Muhammad Proclaims
a New Faith
A brilliant and militant new civilization rises
out of the Arabian desert
Triumphant return
• 630 CE: Muhammad and
his “Muslim” followers enter
Mecca
– after their 8 year exile in
Yathrib
• aka Medina
Key words
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Islam
Muslim (Moslem)
Prophet
Quran (Koran)
Mecca
Medina (Yathrib)
Pillars of Islam
Hijrah (Hegira)
Kaaba (ka’ba, etc.)
caliph
• jihad
– Greater
– Lesser
• Sunni
• Shi’ite
• Umayyad
– Damascus
• Abbasid
– Baghdad
• Sharia
Holy city
• Right: Mecca
– as it would have appeared
around the time of his birth
(below)
Mecca (cont.)
• Note the ka’aba in the
background
– at the center of the city
First marriage
• c. 595
• Khadijah
Divine intervention
• c. 610
• Muhammad and the angel
Gabriel
The Hegira
• Flight to Yathrib
– 16 July 622 (Year One)
• Note that Muhammad’s head is
covered….
The first Muslims
• Early followers of the
Prophet pondering his words
at Yathrib
– aka Medina
• Muhammad gave daily
recitations of the messages
he believed came from Allah
– which his followers faithfully
recorded
The Book of Books
• The Qur’an
– 114 chapters (suras)
An intense monotheism
• Right: the Koranic script
representing the one God
• “There is one God, and
Muhammad is his prophet.”
Daily prayer
• Islam’s “Second Pillar”
Military leader
• The Muslim army is here seen
advancing toward battle with the
Meccans at Badr (624)
• Other battles
– Mount Uhud
– Battle of the Ditch
Jihad
• A very powerful concept
Return to Mecca
• What policies did Muhammad
adopt that allowed him to gain the
general support of the people of the
city?
– including the leading merchant
families
Dome of the Rock
• Muhammad is believed to have
risen to heaven from this spot
Successors
• Muhammad and the “rightly
guided caliphs”
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Abu Bakr
Umar (Omar)
Uthman
Ali
• Sunni and Shi’ite
Muhammad’s
Arabia
The Islamic Empire