Ch 11 AP world terms

Ibn Battuta

(1304-1369) Morrocan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan. His writings gave a glimpse into the world of that time period.

Sikhism

A belief system which blends Hindu traditions with Islamic monotheistic traditions. Based in India and Pakistan. A 14th Century religion founded by a Hindu guru, Sikhs (means "learner") are monotheists that follow a religion that has elements of both Hinduism and Islam. Most Sikhs are found in India. Sikhism is open to new followers, so it is one looking for new members. Indian religion that separated from Hinduism in the 15th and 16th centuries; Sikhs believe in one God and the teachings found in their holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib

Jihad

A holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal The Muslim word for "struggle" especially when trying to follow the will of Allah. A term that is popularly understood to mean "holy war" but is preferably translated as "utmost struggle" and refers to a personal struggle to uphold the tenets of Islam.

Dhimmis

A term meaning "protected peoples"; they included Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. A person of a non-Muslim religion whose right to practice that religion is protected within an Islamic society

Imams

According to Shi'ism, rulers who could trace descent from the successors of Ali descendants of Prophet Muhammad considered by Shia to be true political and religious leaders of Islam

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

Avicenna Arabic: c. 980 - June 1037) was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age. Central to Ibn Sina's philosophy is his concept of reality and reasoning. Reason, in his scheme, can allow progress through various levels of understanding and can finally lead to God, the ultimate truth. He stresses the importance of gaining knowledge, and develops a theory of knowledge based on four faculties: sense perception, retention, imagination and estimation. Imagination has the principal role in intellection, as it can compare and construct images which give it access to universals. Again the ultimate object of knowledge is God, the pure intellect.

Sharia

Body of Islamic law that includes interpretation of the Quran and applies Islamic principles to everyday life

Mozarabs

Christians who adopted some Arabic customs but did not convert "Would-be Arabs" in Muslim-ruled Spain, referring to Christians who adopted much of Arabic culture and observed many Muslim practices without actually converting to Islam.

Madrassas

Formal colleges for higher institutions in the teaching of Islam as well as in secular subjects founded throughout the Islamic world in beginning in the 11th century colleges in the Islamic empire where philosophy and natural science were viewed as suspicious while Quranic studies and religious law were central to any education

Shaykhs

Leaders of tribes and clans within Bedouin society; usually men with large herds, several wives, and many children. Bedouin Leaders Sufi teachers who attracted a circle of disciples and often founded individual schools of Sufism. The Arabic term for a senior master, especially in the context of Sufism

Hijra

Muhammad's move to Medina. Start of the Islamic calendar (632 CE) The Migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622, marking the founding of Islam 'migration'. The Hijra was Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Madina in 622 CE. 'Hijra year' is the Muslim calendrical year, based on a lunar month calendar, and dates from the migration.

Ulama

Muslim religious scholars. From the ninth century onward, the primary interpreters of Islamic law and the social core of Muslim urban societies.

Jizya

Poll tax that non-Muslims had to pay when living within a Muslim empire tax paid by Christians and Jews who lived in Muslim communities to allow them to continue to practice their own religion

The Great Mosque at Jenne

The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic influences. The Great Mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali on the flood plain of the Bani River. The first mosque on the site was built in the 13th century, but the current structure dates from 1907. As well as being the centre of the community of Djenné, it is one of the most famous landmarks in Africa. Along with the entire city of Djenné it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. The original mosque presided over one of the most important Islamic learning centers in Africa during the Middle Ages. Thousands of students came to study the Qur'an in Djenné's madrassas.

Hadiths

Traditions of the prophet Muhammad actions or quotes from Muhammad; make up the basis for Islamic law

Al Ghazali

a Muslim theologian, jurist philosopher, and mystic of Persian descent Sufi The most important of the early Sufi missionaries, he argued that human reason was too weak to understand the nature of Allah and only through careful study of the Quaran could humans be close to and understand Allah. Al-Ghazali: Abu Hamid-al-Ghazali (date: 1111). Born in Iraq and he was a prodigy and he wanted to achieve everything by studying everything that came his way and mastered many subjects. A Muslim theologian, jurist,philosopher, and mystic of Persian descent.

Rightly Guided Caliphs

rulers who obeyed Islam's teachings. Sunni and Shiite divisions disagree on who the leader(caliph) should be Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman, Ali The first four rulers of the Islamic world (632-661) after the death of Muhammad.