Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Muslim Brotherhood

(Encyclopedia)Muslim Brotherhood, officially Jamiat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun [Arab.,=Society of Muslim Brothers], religious and political organization founded (1928) in Egypt by Hasan al-Banna. Early opposed to secula...

monotheism

(Encyclopedia)monotheism mŏnˈəthēĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=belief in one God], in religion, a belief in one personal god. In practice, monotheistic religion tends to stress the existence of one personal god that unifi...

Sanusi

(Encyclopedia)Sanusi or Senussi both: səno͞oˈsĭ [key], Arabic Sanusiyya, a political-religious organization in Libya and Sudan founded in Mecca in 1837 by Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi (1791–1859), known as the ...

giant

(Encyclopedia)giant, in mythology, manlike being of great size and strength. The giant has been the symbol for the expression of certain recurring beliefs in the mythologies of all races. He is universally represen...

Moody, Deborah

(Encyclopedia)Moody, Deborah, d. 1659, American colonial religious leader and colonizer, b. England. She emigrated (1639) to Massachusetts Bay and settled in Saugus (now Lynn, Mass.). After being admonished (1643) ...

Mather, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Mather, Richard, 1596–1669, British Puritan clergyman in North America, b. Lancashire, England. He studied at Oxford, began preaching, and was ordained in 1620. His Puritan beliefs led him into diff...

Santería

(Encyclopedia)Santería sănˌtərēˈə, sänˌ– [key], religion originating in W Africa, developed by Yoruba slaves in Cuba, and practiced by an estimated one million people in the United States. Blending Afric...

Bhutto, Benazir

(Encyclopedia)Bhutto, Benazir bĕnˌəzĭrˈ bo͞oˈtō [key], 1953–2007, prime minister of Pakistan (1988–90; 1993–96), daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Educated at Radcliffe and Oxford, she returned to Paki...

Fouta Djallon

(Encyclopedia)Fouta Djallon or Futa Jallon both: fo͞oˈtä jälôNˈ [key], highland region, c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), central Guinea, W Africa. Largely a rolling grassland (average alt. c.3,000 ft/910 m), th...

Azazel

(Encyclopedia)Azazel əzāˈzəl, ăzˈəzĕl [key], in the Bible, an obscure term found in the ritual of the scapegoat in the Book of Leviticus. Azazel may be the place to which the scapegoat was sent, the scapego...