ABSTRACT
Ayyūbids Important dynasty in mediaeval Islam which flour ished between 564/1169 and c. 648/1250 in Egypt. There were also Ayyūbid branches in Damascus (q.v.), Aleppo (q.v.), Diyārbakr and the Yemen. The name of the dynasty derived from a Kurd named Ayyūb (died 578/1182-3), father of the famous Salāh al-Dīn (q.v.). The Ayyūbids in Egypt were succeeded by the Mamlūks (q.v.). (See Hattīn, Battle of) Āzar The pagan father of the prophet Ibrāhīm (q.v.). The Qur'ān mentions him by name in v.74 of Sūrat al-An'ām (q.v.). Here Ibrahim asks his father if he is going to take idols as gods. Elsewhere in the Qur'ān (Sūrat al-Tawba (q.v.)) Ibrāhīm is forbidden to pray for his obdurate father (who is not here in vv. 113-114 named) since it is clear that the father will persist in idol worship. It may be noted that some commentators believe that the word Āzar, which is a non-Arabic word, is a term of abuse or disgust, rather than the proper name of Ibrāhīm's father.
Azd Name of two ancient Arab tribes, one in Western Arabia ('Asīr) and one in Oman. The former group became Muslim in 10/631; Islam also entered Oman early and several of the leaders of the Ibādīs (q.v.) were from the tribe of Azd. al-Azhar (Ar.) Literally, 'The Brilliant' or 'The Radiant'. The full name is al-Jāmi' al-Azhar (The Radiant Mosque). This is the title borne by Islam's most famous University and Mosque, founded by the Fātimids (q.v.) in Cairo (q.v.), after their conquest of Egypt in 358/969. It was founded originally as a beacon for Ismā'īlī doctrine and scholarship but it became a bastion of Sunnī (q.v.) orthodoxy with the takeover by the Ayyūbids (q.v.) in Egypt. (See Ismā'īlīs; Riwāq; al-Zaytūna.)
