Rise of Islam Unit 5 Topic 2

Arabian Peninsula

• Crossroads of Africa, Europe, and Asia

• Bedouins

  • Arab nomads

  • Organized into clans

  • Polytheistic 

Origins of Islam

• Muhammad

  • c. AD 579 - 632

  • Orphaned, with little education 

  • Became successful merchant

  • He claimed that Archangel Gabriel told him to proclaim the word of God to the Arabs

The origins of Islam con’t

• Muhammad began to teach that there was only one God - Allah

• Islam: submission to the will of Allah

  • Followers are called Muslims - “on who has submitted”

Beliefs and practices of Islam

• The Five Pillars

  • Faith: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet”

  • Prayer:

    • 5x day, toward Mecca, sometimes done at a mosque

  • Alms: Charity

  • Fasting: Ramadan, fast from dawn to sunset

  • Haji: Pilgirime to Mecca at least once

• The Prophet = Muhammad

• Allah is source of authority

Hagar —— Abraham —— Sarah

       I          I

    Ishmael     Issac

       I          I

     Arab   Jewish people

• Muhammad’s revelation written in Qur’an

  • Only Arabic version is considered true

  • Arabic language helped unite conquered peoples

• Shari’a - Islamic Religious Law

• Code of Canon Law

  • Regulates family life, moral conduct business and community life

Links to Judisam and Christianity according to Islam

•  Allah is the same God worshipped by Christians and Jews 

  • Quran perfects earlier revelations (Torah, Gospels, New Testament)

  • Muhammad is the final prophet 

• All three religions believe in heaven and hell, judgment

  • Muslims trace ancestry to Abraham

Inter-religious Dialogue

• Muslims refer to Christians and Jews as “people of the book”

  • Consider that Qu'ran is related to both Hebrew & Christian Scriptures

  • Shari’a law requires Muslim leaders to extend religious tolerance to Christians and Jews

Islam Expands

• Muhammad had not named a successor

  • Elected Abu-Bakr as caliph– successor or deputy

  • Promised to uphold what Muhammad stood for

  • Invoked jihad- “striving” against evil

    • Also means armed struggle against unbelievers

    • Justifies expansion of Islam 

Sunni and Shi’ite Split

• Abu-Bakr had trouble maintaining unified rule

  • Umayyads came to power

    • Became wealthy

• Majority of Muslims accepted Umayyad rule

  • Sunnis

• Minority resisted

  • Called Shi’ites

• Ecumenism - Christian Churches only

• Inter-religious dialogue - Christians & non-Christian religions

Sunni & Shi’a Comparison

Who should have succeeded Muhammad as leader?

• Sunni

  • Four caliphs

• Shi'a

  • Ali (Muhammad’s son-in-law)

Why?

• Sunni

  • Muslim rulers can be “rightly guided” by following Muhammad’s example

• Shi’a

  • Only a direct descendent of the prophet can lead

Who has the correct version of the Qur’an?

• Sunni

  • The Shi'a distorted meanings of Qur’an passages

• Shi’a 

  • The Sunni distorted meanings of Qur’an passages

• Umayyads were overthrown and Abbasids took control

  • Abd a-Rahman (Umayyad caliph) fled to Spain, setting up Umayyad caliphate

  • Muslim group, Berbers, already conquered Spain

• Abasids moved the capital to Baghdad

Smaller Muslim states sprang up, weakening the Abbasid empire