World History For Us All Logo Teaching
Units
Curriculum
at a Glance
Foundations
of This Curriculum
Questions and
Themes
Glossary Teachers'
Comments
Evaluate
This Site
Links
Contact
Us
World History For Us All Spacer Image
History, Geography, and Time Big Eras 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Past and Future
Home >

Big Era Five: Landscape Unit 5.2

menu
menu Complete Teaching Unit in PDF format

Afroeurasia and the Rise of Islam
600 - 1000 CE

Why This Unit?

The study of religions in world history and geography courses is a basic requirement in every state’s academic standards, just as it is a major feature of the National Standards for World History. The importance of studying the origins, beliefs, practices, and spread of religion is a matter of consensus because this subject has contemporary relevance. Also, religious movements have been enormously significant in human history. Religious beliefs and practices have brought forth traditions and institutions that have shaped urban and rural life, built empires, and contributed to trade, literacy, and scientific development. Religious movements have influenced conflict and cooperation on many levels, and stimulated migration and travel.

The rise and spread of Islam in the seventh and following centuries CE profoundly affected large parts of Afroeurasia. This topic offers students an opportunity to study several interlinked historical processes. The story of the origins of Islam itself reaches as far back into the history of Southwest Asia as human settlement itself, since Muslims believe that the revelation given to Muhammad during the seventh century was only the final one in a continuous sacred exchange reaching back through all of the biblical prophets to Adam and Eve. The story also includes the rise and fall of empires from Mesopotamia to the Romans and Persians, and the rapid expansion of territory under Muslim rule under the early caliphate and the Umayyad Dynasty. The spread of Islam is a distinct phenomenon that historians relate to rapid advances in urbanization, the growth of trade networks in Afroeurasia, and a series of migrations. Islam also gradually spread as a faith and way of life among the populations of a region extending from the Iberian Peninsula to the borders of China. Not until about four centuries after the conquests of Southwest Asia, North Africa, and parts of Inner Eurasia did Islam become the majority faith of the population in those regions. Even then, religious diversity remained a hallmark of those societies matched only in modern multicultural societies like the United States.

This unit traces the rise of Islam, its spread, and the development of Muslim civilization. It also addresses its impact on Afroeurasia as a whole.

Unit Objectives

Upon completing this unit, students will be able to:

1.) Locate the Arabian Peninsula and the bodies of water and landmasses adjacent to it. Identify important cities such as Jerusalem, Makkah (Mecca), Madinah (Madina), Damascus, Baghdad, Constantinople, Cairo, Cordoba, and Samarkand.

2.) Describe the basic beliefs and practices of Islam, including the Five Pillars and explain their relationship to Muslim life, culture, and civilization.

3.) Distinguish between the rapid expansion of territory under Muslim rule and the gradual spread of Islam among various societies.

4.) Analyze the relationship between the spread of Islam and the use of the Arabic language in scholarship and trade.

5.) Identify social and political institutions that emerged in Muslim society in response to religious practices, and give examples of diverse ways in which these institutions manifested themselves in different regional traditions.

6.) Relate the spread of Islam to the expansion of trade in Afroeurasia from the seventh to the sixteenth centuries CE.

7.) Compare primary sources and relate them to geographic information about interregional trade relations in Afroeurasia.

8.) Relate the spread of Islam to the expansion of urbanization in Afroeurasia from the seventh to the twelfth centuries CE.

Time and Materials

These lessons take 3-5 class periods to complete.

Table of Contents

Why This Unit?

2

Time and materials

2

Unit objectives

3

Authors

3

The Historical Context

3

This unit in the Big Era time line

4

Lesson 1: Primer on Islamic Beliefs and Practices

5

Lesson 2: The Spread of Islam

15

Lesson 3: The Impact of Islam in Afroeurasia, 632-1000 CE

33

Lesson 4: Rules of the Road and Laws of the Sea

42

This unit and the Three Essential Questions

49

This unit and the seven Key Themes

49

This unit and the Standards in Historical Thinking

49

Resources

50

Conceptual links to other teaching units

52

Correlations to National and State Standards

53

Complete Teaching Unit in PDF Format

 

 

Note: documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher to view, download Adobe Acrobat Reader.