Islamic Civilization
Notes on Sections 1- 3
The Rise of Islam
Section 1: The Rise of Islam
Makkah
 Kaaba
 Madinah
 Bedouin
 Muhammad
 Oasis
 Sheikh
 Caravan
 Quran
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Look up the places,
people, and vocab. in
section 1.
Write what happened
in the places, why the
people are important,
and the definition for
the terms.
Pgs. 174-180
Section 1: The Rise of Islam:
People and Places
Makkah: (Mecca) largest and richest town
along a trade route. Important religious
site
 Kaaba: a low, square building surrounded
by statues of gods and goddesses
 Madinah: the “city of the prophet”
 Bedouin: desert herders that lived in tents
and ate dried fruits and nuts
 Muhammad: prophet and founder if Islam
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Content Vocabulary
Oasis: a green area in the desert fed by
underground water.
 Sheikh: head of an Arab tribe
 Caravan: group of traveling merchants and
animals
 Quran: the holy book of Islam
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Fill in notes:
The Arabian Peninsula is mostly
_Desert___.
 Many Arabs lived in __villages___ where
they farmed or raised __animals__.
 How did geography shape life in Arabia?
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To survive in the desert early Arabs
organized into loyal tribes. They traveled
from oasis to oasis and ate dried fruit and
nuts.
More fill in notes:
_Muhammad___ preached “to surrender
to the will of Allah (God)”
 He also preached that all people were
_equal__ and the rich should _share__
their goods.
 Muhammad and his followers left
_Makkah____ because they were being
harassed/tortured_ and their lives made
very _difficult__(persecuted).
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Last fill in:
Judaism, _Christianity_, and Islam all
believe in one _God__.
 Muslims believe that this God created the
_universe__, and determines right and
_wrong__.
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Section 2: Islamic Empires
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Umayyad
Sufis
Suleiman I
Mogul
Akbar
Indonesia
Baghdad
Delhi
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Caliph
Shiite
Sunni
Sultan
janissary
Section 2 – Islamic Empires: People
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Umayyad: Ruled from a.d. 661 to a.d. 750
Sufi: a group that spent their time praying and
teaching Islam.
Abbasid: the dynasty that came after the
Umayyads, the new caliph was a descendant of
Muhammad’s uncle.
Suleiman 1: Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in the
1500s
Mogul: Muslim warriors that came from the
mountains north of India, used weapons and
made Delhi the center of their empire.
Akbar: the greatest Mogul ruler, he brought peace
and stability and treated his subjects fairly
Places
Damascus: Umayyad caliphs chose this city in
Syria to be their capital
 Indonesia: the country that includes more
Muslims then any other country today
 Timbuktu: West African center of Muslim
learning
 Baghdad: new capital built by the Abbasids, it
prospered because it was by the Tigris River
and the Euphrates River
 Delhi: the Moguls made this city the center
of its empire
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Content Vocabulary
Caliph: successor to the Messenger of
God
 Shiite: believed that Ali, Muhammad’s son
in law should succeed him and that all
caliphs should be Ali’s descendants
 Sunni: accepted the Umayyad dynasty as
the rightful caliphs
 Sultan: the Seljuk ruler called himself this
which means “holder of power)
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Section 2 notes-fill in
Muhammad died in AD 632 and conflicts
began over who should be caliph.
 The first four caliphs were rulers who
lived simply, treated others fairly, and
obeyed Islam’s teachings.
 Overtime the Shiites and Sunnis
developed different religious practices and
customs.
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Fill in continued
Sunnis believed the Umayyad dynasty
should rule while Shiites believed a
descendant of Ali should.
 Suleiman 1 built many schools and
mosques and brought his army north into
Europe.
 The Ottoman Empire was the most
powerful Muslim Empire because it ruled
many different people Turks, Arabs,
Greeks, Albanians, Armenians, and Slavs.
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Fill in continued
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Akbar the greatest Mogul ruler allowed
people to practice their religion and both
Hindus and Muslims served in his
government.
Section 3: Muslim Ways of Life
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Granada
Agra
Mamun
Al-Razi
Ibn Sina
Omar Khayyam
Ibn Khaldun
Mosque
 Bazaar
 Minaret
 Crier
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Section 3 Muslim Ways of Life –
Places
Granada: a city in Spain where the most
famous example of a Muslim palace
resides, it is called the Alhambra
 Agra: a city in India where another famous
Muslim building, the Taj Mahal was built.
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People
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Mamun: in a.d. 830 the Abbasid caliph founded the
House of Wisdom in Baghdad.
Al-Razi: one of the best know Muslim chemists.
He developed a system for categorizing
substances as animal, mineral, or vegetable.
Ibn Sina: a Persian doctor that showed how
diseases spread from person to person.
Omar Khayyam: a Persian poet wrote parts of the
Rubaiyat, considered one of the finest poems ever
written.
Ibn Khaldun: a great Muslim historian, he wrote
that all civilizaitions rise, grow and then fall.
Content Vocabulary
Mosque: Muslim houses of worship.
 Bazaar: Marketplace
 Minaret: the towers of a mosque from
which the announcer calls Muslims to
prayer
 Crier: an announcer, calls believer to
prayer five times a day
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Section 3 Fill In
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Muslim traders were successful because
when Muslim empires expanded, they
spread the Arabic language, Muslim rulers
provided merchants with records for
making trade easier, and Muslim
merchants kept detailed records of their
business deals.
Fill in continued, conclusion
The Arabs built a successful empire with
their excellent soldiers. The soldiers not
only fought but spread Islam. If they died in
battle they believed they would go to
paradise.
 Once a place was conquered, they allowed
people to practice their own religion.
 The people who were conquered tended to
adopt Islam and learn the Arabic language.
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