Module 8 Notecards

Allah

Arabic name for The One God; Muslims testify that “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammed is the messenger of Allah.”

Qur’an (Koran)

the holiest book of the Islamic faith; collection of Muhammed’s revelations from the angel Gabriel; only the Arabic version is considered the true word of Allah

mosque

Islamic house of worship

Hajj

the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims perform at least once in their lifetimes

Sunna

Muhammed’s example of proper living

Shari’a Law

Islamic system of law that regulates family life, moral conduct, business, and community life of Muslims

Rightly-guided caliphs

Leaders who knew Muhammed personally and used the Qu’ran and Sunna as guides.

jihad

literally means “striving” and refers to the inner struggle against evil; could also refer to an armed struggle against believers and is significant because Abu-Bakr and others distorted this definition in order to justify conquest.

Shi’a (or Shi’ite Muslims)

Those who viewed that the leaders should be directly descended from Muhammed; often called the “party of Ali,” and resisted the rule of the Umayyads

Sunni Muslims

Those who did not actively resist the rule of the Umayyads, but who believed that the correct path of Islam was to follow the example (called the Sunna) of Muhammed

Sufi Muslims

Those who rejected the influence of the Umayyads and were devoted instead to a spiritual path.

sakk

cheque or “check,” as letters of credit for exchange at a bank

capital cities of the Muslim World

Mecca = rightly-guided caliphates, Damascus = Umayyad caliphate, Cordoba = Umayyad caliphate on Iberian Peninsula, Baghdad = Abbassid caliphate, Cairo = Fatmid caliphate

social classes in the Muslim World

upper class = Muslims at birth, 2nd class = Muslim converts, 3rd class = protected people (Jews and Christians as “people of the book” but also other monotheists such as Zoroastrians), lower class = slaves (non-Muslims, captives)

House of Wisdom

Muhammed emphasized study and scholarship. It was a translation academy where scholars worked side-by-side to translate texts into Arabic and to preserve ancient texts from Greece, Rome, India, and Persia.

calligraphy

style of handwriting in the Muslim World; used as the art form with Arabic language; (pictures were not painted or drawn of people or animals because Muslims believe that only Allah could create living beings).

arabesque

art form using floral or geometric patterns

al-Khwarizimi

inventor of al-jabr (algebra)

al-Razi

possibly greatest physician in world civilization at the time; wrote Comprehensive Book and Treatise on Smallpox and Measles

Ibn al-Haythem

revolutionized ideas about vision in Optics, which developed lenses, microscopes, and telescopes

Maimonides

greatest Jewish philosopher in history; wrote Guide for the Perplexed, which blends philosophy, religion, and science