Islam

#### The Birth of Islam

- emerges out of the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula

#### Muhammed the Prophet (570-632 CE)

- born in Mecca

- Mecca was a place where people to could and find water, refuge

- was a pilgrimage center

- center of trade

- people in the region venerated a black stone known as the Kabba

- people had exposure to lots of ideas and ways of life; had exposure to christian idea of monotheistic God

- had been exposed to ideas and peoples

- around 610, he was visited by the Angel Gabriel

- Angel Gabriel reveals the will of Allah

- basis for the Quran

- begins converting people in Mecca

- people rejected; he fled to the city of Medina

- begins to win converts in Medina

- converts are attracted to the five pillars and the religious community (Ummah)

- transcends bonds of ethnicity, tribes, race

- 8 years later, Muhammed and his followers return and conquer Mecca

- sets out to conquer the rest of the arabian peninsula

- controls over half of the arabian peninsula by 632

- after his death, there is a succession crisis

#### Quran

- literal word of God

- tells us that Allah created the world out of his love for us

- contains everything needed to live a good life

- Allah demand our "surrender" Islam to his will

- written in poetic form

- Arabic

#### Five Pillars of Faith

- simple path to salvation

- Shahada - profession of faith; "no god but Allah and Muhammed is his messenger"

- Salat - prayed 5x a day facing Mecca

- Zakat - almsgiving; giving to the poor

- Sawm - fasting during Ramadan

- Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca

#### Rashidun Caliphate (632-631 CE)

- Sucession Crisis

- Ali

- Muhammed's son in law

- says that heriditary rule is necessary

- Shiat Ali

- followers calls themselves the Shia

- Abu Bakr

- Muhammed's father in law

- rejects the idea of heriditary rule

- Sunnit (tradition)

- followers call themselves the Suni

- Umar

- Muhammed's father in law

- support Abu Bakr

- Uthman

- Mohammad's other son in law

- supports Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr chosen as caliph

- he invades Iraq, Syria

- appoints Umar as succesor

Umar

- conquers areas

- doesn't require the conquered people to convert to Islam

- dhimmis - protected peoples that could practice their own beliefs except with places that are dedicated to Islam; had to pay a tax

- appoints Uthman before his death

Uthman

- conquers North Africa

- conquers Cyprus

- chooses army based of loyalty and not skill

- revolt breaks out; Uthman is assinated

- Ali is chosen as caliph

Ali

- assassinated

- Umayyad takes power

#### The Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE)

- capital moved from Mecca to Damascus

- switched to Hereditary rule

- murdered people related to mohammed

- Legitimacy problem

- "might makes right"

- Allah supports what they are doing

- justification for ruling was that God was on their side

- decides that they are going to take over Constantinople

- victory will prove that Allah is on their side

- army is obliterated by Greek fires

- destroyed fleet and army

- umayyads forced to retreat

- they question what this means if they are defeated; did Allah turn their backs on them?

- had new plan

- invades Spain and conquers

- goes into France

- stopped by Charles the Hammer (grandfather of Charlemagne)

- Arab conquerers were smaller than other groups, but were able to to keep together

- would set Arab groups in cities while they would try to conquer and spread

- to be part of the elite, you needed to be considered to have Arab ways (speak arabic, learn arab culture, have Arab blood); because the language of the quran is arabic

- Arabs would intermarry; having Arab blood was seen as elite

#### The Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE)

- Abbasids overthrow Umayyads

- Baghdad founded in 762

- Baghdad

- muslims and non muslims would come together and share ideas

- the center of Islamic "Golden Age"

- House of Wisdom

- Translation of books

- Astronomy, mathematics, medicine

- "One Thousand and One Nights"

- Paper making

- philosophy

- glassware, textiles

- gunpowder

- watermills, windmills, navigation equipment, larger ships

- served as contact between north and east, west and south

#### Genghis Khan

- invade Baghdad

- destroys Baghdad

- Mongols invade