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Arafat, Yasir

(Encyclopedia)Arafat, Yasir or Yasser yäsērˈ ärˈäfät; –sər [key], 1929–2004, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the coordinating body for Palestinian organizations, and head of Al Fa...

Sunni

(Encyclopedia)Sunni so͞oˈnī [key] [Arab. Sunna,=tradition], from ahl al-sunnah wa-l-jamaa [Arab.,=the people of the custom of the Prophet and community], the largest division of Islam. Sunni Islam is the heir to...

Magdala, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Magdala măgˈdələ [key], in the New Testament, home of Mary Magdalene. It is identified with Migdal, Israel, a town on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the neighboring site of the former A...

Banu Musa

(Encyclopedia)Banu Musa bäno͞oˈ mo͞osäˈ [key], family of Arab mathematicians and astronomers of the 9th cent. a.d. The name means “sons of Musa” and refers to the three brothers, Muhammad, Ahmad, and al-H...

Deir al-Zour

(Encyclopedia)Deir al-Zour, Syria: see Dayr az Zawr. ...

Al-Hakam II

(Encyclopedia)Al-Hakam II: see Hakam II, al-.

Al Aswany, Alaa

(Encyclopedia)Al Aswany, Alaa, 1957–, Egyptian author, b. Cairo. The son of a novelist-lawyer, he was trained as a dentist at Cairo Univ. (grad. 1980) and the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago (M.S., 1987) and has com...

Jaafari, Ibrahim al-

(Encyclopedia)Jaafari, Ibrahim al- ēbrähēmˈ äl-jäˈfärē [key], 1947–, Iraqi political leader, b. Karbala as Ibrahim al-Eshaiker. A Shiite, a physician, and the leader of the Dawa religious party, he fled ...

Imru al-Kais

(Encyclopedia)Imru al-Kais: see Amru al-Kais.

Abraj Al-Bait

(Encyclopedia)Abraj Al-Bait, complex of seven government-owned, mixed-use buildings in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The most impressive structure, the Makkah Royal Clock Tower, is the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, at 1...