RELS 317 1nd Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Lectures 5 7 KEY TERMS Ansar helpers of the Prophet suggested a leader in Mecca and another leader outside of Mecca to become Muhammed s successor Caliph The spiritual leader of Islam Rashidun The collective term used when describing the first four caliphs Murjiites an Islam sect that believed that only God had the authority to judge who was a true Muslim or not Mongols Sunni Islams Cordoba The capital of Umayyad Spain a grand capital when the rest of the world was experiencing turmoil many Muslim scholars lived in this area and served as a bridge to linking Greek philosophy Saladin Led the Muslim opposition to the European Crusaders in Levant a leader who was known for his peacefulness in conquering had a philosophy that conquering should not be violent Gunpowder Empires Three empires Islamic Ottoman Safavid and Mughal empires They all expanded with newly developed firearms ie Cannons and small arms to create empires Wahhabism an ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam to restore monotheistic worship Fitna Civil Strife 3 responses to fitna Duty of bringing bad Muslims to justice Ahl as sunnah wa l jama ah Shi atu Ali The split of Islam creating Sunnis and Shi ites Kharijites Kharijites Emphasized the strict adherence to Muslim principles of conduct and allowing the killing of anyone seriously violating those principles Husayn Muhammed s second grandson the third Imam Imam infallible spiritual and political leader almost like the Pope Jihad a war or struggle against nonbelievers Mahdi the redeemer of Islam that will rule before the Day of Judgment and will rid the world of evil an eschatological figure Zaydis a member of a Shi te sect Isma ilis A Shi ite sect who believed that Ismail son of the 6th imam was the rightful seventh imam Aga Khan a hereditary title given to the Imam Assassins an order of Nizari Ismailis who were used in the Crusades Qiyas when teachings of the Hadith are compared and contrasted with the Qur an rejected by the Sunnis as a form of lawmaking Ijtihad Used in Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the Qur an and Sunnah Madhhab meaning to take as a way represents the entire school of thought of a particular mujtahid Imam 5 Categories of Shariah The permitted Mubah the recommended Mustahab the disapproved but not unlawful Makruh the Forbidden Muharam and the Obligatory The Wajib Al Shafi i A Muslim jurist one of the four great Imams who emphasized juridical matters Kalam A school of philosophical theology that emphasized that God had the final word and the freedom of will existed Fiqh Islamic law an understanding of Islam Fatwa an Islamic religious ruling usually issued by religious authority Al Ma mun known for attempting to end sect rivalry and implementing a rationalist Muslim creed Bayt al Hikma House of Wisdom considered to be the first university in the world which was established by caliph al Ma mun Mu azilites A school of Islamic theology based upon reason and rational thought and argued how important it was to use reason Al Ash ari a school of Islamic theology that was established by Imam Abu al Hasan al Ash ari combined rationalist methodology with orthodox Islam Falsafa Islamic philosophy a period known as the Islamic Golden and the achievements of this period influenced modern philosophy and science Ibn Sina a Persian philosopher considered one of the greatest scholars in history and the father of early modern medicine founded the philosophical school of Avicennism Al Khwarizmi a famous scholar in the House of Wisdom known for his work in numbers especially in Algebra KEY THEMES FROM READINGS Ch 4 The term holy war comes from the Christian Crusaders and it is not the proper definition of jihad Jihad means a struggle and it is referring to the struggle of souls to overcome sin that keeps one away from God War according to the Quran is NEVER holy and the definition of jihad is best described as just war theory Ch 6 It is rather difficult for to integrate the views of the Shariah with modern philosophy and human rights This is because Islamic states have only three options to include the Shariah into its legal systems These options include accepting the Shariah as a legitimate source of civil law it can apply the Shariah to the state without changing it or it can fuse the values of the Shariah with modern principles Aslan Ch 7 The Shiites believed that only heirs of Ali the 4th caliph are the legitimate successors of Muhammed whereas the Sunnis believe that the first four caliphs are legitimate successors to Muhammed Shiites KEY THEMES FROM FILMS DOCUMENTARIES Empire of Faith Saladin s role was a very peaceful conqueror and had a philosophy of not destroying and looting he made sure that villages were in tact and overkilling was not an option An Islamic Conscience the Aga Khan and the Ismailis Aga Khan acts the same way the Pope does in the Catholic Church He has a great influence on the religious community and some are brought to tears when they are met The Aga Khan supports women and their pursuit in education they are seen as equals with men Science and Islam The Language of Science Al Khwarizmi has contributed greatly to the field of mathematics with him being the founding father of Algebra Avicenna has contributed greatly to early medicine Al Ma mun collected many books to start his library which would later be known as the House of Wisdom