Islam

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The Rise of Islam
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• What do you know about
• Islam?
• What have you heard about
• Islam?
• Tell me five things about Islam.

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The Rise of Islam

• Islam Submission to will of Allah (god)
• Muslim One who has submitted

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The Arabian Peninsula
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The Rise of Islam

• Setting the Stage The Arabian Peninsula
• Connection to 3 Continents
• Africa, Asia, and Europe
• Mostly desert with few oases for little
  agriculture
• Desert inhabited by nomadic Arab herders

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The Rise of Islam

• Bedouins Arab nomads organized into tribes and
  clans
• Had ideals of courage loyalty to the family
• Possessed warrior skills
• Would become part of Islamic way of life

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The Rise of Islam

• Mecca City in Western Arabia (Modern day Saudi
  Arabia)
• Kaaba ancient shrine people came to worship at
• Black stone- built by Abraham and son Ishmael
• Contained 360 idols worshipped by many tribes

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What is the black object at the center and what
is happening?
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The Kaaba
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The Kaaba
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• Men and Women are Equal
• Forced Marriages
• No Womens Rights
• Women not allowed to show face
• The Koran teaches tolerance
• Terrorism is associated with Islam

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The Rise of Islam

• Muhammad
• Orphaned at age 6 and raised by grandfather and
  uncle
• At age 25 Muhammad became a businessman and
  trader
• Married Khadijah, a businesswoman
• Life changes While meditating in a cave, he is
  visited by angel Gabriel who proclaims to
  Muhammad to preach message that there is only one
  true god
• Began to preach and spread Islam
• Not seen as divine (having extra power)

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The Islamic World is not at all a monolithic
entity
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A Bit About Arabic

• Semitic Languages based on three-letter roots
• Example s-l-m, connotes wisdom, harmony
• Salaam, peace
• Suleiman (Solomon)
• Islam (submission to divine will)
• Muslim (one who submits to divine will)

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A Bit About Arabic

• European languages modify words mostly through
  suffixes
• Arabic relies extensively on prefixes as well
• Hence there are no simple alphabetical
  dictionaries of Arabic
• Arabic has numerous sounds not found in English
• Arabic omits most short vowels in print
• Arabic does not distinguish o and u clearly, or e
  and i.
• There is no single way to transliterate Arabic
  and English

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• Written Arabic isnt spoken
• Spoken Arabic isnt written
• Arabic is the language of the Koran and all
  Arabic speakers insist they speak Arabic
• Linguists would (and some do) subdivide Arabic
  into 5-6 distinct languages

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Arabia in Mohammed's time

• Various tribal religions
• Jewish communities
• Christian communities, usually splinter sects

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Mohammed

• Born about 570 in Mecca
• About 610, claims to receive visions and
  messages.
• These collected and written down about 650 as the
  Koran.
• Flees to Medina, 622 (hegira)
• Return to Mecca, 630
• Unified Arabia by the time of his death in 632

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The Pillars of Islam

• 1. Creed
• 2. Five daily prayers
• 3. Alms
• 4. Fasting during Ramadan
• 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)Haji denotes one
  who has made the Hajj
• Some authorities add a sixth pillar6. Jihad or
  Holy War in defense of Islam.Means active
  opposition to evil and injustice, more than
  literal warfare.

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Sources of Islamic Doctrine

• Koran (from root meaning read or study)
• Hadith (tradition) traditional sayings of
  Mohammed and other early followers
• Tradition of the Mahdi
• Sharia (way) Codified Islamic Law

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The Koran

• About as long as the New Testament
• 114 suras, arranged from longest to shortest
• Most suras are collections of Mohammeds
  teachings with no overall theme
• Suras are labeled by distinctive or unusual words
  found in each
• No historical chapters
• Considered the definitive form of Arabic
• Strictly speaking, cannot be translated, only
  paraphrased

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The spread of Islam

• Inherent appeal
• Simplicity
• Equality
• Rights for Women
• High moral teachings
• Jihad
• Military skill
• Good government
• Tolerance

• Conversion Incentives
• Tax on "People of the Book - Originally
  Christians and Jews, later Hindus and certain
  other groups as well.
• Forced conversion of pagans
• Trade
• Indonesia and sub-Saharan Africa

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The spread of Islam
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Schism about 700 A.D.

• Reasons
• Succession to Caliphate (Kalifa, successor
  successor of Mohammed)
• Incorporation of non-Koranic elements into Islam
• Worldliness of Caliphs, discrimination against
  non-Arab Muslims
• Shiites (shia party or faction) about 10
  (mostly Iran)
• Fundamentalist?
• Sunnites (Sunna beaten path) about 90

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Effects of Islam

• Preserve classical learning
• Innovations in astronomy and mathematics
• Link between East and West
• "Arabic" numbers from India
• Trigonometry also from India
• Sanctuary for Judaism

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A Few Arabic Contributions

• Alcohol
• Alkali
• Alchemy
• Benzine
• Boron
• Zircon
• Jar

• Alfalfa
• Algorithm
• Algebra
• Almanac
• Azimuth
• Alidade
• Most Star Names

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Star Names
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The Spanish Connection

• Wadi-al-yahara (Valley of Flowing Water) ?
  Guadalajara
• Al-ghattas (type of sea bird) ?Alcatraz (pelican)
• Al-amir-al-bahr (lord of the sea) ?Almirante
  ?Admiral
• Jebel Tariq (Tariqs mountain) ?Gibraltar
• Much Spanish architecture is actually Arabic