Transcript Islam & Muslim Empire

Islam & Muslim Empire
Unit 8
The Arabian Peninsula
• A peninsula in
Southwest Asia at the
junction of Africa and
Asia.
• A harsh land with a
vast desert interior.
• The climate of the
Arabian Peninsula is
extremely dry and
arid.
• Farming was limited
• Relied on Commerce
and trade
The Setting
• Bedouins: nomadic
Arab peoples, who
moved their herds
between scattered
oases
• Mecca: settlement
near the Red Sea,
trade center
• At Mecca’s center the
Kaaba (cube-shaped
building, held idols),
people worshipped
Allah (the supreme
god)
Muhammad’s Early Life
• Muhammad: a boy who was raised by his
uncle
• Career: successful merchant, fair and
intelligent
• Life: married a widow, had six children and
one survived
• 610: on a retreat, an angel who
commanded him to speak messages or
revelations from Allah, concluded that God
had chosen him to be His prophet
Muhammad the Messenger
The Revelations:
• Messages:
– Allah was the one and only true and all-powerful God
– instructions about how people should live if they hoped to
please Allah and live in paradise after death
Sharing the Revelations
• Medina/Yathrib: city where Muhammad moved to, “the
Prophet’s City”
• Hegira: journey from Mecca to Medina, first year of the
Islamic calendar
• Islam: faith of Muhammad and followers, “achieving
peace through submission to God”
• Muslims: followers of Islam
• Mecca: Muhammad and followers gained control of city
and the western part of the Arabian Peninsula
The Five Pillars
• Qur’an: sacred text of Islam, direct revelations from Allah
The Five Pillars of Islam
• Five basic acts of worship, central to Islam
• 1: profession of faith: Every Muslim must believe that
there is only one God and that Mohammed is his
messenger and the prophet. Although Christians and
Jews worship the same God, only Islam reveres
Mohammed.
• 2: daily prayer, face Mecca (5 times a day)
• 3: giving alms (charity)
• 4: fast during Ramadan: from daybreak to sunset each
day during the month of Ramadan. This means they do
not eat or drink anything during those hours.
• 5: take a hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca
• Mosque: a place of worship
Basic Ideas of Islam
Guidelines for Behavior
• Forbidden to eat pork or drink alcohol
• Wash before praying
• Not allowed to lie, steal or murder
• Jihad: “struggle for the faith”, convert
people to Islam, “holy war”
Basic Ideas of Islam
The Sunna and Sharia
• Sunna (traditions): record of Muhammad’s
behavior and teachings
• Sharia: legal system, outlines a method of
reasoning and argument for legal cases,
opinions and writings
People of the Book:
• Monotheistic
• Same God as those in Judaism and Christianity
• Recognizers certain people of other faiths as
messengers
• Respect others who are “people of the book”
Muslim Society
• Culture: affected all parts of life
Slaves
• Slaves were to be treated fairly
• Freeing slaves was a religious act
The Economy
• Built on trade/commerce
• Middlemen: connected supplies in the East to
markets in the West
• Expanded the use of coinage, standardized
weights and measures, used credit
The Family and Women
• Family: main social unity
in Muslim society
• Men: several wives, treat
all wives equally, protect
children and women
• Women are equal to men,
women could inherit
property and could seek
divorce,
• Harem: In the Abbasid
court, women were
confined to a secluded
part of the palace, wore a
veil
Islam after Muhammad’s Death
• Muhammad dies in 632 and not named a
successor.
Muhammad’s Successors
• Abu Bakr: one of Muhammad’s closest
companions and one of the earliest converts to
Islam, was chosen as the next leader
• Abu Bakr: focused on bringing back the bedouin
tribes whose loyalty was slipping, built strong
Arab fighting forces, reunified Arabia and went
north with his army
• Caliph: successor
Expansion of Territory
• Abu Bakr and Umar (successor): Muslim
ruled expanded
• 637: Muslim forces defeated Persian forces in
Iraq
• 642: victory over Persian Empire
• Byzantine Empire: eastern half of the old Roman
Empire, lost Damascus, Syria and Jerusalem
• 639: the Byzantine province of Egypt fell
• 642: Nile Valley came under Arab rule
• 642: created an empire
• 661: caliphate (area ruled by a caliph)
stretched from northern Africa to Persia
Internal Conflict and Division
• Tension: between Abu Bakr and Ali
• 644: Ali was not chosen, Uthman was chosen
• Umayyad: clan of Mecca, enemies of Muhammad,
unpopular, killed Uthman
• Ali: finally became caliph, but civil war broke out, Ali
was killed and the Umayyads retook control
• Sunnis (followers of the Sunna or way of the Prophet)
didn’t like the Ummayyad
• Shia: (party of Ali), God had specially blessed Ali’s
descendants because they were Muhammad’s true heirs,
imam (leader) only one who can interprut the Qur’an
• 680: Yazid (Mu’awiya’s son and successor) and Husayn
(grandson of Muhammad) met in battle (martyrdom of
Husayn) where Husayn was killed and Yazid’s forces
were victorious
• Sufis: another group of Muslims, seek a mystical,
personal connection with God
The Umayyad Dynasty
• Muslim rule spread but internal problems led to their
downfall
Continued Expansion
• Steps to control: established Arabic as the official
language, made coinage uniformed, began the Dome
of the Rock in Jerusalem
• Borders: conquered areas to China and the Indus River
Valley, northern Africa and into Spain
• 717: Muslim forces weren’t able to take Constantinople
• 732: Battle of Tours, forces failed to invade parts of
France
• Conquests: allowed People of the Book to practice
their religion, Non-Muslims had to pay taxes and
endured some restrictions on daily lives
The Umayyad Dynasty
Ruling the Empire
• Arab Muslims: ruling class with power and
privilege and led to conflict of equality
• Wars: causing Muslims to become unhappy with
political ambitions
End of the Umayyads
• Abbasids: family that seized control, restore to
pure Islamic values
• 740s: Abbasids wiped out the Umayyad family
and began the Abbasid Dynasty
The Abbasid Dynasty
• Relocated the capital to Baghdad and
lived in splendor
Persian Influence
• Ended the Arab domination of the Muslim
world
• Abbasids: adopted a Persian style of
government, cut themselves off from
the people, throne room had a screen,
vizier (deputy) oversaw affairs of state
The Abbasid Dynasty
A Changing of Culture
• Abbasids: invited all people to join the faith
• Islam: became a universal religion,
especially through trade
• Harun al-Rashid: most prominent Abbasid
caliph, brought Muslim culture to great
heights during his reign
The End of Unity
• 800s: Abbasid rule began to weaken
• 900s: growing number of small, independent
states broke away from the caliphate
• Caliph became a powerless figurehead
Challenges from Europe
• Christians: drove out Muslim forces from
Europe, make the Holy Land Christian
(Christians forces won at first but Muslim forces
retook the city), led to the Crusades
The End of Unity
Problems from Egypt: Fatimid dynasty became
richer and more powerful than the Abbasids.
Seljuk Turks: non-Arabs, took control of Anatolia
and created their own empire.
Mamluks and Mongols
• Mamluks: enslaved soldiers who took power in
Egypt and Syria
• Mongols: destroyed Baghdad and killed the
Abbasid caliph
• Islam: still a vital force, spread all over the world
Muslim Scholarship
A Culture of Learning
• Reasons: Islam commanded its followers
to examine their world and seek evidence
of Allah in its wonders, vastness of
caliphate and the cultures within the
caliphate
• Contributions: translation of Greek into
Arabic, Arabic translations into Latin
Muslim Scholarship
Astronomy and
Mathematics
• Astronomy: built
observatories,
established a more
accurate calendar for
religious purposes
• Navigation: astrolabe (an
instrument for finding the
positions and movements
of the stars and planets)
• Math: adopted symbols
for numbers (0-9),
developed algebra and
trig
Muslim Scholarship
Medicine
• Doctors had to pass tests before they could
practice
• First school of pharmacy
• Ibn Sina: famous for advancements
Other Fields of Study
• Geography: wrote travel guides
• History: Ibn Khaldun wrote a history of the world
Art and Literature
• Islamic arts developed distinctive features
Islamic Art
• Range of materials: wood, metal, ceremics and
textiles
• Religious art: does not contain any human or
animal figures
• Patterns: geometric and floral designs
• Calligraphy: styled writing,
• Architecture: mosques have similar building
features such as minarets (tall towers from
which the faithful are called to prayer) and
domes
Art and Architecture
Literature
• Qur’an most important piece of literature!
• Other: Arabian Nights, poetry (Rumi and
Omar Khayyam)