Arabia

The Islamic World

Quickwrite

Your town is a crossroads for traders and herders. You have always lived in town, but sometimes you envy the freedom of the desert travelers. Your uncle, a trader, says you are old enough to join his caravan. It would mean traveling many days by camel. Your parents don’t like the idea but will let you decide.

Will you join the caravan? Why or why not?

Geography The Arabian

Peninsula

In southwest Asia between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

At the intersection of three continents –Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Mostly a hot and dry desert.

Geography

The Arabian Peninsula is in southwest Asia between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

From the air, you see vast deserts dotted by oases. Coastal plains line the southern and western coasts. Mountain ranges divide these coastal plains from the deserts.

The hot, dry Arabian Peninsula is a challenging place to live.

Geography

Geography

The Desert:

Covers about ¾ of the Arabian Peninsula.

Summer temps often above 120 degrees. Winter and nighttime temps below freezing

Rainfall is very low and long droughts are common

Powerful winds and blinding sandstorms

Sand dunes rise as high as 800 feet!

Geography

The desert is dotted with oases, areas where fresh water is available – water is trapped under the ground and seeps to the surface as a spring or waterhole.

Oases are important because they provide plant life and shade as well as water.

The date palm became a valuable resource. They only needed water for roots. They provided shade, wood and food.

Towns developed around oases.

Geography

The Coastal Plain

Along the coasts of the peninsula and they separate inland plateaus from the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf.

Suitable for farming.

The Mountains

The largest ranges are along the western and southern edges of the peninsula. They divide the coastal plain from the desert.

Rise from 1,000 to 12,000 feet high.

Economy and Trade

The Arabian Peninsula is a crossroads location for trade.

Quickwrite:

What does this mean? Can you think of who might trade here? What would they trade?

Economy and Trade

Crossroads between Africa, Asia and Europe

Merchants traded along trade routes on land and sea.

Camels were the vehicle of choice on land – the “ship of the desert”.

Merchants traded spices, silk, and gold. They exported jewelry, glass, and clothing.

Arabs got cotton, rice, and oranges from India, China and Southeast Asia.

Arabs got ivory, cloves, slaves, and gold from Africa – they traded with porcelain from China, cloth from India, iron from Europe and salt from north of the desert.

Economy and Trade Trade brought many different groups of people through Arabia.

New products and ideas were introduced and influenced Arabian culture and society.

Over land trade was accomplished by using camels and caravans. Caravans were people who traveled together through the desert and relied on oases for water and shade.

Economy and Trade Two ways of life:

Nomads Lived in tents and raised

herds of sheep, goats, and camels.

They moved along regular routes and depended on camels for transportation.

Townspeople Settled in oases where they

could farm.

Towns became centers of trade for nomads and townspeople.

Souk – a market or bazaar in a town. Trade took place in the souk.

A Story You get to be the camel!!

Your assignment will be to write a journal entry describing a trip from a desert oasis, where your owner has spent the day trading at the souk, to a city on the coastal plain during the sixth century.

You will write your journal from the perspective of the CAMEL!

Religion and Culture Born in Mecca around 570 C.E.

His father died before he was born, his mother died when he was 6

He was raised by his uncle who was a caravan merchant This gave Muhammad the

chance to visit places such as Syria and Jerusalem.

When he got older, he managed a caravan business owned by Khadijah. She was so impressed by him that she proposed marriage – they were married when Muhammad was 25 years old.

Muhammad

Religion and Culture Muhammad was a very fair person –

he was concerned that all of the wealthy people of Mecca were keeping all the money and not helping the poor.

He would go to the hills to meditate

When he was 40 he heard a voice calling him to a cave and telling him to “Recite!”

He was told that there was only one God (Allah) and that an angel had been sent to him in the cave to receive God’s message and make him a prophet.

At first he was reluctant to share this message and told only his wife – but by 613 C.E. he had started to share his message.

Islam

Muhammad’s teachings formed the religion of Islam and influenced an entire culture

Muslims are the followers of Islam

Qur’an – the holy book of Islam – contains messages that Muhammad claimed were from God

Islam

Teachings of Muhammad and Islam:

Monotheistic – belief in one God

Paradise for believers, suffering for others

Preparations for worship – wash before

Encouraged the freeing of slaves

Women’s rights – own property, earn money, get an education

Jihad – “to make an effort or to struggle” (struggle within to follow Islamic ways. External struggle is to protect Muslim community – “holy war”)

Sunnah – a book - refers to the way Muhammad lived, which provides a model for the duties and way of life expected of Muslims.

Islam

Opposition to Islam in Arabia:

Muhammad’s teachings upset many Arabs They were told to stop worshipping multiple gods

Merchants believed they would lose business if believers stopped making the pilgrimage to Mecca to worship gods and goddesses in the Kaaba.

Muslim people (who follow Islam) have five duties which are called the Five Pillars of Islam. Every

Muslim tries to carry out these five things, and it helps them to feel that they are members of the

worldwide Muslim community.

The Five Pillars of Islam

Pillar 1: SHAHADA

This Pillar is a statement of faith - believing and saying the words. “There is no god except God,

Muhammad is the messenger of God”.

Muslims say this when they are praying

This Pillar is praying five times a day. There are set prayers which Muslims should say, and all Muslims should face Mecca in Arabia when praying, and should pray on a prayer mat.

People should wash before they pray. There are fixed movements, which include kneeling with

the forehead placed on the ground in front. This expresses the servant status of the human

being in relation to Allah.

Pillar 2:SALAT

Pillar 3: ZAKAT

Each year, Muslims are supposed to give a some of their savings for charity such as helping the poor. In this way, they believe that their wealth

is “made pure”

Pillar 4: SAWM

Muslim people must not eat food or drink during the month of Ramadan during daylight hours.

Pillar 5: HAJJ

This is making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life, if it can be afforded.

Sources of Belief

Qur’an – holy book that includes all the messages that Muhammad received from God.

Sunnah – Muhammad’s example for the duties and way of life expected of Muslims.

Shariah – Islamic law, based on interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Politics - After Muhammad

Abu Bakr becomes Caliph – highest leader of Islam

One of Muhammad’s first converts.

The caliph had to follow Muhammad’s example.

Not religious leaders – he was a political and military leader.

Politics

Muslims conquer lands – the Persian and Byzantine Empires

Make treaties with non-Muslims. Jews and Christians often had to follow special rules and pay a special tax.

Politics

Growth:

The Umayyads – moved capital from Medina to Damascus.

The Abbasids – reorganized the government and made it easier to rule a large region.

Growth through trade, warfare and treaties caused a mix of cultures.

Politics

The Cities

Baghdad – capital of the Islamic Empire in 762 – trade, farming, art was important. It was between two rivers and was known as the

round city. It had three round walls surrounding it. The caliph was at the center, then army houses, and on the outside were the citizens.

Cordoba – capital of what is now Spain in 756 – It became a center of learning. It was also a center of Jewish culture.

Science & Technology

Observatories to study moon, sun, and stars (time/clock making)

Astrolabe (invented by Greeks, but improved by Muslims) to chart position of stars and figure out their location

Science & Technology

Geography

Advances in map making – much more accurate

Found better ways to calculate distances

Science & Technology

Math

In the 800s they combined the Indian number system, including the use of zero with the Greek science of mathematics.

Used these new ideas to write a math textbook al-jabr or “algebra” – this laid the foundation for

the modern algebra that students still use today.

Science & Technology

Medicine

Muslim doctors had to take tests before treating people

Made encyclopedia of drugs and their effects

Wrote descriptions of diseases

Started first pharmacy school

Public hospital in Baghdad

Science & Technology

Philosophy

Focus on spiritual issues – Sufism Sufism – teaches that people

can find God’s love by having a personal relationship with God.

Literature

Poetry and short stories – The Thousand and One Nights with Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin, and Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.

Science & Technology

Architecture

Mosques with minarets

palaces, marketplaces, libraries (domes, arches, colored bricks, decorative tiles)

Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Science & Technology Art

Muslim art does not show any animals or humans – Muslims believe that only Allah can create animals or humans or their images.

Calligraphy – decorative writing. Muslims used calligraphy to make sayings from the Qur’an into great works of art.

Science & Technology

Other advancements:

Polo – became a sport for the wealthy

Chess – imported from India – became a game to intellectually challenge the wealthy

Banking System – got our word “check” from the Arabic word “sakk”. Developed a system of banks and branches. Advanced international trade.