Transcript The Islamic State and the Rise of Sectarianism

The Islamic State and the Rise of
Sectarianism
How Muslim History is
Written?
Stories about the Prophet are
transmitted, sometimes orally,
sometimes in rough written form, until
they are set down in books that
survive until today.
The stories about the life of the Prophet
come from Ibn Ishaq’s Sira
(biography), but they represent lots of
different stories told about the Prophet
and then gathered together by Ibn
Ishaq.
A Possible Hadith….
The Isnad
The report
W reported from X,
who reported from Y,
who heard from Z,
who heard the Prophet say:
“Don’t put your feet on the table!”
The Authority of the Prophet in
Medina
Religious: absolute authority
• Muhammad defines Islam – ‘No god but God,
Muhammad is the Prophet of God
– He defines Islam doctrinally and legally
– His person symbolizes the faith: slander= treason
Political: authority… but absolute?
• Muhammad is God’s only legitimate
representative
• Decisions are arrived at through council, but
Muhammad decides.
• Instances of Quran agreeing with Umar
Who Inherits the Prophet’s
Religious Authority?
1. The community does?… since the
Prophet said (example of a
hadith) that “My community will
never agree on an error.” 
Sunni Answer
2. The most pious?  Kharijite
answer.
3. The family of the Prophet? 
The Shiite answer
Who Inherits the Prophet’s
Political Authority?
1. The community does… whomever the
community accepts is acceptable  Sunni
Answer… pragmatic, unity, injustice is
better than chaos.
2. The most pious?  Kharijite answer…
great idea, but has auto-immune problem.
- Ibadis: modern Kharijites in Oman, Algeria
3. The family of the Prophet?  The Shiite
answer… repeated failures, then what?
Early Shiism and a Call for
the Just Rule of Islam
Umayyad Dynasty (r. 660-750): the old
Meccan elite return in Muslim clothes!
Rebellions led by pious Muslims (Ibn alZubayr and the 2nd Civil War) and then
by descendents of Muhammad: Husayn
(d. 680), Zayd b. Ali (d. 740),
Muhammad ‘The Pure Soul’ (d. 762)
The ‘Abbasid Revolution (750CE):
“return to the Sunna of the Prophet…
rule by the family of the Prophet.”
Reality: Sassanid Empire
Strikes Back
• Caliph as ‘Shadow of God’ on earth
– New imperial city of Baghdad, “The City
of Peace”, built near old Sassanid capital
of Ctesiphon… a round city with caliph’s
palace at center.
– Apocalyptic and Pious Caliphal Names:
• Al-Mahdi: the Messianic rightly-guided etc.
• Circle of Justice: ruler maintains
justice above all, Near Eastern political
advice literature translated into Arabic
The Sunni Compromise
• Caliph must be from Quraysh and able:
not necessarily the best, the most
pious, or selected by community
• The Caliph’s chief objective is to
maintain order and allow the scholars
(ulama) to apply Islamic legal system
(Shariah)
• Injustice is better than anarchy;
legitimizing order is better than
demanding confusion