1. Rise of Islam & the Arab Empires

2. Arabs Nomadic Bedouins lived in Arabia
Arabs move constantly to feed their animals
Arabs organized into independent tribes
Lead by Sheikhs
Early Arabs herded sheep & farmed
Domesticated the camel & expanded caravan trade from Persian gulf & Mediterranean

3. Bedouins

4. Arabs Early Arabs: polytheistic Allah = main god
Believed Abraham & Ishmael built a shrine called the Ka’ba at Mecca
Black Stone, cornerstone of Kaaba, revered for its association with Abraham

5. Muhammad Born into merchant family in Mecca, orphaned early
Caravan Manager
Troubled by gap between the greedy rich & honest poor
The Cave Story

6. How is Islam different? Islam has only one god
Moses & Jesus were nice guys who kind of got it right
Muhammad is the true prophet
Islam – “submission to God”
Quran – “book or reading”

7. Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem:
Where Muhammad
Ascended Into Heaven

8. ISLAM Slow Growth Initially
622 - Muhammad & 30 followers go to Yathrib (Hijrah Year 1)
630 – Comes back to Mecca with 10,000 troops
Sole religious, political, & military leader
Declared the Ka’ba to be a sacred shrine

9. Pilgrims On The Road to And Camped Outside of Makkah

10. Creation of Arab Empire
Muhammad dies 2 years after taking Mecca
Abu Bakr = Muhammad’s father-in-law was chosen to be successor
caliph = successor to Muhammad
Used Jihad to spread movement of Islam
Death in battle got you spot in heaven

11. THE MEANING OF THE JIHAD
1. Jihad against oneself - the daily struggle against evil and temptation in life.
2. Jihad with knowledge - the struggle to use knowledge, particularly from the Qur'an, to fight ignorance and to gain converts to Islam not through battle, but through the power of Qur'anic knowledge.
3. Jihad with wealth - the struggle to give up material wealth for the benefit of Islam, through charitable donations.
4. Jihad with the sword - the physical struggle to defend Islam against harm from unbelievers. Muslims believe that if they give their lives in this military jihad they will be rewarded with eternal paradise.
5. Jihad through righteousness - the struggle to continuously undertake good deeds to please God and benefit humanity.

12. Problems with Succession
2 Caliphs after Abu assassinated quickly
656 - Ali - Muhammad’s son-in-law - assassinated 5 years later
Sunni Muslims
Argue a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus.
Shi'a Muslims
ʻAlī and his descendants were the only proper Muslim leaders or imams.

13. Differences between Sunni/Shia

14. Differences between Sunni/Shia

15. Muhammad Surrounded by the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs
Abu Bakr
Muhammad Surrounded by the
Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs

16. Umayyad Dynasty 661 – Gen. Mu’awiyah (Gov of Syria) became caliph
moved capital from Medinah to Damascus
Made the office of caliph hereditary
Expansion
8th century Arabs conquered & converted the Berbers = lived on coast of N. Africa
725 Arabs were defeated at Battle of Tours

18. Muslims in Spain

19. Damascus:
Umayyad Capital

20. The End of the Umayyad Dynasty
717: Muslims attacked Constantinople, but their navy was defeated by Byzantines
Sunnis did not agree with Umayyad rule but accepted it
Internal struggles led to revolts
750 Overthrown by Abu (descendent of Muhammad’s Uncle)

21. Abbasid Dynasty 750: Abbasid Dynasty founded which lasted until 1258
762 new capital of Baghdad

22. Baghdad

23. Abbasid Dynasty Falls
Abbasid experienced problems; fighting over succession of caliph
Vast wealth led to financial corruption
Shortage of Arabs for leaders
Allowed non-Arabs to lead military & bureaucracy
Less Unified
Rulers of provinces began to break away

24. Umayyad Mosque
In Spain
Samanid
Mosque
In Bukhara

25. Fatimid Mosque in Cairo

26. Seljuk Turks & Crusades
Seljuk Turks took over much of Abbasid empire & captured Baghdad; held political and military power
Turks took over Anatolian plateau, Byzantine empire turned west for help

27. Crusades
Big Push: Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked Christian states of Europe for help against Turks
Europeans agreed and a series of Crusades began in 1096
Crusaders put Muslims on defensive first
1169, Saladin took control of Egypt & ended Fatimid dynasty, took Christians
1187, Saladin’s army destroyed the Christian forces in the kingdom of Jerusalem
Main effect of Crusades = centuries of mistrust between Muslims & Christians