Islam test Flashcards
What is the difference between the Umayyads and the Abbasids.
The Umayyads ruled as conquerors while the Abbasids reaped the benefits of peace and prosperity.
What is that very important structure for Muslims. Like the really important one.
The Ka’ba
Describe the Hajj experience of Jamila bint Nasir al-Dawla in detail
Jamila provided food for fellow pilgrims, furnished camels for the disabled, and bought the freedom of 500 slaves.
What types of people have primarily lived on the Arabian Peninsula for much of its history.
Bedouins, who were nomadic people.
What were the Bedouins like?
They were nomadic, socially cohesive, organizing into family clans, kept herds of animals and migrated to find places to feed them, and developed strong loyalty to and identity with their clans.
Describe long distance trade networks that people of the Arabian Peninsula participated in, mentioning at least 3 bodies of water.
Arabia was a important link between China and India in the south, and Persia and Byzantium in the north. Commodities arrived at ports on the Persian Gulf, Arabian sea, and red sea.
Who was Khadija and what was her role in Muhammads life
She was a rich widow. Muhammad worked for her at first, and eventually married her. This marriage won Muhammad a prominent societal position.
What is the name for god in Islam?
Allah.
What is the English translation of Quran.
Recitation
What is the relationship between the Arab ethnicity and the Muslim religion.
Most Arabs are Muslim, but most Muslims are not Arab.
What is the Hadith?
The hadith is a collection of Muhammad’s sayings and deeds.
Where was Muhammad born
Mecca
Who came first Umayyads or Abbasids
Umayyads
How did the significance of the Ka’ba change over time?
It was first considered to be the dwelling of a paganistic deity, then it became an Islamic holy site.
What does Islam mean
Submission
What does Muslim mean
One who has submitted
What was significant about Medina
It was where Muhammad and his followers fled to escape persecution.
What was the Hijra
Muhammad’s move from Mecca to Medina
What is the significance of 622 CE
It was when Muhammad fled to Medina, and the starting point for the Islamic Calendar.
What is the Umma
The community of followers of Islam.
What is the Seal of the Prophets
The final prophet who Allah would use to reveal his message to mankind.
What are the 5 pillars of Islam?
- Allah is the only god and Muhammad is his prophet
- Pray while facing mecca 5 times a day
- Fast during the daylight hours of Ramadan
- Almsgiving to the weak and poor
- Take a hajj if you are physically able
What is a Jihad, and how is it sometimes interpreted?
Jihad is the duty of Muslims to fight against evil and is sometimes interpreted as a literal fight against threats to Islam.
What is Sharia?
Sharia is the Islamic holy law that Muslims are to live by. It governs proper behavior in almost every aspect of life, such as crime, marriage, business, and family life.
What was Abu Bakr’s role in the early Islamic world?
He was the first Caliph, and was the chief judge, religious leader, and general.
What was Abu Bakr’s relationship with Muhammad?
He was one of Muhammad’s closest friends and most devoted disciples.
Who did the Muslims defeat in battle, what did they get from their defeated foes, and why were they so successful?
Muslim armies defeated the Byzantines and Sasanids in battle and took a ton of land from them. To accomplish this, they took advantage of internal strife within the Byzantine and Sassanid empires.
What did Muslim forces seize from the Byzantines and Sasasids and when?
They took Byzantine Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia from 633-637. In the 640s they conquered Byzantine Egypt and N. Africa. In 651 they toppled the Sasanid dynasty and took Persia.
What is the relationship between the Shia and the Sunni? What do the Shia believe?
The Shia follow an alternative form of Islam than the majority of Muslims, the Sunni. The Shia believe that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin, and Ali’s descendants should be Caliphs. The Shia and Sunni fought over power frequently.
What dynasty was established in 661 CE? Where were they from? Where did they locate their capitol?
The Umayyad dynasty. Mecca. Damascus.
Whose interests did Umayyad rule reflect? How did this affect levels of support for their rule?
They favored Arab interests, specifically the Arab military aristocracy. This satisfied Arabs, but alienated conquered peoples and non Arab Muslims.
Apart from Arabs and Bedouins, who were some of the ethnic groups in the Muslim empire?
it included Indians, Persians, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Berbers.
Apart from Muslims, what were some of the other religious groups that made up the Muslim empire?
Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists.
What led to the decline of the Umayyads?
Their Caliphs became alienated even from other Arabs. They devoted themselves to luxurious living, rather than leading the Umma, and scandalized devout Muslims with lax attitudes toward Islamic doctrine and Morality.
By midcentury, they faced the resistance of the Shia, the resentment of conquered peoples, and even the Muslim Arab military leaders.
What brought the Umayyad dynasty to an end? Who was responsible? How did he accomplish this?
Rebellion in Persia led by Abu al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad’s uncle brought the Umayyad dynasty to an end. Abu accomplished this by allying with Shias and non-Arab Muslims.
Who was particularly prominent among the supporters of Abu al-Abbas’s rebellion?
Persian converts who resented the preference shown by the Umayyads to Arabs.
What 2 areas did Abu seize control of in the 740s?
Persia and Mesopotamia.
How and when was Abu militarily successful during his rebellion?
In 750 Abu’s army defeated the Umayyads in a huge battle. After the battle, he invited the remaining members of the Umayyad clan to a banquet with the supposed purpose of reconciliation. He then slaughtered them all, ending the Umayyad clan.
Who founded the Abbasid dynasty? How important was it? Why and when did it stop being significant?
Abu al-Abbas. It was the principal source of authority in the dar al-Islam until the Mongols toppled it in 1258 CE.
How was the Abbasid Dynasty different from the Umayyad.
It was more cosmopolitan and showed less favor to the Arab military aristocracy. It also did not focus much on imperial expansion.
What was the battle of Talas River? Why was it important?
The battle of Talas River was when the Abbasids defeated a Chinese army at Talas River, ending Tang dynasty expansion into central Asia. It also opened the door for the spread of Islam among Turkish peoples.
What places did Autonomous Islamic forces from Tunisia conquer, in full or in part?
Crete, Sicily, the Balearic Islands, Cyprus, Rhodes, Sardinia, Corsica, S. Italy and S. France.
What techniques did Abbasids use to administer their empire?
They used Mesopotamian techniques of administration where rulers devised policy, built capitols to oversee affairs, and organized their territories through regional governments and bureaucracies.
What was the Abbasid capitol
Baghdad
What is an Ulama
A person with religious knowledge
What is a Qadi
A judge