Chapter 21 The Rise of Islam

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SECTION 1 Islam

SECTION 2 The Arab Empire

SECTION 3 Arab Contributions

CHAPTER FOCUS

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• Madina (Yathrib)

• Damascus

• Baghdad

Places to Locate

• mosque

• imam

• hajj • alchemists

Terms to Learn• pillars of faith • Muhammad

• al-Idrisi • al-Rāzi • Omar Khayyám

• Ibn Khaldun

People to Know

• Makkah

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Islam• “Islam” is an Arabic word that means “the

act of submitting, or giving oneself over, to the will of God.”

• An Arab merchant named Muhammad, who came to be known as the prophet of Allah, founded the Islamic faith.

• Islam shook the foundations of Byzantium and Persia, the two most powerful civilizations of the time.

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• By the middle of the 500s, the three major towns of Yathrib, Ta’ if, and Makkah had developed in the Hejaz.

• Arab pilgrims, or travelers to a religious shrine, came there to worship in Arabia’s holiest shrine, the Ka’bah.

Makkah (Mecca)

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• In 570, Muhammad was born to a widow of a respectable clan in Makkah.

• The drinking, gambling, and corruption in Makkah troubled Muhammad, so he spent much time alone in a cave outside the city, thinking and fasting.

• Muhammad concluded that there was only one God, Allah, the same god as the God of the Jews and the Christians.

• The rich leaders of Makkah began to feel threatened and, as a result, started persecuting Muhammad and his followers.

Muhammad

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• Muhammad and several hundred of his followers fled from Makkah to Yathrib (later Madina) in 622.

• In Madina, Muhammad gave the people a government that united them and made them proud of their new faith.

• But, the people of Makkah invaded Madina several times.

Muhammad (cont.)

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• In 628, Muhammad signed a peace treaty with the people of Makkah, which they violated in 630, leading Muhammad and his companions to triumphantly enter their home city, Makkah, for a peaceful conquest.

• In 632 Muhammad died.

Muhammad (cont.)

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• The Quran is written in Arabic and describes the pillars of faith, or the five duties all Muslims must fulfill.

• The first duty is the confession of faith. • The second duty deals with prayer; some of

which are recited at a mosque and led by a prayer leader called an imam.

• The third duty has to do with the giving of zakah, or charity.

• The fourth duty deals with fasting. • The fifth duty involves a pilgrimage to

Makkah, called the hajj.

The Quran

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The Arab Empire• When Muhammad died in 632, a group of

Muslims chose a new leader whom they called khalifa, or caliph, which means “successor.”

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• The first caliph was Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law and close friend.

• As the next caliphs ruled from Madina and kept in close touch with the people, they were called the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

• The Rightly Guided Caliphs honored Muhammad’s wish to carry Islam to other peoples and sent warriors into Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, and North Africa.

The Rightly Guided Caliphs

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• Throughout all these places, the Arabs were victorious because Islam united them in striving for a common goal, which they considered holy.

• The Arab way of treating the people they conquered also contributed to their success.

The Rightly Guided Caliphs (cont.)

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• Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law and the last of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, was killed in 661.

• The new caliph moved the capital from Madina to Damascus and founded the Umayyad Dynasty.

• The Umayyads ruled more like kings than religious leaders.

• However, the Umayyads had social and economic troubles that, in the end, led to their downfall.

The Umayyads

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• The Muslims themselves divided into two groups, the Shi’ah and the Sunni.

• After a while, war broke out between the Umayyads and a group of Muslims called Abbasids.

• In 750, the Abbasids defeated the Umayyads and became the new rulers of the Arab Empire.

The Umayyads (cont.)

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• The Abbasids ruled the Arab Empire from 750 to 1258; their first 100 years was known as the Golden Age of Islam.

• Under the Abbasids, all that remained of Arab influence was the Arabic language and the Islamic religion.

• The Abbasids created the government post of vizier, or chief adviser between the throne and the people.

• The Abbasids made Baghdad one of the major trading centers of the world.

The Abbasids

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• Life in the empire changed as advanced farming methods were employed.

• The empire soon became too large for one caliph, and it began to break up into independent kingdoms.

• In 836, the caliph moved to a new capital city called Samarra.

• In 945, the Persians took control of Baghdad.

The Abbasids (cont.)

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• In 710, they invaded Spain, defeated the West Goths, who had taken the country from the Romans, and set up a kingdom that allowed religious freedom.

• For the next 400 years, a rich culture flourished in Spain.

• During this time, Jews traveled to and traded in every part of the Arab Empire and beyond.

• The Muslim Arabs who conquered North Africa intermarried with the Berbers and became known as Moors.

The Golden Age of Muslim Spain

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• Islam was born in a society where men could have unlimited numbers of wives and the killing of female children was common.

• Islam attempted to correct this situation. • Both men and women were obligated to

seek knowledge. • Reciting and memorizing the Quran was

an important requirement in education. • The mosques served as neighborhood

schools.

Islamic Life

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Arab Contributions• Between the 770s and the 1300s, Arab

scholars helped preserve much of the learning of the ancient world and made many other contributions to the modern world.

• Many Arab scientists, known as alchemists, tried to turn base metals, such as tin, iron, and lead, into gold and silver.

• Arab astronomers studied the heavens, named stars, described solar eclipses, and proved the moon’s effects on tides and the oceans.

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Arab Contributions (cont.)

• The astronomer-geographer al-ldrisi drew the first accurate map of the world.

• Arab mathematicians invented algebra and borrowed the numerals 0-9 from Gupta mathematicians.

• The Arabs gave much to the field of medicine, setting up the world’s first school of pharmacy, opening the world’s first drugstores, and organizing medical clinics.

• The Persian doctor al-Razi discovered differences between measles and smallpox.

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• The Arabs also made many contributions to the arts.

• The Persian poet Omar Khayyám’s Rubáiyát is considered one of the finest poems ever written.

• Islamic art is distinct and full of color. • Much of what is known about this time

comes from Arabs, such as Ibn Khaldun, who wrote down the history of Islam.

Arab Contributions (cont.)