Chapter 3 Matching Exercise

A Muslim’s standing or precedence in the community, which often determined one’s salary (ata) and position.

State or crown lands.

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

Raids or raiding among Bedouin Arabs.

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: 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.

A tax paid by non-Muslims.

A senior military position in the Abbasid caliphate that came to surpass the civilian bureaucracy, effectively relegating the caliphs to ceremonial figureheads by 936. The term is translated as “commander of commanders.”

Credibility

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.

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.

Spiritual leader of a Muslim community.