Section 2: The Arab Empire and Its Successors Shortly after Muhammad’s death, some of his closest followers chose Abu Bakr (Muhammad’s father-in-law) to.

Section 2: The Arab Empire and Its Successors

• Shortly after Muhammad’s death, some of his closest followers chose Abu Bakr (Muhammad’s father-in-law) to be their leader.

• In 632 Abu Bakr was named caliph (successor) to Muhammad.

Section 2 (continued)

• Under his leadership, the Islamic world began to grow

• He overcame military efforts by the early Makkans to defeat his movement

• The Quran permitted jihad, or “struggle in the way of God”.– Holy War- It means the legal, compulsory, communal effort to expand the

territories ruled by Muslims at the expense of territories ruled by non-Muslims

• The Muslims expanded their territory into partsof the Byzantine Empire north Africa, and the Persian Empire.

Section 2 (continued)

• When Abu Bakr died, he had no clear successor.• In 656, Ali (Muhammad’s son-in-law) was

chosen to be caliph, but he was assassinated.• Conquered Christians and Jews (called “People

of the Book” by Muslims) were able to practice their religion but were required to pay a special tax.

The Umayyads

• In 661, Mu’awiyah became caliph.• He established the Umayyad dynasty by

making the office of caliph, called the caliphate, hereditary.

• He moved the capital from Madinah to Damascus in Syria.

Section 2 (continued)

• The Arabs conquered the Berbers in North Africa and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to occupy Spain.

• In 732, Arab forces were defeated at the Battle of Tours in Gaul (France) thus halting Arab expansion into Europe.

Section 2 (continued)

• In 680, a revolt in present-day Iraq led by Hussein (2nd son of Ali)-son in-law of Muhammad) failed.

• This struggle led to a split in Islam:• The Shia Muslims accepted only the

descendants of Ali as the true rulers of Islam.• The Sunni Muslims accepted the Umayyads as

rulers.

The Abbasid Dynasty

• Abu al-Abbas (a descendant of Muhammad’s uncle) overthrew the Umayyad dynasty in 750, and set up the Abbasid dynasty w/ the capital at Baghdad (Iraq).

• Eventually, rulers in the provinces began to establish their own dynasties.

Seljuk Turks and the Crusades

• In 1055, the Seljuk Turks from central Asia captured Baghdad and took command of the empire.

• Their leader was known as the sultan (“holder of power”).

Section 2 (continued)

• In 1071, the Byzantines lost control of the Anatolian Peninsula to the Turks.

• The Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked the Christian countries of Europe for help.

Section 2 (continued)

• A series of Crusades by European Christians against the Muslims began in 1096.

The First Crusade : 1096 to 1099

The Second Crusade : 1147 to 1149

The Third Crusade : 1189 to 1192

The Fourth Crusade : 1201 to 1204

The Fifth Crusade : 1218 to 1221

The Sixth Crusade : 1228 to 1229

The Seventh Crusade : 1248 to 1254

The Eighth Crusade : 1270

Section 2

• At first, the Christians won many battles.• In 1187 ,however, Saladin (a new Muslim

ruler) invaded the kingdom of Jerusalem and defeated the Christian forces there

The Mongols

• The Mongols swept out of the Gobi desert region in the early 13th century to control much of the known world.

• Beginning with leader Genghis Khan, the Mongols conquered most of Asia from China to the Red Sea.

Section 2 (continued)

• The Mongols destroyed Baghdad in 1258.• Schools, libraries, mosques (Muslim

houses of worship), and palaces were burned to the ground.

• Eventually some Mongol rulers converted to Islam, and the Mongol empire split into separate kingdoms.

Section 2 (continued)

• The new center of Islamic civilization became Cairo, in Egypt.