Exercises on Islamic Empire

(Uespi 2012) Muhammad's preaching did not please politically important groups in Arab society. His conceptions and beliefs

a) they adopted monotheism and had relations with Christianity, achieving adherence of many who visited Mecca.

b) they were elitist, without concern for the poverty situation of the time and the violence of the wars between the tribes.

c) disregarded social issues and aimed to establish a powerful empire to fight Christians in the West.

d) defended freedom for all peoples and dispensed with the adoption of a sacred book to guide prayers.

e) had relations with Greek philosophy, despising exaggerated spiritualism and organizing the power of priests.

(UFPR) The Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula extends from 711, the date of the Battle of Guadalete, when the Visigoths were defeated by the Arab invaders, until the 15th century, when, in 1492, the Catholic kings of Spain conquered the kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim nucleus in the Peninsula.

Such coexistence between Western and Arab cultures in the same geographic space, for about seven centuries, had the main consequence:

a) the realization of a cultural synthesis that generated, in the medieval centuries, a peninsular culture poorer than in any other part of Western Christendom.

b) the interpretation and updating of classical culture in Western Christianity through the contributions of the Arabs.

c) a permanent sympathy between Christians and Arabs that limited the movement of the Crusades in the Holy Land.

d) the delay of the Iberian Peninsula in the so-called experimental sciences – medicine, astronomy, mathematics, cartography and geography.

e) the development of an artistic style in the mosques that privileges the representations of human figures.

Muhammad receiving the revelation from the angel Gabriel, situation depicted in an Ottoman engraving

After the revelation given by the angel Gabriel, that he was one of the prophets of God, Muhammad began to preach a monotheistic religion among practitioners of a polytheistic religion. As a result, there was a persecution carried out by the Quraysh of Muhammad, resulting in:

a) in jihad , the holy war against non-Islamists.

b) in the Islamic crusade against polytheists.

c) in the Hijra , Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina.

d) in the writing of the Qur'an, as a way of trying to convert the Quraysh.

“When you find infidels, kill them to the point of making great slaughter and tighten the chains of the captives. When the war is over, you will either release them or give them up for ransom. I acted like this. If Allah wills it, he himself will triumph over them. But he sends you to fight to put you to the test.”

(Quran)

This holy war orientation led the Arabs to expand their Empire to vast areas, even reaching:

a) the Iberian Peninsula during the lifetime of Muhammad.

b) the entire Arabian peninsula with the four caliphs who succeeded Muhammad.

c) the entire Arabian peninsula during the rule of the Umayyad caliphs.

d) the Iberian Peninsula during the Umayyad Caliphate.

Analyze the statements below about the Empire and Islamic civilization.

I – Mohammed started his preaching in Mecca, gaining followers mainly among the poor population. Wealthy members of the Quraysh tribe saw monotheistic preaching as a threat to their economic and religious power, as the economy mainly revolved around pilgrimage to the city for visits to the Kaaba, and monotheistic preaching could drive visitors out.

II – The fourth caliph, Ali, son-in-law of Muhammad, was overthrown by members of the Umayyad tribe, linked to the caliph Othman, starting a new dynasty. In the Umayyad period, between 661 and 750, the Islamic Empire knew its greatest territorial extension, adding territories in India, Central Asia, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. In Europe, they were contained by the Franks in 732, at the Battle of Poitiers.

III – In 750, the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad dynasty, turned Baghdad into the capital of the Empire and began a process of disintegration with the institution of the emirates, which were independent caliphates, such as Cordoba and Cairo. Later, from the 13th century onwards, the empire was also conquered by the Turks, peoples from Central Asia, a process that would last until the beginning of the 20th century, while maintaining Islam as a religion.

Check the alternative:

a) if only alternatives I and II are correct.

b) if only alternatives I and III are correct.

c) if only alternatives II and III are correct.

d) if all alternatives were correct.

e) if all alternatives were incorrect.

Letter A. Like Christianity and Judaism, Islam is also a monotheistic religion, which displeased and contradicted the beliefs practiced in the region where Islam was spread, since polytheistic religions were previously practiced.

Letter B. The Arabs studied, translated and disseminated many of the works produced during the so-called Classical Antiquity, in a way, contrary to what the Catholic Church had done, which kept such works out of the reach of most people.

Letter C. Hegira means emigration and refers to the departure of Mohammed from Mecca, fleeing to Medina and managing to win a greater number of believers to Islamic monotheism.

Letter D. The dynasty of the Umayyad caliphs achieved great expansion of the empire between the 7th and 8th centuries, being later replaced by the Abbasids, who stimulated the cultural flourishing in the empire.

Letter D.