How has religion been a catalyst to conflicts in the Middle East & North Africa?
This video talks about the differences between Sunnis and Shiites. It goes over the different ways the Muslims interpret the Koran, but also the ways that they interpret it the same.
In a region that is so loyal to their religions, conflicts are bound to be created for that exact reason. Due to the different beliefs of different regions it is very easy for a conflict to start. Take the conflict between Israel and Palestine for example. Years ago the Jews took over much of the Palestinian land, and still to this day there is conflict because of this.
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| This is a picture of the division of Israeli and Palestinian land from 1946-2005. This shows how much precious land that the Palestinians actually lost due to the Jewish state that was created. |
What are some stereotypes of the Middle East?
- All Arabs are Muslim
- Middle Eastern people are all terrorists
- Women are forced to wear a veil
- Women are unable to think for themselves
- Women are treated very badly
- Muslims don't believe in Jesus
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| This picture is a woman wearing a facial veil. Since one of the most common stereotypes of the Middle East is those that are about women. There is multiple stereotypes about women that are commonly expressed, such as that the women are forced to wear the veils. |
Analyzing the Political Cartoon:
1. In the cartoon there is a Muslim man with his wife completely covered in a facial veil. By covering the woman from head to toe the illustrator is trying to show the misconceptions of the facial veil.
2.The whole cartoon is trying to show the misconceptions of the Islam religion, so the person in the background makes it seem like women are forced to cover themselves head to toe. The man is also saying things about how Islam is a tolerant religion.
3.The Muslim man in the cartoon is expressing his opinion of his Islamic faith. The woman behind him is just standing there in the back saying nothing.
4. The man in the cartoon is saying "Islam is a tolerant religion! We tolerate fanatics, suicide bombers, terrorist charities, and women.... barely."
5. The message of the cartoon is that the Islamic faith is really not what people think it to be. What the man in the cartoon said about how the religion only tolerates women "barely" is just ridiculous, so I think that the cartoon is supposed to sound that way so all the stereotypes sound ridiculous as well.
What was the Umayyad Caliphate?
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| This is a picture of the regions the Umayyad Caliphate covered. Below is an overview of the region. |
A Caliphate is a religious empire with one leader who influences a certain area. The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major caliphates. It covered over 5.7 million square miles, making it the largest empire the world has seen at the time, and the fifth to ever exist. It stretches from Iran to Western Sahara and into Spain. It's main area was Syria and its capital Damascus. The Caliphate was founded by the Governor of Syria at the time, and ended at the end of the first Muslim Civil War. The caliphate had religious influence from 661-750 A.D.
