Download Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam

Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Muhammad and His Message
• Muhammad - Born about 570 C.E. to merchant family in Mecca
• Orphaned as a child
• Marries wealthy widow, Khadija ca. 595 C.E., works as merchant
• Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Muhammad’s Spiritual Transformation
• Visions, ca. 610 C.E.
• Received message delivered by Archangel Gabriel, and told he must explain it to other people
• Monotheism – Allah
• Attracts followers in Mecca
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Quran
• Record of revelations received during visions - called the Quran
• it communicates Muhammad’s understanding of Allah and his relation to the world
• is the authority for Islam doctrine and social organization
• Committed to writing ca. 650 C.E. (Muhammad dies 632 C.E.)
• His followers wrote down his stories and deeds - these traditions are known as hadith
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Conflict at Mecca
• Muhammad’s monotheistic teachings offensive to Mecca’s polytheistic pagans and the elite
• Merchants were offended when Muhammad said greed was wicked and Allah would punish
them
• Muhammad also attacked idolatry – upset people who owned shrines – especially the Ka’ba
• the Ka’ba drew worshipers from all over to Mecca
• Muhammad’s attacks threatened economic interests
• Muhammad and followers began to be persecuted
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Hegira
• Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 C.E.
• This journey was known as the hijra (migration)
• Year 0 in Muslim calendar
• Organizes followers into a community of the faithful (the umma)
• Gave them a legal, spiritual code
• Raided Meccan caravans for sake of umma
• Regularly gave alms to widows, orphans, and the poor
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The “Seal of the Prophets”
• Muhammad referred to himself as the final prophet – “seal of the prophets”
• Accepted the authority of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus
• Held in high esteem Hebrew scriptures and the Christian New Testament
• He believed Allah was the same as Yahweh and God
• But…he believed he had been entrusted w/ a more complete revelation, one that
communicated Allah’s plan for the world
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Muhammad’s Return to Mecca
• Attack on Mecca, 630 C.E. – conquered the city
• 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
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Five Pillars of Islam
• Five Pillars of Islam
• No god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet
• Daily prayer
• Fasting during Ramadan
• Charity / alms
• Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Jihad
• Jihad -“Struggle”
 Against vice
 Against ignorance of Islam
•“Holy war”
 Against unbelievers who threaten Islam
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Islamic Law: The Sharia
• Sharia – Islamic holy law – guidance in proper behavior on almost every aspect of life
• Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools of analysis
• Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human activity
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Caliphs
• No clear successor to Muhammad identified
• Abu Bakr chosen to lead as caliph (deputy)
• Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam after death of Muhammad
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Expansion of Islam
• Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sasanid territories
• Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory
• faced uprisings by overtaxed peasants and oppressed ethnic and religious minorities
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Map: Realm of Islam
• b/w 633-637 – took Syria, Palestine and most of Mesopotamia
• 640’s – took Egypt and most of North Africa
• 651 – took Sasanid dynasty and Persia
• 711 – Hindu kingdom of Sind
• 711-718 – western North Africa into most of Iberia and threatened Gaul
• Hard to rule over lands so vast
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
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
END
Islam: Empire of Faith Pt. I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX3UHNhQ1Zk
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 C.E.)
• Umayyad Dynasty - established by very prominent Meccan merchant class
• Brought stability to the Islamic community
• Capital: Damascus, Syria --- highly centralized rule
• Associated with Arab military aristocracy
• Military were appointed as governors / administrators of conquered lands
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Policy toward Conquered People
• 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
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 C.E.)
• Rebellion in Persia brought Umayyad to end
• Leader was Abu al-Abbas,
• Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, non-Arab Muslims
• Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia
• Defeats Umayyad army in 750 C.E.
• Invited Umayyad to banquet to “reconcile”, then massacred them
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
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 (“House of Islam”) term used by Muslim scholars to refer to those countries where
Muslims can practice their religion freely
• Growth through military activity of autonomous Islamic forces
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Abbasid Administration
• Persian influence influenced how they governed
• Court at Baghdad
• Influence of Islamic scholars (Ulama & Quadis)
• Ulama “people with religious knowledge”
• Qadis “judges”
• Sought to develop policy based on the Quran and sharia law
• Set moral standards for communities and resolved disputes
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Caliph Harun-al-Rashid (786-809 C.E.)
• High point of Abbasid dynasty
• Baghdad center of commerce
• Baghdad - center of banking, commerce, crafts, industry
• Great cultural activity
• supported writers, artists
• gave money to the poor and commoners by tossing money in the streets
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Abbasid Decline
• Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid
• Provincial governors assert regional independence
• Dissenting sects, secede from the state
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Abbasid Decline
• Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian nobility
• Later, Saljuq Turks influence; sultan real power behind the throne
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Economy of the Early Islamic World
• Spread of food and industrial crops
• cotton for a textile industry, paper
• indigo and henna to color fabrics
• Trade routes from India to Spain
• New crops adapted to different growing seasons
• Agricultural sciences develop
• irrigation, crop rotation, etc.
• Major cities emerge
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Formation of Hemispheric Trading Zone
• Historical precedent of Arabic trade
• Dar al-Islam (areas where Muslims are in the majority) encompasses silk routes
• Camel caravans
 became more common when saddle was created
 Ice exported from mountains of Syria to Egypt in summer, 10th century
 inns along the way, plus food, water, and care for animals
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Formation of Hemispheric Trading Zone
• Maritime trade - Innovations in nautical tech increased trade on sea
 used compass invented by Chinese
 used lateen sail from SE Asia and Indian mariners
 from Hellenistic Mediterranean they used the astrolabe
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Banking and Trade
• Scale of trade causes banks to develop
• had multiple branches that honored letters of credit known as Sakk (“check”)
• Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar al-Islam promotes trade
• Joint ventures common
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)
• Muslim Berber conquerors from north Africa take Spain, early 8th century
• built the beautiful capital of Cordoba
• Allied to Umayyads, refused to recognize Abbasid dynasty
• Formed own caliphate
• Tensions, but participated in trade with larger Islamic world
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Changing Status of Women
• Patriarchal society existed long before Muhammad
• Quran improves status of women
• Outlawed female infanticide
• Brides, not husbands, claim dowries
• Yet male dominance preserved
• Patrilineal descent
• Polygamy permitted (limited to 4 wives), polyandry forbidden
• Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
The Formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition
• Islamic values
• Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam
• Establishment of madrasas: higher institutions of learning
• Importance of the hajj
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition
• Mystics known as Sufis were educated in Islamic law and theology – but concerned
themselves with deepening their spiritual awareness
• Sufi missionaries
• Asceticism, mysticism
• Some tension with orthodox Islamic theologians
• Wide popularity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKEItegftb8&feature=related
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)
• Major Sufi thinker from Persia
• Impossibility of intellectual apprehension of Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy instead
Chapter 13: The Expansive Realm of Islam
Cultural Influences on Islam
• Persia
• Administration and governance
• literature
• India
• Mathematics, science, medicine
• “Hindi” numbers
• Greece
• Philosophy, especially Aristotle
• Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-1198)
Books on Medicine, Physics, Astronomy & Psychology
END
Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa
1. What practice shocked him as being very different from Muslims elsewhere?
2. Name 3 things that impressed him as being “admirable qualities.”
3. Name 3 things he stated were “bad qualities.”
Islam: Empire of Faith Pt. I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX3UHNhQ1Zk
Crashcourse: Islam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpcbfxtdoI8