| A | B |
|---|
| What is Arabia? | A desert region connected by trade routes to the outside world |
| What are Bedouins? | Nomadic herders that live in the desert |
| Where did some Bedouins settle? | As farmers near Oases or as town dwellers |
| What city became an important trade and pilgrimage center? | Mecca |
| What are two cities that became prosperous trading centers on the caravan routes? | Petra and Palmyra |
| What was the muslim worship center in Mecca that housed over 360 idols? | Ka'aba |
| Who is Muhammad? | orphan, businessman, trader, founder of Islam |
| Who is Muhammad's wife and business partner? | Khadijah |
| What does "Islam" mean? | "submission to the will of Allah" |
| Who is Allah? | Allah is the Arabic word for God |
| What does "Muslim" mean? | "one who has submitted" |
| How did Muhammad gain converts? | By teaching that Allah is the one and only God |
| Where do Muhammad and his followers go after Mecca ? | Medina (or Yathrib) |
| What was the trip from Mecca to Medina called? | Hijrah |
| What does "Medina" mean? | "city of the Prophet" |
| What kind of leader was Muhammad? | Political, religious, and military |
| What city did Muhammad and his followers forcefully take over? | Mecca |
| What is the name for the Muslim religious community? | umma |
| What is the Qur'an? | the holy book of the Muslims |
| What are the five pillars of Islam? | Faith, prayer, alms, fasting, pilgrimage |
| What is the pilgrimage to Mecca called? | hajj |
| What is a mosque? | An Islamic house of worship |
| How many times a day do Muslims pray? | 5 |
| What is the Sunna? | Muhammad's example |
| What is the shari'a? | the collective guidance of the Qur'am amd the Sunna |
| What do Muslims refer to Christians and Jews as? | "People of the book" |
| What beliefs are shared by Christians, Jews, and Muslims? | belief in one God, in heaven, hell, and the day of judgment, and that Abraham was an important prophet |
| Who are the Umayyads? | family who came to power in the Muslim community; moved the capital to Damascus; set up hereditary rule |
| What two changes did the Umayyads make in Islam? | Moved the capital out of Arabia to Damascus; set up hereditary system of succession |
| What is a caliph? | a "successor" or "deputy"; the person responsible for spreading Muhammad's message |
| How were leaders chosen in the early days of Islam? | Through election |
| Why did Muslims defeat the Persian and Byzantine empires so easily? | They were already weakened due to their wars with each other; persecuted populations welcomed the Muslim invadors as liberators |
| What was the Muslim treatment of conquered peoples? | They were tolerant of their beliefs, letting them keep their religion and pay taxes to be exempt from military duty |
| Who are the Sunni Muslims? | Those who did NOT outwardly resist the rule of the Umayyads |
| Who are the Shi'a Muslims? | Those who DID resist the rule of the Umayyads; "party" of Ali |
| Who are the Sufis? | Those who pursued a life of poverty and devotion to a spiritual path; in reaction to the luxurious life of the Umayyads |
| Who are the Abbasids? | the most powerful rebel group who opposed the Umayyads; took control of the empire |
| When did the Abbasids take power? | 750 |
| How long did the Abbasids rule? | 500 years; from 750 to 1258 |
| Who escaped the Abbasids and fled to Spain? | Abd al-Rahman; an Umayyad prince |
| What is al-Andalus? | a Muslim state in southern Spain, settled by the Berbers |
| Who are the Berbers? | Muslims from North Africa |
| Where did the Abbasids move the capital? | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Where does the Muslim trade routes extend to? | China in the east and below the Sahara in the south |
| What is Fatimid? | The Fatimad Dynasty was named after Muhammad's daughter; political rival to the Abbasids |
| What is "sakk"? | letters of credit; pronounced "check"; used to exchange currency in major trade cities |
| What are the four classes of people in Muslim society? | upper class- included Muslims at birth; 2nd class- converts to Islam; 3rd class- Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians; lowest class- slaves (prisoners of war) |
| What was the position of women in Muslim society? | men and women are equal as believers; daily duties working in fields, managing the household, raising the children; they were also educated and could participate in public life |
| What is the House of Wisdom? | a library/academy/translation center in Baghdad; opened by Caliph al-Mu'mun |
| Muslims contributed to what areas of advanced learning? | medicine, mathematics, and science |
| With whom did the Muslims blend their philosophical ideas? | the Greeks |
| What is the standard for all Arabic literature and poetry? | The Qur'an |
| Who is the greatest of all Sufi poets? | Rumi |
| What is The Thousand and One Nights? | a collection of entertaining stories that include fairy tales, parables, and legends |
| Why did Muslims not depict living things in their artwork? | they thought that only Allah could create life, and considered it idolotry |
| What is calligraphy? | The art of beautiful handwriting |
| Other than calligraphy, what type of art/crafts did Muslims create? | woodwork, glass, ceramics, and textiles |
| Describe the geographic settting in which Islam developed: | Arabia was mostly desert, with a few farming communities and larger towns on the west coast. Its location made it a crossroads of trade and ideas between Europe, Africa, and Asia. |
| Why did many people in Mecca reject Muhammad's ideas at first? | They feared Mecca would lose its position as a pilgrimage center if people accepted his monotheistic beliefs. |
| Why are the Five Pillars of Islam significant? | They are duties every Muslim attemps to carry out to show submission to the will of God. |
| What are the three reasons the "rightly guided" caliphs were so successful in spreading Islam? | They drew upon the duty Muslims felt toward their faith, their armies were well trained and well led, and they won non-Muslims' support because they tolerated religious diversity. |
| What are the main reasons for the split between the Sunni and the Shi'a? | The Shi'a believed that the caliph should be a relative of Muhammad and that the Umayyads had lost touch with their religion. The Sunni believed the leader only needed to demonstrate leadership of the community. |
| Why did trade flourish under the Abbasids? | They controlled key trade routes linking Asia, Africa, and Europe; they had a strong bureaucracy to run their empire; and Muslims set up banks in cities throughout the empire. |
| In what ways did urban life in Muslim lands reflect Muslim culture? | Cities were well-organized, growing, and culturally diverse and were the home of educational institutions. Society was divided into four classes, and women were legally protected. |
| Why were Muslim scholars so productive in the areas of mathematics, science, and medicine? | They had a deep curiosity about the world from Muhammad. Muslim scientists emphasized conducting experiments in laboratory settings. They also had access to information from many cultures. |
