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Faisal I

(Encyclopedia)Faisal I or Faysal I both: fīˈsəl [key], 1885–1933, king of Iraq (1921–33). The third son of Husayn ibn Ali, sherif of Mecca, he is also called Faisal ibn Husayn. Faisal was educated in Constan...

Aqaba

(Encyclopedia)Aqaba äˈkäbä [key], town (1996 est. pop. 52,000), SW Jordan, at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, on the border with Israel. It is the only Jordanian port with direct access to the Red Sea; it remain...

balsam

(Encyclopedia)balsam bôlˈsəm [key], fragrant resin obtained from various trees. The true balsams are semisolid and insoluble in water, but they are soluble in alcohol and partly so in hydrocarbons. They contain ...

Abdullah I

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah I (Abdullah ibn Husayn) äbdo͝olˈlä ĭˈbən ho͝osānˈ [key], 1882–1951, king of Jordan (1946–51), b. Mecca; son of Husayn ibn Ali of the Hashemite family. During World War I, Abdull...

Sanusi

(Encyclopedia)Sanusi or Senussi both: səno͞oˈsĭ [key], Arabic Sanusiyya, a political-religious organization in Libya and Sudan founded in Mecca in 1837 by Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi (1791–1859), known as the ...

aloe

(Encyclopedia)aloe ălˈō [key] [Gr.], any species of the genus Aloe, succulent perennials of the family Lilaceae (lily family), native chiefly to the warm dry areas of S Africa and also to tropical Africa, but cu...

liturgy, Islamic

(Encyclopedia)liturgy, Islamic, mandatory ritual prayer in Islam (salat) is performed five times a day at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and night. It requires ritual cleanliness, and is preceded by ablutions. The ...

Karmathians

(Encyclopedia)Karmathians or Carmathians kärmāˈthēənz [key], a Muslim sect of the 9th and 10th cent., similar to the Assassin sect. They were part of a movement for social reform that spread widely through Isl...

Selim I

(Encyclopedia)Selim I (Selim the Grim) sĕlĭmˈ [key], 1467–1520, Ottoman sultan (1512–20). He ascended the throne of the Ottoman Empire by forcing the abdication of his father, Beyazid II, and by killing his ...

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