Part 1- Expansion Across Egypt and North Africa, to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)

1. How does the concept of "dhimma", discussed by Bosworth in one of the two online readings, compare with the ideas of Muhammad and the early "Believers" about non-Muslims?

2. Compare the idea of the "caliphal institution" in Spain under the Spanish Umayyads whose capital was in Cordoba with that in Syria under the Umayyads whose capital was in Damascus. Consider how they were similar to or different from the governmental "system" in Medina under the "Rightly-guided" Caliphs.

3. What were the major cultural achievements of the Abbasids?