WHAP Belief System Study Guide: Islam

Kamryn Thompson, Jada Malveaux, Danielle Martinez, Angeline Garcia

a. Overview:
Islam is the most rapidly growing religion in the world. The Islamic culture is very much like Christianity
except that instead of following the path of Jesus Christ they have their own founder Muhammad. Islam
appeared and developed in a very interesting era where religion started to play a very big role in culture
and economy in the region they were developing in. By 622 C.E this religion had spread out into
southwest Asia, Europe and northern Africa. Islam made a great impact in history because their beliefs
influenced a lot in political, military and economic development.

b. The Origins of Islam:

Islam first rose in relatively remote trading cities along on the Arabian Peninsula in 622 C.E. Medina and
Mecca (specific origins) rose in the regions close to the Red Sea & served as organizational points for
camel caravans.

c. Founders:
Meccas history significantly changed after the birth of Muhammad, who was destined to be the founder
of Islam. Muhammad became a trader and business manager for Khadijah, and because he traveled so
much with his job he often came in contact with other religions and different groups of people. Around
the age of 40 he took a deep interest in religion and he took on a religious experience that he described as
a vision from Allah. He believed that Allah was the one god. Soon after, Muhammad began to share his
revelations with people and his supporters and followers circle grew which made political leaders feel
threatened by him. They saw the new faith as dangerous, and in response Muhammad set off rivalries.
After Muhammad religion continued to spread, he began to refer to himself as a prophet who offered a
full revelation of Allah. He was also an adept political and military organizer. Muhammad won the
citizens over in Mecca soon before his death.

d. Sacred texts (w/ brief analysis):

After the death of Muhammad his successor, Abu Bakr had those who worked for Muhammad to organize
his revelations into a book called Quran, which reached its final form in 650. It is believed to be the
sacred word of Allah, not only Muhammad. Behind the Quran, brings the hadith, a collection of stories
about and sayings of Muhammad. Quran is one compact book, meanwhile hadith has been passed down
from many Muslim scholars.

e. Core beliefs/ tenants:

The Five Pillars of Faith (the basic principles of islam)
1. The confession of faith- To become a Muslim, a person must make this statement: There is no
God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.
2. Prayer - Muslims must pay five times daily, turned to face Mecca.
3. Fasting- For one month of the muslim year ( Ramadan), Muslims must fast from sunup to
sundown, demonstrating to the umma their commitment to the religion.
4. Alms- The faithful must give a portion of their wealth as alms to help the needy, a requirement
that also helped to build cohesion in the umma.
5. Hajj- Once in a lifetime, any muslim who could possibly do it is expected to make a pilgrimage (
called the hajj) to Mecca to worship Allah at the Kaba. Every year this gathering in Mecca is still
a highly visible testament to the universal character of the religion.

f. Impact:
Ever since Islam was founded in the seventh-century, it has had a huge impact around the world.
Mathematics, language, astronomy, and medicine were all influenced by Islam. Al-Khwarazmi, a
mathematician, wrote several books about math. One of them was about different ways to solve quadratic
equations using words and numbers, which we still use a lot today. The word algebra is derived from the
Arabic word al-jabr, which means to restore or complete. Many Arabic ideas and concepts were spread

across Europe. As a result, modern English has many words derived from Arabic. Since Muslims were
required to face Mecca during daily prayer, they needed to exactly determine their geographic location.
Therefore, Muslim astronomers made many important discoveries. Astronomer Ibn al-Shatir developed
the planetary theory and studied the radius of Mercurys orbit. Even most stars have Arabic names.
Intellectual Ibn Sina made tons of important contributions to medicine. His book describes how to
quarantine patients and it tells how to test new medicines. Hospitals were developed during the Islamic
Golden Age, surgical practices were refined, and advances in hygiene were made.

g. Spread and Growth:

Muhammad and his followers spread Islam throughout the Arabian peninsula. When Muhammad visited
Mecca, all its citizens accepted the religion. In 636, Arabs conquered Syria and later won Iraq from the
Persians. After Muhammads death, Islam vastly increased territory in the Near East and Africa. Traders
in many different countries such as Malaysia interacted with Muslims and were taught about Islam. Islam
was further spread into the United States and across the world through immigration and etc.

h. Map:

i. Timeline:
610 C.E : The start

622 C.E. : Muhammad

633 C.E. Abu

655 C.E. Islam begins to

of Islam . Muhammad
has a vision from God
making him the
prophet that God has
sent.

establishes an Islamic state in

Yathrib where it is based on
laws and is guided by God.

Bakr is the new

leader of Islam
since Muhammad
dies.

spread throughout North

Africa.

1000 C.E. Islam

1120 C.E. Islam continues

continues to spread
through the continent
of Africa

to spread throughout Asia

1930 C.E. The

Nation of Islam is
created in the
U.S. by W. D.
Fard.

1975 C.E. Wallace D.

Muhammad, the son of
Elijah Muhammad, takes
over leadership of the
Nation of Islam after his
father's death.

j. Illustrations and pictures:

Bibliography

Maldonado,Jose. The Impact of Islam on World Society. Opposing Views. Web.

http://people.opposingviews.com/impact-islam-world-society-7693.html
PBS. Web
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/muslims/timeline.html
Islam, The Spread of Islam. 2002. Web.
http://history-world.org/islam4.htm
Woods, Ethel. "The Islamic World." AP World History: An Essential Coursebook. 2nd ed.
Germantown, NY: Woodyard Publications, 2011.