Notes on the beginnings and spread of Islam as well as assignment for students to complete.

1. The growth and expansion of Islam

2.  Using the map and timeline on pages 100-101
answer the following:
 1. What was going on in Europe at the time
that Baghdad was a center of Islamic culture?
 2. What was going on in China around the
time of Muhammad?
 3. How did Arabia’s location make it a trading
crossroads between the east and west?
 4. How does a trading center contribute to the
spread of culture and ideas?

3.  AD 610 Muhammad has a vision from
God.
 AD 622 (year 1 of the Muslim calendar)
Muhammad gets his first large
following.
 Muhammad believes in an Islamic state,
where religion and government are one.
 AD 632: Muhammad dies, but the entire
Arabian Peninsula is under Islamic
control.

4.  Caliph: successor to Muhammad.
 The Arab Empire expanded under Caliphs.

5.  The Sunni and Shia split into 2 major groups over
who the rightful Caliph was in the 700’s
 As lands were conquered people found it useful to
convert to Islam and learn the language.
 The term “Arab” began to refer to anyone who
spoke Arabic, not a resident of Arabia.
 In the 1200’s the Mongols swept in and put an end
to the Arab Empire.
 Afterwards, other Muslim groups created their
own empires, notably the Ottoman Turks, which
took over most of the Byzantine Empire.

6.  What are 3 reasons that Muslim traders were
successful?
 What role did Mosques play in Islamic life?
 What was farming life like?
 How was society organized?
 What made slavery in the Islamic world different
from other places?
 Describe the contributions that Muslims made in
the areas of science and math, medicine, and
literature, and arts and architecture.