Bedouins (Arab nomads) - from oasis to oasis with animal herds / skilled warriors

Muhammad - final prophet - received messages from God through Gabriel

Sunnis - hold the Sunnah in high regard - the caliph should have political skills

Shias - only Muhammad’s relatives should be caliph

Abu Bakr -Muhammad’s main advisor, became the first caliph

Ali - Muhammad’s relative, became the four and final caliph, his death starts Umayyad

Umayyad Dynasty - first Muslim dynasty - took over after Ali’s death

Greatest size for the Arab Muslim empire - part of Byzantine and Persia

Abbasid Dynasty - overthrew the Umayyads - built a new capital at Baghdad

Baghdad - center of a golden age of art, science and learning

Ended by invading Mongols that destroyed Baghdad and killed the caliph

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) wrote a medical encyclopedia used in Europe for 100s of years

Important Places

Mecca - town where Muhammad was born - imp.religious center & shrine for Arabs

Medina - town that Muhammad migrated to after being forced to leave Mecca (Hijrah)

Baghdad - capital of the Abbasid dynasty, Mix of cultures - center of a golden age of art, science and learning

Kaaba -  Cube-like building in the courtyard of the Grand Mosque in Mecca Built by Abraham and his son Ishmael to worship God

Oasis (place in desert with water, usually from a spring)

Muslims - people who practice Islam

Quran - Islam’s holy book - main source of Islamic teaching / the word of God

Hijrah - Arabic for migration - when Muhammad and followers left Mecca to Medina

Sunnah - traditions of Muhammad - words and actions of him and his companions

Hadith - recorded sayings and actions of Muhammad - written record of Sunnah

Allah - Arabic for “God”

Hajj - one of the five pillars, pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims

Mosque - Muslim house of worship - prayer hall facing Mecca

Sharia - Islamic law code - means “the way,” Quran and Sunnah as the sources

-living a proper life by follow God’s laws

Caliphs - led the Muslim community and empire / state run by a caliph is a caliphate

Calligraphy - art of decorative writing

Arabic numerals (0,1,2..) - introduced the number system to Europe that we use today