ISLAMIC
CIVILIZATION text in green is for notes
Voorhees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J6IMf4B9c8
ERA III UNIT 9
WHI.9 ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION
‘M’ WORDS:
M is for… Muhammad,
Muslim,
Monotheistic,
Mecca,
Medina,
Mosaics,
Minaret,
and Mosque
THE STUDENT WILL APPLY SOCIAL SCIENCE SKILLS
TO UNDERSTAND THE ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION FROM
ABOUT 600 TO 1000 A.D. (C.E.) BY
a) describing the origin, location, beliefs,
traditions, customs, and spread of Islam, with
emphasis on the Sunni-Shi’a division and the
Battle of Tours;
b) assessing the influence of geography on
Islamic economic, social, and political
development, including the impact of conquest
and trade;
c) explaining the cultural and scientific
contributions and achievements of Islamic
civilization.
FROM BYZANTINE EMPIRE TO ISLAMIC
CIVILIZATION
Constantine transferred capital to Byzantium 324
Byzantine Empire lasted approx. 1000 years (306 AD to
1453 AD)
Muslims conquer Constantinople in 1453
So… who were these Muslims?
Where did they come from?
LARGEST DESERTS OF THE WORLD:
Sahara northern Africa 9,100,000
3,500,000
Gobi Mongolia/northeastern China 1,300,000
500,000
Patagonian Argentina 670,000 260,000
Rub' al Khali southern Arabian peninsula 650,000 250,000
Great Sandy northwestern Australia 390,500 150,000
Great Victoria southwestern Australia 390,500 150,000
Chihuahuan Mexico/southwestern United States
360,000 140,000
Takla Makan northern China 360,000 140,000
Sonoran Mexico/southwestern United States
310,000 120,000
Kalahari southwestern Africa 260,000 100,000
Kyzyl Kum Uzbekistan 260,000 100,000
Thar India/Pakistan 260,000 100,000
Simpson Australia 100,000 40,000
Mohave southwestern United States 52,000 20,000
Desert Location sq km sq mi
ARABIAN PENINSULA
The people living there were nomads called
Bedouins who lived in tribes or clans
They developed fierce fighting skills and took
pride in their ability to defend their families
Most of the area was desert so they moved
around and eventually settled in one of the few
farming communities or a market town
ARABIA- CROSSROADS OF TRADE
Arabia is located between Asia (to the east), Europe
(to the north), and Africa (to the west)
Goods moving from one area to the other passed
through Arabia and allowed the Muslim Arabs to
establish a wealthy empire
WHAT RELIGION WAS PRACTICED
BEFORE ISLAM?
Before Islam the Arabic peoples practiced a
polytheistic religion so most believed in many gods
Some people believed in one God called Allah
Some people practiced Christianity or Judaism
ISLAM: THE BASICS
Muhammad= prophet
who founded Islam
Allah= the one true
God of Islam
Islam= “submission to
the will of Allah”
Muslim= “one who
submits to Allah”
MUHAMMED c. 570-632 C.E.
Muhammad was born in Mecca into the Quraysh clan (one of the Arabic families that ruled Mecca)
Orphaned at a young age Muhammad grew up on the fringes of Arab society
MUHAMMED c. 610 C.E. –
Muhammad’s First Revelation
After becoming a successful merchant Muhammad began focusing on the study of religion
He frequently wandered the hills around Mecca meditating and according to Islamic tradition was visited by the angel Gabriel
MUHAMMAD c. 620 C.E. – “The Night Journey”
According to Islamic belief Muhammad was transported to Jerusalem by the angel Gabriel and then ascended to heaven to confirm his role as the prophet of Allah
MUHAMMAD 622 C.E. – Hijra (Hegira): Muhammad’s flight to
Yathrib
Muhammad’s public message of social justice and
criticism of the wealthy merchants of Mecca force
him to flee to Yathrib
In Yathrib Muhammad establishes the first mosque
and Islamic community (“umma”); Yathrib is
renamed Medina (“City of the Prophet”)
This event begins the Islamic calendar (Year One)
MAJOR CITIES OF ISLAM
MECCA AND MEDINA
Mecca is the city where Muhammad was born and where he founded Islam It is the center of
Islam Medina is the city
where Muhammad and his first followers fled to because they were forced out of Mecca
After Muhammad and his followers gained power they went back and took over Mecca
WHAT IS THE HOLY BOOK OF ISLAM?
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR BELIEFS?
The Qur’an (Koran) is the holy book of Islam
Islam is monotheistic
Muslims believe everyone must take personal responsibility for their actions and that there will be a final judgment and people will go either to heaven or hell based on their actions
Muslims must follow the Five Pillars
QUR’AN/ KORAN revealed to the prophet
Muhammad
The angel Gabriel is said to
have spoken Allah’s words
into the Prophet's ear
According to Muslim
tradition, after this ecstatic
experience Muhammad
was able to recite exactly
what he had been told
The Koran is written in
Arabic
WHAT ARE THE FIVE PILLARS?
1. Faith-Muslims must testify that there is only one God (Allah) and that Mohammed is the last prophet
2. Prayer-Muslims must pray five times per day facing Mecca
3. Alms-Muslims must support the poor through a special alms tax
4. Fasting-Muslims must fast during the holy month of Ramadan (they only eat one meal at sundown)
5. Pilgrimage-Muslims must travel to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they are able
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
1) Testament of Faith (Shahada)
“There is one God, There is no God but God
His name is Allah And His ultimate Prophet is Mohammed”
2) Daily prayer (Salah)
must face Mecca
call to prayer
5 times a day
4) ALMSGIVING (ZAKAT)
Required of those who have
wealth beyond a certain amount
to meet their basic needs
The amount of money paid in
Zakat depends on the amount and
type of wealth one possesses, but
is usually considered to be a
minimum of 2.5% of a person's
"extra" wealth.
The specific calculations of Zakat
are rather detailed and
dependent on individual
circumstances, so zakat
calculators have been developed
to assist with the process.
HOW DOES RELIGION AFFECT THE
DAILY LIVES OF MUSLIMS?
The Five Pillars
and the Muslim
law (called the
shiri’a) dictate
what people do:
when to pray
how to pray
how to dress
what to eat
HOW IS ISLAM RELATED TO JUDAISM
AND CHRISTIANITY?
All three are monotheistic
They are all religions “of the book” because they all have holy books
They believe in the prophet Abraham
They also all believe in a final judgment and heaven and hell
Jerusalem is a holy city to all three
Dome of the Rock (famous mosque) built in Jerusalem at the site of Muhammad’s ascension
THE EARLY MUSLIM WORLD
A caliph is the Muslim leader. It means ‘successor’ or ‘deputy’
The “Rightly Guided Caliphs” were the first four ELECTED caliphs who had known and supported Muhammad
Caliph= Muslim leader
Adana, an ancient city
in south central
Turkey, contains the
ruins of a fortress
built by Abbasid
Caliph Harun ar-
Rashid in 782.
THE EARLY MUSLIM WORLD The Muslim world eventually included Arabia
(including the conquest of Jerusalem), Syria, lower Egypt (which was part of the Byzantine Empire), parts of the Persian Empire
It covered around 6000 miles from the Atlantic (next to Spain) to the Indus river
WHY WAS THE SPREADING OF ISLAM
SO SUCCESSFUL?
Islam spread so
successfully
because of the
military which was
very well-trained
and also very
faithful
When they
conquered people
they were examples
of the Islamic
religion
TREATMENT OF CONQUERED
PEOPLES
Muslims allowed conquered peoples to keep their own religion but if they converted to Islam they didn’t have to pay poll taxes
Christians and Jews were able to pay to be exempt from military service
Muslims did place various restrictions on the personal freedoms of their conquered peoples
Expansion under The Prophet Muhammad 612-632
Expansion during the Rashidun caliphs 632-655
Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate 661-750
MOHAMMED DIES- 632 Who should be successor?
Abu Bakr- (advisor and father-in-law)
(Sunni)
first caliph- hereditary and chosen!
Caliph Ali- (family) (Shia)
Fourth caliph
Husayn ibn Ali (Ali’s son)
Shia’s choice (grandson of Mohammed)
Massacred with others (martyr)
ISLAM; THE SPLIT; 2 BRANCHES
Shi’ite
Shi’a (Shiites)
believed that
caliphs should be
related to
Muhammad
(hereditary)
considers Ali, the
cousin of Muhammad,
and his descendants
as Muhammad's true
successors
Sunni
Sunnis the largest
branch of Islam
believes in the
Sunna- “the way”
(Muslim tradition)
accepts the first four
caliphs as rightful
successors to
Muhammad (elected)
SUFISM
Sufi: Muslim mystics (small sect)
Islamic mysticism that began to develop in the 7th
century
By the 9th century AD the Sufis claimed to have
methods of finding mystic knowledge of God, or Allah
The Sufi mystic, described as a pilgrim on a journey,
follows a path of seven stages: repentance,
abstinence, renunciation, poverty, patience, trust in
God, and acquiescence to the will of God
Then, with the grace of God, a higher level of
consciousness is attained, in which knowledge, the
knower, and the known are realized as one
WHIRLING DERVISHES
In the Middle Ages the great Sufi orders, which had several million adherents, were established
about 100 orders still exist, many of them in Turkey and Iran
One of the most influential founders of orders was the Persian poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi
SHI’ITE OR SHIA ISLAM
Karbalā’
center of pilgrimage
for Shia Muslims
In the center of the
city is the shrine of
Husayn ibn Ali
THE MARTYRDOM OF
HUSSEIN IBN ALI Shiite martyr
(What’s a martyr?)
Slain with his family and followers in the battle of Karbala in the year 680
The story of Hussein’s martyrdom is told in parts during the first days of Muharram
Shias gather- dressed in black
MUHARRAM
Ten days- hundreds of thousands of Muslims converge on
Karbala and Najaf in Iraq (shrines of Hussein and his
father)
Others take to the streets- beating their chests and chanting
the tragedy
“Oh.. Hussein. May God curse the people who killed the son of their Messenger’s daughter in such a mean way”.
SUNNI ISLAM
comprising up to 90% of the total Muslim
population of the world
"people of the tradition [of Muhammad] and the
community”
The word "Sunni" comes from the term Sunnah,
which refers to the words and actions or example
of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Sunni Islam may be referred to as Orthodox
Islam
CONFLICT
• Today the
two
branches
are still an
issue to be
reckoned
with…
• Example:
• Iraq is
Sunni
• Iran is
Shi’ite
DYNASTIES:
Umayadds
Abbasids
Fatimids
Despite the fact that there were different
empires, they were still unified through
their religion (Islam), their language
(Arabic), trade, and the economy
Different empires
Unified through Islam
UMAYYADS ESTABLISH DYNASTY
The last “Rightly Guided caliph” was murdered
Civil war broke out among the Muslims
The Umayyads took over
They established hereditary rule (dynasty) instead of having
elected rulers like the previous caliphs
UMAYYADS FALL TO ABBASIDS
The Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads in 750
and took control of the Muslim Empire.
SPAIN UNDER THE MUSLIMS
The Berbers took control of Spain and spread Islam into Europe for the first time
The Muslim conquest of Europe was stopped at the Battle of Tours in France
DAMASCUS
TO
BAGHDAD
The Abbasids moved the capital from Damascus to Baghdad
solidified their power and control of the Persian Empire which they conquered
in order to govern their growing empire they created a strong bureaucracy
in order to support the bureaucracy they collected taxes
ABBASID DYNASTY Giant Friday Mosque
landmark in Iraq
Located on the Tigris River in Sāmarrā’
Capital and religious center for the Abbassid rulers
In the late 9th century the Abbasid rulers moved to Baghdād, and Sāmarrā’ fell into decline
The Great Friday Mosque and the Spiral Minaret, built in the 9th century, continue to draw visitors and are an important religious center for Shia Muslims
MUSLIM EMPIRES SPREAD
The Fatimid Dynasty established power in Egypt, western Arabia, and Syria
Despite the fact that there were different empires, they were still unified through their religion (Islam), their language (Arabic), trade, and the economy
MUSLIM CITIES
Four important Muslim cities: Baghdad
Damascus
Cairo
Cordoba
The city of Baghdad was a magnificent city built within the protection of three circular walls.
In the center of the city was the caliph’s palace which was made of stone and marble and the great mosque which was used for worship
CORDOBA, SPAIN
The Moorish history of the city of Córdoba in
Spain dates from the 8th century, when the city
became a Muslim caliphate
ISLAM SOCIAL CLASSES
Upper Class Born Muslim
Second Class Converts to Muslim
Lower Class Non-Muslim Protected Peoples
(Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians)
Slaves
MUSLIM WOMEN were allowed to participate in public life and gain
an education
had more rights than the women in Europe at the same time
were expected to be obedient to men but they still had certain rights concerning marriage, family, and property
were responsible for raising the family
MUSLIM SCHOLARSHIP
Muslims supported science and learning for
practical purposes Physicians
Directions (Mecca/prayer)
The encouraged scholarship by encouraging
scholars to collect and translate philosophical
and scientific texts into Arabic
“House of Wisdom or
House of Knowledge”
MEDICAL ADVANCEMENTS
Muhammad ibn Zakariya
al-Razi
Muhammad ibn Zakariva ar-
Razi (Rhazes) isolated many
chemical substances,
produced many medications,
and described many
apparatus.
MEDICAL ADVANCEMENT
Al-Razi wrote the Comprehensive Book and Treatise on Smallpox and Measles
"Rhazes was the greatest physician
of Islam and the Medieval Ages.“
– George Sarton
MUSLIM MATH AND SCIENCE
ACHIEVEMENTS
Muslims used scientific observation and experimentation in order to find solutions to problems
Math such as Algebra
(al-jabr)
Optics (they were able to create telescopes and microscopes)
They charted stars, comets, and planets
SCIENCE; ISLAM
Arabic numerals and concept of zero (adapted from
India)
Al Jabr, known today as Algebra (Al Jabr)
Medicine
Blended Eastern (Asian) and Western
(European) knowledge
Established hospitals and medical schools
Expansion of geographic knowledge
Improved ships
Perfected the astrolabe
Made wide use of the compass (from China)
Made the Age of Exploration and Discovery
possible
PE
RS
IAN
AS
TR
OL
AB
E
The astrolabe is an ancient instrument that measures the positions of heavenly bodies
It was probably first used by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus in the 1st century BCE
It was also popularly used by navigators until the sextant was invented in the 18th century
UNIVERSITIES; ISLAM
Located in Cordoba, Spain and Baghdad
(House of Knowledge); much later in Timbuktu
and Mali (linked by trade networks)
Preserved Greek and Roman learning while
blending and improving on Persian and Indian
discoveries
MUSLIM LITERATURE AND POETRY
Ideals:
Bravery
Love
Generosity
Hospitality
A very famous and popular piece of Muslim literature is The Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights)
THOUSAND AND ONE
NIGHTS (ARABIAN NIGHTS)
Magic carpets
appear in Persian
mythology, most
famously in the
Arabian Nights
ARABIAN NIGHTS
collection of Middle Eastern folktales and legends
passed down for hundreds of years
several of the tales, including those of Ali Baba,
Aladdin, and Sindbad the Sailor, have become
classics of children’s literature
ISLAMIC ART Islam forbids the
depiction of life in art
because the creation
of life would amount
to idolatry and only
Allah can create
The Muslims instead
created:
calligraphy
woodwork
ceramics
textiles
HOLY SITES OF ISLAM: MECCA AND MEDINA
Mecca
Makkah
Western Saudi Arabia
Birthplace of Muhammad
Pilgrimage to the Kaaba
(the Hajj)
the Kaaba, the Muslims believe, was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael
2 million pilgrims/year
Medina
Madinah al-
munawwara
Muhammad
emigrated from Mecca
to Medina in 622
the Hegira
Medina was the seat
of the first four
caliphs
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT ONE
OF THE PILLARS OF ISLAM?
A Giving charity
B Fasting during Ramadan
C Being baptized
D Making a pilgrimage
WHAT CITY IS IMPORTANT NOT ONLY TO
MUSLIMS, BUT TO JEWS AND CHRISTIANS AS
WELL?
A Mecca
B Jerusalem
C Constantinople
D Cairo
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS TRUE
ABOUT THE KORAN?
A It was written by Mohammed.
B It has been changed over time.
C It was recorded by Mohammed’s followers.
D It includes the Old and New Testament.
AN IMPORTANT CULTURAL
CONTRIBUTION OF THE MUSLIMS IS THE
A development of gunpowder.
B preservation of ancient Greek and Roman
texts.
C establishment of trade with Australia.
D building of churches throughout the empire.
AS TRADE EXPANDED IN THE ISLAMIC
EMPIRE, MANY PEOPLE ADOPTED THE
ARABIC LANGUAGE. THIS EVENT WOULD BE
BEST CHARACTERIZED BY WHAT TERM?
A Acculturation
B Ethnocentrism
C Diffusion
D Xenophobia
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING REPRESENTS
THE CORRECT ORDER OF THE ISLAMIC
DYNASTIES FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE
THIRTEENTH CENTURIES?
A Umayyad, Abbasid, Seljuk
B Abbasid, Seljuk, Umayyad
C Abbasid, Shi’ite, Sunni
D Umayyad, Shi’ite, Abbasid
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ARE SCIENTIFIC
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MUSLIMS EXCEPT
A invention of the compass.
B Al Jabr or Algebra.
C adaptation of Arabic numerals.
D medicine.
WHAT FAMOUS BATTLE HALTED THE SPREAD
OF ISLAM INTO WESTERN EUROPE?
A Hastings
B Tours
C Salamis
D Agincourt
AT ITS HEIGHT, THE ISLAMIC EMPIRE
EXPANDED FROM
A East Asia to Europe.
B the Indus River Valley to the Atlantic Ocean.
C the Nile River Valley to the Pacific Ocean.
D West Africa to Scandinavia.
WHERE DID TRADERS AND MERCHANTS
SPREAD ISLAM?
A Northern Europe
B Southeast Asia
C Australia
D America