1. Notes taken from McGraw Hill/Glencoe (2005 )

2. The Rise of Islam

3.  Who were the Arabs and why did they rise to such great power?  What was the role of Muhammad in the spread of Islam?

4.  The Arabs were a people who lived in the Arabian Peninsula.

5.  The Arabian Peninsula is a desert land lacking rivers and lakes.  The Arabs were nomads, moving constantly to find water and food for their animals.  Surviving in such a harsh environment wasn’t easy so the Arabs organized into tribes.  Each tribe was ruled by a sheikh who was chosen from one of the leading families by a council of elders.  Each tribe was independent but loosely connected to each other.

6.  The Arabs lived as farmers and sheepherders on the oases and rain-fed areas.  After the camel was domesticated the Arabs populated more of the desert.  The Arabs expanded caravan trade into their regions.

7.  Towns developed along the caravan routes.  The Arabs became major carriers of goods between the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, where the Silk Road ended.

8.  Political unrest meant the need for a new trade route through the city of Mecca to present-day Yemen and onto ships across the Indian Ocean.  Cities such as Mecca prospered from the increased caravan trade.  Tensions arose as increasingly wealthy merchants showed less and less concern for the poorer clanspeople and slaves.

9.  Born in Mecca at this time of tension to a merchant family was Muhammad. The year was 570.  By age five Muhammad was an orphan.  Muhammad grew up to be a caravan manager and married a rich widow named Khadijah.  According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad became alarmed at the growing gap between the rich and poor.  Deeply worried, Muhammad would visit the surrounding hills to meditate.

10.  During one visit, Muslims believe, Muhammad received revelations from Allah, Arabic for “God,” through the angel Gabriel.  Out of these revelations came the Quran, the holy book of Islam.  Islam means “peace through the submission to the will of Allah.”  Those that practice the religion of Islam are called Muslims.

11.  When Muhammad went to Mecca to tell the people of Allah’s revelations to him, they were surprised that he claimed to be a prophet.  After three years of preaching, Muhammad had about 30 followers.  With persecution of his followers, as well as the people of Mecca not accepting his message, Muhammad and some of his closest followers moved north to the city of Medina.

12.  The journey of Muhammad and his followers is know as the Hijrah.  The year the journey took place was 622.  This became year 1 of the official calendar of Islam.  Muhammad soon began to win support from the people of Medina.  Also joining Muhammad were the Arab desert people, the Bedouins.  From these groups, Muhammad formed the first communities of practicing Muslims.

13.  Muslims saw no separation between political and religious authority.  For this reason, Muhammad soon became both a religious and political leader.  Muhammad’s military skills and victories over Mecca began to attract large numbers of supporters.  In 630 Muhammad returned to Mecca, this time with a force of 10,000 soldiers.  Mecca surrendered and most converted to Islam.

14.  With his victory at Mecca, Muhammad visited the Kaaba, a shrine believed by Arabs to have been built by their ancestors Abraham and his son Ishmael.  Muhammad proclaimed the Kaaba to be a sacred shrine of Islam.  Two years after his triumphant return to Mecca, Muhammad died just as Islam began to spread across the Arabian Peninsula.  All Muslims are encouraged to make a pilgrimage, if possible, to Mecca and the Kaaba, known as the hajj.