THE FIRST GLOBAL CIVILIZATION: THE RISE AND

SPREAD OF ISLAMStearns, Chapter 11

The Pre-Islamic World Bedouin Social organization = clans Shaykhs, slave families, rivalries Constant fighting Mecca dominated by Umayyad clan Medina is disputed territory Women have status and don’t wear veils Why does Islam flourish here?

Muhammad Muhammad Khadijah 610- revelations Quran Umayyads plot against him – why? Flees Mecca to Medina Hijra – flight (622) Treaty in 628 with Quraysh

The new religion offers society… Monotheism Umma Ethical system Zakat Universal Elements…. Five pillars Ramadan Hajj

The idea of a caliphate Term combining the ideas of a leader,

successor, and deputy (of the Prophet) Abu Bakr was the first caliph; 2 years Muslim teaching maintained that there is

no distinction between the temporal and spiritual domains; social law is a basic strand in the fabric of comprehensive religious law.

Abu Bakr led many assaults; Ridda Wars

Abu’s successors Umar, Uthman, Ali Caliphate becomes an ‘institution’ Umar began conquests outside Arabia Prohibited Arabs from assuming

ownership of conquered territory Collected taxes from non-Arabs;

remained the minority (language) Did not try to convert the conquered

Uthman (644-656) Asserted the right of the caliph to protect

the economic interests of the entire umma

Publication of the definitive text of Qur’an Armies consisted of Muslim Arabs Introduce Arabic as official language Distinctive Muslim coinage; new order Accused of nepotism; appointed power

positions to family Assassinated in 656

Ali Refused to punish the soldiers that killed

Uthman Umayyads reject Ali’s claim to the throne Warfare erupts; Ali’s experience gives

him the upper hand Battle of Siffin; accepts mediation Mu’awiya (Uthman’s cousin) proclaimed

caliph in Jerusalem Ali was assassinated a year later

Sunni and Shi’a split Sunnis backed the Ummayad Shi’a were supporters of Ali Over the years differences have

compounded

Umayyad Dynasty Mu’awiya switched capital to Damascus

(Syria) Reached from Spain to central Asia

(biggest since the Romans) ‘Arab conquest state’ Muslim Arabs only taxed for charity Muslim warrior elite kept isolate Intermarriage meant a loss of taxes

Converts in the Umayyad Age

Mawali Still had to pay taxes; Received no share of

the ‘booty’ Couldn’t get good gov’t positions; Not

members but ‘clients’ Frustrated by the royal elaborate caliphal

court The hajib, or chamberlain, resisted access to

the caliph, who now received visitors seated on a throne surrounded by bodyguards

Umayyad Decline and Fall Royal harems ‘aloof’ in their pleasure gardens and

marble palaces Soldiers in Iran began to resent orders

from Damascus Marched under the banner of ‘al-Abbas’,

Muhammad’s uncle in 747 Shi’a and Mawali all help in the defeat Umayyad are slaughtered (p 253)

Abbasid Empire New capital in Iraq Gradually became more ‘Sunni’ although

Shi’a continued to support them. Why? Bureacrats, servents and slaves Wazir – chief administrator, royal

executioner Integration of new converts; mass

conversions Growth of merchant class, urban

expansion, dhows, guilds, slaves often rose to power

“Flowering of Islamic Learning”

Priceless works of Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates, Ptolemy and Euclid were saved and written in Arabic

Material was spread throughout the empire

Made the Scientific Revolution possible Read p 258 – Global Connections