Muhammad & the Foundation of Islam

Europe Asia Africa Arabian Peninsula – Crossroads of 3 Continents? Influences came from all parts of the known world! Israel

Influences on Islam ● 1.Native Bedouins ● 2.City of Mecca ● 3.Hanifs & idea of Monotheism

Bedouins ● Nomads ● Desert Dwellers ● survive on gifts of Oasis ● Clans & Tribes ● Great fighting ability ● Ideals of courage & loyalty to family influence Islam

Mecca ● Important stop on trade routes ● Pilgrims worship at ancient house of worship ● the Ka’aba ● Arabs associate Ka’aba w/Abraham ● contained idols representing polytheistic religions.

Hanifs ● Hanifs ● Arabs who believed in only one God – Allah – Arabic for God ● Christians & Jews also resided on Peninsula

Muhammad ● Born 570 CE to powerful Meccan family ● Orphaned at early age: raised by Grandfather & Uncle ● Worked in caravan trade ● Married woman who owned the business – Khadijah.

The Revelations ● Always had interest in religion ● Age 40, voice called to him while he meditated outside a cave ● Voice was angel Gabriel ● ‘revealed’ messages of God ● Muhammad to deliver messages to people ● Gabriel delivered many messages (Revelations) to Muhammad ● Muhammad convinced he was last of the prophets

The Revelations ● Allah ● one & only God ● other gods must be abandoned ● Islam = submission to the will of Allah ● Muslim = one who submits to will of Allah ● Rejection ● Fear that Mecca would be rejected as pilgrimage center ● Followers persecuted. (5:32)

The Hijrah ● Muhammad & followers escape Mecca ● settled in city of Yathrib ● Migration called the Hijrah ● In Yathrib, Muhammad found acceptance as both religious & political leader ● Yathrib renamed Medina – City of the Prophet ● Significance? = preserves Islam

Return to Mecca ● Accepted by Bedouin tribes ● Muslims & Meccans continued to fight until Mecca’s decline ● 630 CE- Muhammad & followers march to Mecca – Meccan leaders surrendered ● Muhammad goes to Ka’aba ● Destroys idols ● made call to prayer from roof ● Meccans accept Muhammad’s leadership & convert to Islam

The Spread of Islam

Reasons for Quick Spread 1.Byzantine & Persian Empires had weakened

Reasons for Quick Spread 2. Christians/Jews not forced to convert, but Polytheists were… - Most willingly to do so because Islam promised “equality”

Reasons for Quick Spread 3. Muhammad called for “Jihad” (Holy War against non-believers) - motivated Arab armies

Beliefs & Practices of Islam ● 1 god – Allah ● Good/Evil exists ● Free Will ● Final judgment day ● Heaven/Hell ● Qur’an (Koran) = Holy Book (3:36)

5 Pillars of Islam 1. Faith ● “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”

5 Pillars of Islam 2. Prayer ● 5 times a day ● May assemble in Mosque – Islamic house of worship ● To bring them closer to Allah ● Pray towards Mecca

5 Pillars of Islam 3. Alms ● Support of those less fortunate ● Religious tax ● charity

5 Pillars of Islam 4. Fasting ● Holy month of Ramadan ● (9 th month of Islamic calendar – month during which Qur’an was revealed) ● No drinking/eating between dawn/dusk ● Reminds Muslims of greater needs

5 Pillars of Islam 5. Pilgrimage ● Also known as Hajj ● Made to Mecca at least once in a lifetime (00:34)

Muslim way of life ● Personal lives not separated from religious lives ● Forbidden to eat pork or drink alcoholic beverages ● Friday afternoons are for communal prayer – the Mosque ● No priests or central religious authority ● Imams – prayer leaders in Mosques

Sources of Authority 1.Allah 1.expressed his will to Muhammad through Gabriel 2.Qur’an 1.Only Arabic version is true 3.Sunna 1.Muhammad’s example 2.Best model for proper living 4.Shari’a 1.Body of law = family life, moral conduct, business & community life

People of the Book Jews, Christians, & Muslims ● Allah same God worshipped by Jews/ Christians ● Qur’an word of Allah; same as Old Testament for Jews & New Testament for Christians ● Belief in Heaven & Hell & afterlife ● All three trace ancestry to Abraham

What is a Caliph? ● “successor” or “deputy” ● 1 st caliph = Abu Bakr in 632 ● chosen because of connection to Muhammad

Who were the “Rightly Guided” Caliphs? ● 1 st 4 leaders after Muhammad ● Named “ Rightly Guided ” due to close connection w/ Muhammad. ● 1 st 4 Caliphs were: ● Abu Bakr ● Umar ● Uthman ● Ali.

Rule in the Caliphates ● 6,000 Miles ● Because of tolerance, seen as liberators

Internal Conflict ● Uthman murdered ● Ali, Muhammad’s son- in-law, natural successor ● Uthman’s son Mu’awiya challenged Ali’s succession ● belief that Ali’s supporters had murdered Uthman.

Internal Conflict ● Ali & Mu’awiya came to understanding ● Ali murdered by disillusioned follower. ● Ali’s son, in fear, refused to become caliph. ● Mu’awiyah & son begin new dynasty – The Umayyad

Islamic Succession Muhammad Abu Bakr Umar Uthman Mu’awiyah Ali Shi’a Sunni

Islamic Dynasties 1.Umayyad ( ) 2.Abbasid ( ) ● Help to spread ideas of Muslim faith ● create Muslim Empire (3:53)

The Dynasties ● Umayyad ● ● Began when Mu’awiyah became Caliph ● Capital = Damascus ● Set up hereditary system of succession ● Surround themselves w/wealth (Big No-No) ● Abbasid ● ● Began as protest to Umayyad ● Capital = Baghdad ● Create strong bureaucracy ● Open diplomacy w/ European states

Sunni – Shi’a Split ● Sunni ● Support Umayyad Dynasty ● Majority ● Imam = prayer leader only ● Any righteous Muslim may be Caliph ● Shi’a ● Followers of Ali & family ● Minority ● Imam = spiritual leader ● Descendent of Ali & Fatima must be Caliph

Sufis Muslim mystics Found in both Sunni & Shi’a branches Sought communion with Allah through Meditation, Fasting, & other rituals Helped to spread Islam

End of the Spread of Islam ● Battle of Tours (732) ● Frankish king, Charles Martel stops Muslim advance into Europe ● Mongols capture Baghdad (1258) ● Grandson of Genghis Khan burns city & kills last Abbasid caliph

Let’s Review!!!!

Name the founder of Islam.Muhammad Followers of Islam saw Muhammad as which of the following: god, messiah, or prophet. Prophet What was Muhammad’s original occupation? Trader - merchant What are Muhammad’s talks with the Angel Gabriel called? The Revelations What is considered the holiest city of Islam? Mecca

What is the Arabic word for God? * Allah What is the Arabic word for “submission to the will of Allah”? * Islam What is the Arabic word for “one who has submitted”? * Muslim What is the migration of Muhammad’s followers from Mecca to the city of Yathrib called? * Hijrah What became the new name of Yathrib? * Medina – ‘city of the prophet’

What are the Basic Beliefs of Islam? * The 5 Pillars What is Islam’s Holy Book called? * The Koran (Qur’an) What are the 5 Pillars?* Faith, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, Pilgrimage What is the term for ‘Muhammad’s example” or the model for the proper way to live? * Sunna What is the Islamic Law?* Shari’a Who do Muslims call “People of the Book”? * Jews and Christians

Sunni or Shi’a Majority of Muslims today.* Sunni Believe the Caliph must be a descendent of Ali through Muhammad’s daughter Fatima. * Shi’a Imam is a prayer leader only. * Sunni Rebelled against the Umayyad Dynasty. * Shi’a Believe the Imam to be a spiritual leader. * Shi’a Majority of Iraqis.* Shia

Umayyad or Abbasid * * Abbasid * Capital city Damascus* Umayyad * Capital city Baghdad* Abbasid * Led lavish and extravagant lifestyle. * Umayyad * Created a hereditary system of succession. * Umayyad * Created a strong administrative bureaucracy. * Abbasid * Followed the last of the ‘Rightly Guided Caliphs’. * Umayyad

Islamic Achievement & Influence

Muslim Urban Centers ● Education increased w/ creation of Universities ● Scholars preserved classical works of Greece/Rome ● Improved Indian/Persian discoveries ● Cities included: ● Baghdad (Iraq) ● Cordoba (Spain) ● Damascus (Syria) ● Cairo (Egypt) ● Timbuktu (Mali)

Cairo

Role of Women ● Rights determined by interpreters of Koran. ● “Men are managers of women’s affairs.” ● “Righteous women are therefore obedient” ● In early days, and in some places today, women could/can get an education. ● Women largely responsible for children & home

House of Wisdom ● Islamic center for scholars (University) ● Opened by Caliph al- Ma’mum in early 800’s ● Included library, academy, & translation center. ● Interpreted/translated works from Greece, Rome, India, Persia & others. ● Scholars gathered to study & analyze Muhammad preached education as important in order to serve Allah

Medical Advances ● al-Razi ● Created encyclopedia - Comprehensive Book ● collected medical knowledge from Greece, Syria, India, & Arabic sources. ● Believed that cleaner air could help recovery ● Called for good nutrition & exercise ● Wrote findings in Treatise on Smallpox & Measles

Mathematic Achievements ● Related to study of Astronomy ● Al-Khwarizmi ● created a technique Al-Jabr = Algebra ● Trigonometry developed ● Arabic Numeral System ● adopted from India (3:16)

Scientific Achievements ● Used observation & conducted lab experiments ● Ibn al-Haytham ● produced first book on optics. ● Studies led to development of lenses for telescopes & microscopes.

Astronomy ● 5 Pillars led to Astronomical advances (Why?) ● Needed accurate Lunar calendar to observe religious periods ● Cartography (mapmaking) became prominent ● Astrolabe ● scientific instrument used to navigate on seas.

Muslim Literature ● The Rubaiyat ● Collection of poems ● Omar Khayyam ● Persian mathematician & Astronomer “Yesterday & today go on without us: Tomorrow what’s the charge against me, pray? In youth, I studied for a little while; Later I boasted of my mastery, Yet this was all the lesson I learned: We come from dust, and with the wind are gone, Of all the travelers on this endless road No one returns to tell us where it leads, There’s little in this world but greed and need, Leave nothing here, for you will not return.”

Muslim Literature ● Follows storytelling tradition of Bedouins ● Koran considered standard for all Islamic literature. ● The Thousand and One Nights ● collection of fairy tales, parables, & legends.

Muslim Art & Architecture ● Calligraphy – the art of beautiful handwriting

Mosaics

Muslim Art & Architecture ● Much of Islamic architecture is a blending of Byzantine architecture with Muslim ideas.

The Taj Mahal ( ) * Tomb built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Minarets Onion Dome

Dome of the Rock (3:20) Why is the Dome of the Rock significant to Muslims?

The city of Cordoba