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Siege Of Melite (870)
The siege of Melite was the capture of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine city of Melite (ancient city), Melite (modern Mdina, Malta) by an invading Aghlabid army in 870 AD. The siege was initially led by Halaf al-Hādim, a renowned engineer, but he was killed and replaced by Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad. The city withstood the siege for some weeks or months, but it ultimately fell to the invaders, and its inhabitants were massacred and the city was sacked. Background The Maltese islands had been part of the Byzantine Empire since 535 AD, and archaeological evidence suggests that they probably had an important strategic role within the empire. When the early Muslim conquests began in the 7th century, the Byzantines were threatened in the Mediterranean, so probably efforts were made to improve the defences of Malta. At this point, they might have built a Retrenchment (military), retrenchment which reduced Melite to one third of its original size. A Muslim reconnaissance raid to Malta might ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muslim Conquest Of Sicily
The Arab Muslim conquest of Sicily began in June 827 and lasted until 902, when the last major Byzantine stronghold on the island, Taormina, fell. Isolated fortresses remained in Byzantine hands until 965, but the island was henceforth under Arab Muslim rule until conquered in turn by the Normans in the 11th century. Although Sicily had been raided by the Muslim Arabs since the mid-7th century, these raids did not threaten Byzantine control over the island, which remained a largely peaceful backwater. The opportunity for the Aghlabid emirs of Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia) came in 827, when the commander of the island's fleet, Euphemius, rose in revolt against the Byzantine Emperor Michael II. Defeated by loyalist forces and driven from the island, Euphemius sought the aid of the Aghlabids, an Arab dynasty. The latter regarded this as an opportunity for expansion and for diverting the energies of their own fractious military establishment and alleviating the criticism of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Nuwayri
Al-Nuwayrī, full name Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Nuwayrī (, 5 April 1279 – 5 June 1333) was an Egyptian Muslim historian and civil servant of the Bahri Mamluk dynasty. He is most notable for his compilation of a 9,000-page encyclopedia of the Mamluk era, titled ''The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition'' (, '), which pertained to zoology, anatomy, history, chronology, amongst others. He is also known for his extensive work regarding the Mongols' conquest of Syria. Al-Nuwayri started his encyclopedia around the year 1314 and completed it in 1333. Life The name Al-Nuwayri is a nisba referring to the village of Al-Nuwayra in present-day Beni Suef Governorate. Al-Nuwayri was born 5 April 1279, in Akhmim, Egypt. For most of his childhood, he lived in Qus in Upper Egypt, where he studied with Ibn Daqiq al-'Id. He later studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, specializing in the study of the hadith and the sira, in addition to history. Skilled in c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valletta
Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital city, it is a commercial centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the southernmost capital of Europe, and at just , it is the European Union's smallest capital city. Valletta's 16th-century buildings were constructed by the Hospitaller Malta, Knights Hospitaller. The city was named after the Frenchman Jean Parisot de Valette, who succeeded in defending the island against an Ottoman invasion during the Great Siege of Malta. The city is Baroque architecture, Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist architecture#Mannerist architecture, Mannerist, Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Oper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares maritime borders with Italy through the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to the north and Malta to the east. It features the archaeological sites of Carthage dating back to the 9th century BC, as well as the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Known for its ancient architecture, Souks of Tunis, souks, and blue coasts, it covers , and has a population of 12.1 million. It contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert; much of its remaining territory is arable land. Its of coastline includes the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin. Tunisia is home to Africa's northernmost point, Cape Angela. Located on the northeastern coast, Tunis is the capital and List of cities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sousse
Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. Its economy is based on transport equipment, processed food, olive oil, textiles, and tourism. It is home to the Université de Sousse. Toponymy ''Sousse'' and ''Soussa'' are both French spellings of the Arabic name ''Sūsa''. The present city has also grown to include the ruins of Hadrumetum, which had Hadrumetum#Names, many names in several languages during classical antiquity, antiquity.Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Gazeteer, page 511, Map 33 Theveste-Hadrumetum, Compiled by R.B. Hitchner, 1997, in file BATL033_.PDF iB_ATLAS.ZIP froPrinceton University Press , Subjects, [http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/subjects/arc.html Archaeology and Ancient History , Barrington Atlas of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wali
The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John Renard, ''Tales of God Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009), passim. In the traditional Islamic understanding, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by pecialdivine favor ... ndholiness", and who is specifically "chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles".Radtke, B., "Saint", in: ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān'', General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. The doctrine of saints was articulated by Muslim scholars very early on in Islamic history, and particular verses of the Quran and certain hadith were interpreted by early Muslim thinkers as "documentary evidence" of the existence of saints. Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4.7 million inhabitants, including 1.2 million in and around the capital city of Palermo, it is both the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea. Sicily is named after the Sicels, who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age. Sicily has a rich and unique culture in #Art and architecture, arts, Music of Sicily, music, #Literature, literature, Sicilian cuisine, cuisine, and Sicilian Baroque, architecture. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate. It is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina. It is one of the five Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muhammad II Of Ifriqiya
Abu 'l-Gharaniq Muhammad II ibn Ahmad () (died 875) was the eighth Emir of Ifriqiya from 864 to 875. He succeeded his uncle Ziyadat Allah II (863–864), inheriting from his predecessors a stable and prosperous state. An aesthete fond of wine and hunting, he felt able to devote himself to extravagance and displays of pomp. His reign saw the conquest of Malta, the siege of Salerno and continuous raids into mainland Italy, forcing Pope John VIII to pay tribute. Towards the end of his reign a caravan of pilgrims from Mecca introduced the plague into Ifriqiya – this, and an ensuing famine led to severe depopulation and the weakening of the emirate. On 20 July 875, Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tamid formally arranged for the governance of the state and his succession: Ja'far, given the honorific name , was named heir-apparent and assigned the western half of the Caliphate, while al-Mu'tamid's brother, Abu Ahmad, known as , received the eastern provinces and was named second heir, except ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kitab Al-Rawd Al-Mitar
''Kitāb al-Rawḍ al-miʿṭār fi khabar al-aqṭār'' (''The Book of the Fragrant Garden'') is a fourteenth-century Arabic geography by al-Ḥimyarī that is a primary source for the history of Muslim Iberia in the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ..., though it is based in part on the earlier account by Muhammad al-Idrisi. Very little is known about the author, except that he was close to the Hafsid dynasty. It was edited and translated into French by Évariste Lévi-Provençal in 1938 and into Spanish by María Pilar Maestro González in 1963.Maestro González, ''Kitab ar-Rawd al-Mitar'' (Valencia) 1963. Notes {{Islamic geography Geographical works of the medieval Islamic world 15th-century Arabic-language books ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hijri Year
The Hijri year () or era () is the era used in the Islamic lunar calendar. It begins its count from the Islamic New Year in which Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib (now Medina) in 622 CE. This event, known as the Hijrah, is commemorated in Islam for its role in the founding of the first Muslim community (''ummah''). Currently, the Hijri year is . In the West, this era is most commonly denoted as AH (, , ) in parallel with the Christian/Common (AD/CE) and Jewish eras (AM) and can similarly be placed before (preferably) or after the date. In predominantly Muslim countries, it is also commonly abbreviated H ("Hijra") from its Arabic abbreviation (). Years prior to AH 1 are reckoned in English as BH ("Before the Hijra"), which should follow the date. A year in the Islamic lunar calendar consists of twelve lunar months and has only 354 or 355 days in its year. Consequently, its New Year's Day occurs ten days earlier each year relative to the Gregorian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed to have been revealed to the Prophets of Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. The annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the five pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the Hilal (crescent moon), crescent moon to the next. Fasting from dawn to sunset is obligatory (''fard'') for all adult Muslims who are not acute illness, acutely or chronic illness, chronically ill, travelling, old age, elderly, breastfeeding, Pregnancy, pregnant, or Menstruation in Islam, menstruating. The predawn meal is referred to as ''suhur'', and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called ''iftar''. Although rulings (''fatawa'') have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a midnight sun or pola ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kitab Al-'Uyun
The ''Kitab al-'uyun wa'l-hada'iq fi akhbar al-haqa'iq'' () is an Arabic chronicle covering Muslim history up to the year 961 AD. The author of the work is anonymous, but the text was likely written in the late eleventh century. The contents of the ''Kitab al-'Uyun'' are organized by the reigns of successive caliphs and are loosely subdivided in an annalistic fashion. Much of the work consists of selections from the histories of al-Tabari, al-Mas'udi, Miskawayh and al-Farghani, but it also includes otherwise lost material from a number of other sources, especially Egyptian and North African authors. Only the third and fourth volumes of the work survive. The third volume, covering the period from the beginning of the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid (r. 705–715) to the death of the Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
