The spread of Islam: for centuries, the followers of Muhammad ruled one of the largest empires the world has been seen.

OBJECTIVES

Students should understand

* How Islam, which began with revelations to Muhammad in 610 A.D., spread.

TEACHING STRATEGY

Ask students which religions they think have the most followers worldwide. Students may be surprised to learn that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. Muslim scholars say that Islam draws many followers because of its specific guidelines for the social, economic, political, and spiritual aspects of life. According to scholars, Islam teaches an individual that the sacred and secular aspects of life are united.

BACKGROUND

All devout Muslims observe acts of worship known as the Five Pillars of Islam. The first pillar, Shahada, calls for Muslims to pledge devotion to Allah. The second, Salat, requires Muslims to pray five times a day. To perform the third pillar, Zakah, Muslims must donate a portion of their income to the needy. To fulfill the fourth pillar, Sawm, Muslims must fast during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The last pillar, Hajj, requires able Muslims to visit the holy city of Makkah (Mecca) at least once.

THINKING SKILLS

COMPREHENSION: Why did Muhammad and his followers face persecution? (When Islam was founded, most Arabs worshiped many gods and spirits. Muhammad's teachings called for worshiping Allah alone.)

MAIN IDEA: How far did the Muslim empire extend during its "Golden Age"? (The Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties pushed the empire east into the Indus Valley of India, south through North Africa, and west to include most of Spain.)

ACTIVITY

MAP OF ISLAMIC WORLD: Have students use an almanac and atlas to write a report about a Muslim nation, derailing how Islam influences the country's politics, culture, and economy.

No religion in history spread farther faster than Islam. Its prophet, Muhammad (moo-HAM-uhd), was a merchant from the Arabian city of Makkah (Mecca). In 610 A.D., according to Islamic teaching, Muhammad began to receive revelations from Allah (God in Arabic) through the angel Gabriel. The faith based on these revelations came to be called Islam, or surrender (to God's word), and its followers were called Muslims (those who surrender or submit).

At that time, most Arabs worshiped many gods and spirits. Muhammad persuaded Arab people to convert and worship only Allah. But many nonbelievers opposed and persecuted members of this new religion.

Muhammad and his followers were determined to defend themselves and to spread their faith. Within a century after Muhammad's death in 632 A.D., Islam would become an empire that stretched 4,000 miles--from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, over half the known world.

Who Should Lead?

After Muhammad's death, control passed to leaders called caliphs (KAY-luhfs), or captains. The first caliphs were men Muhammad had known or members of his family. Under their leadership, Muslim armies began to push into the old empires of Byzantium and Persia (see map).

These Arab warriors were fierce fighters--superb horsemen who stormed across the desert sands. In just 30 years, they conquered all of Arabia, Persia, Syria, and Egypt.

But the followers of Islam became bitterly divided over the question of Muhammad's rightful successor. Should it be a member of his family, such as his son-in-law, Ali? Or should it be an elected leader?

Civil war broke out when Ali became caliph. Soon afterward, he was assassinated. His death resulted in a division among Muslims--into the Shiah (SHEE-ah), or followers of Ali and his descendants, and the Sunni (SOON-ee), who continue to make up the majority of Muslims today.

The Golden Age

For six centuries, two dynasties (ruling families) dominated the empire of Islam, the Umayyads (oo-MY-adz) and Abbasids (uh-BAS-ihdz). These dynasties pushed the empire east into the Indus Valley of India, south through North Africa, and west to include most of Spain.

Muslim armies also crossed the Pyrenees mountains into France. But they were stopped in 732 A.D. in the Battle of Tours, in the western plains of present-day France, by the armies of the French prince Charles Martel.

When the Abbasid dynasty took power in 750, Europe was stuck in a period scholars once called the Dark Ages, making few advances in knowledge. In contrast, Islamic civilization reached a peak of sophistication and influence throughout the world.

In 762, the ancient city of Baghdad became the capital of the empire. Soon, the city was a trading crossroads and the destination for ships from the Far East and Africa.

Considered the richest city in the world, Baghdad also became a center of learning and the arts. Islamic thinking drew on the scholarship and traditions of Greece, Persia, and other great civilizations to create a thriving culture. One of the first medical schools opened in Baghdad. Students, poets, artists, and philosophers flocked to the city, which became a magical setting for some of the tales of A Thousand and One Nights.

Muslim scholars made enormous strides in astronomy, geography, mathematics, chemistry, and medicine. Muslim physicians produced the first great medical encyclopedia and helped to develop the practice of surgery, Algebra and the numerical system are among the many Arabic innovations we use today.

The Crusades

Through the centuries, trading was as important as conquest in expanding Islam's reach. Traders spread the faith to the islands of Indonesia, which today has the world's largest Muslim population.

But relations between the Muslim world and the Christian kingdoms of Europe were always troubled. In particular, Christians resented the Muslim capture of the holy city of Jerusalem in 638. In 1095, Pope Urban II called for a holy war against the Muslims. This led to the Crusades, a series of wars that lasted two centuries and ended in defeat for the Europeans.

The crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099 and held it until 1187, when Saladin, the sultan (ruler) of Egypt and the most famous of Muslim military heroes, recaptured it. Saladin was a brilliant, charismatic, and pious leader. He matched the Christians' zeal for holy war by embracing the Muslim religious duty of jihad (struggle). So successful was Saladin that his name became legendary even among his enemies.

In the end, the Europeans went home empty-handed. But they returned with a taste for such Middle Eastern goods as rice, lemons, and cotton. Ironically, the Crusade opened Europe to Middle Eastern trade and Islamic culture. Some historians say that the adventure-filled legends of King Arthur and his knights were adapted from similar traditions of Muslim warriors.

The Ottomans

Starting in the 10th century, the Abbasid dynasty experienced years of steady decline. It finally crumble for good in 1258, when Baghdad fell to the Mongols of Central Asia, the heirs of Genghis Khan.

The last great Islamic empire was the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish dynasty started in 130l in Asia Minor (part of modern-day Turkey). That empire lasted more than six centuries. At its peak, it included most of southeastern Europe, Palestine, Arabia, and North Africa.

But the Ottomans began to lose territory, and were defeated in World War I (1914-1918). What was left of the empire collapsed after the war. Many modern-day Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, emerged from the remains of the Ottoman Empire.

In the new country of Turkey, a military hero named Kemal Ataturk became President. He formed a secular (not religion-based) government that rejected the idea of an Islamic state.

Islam Today

Even though Islam is no longer an empire, it is still a major political force in many countries. Fundamentalist Muslims sparked a revolution that forced the secular government of Iran from power in 1979. Since then, secular and religious forces have continued to struggle for political control throughout the Middle East.

With more than 1.2 billion followers worldwide, Islam remains the fastest-growing religion. Only Christianity has more followers. The story of the rise and spread of Islam has been one of the most remarkable the world has ever seen.

Your Turn

WORD MATCH

1. nomadic          A. not religion-based
2. dynasty          B. struggle
3. caliph           C. ruling family
4. jidah            D. captain
5. secular          E. roaming

THINK ABOUT IT

1. What set Muhammad's beliefs apart from those of earlier Arabs?

2. Why is it important to understand the beliefs and practices of different religions?

ANSWERS

1. E

2. C

3. D

4. B

5. A