Israeli airstrike kills a top Hamas leader

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – An Israeli warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the home of one of Hamas' top five decision-makers Thursday, instantly killing him and 18 others, while the Israeli army said troops massed on the Gaza border were ready for any order to invade.

The airstrike on Nizar Rayan was the first that succeeded in killing a member of Hamas' highest echelon since Israel began its offensive Saturday. The 49-year-old professor of Islamic law was known for personally participating in clashes with Israeli forces and for sending one of his sons on a 2001 suicide mission that killed two Israelis.

The attacks continued Friday. Before dawn, Israeli aircraft hit 15 houses belonging to Hamas militants, Palestinians said. They said the Israelis either warned nearby residents by phone or fired a warning missile to reduce civilian casualties. Twelve people were hurt in the attacks, hospital officials said.

Even as it pursued its bombing campaign, Israel kept the way open for intense efforts by leaders in the Middle East and Europe to arrange a cease-fire. Israel said it would consider a halt to fighting if international monitors were brought in to track compliance with any truce.

ABU BAKR c.570 - 634 First Caliph

Abu Bakr was the Prophet Mohammed's closest companion and adviser, and first convert to Islam. His prominence in the community was enhanced by Mohammed's marriage to his daughter A'ishah and also when Abu Bakr was the prophet's companion on the journey to Medina in 622.

After Mohammed died (632), an assembly of Moslems in Mecca elected Abu Bakr as the first 'khalifat rasul Allah' (successor of the Prophet of God), or caliph.

Under him the collection of Mohammed's revelations was recorded in the Koran. Abu Bakr suppressed tribal uprisings and brought central Arabia under Moslem control, after which he directed Arab armies into Iraq and Syria initiating thus the Moslem conquests.

ABUL ABBAS 722 - 754 Arab Caliph

Abul al-Abbas as-Saffah was a descendant of Mohammed's family. Abul Abbas led the Abbasid revolution that overthrew the Omyyads in 749.

He eliminated the corrupt power of the Omayyads in Damascus and initiated the dynasty of the Abbasids. Abbas safeguarded his victory by killing most of the surviving members of the Omyyad house.

The Omyyads had governed from Damascus, leaving Mecca only its religious predominance. The Abbasids founded a new city, Baghdad, from which to rule their territories. There remained only one province which refused to recognize the Abbasids, that was Spain. There, one of the few Omayyads to survive founded an independent state in 756.

Islamic Science

During the ninth and tenth century learned men in the schools of Cordoba in Spain were corresponding with learned men in Cairo, Baghdad and Bukhara.

In Baghdad Al-Karismi developed the decimal system by using the Indian notion of Zero, and he invented the term 'algebra'. His works were instrumental in introducing the subjects of algebra and Hindu numerals into European mathematics.

Al-Hassan was a famous optician in Cairo who was the first to recognize the optical nerve in the human eye.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) from Bukhara collected in over 100 books the entire scientific knowledege of his time and is called the 'Prince of Science'. His 'Canon of Medicine' is among the most famous books in the history of medicine.

Al-Biruni of Ghazni traveled in India and corresponded with Ibn Sina. Conversant in Turkish, Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic Al-Biruni became the most important interpreter of Indian science to Islam. In astronomical works he discussed the theory of the earth's rotation on its axis, and in geography he advanced the visionary view that the Indus valley had once been a sea basin.

Al-Battani of Harran carried out astronomical observations in Syria and wrote on mathematics, improving the calculation for sinus functions. His great astronomical work 'De motu stellarum' exercised a great influence on European astronomy. He determined the exact solar year to within a few seconds of today's estimates.

Abu Kasim was a physician in Cordoba, Spain. He was the most famous physician of his time and he treated patients from all over Europe. He employed vivisection of animals for his research, and wrote a standard text book on surgery.

CONSTANTINE 280 - 337 Roman Emperor

Constantine the Great brought the moral force of Christianity to revive the spirit of the declining empire and he decided to create a new capital at Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople. Constantine was brought up at the court of Diocletian. After a series of civil wars Constantine became first western emperor (by his time the empire was ruled by two co-emperors) and then sole emperor (324). He ascribed his success to a vision of a Christian cross and began favourable treatment of Christians. As the Christian church grew in power disputes arose. The dispute over the question of Trinity threatened to split the church.

L-GHAZALI 1058 - 1111 Arab Reformer

Al Ghazali was a Muslim jurist, theologian and mystic. He was born in Iran, but educated in Baghdad.

He taught philosophy and religion in Baghdad but later adopted a monastic existence after a spiritual crisis. His influential work 'The Revival of the Religious Sciences' made Sufism (mysticism in Islam) an acceptable part of orthodox Islam.

Al-Ghazali attempted to surmount all the differences between faith and knowledge by rejecting rigid dogmas in Islam. He stressed the importance of genuine Sufism which he maintained was the path to attain the absolute truth. In contrast to al-Farabi (870-950), he portrayed the inability of reason to comprehend the absolute and the infinite

MOHAMMED c.570 - 632 Prophet

Mohammed was the founder and Prophet of Islam and of a political unit at Medina that developed into the Arab empire, or Caliphate.

In 610 Mohammed had a vision in which he was taken on a journey to Jerusalem and thence through the heavens to Allah and instructed in his mission.

In Mecca, he began to preach the omnipotence of Allah, the impending day of judgment, and the necessity of complete obedience to Allah's will. He summed up his message under the name of Islam, that is 'submission to Allah'.

The new Prophet was at first rejected by the people of Mecca and he had to flee to Medina. This event, the 'Hegira' marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar (622). Eventually Mohammed returned to Mecca and then went on to unite all of Arabia under the banner of Islam.