Islam in the Middle Ages

1. ISLAM

2. THE ORIGIN OF ISLAM
The founder of Islam was Muhammad in Arabia in the
seventh century
Why do you think
that Muhammad
can’t be
represented?
Before Muhammad, there were many polytheistic
tribes in Arabia which had a constant fight to control
the resources and the trade

3. WHAT IS ISLAM?
ISLAM IS A MONOTHEISTIC RELIGION ARTICULATED BY THE KORAN, A
BOOK CONSIDERED BY ITS FOLLOWERS LIKE THE WORD OF ALLAH (GOD)
THE RELIGION OF ISLAM CREATED A NEW CIVILIZATION WHICH IS
FOLLOWED IN MANY COUNTRIES NOWADAYS
THE FOLLOWERS OF THE ISLAM ARE KNOWN AS MUSLIMS

4. Muhammad was a merchant from Mecca who heard the call of Allah and
preached the religion of Islam
However, Muhammad moved to Medina in 622 because the rich merchants of
Mecca wanted to arrest him
622 is known as the Hegira and marks the start of the Muslim calendar
In Medina, Muhammad created a big army and he came back to Mecca to
conquer that city in 628 and spread his religion throughout Arabia

5. WHAT IS ISLAM LIKE?
The Muslim religion is based on the Koran.
Muslim people have five obligations according to the Koran.
They are the FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
2. SALAH
1. SHAHADAH
Muslims have to
testify and say
that
“there is no
other God but
Allah and
Muhammad is
his prophet”
Muslim
people have
to pray five
times a day
3. HAJJ
Muslim
people have
to go to the
city of Mecca
at least once
if it is possible
4. SAWN
Muslim
people have
to fast during
the day time
in the month
of Ramadan
5. ZAKAH
Muslim
people
have to
give alms to
the poor
people

6. At the beginning, Muslims spread their religion through the holy war or jihad
Nowadays, only
extremist groups
believe in this idea
However, most of Muslims
wants to live in peace with the
rest of the people.
Did you know that Benzema or Özil are Muslims?

7. THE EXPANSION OF ISLAM DURING
THE MIDDLE AGES
After Muhammad’s death, in 632, a caliph ruled Islam
A caliph was the political, religious and military leader of Islam
At the beginning, caliphs were descendants of Muhammad and they
conquered the entire Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Syria, Persia and Armenia
This time was known as the Orthodox Caliphate. The first four caliphs were:
Abu Bakr
(632-634)
Umar
(634-644)
Uthman
(644-656)
Ali
(656-661)

8. In 661, Ali was killed and the Umayyad dynasty ruled Islam.
They fixed the capital in
Damascus and conquered the
north of Africa, Afghanistan and
most of Iberian Peninsula
In 750, another dynasty took the power. They were the Abbasid family
They were more strict in religion questions than the Umayyad dynasty
The new capital was Baghdad, which is located in Mesopotamia
The unity of Islam was broken because there were many internal fights.
Thus, many powers and people wanted to control Islam.
At the end, in the 13th century, the Turks took the power in the Islamic
world and conquered the Byzantine Empire.

9. THE MUSLIM CIVILIZATION
ECONOMY
Great agriculture International trade Brilliant craftmanship
URBAN CIVILIZATION

10. MUSLIMS CONTRIBUTIONS
Gunpowder Compass
The concept of zero Arabic numbers Improvements in Mathematics
Improvements
in Medicine
A brilliant art