Chapter 10: Islamic Culture and Religon

Allah

one god  

Muhammad

Prophet of Allah and the founder of Islam

Islam

A monotheistic religion that developed in Arabia in the seventh century A.D.

Muslim

a follower of islam

Hijrah

Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina) in A.D. 622.

mosque

An Islamic place of worship

Haji

A pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims.

Qu’ran

The holy book of Islam

Sunna

An Islamic model for living, based on the life and teachings of Muhammad.

Shari’a

A body of law governing the lives of Muslims.

Caliph

A supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government

Umayyads

A dynasty that ruled the Muslim Empire from A.D. 661 to 750 and later established a kingdom in al-Andalus

Shi’a

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

Sunni

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

Sufi

A Muslim who seeks to achieve direct contact with God through mystical means.

Abbasids

A dynasty that ruled much of the Muslim Empire from A.D. 750 - 1258

al-andalus

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

fatmid

A member of a Muslim dynasty that traced its ancestry to Muhammad’s daughter Fatima and that built an empire in North Africa, Arabia, and Syria in the 10th - 12th century.

house of wisdom

A center of learning established in Baghdad in the 800s.

calligraphy

The art of beautiful handwriting