1. Mr. Kallusingh World History topic 7

2.  The Arab population started as herders, that were connected in small tribes, led by Sheikhs.  Since there was not much land for farming most towns sprouted up along the coast, leading to them becoming traders.  The Arab Empire was built on trade.

3.  Due to trade the Arab towns met and were influenced by lots of cultures.

4.  He was a trader and did not like the way people in the Arab Empire were treated based on money.  He believed the angel Gabriel gave him messages from God to share with other people.  This became the basis for his teachings.  He was initially rejected, especially by the wealthy people.

5.  When his teaching was rejected in his home town of Mecca, he and his followers moved to Yathrib where he became very popular.  After his popularity grew he returned to Mecca and could not be kicked out because he had too many followers.  His teachings became Islam.

6.  It is a monotheistic religion.  Islam means “submission to the will of God”, a follower of Islam is a Muslim  Quran is the holy book of Islam, and is revelations from God given to Muhammad.  Jihad  “the struggle to defend the faith”, some Muslims believe that they will be rewarded in heaven  Muslims worship in a mosque

7.  1- Profession of faith  there is no god but Allah and Muhammad was his messenger  2- Five Daily Prayers  daily prayers towards Mecca  3- Paying Zakat  giving money to the poor  4- Fasting during the holy month Ramadan  5- Pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime To pray to the Kaaba.

8.  Abu Bakr succeeded Muhammad as leader of the Arab community, and became known as Caliph- “successor to the prophet”  Bakr united the Arab tribes  Umar followed Bakr setup a well organized government and expanded the Arab empire to include Syria, Persia, and North Africa.

9.  Muhammad red, Bakr and Umar orange, After yellow

10.  Islam tried to spread into India mainly in Northern India due to trade, but Hinduism always remained the main religion.  During the Umayyad Dynasty there was Islamic expansion which led to persecution of Hindus. 711 AD

11.  The leader of the Islamic community did not have a predetermined successor.  After the death of Umar is when the problem started, Uthman was killed as well as Ali and Mu'awiyah took over.  Some members agreed with Mu'awiyah and others wanted Ali’s family to remain in control.  This led to the split between the Sunni (Mu'awiyah) and the Shiah(Ali).

13.  Mu'awiyah created the caliphate which solved the succession problems.  Non-Arab Muslims were treated unfairly in the Arab empire and this led to a lot of animosity.  There was a lot of conversion to Islam due to conquest.

14.  Took over after the Umayyad Dynasty and moved the capital from Damascus to Baghdad.  All Muslims were treated fairly regardless of their background.  Harun al-Rashid led the dynasty during it’s golden age and his son, al-Ma’mun, promoted learning.  They also created a strong bureaucracy.

15.  After Harun died his two sons almost destroyed the capital Baghdad fighting for control.  Wealth led to corruption, as Baghdad had become the center of trade.  As time went on provinces in the empire broke away from central power and created their own caliphates.

16.  Literature  Omar Khayyam wrote Rubaiyat and Arabian Nights  Art and Architecture  the best art can be found in mosques, art is a blend of Arab- Turkish- Persian, architecture is best expressed in mosques

17.  Philosophy  many of the Greek work on philosophy like Aristotle arrived in Europe with Arabic commentary  Science  Ibn Sina wrote a medical encyclopedia that included many things like infectious disease, perfected the astrolabe which allows a person to determine their location based on the stars

18.  History  Ibn-Khaldun wrote Muqaddimah which argues that civilization are cyclical (birth, growth, decay)  Math  are credited with starting India’s numeric system, created Algebra  Men were dominant in society even though men and women are to be equal based on the Quran

19.  Social Structure had a well defined upper class of rulers, senior officials, nomadic elites, wealthy merchants.  Made many improvements to Greek maps as well.