chapter 9 and 11

sheikh

the ruler of an Arabic tribe, chosen from one of the leading families by a council of elders.

Allah

Arabic for 'God'; the supreme god of Islam.

Quran

the holy scriptures of the religion of Islam.

Islam

monotheistic religion that emerged in the Arabian Peninsula during the seventh century.

Muslim

a person who believes in Islam.

Hijrah

the journey of Muhammad and his followers to Madinah in 622, which became year 1 of the official calendar of Islam.

bedouin

a nomadic Arab who lives in the Arabian, Syrian, or North African deserts.

hajj

a pilgrimage to Makkah, one of the requirements of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Five Pillars of Islam

acts of worship every Muslim must perform; this includes belief, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage.

shari'ah

a law code drawn up by Muslim scholars after Muhammad's death; it provided believers with a set of practical laws to regulate their daily lives.

caliph

a successor of Muhammad as spiritual and temporal leader of the Muslims.

jihad

'struggle in the way of God'.

caliphate

the office or dominion of a caliph.

Shia

a Muslim group that accepts only the descendants of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali as the true rulers of Islam.

Sunni

a Muslim group that accepts only the descendants of the Umayyads as the true rulers of Islam.

vizier

a high government official in ancient Egypt or in Muslim countries.

sultan

'holder of power'; the military and political head of state under the Seljuk Turks and the Ottomans.

bazaar

a covered market in Islamic cities.

dowry

a gift of money or property paid at the time of marriage, either by the bride's parents to her husband or, in Islamic societies, by a husband to his wife.

astrolabe

an instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the positions of stars.

arabesque

geometric patterns repeated over and over to completely cover a surface with decoration.

minaret

the tower of a mosque from which the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer five times a day.

muezzin

the crier who calls the Muslim faithful to prayer from the minaret of a mosque.

Black Stone

meteorite placed in shrine (Kaaba) in Makkah, Muslims pay homage to it.

Kaaba

the most sacred temple of Islam, located at Makkah.

Muhammad

Arab prophet; founder of the religion of Islam.

Abū Bakr

Islamic leader after Muhammad who expanded and united the Muslim world, conquering the entire Persian Empire, northern Africa, and the Byzantine Empire by 650.

dhimmitude

the provision that allows non-Muslims to live in Islamic states.

Ali

Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin. Leads (some) Muslims after Muhammad's death.

Umayyad Dynasty

established by Mu'āwiyah, moved capital from Medina to Damascus, causing a split in Islam (Shias & Sunnis).

Mu'āwiyah

a general/governor of Syria who became caliph in 661 and was one of Ali's chief rivals.

Hussein

led a revolt that split Islam into two groups, the Shias and the Sunnis.

Abbasid Dynasty

from 750-1258 this was the 3rd dynasty of the Islamic Caliphate; they built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate.

Abū al-'Abbās

a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, who overthrew the Umayyad dynasty in 750, establishing the Abbasid dynasty.

Hārūn al-Rashīd

caliph of Abbasid dynasty; his reign is described as a golden age.

Seljuk Turks

nomadic Turks from central Asia, who conquered Baghdad in 1055, allowing the caliph to remain only as a religious leader.

Fatimid Dynasty

established in Egypt with capital at Cairo in 973.

Ibn-Rushd

wrote a commentary on virtually all of Aristotle's surviving works.

Ibn Sīnā

wrote a medical encyclopedia that stressed the contagious nature of diseases.

Ibn-Khaldūn

most prominent Muslim historian of the age.

Omar Khayyám

twelfth-century Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer; wrote the Rubaiyat.

Hadith

a collection of Muhammad's sayings.

Great Mosque of Sāmarrā'

in present-day Iraq, was the world's largest mosque at the time it was built.

Alhambra

Islamic palace in Granada, Spain.

scholar-gentry

in China, a group of people who controlled much of the land and produced most of the candidates for civil service.

khanate

one of several separate territories into which Genghis Khan's empire was split, each under the rule of one of his sons.

neo-Confucianism

a revised form of Confucianism that evolved as a response to Buddhism.

porcelain

a ceramic made of fine clay baked at very high temperatures.

archipelago

a chain of islands.

samurai

'those who serve;' Japanese warriors similar to the knights of medieval Europe.

Bushido

'the way of the warrior;' the strict code by which Japanese samurai were supposed to live.

shogun

'general,' a powerful military leader in Japan.

daimyo

'great names;' head of noble families in Japan who controlled vast landed estates.

Shinto

'the Sacred Way' or 'the way of the Gods;' the Japanese state religion emphasizing the divinity of the emperor.

Zen

a sect of Buddhism popular with Japanese aristocrats, becoming part of the samurai's code of behavior.

Theravada

'the teachings of the elders,' a school of Buddhism developed in India.

Mahayana

a school of Buddhism developed in northwest India, stressing devotion to the Buddha.