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Islam
Arabia
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Desert, arid land,
Nomadic people called Bedouins
Tribes led by elected chiefs (sheikhs)
Tribes related by blood or revenge
Fierce people, proud, good fighters.
• 7th century Europe was in a “Dark
Ages”.
• Middle East was the opposite
• Islam, founded by the Prophet
Muhammad.
• Foreign Influences - economic, social, and
religious
• Traditionally animistic - spirits existed
in nature
• Mecca was spiritual home
• Kaaba (cube) square-shaped religious
building.
• Black Stone - people expected to make
pilgrimages
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Coastal Arabs traded
Large influx of Jews
Later many Christians avoiding persecution
Idea of one God (monotheistic)
Christian and Jewish ideas shaped Islamic
philosophy
Muhammad
• Born Mecca around 570, but little is known
of early life
• Parents were not poor
• Orphaned and adopted by his uncle
• Learned caravan routes
• At 25 married wealthy widow, Khadija
• Very religious - fasted and meditated
• At 40 first revelation
• From God (Allah) through Archangel
Gabriel (Jabriel)
• Muhammad had been chosen
• Initially unsuccessful - converted his wife,
cousin Ali, and Abu Bakr a wealthy
businessman
• Antogonized businessmen who feared a
loss of revenue
• Persecuted the muslims
• Hegira (flight) to Yathrib (Medina) to end the
local fighting
• 622 became the start of the Muslim calendar.
• Medina- theocratic state based on Islamic law
• Muhammad persecuted the Jews
• War with the Jews - Mecca surrendered
• Kaaba cleared of all deities
• Black Stone spiritual center of faith
• Attacked Byzantine Empire - in an
unsuccessful Jihad (holy war)
• Conversion by conquest acceptable
Islamic Doctrines
• “There is no God but Allah and
Muhammad is His prophet”
• Islam (submission) Muslim (those who
submit)
• Same God as Jews and Christians
• Muhammad last prophet
• Adam first prophet
• Recognized Abraham, Moses, and Jesus
• Paradise awaits martyrs
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Koran -holy book
114 chapters, disorganized
5 duties (Pillars of Islam)
a) Total conviction in one God, Allah
Muhammad was the prophet
b) Pray 5 times a day facing Mecca
c) Give generously to the needy.
d) Observe Ramadan
e) Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
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Required to fight in holy wars
No drinking, gambling, wine, pork, idols.
Could have many wives (polygamy)
Regulated divorce
Could not charge interest
• Spread of Islam
• Christianity spread slowly over hundreds of
years
• Islam spread fast from North Africa, to Asia and
in Europe.
• When Muhammad died there was no
successor
• Leaders elected a caliph
• First four were elected for life and were
friends of Muhammad - they were called
“The Rightly Guided Caliphs”
Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali
• They protected Islam and spread it to Syria
and Palestine
• Muslims treated all people fairly and had
religious toleration
• Ali was elected the fourth caliph (Muhammad’s
son-in-law)
• Conflict with Mu’awiyah, governor of Syria revenge for the death of Uthman
• Ali was killed, Mu’awiyah became first ruler of
Umayyad dynasty
• Islam split into two factions
• Followers of Ali known as the Shiite
“followers of the way” -traditionalists
• Followers of Mu’awiyah the Sunni
descendancy from Muhammad
• The Umayyad dynasty moved the capital to
Damascus
• A.D. 732 Battle of Tours saved Europe
• A.D. 750 the Abbasids formed in Persia and the
Umayyad dynasty started to collapse
Islamic Life
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Greatly interested in education
Founded a House of Wisdom in Baghdad
Location meant wealth from trade
Used irrigation and introduced rice to Europe
• Women subservient to fathers then husbands,
forced to live secluded lives, pray at home, veil
their face.
• al-Razi (Rhazes) wrote on smallpox, measles,
and an encyclopedia of medicine also
classified chemicals
• Avicenna wrote the Canon of Medicine
• They developed optical lenses
• Added the zero
• Invented the astrolabe
• Omar Khayyám wrote Rubiayat