Historical Relationships between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity

There are both similarities and differences between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Some differences are that most Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and Islams believe that he is only a prophet. For Islam, Muhammad was the one and only prophet. Jews do not believe that Jesus is a prophet, or in any way holy. Islam has many beliefs and practices that are in common with Judaism, and Christianity. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all known as the "Abrahamic religions" and Muhammad also met both Jews and Christians during his lifetime. All of these religions only believe in one God.

Significance of the Qur'an

The significance of the Qur'an is that it is the book that holds the Islam religion. The Qur'an is the book that tells the followers what to believe, what the religion is, how to act, and much more. The Qur'an contains writting that tells the people to be kind to others and to care for others, nature, and the way of life and how the world and human beings were created.

The Life of Muhammad

In 570 C.E. Muhammad was born in Makkah and had to move around a lot when he was little. When Muhammad was born his father was already died and lived in a poor clan with his mother who soon past away. Then he went to be with his grandfather who was a leader of a clan, but later on ended up passing away. After he went to his uncle who was a trader and later became the leader of the clan. Muhammad stayed with his uncle and grew up watching his family flock sheeps and goats and later ended up trading with his uncle once he got older. At the age of 25 he married a widow named Khadijah and met her when he started managing the caravans for her. Muhammad was loved by his costumers because he was very honest.

The Teachings of Muhammad

Muhammad taught the religion of Islam and the faith of Islam is based on monotheism, which is the belief in one God. Around 613 C.E., Muhammad began to preach to otherr Makkans. He taught many things to his followers, which would be called Muslims and that means "those who surrender to God". Muhammad taught that people must worship one God and that all believers in God were equal. That the rich should share their wealth and urged that the people of Makkah would take care of the orphans and poor. He also inforced that the people should work to improve the status of women.

(Islam does not allow pictures of God)

Time before Muhammad

Life in Arabia before Muhammad was born was very different and also very un-organized. Merchants were very wealthy because of trading goods, but would not share their fortune with the poorer people. These richer people bacame more powerful because of their succesful trades and these families began to rule the city. There was also no centeral government in Arabia, but instead they had Arab's pledge their loyalty to their clan or tribe. Before Muhammad many people believes in many God's instead of just one God, which is what Muhammad believed. The people would worship the many traditional Gods who had shrines at the Ka'ba, which is were they worshipped, but Muhammad honored the one God of the Arahamic faith. The Arab's on the peninsula were not united as a nation but they did share ties of culture and they especially share the language.

-Questions-
1) Did Muhammad change Arabia in any way?
2) What did Muhammad change in Arabia?
3) What is the one god that Muhammad honors/believe in?
4) Is trading still a major way to make money in Arabia?
5) Does Arabia still have no central government?

Desert

-Enviornment-

1) Very hot, dry enviornment and can have very harsh conditions.

2) In the summer temperatures often rise above 120 degrees and the winter and night time temperatures can drop below freezing.

-Adaptations-

1) Camels are very good to travel on, main method of transpertation.

2) Nomads also called Bedouins migrate through the desert raising sheep, goats, and camels and build tents and move on when their animals eat all the vegitation and then they move on to new land that contains new vegitation.

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Oases

-Enviornment-

1) They occur were water has been trapped under ground.

2) Very in size, range from a few acres to large areas of land.

-Adaptations-

1) Nomads for a while have traveled from one oases to another in-search of water and vegitations.

2) Some Nomads gave up their wandering lifestyle to become sedentary, people that settle in one place, because they realized they could grow cropes at the oases.

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The Coastal Plains

-Enviornment-

1) Range from 5 to 40 miles inland, it ends at a series of rocky cliffs.

2) The air is damp and moist and falls regulary and has a few natural harbors.

-Adaptations-

1) It is used for farming, farming communities thrived in Southern Arabia and people built deep wells, dams, and systems to irrigate the land.

2) They conserve rainwater in canals and reservoirs.

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Mountains

-Enviornment-

1) Arabia's mountains can range from 1,000 to 12,000 feet high and have a very different climate from the rest of the peninsula.

2) Moist winds from the Indian Ocean can bring as much as 20 inches of rain a year to the mountains and the rain and elevation help keep temperatures in the mountains cool.

-Adaptations-

1) People that live in the mountains in the Arabian region today live in a type of building or place of shelter.

2) The people that lived in the mountains would farm on the steep slopes by creating these step like terraces, or flat areas. Farmers also constructed dams and irrigation systems and stored extra rainfall in underground storage containers, leather bags, and hollowed-out trees.