The Rise of

Islam; 600-1200
World History AP
Mr. Ermer
Miami Beach Senior High
 Islam
 One of three Abrahamic, monotheistic religions
 Judaism & Christianity worship the same God as Muslims
 Two Branches:
 Sunnis: (Sunna=tradition) majority of Muslims
 Shi’ites: (“Party of Ali”) believe caliph descends from Ali
 Founder: Muhammad (570-632)
 Five Pillars of Islam
 Belief: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his
prophet”
 Prayer: Must perform prescribed prayers five times a day
 Charity: “giving alms” giving part of one’s wealth to the poor
 Fasting: Refraining from eating or drinking from dawn to sunset
during the month of Ramadan
 Pilgrimage: Must visit Mecca once in life
The Five Pillars:
 Islamic Beginnings
 Arabia=isolated,populated by semi-nomadic clans of Semitic
speaking polytheistic people
 Trade routes shift south, Arabs control new routes
 Christian and Buddhist missionaries visit area
 570: Muhammad born in Mecca, center of trade
 Orphaned by 5, marries rich widow, Khadija
 Troubled by economic inequalities, meditates
 Visited by Angel Gabriel who reveals God’s words
 Muhammad=last prophet in long line (Hebrews & Jesus)
 Allah’s messages written in the Quran
 Muhammad’s faith called Islam “submission to the will of
Allah”; Muslims=“one who submits”
Muhammad
 Building the Faith
 622 C.E.: The Hijra
 Muhammad & umma leave Mecca for Yathrib
 Population of Yathrib converts to Islam, renamed Medina
 Old clan, family, and tribal distinctions replaced by umma

 Muhammad defeats Mecca’s army, reenters city

 Rededicated Kaaba as Islam’s holiest site
 632: Muhammad dies, Abu Bakr named kalifa
 Dar al-Islam vs. Dar al-harb
 Jihad:struggle in the way of God, personal & external
 Caliph: successor of Muhammad, new leaders
 First four caliphs expand empire with Bedouin fighters
 Take lands from Byzantine Empire, defeat Sasanids
 Islam establishes political foundation with generation
 The Kaaba

The Kaaba
The Caliphate
 The Umayyad Caliphate

 First four caliphs build empire, do not stabilize

 Last “rightly guided caliph”—Ali—assassinated
 Umayyad clan of Mecca succeeds him
 Capital: Damascus, Syria
 Hereditary dynasty, religious tolerance
 Non-Arabs not allowed to hold high government office
 Umayyad Decline
 Many non-Arabs resent preference of Arabs
 Umayyad rulers increasingly oppressive
 Non-Arabs and other Arab clans form coalition
 Abbasi clan, under leadership of Abu al Abbas, lead revolt
 Umayyad dynasts flee to Spain, est. Iberian caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate
 The Abbasid Caliphate

 Abbasid caliphs move capital to Baghdad

 Located in Arabic-speaking Iraq, but close to non-Arabs
 Caliph = religious & political leader
 Ulama: Islamic scholars, sharia law, unity of the umma
 Sharia covers all aspects of practical and spiritual life
 Ulama become law makers guided by Quran and Hadith
 Ulama retains real religious power
 Mix of Persian & Byzantine royal norms
 Decentralized power, powerful provincial governors
 Turkish and Berber soldiers comprise bulk of army
 Greek art and philosophy influential, preserved
 Breakthroughs in sciences, philosophy, and art
 Muslim Opposition

 Sunni-Shiite Split
 Sunni Muslims (Arabic for “traditional”)
 Majorityof Muslim World
 Accepted rule of Umayyad & Abbasid caliphs
 Shiah Muslims (from the Arabic Shi’at Ali “Party of Ali)
 Majority in Iraq & Iran with large groups in N. Africa
 Believe Ali was the rightful caliph
 Ali’s descendants called imams
 Both groups have own versions of Sharia & Hadith
 Decentralized rule prompts opposition, revolt
 Umayyad caliphs continue to rule in Spain
 Shiite leader Abu Abdallah takes control of Egypt
 Shiite Fatimid Caliphate, capital in Cairo
The Muslim World
Fatimid Egypt
 Women & Islam
 Arabs late to adopt patriarchy
 Men still married into women’s family, moved close
 Women work, own property, multiple husbands
 Increased relations with patriarchal Southwest Asians begins
to decrease status of women
 Muhammad’s relations with women changes
 First wife Khadija was older, independent, equal
 Muhammad marries more wives after Khadija’s death
 Insist
wives be veiled, favorite wife Aisha married at nine
 Women limited to one husband

 Quran reinforces patriarchy

 Women given certain rights and protections
 Dowries, evidence for moral crimes, infanticide
 Women cannot divorce, take multiple husbands
 Greater Islamic World
 Rival Islamic states try to outdo each other in artistic,
intellectual, and scientific achievement
 Umayyad Spain
 Capital City: Cordoba, Spain
 Great Mosque of Cordoba built in arabesque style
 Good relations between Muslims, Jews, and Christians
 Central Asia
 Arabic numerals, Algebra, Ibn Sina and medicine
 Greek philosophy translated into Arabic
 Sub-Saharan Africa
 Trade & Islam expanded to West Africa
 Swahili Coast
 Gold, salt, and slaves
Umayyad Spain
La Mezquita of Cordoba
Islam in Timbuktu