Rise of Islam

Rise of Islam

Key Words• Islam = submission• Muslim = one who submits• Allah = God• Umma = community of Muslim believers• Jihad = struggle• dar al-Islam = the abode of peace• Hijra = migration• Quran = word of God

Rise of Islam

The Prophet Muhammad• Born in 570 C.E. in the city of Mecca• Died 632 C.E.• Merchant and member of the

prestigious Quraysh tribe.• Not the founder of Islam• Considered to be the last true Muslim

prophet.

Rise of Islam

• Originated in Arabia 622 C.E.• Five Pillars of Islam:1. One God, Allah, compassionate and all-

powerful.2. People are responsible for the way they

behave.3. Daily Prayer and periodic fasting.4. Assistance to the poor.5. Must visit the holy city of Mecca.

Rise of Islam

• The sacred book of Islam is the Quran.

• System of law is called the Sharia.• Islam is both a religion and a way of

life.• The Quran, the Sharia, and the

Arabic language helped unite all Muslims.

Rise of Islam

Formation of the Umma• Muhammad was unsuccessful at first

in getting Meccans to convert to Islam.

• Representatives from Medina asked Muhammad to come and calm the constant tribal feuding.

• Muhammad’s flight from Mecca begins the Muslim calendar and is called the hijra.

Rise of Islam

• Muhammad’s policies worked in Medina and this inspired many to convert to Islam.

• This conversion led the Muslim community to bound themselves into a single Umma.

• Muhammad took active responsibility in leading the Umma in the last decade of his life.

Rise of Islam

• Arab armies spread Islam by building a large empire:

1. Strong mounted fighters.2. Weakened Sasinad (Persian) and

Byzantine empires.3. United in their belief in Islam.

Rise of Islam

• Conquered peoples converted to Islam.

• Divisions arose after death of Muhammad.

1. After the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr was elected as caliph, successor to the prophet.

2. Sunnis – they believe that the first three caliphs were legitimate because they were elected by the Umma.

Rise of Islam

3. Shi’as – they argue that the Prophet Muhammad could only be succeeded by his descendents.

4. Many deaths occurred in the quest for leadership. As a result, Shi’as grew to admire martyrdom as a demonstration of faith.

Rise of Islam

5. The division between Sunni and Shi’a has survived for more than 1300 years.

6. Sufis are yet another division.

Rise of Islam

• Imam – Religious Leader1. Shi’as believe in “The Imam” as

someone who can lead all mankind in all aspects of life. A group known as the Twelver look for the 12th Imam to deliver all of Islam.

2. Sunnis will refer to descendents of Muhammad as Imams, but for them they are simply leaders of prayers.

Rise of Islam

• In some ways Muslim women fared better legally then Christian and Jewish women.

• Women could own property.• They could remarry if their husbands

divorced them.• They were entitled to cash payment

upon divorce.

Arab Dynasties

• Umayyad dynasty (661 to 750 C.E.)

1. First leader was Mu’awiya.2. Moved capital out of Arabia to

Damascus.3. Sunnis accepted Umayyad rule

based on Sunni teachings and the importance of the Umma.

4. Umayyad’s consolidated their power and embarked on wars of imperial conquest.

Arab Dynasties

5. They symbolized their imperial power through monumental mosques in Jerusalem, Medina, and Damascus.

6. Umayyad’s actively sought to convert the conquered peoples and assimilate them.

7. Between 711 and 756 C.E., Arab and Berber forces crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and completed the conquest of Spain.

Arab Dynasties

• Abbasid dynasty (751 to 1250 C.E.)1. Overthrew the Umayyad dynasty

because of corruption.2. Abu al-Abbas al-Suffah intiated the

new dynasty. (first leader)3. They continued the task of the

Umayyad dynasty in trying to bring order and unity to a vast empire.

4. Built capital in Baghdad.

Arab Dynasties

5. This was a time of Shi’a influence since they accepted the rule of Abu al-Abbas.

6. Golden age – Harun al Rashid, ruler.7. Keep their administration

cosmopolitan and centralized.

Arab Dynasties

Seljuk Turks

• 900s: Seljuk Turks adopted Islam and built their own empire. Took control of Baghdad.

Arab Dynasties

• 1200’s: The Mongols destroyed Baghdad.

• Strong economy also helped spread Islam.

Islam in India

Delhi Sultanate

• Muslim invasions resulted in Islamic rules of Northern india.

• Created Delhi sultanate.• Brought together two very different

religions and cultures.

Islam and Hinduism

• Islam1. One God.2. One sacred text.3. Believers don’t make statues of

God.4. All believers equal before God.

Islam and Hinduism

• Hinduism:1. Many sacred books.2. Many gods and goddesses.3. Believers pray before statues of

gods and goddesses.4. People of different castes are not

equal.

Islam and Hinduism

• New language called Urdu which is a mix of Persian, Arabic, and Hindi.

• Sikhism – a blend of Muslim and Hindu beliefs.

Mughal India

• 1526, Babur set up the Mughal dynasty in India. (1526 – 1857)

• Akbar the Great 1556 – 1605• Shah Jahan – Taj Mahal• Decline occurred in late 1600s.

When ecomomic hardships sparked revolts against Mughal rule.

Ottoman Empire

• Vast Empire that stretched from the middle east to its core in Anatolia, northwest into Eastern Europe, and South into Northern Africa.

• The Ottoman Empire began in 1299 and lasts till 1923 C.E.

• The first Ottoman ruler was Osman I.

Ottoman Empire

• Ottoman Turks are Sunnis. • Suleiman the Magnificent 1520 to

1566 the “Lawgiver”1. Strengthened the government.2. Improved the justice system.3. Mosques.

Ottoman Empire

• Janissaries: a military elite force.• Ottomans recruited officers for the

army and government from the conquered peoples.

• Non-Muslim girls were sought to serve as slaves in the households of the wealthy.

• Arts and literature flourished.

The Sufavids

• By the early 1500s, the Sufavids had united an empire in Iran.

• Shah Abbas the Great 1588 – 1629.1. Centralized government.2. Created powerful military based on

Ottoman model of janissary.3. Sought alliances with European

states.

Conclusion

• Islam culminated the transition from identity based on ethnicity to identity based on religion.

Conclusion

• Islam is one of the youngest belief systems but one of the most influential.

Conclusion

• Three large states dominated the Muslim world in the 1500s. The Ottoman’s, Mughals, and Safavids all reached their peaks of power when Europeans were undergoing dynamic growth.