Islam And The Middle East

About 90 percent of Egyptians are Islamic. Most of them are Sunni Muslims. The other 10 percent is christian. Early Islam was spreading wildly throughout the Middle East. The spread of Islamic as well as economic and social factors fueled this expansionism. By the end of the Islam’s first century, Islamic armies had reached far into North Africa and eastward and northward into Asia. Among those first countries Egypt.

There are many ways that the Islam and “The West” can be seen as competing global systems between 1500 and 1800. By the late 17th century, Islamic power began to retreat while the European economic and military imperialism began to rise. The main focuses to European success, were the nation wide support systems for their naval and their very condescending warships. The Portuguese were singularly active along the West coast of India and Islamic influence remained strong because of their comparison with the native populations. Muslim control of the "Spice Islands" and many different neighboring regions was shown by the success of Acheh, an Islamic state on the northeastern part of Sumatra. It provided a counterbalance to the Portuguese existence

If you had the choice of being a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew living in the Middle East, which would be your first choice? The Middle East is home to three key religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, which all face conflicts with each other that affects the Middle East region in many ways. All three of these religions were developed and established within the Middle East before sporadically spreading worldwide. (Religion: Three Religions) All three of these religions are traced back to father Abraham so Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are considered “Abrahamic religions”. (Religion: Three Religions) Judaism is dated to be the “oldest surviving monotheistic religion arising in the eastern Mediterranean in the second millennium”. (Religion:

From the time period of 1000-1750 C.E, Islam had a tremendous culture, economic, and political impact on Europe. It introduced Europe to new agricultural technology, exchange of ideas, trade goods that would influence Europe development.

The Middle East is a region of Western Asia and Egypt; some of the countries in this region are Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. According to Anderson, Seibert & Wagner (2006), this region is of vast geo-economic importance and since ancient times, it has been a center of world affairs. This part matters to almost all superpowers. The geographic factors that contribute to the strategic importance of the Middle East are; trade routes, oil, terrain or geography, ideology, and faith. The Middle East has always been a destination for both tourists and entrepreneurs.

One minor solution that anyone is able to accomplish is making people aware of what is going on in the world. We are constantly caught up in our own lives that we are rarely given the chance to observe what's going on in the world that we are living in. Spreading awareness and getting more people involved in organizations to help out others all over the world, especially in the Middle East that are constantly being attacked in their home towns. Not only will this be helping them, but it will also grow some kind of positive connection with them and hopefully they eventually not everyone will perceive the United States as an unpleasant or an unwelcoming nation. (“How the United States is perceived in the Arab and Muslim Worlds, 1.)

Arabs, as part of the Eastern world, have been and are continually othered by the West. In fact, the continuous process of vilification and negative portrayals has created some kind of general opinion and understanding of Arabs and Islam both in the United States and in the rest of the world. According to some sweeping generalizations, an Arab should be someone coming from the Middle East. An Arab should necessarily be a Muslim. An Arab should be either a rich sheikh with a beard and a long robe or a Bedouin roaming the deserts with his camels and flocks of sheep. An Arab should be a terrorist driven by the heavenly promise of angelic women in the afterlife and who coldheartedly kills innocent people, mainly Americans and Europeans,

Islamism : Islam is a political ideology that guides the political and social aspects within a society. It had embodied a secular nations states and related with Western values. This belief was used in the 20th century that had ultimately led to political terrorism.

The document is an extract taken from the book al-Mar’a al-Jadida (The New Woman, 1900) written by Qasim Amin (1863-1809), an Egyptian lawyer ‘renowned for his support of women 's liberation in the Islamic world’. Amin’s strong will to stand up against public opinion in Egypt 's contemporary society as well as his aristocratic background and attitude toward the masses and politics, led him to see reform from a special position. Although Amin despised politics in general, he makes mention of authoritarianism in the extract, which he believed was a root of Muslim decline in Egypt. The majority of the extract focuses instead on the reform of social and ethnic conditions.

From 610 to 750 C.E., Bedouins and other Arabian tribes began to settle in the Arabian Peninsula, mainly in Medina and Mecca. Like many other new and unorganized ancient civilizations, the Bedouins worshiped many gods without a strong, centralized government in the hope of making their nation stronger, leading to tribal warfare and lack of control. When an Arabian prophet named Muhammad came to the people, he taught many new things about this holy god named Allah and a promising way of life if you followed his way. This caused many people to follow Muhammad and helped rapidly spread this religion called Islam. The use of the Qur’an and the power of Allah helped Islam expand. Also, the Muslims had control of Mecca, which allowed them to spread their culture and ideas to people rapidly around the world.

Abrahamic religions, religions that derive from the biblical character Abraham, have three main religions in the group. The first, and oldest, is Judaism, founded several thousand years ago in the Middle East; then there is Christianity, the most popular religion in the world, which was founded shortly after the death of Christ; finally, there is Islam, the second most popular religion in the world, founded by the prophet Muhammed in the 7th century ACE. Islam has over one billion followers of the Islamic faith. Although it is one of the most popular religions in the world, many people do not know much about what Muslims, followers of Islam, believe in. Due to the rising publicity of militant terrorist groups in the Middle East, Islamophobia has become rampant in many first-world countries. Although the media portrays violent and barbaric acts performed by militant Muslims, a majority of Muslims do not commit such atrocities and are wrongly persecuted. Only by educating those who do not know about Islam, can it be assured that Islamophobia will dwindle.

Historians, specifically American historians of the 21st century have demonstrated an interest in the Middle East in Islam, due to Americans frequent contact with the Middle East in the early 1960s. Islam and the Middle East have played a remarkable role in Americans discussion and reaction to the events that took place on September 11th, 2001. During this time Americans were beginning to regard the Middle East, Muslims, and Islam as one entity. Americans and the world regarded the Middle East as Islam and Islam as the Middle East. Thus, this correlation between the two made Muslims say Muslim Americans and Muslims in America as less western and more of another, but they were also seen as untrustworthy individuals. Additionally, prior to the September 11th, attacks and an after effect of September 11, was that Muslim men were violent and Muslim women as oppressed individuals. Thus, the perception of Islamophobia and the threat it brings to western society has impacted the discussion of Islamophobia in America.

Islam became popular do to its clarity. The Arabian peninsula was having vigorous debates over different versions of Judaism and Christianity. Islam offered a single path and narrative. It like Christianity and Buddhism is a universal religion that can be applied to several different peoples. Islam started very unified allowing for less infighting. It was also spread by armies into Byzantine and Sasanian lands. It offers salvation to its followers and a easy to understand method. Its unified start allowed it to for a hierarchy and stay united as it expanded.

How was world history depicted in the past? Was it depicted the same way as it is now? Hitherto, people believe world history is the history of the entire globe, including every country. However, the perceptions and definitions of world history have changed over time. In the past, world history meant Western history and Islam was not included. History was biased and still continues to be due to various factors as Bentley discusses. Understanding the meaning of orientalism and its true definition assists one to understand how imperative world history is to the study of the “Global Middle East.” In addition, the “Global Middle East” is a more efficient and accurate name than the socially constructed reference name, the “Middle East” because Islam exists globally, not only in the Middle East. The aforementioned point also proves the significance of the author’s view and perspective on history; it determines how readers will depict the event or era. Understanding a few Islamic historical events will clarify why world history is important and why the Global Middle East is being studied. The three events/eras that will be discussed are: the Roman Empire and its effect on the Global Middle East (306-337 CE), Ottoman religious propaganda in the 1530s, and the French invading Egypt in 1798. (class discussion 9/29)

Palestinian Arabs, and the Nazi political leaders were both adamantly against international Jewry. The Mufti as early as 1933 enthusiastically expressed his support of the Nazi party’s anti-Jewish policies, and requested that Germany no longer send its Jews to Palestine.