1. A question arose after the death of the Prophet.
Who should lead
the faithful?
Muhammad
had not chosen
a successor.

2. The Islamic community was divided.
Sunni Muslims believed that any
pious Muslim man could lead
the community.

3. Shiite Muslims believed that only
descendants of Muhammad’s
son-in-law, Ali, should rule.

4. While this conflict led to the formation
of separate branches of the faith,
the majority of Muslims were Sunnis.

5. Early rulers of the Islamic Empire were
caliphs. A caliph was elected by the
community of the faithful.
The word caliph means
successor.

6. A caliph’s government was referred to
as the caliphate.

7. By 750 A.D., a new Islamic dynasty
ruled. The Abbasid dynasty moved
the capital of the Islamic world to
Baghdad in Iraq.

8. The Abbasid rulers were tolerant of
other monotheistic faiths. They
tolerated “people of the Book”. Jews
and Christians were allowed to worship.

9. Although Jews and Christians were
tolerated, they were forced to pay
special taxes.

10. During the Abbasid dynasty, the
Islamic world experienced a golden
age or a time of great achievements.