Social Sciences and History / Unit 5 SSH 0436 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Islam's Rise and the Caliphates
Captions available
The idea
Muhammad united most Arab tribes under one monotheist faith; the hijra to Medina was six twenty-two. Four Rashidun caliphs expanded fast; the dispute over Ali split Sunni from Shia, and civil war brought the Umayyads. Within a century the empire was the world's largest.
In practice
The Abbasids' Baghdad preserving ancient knowledge.
Where people slip
Conversion was slow; Islamization was cultural first.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it