The Expansive Realm of Islam

1. The Expansive Realm of Islam Mr. Skommesa – AP World History

2. Questions to Consider • What was the role of Dar al-Islam as a unifying cultural and economic force in Eurasia and Africa? • Describe Islamic political structures, especially the caliphate. • What are the enduring contributions of early Islamic civilization?

4. Muhammad and His Message • Born 570 to merchant family in Mecca • Orphaned as a child • Marries wealthy widow c. 595, works as merchant • Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula

5. Muhammad’s Spiritual Transformation • Visions c. 610 CE • Archangel Gabriel • Monotheism • Attracts followers to Mecca

7. The Quran • Record of revelations received during visions • Committed to writing c. 650CE (Muhammad dies 632) • Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith

8. Conflict at Mecca • Muhammad’s monotheistic teachings offensive to polytheistic pagans • Economic threat to existing religious industry • Denunciation of greed affront to local aristocracy

9. The Hijra • Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 CE • Year 0 in Muslim calendar • Organizes followers into communal society (the umma) • Legal, spiritual code • Commerce, raids on Meccan caravans for sake of umma

10. The “Seal of the Prophets” • Islam as culmination and correction of Judaism, Christianity • Inheritor of both Jewish and Christian texts

11. Muhammad’s Return to Mecca • Attack on Mecca, 630 • Conversion of Mecca to Islam • Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques • Ka’aba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca • Approved as pilgrimage site

12. The Five Pillars of Islam • No god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet • Daily prayer • Fasting during Ramadan • Charity • Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)

20. Jihad • “struggle” • Against vice • Against ignorance of Islam • “holy war”

21. Islamic Law: The Sharia • Codification of Islamic law • Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools of analysis • Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human activity

22. The Caliph • No clear successor to Muhammad identified • Abu Bakr chosen to lead as Caliph • Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam after death of Muhammad

23. The Expansion of Islam • Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sassanid territories • Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory

25. The Shia • Disagreements over selection of caliphs • Ali passed over for Abu Bakr • Served as caliph 656-661CE, then assassinated along with most of his followers • Remaining followers organize separate party called “Shia” • Traditionalists: Sunni

26. The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750CE) • From Meccan merchant class • Capital: Damascus, Syria • Associated with Arab military aristocracy

27. Policy toward Conquered Peoples • Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes discontent • Limited social mobility for non-Arab Muslims • Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims • Umayyad luxurious living causes further decline in moral authority

28. The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258CE) • Abu al-Abbas Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, non-Arab Muslims • Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia • Defeats Umayyad army in 750 • Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred them

30. Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty • Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively Arab) • Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial expansion • Dar al-Islam • Growth through military activity of autonomous Islamic forces

31. Abbasid Administration • Persian influence • Court at Baghdad • Influence of Islamic scholars (ulama, qadi)

32. Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809CE) • High point of Abbasid dynasty • Baghdad center of commerce • Great cultural activity

33. Abbasid Decline • Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid • Provincial governors assert regional independence • Dissenting sects, heretical movements • Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian nobility • Later, Saljuq Turks influence, Sultan real power behind the throne

35. Economy of the Early Islamic World • Spread of food and industrial crops • Trade routes from India to Spain • Western diet adapts to wide variety • New crops adapted to different growing seasons • Agricultural sciences develop • Cotton, paper industries develop • Major cities emerge

36. Formation of a Hemispheric Trading Zone • Historical precedent of Arabic trade • Dar al-Islam encompasses silk routes • ice exported from Syria to Egypt in summer, 10th century • Camel caravans • Maritime trade

37. Banking and Trade • Scale of trade causes banks to develop • Sakk (“check”) • Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar al-Islam promotes trade • Joint ventures common

38. 12th Century World Map

39. Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) • Muslim Berber conquerors from North Africa take Spain, early 8th c. • Allied to Umayyads, refused to recognize Abbasid dynasty • Formed own caliphate • Tensions, but interrelationship

41. Alhambra

44. Recycled Mosque at Cordoba

47. Changing Status of Women • Quran improves status of women • Outlawed female infanticide • Brides, not husbands, claim dowries • Yet male dominance preserved • Patrilineal descent • Polygamy permitted, Polyandry forbidden • Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice

48. Formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition • Islamic values • Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam • Establishment of madrasas • Importance of the Hajj • Sufi missionaries • Asceticism, mysticism • Some tension with orthodox Islamic theologians • Wide popularity

49. Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) • Major Sufi thinker from Persia • Impossibility of intellectual apprehension of Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy

50. Cultural influences on Islam • Persia • Administration and governance • literature • India • Mathematics, science, medicine (“Hindi” numbers) • Greece • Philosophy, esp. Aristotle • Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-1198)