Chapter 6 guided reading

How did it compare to Christianity?

Both religions have a Last Judgement by a stern but compassionate God.

How did Islam improve gender and marriage in the Middle East?

Bride prices were paid to the future wife, if a man had multiple wives he must be able to support them equally, and women were supposed to be treated well

How did they seek to rule their empire?

Bureaucracy

What type of animals did they domesticate?

Camels and Goats

What was the role and importance of women in Bedouin culture?

Economic roles such as milking camels and weaving cloth to raising children

What led to the spread of Islam?

Expedition to convert those beyond the peninsula

What motivated conquests?

Glorification of the new religion

What architectural achievements did they make?

Great mosques and palaces

Who achievements did they build on?

Greece and Mesopotamia

What began the decline of the Abbasids?

Growing social stratification, sectarian divisions, and regional separatism

Describe some influential things in Muhammad's early years.

He lost his parents at a young age yet was born into a powerful tribe. He went to Syria where he met Christians and Jews who beliefs would greatly impact his teachings. He received revelations which were later translated in Arabic and collected in the Quran.

What were the other things that divided them besides the successor problem?

How the booty from the conquests should be divided among the tribal groups

What religious significance was located there?

Ka'ba

Describe the basics of a Bedouin.

Kin-related clan groups in high mobile tent encampments; Cut off from kin=fatal; Bedouin life depended on herds

What were some of the internal symptoms of decline?

- they wanted to live a more elegant and rich lifestyle - warriors weren't getting their share of the booty

Where would their capital be?

Baghdad

Why did towns grow?

Because of the revival of the Afro-Eurasian trading network

Why the change (in views of conversion)?

Because the dividing of the booty had long been discarded

What people made this place their home?

Bedouin Cultures

How did Arabs view conversion change?

Mawalis were considered as equals

What two towns owed their existence to the bedouins?

Mecca and Medina

Why were Mecca and Medina at odds with each other?

Mecca was a threat to Muhammad while Medina gave him a warm welcome.

Where did Muhammad flee to and gain support?

Medina

What group took the most advantage of the change?

Persians

What was the external pressure that leads to the fall?

The attempt to introduce new troops into the Merv area

What role did the wazir play?

The chief administrator and head of the caliph's inner councils

What reunited the succession problem?

The Sunni-Shi'i split

What was the first major crisis of the religion?

The crisis of who would be leader after Muhammad's death

Who paid the bride-price?

The future husband

What did they preserve?

The learning of the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and Middle East

What did they want to attain?

The share of booty to be won in the rich farmlands raided.

What stopped the Muslims from taking over all of Europe? How far did they get?

The victory of Charles Martel and the franks at Poltiers in 732; they dominated much of the Mediterranean

What was their focus?

To preserve the learnings of earlier civilizations and disperse them

What was the importance of towns located near the water or ocean?

Trade and fertile land

Who did they have it better than?

Women in neighboring civilized centers

What was his view on money and slaves?

All followers of his were to be kind and generous to all, including slaves. Payment of the Zakat was obligatory.

Who originally embraced Islam?

Arabs

What was their view of education and scholarship?

At first it was not important but later it became very important to preserve the works of earlier times

List the 5 Pillars

1) The confession of faith was simple and powerful 2) The injunctions to pray, facing the holy city of Mecca, 5 times a day 3) To fast during the month of Ramadan enhanced community solidarity and allowed the faithful to demonstrate their fervor 4) The Zakat was to be paid 5) The hajj, or pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, to worship Allah at the Ka'ba

When did he receive his revelations?

610 or earlier

Who (what group) led the opposition?

Abbasid party

Who are "people of the book" and how were they treated?

Christians and Jews who shared the Bible with the Muslims; even though they were taxed, thew were allowed to worship as they pleased

Who had to pay taxes?

Christians, Jews, and non-Muslim groups

What unified these people?

Common allegiance to teachings of Muhammad and the Arabic language

Why would you or wouldn't you want to convert?

Converts wouldn't get the same benefits, like less taxes or an easier way into the army, as an original Muslim would

What was the basis of social organization and beliefs?

Family, culture, language, and religion.

What else did these people help spread?

Food crops, technology, and ideas among the centers of civilizations in eastern Europe

What caused clans to fight? What could they lead to?

Insult to a warrior in a market town, theft of a prize stallion, or a defeat in a horse race; they caused long lasting clan feuds

What bound the first global civilization together?

Islam

What united the warriors?

Islam gave them a sense of common cause and strength

How did they live and why (Muslim Arabs)?

Isolated towns to keep them from marrying and their wives not being taxed

What else did it provide that their previous polytheistic beliefs didn't (most religions) do?

It gave Arabs a form of monotheism that belonged to no single tribe.

What was the purpose of Yathrib?

It had wells and springs that made sedentary agriculture possible

How was Islam a unifying force?

It provided a single and supernaturally sanctioned source of authority and discipline.

How was conquest good for the Arabs?

It was a good way to to release the pent-up energies of the martial Bedouin tribes

How effective was their rule?

It was harder to control the outer sections of the empire

Who gained wealth and social status?

Merchant and landlord classes

What was the importance of pilgrimages to Mecca?

Merchants and Bedouins went to trade, gossip, and talk about the delights of city life

Who aided its spread?

Merchants, wandering mystics, and warriors across Africa, Asia, and southern Europe

What helped it win support?

Most of its attributes were similar to the other world religions.

Describe the geography of the Arabian peninsula.

Much of it is covered in stone of the most inhospitable desert in the world

Who influenced and changed the traditional role of women in Islam?

Muhammad

Who was a first-class citizen and what jobs did they hold?

Muslim Arabs; the core of the army and imperial administration

Where did a lot of the money go?

New commercial enterprises, purchase of land, and construction of mansions

Did the Arabs want to spread their religion?

No.

What were the cultural influences of early Arabia?

Poetry and a blend of animism and polytheism

What was used to legitimize rule?

Religion

What roles were women allowed?

Roles in politics, scholarship, law, and commerce

Bedouin: marriage

Shaykhs had many wives, many children, and numerous retainers

Bedouin: social structure (who is the highest and lowest)

Shaykhs, warriors, slave families

Which sect and other group backed them (Abbasid Party)?

Shi'ites and mawali

Describe their religious practices.

Some tribes believed in multiple gods but others believed in one supreme god called Allah. They barely prayed or sacrificed to Allah.

Which group backed which side?

Sunnis= Umayyads Shi'ites= Ali

Why did the Copt and Nestorian Christians want the Muslims to conquer where they were?

The would tolerate the Christians and tax them less heavily

How do you compare their empire to the Romans?

They expanded rapidly just like Rome

How did town life compare to Bedouin life in regards to women?

They had better career outlets, but were not considered equal to men

What were some of the problems with the Sasanian Empire that allowed it to fall?

They had poorly prepared forces against the Muslims and the religion of the emperor was weak.

What had to happen internally to have success in their continued expansion?

They had to settle there succession problem

How did they take care of any possible future opposition?

They hunted down and killed any remaining members of the families

What moves did they make to rule their empire?

They made thrones to overlook gatherings and they had absolute power over the subjects.

Which sect was supported by the Abbasid and which was persecuted?

They supported the Sunni and were less tolerant of Shi'ism

What was life like for an artisan?

They were poorly paid, worked in workshops, but were not slaves or drudge laborers

Who saw Muhhamad as a threat?

Umayyad notables who dominated Meccan life

Who ruled the empire (when Islam spread)?

Umayyads

Who founded and domesticated Mecca?

Ummayad clan of the Quraysh Bedouin tribe

What was the role of slaves? Which ones had it worse off?

Unskilled labor; slaves (especially on rural estates)

Which class of women felt the restrictions more?

Upper class