Download Page | 1 The Rise of Islam Religion emerged from the Arabian

Page |1
The Rise of Islam












Religion emerged from the Arabian Peninsula
o Mostly desert
o Home to many Arab Tribes
 Most were Nomadic herders called Bedouins
 Competition for water and grazing led to a lot of warfare between tribes
o Bedouins traded with settled Arab tribes in Oasis Towns and protected caravan trading
routes
Muhammad was born in Mecca
o Mecca was a market town at crossroad of caravan routes
Mecca was also a pilgrimage center
o People came to worship god at Kaaba, an ancient Pagan temple
o Pilgrimages made merchants wealthy
Mecca was a safe place to do business
o Weapons had to be laid down at the side of the temple
The trade and deserts shape Muhammad’s life
o He was first a shepherd
o Then he was a caravan leader
o Became a caravan business owner when he married a rich widow
Muhammad was Troubled of the moral issues of the Meccans
o Greed
During meditation he had a vision
o He saw the angel of Gabriel
 He said that he should be the messenger of god
 Muhammad couldn’t believe it
o His wife talked him into listening to the angel
Muhammad devoted his life to spreading Islam
People listen to his teachings
o Muhammad rejected Traditional gods
 This angered the Meccans
 The lack of faith would lead to less trade by the pilgrimages
o Muhammad left
Muhammad went on a journey called Hijra, to Yathrub
o This Hijra was a turning point of Islam
 Yathrub was later named Medina or City of the prophets
People in medina follow his teachings
o They became a community of Muslims called the Umma
 No more family rivalries
o Muhammad united Muslims and brought peace
Meccan leaders became really hostile towards Muslims
Page |2
o

Muslims attacked them
 Meccans prepared for war
Muhammad conquers Mecca
o Destroys idols in Kaaba
 Designates it to be an Islamic place of worship
 Now dedicated to Allah
Teachings of Islam





Islam is Monotheistic
o The Quran is the sacred text of Muslims
 God is all powerful and compassionate
 People are responsible for their actions
 No Priests
 All the prophets in Christianity and Judaism existed but Muhammad was the
greatest, best, and final
Quran reveals word of God
o Final authority
o Provides a guide to life
o Emphasizes honesty, generosity and justice
o Harsh penalties for murder and stealing
 This obviously only applies to other Muslims since we see that none of these
people hesitate when they want to blow anyone else up in a plane or a bus!!!!
o God will have a final Judgment day
Quran was never changed from the language of Arabic
o All Muslims were required to know the language
 This forced unity
There are 5 pillars of Islam
o Declare faith
o Pray 5 times daily
 they gathered In mosques and faced Mecca
 Muezzin was an official that called the time of the prayers
o Give charity
o Fast during Ramadan
 Muhammad received his first revelations from god
o Make a pilgrimage or hajj to Mecca
Everyone in prayer wore the same attire
o Showed that everyone is equal in the face of god
o Abandoning everything for god
 this was an idea called Jihad, struggle in God’s service
 overcoming immorality
 maybe even starting holy wars
Page |3



o holy wars were only declared by community
Muslims Jews and Christians worships same god
o Islam is the final revelation of god
 Jews and Christians were treated with respect over pagan religions
Muslim scholars develop law called Sharia which interpreted the Quran
o Behavior of Muhammad and traditions
o Like Judaism, it applies religious principles to legal situations
The treatment of women changed with Islam
o Before the position of women varied between tribes
 Some active in trade and politics
 Most had limited rights in communities
 Some unwanted daughters killed at birth
 No property
 Obeyed male guardians
o When Islam came around
 The rights of women were extended
 Islam stressed the equality of all people
 No killing babies
 Inheritance permitted
 Rejecting marriage
 Received religious education
 With a lot of conquering going on Muslims adopted the customs of other
 The treatment of women did rely on the class or region
Despite efforts to make women seem equal in the Muslim community, women were still mostly treated
like property.
Building a Muslim Empire


When Muhammad died there was a problem
o Who would be his successor?
 Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father in law, was looked upon as the first caliph,
successor of Muhammad
o Some Arab tribes were only Muslim because they like Muhammad
 Refused to follow Islam with Abu
 With a few battles, the issue was solved and unity was restored for the
Muslims
o People thought of Muhammad as a god
 Abu fixed this with the logic the whole point of Muhammad’s teaching was that
he was only a prophet to the one god, Allah
When reunited they went on Military Campaigns
o All the Arab tribes were now Islam
Page |4
 No more warfare
 Total unity under one leader
 Under first 4 caliphs Muslims expanded through 2 empires
o They defeated Persia entirely
o They conquered most of the Byzantine Empire
 Entered into Egypt
 Syria- Damascus
 Palestine- Jerusalem
 After Muhammad died the Islamic Religion split
o Sunni
o Shiite
 Shiite thought the leader of the community would be Muhammad’s son in law. Ali
o They are name the followers of Ali
o Descendants of Ali are Imams and divinely picked religious leaders
 Had power to interpret Quran and Muhammad’s teachings
o Shiite today split up into many different subgroups
 Another said any good Muslim can lead the community
o They fought over who was considered a good Muslim
 This group divided more and more
 Sunni was a compromise group established
o Leader was a virtuous male Muslims, from the tribe of Muhammad
 Successor was called a caliph
 Political leader of religious community
 No prophetical or divine function
o Most Muslims are in the Sunni side of Islam
Even though the Sunni and the Shiites had their differences they both believed in the holy text of the
Quran and Allah.
 Another groups was the Sufis
o They were Muslim Mystics
 Got closer to Ala through meditation
 The divide between the Sunnis and the Shiite is still around
o They differ in practice, law, and daily life
 Meccan clan set up the Umayyad Caliphate
o Dynasty of Sunni caliphs that ruled for 750 yrs
 Their capital was in Damascus
 They conquered a lot for the Muslims
 This enabled Islam to spread an exorbitant amount
 Foundation of the entire diverse Muslim civilization that came later
 Arab Muslim Armies moved west from Egypt through the byzantine
o Later they conquered Spain
o Expanded into France but lost the battle of tours
Page |5





 They never expanded further into Europe
o They weren’t able to penetrate the walls of Constantinople
Why were the Muslims so successful in expansion
o Weakness and rivalry between the byzantine and Persian empire
 The wars between each other exhausted them
o Arabs were considered liberators from the harsh rule
o Arabs had bold and efficient fighting methods
 Camel and horse cavalry were aggressive mobile offenses
o Everyone had a common faith
 Every Arab tribe was united
 Belief and faith spurred them to victory
o Empire united under expansion
 Orderly form of administration was made by caliphs
 Arabic was now the new language
 New coin minted
Many other religions were brought under Muslim rule
o Taxes were put on non- Muslims
 Early leaders didn’t try to convert these religions because their taxes supported
them
 Jews and Christians had key role in society
o Leaders outlawed looting and conquering
o Arabs had to stay always from the native population because they feared influence from
other nations
 This created an upper class for Arabs
o Non- Muslims eventually convert
 Some gained power
 Other just liked the idea of equality and saw that Muslims were triumphant and
had god on their side
The Umayyad faced problem with expansion
o Arabs had to adapt to cities
o Caliphs ruled like powerful tribal leaders
o Umayyad relied on local officials
o Non- Arabs were never treated the same as Arabs
 Unrest grew between non- Arab converts and Arabs
Umayyad was too wealthy
o Economic tension between wealthy Arabs and the common people increased
o Resources used to support the caliph luxurious lifestyle
 People got fed up with the Damascus church
th
By the 8 century people turned away from the early caliphs
Page |6
The Muslims Find a New Leader








Found a descendant of Muhammad’s uncle
o Abu al-Abbas
o Captured Damascus and killed everyone but one of the Umayyad family
The Abbasid dynasty emerged
o Based on creating an empire of equality
 They halted military conquests and put end to Arab military class
o Muslim empire reached its greatest wealth under Abbasids
o They became a diverse region
 No more discrimination against Non- Arab Muslims
 This encouraged conversion
o Learning was encouraged
o Bureaucracy was created
o Capital was moved from Damascus to Baghdad
 This was Persian territory
 Allowed Persians to get higher offices
 Arab culture was influence by them
o Vizier was the highest official and was an old Persian tradition
 The religion of Islam and the language of Arabic was still the main
religion
Baghdad exceeded Constantinople in size and wealth
o Town was filled with beautiful mosques and palaces
 Many domes and Minarets, towers of the mosques, were seen overhead
Surviving member of the Umayyad Caliphate went to Spain
o Established independent Muslim state
 More tolerant than Christians at the time
 Much diverse learning from Christians and Jews in Cordoba
o Architects built unbelievable cities like the Alhambra, fortified palace
The Abbasids never ruled Spain
o Abbasid control fragmented eventually
Caliph and sunni power declined
Shiite rulers gained power
There were invasions that lead to chaos
o Seljuk Turks into the middle East from Central Asia
 They adopted Islam and built a large empire across fertile crescent
 They ruled over Baghdad and kept the Abbasid ruler as a figure head
 They threatened the Byzantines
o The first crusade was caused after the conquering of Jerusalem
o Genghis Kahn lead Mongols across Central Asia
 His grandson, Hulagu, looted Baghdad and killed the final Abbasid Caliph
Page |7

Mongols adopted Islam
o Tamerlane, mongol leader, spread across non- muslim and
muslim land in SW Asia
 Later conquered Russia and India
Muslims Civilization’s golden age








Caliph al Maman had a dream about Aristotle
o Caused him to act and gather the works of Aristotle and translate them into Arabic
Arab, Persian, Egyptian, African, and European cultures were united under Muslims
o Muslims absorbed and many of the traditions within these cultures
Merchants had high status
o Muhammad was a merchant
They built vast trading networks
o Camel caravans crossed into west Africa
o Jews Christians, and Muslims traded with china on Silk Road
 Vital link between east Asia and Europe
o Monsoon winds bring traders from east Africa to India and SE Asia
Trade spread ideas
o Muslims share Indian number system with the world
 Arabic Numerals
o Sugar from India and Papermaking methods from china were brought
 Introduced Muslims to the new regions
o Islam started to spread exuberantly
 This common language and religion helped the economy
Muslims start new businesses with the new burst of the economy
o System of accounting with branch banks in major cities
 The check system
 enabled one with a check in Baghdad able to cash it in Cairo
o Allowed things to be bought and sold with credit
o Open banks to change currency
o Started partnerships
The manufactured goods were made by guilds
o Most work done by wage workers
 Muslims created fine goods
 Persian carpets, Cotton textile from Egypt, Iron sword from Damascus,
leather goods from Cordoba
Agriculture flourished over wide variety of climates
o Both the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasty helped agriculture
 Cities that didn’t have water
 Abbasid drained swamplands between Tigris and Euphrates and set up
irrigation projects
Page |8



o Farmers were also growing sugar canes, cotton, and medicinal herbs
Traders and Nomads got along economically
o Traders get grains
o Farmers get meat
o Pastoral groups gave pack animals to caravan traders
Muslims lived in a certain degree of Social Mobility
o One can move up in class through certain achievements
Slavery was common in Muslim lands
o Muslims encourage the freeing of slaves as an act of charity
 Plus Muslims couldn’t enslave other Muslims
 When one converts they don’t necessarily become free
o Some slaves were household servants and others were artisans
o Slaves could buy their freedom from donations
o Children born from enslaved mother and free father was free
o Turkish Slave soldiers were only loyal to the caliph
 Since they were educated some rose to power
Muslim Art








Muslim art reflected the various cultures under Muslims rule
Religion shaped the Muslim art
o No portraits of g-d gives Muslim art a distinct style
Arab tribes always had the traditions of oral poetry
o They chanted many things
 Especially about chivalry and the romantic nomadic life
Firdawsi a Persian poet wrote a book called the book of kings
o This book tell the history of Persia
Omar Khayyam was a very well known poet
o Wrote the Rubaiyat
 Collection of four lines stanzas that talking about fate and the fleeting nature of
life
Arabs prized art of Story telling
o Arabs gathered and adapted stories from many diverse cultures
 Best known collection was the “the thousand and one nights”
There were many dome mosques and minarets in the Muslim cities
o Many of these building were adapted from byzantine architecture
 The dome of the rock in Jerusalem is decorated with unique patterns and
calligraphy or the art of beautiful writing
Muhammad had respect for higher learning
o
Both boys and girls learned
Page |9
o








Education was needed for the Quran
 Higher learning was religious and Islamic law schools
Baghdad was the greatest Muslim center of learning
o Libraries attracted scholars
There were other centers of learning where advances in all fields were made
o Preserved learning of earlier civilizations by translating everything into Arab texts
Muslims translated Greek Buddha and Hindu Philosophers
o Tried to align Greek reason to the Muslim divine revelation
 Ibn Rushd put everything but the Quran to the test
 He translated the teachings of Aristotle to Latin
o This influence the Christian scholastics in Western Europe
Another Arab thinker was Ibn Khaldun
o Most events were caused by economic or social structure
o Common sources of error come from biased exaggerations
 No one should use something as a definite source without investigation
Al Khwarizmi was a great Muslim Mathematician
o Pioneered study of algebra
o Created a standard of all math text books in Europe
There were many advance in the field of Medicine made by muslims
o People had to take a test to practice Medicine
o Hospitals were set up to quickly treat injuries
o Doctors traveled to rural areas when people couldn’t get to a hospital
o Some surgeons developed ways to treat cataracts
 For centuries people used this method
o Developed better tasting medicines
Muhammad Al Razi was a great physician
o Pioneered study o measles and smallpox
o Introduced idea of treating the mind as well as the body
Ibn Sina was a Persian physician
o He wrote the canon on medicine
 Collection of what the Arabs, he himself, and the Greeks knew about treating a
patient

India’s Muslim Empire



Around 1000 Muslim Turks pushed their way into India
o They were fierce warriors
Sultan Mahmud looted much of the north
o Never settled there
Later the Sultan, Muslim ruler of Ghur, defeated all the Hindu armies and conquered he north
o His capital was Delhi
P a g e | 10










Newcomers created a civilization in Delhi
Successors started a sultanate, land ruled by sultan, up north’
 Sultanate marked the beginning of Muslim rule in northern India
The Muslims were vicarious for a few reasons
o They had mounted archers
o The Hindu armies had slow moving elephants
o Hindu were also not united and spent most resource fighting each other
Many people from the lower end of the caste system converted to Islam
Muslims brought changes to India government and society
o Arabs, Turks, and Persian moved to Indi to be soldiers or officials
Trade increased between India and Muslim lands
o People also came from Muslim cities and brought back Greek learning
The Tamerlane’s invaded India and conquered Delhi
o The capital was now at Samarkand
o Sultans no longer controlled the empire
 India broke off into Muslim and Hindu Rival States
Muslim rule in India didn’t make it easy for other religions
o There were onslaughts in which people converted just to save their lives
o Buddhist monasteries were totally destroyed
 Prevented the Buddhist religion from being a major religion in India
Hindu and Muslim religions differ greatly
o Hindu
 Many sacred texts
 Prayer b4 statues representing gods
 Many gods
 Hindu is an ancient religion
 Caste systems
 Celebrated religious occasions with dance
o Islam
 One text
 One god
 Said the Hindu gods were false
 No religious rankings
 Celebration through song and dance was rejected in Islam
Eventually the Sultans tolerated Hindu
o Some people even argued that behind the thousands Hindu god there is only one
 Hindu was accepted as monotheism
o Hindus were able to practice with the cost of a tax
 Sometimes the rulers of the Hindus or rajahs were left in place
o People even converted to Islam
 Higher castes were part of the Muslim government
P a g e | 11


 The lower castes convert because they didn’t like the caste system
 The strong trade networks with Muslim lands was a big attraction to merchants
Muslims did adopt some Hindu ideas
o Marriage customs
o Caste ideas
o Urdu was a blend of the Persian, Arabic, and Hindu languages
Indian man, Nanak, started a religion that blends both Muslim and Hindu ideas together
o Unity of god
o Rejection of the caste
o Belief in reincarnation
o Futility of Idol worship
Mughal India

Turks and Mongols came through the mountains passes into India
o They were lead by Babur a descendant of Genghis Kahn and Tamerlane
 Babur was a military genius
 Babur defeated the Huge army of the Sultan Ibrahim with the help of cannons
o Munhall Dynasty was created
 Stretched from the Himalayans to the Deccan plateau
 Akbar, Babur’s grandson, established a central government and was known as Akbar the great
o Won the support of Hindu’s with tolerance
 Opened jobs top Hindus of all castes
 High caste members were looked upon as co rulers in the vast empire
 Asoka was a great leader overall
o Asoka Promoted religious harmony through tolerance
o Asoka used paid officials instead of hereditary officers
o Modernized army
o Promoted international trade
o Standardized weight and measures
o Introduced land reforms
 Akbars son was a weaker ruler than his father
o Left most details into the hands of his wife, Nur Jahan
 She was a very able leader and shrewd politician
 Most unbelievable moment of Mughal Architecture came at the reign of Shah Jahan
o Wife died after giving birth to 14 kids
 A magnificent tomb was built for her
 This tomb took 20 years to build and was called the Taj Mahal
o Shah wanted to make another Taj Mahal like building for himself but his son seized his
power and kept him in prison until death
The Ottomans and Safavid Empire
 Ottomans and Safavids ruled in the Middle east and Eastern Europe
P a g e | 12









o They owed their victories to new weapon innovations
 Canons
 Muskets
o They were able to make central gov’t with these new technologies
 Thus, the age of the reign of the 2 empires was called the “age of the gun
powder empires”
Ottomans were Turkish speaking group from central Asia
o Spread across Asia Minor and into the Balkan Peninsula
Ottomans always threatened the already crumbling Byzantine empire
o After several failed attempts, Mehmet II penetrated the walls of Constantinople
 Became the new capital of the Ottoman Empire
 Renamed Istanbul
The Ottoman Golden Age was under the reign of Suleiman
o Called the “Lawgiver”
o Great General
 Conquered new land
 Extended rule further into the middle East
 Extended deeper into the west side with warfare and diplomacy
o Ottoman Empire stretched from Hungary to Arabia and Mesopotamia
o Suleiman felt justified to claim he was the caliph of all muslims
 He also gave himself the title “the protector of the Sacred Places”
Suleiman was a capable leader
o Had absolute power
 Still was helped by grand vizier and assembly
 Huge bureaucracy supervised business of government and powerful military
o Law was based on Sharia
 Supplemented by royal edicts
 Gov’t officials and religious scholars worked closely to interpret the laws
Big Social Class System
o First were soldiers who protected the gov’t officials
o Scientists, lawyers, judges, and poets were also the highest status
o Next were merchants, tax collectors, and artisans
 Carried out trade and negotiation
o Finally were the farmers and herders
This empire ruled over diverse people
o Higher classes were almost all Muslims
People were organized into religious communities or Millets
o This included Jew, Christians, Muslims,
o Millets had leader who ran education and legal matters
Jews brought International Banking connections from Spain after expulsion
Ottomans take the conquered people as Soldiers
P a g e | 13
o Levied taxes on Balkan Chrisitians
 Required sons for gov’t service
 They were converted to Islam and put into training camp
o Best soldiers won a place in the elite Ottoman forces, Janizaries
 Scholars were educated for gov’t jobs
 Some non- muslims girls were slaves in Muslims households
o After the master’s death they would sometime be freed
 After the death of Suleiman, the empire started to decline
o He already killed 2 sons because of suspected treason
 His heir left most of the power to the minister and the bureaucracy became
corrupt
The Safavid Empire
 United empire in Persia
o Sandwiched between Ottomans and Mughals
 Often engaged in warfare
 Religion was a problem
o Safavids were Shiites
o Ottomans were Sunnis
 The king was called the Shah
o Best was Abbas
 Revived glory of Persia
 Centralized government
 Modeled military after the Ottomans
 Strengthened economy
 Reduced taxes
 Promoted growth of industry
 Abbas now tolerated non- Muslims
 Capital was at Isfahan
 Center of silk trade
o This drew Armenians
 Settlements were built for them
 Death of Abbas and Ottoman force ended the Safavid Empire
o Scholars stressed authority by stating their authority to interpret laws
 Didn’t have religious tolerance
 Sunni’s rebelled
o These rebels won and killed out the last of the Safavids
 They then started the Qajars Dynasty
o Capital was Tehran
 Legacy of the Safavids
o Profoundly influenced Shiism on Iranian culture