Transcript Period 3 - Rise of Islam - CH 9

The Worlds of Islam
Chapter 9
How Islam became the dominating
religion of the 3rd Wave Era
Food for Thought:
• Islam in the 21st Century = read the quote
from Malcolm X – what does he reveal in his
pilgrimage to Mecca? What world events
have occurred in the 20th and 21st century that
has painting a negative image of Islam
amongst Americans?
Growth of Islam from 600 – 1600:
• expansive – encompass Africa, Europe, the
Middle East, and Asia. Chinese culture and
Buddhism – anchor in East Asia, Christianity in
Europe, Islam in the Afro-Eurasian world
The Birth of a New Religion
• The Rise of Religions compared to one another =
Confucianism and Daoism established from
China, Hinduism and Buddhism established from
India, Greek philosophy in the Mediterranean
region, Zoroastrianism from Persia.
• Christianity and Islam emerged from the
margins, from small regions. Christianity in
remote part of Roman empire, Islam along cities
and deserts of the Arabian peninsula
The Homeland of Islam
i. Geography of the Arabian Peninsula =
• Arabian Peninsula – nomadic Bedouins
• Highlands of Yemen and Interior mountain –
sedentary village-based agriculture
• Northern and Southern regions – small
kingdoms
• Location to important trade routes - connect
Indian Ocean to Mediterranean – rise to cities
ii. Bedouins
= nomads in central of Arabian Peninsula.
Herded sheep and cattle in seasonal
migrations. Fierce, independent, fueds,
variety of gods, ancestors, spirits
iii. Mecca
• = Kaaba = Quraysh = Mecca was the site of the
Kaaba – the most religious shrine in Arabia,
destination for many pilgrims. Mecca’s dominant
tribe – Quraysh – controlled access to the Kaaba –
taxed the local trade that accompanied the
pilgrimage season. Mecca became home to
people of all wealth – outlaws, exiles, foreign
merchants, but power was in hands of the few
ruling Quraysh
•
Proximity to the Byzantine Empire and
the Sassanid Empire =
• Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians lived
amongst the Arab. Connection of Allah –
called Yahweh – Jewish name for High God,
Allah/Yahweh only God
The Messenger and the Message
• i. Muhammad =
• Muhammad Ibn Abdullah – 570 – 632 C.E., born
in Mecca to a Quraysh family, lost parents,
became shepherd
• Like Jesus and Buddha, had a powerful religious
experience – he was Allah’s messenger to the
Arabs – bring them scripture in their own
language – Muhammad’s revelations were
recorded in the Quran, Muhammad same line as
Jesus, Abraham, and Moses
ii. Quran
= became the sacred scriptures of Islam, the
very words of God, core of Islamic faith,
intended to be recited, monotheistic – Allah
the only God, all-powerful creator – good,
just, merciful, compassionate, caring,
invitation to return to the old and pure
religion of Abraham – that Jews, Christians,
and Arabs had deviated
iii. Primary objective
• Submission to Allah, achieve a God-conscious
life in the world, spoke against hoarding
wealth, exploiting the poor, corrupt business,
abuse of women, demanded social justice
• 1. Solidarity, 2. Equality, 3. Concern for the
poor
• Challenged ancient polytheism
iv. Umma
• = community of all believers, replace ethnic,
tribal, or racial identities, women too had an
equal place spiritually, Umma bound by belief
versus territory, language, or tribe
v. The 5 Pillars of Islam =
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1. No God but Allah
2. ritual prayer – 5x a day
3. Almsgiving – give generously to the poor
4. month of fasting during Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca - Hajj
• The 6th Pillar…
• 6. Jihad – “struggle” – authorized armed
struggle against the forces of unbelief and
evil – this is a huge issue of controversy in
today’s society
The Transformation of Arabia
• i. Attraction to Islam =
• lower-class dependents, freed slaves, and
member of poorer class – attraction against
the Quraysh
ii. Resistance from the Quraysh
• = dislike Muhammad because of his social
reform, end to corrupt business, viewed
Muhammad as disloyal to his own tribe…so
Muhammad moved to Yathrib, known as
Medina
iii. Yathrib = Medina = city of the
Prophet
• = Muhammad moved the capital to Yathrib – Medina – to
excape the Quraysh
• Membership of belief vs birth
• Usury was outlawed – tax-free markets – mandatory
payment to support the poor
• Independent movement from Judaism – at one point had
followers face Jerusalem, but when some Jewish groups
allied with Muhammad’s enemies, Muhammad exiled and
enslaved or killed Jews – switch prayer direction to Mecca.
• 630 return to Mecca – purge the Kaaba, Kaaba become the
shrine dedicated to Allah
iv. Islam compared to Christianity =
• Islam from the beginning was a state, not a separate
entity like the Christian church and state
• Islam did not give rise to a separate religious
organization – no teachers, religious scholars, prayer
leaders had a prestigious religious role over others
• Sharia – laws that regulated every aspect of life “path
to water”
• Had roots in Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism,
Islam became independent in which it spread
throughout the3 3rd wave civilizations
• Ability to bring peace to the warring tribes of Arabia
Crash Course
• Islam
War, Conquest, and Tolerance
• i. Spread of Islam after Muhammad’s Death =
• Arab Empires defeated the Sassanid Empire by 644,
Byzantium lost the southern ½ of its territories – Islam
spread
• Prevent expansion of Chinese culture to the West
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ii. Motives driving the creation of the Arab Empire =
Trade routes
Wealthy agricultural regions
Individuals found expansion to give wealth and social
promotion
War, Conquest, and Tolerance
• iii. Idea of “Believers” =
• Umma – everyone can believe
• iv. Dhimmas =
• protected by law, but second class citizens
• v. Jiyza =
• can keep own religion, but have to pay a special
tax
Conversion
• i. Social Conversion =
• Cultural identity bound with Allah, monotheism, cleansing and
ritual prayer, fasting, divine revelations, idea of heaven and hell
•
• ii. Those who didn’t convert =
• Berbers of N. Africa – Christian
• Some Persian Zoroastrians fled to avoid Muslim rule
•
• iii. Case of Persia – “Islamized” without “Arabizing” =
• 80% of Persian became Muslim
• Still speak Persian language of Farsi (spoken today in Iran)
• Kept Persian cultural identity = keep art, traditions, culture, but
embraced Muslim religion
Diversions and Controversies
• i. Caliph =
• Successor to Muhammad as the political ruler of
the umma
• ii. 1st Four Caliphs = The Rightly Guided Caliphs
(632-661)
• “companions of the Prophet”
• Selected by the Muslim elders of Medina
• Leads to division of the Muslim World – led to
civil war
Sunni VS Shia
• iii. Sunni VS Shia =
• Sunni – believe that that caliphs were rightful political and military
leaders, selected by the Muslim community
• Shia – believe leadership should come from blood relative – the line
of Ali and his son Husayn – relatives of Muhammad
• Sunni emerged as the larger community – religious scholars known
as ulama, advocated established order
• Leaders of the Shia – imamas – Shia saw themselves as the
minority, defenders of the oppressed
• Shia continued to split further
•
• Caliphs transformed from Arab chiefs to absolute monarchs – came
into incredible wealth
Dynasties
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iv. The First Dynasty - The Umayyad Family = 661-750
expanded Arab empire
Capital in Damascus, Syria
Problems…Shia viewed as illegitimate, non-Arabs resented their
second class status, against lavish living of the Umayyad
• Overthrow in 750, the Abbasids took over
•
• v. The Abbasids =
• lacked political unity
• ended with the Mongol takeover in 1258
• Islamic world divided and ruled by Persian or Turkish military
dynasties
Sharia
• vi. Sharia =
• The body of Islamic Law – blueprint for Islamic
society – guidance for prayer, ritual cleansing,
marriage, divorce, inheritance, slaves, political
life
• Debates among the Ulama creation of 4
schools for Sunni and other schools for Shia
• Living as a Muslim meant following the sharia
Sufi
• v. Sufis =
• represented Islams mystical dimension –
renounce material world, meditation of Quran,
chant, music and dance – interior life
• Sufism = tame ego and achieve spiritual life
with Allah
• Widely popular by the 9th and 10th centuries
• Spiritual practices an element of popular Islam
Women and Men
• i. Spiritual Level =
• Men and women were equal
• ii. Social Terms – Marriage =
• viewed women as inferior and subordinate – “Men have
authority over women”
• Quran – mix of rights and restrictions for women –
infanticide forbidden, women control property, dowries,
rights of inheritance
• Marriage was a contract, cannot be captured
• Only one husband, but husband can have multiple wives
Women and Men
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iii. Women under Umar and Mansur =
Umar = women pray at home
viel and secluded
position of women became more limited
remove women from public
Mansur = carried separation even further =
building separate bridge for women to cross
Women and Men
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iv. Other Signs of Patriarchy =
-killing women if violate sexual taboos
Hadiths – spoke of the evils of women
Adam and Eve interpretation – blamed Eve for the fall of
Adam
• v. View of Women in relation to Sufi practice =
• Sufi allowed for greater role of women vs main stream
islam
• Sufi within Shia allowed for women to be teachers –
mullahs
• Women could interact with other women at bath houses.
The Case of Spain
• Biggest Islamic encounter with Christianity
• Spain conquered by Arab and Berber forces –
early 8th century
• Often portrayed as a place of harmony between
Muslim rulers and Christian and Jewish peoples
• Spain’s agricultural economy was the most
prosperous in Europe – capital of Cordoba – one
of the largest cities in the world – Christians,
Jews, and Muslims all contributed to the growth
and wealth of the city = astronomy, medicine,
arts, architecture, literature
The Case of Spain
• Elites of society and different faiths would socialize
• By 1000, 75% had converted to Islam – remaining
Christians learned Arabic and veiled their women
• Christianity never dissolved – second class Christians
lost tolerance by the late 10th century – Cordoba broke
into rival states
• Under the rule of al-Mansur – 981-1002 – no longer
tolerant of Christians, turned to persecution of the
Christians
• Social life also changed – Muslims avoided contact with
Christians
The Case of Spain
• Christians intensified their re-conquest of Spain after
1200 and gained strength
• Isabella and Ferdinand, catholic monarchs, took
Grenada in 1492 – the last Muslim stronghold on the
Iberian Peninsula
• Christian triumph, Muslim catastrophe
• Muslims were forced to emigrate after the conquest –
Spain no longer tolerant of other religions – Jews and
Muslims
• Christian churches replaced mosques, use of Islamic art
and architecture
• Spain experienced a religious reversal