ap world: islam - empire of faith

1. How many times are Muslims called to prayer each day?

5 times

2. What percent of the world’s population is Muslim?

Around 25%

The Messenger

Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

3. Muhammad’s …

a.  Home city - Arabian Peninsula - a town in Mecca

b.  Family - Parents sent him off to Bedouin tribe, uncle was chief of clan

c.  Poets – most important people of the tribes, linked tribe to ancestors


4. What were some things in the desert that were important to Muhammad and his people?


a. success/status

b. honor

c. dignity

d. storytelling - oral tradition

  • Water was important to all tribes, so protecting your clan’s well was essential for survival



5. Excluding religious aspects, what happened around the Kaaba?

  • The storing place for all religious artifacts and center of tribal deities

  • Each tribe had their own idols that worshiped natural elements

  • Was a provider of temporary peace between tribes

  • as it was a symbol of religion and unity

  •  Trade happened at an enclosure around Kaaba, also a place for peace (cultural diffusion)

6. What happened to Muhammad in the cave?

He saw an angel (Gabriel), who instructed him to preach the Word of God (Allah). 

This was an incredibly divine and life changing moment for Muhammad. 

7. “One God” meant :

One people

  • No more divided peoples (social justice)

8. Why don’t Muslims show the image of Allah or at times Muhammad?

  • God is a mystery, He is too complex for humans to describe

  • We as humans would shift the image of God to project our own selves, we are not capable of displaying his true divinity

  • The beauty of the Quran is meant to convey the beauties of God without physical description

  • Quran is the most just representation of God we can receive

  • For Muhammad, he is often displayed as a historical figure, not meant to be worshiped

9. What made the Meccans mad at Muhammad and his followers?

Because Islam challenged Meccan's original ideals, it was a threat to what they knew. 

  • Eternal damnation upon unjust

  • Idea of “heaven”

  • One God

  • The religion was a threat economically, a threat politically, and a lifestyle and tribal threat

10. How did Muhammad eventually win against the Meccans?

  • Muslims were outnumbered and outmatched by Meccans (313), with few weapons and unskilled soldiers

  • Some faced their own tribes from Mecca, which showed ultimate devotion to Islam (brother-brother or son-father)

  • The Bedouin tribes began to see “God’s Hand” in Muhammads battle, and steadily they joined his side of the war, growing the army

  • The conflict lasted for nearly a month, which 3 bloody battles and Muahmmad’s victory (630 ce)

11. What did Muhammad and his men do when he entered the Kaaba?

  • Instead of punishing the Meccans for losing, the victorious Muslim army brought peace and embraced Meccans who had tried to persecute Muhammad and his religion

  • This was very uncommon, as the Meccans were expecting a bloody revenge from Muhammad and not embrace

  • When Muhammad and his army reached the Kaaba, they circled it seven times and destroyed all of the pagan gods inside of the shrine

  • This act was symbolic as it broke apart the independent tribes and deities and created a new, unified religion

12. Islam’s Empire stretched from …

West: Spain + Morocco

East: Indus River

The empire was larger than Rome after conquering the Sassanian Empire and ⅔ of the Byzantine Empire in around 200 years

13. Why did so many people accept Islam?

a. Free from clergy

B. It accepted lower class and was equal w/ women

C. They allowed other religions to continue to observe side by side with them - tolerance




14. What did the Muslims improve in their new conquered lands?

a. Architecture/Infrastructure was restored

b.Built structures providing clean water (aqueducts), recreated grand irrigation systems

c.Agriculture flourished as trade brought in new grains to farm 




15. Why is Jerusalem so important to ...


a.  Muslims - Dome of the Rock was located, this is the first  incredible Islamic monument

b.  Christians - Where Jesus was buried (Church of the Holy Sepulchre), a Holy land  

c.  Judaism – A Holy land

The Dome of the Rock was built next to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, meant to rival it


After Muhammad died, a new age of power and enlightenment will rise for Muslims, and they will stay unified by the power of One God, One People, and the strength of their common faith (power of sword and power of ideas). 

Awakening:

1.  What is the purpose of the Hajj?

To embark of a holy pilgrimage to Mecca, the Holy city + birthplace of Islam

  • It became a symbol of devotion, unity among all, and equality

  • For the first time since Alexander the Great, people, goods, and ideas roam freely across long distances + trade routes were reopened

2.  Baghdad was seen as the “center for learning” because …

  • City of wealth

  • Incredible architecture, elegant neighborhoods with gardens and grand villas, and prominent representation of Islam spread the city

  • Trade through bazaars was critical around Baghdad

  • “Center of learning” because the best educated and thinking people came to Baghdad, and all impactful innovations were from Baghdad or came to Baghdad

  • These educated people came with questions, and scholars of Baghdad had the answers

  • House of Wisdom: where the scholars from different places AND IDEAS came and thread together their own knowledges and explore new ideas

  • Cordoba (Muslim city of light) was also a center of learning that rivaled Baghdad

3.  According to #2, what was learned?

a. Scientific process

b. Algebra

c. Trigonometry

d. Engineering

e. Astronomy

f. Medicine (innovative theory: disease was transmitted through micro organisms in the air)

  • Developed hospitals 

  • Had different treatment rooms for different diseases

  • Mental and physical diseases were treated

  • Muslim study in Anatomy was so advanced that their principles were used for over 600 years by Muslims and Europeans 

h. History (from translations and writing)

i. Study of light and lenses + physiology of human eye

  • Studies led to invention of modern camera

  • With a hollow needle, Muslims were surgically removing cataracts from patients

4.  Which invention helped spread knowledge the most throughout the Islamic Empire?

  Paper/Art of papermaking

  • Encountered in China and taken back to Islamic Empire, it was then learned all throughout Europe how to make it (from Arabs)

  • Paper became a family name, and it was very easy to access and spread throughout Eurasia

  • With the wide use of paper, books also became essential to recopy/copy and sold

  • It created a single community linking 3 continents

5.  What did Caliph Al Hakim do in 1009 CE?

Al Hakim was an Egyptian ruler in Jerusalem, often known as a madman

  • In 1009 CE, Al Hakim ordered the holiest church in Christendom destroyed, breaking the tradition of peace between Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem

  • He burned down the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for reasons unknown, this made Christians nervous

  • Despite Al Hakim’s successor rebuilding the church, it didn’t break the ice between upset Christians and Muslims 

6.  What happened in 1099 in Jerusalem?

  • The Crusaders entered Jerusalem, havocing indescribable fear and war against the population

  • They saw the Holy City and were filled with elation, only to be violent towards Muslims AND Christians

7.  How did the Crusaders treat the locals and traders?

  • They treated them as foreigners, harassed them constantly, lied to them, and were not good to locals and traders

  • They brought back a ton of Middle Eastern inventions and products to Europe, all of which resembled the “Good Life”

8.  How did Muslims treat the locals and traders?

  • They treated Locals and traders well, as trade was incredibly important to them and they were passionate about unity and peace

9. What are some products that the Muslim world was making?


a.Checks to be made in Spain and deposited in India

b.Textiles - cotton, silk, cashmere (economic backbone)

c.Swords and other weapons by blacksmithing

d.With textiles came extremely sophisticated fabrics, embroidered with complex patterns and sometimes lined with messages from the Quran

  •  These fabrics would often make their way into the European World, sometimes wrapped around Christian Saints or even into Christian paintings

10.  What did Saladin do for the Muslim world in 1187?

- Along with being very intelligent and physically strong, Saladin was an inspirer tp this military forces and followers

- in 1187: he lured the Crusaders out of Jerusalem and into a plane known as the Horns of Hattin, using 12,000 immersed followers

- The Horns of Hattin were waterless and hot, and on July 4th, Saladin’s men set fire to the hills, which was carried by the wind to their enemies

- The Crusaders were consumed by the fire, causing fatalities across the Crusader board

- Saladin came into Jerusalem 3 months after the brutal Crusader fatalities

11.  How did Saladin treat the Christians?

  • Saladin was peaceful towards Christians were no retaliation

  • He declared that Christians could leave the city with their property if they desired so, if not them he would prevail tolerant towards their religion 

  • He slowly became the most famous Muslim around Eurasia

12.  What/who begins the downfall of the Muslim world?

  • A force that no Muslim could imagine so destructive, the Mongol Catastrophe

  • libraries were destroyed; whole cities went bare

  • They entered Islamic Persia, and they lived off of three horses each (by drinking their blood and slowly eating them), which is why they could move so far for so long

  • An Iranian leader kills off an Mongol emissary, which evokes rage from Mongol’s and they brutally kill him and whole towns as example of their danger

  • On February 10th, 1258, the Mongol take Baghdad, burning and killing 10,000 inhabitants and centuries of knowledge 

  • In the end, many Mongols became Muslims, and them went to become great contributors to Muslim arts and architecture, and transformed the religion in less than a century