Islam The History and the People

What is Islam? Islam is the 2nd biggest religion in the world today, and the third of the three monotheistic religions that trace their lineage back to Abraham % of the world is Muslim (1.5 billion) Islam is the name of the religion, Muslim is what you call a person who follows the religion of Islam (like Christianity is a religion, the followers are Christians) Islam is a monotheistic religion, believing in only one God.

Origin of Islam Islam was born in the Arabian desert. The land is dry, with very little available farmland. Most people in the area are nomads that wander with their flocks of animals. Those people are called bedouins. Prior to Islam, the two main monotheistic religions were Judaism and Christianity. However, most people living in the Arabian world were polytheistic Into this world a man named Muhammad was born around 570 A.D.

Arabian Desert

About Muhammad Born around 570 A.D. Muhammad was orphaned at a young age Raised by his uncle, Muhammad didn't receive much of an education, but became a trader and merchant Always spiritual, Muhammad met his calling at about 40 years old when the angel Gabriel came to him with a message. Gabriel told Muhammad that God wanted him to proclaim his message to the people

Muhammad Preaches Muhammad came to believe that he was the last of the prophets and that people needed to return to believing in only one God (monotheism) Muhammad began to preach in his hometown of Mecca. However, his only followers were his wife and friends Muslims believe that while traveling to Jerusalem Muhammad ascended to heaven where God revealed to him his word. The spot where Muhammad ascended to heaven is today the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem Islam means, "submit to the will of Allah (God)," and Muslim means, "one who submits."

Dome of the Rock

The Rock Foundation rock, as seen looking down from top of the dome. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Muhammad The Dome of the Rock is also the same spot where Jews believe that Abraham was called to sacrifice his son Isaac Upon return to Mecca to preach, city leaders saw Muhammad as a threat and he was forced to flee to another city in Arabia, Medina In Medina Muhammad became a religious and political leader, raised an army and returned to Mecca and conquered the city When Muhammad conquered Mecca he took over a polytheistic temple called the Kaaba, and rechristened it a Muslim shrine The Kaaba is the holiest spot in Islam

Kaaba

Islam Spreads After Muhammad's death his successors worked to expand Islam across the Arabian world and the Middle East

What Muslims Believe Islam is a monotheistic religion, believing in only one God The Arabic word for God is, "Allah" The holy book for Muslims is the Koran (also spelled Qur'an) which contains the rules for the religion revealed to Muhammad from God Because Muslims trace themselves back to Abraham, they are sort of like cousins to Jews and Christians, believing in the same God and sharing some of the same prophets, like Moses and Jesus The rules to being a Muslim and following Islam correctly are called the Five Pillars of Islam

Five Pillars of Islam Faith- A person must state a belief that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is his prophet.

Five Pillars of Islam Prayer- A person must pray to Allah, facing Mecca, five times every day.

Five Pillars of Islam Alms- A person must give aid to poor people through a tax.

Five Pillars of Islam Fasting- A person must eat only one meal a day, after sunset, every day during the holy month of Ramadan.

Five Pillars of Islam Pilgrimage- A person should perform the hajj- a trip to the holy city of Mecca- at least once in his or her life.

The Spread of Islam The Big Idea: Despite internal conflict, within 200 years Islam went from a local religion in the Arabian desert to a major empire on three continents- Europe, Africa, and Asia Why it's important: The religion of Islam and its history still influences those people today. Some of those internal conflicts were over who should lead Muslims after Muhammad died. Some wanted Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali to take over. Others backed Muhammad's father- in-law, Abu-Bakr. Abu-Bakr won the power struggle and became the first caliph, or successor to Muhammad

The Spread of Islam Islam spread quickly in the years after Muhammad, out of the Arabian desert across trade routes (cultural diffusion). Islamic armies were able to expand into the Fertile Crescent, Iran and out into central Asia because the Persian and Byzantine Empires were weak and easily toppled there. Many of these people accepted Islam. Some of them liked the message, some liked the fact that by becoming Muslim they avoided paying a tax put on non-Muslims. The Koran prevented Muslims from forcing others to accept the religion, however. Muslim rulers allowed people to follow whatever beliefs they chose.

The Spread of Islam

Muslims Become Divided Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, eventually became the fourth caliph. After he died however, the next group of people to take power were a family called the Umayyads. The Umayyads didn't follow the simple life of Muhammad and his family members, they were rich, powerful and loved to surround themselves with wealth. This caused a split in the Muslim world. Those who didn't believe in the Umayyads were called Shi'a- thinking the leader of Muslims should be a descendant of Muhammad, and those who were ok with the Umayyyads were Sunni, believing any good Muslim man could lead the people. This division continues through to today.

Under the Umayyads Under the Umayyads the Muslim Empire expanded furthest, as far East as the Indus River Valley, and as far West as across Africa and North into Spain. Muslims took over the Holy Land, capturing Jerusalem, Damascus, and establishing a capital in Baghdad It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though: Muslims eventually took two major losses: ●Muslim expansion into Europe was stopped at the Battle of Tours in 732 ●Baghdad was lost to the Mongols in 1258

Muslim Culture As Muslims conquered new lands they were fair and generous to their people Muslim society was divided into four groups. o At the top were people who were Muslim from birth. o Next came those who converted to Islam. These people paid a tax higher than the first group but lower than the next two groups. o The third group included Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians- protected because Muslims shared some of their beliefs. o The fourth group was slaves- not based on race, but they weren't Muslims

Muslim Culture An important part of Muslim culture is the Arabic language and alphabet Muslims also had mosaic art like the Byzantines

Muslims placed a high value on learning. Muslim scholars added much to humans' store of knowledge. Europe was in chaos, during which much that had been known in ancient Greece and Rome was lost. During this time, Muslim scholars kept much of this knowledge alive. They collected ancient Greek, Indian, and Persian works of science and philosophy and translated them into Arabic. One center of this study was the House of Wisdom built in Baghdad. Later, this ancient learning returned to Europe when the works of Muslim scholars were translated. Education

Islamic Academics In addition to libraries, Muslims created several universities where research and learning would take place Some of that research was in the field of math, where arabic numerals and the idea of zero was borrowed from India. Today, those are our numbers: 1,2,3,... Muslim thinkers invented algebra Advanced medicine Made maps

Wrap Up The Muslim world of yesterday was much different than the Muslim world of today. When Europe was in the Dark Ages the Muslim world was thriving- working on science, math, architecture and existing peacefully. While it may not be our own family history, Islamic history is a part of the shared human history.