The early history of Islam

4. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM THE SPREAD OF ISLAM -

When Muhammad’s death, his successors took the title of Caliphs.

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The four first caliphs were called the Righteous Caliphs.

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Islam had a period of expansion outside the Arabian Peninsula.

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By the middle of the 7 th century, the Muslims controlled Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt.

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There wer conflicts during the rule of the fourth Calipht Ali (he was the Muhammad’s cousin and son in-law)

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After these conflicts, the Umayyad family won and establish a dynasty. They located the capital of the Caliphate in Damascus (Syria).

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There was a great territorial and religious expansion under the Umayyads: 1. In North: they conquered the Byzantine Empire.

2. In the East, they conquered Persia and Afghanistan and reached the Hindus river.

3. In the west, they conqueed North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.

- That is to say, the Muslim Empire extended from the Iberian Peninsula to the frontier of current India.

4. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM -

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POLITICAL ORGANISATION The Caliphate was a theocracy and absolute monarchy, because the Calpih had political, military and religious authority.

His ministers were called viziers.

The Empire was divided into great provinces called emirates.

Emirates were ruled by emirs who had a great power and autonomy.

4. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM -

THE EVOLUTION OF THE CALIPHATE In 750, Umayyad family was defeated by the Abbasid family, which created a new dynasty.

Baghdad was the capital of he Abbasid Caliphate.

In this period the Empire had not a territorial expansion, but the religion(Islam) went on spreading into other regions: central Asia, southeast Asia and west Africa. This expansion was due to the trade.

It was difficult to control this big empire , and it began to split in the 10 th century. Examples of rival dynasties: - The Fatimid family (in Egypt) created its own dynasty in North Africa - There was a rival dinasty of Abbasid Caliphs on the Iberian Peninusla (the Ummayyad Family which created the Caliphate of Cordoba)

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The Mongols were Muslims from central Asia who conquered Baghdad in 13 th century. They defeated to the Abbasid Caliphate.

The Mongols created a new Caliphate with was based in Egypt, but it was very weak.

4. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM SUNNIS AND SHIAS - There are two main currents in Islam: 1. The Sunnis: Most Muslims are Sunnis. They were the orthodox followers of Caliphs, who were not necessarily from Muhammad’s family.

2. The Shias:A minority of Muslims are Shias.

They believed that Muslims should be governed by descendants of Ali (Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.