Transcript Part 2: Islamic Conquests and Integration into the Near East

Islamic Conquests
and
Integration into the
Near East
The Conquerors Arrive
• 628 CE Persian governor of Yemen converts to
Islam
• 636 Syria conquered
• 642 Iran fully subdued
• 650 Merv in central Asia captured
• 711 Sind and Andalusia invaded
• 751 Muslims meet the armies of the Tang
Chinese at Talas in Central Asia
• 758-Muslims raid Canton and become regular
residents in Chinese ports
• 846 Muslims sack Rome
map
What Drove the Conquests?
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Ecological Thesis?
Nationalist Thesis?
Accidental Thesis?
Faith and Money:
– Radical new faith united Arab tribes and
inflamed spirits… ‘jihad’ in God’s path in the
‘Days of God.’
– Spoils of War: ‘Umar establishes the diwan, a
list that divides the spoils of conquest up
among the armies according to seniority in
conversion
– Question of Centralization: centralized on a
strategic but not tactical level
Why were the Islamic
Conquests so Successful?
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602-628 Byzantine-Sassanian War:
exhaustion
6th Century had seen population decline and
scarcity of resources in the NE in general
Religious tension: 632 forced conversion of
Jews
Highly stratified society of Near East vs.
egalitarian Islam?
Islam as layman’s version of Nestorian
Christianity? What about Monophysites and
Zoroastrians?
Belief and a Will to Power
Islam and Taxes: the Religion of the
Conquerors
• Muslim Isolation:
– Misr/Amsar: garrison cities
– Laws for non-Muslims: religious freedom, separate
dress, no weapons
• Non-Muslims & Taxes:
– The jizya (poll tax) is ‘compensation’ for religious
freedom… but no charity tax!
– In the 690's the Syrian Nestorian John of Phenek
writes about Arab occupation: all they want is taxes,
no interest in religion of masses
• Result: Conversion is Slow
– In Iraq in 800 CE, only 18% Muslim
– Majority of Egypt is not Muslim until the 11th century
Conversion to Islam
• Mawali: the ‘clients’
– Under the Umayyads they are not given
full rights as Muslims until about 720 CE
• Do people really know what ‘Islam’ is?
– No Qu’ran teachers in Naysabur until the
3rd or 4th generation
– 728 CE: order given to head of taxation in
Samarqand that jizya exemption to be
given only to Muslims who are circumcised
(ie. as opposed to those who had converted
and not done this)
Where Does Islam Fit?
• Jerusalem: center of prophecy,
destination of Muhammad’s ‘Night
Journey’ and first Muslim direction of
prayer
• The Dome of the Rock: built by Abd alMalik in 692 on the Temple Mount
– Abrogates Judaism
– Rejects Christianity
Leadership and Authority
• Succession to Muhammad: religious and/or political
authority?
• Caliph: ‘khalifat Allah’ or ‘khalifat Rasul Allah’ – Vicegerent of God
or Successor to the Prophet
• Ridda Wars: is Islam over with Muhammad?
• The Partisans of ‘Ali
• First Civil War 656-660
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‘Aisha and Co. (defeated at Battle of the Camel by Ali in 656)
Mu’awiya and the Umayyads
Ali and his partisans (face-off with Ali at Siffin in 657)
The Kharijites: the first radicals (defeated by Ali, assassinate him)
• Second Civil War 680-692
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The Umayyads under Yazid and the Marwanid House
Zubayrids (led by the Companion Abdallah b. al-Zubayr d. 692)
Kharijites:
The Radical Shiites: the Kaysaniyya and the notion of an infallible
ruler