Islam test Flashcards
(116 cards)
1
Q
What is the difference between the Umayyads and the Abbasids.
A
The Umayyads ruled as conquerors while the Abbasids reaped the benefits of peace and prosperity.
2
Q
What is that very important structure for Muslims. Like the really important one.
A
The Ka’ba
3
Q
Describe the Hajj experience of Jamila bint Nasir al-Dawla in detail
A
Jamila provided food for fellow pilgrims, furnished camels for the disabled, and bought the freedom of 500 slaves.
4
Q
What types of people have primarily lived on the Arabian Peninsula for much of its history.
A
Bedouins, who were nomadic people.
5
Q
What were the Bedouins like?
A
They were nomadic, socially cohesive, organizing into family clans, kept herds of animals and migrated to find places to feed them, and developed strong loyalty to and identity with their clans.
6
Q
Describe long distance trade networks that people of the Arabian Peninsula participated in, mentioning at least 3 bodies of water.
A
Arabia was a important link between China and India in the south, and Persia and Byzantium in the north. Commodities arrived at ports on the Persian Gulf, Arabian sea, and red sea.
7
Q
Who was Khadija and what was her role in Muhammads life
A
She was a rich widow. Muhammad worked for her at first, and eventually married her. This marriage won Muhammad a prominent societal position.
8
Q
What is the name for god in Islam?
A
Allah.
9
Q
What is the English translation of Quran.
A
Recitation
10
Q
What is the relationship between the Arab ethnicity and the Muslim religion.
A
Most Arabs are Muslim, but most Muslims are not Arab.
11
Q
What is the Hadith?
A
The hadith is a collection of Muhammad’s sayings and deeds.
12
Q
Where was Muhammad born
A
Mecca
13
Q
Who came first Umayyads or Abbasids
A
Umayyads
14
Q
How did the significance of the Ka’ba change over time?
A
It was first considered to be the dwelling of a paganistic deity, then it became an Islamic holy site.
15
Q
What does Islam mean
A
Submission
16
Q
What does Muslim mean
A
One who has submitted
17
Q
What was significant about Medina
A
It was where Muhammad and his followers fled to escape persecution.
18
Q
What was the Hijra
A
Muhammad’s move from Mecca to Medina
19
Q
What is the significance of 622 CE
A
It was when Muhammad fled to Medina, and the starting point for the Islamic Calendar.
20
Q
What is the Umma
A
The community of followers of Islam.
21
Q
What is the Seal of the Prophets
A
The final prophet who Allah would use to reveal his message to mankind.
22
Q
What are the 5 pillars of Islam?
A
- Allah is the only god and Muhammad is his prophet
- Pray while facing mecca 5 times a day
- Fast during the daylight hours of Ramadan
- Almsgiving to the weak and poor
- Take a hajj if you are physically able
23
Q
What is a Jihad, and how is it sometimes interpreted?
A
Jihad is the duty of Muslims to fight against evil and is sometimes interpreted as a literal fight against threats to Islam.
24
Q
What is Sharia?
A
Sharia is the Islamic holy law that Muslims are to live by. It governs proper behavior in almost every aspect of life, such as crime, marriage, business, and family life.
25
What was Abu Bakr's role in the early Islamic world?
He was the first Caliph, and was the chief judge, religious leader, and general.
26
What was Abu Bakr's relationship with Muhammad?
He was one of Muhammad's closest friends and most devoted disciples.
27
Who did the Muslims defeat in battle, what did they get from their defeated foes, and why were they so successful?
Muslim armies defeated the Byzantines and Sasanids in battle and took a ton of land from them. To accomplish this, they took advantage of internal strife within the Byzantine and Sassanid empires.
28
What did Muslim forces seize from the Byzantines and Sasasids and when?
They took Byzantine Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia from 633-637. In the 640s they conquered Byzantine Egypt and N. Africa. In 651 they toppled the Sasanid dynasty and took Persia.
29
What is the relationship between the Shia and the Sunni? What do the Shia believe?
The Shia follow an alternative form of Islam than the majority of Muslims, the Sunni. The Shia believe that Ali, Muhammad's cousin, and Ali's descendants should be Caliphs. The Shia and Sunni fought over power frequently.
30
What dynasty was established in 661 CE? Where were they from? Where did they locate their capitol?
The Umayyad dynasty. Mecca. Damascus.
31
Whose interests did Umayyad rule reflect? How did this affect levels of support for their rule?
They favored Arab interests, specifically the Arab military aristocracy. This satisfied Arabs, but alienated conquered peoples and non Arab Muslims.
32
Apart from Arabs and Bedouins, who were some of the ethnic groups in the Muslim empire?
it included Indians, Persians, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Berbers.
33
Apart from Muslims, what were some of the other religious groups that made up the Muslim empire?
Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists.
34
What led to the decline of the Umayyads?
Their Caliphs became alienated even from other Arabs. They devoted themselves to luxurious living, rather than leading the Umma, and scandalized devout Muslims with lax attitudes toward Islamic doctrine and Morality.
By midcentury, they faced the resistance of the Shia, the resentment of conquered peoples, and even the Muslim Arab military leaders.
35
What brought the Umayyad dynasty to an end? Who was responsible? How did he accomplish this?
Rebellion in Persia led by Abu al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad's uncle brought the Umayyad dynasty to an end. Abu accomplished this by allying with Shias and non-Arab Muslims.
36
Who was particularly prominent among the supporters of Abu al-Abbas's rebellion?
Persian converts who resented the preference shown by the Umayyads to Arabs.
37
What 2 areas did Abu seize control of in the 740s?
Persia and Mesopotamia.
38
How and when was Abu militarily successful during his rebellion?
In 750 Abu's army defeated the Umayyads in a huge battle. After the battle, he invited the remaining members of the Umayyad clan to a banquet with the supposed purpose of reconciliation. He then slaughtered them all, ending the Umayyad clan.
39
Who founded the Abbasid dynasty? How important was it? Why and when did it stop being significant?
Abu al-Abbas. It was the principal source of authority in the dar al-Islam until the Mongols toppled it in 1258 CE.
40
How was the Abbasid Dynasty different from the Umayyad.
It was more cosmopolitan and showed less favor to the Arab military aristocracy. It also did not focus much on imperial expansion.
41
What was the battle of Talas River? Why was it important?
The battle of Talas River was when the Abbasids defeated a Chinese army at Talas River, ending Tang dynasty expansion into central Asia. It also opened the door for the spread of Islam among Turkish peoples.
42
What places did Autonomous Islamic forces from Tunisia conquer, in full or in part?
Crete, Sicily, the Balearic Islands, Cyprus, Rhodes, Sardinia, Corsica, S. Italy and S. France.
43
What techniques did Abbasids use to administer their empire?
They used Mesopotamian techniques of administration where rulers devised policy, built capitols to oversee affairs, and organized their territories through regional governments and bureaucracies.
44
What was the Abbasid capitol
Baghdad
45
What is an Ulama
A person with religious knowledge
46
What is a Qadi
A judge
47
What did Ulamas and Quadis do?
They set moral standards and resolved disputes in local communities. Ulama developed public policy in accordance with the Quran and Sharia. Quadis heard cases at law and gave decisions based on the Quran and Sharia.
48
What administrative practices did the Abbasids carry out.
They kept a standing army, established ministries in charge of taxation, finance, coinage, and postal services, and maintained a network of roads.
49
Who was the Caliph during the high point of the Abbasid dynasty?
Haroun al-Rashid
50
When did Haroun al-Rashid reign
786-809 CE
51
Why was the reign of Haroun al-Rashid the high point of the Abbasid dynasty?
Baghdad was flush with wealth, and became a center of banking, commerce, crafts and industrial production. Haroun provided support for artists and writers, and distributed money to the poor and common classes by tossing money into the streets.
52
Who did Haroun al-Rashid send a lavish gift to? What did it consist of?
Charlemagne, ruler of the Carolingian empire. An elephant and a collection of rich presents.
53
Why did the Abbasid Dynasty decline?
- After Haroun al-Rashid's reign, civil war between his sons damaged Abbasid authority
- Disputes over succession rights became a recurring problem
- Provincial governors took advantage of this disorder by acting independently of the Caliphs, building up local bases of power, and sometimes seceding from the empire.
- Popular uprisings and peasant rebellions weakened the empire
54
What happened to the Abbasid dynasty in 945
A Persian noble family took control of Bagdad and established their clan as the power behind the Abbasid throne
55
After the Persian nobles, how did imperial power in Bagdad fall under the control of the Seljuq Turks?
Authorities in Bagdad allied with the Seljuqs to put down rebellions, but the Seljuqs took control of the Abbasid empire. During the 1050s they took possession of Bagdad, and then they extended their authority to the whole empire.
56
What served as a vigorous economic stimulus for both the countryside and the cities of the early Islamic world?
Commerce from a zone of trade that stretched from India to Iberia.
57
How were different types of crops, methods of farming, and animals spread throughout the dar al-Islam.
As Muslims traveled thought it, they encountered things specific to one region that would be useful in another, so they spread them.
58
What were the effects of the new crops that were spread throughout the dar al-Islam
They led to a richer diet, allowed farmers to till their lands year-round (because a lot of the transplanted crops grew well in high heat) and led to a dramatic increase in food supplies.
59
What colors was cotton dyed?
Indigo and henna.
60
What led to more effective agricultural practices in the dar al-Islam?
Agricultural manuals that were spread widely.
61
What was the combined effect of new crops and new agricultural methods spread in the Dar al-Islam?
Vigorous economic and urban growth.
62
What was the urban "scene like" during the economic boom of the Abbasid dynasty?
Many cities had flourishing markets that supported artists, craftsmen, and merchants. They were also centers of industrial production of things like textiles, pottery, glassware, iron and steel.
63
When did paper become used in the Islamic world, and why was this important.
The 8th century. Because paper facilitated the keeping of administrative and commercial records, and the dissemination of books in large quantities.
64
What did Muhammad say about merchants?
"Honest merchants will stand alongside martyrs to the faith on the day of judgment"
65
Road systems were so good that the Muslim rulers of Egypt regularly imported ______ to ______.
Ice from the mountains of Syria to their palace in Cairo.
66
What animal was used to transport things? Why?
Camels. When fitted with a good saddle, they can carry heavy loads, and they endure the rigors of the desert very well.
67
What contributed to an increasing maritime trade by Muslims during this time?
Innovations in nautical technology, compasses from the Chinese, lanteeen sail from SE. Asian and Indian mariners, and the astrolabe from the Hellenistic Mediterranean.
68
What does Medina mean
City of the prophets
69
What bodies of water did Muslim maritime trade take place in.
The Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian sea, an Indian Ocean.
70
Who was Ramisht of Siraf, why was he important, and what causes did he support?
He was a rich merchant and was important because of the huge fortune he amassed from long-distance trading ventures. He supported pious causes like covering the Ka'ba with silk and building a hospital and religious sanctuary in Mecca.
71
Compare the banks of the Abbasid period with their predecessors from antiquity.
They conducted business on a much larger scale and provided a much more extensive range of services than their predecessors.
72
What services did Abbasid banks provide?
They lent money to entrepreneurs, served as brokers for investments, exchanged different currencies, honored letters of credit, and had many branches.
73
How did Abbasid merchants reduce the negative effects of a cargo ship being destroyed?
They pooled their resources into group investments, so that several individuals invested together in several different cargos. This distributed the risks and allowed them to more easily absorb losses.
74
Why did long distance trade surge in the early Islamic world?
Improved transportation, expanded banking services and refined techniques of business organization.
75
What products did Muslim merchants deal in, and where were these products from? (Europe and Asia)
Silk and Ceramics from China, spices and aromatics from India and SE. Asia, and Jewlery and fine textiles from the Byzantine empire.
76
What did Muslim traders cross, how, and why did they cross it?
They crossed the Sahara Desert by camel caravan to trade salt, steel, gold, and copper for gold and slaves.
77
What people who live in cold areas did the Muslims trade with? What route did they take? What did they obtain?
They traded with Russians and Scandinavians, by the way of the Dnieper and Volga rivers. They obtained Animal skins, furs, honey, amber, slaves, timber and livestock.
78
What Islamic Spain known as?
al-Andalus
79
Who were the governors of Al-Andalus and in what manner did they govern?
They were Umayyads who refused to recognize the Abbasid dynasty and styled themselves as caliphs in their own right.
80
Who was al-Marwani of Cordoba, when did he make his hajj, what did he do after his hajj, and how did that go?
He was a merchant-scholar and made his hajj in 908. He then traveled to Iraq and India on commercial ventures. He made 30,000 dinars but lost it all in a shipwreck.
81
What public resources did Cordoba have?
Lighted public roads, free Islamic schools, a huge mosque, and a huge library.
82
What goods from al-Andalus enjoyed an excellent reputation and helped pay for imported goods and the building of a capitol at Cordoba?
Ceramics, painted tiles, lead crystal and gold jewelry.
83
In the beginning, what rights did Arab women enjoy that women in other places did not?
They could inherit property, divorce husbands, and engage in business.
84
How did the Quran enhance the security of women in Arabian society?
It outlawed female infanticide, made dowries go directly to brides, and portrayed women as equals rather than property of men.
85
What served as an example that improved the lives of Muslim women?
Muhammads kindness and generosity towards his wives.
86
How did the Quran, and later the Sharia, reinforce male dominance?
They recognized descent through the male line, subjected the social and sexual lives of women to strict control of male guardians, and allowed men to take up to 4 wives.
87
How did the veiling of women become a common Muslim practice?
As they expanded into the Byzantine and Sasanid empires, and conquered Mesopotamia, Persia and Eastern Mediterranean lands, they adopted the veiling of women.
88
What was the veiling of women a symbol of?
Male authority
89
Why did the rights accorded to women in the Quran not limit the Patriarchy.
Over the centuries, jurists and legal scholars interpreted the Quran in ways that limited those rights and placed women more under male authority.
90
How are translations of the Quran thought of by Muslims?
Muslims regard the Arabic text of the Quran as the only definitive and reliable scripture and think that translations do not possess the power and authority of the original.
91
Who helped to bridge differences in cultural traditions and to spread Islamic values throughout the dar al-Islam.
Ulama, Quadis, and missionaries.
92
How were an elementary education and religious instruction provided throughout the Muslim world.
Many Mosques maintained schools that provided this. Wealthy Muslims sometimes opened schools and provided endowments for their support.
93
What is a Madrasa?
A Muslim institute of higher education.
94
Why did Muslim rulers support Madrasas.
They wanted to recruit literate students with an advanced education in Islamic theology and law for administrative positions.
95
What was a Sufi.
Sufis were mystics who were some of the most effective Islamic missionaries.
96
What set Sufi's apart from ordinary muslims.
They did not find formal religious teachings to be especially meaningful, and instead worked to deepen their spiritual awareness.
97
What sort of lives did Sufi's lead?
They lead pious and ascetic lives. Some devoted themselves to helping the poor. Some gave up their possessions and lived as beggars.
98
What sort of union with Allah did Sufi's seek, and how did they try to get there?
They sought a mystical, ecstatic union with Allah, and relied on rousing sermons, passionate singing, and spirited dancing to bring them to a state of high emotion.
99
Who was Al-Ghazali
A Persian theologian who was the most important of the early Sufis.
100
What did Al-Ghazali believe about Allah, philosophy, and human reasoning.
He believed that Human reasoning was too frail to understand the nature of Allah, and only through guidance from the Quran could a human appreciate the power of Allah. He thought that philosophy and human reasoning would lead to confusion.
101
Why did Muslim theologians sometimes mistrust Sufi's.
They believed their lack of concern for doctrine would cause them to adopt erroneous beliefs.
102
Why were Sufis effective missionaries?
They were relaxed regarding doctrine, tolerant, kind, and respectable.
103
What was the symbol of Islamic cultural unity?
The Ka'ba.
104
Why did the Abbasids encourage observance of the Hajj?
They thought it would enhance the cultural unity of the Islamic world, therefore cementing their power.
105
How did the Abbasids encourage observance of the Hajj?
They built inns along roads and policed routes to Mecca.
106
What is the different between the Umma and Ulama?
Umma- Muslim community
Ulama- Someone with religious knowledge.
107
What peoples from other cultural traditions brought their cultural traditions into Islamic society?
Persians, Indians, and Greeks.
108
How did Muslims learn about other cultural traditions?
Foreign scholars were invited to the court at Bagdad, and sponsored translations of literary works from other cultures.
109
What parts of Persian culture politically influenced Muslims
Persian administrative methods, Persian ideas of kinship and Persian ideas of kings.
110
What parts of Persian culture influenced Muslims in an academic sense.
Persian was the principal language of literature, poetry, and history.
111
What amazing Persian literary work is widely known? Where is it set?
The Arabian Nights/The Thousand and One Nights, set In the Abbasid empire and the court of Harun al-Rashid.
112
What Indian influences did the Muslim world take on?
Indian mathematics, science, Medicine and Hindi numerals
113
Greek influence on the Muslim world.
Philosophical, scientific, medicinal,
114
How did Muslim philosophers try to combine Greek and Muslim thought?
They tried to harmonize Plato with the teachings of Islam.
115
Who was Ibn Rushd, and what did he do?
He was the Quadi of Seville and followed Aristotle in seeking to articulate a purely rational understanding of the world.
116
