Sufi | | new religion that arose in northern India; based on the teachings of an Indian holy man, Nanak, who sought to blend Muslim monotheism and Hindu beliefs |
Nur Jahan | | the greatest monument of the Mughal empire, built by Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan, when his wife, Mumtaz, died giving birth to her 14th child |
Umayyads | | leader of Muslims discontented under the Umayyads; he captured Damascus and set up a dynasty which lasted until 1258 |
Sikhism | | known in Europe as Avicenna, he was a famous Persian physician whose great work, the Canon on Medicine, recorded what the Greeks, Arabs, and he, himself, had learned about the diagnosis and treatment of disease |
Kaaba | | the center of the international silk trade which became the capital of the Safavid empire under Abbas the Great |
Sinan | | Muslim mystic who sought communion with God through meditation, fasting, and other rituals |
Sharia | | ancient shrine in Mecca believed to have been built by the prophet Abraham |
Ibn Sina | | this caliph ruled the Muslim empire from 786 to 809 and was seen as a model ruler and a symbol of wealth and splendor in both Europe and the Muslim world |
Ibn Rushd | | leader of the Turkish and Mongol invaders who poured into India in 1526, eliminated the Delhi sultanate, and established the Mughal dynasty, which ruled from 1526 to 1857 |
janissaries | | a marriage of the Persian, Arabic, and Hindu languages, which emerged during the period of Muslim expansion in India |
Khadija | | one of the earliest Sufis who rejected marriage and devoted her life to prayer |
Baki | | the greatest Ottoman poet, whose greatest work was a moving poem lamenting Suleiman's death |
Abu al-Abbas | | fictional princess who narrated the tales in "The Thousand and One Nights" |
Harun al-Rashid | | Mongol leader who led his armies into the Middle East in the 1300s; he enslaved tens of thousands of aritsans and forced them to build him a capital at Samarkand |
Tamerlane | | the most respected doctor in Baghdad who, in the early 900s, conducted environmental research using raw meat to determine the healthiest location for a new hospital |
Quran | | set up a dynasty after Ali died and ruled the Islamic world until 750 |
Urdu | | the elite force of the Ottoman army; the best soldiers won a prized place at these palace schools |
Taj Mahal | | birthplace of Muhammad and the city associated with the fifth pillar of Islam |
Muhammad al-Razi | | known in Europe as Averroes, he was a Muslim philosopher who put all knowledge to the test of reason and whose writings on Aristotle were translated into Latin (thereby influencing Christian thinkers in medieval Europe) |
Scheherezade | | famous Muslim scholar and astronomer, best known for his collection of four-line poems in which he meditates on fate and the fleeting nature of life |
Mecca | | sacred text of Islam that teaches about God and provides a complete guide to life |
Babur | | wife of Muhammad, who ran a prosperous caravan business and encouraged Muhammad to accept God's call |
Fatima and Ali | | wife of Akbar's son, Jahangir, whose shrewd political judgment helped her run Jahangir's government |
Dome of the Rock | | Islamic system of law that regulates moral conduct, family life, business practices, government, etc. |
Omar Khayyam | | Shiites believe the only true successors to Muhammad are descendants of this couple |
Isfahan | | great Muslim shrine built in Jerusalem by Muslim architects |
Rabiah al-Adawiyya | | a janissary military engineer who designed hundreds of mosques and palaces in the Ottoman empire under Suleiman |