Unit 7 Islam

Question 0

Why was Mecca important?

Answer 0

• pilgrims were brought there to worship
• Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570
• Muhammad was met with hostility when he began to preach publicly
• many meccans believed his revolutionary ideas would lead to neglect of traditional Arab gods (polytheism to monotheism)
• in 630, Muhammad and 10,000 followers marched to Mecca and destroyed the polytheistic idols
• meccans pledged loyalty to Muhammad

Question 1

Bedouin

Answer 1

Arab nomads

• organized into tribes and groups called clans
• these clans provided security and support
• ideals of courage and loyalty to family, and warrior skills became part of Islamic way of life

Question 2

Who was Muhammad?

Answer 2

• born in 570 in Mecca
• age 40 - angel Gabriel told Muhammad he was a messenger of Allah
• brought 10,000 followers to Mecca and inverted many to Islam
• died at 62

Question 3

Why was Medina important?

Answer 3

• Muhammad’s people, Arabs, and Jews had agreement and lived as a single community
• accepted Muhammad as a political leader

Question 4

What are the Five Pillars?

Answer 4

Faith - testify statement of faith, “there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”

Prayer - 5x a day, face towards Mecca

Alms - support less fortunate by giving money through a special religious tax

Fasting - dying Islamic holy month, fast between dawn and sunset

Pilgrimage - pilgrimage known as hajj

Question 5

What is the ulama?

Answer 5

An Islam scholar class that includes religious teachers who apply the words and deeds of Muhammad to every day life

Question 6

What is the Qur’an?

Answer 6

The holy book of the Muslims where the prophet’s revelations are collected

-written in Arabic bc it’s the one true word of Allah

Question 7

What is the Sunna?

Answer 7

Muhammad’s example

-best model for proper living

Question 8

What is a caliph?

Answer 8

-a successor or deputy

Question 9

What are the “rightly guided caliphs”?

Answer 9

• Abu-bakr, umar, uthman, and Ali

- their rule was a caliphate

Question 10

What is jihad?

Answer 10

• means “striving”
• duty to spread their faith
• refers to inner struggle against evil
• also used in qur’an as an armed struggle against unbelievers
• meaning of jihad encouraged and justified expansion of Islam

Question 11

Why was Islam desirable?

Answer 11

• attraction to message of Islam which offered hope and equality
• economic benefit of Muslims of not having to pay a poll tax

Question 12

Why was Damascus important?

Answer 12

• newly conquered city in northern Arabian province of Syria
• Umayyads moved Muslim capital to Damascus
• made controlling conquered territories easier
• too far away from their lands
• cultural center of Islamic learning

Question 13

Who were the Shi’a (Shiite)

Answer 13

Believed the caliph needed to be a descendant of the prophet

-believe that all Muslim rulers should be descended from Muhammad

Question 14

Who were the Sunni?

Answer 14

• did not outwardly resist the rule of Umayyads
• believe that first four caliphs were “rightly guided”
• believe that Muslim rulers should follow the Sunna (Muhammad’s example)

Question 15

Who were the Sufi?

Answer 15

• rejected luxurious life of Umayyads

- pursued life of poverty and devotion to a spiritual path

Question 16

Who were the Abbasids?

Answer 16

• most powerful rebel group who overthrew Umayyads in 750
• lasted from 750-1258
• murdered remaining members of Umayyads family
• moved capital of empire in 762 to Baghdad
• location on trade routes gave calig access to trade goods, gold, and information
• developed a strong bureaucracy

Question 17

What was Baghdad?

Answer 17

• city Abbasids moved capital to
• extensive planning went into the city’s distinctive circular design
• caliph’s palace of marble and stone sat in innermost circle along with grand mosque
• population approached 1,000,000

Question 18

Role of women

Answer 18

• Qur’an declares that men and women are equal
• more economic and property rights than European, Indian, and chinese
• Muslim women still expected to submit to men
• responsible for the raising of the children
• participate in public life and gain an educafion

Question 19

Advances in science

Answer 19

• astronomy
  
  • calculate direction of Mecca
  • correct lunar calendar
  • study of sky to mark religious periods

Question 20

Advances in literature

Answer 20

• Bedouin poets
• Qur’an
• literature included “the thousand and one nights”
• study of Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato

Question 21

Advances in art and architecture

Answer 21

• calligraphy

- woodwork, glass, ceramics, and textiles

Question 22

Advances medically

Answer 22

• al-Rhazi was greatest physician of themjskjn world
  
  • wrote an encyclopedia called the comprehensive book
  • wrote “treatise on smallpox and measles”

Question 23

Advances in math

Answer 23

• Muslims translated and studied Greek texts
• Muslim scientists preferred to solve problems by conducting experiments
• Muslim scholars believed math was the basis of all knowledge
• book called “optics” revolutionized ideas about vision

Question 24

What is the House of Wisdom?

Answer 24

• a national library, academy, and translation center

- scholars of different cultures and beliefs worked translating texts from Greece, India, Persia, and etc into Arabic

Question 25

What was the golden age of Islam?

Answer 25

• 850-950
• prosperity and peace
• education and learning

Question 26

What is a sheikh?

Answer 26

-chief of bedouins

Question 27

What are revelations?

Answer 27

• visions the prophet sees

- collected in Qur’an

Question 28

What does Islam mean?

Answer 28

-the submission to the will of Allah (God)

Question 29

What is the Hijrah?

Answer 29

• emigration (to leave one country or region to settle in another)
• when Muhammad had to move to the city of yahthrib

Question 30

What is polygamy?

Answer 30

-having more than one spouse

Question 31

What is an imam?

Answer 31

-leader in Islam