whap vocab 3

 Islam

 A monotheistic religion that emerged in Arabia in the 7th century C.E., founded on the revelations of the prophet Muhammad, which are recorded in the Quran. The faith spread widely through conquest, trade, and missionary work. 

Muslim

An adherent or follower of the religion of Islam.

 Islamic

Pertains specifically to the religion of Islam and its institutions, including theology and Islamic law (Sharia).

Islamicate

 Refers to the culture and civilization associated with the regions where Islam is dominant. It includes non-religious aspects like philosophy, art, and literature created by or for Muslims, regardless of the individual's religion.

Caliph

The chief Muslim civil and religious ruler, regarded as the successor of Muhammad. The caliphs presided over the caliphate, the political-religious state of Islam. 

Jizya

A per-capita yearly tax historically levied by Islamic states on certain non-Muslim subjects (known as dhimmis) permanently residing in Muslim lands. 

Sunni

 The largest denomination of Islam, historically believing that the caliph should be chosen by the community of Muslims.

Shi'a

The second-largest denomination of Islam, which holds that Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, and his descendants are the legitimate successors to the prophet.

Umayyad

The first great Muslim dynasty to rule the caliphate (661–750 C.E.), with its capital in Damascus. It expanded the Islamic empire to its greatest territorial extent. 

Abbasid

 A dynasty of caliphs who ruled the Islamic world from 750 C.E. to 1258 C.E., presiding over a "Golden Age" of artistic, scientific, and economic growth with its capital at Baghdad. 

Harun-al-Rashid

An Abbasid caliph who ruled from 786 to 809 C.E. He is celebrated for his patronage of the arts and sciences, and his court is the setting for many stories in One Thousand and One Nights.

Dhows

 A type of sailing vessel with one or more triangular sails (lateen sails), common throughout the Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade networks. They were essential for Islamic maritime commerce. 

Al-Mahdi

The third Abbasid caliph (775–785 C.E.), known for his efforts to reconcile the Sunni and Shi’a factions, which helped reduce internal religious tensions, though his reign also included lavish spending that drained the treasury.

Buyids

 A regional dynasty in Persia that took control of the Abbasid caliphate in 945 C.E. The caliphs were reduced to figureheads, while the Buyids ruled in their place. 

Seljuk Turks

 A nomadic Turkish group from Central Asia that converted to Islam and, beginning in the 11th century, began to dominate the fragmented Islamic world, displacing the Buyids, and became a major power in the Islamic world

Mamluks

 Initially, Turkic and Mongol former slaves who converted to Islam and served as soldiers in the armies of Abbasid caliphs and other rulers. They would later form their own sultanate in Egypt (1250–1517). 

Sultan

An Islamic title for a secular ruler or king. As the power of the caliphs weakened, local rulers increasingly took on this title to assert their independent authority. 

Sultans of Delhi

A series of dynasties that ruled northern India from the 13th to 16th centuries. Their establishment marked the consolidation of Islamic rule in the Indian subcontinent.  

 Ibn Battuta

 A 14th-century Moroccan Muslim scholar and traveler who explored much of the Islamic world, as well as parts of China, Southeast Asia, and Africa. His travelogue, the Rihla, is a valuable primary source for the era. 

Sufi

A follower of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that emphasizes an emotional, personal union with God rather than strict adherence to legalistic dogma. Sufis played a key role in the spread of Islam to new regions. 

Factions

A small, organized, dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics. In the Islamic world, political factions also caused internal conflicts that weakened central authority and allowed local dynasties to rise.

Disseminate

To spread or disperse something, especially information, widely. The Islamic world was a center for the dissemination of knowledge in areas such as mathematics, medicine, and philosophy.