WH1 Vocab. Unit 2.2 (Islam) Flashcards
Umayyad Caliphate
a caliphate whose caliphs are all descendants of Utahan’s grand father. They held the Middle East for a good period of time but eventually were all but one massacred. He fled to Spain or Al-Andalus and restarted the caliphate there.
Caliph; Caliphate
Caliphate is a noun meaning both a leadership position (like the presidency) and the geographic area that the leader controls. The caliph is the person who rules the caliphate, just as an emperor is the person who rules an empire
Mawali
new-converts to Islam during and after the Umayyad Dynasty. By social hierarchy, the mawali were treated as lower class citizens than even non-Muslim Arabs causing much dispute in the Umayyad and future reigns.
Jizya
“the non-believer tax”
This was a tax paid by people who didn’t believe in Islam or a book religion???.
Abbasid Caliphate
(750 - 1258 CE) This caliphate succeeded the Umayyad since their leaders became too secular and would have “the Golden Age of Islam” due to much flourishing of culture and scholarly intellect. Since the demise of the Umayyad, the Abbasid was formed by non-Arabic and Shi’a muslims causing their name of Abbasid to be chosen from the paternal uncle of Muhammad “al-Abbas”. the Abbasid fell due to over reliance on minorities, treatment of mawali, turk slave(mamluks)/influence, a power change which caused territories to start breaking off
Mamluks
Turk Slaves
House of Wisdom
or Bayt al-Hikma. Abbasid leader al-Mumun decided to spread the idea of Muslims obeying only one leader by creating the House of Wisdom. the House of Wisdom was not jus a symbol of pride and glory, but a university in Bagdad where greek and Indian ideas joined, principle of fylasafa was taught (rational thought); trade networks, Fiqh and Shari’a
Fiqh
the Islamic philosophy of Jurisprudence as taught in the House of Wisdom. How a judge should make decisions in a case.First school was created by Abu Hanifah
Faqih
early legal theorists; studied Qur’an to find guidance. behavior like Muhammad = good behavior.
Sunnah
positive actions in regard to faqih study about good behavior.
Hadith
stories about personal interactions with Muhammad. They were originally individual texts or a “hadith” but later came to be compiled
Isnad
accompanying origin description with each Hadith; helps determine the validity and trustworthiness of each hadith
Qadis
Islamic Judges; had to carry out jurisprudence (how to make decisions in a court)
Shari’a
Islamic law based on the Qurʻan, Hadith, Fiqh, and Legal Scholars
the Four Books
the Shi’a version of the Hadith. The Four Books include the life of Muhammad, the twelve legitimate imams, Fatima (muhammad’s daughter).
Ijtihad
individual judgement based upon reason. These judgements were for questions that aren’t completely answered in the Qur’an or not attended to (eg. birth control/contraception)
Mujatahid
accomplished scholars who had the capacity to make independent judgements on questions no or not fully answered in the Qur’an
Al-Andalus
…or Spain. This is where one of the last Umayyads fled once dethroned. 711, infiltrated by muslims.
Qadi
a chief to oversee the judicial system and administer various charities. One Qadi to a Caliphate.
Kharaj
Andalusian land tax. this “involved surveying the exact property owned by each landholder, assessing how fertile it was and recording what sorts of plants could grow there to determine its exact valu”
Abd al-Rahman III
One of the richest men of the Islamic world. This leader, brought Cordoba of Al-Andalus to its cultural apex.
the Mahdi
the “infalliable” god sent leader of the umma. like the Messiah? Used as a basis for political legitimacy in the eyes of the first Almohad leader.
Reconquista
is a centuries-long period in the Middle Ages in which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in reconquering the Iberian Peninsula from the Islamic kingdoms collectively known as Al-Andalus.
Iqta
a grant of the right to collect taxes on a certain area of land. This was originally given to military leaders with one chieftain to another but became passed to descendants.
Fatimid Caliphate
an Islamic caliphate of Egypt (Shi’a).
Vizier
A high-ranking official. While most caliphates were Sunni, Shi’a viziers ruled over land as well.
First Crusade
- Calledd by Pope Urban III. He called upon christians to “take back the holy land”. Equipped with the element of Surprise, not only did they do so, but also implemented 4 political entities/kingdoms
fuedal
feudalism: a system where nobility held land of the crown in exchange for military service making vassals of land
this way of controlling land was implemented when in the First Crusade’s europeans started conquering land
Mawdud
a governor who led the first counter-offense from the Islam world against the Crusaders. He defeated a section of the Franks but was murdered in 1113
Franks
the french or germanic people. they were credited for being crusaders and receiving influences from Al-Andalus and the evolving Islamic world
Zengi
The next Muslim to confront the Christian presence around Jerusalem; another governor of Mosul. He conquered and expanded Muslim rule to the point where he eliminated one of he four Crusader states. He is very important for he was the first to use jihad against the Europeans making jihad a propaganda tool.
Nur ad-Din
Zengi’s succeeding second son. He was even more victorious in his campaign than Zengi and also used jihad as a propaganda tool.
the Second Crusade
- this was caused by Zengi’s victory in Edessa and prompted by Pope Eugene III. This was an utter failure for rather than going off to fight in the Holy Land, the Crusade took a detour to try and take over the Iberian Peninsula where they were both defeated and broke apart.
Saladin (Salah ad-Din)
Sent by Nur ad-din to take the Fatimid caliphate but joined sides with them once Jerusalem exploited their allegiance with the Fatimid to attack. He eventually became the leader of all the land when Nur ad-din died but struggled with political legitimacy because he wasn’t Shi’a or Arab but Sunni and Kurdish. 1187 CE, Saladin invaded and recaptured the Kingdom of Jerusalem, annihilated Crusader forces and captured muslim-phobic Reynald de Chatillon
Kurdish
of relating to the Kurds, people of Kurdistan
the Third Crusade
this was prompted by The Battle of Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem and led by King Richard I who had a very formal relationship with Saladin where Jerusalem was given back to the Crusaders as a wedding present
