Abadan: City in Iran with 300,000 inhabitants. Situated in the south-western corner of Iran, on the island of Abadan.
Abbas: Uncle of Muhammad. Successful merchant, and was known for the grandeur that he surrounded himself with during his travels. Stories tell that he was in charge of the Zamzam.
Abbasids: Caliphate dynasty ruling from 750 until 1258. All of one big family that claimed to descend from Abbas, an uncle of Muhammad.
Abdu l-Karim: Moroccan politician and liberation fighter and leader.
Abdu l-Qadir: Emir, religious and military resistance fighter against the French occupation of Algeria.
Abdullah, King: King of Jordan. Was named crown prince less than 2 weeks before he was sworn in as regent of Jordan, following the declaration of the clinical death of his father, Hussein 1.
Abu Bakr: First Caliph of Islam.
Abu Dhabi: Island, city, and emirate in the United Arab Emirates. The emirate has about 1.19 million inhabitanst, while the city has about 420,000.
Abu l-Hassan i l-Ash'ari: Muslim theolgian, founder of the Ash'ari school of theology.
Abu l-Wahhab: Founder of the Islamic school of the muwahhiduns, also known as Wahhabism.
Abu Nidal: Palestinian politician and guerilla leader.
Acacus: Mountain range in south-western Libya, and a subrange of the Hoggar Mountains of Algeria. Lies southwest of the Fezzan area of central Libya.
Adana: City in Turkey with 1.1 million inhabitants. Situated inland, 30 km from the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea.
Aden: City of Yemen, and the country's winter capital, with 530,000 inhabitants, situated in the south of the country, at the Gulf of Aden.
Aden, Gulf of: Western arm of the Arabian Sea, meeting the Red Sea at the strait Babu l-Mandeb.
Adhan: Uttering used to call all Muslims to prayer, salat. Sent out from a minaret, either sung by a muezzin present in the minaret, or transmitted from a loudspeaker with the help of cassette recording.
Agadir: City in Morocco with 720,000 inhabitants. A seaport and the administrative and economical centre for its region.
Ahmose I: Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning from 1570 to 1546, and founder of the 18th dynasty.
Ahmose II: Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning from 569 to 526 BCE, as part of the 26th dynasty.
Ahriman: The evil power in the Avesta, the collection of religious writings in Zoroastrianism.
Ahura Mazda: The supreme god in Zoroastrianism.
Ain Draham: City of Tunisia, and the centre of the mountainous region in the northwest of the country, with about 10,000 inhabitants.
AIS: Algerian political group. A militant subdivision of FIS, and not be confused with the far more active and brutal GIA.
Al Ahram: Egypt's largest newspaper, founded in 1875 by the Taqla family.
al-Assad, Hafez: President of Syria (1971-2000).
al-Ghazzali: One of the greatest thinkers in Islam, and among the foremost theologians.
al-Mutanabbi: Arab poet, considered the greatest of the classical Arab poets.
Aleppo: City in Syria with 1.9 million inhabitants. Commercial and cultural centre of northern Syria.
Alexandria: City in northern Egypt with about 3.9 million inhabitants. A commercial and economic centre.
Algeria: Independent republic, divided into 48 provinces. Certain mountainous regions are under the control of Islamist rebels.
Algiers: Capital of Algeria with 2.9 million inhabitants, and the largest and most important city of the country, in economical, cultural and scientific sense.
Ali: 4th Caliph, and the last Caliph that both Sunnis and Shi'is agree upon as justifiably elected, yet the Kharijis did not accept him from 658 and onwards.
Ali l-Hadi: The tenth Imam of the Twelver Shi'i Islam (833- 868).
Ali r-Rida: Eighth Imam of the Twelver Shi'i Islam (799- 818).
Ali Zayni l-Abidin: The fourth Imam of Shi'i Islam (680- 712 or 713).
Alids: Descendants of Ali, the fourth Caliph, and the first Imam (according to Shi'i Islam).
Allah: The Arabic word for "God", used in Islam and Christianity.
Allahu akbar: Muslim saying, frequently used, in situations ranging from greeting to expression of strong sentiments. It is most correctly translated with "God is greater."
Amenemhet I: Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning from 1991 BCE to 1962 BCE, founder of the 12. dynasty, after overthrowing the rulers at Thebes.
Amenemhet III: Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning from 1843- 1797 BCE, belonging to the 12th dynasty.
Amenhotep I: Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning from 1546 to 1525 BCE, son of the founder of the 18th dynasty, Ahmose 1.
Amenhotep II: Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning from 1450 to 1424, as part of the 18th dynasty.
Amenhotep III: Egyptian Pharaoh reigning from 1417- 1379, being part of the 18th dynasty.
Amenhotep IV: Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning from 1379 to 1362 BCE, as part of the 18th dynasty.
Amesha Spentas: Eternal divine beings in Zoroastrianism, entities that bring blessings and comfort.
Amman: Capital of Jordan with 1,2 million inhabitants.
Andalucia: Timeline of events taking place in, and forming, the region of Southern Spain consisting of Andalucia Culture.
Ankara: Capital of Turkey with 2.9 million inhabitants. Ankara is situated in the central of Turkey.
Anti-Lebanon Mountains: Mountain range of Lebanon and Syria. The length is approximately 150 km, and the highest mountain peaks at 2,814 metres.
Aqaba, Gulf of:
Aqaba, Gulf of:
Arabia: Area made up of the Arabian Peninsula comprising the national states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen.
Arabian Sea: Sea between the Arabian peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, that is part of the Indian Ocean.
Arabic: Semitic language used by Arabs — where there is a direct connection, as the majority of Arabs are Arabs by language and not by blood.
Arabs: People living in North Africa and the Middle East, from western Morocco, to Oman, and from Turkey in the north to Yemen and Sudan in the south.
Arafat, Yassir: President of Palestine, through being president of the Palestinian Authority, which controls the Palestinian territories in Gaza and on the West Bank.
Ash'aris: Theological school founded by Abu l-Hassani l-Ash'ari.
Assyut: City in Egypt, with around 380,000 inhabitants.
Aswan: City in Egypt with 260,000 inhabitants. Capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan High Dam: Dam construction in southern Egypt, that exploits the water of the Nile.
At Ta'if: City in Saudi Arabia with 590,000 inhabitants. Slightly east of Mecca.
Atat=FCrk: Founder of the modern republic of Turkey.
Atlas Mountains: Mountainous area that fills most of the northwestern corner of Africa.
Averro=EBs: Muslim philosopher, physician, maliki jurist and ashari theologian.
Avesta: The collections of scared texts in Zoroastrianism.
Avicenna: Iranian Islamic philosopher and physician.
Aya: Verse in the Holy Koran.
Ayatullah: Religious honorary title in Twelver Shi'i Islam in Iran.