Transcript Presentation

The Middle East and Asia in the Medieval Age
UNIT THREE
OVERVIEW
1.
2.
The Classical eras in India, China and the Mediterranean
created religions, art styles and languages that endure to
this day
The post-Classical world, or the Medieval Age, is the bridge
between the Classical world and the Modern world
GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
1.
2.
3.
Arabian Peninsula dominated by
desert
o The Empty Quarter
Grasslands on the fringes of the
desert and sporadic oases in the
desert
Red Sea to the west, the Arabian
Sea and Persian Gulf to the east
POLITICS & ECONOMY
1.
Dominant regional powers –


2.
3.
4.
Byzantine Empire
Sassanian (Persian) Empire
Primary economic and
agricultural activity was
herding of livestock
o Bedouins – Arab nomads
Minimal urbanized population
o Mecca & Yathrib
Trade conducted by camel
caravans
o connections to
Mediterranean world and
India
RAIDING & TRIBALISM
1.
2.
3.
Raiding for material and cultural reasons
Tribal political structure
o shaykhs
Feuds and cycles of vengeance
o Al-hakam – “wise man”
RELIGION BEFORE ISLAM
1.
2.
3.
Polytheism and animism dominated
Arabian peninsula
 Djinn
Mecca became an important
religious crossroads
o Town founded and controlled by
the Quyrash of the Umayaad
tribe
o Location of the Ka’ba
o Allah recognized as
important deity
Some Jewish and Christian tribal
societies in Arabia
MUHAMMAD – EARLY LIFE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Born around 570 CE, orphaned at an early
age
Became a merchant based in Mecca, married
Khadijah, a wealthy widow
Around 610, he began having visions of the
angel Gabriel
Recitation of God’s word
 Qur’an
With his preaching becoming unpopular in
Mecca, he was ultimately forced to seek
refuge in Yathrib (Medina)
o The hijira, 622 CE
o Battle of the Ditch
Open conflict with the Quyrash of Mecca
o Conquered the city in 629
MUHAMMAD & HIS MESSAGE
Intensely monotheistic
1.


Opposed to polytheism and idolatry
Ethical treatment of women, poor
Submission to Allah – Islam
2.

One who submits – Muslim
Relation to monotheistic religions
3.

Judaism & Christianity’s influence
TENETS AND TEXTS IN ISLAM
1.
2.
3.
Five pillars of faith formed the bedrock of their beliefs
o confession of faith
o pray towards Mecca
o fast during Ramadan
o giving of alms
o pilgrimage to Mecca
People of the Book
Muhammad's revelation collected into the Quran (Koran)
ARABIA AND ISLAM
1.
2.
3.
United separate tribal communities into one community, the
umma
Brought more parity to individual relationships and
obligations to the poor
Islam, submission to Allah, spread quickly across most of
the Arabian peninsula by the time of Muhammad's death
LEADERSHIP CRISIS IN 632
1.
2.
3.
4.
Muhammad died unexpectedly in 632
Leadership of the umma was placed on caliphs
o Abu Bakr
Four "Rightly Guided Caliphs“
Divisions within early Islam
o questions about succession - Ali, son in law of
Muhammad, was favored by many
o Ridda Wars
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM UNDER THE
CALIPHS
1.
2.
3.
4.
Byzantine Empire to the North and West, the Persian
Empire to the North and East
Caliph Umar captured Jerusalem in 637
Invaded Persian Empire in 633, fell in 644
Invaded North Africa in 647, by the end of the century all of
North Africa was under the Caliphs' control
ACCOUNTING FOR ISLAM'S QUICK
SPREAD
1.
2.
3.
Military fatigue of the two "super powers"
o War ended in 630 with recapture of Jerusalem by the
Byzantines
Religious divisions in Christendom
o Persecution of heretics
o Coptic Christians and Nestorians
Islam's appeal to marginalized elements in society
o Lower class occupation in Zoroastrian Persia
ISLAM IN SOUTHERN EUROPE
1.
2.
3.
Tariq's invasion of Visigothic
Spain in 711
All of Spain, except for the
northwest, fell within a year
or two
Islamic forces pushed
across the Pyrenees
o Battle of Tours, 732
o Victory by Charles Martel
(Charlemagne’s GF)
CONVERSION AND TREATMENT OF OTHER
RELIGIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
Jihad and Islamic expansion
Restrictions on non-believers
o Dhimmi - "people of the book"
o jizya, or head tax
o Property and dress restrictions
Converts to Islam
o Rate of conversion is difficult to identify
Incentives by Muslims to slow or restrict conversion
o mawali - non-Arab converts to Islam
THE UMAYAAD
1.
2.
3.
4.
Uthman's murder and Ali's caliphate
Battles between Ali and the
Umayaad's
Ali assassinated and Mu'awiya of
the Umayaads proclaimed
Caliphate
The death of Ali's sons at Karbala
accelerated the factionalism in
Islam
SHI’A ISLAM
Leadership through the family of the prophet
1.

Ali, son in law of Muhammad, husband of Fatima (600-661)
Accept the Qu’ran and hadith, but not necessarily the
sunnahs
2.

Role of Imams
Alternate path of succession
3.


Hasan and Hussain ibn Ali – sons of Ali (died in 680)
The Twelfth Imam – Muhammad al-Mahdi (b. 869)
Geography
4.


10 to 20% of Muslims today
Located primarily in Iran and Iraq
UMAYAAD DECLINE AND FALL
1.
2.
3.
4.
Moved the caliphate to Damascus
Extravagant lifestyle & political corruption of Umayaads
Discontent among Arabs living in Khurosan (Northern Iran,
Afghanistan) sparked the rebellion
o Mawali – non Arab converts to Islam
o supporters of Ali (Shi'a)
Umayaads fell to the Abbasids in 750