Download Short-Answer Format Study Guide

Short-Answer Format Study Guide
These answers are generally much longer than will be required for the test and
have been compiled from my coursenotes, memory and wikipedia.org.
1. Muhammad was born around 570 AD into Quraysh who controlled Mecca (a
holy place of pilgrimage even before Islam), Muhammad founded the religion of
Islam which came to dominate the Middle East within years of his death. Of the
clan of the Hashim, Muhammad was raised by his grandfather and uncle after
the early death of his parents. As an orphan, he remained a bachelor for a long
time, but eventually married a widow, Khadija whom he had four daughters
who lived. The most important of these children was Fatima, who married his
cousin Ali, whom he is reported to have treated like a son.
In 610, at about the age of forty, while meditating in a cave (Hira) near Mecca, he
experienced a vision which was later described as the revelation by which he was
commnaded to memorize and recite the verses sent by God, which would be
collected as the Qur’an. Allah had chosen him as the last of the prophets to
mankind. The first to convert to this new religion was his wife, but other family
members soon followed suit like Abu Bakr, his friend a father of wife Isha. He
eventually expanded his mission as a prophet, publicly preaching a strict
monotheism and predicting a Day of Judgement for sinners and idolworshippers — such as his tribesmen and neighbors in Mecca. He was a
successful leader on both religious and political levels. He did not completely
reject Judaism and Christianity, two other monotheistic faiths known to the
Arabs; he said to have been sent by God in order to complete and perfect their
teachings. He soon acquired a following by some and rejection and hatred by
others in the region. In 622 he was forced to flee from Mecca after being
condemned by other branches of the Quraysh for being a soothsayer and posing
an economic threat to the well-being of the tribe. He settled in Yathrib (now
known as Medina) with his followers, where he was the leader of the first
avowedly Muslim community. War between Mecca and Medina followed as
Muhammad maintained a policy of unrelentless hostility towards the Meccans
and raided caravans. Muhammad and his followers were eventually victorious
in 629.
The military organization honed in this struggle was then set to
conquering the other pagan tribes of Arabia. By the time of Muhammad's death,
he had unified Arabia and launched a few expeditions to the north, towards
Syria and Palestine. The considerable talents of Muhammad in administration,
diplomacy, tact and choice of delegates can not be over-emphasized as important
in the success of the military conquest of the Arabian peninsula.
2. Ali is seen by the Sunni Muslims as the fourth and last of the Khulafā-i-
Rāshidūn (rightly guided caliphs). Shi'a Muslims see him as the first imam and the
first rightful caliph. He was also Muhammad's cousin, and, after marrying
Fatima, his son-in-law as well.
For the ten years that Muhammad led the community in Medina, Ali was
extremely active in his cousin's service, serving in his armies, leading parties of
warriors on raids, carrying messages and orders. With the exception of Tabuk,
Ali joined all of Muhammad's battles and expeditions. As Muhammad's son-inlaw and one of his lieutenants, Ali was a person of authority and standing in the
Muslim community. However, upon the Prophet’s death we did not evoke the
Hadit of al-Ghandir but permitted the caliphate to go to Abu Bakr.
After the murder of Uthman, Ali is approached to be caliph, but many
fear his strong ties to the Ansar of Medina. These fears were well-founded as he
attempted to transfer power to this group. He is never recognized, however, by
the governor of Syria, Muawiya, who as a member of Uthman’s family demands
justice be delivered. Unfortunately, the murderers of Uthman were close
followers of Ali and could not resolve this conflict.
Ali is murdered in 668 by a faction, the kharijites, who are dissatisfied that
he withdraws from the battle of Siffin against Muawiya.
3. Born in Mecca, Abu Bakr was one of Muhammad’s first converts and was his
father-in-law once Muhammad married Isha shortly after arriving in Medina.
Abu Bakr is the first of the rightly-guided caliphs according to Sunni Muslims.
Abu Bakr is said to have been asked by the prophet to lead the prayers
during the last illness. Many saw this as a sign that Abu Bakr should be the new
caliph upon Muhammad’s death. Shi’as, however, disagree and claim that Abu
Bakr’s accension to the caliphate after the consultation at the Saqifah was a coup.
Ali, the rightful caliph according to this group of Muslims, gave his accord with
Abu Bakr’s claim to power.
Abu Bakr’s main accomplishments as caliph were the victory of the Ridda
wars against rebelling Arab tribes, and expeditions to the North that spread
Muslim rule to the Fertile Crescent and areas of Syria. Abu Bakr’s rule was not
long and he died in 634 having urged the community to choose Umar as his
successor.
4. Uthman, born of the Qurayash of Mecca also, was a close-companion of
Muhammad and an early convert to Islam. He accompanied Muhammad in his
voyage to Medina and frequently served as the Prophet’s secretary.
Uthman became the third caliph after the assassination of Umar in 644. Prior to
his death, Umar had appointed a group of six men to choose his successor from
among themselves. Included in this group were Uthman and Ali. The committee
chose Uthman. Some accounts say that he was chosen because he promised to
continue the policies of Abu Bakr and Umar, whereas Ali would make no such
promise.
Uthman’s twelve-year caliphate is known for the two main
accomplishments. During his rule, all of Iran, most of North Africa, the Caucasus
and Cyprus were added to the Islamic empire. In order to strengthen his control
over the empire, Uthman appointed many of his kinsmen as governors. He also
headed a committee that established the main text of the Qu’ran. Criticized for
nepotism and a high-handedness in establisheing the Qu’ran, anger with him
grew to the point that rebels seiged his home in 656. However, in accordance
with the Prophet’s commandment he refused to shed Muslim blood and was
eventually murdered while inside his home while reading the Qu’ran. He was to
be succeeded by Ali, his rival, but Muawiyah, his kinsman and governor of Syria
demanded justice for his death.
5. A member of the Hijaz, Umar was a close companion of Muhammad and was
present at all the major battles that established Muslim predominance in the
Arabian peninsula. As per Abu Bakr’s request, Umar succeeded him as the
second of the rightly-guided caliphs in Sunni tradition.
During Umar's reign, the Islamic empire grew at an unprecedented rate,
taking Mesopotamia and parts of Persia from the Sassanids (effectively ending
that empire), and taking Egypt, Palestine, Syria, North Africa and Armenia from
the Byzantines. In 637, after a prolonged siege of Jerusalem, the Muslims took the
city. Umar was given the key to the city by the Greek Orthodox patriarch,
Sophronius.
Umar undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public
policy, establishing an advanced administration for newly conquered lands,
including several new ministries and bureaucracies, as well as ordering a census
of all the Muslim territories. During his reign, the garrison cities of Basra and
Kufa were founded. In 638 he extended and renovated the Grand Mosque in
Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. He also began the process of
codifying Islamic law.
Umar was known for his simple lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and
display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had
when Muslims were poor and persecuted.
Umar died in 644 after being stabbed six times by a Persian slaves while
leading prayers in a mosque in Medina. Umar died two days later and was
buried next to Muhammad and Abu Bakr. He appointed a group of prominent,
pious Muslims to appoint his successor from among themselves and Uthman
was chosen.
6. Mu'awiya was founder of the Umayyad Dynasty of caliphs. He fought against
the Fourth Caliph, 'Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law), seized Egypt, and assumed
the caliphate after 'Ali's assassination in 661. Unlike the four caliphs before him,
he was not an earlier convert to Islam, nor a member of the Hijaz. His caliphate is
viewed as the end of the period of rightly-guided caliphs that Sunni see as being
divinely guided in their reigns. He reigned from 661 to 680.
After being appointed governor of Syria in 640 by Umar, Muawiya
gathered considerable control of Syria. When his troops were losing against Ali
at the Battle of Siffin, he played upon the opposing army’s religious sensibilities
and had them hoist pages of the Qu’ran on their lances. This caused Ali to enter
into the negotiations that undermined his power as caliph and were the
motivation for the kharijite assassination. His rule is characterized for its
religious tolerance and adoption of several Byzantine practices that helped unite
the disparate Empire (i.e. a postal service). Much of his power stemmed from
personal allegiance and upon his death in some political instability was
inevitable. One of his most controversial legacies is his having appointed his son
as successor – turning the caliphate from an elective office to a hereditary
dynasty.
7. Husayn was the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and son of his daughter
Fatima Zahra with Ali ibn Abu Talib. Husayn is revered by Muslims, and has a
special importance to the Shia as their Third Imam by most Shias and second
Imam by some Shia sects.
Husayn was the second son of Ali and Fatima. He was beloved by his
grandfather Muhammad and many stories tell of a great resemblance between
Husayn and Muhammad. There are numerous hadith that refer to Husayn and
his elder brother Hasan and express the love that Muhammad had for them.
Husayn was famously killed, along with his entire family, in a most
severely brutal manner, in Karbala on a day that is now referred to as Ashurah; a
day that has been greatly mourned by Shi'as across the world for over 1300
years. The motivation for his brutal assassination was that, unlike his elder
brother, Husayn had not renounced his right to the caliphate and was attempting
to muster forces in Iraq to challenge the rule of Yazid, Muawiyah’s son, who was
deemed corrupt.
8. Al-Mansur: al-Mansur was the Abbasid Caliph who founded Baghdad in 762.
He reigned from 754 until 775. al-Mansur was concerned with the solidity of his
regime after the death of his brother, al-'Abbas. In 755, he arranged the murder of
Abu Muslim, the general who had lead the forces of al-'Abbas to victory over the
Umayyads in the third civil war. He undertook to make certain that the 'Abbasid
family was supreme in state affairs, and that its sovereignty over the Caliphate
would go unquestioned. He claimed, as earlier Umayyad caliphs had done, to
hold religious and secular authority. This further alienated Shi'ite Muslims who
had, during the reign of al-'Abbas, wanted the Shia Imam to be made Caliph.
During his reign, literature and scholarly work in the Islamic world began
to emerge in full force, supported by new Abbasid tolerances for Persians and
other groups suppressed by the Umayyads. Perhaps more importantly than the
emergence of Persian scholarship was the conversion of many non-Arabs to
Islam. The Umayyads actively tried to discourage conversion in order to
continue the collection of the jizya, or the tax on non-Muslims. The inclusiveness
of the Abbasid regime, and that of al-Mansur, saw the expansion of Islam among
its territory.
al-Mansur died in 775 on his way to Mecca to make hajj and was succeeded
by his son, al-Mahdi.
9.
Harun Al-Rashid’s reign as the fifth Abassid Caliph is known as the
Golden Caliphate. He was a great patron of culture and the arts and was
reknowned for his own talents at these endeavours. His reign and court are
immortalized in The Thousand and One Nights.
His was one of the longest reigns (786-809). First entrusted affairs to a
member of the Barmak family (as his father had done). The Barmakids were
favourable to their Iranian counterparts and sought reconciliation with the Shia,
but Al-Rashid does not share this goal for he felt his regime could not sustain the
Shia version of Islam which challenged his right to rule. This difference of
opinion ends with the disposal of the Barmakids. Al-Rashid then gives less
power to his ministers than he had before. This incident brings to light the extent
of the weakness of the power of the caliph at that time. He was unable to govern
the state without the help of those educated to run a government. He must use
brutal reactions to keep these ministers in line. He continues in his persecution of
the Shias and engages in conflict with Byzantium to assert his role as religious
leader.
Harun al-Rashid dies on the way to the Khurasan. His caliphate is golden
for the flourishing of the arts, the wealth and the extent of his Empire. After his
death in 809 the Muslim world is faced with a time of great difficulties in the
form of a civil war of succession, the emergence of Turkish soldiers and a more
generalized economic decline.
10.
Gengis Khan was supreme leader of the mongol troops who conquered
most of the Khurasan and established themselves in Transoxania. After the death
of the last Seljuk, a group known as the Khwarazm attempted to fill the vacuum
of power, but were stopped by the beginning of the Mongol invasions. The
Mongol forces were joined by many of the Turkish people living in the areas and
began a wave of destruction across the land. Genghis died in 1227, having
stopped his expansion in Persia and Russia. His son, who succeeded him,
focused on China and Anatolia.
11. Hulegu was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia. The
grandson of Genghis Khan he defeated Baghdad and murdered the caliph there
in a particularly grotesque manner. He commanded probably the largest Mongol
army ever assembled and ravaged all of the Middle East to the Tigris River until
losing to the Mamluks outside Jerusalem. Though he was sparing to learned
men, Shi’as and Christians, many were murdered upon the arrival of his troops
or left their lands. This begins a period of decline for Islamic scholarship in the
cultural centres of the Eastern Muslim world.
12. Salah ad-Din was a 12th century Kurdish Muslim military general who
founded the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria after defeating the Fatimids in
the 1160s. He was also renowned in both the Christian and Muslim worlds for
his leadership and military prowess tempered by his chivalry and merciful
nature during the Crusades.
Saladin revitalised the economy of Egypt, reorganised the military forces
and, following the advice of his father, he stayed away from any conflicts with
Nur ad-Din, his uncle, after he had become the real ruler over Egypt. He waited
until Nur ad-Din's death before starting serious military actions: At first against
smaller Muslim states, then directing them against the Crusaders.
With Nur ad-Din's death (1174), he assumed the title of sultan in Egypt. There he
was treated as a usurper by many Seljuks who refused to serve under a Kurdish
"sultan." Nevertheless, Saladin proved to be the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty
and restored Sunnism in Egypt. He extended his territory westwards in the
maghreb, and when his uncle was sent up the Nile to pacify some resistance of
the former Fatimid supporters, he continued on down the Red Sea to conquer
Yemen. Salah al-Din conquered Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul and expelled the
Crusaders from Jerusalem in the famous siege of 1187. He succeeded in
reunifying Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia into one Muslim state.
13. Timur was a renowned 14th century Mongol conqueror, ruler of the
Timurid Empire (1370–1405) in Central Asia, and founder of the Timurid
dynasty, which survived until 1506. Known for his daring military adventures,
audacious campaigns and aggressive expansions, Timur was also responsible for
bloodthirsty massacres of civilians and the plunders of whole nations.
His conquests encompassed almost every province in Persia, including
Baghdad, Karbala and Kurdistan. He attacked Shi’as and Christians claiming to
be removing the “impious;” Timur was a Muslim ruler. Atter the war with the
Turks and Egyptians, which followed the return from India, was rendered
notable by the capture of Aleppo from the Mamluks and Damascus. He invaded
Baghdad in June of 1401; after the capture of the city, 20,000 of its citizens were
massacred. In 1402, Timur invaded Anatolia and defeated Ottoman Sultan
Bayezid I in the Battle of Ankara.
Timur became widely known as a patron to the arts. Much of the
architecture he commissioned still stands in Samarqand, though the rest of his
legacy is one of the destruction of high culture in most places.
14. Ghazan is the first mongol leader to convert to Islam. He does so in 1295
and others follow suit. A member of the Il-Khanid dynasty his main
accomplishments were putting the finances of Persia in order, contolling the
bandits, tempering the encroachment of government officials and encouraging
morality. Under his reign the Mediterranean regained its function of conduit
between Europe and Asia. He established a swath of uniform government and
began the rebirth of intellectual life in Persia that had been decimated by the
previous Mongol invasions.
15. Al-Hakim, the madman, was the sixth Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, ruling from
996 to 1021. He succeeded to the throne as a young men. Many say he suffered
from mental illness, he was infamous for deadly designs and instability. He has
a lot of his court murdered. Because of his reign, the Fatimids are seen as violent
and prone to political intrigue, but this is not representative of the dynasty as a
whole. He extended Fatimid rule as far as Aleppo, but his cruelty is considered
by some to be one of the causes of the Crusades from Europe.
His most supporters were Ismailis, whose organizational centre was in Cairo and
his most vigorous opponent the Abassid caliph who eventually passed an edict
claiming that his line did not actually descend from Ali. Hakim disappeared
while traveling in 1021. A small sect of the Ismialis claim he was hidden away by
God.
16. Kharijites is a general term embracing a variety of Islamic sects which reject
the caliphate of Ali as invalid. They first emerged in the late 7th century AD,
concentrated in today's southern Iraq, and are distinct from the Sunni and
Shiites.
The kharijites believe that the office of the head of the community or imam
should be held by the person most worthy, who if he showed himself unworthy
should be removed. The were a problematic group for all power-structures as
they believed they had the right to challenge the caliphate on religious grounds.
After the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, was killed by mutineers in 656
AD a struggle for succession ensued between Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of
Muhammad, and Muawiya, governor of Damascus. (The core of Ali's followers
later became Shiites.)
In 658, Ali's forces met Muawiya's at the Battle of Siffin; at first, the battle went
against Muawiya, but then he hit upon the idea of having his army hoist Qur'ans
on their lances, proclaiming that he wanted to have the decision of who should
be caliph arbitrated using it.
Most of Ali's army was favorable to the idea, and he agreed to have the question
decided by two arbiters. Some in his army, however, regarded this as a betrayal;
a large group of them repudiated his cause, leaving to fight both sides. They
became known as Kharijites (in Arabic Khawārij, singular Khārijī, meaning 'those
that seceded'). In their opinion, the right of arbitration was God's alone, and the
choice of caliph should not be questioned by mere mortals. Thus they opposed
both Muawiya, for his rebellion, and Ali, for submitting to the arbitration. This
group is responsible for the assassination of Ali and an attempted assassination
of Muawiya.
17. Rashidun or The Four Righteously or Rightly Guided Caliphs refers to the
first four caliphs in the Sunni tradition of Islam who are seen as being model
leaders. They were all close companions of Muhammad, and their succession
was not hereditary, something that would become a hallmark of later caliphates
and is considered an abomination in Shia Islamic theology.
18. Ansar refer to the Muslim inhabitants of Medina who welcomed
Muhammad and the other Meccan Muslims when they migrated to Medina from
Mecca (the Hijrah). The Sahabas, or companions of Muhammad, are divided into
two categories; of Muhajiroun, people who fled from Mecca; and the Ansar,
those who welcomed and took in the Muhajiroun. The Ansar are vital to Islamic
history because they took the fledgling Muslim community in and joined it
themselves, turning Islam into a city-state power. In Medina, each Ansar family
took in a member of the Muhajiroun and offered them a place to stay and
protection.
They were the most important elements in the later Islamic campaigns
against both the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires. Ali’s loyalty to the Ansar
rather than the Quraysh was a main obstacle to his obtaining the caliphate.
19. Muhajirun refers to those Muslims who emigrate with Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina during the Hijrah. Among this group were the Rashidun: Abu
Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. Their long-term allegiance to Muhammad and
their personal relationships to him designated them as pious men worthy of
power. Other muhajirun also benefited from their precedence in Islam.
20. Quraysh were the clan that controlled the kaba (holy meeting ground) of
Mecca. Muhammad was a member of a weaker branch of the Quraysh who also
benefited from their roles as guardians of the kaba to develop mediating powers.
Upon Muhammad’s voyage to Medina, the Quraysh were challenged by the
Muslim community and engaged in warfare which they eventually lost. The
Quaraysh, being related to Muhammad, were particularly influential during the
nascient period of Islam and monopolized many of the positions of power. This
posed problems for the Ansar, those who welcome Muhammad in Medina.
ْ is a per
21. Jizya In states ruled by Islamic law, jizya or jizyah (Arabic: ‫)ةيزج‬
capita tax imposed on non-Muslim adult males.
Jizya was applied to every free adult male member of the People of the
Book, and/or non-Muslim living in lands under Muslim rule. There was no
amount permanently fixed for it, though the payment usually depended on
wealth: Females, children, the poor, and hermits were exempt from it. The
collection of the tax was often the duty of the elders of those communities.
In return, those who paid the jizya were not required to serve in the military
and were considered under the protection of the Muslim state, with certain rights
and responsibilities. Non-Muslims were also exempt from zakat, or mandatory
charity imposed on Muslims. In addition, if a non-Muslim chose to serve in the
army, he would be exempt from the jizya. If he refused to pay the jizya, he might
be imprisoned.
Jizya was a main source of income for the Islamic state and is sometime
considered to be part of the reason the Umayyad caliphs were reluctant to
engage in attempts of large-scale conversion as this undermined their economic
foundation.
22. Kharaj, In Islamic law, is a tax on land, specifically agricultural land. The
theory and application of the tax have varied over the years: in the earliest
applications it was synonymous with jizyah (the poll tax paid by dhimmi), while
from the Umayyad Caliphate onwards it was levied on certain classes of land
without regard for the cultivator's religion. It was always distinct from the tithes
required of Muslims, and unlike jizyah and zakat had no basis in the Qur'an or
hadith.
A need for steady tax revenue increased with the expansion of the Islamic empire
over the Middle East. The zakat and ushr (a tax on Muslim property) were no
longer adequate sources of income for a state in which the Muslims were, at first,
a minority. The jizyah filled part of the need; the kharaj, based on the established
tax systems of the Byzantine and Sassanid empires, fulfilled the rest. Under the
first Caliphs the two were not distinct; both were collected as a lump sum via the
existing infrastructure. This collection of ad hoc arrangements soon proved
inadequate as well; a new and unified system was developed beginning under
Umar II, which would be finalized under the Abbasids and would thereafter
form the model of tax systems in the Islamic state.
23. Mamluk is a term referring to the “slave soldiers” of the Middle East. The
first Mamluks worked for Abbasid caliphs in 9th century Baghdad. The Abbasids
recruited them from enslaved non-Muslim families captured. Using nonMuslims as soldiers helped partially overcome Islamic prohibitions on Muslims
fighting each other. The rulers also desired troops with no link to the established
power structure. The local warriors were often more loyal to their tribal sheiks,
their families or nobles other than the sultan or caliph. If some commander
conspired against the ruler, it was often not possible to deal with him without
causing unrest among the nobility. The slave-troops were strangers of the lowest
possible status who could not conspire against the ruler and who could easily be
punished if they caused trouble.
After being converted to Islam, they were trained as cavalry soldiers. While
technically after training they were no longer slaves, they were still obliged to
serve the Sultan. They were kept by the Sultan as an outsider force, under their
direct command, to use in the event of local tribal frictions. Many Mamluks rose
to high positions throughout the empire, including commanderships. Status
remained non-hereditary at first and children were strictly prevented from
following their fathers. The intensive and rigorous training given to each new
recruit helped ensure a great deal of continuity in Mamluk practices.
The Mamluks who seized power in Egypt were the most famous.
They came to power after the death of the last Ayubbid sultan and represent the
perfection of the post-Abassid military machine. To be a member of the ruling
class throughout this period, one had to be a of foreign blood. The Mamluk
dynasties of Egypt were instrumental in defeating the invading Mongol army,
the Mamluk forces being under Qutuz at the time. On September 3, 1260 Qutuz
defeated the Mongol army under Kitbuqa at the Battle of Ain Jalut. The Mamluk
dynasties were also central in eliminating the last remnants of the Crusaders
from Egypt and Syria under Baibars, Qalawun, and Khalil.
The influence of the Mamluk dynasties on Syria and Egypt is still evident today
in the architecture of mosques, schools, and libraries, as well as bridges, water
fountains and other public works.
24. Imailis: A group of Shi’a Muslims whom, facing persecution in Syria, fled
to Tunisia where they attempted to conquer Egypt. They were eventually
successful as the Fatimid dynasty.
25.
Fatimids are the Ismaili Shiite dynasty that ruled North Africa from A.D.
909 to 1171. Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the center of an empire that
included at its peak North Africa, Sicily, Palestine, Syria, the Red Sea coast of
Africa, the Yemen, and the Hejaz. Under the Fatimids Egypt flourished and
developed an extensive trade network in both the Mediterranean and the Indian
Ocean which eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during the
High Middle Ages.
`The name Fatimid is derived from the name of the daughter of the Prophet
Muhammad, Fatima az-Zahra. The dynasty and its followers belonged to the
Shiite branch of Islam and to a sect called Isma'ili. The dynasty was founded in
909 by Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah. He legitimized his claim by his descent
from the Prophet by way of the Prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and her
husband Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shiite Imam. Soon his control extended over
all of central Maghreb, an area consisting of the modern countries of Morocco,
Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, which he ruled from a newly built capital in Tunisia,
named Mahdia.
The Fatimids entered Egypt in 972, conquering the Ikhshidid dynasty and
founding a new capital at Cairo). They continued to conquer the surrounding
areas until they ruled from Tunisia to Syria, and even crossed over into Sicily
and southern Italy.
Unlike other governments in the area, Fatimid advancement in state offices was
based more on merit than on heredity. Members of other branches of Islam, like
the Sunnis, were just as likely to be appointed to government posts as Shiites.
Tolerance was extended even to non-Muslims, like Christians and Jews who
occupied high levels in government based solely on ability (exceptions to this
general attitude of tolerance include the al-Hakim).
After about 1060 Fatimid territory shrunk until it consisted only of Egypt.
On the assasination of the last Fatimid caliph in 1130, Saladin joined Egypt to the
Abbasid Caliphate and Egypt returned to the Sunni branch of Islam, bringing the
Fatimid dynasty to an end. Saladin founded the Ayyubid dynasty.
26. Ayyubids were a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origins that ruled Egypt,
Syria, and northern Iraq in the 12th and 13th centuries. Founded by Saladin,
who, with his uncle Shirkuh, conquered Egypt for King Nur ad-Din of Damascus
in 1169. In 1171, Saladin deposed the last Fatimid Caliph, but he gradually
became estranged from his former master. When Nur ed-Din died in 1174,
Saladin declared war. Saladin seized control of the interior of the entirety of
Syria, conquered the Jezireh in Northern Iraq and expelled the Crusaders from
Jerusalem. Saladin died in 1193 and his sons fell to squabbling over the division
of the Empire. Despite recurring problems of succession the state remained fairly
strong in Egypt until 1250 when the last Ayubbid Sultan was murdered by his
Mamluk general.
The Ayyubids lingered on in Syria for another ten years, when they fell to the
Mongols.
27. Seljuks were a dynasty from beyond the Oxus river who took control of
Persia in 1025 and deposed the last Bayid in 1055. Their leader, Tugrel Bey, has
the caliph name his Sultan to legitimate his rule. For this reason, they become
firm supporters of the Sunni caliphate. They adopted Persian language and
culture, but were unable to develop a strong, centralized government because of
their policy of family rulership by district. Their rule is a period of material
prosperity and they maintained a tight hold on administrative affairs. The last
Seljuk ruler dies in 1195.
The Seljuk Turks are regarded as the ancestors of the Western Turks, the
present-day inhabitants of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. The Seljuks
created a barrier to Europe against the Mongol invaders from the East, defended
the Islamic world against Crusaders from the West, and conquered large parts of
the Byzantine Empire.
28. Ottomans were a Turkish dynasty that took control of Anatolia after the
Mongol invasion of the Seljuk Empire. The historical causes of their rise to power
are relatively unknown because they were not a literate society. However, they
become large players in later history of the Middle East. They established the
system of Devshirme (forcing Christian children into slavery whereby they were
trained to serve the military/administrative apparatus of the State), as an
adaptation of the Mamluk system.
The Ottoman society had a ruling class called the askeri, including the
noblemen, court officials, military officers and the religious class called the ulema.
Townspeople, villagers and farmers formed a lower class called the reaya. This
class had nothing to do with what religion one belonged to but rather meant
anyone who wasn't askeri. Nobles sometimes used the word turk for Muslim
farmers and villagers, referring to them as ignorant.
29. Abbasid was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad,
the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Muslim empire, that
overthrew the Umayyad caliphs. It seized power in 750, when it finally defeated
the Umayyads in battle, and flourished for two centuries, but slowly went into
decline with the rise to power of the Turkish army they had created, the
Mamluks. Their claim to power was finally ended in 1258, the Mongol general,
sacked Baghdad.
The Abbasids distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking
their secularism, moral character and administration in general. The Abbasids
also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, who remained outside
the kinship-based society of Arab culture and were at best second-class citizens
within the Umayyad empire.
30. Umayyads were the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad
who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the
same Meccan tribe, the Quraish. The first dynasty reigned from AD661 to AD750.
Ironically, the Quraishi clan from which the Umayyads originated had originally
been bitter enemies of Muhammad.
Muawiyah had been the governor of Syria under the 3rd caliph and his
kinsman, Uthman ibn Affan. After the assassination of Uthman, he was replaced
by the new caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib. Since the killers of Uthman had allied
themselves with Ali, Muawiyah refused to accept his caliphate, and in 657 led an
army against him. The two sides agreed to a conciliation procedure, resulting in
an arbitration that many of Ali's partsans saw as unfair. The Muslim empire was
partitioned. Later when Ali was assassinated in 661, his son Hasan pledged
allegiance to Muawiyah and Muawiyah was declared caliph of all Muslim lands.
This established the Umayyad dynasty, and the capital of the caliphate was
moved to Damascus.
Great waves of expansion occurred under the reign of the Umayyads. Muslim
armies pushed across North Africa and Iran, through the late 600s, expanding
the borders of the empire from the Iberian peninsula, in the west, to what is
today Pakistan, in the east. Forces led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad crossed Gibraltar and
established Muslim power in the Iberian peninsula, while other armies
established power far away in Sind, in South Asia. The Muslim empire under the
Umayyads was now a vast domain that ruled a diverse array of peoples.
The Umayyads were overthrown in the east by the Abbasid dynasty after
their defeat in the Battle of the Zab in 750, following which most of the clan was
massacred by the Abbasids.
31. Hijira is a term for the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in
622 with the Muhajirun to establish the first Muslim city-state with the Ansar.
32. Crusades The Crusades were a series of several military campaigns—
usually sanctioned by the Papacy—that took place during the 11th through 13th
centuries. Originally, they were Roman Catholic endeavors to capture the Holy
Land from the Muslims. Though they were of incredible import to the European
world, they were but another one of main waves of invasions occurring in the
Middle East at the time. The first crusades were relatively successful due to
political fragmentation among the Islamic leaders of the time, but when Salah alDin had consolidated the power of Syria and Egypt, he expelled the Crusaders
from Jerusalem.
33. Sultan: The title carries moral weight and religious authority, as the ruler's
role was defined in the Qur'an. The sultan however was not a religious teacher
himself. The first to carry the title of 'Sultan' was the Turkmen chief Mahmud of
Ghazni (ruled 998 - 1030). Later, 'Sultan' became the usual title of rulers of Seljuk
and Ottoman Turks and Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers in Egypt. The spiritual
validation of the title was well illustrated by the fact that it was a weak abassid
caliph who legimitized the rule of the Seljuk Sultan Tugrel Bey. For this reason,
the Seljuks become firm supporters of the Sunni caliphate.
34. Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or
community of Islam which means "successor", that is, successor to the prophet
Muhammad.
After the first four caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, the title was
claimed by the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Ottomans, as well as by other,
competing lineages in Spain, Northern Africa, and Egypt. Most historical Muslim
rulers simply titled themselves sultans or emirs, and gave token obedience to a
caliph who often had very little real authority. Shi’as do not believe the caliphs
had any true religious authority and instead looked to the leadership of imams,
who were descended from the line of Ali.