Ansarn.
/anˈsɑː/, /ʌnˈsɑː/, U.S. /ænˈsɑr/, /ˌənˈsɑr/ 1. Islam. Any of the inhabitants of Medina who aided Muhammad at the time of the Hijra (Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622) and who became early converts to Islam. Cf. muhajir n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > non-Christian religions > Islam > [noun] > founder > one who accompanied
Ansar1697
muhajir1697
1697 H. Prideaux True Nature Imposture in Life Mahomet 133 The Ansars, that is, those of Medina, who joyned with him, would have him buried there where he died.
1731 tr. H. de Boulainvilliers Life Mahomet iii. 349 These Yathrebites..were lavish in the praise of Mahomet and his principles; so that when himself came amongst them he found a great number strongly prejudiced in his favour. These persons were afterwards called Ansars, or Auxiliaries, because indeed they were very useful to the designs of Mahomet.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall V. l. 227 The equal, though various, merit of the Moslems was distinguished by the names of Mohagerians and Ansars, the fugitives of Mecca, and the auxiliaries of Medina.
1855 R. F. Burton Personal Narr. Pilgrimage to El-Medinah II. xxi. 255 A race called el Nakhawilah, who, according to some, are descendants of the Ansar.
1898 E. Sell Hist. Devel. Qurán ii. 58 A feast of fraternity was made between the Muhájirín and the Ansárs.
1958 O. Caroe Pathans i. 7 Khalid bin Walid, the most famous of the Prophet's Ansar (Companions).
1988 J. L. Esposito Islam i. 11 Muhammad..was the leader of all the Muslims, the commander of the faithful, both those who had emigrated from Mecca (the muhajirin, emigrants) and those raised in Medina (the ansar, helpers).
2010 R. L. Tignor Egypt vi. 128 Three groups vied for power [after the death of Muhammad]: the Muhajirun..; the Ansar..; and the Quraysh.
2. Originally: an adherent or follower of Muhammad Ahmad of Dongola in Sudan, who proclaimed himself the Mahdi in 1881; a Mahdist. Later: a member of the Islamic religious and political movement in Sudan led by the descendants of Muhammad Ahmad. Cf. umma n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > African politics > [noun] > principle or policy in Sudan > supporter of
Mahdian1885
Mahdist1885
Ansar1891
1891 F. R. Wingate tr. Muḥammad Aḥmad al-Mahdi Proclamation in Mahdism & Egyptian Sudan iii. 48 All the faithful have already been cautioned not to call themselves ‘dervishes’, but ‘ansar’.
1944 D. Newbold Lect. in K. D. D. Henderson Making of Mod. Sudan (1953) ii. ii. 482 Then there are the Mahdists, who call themselves Ansar... In the present Sudan the numerous followers of the Mahdi's posthumous son have created a fraternity which is partly religious and partly political and increasingly nationalistic, and recently with anti-Egyptian leanings.
1985 Guardian Weekly 14 Apr. 8/3 The Ansars, like the Khatmias (the other big Muslim sect in Sudan) had the misfortune of expressing disapproval of the way Numeiri planned to apply the sharia.
2002 F. Burgat Face to Face with Polit. Islam iv. 69 In Sudan the internal conflicts inside..the Khatmiyya and the Ansar..have forced their members to align themselves outside their primordial group.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1697