UNIT 2: THE ISLAMIC EMPIRE. 2ยบ ESO
ISABEL GARCร A-VELASCO teachermsisabel.com
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO STUDY IN THIS UNIT? 1. Muhammad and the birth of Islam. 2. Islam: the 5 pillars and its sacred book. 3. Periods of the Islamic Empire. 4. Policy, society and economy . 5. Life in a Muslim city. 6. Muslim art. 2
1. Muhammad and the birth of Islam
1.1 The life of Muhammad Muhammad was born in 571 AD in Mecca, a city in the Arabian Peninsula, located between the Red sea and the Persian Gulf. ✗
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Arabs were polytheistic, worship the Black Stone (a piece of basaltic rock) and several idols in the Kaaba, a sanctuary in Mecca. Arabs were also divided in many tribes and work as nomadic farmers and merchants. 4
Muhammad came from a wealthy family, after becoming orphan, at the age of six, began to work for a rich woman, Khadija, who became his first wife. At the age of 25 he had the first vision of the archangel Gabriel and when he was 40, began to preach Allah teachings. When he died, his religious message was compiled in the Koran, the Muslim sacred book.
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He began to preach in Mecca, where he had disagreements with the rich merchants and, in the year 622 had to move to Yathrib (now a days, Medina-city of the prophet). This moment, called Hijra, points the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Eight years later, he came back with an army formed by his followers and conquered Mecca. When he died, two years later, in 632, he had conquered almost the whole Arabian peninsula.
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COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES: 1. Muhammad was born in the year…. 2. Before Muhammad the Arabs were……………………., which means that they believed in………….. 3. The Muslim sacred book is the……………….. 4. Muhammad was born in………..but in 622 he escaped to ……………….
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2. Islam: the 5 pillars and its sacred book.
2.1. The 5 pillars ✗ Islam is a monotheistic religion, the word Islam, means obedience to God. People who profess Islam are called Muslims, not Arabs. For them Muhammad is the most important prophet, but not a god, god is Allah. For them, other prophets were Abraham, Moses or Jesus. ✗ Muslims have 5 obligations called pillars.
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F A I T H
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P R A Y E R
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C H A R I T Y
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F A S T I N G
5 P I L G R I M A G E
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1. The Profession of Faith: is the most fundamental expression of Islamic beliefs. It simply states that “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.� 2. Daily Prayers: Muslims are expected to pray five times a day. 3. Alms giving: Muslims believe that they are meant to share their wealth with those less fortunate in their community of believers. 4. Fasting: during the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, Muslims are expected to fast from dawn to dusk. 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca: All Muslims who are able are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and the surrounding holy sites at least once in their lives.
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WHAT ARE THE 5 PILLARS OF ISLAM? Complete the additional sheet and add it to your notebook. You can download it here.
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2.2 The Koran The Koran is the Muslim sacred book, it was written in Arabic when Muhammad died and it contains what he preached. It is divided in 114 chapters or suras and each chapter is divided in verses.
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3. Periods of the Islamic Empire
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3.1 Periods: Between Muhammad’s death and the 13th century, the Muslims created a big empire. We can divide it in three stages: PERIODS
Begins
Ends
The Orthodox or Rashidun caliphate
632
661
661
750
750
1258
The Umayyad caliphate The Abbasid caliphate
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3.2 The Rashidun caliphate: Muhammad’s successors, chosen from his family and friends and named caliphs (successor of the prophet). The capital was in Medina and the Empire expanded its territory to Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Mesopotamia and Persia.
3.3 The Umayyad caliphate:
The capital city was moved to Damascus. During this period, the empire reached its peak. It expanded its boundaries towards the Iberian Peninsula, Turkestan and Indus valley.
3.4 The Abbasid caliphate:
The capital city was moved to Baghdad. They conquered Crete and Sicily. In the 11th century the Turks conquered the caliphate and in 1258 was conquered by the Mongolians. 18
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USING AN ATLAS In which countries are now a days the most important cities of the Islamic empire? Using an atlas locate: ✗ Mecca. ✗ Medina. ✗ Damascus. ✗ Baghdad.
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4. Policy, society and economy
4.1 Political organization: ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
The empire was ruled by the caliph, who had political , military and religious power. The caliph had a prime minister called vizier. The empire was divided in provinces ruled by emirs or walis. Justice was administered by the judge or kadi. There were other officials who collected taxes and assisted the caliph.
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4.2 Society The Muslim society was very diverse, different ethnic groups such as Arabs,Berbers, slaves with different origins, lived in the empire and people who profess different religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianism. All these people were organized in three groups: ✗ The aristocracy: a small group formed by Arabs who held the political power. ✗ The masses: formed by craftsmen, peasants and traders. Berbers, Christians and Jews were in this group. Those who had converted to Islam were called Mawali and the Jews and Christians were called Dhimmnis, who had to pay more taxes. ✗ The slaves: from different ethnic groups and who were usually prisoners of war. 23
ACTIVITY Draw a pyramid in your notebook, make three big groups and then add the following words in order: ✗ Craftsman ✗ Dhimmni ✗ Caliph ✗ Emir ✗ Kadi ✗ Peasant ✗ Vizier ✗ Trader ✗ Mawali
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Remember that it was a hierarchical societ.
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4.3 Economy The economy in the Muslim Empire was based on: ✗ Agriculture: promoted by the use of new irrigation techniques, such as the construction of wells, or water wheels, and the use of a great variety of crops (citruses, cotton, rice, wheat, saffron or sugar-cane). ✗ Craftwork: artisans produced high quality ceramics, tapestries, carpets, cotton fabrics, weapons, perfumes or paper. ✗ Trade: their trade routes covered the Mediterranean, the Indian ocean, part of Asia, Africa and Europe. 25
5. Life in a Muslim city
5.1 The Medina The Muslim cities, were walled, with narrow and winding streets. The part within the walls was called medina and included: ✗ The citadel: a fortified area in the highest point of the city, created to protect the population. ✗ The main mosque: where people prayed on fridays. ✗ The zouk or marketplace. ✗ The hammam or public baths. ✗ The madrassa: school to study the Koran. The suburbs were the areas located outside the walls, where poor people lived.
Foto vía Anaya
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5.2 The Muslim houses Muslim houses were simple, without decoration outside, with few windows, covered with lattice, to keep privacy and built around a patio or courtyard. Men and women used separated areas, in the rich houses, women lived in the harem.
Foto vĂa Anaya
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WORDSEARCH Find these words in the wordsearch and define them. You can download it here.
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6. The Muslim art
6.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE: Very individualistic styles at first based on local influences. ✗ Continued in minority regions until recently. ✗ More concrete and uniform style has developed over time. ✗ Lack of representation of people and figurative images stem from idols in Kaaba destroyed by Muhammad . ✗ Most common/famous: Irano-Indian style is rich in domes, slender minarets and makes use of turquoise, gold, green. 31
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When not in the Irano-Indian style, there are still recognizable elements : ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
Lack of paintings and images . Decoration is geometric, floral, calligraphic, and hypnotic, rather than emotional . Domes are often either flattened or ribbed . Doors & windows highly decorated and interesting in shape . Courtyards with flowers & water. Decoration with tiles
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MUSLIM ARCHES HORSESHOE
POINTED
STILTED SEMI CIRCULAR
POLYLOBED
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MUSLIM DOMES AND VAULTS MUQARNA VAULT
CALIPHAL RIBBED VAULT
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MUSLIM DOMES AND VAULTS SEGMENTED DOME
ONION DOME
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MUSLIM ARTISANS Geometric Muslim decoration: Can you draw pattern “a” into shape “b”? Fill a Din A-4 paper with Muslims patterns. Remember to use bright colours.
Download the activity here.
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6.2 PARTS OF A MOSQUE: The mosque is the Muslim religious building, based on Muhammad's house. ✗ It has a courtyard: surrounded by a portico, with a fountain for the ablutions and a minaret from where the muezzin call to pray. ✗ A prayer's room: divided in aisles by columns and arches. The main wall call qibla is facing Mecca and you can identify it because there is a niche called mihrab. The muezzin delivers the sermon on Fridays from the mimbar (a platform). 38
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DAMASCUS MOSQUE 40
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Vocabulary about art The following terms should be in your glossary, copy and define them: ● ● ● ● ●
Minaret. Qibla wall. Mihrab. Horseshoe arch. Muqarna vault.
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HOW MUCH YOU KNOW ABOUT THE MUSLIM EMPIRE?
Let’s play Plickers!!!
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That’s the end of this unit!
Any questions? You can find me at: ✗ ✗
@teachermsisabel contactme@teachermsisabel.com
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