Transcript Dar al-Islam

Dar al-Islam
The Spread of Islam to South and
Southeast Asia
THE COMING OF ISLAM
TO SOUTH ASIA
 Show the stages of Islamic incursion into India
a) What factors contributed to Islam’s
spread in South Asia?
b) To what extent were Muslims
successful in converting Indians
to Islam?
C) How did contacts between Hindu
society and Islam affect each
civilization?
THE COMING OF ISLAM
TO SOUTHEAST ASIA
 Show the stages of Islamic incursion into
Southeast Asia
a) What factors contributed to Islam’s
spread in Southeast Asia?
b) To what extent were Muslims
successful in converting the population
to Islam?
C) What was the role of Sufi mystics in
Southeast Asia?
The Abbasid Dynasty (750
– 1258 CE)
 Abu al-Abbas Sunni Arab, allied with
Shias and non-Arab Muslims
 Seizes control of Persia and
Mesopotamia
 Defeats Umayyad army in 750
Invited Umayyads to banquet, then
massacred them
Nature of the Abbasid
Dynasty
 Diverse nature of administration (not
exclusively Arab)
 More cosmopolitan than the Umayyads
 Militarily competent, but not bent on
imperial expansion
 Dar al-Islam
 Growth through military activity of
autonomous Islamic forces
Abbasid Administration
 Persian influence (Arabs lose dominant
influence especially in government
affairs)
 Court at Baghdad
 Influence of Islamic scholars
Caliph Harun al-Rashid
(786-809 CE)
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High point of Abbasid dynasty
Baghdad center of commerce
Great cultural activity
Urban prosperity helped
artisans, artists, merchants
Cultural Achievements
 Arts – extravagant mosques and palaces;
well-planned cities; calligraphy,
arabesques
 Literature – Arabian Nights
 Sciences – translations of Greek works;
Canon of Medicine, pharmacy
 Mathematics – algebra, introduction of
“Arabic (Indian) numerals
Treatment of women
 Declining position of women
 Contact with strong patriarchal cultures =
Persia and Byzantine Empire
 The harem
 The veil
Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)
 Muslim Berber
conquerors from
North Africa take
Spain, early 8th
century
 Allied to Umayyads,
refused to recognize
Abbasid dynasty
Formed own caliphate
Tensions, but interrelationship
Formation of an Islamic
Tradition
 Islamic values
Uniformity of Islamic law
Importance of the Hajj
Establishment of madrasas
Nomadic Invasions and
Abbasid Decline
 Disputes over succession rights
 Peasant rebellions
 Abbasid caliphs became mere
figureheads
 Final collapse = Mongol invaders sack
Baghdad in 1258
Sufi missionaries
 Asceticism, mysticism
 Helped spread Islam
 Some tension with orthodox Islamic
theologians
 Wide popularity
 Al – Ghazali – Sufi
thinker from Persia
Cultural Influences on
Islam
 Persia
Administration and governance
Literature
 India
Mathematics, science, medicine
 Greece
- philosophy
India after the Fall of The
Gupta Dynasty
 Invasion of White Huns – 451 CE
 Gupta State collapsed mid-6th c.
 Chaos in northern India
Local power struggles
Invasion of Turkish nomads
Introduction of Islam to
India
 Islam reached India by several routes
By military – Arab forces entered as early as the
mid-seventh century
Muslim merchants took their faith to coastal
regions
The migrations and invasions of Turkish-speaking
peoples from Central Asia
Introduction of Islam to
Northern India
 Arabs conquer Sind – 711
 Mixed population, but held by Abbasid
dynasty to 1258
Merchants and Islam
 Arabic trade with India predates Islam
 Dominated trade between India and the
west to 15th century
 Established local communities
Mahmud of Ghazni
 Raids in India, 1001-1027
 Plunders, destroys Hindu and Buddhist
temples
Often builds mosques atop ruins
The Sultanate of Delhi
 Consolidation of Mahmud’s raiding
territory
 Capital: Delhi
 Ruled northern India 1206-1526
 Weak administrative structure
Conversion to Islam
 25 million converts by 1500
 Possibilities of social advancement for
lower Hindus
Rarely achieved: whole castes or jatis convert,
social status remains consistent
The Bhakti Movement
 Attempt to bring
Hinduism and Islam
closer together
 12th c. southern
Hindu movement,
spread to north
 Taught that Shiva,
Vishnu, Allah all
manifestations of one
Diety
Early States of Southeast
Asia
 Funan
Lower Mekong River
 Kingdom of Srivijaya
Centered in Sumatra
 Kingdom of Angkor
Cambodia
Islam in Southeast Asia
 Early populations of
Muslim traders
 Increasing popularity
with Sufi activity
 Many convert, retain
some Hindu or
Buddhist Tradition