hi and welcome to this overview of islam in this video we're going to take a look
at the main beliefs of the muslim faith the foundation of islam in the 7th century a.d
why and how islam spread so quickly and how the worlds of islam and christianity eventually clash
during the crusades make sure to stay tuned until the end of the video for some review questions
islam is currently one of the largest religions in the world held in some
form or another by almost 2 billion people in countries all over the globe it is one of the
three main abrahamic monotheistic religions the other two being judaism and christianity
monotheistic simply means that there is only one god and abrahamic means that all three of these
faiths trace their lineage in part back to the figure of abraham in islamic tradition abraham is
considered the first in a long line of prophets that culminates in muhammad who is considered
the final messenger of allah so who was muhammad and what was his role in the formation of islam
muhammad was originally a merchant born in 570 a.d in the city of mecca located in modern-day
saudi arabia at the age of 40 he claimed that he was visited by the angel gabriel who shared with
him a revelation from allah he began to share these revelations when he started preaching
within his community three years later in 613 he preached about the singular nature of god
which in arabic is translated as allah and spoke out against incorrect behavior among his peers
warning them of allah's divine judgment during this time much of the arabian peninsula was
worshiping multiple gods and practicing numerous religions in the center of muhammad's hometown of
mecca there was even a shrine called the kaaba that over the centuries had been changed from a
holy structure built by abraham to honor god into a shrine used to worship numerous idols muhammad
claimed allah revealed his anger over this and then muhammad passed that anger onto his community
surprisingly this did not make him very popular among his peers and he was eventually chased
out of the city of mecca he fled to the city of medina with a select few of his close followers
this fourth move is known as the hedgera which officially marks the beginning of the islamic
calendar eventually muhammad and his followers who had multiplied significantly while he was in
medina returned to mecca and took over the city after only three years back in mecca muhammad
died in 632 by the time of his death almost the entire arabian peninsula had converted to islam
during his last years muhammad dictated all of his avowed visions and revelations from allah
which were then written down word for word these visions are what make up the islamic holy book
called the quran there are many intricacies within islamic scripture but for the sake of
clarity we'll focus on the primary beliefs these are referred to as the five pillars of islam
much like the ten commandments in jewish and christian theology the five pillars of
islam are the basic tenets that all muslims must follow the first pillar of islam is the shahada
the profession of faith this is the first step of conversion to islam and is simply an
acknowledgement that there is no god but allah and that muhammad is his prophet the second pillar is
select or prayer muslims are required to pray five times a day while facing mecca these prayers occur
at dawn noon mid-afternoon sunset and after dark prayers are based on scripture contained within
the quran and are done while kneeling on the floor on a prayer rug the third pillar of islam is
zakat the giving of alms muslims are expected to donate and provide gifts of charity to their
community this is dictated in the quran but has also been a large facet of islamic cultural rule
the fourth pillar psalm requires muslims to fast during the month of ramadan
during the daylight hours all healthy adult muslims must abstain from food or drink
these fasts are often broken with large dinners with family and friends at sunset each night
the fasting is meant to bring renewed gratitude for the provisions given to them by allah finally
the fifth pillar of islam is the hajj the hajj is a pilgrimage made to the holy city of mecca
all muslims who are financially and physically able are expected to make this pilgrimage at
least once in their life this pilgrimage centers around the kaaba which after muhammad's visions
had been converted back into a holy shrine for islam these five facets of islam were dictated
by muhammad before his death and have been core concepts of the faith since its inception
a term you might be more familiar with is jihad its definition is uncertain controversial and
complicated many americans since 9 11 have generally conceived of it as a holy war
particularly a war fought by muslims to forcibly convert non-muslims the 1989 concise encyclopedia
of islam also defined it that way as a holy war a divine institution of warfare to extend islam
into the abode of struggle or to defend islam from danger but in 1992 another scholar expanded this
holy war definition stating that the word derives from an arabic root meaning basically to strive
all muslims are obliged to wage a spiritual jihad in the sense of striving against sin and sinful
inclinations within themselves but as i've said the definition of jihad is complicated in 1898 sir
thomas arnold explained that there are no passages in the quran that in any way enjoin forcible
conversion and many that on the contrary limit propagandist efforts to preaching and persuasion
it has further been maintained that no passage in the quran authorizes unprovoked attacks on
unbelievers and that in accordance with such teaching all the wars of muhammad were defensive
however sir arnold explains that after muhammad it is due to the islamic legions and commentators
that jihad came to be interpreted as a religious war waged against unbelievers who might be
attacked even though they were not the aggressors however its definition is interpreted according to
islamic tradition jihad is important muad ibn jabal a companion of muhammad and compiler of
the quran recorded that muhammad told him that the head of the matter is islam its pillar is prayer
and jihad is its peak after muhammad's death in 632 there was an immediate power struggle over
who would take his place as leader of the faith abu bakr one of muhammad's closest friends was
nominated by another prominent follower and with additional support was named the first caliph
which is the title given to the male ruler of the islamic world this choice was not accepted by all
with many other followers believing that muhammad would have wanted his cousin and son-in-law ali
ibnabi to leave to be his successor the majority however chose to follow abu bakr who then founded
the first caliphate this division still exists today the branch of islam that followed ali
became the shia sect and those who followed abu bakr the sunni sect today iran is the foremost
shia geopolitical power while saudi arabia located just across the persian gulf is the main sunni
geopolitical power sunnis vastly outnumber shiites today immediately after his ascendancy to caliph
abu bakr worked to rid the middle east of both the byzantine and persian empires the first four
caliphates that followed the death of muhammad are collectively called the rashidun caliphate
after the rashidun caliphate the umayyad caliphate which ruled from 661 to 750
continued muslim conquests past the arabian peninsula by the end of the umayyad caliphate
the islamic world had grown tremendously while only 150 years before islam was focused
primarily in the cities of mecca and medina by 750 the empire stretched from the south of spain
across the north of africa and all the way to the western border of modern day india
so we can see that regardless of the confusion and differing opinions after the death of muhammad
islam spread rapidly but how did such a new religion spread so quickly and so far scholars
have long debated this topic and the answer is not simple there are a few explanations given the
missionary exhortations of the quran and dutiful missionary activity by muslims the relative
ease of conversion early medieval trade routes tolerance of local traditions and violent conquest
it is likely that all of these played a role in the spread of islam as we discussed previously all
conversion requires is that one make a profession of the faith and follow the other four pillars
because many ancient and medieval trade routes converged and passed through the arabian peninsula
conversion came with some benefits for traders and merchants merchants would encounter muslims along
their trade routes and would often be interested in conversion not only were they convinced by the
religious aspects but they also knew that trade would be easier if both parties had something as
important as religion in common it was a built-in element of trust once these merchants converted
and continued on their way they shared their new faith with others along the trade routes spreading
islam organically as they traveled finally as the faith and the empire spread it encountered
numerous other cultures and traditions instead of wiping out pre-islamic culture in the areas
they conquered caliphs instead chose to embrace local tradition and blend it with the broader
islamic culture the newly conquered civilizations were able to continue many of their traditions
just with a new islamic backdrop while islamic tradition practiced some cultural tolerance and
brought religious unity to its conquered lands they did encounter pushback from one group in
particular the christian west while islam was spreading throughout the middle east
christianity was also growing in the west just as islam was growing so too was christianity
christianity requires believers to confess jesus christ as a divine person of the christian trinity
which islam considered idolatrous this led to a clash between the two growing powers
there were two main movements against the spread of islam by the christian states
the reconquista and the crusades the reconquista was a period of almost
800 years where the christian kingdoms of the iberian peninsula modern-day spain and portugal
fought against the spread of islam within their territories originally started in 722 christian
forces battled the encroaching umayyads in order to begin the reconquest of their land
these battles were not continual but the christian idea of reconquering what they considered their
rightful land was the reconquista officially ended once the great muslim cities of cordoba
seville and granada fell to the christian armies by 1491 the reconquista was officially over
and the christian kingdoms had reclaimed all of their territory in the iberian peninsula
the crusades were much broader in both scope and geography than the reconquista the crusades were
a collection of numerous individual wars launched by either the pope or by enthusiastic christian
kings of europe most historians trace the origins of the first crusade to a sermon preached by pope
urban ii in 1095 which rallied christian rulers to take back the holy land from muslim control
primarily crusaders sought access to the church of the holy sepulchre the church in jerusalem
that was believed to hold the tomb of jesus the pope offered those willing to fight eternal glory
and perhaps more appealingly absolution from all sin committed their entire lives the first crusade
was ultimately successful with christian crusaders capturing the city of jerusalem on july 15
1099 this did not last however and the city of jerusalem and much of the surrounding territory
continued to be traded back and forth for hundreds of years this back and forth fighting between
christian and muslim forces did not officially end until 1492 after the end of the reconquista
unfortunately the long-standing enmity between the two religions did not end after the almost
400 years of hostilities echoes of the crusades and the reconquista remain and influence modern
political and ideological thought in pockets of both religions hopefully this brief insight into
muslim faith and history has given you a better understanding of the second largest faith in the
world this is just a taste of the rich history and tradition of islam and i hope it encourages you to
learn more about the history of world religions before we go let's go over a few quick review
questions to test your knowledge number one what are the two most sacred cities in islamic theology
a mecca and baghdad b medina and baghdad c mecca and medina d baghdad and cordoba
the correct answer is c mecca is the holiest city in islam as it was the birthplace of muhammad
medina is also sacred because of the hedgera when muhammad fled from mecca to medina number two
which of these is not one of the five pillars of faith a prayer b giving of alms c pilgrimage or d
baptism the correct answer is d the five pillars of faith are declaration of faith obligatory
prayer compulsory giving fasting during ramadan and pilgrimage to mecca baptism is a practice
held by most christian denominations that's all for now thanks for watching and happy studying