Transcript Islam Monotheism: Belief in one God.

The Arabian
Peninsula
and the
beginning of a
new
Monotheistic
religion:
Islam
Monotheism:
Belief in one God.
Mecca
Arab people learned how to live with
very few resources.
Many moved from place to place to
make a living.
Caravan:
A group of travelers journeying together.
Mecca was built
around an oasis on the
trade route that linked
the Mediterranean
world with South
Arabia, East Africa,
and India.
People stopped there
to get food and water.
KABA
Mecca developed
into an important
religious center too.
In the center of town
there was a shrine
where people put
their idols.
Shrine: a building where
people put something
sacred or special.
An Idol: An image used as an object
of worship.
• There were 360 idols stored in the Kaba in
Mecca.
Muhammad was born into this
polytheistic and unjust world.
• (The rich were treated special. Slaves and
women were not treated well.)
He received messages from an angel
named Gabriel.
Muhammad was told that he was
Allah’s messenger (Prophet) and that
he was to spread the message that
there was only 1 God and that his
name was Allah. All the other idols in
the Kaba were powerless.
Islam was the third monotheistic
religion to enter the Mediterranean
world.
•
2000BC ……………………….33AD………….610 AD
Religion: Judaism
Christianity
Islam
People: Abraham/Moses
Jesus Muhammad
Holy books: Torah
Bible
Quran
There are MANY differences between
the 3 religions.
• But they are all Monotheistic.
• Islam sees Jesus as one of many
prophets.
• Only Christianity believes that
Jesus is the promised one, the
Only son of God.
By the time of Muhammad’s death,
Islam had spread throughout most of
the Arabian Peninsula.
• Within another 90 years, it had spread
into much of the old Roman Empire.
What do Muslims do differently than
other Monotheistic religions?
Muslims (The people that believe in Islam) do
many things to help them to always think
about Allah (obligatory acts).
They call them the 5 Pillars of Islam.
(These 5 pillars
provide the structure
for their faith.)
Pillars
Shahada
• 1. They profess (declare, admit) that ,“There
is no god but God and that Muhammad is his
messenger.”
Zakat
• 2. They give a portion of all they own to the
poor (giving alms).
(Alms: Money or things that are given to the
poor.)
Salat
• 3. They pray 5 times a day.
They follow a special format
when they pray.
Saum
• 4. During one month of the year (The month called
RAMADAN), Muslims go without eating or drinking
from sun-rise to sun-set (Fasting).
• This is a yearly reminder of what it feels like to be
poor and in need of food.
Hajj
5. Once in their lifetime they go to the
holy city of
.
Islam and the Arabic Language will
travel along trade routes to transform
less developed areas of the world.
• The Arab people knew how to get around in
the desert.
When they heard of Gold being
mined below the Niger river they
were not intimidated (scared) by the
Sahara Desert.
They found a way to make a lot of
money….by picking up salt and trading it
for gold that was BELOW the Sahara.
Sub-Saharan Trade
The kings of Western Africa collected
taxes on all the loads of salt and gold
that went through their kingdoms.
There were two separate kingdoms that
got very rich (built strong economies)
through collecting these taxes (levies).
•
Ghana
750 C.E. to 1076
Mali
1230 CE to 1600
Both kingdoms controlled the area around the Niger
river, but they were at different times in History.
Mali was bigger and it controlled
more of the Niger River. This helped
them to transport goods in a more
efficient way.
But how do we know that these kings
collected taxes to build up their
economies?
Islamic traders wrote down about
their economic system in journals
(primary sources).
• “On every donkey load of salt
when it is brought into the
country, their king levies (taxes)
one golden dinar (coin) and two
golden dinars when it is sent
out.”
• Thanks to the cleverness of their kings, the
people of ancient Ghana and Mali were rich!
• These kingdoms never owned the gold or salt
mines.
• Salt came from the salt mines controlled by
kingdoms in the north Sahara Desert.
• Gold came from the gold mines controlled by
kingdoms to the south of Ghana.
• What Ghana and Mali did was to find a way
to make money by controlling the trade
route between the salt mines and the gold
mines.
This trans-Saharan trade brought new
ideas to the tribal people that lived in
WEST AFRICA as the trading of gold
and salt increased.
Islamic traders took their religion
with them every where they went.
• It caught on and the religion and
culture of West Africa began to
change.
How do we know that Islam took hold
in West Africa?
• “The city of Ghana consists of two
towns, which is inhabited with
Muslims. One of these towns is large
and possesses 12 mosques in which
they assemble for Friday prayer. In
these mosques there are religious
leaders, muezzins (men who call
Muslims to prayer) as well as scholars.”
• Islamic traders also shared their written
language (Arabic) with the West Africans too.
This meant they became literate.
The Islamic World Today: