Chapter 6 Reading Guide Flashcards

49851996	Bedouin	nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian Peninsula; culture based on camel and goat nomadism; early converts to Islam	0
49851997	Shaykhs	leaders of tribes and clans within Bedouin society; usually men with large herds, several wives, and many children	1
49851998	Mecca	most important city in the transcontinental trading system that stretched from the Mediterranean to East Asia; shrine called Ka'ba; place of truce in interclan feuds; original home of Muhammad	2
49851999	Umayyads	clans of Quraysh that dominated politics and commercial economy in Mecca; later able to establish dynasty as rulers of Islam	3
49852000	Ka'ba	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	4
49852001	Medina	originally called Yathrib by Jewish people; located NE of Mecca; established in an oasis; wells and springs made agriculture possible; became refuge for Muhammad following flight from Mecca; trade center for Bedouin clans	5
49852002	Angel Gabriele	in Islam, said to have transmitted the first of many revelations from Allah to Muhammad	6
49852003	Ali	cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; one of the orthodox caliphs; focus for Shi'a	7
49852004	Umma	community of faithful within Islam; transcended old tribal boundaries to create degree of political unity	8
49852005	Zakat	tax for charity; obligatory for all Muslims	9
49852006	5 Pillars	obligatory religious duties of all Muslims: confession of faith, prayer, fasting during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj	10
49852007	Ramadan	Islamic month of religious observance requiring fasting from dawn to sunset	11
49852008	Hajj	pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca to worhsip at the Ka'ba	12
49852009	Caliph	religious and political successor to Muhammad	13
49852010	Abu Bakr	one of Muhammad's earliest converts; succeeded Muhammad as first caliph of Islamic community	14
49852011	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	15
49852012	Jihads	holy wars launched to forcibly spread the Islam faith	16
49852013	Copts	Christian sect of Egypt; tended to support Islamic invasions of this area in preference to Byzantine rule.	17
49852014	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	18
49852015	Mu'awiya	leader of the Umayyad Clan; first Umayyad caliph following Civil War with Ali	19
49852016	Sunnis	political and theological division within Islam; supported the Umayyads as opposed to Ali; no veneration of saints; leadership isn't birthright-may be taken away; make up 85% of Muslims	20
49852017	Shi'as	political and theological division within Islam; supported Ali as opposed to the Umayyads; Imam is sinless by nature; veneration of saints; reject traditions of the prophets	21
49852018	Damascus	political center of the Umayyad community after the death of Uthman; caliphs there strove to build a bureaucracy that would bind together the vast domains they ruled	22
49852019	Mawali	non-Arab converts to Islam	23
49852020	Dhimmi	"people of the book"; inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus	24
49852021	Hadiths	traditions of Muhammad the prophet	25
49852022	Abbasids	dynasty that succeeded the Umayyads as caliphs within Islam; victories against Umayyad communities led to the conquest of Syria and the capture of the Umayyad capital	26
49852023	Baghdad	capital of the Abbasid Dynasty	27
49852024	Wazir	chief administrative official under the Abbasid caliphate; initially recruited from Persian provinces of Empire	28
49852025	Dhows	Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design	29
49852026	Ayan	wealthy land elite that emerged in the early decades of Abbasid rule	30