1. The Beginnings of Islam Social Studies 7 Mr. Robledo 10/29/2013

2. Where did Islam come from?  Islam began in what today is Arabia in the Middle East.  Arabia is a peninsula, a piece of land surrounded on three sides by water.  This area is very hot and dry, making it a desert.  It was difficult to grow food here and to maintain livestock, like cows and horses.  Livestock were allowed to graze, move around looking for food.  This was possible because the people of Arabia were nomads, people who moved around chasing their food.

3. Where did Islam come from? Continued…  Traveling through the desert, while difficult, was also unsafe.  To help protect themselves, the tribes of nomads would travel in large groups or caravans.  One such tribe that had become rather large was the Quraysh tribe.  The Quraysh tribe would eventually settle in a large city that is now located in modern day Saudi Arabia, Mecca.  The reason the city of Mecca was so large and had become a major trading post is because it contained an oasis, a place in the desert that contains water springs.  An oasis is important in the desert because of the lack of water. Once water is found, travelers are able to quench their thirst as they cross the large Sahara desert.

4. The Most Powerful Tribe  With groups of people, there is always a search for power. Arabia was not any different.  Usually size dictates who is most powerful. This turned out to be the Quraysh tribe.  The Quraysh became so powerful that it eventually ruled over the city of Mecca. It would end up controlling everything in the city.  The most important thing they controlled was a religious symbol from Biblical times, the Kaaba.  The Kaaba was supposed to have been built by the biblical figure, Abraham, as a sign of his devotion to God.

5. The Kaaba  The Kaaba and its surrounding area became a place where many people began to store their idols. Idols are religious symbols that people worship or admire.  The Quraysh, since they had control of Mecca, would charge people money to keep their idols in the Kaaba.  The Quraysh tribe, because of their actions, would become very wealthy and powerful in Mecca.  It is from this very powerful tribe that the most important man in Islam, Muhammad, was born…

6. The Life of Muhammad  Muhammad was born into the Quraysh tribe in 570 A.D.  At the age of 25, he would marry a very wealthy widow.  In A.D. 610, Muhammad said he received a revelation from the Angel Gabriel, who told him to recite the word of God.  Muhammad believed he was God’s messenger and called himself the prophet of Allah. (Allah is the Muslim god).  Muhammad preached about a new monotheistic religion called Islam.  Many people including his family, did not believe him, and some Quraysh leaders plotted to kill him in 622 A.D.  The Muslims were hated so much in Mecca that they decided to leave and go to the city called Medina, in 622. This migration to Medina is called the Hijrah.

7. The Life of Muhammad continued…  Over the next 8 years, Islam grew and even though Muhammad’s enemies tried to get rid of Islam, some Meccan leaders decided to join the Muslims.  In 630 A.D., Muhammad and his army of 10,000 men, marched into Mecca and after a long fight, were able to take it over.  After his victory, the 1 st thing Muhammad did was to remove all the idols from the Kaaba and once again it was made a place of worship for only one god.  The area around the Kaaba became known as the first mosque, or Muslim house of worship.  When Muhammad died in 632 A.D., many people in Arabia had converted to Islam.