3-2 Notes: Islam and Muhammad

Muhammad• Muhammad was born in

Mecca into a powerful family in 570 ACE

• Orphaned as a child

• Raised by his grandfather and worked in the caravan trade

• At the age of 25, he married a wealthy businesswoman named Khadija and prospered as a merchant

Muhammad the Prophet• When he was 40 years, he

claimed a voice called out to him and told him, “You are the messenger of God”

• Muhammad believed the voice was that of the angel Gabriel

• He was instructed to and began preaching that there is only one god (Allah) and that other gods must be rejected

• People who believe in this are called “Muslims”

• Islam = “peace through submission to the will of God”

Muhammad Begins Preaching• Muhammad had little success at

first • Early Muslims were persecuted

by Meccans• 622 ACE - Muhammad fled 200

miles north with his supporters to Yathrib

• This migration is known as the Hijrah

• Muhammad’s followers renamed the city Medina, which means “city of the Prophet”

• Muhammad’s teachings won many converts in Medina

• His simple message to obey God’s will appealed to people - They respected Muhammad as a leader

Muhammad’s Leadership• Muhammad was a religious, political,

and military leader• Meccans and Muslims continued to

fight but after several battles the Muslims gained the upper hand

• 630 ACE - Muhammad and 10,000 Muslims returned to Mecca and forced a surrender of the city

• Muhammad forgave the Meccans and dedicated the Ka’aba to Allah, destroying the false idols

• He ruled Medina and united Muslims with other Arabs, including Christians and Jews

• Made alliance and peace treaties with other nomadic tribes, which helped Islam gain acceptance and spread

• 632 ACE - Most of Arabia unified; Muhammad dies of a fever

Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Law: The Qur’an and the

Sunnah• Islam’s main teaching: There is only one god (Allah), who revealed himself through the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad

• Muhammad’s followers memorized and recited his teachings, which formed a book called the Qur’an

• Muslims believe that Muhammad’s goal was to also show how his teachings should be applied to everyday life

• The Sunnah, Muhammad’s words and deeds, are Islamic guides for proper living

• Legal thinkers later organized the Qur’an and the Sunnah into a system of law (Shari’a Law) used to decide inheritance and punish criminals

Muslim Daily Life• Muslims try to connect

their personal and religious lives

• 5 Pillars of Islam - Faith, Prayer (5 times a day, facing Mecca), Almsgiving, Fasting (during Ramadan), and Pilgrimage (to Mecca)

• 5 Pillars demonstrate obedience to God

• Muslims don’t eat pork or drink alcohol

• Friday afternoons are set aside for worship - People gather in mosques (all mosques face Mecca)

Connections to Judaism and Christianity: People of the

Book• Muslims trace their religion back to Abraham

• Jews, Christians, and Muslims all believe that he was a prophet of God

• Muslims believe that Allah is the same god worshipped by Jews and Christians too

• Muslims call Jews and Christians “people of the book” because their holy teachings and scriptures are similar to the Qur’an

• Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the final holy book containing God’s teachings and that Muhammad is the final prophet

• Followers of all three religions believe in a heaven, hell, and a judgment day

Religious Toleration• Muslim law requires that

Muslim leaders offer religious toleration to non-Muslims

• Non-Muslims must pay a special tax and have restricted rights

• Policy of toleration helped play an important role in the expansion of the Muslim Empire under Muhammad’s successors