Islam vocab

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

Muhammad- Arab prophet (570-632 CE); founder of religion of Islam

Muslim- An adherent of the Islamic religion; a person who “submits” to the will of God

Islam- Religion expounded by the Prophet Muhammad on the basis of his reception of divine revelations, which were collected after his death into the Quran.

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

Umma- The community of all Muslims.

Caliphate- Office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad; to rule the Islamic empire (leader called Caliph)

Quran- Book composed of divine revelations made to the Prophet Muhammad between around 610 and his death in 632; the scared text of the religion Islam; literal word of God.

Shia (Shiites)- Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that God vests leadership of the community in a descendant of Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali. Shi’ism is the state religion of Iran.

Sunni- Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries.

Umayyad Caliphate- First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs (661 to 750) and second caliphate. From their capital at Damascus, the Umayyads ruled an empire that extended from Spain to India. Overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate.

Conquest of Hispania- Expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over the Iberian Peninsula from 711 to 718 which marked the westernmost expansion of Muslim rule into Europe.

Abbasid Caliphate- Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle, al-Abbad, the Abbasid’s overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital in Baghdad (founded 762) from 750-1258. (“Golden Age of Islam”)

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi- Persian scholar and author who made several advancements in astronomy, science, and math. He achieved notoriety in the Muslim world and is generally considered the creator of trigonometry and his ideas may have influenced the later Copernican heliocentrism.

House of Wisdom- Refers to either a major Abbasid public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad or to a large private library belonging to the Abbasid Caliphs during the Islamic Golden Age. Was destroyed in the Siege of Baghdad in 1258, leaving very little archaeological evidence.

Mamluks- Under the Islamic system of military slaves, Turkic military slaves formed an important part of the armed forced of Abbasid Caliphate of the 9-10^th centuries. Mamluks eventually founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria (1250-1517).

Ulama- Muslim religious scholars; primary interpreters of Islamic law and the social core of Muslim urban societies.

Sharia- Religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith.

Hadith- refers to reports of statements or actions of Muhammad, or of his tacit approval or criticism of something said or done in his presence. Unlike the Qur'an, not all Muslim believe Hadith accounts (or at least not all hadith accounts) are divine revelation.