Key Figures in the History of Islam. 199Mansur, Caliph al-: Abbasid caliph (754—75). Strongly suppressed Shii
dissidents and moved the capital of the empire to the new city of
Baghdad.
Mansur, Husain al- (also known as al-Hallaj, the Wool Carder): one of
the most famous of the "drunken Sufis," who is said in ecstasy to
have cried "Ana al-haqq!" ("I am the Truth!") so convinced was he of
his total union with God. He was executed for heresy in 922.
Mawdudi, Abul Ala (1903-79): a Pakistani fundamentalist ideologue,
whose ideas have been very influential in the Sunni world.
Mehmed II: Ottoman sultan (1451-61) who is known as "the Con-
queror" because he achieved the conquest of Byzantine Con-
stantinople in 1453.
Mir Dimad (d. 1631): founder of the school of mystical philosophy at
Isfahan and the teacher of Mulla Sadra (q.v.).
Muawiyyah ibn Abi Sufyan: the first of the Umayyad caliphs, who
ruled from 661 to 680 and brought strong, effective government to
the Muslim community after the turmoil of the first fitnah
Muddaris, Ayatollah Hasan (d. 1937): an Iranian cleric who attacked
Reza Shah in the Majlis and was murdered by the regime.
Muhammad ibn Abdallah (c. 570-632): the prophet who brought the
Quran to the Muslims and established the monotheistic faith and a
single polity in Arabia.
Muhammad Ali, Pasha (1769-1849): an Albanian officer in the Ot-
toman army who made Egypt virtually independent of Istanbul and
who achieved a major modernization of the country.
Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi (d. 1832): the Neo-Sufi reformer who
founded the Sanusiyyah movement, which is still predominant in
Libya.
Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 735): the Fifth Shii Imam. He lived in re-
tirement in Medina and is said to have developed the esoteric
method of reading the Quran which was characteristic of Twelver
Shiism.
Muhammad, Khwarazmshah: ruler of a dynasty (1200-20) in Khwar-
azm, who tried to establish a strong monarchy in Iran but incurred
the wrath of the Mongols and brought about the first Mongol inva-
sions.
Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah: the second Pahlavi shah of Iran
(1944—79), whose aggressively modernizing and secularizing poli-
cies led to the Islamic revolution.
Mulkum Khan, Mirza (1833-1908): Iranian secularist reformer.