Islam vocab

Mecca

City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and ritual center of the Islamic religion.

Muhammad

Arab prophet (570-632 CE); founder of the religion of Islam.

Muslim

An adherent of the Islamic religion; a person who “submits” to the will of God.

Islam

Religion expounded by the Prophet Muhammad based on divine revelations, collected into the Quran.

Medina

City in western Arabia where the Prophet Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622.

Umma

The community of all Muslims.

Caliphate

Office established after the Prophet Muhammad to rule the Islamic empire.

Quran

Book of divine revelations to Muhammad, the sacred text of Islam.

Shia (Shiites)

Muslims believing leadership should be in a descendant of Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali.

Sunni

Muslims believing the community should select its own leadership.

Umayyad Caliphate

First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs ruling from 661 to 750.

Conquest of Hispania

Expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over the Iberian Peninsula from 711 to 718.

Abbasid Caliphate

Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle, ruling from 750-1258.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

Persian scholar known for advancements in astronomy, science, and math.

House of Wisdom

Major Abbasid public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age.

Mamluks

Turkic military slaves who founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria from 1250-1517.

Ulama

Muslim religious scholars and primary interpreters of Islamic law.

Sharia

Religious law derived from the Quran and Hadith in the Islamic tradition.

Hadith

Reports of statements or actions of Muhammad, not all considered divine revelation like the Quran.