| A | B |
|---|
| Byzantine Empire | Pertaining to the Eastern Roman Empire |
| Sassanid | Another name for the revived Persian Empire |
| Mecca | City that was a central place of Arab worship and was also Muhammad's birthplace |
| Ka'bah | A stone building in Mecca that was once used for pagan rituals but is now a sacred Muslim site toward which all Muslims pray |
| Ramadan | The holy month of Islam |
| Qur'an | Sacred Islamic book that records Muhammad's visions |
| Allah | Name of the Muslim god which is an Arabic word meaning "the god" |
| Medina | A small oasis where Muhammad and his followers fled |
| Hegira | Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina |
| Islam | Literally means "submission"; the religion founded by Muhammad |
| Battle of Badr | Where Muhammad's army defeated the people of Mecca although his army was greatly outnumbered |
| Muslims | Followers of Islam |
| caliph | Islamic leader; title Abu Bakr took after Muhammad's death, from an Arab word that means "to succeed" |
| Wars of Apostasy | Abu Bakr's campaign against Arabs who sought independence after Muhammad's death |
| Shiite | Literally means "follower" and refers to Muslims who insist that the right to rule was limited to descendants of Muhammad |
| Sunni | Literally means "adherent" and refers to Muslims who believe that any worthy Muslim could become the ruler of Islam |
| imam | Literally means "leader" and refers to a political and religious leader of Shia Islam or a religious leader of Sunni Islam |
| Hadith | Collection of writings about Muhammad's life, including what he said, what he did, and what he approved |
| Five Pillars | Central Islamic practices of affirming Islam, performing daily prayers, almsgiving, fasting, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca |
| sharia | Islamic law |
| jihad | Islamic holy war |
| infidels | Unbelievers |
| Umayyad | Muslim dynasty that moved the capital of the empire to Damascus |
| Damascus | The new capital of the Muslim Empire under the Umayyads |
| Abbasid | Muslim caliphate under which Islam experienced a renaissance |
| Baghdad | The new capital of the Muslim Empire under the Abbassid dynasty |
| Constantinople | Ancient city of Byzantium that Constantine transformed into the new capital of the eastern portion of the Roman Empire |
| Greek fire | A chemical weapon used by the Byzantines against their enemies; chemical mixture that burned on impact and spread when doused with water |
| Charles Martel | Ruler of the Franks (French) that led an army to stop the advance of the Muslim forces in Europe |
