5.2 The Arab Empire expands

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• Leerjaar 1

5.2 The Arab Empire expands

What do you know of the Islam?

Goals

The student can explain how Islam was founded:

• The role of Muhammad
• Why Muhammad had to flee Mecca
• The beginning of the Islamic calendar
• The role of the caliph
• Where in the world Islam was the main religion in the 7th and 8th century

The student can explain how Christians and Jewish people were treated in Islamic territories.

The Arab empire

• In the 6th century, the Arabs believed in many gods
  
• In Mecca, you had the Ka'aba: the centre of religious life. The Arabs worshipped their gods here. 
• Mecca was located on a crossroad of trade routes. It was an important trading city. 
• Many people, including merchants, travelled to Mecca to visit the Ka'aba and pray to their gods. 

A vision

• Muhammad was a merchant from Mecca
• In a dream, he received a vision/revelation: an angel told him there was just one god: Allah. People that get messages from God are called a prophet. 
• Muhammad told people in Mecca about his dream, but the managers of the Ka'aba were afraid that the rise of this new religion would be a threat to their wealth -> pilgrims would stop coming if you could only worship one god at the Ka'aba. 
• Result = Muhammad had to flee from the city. He went to Medina in 622 (Hijrah). This is the beginning of the Islamic calendar. 

In what year do we live according to the Islamic calendar? 

1. 2640
2. 1442
3. 622
4. 1854

Back to Mecca 

• With a big group of his followers (Muslims), Mohammed returned to Mecca in 630. They were successful and seized the city. 
• Many citizens in Mecca became Muslims
• The statues at the Ka'aba were removed. Only Allah was allowed to be worshipped in Mecca. 
• Muhammad's revelations are recorded in the Quran 

Relation with Jewish and Christian people

In the newly conquered territories lived Jews and Christians. What happened to them when their land was conquered by the Arabs?

Positive:

• Jewish and Christians were allowed to keep practising their own religions

Negative:

• They had to pay taxes to the Muslim leaders
• They were not allowed to carry weapons
• They were not allowed to marry a Muslim woman
• They were not allowed to carry out certain jobs

What belongs to which religion?

Christianity

Islam

Both

Muhammed

Monotheism

Church

Mosque

Mecca

Bible

Jezus

Quran

Learning from each other

• Through their conquests, the Arabs collected a lot of information. 
• Medicine and health: the Arabs learned you can prevent a lot of illnesses with good hygiene
• Mathematics: the Arabs learned that with the numbers 0 - 9, calculations are much easier than with Roman numerals 
• Geography: Arab scholars collected and combined knowledge of the world and made better maps.