Chapter Eight Flashcards
What did the proclamation of Christianity and Zoroastrianism as official faiths symbolize?
It marked the emergence of religion as an instrument of politics
What role was not played by Arab pastoralists in the relationship between the Sasanid and Byzantine Empires?
They were incorporated in the Sassanid and Byzantine governments as officials
In the Muslim view, Judaism and Christianity were…
Negligent in preserving gods word
Why did Muslims change the direction of their prayers from Jerusalem to Mecca?
To differentiate themselves between themselves and the Jews of medina who continued to practice Judaism
The supremacy of the median state was based on?
Common faith in a single God
What are the “Five Pillars” of Islam?
Fighting in holy war, or jihad
To which factor can we attribute the success of the spread of the Muslim empire?
The fact that the caliphs who guided the conquests were both sophisticated and inspired by Muhammad
Describe the Arab Muslims’ relationship to their subject peoples.
Arabs were a minority, and they had no incentive to promote cohesive missionary movements
What factors contributed to the decline of the Umayyad dynasty?
The Umayyad ban on trade caused economic hardship
As Islam developed, it…
Absorbed many small traditions within the great traditions of Islam
The Hadith?
Provided a valuable supplement to the quaran, adding material on legal issues not covered there
The practice of secluding and veiling women has its roots in?
Has its roots in Byzantine and Sassanid times
A hereditary slave society never developed in the Islamic world because?
Slaves usually converted to Islam, often causing their masters to free them, and the offspring of slave women and Muslim men were set free
