What is Islam and Who are the Muslims?

SEPTEMBER 16 WARM-UP

What was the capital of Eastern Rome? Who was the emperor of Eastern Rome?

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?

Don’t STOP…Believing…..

Hold on to that Fe-e-e-e-lin

IslamIslam 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 KabbaKabba, a shrine containing idols of 360 different gods (including Allah)

IslamMohammad 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 AllahAllah (Arabic word for “god”; the same god as Christians & Jews)

Muhammad called his religion IslamIslam (“surrender to God”) & destroyed the other idols in the Kabba

Quick facts:–Followers of Islam

are called Muslims who believe in one God, called Allah

–Allah is the same God worshiped by Jews & Christians

–Muslims believe Muhammad was the last of God’s prophets

The teachings of Mohammed were

written down in the Qur'an (Koran), the holy book of Islam

IslamMohammad identified rules all

Muslims should live by, called the Five Pillars of IslamFive Pillars of Islam:–FaithFaith—believe in 1 god, Allah–PrayerPrayer—five times every day–AlmsAlms—give money to the needy–FastingFasting—eat no food from sunrise to

sunset for 1 month (Ramadan)–PilgrimagePilgrimage—one in life, go to Mecca

Muezzin Pilgrims Pilgrims in Meccain Mecca

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

Expansion of IslamMuslims 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:

1.convert to Islam2.pay a tax or3.die

What happened to Islam after Muhammad’s death?

Islam Islam split into 2 sects; after

Muhammad died, caliphscaliphs (followers of Muhammad) lead Islamic faith, but confusion over the “correct” leadership (caliph):–SunniSunni—caliphs should be chosen by

vote (95% Muslims are Sunni today)–ShiiteShiite—caliphs should come directly

from Muhammad’s family tree (more radical; 3% of all Muslims today)

The Islamic Empire After Muhammad, Islamic leaders created an empire:

- The Islamic Empire had well-trained troops that conquered nearby regions

- The massive empire led to great wealth for Muslims & new opportunities to spread Islam

Percentage Today of Sunni & Shi’a Muslims

Worldwide

BYZANTINESBYZANTINES

MUSLIMSMUSLIMS

Ottoman TurksTurks are nomads from Asia;

contact with Muslim Empire led to conversion of Turks to Islam

Ottoman TurksOttoman 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 EmpireOttoman Empire

Seige of Constantinople Seige of Constantinople (1453 A.D.)(1453 A.D.)

The Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire