Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet

Geography and History of the Arabian Peninsula

By Susan L. Douglass and Aiyub Palmer

An Overview

The purpose of this activity is to provide students with background information on the context of the Arabian Peninsula during the sixth and seventh centuries of the Common Era.

Objectives:

Students should be able to:

• Locate the Arabian peninsula on a map and identify surrounding bodies of land and water, fertile regions, trade routes and major cities.
  
  
• Explain the importance of the Arabian peninsula in terms of its location between major trade routes of the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the western end of the Silk Road.
  
  
• Describe the role of the Makkans in trans-Arabian trade and list several goods that Quraysh caravans transported and sold.
  
  
• Explain the rise and spread of Islam and major characteristics of Muslim civilization.
  
  
• Identify the basic beliefs and practices of Islam, including the Five Pillars and explain their relationship to Muslim life, culture and civilization.
  
  

Procedure:

1. Have students study the maps depicted in Student Handout 1: Maps of the Arabian Peninsula. Using an atlas if needed, name waterways, landmasses, fertile regions and trade routes. Preview places mentioned in the film, including lands such as Arabia, Yemen, Syria, and cities such as Damascus, Jerusalem, Makkah, and Madinah. Students can note geographic features and cities on the outline map provided. These may include the place name terms from the Pre-Viewing Vocabulary lesson.

2. Assign students to read Student Handout 2: Background on the Arabian Peninsula, and answer the questions individually or as a group. The reading provides evidence that the Arabian Peninsula was not an isolated place. It was involved in hemispheric cultural and economic interactions well before the rise of Islam in the region. The geographic features of the peninsula—especially the desert areas—were intimidating, which isolated the region from the surrounding areas, but also protected it from invasion.
   
   Adaptation: For lower level students, use the handout only up to the point before the Qur'an chapter about the Quraysh, and use only the first four comprehension questions.

3. The next activity can be used if the class is not already studying an introduction to Islam, or it may be useful as a substitute for a longer chapter. Assign Student Handout 3: Overview of the History and Teachings of Islam, and related study questions. Its purpose is not in-depth study but a brief overview as background information. It may also be used as a wrap-up to a longer, more in-depth study of Islam.
4. The Five Pillars activity helps to show how Islamic beliefs and practices relate to Muslim lives, cultures, and civilizations past and present. It should be done after students have read basic information on Islam, such as Student Handout 3. Using the blank grid from Student Handout 4: The Five Pillars Have Many Dimensions, and the suggested Teacher's Key: The Five Pillars Have Many Dimensions, the teacher leads discussion on the basic meaning of the Five Pillars, their spiritual and worldly, individual and communal implications, and finally, the kind of cultural and historical institutions and developments this practice of worship fostered. If the class is studying Islam over a longer period of time, this graphic organizer may be completed over several class periods, beginning with the first three columns in connection with learning the meaning of the Five Pillars, and continuing with the individual and communal dimensions as the students study Muslim cultures around the world, and finally, the last column may be filled in as students learn about the history of Muslim civilization through time.

   Adaptation: Small groups may each be assigned one of the rows, i.e. one pillar as a research project, so that the entire class would complete the chart as a collective activity. For younger students or due to time limitations, it may be feasible to complete only the first three columns, or some combination of columns as the teacher sees fit. Some teachers may wish to provide examples to help students get started by filling in a different column in each row, photocopying the partially completed chart.