2.  Muhammad’s Early Life  Born to merchant family in Mecca, 570 CE  Orphaned at age 6, cared for by grandfather and uncle  Married wealthy widow, 595 CE  Becomes merchant ▪ Traveled ▪ Exposed to variety of religious and cultural traditions

3.  Spiritual Transformation  Age forty  One true god, Allah, rules the universe ▪ Reward good, punish evil  Gabriel delivers revelations ▪ Instructs Muhammad to explain views to others ▪ Small following in Mecca by 620 CE  The Quran  Holy book of Islam- Compilation of Muhammad’s revelations, teachings, etc.  Hadith- sayings and deeds of Muhammad

4.  Teachings offended ruling elites in Mecca (monotheism vs. polytheism)  Attacks on greed offended wealthy merchants  Attacks on idolatry threatened profits from shrines  Ka’Ba  Persecution of Muhammad and followers

5.  Hijrah- move of Muhammad and followers to Medina, 622 CE  Starting point of Islamic calendar  Umma- community of Muslims in Medina (“Community of the faithful”)  Followed legal and social code  Daily prayers  Battle with enemies  Raids on caravans from Mecca  Relief for widows, orphans, poor

6.  Last prophet of Allah  Acknowledges Hebrew scriptures and New Testament  Abraham  Moses  Jesus  Spread Allah’s message to the world

7.  Muhammad conquers Mecca, 630 CE  Establishes government dedicated to Allah  Destroyed shrines, built mosques  Preserved Ka’ba as symbol of Mecca’s greatness ▪ Muhammad leads first pilgrimage to Ka’ba, 632 CE- Hajj as example for devout Muslims to follow  Campaign against towns and Bedouin clans  Brought most of Arabia under control by Muhammad’s death in 632 CE

8.  Five Pillars of Islam  Shahadah- declaring no other god but Allah, and Muhammad as his prophet  Salat- daily prayer five times a day while facing Mecca  Zakat- alms giving to help the weak and poor  Sawm- fasting during the month of Ramadan  Hajj- pilgrimage to Mecca

9.  Jihad- “Struggle”  Fight against vice and evil  Struggle against ignorance and unbelief Waging war against unbelievers who threaten Islam  Sharia- Islamic holy law  Proper behavior in almost every aspect of life ▪ Marriage, inheritance, slavery, business, government, etc.  Propels Islam beyond a religion into a way of life  Dar al-Islam- lands where Muslim government rules  Tolerance towards Christians and Jews

10.  The “Rightly Guided” Caliphs- “deputy” or successors of Muhammad  Used Qu’ran and the actions of Muhammad to guide them as leaders  Abu Bakr- head of state, chief judge, religious leader, military commander ▪ Leads campaign against towns and Bedouin clans who renounced Islam after Muhammad’s death ▪ Used highly disciplined army to expand Islam  Muslims willing to fight to defend and expand Islam; religiously persecuted peoples accept tolerant invaders

11.  The Shia  Disagreements over succession  Minority sect (Sunnis majority- traditionalists)  Support Ali (fourth Caliph)- assassinated, family killed ▪ Replaced by Sunnis candidate  Struggle to restore Ali’s line  Ali as infallible  Continuous conflict between Shia’s and Sunnis

12.  Solves problem of succession- brings stability to Islamic community  Set up hereditary system of succession  Established capital city at Damascus in Syria  Rule dar al-Islam in favor of Arabian military aristocracy  Appoint elites to positions of power  Levied jizya- tax on those who did not convert to Islam  Non-Arab converts discriminated against  Deep resentment against Umayyad rule

13.  Decline  Casual towards Islamist doctrine  Devoted themselves to luxury instead of leading the umma  Resistance by the Shia  Discontent of conquered peoples  Disillusionment of Muslim Arab military leaders

14.  Abu al-Abbas- descendant of Muhammad’s uncle  Allied with Shias and non-Arab Muslims  Won battle against Umayyad in 750  Did not favor Arab military elite  Did not conquer- Islam and empire spread through trade and interactions of affected peoples

15.  Administration  Relied on Persian techniques of centralization and inheritance ▪ Regional governors ▪ Set policies ▪ Established capital cities  Capital city at Baghdad  Ulama (“People with religious knowledge”) and quadis (judges) rule locally

16.  Harun al-Rashid (786-809)  High point of Abbasid dynasty  Wealth  Strong  Baghdad became center of banking, commerce, crafts, and industry  Booming population

17.  Decline  Struggle for succession among Harun’s sons- civil war  Governors build own power  Uprisings and peasant rebellions  Persian nobles seize Baghdad in 945  Saljuq Turks control imperial family

18.  Male dominance  Control of women’s social and sexual lives  Men respect women  Men take up to four wives- women only one husband #patriarchyagain  Adopt veiling from Mesopotamia and Persia  Sign of modesty  Discourage attention of men

19.  Islamic mystics  Most effective missionaries  Encouraged devotion to Allah through singing and dancing  Worked to increase spiritual awareness instead of focusing on religious doctrine  Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) ▪ Human reason too frail to truly understand Allah and the nature of the world ▪ Appreciation comes from devotion and guidance of the Quran