9781422281130

O N S ELECTING H EROES

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In addition, other than the three places that all Muslims uni- versally acknowledge as holy—Mecca, Madina, and Jerusalem— there exist a large number of local shrines scattered throughout the Islamic world. Some of these shrines are particularly important to Shiite Muslims, while others are memorials to Sufi heroes, such as the mausoleum of Jalal al-Din al-Rumi in Turkey, Ibn al-‘Arabi in Syria, or Khawaja Moeenuddin al-Chishti in Pakistan. A Wide Range of Heroes This book is by no means intended to be comprehensive; a volume of this length could never begin to touch on the many significant figures in the long and rich history of Islam. Rather, the goal of this book is to introduce readers—through biographies of a handful of people whom most educated Muslims would respect or consider important in the history and development of Islam—to various currents in, and aspects of, Islamic history and civilization. The heroes selected for inclusion in this book span the history of Islam, from its seventh-century beginnings to the late 20th century. They represent various ethnic and cultural groups, reflecting the diversi- ty of the Muslim community of believers. And they played a range of roles, from messenger to military leader to mystic. The book begins with the prophet Muhammad, the central human figure of Islam. Other individuals featured include Ali, one of Muhammad’s relatives and closest companions and the fourth caliph ; Rabia al-Adawiyya, a female Sufi master of the eighth cen- tury; the 12th-century Kurdish political and military leader Salah al-Din (known in the West as Saladin); Malcolm X, perhaps the best-known American Muslim; and Zainab al-Ghazali, founder of the Muslim Women’s Association. The final chapter focuses on the holiest cities of Islam, including Mecca, Madina, and Jerusalem, and explains why these places are revered by Muslims. In addition to the figures profiled in this volume, there are many other individuals whom Muslims would identify as heroes. Asian Muslims might list such people as Shah Waliullah, the pre-