Charlemagne the Great

The skilled, intelligent and outstanding leader of the notorious Franks, Charlemagne was born on the 2nd of April 742. The son of King Pepin the Short and Betrada of Loan, a Frankish queen, he was probably born to succeed. After his father's death in 786, he co-ruled with his brother Carloman I. In 771, Carloman died unexpectedly and Charlemagne became the only ruler. He started conquering smaller and weaker empires, until he conquered many regions. There he built schools to spread language and beliefs, funded and issued money to improve the unstable economy. He ruled for 50 years until he died in Aachen on the 28th of January 814. This probably wouldn't have happened if the Roman Empire had not fallen, but he was considered and crowned a Roman Emperor in 786. Once he died, his three sons divided the empires which lead to them fighting, other empires attacking and the notorious Vikings attacking as well. 

                                                                                

  

Feudalism and the Manor System

To me the term feudalism means a type of system that is owned by someone wealthy or noble in the Middle Ages but were held by vassals because they were like a gift from their lords for being loyal and hard working. The manor system was a system that was set upon the rights and obligations between the lords and serfs. The lord provided the serfs/peasants housing, protection and farmland. In return the serfs/peasants worked certain hours for the lord, took care of his manor and did certain tasks. They also had to work certain days of the week and provide portion of their grain. Poor peasants remained poor for the rest of their lives because they could not buy their own freedom and their life depended on the decisions of the lord. Their children were also born in that family and the generation of poor peasants carried on. This effected their beliefs by either making them religious and praying to God for a miracle or they became very skeptic because their lives were so horrid. The peasants could not save their money nor marry rich people, so they had to work for the rest of their poor and miserable lives. These stories about knights and princesses is all fake because not all the people were harmonious and no peasant could marry a rich person. They just had to live with having the short end of the stick.
   

Renaissance Faire Reflection

The Renaissance Fair was an enormous project that required so much effort in such a small period of time. The preparation was long and tedious since we needed to learn how to play the recorder, learn the Shakespeare lines and create an invention for D.T. I think we handled it excellently and used the time very wisely. Our inventions were quickly made, we were very successful with our recorders considering the fact that we not quite musical and the lines were learned perfectly. During the faire I felt really excited and happy because I was with my friends and we were showing off our skills and hard work. I loved the costumes and I think we could have easily been thought of as very prepared students. We worked very well together and if I could, I would do it again!

Islamic Presentations- 8A

During this whole week, my class presented various topics about Islam. Here I will write what I learned from each fascinating topic and the presenter.

Geography of the Arabian Peninsula- Alon

I learned that Arab means nomad and it is a person from the Arabian Peninsula. If you are an Arab, that does not make you Muslim, it just makes you a native person of the land. I also learned that Yemen is the most fertile country because it close to water and it has monsoon seasons. The Arabian Peninsula has no rivers, but it is surrounded by the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf surround it which gives it the water it needs.

Muslim Women- Ana

From this topic, I learned that the role of women and their rights have degraded. All men and women have spiritual rights, but they are mistreated, beat and cussed at. Women are also half the price of men and almost all receive female circumcision. I also learned that they can own land, divorce and inherit land but divorce is a slow and painful process. Bibi Aisha was a victim of the new Muslims due to her getting her nose and ear cut off because she did not agree to arranged marriages and ran away.

Islamic Religion- David

I learned that Islam means submission to God and that the nomads in fact spread Islam. Also that four chapters of the Quran are read during weddings and that the people pray five times a day;  dawn, midday, afternoon, after sunset and night. Ramadan is like the Islamic Christmas and Mohammad traveled to Medina in 622.

Military Before and During Islam- Simeon

From this topic I learned that Prophet Mohammad united the tribes into not making war and that starvation and the lack of owning oasis’ was what triggered wars. Most common weapon was the jambiya, and it was a dagger for military and ceremonies. Tabar was a battle axe and the scimitars were curved swords and symbolized Islam. 635-638- was when Mohammad conquered Mesopotamia, Palestine and Syria in 3 years and the highest peak was in 750.

Prophet Muhammad- Rea

Mohammad was born in Circa 570 and was later adopted by his uncle. There he grew and later started to own a caravan business. He then met his wife who was a 40 year old widow and he was only 25. They had 6 children, two of which his sons died. On Mount Hera he saw angel Gabriel and in 622 he migrated to Medina because the people felt threatened with his new religion so they wanted to assassinate him. Finally on June 8, 632 Mohammad died when he was 63 years old in Medina, Arabia.

Islamic Religion- Sara

I learned that the followers of Mohammad wrote the Quran and they were all men. Ramadan is in the 9^th month of the year and on a new moon because that is when Allah gave Mohammad the holy Quran. There are 144 chapters and Laytalul Qadar is the night when the Quran was given and all sins are forgiven. During Ramadan, no one is allowed to eat, drink, smoke or do anything that involves bringing something into your body. Only when night falls are they allowed to feast. This is good for self discipline and it makes them a patient.

Architecture- Svetlana

The houses are usually rectangular and huge so that many families can live in the house. Inside are many passages and the rich houses have separate rooms for men and women whereas poor houses only have curtains to separate rooms. The outside is dull and only one door and a few windows which is good against the wind, but inside it is heavily ornate and decorated. Also the Taj Mahal is the biggest and most famous Islamic architectural palace.          

Trade in the Islamic Empire- Annie
From this topic I learned not only that the Islamic people created the silk road and thats how they spread their empire, but they also influenced Renaissance. They questioned the world and built machines to improve life. They also grew smarter and wrote things down so that they can share it with future generations. Many cities had their own goods that they exported which lead to wealth and popularity.

Islamic Extremism

The topic which I had to present was the well-debated Islamic extremism theory. Many people are biased about this topic, so I chose to give both sides of the story and introduce what causes this kind of extremism. Many say that Islamic extremism is triggered by the jihad, religious manipulation and greed for power and money. Jihad is the effort to practice religion in the face of persecution and oppression. Many Muslims are forced or manipulated to become a Jihadist which leads to extremism and killing. Also, to become a true Muslim you have to become a jihadist. Greedy Muslims influenced Islam by using technology, opening schools and creating the Tabligns force to teach future generations the wrong things, thus creating confusion and violence. Terrorists distract the countries agenda so that they can get the attention and money they crave. They then create large groups to get even more power and use the communistic “united front” strategy when a band of extremists make a common cause with other groups to gain even more power. They use innocent people and brainwash people to do their dirty work. For my project I used PowerPoint, videos and various images to make my topic come alive and more interesting. I think that I taught my class a valuable lesson about one of the most misunderstood topics ever. I hope that they left the classroom with a new perspective and with understanding.

Golden Age of Muslim Civilization

How did geography and trade contribute to the growth of the Muslim Empire, the spread of Islam and the achievements of the Golden Age?

The geography of the Arabian Peninsula is very harsh and hard to live on. Most of the Arabian Peninsula is covered in vast deserts, the occasional oasis and very little rainfall. But how did this empire grow to become so successful? Due to the geography being so harsh, all people became nomads. 

The traveled around in their caravans and since there is not much they could earn by moving around, they became traders or Bedouins. The deserts led people to guide traders to their desired locations. Also, many nomads became traders and traveled all over the Empire, going place to place, sharing ideas, attaining ideas, spreading their new religious beliefs and selling their objects to benefit the Empire. The geography caused the people to move around and mingle with other people which caused the Empire to grow in the sense of wealth, trade and religion. Christians on the eastern and southern coats of the Mediterranean converted to Islam and that made the empire grow. Soldiers from the Muslim Empire tried to defeat the Roman, Byzantine and Persian empires, they could not, but instead waited and when they became weaker and defeated, the Muslims would attack and conquer. The achievements of the Golden Age were all based on how successful the Muslim Empire was. Since all faiths could be practiced in the Muslim Empire, many people moved and shared their ideas which led to new ideas, people working on old ideas such as Greek and Indian. The Golden Age was a time when people started to improve on math, poetry and science. Scholars like al- Kindi said that people should not be ashamed of studying other peoples' history and with that scholars created algebra, numbers, poetry and the famous Whirling Dervishes.

 All these achievements were used to benefit the people, for example: poetry was used to teach ideas and beliefs. Hardly any of this would be possible without trade which brought money. Money paid musicians and singers which made it so popular. Yes, the geography seems to not be beneficial, but in fact it is. It gave the Muslim Empire money and patience. Without it, nothing would have been possible! 

Bedouin Life

It's a hot summers day
and we set out to pray,
hoping that todays day will bring us salvation.
Two traders appear, one from far and one from near,
to ask our help in finding the trade route.
We agree to help out and without any doubts, we set off to their desired location.
The camel's feet step into the glossy, yellow sand,
whilst the sun burns hard upon us.
The wind blows softly making a hushing sound,
and the view seems as if it's just a back round.

We walk slow,  but in order to go, we need to make a stop for some water.
The camel falls to its knees, while we get off and step on our feet we notice a snake coming towards us.
The traders scream and shout, though we have no doubts, we are Bedouins;
we handle this situation.

We grab a spear, and without any fear, we attack the snake head on.
The snake falls quickly to our surprise and it is time for us to begone.
We walk day and night, stopping at each oasis site,
refilling our water and energy.

We pray once more as we set out for more;
hoping Allah will guide us.
The site in front of us is the town Mecca,
where each one of us must meet and heal our aura.

The traders thank us and give us a few bucks,
we have now made our pay to feed the little mouths that need food and love.
The traders open their sacks and inside are gold, expensive cloths, spice, incense and tusks.

We walk around the center, seeing people of all kinds and with husks.

The trek back to our nomadic families is long and hard,

but we know we have succeed from the start.

And so each week is based like this,

we will work for Allah and never dismiss.

He keeps us safe and keeps us going,

even when we are aging.