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amphoterism

(Encyclopedia)amphoterism ămˌfətĕrˈĭzm [key], in chemistry, the property of certain substances of acting either as acids or as bases depending on the reaction in which they are involved. Many hydroxide compou...

Arabic literature

(Encyclopedia)Arabic literature, literary works written in the Arabic language. The great body of Arabic literature includes works by Arabic speaking Turks, Persians, Syrians, Egyptians, Indians, Jews, and other Af...

Druze

(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...

Allah

(Encyclopedia)Allah ălˈə, äˈlə [key], [Arab.,=the God]. Derived from an old Semitic root refering to the Divine and used in the Canaanite El, the Mesopotamian ilu, and the biblical Elohim, the word Allah is u...

Marshall, Kerry James

(Encyclopedia)Marshall, Kerry James, 1955–, American painter, b. Birmingham, Ala., B.F.A. Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design), Los Angeles, 1978. A figurative and narrative artist whose subjec...

Tanta

(Encyclopedia)Tanta tänˈtä [key], city (1986 pop. 336,517), capital of Gharbiyah governorate, N Egypt, in the Nile River delta. It is a cotton-ginning center and the main railroad hub of the delta. Three annual ...

hadith

(Encyclopedia)hadith hädēthˈ [key], a tradition or the collection of the traditions of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, including his sayings and deeds, and his tacit approval of what was said or done in his pres...

Barmakids

(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 ...

Muhammad Abduh

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad Abduh 1849–1905, Egyptian Muslim religious reformer. His encounter in 1872 with Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, in the Cairo mosque-university of al-Azhar, led to his transition from asceticism to...

Kuwait

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Kuwait or Kowait ko͝owātˈ [key], officially State of Kuwait, constitutional emirate (2015 est. pop. 3,936,000), 6,177 sq mi (16,000 sq km), NE Arabian peninsula, at the head of the Persian G...