THE ARAB EMPIRE AND ITS SUCCESSOR

EQ: After the death of Muhammad, how did his successors organize the Arabs and set in motion a great expansion? OBJ: I will be able to describe key economic, political, and social developments in Islamic history.

THE CREATION OF AN EMPIRE Following Muhammad’s death, there was an issue with determining his successor Traditionally in their culture, a man would inherit this position, but Muhammad had no sons, only daughters and as women they weren’t seen as capable of leading the group Muhammad’s followers chose Abu Bakr to be their leader –Abu Bakr was Muhammad’s father-in-law and was given the title Caliph, or successor to Muhammad

ARAB CONQUEST AND RULE Islam expanded under the leadership of Abu Bakr, and he was able to bring together large numbers of Arabs under his guidance by converting them to Islam Muslim Arabs typically used force to convert others –The Quran states that violence is permissible if it’s a “struggle in the way of God” or jihad After Abu Bakr’s death, the issue of succession once again arose –Disagreements among the community members led to assassinations of 2 caliphs

THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY In 661 CE, Mu’awiyah was a rival to the position of caliph to Ali –He created an official office for the caliph known as a caliphate One of the first things Mu’awiyah did was move the capital of the empire to Damascus in Syria from Medina in the Arabian Peninsula Mu’awiyah did not rule as violently as other caliphs –He is known for saying, “I never use my sword when my whip will do nor my whip when my tongue will do.”

THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY The Islamic Empire continued to expand east and west under the Umayyad Dynasty –Thousands of people were converted to Islam along the way During expansion, new territories were acquired along the way –Northern Africa –Western Europe –725 CE Spain was conquered, converted to Islam, and a capital in Cordoba was established Expansion was met with resistance as they came in contact with the Byzantine Empire (old eastern half of the Roman Empire)

DIVISION OF ISLAM Ethnic diversity in Islam caused conflict as non-Arabs felt the Umayyad favored Arabs over other ethnic groups Ethnic group division led to a revolt led by Ali’s second son, Hussein –Hussein's forces were defeated, but this revolt led to Islam breaking into two groups, Shia and Sunni 1.Shia: Shia Muslims only accept Ali’s descendants to be the true rulers of Islam, or Caliph 2.Sunni: Sunni Muslims believe that Umayyads were the true rulers of the Islamic movement even though many of them disagreed with the way they ran the empire

THE ABBASID DYNASTY In 750, non-Arabs were disillusioned with the Umayyad’s reign –A descendant of Muhammad’s uncle, Abu al-Abbas led a movement against the Umayyads Al-Abbas’ revolution was successful and his dynasty's reign would last for almost 500 years Under Abbasid rule the capital was moved to Baghdad in modern- day Iraq which was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers which allowed for easier trading and increased wealth

SELJUK TURKS & THE CRUSADES After the decline of the Abbasid dynasty, there was conflict over who should rule Islam –War broke out in Baghdad by 2 of al-Abbas’ descendants. –There was a lack of strong leadership in the Islamic empire A group of non-Arabs known as Turks gained influence within the Islamic empire The Turks eventually took Baghdad, although they still felt the Abbasid caliph should be the leader of Islam –The Turks held all the political and military authority over Baghdad –They gave their leader the title of Sultan, which means “holder of power.”

THE CRUSADES The Byzantine empire was the main rival to the Islamic empire –After the Turks repeatedly defeated the Byzantines, they turned to Christian Europe for help Islamic forces invaded Jerusalem which was Christian territory at the time and defeated the Christian armies there –Constant conflict led to mistrust between Christians and Muslims for many years after

THE MONGOLS The Mongols were a group of nomadic people from Asia who conquered the entire Asian continent –They expanded westward into Islamic territory The Mongols were not religious and were not Muslims –They conquered Baghdad and ended the Abbasid caliphate in 1258 The Mongols leveled Baghdad by burning it to the ground and ruled over the territory –After some time, many Mongols intermarried with Muslims and converted –They rebuilt the cities they destroyed