chapter 14 Flashcards
the expansive realm of islam
What were the nomadic peoples who kept herds migrating through deserts to find grass and water?
Bedouin
Who was the woman that Muhammad worked for when he was young?
Khadija, a wealthy widow whom he eventually married in 595 CE
Who cared for Muhammad in his early life after losing both of his parents?
His grandfather and his uncle
When was Muhammad born?
570 CE
At what age did Muhammad establish himself as a merchant in Meccan society?
In his 30s
When did Muhammad undergo a profound spiritual experience?
As he approached age 40
How were Allah’s messages delivered to Muhammad?
Through the archangel Gabriel in revelations
What does “Quran” translate to?
“recitation”
What are hadith?
Traditions which include sayings attributed to Muhammad and accounts of the prophet’s deeds
What is the cube-shaped building housing a large black rock that draws worshippers from all around the world?
Ka’ba
What did Muslims call their new home after fleeing Mecca?
Medina (“city of the prophet”)
What is the word that refers to Muhammad’s migration to Medina in 622?
hijra
Why is the hijra important in Islam?
It marks the starting point of the official Islamic calendar
What is the cohesive Islamic community that Muhammad led referred to as?
the umma
What does “umma” translate to?
“community of the faithful”
What texts did Muhammad hold to high esteem?
The Christian New Testament and Hebrew scriptures
Allah was the same omnipotent, omniscient, and exclusive deity as the Jews’_____ and the Christians’____.
Yahweh, God
Why is Muhammad considered to be the “final prophet” or “seal of the prophets”?
He was thought to have received a more complete revelation of Allah’s message.
When did Muhammad die?
632
When did Muhammad lead the first Islamic pilgrimage to Ka’ba?
632
Name the five pillars of Islam.
- Muslims must acknowledge Allah as the only god and Muhammad as his prophet
- They must pray to Allah daily while facing Mecca
- They must observe a fast during the daylight hours of Ramadan
- They must contribute alms for the relief of the weak and poor
- Those who are physically and financially able must undertake the hajj, making at least one pilgrimage to Mecca
What is Islamic holy law called?
the sharia
Who was Muhammad’s successor as caliph?
Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad’s closest friends
What does “caliph” translate to?
“deputy”
How did caliphs lead?
As lieutenants or substitutes for Muhammad, not as prophets
How did the Shia sect of Islam originate?
Party supporting the appointment of Ali and his descendants as caliphs, they resisted the victorious faction, struggled to return caliphate to line of Ali
What does “sunni” translate to?
“traditionalists”
How do Shia muslims practice Islam differently?
- observed holy days in honor of their leaders and martyrs to their cause
- taught that descendants of Ali were infallible, sinless, divinely appointed to rule
- advanced interpretations of the Quran that supported the party’s views
Who was Ali?
Muhammad’s cousin and son in law, served as the fourth caliph but only briefly before being assassinated
What was the capital of the Umayyad dynasty?
Damascus (thriving commercial city in Syria)
Umayyads ranked among the most prominent of the_________merchant clans, and their reputation and network of alliances helped them bring stability to the Islamic community.
Meccan
Whom did the Umayyad dynasty favor in their administration and interests?
The Arab military aristocracy
Despite the disintegration of the Abbasid Caliphate, Islam continued to spread across Afro-Eurasia in the period 1200-1450 primarily because of what?
The activities of Sufi missionaries; Sufi missionaries were the largest factor in the further spread of Islam across Afro-Eurasia in the period 1200-1450, as Sufis won new converts in places such as Anatolia, Central Asia, India, and Southeast Asia where Islam had already been introduced
What special head tax did the Umayyads levy on those who did not convert to Islam?
the jizya
Who rallied Muslims from all regions and rebelled against the Umayyads in the 740s?
Abu al-Abbas
When was the Abbasid dynasty toppled by the Mongols?
1258 CE
Why was the battle of Talas River exceptionally important?
It ended the expansion of China’s Tang dynasty into central Asia and it opened the door for spread of Islam among Turkish peoples
Instead of conquering new lands, the Abbasids largely contented themselves with___________.
administering the (cosmopolitan) empire they inherited
Abu al-Abbas and his successors turned to_______and_______techniques of administration to rule govern the Abbasid dynasty.
Persian, Mesopotamian
Central authority emanated from the Abbasid court at_______.
Baghdad
What does “ulama” translate to?
“people with religious knowledge”
What does “qadis” translate to?
“judges”
What did Abbasid administration look like?
- rulers devised policies
- capital cities oversaw affairs
- territories organized through regional governors and bureaucracies
- bureaucratic ministries in charge of taxation, finance, coinage, and postal services
Who were ulama?
Pious scholars who sought to develop public policy in accordance with the Quran and sharia
What did qadis do?
heard cases at law and rendered decisions based on the Quran and sharia
Who ruled during the high point of the Abbasid dynasty?
Harun al-Rashid
Who sent an elephant and a collection of rich presents as gifts to his contemporary Charlemagne?
Harun al-Rashid
What contributed to Abbasid decline?
- civil war broke out between Harun al-Rashid’s sons who disputed over succession rights
- provincial governors began acting independently of caliphs
- uprisings and peasant rebellions
- fell under control of Seljuq Turks, and Abbasid caliphs mere figureheads of authority for centuries in the face of Seljuq sultans
What were some of the most important industries in the Islamic world/what crops were vital for the prosperity of these industries?
Cotton for thriving textile industry, indigo, and henna yielded dyes that textile manufacturers used in large quantities
What new industry appeared in Islamic cities during the Abbasid era?
paper manufacture
Why was paper important to the Islamic world?
Helped keeping of administrative and commercial records, dissemination of books and treatises in larger quantities
Why was overland trade mostly traveled by camel caravan?
camels endure the rigors of desert travel much better than other animals, and they could carry heavy loads
As camel transport became more common, cities of the Islamic world and central Asia built and maintained_________.
caravanserais
What were caravanserais?
Inns offering lodging for caravan merchants as well as food, water, and care for their animals
Why might the caravanserais have been important?
Provided a place for merchants from all over the eastern hemisphere to delve into intense conversation, trading culture and faiths, and even commodities.
Where did the compass come from?
Chinese inventors
Where did the lateen sail come from?
southeast Asian and Persian mariners
Where did the astrolabe come from?
The Hellenistic Mediterranean
Who was Ramisht of Siraf?
Twelfth century Persian merchant who amassed huge fortune from long-distance trading ventures
What were letters of credit known as in the Islamic world?
sakk
How did Islamic banks change and stimulate the commercial economy during the Abbasid period?
- lent money to entrepreneurs
- served as brokers for investments
- exchanged different currencies
- established multiple branches than honored letters of credit drawn on parent bank
How did group investments/joint endeavors help benefit trade?
distributed risks and allowed easy absorption of losses
What is Islamic Spain called?
al-Andalus
Who were the governors of al-Andalus?
Umayyads who refused to recognize the Abbasid dynasty
Who traveled on Iraq and India on commercial ventures and whose profits amounted to 30,000 dinars (only to be lost in a shipwreck)
merchant-scholar al-Marwani of Cordob
Where was the capital of al-Andalus?
Cordoba
What did Islamic women legally have the right to do?
inherit property, divorce husbands on their own, engage in business ventures
How did the Quran enhance the security of women in Arabian society?
Outlawed female infanticide, provided that dowries went directly to brides rather than to husbands, portrayed women not as the property of their menfolk but as honorable individuals with their own rights and needs
How did the Quran and Islamic holy law reinforce male dominance?
placed high premium on genealogical purity, subjected social and sexual lives of women to strict control of male guardians, fathers, brothers, and husbands, permitted men to take up to four wives, whereas women could only have one husband
Long before veiling of women was practiced in the Islamic world, where did the custom originate?
Mesopotamia; as early as the thirteenth century BCE
What were institutions of higher education called in the Islamic world?
madrasas
What did Sufi missionaries value/dedicate their lives to?
Valued deep spiritual awareness, piety, and asceticism—devoted their lives to helping the poor, achieving mystical union with Allah through higher emotion, dedicated to well-being of others around them, and emphasized individualized faith/worship of Allah
What aspects of Persian society did Muslims borrow?
- Administrative techniques borrowed from the Sasanid empire, crucial for the organization of the imperial structure of Umayyad and Abbasid government
- Ideas of kingship, caliphs drew readily on Persian views of kings as wise and benevolent, absolute rulers
- Literary works of the Abbasid dynasty, Persian was principle language of literature, poetry, history, and political reflection
What aspects of Indian society did Muslims adopt?
- Mathematics; readily adopted “hindi” numerals, which Europeans later called “Arabic” numerals (since they learned from Arab Muslims)–enabled to develop impressive tradition of mathematics concentrating on algebra, trig, and geometry
- Science and medicine; inspired development of Muslim astronomy, medicine appealed for treatments to ailments and antidotes
What aspects of Greek society were readily adopted by the Islamic world?
- Philosophy; works of Plato and Aristotle, inspired debates about reason and logic in a religious society that emphasized higher states of being beyond human understanding
- Mathematics; solid body of powerful reasoning, algebra and geometry
- Medicine, anatomy, physiology
Who considered Greek philosophy a completely unreliable guide to ultimate truth?
Sufi al-Ghazali
Who followed Aristotle in seeking to articulate a purely rational understanding of the world?
Ibn Rushd, qadi of Seville in the caliphate of Cordoba
What did Christian scholars know Ibn Rushd as?
Averroes
What movement/thought did Averroes’s work profoundly influence
scholasticism
What did the majority of Muslims favor more, revelation of the Quran or human reason?
They placed more value on the revelations of the Quran than the fruits of human logic
Monasticism was an important aspect of what two religions?
Buddhism and Christianity
