Beginnings of Islam
I. Beginnings
A. Arabian Peninsula
1. mostly desert
2. inherited by nomadic Arab herders (Bedouins)
B. Growth of Towns
1. near the west coast of Arabian Peninsula
2. market towns for long distance trade routes
3. towns became crossroads for trade
4. ideas were spread among numerous cultures
C. Cities
1. Mecca
a. in western Arabia
b. caravans stopped there
c. Ka’aba – ancient shrine in Mecca associated with Abraham
1. many different gods and spirits came to be worshipped here
2. people came here to pray to their own god or gods
Muhammad
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born in city of Mecca
was orphaned at age of 6
had very little schooling
became a trader and businessman
eventually married his boss
age 40 – while meditating in a cave, he heard
the voice of Gabriel tell him to spread the word
of Allah
7. was convinced he was the last and most
important prophet of God
The Hijrah – “The Migration”
The Hijrah – “The Migration”
1. Muhammad began to preach publicly in Mecca
by 613 AD
2. his messages were met with some opposition
3. Muhammad and supporters fled to small town
of Yathrib
4. while in Yathrib, Muhammad preaches and
gains many followers
5. Muhammad learned to be a military and
political leader here
Return To Mecca
1. 630 AD – Muhammad and 10,000 followers
return to Mecca
2. Leaders of Mecca surrender the city to
Muhammad
3. Muhammad destroys the idols at the Ka’aba
4. most Meccans will convert to Islam
Death of Muhammad
1. 632 AD – Muhammad is dead at age 62
2. his followers write his teachings and
revelations in a book, called the Qu’ran
3. it will be used as the holy book of Islam
4. only the Arabic version of the Qu’ran is
considered the true word of God
Islamic Beliefs
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Islam – submission to the will of Allah
Koran – Muslim Holy Book
Mosque- religious temple
Sharia- Muslim law code
Like Christianity and Judaism it is monotheistic
Also concerned with salvation and after-life
No claim to divinity of Muhammed
Muhammed was the last prophet. Do believe in
Old Testament
• All 3 see Jerusalem as a Holy City
Dome of the Rock - Jerusalem
Koran – Islamic Holy Book
Five Pillars of Islam
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Belief in Allah and Muhammed is his prophet
Pray five times a day facing Mecca
Observe holy month of Ramadan
Make a Pilgrimage to Mecca
Give alms to the poor
Muhammad’s Successors
Muhammad’s Successors – Capital is Mecca
1. called caliphs
2. believe in the shari’a (system of law)
3. will be known as the “Rightly Guided Caliphs” because they follow
the Sunna
4. Sunna – the example of Muhammad
5. Abu Bakr – first successor; he used jihad (holy war) to expand
Islam
a. established a Muslim empire that covered all of Arabia
b. died in 634 AD
6. Umar – second caliph – use jihad
a. conquers Syria, lower Egypt, and parts of Sassanid
(Persian) Empire
Internal Conflict Creates Crisies
Search for New Caliph
1. 656 AD – caliph Uthman dies – civil war
erupts between various Muslim groups
2. Ali is blood descendant of Muhammad – and
natural successor to empire
3. 661 – Ali is assassinated – no way for next
caliph to be elect
Rise of Umayyads Caliphate
• Move capital to Damascus
• Abandoned simple life of previous caliphs and
surround themselves with wealth
• Expanded from Persia into Central Asia
• Expanded to North Africa through Spain and into
France
• Stopped in France at the battle of Poitiers or Tours
• Tried to take Constantinople but were defeated by
Greek Fire
• Decadent behavior leads to their demise and
overthrow
Battle of Tours
Importance of Battle
• Frankish infantry held
back Muslim cavalry
• Saved Christian Europe
from Islamic invaders
• Increased the power of
the Frankish empire
• Christians will begin to
reconquer Spain, known
as the reconquista
Charles Martel
Sunni vs. Shite
1. Sunni – believe rulers should follow example
of Muhammad
2. Shi’a – believe rulers should be descendants
of Muhammad
Abassids and Islamic Golden Age
1. rebelled against the Umayyads – led to their
downfall
2. officially came to power in 750 AD – after
assassinating all Umayyad family
members
3. move the capital of the empire to Bagdad in
762 AD
a. led to increased trade and wealth for the
empire
Golden Age
• Occurred under
Harun al-Rashid
• Economic Prosperity
• Baghdad becomes
center of huge
commercial market
because of its
location
• Advances in learning
Connections
1. All Muslims were connected through
religion, language, currency, and trade
2. massive cities were built throughout the
empire as trade centers
3. many advances were made by the Muslim
people in technology, math, and art
4. example: city of Cordoba had a population
of 200,000 while Paris had a
population of 38,000
Calligraphy
• The art of beautiful
handwriting
Astrolabe
• Typical uses of the
astrolabe include
finding the time during
the day or night, finding
the time of a celestial
event such as sunrise or
sunset and as a handy
reference of celestial
positions.
Ibn Sina
• The Canon of Medicine, which was a standard
medical text in Europe and the Islamic world up
until the 18th century
• The book is known for the discovery of
contagious diseases and sexually transmitted
diseases, the introduction of quarantine to limit
the spread of infectious diseases, the
introduction of experimental medicine, clinical
trials, neuropsychiatry, risk factor analysis, and
the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific
diseases
Medicine – Al Razi
• Wrote Treatise on
Smallpox and Measles
• Believed patients would
recover more quickly if
they breathed cleaner
air
Math – Al Khwarizmi
• Wrote a textbook in the
800s explaining “the art
of brining together
unknowns to match a
know quantity”
• Called this technique
Al-jabr – today called
algebra
Literature – Thousand and One Nights
Ibn Rushd (1126-1198)
• Argued that Greek
philosophy and Islam
both had the same goal:
to find the truth
• Was stoned in Great
Mosque of Cordoba for
views
• Renowned by European
scholars
Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
• Wrote book Rihla about his travels, compare
to Marco Polo
• Traveled for over 30 years
• covered almost the entirety of the known
Islamic world and beyond, extending from
North Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe
and Eastern Europe in the West, to the Middle
East, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia,
Southeast Asia and China in the East
Reasons for Decline of Abassids
• Dispute over succession within caliphate
• Vast wealth contributed to financial
corruption
• Move away from the strict moral Islamic code
• Foreign invasions on the borders, specifically
from the Seljuk Turks
Seljuk Turks
• Nomads from Central Asia that conquered
Abassids and Baghdad
• Turks conquer most of Anatolia in 1071 by
defeating the Byzantines
• Ruler was called a Sultan
• Turks ended the squabble between the Sunni
and Shi’ites
Crusades
• Christian attacks into Islamic lands in order to
regain Jerusalem and protect Christian shrines
• Crusades helped to unite Islam against foreign
invaders
• Created hatred and distrust between
Christians and Muslims
• Forced Europe to find new sea routes to India
and China because land routes went through
the hostile middle east.
Mongol Influence on Muslim World
• Were not Muslim
• Treated territory horrible
• Mongols settled down in territory eventually
converting to Islam and inter-marrying with
the Arab population
• Soon there was no distinction
• New capital is Cairo and a renaissance in
Muslim culture took place