DESTINATION Midale Ages Your Guide to the Islamic A Golden Age Tim Cooke Le Crabtree Publishing Company www crabtree books com
Before We Start Did you know In Arabia in the 600s a man named Muhammad believed God spoke to him What he heard would change the world forever While the Islamic Empire experienced a golden age Europe experienced weak government warfare and a lack of learning This period in Europe is sometimes called the Dark Ages A GOLDEN AGE Islam reaches a peak Historians use the term golden age to describe a time o peace prosperity and great cultural advances In the Islamic world the golden age is usually dated from the 700s to the 1200s At that time Islamic caliphs ruled over an empire that covered much of the Middle East North Africa and Central Asia These rulers encouraged international trade and commissioned scholars to study astronomy math and medicine while artists and architects created great works or LIU I LIFE OF THE PROPHET s MODGORIC Mohammad preaches the new faith Flees from his home HD Muhammad was born in Mecca in Arabia around 570 At the age of 40 he began to hear God s words He started to preach and gained many followers His enemies forced him to flee Mecca in 622 and he moved to Medina He later returned and established a mosque in Mecca shown on this painted tile right By the time of his death in 632 Muhammad's teachings were the basis of a new religion called Islam UCOOOOOOOOOT DESTINATION MIDDLE AGES
OC Allah God did not send me to be harsh or cause harm ISLAM SPREADS From Arabia across the world Warriors carry the faith but he sent me to teach and make things easy The Prophet Muhammad By 630 Muhammad had united the tribes of Arabia under his new religion After his death two years later his followers converted people to Islam throughout the Middle East Arab warriors fought many wars to spread the religion below By 732 Islam had spread through Persia to India along Africa's north coast and into southern Spain ISLAM DIVIDED LIGHT IN THE DARKAGES Muslim Vs Muslim Split continues today A scholarly culture When Muhammad died his followers split into two groups The larger group were the Sunnis They wanted Muhammad's friend Abu Bakr to become caliph The Shia on the other hand wanted Muhammad's cousin and son in law Ali to become caliph In fact Abu Bakr became the first caliph Ali later became the fourth caliph The split between the Sunnis and the Shia continues today Islam was based on learning Islamic scholars studied texts by ancient Greek thinkers such as Aristotle left and Plato Meanwhile Europe was in a period known as the ATG Dark Ages Learning collapsed as tribes fought each other It was only thanks to Islamic scholars that many texts from the classical world were preserved YOUR GUIDE TO THE ISLAMIC GOLDEN AGE
