Arabian Life

• Arabian Peninsula

• 1 million sq. miles

• Mostly desert– Has oases

• Southwest has watered valleys

• Arabs share common language

Bedouins• Nomads herded sheep, camels, and goats

• Lived in tribes of related families– Provide protection and support– Strong family ties

• Lead by sheikh, chief,– Elders advise

• Warfare common– For animals, pastures, and water holes

Towns• Oases and fertile land

• Allows for farming and trade

• Crossroads of trade caravans

• Mecca an important town for trade and worship

• Ka’aba- holy shrine– House hundreds of idols from Arab tribes– Associated with Abraham

• Pilgrims great for business

Religious beliefs

• Byzantines, Persians, & Ethiopians introduced Judaism and Christianity teachings

• Jews and Christian lived in the peninsula

• Hanifs- holy men who believed in one god– Arab monotheism– Allah was this one god

Muhammad

• Born 570 CE• _________________________• Worked as caravan leader• Marries Khadija’s a wealthy widow and former

boss– Money allows for free time

• Troubled by world: prays and fasts in cave outside Mecca– _______________________________________

• Sound familiar?

Revelations

• ______________________________

• _________________________

• Angel Gabriel– “Recite in the name of your Lord, the Creator,

Who created man from clots of blood. Recite! Your Lord is the most bountiful One Who by the pen has taught mankind things they did not know”

Revelation and Preaching• _____________________________• Begin preaching to people of Mecca• _______________________• _______________________ • _______________________• Tough crowd:

– Slow to convert– Khadija and other family first Muslims– Mecca’s poor

Backlash

• Rejected by most

• ____________________________________________________________________

• __________________________________

• Persecute Muhammad and Muslims

• Threats on Muhammad’s life makes him look for help

Help and Hijrah

• Town of Yathrib accept him

• 622 CE small band of Muslims and Muhammad travel from Mecca to Yathrib

• ________________________________

• ___________________________________

• United Jews and Arabs

• _________________________________

Medina Compact 624 CE• ______________________________

• All Muslims place loyalty to Islamic community above tribe

• Muhammad settle disputes

• ________________________________

• later recorded the Quran- holy scripture of Islam

• Extend protection to Jews and Christians– __________________________________

War• Mecca attacks Medina

• Muhammad becomes military commander

• Gains support of several Arab tribes

• Muslims defeat Mecca

• _________________________________

“Peace”

• 630 CE Muhammad enters Mecca

• Destroyed idols in Ka’aba

• Turned into place of worship

• Mecca becomes spiritual capital of Islam

• 631 CE most of Arabian Peninsula is Muslim

• 632 CE Muhammad dies

Islam

• Basic terms you NEED to know

• Islam- “submission to the will of God”

• Muslim- _______________

• Allah- “God”

• Quran- ________

Quran

• ________________

• God’s messages delivered by Gabriel to Muhammad

• Written down 20 years after Muhammad’s death

• ________________________

• Has stories similar to Bible

Values

• Presented in Quran

• Similar to Judaism an Christianity– _____________________________– __________________________

• Quran deals with daily life

• ______________________________– Has rules on marriage, divorce, family life,

property inheritance and business practices

Shari’ah

• Law not separated from religion

• Shari’ah- ______________________

• ___________________________

• Body of law based on generations of legal scholars

• Covers all aspects of life

• ________________________________

Rightly Guided Caliphs

• Caliph- ________________

• First 4 Caliphs close friends or relatives to Muhammad

• 1st- ___________________

• 4th- ___________________

• All followed Muhammad’s example, in touch with people, and took Muslim leaders’ advice

Spread of Islam

• Want to spread Islam and increase farm land to feed growing population

• By 650 CE conquered Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Persia, and Egypt– Reduced Byzantine Empire – Controlled all of Persian Empire

Reasons for Great Success

• United in _________________________– Jihad- ______________________________

• Byzantines and Persians warfare

• Byzantine and Persian attempts at religious unity – ________________________________

Division

• Struggle between Ali and rival Mu’awiyah (governor of Syria) for caliph

• 656 CE- ___________________

• 661 CE- ___________________

• Mu’awiyah- _______________________

• Ali’s sun Husayn ____________________

The Split• Sunni- “follows of the way” majority

– ______________________________

• Caliph = primarily a leader not religious authority

• Shiite- _______________________– _______________________________

• Caliph = _______________________– More spiritual leader than political

Current Distribution

Reform

• What brings about reform?

• Sufism- ____________________

• Sought direct contact with God– ________________________________– ________________________________

Umayyad Dynasty

• Ruled 661-750 CE

• Moved capital ____________________

• Conquered to borders of Indian and China

• North Africa into Spain

• _____________ 732 CE- Charles Martel – ___________________________________

Umayyad accomplishments

• Focus on political rather than religious

• United lands– _________________________– _________________________– _________________________

• Well trained bureaucrats

• Jews and Christians _________________________

Abbasid Dynasty

• Non-Arabs mad at Umayyad– _____________________________

• Abu’l-’Abbas new caliph

• Baghdad- _______________________

• Center- ________________________

• Outside _________________

Harun al-Rashid

• Ruled 786-809 CE

• Worked to bring equality to Muslims, Arab, and not Arab

• Persians- government bureaucracy

• Turks- army

• Arabs- religious life and law