Islamic Civilization 

Islamic Civilization  An Overview CHW3M by Ms. Gluskin

Founding • 610 CE founding of Islam • A monotheist religion (Allah is the one God) • Founded by Muhammad in Arabia • Muhammad is considered a prophet • At that time most people in the region were animists and polytheists • There were some Jews and Christians (two monotheistic religions)

Five Pillars of Islam Every Muslim must: • repeat: “I witness that there is only one God and Muhammad is His messenger.” (Shahada) • pray facing Mecca five times per day (Salat) • give alms (Zakat) - charity tax on income for poor, schools, hospitals, etc. • fast during daylight hours during the month of Ramadan • make the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once (if able)

Islamic Scriptures • The Qur’an • Not seen as interpretation of God’s word but God’s actual word The Qur’an

Islam = submission to God this means the religion itself the adjectival form (Islamic) is used to describe things, not people Muslim = those who submit to God this means those who practice the religion the adjectival form (Muslim) is used to describe people, not things Submission

Islamic Sects • Sunni Islam (majority) holds that Muhammad’s successor should have been elected • Shi’i Islam (minority) holds that his successor should have been chosen from his family line, starting with Ali, his son in law There are many other sects. Kaaba in Mecca

Islamic World

After Muhammad’s death Islam was spread widely At first it was spread by Arabs throughout the Middle East Early: Egypt, Fertile Crescent, Iran Later: North Africa, Spain, Central Asia, India Islamic Conquests Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, built 691

Islam in India • Muslims traded and set up colonies along the west coast of India from the 8th century on • Mughal emperors unified north and south India starting in the 16th century and ending in 1707 Taj Mahal built by Moghul ruler Sha Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite wife. Completed 1648.

Important Cities • First Damascus became the dominant city of the Islamic leadership (caliphate) • Then Baghdad was the next leading city • Then Ottomans from Muslim Anatolia came into power in the 11th century and took over the Byzantine capital (you know it as Constantinople) in 1453 Great Mosque at Damascus

Islamic Leadership During the Middle Ages • Salah ad-Din (Saladin) defeated the Christian European Crusaders in 1187 • Cordoba was the centre of Muslim-Arab Spain (al Andalus) until 1492 Great Mosque of Cordoba was first constructed in the 780s then turned into a cathedral in 1200s

Culture and Learning • Al-Azhar university in Cairo (970) • Poetry and prose (Arabian Nights) spread due to paper making learned from Central Asia (via China) • Translation of Greek philosophy (Aristotle and Plato) • House of Wisdom in Baghdad Al-Azhar, Cairo Public library, Baghdad

Medieval Islamic Science and Medicine • Algebra • Arabic numerals (inclusion of zero via India), geometry, trigonometry • Chemistry (alchemy - based on experimentation) • Advances in astronomy (lunar calendar, circumference of earth all based on observation) • Advances in medicine (treatments, surgery, knowledge of smallpox, prescriptions) • Advances in optics Doctor with patient Islamic astronomers

Islamic Decline • Ottomans began to lose power to Europeans • Due to superior military technology from the 17th century onwards • Science and learning declined within the Muslim world Map showing Ottoman Empire at its height under Suleiman the Magnificent in 1580

Islamic Civilization 