(Encyclopedia) LabéLabéläbāˈ [key], town (1996 pop. 249,515), W central Guinea, in the Fouta Djallon. It is the market center for a farm region where citrus fruit, bananas, vegetables, and rice are…
(Encyclopedia) MandeMandemänˈdā [key], language group, W Africa, including the Malinke, Dyula, Marka, Mende, Bambara, and Soninke subgroups. The Mande-speakers today number about 3 million and live…
(Encyclopedia) SufismSufisms&oomacr;ˈfĭzəm [key], an umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam. While Sufism is said to have incorporated elements of Christian monasticism…
Who are the world's leading public intellectuals? The October 2005 cover of Prospect Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect magazine selected their top 100, and invited readers to…
(Encyclopedia) Faiyum, ElFaiyum, Elĕl fīy&oomacr;mˈ [key], or Al FayyumAl Fayyumäl [key]Al Fayyum– [key]Al Fayyum fīy&oomacr;mˈ [key], region, coextensive with El Faiyum governorate, N Egypt…
More than a billion Muslims around the world observe Ramadan (“month of blessing”), with prayer, fasting and charity. They celebrate the end of Ramadan with a three-day festival, called Eid al-…
(Encyclopedia) Qutb, SayyidQutb, Sayyidsīˈyĭd kŭˈtəb [key], 1906–66, Egyptian Islamist whose critique of modern civilization and Islam provides the theoretical underpinnings for many contemporary…
WHAT INFLUENCE HAS ISLAM HAD? WHO LIVES IN THE SAHARA? WHAT IS DESERTIFICATION? WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE LIVE NEAR THE COAST? WHAT CAN YOU BUY IN A SOUK? WHY IS THE NILE SO IMPORTANT? WHAT IS UNUSUAL…
