Download The Rise of Islam and the Making of an Arab Empire WHAP/Napp

The Rise of Islam and the Making of an Arab Empire
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“Born in 570 to parents eminent in the Quraysh tribe, Muhammad was orphaned at an
early age, and he was raised by his grandfather and later his uncle. He became a
merchant, employed by a wealthy widow named Khadija. When he was twenty-five years
old, he married her and they had four children together.
Muhammad was a deeply meditative person, retreating regularly to a nearby hill to pray
and reflect. In 610, when he was forty years old, his reflections were interrupted,
according to Islamic teachings, by the voice of the angel Gabriel, who instructed him:
‘Recite: In the name of the Lord who created Man of a blood-clot.’ Over the next two
decades, according to Islamic theology, God continued to reveal his messages to
Muhammad through Gabriel. Muhammad transmitted these revelations to professionals
whose task it was to commit them to memory…Soon after Muhammad’s death, during the
rule of Umar I, the second leader of the Islamic community (r. 634-644), scribes and editors
compiled the entire collection of written and oral recitations into the Quran, which in
Arabic means recitations…Approximately the length of the Christian New Testament, the
Quran is considered by Muslims to be the absolute, uncorrupted, word of God. Composed
in poetic form, the Quran helped to define the literary standards of the Arabic language.
Muslims chant and study its text in Arabic, considering each syllable sacred. Even today
many Muslims reject translations of the Quran into other languages as inadequate…
The Quran reveals the ‘five pillars’ of Islam, the five ritual expressions that define
orthodox Muslim religious belief and practice:
 Declaring the creed, ‘There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet.’
 Praying five times daily while facing Mecca (2:144) and, if possible, praying also in
public assembly at midday each Friday.
 Giving alms to the poor in the community, especially to widows and orphans (2:212
ff.), later recommended at 2 ½ percent of income.
 Fasting each day during the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar year,
although eating is permitted at night, with a major feast marking the month’s end
(2:179-84)
 Making the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in a lifetime, if possible (2:185
ff.).” ~ The World’s History
1- Identify significant facts about Muhammad prior to his revelations.
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2- How did Muhammad’s life change at age forty?
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3- Why is the Quran significant?
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4- Why do many Muslims reject translations of the Quran?
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5- What are the Five Pillars of the Faith?
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6- Why is the hajj a vehicle for cultural diffusion? ___________________________________
I. The Birth of Islam: Arabian Peninsula Inhabited by Nomadic Bedouins
A. Arabia was located on trade routes which gave rise to commercial cities
1. Mecca was the site of the Kaaba, most significant shrine in Arabia, housed
representations of some 360 deities and destination of many pilgrims
2. Mecca’s dominant tribe, Quraysh, controlled access to the Kaaba
B. Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (570-632 CE) was born in Mecca
1. Orphaned but eventually married a wealthy widow, Khadija
2. Deeply troubled by religious corruption and social inequalities
3. Had an overwhelming religious experience
4. Muhammad’s revelations began in 610, continuing over next twenty-two years
5. The Quran (the holy book of Islam)
C. Muhammad’s Message
1. Radically monotheistic
2. “Seal of the Prophets” or final prophet since Abraham and Moses
3. Submission to Allah (“Muslim” means “one who submits to God”)
D. Five Pillars of the Faith
1. Absolute monotheism
2. Prayer, preferably five times a day facing Mecca
3. To give generously to maintain the community/help the needy (Charity/Alms)
4. A month of fasting from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
6. Further requirement, sometimes called sixth pillar, “struggle” or jihad
a) “Greater jihad”: personal effort against greed and selfishness
b) The “lesser jihad”: of the sword or holy war
E. Muhammad’s Flight
1. By 622, Muhammad and followers emigrated to the more welcoming town of
Yathrib, soon to be called Medina, the city of the Prophet
2. Known as hijra marked the beginning of a new Islamic calendar
F. The Umma or Community
1. Membership: matter of belief not birth, allowing it to expand rapidly
2. All authority, both political and religious, was concentrated in Muhammad
G. Rise of Empire
1. In 630, Mecca surrendered and Muhammad purged Kaaba of idols
2. Islamic law or sharia (a path to water) regulated every aspect of life
3. Within a few years of Muhammad’s death in 632, Arab armies engaged the
Byzantine and Persian Sassanid empires, the great powers of the region
4. An Islamic/Arab empire stretching from Spain to India
H. Changes
1. Mass conversion of Middle Eastern peoples to Islam
2. Converts to Islam could avoid the jizya, a tax imposed on non-Muslims
3. First four caliphs (successors to Muhammad), known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs
a) But third and fourth caliphs, Uthman and Ali, were assassinated
b) Sunni Muslims held that caliphs were rightful political and military leaders
c) Believed religious authority emerged from ulama or religious scholars
d) Shia Muslims (meaning “party” or “faction”) believed that leadership should
derive from the line of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet
1- Describe the geography of Arabia and the lifestyles of pre-Islamic Bedouins.
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2- How did Arabia’s location on trade routes transform the Arabian Peninsula?
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3- Describe the Kaaba at Mecca before the rise of Islam.
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4- Why did Muhammad begin to meditate and pray?
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5- What is the Quran?
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6- What is the meaning of the word “Islam”?
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7- How is Islam similar to Judaism and Christianity?
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8- Explain “Seal of the Prophets.”
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9- Identify the Five Pillars of the Faith.
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10- Define hajj.
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11- Define jihad.
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12- How does the greater jihad differ from the lesser jihad?
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13- What was the hijra?
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14- Why was the hijra significant?
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15- Define umma.
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16- What determines membership in the umma?
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17- Define sharia.
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18- Discuss the extent of the Islamic Empire in the post-classical period.
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19- How did Islam change Southwest Asia (Middle East is an ethnocentric term – Why?)
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20- Define jizya.
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21- Why did the jizya encourage conversion?
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22- Who were the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs?
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23- Why did the Sunni/ Shia divide arise?
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Questions 1 and 2 are based on the following 5. Which religious schism stemmed from
disputes over legitimate succession of leadership
photograph
after the death of its key or founding figure?
(A) Eastern Orthodox and Catholic
(B) Catholic and Protestant
(C) Mahayana and Theravada
(D) Sunni and Shia
(E) Mahayana and Zen
6. Pre-Islamic Arab society is best characterized
as
(A) Pastoral nomadic
(B) Sedentary agricultural
(C) Highly urbanized
(D) Maritime trade-based
(E) Hunter-gatherer
1. The scene represents a central event of a
(A) Muslim hijra
(B) Commemoration of the Byzantine
Empire in the Hagia Sophia
(C) Muslim hajj
(D) Celebration of the Christian victories of
the First Crusade
7. Which groups were treated as “people of
2. The center of attention in the scene is
(A) a holy book
(B) the sharia
(C) the Well of ZamZam
(D) the Ka’ba
8. Prior to Muhammad’s revelations, the
3. All of the following are part of the Five
Pillars of the Islamic Faith EXCEPT:
(A) Observation of fasting during the month
of Ramadan
(B) Right thought and right action
(C) The pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca
(D) Prayer five times a day
4. Which of the following Arabic terms refers to
the “community of the faithful”?
(A) Hijab
(B) Hajj
(C) Hadith
(D) Zakat
(E) Umma
the book” in lands under Islamic rule?
(A) Shiite and Sunni
(B) Hindus and Buddhists
(C) Persians and Greeks
(D) Christians and Jews
religion of the Bedouin was
(A) Primarily Christian.
(B) Primarily Jewish.
(C) Based upon ancient poems.
(D) A mixture of animism and polytheism.
9. The Islamic umma was
(A) The name given to the clergy of the new
faith.
(B) The name given to Muhammad’s flight
from Mecca to Medina.
(C) The holy book into which Muhammad’s
revelations were recorded.
(D) The concept of the community of the
faithful that transcended clan boundaries.
Thesis Practice: Analyze similarities and differences in the religion of ISLAM with ONE of
the following belief systems: Buddhism OR Christianity.
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