isma'ilite
11Fāṭimid dynasty — (909–1171) Ismāʽīli Shīʽite dynasty of North Africa and the Middle East. Its members traced their descent from Fātimah, a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. As Shīʽite Muslims, they opposed the Sunnite caliphate of the Abbāsid dynasty, which they… …
12Iran — /i ran , i rahn , uy ran /, n. a republic in SW Asia. 67,540,002; ab. 635,000 sq. mi. (1,644,650 sq. km). Cap.: Teheran. Formerly (until 1935), Persia. * * * Iran Introduction Iran Background: Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic… …
13Qarmatian — ▪ Shīʿite sect also spelled Qarmathian, Karmatian , or Karmathian , Arabic Qarmatī , plural Qarāmiṭah a member of the Shīʿite Muslim sect known as the Ismāʿīlites. The Qarmatians flourished in Iraq, Yemen, and especially Bahrain… …
14Jābir ibn Ḥayyān, Abū Mūsā — ▪ Arabian alchemist Introduction born c. 721, Ṭūs, Iran died c. 815, Al Kūfah, Iraq alchemist (alchemy) known as the father of Arab chemistry. He systematized a “quantitative” analysis of substances and was the inspiration for Geber, a… …
15Hashshashin — The Hashshashin (also Hashishin, Hashashiyyin, Hashasheen or Assassins) were an offshoot of the Ismā īlī sect of Shia Muslims. After a quarrel about the succession of leadership in the ruling Fatimide dynasty in Cairo around the year 1090, the… …
16Mustaali — Part of a series on Shī‘ah Islam …
17Islamic arts — Visual, literary, and performing arts of the populations that adopted Islam from the 7th century. Islamic visual arts are decorative, colourful, and, in religious art, nonrepresentational; the characteristic Islamic decoration is the arabesque.… …
18Persian literature — Introduction body of writings in New Persian (also called Modern Persian), the form of the Persian language written since the 9th century with a slightly extended form of the Arabic alphabet and with many Arabic loanwords. The literary form …
19khoja — /koh jeuh/, n. 1. a teacher in a Muslim school. 2. (cap.) a member of a subsect of the Muslims in India. [1615 25; < Pers khwaja] * * * ▪ Islam Persian Khvājeh, caste of Indian Muslims converted from Hinduism to Islām in the 14th century …
20Syria — /sear ee euh/, n. 1. Official name, Syrian Arab Republic. a republic in SW Asia at the E end of the Mediterranean. 16,137,899; 71,227 sq. mi. (184,478 sq. km). Cap.: Damascus. 2. a territory mandated to France in 1922, including the present… …
