Unit 6 Notes: Ancient Islam Flashcards
Five pillars of Islam
Shahada
Salat
Zakat
Sawm
Hajj
Shahada
profession of faith
Salat
prayer 5x’s a day
pray on prayer mat facing Mecca
Zakat
Alms giving - tithing to the church
2.5% of income
Sawm
Ramadan - when you fast all day, can only eat at night for a month
Hajj
pilgrimage to Mecca - go visit holy places for a week every year
Qur’an
Holy book/bible for Islam
Allah
One God
God of Abraham
Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in same God
Muhammad
Prophet and founder of Islam
Born in powerful Mecca family
Raised by grandfather
Becomes successful businessman
Marries older employer
Devotes life to prayer and religion
At 40 he received revelation - angel Gabriel tells him to share the word of God.
Taught everyone to abandon all other gods in favor of God
Muslim
meaning ‘one who has submitted’
followers of Islam
The Hira (migration) 622 BCE
Hostility in Mecca
Seen as a threat to pagan worshipers
Jews and christians accuse Allah of blasphemy
Flees mecca with a few followers to Medina
Recruits many devoted followers in Medina.
Umayyad Dynasty
Battle where Umayyad fought with Quran verses on spears.
Ali doesn’t fight and is killed by his people.
The capital is moved from Mecca to Damascus
The Umayyads live an Opulent lifestyle.
Hussein Ibn Ali fights back and wants to change everything back to the normal way.
Caliph voting ends with Ali. Passed through his family after that.
Abbasid Dynasty
750 -1258 BCE
Defeat of the umayyads
Battle of zab - Abbasid’s defeat Umayyad.
Persian shift - everything is moved after the umayyads are defeated.
Baghdad is the new capital. Great for trade. Trade and culture flourished under their control.
Caliphate of Cordoba (spain) - last surviving Umayyad leader starts muslim empire in Spain.
Fatimid Caliphate (Cairo, egypt) - shia muslims start empire in Egypt.
Shi’a
Muhhamad’s blood should lead
Imam = Infallible ruler (chosen ruler)
Sunni
Muslim split
Anyone can lead.
Most muslim’s are sunni.
Sufi
Reject materialism.
Many are monks and missionaries.
Mecca
South of medina
Muhammad Born in mecca
Forced to leave when starting Islam religion
Returns to mecca, 630 BCE with 10,000 muslims forcing Meccan leaders to surrender
When they take over, they destroy false gods in the Ka’aba.
Unifies Arabian peninsula under islam by 700.
Muhammad dies two years later in his sixties
Medina
North of mecca
Where Mahhamad moves after leaving mecca
Creates Islam following
Reasons for the spread of Islam
Military success - conquered territory
Treatment of conquered people well
Conversion to islam because they treated the
conquered people so well
Rightly Guided Caliphs
Muhammad’s succesors
Abu Bakr - successor
the first caliph
used military force to assert control
by the time he died, they had control of the Arabian peninsula
Mahammud’s business partner and friend.
Umar Began
Began conquest of ran and egypt
known for justice distinguish right from wrong
Uthman
murdered,
recension of the qur’an
Conquered a lot of land and took everything from places and gave power to friends and family
Ali
murdered
takes over after Uthman
cousin and son in law of muahmmad
Supposedly murdered Uthman
He was assassinated, the elected Caliphs went away and no more chosen leaders.
Culturally unified portions of 3 continents
Trade and conquest
Common currency (dinar)
Common language (arabic)
Four social classes
Born muslims
Converts
‘Dhimmi’
(Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians (anyone not Muslim)
Unequal)
Can’t evangelize (spread your religion)
Slaves
Rights and taxes
the higher you are on the social ladder, the less taxes and more rights you have
Diversity
Had control of Egypt, Spain, Persia
Cultural exchange leads to intellectual progress
Government
Imperial Structure
Caliph
leader of Islam
Vizier
main leader and assistant to Caliph - Sultan
Emir
like a governor
leads small area
diwan
deals with finances
collects taxes
pays soldiers
sharia law
law for muslim religion
laws based on Qur’an
Ulama
scholars on religious law
interprets the qur’an and its laws
Role of women
Male dominated society
Public life - must always be with an escort
Hijab - must be fully covered at all times
Polygamy - husband can have several wives if the wife agreed and all wives were provided for.
Up to four wives if they can afford it.
Legal protections - had legal protections over property, inheritance, widows.
Divorce - women can get divorce if she can prove illicit affairs were going on
Dowry - women get their dowry back if divorced
Property - can inherit property.
