islam study guide Flashcards
1
Q
allah
A
the belief of one god; monotheism
2
Q
muslim
A
“one who has submitted” – followed islam
3
Q
islam
A
“submission to the will of god”
4
Q
sunna
A
the proper way of living
5
Q
shari’a
A
a system of law that regulates the muslim’s life
6
Q
five pillars of faith
A
- faith - one god, muhammad is his prophet
- pray - five times a day, face mecca: the holy city, call to prayer
- charity/alms - give to the less fortunate
- fast during ramadan - fast from sunrise to sundown during the holy month
- hajj - pilgrimage to mecca, pray at kaaba
- there is no split between their religion and their daily lives
7
Q
qu’ran
A
- holy book of the muslims
- written in arabic
- was revealed to muhammaad over a period of twenty-three years
8
Q
people of the book
A
- christians, jews
- they all have a holy book with similar teachings as the qu’ran
- worshhip same god
- reconize jesus as a phropet
- however, muslims does not belive that jesus was a god or the son of god
9
Q
sunni: one of the two largest groups of muslims
A
- devoted muslims can become caliphs even if not relaetd to muhammad
- supported the first three caliphs
- idea of majority rule
10
Q
shi’a: one of the two largest groups of muslims
A
- only descendants of muhammad can become caliphs
- did not support the first three caliphs
- insist that only special muslims can interpret the qur’an
11
Q
sufi: small group of muslims
A
- not concerned about the caliphs, as long as they’re muslim
- pursued a life of poverty
- fast, chant, meditation, prayer
- goal is to get their mind in a state closer to god
- didn’t like the lavish life the umayyad’s lived
12
Q
muhammad: last prophet
A
- angel gabriel spoke to muhammad as a messenger for allah
- muhammad began to teach allah and monotheism
- his ideas were not accepted
- mecca was polytheistic
- thought it would hurt their economy
- ruled in medina (yathrib)
- “city of the prophet”
13
Q
the hijrah: muhammad’s migration to yathrib (medina)
A
- left mecca because his followers were being attacked
- during the hijrah, muhammad attracted many followers
14
Q
return to mecca
A
- 630 - muhammad and his followers marched back to mecca
- mecca’s leaders surrendered
- most meccans pledge their loyalty to muhammad and converted to islam
- muhammad died two years later
15
Q
“rightly guided” caliphs
A
- before muhammad died, he had expressed a desire to spread faith
- the first four caliphs made great progress in spreading islam (in order of their rule)
- abu-baker
- umar
- uthman
- ali
- used the qur’an and sunna as guides to leadership
- abu-baker invoked jihad, because some tribes abandoned islam, and some refused to pay taxes
- 634 - abu-baker died, umar became the second caliph
- umar and his military conquered most of the byzantine empire, the muslim empire soon expanded 6000 miles from the atlantic ocean to the indus river
- muslim army was well-disciplined
- byzantine and sassanid empire had their own problems and were weak
- the people under their rule supported islam, they would welcome invaders
- 656 - uthman was murdered, which started a civil war
- mu’awiva challenged ali’s rule
- ali could not punish umar’s killers (ali did not know who was his killers”
- mu’awiva and ali’s armies fought
- muslim community attempts to assassinate both, only successful with ali
