Flag of the Emirate of Ha'il, 1835 to 1920

Al Rasheed, the House of Rashid, or the House of Rasheed (Arabic: آل رشيد‎ Āl Rashid or Alrasheed) were a historic dynasty of the Arabian Peninsula, and the most formidable enemies of the House of Saud in Nejd. They were centered in Ha'il, a city in northern Nejd that derived its wealth from being on the route of the Hajj, there was a city known for its trading, which absorbed many of the travelers that were bound to Mekkah. The rulers of this city were the sons of Abdullah Bin Rasheed.

The Al Rasheed derived their name from the grandfather of Abdullah, who was named Rasheed. The first " amir " (Prince) Abdullah Ibn Rasheed was the first to begin the establishment of the Emirate of Ha'il. The Rasheedi amirs cooperated closely with the Ottoman Empire. However, this cooperation became problematic as the Ottoman empire lost popularity.

As with many Arab ruling dynasties, the lack of a generally accepted rule of succession was a recurrent problem with the Rasheedi rule. The internal dispute normally centered on whether succession to the position of amir should be horizontal (i.e. to a brother) or vertical (to a son). These internal divisions within the family led to bloody infighting. In the last years of the nineteenth century six Rasheedi leaders died violently. Nevertheless, The Al Rasheed Family still ruled and fought with each other hand in hand against Ibn Saud.

During the first twenty years of the 20th century the Arabian Peninsula saw a long-running series of wars as the Saudis and their allies sought to unite the peninsula under their rule. While the Al Rasheed rallied the majority of other tribes to their side the effort proved futile, and by 1921 Ha'il was captured and given to Ibn Saud's army by the British command. Ibn Saud had the upper hand and defense mechanisms provided to him by Great Britain.

Some members of the Rasheed family left the country and went into voluntary exile, mostly to Iraq. By the 1990s only a handful were still outside Saudi Arabia.

Amirs of the House of Rasheed[link]

Rashidi rule at its height

1. ʿAbdullah bin Rashīd (Arabic: عبدالله بن رشيد‎), (1836-48). Abdullah came to power after leading a revolt (together with his brother prince ʿUbayd Al Rashīd) against the ruler of Ha'il, Muhammad bin Ali, who was a fellow member of the Jaafar lineage. As a leader, Abdullah was praised for bringing peace and stability both to Ha'il and to the surrounding region. Abdullah demanded from his brother prince ʿUbayd an ahd (covenant) according to which succession to the office of amir would remain in Abdullah's line.
2. Talāl bin ʿAbdullah (Arabic: طلال بن عبدالله‎), (1848–68). The son of Abdullah. Talal was known for his "urban" interests. During his rule the Barzan Palace in Ha'il was completed. He established regular trade connections with Iraq, and expanded the Rashidi sphere of influence:

   "The inhabitants of Kaseem, weary of Wahhabee tyranny, turned their eyes towards Telal, who had already given a generous and inviolable asylum to the numerous political exiles of that district. Secret negotiations took place, and at a favourable moment the entire uplands of that province—after a fashion not indeed peculiar to Arabia—annexed themselves to the kingdom of Shommer by universal and unanimous suffrage." (William Gifford Palgrave, 1865: 129.)

   Talal was considered relatively tolerant towards foreigners, including traders in Ha'il:

   "Many of these traders belonged to the Shia sect, hated by some Sunni, doubly hated by the Wahabees. But Telal [sic] affected not to perceive their religious discrepansies, and silenced all murmurs by marks of special favour towards these very dissenters, and also by the advantages which their presence was not long in procuring for the town". (William Gifford Palgrave 1865: 130.)

   In the 1860s internal disputes in the House of Saud allowed a Rashidi/Ottoman alliance to oust them. The Rashidi occupied the Saudi capital of Riyadh in 1865 and forced the leaders of the House of Saud into exile. Talal later died in a shooting incident which has been termed "mysterious". Charles Doughty, in his book Travels in Arabia Deserta, writes that Talal committed suicide. Talal left seven sons, but the oldest, Bandar, was only 18 or 20 when his father died.
3. Mutʿib bin ʿAbdullah (Arabic: متعب بن عبدالله‎), (1868–9). A younger brother of Talal, he was supported by senior members of the Rashid family and the sheikhs of the Shammar sections. After only a year he was shot and killed in the Barzan Palace by his nephew and next amir, Bandar. Doughty's version of the events is that Bandar and Badr, the second-oldest son, cast a silver bullet to kill their uncle because they knew he wore an amulet that protected him against lead.
4. Bandar bin Talāl (Arabic: بندر بن طلال‎), (1869). Ruled for only a short time before he was killed by his uncle, Muhammed, the brother of Mutʿib. Bandar reportedly married his uncle's widow and had a son by her.
5. Muhammed bin ʿAbdullah (Arabic: محمد بن عبدالله‎), (1869–97) A confrontation outside Ha'il with his nephew, the young Amir Bandar, ended with Muhammed killing Bandar. Muhammed then continued his journey to Ha'il and announced himself as the new amir. In order to prevent the possibility of revenge, Muhammed gave orders for the execution of all of Bandar's brothers (the sons of Talal), Bandar's cousins (the children of Talal's sister), and their slaves and servants. Only one of Talal's sons, Naif, survived. In spite of the inauspicious beginning, his rule turned out to be the longest in the history of the Rashidi dynasty. His rule became "a period of stability, expansion and prosperity" (ref.: p. 61, Al Rasheed). His expansion reached al-Jawf and Palmyra to the north, and Tayma and Khaybar to the west. In 1891, after a rebellion, ʿAbd al-Rahman bin Faysal bin Turki Al Saud left Riyadh. The Saud family, including the ten year old Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, went into exile in Kuwait.
6. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz bin Mutʿib (Arabic: عبدالعزيز بن متعب‎), (1897–1906). A son of Mutʿib, the third amir, he was adopted by his uncle Muhammed, the fifth amir, and brought up to be his heir. After Muhammed died of natural causes, Abd al-ʿAziz succeeded him unopposed. However Rashidi rule was insecure as their Ottoman allies were unpopular and weakening. In 1904 the young Ibn Saud, the future founder of Saudi Arabia, returned from exile with a small force and retook Riyadh. Abd al-ʿAziz died in the battle of Rawdat Muhanna with Ibn Saud in 1906.
7. Mutʿib bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (Arabic: متعب بن عبدالعزيز‎), (1906–07). Succeeded his father as amir. However, he was not able to win support of the whole family, and within a year he was killed by Sultan bin Hammud.
8. Sultān bin Hammūd (Arabic: سلطان بن حمود‎), (1907–08). A grandson of Ubayd (the brother of the first amir), he was criticized because he ignored the ahd (covenant) between his grandfather and the first amir. He was unsuccessful in fighting Ibn Saud, and was killed by his own brothers.
9. Saʿūd bin Hammūd (Arabic: سعود بن حمود‎), (1908–10). Another grandson of Ubayd. Saʿud was killed by the maternal relatives of Saʿud bin ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, the 10th amir.
   

   

   Saud bin Abdul Aziz Rashid
10. Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (Arabic: سعود بن عبدالعزيز‎), (1910–20). A boy of 10 when he was made amir, his maternal relatives of the Al Sabhan family ruled as regents on his behalf until he came of age, based on the constitution of Emara. In 1920 he was assassinated by his cousin, Abdullah bin Talal (a brother of the 12th amir). Two of his widows remarried: Norah bint Hammud Al Sabhan became Ibn Saud's eight wife, and Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim of the Abde section of the Shammar tribe became Ibn Saud's ninth wife and the mother of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
11. ʿAbdullah bin Mutʿib (Arabic: عبدالله بن متعب‎), (1920–21). A son of the 7th amir, he surrendered to Ibn Saud, he was thirteen years old.
12. Muhammad bin Talāl (Arabic: محمد بن طلال‎), (1921). A grandson of Naif, the only surviving son of Talal, the 2nd Amir. Surrendered to Ibn Saud. One of the daughters of Muhammad bin Talal, Watfa, married Prince Musa'id bin Abdul Aziz, the fifteenth son of Ibn Saud. Prince Musa'id and Watfa became the parents of Prince Faisal bin Musa'id, the assassin of King Faisal.

There has been a tendency to attribute the development of the House of Rasheed to trading and commercial expansion, but recently documents have come to light which emphasise the significance of external pressures and the Rashidi's interaction with foreign governments and leaders.^[1]

See also[link]

• Jebel Shammar
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
• List of countries in 1919
• List of countries in 1922

References[link]

Madawi Al-Rasheed: Politics in an Arabian oasis. The Rashidi Tribal Dynasty. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, London & New York 1991 (based on a Ph.D. thesis presented to Cambridge University, 1988). ISBN 1-85043-320-8

Further reading[link]

Many foreign travellers visited the Rashidi amirs at Ha'il and described their impressions in journals and books, including:

• Georg Wallin (1854): Narrative of a Journey from Cairo to Medina and Mecca, by Suez, Arabia, Tawila, al-Jauf, Jublae, Hail and Negd in 1845, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol 24: 115-201. (Reprinted in Travels in Arabia, New York: Oleander Press, 1979.)
• William Gifford Palgrave (1865): Personal Narrative of a Year's Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia (1862-1863), vol. I, Macmillan & Co., London,
• Lady Anne Blunt (1881): A Pilgrimage to Nejd, The Cradle of the Arab Race: a Visit to the Court of the Arab Emir and `our Persian Campaign` (reprinted 1968)
• Charles Montagu Doughty (1888): Travels in Arabia Deserta. (Reprinted many times)
• Gertrude Bell (1907): The Desert and the Sown (republished 1987)
• D. G. Hogarth (1905): The Penetration of Arabia: a Record of Western Knowledge Concerning the Arabian Peninsula.
• Freeth, Zahra, and Winstone, H.V.F.: Explorers of Arabia from the Renaissance to the End of the Victorian Era, Allen & Unwin, London, 1978

External links[link]

• Al Rasheed on hukam.net, with pictures and flags. (Arabic)

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Hārūn al-Rashīd هارون الرشيد
Caliph of Baghdad
Reign	14 September 786 – 24 March 809 (&1000000000000002200000022 years, &10000000000000191000000191 days)
Predecessor	Al-Hadi
Successor	Al-Amin
Spouse	Zubaidah
Issue
al-Ma'mun al-Amin al-Mu'tasim al-Qasim
Dynasty	Abbasid
Father	Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi
Mother	Al-Khayzuran bint Atta
Born	(763-03-17)17 March 763 Rey, Iran
Died	24 March 809(809-03-24) (aged 46) Tus, Iran
Burial	Tus, Iran

Hārūn al-Rashīd (Arabic: هارون الرشيد‎; properly pronounced Hārūn ar-Rashīd; English: Aaron the Upright, Aaron the Just, or Aaron the Rightly Guided) (17 March 763 or February 766 – 24 March 809) was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph that encompassed modern Iraq. His birth date remains a point of discussion, though, as various sources give the dates from 763 to 766).

He ruled from 786 to 809, and his time was marked by scientific, cultural and religious prosperity. Art and music Hamd o Na'at also flourished significantly during his reign. He established the legendary library Bayt al-Hikma ("House of Wisdom").^{[citation needed]}

Since Harun was intellectually, politically and militarily resourceful, his life and the court over which he held sway have been the subject of many tales: some are factual but most are believed to be fictitious. An example of what is known to be factual is the story of the clock that was among various presents that Harun had sent to Charlemagne. The presents were carried by the returning Frankish mission that came to offer Harun friendship in 799. Charlemagne and his retinue deemed the clock to be a conjuration for the sounds it emanated and the tricks it displayed every time an hour ticked.^{[citation needed]} Among what is known to be fictional is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, which contains many stories that are fantasized by Harun's magnificent court and even Harun al-Rashid himself.^{[citation needed]}

The family of Barmakids which played a deciding role in establishing the Abbasid Caliphate declined gradually during his rule.

Life[link]

Hārūn was born in Rey. He was the son of al-Mahdi, the third Abbasid caliph (ruled 775–785), and al-Khayzuran, a former slave girl from Yemen and a woman of strong personality who greatly influenced affairs of state in the reigns of her husband and sons.

Hārūn was strongly influenced by the will of his mother in the governance of the empire until her death in 789. His vizier (chief minister) Yahya the Barmakid, Yahya's sons (especially Ja'far ibn Yahya), and other Barmakids generally controlled the administration.

The Barmakids were a Persian-Tajik family which dated back to the Barmak of Magi, who had become very powerful under al-Mahdi. Yahya had aided Hārūn in obtaining the caliphate, and he and his sons were in high favor until 798, when the caliph threw them in prison and confiscated their land. Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari dates this in 803 and lists various accounts for the cause: Yahya's entering the Caliph's presence without permission, Yahya's opposition to Muhammad ibn al Layth who later gained Harun's favour, Ja'far release of Yahya ibn Abdallah ibn Hasan whom Harun had imprisoned, the ostentatious wealth of the Barmakids and the alleged romantic relationship between Yahya's son and Harun's sister Abbasa.

During the reign of the Harun al-Rashid, the city of Baghdad began to flourish as a center of knowledge, culture and trade.

The latter allegation is specified in the following tale; Hārūn loved to have his own sister Abbasa and Ja'far with him at times of recreation. Since Muslim etiquette forbade their common presence, Hārūn had Ja'far marry Abbassa on the understanding that the marriage was purely nominal. Nonetheless, the two consummated the marriage. Some versions have it that she entered Ja'far's bedroom in the darkness, masquerading as one of his slave girls. A child given secret birth was sent by her to Mecca, but a maid, quarrelling with her mistress, made known the scandal. Hārūn, while on a pilgrimage in Mecca, heard the story and ascertained that the tale was probably true. On his return shortly after, he had Ja'far executed, whose body was dispatched to Baghdad, and there, divided in two, impaled on either side of the bridge. It stayed there for three years, when Harun, happening to pass through Baghdad from the East, gave command for the remains to be taken down and burned. On the death of Ja'far, his father and brother were both cast into prison.

This romantic story is highly doubted by Ibn Khaldun and most modern scholars.^[1] The fall of the Barmakids is far more likely due to their behaving in a manner that Harun found disrespectful (such as entering his court unannounced) and making decisions in matters of state without first consulting him.

Hārūn became caliph when he was in his early twenties. Before that, in 780 and again in 782, he had already noninally led campaigns against the Caliphate's traditional enemy, the Byzantine Empire. The latter expedition was a huge undertaking, and even reached the Asian suburbs of Constantinople. On the day of accession, his son al-Ma'mun was born, and al-Amin some little time later: the latter was the son of Zubaida, a granddaughter of al-Mansur (founder of the city of Baghdad); so he took precedence over the former, whose mother was a Persian slave-girl. He began his reign by appointing very able ministers, who carried on the work of the government so well that they greatly improved the condition of the people.^{[citation needed]}

A silver dirham minted in Madinat al-Salam (Bagdad) in 170 AH (786 CE). At the reverse, the inner marginal inscription says:" By order of the slave of God Harun Amir of Believers

It was under Hārūn ar-Rashīd that Baghdad flourished into the most splendid city of its period. Tribute was paid by many rulers to the caliph, and these funds were used on architecture, the arts and a luxurious life at court.

In 796, Hārūn decided to move his court and the government to Ar Raqqah at the middle Euphrates. Here he spent 12 years, most of his reign. Only once he returned to Baghdad for a short visit. Several reasons might have influenced the decision to move to ar-Raqqa. It was close to the Byzantine border. The communication lines via the Euphrates to Baghdad and via the Balikh river to the north and via Palmyra to Damascus were excellent. The agriculture was flourishing to support the new Imperial center. And from Raqqa any rebellion in Syria and the middle Euphrates area could be controlled. Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani pictures in his anthology of poems the splendid life in his court. In ar-Raqqah the Barmekids managed the fate of the empire, and there both heirs, al-Amin and al-Ma'mun grew up.

Due to the Thousand-and-One Nights tales, Harun al-Rashid turned into a legendary figure obscuring his true historic personality. In fact, his reign initiated the political disintegration of the Abbasid caliphate.^{[citation needed]} Syria was inhabited by tribes with Umayyad sympathies and remained the bitter enemy of the Abbasids while Egypt witnessed uprisings against Abbasids due to maladministration and arbitrary taxation. The Umayyads had been established in Spain in 755, the Idrisids in Morocco in 788, and the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia) in 800. Besides, unrest flared up in Yemen, and the Kharijites rose in rebellion in Daylam, Kerman, Fars and Sistan. Revolts also broke out in Khorasan, and al-Rashid waged many campaigns against the Byzantines.

For the administration of the whole empire, he fell back on his mentor and long time associate Yahya bin Khalid bin Barmak. Rashid appointed him as his vazier with full executive powers, and, for seventeen years, this man Yahya and his sons, served Rashid faithfully in whatever assignment he entrusted to them.^{[citation needed]}

Al-Rashid appointed Ali bin Isa bin Mahan as the governor of Khorasan. He tried to bring to heel the princes and chieftains of the region, and to reimpose the full authority of the central government on them. This new policy met with fierce resistance and provoked numerous uprisings in the region. A major revolt led by Rafeh bin Layth was started in Samarqand which forced Harun al-Rashid to move to Khorasan. He first removed and arrested Ali bin Isa bin Mahan but the revolt continued unchecked. Harun al-Rashid died very soon when he reached Sanabad village in Toos and was buried in the summer palace of Humaid bin Qahtabah, the former Abbasid governor in Khorasan, situated near the Sanabad village in the Toos region.

Al-Rashid virtually dismembered the empire by apportioning it between his two sons al-Amin and al-Ma'mun (with his third son, al-Qasim, being belatedly added after them). Very soon it became clear that by dividing the empire, Rashid had actually helped to set the opposing parties against one another, and had provided them with sufficient resources to become independent of each other.^{[citation needed]} After the death of Harun al-Rashid, civil war broke out in the empire between his two sons, al-Amin and al-Ma'mun.

Harun al-Rashid receiving a delegation sent by Charlemagne at his court

Both Einhard and Notker the Stammerer refer to envoys travelling between Harun's and Charlemagne's courts, amicable discussions concerning Christian access to the Holy Land and the exchange of gifts. Notker mentions Charlemagne sent Harun Spanish horses, colourful Frisian cloaks and impressive hunting dogs. In 802 Harun sent Charlemagne a present consisting of silks, brass candelabra, perfume, balsam, ivory chessmen, a colossal tent with many-colored curtains, an elephant named Abul-Abbas, and a water clock that marked the hours by dropping bronze balls into a bowl, as mechanical knights—one for each hour—emerged from little doors which shut behind them. The presents were unprecedented in Western Europe and may have influenced Carolingian art.

When the Byzantine empress Irene was deposed, Nikephoros I became emperor and refused to pay tribute to Harun, saying that Irene should have been receiving the tribute the whole time. News of this angered Harun, who wrote a message on the back of the Roman emperor's letter and said "In the name of God the most merciful, From Amir al-Mu'minin Harun al-Rashid, commander of the faithful, to Nikephoros, dog of the Romans. Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt behold my reply". After campaigns in Asia Minor, Nikephoros was forced to conclude a treaty, with humiliating terms.^[2][3]

Harun made the pilgrimage to Mecca several times, e.g., 793, 795, 797, 802 and last in 803. Tabari concludes his account of Harun's reign with these words: "It has been said that when Harun al-Rashid died, there were nine hundred million odd (dirhams) in the state treasury."

Al-Rashid sent embassies to the Chinese Tang dynasty and established good relations with them.^[4][5] He was called "A-lun" in the Chinese T'ang Annals.^[6]

In 808, Harun went to settle the insurrection of Rafi ibn Leith in Transoxania, became ill, and died. He was buried under the palace of Hamid ibn Qahtabi, the governor of Greater Khorasan, Iran. The location later became known as Mashhad ("The Place of Martyrdom") because of the martyrdom of Imam ar-Ridha in 818.

Anecdotes[link]

Many anecdotes attached themselves to the person of Harun al-Rashid in the centuries following his rule. Saadi of Shiraz inserted a number of them into his Gulistan, in one telling how Harun enjoined his son to forgiveness.

Al-Masudi relates a number of interesting anecdotes in The Meadows of Gold illuminating the character of this caliph. For example, he recounts Harun's delight when his horse came in first, closely followed by al-Ma'mun's, at a race Harun held at Raqqa. Al-Masudi tells the story of Harun setting his poets a challenging task. When others failed to please him, Miskin of Medina succeeded superbly well. The poet then launched into a moving account of how much it had cost him to learn that song. Harun laughed saying he knew not which was more entertaining, the song or the story. He rewarded the poet.^[7]

There is also the tale of Harun asking Ishaq ibn Ibrahim to keep singing. The musician did until the caliph fell asleep. Then, strangely, a handsome young man appeared, snatched the musician's lute, sang a very moving piece (al-Masudi quotes it), and left. On awakening and being informed of this, Harun said Ishaq ibn Ibrahim had received a supernatural visitation.

Harun, like a number of caliphs, is given an anecdote connecting a poem with his death. Shortly before he died, he is said to have been reading some lines by Abu al-Atahiya about the transitory nature of the power and pleasures of this world.

Popular culture and references[link]

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem which started

  One day Haroun Al-Raschid read
  A book wherein the poet said
  Where are the kings and where the rest
  Of those who once the world possessed?

• O. Henry uses this character in his theme "Turning the tables on Haroun al Raschid."
• Alfred Tennyson wrote a poem in his youth entitled Recollections Of The Arabian Nights. Every stanza (except the last one) ends with "of good Haroun Alraschid".
• Harun al-Rashid was a main figure and character in several of the stories in some of the oldest versions of the One Thousand and One Nights.
• Hārūn ar-Rashīd figures throughout James Joyce's Ulysses, in a dream of Stephen Dedalus, one of the protagonists. Stephen's efforts to recall this dream continue throughout the novel, culminating in the novel's fifteenth episode, wherein some characters also take on the guise of Hārūn.
• Harun al-Rashid is also celebrated in a 1923 poem by W.B. Yeats, "The Gift of Harun al-Rashid".
• A story of one of Harun's wanderings provides the climax to the narrative game of titles at the end of Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler (1979). In Calvino's story, Harun wanders at night, only to be drawn into a conspiracy in which he is selected to assassinate the Caliph Harun-al-Rashid.
• The two protagonists of Salman Rushdie's 1990 novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories are Haroun and his father Rashid Khalifa.
• In the Sten science fiction novels by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch, the character of the Eternal Emperor uses the name "H. E. Raschid" when incognito; this is confirmed, in the final book of the series, as a reference to the character from Burton's translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night.
• In Roald Dahl's story The BFG, the Sultan of Baghdad says he had an uncle called Caliph Harun al-Rashid who disappeared with his wife and ten children.
• The movie The Golden Blade (1952), starring Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie depicts the adventures of Harun who uses a magic sword to free a fairy-tale Bagdad from Jafar, the evil usurper of the throne. After he finally wins the hand of princess Khairuzan she awards him the title Al-Rashid.
• The comic book The Sandman features a story (issue 50, "Ramadan") set in the world of the Arabian Nights, with Hārūn ar-Rashīd as the protagonist. It highlights his historical and mythical role as well as his discussion of the transitory nature of power. The story is included in the collection The Sandman: Fables and Reflections.
• Haroun El Poussah in the French comic strip Iznogoud is a satirical version of Hārūn ar-Rashīd.
• In Quest for Glory II, the sultan who adopts the Hero as his son is named Hārūn ar-Rashīd. He is often seen prophesying on the streets of Shapeir as The Poet Omar.
• Harun al-Rashid appears as the leader of Arabia in the video game Civilization 5.
• Future US President Theodore Roosevelt, when he was a New York Police Department Commissioner, was called in the local newspapers "Haroun-al-Roosevelt".

See also[link]

• Waqifite Shia

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• al-Masudi, The Meadows of Gold, The Abbasids, transl. Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone, Kegan paul, London and New York, 1989
• al-Tabari "The History of al-Tabari" volume XXX "The 'Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium" transl. C.E. Bosworth, SUNY, Albany, 1989.
• Clot, André (1990). Harun Al-Rashid and the Age of a Thousand and One Nights. New Amsterdam Books. ISBN 0-941533-65-4. 
• Einhard and Notker the Stammerer, "Two Lives of Charlemagne," transl. Lewis Thorpe, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1977 (1969)
• John H. Haaren, Famous Men of the Middle Ages [1]
• William Muir, K.C.S.I., The Caliphate, its rise, decline, and fall [2]
• Theophanes, "The Chronicle of Theophanes," transl. Harry Turtledove, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1982
• Norwich, John J. (1991). Byzantium: The Apogee. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.. ISBN 0-394-53779-3. 
• Zabeth, Hyder Reza (1999). Landmarks of Mashhad. Alhoda UK. ISBN 964-444-221-0. 

The starting statement that he was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph that encompassed modern Iraq is very incomplete because abbaside caliphate during haroon's reign encompassed at least modern day Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and parts of northern Africa.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Harun al-Rashid

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Harun al-Rashid

• Brentjes, Sonja (2007). "Hārūn al‐Rashīd". In Thomas Hockey et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 474–5. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Harun_al-Rashid_BEA.htm.  (PDF version)
• Page at Islam on Line (Arabic)

Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid Alafasy (Arabic: الشيخ مشاري بن راشد العفاسي‎; born in Kuwait in September 5, 1976) is a Kuwaiti national, a qari and a munshid. He is the Imam of Masjid Al-Kabir Grand Mosque (Kuwait) in Kuwait City, and leads the taraweeh prayers in Ramadan every year.

Background[link]

Sheikh al-ʿAfāsī studied at the College of the Quran and Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah and specialized in the ten readings and translations of the Quran. Also, he has been certified by a number of scholars of Quran. He makes frequent appearances on television. Many of his recitations can be also found on YouTube or MukminTV.

On March 24, 2007 Sheikh Mishary traveled to the United States of America and visited three mosques: Islamic Center of Irvine in California, Islamic Institute of Orange County in California, and the ICD (Islamic Center of Detroit) in Michigan. The audio tapes of his recitations during his visit to America can be found on his website, and also on YouTube or MukminTV. On October 25, 2008, Sheikh Mishary was awarded the first Arab Creativity Oscar by the Arab Creativity Union in Egypt.^[1] The event was sponsored by the General Secretary of the League of Arab States Mr. Amr Mousa as a recognition of Sheikh Mishary Alafasy role in promoting Islamic principles and teachings utilizing the modern technology to deliver the peaceful message of Islam. On September 2009, Sheikh Mishary traveled to the ICOI or Islamic Center of Irvine, but had to leave early due to family emergency.

There are two Space channels for Sheikh Meshary, The first is Alafasy TV and another more recent channel, Alafasy Q. Samples of his Quranic recitations and nasheeds can be found on the Alafsy official website. In August 2009, Sheikh Alafasy released a nasheed video called "Ramadan" under the Zain label, in which he sings in Arabic, English, and French. A voice-only recording, it was positively received in the Muslim world with television stations broadcasting throughout the month. The video can be viewed through YouTube.^[2]

During the month of Ramadan, in 2010, Al-Afasy returned to the ICOI to lead the taraweeh prayers.

Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid Al-Afasy or Mishary Rashid Ghareeb Mohammed Rashed Al-Afasy is a Kuwaiti international-renewed reciter or Qari. He was born in Kuwait on September 5th, 1976 (Sunday 11th of Ramadan 1396 H).

Mishary Rashid Al-Afasy made his Quran studies in the College of the Holy Quran and his Islamic Studies about “the ten readings and translations of the Holy Quran'’ at the Islamic University of Madinah (Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia).

Mishary Al Afasy is now the Imam of Masjid Al-Kabir (Great Mosque) in Kuwait City and leads the Taraweh prayers of Ramadan in the same Mosque.

Other than an outstanding Qur’an reciter, Mishary Rashid Al Afasy is an acclaimed chanter with a beautiful, melodious voice. His tracks “Ossalli Alayk”, “Anta Rahmani”, “Ara Aldonya” were very well welcomed by a large public. His “Asmae Allah Al Hosna” is an inescapable of religious songs.

Sheikh Alafasy is married and has two daughters. He's also nicknamed Abu Nora.

Family[link]

He is married, has two daughters and one son. He is referred to by the kunya-- "Abu Rashid".

Anasheed Albums[link]

1. Uyoon Al Afaaee (2004)
2. Laysa Al Gharib (2005)
3. Haneeni (2006)
4. Qalbi Sagheer (2007)
5. Zekrayat (2008)
6. Ramadan (2009)
7. Anaqeed(2010)
8. Daughters of the Wind (2011)

See also[link]

• Quran
• Qirat
• Tajweed

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Alafasy's Ramadan nasheed, August 2009
• Recitation by Sheikh Mishary Rashed Al-afasy
• Tala al Badru Sheikh Mishary Alafasy Nasheed
• Alafasy on Qaree.com
• Recitation Of Mishari
• Sheikh Mishary Rashed Alafasy
• Alafasy Albums
• Islamway Radio Quran Recitation
• SunniPath Library – Quran Recitation by Mishary Rashed al-Efasy
• AlafasyTalk
• Thealif.com – Listen Quran online

v t e Recitors of the Holy Quran Sheikh Muhammad Rifat Sheikh Ali As-Suwaisy Sheikh Abdul Basit 'Abd us-Samad Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim Sheikh Mohamed Mahmoud Buheiri Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid Alafasy Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais Muhammad Farooq Yacine Eldjazairi Zakaria Badat Portal:Quran Portal:Islam