Islamic History, The Formative Period

mus'haf

The manuscript bound between two boards is the direct meaning and is the written form of the Quran or the Quran book.

Justinian I

Was the leader of the byzantine empire between C. 527-565 who codified the laws and rebuilt the Aya Sofia. Known for his intolerant of other religions and was considered to be a great period in the Byzantine Empire

Sassanian Empire

Were Iranians who seized power in 226 C.E and were rivals of the Byzantine Empire. Capital was Ctesiphon near Baghdad. The Sassanian people followed the religion of Zoroastrianism and spoke different dialects of Persian.

Haram esh-Sharif

a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is one of the most important religious sites in the world. It has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The present site is dominated by three monumental structures from the early Umayyad period:

yathrib/medina

after a conflict with the elder tribesmen in Mecca Muhammad left to yathrib/medina in 622 and this is considered year 0 in the Islamic calendar. Yathrib was a small town nearby an oasis that included a number of Arab tribesman and Jew tribes from which he went to resolve an issue between the Arab tribesman. here he received massages from god and what to teach Muslims and built a place of worship and was the capital of Islam in the early Islamic development period

Abd al-Malik

born in Medina and started his rule during a turbulent time with many civil wars and leaders in a small time, had civil wa with al-Zubayr, claimed to be Gods prophet and thus claimed to be religious and political leader of Muslims, rules from 685-705 and constructed the dome of the rock which is the 3rd most sacred for Sunni's

Ka'ba

considered the house of Allah to Muslims and located in Mecca. Is a cube structure that Muslims come to preform the Hajj which includes a number of special rituals that every Muslim needs to preform at least once in their lifetime. Umar was the first Muslim to pray at the Ka'ba

muawiyya b. Sufyan

established the Umayyad Dynasty of the caliphate and was the first caliph to name his son as the successor, he was recognized for his administrative abilities and leadership abilities and was the former governor of Syria. Battle of Siffin Mu'awiya got Ali to agree to arbitration by putting Quron on his solders spears , began his rule in 661-681

amsar

is a term used in the first centuries of Islam to refer to the 'garrison towns' or settlements that were established by Muslim warriors in conquered lands. Many of these garrisons attracted civilians and became towns and places were many local inhabitants eventually converted. Some of the first amsars were Kufa (637) which eventually became a major city of Islamic peoples and were the Hanifa school of Islam began

Ansar

is an Islamic term for the local inhabitants of Medina who took the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his followers (the Muhajirun) into their homes when they escaped from Mecca (hijra).

Shura

meaning consultation, was a consultative council which picked the caliphates in early Islamic civilization. Their decision was based on meritocracy and had decided the first 4 rightly guided caliphs, abu bakr, umar, uthman and ali.

Khalifat allah

meaning deputy of God was used first by Abd al-Malik firstly to claim religious and political authority over Muslims

shahada

meaning the profession of faith is an Islamic creed declaring belief in the oneness of God (tawhid) and the acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet. "their is no Gob ut God and Muhammad is his prophet". whispered into babies ears and those who are dying. considered one of the five pillars of Islam. the world Islam denotes submission and this would be one way of a Muslim submitting himself to god

fitna

means chaos or disorder and characterized by after the succession of Ali as caliph after the death of Uthman. Some disagreed with Ali being caliph specifically Mu'awiya a relative of Uthman who believed he was coward for leaving Uthman after hearing about the army approaching him. This resulted in the first battle of Muslim against Muslim in the Battle of Siffin. Was a civil war within the Rashidun Caliphate which resulted in the overthrowing of the Rashidun caliphs and the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty

tawhid

means the oneness of God and is one of the main principles of Islam. distinguished itself from the pagan religions of the time.

Khusrau II

ruled the Sassanian empire between 560-628 CE and let a conquest against the Byzantine empire eventually taking over Alexandria and Jerusalem

mawlah

term originally applied to any form of tribal association. During the early Islamic era, this institution was adapted to incorporate new converts to Islam into the Arab-Muslim society and the word mawlah used to describe non-arab Muslims and became prominent during the Umayyad Caliphate when many non-arab muslims were converting. It required a non-arab to acquire an Arab patron who would adopt them.

Qubbat al-Sakhra

the dome of the rock which was built in 691 by Abd al-Malik in Jerusalem located atop a hill overlooking Jerusalem. took style from byzantine religious architecture, section from the inscription of the inner octagonal arcade similar to that of a profession of faith

The Fertile Crescent

the region in the Middle East which curves, like a quarter-moon shape known as the cradle of civilization for its fertility, warm climate, extensive river systems allowing for year round crop growth. Tradition of urbanism began here and was eventually taken from the Sassanian's by the Islamic Muslims in the 7th century.

jabal al-nur

translates to the mountain of light, this is where Muhammad received this revelation in his early 30s from Gabriel in which he told him that he was a prophet of god which he was reluctant to be at first. life of the messenger of god written by Ibn Hisham was a detailed account of what happened on the mountain and his call to prophet hood.

Ghassanids Kingdom

was a Byzantine client state from yeman who travelled to live in Syra. They built byzantine like structures and had a unique social social structure tied to tribe structure . their tradition of leadership was democracy and merit based and they had no written code rather morality and laws was based on tradition

Lakhmids Kingdom

was a Sassanian client state made up of different collections of christian tribes which were at times unified. they knew of long epic poems and their poetic vocabulary as well as its unique script called Kufic would become important to Islamic writing and art which significantly helped with the development of Arabic

jizah

was a poll tax for non-muslims

Byzantine Empire

was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages characterized esp by the christian religion, Greek culture, and language. The formation of Constantinople the capital in 330 C.E was the beginning of Byzantine history.

ahura mazda

was the god of the Zoroastrianism religion who worked for good and justice. He was the sole creator of the world and his main rival ahriman. the abrahamic religions did take a significant parts of the Zoroastrian beliefs and incorporated them in their own beleifs such as the ideas of heaven, hell, the devil.

hypostyle mosques

were mosques built with with many columns of which one was constructed in Kufa. rule for mosques was that it should be able to fit all the men of the town inside its prayer hall. they took architectural elements from Persian halls,

Muhajirun

were the first converts to Islam and the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's advisers and relatives, who emigrated with him from Mecca to Medina, the event known in Islam as The Hijra and marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar

rashidun caliphs

were the rightly guided caliphs of the early Islamic period comprising of the first four caliphs. Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. This term used primary with Sunni Islam and all four rightly guided caliphs were from the Quraysh tribe and elected by Shura councils held in Medina. was the period between 632-661 ending with Ali's assassination. William Mcniel "Islamic world" discusses Uthman death

Futuhat

were wars of conquest by the Muslims which occurring after the end of the riddle wars and started with Abu Bakr for three reason primary, first was the geopolitical motivation on part of the Muslim leadership, secondly was the inspiration of the religion itself (jihad) and those who fought were rewarded spiritually and materially (four-fifths of the loot captured in fighting was given to the soldiers)

Hanifs

Arab monotheists who tried to return to the prophecies of Abraham, it could be considered that Mohammad and his early followers were hanifs as abrahamic teachings and religion was important to Muhammad though he was the new prophet and interpreter of Gods teachings and thus abraham would have passed the torch to Muhammad

Asbab al Nuzul

Asbāb al-nuzūl, meaning occasions or circumstances of revelation, refers to the historical context in which Quranic verses were revealed. This plays a very important significant part in the creation and legitimacy of the Quron the central piece of religious text

universalities faiths

Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism

Meccan Verses

The Meccan surahs are the chronologically earlier chapters (surahs) of the Qur'an that were, according to Islamic tradition, revealed anytime before the migration of the Islamic prophet Muhammed and his followers from Mecca to Medina (Hijra) in 622. Usually addressed to Muhammad himself

Medinan Verses

The Medinan suras or Medinan chapters of the Qur'an are the latest 24 suras that, according to Islamic tradition, were revealed at Medina after Muhammad's hijra from Mecca. These suras were revealed by Allah when the Muslim community was larger and more developed, as opposed to their minority position in Mecca. longer then the Meccan verses many of which appear in the Quran. addressed to the followers of Islam