Download The Trade Empires of Ghana and Mali

THE RISE OF ISLAM
UNIT III
MUHAMMAD THE PROFIT
• From Mecca in modern
day Saudi Arabia
• Muhammad was a
middle aged merchant
who claimed the Angel
Gabriel asked him to
recite the word of God
• As a Merchant
Muhammad had
exposure to the ideas of
Judaism and Christianity
• Maybe even Persians
MUHAMMAD TAKES POLITICAL POWER
• Mecca was already a
popular pilgrimage site
• Muhammad was kicked
out because Islam
threatened the pilgrimage
• Muhammad and his
followers went to Medina
• Prayer switches from
Jerusalem to Mecca
• Muhammad became a
political and military
leader
• 630 CE Muhammad takes
back Mecca
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM
• Abu Bakr, Muhammad's
successor began
attacking the Byzantine
Empire and recording
the Qur'an
• A vast empire grew out
of the principals of Islam
in just 200 years
• Muhammad's
successors relentlessly
spread the religion
through military
conquest
THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM
BASIC BELIEFS
• Conquered people do not have to convert, only pay a
larger tax.
• Followers of Judaism and Christianity are specifically
mentioned in the Qur’an as “people of the book”
Five Pillars of Islam
1. Shahadah- declaring there is no god except God
(Allah), and Muhammad is God’s messenger
2. Salat- Prayer five times a day
3. Zekat- Giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor
4. Sawm- Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan
5. Hajj- Pilgrimage to Mecca
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
BASIC BELIEFS
Guiding text:
• The Qur'an
• Absolute Monotheism
• Taking care of those less
fortunate than you
• Hadiths; a collection of
sayings and stories about the
profit Muhammad
A believer in Islam is part of the
Uma or community of believers
Islam becomes a restoration religion
• Muslims believe the Monotheisms before Muhammad had
strayed from purity
• Muslims believe Mohamed was the last profit sent by God
SHIA- SUNNI SPLIT
• Root of split goes back
to Muhammad's first
successor
• Abu Bakr, Muhammad's
father in law became the
first Caliph
• Many wanted his son in
law, Ali to take over
• Caliph means
“successor”
• Meaning Abu Bakr was
a “successor” to the
prophet
• Shia Muslims believe the
Caliph should be a
descendent of
Muhammad
MODERN SHIA- SUNNI DIVIDE
Today Shia Muslims make up 16% of the Islamic population
THE ISLAMIC SPLIT HAS SERIOUS
RAMIFICATIONS TODAY
BAGDAD: THE CENTER OF LEARNING
• The Abbasid Caliphate (750- 1258 CE) became the center for
learning
• The Persian ruling class moved the capital to Baghdad
• Baghdad becomes the center of learning
• Large library held the work of Greek philosophers, Greek
scientist, and Buddhist and Hindu text
• Openness to foreigners and their ideas
• Possibly largest blending of cultures since Hellenistic times
• Brought to an end by the Mongols
IBN SINA (980- 1037 CE)
• Often known by Latin
name Avicenna
• Gained great advances
in the field of medicine
• Created the Canon of
Medicine
• Became the standard
medical text book for
centuries
HOW’S THIS FOR A VACATION?
IBN BATTUTA (1304-1368 CE)
• Moroccan explorer
• Traveled the known
Muslim world
• Recorded his travels
in the Rihla
(translated to
“Journey”)
• Helped link Africa to
the Islamic World
• The most well
traveled man to date
THE ABRAHAMIC TRADITIONS
Judaism est. around
1000 BCE
Christianity est. around
40 CE
Islam est. around
600 CE
WHAT DO THE ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
ALL HAVE IN COMMON?
• All three use a religious text that provide guidelines
ethical and moral behaviors as well as how to
govern believers
• Judaism- Torah
• Christians- The Bible
• Islam- The Qur'an
• All three recognize Abraham, Mosses and other
figures from the old testament as important religious
figures
• All three believe in fundamental monotheism
• All three originated in the same region, and claim
several of the same cities as religious holy sites
JERUSALEM
FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN THE
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
Judaism
• Judaism does not actively seek converts and the
religion is associated with a group of people
Christianity
• Christians believe Jesus was the son of God (or
Messiah)
• Catholic leaders must remain unmarried
Islam
• Islam is the newest and only Abrahamic tradition to
reference the other two in the holy text
MODERN DISTRIBUTION
OVER HALF THE WORLD PRACTICES AN
ABRAHAMIC RELIGION
ANCIENT AFRICA
UNIT III
AFRICAN RELIGION
• Traditionally African religion was Syncretic
• Syncretic can be described as the blending of various ideas
• When Christianity and later Islam arrived, religions
were often blended with traditional beliefs
• Can this be a conflict with a Monotheistic religion?
SUDANIC EMPIRES
GHANA, MALI, SONGHAI
• All three started in the Sahel
region around the
headwaters of the Niger
River
• These Empires acquired
wealth in gold accumulated
in Trans-Saharan Trade
• Old world importance of
land trade
• Era of pre-European maritime
importance
WHAT’S SO GOOD ABOUT BEING A
“MIDDLE MAN?”
• Conversion to Islam was
important for trade
relationships
• Arab and Berber traders had
salt to the north
• Many groups to the south
extracted Gold and produced
Ivory
• All the trade empires
successfully taxed all goods
coming through the Empire.
• They were successful in
receiving tribute
GHANA EMPIRE (830-1235 CE)
MALI EMPIRE (1230- 1600 CE)
SONGHAI EMPIRE (1430- 1591 CE)
TRADE NETWORKS
Salt to the north
Gold to the south
MANSA KANKAN MUSA I (MANSA MUSA)
• Very effective ruler, divided the
Empire into different provinces
• Mali became an important
cultural and intellectual center
under Mansa Musa
• Important City of Timbuktu
• Pilgrimage to Mecca 1324.
• Brought thousands of solders
and hundreds of camels
• Flooded the Egyption gold
market with tribute
• Decrease in value from 10 to 25%
BANTU MIGRATIONS
BANTU MIGRATIONS
• Long complex process
where two groups of
Bantu speakers
eventually linked up
• Bantu based languages
began to dominate the
continent
• This can still be seen today
• The Bantu people
brought new
agricultural practices to
mostly nomadic
peoples
MODERN LANGUAGE FAMILY MAP OF
AFRICA
• What language
family has the
most land?
• What is
important about
the Niger River?
SWAHILI CITY-STATES
• A large scale ocean
trading network
developed on the Indian
Ocean
• Chinese, Indian and Arab
merchants all began
trading on the East African
coast
• Swahili Culture was born
• A blend of native Bantu
based languages and
Arabic
• Islam became the religion
of the area
• City-states such as
Zanzibar, Mombasa, and
Mogadishu became
wealthy through trade
COMPARED TO EUROPE
• What happens when there is
plenty of land and plentiful
trade?
• Europe had more blood shed
and all conflict was over land
• Europe’s only source of wealth
was land
• European monarchs would
envy Ghana, Mali’s and
Zanzibar’s resources and
wealth
• Mali was an intellectual hub
while Europe crawled out of
the Dark Ages