B. Answer the following questions in detail :
1. When and where was Muhammad born ? Explain in detail why AD 622 is important for
all Muslims.
2. Explain in short the five pillars of Islam.
3. Who succeeded Muhammad and how ? Name and write about the three sects of Islam.
State the central teachings of Islam. Which one of these teachings appealed to you most?
Why?
5. How did Islam spread through trade ?
6. Explain the expansion of Islam under the Umayyad and Abbasid.
Answers
Answer:
1.Muhammad was born around 570, AD in Mecca (now in Saudi Arabia). The year 622 AD is a significant date in Islamic history; so much so that it is referred to as the first year of the Muslim calendar. This means that the year 2000 in the Christian calendar was considered the year 1378 in the Islamic calendar.
2.The five pillars – the declaration of faith (shahada), prayer (salah), alms-giving (zakat), fasting (sawm) and pilgrimage (hajj) – constitute the basic norms of Islamic practice. They are accepted by Muslims globally irrespective of ethnic, regional or sectarian differences
3.On Muhammad's death (June 8, 632), the Muslims of Medina resolved the crisis of succession by accepting Abū Bakr as the first khalīfat rasūl Allāh (“deputy [or successor] of the Prophet of God,” or caliph).
5.After the advent of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, Islam started its expansion towards eastern regions through trade encouraged by the development of the maritime Silk Roads. Muslims were known to have a commercial talent notably encouraged by Islam, as well as excellent sailing skills.
6.The Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad dynasty in 750 CE, supporting the mawali, or non-Arab Muslims, by moving the capital to Baghdad in 762 CE. The Persian bureaucracy slowly replaced the old Arab aristocracy as the Abbasids established the new positions of vizier and emir to delegate their central authority.