1. Islam!
Senor Reising

2. Before Islam
Before Mecca was the foundational city of Islam, it was vastly important as a trade city, connecting the Persian (Sassanid) empire to the east, to the Byzantine Empire to the west (Eastern Roman Empire)

3. How did it start, where did it start, when did it start?
Islam Founded – 632 CE. How does this compare to the start of other major religions chronologically?
Region where Islam Was Founded– Middle East, Arabian Peninsula. How does this compare to the start of other major religions geographically?
In 570 CE, Muhammad was born in Mecca. Muhammad sought refuge from the violence in the city in a nearby cave where he could find peace. While there, the angel Gabriel came to Muhammad and gave him the word of God. Muhammad, now a prophet, took this message back to Mecca and shared it slowly grew a following, and established the religion of Islam.

4. Fundamentals of Islam
Founder of Islam – Muhammad the Prophet – was a merchant before becoming the Prophet of God
Religious Text – Quran – Only intended to be read in Arabic– The word of God, written in first person, as spoken by Muhammad the Prophet (Many similarities to the Old Testament (Christianity) and the Torah (Judaism) -
Secondary Religious Text – Hadiths – Teachings/ Lessons from Muhammad the Prophet
“Abrahamic” religion – along Judaism and Christianity
“People of the book” along with Judaism and Christianity
Guiding principles – 5 pillars – comparable to the 10 commandments, 4 noble truths
Monotheistic
Still very popular today, approximately 1.7 billion Muslims in the world
Islam means “To submit to the will of God” in Arabic
Muslim is “One who submits to the will of God”
Allah = God in Arabic
Place of worship = Mosque

5. Kaaba

6. Islam: Beyond Religion Umayyad (661 – 755)
After the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr became the first Caliph. A caliph is a theocratic ruler, or one who is both a religious leader, and a political leader. He started the idea of expanding politically as a Caliphate (empire) to ensure that Islam would live on as a religion. Who could we compare him to (2 people)?
Eventually, after a whole bunch of succession issues, and the schism of the religion into two main sects, the Sunni and the Shiite, the first Caliphate came into power: The Umayyad. They were an expansionist empire, and grew the empire at a massive rate.

7. Islam: Beyond Religion: Abbasid – 755 - 1258
After the fall of the Umayyad, a new Caliphate arose in their place, established by the Abbas family, known as the Abbasid Caliphate. Successful in their own right, they were focused on intellectual and cultural accomplishments, instead of expansion
Developed algebra
Perfected the Astrolabe
Built first universities
Wrote first medical and mathematical textbooks
Established and popularized Arabic calligraphy

8. Other stuff
After its creation, just like everything else, Islam diffused rapidly through trade and expansion
Not missionizing, but did encourage the conversion of followers through the use of the Jizya tax – a tax on the non-Muslims, or Dhimmi
Sharia law
Sufism – from Iran – example of Syncretism
Treated women OK.. Still pretty marginalizing
Accepted slavery, but strongly discouraged the enslaving of other Muslims
Umayyad Spain! Super neat and tolerant (Until 1492)