Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) hajj häj [key], the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one of the five basic requirements (arkan or “pillars”) of Islam. Its annual observance corresponds to the major holy day id al-adha, itself...

(Encyclopedia) fakir fäkērˈ, fāˈkər [key], [Arab.,=poverty], in Islam, usually an initiate in a Sufi order. The title fakir is borne with the understanding that poverty is the need to be in relation to God. Th...

(Encyclopedia) Arabian music, classical musical tradition of the Islamic peoples of Arabia, the Fertile Crescent, and North Africa. Little is known of Arabian music before the Hegira (a.d. 622), but afterward unde...

(Encyclopedia) Abu Bakr äˈbo͞o bäkˈər [key], 573–634, 1st caliph, friend, father-in-law, and successor of Muhammad. He was probably Muhammad's first convert outside the Prophet's family and alone accompanied...

(Encyclopedia) Avicebron: see Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah. ...

(Encyclopedia) Gabirol: see Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah. ...

(Encyclopedia) Aben Ezra: see Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meir. ...

(Encyclopedia) Ben Ezra: see Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meir. ...

(Encyclopedia) Rabbi Ben Ezra: see Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meir. ...

(Encyclopedia) Hafiz häfēzˈ [key] [Arab.,=one who has memorized the Qur'an], 1319–1389?, Persian lyric poet, b. Shiraz. His original name was Shams al-Din Muhammad. He acquired the surname from having memorized...