The document provides information on Islamic civilization, including the life and teachings of Muhammad, the major tenets of Islam, and the expansion and impact of Islam. It discusses Muhammad receiving revelations from God and establishing the religion of Islam. The two main branches of Islam, Sunni and Shiite, developed after Muhammad's death. Under Arab rule, the Islamic empire expanded across northern Africa and into Spain. The Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties ruled large Islamic caliphates during periods of cultural and economic prosperity, though divisions emerged over time.

1. Islamic Civilization

2. Content Goals and
Objectives:
 Goal 3 – The Islamic World
 The student will trace and evaluate the impact
of the Islamic movement on medieval Europe.
 3.02 Trace the life and teachings of Mohammed.
 3.03 Categorize the major tenets of Islam and their
impact on the Arabian Peninsula.
 3.04 Map the expansion of Islam from the Arabian
Peninsula into Asia, Africa, and Europe.

3. The Teachings of Muhammad
 Followers of the Islamic religion make up around 20% of the world’s
population (1 billion). It is the world’s second largest religion.
 It is interesting to note that the four nations with the largest number
 Islam is Monotheistic, like Judaism and Christianity.
 Islam teaches a belief in an afterlife, those who hope to achieve this
afterlife must submit to the will of Allah.
 Muslims do not believe the Muhammad was divine, they believe
that he was a man.
 Islam is seen not just as a religion, but as a way of life.

4. Two Main
Branches of Islam
 There are two main branches of Islam today
 Sunni recognize the male heirs of the first 4 elected
(according to Muhammad's instruction) caliphs (or spiritual
heads) after Muhammad’s death
 Shiite recognize the decedents of only the 4th caliphs—Ali
(M’s son-in-law & cousin), the only true descendent of
Muhammad
 In all other ways Sunni and Shiite are very similar

5. The Rise of Islam
The Arabs
Arose in the Arabian Peninsula and influenced Western
Asia and beyond.
They were a nomadic, Semitic-speaking people who lived in
the arid climate of the Arabian Peninsula.
The environment was harsh, they were organized into
tribes and were led by a sheikh who was chosen from a
council of elders. The tribes were independent, but
worked together

6. Early Religion
-Most Early Arabs were polytheistic,
many recognized a chief, or supreme
god who they called Allah which is
Arabic for “God.”
-Allah was symbolized by a sacred stone, each tribe
had their own stone, but there was one central stone
called the Black stone which was placed in the shrine
called the Kaaba.
-This shrine was located in the city of Makkah
(Mecca) in what is now Saudi Arabia.

7. Trade
The Arabian Peninsula became an important
center for trade. The city of Mecca became
rich from the caravan trade traffic which
passed through the area.
The domestication of the camel enabled
traffic to cross the deserts and as empires
grew up in the region trade increased greatly.
As the merchants became rich from the
Caravan traffic the life of the poor people of
the area suffered.

8. Understanding Muhammad:
His Life and Times

9. The Life of Muhammad:
The early years
 Muhammad was born in Mecca around the year 570 (A city of western Saudi
Arabia) to a merchant family. His parents died when he was young and he
ended up living with his uncle who was a merchant and he became a
caravan manager.
 Mecca was a very important city in the ancient world as it was a frequent
resting place and important stop for trading caravans. These tribes all
worshiped many different gods (polytheistic)
 Muhammad was known for his trustworthiness
 Muhammad married an older widow named Khadija.
 Over time, he found the richness and corruption of the merchants and
townspeople to be troubling.
 Muhammad and Khadija (wife) had 4 daughters and 2 sons

10. The Life of Muhammad:
The Visions and the Message
 Fifteen years after his marriage, he began to have visions and hear
mysterious voices
 In the year 610 (Muhammad was 40), Muhammad received his first
revelation from the angel Gabriel. Muhammad could neither read
nor write so he was instructed to memorize the words given to him
by Gabriel. This revelation was soon followed by others about the
one true God
 Unlike Jesus (who Christians believe was God's son) Muhammad was a
mortal, albeit with extraordinary qualities
 He preached a strong social justice message about equality and
poverty
 The recitation which Muhammad received over a 23 year period,
ending in 632, the year of his death, is known as the Qur'an/Koran
(the revealed word of God).

11. The Life of Muhammad:
The Trouble
 Muhammad preached a message of strict monotheism (against the
wishes of the leaders in his own tribe), and began to build a significant
following.
 Those who followed him were persecuted and were forced to flee
Mecca in the year 622 (went to Madinah). The Islamic calendar begins
on July 16 of that year (the first day of the lunar year).
 The ruling elite feared Muhammad and his followers and began to
persecute them
 Muhammad's prestige grew much larger after the war and the
subsequent surrender of the Meccans

12. The Life of Muhammad:
 In Yathrib, renamed Medina (which means the city of the
prophet) Muhammad was accepted and gained followers.
 After several years, Muhammad became both a spiritual and
political leader, there was not an idea of the separation of church
and state. He raised an army and conquered the city of Makkah.
 Muhammad's life was cut short by his sudden death on June 8,
632 at about 60 years old

13. Koran (or the Qur'an)
 The revelations to Muhammad were written down by
scribes and became known as The Quran, which is the
holy book of Islam.
 contains ethical guidelines and laws by which Muslims
(followers of Islam) should live their lives.
 written in Arabic, which was the language of
Muhammad.
 considered to only be true when it is written in its
original language. Translations are thought to lose the
true meaning of the original words which are believed
to be a direct revelation from God.
 The Muslim observance of Ramadan is to
commemorate the recording of the holy text.

14. The Five Pillars of Islam
• 1-Declaration of Faith
– Muslims must state that there is not God but Allah and
Muhammad is his prophet.
• 2. Daily Prayer
– Muslims must pray five times a day facing the Kaaba in
Mecca.
• Pre Dawn
• Noon
• Afternoon
• Sunset
• Evening
Muslims feel that in order to achieve salvation that they must obey the will of
Allah, or God. In order to do this they must follow the five major principles of
Islam known as the Five Pillars of Islam.

15. Five Pillars Continued . . .
3. Charity
 Muslims are supposed to help others and donate part of
their income to charity.
4. Fasting-Ramadan
 Muslims must fast from sunrise to sunset during the holy
month of Ramadan which celebrates the recording of the
Quran.

16. Hajj
 5. Pilgrimage: Hajj
 The fifth pillar of Islam is the Hajj.
 Once in a lifetime, if they are physically and financially able ,
Muslims are to journey to Mecca (Makkah) in Saudi Arabia and
perform the rituals of the Hajj.

17. I went home radiant with hope
and joy, for I have fulfilled the
command to humankind to
undertake the pilgrimage.
Above all, I return praying
that it might please Allah, to
find my Hajj acceptable, and
may what the Prophet (s.a.w.)
said be true of my own
journey: "There is no reward
for a pious pilgrimage but
Paradise."

18. Islamic Law
 After the death of Muhammad there were further
interpretations of his teachings. These are known as the
Hadith -different versions for different branches of Islam.
 These teachings were further interpreted in the Shari’ah.
= set of laws which regulate many aspects of Muslim life.
It does not separate between church and state and
covers family life, business, government, and moral
conduct.
 Muslims are expected to practice honesty and justice in
dealing with others and are forbidden to gamble, eat
pork, drink alcohol, or engage in dishonest behavior.

19. Creation of An Arab Empire
 After the death of Muhammad, unity was difficult to
maintain.
 The friend and father-in-law of Muhammad, Abu
Bakr, was chosen to be the first Caliph, or successor
to Muhammad – he helped to unify the Muslim world
and expanded in Arabia and beyond.
 Under the idea of jihad, or “struggle in the way of
God” the early Muslims expanded their territory.
The believed that defensive warfare was permitted
by the Quran.

20. Arab Rule
• The Arabs were now united and expanded their territory instead of
fighting each other.
• They defeated the Byzantine army in 636 taking the province of
Syria. By 642 they took Egypt and by 650 they controlled the
Persian Empire

21. After Abu Bakr died there was conflict over who
would be the next Caliph.
The next two Caliphs were both assassinated.
After that Muhammad’s
son-in-law
Ali was appointed Caliph,
but five years later
he too was assassinated.

22. Tolerant
 Muslims administrators were fairly tolerant of the people they
defeated.
 Initially, both Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their
religions, with some restrictions, because they were “People of
the Book” who had written scriptures revealed to them by God
before the time of Muhammad. Those who chose not to
convert had to be loyal to the Muslim state and pay a special
tax.

23. The Umayyad
Dynasty
• At the beginning of the eighth century Islam had expanded
across northern Africa and had converted the Berbers (a pastoral
people along the Mediterranean coast) to the faith.
• By 710 combined Berber and Arab forces crossed the Strait of
Gibraltar into Spain and had taken most of the country by 725.
In 732, however, the Muslim advance into Europe was halted at
the Battle of Tours.

24. • By 750 the Muslim advance came to an end. The southern
and eastern Mediterranean and parts of the old Roman
Empire were now Muslim territory.
• The Umayyad Dynasty was centered in Damascus, in
modern-day Syria and was wealthy. This was also a very
diverse empire as many different peoples had been conquered
in new territory.
• The diversity helped lead to a split within the Islamic faith

25. A Split in Islam
 Many non-Arab Muslims
resent the favoritism which
the Umayyad Empire
showed toward Arabs.
 The large empire was difficult
to rule efficiently and there
were financial problems as
well.

26. The Revolt of Hussein
 The grandson of Muhammad,
Hussein, led a revolt against the
Umayyad Empire in 680.
 His soldiers defected and he was
killed by an overwhelming
Umayyad force.
 This struggle led to a split within
the faith of Islam between Sunni
and Shi’a (Shiite) Muslims.

27. Sunni vs. Shi’a (Shiite)
 Sunni
 Muslims supported the Umayyad Dynasty.
 They believe the Caliph does not need to be a direct
descendant of Muhammad.
 Shi’a
 Muslims supported Hussein
 believe that the Caliph should be a direct descendant of
Muhammad through his son-in-law Ali and his grandson.

28. Umayyad
Architecture

29. The Abbasid Dynasty
 Amidst growing resentment
toward the Umayyad Dynasty,
Abu al-Abbas, a descendent of
Muhammad’s uncle, overthrew
the Umayyad Dynasty in 750 and
established the Abbasid Dynasty.
 The Dynasty lasted until 1258 A.D.

30. Abbasid Rule
 The Abbasids moved the capital of their
empire to Baghdad.
 This move increased Persian influence and
changed Abbasid culture.
 Under this dynasty the new heroes were
judges, merchants, and government officials.
 This dynasty did not favor Arab rule and the
empire became more culturally diverse.

31.  Harun al-Rashid
 The greatest of the caliphs of the
dynasty. This is called the golden
age of the Abbasid Dynasty
(Caliphate)
 He was known for his charity and
was a great supporter of culture
and the arts.
 His son continued the tradition and
supported the study of astronomy
and began to translate classical
Greek works into Arabic.

32. Government Administration
 The government of the Abbasids became more
like a monarchy.
 The bureaucracy which assisted the Caliph
became more complicated.
 In order to assist him the Caliph appointed a
Vizier who was like a prime minister.
 This man was the chief advisor to the Caliph
and would help him run the government.

34. Decline and Division
 There was great difficulty in the Abbasid
Dynasty with imperial succession.
 There was also financial corruption.
 Caliphs began to recruit from non-Arab groups
for government administration such as the
Turks and the Persians.
 These groups came to dominate the
political situation.

35. Seljuk Turks and the
Crusades
 As the Fatimid Dynasty in Egypt became more
powerful they became the new center of the
Muslim world.
 One group which came to power in this region were
the Seljuk Turks.
 The Turks played a large role in the military and
many rose through the ranks to gain a lot of
political power.

36.  The Turks were originally a
nomadic people who
converted to Islam and were
great soldiers in the Abbasid
caliphate.
 As the Abbasids weakened, the
Turks became stronger moving
into the areas of Iran and
Armenia. They eventually took
over many Abbasid territories.

37. The Sultan
 The Turks were ruled by a Sultan, meaning “holder
of power.”
 While the Abbasids were still a religious authority
when the Turks captured Baghdad they were the
military and political leaders of the state.
 The Turks in the second half of the 11th
century
kept putting pressure on the Byzantine Empire. In
1071 they defeated the Byzantine army and gained
control of Asia Minor (Anatolian Peninsula)
 In desperation, the Byzantine Empire turned to the
West for help. This led to a series of wars known as
The Crusades.

38. The CrusadesThe Crusades
• At first the Crusaders were successful and
took the city of Jerusalem.
• In 1187 the Muslim leader Saladin retook
the city, leaving the Christians with only a
small collection of land holdings in the
Middle East.
• The Crusades had a lasting impact-
breeding centuries of mistrust between the
Muslim world and the Christian World.

39. Prosperity in the Islamic World
• The Muslim empires carried on extensive trade with China, the
Byzantine Empire, India, and SE Asia.
• Trade was done by ship and by camel caravans which traveled from
Morocco in to West to the countries beyond the Caspian Sea in Central
Asia.
• Goods
– Sub Saharan Africa: Gold and Slaves
– China: Silk and Porcelain
– E. Africa: Gold and Ivory
– SE Asia and India: Sandalwood and Spices.
– Egypt: Grain
– Iraq: Linen, Dates, and Precious Stones
– W. India: Textiles
• The development of banking helped to facilitate trade and eventually
influenced European banking systems during the European
Renaissance.

41. The Role of Cities
• Flourishing trade led to wealthy and successful cities.
• Baghdad-was known as the city of peace and was highly
successful under the Abbasids
• Cairo: Was part of the Fatimid Dynasty
• Cordoba: Capital of Umayyad Spain
• Cities had Palaces for the Caliphs and mosques for
worship.
– There were also public buildings with fountains, courtyards,
public baths, and a bazaar.

42. The Bazaar
• The covered market was a central part of each Muslim city.
• There were high standards for business and sanitation.
• It was a place where people could acquire both goods and
services.

43. Islamic Society
• Islam is considered more than just a religion, it is seen as a
way of life that encompasses politics, economics, and social
life.
• According to the Quran, all people were equal in the eyes of
Allah, but in reality, the Muslim Empires did not follow this
ideal. There was a well developed upper and lower class.
• Non-Muslims were not considered equal to Muslims and
slavery was widespread (as in the rest of the ancient world).
Slaves were usually non-Muslims because Islamic law made it
illegal for one Muslim to enslave another.
– Slaves served in the military or served as domestic servants.
– Slaves could sometimes purchase their freedom and it was
considered a good act to free ones slaves.

44. The Role of Women
• Originally, the Quran granted women spiritual and social
equality with men. Both men and women were to be
friends and protectors of one another.
• Women could earn a living and own and inherit
property. They played a prominent role in the rise of
Islam.
• Men and Women had assigned social duties, but most
societies in which Islam arose were male dominated

45.  Women in these societies had to have a male
guardian and parents arranged marriages for their
children.
 Men could have up to four wives, but they had to
pay a dowry (gift of money or property) to their
wives’ families.
 Women did have the right to divorce and adultery
was forbidden for both men and women.
 After the spread of Islam local traditions began to
assert themselves and many of the rights that were
initially given to women in Islam were replaced by
older traditions which denied women equal rights. A
similar thing happened to the rights of early
Christian women once Christianity became merged
with Roman influence.

46. The Veil The veil worn by Muslim women is traditionally
called the Hijab.
 The ideal of women wearing veils was common in
many Middle Eastern cultures before the advent of
Islam.
 In Ancient Mesopotamia a veil was a symbol of status,
purity, and moral character.
 There is some controversy over this use of these
veils today. There are different interpretations of
this tradition in different parts of the Muslim
world. In general, women and men are supposed
to dress modestly, the degree of that modesty
varies from region to region according to local
custom and tradition.

47. • In the Quran the Hijab has different meanings it can mean
a curtain or partition dividing rooms--in other verses it is a
sacred divide between the earth and holy, god and human,
light and dark, and men and women.
The Hijab covers the head and Neck The Chador covers the full body with
a head scarf underneath.
The Burka (Burqa) is a veil that
completely covers the face and
body.
The covering that
women wear varies
from country to
country.

48. Math and Science
 Muslim scholars adopted and passed on the
numerical system of India, and the use of zero.
These numbers came to be known in the west
as Arabic numbers.
 A ninth-century Arab mathematician also
developed algebra.

49. Astrolabe
• Muslims also studied astronomy
which led to the development of
the Astrolabe.
• This instrument was used for
naval navigation by observing
the positions of the stars and
other heavenly bodies.
• This invention made it possible
for European sailors to sail to
the Americas.

50. Literature
• Many Muslims consider the Quran to be the
greatest work of Muslim literature, but there was
a strong oral tradition prior to the Quran which
continued to have influence.
• The poet Omar Khayyam. He was a twelfth
century Persian poet, mathematician, and
astronomer.
– The wrote about many different themes and his
poems were recorded by his friends after his
death.

51. Art and Architecture
• Islamic art is a blend of Arab, Turkish, and Persian
traditions.
• Islamic art and architecture is guided by the Quran which
forbids of representation of living beings. So mosques
and palaces are decorated with floral motifs and
geometric patterns (known as arabesque) and Arabic
script.