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Home , Kaaba, Muslims, People of the Book, Pilgrim

The Muslim NOTES (622-1650 CE)

The Rise of In Arabian town of , the marketplace echoed with the bargaining and bustle of business as usual. One corner, though, was hushed. There, a husky, -bearded man was speaking to a handful of followers:

In the name of , the Compassionate, the Merciful, Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe, The Compassionate, the Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of Judgment! You alone we worship, and to You alone we turn for help.

Some bowed their heads, moved by the beauty of ’s words. His wife, Khadija, a respected merchant, had fully accepted her husband’s vision. But many had their doubts. Muhammad had once been a good merchant himself. Surely, they thought, he was now mad.

In to come, Muhammad would be recognized by millions of as the . His followers would carry the message of Islam to people on three continents and set off one of the most powerful forces in world history.

Oasis Towns & Desert Life Islam appeared in the , part of southwestern . The peninsula is mostly desert, but farming is possible in scattered oases and other areas where there is enough water for irrigation.

Bedouins Many Arab clans occupied the region at the time of Muhammad. Nomadic herders, called , adapted to the conditions of the desert. Using camels, they crossed and recrosed long stretches of blistering, sandy desert in search of seasonal pasturelands. In this rugged environment, the Bedouins developed a strong tradition of hospitality and generosity toward travelers. At the same time, they acquired a strong sense of clan solidarity. Raids on scarce grazing territories led to frequent warfare. The Bedouins would be the backbone of the armies that conquered a huge in the 600s and .

Mecca Bedouins regularly traded with other who had settled in oasis towns like Mecca in western Arabia. This helped support a thriving economy. Mecca was a bustling market town at the crossroads of two main caravan routes. One route linked southern Arabia to and to and on the Mediterranean Coast. The other route crossed from to eastern . Silks, spices, and other luxuries passed through the bazaars of Mecca.

Mecca was also a thriving center. Arabs came to pray at the , an ancient that Muslims today believe was built by the prophet . In Muhammad’s time, though, the Kaaba housed statues of many local and The pilgrim traffic brought good profits to the local merchants.

The Prophet Muhammad Muhammad was born in Mecca about 570. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by an uncle. In his youth, he worked as a shepherd among Bedouins. Later, he led caravans across the desert and became a successful merchant. When he was about 25, Muhammad married Khadija, a wealthy older widow, who ran a prosperous caravan business. By all accounts, he was a devoted husband and a loving father to his daughters.

Muhammad’s Vision Troubled by the idol worship of the Arabs and by the moral ills of society, Muhummad often went to a lonely desert cave to pray and meditate. There, when he was about 40, he heard a voice saying, “Proclaim.” According to Muslim , the voice was that of the . “What shall I proclaim?” asked Muhammad doubtfully. The voice replied: “​Proclaim, in the name of your God, the Creator, Who created man from a clot of congealed blood. Proclaim! Your God is most generous, He who has taught man by the pen things they knew not.”​ The​ vision left Muhammad terrified and puzzled. How could he, an illiterate merchant, become the messenger of God? But Khadija encouraged him to accept the call. She became the first convert to the called Islam, from the word for “submission.” Muhammad devoted the rest of his life to spreading Islam. He urged people to give up their false gods and submit to the one true God.

The Hijra At first, few people listened to Muhammad. His rejection of the traditional Arab gods angered Meccan merchants who feared neglecting their idols and disrupting the pilgrim trade. In 622, faced with the threat of murder, Muhammad and his followers left Mecca for Yathrib, a journey known as the hijra. Later, Yathrib was renamed , or “ of the Prophet,” and 622 became the first of the Muslim calendar.

The hijra was a turning point for Islam. In Medina, Muhammad was welcomed by Muslim converts as ruler and lawgiver as well as God’s prophet. As his reputation grew, thousands of Arabs adopted Islam. From Medina, Muslims launched attacks on Meccan caravans and defeated the Meccans in battle. Finally, in 630, Muhammad returned in triumph to Mecca, where he destroyed the idols in the Kaaba.

Death of the Prophet In the next two years, Muhammad worked to unite Arabs. His death in 632 plunged his followers into grief. , an early convert to Islam, sternly told the faithful, “If you worship Muhammad, Muhammad is dead. If you worship God, God is alive.”

Islam survived the death of its prophet. Abu Bakr was elected the first caliph​, or successor to Muhammmad. Under the caliphs, the message of Islam quickly spread far beyond Arabia.

The Message of Islam Like and , Islam is based on strict . Muslims believe in one all-powerful, compassionate God, whose name in Arabic is . Islam also teaches that people are responsible for their own actions. “Whoever strays bears the full responsibility for straying,” states the , the text of Islam. Each individual will stand before God on the final judgement day and, depending on his or her actions, face either eternal punishment in or eternal bliss in . Muslims recognize no official who mediate between the people and God.

Five Pillars of Faith All Muslims accept five basic duties, known as the .

1. Declaration of Faith​: Muslims must declare, “There is no god, but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God.” Muslims believe that God had sent other , including Abraham, , and , but that Muhummad was the last and greatest prophet. 2. Daily ​: After a ritual washing, Muslims face the holy city of Mecca to pray. Although Muslims may pray anywhere, they often gather in houses of worship called ​​. 3. Giving to the Poor​: Mulims must give charity to the poor. 4. during ​: Muslims must fast from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca​: All Muslims who are able to take a ​​, or pilgrimage, to Mecca to visit the Kaaba, should do so. Pilgrims are required to wear simple so they all stand equal before God. Assignment #1

Task​: After reading the notes above, answer the following questions. You will need to answer the questions for Assignment #1 in a separate Google Doc. Share your work with me upon completion of BOTH assignments (​[email protected]​).

Questions

1. Read the following passage and identify two beliefs of Muslims that you can deduce from its words. Be sure to identify the words that led to your answers.

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe, The Compassionate, the Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of Judgment! You alone we worship, and to You alone we turn for help.

2. What is the geography of the Arabian Peninsula like? Where is farming possible? 3. Who were the Bedouins? What were they like as a people? 4. Why was Mecca an important city to the Arab people? 5. What is the Kaaba? 6. What was Muhammad’s profession? 7. What troubled Muhammad about the Arab people? How did he deal with his troubles? 8. As Muhammad meditated, whose voice did he hear? What did the voice say? 9. What is the new Muhammad founded? What does its name mean? 10. To what did Muhammad devote his life? 11. What did Muhammad to that angered Meccan merchants? Why did this anger them? How did they respond to Muhammad? 12. What is the Hijra? How was it a turning point for Islam? 13. What did Muhammad do upon returning to Mecca? 14. Upon Muhammad’s death, who did the Muslims turn to for direction? What is a caliph? 15. Is Islam polytheistic or monotheistic? What name do they give to their God? 16. Watch h​ ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgP_OSOS3IA​.

Assignment #2 Task​: After reading the notes below, answer the following questions. You will need to answer the questions for Assignment #2 in a separate Google Doc. Share your work with me upon completion of BOTH assignments (​[email protected]​).

What is Islam? Name of Muslims Followers

Name of God Allah

1. Why are Muslims, and considered Abrahamic ? are the monotheistic religions of the that trace their common origin to a person named Abraham. The three largest Abrahamic religions are Judaism (1000s B.C.E.), Christianity (30s C.E.) and Islam (600s C.E.) In the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, Christians and Jews are referred to "" 2. What do Muslims call Christians because they are followers of monotheistic Abrahamic and Jews? Why? religions. All the Abrahamic religions were established in current-day Middle East and are connected by a common belief in the same god and recognition of many of the same prophets.

3. In what order were the Abrahamic religions established?

Place of Origin

4. What are the three main commonalities between all Abrahamic religions?

Image was modified by New Visions (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International license). ​ ​ Original image is courtesy of Wikimedia and is in the public ​ ​ domain. 5. In addition to Prophet Muhammad, who are the other Muhammad, was a merchant born in the Arabian city of important prophets in Islam? Founder ​ Mecca. Muslims consider Muhammad to be the final and/or Major ​ prophet sent by God to mankind. Muslims revere other Figures prophets including Abraham, Jesus, and Moses.

The Qur’an is the holy book for Muslims. Muslims believe 6. According to Muslim belief, how ​ it was revealed in stages to the Prophet Muhammad over long did it take for the entire 23 years and written down into book form after Prophet Qur’an to be revealed to Muhammad’s death. Muslims believe the Qur’an is the Muhammad? sacred word of God. Muslims also believe that the Qur’an corrects any errors in previous holy books such as the Old and New Testaments. There are 114 chapters and the Qur'an is written in Arabic. Holy Texts 7. Other than the Qur’an, what is is another holy text in Islam. Hadith are reports another holy text in Islam? ​ of what the prophet Muhammad said or approved. These sayings were overheard and written by people other than Muhammad.

The star and symbol only became associated with Islam in the mid-20th Symbols century.

Crescent Moon by Federico Panzano is published on the Noun Project under the CC BY 3.0 US license. ​ ​ ​ ● Muslims are monotheistic and believe that there 8. How do Muslims view Jesus ​ ​ is only one God, Allah, which is the differently than Christians? for the same god worshipped by Jewish people and Christians. ● Main Beliefs: (1) Allah is the one and only God ​ (2) exist (3) The Qur'an and Hadith are holy books (4) Belief in the prophets mentioned in the and Holy including Abraham, Moses, , Jesus, and others and that Muhammad is the final prophet (5) Belief in the Day of Judgment when Allah will determine if Beliefs and you go to heaven or hell (6) Belief that Allah has Practices the knowledge of all that will happen, but that it does not prevent from having free will. ● Beliefs About Jesus: Unlike Christians, Muslims ​ do not believe that Jesus is God or the of God. Jesus is heavily discussed in the Qur’an as an important prophet but not as the son of God. ● Law: Sharia Law, or Islamic Law, is a set of ​ rules that come from the Qur'an (the Muslim holy book), the Hadith (sayings attributed to the prophet Muhammad) and fatwas (the rulings of Islamic scholars)

Muslims worship in mosques, houses of worship that point towards Mecca. They look different ​ ​ depending on where they are and who built them.

Places of Worship

Badshahi in , Lotfallah Mosque, Great Mosque of Xi'an — Xi'an, . Isfahan, . . Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Image is licensed under the Creative Commons ​ ​ ​ Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Attribution 2.5 Generic license. Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license..

Names of Spiritual leaders in Islam are called and shaykhs. Leaders ​ ​ ​ There are two Eids (festivals) ● Eid ul Fitr: Celebrates the end of the month of fasting called Ramadan ​ ● Eid ul Adha: Celebrates Abraham's willingness to his son when God ordered ​ him to Holidays

Five Pillars

Moral/Ethical Code of Conduct

Image modified by New Visions from Five pillars of Islam.svg by Xxedcxx which is published under the CC BY 3.0 Unported license. ​ ​ ​ ​

Percentage of Muslims Living in Each Country in the World (June 2014)

Muslim Percent Population v2.svg by Alketii is published under the CC BY-SA 4.0 International license. ​ ​ ​