A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z

Abbad Abu Amr

Birth:1042

Death:69rg

Known as al Mu'tadid - he who seeks strength from Allah. He was the son of Abdul Qasim Muhammad Ibn Abbad, who had declared Seville independent of Cordoba in 1023 and founded the Abbadid dynasty of Andolusia. He annexed Seville, Niebla, Saltes and other minor kingdoms. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Aban Bin Usman

Birth:

Death:724

The son of the third Caliph Hazrat Usman. His book Kitabul-maghazi was one of the oldest books on Ghazwah (military expeditions) led by the Prophet, peace be upon him

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas

Birth:c566

Death:653

The son of Abdul Muttalib and the paternal uncle of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. His son Abdulah Ibn-Abbas was a celebrated authority on Islamic Traditions and law. About a century later, Abdul Abbas of this family laid the foundation of the Abbasid dynasty....

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas I

Birth:1813

Death:1854

The Pasha of Egypt and grandson of Muhammad Ali. He succeeded his uncle Ibrahim Pasha in 1849. He distrusted Europeans and dismissed most of his grandfather's European advisers and forbade European concessions. In 1853 he demonstrated his loyalty to Turkey by sending 15,000 men to help the Turks ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas II

Birth:1874

Death:1944

Also known as Hilmi Pasha. The last Khedieve (Viceroy of the Sultan) of Egypt. He succeeded his father Tawfik Pasha in 1892. Pro-Turkish Abbas was suspicious of British policy in Egypt. He resented their control as virtual rulers of Egypt since 1882. After Britain declared war on ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas Ali Khan

Birth:1914

Death:1999

Bangladesh's thinker and author who devoted a lifetime to Islamic activities. He authored a number of books including his landmark work, 'Muslim History in Benga'l. He was born in Joypurhat.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abbas Alamdar

Birth:648

Death:680

The stepbrother of Hadhrat Hussain who was entrusted with the standard (Alam) at the battlefield of Karbala. He was martyred while trying to bring water from the river Euphrates for the thirsty Sakina, daughter of Hadhrat Hussain.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas Ibn Firnas

Birth:805

Death:888

Andalusian scholar and inventor of crystal. Abbas Ibn Firnas came to Cordoba to teach music but his interest drifted to mathematics and then in the mechanics of flight. He constructed a pair of wings made out of feathers in a wooden frame, and attempted to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas Farhat

Birth:1899

Death:1955

Farhat Abbas - the Algerian leader who headed the Algerian government-in-exile before independence from France in 1962. He was known as the 'grand old man of Algerian politics'. A pharmacist by training.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas Shah II

Birth:1632

Death:1666

The great grandson of Shah Abbas-I. Succeeded his father Shah Shafi to the throne of Iran in 1642. He regained Qandhar, lost by his father, from Shahjehan, Emperor of India.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbaud Ibrahim

Birth:1900

Death:1983

A Sudanese political leader. He was commander-in-chief of Independent Sudan (1956), President (1958) and removed in a revolution in 1964.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Aziz IV

Birth:c1881

Death:1943

Sultan of Morocco. He succeeded his father Al Hasan in 1894. His pro-western policies and indulgence in expensive hobbies invited antagonism. In 1907 his brother Abd Al Hafiz led a revolt against him and made him abdicate in 1908. He died in Tangier.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Aziz Al Saqqaf

Birth:1951

Death:1999

Journalist and human rights campaigner. Saqqaf was a courageous Yemeni who was the editor and publisher of the Yemen Times. He launched his paper in 1991 "during the political spring that accompanied Yemen's first steps towards democracy" that became most influential and commercially successful. He died ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abd Al Hamid Ben Badis

Birth:1889

Death:1940

An Algerian reformer and leader Ben Badis started a movement to assert the Algerian identity and prepare his countrymen for freedom from France. The French, the colonial power, had closed many Islamic centres of education, and had restricted the teaching of Arabic and the Qur'an. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Walid

Abd Al Hamid Bin Yahya Bin Sa'ad

Birth:

Death:750

The founder of the Arabic epistolary style. He was a scribe and letter-writer for the Ummayads.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Momin

Birth:c1094

Death:1163

The founder of the Al Mohad dynasty in North Africa. He destroyed the Almoravid dynasty, crossed over into Spain and conquered Cordoba (1148), Almeria (1151), Granada (1154) and Seville (1157), thus becoming the ruler as far east as Tunisia and most of Spain.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Qadir Baghdadi

Birth:1621

Death:1682

A renowned philologist and author of Lisan-Al-Arab and other works.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Rahman 'Umar

Birth:1938

Death:

The Egyptian religious leader, accidentally blinded when he was 10 months old. He obtained a Master's degree from Al-Azhar and was mcuh-loved for his beautiful recitation of the the Qur'an.. He was put in jail by the Egyptian government when he condemned Nasser as an infidel, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Abdel Raziq

Birth:1888

Death:1966

The Egyptian intellectual and author. His theory that 'Caliphate' was not an integral part of Islam, brought the wrath of the Muslims. His argument against the Caliphate was probably an effort to deny King Faud of Egypt the ability to appropriate the Khilafat after the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Razzaq Al Sanhuri

Birth:1895

Death:1971

The Egyptian jurist who drafted the modern civil codes of various Arab countries and tried to reinvigorate the Shariah in the light of contemporary developments. He proposed modernisation of Islamic law and was responsible for revisions of the Egyptian and Iraqi codes, enacted in 1949 and 1951 ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Wahab Muhammad

Birth:c1901

Death:1991

The Egyptian composer and musician who introduced western musical instruments. He composed about 2,000 popular songs that he sang mainly himself and also for others like Umm Kulsum.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Allah Ibn Yasin

Birth:

Death:1059

A teacher from an-Nafis (in present day Libya) who instructed the Berbers in Islam. The followers he attracted to his ribat (a fortified place of seclusion) were known as Al Murabitun (the people of the retreat) or Almoravids (its Anglicised form) who founded the Almoravid ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Ar Rahman

Birth:1840

Death:1901

The grandson of Dost Muhammad Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan, was driven into exile but was brought back by the British in 1880.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdeen Ismael

Birth:1915

Death:2000

Lawyer, diplomat and campaigner for democracy in Sudan. Britain, the colonial power, compounded the division, first by reinforcing the inequalities of development between the centre and outlying regions, and then by hastily granting Sudan independence in 1956, without taking the interests of the southern Sudanese into ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdelkader Hachani

Birth:1956

Death:1999

Engineer and politician of Algeria. A leader of the Algerian party, the Islamic Salvation Front, of which he was one of the founder members in 1989. The party was denied its political victory by an army coup in 1992. He was a quite and courteous man, an ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abd El Qadir

Birth:1808

Death:1883

Abdul Qadir Ibn Muhyiuddin al-Jazairi (his real name) was the Algerian national leader who led the resistance movement against the French in Algeria, occupied by France in 1830. He took over from his father who started the resistance movement in 1832. In 1833 he fought against the French ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Jalil Ibn Khazal Shaikh

Birth:1918

Death:1998

A lawyer. His father, Shaikh Khazal ibn Jaber, until 1925, was the ruler of Muhammarah and Arabistan (now Khuzestan) in southern Persia (now Iran). In the 1960s he set up a trading company to pursue his business activities. He also acted as his family's lawyer and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdoulaye Ndiaye

Birth:1894

Death:1998

Soldier, born in Thiovor, Senegal. He was forced to take part in World War 1 along with French, his colonial master. He was due to be decorated with the Legion d'Honneur by France on 11 November 1998, in his home village, on the 80th anniversary of the Armistice ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Abbas Ahmad Bin Muhammad, Qastalani

Birth:1448

Death:1517

Born at Cairo, he was famous for his Sharh sahih Bukhari. He authored many other works including Mawahib-al-Dunia, a life history of Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, . He was a Shafii.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Amir Allawai

Birth:1912

Death:1998

A physician and politician belonged to a generation of Iraqi who retained the values of a more liberal and tolerant age. He represented Iraq's delegation to the Arab League Conference on Social Affairs in Beirut (1948) and then as head in Cairo (1949). He was appointed by ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Amir Ma'lla

Birth:1942

Death:1997

Iraq's former top propagandist, who penned a glowing account of Saddam Hussain's rise to power. As a Ba'ath party youth, Malla wrote poetry and novels of a religious nature, before moving on to more a secular pursuit; glorifying his country's leaders. He died in Baghdad.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Ati Muhammad Al Mouji

Birth:1945

Death:1998

Egyptian comedian known as Najah Al Mouji. He built his career portraying the simple, yet genuine and spontaneous, character of the ordinary Egyptian: paradox confronting the ordinary citizen facing new ways of life, and younger generations breaking with traditions in their search for wealth and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Aziz Shah

Birth:1746

Death:1824

The son of Shah Waliullah. Author of a Persian commentary on the Qur'an, called Tafsir Fath-ul-Aziz and other books.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Fatah Yusuf Ibn Abdullah

Birth:989

Death:998

A descendent of al Hasan Kalbi during whose reign the Muslim Sicily reached its height. The old feuds between the north Arabians and the south Yemenites (including the Kalbis) brought the downfall of Muslim rule in Sicily. Palermo was lost to count Roger in 1017 and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Hak Adnan Adivar

Birth:1882

Death:1955

Turkish author and politician. Chief Editor of the Turkish Encyclopaedia of Islam (1940).

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Hamid II

Birth:1842

Death:1918

Sultan Abdul Hamid II ascended the Ottoman throne in 1876. At the time the Turkish Empire included Anatolia, the Balkans, Greece, Bulgaria, the Levant (Syria and Palestine), Iraq, the Arabian peninsula (jazirat ul Arab), and North Africa. However the Sultan was confronted by serious internal rivalries ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin/M.A.Sherif

Abdul Haq

Birth:1958

Death:2001

The veteran Afghan resistance commander. Days before the US launched the first air strike on Afghanistan in October 2001, he warned that the civilian causalities would only steel Pashtun support for Taliban. The Taliban executed him when he entered in Afghanistan suspected to be a spy ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Haq Hamid

Birth:1852

Death:1937

One of the greatest Turkish playwright and poet and instrumental in introducing western influence into Turkish literature.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Haris Nasution

Birth:1919

Death:2000

Politician and soldier from Sumatra. A hero who led guerrilla campaigns and fought for Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands. The Indonesian army general who was one of the main architects of 'dwifungsi', the policy that allows the armed forces to play an active role in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Karim Mir Of Bukhara

Birth:

Death:1830

The author of a history of Afghanistan and Turkistan that was translated into French.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Karim Muhammad Rif

Birth:1882

Death:1963

A Moroccan nationalist leader. He led an anti-colonial rebellion in 1919. His confederated republic of RIF Tribes, held out against French Spanish forces in 1921-1927. He was exiled in 1927 and spent the rest of his life in Egypt and other countries. Regarded as a hero by ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Latif

Birth:1162

Death:1231

Born in Baghdad. He wrote about 166 works, one fourth of which were on medicine including a Compendium of The History of Egypt in 1203.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Latif Bhittai Shah

Birth:1689

Death:1752

A Sindhi Sufi poet. A symbol that inspires and influences the lives and activities of his disciples, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was a mystic soul of Sindh in Pakistan. His poetry is still mesmerising and meaningful. In his pursuit of Ishq (highest stage of love) ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Latif Nawab

Birth:1828

Death:1893

One of the most prominent Muslims of modern Bengal (India). A well-known Urdu poet 'Nassakh', was his brother. He was the first Muslim to be the member of the Bengal Legislative Council in 1862. One of his granddaughters married A.K. Fazlul Haq. Another was married ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Malik

Birth:646

Death:705

Fifth Ummaiyad Caliph who restored Ummaiyad power after a period of civil war. Abd al-Malik (his full name Abdul Malik Bin Marwan)upheld the solidarity of the ummah against the local Arab chieftains, brought rebels to heel, and pursued a determined policy of centralisation. It ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Mutalib

Birth:

Death:578

The grandfather of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him grandfather. He died aged 82. His sons were Abdullah (the Prophet's father), al-Haris, az-Zuhair, Abu Talib, Abu Lahab, al-Abbas and Hamza.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qadir Bedayoni Sk

Birth:1540

Death:1615

The author of Muntakab-Ul-Tawarikh. Employed by Akbar to translate into Persian from Arabic and Sanskrit books such as Mu'jam-ul-Buldan and the Ramayan and Mahabharat. He was a great critic of Akbar's religious policies.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qadir Bin Abul Wafa Al Misri

Birth:

Death:1373

The author of the Jawahir-Ul-Maziya Fi Tabqat-il-Hanfiya, a biographical dictionary of Hanafi Lawyers.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qadir Jilani Muhyi Uddin Abu Muhammad

Birth:1077

Death:1166

Born at Nif or Naif in Gilan, south of the Caspian in Iran, he was sent to Baghdad at the age of 18 to study. He attended the philological classes of Tibrizi and learned Hanablite law as well as Shafiite laws from different teachers. In 1127 he ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qadir

Birth:1872

Death:1950

A literary figure. His launching of an Urdu monthly magazine, in 1901, called Makhzan Sheikh Sir Abdul Qadir created a stir in the literary and poetical circle in India - Iqbal was first published in the magazine. He was the editor of the Observer, the first ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qasim

Birth:936

Death:1013

A Spanish surgeon. Born near Cordoba, he wrote an encyclopaedia of medicine and surgery in thirty volumes entitled Altasrif. It was the first book on the subject and the first to contain illustrations of surgical instruments.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qawi Makkawi

Birth:1925

Death:1998

A leading politician of Yemen, then Aden, during 1960s: at the heart of the struggle between the British and growing nationalism. He was once in the colonial government and later remain in opposition for the rest of his life. He was involved in negotiations with ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Quddus Gangohi

Birth:1453

Death:1537

A Sufi saint and author. Born at Gangoh near Delhi and a descendant of Imam Abu Hanifa who used to write political advisory letters to Sikander Lodhi and Babur.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Rahim Kajai

Birth:1894

Death:1943

A leading Malay journalist. Kajai was known as the 'Father of Malay Journalism' and the 'Father of Malay short-story (Cerpen)'. As a pioneer of Malay nationalism he was a critical commentator on issues such as the way Chinese and Indians were permitted to take ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Araidi

Abdul Rahim Khan Khanan

Birth:1556

Death:1627

The son of Bairam Khan, the first prime minister of Akbar after Todar Mal's death in 1589. After Akbar's death, he served under Jehangir for twenty-one years. A poet by himself and a patron of men of learning.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Razak Tun

Birth:1922

Death:1976

A Malaysian political leader who played a major role in gaining independence of his country from Britain in 1975. He held several high posts, including that of deputy Premier. In 1970 he became the second premier of Malaysia, succeeding Tunku Abdul Rahman.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Sattar Edhi

Birth:1932

Death:2016

An extra-ordinary philanthropic worker. Edhi buried hundred and thousand unclaimed corpses in Pakistan. Edhi began work as a street hawker, set up a small clinic in 1951 in Karachi and since then he networked across the length and breadth of Pakistan and extended his noble services ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Wahab Al Bayati

Birth:1926

Death:1999

Iraqi poet. He led Arabic poetry beyond the constraints of classical Arabic poetical forms, transcending the traditional rhyme schemes and conventional metric patterns that had prevailed for more than 15 centuries. He tried to create a Renaissance for his people, his innovative poetry reflected a wide ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Al Baradouni

Birth:1929

Death:1999

Yemeni poet and folklorist. Abdullah was a contradictory figure: a political radical who cherished ancient traditions; a universalist who adored his native land; a popular hero of the written word; a blind man, since age six of smallpox, who saw the truth and was never ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Bin Abdul Mutalib

Birth:

Death:570

The father of the Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him. Married Amna and died before the birth of Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Ali

Birth:

Death:754

The uncle of the first two Abbaside Caliphs. He fought against Khalifa Marvan and having defeated him, proclaimed his nephew al-Saffah as the Caliph. He was murdered in 754 by Al-Mansur.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Maimun

Birth:

Death:875

A prominent figure in Ismaili history. He came from Ahwaz where his father Maimun practised as an oculist.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Rawaha

Birth:

Death:629

He was a poet. One of the few persons before the coming of Islam, who could write and was, therefore, made secretary by the Prophet , peace be upon him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Umar Al Khattab

Birth:609

Death:c693

The eldest son of Hazrat Umar. He was born several years before Hijra. He fought all the battles of the Prophet (PBUH). He also participated in 642 in the battle of Nihawand. In 650 he marched to Tabristan under the command of Said Bin al-As. In 669 he ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Zubair

Birth:624

Death:692

The grandson of Hazrat Abu Baker and son of Hazrat Zubair who was a brother-in-law of Hazrat Aisha. After the death of Muawiya, Yazid sent an army to arrest him but the leader of the army was taken prisoner and killed. After Yazids' death (683), he ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Fakhro

Birth:1918

Death:2001

Banker. A Bahraini banking and trade pioneer and a founding member of the National Bank of Bahrain in 1957, island's first bank. He died of a heart attack in Manama.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Ibn Hussain

Birth:1882

Death:1951

The first King of Jordan. During the First World War he participated in the Arab revolt against the Turk (1916) and helped the British drive them out of Syria. He was installed by the British as the head of the newly created Emirate of Jordan (1921) and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Khan Sayed

Birth:

Death:1723

One of the famous Syed brothers of Barha who came to power after the death of Aurangzeb. Known as Qutbul Mulk he was the Governor of Allahabad. Farukh Siyar who had ascended the throne of Delhi with the help of the two brothers, made him ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Khan Uzbak

Birth:

Death:1597

A descendant of Chingiz Khan. He ascended the throne of Samarqand in 1582. Died at the age of 66.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Ocalan

Birth:1949

Death:

Abdullah Ocalan founded the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the seventies and has directed a separatist campaign in the south east of Turkey. PKK ideology is a mixture of nationalism and Marxism-Leninism. It campaign for independence for Turkey's 12m or so Kurds. Ocalan left Turkey ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Qutb Shah

Birth:

Death:1674

The son of Muhammad Qutb Shah of Daccan. Ruled from 1625 to 1674. The famous dictionary Lughat Burhan-e-Qate was written under his patronage. Poet of Persian and Urdu.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Shattari

Birth:

Death:1406

A descendant of Shihabuddin Saharwardi. Belonged to the Shattari order. He spread Islam in Malwa and died there.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman

Birth:

Death:732

A Muslim Amir of Andulisia who captured the Basilica of St. Martin at Tours in France. His army was defeated (732) by Charles Martel of France at the Battle of Tours. This defeat marked the end of Muslim aspiration to France, though Muslim raid into France ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman I Al Dakhil

Birth:731

Death:788

He was the founder of the Ummavi dynasty in Spain. To save his life from the Abbaside he fled to Spain from Damascus in 750 AD. He defeated King Charlemene and was the founder builder of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in 786. Though transformed into cathedral, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman II

Birth:792

Death:852

The ruler of Spain from 822 to 852 and a patron of music and astronomy. Towards the end of his reign Arab culture, literature, language and customs had so impressed the Christians that they had become Arabicised if not Islamised. Conscious of their inferiority in art, science, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Al Rahman III

Birth:891

Death:961

A ruler of Spain. Known for the `Golden Age' of Spain Caliph Abd al-Rahman ruled for forty-nine years. He was also a great builder of many palaces and mosques. Cordoba (his capital) had miles of paved streets illuminated by lights whereas "100 years after this time ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Abdurahman

Birth:c1872

Death:1940

The political leader of South Africa from 1905 till his death. He studied as a doctor at Glasgow University and was the president of the African political organisation from 1905 to 1940. He pressed for the rights of the black people in South Africa.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman Bin Awf

Birth:

Death:652

An early companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman Khan

Birth:1844

Death:1901

Amir of Afghanistan. Grandson of Dost Muhammad Khan. Before his death in 1853, Dost Muhammad Khan had his son Sher Ali as his successor. During the second British Afghan war Sher Ali died and Abdur Rahman was brought to the throne with the aid of the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman Kwakibi

Birth:1849

Death:1903

The Syrian journalist and leader who transferred the Arab nationalist leadership from the hands of the Christian Arabs to the Muslims. He was the author of Umul Qarrah, which brought a revolutionary change in the Muslim leadership.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Rahman Tuanku

Birth:1895

Death:1960

The first chief of state of the Federation of Malay (1957 - 1960) after it gained independence, in 1957, from Britain.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdurrahman Wahid

Birth:1940

Death:2009

Cleric and politician who solidified Indonesian democracy An eccentric, nearly blind cleric, Abdurrahman Wahid served for almost two turbulent years as Indonesia's president, a nation of 13,466 islands, 360 ethnic groups and 719 languages. A politically moderate intellectual Wahid became the first person to win a contested presidential ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Abdullah Bin Ummar Al Waqidi

Birth:c747

Death:c834

The Arabic author of Tabaqat Waqidi the history of the conquest of Syria (638) by Hazrat Umar and al'Maghazi a history of military campaigns of the Prophet , peace be upon him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Abdullah Hamidi

Birth:

Death:1095

Born in Spain. Author of Tarikhi-I-Undlus.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Al Ghazi Bahadur

Birth:1603

Death:1663

He was a prominent historian in Turkish. He was the son of the ruler of Khiva, but as a dynastic battle arose between the brothers after the death of their father, he had to flee to Isfahan where he lived from 1629 to 1639. While in exile ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ali Al Fozail Ibn Ayaz Al Talaqani

Birth:

Death:803

Born in Khurasan. An authority on traditions who had the courage to stand up to Khalifa Harun Rashid.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ali Mustafa

Birth:1938

Death:2001

He was head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Mustafa was prominent in promulgating the 1987 intifada through radio broadcasts and also made his name as spokesman for refugees. Born in Arabeh, on the West Bank, who vowed to create a single ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Ayub Ansari

Birth:

Death:668

A companion of the Prophet , peace be upon him He lost his life in the expedition of Constantinople (668), where he was buried. The Ottoman Sultans came to his tomb to pay respect before their accession to the throne.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakar Bin Saad Bin Zangi

Birth:

Death:1260

An Attabak king of Iran. The celebrated poet Saadi dedicated his Gulistan to him in 1258 and even acquired his Takhalus after his name. He succeeded the throne of Iran in 1226 after the death of his father Said Bin Zangi. He was a just and foresighted ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakr III

Birth:1903

Death:1989

Sultan of Sokote and a powerful person during his fifty years reign in north Nigeria.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Daud Salaiman Bin Al-ashas

Birth:817

Death:888

The author of Kitab-Us-Sanan considered the fourth book of Sunna.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Daud Sulaiman Bin Uqba Al Zahir

Birth:817

Death:889

He translated Euclid in Arabic. He was known as Zahri because he founded the system of jurisprudence on the exterior (Zahir) meaning of the Qur'an.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Hanifa

Birth:700

Death:770

He was a pioneer of fiqh and the founder of the Hanafi School of jurisprudence. Abu Hanifa is regarded as the great oracle of jurisprudence, and his doctrines along with those of his disciples, Imam Yusuf and Imam Muhammad are generally followed throughout Turkey, the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Huraira

Birth:

Death:679

So nicknamed because of his fondness for cats. One of the companions of the Prophet , peace be upon him, Many traditions went under his name. Some 5,734 traditions were attributed to him. His real name was Abdur Rahman ad Dawsi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ishaq Ahmad Bin Ismail

Birth:

Death:1306

The author of Qasas-Ul-Anbiya, a history of all the Prophets preceding Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, and also the history of the Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, till the battle of Uhad (623)

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ishaq Ibrahim Ibn Adham

Birth:

Death:782

A ruler who renounced his kingdom and lived a life of austerity, earning his bread in Syria by honest manual toil. Before this he was the monarch of Balkh.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ishaq Shirazi

Birth:

Death:1083

Author of Tabqatul-Fuqha.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Jafar Muhammad Bin Ali Bin Badwaihi Al Saduq

Birth:

Death:940

One of the greatest collectors of traditions. The author of Man La Yazharhu Al-Faqih.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Jaffar Tabari

Birth:838

Death:922

A scholar of Shariah and historian, who produced a universal history, tracing the success and failure of the various communities concentrating particularly on the Muslim ummah. Tabari's Tarikh ar-Rusul wa al Muluk was a source of information for generations of historians in the Islamic world. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Jahl

Birth:

Death:624

The father of ignorance. He was a sworn enemy of the Prophet , peace be upon him, Though his son Ikrima became a Muslim, he remained an unbeliever till he was slain in the battle of Badr. His real name was Amr Ibn Hisham.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Kalijar Al Marzuban Ibn Sultan Ad Daulah

Birth:1009

Death:1048

Born in Basra and inherited the kingdom of Iraq and Iran after his father's death in 1024. He added Kinan to his dynasty in 1028. He was recognised as the Buyid ruler of Iraq after his uncle's death in 1044. He was killed when the Saljugi king attacked ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Lahab

Birth:

Death:623

One of the bitterest enemy of Islam and of the Prophet, peace be upon him, He was the son of Abdul Mutalib. His son Utba was engaged to the third daughter, Ruqqaiya, of the Prophet, peace be upon him. The marriage contract was dissolved. His ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Madi Iliya

Birth:c1890

Death:1957

A Lebanese poet. Abu Madi migrated, in 1913, to America and from New York he edited Mirat Al Gharb, (The mirror of the West). Al Jadawil and Al Khamail both of Abu Madi's collection of poems were published in 1927. He started his own magazine Al Samir ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Madyan Shuaib Bin Al Hussain

Birth:1126

Death:1198

Born near Seville, he came to Fez. He met Ahmad ar Rifai in Iraq. He was the master of the 12th century Sufis of western Islam. His Madayni order was perpetuated through his pupil Abdus Salam whose pupil Abul Hasan Ali ash Shadhili, became very ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Muslim

Birth:

Death:755

The leader of the revolutionary movement in Kharasan against the Umayyad dynasty. He was instrumental in bringing the Abbasid to power. He was known to have been contracted by the Abbasids in 741 and sent to Khurasan during 745-46 to instigate the revolt.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Najib Suhrawardy

Birth:1097

Death:1168

The founder of the Suhrawardiaya silsila. The head of the Suhrawardy order concentrated in the India-Pakistan sub-continent. Born at Suhraward near Zanjan, he was educated in Baghdad. Ibn Asakir and Imam Fakhruddin Abu Ali Wasti were his disciples. Bahauddin Zakaria Hultani who spread the Suhrawardiya ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Nidal

Birth:1937

Death:2002

A Palestinian revolutionary patriot. Abu Nidal (father of the struggle) was the nom de guerre of Sabri Khalil al-Banna. In 1960 he joined Arafat's liberation movement and rose rapidly - he was methodical, orderly and hard working - in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). In the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Niwas Abul Hasan Ibn Hani

Birth:c756

Death:813

Perhaps the greatest Arab poet of his time. He was born in Ahwaz of an Iranian mother and his father was a native of Damascus. He was the court poet of both Khalifa Harun Rashid and his son Al Amin. His genius of songs probably ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu No'aim Isphahani

Birth:

Death:1038

The author of the encyclopaedia Ornaments of the Saints (chief source book on Muslim hagiology).

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Qatada

Birth:

Death:674

He was the first Arab, who bought a property - a Garden, after the advent of Islam.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Biruni

Birth:973

Death:1048

Master par excellence for his contributions in so many diverse fields. Al-Biruni was an outstanding astronomer, mathematician, physicist, physician, geographer, geologist and historian - a great genius. He earned the title of 'al-Ustadh.' Some historians have called the period of his goings-on as 'The ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Said Ibn Abdul Khan

Birth:967

Death:1049

A great mystic Sufi of Mayhna, Khurasan. Author of the Quartrains called Rubaiyat Abu Said

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Sa'id Ahmad Ibn Isa Kharraz

Birth:

Death:899

A famous Sufi of Baghdad who wrote Kitab As Sodq the first systematic expositions of Sufism.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Shoaib Muhammad Ibn Nusayr

Birth:

Death:880

Nusayris are named after him. Nusayris are now called Alawi (of Ali). Alawi is common family name in the Arab world and signifies that they are 'followers of Ali'. However, the name does not imply shiism. Some Alid dynasties such as the ruling family of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Sufian Bin Hairis

Birth:

Death:641

He was a cousin of the Prophet , peace be upon him, , accepted Islam at the time Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, and had captured Makkah.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Sufyan Bin Harb

Birth:

Death:652

He was one of the most powerful opponents of Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, Mu'awiya the first Ummaya Khalifa, was his son. He accepted Islam in 629.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Talib

Birth:

Death:619

Father of Hazrat Ali and uncle and guardian of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Talib Kalim Hamadani

Birth:

Death:1651

He Came from Hamdan to India first during the reign of Jahangir, but returned back in 1619. Again came during the reign of Shah Jahan, and was awarded the title of Malik-us-Shu ara. He wrote Zafar-Nama-I-Shah Jahan.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Talib Khan Mirza

Birth:1752

Death:1806

He went to Europe in 1799 with a British Officer and wrote an account of it in his Maasir-Ut-TalibiI-Fi-Bilad-I-Ifranji after returning to Calcutta in 1803. This work was translated in English in 1814.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Timmam Habib Ibn Aws

Birth:804

Death:845

Born near Damascus, he was author of Hamasah on anthology of early Arabic poems, celebrating valour in battle. He was associated with Al Mustasim's court, where he was acclaimed, as the best panegyrist of his time. His Diwan dealt with contemporary events.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ubaida Ibn Al Jarrah

Birth:

Death:639

The conqueror Of Syria. One of the ten believers who were promised paradise by the Prophet , peace be upon him, , accompanied Hazrat Muhammad , peace be upon him, on all his expeditions and came to the Prophet's , peace be upon him, help in the battle of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ubayd Al Qasim Ibn Sallam

Birth:

Death:837

The author of the oldest Arabic paper manuscript entitled Gharib Al Hadis dated 12 December 866. The same is preserved in the Lyden University library. The oldest manuscript by a Christian author was dated 10th December 877 and is preserved in the British Museum.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Yaqub Yusuf Al Hamadani

Birth:

Death:1140

The founder of the Naqshbandiya order. Though Bahauddin Naqshbandi is considered by some to be its founder because the tariqa bears his name, the Naqshbandi history Rashahat Ain Al Hayat, written by Fakhruddin Ali, started with Abu Yaqub while his Khalifa Abdul Khaliq was mentioned ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Zar Gaffari

Birth:

Death:652

A companion of the Prophet , peace be upon him, He believed collecting gold or silver was Haram.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu'l Hazayal Al Allaf

Birth:c752

Death:840

First speculative theologian of the Mut'azila. Born in Basra, he was a disciple of Wasil bin 'Ata. He opposed the doctrines of determinism favoured for the political reasons by the Ummayads. All his writings were lost.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Sufi

Birth:903

Death:986

An outstanding astronomer of the Middle Ages. Al-Sufi was the first astronomer to describe the 'nebulosity' of the nebula in Andromeda in his book of constellation (atlas of heavens). He named the southern group of stars al-Baqar al-Abyad or the 'White Bull' after receiving reports ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu'ubayd Al Bakri

Birth:

Death:1094

Master geographer. His main works were Mu'Jam and Al Masalik Wa'L-Mamalik. Though he lived in Cordoba or Seville, he provided valuable descriptions of North Africa, for which he was indebted to Al-Warraq.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Ma'ari

Birth:973

Death:1057

An Arabian philosopher and poet. Al-Ma'ari's collection of early poems was known as Saqt Az Zand. His second collection of poems was Luzum Ma Lam Yalzam (unnecessary necessity) which was translated by R A Nicholoson in English. He also wrote Risalat al Ghufran, Al Fasul ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abulfaz Elchibey

Birth:1938

Death:2000

Politician and historian. He was a co-founder, and chairman, of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, which in December 1989 led an uprising against Soviet power. First elected President of Azerbaijan after the 1991 break-up of Soviet Union. A secular moderniser and advocate of reviving Azerbaijan's links with ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abul Faiz Muhammad Bin Hussain Bin Ahmad Al Katib

Birth:

Death:961

The poet and a great orator who brought Arabian calligraphy to perfection.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Faraj Ali Bin Hussain Asphahani

Birth:897

Death:967

Born at Isfahan but brought up in Baghdad, he was the author of the famous work Kitab-Ul-Aghani (Book of songs), an important biographical dictionary relating to poetry, history, science and grammar.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Fath Muhammad Al Shahristani

Birth:1076

Death:1153

A historian and theologian. Born at Shahristan (Khurasan) The author of the Arabic work Kitab Ul Milal Wan Nihal that gave an account of various Sunni sects and was translated into Latin and English in 1850. Also Nihayat al-Iqdam fi ilm al Kalam and Musana al ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Fazal Bihiqi

Birth:995

Death:1077

A historian. Tarikh-E-Bihiqi or Tarikh-E-Masudi in thirty volumes was his magnum opus. He was born in Bihiq, Sabzawar, Iran and was the court historian of the Ghazni Kings. The author of Sunan Kubra and Sunan Sughra in Arabic. His collection of Traditions was considered in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Fazl Abdul Malik Bin Ibrahim Al Hamdani

Birth:

Death:1095

The author of Faraiz Ul Muqqadasi, a treatise on the law of inheritance according to the Shafi doctrine.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Fida Ismail Ibn Hamwi

Birth:1273

Death:1331

The Arab prince, geographer and historian, best known for his Taqwim Al Buldan. He was born at Damascus and was a descendent of Ayub, father of the great Saladin. In 1310 he was appointed Governor of Hamah by Mamluk Sultan Malik al Nasir. Authored Mukhtasir Tarik ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Hasan Gaffari

Birth:1814

Death:1866

Iranian court painter laureate who supervised the illustration of a six-volume Persian translation of the 1001 nights. He excelled in portrait studies and miniatures.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Hasan Razin Bin Mu'awiya Al Abdari

Birth:

Death:1126

The author of a collection called Jami Baina-al-Sahihain. It comprised the works of Al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Muwatta of Malik-Ibn-Ans, the Jami-Ut-Tirmizi and the Sunnans of Abu Daud and Al-Nasai.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Hasan Qutb Tana Shah

Birth:1674

Death:1704

He was the son-in-law of Abdullah Qutb Shah after whose death he succeeded to the throne of Golconda (Deccan). Aurangzeb defeated him in 1687 and took him prisoner and confined him in the Citadel of Daulatabad where he died. He was a poet and the last ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Hussain Ahmad Bin Ali Al Najashi

Birth:

Death:1014

The author of the biographical work called Kitab Ur Rijjal, comprising the lives of eminent scholars.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Ma'ali

Birth:

Death:1270

He was known to be the first poet of the Turkish language, though he also wrote in Arabic and Persian.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Qasim Jaffar Bin Muayyad

Birth:

Death:1277

The author of Sharai Ul Islam a treatise on lawful and forbidden things.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Qasim Said Al Andalusi

Birth:1029

Death:1070

He wrote first world history of science Tabaqat Ul Umam. He was a judge of Toledo, Spain, when he died.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Buzjani

Birth:940

Death:997

Great mathematician and astronomer. Al-Buzjani flourished in Baghdad where he migrated in 959 as a great mathematician - especially in geometry and trigonometry and astronomer - in the field of different movements of the moon, and discovered 'variation'. Al-Buzjani's contribution in geometry comprises solution of geometrical ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Adham Khan

Birth:

Death:1562

His mother Mahim was the nurse of Akbar and had great influence on Akbar. He was made a Commander of 5,000. He defeated Baz Bahadur of Malwa, who was the lover of the poetess Rupmati in 1561.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Adhem Pasha

Birth:1851

Death:1909

The hero of the Greco-Turkish War. In 1897 Greece attacked the Turks in Macedonia. Adhem Pasha who was the Turkish commander counter-attacked in Thesaly and took Larissa. The Greeks were forced to pay Turkey an indemnity and faced great humiliation. He was Brigadier Commander at the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Adil Husain

Birth:1932

Death:2001

Egypt's scholar, author and secretary of Egyptian Labour Party who held aloft the flame of liberty and dignity, died of brain haemorrhage in Alexandria.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Afandi Shanasi

Birth:1826

Death:1872

The first representative of nationalist Turkish writers and also the first to use the words Watan and Millat. After his return from France he joined Anjuman-e-Danish, founded Tarjuman Ahwal a Turkish newspaper, wrote a Turkish dictionary and a book of Turkish grammar.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Afsar Merathi Hamidullah

Birth:1898

Death:1958

An Urdu poet and author.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Afsos Mir Sher Ali

Birth:1732

Death:1809

An Urdu poet and writer. John Gilchrist engaged him as a Munshi in Fort William College where he wrote Bagh-e-Urdu, which was a translation of Gulistan Saadi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Afzalur Rahman

Birth:1915

Death:1998

Athlete and self-educated Islamic scholar. He was educated at Islamia College, Lahore, during Abdullah Yusuf Ali's tenure as principal. Afzalur Rahman settled in the United Kingdom. He compiled a voluminous 'Seerah Encyclopaedia' and various Qur'anic dictionaries.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin/M A Sherif

Agha Hasan Abedi

Birth:1922

Death:1995

Banker. Agha Hasan Abedi was a banker who flourished in Pakistan. He founded the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in 1972 with the support of the Sheikhs from United Arab Emirate. BCCI had assets of $2.2bn and 400 branches in 72 countries. The bank, with its ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Agha Hashar Kashmiri

Birth:1879

Death:1935

Indian dramatist and poet; known as the Shakespeare of Urdu. 'Asir-e-Hirs', 'Khubsarat Bala' and 'Safed Khoon' were some of his famous plays. He was also the doyen of Parsi theatre and one of his plays, 'Yahudi Ki Beti', is still enacted and drawing popularity.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / M. Budrudduja

Agha Hilaly

Birth:1911

Death:2001

Diplomat. He played an influential role in formulating the foreign policy in the early days of Pakistan. He entered the elite Indian Civil Service (ICS) in 1936. Hilaly also served United Nation and received national and international awards: Hilal-i-Quiad-I-Azam, Grand Cross of Order of Northern Star ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar

Birth:1742

Death:1797

The founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran. After the disintegration of the Safarid dynasty in 1722, the Qajar chieftains became active contenders for the throne. In 1757 he became the governor of the Azerbaijan province of Iran, by 1785, when Tehran was made the capital he was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Agung

Birth:

Death:1645

The third Sultan of Java. He consolidated his kingdom by subduing the coastal states of Panang and Tuban in 1619, Kalimantan and Sukadana in 1622, Madura in 1624 and Surabaya in 1625. Dutch forces had conquered Jakarta in 1619. In 1629 Sultan Agung attacked Jakarta in order to drive the Dutch ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Agung Abulfatah

Birth:

Death:1692

The ruler of Java from 1651 to 1683. He successfully discouraged Dutch expansion into Java. When he tried to change his successor, his own son Haji Sultan revolted and seized the throne with the help of the Dutch. Abulfath died in captivity and his kingdom came under ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Agus Salim Haji

Birth:1884

Death:1954

An Indonesian religious and political leader. Born in Sumatra, he played a leading role moderating the communist influence in the nationalist movement. In 1915 he joined the Sarekat Islam party and played an important role in the political conflicts of the early 1920s. He served briefly ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad - I

Birth:1590

Death:1619

The Sultan of Turkey from 1603 to 1617. The peace treaty with Austria (1606) was a blow to the Ottoman prestige. He was also compelled to give commercial privileges to French and Netherlands. He was a religious person and built the Great Blue Mosque near the church of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad II

Birth:1624

Death:1695

The ruler of Turkey from 1691 to 1695. His reign was marked by wars with Austria, Poland and Venice. He suffered losses in war with Hungary and Austria. In 1692 the venetian attacked Crete. He also faced unrest in Syria, Hejaz and Iraq.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad III

Birth:1673

Death:1736

The Ottoman Sultan from 1703 to 1730. Because he had given refuge to Charles XII of Sweden at his court, he was forced to go to war with Russia (1711-13) and he defeated the Russians and they had to surrender some forts to the Turks and promised ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Al Badawi

Birth:1199

Death:1276

A disciple of Abul Fath al Wasiti who was a Khalifa of Ahmad ar Rifai. On the death of Abul Fath al Wasti, Ahmad was sent to Egypt to take his place. His order is known as the Ahmadiyya but better referred to as the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Al Mansur

Birth:1549

Death:1603

A Moroccan ruler. He succeeded his brother Abd-al-Malik in 1578. He encouraged artisans and opened new trade routes. He broke monopoly of the British merchants to control foreign trade and played off European powers against one another in order to preserve Moroccan independence.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Ali

Birth:1911

Death:1998

A Barrister, diplomat and immigration counsellor. He was born in Chandpur (Bangladesh), started his career in India, later on Pakistan's First Secretary and Consul-General in London and New York. In 1970, he joined the UK Immigrants Advisory Service as counsellor. Ahmad did a great deal to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Ali

Birth:1910

Death:1994

Delhi born Pakistani author of English novels who won international fame with the publication of Twilight in Delhi in 1940. He became known at a young age with the publication of his short stories in Urdu Angarey. Co-founder of All India Progressive writers Movement and Association. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Baba Al Massufi

Birth:1556

Death:1627

Born near Timbuktu, he was a writer, jurist and leader of western Sudan. He was the author of a biographical dictionary of the Maliki jurists. When the Sultan of Morocco conquered Timbuktu in 1591, he was accused of rebellion and was deported to Marrakech, but he ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Bin Abu Bakr Bin Nasir Mustafi Al Kazwini

Birth:

Death:1349

The author of Tarikh-I-Guzida that contained the history of four ancient Persian empires Peshdadians, Kai-anians, Ashk-Anians, and Sas-anians.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Bin Hasan Maimandi

Birth:

Death:1033

Foster brother of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. He was also his prime minister for eighteen years.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Bin Muhammad Zabara

Birth:1908

Death:2000

Jurist and mufti. He came from a prominent Zaydi family in Yemen. He represented Yemen at numerous Islamic conferences throughout the world. He detested any fanaticism in religion and worked for dialogue between Islam and other faiths. Zabara was a mujtahid who was born at ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Bin Tolun

Birth:835

Death:883

He was appointed Wali-e-Misr in 868 by Abbasi Khalifa Mahdi and became independent of him in 871. His family was in power till 904 AD

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Fakhruddin Ali

Birth:1905

Death:1977

President of India 1974-77.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Faraaz

Birth:1934

Death:

A modern Pakistani Urdu poet who can write with equal ease both the poetry of protest and romance.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Gran

Birth:1506

Death:1543

Nicknamed Gran 'the left-handed' who brought major part of Abyssinia into Muslim kingdom of Adal. Born Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim and known as Gurey to Somalis, he embarked on a conquest that led three-quarters of Abyssinia into Muslim kingdom of Adal and converted many Abyssinians into ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Mohamoud

Ahmad Hashim

Birth:1884

Death:1933

A Turkish writer born in Istanbul. He taught French in Izmir and served as a translator for the Turkish government. The French poets Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Mallarme had tremendous effect on his style of poetry. His most famous collection of poems was Gol Saatleri in 1921.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Hoosen Deedat

Birth:1918

Death:2005

South Africa's Islamic propagator and debater. Deedat was born in Surat, India, 'with no formal education and fighting off the extreme pangs of poverty' he migrated to South Africa to join his father in 1926. Diligence and passion for studies helped him excel. In 1936 he was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Ibn Ali Ar Rifai

Birth:1106

Death:1182

The founder of the Rifaiyya Silsila. He was born into an Arab family and spent the whole of his life in Bataih, the marshlands of southern Iraq between Basra and Wasit, leaving it only once in 1160 to go on to Haj. His disciples were the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Ali Yasavi

Birth:

Death:1166

A Sufi poet. Born in Yasi, a town later called Turkestan. He exercised a powerful influence on the development of mystic orders throughout the Turkish region. His significance in the formation of a Turkish Islamic tradition was undisputed. His Yasaviyya order replaced the ancient religion ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Ibn Idris

Birth:1760

Death:1837

The Neo-Sufi reformer, active in Morocco, North Africa, and the Yemen, who bypassed the ulama and tried to bring a more vibrant form of Islam directly to the people. Ahmad Ibn Idris who was the founder of the Idrisi order travelled extensively in North Africa ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Ibn Mustafa

Birth:1806

Death:1855

The 10th ruler of the Tunisian dynasty of Husaynid. He succeeded his brother in 1837 and tried to modernise his army on European models. In the Crimean War (1853-56) he sent his forces to fight with the allies. Prior to his rule, Tunisia was a part ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Ibn Tulun

Birth:

Death:884

The founder of the Tulunide dynasty in Egypt. His mosque in Cairo is still intact.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Jam Shaikh Ul Islam

Birth:1049

Death:1149

A Sufi Saint from Nishapur. He wrote many books including Anis Ul Talibin, Bahr Ul Haqiqat and Siraj Us Sayirin.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Jan Thirakwa - Ustad

Birth:1878

Death:1976

A Tabla wizard of India.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Khan

Birth:

Death:1284

The first emperor from the race of Chingiz Khan to embrace Islam. He came to the throne of Iran after the death of his brother Abaqa Khan, the son of Halaku Khan in 1282.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Nizam Shah Bahri

Birth:

Death:1508

The founder of Nizam Shahi dynasty in Deccan, was the son of the prime minister of Sultan Mahmud Shah Bahmani. He defeated Sultan Mahmud Shah in 1490 and founded his empire. He founded the city of Ahmad Nagar in 1495. The Nizam Shahi monarchs of Ahmad Nagar ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Pasha Brusali

Birth:

Death:1497

One of the best writers of Turkish in the 15th century. In 1451 he was appointed Judge of the city of Edrine. He took part with Sultan Mahammad II (1451-81) in the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. He used to write Qasidas' and Ghazal. His collection of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Seku

Birth:

Death:1898

The last ruler of the Tukulor Empire in west Africa. He succeeded his father Haji Umar in 1864 and ruled over a vast empire of Segu, Mali. He resisted French occupation but the French captured most of his territory by 1891.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Shah I

Birth:

Death:1443

The second King of Gujrat. He came to the throne in 1410. The same year he founded the city of Ahmadabad.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Shah Bahadur

Birth:1725

Death:1775

Son of Muhammad Shah, King of Delhi, whom he succeeded in 1748, He was deposed by his prime minister Ghaziuddin Khan in 1754 and imprisoned. Alamgir II, son of Jehandar Shah, came to the throne after his imprisonment.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Shah Masood

Birth:1952

Death:2001

Soldier and politician. One of Afghan Mujahidin, a character of immense charisma who earned himself the sobriquet 'Lion of Panjshir' for his ten-year long resistance to the Soviet invaders of his country. In April 1992, three years after the Russians withdrew from Afghanistan; Masood led a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Shah Wali Bahmani

Birth:

Death:1435

He ascended the throne of Deccan in 1422. He was the founder of the City of Ahmadabad Bidar in 1432.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Shamlu

Birth:1925

Death:2000

Poet, writer and filmmaker. A towering figure and potent symbol of intellectual conscience against tyranny and repression. He modernised the Persian poetry, edited literary and political magazines, a critic, scholar, translator, and scriptwriter and with his beautiful voice a gifted reciter of poetry. The Second ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Vefik Pasha

Birth:1823

Death:1891

Born in Constantinople, he was a statesman and Turkish scholar. He was ambassador to Iran and France, presided over the first Turkish parliament, and was appointed Governor of Busra in 1879, where he established the first Ottoman theatre. Ahmad translated Moliere into Turkish and compiled dictionaries ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmed Zewail

Birth:1946

Death:2016

Nobel Prize Winning scientist known for his revolutionary work on femtochemistry Egyptian-born American who won the Noble Prize in 1999 for chemistry for his ground breaking work on viewing and studying at the atomic level as they occur in slow motion. Prof. Zewail pioneered the high-speed ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmadou Ahidjo

Birth:1924

Death:1989

The president of Cameroon 1960-82. He created a United Republic of British Cameroon and French Cameroon.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Aisha Abdul - Rahman

Birth:1913

Death:1998

Egypt's leading female Islamic writer and scholar. Aisha Abdul-Rahman was a women's rights advocate; her excellent study of the women in the life of the Prophet (PBUH) is a case in point. She authored some 40 books on Islamic scripture apart from novels, short-story anthologies and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Adel Darwish

Ajmal Khan Hakim

Birth:1868

Death:1927

A physician and political reformer of India. Hakim Ajmal Khan set up Tibbi Conference and laid the foundation of the Vaidic Yunani Tibia College in 1916. He was the chief administrator of Jame Millia in 1920. He was known as Masihul Mulk and under his presidency (1921) of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akayer Askar

Birth:1944

Death:

President of Khyrgyzistan (1990- )

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akbar

Birth:1542

Death:1605

Moghul emperor of India who established a tolerant policy of cooperation with the Hindu population, and his reign saw the zenith of Moghul power. When Akbar was only 13 years and 9 months old, Humayoon died and Bairam Khan raised him to the throne in 1556. With Bairam ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akbar Allahabadi

Birth:1846

Death:1921

The Urdu poet, who was awarded the title 'Khan Bhadur' by the British colonial ruler in India. A satirist and reformer, he used to write for Avadh Panch and dissuaded Indian Muslims from Western influence.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akbar Hydari

Birth:1919

Death:1998

An Indian industrialist. Chairman of Western Indian Match Company (WIMCO) since 1964 until two years before his death. He held other chairmanships and directorships of top Indian companies and presidentship of the Bombay Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Akbar Hydari Sir

Birth:1869

Death:1942

The administrator, educationalist and one of the outstanding finance Ministers of his day in India. He belonged to the famous Tayabji family of Bombay. A contemporary of Abdullah Yusuf Ali, translator of the Qur'an. He took the lead in the foundation of the Osmania University ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin/M A Sherif

Akbar Shah - II

Birth:1760

Death:1837

The son of Shah Alam. He succeeded his father in 1806, as titular monarch of Delhi. His son Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last Mughal King of Delhi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akbar Shah Khan Najibabadi

Birth:1875

Death:1983

Tarikh-e-Islam in three volumes is attributed to him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akbar Syed Ahmad

Birth:1943

Death:

Professor Akbar S. Ahmed was born in Allahabad, and trained as an anthropologist at the University of Leeds. He was a member of the Civil Service of Pakistan and served as District Commissioner of Baluchistan. He is presently Ibn Khaldun Chair and Professor of Islamic ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / M A Sherif

Akhtal Giyas Ibn Gaus Ibn As Salt

Birth:c640

Death:710

An Arab poet of old Bedouin tradition.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akhtar Hameed Khan

Birth:1914

Death:1999

Social worker and community development activist who loved common people. Dr. Khan created a legendary self-help programme called the 'Comila approach' in Comilla, formerly a part of East Pakistan, and later on in Karachi's slum, Orangi Pilot Project. The successful programme became a model for ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Akhtar Shirani

Birth:1905

Death:1948

Poet. Moved to Lahore at a very early age young Daud lived his entire life there. He did his Munshi Fazil in 1921 and Adeeb Fazil in 1922 (degrees in Arabic and Persian) from Oriental College, Lahore. Nagma-e-Haram, Akhtaristan, Lala-e-Toor, etc., were some of his collections of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Amin

Birth:783

Death:813

The sixth Abbasi Khalifa who succeeded his father Harun-al-Rashid in 809. He deprived Al-Mamun his brother of the right of succession that had been given to him by his father. This enraged al-Mamun. Tahir-ur-Hussain, Al-Mamun's General, besieged Baghdad, took it and murdered Amin.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Ansari Abu Ismail Abudllah

Birth:1006

Death:1089

A Sufi, theologian and scholar. He was known as Pir Ansari in Iran and was the author or Munajat, Tabqat-as-Safia, Manazil as-Sairin and other works.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Arqam Abu Abdullah

Birth:c594

Death:674

A companion of the Prophet , peace be upon him, He belonged to the Makhzum tribe. He accepted Islam at an early age, and though his tribe was bitterly opposed to Hazrat Muhammad , peace be upon him, , he put his house at the disposal of the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Awzai

Birth:707

Death:774

The founder of the school of law known by his name. The majority of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine belonged to this school from 134 A. H to 300 A.H. Today the whole area is entirely Hanfi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Baqi Mahmud Abd

Birth:1526

Death:1600

Greatest Ghazal poet in Turkish literature

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Barudi

Birth:1839

Death:1904

A significant Egyptian figure Pioneer of the renaissance of Arabic poetry al-Barudi was a prominent political figure and an acclaimed poet. Served as Prime Minister of Egypt for a short period in 1882 al-Barudi was known as rab alseif wel qalam رب السيف و القلم ("lord of sword and pen"). ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Battani

Birth:850

Death:929

Greatest astronomer of his time. Al-Battani determined more accurate and improved time-tables of the position of the sun and the moon. His remarkably accurate calculation of the solar year as 365 days, 5 hours, and 46 minutes and 24 seconds is very close to the latest estimate. Al-Battani revised ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakar Al Baytar

Birth:

Death:1340

A veterinary surgeon (Baytar). His Kamil al sinatayan was one of the few important treaties on veterinary medicine in Arabic.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Damiri

Birth:

Death:1405

The greatest Arab zoologist, his Hayat-al-Haywan was translated into English, Persian, Turkish and Latin. It describes all the 931 animals mentioned in the Qur'an.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Darimi Abu Muhammad Abdullah Al Traimi

Birth:797

Death:869

The author of Al Musnad a collection of Hadis. Though not one of the six canonical collections, it enjoyed a high reputation. Among his pupils were Abu Daud Muslim, al Tirmizi and al Nasai.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Daraqutni Abul Hasan Ali

Birth:918

Death:995

A traditionalist (Muhadis).

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Dasuqi Al Sayyid Ibrahim

Birth:1811

Death:1883

Collaborator in Lane's 'Arabic-English Lexicon'.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Dawani Jalaluddin Muhammad Asad

Birth:1427

Death:1502

The author of the Sharah Haiakal, Akhlaq Jalali among others. Akhlaq Jalali was a translation of an Arabic book called Kitab Ul Taharat written in 10th century. After about 200 years it was translated into Persian by Abu Nasr and named Akhlaq Nasiri. Al Hawani improved ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Farabi

Birth:870

Death:950

An Arab philosopher and scientist. Al-Farabi acquired great proficiency in various branches of learning and was an expert in different languages. He travelled to many distant lands and studied in Damascus and Egypt, but repeatedly return to Baghdad, until he visited Saif al-Daula's court in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Fasi Taqi Al Din

Birth:1373

Death:1429

Historian of the city of Makkah.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Ghalib Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Nasr

Birth:1232

Death:1273

The founder of the Nasirid dynasty in Spain. He was commonly known as Ibn al-Ahmar but assumed the title of al Ghalib (overcomer). Al-Ghalib built the famous Alhambra palace (the red one) because of the red stucco used in its construction, which still survives. The ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Hadi

Birth:764

Death:786

The fourth caliph of the Abbaside dynasty, succeeded his father al-Mahdi in 785 and poisoned by his prime minister in 786. On his death Harun-al-Rashid (Musa Al Hadi's brother) came to the throne of Baghdad.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Hakam I

Birth:796

Death:822

Third Ummayad ruler of Spain.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Hallaj

Birth:858

Death:913

One of the most famous of the 'drunken Sufis' who is said in ecstasy to have cried 'Ana al-haqq!' ('I am the Truth'), so convinced was he of his total union with Allah. Al-Hallaj was the most controversial figure in the history of Islamic ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Haitham

Birth:965

Death:1040

Considered to be the father of modern Optics. Al-Haitham was one of the most eminent physicists whose contributions to optics and the scientific methods are outstanding. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Jahiz

Birth:776

Death:869

Arab zoologist. Al-Jahiz's earliest writing on the 'Institution of the Caliphate' was well received at the court of Baghdad where he moved in around 815. He continued to write on a variety of subjects and was well respected at the Caliph's court. Al-Jahiz wrote more than ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Jahshiyari

Birth:

Death:942

He prepared Alif Laylah wa Laylah's first draft.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Jazzar Ahmad Pasha

Birth:1720

Death:1804

In recognition of his services he was made the Governor of Sidon by the Porte, and gradually extended his authority into Lebanon. In 1780 he was appointed the Walli of Damascus. It was Ahmad Pasha al Jazzar who withstood and repelled Napoleon's attack on Akka.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Khwarizmi

Birth:770

Death:840

The mathematician, astronomer, geographer and a great scientist. Although, it is not a desire to rank the various scientists it is difficult not to acknowledge the contribution of al-Khwarizmi as being one of the most important contributions to science. Our modern system relies fundamentally on ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin /Omar Hayat

Al Kindi

Birth:c801

Death:873

The first major Arab philosopher, who worked alongside the Mutazilah in Baghdad but also sought from Greek sages. Al-Kindi worked closely with the Mutazilites - al-Farabi, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd, the great Muslim philosophers, who were all affected by the missionary zeal of the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Kitab Abd Al Hamid

Birth:

Death:750

The introduction of the flowery style in Arabic began with him, which became a model for future generations of writers.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mahdi

Birth:

Death:785

The third Abbasi Khalifa. He succeeded to the throne of Baghdad, after the death of his father, Jafar al-Mansur, in 775. In 783, Irene the Byzantine Queen was forced to conclude a treaty involving the payment of 90,000 dinars annually.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mansur

Birth:712

Death:775

The second Abbaside Caliph and the real founder of that dynasty who moved the capital of the empire to the new city of Baghdad. Caliph al Mansur a great grandson of Abd-al-Abbas, uncle of the Prophet, peace be upon him, came to the throne after ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Maqanna

Birth:

Death:780

He lived during the reign of Khalifa al Mahdi. His name was Hakam Ibn Hisham but was famous by the little of Al Maqqana, because he always used to veil his face to cover his deformity. He proclaimed that the Deity resided in his person. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Maturidi Abu Mansur Muhammad Bin Muhammad Bin Mahmud Al Hanafi Al Muttakelin Al Maturidi

Birth:

Death:944

He was the titular head of the Maturidi school of theology. He was a contemporary of al Ashari. Both of them defended orthodox Islam against the Mutazilies. Maturid was a locality in Samarqand where he was born. He was the author of Kitab al Tawhid, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Motadid Billah

Birth:

Death:902

The 16th Abbaside Caliph. He came to the throne after the death of his uncle Al-Motamid in 892. He was succeeded by his son al-Muktafi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mutwakil Ala Allah

Birth:

Death:861

The 10th Abbasid Caliph and the son of Mo'stasim Billah. He succeeded his brother in 847 and proved himself a very cruel Caliph. He forbade the pilgrimage to Karbala and caused the sacred repository of the ashes of Hazrat Hussain and the other martyrs interred there, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mustansir

Birth:

Death:976

He was the son of Abdur Rahman III. Together with his father's reign, his reign (961-76) marked the Apogee of Muslim rule in Spain. He was also known as al-Hakam (judicious). He was a bibliophile and had a collection of 400,000 books. He was probably the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mo' Tasim Billah

Birth:

Death:842

The 8th Abbaside caliph and the fourth son of Harun-al-Rashid. He built a new capital for himself called Samira. He was a Matazalite. He was the first caliph to add the title of Billah to his name. The figure "8" was of great importance in his ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Muqtadi Billah

Birth:

Death:1094

27th Abbaside caliph who came to the throne in 1075 by orders of Sultan Shah Seljuqi, who was the real ruler at that time.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Muqtadir Billah

Birth:

Death:932

The 18th Abbaside Caliph. He succeeded his brother Al Muktafi to the throne in 908. He was succeeded by his brother al-Qahir Billah.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Musta'ali Billah

Birth:1076

Death:1101

The sixth Fatimid Caliph. He succeeded his father al-Mustansar of Egypt in 1094. It was in his reign that the crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mustansar Billah I

Birth:

Death:862

The 11th Abbasid Caliph. He came to the throne after the murder of his father AL Mutawakil in 861. His cousin at Mustain succeeded him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mustansir Billah II

Birth:

Death:1242

The 36th Abbasid Caliph. He ascended the throne in 1226 and was succeeded by his son Al Mustaa'sim Billah, the last Abbaside Caliph.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mutaaz Billah

Birth:

Death:869

The 13th Abbasid Caliph. He ascended the throne in 866 but was deposed by the Turkish slaves in 869 and died of thirst and hunger in exile.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mutamid Billah

Birth:

Death:892

The 15th Abbaside caliph, was the son of Al Multawakil Billa. In the year of 879 Ahmad Ibn-Tulan rebelled and found an independent kingdom in Egypt. In 891 the Qarmatians first made their appearance and de-established the Muslim empire.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nasafi Abu Hafs Umar Najmuddin

Birth:

Death:1142

A jurist and theologian. His work Aqaid was well known. This work was greatly esteemed by the Sunnis. Taftazani wrote a commentary on Aqaid.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nasafi Abul Muin Maimun Bin Muhammad Al Makhuli

Birth:

Death:1114

A Mutakallim, who was known for his work Tamhi Le Qawaid At Tawhid, Tabsirat Al Adilla and Badr Al Kalam.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nasafi Hafiz Uddin Abdul Barkat Abdullah Bin Mahmud

Birth:

Death:1310

A Hanfi theologian, born in Nasaf, Sagdiana and known for his best work Kitab Al Manar Fi Usal Al Fiqa. His Kitab Al Wafi was a commentary on al Marghinani's Hidaya. Also the authored Kanz Al Daqaiq, Al Musafa and Madarij Al TanzilL Wa Haqaiq ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nasai Abu Abdur Rahman Ahmad Bin Shuaib

Birth:830

Death:915

The author of Sunnan one of the six canonical collections of traditions. He travelled to Egypt, Syria, Iraq and other countries in order to collect the Hadis. His collection of traditions was divided into 51 chapters each of which was sub-divided into Babs. He died in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nawawi Imam Muhiuddin Abu Zakariya Yahya Al Dakishqi -

Birth:1233

Death:1277

Born in Nawa near Damascus. He studied at Ashrafiya school of Traditions in Damascus. He had the moral courage to request Sultan Baibars to free the people of Syria from the war taxes imposed on them and he alone refused to sign a fatwa approving ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nazzam Ibrahim Bin Saiyar

Birth:775

Death:845

A Mutazilite theologian, philologist and dialectician. He studied theology under Abdul Huzil al Allah in Basra. His writings have been lost but some of it was preserved in the writing of his disciple al Jahiz. In Baghdad he engaged in polemics with other theologians, the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nifari Muhammad Ibn Abdul

Birth:

Death:965

A Sufi born at Niffar, Iraq. He was an original thinker, though definitely influenced by his predecessor al Halaj. Ibn Arabi mentioned him several times in his Al Futuhat Al Makkiya. He authored Nawaqif and Mukhatabat. His son or his grandson collected his scattered writings ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Numan Bin Abdulah Muhammad Bin Mansur Bin Ahmad Bin Haiyan Al Maghribi Abuhanifa

Birth:

Death:974

The greatest Ismaili Jurist. He reached in zenith during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al Muizz (-976). His greatest work was Da' aim al Islam - the pillars of Islam. Forty-nine of his works have come to us.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Qifti Ali Ibn Yusuf

Birth:1172

Death:1248

A biographer, born in Egypt but spent most of his life in Aleppo. He authored Ikhbar Al Ulama Bi-Akhbar Al Hukma - acquainting the learned with the story of the philosophers and physicians.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Qasim Al Qushayri

Birth:

Death:1072

An Iranian Sufi. Author of a highly respected treatise on Sufism called the Risalah. He also translated some Greek works into Arabic.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Qutiyah Abu Bakr Ibn Umar

Birth:

Death:977

The Andalusian historian and grammarian, born, flourished and died at Cordoba. His Tarikh iftitah extended from the Muslim conquest of Spain in the reign of Abdur Rahman III.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Rayhani

Birth:

Death:834

The calligraphist who flourished under al Mamun and created the style named after him (Rayhani).

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Razi

Birth:864

Death:925

The greatest physician of the Middle Ages. Al-Razi's writings on small pox and measles are still considered a medical classic. Diet was a fundamental therapeutic procedure in his medical methodology. He stressed the importance of doctor-patient relationship and a cheerful countenance necessary for the doctors. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Razi Billah

Birth:

Death:941

The 12th Abbasid caliph. He came to the throne in 934. In 936 he appointed Imad-ud-daula as Amir-Ul-Umra. He had great powers and his name was read in the Khutba at the great mosque of Baghdad. In 937 the great empire was shared thus: * The cities of Basra, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Razi Fakhruddin Abu Abdullah Muhammad Bin Umar

Birth:1149

Death:1209

A Shafi`ite theologian and philosopher born at Rai. After studying at his native place he went to Khwarizam, Bukhara, Samarqand, Ghazana and Punjab, India but ultimately settled in Herat. He authored Sharh al Isharat, a commentary to Ibn Sina and al Mabahis al Mashriqiya, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Rifai Ahmad Bin Ali Abul Abbas

Birth:c1106

Death:1183

The founder of the Rifai order. Born near Basra, he was called Rifai after an ancestor Rifa'a, had migrated from Makkah to Seville (Spain) in the 9th century, but Ahmad's grandfather came back to Basra and hence he was also called al-Magribi. He studied under ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Sanusi Abu Abdullah Muhammad Bin Yusuf

Birth:1437

Death:1490

The Ashari theologian, born at Tlemcen, studied under Abdur Rahman Sa'alibi in Algiers. He authored Aqidat Ahl Al Tawhid Al Mukhrija Minzulmat Al Jahl wa Ribqat Al Taqlid, Umdat Ahl Al Tawfiq Wa'l Tasdid and Umm Al Barahin. The last named was translated into German ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Sulami Abu Al Rahman Muhammad Bin Al Hussain

Birth:940

Death:1021

Born at Nishapur, Iran, was called Sulami by his Arabian tribe name. His commentary on the Qur'an was called Haqaiq Al Tafsir and Tabqat Al Sufiyin was the history of Sufism. Jami's famous Nafhaat Al Uns was based on this work. He was a most ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Tanukhi Abu Ali

Birth:

Death:995

He belonged to the court circle of Azad al Dawala. His book Nishwar al Muhadara was important for economic and social history of that period, translated by D. Margoliouth in 1922.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ali Al Tirmazi

Birth:750

Death:869

An outstanding and creative thinker of Islamic mysticism, who's writing influenced Al-Ghazali and Ibn-Arabi. Author of many books and an autobiographical sketch.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Isa Muhammad Bin Isa Al Tirmizi

Birth:

Death:893

The author of one of the canonical collections of traditions. Born in Tirmiz, near Balkh. He studied under Imam Hanbal and Abu Dawud al Sijistani. He travelled to Khurasan, Iraq and Hejaz to collect the traditions. His collection of traditions, Shamial Tirmizi,contained fewer traditions ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Tusi Muhammad Ibn Hasan

Birth:995

Death:1067

Celebrated Islamic scholar and author of Tahzib-al-Ahkam, as well as many other works.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Birth:1957

Death:

Businessman billionaire Saudi prince. Al-Waleed bin Talal grandson of King Abdulaziz, the founder of the Saudi state, is emerging on the political scene in Saudi Arabia while continuing to lead his investment company, Kingdom Holding. One of the richest men in the world, al-Waleed is ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Wasiq Billah

Birth:

Death:847

The 9th Abbasid caliph. He succeeded his father al Mo'tashim Billah to the throne of Baghdad in 842. He took Sicily in 843.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Zabaidi Syed Murtaza

Birth:1732

Death:1791

Born in Bilgram in India, he produced in Cairo a voluminous commentary on Firuzabadi's al Qamus entitled Taj-al A rus (30 volumes) He also wrote a commentary on Ghazzali's Ahya. He was called Zabaidi because he had settled in al Zabid in Yemen.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Zahravi

Birth:936

Death:1013

One of the greatest physician-surgeons of Moorish Spain. Al-Zahravi devoted his entire life and genius to the advancement of medicine and surgery, in particular. He wrote a medical encyclopaedia spanning 30 volumes, which included sections on surgery, medicine, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, pharmacology, nutrition etc. The book known ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Zubair Bin Al Aw Wam

Birth:

Death:656

He was a cousin of the Prophet , peace be upon him, and a nephew of Hazrat Khadija. While still a child, he embraced Islam and was the fifth one to do so. He was married to Asma, daughter of Hazrat Abu Bakr who gave birth ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Zuhi

Birth:670

Death:742

Traditionalist and Jurist. He used to be so deeply absorbed in his studies that his wife once remarked "By Allah these books of yours are worse to me than three rival wives". Waqdi, Ibn Saad and Tabri were indebted to him as he was of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Azzedine Alaia

Birth:1940

Death:

The Tunisian born French fashion designer and sculpture. He met the aristocratic poet Louis de Vilmorin, who was Andre Marlaux's last mistress and became her companion until her death in 1969. It was through her that he was brought into contact with intellectuals and wealthy women ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alaptigen

Birth:

Death:976

The governor of Khurasan during the Samani kings. Having renounced his allegiance to the house of Saman, he came to Ghazni along with his followers and established his own principality in 962. Subiktagin, a chief, succeeded him in his service.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alauddin

Birth:

Death:1544

The Sultan of Malay kingdom of Jahore. He was the founder of this kingdom along with his father Mahmud Shah, the last Sultan of Malacca. After his father's death in 1528 he moved his capital to Jahore.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alauddin Hasan Bahmani

Birth:

Death:1358

The founder of the Bahmani dynasty in Daccan who came to the throne in 1347.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alauddin Hasan Ghori Jahan-soz

Birth:

Death:1156

He seized Ghazni in 1152 after Bahram Shah of Ghazni murdered his elder brother in 1149 and put the city to flames, on which account he was known as Jahan-soz (burner of the world). Shahabudin Ghori to who went the credit of establishing the Muslim empire in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alauddin Khan

Birth:1862

Death:1972

Musician. Indian sub-continent's greatest Sarod wizard, Ustad Alauddin Khan who was affectionately called Baba made the most significant contribution to the world of music. Almost every prominent instrumentalist in the second half of the 20th century Indian sub-continent learnt his music from him as his ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Adil Shah Bijapuri

Birth:

Death:1580

After the death of his father Ibrahim Adil Shah I in 1558, he succeeded to the throne of Bijapur.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Bahauddin Muhammad Ibn Al Husayn

Birth:1547

Death:1621

A Iranian religious leader.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Beg

Birth:

Death:1675

A pole that became a Muslim and was appointed interpreter in the Turkish court. He translated Bible into the Turkish language.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Bey

Birth:1741

Death:1822

Pasha of Janina (1788) who established his authority over Albania, Macedonia, Thessali and Morea. He married the daughter of a wealthy Pasha of Valvino in 1768. He also gained control of the Gulf of Arta, Butriito, Vonitsa, Elbasan, Berat and Valona. He acted as an independent sovereign ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Bin Usman Hajwiri

Birth:1009

Death:1072

A Sufi Saint. Born at Hijwir in Ghazni. His full name was Abul Hasan Ali Hijwiri. Khwaja Nizamuddin Chisti called him Ganj-Baksh so he was popularly known as Data Ganj Baksh. Kashful Mahjob, was his most famous book. The credit of spreading Islam in the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Haider

Birth:1913

Death:1999

Soldier. He was the only Pathan (during the British Raj in India) to receive Victoria Cross in the Second World War for his gallantry. Haider died at his home in the Kohat district of Pakistan.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Haji Bin Raja Ahmad

Birth:1809

Death:1870

Malay prince who was also a scholar and who led a renaissance in Malay letters. His writings include Muqaddimah fi Intizam, on duties of a king, a johnsonian dictionary of Malay, Kitab Pengetahaun Bhasa, and Silsila. His most important work is Tuhfat al Nafis (1866) which ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Hasan Mwenyi

Birth:1925

Death:

Tanzania's (formerly Zanzibar) second president after Julius Nyerere whom he helped to become president in 1985.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Mardan Khan

Birth:

Death:1657

A great architect and Governor of Qandhar on behalf of the king of Iran. Due to differences with the Shah came to Delhi during the reign of Shahjehan in 1637, and was made governor of Kashmir and Kabul. He constructed many buildings and canals. He is ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Pasha Muhammad Amin

Birth:1815

Death:1871

Born at Istanbul, he was the Grand Wazir of the Ottoman Sultan. He learnt French and was appointed Ambassador in London during 1841-44, became foreign minister and took part in conferences at Vienna in 1855 and Paris in 1856. He was Grand Wazir, five times during 1852, 1855-56, 1858...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Sardar Jafri

Birth:1913

Death:2000

Urdu poet of the masses, a beacon of progressive literature movement. He championed the cause of secularism, social justice and equality as a member of the Communist Party of India. In early days he wrote much of his poetry while in prison as a freedom ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Wardi Khan

Birth:1641

Death:1756

Styled Mahabat Jang, his real name was Mirza Muhammad Ali. He had come to Orissa, India, along with his father where Nawab Shujauddin, son-in-law of Murshid Quli Jaffar Khan (The governor of Bengal) treated him with kindness and got him the title of Ali Wardi ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alimjan Barudi

Birth:1857

Death:1921

The Mufti of the Muslims, appointed by the first All Russian Muslim Congress (Moscow) in 1917, for European Russia, Siberia and Kazakhstan.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Allal Al Fassi Muhammad

Birth:1910

Death:1974

The Moroccan scholar, writer, political leader and founder of Istiqlal party. Fasi was educated at Al-Qarwiyen university. He went into exile in 1947 and did not return to Morocco until it gained independence in 1956. He joined the government in 1961 and was the minister of Islamic affairs ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alp Arsalan

Birth:1029

Death:1072

He was a great Seljuki King of Iran. In Turkish Alp Arsalan meant the valiant lion. He succeeded in 1063. He defeated the Emperor of Greece in 1068 and made him captive. He asked his captive what he would have done if fortune had reversed their lot. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alparslan Turkes

Birth:1917

Death:1997

The politician born in Nicosia, Cyprus, whose parents migrated to Istanbul where he won a place at Kuleli, the military academy whose previous graduates had included Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Alparslan put into practice a brand of ultra-nationalism founded in the 'Turanist' myth: Turks were a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Altaf Gauhar

Birth:1923

Death:2000

Pakistani journalist and civil servant. A man of extra-ordinary versatility, charm and intelligence who led a multi-faceted life. He served government of Pakistan under Ayub Khan. In 1969 he became editor of Dawn where he had differences with Bhutto, who was chief martial law administrator, and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Altaf Hussain Hali

Birth:1837

Death:1914

Urdu poet and one of the greatest reformers of Muslim India. On request of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan he wrote the famous Mussadas that was published in 1879. Halis' Mussadas was about the rise and fall of the Muslims. Hali reviled 'the rich for their selfishness, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alwi Mir Tahir

Birth:

Death:1723

Kashmiri poet who wrote Qissae Haddad Wa Hallaj.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amanullah Khan

Birth:1892

Death:1960

The King of Afghanistan who tried to bring reforms to his country but landed in exile in Europe. Amanullah Khan, who had declared himself emir, after his father Habibullah Khan, was assassinated in 1919, briefly united a small educated elite with the bulk of the tribes, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amin Al Husayni

Birth:1887

Death:1974

The Mufti of Jerusalem who resisted Zionist political ambitions in Palestine. After World War I the British wanted to create a Jewish State in Palestine, the Muslims created an organ called the Arab High Committee under the chairmanship of Husayni. The Committee demanded cessation of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amin Qureshi Choudhury

Birth:1942

Death:

Born in Pakistan, grew up in Britain and now busy in making English films in America. Amin's films include once again, Tiger Warsaw, An Unremarkable life and Diary of a Hitman.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amir Ahmad Meenai

Birth:1828

Death:1900

One of the most prominent poets of Urdu Amir Meenai's diction is as immaculate as is characteristics of Lucknow poets to the extent that even Ghalib eulogised him. Now a new edition of Meenai's first diwan titled 'Miratul Ghaib' has made it possible for the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amjad Ali Khan

Birth:1945

Death:

An Indian musician. Sarod player and undoubtedly one of India's greatest musicians, Amjad Ali Khan is also exponent of a tradition that dates back to medieval times. Khan's instrument is the sarod, a short-necked lute descended from the Afghanrabab. Though his family goes back to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amjad Ali Shah

Birth:

Death:1847

Amjad Ali Shah ascended the throne of Lucknow in 1892 after his father's death. Amjad Ali Shah's wife, Malika Kishwar along with one of his sons, Mirza Sikandar Hashmat and others visited London to plead for 'the restoration' of Oudh, which was, any way, not granted ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ammara Umm

Birth:

Death:678

Born at Makkah 9 years before Hijrat. Daughter of Rafa Bin Malik and wife of Amir. She participated in the battle of Badr and Uhd.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amna

Birth:

Death:577

The mother of the Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, . She died when Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, was six years old.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amra Al Qais

Birth:

Death:c540

One of the most famous Arab poets before the advent of Islam. One of the seven poets whose poems were hung (Muallaqat) in Ka'bah.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amru Ibn Al Aas

Birth:

Death:663

The Arab general who conquered Egypt in 638-40 and distinguished himself in the reign of Damascus and Jerusalem. The charge by the western writer that he burnt the library at Alexandria after conquering the city has never been proved. He proved himself as a great ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Anjum Manpuri

Birth:1881

Death:1958

Critic in Urdu poetry and prose. A spiky critic in Urdu of social order and judicial administration of the time Maulana Noor Muhammad alias Anjum Manpuri is remembered by the stories he wrote in Urdu such as 'Saheb Ka Kutta', 'Mere lidry', and 'Mir Kallu ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Antara Bin Shadad Isa

Birth:525

Death:615

An Arab poet. He was known as one of the 'Seven poets' whose poems were hung at the Gate of Ka'bah.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Anwar Haryono

Birth:

Death:1999

Professor Dr Anwar was Indonesia's most respected Islamic leader who kept the various Muslim trends within a broad common policy framework. Dr. Anwar was chairman of 'Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia' (Islamic Dawah organisation) and sat on the council of various international Islamic bodies.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Anwar Ibrahim

Birth:1947

Death:

A Malaysian politician. Mahathir sacked his heir apparent, Anwar Ibrahim, from his posts as deputy prime minister and finance minister, ostensibly after a disagreement over how to deal with the country's economic problems. In defiance, Anwar launched a reform movement attacking the government. The prime ...

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Compiled by:M A Sherif

Aqa Khan Kirmani

Birth:1853

Death:1896

Iranian secularist reformer. Aqa Khan, an intellectual, urged Iranians to acquire a Western education and replace the Shariah with a modern secular legal code, seeing this as the only route to pgrogress. Secularists from these circles joined the more liberal ulama in the Constitutional Revolution ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas Mahmud Al Aqqad

Birth:1889

Death:1964

An Egyptian poet, critic, biographer and journalist, Aqqad was born in Aswan, and was influenced by English writers, especially William Hazlitt and Thomas Carlyl. In his later age, he showed a growing concern about religious books. Aqqad was opposed to British rule, Nazism, communism and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ar Rijal Abul Hasan Ali

Birth:

Death:1010

A Spanish mathematician and astronomer known in the west as Abenragel.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Argun Khan

Birth:

Death:1291

The grandson of Halaku Khan, came to the throne of Iran after the death of his uncle in 1284.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Arjumund Bano Begum

Birth:1592

Death:1631

The favourite spouse of Shahjehan in whose memory he built the Taj Mahal. Daughter of Asaf Khan, the brother of Nurjahan, she was married to Shahjehan in 1612 and was given the title Mumtaz Mahal. Arjumund Bano Begum died a few hours after the birth of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Arzo Sirajuddin Khan

Birth:1689

Death:1756

Known as the master of masters of Urdu poets.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Asad Din Zarari

Birth:

Death:622

The place where Masjid-e-Nabwi was constructed belonged to him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Asaf Khan

Birth:

Death:1641

The brother of Nurjahan Begum and father of Mumtaz Mahal. He was appointed Wazir in 1621 by emperor Jahangir.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Al Hasan Al Ashari

Birth:873

Death:935

An Arab philosopher who reconciled the Mutazilah and the ahl al-hadith. Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari was an important figure in the process of bringing the various legists, the Mutazilah and the ahl al-hadith, in drawing together. The Mutazilah had been so fearful of anthropomorphic notions of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ashfaqullah Khan

Birth:1900

Death:1927

An Indian nationalist and freedom fighter hanged by the British.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Asif Ali

Birth:1888

Death:1953

A Barrister. He pleaded the case of the prisoners of Azad Hind Foj. India's Ambassador to America, and Food Minister in 1948.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Asaf Jah Qulich Khan

Birth:1671

Death:1747

He came to India during the reign of Shahjehan and established his kingdom in Hyderabad.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakr Asim

Birth:

Death:745

He belonged to Kufan school of 'Qur'an readers'. His system is followed throughout the Islamic world.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Aslam Jairajpuri

Birth:1882

Death:1956

An Urdu writer. His Magnum opus was Tarikh-ul-Umat in eight volumes.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Asma Hazrat

Birth:

Death:692

The daughter of Hazrat Abu Bakar who used to carry food for the Prophet , peace be upon him, and Hazrat Abu Bakar while they were secretly staying in the cave of Sur while migrating for Madinah. She was given the title of Zat-an-Nataqayn (She of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Asmai

Birth:740

Death:828

The first Muslim scientist who contributed to Zoology, Botany and Animal Husbandry. Al-Asmai's contributions, in addition to science, were also in Arabic poetry. He had an outstanding knowledge of the Arabic grammar and lexicography of classical Arabic. He also compiled an anthology of pre-Islamic Arabic ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Atabak Abu Bakr

Birth:

Death:1210

Atabak is a Turkish title. From the time of the decline of Seljuqes to the conquest of Iran by Halaku Khan (which is about a century) that country saw the struggle for power between many Atabuks (Lords). One of the most powerful was Eldiguz. Abu ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Atasi Nuruddin

Birth:1929

Death:1992

Syrian President in 1966 after Syria's 10th coup in 20 year. His turbulent reign set the stage for Hafiz-al-Asad's take-over.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Atay Fateh Rifqi

Birth:1894

Death:1971

Master of Modern Turkish prose.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Atiya Fyzee

Birth:1876

Death:1967

A remarkable lady An impressive figure in the socio-cultural field of the Indian sub-continent during the early half of the 20th century Atiya Fyzee went on a scholarship to attend teachers training college in London in 1906. Unable to finish her course because of ill health, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Atsiz

Birth:

Death:1166

Sultan of Khwarzim and a contemporary of Sultan Sanjar Saljuqi with whom he fought several times. His son Alp arslan succeeded him.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Attia Hosain Habibullah

Birth:1913

Death:1998

An Indian writer. Attia was the first woman of her background to obtain a university degree in Indian sub-continent. She came to England with her family in 1947 when the euphoria of India's independence that year was accompanied by grief at the partition. Attia, a meticulous ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Attidjo Ahmadu

Birth:1924

Death:1989

A Cameroonian political leader. He became Prime Minister of Cameroon in 1958 and became it's first elected President during 1960-82 and made his country self sufficient in food and energy.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Aurangzeb

Birth:1618

Death:1707

Alamgir, the third son of the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan. Aurangzeb Mohiuddin's father entrusted him with the command of several expeditions, at an early age, in which he showed great military talent. When Shahjahan became seriously ill, his eldest son, Dara Shikoh, seized the throne. Aurangzeb, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

Birth:1931

Death:2015

Scientist. Father of India's missile programme and brain behind the 1998 Pokharan nuclear tests. In his early career he went to NASA (the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for a short training. At NASA's flight Facility's reception lobby, Kalam's eyes caught a painting prominently displayed; ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aweis Qarani

Birth:

Death:567

A Sufi born at Qarn in Yemen. It is said that he had not seen the Prophet , peace be upon him, , but when he came to know that Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him, had lost a tooth in the battle of Uhad, he broke ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Awfi Sadiduddin

Birth:

Death:c1232

An Iranian anthologist. He was a descendent of Abdur Rahman bin Awf. He came to Lahore at the court of Qabacha and dedicated his famous anthology Lub-al-Albab in 1220. He joined the court of 1ltut' mish in 1228 and dedicated his famous collection of anecdotes Jawami-al-Hikayat to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ayatullah Gul Paigani

Birth:c1896

Death:1993

A religious leader of Iran.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Zarqali

Birth:1028

Death:1087

The foremost astronomer of his time. Al-Zarqali carried out a series of astronomical observations at Toledo and compiled them in what is known as his famous Toledan Tables, which were translated into Latin in the 12th century. Al-Zarqali corrected Ptolemy's estimate of the length of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Azam Shah

Birth:1653

Death:1707

The third son of Aurangzeb who after Aurangzeb's death was crowned in Ahmadabad, but was slain by his elder brother Bahadur Shah in a battle.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Azimullah Khan

Birth:

Death:1712

The grand son of Aurangzab. He named the city of Patna, India, as Azimabad and established there his seat of government.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Aziz Ahmad

Birth:1914

Death:1978

The writer and historian, known in the West as the cultural historian of Muslim South Asia. Aziz joined Toronto University, Canada, as associate Professor of Islamic Studies. Wrote many Urdu novels including Gurez. During his stay in Canada he wrote many books in English on ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Aziz Billah Nizar Abu Mansur

Birth:955

Death:996

One of the greatest Fatamid Sultans of Egypt. He succeeded his father al Muizz in 975 and was the first Fatimid to begin his reign in Egypt. He had a Christian spouse 'the mother of his son and successor Al Hakim' and had a soft corner ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Aziz Siddiqui

Birth:1934

Death:2000

Pakistani journalist and human-rights activist. Aziz was formerly editor of the Frontier Post and the Pakistan Times. Aziz was born in Hyderabad, India and died of a heart attack in Lahore.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah

Birth:1928

Death:

The King of Malay from 1989. Azlan was educated in England, studied Law at Lincoln's in and returned to Malaya in 1955. Over the next 20 years he occupied important posts in the judicial and legal services: In 1979 the Chief Justice of the Malaysia High Court, in 1982 Lord ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Azmatullah Khan

Birth:1888

Death:1927

One of the pioneers of Progressive Movement in Urdu literature. An all-round scholar Azmatullah Khan's writings in Urdu include 'Sureelay Bol', 'Intekhaab-e-Mazaamen-e-Azmat' and 'Hansi Ki Kirnein - Shaahkaar afsaanay aur draamay' (masterpiece short stories and dramas). Writing poetry in Urdu using Hindi measures he also ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Riaz Ahmad Barni

Azraqi Hakim

Birth:

Death:1189

The author of Alfia Shalfia a version of Kok-Shastar.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Azud Al Dawlah

Birth:948

Death:983

The son of Rukn-ud-Dawlah, he was the greatest Buwayhid ruler. He was the first Muslim ruler to bear the title of Shahanshah. He built the shrine on the tomb of Hazrat Ali and also the famous hospital in Baghdad called al Bimaristan. The Buwayhids ruled ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Rahman Muhammad Babu

Birth:1924

Death:1996

Left-wing champion of the anti-colonial Pan African Movement. Tanzanian politician who united Tanganyika with Zanzibar to form Tanzania in 1964.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qadir Badayuni

Birth:1540

Death:1615

An Indian historian. He became a courtier of Akbar in 1574. Due to his rift with the prime minister, Abul Fazal, he had to retire. His Muntakhabul Tawarikh was very critical of Abul Fazal and Akbar. He authored Nama e Khirad Afza, Razm Nama and Tarikh ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Al Bakkai Al Kunti

Birth:1803

Death:1865

A religious head of the Kunta Confederation in the Timbuktu region.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Hassan Al Bakr

Birth:1914

Death:1982

President of Iraq during 1968-1979. He overthrew the monarchy in 1958 but Saddam Hussain ousted himself.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Ibn Yahya Al Baladhuri

Birth:

Death:892

The author of many books in history, geography, literature and other subjects in Arabic. He translated many books from Persian into Arabic. Author of Fatuh ul Buldan, an account of Islamic conquests of different lands, was well known and was published both from Europe and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakr Baqqillani

Birth:

Death:1013

A Maliki theologian and author of Ijaz al Qur'an.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Basasiri

Birth:

Death:1060

An Iraqi military leader. He was a veteran of many battles and had joined with Arab tribesmen in 1058-59 to attempt to defeat the Abbasid Caliph al Qaim in favour of the Fatimi of Egypt. He was killed by the Turks, led by Toghril Beg ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Yazid Al Bastami

Birth:745

Death:874

One of the most revered Sufis in the history of Islam. Abu Yazid al-Bastami preached the doctrine of fannah (annihilation) in Allah, and discovered the divine in the deepest recesses of his being after prolonged mystical exercises. Al-Bastami wooed Allah like a lover. But he ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmed Ben Bella

Birth:1918

Death:2012

Algerian nationalist A farmer's son Ahmed Ben Bella fought for France in World War 11 turned against it in the brutal struggle for Algerian independence and rose to become his country's first elected president after years of captivity and exile. He epitomised a generation fascinated, traumatised ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Akbar Dehkhoda

Birth:1879

Death:1956

One of Iran's great writers of prose and poetry. He was best known for his Kitab Imsal Wa Hikm Farsi in four volumes

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Hanifa Ahmad Ibn Dawud Dinawari

Birth:815

Death:c902

An Iranian botanist, historian and astronomer. He was the author of a book on Botany, Kitab An Nabat. His works on mathematics, Qur'an and astronomy did not survive. The only work available in full is Al Akhbar At Tiwal, a history of Iran. He flourished ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdou Diouf

Birth:1935

Death:

The prime minister from 1970 to 1980 and president of Senegal in 1981.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Aziz Al Duri

Birth:1919

Death:

The Iraqi historian. Educated at London University, he became Dean of Arts and later on the Rector of Baghdad University. He authored two books: The Political and Financial History of the Abbasid Period and The Origins of Arab Historiography.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Farazdaq

Birth:691

Death:730

The Arab poet famous for his satires. When he wrote a satire on a person who later became governor of Iraq in 669, he was forced to flee to Madinah. When al Hajjaj became governor in 694, he was again out of favour, but he became the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Fasi

Birth:c1530

Death:1604

A mystic and a great teacher. After migrating from Spain, he settled in Morocco where he founded a Zawiyah. 17th century Morocco was greatly influenced by his teachings. He was born Yusuf Ibn Muhammad Yusuf Al Fasi

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Tahir Muhammad Bin Yaqub Al Firuzabadi

Birth:1329

Death:1415

The Iranian compiler of the Arabic dictionary al Qamus (the ocean) which served as the basis of European dictionaries of Arabic. Firuzabadi taught in Jerusalem during 1349-59 but settled in Makkah in 1368 and remained there for 15 years. Firuzabadi travelled to India and other countries and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Asaf Ali Asghar Fyzee

Birth:1899

Death:1981

The Indian writer internationally known as an expert on Islamic law. Fyzee served as Indian ambassador to Egypt and also as the vice Chancellor of Jammu and Kashmir University. Fyzee was awarded India's Padma Bhusan in 1962. Fyzee's most famous work was Outline of Muhammadan Law. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Karim Hairi Yazdi

Birth:1859

Death:1936

A prominent Iranian Alim who founded the Hawzah-Yi-illmiyah. Ayatollah Khomeini was his student.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Hakim Bi Amr Allah

Birth:985

Death:1021

Sixth ruler of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt. He was held among the Druz to be a divine incarnation. He became caliph in 996, but his religious policies were against the Sunnis and the Christians. He encouraged Ismaili missionaries and it was during his regime that ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Muhammad Al Hasan Al Hamdani

Birth:c893

Death:949

Arab geographer, grammarian, historian, astronomer and poet. Hamdani was well read and well travelled. He authored Al-Iklil an encyclopaedia in eight volumes, translated into English by N A Faris. His other works gave much information about history, topography and genealogy of Arabia.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal

Birth:780

Death:855

Hadith-collector, legalist and leading figure of the ahl a-hadith. Ibn Hanbal having studied various subjects in his hometown travelled extensively in quest of knowledge. He was chiefly interested in acquiring knowledge of ahadith and travelled extensively, several years in his early life, through Iraq, Arabia ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Akram Al Hawrani

Birth:1910

Death:1996

A Syrian leader. After a military coup in Syria in 1949, he led the agitation on behalf of the peasants. In 1952, he fled to Lebanon with Aflaq, the leader of the Ba'ath party. Hawrani was instrumental in the formation of United Arab Republic, a union of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amir Abbas Hoveyda

Birth:1919

Death:1979

Politician. Hoveyda who was educated in Paris, joined the foreign office and served in Paris, Ankara and New York. In 1958 he was appointed to the Board of the National Iranian Oil Company and in 1971 he organised the festivities at Persepolis commemorating the 2,500th anniversary of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alauddin Hussain Shah

Birth:

Death:1519

The founder of the Hussain Shahi dynasty of Bengal (India). Alauddin joined the Abyssinian ruler of Bengal Muzzafar Shah (1491-93) and rose against him and moved his capital from Gaur to Ikdala. He ruled from 1493 to 1519. In 1498 he conquered Kamrup, Assam and Orissa in 1516. Alauddin ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Khaldun Sati Al Husri

Birth:1880

Death:1968

An Arab nationalist and advocate of pan-Arabism. Hussi was born in Yemen to Syrian parents, and educated in Istanbul. After the demise of the Ottoman empire in 1918, he joined Faisal ibn Husayn's regime, as minister of education and promoted Arab nationalism. Hussi was a great ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nafis Damishqui

Birth:1213

Death:1288

Physician. Al-Nafis after acquiring his expertise in medicine and jurisprudence moved to Cairo where he was appointed as the Principal at the famous Nasri Hospital. He also served as the Dean at the Mansuriya School. Al-Nafis's contribution in medicine was of great significance in the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Ibn Masud Bin Ghafil

Birth:

Death:c643

A companion of the Prophet (PBUH). Abdullah Ibn Masud was one of the first converts to Islam and one of those ten to whom paradise was promised by the Prophet. He was also a source of many traditions and the one who brought the severed ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud

Birth:1876

Death:1953

The founder of the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its first king. The al-Saud family brought about the remarkable transformation since Saudi Arabia's birth in 1932. Named after an 18th-century ancestor, Saudi royal family has crafted an absolute monarchy ruled by consensus within the family ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Idrisi

Birth:1099

Death:1166

The greatest geographer and cartographer of the Middle Ages. Idrisi spent much of his early life in travelling in north Africa, Spain, Portugal, France, Atlantic Coast and Southern England to gather geographical data -visited Asia Minor when he was only 16 years old. The Muslim geographers ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Ghazali

Birth:1058

Death:1128

Great theologian of Baghdad who gave definitive expression to Islam, and brought Sufism into the mainstream of piety. Ghazali a protégé of vizier Nizamulmulk, was appointed a lecturer, in 1091, at the Nizamiyyah madrasah in Baghdad was an expert in Islamic law and was also ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ayaz Ishaqi

Birth:1878

Death:1954

A Tartar political leader and writer. After his education in Kazan, he along with Fuad Tuktar founded a secret Tartar group in 1905, advocating the overthrow of the Tsarist government in Russia. In the same year he participated in the first Russian Congress of the Muslims. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Jamal

Birth:1930

Death:

The American jazz pianist with ten hands. Jamal has been on the jazz margins for over four decades and his 'powerful chemistry of romantic angst and virtuosic urbanity brought hits with an early smooth-jazz public in the 1950s' - in 1958 he stayed on the best ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alhaj Sir Dawda Abu Khair Jawara

Birth:1924

Death:

A Gambian political leader. Jawara was the Prime Minister in 1965 when the country attained independence and President in 1970.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Al Karim Al Jili

Birth:1365

Death:c1424

A great mystic. Jili studied in Yemen from 1393 to 1403. Jili's writings were greatly influenced by Ibn al Arabi, the Spanish mystic of the 13th century. He believed that the perfect man was a channel through which the common man could enjoy contact with the Divine ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Qasim Bin Muhammad Junaid Baghdadi

Birth:

Death:911

The first of the 'sober Sufis' who insisted that the experience of Allah lay in enhanced self-possession and that the wild exuberance of the Sufis was merely a stage that the true mystic should transcend. Junaid Baghdadi, a celebrated saint, a religious teacher and an ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Ibn Muhammad Al Jurjani

Birth:1339

Death:1413

Theologian. Jurjani was a leading theologian of the 15th century. He was educated in Herat and Egypt and went to Constantinople in 1374, but came back to Iran and settled in Shiraz. When Timur conquered Shiraz in 1387, he took him back to Samarqand, his capital, where ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Al Misk Kafur

Birth:905

Death:968

The Ethiopian slave who became a de-facto ruler of Egypt. Muhammad ibn Tughj, the founder of the Iksidid dynasty, recognised Kafur's talent and sent him in military campaigns against Syria and Hajaz. Ibn Tughj appointed Kafur guardian of his two sons on his deathbed and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakr Muhammad Bin Ishaq Kalabazi

Birth:

Death:995

Author. Kalabazi was the author of Kitab al Taruf li Mazheb Ahl al Tasawwuf, a manual describing the tenets of the Sufis and Bahr al Fawaid, a commentary on traditions. Kalabazi was born at Kalibaz, a quarter of Bukhara.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Hafeez Kardar

Birth:1925

Death:1996

Pakistani Cricketer who led Pakistan in twenty-three Tests.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qasim Kashani

Birth:1882

Death:1962

An Iranian religious leader. In 1942 Kashani, General Zahdi and several other officers were alleged to be guilty of conspiracy against the Shah and were sent into exile. In 1950 he returned from exile and was elected to the Majlis (parliament). During the movement to nationalise the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ishaq Bin Shahriyar Kazaruni

Birth:963

Death:1033

Founder of an order Abu Ishaq was a native of Kazarrun (province of Shiraz) who was said to have converted about 25,000 fire worshipers to Islam. Abu Ishaq was the founder of an order called Ishaqiya or Kazaruniya, which had great influence in Turkey up to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Khalil Ibn Ahmad

Birth:718

Death:c791

The Arab philologist Khalil completed the first Arabic dictionary Kitab al Ayn, arranged according to a novel alphabetical order based on pronunciation, beginning with the letter `ayn and also wrote Kitab al Arud.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Adnan Khashoggi

Birth:1935

Death:

A Saudi Arab business entrepreneur Khashoggi got business contract to sell trucks to Saudi Arabian Army in 1956, became sales agent for various car companies including Rolls-Royce and finally he came to prominence with the oil boom in mid 1970s. Khashoggi was arrested in Bern over ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Kabir Khatibi

Birth:1938

Death:

A Moroccan novelist and critic Khatibi's La Roman Maghrebin was published in 1968 though his first novel was La Memoire latouce. He wrote on Moroccan social life in Bilan de la Sociologies du Maroc and Etudis Siciologist Sur la Maroc and plays such as La Mort ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ayatullah Ruhullah Khomeini

Birth:1900

Death:1989

The spiritual mentor of the Islamic Revolution against the Pahlavi regime and the Supreme Faqih of Iran. Ayatullah Khomeini who was the political leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, in the twenties and the Thirties, studied, wrote and taught theology in the holy city of Qom, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amir Khusrau

Birth:1253

Death:1325

Poet. Amir Khusrau was a man of versatile genius. He was a renowned Indian poet, historian, courtier, saint and master of music who served in the courts of Muizuddin Kaiqbad, Jalaluddin Khilji, Allauddin Khilji, Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. As a court poet he ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Hamid Kishk

Birth:1933

Death:

An Egyptian religious leader. During the regime of president Nasser, Kishk refused to give a fatwa approving the death of Syed Qutub in 1966 and under the regime of Anwar Saddat he continued to criticise any thing against the Islamic norms. Kishk graduated from Al Azhar.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Shukri Kuwatli

Birth:1891

Death:1967

A Syrian political leader. Kuwatli worked against the Turks and then the French for Syrian independence. He was elected President, when Syria became independent in 1943 but was overthrown in a military coup in 1949. After a five-year exile in Egypt Kuwatli returned home and again became ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Aqil Labid

Birth:560

Death:661

One of the seven great Arab poets whose poems were suspended in the Ka'bah. One day he read the chapter of the Qur'an entitled Barat attached to a gate in Ka'bah and was so overcome by the verses from Qur'an that he declared that they ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmed Lutfi El Sayyid

Birth:1872

Death:1963

An Egyptian, Journalist and lawyer. Lutfi founded Al Jaridah, a newspaper in 1907. During the war years 1914 - 18 the British imposed censorship and he had to resign. Until his retirement in 1942 he worked for the improvements of women rights and social welfare.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Mahir Pasha

Birth:1882

Death:1960

Three times prime minister of Egypt. Mahir Pasha was in favour of co-operating with the British who had occupied Egypt in 1882. He was appointed the prime minister of Egypt by King Fu'ad in 1935 and 1939, and 1952, when Gamal Abdul Nasser came to power after a revolution. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Al Makkari

Birth:1585

Death:1631

The Moorish historian born in Algeria and author of A history of the Mohammedan Dynasties of Spain.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Adam Malik

Birth:1917

Death:1984

Diplomat. Malik was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1971-72. He was vice President of Indonesia during 1978-83.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alashtar Malik

Birth:

Death:658

A Saracen chief who served under Hazrat Abu Ubaida and subsequently Hazrat Ali. He was poisoned on his way to Egypt by order of Amir Muawia.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Yusuf Yaqub Al Mansur

Birth:c1160

Death:1199

The ruler of Spain and North Africa from 1184 to 1199. After Mansur succession in 1184 (after his father's death), he directed his efforts to check the encroachments of the Portuguese and Castilians. In 1195 at the battle of Alarcos, he defeated the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII, and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Mahfuz Ibn Firuz Al Karkhi

Birth:750

Death:816

A celebrated mystic of Baghdad (Karkh was a quarter of Baghdad) Maruf was venerated as a Sufi saint and his tomb at Baghdad on the West bank of the Tigris draws pilgrims even to this day. Maruf's most famous disciple was Sari al Saqati who ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Masudi

Birth:

Death:957

Historian, traveller and geographer. Al-Masu'di was a Mutazilite Arab who explored distant lands - to Syria, Iran, India, Ceylon, Indo-China and China, and proceeded via Madagascar, Zanzibar and Oman to Basra and here he completed his Muruj al-Thahab wa Maadin al Jawahir (The Meadows of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mawardi

Birth:972

Death:1058

One of the most famous thinkers in political science in the Middle Ages. Al-Mawardi's proficiency in jurisprudence, ethics, political science and literature secured him a position on his career ladder. The Abbasi Khalifah al-Qaim bi Amr Allah appointed him as his roving ambassador and sent ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Ala Mawdudi

Birth:1903

Death:1979

One of the most influential Islamic thinkers of the twentieth century. His ideas have greatly influenced Islamic movements in his native subcontinent as well as the Middle East and North Africa in the west and Southeast Asia in the east. His voluminous (six volumes) translation ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Adnan Menderes

Birth:1899

Death:1961

A Turkish politician. Adnan entered into politics in 1932, at first in opposition, then with the party under Mustafa Kamal Pasha. He became Prime Minister in 1950, re-elected in 1954 and 1957 and deposed in 1960 in a coup. Adnan was tried and hanged.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Hajj Messali

Birth:1898

Death:1974

The Algerian nationalist. Messali demanded complete independence for Algeria in 1927 and returned to Algeria in 1930. He was arrested several times by the French authorities and his party was outlawed in 1945. He was a member of Communist Party of France. Messali was educated in a French ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Muhasibi, Abu Abdullah Al Haris Ibn Asad

Birth:c781

Death:857

A Sufi who wrote ar Ri'ayah Li Huquq Allah, laid stress on Muhasba through constant self-examination, hence his title Muhasibi. His pupil Junayd was a famous mystic of his time. He was persecuted in his last year for his beliefs.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Tamim Maad Al Muiz

Birth:c930

Death:975

The most powerful Fatmid Caliph, who founded al Qahirah and made it his capital in 972-73. He succeeded his father al Mansur in 953. His reign extended to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and even to Sicily. His famous general Jawhar conquered Egypt in 969 and founded the new ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Sirhindi

Birth:1563

Death:1624

Sufi reformer who opposed the pluralism of the Moghul emperor Akbar. Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi was called Mujaddid-i-Alf-Sani or the `renewer of the second millennium'. He came to Agra where he met Abul Fazl, the Prime Minister of Akbar and came to know about Akbar`s ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Muktafi

Birth:

Death:908

Abbasid Caliph who ruled from 902 to 908. He succeeded his father al Mutadid in 902 and defeated the Qarmatian in 903 and again decisively in 907 who had risen in revolt. He also brought the independent Tulunids in Egypt to an end and defeated the Byzantine general Andronicus in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Muqtafi

Birth:1096

Death:1160

Abbasid Caliph. He came to the throne in 1136, and tried to strengthen his own position by taking advantage of the feuding of the Saljugis among themselves. In 1156 he agreed to recognise the Seljugi prince Sulaiman Shah as Sultan, provided he would let Muqtafi remained autonomous.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mustasim

Birth:1212

Death:1258

The last Abbasid caliph. Mustasim reigned from 1242 to 1258. Halaku the grandson of Genghis Khan invaded Baghdad in 1258. The Caliph was powerless and surrendered along with his 300 officials: ten days later they were all put to death. Halaku burned and plundered the city and Islam was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Hassan Mwinyi

Birth:1925

Death:

Tanzania's (formerly Zanzibar) second president after Julius Nyerere whom he helped to become president in 1985.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amir Nasar Samani

Birth:906

Death:953

He succeeded his father on the throne of Khurasan in 914, when he was only eight.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nasir

Birth:1158

Death:1225

One of the last of the Abbasid Caliphs, who tried to use Islamic institutions to strengthen his rule in Baghdad. Caliph al-Nasir who tried to restore the caliphate in Baghdad and its environs ruled from 1180 to 1225 and became powerful due to the collapse of the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Moin Naser-e-Khasrow Al Marvazi

Birth:1004

Death:1077

Poet and writer. Nasir was a poet, theologian and one of the best writers in Iranian literature. He authored Safarnama, Rawshenai Nama and Jami al Hikmatayan, in which he tried to harmonise Ismaili theology and Greek philosophy. Nasir was born near Merv, Khurasan.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Tusi

Birth:1201

Death:1274

One of the greatest scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, philosophers, theologians and physicians of the Middle Ages. Al-Tusi was a prolific writer who wrote many treatises on varied subjects such as Algebra, Arithmetic, Trigonometry, Geometry, Logic, Metaphysics, Medicine, Ethics, and Theology. Even now some of his works ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amir Nuh I Samani

Birth:

Death:954

The fourth king of the Samanian dynasty. Nuh succeeded his father to the throne of Khurasan and Bukhara in 942. The famous Iranian poet Rudki was his court poet and Persian literature flourished during his regime.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Anwar Pasha

Birth:1881

Death:1922

A dominant member of the young Turks ruling the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Anwar Pasha joined the military and defied Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan in 1908 and forced him to restore the Constitution. The Young Turks established a government under Mahmud Shaukat Pasha ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Shah Patras Bukhari

Birth:1898

Death:1958

Urdu humorist. From the numerical count of his essays in Patras ke Mazamin it is almost impossible to fathom the depth of the multi-faceted personality of Prof Bukhari. More than a humorist, as he is commonly known, he was an inspiring educationalist, intrepid journalist, insightful ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Maymun Al Qaddah

Birth:

Death:874

The son of Maymun al Qaddah who was an oculist (Qaddah). Qaddah conceived of a scheme of a secret society, which used religion to destroy the Caliphate and give Abdullah or his descendants the throne. It was this scheme, which culminated in the rise of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Mansur Syfuddin Qalun Al Alfi

Birth:1222

Death:1290

The Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and founder of the Qalun dynasty, which ruled Egypt for about a hundred years. After Baybars became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria in 1260, Qalaun also became powerful as his assistant. When Baybar died in 1277, he deposed Baybar's sons and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman

Birth:1778

Death:1859

Sultan of Morocco. The Europeans used to pay tribute to the Muslims for protection in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1801 the Moroccans insisted on an increase, which the United States was paying and the result was four-year war with United States.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ar Rashid

Birth:

Death:1672

The founder of the Alawi dynasty of Morocco. Rashid succeeded his brother Muhammad who had struggled to form a principality in northern Morocco. He formed a force of Berber Arabs and made Taza his capital. In 1666 he seized Fez and proclaimed himself Sultan. From Fez ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Abdullah Jafar Ibn Muhammad Rudaki

Birth:c859

Death:c941

The first Iranian poet of note to compose in the new Persian written in Arabic alphabet and regarded as the father of Persian poetry. Rudaki served as the court poet to Nasr II (914-943) in Bukhara. Only a few couplets out of the one hundred ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Anwar El Saadat

Birth:1918

Death:1981

An Egyptian politician of great courage and flexibility. Saadat set the stage for the peace treaty of 1979 between Egypt and Israel and that made him a catalytic force of display of courage and flexibility in the history of the Middle East. Though he earned himself, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Mansur Sabuktigin

Birth:942

Death:997

The Founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty. He married the daughter of the governor of Ghazna, which was under the control of the Samanid dynasty. When he succeeded as the governor of Ghazna in 977, he overthrew the yoke of the Samanids and in the next twenty ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdoulaye Sadji

Birth:1910

Death:1961

A Senegalese writer. Sadji was one of the founders of African prose fiction in French. He authored Tounka Nouvelle Africaic, La Belle Historie de Leuk-La-Lievre, Maimouna and Nini, Modo Fatim in which he described about the plight of a peasant.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Muhammad Sahl Bin Abdullah Al Tustari

Birth:818

Death:896

Theologian. Though he never wrote any book, his Thousand Sayings, collected by his pupil Muhmmad Ibn Salim (d 909) gave rise to a theological school called Salimiya. Hallaj, the famous mystic was also his disciple. Ibn Al Arabi and Abdul Karim Jili later developed his ideas. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdus Salam

Birth:1926

Death:1996

A Pakistani physicist. Abdus Salam was educated in Punjab University and St. John's Cambridge where he obtained his PhD in 1952. He set up the International Centre for Theoretical Physics at Trieste in 1964, where many young scientists from the Third World met to exchange ideas and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Anbara Salam Al Khalidi

Birth:1897

Death:1986

A Lebanese author. She was the first woman in greater Syria to unveil her face in 1927. She translated Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aenied for the first time in Arabic.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Abdullah Saleh

Birth:1942

Death:

A north Yemeni politician and soldier. Saleh took part in the 1974 coup when Col. Ibrahim seized power. Ibrahim was assassinated in 1977, Saleh became the president, re-elected in 1983 and 1988. Under his leadership the war with South Yemen ended and the two countries re-united. Ali Abdullah Saleh ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Majd Majdud Ibn Adam Sanai

Birth:1069

Death:1131

Poet. Sanai was the first great mystical Persian poet who served at the court of Ghazna, composing panegyrics in praise of the Ghazni Sultans. But after a change of heart he lived in retirement and wrote mystic poetry, Hadiqat al Hqaiq wa Shariat at Tarriqah (...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakar Muhammad Bin Ahmad Sarkhasi

Birth:

Death:1090

A Hanfi theologian from Transoxiena (Mawraun Nahr). Authored Mabsut (14 volumes), Usul-al Fiqah and many others.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmed Sefrioui

Birth:1915

Death:

A Moroccan novelist and short story writer. Sefrioui's La Chapelet d' Ambre' consisted of fourteen short stories was published in 1949, his first novel La Boite a Mervilles was published in 1954 and La Maison de Servitude was written in 1973.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Hasan Ash Shadhili

Birth:1196

Death:1258

The founder of the order of Shadhliyah. In 1218 Shadhili travelled to Tunisia where his teaching aroused hostility. He was forced into exile to Egypt. It was in Egypt that he founded the Shadhliyah order which was to become the most influential brotherhood of North Africa ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Alhaj Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari

Birth:1925

Death:

A Nigerian political leader. Shagari a poet, teacher and founder of Northern People's Congress (1951), held several cabinet positions including that of finance commissioner (1971-75). Shagari founded National Party of Nigeria in 1978 and led his party to victory in 1979 elections. He became the first civilian president ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Rahman Al-iryani

Birth:1909

Death:1998

A politician of Yemen. Shaikh Abdul Rahman al-Iryani guided the early struggle of the Republic of North Yemen. Iryani was one of the key architects of modern Yemen, seeking to meld the conflicting interests of modernists and traditionalists into a workable system of government. Iryani ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Halim Sharar

Birth:1860

Death:1926

Urdu novelist Famous for his historical novels in Urdu, Sharar was a recognized writer and journalist. He joined Avadh Panch in 1880. Sharar's first novel Diljasp in 1882 was followed by a number of books including Firdaus-e-bareen but his best work is Ghusishta Lucknow ya Mashraqi Tamadun ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmed Shauqi

Birth:1868

Death:1932

An Arab poet and dramatist. Shauqi Ahmad, by 1914, was a leading literary figure in the Arab world. In 1927 he was proclaimed amir-ul-shuara. His poem muluk-ul-arab, showed him as a precursor of Arab nationalism. He also wrote Masra Kulabatara (the fall of Cleopatra) one of his ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Abdullah Al Shi'i

Birth:

Death:911

An Ismaili leader who was responsible for Fatimid dynasty's ascendancy in north Africa.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Adib Shishakli

Birth:1909

Death:1964

A Syrian military officer who overthrew the government in 1949 and ruled till 1954. Shishakli was opposed to the Union of Syria and Iraq. When unification process was being finalised in 1949, he overthrew the government in a coup. Shishakli himself assumed no post of authority but was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Al Shukairy

Birth:1907

Death:1980

A Palestinian political leader. Shukairy Ahmad was the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the UN (1957-62), and Palestinian representative to the Arab League (1963). He became the first president of PLO when it was founded in 1964. Shukairy Ahmad was criticised for his role during the Arab-Israeli War (1967) ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Daud Al Sijistani

Birth:817

Death:889

He authored Kitab-as-Sunan.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Suavi

Birth:1839

Death:1878

The Turkish reformer who fled to Europe along with Namiq Kamal and Mehmet Zia Pasha. He was the editor of Muhbir, published by these exiles.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi

Birth:1145

Death:1234

The founder of the Suhrawardiya order. Though his maternal uncle Abu Najib Suhrawardi was mentioned as its founder but it was Abu Hafs who strengthened it and was responsible for spreading it. He was no ascetic, though living withdrawn from the world. The Caliph Nasir ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Achmad Sukarno

Birth:1901

Death:1970

Politician. Sukarno firmly believed that Islam and communism were not incompatible. In 1927 he became the chairman of Nationalist Study Club in Bandung. He was put into prison for four years for his anti-colonist utterances by the government of the Dutch Indies. It was on the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Birth:1912

Death:1966

First prime minister of Independent Nigeria. Tafawa Balewa studied at the London University Institute of Education (1945-46). He founded an organisation interested in political reform in 1943. In 1951, his party won the first election of the country and in 1952 he became a minister. In 1957, he was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmed Tevfik Pasha

Birth:1845

Death:1936

The last Ottoman Grand Vizier. Before becoming the Vizier Tevfiq Pasha was the Ambassador to Germany and to London. In 1908 he was made the Grand Vizier but resigned after Sultan Ahmad Hamid was disposed in 1909. He was again made Grand Vizier in 1918. In 1919 Tevfiq Pasha ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Al Tijani

Birth:1737

Death:1815

The founder of the Tijaniyah order of Sufis widespread in north west Africa and Sudan. This order placed great emphasis on good intentions and actions rather on elaborate rituals. He condemned the visitations (ziyaras) and forbid allegiance to any other Shaikh.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmed Sekou Toure

Birth:1922

Death:1984

First president of the Republic of Guinea. Toure Ahmad organised a successful strike in French West Africa and in 1945 was the Secretary General of the Post Telecommunications Workers Union of Guinea. He was a powerful orator and was elected to the French National Assembly in 1951, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Qasim Hasan Unsuri

Birth:

Death:1049

The poet Laureate of Sultan Mahmud.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Wahb

Birth:

Death:658

He was chosen the leader of the Kharjis, when they separated from Hazrat Ali during the battle of Siffin. When Mu'awiya proposed to settle the differences arising out of the murder of Hazrat Usman by referring it to two arbitrators who would judge 'according to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Huzaifa Wasil Bin Ata

Birth:c699

Death:749

A chief of Mutazilla. Born in Madinah, he went to Basra and joined the circle of Hasan al Basri. His deviation from the view of Hasan Basri was the starting point of the Mutazilla. He wrote several books and pamphlets on the theological and political ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan

Birth:1917

Death:1980

A Pakistani soldier and country's president. Yahya Khan became the Chief of the Pakistan army General Staff (1957-62), army commander in chief (1966) and replaced General Ayub Khan in 1969 and thus became president. Yahya Khan was accused of the mishandling of the country's affairs leading to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Yaqubi

Birth:

Death:897

An Arab historian and geographer. He lived in Armenia and Khurasan during the Tahirid dynasty, travelled to India and died in Egypt. He was the author of Tarikh-ibn-Wadih, a history up to 872 and Kitabul Buldan, a treatise on historical geography, the first of its kind ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakr Muhammad Al Khawafi

Birth:1356

Death:1435

The founder of the Zainya order. Zainuddin was the author of Risalat al Wasaya al Qudsiya, Al Awaad al Zainya. His grandson also called Zainuddin, who was in the service of the Moghul emperor Babar, translated his memoirs from Turkish into Persian. Zainuddin was born ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Birth:1872

Death:1953

Abdullah Yusuf Ali is best known in the English-speaking Muslim world for his monumental translation and commentary of the Holy Qur'an. Yusuf Ali was a many-talented individual, who rose from a humble background to become one of the highest ranking 'native' members of the prestigious ...

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Compiled by:M A Sherif

Adam Hafejee Patel

Birth:1940

Death:2019

Muslim labour peer in the House of Lords. Born in Broach, Gujarat, India. An accountant and businessman by profession, he has many years of active involvement in Muslim community affairs in the North West of England. He was founder Chairman and later President o fthe ...

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Compiled by:M A Sherif

Asgharali M M Jaffer

Birth:1936

Death:2000

Mulla Asghar was the first president of the World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities. Born in Mombasa, Kenya, he was educated at the Ithna-asheri Primary School and the Mombasa Technical High School. A self taught man, he was internationally recognized by the 'ulama ...

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Compiled by:M A Sherif

Abdal-Hakim Murad

Birth:1960

Death:

A leading British Muslim scholar and Dean of the Cambridge Muslim College. Also known as Timothy Winter, he is currently the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University and Director of Studies in Theology at Wolfson College. He ...

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Compiled by:M A Sherif

Alija Izetbegovic

Birth:1925

Death:2003

Bosnian leader who led his country to independence. Alija Izetbegovic, wartime President, Presidency of Bosnia (1990-96) and rotating President (1996-2000) Bosnian leader who led his country to independence. Alija Izetbegovic, as president, fought to preserve the polytechnic and multi-cultural character of his country since 1992 when ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / M A Sherif / Jubril Alao

Abdul Salam Arif

Birth:1921

Death:1966

Born in Baghdad, the 1963 change of power brought in at the helm an old associate of the ex-Prime Minister, and the prime mover behind the military movements that affected the 1958 revolution, Abdul Salam Mohammad Arif. He was known to be a very faithful pan-Arab and ...

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Compiled by:Haidar Hadi

Abdul Rahman Arif

Birth:1918

Death:2007

Succeeded his brother as President of Iraq on the 16th of April 1966, after the helicopter accident. He was also a military man and took part in both 1958 and 1963 seizures of power. He was ousted by the Ba'thiest coup d'état on 17th July 1968. Allowed to ...

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Compiled by:Haidar Hadi

Amina Haider Al-Sadr

Birth:1938

Death:1980

Amina Haider Al-Sadr, the famous Muslim author, also called Bint-al- Huda, played a significant role in creating Islamic awareness among the Muslim women of Iraq. She was in her twenties when she began writing articles in Al-Adhwa, the Islamic magazine printed by the religious intellectuals ...

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Compiled by:Haidar Hadi

Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr

Birth:1944

Death:1999

Religious scholar and jurist. Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad became mujtahid in mid-1970s. He authored many books. The most important are his monumental four-volume encyclopaedia (Mawsua) of the Imam al-Mahdi, massive work on jurisprudence, Ma wara al-fiqh, of which 10 volumes have been published, a book on ...

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Compiled by:M Nauman Khan

Ahmadu Bello

Birth:1910

Death:1966

(b. 1910, in Rabbah, near Sokoto, Nigeria; d. 1966), traditional Islamic leader, and Nigerian regional premier and power broker during the first years of independence. Ahmadu Bello was a descendent of royal blood: his grandfather, Atiku na Rabah was the seventh sultan of Sokoto in the years 1873...

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Compiled by:Haidar Hadi

Ayse Nur Sarisozen

Birth:1946

Death:2002

Publisher. She published books of history, politics and poetry that caused controversies in Turkey. Her publications subjected her to countless court hearings, fines, and imprisonment and, according to her supporters, state-sponsored harassment. Sarisozen, with her husband Ragip Zarakolu, from the basement in Istanbul, and under ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Gani Lone

Birth:1932

Death:2002

Politician. A prominent Kashmiri politician and nationalist who championed the cause of an independent homeland for his people. His firm stand in favour of self-determination earned him the wrath of the Indian government and his utterances against terrorism and sectarianism also set him at odds ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Qadir

Birth:1954

Death:2002

Politician and key leader in Afghan struggle. Afghanistan's vice president and minister of Public Works. Qadir was one of the three vice presidents chosen to serve in the Cabinet of president Hamid Karzai. Qadir had been vice-chairman of the Northern Alliance delegation at the Bonn ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abbas Gharabagi, general.

Birth:1918

Death:2000

Chief of staff in the last days of the Shah's rule during Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. After taking refuge in France, he was awarded the Legion of Honour. He authored several books, including an account of the Shah's fall entitled Why Did It Happen

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abd Al Rauf

Birth:17 century

Death:

He was a native of Singkel and had studied Islamic science at various centres in Arabia among 1640 and 1661. Rauf returned to Aceh and taught and wrote for over thirty years. He was the first translator of the Qur'an into Malay. The most powerful expression of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Bari

Birth:1878

Death:1926

India's political and spiritual leader. In his opposition to the Western education, Maulana Abdul Bari Firangi Mahli founded Madarssa-i-Nizamia in Lucknow. He set up Anjuman-i-Khuddam-i-Kabba (1914) to prevent desecration of Muslim Holy places by the British. He was the founder President of Jamat-i-Ulemai-Hind. He preached Hindu-Muslim ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd ul Gaffar Khan

Birth:1890

Death:1988

A Sarhadi leader who had great feeling for his people A champion of a movement of moral, social and economic reform Abd Ul Gaffar Khan well known as Badshah Khan or 'Frontier Gandhi' had passion for his people. Founder of a group called, Khudai Khidmatgars, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Riaz A Hakeem Khan

Abdel Rahman Badawi

Birth:1917

Death:2002

Philosopher and poet, an excellent Egyptian scholar of free-thinking existentialist. Badawi who published some 75 encyclopaedic works, on philosophy, translations and analysis of Greek, German and Islamic philosophy that include Nietzsche (1939), Heritage Grec (Greek Heritage, 1940) and Temps Existentialiste (Existentialist Time, 1945). His outstanding PhD thesis, 'Le Probleme ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz

Birth:1958

Death:2002

Publisher and race-horse owner of Saudi Arabia. Prince Ahmed passion for horses led to successes, in 2002 Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem in the USA, and also in 1999 with Oath at Epsom in the U.K. Salman whose horses were easily identified in his distinctive green ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ataollah Mohajerani

Birth:1954

Death:

A well-known and influential politician in post-revolutionary Iran. Dr. Ataollah Mohajerani is the Head of the International Centre for Dialogue Among Civilisations and Adviser to President Khatami. He held, since 1980, high positions in Iran, which stretches a long and impressive list. He has been a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Atef Salem

Birth:1927

Death:2002

Film-maker who was known as social realist of Egyptian cinema. Atef's 1966 film Khan el-Khalilli, which uncovered the bankruptcy of Cairo's middle-class morality, captured the imagination of millions of filmgoers. The Nobel Prize winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz wrote the script of the film. Atef's career of 58 ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Hamid I

Birth:1725

Death:1789

The Sultan of Turkey. He succeeded his brother to the throne in 1774. His reign was marked by wars with Russia, which were disastrous for Turkey. During the first year of his reign Turkey was defeated twice by the Russian forces and had to give Russia ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Hamid Lahori

Birth:

Death:1654

Traveller and historian A traveller and historian Abdul Hamid Lahori who became a court historian of Shah Jahan authored Padshahnama-i-Shahjehani (also referred as Badshahnama). Lahori wrote about Shah Jahan and described his life and activities during the first twenty years of his reign in great ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Haq Shaikh Muhaddis Dehlavi

Birth:1551

Death:1642

The Sufi saint. He authored many books, including L'amat, Tarikh-I-Haqqiqi and Akhbarul-Akhyar. His son Shaikh Nurul Haqq was the author of Zubdut-Ul-Tawarikh.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Haq

Birth:1870

Death:1961

Baba-e-Urdu (Father of Urdu) A legendary figure Moulvi Abdul Haq, who was known as Baba-e-Urdu, was the foremost campaigner of Urdu language in the Indian sub-continent. The Anjumane Taraqqi-e-Urdu emerged as a powerful outfit under his care. Educated from Muslim University Aligarh Abdul Haq served ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Latif Qizwini

Birth:

Death:

He wrote history in 16th century, entitled Lubb-Ut-Tawarikh

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Malik

Birth:

Death:

The King of Morocco who defeated Sabastian, monarch of Portugal, who had come to the help of his nephew who tried to dethrone him in 1578.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Malik Samani II

Birth:

Death:

He was the last monarch of the Sammani dynasty. He was defeated by Mahumud of Gazna in 999.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Birth:1935

Death:

The father of Pakistan's Atom Bomb. Pakistan exploded six nuclear weapons in the desert of Baluchistan, in May 1998, (two weeks after India's re-tested theirs), to scenes of national ecstasy, and Abdul Qadeer Khan was hailed as a hero. For three decades, at the top secret ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Rashid Mir

Birth:

Death:

The author of the first critical Persian dictionary in 1653 Farhang-I-Rashidi also of Muntakhab-Ul-Lughat, a very useful Arabic dictionary with explanations in Persian.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Samad Khwaja

Birth:

Death:

A calligrapher. The title Shirin Qalam was bestowed on him in Akbar's court.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdulkarim Saito, Professor

Birth:1908

Death:1998

Born of Buddhist parents in Kiga city and named Sekihei. After studies he joined the Japanese foreign affairs ministry, then joined a commercial organisation that involved him in travelling and then taught in university. He had lived and travelled in Muslim countries for over 23 years. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdulsalam Sulaiman Sa'ad

Birth:1944

Death:1998

A distinguished Islamic relief worker in Sudan and Africa. Executive Director of Munazammah al-Dawa'h al-Islamia (Islamic Call Organisation). He had travelled widely especially in Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania and Chechnya. He died in an air crash.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Arif

Birth:12th century

Death:

The founder of the first Muslim state in Atcheh in Sumatra. Marco Polo had reported that Perlak (Northeast Sumatra) was already a Muslim state in 1292.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Abbas

Birth:619

Death:687

The cousin of the Prophet (PBUH) He was known as a distinguished teacher and Interpreter of Qur'an. He was appointed Governor of Basra by Hazrat Ali.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Ali Al Halabi

Birth:

Death:

One of the first writers on Sahafai jurisprudence.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Fazlullah Shirazi

Birth:

Death:

The author of the Tarikh-i-Wassaf in four volumes. He added the fifth volume in 1328.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Mubarak

Birth:118 H.J.

Death:181 H.J

A traditionalist. Imam-Bukhari and Imam Muslim were his disciple.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Bin Umro Bin Abas

Birth:

Death:

He wrote the first book of Traditions and named it Sadiqa.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Ibrahim

Birth:1934

Death:

Musician. Born in one of South Africa's worst ghettoes, Kensington, Cape Town, and baptised Adolph Johannes Brand, he went into exile in 1962 with a style of jazz that made him famous internationally and an icon at home. He returned to Cape Town in 1968 and converted ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Jaffa Bey or Joffrey Robert Khan

Birth:1930

Death:1988

The founder of the Jeffrey Ballet in 1956 in America. He formed his own Ballet Concert in 1954 and achieved international fame in Gamelan (1962) Remembrance (1973) and Post Cards (1980).

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Shaikh Dr.

Birth:1874

Death:1965

An educationalist. Dr Abdullah Shaikh launched Khatoon a monthly journal for women in 1904. He started a girl's school in 1906. Dr Abdullah Shaikh was recipient of India's national award Padma Bhusan in 1964.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdur Rahman Doi

Birth:1933

Death:1999

Islamic scholar. Professor Abdur Rahman's academic career took him to Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa. He held the position of honorary professor at Universitas Islamica, Italy, and visiting professor to University of Bayreuth, Germany and University of Bordeaux, France. He believed in 'the healthy growth ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Bin Hussain Al Shaibani

Birth:c749

Death:c802

He was a pupil of Imam Abu-Hanifa, but after his death, pursued his studies under Abu Yusuf. His chief works were six in number including Jami-Ul-Kabir, Jami-Us-Saghir, etc. He was born in Iraq, and was commonly known as Imam Muhammad.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Bin Muhammad Al Numani

Birth:

Death:1022

A renowned lawyer, also known as Shaikh Mufid. He wrote many books including Irshad. He was an authority on Shia law of inheritance.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Farghani

Birth:C860

Death:

Arab astronomer. Al-Farghani wrote Kitab fi al-Harakat al-Samawiya wa Jawami Ilm al-Nujum, (Element of Astronomy), the book on celestial motion and thorough science of the stars, which was translated into Latin in the 12th century and exerted great influence upon European astronomy before Regiomontanus. Al-Farghani ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Al Aswad Al Du'Ali

Birth:

Death:688

The founder of Arabic grammar. He flourished in Basra.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Al Wafa Mubashsir Ibn Fatik

Birth:1053

Death:

An Egyptian prince. The first book printed in English, The Dictes and sayings of the philosophers' by William Caxton in 1477 was based on Ibn Fatik's Mukhtar at-Hikam was Mahasin al Kalim.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ali Muhandis

Birth:

Death:

`The Geometrician' who flourished in the time of Al-Hafiz-al-din-illah, Khalifa of Egypt, in the 12th century.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bashir Ibn Salim Al Harsi

Birth:19th century

Death:

The Arab leader who led the revolt against German colonisation in 1888 on the east African coast north of Zanzibar. His resistance spread Inland up to Lake Victoria. The uprising was crushed in 1889.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Hussain

Birth:20th century

Death:

Col. Abu Hussain coined the slogan Jai Hind as a secular solution for the Indian National army that was composed of different religious groups.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Ishaq

Birth:

Death:

A 9th generation decedent of Hazrat Ali who settled at Chist (Khurasan) and founded the Chistiya order. The Chistiya order was brought to India by Moinuddin Chisti ( - 1236) whose disciple Khawaja Qutbuddin Kakhtiyar Kaki died in 1235 and burIied near the Qutub Minar in Delhi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abubakar Mahmoud Gummi

Birth:1922

Death:1992

Scholar and jurist. Gummi was a distinguished personality who was the Grand Qadi of northern Nigeria, member of World Muslim League and religious advisor to Premier of northern region, Ahmadu Bello. He authored many publications such as Al Aqidatusahiha bi Muwafikatu Sharia and Radul Azhan ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Abbas A Gummi

Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

Birth:1932

Death:2014

Politician of Sierra Leone. Ahmad Kabbah is a former civil servant and long time UN official - the UN Development Programme, where he worked for 21 years. He was elected Sierra Leone's President in 1996, and subsequently in 2002. Muslims form 70 per cent of the population. With the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Yusuf Imam

Birth:731

Death:798

He was a disciple of Imam Abu Hanifa. He along with Muhammad Shibani compiled the Fiqah-E-Hanfi that is followed almost all over the World. He was the author of Kitab-ul-Kharaj amongst others. In the history of Islam, he was the first person to be appointed ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Zakaria Yahya Ibn Muhammad

Birth:12th century

Death:

The author of al filaha a treatise on agriculture. It was not only the most important work in Spanish Islam but also the most outstanding work on the subject.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Fazl Allami

Birth:1551

Death:1602

Sufi historian and biographer of the Mughal emperor Akbar. Abul Fazl was the favourite wazir of Akbar and under whose influence the latter pursued religious and political policies within his empire. Abul Fazl saw Akbar as the ideal philosopher-king. Akbar was establishing a civilisation, which ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Hasan Ebtehaj

Birth:1899

Death:1999

Banker, economist and diplomat; 'one of the most significant Iranians of the post World War II period' and 'a nationalist utterly committed to the promotion of his country's interest.' He was born in Rasht and schooled in Paris, Beirut and Tehran. He joined Ministry ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abul Ma Ali Bin Abdul Majid

Birth:

Death:

A Persian writer who wrote Kalila Damna in 1118 from a copy which Rudki had used for his poetry. Amir Shaikh Ahmad Suhaili, the prime minister of the second son of Timur, got Hussain Waiz to make a modern version of it in 1505 and the result ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abul Qasim Ismail Bin Abbad

Birth:

Death:

Wazir of the Boyide ruler, Fakhruddaula and proud possessor of a Library for which 400 camels were said to have been required to carry the books.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdel Abdullah Osseiran

Birth:1905

Death:1998

Lebanon's politician. He was born in Sidon. A nationalist from the start of his political life. He held several important ministerial positions. Osseiran represented Lebanon at the UN to vote against the Palestinian partition plan. He demanded 'armed resistance' against Israel's occupation of Lebanon at ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aga Khan III

Birth:1877

Death:1957

The 48th imam of the Ismaili community. The 48th hereditary imam or spiritual leader of the Ismaili community, Prince Aga Khan III or Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah contributed to the field of education, culture, social and economic life of the people of Pakistan and in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Shah Abdali

Birth:1722

Death:1772

Son of a chief of the Afghan tribe of Abdal (near Hirat). After the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, he took Qandahar, Kabul, Peshawar and Lahore. He attacked India several times, but his victory at Panipat in 1761 over the Marathas, was most memorable. After the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Shamin Siddiqui

Birth:1942

Death:2001

A brilliant physicist of international recognition whose original work in the fields of optical communications stimulated what was a paradigm of collaboration between academe and industry. Prof Ahmad work contributed greatly to the understanding of Polarisation Mode Dispersion (PMD). This work led to the invention ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Tajuddin Ibrahim Bin Hizr

Birth:c1334

Death:1431

One of the greatest Turkish poets of the 14th century. He studied at Cairo and came to the court of Sultan Bayezid I (1389-1403). He wrote panegyrics for Suleyman, the son of Bayazid I. Considering the work of the Iranian poet Nezami, he wrote a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Baghwai Abu Muhammad Bin Masud Farra

Birth:

Death:1122

The author of a collection of tradition much used by Sunni Muslims in India. As he was a vendor of Furs, he was called Farra. His book Masabihu's Sunna or lamps of the traditions was revised by Shaikh Waliuddin in 737 A.H, adding an additional ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Bumazar or Abu Maaschar

Birth:c805

Death:886

Born at Balkh he was an astronomer and astrologer. He wrote Da Maqnis Conjunctionibus and Floves Astrologici. The later was one of the first astronomical books to be printed in 1486. He held that the world was created when the seven planets were in conjunction in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abbas Kiarostami

Birth:1940

Death:2016

Iranian auteur. Abbas began making documentaries about children and education and progressed through shorts to art films that won awards around the world. Abbas's 1997 Taste of Cherry that won the best picture award at Cannes, his latest, Ten, a deceptively simple movie about an Iranian ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Mamun Abdullah

Birth:786

Death:833

The seventh Caliph whose reign marked the beginning of the Abbasid decline. When al-Mamun's father, Harun al-Rashid, died, in 809, he recognised his stepbrother Amin as the Caliph, according to his father's wishes. However when Amin declared that his son and not al-Mamun would inherit the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Nasir

Birth:rg.1293

Death:1340

The son of Qalawun, the Mamluk king of Egypt. His school Al Nasiriyan and his mosque in Cairo were the finest achievement in Muslim architecture. He dug a canal connecting Alexandria with the Nile.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Qasim Al Iraqi

Birth:13th. cent

Death:

An Arab chemist. The father of Arab al Chemy was Jabir ibn Hayyan. He acted on the assumption that base metals such as lead, iron, tin and copper could be turned into gold by means of a substance, to the search of which he devoted ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Bin Isa Alastralabi

Birth:9th Century

Death:

The famous Arab ophthalmologist, during the reign of Abbasi Khalifa Mutamid. He wrote 13 books on eye diseases. Some of his books were translated in Latin and other European languages.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Sayyid Shirazi

Birth:1945

Death:1999

General Shirazi was a hero of 1980-88 war with Iraq. After the revolution he was active in suppressing counter-revolutionary attacks in Iran. General Shirazi was assassinated in Tehran.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Allama Mashriqi Inayatullha Khan

Birth:1888

Death:1963

A brilliant academic. Allama Mashriqi was a genius and earned different types of degrees and broke previous academic records at Pakistan's Punjab University and England's Cambridge University. In 1931 he organised the Khaksar Tehrik (Khaksar Movement) against the policies of both, Congress and Muslim League in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Allama Shirazi

Birth:

Death:

The author of Durrat ul Taj, a collection on pure Mathematics. He was also known as the `Philosopher of Shiraz'.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amanat Khan Shirazi

Birth:mid 17 cent

Death:

A calligrapher. The only name to appear in the inscriptions of the Taj Mahal was that of Amanat Khan Shirazi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amin Ahmad Razi

Birth:16th cent

Death:

The author of the biographical dictionary Haft a Qlim that was finished in 1594 during Akbar's reign. It contained a description of the Topography of seven different places, with memoirs of eminent persons that each has produced.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Amir Hossein Aryanpour

Birth:1925

Death:2001

Teacher and writer. Iran's most prominent and controversial intellectual, with leftwing ideas, whose teaching challenged the orthodoxy of both the Shah and the Islamic regime. He promoted social change, dialectical materialism and the view that everything could be explained according to scientific principles. His Introduction ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Anarkali

Birth:

Death:

It is commonly believed that Jahangir fell in love with Anarkali and when Akbar came to know about it, she was buried alive. The story may not be true but the following couplet was engraved on her tombstone 'Oh! Could I see again the face ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Anvari Auhad Al Din Ali

Birth:

Death:1190

An Iranian classical poet. He was born near Merv, studied at Tus and became the court poet of Sultan Sanjar Saljugi. After the death of Sanjar in 1157, he passed his last years in scholarly retirement. His longest poem about the invasion of Iran and its ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Astahzi Ibrahim Bin Muhammad

Birth:10th century

Death:

A native of Iran, he travelled in different countries of Asia and came to India in 951. His two books of geography in Arabic, Kitab-ul-Aqalim and Masalik ul Mamalik was published from Lyden in 1870.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Azim Hasham Premji

Birth:1945

Death:

Midas of global outsourcing. Premji transformed Wipro, his family's vegetable-oil business, into one of world's most important outsourcing companies (total sales: over $2bn and employees: over 30,000) is already part of Indian business folklore. The transformation of his business into an IT company began in 1980, when ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aziza Mir

Birth:early 20th century

Death:

The founder of the Film industry in Egypt. She produced and directed Laila the first silent film in Egypt in 1929.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abulhassan Banisadr

Birth:1933

Death:

An Iranian politician. Banisadr joined the national party of Dr. Mussadaq. He was arrested in 1961 and again in 1964. After the return of Imam Khomnei from his exile in France, he also came along with him to Tehran in 1979 and became the first foreign minister of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Gul

Birth:1950

Death:

Politician. The election of Abdullah Gul as President of Turkey, in 2007, closed a stormy chapter in the country's politics in the most satisfactory possible way. For the first time since Kemal Ataturk created the secular republic in 1928, Turkey elected a politician from an Islamic background ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Gymnastiar

Birth:1962

Death:

Televangelist Islamic preacher. Abdullah Gymnastiar also known as AA Gym (elder bother) is Indonesia's televangelist Islamic preacher, a household name - he claims an audience of over 80m - who spreads the message of self-control, personal morality, tolerance and faith. The ubiquitous AA Gym, oozing ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ade Bashorun

Birth:1916

Death:2002

The Nigerian percussionist who was a member of one of the most influential African musical groups to perform in Britain. Bashorun, before he came to Britain in 1946, became known as a musician in eastern Ghana, the most prominent guitarist of his generation. He played bongos ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Atiq Rahimi

Birth:1962

Death:

Novelist and film-maker. Atiq, after completing his studies in Rouen and then Sorbonne, Paris, authored two novels, which deals with the devastation of his native Afghanistan and they also contain soulfulness and sweetness, which make them beautiful. Earth and Ashes, now in English, was a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Jabri

Birth:1943

Death:2002

Artist Ali Jabri, for many people, was the eye through which they discovered Jordan, its landscapes, vernacular architecture, ruins, markets and contemporary downtowns, and above all its people were his driving force. His vision, communicated through his work and his life, was revealing to all. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abd Al Karim Qasim

Birth:1914

Death:1963

The Iraq military leader who overthrew the monarchy in 1958 and established the Republic of Iraq. Qasim became the leader of opposition group in the army and after becoming prime minister he declared Iraq as a re Abd as Salam `Arif along with Saddam Hussain led ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Kasravi

Birth:1890

Death:1948

The Iranian historian and founder of the Azadigan society. Kasravi was removed from Tehran university, where he was a teacher, for criticising Hafiz, Sadi and other mystic poets as according to Kasravi, they advocated wine drinking, fatalism and homosexuality. Kasravi was the author of Tarikh-i-mashrutah-yi-Iran ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Osman Makki

Birth:1947

Death:2002

A former student leader and a leading Sudanese Islamic activist. Ahmad built up his charisma as student in Khartoum University and had been able to incite the whole student population against the leftist military regime of General Numeri. In 1970s he went to the US ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Qasim Kho'i

Birth:1899

Death:1922

An Iranian Mujtahid. Qasim founded cultural centres, mosques and publishing houses in Karachi, Bombay, London and New York. Qasim was the author of Al bayan fi tafsir al-Qur'an, Al Masa'il al-muntakhabah and Minhaj al Salihin. Qasim remained the only Ayatollah in Iraq after the Iraqi ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ali Shir Nava'i

Birth:1441

Death:1501

The poet scholar who was the greatest representative of Chagatai Turkish literature (written in an eastern Turkish dialect.) Navai first started writing in Persian but later on switched to Chaghtai. He has left four divans and wrote in prose such as Muhakmat al Lugatayn, Majalis ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Zar Qarmat

Birth:9th century

Death:

The head of a sect called Qarmat in 891. This sect multiplied greatly in Arabian Iraq and in the year 931 besieged the city of Makkah, defiled and plundered it and carried away the Black stone, but brought it back in 950.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Al Malik As Salih Najmuddin Ayyub

Birth:

Death:1249

Ayyubi ruler of Egypt (1239-49). He defeated the crusaders in 1244. This led to the 7th crusade under Louis 1X of France. The Mamluks overthrew his dynasty in 1520.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abu Bakar Siddiq III

Birth:1903

Death:1988

Sultan of Nigeria for fifty long years (1938-88). He was the great great grandson of Shehu Osman Dan Fodio, the founder of the Fulani empire. He was one of Africa's most respected rulers.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Arabi Pasha

Birth:1839

Death:1911

An Egyptian nationalist leader. Arabi or Urabi Pasha studied at Al Azhar University, Cairo and served as an officer during the Egyptian war of 1875-76. He, along with other army officers, revolted against Khedive Ismail Pasha in 1879 and was minister of War in 1881. Pasha's increasing ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdullah Quilliam

Birth:1856

Death:1932

An English convert to Islam who inaugurated Muslim community in Liverpool, England. Abdullah, born as William Henry Quilliam in Liverpool, son of a watch manufacturer, embraced Islam, at the age of 31, on his visit to Algeria and Morocco. He was trained as a solicitor. Abdullah ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Hamza

Ahmad Khalif

Birth:1950

Death:2003

Fearless champion of Kenyan Muslims. Ahmad Khalif who was Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims and also the minister of labour and manpower in the Kenyan government always stood up for the rights of Muslims in Kenya who formed a third of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Karim Said Abdullah Al Khafaji

Birth:1946

Death:2003

Political activist and historian exiled from Iraq for 30 years. Ali Karim was a prominent Iraqi and political activist who had been forced to live outside his native land for more than 30 years. At early age of 16, he had become a member of the Iraqi branch ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Alys Faiz

Birth:1915

Death:2003

Journalist and human rights campaigner. Best known as the spirited wife of the well-known Pakistani poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Alys Faiz was also a writer and human rights activist who fought long and hard in her adopted land. Alys who was born in London, daughter ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Mutawakkil

Birth:822

Death:861

Abbasid Caliph. Caliph al-Mutawakkil succeeded al-Wasiq as Caliph in 847. He was an orthodox Muslim who reinstated the old laws prescribing special dresses for Christians and Jews. In his time, the shrine of Hazrat Hussain in Karbala was razed and pilgrimages to the town were forbidden. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abdul Majid Al Khoei

Birth:1962

Death:2003

The cleric who had returned to Iraq from exile in Britain to try to mediate between Iraqis and the invading American and British forces. Al-Khoei fled to London, in 1994, years following the first Gulf War, and he devoted himself to the charitable work of his ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Malik

Birth:1920

Death:2003

Journalist and historian. Abdullah's embodied qualities that are increasing rare in today's Pakistan - tolerance, scholarship, secularism, faith in democracy and social justice, and fearless outspokenness on behalf of all these values. Abdullah, in his early days, after a brief association with the anti-imperialist and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Baha

Birth:1844

Death:1921

The son of Bahaullah, the founder of the Bahai sect. When Bahaullah died, in 1892, he nominated his eldest son Abbas also called Abdul Baha, his successor. He was eight years old when his father was thrown into prison, and Abdul Baha lived under strict supervision ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmad Kani

Birth:1948

Death:2003

An expert in the Islamic history of West Africa, with Sokoto at its heart. Prof Kani was well-established authority, in Northern Nigeria, on Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts, in particular on the legacy of Sokoto, which was initiated and led by Shehu Usman Dan Fodio in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdalla El Tayib

Birth:1921

Death:2003

Arabic scholar from Sudan. Professor Tayib presented his ideas through his power to communicate with people and inspired his audience for 35 years by his interpretations of Qu'ran into colloquial Arabic on the radio. He devoted his life to enhance the intellectual life of the Arab ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Birth:1940

Death:

He brings a gentler, more diplomatic approach of Malaysia's relation with the world. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Malaysia's prime minister on 1 November 2003, one of Asia's richest countries, when Mahathir Muhammad stepped down after his 22 years as prime minister. Abdullah began his political career in 1978, becoming ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Hasan Hamid Al Din

Birth:1908

Death:2003

Power player in the violent politics of Yemen. Prince al-Hasan played a prominent role in Yemeni affairs from early 1930s almost until the end of the civil war. From 1948 to 1962, during his brother Ahmad's reign, he was the second most influential man in his country's ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Anwar Kazi

Birth:1842

Death:1915

A mystic from India's Gujarat. Anwar Kazi a Sufi mystic from Gujarat symbolised a fountainhead of Hindu-Muslim cultural and religious unity. He longed unity with Allah and hence he preached to the people of the Supreme Reality. Anwar Kazi went to hajj pilgrimage to Mecca ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Dr. Intaj Malek

Amina Rizq

Birth:1910

Death:2003

A veteran of Egyptian stage and screen. Amina appeared in over 500 stage plays in the 160-year history of modern Egyptian theatre from Greek tragedies to modern works, as well as acting in 250 films. She won several national and international awards and in 1991 became a member ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aqila Al Hashmi

Birth:1953

Death:2003

A diplomat who made the transition to Iraq after her country's illegal occupation by the American and British forces. Aqila al-Hashmi was one of members of Iraq's 25 interim governing council (GC) formed, in 2003, by the US administrator and before that she had worked for two ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Hassan Aref Halawi

Birth:1899

Death:2003

Sage and spiritual mentor who helped to inspire unity within the Druze during troubled times in Lebanon. Shaikh Abu Hassan Aref Halawi was one of the least politically active and held no official position. He was a sage, rather than a cleric, and so politicians ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu'l Hasan

Birth:c1616

Death:

Iranian painter in the court of India's Mughal emperor. Abu'l Hasan was the son of the Iranian painter Aqa Reza, in the service of the future Mughal emperor, Jahangir. Abu'l Hasan grew up in the prince's household and became so valued as a court artist ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Shawkat

Birth:1951

Death:2003

Iraqi journalist who dedicated his life to freedom of speech. Ahmad Shawkat was an intellectual who wrote poetry and gave political sermons in the guise of literary criticism. In the mid-1990s, he was arrested for the fourth time, for writing a collection of stories ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Zahir

Birth:1945

Death:1978

Afghanistan's pop sensation of the 1960s and 1970s. Ahmad Zahir, a Pashtun, and the son of the former prime minister sang mostly in Afghanistan that symbolises for many the golden age of 1970s. Zahir emerged as a musical prodigy at Kabul's Habibur High School, hence ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmadou Kourouma

Birth:1927

Death:2003

Ivory Coast novelist who spent much of his writing life in exile and challenged the colonial language of France. Ahmadou was a remarkable African novelist writing in French - being the best-known African writer in France and an impressive array of 18 prizes to prove it. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Muhammad Khusrau

Birth:1925

Death:2003

Eminent academic, economist and editor of India. Khusrau taught at the Osmania University and the Delhi School of Economics, served as a member of the Indian Planning Commission, vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, ambassador to Germany, chairman of the 11th Finance Commission and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi

Birth:1932

Death:

An eminent jurist of India. Ahmadi, from the bar (1954-55) to the bench of the Supreme Court (1988) and Chief Justice of India (1994-96), has now been elected new chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, which was founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. Aziz Ahmadi who ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdolkarim Soroush

Birth:1945

Death:

Abdolkarim Soroush is an engaging contemporary Muslim thinker, born in southern Tehran in 1945. He has emerged as a potent and formidable intellectual critic of the post-Khomeini theocracy in Iran. He is a leading scholar on Maulana Rumi and his readings and interpretations of the Mathnavi ...

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Compiled by:Source: http://www.seraj.org/biog.htm

Abdul Rahman Mounif

Birth:1933

Death:2004

Novelist and political activist who highlighted the Arab plight. Mounif, one of the most gifted Arab novelists of the 20th century, succeeded in transforming the literary landscape of the Arab world by making his novel central to its cultural and political concern. In his words, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi

Birth:1915

Death:2004

The General who surrendered to the Indian army in Dhaka. Niazi took commission in the army, in 1942, in British India. He was awarded MC in the World War II and Hilal-I-Jurrat by Pakistan in 1965's war against India. Lieutenant General Niazi was commander of the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Omar Naseef

Birth:

Death:

Leading Saudi scholar and intellectual. Prof Naseef has been involved with a number of educational, cultural, political, interfaith and humanitarian causes as former secretary general of Rabita al-Alam al-Islami, Makkah, president of World Muslim Congress, president of the International Federation of Muslim Scouts, vice president ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdel Aziz Al Rantissi

Birth:1947

Death:2004

Palestinian physician and political activist. Like Shaikh Ahmed Yassin, his predecessor as leader of Hamas, Dr Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi owed his fame and popularity more to Israel's harsh and unjust treatment of activists opposed to its occupation of Palestinian land than to political prominence. Dr ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Sidqi Bin Muhammad Al Tay Al Dajani

Birth:1936

Death:2003

Arab, nationalist and Islamic. Abu al-Tayyib, as he was lovingly known, was a eminent Palestinian figure and an Arab-Islamic thinker, historian, linguist, and influential writer - his life is a record of the Palestinian people's rise from the ashes of the 1948 catastrophe and its aftermath. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ayyub Thakur

Birth:1948

Death:2004

A giant of activist in Kashmir's turbulent history. Dr Thakur believed that the aspirations of the Kashmiri people must be ascertained under the United Nations Security Council resolutions. He was exiled from Kashmir in 1981. Dr Thakur achieved legendary status in organising conferences under the aegis ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov

Birth:1951

Death:2004

Chechen president widely seen as Moscow puppet. Kadyrov's seven months presidency of Chechnya, widely known as Moscow's chosen head of the state, ended perilously with his death in a bomb blast in the central stadium of Grozny while attending a Victory Day concert to mark ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Husaini Sistani

Birth:1930

Death:

Iraq's most powerful leader. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003, grand ayatollah Ali Sistani has gone from being a relatively unknown in Najaf's Hawza seminary, preaching that clerics must stay out of politics, to becoming a political institution. Ayatollah Sistani's international standing ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Al Naimi

Birth:1936

Death:

Saudi Arabia oil minister and one of the industry's most important men. Ali al-Naimi having worked his way up to the chief executive at Saudi Aramco through its transition from being controlled by America's big oil companies to becoming the world's most powerful state-owned oil ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmedul kabir

Birth:1923

Death:2003

Bangladesh's journalist, politician and businessman. Kabir was director of several banks and insurance companies before he became managing director of the Sangbad in 1954. He served as its editor (1972-2001) and chief editor in 2001. Kabir's interest in politics led him into the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Amili

Birth:1546

Death:1621

Many-sided genius. Al-Amili was perhaps the last in the line of the universal Muslim figures of learning whose genius touched every field of knowledge from Mathematic and philosophy to architecture and landscape design. Al-Amili was a remarkable many-sided genius personality who not only was a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Baitar

Birth:c1188

Death:1248

One of the greatest scientists of Muslim Spain and the greatest botanist and pharmacist of the Middle Ages. Al-Baitar left Spain, in 1219, on a plant-collecting expedition and travelled along the northern coast of Africa as far as Asia Minor, visiting Bugia, Qastantunia (Constantinople), Tunis, Tripoli, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Bitruji

Birth:

Death:1204

A leading astronomer of his time. Al-Bitruji a leading astronomer whose 'Kitab al-Hay'ah' was popular in Europe in the thirteenth century and was translated into Hebrew and then into Latin and was printed in Vienna in 1531. Beer and Madler in their famous work Der Mond (1937) ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Majriti

Birth:

Death:1007

Scientist. Al-Majriti established a school in Cordova where he introduced the study of science, especially mathematics and alchemy - school where figures such as the historian Ibn Khuldun and physician al-Zahravi were to study later. Al-Majriti was responsible for spreading the Epistles of the brethren ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Shirazi

Birth:1236

Death:1315

An important physician. Al-Shirazi is one of the major commentators on Ibn Sina's medical works. He wrote one of the most widely read commentaries on 'Canon', and also composed numerous works on optics, geometry, astronomy, geography, philosophy and religious affairs. Al-Shirazi wrote commentaries on the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Tabari

Birth:838

Death:870

Famous for his world-renowned medical treatise 'Firdous al-Hikmat.' Besides the medical science and his famous book 'Firdous al-Hikmat', al-Tabari was also an accomplished Philosopher, Mathematician and Astronomer. He received education in medical science and calligraphy from his father and attained competence in these fields ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Dhar Al Ghifaari

Birth:

Death:

The leader of opposition and an enemy of wealth. Abu Dhar, it has been narrated, worshiped Allah during the period of jahiliyah and he immediately, without hesitation, embraced Islam after he met the Prophet (PBUH). His order among the converts was fifth or sixth, which ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Abd Allah Ibn Umar

Birth:

Death:

The persistent and repentant to Allah. Ibn Umar who passed away at the age of 85 commenced his companionship with the Prophet (PBUH) when he was only 13. When he accompanied his father to the battle of Badr, hoping to have a place among the mujahideen, he ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Zaki

Birth:1949

Death:2005

'Black Tiger' of Egyptian film. Ahmed Zaki's acting career spanned three decades and the pinnacle of his acting that left his audience mesmerised was the portrayal of the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in the blockbuster Ayam el-Sadat (Days of Sadat, 2001), depicting forty years of the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aslan Maskhadov

Birth:1951

Death:2005

Chechnya's former president who fought for independence. Aslan was the last president (1997 - 2000) of Chechnya who was elected in a vote which is broadly accepted to have been a reflection of popular will. He was a symbol of the popular struggle against Russian imperialism that ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Said Aburish

Birth:1909

Death:2005

Grand old man of The Time Beirut bureau. Abu Said pursued his career as journalist until his retirement from Time magazine, where he was the Beirut bureau's grand old man for 37 years, in 1989. Aburish knew almost all the major players of the Middle East at ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Othman

Birth:1920

Death:2005

Palestinian educationist who pioneered social development in the Arab world. Ali Othman reached USA for his postgraduate studies in 1947 while his fate was sealed by events at home - the state of Israel was created in 1948, Palestine disappeared from the map, leaving him stateless on ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Birth:1969

Death:

The Somali former asylum-seeker in Netherlands where she became a Member of Parliament. Ayaan who arrived in Netherlands as asylum-seeker in 1992, started studying political science at Leiden University, published first articles critical of Islam in 2001 and was elected Dutch Member of Parliament in 2003. Ayaan who ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz

Birth:1925

Death:2015

Saudi monarch. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz who ran the day-to-day affairs of the Saudi kingdom since Fahd, his brother, was incapacitated by stroke in 1995, was pronounced king after the death in 2005. King Abdullah took over at a fortuitous time of high oil prices that have ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Majid Shoman

Birth:1912

Death:2005

Building one of the Arab world's biggest financial institutions. Chairman of the biggest privately owned financial house in the Middle East, the Arab Bank, for three decades, Abdul-Majid also played a key role in the rise of Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat. Spreading ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amr Khaled

Birth:1968

Death:

His television preaching reaches an audience of millions. Khaled, wearing a smartly trimmed moustache and suits, preaches on satellite television Islamic piety that look modern and fashionable. What matters for him is personal piety, not politics. He uses simple, accessible language, not stiff religious discourse. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ashraf Ghorbal

Birth:1925

Death:2005

Egypt's envoy involved in the Peace Pact with Israel. Ashraf was a member of the Egyptian negotiating team that worked out the first Arab peace deal with Israel and a long time ambassador to the United States. In 1978, President Carter brought President Anwar el-Saadat and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdel Kader Farrah

Birth:1926

Death:2006

Visionary theatre designer Known for 'an expressive shaping of stage space' and a painter's gift for forceful design in costume and properties, Farrah was a central figure in the growth of the Royal Shakespeare Company and he helped to bring the company to its artistic ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abd Al Salam Al Ujaili

Birth:1918

Death:2006

Syrian novelist A prominent Syrian novelist and former foreign minister, al-Ujaili, master of humane stories published mainly collections of short stories and novels. Among his 40 published books, al-Ujaili's best-known works are 'Basima Between Tears', 'Hearts On Wires', 'The Obscure', 'Unknown on the Road' and his ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Farka Toure

Birth:1939

Death:2006

Pioneering guitarist who introduced the world to the sounds of African desert blues. The 'godfather of the desert blues', Ali Farka was the first African musician to show, through his often hypnotic, rhythmic and self-assured-playing, that the blues had originated in his home country, Mali, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Jazari

Birth:1136

Death:1206

An ingenious engineer The crank-shaft a device which translate rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine, was invented by al-Jazari who raised water for irrigation. His 'Book of Knowledge of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abul Hossain

Birth:1924

Death:2006

Bangladeshi Islamic activist Abul Hossain who had passion for Islamic movement was one of the dedicated earliest members of the newly formed Jamaat-e-Islami of the then East Pakistan. He managed the Daily Ittehad during the 1950s and established a charitable dispensary in Laxmipur, his hometown, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Arif Mardin

Birth:1932

Death:2006

Hugely successful pop music producer One of the most successful and artistically significant record producers, in popular music, in the last half-century, Arif Mardin, the Turkish-American, was a guiding force behind hit records by many pop luminaries whose careers he was instrumental in shaping. Winner ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Rehman Siddiqui

Birth:1887

Death:1953

An Indian Muslim lobbyist. One time Mayor of Calcutta, Abdul Rehman Siddiqui lived in London, in the 1920s, as a Muslim lobbyist. He went on the mission to Turkey in 1912 and led the Muslim delegation to the Palestine Conference in London in 1939. He founded an ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Frans van Rooijen

Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi

Birth:1917

Death:2006

Pakistan's veteran poet and writer Veteran poet, short story and drama writer and columnist, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi was one of the biggest and best-known figures of Urdu literati's hub in Pakistan. During his long career, Qasmi had the distinction of having edited many prestigious journals, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Faraz

Birth:1931

Death:2008

One of the greatest modern Urdu poets of the last century. One of the acclaimed modern day Urdu poets, Ahmed Faraz was a passionate and popular voice for progress and change. He recited his verses to adulating audiences at mushaeras that made him a household ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Agha Shahi

Birth:1920

Death:2006

Don of Pakistani diplomacy Agha Shahi, don of Pakistani diplomacy, remained foreign minister (1977-82), the foreign secretary (1973-77) and served as Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN and represented Pakistan in the UN Security Council (1968-69). For more than a decade, Agha Shahi led Pakistani ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Saeed Naqi

Birth:1916

Death:2006

Official artist of Pakistan's freedom movement The honour for painting a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, went to Ahmed Saeed Naqi in 1944. His name was included in the Encyclopaedia of World Art. He exhibited his paintings in New York, London, Paris, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Alaa Al Aswany

Birth:1957

Death:

An gaint of Egyptian life and letters. The man whose voice has captivated the Arabs is a Cairo dentist and novelist, Alaa al-Aswany whose novel 'The Yacoubian Building' (Imarat Yaacoubian) is a phenomenon. His second best-selling novel in the Middle East 'The Yacoubian Building' was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Khamenei

Birth:1939

Death:

Iran's supreme leader since 1989. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei became Iran's supreme leader in 1989 as the country faced the huge task of recovering from the eight-year Iraq war with little assistance from an outside world that had generally backed Baghdad. The supreme leader has almost unassailable powers ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Anousheh Ansari

Birth:1966

Death:

The first female and Muslim astronaut's journey to the stars. Her childhood dream of going into space came true when Anousheh Ansari blasted into orbit on a Soyuz rocket from the Russian cosmodrome of Baikonur, in Kazakhstan, on 18 September 2006. Iran born, American national, Ansari paid ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Asghar Ali Engineer

Birth:1939

Death:2013

India's promoter of inter-religious harmony An Indian reformist-writer and activist Asghar Ali Engineer was passionate promoter of inter-religious harmony. He was internationally known for his work on liberation theology in Islam, and he promoted the Progressive Dawoodi Bohra movement. Qualified as civil engineer, and fluent ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Amir Al Jamri

Birth:1937

Death:2006

The 'father' of Bahrain's political opposition The Shia cleric Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri led pro-democracy protest in Bahrain in the early 1990s and called for a restoration of the elected parliament that was scrapped in 1975 by the dynasty that has ruled the island state since ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Hasan Dani

Birth:1920

Death:2009

Internationally acclaimed archaeologist, historian and linguist. An erudite, Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani, was regarded as an authority on archaeology, culture, linguistic, Buddhism, Central Asian archaeology and history. That made him an extraordinary scholar, at home and abroad. With his knowledge of Sanskrit Ahmad Hasan Dani ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmet Ertegun

Birth:1923

Death:2006

A music mogul who nurtured the careers of many stars The founder of Atlantic Records, the music magnate, Ahmet Ertegun, shaped the careers of many well-known music stars, including Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and the Rolling Stones. An astute judge of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ajmal Khattak

Birth:1925

Death:2010

A Pakhtoon nationalist leader Being a Pakhtoon nationalist leader, Ajmal Khattak was a towering progressive poet, writer, critic, playwright, intellectual and researcher. To revive the spirit of the Pakhtoonkhwa with his poetry, 'Da ghairat chegha' (The cry of honour) Ajmal created fear in the minds ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Al Wazzan

Birth:c1494

Death:c1554

The historian and geographer who was presented as a prize to the Pope. When Granada fell to the Castilian armies of Ferdinand and Isabella al-Wazzan and his family decamped to Fez. Here he became a roving diplomat for the Wattasid sultans, travelling as far as ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah II

Birth:1962

Death:

The King of Jordan who is caught on the divide Abdullah grew up never expecting to be king during his education at the US and British schools. His uncle, Prince Hassan, was groomed as crown prince but King Hussein, on his deathbed, pronounced Abdullah, his ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Abu Laban

Birth:1947

Death:2007

Danish Imam who raised the issue of disrespectful cartoons. Denmark's most prominent leader who was a central figure in the uproar in 2005 over cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper and which were considered to be disrespectful to Islam. One of the cartoons published by ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Ali Khan

Birth:1924

Death:2007

Former editor of the Dawn The journalistic career of Ahmad Ali Khan that spanned five decades began in 1945 in Bhopal with 'Tarjuman' then in 1946 in Delhi with the Dawn and finally ended in Karachi in 2004 as its chief editor. While he was with the Dawn ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari

Birth:1907

Death:1995

Baba-e-Pushto ghazal A restless soul whose life was embedded in verses of Pushto poetry and Sufism Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari authored 35 books - novels, literary features, short stories, dramas and critical and satirical essays - and earned the coveted title of 'Baba'. He groomed three ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Majeed Bin Abdul Aziz

Birth:1943

Death:2007

The governor who oversaw development of the holy cities and humanitarian schemes for pilgrims. Chief of the central hajj committee, Prince Abdul Majeed, known for his philanthropy, was a highly influential figure in the political landscape of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prince Abdul Majeed ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Asad Amanat Ali Khan

Birth:1955

Death:2007

Pakistan's semi-classical singer Hailing from the illustrious Patiala Gharana and born into the renowned musician family of South Asia, Asad Amanat Ali Khan died of heart attack in London. Quite often his concert would round off with 'Insha'a Jee utho, abb cooch karo - a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aden Abdulle Osman Daar

Birth:1908

Death:2007

First President of Somalia Elected in 1960, as President, when former British and Italian Somali colonies united to form the Republic of Somalia, Osman was also the first African leader to hand over power to a democratically elected successor, in the 1967, when he lost the presidential ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Allah Rakha Rahman

Birth:1966

Death:

One of India's legendary film music composers A legendary figure in India since 1990s, Rahman has broken many a mould to get that Oscar statuette, and having completely changed film music in India. He has been inspiring and influencing a whole generation of new singers. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ameena Hussein

Birth:1964

Death:

Sri Lanka's novelist and activist Whatever the difficulties of being a woman writer may be, Ameena Hussein's creative urge and belief that change is more effective when it comes from within turned her into a writer and a publisher. She started writing in 1992 and published ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Asma Jahangir

Birth:1952

Death:

Pakistani human rights activist For over four decades Asma Jahangir has towered over Pakistan's human rights war. She has championed battered wives, rescued teenagers from death row, defended people accused of blasphemy, and sought justice for the victims of honour killings. Dubbed as 'Asian hero' ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Tyyab Muhammad Shams Al Haq

Birth:1857

Death:1911

Islamic scholar. Well versed in Qur'an, Hadith, Jurisprudence and known as Muhaddith Dianwi and Allamah Azimabadi, Abu Tyyab Muhammad Shams Al Haq, authored many books including 'Awn-al-M'abud' and 'Ghayat-al-Maqsud'. His fine taste of writing is documented in his commentaries, researches, correctness and review of books ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Abdur Raquib

Abdel Rahman Aref

Birth:1916

Death:2007

Former Iraqi President. Former President of Iraq, Abdel Rahman Aref, a career army officer, whose rule was considered weak, was overthrown in a coup that brought Baath Party to power. Aref rose to power in 1963, five years after the bloody overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Munir Mulkhan

Birth:1946

Death:

Indonesian intellectual A Fellow at the LibFor All Foundation, an organisation founded with the mission of spreading a moderate and tolerant teaching of Islam, Dr. Munir is highly active throughout Indonesia. He has held several leadership positions in Muhammadiyah, an Indonesian Islamic organisation boasting over 30 ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Al Askar

Birth:1952

Death:

Saudi historian. Dr. al-Askar's studies and publications focus strongly on the social transformations of the Saudi people, including Al-Yamama in the Early Islamic Era, which tracks the early political and geographic development of the Saudi Peninsula. A PhD from the University of California and a ...

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Compiled by:M Nauman Khan

Ahmad Yusuf

Birth:1930

Death:2008

Urdu writer Starting his literary career in the late 1940s during the heyday of the Progressive Writers Movement and the golden age of the Urdu short story some of its glory of that period rubbed off on Ahmad Yusuf. The first collection of Dr Yusuf's ...

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Compiled by:M Nauman Khan

Ali Gomaa

Birth:1953

Death:

Egypyt's scholar on Islamic law. As an Egyptian native and one of the most respected scholars on Islamic law, Dr Ali Gomaa overseas Dar al-Ifta, Egypt's highest body for delivering opinions on religious law. The Grand Mufti of the Arab Republic of Egypt, since 2003, Dr ...

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Compiled by:M Nauman Khan

Abdelwahab Elmessiri

Birth:1938

Death:2008

Egyptian thinker An entire intellectual career devoted to the Palestinian cause was Abdelwahab Elmessiri who remained a thinker until his last breath. He wrote over 50 books and scores of articles on a diverse range of topics from Zionism to Postmodernism, Secularism, Muslim Political Thought, Palestinian ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Askia Muhammad

Birth:1945

Death:

An American journalist. One time editor of 'The Jabberwock' newspaper Muhammad Askia was also the editor of 'The Son of Jabberwock' newspaper at San Jose State (1967-68) and National Scene Magazine (1978-80). Currently, he is the editor of National Scene News Bureau in Washingtom DC. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ahmet Hadzipasic

Birth:1952

Death:2008

Bosnian politician and manager The former prime minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ahmet Hadzipasic was an unlikely figure whose background was in industrial management. He worked mostly in the metal and engineering companies of the iron and steel centre of Zenica, in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdel Halim Abu Ghazala

Birth:1930

Death:2008

Egypt's army officer An army officer who fought in every significant war against Israel Abdel-Halim Abu Ghazala rose to be Egypt's Defence Minister. A member of the Egyptian free officers' movement whose coup in 1952 overthrew the monarchy of King Farouk, Abu Ghazala acted along with ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Azam Shah

Birth:

Death:

The founder of a town called Azamgarh A Gautam Rajput prince, who embraced Islam and took the name Azam Shah, in 1665, founded a town called Azamgarh in (UP) India. A town of poets, intellectuals, famed handloom weavers and merchants, and above all, its greatest scholar, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdelmalik Donald Rossley Eagle

Birth:1938

Death:2008

British champion of Islamic-Western dialogue A staunch British monarchist and convert to Islam, Abdelmalik Donald Rossley Eagle championed dialogue between Islam and the West. After a short spell of teaching in London, Donald applied for teaching of English, a job in Saudi Arabia, in 1964. He ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Al Mirghani

Birth:1941

Death:2008

Sudanese politician who strove to bring peace in his country Ahmed al-Mirghani played an important role as Sudanese President (1986-89) in trying to end the conflict between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian and animist peoples of the south, a bitter dispute which had ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Alatas

Birth:1932

Death:2008

Indonesian diplomat A former Indonesian foreign minister who represented the country, Ali Alatas was once considered for the top position at the United Nations. A widely respected Ali Alatas was Indonesia's highest-ranking diplomat until 1998 when Suharto was swept from power after a wave of pro-democracy ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amir Ibrahim Nasir

Birth:1926

Death:2008

Maldivian politician Ibrahim Nasir led Maldives' movement for independence from the British rule and became the archipelago nation's first president in 1968. Nasir became prime minister in 1957 when the Maldives was a British protectorate. He signed an agreement with the British that won independence for the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdel Halim Muhammad Abdel Halim

Birth:1910

Death:2009

Sudanese physician The physician who rose to occupy senior health service roles in Sudan Dr Abdel Halim Muhammad Abdel Halim also became a grandee of his country's foot-balling and Olympic administration. After qualifying as a medical doctor from Sudan, he became the first Sudanese to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia

Birth:1954/58

Death:

Mali's music superstars The blind husband and wife team of Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia from Mali has set ears alight. The team first gained widespread international attention in 2005 with their album 'Dimanche a Bamako'. After writing and performing together since they met at Institute ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Aziz Al Hakim

Birth:1950

Death:2009

Iraqi political leader An ally of both the US and Iran Abdul Aziz al-Hakim headed the supreme Islamic Council and was a top member of the US-appointed Governing Council in Iraq. The head of one of its most prominent Shiite religious dynasties al-Hakim was a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amin Huwaidi

Birth:1921

Death:2009

Egyptian official The former defence minister, Amin Huwaidi, oversaw the 1967 war with Israel that followed the loss of the Sinai Peninsula. He led Egypt's Defence and Intelligence Ministries. A staunch supporter of the pan-Arab socialism Amin fell afoul of Anwar el-Saadat, successor to Jamal Abd ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aminatou Haidar

Birth:1966

Death:

Non-violent activist of Western Sahara. The non-violent activist of the Western Sahara, Aminatou Haider, otherwise known as the 'Sahrawi Gandhi' by many, is a charismatic mother of two who has spent years in Moroccan prisons. A 16-year war with the Sahrawi nationalist Polisario Front ensued, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amin El Hafez

Birth:1921

Death:2009

Syrian politician The Syrian leader Amin el-Hafez who led the Ba'ath government of the mid-1960s passed away, in Aleppo, in his 80s. Amin al-Hafez took over as president of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command, the Ba'ath government's equivalent of head of state, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Karim

Birth:c1863

Death:1909

Queen Victoria's closest confidante. Among the half-a-dozen handsome khidmatgars (servants) that Queen Victoria of England imported from the city of Agra in her Indian Raj, Hafiz Abdul Karim was the most erudite. The khidmatgars learnt the art of waiting at the royal table at meal ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amir Ahmad Alawi

Birth:1879

Death:1952

Diarist Amir Ahmad Alawi, who made a pilgrimage to Makkah, in 1929, wrote a meticulously accurate diary of his experiences that he published under the title of Safar-I-Sa'adat (Propitious Journey), a fascinating travelogue. Appalled by the poverty of Makkah's inhabitants, Amir Ahmad was particularly hurt to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Akhunzada Mukhtar Ali Nayyar

Birth:1935

Death:2009

Baba-i-Hindko A man of letters, Akhunzada Mukhtar Ali Nayyar, was popularly known as Baba-i-Hindko, in the literary circles of Peshawar in Pakistan. Erudite Nayyar born into a scholarly family devoted his entire life to literary pursuits. Author of more than 20 books on topics such as ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Anthony Janszoon van Salee

Birth:1607

Death:1676

The first Muslim settler of America. One of the most powerful figures in 17th century New York, Anthony Janszoon van Salee, was a wealthy Dutch Moroccan landowner. In 1624 van Salee was in Salè, Morocco with his father, and by the 1630s he had immigrated to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Maher

Birth:1935

Death:2010

Egyptian diplomat A former foreign minister Ahmed Maher served as Egypt's leading diplomat between 2001 and 2004. He also served as ambassador to Moscow and Washington in the 1990s. He was part of the Camp David talks in 1978 where he was assigned to co-ordinate peace efforts. Ahmed ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Ahad Momand

Birth:1959

Death:

One of the astronauts of planet earth. Abdul Ahad Momand was part of the Soyuz TM-6 three-man crew, which launched on 29 August 1988. During his nine days stay on the Mir space station, Momand took photographs of his country, participated in astrophysical, medical and biological experiments. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Ibn Mustafa Al Alawi

Birth:1869

Death:1934

The founder of the Alawi Tariqah. His representatives established many Zawiyahs outside Algeria, mainly in Syria and Yemen. His followers established further Zawiyahis in places as far as New York, Marseilles and Cardiff.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Anwar Kamal

Birth:1947

Death:2012

Pakistani politician and tribal leader A lawyer and first chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, Anwar Kamal Khan Marwat was a Pakistani politician, tribal leader and senior statesman. He was elected member of the Senate in March 1997 for a period of six years. He was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed

Birth:1935

Death:2012

Somali politician Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed led Somalia's beleaguered transitional government as president from 2004 to 2008, and was forced to resign as the country sank deeper into chaos. The Transitional Federal Government was founded in 2004 with the assistance of the United Nations. But he had little success ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Asghar Farhadi

Birth:1972

Death:

Iranian film director and screenwriter. The first Iranian motion picture A Separation by Asghar Farhadi made history at the 84th Academy Awards (2012) to win the best foreign-language film Oscar. The film tells the story of an Iranian middle-class couple who separate, and the scheming which ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Akhlaq Muhammad Khan

Birth:1936

Death:2012

Academician and poet A doyen of Urdu poetry in India and academician Akhlaq Muhammad Khan wrote under the pen name 'Shahryar'. He is best known for his lyrics in Bollywood's Gaman (1978) and Umrao Jaan (1981). He won India's highest literary award the Jananpith. Akhlaq Muhammad Khan ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amina of Zaria

Birth:1533

Death:1633C

Queen warrior Emerged as leader of Zazzua cavalry Amina's many accolades, great wealth, and increased power resulted from her numerous military achievements. In her 34-year reign she continued to fight and expand her kingdom. She introduced metal armour, including iron helmets and chain mail to ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdessalam Yassine

Birth:1928

Death:2012

Former Moroccan leader of opposition The charismatic personality Abdessalam Yassine was the leader of Morocco's largest opposition movement, Adl wal Ihsan (Justice and Spirituality), and a long-time opponent of two Moroccan kings. During the Arab Spring, his group was an important part of the pro-democracy ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Amina Cachalia

Birth:1930

Death:2013

South African activist One of the founders, in 1948, of the Women's Progressive Union Amina Cachalia was also involved in the founding of the Federation of South African Women, in 1954. She was instrumental in the 1950s for the success of the Defiance Campaign. Her activism commenced ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abu Musa

Birth:1927

Death:2013

Palestinian commander Rebelled against Yasser Arafat to form a rival party Abu Musa was a military commander. A Jordanian of Palestinian descent he defected from the Jordanian army in 1970. Palestinians fighters were pushed out of Jordan in 1971 in battle with Jordanian forces, that killed thousands, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Kafi

Birth:1928

Death:2013

Algerian politician Born in the eastern city of Constantine into a poor family Ali Kafi became involved in the anti-colonial struggle at an early age, after the massacre at Setif, where nationalist unrest that broke out at the end of the Second World War was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abida Parveen

Birth:1954

Death:

Sufi singer Pakistani Abida Parveen is the greatest female Sufi singer and an Asian soul. Her hallucinating and deep performance regularly sends her audiences in Pakistan and India into swaying raptures, swooning and fainting being quite standard reactions. Her first US tour was in 1993 and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Akhtar Payami

Birth:1931

Death:2013

Journalist Journalist associated with Pakistan's the Morning News and Dawn Akhtar Payami was known as a mentor to his protégé and colleagues in these newspapers. He worked and endured the state repression during the days of strict censorship under the Bhutto regime. Akhtar Payami ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmad Fouad Negm

Birth:1929

Death:2013

A poet of the people A poet of the people Ahmad Fouad Negm popularly known, as el-Fagommi, an Egyptian who found himself at loggerheads with authority for much of his life was a political prisoner on and off for almost 19 years. A vernacular poet whose ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Asif Ali Khan Zardari

Birth:1955

Death:

The widower of Benazir Bhutto who got his chance to become President of Pakistan. A highly controversial figure Asif Zardadi was elected president (2008 - 2013) of Pakistan, a fractious nation of 180 million. His elevation to presidency ranks among the greatest reversals of political fortune in modern ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Anita Ghulam Ali

Birth:1934

Death:2014

A prominent name in the educational circle of Pakistan For someone so closely associated with the education sector for decades Professor Anita Ghulam Ali was a prominent and proverbial personality in that circle of Pakistan. She began working as an English newscaster at Radio Pakistan ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Seif

Birth:1951

Death:2014

Human rights lawyer The experience of torture as a political prisoner in Egypt inspired Ahmed Seif to become a leading human rights lawyer defending leftists, Islamists, and atheists. Ahmed Seif was himself imprisoned at least four times, twice during the rule of President Anwar el-Sadat ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali Mazrui

Birth:1933

Death:2014

Kenyan prolific author and thinker 'A towering academician whose intellectual contributions played a major role in shaping African scholarship' Ali Mazrui was a scholar, thinker and prolific Kenyan author. He set off a tsunami of criticism in 1986 by writing and hosting 'The Africans: A Triple ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar

Birth:1901

Death:1962

One of the most important modern novelists and essayists of Turkish literature. Grew up with the Ottoman music and poetry, Tanpinar believed in intermingling forged by 'the institutions of Islam and the Ottoman empire.' In his novel 'A Mind at Peace' (1939) he attempts such ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdullah Hussain

Birth:1931

Death:2015

Urdu novelist One of the most prominent Urdu novelists and short story writers of the post-independence era, Abdullah Hussain shot to fame with his debut novel, his magnum opus, Udas Naslain, which won the 1963 Adamjee Prize for Literature. Written against the backdrop of the First ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ahmed Chalabi

Birth:1944

Death:2015

Iraqi politician invented by America Less a cause of the Iraq war than a convenient enabler of it, Ahmed Chalabi was an answer to America's problems and if he had not existed, his backers would probably have conjured up a replacement to serve the same ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdul Karim Al Eryani

Birth:1934

Death:2015

Yemeni politician who brokered Arab Spring Peace A Yemeni former prime minister and diplomat, Abdul Karim al-Eryani, helped bring about a peaceful change of his country's government during the Arab Spring of 2011. He was a scion of a prominent family that had held government posts ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ashraf Pahlavi

Birth:1919

Death:2016

A former Iranian princess The twin sister of the last Shah of Iran, Ashraf Pahlavi sought to modernise her country and championing the equality of women but had a taste for the high life - joined the jet set with gusto and took to the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Aniseh Makhlouf

Birth:1930

Death:2016

Former influential matriarch of Syria The first lady of Syria Aniseh Makhlouf was an influential matriarch reinforcing the dictatorships of both her husband (Hafez al-Assad) and son (Bashar al-Assad). She was the archetypical Arab matriarch - self-effacing and demure in public but behind the scenes ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Abdel Aziz Mohamed

Birth:1947

Death:2016

A moderate voice of the Polisario Front The long-time leader of a movement to create an independent state for the indigenous Berber tribesmen in Western Sahara Abdel Aziz Mohamed was seen as a moderate voice who, supported efforts by the United Nations to find a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ali

Birth:1978

Death:


Compiled by:Ali

Amjid Ali

Birth:1968

Death:2021


Compiled by:Jamil Sherif

Amjid Ali

Birth:1968

Death:2021


Compiled by:Jamil Sherif