Download The Rise of Islam 10B1

Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______ Date:__________
The Rise of Islam
Directions: Read the following article on the Rise of Islam.
Highlight each event with its date. Construct a timeline from
what you have read. You should find at least ten events within
the text for your timeline.
Islam is a major world religion.
Currently, 1 billion to 1.8 billion Muslims
adhere to this faith, making it the second
largest religion in the world. Only
Christianity, which has 1.5 billion to 2.1
billion believers, exceeds it in size. This
religion has proved to be very important
in the history of the world, and very
influential in our own times.
The history of Islam began with
the birth of the prophet, Muhammad,
around 570 CE. He was born in the
lands of Arabia, which is a desert
peninsula located on the crossroads
between Asia, Europe, and Africa. He
belonged to a very rich family in the
trading city of Mecca. His father died
when he was only a baby, and his
mother died when he was six. His
grandfather took care of him for a while,
but he died when Muhammad was only
eight. After that time, his uncle, Abu
Talib raised him.
When Muhammad was in his
teens, he took trips with his uncle to
Syria. On these trips, he came into
contact with Jews and Christians in the
Byzantine Empire. As monotheists,
these people believed in a single God.
This was very different from the pagan
religion that the Arabs believed in at the
time; as polytheists, they believed in
many gods. His travels in Syria had a
profound impact young Muhammad.
When Muhammad returned to
Mecca, he became a merchant. He
earned a reputation for being honest. As
a result, people called him “Al-Amin,”
which means “The Trustworthy.” At the
Assignment 10B1 Updated 2012
age of 25, he married a rich widow by the
name of Khadijah.
In time, Muhammad began going
into the caves around Mecca to meditate.
According to Muslim tradition, he was
visited by an angel in a cave on the
mountain, Jabal al-Nour, when he was
about forty. For the next three years, the
angel revealed the faith of Islam to
Muhammad. It included a belief in one
God (called “Allah” by Muslims), a strict
code of conduct, and rituals that all
Muslims should follow. After
Muhammad died, Muslims wrote down
his teachings in a holy book called the
Koran (also spelled “Qur’an”). They also
wrote down the laws of Islam in the
Shariah.
In 613 CE, Muhammad finally
preached the faith of Islam to the people
of Mecca. His teachings threatened to
undermine the authority of the leaders of
that city, who were pagan. These leaders
began persecuting Muhammad and his
followers. Soon, the ill-treatment turned
deadly, and a number of his followers
were killed.
In 622 CE, Muhammad and his
followers fled from Mecca and went to the
nearby city of Medina. There,
Muhammad’s message fell on ears more
willing to listen and hearts more willing
to submit to the will of Allah. The
religion spread quickly through the city.
In time, Muslims fleeing persecution in
Mecca and other Arabian cities began
arriving. As a result, the prophet built a
base of power in the oasis. He quickly
became religious, political, and military
leader of Medina.
Over the years that followed,
Muhammad began waging war on Mecca.
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The fighting seesawed back and forth
between Medina and Mecca. Sometimes
Medina would gain the upper hand, and
at other times it was Mecca’s turn.
Finally, in the year 630 CE, the forces of
Islam conquered their Mecca. After that,
most Meccans converted to Islam and the
forces of Muhammad moved on to
conquer the rest of the Arabian
Peninsula.
In 632 CE, Muhammad made a
pilgrimage to Mecca. This journey,
known as the hajj to Muslims, firmly
established Mecca as the center of
Muslim world. Since his journey,
Muslims all over the world have striven
to emulate him, each making a
pilgrimage to Mecca. After his hajj,
Muhammad returned to Mecca and died
later that year.
Under the banner of Islam,
Muhammad united the many tribes of
Arabia. Emboldened by their success in
Arabia, Muslims under Omar launched a
number of campaigns to convert more
and more people to the faith of Islam.
One of his targets was the rich and vast
Byzantine Empire. This Christian state
blocked the way north from Arabia. So
in 636 CE, he defeated a Byzantine army
at the Syrian city of Damascus. This
victory opened the road to new lands ripe
for conquest. In the century that
followed, they conquered Palestine,
Mesopotamia, Egypt, North Africa,
Persia, and Spain.
The great empire that the armies
of Islam had forged was called the
Caliphate, and its leaders were called the
caliphs. As with any great empire, men
squabbled over who should rule. One of
these men was Ali, who was the cousin
and son-in-law of Muhammad. He was
elected caliph in 656 CE. Almost
immediately, people who opposed him
launched a war to oust him. Five years
later, he was attacked as he prayed at
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the mosque (a place of worship for
Muslims) of Kufa, and died a few days
later.
After a bitter civil war among
Muslims, a man named Mu’awiyah took
control of the Caliphate in 661 CE. In
doing so, he established the Umayyad
dynasty. Unlike the caliphs who
preceded him, he was not a member of
Muhammad’s family. Most Muslims
supported him, however. Many did not,
believing Ali was the rightful heir to
Muhammad’s legacy. This led to a split
among Muslims. Those who supported
Mu’awiyah were called Sunnis. Those
who supported Ali were called Shia. This
division still exists even today, the result
of centuries of hostility and bloodshed.
In the century that followed, the
caliphs continued to expand their empire
into Europe. From their base in Spain,
the armies of Islam sought to conquer
France and the rest of Europe. Their
armies pushed over the Pyrenees
Mountains, attacking Christian
settlements as they went. Charles
Martel, a Merovingian king, met them at
the Battle of Tours in 732 CE. He
defeated the Muslim armies, and drove
them from France. Many historians
credit him for saving Christianity in
Europe.
In 747 CE, the Abbasid family
overthrew the Umayyad family. Under
this new dynasty, the Caliphate entered
the Golden Age of Islam. While Western
Europe rode out the Dark Ages and the
power of the Byzantine Empire declined,
the lands of Islam grew in power.
Muslim merchants grew wealthy off of
the trade of the Silk Road. Islamic
scholars broke new grounds in literature,
medicine, and mathematics. As a result,
the Caliphate can truly be seen as one of
the great empires in world history.
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Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: __________
The Rise of Islam
Directions: Read the article on the Rise of Islam.
Circle the response that best answers the question.
1. Worldwide, how many people adhere
to the faith of Islam?
a. 800 million to 1.2 billion
b. 1 billion to 1.8 billion
c. 1.5 billion to 2.1 billion
2. When was
born?
a. 570
b. 580
c. 590
the prophet, Muhammad,
CE
CE
CE
3. Who raised Muhammad from the
time he was eight years old?
a. His father and mother.
b. His uncle.
c. His grandfather.
4. Where did Muhammad first come
into contact with Jews and
Christians?
a. In Egypt.
b. In Palestine.
c. In Syria.
5. As a merchant, Muhammad had the
nickname, “Al-Amin.” What does
this name mean in Arabic?
a. The Thrifty
b. The Generous
c. The Trustworthy
6. What was the name of the widow
Muhammad married?
a. Abu Talib
b. Mu’awiyah
c. Khadijah
7. On what mountain do faithful
Muslims believe Muhammad learned
about the faith of Islam from an
angel?
a. Jabal al-Nour
b. Mount Sinai
c. Mount Carmel
Assignment 10B1 Updated 2012
8. What
a.
b.
c.
name do Muslims call God?
Allah
Al-Amin
Medina
9. Where did Muslims write the
teachings of Muhammad?
a. In the Shariah.
b. In the Koran.
c. In the Hadith.
10.
Where did Muslims write down
the laws of Islam?
a. In the Shariah.
b. In the Koran.
c. In the Hadith.
11.
Why did the leaders of Mecca
persecute Muhammad and his
followers?
a. They were pagan, and
Muhammad’s new religion
undermined their authority.
b. They were merchants, and the
laws of Islam threatened to
disrupt trade.
c. They were Jewish, and did not
want to give up their religion.
12.
To what city did Muhammad and
his followers flee to avoid
persecution in 622 CE?
a. Mecca.
b. Medina.
c. Damascus.
13.
What city did the forces of Islam
conquer in 630 CE?
a. Mecca.
b. Medina.
c. Damascus.
14.
In 632 CE, Muhammad made a
pilgrimage to Mecca. What is a
pilgrimage?
a. A pleasurable outing.
b. A religious journey.
c. A military march.
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15.
What do the Muslims call a
pilgrimage to the city of Mecca?
a. The zakat.
b. The hajj.
c. The Koran.
16.
Where did the Muslims under
Omar defeat a Byzantine army in 636
CE?
a. Constantinople
b. Damascus
c. Cairo
17.
What was the empire that the
Muslims created called?
a. The Empire of Islam
b. The Caliphate
c. The Byzantine Empire
18.
22.
What did Charles Martel’s victory
over at the Battle of Tours do for
Europe?
a. It allowed Christianity to survive
in Europe.
b. It allowed Islam to spread into
Europe.
c. It allowed Christianity to spread
into North Africa.
23.
After the Abbasid family
overthrew the Umayyad dynasty,
what happened to the Caliphate?
a. It broke apart into many
different kingdoms.
b. It was conquered by the
Byzantine Empire.
c. It entered the Golden Age of
Islam.
What is a mosque?
a. A place of worship for Muslims.
b. A place of burial for Muslims.
c. A place where women live in
Muslim societies.
19.
What was different about the
caliph, Mu’awiyah, from all caliphs
that went before him?
a. He was a soldier, not a religious
leader.
b. He was not a member of
Muhammad’s family.
c. He was Jewish, not Muslim.
20.
What were the people who
supported Mu’awiyah called?
a. Sunnis
b. Shia
c. Zoroastrians
21.
What were the people who
supported Ali called?
a. Sunnis
b. Shia
c. Zoroastrians
Assignment 10B1 Updated 2012
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