1. THE RISE OF ISLAM

2. Questions to consider
How did climate and geography affect early life in Arabia and how the religion of Islam began?
What two things did Muhammad think rich town leaders should do?
What are some similarities between Christianity, Judaism and Islam?
What is the Quran?
Why were t

3. WHERE IS ARABIA?
Arabia is in a part of the world called the Middle East.

4. GEOGRAPHY OF ARABIA Arabia is mostly desert It is very hot
Sandstorms make it hard to see
Water and plant life are found at oases

5. EARLY ARABS
Early Arabs lived in clans and tribes that were loyal to each other
The head of the tribe was called a sheikh
Many Arabs lived in villages where they had farms or animals
Some Arabs traded goods across the desert
Many traveled in a caravan, or group.

6. WHO ARE THE BEDOUINS? Some Arabs were desert herders
They would go from oasis to oasis so their camels, goats and sheep could drink and eat.
These people were called Bedouins
Bedouins lived in tents
Ate dried fruits and nuts
Drank milk from their animals
Rarely ate meat

7. MECCA
Mecca became the largest and wealthiest Arab town, it was also an important religious place.
In the middle of Mecca is the Kaaba
Pilgrims, people who travel to a holy place, came to Mecca
Arabians worshiped many Gods but the most important was Allah, he who made everything.

8. MUHAMMAD: ISLAM’S PROPHET
Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca
Even though he was successful, he was not happy
Felt rich town leaders should:
go back to the old ways
Honor their families
Be fair in business
Help the poor
Muhammad went to the hills to meditate
610 AD: Visited by an angel and told to preach Islam
Islam means “Surrendering to the will of Allah”
Allah is the Arabic word for “God”

9. MUHAMMAD’S TEACHINGS
Muhammad went back to Mecca and told everyone to break their statues of false gods
He told them to only worship Allah, the one true God
Muhammad taught that all people were equal
He said:
The rich should share their things
Being rich was not as important as leading a good life
When the Day of Judgment came, God would reward the good people and punish the bad

10. OPPOSITION TO ISLAM
Religious leaders and the rich did not like Islam and punished those who followed Muhammad
Muhammad and his followers left Mecca in 622 AD and moved north to a city they called Medinah “City of the Prophet”
Muhammad created a government in Medinah that used its power in politics to support Islam
This is called an Islamic state
630 AD: Muhammad’s army took over Mecca and made it a holy city

11. ISLAM’S TEACHINGS
Islam, Judaism and Christianity believe some of the same things:
Believe in one God who spoke to people through prophets
Muslims believe Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad are the prophets
Christians see Jesus as divine/god-like
Muslims do NOT see Muhammad as divine, just a good person and prophet
Muslims wrote down what Allah told Muhammad in the Quran, the holy book of Islam

12. THE QURAN
How to Live: be honest, treat others fairly, honor their parents, give to the poor, do not murder, lie or steal
Daily Life: Cannot eat pork, drink alcohol or gamble
FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM:
Acts of Worship: (Shahada)Faith, (Salat) Prayer, Charity, Fasting and (Hajj) Pilgrimage
Shahada is the greatest of the pillars of Islam. It is the true declaration of faith.

13. ISLAMIC EMPIRES
By 750 AD, Islam spread to North Africa, Spain and some of India
One hundred years after Muhammad died, the Islamic state became a great empire….Why were they so successful?
Arabs were good on horseback and with swords
Motivated by their religion
Muslims believed anyone who died fighting for Islam would go to paradise
Let others practice their own religion
“People of the Book”…Christians and Jews
If you were not Muslim, you had to pay a special tax
The term Arab came to mean anyone who spoke Arabic, not someone FROM Arabia.

15. STRUGGLES WITHIN ISLAM
When Muhammad died, Muslims argued about who would be caliph, successor to the Messenger of God.
Muslims split into two groups: Sunnis and Shiites
Today most Muslims are Sunnis
Iran and Iraq have the largest numbers of Shiites
Although one in their basic beliefs, Shiites and Sunnis created their own separate religious practices and customs

16. END OF THE FIRST ARAB EMPIRE
1200’s: Mongols invaded from central Asia
The Mongols were building their own empire and destroying many civilizations
1258: the Mongols burned Baghdad, the capital of the Arab Empire, to the ground

17. LATER MUSLIM EMPIRES
Other Muslim groups built empires in Asia, Africa and Europe
Two of the largest and most powerful empires were the Ottoman Empire that began in Turkey and the Mogul empire in India
The Ottoman Empire “Ottoman Turks”
Ottomans conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453, renamed Constantinople to Istanbul
Conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Mesopotamia, parts of Arabia and North Africa
Used guns and cannons to fight, built a navy for the Mediterranean

18. OTTOMAN EMPIRE

19. WHO WERE THE MOGULS?
1500’s: Muslims in north India build another Muslim empire
Used guns, cannons, elephants and horses to win land
Made the city of Delhi the center of their empire
Greatest Mogul ruler was Akbar
Treated his people fairly, which brought peace and order
Most of India’s people were Hindu
Both Hindus and Muslims worked in Akbar’s government
Muslim traders brought paper, gunpowder and fine porcelain from China, architects used built styles like the arch and dome

20. WHO WERE THE MOGULS?
The Mogul empire started to decline when they spent too much trying to expand, forced people to pay high taxes and switch to Islam, then had to deal with European merchants