Muslims and their Empire

Chapter 10

Muslim Culture

Chapter 10 Section 3

• Muslims believe Muhammad a prophet of God (Allah).

• A prophet is a person who believes that he or she is spoken to by God.

• A prophet tells others what God has said.

• Muhammad said that the name of God is Allah. He said that people must obey Allah by being kind and fair to each other.

• He also said that all Muslims must perform five duties. These duties are called the Five Pillars of Islam.

• The first duty is to make a statement about one’s belief in Islam.

• This statement should be “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.”

• The second duty is to pray five times a day while facing Mecca.

• The third duty is to give money to help the poor.

• The fourth duty is to not eat or drink anything during the daylight hours of one month. This month is the Islamic month called Ramadan.

• The fifth duty is to make at least one pilgrimage, or journey, if you can afford to do so,called the hajj, to Mecca.

• The teachings of Muhammad are in a book called the Koran (Qur’an).

• Muslims in all parts of the world read and study the Koran.

• The Koran tells a person how to be a good Muslim.

• The traditional law for the Muslims is the Sharia.

• The Muslim Empire also became a center of learning.• The Abassid dynasty started many schools in cities such as Baghdad.

• Muslims learned much about science, math, and art from the people in the conquered lands.

• Muslims also spread new ideas across the empire.

• The Muslim scholar, Al-Khwarizmi, used Hindu numbers to create new a type of math called Algebra. The word Algebra derives from the Arabic word AlJabar. 

•

• The word AlJabar means "bringing together separate parts".

• The Muslim Empire became a center of culture during the Middle Ages.

• Many Muslims wrote poems and stories.

• They made beautiful works of art.

• The Muslims built great cities and beautiful buildings.

• Some of these great buildings were mosques.

• A mosque is a place where Muslims worship Allah.

• One of the most famous mosques is the Dome of the Rock in the city of Jerusalem.