Deck 11: The Formation of Islamic Civilization, 622-1000

Question 1

Around 800 C.E., the Abbasids and Tang shared all of the following characteristics except (Global Perspective, pp. 266-267)

A) a single language within each culture.
B) rigid exclusion of foreign cultures.
C) the effective use of nomadic cavalry.
D) ideological/religious foundations for political rule.

Answer 1

rigid exclusion of foreign cultures.

Question 2

The hegira was a turning point in Muslim history because it

A) was the first of Allah's revelations to Muhammad.
B) marked the start of succession struggle between Shi'ites and Sunni Muslims.
C) transformed Islam into a political as well as religious movement.
D) was the first Muslim conquest outside of Arabia.

Answer 2

transformed Islam into a political as well as religious movement.

Question 3

The centrist Sunni sect of Islam advocates all of the following except that

A) the umma is a theocratic entity.
B) the caliph is the absolute temporal and spiritual leader.
C) a person who professes to be a Muslim by supporting Muslim tenets cannot be excluded from the umma automatically by even a mortal sin.
D) the umma is a state under the authority first of the precedent of the Prophet and Qu'ran and second by the consensus of Muslims.

Answer 3

the caliph is the absolute temporal and spiritual leader.

Question 4

In the Abbasid Dynasty mamluks were

A) Jewish merchants hired as tax collectors.
B) slave soldiers whose officers often dominated caliphs.
C) religious scholars who interpreted and applied Muslim laws.
D) Persian administrative officials.

Question 5

What are the main concepts of the doctrine of Islam? How is this faith different from and/or similar to Christianity? How does it resemble or differ from Judaism? What is the importance of other faiths to this movement?
Conceptual

Question 6

Discuss the importance of Mecca to the development of Arab unity. What role did Medina play? Was Islam a "religion of the desert"?
Conceptual

Question 7

Discuss the role of the ulama in Muslim society. How did this group receive their education? What was their relation to the caliphs? Why were they the new elite in society?
Conceptual

Question 8

What was the importance of the umma to Muslim society? How were religious minorities and non-Arab converts treated? How did the change of the Islamic capital to Baghdad affect the empire?
Conceptual

Question 9

Compare the political and economic development of Islamic civilization to 800 C.E. to comparable civilizations in Europe, China, and India. Which society exhibited the most vitality? The least? What factor or factors do you think best explains this vitality?
Conceptual

Question 10

Discuss some of the major obstacles to a universal acceptance of the Islamic faith and state in the conquered areas. What were the factors in Islam's ultimate widespread adoption?
Conceptual

Question 11

Describe the main reasons for the decline of the Arab Empire. What was the role of the Mamluks in the process of decline? How important was local control to the decline of empire? What were lasting contributions of the Arab Empire?
Conceptual

Question 12

Discuss the classical culture of the Abbasid Dynasty. What role did foreign influence play and what was the importance of grammar to the culture? What was the main artistic and architectural achievement of this period?
Conceptual

Question 13

Discuss the different architectural forms in the major religious buildings of the Muslim faith (Images pp. 265, 275, 280, 284). How do these compare to religious architecture in the Christian and Chinese worlds during the Middle Ages? What were the distinctive features and functions of these buildings?
Conceptual

Question 14

How did geography contribute to the economic and political expansion of the early Islamic world? What limitations did geography place on that expansion?
Conceptual

Question 15

What are the major divisions in the Islamic world and how do they offer different interpretations of the Qur'an? How did these various traditions impact different parts of the Islamic world?
Conceptual

Question 16

What were the different kinds of leadership in the Islamic world and how did Islamic scholars view the relationship between politics, law, and the Qur'an?
Conceptual

Question 17

What is the position of women in Islam and how does this differ from or resemble the position of women in other religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism?
Conceptual

Question 18

How were non-Arabs and converts treated in the Islamic world? What impact did Islam have on the lives of citizens in conquered areas?
Conceptual

Question 19

What was Saudi Arabian society like before the time of Muhammad? Were any aspects of the teachings in the Qur'an directed toward practices that existed before Muhammad and that Muslims rejected?
Conceptual