Chapter 3 Matching Exercise

(Arabic: consultation): A committee or council, as well as the concept of “mutual consultation,” which the Quran prescribes as the preferred method for decision-making in government.

State or crown lands.

A collection of sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that are considered the most important religious guide for Muslims apart from the Quran. Essentially the documentation of the Sunna or custom of the Prophet.

Credibility

Raids or raiding among Bedouin Arabs.

Located in central to southern Iraq, this was an area of rich alluvial plains fed by intricate canals and irrigation systems. It was critical to the financial health of the Abbasid caliphate.

A tax paid by non-Muslims.

Land tax paid based on the area of one’s holdings and types of crops cultivated.

(Arabic: struggle): Often translated in the West as “holy war,” it has come to refer to those who fight in the way of Islam, or mujahideen (holy warriors). In traditional Islam, it refers as much to an inner struggle to become a better Muslim.

The first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali) of the Islamic community following the death of Muhammad. They are believed by Muslims to be the “rightly guided ones.”

(Arabic: the way or path): Islamic law.

singular Sharif: Literally meaning “noble,” it is a title often given to those who are descended from the family of the Prophet Muhammad, the Hashimites. It is also something of an honorific title given to tribal or religious leaders. In this book it is also a reference to the so-called latecomers in the early Islamic period, a group of tribal shaykhs and other nobles from Arabia who migrated to Iraq, but because they converted to Islam later than earlier groups felt somewhat disadvantaged, especially in terms of salary (ata) and position, which they resented.