Chapter 11: Islam

1. Chapter 11: Islam • Islam means “submission” in Arabic • Story of Muhammad’s life, words, and deeds (hadith) are basis of Islam • Teachings of Quran and of Muhammad’s life are fulfilled in the life of a community (the umma) • Combination of religion and government makes Islam similar to empires

2. The Origins of Islam • The Prophet: His Life and Teaching • Visited by Angel Gabriel in 610 C.E. at age forty; visits continued for twenty years • After Muhammad’s death, his words were memorized and written down as the Quran • Quran regarded as absolute, uncorrupted word of God • Discovery of paper and printing speeds the spread of the Quran

3. The Origins of Islam • The Five Pillars of Islam • Declaring the Creed • Praying five times a day facing Mecca • Giving alms to the poor • Fasting each day during Ramadan • Making a hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)

4. The Origins of Islam • The Five Pillars of Islam [cont.] • Jihad (sacred struggle) sometimes called the “sixth pillar” • For some it means the extension of Muslim lands (dar al-Islam) • For others it means personal struggle • Faithful Muslims will attain paradise • Many parallels among Islam, Judaism, and Christianity

5. The Origins of Islam • Responses to Muhammad • Residents of Mecca found his moral teachings too demanding and questioned his mental stability • Meccan Christians and Jews did not believe their monotheism needed purification • Death of many of first-generation followers caused remainder to relocate

6. The Origins of Islam • Responses to Muhammad [cont.] • The Hijira and the Islamic Calendar • Muhammad invited to Medina to adjudicate dispute • Flight to Medina (622 C.E.) known as hijira and is Year One of the Islamic calendar • Converted many in Medina but not Jews • Created religious community (umma) interlocked with Islamic government (dar al Islam) • Formulated legal code based on the Quran

7. The Origins of Islam • Responses to Muhammad [cont.] • Muhammad Extends His Authority • Warfare between early Muslims and Mecca with Muhammad ultimately winning in 630 C.E. • Muslims destroyed Meccan idols, captured Ka’aba, and turned it and its sacred black rock into Islmaic shrine • By time of Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslims were well on their way to creating an Arabia-wide federation dedicated to faith and the political structure of Islam

8. The Origins of Islam • Responses to Muhammad [cont.] • Connections to Other Monotheistic Faiths • Muslims claim Abraham (Hebrew) as the first Muslim and see Jews, Christians, and Muslims as “children of Abraham” • Accept earlier prophets including Jesus as people whose ideas were later corrupted by followers • Believe there will be no further revelations • Christians and Jews allowed to practice their faith but were subject to a special tax

9. Successors to the Prophet • Problem of successor to Muhammad initially met by election of close associates as caliph • Military successes spread Islam: Damascus in 636 and Jerusalem in 638 • Administered conquered lands with garrison towns which were unstable • Islam an empire or a religion?

10. Successors to the Prophet • Religious Conflict and Sunni-Shi’a Division • Should caliph be from Muhammad’s family [Shi’ites] or from Ummayid clan of recent caliphs [Sunni] ? • Two Shi’a caliphs were assassinated and war broke out (680); eleven Shi’a imams or caliphs were assassinated in all • Shi’a wanted imam to model religious principles; opponents saw post as political

11. Successors to the Prophet • Religious Conflict and the Sunni-Shi’a Division [cont.] • Hereditary line of Muhammad’s family ended with the disappearance of the “twelfth imam” • Office of caliph no longer exists but dispute continues • 83% of Muslims are Sunni today

12. Successors to the Prophet • Umayyad Caliphs Build an Empire • Urban life eroded tribal life, created class differences, and mixed Arab and non-Arab elites • Used Byzantine and Persian governing practices • Revolts from 740s onward but some military victories including Talas River (751), which halted Chinese advance westward

13. Successors to the Prophet • The Third Civil War and the Abbasid Caliphs • From northern Iran Abbasids claimed caliphate in 750 • Continued imperial quest of the Umayyids • Abbasids successfully ruled empire for a century with centralized administration and good local relations

14. Successors to the Prophet • The Weakening of the Caliphate • Abbasids faced succession issues and civil war • Began to rely more on slave troops • Civilian administration became more corrupt • Tax collection became exploitive

15. Successors to the Prophet • The Weakening of the Caliphate [cont.] • The Emergence of Quasi-Independent States • Distance of rulers from people prompted revolts • Ismaili and Shi’ite leaders promoted rebellion • In 945 rebels took control of Baghdad and effectively ended the empire, but allowed Abbasids to continue to rule in name only • Arrival of Seljuk Turks led to creation of sultanate over government while Abbasids administered the religious side (1055)

16. Successors to the Prophet • The Weakening of the Caliphate [cont.] • Mongols and the Destruction of the Caliphate • Temujin (later called Chinngis Khan) forged alliance with Turks and built extensive empire • Hulegu conquered Baghdad (1258) and executed Abbasid caliph • Death of Hulegu’s brother and military defeat ended expansion of Mongol empire • Muslims continued to expand and win converts despite military defeats

17. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Fall of Caliphate in 1258 meant fall of umma • Some scholars saw this as decline of Islam • Others point to continued spread of Islam and its acceptance by Mongol descendents • Current distribution of Muslims shows presence in areas never reached by Caliph or converted after end of caliphate

18. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Islam Reaches New Peoples • India • Muslim raids into India led to conquest of Delhi by 1211 and creation of Delhi Sultanate (1211-1526) • Controlled subcontinent by 1335 • Most Muslim rulers accommodated Hinduism • Converts to Islam escaped “untouchable” status • Many Muslims were near the top of the social hierarchy

19. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Islam Reaches New Peoples [cont.] • Southeast Asia • Most conversions occurred in 14-15th centuries • Sub-Saharan Africa • Islam arrived via traders and Sufis • Ghana was major trading center, rival of Arabs • Traders converted to Islam; masses in 19th century • Wave of conversions accompanied defeat of Ghana by Almoravids

20. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Islam Reaches New Peoples [cont.] • Sub-Saharan Africa [cont.] • Mansa Musa of Mali, orthodox Muslim, made hajj in 1324 and revealed wealth of area • Timbuktu a major center of learning • Spread of Islam into East Africa met fierce resistance in Christian Ethiopia

21. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Law Provides an Institutional Foundation • Legal system of Islam, shari’a, survived fall of caliph • Can use any of a group of legal interpretations • Abu Hanifah, Malik ibn Anas, Muhammad al-Shafii, Ahmed ibn Hanbal • Exercise primary influence in different regions • Laws administered by religious scholars (ulama)

22. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Sufis Provide Religious Mysticism • The Role of Mysticism • Rose as rejection of materialism of Umayyad • Sufis enabled followers to experience God directly • Sufis attracted adherents with simplicity • Some emphasized ecstatic practices while others were more sober and meditative

23. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Intellectual Achievements • History • Formal history introduced by al-Tabari (c. 839-923) • Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) was first to apply social science theory to the understanding of history • Favored cyclical view of history where new waves of invasion introduced new cycles of history

24. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Intellectual Achievements [cont.] • Philosophy • Encountered philosophy from Greeks and Indians • Attracted to Platonism and neo-Platonism • Mutazilites argued that Quran should be seen as metaphorical, not literal, word of God • Enabled Christian and Jewish philosophers to encounter Greek and Indian texts

25. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • Intellectual Achievements [cont.] • Mathematics, Astronomy, and Medicine • Astronomy texts from India to Baghdad by 770 • al-Khwarazmi (d. c. 846) developed algebra • Medical cures were spread around the empire • Qanum fi’l-tibb (Canon of Medicine) of ibn Sina (d. 1037) dominated Christian medical thinking for three hundred years

26. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • The Extension of Technology • Islam a communication network connecting all major Eurasia civilizations • Exchanged information with all of them • Agricultural exchange extensive • Used irrigation to offset absence of monsoon rains prevalent in India, source of many new crops

27. Spiritual, Religious, and Cultural Flowering • City Design and Architecture • Muslim governments built great cities • Mosques were a necessary element of every city and neighborhood • Writings of Ibn Battuta underscore link between cities, commerce, and travel

28. Relations with Non-Muslims • Dhimmi Status • Three choices for non-Muslim in Muslim state • Conversion • Dhimmi Status • For worshippers of one God who accepted Muslim rule • Status defined by The Pact of Umar (634-644) • Paid special tax but could worship in their own faith • Couldn’t build new churches, seek converts, wear Muslim clothing, or build houses higher than Muslim houses • Fight against the Muslim state

29. Relations with Non-Muslims • The Crusades (1095-1291) • Called by Pope Urban II at request of Alexius I • Were political as much as religious efforts • Early crusades were successful and brutal • European crusaders were mercenaries • Crusades could capture but not hold holy places of Christianity • Crusades divided Christianity along east-west lines

30. Relations with Non-Muslims • A Golden Age in Spain • Berbers revitalized Spanish culture and broke Byzantine control of trade in western Mediterranean • End of Spanish caliphate (1030) opened door to start of Christian reconquista • Rich hybrid culture survived in midst of reconquista • Ferdinand and Isabella defeated Muslims in 1492 and expel Jews from Spain; Muslims follow

31. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: What Difference Do They Make? • Sources of friction among religions with common heritage • Are proselytizing religions in search of converts • Each sought to be the government in its areas of predominance • Each became identified with a specific geographic region • But there was also peaceful coexistence