Coptic Orthodox Church headed by the Patriarch of Alexandria, which has a following of approximately 50 million Christians worldwide (one of the famous Coptic Orthodox Churches is Saint Takla Haimanot Church in Alexandria http://www.St-Takla.org). Though considered a low-income country, Egypt has a thriving media and arts industry, with more than 30 satellite channels and more than 100 motion pictures produced each year. To bolster its media industry, especially with the keen competition from the Persian Gulf states and Lebanon, it has built a large media city that it has promoted as the "Hollywood of the East". Egypt is the only Arab country with an opera house. Some famous Egyptians include:
- Gamal Abdel Nasser (former president)
- Boutros Boutros-Ghali (former Secretary General of the United Nations)
- Naguib Mahfouz (Nobel Prize-winning novelist)
- Umm Kulthum (singer)
- Omar Sharif (actor)
- Ahmed Zewail (Nobel Prize-winning chemist)
- Mohamed ElBaradei (Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize)
- Anwar Sadat (former president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize)

See also


- Communications in Egypt
- Coptic Christianity
- Egyptian mythology
- Egyptian pyramids
- History of the Jews in Egypt
- History of Armenians in Egypt
- List of Egypt-related topics
- List of Egyptian companies
- List of famous Egyptian people
- List of writers from Egypt
- Military of Egypt
- Music of Egypt
- Transportation in Egypt
- Corruption in Egypt

References


-
-

External links

Government


- [http://www.egypt.gov.eg/ Official Egyptian Government Portal]
- [http://www.investment.gov.eg/ Egyptian Investment Portal] official government site
- [http://www.sis.gov.eg/ Egypt State Information Service] official government site
- [http://www.presidency.gov.eg/ The Egyptian Presidency]
- [http://www.parliament.gov.eg/EPA/en/Index.jsp The People Assembly of Egypt]
- [http://www.shoura.gov.eg/ Egyptian Shoura Council]

News


- [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ Al-Ahram Weekly]
- [http://allafrica.com/egypt/ AllAfrica – Egypt] news
- [http://www.egypttoday.com/ Egypt Today] magazine
- [http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/ Business Today Egypt] magazine
- [http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Egypt Yahoo! News Full Coverage – Egypt] headline links

Overviews


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737642.stm BBC News Country Profile - Egypt]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/eg.html CIA World Factbook - Egypt]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c3729.htm US State Department - Egypt] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Egypt Open Directory Project - Egypt] directory category
- [http://www.joinafrica.com/countries1/Egypt/people.htm Joinafrica.com - Egypt]

Education

See: List of Egyptian universities
- [http://www.worldwide.edu/ci/egypt/index.html Study Destinations in Egypt]
- [http://www.scu.eun.eg/eng/scu-eng.htm/ Supreme Council of Universities] U suck

Tourism

See: List of museums in Egypt
-
- [http://www.touregypt.net/ Tour Egypt] (Association of Egyptian Travel Businesses)
- [http://www.egypt-travelguide.com/ Egypt Hotel & Travel Guide]
- [http://www.eternalegypt.org/ Journey through Eternal Egypt]
- [http://ancient-egypt.blogspot.com/ History of Ancient Egypt]

Other


- [http://www.fonsvitae.com/archit.html CAIRO - 1001 Years of Islamic Art and Architecture (Video series in four parts)]
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/egypt.html Egypt Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection]
- [http://ianandwendy.com/OtherTrips/Egypt Egypt Photo Galleries] Pictures from a visit in December 2004
- [http://st-takla.org/Egypt-1.html Egypt through the ages..]
- [http://www.egyptianculture.net Egyptian Mythology]
- Khnumhotep & Niankhkhnum
- [http://en.jurispedia.org/index.php/Egypt Egyptian law] from Jurispedia
Category:Arab League Category:Near Eastern countries Category:Middle Eastern countries Category:African Union member states Category:Bicontinental countries zh-min-nan:Ai-ki̍p als:Ägypten ko:이집트 ms:Mesir ja:エジプト simple:Egypt th:ประเทศอียิปต์

Cairo

have become a symbol of Cairo internationally]] Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة; transliterated: al-Qāhirah) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15.2 million people. Cairo is the sixteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Cairo is located at 30°2' North, 31°13' East (30.03333, 31.21667). [http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html] While al-Qāhirah is the official name of the city, in local speech it is typically called simply by the name of the country, Mişr (Arabic, مصر) pronounced Maşr in the local dialect. The name Al-Qahirah literally means "The Subduer," though it is often translated as "The Victorious." The origin of the name is said to come from the appearance of the planet Mars during the foundation of the city. The planet Mars, associated with destruction was called "Al Najm Al Qahir" in Arabic, from which the name of the city was derived. However the legacy of the name evolved into the title "Qahirat Al Adaa" meaning "subduer of the enemies". This title was given to the city as many armies were destroyed in attempts to invade Cairo or defeated elsewhere by troops sent from Cairo. (Mongols, Crusaders & Ottomans are examples.) Mongols

Geography

Mongols Mongols Cairo is located on the banks and islands of the Nile River in the north of Egypt, immediately south of the point where the river leaves its desert-bound valley and breaks into three branches into the low-lying Nile Delta region. The oldest part of the city is somewhat east of the river. There, the city gradually spreads west, engulfing the agricultural lands next to the Nile. These western areas, built on the model of Paris by Ismail the Magnificent in the mid-19th century, are marked by wide boulevards, public gardens, and open spaces. The older eastern section of the city is very different: having grown up haphazardly over the centuries it is filled with small lanes and crowded tenaments. While western Cairo is dominated by the government buildings and modern architecture, the eastern half is filled with hundreds of ancient mosques that act as landmarks. Extensive water systems have also allowed the city to expand east into the desert. Bridges link the Nile islands of Gezira and Roda, where many government buildings are located and government officials live. Bridges also cross the Nile attaching the city to the suburbs of Giza and Imbabah (part of the Cairo conurbation). West of Giza, in the desert, is part of the ancient necropolis of Memphis on the Giza plateau, with its three large pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza (last surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World). Approximately 11 miles (18 km) to the south of modern Cairo is the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis and adjoining necropolis of Saqqara. These cities were Cairo's ancient predecessors, when Cairo was still in this approximate geographical location.

History

Founding and early history

Saqqara Saqqara Old City. Cairo has the largest concentration of mediæval structures in the world.]] The current location of Cairo was too far from the ancient course of the Nile to support a city. Just to the south of the modern city's location are the ruins of Memphis, which was the capital of Ancient Egypt and was founded in around 3100 BC by Menes of Tanis after he had united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt, although the capital later moved to Heliopolis, further south to Thebes, and, under the Ptolemaic dynasty, Alexandria. The first settlement on the location of modern Cairo was a Roman fort, known as Babylon Fort, built about AD 150, built near the settlement known as Babylon-in-Egypt, which lay close to an ancient Egyptian canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. A small town mostly of Coptic Christians slowly grew around the fort. Arab invaders, lead by Amr Ibn-el-As, took the fort town in 642 and also established their army in the location, rebuilding its defenses. The Arab tented camp outside the fortress, known as Al-Fustat, slowly became the permanent base of the Arab forces in Egypt under the Umayyads and Abbasids, and contains the first mosque in Africa. Slowly, the settlement grew into a small city. The North African Shiite Fatimid Dynasty conquered Egypt in 972 and built a new capital, Al-Mansureya, north of the old settlement. Their leader, Al-Muez Ledin-Ellah, renamed the city Al-Qahirah after the planet Mars which was rising on the day the city was founded. The Al-Azhar mosque was founded the same year, and along with its accompanying university it made Cairo a centre of learning and philosophy. The school remains a major center for Islamic study today. The Seljuks captured Cairo in the mid 1100s, and Saladin and his successors expanded the city further, including the construction of its massive citadel. The sack of Baghdad in 1258 heightened the importance of the city and it became the leading intellectual and artistic centre in the Middle East, and perhaps the world, for the next 250 years. But power was shifting from the Arab world north to the Turks and Europeans. The city was taken by the Ottoman Empire under Selim I in 1517, but the ruling Mameluks quickly returned to power as nominal vassals to the Ottoman Sultan.

Era of westernization

Mameluks Mameluks Mameluks Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798, and Cairo was quickly surrendered to him by its Mameluk rulers. Napoleon left Egypt after his fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Aboukir Bay in August 1798, leaving General Kléber in charge. Kléber was assassinated in 1800 and the three-year French occupation had little lasting effect. The first hints of westernization began under the successors to Mehemet Ali with the introduction of a railway connection to Alexandria in 1851. Significant change, however, did not occur until the reign of Isma'il Pasha when, in 1863, construction of the Suez Canal brought significant numbers of westerners to Egypt. A network of gas lighting was installed by a French company and the railway lines were greatly expanded. In 1867, Isma'il visited Paris to attend the Universal Exposition of 1867. There he saw the newly redesigned city of Haussmann and, funded by a booming cotton trade, decided to rebuild Cairo on the model of a European capital. He hoped to have this done by 1869 when representatives from around the world came to Egypt for the opening of the Suez Canal. Rather than rebuild the old city, Isma'il elected to add a new quarter to the western section along the bank of the Nile. The project was carried out by Ali Pasha Mubarak and designed by the French urban planner Pierre Grand. A new area of luxurious villas and apartments was constructed and new government ministries were erected. Grand boulevards were opened through the old town and tram lines soon followed. The era of colonization in 1882 saw the rebuilding of Cairo continuing. A modern sewer system was installed and new suburbs such as Heliopolis were constructed in the desert. Cairo's population exploded, increasing from 374,000 in 1882 to 1,312,000 by 1937. The city was dominated by westerners, however, and city planners tended to emphasize Christian cathedrals over mosques.

Modern Cairo

Cairo remained the central city of Egypt throughout the period of British rule and afterwards. The 20th century saw massive growth in the size of the city as peasants left the farmlands in pursuit of work in the factories and commerce of the metropolis. The city was especially burdened by refugees from the various wars with Israel: much of the population of the Sinai peninsula and the cities along the Suez Canal left for Cairo between 1967 and 1978. Today Cairo is Africa's most populous city and the Arab world's cultural centre. Since the 19th century Cairo has also become a center for tourism as people from around the world have come to see the monuments and artifacts of Ancient Egypt, especially the Pyramids. Laws against the export of these treasures has meant that the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the only place in the world that many items can be seen. Image:Kairo_001.jpg|View of the modern city's skyline. Image:CentralCairo.JPG|South-Central Cairo from the island of Zamalek. Image:CairoFromTower.jpg|View of the Nile and Tahrir Square from the Cairo Tower

Cairo in art, literature and music


- Naguib Mahfouz
- Cairo Opera House [http://www.operahouse.gov.eg/]

Famous Cairenes


- Boutros Boutros Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, was born in Cairo.
- Maimonides, court physician to Saladin and Talmudic scholar.
- Actor Omar Sharif

Districts

Town twinning/Sister cities


- Stuttgart, Germany (since 1979)
- Istanbul, Turkey

See also


- Cairo Metro
- Gates of Cairo
- Wagh el Birket
- Smart Village

Further reading


- Artemis Cooper, Cairo in the War, 1939-1945, Hamish Hamilton, 1989 / Penguin Book, 1995. ISBN 0140247815 (Pbk)
- André Raymond, Cairo, trans. Willard Wood. Harvard University Press, 2000.
- Max Rodenbeck, Cairo – the City Victorious, Picador, 1998. ISBN 0330337092 (Hbk) ISBN 0330337106 (Pbk)

External links


- [http://egypt.cities-guide.net/cairo/ Cairo Web Directory]
- [http://www.wikitravel.org/en/article/Cairo Wikitravel Guide] — The Wikitravel visiting guide.
- [http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/africa/cairo/ Lonely Planet/Cairo]
- [http://st-takla.org/Links/Coptic-Links-02-Churches-a-Egypt.html#Cairo%20&%20Giza: Coptic Churches of Cairo]
- [http://www.cairolive.com/ Cairo Live]
- [http://www.stayxs.com/egypt/cairo.html Cairo Hotels] Category:Holy cities Category:Cities in Egypt Category:Capitals in Africa Category:World Heritage Sites in Egypt als:Kairo ko:카이로 ms:Kaherah ja:カイロ (都市) simple:Cairo

Fatima Az-Zahraa

Fatima Zahra also called Fatemeh Al Zahraa or Az-Zahra () was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadija. She was born in Mecca, northwestern Arabia, around 614 (Shi'a tradition) or 606 CE (Sunni tradition) and died in Medina in 632, soon after her father Muhammad's death. In 624, she was married to her father's cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was one of Muhammad's lieutenants and later, the fourth caliph, or leader of the Muslims. (Note that this is controversial; Shi'a Muslims believe that Ali was the first legitimate caliph.) Fatima had two sons by Ali, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, and two daughters, Umm Khultum bint Ali and Zaynab bint Ali. The two major Muslim groups, Shi'a and Sunni, generally agree on this much, but give very different detailed accounts of her life.

The Sunni view of Fatima

According to Sunni historians, Fatima was the youngest of the four daughters whom Khadija bore to Muhammad. She died of natural causes and was buried privately. Sunni historians do not accept as authentic the accounts of her injuries and miscarriage at the hands of Umar and his men. Sunnis regard her as a loving and devoted daughter and wife, a sincere Muslim, and an exemplar for Muslim women. They also call her Al-Zahra, the Lady of Light. The Khamsa, an amulet popularly believed to ward off evil and widely used in the Maghreb, represents the Hand of Fatima.

The Shi'a view of Fatima

According to Shi'a Muslims, Fatima was Muhammad's only daughter. Tales that he had other daughters by Khadija were spread by Sunni controversialists, who wished to deny Ali the distinction of being Muhammad's only son-in-law. She was very close to her father. Her children, his grandsons Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn, were very dear to him. However, Muhammad's young wife, Aisha, disliked both Fatima and Ali; she envied their relationship with her husband, she was jealous of Muhammad's high regard for the deceased Khadija, and she had a grudge against Ali for his refusal to defend her when she was accused of adultery. When Muhammad died, Aisha and her father Abu Bakr intrigued to grab the leadership of the Muslim community. Muhammad had wanted Ali to succeed him, the Shi'a say, but his wishes were ignored. After Abu Bakr assumed leadership, he asked the Muslims to swear allegiance to him, as was the Arab custom of the time. Ali and his followers refused; they were called the Rafidi, or refusers. They were harassed and threatened by Abu Bakr's supporters. According to the Shi'a, Umar al-Khattab was one of Abu Bakr's most zealous supporters. He led a party of armed men against Ali's house in Medina and called for Ali and his men to come out and swear allegiance. He would burn the house down if they did not submit. Ali refused to come out and Umar and his men pushed into the house. Fatima was standing behind the door, and when the door was pushed open suddenly, she was crushed between the wall and door. This caused severe injury. She was pregnant at the time and she miscarried of a son whom the Shi'a call Al Muhsin. She later died of her injuries and was buried at night, secretly, by Ali. He did not want Abu Bakr and Umar, whom he blamed for his wife's death, to attend her funeral. Shi'as regard Fatima as the greatest woman who has ever lived, the leader of all women in Paradise, the pattern of female virtue. She was the wife of the first Shi'a Imam and the mother of the second and third, and the ancestress of all the succeeding Imams.

Titles


- Al-Zahra (The lady of light)
- Al-Batool (The pure one)
- Al-Tahira (The virtuous)
- Al-Siddiqa (The truthful)
- Al-Afzal al-Nisa (The most supreme of the women)
- Al-Azhra (The chaste)
- Al-Zakiyah (The chaste)
- Al-Mardhiah (The one who pleases God)
- Al-Radhiah (The gratified)
- Al-Mubarakah (The blessed)
- The Lady of Paradise

Who is right?

As noted in other articles about early Islamic history, our only sources for these events are oral traditions that were written down more than one hundred years after the events they purport to recount. The Sunni have their traditions, the Shi'a have theirs. It is extremely difficult to judge which is more trustworthy. See the article on Historiography of early Islam. Also see Succession to Muhammad for further discussion and references.

See also


- Ahl al Bayt
- Hand of Fatima
- Succession to Muhammad
- Historiography of early Islam
- Al Muhsin

External links


- [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html A biography of Fatimah.]
- [http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/fatima_the_gracious/index.htm Fatima The Gracious (as viewed by The Shia)] Category:606 births Category:614 births Category:632 deaths

Muhammad

: "Muhammad" is a common Muslim male name. For other prominent people called Muhammad, see Muhammad (disambiguation) Muhammad (, also transliterated Mohammad, Mohammed, Muhammed, and sometimes Mahomet (Latin Mahometus), following the Latin or Turkish), is believed by Muslims to be God's final prophet sent to guide mankind with the message of Islam. Non-Muslims generally consider him to be the founder of Islam. According to traditional Muslim biographers, he was born ca. 570 in Mecca (Makkah) and died June 8 632 in Medina (Madinah); both Mecca and Medina are cities in the Hejaz region of present day Saudi Arabia. Literally, Muhammad means "highly praised" in Arabic.

Summary

Born Muhammad ibn Abdullah, he is said to have been a merchant who traveled widely. Muslims believe that in 610, at about the age of forty, while praying in a cave called "Hira" near Mecca, he experienced a vision. Later, he described the experience (to those close to him) as a visit from the Angel Gabriel, who commanded him to memorize and recite the verses sent by God which were later collected as the Qur'an. Gabriel told him that God (Allah) had chosen him as the last of the prophets to mankind. He eventually expanded his mission as a prophet, publicly preaching a strict monotheism and predicting a Day of Judgement. He did not completely reject Judaism and Christianity, two other monotheistic faiths known to the Arabs; he said that he had been sent by God in order to complete and perfect their teachings. Many of his neighbors resented his preaching, and persecuted Muhammad and his followers. In 622, he was forced to flee from Mecca and settle in Yathrib (now known as Medina) with his followers, where he was the leader of the first avowedly Muslim community. War between Mecca and Medina followed, in which Muhammad and his followers were eventually victorious. The military organization honed in this struggle was then set to conquering the other tribes of Arabia. By the time of Muhammad's death, he had unified Arabia, spread Islam throughout the Arab Peninsula, and launched expeditions to the north, towards Syria and Palestine. Under prophet Muhammad's immediate successors the Islamic empire expanded into Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, North Africa, and Iberia. Later conquests, commercial contact between Muslims and non-Muslims, and missionary activity spread Islam over much of the globe.

Sources about Muhammad's life

The sources available about Muhammad's life are the Qur'an, the sira biographies, and the hadith collections. While the Qur'an is not a biography of Muhammad, it does provide some information about his life. The earliest surviving biographies are the Life of the Apostle of God, by Ibn Ishaq (d. 768), edited by Ibn Hisham (d. 833); and al-Waqidi's (d. 822) biography of Muhammad. Ibn Ishaq wrote his biography some 120 to 130 years after Muhammad's death. The third source, the hadith collections, like the Qur'an, are not a biography per se. In both the Sunni and Shia belief, they are the accounts of the words and actions of Muhammad. Some skeptical scholars (Wansbrough, Cook, Crone, and others) have raised doubts about the reliability of these sources, especially the hadith collections. They argue that by the time the oral traditions were being collected, the Muslim community had fractured into rival sects and schools of thought. Each sect and school had its own sometimes conflicting traditions of what Muhammad and his companions had done and said. Traditions multiplied, and Muslim scholars made a strenuous effort to weed out what they felt were spurious stories. Traditionalists rely on their efforts while the skeptics feel that the question must be revisited. Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike agree that there are some inauthentic traditions concerning the life of Muhammad in the hadith collections. Most of these traditions are acknowledged by Muslim clerical authorities to be weak; only a few hadith collections are considered reliable. A very small minority called the "Quran Alone Muslims" consider all hadith as unreliable. However, the historicity of the biographical material about Muhammad presented in the summary above is not generally contested. Traditionalists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, paint a much more detailed picture of Muhammad's life.

Muhammad's life according to Sira

Muhammad's genealogy

According to tradition, Muhammad traced his genealogy back as far as Adnan, whom the northern Arabs believed to be their common ancestor. Adnan in turn is said to be a descendant of Ismaeel (Ishmael), son of Ibrahim (Abraham) though the exact genealogy is disputed. Muhammad's genealogy up to Adnan is as follows: Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib (Shaiba) ibn Hashim (Amr) ibn Abd Manaf (al-Mughira) ibn Qusai (Zaid) ibn Kilab ibn Murra ibn Ka`b ibn Lu'ay ibn Ghalib ibn Fahr (Quraish) ibn Malik ibn an-Nadr (Qais) ibn Kinana ibn Khuzaimah ibn Mudrikah (Amir) ibn Ilyas ibn Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Ma`ad ibn Adnan. (ibn = "son of" in Arabic; alternate names of people with two names are given in brackets.) His nickname was Abul-Qaasim, "father of Qaasim", after his short-lived first son.

Childhood

Muhammad was born into a well-to-do family settled in the northern Arabian town of Mecca. Some calculate his birthdate as April 20, 570 (Shia Muslims believe it to be April 26), and some as 571; tradition places it in the Year of the Elephant. Muhammad's father, Abdullah, had died before he was born and the young boy was brought up by his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the tribe of Quraysh. Tradition says that as an infant, he was placed with a Bedouin wetnurse, Halima, as desert life was believed to be safer and healthier for children. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his mother Amina, and at the age of eight his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib. Muhammad now came under care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe, the most powerful in Mecca. Mecca was a thriving commercial centre, due in great part to a stone temple (now called the Kaaba) that housed many different idols. Merchants from different tribes would visit Mecca during the pilgrimage season, when all inter-tribal warfare was forbidden and they could trade in safety. While still in his teens, Muhammad began accompanying his uncle on trading journeys to Syria. He thus became well-travelled and knowledgeable as to foreign ways.

Middle years

Muhammad became a merchant and one of his employers was Khadijah, a rich widow then forty years old. The young twenty-five-year old Muhammad has impressed Khadijah and she proposed to him in the year 595. By Arab custom, minors did not inherit, so Muhammad had received no inheritance from either his father or his grandfather. Ibn Ishaq records that Khadijah bore Muhammad five children, one son and four daughters. All of Khadija's children were born before Muhammad received his first revelation. His son Qasim died at the age of two. The four daughters are said to be Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah. The Shi'a say that Muhammad had only the one daughter, Fatima, and that the other daughters were either children of Khadijah by her previous marriage, or children of her sister.

The first revelations

Muhammad had a reflective turn of mind and routinely spent nights in a cave (Hira) near Mecca in meditation and thought. Muslims believe that around the year 610, while meditating, Muhammad had a vision of the Angel Gabriel and heard a voice saying to him (in rough translation) "Read in the name of your Lord the Creator. He created man from something which clings. Read, and your Lord is the Most Honored. He taught man with the pen; taught him all that he knew not." (See surat Al-Alaq for a fuller account.) The first vision of Gabriel disturbed Muhammad, but his wife Khadijah reassured him that it was a true vision and became his first follower. She was soon followed by his ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Abu Bakr, whom Sunnis assert to have been Muhammad's closest friend. Until his death, Muhammad reportedly received frequent revelations, although there was a relatively long gap after the first revelation. This silence worried him, until he received surat ad-Dhuha, whose words provided comfort and reassurance. Around 613, Muhammad began to spread his message amongst the people. Most of those who heard his message ignored it. A few mocked him. Some, however, believed and joined his small group.

Rejection

As the ranks of Muhammad's followers swelled, he became a threat to the local tribes and the rulers of the city. Their wealth, after all, rested on the Kaaba, a sacred house of idols and the focal point of Meccan religious life. If they threw out their idols, as Muhammad preached, there would be no more pilgrims, no more trade, and no more wealth. Muhammad’s denunciation of polytheism was especially offensive to his own tribe, the Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba. Muhammad and his followers were persecuted. Some of them fled to Abyssinia and founded a small colony there. Several suras and parts of suras are said to date from this time, and reflect its circumstances: see for example al-Masadd, al-Humaza, parts of Maryam and al-Anbiya, al-Kafirun, and Abasa. In 619, both Muhammad's wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib died; it was known as "the year of sorrows." Muhammad's own clan withdrew their protection of him. Muslims patiently endured hunger and persecution.

Isra and Miraj

Some time in 620, the prophet Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the Isra and Miraj, a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night. In the first part of the journey, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca to Jerusalem. In the second part, the Miraj, Muhammad is said to have toured Heaven and Hell, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims believe that the Jerusalem mosque known as the Masjid al-Aqsa is built over the site from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven.

Hijra

By 622, life in the small Muslim community of Mecca was becoming not only difficult, but dangerous. Muslim traditions say that there were several attempts to assassinate Muhammad. Muhammad then resolved to emigrate to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis where there were a number of Muslim converts. By breaking the link with his own tribe, Muhammad demonstrated that tribal and family loyalties were insignificant compared to the bonds of Islam, a revolutionary idea in the tribal society of Arabia. This Hijra or emigration (traditionally translated into English as "flight") marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. The Muslim calendar counts dates from the Hijra, which is why Muslim dates have the suffix AH (After Hijra). Muhammad came to Medina as a mediator, invited to resolve the feud between the Arab factions of Aws and Khazraj. He ultimately did so by absorbing both factions into his Muslim community, and forbidding bloodshed among Muslims. However, Medina was also home to a number of Jewish tribes (whether they were ethnically as well as religiously Jewish is an open question, as is the depth of their "Jewishness"). Muhammad had hoped that they would recognize him as a prophet, but they did not do so. Some academic historians suggest that Muhammad abandoned hope of recruiting Jews as allies or followers at this time, and thus the qibla, the Muslim direction of prayer, was changed from the site of the former Temple in Jerusalem to the Kabaa in Mecca. Non-Muslim settlements within Muslim territories were taxed rather than expelled. Muhammad drafted a document now known as the Constitution of Medina (ca. 622-623), which laid out the terms on which the different factions, specifically the Jews, could exist within the new Islamic State. In this system, the Jews and other "Peoples of the Book" were allowed to keep their religions as long as they paid tribute. This system would come to typify Muslim relations with their non-believing subjects and that tradition was one reason for the stability of the later Muslim caliphate or Khilafah. In this, the Islamic empire was more tolerant than the other great powers of the area, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires, which were actively hostile to any religions or sects other than the state-sponsored religions (Orthodox Christianity and Zoroastrianism).

War

Relations between Mecca and Medina rapidly worsened (see surat al-Baqara). Meccans confiscated all the property that the Muslims had left in Mecca. In Medina, Muhammad signed treaties of alliance and mutual help with neighboring tribes. Muhammad turned to raiding caravans bound for Mecca. Caravan raiding was an old Arabian tradition; Muslims justified the raids by the state of war deemed to exist between the Meccans and the Muslims. Secular scholars add this was also a matter of survival for the Muslims. They owned no land in Medina and if they did not raid, they would have to live on charity and whatever wage labor they could find. In March of 624, Muhammad led some 300 warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Meccans successfully defended the caravan and then decided to teach the Medinans a lesson. They sent a small army against Medina. On March 15, 624 near a place called Badr, the Meccans and the Muslims clashed. Though outnumbered more than 3 times (1000 to 300) in the battle, the Muslims met with success, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died. This marked the real beginning of Muslim military achievement.

Muhammad's rule consolidated

To the Muslims, the victory in Badr appeared as a divine authentication of Muhammad's prophethood, and he and all the Muslims rejoiced greatly. Following this victory, after clashes, and the breaking of a treaty that risked the security of the city state, the victors expelled a local Jewish clan, the Banu Qainuqa. Virtually all the remaining Medinans converted, and Muhammad became de facto ruler of the city. After Khadija's death, Muhammad married again, to Aisha, the daughter of his friend Abu Bakr (who would later emerge as the first leader of the Muslims after Muhammad's death). In Medina, he married Hafsah, daughter of Umar (who would eventually become Abu Bakr's successor). These marriages sealed relations between Muhammad and his top-ranking followers. Muhammad's daughter Fatima married Ali, Muhammad's cousin. According to the Sunni, another daughter, Umm Kulthum, married Uthman. Each of these men, in later years, would emerge as successors to Muhammad and political leaders of the Muslims. Thus all four of the first four caliphs were linked to Muhammad by marriage. Sunni Muslims regard these caliphs as the Rashidun, or Rightly Guided. (See Succession to Muhammad for more information on the controversy on who the first caliph should have been).

Continued warfare

In 625 the Meccan general Abu Sufyan marched on Medina with 3,000 men. The ensuing Battle of Uhud took place on March 23, ending in a stalemate. The Meccans claimed victory, but they had lost too many men to pursue the Muslims into Medina. In April 627 Abu Sufyan led another strong force against Medina. But Muhammad had dug a trench around Medina and successfully defended the city in the Battle of the Trench. Many of the Muslims believed that Abu Sufyan had been aided by sympathizers among the Medinans, the Jewish tribe of the Banu Qurayza. As soon as the battle was over, the Muslims turned upon the Banu Qurayza. After the Banu Qurayza were defeated, all the adult men were beheaded by the order of Saad ibn Muadh, an arbiter chosen by the Banu Qurayza. The remaining women and children were taken as captives or for ransom. Some critics of Islam feel that this was unjust; Muslims believe that this was necessary. The matter is discussed at greater length in the article on the Banu Qurayza. Following the Muslim's victory at the Battle of the Trench, the Muslims were able, through conversion and conquest, to extend their rule to many of the neighboring cities and tribes.

The conquest of Mecca

By 628, the Muslim position was strong enough that Muhammad decided to return to Mecca, this time as a pilgrim. In March of that year, he set out for Mecca, followed by 1,600 men. After some negotiation, a treaty was signed at the border town of al-Hudaybiyah. While Muhammad would not be allowed to finish his pilgrimage that year, hostilities would cease and the Muslims would have permission to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in the following year. The agreement lasted only two years, however, as the Meccans broke the treaty in 630. As a result, the prophet Muhammad marched on Mecca with an enormous force, said to number 10,000+ men. The Meccans submitted without a fight, and thus, there was no bloodshed. The prophet Muhammad promised a general amnesty to all the Meccans and ensured them that no harm will be done to them. Most Meccans converted to Islam, as a result of this, and Muhammad destroyed the idols in the Kaaba. Henceforth the pilgrimage would be a Muslim pilgrimage and the shrine a Muslim shrine.

Unification of Arabia

The capitulation of Mecca and the defeat of an alliance of enemy tribes at Hunayn effectively brought the greater part of the Arabian peninsula under Muhammad's authority. This authority was not enforced by any formal governments, however, as he chose instead to rule through personal relationships and tribal treaties. Hunayn The Muslims were clearly the dominant force in Arabia, and most of the remaining tribes and states hastened to convert to Islam.

Muhammad as a warrior

For most of the sixty-three years of his life, Muhammad was a merchant, then a prophet. He took up the sword late in his life. He was a warrior for ten years. Much criticism has been leveled at Muhammad for engaging in caravan raids and wars of conquest. Critics say that his wars went well beyond self-defense. Muslim commentators, however, argue that he fought only to defend his community against the Meccans, and that he insisted on humane rules of warfare.

Muhammad's family life

From 595 to 619, Muhammad had only one wife, Khadijah. After her death he married Aisha, then Hafsa. Later he was to marry more wives, for a total of eleven (nine or ten living at the time of his death). Some say that he married his slave girl Maria al-Qibtiyya, but other sources speak to the contrary. Khadija was Muhammad's first wife and the mother of the only child to survive him, his daughter Fatima. He married his other wives after the death of Khadija. Some of these women were recent widows of warriors in battle. Others were daughters of his close allies or tribal leaders. One of the later unions resulted in a son, but the child died when he was ten months old. His marriage to Aisha is often criticized today citing traditional sources that state she was only nine years old when he consummated the marriage. (See Aisha for a discussion of other, conflicting, traditions). Critics also question his marriage to his adopted son's ex-wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, and his alleged violation of the Qur'anic injunction against marrying more than four wives. For further information on Muhammad's family life and consideration of these criticisms, see Muhammad's marriages.

Companions of Muhammad

The term companions refers to anyone who met three criteria. First, he must have been a contemporary of Muhammad. Second, he must have seen or heard Muhammad speak on at least one occasion. Third, he must have converted to Islam. Companions are responsible for the transmission of hadith, as each hadith must have as its first transmitter a companion. There were many other companions in addition to the ones listed here. List in alphabetic order:
- Aamir
- Abdullah ibn Abbas
- Abdulrahman
- Abu Bakr
- Ali
- Bilal the Ethiopian
- Hamza
- Sa'd
- Sa'eed
- Sad Ibn Abi Waqqas
- Salman the Persian
- Suhaib the Roman
- Talha
- Umar
- Uthman
- Zubair

The death of Muhammad

After a short illness, Muhammad died around noon on Monday 8 June 632, in the city of Medina at the age of sixty-three. According to Shi'a Islam, Muhammad had appointed his son-in-law Ali as his successor, in a public sermon at Ghadir Khumm. But Abu Bakr and Umar intrigued to oust Ali and make Abu Bakr the leader or caliph. The majority Sunni sect dispute this, and say that the leaders of the community conferred and freely chose Abu Bakr, who was pre-eminent among the followers of Muhammad. However it happened, Abu Bakr became the new leader. He spent much of his short reign suppressing rebellious tribes in the Ridda Wars. With unity restored in Arabia, the Muslims looked outward and commenced the conquests that would eventually unite the Middle East under the caliphs.

Muhammad's descendants

Middle East. The mosque now contains the tombs of Muhammad and the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab]] Muhammad was survived by his daughter Fatima and her children. (Some say that he had a daughter Zainab, who had borne a daughter, Amma or Umama, who survived him as well.) In Shi'a Islam, it is believed that Fatima's husband 'Ali and his descendants are the rightful leaders of the faithful. The Sunni do not accept this view, but they still honor Muhammad's descendents. Descendents of Muhammad are known by many names, such as sayyids, syeds سيد, and sharifs شريف (plural: ِأشراف Ashraaf). Many rulers and notables in Muslim countries, past and present, claim such descent, with various degrees of credibility, such as the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa, the Idrisis, the current royal families of Jordan and Morocco, and the Agha Khan Imams of the Ismaili branch of Islam. In various Muslim countries, there are societies that authenticate claims of descent; some societies are more credible than others.

Muhammad's historical significance

Before his death in 632, Prophet Muhammad had established Islam as a social and political force and had unified most of Arabia. A few decades after his death, his successors had united all of Arabia, and conquered Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Armenia, and much of North Africa. By 750, Islam had emerged as the spiritual counterpart to the two great monotheistic belief systems, Judaism and Christianity, and as the geopolitical successor to the Roman Empire. The rest of North Africa had come under Muslim rule, as well as the entire Iberian Peninsula and much of Central Asia (including Sind, in the Indus Valley). Under the Ghaznavids, in the tenth century, Islam was spread to the mainly Hindu principalities east of the Indus by conquering armies in what is now northern India. Even later, Islam expanded peacefully into much of Africa and Southeast Asia. Islam is now the faith of well over a billion people all over the globe, and is the second largest religion of the present day.

Muslim veneration of Muhammad

Image:Muhammad callig.gif|The name "Muhammad" written in Arabic calligraphy. Many Muslims believe that Islam prohibits art depicting humans or animals; much Islamic art is decorative calligraphy or arabesque (abstract pattern). Image:Miraj2.jpg|A 16th century Persian miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the Miraj. Muhammad's face is veiled.
All Muslims feel a great love and veneration for Muhammad, and express this feeling in many ways.
- When speaking or writing, Muhammad's name is preceded by the title "Prophet" and is followed by the phrase, Peace be upon him, or Peace be upon him and his descendents by Shias; in English often abbreviated as "(pbuh)" and "pbuh&hd", or just simply as "p".
- Concerts of Muslim and especially Sufi devotional music include songs praising Muhammad (see Muslim music, Qawwali).
- Some Muslims celebrate the birthday of Muhammad (Mawlid) with elaborate festivities. Others do not, believing that such festivities are modern innovations.
- Criticism of Muhammad is often equated with blasphemy, which is punishable by death in some Muslim states.
- Muhammad is often referenced with titles of praise.
- Muhammad's relics, such as his grave, his sword, his clothing, even strands of his hair, are revered by some.
- Even non-iconic representations of Muhammad are traditionally discouraged. From the 16th century however, Persian and Ottoman art frequently represented Muhammad in miniatures, albeit with his his face either veiled, or emanating radiance (see e.g. Siyer-i Nebi).
- Beyond the stories accepted as canonical by Islamic scholars of hadith, or oral traditions, there are many folktales praising Muhammad and recounting miraculous stories of his birth, upbringing and life.

See also


- Islam
- Islam and veneration for Muhammad
- The 100
- Sira
- Hadith
- Family tree of Muhammad ibn Abdallah
- Succession to Muhammad
- Siyer-i Nebi
- List of Islamic terms in Arabic
- List of founders of major religions
- Informative films about Muhammad

References


-
-
-
-
-
- Sahih Muslim Book 008, Number 3310
- Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64
- Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 65

External links

;Non-sectarian biography
- [http://www.pbs.org/muhammad Public Broadcasting System program on Muhammad]
- [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553918/Muhammad_(prophet).html/ Encarta Encyclopedia]
- [http://31.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MA/MAHOMET.htm 1911 Encyclopedia article of Muhammad] ;Muslim biographies
- [http://www.al-sunnah.com/nektar/ Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar)- Memoirs of the Noble Prophet]
- [http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MH_LM/default.htm The Life of Muhammad] Muhammad Husayn Haykal Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi
- [http://www.islamonline.net/English/In_Depth/mohamed/1424/index.shtml Islamonline]
- [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/ About Muhammad]
- [http://www.muhammad.net/ Muhammad Biography and more] ;Critical perspectives:
- [http://www.answering-islam.org.uk/Books/Jeffery/historical_mhd.htm The Quest for the Historical Mohammed]
- [http://debate.org.uk/topics/theo/muhbiog.htm Trends in Biographies of Muhammad] ;Other
- [http://www.usna.edu/Users/humss/bwheeler/swords/swords_index.html Swords of the Prophet Muhammad] Category:Muslims Category:Arab people Category:Islamic prophets Category:Islam Category:570 births Category:632 deaths Category:Revolutionaries ko:무함마드 ms:Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. ja:ムハンマド・イブン＝アブドゥッラーフ simple:Muhammad th:มุฮัมมัด

971

Events
- Kenneth II of Scotland succeeds Culen as King, though he wasn't sole king until 977. Births
- Deaths
- Culen of Scotland Category:971 ko:971년

Common Era

The Common Era (CE), also known as the Christian Era and sometimes the Current Era, is the period beginning with the year 1 onwards. The term is used for a system of reckoning years that is chronologically equivalent to the anno Domini (AD) (Latin for "in the year of [our] Lord") system, but with less overt religious implications. Although common era was a term first used by some Christians in an age when Christianity was the common religion of the West, it is now a term preferred by some as a religiously neutral alternative. It has its equivalents in other languages. For example, Chinese uses its literal translation, gōngyuán (公元), for date notation.

Chronology and notation

The calendar practice prompting the coining of the term common era is the system of numbering and naming years using the presumed (although incorrect) birth year of Jesus as a starting point. This system was devised by the monk Dionysius Exiguus in the year 525, and used the label anno Domini to identify the year. Two centuries later the monk Bede introduced a Latin term that is roughly equivalent to the English term before Christ to identify years in the era preceding anno Domini. Both Dionysius and Bede regarded anno Domini as beginning at the incarnation or conception of Jesus, not his birth nine months later. Anno Domini was in widespread use by the ninth century, but the Latin equivalent of before Christ did not become widespread until the late fifteenth century (neither was abbreviated in Latin). The term "common era" refers to the time period since the year 1 in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars. By convention, for most purposes except astronomical use, year zero is not used. Instead, 1 BCE (or 1 BC) immediately precedes 1 CE (or AD 1). The Gregorian calendar is the de facto standard calendar system. Thus, according to this calendar, the French Revolution occurred in the year 1789, and human beings first walked on the Moon in the year 1969. Users of common era nomenclature consider these events to have occurred in years "of the common era". When used as a replacement for BC/AD notation, the common era is abbreviated as CE and is the direct chronological equivalent of AD. Similarly, the time before the common era is written as BCE and is the direct chronological equivalent of BC. Both abbreviations are written following the year, thus Aristotle was born in 384 BCE (or 384 BC), and Genghis Khan died in 1227 CE (or AD 1227). On (rare) [http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22Era+Vulgaris%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta= occasions], one may find the abbreviation "e.v." or "EV" instead of "CE"; this stands for "Era Vulgaris", the Latin translation of "Common Era".

Origins

According to Peter Daniels (a Cornell University and University of Chicago trained linguist):
CE and BCE came into use in the last few decades, perhaps originally in Ancient Near Eastern studies, where (a) there are many Jewish scholars and (b) dating according to a Christian era is irrelevant. It is indeed a question of sensitivity.
However, the term "common era" has earlier antecedents. A 1716 book by English Bishop John Prideaux says, "The vulgar era, by which we now compute the years from his incarnation." In 1835, in his book Living Oracles, Alexander Campbell, wrote "The vulgar Era, or Anno Domini; the fourth year of Jesus Christ, the first of which was but eight days." In its article on Chronology, the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia uses the sentence: "Foremost among these (dating eras) is that which is now adopted by all civilized peoples and known as the Christian, Vulgar or Common Era, in the twentieth century of which we are now living." "Vulgar" comes from the Latin word vulgāris (from vulgus, the common people), meant "of or belonging to the common people, everyday," and acknowledges that the date was commonly used, even by people who did not believe that Jesus was divine. By the late 1800s, however, vulgar had come to mean "crudely indecent" and the Latin word was replaced by its English equivalent, "common". The first known Jewish use of this practice is from an inscription on a gravestone in a Jewish cemetery in Plymouth, England:
Here is buried his honour Judah ben his honour Joseph, a prince and honoured amongst philanthropists, who executed good deeds, died in his house in the City of Bath, Tuesday, and was buried here on Sunday, 19 Sivan in the year 5585. In memory of Lyon Joseph Esq (merchant of Falmouth, Cornwall). who died at Bath June AM 5585/VE 1825. Beloved and respected.
This inscription, like most, uses the Jewish calendar (5585), but ends by providing the common year (1825); presumably the "VE" means "Vulgar Era", and presumably VE was used instead of AD in order to avoid the Christian implications.

Usage

Jewish and Christian scholars have developed the BCE/CE terms for the benefit of cross-cultural dialogue.[http://www.torontoareamennonites.ca/danforth/dmc_notes/witmer10.htm]. Some Islamic scholars and others outside the Judeo-Christian religious traditions have used the system. Some Christians have used the term CE to mean "Christian era." Many non-religious academics in the fields of history, theology, archaeology and anthropology have also in recent decades begun using this system. More visible uses of common era notation have recently surfaced at major museums in the English-speaking world: Canada's Royal Ontario Museum adopted BCE/CE in 2002 [http://www.rom.on.ca/ossuary/ossuary_intro.html], and the Smithsonian Institution also prefers common era usage, though individual museums are not required to use it.[http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/field_trips/standards/world_history_standards.html] As well, many style guides now prefer or mandate its usage. [http://www.egyptstudy.org/OstraconGuidelines.html][http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/natrel/pom/pomstyle.html][http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/american_journal_of_philology/guidelines.html][http://www.sagepub.com/journalManuscript.aspx?pid=10754][http://www.yorku.ca/topia/docs/styleguide] Some style guides for Christian churches even mandate its use; for example, that of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.[http://www.ang-md.org/mcn/style-guide.pdf (pdf)] "CE" is growing in usage in textbooks. It is used by the College Board in its history tests.

Support

Supporters of common era notation promote it as a religiously neutral notation suited for cross-cultural use. Arguments given for standardizing common era notation include:
- The calendar used by the West has become a global standard — one built into every computer's hardware. It should be religiously and culturally neutral out of consideration for those cultures compelled to use it out of necessity. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A3176345]
- It has been largely used by academic and scientific communities for over a century now, and is not a completely unfamiliar dating system. [http://www.answers.com/topic/common-era]
- Dating years according to Christian theology has the potential to be culturally divisive in worldwide use. Dating months and days based on Roman and Norse gods, however, is of little concern because the Roman and Norse religions are virtually extinct, and because the names can just as easily be seen as coming from the names of the planets and other celestial objects. People in other cultures are free to name the months and days of the week as they wish in their own language, but years are just numbers and it is quite easy to make them less overtly culturally specific. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A3176345]
- It promotes ecumenical standards and Christian Era is an interchangeable meaning for the acronym CE.
- It is simple to change BC/AD to BCE/CE terminology, since the years are exactly equal, regardless of which terminology is used. No conversion of the numbers is required. Documents with years that do not have AD designation do not need to be changed. (example: 1066 remains 1066 in AD and in CE systems)
- The label Anno Domini is likely inaccurate because Christ's birth probably occurred no later than 4 BC, the year of Herod the Great's death.
- It avoids confusion over whether "AD" should come before or after the year. (This is important for the in-house manuals of style of periodicals.)
- Stylistic rules which require that AD precede the year are justified by saying that "In the year of our Lord 2005" is correct syntax, and "2005 in the year of our Lord" is incorrect. Such statements belie the claim that AD has lost its religious meaning.
- The intensity with which some Christians protest any switch from BC/AD to BCE/CE indicates that, despite any claims to the contrary, BC/AD has not become "removed from its religious connotations".

Opposition

Changing dates expressed in BC terminology to BCE has given rise to some opposition. Arguments against the common era designation include:
- BC and AD have been used for such a length of time as to have become somewhat removed from their religious connotations.
- The newer BCE/CE system has not been used widely enough so as to have become commonly understood.
- "BCE" and "CE" are so similar that they may confuse readers.
- The names for the months and days of the week derive respectively from Roman and Nordic religious traditions, so naming eras based on the Christian tradition should not be seen as objectionable.
- It downplays the prominence of Jesus in societies that have a Christian heritage.
- Some object to the common era's retention of the year 1 as its epoch because it preserves a Christocentric worldview at the expense of a religiously neutral timekeeping system. Examples of this opposition include:
- When BC was changed to BCE in one examination question in New South Wales, Australia in early 2005, it prompted questions and protestations of offence in both chambers of the State Parliament, and the State Education Minister stated in Parliament that the change should not have been made.
- When the teaching of what BCE/CE meant was introduced into the English National Curriculum in 2002, it prompted confused letters to national newspapers.
- When the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada changed from using BC to using BCE, it was subjected to derision as well as complaints expressed in the national Canadian press.

Other calendars in use

Several major calendar systems exist in addition to the Western calendar.
- The Hindu calendar constitutes four eras and the epoch of the present (fourth) era, the Kali Yuga, is BCE 3102 January 23 on the proleptic Gregorian calendar, making the current year (2005) 5107.
- The Hebrew calendar dates from the Creation (according to which the year beginning in the northern autumn of 2000 was 5761 AM);
- Most Chinese do not assign numbers to the years of the Chinese calendar, but the few that do (expatriate Chinese and Westerners) date from the Yellow Emperor (three different systems are in use, which caused the Chinese years 4637, 4697, or 4698 to begin in early 2000).
- The Buddhist calendar dates from the birth of the Buddha (making 2000, 2543 under this calendar, but only in Thailand);
- The Indian nati