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

Zein Al Abidine Ben Ali

Birth:1936

Death:

Tunisian president who was forced out of office. The Tunisian president Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced out of the office by a wave of political protests. Having first promised, when he ousted his predecessor Habib Bourguiba, in 1987, to put in place a democratic system, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

Birth:1928

Death:1979

A charismatic Pakistani political leader who came to an ignominious end in 1979. He was born into an aristocratic, feudal family of Sind. His father was Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was educated at a school in Bombay before studying at the University of California (1950), ...

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

Zaynab Al Ghazali

Birth:1917

Death:2005

The founder of Egypyt's the Muslim Women's Association (1936-1964) which had a membership of three million throughout Egypt. Zaynab was imprisoned by Nasser for her activities for twenty-five years in 1965, but was released by Anwar Saadat in 1971. She describes her prison experiences in her book ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan

Birth:1918

Death:2004

Benevolent Sheikh devoted to creating modern Gulf federation. Sheikh Zayed oversaw the seemingly magical transformation of his realm from a dusty emirate into a booming city-state, a mirage-like place of boulevards, towers and emerald parks. He ruled the country, by the standard of the region, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zabita Khan

Birth:

Death:1785

A Rohila chief, son of Naji-buddaula and father of Ghulam Qadir Khan Rohila, who blinded Shah Alam, the king of Delhi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zaha Hadid

Birth:1950

Death:2016

The internationally acclaimed and groundbreaking Iraqi architect whose designs evoke passion. Dame Zaha Hadid was one of the chief proponents of deconstructivists architecture in the world and was hailed as one of the most important contemporary thinkers in the field. Her buildings are like a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zahir Shah

Birth:1914

Death:2007

King of Afghanistan who after 29-year of exile returned to his country as an ordinary citizen. Zahir Shah succeeded the throne in 1933 after the assassination of his father Nadir Shah. Although never a dynamic ruler, his neutral foreign policy fostered a lengthy period of peace ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zahir Uddin Faryabi

Birth:

Death:1201

A Persian poet. He flourished during the reign of Tughral-III.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zebunissa

Birth:

Death:1702

The gifted daughter of Aurangzeb. Zebunissa was famous for her patronage of poets and scholars. She herself was a poetess and had great proficiency in the Arabic and Persian languages. She had a large private library, which contained beautifully illuminated copies of important literary works, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zaid Bin Haris

Birth:

Death:629

The emancipated slave of Hazrat Mahmmad , peace be upon him, The Prophet , peace be upon him, married his divorced wife Hazrat Zainab.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zaid Bin Sabit

Birth:

Death:665

One of the Prophet's, peace be upon him, secretaries to whom he dictated the Qur'an. Zaid Bin Sabit who was born in Madinah accepted Islam when he was only 11 years old. Hazrat Abu Bakr appointed him as the head of the Board to record the ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zainab

Birth:

Death:c680

The daughter of Hazrat Ali and sister of Hazrat Hussain.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zainab Bint Muhammad

Birth:

Death:629

The eldest daughter of the Prophet , peace be upon him, She was married to Abdul-Aas bin Rabi.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zainab bint Jahsh

Birth:

Death:641

A Muslim lady of the Qur'aish aristocracy and the Prophet's cousin. On his request, she agreed to marry his freed slave and adopted son, Zaid. However the marriage was not successful, and ended in divorce. The Prophet, peace be upon him, subsequently married Zainab.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zainul Abidin Ahmad

Birth:1895

Death:1973

The Malay scholar, writer, and journalist called Zaba. Zaba began his career as a school teacher. He translated English authors from Shakespeare to contemporary writers when he was attached to the Malay Translation Bureau in 1924. Zaba was lecturer in Malay at the School of Oriental ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zakir Hussain

Birth:1951

Death:

Tabla wizard. Zakir Hussain received his training under his famous father, Allarakha Ustad, who performed throughout the world in a variety of concerts, teaching Tablas in Washington, California and Los Angeles. Zakir Hussain who composed music for films like Apoclypse Now has 145 albums to his ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zamakhshari Jarullah

Birth:1074

Death:1142

Author Jarullah was the surname of Muhammad Bin Umar Al Zamakhshari, the Mutazalite from Zamakhshar, a village in Khwarizm. He got the surname of Jarallah (neighbour of God) on account of his residing for a long period in Makkah. Zamakhshari was the author of an ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zauq

Birth:1789

Death:1854

Urdu poet standing apart. In the history of Urdu poets it has been commented: 'Ghalib was futuristic, Momin was inclined to the past. And in contrast of the two, Zauq looked to the present only.' Zauq's main forte was the qaseeda, which he wrote ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zeki Kuneralp

Birth:1914

Death:1998

One of the most remarkable diplomats Turkey has produced this century was born in Istanbul. After the assassination of his father his mother took the family into exile in Switzerland and he received a Swiss education, going all the way up to a Law doctorate ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ziauddin Ahmad Suleri

Birth:1913

Death:1999

Journalist Suleri was a veteran Pakistani editor, author and columnist. He was a senior editor of the English daily The News. Suleri wrote My Leader the first semi-biographical work in English on Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was chairman of Quaid-i-Azam Academy. Ziauddin Ahmad ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ziaur Rahaman

Birth:1936

Death:1981

Army Officer Ziaur Rahaman joined the Pakistan army and was commissioned as a company commander during the India-Pakistan War (1971). Having risen to the rank of Lt. Colonel, he then fought against the Pakistan army for the creation of an independent country, which later became Bangladesh. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zinedine Zidane

Birth:1972

Death:

The architect of France's victory in the World Cup in 1998. The world's most complete footballer of two last decades, Zidane is an attack-minded midfielder who can thread the ball through the middle of the field and his goal-scoring is higher. The architect of his country's ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ziya Pasha

Birth:1825

Death:1880

Translator of Rousseau's Emile (which was a popular textbook of the 19th. century Muslim intellectuals of Turkey). He wrote about the pitiable condition of the Muslims.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ziyadat Allah

Birth:817

Death:838

The Aglabid ruler of Qayrawan who captured Palermo in 831, thereby acquiring a vantage point for further conquests in Sicily. He paved the way for Ibrahim Aghlabi (874-902) who completed the conquest of Sicily,, that had begun in 827.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zog Ahmad Bey

Birth:1895

Death:1961

King of Albania, son of a Muslim chief. Zog served as commander of the Albanian armed forces (1920), became premier (1922), then president (1925) and finally was proclaimed king in 1928. Modest reforms, peace and economic progress marked his reign. But Mussolini Invaded Albania in 1939 and declared Albania a ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zubaida Khatoon

Birth:766

Death:831

The wife of Caliph Harun Rashid and daughter of Caliph Jafar bin Abdullah and step mother of Caliph Mamun Rashid. Zubaida Khatoon was well educated and it is said that embroidery on clothes was her invention. She was the founder of Tabriz (806) and she constructed ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zubeida Begum

Birth:1911

Death:1990

An Indian film actress. Zubeida was the daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatima Begum (later India's first woman film director). Zubeida who was born in Surat played a lead role in Alam Ara, India's first (sound film) talkie in 1931.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zubair Pasha

Birth:1830

Death:1913

Governor Zubair Pasha was made governor of the province of Bahr-al-Ghazal in Sudan in 1869. In 1874 he conquered Darfur for the Khadive of Egypt, but when he went to Cairo in 1876 to obtain the governorship of that place, he was detained there. Meanwhile Zubair Pasha's son, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zubair Said

Birth:1907

Death:1987

The Indonesian composer of Singapore's national anthem. The song, in 1957, Majjulah Singapura means `Move forward Singapore' Zubair was though born in Sumatra, but he flourished in Singapore. He composed more than a thousand songs. His songs for the film Dang Anom got an award at ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zulfikar Ghose

Birth:1935

Death:

A South Asian poet, novelist and critic in English language. In his one novel about Pakistan, 'The Murder of Aziz Khan', a portrayal of rampant corruptions and social injustices that touched a deep chord, Zulfikar had such a powerful impact on Pakistani readership of the 1960...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung

Birth:1657

Death:1713

Wazir. Zulfiqar Khan the son of Ased Khan was given the little of Amirul Umra on the occasion of the accession of Bahudur Shah in 1707 to the throne of Delhi. It was by his intrigues that Jahandar Shah after the death of his father Bahadur ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zakir Hussain

Birth:1897

Death:1969

First India's Muslim president. As vice chancellor of Jamia Millia (1926) Dr Zakir Hussain loved and toiled for it and without him Jamia might have perhaps perished. He defined Jamia's main aim as an institution that aspired for Islam's dynamic and creative force. He supplied brilliant ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Zeid Bin Shaker

Birth:1934

Death:2002

Politician and soldier and a confidant to Jordan's kings who steered his country through battles and confrontations. Prince Zeid, a former Jordanian Prime Minister was a veteran of the 1967 war against Israel and was a stalwart of the Hashemite royal family's rule in Jordan. He ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zakaria Erzinclioglu

Birth:1951

Death:2002

Forensic entomologist Dr. Zakaria, also known as Dr. Zak, was Britain's leading forensic entomologist, known to police and courts alike, over the last quarter century. Dr. Zakaria produced an impressive thesis on blowfly eggs and larvae and their development while his study for a Ph. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zainab

Birth:1935

Death:1998

An Iraqi actress. The star of the country's first film, Mr Saeed Afandi The Respectable, the first Iraqi woman to act on the stage and assumed the stage name, Zainab. She had great success in the theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. Zainab was full ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zaki Badawi

Birth:1922

Death:2006

Arab scholar who believed passionately in interfaith dialogue and the idea of the British Muslim. Zaki Badawi, who chaired the Council of Imams and Mosques in Britain and attempted to establish a modern Islam that can fit comfortably with British values. Far from portraying Islam ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zafar Husnain Zaidi

Birth:1938

Death:2000

Pakistan's eminent scientist, educationist and a competent administrator. Prof Zaidi recaptured the former glory of Karachi University when he took over as vice-chancellor, in 1997, with his charm, wits and integrity. He published over hundred scientific papers and wrote several books. Prof Zaidi was born in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zakarya Al Qazwini

Birth:1203

Death:1283

The author of Ajjeb-ul-Makhluqat, which he completed in 1363, contained drawing of all the beasts, fishes, birds, trees and even metal and gems. Copies of this work can be found in public libraries of London and other European cities.

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ziryab

Birth:789

Death:857

Musician Zaryab was the nickname of Abul Hasan Ali, who had graced the court of Harun Rashid as a musician and was welcomed by Abdur Rahman II of Cordoba in person in 822. He soon established himself in Cordoba as a musician, singer, a wit and ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin

Ziauddin Ahmad

Birth:1878

Death:1947

A visionary, educationist, parliamentarian and a devotee to Sir Syed's cause in India and who played a vital role in the renaissance of the Indian Muslims culminating in the establishment of Pakistan. Ziauddin Ahmad went to England in 1901, having excellent academic achievements in India, on ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev

Birth:1952

Death:2004

Chechnya's nationalist leader, poet and writer. Zelimkhan was involved in talks with Boris Yeltsin during the shelling of Grozny in December 1994 but he failed to gain wide endorsement from the Chechen people. He became acting president of Chechnya after Dzhokhar Dudayev was blown up by ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zafarullah Khan Jamali

Birth:1944

Death:

Pakistan's 'pedestrian and cautious politician.' Jamali resigned in June 2004, 19 months after he was sworn in Pakistan's prime minister, amid speculation that he failed to deal with troublesome opposition in parliament and did not endorse powerful President, Pervez Musharraf's reforms aggressively enough. Jamali served three ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Ziauddin Sardar

Birth:1951

Death:

Writer, broadcaster and cultural critic, is considered a pioneering writer on Islam and contemporary cultural issues. He is a Visiting Professor of Postcolonial Studies, department of Arts Policy and Management, the City University, London. Ziauddin is the author of over 40 books, including his classic studies, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zainab Salbi

Birth:1970

Death:

The provider of hands-on aid and support via mail to women in war-torn regions. As a student in the US when she read reports of the systematic rape of Bosnian women by Serb soldiers, Iraqi-born Zainab Salbi moved into action. Today Salbi's group, Women for ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zakir Naik

Birth:1965

Death:

International orator on Islam. A medical doctor by degree, Dr. Zakir Naik is renowned as a dynamic international orator on Islam and Comparative Religion. Adept in clarifying the religious viewpoints and clearing misconceptions about Islam of his faith along with his deep knowledge of Bibles, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Muhammad

Zeti Akhtar Aziz

Birth:1947

Death:

Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia Dr Aziz has been at the forefront of efforts to encourage the country's majority Muslim population to participate more fully in Malaysia's growing prosperity. She spearheaded reforms that brought Malaysia out of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis in ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zalmay Khalilzad

Birth:1951

Death:

Afghanistan born American diplomat. A previously obscure person, Zalmay, became the centre of attention to America's neo-conservatives as the US most indispensable diplomat, following 9/11. He was in Kabul just after the fall of the Taliban and in Baghdad days after the first US troops reached ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zahi Hawass

Birth:1948

Death:

The guardian of Egypt's antiquities. The head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities ranges the world lecturing, making TV appearances and turning out a stream of books and articles. He makes news by demanding the return of objects 'stolen' from Egypt by excavators and museums. ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zheng He

Birth:1371

Death:1433

The man who mapped the world A Mongolian, Zheng He, became one of the most intrepid explorers in history who set out first of the seven landmark voyages reaching South-east Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and as far as the east coast ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zahir Dehlavi

Birth:1835

Death:1911

Courtier and poet A polished and cultured courtier and poet, Zahir Dehlavi gives the fullest and most richly detailed surviving account of the course of the siege and Uprising of the people of Delhi against the invading British in his Dastan-I-Ghadr. He described the destruction ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zakie Achmat

Birth:1962

Death:

South Africa's activist Ethnically Malaysian, Zackie Achmat set fire to his school, in Johannesburg, using direct action when he was only 14. He felt his fellow pupils at his 'coloured', or mixed-race, school were not sufficiently supportive of the anti-apartheid education boycott. He spent three months ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zahra Rahnavard

Birth:1945

Death:

Iran's celebrated writer and sculptor Author of fifteen books Zahra Rahnavard's 'Migration of Joseph' sold about 1m copies while she was still in her twenties. Dr. Zahra was the first woman since Iranian Revolution of 1979, to become the chancellor of Iran's prestigious al-Zahra University (1998 to 2006). ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zakaria Virk

Birth:1946

Death:

A Canadian author. The author of 'Ramooze-e-Fitrat', 'Musalmano Ka Neuton' and 'Zikray Abdus Salam' stand out Zakaria Virk's famous books on Noble laureate Professor Abdus Salam, a Pakistani physicist, who passed away in 1996. He also wrote 'Musalmano Kay Shandar Scienci Karnamay' and Ibn Rushd's biography, ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Mrs Affaf Azhar

Zulfikar Ali Bukhari

Birth:1904

Death:1975

Distinguished Urdu broadcaster and first director-general of Radio Pakistan A versatile personality Zulfikar Ali Bukhari, the first director general of Radio Pakistan, was an excellent broadcaster, good poet and possessed deep insight into the intricacies of music. A weekly talk over radio written and delivered ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan

Zubaida Khanum

Birth:1935

Death:2013

Renowned playback singer from Lollywood's golden era One of the leading playback singers Zubaida Khanum was from Lahore film industry during her 1950s glory days. Beginning her career with Billoo (1951) she recorded some 250 songs mostly in Urdu and Punjabi. She also sang lyrics by Sufi ...

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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan