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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
EARLY ISLAM
- Rise 600 to 800s
- Nomadic to one of greatest empire in pre-industrial world
- Laid basis for truly global civilization (excluding Americas)
MUSLIM CONQUESTS
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Explode in mid 630s
Arab warriors conquests
o Conquer Syria & Fertile Crescent
o Sassanid Empire in Persia
o Byzantine Empire (640s)
o Africa – Egypt (Nile, Alexandria)
Foundations for 1st global civilization
Illiterate and ignorant of wider world
Respected & built on advanced civilizations of conquered peoples
Muslim traders
o Cooperated with other traders
o Traders & conquerors primary agents for:
 Transfer of food
 Technology
 Ideas
PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIAN WORLD
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Once prosperous trade but now desert wasteland
Unlikely place for 1st global civilization
Isolation of Arabia and poverty of environment – limited wealth
BEDOUIN CULTURE
o Nomadic culture
o Camel & goat herding
o Organized into tribes / clans
EMERGENCE OF ISLAM
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Urban roots
o Trading towns in rocky regions adj. to Red Sea
Bedouin influence
o Mecca & Medina (key towns) extension of tribes & nomads
o Kinship links to Bedouin
o Safety of trade routes depend on nomadic tribes
o Social organization, language & culture similar to nomads
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
CLANS
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Harsh environment create unique social organization
o Strong dependence / loyalty to family
o Expel from clan fatal
 Use of watering places & grazing land – regulated by clan councils
Clan
o Cohesion forced by inter-clan rivalry
o Turf wars (pastures, water)
o Violence over slight matters – continuous feuds
o Disparity of wealth & status between clan groups
o Bedouin herders in kinship clans
 Highly mobile
o Clans organized into larger tribes
 Rarely congregate except in crises or war
o Shaykhs
 Leaders of tribes & clans
 Elected by council of elder advisors
 Almost always men w/ large herds, wives, children
 Dictates enforced by warriors - family make up a clan group
TOWNS
- Bedouins in most habitable areas
- Some communities in west & south of peninsula
- North transcontinental trade system
o long distance caravan trade
- Often near oasis – sedentary farming
- Mecca
o Mountainous west of Arabia along Red Sea
o Founded by Umayyad clan of Quraysh Bedouin tribe
o Wealth & status
o Merchant elites
o Ka’ba
 Revered religious shrine in pre-Islamic Arabia
o At times of year obligatory truce from feuds – enjoy city life
- Medina (Yathrib)
o NE of Mecca
o City of prophet Muhammad
o Established in oasis
o 2 bedouin 3 Jewish clans dominate
 Quarrels critical in survival of Islamic faith
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
WOMEN
- Evidence scant
- Indications of women more freedom & higher status than other ME (Sasanid, Byzantine)
- Key economic roles
o Milk camels, weave cloth, child-rearing
- Some matrilineal – men on the move
- Some tribes allow men and women more than 1 spouse
- Bride price to brides family rather than paying dowry
- Women not secluded & didn’t wear veils (like in Syria, Persia)
- Advice highly regarded by councils
- Wrote notable Bedouin poetry
- Still unequal
o No glory as warrior (Bedouin’s most prized occupation)
o Status depend on clan not on legal code
o Property control, inheritance, divorce – favor men
o More stable city, more inequality
POETRY
- Main focus of pre-Islamic era
- Oral – no written language
- Kinsmen heroism, clan’s great deeds
- Love, war, loyalty, generosity, passion
- Poets
o Some believed to have magical powers
o Believed to be possessed by demons
BEDOUIN RELIGION
- Blend of animism & polytheism
- Religion little to do with ethics
- Morality of unwritten tribal customs
- Seriousness of adherence to religion questionable
- Quraysh clan
o Supreme god Allah (abstract)
o Most concentrate on practical spirits affecting every day life
 Hubal – moon god
 Nature sprits – caves, springs, trees
MUHAMMAD
- 500s camel nomads dominant in Arabia
- Civilization in ruins
o Mecca & Medina dependent on Bedouin alliances
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
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Byzantine & Sasanid empires assert control over nomadic tribes
More Arabs migrate to Mesopotamia – increasing foreign influence
o Exposed to Judaism & Christianity
o Arab prophets urge monotheism in response
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Muhammad (570~632)
o Banu Hashim clan (prominent) of Quraysh tribe
o Hard early life
 Father died before birth, raised by relatives
 Mother’s death
 Abu Talib – paternal uncle’s protection
 Grandfather educate Muhammad as merchant
o First caravan journey to Syria
 Exposed to Christian & Jewish faiths
 Influenced his teachings
o Trader / Traveler
 Travels make him aware of clan / tribal feuds
 Growth of town & trade widen gap between rich & poor
 Spread of monotheism – dissatisfaction w/ old gods
o Khadijah
 Widow of wealthy merchant married Muhammad
o Qur’an
 Growing dissatisfaction w/ material gain
 Increasing meditation on hills/wilderness around Mecca
 Allah transmit revelation to Muhammad through angel Gabriel
 Revelations written in Qur’an
 Basis of new religion
o Persecution
 Started small but attracted more followers
 Umayyads of Mecca feels threatened
 Muhammad flees Mecca
 wealth & power threatened
 Taught religion rivaling their own
 Medina (hijra – flight to Medina)
 Request Muhammad as good negotiator – civil war/clan feuds
 Ali – clansmen secure safe passage to Medina
 Hero’s welcome – mediated arguments successfully w/ political leadership
 Umayyads view him as more of threat
o Leadership strengthening rival town Medina
o Umayyads vs. Muhammad Battle
 Umayyads attack
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
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THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
Several battles – Muhammad victor
Treaty w Quraysh (628)
 Allow Muslim visit to Ka’ba Mecca during season of truce
Rise of Islam
 Muhammad win many Bedouin Allies
 10,000 converts accompany him to triumphal return to homeland (629)
 Prove ultimate power of single god Allah
 Smash idols of shrine
 Gradually won over Umayyads and most people of Mecca
ISLAM
- Initially only by Arab town dwellers & Bedouins
- Offered Unity
o Form of monotheism belonging to no single tribe
o Monotheism more uncompromising because no intermediary between god & individual
 No priests
 Angels & saints only as messengers
 Single source of authority & discipline
o Transcend clan & class divisions
o Distinctly Arab but equal to other faiths
o Offered end to feuds
o Umma – community of believers
 Transcend old tribal boundaries
 Political unity
- Energy from former feuds redirected - greatest conquerors of Middle East
- Promote Ethics
o Dignity of all believers as equal in eyes of Allah
o Kindness & generosity even to slaves
o Forbid exploitation
o Zakat
 Responsibility of wealthy to poor and weak
 Tax for charity
- Qur’an as Law
o Legal code established to regulate life on earth for Last Judgment
o Last Judgment determine fate of eternity
o Stern but compassionate God
o Strict but socially minded body of law attract many
- Universal Elements / Appeal to Many
o Uncompromising monotheism
o Highly developed legal codes
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
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THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
Egalitarianism
Strong sense of community
Most attributes anticipated by other Semitic religions
Accept validity of earlier divine revelations that gave rise to Judaism & Christianity
Revelations received by Muhammad a refinement of earlier ones
 Last divine instructions for human behavior & worship
Five Pillars
 1. Confession of faith simple & powerful
 2. Pray facing Mecca
 3. Fast in month of Ramadan
 4. Zakat for charity
 5. Hajj – pilgrimage to Mecca
DEATH OF MUHAMMAD
- Many Bedouins renounce Islam
- Quarrel over succession
o Muhammad name no successor or procedure
o Caliph – Religious / political leader
o Deadlock on next Caliph
 Ali (cousin / son-in-law) passed over due to age – young
 Decision major source of division
- Abu Bakr (caliph - 632~634)
o Courage, warmth, wisdom
o Versed in Bedouin genealogy
o Initially mandate limited
 No financial support from Muslim community
 Worked as merchant part-time
 Loose control of military
o Ridda Wars
 Able military commanders route Bedouin tribes & rival prophets
 Arabian tribes return to Islam
 Bakr oversee wars in N Arabia (Iraq, Syria, E Egypt)
- Community still holds together
- Umayyads take over Muslim community
- Arabia under Islamic banner (633)
- Muslim Military
o Military prowess & zeal
o Conquests
 Mesopotamia
 N Africa
 Persia
o No intent for conversion of new peoples
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
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More Arab than Muslim
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Conquest of Middle East
 Bedouin forces originally intend to raid for booty
 Initial probe reveal vulnerability of Byzantine & Persian Empires
 Encouraged by Arab migrants to Fertile Crescent for centuries
CONQUEST OF MIDDLE EAST
- Bedouin forces originally intend to raid for booty
- Initial probe reveal vulnerability of Byzantine & Persian Empires
- Encouraged by Arab migrants to Fertile Crescent for centuries
- 2 powers competing for Fertile Crescent – Persian & Byzantine Empires
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Motives
o Unity of Islam – common cause & strength
o Stand up against non-Arab rulers who conspired and considered them barbarians
o Release pent-up energy
o Promise of share of booty in expansion
o Arab warriors exempt from taxes due from non-Arabs
o Glorify new religion – but not convicted in converting
 Jihads (holy wars to spread faith) misrepresent Islam in Western view
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Persian (Sasanid) Empire Weaknesses
o Autocratic emperor
 Manipulated by aristocracy to exploit farmers (most of population)
o Zoroastrianism
 Official religion of emperor
 No popular roots
 Mazdak
 Reformer formed religion widely popular
 Brutally suppressed
 Fought w/ poorly equipped army / defection of Arabs
 Lost Fertile Crescent – retreat E
 651 last Sasanian emperor assassinated
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Byzantine Empire Weaknesses
o Stronger adversary
o Weakened by long wars w/ Persia
o Defection of Arabs
o Support of Christians in Syria & Egypt
 Copts & Nestorians (Christian sects) resent Orthodox Byzantines
 Orthodox Byzantines tax heavily & persecute as heretics
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
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THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
 Muslims would tolerate and reduce taxes
Syria, W Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Libya
Rise of Muslim naval supremacy compete w/ Byzantium
 E end of Mediterranean
 Seal provinces in Syria & Egypt
Byzantines stave off from Asia Minor & Balkans
Arab early triumph reduce power
Kingdom under siege
SUNNI / SHI’A SPLIT
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Causes
o Personal Animosity
o Division of booty between tribes
o Uthman (3rd caliph)
 Murdered by mutinous warriors returning from Egypt
 Supporters of Ali rally for him to be next caliph
 Unpopular - 1st caliph to be chosen from Muhammad’s early enemies (Umayyad)
 Ali fail to punish assassins
 Umayyads reject Ali & swear revenge
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Battle of the Camel (656)
o Ali famous warrior supported by followers – victory
o Most Arab garrisons (Syria & Mecca) shift support to his side
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Battle of Siffin (657)
o Ali on verge of defeating Umayyads
o Won over by plea for mediation
o Fatal Decision
 Supporters renounce his leadership
 Some suppressed violently
 Unsuccessful compromise
 Umayyads regroup and take Egypt
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Mu’awiya
o New leader of Umayyads
o Proclaimed caliph in Jerusalem
o Directly challenge Ali’s position
o Ali assassinated
 Son Hasan pressured to renounce caliphate
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Succession source of division
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
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THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
Sunni – Umayyads supporters
Shi’a – Ali supporters
 Husayn (Ali’s 2nd son)
 Continue struggle between Umayyad
 Clans in S Iraq abandon Husayn
 Husayn overwhelmed & killed in Karbala (680)
 This point forward, Shi’a actively resist Umayyad caliphate
o Recognize none of the early caliphs except Ali
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Other Sources of Division
o Differences in belief, ritual, law
o Formation of splinter sects in Shi’a
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After Division
o Mecca remain holy city of Islam
o Damascus in Syria become political center of Umayyads
o Umayyad caliphs strive to build bureaucracy
o Arab or Muslim aristocracy rule
 Except in Arabian peninsula and parts of Fertile Crescent
 Only Muslim Arabs first class citizens
 Make up core army
 Imperial administration
 Only to receive share of booty
 Taxed only for charity
 Umayyads keep warrior elite separate from local population
o Assimilation, intermarriage, conversion would mean less taxable subjects
o Bedouin tribes interact intensively – attempt unsuccessful
o Increasing numbers voluntarily convert to Islam
o Mawali (converts)
 Still paid commercial & property taxes
 Jizya – head tax on nonbelievers
 No share of booty
 Virtually impossible to gain important positions in military / bureaucracy
 Not considered full members of umma
 Accepted only as clients of powerful Arab clans
o Number of conversion during Umayyad period low
o Dhimmi (people of the book – Bible)
 Christians & Jews
 Other conquered
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
WOMEN
- Broad social changes and growing Islamic community change position of
- First centuries of Arab expansion, position of women strengthen
- Muhammad’s Teachings & Dictates
o Qur’an stress moral and ethical dimensions of marriage
 His kindness to wives and daughters
 Strengthen bond between husband & wife & nuclear family
 Encourage marriage over sexual liasons
 Denounced adultery for husband and wife
 Men allowed to marry up to 4 wives
 Forbade multiple marriages if husband cannot afford or treat wives equally
 Women cannot take more than 1 husband
o Forbade female infanticide (widely practiced pre-Islam)
o Gave his daughters choice in marriage
o Legal rights in inheritance & divorce
o Equality of men & women before god
o Earliest bravest followers were women – 1st martyr woman
o Hadiths (traditions of the prophet – law & ritual) recorded by women
o Qur’an compiled by wives and daughters
o Women didn’t lead prayer but active in politics
o Free occupations – law, commerce, scholarship etc
o Not veiled or secluded
MUSLIM CONQUESTS (Late 600s to Early 700s)
- Central Asia – rivaling Buddhism
- North Africa - cross Gibraltar to conquer Spain
- W Europe
o Blocked by Charles Martel and the Franks at Poitiers (732)
o Arabs didn’t fully retreat beyond Pyrenees into Spain
- Warriors & sailors dominate much of Mediterranean
o Solidified by conquest of key islands – Crete, Sicily, Sardinia
UMAYYAD DECLINE
- Harems manifest caliphs addiction to luxury and soft living
- Abandonment of frugal life outrage Muslims and spark revolts
- Legitimacy questioned since seizure of caliphate
- Further alienate Muslim faithful by retreating from dirty business of war
- Fatal Uprising
o Began by frontier warriors in Iran (oasis town Merv in E Iran)
o Intermarry and adapt to region – resent dictates of governors from Damascus
o Didn’t get share of booty won by their conquests
o Contemptuous of Damascus elite – corrupt and decadent
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
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THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
740 place officials try to introduce new troops into Merv area – touched off revolt
Abbasid Ascent
o Trace descent to Muhammad’s uncle al-Abbas
o Abu-Al-Abas
 Great-grand-son of prophet’s uncle
 Victory after victory
 Shi’a important ally – rejected Umayyad caliphate
 Mawali (non-Arab converts) also ally – never recognized as full Muslim
 Battle of the River Zab (750)
 Abbasid victory near Tigris
o Slaughtered all Umayyads at reconciliation banquet
 Tracked down remaining family members
 Most slain
 Grandson of former caliph found caliphate of Cordoba in Spain
ABBASID EMPIRE
- Islam becomes universal religion (N Africa / Euro-Asia)
- Baghdad – new capital
o Near ancient Persian capital
o Luxurious and extravagant, harems, marble, gold-encrusted thrones etc.
- Rejection of Allies
o While Shi’as & mawalis gave support needed – rejected once leveled Umayyads
o Shi’as viewed as heretics – reinforce Sunni dominance
o Brutally suppressed allies and establish absolutist imperial empire
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Empire’s Bureaucracy
o Lived near circular walls of Baghdad
o Wazier (chief administrator)
 Head of caliph’s inner councils
 Growing power
 Royal executioner
 Oversee empire’s administration
 Demands for tribute in distant provinces
 Poor communication, collusion between officials & local notables
 Royal commands less effective
 More than century Abbassid regime effective
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Full Integration of Mawalis
o Last decades of Umayyads – full acceptance of mawalis
 Efforts to converts, esp. Arabs outside peninsula
o Dividing booty amongst believers long discarded
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
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THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
 Mass conversions
 Berbers of N Africa to Persian, Turkic peoples of C Asia
Treated as equals
Won over by peaceful means
Exempt from head tax
Greater opportunities in administration, trade, judges, schools
 Persians take great advantage – lead imperial system
ABBASID ECONOMY
- Growth in wealth & power in status of merchant and landlord classes
- Time of great urban expansion
o Afro-Eurasian trading network (once declined at fall of Han & Rome)
o Abbasid and Song/Tang empires revive commercial system
o Increase in handicraft production
 Artisans poorly paid but not slaves
 Most skilled artisans form guild-like organizations w/ merchants
- Dhows
o Sailing vessels w/ triangular sails – later influence Euro ship design
o Merchant ships
o Joint ventures w/ Christians & Jews
 Each different Sabbath – do business all week
o Provided
 Provisions for cities
 Long distance trade of luxury goods for elites
 Great profits reinvested in commerce, purchase of land, mansions of empire
 Charity
 Construction of mosques, religious schools, bath & rest houses for travelers
 Hospitals – surpassed those in its time
- Slaves
o Unskilled labor
o Prominent families – domestic servants
o Serve caliphs or highest advisors
o Some able to buy freedom or rise to great power
o Drudge laborers - Rural estates & government projects – mostly hard labor
 Non-Muslims captured in slaving raids in E Africa
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Ayan
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Wealthy landed elite emerge during early Abbasid
Most long established
Some Arab soldiers investing booty
Some merchants or administrators
Most peasants didn’t own land
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Post-CLASSICAL
500 BCE ~ 1450 CE
THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION:
Rise and Spread of Islam
ABBASID ISLAMIC LEARNING
- Artistic expression focused on mosques & palaces
- Advances in legal, religious, philosophical discourse
- Learning focus on math & science
- Recover & preserve learning of ancient civilizations
o Beyond Plato, most Greek learning lost to W Europe
o Muslim & Jewish scholars recopy & disperse Greek writing
 Medicine, anatomy
 Algebra, geometry
 Astronomy
 Ethics
 Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates, Ptolemy, Euclid
o Muslim invaders of S Asia learn Indian system of numbers - disperse
o Indian (Arabic) numeric system critical to Scientific Revolution
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