Guided Reading for The Western Traditions.

Find the answer to each of these questions as it is given in the textbook before moving on to the next question. Some answers, drawn from the textbook alone, will be rather simplistic. They can, and should, be elaborated upon as your knowledge of the subject grows.

Pages 409 - 428:

 

The symbol (*) after a question indicates that these might be used for longer essays in your quizzes.

The areas of interest here are Mediaeval Islam and the nature of the Islamic Mosque or Masjid.

     

  1. Is Sufism a "sect" of Islam or something else?

    2.  

  2. What must happen to the novice Sufi?

    3.  

  3. Who managed to combine mysticism with "impeccable Sunni orthodoxy?"

    4.  

  4. The "spiritual journey" of a Sufi disciple consists of many "stations" and "states." As what is such a state described?

    5.  

  5. Is fana the final object of the Sufi’s quest?

    6.  

  6. What is said to be a "third way" between rational wisdom and esoteric gnosis?

    7.  

  7. To which ancient tradition, from what source, did Suhrarwardi belong?

    8.  

  8. What did Ibn ‘Arabi’s doctrine of the unity of being imply about the various religions?

    9.  

  9. What did Ibn ‘Arabi’s idea of the Perfect Man do for Muhammad?

    10.  

  10. How did ‘Attar’s allegory, The Conference of the Birds, depict the final realization of the mystical quest?

    11.  

  11. What is the Mathnavi?

    12.  

  12. The Arabic faqir and the Persian darvish are two terms for whom? What did they originally mean?

    13.  

  13. What is a Sufi silsilah? How does it begin?

    14.  

  14. In what way do the shayks of Sufi orders resemble Catholics saints? In what way are they unlike them?

    15.  

  15. What are the two practices said to be particularly characteristic of Sufi devotional practice?

    16.  

  16. Why are the "whirling dervishes" called the "Mevlevi" order?

    17.  

  17. Why did both Islamic reform movements and Western secularism reject Sufism?

    18.  

  18. "Sufism is an other worldly religious movement that neglected the social, political, and military requirements of jihad." Is this a true claim?

    19.  

  19. What are the essential features of a mosque? (*)

    20.  

  20. Are minarets characteristic of all mosques?

    21.  

  21. Is there a universal Islamic architecture that is uniform around the whole world?

    22.  

  22. What are the three themes or motifs of Islamic art?

    23.  

  23. What does the Qur’an specify about the making of images?

    24.  

  24. What has remained absent from the art of Muslims?

    25.  

  25. What is the dar al-Islam?

    26.  

  26. Who were the Sasanians (or Sassanids) and under whose control did they come?

    27.  

  27. When did North Africa come under Muslim control?

    28.  

  28. What happened with the shift of the Muslim capital from Damascus to Baghdad?

    29.  

  29. In what and how have religious scholars and Sufi masters recently played a crucial role?

    30.  

  30. When did the Arabs conquer the Iberian Peninsula?

    31.  

  31. When was the period of Arab Spain? (*)

    32.  

  32. Which Moroccan dynasty in Spain hastened the trend towards the Christian reconquest of Spain? Why was this?

    33.  

  33. What happened in 732 CE?

    34.  

  34. By what time was Islam a formidable social and political force in Africa?

    35.  

  35. What is the relation of the Swahili language to Arabic?

    36.  

  36. When and from where did the Khoja Isma‘ilis migrate to Africa?

    37.  

  37. In what present-day country were the famous cities of Samarkand (Samarqand) and Bukhara?

    38.  

  38. Who succeeded the Samanids as rulers of the Middle East in the Eleventh century?

    39.  

  39. Who reached their peak in the sixteenth century? What was the extent of their power? (*)

    40.  

  40. How did the crescent come to be seen as the symbol of Islam?

 

Additional Notes: