THE RISE OF THE ISLAMIC EMPIRE Mr. Kallusingh World History topic 7

THE RISE OF THE
ISLAMIC EMPIRE
Mr. Kallusingh World History topic 7
THE ORIGINS AND RISE OF ISLAM
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.

THE ORIGINS AND RISE OF ISLAM

Due to trade the Arab towns met and were
influenced by lots of cultures.
MUHAMMAD
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.

MUHAMMAD
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.

THE FAITH OF ISLAM
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

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
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.

IMPORTANT ARAB FIGURES
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.

IMPORTANT ARAB FIGURES

Muhammad red, Bakr and Umar orange, After
yellow
ISLAM IN INDIA
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

DIVISION OF THE ISLAMIC COMMUNITY
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).

DIVISION OF THE ISLAMIC COMMUNITY
UMAYYAD DYNASTY 661-750 AD
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.

ABBASID DYNASTY 750-1258 AD
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.

ABBASID DYNASTY
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.

ISLAMIC CULTURE
Literature Omar Khayyam wrote Rubaiyat and
Arabian Nights
 Art and Architecture the best art can be
found in mosques, art is a blend of ArabTurkish- Persian, architecture is best expressed
in mosques

ISLAMIC CULTURE
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

ISLAMIC CULTURE
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

ISLAMIC CULTURE
Social Structure had a well defined upper class
of rulers, senior officials, nomadic elites,
wealthy merchants.
 Made many improvements to Greek maps as
well.

ISLAM VS. MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS