Famous Muslims Personalities from the Past
al-Ghazali Abu Hamid
Abu Hamid Ibn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Tusi al-Shafi’i al-Ghazali was born in 1058 in Tus, Khorasan, Iran. He was one of the most prominent and influential philosophers, theologians, jurists, and mystics of his time. His father died while he was still very young but he had the opportunity of getting education in the prevalent curriculum at Nishapur and Baghdad... Continue Reading
al-Mansur Abi Amr
Abu ‘Amir, better known by his honorific title, al-Mansur (meaning “the Victorious.” Almanzor in Spanish) was a noble of Arab background from near Algeciras. Al-Mansur is best remembered for the numerous, devastating raids (razzias). Some 57 in all directed against the Christian north… Continue Reading
Ibn Rushd
Abu’l Waleed Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Rushd, known as Averroes in the West, was born in 1126 in Cordoba, Spain. His grandfather was well versed in Fiqh (MaIiki School) and was also the Imam of the Jamia Mosque of Cordoba (Great Mosque of Cordoba). The young Ibn Rushd received his education in Cordoba and devoting most of his time to learned pursuits… Continue Reading
Mansa Musa
Musa I was born in 1280 into a family of rulers and he was 10th mansa (ruler). His brother, Mansa Abu Bakr II, ruled the empire until 1312 and Musaserved as deputy. Abu Bakr went missing on a voyage he took by sea to find the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. He reportedly embarked on an expedition with a fleet of 2,000 ships and thousands of men, women and slaves. They sailed off, never to return...Continue Reading
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. at 6:35 p.m. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky to Cassius Clay Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay. Cassius Clay Sr. was a muralist, but painted signs for a living. Odessa Clay worked as a housecleaner and a cook. Two years after Muhammad Ali was born, the couple had another son, Rudolph (“Rudy”)… Continue Reading
Muhammad Assad
Muhammad Assad was born is Lemberg, Galicia (now part of Ukraine). Muhammad Assad was born on 2 July 1900 as Leopold Weiss to a Jewish family.
From Weiss’s own account, his roots in Judaism were deeper on his father’s side. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Weiss, had been one of a succession of Orthodox rabbis in Czernovitz in Bukovina. His grandfather wanted him to be a rabbi but young Leopold Weiss had plans of his own… Continue Reading
Omar Mukhtar
Omar Mukhtar was from the tribe of Mnifa, born in a small town called Zawia Janzou. His date of birth is uncertain, somewhere between 1856 and 1862. He was a teacher of the Quran by profession.
In October of 1911, Italian reached Tripoli and attack the city. After severe bombardment, they managed to take the city. The Italians thought that they have conquered the nation but their troubles were not over yet. In 1922, Omar Mukhtar reorganized the Mujahideen and re-ignited the resistance against Italy… Continue Reading
Sheikh Saadi
Saadi was buried inside a village just outside Shiraz but now it is part of the city. The mausoleum of Saadi is also known as Sadiyeh. His full name was Abu-Muhammad Muslih al-Din bin Abdallah Shirazi, to many he is known as Sheikh Saadi or Saadi Shirazi… Continue Reading
Zheng He
Zheng He was born a second son of a Muslim family in Kunyang (Yunan province – southern China). He was originally named Ma Sanpao, ‘Ma’ is known in China as short for “Muhammad”, indicating Zheng of a Muslim background. Both his father and his grandfather were Hajjis… Continue Reading