Ch. 2, Sec. 2 Notes – Islamic Empires

The Caliph• When Muhammad

died in 632 A.D., conflicts over who should be his successor erupted

• Caliph = successor to the Messenger of God

• First four caliphs all had direct ties to Muhammad

The Spread of Islam• Abu Bakr,

Muhammad’s father-in-law and first caliph, put down a rebellion and began to invade Syria until he died in 634 A.D.

• By 661 A.D., the Islamic empire included all of Arabia, Persia, Palestine, and Egypt

Why did Islam spread so quickly?

• Arabs were skilled fighters on horse, camelback

• Many fought to spread the Islam

• “People of the Book” policy allowed Christians, Jews to freely practice as long as they pay the tax

• Muslims encouraged and attracted people to accept Islam, learn Arabic

Islamic Dynasties• Umayyad dynasty ruled

from 661 to 750 A.C.E. – Their capital was Damascus, Syria

• Umayyads lost power in 750 A.C.E. after angering many Persians

• Abbasid dynasty next took power, ruling until 1258 A.C.E.

• The Abbasids ruled from Baghdad and devoted much of their time to trade, scholarship, and the arts

Sunnis & Shiites• The quarrel over who

should succeed Muhammad eventually split Islam

• Shiites (also known as the Shi’a) thought that the caliph should be descendants of Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law and the fourth caliph

• Sunnis accepted the Umayyad dynasty’s rule even though they did not always agree with them

• Most Muslims today are Sunni; most Shiites can be found in Iran or Iraq

Muslims in Spain• Muslims reached

Spain from North Africa, bringing their religion, customs, and culture

• Córdoba was the capital

• Córdoba became world famous a center of learning

Other Islamic Empires• For more than 200

years, Seljuk Turks of Central Asia took over Iran, Turkey, and even Baghdad from the Abbasids

• The Ottomans sacked Constantinople, ending over 1,000 years of the Byzantine Empire

• During the 1500s, the Moguls created a Muslim empire in India