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Al Kufah
(Encyclopedia)Al Kufah äl ko͞oˈfä [key], town, S central Iraq. Founded (638) by Caliph Umar I, it was one of the two Muslim centers (the other was Basra) of the early Ummayad caliphs. ...Kharga
(Encyclopedia)Kharga äl khärˈēnjä [key], large oasis (1986 pop. 38,544), S central Egypt, in the Libyan (Western) Desert. Populated chiefly by Arab Bedouins and Arab-speaking Berbers, the irrigated oasis produ...Nizam al-Mulk
(Encyclopedia)Nizam al-Mulk nĭzˈəm äl mûlk [key], c.1018–92, vizier (1063–92) under two Seljuk (see Turks) sultans. Of Persian descent, he was early educated in administration, serving the Ghaznavids sulta...Islamic State
(Encyclopedia)Islamic State (IS), Sunni Islamic militant group committed to the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that would unite Muslims in a transnational, strict-fundamentalist Islamic state. IS has been ma...Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani
(Encyclopedia)Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, 1932–2016, emir of Qatar (1972–95). Khalifa was the son of Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani, the second emir's heir apparent, but Hamad died (1948) before the emir. During t...Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah
(Encyclopedia)Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah äˈbo͞o äl-äbäsˈ äs-säfäˈ [key], d. 754, 1st Abbasid caliph (749–54). Raised to the caliphate by the armed might of Abu Muslim, he took the reign name as-Saffah [she...Al Ubayyid
(Encyclopedia)Al Ubayyid ĕl ōbādˈ [key], city (2021 metropolitan area pop. 495,000), S central Sudan. It is a rail terminus, a road and camel caravan junction, and the end of a pilg...Al-Khowarizmi
(Encyclopedia)Al-Khowarizmi äl-khōwärēzˈmē [key], fl. 820, Arab mathematician of the court of Mamun in Baghdad. His treatises on Hindu arithmetic and on algebra made him famous. He is said to have given algeb...Abu al-Fida
(Encyclopedia)Abu al-Fida äˌbo͞o äl-fēˈdä, –fĭdäˈ [key], 1273–1331, Arab historian, b. Damascus. He fought against the Christians in the last period of the Crusades and later became (1310) governor of...Al Qaida
(Encyclopedia)Al Qaida: see Al Qaeda.Browse by Subject
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