TEACHER’S NOTES
NAME________________________________________PER.___ DATE________________________________
CHAPTER 11 LESSON 1 NOTES:
THE ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION
Prologue:
Warfare between the Byzantine and Persian Empires interrupted overland trade routes from East Asia.
Trade in spices, silk from China, and cotton from India shifted from overland trade routes to sea routes
connecting India with Arabia and the Red Sea. Overland caravans carried goods up the western coast of the
Arabian Peninsula. Cities and towns developed near water wells along these caravan routes.
I.
II.
Muhammad (570 – 632) and his beliefs
A. Founded Islam (the 3rd monotheistic world religion) from Mecca (Makkah) in (Saudi) Arabia
B. Occupation: a trade route caravan leader who worked for his older wife
C. Experiences a revelation (vision) of Angel Gabriel to become the prophet (messenger) of the
one supreme God, Allah
1. Islam – “submission to the will of God”
2. Muslims
a. followers of Islam
b. “One who submits to the will of God”
D. Muhammad is forced to move to Medina (Madinah), to be nicknamed the “city of the prophet”
1. His flight from Mecca to Medina becomes known as the Hegira (Hijra) (emigration); he flees
when Meccan merchants threaten his life
2. Muhammad teaches for 8 yrs. in Medina until he returns to Mecca
3. Mecca surrenders to Muhammad peacefully
4. Muhammad dies in 632; the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem marks his ascension to
Heaven
E.
Muhammad’s teachings found in the Quran (“recital”), Islam’s holy book or scripture
F.
Jews and Christians are considered “People of the Book”
G.
The Five Pillars (Obligations) of Islam
1. daily confession of faith by which all Muslims are equal
2. daily prayer, facing Mecca, “city and house of God built by Abraham”
3. giving to the poor (alms)
4. fasting during the holy month of Ramadan when the Quran was 1st revealed
5. to travel on a hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca at least once in a lifetime; to circle the
Kaaba (most sacred site of Islam)
H. Caliphs as Muhammad’s successors after his death
1. Sunnis (traditional Muslims) elect leader from most worthy
2. Shi’ites (vocal minority) support Muhammad’s descendants as leaders
Contributions by the Islamic civilization during its Golden Age
A. adopted Arabic numerals
B. invented algebra
C. developed trigonometry
D. advances in astronomy, geography, chemistry, medicine
E. founded the science of optics (study of light and its effect on sight)
F. built temples called mosques
G. Islamic cities such as Alexandria, Egypt, Cordoba, Spain, and
Baghdad (“Jewel of Islam”) in Iraq flourished with art, literature, and education
H. Arab doctors discovered that blood moves to and from the heart; they diagnosed many
diseases including measles
III.
Reasons for Islamic Conquests
A. to spread the Islamic religion by jihad (holy war; “personal struggle”)
B. to lessen overpopulation on Arabian Peninsula
C. Byzantine and Persian Empires just too weak to resist invasions
IV.
Islamic expansion at its height
A. part of the Iberian Peninsula and the strait of Gibraltar
B. most of North Africa (including land of the Carthaginians)
C. Egypt (“Kemet”)
D. region called Palestine (birthplace of Jesus)
E. Persian Empire and the Middle East
F. part of India
G. all of Arabia
FIRST CHAPTER OF THE HOLY QURAN
Often language from the past is hard to understand, especially in
religious texts. In your own words on the blank book page, what do
you think this opening passage says? Write your answer at the bottom
on the lines provided:
“In the name of God, most GracIous,
Most Merciful. Praise be to God, The
Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds;
Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Master
of the Day of Judgment. You alone
we worship. You alone we ask for
help. Guide us in the right path; the
path of those whom You blessed; not
of those who have deserved wrath,
nor of those who Go astray.” (1:1 -7)
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TEACHER NOTES
CHAPTER 11 LESSON 1 NOTES:
THE ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION
V.
Islamic history in timeline
570…. Muhammad is born
622…. The Hegira occurs
630…. Mecca surrenders to Muhammad
632…. Muhammad dies
640…. Muslims begin conquests in Asia / N. Africa
711…. Muslims conquer part of Iberian Peninsula
750…. Islamic Golden Age begins
1200… Islamic Golden Age ends; Christian Crusades (holy wars) fail
1258…. Mongols capture Baghdad
1492…. last Islamic king in Spain surrenders to Catholic monarchs Ferdinand & Isabella
1683…. Muslims in Algeria, S. Russia, E. Europe are united under Ottoman Empire’s Turks
1798…. European kings colonize Islamic lands
1919…. Ottoman Empire dissolves into the state of Turkey following its loss in WWI
1940…. Arab Muslim states become independent
1948…. the United Nations (to compensate Jews for loss in the WWII Holocaust) carves out the state of Israel from
Arab lands (Jerusalem as capital; holy city to Jews, Christians, & Muslims); resentment by Arab Muslims
1962…. European colonial period ends
Present-Day…. conflicts continue between Jews/Arabs over lands in the Middle East