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Umar Rida Kahhala

عمر رضا كحالة

Damascus

Umar Rida Kahhala, a Damascene author, compiler of A'lam al-Nisa' fi Alamay al-Arab wa-al-Islam, an alphabetical dictionary of notable women with the sources of each entry; he dated its preface in Damascus in 1379 AH.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Scholar · Historian
Era
The Contemporary Era
Region
Levant & Iraq

In space

Damascus

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

Umar Rida Kahhala is the compiler of A'lam al-Nisa' fi Alamay al-Arab wa-al-Islam; he signed its preface in Damascus in 1379 AH (1959 CE). 1 2

His work on women's biographies

In his preface he says he searched as hard as he could for the largest possible number of famous women in Arab and Muslim society, arranged them alphabetically, followed each entry with its sources, and in the enlarged edition added women found after the first. 3 2

For young visitors

Umar Rida Kahhala was a writer from Damascus who gathered the life stories of thousands of famous women in Arab and Muslim history into one big book.

Research notes

  • The book gives no biography of its author; his birth and death dates need another source before they are added.

Connections

Explore the connections

Authored
A'lam al-Nisa' fi Alamay al-Arab wa-al-Islam
Lived in
Damascus

People and things also explored

the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)· Qasr Hiraql / Qasr Shams al-Muluk· The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus· Gold-leaf glass mosaic tesserae (Umayyad)· The Fitna of the Hafiz Abd al-Ghani in Damascus in 595· Abu Dawud at Kufa, 221/836, and Damascus, 222/837· al-Afdal besieges Damascus and turns back· al-Adil's seizure of Damascus

Sources

  1. A'lam al-Nisa' fi Alamay al-Arab wa-al-Islam — Umar Rida Kahhala, vol. 1 (Mu'assasat al-Risala, Beirut, 5th ed. 1984) , p.5
  2. A'lam al-Nisa' fi Alamay al-Arab wa-al-Islam — Umar Rida Kahhala, vol. 1 (Mu'assasat al-Risala, Beirut, 5th ed. 1984) , p.8
  3. A'lam al-Nisa' fi Alamay al-Arab wa-al-Islam — Umar Rida Kahhala, vol. 1 (Mu'assasat al-Risala, Beirut, 5th ed. 1984) , p.7
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Umar Rida Kahhala”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/umar-rida-kahhala/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-04.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)

The mosque raised inside the cave of Mount Qasyun by Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'allim beginning in 370, after a dream in which Jibril bade him build a mosque where God's name would be remembered — he called it Jibril's Cave; a broad prayer-hall floored in white marble, its columns all marble, never empty of the pious at remembrance.