Download Development of Islam

Development of Islam
Chris Anderson
Randolph-Henry High School
Development of Islam
• The Islamic faith developed on the Arabian
Peninsula
• Most of the peninsula is remote desert—
making the area safe from attack
• The Arabs in the area were able to
develop their own civilization and culture
• Geography
• The Arabian Peninsula lies between the
Red Sea and Persian Gulf—about 1
million square miles
• Most of the peninsula is arid plains and
deserts
• When it does rain, grasses grow very
quickly
• Many oases exist in the region
• Early People
• The early Arabs were bedouins—nomadic
herders
– They herded goats, camels, and sheep
– Lived in tents made of camel or goat hair
• The bedouin lived in tribes, mostly of
related families
– Family ties were valued because they
ensured protection and survival
• A sheikh—chief—led each tribe
• The sheikh was advised by a council of
elders
• Survival in the desert depending on
everyone obeying tribal rules
• Warfare was very common among the
different tribes
– The stealing of the herds led to many
disagreements
• The bedouins believed in retaliation—”an
eye for an eye” justice
• Blood feuds existed between many tribes
• AD 500s—many tribes began to settle
around the oases or in fertile areas to form
cities
• Many market towns were established
– Yathrib
– Taif
– Mecca (Makkah)—the most important trading
city
• Mecca
• People from all over the Arabian Peninsula
to Mecca (Makkah) to trade
• Arabs also came to Mecca (Makkah) to
worship at Arabia’s holiest shrine—Kaaba
• The Kaaba contained statues of the many
Arab gods
• Signs of Change
• Constant contact with the Byzantine
Empire introduced the idea of monotheism
(both Judaism and Christianity) to the
Arabs
• Many of the idol worshipping Arabs
became dissatisfied with their own religion
• These Arabs began searching for new
religions
• Hanifs (holy men) began to denounce the
idol worship and advocate monotheism
• The hanifs also rejected Judaism and
Christianity
• The hanifs wanted an Arab monotheistic
religion
• A new Arab monotheistic arose—Islam -“submission to the will of Allah (God)”
• Muhammad
• The prophet Muhammad was born in
Mecca (Makkah) around AD 570
• He was orphaned early on and raised by
an uncle
• As a teen, he worked as a caravan leader
• He was known as a honest man and able
caravan leader
• He married a wealthy widow named
Khadija—she was much older than he
– He was 25, she was 40
• His marriage to Khadija eliminated all of
Muhammad’s financial worries
• He devoted his time to reflecting on the
meaning of life
• Muhammad spent a lot of time alone
praying, fasting, and meditating
– He disliked the worship of idols
– He disliked the immorality of city life
• AD 610—Muhammad had a series of
revalations
– He heard a voice calling to him—the voice
was of Allah (God)
• Allah told Muhammad to “Recite!”
• Allah also told Muhammad to rise and
warn the people about divine judgement
• Muhammad had his doubts, but accepted
his mission
• AD 613—Muhammad began sharing his
ideas with his friends and family
• He set out to preach his message to the
people of Mecca (Makkah)
– He told the people that Allah was the only true
God
– He warned the people of Mecca (Makkah) to
live their lives in preparation for judgement
• Most of the early converts came from
Mecca’s (Makkah’s) poor
• The majority of the people in Mecca
(Makkah) rejected Muhammad’s message
– The wealthy merchants feared monotheism
would stop people from coming to Mecca
(Makkah) and threaten the merchants’ profits
• Mecca’s (Makkah’s) merchants began to
persecute Muhammad and the Muslims
• Muhammad continued to preach in Mecca
(Makkah) until threats were made on his
life
• He found solace in the city of Yathrib
• AD 622—Muhammad sent 60 Muslim
families out of Mecca (Makkah) to
Yathrib—called the Hijrah
• 622 marks the beginning of the Muslim
calendar
• The people of Yathrib accepted
Muhammad as the messenger of God and
ruler of their city
• The city’s name was changed to Madinah
• AD 624—Muhammad created the
Madinah Compact
– The law decreed that all Muslims should place
loyalty to the Islamic community over the tribe
– This was an attempt to end the blood feuds
– Jews and Christians were protected as long
as they accepted the political authority of the
Islamic community
• The Madinah Compact showed that
Muhammad was a political organizer and
wise decision maker
• The Madinah Compact created an Islamic
state and culture
• Mecca (Makkah) tried to invade Madinah,
but failed to take the city
• AD 630—Muhammad returned to Mecca
(Makkah) with is message—actually, it
was a military invasion
– This time, he faced little opposition
• Mecca’s (Makkah’s) people accepted
Islam and acknowledged Muhammad as
Allah’s prophet
• Muhammad destroyed the idols in the
Kaaba and turned the shrine into a place
of worship for Muslim pilgrims
• Muhammad’s preaching began reaching
into other parts of Arabia
• By 631—he had gained the following of
the entire peninsula
• AD 632—Muhammad died
• He left behind 2 major achievements
– A new monotheistic religion—Islam
– A well organized political community
• Muslim beliefs and practices
• The Quran (Koran) is the Muslim holy
book
• The Quran was created after
Muhammad’s death
• The holy book houses the many
conversations between Muhammad and
the angel Gabriel
• The word Quran means “recital”
• The Quran is believed to contain God’s
message as revealed to the prophet
Muhammad
• The Quran has many stories, similar to the
Bible
– Noah’s Ark
– Jonah and the whale
• The Quran present
the basic moral
values of Islam
– Muslims must honor
their parents
– Show kindness to
neighbors
– Protect orphans and
widows
– Give generously to the
poor
– Murder, stealing, and
lying, and adultery are
condemned
– Gambling, the eating
of pork, and the
drinking of alcohol are
prohibited
– The Quran also has
rules for divorce &
marriage
• The Quran also presents the Five Pillars
of Islam—the five essential duties of all
Muslims
– Faith
– Prayer
– Fasting
– The giving of alms
– Pilgrimage
• 1.) Faith
• the belief in Allah—the one true, merciful
God
• 2.) Prayer
• Muslims must pray 5 times a day facing
Mecca—sunrise, noon, afternoon, sunset,
and evening
• 3.) Fasting
• Occurs during the month of Ramadan—
the 9th month in the Muslim calendar
• Muslims must not eat or drink from sunrise
to sunset
• 4.) Alms giving
• Charity
• Wealth should be used to assist the poor
and weak
• Practiced privately through contributions or
through a state tax
• 5.) Pilgrimage
• Every Muslim is to make a trip to Mecca
before they die
• The trip is called a hajj
Spread of Islam
• When Muhammad died, he left no
instructions on who would succeed him as
leader of Islam
• The Muslims knew no one could replace
Muhammad as a messenger to God
• Muhammad’s replacement would be a
political leader over the Islamic state
• Muhammad’s successors would be known
as caliphs (“successors”)
• The caliphs were successors as political
leaders, not as prophets
• The 1st 4 caliphs were called the Rightly
Guided Caliphs
– The Rightly Guided Caliphs were friends or
relatives of Muhammad
• The 1st Rightly Guided Caliph—Abu Bakr
– Muhammad’s father-in-law and close friend
• The last Rightly Guided Caliph—Ali
– Muhammad’s son-in-law
• The Rightly Guided Caliphs followed
Muhammad’s example and kept in close
contact with the people
• The Rightly Guided Caliphs wanted to
protect and spread Islam
• They used military expeditions to spread
Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula
• Arab armies swept forth against the
weakened Byzantine and Persian empires
• By 650—the Muslims had taken Palestine,
Syria, Iraq, Persia, and Egypt
Division within Islam
• Rival groups were fighting for control over
the caliphate (seat of the caliph)
• The struggle began under the reign of the
4th caliph—Ali—in 656
• One of Ali’s most powerful rivals was
Mu’awiyah—the governor of Syria
• Mu’awiyah was also the nephew of the 3rd
Caliph who had been murdered
• Mu’awiyah accused Ali’s followers of the
killing of his uncle
• Ali tried to depose Mu’awiyah, but
Mu’awiyah refused to step down
• Mu’awiyah quickly took over Egypt and
parts of Iraq
• 661—Ali was murdered
– Ali’s oldest son turned down the caliphate
• Mu’awiyah made himself caliph and
established the Umayyad Dynasty
• Ali’s followers—known as Shiites—never
accepted Mu’awiyah as the new caliph
• All of the violence led to a split in Islam
– Shiites (Shi’a)
– Sunni
• Sunni Muslims
• The majority of the
world’s Muslims
• The caliph can be any
devout Muslim who is
accepted by the
people
• Shiite (Shi’a) Islam
• Live mostly in Iraq
and Iran
• The caliph should be
a descendant of
Muhammad
Umayyad Dynasty
• The Umayyad Dynasty ruled over the
Islamic State from 661 to 750
• The Umayyads moved the capital from
Madinah to Damscus, Syria
• Umayyad warriors carried Islam into India
and China, parts of North Africa, into
Spain, and southern areas of Christian
Europe
Umayyad Dynasty
• By 716—the Muslims controlled nearly all
of Spain
• The Muslims pushed halfway into France
before they were stopped at the Battle of
Tours in 732
• The Battle of Tours halted the spread of
Islam into Western Europe
Umayyad Dynasty
• The Umayyads built a very powerful
Islamic State
• The Umayyad united the lands they ruled
• Used a civil service system
• They improved conditions for Jews and
Christian under their rule
• The Jews and Christians were tolerated as
long as they paid a tax to the Umayyad
leaders
Umayyad Dynasty
• Non-Arab Muslims disliked Umayyad rule
– The non-Arab Muslims paid higher taxes,
received lower wages, and were discriminated
against
• 747—non-Arab Muslims joined with antiUmayyad Arabs
– They built an army and overthrew the
Umayyad dynasty
Abbasid Dynasty
• A new caliph was put in place—Abu’l’Abbas
• Abu’l-’Abbas established the Abbasid
Dynasty
• He built a new capital in Baghdad—along
the Tigris River
• The Abbasids ruled the Islamic state from
750 to 1258
Abbasid Dynasty
• Under the Abbasids, the lands the
Umayyads conquered slowly slipped away
• By the 1000s, the Abbasids ruled little
more than the city of Baghdad
• 1055—Baghdad was captured by the
Seljuk Turks
• 1100s—Christian soldiers (crusaders) from
western Europe were in a Holy War
against Islam
Abbasid Dynasty
• 1258—the Mongols from Asia invaded
Baghdad
• The Mongols ended the Abbasid Dynasty
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Family Life
• The Quran told Muslims that “men are
responsible for women”
• Women were considered wives, mothers,
daughters, or sisters to the male family
members
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Family Life
• Women’s standing in society did improve
some
– The tribal custom of killing daughters was
ended
– Women could control their own property
– Many women learned to read and write
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Family Life
• Women were expected to stay at home
and care for the house
• Women did not go into public except to go
shopping and to the mosque
• Girls usually married young
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Family Life
• Islamic society was a man’s world
• Men could have up to 4 wives
– The wives were to be treated equally
• Muslim men worked in business or on
farms
• Men went to public baths and meeting
places to talk for leisure
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Education
• Muslim boys at age 7 entered Mosque schools
• The schools cost very little and were open to all
boys
• Muslims valued the ability to speak and write
Arabic fluently
• Wealthy young men continued their education at
Madrasas—theological schools
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Urban Centers
• City homes were designed for privacy and
to keep the people cool in the extreme
heat
• The main government, religious, and
business buildings were located in the
center of the city
• The city skyline was dominated by the
silhouettes of the mosques
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Urban Centers
• Muslim mosques had slender towers—
minarets
• Mosques contained schools and shelters
for the Muslim people
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Urban Centers
• Muslim merchants dominated trade in the
Middle East and North Africa until the
1400s
• Goods were traded in the city bazaars and
markets
Islamic Civilization and Culture
• Rural Areas
• Growing food for the Islamic state was very
difficult
– The climate was dry
– Water was scarce
• Farmers made good use of the few areas that
would sustain crops
• Farmers used many methods to produce
surpluses
– Irrigation
– Crop rotation
– fertilization
Islamic Achievements
•
•
•
•
•
House of Wisdom
Founded by the Abbasid caliph—Ma’mun
Founded in Baghdad in AD 830
It was a research center and library
Scientific experiments were conducted at
the House of Wisdom
• Greek, Persian, and Indian texts were
translated into Arabic
Islamic Achievements
• Mathematics
• Muslim mathematicians adopted the
Indians numbers and the zero, calling the
numbers Arabic numerals
• Muslim mathematicians invented Algebra
• Muslim mathematicians spent hours
solving complicated mathematical puzzles
Islamic Achievements
• Astronomy and Geography
• Muslim astronomers made mathematical
models of the universe
• They described eclipses of the sun and
moon
• They also proved the moon had an effect
on the ocean
Islamic Achievements
• Astronomy and Geography
• Muslim astronomers improved the
astrolabe—used to help navigate
• Astronomers measured the size and
circumference of the earth
• By the 1100s—Muslim geographers had
determined the basic outlines of Asia,
Europe, and North Africa
Islamic Achievements
• Chemistry and Medicine
• Al-Razi was a Muslim scientist who classified
chemical substances as either animal, mineral,
or vegetable
• Al-Razi also wrote an encyclopedia devoted to
medicine which described different diseases
• Doctor Ibn Sina wrote the Canon of Medicine
outlining all medical knowledge of the time
– The volume described the circulation of blood
– It offered diagnosis and treatment for many diseases
Islamic Achievements
• Chemistry and Medicine
• Muslim physicians created the science of
optics—study of sight
• Muslim medicine was centuries ahead of
western medicine
Islamic Achievements
• Art and Architecture
• Muslim religion would not allow images of
creatures or humans to be displayed on or in the
mosques
• Muslim artists used Arabic script to decorate the
mosques
• The calligraphy would be accompanied by
geometric designs entwined with leaves, stems,
and flowers
• These type of decorations are called
arabesques
Islamic Achievements
• Literature
• The Quran set the standard by which other
Arabic literature would be judged
• Kalila and Dimna—a collection of animal
fables that taught moral lessons
• Arabian Nights
Islamic Achievements
• Philosophy and History
• Muslim philosophers tried to create
systems of thought that would reconcile
the teachings of the Quran with Greek
philosophy
• Islamic historians wrote chronicles of
history and later organized history around
the lives of their rulers