Khumm, nor do they recognize it as a holiday of
any significance. Rather, they view the event as
a call for Muslims to respect Ali because of his
close relationship with Muhammad but not as a
designation of leadership commanded by God.
Shii observance of the holiday of Ghadir
Khumm began during the 10th century in egypt
and iraq, both of which were ruled by the Shii
dynasties at that time. It is celebrated by Shia
around the world on the 18th day of the 12th
month (Dhu al-Hijja) on the Islamic lunar calen-
dar, a few days after the end of the annual haJJ. In
iran, it is a public holiday, and Iraqi Shiis perform
pilgrimages to karbala on that day.
See also Fatimid dynasty; holidays; shiism;
sUnnism.
Further reading: Paula Sanders, Ritual, Politics, and the
City in Fatimid Cairo (Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1994), 121–134; John Alden Williams, The
World of Islam (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994),
170–172.
Ghalib, Mirza Asad Ali Khan (1797–1869)
leading Indo-Pakistani author famed for his Persian
and Urdu poetry and prose
Ghalib was born into a prominent Muslim fam-
ily closely connected to the court of the mUghal
dynasty in india. He spent his early childhood
in Agra, the former capital, but at the age of 15
he moved to delhi, the location of the impe-
rial court, where he lived for most of his life.
His poetic gifts were recognized by the ruler
of Awadh in north India and by Bahadur Shah
II (d. 1857), the last Mughal emperor. Ghalib
lost his royal patrons (and nearly his life) with
the great Indian “mutiny” against the British in
1857, but he soon overcame his financial troubles
with the help of a pension from the new British
government in India. He wrote in both Persian,
the literary language of the elite, and Urdu, the
“camp” language of the Muslim court. His poetry
expressed emotions of sorrow and suffering and
echoed mystical themes, but it was not overtly
religious. Indeed, he was a humanist in outlook
who regarded Muslims, Hindus, and Christians as
brothers. He employed classical Arabic and Per-
sian poetic forms: the ghazal (love lyric), qasida
(ode), and mathnavi (rhymed couplet). Today, he
is remembered best for his Urdu poetry, collected
in his Diwan. He wrote more poetry in Persian,
however, and this has been collected in his Kul-
liyyat. Among Ghalib’s prose writings are a history
of the Mughals and essays on the Persian lan-
guage. In 1969, the Ghalib Academy was opened
to commemorate the centenary of Ghalib’s death.
It is located in New Delhi near the tomb of the
Chishti Sufi saint nizam al-din aWliya (d. 1325)
and houses a museum and library.
See also persian langUage and literatUre.Further reading: Ralph Russell, Ghalib: The Poet and
His Age (London: Allen & Unwin, 1972); ———, The
Oxford India Ghalib: Life, Letters, and Ghazals (New
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003).Ghannoushi, Rashid al- (1941– ) leading
Tunisian activist and founder of the Islamic Tendency
Movement, now known as the Renaissance Party
(Hizb al-Nahda)
Rashid al-Ghannoushi advocates a modernist
interpretation of Islam and the use of nonviolent
means toward establishing Islamic rule. He is
also the leading political opposition figure to the
Tunisian government. Born in 1941 in the village
of al-Hama in southeastern tUnisia, al-Ghan-
noushi was the youngest of eight children. His
father informally taught the qUran and sent his
son to the prestigious Zaytuna University, where
he received a traditional religious education.
Later, at the University of damascUs, he earned
a master’s degree in philosophy and began his
involvement in politics, briefly joining a secular
nationalist party. However, any enchantment he
may have had with these ideas dissipated with the
Arab defeat by Israel in 1967 and the unfoldingK 258 Ghalib, Mirza Asad Ali Khan