Transcript The Islamic World 600-1400

The Islamic World
600-1400
The Origins of Islam
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Arabian Peninsula
◦ Urban- artisans, merchants, religious leaders
◦ Rural- Bedouin nomadic tribes; political and military
sophistication
◦ Mecca- Ka’ba, commercial center
Arabian Social and Economic
Structure
Social unit was the tribe (loyalty-protection/support)
 Trade, caravan guards
◦ North/central- warriors
◦ South- religious aristocracies
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Muhammad’s Rise as a Religious Leader
◦ Muhammad (570-632)
 Revelations from Gabriel: “oneness of Allah” and
“Judgment Day”
 (651) Qur’an
 Hadith
 Sunna, “normative example”
The Tenets of Islam
Islam “surrender to God”
 Muslim “one who submits”
 Muhammad last of prophets
◦ Not a new message
 Five Pillars of Islam:
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Islamic States and Their Expansion
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Hijra 622 (Beginning of Muslim Era)
◦ To Medina
8 year conflict between Medina and Mecca
Muhammad was a military and political strategist
◦ Unified through the “umma” not tribe
◦ Established Arab unity among Bedouin tribes through
the umma
Islam’s Spread Beyond Arabia
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Two powerful empires in 6th century Middle East
◦ Byzantine empire
◦ Sassanid empire
Muslim conquests
◦ Arabian peninsula, Egypt, N. Africa, Syria, Persia, Iberian peninsula
Reasons for the Spread of Islam
Jihad Arab military advantages and political
weakness of opponents
 Christian and Jewish perspectives
The Caliphate and the Split
Between Shi’a and Sunni Alliances
Sunni
◦ Umayyad Dynasty, Damascus (Syria), caliph court,
political, ulama
 Shia/Shi’ites
◦ Imam
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The Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258
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747 Abu Al Abbas led rebellion against Umayyad
◦ Baghdad capital- center of trade, intellectual
achievements, medicine, astrology, Greek texts
translated
◦ Significance of Arabic language in Islam
◦ Persian elite class
◦ Cosmopolitan
◦ Islamic center
◦ “Divine right”
◦ Slave soldiers (Turks)
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Administration of the Islamic Territories
◦ Adopted from Byzantine and Persian
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Caliph
Vizier
Ulama
Emirs
Native officials
Diwan
Fragmentation and Military
Challenges
Pay taxes = some autonomy
 Long distance = disobedience
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Breakaway Territories and Shi’a
Gains
755 independent state in Cordoba, Spain
 800 Tunisia, N. Africa
 820 Khurasan kingdom
 946 Shi’a Iranian overran Baghdad
 969 Shi’a “Fatimids” conquered N. Africa
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The Ascendancy of the Turk
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The Turks were victims of slave raids.
◦ Converted to not be captured
1020 and 1030s Seljuk Turks conquered Persia, Iraq, and Syria to
establish a Sunni state
950-1100 Turk expansion to Byzantines (Anatolia)
◦ Most Christians converted to Islam
The Mongol Invasions
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1206 Mongols united Mongol, Tartar, and Turkish
peoples under Chinggis (Ghengis) Khan and
conquered North China.
1219-1222 Mongols conquered Arabs from Persia
to Central Asia (Khwarazm).
1258 the last Abbasid caliph was assassinated in
Baghdad when Mongols led by Huleou took over
Persia and created the IL- KHAN
1260 Damascus
Syrians withstood Mongols in Battle of Ayn
Jalut
Muslim Society The Life of the
People
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Idea of social equality was basic Muslim
doctrine (among Muslims alone)
◦ Arabs regarded themselves as superior
The Social Hierarchy
Caliph’s household and ruling Arab Muslims
2. Converts- required to subordination to Arab tribes
3. Dhimmis (ZIH-MEEZ)- “People of the Book”
◦ Respect Islam, pay taxes
◦ Appointed to high positions
 Status dropped after Crusades and Mongol
empires
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Jews in Islam
◦ Marginalized in Christian social order, then
expelled from many European countries
◦ Marginalized in Islam, however given
commercial liberties and respect
Slavery
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Humane, moderate, no excessive work, opportunity for
manumission
◦ Not “People of the Book”
◦ Women: housekeeping, dancers, concubines
◦ Men: soldiers, construction, mines, loading docks,
mines, and eunuchs
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Islam vs. American slavery
1. Race not recognized
2. No plantation system (Zanj revolt in Persia)
3. Not hereditary
Women in Classical Islamic Society
Pre-Islam Arab tribes
◦ No problem
◦ Sold into marriage
 Mostly domestic roles; some political
exceptions
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Early Islamic view on women
◦ Quran: equals, political, economic rights
 By Abbasid dynasty
◦ Patriarchal tendency absorbed from Persia and
Byzantine
 Veiling
◦ Quran has no specific rule about veiling
 Purdah
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Marriage
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Too important for romance
Arranged at 12 years old
Raised children
Polygamy tolerated (4)
Divorce permitted
Trade and Commerce
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Favorable capitalism
◦ Looked down on agricultural labor
“…honest, truthful Muslim merchant will stand with
martyrs on the day of judgment.”
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Waterways main commercial route:
◦ Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Volga
River (Russia), Aral Sea (China), Arabian Sea,
Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Philippines
◦ Cairo, Egypt
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Textiles, glass, gold, silver, copper exchanged for
Asian spices, dyes, and medicine
Sakk
 “Bill of exchange”
 “Joint Stock Company”
 By product
Cultural Developments
The Cultural Centers of Baghdad
and Cordoba
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Examples of cosmopolitan Muslim
civilization
Literature
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“The Thousand and One Nights”
◦ “Aladdin and His Lamp”
◦ “Sinbad the Sailor”
◦ “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”
Cordoba
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One Million people, 1600 mosques, 213,000 houses,
60,000 mansions, 80,000 shops, 27 schools (400,000
volumes in library)
◦ Contrast with Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Gall in
Switzerland
Education and Intellectual Life
Valued education, especially religious learning
 Qur’an basic text
 Reading, writing, study of Qur’an
 Madrasa
 Arabic
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Teachers role Memorization
 Careers:
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Women in education
Compare/contrast Islamic schools
to Chinese and European
Islamic
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European
Chinese
Arabic, Algebra, medicine, astrology
Them Mystical Tradition of Sufism
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Reaction to materialism of Umayyad
Dynasty
◦ Fasting, meditation, prayer
◦ Absence of materialism and politics
Muslim-Christian Encounter
Most significant encounter
 Exchange:
 Positive until Crusades 1095 and Reconquista of Span
722-1492
 Trade contacts, especially Venetians
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Andalusia, Spain
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Jewish, Christian, Muslim harmonious coexistence
◦ Mozarabs◦ Eventually met with criticism and prejudice
◦ Muslim converts sentenced to death
◦ 1250 Reconquista
Beyond Andalusian Spain
Muslim attacks on Europeans in 8th and
9th centuries
 Doctrine controversies:
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