Islam

The move from Mecca to Medina became known as the hijra (migration) and serves as the starting point of the official Islamic calendar.

While in Medina, he began to refer to himself as the “seal of the prophets,” in which he would be the final prophet through whom Allah would reveal his message to humankind.

During the 650s, these written versions of Muhammad’s revelations were issued as the Quran (recitation), which would become the holy book of Islam.

Muslims who are physically and financially able must undertake the hajj and make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca.

Islamic holy law, known as the sharia emerged after the death of Muhammad and offers detailed guidance on proper behavior on almost ever aspect of life.

In the century after Muhammad’s dead, Islamic armies under the Umayyad dynasty carried out their greatest military expansion against two empires: 1) Sasanid empire and the 2) Byzantine Empire. and that Islamic forces overthrew the Sasanid empire (the last of the 4 great persian empires.

Disagreements over succession led to the emergence of the Shia sect, the most important and enduring of all the alternatives observed by the majority of Muslims known as Sunni Islam

Islam split over the Succession of Muhammad into two major groups- Sunnis and Shia

The majority of Muslims today are Sunnis

Under the Umayyads, Islam carried out its greatest military expansion

IslamThe Umayyads ruling the dar al-Islam (house of islam) favored the Arab military aristocracy by distributing land and positions of power among the priviledged class

While arabs mostly allowed conquered people to observe their own religions, they levied a special head tax, the jizya, on those who did not convert to Islam.

The Abbasid dynasty ended the Umayyad dynasty

While Arabs continued to play a large role in government, Persians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and others also rose to positions of wealth and power (Abbasids showed no special favor to Arab military aristocracy like the Umayyads had)

The Abbasid dynasty also differed from the Umayyad in that it was not a conquering dynasty

Central authority came from Baghdad, where they built a magnificent new city

Islam did not recognize priests

Qadis heard cases of law and rendered decisions based on the Quran and the sharia

Both these groups helped to ensure widespread observance of Islamic law

In 1258 A.D, the Abbasid Empire was officially ended by the Mongols.

The most important crops traveled from India westward

Increased agricultural production contributed heavily to the growth of cities in all parts of the Islamic world

Islamic societies drew much of their prosperity from commerce (trade)

Banks also stimulated the commercial economy of the Islamic world

Because of improved transportation, expanded banking services, and refined techniques of business organization, long-distance trade surged in the early Islamic world

Al Andalus

The Iberian Peninsula

The area was known as Al-Andalus

(Al-Andalus established its own caliphs and was not ruled by the Abbasid Dynasty)

The Umayyad, Abbasid, and al-Andalus dynasties were all very patriarchal

Islamic missionaries who were mystics who were more concerned with devotion to Allah than with mastery of doctrine were called “Sufis”

Both Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties administrative techniques were heavily influenced by Persian empires.

The two countries that were most responsible for a golden age in Muslim civilization were India and Greece