Overview of Islam
Today, Islam is the
world’s fastest growing
religion with more than
1 billion followers
throughout the world
What was Arabia like before Muhammad?
Islam
 Islam
is a monotheistic religion that
began in city of Mecca located on the
Arabian Peninsula near the Byzantine
Empire
 Arabians were polytheistic & came to
visit Mecca to pray to
the Kabba, a shrine
containing idols of
360 different gods
(including Allah)
Islam
 Mohammad
was born in Mecca & was
interested in monotheism of Jews &
Christians who traded in Mecca
 At age 40, Mohammad had a vision
that told him he was a messenger of
Allah (Arabic word for “god”; the
same god as Christians & Jews)
 Muhammad called his religion Islam
(“surrender to God”) & destroyed the
other idols in the Kabba
Islam
 Mohammad
identified rules all
Muslims should live by, called the
Five Pillars of Islam:
–Faith—believe in 1 god, Allah
–Prayer—five times every day
–Alms—give money to the needy
–Fasting—eat no food from sunrise
to sunset for 1 month (Ramadan)
–Pilgrimage—one in life, go to Mecca
Pilgrims
in Mecca
Muezzin
Islam
Islam
became
a very
popular
religion in
Mecca and
Medina.
Expansion of Islam
Muslims
began to expand; idea
of jihad taught that Muslims
would go straight to heaven if
died fighting for Allah; so they
fought very hard to expand.
–Holy wars were considered okay
in God's eyes.
• Islam expanded into a huge empire
including Spain, Northern Africa,
Persia, and Arabia.
Expansion of Islam
Expanded Arabic language
and cultural innovations.
Islamic rulers proved mostly
tolerant, they offered new
subjects three choices:
1.convert to Islam
2.pay a tax or
3.die

Islam
 Like
Christianity, Islam split into 2
sects; after Muhammad died, caliphs
(followers of Muhammad) lead Islamic
faith, but confusion over the “correct”
leadership (caliph):
–Sunni—caliphs should be chosen by
vote (95% Muslims are Sunni today)
–Shiite—caliphs should come directly
from Muhammad’s family tree (more
radical; 3% of all Muslims today)
Percentage Today of
Sunni & Shi’a Muslims
Worldwide
BYZANTINES
MUSLIMS
Ottoman Turks
 Turks
are nomads from Asia;
contact with Muslim Empire led to
conversion of Turks to Islam
 Ottoman Turks—Most powerful
group of Turks began to grow
strong as Byzantine Empire and
Islamic Empire began to weaken
–Defeated both Islamic Empire &
Byzantine Empire; created
Ottoman Empire
Seige of Constantinople
(1453 A.D.)
The Ottoman Empire