Ch 10 The Muslim World
600-1500
The Rise of Islam
Sec 1
What do you know about the
geography of this part of the
world?
Geography
• Southwest Asia – (Middle East) is a
crossroad between Africa, Asia, and
Europe
• Most of the land on the Arabian peninsula is
desert
Bedouins
• Bedouins- Arab nomads organized into
tribes and clans
• The clans provides security and support for
a life that is made very difficult by the
desert climate
• The Bedouin ideals of courage and loyalty
to family along with their warrior skills
would become part of Islamic life
Crossroads of Trade and Ideas
• By the early 600s, trade routes connected
Arabia to the major ocean and land trade
routes
• Trade routes through Arabia ran from the
extreme south of the peninsula to the
Byzantine and Persian Empires to the
north
• Merchants from these empires moved along
the trade routes to get goods from the Silk
Road to the east
Crossroads
• Along with goods such as spices and
incense traders brought ideas from outside
of Arabia
Mecca
• Mecca- holy city located in western Arabia
• An ancient shrine associated with Abraham
called the Ka’aba brought many pilgrims to
Mecca
Allah
• Allah- Arabic for God
• The concept of monotheism was well
known on the Arabian Peninsula as it was
home to many Jews and Christians
The Prophet Muhammad
• Muhammad- merchant born in Mecca
around 570 who spread Islam
• At the age of 25 Muhammad became a
trader and business manager for a wealthy
women name Khadijah, who he later
married
Muhammad
Not Muhammad Ali
Revelations
• At about the age of 40 Muhammad heard a
voice from the angel Gabriel that called
him to meditate in a cave outside Mecca
• Gabriel told Muhammad that he was a
messenger of Allah
• Muhammad became convinced that he was
the last of the prophets
Teachings
• He began to teach that Allah was the one
and only God and that all other gods must
be abandoned
• Islam- submission to the will of Allah
• Muslim- one who has submitted
• Muhammad’s wife Khadijah and several
close friends were his first followers
Hostility
• By 613, Muhammad began to preach
publicly in Mecca
• Many Meccans met his teachings with
hostility
• They believed Muhammad’s ideas would
lead to the neglect of traditional Arab
gods and Mecca would no longer be a
center of pilgrimage
The Hijrah
• After some of his followers had been
attacked, Muhammad decided to leave
Mecca in 622
• This migration from Mecca to Yathrib
became known as the Hijrah
• The Hijrah became a turning point for
Muhammad and he attracted many new
followers
• Yathrib was later renamed Medina
Return to Mecca
• Muhammad quickly became a religious, political
and military leader in Medina
• In 630, he returned to Mecca with 10,000 of his
followers
• Meccan leaders facing sure defeat surrendered
• Most Meccans pledged loyalty to Muhammad and
converted to Islam
• Umma- Muslim religious community
Death of Muhammad
• Muhammad died two years after he took
Mecca at about the age of 62
• He had taken great strides to uniting the
Arabian peninsula under Islam
Beliefs and Practices of Islam
The Five Pillars
• Faith- “There is no God but Allah, and
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”
• Prayer- Five times a day, facing towards Mecca
• Alms- Money for the poor
• Fasting- Muslims may not eat from dawn to dusk
during the holy month of Ramadan
• Pilgrimage- all Muslims who are physically and
financially able must visit Allah at least once in
their life
Way of Life
• Carrying out the Five Pillars ensures that Muslims
live their religion while serving their community
• Believers are forbidden to eat pork or drink
alcoholic beverages
• Friday afternoons are set aside for communal
worship
• No priests or central religious authority
• Ulama- religious scholars
• Imam- prayer leader
Sources of Authority
• The original source of authority is Allah
• Qur’an- holy book of the Muslims,
collected revelations of Muhammad from
Gabriel
• Sunna- Muhammad’s example, best model
for proper living
• Shari’a- Islamic law, regulates family life,
moral conduct, and business and
community life
Links to Judaism and Christianity
• Allah is the same God as that is worshipped
in Christianity and Judaism
• Jesus is believed to be a prophet, not the
Son of God
• All believe in heaven, hell and a day of
judgment
• Ancestry of all three religions is traced to
Abraham
Islam Expands
Sec 2
After Muhammad’s Death
• After Muhammad died in 632, Muslims
believed they should carry his word to the
world
• There was no established way to choose a
new leader
Caliph
• Caliph- title that means successor or deputy
• Following a tribal tradition, the Muslim
community elected Abu Bakr, a friend of
Muhammad’s, as the first caliph
Abu Bakr
• Shortly after Muhammad’s death, there
were several tribes who abandoned Islam
or refused to pay taxes
• For the sake of Islam, Abu Bakr invoked
jihad- armed struggle against nonbelievers
• Abu Bakr used jihad to justify expanding
Muslim territory
Rightly Guided Caliphs
• Rightly Guided Caliphs- the first 4
caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali,
that all knew Muhammad
Success
• The 4 rightly-guided caliphs made great
progress in their quest to expand Islam
• Muslim armies were well disciplined and
expertly commanded
• Many of the people they conquered
welcomed the invaders because of
persecution from the Byzantine or
Sassanid Empires
Treatment of Conquered People
• The Qur’an forbids forced conversion
• Conquered peoples were allowed to follow
their own religion
• As long as conquered peoples paid taxes
they were left alone
Internal Conflict
• In 656, Uthman was murdered, setting off a
civil war
• Ali was chosen as the next caliph, but he
too was assassinated
• The elective system of choosing caliphs
died with Ali
Umayyads
• Umayyads- family that took control of
Islam after the death of Ali
• Umayyad actions such as moving the
capital from Mecca to Damascus and
surrounding themselves with wealth led to a
division in the Muslim community
Sunni-Shi’a Split
• The majority of Muslims accepted the rule
of the Umayyads but many continued to
resist
• Shi’a- minority of Muslims who believe
that Ali should have succeeded Muhammad
and that the caliph needed to be descendant
of Muhammad
Sunni
• Sunni- majority of Muslims who believe
that the first 4 caliphs were rightly guided
and Muslim rulers should follow the Sunna
• Accepted the rule of the Umayyads
Sufi
• Sufi- minority branch of Islam that rejected
the luxurious lifestyle of the Umayyads.
They pursue a life of poverty and devotion
to the spiritual
Abbasid Rule
• In the year 750, rebel groups overthrew the
Umayyads and the Abbasids took control
of the empire
• The few Umayyads who were not murdered
fled to Spain where they established a new
caliphate