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Islamic Civilization 
An Overview
CHW3M
by Ms. Gluskin
Founding
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610 CE founding of Islam
A monotheist religion (Allah is the one God)
Founded by Muhammad in Arabia
Muhammad is considered a prophet
At that time most people in the region were
animists and polytheists
– There were some Jews and Christians (two
monotheistic religions)
Five Pillars of Islam
Every Muslim must:
• repeat: “I witness that there is only one God and
Muhammad is His messenger.” (Shahada)
• pray facing Mecca five times per day (Salat)
• give alms (Zakat) - charity tax on income for poor,
schools, hospitals, etc.
• fast during daylight hours during the month of
Ramadan
• make the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once (if
able)
Islamic Scriptures
• The Qur’an
• Not seen as
interpretation of
God’s word but
God’s actual word
The Qur’an
Submission
• Islam
= submission to God
– this means the
religion itself
– the adjectival form
(Islamic) is used to
describe things, not
people
• Muslim
= those who submit to
God
– this means those
who practice the
religion
– the adjectival form
(Muslim) is used to
describe people, not
things
Islamic Sects
• Sunni Islam (majority)
holds that Muhammad’s
successor should have
been elected
• Shi’i Islam (minority)
holds that his successor
should have been
chosen from his family
line, starting with Ali, his
son in law
There are many other sects.
Kaaba in Mecca
Islamic World
Islamic Conquests
• After Muhammad’s
death Islam was spread
widely
• At first it was spread by
Arabs throughout the
Middle East
• Early: Egypt, Fertile
Crescent, Iran
• Later: North Africa,
Spain, Central Asia,
India
Dome of the Rock,
Jerusalem, built 691
Islam in India
• Muslims traded and set
up colonies along the
west coast of India from
the 8th century on
• Mughal emperors
unified north and south
India starting in the 16th
century and ending in
1707
Taj Mahal built by Moghul ruler Sha
Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite
wife. Completed 1648.
Important Cities
• First Damascus became the
dominant city of the Islamic
leadership (caliphate)
• Then Baghdad was the next
leading city
• Then Ottomans from Muslim
Anatolia came into power in
the 11th century and took
over the Byzantine capital
(you know it as
Constantinople) in 1453
Great Mosque at Damascus
Islamic Leadership During the Middle Ages
• Salah ad-Din (Saladin)
defeated the Christian
European Crusaders in
1187
• Cordoba was the centre
of Muslim-Arab Spain
(al Andalus) until 1492
Great Mosque of Cordoba
was first constructed in the
780s then turned into a
cathedral in 1200s
Culture and Learning
• Al-Azhar university in
Cairo (970)
• Poetry and prose
(Arabian Nights) spread
due to paper making
learned from Central
Asia (via China)
• Translation of Greek
philosophy (Aristotle
and Plato)
• House of Wisdom in
Baghdad
Al-Azhar,
Cairo
Public library, Baghdad
Medieval Islamic Science and
Medicine
Doctor
with
patient
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Islamic
astronomers
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Algebra
Arabic numerals (inclusion of
zero via India), geometry,
trigonometry
Chemistry (alchemy - based on
experimentation)
Advances in astronomy (lunar
calendar, circumference of earth
all based on observation)
Advances in medicine
(treatments, surgery, knowledge
of smallpox, prescriptions)
Advances in optics
Islamic Decline
• Ottomans began to lose
power to Europeans
– Due to superior military
technology from the 17th
century onwards
• Science and learning
declined within the
Muslim world
Map showing Ottoman
Empire at its height under
Suleiman the Magnificent
in 1580