Download Islam

The Rise of Islam
First of all…
• The religion is Islam
• Followers of the religion are called
Muslims
• The youngest of the three major
monotheistic religions
• Began in the Arabian Peninsula
Deserts, Towns, and Trade Routes
• Arabian Peninsula is crossroads of three
continents: Africa, Europe, Asia
• Very little fertile land; most is desert
• Bedouins (Arab nomads) organized into tribes
(clans)
• Fertile area and oases were settled by Arabs in
the early 600s
• Trade routes connected Arabia to major ocean
and land trade routes
• Trade routes also carried information and ideas
from areas outside of Arabia
Arabian
Peninsula
Today
Mecca
• City in western Arabia
• People came to worship at a shrine called the
Ka’aba, where 360 idols were worshipped
• Many Jews and Christians lived on the Arabian
Peninsula, so monotheism, the concept of one
God (Allah, in Arabic), was known
Muhammad, Prophet of Islam
• Around 610, while he is meditating, Muhammad
believes the angel Gabriel tells him that he is a
messenger, or prophet, of Allah
• Muhammad begins teaching that Allah is the one
and only God and that all other gods must be
abandoned
• Religion is Islam meaning “submission to the will
of Allah”
• People who followed Muhammad were called
Muslims, “one who has submitted”
The Hijrah
• Muhammad begins preaching publicly in Mecca
• Many Meccans don’t like his message, fearing
that if people abandon the traditional Arab gods,
Mecca will no longer be a pilgrimage center
• 622, Muhammad and his followers leave Mecca
and move to Yathrib; journey is known as the
Hijrah
• Islam attracts many more followers
• Yathrib renamed Medina
Return to Mecca
• In Medina, Muhammad joins his group with
Arabs and Jews as one community
• Becomes both a political and religious leaders
• Attracts more converts
• Becomes a military leader and in 630, leads
10,000 followers back to Mecca
• Destroys the idols in the Ka’aba and
rededicates it to Allah
– Becomes the holiest site in Islam
• Muhammad dies two years later
Beliefs and Practices of Islam
• Main teaching – there is only one God, Allah
• There is good and evil and each person is
responsible for the actions of his or her life
• All Muslims must carry out five duties, known
as the Five Pillars of Islam
The Five Pillars of Islam
• Faith – “There is no God but Allah, and
Muhammad is his prophet”
• Prayer – pray 5 times a day, facing Mecca (either
in a mosque, the Islamic house of worship, or
wherever you are)
• Alms – give money to the poor
• Fasting – fast from sunup to sunset during the
holy month of Ramadan, commemorating when
Allah revealed the Qu’ran to Muhammad
• Pilgrimage – perform the hajj, or pilgrimage to
Mecca, at least once
A Way of Life
• Muslims do not eat pork or drink alcohol
• Friday is the day of worship
• No priests or religious authorities; Muslims
worship Allah directly
• Imams lead worship
Sources of Authority
• Allah expressed his will through Gabriel who
revealed it to Muhammad
• Revelation were collected in a holy book called
the Qur'an
– Written in Arabic, considered the only true version
– Arabic helped united conquered people as Islam
spread
• The Sunna, or Muhammad’s example, is the best
model for living
• Body of law, Shari’a, regulates family life, moral
conduct, and business and community life
Links to Judaism and Christianity
• Allah is the same God worshipped by Jews and
Christians
• Muslims view Jesus as a prophet, not the son of God
– Muhammad believed to be the final prophet
• All three religions believe in heaven and hell and a day
of judgment
• Muslims trace their ancestry to Abraham, as do Jews
and Christians
– All are considered “people of the book”
• Shari’a requires religious tolerance to Christians and
Jews