Islamic calendar See Muslim calendar
Islamic caste Any one of several units of social stratification among Muslims in India and Pakistan. Their development can be traced to the caste system of Hinduism and the tendency of Muslim converts from Hinduism to maintain social differences. The highest status is reserved for Muslim Arab immigrants, called ashraf. This level is itself divided into subgroups. The highest subgroup claims descent from Muhammad through his daughter, Fatima. The non-ashraf Muslim castes consist of three levels: converts from high Hindu castes, artisan castes, and the UNTOUCHABLES.
Islamic law See Sharia
Islamic philosophy See Arabic philosophy
Islamic Resistance Movement See Hamas
Islamic Salvation Front French Front Islamique du Salut (FIS) Algerian Islamist political party. Known best by its French acro¬ nym, the organization was founded in 1989 by Ali Belhadj and Abbasi al-Madani. The party won a majority of the seats contested in local elec¬ tions in 1990 and most of the seats in the National Assembly in the first round of balloting in 1991. The government canceled the second round, however, and arrested many of the group’s leaders. The FIS and more extreme Islamist groups afterward waged a protracted guerrilla war, in which atrocities by both sides were alleged to have occured. The group was blamed for the assassination of Pres. Mohamed Boudiaf, but no clear proof was ever found. See also Armed Islamic Group; Liamine Zeroual.
island Any area of land smaller than a continent and entirely surrounded by water. Islands may occur in oceans, seas, lakes, or rivers. A group of
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964 I island arc ► isomerism
islands is called an archipelago. Continental islands are simply unsub¬ merged parts of a continental mass that are entirely surrounded by water; Greenland, the world’s largest island, is of the continental type. Oceanic islands are produced by volcanic activity, when lava accumulates to enor¬ mous thickness until it finally protrudes above the ocean surface. The piles of lava that form Hawaii rise as high as 32,000 ft (9,700 m) above the ocean floor.
island arc Long, curved chain of oceanic islands associated with intense volcanic and seismic activity and mountain-building processes. Examples include the Aleutian-Alaska Arc and the Kuril-Kamchatka Arc. Most island arcs consist of two parallel rows of islands. The inner row is a string of volcanoes, and the outer row is made up of nonvolcanic islands. In the case of single arcs, many of the islands are volcanically active. An island arc typically has a landmass or a partially enclosed, unusually shallow sea on its concave side. Along the convex side there usually exists a long, narrow deep-sea trench.
Islands, Bay of Inlet, South Pacific Ocean, on the northeastern coast of North Island, New Zealand. The bay was formed when the sea flooded an old river valley system. It has a 500-mi (800-km) shoreline and about 150 islands. It opens to the ocean through a passage between Brett Cape and Wiwiki Cape. The first European to enter the bay was Capt. James Cook in 1769. The bay was the site of the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between Britain and native Maori. It is now a popular resort area.
Islas Baleares See Balearic Islands Isle of Man See Isle of Man Isle of Wight See Isle of Wight
Isle Royale National Park Island national park located in northwest¬ ern Lake Superior, northwestern Michigan, U.S. Established in 1931, it has an area of 571,790 acres (231,575 hectares) and includes Isle Royale, the largest island in Lake Superior, measuring 45 mi (72 km) long and 9 mi (14 km) across. Its forested wilderness, with streams and inland lakes, hosts more than 200 species of birds. Travel is possible only on foot or by canoe, and ferry service is available from mainland Michigan and Minnesota.
islets of Langerhans See islets of Iangerhans
Isma'Il \is-'ma-,el\ I (b. July 17, 1487, Ardabll, Azer.—d. May 23, 1524, Ardabll, Safavid Iran) Shah of Iran (1501-24) and founder of the Safavid dynasty. Bom into a Shl'ite family with close ties to the Sunnite Sufi tra¬ dition, he became head of a Shl'ite military force, the Kizilbash, at age 14. He captured Tabriz in 1501 and proclaimed himself shah of Iran, bringing the whole country and portions of modern-day Iraq under his control. In 1510 his troops defeated the Sunnite Uzbeks. His proclama¬ tion of Shl'ism as the official creed prompted the staunchly Sunnite sul¬ tan of the Ottoman Empire to order an invasion of Iran in 1514. Isma'Il lost the Battle of Chaldiran, but mutiny among the Ottoman troops forced their withdrawal. The conflict between the Safavids and their Sunnite neigh¬ bours continued for over a century.
IsmaTl Pasha 'us-'ma-.el-pa-'shaV (b. Dec. 31, 1830, Cairo, Egypt—d. March 2, 1895, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire) Viceroy of Egypt (1863-79) under the Ottoman Empire. After an education in Paris and dip¬ lomatic missions in other parts of Europe, he was appointed viceroy and became involved with work on the Suez Canal (1859-69). His plan to unify the Nile valley by creating a new southern Egyptian province in the Sudan failed. The sultan dismissed him because of his fiscal mismanage¬ ment; the enormous debt he brought on the country led the British to occupy Egypt in 1882.
IsmaTl? \,is-ma-'e-le\ Member of a sect of the ShCite branch of Islam. It came into existence after the death of the sixth imam, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, in 765. His son Isma'Il was accepted as successor only by a minority, who became known as Isma'IlItes. Their doctrine, formulated in the late 8th and early 9th century, made a distinction between ordinary Muslim believ¬ ers and the elect, who shared a secret wisdom. The Qaramitah subsect was popular in Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain in the 9th—11th centuries, and the Fatimid subsect conquered Egypt in 969 and established the Fajimid dynasty. A subgroup of the Fatimids was the Nizarls, who gained control of fortresses in Iran and Syria in the late 11th century and were known as Assassins. The major Nizarl line survived into modem times under the leadership of the Aga Khan, moving from Iran to India in 1840. The Druze separated from the Isma'IlIs early in the 11th century and formed a closed society of their own.
Ismay Viz-ma\ (of Wormington), Hastings Lionel Ismay, Baron (b. June 21, 1887, Naini Tal, India—d. Dec. 17, 1965, Broadway, Worcestershire, Eng.) British soldier. A career army officer, he served in India and Africa. As Winston Churchill’s chief of staff (1940-46) and closest military adviser, he participated in most major policy decisions of the Allied powers during World War II, particularly in the decision to make Germany the Allies’ first-priority target and in planning for the invasion of France in 1944. After the war he served as secretary-general of NATO (1952-57).