14Islamic World Flashcards
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- What does Islam mean?
- Submission to God's Will.
- What is the name of a person who practices Islam?
- A Muslim.
- What is the name of the place of worship for Muslims?
- A Mosque.
- What is the name of the towers that the Muezzin climb up and call/sing the people to pray five times a day?
-
Minarets.
The Muezzins sing "Allah u Akbar" to call people to prayer. - What is jihad?
- Holy War or Spiritual Struggle.
- Who is the founder of Islam?
- Muhammad.
- What was Muhammad's early life like?
- He was orphaned early on, raised by his uncle, became a shepherd, camel cavavan merchant, and was good at trade and settling disputes. He married a rich widow named Khadija.
- What happened to Muhammad at age 40?
- He went to pray in a mountain cave, and had a vision that he was visited by the Angel Gabriel. Gabriel told him to recite and taught him the words to the Quran (Koran).
- What is the name of the Holy Book of Muslims?
- The Koran or Quran.
- What language is the Quran in?
- Arabic.
- What did Muhammad teach that Meccan merchants didn't like?
- That there was only one God and that polytheism was wrong.
- Why was Muhammad drive out of Mecca?
- Arab merchants tried to kill him.
- What is the name for this flight from Mecca and why is it important to Muslims?
- It is called the HEJIRA (also spelled Hjira) and means "flight/escape". It happened in 622 CE and began the first year of the Islamic calendar.
- Muhammad went to Yathrib. What is this city called today?
- Medina - City of the Prophet.
- What is the first pillar of Islam?
- To declare: there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.
- What is the second pillar of Islam?
- To pray five times a day facing the city of Mecca and the Kaaba stone.
- What is the third pillar of Islam?
- To give alms (charity) to the poor.
- What is the fourth pillar of Islam?
- To fast during the month of Ramadan (sunrise to sunset).
- What is the fifth pillar of Islam?
- To try to go on a pilgrimage (holy trip) to Mecca at least once in your life.
- What is the name of the meteorite in a black monolith in the middle of the mosque in Mecca?
- The Ka'aba.
- Who was believed to have found the Ka'aba?
- Abraham - the founder of the first monotheistic religion.
- Who do Muslims believe they are descended from?
- Ishmael -- Abraham's rejected son by his concubine, Hagar.
- What city is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims?
- Jerusalem.
- What is a caliph?
- "Successor to the Prophet"
- What is monotheism?
- Belief in one God.
- What is the Muslim word for God?
- Allah.
- Why don't mosques have any pictures of Muhammad or people in general?
- Muhammad was against any images of God or himself. He feared they would be worshipped like idols. Mosques are decorated with Arabic calligraphy, geometric designs, and nature.
- How did Islam spread so quickly?
- It spread through Arab merchants travelling to sell goods and trade. It also spread by the sword.
- Originally, was Islam tolerant or hostile toward Christianity?
- Tolerant. Often Jews and Christians adviced rulers. They were considered "people of the book" because they also worshipped ONE GOD. Polytheists were not tolerated. Sometimes Christians and Jews paid a small tax.
- What is Sharia?
- It is the Islamic laws derived from the Quran (Koran). These laws cover religion, family, government - all aspects of life. Many fundamentalist Muslims today would like their nations run on Sharia laws. In the West, we separation of church and state.
- Who are Shia (Shiite) Muslims?
- They are numerous in northern Iraq and all of Iran. They believed that the caliph (successor) to Muhammad should have been a relative (Ali, who was killed). They also tend to follow their imams and ayatollahs religious edicts (Fatwas).
- Who are the Sunni Muslims?
- They believe that the caliph (successor to the Prophet) should be chosen from among the Muslim leadership (elected; not a relative of Muhammad)
- How large an empire did Arab armies build as they spread Islam?
- From the Atlantic Ocean across North Africa to India.
- How did Islam spread quickly?
- It provided a common faith and single god and brought unity among quarreling Arab clans and tribes. The Byzantine Empire was weakening. The Arab cavalry (camel and horse) excelled in military skill. And of course, trade.
- What did the Moors (Spanish Muslims who ruled in Cordoba and elsewhere in Southern Spain under the last Umayyad Caliph) contribute culturally?
- Poetry, Art, Scholarship, beautiful architecture in the Palace (Alhambra) and the Mosque. It was in these mosque libraries that Muslims translated and preserved Greek and Roman knowledge.
- What was the Abbassid capital of Baghdad like?
- It was called "City of Peace" near the Tigris. Scholars, poets, philosophers, scientists, studied near beautiful garden pools, mosques, architecture, etc.
- Who were the Seljuk Turks?
- They came from central Asia (Turkmenistan) and took over the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia), weakened the Byzantine empire and local Arab control of the Islamic world.
- Who were the Crusaders?
- Christians sent by Pope Urban II to save the Byzantine Christian empire from Muslim takeover and to take back the Holy Land and city of Jerusalem. They ended up creating hatred among Muslims and weakened the Byzantine empire they were sworn to help.
- What is the name of the famous Muslim leader who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders and often fought British King Richard the Lionheart?
- Saladdin.
- When was the "Golden Age of Islam"?
- (750-1350)
- What trade methods developed within the Islamic empire?
- Money economy (money had died out in the former Roman Empire lands of Europe). Checks, credit lines, banks, and guilds to control price and quality of goods made.
- What architectural styles did Muslims borrow from Byzantine buildings?
- As they conquered the Byzantine lands, they borrowed the (Roman style) arches and domes. They also put onion domes atop the towers of minarets. Like the Romans, they had huge courtyards with fountains and gardens.
- What did Golden Age Islam preserve and contribute to math and science?
- Muslim scholars studied Indian and Greek mathematics, then made their own contributions. They adopted Arabic numerals from Hindu numbers, created algebra and other mathematical fields. They developed astronomy tables based on Greek and Indian discoveries. Built observatories, observed Earth's rotation, calculated Earth's circumference.
- What is the golden age of Islam contribute to the field of medicine?
- Al Razi, head physician, placed Baghdad's hospital where decay occurred most slowly (prevent disease from spreading). Hospitals were a Muslim idea. They built on Greek knowledge, studied measles and smallpox. Ibn Sina (Avicenna in the West) wrote an encyclopedia summarizing Greek and Arab knowledge of medicine. Optics and cataract surgery were performed. Eventually, Europe absorbed these ideas and texts.
- What is the goal of Islamic fundamentalism?
-
To reject Western values.
To return to Islamic values, as seen in the Koran and in Sharia (Islamic laws).