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

Djamila Bouhired

Birth:1937

Death:

The Algerian nationalist whose role in 1957 in the battle of Algiers gained international recognition. Jamila was arrested for planting bombs by the French authorities in 1957, and was savagely tortured and sentenced to death. The French leftists organised rallied on her behalf and she became the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dabusi Ubaidullah Bin Umer

Birth:

Death:1039

Born at Dabus, between Bukhara and Samargand. Author of Kitab-al-Asrar amongst others.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dagh Dehlvi

Birth:1831

Death:1905

An Urdu poet born at Delhi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Danish Muhammad Zilli

Birth:c1611

Death:1684

The most celebrated traveller of the Ottoman empire. He journeyed for more then forty years throughout the lands of the Ottoman empire and adjoining territories. The result of these travels was his magnum opus Seyahat Nama (1898-1939). He was also the author of other travelogues ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Danishmand Ghazi

Birth:

Death:1134

The son of the founder of the Danishmand dynasty of central and northern Anatolia. His father Danishmand had participated in the first crusade during 1109 - 1110 and had defeated the Frankish Prince of Antioch in 1100. His son Ghazi succeeded him and captured Ankara Kayseri and Kastamonu ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dara Shikoh

Birth:1615

Death:1659

The favourite son of Shahjahan. The eldest son of Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal (Taj Mahal is her memorial), Dara Shukoh was killed by Aurangzeb in 1659, when the two brothers fought for succession to the throne of Delhi. The author of Safinat ul aulia and Majmua ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Daud Bin Ajab Shah

Birth:

Death:1588

The head of the Musta'ali branch of Ismaili sect and the 26th., Dai'l Mutlaq of the Daudi bohras of Gujrat and after whom they are called Daudi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Daud Khan

Birth:1909

Death:1978

An Afghan military and political leader. Daud Khan who overthrew the monarchy of Zahir Shah became the President of Afghanistan and began to implement a reform programme. Education, in particular, received an important boost - girls began to be educated in the villages and some ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Daulat Shah Samarqandi

Birth:

Death:c1495

The author of Tazkirat-al -Shu'ara. Next to Lubab al Albab of Aufi, Daulatshah's work was the most important collection of biographies of Persian poets.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dawda Kairaba Jawara

Birth:1924

Death:

The prime minister of independent Gambia in 1965 and president when Gambia became a republic in 1970.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dilawar Figar

Birth:1926

Death:1998

A poet. Born in Budaun, India, and migrated to Pakistan. His Hadasay or Hadathay was a collection of ghazal poetry.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Din Muhammad

Birth:1759

Death:1850

He was the first Indian immigrant who arrived in Britain. In 1784, the first South Asian émigré to arrive in Britain was Din Mahammad, who was born in Patna. In Britain he was later known as Dean Mahomet. He wrote The Travels, a collection of letters ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Djibril Diop Mambety

Birth:1945

Death:1998

A filmmaker from Senegal. Touki Bouki (1973) was his classic film about a shepherd and a student with dreams of Europe and its focus was on the mentality of young Africans who were deserting their continent for the uncertain refuge of European cities, apart from Hyenes (1991) ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Dost Muhammad Khan

Birth:1792

Death:1863

He was the most powerful chief of Afghanistan. Dost Muhammad who was the ruler of Kabul and Qandhar was the brother of the ruler of Herat and Chief of Barakzai clan. He was known for his ruthlessness, efficiency and cunning. In 1839 British Army invaded Kabul ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dudayer Dzhokhar

Birth:1944

Death:1996

Military leader and president of Chechnya who declared independence from Russia in 1991. Russian troops entered Chechnya in 1994 to quell the rebellion but found tough Chechneyan Muslims an even match.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dudu Miyan

Birth:1819

Death:1860

On his return from Makkah he devoted himself to the spread of his father's movement which asserted the equality of mankind and gave due importance to observe the duties, Faraiz, of a Muslim. It was among the peasants that he made the larger number of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Deputy Nazir Ahmad

Birth:1836

Death:1912

The pioneer of Urdu novel. Deputy Nazir was a leading proponent of the education of India's Muslim women and he espoused the issue with great determination and persistence against the Muslim establishment of time who considered that women should not be educated. Deputy Nazir had ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Syed Abid Hussain Bilgrami

Djemal Pasha

Birth:1872

Death:1922

A Turkish general and statesman. He was the first to join the 'Society of Union & progress' also known as 'Young Turks'. He joined the military administration after the revolution of 1908. He was head of the security forces and later on minister of public works, Governor ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Durriyah Shafiq

Birth:1908

Death:1976

An Egyptian feminist, journalist and scholar. Shafiq Durriyah founded the magazine Majallat bint al-Nil and Ittihad Bint al Nil in 1945 and 1948 respectively. She authored Al mar'ah al Misriya and Tatawwur al nahdah al Misriyah. Shafiq was a follower of Huda Sha'rawi, the Egyptian feminist, with ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dilip Kumar

Birth:1922

Death:

Bollywood legendary actor widely known by his screen name of Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan) has been a dominant figure for over five decades in an industry where actors spring up like mushrooms and are wiped out of public memory like footprints in the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Dhul Nun Al Misri

Birth:786

Death:861

A famous saint who was believed to have known the secret of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. It was Zul Nun who gave Sufism its permanent shape. Sufi considered him the originator of their doctrine and number him among their first Qutbs (pivots of the universe). He ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Justin L. Smith

David Musa Pidcock

Birth:1942

Death:-

A former Roman Catholic, David Musa Pidcock became a Muslim in 1975. He is a founder member and since its inception the leader of the Islamic Party of Britain. David Musa Pidcock is also an honorary member of the Economic Research Council and a director of ...

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Compiled by:ISA

Dandey Khan

Birth:20th century

Death:

The Freedom fighter of Ghadr Party fame in 1911. Lenin remembered him with great respect in his writings.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dusiqi Ibrahim Bin Abul Majid

Birth:1235

Death:1278

The founder of the Dusuqi order. He probably owed his fame to miracle working. Two festivals are celebrated at Dusuk in his honour and the last one continues for eight days. Ibrahim was born at Dasuk, a village in the Gharbiya district of Egypt.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dato Onn Bin Jaffar

Birth:1895

Death:1962

A Malaysian leader who played an active role in the independence of Malaya. Onn bin Jaffar opposed the British plan of giving equal rights to all people in Malaya, regardless of race or religion, because he thought that giving the economically dominant Chinese and Indian ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dawud Khalaf Zahiri

Birth:9th century

Death:

Founder of Zahiriyah order. Khalaf was the founder of a legal school that insisted on the strict following of the literal text (Zahiri) of the Qur'an and Hadis. He founded, in Iraq, the Zahiriyah order that spread to Iran, North Africa and Spain and had ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Dulah Omar

Birth:1934

Death:2004

South African human-rights lawyer and anti-apartheid activist. Dullah Omar was the spokesman for Nelson Mandela in the months leading to his 1990 release from prison and a part of the African National Congress team in the negotiations for the end of the white rule in South ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Dilnawaz Ahmed Siddiqui

Birth:1937

Death:2006

Professor with a wide experience in teaching, research and advisory. Dr. Dilnawaz Ahmed Siddiqui was Professor in the Department of Communication, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, teaching research methodology, instructional planning, management, and global mass communication principles and practices. Dr Siddiqui's teaching, research, and advisory experience ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / The Islamic Training Foundation

Duygu Asena

Birth:1946

Death:2006

Advocate for Turkish women. A best-selling writer and women's rights activist of Turkey Duygu Asena is well known for her book, 'Woman Has No Name' that broke sales records when it was printed in 1987 - and a film adaptation of the book broke box office ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Driss Basri

Birth:1938

Death:2007

Moroccan politician feared for his iron grip. For more than two decades Driss Basri was the second most powerful man in Morocco - a trusted right-hand man, whose task was to preserve the Moroccan monarchy and the stability of the kingdom. Basri quashed popular uprisings ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

David Husain

Birth:1937

Death:2008

Chemist David Husain along with his colleagues carried out the pioneering work on the rapidity with which excited atoms reacted with simple molecules, such as hydrogen and the light alkenes. This process of great relevance in the context of atmosphere chemistry was carried out in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Dada Amir Haider Khan

Birth:1904

Death:1986

Communist activist in the Indian subcontinent The autobiography of Dada Amir Haider Khan, published by Pakistan Study Centre University of Karachi in two volumes, reminiscences his panoramic view of the world of his times right from the age of 14, when he left the shores of ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Daniyal Mueenuddin

Birth:1964

Death:

Pakistani author The author of the debut story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, Daniyal Mueenuddin, writes about life in rural Pakistan - eight stories full of local politics, never-ending battle against corruption, violence that erupts over a cherished motorcycle, arguments between newlyweds whose outlooks ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Daniel Streich

Birth:

Death:

Swiss antagonist of minarets who embraced Islam Renowned Swiss politician Daniel Streich who rose to fame for his campaign against minarets of mosques, in 2010, embraced Islam in the same year. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) and a well-known politician, Daniel Streich was ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi

Birth:1964

Death:2011

A peace activist The hallmark of one of the global peacemakers, Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, was her comprehensive and combined grassroots activism, soft but uncompromising leadership, and a spiritual motivation drawing on the teaching of Islam. A founding member of the Wajir Peace and Development Committee, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Dr Salman Raschid

Birth:1940

Death:2021


Compiled by:J Sherif