Download Islam

Ancient
Civilizations
The World of Islam
Arabs
• Arabs = nomadic bedouins, Semitic speaking people
who lived in Arabian Peninsula
• Hostile surroundings made the Arabs move
constantly to continue to feed their animals
• Arabs organized into independent tribes to help each
other with difficult lives
• Sheikh = leader of tribe
• Early Arabs herded sheep & farmed on the Arabian
peninsula
• After domestication of camel, expanded caravan
trade from between Persian gulf & Mediterranean
Bedouins
Arabs
• Early Arabs were polytheistic, Allah = main god
• Traced their ancestry to Abraham & his son Ishmael,
who were believed to have built a shrine called the
Kaaba at Mecca
• Black Stone, cornerstone of Kaaba, revered for its
association with Abraham
Muhammad
• Born into merchant family in Mecca, orphaned early
• Became a caravan merchant & married his boss, a
rich widow named Khadija
• Muhammad was troubled with gap between the
greedy rich & honest poor
• Muhammad went into mountains to meditate on the
issue
• While meditating, Muhammad received revelation
from God through the angel Gabriel
Muhammad
• Muhammad came to believe that Allah had
revealed himself partially to Moses & Jesus
and his final revelations were to him
• Islam = submission to the will of Allah
• Quran = Muslim bible based on
Muhammad revelations
• Quran contains ethical guidelines for
Muslims
• Islam has only one god, Muhammad is the
prophet
Mosque Of The
Prophet
In Madinah
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem:
Where Muhammad
Ascended Into Heaven
ISLAM
• Muhammad became a religious, political, &
military leader
• He assembled a military force to defend
community/ military victories attracted
many followers
• In 630, Muhammad returned to Mecca with
10,000 soldiers/ city surrendered & many
residents converted to Islam
• Muhammad declared the Kaaba to be a
sacred shrine
• Muhammad died 2 years later, Islam spread
through the Arabian peninsula
The Quran:
Holy Book
Of Islam
Five Pillars of Islam
Faith – Allah is the one true god and
Muhammad is his prophet.
Prayer – five times a day toward Makkah,
noon on Fridays at mosque.
Alms Giving.
Fasting – during Ramadan from sunrise to
sunset.
Pilgrimage - a hajj to Makkah once in
lifetime
There is no deity except Allah
(the One and Only God),
Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah.
Celebrating The Last Day of Ramadan
Pilgrims On
The Road to
And Camped
Outside of
Makkah
P
i
l
Al-Haram Mosque Holds the Kaaba
Values:
Honor parents
Be kind to neighbors
Protect widows and orphans
Give to the poor
Condemns:
Murder
Stealing
Lying
Adultery
The Quran
Forbids:
Gambling
Pork
Alcohol
Regulates:
Marriage
Divorce
Inheritance
Business
Endorses:
Polygamy
Slavery
Jihad
Muslim Cartoon
Creation of Arab Empire
• Difficult finding leadership after Muhammad’s death
• Abu Bakr = Muhammad’s father-in-law was chosen
to be successor/ called caliph = successor to
Muhammad
• Bakr & Muhammad used Jihad to spread movement
of Islam
• Jihad = “struggle in way of god”
• By 650 Egypt, Syria, & Persian empire were part of
Arab empire/ Done under leadership of Bakr
• Death in battle was assured place in
palace/enhanced military courage
Muhammad Surrounded by the
Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs
The Meaning of Jihad
1. Jihad against oneself - the daily struggle against evil and
temptation in life.
2. Jihad with knowledge - the struggle to use knowledge,
particularly from the Qur'an, to fight ignorance and to gain
converts to Islam not through battle, but through the power of
Qur'anic knowledge.
3. Jihad with wealth - the struggle to give up material wealth for
the benefit of Islam, through charitable donations.
4. Jihad with the sword - the physical struggle to defend Islam
against harm from unbelievers. Muslims believe that if they give
their lives in this military jihad they will be rewarded with
eternal paradise.
5. Jihad through righteousness - the struggle to continuously
undertake good deeds to please God and benefit humanity.
Arab Empire
• First 2 caliphs after Abu Bakr were killed
• In 656 Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, became caliph
but was assassinated 5 years later
Ali and Sons
Umayyad Dynasty
• In 661, general Mu’awiyah became caliph/ was rival
of Ali
• Was governor of Syria & moved capital from
Medinah to Damascus
• Was known for only using force if necessary
• Made the office of caliph hereditary
• 8th century Arabs conquered & converted the
Berbers = lived on coast of North Africa
• Occupied southern Spain/ By 725 Spain was Muslim
state
• Arabs were defeated at Battle of Tours ending
European expansion
Umayyad Dynasty
• In 717, Muslims attacked Constantinople, but their
navy was defeated by Byzantines
• Internal struggles led to revolts
• Most important revolt was led by Hussein, 2nd son of
Ali/ Most of his followers defected and he fought
10,000 soldiers with 72….All died
• The struggles caused Islam to split into two groups,
the Shiite & Sunni
• Split continues today….Most Muslims are Sunnis,
but much of Iraq & Iran consider themselves Shiites
Abbasid Dynasty
• In 750, Abu al-Abbas overthrew the Umayyad
dynasty & founded Abbasid which lasted until 1258
• In 762, Abbasid built new capital of Baghdad on the
Tigris river/ location took advantage of river &
caravan traffic
• Harun al-Rashid led dynasty through golden age/
known for charity and patronage
• Son = al Ma’mun was a great patron of learning
• Baghdad became center of a huge trade empire
Abbasid Dynasty Falls
• Abbasid experienced problems; fighting
over succession of caliph
• Vast wealth led to financial corruption
• Shortage of qualified Arabs to fill
government positions allowed non-Arabs to
become a dominant force in the military &
bureaucracy which led disintegration
• Rulers of provinces began to break away
• Spain, Morocco, Egypt = independent with
own caliphate
Umayyad
Mosque
In Spain
Samanid
Mosque
In Bukhara
Fatimid Mosque in Cairo
Seljuk Turks & Crusades
• Fatimid dynasty became center of Islamic
civilization = important because it was located on
Nile river = Cairo
• Created a strong army by non-native soldiers =
Seljuk Turks
• Seljuk Turks = nomadic people from central Asia,
converted to Islam
• Took over much of Abbasid empire & captured
Baghdad; held political and military power
• Turks took over Anatolian plateau, Byzantine
empire turned west for help
Crusades
• Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked Christian states
of Europe for help against Turks
• Europeans agreed and a series of Crusades began in
1096
• Crusaders put Muslims on defensive first
• 1169, Saladin took control of Egypt & ended
Fatimid dynasty, took offensive @ Christians
• 1187, Saladin’s army destroyed the Christian forces
in the kingdom of Jerusalem
• Main effect of Crusades = centuries of mistrust
between Muslims & Christians
Mongols
• Pastoral people who came out of the Gobi desert in
early 13th century
• Were highly destructive conquerors whose goal was
to create such a terror that people would not fight
back
• 1258, Mongols seized Persia & Mesopotamia
• Leader – Hulegu hated Islam, detroyed Baghdad &
Abbasid caliphate ended
• Mongols advanced as far as the Red Sea
• They failed to conquer because resistance of
Mamluks = Turkish slave soldiers who had power
after overthrowing Saladin
Mongols
• Mongol leaders began to convert to Islam &
intermarried with local peoples
• 14th century, Mongol empire split into separate
kingdoms
• Islamic empire ended
• Because Mongols had destroyed Baghdad, Cairo
became center of Islamic civilization
Mongols
Genghis
Khan United
Mongol
Cavalry
Islamic Civilization
• Arab empire was generally prosperous
• Based on extensive trade by ship & camel
• Camel caravans went to Morocco in far west to
countries beyond Caspian Sea
• Trade began to prosper during Abassid dynasty
• Large magnificent cities began to
prosper……..Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus, Cordoba
• Islamic cities had their own physical appearance
• Palace & mosques = most impressive buildings
• Fountains, public baths, bazaars
Islamic Society
• Muslims live their lives in accordance with Allah’s
teachings revealed in the Quran
• Islam claims that all people are equal in the eyes of
Allah/ was not always the case in the Arab empire =
well defined upper class of ruling families &
wealthy merchants
• Slaves were not considered equal/Muslims could not
be slaves/ Slaves came from south Africa or Asia,
mostly captives of war/treated pretty well, many
were set free
• Women were not treated equal, Quran does not tell
men to do so
Islamic Society
• Men dominated Arab empire
• Every woman had a male guardian/ Women were
secluded at home & kept from social contacts with
men outside their families
• Parents arranged marriages for children/ Muslim
men could have up to 4 wives\had to pay dowry
• Women covered much of their bodies while in
public
• These customs are more connected with Arab
practice than to the teachings of the Quran
Islamic Achievements
• Al-Ma’mun’s House of Wisdom = Baghdad, Arab
scholars translated Greek works by Plato, Aristotle,
etc./ Mathematics texts were included
• Ibn-Rushd = scholar, wrote commentaries on
Aristotle’s works
• Math = created algebra & passed on India’s
numbering system known as “Arabic” in Europe
• Science = perfected astrolabe-used by sailors to
determine location by looking at position of planets
& stars/ observatory in Baghdad where scientists
studied and named many stars
Islamic Achievements
• Medicine = developed medicine as a field of study/
Ibn Sina wrote medical encyclopedia, Canon of
Medicine, it showed how diseases could spread
• History = Ibn Khaldun proposed cyclical history,
cause & effect, wrote Muqaddimah- Intro to History
• Literature = Quran was main book/ Omar Khayyam
wrote Rubaiyat/ Arabian Nights (1001 Nights)
collection of folktales & fables that were first told
orally & then written down over many years
• Art/Architecture = blends together Arabic, Turkish,
& Persian traditions
Islamic Achievements
• Art is expressed in Mosques/ decorations =
arabesques- geometric patterns of Arabic letters,
plants, & abstract figures
• No representation of Muhammad in any art/ prophet
warned against imitating God by creating pictures
• Great Mosque of Samarra is the largest Mosque ever
built = present day Iraq, covers 10 acres
• Mosque in Cordoba, Spain = 514 columns make
building into a forest of trees\
• Palaces reflected the glory of Islam
• Alhambra in Granada, Spain is finest Islamic palace