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Mawāli
''Mawlā'' (, plural ''mawālī'' ), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the term applied to any form of tribal association. In the Quran and hadiths it is used in multiple senses, including 'lord', 'guardian', and 'trustee'. After Muhammad's death, the Umayyad dynasty accepted new converts to Islam into Arab-Muslim society and the word ''mawali'' gained currency as an appellation for converted non-Arab Muslims in the early Islamic caliphates. Etymology The word ''mawla'', which was used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad about Ali in the Ghadir Khumm speech, is derived from the root ''w-l-y'', meaning "to be close to" or "to have power over". ''Mawla'' can have reciprocal meanings, depending on whether it is used in the active or passive voice: "master" Originally, ''mawāli'' were clients of an Arab people, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polysemous
Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from '' monosemy'', where a word has a single meaning. Polysemy is distinct from homonymy—or homophony—which is an accidental similarity between two or more words (such as ''bear'' the animal, and the verb ''bear''); whereas homonymy is a mere linguistic coincidence, polysemy is not. In discerning whether a given set of meanings represent polysemy or homonymy, it is often necessary to look at the history of the word to see whether the two meanings are historically related. Dictionary writers often list polysemes (words or phrases with different, but related, senses) in the same entry (that is, under the same headword) and enter homonyms as separate headwords (usually with a numbering convention such as ''¹bear'' and ''²bear''). Polysemes A polyseme is a word or phrase with diffe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berber Muslims
The Berbers (autonym: ''Imazighen'') are an indigenous ethnic group of the Maghreb region of North Africa. Following the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, most Berber tribes eventually became Muslims. Presently, about one-sixth of the population of Maghreb speaks one of the Berber languages (mostly in Algeria and Morocco), but most of them also speak some form of Arabic. Berbers are the first non-Arab people to have established an Islamic state. Background The region of North Africa practiced many religions including various forms of pagan rituals, Judaism, and Christianity. The first Islamic forces encountered fierce opposition by the various city-states resulting from the departure of the Byzantines. The weakest of them in the southern and southwestern parts of the Berber territory were the first to fall to the Islamic troops under the Egyptian Caliph in a locally initiated attempt of expansion westward. This first attempt in late 7th century (660 A.D.) resulted in a decisive d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ajam
(, ) is an Arabic word for a non-Arab, especially a Persian. It was historically used as a pejorative—figuratively ascribing muteness to those whose native language is not Arabic—during and after the Muslim conquest of Iran. Since the early Muslim conquests, it has been adopted in various non-Arabic languages, such as Turkish, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Kurdish, Malay, Sindhi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and Swahili. Today, the terms and continue to be used to refer to anyone or anything Iranian, particularly in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. Communities speaking the Persian language in the Arab world exist among the Iraqis, the Kuwaitis, and the Bahrainis, in addition to others. A number of Arabs with Iranian heritage may have the surname (), which has the same meaning as the original word. Etymology According to traditional etymology, the word ''Ajam'' comes from the Semitic root ''ʿ-j-m''. Related forms of the same root include, but are not l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Succession To Muhammad
The issue of succession following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad is the central issue in the schisms that divided the early Muslim community in the first century of Islamic history into numerous schools and branches. The two most prominent branches that emerged from these divisions are Sunni and Shia as well as Ibadi branches of Islam. Sunni Islam and Ibadi Islam asserts that Abu Bakr rightfully succeeded Muhammad through a process of election. In contrast, Shia Islam maintains that Ali ibn Abi Talib was Muhammad's designated successor. These differing viewpoints on succession stem from varying interpretations of early Islamic history and the hadiths, which are the recorded sayings of Muhammad. Sunni Muslims contend that Muhammad did not explicitly appoint a successor, leaving the choice of leadership to the Muslim community. They recognize the legitimacy of Abu Bakr's rule, who was elected at Saqifah, as well as that of his successors, collectively known as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shia
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to have been usurped by a number of Muhammad's companions at the meeting of Saqifa where they appointed Abu Bakr () as caliph instead. As such, Sunni Muslims believe Abu Bakr, Umar (), Uthman () and Ali to be ' rightly-guided caliphs' whereas Shia Muslims only regard Ali as the legitimate successor. Shia Muslims assert imamate continued through Ali's sons Hasan and Husayn, after whom different Shia branches have their own imams. They revere the , the family of Muhammad, maintaining that they possess divine knowledge. Shia holy sites include the shrine of Ali in Najaf, the shrine of Husayn in Karbala and other mausoleums of the . Later events such as Husayn's martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala (680 CE) further influenced the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
