Abraham
The founder of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. In Islamic belief he is believed to have 2 children named Ishmael (Islam) and Isaac (Christian) with his wife Hagar
Jerusalem
An important city for Islamic faith since they controlled the area around it for 400 years
Monotheism
The belief in one god
Allah
The god of Islamic faith
Mosque
The place where Muslims pray
Baghdad
The city the Abbasidds created and made capital; it contained the house of wisdom
Medina
Used to be called Yathrib, but after Muhammed came and converted everyone into Muslim and built the first mosque, he renamed it Medina which is what it is called now.
Imam
The leadership position in the Sunni Muslims which leads people in prayer. The people are believed to be descendants of Ali
Shi’a
The group of Muslims who believed that Ali should’ve become Caliph instead of Abu Bakr (believed Sunnis wanted to acquire wealth and strayed away from the original message)
House of Wisdom
A building in Baghdad which contained texts from all over the world. These would be translated and explored further upon
Islam
The monotheistic Arabic Religion that says Allah is god with the holy text being the Qur’an
Shari’a
The Arabic law, which is derived from the Qur’an
Polytheism
The belief in multiple gods
Muhammed
The prophet which founded the religion of Islam; he was a social, political, and military leader
Mecca
The holy city of Islam where Muhammed was born, which millions of Muslims travel to every year during the Hajj to see Ka’aba
Arabic
The language needed to learn and practice Islam; it is also the national language of Saudi Arabia
Sunni
The largest branch of Islam which believed there was no chosen successor
The reason there is Shi’a and Sunni
There was disagreement on the successor of Muhammed;
Shi’a believed that Ali, a relative should be successor
Sunni believed that there was no chosen successor, therefore Abu Bakr was next in line
Ka’aba
The cube in the center of Mecca originally built by Abraham, destroyed during the great flood, and then rebuilt by Muhammed
Qur’an
The laws /book which Muhammed made because of Allah; they have become the holy book, and laws are based off the book
Muslim
The term for someone who has Islamic faith
Hajj
One of the five pillars of Islam which states that one should travel to Mecca during their lifetime. It usually happens on the 8th-13th days of the last month of the Islamic calendar
Umayyads
The first dynasty of Islam which moved the capital to Damascus to have a central position of trade, but were not favored and therefore overthrown by the Abbasids
Abbasids
The dynasty that killed every Umayyad, built the capital Baghdad, funded science, and expanded
Jihad
The word for Struggle or effort; the Muslims use it as an effort to practice religion
5 pillars of Islam
Shahaadah (Faith): Reciting the Qur’an
Salaat (Prayer): Pray 5 times a day towards Mecca.
Zakat (Charity)
Sawm (Fasting): Not eating during the month of ramadan at light
Hajj (Pilgrimage)
Gabriel
The angel of Allah which communicated with Muhammed (he is called Jibrail)
Hijra
The journey Muhammed and his followers took from Medina/Yathrib to Mecca to take it over
Sunna
The practices/things Muhammed did which became a tradition and eventually became the role model for the ideal person
Caliph
The leader of the Islamic empire
Rightly guided Caliphs
The first 4 Caliphs which expanded the Islamic empire by conquest and giving benefits to those who converted (they all knew Muhammed personally)
Abu Bakr
Umar
Uthman
Ali
Arabesque
A type of Arabic art consisting of patterns. They are usually displayed in large arrays on the floor or on buildings
People of the book
The Islamic term for people who follow a book; usually referring to Christians or Jews
Calligraphy
The art of beautiful writing, in Saudi Arabia most calligraphy is from the Qur’an which is considered the highest form of calligraphy
Dome of the Rock
The octagonal holy structure in Jerusalem was built during the Umayyad reign. It was built at the place where Muhammed went to heaven
What is the color that represented Muhammed?
Green
Why is there no pictures of anything living in Arabic culture?
only Allah is allowed to create living beings, and it is very disrespectful to impersonate Allah
Are God, Yaweh, and Allah the same god?
Yes
Sakks
Checks used to easily transfer money for trade so that merchants could transfer money from one bank to another
Ishmael
The child that Abraham had with Hagar. God told him to sacrafice him, but then stopped him.