| A | B |
|---|
| Abbasid caliphate | Dynasty of caliphs who ruled an increasingly fragmented Islamic state from 750 to 1258, eventually becoming little more than figureheads. (pron. ah-BASS-id) |
| Andalus, al-: | Arabic name for Spain (literally “the land of the Vandals”), most of which was conquered by Arab and Berber forces in the early eighth century C.E. (pron. al-AND-ah-loos) |
| Anatolia | Ancient name of Asia Minor, part of the Byzantine Empire that was gradually overrun by the Turks and that now is the Republic of Turkey. (pron. an-ah-TOLE-ee-yah) |
| Battle of Talas River | Arab victory over the Chinese in 751 C.E. that checked Chinese expansion to the west and enabled the conversion of Central Asia to Islam. (pron. tah-las) |
| Bedouins | Nomadic Arabs. (pron. BED-wins) |
| dhimmis | “Protected subjects” under Islamic rule, non-Muslims who were allowed to practice their faith as “people of the book” in return for their paying special taxes. (pron. DIM-ees) |
| Ghazali, al | -: Great Muslim theologian, legal scholar, and Sufi mystic (1058–1111) who was credited with incorporating Sufism into mainstream Islamic thought. (pron. al-gha-ZAHL-ee) |
| hadiths | Traditions passed on about the sayings or actions of Muhammad and his immediate followers; hadiths rank second only to the Quran as a source of Islamic law. (pron. hah-DEETHS) |
| hajj | The pilgrimage to Mecca enjoined on every Muslim who is able to make the journey; one of the Five Pillars of Islam. (pron. HAHJ) |
| hijra: | The “flight” of Muhammad and his original seventy followers from Mecca to Yathrib (later Medina) in 622 C.E.; the journey marks the starting point of the Islamic calendar. (pron. HIJ-ruh) |
| House of Wisdom | An academic center for research and translation of foreign texts that was established in Baghdad in 830 C.E. by the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun. |
| Ibn Battuta | Fourteenth-century Arab traveler (1304–1368) who wrote about his extensive journeys throughout the Islamic world. (pron. IB-uhn ba- TOO-tuh) |
| Ibn Sina | One of the greatest polymaths of the Islamic world (980–1037), a Persian who wrote prolifically on scientific (especially medical) and philosophical issues; he is often known as “Avicenna,” the Latinized form of his name. (pron. ibn SEE-nah) |
| imams | In Shia Islam, leaders with high religious authority; the twelve imams of early Shia Islam were Muhammad’s nephew Ali and his descendants. (pron. EE-mahms) |
| jihad | Arabic for “struggle,” this term describes both the spiritual striving of each Muslim toward a godly life and armed struggle against the forces of unbelief and evil. (pron. jee-HAHD) |
| jizya | Special tax paid by dhimmis in Muslim-ruled territory in return for freedom to practice their own religion. (pron. jeez-YAH) |
| Kaaba | Great stone shrine in Mecca that was a major pilgrimage center for worshippers of many different deities before it was reconsecrated to monotheistic use by Muhammad. (pron. KAH-bah) |
| madrassas | Formal colleges for higher instruction in the teachings of Islam as well as in secular subjects, founded throughout the Islamic world beginning in the eleventh century. (pron. MAH-dras-ahs) |
| Mecca | Key pilgrimage center in Arabia that became the birthplace of Islam. |
| Mozarabs | “Would-be Arabs” in Muslim-ruled Spain, referring to Christians who adopted much of Arabic culture and observed many Muslim practices without actually converting to Islam. (pron. MOH-zah-rabs) |
| Muhammad Ibn Abdullah | : The Prophet of Islam (570–632 C.E.). |
| Muslim | Literally, “one who submits”; the name was adopted by Muhammad and his followers to describe their submission to God. |
| Pillars of Islam | The five core practices required of Muslims: a profession of faith, regular prayer, charitable giving, fasting during Ramadan, and a pilgrimage to Mecca (if financially and physically possible). |
| Polo, Marco: | The most famous European traveler of the Middle Ages (1254–1324), whose travel account of his time in China was widely popular in Europe. |
| Rightly Guided Caliphs | The first four rulers of the Islamic world (632–661) after the death of Muhammad. |
| Quran | Also transliterated as Qur’án and Koran, this is the most holy text of Islam, recording the revelations given to the prophet Muhammad. (pron. kuh- RAHN) |
| sharia | Islamic law, dealing with all matters of both secular and religious life. (pron. sha-REE-ah) |
| shaykhs | Sufi teachers who attracted a circle of disciples and often founded individual schools of Sufism. (pron. SHAKES) |
| Sikhism | A significant syncretic religion that evolved in India, blending elements of Islam and Hinduism; founded by Guru Nanak (1469–1539). (pron. SEEK-ism) |
| Sufis | Islamic mystics, many of whom were important missionaries of Islam in conquered lands and who were revered as saints. (pron. SOO-fees) |
| Sultanate of Delhi | Major Turkic Muslim state established in northern India in 1206. (pron. DEL-ee) |
| Timbuktu | Great city of West Africa, noted as a center of Islamic scholarship in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. (pron. tim-buk-TOO) |
| ulama | Islamic religious scholars. (pron. oo-leh-MAH) |
| Umayyad caliphate: | Family of caliphs who ruled the Islamic world from 661 to 750 C.E. (pron. oo-MY-ad) |
| umma | The community of all believers in Islam. (pron. UM-mah) |
