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Chapter Outline
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  1. The Islamic World
    1. Overview of Islamic civilization
      1. Meaning of Islam and Muslim
      2. Geographic setting
      3. The pre-Islamic Arabs
      4. Desert Bedouins
      5. Urban Arabs
      6. Jewish and Christian neighbors

  2. Muhammad, the Prophet
    1. Life and teachings of Muhammad
      1. The Quraysh tribe
      2. The cities of Mecca and Medina
      3. Jihad and the expansion of Islam
      4. The purification of the Kaaba
    2. The Islamic Empire and Muhammad's successors
      1. Theocracy and the role of the Caliph
      2. The early post-Muhammad years
      3. The Umayyad Dynasty
      4. The Abbasid dynasty, the golden age of Islam, 754–1258
      5. Collapse of the caliphate and the rise of mutually hostile Islamic states

  3. Islam as Religion
    1. Two central beliefs: monotheism and revelation
    2. Relation to Jewish and Christian prophetic tradition
    3. The Qur'an
    4. The Hadith, or "the Tradition"
    5. Islamic educational system
    6. Five Pillars of the Faith
      1. The affirmation of faith
      2. Prayer
      3. Fasting
      4. Alms-giving
      5. Pilgrimage
      6. Optional sixth: jihad
    7. Sufist influence and challenge
    8. The Sharia, or holy law

  4. Medieval Islamic Culture
    1. Preservation of classical heritage
    2. Heirs to the Greek learning tradition
    3. Islamic medical science: Muhammad al-Razi
    4. Philosophy
      1. Avicenna
      2. Averroës
    5. History
      1. Different themes
      2. Ibn Khaldun and the Muqaddima
    6. Technology
      1. Papermaking
      2. Hydraulics
      3. Mechanical engineering
    7. Encounter sidebar: Islamic scholars and Muslim contributions to science and mathematics
    8. Literature
      1. The Arab language
      2. Adab
      3. Arab poetry
          4. a) The qasida form
          b) The Seven Odes
          c) The lament: al-Khansa
          d) The ghazal form: Jamil
          e) The Ring of the Dove: Ibn Hazm
          f) Diwan-e Shams and the Masnavi: Rumi
      4. Prose
          5. a) Background
          b) The maqamah genre: al-Hamadhani and al-Hariri
          c) The Thousand and One Nights
    9. Art and architecture
      1. Complex adaptations of sources
          2. a) Impact of Qur'anic prohibition against figurative art
            (1) The arabesque
            (2) Calligraphy as visual art
          b) Greco-Roman, Byzantine, and Persian influences
      2. Architecture
          3. a) Dome of the Rock: Roman and Byzantine influences
          b) The dominant structure: the mosque
            (1) Typical mosque design
            1. Domes (sometimes)
            2. Minarets
            3. Minbars
            (2) The traditional Congregational mosque layout
            1. Abd al-Rahman and the Great Mosque
            2. The Ibn Tulun Mosque
            (3) The teaching mosque: The Great Mosque of Isfahan
          c) Palaces: The Alhambra
      3. Painting
          4. a) Book painters and the Persian miniature tradition
          b) Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti
      4. Music
          5. a) A controversial historical topic
          b) Religious purposes
            (1) Prayer and calls to prayer
            (2) Qur'anic chants
            (3) Holiday poetry
          c) Characteristics
            (1) Microtonal system
            (2) Vocal traditions
            (3) Instrumental traditions

  5. The Legacy of Medieval Islam






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