History of Islam

There are a number of problems that Sunnis and Shiites have with one another.

1) Theology: The Muslim community was united while Mohammed was the leader of this community. Most Muslims hold, however, that he never specifically chose a successor to his leadership. There was a minority in the community that supported the candidacy of 'Ali, the Prophet's son-in-law, this political faction became known as the "Supporters of 'Ali" which in Arabic is Shiat 'Ali (where the modern term "Shiite" comes from). They derived their support from specific hadiths and events that they claimed showed that God had revealed to Mohammed that 'Ali would succeed him. The majority of Muslims held that these hadiths and events showed nothing more than that 'Ali was very pious, something they did not deny. Therefore they gave power to the man who was Mohammed's second-in-command and father-in-law Abu Bakr. This majority were called the People of the Customs [of the Prophet] which in Arabic is Ahl Sunna (from where the modern term "Sunni" comes from.)

2) Historical Grievances: The primary reason this division persists is that there has never been an atonement by either side for the pain and persecution that it has suffered when the other was in power over a given territory. Although, Shiites endured more persecution at the hands of Sunnis than the reverse, this is not to say that Sunnis have not endured persecution at Shiite hands. Both groups remain defiant that since they have the moral high-ground as granted from their faith, their actions in repressing the other sect, torturing its adherents, and murdering its leaders was progress towards removing the heresy. Compare this to the Catholics, who have apologized for the Rape of Byzantium, which was huge historical grievance between them and the Orthodox.

3) Ethnic Identities: In many countries, especially Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, people identify "ethnically" by their sect of religion. Therefore saying somebody is Shiite in Iraq is similar to how people view being Irish-American or Japanese-American in the United States. It marks you socially and it determines who your friends are, who you marry, what jobs you take, who you love, who you despise, etc. As a result, whenever conflict has broken out, each religious group comes together to defend its people's interests. This results in political and social hatred of the other religion in addition to any theological issues.

4) Rumors of the Other's Theology: Some Sunnis think that Shiites are deluded into believing that 'Ali was a second prophet, which would violate Mohammed being the final capstone of the Prophets, a huge theological issue. Some Shiites believe that Sunnis were paid off to accept the three Rightly-Guided Caliphs before 'Ali and that Sunni Islam was therefore corrupt and ineligible to continue the Islamic tradition. Both have alleged the other was deceived by Jews, which says more about how Muslims view Jews than each other. Of course, both of these are mis-characterizations of the actual theologies of these two sects, but the point remains that as long as these problematic rumors exist, the two sides cannot reconcile.

5) Approaches to Government: Ever since the abolition of the Caliphate in 1936, Sunni Islam has been leaderless and there has come to be an understanding that religion does not participate in actual governance. (This is not a separation of church and state since the two can cooperate closely, but this prevents direct theocracy.) Shiites, on the other hand, have religious leaders called Ayatollahs who do attempt to have terrestrial authority and in Iran have actually achieved it.

The Roman slave trade varied. The slaves were captured by the Roman Army. If a captured prisoner did not get sent to the arena or some other place to be killed, he or she would be sold as a slave. Slaves could work half a day for their master and half a day for themselves. The children of slaves would be free people. They would not be slaves. When the Roman Empire stopped expanding its source of slaves greatly decreased.

In the Atlantic slave trade, the Arabs captured the slaves and sold them to the western ship captains. When they crossed the Atlantic, the situation varied. Some of the Latin American nations followed Roman Law. When the nations gained independence and the slaves died, their children were free and slavery ended. Brazil retained the Latin system except that children born to slave parents were slaves. In English colonies slaves belonged to their masters 24 hours a day. The children of slaves remained slaves.

it's democratic goodwill versus goodwill of individual leadership. who knows better?it's about culture versus fundamental culture at the grassroot level. who knows the army and forces of a nation again? it's a clash of goodwill which i support. thanking you vaibhav aksh

The Reconquista. Jews and Muslims alike were driven out of Spain. The Reconquista ended in 1492 when Moorish Granada surrendered. The Muslims were allowed to remain in Spain. The Jews and the Muslims were expelled later.

King Richard knew they were very alike. He respected that Saladin was an honorable man, doing what he can to fight for his religion.

This was returned by Saladin, who actually gave fresh water and fruit to Richard when he fell ill during the third crusade.

Saladin was portrayed as a great and honorable man in many European illuminated manuscripts, and the population of Europe respected him.

Richard the Lionheart was respected by the Muslim population.

It makes you wonder, why is there so much hate between us today?

Often times, the environment we grow up in influences the thoughts we have and the decisions we make.

Many suicide bombers come from backgrounds where they are brainwashed into believing they are doing the right thing by killing others-

Religion, geography, political influences and economic conditions may all play a role in their decision,

A suicide bomber may seek martyrdom, honor, rewards in the afterlife or may even do it so that their family receives monetary compensation.

Or some people may just be inherently evil and gain pleasure from harming others -

Whatever the reason, in the end of the day there is no justified reason for murdering innocent people.

The Persian empire was known for its artisans who produced rugs and pottery.

It depends on what you mean by famous, but some prominent Muslims in the world today include: Mohamed Mustafa ElBaradei (a nuclear scientist with the IAEA who developed safer nuclear technologies), Naguib Mahfouz (an Egyptian literary genius), and Muhammad Yunus (an economist who developed micro-finance). All three of these men have received Nobel Prizes for their work.

Famous Muslim celebrities in the West include: Mehmet Oz (a celebrity doctor affiliated with Oprah Winfrey), Maz Jobrani (a stand-up comic), Aasif Mandvi (contributor on the Daily Show), Ennis Esmer (series lead in the Canadian TV series The Listener), and Tariq Ramadan (Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University and Islamic Apologist).

Up until the year 1100, Islamic Scholars preserved and enhanced science, most of which had been formulated by the Greek and Roman Empires. During that period, Islam embraced a very open and Platonic philosophy or technological progress. After that point, they adopted a far more close-minded view towards science. The Christian world had the reverse, losing many of these ancient sources of philosophy, maths, sciences, literature, and history. During the Middle Ages, Christians were closed off to these "Non-Christian ideas" believing them to be demonic. During the Renaissance, European culture finally accepted the central validity of science and, by using Islamic advances, were able to pioneer modern technologies.

Since the Byzantines and Sassanian Persians considered each other the only real civilizations in the region, they fought each other numerous times in the early 600s C.E. over control of what is today East Turkey and Iraq. These were intense religious wars (Christian vs. Zoroastrian) and greatly weakened both empires at just the wrong time, leading to a very porous southern defense and miscalculation of the Islamic Armies. Because of this, the Muslims were able to completely destroy Sassanid Persia and conquer over two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire.

Baghdad, Iraq was the capital of the Abbassid Caliphate, which was largest and most powerful Islamic Empire at that time (of the several that existed).

Córdoba, Spain was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate and Fez, Morocco was the capital of the Idrissid Caliphate.

The last powerful Islamic empire was The Ottoman Empire. That's capital was Constantinople (present Istanbul ). Osman bey formed the ottoman state in 1299. After the fall of Constantinople by Mehmed II, the state turned to empire. They used to rule the whole middle east and some part of eastern Europe. Ottoman empire's main area is present days' turkey.None could challenge the ottomans before the beginning of nineteenth century. Things were still good until the first world war. In WW1, Ottomans joined for the Germans. During the war, there condition became bad . The empire was partitioned by the treaty of Sevres and that turned to sultanate or kingdom . That was also abolished by Kemal Pasha on Nov 1,1922.Before the declaration of Republic of Turkey by him, Turkey's sultan was considered as Caliph of All Muslims of the world.. However, some historians claim that Iran and Saudi Arabia are current Islamic Empires. Additionally, the Republic of Turkey has Neo-Ottoman ambitions under the Prime Ministry of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

• Spain gets rich and powerful .
• Fought for Christianity
• The reconquista drew to an end in 1492 because the Christian Spanish and Portugese successfully drove the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula.

Like many a conquering army in ancient and medieval times, the Muslim forces were motivated by their sense of holy mission, but also by the prospect of loot. Wealthy warriors, who could afford horses, became the cavalry and the poorer ones the infantry. The fighting forces led the way through the invaded territories and behind them, often miles away, followed their support staff: the cooks and quatermasters, some prostitutes and personal slaves, doctors, and of course, their loot and people to watch over it. These are collectively called the "baggage trains." What happened at Tours was that the Muslims were assaulting and the Christians were defending and it was all pretty evenly matched through most of the day when rumor started that the Christians had attacked the trains. The cavalry, who naturally had the most loot, dashed back to the rear to protect their stuff, leaving the infantry, who couldn't move as fast, thinking they were being deserted. That sort of thing always has a bad effect of moral, and the Christians rapidly gained the upper hand. The Muslims were beaten back (presumably with their loot) and very slowly that invasion of Europe turned into a retreat, known as the Reconquista. Who knows? But for some mounted mujahideen who thought more of their swag than their god, we might all be speaking Arabic today.

The part of Spain under Moorish control was called Al-Andalus

The term Islamic Renaissance is probably not the best to use, because it carries an implication of a time in Islam before it analogous to the Dark Ages or Middle Ages. I think it is better termed the Islamic Golden Age, as it is often called.

The Islamic Golden Age was a time of great scientific flowering, which happened almost as soon as Islam began to be spread. It started in about 750 AD, and its ending is reckoned as 1258, when Baghdad was sacked. During this time, Muslim scientists made remarkable scientific progress, and much of their thinking spread to Europe, much to the benefit of the Europeans.

An example of their work can be seen in their scientific investigation of medicine. In the article cited below in Islamic Medicine, the following extraordinary quote appears in a context clearly referring to practices of the Islamic Golden Age: Like in other fields of Islamic science, Muslim physicians and doctors developed the first scientific methods for the field of medicine. This included the introduction of mathematization, quantification, experimentation, experimental medicine, evidence-based medicine, clinical trials, dissection, animal testing, human experimentation and postmortem autopsy by Muslim physicians, whilst hospitals in the Islamic world featured the first drug tests, drug purity regulations, and competency tests for doctors.

The European Renaissance is a time that began in about 1350, give or take a few decades, and lasted to 1600 or 1650. It is a time in which people of Europe congratulated themselves for their recovery to the cultural levels of ancient Rome, after what they clearly viewed as a long and inferior time called the Middle Ages or Dark Ages.

My own view is that in terms of science and superstition, the Renaissance was hardly better than the Middle Ages, and in many ways was worse, as can is clearly exemplified by the introduction of witch hunts, which did not happen until just about the time the Renaissance began, when papal authority for inquisition of sorcerors was granted in 1320. By contrast, laws of the Early Middle Ages made the burning of supposed witches a capital crime and denounced the believe in witchcraft as superstitious. Please see the link on the history of witch hunts cited below.

Both the Renaissance and the Islamic Golden Age were times of great flowering of the arts, with great creativity in decoration, architecture, music, and literature.

I have no doubt whatever that others will disagree about my views of Renaissance science. I am leaving reference links below, and I hope that those who disagree will do the same.

Saladin

Saladin was the bigger hero because even accounts from the Crusaders say that Saladin was kind and Merciful

Also Richard The Lionheart had many prisoners killed after they surrendered

When moors c the control over spain lots of stuff happened lots of good stuff lots

The question makes an assumption which reverses what actually happened historically. As the Islamic Caliphates expanded, they led to the homogenization of the languages under their authority and the proliferation as Arabic as the dominant language of communication. It was not Arabic that led to the growth of the Islamic Empires, rather the Islamic Empires that led to the growth of Arabic.

Once we start getting into international politics and peaceful Islamic evangelism, having a written language, such as Arabic was, was very impressive to the rulers of several empires, especially the Kingdom of Ghana. In order to educate his civil servants about writing, he embraced Islam and set up Islamic schools. In this way Islam spread to new empires, but these regions did not join with the dominant Caliphates in the Middle East and North Africa, but remained independent empires.

Venn diagram

Richard Both Saladin

English Muslim

Born in England Born in Kurdistan

Known as "Richard the lion hearted" KNown as "Salah ad-din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub"

was a King (Righteousness of Faith)

Both were leaders in the 3rd crusade