Rise and Spread of Islam

Agriculture was predominant in the south-west region of Arabia, the coastal region along the Red Sea. Before the emergence of Islam, the people of Arabia were divided into two main groups: the city dwellers or settled folk and the wandering Bedouins or dwellers of the desert. These people were divided into a number of friendly clans called tribes (qabila). These tribes were organised on the basis of blood relationships. The head of the tribes was called the 'Sheikh' and was partly chosen on the basis of his family connections and more on the basis of his courage, wisdom and generosity. These tribes were constantly at war with each other. Each tribe had its own God, who was worshipped as an idol (sanam) in a shrine (masjid).

Prophet Mohammad founded Islam.

The five main teachings of Islam are:

1. There is only one God, i.e., Allah and Mohammad is his Prophet.
2. All Muslims must offer prayers (namaz) five times a day — at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, dusk and at night and on Friday afternoons he must offer prayer in the mosque.
3. They must fast from sunrise to sunset throughout the holy month of 'Ramzan'.
4. They must give alms (zakat) to the poor as an offering to Allah.
5. They must make a pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj) at least once in their lifetime.

The successors of Prophet Muhammad were known as Caliphs or Khalifas. The headquarters or the capital of the kingdom was called the Caliphate.

The first four Caliphs were:

1. Abu Bakr
2. Omar
3. Osman
4. Ali

The Umayyads were a prosperous clan of the Quraysh tribe. Under their dynasty the consolidation of Islam was done after destruction of caliphate based in Medina.

Two acts of Abd al-Malik, which promoted Arab and Islamic identities were:

1. He made Arabic the language of administration. He also got Arabic inscription struck on the gold dinar and silver dirham.
2. He constructed a monument called the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. This monument is associated with the Night Journey of the Prophet to Heaven (miraj).

The Abbasids were considered holy because they claimed to belong to the same tribe to which the Prophet Mohammad belonged.

Two factors that helped in the growth of culture during the rule of the Abbasids were:

1. The Abbasid Empire was one of the most powerful and flourishing one as it included all the important centres of civilization in the area, i.e., parts of North Africa, Egypt, Spain, Iran and Iraq.
2. They absorbed whatever was best in other cultures and civilizations and used them to further develop their knowledge.

The Arabs learnt the decimal system and zero from India, trigonometry and geometry from the Greeks and astronomy from the Persians. From Chinese they learnt the use of mariner's compass, manufacture of glass, paper, gun powder, the wheel barrow and printing. Al Razi and Ibn Sina were great scientists and physicians. The Arabs discovered new chemical compounds and made use of astrolabe for navigation.
In the field of literature, the Persians made remarkable progress. The Caliph Al-Mamun set up a 'House of Wisdom' at Baghdad for translating into Arabic the works from Greek, Chinese, Indian, Egyptian and Persian civilisations. Some of the famous Persian Writers like Omar Khayyam and Firdausi are known for their great works like Rubiyat and Shah Namah respectively. The world renowned book Arabian Nights provides information on the life and culture of the Arabs.

(a) Mecca

(b) Medina

(a) Abu Bakr

(b) Osman

(a) The Umayyad Dynasty

(b) The Abbasid Dynasty

(a) Al Razi

(b) Ibn Sina

(a) Omar Khayyam

(b) Firdausi

(a) The people in the picture are offering Namaz.

(b) They follow Islam religion. The founder of Islam is Prophet Mohammad and their Holy Book is Quran

(c) The five main principles of their religion are:

1. There is only one God, i.e., Allah and Mohammad is his Prophet.
2. All Muslims must offer prayers (namaz) five times a day- at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, dusk and at night and on Friday afternoons he must offer prayer in the mosque.
3. They must fast from sunrise to sunset throughout the holy month of 'Ramzan'.
4. They must give alms (zakat) to the poor as an offering to Allah.
5. They must make a pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj) at least once in their lifetime.