Unit 1: The Global Tapestry - Dar al Islam -- 2021

dhimmi

"people of the book"; an inclusive term for Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and Hindus

Ibn Rushd

(1126-1198) Islamic scholar; mixed ancient Greek philosophy with Islam while exploring the relationship between reason and faith; influenced later European Renaissance

al-Andalus

(711-1492 CE) Muslim ruled region of the Iberian peninsula (modern-day Spain) transmitted Greco-Latin scholarship and Islamic scholarship to Western Europe.

mosque

a Muslim house of worship

polyandry

a form of marriage in which women have more than one husband

hajj

a religious pilgrimage to Mecca to worship Allah at the Ka'aba; one of the Five Pillars of Islam

zakat

tax for charity; obligatory for all Muslims; one of the Five Pillars of Islam

umma

the community of all Muslims

Hijrah

the journey of Muhammad and his followers to Medina in 622, which became Year 1 of the Islamic calendar

Abbasid dynasty

third Islamic dynasty to succeed Muhammad as caliphs; ruled much of the Islamic world from Baghdad from 750-1258 CE

caliph

title for civil and religious leaders who succeeded Muhammad; head of the Islamic community and state

hadiths

traditions of the prophet Muhammad; added to the Qur'an

lateen

triangular sails attached to the masts of dhows by long booms, or yard arms, which extended diagonally high across the fore and aft of the ship

Omar Khayyam

A Muslim poet, mathematician, and astronomer - author of the Rubayait

al-Razi

A Persian Philosopher who made fundamental and lasting contributions to the fields of medicine, chemistry (alchemy) and philosophy. (865-925)

1001 Arabian Nights

A famous collection of Persian, Indian, and Arabian folktales. Published during the reign of Harun al-Rashid

patriarchy

A form of social organization in which males dominate females

theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

Hadith

A tradition relating the words or deeds of the Prophet Muhammad; next to the Quran, the most important basis for Islamic law.

House of Wisdom

An academic center for research, scholarly works, and translation of foreign texts that was established in Baghdad in 830 C.E. by the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun.

dhows

Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design

Allah

Arabic name for God

Ramadan

Islamic holy month requiring fasting from dawn to sunset; followed by the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr

shari'ah

Islamic law code regulating daily life; comprised of the Quran, Hadith, and decision of Islamic scholars and judges

Al-Khwarizmi

Muslim mathematician who pioneered the study of algebra

Sunni

Muslim political and theological division that accepted Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, as his true successor as leader of the Islamic community

Shi'a

Muslim political and theological division that accepted Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, as his true successor as leader of the Islamic community -advocated blood line rule of the Islamic state

Mamluks

Muslim slave warriors; established a dynasty in Egypt; defeated the Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260 and halted Mongol advance

Ulama

Orthodox religious scholars within Islam; pressed for a more conservative and restrictive theology; increasingly opposed to non-Islamic ideas and scientific thinking

Nasir al-Din Tusi

Persian mathematician and cosmologist who inspired Copernican model of the solar system - heliocentric model

Aishah al-Ba'uniyyah

Sufi master and poet; one of the few female Sufi mystics to record her own views in writing. Published more books in Arabic than any other woman before the 20th century

Baghdad

capital of the Abbasid dynasty from 750-1258 CE; located in modern-day Iraq

wazir

chief administrative official under the Abbasid caliphate; initially recruited from Persian provinces of empire

Medina

city also known as Yathrib; located northeast of Mecca; refuge for Muhammad following his flight from Mecca

Mecca

city located in mountainous region along Red Sea in Arabian peninsula; site of Ka'aba; original home of Muhammad; location of Hajj - chief religious pilgrimage point in Islam

arabesque

complex, ornate design

Ka'aba

most revered religious shrine in pre-Islamic Arabia; located in Mecca; focus of obligatory annual truce among bedouin tribes; later incorporated as an important Islamic shrine

jizya

head tax paid by all non-Muslims in Islamic lands

Muhammad

holy prophet of Islam; received revelations from Allah from 610-632 CE

dower

in the Islamic world - a gift paid to the bride (by the groom) upon marriage

Berbers

indigenous ethnic group of western North Africa; first non-Arab people to establish an Islamic government

Qadi

judge of a Shari'a law court

shayks

leaders of tribes and clans within bedouin society; usually men with large herds, several wives, and many children

polygamy

legal marriage to more than one woman - in Islam men were limited to 4 wives

sakk

letter of credit in the medieval Islamic banking; origin of "check"

Harem

living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household

Muslim

means "one who has surrendered to God"

jihad

means "struggle in the way of God"; often used for wars in defense of the faith, but also a term to indicate personal quests for religious understanding

Islam

means "surrender to God"

infidel

means "unfaithful"; a negative term used for those who are not members of one's own religion

Sufism

mystical form of Islam that emphasized personal inward experience of God and rejected materialism; produced influential Islamic art and literature; helped spread Islam to India

Seljuk Turks

nomadic invaders from central Asia via Persia; staunch Sunnis; ruled in the name of Abbasid caliphs from mid-11th century

Bedouin

nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian peninsula; culture based on camel and goat nomadism; early converts to Islam

mawali

non-Arab converts to Islam

The Five Pillars

obligatory religious duties of all Muslims including confession of faith, prayer, fasting during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj

Qu'ran

recitations of revelations received by Muhammad; the holy scriptures of Islam

madrasa

school for Islamic instruction

Ibn Khaldun

set standards for the scientific study of history