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
Where in the World By 732 the Islamic Empire had spread from the Indian border in the east to Spain and Portugal known as Andalusia in the west RUSSIA EUROPE Cordoba From 929 to 1031 Cordoba was the capital of the Umayyad dynasty who ruled much of Spain and North Africa Cordoba was famous as a center of scholarship SPAIN SYRIA Cordoba PORTUGAL TUNISIA Damascus Jerusalem Medina EGYPT Mecca AFRICA Cairo The Arab Fatimid caliphs founded Cairo in 969 and it became their capital in 1169 In 1250 the city was seized by slave soldiers called Mamluks whose dynasty ruled it until 1517 Mecca and Medina The Prophet Muhammad founded Islam in Mecca and it remains the holiest site for all Muslims When local people objected to the new faith Muhammad took shelter in Medina which is also a holy city in Islam He later returned to Mecca DESTINATION MIDDLE AGES
Damascus Damascus in Syria was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750 The Umayyads made Arabic the official language even though most citizens of Damascus were Christians who did not speak Arabic Jerusalem Jerusalem is holy to Muslims Christians and Jews Muslim armies seized the city from the Byzantine Empire in 637 in the Crusades that began in 1095 European Christians fought a series of campaigns to try to win the city back IRAQ AFGHANISTAN Baghdad Baghdad Baghdad was founded by the Abbasid dynasty as their capital in the mid 700s It was the capital of the Arab Caliphate during the golden age of the 800s and 900s when it was the largest city in the world Baghdad was a trade center and a renowned center of learning and Islamic culture SAUDI INDIA Arabia Arabia is a large peninsula between Asia and Africa It is bordered on one side by the Persian Gulf and on the other by the Red Sea This desert region was home to the Islamic religion New Names This map shows the modern names of the countries that were part of the Islamic Empire at its height YOUR GUIDE TO THE ISLAMIC GOLDEN AGE
