Chapter 14

1. Chapter 14 The Expansive Realm of Islam

2. Muhammad and His Message • Born 570 to merchant family in Mecca • Orphaned as a child • Marries wealthy widow c. 595 (Khadija), works as merchant • Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula

3. Muhammad’s Spiritual Transformation • Visions c. 610 CE • Archangel Gabriel--instructs Muhammad to explain faith to others • Monotheism---Allah • Attracts followers in Mecca

4. The Quran “recitation” • Record of revelations received during visions • From the oral tradition • Committed to writing c. 650 CE (Muhammad dies 632) • Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith • Social & legal customs • Commentaries on the Quran

5. Conflict at Mecca • Muhammad’s monotheistic teachings offensive to polytheistic pagans • Economic threat • Muhammad attacks idolatry--people who profit from these shrines are angered (Ka’ba) • Denunciation of greed affront to local aristocracy

6. The Hijra--- migration • Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 CE • Year 0 in Muslim calendar • Organizes followers into faithful communal society (the umma) • Legal, spiritual code • Commerce, raids on Meccan caravans for sake of umma

7. The “Seal of the Prophets” • Muhammad is the final prophet through whom Allah would reveal his message • Islam as culmination and correction of Judaism, Christianity • Inheritor of both Jewish and Christian texts • Muhammad’s is a more complete revelation of Allah • One of the three Abrahamic Traditions

8. 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

9. The Ka’aba

10. The Five Pillars of Islam • No god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet • Daily prayer 5 times a day • Fasting during Ramadan • Charity • Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)

11. Muslims at Prayer

12. Jihad---Additional Obligation of Faith • “struggle” • Combat vice & evil • Struggle against ignorance and unbelief by spreading word of Islam • Physical struggle “holy war”

13. Islamic Law: The Sharia • Codification of Islamic law • Based on Quran, hadith • Offers precise guidance on family life, slavery, business, politics, etc. • Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human activity

14. The Caliph--Deputy • No clear to successor to Muhammad identified • Abu Bakr (close friend of Muhammad) chosen to lead as Caliph • Abu Bakr becomes the head of Islamic community---not a prophet • Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam after death of Muhammad • Attempt to spread faith

15. The Expansion of Islam • Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sassanid territories • Rapid expansion • Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory

16. The expansion of Islam, 632-733 C.E.

17. The Shia • Disagreements over selection of caliphs • Tribal loyalties & political ambitions complicate matters • Ali (cousin & son-in-law of Muhammad) passed over for Abu Bakr for Caliph • Served briefly as 4th caliph 656-661 CE, then assassinated along with most of his followers • Remaining followers organize separate party called “Shia”---descendents of Ali are divinely appointed to rule the Islamic community • Traditionalists: Sunni---accept legitimacy of early caliphs

18. Shi’ite Pilgrims at Karbala

19. The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE) • After the death of Ali, the Umayyad Dynasty briefly solves the problem of succession • Formed from Meccan merchant class • Capital: Damascus, Syria • Favored Arab military aristocracy • Ruled dar al-Islam as conquerors

20. Policy toward Conquered Peoples • Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes discontent • Limited social mobility for non-Arab Muslims • Allowed conquered peoples to observe their own faiths • Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims • Umayyad luxurious living causes further decline in moral authority---revolts are widespread • Specifically in Persia

21. The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 CE) • Abu al-Abbas (descendent of Muhammad’s uncle) 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 • Principle authority in dar al-Islam until toppled by Mongols

22. Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty • Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively Arab) • Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial expansion • Battle of the Talas River--ended expansion of Tang China • Dar al-Islam continues to grow • Islam grows through military activity of autonomous Islamic forces (Tunisia)

23. Abbasid Administration • Concerned with administering empire, not conquering • Persian influence • Court at Baghdad • Influence of Islamic scholars • Ulama-- “people with religious knowledge” • Qadis-- “judges” • Scholars who emphasized the study of the Quran & sharia and observance of these values • Influence local culture

24. Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809 CE) • High point of Abbasid dynasty • Baghdad center of commerce • Great cultural activity

25. Abbasid Decline • Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid over succession • Provincial governors assert regional independence • Dissenting sects, peasant rebellions • Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian nobility • Later, Saljuq Turk Sultans rule the former Abbasid empire.

26. Economy of the Early Islamic World • Spread of food and industrial crops (Cotton, indigo, henna) • Trade routes from India to Spain • Increased food supply • New crops adapted to different growing seasons • Agricultural sciences develop • Cotton, paper industries develop • Major cities emerge as a result of increased agricultural production

27. Formation of a Hemispheric Trading Zone • Historical precedent of Arabic trade • Dar al-Islam encompasses silk routes • ice exported weekly from Syria to Egypt in summer, 10th century • Camel caravans---Camel saddle • Maritime trade • Use Chinese compass • Lateen sail from India & SE Asia • Astrolabe--Hellenistic Mediterranean

28. Banking and Trade • Scale of trade causes banks to develop • Sakk (“check”)---Credit • Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar al-Islam promotes trade • Joint ventures were common

29. Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) • Muslim Berber conquerors from North Africa take Spain, early 8th c. • Allied with Umayyads, but refused to recognize Abbasid dynasty • Formed own caliphate • Tensions, but interrelationship

30. Changing Status of Women • Arab women could inherit property, divorce husbands, and engage in business • Quran improves status of women • Outlawed female infanticide • Brides, not husbands, claim dowries • Women are equal to men in the eyes of Allah • Yet male dominance preserved in Quran & Sharia • Patrilineal descent • Polygamy permitted, Polyandry forbidden • Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice

31. 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

32. Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) • Major Sufi thinker from Persia • Impossibility of intellectual comprehension of Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy instead • Sufi Missionaries

33. Cultural influences on Islam • Persia • Administration and governance • literature • India • Mathematics, science, medicine • “Hindi” numbers----Arabic numerals • Greece • Philosophy, esp. Aristotle • Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-1198)---Spain