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Hegira

(Encyclopedia)Hegira or Hejira both: hĭjīˈrə, hĕjˈərə [key] [Ar.,=Hijra=breaking off of relations], the departure of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca in Sept., 622. Muhammad was a monotheist and preached aga...

Hejira

(Encyclopedia)Hejira: see Hegira.

era

(Encyclopedia)era, period of historic time. In geology, it is the name applied to large divisions of geological process, e.g., Paleozoic era (see geology). In chronology an era is a period reckoned from a fixed poi...

Aishah

(Encyclopedia)Aishah īˈshə, äˈĭshäˌ [key], c.614–678, third and favorite of the nine wives of Muhammad the Prophet. Her father was Abu Bakr, who became first caliph after the Prophet's death. She was marr...

Abu Bakr

(Encyclopedia)Abu Bakr äˈbo͞o bäkˈər [key], 573–634, 1st caliph, friend, father-in-law, and successor of Muhammad. He was probably Muhammad's first convert outside the Prophet's family and alone accompanied...

Arabian music

(Encyclopedia)Arabian music, classical musical tradition of the Islamic peoples of Arabia, the Fertile Crescent, and North Africa. Little is known of Arabian music before the Hegira (a.d. 622), but afterward unde...

Medina, city, Saudi Arabia

(Encyclopedia)Medina mĭdēˈnə [key], Arabic Medinat an-Nabi [city of the Prophet] or Madinat Rasul Allah [city of the apostle of Allah], city (1993 pop. 608,226), Hejaz, W Saudi Arabia. It is situated c.110 mi (...

Muhammad, prophet of Islam

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad məhămˈəd [key] [Arab.,=praised], 570?–632, the name of the Prophet of Islam, one of the great figures of history, b. Mecca. The traditions concerning Muhammad's life, deeds, and sa...

calendar

(Encyclopedia)calendar [Lat., from Kalends], system of reckoning time for the practical purpose of recording past events and calculating dates for future plans. The calendar is based on noting ordinary and easily o...

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...

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