The terms and definitions for the vocabulary terms in Ways of the World: Chapter 9.
5839373840 | Abbasid Caliphate (pron. ah-BASS-id) | Dynasty of caliphs who ruled an increasingly fragmented Islamic state from 750 to 1258 eventually becoming a little more than figureheads. | 0 | |
5839373841 | al-Andalus (pron. al-AND-a-loos) | Arabic name for Spain (literally, the "land of the Vandals"), most of which was conquered by Arab and Berber forces in the early eighth century C.E. | 1 | |
5839373842 | Anatolia | Ancient name for Asia Minor, part of the Byzantine Empire that was gradually overrun by the Turks & that is now the Republic of Turkey. | 2 | |
5839373843 | Battle of Talas River | Arab victory over the Chinese in 751 CE that checked Chinese expansion to the west and enabled the conversion of Central Asia to Islam | 3 | |
5839373844 | Bedouins | Nomadic Arabs | 4 | |
5839373845 | dhimmis | "protected subjects" under Islamic rule, non-Muslims who were allowed to practice their faith as "people of the book" in return for their paying special taxes | 5 | |
5839373846 | al-Ghazali | Great Muslim theologian, legal scholar, and Sufi mystic (1058-1111) who was credited with incorporating Sufism into mainstream Islamic thought | 6 | |
5839373847 | hadiths | Traditions passed on about the sayings or actions of Muhammad and his immediate followers; hadiths rank second only to the Quran as a source of Islamic law | 7 | |
5839373848 | hajj | The pilgrimage to Mecca enjoined on every Muslim who is able to make the journey; one of the Five Pillars of Islam. | 8 | |
5839373849 | hijra | The "flight" of Muhammad and his original seventy followers from Mecca to Yathrib (later Medina) in 622CE; the journey marks the starting point of the Islamic calendar. | 9 | |
5839373850 | House of Wisdom | An academic center for research and translation of foreign texts that was established in Baghdad in 830 C.E. by the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun. | 10 | |
5839373851 | Ibn Battuta | Fourteenth century Arab traveler (1304-1368) who wrote about his extensive journeys throughout the Islamic world. | 11 | |
5839373852 | Ibn Sina | One of the greatest polymaths of the Islamic world (930-1037), a Persian who wrote prolifically on the scientific (esp. medicine) and philosophical issues; he is often known as "Avicenna," the Latinized form of his name. | 12 | |
5839373853 | imams | In Shia Islam, leaders with high religious authority; the twelve _____ of early Shia Islam were Muhammad's nephew Ali and his descendants | 13 | |
5839373854 | jihad | Arabic of "struggle," this term describes both the spiritual striving of each Muslim toward a godly life and armed struggle against the forces of unbelief and evil. | 14 | |
5839373855 | jizya | Special tax paid by dhimmis in Muslim-ruled territory in return for freedom to practice their own religion. | 15 | |
5839373856 | Kaaba | Great stone shrine in Mecca that was a major pilgrimage center for worshippers of many different deities before it was reconsecrated to monotheistic use by Muhammad. | 16 | |
5839373857 | 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 | 17 | |
5839373858 | Mecca | Key pilgrimage center in Arabia that became the birthplace of Islam. | 18 | |
5839373859 | Mozarabs | "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 | 19 | |
5839373860 | Muhammad Ibn Abdullah | The Prophet of Islam (570-632 C.E.) | 20 | |
5839373861 | Muslim | Literally, "one who submits"; the name was adopted by Muhammad and his followers to describe their submission to God. | 21 | |
5839373862 | Pillars of Islam | Five core practices required of Muslims: a profession of faith, regular prayer, charitable giving, fasting during Ramadam, and a pilgrimage to Mecca (if financially and physically possible). | 22 | |
5839373863 | Marco Polo | The most famous European traveler in the Middle Ages (1254-1324), whose travel account of his time in China was widely popular in Europe. | 23 | |
5839373864 | Rightly Guided Caliphs | The first four rulers of the Islamic world (632-661) after the death of Muhammad. | 24 | |
5839373865 | Quran (also Qur'án & Koran) | Most holy text of Islam, recording the revelations given to the prophet Muhammad. | 25 | |
5839373866 | shariah | Islamic law, dealing with all matters of both secular and religious life. | 26 | |
5839373867 | shakyhs | Sufi teachers who attracted a circle of disciples and often founded individual schools of Sufism. | 27 | |
5839373868 | Sikhism | A significant syncretic religion that evolved in India, blending elements of Islam and Hinduism; founded by Guru Nanak (1469-1539) | 28 | |
5839373869 | Sufis | Islamic mystics, many of whom were important missionaries of Islam in conquered lands and who were revered as saints. | 29 | |
5839373870 | Sultanate of Delphi | Major Turkic Muslim state established in northern India in 1206 | 30 | |
5839373871 | Timbuktu | Great city of West Africa, noted as a center of Islamic scholarship in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. | 31 | |
5839373872 | ulamas | Islamic religious scholars. | 32 | |
5839373873 | Umayyad caliphate | Family of caliphs who ruled the Islamic world from 661 to 750 C.E. | 33 | |
5839373874 | umma | The community of all believers in Islam. | 34 |