The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (77 page)

Agra
.

City on the Yamuna river in India, capital city for some of the
Mughal
rulers. It is particularly famous for the
Taj Mahal
, and for the fort containing the Pearl Mosque (Moti Masjid) of Shah Jehan.

 
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(Gk., ‘unwritten [sayings]’). Words of Jesus recorded outside the four
gospels
.

 
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Agudat Israel
(Agudat Yisra’el)
.

‘Union of Israel’, abbreviated as Agudah, a world movement of
Orthodox
Jews. It was founded in 1912, from a number of Orthodox communities as a counterweight to the programmes of the
Zionist
Congresses. Although it is not a party with a programme, it has developed
da‘at Torah
, the understanding of Torah on particular matters—i.e. the application by scholars of Torah to all aspects of life. See also
AFETS
AYYIM
.

 
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(Heb., ‘tied woman’). A married woman who cannot remarry, either because her husband has not given her a divorce, or because there is no proof of his death. The term is also applied to a widow who cannot obtain release from a
levirate
marriage
. There has been much
halakhic
discussion on the problem of the agunah, but no satisfactory solution has been found.

 
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AH
(Muslim dating)
:

see
HIJRA
.

 
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Ahad ha-‘Am
(‘One of the People’)
.
Asher Hirsh Ginsberg
.

(1856–1927)
, essayist and Jewish
Zionist
leader. His article
Lo Zeh ha-Derekh
(The Wrong Way), published in 1889, argued that educational work should take place before an immediate indiscriminate settlement in the land of
Israel
. He became spiritual leader of the secret order of Benei Moshe (‘sons of Moses’) and the editor of the monthly literary periodical,
Ha-Shilo‘ah
(The Coming One) which contributed to the development of modern Hebrew literature. Although he had a role in the obtaining of the
Balfour Declaration
, he favoured group action rather than negotiation. His thought has been influential in Zionist thinking, both in Israel and in the
diaspora
.