Download Spread of Islam

Banu Umayya
and
Banu Abbas
The Umayyad Empire
 The Umayyads ruled until 750 CE providing the
next 14 caliphs
 The first caliph of the Umayyad Empire was
Muawiya – when he took control he moved the
capital of the Empire from Medina to Damascus
in Syria where his supporters and armies were
located
 Once the Umayyads had control they began to
conquer new lands
 The empire spanned parts of three continents:
Africa, Asia, and Europe in less than 100 yrs.
The Umayyad Empire
The Expansion of the Empire
 When the Umayyad’s took
power in 661 CE the
Empire’s eastern boundary
extended into Persia and
pushed the border further
into Central Asia
 The expansion began with
raids attacking the cities of
Bukhara and Smarkland –
both major trade cities of
the region (located in
modern Uzbekistan
Umayyad Armies
 Frequent raids soon turned into
organized campaigns for conquest
which allowed them to control most
of Central Asia by 700’s
 By 710 they controlled North Africa
from the Nile to the Iberian Peninsula
 By 711 they moved North across the
Mediterranean Sea and into the
Iberian Peninsula (modern nations of
Spain and Portugal)
UNITING MANY PEOPLES
Umayyad’s Success
 The Umayyads’ ruled successfully for awhile:
 Expanded into a vast area of land
 They build Mosques (Dome of the Rock)
 Allowed their people to bring their problems to
them and consulted advisers about their policies
 Had a postal service
 Arabic replaced Greek and Persian as the
language of the captured territory
 Developed Arab coinage called the Dinar (gold)
or Diraham (silver)
Challenges to Success
 The Umayyad controlled a vast empire,
and with so much land under their
control they faced many challenges
 How would the Umayyads rule such a vast
empire?
 How would the Caliphs communicate with
their subjects hundreds of miles away?
 How would the subjects of the Ummayyads
pay for goods?
Umayyad Government
 In order to control the vast territory the
Umayyads patterend their government
on the bureaucracy used in the lands
they won from the Byzantine Empire
 The bureaucracy allowed the Umayyads
to control the entire empire from the
capital, Damascus
 The caliphs appointed Emirs, or
govenors, to rule the outlying provinces
Language
 The population of the Umayyad empire
was very diverse which was a challenge in
uniting the population
 Abd al-Malik, who became caliph in 685,
declared Arabic as the language of the
government for all Muslim lands
A Common Coinage
 Trade was another
issue the Umayyads
faced
 In 700 Abd al-Malik
further unified the
Empire by introducing
a common coinage
 The coins helped
spread acceptance of
Islam and the Arabic
language
 Commerce was also
made easier
The Decline of the Umayyads
 Over time the Umayyads started
to neglect the rules of Islam
 They did not base their laws on the
Qur’an
 Built lavish palaces outside of the
towns where they spent their time
hunting, drinking, or dancing
surrounded by beautiful women,
poets and musicians
 The Umayyad clan was Sunni.
Which meant they supported the
election of caliphs. However, each
Umayyad caliph named a relative
as a successor before he died. This
was creating a ruling family.
The Abbasids
 One group of Muslims, the Abbasids,
gained support from other Muslims who
opposed the Umayyads
 By 750 the combined forces devised a plan
to overthrow the Umayyads
 According to some historians, the
Abbasids invited the Umayyad leaders to a
meeting to talk about peace. At the
meeting the Umayyad’s were murdered
The Islamic Golden age
 The golden age was during the Abbasid historical period
beginning in the mid-8th century lasting until the Mongol
conquest of Baghdad in 1258
 It was led under caliph Harun
Rashid
 During the reign of Harun al-Rashid Baghdad was the world
center of knowledge, wealth and international significance.
 Two factors that laid down the foundation of this period:
 Collection and translation of knowledge
 Sponsoring of scholars
 Discussion of viewpoints
Advances of the golden age
Mathematics
Medicine
science
Philosophy and
translation
Architecture and
engineering
Reasons for success
Catalysts for success
There are many reasons for the success of the
Islamic civilization during this period most
notably is:
The principles and ideals of Islam was practiced.
tolerance and respect for the contributions of
ethnic and religious minorities.
Islam unified the tribes of Arabia.
Islam was attractive to the conquered:
It was easy to become Muslim
preaches equality (people could move up in society)
Mathematics
 Islam made major strides in the
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field of algebra, geometry and
trigonometry.
They used to solve practical
problems.
Contributions can be traced to
Al-Khawarizmi in the 9th century.
He introduced the fundamentals
of algebra.
Most revolutionary contribution
was the development of
numbers and the discovery of
zero (sifr).
Muhammad Bin Musa AlKhawarizmi (780-850)
Scientific method
 scientific method was first
developed in the Muslim
world, where significant
progress in methodology
was made.
 The most important
development of the
scientific method was the
use of experimentation and
quantification.
 Muslim scientists translated
Greek classics and made farreaching advances in many
fields.
Advances in medicine
 In the field of medicine the Muslims laid down the
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foundations of many sub areas of medicine.
Both preventative and remedial aspects of medicine was
researched and developed.
Al-Razi, a 9th century Persian physician, made the first
major Muslim contribution to medicine when he
developed treatments for smallpox and measles.
Another physician Ibn sina composed over 276 works
and the most prominent is Qanun Ibn Sina (Cannon of
medicine).
Muslims also made advances in the treatments of
cataracts (main cause of blindness during old age).
Medicine
Cataract
Extract from the canon
of medicine
Invention of
medical tools
Philosophy
 Al-Farabi and other early Muslim
philosophers tried to find rational arguments
for the existence of God.
 Theologians, led by Al-Ghazali, defended
religion by pointing out contradictions and
limitations to human reason.
 Ibn Rushd (Muslim scholar), responded to
Al-Ghazali's argument by urging
philosophers to use reason to reach
genuine knowledge of the truth,
independent of revelation.
Translation
 The Abbasid encouraged translation from
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pre-Islamic languages, particularly Middle
Persian, Greek, and Syriac.
This was necessary for two reason:
1.to understand the texts
2.Make further research and development
This activity provided a channel through
which older thought could enter and be
reoriented by Islamic societies.
Architecture and engineering
 Islamic architecture is distinct in terms of its unique
architectural elements and ornamentations
 Calligraphy, an essential aspect of written Arabic,
developed in manuscripts is often incorporated in
architectural designs
 Muslims also contributed to the field of engineering
by inventing gears, cranks, pistons and pumps.
 These tools was later incorporated into machinery
developed during the European-based industrial
revolution.
Architecture and engineering
Machine used to elevate
water
Twin cylinder suction
pump by Al-jazri
Mill-house near
cordoba
The Great Mosque of Kairouan (Tunisia)
Founded in 670 (9th century)
Al-Mutawakkil Mosque
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Beautiful masjid outside the city of
Samarra
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Remained intact for centuries
Trade and commerce
 The benefits of trade during the golden age
Transfer of knowledge
(scientific)
Trade
Economic prosperity
(enabled the state to set
up hospitals and support
scholars)
Other benefits: The use
of paper spread
Spread of Islam to
other lands
The decline of Islamic civilization
(golden age)
 The decline of the golden age came as a result of
a decline in adherence to Islam as an ideology
 Ideological decline can be attributed to:
 Infusion of philosophical ideas from Greek,
Persian and Indian civilization
 Abandoning of ijtihad (Translation)
 Neglecting the study of the Arabic language
 Political, cultural and missionary intervention
from the west
Decline of the golden age
 As a result of decline in adherence to Islam:
 Muslims priorities in life changed and they faced
internal upheavals and conflicts
 It also led to weakness of all institutions in the
state
 The field of Science and technology was most
impacted due to financial problems that
research funds to decline
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