Chapters 6 and 7

Question 1

bedouin

Answer 1

nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian peninsula; culture based on camel and goat nomadism; early converts to Islam

Question 2

side note

Answer 2

Before the rise of Islam, Arabia was a peripheral desert wasteland whose once great trading cities had fallen on hard times. The sparse population of the Arabian peninsula was divided into rival tribes and clans that worshiped local gods.

Question 3

shaykhs

Answer 3

leaders of tribes and clans within bedouin society; usually men with large herds, several wives, and many children

Question 4

Mecca

Answer 4

City located in mountainous region along Red Sea in Arabian peninsula; founded by Umayyad clan of Quraysh; site of Ka’ba; original home of Muhammad; location of chief religious pilgrimage point in Islam

Question 5

Umayyad

Answer 5

clan of Quraysh that dominated politics and commercial economy of Mecca; clan established dynasty as rulers of Islam, 661 to 750

Question 6

Quraysh

Answer 6

tribe of bedouins that controlled Mecca in 7th century C.E.

Question 7

Ka’ba

Answer 7

Most revered religious shrine in pre-Islamic Arabia; located in Mecca; focus of obligatory annual truce among bedouin tribes; later incorporated as important shrine in Islam

Question 8

Medina

Answer 8

also known as Yathrib; town located northeast of Mecca; grew date palms whose fruit was sold to bedouins; became refuge for Muhammad following flight from Mecca (hijra)

Question 9

side note

Answer 9

In the 7th century the revelations of the prophet Muhammad provided the basis for the emergence of a new religion- Islam- in the Arabian peninsula. Though initially an Arab region, in both beliefs and practices, Islam contained a powerful appeal that eventually made it one of the great world religions.

Question 10

Muhammad

Answer 10

Prophet of Islam; born c. 570 to Banu Hashim clan of Quraysh tribe in Mecca; raised by father’s family; received revelations from Allah in 610 C.E. and thereafter; died in 632

Question 11

Khadijah

Answer 11

(595-619) First wife of the prophet Muhammad, who had worked for her as a trader

Question 12

Qur’an

Answer 12

recitations of revelations received by Muhammad; holy book of Islam

Question 13

Ali

Answer 13

(c. 599-661) Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; one of orthodox caliphs; focus for Shi’a

Question 14

umma

Answer 14

community of the faithful within Islam; transcended old tribal boundaries to create degree of political unity

Question 15

zakat

Answer 15

tax for charity; obligatory for all Muslims

Question 16

five pillars

Answer 16

the obligatory religious duties of all Muslims; confession of faith, prayer, fasting during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj

Question 17

Ramadan

Answer 17

Islamic month of religious observance requiring fasting from dawn to sunset

Question 18

hajj

Answer 18

A Muslim’s pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, to worship Allah at the Ka’ba

Question 19

side note

Answer 19

Despite a time of crisis after the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E., the Muslim community held together. Eventually, Muhammad’s old adversaries, the Umayyad clan, seized leadership of the Muslim faithful and began a sequence of stunning conquests throughout the Middle East and north Africa.

Question 20

caliph

Answer 20

the political and religious successor to Muhammad

Question 21

Bakr, Abu

Answer 21

(c. 573-634) one of Muhammad’s earliest converts; succeeded Muhammad as first caliph of Islamic community

Question 22

Ridda Wars

Answer 22

Wars that followed Muhammad’s death in 632; resulted in defeat of rival prophets and some of larger clans; restored unity of Islam

Question 23

jihad

Answer 23

struggle; often used for wars in defense of the faith

Question 24

Copts

Answer 24

Christina sect of Egypt; tended to support Islamic invasions of this area in preference to Byzantine rule

Question 25

Nestorians

Answer 25

A Christian sect found in Asia; tended to support Islamic invasions of this area in preference to Byzantine rule; cut off form Europe by Muslim invasions

Question 26

Uthman

Answer 26

Third caliph and member of Umayyad clan; murdered by mutinous warriors returning from Egypt; death set off civil war in Islam between followers of Ali and the Umayyad clan

Question 27

Battle of Siffin

Answer 27

fought in 657 between forces of Ali and Umayyads; settled by negotiation that eld to fragmentation of Ali's party

Question 28

Mu''awiya

Answer 28

(602-680) leader of Umayyad clan; first Umayyad caliph following civil war with Ali

Question 29

Sunnis

Answer 29

Political and theological division within Islam; supported the Umayyads

Question 30

Shi'a

Answer 30

Also known as Shi'ites; political and theological division within Islam; followers of Ali

Question 31

Karbala

Answer 31

site of defeat and death of Husayn, son of Ali; marked beginning of Shi'a resistance to Umayyad caliphate

Question 32

Damascus

Answer 32

Syrian city that was capital of Umayyad caliphate

Question 33

mawali

Answer 33

non-Arab converts to Islam

Question 34

jizya

Answer 34

head tax paid by all non-believers in Islamic territories

Question 35

dhimmi

Answer 35

literally "people of the book"; applied as inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus

Question 36

hadiths

Answer 36

traditions of the prophet

Question 37

Abbasid

Answer 37

dynasty that succeeded the Umayyads as caliphs within Islam; came to power in 750 C.E.

Question 38

Battle of the River Zab

Answer 38

Victory of Abbasids over Umayyads; resulted in conquest of Syria and capture of Umayyad capital

Question 39

side note

Answer 39

Under the Abbasids, who succeeded the Umayyads, Islam became a universal religion that spread across of much of north Africa and Euro-Asia. With their capital at Baghdad, Islamic civilization flourished under the Abbasids, even as their empire began to fragment into regional power centers.

Question 40

Baghdad

Answer 40

Capital of Abbasid dynasty located in Iraq near ancient Persian capital of Ctesiphon

Question 41

wazir

Answer 41

chief administrative official under the Abbasid caliphate; initially recruited from Persian provinces of empire

Question 42

dhows

Answer 42

arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design

Question 43

ayan

Answer 43

the wealthy landed elite that emerged in the early decades of Abbasid rule

Question 44

lateen

Answer 44

triangular sails attached to the masts of dhows by long booms, or yard arms, which extended diagonally high across the fore and aft of the ship

Question 45

al- Mahdi

Answer 45

(r. 775-785) third of the Abbasid caliphs; attempted but failed to reconcile moderates among Shi'a to Abbasid dynasty; failed to resolve problem of succession

Question 46

side note

Answer 46

The vast Abbasid empire gradually disintegrated between the 9th and 13th centuries C.E. Political decline and recurring social turmoil were fed both by the emergence of rival centers of power and the inroads of nomadic peoples attracted to the rich and fertile regions where Muslim urban life and power were centered.

Question 47

Harun al- Rashid

Answer 47

one of the great Islamic rulers of the Abbasid era

Question 48

Buyids

Answer 48

regional splinter dynasty of the mid-10th century; invaded and captured Baghdad; ruled Abbasid empire under title of sultan; retained Abbasids as figureheads

Question 49

Seljuk Turks

Answer 49

Nomadic invaders from central Asia via Persia; staunch Sunnis; ruled in name of Abbasid caliphs from mid-11th century

Question 50

Crusades

Answer 50

Series of military adventures initially launched by western Christians to free Holy Land from Muslims; temporarily succeeded in capturing Jerusalem and establishing Christian kingdoms; later used fro other purposes such as commercial wars and extermination of heresy

Question 51

Saladin

Answer 51

Muslim leader in the last decades of the 12th century; reconquered most of the crusader outposts for Islam

Question 52

Ibn Khaldun

Answer 52

(1332-1406) A Muslim historian; developed concept that dynasties of nomadic conquerors had a cycle of three generations- strong, weak, dissolute

Question 53

side note

Answer 53

Paradoxically, even as the political power of the Abbasids declined, Islamic civilization reached new heights of achievement and entered into a phase of renewed expansion

Question 54

Shah- Nama

Answer 54

Written by Firdawsi in late 10th and early 11th centuries; relates history of Persia from creation to the Islam conquests

Question 55

ulama

Answer 55

Orthodox religious scholars within Islam; pressed for a more conservative and restrictive theology; increasingly opposed to non-Islamic ideas and scientific thinking

Question 56

al-Ghazali

Answer 56

(1058-1111) Brilliant Islamic theologian; struggled to fuse Greek and Qur'anic traditions; not entirely accepted by ulama

Question 57

side note

Answer 57

From the 7th century onward, Muslim invaders, traders, and migrants carried the Islamic faith and Islamic civilization to the vast south Asian subcontinent. Muslim conquests and conversions provoked a variety of Hindu responses and attempts by some followers of both religions to reconcile their difference.

Question 58

Mongols

Answer 58

Central Asian nomadic people; smashed Turko-Perisn kingdoms; captured Baghdad in 1258 and killed last Abbasid caliph

Question 59

Chinggis Khan

Answer 59

born in 1170s in decades following death of Kabul Khan; elected khagan of all Mongol tribes in 1206; responsible for conquest of northern kingdoms of China, territories as far west as the Abbasid regions; died in 1227, prior to conquest of most of Islam world

Question 60

Hulegu

Answer 60

(1217-1265) ruler of the Ilkhan khanate; grandson of Chinggis Khan; responsible for the capture and destruction of Baghdad in 1257

Question 61

Mamluks

Answer 61

Muslim salve warriors; established a dynasty in Egypt; defeated the Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260 and halted Mongol advance

Question 62

Muhammad ibn Qasim

Answer 62

(661-750) Arab general; conquered Sind in India; declared the regions and the Indus valley to be part of Umayyad Empire

Question 63

Mahmud of Ghanzi

Answer 63

(971-1030) Third ruler of Turkish slave dynasty in Afghanistan; led invasions of northern India; credited with sacking one of wealthiest of Hindu temples in northern India; gave Muslims reputation for intolerance and aggression

Question 64

Muhammad of Ghur

Answer 64

(1173-1206) Military commander of Persian extraction who ruled small mountain kingdom in Afghanistan; began process of conquest to establish Muslim political control of northern India; brought much of Indus valley, Sind, and northwestern Indian under his control

Question 65

Qutb-ud-din Aibak

Answer 65

Lieutenant of Muhammad of Ghur; established kingdom in india with capital at Delphi; proclaimed himself Sultan of India (r. 1206-1210)

Question 66

bhaktic cults

Answer 66

Hindu groups dedicated to gods and goddesses; stressed the importance of strong emotional bonds between devotees and the god or goddess who was the object of their veneration; most widely worshipped gods were Shiva and Vishnu

Question 67

Mira Bai

Answer 67

(1498-1547) Celebrated Hindu writer of religious poetry; reflected openness of bhaktic cults to women

Question 68

Kabir

Answer 68

(1440-1518) Muslim mystic; played down the importance of ritual differences between Hinduism and Islam

Question 69

side note

Answer 69

From the 13th century, traders and Sufi mystics spread Islam to island southeast Asia. As was the case in India, conversion was generally peaceful, and Islamic teachings and rituals were mixed with the animist, Hindu, and Buddhist religions long established in Malaya, Java, and other areas.

Question 70

Shrivijaya

Answer 70

trading empire centered on Malacca Straits between Malaya and Sumatra; controlled trade of empire; Buddhist government resistant to Muslim missionaries; fall opened up southeastern Asia to Muslim conversion

Question 71

Malacca

Answer 71

Portuguese factory or fortified trade town located on the tip of the Malayan peninsula; traditionally a center for trade among the southeastern Asian islands

Question 72

Demak

Answer 72

Most powerful of the trading states on north coast of Java; converted to Islam and served as point of dissemination to other ports