the Muslim month of al-Muharram is the anniversary of the God. (See sūra belongs to the Meccan period; it is extremely short and 'l- 'Asr), the sūra goes on to insist that man will be lost unless sura thus makes is dependent on faith wazīr : (q.v.). The Prophet Muhammad used to fast on this day and so it is still regarded as a holy day in Sunnī (q.v.) Islam. Some Muslims still mark it by fasting. For Shī'ite (q.v.) Islam the day is regarded as sacred primarily because it martyrdom of al-Husayn b. 'Alī (q.v.) at the Battle of Karbalā'.

doi:10.4324/9780203986158-28

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the Muslim month of al-Muharram is the anniversary of the God. (See sūra belongs to the Meccan period; it is extremely short and 'l- 'Asr), the sūra goes on to insist that man will be lost unless sura thus makes is dependent on faith wazīr

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ABSTRACT

Atomism Also called Occasionalism. This was a theory in mediaeval Islamic theology according to which absolutely everything (except God) was made up of atoms and perishable accidents (a'rād). The theory stressed the continuous intervention by God in the affairs of the world and humanity. It was embraced (though interpreted in its detail in different ways) by many mediaeval Islamic theologians including the Mu'tazilite Abū '1Hudhayl al-'Allāf (q.v.) and the Ash'arite theologian alBāqillānī (q.v.). (See 'Arad; al-Ash'arī; Kalām; Mu'tazila.)

'Attār, Farīd al-Dīn (died c. 627/1230) One of the great mystical poets of mediaeval Persia. Tradition has it that he met his death at the hands of the Mongols (q.v.) in Nishāpūr. The work for which he is best known is the famous Speech of the Birds (Mantiq al-Tayr): in a Bunyanesque fashion this describes how the birds of the earth, led by the hoopoe bird - and after a long discussion which in fact occupies most of the work - decide to set out on a great pilgrimage to visit the court of the great King of Birds, the Sīmurgh. Only thirty birds survive the journey but they meet the Object of their quest and, in a final act of fanā' (q.v.) and baqā' (q.v.) become one with the Sīmurgh. This Persian poem is one of the finest allegories of a major theme in tasawwuf (q.v.) in the whole of Islamic literature.