| A | B |
|---|
| Sheikh | chief of a bedouin tribe |
| revelation | a vision of divine truth, which according to Islamic tradition was experienced by Muhammad in A.D. 610 |
| shari'ah | Islamic code of law that covers all the moral rules for private and public life |
| imam | a prayer leader in a mosque |
| hajj | Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca that every able-bodied Muslim is expected to make at last once in a lifetime involving 3 days of prayer, ceremony and sacrifice |
| caliph | Muslim supreme leader; successor of Muhammad |
| Muhammad | Prophet and founder of Islam |
| Muslims | a follower of Islam, "one who surrenders to God" |
| Abu Bakr | the 1st caliph, he was Muhammad's father-in-law and close friend |
| Ali | Muhammad's son-in-law, the 4th caliph; powerful rival of Mu'awiyah |
| the Rightly Guided Caliphs | the firt 4 caliphs who closely followed Muhammad's example, kept in close touch with the people, and asked for advice from Muslim leaders |
| Umayyads | caliphate dynasty (661 - 750)started by Mu'awiyah when he resisted Ali's authority and took over Egypt, Iraq and eventually the caliphate |
| Abbasids | anti-Umayyad Arabs and Muslims from Iraq and Persia fought the Umayyads and began a new caliphate dynasty (750 - 1258), centered in Baghdad |
| al-Razi | renowned chemist and physician (865 - 925) classsified substances as animal, vegetable or mineral and wrote over 200 medical works including an encyclopedia identifying the origins and symptoms of disease |
| Ibn Sina | a doctor who produced the Canon of Medicine in an attempt to summarize all medical knowledge of that time; as well as 68 books on logic and theology |
| Ibn Khaldun | a North African diplomat and Muslim historian who looked for laws and cause and effect relationships to explain historical events and human behavior |
| the Arabian Penninsula | the land bounded by the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, Caspian and Black Seas, and the Mediterranean Sea |
| Mecca | a crossroads of commerce about 50 miles inland from the Red Sea, site of the Kaaba and the Black Stone of the angel Gabriel, birthplace of Muhammad |
| Medina | Muhammad sent 60 Muslim families to Yathrib from Mecca, and these families accepted Muhammad as the messenger of God and ruler of this city |
| Damascus | the capital after Medina, established by the Umayyads |
| Baghdad | The new capital after Damascus, established by the Abbasids |
| Cordoba | the Umayyad capital in Spain, had more than 70 libraries and more than 1/2 million books |
| Five Pillars of Islam | Belief, Prayer, Charity, Fasting, Pilgrimage |
| Islamic State | a government that uses its political power to uphold Islam |
| Quran | Islamic holy book, containing messages Muhammad received from Allah |
| Mosque | Muslim house of worship |
| Kaaba | low square building in Mecca that Muslims believe contains a stone from heaven |
| Teaching, Trade & Conquest | Three ways in which Islam was spread on the Arabian Peninsula after Muhammad's death |
| Algebra | significant mathematical advance made by Muslim scholars |
