Through conquest and expansion, Muslims created a powerful Islamic Empire which greatly contributed to and deeply impacted the development of Western Civilization. The expansion of Islam from Mecca to Medina began with the Prophet Muhammad. “Muhammad taught that his religion was the pure monotheism of the prophets which would replace Judaism and Christianity. Using force and negotiation, Muhammad drew many Arab tribes into his religious community” (Armstrong, 19). Muhammad created a controlled community that was inspired by his teachings.
Mecca is located in what is now present day Saudi Arabia, about half way down the Western side of the Arabian Peninsula. The Kaaba, the black Islamic stone shrine established by Abraham and Ishmael, is located there. Mecca is deeply rooted in tradition, and the stones and Kaaba were erected or associated with Holy Ground, where individuals had a dramatic experience with God or Allah as he is called in Islam. During the time of Mohammed, Mecca had became a easy stopping place for the caravans and merchants along the spice trade which brought new wealth, foreign ideals and social values to Mecca. Being the stopping point brought to Mecca a host of undesirables such as; merchants, prostitutes swindlers and gamblers, whose social values would clash with that of the Arab Bedouin, who clung to traditional ideologies (Grand Canyon University, 2010, p. 1-2, para.
This discovery made people want to learn more about their world (Centers of Inventions ?). Alchemy and astronomy were just a few of the arts that intrigued many scientists. Alchemy originally started in Islam and it was the act of turning a lesser substance, like lead, into a greater substance, like gold. Most alchemists believed that nature was alive and that everything that is of great value grew naturally from something that was valueless. It was the alchemist’s job to shorten the natural growth by changing the traits of the substance.
Why does Pope Urban II call on the Crusade? Jerusalem was and still is a very important city to both the Muslims and the Christians. Pilgrims of the Christianity faith and the Muslim faith both travelled to the city to worship there. Jerusalem was ruled by the Arab Muslims who were very excepting and prepared to let Christians visit the city which made things run a lot more nicely and smoothly. After capturing and taking over Syria, Persia, and Egypt, Muslims from turkey eventually defeated the eastern emperor at manzikert in 1071, and then just 5 years later captured Jerusalem.
Ia a centralised religious function a consistant feature of, and what role(s) may it have played in, the early cities you have studied? My study of early cities for this block of the course has indicated to me that a central religious function did indeed have a consistent role throughout the cities that I have studied. A city can be defined by Childes criteria which briefly states that in order to be classed as a city the site must be a permanent settlement with a large differentiated population, that there is trade and that there is payment of tax to a deity or king. Different cities in different regions used their religion in a way that was beneficial to them, be it a leader to whom all the people could worship, a sign of status and wealth
The temples where so close to the forum and almost right in the centre of the town which I think enforces the fact that religion was so important during roman Britain. The streets were arranged in the form of a grid and streets were built at right angles to each other. I think that the organisation of the roads is almost metaphorical for the Romans desire for
The role the military played in the expansion of Christianity differed from that of Islam. Christianity and Islam both made use of syncretism in the expansion of their religions. Christianity was influenced by much of Imperial Rome’s governmental structure and used the leadership of the bishop of Rome, called the pope. The celebration of Christ’s birth was moved to coincide with the winter solstice. This allowed the new faith to benefit from the power of selective older rituals and gave them remarkable strength and power.
Each city-state enjoyed its own freedoms, but also shared many of the same things including language, religion and sciences. Trade between the city-states was also very important because it allowed goods to flow from one city to another. One of the most interesting facts about Mesopotamia can be seen in Hammurabi’s Code, the Amorite King Hammurabi’s list of crimes and punishments, which is known to be the earliest written “legal” writing of the time. Hammurabi’s code contains the famously known saying: “if a man has destroyed the eye of a member of the aristocracy: thy shall destroy his eye. If he has broken his limb: thy shall break the same limb.” Many people know about this saying but do not know where it came from; it is extremely interesting that it came from one of the earliest civilizations.
Islam continued to grow. Eventually, Mansa Musa (Mali’s ruler) declared that the Islam religion would be their official religion. In conclusion, Islam impacted West Africa greatly by increasing trade, blending cultures, and changing government structures. In the time period of 1000 C.E. to 1750 C.E., several Islamic states rose and
Furthermore, the Shahnameh provides several models of good government and honorable kings, which explains why it is often held an important place in the education of the princes. The Shahnameh was greatly desired by rulers of the great Islamic Empires in modern times, and especially by the Safavid rulers. Both rulers and ordinary people used to order and buy copies of the beautiful Shahnameh. According to Jalal Khaleghi Mutlaq, the Shahnameh teaches a wide variety of moral virtues, like worship of one God; religious uprightness; patriotism; love of wife, family and children; and helping the poor” ("Iran Garai dar Shahnameh"). Secondly, Ferdaws, in Shiraz, Iran during 1560-1570, produced the page “Giv in Conversation with Kay