Islam Timeline

• Born in/around 570 A.D. in Arabian Peninsula- Mecca
• Tribal war scattered the land
• 6- Parents died (Child of everybody)
• Bedouin- Nomadic (Clans)
• Oral culture (Reciting poetry was honored- bound everyone together to their ancestor and celebrated their victories)
• Muhammad’s uncle taught him how to survive in the battle scared lands
• Allegiance to family- then tribe
• Water is precious- symbol
• Shrine of wood stone and cloth- Kabba is the shrine of the separate gods (Sanctuary)
• Black stone fell from the sky
• People put down their arms and facilitated trading within the holy area
• Cultures mixed
• Christians, Jews, and Animists all collided
• Khadijah proposed to Muhammad- wealthy
• When black stone was out of place, Muhammad offered sharing the weight and honor
• Al-Amîn- The trusted one
• 610 (40yrs old) Angel appeared to him on the mountain and made him recite the words of God
• He found this disturbing- but it led to the development of Islam
• Powerful words led to the message that their is only one God- Divine unity
• One God meant one people and eliminated the tribal divisions
• This was revolutionary to the divided poor- social justice message
• Not a poet because poets speak through desire- this is not the voice of desire it is the voice of God
• The Qu’ran was revealed orally and people wanted to write it down to prevent corruption of the lesson. People began copying this spiritual collection of religious teachings.
• Natural- still in Arabic (intimacy) 
• No description of God- not a thing or projection of the human self (No sculpture/images)
• Pictures of Muhammad are not to be worshiped nor are they religious
• They are historical not devotional
• The miracle was not magic but the words
• People were skeptical to the idea of life after death
• Apocalyptic imagery to show the responsibility of our actions (outrage)
• The economy suffered as people left- people plotted to assassinate him
• 690- Khadijah and his uncle died due to enemies expelling his followers from the trade and starving them.
• Yahthrib? A town north of Mecca became his refuge- peacemaker
• Leaving their families and lives was the ultimate test of devotion- bound by faith not blood- beginning of Islam- 
• 622 is the Muslim Year One