Abstract
The paper discusses the institution of the caliphate introduced following the death of the prophet Mohammed. The author examines a number of issues regarding the institution of the caliphate: How did it develop? Who were the first four office-holders? What were they called? When did they hold power and what were the important features of each of their rules? The writer supports his answers to his questions with examples from relevant literature.

From the Paper
"The difficulties in finding one's spiritual answers were cured up by the establishment of the Qur'an. The Qur'an was looked at as definitive and future answers were able to be found. The larger hole that was left was to find answers in succession involving political and military issues, as Mohammad was an individual leader. He was able to be so independent because he had the word of God on his side.
Mohammad was not looked at as divine or immortal by his followers and his death someday was imminent, but there was not a plan in place for society when the day came in 632. The decision to come up with a successor was urgent. There were callings for the Prophet Mohammad's son, Ali. There was disagreement between old followers and new followers as to who would be in control of the military and political stances, but in the end, Mohammad's father in law, Abu Bakr was named khalifa "successor" of Mohammad. Resulting in new political formations and stances called "Caliphate.""

Tags:islam, mohammed, caliph, allah, religion, qur'an, god, prophet, medina, mecca

Abstract
This essay aims to highlight the unique and defining characteristics of the Fatimid caliphate. The essential characteristic is claimed to be the fusing of the spiritual message of Ismailism with imperial rule, with the ulterior aim of winning allegiance of the majority of Moslems and conversion of the Sunnis. The origin of the schism between Shiite and Sunni is presented. The beginnings of the Fatimid caliphate is then charted, along with the intellectual and artistic flowering which it inspired. The downfall of the Fatimids is then explained in terms of inherent contradictions, where the worldliness of the Sunnis is explained to be more suited to answer the threat posed by the crusading Christians. The lasting legacy of the Fatimids is described, including the intellectual influence on the West, and the spiritual and revolutionary spirit which it endowed on Moslems everywhere.

From the Paper
"The rise of the Fatimid caliphate in the 10th and 11th centuries is a crucial part of Islamic history. A proper examination of this history throws essential light on the nature of Islam as a cultural phenomenon. At the same time it is able to explain many of the schisms that exist in the Islamic world today. The special character of the Fatimid caliphate was its missionary objective. It embodied the more spiritually based faith of the Shiites, and aimed for supremacy through winning the hearts and minds of the majority Sunnis. In this way it managed to fuse the spiritual and temporal realms to certain degree and for a certain period in history. This is a remarkable achievement not only for Islam but for any faith based rule. In contrast to it the Sunni caliphates, though claiming power on the bass of spiritual leadership, quickly lost the spiritual dimension to their rule, and degenerated into secularism and worldliness. In order to maintain their stance the Fatimid caliphate had to overcome internal contradiction, and the pressures ultimately proved fatal."

Tags:Ali, Mahdi, Shia, schism, Kerbala, Al Azhar, crusade, dawat, qadi, Nizar

From the Paper
"The Islamic state came into being in the seventh century, and the political organizations and the dissensions which trouble the new state had their origins in the Arab background. The Arabian peninsula is marked by deserts and different zonal distinctions. Arabia has long served as a transit area between the Mediterranean and the Further East. The early centuries remain obscure because archaeology has not examined the area as it has in Egypt, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. According to tradition, the Arabian people are divided into northern and southern groupings, and the author discusses them separately. The historical chronology of the southern group is obscure until the time of Alexander the Great. The religion was polytheistic. Society was agricultural, with a high degree of development. The people of the central and northern regions..."

Abstract
This paper analyzes and discusses the legacies of four empires in world history. These include Hellenistic empire of Alexander and his successors, the Roman empire, the Byzantine empire and the Caliphal, Umayyad and Abbasid. For each empire, two major legacies are identified, and their interplay traced in the relations of East and West.

From the Paper
"Empires are now unfashionable and imperialism, a term used only by critics of a policy never by its supporters. Nevertheless empires, states that ruled entire regions of civilization and often claimed to be universal have had enormous impact on world history, both positive and negative. Empires were founded by conquest, but once established they might provide peace and foster trade and contact. The following essay will consider two enduring legacies from each of four great historical empires..."

Tags:empires, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Caliphal, alexander, hellenistic, rome, byzantium, caliphate, islam

Abstract
This paper examines how the notion of telling a story of deception that reflects one?s current situation seems counter-intuitive due to the possibility that, in telling the story, the deceived may become aware of the secret intention. It uses as an example ?The Arabian Nights? and examines how Shahrazad?s life depends on every story she narrates, on both a momentary and permanent levels. It shows how a series of entertaining stories may allow Shahrazad to delay her execution, but never eliminate its certainty. To live, Shahrazad strives to reform King Shahrayar?s view of women as unfaithful, and she accomplishes this endeavor by means of suggesting that anger renders irrational conclusions, like those of the caliph, and multiple repetition of this theme serve only to further propound the message.

From the Paper
"The caliph prematurely assumes that his vizier's incompetence in governing the kingdom directly or indirectly causes the young woman's murder. As previously stated, coincidence indirectly causes the girl's death. With that in mind, the young man's story exposes the vizier's innocence. Within that frame, the son's story reveals the mother's innocence. The importance of such situational repetition conveys the theme that Shahrazad aims to suggest, that solutions derived without reason or logic may never be adequate. This implication indicates a high degree of courage on Shahrazad's part. Effectively, in correlating this theme to King Shahrayar's life, she accuses the king of being wrong. The insinuation that a "king of the world" (11) is wrong seemingly harms Shahrazad's reformation of the king based considering that despots usually do not tolerate contradiction."

Tags:apples, caliph, shahrazad

Abstract
The following paper examines four scenarios, further considering their impact of the future of the world. These include the rise to power of China and India, the persistence of American hyper-power status, the rise of an Islamic Caliphate, and a "cycle of fear" scenario wherein the world becomes noticeably Orwellian and where intrusive security measures are the norm. The paper analyzes which of these scenarios is most likely to materialize and delineates the trends which led to this conclusion.

From the Paper
"The following paper will look at four scenarios - the rise to power of China and India, the persistence of American hyper-power status, the rise of an Islamic Caliphate, and a "cycle of fear" scenario wherein the world becomes noticeably Orwellian and where intrusive security measures are the norm - identified by the American National Intelligence Council as the most likely to take shape by the year 2020. The next several pages will look at which one of the four scenarios is most likely to materialize and (more importantly) why and will briefly delineate the trends which led to..."

Tags:international, india, china

Abstract
This paper discusses "The Travels of Ibn Battuta" which describes Ibn Battuta's descriptions of his travel experiences between 1325 and 1354. The paper discusses how, according to the book, Islamic culture dominated much of the 14th Century world because of the Baghdad Caliphate's widespread political and economic dominance. The paper also discusses the content of the book as well as the literary manner in which Battuta described his travels.

From the Paper
"Because of the descriptive style of Battuta's writing, modern readers can better understand the significance and implications of Islamic economic dominance in the 14th Century, which inevitably produced cultural influences. Battuta's observations about the impact of trade and mercantile activities are especially incisive, for in land after land he traveled through, trade established relationships between Muslims and infidels which served as a unifying force and as a means of cultural assimilation.
"The analysis of shared Islamic culture that Battuta presented in his book was very methodical for his time and is still of great interest today, for it reveals the vast scope and influence of Muslim civilization in the 14th Century and bears comparison with the vast scope and influence of American culture in the modern world. The accomplished literary manner in which Battuta described how a shared Islamic culture was manifested in the countries he visited provides for fascinating reading and has made The Travels of Ibn Battuta a classic for more than seven centuries."

Tags:mercantile, Islam, trade, dominance

Abstract
This paper looks at four scenarios - the rise to power of China and India, the persistence of American hyper-power status, the rise of an Islamic Caliphate, and a "cycle of fear" scenario wherein the world becomes noticeably Orwellian and where intrusive security measures are the norm. The paper discusses which one of the four scenarios is most likely to materialize and why and then examines the theoretical assumptions upon which the aforementioned prediction is predicated. The paper concludes that the world of tomorrow promises to be one dominated by the Asian superpowers of China and especially, India.

From the Paper
"The trends and the implicit/explicit theoretical assumptions guiding this writer to the conclusion that the rise of India and China to pre-eminence is the most likely of all the four scenarios outlined above are numerous but easily explained. Most of all, demographic trends are key. This writer operates under the assumption that the country with the greatest latent human resources will eventually win - even if it initially trails a competitor. Clearly, both nations have this advantage to the fullest. Working especially in India's favor is the fact that this nation has not embarked upon a ruinous "one-child" program as has China; consequently, India's population will not age (is not now aging) as rapidly as China's. Therefore, India will cut into whatever human resources advantage China has by virtue of having a relatively younger and thus more industrious population."

Tags:superpower, globalization, NIC, demographics

Abstract
In this article, the writer examines how throughout Islamic history, Shi'ites developed a denomination distinct in various significant ways from that of Sunnis. The writer explains that the differences between Islam's two major denominations arose as early as the beginning of Islamic history and in fact took place shortly after Islam's fourth caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib came to power. Initially, these differences centered on a political dispute over who should serve as the prophet's successor after his death. The writer looks at both sides of the dispute. Initial differences over political ideology caused Shi'ites to branch off from the majority Sunni Muslim community and form their own ideological viewpoints on various other issues. The writer concludes that Sunni-Shi'ite relations since the beginning of Islamic history reveal that both took divergent paths in regards to the beliefs and practices of Islam.

From the Paper
"Initial differences over political ideology caused Shi'ites to branch off from the majority Sunni Muslim community and form their own ideological viewpoints on various other issues. Besides politics, Shi'ites later developed their own distinguished set of beliefs regarding theology and jurisprudence. This meant that they now developed their own understanding of belief in the Islamic creed, practice of the five established pillars of Islam, interpretation of the Quranic text, acceptance and rejection of the prophet's Hadiths, sources of Islamic jurisprudence, and position of the various eminent Islamic personalities in history, particularly from among the prophet's companions. The Shi'ite branch later subdivided into various smaller sects, which hold differing viewpoints about various matters despite sharing some fundamental concepts of the Shi'ite belief system."

Tags:islamic, leadership, ideology, beliefs

Abstract
In this paper the author examines the trading routes of the Roman Empire and how changes in them led to the rise of Islam. The author pays particular attention to the development of Islam in Africa and how it remains a great influence in African society even in this modern day.

From the paper:

"Islam offered a number of attractions within Africa. Its fundamental teaching that all Muslims are equal within the community of believers made the acceptance of conquerors and new rulers easier. The Islamic tradition of uniting the powers of the state and religion in the person of the ruler or caliph appealed to some African kings as a way of reinforcing their authority."

Tags:Rise, Islam, Trading, Routes, Africa, Religion, Roman, Empire, Axum, Kushite, Empire, Rome, Nobatae, Meroitic, Blemmyes, Christianity, Nubia, Berbers, Nilotic