Download Islamic expansion and culture

ISLAMIC EXPANSION
AND CULTURE
AFTER MUHAMMAD
• The leaders after Muhammad’s death are known as
caliphs
• The caliph Abu-Bakr used jihad to justify Islamic
expansion
• Armed struggle against non-believers
• One of the “rightly guided” caliphs
WHY WERE THE MUSLIM CONQUERORS
SUCCESSFUL?
• Well disciplined and trained
• The empires around it were weak
• Conquered people attracted by the message of
hope and equality in Islam
• Qur’an forbade forced conversion, and so
conquered peoples could keep their religions
CIVIL WAR
• Umayyad family takes control after series of leaders
assassinated
• Move capital from Mecca to Damascus
• More extravagant and ornate
• Shi’a split
• Believed the caliph must be a direct descendant of
Muhammad, simplistic lifestyle, wanted capital at Mecca
• Sunni followed the Umayyad
• Eventually the Umayyad fall and the Abbasids take
over, but the division remained
ABBASID EMPIRE
TRADE
• Connections to the Mediterranean sea and the
Indian Ocean allowed for a vast trading network
• Different cultures and civilizations interact leading to
immense achievements in arts and sciences
• Baghdad became the cultural center of the Muslim
world
ROLE OF WOMEN
• Qur’an says women should be obedient, but also
that men and women are equal as believers
• Law gave women some legal rights
• More than European, Indian, or Chinese women at this time
(around 10th century)
• Poorer women would help husbands in the field,
and wealthier women would be educated
• Both responsible for raising of children
ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY
• Relied on math and science to calculate times for
prayer and direction of Mecca
• Astrolabe
• House of Wisdom opens in Baghdad to preserve
knowledge after Roman Empire falls
• Sets the stage for the Renaissance in Europe
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
• Intricate and colorful art, but often does not portray
living beings (false gods)
• Geometric patterns
MATH AND PHILOSOPHY
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Translated Greek texts
Emphasized observation over logic in experiments
Invent algebra
Believed Greek philosophy and Islam both had the
same goal: to find the truth
THE “IDEAL MAN”
• “The ideal and morally perfect man should be of
East Persian derivation, Arabic in faith, of Iraqi
education, a Hebrew in astuteness, a disciple of
Christ in conduct, as pious as a Greek monk, a
Greek in the individual sciences, an Indian in the
interpretation of all mysteries”
• Crash Course World History Islam