Transcript Middle East 600-1450

Middle East 600-1450
Unit 3 Section 2
Origins of Islam
• Islam, the youngest of the monotheistic religions, began on
the Arabian Peninsula
• Founder/ Prophet – Muhammad was born in the trading town
of Mecca in 570
– Mecca was important in pre-Islamic history not only as an
economic center but also as a holy site
• Pilgrims went to Mecca to visit the Ka’ba, a shrine believed to have build
by the patriarch Abraham
• Muhammad was raised as an orphan by his uncle, chief of his
clan, and grew up to be a successful trading merchant
• About 610, Muhammad began to meditate and had visions in
which he came to believe that God-Allah, was revealing
himself (through the angel Gabriel)
• Sharing his revelations, he began to gather a following that
embraced his belief that there is only on true god, who was
responsible for all of creation, and that people must submit to
the authority of God (Islam=submission, Muslim=one who
submits to Allah)
Five Pillars of Faith:
• Faith
•
“shahadah”
‘there is no
god but
Allah, and
Mohammad
is his
messenger’
– this must
be stated
and
repeated 5
times by
followers
Prayer
•
“salah” –
Required to
pray 5 times
daily –
dawn,
midday,
afternoon,
evening and
night.
Hands, face
and feet
must be
washed
before
prayer.
Tithing
•
“zakah” –
must pay a
percentage
of annual
income to
the mosque
which is
used for
aiding the
poor and
the sick
Fasting
•
“sawn” –
during the
month of
Ramadan,
believers
are to
refrain from
eating,
drinking,
smoking
and sexual
activities
from dawn
to sunset
Pilgrimage
“hajj” –
Believers
are required
to go to
Mecca at
least once
in their life
if they are
able
Basic Beliefs and Practices
• Modesty is expected for the dress of both men and
women (though this is up for interpretation)
– Men often have a beard and wear a skull cap
– Women often dress in loose attire and may cover hair
(hijab) in more strict environments they are mandated
to cover more.
Mosques
• Houses of worship
• Calls to prayer are made
from the minaret or
minarets of the building
• Separate entrances for
men and women
• Women have special
rules in the mosque as
well as a separate area
for observation. They
are also not to enter the
Mosque while
menstruating.
• People are to remove
shoes before entrance or
before walking on
carpeted areas
Life and Death of Muhammad
• The tribal leaders in Mecca came to fear that Muhammad’s
belief in one god threatened their power and security as well
the polytheistic traditions of their communities
• Muhammad was therefore forced to flee to Medina in 622, a
journey that is known as the Hijra, meaning the migration or
flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina
– This date marks the beginning of the Islamic faith and thus the
Muslim calendar
• It was in Medina that the Islamic community, or Umma,
solidified and ultimately was able to win over Mecca in 630.
• After completing a pilgrimage to the Ka’ba, a tradition that
lives on as the hajj, Muhammad returned to Medina to
manage both the political and religious affairs of this
reinvigorated city-state, until his death 2 years later, in 632
The Schism of Islam
• Muhammad’s death immediately raised the question of who
would be Muhammad’s successor, or caliph, which provoked the
first major split in the Islamic Umma.
• This split ultimately divided Muslims into 2 major sects, the
Sunnis and the Shi’ites
– Shi’ite Muslims believe that succession should be traced through the
bloodline of Muhammad
• Therefore Muhammad’s cousin Ali should have been the caliph and only Ali’s
descendents should be imams or religious leaders of the Muslim community
as a whole
• To Shi’ites, the caliph is more of a secular leader
– Sunni Muslims, believing that the caliph is to be chosen by the
community, regard the 1st three caliphs who succeeded Muhammad as
properly selected
• Sunnis see the caliph as a secular and religious leader
• Therefore the caliph is an imam as well
• While the concept of the caliphate was a unifying factor, in
reality the caliphate was quite fragmented by the late 9th Century
The Origins of the Qur’an
• One of the first tasks of Abu Bakr, the 1st caliph, was to
collect and organize Muhammad’s revelations into a book
– Qur’an
– Muslims, like Jews and Christians, are considered the people
of the book
– Unlike the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Qur’an is
believed by Muslims to be the literal words of God as given to
Muhammad – not a collection of writings by many authors
over a long period of time
– The Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, is written in Arabic & is to
be read in Arabic
• As the Muslim world grew to non-Arabic-speaking
regions, the need to read the Qur’an in Arabic
encouraged the growth of schools to teach the language
& to interpret the Qur’an
Texts
• Qur’an (also spelled Koran)
– Is the revealed word of god (Allah) to
Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
– Is organized in Suras (like long poems
or sonnets) that are all in Arabic, it has
a musical quality and is meant to be
recited
• Hadith
– Teachings, sayings, and life of the
prophet Muhammad
• Shariah
– Known as the Islamic Law, it is a code
of conduct for proper Islamic behavior
Umayyad Caliphate
• As the dominant sect, Sunni Muslims
established the Umayyad caliphate in 661, with
its capital in Damascus, Syria
• The peoples living under the control of the
Umayyad caliph were predominately Arab
• By 732 Arab Muslims had conquered Syria,
Palestine and North Africa
– They gained control of a part of southern Spain –
referred to as al Andalus – in the early 8th Century
• Under Muslim rule Spanish cities like Seville and
Cordoba flourished as centers of government,
where Muslims, Christians and Jews created a
unique culture known for its literature, art,
architecture, & agricultural accomplishments
Abbasid Caliphate
• After a period of increasing conflict, the Abbasid
caliphate was established in 750 and ruled until
1258 from its capital in Baghdad
– Effective rule over such a large empire proved
challenging for the Abbasids, particularly in terms of
holding territory
– The empire also became more diverse as more nonArabs converted to Islam
• Baghdad, the capital, became a thriving center
for learning, culture, and technological
advancements despite the political and
territorial fragmentation of the 9th Century and,
later, the Crusades.
– Islam continued to spread despite territorial loss
Retention & Expansion of Knowledge
• Scholars from all over Eurasia came to Baghdad to learn
about Islam and exchange information
• Thanks to the transmission of papermaking from China,
literature and books were much more available in the
Middle East than in Europe
– Unlike Christianity at this time, in particular the Catholic Church,
Islam looked to many different sources for knowledge.
– Much of the great knowledge of antiquity, including the Greek
classics, which would prove so important for the European
Renaissance, as well as works from Persia & India, had been
copied into Arabic, allowing the ideas to be shred across the
Muslim world
– Many of the works from the Hellenistic past helped Muslims to
excel in science and technology. Astronomical observations,
medicinal studies, and mathematics from the Greek past were
reexamined, and Muslim scholars build on these studies
New Converts
• Cities like Baghdad and Cordoba were essential
for the Muslim empire, both as ways of
spreading the faith and as governing centers.
• New converts, many of whom were not Arab,
could count on the cities as places to learn the
language and traditions of their new faith free of
discrimination.
• The mosque, the Muslim house of worship,
became a central architectural landmark that
newcomers of the faith could recognize because
of its distinctive features
Ulama
• One social group that rose in cities was the
ulama, an Arabic word for people with religious
knowledge.
• As the Muslim empire grew in cultural diversity
under the Abbasid caliphate, the ulama sought
to preserve central teachings and tenets of the
faith
– Example: (originating with the Iranians) the madrasa
or the religious college
– Example: (originating with the Iranians) Sufi
brotherhoods – mystic religious groups
Cities and the Silk Road
• Cities were essential as places of trade
– Since the time of the Umayyad caliphate, a coinage
system allowed for both local and long-distance
trade that linked the more isolated portions of the
Islamic empire and encouraged the burgeoning
textile industry as well as other crafts
• The Islamic world stood at the western end of
the Silk Road, the most important overland
trade route of the period 600-1450
– The Islamic faith spread through Muslim merchants
who traveled along the Silk Road, allowing the region
to spread from Spain to China
Coinage
Women in Islam
• Women in the Islamic world had greater legal
freedoms than Jewish or Christian women
– Although seclusion of women and veiling practices
that are believed by many to have originated with
Islam, they actually date to Byzantine and Sassanid
times and later came to be a part of the Islamic
tradition
• Although Muslim women were not considered
the equals of men, which also true in the
Byzantine Empire and Western Europe, they were
influential in family life, could own and inherit
property, divorce, remarry and testify in court
Turks
• By the middle of the 9 century several provinces had
th
broken away and established their own caliphates, such as
the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt
– Another example was the Samanid caliphate, an Iranian dynasty
that brought many Persian influences to the art and literature of
the Islamic world.
• Because of territorial fragmentation, the Abbasid leaders
came to rely on the mamluks, Turkish slaves from central
Asia with exceptional skill in warfare
– They became a powerful military presence in the Middle East
during Islamic rule, & by the 11th Century, Turkish groups had
significantly diminished the territory & political power of the
Abbasid caliphate
• Example: in the early 11th Century the Seljuk Turks created a Turkish
Muslim state that controlled territory from Baghdad up through Syria and
into Anatolia & Byzantine areas.
– Christians viewed the Seljuk Turks as a tremendous threat, &
they set out to take the Holy Land back from Turkish Muslims
Crusades
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=weMhSSYoRi4 –
Crusades Video (music)
• The Crusades were a series of battles initiated
by one monotheistic faith, Christianity, against
another monotheistic faith, Islam.
– By the 11th Century, Muslim leaders were in control
of many cities that were considered sacred by
Christians, among them Jerusalem, Antioch, and
Alexandria.
– Christians had been allowed to make pilgrimage to
these places, but as Muslims continued to eat away
at the Byzantine Empire and conquer more territory
deemed precious to Christendom, a campaign
against the Muslims began to form in both western
Europe and the Byzantine Empire
Jerusalem & Saladin
• Jerusalem, a city of particular significance to
Christians, Muslims, and Jews, was in the hands of
the Seljuk Turks, who at the time of the 1st Crusade
were going through a period of internal dispute
– Even though Christian crusaders had wrested Jerusalem
from the Seljuk Turks in 1099, Islamic military forces
under the dynamic leader Saladin were able to take
back the city in 1187
• The Islamic world in the Middle East continued to
thrive despite the Crusaders’ unsuccessful attempt
to take land permanently, and the Crusades had
very little long-term effects on Muslim territory
Impact of the Crusades
• The greatest impact of the Crusades was therefore not on the Muslims
themselves.
• Instead, European life, which was far less sophisticated than Muslims’,
was dramatically improved
– The incredible amount of information, ideas, goods, and resources that the
Crusaders were exposed to in their encounter with the Muslim world was
remarkable
• Over time, the Crusaders brought back paper and sugar, and they learned how to
make many of the goods they previously could only import
• The establishment of trading ports in Italian cities like Venice & Genoa helped to
open Europe to the diverse Muslim world of the Middle East.
• Demand for goods from the Middle East stimulated the markets of late medieval
Europe and also encouraged trade between the Muslim world, western Europe & the
Byzantine Empire
• Muslims also made enormous intellectual contributions to Europe in 2
ways:
1.
2.
Their Arabic translations of works by ancient Greek scientists &
philosophers such as Aristotle allowed for the restoration of ideas that
had long been buries during the Middle Ages.
Arabs & Iranians, building on the work of the ancient philosophers, had
added their own insights to give rise to new and innovative ideas
Mongols
• Migrating from the central Asian steppes as nomadic group,
the Mongols were able to do what Europeans had failed to in
the Crusades:
– They shattered what had once been the heart of the Muslim
Empire
• The weakened & fragmented Abbasid Caliphate was
destroyed when Baghdad was sacked in 1258
• This event appalled the Islamic world, which did not expect a
catastrophe of this magnitude.
• Rather than destroy all that Islam had contributed to the
world, however, the Mongols became ardent patrons of
Islamic culture, including art, literature, and architecture.
– Many of the Mongol leaders known as khans, eventually converted
to Islam and came to appreciate the urban infrastructure of the
Islamic world.
• Still, tensions between the Mongols & Muslims continued
much of it because of differences in cultural practices
Il-Khan
• The Mongols set up 4 khanates in Eurasia
– The Il-khan Empire in the Middle East was established in
1256 by the grandson of Genghis
• Mongol nobles were placed in positions of power
– Borrowing from an earlier Middle Eastern economic
practice, the Mongols used tax farming – giving out private
contracts to merchants to collect taxes by whatever means
served them best
– To foster the collection of as much money as possible, these
merchants were allowed to keep any money above what
was due to the government
• Although this method was initially successful, tax farming coupled
with an experiment using paper money from China eventually
brought about an economic depression that outlived the Il-khan
Empire
Silk Road & Scholars
• The Islamic world had served as a major conduit for
ideas & goods in its position at the western end of
the Silk Road, and that continued under Mongol
rule
– Fine products from the East such as silk and porcelain
flowed into the Middle east and from there to Europe
– Scholars, merchants, and missionaries traveled to the
courts of the Mongols and recorded what they saw
there
– In addition, scholars such as Rashid al-Din were
patronized by the Il-Khans and wrote histories
describing the greatness of the world controlled by the
Mongols as well histories of such faraway places as
China & Europe
Math, Science & the Plague
• The Mongols were also fascinated by the scientific &
mathematical innovations of the Muslim world.
– Algebra & trigonometry, as well as astronomical work
that would one day be used by Europeans such as
Copernicus, were all preserved & supplemented under
both the Il-khans and their successors, the Timurids
– This knowledge spread across the world of the Mongols
& Turks and eventually through translation reached
Europe
• In addition, trade also brought disease, specifically
the bubonic plague, which made its way through the
Middle East and into Europe during Mongol rule
– Far more than any attack or conquest, the plague would
be the Mongols’ most devastating impact
Shifting Empires
• By the 14th Century, the Middle East was in the control
of Turkish sultans & the Mongol khans
• The Seljuk Turks still had a small kingdom that stood
between the Byzantine Empire and the Mongols
• The Mamluk Sultanate controlled Egypt & had
successfully resisted a Mongol takeover to become a
major player in shifting alliances with various khans to
keep both Il-khan power at bay and the Crusaders
from gaining any ground
• Il-Khan Empire, which controlled territory from Syria
to the Indus River, gave way to the Timurid Empire
when the Central Asian Turkic leader Timur rose to
take much of the Middle East before his death in 1405
Decline of Timurid/Rise of Ottoman
• The Timurid Empire was short-lived
– The Ottoman Empire would be the next great Turkish
presence in the Middle East
– Like the Seljuk Turks and the mamluks, the Ottomans
were exceptionally skilled in warfare and conquest
– As Mongol power began to decline, the Ottomans
tightened their political organization and began their
political ascent, establishing Turkic principalities in
western Anatolia
– Despite a defeat by Timur in 1402, the Ottoman sultans
would take over the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and
create a Muslim empire that would endure until the
20th Century.