Part III: Growth and Interaction of Cultural Communities, 300 BCE-1200 CE

Chap. 8 Rise of Islam, 600-1200 Chap. 9 Christian Societies Emerge in Europe, 600-1200 Chap. 10 Inner and East Asia, 600-1200 Chap. 11 Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas, 600-1500

The Rise of Islam, 600-1200

The Origins of Islam The arabs lived exclusively in the Arabian peninsula and fringe regions of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq Within these regions, Islam took shape

The Arabian Peninsula Before Muhammad Most Arabs were settled people. Nomads were a minority, but they were important in the caravan trade that linked Yemen to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean

This caravan trade gave rise to and supported the merchants of caravan cities such as Petra and Palmyra. It also brought Arabs into contact with other peoples Arabs who accompanied the caravans became familiar with the cultures of Byzantine Empires

The nomads were polytheists who worshipped natural forces and celestial bodies, but they were also familiar with other religions including Christianity, many of whom adopted this faith in some form or another

Mecca was a caravan city between Yemen and Syria. Mecca was also a religious center that attracted nomads to worship the statues of deities enshrined in the Kaba Abraham, Ishmael, and the promise

Muhammad in Mecca Muhammad was born in Mecca c. 570, grew up as an orphan in his uncles home, and then got involved in the caravan trade He married Khadija, a wealthy woman from a merchant family

Muhammad began meditating in the mountains around 610 CE He was visited by the angel Gabriel and received a revelation from the one true God, Allah. He preached concerning this revelation Some believed. Others believed his message came from Jinns, desert spirits, which possessed him

The message of Muhammads revelations was that there is one God, Allah, and that all people ought to submit to him. At the end of time, their souls would be judged, their sins balanced against their good deeds

Muslim which means submission (Islam) to the will of God Muhammads followers considered his revelation more perfect than the Bible because it had not gone through an editing process

The Formation of Umma Many rejected Muhammads teachings and plotted against them Muhammad and his followers ed Mecca in 622 for the agricultural community of Medina now known as the hijra

The community (Umma) which they established, based on the acceptance of Islam was not, by denition, based on kinsman-ship Muhammad eventual retakes Mecca and purges the Kaba This conquest led to a rapid capture of nearly the entire Arabian Peninsula

Muhammads father-in-law, Abu Bakr, took over leadership of the umma as the successor (Caliph) of the faith community He established the Five Pillars of Islam (1) one God and Muhammad is his prophet (2)Prayer (3)Fasting (4)alms (5)pilgrimage

Abu Bakr also ordered those who acted as secretaries for Muhammad to organize the Prophets revelations into a book Completed in 650, the Quran (the Recitation) was the unalterable word of God

Disagreements over the question of succession to the caliphate emerged following the assassination of the third Caliph Uthman Many nominated Ali, Muhammads rst cousin and husband of his daughter Multiple challengers arose

Ali defeated the opposition at The Battle of the Camel (656) Muawaiya, kinsman of the slain Uthman of the Umayya clam, renewed the challenge Arbitration and Assassination Muawaiya took power in 661, ushering into the Umayyah Caliphate

Shiitesthe leader of the umma must be a descendent of Ali Sunnisthe political and authoritative control of the umma by close followers

The Rise and Fall of the Caliphate, 632-1258

The Islamic Conquests (634-711) Conquest outside Arabia began in the 7th C. including Syria, Egypt and the Sasanid Empire, Tunisia, Spain, Algeria, and Morocco Muslim dominion remained stable for three centuries

By the the eleventh century, conquest began anew in India, Anatolia, and sub-Saharan Africa Factors leading to expansion: Lust for booty Religious fanaticism Weakness of the foes None have a particularly strong basis in fact

Organized into regular forces Paid armies (professionals) but were prevented from taking ownership of conquered territory but settled in Military camps and garrison towns Why would this help expand the empire?

Arab Muslims became minority rulers over vast regions of non-muslims Thinly spread forces controlled the various regions The people were taxed but did not try to convert the dominated populations

The Umayyad and Early Abbasid Caliphates Ruled an Arab Empire, NOT a Muslim Empire. Ruled through the established Sassanid and Byzantine apparatus They gradually brought in Muslim bureaucracy and the Arabic language

Rebellions overthrew the Umayyads in 750 One branch, however, remained in power in Spain Abbas, Uncle of Muhammad, coordinated the revolt and established the *Abbasid Caliphate. Held power until 1258

The Abbasid Caliphate provided renewed religious leadership Baghdad was the center of the Abbasid culture Also saw an acceleration of the rate of conversion in the 9th C. A more cosmopolitan elite ruling class emerged

Translation of Aristotle into Arabic, the development of theology and law, and writing of elaborate literature: *The Arabian Night by Harun al-Rashid golden age of Islam

Political Fragmentation, (850-1050) Abbasid power began to decline in the late 9th C. One factor was the difculty of transportation and communications Another factor was the dissatisfaction of the nonMuslim provincial populations Smaller Muslim communities emerged

*Mamaluks, Turkic slaves from Central Asia, were used for the standing army When they could not longer be paid, they revolted and took political control in the 9th C. In 945 the empire fell under the control of the Iranian Shiite Buyids

As the Abbasid Caliphate declined, various provincial regimes rose to power. These included the Samanids in Bakhura and the Fatimids in Egypt.

In Spain, the Umayyads held power over a society in which Islamic, Roman, Germanic, and Jewish cultures combined to form a unique Iberian variant of Islamic civilization

Substantial urbanization in Umayyad Spain A diverse irrigated agricultural sector developed A ourishing of Muslim/Jewish intellectualism developedphilosophy, Aristotelian thought (Ibn Rushd)

Underlying the political diversity of the fragmented Muslim world was a strong sense of religious identity preserved by the religious scholars--the Ulama

Assault from Within and Without, 1050-1258 Turks from the Seljuk family established a Turkish Muslim state and took the title sultanmeaning power These Muslim rulers overthrew the Shiite Buyids Being Sunni, they favored the Abbasid caliphate

Turkish rule led to the shrinking of agricultural lands Few Turks, being nomads, participated or supported agricultural and urban centers Tax revenues fell The collapse of the canal system in the Tigris and Euphrates valley led to a withering of Baghdad

The Turks are only one factor: Iran and Iraq were far too strained for resources due to political fragmentation and the use of land grants to pay soldiers

The Seljuk Empire was disturbed by internal quarrels when the crusaders arrived in the Holy Land Crusader states played little political importance in the Islamic world Salah-al-Din and the 2nd Crusader states

Islamic Civilization

Under the conditions of the Abbasid Caliphate, religious conversion and urbanization reinforced each other to create a distinct Islamic civilization Innovations in law, social structure, and religious expression ourished

Law and Dogma Islam had no legal system in the time of Muhammad Arab custom and religious authority were the only source of law and justice Islam developed laws slowly This law is more comprehensive than the Five Pillars

The Quran was a limited source of authority Sunna, the tradition of the prophets teachings, became a reliable source * The Hadith was developed, collecting all of the words and deeds of Muhammad as a source on how to live ones life

Each Hadith came from a person or acquaintance who met the Prophet and witnessed some event or saying These laws varied on instructions such as washing before prayer Stories derived from various sources, some even from non-Muslim religious traditions

Sharia law embodied the vision of an umma in which all subscribed to the same moral values This universal law as not truly practiced by all, but was extensively embraced by political leaders

Converts and Cities Conversion did not require extensive knowledge of the faith. To become a Muslim, a person simply stated this prayer: There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God

Few converts could read or speak Arabic All converts, whether educated or not, spent a signicant amount of time with religious communities Converting to Islam meant abandoning ones home community and led to the growth of urbanization

Conversion-related migration meant that cities became heavily Muslim before the countryside By the tenth century, urban growth was affecting the countryside by expanding the consumer market Though initially converts mimicked Arab customs, unique social practices developed

Science and technology ourished under Islamic rule medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and physics were some of the dominate disciplines Ibn al-Haytham, Egyptian in the eleventh century, theorized concerning the Milky Way, light, and eyesight

Islam, Women, and Slaves Rural women worked in the eld and appeared in public Urban women lived in seclusion and were not permitted to leave the home without properly covering themselves This Islamic custom came from Byzantine Christians and Sasanid Zoroastrians

Public roles were generally barred from women A man could have sexual relations with as many slave concubines as he pleased, in Islamic law gave greater status to addition to women than Christian or Jewish marrying as many law as four wives

Islam allowed slavery but forbade Muslims from enslaving other Muslims or People of the Book (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) Being enslaved as a prisoner of war was an exception Usually slaves converted to Islam and were subsequently set free