Paragraph 5.2 - The Arab Empire expands - 2021

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Paragraph 5.2 - The Arab Empire expands

Today

Goals

• You can tell about the start of Islam
• You can tell how Islam spread
• You can tell how the Muslims treated Jews and Christians 

Religion unifies

• Nomadic tribes in Arabia fought for centuries with each other
• 7th century: they united and establish an empire stretchin from India to Spain
• How? 
• Islam  

Think Abraham...

• Mainly Bedouin tribes (sheperds) in the Arabian Peninsula
• Also a lot of merchants (brought spices to Europe from at least the Greek period) 
• Large trading cities Mecca and Medina established by merchants

The beginning of Islam

•  Mohammed (Mecca +/- 570)
• Member of a tribe of merchants connected to Mecca, the Quraysh
• Around 610: revelations from God
• These revelations were recorded in the Quran

Muhammad was a                      : a messenger from God. 

His main message was that there was only one God called Allah (addition Mrs. Den Boer: the Arabic word for God). 

Some of the                      relentlessly rejected Muhammad’s preaching. 

They were the managers of the                  ,   the centre of religious life in Mecca. This building was packed with statues of many gods worshipped by the Arabs. 

It attracted many pilgrims, which was                             for trade in Mecca. 

The Quraysh saw Muhammad’s                                       religion, Islam as a threat to their wealth.

Ka'aba

prophet

Quraysh

favourable

monotheistic 

0

The flight of Mohammed to Medina is called...

1. Hijrah
2. Jihad
3. Quran
4. Baklava

The Hijrah represents...

1. the first year in the life of Mohammed as a Muslim
2. the last year of Muhammed's life
3. the first year of the Islamic calender
4. the first year of the expansion of Islam

The Ummah is...

1. The Arab tribes unitied
2. The Muslim community
3. The new name of the Ka' aba
4. The final day

Read together 

In Medina, Muhammad turned into a political leader. He successfully resolved conflicts between local tribes. A number of groups in Medina accepted his leadership. This caused the Ummah to grow.

Even during his stay in Medina, Muhammad was threatened by the Quraysh. This convinced the Ummah to use force against them. Besides being a prophet and a political leader, Muhammad now became a military leader.  

By 630 AD, Muhammad and his followers had become strong enough to defeat the Quraysh. They seized Mecca and removed the statues from the Ka’aba. From that moment, only Allah was worshipped in Mecca.

The struggle for God, the jihad, continued. Many tribes joined the Ummah. When Muhammad died in 632 AD, nearly all Arab tribes had recognised him as their leader.

Common goal

• After the death Mohammed a successor was elected 
• A caliph was both the political and spiritual leader of the Ummah
• A century after the death of Mohammed Islam was spread via conquest from Spain to India

Battle at Poitiers

732

• Franks and Arabs raided each other land regularly
• In 732 they fought at Poitiers, France 
• Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne, led the Frankish army and won 

Tolerant Islam

• Arabs did not occupy by force, but by tribute
• Townspeople mainly got a new small occupying force
• Jews and Christians could remain practising their religion
• Judaism and Christianity are religions of the Book
• They had to pay special taxes, were not allowed to carry weapons or to marry Muslim women

What is the most interesting fact/titbit you learned this lesson?