Hello, my name is Miss Kranau.

I'm so pleased that you joined me today for this history lesson.

Together, we are going on a learning adventure so that by the end, we will have attained the learning objective.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to describe the reasons for the early success of Islam in the mid-7th century CE.

This lesson forms part of a unit about the early Islamic civilization and how Baghdad became the City of Peace.

Here are some keywords that will help you come to grips with the content of the lesson.

I recommend you make a note of these words so that you can refer back to them when we come across them in the lesson.

If you have already started a word bank, you can always add them to it.

So here are the keywords.

Medina, Arabian, truce, and pilgrimage.

I'll repeat them, but this time you can say them with me.

Here we go.

Medina, Arabian, truce, and pilgrimage.

So what do these keywords mean? Medina is a city in Saudi Arabia and the second holiest city to Muslims. Arabic-speaking people, who lived on the Arabian peninsula, were known as Arabian.

A truce is an agreement between enemies to stop fighting for a certain time.

And a pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place.

Today's lesson is split into four parts.

In the first part, we are going to find out what the Constitution of Medina was.

In the year 622 CE, the Prophet Muhammad and his followers decided to leave Mecca, where they had been persecuted for spreading the word of Islam.

They migrated to Medina.

This journey is known as the Hijra.

Many people believe that the ancient Islam civilization started right then in Medina in the year 622 CE.

So let's stop a moment to check our understanding of what we have already learnt.

Answer the following question.

Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to which city in the year 622 CE? Is it, A, Baghdad, B, Medina, or, C, Jeddah? Pause the video here and then press play when you're ready to learn the correct answer.

Well done if you said the correct answer is Medina.

The Prophet Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina.

The Prophet Muhammad was welcomed into the city of Medina because he brought hope of peace.

For around a century, there had been fighting amongst the different southern Arabian tribes living in Medina.

This led to a lot of violence and bloodshed.

The tribes wanted to end the fighting, so they asked Muhammad to help them fairly put an end to the violence.

One of the Prophet Muhammad's first tasks was to create a constitution, or a set of rules, which would help the tribes in Medina live alongside one another peacefully under the leadership of the Muslims. This set of rules was known as the Constitution of Medina, and it gave the Muslims a lot of authority.

So, let's check our understanding of what we have already learnt.

Which three of the following statements about the Constitution of Medina are true? Is it, A, it was created by Muhammad, B, it brought peace to Mecca, C, it gave authority to the Muslims in Medina, or, D, it attempted to arrange a truce between the southern Arabian tribes? Pause the video here and then press play when you are ready to learn the correct answers.

Well, the Constitution of Medina was created by Muhammad, and it gave authority to the Muslims in Medina, and it attempted to arrange a truce between the southern Arabian tribes.

Well done if you've got those three statements correct.

Now we are ready for our first learning task.

Aisha says, "Early Islamic civilization started in Medina." Do you agree with that statement? I would like you to explain your reasoning, and a good explanation should include the following: It should make mention of the Hijra and the Constitution of Medina.

Pause the video here to give yourself enough time to write an explanation.

And when you are ready to check your answer, press play.

Good work! Here is an example of a response to Aisha's statement.

"Aisha is correct, because Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina, a journey known as the Hijra, where he helped the warring southern Arabian tribes make peace with each other.

He created the Constitution of Medina, which tried to unite the tribes through the religion of Islam, creating an early Islamic civilization." Well done if your answer is similar to this model answer.

We are now ready to move on to the second part of this lesson where the Prophet Muhammad returns to Mecca.

The Prophet Muhammad's following was steadily growing.

Because they had been persecuted in Mecca, the Muslims started to raid the Meccan trade caravans, and it allowed the Muslims to become rich and to gain power.

The leaders of Mecca were not happy at all.

In addition, the city leaders of Mecca did not agree with the message of Islam.

Soon, the Muslims of Medina came into conflict with the people of Mecca.

In the year 624 CE, a force from Mecca was sent to protect one of their caravans.

Muhammad's army, which had only had 300 men, was ready.

They met at Badr, a place between Mecca and Medina.

Despite being outnumbered, Muhammad's army won.

It was seen as a sign that Allah was with them, which made more people support Islam.

Let's take a moment to reflect on what we have just learnt.

Here is a statement that says, "The victory at the battle of Badr helped spread Islam in Arabia." Is this true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to see the correct answer.

Well done if you said the answer is true.

The victory at the battle of Badr did help spread Islam in Arabia.

But let's give a reason for that.

In other words, let's justify this answer.

So which of these two statements justifies the fact that the victory at the battle of Badr helped spread Islam in Arabia? Is it that the victory was seen as a sign that Allah was on the side of the Muslim army? Or is it that people were forbidden to follow any other religion? Pause the video here and then press play when you are ready to see the correct answer.

Yes, Islam spread in Arabia because the victory was seen as a sign that Allah was on the side of the Muslim army.

Well done if you got that right.

After the Prophet Muhammad's army's victory at Badr, there was more fighting with the city leaders of Mecca.

Eventually, in the year 628 CE, both sides called for a truce.

They promised not to fight each other for 10 years.

The truce meant that there was peace and stability, which allowed the Muslim community to grow.

During this time, many people in Arabia converted to Islam.

Let's just stop for a moment to check our understanding of what we have just learnt.

Complete the sentence.

An agreement between enemies to stop fighting for a certain time is known as a mm.

Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to hear the answer.

Yes, the answer is truce.

Well done if you said an agreement between enemies to stop fighting for a certain time is known as a truce.

Well, unfortunately, the truce did not last as long as it was supposed to.

Just two years later, a group of soldiers from Mecca attacked a Muslim camp, killing some of them.

Following this attack in 630 CE, Muhammad received revelations telling him to conquer Mecca.

This time, Muhammad's army was much bigger than Mecca's army.

The people of Mecca surrendered without any bloodshed.

Muhammad forgave his enemies and showed a spirit of forgiveness and understanding, which helped to keep the peace in Mecca.

Let's check our understanding of what we have just learnt.

The statement says, "The truce between the leaders of Mecca and the Medina Muslims ended when Muhammad peacefully took control of Mecca." Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here, and when you are ready to hear the answer, press play.

This statement is false.

The truce did not end when Muhammad peacefully took control of Mecca.

The truce between the leaders of Mecca and the Medina Muslims ended when a Muslim camp was attacked by Meccan soldiers.

We are now ready for our second learning task of this lesson, and you are asked to answer the following questions about how Muhammad peacefully took control of Mecca.

The first question says, "The leaders of which city did not agree with the teachings of Islam?" The next question says, "Why did the Muslim army believe that they had won the battle of Badr against the Meccans?" And the third question says, "How was the truce between the Meccans and the Muslims of Medina broken?" Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answers, press play.

Well done for completing that learning task.

The first question said, "The leaders of which city did not agree with the teachings of Islam?" And of course, it was the leaders of Mecca who did not agree with the teachings of Islam.

The second question said, "Why did the Muslim army believe that they had won the battle of Badr against the Meccans?" Well, the Muslim army believed that Allah was on their side to win the battle of Badr.

The third question says, "How was the truce between the Meccans and the Muslims of Medina broken?" Well, the truce was broken when soldiers from Mecca attacked a Muslim camp.

Good work.

And this takes us to the third part of our lesson entitled "Mecca and the Ka'ba." The Ka'ba is a cube-shaped building located at the centre of the Masjid al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, which is in Saudi Arabia.

It has an important history.

Muslims believe that it was built centuries ago by the Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael for the worship of Allah.

Before Muhammad took control of Mecca, the Ka'ba had become a place used by other religions.

When he was in charge, Muhammad removed the objects used by these other religions from the Ka'ba and dedicated it to the worship of Allah alone.

It is the most sacred site in Islam and considered the House of Allah.

In fact, Muslims around the world still face the Ka'ba during their daily prayers.

It is also a place of Muslim pilgrimage.

Muhammad made Mecca the religious centre of Islam.

He declared Mecca a place of Muslim pilgrimage in 630 CE.

And even today, all Muslims are expected to journey to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes.

Let's take a moment to reflect on what we have just learnt and to check our understanding.

Which two statements about the Ka'ba are true? A, it is in Mecca.

B, it is in Medina.

C, it is a pilgrimage site for Muslims. D, it is not a sacred place for Muslims. Pause the video here, and when you are ready to hear the answers, press play.

Did you say that the Ka'ba is in Mecca and that it is a pilgrimage site for Muslims? If you did, well done! You are correct.

Now let's move on to the third task of this lesson.

In this task, you are asked to solve the clues to complete the puzzle about the Ka'ba.

The first clue, it says, "Its shape." The second clue says, "It is located in which city?" The third clue says, "Its purpose is a place to worship mm." And clue number four says, "It is a place of mm, and all Muslims are expected to visit it at least once in their lifetime." Pause the video here to give yourself enough time to complete the puzzle.

And when you are ready for the answers, press play.

Good luck! How did that go? Are you ready for the answers? Let's have a look.

The first clue was its shape.

Yes, it is a cube.

Well done.

Secondly, the Ka'ba is located in which city? Well, it is located in Mecca, of course! Clue number three says, "Its purpose is a place to worship Allah." Well done.

And lastly, it is a place of pilgrimage, and all Muslims are expected to visit it at least once in their lifetime.

Good work.

Well done if you got that right.

We have now come to the final part of this lesson, and we will learn how Islam spread to the Byzantine and Persian Empires.

At that time, the Byzantine Empire laid to the northwest of the Arabian peninsula and the Persian Empire laid to the northeast of the Arabian peninsula.

The Byzantine and Persian armies had been left poor and weak after years of fighting each other.

After conquering Mecca, Muhammad sent Arab Muslim armies to take over lands in other places, specifically the neighbouring Byzantine and Persian Empires.

Now we are ready to check our understanding of what we have just learnt.

Here is a statement.

"The Byzantine and Persian Empires were strong enough to fight off attacks from the Muslim armies." Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Yes, the answer is false.

They were not strong enough to fight off attacks from the Muslim armies.

Let's justify our answer.

Which of the following two statements is correct? Is it that, A, the Byzantine and Persian armies were too scared to fight? Or, B, is it that the armies had been weakened by decades of fighting? Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Did you say that the armies had been weakened by decades of fighting? Well done if you did.

The Byzantine and Persian armies had been weakened by decades of fighting, and that is why they were not strong enough to fight off attack from the Muslim armies.

And with that, we have come to the final learning task of this lesson, and you are asked to write one or two sentences for each of the following events to explain how it contributed to the early success of Islam.

The first is the Constitution of Medina.

Next is the conquest of Mecca.

And thirdly, the war against the Byzantine and Persian Empires.

Pause the video here to give yourself enough time to write one or two sentences.

And when you are ready to reflect on your answer, press play.

Let's find out how the Constitution of Medina contributed to the early success of Islam.

"The Constitution of Medina attempted to unite the warring Arabian tribes under the banner of Islam.

This put the leadership of the city in the hands of the Muslims." Now let's look at how the conquest of Mecca contributed to the early success of Islam.

After Muhammad conquered Mecca, he declared it a place of Muslim pilgrimage, which means that all Muslims are expected to journey to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes.

Here, Muslims from around the world recognise the early success of Muhammad and Islam.

The Ka'ba is located in Mecca and is the most sacred site in Islam." Now let's see how war against the Byzantine and Persian Empires contributed to the early success of Islam.

"Muhammad knew that the Byzantine and Persian Empires had been at war with each other for decades, which had weakened both of them.

He sent Muslim armies to take over land in these empires that once belonged to the Byzantines and Persians." Well done if your answers are similar to these model answers.

We have reached the end of today's lesson.

Let's summarise what we have learnt.

"From Medina, Muhammad tried to unite the southern Arabian tribes through the religion of Islam.

Following successful attacks against Muhammad's enemies from Mecca, a 10-year truce was called and the forces of Islam grew.

Mecca was established as the religious centre of Islam, the Ka'ba becoming a focus for pilgrimage and prayer.

Muhammad sent Muslim armies to exploit the Byzantine and Persian Empires, weakened by fighting one another." Well done for all your hard work today.

I've enjoyed supporting you on this learning journey, and I hope you'll join me again for more exciting learning about the early Islamic civilization.