What was Arabia like before Muhammad?

Overview of Islam

• Today, Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion with more than 1 billion followers throughout the world

What was Arabia like before Muhammad?

Islam

• Islam is a monotheistic religion that began in city of Mecca located on the Arabian Peninsula near the Byzantine Empire
• Arabians were polytheistic & came to visit Mecca to pray to the Kabba, a shrine containing idols of 360 different gods (including Allah)

Islam

• Mohammad was born in Mecca & was interested in monotheism of Jews & Christians who traded in Mecca
• At age 40, Mohammad had a vision that told him he was a messenger of Allah (Arabic word for “god”; the same god as Christians & Jews)
• Muhammad called his religion Islam (“surrender to God”) & destroyed the other idols in the Kabba

Islam

• Mohammad identified rules all Muslims should live by, called the Five Pillars of Islam:
• Faith—believe in 1 god, Allah
• Prayer—five times every day
• Alms—give money to the needy
• Fasting—eat no food from sunrise to sunset for 1 month (Ramadan)
• Pilgrimage—one in life, go to Mecca

• Muezzin

• Pilgrims in Mecca

Islam

• Islam
• became
• a very
• popular
• religion in
• Mecca and
• Medina.

Expansion of Islam

• Muslims began to expand; idea of jihad taught that Muslims would go straight to heaven if died fighting for Allah; so they fought very hard to expand.
• Holy wars were considered okay in God's eyes.

• Islam expanded into a huge empire including Spain, Northern Africa, Persia, and Arabia.

Expansion of Islam

• Expanded Arabic language and cultural innovations.
• Islamic rulers proved mostly tolerant, they offered new subjects three choices:
• convert to Islam
• pay a tax or
• die

Islam

• Like Christianity, Islam split into 2 sects; after Muhammad died, caliphs (followers of Muhammad) lead Islamic faith, but confusion over the “correct” leadership (caliph):
• Sunni—caliphs should be chosen by vote (95% Muslims are Sunni today)
• Shiite—caliphs should come directly from Muhammad’s family tree (more radical; 3% of all Muslims today)

• Percentage Today of Sunni & Shi’a Muslims Worldwide

• BYZANTINES

• MUSLIMS

Ottoman Turks

• Turks are nomads from Asia; contact with Muslim Empire led to conversion of Turks to Islam
• Ottoman Turks—Most powerful group of Turks began to grow strong as Byzantine Empire and Islamic Empire began to weaken
• Defeated both Islamic Empire & Byzantine Empire; created Ottoman Empire

• Seige of Constantinople (1453 A.D.)

• The Ottoman Empire