480 • GlossaryIslamist: Pertaining to any person or group advocating government according to
strict Muslim principles
Isma'il (iss-ma-EEL): Final legitimate imam, for Seven-Imam Shi'is
Isma'il, Khedive: Viceroy of Egypt (1863-1879)
Isma'il Shah: Founder (1501-1524) of the Safavid dynasty
Isma'ili (iss-ma-EE-lee): Pertaining to Seven-Imam Shi'ism
Ismet (iss-MET): Turkish general, Turkey's representative at the Lausanne Con¬
ference (1923), and president of the republic (1938-1950 and 1961-1965), sur-
named Inonu
isnad (iss-NAD): Chain of witnesses verifying a hadith
Israel (IZ-real or iss-raw-EL): (1) Surname of Jacob and his descendants; (2) an¬
cient northern Jewish kingdom; (3) modern Jewish state, located in what used
to be Palestine
Israelites: Descendants of Jacob, or Jews; citizens of modern Israel are called
"Israelis"
Istanbul (iss-tam-BOOL): Modern name for Constantinople
Izmir (iz-MEER): West Anatolian city, formerly called Smyrna
Jabotinsky, Vladimir (zha-buh-TIN-skee): Founder of the Revisionist (right-
wing Zionist) party (d. 1940)
Jacobite: Syrian Monophysite Christian
Jaffa: Port city in Palestine/Israel, now part of Tel Aviv
al-Jama'a al-Islamiya: Islamist political group prominent in Egypt and other
countries
janissary (JAN-i-se-ree): Christian conscript foot soldier in the Ottoman army,
converted to Islam and trained to use firearms
Jarring, Gunnar (YAR-ring, GUN-nar): UN mediator between Israel and the
Arab states (1967-1971)
Jem: Brother and rival to Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (d. 1495)
Jemal (je-MAWL): Young Turk leader and Syria's governor (d. 1922)
Jenghiz Khan (JENG-giz KHAWN): Mongol warrior, conqueror, and ruler of
most of Asia (d. 1227); also called Genghis Khan
Jerusalem: Judea's main city; major religious center for Jews, Christians, and Mus¬
lims; proclaimed by Israel as its capital
Jewish Agency: Organization set up under the Palestine mandate to work with
Britain toward the Jewish national home; later charged with aiding Jewish im¬
migration and absorption into Israel
Jewish National Fund: Zionist land-purchasing and development agency in Pales¬
tine/Israel, founded in 1901
jihad (jee-HAD): (1) Defense of Islam against attackers; (2) Muslim struggle
against evil within oneself, one's associates, and the umma; (3) name of several
Islamist groups
jinn: In Muslim belief, invisible creatures living on earth, capable of doing good
or harm