BAṬṬAI YAZDĀNĪ, the founder or reformer of the Kantheans, a sect related to the Mandeans. According to the account of…

AL-BĀQER, ABŪ JAʿFAR MOḤAMMAD B. ʿALĪ B. ḤOSAYN B. ʿALĪ B. ABĪ ṬĀLEB, the fifth imam of the Twelver Shiʿites….

BANŪ SĀJ, more correctly Āl Abi’l-Sāj, a family named after its ancestor Abu’l-Sāj which served the ʿAbbasid caliphate from the…

BAḤRĀNĪ, JAMĀL-AL-DĪN (also KAMĀL-AL-DĪN) ʿALĪ B. SOLAYMĀN SETRAWĪ, Imami scholar and philosopher inclining to mysticism of the first half of…

BAḤRĀNĪ, HĀŠEM B. SOLAYMĀN B. ESMĀʿĪL B. ʿABD-AL-JAWĀD B. ʿALĪ B. SOLAYMĀN B. NĀṢER ḤOSAYNĪ KATKĀNĪ TŪBLĪ, Imami scholar and…

ʿALĪ B. ŠAMS-AL-DĪN B. ḤĀJJĪ ḤOSAYN LĀHĪJĪ, author of the Tārīḵ-eḴānī. Nothing is known about the author except from his…

ʿALĪ AL-HĀDĪ, ABU’L-ḤASAN, B. MOḤAMMAD B. ʿALĪ B. MŪSĀ AL-ʿASKARĪ, the 10th imam of the Emāmī Shiʿites (d. 254/868). Besides…

ʿALĪ AL-REŻĀ, ABU’L-ḤASAN B. MŪSĀ B. JAʿFAR, the eighth Imam of the Emāmī Shiʿites. In Shiʿite sources he is commonly…

ʿALIDS Of ṬABARESTĀN, DAYLAMĀN, and GĪLĀN. From its beginnings in 250/864 until the early Safavid age, ʿAlid rule in the…

AMR BE MAʿRŪF, Arabic al-amr be’l-maʿrūf wa’l-nahy ʿan al-monkar “enjoining what is proper or good and forbidding what is reprehensible…

ARDABĪLĪ, AḤMAD B. MOḤAMMAD, known as MOQADDAS and MOḤAQQEQ ARDABĪLĪ, Imamite theologian and jurist of the early Safavid age. As…

AWLĪĀʾALLĀH ĀMOLĪ, the author of the history of Rūyān, Tārīḵ-eRūyān, written about 760/1359. Nothing is known about his life except…

BADĀʾ (Ar. appearance, emergence), as a theological term denotes a change of a divine decision or ruling in response to…

BADUSPANIDS, a dynasty ruling Rūyān and Rostamdār from the late 5th/11th to the 10th/16th century with the title of ostandārs…

ʿALĪ B. AL-ḤOSAYN B. ʿALĪ B. ABĪ ṬĀLEB, ZAYN-AL-ʿĀBEDĪN, the fourth Imam of the Emāmī Shiʿites. His konyas are given…

ABŪ SAʿĪD JANNĀBĪ, ḤASAN B. BAHRĀM, founder of the Qarmaṭī state in Baḥrain (b. between 230/845, and 240/855, d. 300/913…

ABŪ YŪSOF QAZVĪNĪ, ʿABD-AL-SALĀM B. MOḤAMMAD B. YŪSOF B. BONDĀR, Muʿtazilite scholar and author of an immense Qurʾān commentary, born…

ʿALĀʾ-AL-DAWLA ḤASAN B. ROSTAM B. ʿALĪ B. ŠAHRĪĀR, ŠARAF-AL-MOLŪK, Bavandid ruler of Māzandarān. According to the account of Ebn Esfandīār,…

ʿALAM-AL-HODĀ, ABU’L-QĀSEM ʿALĪ B. AL-ḤOSAYN AL-MŪSAWĪ AL-ŠARĪF AL-MORTAŻĀ, leading Imamite scholar, man of letters, and naqīb (syndic) of the Talibids…

ĀL-E BĀVAND (BAVANDIDS), a dynasty ruling Ṭabarestān (Māzandarān) from at least the 2nd/8th century until 750/1349. It claimed descent from…

ʿALĀʾ-AL-DĪN SAMARQANDĪ, ABŪ BAKR MOḤAMMAD B. AḤMAD B. ABĪ AḤMAD, Ḥanafī jurist and Mātorīdī theologian. The attribution of the konya…

ABŪ NOʿAYM AL-EṢFAHĀNĪ AL-ḤĀFEẒ, AḤMAD B. ʿABDALLĀH B. AḤMAD B. ESḤĀQ B. MŪSĀ B. MEHRĀN AL-AḤWAL, famous traditionist and author…

ABU’L-QĀSEM ESḤĀQ B. MOḤAMMAD B. ESMĀʿĪL B. EBRĀHĪM B. ZAYD SAMARQANDĪ, ḤAKĪM, Hanafite scholar, Sufi, and judge (qāżī) of Samarqand….

ABŪ SAHL ESMĀʿĪL B. ʿALĪ B. ESḤĀQ B. ABĪ SAHL NAWBAḴTĪ, also called EBN NAWBAḴT (b. 237/851-52 in Baghdad, d….

ABU’L-ḴAYR B. AL-ḴAMMĀR, ḤASAN B. SOVĀR B. BĀBĀ B. BAHNĀM (or BAHRĀM), Nestorian Christian physician, philosopher, theologian, and translator, b….

ABŪ ESḤĀQ AL-ŠĪRĀZĪ, EBRĀHĪM B. ʿALĪ B. YŪSOF B. ʿABDALLĀH AL-FĪRŪZĀBĀDĪ, Shafeʿite jurist, b. 393/1003 (395 and 396 are also…

ABU’L-JĀRŪD ZĪĀD B. AL-MONḎER B. ZĪĀD AL-HAMDĀNĪ AL-ḴĀREFĪ, Kufan Shiʿite scholar and leader of the early Zaydite group named after…

ABU’L-BARAKĀT AL-BAḠDĀDĪ, AWḤAD-AL-ZAMĀN HEBATALLĀH B. ʿALĪ B. MALKĀ BALADĪ, 5th-6th/11th-12th century physician and philosopher of Jewish origin, born in Balad,…

ABŪ BAKR KALĀBĀḎĪ BOḴĀRĪ MOḤAMMAD B. ABĪ ESḤĀQ EBRĀHĪM B. YAʿQŪB, author of the well-known compendium of Sufism al-Taʿarrof le-maḏhab…

ʿABDĀN B. AL-RABĪṬ, early Ismaʿili missionary (dāʿī) and author active in the rural district (savād) of Kūfa. According to the…

ʿABD-AL-RAZZĀQ B. ʿALĪ B. AL-ḤOSAYN LĀHĪJĪ, 11th/17th-century theologian and philosopher (and poet under the pen name FAYYĀŻ). Little is known…

ʿABD-AL-RAḤĪM B. MOḤAMMAD B. ʿOṮMĀN AL-ḴAYYĀṬ, ABU’L-ḤOSAYN, Muʿtazilite theologian of Baghdad. He must have been born before 220/835, since he…

ʿABD-AL-JALĪL QAZVĪNĪ RĀZĪ, NAṢĪR-AL-DĪN ABŪ RAŠĪD B. ABU’L-ḤOSAYN B. ABU’L-FAŻL, Emāmī Shiʿite scholar, preacher, and author, b. probably early in…

ʿABD-AL-JABBĀR B. AḤMAD B. ʿABD-AL-JABBĀR B. AḤMAD B. ḴALĪL B. ʿABDALLĀH AL-HAMADĀNĪ AL-ASADĀBĀDĪ, ʿEMĀD-AL-DĪN ABU’L-ḤASAN, qāżī al-qożāt (chief judge) of…

ʿABD-AL-ḤAMĪD B. ABUʾL-ḤADĪD, ʿEZZ-AL-DĪN ABŪ ḤĀMED B. HEBATALLĀH B. MOḤAMMAD B. MOḤAMMAD B. AL-ḤOSAYN AL-MADĀʾENĪ, Muʿtazilite scholar and man of…

ʿABD-AL-ʿAẒĪM AL-ḤASANĪ, ABU’L-QĀSEM B. ʿABDALLĀH B. ʿALĪ B. AL-ḤASAN B. ZAYD B. AL-ḤASAN B. ʿALĪ B. ABŪ ṬĀLEB, Shiʿite ascetic…

ʿABBĀD B. SALMĀN (or SOLAYMĀN) B. ʿALĪ AL-ṢAYMARĪ, ABŪ SAHL, Muʿtazili theologian of the 3rd/9th century. Although Ebn al-Nadīm calls…

DABUYIDS, the dynasty of espahbads ruling Ṭabarestān until its conquest by the Muslims in 144/761. It is named after its…

DĀʿĪ ELAʾL-ḤAQQ, ABŪ ʿABD-ALLĀH MOḤAMMAD b. Zayd b. Moḥammad b. Esmāʿīl b. Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭāleb (d. 287/900),…

ABŪ RAŠĪD NĪSĀBŪRĪ, SAʿĪD B. MOḤAMMAD B. SAʿĪD B. ḤASAN B. ḤĀTEM, Muʿtazilite scholar. He is first mentioned as a…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY vi. In Ismaʿilism Ismaʿili cosmology evolved in four major stages. Stage 1. Pre-Fatimid doctrine, dating from the…

EBN ṬĀWŪS, JAMĀL-AL-DĪN ABU’L- FAŻĀʾEL AḤMAD b. Mūsā b. Jaʿfar b. Moḥammad Ḥasanī, Imami scholar. The Banū Ṭāwūs, named after…

EBN ŠĀHAWAYH (Šāhūya), ABŪ BAKR MOḤAMMAD b. ʿAlī, a leader and envoy of the Carmatians. In Šawwāl 366/May-June 977 he…

EBN ŠĀḎĀN, family name of two Imami traditionists. 1. Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥasan (or Ḥosayn) Fāmī Qomī, Imami…

EBN AL-JEʿĀBĪ, ABŪ BAKR MOḤAMMAD b. ʿOmar Tamīmī Ḥāfeẓ, traditionist with Shiʿite leanings (b. Baghdad 23 or 24 Ṣafar 284/1…

EBN AL-JONAYD (or al-Jonaydī), ABŪ ʿALĪ MOḤAMMAD b. Aḥmad Kāteb Eskāfī, Imami jurist. His nesba indicates that he came from…

DEYLAMITES, people inhabiting a shifting region in northern Persia and adjacent territories, including the Deylamān uplands. i. In the Pre-Islamic…

DEYLAMĪ,ABU’L-FATḤ NĀṢER b. Ḥosayn b. Moḥammad b. ʿĪsā b. Moḥammad b. ʿAbd-Allāh b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbd-Allāh b. ʿAlī b. Ḥasan…

BOZORG-OMĪD, KĪĀ, the second Ismaʿili ruler of Alamūt (518-32/1124-38). He was of Deylami origin from the region of Rūdbār. The…

BOSTĪ, ABU’L-QĀSEM ESMĀʿĪL b. Aḥmad JĪLĪ, Muʿtazilite and Zaydī author of the late 4th/10th and early 5th/11th century. Little is…

BORHĀN-AL-DĪN NASAFĪ, ABU’L-FAŻĀʾEL MOḤAMMAD b. Moḥammad b. Moḥammad b. ʿAbd-­Allāh (d. 687/1288), Hanafite theologian, logician, and expert on legal points…

BOḴĀRĪ, ʿALĀʾ-AL-DĪN ABŪ ʿABD-ALLĀH MOḤAMMAD b. ʿAbd-al-Raḥmān b. Aḥmad, called al-Zāhed al-ʿAlāʾ, Hanafite scholar of feqh, legal method­ology, kalām theology,…

ABŪ MOSLEM MOḤAMMAD B. BAḤR AL-EṢFAHĀNĪ AL-KĀTEB, secretary, official, man of letters, and Muʿtazilite Qurʾān commentator, b. 254/868, probably in…

ḤOSAYN B. ʿALI i. LIFE AND SIGNIFICANCE IN SHIʿISM According to most reports, Ḥosayn b. ʿAli was born on 5…

ḤOQAYNI, the nesba of two Zaydi Imams referring to their ancestor Aḥmad Ḥoqaynab. ʿAli b. Ḥosayn b. ʿAli b. Abi…

ḤASANI, ABU’L-ʿABBĀS AḤMAD B. EBRĀHIM, Zaydi scholar from Āmol in Ṭabarestān, who flourished in the first half of the 3rd/9th…

ḤASAN B. ʿALI B. ABI ṬĀLEB, eldest surviving grandson of the Prophet Moḥammad through his daughter Fāṭema, and second Imam…

ḤAMDĀN QARMAṬ b. al-Ašʿaṯ, Ismaʿili dāʿi and founder of the Ismaʿili movement in Iraq. He came from a village in…

GĪLĀN iv. HISTORY IN THE EARLY ISLAMIC PERIOD The Gelae (Gilites) seem to have entered the region south of the…

ḠAZĀLĪ vii. Ḡazālī and the Bāṭenīs. viii. Impact on Islamic thought. See Supplement.   vii. ḠAZĀLĪ AND THE BĀṬENĪS The…