Granada, Spain.  At its height, the Islamic Empire, that began initially in the out-of-the-way cities of Mecca and Medina on the Arabian Peninsula in the early seventh century, spanned from the Indus River in South Asia to the Pyrenees Mountains separating Spain from France, north into Southern Russia (Central Asia) and south across the Sahara desert to the kingdom of Mali.  Granada, the last Muslim outpost on the Iberian Peninsula fell to Spanish Christians only in 1492.  That was the end of the Spanish Reconquista.  Photo courtesy C. Wayne and Dorothy Miller.

• Read chapter 7 in the textbook, especially focus on the sections on the origins and expansion of Islam.
• Read the Hadith selections.
• Read my notes on Early Islam and watch the very short video. I also have an older video available that I did in about 1995.
• Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the Unit.
• Submit the Required Hadith paragraph (50 points).

• Listen to some further information about this unit as a mp3 file.  You can also read the information as a txt file.

• Islam: Empire of Faith. Part 1: Prophet Muhammad and rise of Islam (full; PBS Documentary)
• Islam, the Qur'an, and the Five Pillars All Without a Flamewar: Crash Course World History #13
• Inside the Qur'an : Documentary By National Geographic Channel (sometimes is available online)
• For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

• For up to 25 points of extra credit, find three reputable websites that contain useful information about the early history of Islam.  In about one page, summarize the information contained on each website and explain why these websites are both useful and credible.
• For up to 10 points of extra credit, read the excerpt by Ibn Abd-el-Hakem on the Islamic Conquest of Spain and write a long paragraph in which you examine some of the reasons for the successful Islamic conquests.
• For up to 10 points of extra credit, read the Pact of Umar, from the seventh century, and comment, in a paragraph, on the nature of Muslim-Christian relations.
• For up to 5 points of extra credit, answer the Hadith excerpt study sheet questions.
• For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course.  Send your instructor the title of the site, the URL and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.

• Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) explain the development of Islam as a world religion, (2) summarize the key features of early practice of Islam and (3) analyze a historical primary source.