194. Key Figures in the History of IslamAbu al-Qasim Muhammad: also known as the Hidden Imam. He was
the Twelfth Imam of the Shiah, who was said to have gone into hid-
ing in 874 to save his life; in 934 his "Occultation" was declared:
God, it was said, had miraculously concealed the imam and he could
make no further direct contact with Shiis. Shortly before the Last
Judgement, he would return as the Mahdi to inaugurate a golden age
of justice and peace, having destroyed the enemies of God.
Abu Sufyan: led the opposition against the Prophet Muhammad after
the death of Abu al-Hakam (q.v.), but eventually, when he realized
that Muhammad was invincible, converted to Islam. He belonged to
the Umayyad family in Mecca, and his son Muawiyyah (q.v.) became
the first Umayyad caliph.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780-833): hadith collector, legist and leading figure
of the ahl al-hadith. His spirit is enshrined in the Hanbali school of
Islamic jurisprudence.
Ahmad ibn Idris (1780-1836): the Neo-Sufi reformer, active in Mo-
rocco, North Africa and the Yemen, who bypassed the ulama and
tried to bring a more vibrant form of Islam directly to the people.
Ahmad Khan, Sir Sayyid (1817-98): an Indian reformer who tried to
adapt Islam to modern Western liberalism, and who urged Indians to
collaborate with the Europeans and accept their institutions.
Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1625): Sufi reformer who opposed the pluralism of
the Moghul emperor Akbar (q.v.).
Aisha: the favourite wife of the Prophet Muhammad, who died in her
arms. She was the daughter of Abu Bakr (q.v.) and led the Medinan
opposition to Ali ibn Abi Talib (q.v.) during the first fitnah.
Akbar: Moghul emperor of India (1560-1605). He established a toler-
ant policy of cooperation with the Hindu population, and his reign
saw the zenith of Moghul power.
Ali ibn Abi Talib: the cousin, ward and son-in-law of the Prophet
Muhammad and his closest surviving male relative. He became the
fourth caliph in 656, but was murdered by a Kharajite extremist in
- Shiis believe that he should have succeeded the Prophet
Muhammad, and they revere him as the First Imam of the Islamic
community. His shrine is at Najaf in Iraq, and is a major place of Shii
pilgrimage.
Ali al-Hadi: the Tenth Shii Imam. In 848 he was summoned to Samarra
by Caliph al-Mutawakkil and placed under house arrest there. He
died in the Askari fortress in 868.