Beirut and notes on Islam

Beirut
Originally uploaded by Sean Barnard

Notes on Islam . . .

Prayer five times a day. Before dawn: “prayer is better than sleep...” also at noon, afternoon, evening and nighttime.

Mosque: center of worship as well as a community center (fellowship, food, lessons, etc).
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Minarets: towers from which emanates the call to prayer.

Friday: day of special devotion & sermons.

In the mosque: courtyard & fountain
- ablutions: ritual washing of hands & feet
- no shoes
- lamps & rugs & pulpit
- screen to separate women’s area / modesty

Koran / Qu’ran
Islam: submission to the will of God.
Muslim: one who submits.
Qu’ran: suicide forbidden.
Infidel! one who does not believe in God.
Jihad: holy war of conquest (see Crusades). Created an Islamic Empire.

Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul: ancient city on the Black Sea which has been Roman, Christian and, today, Muslim.

bene “good” (Latin)
dicte “speaking”
benediction - a blessing.

Petra, Jordan: elaborate buildings carved into rock cliff.
petr oleum: “rock” “oil”

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Independent work . . .

Research and compare (both sims & difs)
a) falconry and camel racing.
b) the nations of Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
c) the Arabian horse and the Mustang.
d) yogurt and the date - of the date palm.
e) Ibn Battuta and Ibn Saud.
f) Compose a skit (group project) that will bring to life the biographies and teaching of Abraham, Muhammad and Jesus of Nazareth. You may be lighthearted but not blasphemous.


1. City known as a French-influenced and liberal tourist center on the Mediterranean:
a) Cairo b) Beirut c) Jerusalem d) Damascus
2. Giza is a small Egyptian municipality with an enormous and ancient tourist attraction. Giza is near a) Cairo b) Alexandria c) Jerusalem d) Beirut.
3. Minarets are towers that are built alongside a mosque. From the minaret Muslims are called to a) Jihad b) prayer c) Islam d) muezzin.
4. Terrorists of 9/11/01 were mostly from Egypt and mostly well-educated family men. T / F
5. Location of the World Trade Center: a) Lower Manhattan b) Upper Brooklyn c) Lower Queens d) Upper Bronx.
6. The dr’bkke or doumbek is a Middle eastern instrument of this type: a) drum b) tambourine c) fiddle d) lute.
7. Saudi Arabia, principally a vast desert, has no major bodies of water and one range of Eastern mountains. T / F
8. Based on terrain, name the nation that will have the most rainfall: a) Yemen b) Oman c) UAE d) Kuwait.