Explain The Changes And Continuities Of Afro-Eurasia

Many readers and historians refer to Islam as a prominent religion in the world for its values and principles. Islam prospered during what is considered the Post Classical period. It was a time of many developments and changes that effected the world. Afro-Eurasia was overtaken by Muslims due to military expansion, and Islam was expanding rapidly. Islam was a religion that caused controversy as it disregarded many of the concepts that had been established in the world such as polytheism, as it claimed that Allah was the only God. When examining Islam throughout Afro-Eurasia between its beginnings in 600 until 1450, there were many continuities and changes in regards to Culture and Politics. A significant continuity was the Five Pillars of

The Five Pillars of Islam are a set of regulations that a believer must follow according to the teachings of Islam. The first pillar is Faith or Shahada. It claims that in order to be a believer of Islam, you must declare that “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.” This is essential in order to become a Muslim and to convert to Islam. The second pillar is Prayer or Salat. A Muslim must pray 5 times daily at dawn, noon, afternoon, evening and night. They must face in the direction of the holy city of Mecca which holds the Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam. The prayer can be done in a set of positions such as bowing with hands on knees, standing, and so forth. The third pillar is Almsgiving or Zakat. It is the practice of giving charity based on wealth. It allows the Muslim to gain balance and it encourages growth. All Muslims are obligated to perform this pillar if they are able to. They must give a portion of their wealth to the poor or needy. The fourth pillar is Fasting or Sawm. This requires all believers of Islam to fast from dawn to dusk during the days of Ramadan. It is a remembrance of the first revelation to Muhammad. Muslims must abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse. This is meant in order so that a Muslim can seek forgiveness from God and to be reminded of the needy. This occurs during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The fifth and

Before the split, Muhammad was seen to be as the leader of Islam. With him dying, a civil war between Muslim against Muslim occurred as in regards as to who should hold authority. On one side was the Sunni Muslims which believed that the caliphs should be rightful political and military leaders selected by the Islamic community. On the other side was the Shia. They came to the conclusion that leadership should come from the line of Ali and Husayn, blood relatives of Muhammad. At first, this was simply a political disagreement but it slowly came to a split of the Islamic community. A reason as to why this occurred was that when a community loses their leader, they are unsure of who to follow. Up until then, they have followed the words of Muhammad and his teachings, With no one in power, they were not sure of who should hold the very position of political leader of the community, the protector and defender of the Islamic faith. This all led to conflicts and changes as the Islamic community had lost their leader. Over time, this split between the Sunni and Shia become more significant and caused more conflicts. No one could come to an agreement