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Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750

  • 6 subtopics
  • 15 things to know
  • Unit group 2
  • Non-British period study, one unit of twenty-four

What Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750 covers

The Rise of Islam C.550–750 is unit Y201 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-four options in unit group 2, the non-British period study; a student sits one of them. Its four key topics are the Middle East c.550–620, the establishment of Islam c.620–632, the beginning of the Empire and the rule of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the establishment and expansion of the Umayyad Empire. 244 recall questions across 6 subtopics.

Where it is assessed

Unit group 2

Non-British period study, one unit of twenty-four.

Check the OCR specification ↗

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Why was raiding, rather than pitched battle, the characteristic form of Arab warfare?

Key term

Why is 622 the first year of the Muslim calendar rather than the year of the first revelation?

Process

Why was the victory at Badr in 624 more important than the size of the battle suggests?

Key term

How was the Meccan siege of Medina in 627 defeated?

Who and when

How did Uthman's reign end?

Who and when

Who opposed Ali at the Battle of the Camel, and what was the outcome?

Evaluation

Why did Abd al-Malik make Arabic the language of government?

Who and when

How did Umayyad rule end?

Key term

What were the two main ways of making a living in sixth-century Arabia?

Key term

Describe the religious beliefs of most Arabs before Islam.

Key term

Who set himself up as a rival caliph at Mecca during the Second Fitna?

Key term

How was the Second Fitna finally settled?

Key term

Which monotheistic communities already existed in Arabia before Muhammad's preaching?

Who and when

How did Umar become caliph in 634?

Who and when

How did the Umayyads come to rule Spain?

Take Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Hijra vs Ridda Wars

    Hijra: the migration of the Prophet and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622. Ridda Wars: the campaigns of 632 to 633 against the tribes that renounced their allegiance after the Prophet's death.

  • Constitution of Medina vs Diwan

    Constitution of Medina: the agreement setting out the rights and duties of the clans and Jewish groups of the city. Diwan: the register of those entitled to a share of the state's revenue, established under Umar.

  • First Fitna vs Second Fitna

    First Fitna: the civil war that followed the murder of Uthman and ended with the death of Ali. Second Fitna: the succession crisis of 680 that began with the killing of Husayn at Karbala.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How was society in Arabia organised in the middle of the sixth century?

    Model answer

    It was organised around kinship: people belonged to clans grouped into tribes, with no state authority above them, and a sheikh led by the consent of his fellow clan elders rather than by inherited right.

  2. 2

    Explain why the blood feud mattered so much in pre-Islamic Arabia.

    Model answer

    With no government or police to enforce order, the threat that a victim's whole clan would exact vengeance was the main deterrent against violence, so a killing became a debt owed between tribes rather than a crime against an individual.

  3. 3

    What were the two main ways of making a living in sixth-century Arabia?

    Model answer

    Nomadic herding of camels, sheep and goats across the desert pastures, and settled agriculture and trade in the oasis towns such as Mecca, Yathrib and Ta'if.

  4. 4

    Describe the religious beliefs of most Arabs before Islam.

    Model answer

    Most were polytheists who worshipped tribal gods and spirits housed in local shrines, recognising a distant high god, Allah, alongside goddesses such as al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat.

  5. 5

    Which monotheistic communities already existed in Arabia before Muhammad's preaching?

    Model answer

    Jewish tribes were established at Yathrib and other northern oases, and Christian communities existed at Najran and among the Arab tribes bordering the two empires.

  6. 6

    Why was the Ka'ba so important to Mecca's position?

    Model answer

    It was a sanctuary housing the idols of many tribes, so pilgrims came to it from across Arabia, and the Quraysh who guarded it gained both religious prestige and the trade the pilgrimage brought.

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Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750 revision questions

What does Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
6 subtopics: the middle east c.550–620: structure of pre-islamic arabia and commercial importance of mecca, the middle east c.550–620: the rival empires, arab military strengths and muhammad’s meccan years, the establishment of islam c.620–632: impact of revelation and the hijra, the beginning of the empire and the rule of the ‘rightly guided caliphs’, the establishment and expansion of the umayyad empire: rule of mu’awiya and second fitna of 680 and the establishment and expansion of the umayyad empire: ‘abd al-malik’s reforms, expansion and the fall of the umayyads. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750 organised?
By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

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