Islam Flashcards
founder
muhammad
titles
prophet; Seal of the prophets
Ged
monotheistic. The Arabic term for God is Allah
Calendar
Year 1: 622 Lunar based, with no adjustment for a solar year
Location
Arabia; within a hundred years of Muhammad’s death, Islam had conquered the area from the Atlantic coast of North Africa to India. Still largely located in that area and in Indonesia
Primary Texts
Quran; Hadith
Main Concepts
God has revealed himself often in the past but the messages have been corrupted by those to whom the message was given. God gave his last and final message (the Quran) to Muhammad, his prophet. Salvation is achieved by submitting to God’s will as revealed
Hierarchy
Originally a caliph stood at the head of the Islamic community, though the Shia substituted that leadership with an imam. The caliphate ended in the early 1900s. No central authority exists
Subgroups
Sunni (85%); Shia (Shiitie)(15%)
Primary Obligations
The five Pillars
name the five pillars
confession of faith, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimage
Primary Festivals
Eid al-Fitr; Eid al-Aldha
fast-breaking feast at end of Ramadan
Eid al-Fitr
feast at end of hajj
Eid al-Adha
Muhammad’s birthday
Mawlid
The pre–Islamic center of trade and religion for Arabs, which Muhammad reformed into a center of monotheism. Muslims who are able are expected to make a pilgrimage there at least once during their lifetime
Mecca
Originally called Yathrib, this settlement was later renamed Medina to honor Muhammad, who established his first Islamic government there (622 CE) The word Medina means simply “city”, but it often appears with the epithet “of light” or “of the prophet.”
Medina
The third-most holy city of Islam. The Dome of the Rock, a shrine built in the late 600s on the site of the Jewish temple, is particularly special. Muslims believe that it was here that Abraham offered Ishmael as a sacrifice and that Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Jerusalem
Revered site for Shia Muslims, where many of Ali’s family, including Ali’s son and successor Hussein and Ali’s grandson and the next in line, were killed by a superior Umayyad army
Karbala
A pre-Islamic, cube-shaped building (roughly forty feet high) in Mecca, rebuilt several times; believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham, and before him,, Adam. The black Stone (possibly a meteorite) is imbedded in it. The center of the Muslim pilgrimage and the place toward which one prays. Metaphorically speaking, it is said to be the “house of God.”
Kaaba
A mosque built in the 1600s in the heart of Istanbul; represents a high point of Ottoman achievement
Blue Mosque
The center of Muslim community and religious life. Its most distinctive architectural feature is the minaret (tower), from which the call to prayer is made
mosque
A mausoleum in Agra, India, reflecting Muslim and Indian architecture. It is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world
Taj Mahal
Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last in a long series of prophets God sent to reveal his will. Claimed to experience a twenty-two year period of mystical encounters, during which the Quran’s content was given.
Muhammad
After the death of Muhammad, the Muslim community was led by four contemporaries of Muhammad (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali). These four had converted to Islam early. In succession they led the community from 632-661, by which time much of the southeast Mediteranean was brought under Muslim control
Rightly Guided Caliphs
Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; considered by Shiite Muslims to have been the proper successor to Muhammad
Ali
The first Musslim empire, lasting for ninety years. It arose after the death of the fourth rightly guided caliph. Its capital was Damascus. After defeat by the Abbasids, the Umayyads developed a significant Muslim culture in Spain.
Umayyad
The five hundred year Muslim empire that overthrew the Umayyads. Its capital was Baghdad. Led by descendants of Muhammad’s uncle al-Abbas, the new dynasty provided opportunities for non-Arabs in the Muslim community and came to reflect Persian and other non-Arab influences. Its golden age was in its first hundred years, after which it declined as states broke away and its leaders became the puppets of the palace guard. Initially it had the support of the Shiites.
Abbasid
A Shiite dynasty in Egypt, claiming descent from Muhammad’s daughter Fatima
Fatimid
The largest world empire prior to the Soviet Union. It rapidly expanded in the 1200s, overthrowing most nations from the Pacific to the Danube, including the Abbasid Empire
Mongol
Centered in the regions of modern Iran and beyond; responsible for spreading Shia Islam more widely
Safavid
The Muslim empire in India. Its name is the Persian form of the word Mongol, and the founders were descendants of Mongol and Turkish leaders.
Mughal
The Turkish based empire. It captured Constantinople in 1453. In the 1500s and 1600s it was the world’s leading empire. It held the caliphate from 1515 to the early 1900s
Ottoman
The more traditional form, making up about 85 percent of Islam. Sunnis hold that political leadership of Islam properly fell to loyal companions of Muhammad (the “rightly-guided” caliphs) and their successors, not necessarily to Muhammad’s relatives
Sunni
The largest minority, they maintain that valid religious and political leadership lies in the imam, a direct descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and her husband, Ali. Most groups of Shiites believe in twelve imams and are sometimes called the Twelvers. They are a majority only in Iran and Iraq
Shia/Shiite