Sunday, December 2, 2018

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Worlds of Islam


  • Birth of a new religion 
    • Homeland of Islam
      • Emerged from marginal region
      • Arabian Peninsula
        • Independent clans
        • Variety of gods
      • Arabia was important to East West trade routes
      • On edge of Byzantine and Sassanid empires
        • Arabs knew practices of these empires
        • Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastriaism spread among Arabs
    • Messenger and the message
      • Prophet of Islam was Muhammad
      • Beginning revelations from Allah 610 CE
        • Orphaned
        • Took to withdraw and meditation 
        • Revelations recorded in Quaran 
      • Radically new teachings 
        • Monotheistic 
        • Muhammad
        • Return to old pure religion of Abraham
        • Submission to Allah
      • Five Pillars of Islam
      • Transformed Arabia
        • Rapid expansion
        • Large scale conversion
        • Fundamental differences between birth of Islam and Christianity 
  • The making of an empire
    • Arab state grew 
    • War, conquest, tolerance 
      • Long term raiding pattern
      • New political organization greater mobilization 
    • Limits of Arab expansion 
      • Defeated by Sassanid Empire
      • Conquered most of Spain, attacked France
      • Reached Indus River
    • Reasons for expansion
      • Economic, communal, religious 
      • Tolerant of Christians and Jews

I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic schools my entire life.  I learned all about Catholicism and what everything meant, however I was never exposed much to other religions until my senior year of high school.  I took a World Religions course and I loved it.  I truly enjoyed learning about the other religions, and while I didn't believe in these religions, I was always able to respect their beliefs and I enjoyed educating myself on those beliefs.  I enjoyed this chapter because it took me back to that class and learning about Islam.  I enjoyed learning about the history and spread of Islam, especially because it was such a radical change and new religion for the area it was born in.









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