You may have other questions about the Islamic religion. If so, you may check this FAQ link.

Arab armies carried this religion to other parts of the world. They conquered most of North Africa, Transcaucasia, and Southwest Asia by AD 700. Islam eventually moved into southern Europe and Russia, even reaching China by AD 1000. Expansion diffusion moved the capital of Islam from Medina to Damascus, and later to Baghdad - depending on the power base at any particular time in history. Arab architecture, mathematics, engineering, and science spread over a wide area and were incorporated into other societies. The world uses Arabic numbers to this day (although they developed them from the work of the Indians). This was easily the greatest culture in the world during the 700s to 1300s.

Much of the teachings of Muhammad were written down only after his death, some of it fully one hundred years after his death. It was finally gathered into one book called the Koran (sometimes spelled Quran). This is the holy book of Islam and contains the guiding message of the faith.

After the death of Muhammad, there was a division in the faith. Muhammad had no son to be his heir and left no line of succession. The Sunnis (orthodox) believed Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, should be caliph. He was an early convert and did a lot to spread the religion. The Shi'ites (followers) believed the caliph (successor) should be a blood relative. They chose Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, to be their leader. The rift in the religion has never recovered. Look at this map to see the spatial arrangement of the faith. [Note on map: Purple indicates Sunni predominance; deep blue represents Shi'ite adherence. Other colors include dark green as Buddhism; orange is Eastern Orthodoxy; tan is Roman Catholicism; yellow is Protestantism; white is unpopulated desert.] Today, about 85% of all Muslims are of the Sunni branch. [Follow the Islamic timeline by taking this link.] The entire religion claims over one billion followers, concentrated in an arc from Morocco through Egypt, Iraq through Pakistan, and India through Indonesia in southeast Asia.

Islam today plays a major role in the culture of its followers. In some of the countries that have Islam as the dominant religion, it is difficult to tell where government stops and religion begins. Society's laws are based on Koranic law, with Koranic punishment for rule breakers. There is no separation of church and state. Some of the official Islamic republics include: Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In Algeria, the Islamic Salvation Front (ISF) is strong and the country may soon be an Islamic republic. These countries employ harsh treatment for those who disobey Islamic laws. Amputations, stoning, lashing, and more are used to deter people from wrongdoing. There have been instances in Algeria where women were lawfully burned to death in the street for not covering their faces while in public. Honor killings, where a male family member kills a female family member because she committed some supposed carnal act or misdeed, are a dark remnant of the old code. But we must remember, Christianity has its skeletons as well. The Crusades, the Inquisition, and the conversion of the New World inhabitants remains a terrible blot on the history of the Christian faith. "Judge not, lest ye be judged." Matthew 7:1

Islam also has its loving, caring side. There are places where Islam isn't so radical, and the religion can be considered on par with Christianity. In Turkey and Egypt, their governments operate free of religious fundamentalism. They have close ties with the Western countries and serve as a model of Islamic integration among the world's countries.

The events of September 11, 2001 have led the world to be more critical of what is going on in the Arab/Islamic world. In a nutshell, here is what is going on with Islam: "This is the game that produced bin Ladenism: Arab regimes fail to build a real future for their people. . . . The regimes crush the violent Muslim protesters, but to avoid being accused of being anti-Muslim the regimes give money and free rein to their most hard-line, but nonviolent, Muslim clerics, while also redirecting their publics' anger onto America through their press. Result: America ends up being hated and Islam gets handed over to the most anti-modern forces." (Thomas Friedman) America now must question its most trusted allies in the region - Egypt and Saudi Arabia, since that was where all the suicide/homicide attackers came from. We must also be extra suspicious of our most hated enemies - Iraq, Iran, the Taliban, and al Qaida.

The "Arab Street" is the actual voice of the Arab/Muslim world. This is their word-of-mouth view of the state of world affairs. Fact and rumor swirl in an amalgam of believability at market places and barber shops from Rabat to Karachi. For instance, millions upon millions of Arab/Muslims believe the terrorist attacks on the US were initiated by the Israelis (read Jews). They wholeheartedly believe 4,000 Jews didn't go to work at the World Trade Center that September day. They believe they did this to turn the US on the Arab world. Never mind the fact that al-Jazeera, the Qatari television station, transmits Osama bin Laden's messages and video clips that confirm his guilt. In the end, the Arab Street forms the groundswell of support or protest that gets many things done in the Arab world. Whether it's right or wrong doesn't seem to matter.

Regions of the Realm - [Test yourself on country locations for this realm.]

• Egypt and the Lower Nile Basin

Egypt and the Lower Nile Basin includes parched Egypt and Saharan Sudan. The region gets wetter farther to the south. It is helped by the blue ribbon of the Nile, the home to the great Nile River civilization. This area flourished because of the life-giving waters of the Nile - an exotic stream. The people who lived here were able to utilize the waters to irrigate their crops. Their ability to control irrigated farming in the Nile riparian zone (or vegetative strip next to the river) gave them power over neighbors because they used food as a weapon. They even referred to the land next to the river as "black land" and the desert areas as "red land". The predictable flooding of the Nile allowed the farmers to properly inundate their fields and increase their productivity. The Nile was also their highway of trade and interaction, but the surrounding desert kept them secure from invasions for hundreds of years. In their security, the Egyptians (as well as the Mesopotamians) domesticated wheat, barley, rye, peas, beans, grapes, apples, peaches, horses, sheep, and pigs. They also developed calendrics, mathematics, astronomy, government, engineering, metallurgy, and other skills. They even invented the wheel. Their era of dominance lasted from 3000 BC to around 30 BC. Around this time there were successive invasions from Nubians, Assyrians, and Persians. Alexander the Great, the Macedonian, established the last line of pharaohs, the Ptolemies. Romans would later dominate Egypt.

Today's Egypt has the strategic position of being the connection point of Africa and Asia, and Europe across the Mediterranean. It also owns the vital link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea - the Suez Canal. Being at a crossroads means the country is at an advantageous position globally.

Egypt has prospered from outside financial assistance. It also has command of the lower Nile. The Aswan High Dam, which began operation in 1968, controls flooding and has increased the amount of arable land.  However, their population growth actually takes up more arable land than they have reclaimed. The expanding population must have a place to live, so they occupy fertile land next to the Nile. Moreover, Egypt's rampant population growth rate has a doubling time of around 31 years. That means today's population of 68 million will be 136 million in the year 2031. That means there will be less arable land in the future. If the financial assistance from Western governments like the United States dries up Egypt will be in deep, deep trouble.  

War has been nearly constant in the region of the African Horn for the last two decades. Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Somalia have, at one time or another, been embroiled in war. Many may remember the movie "Black Hawk Down," where 18 US servicemen died trying to bring stability to an impoverished and hungry in Somalia. This country still teeters on the brink of civil war, with warlords patrolling areas outside the capital of Mogadishu. This corner of the world has more problems to count than we have time to cover.

• The Maghreb and Libya

The Maghreb includes Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. The Maghreb, or "Isle of the West" lies in isolation from the rest of Islam. Its neighbors include Libya and the northern parts of Chad, Niger, Mali, and Mauritania.

The Maghreb exists because of an important physical feature in this area - the Atlas Mountains. Orographic precipitation allows the coastlines of these countries to grow grapes, dates, apples, dates, pomegranates, citrus fruits, and olives. This well-watered region is known as the tell along the Mediterranean coast. Tell means "hill" or "small elevation" in Arabic. The term has come to characterize the coastal zone along the Mediterranean from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Suez Canal. On the leeward slopes, where it is drier, livestock grazing takes over. Looking at a map of the area one can notice the differing settlement patterns from coast to interior.

The Atlas Mountains is one of only two large mountain chains in all of Africa. [The continent of Africa is more than three times larger than the continental US.] The lack of mountains proves that Africa was the center of the super-continent Pangaea. Actually, Africa is a large plateau - an extensive, relatively flat upland area. Most of the rivers in Africa are not navigable. The rivers are characterized by rushing waterfalls, but that is a story for the realm of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Libya has been a pariah state since General Muammaru Gadhafi took control of the country. He led the coup d'état, a sudden and forcible overthrow of a government or ruler, against the royal palace and king. The Libyan Arab Republic was established in 1969, and Gadhafi has been their only leader since that time. After endorsing terrorism (by his tacit approval and by harboring terrorists) in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan tried to have him killed. When the mission failed, Gadhafi went on a quiet killing spree. He funded the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerby, Scotland where over one hundred Americans were killed (270 deaths in toto). The UN placed economic sanctions on Libya in 1992 for its refusal to extradite two Libyan citizens charged with the 1988 bombing. But in 2003, Gadhafi chose to take responsibility for the bombing (because of the impact those sanctions had on the Libyan economy). In 2003, the UN voted to lift the 11-year-long sanctions because Libya compensated the victims' families. Moreover, on December 22, 2003, Gadhafi renounced his nuclear program and was contrite. Many people also feel that his about face was because he didn't want to be the next Saddam Hussein, captured and tried by US forces. Libya now seeks to rejoin the world community and welcomed western oil companies into the country. It remains to be seen if they will be a good global neighbor.

• The African Transition Zone

The countries of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia on the Horn of Africa make up the ATZ. It also goes by the name Sahel. This region is characterized by overlapping realms. This is where Arab North Africa meets Black Africa (south of the Sahara). Muslims live in the north of these countries, while Christian or traditional religions exist to the south. In the middle these people and their customs meet and mingle. Sometimes it is a bloody affair. For example, in Sudan Christians have been fighting a 18-year civil war against the Muslims in the north (who seek to convert or enslave them). If you doubt me, speak to one of the many Sudanese men that live in Gallatin. You can tell where they are from by their dark black skin and linear scars on their foreheads. Many are relocated refugees fleeing their war-torn homeland. To listen to an NPR report click this link and scroll down to "Sudan-Slavery". You will need a "RealPlayer" to listen to the 14.4 or 28.8 streaming media six minute report.

Environmental damage is also a problem in this area. Desertification, the enlarging and spreading of desert-like conditions to semi-arid environments, occurs where livestock eats the little bit of grass that holds the soil in place. [Check this desertification map.] The herders here practice transhumance, the seasonal movement of livestock to wetter areas. Transhumance is not synonymous with nomadism since the herders typically have a home at either destination. The problem lies with the occurrence of drought. Drought, and the related lack of vegetative growth, forces the shepherds to overgraze an area. In the end, overpopulation causes desertification. That is, the carrying capacity for humans and animals has been exceeded on a particular parcel of land. There is only enough resources to maintain a certain population and many of these countries have surpassed this level.

• The Middle East

Israel, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan are the five countries that make up this region. Much of this area exists as independent states due to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire (named for ruler Osman I) dominated this area for four centuries. It includes such important civilizations as Mesopotamia (literally "land between the rivers"), where a great early civilization flourished about 10,000 years ago between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers of modern-day Iraq. 

The term "Middle East" is frequently used to demarcate much of Southwest Asia, but it is not appropriate for much of the realm. It does not apply to North Africa, or the Empire States, or the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, it only applies to the five countries of the Middle East region. The terms "Near East", "Far East", and "Middle East" were created by Europeans to denote the proximity of their neighbors. The terms "Near East" and "Far East" have fallen to disuse, but "Middle East" has held on tenaciously.

Geometric political boundaries are a major influence over many of the countries in this realm. Notice all the straight lines in the Sahara Desert. The broad expanse of nothingness, the absence of outstanding natural features, led surveyors and cartographers to delimit area by geometric lines. Also, the Mediterranean coast from Israel through Turkey is referred to as the Levant - from the French lever, "to rise," as in sunrise, meaning the east.

The foundation of a Jewish state began in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration.  Arthur James Balfour, a British cabinet secretary, issued a document that intended to establish a Zionist state in the area of Palestine. Many years passed, and many Jews died at the hands of Hitler, before the state was established in 1948. The current state of Israel and the surrounding area is the creation of the United Nations. Ceded land on May 15, 1948, the Israelis have been in conflict with the Arabs and Palestinians ever since.

Israel was formerly part of the Mandate of Palestine (as was Jordan which also became a state from this area in 1946). The United Nations intended to establish a Palestinian state as well, but the Palestinians rejected the notion of Jews owning Arab land - especially since they had been living there since the Jews were expelled from the area by the Romans in AD 70. At Israel's independence, war ensued and the Israelis took more land from the Arabs in 1949. Not content with the way things turned out during the first conflict, the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria pushed for war again. The Israelis struck first and took control of the Golan Heights (Syria), the West Bank (Jordan), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt). Another war came in the early 1970s, and eventually the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in a piecemeal fashion. (Hostilities were later resolved with the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. (Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begen of Israel won the Nobel Peace Prize for their 1978 peace agreement).