Persecution of MuslimsThe persecution of Muslims has been recorded throughout the history of Islam, beginning with its founding by Muhammad in the 7th century. In the early days of Islam in Mecca, pre-Islamic Arabia, the new Muslims were frequently subjected to abuse and persecution by the Meccans (also called Mushrikun by Muslims), a polytheistic Arab tribal confederation. In the contemporary period, Muslims have faced religious restrictions in some countries. Various incidents of Islamophobia have also occurred, such as the Christchurch mosque shootings.
Islamic cultureIslamic culture or Muslim culture refers to the historic cultural practices that developed among the various peoples living in the Muslim world. These practices, while not always religious in nature, are generally influenced by aspects of Islam, particularly due to the religion serving as a effective conduit for the inter-mingling of people from different ethnic/national backgrounds in a way that enabled their cultures to come together on the basis of a common Muslim identity.
History of Islamic economicsBetween the 9th and 14th centuries, the Muslim world developed many advanced economic concepts, techniques and usages. These ranged from areas of production, investment, finance, economic development, taxation, property use such as Hawala: an early informal value transfer system, Islamic trusts, known as waqf, systems of contract relied upon by merchants, a widely circulated common currency, cheques, promissory notes, early contracts, bills of exchange, and forms of commercial partnership such as mufawada.
Islam and other religionsOver the centuries of Islamic history, Muslim rulers, Islamic scholars, and ordinary Muslims have held many different attitudes towards other religions. Attitudes have varied according to time, place and circumstance. The Qur'an distinguishes between the monotheistic People of the Book (ahl al-kitab), i.e. Jews, Christians, Sabians and others on the one hand and polytheists or idolaters on the other hand. There are certain kinds of restrictions that apply to polytheists but not to "People of the Book" in classical Islamic law.
KairouanKairouan (UKˌkaɪr(ʊ)ˈwɑːn, USkɛərˈ-), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan (al-Qayrawān æl qɑjrɑˈwæːn, Qeirwān qɪrˈwɛːn), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661–680); this is when it became an important centre for Sunni Islamic scholarship and Quranic learning, attracting Muslims from various parts of the world. The Mosque of Uqba is situated in the city.
Ghazi (warrior)A ghazi (غازي, ɣaːziː, plural ġuzāt) is an individual who participated in ghazw (غزو, ), meaning military expeditions or raiding. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and later taken up by Turkic military leaders to describe their wars of conquest. In the context of the wars between Russia and the Muslim peoples of the Caucasus, starting as early as the late 18th century's Sheikh Mansur's resistance to Russian expansion, the word usually appears in the form gazavat (газават).
Swahili coastThe Swahili coast ( Pwani ya Waswahili, in Swahili) is a coastal area of the Indian Ocean in East Africa inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Dar es Salaam; Sofala (located in Mozambique); Mombasa, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi (in Kenya); and Kilwa (in Tanzania). In addition, several coastal islands are included in the Swahili coast such as Zanzibar and Comoros. Areas of what is today considered the Swahili coast were historically known as Azania or Zingion in the Greco-Roman era, and as Zanj or Zinj in Middle Eastern, Indian, and Chinese literature from the 7th to the 14th century.
Islamic revivalIslamic revival (تجديد , lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also الصحوة الإسلامية , "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion, usually centered around enforcing sharia. A leader of a revival is known in Islam as a mujaddid. Within the Islamic tradition, tajdid is an important religious concept, called for periodically throughout Islamic history and according to a sahih hadith occurring every century.
Umayyad dynastyThe Umayyad dynasty (Banū Umayya) or Umayyads (al-Umawiyyūn) was an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe who were the ruling family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the pre-Islamic period, they were a prominent clan of the Meccan tribe of Quraysh, descended from Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Despite staunch opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Umayyads embraced Islam before the latter's death in 632.
Umayyad MosqueThe Umayyad Mosque (al-Jāmiʿ al-Umawī), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Its religious importance stems from the eschatological reports concerning the mosque, and historic events associated with it. Christian and Muslim tradition alike consider it the burial place of John the Baptist's head, a tradition originating in the 6th century. Muslim tradition holds that the mosque will be the place Jesus will return before the End of Days.
