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The Formation of Islamic
Civilization 622-945 AD
Origins of Islam
• Byzantium vs. Parthians / Sasanids: Over
600 years of war by 600 AD
• Cities: Jews, Christians, and Pagans. Islam
is born in the cities.
•
Muhammad (570-632 AD)
• Grows up in Mecca in a commercial family
• Marries older woman (the widow Khadija
(d. 619 AD), but unsatisfied
• Visions of Archangel Gabriel--revelations
(qur’an)
– attacks Paganism and cruelty to orphans and
poor
– Submit to the will of Allah
– A Muslim is one who submits to God
The Seal of the Prophets
• Muhammad sees himself as the last of the
prophets
• Come to fix past revelations damaged by
their transmittors
• (Jesus was last prophet before Muhammed,
not son of God in his view)
Weak Start
• Most Townsfolk attacked him
• The Hegira: Flees to Yathrib, where he is
hired to mediate between tribes (July 622).
Formation of the Umma (Moslem
Community)
• Organizes his own band of followers.
• Yathrib becomes al-Medina, City of the
Prophet
Five Pillars of Islam
• .Shahada: The Creed: "There is no god
but God and Muhammad is God's prophet"
• .Salat: Prayer
• .Sawm: Fasting during the Month of
Ramadan
• .Zakat: Almsgiving to the Poor
• Hajj: Pilgrimage
Rising Power of Muhammed
• Non-Moslem Monotheists, “Peoples of the
Book” allowed to submit and form
subordinate communities
• Pagans to be crushed
• Recaptures Mecca
• At death, leads trans-Arabic confederation
of cities and tribes
Women in Islam
• Islam raises condition of women from
property to subordinate, but protected
• Women control marriage, dowry, and
property
• No Female Infanticide
• Men still dominate, may be polygamous
• Modesty eventually leads to veil, chador,
etc.
Four Righteous Caliphs
• Abu Bakr (632-4 AD): Consolidates Arabia
• Umar (634-44 AD) and Uthman (644-56
AD)
– Conquer Persia and much of eastern Byzantium
– The Battle of Yarmūk ( 636 AD) and Battle of
al-Qādisiyyah (c. 636)
– 651 AD: Fall of Sasanid Dynasty
Ali (656-661 AD) and Civil War
• Ali vs. Mu’awiya Umayyad (661-680 AD)
• Ali dies; his followers become Shi’ites
– Line of Imams from Ali
• Umayyad Dynasty controls most of Islam
now by hereditary right (661-750 AD)
Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 AD)
• Conquest of Iran, Northwest Africa, Spain,
Indus River
• Checked at Tours, France (732 AD) and
Constantinople (over and over)
• A combination of Religious Zeal and Good
Timing leads to success
The New Islamic Order
• Ummah transcends Arabian identity...but
how?
• Righteous Caliphs = Elected by Elders
• Umayyads = Hereditary Arab rule
• Increasing Arab vs. convert conflict
• Abbasids (750-1258 AD) lead revolt of
converts to overthrow Arab rule
Islamic Law
• The Ulama = religious scholars of Qur’an
and Hadith
• Hadith = traditions about Muhammed + a
history of each tradition by line of
transmission
• Ulama create shar’ia (divine law) by
interpreting older law, Qur’an, and Hadith
together
Moslem Factions
• The Kharijites: Extremists and Very Strict
• The Shi’a: Followers of Ali, led first by the
Imams (heirs of Ali), then by the Ulema
when the line dies out.
– Imams could offer further revelation
– Sevener vs. Twelver
– The Mahdi will come!
The Sunni
• Followers of the sunna, traditions.
• Put communal identity > precise theological
positions
– Qur’an, Hadith, and Ulama = religious
authority
– Caliph is a TEMPORAL ruler only
– Only God knows the heart; accept all who
profess there is no God but God and
Muhammed is his prophet
The High Caliphate (692-833
AD)
• The Abbasid State (750-1258 AD)
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Based in Mesopotamia (Baghdad)
Rise of Mamluks (slave soldiers)
Decline of Caliphs
Provinces gradually more independent
Islamicization of much of population
756 AD: Spain Lost
969 AD: Fatmids in Egypt
Buyids and Seljuk Turks Take Over
“Classic” Islamic Culture
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Heirs to Greek Ideas
Hindu numbers --> “Arabic Numerals”
Adab--Manners liturature
History and Biography
Geometric Art
– Arabesque
Arabesque