Intro To Middle East, Exam #2

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When was Muhammad born and where?

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570 CE, Mecca

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When did Muhammad leave Mecca for Medina?

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622 CE

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When did Muhammad conquer Mecca?

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630 CE

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When did Muhammad die?

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632 CE

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Define: Qu'ran

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Muslims believe that in its original Arabic that it is the literal word of God (Allah) that was revealed to Muhammad over the course of several years, recited and not read, consists of 114 suras (chapters) ordered from longest to shortest, 6236 verses, themes in the Qur’an include: tawhid (monotheism), universalism, after life, multi-prophets (Moses, Jesus, Muhammad were messengers), charity, how to run a society, how to get married, exc.

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Sunna

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“the way of the prophet,” Sunna is the “tradition” of the exemplarily life and words of Muhammad as observed and preserved by his companions (Sahaba) and passed down orally in the form of hadiths, the hadiths (reports) are a collection of the narrations and approvals.

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Shar'ia

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Islamic law, “The Way,” is a way to live a life, behavior sources for the Shari’a are the Qur’an, the Sunna, the ijma’(consensus), and qiyas (analogical reasoning), fiqh(jurisprudence) led to the Shari’a, 1st section is the Five Pillars of Islam.

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Hijra

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“migration,” hijri calendar, the withdrawal or migration to Medina by Muhammad and his followers in 622 C.E., marks the start of the hijri year of the Islamic calendar, 1 AH.

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Umma

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A community of Muslims

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Caliph

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“deputy,” “representative,” “successor,” the head of a state in a Caliphate and the title for the leader of the Islamic umma, or global Islamic nation, “head of umma,” political leaders after Muhammad were referred to Caliphs

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Important Caliphs

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Abu Bakr (632-634), Umar (634-644), Uthman (644-656), and Ali (656-661), Uthman and Ali were both murdered, the title of Caliph was claimed by the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Ottomans.

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Ali

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1st cousin of Muhammad and son in law (600-661), was murdered in 661 by the Kharijites, believed to be Muhammad’s successor by Shi’at ‘Ali (“Party of Ali”) who believed a successor to Muhammad should be a relative and part of the Quraysh tribe and Hashemite clan, believed to be first imam by Shiites, fought in the battles of the Camel and Siffin, 4th Caliph (656-661).

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Husayn

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martyred at the Battle of Karbala in 680 C.E. by Caliph Yazid, believed to be the 3rd imam by Shiites (626-680), son of Ali, he resided in the city of Kufa, the martyrdom of Husayn is celebrated by Shiites on Ashura (10th Muharram), 680 C.E. is religious identity of Shiites, advocate one of the descendents of Ali or Fatima should have spiritual authority.

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Battle of Karbala

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battle fought in modern day Iraq between Husayn and Caliph Yazid of the Umayyad Caliphate, Yazid won and Husayn was killed, it is commemorated by Shiites during an annual 10-day period held every Muharram, culminating on its tenth day, Ashurah.

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Imam

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“leader,” spiritual/political leader of Muslims, infallible, Shia, Muhammad Mahdi was the last imam, 12th, mahdi (“rightly-guided/awaited one”), from the blood line of Ali, disappeared in 868 C.E. In Sunnism a “prayer leader” and member of the ulema.

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Twelve Shiism

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Shiite Muslims who believe that there have been twelve imams, 80% of Shiites are Twelvers; they are predominant in Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, and Azerbaijan.

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Ijtihad-mujtahid

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ijtihad is “independent judgment” that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Qur'an and the Sunna, to interpret the Qur’an and hadith, to select from and interpret the other sources of the Shari’a such as: consensus, analogy, local custom, and collective good, and mujtahid is an Islamic scholar and “one who uses ijtihad, up until 900’s only imam could use ijtihad and now mujtahid can, the top Shiite mujtahid is the Ayatollah.

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Ulema

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-“religious scholars,” refer to the educated class of Muslim scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of Shari‘a law, while the ulema are well versed in jurisprudence, some of them also go on to specialize in other sciences, such as philosophy, dialectical theology or Qur’anic hermeneutics, ijma means “consensus” and is what the ulema feel they represent.

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Madhhab

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-“school of legal thought,” also means fiqh (jurisprudence), different madhhab’s include: Maliki-North Africa, Hanifi-Turkey, Central Asia, parts of Iraq, Hanbali-Saudi Arabia, Shafi’i-Syria, Southeast Asia, Arabs, Ja’fari is Shiite and refers to the 6th imam.

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Shahada

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“profession of faith,” one of the Pillars of Islam, [I testify that] there is no god (ilah) but God (Allah), and [I testify that] Muhammad is the messenger of God.

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Salat

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ritual prayer practiced by Muslims in supplication to God, the term is commonly used to refer to the five daily prayers, which are compulsory upon all mature Muslims, Salat is considered the most important act of worship in Islam and its importance is such that under no circumstances can it be omitted, “prayer.”

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Ramadan

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9th month on Islamic calendar, fasting from dawn until sunset, ends with Id al-Fitr (2nd most important Muslim festival).

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Zakat

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“almsgiving,” also means charity, refers to spending a fixed portion of one's wealth for the poor or needy.

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Hajj

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-“pilgrimage to Mecca,” 3 days long, it has to be done once in a Muslim’s lifetime and in the first 10 days of the last month (Dhu al-Hijja), people have to do 7 circles around the Ka’ba, ends with the Id al-Adha( the most important Muslim festival).

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Sufism

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mystical Islam, emerged in the 8th century C.E., tariqa’s are “Sufi orders,” recognize wali or “friend of God” (saint), famous Sufi saints include Rabi’a and al-Hallaj, the head of a Sufi order is a shaykh/shaykha, other terms include ziyara (“pious visitation” to religious sites) and imamzade (“descendent of imam”), Shiraz and Damascus are famous sites for Sufi’s (Shiraz is a ziyara and Damascus is place of worship for Naqshabandi Sufi Order).

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Islamism

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a term used to denote a set of political ideologies holding that Islam is not solely a religion, but also a political system where Islamic law is the basis for all statutory laws of society, and that Muslims must return to the original teachings and the early models of Islam. Sometimes, the word Islamist is used to denote Muslims violently opposed to the encroachment of "western" military, economic, political, social, and cultural influence or occupation on the Muslim world. Afghani and Abduh influenced Rida and Banna who supported Moderate Islamism while Qutb was influenced by them and he supported Militant Islamism.

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Salaf

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“ancestor,” salafiyya is the time of the salaf, a generic term, depicting a school of thought that takes the pious ancestors (Salaf) of the patristic period of early Islam as exemplary models, this branch of Islam is often referred to as "Wahhabi," a term that many adherents to this tradition do not use, Wahhabiyya is a literalist version of Islam in Saudi Arabia.

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Muslim Brotherhood

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a world-wide Sunni Islamist movement, which has spawned several religious and political organizations in the Middle East, dedicated to the credo: "God is our objective, the Quran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, struggle is our way, and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations,” The Muslim Brotherhood seeks to install a just Islamic Caliphate across the Muslim world, through stages designed to Islamicize targeted Muslim majority nations by all lawful means available, Since its inception in 1928 and throughout the world, except in few places like Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the movement has stated its opposition to violence and adopted political means to achieve its goals, training and social services, now a political party, founded by Banna in Egypt.

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Sayyid Qutb

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advocated violent jihad, from Egypt, lived from 1906-1966, wrote Signposts Along the Road, part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Important Islamist Thinkers

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modernists: Jamal Afghani died in 1897 and Muhammad Abduh died in 1905, Rashid Rida-modernization without westernization died 1935, Hassan Banna-founded Muslim Bortherhood died in 1949, extremist Sayyid Qutb died 1966, Usamma bin Laden.

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Jihad

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Within the realms of Islamic jurisprudence, jihad usually refers to military exertion against non-Muslim combatants, In broader usage and interpretation, the term has accrued both violent and non-violent meanings, It can refer to striving to live a moral and virtuous life, to spreading and defending Islam, and to fighting injustice and oppression, among other usages.

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Dhimmi

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-“protected non-Muslim,” that were allowed to "practice their religion, subject to certain conditions, and to enjoy a measure of communal autonomy" and guaranteed their personal safety and security of property, in return for paying tribute and acknowledging Muslim supremacy

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Millet

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The Ottoman term specifically refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to personal law under which minorities were allowed to rule themselves (in cases not involving any Muslim) with fairly little interference from the Ottoman government.

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Copt

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Native Eqgyptian Christian or a member of the Coptic Orthdox Church

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Maronite

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Eastern Catholics who live in Lebanon

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Armenian

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Ethnic group in the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia; many belong to Armenian Orthodox Church

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Ashkenazim

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Jews from Europe

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Sephardim

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Jews from Middle East