World History, Rise of Islam

1. The Rise of Islam
And development of the
Muslim Empires

2. • Beduins – nomadic herders who used
camels to cross the desert in search of
seasonal pasturelands and oasis towns
– Mecca – market town at crossroads of two
main caravan routes
• Pilgrimage center – Arabs prayed to the Kaaba,
the ancient shrine Muslims believe Abraham built,
Kaaba also housed statues of local gods and
goddesses

3. Muhammad
• Born in Mecca ~570
• Shepherd for the Bedouins
• Caravanned across the desert, successful merchant
• Married Khadija around 25
• Visions at 40
– “Recite in the name of your God, the Creator, who created man
from clots of blood”
• Khadija encourages him, converts to Islam (which is
Arabic for “submission”)
• Muhammad devotes life to spreading Islam
– Give up false gods and submit to Allah (Arabic word for God)

4. • People rejected Muhammad’s ideas
– People worried about their business and
the pilgrim trade
• Afraid of being murdered, he left Mecca
and traveled to Yathrib in 622
– Yathrib became Medina, meaning “city
of the prophet”
– 622 = turning point for Islam – becomes
the first year on the Muslim calendar

5. • Medina welcomed him and many converted
– Muhammad seen as a ruler and lawgiver
– Thousands of Arabs convert and adopt Islam
– Medina Muslims attack Meccan caravans and
defeat them
– Muhammad returned in triumph to Mecca in
630 and destroyed all the idols in the Kaaba
– Works to unite the Arabs under Islam for next
2 years
– Dies at 632

6. The Qur’an
• Qur’an or Koran – sacred word of God as revealed to
Muhammad
– Final authority on all matters
– Teaches about God
– Provides guide to life
– Emphasize honesty, generosity, and social justice
– Harsh penalties for crimes like stealing and murder
– Converts to Islam learn Arabic because they believe
its original form is the direct unchangeable word of
God
– **shared language unites and binds Muslims

7. • Islam had no religious hierarchy or class
of priests
• Emphasize equality of all believers,
regardless of race, sex, class, or wealth
• So who is this going to appeal to?

8. Views of Others
• Islam is God’s final and complete
revelation
• Jews and Christians are people of the
book – spiritually superior to polytheistic
idol worshipers
• People of the Book enjoyed religious
freedom in early Muslim societies

9. Five Pillars of Faith
• 1. Declaration of Faith “There is no God but
Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of God”
• 2. Pray 5 times a day, facing in the direction of
Mecca
• 3. Giving alms to the poor (charity)
• 4. Fasting from sunrise to sunset during the
holy month of Ramadan
• 5. Taking a hajj to Mecca at least once during
your lifetime

10. Islam Spreads
• Caliph - Muslim ruler – directed religious and
political affairs simultaneously
• When Muhammad dies, a meeting is called to
determine Muhammad’s successor
– Ali – main candidate, cousin and son-in-law of
Muhammad
• Passed over because he’s too young to assume such
responsibility and power
– Abu Bakr – caliph 632-634
• One of Muhammad’s earliest followers and closest friends
• Well versed in genealogy of bedouin tribes

11. Abu Bakr
• Didn’t receive any
financial backing from
Muslim community
• Worked part time as a
merchant while
fulfilling his duties

12. Forces to be Reckoned With
• Bedouin camel and horse cavalry band together
and mount aggressive mobile offensives that
overwhelm more traditional armies
• Islam created common ground and unified many
of the tribes into a unified state
• Belief in Islam gave soldiers a feeling of
certainty that they would reach paradise if they
fell in a battle that carried the Arabs to victory

13. • Attacked Syria and Palestine, including
Damascus and Jerusalem
• Rapidly demolished Persian Empire
– Many people in Mesopotamia welcomed
reprieve from the Persian empire
– Zoroastrians allowed to practice their faith but
asked to pay a non-Muslim tax (same went to
Christians and Jews)

14. •Swept across North Africa
-Headed on up across Gibralter into Spain and ran for
France
-Battle of Tours – 732 -- Charles Martel gathers Germanic
tribes and defeats the Muslim charge
-Halts Muslims advance into Western Europe

15. The Split
• Divisions arise concerning rules of succession
for the caliph
• Sunni – caliph should be chosen by leaders of
the Muslim community
– Should be a pious Muslim
– Caliph should be a leader, not a religious authority
– Inspiration came from Muhammad’s example
• Shiite – only true successors to the Prophet
were descendants of Muhammad
– Descendants of prophet were divinely inspired
– Turn to Muhammad’s daughter and son-in-law Fatima
and Ali

16. • Today
– 90% of world is Sunni
– Shiites are mainly in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen
• Shiite branch has split into several factions

17. Sufi
• Muslim mystics – seek communion with
Allah through meditation, fasting, and
other rituals
• Piety and miraculous powers
• Spread Islam through missionary work

18. • Ali is appointed caliph but
is assassinated in 661,
his son is killed soon
thereafter
• Sunnis and Shiites battle
for who will lead
• Umayyad family sets up a • Grand Mosque of
dynasty that rules the Umayyads, Damascus
Islamic world until 750
– Damascus = capital
– Atlantic to the Indus Valley

19. • Abbassids – take over after
inviting Umayyad family to a
banquet and killing all of them
– Dominate until 1258
– End Arab dominance
• Mawali (non-Arab Muslims)
become more equal
– Help make Islam a more
universal religion
– Move capital to Baghdad
– Great urban expansion
– Revival of Afro-Eurasian
trading network
• Trade with Tang and Song in
• Abbasid Palace in China
• Dhows – sailing vessels with
Baghdad lateen sails

20. Islam
• Plays a HUGE role in creating new, more intense
international contacts
• Trade of luxury products intensifies
– Silk, spices, porcelain, etc
• China, India, the Middle East, and the Byzantine
Emperor, Europe and Africa
• Examples of how trade influenced everyone
– Arabs adopted the Indian numbering system
• Europeans copied it from the Arabs (so the concept of 0 and 1-10
gets out)
– Compass travels from China to the Middle East
• Europe gets it from the Middle East
• Same with China’s invention of paper