Coach Parrish OMS Chapter 10, Section 2

 Islam teaches that in about 610 AD, the prophet Muhammad went into a cave to pray.  An angel told Muhammad that people were worshipping idols and wanted him to spread a message.

 A group of people who lived in the Arabian Peninsula were called the Bedouins.  Bedouins were nomads who traveled from one oasis to the next for water.

 Muhammad was born and grew up in the trading center of Mecca.  Muhammad enjoyed walking around the mountains outside Mecca. He did so to think and pray.  When Muhammad was 40, he first heard God speak to him in the cave. Muslim – person who accepts the teachings of Muhammad.

 In 622, Muhammad and his followers were invited to Yathrib, a city north of Mecca.  The movement became known as the hirja. The year of the hirja (622 AD) became year 1 in the Muslim calendar.  After the move, Yathrib became known as Medina.

 A muezzin calls Muslims to worship in Mecca.  Every day, five times a day, Muslims are called to worship this way. Muslims will stop what they are doing to pray five times a day facing Mecca.  Some Muslims gather in a mosque – house of worship.

 The Five Pillars of Islam are the basic beliefs of Muslims.  The fifth pillar, the hajj, is required only of those Muslims who are able to travel to Mecca.

 Quran – holy book of Islam. It contains the message that God gave to Muhammad.  Muslims believe that the original language of the Quran, Arabic, is best. Therefore, some Muslims travel to Mecca to learn.

 Before Islam, most people in the Arabian Peninsula felt that women were not equal to men.  The Quran taught that men and women were equal. Muslim women were not forced to marry and had the right to divorce.

 A schism in the Muslim faith occurred after the assassination of Uthman (Muslim leader).  Muslims disagreed over who should be their next leader. The two groups split into Shiites and Sunnis.  Shiites argued that the next leader should be a male direct descendant of Muhammad  Sunnis argued that any Muslim man could lead. Today about 85% of Muslims are Sunni.