1. c. 570 Muhammad born at Mecca 610 First revelation to Muhammad 622 Muslim emigration to Medina 630 Muslim conquest of Mecca 632 Death of Muhammad. Arabia mostly Muslim at this point haramKa‘ba

2. Map Link: The Middle East in the 6th Century: http://www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/me6thc.gif

3. Qur’an 96: 1-5: 1. Read in the name of thy Lord who created, 2. Created man from a blood-clot. 3. Read, for thy Lord is the Most Generous, 4. Who taught by the pen, 5. Taught man that which he knew not.

4. The Rashidun (rightly-guided caliphs) 632-634 Abu Bakr 634-644 ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab 644-656 ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan 656-661 ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib khalifa = caliph = “successor”

5. The Umayyads Reign as caliphs, 661-750 Opposed by (among others), shi‘at ‘Ali (the party of ‘Ali, Shi‘ites) Reign sees Muslim world expand greatly, various administrative structures established and cultural and intellectual advances made

6. Map Link: The Muslim Conquests: <http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gzetlian/images/maps/http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gzetlian/images/maps/ muslimconquestsmap.gifmuslimconquestsmap.gif>

7. The ‘Abbasids Overthrow Umayyads in 750 One Umayyad, ‘Abd al-Rahman, escapes to Spain, sets up dynasty there Baghdad, the ‘Abbasid capital, becomes a flourishing cultural and intellectual centre in the 8th and 9th centuries

8. The ‘Abbasids c. 750-1000 Classical works passing from Muslim world into Europe 786-809 Reign of Harun al-Rashid 813-833 Reign of al-Ma’mun al-jabr  algebra al-Khwarizmi  algorithm

9. 9th century sees gradual fragmentation of Muslim world due to: 1. Domination of caliphs by troops 2. Growing independence of regional governors 3. Lost tax revenues preventing caliphs from paying troops Establishment of independent dynasties including Shi‘ite Fatimids

10. Topics in the Qur’an The nature of God Stories of the prophets Laws and social teaching Day of Judgment

11. The “Pillars” of Islam Shahada (testimony) la ilaha illa Allah (There is no god except God) Muhammadun rasul Allah (Muhammad is the messenger of God)

12. The “Pillars” of Islam Shahada (testimony) Salat (ritual prayer) Zakat (alms tax) Sawm (fasting) Hajj (pilgrimage)

13. Other topics: jihad non-Muslims under Muslim rule