Transcript Birth and Rise of Islam - Boise High School

Birth and Rise of Islam
Saudi Peninsula
• Two ways to make a living historically
in this area
• 1. Nomad – taking animals from place
to place
• 2. Caravans – trade
• Sea had pirates and still does again
today
• Rivalry over WATER
• 127 degrees F and 1-2 inches a year in
rainfall
Religion in the Area
• Allegiance to family and tribe (all defending trade routes
and wells)
• Water is the precious item
• Each clan had its own separate shrine or gods
• Nature oriented spirits – Kabaa in Mecca was a
sanctuary
Pre -Muhammad’s World
• Abraham had built Kabaah centuries before and it
provided a rare place of peace
• No conflicts in this area (sacred place) no weapons
which helped with trading
• Stopped all feuds for this activity
• Mecca became a vibrant center for trade
• Rich mixtures of cultures – Christians, Jews and Arabs of
the desert
• Muhammad’s world was this one
Kabba of Abraham
Pre -Muhammad’s World
• Tribes were animistic – put their Gods in the Kabaa and
people would yearly travel to Mecca to pay the tribute
• All of this predates Muhammad
• One place that represents the peaceful place of the Saudi
peninsula
Life of Muhammad
• Muhammad was born in 570
A.D.
• Orphaned young at 4 years
old
• Uncle Abu Talib takes him in
and he was lucky to get this
protection from his family
• He is taught to be an expert in
trade
• Rich widow that he proposes
marriage to in 595 A.D.
• Trades a great deal and gains
wealth
Life of Muhammad
• Mecca was a hotbed of
theology
• Muhammad goes into
the hills and meditates
(like Buddha)
• What is true? Who is
God?
• Gabrielle visits him in
the cave
• **There is but one God
– Allah
• All life is meant to be
lived before this God
• He demands every
inch of our lives
Intellectual Idols v Physical Idols
Life of Muhammad
• Breaks down social structure of the Arabs
– Divisions based on clans unite under this God “our
faith shall unite us”
• Not nationality or tribe but faith that matters now
This is revolutionary
for the poor – no poor
v. rich everybody is
equal
Life of Muhammad
• At first not a lot of people bought into it mainly just his
family. He would recite what the Angel was telling him –
very elegant, this can’t come from him!!
• No idols should exist – no reason to come to the Kabaa every
year
• Mecca was divided – he is stirring things up but his uncle
protected him and believed he should speak the message
• Where is your miracle? as the last prophet of God
• Moses and Jesus did miracles as prophets. My miracle is the
beauty of my message and what I am saying
• Qur’an is so elegant
Life of Muhammad
Why did Cat Stevens
convert to Islam?
What so impressed him
about Islam?
“Peace Train”
“What a Wild World”
Life of Muhammad
• Elders wanted a bigger miracle
• His protection dies in 619 A.D. (wife and uncle)
• Flees to Medina that had just invited him and his
community to go there (the peacemaker)
Fleeing to Medina
All images in
historical context
not to be
worshipped
Life of Muhammad
• In 622 A.D. – he leaves Mecca for
Medina w/community of
believers (YEAR #1)
• Binding by faith, not blood or
tribe or clan. He still receives
revelations and recites them
• Pray 5 times a day – binds
community together all do this
together bowing down and
praying together
• Pray together and live together –
Compassion – socialist system
that was totally unique to the
Arab world
Life of Muhammad
• In 630 A.D. Mecca falls to
Muhammad as he attacked
it
• In 632 A.D. he dies being
Caesar – victorious not like
Jesus or Moses died
• Went into the Kabaa and
got rid of all the idols
except black stone
• This was a new start –
broke from the past and the
tribes united under the
Banner of Islam – faith
united them. Sense of
mission and solidarity!
Spread of Islam
• N. Lebanon to Syria W.
Egypt to N. Africa – only
the seas stopped them
• Spread to Islam empire
larger than Rome
• Spread all the way to China
in 200 years
• How did this happen so far
so fast, so easily by such a
small army?
Islam at Muhammad’s Death
Islam’s Reach 200 years later
Spread of Islam
• 1. Coincided with the disgruntled and how the Byzantine
Empire was ruled (bishops bought and sold etc.)
• 2. Persian empire was weak – turned to the Islamic
message
• 3. Arabian individuals wanted own message – conquered
and only had the Jews and Christians message and were
not happy = liked the idea of Islam
• Live for community and not yourself. Allowed existing
system to stay in place, politics, etc., (tribute sent back to
Mecca – pay a strong tax if they don’t choose to convert)
Leadership after Muhammad?
• Mohammed – “let there not be 2 faiths on the peninsula”
(Osama bin laden has stated this) But never said who would take
over as the next leader?
• Abu Baker – Illness
• Umar – Murdered
• Uthman – Assassinated
• Ali - Assassinated
Islam Splits Apart
• Largest Majority – Sunni’s = these 4 caliphs represent the
Golden age for Islam
• Shiites = the first 3 were imposters or intruders
• Shiites believed after prophet died it must be relative
that succeeds him. But they were outvoted
• When Ali eventually takes over – minorities are very
happy but the governor of Syria says no it does not have
to be a relative just who everyone agrees on. He attacks
and Ali dies in the civil war
• Umayyad Dynasty out of Damascus takes over (661-750)
• Ali had a son – many believed he should rule his name is
Hussein – leading the minority community (Blood very
important to them)
Islam Splits Apart
• In the coming years Shiite’s and
Sunni’s will compete over power
• 1.3 billion Muslims (150 million
Shiites)
• Sunni’s just wanted to have
peace
• Shiites – no we must have a pure
Islam even it is causes issues
• Iran is almost all Shiite and Iraq
is a majority as well
• No other countries in the world
are a majority Shiite
Umayyad Caliphs build an Empire
After death of Ali, a powerful Meccan clan set up this dynasty
Sunnis who moved capital to Damascus, Syria
Conquered and spread Islam from Spain & Morocco in the West
to the Indus river alley in the East
Battle of Tours – Why significant?
Abbasid Dynasty
Discontented Muslims found a
leader in Abu al-Abbas
(descended from Muhammad’s
uncle)
With Shiite and non Arab
Muslim support he captured
Damascus.
Moved the capital from
Damascus to Baghdad
Islam became more diverse as
non-Arab’s were given
greater freedoms and rights
(Persians)
Encouraged learning and halted
expansion (military conquests)
Renaissance of Baghdad
Bagdad – Best thinkers of the time flock
here
Artists, philosophers, engineers etc. All
seek answers to pragmatic questions
Scholars translate ancient texts
Engineers look at roads, hygiene, water
issues
Scientific community ( read Aristotle,
Plato Euclid etc)
Renaissance of Baghdad
Algebra, Trig, Engineering
Astronomy
Medical Innovations (Disease Warfare)
Germs transmitted through tiny
airborne organisms
Hospitals - quarantine and treated
patients
Even treated mental illness
Anatomy guidelines and texts use for
next 600 years
Light, lenses human eye and optics –
led to the camera
Cataract surgery
Muslim Culture in Spain
Surviving member of Umayyad Dynasty fled to Spain
Presided over brilliant courts
People converted because Islam was more tolerant
than Christianity to Non-believers
Alhambra in Granada
Built as a fortress
Mosque in Cordoba
Impact of Islam
MERCHANTS: Vitalized Trade!!!!
Spread of Technology, Knowledge, Culture, Products
Paper from China
Sugar from India
# System from India
Arabic – Language that spreads and passes knowledge
Banking System between cities
GUILDS: Association that set guidelines, quality standards, price
Steel Swords – Damascus
Leather Goods – Cordoba
Cotton Textiles – Egypt / India
Carpets - Persia
Impact of Islam
ART, LITERATURE, ARCHITECTURE
Poetry
Literature (Aladdin & Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves)
Calligraphy
Mosques
Indonesia
Istanbul
Malaysia
India
Malaysia
N. Africa
Iraq
Turkey
Turkey
At Night
Greece
Yemen
Islam and Spread of Ideas
700-850 took ideas East to
India and Asia and West to
Spain
Islam is linking the
continents with
knowledge!!!
Cool Fact:
In 750 - 100 book shops in
Baghdad alone
European monasteries had
only a few books each