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Sanctuary, often a religious sanctuary. Also a reference to forbidden areas.
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Daily prayers recited by Muslims and one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
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Annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, considered to be one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Muslims are expected to undertake the hajj at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able.
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“Island” in Arabic, this is a reference to the geographic area across present-day north-central Syria and Iraq that fell between, like an island, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
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The square shrine (draped in black silk embroidered with gold) that sits at the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is considered the most holy site in Islam. It is the point of orientation for Muslim prayer.
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Meaning “two natures,” it is a reference to the Christian belief in the two natures of Jesus Christ, divine and human miraculously fused into one. It became the official religion of the Byzantine Empire at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE, in opposition to Monophysites.
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Members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Christian religion in Egypt, or a more generic cultural term for Egyptian Christians.
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Meaning “one nature,” it is a reference to Christians who believe that Jesus Christ has one divine nature and not both human and divine, as in Diophysism.
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Those who followed Muhammad and accompanied him from Mecca to Medina in the Hijra in 622 CE.
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(Arabic: the helpers): These helpers were residents of Medina who took the Prophet Muhammad and his followers (the Muhajirun) into their homes after the hijra from Mecca. They became an important interest group in early Islam.
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(related, dhimmi) (Arabic: People of the Book): A term found in the Quran, designating Jews, Christians, and Sabians as believers in a revealed book, specifically the Bible or Torah. Special protections were extended to those deemed dhimmi or protected ones under Muslim rule, in return for a tax paid (jizya).
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The tribe into which the Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca. It controlled trade and dominated in Mecca during the time of the Prophet.
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