The Rise of
Islam; 600-1200
World History AP
Mr. Ermer
Miami Beach Senior High
Islam

One of three Abrahamic, monotheistic religions


Judaism & Christianity worship the same God as Muslims
Two Branches:


Sunnis: (Sunna=tradition) majority of Muslims
Shi’ites: (“Party of Ali”) believe caliph descends from Ali
 Founder:
Muhammad (570-632)
 Five Pillars of Islam





Belief: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is
his prophet”
Prayer: Must perform prescribed prayers five times a
day
Charity: “giving alms” giving part of one’s wealth to
the poor
Fasting: Refraining from eating or drinking from dawn
to sunset during the month of Ramadan
Pilgrimage: Must visit Mecca once in life
The Five Pillars:
Islamic Beginnings
 Arabia=isolated,
populated by semi-nomadic clans
of Semitic speaking polytheistic people


Trade routes shift south, Arabs control new routes
Christian and Buddhist missionaries visit area
 570:



Muhammad born in Mecca, center of trade
Orphaned by 5, marries rich widow, Khadija
Troubled by economic inequalities, meditates
Visited by Angel Gabriel who reveals God’s words
 Muhammad=last


prophet in long line (Hebrews & Jesus)
Allah’s messages written in the Quran
Muhammad’s faith called Islam “submission to the will
of Allah”; Muslims=“one who submits”
Muhammad
Building the Faith
 622

C.E.: The Hijra
Muhammad & umma leave Mecca for Yathrib
 Population
of Yathrib converts to Islam, renamed Medina
 Old clan, family, and tribal distinctions replaced by umma
 Muhammad

Rededicated Kaaba as Islam’s holiest site
 632:

defeats Mecca’s army, reenters city
Muhammad dies, Abu Bakr named kalifa
Dar al-Islam vs. Dar al-harb
 Jihad:
struggle in the way of God, personal & external
 Caliph: successor of Muhammad, new leaders



First four caliphs expand empire with Bedouin fighters
Take lands from Byzantine Empire, defeat Sasanids
Islam establishes political foundation with generation
The Kaaba
The Kaaba
The Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate
 First

four caliphs build empire, do not stabilize
Last “rightly guided caliph”—Ali—assassinated
 Umayyad


clan of Mecca succeeds him
Capital: Damascus, Syria
Hereditary dynasty, religious tolerance
 Non-Arabs
 Umayyad



Decline
Many non-Arabs resent preference of Arabs
Umayyad rulers increasingly oppressive
Non-Arabs and other Arab clans form coalition


not allowed to hold high government office
Abbasi clan, under leadership of Abu al Abbas, lead revolt
Umayyad dynasts flee to Spain, est. Iberian caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate
 Abbasid


caliphs move capital to Baghdad
Located in Arabic-speaking Iraq, but close to non-Arabs
Caliph = religious & political leader

Ulama: Islamic scholars, sharia law, unity of the umma
Sharia covers all aspects of practical and spiritual life
 Ulama become law makers guided by Quran and Hadith
 Ulama retains real religious power


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Mix of Persian & Byzantine royal norms
Decentralized power, powerful provincial governors
Turkish and Berber soldiers comprise bulk of army
Greek art and philosophy influential, preserved
 Breakthroughs in sciences, philosophy, and art

Muslim Opposition
 Sunni-Shiite

Split
Sunni Muslims (Arabic for “traditional”)
 Majority
of Muslim World
 Accepted rule of Umayyad & Abbasid caliphs

Shiah Muslims (from the Arabic Shi’at Ali “Party of Ali)
 Majority
in Iraq & Iran with large groups in N. Africa
 Believe Ali was the rightful caliph


Ali’s descendants called imams
Both groups have own versions of Sharia & Hadith
 Decentralized


rule prompts opposition, revolt
Umayyad caliphs continue to rule in Spain
Shiite leader Abu Abdallah takes control of Egypt
 Shiite
Fatimid Caliphate, capital in Cairo
Fatimid Egypt
Women & Islam
 Arabs

late to adopt patriarchy
Men still married into women’s family, moved close
 Women
work, own property, multiple husbands
 Increased relations with patriarchal Southwest
Asians begins to decrease status of women
 Muhammad’s relations with women changes


First wife Khadija was older, independent, equal
Muhammad marries more wives after Khadija’s death
 Insist
wives be veiled, favorite wife Aisha married at nine
 Women limited to one husband
 Quran

reinforces patriarchy
Women given certain rights and protections
 Dowries,

evidence for moral crimes, infanticide
Women cannot divorce, take multiple husbands
Greater Islamic World
 Rival
Islamic states try to outdo each other in
artistic, intellectual, and scientific achievement
 Umayyad Spain

Capital City: Cordoba, Spain
 Great

Good relations between Muslims, Jews, and Christians
 Central


Mosque of Cordoba built in arabesque style
Asia
Arabic numerals, Algebra, Ibn Sina and medicine
Greek philosophy translated into Arabic
 Sub-Saharan


Africa
Trade & Islam expanded to West Africa
Swahili Coast
 Gold,
salt, and slaves
Umayyad Spain