Historic Encounters I: Islam Philosophy and the Spread of Islam Flashcards
Where did Islam originate?
The Arabian Peninsula
Who was considered the last prophet in the Abrahamic traditions in Islam?
Muhammad
What happened after Muhammad’s death in 632 in terms of leadership?
Muslims were ruled by four caliphs (successors) to the Prophet
Who ruled the Muslim world beginning in 661?
The Muslim world was ruled by two hereditary dynasties: the Umayyad and the Abbasids.
What type of religion is Islam, like Christianity?
a missionary religion
What did Muslims believe of the message of their faith?
Intended for all human kind; to be practiced in a community that transcends geographic, cultural, and liturgics borders.
True or False: The Qur’an sanctions forced conversion.
False
What is dhimmi status?
Jews and Christians living under Muslim territories were protected under dhimmi status: Dhimmi: protected people.
How did Conversion to Islam happen?
Gradually through living examples, trades, spiritual and intellectual encounters, and not through military conquest.
Why was the idea of not converting Christians and Jews to inseam tactical?
Because they needed the tax to fund military. They could not get tax from Muslims in this case…could only get 2.5% of annual income. Was not enough to fund military.
When were former Roman territories in North Africa conquered by the Umayyad?
since th early 8th century
What was once the centre of Arab Islamic culture in the Mediterranean
The city of Qayrawan (Tunisia) in North Africa
Which region produced scholars, philosophers, mystics (Sufis) who were instrumental in creating this place’s heritage?
North Africa
What happened in the 19th and 20th centuries with North African Muslims?
North Africa Muslims, especially the Sufis, played a crucial role in the region’s struggle for independence from colonial powers.
What did Muslim presence in Western Europe begin with?
The establishment of the Umayyad dynasty in Southern Spain in 711.
True or False: In Western Europe, Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in mutual tolerance for centuries.
True
When were Muslims driver out of Spain?
1492 because Medieval Europe would not tolerate a permanent Muslim community on their soil.
Who did Muslims engage in commercial, political, and cultural relations with when in Western Europe?
with both Latin and Byzantine states.
Are contemporary Muslim communities in Western Europe a relative recent phenomena?
yes
When did Muslims arrive in Sub-Saharan Africa?
As early as the 8th century
What was instrumental in establishing Muslim communities and adapting Islam in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa?
trades, preachers, jurists
Specifically in East Africa, who played important roles in spreadingIslam along the coast?
the traders
What is an important elements of East African Muslim community? When did they migrate there and from where?
An important element of East African Muslim has been the Khoja community who migrated from India in the mid-1800s.
How did the Khoja community end up in east Africa?
they were brought by the British
The British and___helped expand Islam.
Reconquista
What is Central Asia and Iran home to?
Prominent Muslim scholars, hadith collectors, historians, philosophers and theologians.
What contrived to the established of Islam learnings, institution, and literature in Central Asia and Iran?
different dynasties that ruled the region
What are the Saljugs? Where did they rule?
One major Turkic population from Central Asia, the Saljugs, established dynasty, ruling from Iran to Anatolia.
When did the Ottomans reach the peak of their power? Where did they all rule?
One Runic family, the Ottomans, reached the peak of their power in the sixteenth century, ruling the Balkans, the Levant, and former roman territories in North Africa.
How long have Muslims seen in China?
since the 8th century, but Muslim community only established int he 13th century.
In China, which two leaders did Muslims prosper under?
the Mongols and Ming
What cut off Chinese Muslims from the rest of the Muslim world?
The decline of the overland trade with Central Asia
How many Muslims are there in China today?
approximately 80 million
When did Islam become an integral part of Indian life?
since the 8th century
When Muslim ruled most of India, the majority of the population remained___.
Hindu
How many Muslims are in India today?
100-120 million
Scholars speculated tat West African Muslims may have sailed to America long before___. Others suggest that when Muslims were driven out of___, many fled to America
- Columbus
- Spain
What percent of slaves were Muslims?
at least 20%
In the middle of the___century, many Muslims migrated to___; some escaped persecutions, some of them were students who decided to stay.
- 20th
- America
What is the relationship between African Americans and Islam?
Among African Americans, Islam began as a religion of Black people only. Soon, African American communities drew their faith closer to the mainstream.
How many Muslims are estimated to be in North America? How many are estimated to be in Canada, specifically?
- 6-7 million
- 600 000
When did Muslims begin to cultivate interests in Greek philosophy, science, and medicine?
After their encounters with Hellenized Jews and Christians in Syria and Mesopotamia.
When did the quest for knowledge reach its peak in Islam?
under the Abbasid clip, al-Ma’mum
Who is credited with bringing scholars (Jews, Christians, Muslims) to share information, ideas, and culture?
al-Ma’mun
What is the House of Wisdom that al-Ma’mun established?
A major learning centre, library, and translation institute.
What did Muslims’ encounters with Greek philosophy precipitate?
discussion about these of reason to support Islamic belief (theology)
What is theology?
discourse about God, God’s attribute, God’s creations. It is also concerned with human free will and predestination (the meaning of destiny); the problem of evil and human suffering.
What were the 3 characters of early Muslim philosophers?
1) Aristotelian in its logic, physics, and metaphysics
2) Platonist in its political and social aspects
3) Neo-Platonic in its mysticism and theology
Who did the following:
- used philosophical methods to defend fundamental Islamic teachings, such as the existence and the essence of God
- voiced the idea of creation out of nothing, and the necessity of prophet to humanity
Abu Yusuf Ya’qub al-Kindi
Who did the following:
- Platonist; rejected the ideaa of creation of out nothing
- argued that the universe evolved from its primal matter
- will turn to its primeval state sometime in the future
Abu Bakr al-Razi
Who was dubbed the “second teacher” after Aristotle?
Abu Nasr al-Farabi
What is emanation? (acc. to Abu asr al-Farabi)?
From God’s self-knowledge emanated the first intellect, which generated the heavily spheres, and a second intellect, which repeated the process.
Who’s encyclopedia manual of medicine and philosophical treatises were studied and became the standard texts in many medieval universities until the 1650s?
Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
Who introduced the epistemological theory of being, which pre-dates dEscartes’ similar theory (“I think, therefore I am”) approximately six centuries earlier.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
True or False: There were Islamic philosophers who questioned authority of prophets and scripture.
True
