Modern Era
18th Century CE - Present
48 articles: 35 persons, 5 institutions, 5 concepts, 2 places, 1 event
The contemporary period of Islamic history, including reform movements, independence struggles, and global Muslim communities.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: The People's President and Missile Man of India
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam served as India's eleventh President (2002–2007) and was a principal architect of the country's missile programme and a coordinator of the 1998 nuclear tests. A DRDO and ISRO scientist, he became a symbol of Indian scientific aspiration.
Abadi Bano Begum (Bi Amma): Mother of the Khilafat Movement
Abadi Bano Begum (1852-1924), known affectionately as Bi Amma, was the mother of the Ali Brothers and one of the first Muslim women to enter Indian nationalist politics, mobilizing women for the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements while observing purdah.
Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda
A Syrian Hanafi scholar and editor whose critical editions of works of law and hadith brought many neglected texts into print. He introduced modern South Asian hadith scholarship to Arab readers and held one of the widest networks of hadith transmission of his generation.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan: The Frontier Gandhi and Apostle of Non-Violence
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890–1988), known as Badshah Khan and the Frontier Gandhi, was a Pashtun independence leader and apostle of non-violence who founded the Khudai Khidmatgar movement. A close ally of Gandhi, he opposed Partition and received the Bharat Ratna in 1987.
Ali Khamenei
An Iranian Shia cleric who was the second Supreme Leader of Iran, holding the office from 1989 until his death in 2026. He had earlier served as Tehran's Friday prayer leader and as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989.
Ali Musliyar: Religious Leader of the Malabar Rebellion
Ali Musliyar (c. 1861-1922) was an Islamic religious leader in Malabar, imam of the Tirurangadi mosque from 1907 and the principal religious authority of the Malabar Rebellion of 1921-22. His role in the uprising remains contested in Indian historiography. He was executed in February 1922.
Aligarh Muslim University: From the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College to a Central University
Aligarh Muslim University grew out of the school founded by Syed Ahmad Khan in 1875, which became the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1877 and a university by Act of the Indian legislature in 1920. It was the central institution of the Aligarh Movement.
Aruna Asaf Ali: The Grand Old Lady of the Indian Independence Movement
Aruna Asaf Ali (1909-1996), born Aruna Ganguly, hoisted the Indian flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan on 9 August 1942, marking the start of the Quit India Movement. She spent four years underground, became Delhi's first mayor in 1958, and was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1997.
Asaf Ali: Barrister, Freedom Fighter, and India's First Ambassador to America
Asaf Ali (1888-1953) was an Indian barrister and Congress leader who defended Bhagat Singh and the INA officers at the Red Fort trial. He served in the Interim Government of 1946, became independent India's first Ambassador to the United States in 1947, and was Governor of Odisha to 1952.
Ashfaqulla Khan: Poet and Revolutionary of the Kakori Conspiracy
Ashfaqulla Khan (1900-1927) was an Indian Muslim revolutionary and poet who co-organized the 1925 Kakori train robbery with Ram Prasad Bismil to fund the anti-colonial Hindustan Republican Association, and was executed by the British for his role in it.
Begum Hazrat Mahal: Regent of Awadh in the Revolt of 1857
Begum Hazrat Mahal (c. 1820-1879) was a consort of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh who, after the British annexation of 1856, became regent for her son Birjis Qadr and led the resistance at Lucknow during the Revolt of 1857. She refused all terms and died in exile in Nepal.
Brigadier Mohammad Usman: The Hero of Naushera
Brigadier Mohammad Usman (1912–1949) was a distinguished Indian Army officer who chose to serve India after the 1947 Partition. He commanded the 50th Parachute Brigade in the First Kashmir War and was killed at Tithwal in 1949. Awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, he is remembered as the Hero of Naushera.
Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid: Param Vir Chakra
Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid (1933-1965) of 4 Grenadiers destroyed several Pakistani Patton tanks with a jeep-mounted recoilless gun at the Battle of Asal Uttar in 1965. Killed in action, he was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest gallantry award.
Darul Uloom Deoband: The Seminary and the School of Thought
Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary founded in northern India in 1866 or 1867 and the origin of the Deobandi school of thought. Its innovation was institutional: it carried the traditional religious sciences in the form of a modern school funded by public subscription.
Egypt: From Pharaonic Civilization to Modern Islamic State
Egypt's transformation from Pharaonic civilization through Islamic conquest to become a center of Islamic learning and modern Arab leadership, with Al-Azhar's enduring religious authority and pivotal role in Islamic history.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed: Lawyer, Freedom Fighter, and Fifth President of India
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977) was an Indian lawyer, freedom fighter, and statesman who served as the fifth President of India from 1974 until his death in office in 1977. A Congress member and cabinet minister, he is remembered partly for signing the 1975 proclamation of Emergency.
Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Comprehensive history of the decline and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire from the 19th century through World War I to the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923
Growth of Islamic Finance
Banking and financial services conducted according to Islamic law, which forbids interest and requires risk to be shared. From institutional beginnings in the 1960s the sector has grown into a multi-trillion-dollar industry serving Muslim and non-Muslim customers alike.
Hakim Ajmal Khan: Physician, Nationalist, and Champion of Indigenous Medicine
Hakim Ajmal Khan (1863-1927) was an Indian physician and nationalist who founded the Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College in Delhi, was the first Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, and presided over the Indian National Congress in 1921. A Unani practitioner from a family of court physicians.
Hamdard Laboratories (India): From Unani Clinic to National Institution
Hamdard Laboratories (India) is a Unani pharmaceutical company and welfare institution founded in Old Delhi in 1906 by Hakeem Hafiz Abdul Majeed. Converted into a waqf in 1948 under his son Hakeem Abdul Hameed, it produces Rooh Afza and established Jamia Hamdard university in Delhi.
Hasrat Mohani: The Revolutionary Poet of Indian Independence
Hasrat Mohani (1875-1951) was an Indian Muslim poet, journalist, and freedom fighter who coined the slogan 'Inquilab Zindabad' and was the first to demand complete independence for India, combining Urdu literary mastery with radical anti-colonial politics.
Islam in North America - Historical and Contemporary Overview
Islam has been present in North America for more than four centuries, beginning with enslaved West African Muslims. Some 3.45 million Muslims now live in the United States and 1.05 million in Canada, in communities formed by conversion and by immigration.
Islamic Banking and Financial Systems: Evolution and Principles
Islamic banking represents a comprehensive approach to finance based on Sharia principles, emphasizing ethical finance, risk-sharing, and asset-backed transactions while prohibiting interest (riba), creating alternative mechanisms that influence global economies.
Islamic Education in the Modern Era
Islamic learning from the nineteenth century to the present. The classical pattern of mosque school, madrasa and scholarly circle met colonial and state education systems, producing reform, new Islamic universities, and lasting debate over how the two should meet.
Islamic Ethiopia - Islam in the Horn of Africa
Islamic Ethiopia spans the history of Islam in the Horn of Africa, from the first Hijra of refuge in Christian Axum (615 CE), through sultanates like Ifat and Adal, to the Muslim communities that form about a third of modern Ethiopia, developing alongside an ancient Christian civilization.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani: The Revolutionary Pan-Islamist
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897 CE) was a revolutionary Islamic thinker and Pan-Islamist who advocated for Islamic unity, anti-colonialism, and reform. His ideas profoundly influenced modern Islamic political thought and inspired generations of reformers.
Jamia Millia Islamia: The National Muslim University
Jamia Millia Islamia was founded at Aligarh on 29 October 1920 by nationalist Muslim leaders and students who left the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College during the Non-Cooperation movement. It moved to Delhi in 1925, to Okhla in 1935, and became a central university by Act of Parliament in 1988.
Major General Shah Nawaz Khan: From the Indian National Army to the Indian Republic
Major General Shah Nawaz Khan (1914-1983) joined the Indian National Army after his capture at Singapore in 1942 and led its forces into north-eastern India. Tried for treason at the Red Fort in 1945 and reprieved, he later served four terms as a Congress Member of Parliament.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: Scholar, Theologian, and Architect of Indian Education
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888–1958) was a leading Islamic scholar and independence leader of the twentieth century. A theologian, journalist, and statesman, he served as president of the Indian National Congress and India's first Education Minister, shaping thought and modern India.
Modern Islamic History (1800-2024)
Islamic history from 1800 to the present: the weakening of the Ottoman and other Muslim empires, the period of European colonial rule, the independence movements that followed, the founding of the modern Muslim states, and the changes since.
Mohammad Ali Jauhar: The Voice of the Khilafat Movement
Mohammad Ali Jauhar (1878-1931) was an Indian Muslim leader, journalist, and orator who co-led the Khilafat Movement with his brother Shaukat Ali, forged a Hindu-Muslim alliance with Gandhi, and spent his final years advocating for Muslim political rights at the Round Table Conference in London.
Muhammad Abduh: Pioneer of Islamic Modernism
Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905 CE) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar and reformer who pioneered Islamic modernism. As Grand Mufti of Egypt, he reconciled Islamic teachings with modern thought and influenced generations of Muslim intellectuals.
Muhammad Ali Pasha - Founder of Modern Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849 CE) transformed Egypt into a regional power through military, economic, and administrative reforms. Founder of modern Egypt, he established a dynasty that ruled until 1952 and created the institutional foundations of the Egyptian state.
Muhammad Rafi Usmani
A Pakistani Hanafi jurist who led Darul Uloom Karachi as its president from 1986 until his death in 2022. Titled Grand Mufti, he served on Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology and wrote on zakat, on Hanafi law, and on the hadith commentary Fath al-Mulhim.
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
A Pakistani Hanafi jurist and writer on Islamic law, trained at Darul Uloom Karachi and in economics and law at Karachi and Punjab. He served on Pakistan's higher courts, completed the hadith commentary Fath al-Mulhim, and shaped the standards of modern Islamic finance.
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari: Physician, Nationalist, and Builder of Institutions
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (1880-1936) was an Indian physician and nationalist who presided over both the All India Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. Trained in Edinburgh and London, he led the Indian Medical Mission to Turkey in 1912 and was Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia.
Nana Asma'u - Scholar, Poet, and Educator
Nana Asma'u bint Usman dan Fodio was a 19th-century West African scholar, poet, and educator in the Sokoto Caliphate. Daughter of Usman dan Fodio, she wrote prolifically in Arabic, Fulfulde, and Hausa, and established an innovative women's education network across West Africa.
Nyai Ahmad Dahlan: Founder of Aisyiyah and Pioneer of Indonesian Women's Education
Nyai Ahmad Dahlan (born Siti Walidah, 1872-1946) was an Indonesian Islamic reformer who founded Aisyiyah, the women's wing of Muhammadiyah, pioneering girls' education and literacy programs across early twentieth-century Java and earning recognition as a National Hero of Indonesia.
Omar al-Mukhtar: The Lion of the Desert
Omar al-Mukhtar (1858-1931) was a Libyan resistance leader who fought Italian colonization for over twenty years. Known as the 'Lion of the Desert,' he became a symbol of anti-colonial resistance and Islamic steadfastness, leading guerrilla warfare until his capture and execution at age 73.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
An intergovernmental body of 57 member states across four continents, second in size only to the United Nations. Founded in 1969 after the arson attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, it acts as a collective voice for its members on shared political and religious concerns.
Shah Ahmad Shafi
A Bangladeshi scholar of hadith who led the seminary at Hathazari in Chittagong for more than three decades and chaired the country's Qawmi madrasa education board. Trained at Hathazari and Darul Uloom Deoband, he wrote a commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari.
Shaukat Ali: The Organizer of the Khilafat Movement
Shaukat Ali (1873-1938) was an Indian Muslim leader who co-led the Khilafat Movement with his brother Mohammad Ali Jauhar. Known as the organizational force behind the movement, he was instrumental in forging the Hindu-Muslim alliance with Gandhi and spent years imprisoned for his activism.
Shaykh al-Islam Husain Ahmad Madani: Scholar of Hadith and Advocate of Composite Nationalism
Husain Ahmad Madani (1879-1957) was an Indian scholar of hadith who taught in Medina, was interned by the British on Malta, and led Darul Uloom Deoband as Shaykh al-Hadith. His 1938 work Muttahida Qaumiyat aur Islam made him the foremost scholar opposing the demand for Pakistan.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: Reformer, Educator, and Architect of Muslim Modernity in India
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898) was an Indian Muslim reformer and educator who founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875, which became Aligarh Muslim University. His Aligarh Movement sought to reconcile Islamic faith with Western scientific education.
Surayya Tyabji: The Artist Behind India's National Flag
Surayya Tyabji (1919-1978) was an Indian artist from Hyderabad who, with her husband Badruddin Tyabji, worked on the final design of the Indian national flag in July 1947, replacing the Congress charkha with the Ashoka Chakra. She also drew the graphic version of the National Emblem.
Syed Mahmud: Nationalist, Legislator, and Founder of Jamia Millia Islamia
Syed Mahmud (1889-1971) was an Indian barrister and Congress leader from Bihar, a member of the Foundation Committee of Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920, General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, Education Minister of Bihar, and Union Minister of State for External Affairs.
Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji: Military Leader of the Malabar Rebellion
Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji (c. 1875-1922) was the military leader of the Malabar Rebellion of 1921-22, establishing a short-lived parallel government in the Ernad and Valluvanad taluks. He was captured and executed in January 1922. His characterisation remains contested.
Zakir Husain Khan: Educationist, Philosopher, and President of India
Dr. Zakir Husain Khan (1897–1969) was an educationist, philosopher, and statesman of independent India. A founder and Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, and the third President of India, he united Islamic humanism with modern democracy.