Islam

1. Islam Gender relationships, successors to the prophet, Civil war, Umayyad caliphs build empire

2. Gender Relationships in Islam • Women under the authority of men • Men had more legal rights • Women had more importance in the privacy of the home while men had more public power and responsibility

3. Successors to the prophet • After the prophet’s death Muslims feared the umma and political organization would break up • Elected Abu Bakr as caliph in 632 • Abu Bakr attacked those who tried to desert their new religion and the authority of its government, Arabia became convulsed in tribal warfare

4. Successors to the prophet (cont.) • Became a war for the control of settled empires • 2nd caliph, Umar I (r. 634-644), established that troops weren’t allowed to interfere with the way of life in the conquered populations and did not encourage the conversion to Islam • Ordered occupiers to live apart from occupied, but they couldn’t effectively segregate themselves socially and culturally

5. Successors to the prophet (cont.) • Occupiers began to complain that their pay was too low, even though top-level administrators were getting rich • Imperial aims of ruling class and religious goals of Islam pulling in opposite directions

6. Civil War: Religious Conflict and the Sunni-Shi’a division • Jockeying for power precipitated in a series of civil wars • 3rd caliph, Uthman (r. 644-656), assassinated because the local governors were cruel, pay was inadequate, and class divisions were destroying unity • Shi’a or Shi’ite: believed caliph should be chosen from the family of the prophet

7. Civil War: Religious Conflict and the Sunni-Shi’a division (cont.) • Ali, Muhammad's cousin/son-in-law became 4thcaliph (r. 656-661) • Sunni: believed the caliph should reflect the example of the prophet • A third group assassinated Ali, Mu’awiya (Sunni, r. 661-680) became the next caliph • Opened Islam to more cosmopolitan influences and a more professional style of imperial administration

8. Civil War: Religious Conflict and the Sunni-Shi’a division (cont.) • Tension was high, civil war broke out on Mu’awiya’s death • Son Yazid I claimed caliphate; Husayn (son of Ali) went up against him • Husayn killed, joined his father as 2nd martyr of the Shi’a branch • Shi’a stressed religious purity, wanted the caliph to represent religious principals rather than imperial aspirations

9. Civil War: Religious Conflict and the Sunni-Shi’a division (cont.) • Imams: religious leaders who were also rightful caliphs (like Ali); first 11 Shi’a imams were believed to have died martyrs • After death in 874, 11th imams son disappeared, hereditary line ended; “twelver” shi’as look forward to the reappearance of the hidden 12th imam (mahdi-rightly guided one)

10. Civil War: Religious Conflict and the Sunni-Shi’a division (cont.) • Majority of Muslims regarded caliph as primarily a political official , administering the empire of Islam based of Sunni teachings and importance of umma in political decisions • Another division besides Sunni-Shi’a • 765, there was a conflict over the 7th imam; most chose the younger son, but some chose older son (Ismail). Ismailis led frequent rebellions against caliphate, but they too later divided

11. The Umayyad Caliphs Build an Empire • After succession struggle on Mu’awiya’s death, Umayyads consolidated their rule and embarked on wars of imperial conquest • Constructed elegant, monumental mosques in Jerusalem, Medina, and Damascus • Created an imperial bureaucracy that owed its allegiance to the state rather than the ruler • New social structure dividing the Arab upper and lower classes, Umayyad caliphs looked to Islam to be the glue that held society together

12. The Umayyad Caliphs Build an Empire (cont.) • Sought to convert conquered people, assimilate them under one Muslim umma, conversions to Islam and use of Arabic increasing • Umayyads quickly expanded empire to include northern Africa, large parts on central Asia, repeated raids on Indus Valley region • 711 and 756, Arab and Berber forces conquered Spain, Muslim raiders tried but failed to conquer France, Muslim governments ruled that part of Spain until 1492. Relations between religions unstable

13. The Umayyad Caliphs Build an Empire (cont.) • Copied the imperial structure of the Byzantine and Persian empires • Umar’s successors not as committed to program of equality under Islam, people began to get frustrated with inconsistencies, occasional revolts broke out

14. The Umayyad Caliphs Build an Empire (cont.) • Umayyads raised conflicting expectations • Non-Arab Muslims: taxes not lowered or only lowered temporarily, mad that government wasn’t delivering promises • Arab Muslims: unhappy that their taxes were being raised to compensate for others reductions • Umayyad armies overextended and exhausted, began to lose battles • Driven from Trasoxiania by Turks, halted in France, stopped in Armenia by Khazars, Greeks destroyed Muslim army in Anatolia, Berber rebels destroyed army of 27,000, military advances stopped