Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Hirschfeld, Al (Albert Hirschfeld) hûrshˈfĕld [key], 1903–2003, American graphic artist, b. St. Louis. He and his family moved to New York City when he was 12, and he studied art there and in Par...

(Encyclopedia) Saud (Saud bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud) ĭˈbən abdäl äzēzˈ ĭˈbən säo͞odˈ [key], 1902–69, king of Saudi Arabia (1953–64), son of Ibn Saud, brother of Faisal. Saud, who had distinguished him...

(Encyclopedia) Barmakids bärˈməsīdzˌ [key], Persian-descended religious family from Khorasan. They served as viziers to the Abbasid caliphs in the 8th cent. Khalid ibn Barmak, d. 782?, supported the revolution ...

(Encyclopedia) Sufism so͞oˈfĭzəm [key], an umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam. While Sufism is said to have incorporated elements of Christian monasticism, gnosticism, and Indian m...

(Encyclopedia) Black Muslims, African-American religious movement in the United States, split since the late 1970s into the American Society of Muslims and the Nation of Islam. The original group was founded (1930) ...

(Encyclopedia) Jolson, Al jōlˈsən [key], 1888–1950, American entertainer, whose original name was Asa Yoelson, b. Russia. He emigrated to the United States c.1895. The son of a rabbi, Jolson first planned to be...

(Encyclopedia) Kadhimi, Mustafa al-, 1967–, Iraqi journalist, human-rights activist, government official, and political leader, b. as Mustafa Abdul-Latif Mishatat. A Shia Muslim, he opposed President Saddam Hussei...

(Encyclopedia) Al Fatah: see Arafat, Yasir; Palestine Liberation Organization. ...

(Encyclopedia) Witelo of Silesia or Vitelo, c.1230–75, Silesian physicist, philosopher, and theologian. He studied in Paris and Padua and spent time at the papal palace in Viterbo, Italy. His ten-volume work on op...

(Encyclopedia) Banu Musa bäno͞oˈ mo͞osäˈ [key], family of Arab mathematicians and astronomers of the 9th cent. a.d. The name means “sons of Musa” and refers to the three brothers, Muhammad, Ahmad, and al-H...