social studies
which of the following is one legacy from the empires of mali and songhai?

 a. the hajj was established as an islamic tradition.

 b. the languages they established are still spoken today.

 c. most west african nations have oral laws.

 d. christianity has spread throughout west africa.
the answer to this question is a.
the hajj was established as an islamic tradition.
the differences between sunni and shī‘ah sects of islam started out as political over a dispute of who should become the leader after muhammad's death. over time, differences have evolved in theological issues as well as socio‑political attitudes. 

immediately following the death of muhammad in 632 c.e., the issue of who would become his successor caused a major rift. ali and aisha are the central figures at the origin of the shī‘ah-sunni split. muhammad's daughter fatima married ali, her father's first cousin. ali was opposed by aisha, muhammad's child-bride who was the daughter of abu bakr. 

the term shī‘ah ( شيعة‎) is a shortened form of shī‘aht ali (شيعة علي) , which means "the followers of ali" - and at the time of ali's death in 661 c.e., that is probably all it was: a party or tendency of people who supported ali's claims to the caliphate. shī‘ah do not worship ali as some people mistakenly believe. shī‘ah feel that ali should have been the first caliph and that the caliphate should pass down only to direct descendants of mohammed via ali and fatima, they often refer to themselves as ahl al bayt or "people of the house" [of the prophet]. sunni ( سني) comes from sunna ( سنة) the arabic word meaning traditions of the prophet. sunni are also referred to as ahl ul-sunna wa-l-jama'ah (arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of tradition and congregation) which implies that the sunni are united. shī‘ah sects include twelvers, ismaili, alawi and zaidiyyah.

beliefs "aqeedah" ( عقيدة) —
sunni have two sets of enumerated creeds, the six articles of belief and the five pillars of islam. on the other hand, shī‘ah twelvers have the roots of religion and the branches of religion. 

the six sunni articles of belief (see shi'ah roots) are:
o- tawhīd ( توحيد) (monotheism) allah is the one and only one worthy of all worship. 
o- nubuwwah (prophethood) and rusul (messengers) sent by allah. 
o- kutub (books) allah (including the qur'an) 
o- mala'ika (angels) 
o- qiyâmah (يوم القيامة) (day of resurrection and judgment) (qur'an 71.18) (qur'an 31.34, 74.47) (qur'an 72.130) (qur'an 74.9) (qur'an 74.38)
o- qadar (fate) 

the five shī‘ah "usūl al-dīn" (roots of religion) are: 
o- tawhīd ( توحيد) (monotheism) allah is the one and only one worthy of all worship. (tawhid is derived from the root a,h,d = one)
o- nubuwwah (prophethood)
o- adalah (justice)
o- imāmah (leadership)
o- qiyâmah (يوم القيامة) (day of judgment)
(qur'an 71.18) (qur'an 31.34, 74.47) (qur'an 72.130) (qur'an 74.9) (qur'an 74.38).

the sunni five pillars of islam:
o- shahādah (testimony of faith)
o- salāt (prayer) 5 times per day
o- sawm (fasting during daylight hours of the month of ramadan) (qur'an 2:183-185)
o- zakāt (alms of 2.5%) - khums (the charity of 20%)
o- hajj (pilgrimage to mecca) 

the twelve shī‘ah "furū al-dīn" (branches of religion) are: 
o- salāt (prayer) includes shahādah (testimony of faith) with belief in ali (3-5 times per day)
o- sawm (fasting during daylight hours of the month of ramadan) (qur'an 2:183-185)
o- zakāt (poor-rate) khums (one-fifth)
o- hajj (pilgrimage to mecca) 
o- jihād جهاد‎ (struggle to please allah) 
o- walayah - guardianship
o- taharah - purity & cleanliness
o- amr-bil-ma'rūf (enjoining what is good) 
o- nahi-anil-munkar (forbidding what is evil) 
o- tawalla (loving ahl al-bayt and their followers ) 
o- tabarra (disassociating from the enemies of the ahl al-bayt) 

kutub given to prophets by allah 
o- sahífa (scroll revealed to nuh)
o- sahífa (scroll revealed to ibráhím)
o- taurat (the book revealed to músa)
o- zabúr (the psalms revealed to dawúd)
o- injíl (the gospel revealed to 'isa)
o- qur'án (the koran revealed to muhammad)

the sunni shahada is:
لا إله إلا الله ومحمد رسول الله lā 'ilāha 'illā llāha wa muhammadun rasūlu llāhi
the shi'ah shahada is:
la iláha il alláh, muhammadan rasúl alláh, 
-- and the phrase -- alíyun walí-alláh, wasíyu rasulillah, wa khalífa tuhu bila fasl.
"there is no god but alláh, muhammad is the messenger of alláh, alí is the friend of alláh. ali is the successor of the messenger of allah and his first caliph."

ashura ( عاشوراء‎) - 10th of muharram (january 29, 2007):
the 1st of muharram is new year's day, and with it marks the beginning of the islamic (hijri) calendar. both sunni and shī‘ah celebrate new year. shī‘ah practice maatam (self-flagellation) is practiced on ashura, the 10th of muharram, in a mourning ritual for hussain ibn ali. sunni consider this to be haram (forbidden).

since the 10th century, a distinctive institution of shī‘ah islam is the doctrine of "imamah" and "`ismah" (the spiritual leadership of the twelve imams and their infallibility) the other dogmata developed still later. shī‘ah argue that a person prone to errors of judgement and sin cannot lead people spiritually. on the other hand, sunni consider an imam to be merely a prayer leader. 

sunni recognize four "madhab" (مذهب pl. مذاهب ) schools of legal thought. the founder is called the "muhaddith".
--o hanafi (founded by an numan ibn thabit abu hanifa ca. 700-67 c.e.) 
--o maliki (founded by abd allah malik ibn anas ca. 715-95 c.e.) 
--o shafi'i (founded by muhammad ibn idris ash-shafi`i 767-820 c.e.) 
--o hanbali (founded by ahmad ibn muhammad bin hanbal 780-855 c.e.) 

shī‘ah generally follow 
--o jafri (founded by ja'far ibn muhammad ibn ali ibn husayn)

sunni accepted "ijtihad" as an important source of legislation, but they had practically blocked the road for any original thinking on the matters of reframing the laws in accordance with changing times. the shī‘ah, with their emphasis on "`aql", kept the door of new thinking on legislation open, and they gave much scope to reason for exercising its power. similarly the notion of "ijma`" (consensus), which was emphasized much by the sunnis and was given only a very minor role to play in legislation by the shī‘ah, came to be accepted as the basis of democratization by shī‘ah scholars.

so far as the justification of "taqiyyah" (dissimulation) is concerned, the islamic scholar amini admits that the sunni also follow it for it is an expedient method to ensure the survival of a faith under hostile regimes. 

according to the islamic scholar, hamid enayet, sunni believe in the inherent goodness of man, whereas shī‘ah believe that man is essentially sinful and carries a sense of guilt. 

shī‘ah divorce and inheritance in that it is more favorable to women than sunni practice. supposedly the reason for this is the high esteem in which fatima, the wife of ali and the daughter of muhammad, was held. shī‘ah recognize the practice of "muttah" ( نكاح المتعة‎ ) (fixed-term temporary marriage) which the sunni forbid.

on a practical daily level, the "adhan" (call to prayer) is different for shī‘ah and sunni. each practice wudu (partial ablutions) ghusl (full ablutions for friday prayer) and salat (prayer) differently. during salat when prostrating, shī‘ah place the forehead onto a piece of hardened clay from karbala, not directly onto the prayer mat, whereas sunni put their forehead directly on the prayer mat. during prayer, shī‘ah hold their hands at their sides whereas sunni fold their hands. shī‘ah tend to combine prayers, sometimes worshipping three times per day instead of five as the sunni do. 

shī‘ah also have some different ahadith and prefer those narrated by ali and fatima to those related by other companions of the prophet. because of her opposition to ali, those narrated by aisha count among the least favored. 

these differences are significant as evidenced by the conflict between sunni and shī‘ah in iraq.

significant differences are also in manner of dress for clerics, slightly different postures for prayer and differences regarding belief in the "mahdi" (divinely guided one of endtimes) and "dajjal" (antichrist). 

other differences are because of the culture in the country where they live. iran is predominantly shī‘ah and many of the clerics in iraq were trained in iran. almost all iranians were sunni for many centuries, and they embraced the shī‘ah faith on mass scale only after safawids came in power (1502 c.e.) 

in 1928, four years after the abolishment of the caliphate, the egyptian schoolteacher hasan al-banna founded the first islamic fundamentalist movement in the sunni world, the muslim brotherhood (al-ikhwan al-muslimun). al-banna was appalled by "the wave of atheism and lewdness [that] engulfed egypt" following world war i.

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. caste sanctions is losing its lustre in contemporary india and therefore, do not operate with the same force in all sections of indian society. however, marriage rules are still observed strictly. we see, endogamy is still the dominant mode in contemporary india but inter-caste marriages are also acceptable today in some sections of indian society particularly in the urban centres. however, this trend is also limited to the upper castes i.e. inter caste marriages between brahmin, ksatriya and vaisya or bania families. marriages outside we see, hardly run for any longer period and end in divorce or separation otherwise. this happens because the couple cannot do compromise with their distinct manners any long. the political use of the caste is increasing day-by-day to every region of india.


the structures and functions of caste system have also been deteriorated to a greater extent. the ritual injunctions and interdictions relating to food and physical contact have almost vanished since untouchability has been declared an offence liable to punishment by the laws of the land. the relations of jajmani have been replaced by clientele in urban areas. even in villages, jajmani relationships are mantained only at the ritual level.


caste system is thus, making an adequate adjustment with the changing times. it has retained its relevance by becoming more resilient and accommodative. the most important of such processes include sanskritisation, westernisation, industrialization, urbanisation and constitutional legislation. every generation of christians have seen themselves as inhabiting the "end times" but the world hasn't ended, yet.

it is possible that there will be a pitched battle near the town of megiddo on the plains of the jezreel as there have been several recorded in history.

as the 'muslim spring' appears to be bringing islamists of one group or another to power, it is possible that there will be a general religious war in the region.  countries of europe o germany  82 million people  initially was made up several tribes, royal families  unified late 1800s early 1900s  was divided after wwii  west germany = part of europe, democratic  east germany = ussr, communist  contains 16 states  highly urbanized  89% of the population  a leader in europe : manufactoring/economic stability  largest economy of europe  has the autobahn (interstate system) o france  64 million people  oldest state in europe  urban  paris 2.2 million people  contains the highest mountain in europe  mount blanc  huge in agriculture (biggest producer in europe)  cattle, grapes, cheese  known for  rich food  architecture  art o great britain  uk  62.7 million people  regions:  england, scotland, wales, northern ireland  surrounded by water:  north sea, english channel, and the atlantic ocean  the us's strongest ally  national dish:  chicken tikka masala  prominent religion  protestant o ireland  highest growing economy in the eu  uses the euro  gained independence form the uk in 1921 
  conflict between the catholics and protestants  irish republican army (ira)  english and gaelic are the national languages  strong irish influence in america  new york  boston  chicago o italy  60.5 million people  major states or regions  tuscany, milan, venice, piedmont  rich urbanized north  poor rural south  sicily is very poor and underdeveloped  origin of la cosa nostra (sicilian mafia)  milan-turin-genoa triangle  heavy manufacturing  milan is the largest city in italy o "rock" of gibraltar  2.6 sq mile area (peninsula iberian)  south spain  owned by britain  surrendered by spain in 1713 (via the war of the spanish succession)  one of the most densely populated areas in the world  12,840 people per square mile  official language is english  important militarily and economically  access to the mediterranean sea from the atlantic  recent events in ukraine o major divisions after the cold war o country divided politically  east = pro russia  west = pro europe o russia needs access to the ocean and resources  military and economic factor… o babushkas of chernobyl  self-settlers  wildlife  returning in force  invisible enemy  women who were children during stalin's reign.  starvation  stalin burned down cities and towns along with all of the agriculture. 
  lived through wwii with the nazi's.  concentration camps or forced labor.  relationships do not equal causation  the world health organization says 4000 deaths while green peace says 10000 deaths.  the women are out living the men because the men are drinking and smoking, across the world it is more accepted for a man to drink and smoke than it is for a woman.  in that case you have higher numbers of men drinking and smoking and dying from that instead of the radiation poisoning.  the town was built around chernobyl.  the people who were relocated seem to be dying sooner than the ones who came back. o russia is the biggest country by land area. o you can see alaska from russia, only 4km between the two. o physical geography  sw russia desert  main area of settlement near moscow  cannot connect to any waterways.  caspian sea o 4 regions  russian core  majority of the population  siberia  freezing  where people would be exiled  eastern frontier  desert section  separation between siberia and frontier is climate and culture  far east  not many settlements  hard to navigate the land o approximately 75% of russia is siberia has far as land area o a majority of the population lives in the russian core and the eastern frontier o physical russian geography  russian plain  west of the ural mountains; moscow (core of russia)  ural mountains (2000 miles long)  low relief mountain chain separating east/west russia  western siberia (constant elevation) 
  flat plains and forests  central siberia  moderate mountains; very cold (artic circle)  eastern highlands (mostly the yakutski basin)  one of the most remote places on earth o climate  sw desert  russian core humid continental (northern midwest into canada)  majority is subarctic. (freezing)  tundra only has a few centimeters a year that is thawed for a limited amount of time. o interesting facts about russia  continentally has a huge impact on russia's climate  similar to the upper mid-west and canada  economy is rising  it depends heavily on oil  becoming increasingly more "modern" and "western"  red square  a city square block where the government is housed  misconceptions  not called red square because it is called a communist country  not because the buildings are red  it is because the language has evolved.  used to be the slums until the 1400s o the soviet union  u.s.s.r. (cccp)  union of soviet socialistic republics  formed in 1917 after the bolshevik revolution  most citizens were very poor, unhapy with autocratic tsar systerm  industrial revolution was occuring in europe = caused  a federation of power  split of power with no true ruler  russification: the idea of replacing ethnic  areas with russians; ethnic groups moved east  command economy: a system where the government assigns sectors of production to particular areas with disregard to economic o spread of the soviet influence  after wwii, communism spread into eastern europe  china and korea 1950s  cuba in 1959 with castro 
  se asia in 1954  africa in 1970s  created tensions with the us and europe  cold war  agriculture cut off by ukraine o space race  1957 soviet union  1958 us  1965 france  1970 japan  1970 china  1971 uk  1979 esa  1980 india o post-soviet union  the russian federation  becoming more "european" culturally and politically  only 3 men have been president in the past 22 years  yeltsin  putin  medvedev  putin (again)  test april 12th o eastern europe(balkans & ukraine, rock of gibraltar) o sub-sahara africa o north africa  map quiz 6 o east asia and russia  monday 4/11 -friday 4/15  spread of religion o oldest religion  hinduism o abraham was born  ur o fastest spreading religion  islam o islam is a religion, muslim's follow islam  ddt in africa: malaria v. health risks o ethical concern  protection of the diversity of wildlife v. malaria victims dying in africa o tuberculosis is mainly in the north o diarrheal diseases due to unclean water  north africa and the middle east o interesting facts 
  the middle east is known as the "crossroads of the world" because it lies in between asia, africa and europe  hence the name "middle"  the term "arab" refers to an ethnic group not a religion  not all arabs are muslims  this confusion also exists with judaism  naswa an acronym for north africa/south-west asia  iran is the former persian empire  very large portion of the population is under 30  educated  unemployed o original three abrahamic faith  judaism (first abrahamic religions)  christianity  islam  monotheistic  the belief in one god o populations  egypt= nile river  turkey= black sea and mediterranean sea  iran= caspian sea and persian gulf  north africa = mediterranean sea  majority of populations live near water because of the dry climat o the birthplace of civilization  birthplace of man is ethiopia  fertile crescent = mesopotamia = between two rivers  neolithic = 10,000 years ago humans began to domesticate plants and animals, learned to irrigate their fields and grow the population  birthplace of many foundational concepts:  maps  60 minutes per hour; 24 hours per day  trigonometry  early medicine  irrigation  written text  the egyptian empire  highly advanced  second oldest language  hieroglyphics  writing paper, irrigation, domestication of wheat  sailing  architecture, masonry (pyramids)  polytheistic and belief of an afterlife 
  kings were called paharos  sun god rah  oil in naswa  saudi arabia number 1 oil producers in the world and the us's biggest alli in the middle east  began in iran  majority of the oil was found after ww2  opec  orgainzation of petroleum exporting countries  created to try to not have a monoply  8 naswa countries  can cause high prices for those who don't have oil  results of opec  has totally transformed the middle east since the 1960s  positives  urban transformation  infrastructure investments  industrialization  foreign investment and involvement  negatives  variable income  regional disparities  migration from other realms  nasaw dynamic  fragmented modernization  many issues in the middle east and north america  wealth disparities  most naswa people are poor, not rich  typical iranian makes $10,840 usd a year  qatar citizen makes $103,900 usd a year  religion differences internally (shia v. sunnis) and externally (christianity/judaism)  old autocratic government leaders and young populations = cultural issues  arab spring (2010-present)  started with a fruit vender. couldn't sale his fruit so in protest he set himself on fire, dying a few weeks later  spread quickly through social media  two things in common  old rulers who have been there for a long time  young, well-educated, unemployed population  cultural regions of the middle east 
  30 countries  6 regions  egypt and the lower nial = the heart  the maghred (sahara)  the middle east  largely islamic  the arabian peninsula = richest oil  the empire states = iran and turkey  turkestan  transition zone  african tz is the primary area where the sunni and the shia are having problems  egypt  suez canal  get the oil out  saudi arabia  desert  iran  iranian revolution in 1979 actually bahai came out of islam. Islam was first introduced in the province of Sulu by the Arab traders in the 13th century and later it spread wider in the southern part of the Philippines by the missionaries. (a). looking at the maps one can clearly say that the twentieth century was very crucial in the spread of democracy.(b) during the early 20 century democracy was mostly in the continents like north america and south america while in certain continents like asia and africa there were almost no democratic countries.(c) even today there are certain areas that have not established democratic governments such as saudi arabia and china. answer: those holy days were set for jews. christians have different holy days - christmas, easter (instead of passover). they also don't adhere to the 613 laws jews were instructed to follow.

the christians that try to overlay their religion onto jewish holidays and rituals aren't an answer either because they dishonor both religions and dilute both of them. jesus celebrated passover, he wasn't part of passover. the holes in the matzo do not represent crucifixion wounds, etc. You've got a great start on understanding the phenomenon, and you express yourself very well! :o)   

  

Somali piracy has been in the news a lot based on the huge ransoms the pirates are demanding (and getting), the 200+ hostages they still hold, the dithering of world governments in how to deal with a failed state and its pirates, and (of course) the riveting news story about the capture, detention and now the spectacular saving of Captain Phillips.   

  

Some "reading" that might help give some background:   

<http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/28158455/>   

[http://www.naval-technology.com/features...](http://www.naval-technology.com/features/feature47566/)   

[http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db90...](http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/KKAA-7K28E7?OpenDocument) all of the following religions are practiced in china 

1heaven worship 
2 buddhism
3 taoism 
4 islam 
5 christianity 
6 judaism 
7 recent sects 
 .....falun gong 
 ..... way of former heaven

buddhists 8%, with more than 200,000 monks and nuns. this value is seen as extremely low because there are more than 16,000 buddhist temples that do not maintain traditional congregations. 

taoists, unknown as a percentage, there are more than 25,000 taoist monks and nuns at more than 1,500 temples. taoist belief is often intertwined with both buddhism and traditional folk religions. 

muslims, 1.4%, with more than 45,000 imams. other estimates are much higher. 

protestant christians, 1.2% with official churches. it is estimated that another 2.5% of the population is a protestant christian worshipping through an unofficial house church. 

catholic christians, 6% with official churches, and the vatican claims up to another 10% who are catholics attending catholic services at underground churches. 

it should be noted, however, that statistics relating to buddhism and religious taoism are to some degree incomparable with statistics for islam and christianity. this is due to the traditional chinese belief system which blends confucianism, buddhism, and taoism, so that a person who follows a traditional belief system would not necessarily identify him- or herself as either buddhist or taoist, despite regularly attending buddhist or taoist places of worship.

most people report no organized religious affiliation; however, belief in folk traditions and non-religious spiritual beliefs, such as ancestor worship and feng shui, along with informal ties to local temples and unofficial house churches is in the hundreds of millions.