Haitink \'hl-tiqk\, Bernard (Johann Hermann) (b. March 4, 1929, Amsterdam, Neth.) Dutch conductor. Originally a violinist, he first
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
hajj ► Haldane I 827
performed with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1956. From 1961 to 1988 he was its permanent conductor, and he left a wide-ranging recorded legacy. He also had a noteworthy opera career as head of the Glynde- bourne (1978-88) and Co vent Garden (from 1988) operas.
hajj Yhaj\ In Islam, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims at least once in their lifetime, provided they are physically and financially able. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. By tradition the pilgrimage is undertaken between the 7th and 12th days of the last month of the Islamic year. At Mecca, the pilgrims are obliged to perform several rituals, includ¬ ing walking seven times around the Ka'bah shrine. They must also visit holy places outside Mecca and sacrifice an animal in honor of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac. In conclusion, they return to Mecca and perform a farewell circling of the shrine.
Hajjaj \ka-'jaj\ (ibn Yusuf al-ThaqafF), al- (b. c. 661, Al-Ta’if, Hejaz, Arabian Peninsula—d. June 714, Al-Wasit, Iraq) Provincial gov¬ ernor under the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), first in Mecca and then in Iraq. He ruthlessly suppressed a rebellion in Mecca in 692. Two years later he was named governor of Iraq, where his willingness to use brute force to suppress insurrection made him a legend. Despite his inclination to use the sword, he was known for promoting prosperity and security in Iraq, keeping the irrigation system working, and improving agricultural production. He adopted a new, purely Arab currency.
hake Any of several large marine fishes (genus Merluccius) usually considered part of the cod family. Hakes are elongated, large-headed fishes with large, sharp teeth, two dorsal fins (one notched), and a notched anal fin. They are swift carnivores and, though somewhat soft-fleshed, are used as food. Hakes are found throughout the Atlantic, in the eastern Pacific, and along New Zealand. In eastern North America, the name is also applied to several related marine fishes (genus Urophycis ), includ¬ ing the economically important white hake and red hake.
PAINTING BY JEAN HELMER
Hakka \'hak-'ka\ Ethnic group of China. Their name is Cantonese for “guest people” and is indicative of their unassimilated status in the areas of southern China where they live. In the 18th—19th centuries they often feuded with their non-Hakka neighbours over land. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) initially grew out of these local conflicts; after it, many Hakka emigrated to Taiwan and the Malay Peninsula.
Hakluyt \'hak-,lut\, Richard (b. c. 1552, London, Eng.?—d. Nov. 23, 1616, England) British geographer. A clergyman, he gave public lectures and became the first professor of modern geography at the University of Oxford. He became acquainted with the most important sea captains and merchants of England and took on the role of publicist for explorers. In 1583 he was sent to Paris as chaplain to the English ambassador and also served as an intelligence officer, collecting information on the Canadian fur trade and on other overseas enterprises. His major publication, The principcill Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English nation (1589), described the early English voyages to North America. After 1600 he advised Elizabeth I on colonial affairs, and in 1612 he became a charter member of the Northwest Passage Company.
Hakuin \'ha-ku-,eq\ or Hakuin Ekaku Ve-ka-ku\ (b. Jan. 19, 1686, Hara Suruga province, Japan—d. Jan. 18, 1769, Hara) Japanese priest and artist who helped revive the Rinzai Zen sect. After joining the sect c. 1700, he became an itinerant monk. He lived in poverty at a time when many priests sought advancement under the Tokugawa shogunate, and he attracted a large following that provided a new foundation for Rinzai Zen. Hakuin taught that direct knowledge of truth is open to all people and that a moral life must follow from religious belief. He used koans to aid medi¬ tation and invented the well-known paradox of contemplating the sound of one hand clapping. He is also known as an artist and calligrapher.
hal In Sufism, a state of mind reached from time to time by mystics dur¬ ing their journey toward God. The ahwal (plural of hal) are God-given graces that appear when a soul is purified of its attachments to the mate¬ rial world. Unlike maqams, which are based on merit, ahwal cannot be acquired or retained through an individual’s own efforts; the Sufi can only wait patiently for their arrival, which fills him with spiritual joy and renews his desire to seek God. The ahwal most often referred to are those of watching, nearness, ecstasy, intoxication, sobriety, and intimacy.
Halab See Aleppo
Halakhah or Halakha \,ha-la-'ka, ha-'la-kaX In Judaism, all laws and ordinances evolved since biblical times to regulate worship and the daily lives of the Jewish people. In contrast to the laws written in the Torah, the Halakhah represents an oral tradition. These laws were passed from generation to generation before being written down in the lst-3rd cen¬ tury ad in the compilation called the Mishna, which became the founda¬ tion of the Talmud.
Halas Vha-bs\, George (Stanley) (b. Feb. 2, 1895, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—d. Oct. 31, 1983, Chicago) U.S. gridiron football coach and team owner. He graduated from the University of Illinois and briefly played baseball for the New York Yankees. In 1920 he helped found the National Football League and established the team that would become the Chicago Bears. He served as the Bears’ coach for most of the next 50 years (1920- 30, 1933—43, 1946-55, 1958-67). He is noted for having revived the T-formation with a man in motion, variations of which are still in use today. Under his coaching, the Bears won seven league championships and four division titles.
halberd Weapon consisting of an ax blade and a sharp spike mounted on the end of a long staff. Usually about 5-6 ft (1.5-2 m) long, it was an important weapon in middle Europe in the 15th and early 16th centuries. It enabled a foot soldier to contend with an armoured man on horseback; the spiked head kept the rider at a distance, and the ax blade could strike a heavy cleaving blow. Firearms and the declining use of armour made the halberd obsolete.
Haldane Vh61-,dan\, J(ohn) B(urdon) S(anderson) (b. Nov. 5, 1892, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.—d.
Dec. 1, 1964, Bhubaneswar, India)
British geneticist. Son of John Scott Haldane, he began studying science as his father’s assistant at age eight and later received his M.A. from Oxford. Haldane, R. A. Fisher, and Sewall Wright, in separate math¬ ematical arguments based on analy¬ ses of mutation rates, population size, patterns of reproduction, and other factors, related Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory and Gregor Mendel’s concepts of heredity.
Haldane also contributed to the theory of enzyme action and to stud¬ ies in human physiology.
Haldane, John Scott (b. May 3,
1860, Edinburgh, Scot.—d. March 14/15, 1936, Oxford, Oxfordshire,