The Arabian Peninsula and the beginning of a new Monotheistic religion: Islam Monotheism: Belief in one God. Mecca

Arab people learned how to live with very few resources.

Many moved from place to place to make a living. Caravan: A group of travelers journeying together.

Mecca was built around an oasis on the trade route that linked the Mediterranean world with South Arabia, East Africa, and India. People stopped there to get food and water.

Mecca developed into an important religious center too. In the center of town there was a shrine where people put their idols. Shrine : a building where people put something sacred or special. KABA

An Idol: An image used as an object of worship. There were 360 idols stored in the Kaba in Mecca.

Muhammad was born into this polytheistic and unjust world. (The rich were treated special. Slaves and women were not treated well.) He received messages from an angel named Gabriel.

Muhammad was told that he was Allah’s messenger (Prophet) and that he was to spread the message that there was only 1 God and that his name was Allah. All the other idols in the Kaba were powerless.

Islam was the third monotheistic religion to enter the Mediterranean world. 2000BC ……………………….33AD………….610 AD Religion: Judaism Christianity Islam People: Abraham/Moses Jesus Muhammad Holy books: Torah Bible Quran

There are MANY differences between the 3 religions. But they are all Monotheistic. Islam sees Jesus as one of many prophets. Only Christianity believes that Jesus is the promised one, the Only son of God.

By the time of Muhammad’s death, Islam had spread throughout most of the Arabian Peninsula. Within another 90 years, it had spread into much of the old Roman Empire.

What do Muslims do differently than other Monotheistic religions? Muslims (The people that believe in Islam) do many things to help them to always think about Allah (obligatory acts). They call them the 5 Pillars of Islam. (These 5 pillars provide the structure for their faith.)

Pillars

Shahada 1. They profess (declare, admit) that,“There is no god but God and that Muhammad is his messenger.”

Zakat 2. They give a portion of all they own to the poor (giving alms). (Alms: Money or things that are given to the poor.)

Salat 3. They pray 5 times a day. They follow a special format when they pray.

Saum 4. During one month of the year (The month called RAMADAN), Muslims go without eating or drinking from sun-rise to sun-set (Fasting). This is a yearly reminder of what it feels like to be poor and in need of food.

Islam and the Arabic Language will travel along trade routes to transform less developed areas of the world. The Arab people knew how to get around in the desert.

When they heard of Gold being mined below the Niger river they were not intimidated (scared) by the Sahara Desert.

They found a way to make a lot of money….by picking up salt and trading it for gold that was BELOW the Sahara. Sub-Saharan Trade

The kings of Western Africa collected taxes on all the loads of salt and gold that went through their kingdoms.

There were two separate kingdoms that got very rich (built strong economies) through collecting these taxes (levies). Ghana Mali 750 C.E. to CE to 1600 Both kingdoms controlled the area around the Niger river, but they were at different times in History.

Mali was bigger and it controlled more of the Niger River. This helped them to transport goods in a more efficient way.

But how do we know that these kings collected taxes to build up their economies?

Islamic traders wrote down about their economic system in journals (primary sources). “On every donkey load of salt when it is brought into the country, their king levies (taxes) one golden dinar (coin) and two golden dinars when it is sent out.”

Thanks to the cleverness of their kings, the people of ancient Ghana and Mali were rich! These kingdoms never owned the gold or salt mines. Salt came from the salt mines controlled by kingdoms in the north Sahara Desert. Gold came from the gold mines controlled by kingdoms to the south of Ghana. What Ghana and Mali did was to find a way to make money by controlling the trade route between the salt mines and the gold mines.

This trans-Saharan trade brought new ideas to the tribal people that lived in WEST AFRICA as the trading of gold and salt increased.

Islamic traders took their religion with them every where they went. It caught on and the religion and culture of West Africa began to change.

How do we know that Islam took hold in West Africa? “The city of Ghana consists of two towns, which is inhabited with Muslims. One of these towns is large and possesses 12 mosques in which they assemble for Friday prayer. In these mosques there are religious leaders, muezzins (men who call Muslims to prayer) as well as scholars.”

Islamic traders also shared their written language (Arabic) with the West Africans too. This meant they became literate.

The Islamic World Today: