Rise of Islam

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Rise of Islam

• 11.1

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The Prophet Muhammad

• Islam emerged in the Arabian Peninsula, part of
  southwestern Asia. (See the map in Section 2 of
  this chapter.)
• Its deserts and trade centers helped shape the
  early life of Muhammad.

3
Geographic Setting

• The Arabian Peninsula is mostly desert, but
  farming is possible through irrigation or in
  scattered oases.
• An oasis is a fertile area in a desert, watered
  by a natural well or spring.
• Many Arab clans occupied Arabia at the time of
  Muhammad.
• Nomadic herders, called Bedouins (behd oo ihnz),
  used camels to cross the scorching desert in
  search of seasonal pasturelands.

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Geographic Setting

• Raids for scarce grazing land led to frequent
  warfare.
• The Bedouins would form the backbone of the
  armies that conquered a huge empire in the 600s
  and 700s.
• Bedouins traded with other Arabs who had settled
  in oasis towns.
• One of these was Mecca.

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Geographic Setting

• Mecca was a bustling market town at the
  crossroads of two main caravan routes.
• One route linked southern Arabia to Syria and
  Palestine on the Mediterranean coast.
• The other route crossed from Mesopotamia to
  eastern Africa.
• Mecca was also a thriving pilgrimage center.
• Arabs came to pray at the Kaaba, an ancient
  shrine that Muslims today believe was built by
  the prophet Abraham.
• In Muhammads time, though, the Kaaba housed
  statues of many local gods and goddesses.
• The pilgrim traffic brought good profits to the
  local merchants

Inside the Kaaba
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Muhammads Vision

• Muhammad was born in Mecca about 570.
• In his youth, he worked as a shepherd among the
  Bedouins.
• Later, he led caravans across the desert and
  became a successful merchant.
• When he was about 25, Muhammad married Khadija
  (kah DEE jah), a wealthy widow who ran a
  prosperous caravan business.

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Muhammads Vision

• By all accounts, he was a devoted husband and a
  loving father to his daughters.
• Muhammad was troubled by the idol worship and
  moral ills of society.
• When he was about 40, he went to a desert cave to
  meditate.
• According to Muslim belief, he heard a voice
  saying, Recite! Muhammad replied, What shall I
  recite? The voice explained Recite in the name
  of your God, the Creator, who created man from
  clots of blood.

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Muhammads Vision

• Muhammad understood that it was the voice of the
  angel Gabriel calling him to be the messenger of
  God.
• But Muhammad was terrified and puzzled.
• How could he, an illiterate merchant, become the
  messenger of God?

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Muhammads Vision

• But Khadija encouraged him to accept the call.
  She became the first convert to the faith called
  Islam, from the Arabic word for submission.
• Muhammad devoted the rest of his life to
  spreading Islam.
• He urged Arabs to give up their false gods and
  submit to the one true God.
• In Arabic, the word for god is Allah.

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The Hijra A Turning Point

• At first, few people listened to the teachings of
  Muhammad.
• His rejection of the traditional Arab gods
  angered Meccan merchants who feared neglecting
  their idols and disrupting the pilgrim trade.
• In 622, faced with the threat of murder,
  Muhammad and his followers left Mecca for
  Yathrib, a journey known as the hijra.
• Later, Yathrib was renamed Medina, or city of
  the Prophet, and 622 became the first year of
  the Muslim calendar.
• .

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The Hijra A Turning Point

• The hijra was a turning point for Islam.
• In Medina, Muhammad was welcomed by Muslim
  converts, not only as Gods
• prophet, but also as ruler and lawgiver.
• As his reputation grew, thousands of Arabs
  adopted Islam.

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The Hijra A Turning Point

• From Medina, Muslims launched attacks on Meccan
  caravans and defeated the Meccans in battle.
• Finally, in 630, Muhammad Muhammad returned in
  triumph to Mecca, where he destroyed the idols in
  the Kaaba.
• In the next two years, Muhammad worked to unite
  the Arabs under Islam.
• Muhammad died in 632, but the faith that he
  proclaimed continued to spread.
• Today, Islam is one of the worlds major
  religions

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Teachings of Islam

• Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam is
  monotheistic, based on belief in one God.
• The Quran (ku RAHN), the sacred text of Islam,
  teaches that God is all-powerful and
  compassionate.
• It also states that people are responsible for
  their own actions Whoever strays bears the full
  responsibility for straying.
• According to the Quran, each individual will
  stand before God on the final judgment day to
  face either eternal punishment in hell or eternal
  bliss in paradise.
• Muslims recognize no official priests who mediate
  between the people and God

Quran written in 1203
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Five Pillars

• All Muslims accept five basic duties, known as
  the Five Pillars of Islam.
• The first is a declaration of faith. There is no
  god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God.
• Muslims believe that God had sent other prophets,
  including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, but that
  Muhammad was the last and greatest prophet.
• The second pillar is daily prayer.

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Five Pillars

• After aritual washing, Muslims face the holy city
  of Mecca to pray.
• Although Muslims may pray anywhere, they often
  gather in houses of worship called masjids or
  mosques.
• The third pillar is giving charity to the poor.
• The fourth is fasting from sunrise to sunset
  during the holy month of Ramadan.

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Five Pillars

• The fifth pillar is the hajj, or pilgrimage to
  Mecca.
• All Muslims who are able are expected to visit
  the Kaaba at least once in their lives.
• Some Muslims look on jihad, or struggle in Gods
  service, as another duty.
• Over the years, Muslims have interpreted jihad
  in various ways.
• Some have focused on a spiritual effort to
  overcome immorality within themselves.
• Others have engaged in warfare to spread or
  defend Islam.

17
The Quran

• To Muslims, the Quran contains the sacred word of
  God as revealed to Muhammad.
• It is the final authority on all matters.
• The Quran not only teaches about God but also
  provides a complete guide to life.
• Its ethical standards emphasize honesty,
  generosity, and social justice.

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The Quran

• It sets harsh penalties for crimes such as
  stealing or murder.
• Muslims believe that, in its original Arabic
  form, the Quran is the direct, unchangeable word
  of God.
• Because the meaning and beauty of the Quran
  reside in its original language, converts to
  Islam learn Arabic.
• This shared language has helped unite Muslims
  from many regions.

19
People of the Book

• Muslims profess faith in the same God as that
  worshiped by Jews and Christians.
• The Quran teaches that Islam is Gods final and
  complete revelation, and that the Torah and Bible
  contain partial revelation from God.

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People of the Book

• To Muslims, Jews and Christians are People of
  the Book, spiritually superior to polytheistic
  idol worshipers.
• Although some later Muslims overlooked Muhammads
  principle of tolerance, in general, the People of
  the Book enjoyed religious freedom in early
  Muslim societies.

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A Way of Life

• Islam is both a religion and a way of life. Its
  teachings help shape the lives of Muslims around
  the world.
• Islamic law governs many aspects of daily life,
  and Islamic traditions determine ethical behavior
  and influence family relations.

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Sharia

• Over time, Muslim scholars developed an immense
  body of law interpreting the Quran and applying
  its teachings to daily life.
• This Islamic system of law, called the Sharia,
  regulates moral conduct, family life, business
  practices, government, and other aspects of a
  Muslim community.
• .

Punishment for breaking the Sharia
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Sharia

• Like the Quran, the Sharia helped unite the many
  peoples who converted to Islam.
• Unlike the law codes that evolved in the west,
  the Sharia does not separate religious matters
  from criminal or civil law.
• The Sharia applies the Quran to all legal
  situations

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Impact of Islam on Women

• Before Islam, the position of women in Arab
  society varied.
• In some communities, women took a hand in
  religion, trade, or warfare.
• Most women, however, were under the control of a
  male guardian and could not inherit property.
• Furthermore, among a few tribes, unwanted
  daughters were sometimes killed at birth.
• Islam affirmed the spiritual equality of women
  and men. Whoever does right, whether male or
  female, states the Quran, and is a believer,
  all such will enter the Garden.

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Impact of Islam on Women

• Women therefore won greater protection under
  the law.
• The Quran prohibited the killing of daughters.
• Inheritance laws guaranteed a woman a share of
  her parents or husbands property.
• Muslim women had to consent freely to marriage
  and had the right to an education.

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Impact of Islam on Women

• In the early days of Islam, some Arab women
  participated actively in public life.
• Though spiritually equal, men and women had
  different roles and rights.
• For example, the amount of an inheritance given
  to a daughter was less than that given to a son.
• A woman could seek a divorce, but it was harder
  for her to get one than for a man.

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Impact of Islam on Women

• As Islam spread, Arabs sometimes absorbed
  attitudes from the peoples they conquered.
• In Persian and Byzantine lands, Arabs adopted the
  practice of veiling upper-class women and
  secluding them in a separate part of the home.
• There, they managed the affairs of the household
  but seldom ventured out.

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Impact of Islam on Women

• Still, as in other cultures, womens lives varied
  according to region and class.
• Veiling and seclusion were not so strictly
  followed among lower-class city women.
• In rural areas, peasant women continued to
  contribute to the economy in many ways.

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