Nathan Gonzalez
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Najaf: Holy Shia city in southern Iraq, home to the Imam Ali Shrine.
Nasrallah, Hasan (b. 1960): Lebanese cleric and political leader of Hezbollah.
Nasser, Gamal Abdel (1918-1970): Former president of Egypt and iconic leader of the pan-Arab movement..
Nizari: Ismaili Shia sect, members of which were responsible for assissination operations in the Medieval Middle East. They were often called by the epithet Hashashyoun (those who take hashish), a word that gives us the term 'Assassin.'
Nowrooz (lit., "New Day"): the New Year festival of the Iranian calendar, observed in Iran and throughout much of Central Asia.
O
Occultation (ghayba): A Shia term referring to the occultation of the Twelfth, or Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi.
Ottoman Empire (1299-1923): Powerful Turkish dynastic empire that colonized much of the Middle East and North Africa. Throughout much of Ottoman history, the Sultan held both the title of caliph, and that of Caesar of the Roman Empire. The empire was dissolved following its defeat in World War I.
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Pahlavi: The name of the last imperial dynasty of Iran, which included the dynasty's founder Reza Shah (reigned as king 1925-1941), and his son, Muhammad Reza Shah (reigned 1941-1979). Pahlavi is also the term for the Middle Iranian language written by the priesthood of Parthian and Sasanian Iran.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): Secular, leftist Palestinian organization that was led for most of its history by Yasser Arafat.
Pan-Arabism: The largely secular ideology that supported the creation of a single state for all Arabs in the Middle East.
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al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia: aka, al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), is one name for an al-Qaeda-affiliated fundamentalist Sunni organization founded by Jordanian-born jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqaqi.
Qasim, Abd al-Karim (1914-1963): Founder and former prime minister of Republican Iraq.
Qizilbash (lit., "red heads"): a Turkic militant order that helped bring to power the Safavid Dynasty in Iran in 1501.
Qods ("Jerusalem") Force: Foreign operations branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Qom: A holy Shia city in central Iran, burial site of Fatimeh Masoumeh, the sister of Imam Reza.
Quraysh: Preeminent Meccan tribe to which the Prophet Muhammad belonged.
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Ramadan: Month of fasting, performance of which embodies one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Reza (Arabic: Ali al-Rida, Persian: Ali-ye Reza, 765-818): Eighth Shia Imam and shortly before his death, heir apparent to the Abbasid caliphate. His shrine in Mashhad, Iran, is one of the holiest sites in Shiism.