196. Key Figures in the History of IslamHaqq, Zia ul-: prime minister of Pakistan (1971-77) who pursued a
more avowedly Islamic government, which still separated religion
from political and economic policy.
Hasan ibn Ali (d. 669): the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib (q.v.) and the grand-
son of the Prophet Muhammad. He is revered by Shiis as the Second
Shii Imam. After the murder of his father, Shiis acclaimed him as
caliph, but Hasan agreed to retire from politics and lived a quiet and
somewhat luxurious life in Medina.
Hasan al-Ashari (d. 935): the philosopher who reconciled the Mutazi-
lah and the ahl al-hadith; his atomistic philosophy became one of the
chief expressions of the spirituality of Sunni Islam.
Hasan al-Askari (d. 874): the Eleventh Shii Imam, who lived and died
in the Askari fortress in Samarra, as the prisoner of the Abbasid
caliphs. Like most of the imams, he is believed to have been poisoned
by the Abbasid authorities.
Hasan al-Basri (d. 728): preacher in Basrah and leader of a religious re-
form; he was an outspoken critic of the Umayyad caliphs.
Hidden Imam: see Abu al-Qasim Muhammad.
Husain ibn Ali: the second son of Ali ibn Abi Talib (q.v.) and the grand-
son of the Prophet Muhammad. He is revered by Shiis as the Third
Imam and his death at the hands of Caliph Yazid (q.v.) is mourned
annually during the month of Muharram.
Ibn al-Arabi, Muid ad-Din (d. 1240): a Spanish mystic and philoso-
pher, who travelled extensively in the Muslim empire. A prolific and
highly influential writer, he preached a unitive and pluralistic theo-
logical vision, in which spirituality is fused indissolubly with his phi-
losophy.
Ibn Hazam (994-1064): a Spanish poet and religious thinker of the
court of Cordova.
Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad (d. 767): author of the first major biography of
the Prophet Muhammad, which is based on carefully sifted hadith
reports.
Ibn Khaldun, Abd al-Rahman (1 332-1406): author of al-Maqaddimah
(An Introduction to History). A Faylasuf, he applied the principles of
philosophy to the study of history and sought the universal laws op-
erating behind the flux of events.
Ibn Rushd, Abu al-Walid Ahmad (1126-98): a Faylasuf and Qadi of
Cordova, Spain, known in the West as Averroes, where his rationalis-
tic philosophy was more influential than it was in the Muslim world.