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79-511: From the second third of the 7th century and until middle of the 8th, as a result of the tremendous intellectual commotion produced throughout the West Asia by the swift early Muslim conquests and the collision of Islam with the religions and cultures of the world, there arose a large number of religious sects, especially in Persia , Iraq , and Syria . Judaism did not escape this general fomentation;

158-511: A few thousand meters high, and can close down airports for short periods of time. These winds can last for a full day at the beginning and end of the season, and for several days during the middle of the season. The shamal is a summer northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times

237-628: A part of Islamic law. As the fourth Caliph, Ali had transferred the Islamic capital to Kufa , and many of the first generation of Muslims had settled there. The Hanafi school of law based many of its rulings on the prophetic tradition as transmitted by those first generation Muslims residing in Iraq. Thus, the Hanafi school came to be known as the Kufan or Iraqi school. Ali and Abdullah, son of Masud helped form much of

316-471: A person more knowledgeable, as quick a thinker, or more eloquent than he was." Imam Abu Hanifa was quoted as saying that Jahm ibn Safwan (d. 128/745) went so far in his denial of anthropomorphism (Tashbih) as to declare that 'God is not something (Allah laysa bi shay')'. Muqatil ibn Sulayman (d. 150/767), likened God to His creatures. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrated in his Tarikh Baghdad (History of Baghdad) that Imam Abu Hanifa said: Two groups of

395-553: A typical background story often used of "heretics"—namely, that he was frustrated in a bid for power within the religious community and as a result broke away. According to these accounts, the Exilarch or leader of the Jews in Mesopotamia , probably Isaac Iskawi, died about 760. Two brothers among his nearest kin, probably his nephews, Anan and Josiah (Hassan), were next in order of succession to

474-604: A year. West Asia contains large areas of mountainous terrain. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Pontus Mountains and Taurus Mountains in Turkey . Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to 5,137 m (16,854 ft). The Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two drainage basins . The northern basin

553-522: Is Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin. In Yemen , elevations exceed 3,700 m (12,100 ft) in many areas, and highland areas extend north along the Red Sea coast and north into Lebanon . A fault zone also exists along the Red Sea, with continental rifting creating trough -like topography with areas located well below sea level . The Dead Sea , located on

632-559: Is an Arabicized form of the Sasanian military office of marzban , held by governors of the frontier provinces of the Sasanian realm. There is scant biographical information about Abu Hanifa. It is generally known that he worked a producer and seller of khazz , a type of silk clothing material. He attended lectures on jurisprudence conducted by the Kufan scholar Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (d. 737). He also possibly learnt jurisprudence ( fiqh ) from

711-408: Is doubly correct. How can you appoint a liar to the exalted post of a qadi ?" Incensed by this reply, al-Mansur had Abu Hanifa arrested, locked in prison and tortured. It was said that once in prison he was never fed nor cared for. Even in prison, the jurist continued to teach those who were permitted to visit him. On 15 Rajab 150, (15 August 767 ) Abu Hanifa died in prison. The cause of his death

790-437: Is not clear, as it was said by some that Abu Hanifa issued a legal opinion for bearing arms against al-Mansur, so al-Mansur had him poisoned. His fellow prisoner and founder of Karaite Judaism , Anan ben David , was said to have received life-saving counsel from Abu Hanifa. It was said that so many people attended his funeral that the funeral service was repeated six times for the more than 50,000 people who had massed before he

869-471: Is often shown in his law-book. He forbids the use of medicines and of medical aid in general, for it is written, he says, "I, God, am thy physician" (Ex. xv. 26); this is held to prohibit drugs and doctors. His opposition to the astronomical determination of the festivals, of which he boasted to the caliph, led him to declare astronomy as a branch of the astrology and divination forbidden in the Bible, thus undermining

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948-545: Is ordinarily carried on the shoulders, owing to its size or weight, might not be carried around even in a room. Anan's law-book insists that the Sabbath evening (Friday) must be passed in darkness: lights kindled in the daytime on Friday must be extinguished at nightfall, for it is forbidden to pass the Sabbath in a place artificially illuminated. Cooking and baking must be done on Friday, not only for Friday and Saturday, but also for Saturday night, to forestall any impatient longing for

1027-510: Is supported in the Tanakh as a Jewish ideal. To this limitation of the eating of meat must also be added his regulation concerning the personality of the individual who slays creatures for food; Anan rejected the broad precept of the Talmud that "slaughtering is permissible to anybody," demanded a certain dignity for the act, and required from the slaughterer a complete profession of faith. From this dates

1106-530: The Abbasid caliph offered Abu Hanifa the post of qadi al-qudat ( chief judge of the state ), but he declined the offer, choosing to remain independent. His student Abu Yusuf was later appointed to the post by Caliph Harun al-Rashid . In his reply to al-Mansur, Abu Hanifa said that he was not fit for the post. Al-Mansur, who had his own ideas and reasons for offering the post accused Abu Hanifa of lying. "If I am lying," Abu Hanifa responded, "then my statement

1185-563: The Arabian Peninsula numbering more than 3 million. Christian communities have played a vital role in West Asia. Judaism is the predominant religion in Israel , and there are small ancient Jewish communities in West Asia such as in Turkey (14,300), Azerbaijan (9,100), and Iran (8,756). The Druze Faith or Druzism originated in West Asia. It is a monotheistic religion based on

1264-453: The Baháʼí Faith , Yarsanism , Yazidism , Zoroastrianism , Mandaeism , and Shabakism . The economy of West Asia is diverse and the region experiences high economic growth. Turkey has the largest economy in the region, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran. Petroleum is the major industry in the regional economy, as more than half of the world's oil reserves and around 40 percent of

1343-543: The Gulf of Oman . The population of West Asia was estimated at 272 million as of 2008, projected to reach 370 million by 2030 by Maddison (2007; the estimate excludes the Caucasus and Cyprus). This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 1.4% (or a doubling time of 50 years), well above the world average of 0.9% (doubling time 75 years). The population of West Asia is estimated at 4% of world population , up from about 39 million at

1422-448: The Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina . He was named by al-Dhahabi as "one of the geniuses of the sons of Adam " who "combined jurisprudence, worship, scrupulousness, and generosity". As his career as a jurist and theologian progressed, he became known for favoring the use of reason in his jurisprudential rulings, and even in his theology. His school grew after his death, and

1501-603: The Persian Gulf , the Gulf of Oman , the Arabian Sea , the Gulf of Aden , the Red Sea , the Gulf of Aqaba , the Gulf of Suez , and the Mediterranean Sea . West Asia contains the majority of the similarly defined Middle East . The Middle East is a political term that has changed many times depending on political and historical context while West Asia is a geographical term with more consistency. It excludes most of Egypt and

1580-673: The Safavid Empire in 1508. In 1533, the Ottomans conquered Baghdad and rebuilt the tombs of Abu Hanifa and Abdul Qadir, as well as other Sunni sites. The sources from which Abu Hanifa derived Islamic law, in order of importance and preference, were: the Qur'an , the authentic narrations of the Muslim prophet Muhammad (known as hadith ), consensus of the Muslim community ( ijma' ), analogical reasoning ( qiyas ), juristic discretion ( istihsan ) and

1659-878: The South Caucasus . The region is separated from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt , and separated from Europe by the waterways of the Turkish Straits and the watershed of the Greater Caucasus . Central Asia lies to its northeast, while South Asia lies to its east. Twelve seas surround the region (clockwise): the Aegean Sea , the Sea of Marmara , the Black Sea , the Caspian Sea ,

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1738-572: The Talmud itself. Thus he interpreted the prohibition of plowing on the Sabbath (Ex. xxxiv. 21) as applying to marital intercourse; the word "brothers" (aḥim, Deut. xxv. 5) in connection with the levirate marriage he interpreted as "relatives," etc. Anan's method of interpretation, however, was distinct from its Muslim counterpart in that he primarily built upon analogy of expressions (similar to Muslim qiyas ), words (the rabbinical gezerah shavah ), and single letters. Some sources claim that Anan borrowed

1817-544: The Tigris and Euphrates rivers contribute very well. West Asia is primarily arid and semi-arid , and can be subject to drought , but it also contains vast expanses of forest and fertile valleys. The region consists of grasslands , rangelands , deserts , and mountains . Water shortages are a problem in many parts of West Asia, with rapidly growing populations increasing demands for water, while salinization and pollution threaten water supplies. Major rivers, including

1896-574: The Tigris and Euphrates , provide sources for irrigation water to support agriculture . There are two wind phenomena in West Asia: the sharqi and the shamal . The sharqi (or sharki ) is a wind that comes from the south and southeast. It is seasonal, lasting from April to early June, and comes again between late September and November. The winds are dry and dusty, with occasional gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) and often kick up violent sand and dust storms that can carry sand

1975-490: The Torah in a fashion opposed to the traditional interpretation and make this principle the foundation of a new religious sect. He must next get his partisans to secure the presence of the caliph himself at the trial, which was not an unusual thing for important prosecutions. Anan was to declare that his religion was different from Rabbinic Judaism and that his followers entirely coincided with him in matters of religious doctrine. This

2054-655: The World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD), West Asia excludes the Arabian Peninsula and includes Afghanistan . The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) excludes Egypt and includes Afghanistan. The United Nations Environment Programme excludes Cyprus , Israel , Turkey , and Iran from West Asia. The term West Asia is used pragmatically and has no "correct" or generally accepted definition. Its typical definitions overlap substantially, but not entirely, with definitions of

2133-958: The Zutt , Jats who migrated into Iraq during the Islamic Golden Age . His grandfather, Zuta, may have been captured by Muslim troops in Kabul and sold as a slave in Kufa, where he was purchased and freed by an Arab tribesman of the Taym Allah , a branch of the Banu Bakr . Zuta and his progeny thereafter would have become clients of the Taym Allah, hence the sporadic references to Abu Hanifa as "al-Taymi". According to his grandson Isma'il, however, his lineage went back to free Persians who had never been held as slaves. He called Abu Hanifa's great-grandfather "Marzuban", which

2212-571: The "Father of the Inkpot". However, some historians contest he earned it as he had a daughter named Hanifa. His name would then mean the "Father of Hanifa". The opposing side believes he never had a daughter with such name. Historians generally agree Abu Hanifa was born in Kufa during the period of the Umayyad Caliphate , but they differ regarding the year: 699 CE / 80 AH, 696 CE / 77 AH, 689 CE / 70 AH, or 680 CE / 61 AH. Many historians choose

2291-508: The Karaite custom of reciting the articles of the creed preparatory to slaughtering. Finally, not satisfied with the Talmudic dictum that in the act of slaughtering it is sufficient to cut through two ducts—gullet and windpipe—Anan required that in addition two more—arteries or veins—should be severed. In addition to the legal fast-days appointed by the Bible, Anan, by means of word-analogies instituted

2370-485: The Meccan scholar Ata ibn Abi Rabah (d. c.  733 ) while on pilgrimage . When Hammad died, Abu Hanifa succeeded him as the principal authority on Islamic law in Kufa and the chief representative of the Kufan school of jurisprudence. Abu Hanifa gradually gained influence as an authority on legal questions, founding a moderate rationalist school of Islamic jurisprudence that was named after him. In 763, al-Mansur ,

2449-514: The Precepts" was published about 770. He adopted many principles and opinions of other anti-rabbinic forms of Judaism. It has been suggested that he took much from the Sadducees and Essenes , whose writings (or at least writings ascribed to them) were still in circulation. For example, these older sects prohibited the burning of any lights and the leaving of one's dwelling on Shabbat ; they also enjoined

Anan ben David - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-676: The Rabbinic concept of kashrut are not unique to Ananism; the Talmud relates that after the destruction of the Second Temple , certain ascetics such as Abu Isa sought to prohibit meat and wine because they had been employed in the Temple ritual, and that Joshua ben Hananiah repressed the movement. In modern times, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook , the first Ashkenazic chief rabbi of the British Mandatory Palestine , argued that vegetarianism

2607-409: The accusations against him, stating, “ There is no doubt regarding Imam Abu Hanifa's knowledge. People later attributed many lies to Imam Abu Hanifa, which were all untrue. The aim of such writings was to taint Imam Abu Hanifa ” His students, Ibn Kathir and al-Dhahabi , held similar opinions about Abu Hanifa, extensively rebuking accusations against him and praising his contributions. He received

2686-536: The actual observation of the new moon for the appointment of festivals and celebrated Shavuot , one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals , on a Sunday. Abu Hanifa was accustomed in certain cases to take the words of the Qur'an not in their literal, but in a symbolic sense . Anan adopted a similar method with the Hebrew text of the Bible. Illustrations of this method are not infrequently, indeed, afforded by

2765-405: The base of the school, as well as other personalities from the direct relatives (or ahl al-bayt ) of Muḥammad from whom Abu Hanifa had studied such as Muhammad al-Baqir . Many jurists and historians had reportedly lived in Kufa, including one of Abu Hanifa's main teachers, Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman. He was highly regarded across the various fields of sacred knowledge and significantly influenced

2844-471: The beginning of the 20th century, or about 2% of world population at the time. The most populous countries in the region are Turkey and Iran , each with around 79 million people, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia with around 33 million people each, and Yemen with around 29 million people. Numerically, West Asia is predominantly Arab , Persian , Turkish , and the dominating languages are correspondingly Arabic , Persian and Turkish , each with of

2923-563: The belief in the transmigration of the soul ( metempsychosis ) from Muslim sectarians. This doctrine, represented in Greek antiquity especially by Empedocles and the Pythagoreans , had always been widespread in India, and even though it was found among some Muslim sects, such as the followers of ibn al-Rawandi , it was also a central tenet of Manichaeism , which was enjoying something of a renaissance in

3002-501: The best of people in appearance, most eloquent in speech, sweetest in tone, and clearest in expressing his thoughts." His son Hammad described him as "very handsome, dark-skinned, having good posture, wearing much cologne, tall, not speaking except in reply to someone else, and not involving himself in what did not concern him." Ibn al-Mubarak remarked he "never saw a man more revered in gatherings, nor better in character and forbearance, than Abu Hanifa." As with Malik ibn Anas (who

3081-662: The border between the West Bank , Israel , and Jordan , is situated at 418 m (1,371 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the Earth . Rub' al Khali , one of the world's largest sand deserts, spans the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Jebel al Akhdar is a small range of mountains located in northeastern Oman, bordering

3160-839: The boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active. Several major aquifers provide water to large portions of West Asia. In Saudi Arabia, two large aquifers of Palaeozoic and Triassic origins are located beneath the Jabal Tuwayq mountains and areas west to the Red Sea. Cretaceous and Eocene -origin aquifers are located beneath large portions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia and Biyadh which contain amounts of both fresh water and saline water . Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation , covering nearly 90,000 km (35,000 sq mi) across West Asia for agriculture. Also,

3239-470: The caliph, who had formally invested Josiah with the position. He was arrested by the authorities one Sunday in 767 and was to be executed on the ensuing Friday for high treason . Luckily for Anan, the story goes, he met in jail a prominent fellow prisoner, the founder of the Hanafi school of Islam, Abu Hanifah . He gave Anan advice which saved his life: He should set himself to expound all ambiguous precepts of

Anan ben David - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-501: The close of the Sabbath. Foods already prepared must not be kept warm, but eaten cold. Unleavened bread ( Maẓẓah ) must be made exclusively of barley-meal, and he that prepares it out of wheaten meal incurs the punishment appointed for those that eat actual leaven (ḥameẓ). Nor may this unleavened bread be baked in an oven, but, like the paschal lamb, it must be roasted on the coals. Anan ben David, in direct contradiction of Karaites such as Daniel Al-Kumisi , had small respect for science as

3397-408: The contest for the office of exilarch which allegedly served as the immediate cause of his apostasy." He later notes that Natronai, a devout Rabbinic Jew, lived where Anan's activities took place and that the Karaite sage Jacob Qirqisani never mentioned Anan's purported lineage or candidacy for exilarch. (See Karaite Anthology ; Yale Judaica Series 7) Anan ben David's Sefer ha- Miṣwot or "Book of

3476-445: The customs of the local population enacting Muslim laws (' urf ). The development of analogical reason and the scope and boundaries by which it may be used was recognized by the majority of Muslim jurists, but its establishment as a legal tool was the result of the Hanafi school. While it was likely used by some of his teachers, Abu Hanifa is regarded by modern scholarship as the first to formally adopt and institute analogical reason as

3555-496: The development of Muslim theology. During his lifetime, he was acknowledged as a jurist of the highest calibre. The Shafi'i and prominent hadith scholar, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani , stated that criticism of Abu Hanifa holds no significance, as figures like Abu Hanifa are " on a degree to which Allah - the Exalted - has raised them, in that they are followed and imitated. " Ibn Taymiyya credited Abu Hanifa for his knowledge and addressed

3634-488: The dominant language in Israel in the second half of the 20th century, and Neo-Aramaic (spoken by modern Arameans , Assyrians , and Chaldeans ) and Greek both remain present in their respective territories as minority languages. Significant native minorities include, in alphabetical order: Arameans , Assyrians , Chaldeans , Druze , Jews , Lurs , Mandeans , Maronites , Shabaks and Yezidis . Religion in West Asia (2020) Four major religious groups (i.e.

3713-509: The exalted office. Eventually, Josiah was elected exilarch by the geonim or leaders of the Talmudic academies in Babylonia and by the notables of the chief Jewish congregations. The choice was confirmed by Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (754–775). The story continues that Anan was proclaimed exilarch by his followers, an act construed by the Muslim authorities as a rebellion against the authority of

3792-518: The first chief justice in the Muslim world, and Imām Muhammad al-Shaybani , who was the teacher of the Shafi‘i school of jurisprudence founder, Imām Al-Shafi‘i . His other students included Abdullah ibn Mubarak and Fudhayl bin Iyaadh Al-Nadr ibn Muhammad recalled Abu Hanifa had "a beautiful face, beautiful clothing, and fragrant scent." His student Abu Yusuf described him as "well-formed, from

3871-501: The following: The seventh day of every month; the 14th and 15th of Adar instead of the rabbinical fast of the 13th, including thus the Purim festival; also a seventy-days' fast from the 13th of Nisan to the 23d of Siwan; including Passover and Shavuot as times of fasting when neither food nor drink could be partaken of by day. It was forbidden to go outside of one's dwelling on the Sabbath except for purposes of prayer or necessity. Anything that

3950-452: The generation after the sahaba , who were the companions of the Islamic prophet , Muhammad . This is based on reports that he met at least four sahaba including Anas ibn Malik , with some even reporting that he transmitted hadith from him and other companions of Muhammad. Others take the view that Abu Hanifa only saw around half a dozen companions, possibly at a young age, and did not directly narrate hadith from them. Abu Hanifa

4029-532: The honorific title al-Imam al-A'zam ("the highly venerated Imām") and his tomb, surmounted by a dome erected by admirers in 1066 is still a shrine for pilgrims. It was restored in 1535 by Suleiman the Magnificent after the Ottoman conquest of Baghdad. Abu Hanifa also had his critics. He was perceived by al-Shafi'i , Ibn Abi Shaybah , Muhammad al-Bukhari and Ibn Sa'd and to be a heretic and in opposition to

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4108-628: The instructions of Muhammad, and al-Bukhari's teacher, al-Humaydi , was one of the first to pen a refutation of his Abu Hanifa's thought. The Zahiri scholar Ibn Hazm quoted Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah : "The affairs of men were in harmony until they were changed by Abù Hanìfa in Kùfa, al-Batti in Basra and Màlik in Medina". Early Muslim jurist Hammad ibn Salamah once related a story about a highway robber who posed as an old man to hide his identity; he then remarked that were

4187-478: The latest date, 699 CE / 80 AH; however, Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari , adjunct to the office of the last Elder of Islam of the Ottoman Empire , believed the date of 689 CE / 70 AH is supported by two considerations. First, Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-Attar considered the narration of Abu Hanifa's son, Hammad, from Malik ibn Anas to be an example of an older man's narration rather than a younger man. Second, Abu Hanifa

4266-628: The latter), Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen as West Asian countries. By contrast, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in its 2015 yearbook includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, and excludes Israel (as Other) and Turkey (as Europe). Unlike the UNIDO, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) excludes Iran from West Asia and includes Turkey, Georgia, and Cyprus in

4345-618: The majority of its followers would also eventually come to follow the Maturidi school of theology. He left behind two major students, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani , who would later become celebrated jurists in their own right. How Abu Hanifa earned his name is disputed. According to some linguists , including Muhyi al-Din, ḥanīfa refers to "inkpot" in Abu Hanifa's dialect . He was often seen with one, thus earning his name this way. According to this interpretation, his name literally means

4424-675: The names of Muslims of the first generation from whom it was reported that the Abu Hanifa had transmitted hadith. He counted 16 of them, including Anas ibn Malik , Jabir ibn Abd-Allah and Sahl ibn Sa'd . Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi listed 97 hadith scholars who were his students. Most of them went on to be hadith scholars, and their narrated hadiths were compiled in the Sahih al-Bukhari , Sahih Muslim and other books of hadith. Imām Badr al-Din al-Ayni included another 260 students who studied hadith and fiqh with Abu Hanifa. His most famous students were Imām Abu Yusuf , who served as

4503-456: The northwest and north, the region is delimited from Europe by the Turkish Straits and drainage divide of the Greater Caucasus , to the southwest, it is delimited from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez , while to the northeast and east, the region adjoins Central Asia and South Asia . The region is located east of Southern Europe and south of Eastern Europe . The Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts in eastern Iran naturally delimit

4582-406: The northwestern part of Turkey , and includes the southern part of the Caucasus . West Asia covers an area of 5,994,935 km (2,314,657 sq mi), with a population of about 313 million. Of the 20 UN member countries fully or partly within the region, 13 are part of the Arab world . The most populous countries in West Asia are Iran , Turkey , Iraq , Saudi Arabia and Yemen . In

4661-414: The order of 70 million speakers, followed by smaller communities of Kurdish , Azerbaijani , Hebrew , Armenian and Neo-Aramaic . The dominance of Arabic and Turkish is the result of the medieval Arab and Turkic invasions beginning with the Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD, which displaced the formerly dominant Aramaic in the region of Syria , and Greek in Anatolia, although Hebrew became

4740-453: The part of Asia known in classical antiquity, as opposed to the reaches of "interior Asia", i.e. Scythia , and "Eastern Asia" the easternmost reaches of geographical knowledge in classical authors, i.e. Transoxania and India . In the 20th century, "Western Asia" was used to denote a rough geographical era in the fields of archaeology and ancient history , especially as a shorthand for "the Fertile Crescent excluding Ancient Egypt " for

4819-413: The purposes of comparing the early civilizations of Egypt and the former. Use of the term in the context of contemporary geopolitics or world economy appears to date from at least the mid-1960s. The region is surrounded by eight major seas; the Aegean Sea , the Black Sea , the Caspian Sea , the Persian Gulf , the Arabian Sea , the Gulf of Aden , the Red Sea , and the Mediterranean Sea . To

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4898-528: The region at the time of Anan. He is said to have written a special work in its defense. The belief in transmigration is also found in Kabbalah . A number of ben David's teachings differ from those of Rabbinic Jews and of the majority of modern Karaites. Anan rejected the admeasurements instituted by the rabbis ( shi'urim ); and instead of any permissible minimum for prohibited things—which the Talmud admits, as for instance shishim (one part in sixty), or ke-zait ("the size of an olive"), etc.—he insisted that even

4977-415: The region from Balochistan and South Asia. Three major tectonic plates converge on West Asia, including the African , Eurasian , and Arabian plates. The boundaries between the tectonic plates make up the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge , extending across North Africa , the Red Sea , and into Iran. The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the East Anatolian Fault , and

5056-422: The region's sports organisations are the West Asia Basketball Association , West Asian Billiards and Snooker Federation , West Asian Football Federation , and the West Asian Tennis Federation . "Western Asia" was in use as a geographical term in the early 19th century, before " Near East " became current as a geopolitical concept. In the context of the history of classical antiquity , "Western Asia" could mean

5135-663: The region. In the United Nations geopolitical Eastern European Group , Armenia and Georgia are included in Eastern Europe, whereas Cyprus and East Thracian Turkey are in Southern Europe. These three nations are listed in the European category of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). National members of West Asian sports governing bodies are limited to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The Olympic Council of Asia 's multi-sport event West Asian Games are contested by athletes representing these 13 countries. Among

5214-442: The remnants of Second Temple sects picked up new life and flickered once more before their final extinction, and new sects also arose. " Anan ", which means "Cloud", was never a very common name among Jews, but it is attested in the Bible: the original Anan was one of the Israelites who sealed the covenant after the return from the Babylonian captivity in Nehemiah 10 . ( Nehemiah 10:26 ). Some polemical accounts supply Anan with

5293-399: The robber still alive he would be a follower of Abu Hanifa. Today, the Hanafi school is followed by 45% of Muslims and Abu Hanifa is popularly known amongst Sunni Muslims as a man of the highest personal qualities: a performer of good works, remarkable for his self-denial, humble spirit, devotion and pious awe of God. Abu Hanifa is regarded by some authorities as one of the tabi‘un ,

5372-479: The smallest atom of anything prohibited, mingling with an infinitely large quantity of a thing permitted, was sufficient to render the whole of the latter prohibited. In addition, he maintained that as long as Israel is in exile the flesh of animals, with the exception of the deer, the pigeon and the turtle-dove, is forbidden from being eaten (although permitted animals may be eaten with dairy). Within Judaism, restrictions on consuming meat and poultry that extend beyond

5451-417: The teachings of figures like Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad and Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah and Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle . The number of Druze people worldwide is around one million, with about 45% to 50% living in Syria , 35% to 40% living in Lebanon , and less than 10% living in Israel ; recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora. There are also important minority religions like

5530-436: The terms Middle East , Eastern Mediterranean , and Near East (which is historically familiar but widely deprecated today). The National Geographic Style Manual as well as Maddison 's The World Economy: Historical Statistics (2003) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) include only Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Palestine (called West Bank and Gaza in

5609-876: The two largest religions in the world: Christianity and Islam , plus Judaism and Druze faith ) originated in West Asia. Islam is the largest religion in West Asia, but other faiths that originated there, such as Judaism and Christianity , are also well represented. In Armenia and Georgia , Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy respectively are the predominant religions, and there are still different ancient communities of Eastern Christians in Azerbaijan . There are still large ancient communities of Eastern Christians (such as Assyrians , Middle Eastern Christians and Arab Christians ) in Lebanon , Iraq , Iran , Turkey , Syria , Jordan , Israel and Palestine numbering more than 3 million in West Asia. There are also large populations of expatriate workers which include sizeable Christian communities living in

5688-567: The very foundation of the rabbinical calendar. West Asia West Asia , also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia , is the westernmost region of Asia . As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia , the Arabian Peninsula , Iran , Mesopotamia , the Armenian highlands , the Levant , the island of Cyprus , the Sinai Peninsula and

5767-657: The world's natural gas reserves are located in the region. Notes: Ramallah is the actual location of the government, whereas the proclaimed capital of Palestine is Jerusalem , which is disputed . Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital of Israel and the actual location of the Knesset , Israeli Supreme Court , etc. Due to its disputed status, most embassies are in Tel Aviv . British Overseas Territory Abu Hanifa Abu Hanifa ( Arabic : أَبُو حَنِيفَة , romanized :  Abū Ḥanīfa ; September 699–767)

5846-665: Was a Muslim scholar , jurist , theologian , ascetic , and eponym of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence , which remains the most widely practiced to this day. His school predominates in Central and South Asia , Turkey , the Balkans , Russia , and some parts of the Arab world . Born to a Muslim family in Kufa , Abu Hanifa traveled to the Hejaz region of Arabia in his youth, where he studied in

5925-621: Was a teacher of Imam al-Shafi'i , who in turn was a teacher of Sunni Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal ), Imam Abu Hanifa was a student of Ja'far al-Sadiq , who was a descendant of the Islamic nabi ( prophet ) Muhammad . Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni fiqh are connected to Ja'far from the bayt (household) of Muhammad, whether directly or indirectly. In one hadith , Abu Hanifa once said about Imam Ja'far: "I have not seen anyone with more knowledge than Ja'far ibn Muhammad." However, in another hadith, Abu Hanifa said: "I met with Zayd (Ja'far's uncle) and I never saw in his generation

6004-533: Was actually buried. The historian al-Khatib said that for a full 20 days people performed funeral prayers for him. Many years later, the Abu Hanifa Mosque was built in the Adhamiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad . Abu Hanifa also supported the cause of Zayd ibn Ali and Ibrahim al Qamar, both Alid Zaydi Imams. The structures of the tombs of Abu Hanifa and Abdul Qadir Gilani were destroyed by Shah Ismail of

6083-482: Was an easy matter for Anan to say, because the majority of them were opposed to the rabbis . Complying with this advice, Anan defended himself in the presence of the caliph Al-Mansur, who granted his favor. The story so closely fits polemical clichés about the personal motives of "heretics" that it is open to grave doubt. Moreover, Leon Nemoy notes, " Natronai , scarcely ninety years after Anan's secession, tells us nothing about his aristocratic (Davidic) descent or about

6162-476: Was born at least 60 years after the death of Muhammad, but during the time of the first generation of Muslims, some of whom lived on until Abu Hanifa's youth. Anas ibn Malik, Muhammad's personal attendant, died in 93 AH and another companion, Abul Tufail Amir bin Wathilah, died in 100 AH, when Abu Hanifa was at least 20 years old. The author of al-Khairat al-Hisan collected information from books of biographies and cited

6241-434: Was concerned with who should succeed Ibrahim al-Nakha'i after his death in 96 AH. This concern would have only arisen if he was older than 19, since it is considered he only took his religious studies seriously after then. If Abu Hanifa was born in 80 AH, Abu Hanifa would have been 16 at the time of al-Nakhai's death. Abu Hanifa is thought to be of Persian ancestry. However, he has also been stated to have descended from

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