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Arabs

(Encyclopedia)Arabs, name originally applied to the Semitic peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. It now refers to those persons whose primary language is Arabic. They constitute most of the population of Algeria, Bahr...

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...

Great Lakes, lakes and region, E Africa

(Encyclopedia)Great Lakes, group of freshwater lakes lying along the Great Rift Valley, E Africa, including Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa, Turkana, Albert, Kivu, and Edward. Lakes Victoria, Albert, and Edward e...

Ptolemaïs, ancient cities, Asia and Africa

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemaïs tŏləmāˈīs [key], ancient name given to several cities to honor members of the dynasty of the Ptolemies. One of these later became known as Akko, in modern Israel. Another was one of th...

Moors

(Encyclopedia)Moors, nomadic people of the northern shores of Africa, originally the inhabitants of Mauretania. They were chiefly of Berber and Arab stock. In the 8th cent. the Moors were converted to Islam and bec...

Muhammad, Elijah

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad, Elijah, 1897–1975, American black-nationalist and religious leader, b. near Sandersville, Ga. Originally named Elijah Poole, he left home at 16 and worked at various jobs. In 1923 he settl...

Ramadan

(Encyclopedia)Ramadan rämädänˈ, rămˌədänˈ [key], in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which all Muslims must fast during the daylight hours. Indulgence of any sort is forbidden during the f...

Abu Hanifa

(Encyclopedia)Abu Hanifa äbo͞oˈ hänēˈfä [key], 699–767, Muslim jurist. He founded the Hanafite system of Islamic jurisprudence, which gives the judge considerable discretion when the Qur'an and the Sunna (...

Farrakhan, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Farrakhan, Louis fârˈəkănˌ, färˈəkänˌ [key], 1933–, African-American religious leader, b. New York City, as Louis Eugene Walcott. A former calypso singer known as “The Charmer,” he joi...

Labé

(Encyclopedia)Labé läbāˈ [key], town (1996 pop. 249,515), W central Guinea, in the Fouta Djallon. It is the market center for a farm region where citrus fruit, bananas, vegetables, and rice are grown and cattle...