Islam

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• “Submission to the will of God”

• Worships one, all-knowing God Allah
• Second largest religion with 1.8 billion Muslims
worldwide
• Muslim “one who has submitted”
• Created as a religion around 7th century CE
• Started in Mecca in Saudi Arabia during the time
of prophet Muhammad
Are the patriarchs of Judaism and Christianity
acknowledged in Islamic faith?
• Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jesus are respected as
prophets but Muhammad is believed to be the
final prophet.

What do you call the places of worship of

Muslims?
Mosques

What do you call the holy book of Islam?

Quran (Koran)
Muslims pray to Allah and recite the Quran. They
believe there will be a day of judgement, and life
after death.
Jihad “struggle”, a central idea in Islam, refers to
internal and external efforts to defend their faith
which include military jihad if a ”just war” is needed.
Mecca

• A city in western Arabia where

caravans of traders stopped.
It was a place of worship for
Arabs where Ka’aba, a
cuboid-shaped structure
made of stones, is located. It
contained over 360 idols
brought by many tribes who
came to the shrine. The Quran
associated this house of
worship with Abraham.

https://www.al-islam.org/pilgrimage-sites/saudi-
arabia
Who is Muhammad?

• Mohammed, Mohammad
• Born into a powerful Meccan family in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 570 CE; orphaned at
a young age; became a trader and a
business manager to wealthy Khadija who
later became his wife
• Received the words of Allah in 610 CE while
meditating in a cave and continued to
receive in his lifetime.
• Started to preach in 613 CE that there was
no other God but Allah and that Muslims
should devote their lives to Allah.
How the Meccans received the new
teachings of Muhammad?

• Hostility, many Meccans believed his

revolutionary ideas would lead to neglect of the
traditional Arab gods. They feared that Mecca
would lose its position a s a pilgrimage center if
people were to accept Muhammad monotheism.

How did Muhammad respond to attacks?

• Hijrah in 622 CE, followed by a small band of

supporters, they migrated to Medina where he
attracted more followers through his appealing
messages. He formed a community of faithful
called umma.
What did Muhammad
do next?

• Returned to Mecca in 630 CE,

accompanied by 10,000 followers.
Meccans surrendered and Muhammad
destroyed the idols in the Ka’aba. Most
Meccans pledged their loyalty to
Muhammad and converted to Islam.
• Muhammad died at the age of 62.
• After his passing, some tribes in the
Arabian Peninsula abandoned Islam,
others refused to pay taxes, other
individuals declared themselves prophets
What was the
caliphate?
• Caliphate was a political-religious state comprising
the Muslim community and the lands and peoples
under its dominion in the centuries following the
death of prophet Muhammad.
• Caliph ”successor or deputy”
• The Rashidun Caliphate “Rightly-guided caliphs”
(Abu-Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali)

What were the reasons of the

successful expansion of Islam?
• Well-disciplined and expertly-commanded armies
• Some people accepted Islam because they did not
support their state religion; the messages of
equality and hope were attractive
How did the Muslim
rulers treat the
conquered people?
• Quran forbade forced conversion
• Conquered people were allowed to
follow their own religion; Christians and
Jews had a special consideration as
people of the book.
• Conquered people had to pay a poll tax
each year in exchange for exemption
from military duties.
• Christians and Jews were not allowed to
spread their religion but they could be
officials, scholars and bureaucrats.
With the spectacular gains of the
Muslim community, did it flourish
without problem?
• NO
• After the Third Caliph Uthman was
murdered in 656 CE, a civil war broke out
struggling for power. Ali, cousin and son-
in-law of Muhammad, was the natural
choice as a successor to Uthman but his
right to rule was challenged by a governor
of Syria, Muawiya. Ali was assassinated in
661 and the elective system of choosing a
caliph died with him.
• The merchant Umayyad family came to
power and moved the Muslim capital
from Medina to Damascus.
How did the Arab Muslims
receive the new ruling family?
• Majority accepted the rule of the
Umayyad but a minority was indifferent
because the Umayyads abandoned the
simple life of previous caliphs and began
to surround themselves with wealth and
ceremony similar to that of non-Muslim
rulers
What was the consequence
of the rule of the Umayyads?
• Indifference to lifestyle the Umayyad
family
• Alternative view of the office of caliph.
• A minority group called Shi’a, meaning “party” of
Ali, believed that caliph needed to be a
descendant of Muhammad.
• Other groups
• A majority group called Sunni, meaning followers
of Muhammad’s example, did not outwardly
resist the rule of the Umayyads
• Sufi group rejected the luxurious life of the
Umayyads. They pursued a life of poverty and
devotion to a spiritual life.
• The Umayyad was overthrown by rebel
groups, of prominence was the Abbasids
who took control of the empire in 750 CE
 Who were the Abbasids?
• The leaders of the Abbasid Dynasty built Baghdad,
the capital of modern-day Iraq.
• The Abbasids claimed to be the true successors of
Muhammad in replacing the Umayyad descendants
• The Abbasids were best known for the House of
Wisdom
• House of Wisdom included a society of scientists
and academics, a translation department, and a
library that preserved the knowledge acquired by
the Abbasids over the centuries.
• This lasted until 1258
 The Five Pillars
• Faith- “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah.”

• Prayer- Five times a day, Muslims face toward Mecca to pray. They may be
assembled at a mosque or wherever they find themselves

• Alms- All Muslims have a responsibility to support the less fortunate by

giving alms or money for the poor, through a special religious tax

• Fasting- During Ramadan, Muslims fast between dawn and sunset. A

simple meal is eaten at the end of the day. Fasting is a reminder for
Muslims that their spiritual needs are greater than their physical needs

• Pilgrimage- All Muslims who are physically and financially able perform the
hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once. Pilgrims wear identical garments
so that all stand as equals before Allah.
Islam as a way of life
• Forbidden to eat pork or to drink
intoxicating beverages
• Friday is for communal worship
• No priest, or central religious authority
but has a scholar class called the ulama.
They include religious teachers who
apply the words and deeds of
Muhammad to everyday life.
Islam as a way
of life
• Forbidden to eat pork or to drink
intoxicating beverages
• Friday is for communal worship
• No priest, or central religious
authority but has a scholar class
called the ulama. They include
religious teachers who apply the
words and deeds of Muhammad
to everyday life.
Quran

• Koran
• Muhammad’s scribes wrote the
Quran
• It was written in Arabic with Allah as
the first person, speaking through
Gabriel to Muhammad. It contains
114 chapters which are called
surahs.
• Sharia Law is a system of law guided
by the Quran which regulates family
life, moral conduct and business and
community life of Muslims.