Chapter 22: The Spread of Islam
• Arabian Peninsula is located between NE Africa and Central Asia.
• People who lived there are called Arabs
• Arabs led a Bedouin lifestyle (herders who roam desert for grasslands).
• ~600 AD believed in many gods and fought each other for land.
• In W Arabia area called Hejaz was the birthplace of a religion called Islam that quickly spread.
Section 1: Islam
• Islam means the act of submitting to the will of God.
• Islam was started by an Arab merchant named Muhammad who believers say was the prophet of Allah (God).
• Muslims are those who follow the Islamic religion.
• Islam had a huge impact on the ancient world and is a major religion today.
Makkah (Mecca)
• Makkah (MA) was the largest city in Hejaz in
500s and many Arabs pilgrims (travelers to a religious shrine)visited a
relgious shrine to many gods called the Ka’bah .
• Arabs believed Adam had built Ka’bah and
Abraham had rebuilt it to one God but then other gods started to be
worshipped there.
Muhammad (MU)
• MU was a merchant who was very successful in caravan business.
• He thought many people acted inappropriately by drinking, gambling, and corruption.
• He isolated himself and fasted and tried to help solve these problems.
• MU believed that the God of the Jews and Christians was the one God people should follow.
• Muslims believe MU had a vision in which an
angel told MU the will of God and he started to preach his ideas to the
people.
• His ideas included giving money to the poor
and preparing for the Day of Judgement by behaving well and worshipping
God.
• Leaders of MA were concerned that MU preaching
would make people not come to visit their city so they chased MU and
his followers out.
• When he left in 622 AD, he went to Yathrib.
• The Muslim calendar starts in 622 AD but dates
their years according to the “Year of Migration” or Anno
Hijirah.
• Yahtrib was renamed later Madina that means “the city of the prophet”.
• MU became an important political and religious
leader in Madina and was able to defeat the armies sent against him by
the leaders of MA.
• Eventually MA welcomed MU back and the people of Arabia quickly converted to Islam.
• MU died in 632 AD.
The Quran (Q)
• Believed to be the directed word from God given to MU.
• Q is in Arabic and tells people how they
should live their lives including the 5 Pillars of Faith, Muslims must:
• 1) recite “There is no God but Allah, and MU is his prophet.”
• 2) pray 5 times a day facing the direction of Makkah.
• 3) give zakah (charity) to needy people.
• 4) fast during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan.
• 5) make a hajj (religious journey to Makkah) once.
• Muslims are led in prayer by an imam and on
Friday noon prayers they go to a mosque (a Muslim house of worship).
• Q promises all that will obey its rules will go to Paradise upon death.
Section 2: The Arab Empires
• When MU died, the people needed someone else to lead them and chose a caliph (successor).
The Rightly Guided Caliphs (RGC)
• MU father in law, Abu Bakr, was 1st
caliph and along with the next three ruled well from Madina and were
called the RGC.
• This group helped to expand Islam through Middle East.
• Warriors who helped to conquer other areas
believed that if they died in the service of Islam they would go to
Paradise.
• If people surrendered they could keep their land but if they did not they would not get to keep it.
The Umayyads
• The last of the RGC, Ali, died and the new
caliph moved the capital from Madina to Damascus and started the
Umayyad Dynasty.
• Title of caliph became hereditary and the new leaders ruled like kings more than religious leaders.
• The dynasty ended when some of the people who
were not born Muslims complained they were not treated same as those
who had been.
• Islam became divided into two groups:
• 1st group Shi’ite believed only those related to Ali should be caliph.
• 2nd group, Sunni, believed caliph should come from the RGC.
• Another Muslim group called the Abbasids conquered the Umayyads.
The Abbasids (A)
• The A moved the capital to a new city called Baghdad and were in power from 750-1258 AD.
• Arabs became a term describing anyone who spoke Arabic within the empire.
• New government official called vizier (chief adviser) was set up to help the caliph rule.
• Instead of conquering new lands the A focused on developing trade and learning.
• Period called the Golden Age of Islam was when
people spread the knowledge of different groups on topics like farming,
literature, & math.
• Trade made the A rich and people started to act more like Europeans in clothing and eating.
• A empire became too big for one person to rule and it broke up into different kingdoms.
• Baghdad was conquered by the Persians.
The Golden Age of Muslim Spain
• Moors were the group of Muslims who conquered Spain from the Goths.
• Spain during this period was a center of
culture that allowed Christians, Muslims, and Jews to live together and
exchange ideas.
Islamic Life
• Life of women improved due to Islam.
• Raising of girls became more important and women were allowed town property.
• But, men could still marry up to 4 women if he could provide for them.
• Education was very important for both men and women.
• Education focused on Islam and the Q.
• Muslims traveled to many different places and brought Islam with them.
Section 3: Arab Contributions
• A lot of the knowledge of the Romans and Greeks was preserved due to Arab scholars.
• Started chemistry by trying alchemy (turning other metals into silver and gold).
• Arabs were good astronomers who realized tidal patterns and size of Earth.
• Arabs also created algebra and used 0-9 system instead of Roman #.
• Doctors set up published important medical
books first pharmacy, realized blood circulates, and started to develop
ideas of contagious diseases.
• Arabs wrote The Arabian Nights (stories) and Rubaiyat (poem).
• Islamic art is made up of geometric designs
since Muslims believe it is a sin to make pictures of God’s
creatures.