Ron Paul Curriculum 7th Grade History Class Lesson 25 Essay: Islam and it's growth

Ron Paul Curriculum 7th Grade History Class

Taught by Professor Bradley Fish

Lesson 25 Essay: Islam and it's growth

Written by KryssaLee Baze

      In 570 A.D, a man was born.  Someone who would change the history of the Middle East, and who would be remembered  for centuries.  His name was Muhammad.

      Muhammad was born in Mecca, near the holy ancient shrine called the Ka'ba.  He was orphaned at a young age, so his uncle took him in and raised him.  When he was 26 he married a wealthy widow, and became a prosperous merchant.

      It was in 610 AD, when Muhammad was 40 years old, that he had his first "revelation".  These "messages" explained that he was a prophet of a new religion, and to go prophesy this religion throughout the world.  These first revelations make up the first passages of the Qu'ran.

      Because of these strange messages, he was quickly shunned by his family and all of Meca.  Some even tried to assassinate him.  So in 622 A.D. he journeyed to the town of Medina, which became the first Islamic community.  They people of Medina even elected Muhammed as their leader.  Muhammad eventually gathered the people from Medina, and went to battle against Mecca.  He won the war and forced the city to declare to be Muslim.  

      Muhammed led the very first Islamic pilgrimage in 632 A.D., walking from Medina to Mecca to visit the Ka'ba shrine.  This shrine was supposedly built by Abraham, and the Muslims claim that Abraham is the father of their religion.  At the end of this pilgrimage Muhammad gave what turned out to be his last sermon.  He soon fell ill and died a few months later.

      After Muhammad died there were four elected rulers that became rulers of Islam.  These four men are known as the "rightly guided Caliphs".  These caliphs are considered the Rashidun dynasty.  All of these early calpihs were friends or family with Muhammad, and continued to carry on his traditions.

      The first caliph was Abu Bakr.  He was Muhammed's father-in-law, and helped consolidate the Quran into one book.  Umar was the second caliph, and ended up being one of the most powerful caliphs in Islamic history.  He was known for successful military campaigns and was very just to Muslims.  Umar was assassinated in 644 A.D.  Then came Uthman.  He extended the Islamic emipire, and dealt with many revolts from the empire near the end of his reign.  He was also assassinated.  The last calpih was Ali.  He was the very first male convert to Islam, and as many thought that he should have been the first caliph, Muslims split into two parties.  

      After the Rashidun dynasty, another dynasty developed.  This was the Umayyad dynasty, and they controlled the empire  when it grew to be the size of the fifth largest empire in history.  The Abbasid dynasty came after the Umayyad, and this dynasty established the empire's capital in Baghdad, which is in current day Iraq.  During the Abbasids, the Muslim population rose from only 40% to almost universal.  The Abbasids lasted 500 years, but due to laziness the empire fell apart.  One of the last empires was the Ottoman Empire.  The Ottoman Empire became one of the strongest empires in the history of the world.  The Ottomans lasted 600 years, but fell apart and crumbled because of World War I.

      The second largest religion in the world, Islam continues to be one of the most rapidly growing religions throughout the world.