History of the Middle East balance of power in the Muslim world as Egypt once again emerged as a major power. Religion always played a prevalent role in Middle Eastern culture, affecting learning, architecture, and the ebb and flow of cultures. When Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture, inspiring achievements in architecture, the revival of old advances in science and technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life. Islam primarily consisted of the five pillars of belief, including confession of faith, the five prayers a day, to fast during the holy month of Ramadan, to pay the tax for charity (the
Divisions of the world in Islam law, the major division are "dar al-islam" (lit. territory of Islam), denoting regions where Islamic law prevails, "dar al-sulh" (lit. territory of treaty) denoting non-Islamic lands which have concluded an armistice with a Muslim government, and "dar al-harb" (lit. territory of war), denoting adjoining non-Islamic lands whose rulers are called upon to accept Islam. Early Islamic jurists devised these terms to denote legal rulings for ongoing Muslim conquests almost a century after Muhammad. The first use of the terms was in Iraq by Abu Hanifa and his disciples Abu Yusuf and Al-Shaybani. Among those in the Levant, Al-Awza'i was leading