o I Á

I 700 800 900

The Rise of Islam

The religion of Islam was directly
influenced in the early 600s by the
prophet Muhammad. The religion he
preached changed the course of history,
by uniting the peoples of Arabia to form
a huge Arab empire that stretched almost
from china to the border of France.
Irl t}le earlr, 7th century, the Arab peoples were lrot trnited in
-:]l\ \\ar. Sonre farmed the land l4rile otlrers rvere traclers crossittg
::lr clesert rlith camel-draul-t caravalls, At this time thev all
-.,,,t,shipecl different gods. Then, in abclrrt 610, arr Arab mercharrt
tl-ttlled }Irthamnracl preached a nell religion, Islam, u,hiclr means
".ltbtrlissiotr to the lvill of God". Accorclirrs to Mttslinr belief,
\írtha,trrtrrad rvas sent by Gocl as a nresselrger. Níulr:rmmact lr,as
l,,c]] r,espected in his home toltn of Meccir:rrrd his itlfluence
:t,cti btit n}an,v Meccarrs reserrted his rrerv teaclrins :rncl began
trl })e l,se cute him and his followers. Irr 622 he rvas driverr ottt
it ,\Iecca ancl was inr,ited to move to Yathrib (nr_lrr, _\,Ieditra).
His ;rltrrrrev there is crlmmemoratec1 as tlre Hegira, rr,.hich
ilcgitls tlre Muslin-r calendar. Muhamrnad had seteral
t rligiorrs revelations arrcl lris tezrclrirrgs were rvritten dorvrr irr F

illc Koran, the hclly bclok of Islarn, He set out relisious latr.s E
i:,,lt irrclrrded, í]r,e clail_v prayers ancl a month of fasting.
Ft,rltrr 624 N{rrharnnrzrd and his follorvers lracl tcl fisht their
.llcll]ies. Irr 630 they capttrrecl Mecca, and snlaslrecl the pagall
idols in the kaaba, the holiest
shrine in the city. Muhammad
TOLERAT|ON OF JE\MS continued to preach and live simply.
-: rs. Christians and Jews got on
- ^.any parts of the lslamic wor|d,
:! 1Tp e in Spain where the three
--- tles coexisted peacefuIly after
: 11uslim
-_ ^ V _li*
conquest
^^-_..^__ in 7l
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-. ers .^l^-^+^f l^..,i_L,

toIerated Jewish and
:::- minority communities in
ands because in the teachings
be|iefs oí the three religions
e:e is much that is shared
l.d especially a faith in
one true God.

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{ -Wuhammad's flight, \tVhen he died in 632, Muhammad

:* rmigraíion, frorn Mecca to
_|fur_lina became a source of
left a daughter, Fatima, but no son
:,l,-sPiration to his follouers, Here and he did not name anyone to
l* hitles uith only a sPider
for succeed him, His friend and father-
:l.:,mPan1. The ePisode, hnown as
:klt Hegira, lnarhs the start of the
inJaw, Abu Bakr, was chosen as first
Islamic cal.endar (July 16, 622 in caliph (successor), but an argument
;,he Chistian calendar). soon broke out between
-. Muslim Muhammad's followers. Some, THE RISE OF ISIÁM
Pilgrims walking known as Shiites, thought only the
amund the Kaaba, the most 570 Prtlbablc clirte of
&rlh shine i.n Mecca. The descendants of Fatima and her N,írrhanrnrad's birth.
kaaba is belieaed to celntain husband, Ali, should succeed 595 Pltlbable clirtc tlf
rhe Blach stone uhich was }'Ittlrannracl's rrt irrri:rge
qnen to Ishmael b1 the Muhammad. Others, who came to tcl Khaclijah.
rngel Gabriel, be known as sunnis, believed that 6 l 0 Nírrlrarrrrrurcl begins
pleircliirig irr N,Iecca.
any follower of Islam could succeed 619 Kliaclijah clics.
Muhammad. The argument soon 622 Flight, to Yathrib
became political as well as religious (N,Iedina), krrrlrvn as thc
Hesil,a.'Ih is episclde
and has not been settled to this day. rnarks tlrc start clf' tlre
Muhammad is presented as lslarrri c caletlrlzrt,.
reflecting an ideal: courageous, 624 Birttle tlf Baclr,. rvherr
t}re,\,Irrsl ilrl s clefeatecl
resolute, yet gentle. He the NTcccans.
preached a new way of 625 N{ulramrrracl's
telilchinss arc rvrittetr
Worship and created a state
dorvn irr tlre koratr, the
from a collection of Arab lrcllv book
tribes. The new Muslim of Islirrn.
627 Níeccarrs besiege
state was soon to defeat
Níedirra but fail to
much larger empires and captlrre the cit,,.
create a new and powerful 628 Peace agl,eement-
rrlacle, tlren broken bv
force in the world. Meccan:.
630 N{uhammad leads arr
army irrto N,íecca
capturillg the city ancl
srnashirrg tlre pagarr
iclols there.
632 NIu]rarnmacl dies. Abrr
Bakr becomes tlrc first
caliph. htrt othcr
Nlt rslirr ts , lr, ,ose Ui as
tlleir lcader. lsllrtn
begins to spleatl
bc,vond Arabia.
4 The Dome of the Rock in 634 Before his deatir, Abu
Jerusalem stands ouer the roch B;rkr. t]re fir,:r caliplr.
fi^rlrn,uhich, N[u,slirn belieue, completcs cclnquest of
.\ l uhrltn ntcu L as ce rt ded t o lt.e a u c n. Arabia. Abrr Bakr is
,tlith. Lh.e angel Cubtiel. Lo sPeak. succeeded by ornar.
uilh Gorl. be rc rr:t.tu,nittg t,o eu,rtlt
ío .sfltect.d tlle tuut rcligiorL of lslam,. 4 women in traditional
It was built rl,s u sluirLe fbr dress uulsirlt, lhe great
Pilgims, belulen 685 rinr| 691. Lln,mayril NIosque in
It sLa.nis on TbnPb Mount, clrul. DQmusrtt.s, onc oJ lhc
i.,s the olr]r:s t. su ru hl irtp,,monlmrcnt, most imPort,ant cities
4 The Koran ,st:!, ottt l,u.le.s lo irt. the hi.story oJ'the
teforn .ncieLy. l.'or exrlm.Ple, it tolrl
Mtlslim belieuers to [lt1.1teú thc Poot
rtnd, resPerÍ lt]O]n?n. It .sti1.1,
fdrms
the bu.sis qf rnun1 lrluls,in. Iluslim
cott,ntries t,odu1,