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Fouta Djallon

(Encyclopedia)Fouta Djallon or Futa Jallon both: fo͞oˈtä jälôNˈ [key], highland region, c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), central Guinea, W Africa. Largely a rolling grassland (average alt. c.3,000 ft/910 m), th...

Azazel

(Encyclopedia)Azazel əzāˈzəl, ăzˈəzĕl [key], in the Bible, an obscure term found in the ritual of the scapegoat in the Book of Leviticus. Azazel may be the place to which the scapegoat was sent, the scapego...

Khalid

(Encyclopedia)Khalid khäˈlēd [key] (Khalid ibn al-Walid), d. 642, Arab warrior. He assisted the Meccans in attacking (625) Muhammad and the inhabitants of Medina after the battle of Badr. Khalid and the Meccans ...

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...

Kaaba

(Encyclopedia)Kaaba or Caaba both: käˈbə or käˈəbə [key] [Arab.,=cube], the central, cubic, stone structure, covered by a black cloth, within the Great Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The sacred nature of the...

Turkish language

(Encyclopedia)Turkish language, member of the Turkic subdivision of the Altaic subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages). Turkish is the official language of Turkey and one ...

Szigeti, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Szigeti, Joseph sēgĕtˈē, Hung. sĭˈgĕtĭ [key], 1892–1973, Hungarian-American violinist. After his debut at 13, Szigeti made his first European tour in 1912. Thereafter he achieved worldwide r...

United Service Organizations

(Encyclopedia)United Service Organizations (USO), organization that supplies social, recreational, welfare, and spiritual facilities to members of the armed services. The USO was organized in 1941, originally to co...

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...

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...