The Rise and Influence of Islam

The Rise and Influence of Islam

Learning Quiz

What Muslims Believe

Muhammad grew up to become a successful trader in Mecca, but he also led a rich spiritual life. For example, he adopted the habit of traveling alone into the mountains to pray and reflect on the world. According to Islamic teachings, during one of his prayer retreats, the angel Gabriel appeared and spoke to Muhammad. Gabriel instructed him to recite the words of God to humankind.

Multiple Choice

Muslims believe that the Prophet _____ received the word of _____ from an angel in the mountains around Mecca.

• Gabriel; Abu Bakr

• Muhammad; Allah

• Abraham; Mansur

• Moses; Jesus

What God Told Him to do

God instructed him to preach a religion based on a series of revelations, or divine messages from God. Muhammad wrote these messages down in the Quran, the sacred book of his new religion, Islam.

Multiple Choice

Muhammad's followers wrote his prophecies and teachings into the _____, or holy book of _____.

• book of Gabriel; Judaism

• Torah; Zoroastrianism

• New Testament; Christianity

• Quran; Islam

Islam

The monotheistic religious faith of Muslims, which includes a belief in one god (Allah) and in Muhammad as his prophet. The religion was founded by Muhammad in the seventh century CE. Muhammad began condemning Mecca's polytheism and idol worship. 

Multiple Choice

Followers of Muhammad's _____ faith condemned idol worship and were called _____.

• monotheistic; Muslims

• Jewish; Arabs

• polytheistic; Gentiles

• Christian; Jews

You're Costing us Money Man!

Then Muhammad began condemning Mecca's polytheism and idol worship. Local leaders depended on the Kaaba and the wealth the pilgrimages brought them.

Multiple Choice

Why did leaders in Mecca initially reject Muhammad's teachings?

• The spread of monotheism threatened Mecca's economy, which relied on the wealth of non-Muslim pilgrims.

• Muhammad's use of torture against nonbelievers of Islam made those in Mecca fearful of his new religion.

The Spread of Islam

Muhammad began spreading the teaching of Islam around 610 CE, but it was during his military conquests starting in 622 that the Islamic Empire really started to gain territory. Centered in Medina, Saudi Arabia, Muhammad conquered Mecca and other territories on the Arabian Peninsula.

Multiple Choice

How did Islam spread throughout the Middle East during Muhammad's lifetime?

• Through a series of military conquests

• Through economic dominance over the Silk Road

• Through the conversion of powerful Christian leaders

• Through a movement of nonviolent sermons and protests

After Muhammad's death, a series of rulers called caliphs led the Islamic state, known as the caliphate. However, internal disagreements among the Muslim clans continued. They argued about whether only descendants of Muhammad should rule.

Multiple Choice

Which statement accurately describes the Islamic Empire following Muhammad's death?

• It joined with Christians and Jews to establish an Abrahamic empire.

• It introduced new teachings and minimized Muhammad's importance.

• It conquered a vast empire stretching from the Middle East to China.

• It was divided by disagreements over which Muslims should be leaders.

Lets Keep the Kaaba!

The second pillar requires Muslims to pray five times daily facing the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. Because Muhammad rededicated this shrine to Allah, this city is now the spiritual center of Islam

Multiple Choice

Which feature of Islam incorporated religious practices from previous Arab cultures into Islam?

• Islam teaches that Muhammad was a pious man.

• Muslims believe that there may be more than one god.

• Islam teaches that Judaism is the purest form of Islam.

• Muslims consider the Kaaba a sacred place.

Multiple Choice

The reverence for the Kaaba in Islam indicates that:

• Muhammad was careful not to destroy all objects that were sacred in Arabia before Islam.

• Muhammad taught his followers that Islam rejected previous prophecies.

• Muhammad believed it was important for all monotheistic religions to be combined.

• Muhammad understood that God also accepted Christianity and Judaism as true faiths.

Multiple Choice

What features of pre-Islamic Arabian religions are preserved in the teachings of Muhammad?

• The specific dietary rules that prohibit eating pork and other foods

• The encouragement to pilgrimage to Mecca and pray at the Kaaba

• The command that Muslims only worship a single god, Allah

• The prohibition against creating or worshipping idols

How do We Promote Islamic Learning?

Islamic society also made several important architectural developments, such the design and construction of mosques.

A mosque serves as a place of prayer and a center for teaching Islamic scholarship. 

Multiple Choice

After conquering new territory, caliphates of the Islamic Empire often established mosques. This demonstrates their desire to:

• promote Islamic scholarship in their territories.

• ban all non-Muslim religious practices in their territories.

• fiercely defend newly conquered territories.

• establish temporary bases in new territories.

How about the Non-Muslims?

Islamic caliphates would tolerate other religions, cultures, and sciences, but these people would have to pay higher taxes than Muslims.

Multiple Choice

Christians and Jews living in the Islamic Empire could expect to be treated in which of the following ways?

• Allowed to practice their own faiths, but forced to pay additional taxes

• Captured as slaves, as Muslims despised their Abrahamic traditions

• Forced to convert to Islam in public, but allowed keep their own faiths in private

• Offered positions of power, as Muslims were forbidden from ruling non-Muslims

Multiple Choice

Which statement describes the way the Islamic Empire treated conquered peoples throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe?

• It brutally massacred non-Muslim populations and replaced them with Muslim immigrants.

• It promoted Islam but tolerated the culture, religion, and science of non-Muslims.

• It generally adopted the conquered peoples' religions as new elements of Islam.

• It allowed conquered people to retain complete independence as long as they converted to Islam.

Multiple Choice

This passage from the Christian gospel of Matthew reflects which of the Five Pillars of Islam?

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

—Matthew 6:2-4

• Worship

• Pilgrimage

• Charity

• Fasting

Along with its set of beliefs, the Quran provides Muslims with rules for living called the Five Pillars of Islam. Each of these pillars is an act of worship. The Quran presents them as the structure for Muslims' daily worship and a sign to God that Muslims are devoted to their faith. The Five Pillars include:

Faith in God

Prayer

Concern for the poor

Fasting Pilgrimage to Mecca

Multiple Choice

A central principle of Islam that differentiates it from Judaism and Christianity is its belief in _____, the most important Islamic guidelines for Muslims.

• the Five Pillars

• the Ten Commandments

• the teachings of Abraham

• the teachings of Moses

Multiple Choice

What are the Five Pillars of Islam?

• The legal basis for most types of Islamic law

• The five books of the original Quran as written by Muhammad

• The central guidelines and foundations of Islamic worship

• The laws of the Quran that guide Muslims in political matters

Multiple Choice

The Five Pillars of Islam offer Muslims:

• punishments for sinners.

• guidelines for living and worshipping.

• Muhammad's final words.

• plans for establishing an empire.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following actions is necessary for fulfilling the pillars of Islam?

• Being honest

• Giving to charity

• Avoiding Christians

• Living in Mecca

Multiple Choice

Which of the following actions is necessary for fulfilling the pillars of Islam?

• Converting Christians

• Delivering prophecies

• Earning great wealth

• Traveling to Mecca

Multiple Choice

Charity, one of the pillars of Islam, demonstrates Muslims' _____.

• faith in God

• concern for the poor

• requirement to pray

• attention to fasting

Law and Society in the Islamic Golden Age

In addition to scientific advancements, the Islamic world developed a moral code and religious law known as Sharia. Sharia guides Muslims in political, economic, and personal matters.

Multiple Choice

The system of Sharia was developed to join together _____ and _____ in Islamic countries.

• art; science

• government; economics

• Muslims; Christians

• religion; law