c. 570 Muhammad born at Mecca

610 First revelation to Muhammad

622 Muslim emigration to Medina

630 Muslim conquest of Mecca

632 Death of Muhammad. Arabia mostlyMuslim at this point

haram Ka‘ba

Map Link: The Middle East in the 6th Century:

<http://www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/me6thc.gif>

Qur’an 96: 1-5:

1. Read in the name of thy Lord who created,2. Created man from a blood-clot.3. Read, for thy Lord is the Most Generous,4. Who taught by the pen,5. Taught man that which he knew not.

The Rashidun (rightly-guided caliphs)

632-634 Abu Bakr634-644 ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab644-656 ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan656-661 ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib

khalifa = caliph = “successor”

The Umayyads

Reign as caliphs, 661-750

Opposed by (among others), shi‘at ‘Ali (theparty of ‘Ali, Shi‘ites)

Reign sees Muslim world expand greatly,various administrative structuresestablished and cultural and intellectualadvances made

Map Link: The Muslim Conquests:

<http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gzetlian/images/maps/muslimconquestsmap.gif>

The ‘Abbasids

Overthrow Umayyads in 750

One Umayyad, ‘Abd al-Rahman,escapes to Spain, sets up dynastythere

Baghdad, the ‘Abbasid capital, becomesa flourishing cultural and intellectualcentre in the 8th and 9th centuries

The ‘Abbasids

c. 750-1000 Classical works passingfrom Muslim world into Europe

786-809 Reign of Harun al-Rashid

813-833 Reign of al-Ma’mun

al-jabr algebraal-Khwarizmi algorithm

9th century sees gradual fragmentation ofMuslim world due to:

1. Domination of caliphs by troops2. Growing independence of regional

governors3. Lost tax revenues preventing

caliphs from paying troops

Establishment of independent dynastiesincluding Shi‘ite Fatimids

Topics in the Qur’an

The nature of God

Stories of the prophets

Laws and social teaching

Day of Judgment

The “Pillars” of IslamShahada (testimony)

la ilaha illa Allah(There is no god except God)

Muhammadun rasul Allah(Muhammad is the messenger of God)

The “Pillars” of IslamShahada (testimony)

Salat (ritual prayer)

Zakat (alms tax)

Sawm (fasting)

Hajj (pilgrimage)

Other topics:

• jihad

• non-Muslims under Muslim rule