Week 15 Schedule
Week 15 Schedule:
| Due Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| Apr 29 |
Read & Examine: Week # 15 Module Textbook: Chapter 11 Watch: All Videos |
Image: Islamic Map
Topic:
Rise of Islam
Despite its proximity to the eastern Mediterranean basin, Arabia in the centuries before Islam was relatively isolated and turned more towards the Arabian Sea. By 400 B.C.E., southern Arab city-states had used camels and ships to create a commercial network over land and by sea. The rise of alternative trade routes weakened the city-states of southern Arabia. As this happened, regional powers engaged in a military, commercial, and religious contest for Arabia. It was in this context that monotheistic beliefs gained prominence in Arabia. The decline of the southern Arabian states was also important because their destruction paved the way for the rise of Mecca.
Born around 570 in Mecca, Muhammad grew up in a family of merchants. In 610 he experienced a series of revelations through the Archangel Gabriel, which were written down in the Qur’an. Muhammad claimed they came directly from Allah, the one and only God. Muhammad’s definition of God and of worshippers’ relations to him paralleled those of other monotheistic religions. Muhammad believed that, as the last and greatest of God’s prophets, it was his mission to bring the peoples of Arabia to the new faith. When he began to preach publicly, he encountered opposition and was forced to flee Mecca and travel to Medina. Muhammad built the first umma, or Islamic community, in Medina.
Islam’s second generation spread the new religion beyond the Arabian Peninsula. Their advance startled the rulers of the long-established empires of Persia and Byzantium, who had not anticipated either a military or political challenge from Arabia. Barely three decades after the death of the Prophet, Islamic forces were masters of an extensive empire of their own. In the mid-seventh century, succession conflicts led to the creation of the Umayyad Caliphate and the division within Islam between Sunnis and Shi’ites.
Preaching total submission to the will of God, Islam changed all the societies and cultures it conquered, blending with them to produce an entirely new Islamic society and culture. Among the distinctive creations of Islamic culture was the mosque. The God-centric nature of Muslim society was probably most completely expressed in Islamic law. Islamic law, or Shari`ah, is essentially moral and spiritual, offering a foundation for personal conduct and daily life. Large sections are concerned with family life and gender relations. Tolerance of other creeds was characteristic of most Islamic societies, but this did not prevent non-Muslims from resisting Islamic conquest.
Goals:
Learning Objectives:
- Examine the major historical events that led to rise of Islam.
- Explore the divisions within the religion.
- Analyze the factors that led to the expansion of the Islamic Empire.