Medieval Middle East Mid Term

Harun al-Rashid

"Aaron the Just". Ar-Rashid ruled from 786 to 809, during the peak of the Islamic Golden Age. His time was marked by scientific, cultural, and religious prosperity. Islamic art and music also flourished significantly during his reign. He established the legendary library Bayt al-Hikma ("House of Wisdom") in Baghdad in present-day Iraq, and during his rule Baghdad began to flourish as a center of knowledge, culture and trade.[1] During his rule, the family of Barmakids, which played a deciding role in establishing the Abbasid Caliphate, declined gradually. In 796, he moved his court and government to Ar-Raqqah in present-day Syria. Had ja'far killed for either leaving him for his sister or just making love to his sister in general. also imprisoned the barmakids.

Muhammad "al-Nafs al-Zakiyya"

"The Pure Soul") was a descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Known for his commanding oratory skills, amiable demeanor, and impressive build, he led the Alid Revolt (762-763) in Medina, a failed rebellion, against the second Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mansur. His followers deserted him and he was left with few hundred of his soldiers against large Abbasid force under Isa ibn Musa, and he was martyred on December 6, 762 CE (145 AH).

Muhajirun

"The emigrants" The original Meccan Muslims who emigrated with the prophet to Medina. They, most of the time, were favored over the Ansar or the people who were already in Medina and then converted.

Sahaba

"accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") refers to the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This form is definite plural; the indefinite singular is masculine sahabi (ṣaḥābī), feminine sahabia (ṣaḥābīyah). Later scholars accepted their testimony of the words and deeds of Muhammad, the occasions on which the Quran was revealed and various important matters of Islamic history and practice. The testimony of the companions, as it was passed down through chains of trusted narrators (isnads), was the basis of the developing Islamic tradition. From the traditions (hadith) of the life of Muhammad and his companions are drawn the Muslim way of life (sunnah), the code of conduct (sharia) it requires and the jurisprudence (fiqh) by which Muslim communities should be regulated. The two largest Islamic denominations, the Sunni and Shia, take different approaches in weighing the value of the companions' testimony, have different hadith collections and, as a result, have different views about the Sahabah.

Jahiliyya

"boorish ignorance" the type of ignorance that the Arabs found themselves in before they were revealed the Qur'an by God through Muhammad.

Ghulat

"extremists",[1] the adjectival form of ghuluww), is a term used in the theology of Shia Islam to describe some minority Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to figures of Islamic history. In this context they were considering Abu muslim was a god.

Yazdegird III

"made by God" was the thirty-eighth and last king of the Sasanian Empire of Iran from 632 to 651. He was on the winning side of a civil war. The Muslims invaded one month after his inauguration.

kuttab

"writters or secretaries" With the rise of the bureaucracy under al-mahdi there was a need for a lot of these people. They became a mjor political power. The strongest of these people were yahya b. Khalid and the barmakid family.

Kharijites/Khawarij

'those who went out'[1]) were a sect in early Islam that broke into revolt against the authority of Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib after he agreed to arbitration with his rivals the Mu'awiyah to decide the succession to the Caliphate following the Battle of Siffin (657). Khawarij held that "Judgement belongs to God alone", who would decide succession by determining the victor in battle, whereas arbitration would be decided by men.[2] They believed that all Muslims, rich and poor, had the same rights, and that any Muslim (not just a Quraysh or even Arab) could be the leader of the community (Imam) if they are morally irreproachable, but that if the leader sinned it was the duty of Muslims to oppose and depose him.[3][4] The Kharijites developed extreme doctrines that further set them apart from both mainstream Sunni and Shiʿa Muslims.

Rashidun

(632-661)often simply called, collectively, "the Rashidun", is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four caliphs (successors) following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, namely: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman ibn Affan and Ali of the Rashidun Caliphate, the first caliphate. The golden age of Islam. Massive expansion.

The Battle of Nahrwan

(657) was a battle between Ali ibn Abi Talib (the first Shi'ah Imam and the fourth Sunni Caliph) and the Kharijites, near Nahrawan, twelve miles from Baghdad. 'Ali said he would have allowed them to come to Kufa repent and no harm would come to them. However, many fanatics just sought to sacrafice themselves and 1,800 of them were slaughtered b y'Ali's men.

Abu ja'far al-Mansur

(754 AD - 775 AD). He is generally regarded as the real founder of the Abbasid Caliphate.During his reign, Islamic literature and scholarship in the Islamic world began to emerge in full force, supported by new Abbasid tolerances for Persians and other groups which had been suppressed by the Umayyads. Although the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik had adopted Persian court practices, it was not until al-Mansur's reign that Persian literature and scholarship were truly appreciated in the Islamic world. erhaps more importantly than the emergence of Persian scholarship was the conversion of many non-Arabs to Islam. He had to have abu muslim killed in 755 because he was acting as an independent ruler in khurasan.

Sasanian Empire

(r. 224-651) The last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam. At its greatest extent, the Sassanid Empire encompassed all of today's Iran, Iraq, Eastern Arabia, the Levant , the Caucasus, Egypt, large parts of Turkey, much of Central Asia, Yemen and Pakistan. Had a very different court system lead by hereditary nobility. Nobles enjoyed a life of luxury and could spend money on art and literature. Very clear and rigid class distinctions. Was lead by the shahanshah or king of kings. The last of the many and frequent wars with the Byzantines, the climactic Byzantine-Sasanian War of 602-628, which included the siege of the Byzantine capital Constantinople, ended with both rivalling sides having drastically exhausted their human and material resources

Emperor Justinian

(r. 527-565) Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Had a desire to reclaim what was lost of the western empire. More importantly he basically rewrote roman law. His reign also marked a blossoming of Byzantine culture, and his building program yielded such masterpieces as the church of Hagia Sophia, which was to be the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity for many centuries

Abu Bakr

(r. 632-634)The first caliph. was a senior companion (Sahabi) and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632 to 634 CE, when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death.[2] As caliph, Abu Bakr succeeded to the political and administrative functions previously exercised by Muhammad. He was also commonly known as The Truthful. He didn't believe anyone outside of the quraysh family should be caliph. He gained power when 'umar swore the bay'a to him. After the prophet died many different tribes wanted to leave the umma becuase they had allegiance to muhammad no one else so Abu Bakr had the job of solidifying the Islamic state again and these were called the ridda wars.

Mu'awiyya b. Abi Sufyan

(r. 661-680) He was placed as Governor of Syria by 'Umar. He was the beginning of the Umayyad Dynasty. He was the winner of the first fitna against 'Ali. In a manner similar to Byzantine administrative practices, Muawiyah instituted several bureaucracies, called divans, to aid him in the governance and the centralization of the Caliphate and the empire. Early Arabic sources credit two diwans in particular to Muawiyah: the Diwan al-Khatam (Chancellery) and the Barid (Postal Service), both of which greatly improved communications within the empire. Non Muslim population had autonomy and had their own laws based on their own religions and had their own political and religious heads. Their judicial matters were dealt with in accordance with their own laws and by their own religious heads or their own appointees.[186] They paid a poll tax for policing, to the central state.[186] Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that each religious minority should be allowed to practice its own religion and govern it self and the policy had on the whole continued.[186] Syria like many other parts of the empire had remained largely Christian.[

'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam

(r. 680-692) ibn Zubayr led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate but was defeated and killed in Mecca in 692 AD after a six-month siege by general Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. After the massacre of Husayn at Karbala Eventually he consolidated his power by sending a governor to Kufa. Soon, Ibn Zubayr established his power in Iraq, southern Arabia and in the greater part of Syria, and parts of Egypt. Ibn Zubayr benefited greatly from widespread dissatisfaction among the populace with Umayyad rule.Yazid tried to end Ibn Zubayr's rebellion by invading the Hejaz, and took Medina after the bloody Battle of al-Harrah. He then invaded the Tihamah and lay siege to Mecca but his sudden death, in 683,[1] ended the campaign and threw the Umayyads into disarray with civil war eventually breaking out. The Ummayyad caliph Abd al-Malik then sent against ibn al-Zubayr the general al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. When Hajjaj approached Mecca, he sent a letter to Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr telling him he had three choices; to be taken and chained to Abd al-Malik who was then the caliph of Damascus; to leave by himself wherever he wished, renouncing claim on all the lands he had under his control; or to continue fighting to the death. died 692.

Marwan b. al-hakam

(r. 684-685) a Sahaba and also was the fourth Umayyad Caliph, and the cousin of Uthman ibn Affan, who took over the dynasty after Muawiya II abdicated in 684. Marwan's ascension pointed to a shift in the lineage of the Umayyad dynasty from descendants of Abu Sufyan (the "Sufyanids") to those of Hakam (the "Marwanids"), both of whom were grandsons of Umayya (for whom the Umayyad dynasty is named). Hakam was also the uncle of Uthman ibn Affan.

Abu'l-'abas al Saffah

(r. 749-754) 749 in the great mosque of Kufa the Imam was revealed Abu 'l-abbas. In one far-reaching, historic decision, as-Saffāh established Kufa as the new capital of the caliphate, ending the dominance of Damascus in the Islamic political world, and Iraq would now become the seat of 'Abbassid power for many centuries. As-Saffāh's four-year reign was marked with efforts to consolidate and rebuild the caliphate. His supporters were represented in the new government,

Constantinople

323-1923 It was the capital of the Byzantine empire and the eastern roman empire. It was reignaguated in 324 as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great

Battle of Siffin

657 CE) occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria. A massive battle where many people on both sides had lost their lives. It ended when Muawiyya's troops started to wave qur'an on their spears. They were asking for arbitration asking for a neutral party to decide who was right. Either 'Ali was wrong because he didn't punish the people who killed 'Uthman or the people attacking 'Ali because he was the rightful Caliph.

Rawandiyya

758-759 showed up in front of al-mansur's house saying that he was a god. They were massacred down to the last man. This had to be done because the Abbasid's couldn't have these crazy non-mainstream Muslims as their supporters.

Al-muqanna

775-780 Al-Muqanna' was an ethnic Persian from Merv named Hashim ibn Hakim, originally a clothes pleater. He became a commander for Abu Muslim of Khurasan. After Abu Muslim's murder, al-Muqanna' claimed to be an incarnation of God, a role, he insisted, passed to him from Abū Muslim, who received it via 'Alī from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Al-Muqanna' was reputed to wear a veil in order to cover up his beauty; however, the Abbasid Caliphate claimed that he wore it to hide his ugliness, being one-eyed and bald. His followers wore white clothes in opposition to Abbasid black. He is reputed to have engaged in magic to impress his followers as a maker of miracles. Al-Muqanna' was instrumental in the formation of the Khurramiyya, a sect that claimed Abū Muslim to be the Mahdi and denied his death. When al-Muqanna''s followers started raiding towns and mosques of other Muslims and looting their possessions, the Abbasids sent several commanders to crush the rebellion. Al-Muqanna' poisoned himself rather than surrender to the Abbasids, who set had fire to his house. Al-Muqanna' died in a fort near Kesh.

Ka'ba

A black building with a black stone in Mecca. Before Muhammad's time it was a place of idol worship that brought many people to the city of Mecca. However, it is a common Islamic belief that the Ka'ba was built by Abraham as a shrine to the one true God after he didn't kill his son Ishmael the son of hagar. It is the holiest place in Islam and the salat is to be done in its direction. Qibla is in its direction.

Zoroastrianism

A dualist religion that began somewhere between 650 and 600BCE. It emphasized two Gods one evil and one good. The good god was ahura and the evil was ahriman. People would pray to and give sacrifices to the good god do that he would prevail over the evil. serving as the state religion of the pre-Islamic Iranian empires at which time the religion was suppressed or otherwise integrated into Islam.

Khadija

A extremely wealthy and powerful woman merchant. Married Muhammad and had six children with him. The two boys however both died as young children. She is considered to be the first or one of the first converts to Islam.

Shura

A group of 6 people appointed by 'Umar in 664 to decide who would be the next Caliph. The rule was everyone had to agree or they would be killed by the ones who agreed. The six people inlcuded 'Ali, 'Uthman, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Talhah and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas. 'Uthman was picked and the others all swore Bay'a to him.

Council of Chalcedon (AD 451)

A group of around 370 people of the church got together to decide on the natures of Christ. They refuted the idea that Christ was one like the monophysites thought but rather he was fully God and fully Man which was a Dyophysite thought.

Muhammad b. 'Ali b. 'Abdallah b. al-'abbas

A member of the abassid family who received the title of Imam from Abu Hashim. He moved the capital to Khurason. He was the one who was going to be Caliph even though no one knew it because it was ekpt a secret so that the alids would be on the side of the hashimiyaa movement.

divan

A name for the highly organized governmental body that would be present in both the Persian and later Islamic bureaucracy.

Abu Muslim al-Khurasani

Abu Muslim observed the revolt in Kufa in 736 tacitly. With the death of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 743, the Islamic world was launched into civil war. Abu Muslim was sent to Khorasan by the Abbasids initially as a propagandist and then to revolt on their behalf. He took Merv in December 747 (or January 748), defeating the Umayyad governor Nasr ibn Sayyar, as well as Shayban al-Khariji, a Kharijite aspirant to the caliphate. He became the de facto governor of Khorasan, and gained fame as a general in the late 740s in defeating the rebellion of Bihafarid, the leader of a syncretic Persian sect that were Mazdaism. Abu Muslim received support in suppressing the rebellion both from purist Muslims and Zoroastrians. In 750, Abu Muslim became leader of the Abbasid army and defeated the Umayyads at Battle of the Zab. Abu Muslim stormed Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, later that year. His heroic role in the revolution and military skill, along with his conciliatory politics toward Shia, Sunnis, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians, made him extremely popular among the people. Although it appears that Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah trusted him in general, he was wary of his power, limiting his entourage to 500 men upon his arrival to Iraq on his way to Hajj in 754. Abu al-'Abbas's brother, al-Mansur (r. 754-775), advised al-Saffah on more than one occasion to have Abu Muslim killed, fearing his rising influence and popularity. It seems that this dislike was mutual, with Abu Muslim aspiring to more power and looking down in disdain on al-Mansur, feeling al-Mansur owed Abu Muslim for his position. When the new caliph's uncle, Abdullah ibn Ali rebelled, Abu Muslim was requested by al-Mansur to crush this rebellion, which he did, and Abdullah was given to his nephew as a prisoner. Abdullah was ultimately executed. Relations deteriorated quickly when al-Mansur sent an agent to inventory the spoils of war, and then appointed Abu Muslim governor of Syria and Egypt, outside his powerbase. After an increasingly acrimonious correspondence between Abu Muslim and al-Mansur, Abu Muslim feared he was going to be killed if he appeared in the presence of the Caliph. He later changed his mind and decided to appear in his presence due to a combination of perceived disobedience, al-Mansur's promise to keep him as governor of Khorasan, and the assurances of some of his close aides, some of whom were bribed by al-Mansur. He went to Iraq to meet al-Mansur in al-Mada'in in 755. Al-Mansur proceeded to enumerate his grievances against Abu Muslim, who kept reminding the Caliph of his efforts to enthrone him. Against Abu Muslim were also charges of being a zindiq or heretic.[6] al-Mansur then signaled five of his guards behind a portico to kill him. Abu Muslim's mutilated body was thrown in the river Tigris, and his commanders were bribed to acquiesce to the murder. (747 raised black flag in revolt. any slave that came to the dawla would be free and protected. Changed the diwan, now it was by village of origin.

Abu Hashim

After his father's death in 700 CE, Shia of the Hashimiyya sub-sect of the Kaysanites Shia looked to Abu Hashim as the heir of his grandfather Ali. After his own death, the early Abbasids claimed that Abu Hashim had designated Muhammad, father to the later first two Abbasid caliphs As-Saffah and Al-Mansur, as his heir and head of the clan of the Banu Hashim.

Monophysitism

An idea rejected by the Council of Chalcedon. It is an idea that Jesus when incarnated was only one nature. Either fully divine or one nature that was a mixture of Divine and Man. This idea still prevailed even after the council in places like Egypt and Syria.

sura

Chapters of the Qu'ran. There are 114 Sura in the Qur'an. They are ordered from the longest to the shortest. Interestingly enough they dont always follow that order some are grouped even though they don't follow the longest to shortest pattern. The names don't necessarily describe the theme of a sura but they just give a name to it like sura two "the cow."

Asceticism and the Monastic Movement

Christian monasticism first emerged as a distinct movement in the early fourth century, but it was not so much an innovation as a fresh expression of the ascetic spirit present in Christianity from the start. It was an idea that to be more close to god one must give up the earthly world. One must be celibate and give to the poor and live a lowly life.

Amir

Commanders of the Garrison Towns such as Kufa and Basura. Fairly independent of the government in Medina. Kept most of the revenue was kept in their own towns/Providences.

'Ali b. Abi Talib

Cousin of the Prophet. Married the daughter of Muhammad, Fatima. Member of the shura though not elected. When 'Uthman died the Caliphate went to 'Ali in Kufa. This lead to the first fitna. He fought Tahla al-zubayr and Aisha because he said he couldn't kill the killers of 'Uthman at that time. The 'Alids all trace their ancestory to him. Shi'ia Ali is still around today. was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661.[8] A son of Abu Talib,[8] Ali was also the first young male who accepted Islam.[9][10] Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam after Muhammad, and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of whom are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shi`i branches.

Da'wa

Da'wah literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation" the hashimiyya movement was a messianic and clandestine movement.

Fatima

Daughter of the Prophet and Khadija. She was married to the Prophets Cousin 'Ali. She is the mother of the great Martyr al-Husayn b. 'Ali.

Charles Martel/Battle of Tours (732)

Ended all northern expansion into Europe.

al-Amin

He succeeded his father, Harun al-Rashid in 809 and ruled until he was deposed and killed in 813, during the civil war with his brother, al-Ma'mun.

Heraclius (r. AD 610-641)

He was responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Empire's official language. Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. He basically changed the course of the war and ended it with a peace treaty when Khusro's son asked him for one.

Hisham b. 'Abd al-Malik (r. 724-743)

Hisham was ruling an empire with many different problems. He would, however, be effective in attending to these problems, and in allowing the Umayyad empire to continue as an entity.Hisham was a great patron of the arts, and he again encouraged arts in the empire. He also encouraged the growth of education by building more schools, and perhaps most importantly, by overseeing the translation of numerous literary and scientific masterpieces into Arabic. He returned to a stricter interpretation of the Sharia as Umar had, and enforced it, even upon his own family. His ability to stand up to the Umayyad clan may have been an important factor in his success, and may point to why his brother Yazid was ineffective. He led a desperate sortie from the city that scattered the Berbers, killing thousands and re-establishing Umayyad rule. Berbers and turks both provided huge issues during his reign.

Mecca

Holiest city in Islam due to it containing the ka'ba. It is the birthplace of The Prophet. During the time of Muhammad it was a major city becuase of two reasons. The first is that it was situated on a major trade route and got taxes from that. The second was that it had the ka'ba and the pagans would all have a pilgrimage there to pray to their gods and worship their idols.

Al-Husayn b. 'Ali

Husayn is highly regarded by Shiite Muslims because he refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid I,[6] the Umayyad caliph because he considered the rule of the Umayyads unjust.[6] As a consequence, he left Medina, his home town, and traveled to Mecca. There, the people of Kufa sent letters to him, asking his help and pledging their allegiance to him. So he traveled towards Kufa.[7] At Karbala his caravan was intercepted by Yazid I's army. He was killed and beheaded in the Battle of Karbala in 680 (61 AH) by Shimr Ibn Thil-Jawshan, along with most of his family and companions.[8] The annual memorial for him, his family, his children and his companions is called Ashura (tenth day of Muharram) and is a day of mourning for Shiite Muslims. The killings at Karbala fueled the later Shiite movements.[9] Anger at Husayn's death was turned into a rallying cry that helped undermine and ultimately overthrow the Umayyad Caliphate.

'Ashura'

It is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH ( in AHt: October 10, 680 CE). The massacre of Husayn with small group of his companions and family members had great impact on the religious conscience of Muslims. Especially Shia Muslims have ever remembered it with sorrow and passion.[6] Mourning for Husayn and his companions began almost immediately after the Battle of Karbala, by his survivor relatives and supporters.

The Arbitrition

It was decided that the Syrians and the residents of Kufa, in Iraq, should nominate an arbitrator, each to decide between Ali and Muawiya. The Iraqis under Ali and the Syrians under Muawiyah were not split over their faith[30] but over when to bring the people who killed Uthman to justice. Ali also wanted to bring them to justice but the dispute was over the timing. We have devised a solution after a good deal of thought and it may put an end to all contention and separatist tendencies. It is this. Both of us remove Ali as well as Muawiya from the caliphate. The Muslims are given the right to elect a caliph as they think best. Ali refused to accept the verdict of him stepping down and for an election to be held and found himself technically in breach of his pledge to abide by the arbitration.[35][36][37] This put Ali in a weak position even amongst his own supporters.[35] The most vociferous opponents of Ali in his camp were the very same people who had forced Ali to appoint their arbitrator, the Qurra who then became known as the Kharijites

Kharaj

Land tax on the Infidels. This came about during the massive land conquests where it would be impossible to place Muslims in charge of all the land. This would later be placed on the land itself and not the owners. This was because the Caliiphate started hurting for money when the expansion stopped and people were all converted to Islam.

Muhammad b. 'Abdallah (aka "The Prophet")

Lived from 570/571 - June 8, 632 AD. Received the Qur'an from the angel Gabriel at age 40. He kept getting revelation until he died in 632. He was born and raised in Mecca. He grew up mostly with his uncle abu talib. He arbitrated for two warring parties in Medina and gained control of the city. He then used it as a place of power to conquer mecca as well as most of Arabia.

Al-rida min Al Muhammad

Looking to restore a good Islamic world by restoring one who is pleasing to the family of Muhammad to the throne.

Nestorius/Nestorianism

Nestorianism is the error that Jesus is two distinct persons. The heresy is named after Nestorius who was born in Syria and died in A.D. 451 and who advocated this doctrine. Nestorius was a monk who became the Patriarch of Constantinople, and he repudiated the Marian title, "Mother of God."

Ahl al-hadith

People of the Hadith or family of hadith. Oral transmission of things that the prophet did or said. Isnad + matn. They didn't really care who was Imam and were only worried about the prophet. They just wanted the caliph to be a pious muslim.

Dar al-Harb

Place of Infidels. No Muslim was allowed to reside in a place such as this.

Dar al-Islam

Place under god's rule. This would be like a garrison town made under 'Umar. It is a little place of Islam in an infidel country. A Muslim couldn't live in Dar al-harb.

Zayd

Slave child of Muhammad and Fatima. Was a companion of Muhammad who was at one stage regarded as his (adoptive) son. He is the only companion whose name appears in the Qur'an

Karbala

The Battle of Karbala took place on Muharram 10, in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar (October 10, 680 AD) in Karbala, situated in present-day Iraq.[1] The battle was between a small group of supporters and relatives of Muhammad's grandson Hussein ibn Ali, and a much larger military detachment from the forces of Yazid I, the Umayyad caliph, to whom Hussein had refused to give an oath of allegiance. Hussein and all his supporters were killed, including Hussein's six-month-old infant son, Ali al-Asghar ibn Husayn, with the women and children taken as prisoners. The dead are regarded as martyrs by both Sunni[8][9] and Shia Muslims, and the battle has a central place in Shia history and tradition, and has frequently been recounted in Shia Islamic literature.

Battle of the Camel

The Battle of the Camel, sometimes called the Battle of Jamal or the Battle of Bassorah, took place at Basra, Iraq on 7 November 656. A'isha heard about the killing of Uthman (644-656), the third Caliph. At the time she was on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was on this journey that she became so angered by his unavenged death, and the naming of Ali as the fourth caliph, that she took up arms against those supporting Ali. She gained support of the big city of Basra and, for the first time, Muslims took up arms against each other.

Hijra

The Hijra or Hijrah (Arabic: هِجْرَة‎), also romanized as Hegira and Hejira, is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622 CE.[1] In June 622 CE, after being warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly left his home in Mecca to emigrate to Yathrib, 320 km (200 mi) north of Mecca, along with his companion Abu Bakr.

Kaysaniyya

The Kaysanites were a Shi'i sect of Islam that formed from the followers of Al-Mukhtar. It was a movement looking for the correct Imam. The first of which was the mahdi Muhammad ibn al-hanafiyya. The believed in Bida as well which is the modernization of religion.There were three sects at the beginning. One for abu hashim the nest for his father muhammad ibn al-hanifiyya and the last was a a son of husayn.

The wars of the Ridda

The Ridda wars (Arabic: حروب الردة), also known as the Wars of Apostasy, were a series of military campaigns launched by the Caliph Abu Bakr against rebel Arabian tribes during 632 and 633 AD, just after Muhammad died.

Shahanshah

The Sassanian King of Kings. The early Sasanian kings considered themselves of divine descent; they called themselves for "bay" (divine)When the king went to the publicity, he was hidden behind a curtain,[99] and had some of his men in front of him, whose duty was to keep the masses away from the king and to make his way clear.suggest that the king was at the center of the world and the sun and moon revolved around him.

Hashimiyya

The abbasid revolution originally declared that they got their power from Abu Hashim. They said that he gave all his power to Muhammad ibn 'ali ibn 'abdallah ibn ' al-'abbas. Later the movement changed the abu hashim to the grandfather of the prophet so that they could include the whole family and not get their power from someone who's authority could be questioned.

Yathrib (al-Madina)

The city that the Prophet used as his first place of power. He was called as an arbiter for a dispute between the Aws and the khazraj. His migration to there is known as the Hijra and this marks the beginning of the muslim calendar. There were three big jewish tribes in medina Muhammad exiled two of the tribes and slaughtered one of them.

Dar al-Islam/Dar al-Harb

The distinction is not quite as simple as it may at first appear. For one thing, the division is regarded as legal rather than theological. Dar al-harb is not separated from dar al-islam by things like the popularity of Islam or divine grace; rather, it is separated by the nature of the governments which have control over a territory. A Muslim-majority nation not ruled by Islamic law is still dar al-harb, while a Muslim-minority nation ruled by Islamic law could qualify as being part of dar al-islam.

The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750)

The first major hereditary dynasty of the Islamic State. Turned the Caliphate into more of a Kingship. Expanded the Empire to the fifth biggest ever in History from Spain all the way to Transoxiana. They had their capital in Damascus and their place of power was Syria. The Christian and Jewish population had still autonomy; their judicial matters were dealt with in accordance with their own laws and by their own religious heads or their appointees, although they did pay a poll tax for policing to the central state. Arabic became the administrative language. Umayyads also constructed famous buildings such as the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem, and the Umayyad Mosque at Damascus.

Quraysh

The leading family in Mecca. It was the family that Muhammad belonged too and for this reason it remains one of the most important families in Islamic history. Many of the early caliphs could only be a caliph if they were from the family of Quraysh. Even though the Caliphs were Quraysh Muhammad also fought the Quraysh who opposed him in Mecca and persecuted Muslims. aka Sufyan.

Ansar

The muslims who converted from medina. The helped in the fighting and enjoyed in the spoils.

Roman/Byzantine Empire

The roman empire was split between the west and the east and by the 5th Century AD the west had broken up and the eastern empire with a capital in Constantinople remained a power for the next 1000 years.

Dawla

The term dawla originally meant "cycle, time, period of rule". It was particularly often used by the early Abbasid caliphs to signify their "time of success", i.e. reign, and soon came to be particularly associated with the reigning house and acquire the connotation of "dynasty".[1] In modern usage, since the 19th century, it has come to mean "state", in particular a secular state of the Western type as opposed to the dynastic or religion-based state systems current until then in the Islamic world.

The maghazi

The term sīra was first linked to the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, and later popularized by the work of Ibn Hisham. In the first two centuries of Islamic history, sīra was more commonly known as maghāzī (literally, stories of military expeditions), which is now considered to be only a subset of sīra.

Abu Talib

Uncle of the Prophet. Raised Muhammad from a very young age. Father of 'Ali. Was a strong ally to Muhammad and would always protect him but it is unclear whether or not he ever converted to Islam.

Al-Zubayr

Was a companion of the prophet and a member of the sahaba. He was also a member of the Shura when 'Uthman was voted as Caliph. Al-Zubayr was the most successful field commander during the Muslim conquest of Egypt under Caliph Umar.[citation needed] He commanded a regiment in the decisive Battle of Yarmouk in 636,[citation needed] and in 640 he commanded the reinforcements sent to Amr ibn al-As in Egypt. Uthman was assassinated in 656. Al-Zubayr had reason to hope that he would be elected as the next Caliph, although he knew that his old ally Talha was also a strong contender.[49] But Ali was elected,[50] to the outrage of Muhammad's widow Aisha.[51] Thereupon Al-Zubayr met with Aisha and Talha in Mecca, claiming he had only given allegiance to Ali at swordpoint.[52] Al-Zubayr, Talha and Aisha called for Uthman's death to be avenged, and while Ali agreed, he said that he was not able to do this at the time.[53] The allies then collected an army and marched to Basra. There they defeated the Governor and took over the city,[54][55] putting to death everyone who had been implicated in the assassination of Uthman.[56] When they were challenged over why they now cared about Uthman when they had shown him so much hostility during his lifetime, they claimed: "We wanted Uthman to meet our demands. We didn't want him to be killed."[57] Ali certainly behaved like a man who suspected hostility towards himself, for he soon entered Basra with a professional army of twenty thousand.[58] For several days, there were negotiations, as both sides asserted they wanted only to see justice done.[59] But on 7 December 656 hostilities erupted. Aisha's warriors killed Ali's messenger-boy, and Ali responded, "Battle is now justified, so fight them!"[60] So battle commenced. Al-Zubayr, however, had lost the desire to fight. He said that Ali had talked him out of it during the negotiations on the grounds that they were cousins; but his son accused him of fearing Ali's army. Al-Zubayr left the battle-field while Aisha continued to direct her troops. A man named Amr ibn Jurmuz decided to track his movements and followed him to a nearby field. It was time for prayer so, after each had asked the other what he was doing there, they agreed to pray. While Al-Zubayr was prostrating, Amr ibn Jurmuz stabbed him in the neck and killed him.

Ibn Hisham

Was a writer of the Sira. His history is what we have now and it is from 833. Is is mostly full of maghazi which means stories of military expeditions.

'abd al-Malik (r. 685-705)

Was the caliph after the second fitna and thus was caliph over the entire empire, though he was not universally said to be the right Caliph. He was responsible for the death of ibn. zubayr. He centralized and changed the language to arabic. Muslim coinage was made. Set up the barid system (spy like system and a message system). BUilt the dome of the rock and other monuments. He put down the three different people of the second fitna the kharajites, mus'ab of Kufa, shi'as and most importantly adballah ibn zubayr the caliph in mecca.

Iran/Iranshahr

Was where the Sassanian empire was centrally located. The peak of Iranian civilization was seen under the rule of the Sassanian empire. The Sassanids' cultural influence extended far beyond the empire's territorial borders, reaching as far as Western Europe,[18] Africa,[19] China and India.[20] It played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian medieval art.[21] Much of what later became known as Islamic culture in art, architecture, music and other subject matter was transferred from the Sassanids throughout the Muslim world.[22]

Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya

When Imam Husayn, then in Mecca, was considering the expedition to Kufa that ended at Karbala, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah advised him not to go,[3] pointing out that the men of Kufa had betrayed and turned against their father Ali[4] and their brother Hasan ibn Ali,[5] and saying that he feared that they would betray Husayn as well. After Husayn and so many of his kinsmen died at Karbala and the young Ali ibn Husayn adopted a life of retirement and prayer, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah became the visible head of the house of Ali (see Kaysanites Shia). It was in his name that Al-Mukhtar rebelled in Kufa in 686 CE. In the hajj of 688 CE, four men led their respective followers in the rites of pilgrimage, claiming the headship of Islam. One was Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, leading the Shi'ites. The others were Abdullah ibn Zubayr, who ruled in Mecca; Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad, who ruled in Damascus; and Najdah ibn 'Amir, leader of the Kharijites. Ibn al-Hanafiyyah was called "the Mahdi," "the rightly-guided," which then was simply a pledge of confidence in his knowledge, character, and judgment over those of the rival caliphs. In 692 CE he traveled to Damascus and swore allegiance to Abd al-Malik. In 700 he died in Medina, but thereafter a legend grew up that he was not dead, but living in seclusion on Mount Radwa near Medina, protected and fed by wild animals, and that he would, in God's good time, return to establish justice and true religion in the world. Thus arose the legend of the Mahdi as savior.

vizier

a high-ranking political advisor or minister. This person in the Sassanian empire enjoyed a good life in the highly bureaucratic society. He would enjoy things such as chess, polo, falconry ,drinking, and orgies.

Mesoptamia

a name for the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Syria and Kuwait, including regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iranian-Iraqi borders.Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD 226, it fell to the Sassanid Persians and remained under Persian rule until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire

'Umar b. al-Khattab.

born c.583 CE - died 3 November 644 CE), was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs (successors) in history.[5] He was a senior Sahaba of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632-634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. He was an expert Islamic jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet Al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes between right and wrong"). He is sometimes referred to as Umar I by historians of Islam, since a later Umayyad caliph, Umar II, also bore that name. According to Sunnis, Umar is the second greatest of the Sahaba after Abu Bakr.[6][7][8] Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire.[9] His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in fewer than two years (642-644).[10] According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship.[11] When he came to power he immediately fired everyone and put people in power based of sabiqa or precedence in Islam or who was muslim first.

Late Antiquity

c. 250-750, huge political and social change in the roman/byzantine empire. This is due to fighting on both the western front as well as a constant struggle with the Sassanian empire on the east. By the end of late antiquity the Sassanian empire had also fallen.

Yazid b. Mu'awiyya

commonly known as Yazid I, was the second Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate (and the first one through inheritance). Yazid was the Caliph as appointed by his father Muawiyah I and ruled for three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE. Responsible for massacring al-husayn. Also was the first Caliph that gained the position through heredity which caused a lot of anger from many people. North Africa berbers took control over that territory and pushed out the Muslims. Two people who did not support him were al-husayn ibn 'Ali and 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam. The Karbala massacre of the Hashimite caravan of Husayn ibn Ali, the pillage and plunder of the city of Madinah (by Yazid's general Ibn Uqbah al-Murri) in which over 10,000 Muslim citizens were slaughtered and Muslim women were indiscriminately raped, and the siege of Mecca in which Yazid's commander Ibn Numayr ordered his troops to catapult fireballs to the shrine of the Kaaba.

Battle of Qadisiyya

fought in 636, is said to be a decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sassanid Persian army during the first period of Muslim expansion. It resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia and was key to the conquest of Iraq. The battle also saw the alleged alliance of Emperor Yazdegerd III with Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, who married his granddaughter Manyanh to Yazdegerd as a symbol of alliance.

Battle of Badr

fought on Tuesday, 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH in the Islamic calendar) in the Hejaz region of western Arabia (present-day Saudi Arabia), was a key battle in the early days of Islam and a turning point in Muhammad's struggle with his opponents among the Quraish[1] in Mecca. The battle has been passed down in Islamic history as a decisive victory attributable to divine intervention, or by secular sources to the strategic genius of Muhammad. It is one of the few battles specifically mentioned in the Quran. Most contemporary knowledge of the battle at Badr comes from traditional Islamic accounts, both hadiths and biographies of Muhammad, recorded in written form some time after the battle

Qays/Yaman

he Qays tribe (also named after its patriarch-founder) is the "northern" tribe, but its origin is uncertain. According to one theory, the tribe migrated even before the Muslim period from Mesopotamia towards Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, and therefore it is the more strongly based in Palestine. Another theory states that the Qays tribe also originates from Arabia. According to this theory, the two tribes migrated at the same time, but the stronger Yaman tribe was able to settle in the south of Palestine, while the Qays tribe was forced to consider wandering north before settling. The first evidence for the tribal split comes from the Umayyad period. Each tribe supported a different caliph or local ruler, and they continually struggled and fought against each other.

Pastorial nomadism

is a form of pastoralism where livestock are herded in order to find fresh pastures on which to graze. They would go from oasis to oasis to feed and water their camels. The bedouins were commonly known for this.

Jizya

is a religiously required per capita tax levied by a Muslim state on non-Muslim subjects permanently residing in Muslim lands under Islamic law.[1][specify][2][3] Islamic jurists required adult, free, sane males among the dhimma community to pay the jizya while exempting the women, slaves, minors, poor, and the insane,[4][5] as well as musta'mins (non-Muslim foreigners who only temporarily reside in Muslim lands).[6] Jizya is mandated by the Quran and the Hadiths. Fred Donner, however, in The Early Islamic Conquests, states that the difference between sadaqa and jizya is that the former was levied on nomads, whereas the latter was levied on settled non-Muslims. Donner sees sadaqa as being indicative of the lower status of nomadic tribes, so much so that Christian tribesmen preferred to pay the jizya. It was a tax that was put on the people in order for the protection of the Muslim rulers.

Misr/Amsar

is also a term describing the 'garrison towns' created under Caliph Omar I during his reign from 634-644 AD.[1] They were used to deter pillaging and looting by locally settling some of the population in the conquered territories. Important Amsar included Basra and Kufa in Iraq.

Jihad

is an Islamic term referring to the religious duty of Muslims to maintain the religion. In Arabic, the word jihād is a noun meaning "to strive, to apply oneself, to struggle, to persevere."[1] A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid, the plural of which is mujahideen (مجاهدين). The word jihad appears frequently in the Quran,[2] often in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)", to refer to the act of striving to serve the purposes of God on this earth.

Khalifa (Khalifat Allah vs. Khalifat Rasul Allah)

is an name or title which means "successor" or "steward"a person considered a political and religious successor to the prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community. Vicegerent of God. He is the rightful ruler of the Muslim state and is given power by God.

Sira

is the Arabic term used for the various traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad from which, in addition to the Quran and Hadith, most historical information about his life and the early period of Islam is derived. First Ibn Hishaq 768 The most popular of which was written by Ibn Hisham and was mostly maghāzī (literally, stories of military expeditions) 833

Bay'a

literally a "sale" or a "commercial transaction"), in Islamic terminology, is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Bay'ah is sometimes taken under a written pact given on behalf of the subjects by leading members of the tribe with the understanding that as long as the leader abides by certain requirements towards his people, they are to maintain their allegiance to him

hanif

meaning "revert" refers to one who maintained the pure monotheistic beliefs of the patriarch Abraham. More specifically, in Islamic thought, they are the people who, during the period known as the Pre-Islamic period or Age of Ignorance, were seen to have rejected idolatry and retained some or all of the tenets of the religion of Abraham (إبراهيم, Ibrāhīm) which was "submission to God" (Allah) in its purest form.

diwan

ministry or registrar of distribution of salaries to the warriors. This would be set up in order or who converted to Islam first would get the most of the booty.

Sabiqa

precedence in rendering service to Islam. Abu Bakr was a big proponent of this. He put people who were muslim first into power. Also the way people were paid in the spoils of war was based off of it as well.

Ashraf

refers to someone who is a direct blood-line descent from Muhammad by way of his daughter Fatimah. The word is the plural of sharīf "noble", from sharafa "to be highborn" if pronounced with long ā in the second syllable (أشراف /ašrāf/), but with short a (أشرف /ašraf/) is the intensive of sharīf meaning "very noble", "nobler", "noblest".

'Uthman b. 'Affan

rember he put the banu hashim and his family in places instead of those who first converted to Islam which is different than what 'Umar did and it pissed off a lot of people. First writting down of the Qur'an. In 656 armed men from Egypt arrived in Medina and demanded the dismissal of the Egyptian governor, which the caliph pretended to grant. On their way back to Egypt, however, they caught an African slave, a messenger from Uthman riding fast to the governor and carrying orders for their leaders' execution when they reached home. They went back to Medina, stoned Uthman in the mosque and knocked him unconscious, and then besieged him in his house. - See more at: http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/caliph-uthman-murdered#sthash.y8ThTr59.dpuf

Shu'ubiyya

sura 49 made you into groups and tibes most notably among you is the one closest to God. This is the idea that any muslim regardless of ethnicity can be the same as any other due to their love of god.

Kafir/Kuffar

used in an Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever," "disbeliever," or "infidel". It is used as a derogatory term. [1][2][3] The term [4] alludes to a person who rejects or disbelieves in God and the religious truth revealed through the mission of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and thus demonstrates ingratitude towards God;[5] denies, refuses to accept the dominion and authority of God;[6] or otherwise does not heed the beliefs and prescriptions held by the religion of Islam. Unbelief is called kufr. Kafir is sometimes used interchangeably with mushrik (مشرك, those who commit polytheism), another type of religious wrongdoer mentioned frequently in the Quran and Islamic works.[7] Jews and Christians are regarded as kuffar. [5][7] The practise of declaring another self-professed Muslim a kafir is known as takfir.

Yahya b. Khalid

was a member of the powerful Persian Barmakids family, son of Khalid ibn Barmak. Around 765, he was appointed to Azerbaijan by the Caliph Al-Mansur.When Al-Hadi was Caliph, Yahya dissuaded the Caliph several times from proclaiming his own son as heir instead of Harun. He eventually did so, and cast Yahya into jail, but died shortly after. When Harun became Caliph as Harun al-Rashid, he made Yahya Vizier. Under his influence, the Caliph invited to Baghdad many scholars and masters from India, especially Buddhists. A catalogue of both Muslim and non-Muslim texts prepared at this time, Kitab al-Fihrist, included a list of Buddhist works. Among them was an Arabic version of the account of Buddha's previous lives, Kitab al-Budd.

al-Ma'mun

was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. He succeeded his brother al-Amin who was killed during the siege of Baghdad (813). On 13 November 815, Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq (Al-Dibaj) claimed the Caliphate for himself in Mecca. He was defeated and he quickly abdicated asserting that he had only become caliph on news that al-Ma'mun had died.

Tahir b. al-Husayn

was an Iranian general and governor during the Abbasid caliphate. Specifically, he served under al-Ma'mun during the Fourth Fitna and led the armies that would defeat al-Amin, making al-Ma'mun the caliph. He was then rewarded as governor of Khorasan, which marked the beginning of the Tahirid dynasty.

Al-Walid b. 'Abd al-Malik (r. 705-715)

was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 705 until his death in 715. His reign saw the greatest expansion of the Caliphate, as successful campaigns were undertaken in Transoxiana, Sind, Hispania and against the Byzantines. Great Mosque of Damascus or simply the Umayyad Mosque

Mukhtar b. Abi 'Ubayd

was an early Shia Islamic revolutionary based in Kufa, Iraq who led an abortive rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphs in vengeance for the death of Husayn ibn 'Ali at the Battle of Karbala [1] and the expulsion of Ibn Al-Zubayr's governor in Kufa. Avenge the blood of husayn and take the power away from the Umayyads and give it to the family of the prophet. Claims to represent the mahdi (rightly guided one who was Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya) He allowed the mawali to become real citizens instead of persecuted second rate citizens. He scared the leaders of Kufa and they deserted him for ibn zubayr. Abd_Allah_ibn_al-Zubayr appointed his brother Mus'ab bin al-Zubair as a ruler over Basrah.[22] Mus'ab formed a big army and headed for Kufa. He took Mukhtar by surprise. Ibraheem al-Ashtar was in Mousal. Mukhtar faced Bin al-Zubair with his small army. Bin al-Zubair's army launched a strong attack and forced Mukhtar's army to come back to Kufa. Mus'ab's army followed Mukhtar to Kufa. It besieged his palace. The siege went on for four months. Mukhtar tried to raise the siege. He ordered the Kufians to make street clashes. But they disobeyed him. On 14 Ramadan, 67 AH Mukhtar decided to leave his palace. Only seventeen persons obeyed Mukhtar. They went out to fight the big army that surrounded his palace. Mukhtar was sixty-seven years old. He fought bravely and died a martyr for Islam

The "Constitution of Medina"

was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad shortly after his arrival at Medina The constitution was created to end the bitter intertribal fighting between the rival clans of Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj in Medina,[5] and to maintain peace and cooperation among all Medinan groups for fashioning them into a social unity. It ensured freedom of religious beliefs and practices for all citizens. It assured that representatives of all parties, Muslim or non-Muslim, should be present when consultation occurs or in cases of negotiation with foreign states, and that no one should go to war before consulting the Prophet. It also established the security of women, a tax system for supporting the community in times of conflict, and a judicial system for resolving disputes. It declared the role of Medina as a ḥaram (حرم, "sacred place"), where no weapons can be carried and no blood spilled.

Battle of Marj Rahit

was one of the early battles of the Second Islamic Civil War. It was fought on 18 August 684 between the armies of the Yemen, supporting the Umayyads under Caliph Marwan I, and the Banu Qays under al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, who supported Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr, who had proclaimed himself Caliph at Mecca. The Kalbi victory consolidated the position of the Umayyads, under Marwan I, over Syria, paving the way for their eventual victory in the civil war against Ibn al-Zubayr. However, it also left a bitter legacy of division and rivalry between the Qaysis and the Kalbis, which would contribute to much strife and instability for the remainder of the Umayyad Caliphate.

Talha

was one of the first eight persons to embrace Islam and a devoted disciple and companion of Muhammad, best known for his roles in the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Camel, in which he died. Fought with 'Aisha and Al-Zubayr against 'Ali in the first fitna and was in the Shura. Died in 656.

Ctesiphon

was the capital city of the Parthian and Sasanian Empires (247 BC-224 AD and 224-651 respectively). It was one of the great cities of late ancient Mesopotamia.It was situated on the eastern bank of the Tigris across from where the Greek city of Seleucia stood and northeast of ancient Babylon

Khusro II

was the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, reigning from 590 to 628. During the climactic Byzantine-Sasanian War of 602-628, Khosrau expanded deep into western Asia Minor, eventually besieging the very Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 626 alongside Avar and Slavic allies. He captured what was supposedly the true cross.

Abu Sufyan

was the leader of the Quraish tribe of Mecca. He was a staunch opponent of the Islamic prophet Muhammad before accepting Islam and becoming a Muslim warrior later in his life. Father of Muawiyya.

Khayzuran

was the wife of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi and mother of both Caliphs Al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid, the most famous of the Abbasids. She had al-hadi killed. She controlled both Harun al-hashid and al mahdi from behind the scenes. Ally of the Barmakids.

Tawwabun

were a group of pro-Alid Kufans, led by a certain Sulayman ibn Surad, who wished to atone for their failure to assist Husayn ibn Ali in his uprising against the Umayyads, which condemned him to death at the Battle of Karbala in 680. With the outbreak of the Second Islamic Civil War and the collapse of Umayyad authority across Iraq in 683/684, Sulayman ibn Surad began in November 684 to call upon his fellow Kufans to avenge their failure. Although some 16,000 pledged themselves to support him, only some 4,000 showed up at Nukhayla, a suburb of Kufa their mustering place. Undeterred, they moved up the Euphrates towards the Jazira. At Qarqisiya, the Qaysi refugees from the Battle of Marj Rahit aided them with supplies and advice but refused to join them, seeing no hope in their endeavour. The Penitents pressed on to 'Ayn al-Warda (identified with Ra's al-'Ayn), where they met an Umayyad army of 20,000 under Husayn ibn Numayr. The battle lasted for three days, although the Penitents held the upper hand in a first skirmish, over the next two days the numerical superiority of the Umayyad army began to prevail. Finally, Suleman bin Surad was killed and the Penitents were surrounded and almost annihilated. Rifa bin Shaddad, advised the survivors to return, and brought them to Qarqisiya after getting defeat. The small number of Penitents who survived the battle of Ayn al-Warda, went over to Mukhtar. These Kufans, who formed the backbone of Mukhtar's movement, called themselves Shiat al-Mahdi, Shiat al-Haqq or Shiat al-Muhammad.

Barmakid Family

were an influential family from Balkh in Bactria where they were originally hereditary Buddhist leaders,[2] and subsequently came to great political power under the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. Khalid, the son of Barmak became the Prime Minister or Wazir of Al Saffah, the first Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. His son Yahya aided Harun Al-Rashid in capturing the throne and rose to power as the most powerful man in the Empire. The Barmakids were remarkable for their majesty, splendor and hospitality.