Journal # 4

Kyle anderson

World History SM 208

Patti Andrews

Journal # 4

      In this weeks reading we start with chapter 11 which focused on the world of islam and Mohamed, which I know nothing about. To me, it seams as though in a post 9/11 world the people of the Islamic realm have a negative connotation surrounding them. So, this chapter was interesting because it kind of shed new light on a religion and a group of people that changed our would, socially, culturally, and politicly. As a matter of fact, the author put this religion in perspective best by saying “by the beginning of the twenty-first century, ...1.2 billion people, or 22 percent of the world population, identifies [them self] as Muslims (Strayer 2009 p.302). This is impressive and it just shows that despite the negative connotations surrounding this religion, it still heavily impacts the global stage of modern society. This quote made me even more curious about this religion because it made me wonder how it developed and how did it become so influential today. So, as expected the book transitioned into talking about its history and origins. Its not surprising that the birth of this religion has its roots in the ideas and teachings of one person, Mohamed. This seems to be a theme amongst some of the major ideologies and religions that have change our world. I am not ashamed to admit that I have grown up with, and continue to practice as a christen. Therefore, as the book began to describe the ideologies and traditions of these people it caused me to compare it with my own religion. This was especially true for me when the book started describing the five pillars of faith that are required when being a Muslim. I have no  problems with the first pillars because it makes sense to me believe in one god and as the book puts it profess your faith to that god. The second pillar did not sense to me because I wondered why you would have to pray five times a day. Where did the five come from? Also why do you have pray towards Mecca? Sure, I know from the reading that it was the birth place but it still does not explain it clearly enough for me. The book describes the third pillar as requiring believers to generously give to the community. It seems simple and a similar thread with other religions. The fourth pillar called for a month of fasting from the first light of dawn to sundown during Ramadan. The last pillar was once again tied back to birth place requiring all the believers of this religion to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once a year. This is also some what strange to me because I guess I just want to know why. What I thought was most notable about the five pillars was that some consider the religion to actually have six pillars. The Sixth pillar being what they called a “Jihad” in simplest terms advocated for a armed struggle against forces of unbelief and evil. To me this is seems like a bad thing that a religion would advocate for something like this.

      The next pice of reading from Our text was chapter 12 which was primarily about the Mongols and their empire. It was an other interesting topic because it seemed to have developed in a different way than other empires. This empire which was described as having mostly nomadic people ruled and dominated Eurasia in the 1200-1500 centuries. Through the masterful use of horseback the Mongol empire grew to have powerful armies which consequently seamed to have unified a divided china. 

      The Last pice of reading from our text of this week was chapter 13 which covered  the broader story from the fifteenth to the sixteenth century. The book conveyed that a significant amount of changes during this time in history left its fingerprints for centuries to come. The Ming Dynasty In china had sent people out to explore areas in the western pacific ocean.  Europe was in the Renaissance and classical ideas were begging to resurface causing many of the worlds greatest artists, and musicians to emerge. In fact Strayer eventually  seems  to transition from the post classical to the start of the Modern area.