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| 12299539635 | What were the major ways in which the city of Mecca interacted with the bedouin tribes that lived in the desert areas around it? | Before the rise of Islam, Arabia was a peripheral desert wasteland whose once great trading cities had fallen on hard times. The sparse population of the Arabian peninsula was divided into rival tribes and clans that worshiped local gods. | 0 | |
| 12299539636 | Bedouin | Nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian peninsula; culture based on camel and goat nomadism; early converts to Islam. | 1 | |
| 12299539637 | Oases | Allowed towns and agriculture to flourish on a limited scale. | 2 | |
| 12299539638 | Far South | Had extensive agriculture, sizable cities, and regional kingdoms. | 3 | |
| 12299539639 | What did the harsh desert and scrub environment of Arabia do for society? | It gave rise to forms of social organization and a lifestyle that were similar to those of the nomadic peoples. | 4 | |
| 12299539640 | When did clans mainly come together? | Although they were in large tribal groups, they only came together during times of war and severe crisis. | 5 | |
| 12299539641 | Subsistence | Resulted in a strong dependence on and loyalty to one's family and clan. | 6 | |
| 12299539642 | Shaykhs | Leaders of tribes and clans with bedouin society; usually men with large herds, several wives, and many children. | 7 | |
| 12299539643 | Clan cohesion | Reinforced by fierce inter-clan rivalries and struggles to control vital pasturelands and watering places. | 8 | |
| 12299539644 | Mecca | City located in mountainous region along Red Sea in Arabian peninsula; founded by Umayyad clan of Quraysh; site of Ka'ba; original home of Muhammad; location of chief religious pilgrimage point in Islam. | 9 | |
| 12299539645 | Umayyad | Clan of Quraysh that dominated politics and commercial economy of Mecca; clan established a dynasty under this title as rulers of Islam, 661 to 750. | 10 | |
| 12299539646 | Quraysh | Tribe of bedouins that controlled Mecca in 7th century C.E. | 11 | |
| 12299539647 | Ka'ba | Most revered religious shrine in pre-Islamic Arabia; located in Mecca; focus on obligatory annual truce among bedouin tribes; later incorporated as important shrine in Islam. | 12 | |
| 12299539648 | 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). | 13 | |
| 12299539649 | Medina and Mecca | Due to the quarrels in Medina, it became a poor second to Mecca as a center of trade. These divisions proved critical to the survival of the prophet Muhammad and the Islamic faith. | 14 | |
| 12299539650 | Women's Freedom | Women enjoyed greater freedom and higher status than those who lived in neighboring civilized centers. Women also played key economic roles. They were still not equal to men. Women were not secluded and their advice was highly valued. | 15 | |
| 12299539651 | Marriage | Men and women were allowed multiple marriage partners. In order to seal a marriage, the man had to pay a bride-price to his wife's family. | 16 | |
| 12299539652 | Culture | Because of the isolation of Arabia in the pre-Islamic age and the harshness and poverty of the natural environment, Arab material culture was not highly developed. There was very little art or architecture of worth. | 17 | |
| 12299539653 | Religion | Worship of many gods and goddesses. These gods were relevant to their daily lives; worship of nature spirits. Standards of morality and proper behavior were rooted in tribal customs and unwritten codes of honor. | 18 | |
| 12299539654 | Allah | The Arab term for the high god in pre-Islamic Arabia that was adopted by the followers of Muhammad and the Islamic faith. | 19 | |
| 12299539655 | Which aspects of Muhammad's religious message do you think accounted for its powerful appeal to both urban dwellers and nomadic peoples in Arabia and beyond? | In the 7th century the revelations of the prophet Muhammad provided the basis for the emergence of a new religion-Islam-in the Arabian peninsula. Although initially an Arab religion, in both beliefs and practices, Islam contained a powerful appeal that eventually made it one of the great world religions. | 20 | |
| 12299539657 | Sasanian empires | The dynasty that rules Persia (contemporary Iran) in the centuries before the rise of Muhammad and the early decades of Islamic expansion. | 21 | |
| 12299539658 | Foreign influence | Caused monotheistic religions, such as Christianity and Judaism, to enter Arabia. Also gave rise to a number of Arab prophets who urged the worship of one almighty god. | 22 | |
| 12299539659 | Muhammad | Prophet of Islam; born c.570 to Banu Hashim clan of Quraysh tribe in Mecca; raised by father's family; received r elevations from Allah in 610 C.E. and thereafter; died in 632. | 23 | |
| 12299539660 | Khadijah | (555-619) First wife of the prophet Muhammad, who had worked for her as a trader. | 24 | |
| 12299539661 | Qur'an | Recitations of revelations received by Muhammad; holy book of Islam. | 25 | |
| 12299539662 | Umayyads | A clan that felt threatened by the emergence of Muhammad and would plot with other clans to murder him. | 26 | |
| 12299539663 | Ali | (c.599-661) Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; one of orthodox caliphs; focus for Shi'a. | 27 | |
| 12299539664 | Treaty with the Quraysh | Signaled the victory of Muhammad when created in 682. Included a provision granting the Muslims permission to visit the shrine at Ka'ba in Mecca during the season of truce. Muhammad slowly began to win over the Umayyads. | 28 | |
| 12299539665 | Islam | Offered the possibility of an end to the vendettas and feuds that had so long divided the peoples of Arabia. | 29 | |
| 12299539666 | Umma | Community of the faithful within Islam; transcended old tribal boundaries to create degree of political unity. | 30 | |
| 12299539667 | Zakat | Tax for charity; obligatory for all Muslims. | 31 | |
| 12299539668 | Laws | The prophet's teachings and the revelations of the Qur'an were incorporated into an extensive body of law that regulated all aspects of the lives of the Muslim faithful. They lived in a manner that would prepare them for the Last Judgement. | 32 | |
| 12299539669 | Last Judgement | Life on Earth determined how the faithful would spend their lives in eternity. | 33 | |
| 12299539670 | Universal Elements in Islam | Had a strong appeal to people at all social levels, monotheism, highly developed legal codes, egalitarianism, and strong sense of community were attributed that caused it to become a potential world religion. | 34 | |
| 12299539671 | Five pillars | The obligatory religious duties of all Muslims; confession of faith, prayer, fasting during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj. | 35 | |
| 12299544208 | shayks | Leaders of tribes and clans within bedouin society; usually men with large herds, several wives, and many children | 36 | |
| 12299545817 | abu bakr | first caliph after death of Muhammad | 37 | |
| 12299547860 | caliph | A supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government | 38 | |
| 12299550683 | Ridda Wars | Wars that followed Muhammad's death in 632; resulted in defeat of rival prophets and some of larger clans; restored unity of Islam | 39 | |
| 12299552763 | Battle of the River Zab | Victory of Abbasids over Umayyads; resulted in conquest of Syria and capture of Umayyad capital | 40 | |
| 12299554799 | Baghdad | Capital of Iraq, located in central Iraq on both banks of the Tigris River. | 41 | |
| 12299559473 | Shi'a | the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad | 42 | |
| 12299561619 | karbala | Site of defeat and death of Husayn, son of Ali; marked beginning of Shi'a resistance to Umayyad caliphate | 43 | |
| 12299563250 | sunnis | Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries. | 44 | |
| 12299564682 | mecca | City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion. | 45 | |
| 12299571445 | jihad | A holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal | 46 | |
| 12299575596 | jizya | Poll tax that non-Muslims had to pay when living within a Muslim empire | 47 | |
| 12299583940 | hadiths | Traditions of the prophet Muhammad | 48 | |
| 12299585361 | dhimmi | Literally "people of the book"; applied as inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus & Buddhists | 49 | |
| 12299588100 | battle of siffin | Fought in 657 between forces of Ali and Umayyads; settled by negotiation that led to fragmentation of Ali's party | 50 | |
| 12299591515 | 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 | 51 | |
| 12299593219 | zakat | charity | 52 | |
| 12299595797 | copts | Christian sect of Egypt; tended to support Islamic invasions of this area in preference to Byzantine rule. | 53 | |
| 12299595798 | ramadan | the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset. | 54 | |
| 12299599492 | hajj | Pilgrimage to Mecca | 55 | |
| 12299602509 | Hijra | Muhammad's move to Medina. Start of the Islamic calendar (632 CE) | 56 |
