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UNIT 3 TEST

IslamKingdoms of Africa

GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA

DESERTS

MOUNTAINSRAIN

FORESTS

Africa’s geography is very diverse, containing mountain ranges, scorching deserts, rain forests,

river valleys, open plains, and jungles

GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA

The Sahara is the world’s largest desert

and acted as a barrier to separate North Africa

from sub-Saharan Africa

EARLY SOCIETIES OF AFRICA

However, African societies south of the Sahara were isolated

from the cultural diffusion of the

Classical Era

As a result, these sub-Saharan societies missed out on the great innovations of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman cultures

Characteristics of Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africans were polytheistic and worshipped many gods

Characteristics of Sub-Saharan Africa

They practiced Animism: a religion in which spirits exist in nature and play a role in daily life

THE BANTU MIGRATION Over the course of 4,000 years, Bantu peoples of central Africa migrated

south in search of farmland

These Bantu migrations helped spread new farming and ironworking techniques

EAST AFRICA The mix of African and Arab cultures led to the

development of a new language: Swahili

East African towns had mosques (Muslim places

of worship) and were ruled by Muslim sultans

However, many Africans chose to keep their

traditional Animistic beliefs

WEST AFRICA: GOLD-SALT TRADE

The societies of West Africa were shaped by trade with North Africa

West Africa had large deposits of gold, but no salt North Africa had

large deposits of salt, but no gold

WEST AFRICA: GOLD-SALT TRADE

The lack of gold in the North and the lack of salt in the West resulted in the Trans-Saharan trade network

WEST AFRICA AND ISLAM Islam was introduced to West Africa and slowly

gained converts (people who switch their beliefs

to a new religion)

Many West Africans either blended Islam

with Animism or never converted

SYNCRETISM: the blending of religious

beliefs

WEST AFRICA: GHANA The gold-salt trade led to

increased wealth in West Africa and the

formation of empires

A West African kingdom, Ghana, amassed vast

wealth by taxing merchants

Ghana became an empire when it used that wealth to build a massive army and

conquer neighboring people

WEST AFRICA: MALI

A kingdom neighboring Ghana, Mali, eventually overthrew Ghana and

absorbed its territory into the new Mali Empire

Mali’s King Sundiata took over the Ghana Empire

and controlled the major trade cities of West Africa

WEST AFRICA: MALI

King Sundiata created an

efficient government

that controlled trade and promoted farming

WEST AFRICA: MALI

The kings of Mali who ruled after Sundiata converted to Islam

The most important of these Muslim kings of Mali

was Mansa Musa

MANSA MUSA’S INFLUENCE

Mansa Musa was a devout Muslim and went on a hajj to

Mecca in 1324Mansa Musa passed out gold nuggets to the people

he met along the way of his long trip

University in Timbuktu

Timbuktu became a trade city that attracted

scholars, religious leaders, and doctors

The city had a university and became an important center of learning in the world

CONCLUSIONS

African societies were transformed by two powerful forces:

Trade with outsiders

Introduction of Islam

Today, Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion; it has more than 1

billion followers throughout the world (second only to

Christianity)

Overview of Islam

Arabia, the Birthplace of Islam The Arabian Peninsula is a desert

region with little fertile soil or

farming

Most Arabs lived in desert tribes

which were centered around

families and were ruled by

clans

Overview of Islam

Around the year 600 CE, a new monotheistic religion called Islam began on the

Arabian peninsula

This new faith was founded by the Prophet Muhammad

His followers, called Muslims, spread Islam

throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe

The Ka’aba (“The Cube”) was a 43 foot high cube structure that held statues of hundreds of gods

Mecca was also a religious city

Muhammad and IslamHe began preaching a new monotheistic religion that worshipped the same God as the God of the Jews and

Christians, but in a different way

This religion Muhammad originated was called Islam, which means “submission to the will of God”

Basic Ideas of Islam

MUSLIM SYMBOL FOR “ALLAH”

Followers of Islam are called Muslims, which means “one who has

submitted to God”

Muslims believe in the “one true God” (same as Jews and Christians)

and call God “Allah”

Basic Ideas of Islam

Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last of God’s prophets, so his word is final and unchangeable

The words and teachings of Muhammad are recorded in the Qur’an (or Koran), the

sacred book of Islam

The Hijrah

Some Meccans violently attacked Muhammad

and his followers

After several years of attacks, Muhammad and his followers fled

Mecca and went to the city of Medina

This migration of the Muslims to Medina was

called the Hijrah

BELIEFS OF ISLAM

Because the Muslims respect parts of the

Bible and Torah, they consider Christians

and Jews “People of the Book”

BELIEFS OF ISLAM

Islam is monotheistic,

worshipping only one God (the same God of Judaism and Christianity)

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SHAHADAH

The First Pillar is called shahadah, or “profession of faith”, in which Muslims declare their belief in one God and in Muhammad’s role as the final prophet

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SHAHADAH

“There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God”

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SALAT

The Second Pillar is Salat, which means “daily ritual prayer”;

prayer must be done five times per day (dawn, noon, midday,

sunset, and at night)

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SALAT

Wherever they are in the world, Muslims face in the direction of Mecca when they pray

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: ZAKATThe Third Pillar is “zakat”,

which means “alms-giving”; this is giving money to the poor

Muslims believe sharing wealth makes it pure and

helps control greed

Zakat is similar to the charitable donations

made by Jews and Christians to support

their communities

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: ZAKATAccording to Islam, Muslims must donate one-fortieth (or 2.5%) of their income with their poorer neighbors

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SIYAM The Fourth Pillar is Siyam, or fasting

(going without food)

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SIYAM Muslims fast during the month

of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar

Ramadan honors the month Gabriel revealed God’s message

to Muhammad

Muslims go without food or drink from sunrise to sunset,

then attend special prayer sessions at mosques

Fasting teaches them self-control and reminds them of what it

would be like to be poor

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: HAJJ

The Fifth Pillar is “hajj”, which is a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca; every 12 months in the Islamic calendar, millions of Muslims gather at Mecca

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: HAJJ

All adult Muslims who are able to are expected to make the hajj once in their lifetime

JIHAD

Muhammad declared that fighting with

enemies was “lesser jihad”, while the battle to control oneself was

the “greater jihad”

“Jihad” means “to struggle”

SHARI’A LAW

Shari’a law encourages some behaviors, while forbidding others, such as eating pork, drinking

alcohol, or gambling

Shari’a also commands women to “not show

their beauty”, so many Muslim women cover

themselves to one degree or another

Islamic law is shari’a, or “path to be followed”

Islam After MuhammadWhen Muhammad

died in 632, the Muslim community

elected a new leader called a

caliph (successor)The first four caliphs all knew Muhammad and promised to stay

true to the Qu’ran and Muhammad’s message

They became known as the “Rightly Guided Caliphs”

The Sunni-Shi’a SplitBefore the Umayyads, caliphs were

elected members of Muhammad’s familyShi’a Muslims

rejected the rule of the Umayyads

The Shi’a believe that caliphs must

come directly from Muhammad’s

bloodline

Sunni Muslims accepted the rule of

the UmayyadsThe Sunni believe

that caliphs should follow Muhammad’s example, but do not have to be relatives

In 750, the Umayyad Empire was overthrown by the Abbasids

Under the Abbasids, the Islamic Empire grew to its greatest

extent

The Abbasid EmpireWealth from trade led to a

“golden age”, a time of great

Muslim achievements

in science, mathematics, medicine, and architecture

Islamic AchievementsMuslims during the

Islamic Empire developed innovations that are still

used today

The lands and people of the Islamic Empire were

diverse, rich, and creative; Greeks, Chinese, Hindus,

Arabs, Persians, Turks and others all contributed to the culture of the Islamic

Empire

City Building and ArchitectureThe city of Baghdad was the

Abbasids’ capital and one of the most glorious cities in the world

It took 100,000 workers and architects four years to build Baghdad

Science and TechnologyMuslim scholars made great advances in astronomy,

improving upon Greek ideas

For example, compasses and astrolabes (a device that

positions objects in the sky to

figure out one’s location) could be used to find the direction to

MeccaTHE ASTROLABE: AN EARLY VERSION OF A GPS SYSTEM

Geography and Navigation

Travelers, like Ibn Battuta, recorded

information (and in Ibn’s case, wrote a book) about their

journeys to the Muslim lands and

beyond

MathematicsMuslims based their work in math in part on the

ideas from India and Classical Greece

One scholar, Al-Khwarizmi, is called the “father of algebra”, which is used to solve problems with unknown numbers

The Arts

Muslims developed a type of art known as “arabesque”; it

used ornate drawings and

geometric patterns to

decorate objects and books

RecreationFun and recreation were also part of the Islamic cultureThe sport of polo was borrowed from the Persians and made popular by the Muslims; teams on horseback use

wooden mallets to strike a ball through a goal

RecreationChess was invented in India and borrowed by the Persians, but this board game (which requires much thought, smarts, & skill to play well) was spread across Muslim territory and introduced to Europe

City Building and Architecture

Mosques usually had towers, courtyards, and prayer rooms; the designs reflected the diversity of the Empire

Medicine

Muslims established the

world’s first hospitals and based their

medical knowledge on

that of Mesopotamia,

Egypt, and Greece

Doctors treated ailments through drugs, diet, and exercise; they also used stitches after performing surgeries

UNIT 3 REVIEW COMPLETE

YOU ARE NOW READY FOR THE TEST ON ISLAM AND THE

KINGDOMS OF AFRICA