Deck 10: B: The Worlds of Islam Afro-Eurasian Connections 600-1500

Question 1

What key elements identified a Shia follower of Islam?

Answer 1

•The Shia held that leadership in the Islamic world should derive from the line of Ali and his son Husayn,blood relatives of Muhammad,while the Sunnis held that the caliphs were rightful political and military leaders,selected by the Islamic community.
•Shia Muslims invested their leaders,known as imams,with a religious authority that the caliphs lacked,allowing them alone to reveal the true meaning of the Quran and the wishes of Allah.Meanwhile,for Sunni Muslims,religious authority in general emerged from the larger community,particularly from the religious scholars known as ulama.
•The Shia tradition developed a messianic element that the Sunni tradition largely lacked.

Question 2

Explain the difference between the greater and lesser forms of jihad.

Answer 2

•The greater jihad was the personal effort of each Muslim against greed and selfishness,a spiritual striving toward living a God-conscious life.
•The lesser jihad,or the "jihad of the sword," referred to armed struggle against the forces of unbelief and evil as a means of establishing Muslim rule and of defending the umma from the threats of infidel aggressors.
A very good answer will note that the understanding and use of the concept of jihad varied widely in the history of Islam and remains a matter of controversy in the twenty-first century.

Question 3

In the absence of a political center,what bound the Islamic civilization together after the end of the Abbasid dynasty?

Answer 3

•Common commitment to Islam and adherence to the sharia
•The ulama's role in transmitting common beliefs and practices
•The madrassa's role in preserving Islamic learning
•The Sufi orders' transmission of their practices and techniques from teacher to student
•Trading networks and commercial ties
•Intellectual and cultural centers like the House of Wisdom in Baghdad

Question 4

How did the transition to a Muslim religious identity in Iraq,Syria,Egypt,and North Africa differ from that found in Iran/Persia,Turkey,and Pakistan?

Question 5

In what respects did the birth of Islam differ from that of Christianity?

Question 6

How did the rulers of the Arab Empire treat subjects in the newly conquered territories?

Question 7

What are the five Pillars of Islam?

Question 8

In what ways did the experience of Islam in West Africa differ from that in Anatolia?

Question 9

How did the beliefs and practices of Sufi Muslims depart from those of orthodox Muslims?