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In 1902, ABD AL-AZIZ bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud captured Riyadh and set out on a 30-year campaign to unify the Arabian Peninsula. In the 1930s, the discovery of oil transformed the country. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia acc...

In 1902, ABD AL-AZIZ bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud cap...

Independent from France in 1960, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation ofSenegambia in 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace ...

Independent from France in 1960, Senegal joined wi...

Since 1991, civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (well over one-third of the population), many of whom are now refugee...

Since 1991, civil war between the government and t...

Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for all but 10 years of this period (1972-82). The wars are rooted in northern eco...

Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governm...

Following the breakup of theOttoman Empire duringWorld War I, Syria was administered by the French until independence in 1946. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. Since 1976, Syrian troops have been stationed inLeban...

Following the breakup of theOttoman Empire duringW...

Tajikistan has experienced three changes in government and a five-year civil war since it gained independence in 1991 from theUSSR. A peace agreement among rival factions was signed in 1997, and implemented in 2000. The central government's less than...

Tajikistan has experienced three changes in govern...

Following independence fromFrance in 1956, President Habib BOURGUIBA established a strict one-party state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation. ...

Following independence fromFrance in 1956, Preside...

Background: Present-day Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of theOttoman Empire. Soon thereafter, the country instituted secular laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945Turkey joined the UN, and in 1952 it became a membe...

Background: Present-day Turkey was created in 1923...

Annexed byRussia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1925. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated....

Annexed byRussia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenist...

Background: The Trucial States of thePersian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th century treaties. In 1971, six of these states - Abu Zaby, 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn - mer...

Background: The Trucial States of thePersian Gulf ...

Background: Russia conquered Uzbekistan in the late 19th century. Stiff resistance to the Red Army after World War I was eventually suppressed and a socialist republic set up in 1924. During the Soviet era, intensive production of "white gold" (cotto...

Background: Russia conquered Uzbekistan in the lat...

Background: North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what becameSouth Yemen. Three years later, the south...

Background: North Yemen became independent of the ...

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir(A.S), had carried out his immortal message: he had spread knowledge and Islamic manners among people. Then Allah chose him to be His neighbor. He wanted him to...

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir(A.S), had carried out his i...

Birth and Imamate Imam Muhammad Baqir (pbuh) was born in the 57th year of the Hijra, on Friday the first day of the month of Rajab, in the city of...

Birth and Imamate Imam Muhammad Baqir (pbuh) was ...

The people carried the great body from al-Hamima.1 They gathered around it. They were shouting: "There is no god but Allah! Allah is Great!" They were happy to touch the...

The people carried the great body from al-Hamima.1...

Imam Abu Ja'far (al-Baqir), peace be on him, designated his son al-Sadiq, peace be on him, as an Imam. For al-Sadiq was the pride of the world. He was the...

Imam Abu Ja'far (al-Baqir), peace be on him, desig...

The Umayyads murdered the Imam, peace be on him. The reasons for that are as follows:

The Umayyads murdered the Imam, peace be on him. T...

Imam Abu Ja'far (al-Baqir), peace be on him, did not die a natural death. Rather, some sinful persons, who did not believe in Allah and the hereafter, gave him poison...

Imam Abu Ja'far (al-Baqir), peace be on him, did n...

The Imam felt the approach of his certain death. So, he hurried to his aunt, Fatima daughter of Imam al-Husayn, peace be on him. He announced his death to her,...

The Imam felt the approach of his certain death. S...

Some supplications which he said during his personal prayers have been reported on his authority. The following are some of them: O Allah, indeed, my enemy has followed his vigor,...

Some supplications which he said during his person...

Among his high morals was that he glorified the poor and raised their position lest the people should see the abasement of the need on them. The historians said: "He...

Among his high morals was that he glorified the po...