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137-616: Sheikh Ishaaq traveled from Arabia to Somaliland in the 10th or 11th century, where he married two women; one from the local Dir clan and the other from the neighbouring Harari people. He sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the Isaaq clan-family. He remained in Maydh until his death. He is said to have settled in what is today the Erigavo District , and to have established his capital at Maydh . Traditional hagiologies of

274-477: A mu'min ( lit.   ' [true] believer ' ) and a Muslim are characterized, respectively, by the two notions of iman ( lit.   ' faith ' ) and islam ( lit.   ' submission [to God] ' ). Citing the Quranic verse 49:14, al-Baqir defined Muslims as those who confess Islam in words and outwardly practice Islamic rites, such as praying and fasting. In his view, however, iman

411-694: A military intervention in Yemen in March 2015. The civil war and subsequent military intervention and blockade caused a famine in Yemen . Muhammad al-Baqir Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir ( Arabic : محمد بن علي الباقر , romanized :  Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bāqir ; c.  676–732 ) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the fifth of the twelve Shia imams , succeeding his father, Ali al-Sajjad , and succeeded by his son, Ja'far al-Sadiq . Muhammad's honorific title al-Baqir

548-505: A Twelver work on biographical evaluation authored by al-Kashahi ( d.   c.  941 ). Al-Baqir had several distinguished disciples in Kufa, where Jabir al-Ju'fi was his main representative. Jabir is the authority for some traditions in Umm al-kitab , which parallels Infancy Gospel of Thomas in gnostic Christology . In its "Apocalypse of Jabir," al-Baqir confides to Jabir how

685-406: A clan-based society states: Since, however, Aw Barkhadle’s precise connection with the rulers of Ifat is not widely known, he appears as an isolated figure, and in comparison with the million or so spears of the Isaaq lineage, a saint deprived of known issue. The striking difference between these two saints is explained in a popular legend, according to which, when Sheikh Isaaq and Aw Barkhadle met,

822-470: A growing number of followers, students, and visitors. The fifth Umayyad caliph, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan , is credited with issuing an Islamic gold coinage for the first time to replace Byzantine coins. This was likely done at the suggestion of al-Baqir. Often praised for his piety, the Umayyad caliph Umar II was favorably disposed to al-Baqir. After meeting with him, the caliph apparently returned

959-485: A growing number of visitors, students, and followers. He is often credited with laying the foundations of Twelver and Isma'ili doctrines and law. Among key Shia doctrines that took their definitive form under al-Baqir are imamate, sacred alliance ( walaya ) and separation ( bara'a ), and religious dissimulation ( taqiyya ). As for law, al-Baqir is often regarded as the founding father of Twelver and Isma'ili jurisprudence. In particular, al-Baqir's imamate marks

1096-562: A pillar of faith. For instance, al-Baqir is not known to have publicly reviled Abu Bakr and Umar, most likely because he exercised taqiyya . Indeed, al-Baqir's conviction that the Islamic prophet had explicitly designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor implies that Abu Bakr and Umar lacked legitimacy. Al-Baqir's quiescent views sharply differed from Mu'tazilites , who held that enjoining good and forbidding wrong should be enforced by force, if necessary. The notion of taqiyya

1233-463: A religious scholar. By some accounts, Muhammad was already known in his lifetime by the title al-Baqir . Shia sources posit that this title was designated by the Islamic prophet, who sent his greetings via his companion Jabir ibn Abd Allah , who lived long enough to meet al-Baqir in his childhood. According to another Shia account, Caliph Hisham , a contemporary of al-Baqir, contemptuously referred to him as al-baqara ( lit.   '

1370-643: A slender waist. By contrast, al-Mufid ( d.  1022 ), another Shia scholar, describes al-Baqir as a "well-built man," as translated by the Islamicist I.K.A. Howard, or "big-bodied," as translated by M. Pierce, another Islamicist. Such differences may reflect the changing social standards over centuries. Muhammad al-Baqir is said to have been extremely generous, pious, and peaceful by nature. According to some Shia accounts, al-Baqir did not spare himself and his family from wearing good clothes and eating delicious food, and this behavior attracted attention at

1507-782: A small number of urban trading settlements, such as Mecca and Medina , located in the Hejaz in the west of the peninsula. Archaeology has revealed the existence of many civilizations in pre-Islamic Arabia (such as the Thamud ), especially in South Arabia . South Arabian civilizations include the Himyarite Kingdom , the Kingdom of Awsan , the Kingdom of Ma'īn , and the Sabaean Kingdom (usually considered to be

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1644-524: A time when the tendencies of giving up the world were widespread. He used to work in the field to earn a living on par with his servants, and the motivation for this work, he said, was obedience to God and not needing people. According to a narration by Ja'far al-Sadiq, al-Baqir had less income but more expenses compared to other family members. He treated his relatives with good food and gave them good clothes. He also helped his servants in difficult tasks. According to Ibn Asakir and Ibn Qutaybah , although he

1781-596: A view that sharply differed from Murji'ites and Kharijites , two contemporary currents. The former did not consider good conduct essential to iman , with the political implication that dissent and disobedience were discouraged, even if Muslim rulers were corrupt. For Kharijites, in contrast, anyone who committed a mortal sin automatically apostated. In al-Baqir's view, iman had degrees of perfection and could vary over time. In particular, he held that new (religious) knowledge, when put into action, would strengthen one's iman . Later Sunni thought similarly adopted

1918-439: A well-attested prophetic saying. Furthermore, willfull opposition to imams is a grave sin and staunch enemies of imams are destined for hellfire. To support his theory, al-Baqir relied on his interpretations of various Quranic verses and prophetic traditions. For instance, al-Baqir emphasized his interpretation of the verse of walaya , according to which Ali was granted the guardianship ( walaya ) of Muslims, on par with

2055-503: A woman from the Banu Hanifa tribe. Nevertheless, al-Baqir had an advantage over these non-Fatimid claimants because of his prestigious lineage from Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima, the only surviving daughter of the Islamic prophet. Another claimant to leadership was Zayd ibn Ali, a much younger half-brother of al-Baqir. It is not certain, however, if Zayd was a rival for al-Baqir. Despite their disagreements, relationship between

2192-793: Is Saudi Arabia. In the classical era, the Sinai Peninsula was also considered a part of Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula formed as a result of the rifting of the Red Sea between 56 and 23 million years ago, and is bordered by the Red Sea to the west and southwest, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast, the Levant and Mesopotamia to the north and the Arabian Sea and

2329-552: Is a large volcanic field that extends from northwestern Arabia into Jordan and southern Syria . The Peninsula's constituent countries are (clockwise from north to south) Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the east, Oman on the southeast, Yemen on the south, and Saudi Arabia at the center. The island country of Bahrain lies just off the east coast of the Peninsula. Due to Yemen's jurisdiction over

2466-404: Is also mandated in his exegesis of the verse of mawadda . Shias thus form an all-encompassing bond of spiritual loyalty ( walaya ) with their imams, who are both masters and supportive friends in the journey of the spirit. Identifying his imam is a religious duty for every Muslim, and those who die without knowing their imam have died a death of ignorance ( Jahilliya ), a reference to

2603-500: Is among the consensus companions of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq, that is, those whose traditions are generally accepted in Shia circles. Muhammad ibn Muslim, another close associate of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq, was a prominent jurist and traditionist, who is said to have transmitted some thirty thousand traditions from al-Baqir. Fudayl ibn Yasar was another favorite of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq, whom the latter apparently compared to Salman al-Farsi ,

2740-797: Is an extant treatise on the rituals of Hajj , attributed to al-Baqir and narrated by his disciple Abu al-Jurad Ziyad ibn Mundhir. Shia imams expected their disciples to seek (and then follow) their advice about new legal questions, or else answer those questions by applying limited reasoning within the general framework provided by imams. Al-Baqir is indeed known to have rebuked those who went beyond this framework, including Muhammad ibn al-Hakim and Muhammad al-Tayyar. In particular, al-Baqir discouraged his followers from ijtihad (individual reasoning) or applying ra'y ( lit.   ' personal opinion ' ) and qiyas ( lit.   ' analogy ' ). He considered these methods speculative and lacking in religious authority, which, in his view,

2877-425: Is beyond human imagination. He thus advised his followers to discuss God's creation rather than His nature. When asked if he has seen God, al-Baqir responded that God could not be seen by eyes but can be apprehended by the inner reality of faith. On another controversial topic, al-Baqir held that God was a thing, but a thing incomparable to all other things, something neither cognisable nor delimited. By definition,

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3014-732: Is cited in accounts of previous conflicts. According to genealogical books and Somali tradition, the Isaaq clan was founded in the 13th or 14th century with the arrival Sheikh Ishaaq from Arabia in Maydh . He settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northeastern Somaliland , where he married into the local Magaadle clan. There are also numerous existing hagiologies in Arabic which describe Sheikh Ishaaq's travels, works and overall life in modern Somaliland, as well as his movements in Arabia before his arrival. Besides historical sources, one of

3151-552: Is considerable disagreement about when al-Baqir died, ranging from 732 to 736. He was about fifty-seven years old at the time, and most likely died before Zayd's revolt in 740. Twelvers annually commemorate his death on the seventh of Dhu al-Hijja . As with the rest of the twelve imams , Shia sources report that al-Baqir was killed. There is no consensus about the details, and different sources accuse Hisham or his successor, al-Walid II ( r.  743–744 ), of poisoning al-Baqir. According to another account, al-Baqir

3288-478: Is illustrated in the following ethnic structure. A. Habr Magaadle B. Habr Habuusheed There is clear agreement on the tribe and sub-tribe structures that has not changed for a long time. The oldest recorded genealogy of a Somali in Western literature was by Sir Richard Burton in the mid–19th century regarding his Isaaq (Habr Yunis) host and the governor of Zeila , Sharmarke Ali Saleh . The following listing

3425-578: Is in Maydh , and is the scene of frequent pilgrimages. Sheikh Ishaaq's mawlid (birthday) is also celebrated every Thursday with a public reading of his manaaqib (a collection of glorious deeds). His siyaara or pilgrimage is performed annually both within Somaliland and in the diaspora particularly in the Middle East among Isaaq expatriates. The tomb was kept by the family of Somali artist Abdullahi Qarshe . Murray in his book The Journal of

3562-614: Is known for its rich oil, i.e. petroleum production due to its geographical location. According to NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data (2003–2013) analysed in a University of California, Irvine (UCI) -led study published in Water Resources Research on 16 June 2015, the most over-stressed aquifer system in the world is the Arabian Aquifer System , upon which more than 60 million people depend for water. Twenty-one of

3699-766: Is located in the continent of Asia and is bounded by (clockwise) the Persian Gulf on the northeast, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on the east, the Arabian Sea on the southeast, the Gulf of Aden , and the Guardafui Channel on the south, and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on the southwest and the Red Sea, which is located on the southwest and west. The northern portion of the peninsula merges with

3836-423: Is more exclusive than islam , that is, the former implies the latter but not vice versa. More specifically, al-Baqir held that mu'min is a Muslim with inner faith, a faith demonstrated through fulfillment of religious duties. The foremost among these duties is the walaya to (Shia) imams. There are indeed numerous traditions attributed to al-Baqir about walaya , the importance of which, in his view,

3973-551: Is no intermediate state between a believer and a nonbeliever. By some accounts, Zurara later fell out with al-Sadiq, but perhaps the imam distanced himself from Zurara only in public to save the latter from persecution. Aban ibn Taghlib was another associate of al-Baqir and later of al-Sadiq. An outstanding jurist, Aban was authorized by al-Baqir to issue legal rulings for the public. Despite his Shia tendencies, Aban's traditions have been cited in Sunni sources. Abu Basir al-Asadi

4110-550: Is ranked first by the Twelver bibliographer al-Najashi ( d.   c.  1058 ) among early Quranic commentaries. Similarly, Tafsir Jabir al-Ju'fi is a collection of exegetical traditions, ascribed to al-Baqir and narrated by his disciple Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju'fi . In Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalayn , an extensive Twelver exegesis of the Quran, al-Baqir is the authority for thirteen percent of its traditions, behind only

4247-617: Is short for baqir al-ilm , which means 'the one who splits knowledge open', a reference to his fame as a religious scholar. Muhammad was born in Medina around 676 CE . In 680, when he was a small child, he witnessed the Battle of Karbala , where his grandfather Husayn ibn Ali and most of his relatives were massacred by the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ( r.  680–683 ). Upon his father's death around 712, Muhammad

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4384-710: Is such that one's good deeds would not be accepted without walaya . Yet al-Baqir also curtailed this absolutist perspective by emphasizing that walaya cannot be attained without virtue and piety. In addition to walaya , al-Baqir listed the remaining duties of a mu'min as tahara ( lit.   ' purification ' ), prayer, fasting, pilgrimage ( Hajj ), and jihad (striving in God's way). He also listed sabr ( lit.   ' patience ' ), yaqin ( lit.   ' certitude [in God] ' ), adl ( lit.   ' justice ' ), and ( jihad ) as

4521-624: Is taken from the World Bank 's Conflict in Somaliland: Drivers and Dynamics from 2005 and the United Kingdom's Home Office publication, Somaliland Assessment 2001 . One tradition maintains that Sheikh Ishaaq had twin sons: Muhammad (Arap), and Ismail (Garhajis). In addition, Sheikh Ishaaq had four additional sons in Yemen (Dir'an, Shareef, Yusuf and Mansur) whose descendants inhabit parts of northern Yemen , including

4658-431: Is the extent of his contributions that Shia traditions attributed to al-Baqir and his successor al-Sadiq outnumber all other Shia imams and the prophet combined. As the first Shia imam who engaged in systematic teaching, al-Baqir is also credited with laying the doctrinal and legal foundations of Twelver Shi'ism, which were further developed by al-Sadiq. Contributions of al-Baqir to Twelver doctrine and law are collected in

4795-1417: Is the following; Ash-Shaykh Ishaaq bin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Husayn bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Hamza al-Muttahar bin Abdallah bin Ayyub bin Qasim bin Ahmad bin Ali bin Isa bin Yahya bin Ja’far bin Ali al-Hadi bin Muhammad al-Jawad bin Ali al-Ridha bin Musa al-Kadhim bin Ja'far al-Sadiq bin Muhammad al-Baqir bin Ali Zayn Al-Abidin bin Husayn bin Ali bin Abi Talib . In the Isaaq ethnic group are divided into two uterine divisions, as shown in

4932-563: Is the location of the Kaaba , Islam's holiest site, and the Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in Medina is the location of Muhammad 's grave; as a result, from the 7th century, Mecca and Medina became the pilgrimage destinations for large numbers of Muslims from across the Islamic world . Despite its spiritual importance, in political terms Arabia soon became a peripheral region of

5069-601: Is the norm. In al-Baqir's view, imamate is confined to descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, from the marriage of his daughter Fatima to his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib. Following a divine mandate, each imam is designated by his predecessor ( nass ), beginning with Ali himself who was designated by the prophet at the Ghadir Khumm . For instance, al-Baqir cited the Quranic verse 2:124, according to which, God designated Abraham as imam and also granted this favor to those of his progeny who are not evildoers. Crucially,

5206-407: Is unsuited to agriculture, making irrigation and land reclamation projects essential. The narrow coastal plain and isolated oases, amounting to less than 1% of the land area, are used to cultivate grains, coffee and tropical fruits . Goat, sheep, and camel husbandry is widespread elsewhere throughout the rest of the Peninsula. Some areas have a summer humid tropical monsoon climate , in particular

5343-739: The Al Saud , began in Najd in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad bin Saud , founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab , founder of the Wahhabi movement , a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam. The Emirate of Diriyah established in the area around Riyadh rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, sacking Karbala in 1802, and capturing Mecca in 1803. The Damascus Protocol of 1914 provides an illustration of

5480-788: The Arabs ' ), or Arabia , is a peninsula in West Asia , situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate . At 3,237,500 km (1,250,000 sq mi), comparable in size to India , the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the Arabian Peninsula includes Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen , as well as southern Iraq and Jordan . The largest of these

5617-455: The Dhofar and Al Mahrah areas of Oman and Yemen. These areas allow for large scale coconut plantations. Much of Yemen has a tropical monsoon rain influenced mountain climate. The plains usually have either a tropical or subtropical arid desert climate or arid steppe climate . The sea surrounding the Arabian Peninsula is generally tropical sea with a very rich tropical sea life and some of

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5754-597: The First Islamic State - a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the Arabian Peninsula. Under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates , rapid expansion of Arab power well beyond the Arabian peninsula formed a vast Muslim Arab Empire with an area of influence that stretched from the northwest Indian subcontinent , across Central Asia , the Middle East , North Africa , southern Italy , and

5891-585: The Hejaz ( Tihamah for the western coast), as described by Ibn al-Faqih . In antiquity, the term "Arabia" encompassed a larger area than the current term "Arabian Peninsula" and included the Arabian desert and large parts of the Syrian-Arabian desert . During the Hellenistic period , the area was known as Arabia ( Ancient Greek : Ἀραβία ). The Romans named three regions "Arabia": One of

6028-721: The Iberian Peninsula , to the Pyrenees . With Muhammad's death in 632, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community. Umar ibn al-Khattab , a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated Abu Bakr , who was Muhammad's intimate friend and collaborator. Others added their support and Abu Bakr was made the first caliph . This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib , his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated his successor. Abu Bakr's immediate task

6165-581: The Indian Ocean to the southeast. The peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Arab world and globally due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas . Before the modern era, the region was divided into primarily four distinct regions: the Central Plateau ( Najd and Al-Yamama ), South Arabia ( Yemen , Hadhramaut and Oman ), Al-Bahrain (Eastern Arabia or Al-Hassa ), and

6302-497: The Islamic world , in which the most important medieval Islamic states were based at various times in such far away cities as Damascus , Baghdad , and Cairo . However, from the 10th century (and, in fact, until the 20th century) the Hashemite Sharifs of Mecca maintained a state in the most developed part of the region, the Hejaz . Their domain originally comprised only the holy cities of Mecca and Medina but in

6439-640: The Khawlan district and the Ma'rib governorate. In one exemplified folklore tale, Sheikh Ishaaq's three eldest sons split their father's inheritance among themselves. Garhajis receives his imama , a symbol of leadership; Awal receives the sheikh's wealth; and Ahmed (Tolja'ele) inherits his sword. The story is intended to depict the Garhajis' alleged proclivity for politics, the Habr Awal's mercantile prowess, and

6576-461: The Nefud Desert dates to approximately 90,000 years ago and is the oldest human fossil discovered outside of Africa and the Levant. This indicates human migrations from Africa to Arabia occurred around this time. The Arabian Peninsula may have been the homeland of a ' Basal Eurasian ' population, which diverged from other Eurasians soon after the Out-of-Africa migration, and subsequently became isolated, until it started to mix with other populations in

6713-412: The Rashidun or "rightly guided" Caliphate . Under the Rashidun Caliphs, and, from 661, their Umayyad successors , the Arabs rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim control outside of Arabia. In a matter of decades Muslim armies decisively defeated the Byzantine army and destroyed the Persian Empire , conquering huge swathes of territory from the Iberian peninsula to India. The political focus of

6850-427: The Socotra Archipelago , the Peninsula's geopolitical outline faces the Guardafui Channel and the Somali Sea to the south. The six countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the greater part of the Peninsula. The majority of the population of the Peninsula lives in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The Peninsula contains

6987-404: The Syrian Desert with no clear borderline, although the northern boundary of the peninsula is generally considered to be the northern borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, also southern regions of Iraq and Jordan. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert , but in the southwest, there are mountain ranges, which receive greater rainfall than the rest of the peninsula. Harrat ash Shaam

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7124-409: The Tuwayr , Shammar and Dhofar generally do not exceed 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in height. Not all mountains in the peninsula are visibly within ranges. Jebel Hafeet in particular, on the border of the UAE and Oman, measuring between 1,100 and 1,300 m (3,600 and 4,300 ft), is not within the Hajar range, but may be considered an outlier of that range. Most of the Arabian Peninsula

7261-410: The United States –led 2003 invasion of Iraq . Despite its historically sparse population, political Arabia stands out for its rapid population growth, driven by both significant inflows of migrant labor and persistently high birth rates. The population is characterized by its relative youth and a heavily skewed gender ratio favoring males. In several states, the number of South Asians surpasses that of

7398-464: The nomes of Ptolemaic Egypt was named Arabia . Arabians used a north–south division of Arabia: ash-Sham vs. al-Yaman , or Arabia Deserta vs. Arabia Felix . Arabia Felix had originally been used for the whole peninsula, and at other times only for the southern region. Because its use became limited to the south, the whole peninsula was simply called Arabia. Arabia Deserta was the entire desert region extending north from Arabia Felix to Palmyra and

7535-430: The 13th century it was extended to include the rest of the Hejaz . Although, the Sharifs exercised at most times independent authority in the Hejaz , they were usually subject to the suzerainty of one of the major Islamic empires of the time. In the Middle Ages, these included the Abbasids of Baghdad , and the Fatimids , Ayyubids , and Mamluks of Egypt . The provincial Ottoman Army for Arabia (Arabistan Ordusu)

7672-466: The Euphrates, including all the area between Pelusium on the Nile and Babylon. This area was also called Arabia and not sharply distinguished from the peninsula. The Arabs and the Ottoman Empire considered the west of the Arabian Peninsula region where the Arabs lived 'the land of the Arabs' – Bilad al-'Arab ( Arabia ), and its major divisions were the bilad al-Sham ( Levant ), bilad al-Yaman ( Yemen ), and Bilad al-'Iraq ( Iraq ). The Ottomans used

7809-445: The Gulf Cooperation Council's mediation. He eventually handed power to Vice President Hadi, who was sworn in as President of Yemen on 25 February 2012. Hadi launched a national dialogue to address new constitutional, political and social issues. The Houthi movement , dissatisfied with the outcomes of the national dialogue, launched an offensive and stormed the Yemeni capital Sanaa on 21 September 2014. In response, Saudi Arabia launched

7946-405: The Habr Je'lo's bellicosity. To strengthen these tribal stereotypes, historical anecdotes have been used: The Habar Yonis allegedly dominated positions as interpreters for the British during the colonial period, and thus acquired pretensions to intellectual and political superiority; Habr Awal dominance of the trade via Djibouti and Berbera is practically uncontested; and Habr Je’lo military prowess

8083-419: The Imamites, who were the forerunners of Twelver and Isma'ili Shias. Twelver and Isma'ili sources indeed report that al-Sajjad had earlier designated al-Baqir as his successor. Followers of al-Baqir, however, were in minority compared to the rival Kaysanites , which was a (now-extinct) Shia group that traced the imamate through Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah , son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Khawla bint Ja'far ,

8220-491: The Isaaq clan describe how Sheikh Isaaq first made a series of travels through Arabia , before sailing to the ancient Somali port of Zeila and continuing his travels through Somaliland and some regions of Ethiopia , finally settling in Maydh . After the death of Sheikh Ishaaq's grandfather he went on a series of migrations in order to study further and preach Islam . He first preached in Mecca and then travelled to Egypt, and hence to Eritrea and Zeila. He then later settled in

8357-540: The Islamic prophet, he refused to condemn the first two caliphs, namely, Abu Bakr and Umar . Such views, however, cost Zayd part of his Shia support, most of whom condemn Abu Bakr and Umar as usurpers of Ali's right to the caliphate. Those Shia Muslims who thus rejected Zayd joined al-Baqir or his son Ja'far. Zayd's rebellion marks the beginning of the Zaydi movement , a Shia subsect that has survived to present day in Yemen . Muhammad al-Baqir also challenged al-Hasan al-Muthanna and two of his sons for controlling

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8494-400: The Mahdi. After al-Baqir's death, some Ghulat figures claimed to have inherited extraordinary powers from him, including Bayan ibn Sam'an and Abu Mansur al-Ijli. The Shia scholar Ibn Shahrashub ( d.  1192 ) describes al-Baqir as medium height, with delicate skin and slightly curly hair. He adds that al-Baqir had birthmarks, one on his cheek, and that he had a beautiful voice and

8631-416: The Middle East since around 25,000 years ago. These different Middle Eastern populations would later spread Basal Eurasian ancestry via the Neolithic Revolution to all of Western Eurasia. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 106,000 to 130,000 years ago. The harsh climate historically prevented much settlement in the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula, apart from

8768-459: The Muslim world then shifted to the newly conquered territories. Nevertheless, Mecca and Medina remained the spiritually most important places in the Muslim world . The Qur'an requires every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, as one of the five pillars of Islam , to make a pilgrimage, or Hajj , to Mecca during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah at least once in his or her lifetime. The Masjid al-Haram (the Grand Mosque) in Mecca

8905-512: The Quran. Muhammad al-Baqir is often credited with formulating the Shia doctrine of taqiyya , that is, precautionary dissimulation to avoid persecution. Taqiyya was intended for the survival of Shia imams and their followers, for Shias were molested in al-Baqir's time to the point that he thought that it was easier to be a nonbeliever ( zindiq ). Traditions attributed to al-Baqir thus encourage his followers to hide their faith for their safety, some even characterizing taqiyya as

9042-409: The Royal Geographical Society notes that many men from the western Isaaq clans would travel to Maydh to spend the last years of their lives in hopes of being buried near Sheikh Ishaaq. The book states: The stranger is at once struck with the magnitude of the burial-ground at Meyet, which extends for fully a mile each way. Attachment to the memory of their forefather Isaakh yet induces many aged men of

9179-403: The Saudi Arabian border and rallied popular support. The royalist side received support from Saudi Arabia, while the republicans were supported by Egypt and the Soviet Union. Both foreign irregular and conventional forces were also involved. The Egyptian President , Gamal Abdel Nasser , supported the republicans with as many as 70,000 troops. Despite several military moves and peace conferences,

9316-430: The Umayyad capital Damascus several times and imprisoned him at least once. During these visits, the caliph apparently held theological debates in which al-Baqir emerged victorious. On one occasion, the caliph ordered al-Baqir to join an ongoing archery practice, probably hoping to embarrass him, but was astonished by al-Baqir's excellent marksmanship. Although 732 (114 AH) and 735 (117 AH) are commonly reported, there

9453-429: The absolute authority of the prophet. His doctrine also held imams as the sole spiritual guides in life and the source of intercession in the afterlife. In al-Baqir's view, imams are the highest proofs ( sg. hujja ) of God and guides towards Him, without whom the world cannot exist for a moment. Not only obedience to imams is obligatory in al-Baqir's interpretation of the verse of obedience , but love for them

9590-477: The accession of the Abbasid caliph , al-Mansur ( r.  754–775 ). When al-Baqir died, most of his followers accepted the imamate of his eldest son Ja'far, aged about thirty-seven at the time. Ja'far is often known by the honorific al-Sadiq ( lit.   ' the truthful ' ). On multiple occasions, al-Baqir seems to have told his followers about his preference for Ja'far. Apparently some did not accept al-Baqir's death and awaited his return as

9727-673: The area of Saba' in modern-day Yemen where he married the sister of the king of the Al Haqar clan. Sheikh Ishaaq later settled in the Al-Jawf region in northern Yemen where he married once again and had a son, Mansur, who is the forefather of the Al Mansur clan in the Al-Jawf region. He then travelled to Yaba where he married and had a son, Yusuf, who is the forefather of the Al Yusuf clan based in Yaba and Ma'rib regions. Sheikh Ishaaq then continued his journey and migrated to Zeila , Somaliland and finally Harar in Ethiopia . Several accounts indicate Shaykh Yusuf al Kownayn and Sheikh Isaaq were known to be contemporaries in Zeila and in contact at

9864-516: The best of mankind, representatives of God on earth, and the only source of spiritual guidance. In particular, after Muhammad, they are the only authoritative interpreters of the Quran, the exalted part of which actually refers to them and Muhammad. In contrast, as the executer of religious laws, imamate or caliphate is essentially a political function in Sunni Islam, where caliphs are ideally appointed by consensus, although hereditary caliphate

10001-573: The biblical land of Sheba ). From 106 AD to 630 AD northwestern Arabia was under the control of the Roman Empire , which renamed it Arabia Petraea . Central Arabia was the location of the Kingdom of Kinda in the 4th, 5th and early 6th centuries. Eastern Arabia was home to the Dilmun civilization . The earliest known events in Arabian history are migrations from the peninsula into neighbouring areas. The Arabian Peninsula has long been accepted as

10138-409: The biggest ongoing threat believed to be coastal construction activity altering the marine environment. The fertile soils of Yemen have encouraged settlement of almost all of the land from sea level up to the mountains at 10,000 feet (3,000 m). In the higher elevations, elaborate terraces have been constructed to facilitate grain, fruit, coffee, ginger and khat cultivation. The Arabian peninsula

10275-531: The common ancestors of the subtribes of the Isaaq ethnic group. He remained in Maydh until his death. Most Arabic hagiologies are in agreement when it comes to the lineage of Sheikh Ishaaq, tracing his lineage to Ali bin Abi Talib , the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . The lineage attributed to Sheikh Ishaaq by two Arabic hagiologies, and which is covered by Alessandro Gori in Studi sulla letteratura agiografica islamica somala in lingua araba ,

10412-571: The cosmos were created, how men descended to this world, and how they can gain deliverance from it. Some have accused Jabir of extremism ( ghuluw ) and his reliability is debated in Shia circles. Risalat al-Ju'fi is said to contain Jabir's views about Isma'ilism. Zurara ibn A'yan was already a prominent traditionist and theologian before joining al-Baqir's circle. Zurara apparently disagreed with al-Baqir about some theological issues. For instance, unlike al-Baqir, Zurara argued that there

10549-417: The cow ' ), which again suggests that he was known by this title in his lifetime. The occasion was the caliph's meeting with al-Baqir's half brother, Zayd ibn Ali , who reprimanded Hisham and attributed al-Baqir's title to the Islamic prophet. Muhammad al-Baqir was born in Medina in about 676 CE (56 AH ). Twelver Shias annually celebrate this occasion on the third of Safar . In 680, when Muhammad

10686-506: The disputed lands of Fadak to Alids , that is, descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib. In a Sunni tradition, likely circulated by anti-Alids, al-Baqir identifies Umar II as the Mahdi , the promised savior in Islam. In a Shia tradition, however, al-Baqir suggests that Umar's good deeds would not redeem him, for he had usurped the imam's right to rule. Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik summoned al-Baqir to

10823-453: The doctrine of al-bara'a , that is, dissociation from the first three caliphs and the majority of the prophet's companions as enemies of Shia imams. Indeed, Imamites regard the early caliphs as usurpers of Ali's right to succeed the prophet. Al-Baqir founded what later developed into the Twelver school of law and consolidated some characteristic practices of the Shia. For instance, in the call to daily prayer ( adhan ), al-Baqir added

10960-573: The east) constituting only a quarter of people aged between 20 and 40. The eleven most populous cities on the Arabian Peninsula are: The rocks exposed vary systematically across Arabia, with the oldest rocks exposed in the Arabian-Nubian Shield near the Red Sea, overlain by earlier sediments that become younger towards the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the best-preserved ophiolite on Earth, the Semail Ophiolite , lies exposed in

11097-477: The eastern Al-Qassim Province , which would indicate that many prehistoric sites, located along a network of rivers, had once existed in the area. Acheulean tools found in Saffaqah, Riyadh Region reveal that hominins lived in the Arabian Peninsula around 188,000 years ago. Human habitation in Arabia may have occurred as early as 130,000 years ago. A fossilized Homo sapiens finger bone found at Al Wusta in

11234-551: The eastern, southern and northwestern borders of the peninsula. Broadly, the ranges can be grouped as follows: From the Hejaz southwards, the mountains show a steady increase in altitude westward as they get nearer to Yemen, and the highest peaks and ranges are all located in Yemen. The highest, Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb or Jabal Hadhur of the Haraz subrange of the Sarawat range, is 3,666 metres (12,028 ft) high. By comparison,

11371-518: The expression hayy ala khayr al-amal ( lit.   ' come to the best of deed ' ), an expression that was removed by Umar, according to Shia and some early Sunni sources. Al-Baqir also defended muta ( lit.   ' temporary ' ) marriage, saying that it was a practice sanctioned by the Islamic prophet, but later abandoned by Umar. In these rulings, al-Baqir thus sided with Ali ibn Abi Talib and Ibn Abbas , two influential figures in early Islam. Another distinct ruling of al-Baqir

11508-465: The father of Isma'ili and Zaydi jurisprudence. Finally, he significantly contributed to Twelver exegesis of the Quran. Most of al-Baqir's disciples were based in Kufa , in present-day Iraq , many of whom later became outstanding Shia jurists and traditionists. Some of these, such as Zurara ibn A'yan , may have occasionally disagreed with al-Baqir, who disapproved of such independent views if they went beyond

11645-663: The genealogy. The first division is between those lineages descended from sons of Sheikh Ishaaq by a Harari woman – the Habr Habusheed – and those descended from sons of Sheikh Ishaaq by a Somali woman of the Magaadle sub-tribe of the Dir – the Habr Magaadle. Indeed, most of the largest tribes of the Isaaq ethnic group are in fact uterine alliances hence the matronymic "Habr" which in archaic Somali means "mother". This

11782-594: The general theological and legal framework provided by (Shia) imams. In Sunni Islam , al-Baqir is regarded as an authority in law and prophetic tradition, but portrayed as anti-Shia and proto-Sunni. Muhammad al-Baqir died around 732, poisoned by the Umayyads, according to most Shia reports. He is buried in the Baqi' Cemetery in Medina, but the shrine that stood over his grave has been demolished twice by Wahhabis . Al-Baqir

11919-601: The hereditary nature of imamate in al-Baqir's doctrine closed the field to outside claimants. Nass is often accompanied in Shia sources by inheritance of secret religious scrolls and the prophet's weapons. The latter paralleled the Ark of the Covenant for the Israelites . In al-Baqir's doctrine, imams are distinguished by their esoteric knowledge, which they inherited from Ali. In turn, Ali received this knowledge from

12056-401: The imam was divine. Mughira has also been accused of falsifying al-Baqir's traditions. Similarly, al-Baqir denounced Bayan ibn Sam'an, who apparently claimed to be a prophet. Some miracles are attributed to al-Baqir in Shia sources. He is reported to have conversed with animals, returned sight to a blind, and foretold future events, such Zayd's death in battle, collapse of the Umayyads, and

12193-486: The imamate of his son Muhammad, who was about thirty-seven years old. He lived a quiet pious life in Medina, like his father, but was nevertheless harassed by the Umayyads, especially by Caliph Hisham. Muhammad, however, enjoyed certain liberties because the Umayyads were more lenient in this period, or perhaps because they were busy infighting and quelling revolts. During the next twenty years or so, Muhammad al-Baqir thus expounded Shia doctrines and laws, attracting

12330-495: The latter prophesied that Isaaq would be blessed by God with many children. He, however, would not have descendants, but Isaaq’s issue would pay him respect and siyaaro (voluntary offerings). So it is, one is told, that every year the Isaaq tribesmen gather at Aw Barkhadle’s shrine to make offerings in his name. After studying and proselytizing in Harar he then undertook the pilgrimage to Makkah, came back to Somaliland and went along

12467-591: The latter. The divinely-inspired knowledge of imams and prophets are similar but imams could only hear (and not see) the archangels, according to al-Baqir. According to al-Baqir, imams also inherit certain spiritual and primordial lights ( nur ) referenced in the Quran. Their divine knowledge and spiritual light protect imams from sins, for which al-Baqir cited the verse of purification . Already in his lifetime, some followers of al-Baqir regarded him as infallible. By implication, al-Baqir's doctrine gave imams absolute spiritual authority over Muslims, resting on

12604-589: The modern era, the term bilad al-Yaman came to refer specifically to the southwestern parts of the peninsula. Arab geographers started to refer to the whole peninsula as 'jazirat al-Arab', or the peninsula of the Arabs. The railway was started in 1900 at the behest of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II and was built largely by the Turks , with German advice and support. A public subscription

12741-491: The modern state of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis absorbed the Emirate of Asir , with their expansion only ending in 1934 after a war with Yemen . Two Saudi states were formed and controlled much of Arabia before Ibn Saud was even born. Ibn Saud, however, established the third Saudi state. The second major development has been the discovery of vast reserves of oil in the 1930s. Its production brought great wealth to all countries of

12878-734: The more recent printed biographies of Sheikh Ishaaq is the Amjaad of Sheikh Husseen bin Ahmed Darwiish al-Isaaqi as-Soomaali, which was printed in Aden in 1955. His descendants would later on form two powerful sultanates that would later on dominate the northern coastline of the Horn of Africa during the early modern era; the Isaaq sultanate and the Habr Yunis sultanate. Sheikh Ishaaq's tomb

13015-521: The mountains of the UAE and northern Oman. The peninsula consists of: Arabia has few lakes or permanent rivers. Most areas are drained by ephemeral watercourses called wadis , which are dry except during the rainy season. Plentiful ancient aquifers exist beneath much of the peninsula, however, and where this water surfaces, oases form (e.g. Al-Hasa and Qatif , two of the world's largest oases ) and permit agriculture, especially palm trees , which allowed

13152-436: The native population. The four smallest states (by area), with coastlines entirely bordering the Persian Gulf, showcase the world's most extreme population growth, nearly tripling every two decades. In 2014, the estimated population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936 (including expatriates). The Arabian Peninsula is known for having one of the most uneven adult sex ratios in the world, with females in some regions (especially

13289-405: The notion of gradated iman . Under Umayyads, predestination, the belief that God has pre-ordained everything, was likely promoted to justify their rule and encourage moral complacency. In contrast, there were others who believed in free will. Among this latter group, some held that all that is good is created by God and everything bad is from men. Al-Baqir rejected both views, saying that there

13426-510: The original Urheimat of the Semitic languages by most scholars. The seventh century saw the rise of Islam as the peninsula's dominant religion. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca in about 570 and first began preaching in the city in 610, but migrated to Medina in 622. From there he and his companions united the tribes of Arabia under the banner of Islam and created

13563-457: The overall design and intention of God. The doctrine of bada' thus describes an intermediate position between predestination and free will: God's decision on some matters remain suspended, according to al-Baqir, subject to advancement and postponement, until the autonomous choice of His creatures has occurred. Only then His definite decision is made. In turn, bada' is closely tied to the concept of abrogation ( naskh ) of some verses of

13700-399: The peninsula to produce more dates than any other region in the world. In general, the climate is extremely hot and arid , although there are exceptions. Higher elevations are made temperate by their altitude, and the Arabian Sea coastline can receive cool, humid breezes in summer due to cold upwelling offshore. The peninsula has no thick forests. Desert-adapted wildlife is present throughout

13837-586: The pillars of iman . Al-Baqir thus identified an intermediate state between iman and kufr (disbelief). This gray area was further characterized by his successor al-Sadiq, who held that a Muslim who does not harbor enmity towards the Ahl al-Bayt and their followers is neither mu'min nor kafir (disbeliever). That is, such non-Shias are considered Muslims, with their due legal rights, but not (true) believers. By implication, al-Baqir considered righteous action as an integral component of iman ,

13974-432: The prophet and al-Sadiq. Muhammad al-Baqir may have been the first Shia imam who systematically taught Shia beliefs. Even though he lived in Medina, the main following of al-Baqir was in Kufa, where he attracted a number of distinguished theologians. Basra , Mecca, and Syria were other places where al-Baqir's students were based. More than four hundred and sixty names are listed as students of al-Baqir in al-Rijal ,

14111-471: The prophet's inheritance and for claiming to be the Mahdi. Like his father, al-Baqir was politically quiescenct, to the point that some have suggested that he did not claim the imamate. Indeed, al-Baqir's notion of imamate was based primarily on knowledge rather than political power, although he also considered Shia imams entitled to the latter. Al-Baqir instead focused on religious teaching, attracting

14248-415: The prophet, a reference to the well-known prophetic tradition, "I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate." In particular, imams know the true exegesis ( ta'wil ) of the Quran, a reference to the famous hadith of the thaqalayn , attributed to the prophet. Al-Baqir's doctrine of imamate was thus primarily based on knowledge rather than political power, although he also considered imams entitled to

14385-533: The prophet. According to al-Baqir, fearing backlash from some, the prophet was reluctant to publicly announce the walaya of Ali until he was spurred to do so (at the Ghadir Khumm) by the verse of tabligh . The prophetic traditions that al-Baqir invoked include the hadith of the Ghadir Khumm and the hadith of the position . A hotly debated issue at the time was whether the Quran, thought to be

14522-636: The region, with the exception of Yemen. The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. The war began with a coup d'état carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal , which dethroned the newly crowned Muhammad al-Badr and declared Yemen a republic under his presidency. The Imam escaped to

14659-419: The region. A plateau more than 2,500 feet (760 m) high extends across much of the Arabian Peninsula. The plateau slopes eastwards from the massive, rifted escarpment along the coast of the Red Sea, to the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. The interior is characterized by cuestas and valleys, drained by a system of wadis . A crescent of sand and gravel deserts lies to the east. There are mountains at

14796-613: The regional relationships. Arabs living in one of the existing districts of the Arabian peninsula, the Emirate of Hejaz , asked for a British guarantee of independence. Their proposal included all Arab lands south of a line roughly corresponding to the northern frontiers of present-day Syria and Iraq. They envisioned a new Arab state, or confederation of states, adjoining the southern Arabian Peninsula. It would have comprised Cilicia – İskenderun and Mersin , Iraq with Kuwait, Syria, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , Jordan, and Palestine . In

14933-722: The ruling Ottoman Empire and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen. During World War I, the Sharif Hussein entered into an alliance with the United Kingdom and France against the Ottomans in June 1916. These events were followed by the foundation of Saudi Arabia under King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud . In 1902, Ibn Saud had captured Riyadh . Continuing his conquests, Abdulaziz subdued Al-Hasa, Jabal Shammar , Hejaz between 1913 and 1926 founded

15070-453: The same time. According to a popular legend, Shaykh Yusuf al Kownayn, known locally as Aw-Barkhadle, upon meeting Sheikh Ishaaq prophesied that Sheikh Ishaaq would be blessed by Allah with many children while Shaykh Yusuf would not have descendants. According to the prophecy the descendants of Sheikh Ishaaq would also visit Aw-Barkhadle's grave and pay respect and perform siyaaro , or pilgrimage to his tomb. Saints and Somalis: popular Islam in

15207-546: The shore eastward to the coastal town of Maydh in eastern Somaliland , where he converted the pagan peoples to Islam. He later settled in the town aged 60, where he married two women; one of the Magaadle Dir tribe called Magaado, and a Harari woman called Hanifa, the daughter of a Harari emir, with descendants belonging to the Habar Magaadle or Habar Habusheed branches respectively. He sired eight sons who are

15344-580: The six-volume Musnad al-Imam al-Baqir , compiled by A. al-Utaridi. Al-Baqir may also be regarded as the father of Isma'ili and Zaydi jurisprudence. Finally, al-Baqir significantly contributed to Twelver exegesis of the Quran and two commentaries are attributed to him. Al-Baqir's doctrine of imamate, further elaborated by his successor al-Sadiq, characterized the necessary qualities of imams, particularly their divinely-inspired designation ( nass ), their esoteric knowledge ilm , and their infallibility ( isma ), all of which distinguished imams as

15481-629: The term Arabistan in a broad sense for the region starting from Cilicia , where the Euphrates river makes its descent into Syria, through Palestine , and on through the remainder of the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas. The provinces of Arabia were: Al Tih, the Sinai peninsula, Hejaz, Asir, Yemen, Hadramaut, Mahra and Shilu, Oman, Hasa, Bahrain, Dahna, Nufud, the Hammad, which included the deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia and Babylonia. The Arabian Peninsula

15618-549: The thirty seven largest aquifers "have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted" and thirteen of them are "considered significantly distressed". Stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic age along with fossils of other animals discovered at Ti's al Ghadah, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, might imply that hominins migrated through a "Green Arabia" between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago. 200,000-year-old stone tools were discovered at Shuaib Al-Adgham in

15755-647: The transition of the Shia community to completely rely on their own imams in matters of law and rituals. As for religious dues, al-Baqir accepted gifts but did not collect khums ( lit.   ' one fifth ' ), another Islamic alms which was likely enforced by later imams. Several traditions of al-Baqir are against the Ghulat ( lit.   ' exaggerators ' . These often conferred divinity on Shia imams or had other extreme beliefs, such as anthropomorphism and metempsychosis . For instance, al-Baqir condemned Mughira ibn Sa'id al-Bajali, who said that

15892-499: The two brothers is described as cordial. The quiescent al-Baqir even attempted to dissuade the politically active Zayd from rebellion. In 740, not long after al-Baqir's death, Zayd took up arms against the Umayyads but was defeated and killed by Caliph Hisham. Zayd's activism initially gained him a larger following than al-Baqir, especially because the former accommodated some of the majority views. For instance, even though Zayd regarded Ali ibn Abi Talib more qualified to succeed

16029-573: The war in Yemen as analogous to the United States ' role in the Vietnam War . In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces led to the 1990–91 Gulf War . Egypt, Qatar, Syria, and Saudi Arabia joined a multinational coalition that opposed Iraq. Displays of support for Iraq by Jordan and Palestine resulted in strained relations between many of the Arab states. After

16166-484: The war sank into a stalemate. Egypt's commitment to the war is considered to have been detrimental to its performance in the Six-Day War of June 1967, after which Nasser found it increasingly difficult to maintain his army's involvement and began to pull his forces out of Yemen. By 1970, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia recognized the republic and a truce was signed. Egyptian military historians refer to Egypt's role in

16303-643: The war, a so-called "Damascus Declaration" formalized an alliance for future joint Arab defensive actions between Egypt, Syria, and the GCC member states. The Arab Spring reached Yemen in January 2011. People of Yemen took to the street demonstrating against three decades of rule by President Ali Abdullah Saleh . The demonstration led to cracks in the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) and Saleh's Sanhani clan. Saleh used tactics of concession and violence to save his presidency. After numerous attempts, Saleh accepted

16440-644: The western tribes to pass the close of their lives at Meyet, in order that their tombs may be found near that of their chief, and this will account for the unusual size of this cemetery. Many of the graves have head-stones of madrepore, on which is cut in relief the name of the tenant below, and of these many are to be found 250 years old. Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula ( / ə ˈ r eɪ b i ə n p ə n ɪ n sj u l ə / ; Arabic : شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَة الْعَرَبِيَّة , shibhu l-jazīra l-ʿarabiyya , "Arabian Peninsula" or جَزِيرَةُ الْعَرَب , jazīratu l-ʿarab , lit.   ' Island of

16577-713: The word of God, was created or eternal. Those who believed in pre-determination argued that the Quran was eternal for God has always known the events referenced in the Quran. In contrast, those who advocated for free will thought that the Quran was created in time. Al-Baqir held that the Quran was neither created nor eternal. Rather, it is the word of the Creator. More generally, al-Baqir held that all attributes of God were eternal but only as adjectives. For instance, 'Knowing', 'Hearing', 'Seeing' are how God characterizes Himself. These help believers understand something about God but are not to be confused with Him. In al-Baqir's view, God

16714-517: The world's largest reserves of oil. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, the only peninsular country in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home to the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera and its English-language subsidiary Al Jazeera English . Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, forming one of the main staging grounds for coalition forces mounting

16851-578: The world's largest, undestroyed and most pristine coral reefs. In addition, the organisms living in symbiosis with the Red Sea coral, the protozoa and zooxanthellae , have a unique hot weather adaptation to sudden rise (and fall) in sea water temperature. Hence, these coral reefs are not affected by coral bleaching caused by rise in temperature as elsewhere in the indopacific coral sea. The reefs are also unaffected by mass tourism and diving or other large scale human interference. The Persian gulf has suffered significant loss and degradation of coral reefs with

16988-510: Was Fatima Umm Abd Allah , while his maternal grandfather was Hasan. Hasan and Husayn were the eldest sons of the first Shia imam , Ali ibn Abi Talib , through his first wife, Fatima , daughter of the Islamic prophet. Muhammad's kunya is Abu Ja'far, and his honorific title is al-Baqir , short for baqir al-'ilm , which means either 'the one who splits knowledge open' (brings it to light) or 'the one who possesses great knowledge', both of which are references to Muhammad's fame as

17125-522: Was a small child, his grandfather Husayn and most of his male relatives were massacred in the Battle of Karbala by forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid . Muhammad was present in Karbala and witnessed the carnage. Muhammad's youth coincided with power struggles between the Umayyads, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr , and various Shia groups, while Muhammad's father, al-Sajjad, stayed aloof from politics. When al-Sajjad died around 712, most of his followers accepted

17262-469: Was a third position between predestination and free will. He argued that God is too merciful to force his creatures to sin and then punish them and that He is too mighty to will a thing that would not transpire. In words of his successor al-Sadiq, God predestined some things but left others to man. Closely related is the early doctrine of bada' , that is, advancement or postponement of an act of creation, depending on circumstances, without any change to

17399-581: Was headquartered in Syria , which included Palestine, the Transjordan region in addition to Lebanon ( Mount Lebanon was, however, a semi-autonomous mutasarrifate ). It was put in charge of Syria, Cilicia, Iraq, and the remainder of the Arabian Peninsula. The Ottomans never had any control over central Arabia, also known as the Najd region. The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as

17536-476: Was limited to Shia imams as the only authoritative interpretors of the Quran and the prophetic tradition ( sunna ). Muhammad al-Baqir is credited with the Quranic exegesis Kitab al-Baqir ( lit.   ' book of al-Baqir ' ), narrated by his disciple Ibn al-Mundhir. Parts of this work have survived in Tafsir al-Qummi , written by the Twelver scholar al-Qummi ( d.  919 ). This commentary

17673-437: Was not unfamiliar to early Muslims. When Ammar , an early companion of the Islamic prophet , renounced his faith under torture, Muhammad is said to have approved his conduct. The Quranic verse 16:106 is often connected to this episode. Other Quranic verses suggest that Abraham and Joseph both practice dissimulation, the former when he said he was ill and the latter when his brother was accused of theft. Al-Baqir also taught

17810-620: Was opened throughout the Islamic world to fund the construction. The railway was to be a waqf , an inalienable religious endowment or charitable trust. The major developments of the early 20th century were the Arab Revolt during World War I and the subsequent collapse and partitioning of the Ottoman Empire . The Arab Revolt (1916–1918) was initiated by the Sherif Hussein ibn Ali with the aim of securing independence from

17947-436: Was poisoned by his cousin, Zayd ibn al-Hasan, once the latter failed to wrest control of the Islamic prophet's inheritance from al-Baqir. Muhammad al-Baqir is buried in the Baqi' Cemetery in Medina. A shrine stood over his grave until its demolition in 1806 and then again around 1925, both times carried out by Wahhabis . After al-Sajjad, most of his followers accepted the imamate of his eldest son Muhammad. These were

18084-404: Was politically quiescenct but was nevertheless harassed by the Umayyads, especially by Caliph Hisham ( r.  724–743 ). Muhammad al-Baqir led a pious and scholarly life in Medina, attracting a growing number of followers, students, and visitors. He is credited with laying the doctrinal and legal foundations of Twelver Shi'ism during some twenty years of his imamate. He may also be regarded as

18221-596: Was recognized as the next imam by most followers of his father. These were the Imamites, the forerunners of Twelvers and Isma'ilis , which now constitute the majority of Shia Muslims. At the time, however, this quiescenct group was a minority compared to other rival Shia groups, who actively worked against the Umayyads. One such rival group were Zaydis . These followed Zayd ibn Ali , a much younger half-brother of al-Baqir, who staged an unsuccessful revolt shortly after al-Baqir's death. In contrast, like his father, al-Baqir

18358-428: Was saddened by his son's illness, he did not mourn his death, because he considered this to be an act of opposition to God. In his lifetime, al-Baqir was regarded as a prominent transmitter of prophetic traditions. As a Shia imam, al-Baqir's own sayings and deeds have also been recorded in Shia sources, including some fifteen percent of the traditions collected in the celebrated Man la yahduruhu al-faqih . Such

18495-423: Was succeeded by his eldest son, Ja'far al-Sadiq, who further developed Shia theology and law. Muhammad al-Baqir was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , through both of his grandsons, namely, Hasan and Husayn , who were the second and third of the twelve Shia imams , respectively. More specifically, al-Baqir's father was Husayn's son, Ali al-Sajjad , the fourth of the twelve imams. Muhammad's mother

18632-399: Was that wiping one's footwear before prayer, though common at the time, was unacceptable as a substitute for washing one's feet. Al-Baqir also forbade all intoxicants, whereas Kufan jurists of his time permitted fermented drinks ( nabidth ). He also maintained that, under threat of death or injury, self-protection through dissimulation ( taqiya ) is obligatory. Finally, al-Manasik

18769-455: Was to avenge a recent defeat by Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire ) forces, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the Ridda wars , or "Wars of Apostasy". On his death in 634, he was succeeded by Umar as caliph, followed by Uthman ibn al-Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib . The period of these first four caliphs is known as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn :

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