Things to learn the Rise of Islam(Packet 9 of 12)

1. Mohammed

Born approximately in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, he is the central figure of Islam and widely regarded as its founder. He is known to Muslims as the "Holy Prophet", almost all of whom consider him to be the last prophet sent by God to mankind to restore Islam, which they believe to be the unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings, practices, and the Quran, which Muslims believe was revealed to him by God, formed the basis of Islamic religious belief.  At age 40, he reported being visited by Gabriel in a cave and received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event he started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to him is the only way. His message met resistance in Mecca, so he fled to Medina in 622 C.E., an event known as the hejira, that marks the start of the Islamic calendar. He later returned to Mecca with an army of 10,000, but faced little resistence. He centered his religion in a formerly pagan temple called the Qa’aba. At the end of his life, Muslim tradition states that he was taken directly into heaven at a site in Jerusalem where the Dome of the Rock now stands.  

2. Mecca

The birthplace of Mohammed and the most holy city in the Islamic religion. It is thought by many that Muslims pray to this city five times a day, but they are actually praying to the mosque called the Qa’aba that is located in the city. Early in Mohammed’s preaching, the city rejected him, and he was forced to flee to Medina, later returning with a force and bringing his message to the city.

3. Gabriel

An angel who typically serves as a messanger sent from God to chosen people in Abrahamic religions. He appears to Daniel in the Old Testament, explaining his visions. In the New Testament he appears to both the father of John the Baptist, Zechariah, and Mary, mother of Jesus, to foretell of those two men’s births. He is also important in Islam, as the archangel who reveals to Mohammed his role as the prophet of God.

4. Medina

The second holiest city in Islam and the site of Mohammed’s burial. It was Mohammed’s destination after his hegira from Mecca, and became the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim Empire, first under Mohammed's leadership, and then under the first four caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. It served as the power base of Islam in its first century where the early Muslim community developed. Similar to Mecca, non-Muslims are forbidden from entering the sacred core of the city. The city was named Medina an-Nabi after Mohammed’s journey there, meaning “the city of the prophet”. The an-Nabi was later dropped, so the name now just means “the city”.

5. hegira

The migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622 CE. In June 622 CE, after being warned of a plot to assassinate him, Mohammed secretly left his home in Mecca to emigrate to Medina 200 miles north of Mecca, along with his companion Abu Bakr. The date of it is often associated with the start of the Muslim calendar, though some dispute the accuracy of that.

6. hajj

An annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, specifically to the Qa’aba, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence. The word means “to intend to journey”, which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of the intention to go. It is considered the largest annual gathering of people in the world. The state of being physically and financially capable of performing it is called istita'ah, and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati.

7. Qa’aba

A building at the center of Islam's most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca. It is the most sacred Muslim site in the world. It is considered the "House of God" and has a similar role as the Tabernacle and Holy of Holies in Judaism. Wherever they are in the world, Muslims are expected to face it when praying. From any point in the world, the direction facing the it is called the qibla. Two of the five pillars of Islam deal directly with it, as Muslims are required to pray toward it five times a day and make a journey to it at least once in their lifetimes if they are financially able. Islamic tradition has it being constructed by Abraham and his son Ishmael. It was captured by Mohammed when he returned to Mecca, and he purged many pagan shrines from it.

8. Qur’an

The central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. Muslims believe the it was verbally revealed by God to Mohammed through the angel Gabriel gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on December 22, 609 CE, when Mohammed was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death. Muslims regard it as the most important miracle of Mohammed, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Mohammed. It was compiled by scribes after Mohammed’s death and standardized by the third caliph Uthman. In total, it consists of 114 chapters called sura, which are arranged roughly in order of decreasing size, rather than as a continuous narrative or in order of importance.

9. Five Pillars of Islam

Like the 10 Commandments to the Jewish faith, they are the basic rules ascribed to all Muslims. They are:

1) Shahada: Faith

This is a profession of faith that is supposed to be declared by every Muslim – “There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet.”

In some cases, it is said, “There is but one God, Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” But it is generally accepted that this is an attempt to put some distance between Islam and Christianity, as Allah is an arabic word that means God, and it is still referring to the God of the Old Testament, which the Muslims believe in.

2) Salat: Prayer

Muslims must prayer five times a day in the direction of the Qa’aba. The names of the prayers are according to the times: Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (noon), ?A?r (afternoon), Maghrib (evening), and Isha .

3) Zakat: Charity

Muslims are required to give their excess wealth to charity. There are five principles associated with this:

A) The giver must declare to God his intention to give the zakat.
B) The zakat must be paid on the day that it is due.
C) After the offering, the payer must not exaggerate on spending his money more than usual means.
D) Payment must be in kind. This means if one is wealthy then he or she needs to pay a portion of their income. If a person does not have much money, then they should compensate for it in different ways, such as good deeds and good behavior toward others.
E) The zakat must be distributed in the community from which it was taken.

4) Sawn: Fasting

Muslims must fast from sun up to sun down during the holy month of Ramadan. This includes all food and drink and is required of every Muslim who has reached puberty unless there is a medical condition that prevents it.

5) Hajj: Pilgrimage

Every Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and specifically the Qa’aba, once in their lifetime, provided that they have the financial means to do so and still take care of their family while they are away.

10. Umayyad Empire

The second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of Mohammed. They came to power during the rule of the third caliph Uthman, but were founded by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, long-time governor of Syria, which remained their main power base, with Damascus as their capital. They ruled roughly from 661-750 CE and spread the Muslim empire across all of Northern Africa and into the Iberian peninsula, which they called Al-Andalus. At it’s largest, their empire contained 5.79 million square miles, making it larger than the empire of Alexander the Great. They retained control of Al-Andalus and much of the region of Morocco even after the rise of the Abbasid Empire.  

11. Abbasid Empire

The third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Islamic prophet Mohammed, descending from his youngest uncle. They ruled as caliphs, for most of their period from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after assuming authority over the Muslim empire from the Umayyads in 750 CE. The ruling from Baghdad, which was very close to Persia, showed the reliance that they had on Persian bureaucrats to help run their empire. Although their leadership over the vast Islamic empire was gradually reduced to a ceremonial religious function, the dynasty retained control over its Mesopotamian royal land. The capital city of Baghdad became a center of science, culture, philosophy and invention during the Golden Age of Islam. This period of cultural fruition ended in 1258 with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan.

12. al-Andalus

A medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain occupying at its peak most of what are today Spain and Portugal. At its greatest geographical extent in the eighth century, southern France—Septimania—was briefly under its control. The name more generally describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims (given the generic name of Moors) at various times between 711 and 1492, though the boundaries changed constantly as the Christian Reconquista progressed.

13. Reconquista

A period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula, spanning approximately 770 years between the initial stage of the Islamic conquest in the 710s and the fall of Granada, the last Islamic state on the peninsula, to expanding Christian kingdoms in 1492. Historians traditionally mark the beginning of it with the Battle of Covadonga (718 or 722), in which a small Christian army, led by the nobleman Pelagius, defeated an army of the Umayyad Caliphate in the mountains of northern Iberia and established a Christian principality in Asturias. Basically it was a slow, systematic recapturing of Spain and Portugal from the Muslims that took place over most of eight centuries. The final completion of it allowed the rulers of Spain to have available capital to send Columbus on a voyage to the Americas.

14. Charles Martel

Nicknamed the hammer, he was a Frankish statesman and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was de facto ruler of Francia (which would become France) from 718 until his death in 741. He and his forces at the Battle of Tours in 732, stopped the Muslim advance into Europe, and are largely credited with the future Christian trajectory of Europe as a whole. He is considered to be the founding figure of the European Middle Ages.

15. The Battle of Tours
Fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, in north-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about 12 miles northeast of Poitiers. The location of the battle was close to the border between the Frankish realm and then-independent Aquitaine. The battle pitted Frankish forces under Charles Martel against an army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by 'Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Governor-General of al-Andalus. The Franks were victorious and 'Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi was killed. Later chroniclers gave Charles the nickname Martellus ("The Hammer"). Details of the battle, including its exact location and the number of combatants, cannot be determined from accounts that have survived. Notably, the Frankish troops won the battle without cavalry. Later Christian chroniclers and pre-20th century historians praised Charles Martel as the champion of Christianity, characterizing the battle as the decisive turning point in the struggle against Islam, a struggle which preserved Christianity as the religion of Europe.

16. The Franks

Historically first known as a group of Germanic tribes that roamed the land between the Lower and Middle Rhine in the 3rd century CE, and second as the people of Gaul who merged with the Gallo-Roman populations during succeeding centuries, passing on their name to modern-day France and becoming part of the heritage of the modern French people. Following the collapse of Rome in the West, their tribes were united under the Merovingians, who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century. They became very powerful after this. The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies that would absorb large parts of the Western Roman Empire. Their state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

17. Pepin the Short
His name is really a mistranslation of “the younger”. He was the son of Frankish prince Charles Martel and the father of Charlemagne. He was the first of the Carolingians to become kingin 751 CE, ending the Merovingian line. Educated by monks, he was extremely favorable to the Papacy, giving several cities to the pope, which became the basis for papal states in the Middle Ages. His reign was extremely significant, but often is overshadowed by that of his son, one of the most significant people in history.
 
18. Charlemagne

A medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 814. In 771, he became king of the Franks, a Germanic tribe in present-day Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and western Germany. He embarked on a mission to unite all Germanic peoples into one kingdom, and convert his subjects to Christianity. A skilled military strategist, he spent much of his reign engaged in warfare in order to accomplish his goals. In 800, on Christmas Day, Pope Leo III (750-816) crowned him emperor of the Romans (making him the first Holy Roman Emperor). In this role, he encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a cultural and intellectual revival in Europe. When he died in 814, his empire encompassed much of Western Europe, and he had also ensured the survival of Christianity in the West. Today, he is referred to by some as the father of Europe. He also started the feudal system in Europe, and specifically in his kingdoms. However, sometimes, because of his reputation, he was immortalized for things he didn’t do. For example, The Song of Roland, the epic poem of France, records his great victory over the Muslims at the Battle of Ronxevalles. However, the actual battle was fought between him and other Christians.

19. Massacre of Verden
In 782 CE some 4,500 Saxon leaders are said to have been beheaded for practicing their indigenous Germanic paganism, having officially, albeit under duress, converted to Christianity and undergone baptism. The river Aller was said to have been flowing red with their blood. Charlemagne's motives were to demonstrate his overlordship and the severity of punishment for rebellion. The effect was that the Saxons lost virtually their entire tribal leadership and were henceforth largely governed by Frankish counts installed by Charlemagne. The Saxon leader, Duke Widukind, had escaped to his in-laws in Denmark, but soon returned. In 785 he, along with his people, was forced to convert to Christianity by Charlemagne. In 681 a council of bishops at Toledo called on civil authorities to seize and behead all those guilty of non-Christian practices of whatever sort. These massacres were common on both sides throughout the Christianization of Europe, with similar events involving pagan Saxons, Germans and Celts and Christians documented in Britain and Ireland.

20. Battle of Roncevaux Pass
A battle in 778 in which a large force of Basques ambushed Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the border between France and Spain, that took place during Charlemagne's invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. The Basques' attack was a retaliation caused primarily by Charlemagne's destruction of the city walls of their capital Pamplona. They took the opportunity of attacking the Franks while the latter were crossing the Pyrenees to retreat back to France. The rear guard consisting of notable Frankish lords, was cut off, stood their ground, and was wiped out as Charlemagne evacuated his army. The battle remained the only military defeat suffered by Charlemagne during his reign. The back story consisted of a Basque Christian leader named Sulaymin Al-Arabi promising to give his kingdom to Charlemagne when he felt surrounded by Muslims, only to change his mind later. Charlemagne, instead, took the kingdom by force and to Al-Arabi with him to head back to France. Al-Arabi’s family attacked Charlemagne’s rear flank from behind, freeing Al-Arabi, and killing Charlemagne’s lieutenant Roland. The battle is immortalized exceedingly inaccurately in the French epic poem, The Song of Roland.

21. The Song of Roland

An epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, during the reign of Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature and exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th to 14th centuries. The date of composition is put in the period between 1040 and 1115: an early version beginning around 1040. In the poetic version, Charlemagne’s forces have been fighting for years against the Muslim’s in Spain, until the Muslim King Marsile agrees to convert to Christianity if Charlemagne leaves. Weary of war, Charlemagne and his men begin to retreat through the Pyrenees, while his lieutenant Roland sends his uncle Ganelon to make the final arrangements with Marsile. Not particularly a fan of his nephew, and feeling he will be killed if left behind, Ganelon instead betrays Charlemagne and his men, telling Marsile how and when to attack the rear guard, led by Roland, as they retreat through the mountains. Ganelon’s information proves good, and the Muslims ambush Roland and the rear flank, slaughtering them all. Just before he is killed, Roland blows a trumpet to alert Charlemagne with such force that his head explodes, and angels take him directly to heaven.
Charlemagne returns and chases the Muslims into a river where they drown. Ultimately, Baligant, the emir of Babylon, arrives to help Marsile and fights Charlemagne, who kills him and takes his wife as a prize back to France.

22. Basques

An indigenous ethnic group of Spain. They have lived in the Iberian peninsula for more than 7000 years, and their language predates the arrival of Indo-European languages. They had a particularly rough time during the Middle Ages when they were surrounded by the Visigothic Iberian kingdom, the Muslims coming from the south and later the intrusion of the Franks from the north.

23. chanson de geste

Old French for “song of heroic deeds”, it is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. Composed in verse, these narrative poems of moderate length (averaging 4000 lines) were originally sung, or (later) recited, by minstrels or jongleurs. More than one hundred chansons de geste have survived in around three hundred manuscripts that date from the 12th to the 15th century. The most famous works of this style are The Song of Roland and The Poem of the Cid (El Cid).

24. The Poem of the Cid

The oldest preserved Castilian epic poem. Based on a true story, it tells of the Castilian hero El Cid, and takes place during the Reconquista, or reconquest of Spain from the Moors. El Cid married the cousin of King Alfonso VI, Doña Ximena, but for certain reasons, he fell into the disfavor of the king and had to leave his home country of Castile. To regain his honor, he participated in the battles against the Moorish armies and conquered Valencia. By these heroic acts he regained the confidence of the king and his honor was restored. The king personally marries El Cid's daughters to the princes of Carrión. However, when the princes are humiliated by El Cid's men for their cowardice, they swear revenge. They beat their new wives and leave them for dead. When El Cid learns of this he pleads to the king for justice. The princes are forced to return El Cid's dowry and are defeated in a duel, stripping them of all honor. El Cid's two daughters then remarry to the princes of Navarre and Aragon. Through the marriages of his daughters, El Cid began the unification of Spain. Unlike other European medieval epics, the tone is realist. There is no magic, even the apparition of archangel Gabriel (verses 404–410) happens in a dream.

25. Sunni
By far the largest denomination of Islam. The primary break between them and the Shi’a is that they believe Abu Bakr, the father-in-law of Mohammed, is the first caliph of the Islamic religion, followed by Umar and Uthman and then Ali, while the Shi’a believe that Ali is the first caliph. The countries that are predominantly of this branch of Islam include: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Jordan. Literally the full name of the branch translates to people following the tradition of the prophet.

26. Shi’a

The second largest branch of Islam. They believe that the proper successor and first caliph of Mohammed is his son-in-law Ali Ibn Abi Talib (usually referred to as Ali). In fact there full name means followers of Ali. This is in contrast to the Sunni, who believe that three were three caliphs before Ali that also matter. This branch is dominant in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and Bahrain.

    27. Abu Bakr

A senior companion and – through his daughter Aisha – the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mohammed. He became the first openly declared Muslim outside Mohammed's family and served as a trusted advisor to Mohammed. During Mohammed's lifetime, he was involved in several campaigns and treaties. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632 to 634 CE, when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Mohammed's death. As caliph, he succeeded to the political and administrative functions previously exercised by Mohammed. He was commonly known as The Truthful. His reign lasted for 27 months, ending with his death after an illness. Dispute over whether he or Mohammed’s son-in-law Ali should have been the first caliph provides the foundation of the breakdown between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.

28. Ali (Ibn Abi Talib)

The cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, ruling over the Islamic caliphate from 656 to 661. Born to Abu Talib and Fatima bint Asad, he was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Qa’aba in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, as many sources, especially Shia ones say, he was the first young male who accepted Islam. After migrating to Medina, he married Mohammed's daughter Fatima. He took part in the early caravan raids from Mecca and later in almost all the battles fought by the nascent Muslim community. He was appointed caliph by Mohammed's Companions  in 656, after caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated. His reign saw civil unrest and in 661, he was attacked and assassinated by a Kharijite while praying in the Great Mosque of Kufa, dying two days later. Sunni consider him to be the fourth of the four rightly guided caliphs (Rashidun), while Shi’a consider him the first imam after Mohammed. Shi’a believe that all Muslim imams descend from him, and thus, from Mohammed himself, which makes them the rightful successors to Mohammed.

29. Fatima

The youngest daughter of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Khadijah, wife of Ali and mother of Hasan and Hussein. She is the object of the veneration, love, and respect of all Muslims, as she was the child closest to her father and supported him in his difficulties, was the supporter and loving caretaker of her own husband and children, and was the only child of Muhammad to have male children live beyond childhood, whose descendants are spread throughout the Islamic world and are known as Sayyids. She is a vital character in the religion of Islam and is considered a role model for all Muslim women, and her name is one of the most popular girls’ names in the Muslim world.

30. Sufism

Defined as the inner mystical dimension of Islam. Most of them are Sunni, and their scholars have defined it as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God". It is a school for the actualization of divine ethics. It involves an enlightened inner being, not intellectual proof; revelation and witnessing, not logic. They define divine ethics as ethics that transcend mere social convention, a way of being that is the actualization of the attributes of God.

31. Sasanian Empire

The last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam from 224 to 651. This Empire, which succeeded the Parthian Empire, was recognized as one of the leading world powers alongside its neighboring arch rival the Roman-Byzantine Empire, for a period of more than 400 years, before being blindsided by the suddenly unified Arabs and Islam.

32. Battle of al-Qadisiyyah

Fought in 636, is said to be a decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sassanid Persian army during the first period of Muslim expansion. It resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia and was key to the conquest of Iraq. The battle also saw the alleged alliance of Emperor Yazdegerd III with Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, who married his granddaughter Manyanh to Yazdegerd as a symbol of alliance.

33. The Battle of Talus River

A military engagement between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate along with their ally the Tibetan Empire against the Chinese Tang Dynasty, governed at the time by Emperor Xuanzong. In July 751 CE, Tang and Abbasid forces met in the valley of the Talas River to vie for control of the Syr Darya region of central Asia. After a stalemate in several days of combat, the Tang lost the battle because the Karluks defected from the Tang side to the Abbasid side. The battle was a defeat for the Tang and marked the end of their westward territorial expansion, resulting in Muslim control of Transoxiana for the next four hundred years. Control of this region was economically beneficial for the Abbasids because it was on the Silk Road. Supposedly, Chinese prisoners captured in the aftermath of the battle brought paper-making technology to the Middle East, from which it eventually spread to Europe.

34. alchemy

The medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or to find a elixir of immortality. Lesser goals were to discover a universal solvent (called alkahest) and the creation of panaceas to cure every disease. It was also a goal to create a philosopher’s stone (which could turn mercury into gold and provide immortality.

35. House of Wisdom

A major intellectual center during the Islamic Golden Age. It was founded by Caliph Harun al-Rashid (reigned 786–809) and culminated under his son al-Ma'mun (reigned 813–833) who is credited with its formal institution. Al-Ma'mun is also credited with bringing many well-known scholars to share information, ideas, and culture in it. Based in Baghdad from the 9th to 13th centuries, many learned scholars including those of Jewish or Christian background were part of this research and educational institute. Besides translating books into Arabic and preserving them, scholars associated with it also made many remarkable original contributions to diverse fields.

    36. Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi

Great Islamic thinker who lived from 801-873 CE. He is one of the first to question the scientific respectability of alchemy and astrology and is most known for studying space and seeking science over religion. He is hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy"

 37. Book of Ingenious Devices

Literally: "The Book of Tricks", it was  a large illustrated work on mechanical devices, including automata, published in 850 by the three Iranian brothers known as the Banu Musa (Ahmad, Muhammad and Hasan bin Musa ibn Shakir) working at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, Iraq, under the Abbasid Caliphate. The book described about one hundred devices and how to use them. The book combined Hellenistic Greek learning with Chinese and Indian engineering and was an attempt by the Abassid empire to continue to grow scientifically.

38. Abbas Ibn Firnas

Arab inventor who lived from 810-887 CE. He designed a water clock, devised a means of manufacturing colorless glass, invented various glass planispheres, made corrective lenses which he called reading stones, devised a chain of rings that could be used to simulate the motions of the planets and stars, and developed a process for cutting rock crystal that allowed Spain to cease exporting quartz to Egypt to be cut. He had devised a room in his house for simulating stars, clouds, thunder, and lightning; the mechanisms which produced these were located in the basement. It is reported that he contrived some sort of metronome, an instrument with an inverted pendulum that could be set to beat so many times per minute, a loud ticking aiding the play of music at proper tempo.

39. al-Khwarizini

A mathematician who lived from 780-850 CE and was a scholar at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.  Latin translations of his work on the Indian numerals introduced the decimal positional number system to the Western world. His The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing presented the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations in Arabic. In Renaissance Europe, he was considered the original inventor of algebra, although it is now known that his work is based on older Indian or Greek sources (the word algebra itself is named from his equations). He revised Ptolemy's Geography and wrote on astronomy and astrology. He was so important to mathematics that the word algorithm is actually named after the Latin form of his name, as are the Spanish and Portuguese words for digit.

40. al-Battani

An Arab astronomer that lived from 858-929 CE. He was the first to accurately determine the length of a solar year. His work on astronomy had a great deal of influence on Niccoli Copernicus, who would become the first European to recognize that the Sun didn’t go around the Earth. He was one of if not the first to use sines and tangents in his calculations.

41. al-Zahrawi

A Muslim physician and surgeon who lived from 935-1013 CE and lived in Al-Andalus. He is considered the greatest medieval surgeon to have appeared from the Islamic World, and has been described as the father of surgery. His greatest contribution to medicine is the Kitab al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume encyclopedia of medical practices. He was the first physician to discover that hemophilia is hereditary. He invented the syringe, the bone saw, forceps and the surgical hook and needle.

42. Islamic calendar

A lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar), and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper days on which to observe the annual fasting, to attend Hajj, and to celebrate other Islamic holidays and festivals. Because it only has 355 days, the months move with respect to the Gregorian calendar, making the holy month of Ramadan in different seasons of the year over time. The first year was the Islamic year beginning in AD 622 during which the emigration of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina, known as the hegira,

43. Ramadan

The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Qur’an to Mohammed according to Islamic belief. This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon.

44. Mekong River
        
The chief river of Southeast Asia. It originates in eastern Tibet, forms much of the Laos-Thailand border, flows south through Cambodia, and enters the South China Sea in southern Vietnam just south of Ho Chi Minh City. The capital cities of Vientiane and Phnom Penh are on the banks of it. The building of dams and clearing of rapids are a source of diplomatic conflict between China, Laos, and Cambodia.

45. Irrawaddy River

The chief river of Myanmar (also known as Burma). It flows 1,350 miles past Yangon (formerly Rangoon) and Mandalay to the Gulf of Martaban, an arm of the Bay of Bengal. Its delta is one of the world's most important rice-growing regions, and its name is thought to come from the Sanskrit word for "elephant."

46. The Berbers

Any of the descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. They live in scattered communities across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mali, Niger, and Mauretania. They speak various Amazigh languages belonging to the Afro-Asiatic family related to Ancient Egyptian. At the turn of the 21st century, there were perhaps 14 million in Morocco, 9 million in Algeria, and much smaller numbers in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Mauretania; in the Sahara of southern Algeria and of Libya, Mali and Niger, the Berber Tuareg number about 1 million.

47. Omar Khayyam

A Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet, who lived from 1048-1131 and is widely considered to be one of the most influential scientists of the middle ages. He wrote numerous treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy and astronomy. He is the author of one of the most important treatises on algebra written before modern times, the Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra (1070), which includes a geometric method for solving cubic equations by intersecting a hyperbola with a circle. Despite all of that, however, he is most known for his poem The Rubaiyat.

48. The Rubaiyat

The title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and numbering about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám. A ruba'i is a two-line stanza with two parts, so the title basically indicates that it is a book of quatrains. Two of the most famous pieces:

“A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!”

and

"The Moving Finger writes: and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."    

49. Dome of the Rock

A mosque located at the site where Mohammed is believed to have been taken into heaven to speak with Allah before coming back down to guide Islam. It is located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was initially completed in 691 CE. It is now one of the oldest works of Islamic architecture. It has been called "Jerusalem's most recognizable landmark". Its architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces. It’s location on a site that is also holy to Judaism has caused a great deal of conflict over the last 1500 years.

50. mosque

A place of worship for followers of Islam. A place can become one by word (declaring it to be one) or action (continued use in prayer and/or a place to bury the dead). However, once a place becomes one, by Sharia Law, it will be one until the Last Day. Thus, it is no longer the property of the one who made it, because it cannot be sold.

51. Sharia law

The body of Islamic law. The term means "way" or " path"; it is the legal framework within which the public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Islam. It deals with all aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, sexuality, and social issues. There is not a strictly codified uniform set of laws that can be called by this name. It is more like a system of several laws, based on the Qur'an, Hadith and centuries of debate, interpretation and precedent.

52. minaret
        
A distinctive architectural structure akin to a tower and typically found adjacent to mosques. Generally a tall spire with a conical or onion-shaped crown, usually either free-standing or taller than associated support structure. The basic form of one includes a base, shaft, and gallery. Styles vary regionally and by period. They provide a visual focal point and are traditionally used for the Muslim call to prayer, signifying it is time to fulfill one of the five pillars of Islam.

53. The Great Mosque of Isfahan (Masjid-e Jameh)

A mosque in Iran that has been expanded and adapted since they 8th century. Most cities with sizable Muslim populations possess a primary congregational mosque. Congregational mosques are often expanded in conjunction with the growth and needs of the umma, or Muslim community; however, it is uncommon for such expansion and modification to continue over a span of a thousand years. This mosque is unique in this regard and thus enjoys a special place in the history of Islamic architecture. Its present configuration is the sum of building and decorating activities carried out from the 8th through the 20th centuries. It is an architectural documentary, visually embodying the political exigencies and aesthetic tastes of the great Islamic empires of Persia.

54. The Great Mosque of Cordoba

A Catholic cathedral that used to be a mosque, one of the great reminders of the An-Andalus time period in Spain. The Catholic cathedral of the Diocese of Córdoba dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and located in the Spanish region of Andalusia. The structure is regarded as one of the most accomplished monuments of Moorish architecture. Constructed started on it in 784 CE, and it is most known for its forest of over 856 (originally 1,293) columns topped with piers and two tiers of red-and-white striped arches. The ancient columns - made of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite - were taken from the Roman temple which had previously occupied the site and shipped in from other ancient buildings

55. mosaic

The art of decorating a surface with pictures and patterns made of little pieces of stone, glass or tiles of different colors. They can be used indoors on walls, floors and ceilings. They are sometimes used outdoors on pavements.

56. mihrab

A semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a it appears is thus the "qibla wall."


57. arcade

A succession of arches, each counter-thrusting the next, supported by columns, piers, or a covered walkway enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior ones provide shelter for pedestrians.

58. arabesque

 A form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. As a technical term by art historians to describe only elements of the decoration found in two phases: Islamic art from about the 9th century onwards, and European decorative art from the Renaissance onwards.

59. Indus River

The chief river of Pakistan as well as being the ultimate source of the name of India. It rises in Tibet and flows 1,800 miles to a delta on the Arabian Sea southeast of Karachi. The five major tributaries of it – the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej Rivers – are the source of the name of the Punjab region, which is Persian for "Land of the Five Rivers". It is the cradle of the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the world's earliest urban areas, whose main cities were Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

60. Ganges River

The holiest river of Hinduism. It rises in the Himalayas and flows a comparatively short 1,560 miles to the world's largest delta on the Bay of Bengal. Among that delta's distributaries are the Hooghly (on whose banks Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) may be found) and the Padma (which enters Bangladesh). Approximately one in every twelve human beings lives in its Basin, a population density that is rapidly polluting the river; a significant source of that pollution is cremated remains.

61. Brahmaputra River

Sometimes called the Tsangpo or Jamuna, it runs 1,800 miles from its source in the Tibetan Himalayas; it starts eastward across the plateau, then turns south into the Indian state of Assam, and then enters Bangladesh where it merges with the Ganges to form the world's largest delta. While serving as a historical route to Tibet, the river is also prone to disastrous flooding.
    
62. Jordan River

It rises in Syria from springs near Mount Hermon. It flows south to Lake Merom, through the Sea of Galilee, and into the Dead Sea, which lies 1,300 feet below sea level. The river forms the nation of the same name’s boundary with the West Bank and northern Israel. In the New Testament, the river was the site of the baptism of John the Baptist. In modern times, about 80% of its water is diverted for human use, a figure that has led to the shrinking of the Dead Sea and serious contention among bordering nations.

63. Kufic

The oldest calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. It developed around the end of the 7th century in Kufa, Iraq, from which it takes its name. It was prevalent in manuscripts from the 7th to 10th centuries. Until about the 11th century, it was the main script used to copy the Qur'an.

64. Islamic Golden Age

This refers to the period in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century, when much of the historically Islamic world was ruled by various caliphates, experiencing a scientific, economic and cultural flourishing. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786 to 809 CE) with the inauguration of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where scholars from various parts of the world with different cultural backgrounds were mandated to gather and translate all of the world's classical knowledge into Arabic. It is traditionally said to have ended with the collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate with the Mongol invasions and the Sack of Baghdad in 1258 CE.

65. illuminated manuscript

A document in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders (marginalia) and miniature illustrations. In the strictest definition, the term refers only to documents decorated with gold or silver; but in both common usage and modern scholarship, the term refers to any decorated or illustrated manuscript from Western traditions, including Western European, Byzantine and Islamic traditions. They have intrinsic artistic value, but they are more than that. Historically, as Western Europe’s scholarship plummeted, the use of these illustrated texts, especially among those who couldn’t read, went up. Many of the stories from the time period would have fallen to disuse and disappeared without them.

66. Bahram Gur Fights the Karg (Horned Wolf)

An ink and opaque watercolor and gold on paper created between 1330-1340 in Islamic Iran. It depicts the story of an ancient Iranian king from the Sassanian Empire fighting a unicorn like creature, though more of a wolf, on his trip to India. This illuminated manuscript uses Kufic script.

67. One Thousand and One Nights

A collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights. It is a frame story, in which the doomed wife Scheherazade tells her husband, the ruler Shahryar, a story every night to stave off her own execution. The most famous stories contained in this collection are Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.

68. Scheherazade

A legendary queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights. The story goes that Shahryar, the king, found out one day that his first wife was unfaithful to him. Therefore, he resolved to marry a new virgin each day as well as behead the previous day's wife, so that she would have no chance to be unfaithful to him. He had killed 1000 such women by the time he was introduced to her, the vizier's daughter. On her first night with the king, she asked to say goodbye to her sister, and then told her sister a “bedtime” story that lasted the whole night, in fact she stopped in the middle of the story. The king spared her life to hear the story completed. She did that the next night, but started a new story that she left half finished. She continued to do this for 1001 nights, and by that point, the king had fallen in love with her.

69. Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves

One of the most famous of the tales in the One Thousand and One Nights. It is the story of two brothers, the greedy Cassim, who marries for money and becomes a merchant, and the humble title character, who marries for love and becomes a woodcutter. The title character overhears a band of robbers accesses their magical cave of treasure with the phrase “Open Sesame” and closing it with “Close Sesame”. He uses this to access the cave and get some money. When he measures this money with one of his brother’s scales, Cassim’s wife discovers what he is doing and tells Cassim. He is forced to tell the whole story to his brother, who then goes into the cave and shuts it behind him. However, he forgets the password while he is in there and then is quartered by the thieves. After the title character retrieves his brother’s body, the thieves come after him. His faithful slave girl Morgiana thwarts four attempts by the thieves to kill him and his family, however, finally killing all the thieves. He rewards her with freedom and marries her to his son.

70. Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp

One of the most famous stories in One Thousand and One Nights. In it, the title character, is actually a poor Chinese boy. His mother is tricked by an Arabian magician who plans to use him to get a magic lamp. Through a series of events, the title character ends up with the lamp instead, which contains a genie, that takes him home and makes him wealthy. After he has married a sultan’s daughter, the evil magician returns and steals the lamp and his palace. However, the title character uses a magic ring to get the lamp back and return his palace to China.

71. The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor

 A famous story from One Thousand and One Nights. Much like the One Thousand and One Nights is a frame story, this tale is a frame story inside that frame story, in which a rich man tells a poor man who shares his name how he became rich from his many adventures. His home base is Baghdad

1st Voyage: Mistook a whale for an island and saved a mare from a seahorse

2nd Voyage: Ended up on an island with Rocs and giant snakes that could eat whole elephants

3rd Voyage: Ends up on an island with a giant monster that eats the crew, with many parallels to Polyphemus in Homer’s Odyssey.

4th Voyage: He ends up on an island of cannibals and then on another island where he is buried in a cave alive and forced to kill a bunch of people to survive.

5th Voyage: His ship is destroyed by Rocs and then he is ridden by the Old Man in The Sea until he gets him drunk on wine to escape..

6th Voyage: Crew starves and then he ends up in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) which turns out to be a magical land of riches

7th Voyage: He ends up in a great city, marries the kings daughter and then realizes all the people turn into birds once a month. He has the bird men fly him high enough to hear God, but fire from heaven killed the birdmen, because they were actually devils, so he took his wife and went home.
                    72. Shahnameh

A long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, it is the world's longest epic poetry written by a single poet. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century. The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Sassanid ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest and an end to the Zoroastrian influence in Iran.