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Recent Updates
New Articles: Sayyida al-Hurra and Kösem Sultan
New Articles: Ibn Hisham and Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
New Articles: Four Companions of the Prophet
New Articles: Three Relatives of the Prophet
New Articles: The Prophet's Immediate Family
New Articles: Halima al-Sa'diyya and the Battle of Hunayn
New Articles: Yasser Arafat and Amin al-Husseini
New Article: Al-Zamakhshari
New Articles: Four Sufi Masters
New Articles: Five Rulers of South Asia
New Articles: Aisha bint Abu Bakr and Fatimah bint Muhammad
New Articles: Deobandi Scholars and Movements
Article content added.
New Articles: Seventeen Scholars of South Asia
New Articles: Five Classical Scholars
New Articles: Andalusi Rulers, Tughluq Sultans, and the Ottoman Centuries
New Collection: Admirals and Navigators
A new collection was added.
- New collection: Admirals and Navigators
New Articles: Ottoman and Seljuk Sultans
New Articles: Companions, a Caliph, and Four Rulers
New Articles: Reformers, Rebels, and Institutions of Modern Muslim India
Five New Learning Paths
Five new Learning Paths were added.
- Foundations of Islamic Belief
- Al-Andalus
- The Ottoman Centuries
- Islam in Africa
- The Modern Muslim World
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New Articles: Bayezid I and the Battle of Nicopolis
New Articles: Seven Overlooked Figures in Islamic History
New Article: Suhaib ibn Sinan al-Rumi
New Collection: The Prophets of Islam
A new collection was added, grouping all 25 prophets named in the Quran.
- New collection: The Prophets of Islam
Two New Collections
Two new collections were added.
- New collection: The Early Islamic Conquests
- New collection: Islam in South Asia
New Article: Abadi Bano Begum (Bi Amma)
New Article: Hasrat Mohani
New Article: Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib
New Articles: Five Commanders of the Umayyad Conquests
New Articles: Zamzam and Masjid al-Nabawi
New Articles: Six Mothers of the Believers
New Feature: Collections
A new Collections section was added, launching with 8 collections.
- New collection: Ashara Mubashara
- New collection: Ahl al-Bayt
- New collection: Mothers of the Believers
- New collection: Six Hadith Masters
- New collection: Four Imams of Fiqh
- New collection: Decisive Battles
- New collection: Women in Islamic History
- New collection: Great Mosques
New Articles: Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf and Sa'id ibn Zayd
New Articles: Ertuğrul Ghazi and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
New Articles: Five Rulers of South and Central Asian Islam
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New Feature: Bibliography Page
A new Bibliography page was added.
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New Learning Path: Women in Islam
A new Learning Path was added.
- New Learning Path: Women in Islam
New Eras and Article Categories
The encyclopaedia's historical eras were expanded to 14, including three newly added eras.
- New era: Medieval Islamic World
- New era: African Islamic Empires
- New era: South Asian Islam
Glossary Expanded to 85 Terms
63 new Glossary terms were added.
- 63 new Glossary terms added
New Article: Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
New Articles: Five Muslim Statesmen and Scholars of Modern India
New Articles: Scholars, Saints, Cities, and Civilisational Themes
New Articles: Prophetic Era Battles and Al-Khwarizmi
New Articles: The Constitution of Medina
New Articles: Hadith Sciences and the Four Schools of Law
New Articles: Abbasid Scholars and the Golden Age
New Articles: Empires, Dynasties, and Geography
New Articles: Prophets, Women of Islam, and Core Theology
New Feature: Homepage Learning Paths and Discovery Sections
New homepage sections were added.
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New Articles: Abbasid Scholarly Hub
New Articles: The Rashidun Era
Recently Added Articles
The most recent additions and updates to our encyclopaedia, sorted by last updated date.
Al-Lawh al-Mahfuz: The Preserved Tablet in Islamic Theology
The Preserved Tablet, in Islamic theology the divine record in which Allah's knowledge and decrees are inscribed. Named in the Qur'an and elaborated in the hadith literature, it bears on divine omniscience, predestination and the nature of revelation.
Battle of Nahrawan: Ali's Conflict with the Kharijites
The Battle of Nahrawan (658 CE) was fought between Caliph Ali and the Kharijites who defected after the arbitration at Siffin. This battle marked the emergence of the Kharijite movement and led to Ali's assassination.
Battle of Hattin - Saladin's Decisive Victory
The decisive battle of July 4, 1187 CE, where Saladin's forces crushed the Crusader armies near Hattin in Palestine. This pivotal victory led to the recapture of Jerusalem and marked the beginning of the end of Crusader dominance in the Holy Land.
Amina bint Wahb: Mother of the Prophet
Amina bint Wahb al-Zuhriyya was the mother of Prophet Muhammad. Married to Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and widowed almost at once, she bore her son at Mecca, saw him fostered among the Banu Sa'd and returned to her, and died at al-Abwa when he was six, leaving him twice orphaned.
Battle of Hunayn
The Battle of Hunayn (630 CE) was fought a month after the conquest of Mecca between the Muslims and a coalition of the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes. A near-disastrous ambush was reversed into a decisive Muslim victory, followed by the siege of Ta'if and a generous distribution of captives and spoils.
Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith: The Prophet's Cousin Who Fought Him for Twenty Years
Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith, born al-Mughira, was a first cousin of Prophet Muhammad who opposed him in verse and in battle for two decades before converting on the eve of the conquest of Mecca, and who was one of the very few men who stood their ground beside the Prophet at Hunayn.
Al-Nawawi: Jurist of the Shafi'i School and Compiler of Riyad al-Salihin
Al-Nawawi (1233-1277) was a Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar of Damascus who died at forty-four having written some of the most widely used books in Sunni Islam, including Riyad al-Salihin, the Forty Hadith, and the standard Shafi'i legal manual.
Battle of the Camel: The First Islamic Civil War
The Battle of the Camel (656 CE) was the first major military confrontation between Muslims, fought near Basra between Caliph Ali and forces led by Aisha, Talha, and Zubayr. This battle marked the beginning of the First Fitna.
Battle of Khandaq
The Battle of Khandaq (627 CE), also called the Battle of the Trench, was a twenty-seven-day siege of Medina by a coalition of some ten thousand Quraysh and allied tribes. On Salman al-Farsi's advice the Muslims dug a defensive trench, and the coalition withdrew without a decisive battle.
Battle of Ain Jalut: Turning Back the Mongol Tide
The 1260 CE battle where the Mamluk Sultanate defeated the Mongol Empire in the Jezreel Valley, marking the first major Mongol defeat and halting their westward expansion into the Islamic heartlands.
Bilal ibn Rabah
Bilal ibn Rabah (580-640 CE), the first muezzin of Islam and one of the most beloved companions of Prophet Muhammad, known for his beautiful voice, unwavering faith under torture, and his role in breaking racial barriers in early Islamic society.
Bayezid I: The Thunderbolt
Bayezid I (r. 1389-1402), known as Yildirim, the Thunderbolt, expanded the Ottoman state across the Balkans and Anatolia before his defeat and capture by Timur at the Battle of Ankara in 1402. His reign marks both the zenith of early Ottoman expansion and its fragility.
Battle of Siffin: The Defining Conflict of the First Islamic Civil War
The Battle of Siffin (657 CE) was a major confrontation between Caliph Ali and Muawiyah that ended with controversial arbitration, marking a turning point that led to the emergence of the Kharijites and deepening sectarian divisions.
Al-Tabari: Historian and Exegete of the Abbasid Age
Al-Tabari (839-923) was the most important historian and Quranic exegete of the early Islamic period. His annalistic History and his vast commentary on the Quran preserved earlier scholarship that would otherwise be lost, and both remain foundational sources.
Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah
Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah (583-639 CE), known as 'Amin al-Ummah' (Trustee of the Nation), one of the ten companions promised Paradise and the supreme commander of Muslim forces in Syria, renowned for his trustworthiness, humility, and military leadership during the Islamic conquests.
Ferghana Valley: The Pearl of Central Asia
The Ferghana Valley, birthplace of Babur and crossroads of Central Asian civilizations, has served as a crucial center of trade, culture, and Islamic learning for over a millennium.
Ghaznavid Empire - The Turkish-Persian Synthesis
The Ghaznavid Empire (977-1186 CE) was a powerful Turkish-Persian dynasty ruling Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and parts of India. Founded by Sebük-Tegin and reaching its zenith under Mahmud of Ghazni, it became renowned for military prowess, cultural patronage, and spreading Islam to India.
Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq: Founder of the Tughluq Dynasty
Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq (r. 1320-1325) rose from the Mongol frontier at Dipalpur to seize Delhi after the murder of the last Khalji sultan, founding the Tughluq dynasty. He moderated Khalji fiscal severity, built Tughluqabad, and died when a pavilion collapsed at Afghanpur.