1' Arabian peninsula

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1.) Arabian peninsula

• Arid climate
• Small oases were basis of towns and trade.
• Populated by nomadic herdsmen called Bedouins
  (Arabs).
• No major rivers

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2.) Shaykhs

• Tribal leaders, usually elected by tribal elders.
• Typically they were the wealthiest men and
  therefore most prominent.

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3.) Arab Clans

• Developed from their constant competition for
  scarce resources.
• Lack of major river meant there was no common
  community.
• Fought constantly.
• Clan loyalty was more important than loyalty to a
  greater community.

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4. Mecca and Medina

• Mecca was the site of the Kaaba (Kaaba), a
  shrine. It had grown through religious pilgrims
  and their trade.
• Medina had become a major trade center due to
  its location on an oasis.

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5. Roles of women

• Pre-Islamic Arab women enjoyed greater freedoms
  and status than those in neighboring areas.
• They had important roles in the nomadic economy
  (milking, weaving).
• Sometimes matriarchal lineage.
• Not bound to any custom concerning clothing, etc.
  (no veils)

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6. Bedouin religion

• Polytheistic
• Form of animism.
• Did have a belief in a supreme God, but focused
  mainly on local deities.
• Their gods and spirits were mainly associated
  with the night.
• Little to do with ethics.

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7. Mohammad

• Born around 570 in Mecca.
• Prominent clan, raised by an uncle.
• Middle class merchant.
• His role as merchant may have led to contact with
  other monotheistic religions (Judaism and
  Christianity).

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8. Conversion

• Received a revelation from the angel Gabriel.
• Gabriel revealed to Mohammad the Quran (Koran).
• Islam means submission.

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9. Flight to Medina (Hijra)

• Mohammads first converts were his wife and his
  father-in-law.
• He was very unpopular in Mecca as he spread his
  new faith because monotheism threatened trade in
  Mecca. Mohammad fled for his life to Medina

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In Medina

• In Medina he united their clans, raised an army,
  and returned to Mecca and conquered it,
  establishing the first Islamic state.

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10. The Three Abrahamic Faiths

• All monotheistic
• All consider Abraham (Ibrahim) to be their
  patriarch.
• Allah, Yawheh, Jehovah.
• Muslims believe in no intermediaries between God
  and man.
• Christians believe that Christ was the son of
  God.
• Muslims believe in a Judgment Day.
• Muslims believe in observing the law, as do Jews.
• All recognize the 10 commandments.
• R-Dome of the Rock

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11. The umma

• Umma means community of the faithful. This
  concept overcame the old tribal hatreds and
  rivalries and for the first time ever the Arabs
  were united. Their culture began to spread.

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12. Ethics and law

• Give to charity stresses the equality of all
  Muslims in the eyes of God moral code stressed
  responsibilities of the rich and upper classes
  their moral code was intended to prepare them for
  Judgment.

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13. Spread of Islam

• Uncompromising monotheism strong sense of
  community well developed legal codes (Sharia)

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14. Five Pillars

• Confession of Faith there is no God but Allah,
  and Mohammad is his Prophet.
• Must pray 5 times daily, facing Mecca.
• Must fast during Ramadan.
• Must give to the poor. (zakat)
• Must make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in
  your life.

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15. What disputes arose upon the death of
Mohammad?

• Mohammad had no heir and no clear successor, so a
  dispute happened between the followers of Ali and
  Abu Bakr.
• This split produced the modern day division
  between Sunnis and Shiites.

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16. Weakening Empires

• Byzantine and Persian Empires

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17. Motivations for Expansion

• New sense of common cause and strength
• Wanted to expand religion of Islam
• Arab aggression was now channeled against
  outsiders
• Promise of a share in the wealth that was
  captured from conquered cities

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18. Byzantine Weaknesses

• Byzantines heavily taxed their subjects, who
  resented it. These people saw the Arabs as
  liberators and were easy to convert.
• The Byzantines lost ground in Turkey, Palestine,
  and Egypt.

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19. The Umayyads

• Mohammads earliest enemies
• Caliphate established in Jerusalem
• Political center of Islam eventually shifted to
  Damascus

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20. Sunni and Shia Split

• The Sunnis backed the Umayyads, whereas the
  Shias believed that Ali was the rightful caliph.
• Today, this split remain the most fundamental in
  the Islam world.

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21. Territorial Gains

• Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Tunis, Northwest India,
  Central Asia, Straits of Gibraltar

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22. Social Hierarchy

• Muslim Arabs were first-class citizens and taxed
  very lightly. They made up the core of the army.
• Muslim converts (mawali) had to pay property
  taxes and in some cases a nonbeliever tax. They
  were not eligible for government positions. They
  werent consider full members of the umma.

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23. The Dhimmi

• People of the book. Christians and Jews who
  lived in areas that had been conquered. They were
  generally tolerated by the Muslims their
  communities and legal systems were left intact.
  Also they had to pay the head tax (jizya).

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24. Women in the Umayyad Age

• Women were some of Mohammads earliest and
  bravest followers.
• They were not allowed to lead prayers, but could
  play active roles in the community.
• Pursued different occupations, including
  scholarship, law, and commerce.
• They were much more independent than their modern
  counterparts in many ways.

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25. Umayyad Decline

• They became corrupted by wealth and preoccupied
  with luxuries.
• Began to alienate their Muslim followers.

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26. Abbasid Empire

• Openly challenged the Umayyads in the 740s.
• Forged alliances with groups that resisted the
  Umayyads.
• Traced their descent from Mohammads uncle, Abu
  al-Abbas.
• They slaughtered most of the ruling family of the
  Umayyad clan.

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27. Abbasid Religion

• They were associated with the Sunnis.
• They built their capital at Baghdad. Baghdad
  became the central city for Muslim for many years.

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28. Wazirs

• Chief administrator of the caliphs council.
• The wazir reflects the growing bureaucracy of the
  Islam empire.

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29. Islamic Converts

• They did not have to pay the head tax.
• Greater learning opportunities
• It reflects a religious tolerance that would last
  until the 20th century.

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30. Trade in the Abbasid Empire

• Wealth that came from taxation was spent on
  infrastructure, religious schools, baths,
  hospitals.
• They also had an explosion in artwork and
  culture.
• Trade network linked them with China in the east
  and Medieval Europe in the west (Silk Road).

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31. Dhow

• Sailing vessels with triangular sails.
• Main trading ships in the Persian Gulf and
  Arabian Sea.
• Also traded down the coast of Africa, as far as
  Madagascar and as far east as Indonesia.

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32. Slavery in the Abbasid Empire

• They carried out most of the unskilled labor.
• Most of them were captured non-Muslims taken from
  East Africa.

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33. Abbasid Cultural Contributions

• Construction of great mosques.
• They preserved ancient Greek and Roman knowledge.
  They recopied those writings into Arabic.
• They introduced Arab (Hindu) numbers in the West.
• They introduced algebra and the place value
  system.
• Works of literature, such as the 1,001 Nights.

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Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
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The Abbasid Revolt
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