Mr. Kallusingh World History topic 7
The Arab population started as herders, that were connected in small tribes, led by Sheikhs. Since there was not much land for farming most towns sprouted up along the coast, leading to them becoming traders. The Arab Empire was built on trade.
Due to trade the Arab towns met and were influenced by lots of cultures.
He was a trader and did not like the way people in the Arab Empire were treated based on money. He believed the angel Gabriel gave him messages from God to share with other people. This became the basis for his teachings. He was initially rejected, especially by the wealthy people.
When his teaching was rejected in his home town of Mecca, he and his followers moved to Yathrib where he became very popular. After his popularity grew he returned to Mecca and could not be kicked out because he had too many followers. His teachings became Islam.
It is a monotheistic religion. Islam means “submission to the will of God”, a follower of Islam is a Muslim Quran is the holy book of Islam, and is revelations from God given to Muhammad. Jihad “the struggle to defend the faith”, some Muslims believe that they will be rewarded in heaven Muslims worship in a mosque
1- Profession of faith there is no god but Allah and Muhammad was his messenger 2- Five Daily Prayers daily prayers towards Mecca 3- Paying Zakat giving money to the poor 4- Fasting during the holy month Ramadan 5- Pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime To pray to the Kaaba.
Abu Bakr succeeded Muhammad as leader of the Arab community, and became known as Caliph- “successor to the prophet” Bakr united the Arab tribes Umar followed Bakr setup a well organized government and expanded the Arab empire to include Syria, Persia, and North Africa.
Muhammad red, Bakr and Umar orange, After yellow
Islam tried to spread into India mainly in Northern India due to trade, but Hinduism always remained the main religion. During the Umayyad Dynasty there was Islamic expansion which led to persecution of Hindus. 711 AD
The leader of the Islamic community did not have a predetermined successor. After the death of Umar is when the problem started, Uthman was killed as well as Ali and Mu'awiyah took over. Some members agreed with Mu'awiyah and others wanted Ali’s family to remain in control. This led to the split between the Sunni (Mu'awiyah) and the Shiah(Ali).
Mu'awiyah created the caliphate which solved the succession problems. Non-Arab Muslims were treated unfairly in the Arab empire and this led to a lot of animosity. There was a lot of conversion to Islam due to conquest.
Took over after the Umayyad Dynasty and moved the capital from Damascus to Baghdad. All Muslims were treated fairly regardless of their background. Harun al-Rashid led the dynasty during it’s golden age and his son, al-Ma’mun, promoted learning. They also created a strong bureaucracy.
After Harun died his two sons almost destroyed the capital Baghdad fighting for control. Wealth led to corruption, as Baghdad had become the center of trade. As time went on provinces in the empire broke away from central power and created their own caliphates.
Literature Omar Khayyam wrote Rubaiyat and Arabian Nights Art and Architecture the best art can be found in mosques, art is a blend of Arab- Turkish- Persian, architecture is best expressed in mosques
Philosophy many of the Greek work on philosophy like Aristotle arrived in Europe with Arabic commentary Science Ibn Sina wrote a medical encyclopedia that included many things like infectious disease, perfected the astrolabe which allows a person to determine their location based on the stars
History Ibn-Khaldun wrote Muqaddimah which argues that civilization are cyclical (birth, growth, decay) Math are credited with starting India’s numeric system, created Algebra Men were dominant in society even though men and women are to be equal based on the Quran
Social Structure had a well defined upper class of rulers, senior officials, nomadic elites, wealthy merchants. Made many improvements to Greek maps as well.