Umayyad Caliphate

Since the beginning of time, atheists and devout worshipers have debated the necessity of religion, and, like Karl Marx, the atheists argued religion hindered the human population more than it helped it. All throughout history and into today, religiously motivated people have created more strife, violence, and discrimination than positive influences. Because religion offers people a sense of comfort in our expanding, unforgiving universe, they often commit their entire lives to and base their…

Much of the media coverage we experience today regarding Muslims and Islam circles around the term jihad. Often, the term “jihadist” is tagged to groups of individuals that employee extreme terrorist tactics. As a result, through Western eyes, jihad is violent Islam; Islam as a religion encourages practitioners to engage in jihad via terrorism. While many Muslims do emphasize jihad as an important aspect of their faith, in many cases, it does not imply violence or terrorism. Jihad was not…

Alex Joy CORE 2101AP 2/10/2016 Dr. E. Redwine Reconciliation of Greek Philosophy and Monotheistic Religions “On July 19, 711, an army of Arabs and Berbers unified under the Islamic Umayyad caliphate landed on the Iberian Peninsula” (M 'Bow 2). Over the next several decades, through diplomacy and warfare, they brought the entire peninsula under Islamic control. The new territories, were referred to as al-Andalus. This region of southern Europe produced a wealth of great thinkers which would…

Complexities in Islamic Iconoclasm Defined as the rejection and destruction of figural images, iconoclasm in the Islamic world has been seen as the “long, culturally determined, and unchanging tradition of violent…acts". It may be carried out in the context of Islam or against the icons of another faith, as evinced by the destruction of Christian and pagan idols. However, G.R.D. King and Finbarr Barry Flood argue in their articles that Islamic iconoclasm in the past and present must be…

The universal world religions of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism have similarities within their general beliefs and how they were spread; however, the core tenants of faith of the religions were distinct and unique to the faith. The universal world religions had some similar beliefs and practices within the religion. The universal world religions had distinct and unique core tenants of faith practiced within each religion. The spread of the universal world religions was similar in how they…

Historical introduction The Palace, known as Alhambra, is located on al-Sabika, next to the river Darro and in front of Albaicin and of the Alcazaba in Granada, Spain. The Palace was called Alhambra due to its rose-colored walls. The Alhambra has a view over the city and the meadow (la Vega). Considering this element we can tell that other buildings were already present before the arrival of Muslims. The compound is bordered by ramparts and with an irregular shape. The Alhambra is limited due…

What was the role of the Catholic Church and religion in medieval life? Which institutions and events were the most significant? Why? The Catholic Church and religion dominated the lives of people of the medieval period because they had staunch believe that God, heaven and Hell all existed staunch. In the medieval age, the fall of Rome resulted in the church growth in power as they took the role of leadership and the distribution of food to the needed. The church was largely a spiritual…

Islamic religion. Now that the friendly center of gravity has been defined, the enemy center of gravity is next. Constantinople has relied on its dominant defense and geographic location since it was first targeted by the Ottomans and Umayyads during the caliphate of Mu’awiya in the 600s. Therefore, the enemy center of gravity is its dominate defensive characteristics. Following the identification of the centers of gravity, the related lines of effort must be defined. These lines link multiple…

However, before the Crusades in 637 the Muslims conquer and take Jerusalem. Later in 732, The Battle of Tours, a battle between the Frankish Christian forces lead by Charles Martel, and the Umayyad Caliphate lead by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi results in the defeat of the Moors, or Muslims. This battle strengthened and preserved the Christian religion, and without it, Christianity would not be around today. Soon after in 1054, the Great Schism occurred…