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
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
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
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
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:
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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