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Explore the life of Prophet Muhammad, the teachings of Islam, the spread of the faith, and the dynasties that shaped Islamic civilization. Learn about the Quran, the Five Pillars of Islam, the Umayyad and Abbasid Dynasties, and the economic and societal aspects of the early Islamic world.
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Chapter 14 The Expansive Realm of Islam
Muhammad and His Message • Born 570 to merchant family in Mecca • Orphaned as a child • Marries wealthy widow c. 595, works as merchant • Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula
Muhammad’s Spiritual Transformation • Visions c. 610 CE • Archangel Gabriel • Monotheism • Attracts followers to Mecca
The Quran • Record of revelations received during visions • Committed to writing c. 650 CE (Muhammad dies 632) • Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith
Conflict at Mecca • Muhammad’s monotheistic teachings offensive to polytheistic pagans • Economic threat to existing religious industry • Denunciation of greed affront to local aristocracy
The Hijra • Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 CE • Year 0 in Muslim calendar • Organizes followers into communal society (the umma) • Legal, spiritual code • Commerce, raids on Meccan caravans for sake of umma
The “Seal of the Prophets” • Islam as culmination and correction of Judaism, Christianity • Inheritor of both Jewish and Christian texts
Muhammad’s Return to Mecca • Attack on Mecca, 630 • Conversion of Mecca to Islam • Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques • Ka’aba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca • Approved as pilgrimage site
The Five Pillars of Islam • No god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet • Daily prayer • Fasting during Ramadan • Charity • Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
Jihad • “struggle” • Against vice • Against ignorance of Islam • “holy war”
Islamic Law: The Sharia • Codification of Islamic law • Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools of analysis • Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human activity
The Caliph • No clear to successor to Muhammad identified • Abu Bakr chosen to lead as Caliph • Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam after death of Muhammad
The Expansion of Islam • Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sassanid territories • Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory
The Shia • Disagreements over selection of caliphs • Ali passed over for Abu Bakr • Served as caliph 656-661 CE, then assassinated along with most of his followers • Remaining followers organize separate party called “Shia” • Traditionalists: Sunni
The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE) • From Meccan merchant class • Capital: Damascus, Syria • Associated with Arab military aristocracy
Policy toward Conquered Peoples • Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes discontent • Limited social mobility for non-Arab Muslims • Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims • Umayyad luxurious living causes further decline in moral authority
The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 CE) • Abu al-Abbas Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, non-Arab Muslims • Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia • Defeats Umayyad army in 750 • Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred them
Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty • Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively Arab) • Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial expansion • Dar al-Islam • Growth through military activity of autonomous Islamic forces
Abbasid Administration • Persian influence • Court at Baghdad • Influence of Islamic scholars (ulama, qadi)
Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809 CE) • High point of Abbasid dynasty • Baghdad center of commerce • Great cultural activity
Abbasid Decline • Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid • Provincial governers assert regional independence • Dissenting sects, heretical movements • Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian nobility • Later, Saljuq Turks influence, Sultan real power behind the throne
Economy of the Early Islamic World • Spread of food and industrial crops • Trade routes from India to Spain • Western diet adapts to wide variety • New crops adapted to different growing seasons • Agricultural sciences develop • Cotton, paper industries develop • Major cities emerge
Formation of a Hemispheric Trading Zone • Historical precedent of Arabic trade • Dar al-Islam encompasses silk routes • ice exported from Syria to Egypt in summer, 10th century • Camel caravans • Maritime trade
Banking and Trade • Scale of trade causes banks to develop • Sakk (“check”) • Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar al-Islam promotes trade • Joint ventures common
Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) • Muslim Berber conquerors from North Africa take Spain, early 8th c. • Allied to Umayyads, refused to recognize Abbasid dynasty • Formed own caliphate • Tensions, but interrelationship
Changing Status of Women • Quran improves status of women • Outlawed female infanticide • Brides, not husbands, claim dowries • Yet male dominance preserved • Patrilineal descent • Polygamy permitted, Polyandry forbidden • Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice
Formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition • Islamic values • Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam • Establishment of madrasas • Importance of the Hajj • Sufi missionaries • Asceticism, mysticism • Some tension with orthodox Islamic theologians • Wide popularity
Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) • Major Sufi thinker from Persia • Impossibility of intellectual apprehension of Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy instead
Cultural influences on Islam • Persia • Adminstration and governance • literature • India • Mathematics, science, medicine • “Hindi” numbers • Greece • Philosophy, esp. Aristotle • Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-1198)