Download The Spread of Islam PP

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When the prophet Muhammad died in 632 A.D., his
followers chose Abū Bakr as his successor.
Abū Bakr was Muhammad’s closest friend.
He was given the title of “caliph”, meaning
“successor to the Prophet.”
During his rule, Abū Bakr helped to bring the Arabic
tribes together.
He also began to expand Islam’s influence
northward.
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In 634 A.D. Umar succeeded Abū Bakr as caliph.
Umar was a strong leader with a well-run
government.
Muslim expansion continued under Umar.
He continued to conquer neighboring territories of
non-Muslims.
 Most conquered people were forced to convert to Islam,
or pay heavy taxes.
 However, Christians and Jews were not forced to convert
because Muslims considered them “people of the book”
– people who lived by God’s teachings.
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The caliphs after Umar expanded Muslim influence
as other empires, like the Byzantines, became
weak.
Within 100 years of Muhammad’s death, Muslims
had conquered part of India, much of North Africa,
and many islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
Control of these areas helped give them control of
important trade routes.
In 711 A.D., the Muslims invaded Spain – bringing
Islam to Europe.
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The Islamic system of government allowed the
caliphs to exercise great power & authority.
However, people had a hard time agreeing about
who should be caliph.
Eventually these disagreements split the Muslim
community.
The split began when Umar’s successor was killed.
A man named Alī became caliph, but was
assassinated during a war between the two sides of
the argument over who should be caliph.
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The two groups that formed as a result of this
disagreement were the Sunni and Shi’ah.
The Sunni were followers of Sunna, or “the way of
the prophet”.
 They believed that agreement among the Muslim
people should settle religious matters.
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The Shi’ah were a group of people who believed
that only descendants of Alī should be caliphs.
 They believed that descendants of Alī, called imams,
should settle religious matters.
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The two groups are still a major part of the Muslim
world today.
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Despite the split between the Sunni and Shi’ah, the
empire continued to spread.
In 711A.D. a Muslim group from North Africa led a
Muslim army to Spain.
Their general, Tāriq helped the Muslims conquer
Spain very quickly.
The Muslims that remained in Spain after it was
conquered were called Moors.
Within a few years, the Moors had raided central
France, but were quickly defeated.
The Moors did continue to rule parts of Spain for
over 700 years.
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The era of great Muslim expansion lasted until the
1100’s.
After that, the Turks became the ruling force in
Islam.
The empire continued to expand under the Turks.
Turkish-speaking people from central Asia began
to move west and south.
During this movement, they came into contact
with Arab and Persian Muslims of the Middle East.
By the 900’s, large numbers of Turks had converted
to Islam.
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Many of these people settled around the Muslim
city of Baghdad.
They served the caliph as troops in the army.
The Turks supported Islamic law, but their growing
power caused a shift away from the caliph.
Eventually, a sultan came to rule the Turks.
 At this point the caliph still played an important
symbolic role.
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By the mid-1000’s the Turks had total control of
Baghdad.
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During the 1000’s, Turkish Muslims seized Syria,
Mesopotamia, and much of Asia Minor.
In 1071 the Turkish Muslims raided northern India,
and won control of most of the area.
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During the Crusades of the 1200’s, the expansion of
Islam was slowed.
Christians were sent to reclaim the Holy Land of
Jerusalem, which had been controlled by Muslims.
The Crusaders took control of the land for a short
period of time, but were overthrown by the
Ottomans.
This Islamic empire would not experience another
period of expansion like the one prior to the
Crusades.