Organization for Essay:

- Judaism - Islam - Christianity -

- Chronological -

- Religious development -

- Cultural Development -

AT LEAST 3 PARAGRAPHS (BODY PARAGRAPHS)

5 PARAGRAPH MAX

-use details from class and make it well organized and written

What role has religion played in the development of the Middle East?

all founded in middle east

Jerusalem represents all 3 religions with the different holy cites of each religion.

Religion impacted Jerusalem in a major way

clothing, holy cites, head coverings/headdresses, prayer, scrolls (the torah), worship

JUDAISM = FIRST OF THREE ABRAHAMIC MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS

ABRAHAM

200 BCE nomadic peoples in Canaan

Covenant with G-D

belief in one g-d

asked to sacrifice his son Isaac

           -abraham was going to go through with sacrificing his son until g-d told Abraham to stop

• test of his faith

Followers called Israelites (Isaac’s followers)

Recorded events and laws in Torah (a scroll not a book, but it is a sacred text in judaism)

ISRAEL

-FAMINE DROVE ISRAELITES TO EGYPT, ENSLAVED

-MOSES LED EXODUS - TO LEAD JEWS TO “PROMISED LAND”

-1000 BCE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL - KING DAVID

-SOLOMON CAUSES DIVISION AND ISRAEL CONQUERED, TEMPLE = DESTROYED

-FREED UNDER BABYLONIANS AND REBUILD TEMPLE

settle in present day israel

famine drove israelites to egypt seeking food

they became enslaved because they were outisders

jewish woman gives birth to boy, to protect baby from soldiers she put him in bushel basket and floated him down the river and the queen finds him and adopts him

raised in household of pharaoh

didn’t know he was an israelite until god spoke to him

he left to find other israelites and god told him to lead them out of egypt

god promised he would lead them to land flowing with milk and honey

moses goes to pharaoh and says to set my people free she says no he said if you don’t a plague will come about and kill all first borns

moses takes jews out of egypt (leads the exodus) and they wander for a while, people following moses make false idols and gods and think moses wasn’t being for real about god leading him

god gives moses 10 commandments

moses may have died before but at some point they made it to the “promised land”

1000 BCE kingdom of israel = built by King David

Solomon becomes when David dies (heir) he gets greedy causes division and israel is conquered, temple destroyed

spread across world again and babylons take them into enslavement until they are freed and they go to rebuilt temple (westeern wall is the remains of the Great Temple)

THERE ARE SMALL COMMUNITIES OF JEWS ALL OVER BUT THEY ARE OFTEN SURROUNDED BY OTHER RELIGIONS AND BELIEFS - SOMETIMES SEEN AS OUTSIDERS

STRONG COMMUNITY IN ETHIOPIA

DIASPORA - SPREADING AROUND WORLD BUT KEEPING THEIR RELIGION

TRADITIONS

Torah set out laws

patriarchal society

10 commandments

Abraham was father of the faith but later on people would also get messages from g-d and they would interpret them, they were called prophets

code of ethics- moral standards

• equality

JEWISH TRADITIONS

-covering your head

-prayer shawls

-rabbi

-no pork

-very structured family aspect

-arranged marriages

-pretty tightly knit

-certian ways to work, sleep, eat, drink, worship/pray

CHRISTIANITY

jesus = founder of christianity but not the main spreader

• many diverse religions in roman empire

• most religions = polytheistic and tolerated

• 63 BC romans conquered judea (home of the jews)

• friction between romans and jews over religions

• jewish zealots (somebody very, very devoted to something, in this case they were extremely devoted to judaism) called for revolt and believed a messiah would come lead them to freedom

LIFE OF JESUS

jesus born somewhere around 3BC (sometime around where AD turned to BC)

-jew and descendant of king david

-worked as carpenter, eventually a preacher as an adult

-preached and eventually collected group of men (apostles) that helped him in his mission

-used parables (stories or tales) to teach morality

-as his popularity grew, lots of people (romans and jews) thought he was a threat to their leadership (they wanted all of the power)

-betrayed by judas + put to death by crucifixion by romans (was killed on a friday)

-came from middle eastern

-angel cam to mary (was a virgin, wasn’t married to joseph but was betrothed to her) + told her she would give birth to son of g-d (according to gospels)

-believed (in christianity) that 3 days after his death on the cross, he was resurrected (believed that during that time he fighting with the devil)

-easter is his resurrection celebration

good friday = day jesus died on cross

JUDAS

-one of apostles

-betrayed for money to leaders of jews (30 silver pieces)

-arrested him on mountain

-last supper = passover tradition was before jesus went into garden and he knew he was going to be betrayed because of like betrayal for a kiss or something

SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

-after jesus died his disciples started to spread his teachings

-followers of christianity were often targeted (idk in what sense)

PAUL

-originally discriminated against christianity

-never met jesus

-then heard stories and had a vision of jesus

-went through roman empire attempting to convert others to christianity

-then went to travel the world and spread jesus’ message as well as his teachings

TEACHINGS OF JESUS’ DISCIPLES AND LETTERS FROM PAUL WERE WRITTEN INTO THE NEW TESTAMENT AND ARE BASIS FOR CHRISTIAN RELIGION

BELIEFS:

1-holy trinity: same person but different manifestations (3 in 1)

                    -father, son, & holy spirit (jesus?)

2-jesus = messiah

          -fulfilled prophecy (believed that he fulfilled all prophecies in the torah)

3-jesus is god

4- RESURRECTION: belief that jesus returned from the dead

HOLY TEXT

-word of god written through human beings

• bible:

  • old testament (includes jewish torah)

  • new testament

THE GREAT SCHISM

-western rome ruled by the pope

-eastern rome ruled by contantinople/istanbul

-many arguments led to division in the church

-west = roman catholic church

-east = orthodox church

beliefs are basically the same thing but the orthodox churches document are closer to the original and calendars are a little different

DENOMINATIONS

(how christianity is broken down)

• roman catholic (leader of catholics = pope)

• eastern orthodox (1054)

  • greek

  • russian

• protestant (1517)

  • methodist

  • baptist

  • presbytarian

  • etc.

• anglican (1534)

tied to power over protestants killing catholics and catholics killing protestants

SACRAMENTS (CATHOLIC, CATHOLICISM)

• baptism (as a baby)

• eucharist (praise bread or crackers or something to either symbolize jesus or they believe it embodies him in the ceremony)

• confirmation (reaffirming of your loyalty to your faith)

• reconciliation (confession)

• anointing of the sick

• marriage

• holy orders

IRISH ARE CATHOLIC I GUESS

SYMBOLS

MAIN: cross

crucifixion: roman punishment = turned into symbol for christians

chi rho cross: symbol of emperor constantine

dove

lamb : lamb of jesus?

celtic cross in ireland

HOUSE OF WORSHIP:

church

cathedral (church run by bishop)

mormon temple

MAJOR FESTIVAL: christmas (may not have actually been when jesus was born but is the chosen day to celebrate jesus’ birth)

MAJOR FESTIVAL: LENT

-between ash wednesday + easter

-lasts 40 days (being time that jesus fasted in deser + was tempted by devil)

-traditional purpose if for prayer, penance, repentance of sins, almsgiving, atonement and self denial to prepare a believer

(big sammy did it when she gave up lemonade that year)

some christians now “sacrifice” a food or drink that means something to them during lent

palm sunday (a week before easter) begins holy which = a jewish festival

HOLY THURSDAY: jesus’ last supper

-important for christians as they often remember this by breaking and eating bread and drinking the real wine

GOOD FRIDAY = LAST DAY OF HOLY WEEK

-holiday that commemorates jesus’ crucifixion

-part of holy week and is friday before easter sunday

john 3:16 (sums up like the basis for christianity)

-sums up arrest of jesus, beating, and reason for death

EASTER SUNDAY = MOST IMPORTANT FESTIVAL - MORE IMPORTANT THAN CHRISTMAS

-day celebrating day christians believe jesus was resurrected

-rituals

easter egg decoration as symbol of empty tomb

lots of symbols of new life/spring/rebirth: bunnies, chicks, lambs, lillies

-feast or big formal meal sometimes to end fasting

ISLAM

arabian peninsula (specific founding place in middle east)

Arabian Peninsula = a desert

EARLY IN HISTORY BECAUSE OF DESERT ALL AROUND THEY WERE

Nomadic peoples - Bedouins

THEY TRAVELD WITH

camel herds, seek grasslands for grazing

because of scarcity of natural resources warfare was extremely common

diff tribes would fight over access to water and food

Bedouins became an impressive army due to all of the fighting

(plays a role in the spread of islam throughout the golden age)

MECCA

-important city and market town

-crossroads between traders from north africa and into east asia

-crossroads for religious pilgrims that were traveling through

-opportunity for very rich and successful civ/city

-sort of like a central location

-attracted religious pilgrims

MUHAMMAD EMERGED IN MECCA - 570CE

-during this time most were still polytheistic there were very few jews and christian

-thriving merchant town came muhammad

-initially a shepherd, becomes a merchant

-married welathy widow, khadija had a caravan business that he eventually took over

built family

-troubled by the ills of society around him

 -poverty

 -corruption

-goes in cave to meditate and is visited by angel gabriel who told him to proclaim god (follow god, listen to god, tell the people to get people into worsipping god and being good people)

NOT DEPICTED IN IMAGES AT ALL

MUHAMMAD AS MESSENGER OF GOD

-merchants saw him as disrupting society

-merchants were unhappy that his preaching disrupted trade

-”troublemakers” like early jews and early christians

-he and followers were forced to flee

-journey to medina they accepted him as God’s Prophet

-became ruler and lawmaker

-attracted many converts to Islam

-once they were strong enough of an army, they attacked Mecca and he returned to unite the Arab tribes under Islam

-from there the religion will spread (^thats the beginning^)

most populated muslim country is malaysia

MUSLIM INVENTIONS

1- surgical tools

coffee

flying machine

universities

algebra

optics

toothbrush

hospitals

REQUIREMENTS OF IMAN (BELIEF)

-BELIEF IN ONE GOD - NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANYONE OR ANYTHING

-ANGELS

-HOLY BOOKS (QARAN)

-PROPHETS - LOTS OF THEM

-DAY OF JUDGEMENT - (HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ACTIONS)

-PREDESTINATION (ALLAH KNOWS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO)

Jannah + Jahannam

-muslims believe in after life (IMPORTANT)

• jannah = heaven + jahannam = hell

QURAN

-revealed to man among people of mecca (prophet mohammed)

known for honesty and character

-justification comes from belief

-believed to be true by muslims and used for guidance

-facts that prophet could not have known due to lack of tech (in the quran)

-most authentic version of quran is in arabic because sometimes meaning can be lost in translation

MIRACLE 1

-quran revealed during 610 AD describes fertilization process of embryo + provides shape and visual description of embryo at diff stages

-tech was not that advanced then

MIRACLE 2

-muslim follow word of god and don’t allow any human influence

-many people memorize it

5 PILLARS

-shahada - declaration of faith (FIRST + MOST IMPORTANT)

-salah - obligatory prayer, performed 5 times a day

-zakah - charity performed yearly by individuals capable (2.5% of your savings to benefit poor + purify intentions for making money)

-sawm - fasting entire month of ramadan (don’t have to if you are young, old, or not in good health)

-hajj - pilgrimage to mecca at least once - not obligated if can’t afford of in poor health

SALAT

-prayer/ worship 5 times a day

pajr (dawn)

duhr (noon)

asr (afternoon)

maghrib (sunset)

isha (night)

length of prayer is up to you and you recite from quran

HAJJ

-annual pilgrimage that occurs in mecca

-last month of islamic year that follows lunar calendar

-one of 5 pillars so every muslim must attempt to go at least once in their life (if healthy and financially stable)

-upon going they must dress in same clothing to represent equality and eliminates other factors that may differentiate them like wealth)

HOLIDAYS

-2 MAIN

-Eid Al-Gitr

takes place after finish one month of fasting in ramadan

-Eid Al-Adha

after hajj on islamic month of dhul-hijjah

-point of these holidays are to enjoy family + friends and be thankful for the things allah has blessed them with

HIJAB

DEF: principle of modest muslims must uphold

-includes character + behavior applies for both women and men

IMPORTANT LOCATIONS

-Masjid Al-Aqsa in Palestine

-Masjid Al-Nabawi in Saudi Arabia

Kaba in Saudi Arabia

prayer and worship in mosques

-generally mosques have domes

any culture can follow islam and not all arabs are muslim and anywhere around the world can have mosques and practice islam

relation

-islam closeley related to J + C

torah and bible are mentioned in quran as books of the prophets

ZIONIST MOVEMENT

-diaspora left them all over the world where they were not seen equally

-lots of anti-semitism in europe

-they were subjected to violence and persecution

-because they dressed differently and looked differently

-Jewish nationalist movement believed the Jews should return back to Jerusalem and the historical jewish lands there and their historic roots

-belief that jews could only truly thrive in their own state

-(because of all of the persecution and semitism they would never be fully accepted anywhere other than their homeland)

-lots of jews settled in palestine

WORLD WAR I

-world was becoming very dynamic and it was changing a lot (with the industrial revolution and everything)

-declining Ottoman Empire “The sick man of Europe” was a large factor in world war 1 (the first world war)

-Alliances across Europe included:

The Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia

The Triple Alliance: Germany, Austro-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire

-extensive fighting in middle east during WWI

-arab nationalism grew/turned into the Arab revolt

-arabs in ottoman empire were encouraged by the british to stage a revolt against the ottoman empire

-britains promised that when the war was over they would have an independent arab state across the old ottoman empire (in secret with the leader of the arabs)

-britains secretly make a deal with the french to split up the ottoman empire between themselves

-

-abraham was a prophet

-believe prophet mohammad is descendant of abraham

-entire pilgrimage (hajj) based on story and lessons learned from his story

-entire chapter in quran called chapter of abraham

-five main prophets in islam: moses, jesus, abraham, mohammad, and noah

Halal and Haram

-halal something that is allowed/permissible

-haram something not permitted and you should not do

-anything harmful to you is haram

pork

alcohol

drugs

-uncertainty about whether something is harmful, scholars are consulted by Muslims

Sharia

-defined as law

-not book of rules and judicial recedent but is a form of guidance

Jihad

-defined as struggle to be yourself and be a muslim

-not just what people see on news

-one form is war (certain rules, you aren’t supposed to start one, can’t harm environment, can’t target women/children)

-another is internal

-greatest form of it is struggle agains oneself

ROLE OF WOMEN

-islam gave women right to:

vote

inherit property

an education

divorce

and more

in west women were only relatively recently given these rights

islam was first religion to liberate women

MISCONCEPTION-women are oppresed in islam

the prophet is the greates example

-originally worked for female businesswoman

-later on married

islam was first religion in arabia that claimed women and men to be equal in sight of god

-quran references men and women as spiritually equal

=no concept of original sin or balming eve for tempting adam to eat the apple? in islam

age of conquest 600-1400 (general rules that applied)

-under caliphs (muslim rulers) armies captured land + made a vast empire

-often came into land that was not unified whihc made it easier for them to conquer these lands

-around mediterranean sea and east into asia

-success came bc of common faith in Islam

-let jews +christians to practice their own faith and hold key roles such as doctors and translators, but taxed them but couldn’t be high up in the gov but could have roles that made them successful financially and socially

-if allowing for these differences it allows for expansion and innovation because of different ideas from all different sorts of people and they shared them with one another

-many were brought to islam (attracted ) bc of emphasis on equality and converted

-cultural diffusion across the empire

division of islam

-after death of muhammad (real sad)-→dispute over who should lead the ffaith

-split into 2 major groups

SUNNI-→believe that successor should be chosen by Muslim community, successor would be a leader, not a religious authority, 90% of todays’s Muslims are Sunni

SHIITE→believe that true successor should be a descndant of Muhammad, they believe that descendants are divinely inspired and that god is talking to them like god did with muhammad

Shia Muslims mainly live in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen

Sunni Muslims live in the same places but there are more Shia in Iraq

GEOGRAPHICALLY IN THE MIDDLE EAST THERE ARE DIVISIONS IN ISLAM (MORE OF THIS THOUGH)

DIVISIONS IN CHRISTIANITY BETWEEN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS AND OTHERS

golden age of islam

-empire united ppl from diverse cultures, great social mobility

-merchants build vast trading network: banks, manufactured goods, agriculture

-great advances: art, literature, architecture

-great centers for learning (schools) for boys + girls

study of: philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine

BECAUSE OF RELIGIOUS TOLERATION IT ALLOWED FRO INNOVATIONS AND SHARED IDEAS DURING THE GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAM

OTTOMAN EMPIRE 1400S-1900S

ottomans→turkish, took control of Constantinople/Istanbul 1453

-suleiman the great→modernized the army, conquered land + ruled most powerful empire in Europs + Middle East 4 centuries

-society based on Sharia, based on social classes (men of the: pen, sword, negotiation)

Later islamic empires

-safavid: collapsed 1722

-ottoman empire was losing strength by 20th century (1900s) lots of factors wearing them down

• nationalists movements 4 independence

  • zionists

  • arabs

  • kurds

  • armenians

  • young turks

• britain, russia, + france seek to expand in region in terms of oil and trade

• austro-hungarian empire wanted land in eastern europe

• armenians + kurds fought for more power in local politics

  • the kurds were very all over the place so they were unable to come together as one and become their own nation

  • armenians had trouble coming together as well

• arabs (more of a culture/ethnicity) were the largest group of non-turks

  • wanted more local control and local rights in the empire

    • christian + muslim arabs cam together to create a Arab Nationalist movement

Young Turks - nationalist mvoement to challenge europeans

-were also biased against minority groups in the Empire

MANDATE SYSTEM

-League of Nations declares Arab nations as not ready for self rul

-system of “protectorates/mandates” = established in middle east

-new borders were created and new rulers were placed in power

-sometimes these new borders forced ethnic groups that generally conflicted with one another into the same nation

-they just drew lines to make territories and their methods didn’t make sense and it just. threw a bunch of diffferent people with different backgrounds and different ethnicities together that generally fight with one another, together.

- british supported zionist idea + encourage jews to move into palestine which caused tensions (between those in palestine and the jews)

Israel and Palestine are still in conflict to this day

ROLE OF OIL

-oil was super important in the world economy and it eventually led to foreign countries and nations to gain interst in the middle east for their oil

-britain took control of a lot of oil rich areas of the middle east

-the us had oil but they feared competition because of the interest other countries were showing in the middle east and the control they were asserting over the nations of the middle east, so us oil companies started to explore the middle east

-before WWII most oil coming from ME was through foreign companies which leads to conflict after the war

-lots of foreign policy in the world is based on economics

WORLD WAR II + its AFTERMATH

-protecting access to oil became the #1 priority

-us began to form diplomatic relationships with ME nations

-quest 4 oil shaped aims of world during WWII

-lots of attemps of independence during the war

-after WWII lots of ME nations started independence movements

-they didn’t want to be controlled anymore or used for their resources

-they didn’t work because the controling nations/countries wanted the oil so badly that they did whatever they could to shut down these movements

-palestince became more of a critical question after Holocaust

-britain granted control to a jewish state of israel which was a cause of conflict in ME

-britains promised jews in open and followed through on the promise

-britains promised arabs in private and did not follow through on the promise

jerky and selfish move from the britains