| A | B |
|---|
| Mohammed Arab (570-632) | Prophet; Mecca; born into family merchants; worked for as a merchant; he underwent spiritual experience of God: Allah |
| Islam | Monotheistic religion announced by Mohammed; he was considered the final prophet |
| Muslim | Follower of Islam |
| Quran | Mohammed heard revelations (God speaking) during visions. He first presented these orally, eventually written into Quran; Islamic holy book |
| Five Pillars of Islam | These are the guidelines by which a Muslim lives. 1. Profession of faith; 2. Prayer; 3. Fasting during Ramadan; 4. Give alms; 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca once in lifetime |
| Sharia | The Islamic holy law, drawn from the Quran and accounts of Mohammed's life |
| Ka'ba | Main shine in Mecca; where Muslims go when they go on hajj (fifth pillar of Islam) |
| Hajj | Name of the pilgrimage that Muslims are called to go on once in a lifetime (fifth pillar of Islam) |
| dar al Islam | The "house of Islam"--a term for the Islamic world |
| caliph(s) | Islamic leader(s) after the death of Mohammmed |
| jihad | literally "struggle"--Inner struggle that Muslims feel to combat vice and evil |
| shia; shiite | Minority group in Islam; believe leadership should descend from ali caliph |
| sunni | Majority group in Islam; believe in legitimacy of the earliest caliphs |
| hijra | Name for when Mohammed migrated from Mecca to Medina in 622; start of the Islamic calendar and the start of the Islamic faith |
| umma | Islamic term for the community of the faithful |
| Umayyad | Arabic dynasty from 661 to 750; Damascus was the capital; tremendous period of expansion of Islam from Spain to India |
| Abbasid | Arabic dynasty from 750 to 1258; replaced the Umayyads; Abu al-Abbas was the founder; reached peak at Harun al-Rashid |
| ulama | Islamic officials; scholars who shaped policy in accordance with the Quran and sharia; lawmakers |
| qadis | Islamic judges |
| sultan | Literally means "strength"; "authority"; "leadership"-- Like a governor within a caliphate; not in charge of entire thing like a caliph |
| Harun al-Rushid | Caliph 786-809; provided liberal support for artists and writers; his reign marked the peak of the entire, after this it declined |
| suffis | Islamic mystics (connected to Allah in prayer); placed more emphasis on devotion than on strict interpretation of rules |
| seal of the prophet | Mohammed is this; the final prophet through whom Allah would reveal his message |
