Islam quiz

bedouin

herders who lived in tents and moved from place to place in search of food and water

2 types of bedouins

1. those who settled near an oasis

2. nomads = constantly moving (badawah)

male dominated society

women could inherit and own land, but primary role was mother

badawah

grim lifestyle with too many people competing for too few resources

glazu

a raid to acquire resources.

• accepted as a way of life in time of scarcity, essential to badawah economy

• AVOID KILLING

muruwah

code of the Arabs.

• to preserve honor, each tribe member must be willing to leap to kinsmen’s defense and obey chief without question

• respected values were courage, patience, endurance, avenging wrong doings, protecting the weak

• generous with food and livestock

karim

one who is a generous hero

hasah

a special bond of muruwah within a tribe that is passed down from generations

• ancestral honor

• tribe had supreme value

sheikh

leader of the tribes

arabia at the time of muhammad

• arabs lived on Arabian peninsula

• most are nomads- depend on trade and livestock

• important Arab towns are medina and mecca

muhammad

• a part of the ruling family of mecca- family not in power

• had visions of gabriel the angel and a group of converts start to follow him

• mecca becomes threatened by Muhammad’s influence and he flees to medina

• gains reputation for wisdom in medina + becomes ruler of the city

hijra

muhammad’s escape from mecca to medina

islam

submission to will of god as explained by Muhammad (the faith)

muslim

means one has submitted (one who practices the faith)

ka’bah

a religious site in Mecca

Qu’ran

the holy book for Islam. the teachings of Muhammad are written after his death by his followers.

• revisits and revises aspects of the old testament and the new testament

• accepts Jesus as a Messiah but not as the son of god (Allah).

allah

the term used in Islam to reference god, but this is the same god as worshipped in Judaism and Christianity

five pillars of the Islamic faith

shehada, salat (prayer), sawm (fasting), zakat (almsgiving), and Hajj

shehada

the declaration of faith that every Muslim must pronounce and believe in. the only requirement for becoming a muslim

salat

prayer is performed the most.

• it renews the commitment muslims have of following the path of God at all times, to ask for forgiveness, and to thank God.

sawm

fasting is required only during the month of Ramadan. a Muslim must not eat, drink, smoke from dawn to dusk.

• teaches self-control and helps Muslims empathize with those who are not fortunate enough to have as much food as they need everyday.

zakat

almsgiving must be paid by every Muslim who is capable of doing so. it is money given to those in need: 2.5% of the individual’s salary

• the idea is to share what has been given by God

hajj

required of every person who is able to afford it financially and physically. it is a five-day pilgrimage to Mecca

caliph

means “god’s deputy,” a political leader or spiritual leader of the Muslim community, the secular head of a religiously defined community.

Caliphate is the government under a caliph.

abu-bakr

caliph- quiz hint

• known for keeping various tribes in Arabia under Muslim control and wins civil war

umar

caliph- quiz hint

• spreads Islam through what is today the Middle East

• Muslims come into conflict with Sassanid and Byzantine areas

Ali

caliph- quiz hint

• known for failing to go after the murderers of Uthman, creating a civil war

Umayyads

Uthman’s family that rebels against Ali

• they win against Mu’awiya, resulting in a dynasty and a split between two sects of Muslims, the Shia and the Sunni

Mu’awiya

caliph-quiz hint

the Umayyad governor of Damascus who leads the civil war against Ali and replaced Ali as caliph

uthman

caliph- quiz hint

• known for the writing of the Qu’ran being authorized

• appoints deputy based on family (nepotism)

sunni muslims

followers of Mu’awiya

• believe the caliph should be selected via merit or through evidence of ability as a faithful and practicing Muslim

shia muslims

• supporters of Ali

believed the caliph had to be direct descendant of Muhammad’s bloodline

slavery in Islam

a Muslim could not enslave another Muslim, nor could any Muslim be enslaved

usury

to charge interest for loans

• the Jews did this because it was a sin to other religions, making them wealthy, so Muhammad banishes Jews

social/religious changes upon return to Mecca

1. outlawed infanticide- Muhammad bans this

2. sanctified the Ka’Bah

battle of Chains against the Persians

• called this because Persian slaves were chained together to prevent them from running away

• Muslims win despite being vastly outnumbered

Battle of Qadisaya

Muslims defeat the Persians despite being outnumbered again

battle of Yarmuk

Khalid defeats the Byzantines despite being outnumbered

Khalid ibn Walid

“The Sword of Allah”

• led the Islamic army against the Persians and Byzantines

invasions by Umar

successful because the Muslim invaders are tolerant of other monotheistic religions

• people cooperated with them

• other religions were taxed but not persecuted

• Muslims were not required to pay tax, but were required by their faith to provide alms (donations to those in need)

Dhimmis

Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians tolerated by the Muslim political authority in exchange for tax payments (jizya and kharaj)

• paid lower than previous Roman or Persian governments

jizya

wealth tax on non-Muslims in Muslim controlled territories

Kharaj

land tax on non-muslims in Muslim controlled territories

Muslim influence

• begins on Arabian peninsula, but expands to North Africa, the Middle East, and central Asia

• Mecca remains the religious center of Islam

• governmental center moves from Medina to Damascus to Baghdad

Umayyad Caliphate

the move of the political capital to Damascus exposes the caliphate to Greco-Roman influence

• Abd-al-Malik- the religion grows and attacks Constantinople twice, and makes religious sites on top of other religions

• Romans use “Greek fire” and hold back from invasions

• shows changing nature in the relations between Muslim rulers and their non-Muslim subjects

abbasids

Islam gains additional converts in new territories they conquer

• a hierarchy within the religion develops based on when one’s family converted

• recent converts were denied from pensions and followers of Muhammad’s pilgrimage

• produces opposition to Umayyad Caliphate, and a rebellion starts

• Umayyads are toppled by the Abbasids

Al' Mansur’s Baghdad

the Abbasids move the capital to Baghdad and created the round city

vizier

a part of the Abbasid bureaucracy

• a bureaucratic official who administers for the caliph

Imam

a part of the Abbasid bureaucracy

• title given to one with religious authority

Ulama

religious scholars who decide interpretations of Shari’a law (the law based on Islamic principles and the Qu’ran)

Mamluks

slaves who convert to Islam and train as professional soldiers who would serve as a part of a private army for caliphs

• they gain enough power that Abbasid caliphs must grant their wishes, or the caliph would lose his own power (or life)

Harun al Rashid

a skilled diplomat and general

• this vizier was known to dress up as commoner and walk about the city to observe his subjects

• created the House of Wisdom in Baghdad

the House of Wisdom in Baghdad

created by Harun al Rashid

• was in fame, status, scope, size, resources, patronage, etc.

Al Ma’mun

son of Harun al-Rashid

• tries to give the office of caliph religious power

• declares himself an imam and orders an inquisition forcing others to admit to his religious primacy

• capital of Abbasid moved from Baghdad to Samarra, isolating the caliph from his bureaucracy

• last influential Abbasid leader

after Al Ma’mun

caliphates become fragmented, connected but ruled independently of each other

• caliphs are under the control of the military with no religious interest

umayyad spain

the Umayyad prince Abd ar-Rahman had survived and escaped to Spain

• cordoba is ruled by surviving branch of the Umayyads

• first city to have streetlights and paved streets

fatimids

claimed descent from Ali and his wife Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad

• they seized Egypt, built Cairo as their new capital

• this is a period of triumph for the Shi’ites

Ghaznawids

caliphates that arose from mamluks and rose through military ranks

• ruled part of present-day Afghanistan and Iran

• retain some elements of Persian cuture

• responsible for spread of Islam into India- hatred between Muslims and the Hindus

Saljuqids

nomadic group who converted to Islam in Central Asia

• defeated the Ghaznawids and other local powers

• became the new protectors of the Abbasid caliph

• constitute the first major influx of nomads into the Islamic East, causing friction with the settled populations

Atabegs

rulers like generals or regents who take charge for maliks or sultans and govern on their behalf

mongol invasions

led by Hulega Khan- given the task of expanding the Mongol empire in southwest Asia

• took Baghdad and mocked the Abbasid caliph for hoarding treasure and no good defense

• that effectively ends the Abbasid caliphate

• established a mongol policy in Mesopotamia and the Iranian Plateau

Al Mansur

• moved the capital to baghdad

• led the rebellion against the Umayyads

Il-Khans

Hulega’s line of rulers from Mongol invasions

• Ghazan converted to Islam and offered his patronage to his Muslim subjects

• After converting to Islam, Il-Khans toyed with the idea of making an alliance with European Christians against their enemies

mamluks of egypt

• most powerful Islamic polities in the late Middle Ages was the mamluks sultanate of Egypt

• mamluks defeated the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria

• mamluks sultans built fortresses and mosques to support defense, religion, and learning

mamluks of Egypt continued

• inability to establish a hereditary leadership succession meant mamluks sultans had to constantly guard against usurpers

• experienced military leaders as opposed to young or inexperienced princes

• mamluks sultans were warlike and strategically capable

• disinterest in trade led to the mamluk regime to weaken

• mamluks refused to adopt new ideas of warfare

• defeated by the ottoman turks

oljeytu

Ghazan’s brother and successor

• helped the eastern Roman empire against the Ottoman turks