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Islam
World History I
Heritage High School
Mr. Irwin
Main Idea
Muhammad unified the Arab
people both politically and through
the religion of Islam.
Birthplace of Islam
• Originated in
Saudi Arabia
• Early Islamic
cities: Medina
and Mecca
• Founder:
Muhammad
Terminology
• The religion is called ISLAM.
• The people are MUSLIMS.
• An ARAB is someone:
– Who can trace ancestry to tribes of
Arabia
– Whose first language is Arabic
– And/or who is a citizen of a country
where Arabic is the official language
or the country is a member of Arab
League
Setting the Stage
• The cultures of the Arabian
Peninsula were in constant
contact with each other for
centuries.
• Southwest Asia (aka the Middle
East) was a bridge between
Africa, Asia, and Europe, where
goods were traded and ideas
were shared.
• Arabian Peninsula – crossroads
of 3 continents
– Africa
– Asia
– Europe
•
Crossroads of Trade &
Ideas
Bedouins were nomads who lived in the desert and organized into
tribes called clans.
– Bedouins provided security and support.
•
•
•
•
Areas in the desert with more fertile soil and the larger oases had
enough water to support farming communities.
Larger towns near the western coast of Arabia became market towns
for local, regional, and long distance trade goods.
Merchants from the Byzantine and Sassanid (Persian) Empires moved
along caravan routes, trading goods from the Silk Road.
– Spices and incense
– Information and ideas from outside Arabia
Mecca – important stop on the trade route
– Caravans carrying religious pilgrims stopped in Mecca during the
holy months
– Mecca had a simple house of worship called the Ka’aba
• It was associated with Abraham
Myth #1:
Most Muslims are
Arabs who live in the
Middle East.
Reality:
Of more than 1
billion Muslims
worldwide, only
about 1/5 are Arabs.
Try to Guess:
Which country has
more Muslims than
any other country in
the world?
Answer:
Indonesia - with over 200
million Muslims.
Note: The U.S. has about 5 million Muslims.
Myth #2:
Muslims have a strange
religion and worship a
god called Allah.
Reality:
Muslims are
monotheistic and
worship the same one
God as Christians and
Jews.
Founder: Muhammad –
The Prophet
• Born in Mecca, Arabia.
– Orphaned as a young boy
• Became involved in the Arabian caravan trade.
• He eventually married a wealthy widow
– Became unsatisfied with wealth, so he spent
many hours meditating and praying in the caves
around Mecca.
• Believed that God spoke to him through the angel
Gabriel
• Religion of Islam based on his revelations
Muhammad and Monotheism
• Muhammad believed that the one, true God had
spoken to him, and became a monotheist.
• Believed that the God who spoke to him was the
same God of the Jews and Christians.
• Also believed that he was the Seal of the Prophets or
God’s final prophet.
– Accepted and believed in other Judeo-Christian
prophets including Moses and Jesus
• Islam – Arabic for “submission to the will of Allah”
– Muslim – “one who has submitted”
Keep this in mind:
Allah’ is the Arabic
word for ‘God.’
‘
The Hijra
• Because the people of Mecca feared Muhammad’s
teachings would lead to the neglect of the traditional
Arabic gods
– Afraid it would lose position as a pilgrimage center which
would lead to loss of economy
• In 622 C.E., A warning of assassination forced
Muhammad and his followers to leave Mecca
• They settled in Yathrib (200 miles north) and this
became known as the Hijra
– Yathrib was later renamed Medina which mean “city of the prophet”
• During the next decade, as the Muslims and the
people of Mecca battled each other, Mecca’s power
declined
Return to Mecca
• In 630 C.E., Muhammad and 10,000 followers marched to the
outskirts of Mecca, and facing defeat the people of Mecca
surrendered
• Muhammad entered Mecca and went to the Ka’aba and the
idols were destroyed
– He then spoke to the people about Allah was the one true God, and
pardoned everyone who fought against him
– He also made Mecca a holy place which allowed Mecca to regain its
position as a pilgrimage center
• Most of the people converted to Islam and pledged loyalty to
Muhammad
–
They united into a Muslim religious community
• Muhammad united the people and was made a political leader,
but fell ill and died on June 8, 632 C.E.
Holy Book – The Qur'an
(Koran)
• Official religious text
of Islam
• Muslims believe that
the words of the
Qur'an are God’s
words to
Muhammad
• Also used as a book
of guidance for
Muslims
Why it Matters…
Islam is the world’s fastest
growing major religion, and
therefore it has a strong impact on
millions of people.
Myth #3:
Muslims believe it is
okay to kill civilians in
a holy war (“jihad”).
Reality:
Only Muslim extremists
(groups like Al-Qaeda)
believe this. Most
Muslims did not agree
with jihads.
Five Pillars of Faith
• The Five Pillars of Faith are five critical
beliefs/actions for Muslims to live a
good life according to the faith
Shahadah – Profession
of Faith
• It is a statement that professes
monotheism and accepts Muhammad
as God’s messenger
• Translated from Arabic as: "[I profess
that] There is no god but Allah and
Muhammad is the messenger of God."
Salat - Prayers
• Must pray 5 times (at certain times) a
day facing Mecca
Zakah – Paying of Alms
• Alms – charity to the
poor
• If able to do so,
Muslims must give
at least 2.5% of
income
• This is mandatory,
or NOT optional
Sawm – Fasting during
Ramadan
• Muslims must abstain from food and
drink, from dawn to dusk during this
month, and are to be especially mindful
of other sins.
• The fast is meant to allow Muslims to
seek nearness to Allah, to express their
gratitude to and dependence on him, to
atone for their past sins, and to remind
them of the needy.
Hajj – Pilgrimage to Mecca
• All Muslims,
if able to do
so, must
make the
pilgrimage to
Mecca at
least once in
their life
• Shows
devotion to
Allah
Myth #4:
Most Muslim women
wear veils over their
faces and are treated
very badly.
Reality:
• Muslim women have many different styles of
dress. (Very few cultures require women to
cover their faces.)
• The treatment of women varies from country
to country and family to family.
• Some Muslim countries, like Pakistan, have
had female prime ministers. The U.S. has
never had a female president.
• Muhammad is believed to have said that they
should “be good to the women”
Pakistani dress (left); Saudi Arabian
(right)
Types of Islamic dress for
Women
Spread of Islam
Spread of Islam
• Appeal of straightforward requirements of
human conduct and promise of heavenly
rewards
• Much diffusion along trade routes
– Caravans (groups traveling in a long line) helped
spread
• Spread into Fertile Crescent, Iran, and
Central Asia then eventually into Byzantine
Empire and Africa
• Arabic language spread with Islam
– Qur’an was not translated into other languages
After Muhammad
• Death of Muhammad: leads to civil war and split in Islam
– Argument over who was to succeed Muhammad
• Muhammad had not named a successor or
instructed his followers how to choose one
• “Rightly Guided” Caliphs
– Caliph – title that means “successor” or “deputy”
• The rightly guided caliphs were:
– Abu-Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali
• They were rightly guided because they used the
Qur’an and Muhammad’s actions as guides to
leadership
Internal Conflict Creates a Crisis
• Murder of Uthman triggered a civil war
• A family known as the Umayyads came to
power
– Set up the hereditary system of succession
– Also moved Muslim capital to Damascus
• Made it easier to control conquered territories
– Also abandoned the simple life of previous caliphs
and began to surround themselves with wealth
and ceremonies similar to non-Muslim rulers
Sunni – Shi’a Split
• Sunni: believed that the leader should be
elected
• Muhammad’s closest friend, Abu Bakr, was
elected
• Makes up about 70-85% of Muslims
• Shi’a/Shiite: believed leadership should have
passed to Muhammad’s cousin/son-in-law Ali
• Successor should be descendent of Muhammad
• The Sufi is a group that believed in the
Umayyads rule but thought they were too
concerned with the luxuries of life
• They gave up the luxuries and pursued a life of
poverty and devotion.
Muslims Control Areas of 3
Continents
• When the Abbasids came to power,
they murdered the remaining members
of the Umayyads family.
• Abbasids’ strength lay in the former
Persian lands (Iran, Iraq, and central
Asia).
• Abbasids moved the capital to Baghdad
to solidify their power
Reasons for Muslim Success
• Muslim armies were well disciplined and
expertly commanded
• Armies were able to overwhelm forces
unaccustomed to their warfare
• Byzantine and Persian Empires has
been fighting each other making it easy
for the Muslims to take over lots of their
land
More Turning Points
• Conquest and capture of Damascus
and Jerusalem
• Baghdad became an Islamic capital
– Major trading city
• Defeat of Muslims at Battle of Tours in
732
– Stopped Muslim expansion into Western
Europe
Muslim Trading Power
• Two major sea trading zones (Mediterranean
Sea and Indian Ocean) linked the Muslim
empire to a world system of trade by sea
• Land trade connected the Islamic Empire to
the Silk Road which connected the empire to
China, India, and Europe
• It encouraged flow of trade, and so they set
up banks along the trade routes
• A lot of wealth flowed into the empire
Cultural Contributions
of Islam
• Muslims combined and preserved the
traditions of many peoples and
encouraged advanced learning in a
variety of areas
• Many of the ideas developed during this
time period became the basis of today’s
scientific and academic studies
Muslim Society
• Four Social Classes
– Upper class: included those who were Muslim
at birth
– Second class: included people who converted
to Islam. Paid higher taxes, but not as high as
the third class
– Third class: consisted of the protected people.
Protected people were Christians, Jews, and
Zoroastrians
– Last class: consisted of slaves. These slaves
were prisoners of war and all were non-Muslim
Role of Women in Muslim
Society
• Shair’a gave Muslim women specific and legal rights
concerning:
– Marriage
– Family
– Property
• The Qur’an provided for the care of:
–
–
–
–
Widows
Orphans
Allowed for divorce
Protected women’s inheritance
• Muslim women had more rights than European
women of the same time period
Emphasis of Academic Advancement
• Muslims had practical reasons for supporting advancement in
science and math
– Wanted only the best curing their illnesses
– Needed astronomers and mathematicians to calculate
times of prayer
• Both Umayyads and Abbasids encouraged scholars to collect
and translate scientific and philosophical knowledge texts
– Translated Greek and Roman texts into Arabic
• In 800s, Caliph al-Ma’mun opened in Baghdad a combined
library, academy, and translation center called the House of
Wisdom
• Allowed Islamic culture to advance while Europe largely
lagged behind because of lack of education
Architecture
• Greatest example of cultural
blending in the Muslim world
• Mosques tended to blend
Byzantine architecture with Muslim
ideas
– Huge domes, vaulted ceilings
• Dome of the Rock – found in
Jerusalem
– Built on the site of Solomon’s Temple
Architecture
Language and Literature
• Language – Arabic
• The Qur’an is the standard for
all Arabic literature and poetry
• During the Abbasid caliphate,
literature included poems about
nature and pleasures of life
Example of
Arabic alphabet
Medical Advances
• Al-Razi, Persian scholar, was
considered the greatest physician of the
Muslim world
• He wrote an encyclopedia called
Comprehensive Book that drew on
knowledge from Greek, Syrian, Arabic,
and Indian sources
• Also wrote about smallpox and measles
• Believed people needed clean air to
heal
Science and Math
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•
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Muslims translated and studied Greek texts
But did not follow Greek methods of solving problems
Preferred to solve problems by conducting experiments
Math – basis of all knowledge
Invented algebra
Advances in math related to study of astronomy
– Observatories charted stars, comets, and planets
• Ibn al-Haytham made proposals about optical vision that
led to development of lenses for telescopes and
microscopes
Muslims borrowed the concept of zero
from India and developed Arabic
numerals.
Philosophy and Religion
• Ibn Rushd in his writings tried to
harmonize Aristotle’s and Plato’s views
with those of Islam
• Argued that Greek philosophy and Islam
had the same goal: to find the truth
• Scholars translated works of Aristotle
and Plato into Arabic
Art
• Islam forbade the depiction
of living beings
– Based on the idea that only
Allah can create life
– Pictures of living beings
were considered idolizing
• Many turned to calligraphy,
the art of beautiful
handwriting
• Decorative art such as
woodwork, glass, ceramics,
and textiles were also used
as a creative outlet
Impact of Islam
• Islam is an important religion, which
shares many beliefs and practices with
Christianity and Judaism.
• Muslims live in many different countries.
Islam is especially widespread in Africa,
Asia, and southeastern Europe (the
Balkans).
• Islam has had a great impact on world
art and culture.