Chapter 8: The Rise of Islam, 600-1200 Flashcards
(47 cards)
What is Islam?
Islam is a monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one incomparable God (Allah) and that Muhammad is the messenger of God
What is a Muslim?
A follower of Islam, i.e. one who makes “submission” (“Islam”) to God.
What is Hadith?
A collection of reports containing supposedly precise sayings of the prophet Muhammad that, along with accounts of his daily practice (the Sunna), constitute the major source of guidance for Muslims apart from the Koran.
What is the ulama?
A body of Muslim religious scholars recognized as having specialist knowledge of Islamic sacred law and theology.
What is the hijra?
Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE in order to escape persecution, prompted by the opposition of the merchants of Mecca and marking the consolidation of the first Muslim community. It represents the starting date of the Muslim calendar/ era.
What is the umma?
The community of Muslims, defined solely by the acceptance of Islam and Muhammad as the “Messenger of God.”
What is sufism?
a mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God.
What is jihad?
“Jihad, in Islam, a meritorious struggle or effort. The exact meaning of the term jihād depends on context; it has often been erroneously translated in the West as ‘holy war.’ Jihad, particularly in the religious and ethical realm, primarily refers to the human struggle to promote what is right and to prevent what is wrong.” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/jihad)
What is sharia?
Sharia is a faith-based code of conduct that is inseparable from the practice of Islam
Before Muhammad, most people in the Arabian peninsula lived how?
As farmers or sailors, and in farming villages since there was great rainfall during monsoons.
What was the “Empty Quarter?”
“Rubʿ al-Khali, [a] vast desert region in the southern Arabian Peninsula, constituting the largest portion of the Arabian Desert.” (https://www.britannica.com/place/Rub-al-Khali)
An enormous sea of sand that isolated southern regions of the Arabian Penninsula.
What did the invention of effective camel saddles contribute to?
The rise of Arab-dominated caravan cities and Arab pastoralists becoming the main suppliers of animal power
Arabs accompanying caravans led to what?
Their familiarity with the cultures and lifestyles of the Sasanid and Byzantine empires.
- The Sasanid Empire was Zoroastrian and was the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire.
- The Byzantine Empire was Christian and was a remnant of the Roman Empire.
Those who pastured herds on imperial frontiers adopted Christianity.
What was Mecca?
A caravan city in a barren mountain valley between Yemen to the far south and Syria to the far north. It was settled by the nomadic kinship group the Quraysh, who controlled trade there. It achieved prosperity but was far from other civilizations and thus experienced no attack.
What was the Kaaba?
A cubical shrine with idols (prior to Islam) and in a sacred precinct prohibiting killing, the presence of which led to the emergence of Mecca as a pilgrimage site.
Who became the caliph after Muhammad and what did he do?
Abu Bakr, an early believer and father of his favorite wife A’isha. He confined religious practices into the Five Pillars of Islam.
What were the five pillars of Islam?
- Acceptance that “There is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
- Prayer 5 times a day
- Fasting during Ramadan
- Paying alms
- Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hijrah) once during lifetime
Under Abu Bakr, the caliphate expanded rapidly due to what?
A professional garrisoned military and they taxed but didn’t try to convert conquered people.
What were motives for Arab conquests?
- unity for new faith gave a new sense of a common cause and strength vs. non-Arab rulers
- leaders saw it as a good way to release pent up energies against Byzantines
- they promised a share in booty
The Arabs’ success in conquering was due to what?
- the exhaustion of Rome and Persia
- nationalist sentiments in Egypt and Syria
- arguments among Christians
- the size of armies
- easiness to convert to Islam
What were some consequences of Arab expansion?
- loss of oldest and most central Christian land
- aided ascendancy of bishop of Rome
- the virtual collapse of Zoroastrianism in the Sasanid Empire
What happened when the Umayyads were displaced by the Abbasids?
The capital was moved from Damascus to Baghdad which caused culture to shift.
What contributed to Abbasid decline?
It came from within and without.
* Local revolts- smaller Muslim states didn’t pay taxes or homage to caliphs in Baghdad
* Turkish slave troops/ Mamluks were not paid well, and took control.
* It was FRAGMENTED
* It officially ended due to the Mongols
The Umayyad clan started as a what to Muhammad?
An enemy. They are defeated at Mecca by his forces, but are later embraced by him and lead the faith after him.
