Seventh Grade Notes on Islam

Make sure you have all of this in your composition book for tomorrow's quiz:


7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

Muhammad and Islam

- In 610, an Arabic trader named Muhammad (from the city of Makkah) has a religious experience. He said the angel Gabriel visited him and told him to preach Islam.
- Islam means ‘surrendering to the will of Allah’ (Allah is the Arabic word for ‘God’)
- Allah is the one true god, other ‘gods’ are false
- Muslims are followers of Islam
- all people are equal and rich should share their goods with the poor
- poor in Makkah liked the message of Muhammad
- the wealthy and the religious elite did not like Muhammad’s message
- as Muhammad gained followers, the powerful people in the city decided he was dangerous and kicked him and his followers out of the city
- in 622, Muhammad and his followers went to city of Yathrib and marked that year as year 1 of Muslim calendar
- Yathrib was renamed Madinah, ‘the city of the prophet’
- in Madinah, Muhammad created a government based on Islam
- Muhammad built an army
- in 630, city of Makkah made Muhammad their leader also
- in 632 Muhammad died but Islam had already begun to spread throughout Arabia