Further reading: Richard C. Foltz, Frederick M. Denny,
and Azizan Baharudding, eds., Islam and Ecology (Cam-
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003); Andrew
Watson, Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic
World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983);
World Resources Institute, World Resources (Oxford,
U.K.: Elsevier Science, 2000–01).
ahl al-bayt (Arabic: people of the house)
The ahl al-bayt in Islam is a holy family consisting
primarily of five members: the prophet mUhammad
(d. 632), ali ibn abi talib (Muhammad’s cousin
and son-in-law, d. 661), Fatima (Muhammad’s
daughter, d. 633), and the two sons of Ali and
Fatima, Hasan (d. 669) and hUsayn (d. 680). It
can also include all descendants of Muhammad’s
clan, the Banu Hashim, and even all Muslims.
Muhammad’s family is highly respected by
all Muslims, but it is the Shia, followers of the
minority branch of Islam, who hold them in high-
est esteem. They regard the family of Muhammad
as pure, sinless, and divinely inspired exem-
plars of the best worldly and spiritual qualities.
Miraculous powers are assigned to members of
this family, and it is believed that they will help
their devotees enter paradise on JUdgement day.
The Shia also believe that Muhammad’s family
produces, with God’s guidance, the most quali-
fied leaders of the Muslim community, called
imams. tWelve-imam shiism venerates 12 such
leaders, all but one of whom suffered martyrdom
at the hands of wayward members of the Mus-
lim community. Like Christians who believe in
JesUs as a redeemer, they believe that the suffer-
ing and death of these heroic figures, especially
of Husayn, the third imam, redeem the sins of
the faithful and that the 12th imam, known as
mUhammad al-mahdi, will arise in the future to
combat the forces of evil and inaugurate a golden
age at the end of time.
The tombs of ahl al-bayt are popular Muslim
pilgrimage sites, including those of Ali (Najaf,
Iraq), Husayn (Karbala, Iraq, and Cairo, Egypt),
Ali al-Rida (the eighth imam; Mashhad, Iran),
and of women saints such as Zaynab bint Ali
(Damascus, Syria, and Cairo, Egypt). Sufi tariqas
include members of the holy family, especially
Ali, in their lists of spiritual teachers. Rulers of a
number of Muslim empires and states have also
claimed descent from ahl al-bayt, including the
Fatmid dynasty in Egypt (909–1171), the alaWid
dynasty of Morocco (1631–present), the hash-
emite dynasty of Iraq (1921–1958) and of Jordan
(1923–present), and many of the clerics holding
power in Iran since the revolution of 1978–79.
See also aga khan; alaWi; imam; shiism; ziyara.Further reading: Mahmoud Ayoub, Redemptive Suffer-
ing in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of Ashura
in Twelver Shiism (The Hague: Mouton Publishers,
1978); Valerie Hoffman-Ladd, “Devotion to the Prophet
and His Family in Egyptian Sufism.” International Jour-
nal of Middle East Studies 24 (1992): 615–637.ahl al-kitab See people of the book.
Ahmadiyya
The Ahmadiyya is a controversial Islamic mis-
sionary revival movement founded by mirza
ghUlam ahmad (ca. 1835–1908) in British india
during the 19th century. This movement began
in the town of Qadian in northern India in
1889, and it has spread to other parts of the
world, including Africa, Southeast Asia, Great
Britain, and North America, through the mis-
sionary activities of its adherents. Its members,
who tend to be economically prosperous, were
divided into two separate groups in 1914: the
Qadianis (also called the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community) and the Lahoris (also called the
Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of
Islam). Both groups recruit new members by
conducting organized missionary programs and
active publication activities. The total size of the
Ahmadiyya community in 2001 was estimated toAhmadiyya 23 J