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Ramadan

(Encyclopedia)Ramadan rämädänˈ, rămˌədänˈ [key], in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which all Muslims must fast during the daylight hours. Indulgence of any sort is forbidden during the f...

Idris I

(Encyclopedia)Idris I, 1890–1983, king of Libya (1951–69). A grandson of the founder of the Sanusi Muslim sect, he became leader of the group in 1917. He was acknowledged (1920) by the Italians as emir of Cyren...

Farid ad-Din Attar

(Encyclopedia)Farid ad-Din Attar färēdˈ äd-dēn ät-tärˈ [key], 1142?–1220?, b. Nishapur, Persia, one of the greatest Sufi mystic poets of Islam. His masterpiece is the Mantiq ut-Tair (The Conference of the...

Enciso, Martín Fernández de

(Encyclopedia)Enciso, Martín Fernández de märtēnˈ fĕrnänˈdāth dā ĕnthēˈsō [key], fl. 1509–19, Spanish conquistador and geographer. Commanding the supply ship for the colony planted (1509) near Carta...

Fontana, Carlo

(Encyclopedia)Fontana, Carlo kärˈlō fōntäˈnä [key], 1634–1714, Italian architect. During his early years he worked for three of the most important architects of the high baroque period—Rainaldi, Cortona,...

Hud

(Encyclopedia)Hud ho͞od [key], a pre-Qur'anic prophet of Islam. Hud unsuccessfully exhorted his South Arabian people, the Ad, to worship the One God. The Qur'an mentions that their incredulity was punished by a de...

Hula, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Hula, Lake, or Lake Huleh both: ho͞oˈlā [key], Arabic Bahr al Hulah, near sea-level lake formed by a natural dam of basalt, NE Israel; the Jordan River exits from its southern end. In ancient times...

hypostyle

(Encyclopedia)hypostyle hĭpˈəstīl, hīˈpə– [key], the chamber in Egyptian temples in which a number of columns supported a flat stone roof. Forming the chief and largest inner space of the temple, it was en...

dynamite

(Encyclopedia)dynamite, explosive made from nitroglycerin and an inert, porous filler such as wood pulp, sawdust, kieselguhr, or some other absorbent material. The proportions vary in different kinds of dynamite; o...

Assassin

(Encyclopedia)Assassin əsăsˈĭn [key], European name for the member of a secret order of the Ismaili sect of Islam. They are known as Nizaris after Nizar ibn al-Mustansir, whom they supported as caliph; the Euro...