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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...

Farouk

(Encyclopedia)Farouk färo͞okˈ [key], 1920–65, king of Egypt (1936–52), son and successor of Fuad I. After a short regency he acceded (1937) to the throne. A constitutional monarch, Farouk was frequently at o...

Slatin, Rudolf Carl, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Slatin, Rudolf Carl, Freiherr von päˈshä [key], 1857–1932, Austrian adventurer in British and Egyptian service. Called to Egypt by C. G. Gordon, Slatin became governor of Dara (1879) and governor...

Mecca

(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...

Fukuoka

(Encyclopedia)Fukuoka fo͝oko͞oˈōkä [key], city, capital of Fukuoka prefecture, N Kyushu, Japan, on Hakata ...

Sophia Alekseyevna

(Encyclopedia)Sophia Alekseyevna sôˈfyə əlyĭksyāˈyəvnə [key], 1657–1704, regent of Russia (1682–89); daughter of Czar Alexis by his first wife and sister of Czar Feodor III. Supported by the streltsi (...

Bamian

(Encyclopedia)Bamian or Bamiyan both: bəmyänˈ [key], town, capital of Bamian prov., N central Afghanistan, on the Kunduz ...

Kashmir

(Encyclopedia)Kashmir kăshmērˈ, kăshˈmēr [key], region and former princely state, 85,714 sq mi (222,236 sq km), NW India, NE Pakistan, and SW China. Kashmir is bordered on the west by Pakistan, on the south b...

Qur'an

(Encyclopedia)Qur'an or Koran kōrănˈ, –ränˈ [key] [Arab.,=reading, recitation], the sacred book of Islam. Revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in separate revelations over the major portion of the Prophet...

Idrisids

(Encyclopedia)Idrisids ĭdˈrĭsĭdzˌ [key], two historic Muslim families. 1 An Arab Shiite dynasty of Morocco (788–974), founded by Idris I, a descendant of caliph Ali. It was the first Shiite dynasty in the hi...