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Chapter Eight:
Islam
Muhammad and the Birth of Islam
Muhammad born in Mecca (570)
Fatima, piety and purity
Revelations of God through Gabriel
From Mecca to Medina - Hegira (622)
Ka’bah
Islam: “submission to God”
Five Pillars of Islam
Recitation of the Muslim act of faith
Obligation of prayer
Charity
Fasting during Ramadan
Pilgrimage (Hajj)
Fig. 8.4 Muslim pilgrims circumnavigating the Ka’bah
Practices of Islam
No pork, alcohol
Male circumcision
Polygamy acceptable
Usury forbidden
Observation of feast days
Simplicity and asceticism
– Rapid growth and spread of religion
Sufism
Sunni and Shi’a traditions
Sufism = mystical dimension of Islam
– Sheyks and disciples
– Retirement in poverty
– Piety and repentance
Sufi tariqas in North Africa, Egypt
Islamic Architecture
Functions of Islamic mosques
– Community gathering centers
Large gathering area
– Minbar
– Mihrab
– Fountains
Islamic Architecture:
The Dome of the Rock
Caliph Abd al Malik
– Temple Mount, Jerusalem
Octagonal building, golden dome
Roman+Byzantine architecture
Lavish mosaics
Qur’anic verses
Uncertain original functionality
 8.5 The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Israel, late 7th century
Islamic Architecture:
Mosque of Damascus
Lavish interior decoration
– Marble
– Byzantine mosaics
 8.7 The Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria
8.8 Mosaic decoration on the façade of the Great Mosque of Damascus, Syria
Islamic Architecture:
Mosque in Córdoba
Muslim capital in Spain
Rival of Great Mosque of Damascus
al-Hakam II
– Constantinople artisans, workmen
– 17 tons of tesserae
Survived the Reconquista
8.10 Central Dome of the Mosque of Cordoba, Spain
8.9 The hypostyle prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain
Islamic Architecture
The Great Mosque of Samarra
The Alhambra
– Court of the Lions
Friday Mosque, Isfahan
The Conversion of Hagia Sofia
Islamic Literature
The Qur’an
Central text of Islam
– Collation of Muhammad’s oral revelations
114 chapters (sûras)
Written in Arabic
– Cannot be translated
Source of unifications for all Muslims
Memorization and recitation
Qur’an, Hadith, Sharia
Islamic Literature
The Thousand and One Nights
– Schererazade
– Tales are erotic and edgy
– Luxurious prose and lyric poetry
Omar Khyyam (1048-1131)
– Rubaiyat – quatrain
– Versed in scientific disciplines
– Openly challenged Islamic views
Islamic Literature
Sufi Writers
Rabia (717-801)
– Aphorisms, poems, meditations
– Focus on the love of God
– “possess nothing…except Allah”
Rumi (1207-1273)
– Persian poems (rhyming couplets)
– Discourses on mystical experiences
– Recitation and movement (dervishes)
Islamic Arts
Calligraphy
“Beautiful writing”
Kufic (characteristic form)
Decorative feature of mosques
Abstract, geometric designs with text
– No depictions of divinity
– Arabesque
– No narrative scenes
8.16 Kufic styles
Islamic Arts
Mosaics
– Decorate exteriors and interiors of Islamic
buildings
Ceramics
– Decorated with calligraphy
Fiber Arts
– Carpets
The Culture of Islam and the West
Abbasid Dynasty
Caliph Al-Ma’mun’s “House of Wisdom”
– Translations of Greek texts
Advances in mathematics, medicine
– Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Uqlidisi, Alhazan
– Moses Maimonides, Jewish physicians
The Culture of Islam and the West
Exchange of goods / ideas
– Quality swords, silk (damask), coffee
– Windmills
– Lexicon contributions
Al-Ghazali
– The Incoherence of the Philosophers
Averröes
– “He of the Great Commentary”
– The Incoherence of Incoherence
Chapter 8: Discussion Questions
 In what ways are the Five Pillars of Islam similar to the
basic tenets of Christianity? Explain the similarities and
differences between the two religions.
 What role did Islamic culture play in the tradition of
Western literary (and, thus, philosophical) thought? What
circumstances facilitated this contribution?
 To what must we attribute the slow movement of ideas
from their Islamic origins to the Western world? Does the
Western canon today, in your opinion, assign adequate
notoriety to those non-Western advanced thinkers? What
are the implications of recognizing the origin of a
technology? Explain.