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| 5182072597 | Bedouin | Nomadic Pastoralists of the Arabian Peninsula; Culture based on camel and goat nomadism; early converts to Islam | 0 | |
| 5182075777 | Shaykhs | Leaders of tribes and clans within bedouin society; usually men with large herds, several wives, and many children | 1 | |
| 5182078303 | Mecca | City located in mountainous region along Red Sea in Arabian Peninsula; Founded by Umayyad clan of Quraysh;site of Kab'ba; original home of Muhammed; location of chief religious pilgrimage point in Islam | 2 | |
| 5182084893 | Umayyad | Clan of Quraysh that dominated politics and commercial economy of Mecca; clan established a dynasty under this title as rulers of Islam | 3 | |
| 5182087593 | Quraysh | Tribe of bedouins that controlled Mecca in 7th century CE | 4 | |
| 5182089367 | Kabba | Most revered religious shrine in pre Islamic Arabia; located in Mecca; focus of obligatory annual truce among bedouin tribes; later incorporated as important shrine in Islam | 5 | |
| 5182095607 | Medina | Also known as Yathrib; town located northeast of Mecca; grew date palms whose fruit was sold to bedouins; became refuge for Muhammad following flight from Mecca(hijra) | 6 | |
| 5182101825 | Allah | The Arab term for the high god in pre Islamic Arabia that was adopted by the followers of Muhammad and the Islamic faith | 7 | |
| 5182106220 | Sasanian Empires | the dynasty that ruled Persia(contemporary Iran) inn the centuries before the rise of Muhammad and the early decades of Islamic expansion | 8 | |
| 5182114512 | Muhammad | Prophet of Islam; born c. 570 to Banu Hashim clan of Quraysh tribe in Mecca; raised by father's family; received revelations from Allah in 610 CE and thereafter; died in 632 | 9 | |
| 5182121253 | Khadijah | First wife of the prophet Muhammad who had worked for her as a trader | 10 | |
| 5182122624 | Quran | Recitations of revelations received by Muhammad; holy book of Islam | 11 | |
| 5182125042 | Ali | (c. 599-661) Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; one of orthodox caliphs; focus for Shia | 12 | |
| 5182127404 | umma | Community of the faithful within Islam; transcended old tribal boundaries to create degree of political unity | 13 | |
| 5182131072 | zakat | Tax for charity;obligatory for all Muslims | 14 | |
| 5182134096 | five pillars | The obligatory religious duties of all Muslims; confession of faith, prayer, fasting during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj | 15 | |
| 5182136071 | Ramadan | Islamic month of religious observance requiring fasting from dawn to sunset | 16 | |
| 5182139869 | hajj | A Muslim's pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, to worship Allah at the Kabba | 17 | |
| 5182146233 | caliph | The political and religious successor to Muhammad | 18 | |
| 5182147369 | Abu Bakr | The first caliph or leader of the Muslim faithful elected after Muhammad's death in 632. Renown for his knowledge of the nomadic tribes who then dominated the Islamic community | 19 | |
| 5182154431 | Ridda Wars | Wars that followed MUhammad's death in 632; resulted in defeat of rival prophets nand some larger clans; restored unity of ISlam | 20 | |
| 5182158234 | jihads | Struggles; often used for wars in defense of the faith, but also a term to indicate personal quests for religious understanding | 21 | |
| 5182162049 | Copts | Christian section of Egypt; tended to support Islamic invasions of this area in preference to Byzantine rule | 22 | |
| 5182164741 | Nestorians | A Christian sect found in Asia; tended to support Islamic invasions of this area in preference to Byzantine rule; cut off from Europe by Muslim invasions | 23 | |
| 5182167916 | Uthman | Third caliph and member of Umayyad clan; murdered by mutinous warriors returning from Egypt; death set off civil war in Islam between followers of Ali and the Umayyad clan | 24 | |
| 5182173490 | Battle of Siggin | fought in 657 between forces of Ali and Umayyads; settled by negotiation that led to fragmentation of Ali's party | 25 | |
| 5182177768 | Mu'awiya | (602-680) Leader of Umayyad clan, first Umayyad caliph following civil war with ALi | 26 | |
| 5182181413 | Sunnis | Political and theological division within Islam, supported the Umayyads | 27 | |
| 5182182527 | Shi'a | AKA Shiites; political and theological division withing ISlam' followers of Ali | 28 | |
| 5182184982 | Karbala | Site of defeat and death of Husayn, son of Ali; marked beginning of Shia resistance to Umayyad caliphate | 29 | |
| 5182188249 | Damascus | Syrian city that was capital of Umayyad caliphate | 30 | |
| 5182189550 | mawali | Non-Arab converts to Islam | 31 | |
| 5182190433 | jizya | Head tax paid by all non believers in Islamic territories | 32 | |
| 5182191501 | dhimmi | Literally "people of the book', applied as inclusive terms to JEws and Christians in Islamic territories, later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus | 33 | |
| 5182195927 | hadiths | Traditions of the prophet Muhammad | 34 | |
| 5182197198 | Abbasid | Dynasty that succeeded the Umayyads as caliphs within ISlam,. came to power in 750 CE | 35 | |
| 5182200144 | Battle of the River Zab | Victory of Abbasids over Umayyads; resulted in conquest of Syria and capture of Umayyad capital | 36 | |
| 5182203834 | Baghdad | Capital of Abbasid dynasty located in Iraq near ancient Persian capital of Ctesiphon | 37 | |
| 5182206636 | wazir | Chief administrative official under the Abbasid caliphate; initially recruited from Persian provinces of empire | 38 | |
| 5182209556 | dhows | Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design | 39 | |
| 5182212692 | ayan | The wealthy landed elite that emerged in the early decades of Abbasid rule | 40 |
