THE ISLAMIC WORLD THROUGH 1450

Settle in… this is going to be a long one

 Pre-Islamic Bedouin Culture
• Well-established on the
Arabian Peninsula, mostly
nomadic, tribal, and
polytheistic

• The Sheikh was the ruler and

they practiced Polygyny

• They all worshiped one

supreme deity: Allah, and
each tribe had a sacred
stone, but the most revered
was the black stone in Mecca

• Land trade routes were the

basis of the economy where
 Mohammad
• Born in 570 C.E. Married a
rich widow and settled
down in Mecca

• 610 C.E. experiences “The

night of power,” When it’s
said the Arch Angel Gabriel
came to him and had him
recite in a cave, and thus
Islam was born

• Later his revelation were

collected by those who
herd his message in the
Quran
The Spread of Islam
• Spread slowly at first as his
followers were called
Muslims, believing him to
be the last great prophet,
the final one in the line of
Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus

• He fled to Medina as the

Quarash tribe (his former
tribe) attacked him because
of his views

• in 632 he returned and

conquered Mecca and
declared the black stone
there, the Ka’aba, a shrine
Islam spreads over the Arabian
Peninsula
• Before Mohammad’s death,
he united the Arabian
Peninsula

• Encouraged to spread Islam

with the expansion of trade
routes, and some military
conquest

• In the area of rule, not

forced to convert, but had to
pay a tax for not being
Muslim, called the Jizya

• Egalitarian nature of the

religion attracted many new
converts
 Islam in Practice
• All muslims needed to follow
the 5 pillars

• Concept of Jihad, or inner

struggle to strive in the way
of Allah to improve both
oneself and society.
Interpreted differently by
some today

• Islamic code of law is called

Shariah Law, outlines
behavioral requirements for
daily life. Like no drinking
alcohol or eating pork, but
Polygamy is permitted up to
4 wives.
The first four Caliphs and
Umayyads
• The succession over who
should lead Islam and
become the Caliphs led
to a split in the Muslim
World

• Sunnis: Believe that the

best qualified should lead

• Shia: Believe that only a

blood dependent of the
prophet is able to lead

• The Term Dar al-Islam,

refers to the Islamic
world
 More on the Caliphs and
Umayyads
• Caliphs spread Islam beyond the peninsula

• Later, capable generals founded the Umayyad Dynasty and spread

Islam to it’s height and moved the capital to Damascus

• Shia beliefs resisted and their community leader became knows as

imam rather than caliph
 Abbasid Caliphate
• Came to power in 750 C.E.
and moved the capital to
Baghdad which soon rivaled
Constantinople in both wealth
and population

• Baghdad became the center

of learning, made thicker,
more useful paper, Baghdad
represented the golden age
of learning

• Also here they created the

first ideas of hospitals for
people, and studied the
human body
 The Influence of Persia

• Persians were able to

convert to Islam, but
retain much of their own
culture and language

• Contributed scholars
such as Avicenna, (980-
1037) and poets like
Rumi (1207-1273). His
teachings were
influential around the
world as a basis of the
Sufi movement
 Invasions and Trade Shifts

• 1100’s and 1200’s the Abbasid Empire

suffered from attacks from four different
outside groups

• Mamluks: Took control of Egypt and

established an empire across North Africa

• Seljuk Turks: took over Central Asia and

leader took the title of sultan

• Crusaders: Seljuk Turks limited the

access of Christians to Jerusalem so the
Pope called for the Crusades to open
back up the city and holy sites

• Mongols: We’ll get to them later

Islamic Rule in Spain
• Held power in Spain
from 700’s till the
1200’s

• Capital in Spain was

Cordoba

• Battle of Tours:

• Battle against the

Frankish forces in
732 stopping the
expansion of Islam
into Europe
 Prosperity and Scholars in Spain
• Created a climate of
coexistence between Muslims
and Christians

• Traded goods aboard ships

called dhows

• Influence of Islamic
architecture can still be seen

• Cordoba became a center for

learning with the largest library
in the world at the time where
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
scholars would study and
translate works for all three
faiths.
 Social and Cultural Life
• Islamic scholars
translated the works of
Aristotle and other Greek
thinkers saving them

• Medical advances in
hospital care improved in
cities such as Cairo

• Had to take medical

examinations in order
to practice medicine

• Brought back paper-

making from China
Social Classes
• Increase in trade led to a
powerful merchant elite in
many cities

• Caliph’s soldiers could not

own any of the conquered
land, so they just stayed in
the military to keep earning
regular paychecks

• Because of this, life in the

countryside remained
virtually unchanged, but
paid tribute to Islamic
caliphs, instead of
Byzantine rulers
Commerce and Slavery
• Because Muhammad was
a merchant, Islam
respected merchants and
allowed people to make
money buying and selling
provided they adhered to
fair business practices

• Islam allowed slavery, but

could not enslave other
Muslims, so most slaves
converted to Islam

• Most female slaves found

themselves serving as
concubines to Islamic men
who already had 4 wives.
 Free Women in Islam
• Most women observe hijab, a term for modest
dress in a general sense

• Women could study and read, but could not do

so in the company of men not related to them

• Muhammad raised the status of women

• Treated his wives with love and devotion

• Insisted that dowries be paid to the future wife

rather than her father

• Forbade female infanticide

• And his first wife was an educated woman with

her own business, setting a pattern
recognizing women’s abilities
 Status of Women
• Overall enjoyed higher status than Christian
or Jewish women

• Could retain ownership of property after

marriage

• Could remarry if widowed

• Could practice birth control

• The rise of towns and cities resulted in new

limitations on women’s rights, symbolized
by Harems: dwellings set aside for wives,
concubines, and children of those women

• Most history on how women were viewed

before 1450 was written by men… so take
it all with a grain of salt.
Sufism
• Arose in Persia and
India

• Notable for their shaved

heads

• emphasized
introspection to grasp
truths that they believed
could not be understood
through learning

• Abstained from earthly

pleasures and used
whirling dancing to
express religious