chapter 14 bentley - lpswp.lps.org/tlarson/files/2013/08/chapter-14.pdfcopyright © 2006 the...

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Chapter 14

The Expansive Realm of Islam


Muhammad and His Message

n  Born 570 to merchant family in Mecca n  Orphaned as a child n  Marries wealthy widow c. 595, works as merchant n  Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and

Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula


Muhammad’s Spiritual Transformation

n  Visions c. 610 CE n  Archangel Gabriel n  Monotheism n  Attracts followers to Mecca


The Quran

n  Record of revelations received during visions n  Committed to writing c. 650 CE (Muhammad dies

632) n  Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith


Conflict at Mecca

n  Muhammad’s monotheistic teachings offensive to polytheistic pagans

n  Economic threat to existing religious industry n  Denunciation of greed affront to local aristocracy


The Hijra

n  Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 CE q  Year 0 in Muslim calendar

n  Organizes followers into communal society (the umma) n  Legal, spiritual code n  Commerce, raids on Meccan caravans for sake of umma


The “Seal of the Prophets”

n  Islam as culmination and correction of Judaism, Christianity

n  Inheritor of both Jewish and Christian texts


Muhammad’s Return to Mecca

n  Attack on Mecca, 630 n  Conversion of Mecca to Islam n  Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques

q  Ka’aba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca q  Approved as pilgrimage site


The Ka’aba


The Five Pillars of Islam

n  No god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet n  Daily prayer n  Fasting during Ramadan n  Charity n  Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)


Muslims at Prayer


Jihad

n  “struggle” q  Against vice q  Against ignorance of Islam

n  “holy war”


Islamic Law: The Sharia

n  Codification of Islamic law n  Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools of

analysis n  Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human

activity


The Caliph

n  No clear to successor to Muhammad identified n  Abu Bakr chosen to lead as Caliph n  Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam

after death of Muhammad


The Expansion of Islam

n  Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sassanid territories

n  Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory


The expansion of Islam, 632-733 C.E.


The Shia

n  Disagreements over selection of caliphs n  Ali passed over for Abu Bakr n  Served as caliph 656-661 CE, then assassinated along

with most of his followers n  Remaining followers organize separate party called “Shia” q  Traditionalists: Sunni


Shi’ite Pilgrims at Karbala


The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE)

n  From Meccan merchant class n  Capital: Damascus, Syria n  Associated with Arab military aristocracy


Policy toward Conquered Peoples

n  Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes discontent

n  Limited social mobility for non-Arab Muslims n  Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims n  Umayyad luxurious living causes further decline

in moral authority


The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 CE)

n  Abu al-Abbas Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, non-Arab Muslims

n  Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia n  Defeats Umayyad army in 750

q  Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred them


Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty

n  Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively Arab)

n  Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial expansion

n  Dar al-Islam n  Growth through military activity of autonomous

Islamic forces


Abbasid Administration

n  Persian influence n  Court at Baghdad n  Influence of Islamic scholars (ulama, qadi)


Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809 CE)

n  High point of Abbasid dynasty n  Baghdad center of commerce n  Great cultural activity


Abbasid Decline

n  Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid n  Provincial governers assert regional independence n  Dissenting sects, heretical movements n  Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian nobility n  Later, Saljuq Turks influence, Sultan real power behind

the throne


Economy of the Early Islamic World

n  Spread of food and industrial crops q  Trade routes from India to Spain

n  Western diet adapts to wide variety n  New crops adapted to different growing seasons

q  Agricultural sciences develop q  Cotton, paper industries develop

n  Major cities emerge


Formation of a Hemispheric Trading Zone n  Historical precedent of Arabic trade n  Dar al-Islam encompasses silk routes

q  ice exported from Syria to Egypt in summer, 10th century

n  Camel caravans n  Maritime trade


Banking and Trade

n  Scale of trade causes banks to develop q  Sakk (“check”)

n  Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar al-Islam promotes trade

n  Joint ventures common


Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)

n  Muslim Berber conquerors from North Africa take Spain, early 8th c.

n  Allied to Umayyads, refused to recognize Abbasid dynasty q  Formed own caliphate q  Tensions, but interrelationship


Changing Status of Women

n  Quran improves status of women q  Outlawed female infanticide q  Brides, not husbands, claim dowries

n  Yet male dominance preserved q  Patrilineal descent q  Polygamy permitted, Polyandry forbidden q  Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice


Formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition

n  Islamic values q  Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam q  Establishment of madrasas q  Importance of the Hajj

n  Sufi missionaries q  Asceticism, mysticism q  Some tension with orthodox Islamic theologians q  Wide popularity


Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)

n  Major Sufi thinker from Persia n  Impossibility of intellectual apprehension of

Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy instead


Cultural influences on Islam

n  Persia q  Adminstration and governance q  literature

n  India q  Mathematics, science, medicine

n  “Hindi” numbers

n  Greece q  Philosophy, esp. Aristotle q  Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-1198)

chapter 14 bentley - lpswp.lps.org/tlarson/files/2013/08/chapter-14.pdfcopyright © 2006 the...

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