Transcript Mature Islamic Society and Institutions

Mature Islamic Society and Institutions
SSWH5:a,b,d-f.
Time and Geography
POLITICAL
The Caliphate
• Abbasid caliphs promised
equality, more religious
leadership
• Scholars (ulama) developed
both sacred law (Sharia) and
examples (Sunna) from
Mohammad’s life
• Sharia, Sunna and Qu’ran
were basis for all holy law
Scholars at an Abbasid library. Maqamat
of al-Hariri Illustration by Yahyá al-Wasiti,
Baghdad 1237
Major Government Institutions
under the Caliphs
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Diwan, or state council
Qadis, judges over all Muslims
Vizier, like prime minister, headed Diwan
Emirs, provincial governors
Muslim army was international in
composition and large
Further Development of
Islamic Religious Thought
• Ulama had more authority than caliphs
• “Closing of the Gates”
– The law they developed was considered
complete; needed no further development
– Effectively smothered future independent
thought and intellectual innovation
– Practice of religious law became utterly
conservative
– Ulama exercised total control over defining
acceptable, orthodox practices in God’s eyes
RELIGIOUS
Sufism
• Sufis were mystics, believed in
personal path to God
• Did not see the Qu’ran as the only
way to God
• Active in mercantile circles, spread
movement widely
• Relationship with ulamas often very
tense, even bloody
• Al-Ghazali, “Renewer of Islam”,
brought about fragile but lasting truce
Al-Ghazali
Literature and Natural Sciences
• Arabic language became
source of unification
– Qu’ran could only be written
in Arabic
– Acquired paper from Chinese
• University was also Muslim
creation
• Preserved, expanded
classical Greek learning,
particularly revered Aristotle
The Qu’ran was written in
Arabic
INTELLECTUAL
Selective, Important, Practical
Scientific Contributions
• Medicine well ahead of Western
civilization
• Geography – much new information
• Astronomy and Astrology
• Mathematics
– Arabic numbers
– Concepts of Algebra
– Decimal system
The concept of algebra was an
Islamic creation
AESTHETIC
Arts in the Muslim World
• Plastic, literary, and poetic arts
flourished during Abbasids
• Intricate, geometrically based
format for visual arts
• Architecture – beautiful forms,
great skill
• Calligraphy was special strength
1th-century North
African Quran in
the British Museum
Çifte Minareli
Medrese in Erzurum.
Before 1265
Literature
• Persian language replaced Arabic in
literature
• Rubaiyat of Khayyam
• The 1001 Nights – most famous book of
stories
The 1001 Nights
Rubaiyat of Khayyam
SOCIAL
Marriage and Status of Women
• Qu’ran states that men are superior to women,
but also protects women from male abuse
• Men could have up to 4 wives, if they could
afford them
• Slavery was common
– Most households had slaves in home
and shop
– Most commonly from debts, wars,
bad luck
• Household was ruled by the man
Surah an-Nisā, is a chapter of the
Quran regarding women.
Status of Women
• Concepts of honor, shame restricted women’s
status
• Women often kept in hiding (purdah)
• Status not always as limited as described by law
– Lower class women had greater personal freedom
– Working class women often worked outside the home
– Local traditions overrode written law
Working class women often worked outside the home
POLITICAL
THE FIRST “WORLD”
CIVILIZATION, 632-1500 CE
• Islamic civilization flourished
900 and 1200
• Islam most lavish and
innovative civilization,
rivaled by China
• Extensive commercial
and intellectual contacts
• Islam, a world religion
THE FIRST “WORLD”
CIVILIZATION, 632-1500 CE
• Trade allowed conversion and
expansion of Muslim world
• Qur’anic exhortation to “honor the
honest merchant”
• Nothing wrong in getting rich but had
the waqf
An Old Waqf
Document
ECONOMIC
Islamic Community
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Islamic world extended from Spain to China
Monopoly with Hindus on trade in Indian Ocean
Muslims had equal control over the Asian land routes
Imperial China and the Islamic West were greatest producers and
consumers of wealth in the World
Indian Ocean and Silk Road routes were links to zones of prosperity
Manufactured goods transported in ships or by camels and mules:
silks, porcelains, carpets, textiles, gold coins, and metal wares
Southeast and India: beads, textiles, and pepper and spices
Africa provided Asian markets with slaves, gold, leather goods, and
raw materials like animal byproducts, cowry shells, timber, and
foodstuffs
Movement of people, technologies, and ideas through commerce
SOCIAL
Muslim Community
• Travelers could journey to distant lands
and be welcomed by their co-religionists
• They would find the same laws, religious
values, literary language
• The Arabic language a common medium
in trade, ideas, and customs
• All Muslims were members of a great
community, the Muslim Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word which
means 'nation' or 'community'. It is
commonly used to refer to the
Muslims of the world.
Muslim Community
• Córdoba and Grenada ruled by Muslims,
but inhabitants included Jews and
Christians
• Baghdad: large population with a
lavish imperial court under caliph
Harun al-Rashid
• Annual pilgrimage to Mecca drew
Muslims from every part of this Old
World community
• A locale where Muslims rediscover
common heritage
POLITICAL
Decline of the Abbasids,
Coming of Turks and Mongols
• Unable to restore political unity in empire
• Lost almost all African, Arabian possessions
• Seljuk Turks took over until they fell to internal
rivalries
• Chingis Khan and the Mongols
– Nomadic horse-based people from central Asia
– Conquered most of central Asia, Middle East
– His successor conquered Russia, about half of
Europe
– Mongols took Baghdad, ended Abbasid caliphate
Discussion Questions
1.
Science and medicine continued to develop in the
Muslim world, at the same time that Christian Europe
nearly ceased new developments in those fields for
some time. Why do you think that development
happened? Why did the Muslims concentrate on
preserving classical knowledge of the Greeks and
Romans? Were the roots of this interest within Islamic
religion itself, or other cultural factors?
2.
The teachings of Muhammad helped to improve the
status of women from their previous situation. Yet
today in the West, Muslim women are seen as having
strong limitations in their lives. Why is this so? Why
did Muslim women not continue to gain new freedoms
and status after Muhammad's death?