Created by Mr. Bergh of San Bernardino City Unified School District at Shandin Hills Middle School.
The following resources were utlilized in the creation of this Formative for educational/classroom use:
“Chapter 11: Rise of Islam.” In EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO ACE WORLD HISTORY IN ONE BIG FATE NOTEBOOK. Workman Publishing Co., Inc., 2016.
& various other online educational materials.
Learning Intention:
I am learning about the rise and spread of Islam.
Success Criteria:
I can identify the physical features and describe the climate of the Arabian peninsula, its relationship to surrounding bodies of land and water, and nomadic and sedentary ways of life.
I can trace the origins of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad, including Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and Christianity.
I can explain the significance of the Qur’an and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslims’ daily life
I can discuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language.
I can describe the growth of cities and the establishment of trade routes among Asia, Africa, and Europe, the products and inventions that traveled along these routes (e.g., spices, textiles, paper, steel, new crops), and the role of merchants in Arab society.
I understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature.



Create five pillars of Islam using the Canva application!
Must include each pillars name in Arabic, what it means in English, why its important to fulfill the pillar, how to fulfill the pillar, colorful details, and pictures!
Optionally: You may complete this mini-project on paper instead! Ask Mr. Bergh to print you a sheet.
Sunni | Shia | |
|---|---|---|
Flag of Iran | ||
Flag of Saudi Arabia | ||
Iran | ||
Saudi Arabia | ||
Follows the descendants of Muhammed. | ||
Follows any religious men and scholars. | ||
Represents 85% of all Muslims. | ||
Represents 10% - 15% of all Muslims. |
Islam spread fast as merchants and kings converted.
Check off every part of the world Islam spread to by 850.
We will complete this activity in groups with whiteboards.
Hold up your whiteboard with either Social or Economic written on it to earn PBIS points!
In groups of two, whoever is sitting on the right desk is student A, left desk is student B.
30 seconds state to your partner if you think the scenario is social or economic and why.
Do not debate. Listen to what the other person thinks. Then you state what you think and why.
Then 1 minute to hash out your differences and write social or economic on the whiteboard.
P.S. I made most of these images with Canva AI Text to Image.
Why might you change your religion?
In the case of early Islam there were two main social factors.
Social Pressure from government and society.
Economic Pressure from your job or needing to have something.
Separate the reasons you might convert to Islam below.
Social Pressure | Economic Pressure | |
|---|---|---|
The new king is a Muslim. He declares Islam the official religion.
| ||
There is a special tax on non-Muslims. You have to give a male child to join the army or pay twice as much tax. | ||
If the above map isn't loading properly, click to open this link in a separate tab:
https://contrib.pbslearningmedia.org/WGBH/sj14/sj14-int-religmap/index.html
Some classes will answer the following questions for PBIS points.
1. Find and write down a country with 90% or the majority who practice [religion name].
2. Identify the majority religion in a given continent.
3. What places on the map are majority Islam today that weren't majority Islam in 850AD?
Click the MENU button in the top right and select a difference religion to focus on. Using this map match each religion to a country that has the highest percentage of it's people believe that religion. (There may be more then one correct answer on the map.)
| Stavka koja se može prevući | arrow_right_alt | Odgovarajuća stavka |
|---|---|---|
Non-Religious | arrow_right_alt | Cambodia, Thailand |
Islam | arrow_right_alt | Romania, Greenland, Papua New Guinea, |
Buddhism | arrow_right_alt | Nepal, India |
Judaism | arrow_right_alt | Somalia, Iran, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, & more! |
Indigenous (A religion(s) that only exist in one place.) | arrow_right_alt | Israel |
Christianity | arrow_right_alt | North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Czech Republic |
Hinduism | arrow_right_alt | Vietnam, Taiwan |
Today Islam is the second largest religion in the world behind Christianity.
Compare this map to the last map. What other places has Islam spread to and become the main religion?
In Arabic there is a word called "Ummah". It literally translates to the word community, but also includes everyone who believes in Islam. According to these maps, is there a Islamic World Community or Ummah?
Who started the religion of Islam?
After Muhammed died, Caliphs (kings of all Islam) expanded the religion through...
Muslims are tolerant of Jews and Christians, calling them "people of the book". All they had to do was pay a special tax and they would not be converted.
Islam has always used the crescent moon and star to represent their faith.
Check mark each of the following that are a part of Islam.
Muslims invented Arabic Numerals, the numbers we use today.
Muslims believe in being clean and helping people. Therefore, in the medieval age Muslims had the best doctors in the world.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims all believe in only the one true God of Abraham.

Christians and Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet but only Christians consider Jesus the son of God.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims all follow the New Testament.
Match the holy book to it's religion.
| Stavka koja se može prevući | arrow_right_alt | Odgovarajuća stavka |
|---|---|---|
Judaism | arrow_right_alt | Quran or Koran |
Islam | arrow_right_alt | Bible |
Christianity | arrow_right_alt | Torah |
Today the schism of Islam between the Shiites and the Sunnis is most noticeable when comparing the two rival states, the Sunni monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the Shia theocracy of Iran.
For normal Muslims the differences are so small nobody cares.
For the priests in positions of power the differences are used to gain power and turn people against each other.
Below separate the flags, maps, and descriptions into Sunni and Shia categories
Muhammed formed what type of alliance to unite Arabia?
Caliph means "successor to Muhammed" and is supposed to be the king of all Muslims.
The administrative language of the Islamic Empires was ...
Baghdad was wealthy because it's location in between extensive trade networks brought ...
Match the duties of a caliph to the expected behavior.
| Stavka koja se može prevući | arrow_right_alt | Odgovarajuća stavka |
|---|---|---|
A generous ruler, | arrow_right_alt | follows the Five Pillars of Islam. |
An ideal Muslim, | arrow_right_alt | possesses a strong army to protect his people. |
A powerful king, | arrow_right_alt | gives to those who serve them well. |
What were NOT contributions that the Islamic Empires gave the world?
You're a Jew or Christian that already believes in God. Your neighbors convert to Islam. They ask you to convert.

You buy salt from traders. One day they stop selling to you. They say they don't trade with non-Muslims. You need that salt or your business will end.

You live in a desert and the local water supplier refuses to sell you water unless you profess faith to the one true God and accept Muhammed as his messenger.

Everyone who sells spices, paper, and clothes speaks Arabic. You want to buy these things but don't speak Arabic. There is a mosque that will teach you Arabic for free if you convert to Islam.

All of the schools only teach in Arabic. You hear the schools invent amazing Science, Math, and Medicine that saves lives! The school will teach you Arabic but their textbook is the Qur'an (Koran).

The American Wright Brothers were the first to invent the airplane in 1903.
Abbas Ibn Firnas was the first man recorded to have flown a glider.
A major culture center of Islamic art and science and the city that Abbas Ibn Firnas lived in was ...
Abbas Ibn Firnas was not only the first man to fly with wings, he was also the first man to successfully land.
What did NOT Abbas Ibn Firnas invent?
Abbas Ibn Firnas was not alone. There were many other Muslim scientists like him during the Islamic Golden Age. What is the moral of Abbas Ibn Firnas story?