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Sharia, Sufis, and Cultural Encounters in the Islamic World
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“At the other end of the Mediterranean, in Spain, Islam flourished and coexisted with the
Christian and Jewish communities of the peninsula. Through a century of immigration,
conquest, administration, and intermarriage, beginning in 711, Umayyad and Berber
invaders brought Islam to a central position in Spain. They also revitalized trade by
breaking the monopoly of Byzantine control over the western Mediterranean. They
introduced new crops and new irrigation techniques from west Asia. Abd al-Rahman III
(r. 912-961) asserted his separation from the Abbasids by declaring himself a caliph rather
than just a sultan. A series of rulers expanded the ornate mosque at Córdoba, making it
one of the architectural showcases of Islam.
Eastern scholars of law and philosophy immigrated to the flourishing court. Poets
developed new styles, based in Arabic but also influenced by local Spanish and Latin styles.
Greek philosophical and medical treatises were translated into Latin as well as Arabic, thus
opening intellectual communication with the educated classes in Christendom. Although
some Christians revolted against Islamic and Arabic inroads, and were killed in battle
(850-859), many more adopted Arabic lifestyles.
By 1030, the caliphate in Spain had disintegrated. Various armed struggles broke out
between the provinces and the capital, between townsmen and rural Berber immigrants,
and between converts and Arabs. The conflicts did not, however, impede the spread of
Islam. As in the eastern Mediterranean, provincial administrations replaced the central
caliphate and brought the culture of their courts closer to the general population. Sufis
spread their ascetic and devotional teachings.
The vacuum in the central government did, however, provide an opening to various
Christian forces to begin the reconquista, the Christian reconquest of Spain. In 1085
Alfonso VI (r.1065-1109), king of Leon, then king of Leon and Castile, captured Toledo.
By the mid-thirteenth century all of Spain with the exception of Granada was in Christian
hands. During the years of the reconquista, culture continued to flourish. Until the midthirteenth century, Christian rulers in Spain patronized the rich, hybrid culture.”
~ The World’s History
1- Why and how did Islam flourish in Spain during the medieval period?
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2- How did Abd al-Rahman III assert his independence from the Abbasids?
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3- What was one of the architectural showcases of Islam in Spain?
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4- What was translated into Latin as well as Arabic in Islamic Spain?
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5- What change occurred in 1030 in Spain?
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6- How did the reconquista change Spain?
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I. The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258)
A. Splendid new capital in Baghdadnon-Arab Persians played prominent role
B. But political unity of Abbasid Empire did not last long
1. Fractured politically into “sultanates” with allegiance to caliph
II. Yet Development of Sharia
A. Extensive body of Islamic law (Sharia)
B. Work of the ulama or religious scholars in primarily 8th and 9th centuries
C. Based on Quran, teachings of Muhammad, deductive reasoning, and scholars
D. To the ulama, living as a Muslim meant following sharia
III. A Second Understanding of the Faith – Sufism
A. Saw the worldly success of Islamic civilization as a distraction and deviation
B. Sufis  represented Islam’s mystical dimension, sought a direct and personal
experience of the divine
1. Renunciation of material world, meditation on words of the Quran, use of dance
C. Sharply critical of scholarly and legalistic practitioners of the sharia
D. But for orthodox religious scholars, Sufism verged on heresy Sufis claimed to be
one with God, to receive new revelations
E. Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)
1. Major Islamic thinkerboth a legal scholar and a Sufi
2. Rational philosophy alone could never enable believers to know Allah
IV. Gender and Islam
A. On a spiritual level, the Quran was clear, men and women were equal
B. But in social terms, women were inferior and subordinate
C. Female infanticide was forbidden…Women had over their own property…Were
granted rights of inheritance, although half the rate of male counterparts
D. Women could sue for divorce if had not had sexual relations for more than four
monthsBut a man was allowed multiple wives
E. But veiling and seclusion of women became standard practice
F. Also “honor killing” of women by male relatives for violating sexual taboos
V. Islam and Cultural Encounters
A. The Turks became third major carrier of Islam, after Arabs and Persians
B. Turkic and Muslims regimes governed much of India until the British
C. Disillusioned Buddhists as well as low-caste Hindus and untouchables found the
more egalitarian Islam attractive
a) Islam’s equality of all believers contrasted with the Hindu caste system
D. But in Anatolia, the population by 1500 was 90% Muslim and largely TurkicspeakingAnatolia was the heartland of the powerful Turkish Ottoman Empire
E. But Islamization did not completely eliminate the influence of Turkish culture:
tradition of a freer, more gender-equal life for women persisted
F. In West Africa, Islam accompanied Muslim traders across the Sahara
1. By the sixteenth century, a number of West African cities had become major
centers of Islamic religious and intellectual life (like Timbuktu)
2. Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth-century Arab traveler, was appalled that practicing
Muslims in Mali permitted their women to appear in public almost naked
G. The chief site of Islamic encounter with Catholic Europe occurred in Spain (called
al-Andalus by Muslims)
1- Where was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate located?
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2- Why did the political unity of the Abbasid Caliphate not last long?
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3- Define Sharia.
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4- What is the basis for Sharia?
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5- Define Ulama.
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6- How did Sufism differ from mainstream Islam?
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7- What did Sufis seek?
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8- Why were the Ulama sometimes critical of Sufis?
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9- How did Al-Ghazali bridge the divide between Sufis and the Ulama?
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10- How are women and men viewed spiritually in the Quran?
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11- How did Islam improve the status of women?
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12- How did Islam maintain patriarchal restrictions?
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13- Who were the third carriers of Islam?
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14- Why did some Indians find Islam attractive?
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15- How does Islam differ from Hinduism?
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16- Where was Anatolia?
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17- How did Islam transform Anatolia and yet how did it not transform it?
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18- Why was Timbuktu significant?
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19- Define syncretism [Previous Knowledge].
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20- Who was Ibn Battuta and how did he view cultural syncretism in West Africa?
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21- Where was the chief Islamic encounter in Europe?
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22- How was Spain referred to by medieval Muslims?
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23- How did Islam stay the same yet also change as it spread beyond Arab lands?
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1. Timbuktu was renowned for its
(A) gold and its role in opposing the slave
trade
(B) salt reserves and Islamic scholarship
(C) large harbor
(D) glass and ceramic architecture
(E) many Gothic churches
2. Islam in India had a strong appeal to
members of lower castes because
(A) conversion to Islam made them equal
with other caste members.
(B) Islam promised the spiritual equality of
all believers.
(C) Allah was more competent than Shiva
and Vishnu in terms of salvation.
(D) Islam was less dependent on the written
word than other religions were.
(E) all of the above.
3. The photograph above of a mosque (first
erected in the fourteenth century) in the
modern-day West African country of Mali
best exemplifies which of the following
historical processes?
(A) Imposition of religion through military
conquest
(B) Spread of religion along trade routes
(C) Abandonment of indigenous cultural
styles in the face of colonization
(D) Conflict between local and
universalizing religions
Thesis Practice: Comparative
Analyze similarities and differences
regarding the cultural impact of Islam and
Christianity beyond their lands of origin.
4. All of the following are true statements
about Islam EXCEPT
(A) Muhammad was the messenger of
God.
(B) All are equal under the eyes of God.
(C) Muslims should pray five times a
day.
(D) A clear line of succession was
established after Muhammad’s
death.
(E) The hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca.
5. Which of the following is an accurate
statement about Islamic art and
architecture?
(A) Islamic art focused on abstract
geometric patterns and ornate calligraphy
in Arabic.
(B) Elaborate miniatures of historical
figures and historical battles were created
during the Abbasid and Umayyad
Dynasties.
(C) The most important architectural
contributions were elaborate pyramids and
sculptures.
(D) Most Islamic art forms were derived
from classic Greek and Roman examples.
6. The tenth-century structure in Córdoba,
Spain, shown above exemplifies the
(A) adoption of Gothic engineering
techniques
(B) Islamic architectural style
(C) Influence of Christian religious painting
(D) Influence of Chinese art
(E) Incorporation of art and architecture of
the Aztecs