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Chapter 6 – Emergence of
the Islamic World
• Beduins – nomadic herders who used camels to
cross the desert in search of seasonal
pasturelands and oasis towns
– Became backbone of the armies that conquered and
expand the empire in the 600s and 700s
– Trade in oasis towns with other Arabs
– Mecca – market town at crossroads of two main
caravan routes
• Pilgrimage center – Arabs prayed to the Kaaba, the ancient
shrine Muslims believe Abraham built, Kaaba also housed
statues of local gods and goddesses
Muhammad
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Born in Mecca ~570
Shepherd for the Bedouins
Caravanned across the desert, successful merchant
Married Khadija around 25
Visions at 40
– “Recite in the name of your God, the Creator, who created man
from clots of blood”
• Khadija encourages him, converts to Islam (which is
Arabic for “submission”)
• Muhammad devotes life to spreading Islam
– Give up false gods and submit to Allah (Arabic word for God)
• People rejected Muhammad’s ideas
– People worried about their business and the pilgrim trade
• Afraid of being murdered, he left Mecca and traveled to Yathrib in
622
– Yathrib became Medina, meaning “city of the prophet”
– 622 = turning point for Islam – becomes the first year on the Muslim
calendar
• Medina welcomed him and many converted
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Muhammad seen as a ruler and lawgiver
Thousands of Arabs convert and adopt Islam
Medina Muslims attack Meccan caravans and defeat them
Muhammad returned in triumph to Mecca in 630 and destroyed all the
idols in the Kaaba
– Works to unite the Arabs under Islam for next 2 years
– Dies at 632
• Muhammad used Jewish and Christian beliefs
– added stronger emphasis on acceptance of Allah
– And a set of rules for religious and personal behavior
– If followed these would assure people of their chief goal
(salvation in heaven)
• Each individual will stand before God on the final
judgment day to face either eternal punishment in hell or
eternal bliss in paradise
• Muslims do not recognize official priests who mediate
between the people and God
• Quran or Koran – sacred word of God as revealed to
Muhammad
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Final authority on all matters
Teaches about God
Provides guide to life
Emphasize honesty, generosity, and social justice
Harsh penalties for crimes like stealing and murder
Converts to Islam learn Arabic because they believe its original
form is the direct unchangeable word of God
– **shared language unites and binds Muslims
• Islam had no religious hierarchy or class of
priests
• Emphasize equality of all believers,
regardless of race, sex, class, or wealth
Views of Others
• Islam is God’s final and complete
revelation
• Jews and Christians are people of the
book – spiritually superior to polytheistic
idol worshipers
• People of the Book enjoyed religious
freedom in early Muslim societies
Sharia
• Immense body of law interpreting the Quran and
applying its teachings to daily life
• Islamic system of law designed to regulate moral
conduct, family life, business practices,
government, and other aspects of a Muslim
community
• Does not separate religious matters from
criminal or civil law, but applies the Quran to all
legal situations
• Sharia also helped unite those who converted to
Islam
Caliph -- Theocracy
• Muslim ruler – directed religious and political
affairs simultaneously
• When Muhammad dies, a meeting is called to
determine Muhammad’s successor
– Ali – main candidate, cousin and son-in-law of
Muhammad
• Passed over because he’s too young to assume such
responsibility and power
– Abu Bakr – caliph 632-634
• One of Muhammad’s earliest followers and closest friends
• Well versed in genealogy of bedouin tribes
Abu Bakr
• Didn’t receive any financial backing from
Muslim community
• Worked part time as a merchant while
fulfilling his duties
Forces to be Reckoned With
• Bedouin camel and horse cavalry band together
and mount aggressive mobile offensives that
overwhelm more traditional armies
• Islam created common ground and unified many
of the tribes into a unified state
• Belief in Islam gave soldiers a feeling of certainty
that they would reach paradise if they fell in a
battle that carried the Arabs to victory
• Attacked Syria and Palestine, including Damascus and
Jerusalem
• Rapidly demolished Persian Empire
– Many people in Mesopotamia welcomed reprieve from the
Persian empire
– Zoroastrians allowed to practice their faith but asked to pay a
non-Muslim tax (same went to Christians and Jews)
• Swept across North Africa
– Headed on up across Gibralter into Spain and ran for France
– Battle of Tours – 732 -- Charles Martel gathers Germanic tribes
and defeats the Muslim charge
• Halts Muslims advance into Western Europe
• Germanic forces believe God meant for the Christians to prevail
The Split
• Divisions arise concerning rules of succession
for the caliph
• Sunni – caliph should be chosen by leaders of
the Muslim community
– Should be a pious Muslim
– Caliph should be a leader, not a religious authority
– Inspiration came from Muhammad’s example
• Shiite – only true successors to the Prophet
were descendants of Muhammad
– Descendants of prophet were divinely inspired
– Turn to Muhammad’s daughter and son-in-law Fatima
and Ali
• Today
– 90% of world is Sunni
– Shiites are mainly in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and
Yemen
• Shiite branch has split into several factions
Sufi
• Muslim mystics – seek communion with
Allah through meditation, fasting, and
other rituals
• Piety and miraculous powers
• Spread Islam through missionary work
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Ali is appointed caliph but is assassinated in 661, his son is killed soon
therafter
Sunnis and Shiites battle for who will lead
Umayyad family sets up a dynasty that rules the Islamic world until 750
– Damascus = capital
– Atlantic to the Indus Valley
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Abbassids – take over after inviting Umayyad family to a banquet and killing
all of them
– Dominate until 1258
– End Arab dominance
• Mawali (non-Arab Muslims) become more equal
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Help make Islam a more universal religion
Move capital to Baghdad
Great urban expansion
Revival of Afro-Eurasian trading network
• Trade with Tang and Song in China
• Dhows – sailing vessels with lateen sails
Islam
• Plays a HUGE role in creating new, more intense
international contacts
• Trade of luxury products intensifies
– Silk, spices, porcelain, etc
• China, India, the Middle East, and the Byzantine
Emperor, Europe and Africa
• Examples of how trade influenced everyone
– Arabs adopted the Indian numbering system
• Europeans copied it from the Arabs (so the concept of 0 and 1-10
gets out)
– Compass travels from China to the Middle East
• Europe gets it from the Middle East
• Same with China’s invention of paper