REVIEW FOR THE UNIT 3 TEST

1. REVIEW FOR THE UNIT 3 TEST Islam Kingdoms of Africa

2. GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA DESERTS RAIN FORESTS MOUNTAINS Africa’s geography is very diverse, containing mountain ranges, scorching deserts, rain forests, river valleys, open plains, and jungles

3. GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA The Sahara is the world’s largest desert and acted as a barrier to separate North Africa from sub-Saharan Africa

4. EARLY SOCIETIES OF AFRICA However, African societies south of the Sahara were isolated from thecultural diffusion of the Classical Era As a result, these sub-Saharan societies missed out on the great innovations of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman cultures

5. Characteristics of Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africans were polytheistic and worshipped many gods

6. Characteristics of Sub-Saharan Africa They practiced Animism: a religion in which spirits exist in nature and play a role in daily life

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. WEST AFRICA: MALI A kingdom neighboring Ghana, Mali, eventually overthrewGhana 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

14. WEST AFRICA: MALI King Sundiata created an efficient government that controlled trade and promoted farming

15. 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

16. MANSA MUSA’S INFLUENCE Mansa Musa was a devout Muslim and went on a hajj to Mecca in 1324 Mansa Musa passed out gold nuggets to the people he met along the way of his long trip

17. 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

18. CONCLUSIONS African societies were transformed by two powerful forces: • Trade with outsiders • Introduction of Islam

19. Overview 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)

20. 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

21. 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

22. Mecca was also a religious city The Ka’aba (“The Cube”) was a 43 foot high cube structure that held statues of hundreds of gods

23. Muhammad and Islam He 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”

24. Basic Ideas of Islam 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” MUSLIM SYMBOL FOR “ALLAH”

25. 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

26. 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

27. BELIEFS OF ISLAM • Because the Muslims respect parts of the Bible and Torah, they consider Christians and Jews “People of the Book”

28. BELIEFS OF ISLAM • Islam is monotheistic, worshipping only one God (the same God of Judaism and Christianity)

29. 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

30. FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SHAHADAH “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God”

31. 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)

32. FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SALAT • Wherever they are in the world, Muslims face in the direction of Mecca when they pray

33. FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: ZAKAT • The 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

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

35. FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: SIYAM • The Fourth Pillar is Siyam, or fasting (going without food)

36. 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

37. 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

38. FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: HAJJ • All adult Muslims who are able to are expected to make the hajj once in their lifetime

39. JIHAD • “Jihad” means “to struggle” • Muhammad declared that fighting with enemies was “lesser jihad”, while the battle to control oneself was the “greater jihad”

40. SHARI’A LAW • Islamic law is shari’a, or “path to be followed” • 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

41. Islam After Muhammad When 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”

42. The Sunni-Shi’a Split Before the Umayyads, caliphs were elected members of Muhammad’s family Sunni Muslims accepted the rule of the Umayyads Shi’a Muslims rejected the rule of the Umayyads The Shi’a believe that caliphs must come directly from Muhammad’s bloodline The Sunni believe that caliphs should follow Muhammad’s example, but do not have to be relatives

43. In 750, the Umayyad Empire wasoverthrown by the Abbasids Under the Abbasids, the Islamic Empire grew to its greatest extent

44. The Abbasid Empire Wealth from trade led to a “golden age”, a time of great Muslim achievements in science, mathematics, medicine, and architecture

45. Islamic Achievements • Muslims 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

46. City Building and Architecture • The 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

47. Science and Technology • Muslim 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 Mecca • THE ASTROLABE: AN EARLY VERSION OF A GPS SYSTEM

48. 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

49. Mathematics • Muslims 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

50. The Arts • Muslims developed a type of art known as “arabesque”; it used ornate drawings and geometric patterns to decorate objects and books