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• Which two Muslim cities served as political and
administrative centers of Muslim empires?
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Baghdad
Istanbul
Mecca
Mogadishu
Medina
a)
b)
c)
d)
I and III
II and IV
I and II
III and V
Today: 10/7 and 10/8
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Practice Question
Reading Quiz
Look at Reading Guide
Lecture
Exit
Objective:
Students will be able
to describe how
Family group
traditions and a new
religion created a
new Post-Classical
Empire
Chapter 6
The First Global Civilization: The Rise
and Spread of Islam
Introduction
• Difference between the terms Arab and Islam
– They do not mean the same thing
• 1st Global Civilization
– What do you think this means???
• Very unique development of an empire that expanded
throughout the known world.
– Centralization as well as a unifying factor of Religion
– Spread very fast
4 developments define postclassical
centuries
1. Islamic civilization spread politically and
culturally into Asia, Europe and Africa
2. Civilizations expanded into new world
regions
3. The great world religions gained adherent
from peoples once following local belief
structures
4. The creation of a world network linking many
of the individual civilizations
In this beginning
• Arab Peninsula
– Bedouin Societies  Nomadic
• Herders
– Trade routs
– Clan/family ties
Clan Life
• A way to survive in a VERY harsh environment
– Subsistence living
• Water  constant struggle
– Kin related. So Families made up the Clan
– Survival depended on cooperation, support and
loyalty.
– If you were kicked
out of your clan you
would most likely DIE
– Culture of violence
Tribes
• Clans were smaller family groups
• Larger Tribal groups would come together in
times of hardship and war
– They usually didn’t get along
Family
Clan
Family
Clan
Family
Clan
Family
Clan
Tribe
Family
Clan
Culture of Violence
• Clans would feud with each other
– Could last for hundreds of years
• Revenge is a major part of the culture
Organization
• Unlike prehistory nomads, there is a great
variation of wealth and power
– Even within the clan
Shaykhs
Warriors (and their families)
Slave families
Trade
• Another major aspect of the culture
• Small communities did develop in certain places
to help facilitate trade
– Mecca:
• Founded by the Umayyad Clan of the Quraysh Tribe
• Very affluent
• Ka’ba: located here and is part of the pre-Islamic religion
– Medina:
• Established as an Oasis
• Very agricultural
• Controlled by multiple clans that didn’t get along
– Meant that Medina was not very strong
Women
• What do you think the gender relations were
like in the Bedouin communities???
– Not like pre-history equality
– Women were not equal but may have had more
rights
– Depended a lot of the individual clans
Religion Before and During
Muhammad
• Before:
– The clans blended animism and polytheism
• Met the needs of their individual clan
– Allah:
• Quraysh tribe’s supreme god
– Ka’ba was used as a religious place for multiple
gods
During Muhammad
• “The hardships of Muhammad’s early life
underscores the importance of Clan ties in the
Arabian world”
• Muhammad
– Born into a prominent clan of the Quraysh Tribe
– Educated with the clan to be a merchant
• During his caravan travels he met Christians and Jews
– He was aware of the Monotheistic traditions
developing
– c. 610 He started receiving messages from Allah
through the angle Gabriel
Islam
• Started very small
– Muhammad was very respected so it helped to
get his message out
• So much fighting between tribes there was
nothing to bring them together (unite them)
– They were Arab but it was not a unifying factor
• Islam provided a religion that was distinctly
Arab and equal to other religions
– Provided a possible end to the fighting
Ok so how did this all work
• Muhammad settled disputes in Medina
making it a stronger community
• Umayyad didn’t like this because it threatened
their trade
• They attack Muhammad and his followers
• After victory Muhammad was able to travel
back to Mecca to the Ka’ba
• Proved to be strong both as a man and a
religion
Something to bring us together
• Islam gave a common identity to the Arab
world
– Umma community of Faithful
• This would rise above old tribal and clan boundaries
• The Qur’an and Muhammad’s teachings would
be incorporated into laws
ISLAM
Tribe
Clans
Tribe
Clans
Tribe
Clans
Tribe
Clans
BUT. . .
• After Muhammad’s death many of the tribes
renounced the faith and tired to return to old
ways
– The split
– New leaders needed to be found and then they
had to force those who left to return
• This was a more Arab empire in the beginning
Successor Issue
• After Muhammad’s death:
– They had to decide on a Caliph to be the political and
religion successor
– Who do we choose ???
• This Split
– Shi’a: The successor should be a member of
Muhammad’s family
– Sunni: The successor should be the strongest
• Umayads
Umayyad Dynasty
• Arab conquest that began during the search
for a successor continued
– They wanted booty: that means riches
• Didn’t worry so much about conversion
– Have to share the booty
– Dhimmi: people of the book
• Damascus becomes the political center
Umayyad decline
• They began to move away from the simple, frugal
life that Muhammad taught
– Were very centered around family ties and nothing
else
• Abbasids began to grow angry and wanted power
– Used the Mawali (non Arab Muslims) and Shi’a to help
them gain the power
– Come to dinner
– Reject those that helped them after they took power