Download 14. The Expansive Realm of Islam

Chapter 13
The Expansive Realm of Islam
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1
Muhammad and His Message




Born about 570 C.E. to merchant family in Mecca
Orphaned as a child
Marries wealthy widow ca. 595 C.E., works as
merchant
Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and
Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2
Muhammad’s Spiritual
Transformation




Visions, ca. 610 C.E.
Archangel Gabriel
Monotheism – Allah
Attracts followers in Mecca
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
3
The Quran



Record of revelations received during visions
Committed to writing ca. 650 C.E. (Muhammad
dies 632 C.E.)
Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
4
Conflict at Mecca



Muhammad’s monotheistic teachings offensive to
polytheistic pagans
Economic threat to existing religious industry
Denunciation of greed was affront to local
aristocracy
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
5
The Hijra

Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 C.E.




Year 0 in Muslim calendar
Organizes followers into communal society
(the umma)
Legal, spiritual code
Commerce, raids on Meccan caravans for sake of
umma
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
6
The “Seal of the Prophets”




Muhammad – the final prophet
Accepted the authority of Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus
Held in high esteem Hebrew scriptures and the
Christian New Testament
Muhammad had been entrusted a more complete
revelation, one that communicated Allah’s plan
for the world
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
7
Muhammad’s Return to Mecca



Attack on Mecca, 630 C.E.
Conversion of Mecca to Islam
Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques


Ka’ba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca
Approved as pilgrimage site
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
8
The Ka’ba
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
9
The Five Pillars of Islam





No god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet
Daily prayer
Fasting during Ramadan
Charity
Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
10
Muslims at Prayer
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
11
Jihad

“Struggle”



Against vice
Against ignorance of Islam
“Holy war”

Against unbelievers who threaten Islam
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
12
Islamic Law: The Sharia



Codification of Islamic law
Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools of
analysis
Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human
activity
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
13
The Caliph



No clear to successor to Muhammad identified
Abu Bakr chosen to lead as caliph
Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam
after death of Muhammad
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
14
The Expansion of Islam


Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sasanid
territories
Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
15
The Expansion of Islam, 632-733 C.E.
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
16
The Shia





Disagreements over selection of caliphs
Ali passed over for Abu Bakr
Served as caliph 656-661 C.E., then assassinated
along with most of his followers
Remaining followers organize separate party
called “Shia”
Traditionalists: Sunni
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
17
Shi’ite Pilgrims at Karbala
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
18
The Umayyad Dynasty
(661-750 C.E.)




From Meccan merchant class
Brought stability to the Islamic community
Capital: Damascus, Syria
Associated with Arab military aristocracy
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
19
Policy toward Conquered Peoples




Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes
discontent
Limited social mobility for non-Arab Muslims
Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims
Umayyad luxurious living causes further decline
in moral authority
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
20
The Abbasid Dynasty
(750-1258 C.E.)



Abu al-Abbas, Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, nonArab Muslims
Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia
Defeats Umayyad army in 750 C.E.

Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred them
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
21
Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty





Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not
exclusively Arab)
Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial
expansion
Content to administer the empire they had
inherited
Dar al-Islam
Growth through military activity of autonomous
Islamic forces
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
22
Abbasid Administration




Persian influence
Court at Baghdad
Influence of Islamic scholars
Ulama and qadis sought to develop policy based
on the Quran and sharia
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
23
Caliph Harun al-Rashid
(786-809 C.E.)



High point of Abbasid dynasty
Baghdad center of commerce
Great cultural activity
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
24
Abbasid Decline





Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid
Provincial governors assert regional independence
Dissenting sects, heretical movements
Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian
nobility
Later, Saljuq Turks influence; sultan real power
behind the throne
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
25
Economy of the Early Islamic World

Spread of food and industrial crops



Western diet adapts to wide variety
New crops adapted to different growing seasons



Trade routes from India to Spain
Agricultural sciences develop
Cotton, paper industries develop
Major cities emerge
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
26
Formation of a Hemispheric Trading
Zone


Historical precedent of Arabic trade
Dar al-Islam encompasses silk routes



Ice exported from Syria to Egypt in summer, tenth
century
Camel caravans
Maritime trade
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
27
Banking and Trade

Scale of trade causes banks to develop



Sakk (“check”)
Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar alIslam promotes trade
Joint ventures common
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
28
Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)


Muslim Berber conquerors from north Africa take
Spain, early eighth century
Allied to Umayyads, refused to recognize
Abbasid dynasty


Formed own caliphate
Tensions, but interrelationship
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
29
Changing Status of Women

Quran improves status of women



Outlawed female infanticide
Brides, not husbands, claim dowries
Yet male dominance preserved



Patrilineal descent
Polygamy permitted, polyandry forbidden
Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
30
Formation of an Islamic Cultural
Tradition

Islamic values




Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam
Establishment of madrasas
Importance of the hajj
Sufi missionaries



Asceticism, mysticism
Some tension with orthodox Islamic theologians
Wide popularity
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
31
Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)


Major Sufi thinker from Persia
Impossibility of intellectual apprehension of
Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy instead
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
32
Cultural Influences on Islam

Persia



Administration and governance
literature
India

Mathematics, science, medicine


“Hindi” numbers
Greece


Philosophy, especially Aristotle
Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-1198)
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
33