Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Akko āˈkər, äˈ– [key], Fr. Saint-Jean d'Acre, Arab. Acca, city, NW Israel, a port on the Bay of Haifa (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea). Its manufactures include ir...

(Encyclopedia) Rafsanjani, Hashemi (Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) älēˈ äkˈbär häshˈəmē räfˌsänjänˈē [key], 1934–2017, Iranian religious and political leader, president of Iran (1989–97). A Shiite...

(Encyclopedia) Badía y Leblich, Domingo dōmēngˈgō bäᵺēˈä ē lāblēkˈ [key], 1766–1818, Spanish traveler, known as Ali Bey. Posing as a Muslim, he set out from Cádiz (1803) and traveled through N Afri...

(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) Mecca măkˈə [key], city (1993 pop. 966,381), capital of the Hejaz, W Saudi Arabia. The birthplace c.a.d. 570 of Muhammad the Prophet, it is the holiest city of Islam, and the goal of the annual Mus...

(Encyclopedia) Suli or Souli both: so͞oˈlyē [key], small mountainous district, N Greece, in Epirus. Its inhabitants, the Suliotes, who lived in fortlike villages in the mountains, remained independent during most...

(Encyclopedia) Bongo, Omar (El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba) bôngˈgō [key], 1935–2009, Gabonese political leader, president of Gabon (1967–2009), b. Albert-Bernard Bongo. He entered the civil service (1958), becam...

(Encyclopedia) Hegira or Hejira both: hĭjīˈrə, hĕjˈərə [key] [Ar.,=Hijra=breaking off of relations], the departure of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca in Sept., 622. Muhammad was a monotheist and preached aga...

(Encyclopedia) Khalid khäˈlēd [key] (Khalid ibn al-Walid), d. 642, Arab warrior. He assisted the Meccans in attacking (625) Muhammad and the inhabitants of Medina after the battle of Badr. Khalid and the Meccans ...

(Encyclopedia) Druze or Druse dro͞oz [key], religious community of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, with important overseas branches in the Americas and Australia. The religious leadership prefers the name Muwah...