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Hassan II

(Encyclopedia)Hassan II häˈsän [key], 1929–99, king of Morocco (1961–99). Formerly crown prince Moulay Hassan ben Mohammed Alaoui, he ascended the throne on the death (1961) of his father, Muhammad V. A grad...

Abu al-Faraj Ali of Esfahan

(Encyclopedia)Abu al-Faraj Ali of Esfahan äˈbo͞o äl-färajˈ älēˈ, ĕsfähänˈ [key], 897–967, Arabic scholar from Iran. He is mainly known for his invaluable Kitab al-Aghani (book of songs), which provid...

Hoshea

(Encyclopedia)Hoshea hōshēˈə [key]. 1 See Joshua. 2 Died after 722 b.c., last king of Israel (c.730–722 b.c.). He succeeded Pekah, whom he murdered. He was a tributary of Assyria but made the fatal mistake of...

Murad IV

(Encyclopedia)Murad IV, 1612?–1640, Ottoman sultan (1623–40), nephew and successor of Mustafa I. He recovered (1638) Baghdad, which Shah Abbas I of Persia had seized. On his victory he sent an order to murder h...

Obasanjo, Olusegun

(Encyclopedia)Obasanjo, Olusegun ōlo͞oˈshĕgo͞on ōbāˈsănjō [key], 1937–, Nigerian military officer and political leader, b. Abeokuta. Obasanjo, who joined the army in 1958 and rose quickly to general, wa...

Ahaz

(Encyclopedia)Ahaz āˈhăz [key], d. c.727 b.c., king of Judah (c.731–727 b.c.), son of Jotham. His reign marked the end of the real independence of Judah. A coalition of Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria attac...

Mirziyoyev, Shavkat Miromonovich

(Encyclopedia)Mirziyoyev, Shavkat Miromonovich, 1957–, UZbek political leader, president of Uzbekistan (2016–). A graduate of the Tashkent Institute of Engineers, he taught there before becoming a deputy of the...

Firishta

(Encyclopedia)Firishta or Ferishta both: fĭrĭshtăˈ [key], c.1560–c.1620, Indian Muslim historian. His given name was Muhammad Kasim Hindu Shah. Under the patronage of the shah of Bijapur, he wrote a history o...

Ellison, Keith Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Ellison, Keith Maurice, 1963–, African-American politician, the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress; b. Detroit. A convert to Islam from Roman Catholicism while at Wayne State Univ. (B.A...

Indian literature

(Encyclopedia)Indian literature. Oral literature in the vernacular languages of India is of great antiquity, but it was not until about the 16th cent. that an extensive written literature appeared. Chief factors in...