Islam Study Guide

bedouin

member of the nomadic desert peoples of North Africa and Southwest Asia

Muhammad

Arab prophet; founder of religion of Islam.

Khadija

First wife of muhammad and first to convert to Islam.

Qur'an

the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina

hajj

A pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims

Mecca

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

Ka'ba

the stone cubical structure in the courtyard of the Great Mosque of Mecca, regarded by Muslims as the sacred center of the earth

Medina

City in western Arabia to which the Prophet Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622 to escape persecution in Mecca.

hijra

Muhammad's move to Medina. Start of the Islamic calendar (632 CE)

umma

The community of all Muslims. A major innovation against the background of seventh-century Arabia, where traditionally kinship rather than faith had determined membership in a community.

Islam

A religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed which stresses belief in one god (Allah), Paradise and Hell, and a body of law written in the Quran. Followers are called Muslims.

Muslim

A follower of Islam

Five Pillars of Islam

Declaration of faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage

Hadith

A tradition relating the words or deeds of the Prophet Muhammad; next to the Quran, the most important basis for Islamic law.

sharia

Body of Islamic law that includes interpretation of the Quran and applies Islamic principles to everyday life

Abu Bakr

First caliph of Islam after the death of Muhammad

Caliph

A supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government

Ali

the fourth caliph of Islam who is considered to be the first caliph by Shiites

Shia

the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Umayyad Dynasty

An Islamic Dynasty based on succession rather than election following the first period of caliphates. Continued advances in the kingdom, venturing as far as China in the East. Fell apart in 750 CE due to internal tensions. Built capital in Damascus Syria

dar al-Islam

an Arabic term that means the "house of Islam" and that refers to lands under Islamic rule

Abbasid Dynasty

From 750-1258 this was the 3rd dyansty of the Islamic Caliphate. They built their capital in Baghdad, Iraq after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate.

ulama

Muslim religious scholars. From the ninth century onward, the primary interpreters of Islamic law and the social core of Muslim urban societies

qadi

Islamic judge

Harun al-Rashid

Most famous of Abbasid caliphs; renowned for sumptuous and costly living; dependent on Persian advisors early in reign; death led to civil wars over succession

sakk

Letters of credit that were common in the medieval Islamic banking world.

Zanj Revolt

These people were slaves working in south Mesopotamia. In 869, a rebel slave called Ali bin Muhammad led a revolt against Abbasid overlords. The Abbasid rulers only attempted to quash the rebellion in 879 and succeeded entirely in 1883, killing bin Muhammad and the other leaders.

al-Andalus

A Muslim-ruled region in what is now Spain, established by the Berbers in the eighth century A.D.

dhimmis

A term meaning "protected peoples" or "people of the book"; they included Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians and were taxed in exchange for protection

jizya

Poll tax that non-Muslims had to pay when living within a Muslim empire

madrasa

A school for the study of Muslim law and religious science

Sufis

mystical Muslim group that believed they could draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, & simple life

al-Ghazali

Brilliant Islamic theologian; struggled to fuse Greek and Qur'anic traditions; not entirely accepted by ulama

Omar Khayyam

Persian poet, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher; author of The Rubaiyat, a collection of poems about a man who celebrates the simple pleasures in life

Ibn Rushd

Spanish-Arab philosopher; also known as Averroes; influenced by Aristotle, his best known writings explore the relationship between reason and faith; known as the commentator for commentating on Aristotle's work