Download classwork_11-01

Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Name:
Date:
Mr. Carey/Mr. Clarke
Spread of Islamic Empires
Do Now: Quiz
Directions: Carefully read each of the questions below before responding in the “Classwork” section of your AP World
History notebooks. Be prepared to swap your work for a grade.
1.
In a recent interview with a famous world historian, Donald Trump remarked, “What’s the big deal about
Islam anyway? It’s only a religion.” Using the “Overview” section of last night’s homework, make an inference
(background knowledge + text evidence) as to how the world historian most likely responded to Trump’s
remark. Your response should include at least two pieces of evidence.
AP World: Week 10, Day II—Daily Rundown
Periodization 3: Regional and Transregional Interactions (YELLOW, 600CE-1450CE)
Today’s Objective(s)
Today’s Agenda
1. Do Now
AWBAT analyze the expansion of early Islamic empires via
document analysis.
2. Homework Review
3. Document Analysis—Spread of Islamic Empires
4. Reflection/Exit Ticket
Document Analysis—Spread of Islamic Empires
I. Prompt
As we have read, by the end of Muhammad’s life in 632 CE, most of the Arabian peninsula had converted to Islam and
after his death became the first Islamic empire. Muslims referred to this empire as a caliphate, or the political and
religious state of Muslims / lands in their possession in the centuries after the death of Muhammad. The ruler of the
Islamic caliphate was known as a caliph, who was seen as the successor to Muhammad. Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s friend,
was the first to succeed Muhammad as caliph. Abu Bakr was followed by three caliphs known as the “Rightly Guided
Caliphs,” who in turn created the Umayyad dynasty. The Umayyad dynasty remained in charge of the caliphate until
750CE, when the Abbasids seized power after an internal rebellion. The Abbasid dynasty lasted until 1258CE and ruled
over a massive, wealthy Islamic empire.
Using the documents, analyze (identify and explain) how the early Islamic empire expanded.
II. Document A: Battle of the Yarmuk
Source: Al-Biladuri, “The Battle of the Yarmuk (636) and After,” written in the 800s CE.
Background Info: Muslim forces took control of Syria in 636 CE when they fought the Eastern Roman Empire (which
included Greece) at the Battle of Yarmuk. This account, written by Muslim historian Ahmad al-Biladuri in the 800s CE,
describes the battle.
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
The Muslims gathered together, and the Greek army marched against them. The Greeks and their followers in this
battle tied themselves to each other by chains, so that none of them would run away. The battle they fought at alYarmuk was of the fiercest and bloodiest kind. In this battle 24,000 Muslims took part. By Allah's help, some 70,000 of
them [the Greeks] were put to death, and their remnants (rest of the army) took to flight, reaching as far as Palestine,
Antioch, Aleppo, Mesopotamia and Armenia. In the battle of al-Yarmuk certain Muslim women took part and fought
violently. Among them was Hind, daughter of 'Utbah and mother of Mu'awivah ibn-abiSufyan, who repeatedly
exclaimed, "Cut the arms of these non-Muslims with your swords!"
III. Document B: Treaty of Tudmir
Source: The Treaty of Tudmir, 713 CE.
Background Info: This treaty was signed in 713 CE between ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, the commander of the Muslim forces invading
Spain, and Theodemir, the Christian King of a region in southern Spain.
In the name of God, the merciful and compassionate. We [Abd al-Aziz’s forces] will not harass him [Theodmir], nor
remove him from power. His followers will not be killed or taken prisoner, nor will they be separated from their
women and children. They will not be coerced (forced) in matters of religion, their churches will not be burned, nor
will sacred objects be taken from the realm, as long as he remains sincere and fulfills these conditions that we have set
for him: He will not give shelter to fugitives (runaway prisoners), nor to our enemies, nor encourage any protected
person to fear us, nor conceal (hide) news of our enemies. He and [each of] his men shall [also] pay one dinar (Muslim
coins) every year, together with four measures of wheat, four measures of barley, four liquid measures of concentrated
fruit juice, four liquid measures of vinegar, four of honey, and four of olive oil. Slaves must each pay half of this
amount.
IV. Document C: Fred Donner
Source: Excerpt from Fred Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests, 1981.
Background Info: Fred Donner is a historian at the University of Chicago who specializes in early Islam and early
Islamic expansion. Below is an excerpt from his book where he challenges some of the common knowledge about early
Islamic conquests.
During the conquest period the granting of gifts, which had been practiced by Muhammad, became more regularized
and eventually institutionalized (became a regular practice of the government). In the first place, there was
established a system of stipends (money payments) or direct salary payments to warriors serving in the Islamic armies.
. . . Tribesmen in the Islamic armies who rebelled against the regime (government in power at the time) now did so at
the cost of losing the stipends that the regime provided. Similarly, stipends were granted to some Persian or Aramean
nobles (ruling class) who cooperated with the Muslims in Iraq. In most cases, it appears that these individuals were
required to embrace Islam in order to receive their stipend.
V. Mini-Thesis
Directions: Compose a mini-DBQ thesis in response to our prompt. Your thesis should be SAPA (specific, addresses the
prompt, previews your three main points via document groupings, and is analytical).
Note: The easiest way to get the analytical point here would be to decide upon which of the three factors for Islamic
expansion was most important, and say so.
Exit Ticket on next page.
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Exit Ticket
Directions: Actively read and annotate the provided text before responding to the prompt in the “Classwork” section of
your AP World History notebooks.
1.
Using the text, make an inference as to how the Prophet Muhammad would feel about the Sunni-Shia split
within the world of Islam. Your response should: 1) explain what the Sunni-Shia split actually was, and 2) use at
least two pieces of evidence.
The vision of a unified Muslim community, so important to Muhammad, proved difficult to realize
as conquest and conversion vastly enlarged the Islamic umma. A central problem involved
leadership and authority without Muhammad. Who should hold the role of caliph, the successor to
Muhammad as the political leader of the umma, the protector and defender of the faith? The first
four caliphs, known among most Muslims as the Rightly Guided Caliphs, were close “companions
of the Prophet,” selected by Muslim elders. Division surfaced almost immediately as a series of
Arab tribal rebellions and new “prophets” drove the first caliph, Abu Bakr, to beat these
disturbances down. The third and fourth caliphs, Uthman and Ali, were both assassinated, and by
656, less than 25 years after Muhammad’s death, civil war pitted Muslim against Muslim. (1)
Out of that conflict emerged one of the deepest and most enduring divisions within the Islamic
world. On one side were the Sunni Muslims, who held that the caliphs were rightful political and
military leaders, selected by the Islamic community. On the other side of this sharp divide was the
Shia branch of Islam. Its followers felt strongly that leadership in the Islamic world should come
from the direct bloodline of Muhammad. (2)
Thus what began as a purely political conflict acquired over time a deeper significance. For much
of early Islamic history, Shia Muslims saw themselves as the minority opposition within Islam.
They felt that history had taken a wrong turn and that they were “the defenders of the oppressed,
the critics and opponents of privilege and powers,” while the Sunnis were the advocates of the
established order. Various armed revolts were led by Shias over the centuries, most of which failed.
The Sunni-Shia split became a lasting division in the Islamic world, reflected in conflicts among
various Islamic states, and was worsened by further splits among the Shia. Those divisions still
echo into the 21st century. (3)