1.2D: Islamic Cultural Traditions

unity

AP Theme

Cultural Developments and Interactions

Learning Objective 1D

Explain how systems of belief and their practices affected society from c. 1200 to c. 1450.  

Historical Development 1

The Middle East birthed three of the world’s great monotheistic faiths.

Historical Development 2

The Quran and Hadith led to the emergence of an Islamic culture that spread widely.

Historical Development 3

The spread of Islamic culture shaped societies across Asia and Africa.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all arose in the Middle East. These three religions are all monotheistic and share similar beliefs and religious prophets.

The Quran and hadiths influenced the formation of Islamic culture.

As the Islamic religion spread across Afro-Eurasia, so did Islamic culture.

Contents

The World's Three Largest Monotheistic Faiths all began in the Middle-East

Main idea

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all arose in the Middle East. These three religions are all monotheistic and share similar beliefs and religious prophets.

The Middle East (Western Asia) is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three religions are closely related and referred to as “Abrahamic” religions—meaning they each worship the God of Abraham mentioned in their holy texts. All three religions also believe that Abraham was a prophet who received God’s word.

Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Comparing Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Belief in one god
Belief in Abrahamic god
Accepts all prophets before Jesus
Jerusalem is a holy city
Jesus is a prophet
X
Jesus is the son of God
X
X
Muhammad is a prophet
X
X
Eating pork restricted
X

Islamic Cultural Elements

Main idea

The Quran and hadiths influenced the formation of Islamic culture.

The Islamic world (Dar al-Islam) developed a rich culture of art, architecture, governance, law, language, and social practices. As Islam expanded into new regions, Islamic culture also spread and mixed with other cultures to create varied versions of Islamic culture and tradition.

The two most influential documents in Islam are the Quran and the Hadith. Together these documents had the most significant influence on the formation of Islamic culture.

The Quran: Muslims believe the Quran is God’s word and that he spoke it directly to Muhammad. It is the holiest text in Islam and was written during Muhammad’s lifetime.

The Hadiths: The Hadiths are a series of traditions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that cover many topics that the Quran fails to address. Unlike the Quran, the Hadiths are not Muhammad’s words and were written down and recorded centuries after his death. 

!AP exam alert!

The Islamic world and its history are one of the main topics in the first four AP world history units.  The ability to recognize elements of Islamic culture in the areas where the Islamic religion expanded is a must.

Islamic Culture Shapes Spain, Africa, and Asia

Main idea

As the Islamic religion spread across Afro-Eurasia, so did Islamic culture.

The expansion of the Islamic religion also spread Islamic governance, law, language, art, and architecture.