| 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. |
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