Amir al-Mu'minin (Arabic: أَمِيرُ المُؤمنين, romanized: ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn) or Commander of the Believers or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Islamic community.
Amir al-Mu'minin (Arabic: أَمِيرُ المُؤمنين, romanized: ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn) or Commander of the Believers or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Islamic community.
Abdülmecid II or Abdulmejid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجید ثانی, romanized: ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i sânî; Turkish: II. Abdülmecid; 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944), commonly known as Abdülmecid Efendi, was the last Ottoman caliph, the only caliph of the Republic of Turkey, and head of the Osmanoğlu family from 1926 to 1944. Unlike previous caliphs, he used the title Halîfe-i Müslimîn ("Caliph of the Muslims"), instead of Emîrü'l-Mü'minîn ("Commander of the Faithful").
He was also a relatively famous artist and a Turkish aesthete, interested in art, mainly literature, painting, and music, and ways to promote it in Turkey. After the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate, he was succeeded for several months by Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif and Emir of Mecca and King of the Hejaz, who was mostly recognized in the Arab world.
Yusuf ibn Tashfin, also Tashafin, Teshufin, (Arabic: يوسف بن تاشفين ناصر الدين بن تالاكاكين الصنهاجي, romanized: Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn Naṣr al-Dīn ibn Tālākakīn al-Ṣanhājī; reigned c. 1061 – 1106) was a Sanhaja leader of the Almoravid Empire. He cofounded the city of Marrakesh and led the Muslim forces in the Battle of Sagrajas.
Yusuf ibn Tashfin came to al-Andalus from the Maghreb to help the Muslims fight against Alfonso VI of León, eventually achieving victory in Sagrajas and promoting an Islamic legal system in the region. In 1061 he took the title Amir al-Muslimin "Leader of the Muslims", recognizing the suzerainty of the Abbasid caliph as Amir al-Mu'minin "Leader of the Believers".
The Sokoto Caliphate (Arabic: دولة الخلافة في بلاد السودان, literally: Caliphate in the Lands of Sudan), also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Fulani War. The boundaries of the caliphate extended to parts of present-day Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. By 1837, the Caliphate had a population of 10-20 million people, becoming the most populous empire in West Africa. It was dissolved when the British, French, and Germans conquered the area in 1903 and annexed it into the newly established Northern Nigeria Protectorate, Senegambia and Niger and Kamerun (the latter during the Adamawa Wars) respectively.
The caliphate emerged after the Hausa King Yunfa attempted to assassinate Usman Dan Fodio in 1802. To escape persecution, Usman and his followers migrated towards Gudu in February 1804. Usman's followers pledged allegiance to Usman as the Commander of the Faithful (Amīr al-Muʾminīn). By 1808, the Sokoto Caliphate had gained control over Hausaland and several surrounding states. Under the sixth caliph Ahmadu Rufai, the state reached its maximum extent, covering a large swath of West Africa. In 1903, the twelfth and last caliph Attahiru was assassinated by British forces, marking the end of the caliphate.
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab (Arabic: معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the Reconquista and the medieval history of Spain. The Christian forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, were joined by the armies of his rivals, Sancho VII of Navarre and Peter II of Aragon, in battle against the Almohad Muslim rulers of the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. The caliph al-Nasir (Miramamolín in the Spanish chronicles) led the Almohad army, made up of people from all over the Almohad Caliphate.
Navas de Tolosa (also called Las Navas) is a town and hamlet in southern Spain, in the municipality of La Carolina, in the province of Jaén, in the eastern part of the Sierra Morena region, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the border with the province of Ciudad Real.
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada (Pashto; Dari: هبت الله آخندزاده, born 19 October 1967), also alternatively spelled as Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan cleric who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan under the Taliban government. He has led the Taliban since 2016, and came to power with its victory over U.S.-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. A highly reclusive figure, he has almost no digital footprint except for an unverified photograph and several audio recordings of speeches.
Akhundzada is well known for his fatwas on Taliban matters. Unlike many Taliban leaders, Akhundzada did not have any experience in actual combat, although one of his sons was a suicide bomber. He was an Islamic judge of the Sharia courts of the 1996–2001 Taliban government. He was chosen to lead the Taliban’s shadow court system at the start of the Taliban insurgency, and remained in that post until being elected supreme leader of the Taliban in May 2016. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, backed Akhundzada as the Amir al-Mu'minin, which strengthened Akhundzada's jihadist reputation among the Taliban's allies. In 2019, Akhundzada appointed Abdul Ghani Baradar to lead peace talks with the U.S., which led to the 2020 signing of the Doha Agreement that cleared the way for the full withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan.
Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (18 June 1869 – 17 February 1948) (or Imam Yahya) was the first king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen from 1918 until his assassination in 1948. He became Imam of the Zaydis, a branch of Shia Islam, in 1904 after the death of his father, Muhammad Al-Mansur, and Imam of Yemen in 1918. His name and title in full was "His Majesty Amir al-Mu'mimin al-Mutawakkil 'Ala Allah Rab ul-Alamin Imam Yahya bin al-Mansur Bi'llah Muhammad Hamidaddin, Imam and Commander of the Faithful" (the Prince of the Believers, He who Relies on God, the Lord of the Universe).
Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din was born on Friday 18 June 1869 in Sanaa into the Hamidaddin branch of the al-Qasimi dynasty who ruled most of Yemen proper and the southern region of present-day Saudi Arabia for over 900 years. When Yahya became Imam, he effectively ruled over the mountainous areas of what will be North Yemen. However, the Ottomans who made claims in the area did not recognize the rule of the Imams of Yemen since their entry into the region. He spent the early years of his reign attempting to expel the Ottoman presence, who withdrew only after their defeat in World War I.