Download 05 Notes - Byzantium and the Dar al-Islam

Chapter 5: Byzantium and the Dar al-Islam
Part I: the Roman World Continues
In 476 C. E., the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, but the eastern half survived for another
millennium. This Byzantine Empire was a unique society, which combined Roman Law, Greek Culture and
the Christian Religion, to evolve into a dramatically different culture than the old Roman Republic or
Empire. Byzantium was a trading and fishing town which was founded by Greek colonists in 667 B.C.E. on
the coast of the Sea of Marmora, mid way between the Black and Mediterranean Seas, and it remained a
sleepy fishing village until the emperor Constantine recognized its strategic importance (situated on a major
crossroads between Europe and Asia), its easily defensible peninsula and its magnificent natural harbor
(known as the Golden Horn). Thus Constantine made Byzantium his capital; renamed it Constantinople;
transformed it into a magnificent capital, because he recognized that - from this site he could control - and
dominate the political, commercial and cultural dynamics of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond.
Byzantium was an economic power house in the chaos of the post classical world. Its high quality
manufactured goods were sought after from Europe and the Mediterranean through the Middle East, down
the east coast of Africa and into the Indian Ocean Basin and Far East. The Byzantines were devout
Christians and sent missionaries into the Balkan Peninsula, Eastern Europe and Russia deeply influencing
the Slavic Peoples in writing, codified law, political organization and religion. The result was that even
though the Byzantine Empire has disappeared, its legacy lives in its daughter cultures.
Many historians including Edward Gibbon and – to some extent our textbooks – evaluate Byzantium in a
negative light filled with corruption and intrigue. However, recent scholarship points out that when Western
Europe was a cultural backwater steeped in political, economic and social chaos, Byzantium was a brilliant
center of classical culture and scholarship. The bottom line in evaluating Byzantium is that Byzantium
was a transmitter society with a dual legacy: It not only preserved Greco/Roman culture but also
spread its own unique culture to its daughter states in Eastern Europe and Russia.
The History of the Byzantine Empire
In her long history, Byzantium would spend much of her energy defending herself from civilized and
uncivilized invaders. The Sasanids posed a constant threat in the east while Germanic and Central Asian
tribes tried to enter the empire looking for land on which to settle; and later the birth and expansion of the
Muslin world would pose even more dangerous – and ultimately fatal - challenges. Byzantium survived
these incursions for so long because she possessed a superb bureaucracy (whose roots dated back to
Augustus), a professional, well disciplined army and great wealth based on a strong agrarian economy and
her natural location at one end of the Silk Road that allowed her to control segments of the Silk Roads.
Byzantine history is divided into four periods. First, was the Period of Formation from 324 to 610, when
the Byzantine state took its unique form and its rulers developed their style: a tightly centralized state
centered on a supreme, exalted emperor. The most famous of these early emperors was Justinian, who
ruled from 527 to 565. Justinian, often called the last Roman Emperor, and his wife Theodora came from
humble backgrounds and both rose to the top of society because they were shrewd and brilliant. Justinian is
remembered for three great achievements:
1. Justinian tried recreating the Roman Empire. In 533, his general, Belisarius began a series of military
campaigns and reconquered southwestern Spain, northwestern Africa, Sicily and Italy. He also drove
back the Persian Sasanids and Slavic barbarians in the Balkans. Yet ultimately Justinian’s conquests in
the west proved fruitless as Western Mediterranean had already begun to follow different directions.
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2. Justinian had scholars collect all Roman law; edit and improve it and place it into one book, the Corpus
Iuris Civilis or Body of Civil Law (sometimes called the Digest), which became the basis of Western
Law. It stands midway between Hammurabi’s code and the Code of Napoleon.
3. Justinian built a massive cathedral, Hagia Sophia, an incredible wonder, which still stands today. Its
Pendative style of architecture created a huge open space for worship, which the Basilica could not –
and was copied by Russian and Muslim builders for centuries to follow.
Theodora, a controversial and remarkable woman, rose from performing in salacious theater acts to helping
Justinian with advice on political, diplomatic and theological issues. Despite her “colorful” background, she
did much for women and, along with her husband, is regarded as a saint by the Orthodox Church.
The 7th and 8th centuries, the second period or Period of Survival, would see Byzantium struggle to
survive. In 610, the Emperor Heraclius, the first true Byzantine Emperor, defeated both the invading Avars
and the Persian Sasanids who had captured Palestine. When the Persians took Jerusalem, they carried off to
Ctesiphon the cross on which Christians believed Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. Heraclius’ victory was so
complete that he retrieved the Holy Cross from the Persian Capital and returned it to Jerusalem. In 636,
however, emerging Muslim armies shattered the Byzantines at Yarmuk, which resulted in the loss of
Palestine and Syria. By 642 Egypt had fallen. In a few decades, Anatolia itself was being invaded.
These Umayyad Muslims twice besieged Constantinople (674-678 and 717-718), but technology saved the
day. Greek Fire, a compound of sulpher, lime and petroleum - which burned on water - twice destroyed
Arab fleets. After these seiges, Byzantium reorganized and kept control of Anatolia. Byzantium’s heartland
had now been defined: the Balkan Peninsula and Anatolia with holdings in Sicily and Southern Italy. This
Period of Struggle also saw great religious dissension, especially Iconoclasm or the destruction of holy
pictures called icons by Leo III in 730 that was suppressed first by the Empress Irene in 787 and finally by
the Empress Theodora in 843.
The Golden Age of Byzantium
The Third Period or the Golden Age of Byzantium lasted from 843 to 1071. During this 200-year plus
period, Byzantium dominated the Eastern Mediterranean, holding the Balkans, Greece, Southern Italy,
Sicily and the Anatolian Plateau. Syria was reconquered from the Muslims and Basil II, the greatest of all
the Golden Age Emperors, annihilated the Bulgarian army in the Battle of Kleidon in 1014. It is said, that
to break the spirit of the Bulgarians, Basil blinded thousands of the survivors and that, when king Symeon
saw his defeated soldiers coming home - in tens, the first with one eye gouged out, the next nine with both
eyes gouged out - he collapsed in shock and died. Basil’s exploits and expansion brought so much wealth
into Constantinople that he cancelled all taxes for two years. During this period, Byzantine culture strongly
influenced the development of Bulgaria and other emerging Balkan nations such as Romania, Serbia and
most importantly the proto-Russian state, Kiev.
Manzikert and Decline
The year 1071 ushered in the last period, the Period of Decline, when empire was hammered again and
again by external foes and struggled desperately to cope with internal problems before it vanished in 1453.
It is important to note that in this collapse we witness perhaps the greatest lesson of world history:
that a society with a free peasantry (later, a strong middle class) remains strong, but when elites and
warlords ally for their own interests and crush the peasantry by shifting the tax burden or stealing
peasant land, the state inevitably declines. The backbone of the Byzantine army and economy had
always been the free peasant, and that included even landless peasants who worked as share croppers.
However, even during the Golden Age, the free peasantry gradually declined as large landowners
expanded their estates, shifted the tax burden to peasants and raised their own armies.
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There were external threats as well. In the 1060s and 1070s, the Norman Robert Guiscard led his Vikings
from Northern Europe through the straits of Gibraltar, across the Mediterranean and conquered Byzantine
Sicily and Southern Italy. Then followed the terrible disaster at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, when the
Seljuk Turks obliterated the Byzantine Army in Eastern Anatolia. Most of Anatolia soon fell to the Seljuks
and with it the farmers who made up the backbone of the Byzantine army. To make matters worse, as
Byzantium reeled under these blows, Italian trading states like Venice and Genoa encroached on Byzantine
trade, siphoning off Silk Road profits that once went to fill the coffers of a wealthy Byzantine state.
So as Western Europe was beginning to awaken from its social and political nightmare after the
collapse of the Western Empire and a new enemy appeared in the powerful Seljuk Turks, Byzantium
was sinking. The Byzantines played only a minor role in the first three Crusades. But then, in 1204, came
the heaviest blow of all. Greedy Venetians, who were supposed to transport a crusader army to fight in the
Holy Land, demanded that the crusaders pay for their transport by attacking and sacking Constantinople.
This Fourth Crusade was an open shame to Christianity as the crusaders set up a Latin kingdom in
Constantinople. Although the Byzantines recaptured the city in 1261, their day was over. Corruption
flourished, central authority disappeared, resentful peasants were overtaxed and external enemies continued
to encroach upon Byzantine territory. The end was not far off when a new enemy appeared.
This enemy was the Ottoman Turks, who had replaced the Seljuks as the dominate power in Anatolia. In
the mid 1300s, they crossed into Europe and took more Byzantine territory. Byzantium might have fallen
sooner than it did except that in 1405, the Turkish/Mongol conqueror, Tamerlane, defeated the Ottomans
and gave fifty years of life to an empire that was reduced to the city of Constantinople and a few tiny and
scattered possessions. The Ottomans recovered and the end came in 1453 when the Ottoman Sultan,
Mehmed II, conquered the city.
Along with the fall of Rome, the fall of Constantinople marked an important event and turning point in
world history. As Rome’s fall in the western Mediterranean was symbolic of a new order emerging in the
fusion of the Barbarian nations with the old Roman world, so the fall of Constantinople would mark the
expansion of Ottoman power - and its interaction with Byzantium’s daughter states and the West.
Byzantine Economy and Society
Byzantium governmental culture had much in common with China. Akin to the Mandate of Heaven,
Byzantium (beginning with Constantine himself) developed the notion of Caesaropapism or the idea that
God ordained the emperor as head of both church and state. The emperor appointed bishops and the emperor
was the embodiment of the law. The Roman Senate and much Roman Republican political apparatus were
retained, but they were purely advisory. The Byzantine court, like the Chinese, was resplendent, formal and
designed to impress - its elaborate rituals and ceremonies (prostration like the Kowtow, mechanical singing
birds and the emperor’s throne descending from the ceiling) perpetuating the idea of a divinely inspired, allpowerful representative of God on earth.
The Byzantines called themselves Ρωμαιoι, but they spoke Greek. The aristocracy considered themselves
the heirs of Classical Greece and Rome, whose responsibility it was to preserve Classical culture. (As we
will see in the next chapter, they resented, for example, Charlemagne’s assumption of the title of King of
the Romans in 800.) Their scholarship concentrated on the humanities rather than the sciences and they
wrote commentaries on Homer, Plato, Aristotle and a host of other authors whose books served as textbooks
for the educational standards of the day. It is very important to understand that, along with the Muslims
and the Irish, the Byzantines deserve credit for the preservation of Classical Literature, Philosophy
and Art.
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Unique to their place in historical sweep of the ages, the Byzantines had a state organized school system,
which offered public primary education and was the chief source of Byzantine public officials. Private tutors
(classical scholars themselves) were engaged by the wealthy to educate their children, but Byzantium
remains unique in that basic literacy was widespread even among the lower classes and peasantry. As in
China, Byzantine bureaucrats came from all classes (aristocrats predominating, of course) and were highly
effective administrators. Moreover, like China, the bureaucrats closest to the emperor were Eunuchs.
Byzantine artisans were some of the best in the world: glassware, woolen and linen textiles, jewelry and
gold and silver work, especially their holy pictures called icons. In the 7th century, the silkworm culture was
smuggled into Byzantium and Byzantine silks soon rivaled those of China. Constantinople was one of the
great centers of Eurasian Trade; was a western terminus of the Silk Road and the Byzantines made
enormous profits by simply controlling (and taxing) this trade. Before the decline of the empire in the late
eleventh century, the solidus (a gold coin first minted by Constantine and sometimes called the bezant) was
the standard currency of the Mediterranean basin. Even though the government regulated trade and
controlled food prices, banking and business partnerships continued the Hellenistic practice of joint
investments to increase profits and reduce individual risk.
The Byzantines were great imitators and preservers, but not great originators or inventors (Greek Fire
notwithstanding). Unfortunately, for them, they lagged behind in technology, especially farming technology.
When Europe was beginning to use heavy plows (moldboards) and harnesses, Byzantine farmers were 500
years behind still using primitive Roman agricultural practices.
In organization of their provinces, however, their Roman roots were much more helpful. During the Golden
Age, the Byzantines developed the Theme System, which placed an imperial province (or Theme) under
the command of a general appointed by the Emperor. He, in turn, recruited armies from free peasants. Thus,
the Theme System not only reflected the old citizen-soldier ideal of ancient Rome, but it also provided a
flexible method of countering external threats, since armies could be raised quickly from men who had a
stake in protecting their land and farms.
The city of Constantinople was itself another Rome. In fact, it was called the Second Rome. It was a
beautiful city of enormous palaces for the wealthy, but comfortable dwellings for the lesser classes. Its
broad streets led into a cosmopolitan city of churches, baths, taverns, restaurants, theaters and the
Hippodrome. Horse Racing was enormously popular and four factions formed: Red, White, Green and
Blue. Although these factions often fought each other, in 532, two factions, the Greens and the Blues, united
to protest Justinian’s high taxes. In the Nika Riots that followed, they seized the Hippodrome and
proclaimed a new emperor. Justinian sent in Belisarius and the army and ten thousand rioters were killed.
Although elite women held much power and many were empresses (Irene and the two Theodoras were the
most famous), it is interesting to note that in general the gender roles of the earlier Roman family structure,
which had allowed much freedom to women in public life, were greatly curtailed. The family became a
more rigid unit and women were more often confined to the home and wore veils in public. The only men
they socialized with were their families. Many scholars think that this development was related to the
seclusion of women in neighboring Islamic countries.
The Orthodox Church
Byzantine cultural life rested on Hellenistic traditions which were tempered by the Orthodox Church, which
itself was inseparable from the state. It is hard for people of the twenty-first century to conceive of how
important religion was to everyday people in pre-modern times. Where we talk about sports, fashion and
business, they talked about theology, the study of God. They argued religious issues and even rioted over
religion, even to the point of threatening the political stability of the state. All heresy in the early church
came from one of two concepts: the nature of God or the nature of Jesus of Nazareth.
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Determining the nature of God led to the formulation of the Doctrine of the Trinity. Nowhere in the
Jewish/Christian Scriptures is the word found and yet almost all Christians today believe it. What the
Christian leaders did was to take all the passages about God and by using Aristotelian logic determine that
there was one God, who had three persons: Father, Son and Holy Ghost (Spirit). This teaching was affirmed
at the Council of Nicaea, called by Constantine in 325.
The nature of Jesus Christ was a more protracted struggle. The Orthodox position was that Christ was two
persons with one nature and that that nature was fully human and fully divine. This formula was necessary
for Christ to save humans. He had to be God to be the priest who saves mankind; and he had to be man to
represent man who is saved by Christ’s resurrection. Arianism taught that there is only one God and that
Jesus, although he was divine, was created, like you or me. Arianism thus emphasized the humanity of
Jesus at the expense of his divinity. Arianism deeply divided early 4th century Christians. Many Germanic
invaders were Arian and Attila the Hun and Alaric. It is interesting to note that even though Arianism was
condemned at Nicaea, Constantine was baptized on his deathbed by an Arian Bishop.
We have already discussed the 2nd heresy (that should never have been a heresy), Nestoriansim, which
taught that Jesus had two persons (man and God) each acting independently of the other. It was condemned
at a Church Council and died, except on the Silk Roads.
A third controversy was Monophysitism, which taught that Christ had one nature with two persons but that
one nature was divine. It was the opposite of Arianism because it emphasized the divinity of Jesus at
the expense of his humanity. By the 5th century, Monophysitism had been adopted in Syria and Egypt and
when Constantinople tried to force Orthodoxy on the Monophysitism strongholds of Syria and Egypt, great
bitterness resulted. Justinian tried to enforce a compromise called Monothelitism which said that Christ had
one will and so therefore could have two natures perfectly joined, but his compromise failed because both
sides understood that the one will was controlled by the divine nature. As a result, Syria and Egypt did
little to resist the invading Muslims in the early 7th century, as they preferred to live under Islam than
under the hated emperor in Constantinople.
Then in the eighth century came new heresy, Iconoclasm, which, like Islam, took the second commandment
literally: thou shalt not make a graven image. In 730, the emperor Leo III banned all icons or religious
pictures and when that failed, he sought to physically destroy as many as he could. In 787 however, the
Second Council of Nicaea, pushed by the Empress Irene, reaffirmed Icons, but later emperors again tried
to destroy the holy pictures and revive Iconoclasm. Finally, the Empress Theodora in 843 finally restored
the use icons and defeated iconoclasm once and for all - maybe. Even though the Orthodox celebrate the
first Sunday in Lent as their Feast of Orthodoxy, the idea did not die.
It is important to understand a link between Monophysitism, Iconoclasm and the Protestant Reformation of
the 16th century. If Jesus is more divine than human then it is logical to see how the descendents of the early
Monophysites adopted Iconoclasm. Iconoclasts were critical of people treating icons in a superstitious
manner, so they wanted them destroyed. During the Protestant Reformation some reformers, notably John
Calvin destroyed Catholic works of art which they felt were idols again quoting the same second
commandment as the Iconoclasts and Muslims.
As time went by and Western Europe evolved a different (although related) ethos, a growing rivalry slowly
grew up between the Roman Church and the Orthodox Church. As east and west had less and less contact,
more misunderstandings arose. To us these disputes seem almost silly, but to them papal supremacy or the
use of leavened or unleaved bread in the Eucharist, or whether or not priests wore beards, or what calendar
was used to fix the date of Easter - coupled with popes and patriarchs who had their own agendas - all
caused increasing resentment and estrangement.
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Finally, the rupture came, when each side mutually excommunicated each other in the Great Schism of
1054. It was not a complete break (that is, is was a schism or being “out of communion” as opposed to
heresy or false teachings in theological belief as in Arianism or the differences each side accused each
other of in the Protestant Reformation), but its consequences remain to the present day.
Many Byzantine men and women drew inspiration from early monks who lived in the deserts of Egypt and
tried to live as holy lives as possible. The most famous of these early holy men was the ascetic, St. Simon
Stylites, who lived for years on top of a tall pillar. Later, more organized monastic communities grew up
(each following different rules), until St. Basil of Caesarea, the Patriarch of Constantinople, led them to
organize and adopt a single rule. These Basilian monasteries then spread over the Eastern Empire. Monks
and Nuns led devoted lives to try to be closer to God, but also served as example of the ideal Christian life
in living vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And monastic communities provided social and medical
services to common people.
The Legacy of the Byzantine Empire
As we have noted, the English historian, Edward Gibbon (1737 – 1794), blamed the Christian religion for
taking away the manliness and civic virtue of the ancient Romans in his Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire and he carried that prejudice into his evaluation of Byzantium. He felt that Byzantine History was
not worth the effort and many historians contend that this is the reason for the lack of interest shown in
Byzantium until the mid twentieth century. Gibbon was noted for his quality of writing and skillfully used
primary sources but many were negative and told only the western or Latin point of view. One such source
was Liutprand, the Bishop of Cremona, who visited Constantinople in 949 and 968 on business for the
pope. He hated Hellenism and the Byzantines and described the emperor as, “a monstrosity of a man, a
dwarf, fat headed, and with tiny mole’s eyes” and Constantinople as sleazy and dirty and the people and
effeminate and cunning.
Modern scholarship has now set the record straight.
First, Byzantium was only stable imperial state during the Post Classical Period and protected Western
Europe from Islamic and nomadic invasion. When Europe was an economic backwater, Byzantium had the
strongest economy in the world and, coupled with its strategic location, encouraged trade along the Silk
Roads.
Second, Justinian’s systematic revision of Roman Law preserved Roman Law in his Corpus Iuris Civilis or
Codex Justinianus, which strongly influenced the development of the Slavic nations and modern Western
legal codes.
Third, the Byzantines were arguably the best diplomats in all world history. They were particularly skilled
at forging diplomatic alliances and dynastic marriages. The story was told that the Emperor Heraclius once
intercepted a message from Persian rival Chosroes that ordered the execution of one of his own Persian
generals. Heraclius craftily added 400 names and diverted the messenger, provoking a rebellion by those on
the list, thereby causing huge problem for his Sassanid rival.
Finally and maybe most importantly, the Byzantines considered themselves Hellenized, Christian
Romans and, as such, left a dual legacy in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Europe. In the next
chapter, we shall study the incalculable effect of Byzantine culture on Eastern Europe.
The great travel writer, Robert Byron, once declared that the greatness of Byzantium lay in what he
described as "the Triple Fusion": that of a Roman body, a Greek mind and an oriental, mystical soul.
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The Dar al-Islam
Islam is the youngest of the world’s major religions; it arose in the early 7th century C.E. on the Arabian
Peninsula and quickly transformed itself into an international cultural and political force. The Arabian
Peninsula was home to ancient Semite shepherds called Bedouins. Their land was hot and dry and
supported almost no agriculture, except in Yemen and a few oases. Clans, clan warfare and loyalty to one’s
clan dominated societal structure. As trade along the Silk Roads increased, these Camel Nomads began to
dominate Arabia, and helped make it an important link between India and Persia on one side, and
Byzantium and East Africa on the other.
Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born about 570 C.E. into a merchant family in Mecca. He was orphaned at
six and was raised by his grandfather and uncle. In spite of a hard life as a young man, he was well
educated. He worked for and eventually married a wealthy widow, named Khadijh. Through her he became
a prominent merchant in Mecca. His society was polytheistic, filled with gods, demons and nature spirits
whose favor was sought by prayer and sacrifices. When considering the founding of Islam, it is important to
understand that Muhammad was also familiar with Jewish and Christian teachings because of his merchant
travels and that Jews and Christians also often believed in demons and nature spirits. And it is said
(pejoratively by some) that Islam is a combination of paganism, Christianity and Judaism.
At any rate about 610 C.E., at almost 40, Muhammad’s life changed when he underwent a series of
profound religious experiences, including visitations by the Archangel Gabriel, who told him that there
was only one true God (Allah) and that Allah would soon bring judgment on the world. At this point
Muhammad did not intend to found a new religion, but, according to his instructions, he began to preach
and expound Allah’s message. As he preached, his followers soon grew in numbers and enthusiasm.
His followers soon became a tight knit community and they began to write down Muhammad’s teachings
which were later compiled into the Muslim Holy Book, called the Quran, (Koran). The Quran was written
in beautiful and moving poetry, and is a reflection of Muhammad’s understanding of Allah and Allah’s
relationship to the world. In time, the Quran became the definitive source of Islamic authority, because
Muhammad’s followers believed that the Quran had been directly given to Muhammad and had not been
edited many times like the Jewish Scriptures or the Christian Bible. Thus, they believed that the Quran
was a more direct and perfect revelation of the messages of God (Allah).
Like Jesus of Nazareth, Muhammad’s teachings offended the ruling elite, who did not appreciate his
criticism of their greed and idolatry, especially the money they made from the shrine of Ka’ba, which drew
worshippers from all over Arabia. The Ka’ba was a pagan shrine, a black stone, but Muhammad identified
Abraham (patriarch of the Jews) as the first Muslim and the builder of the Ka’ba. Thus he made the Ka’ba
a Muslim holy place and a second Jerusalem, replacing the original Jerusalem.
Therefore, the rich elite persecuted Muhammad and eventually forced him and his followers to flee to a
nearby city, Medina. The year was 622 C.E., and this “tactical retreat” was called the Hijra (meaning
migration), and marked the starting point of the Islamic Calendar. In Medina, Muhammad organized his
followers into an even more tightly knit community called an Umma (or community of the faithful) and
provided them with moral and legal rules. As his Umma grew, he needed money, so he organized
commercial ventures and raiding parties to attack caravans.
He not only led his community in prayer but also into battle and used much of his money to support
orphans, widows and the poor. As he gained power in Medina, his understanding of his religious mission
expanded. He began to refer to himself as the “Seal of the Prophets” by which he meant he was the last
prophet of Allah. Abraham, Moses and Jesus all came before, but Muhammad was the seal; and it is
important to understand that Muhammad held both Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament in
high esteem.
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The result was that Muhammad was determined to spread Allah’s wishes to all mankind. In 630 he was
strong enough to conquer Mecca and surprised many when did not kill his former enemies; rather he forced
them to accept Islam. His Umma was now free to worship Allah at the Ka’ba and to destroy all pagan
shrines. They built mosques, buildings where they gathered for prayer and they expanded outward from
Mecca negotiating with and/or attacking Bedouin clans and towns forcing them to accept Islam. By
Muhammad’s death in 632, all of Arabia was Islamic.
It is important to understand that Islam’s success was due to the fact that it contained unifying beliefs that
cut across cultural lines and even appealed to Christians and Jews, such as uncompromising monotheism,
moral codes, egalitarianism (equality of its members), and a strong sense of community. Islam’s Five
Pillars, which is still binding on all Muslims, provide an illustration of this underlying unity:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Muslims must acknowledge Allah as the only God and Muhammad as his prophet.
Muslims must pray daily to Allah, facing Mecca.
Muslims must observe a fast during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan
Muslims must contribute alms for the relief of the weak and the poor
Muslims must, if financially and physically possible, make the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca to
honor Muhammad, at least once in their lifetime.
In the centuries after Muhammad’s death there also emerged the Sharia or Islamic Law, which offered
detailed guidance on every aspect of life. Thus, through the ethical and social values laid out in the
Sharia, Islam became more than a religion, but also a way of life.
The Expansion of Islam
When Muhammad died in 632, there was some confusion, but soon, after a troubled process, Abu Bekr,
Muhammad’s father-in-law and close friend, was chosen as Caliph, or deputy. Caliphs were head of state,
chief judge, religious leader and military commander. Soon, Abu Bekr defeated breakaway tribes and rival
prophets and Islamic unity was restored.
Arab armies then invaded both the weakened Byzantine and Sassanid Empires where Bedouins who had
previously migrated to these empires joined their fellow-attacking Arabs. The Arabs were driven on both by
a sense of religious common cause as well as the spoils of victory. The result was that Islam spread quickly:
in the mid 630s, they seized Byzantine Syria (Yarmuk, 636); in the 640s, Byzantine Egypt and North
Africa; in 651 they toppled the Sasanid Empire; and in 711, they conquered the Hindu kingdom of Sind.
Also in 711, Muslim Berbers from North Africa (recent and fanatic converts to Islam) crossed into the
Iberian Peninsula where they carved out (at the expense of the Visigoths) al-Andalus or Islamic Spain.
Abu Bekr died in 634 and was succeeded by Omar. Omar died in 644 and was succeeded by Uthman.
After the murder of Uthman in 656, two rival factions struggled for power. The first were some of the
earliest followers of Muhammed who wanted a cousin of Muhammad, Ali, to become caliph and proclaimed
him caliph. [It is important to understand that the first four caliphs (Abu Bekr, Omar, Uthman and
Ali) are popularly known as the Rashidun or Rightly Guided Caliphs.]
Nevertheless, one tribe, the Umayyads, disagreed and managed to get their candidate, Mu’awiya, elected
caliph in 660. In an effort to prevent civil war, Ali and Mu’awiya met and agreed to divide the empire, but
Ali was assassinated in 661 and Mu’awiya left in control. Ali’s followers were furious and, as a result, Islam
fractured into two sects: the Shiites and the Sunni. It is the Sunni who became the majority party.
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The crux (heart) of the dispute was that the Sunnis or traditionalists felt that any true believer could
hold leadership (i.e., be caliph). The Shiites, on the other hand, believed that the leadership should
remain in the hands of the family of Muhammad and that Ali should have been Caliph when Abu
Bekr was elected. The Shiites have never been a large party numerically, but have always served as a
refuge and source of support for those opposed to mainline or orthodox Islam. They developed their own
doctrines and rituals. To this day they have been more aggressive party in Islam.
Mu’awiya founded the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750). It was a conquering dynasty. We have seen how their
armies swept across Africa and into Spain; across Persia as far as Sind and from the Indian Ocean to the
Atlantic. The Umayyads often forced pagans (polytheistic peoples) to convert on pain of death (especially in
Iran), but Peoples of the Book only had to pay a Jizya or head tax, unless they converted. The term Peoples
of the Book refers to the monotheistic Abrahamic religions older than Islam, which received revelation(s)
from God. To orthodox Muslims this includes Christians and Jews. Many early scholars such as Malik Ibn
Anas also included Zoroastrians based on a verse in the Qur'an that says, "Those who follow the Jewish
and the Sabi'een, Christians, Magians and Polythesists — Allah will judge them on the Day of
Judgement:" Quran 22:17.
Many Monophysite Christians in Syria and Egypt were bitterly resentful over the Byzantine emperor’s
enforcement of Orthodoxy and often converted to Islam out of spite. Moreover, if we think about it, the
rigid monotheism of Islam and their prohibition of pictures in religious art were not all that foreign to
Monophysites who emphasized the divine nature of Jesus over the human. Nevertheless, these new (nonArab/Bedouin) converts, called Malawi, were frustrated because the Umayyads treated them as second class
Muslims and denied them wealth or positions of authority.
The Umayyad caliphs established their capital and bureaucracy at Damascus. In spite of their defeats at
Constantinople (717 – 718) and in Southern France in 732, (where their European invasion was stopped by
Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours, by the mid eighth century, they still dominated three sides of the
Mediterranean. Nevertheless, their success and wealth was their undoing. They adopted extravagant life
styles and alienated themselves from other Arabs. The Shiites grew troublesome; the Malawi chafed under
their second class status and, before long, revolts broke out.
Finally, their Arab Dynasty was overthrown by a non-Arab Dynasty. The man responsible was Abu alAbbas, who was a descendent of Muhammad’s uncle and a Sunni. He carefully crafted alliances with both
the Shiites and Malawi. During the mid 740s he seized control of Persia and Mesopotamia; and in 750, he
destroyed the Umayyad army; and then massacred most of the Umayyad clan. Only one Umayyad prince,
Abd al-Rahman, managed to escape to al-Andulas (Spain) and - with Berber help - established an
Umayyad principality and styled himself the Emir of Cordova.
Abu al-Abbas’ triumph signaled fundamental change in the world of Islam. First, from 750 to 850, Islam
continued to expand, but favored conversion over conflict. Second, they showed no special favor to old
Arab military aristocracy and erased the unequal distinction between the Malawi and the old believers.
Third, Abu al-Abbas’ successor, al-Mansur, moved the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, which soon
became a brilliant center for the study of Islam. There, the caliphs supported scholars who interpreted the
Quran, collected the sayings of Muhammad and both studied and taught Arabic grammar. Some of these
scholars undertook to translate the classics of Indian, Persian and Greek literature and thought into
Arabic, thus, (along with the Byzantines and Irish), helping to preserve classical culture.
This Abbasid Dynasty wisely adopted Persian ruling techniques, and the court of the caliphs imitated the
old Persian imperial court. They also, like Persians of old, had no strong central government, but appointed
governors, or Wazirs, to rule the provinces. The wazirs were assisted by Ulemas (Ulama), or teachers with
religious knowledge of Islam and Qadis, or Judges. All three worked together in every village, city and
province, setting moral standards, dispensing justice and making Islam a way of life.
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Harun al-Rashid (786 - 809) took the Abbasid Dynasty to the pinnacle of its power and authority. AlRashid was an able soldier and administrator and he was determined that his government ministers treat his
people fairly. It is a fact that he would go out at night, we are told, in disguise through the streets and
bazaars, listening to those whom he met and asking them questions, so that he might have the knowledge to
rule wisely.
Harun al-Rashid was also a scholar and a poet who encouraged the arts and music. Under his support and
patronage, Baghdad became a thriving metropolis and center of the arts as well as commerce and industry.
He even corresponded with Charlemagne and in 802 he sent the German Emperor of the Romans [in the
West] magnificent presents consisting of silks, brass candelabra, perfumes, slaves, ivory chessmen and a
white elephant named Abul-Abbas.
After the death Harun al-Rashid, decline gradually set in with many of the usual patterns we have seen in
China, Rome and Byzantium: struggles for succession, governors-turned-warlords building their own power
bases, and greedy elites [aristocrats] cheating the peasants who in frustration and anger often rose up in
rebellion. But the root of the problem was that the empire was just too large and communication too
slow (caravans could only twenty miles a day and couriers a hundred) and just like Rome, the cost of
maintaining a non-expanding empire became more and more onerous [burdensome].
Finally, there was the problem of external migrants and invaders. The first group was a Turkish army the
Caliphate itself created, the Mamlukes. The first Mamlukes were slave soldiers that had converted to Islam
and were recruited by the Abbasid caliphs in the ninth century. Over time they became a powerful military
caste and, though often viewed negatively, they both helped and hurt the caliphate. In their early days, the
Mamlukes provided the provided the caliphs with a stable military force to deal with domestic and foreign
intrusions. But as time went on, they interfered in politics, as they supported one faction or another;
and allowed Arabs, Persians and the migrant Turks from Central Asia to challenge the authority of
the caliphate. Much later, in the thirteenth century, these “slave-soldiers” would seize power in Egypt
and rule for 250 years.
The second group that weakened the caliphs was the Fatimids, who believed that they were the
descendants of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad and wife of Ali. In the early tenth century, they
established an empire, which included Egypt, North Africa, Sicily and Syria. The Fatamids founded Cairo,
which quickly became an important military and cultural center. The third group was the Buyids, who
were Persians from the mountains of Northern Iran. In 945, there were strong enough to seize control of the
caliphate itself. The Buyids were Shiites who had little respect for the Sunni traditions, but nevertheless they
quietly assumed power in the bureaucracy and kept the caliph as a mere figurehead.
Then, in the early eleventh century, new invasions brought the most important and fourth group to
challenge the caliphate, the Seljuk Turks. They were newly converted to Islam and conquered most of
Southwest Asia. They replaced the Buyids and also kept the caliph as a figurehead. We have seen that in
1071, they demolished a Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert. They went on to capture Fatimid Syria
and Palestine. But their greatest and saddest legacy was the damage the Seljuks did to the land itself.
The Seljuks were still semi-nomads and they turned agricultural land into grazing land. As a result, tax
revenues fell and the infrastructure was so neglected that by the twelfth century it had completely collapsed.
The Persian irrigation system (or Qanat that dated to pre-Sumerian times) fell into terrible disrepair. The
food supply became insufficient to support the population. Both cities and the population shrank so
dramatically that the population loss that was never replaced. The bottom line was that Iran and the
Fertile Crescent would never again regain its geographical importance.
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By the late eleventh century, the caliphate and the Seljuks were divided into quarreling factions. Moreover,
Manzikert had awakened the West and helped to generate the Crusades. The First Crusade, launched in
1095, resulted in the short-lived Kingdom of Jerusalem and other “Crusader States.” But this in turn
brought unity to the Muslim world. From 1144 to 1174, Nur al-Din built a strong state in Syria and
harassed the Crusader States. When Nur al-din died, one of his allies, Saladin, who had already ended
Fatimid power in Egypt, rallied Muslim forces against the Crusaders.
Saladin became renowned in both the Muslim and Christian worlds for his leadership and military prowess
tempered by his chivalry and merciful nature. In 1187 he reconquered Jerusalem and then frustrated the
efforts of the Third Crusade to retake the city. The Third Crusade was somewhat of a draw however:
Saladin kept Jerusalem, but Christian pilgrims won the right to again visit the Christian holy places in
Palestine.
Saladin’s successors battled and beat back subsequent crusaders, and in 1250, during the Seventh Crusade,
Mamluke troops seized Cairo and ruled there until 1517. In 1258, the Mongols sacked Baghdad and
brought the Abbasid Dynasty to an end. The Mongols did not want to shed "royal blood," so they wrapped
al-Musta'sim, the last caliph, in a rug and trampled him to death with their horses. A few years later the
Mamluke Sultan in Cairo named a relative of al-Musta’sim caliph, but the title was mostly symbolic. More
importantly, the Mongols’ destruction of much of Iran and Mesopotamia and their expanding empire forced
the Silk Roads north and took even more wealth from South West Asia.
The Dar al-Islam
The World of Islam: If we consider the phenomenon of Islam in history, we can see the emergence of a
new and dynamic zone of culture, trade and communication stretching from Spain to India, which is called
the Dar al-Islam, which is Arabic for "The House of Islam." As the Dar al-Islam expanded, it embraced by conquest and conversion - many different ethnicities, languages, climates and political challenges, but
the Quran and Sharia (as interpreted by the Ulemas and Qadis) always provided a basis for cultural unity.
Islam means “one who has submitted to the will of Allah.” and perhaps that submission is best illustrated
by Islam’s most global sign of unity: the Hajj.
New Crops and Industries: New crops began to appear from Southwest Asia to Spain, especially, sugar
cane, rice, sorghum, spinach, artichokes, eggplant, citrus trees, coconuts and watermelons, all of which
meant more food and more varied diets. It is important to remember that many of these new crops (like
eggplant and watermelon) could stand the hot summers, thus making year round faming possible.
So back to the old axiom: more food meant more people, more people meant more specialization of labor
and the result was sustained urban growth. New cities appeared and old ones expanded. New industries
popped up from Samarkand in Central Asia to Baghdad in Mesopotamia, from Damascus and Jerusalem to
Cairo, Alexandria and Palermo; from Tunis and Tangier to Cordoba and Toledo. All produced Glassware,
leather and iron products along with textile manufacturing.
An important new textile was cotton. Cotton was superior because it was light and comfortable to wear,
especially in the hot summers. It was first imported from India and then transformed into an enormous new
industry. But perhaps the most important new industry was paper making. The Chinese had invented paper
in the first century BCE, but in 751 a Chinese army was defeated by Muslim forces in the Battle of the
Talas River. Chinese prisoners taught their paper making skills to the Islamic world. Paper was cheaper,
and more flexible (easier to use) than papyrus roles or vellum. By the 10th century, paper mills were
flourishing from Persia to Spain - and the industry would soon spread into Europe.
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Trade: Considering the Dar al-Islam geographically, it is important to note that the house of Islam
encompassed much of land route of the Silk Road as well as much of the Indian Ocean trading routes.
Muhammad had been a merchant and had taught the honor of that profession. So, it was only logical that, as
Islam spread, caravan traffic grew and sailors ventured out further and further from shore and carried more
and more goods to further and further places. During the growth of the Dar al-Islam, Arab mariners learned
to use the triangular or Lateen Sail, which allowed their ships called Dhows to catch the winds from side
angles and move against (or “tack”) the prevailing winds. Mariners also learned the astrolabe (for telling
latitude) from Europe and the compass or “South-pointing Needle” from China.
Economics: Thriving economies led to an increase in banking and business organizations. Banks
established credit accounts and honored letters of credit called sakks, from which we get the modern word
check. Abbasid entrepreneurs (businessmen), much like Hellenistic entrepreneurs, regularly pooled their
resources into group trading efforts, thus reducing individual risk, but allowing for potentially greater profit
making. One of the richest economic areas of the Dar al-Islam was Al-Andulas or Muslim Spain. Remember
that, when the Umayyad dynasty fell, the prince Abd al-Rahman, managed to escape to Spain and was taken
in by the Berbers and made the Emir of Cordova. In the 8th and 9th centuries, this Emirate (later changing its
name to a caliphate) witnessed a golden period during which Muslim Spain led Europe in agricultural output
and Cordova was second only to Constantinople as Europe’s largest and most prosperous city. After the
Emirate collapsed in the early eleventh century, Muslim Spain broke up into small states (or Taifa) and, as a
result, was not able to defend itself from the Christian kingdoms in the north, which slowly began the
reconquest (Reconquista) of the Iberian Peninsula.
Position of Women: In the early period of Islamic expansion, women had rights rarely accorded to women
in other lands, except perhaps the Celts. Women could inherit property, divorce husbands on their own
initiative and engage in business ventures. The Quran clearly outlawed female infanticide and gave dowries
to the bride (not her father-in-law) and portrayed women as equal to men. But, soon the Sharia began to add
male dominate changes. For example, lineage, which had been traced through the female line, now was
traced through the male line and male sexual dominance was reinforced when men were allowed up to four
wives, but women one husband.
These changes occurred as Islam expanded into areas of Southwest Asia which had male dominant
standards going back to the Babylonian Empire. The point is that Southwest Asia modified Islamic thought
and soon Islamic Law added veiling and home confinement. Thus, Muslim Society evolved to a point that
effectively canceled any gains made for women in the Quran. During the Abbasid period, the Harem (the
place in the palace where concubines and wives were guarded by eunuchs) and the Veil were the dual
symbols of this falling status of women. Like Chinese emperors but unlike Byzantine emperors, Abbasid
caliphs had many wives and concubines, and most of the latter were slaves.
Slavery was a way of life in the Dar al-Islam although Islamic law forbade the enslavement of Muslims or
Peoples of the Book (Prisoners of war were an exception). Moreover, a hereditary slavery did not arise
because most fathers were Muslims and thus their children were born free. In addition to the Abbasid court,
the growing wealth of the Abbasid elite increased demand for both male and female slaves. Like the
Classical World, slaves were prized for beauty and intelligence and slave traders made huge profits from
their raiding and selling operations often from non Muslim areas such as sub Saharan Africa or the
Mediterranean Basin. It is important to understand that most slaves were ordinary people who worked for
elite families as servants and housekeepers while others, more educated, were teachers or government
bureaucrats. Nevertheless, it is said that one 10th century Abbasid caliph had a personal army of 11,000
slave eunuchs and 4,000 slave concubines.
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Missionaries: Along with Christianity and Buddhism, Islam was (and is) one of the world’s great
missionary religions. Perhaps the most effective Islamic missionaries were the Sufis. Their evangelical
emphasis was emotional (passionate sermons and rousing singing) and mystical. Sufi thinkers stressed that
the human intellect was too weak to truly understand Allah and that more heartfelt devotion was needed.
Their appeal as missionaries lay in the fact that they did not demand converts become doctrinally pure
Muslims. Rather, they allowed converts to continue to follow their pre-Islamic religious customs side by
side with the five pillars.
Muslim Scholarship: Earliest Arabic writing dates to the eighth century BCE. The Koran is not considered
to be valid unless written in Arabic. Under the Abbasids, Islamic learning flourished in religious, legal and
philosophical venues, with special focus on medicine, the sciences and mathematics. Madrasas, or
institutions of higher education, appeared in the 10th century and became common in major Islamic cities
by the 12th century. We have already noted and it cannot be said too many times that, along with the
Byzantines and the Irish, Muslim scholars helped preserve and transmit the great literary works of the
Classical era. As a result, Muslim scholars often admired Plato and Aristotle. In the 10th and 11th centuries,
many of their philosophers actually sought to harmonize Greek and Muslim thought.
But many Muslims were horrified. They preferred an unquestioning loyalty to tradition. Their most
prominent spokesman was al-Ghazali (1058-1111), who was a Persian Sufi, mystic and theologian. He
argued that Greek philosophy and human reasoning were vain pursuits that would lead to confusion rather
than understanding. His fundamentalism taught that only through devotion to Allah and guidance from the
Quran and Sharia could humans find happiness, order and salvation.
On the other hand, many Muslim thinkers turned to Aristotle to find answers by rational thinking and logic.
The most notable figure in this movement was a Spaniard, Averroes or Ibn Rushd, (1126-1198) whose
commentaries on Aristotle not only helped to shape Islamic thought, but also European. He maintained that
the supremacy of the human intellect did not allow for any contradiction between science and revelation. He
became known in both East and West as the Shârih [the Commentator] because of his explanations of the
works of Aristotle. Many feel that his ideas lead directly to the rebirth of classical learning in the
Renaissance.
Architecture: Both the Umayyads and Abbasids were also adaptive in architecture and built beautiful
mosques and palaces. They often used the pendative style of Hagia Sophia, but perhaps the most beautiful
do not use the pendative style and are the Mosque at Cordova and the Great Mosque of Damascus.
Persian literature Persian influence is seen in literature, poetry, history and political theory; and made a
profound impact on Islam. While Arabic was the language of the Quran and the Sharia (religion,
philosophy, theology and law), Persian was the language of Abbasid Literature (poetry, history and political
reflection). Persian views of kingship, statecraft and administration influenced Islamic political thought. But
perhaps in romantic poetry is the Persian legacy best known. Omar Khyyam’s Rubaiyat is a collection of
poems of which the best known is probably
"A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness-Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"
translated by Edward Fitzgerald
Immensely popular in modern times was a collection of stories, One Thousand and One Nights, or, the
Arabian Nights, which a collection of stories compiled by an unknown author between 800 and 900. These
folk tales are taken from Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Persian, Indian and Arabian sources. The most well
known include Aladdin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.
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Mathematics: The Arabs adopted Hindi Numerals (from India), which Europeans later called Arabic
Numerals. These numerals included a symbol for zero, which made multiplication and division much easier
and bookkeeping much simpler. Using these Arabic numerals, Muslim mathematicians added to the study of
algebra, geometry and trigonometry.
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