9781422281130

12 M USLIM H EROES AND H OLY P LACES

eminent reformer and leader of the 18th-century Muslim intellec- tual revival; Tipu Sultan, one of the last Indian rulers to resist Britain’s colonialist advance; or Muhammad Iqbal, a poet and intellectual of the early 20th century. Turks might feel that impor- tant sultans of the Ottoman Empire, such as Murad I, Suleiman the Magnificent, or Mehmet al-Fatih, should be included because of the large role they play in the Muslim historical imagination. Individuals such as ‘Urabi, ‘Abd al-Qasim al-Jaza’iri, Sulayman al- Halabi, or Muhammad ‘Abdu might be among those who are remembered as heroes by Arab Muslims. Americans may consider people like boxer Muhammad Ali or basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabbar as heroes; both men have been activists for Muslim causes around the world during and after their sports careers. Or people like Keith Ellison, the first Muslim American elected to the U.S. Congress. Although several women are included in this book, many other women have played important roles in the history and develop- ment of Islam. One of these was the prophet Muhammad’s wife Ayesha. After Muhammad’s death she became a political leader in her own right, leading a rebellion against the fourth caliph because of a disagreement over state policy. After losing her attempt to lead the Muslim community, she retired to a life of teaching and became an important part of the developing Islamic legal tradition. Ayesha played a significant role in establishing the foundational opinions of Islamic law and narrated a large number of pivotal statements about the Prophet. Another significant figure in the growth and development of Islamic law was the jurist, theologian, and mystic Abu Hamid al- Ghazali (1058–1111). Al-Ghazali had a huge impact on the inter- pretation and development of Islam. His own life story is quite fascinating: after acquiring an important position at one of the most prominent universities of the time, al-Ghazali suddenly quit, impelled by his desire to discover spiritual truth. He spent the next 10 years anonymously wandering around the Muslim world, seek- ing knowledge and truth from different contemporary masters. He