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1. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Sasanid Empire
The Origins of Islam
The Rise and Fall of the Caliphate
Islamic Civilization
Adapted from Earth and Its Peoples Instructor’s Resource Manual
By Harold M. Tanner
2. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Sasanid Empire
Politics and Society
Established in 224 CE
Controlled areas of Iran and Mesopotamia
Confronted Arab pastoralists on their Euphrates border and Byzantines on the west
4. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Sasanid Empire
Politics and Society
Trade
Routes were a part of the “Silk Road”
In peace, Byzantine cities in Syria and the Arab nomads who guided caravans between the Sasanid and Byzantine empires all flourished
The invention of the camel saddle
Benefited Arabs which enabled them to take care of the caravan trade.
5. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Sasanid Empire
Religion and Empire
The Sasanid Empire made Zoroastrianism its official religion
The Byzantine Empire made Christianity its official religion
Both Zoroastrianism and Christianity were intolerant of other religions
These two state religions set a precedent for the link that developed between Islamic religion and Islamic state.
6. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Sasanid Empire
Religion and Empire
The Sasanid and Byzantine Empires were characterized by state involvement in theological struggles.
The Byzantines went to war with the Sasanids over Sasanid persecution of Christians
Byzantines also purged Christianity of beliefs they considered heretical such as the Monophysite doctrine and Nestorianism
7. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Sasanid Empire
Religion and Empire
In the 3rd century Mani of Mesopotamia founded Manichaeism
Manichaeism focused on the struggle between good and evil
Mani was killed by the Sasanid Shah but Manichaeism spread widely in Central Asia
8. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Sasanid Empire
Religion and Empire
During this period, religion had replaced citizenship, language and ethnicity as the paramount factor in people’s identity.
9. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Arabian peninsula before Muhammad
Most Arabs were settled people
Nomads were a minority
But were an important in the caravan trade that linked Yemen to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean
This caravan trade gave rise to caravan cities such as Petra, Palmyra, and later Mecca
It also brought Arabs into contact with the Sasanid and Byzantine empires
10. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Arabian peninsula before Muhammad
The nomads were polytheistics
Worshiped natural forces and celestial bodies but were also familiar with other religions including Christianity
Mecca
An important caravan city between Yemen and Syria
Also a cult center that attracted nomads to worship the idols enshrined at a small, cubicle shrine called Ka’ba.
11. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
Muhammad in Mecca
Born in Mecca in 570 CE
Grew up an orphan
When older got involved in the caravan trade
In 610 CE, began receiving revelations that he concluded were the words of the one god, Allah.
Others in the community, no doubt, believed he was possessed by a spirit (there was a general acceptance in the commonality of unseen spirits)
12. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
Muhammad in Mecca
Message
There is one god, Allah.
All people ought to submit to Allah
At the final judgement, all who have submitted to Allah would go to paradise, those who had not, to hell.
13. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
Muhammad in Mecca
Message
Muhammad’s revelations were considered to be final revelations, following and superceding the earlier revelations of God to Noah, Moses, and Jesus.
All people were called to submit themselves to God (Allah) and accept Muhammad as the last of his messengers.
Those who did were call Muslim
Muslim means one who makes “submission”, Islam, to the will of God (Allah).
14. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Formation of the Umma
Muhammad and his followers fled hostility in Mecca and went to Medina in 622 CE
In Medina, Muhammad’s followers and converts formed a single community of believers, the umma.
15. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Formation of the Umma
During the last decade of Muhammad’s life, the umma developed into the core of the Islamic state.
That Islamic state would later expand to all of Arabia and lands beyond Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia
16. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Formation of the Umma
Muhammad died after a short illness in 632 CE
Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr took over the leadership of the umma as the successor (caliph) of Muhammad.
Abu Bakr’s task was a bit unclear since Muhammad had received the “final” revelations from God.
However, Abu Bakr focused on two immediate tasks.
17. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Formation of the Umma
Abu Bakr’s Two Immediate Tasks:
1) Standarization of the Islamic religion
Confirming the Five Pillars of Islam
Ordered those who had been secretaries for Muhammad to organize the prophet’s revelations into a book. The resulting book, finished in 650 CE, was called the Quran, or the Recitation.
18. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Five Pillars of Islam
Avowal that there is only one god and that Muhammad is his messenger.
Prayer five times a day
Fasting during the lunar month of Ramadan
Paying alms
Making the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once during one’s lifetime.
19. The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam – 200 C.E. – 1200 C.E. The Origins of Islam
The Formation of the Umma
Abu Bakr’s Two Immediate Tasks:
2) Consolidation of the Islamic State
- Muslim armies fought to confirm the authority of the newborn caliphate and to regain some who had switched their allegiance to Medina or to would-be prophets of their own.