1. Do Now What was the Sunni-Shi’a split? Why did it happen?
(Hint: See pp. 169 in your textbook)

2. Essential Question
How can we explain the rise and spread of Islam during this period?

3. Lesson Objective
SWBAT analyze pre-Islamic Arabs and Umayyad Empires in a SPICE chart

4. The Pre-Islamic Arabian World Break it Down!
Social structures
Political systems
Interactions between humans and the environment
Culture & Religion
Economic Systems

5. Pre-Islamic Arabian World: Social Structures
Social organization was similar to those of other nomadic peoples
Lived in clans (close-knit and interrelated families; familias)
Some social stratification; shayks, leaders of tribes and clans, were very powerful
Women were not considered equal to men but did enjoy greater freedom and higher status than those who lived in nearby civilized centers (such as the Byzantine and Persian Empires)

6. Pre-Islamic Arabian World: Politics
Clan councils regulated watering places and grazing lands, which were essential to maintaining herds
Shayks were elected by councils of elder advisors

7. Pre-Islamic Arabian World: The Environment
Difficult environment: most of the Arabian peninsula is inhospitable desert
Oases, which contain water and shade, allowed for some towns agriculture to flourish
Towns also developed along the Red Sea. Their proximity to the Red Sea allowed them to have access to water routes to other civilizations

8. Pre-Islamic Arabian World: Culture
Culture was not highly developed
Little art or architecture of worth
The main artistic focus was poetry, which was transmitted orally since there was no written language
The religion was polytheistic and some would say primitive
Religion did not have to do with ethics

9. Pre-Islamic Arabian World: Economic Systems
The economy of most of Arabia was underdeveloped
Mostly nomads
No written language
Medina and esp. Mecca were exceptions; these cities were home to powerful merchants who traded with neighboring civilizations

10. The Umayyads: Social Structures
Most people within the Umayyad Empire were the dhimmi, or “people of the book”
Most subjects did not convert, they simply paid a jizya, or special tax. They were allowed religious freedom.
Women enjoyed greater rights under Islam because Muhammad stressed the moral and ethical aspects of marriage
Women enjoyed greater legal rights of divorce and inheritance

11. The Umayyads: Conquest (Theme 3)
By 633, united most of Arabia under Islam
Military strength, unity and weakness of nearby empires (Persian and Byzantine) resulted in stunning conquests of Mesopotamia, north Africa, and Persia
This empire was Arab, rather than Islamic: the Umayyads did not care to convert subjects to Islam

12. The Umayyads: The Environment
As the empire expanded into the Mediterranean, trade was easier to conduct
The empire became more productive due to a more fertile environment

13. The Umayyads: Culture & Religion
Debate about who should succeed Muhammad as caliph: Abu Bakr gets it over Ali
Split between Sunnis, who backed the Umayyads, and the Shi’a, supporters of Ali, remains to this day the most fundamental in the Islamic World

14. The Umayyads: Economic Systems
War & conquest led to greater trade and an increase in economic inequality
The Umayyad caliphs’ growing addiction to luxury and soft living led people to resent them