The document provides an overview of the origin and spread of Islam, the political and social organization of Islamic societies, Islamic religious practices and pillars, the economy of Islamic empires, Islamic culture, and Muslim art. It describes how the religion of Islam originated in the 7th century AD in the Arabian Peninsula under the prophet Muhammad and then rapidly expanded across large parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe through military conquests and missionary activities. Key aspects of Islamic civilization discussed include the caliphate political system, division of society, emphasis on the five pillars of faith, development of trade networks, cultural centers of learning, and artistic styles featuring calligraphy and geometric patterns.

1. Unit The Islam 2º ESO Geography and History
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ISLAM
CONTENTS
1. Origin and spread of Islam
2. Political organization
3. Society
4. Islamic religious pillars
5. The economy
6. Islamic culture
7. Muslim Art
1- Origin and spread of Islam
Before the arrival of Islam, the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula were divided into nomadic tribes that
travelled around the extensive Arabian Desert. They worked in livestock farming and traded in groups called
caravans. They shared the same language and were polytheists, meaning they worshipped various gods.
There were frequent conflicts among them for control of trade routes and oases.
To the south of the peninsula there was a fertile region (the Yemen), where farming was possible. A
prosperous trade route was established between this region and the Mediterranean civilisations. The city of
Mecca was in the middle of this route.
In 610 A.D., Muhammad, a merchant from Mecca, claimed he had been visited by the Angel Gabriel, who
revealed a new religion to him. From then onwards, he dedicated his time to preaching the new religious
doctrine, according to which there was only one god: Allah. His enemies expelled him and his followers
from Mecca in 622 A.D., so they moved to Medina. This event, known as the Hegira, marks the first year of
the Islamic calendar. Muhammad became successful in Medina and years later, in 630 A.D., the Muslims
defeated the inhabitants of Mecca and Muhammad returned triumphant to this city. He suppressed the
polytheistic cults but respected the holy stone, or Kaaba. The city became Islam’s main religious centre.
When Muhammad died in 632 A.D., most of the Arab tribes had submitted to his authority.
Muhammad’s successors were called caliphs and the lands they governed were known as the caliphate. The
caliphate’s dominions expanded more rapidly than in any previous empire. The causes of this rapid
expansion were:
❚ the greater motivation of the Muslim soldiers, who fought for their faith (jihad), while the soldiers in the
opposing armies had been recruited by force or were mercenaries.
❚ the decline of the neighbouring empires: the dominant minorities in the Byzantine and Neo-Persian
Empires demanded high taxes from their subjects. Therefore there was discontent among the population.
❚ the popularity of the new religion in other lands: the Muslims allowed a certain tolerance towards other
religions. They permitted Christians and Jews to practise their religion in exchange for the payment of
special taxes.

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2- Political organization
The organization of this huge empire was created as long as Muslims were conquering the different
territories. Ummayads established an Arabic empire ruled by the Caliph, who held religious and political
powers.
The main charge in the administration was the vizier, who accumulated all powers during the Abbasid
Caliphate. At the beginning he was a political advisor and he ruled over the civil servants.
The Empire was divided into koras (provinces), which were ruled by walis or emirs (governors), appointed
by the Caliph. There were judges (cadi) in every major city and they followed the Koranic laws (Sharia).
The Empire established new taxes to sustain it. These taxes were paid according to the lands owned.
Moreover, Jews and Christians could have their own worships in exchange for paying taxes.
New cities were founded to establish administrative centres. Muslims created a postal service throughout the
empire. Major charges were held by Arabs, which made other peoples unrest.

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3- Society
In the caliphate, society was divided between the landowning aristocracy, who received profits from
agriculture and trade, and the rest of the population, the majority of whom were peasants. Muslims had more
rights than those who belonged to other religions.
❚ The privileged minority, the landowning aristocracy, was composed of:
– families of Arab origins, descendants of the conquerors, who held the main political posts.
– important families from the occupied territories, who had converted to Islam but were not Arabs and held
less important political posts.
❚ The rest of the population included:
– people who had converted to Islam.
– people who practised other religions, such as Christians and Jews. Their customs and religions were
respected. They had limited rights and paid more taxes than the Muslims, so it became common to convert
to Islam. Once people had converted, they could not retract, as Islamic law severely punished Muslims who
changed religion.
– slaves, of Turkish, Slav or African descent. There were not many slaves and if they converted to Islam,
they gained their freedom. This was because it was forbidden to have Muslim slaves.
4- Islamic religious pillars
Islam was a revealed religion, such as Christianity and Judaism, and it constitutes the last great religion.
Muslims must be submissive to Allah. Like the other monotheistic religions, Muslims believe in the Last
Judgment, when everybody will be judged, condemned or saved.
Islam has five main pillars, around which goes all its doctrine.
o Faith (Shahadah): There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.
o Prayer (Salah): Muslims should pray five times facing Mecca (sunrise, noon, afternoon, sunset and
nightfall) and go to a mosque for communal prayer on every Friday.
o Alms-giving (Zakah): Muslims should be charitable and give money to those who need it.
o Fasting (Sawm): Muslims should fast during the month of Ramadan. No food, drinks, or sex relations can
be taken from dawn to dusk.
o Pilgrimage (Hajj): Once in their lives Muslims should go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.
Islamic principles are collected in the Koran (Muslim Holy Book). It is written in Arabic and divided into
114 suras (chapters).This book was revealed and dictated to Muhammad by the Archangel Saint Gabriel.
The sunna are the Islamic traditions respected by most of the Muslims. It speaks about jihad (Holy War)
against non-Muslims, despite the fact that Koran rejects any kind of violence. Many daily rituals are
established: food (no alcohol or pork), social life (marriages)…

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5- The economy
Agriculture
The Arabs maintained their tradition of livestock farming. They obtained milk, meat, wool and leather from
their flocks of goats and sheep. They used dromedaries, donkeys and horses to transport people and goods.
Since the Arabs came from desert regions, they took care to gain the maximum benefit from water.
Therefore they spread the use of agricultural irrigation systems: wells to obtain water from the sub-soil;
reservoirs in which they collected rainwater; dykes, which were small canals through which they distributed
water; and waterwheels and terraces to make cultivation and irrigation easier in hilly areas.
They also increased the use of techniques for preserving food in salt (salting) and in vinegar or oil
(pickling). They introduced new crops from Asia throughout their domains, such as rice, cotton, sugar cane,
citrus fruits (oranges and lemons) and vegetables (such as aubergines, carrots and spinach). These crops
arrived in Europe thanks to the Arabs.
Trade and craftwork
Trade became the main source of wealth in the caliphate. It developed greatly, as the caliphate replaced the
Byzantine Empire as the crossroads of land, river and sea trade routes from:
❚ Western Europe, where wood, iron, tin and silver came from.
❚ Eastern Europe, where furs, gold and copper came from.
❚ Asia, which exported spices, perfumes, luxury goods and silk.
One of the most famous routes from here to the Muslim world was
the Silk Road, which brought silk and other products from China
across Central Asia.
❚ Africa, where ivory, gold, slaves and salt came from.
This extensive network of trade routes also encouraged the development of craftwork. The Muslims were
famous for making products such as textiles, rugs, jewellery, weapons and glass and ivory objects. For the
local market they also made bricks, tiles, ceramics and wicker objects.
To make trade easier, all of the lands in the caliphate began to use the same currencies: the gold dinar and
the silver dirham.
6- Islamic culture
Most of the rulers stimulated culture, and
the development of big cities were crucial
to understand the difference respect to
Christian cities. Baghdad and Cairo were
the most important cultural centres in
Islam. There were several religious
schools that grew around mosques:

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o Maktab, it was a religious and Koranic school.
o Madrasah, it was the Koranic University.
Caliph Al-Mamun (813-833) founded the House of Wisdom in Baghdad where classical authors’
manuscripts were translated into Arabic, such as Aristotle, Plato, Euclid or Ptolemy’s. Those translations
helped keep Greek and Roman culture. Moreover, Chinese, Indian, and Persian culture spread thanks to this
centre.
Science was studied by Muslims, being Medicine a major discipline. Hospitals were funded by the State.
Muslims managed to undergo operations. Major physicians were the Persians Abu Abd-Allah ibn Sinna,
Avicenna (980-1037), and Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi, so-called Rhazes (826-925).
Other discipline was alchemy, with scientists who discovered alcohol, potash, and sulphuric acid, In
Mathematics they stood out in Geometry and Algebra, the number 0 was “discovered”, and they adopted
the Indian numerals, so-called Arabic numbers (present-day numbers).
In Astronomy and optics, Muslims studied the revolution of stars and planets, and the Islamic calendar
was fixed, which based on moon phases. New instruments were used to observe the sky and to locate points:
compass, astrolabe.
In Philosophy, thanks to the translation of Greek manuscripts, Averroes (1126-1198) applied to Islam
Aristotle’s principles. Geography developed thanks to the new orientation tools and to merchants’ news
about the world. The first book of universal history ever made was written by Al-Tabari (839-923). It
stretches from the origin of the world up to his time. Muslims loved literature and there were several genres:
 Religious texts based on the Koran.
 Historical chronicles told as tales, like One Thousand and One Nights.
 They loved poetry: It used to have love themes. Arabic, Persian or Turkish were the languages
used to write it.
7- Muslim art
Decorative design is very important in Muslim art. As human figures could not be depicted, artists used
beautiful calligraphy, arabesque or foliate ornaments (shaped like leaves) and lattice-work (geometric
shapes). These designs were repeated in various formats, such as in painting, sculpture, mosaics, ceramics,
plasterwork and miniatures.
The main buildings were religious temples called mosques
(such as those in Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus,
Cairo, Samarra, Kairouan and Córdoba), palaces (such as the
Umayyad Palace in Damascus and the Abbasid Palace in
Baghdad) and mausoleums, or monumental tombs, (such as
Timur’s mausoleum in Samarkand and the Taj Mahal in Agra,
India). Muslim architecture adopted features from different

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cultures: semi-circular arches and coloured keystones from
Rome, golden domes and vaults from the Byzantine Empire,
lobed arches from the East and horseshoe arches from the
Visigoths.
Muslim architecture was characterised by the use of cheap
materials, such as brick, covered with attractive materials,
such as tiles, and by rich decoration.
Kairouan Mosque, Tunisia Taj Majal, Agra, India