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Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Name:
Date:
Mr. Carey/Mr. Clarke
Rise of Islam
Rise of Islam
I. Overview
In recent times, the man Muslim societies (believers in the religion Islam) of the
Middle East have been seeking to overcome several hundred years of humiliating
European intrusion and to find their place in the modern world. In doing so, many
Muslims have found inspiration and encouragement in the early history of their
civilization and their faith. For a thousand years (roughly 600-1600), peoples claiming
allegiance to Islam represented a highly successful, prosperous, and expansive
civilization, which included parts of Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. During
the postclassical period, the Islamic civilization decisively shaped the history of the
entire Afro-Eurasian world.
The significance of Islamic civilization during the postclassical period was enormous.
To begin, Islam tossed the previously small and nomadic Arab people—who were the
first people to believe in the religious teachings of the original Islamic prophet,
Muhammad (see left)—into a central role in world history. The sudden emergence and
rapid spread of Islam in the 600s was accompanied by the creation of a huge empire
that stretched from Spain to India. Both within that empire and beyond it, a new and
innovative Islamic civilization took shape, drawing on Arab, Persian, Turkish, Greco-Roman, South Asian, and African
cultures. It was clearly the largest and most influential of the postclassical civilizations. Finally, the broad reach of Islam
created many of the great cultural encounters of 600-1450, as Islamic civilization challenged Christianity, transformed
African cultures, and also took root in India, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. The spread of Islam continued in the
modern era so that by 2013, some 1.6 billion people, or 23 percent of the world’s population, identified as Muslims. It was
second only to Christianity as the world’s most widely practiced religion, and it extended far beyond the Arab lands where
it had originated.
Directions: Actively read and annotate the provided text on the origins of the religion Islam and the Islamic community.
Then, actively read and annotate the provided two documents. While you read, keep in mind the questions below. When
you have finished reading, respond to these questions in the “Homework” section of your AP World History notebooks.
1.
2.
Using the text, “The Birth of a New Religion,” identify the prophet behind the origins of Islam, as well as the
birthplace of Islam itself, and explain how the Arabic view of this new religion changed over time. Your
response should include at least three pieces of textual evidence.
Using the provided documents, make an inference (textual evidence + background knowledge) as to why Islam
spread so quickly. Your response should include evidence from both documents.
II. The Birth of a New Religion
In 610 CE, a merchant trader from Mecca (see map) made
one of his frequent visits to a cave on nearby Mount Hira.
For Muhammad ibn Abdallah, it was a time to pray, to get
away from the scramble for money and wealth he felt was
causing his people to lose their way. According to
Muhammad, it was on this visit to Mt. Hira that the
archangel Gabriel squeezed him hard and caused words to
flow from his mouth. The words said that Allah was the one
God. No doubt a bit shaken, Muhammad reported the event
to his wife and her cousin but otherwise stayed silent. The
words continued to come. (1)
In 610, Mecca was a bustling Arabian trade town with camel
caravans arriving regularly from points north and south. It
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
was also the site of an annual pilgrimage1 where Arab pagans (people who did not believe in a
monotheistic God) came to perform rituals at the sacred Ka’ba (holy shrine in Mecca). The Meccan
population included a number of Jewish families and some Christians, too. There may have been a
feeling among the pagan Arabs that their religious world was less sophisticated than that of the Jews
and the Christians. They had nothing to match the Jewish Torah or Christian Bible. They had no
Abraham or Moses or Jesus. But all that was about to change. (2)
After receiving Allah’s words for two years, Muhammad decided it was time to talk. Encouraged by
the support of close friends and his wife, Kadija, Muhammad began to recite the received words in
public. He spoke of the one god, Allah, and the importance of charity—sharing wealth with the
weak and poor. Together, these teachings would form the foundation of the religion Islam, the
Arabic word for “submission.” A follower of Islam was to be called a Muslim, meaning one who
“submits to the will of Allah.” After Muhammad’s death in 632, Allah’s words that Muhammad was
reciting would be written down and called the Qur’an. (3)
1
A pilgrimage is a
journey to a
specific location
that believers in a
religion take. The
location that they
travel to usually
holds spiritual
meaning for them.
At first, many in Mecca resisted Muhammad’s preaching. What would happen to the gods the Arabs
originally worshipped? Surely, some Arabs believed, pilgrimages to Mecca would stop, and business
would therefore suffer. By 622, resistance was so strong that Muhammad decided to leave. Together
with 70 families, he migrated 250 miles north. There, in the town of Medina, he established a new
base. He also made a symbolic break with the past. While Muhammad had respect for Jews and
Christians, at a prayer meeting in 624, he symbolically turned his body to the south—away from
Jerusalem, the holy site of Judaism and Christianity—and toward Mecca. It was as much as saying
that a new religion had been born. (4)
In 628, Muhammad made the hard decision to return to Mecca. Despite opposition, he was allowed
back in the city. He soon had enough support to order that the idols (statues of gods) in the Ka’ba
be destroyed and the shrine dedicated to Allah instead. Pilgrimages to the Ka’ba became one of the
Five Pillars, or essential duties, of Islam. These duties—1) confession of belief, 2) prayer five times a
day, 3) an annual month-long fast known as Ramadan, 4) giving alms to the poor, and the 5)
pilgrimage to Mecca—would become the major practices of Islam. (5)
III. Spread of Islam
Note: From its modest beginning in west-central Arabia in the 7th century CE, Islam rapidly exploded in size. Within 100
years of Muhammad’s death, it had reached Europe and Asia. Soon, followers of Islam had created an empire that
stretched from the Middle East, through North Africa, and into Europe.
Documents on next page.
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Document 1
Document 2
Power concedes nothing without a demand.