Quran
the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina
umma
the Muslim community or people, considered to extend from Mauritania to Pakistan
Pillars of Islam
is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. These duties are Shahadah (profession of faith), Salat (ritual prayer), Zakat (almsgiving), Sawm (fasting during Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)
hijra
The Migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622, marking the founding of Islam
sharia
the code of law derived from the Quran and from the teachings and example of Muhammad
jizya
tax paid by Christians and Jews who lived in Muslim communities to allow them to continue to practice their own religion
ulama
the body of mullahs (Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law) who are the interpreters of Islam's sciences and doctrines and laws and the chief guarantors of continuity in the spiritual and intellectual history of the Islamic community
Umayyad Caliphate
First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs (661 to 750). From their capital at Damascus, the Umayyads ruled one of the largest empires in history that extended from Spain to India. Overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate.
Abbasid Caliphate
Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's uncle, al-Abbas, the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital in Baghdad from 750 to 1258.
al-Ghazali
Brilliant Islamic theologian; struggled to fuse Greek and Qur'anic traditions; not entirely accepted by ulama
Sikhism
the doctrines of a monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nanak and combining elements of Hinduism and Islam
Anatolia
a peninsula in southwestern Asia that forms the Asian part of Turkey
Ibn Battuta
Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan.
Timbuktu
a city in central Mali near the Niger river
al-Abdalus
one prince out of Umayyad that escaped to Spain -turned Southern Spain Muslim
madrassas
a school for the study of Muslim law and religion
House of Wisdom
Combination library, academy, and translation center in Baghdad established in the 800s.
Ibn Sina
The famous Islamic scientist and philosopher who organized the medical knowledge of the Greeks and Arabs into the Canon of Medicine