1. Islamic Civilization

2. Answer the following question in a paragraph Choose two “pillars” of Islam and explain their possible social, political, or religious purpose.

3. Islam as a global system • Spread of Islam into diverse areas of the world meant syncretism and unity • No central religious authority (unlike Christianity) meant diverse interpretations • Understanding of Islam developed through scholarship • The Hadith • The Ulama

4. Non-Arabs and Islam • Non-Arabic readers had to guess at what being a Muslim was • Imitation of Muslims garrisoned in key cities was common • Rise of ulama and madrasas to help • Urban nature of Muslim culture

5. Islam and Urbanization • Aspiring Muslims moved to cities • Easy to convert, but harder to understand Arab culture • Staying behind in village meant discrimination • Rise of major cities in dar al-Islam due to this process • Role of cities in new global culture

6. Conversion factors • SLOW: • Existing monotheistic faith • Persistent political power • Hinterlands/rural areas

7. Conversion factors • Fast • Urban areas • Trade zones • Entrepots • Areas with weak political power (e.g. the Sassanid and Byzantine empires) • Polytheistic or animistic areas

9. Attempts to “Re-Center” • Multiple “Islams” due to lack of central religious authority • Political decentralization during Abbasid Caliphate • Migration of scholars to urban centers helped counteract & unify • Rise of Madrasas • Sufi brotherhoods • Increased importance of the Hajj • Increased importance of Mecca as center

11. Impact of Muslim culture • Rise of more urban areas • Increased flow of trade: Islam as business law in IO network • Increased literacy through Madrasas • Architecture: mosques • Changing status of women

12. Status of Women during Abbasid Caliphate • Urban vs. Rural women led different lives: rural worked in fields, urban secluded • Women lacked public roles • Only allowed to study secretly • Paradox: Slave women freer in some ways • Men had much more sexual freedom

13. Status of women • Right to retain property in marriage • Right to remarry if divorced • Right to settlement if divorced • Right to initiate divorce in some situations • Right to use birth control • Right to testify in court (although only worth 50% as men) • Right to make the Hajj WHY ARE THESE IMPORTANT RIGHTS?

14. Gynophobia • Men afraid of women: • Infidelity: important to be sure offspring are own, not some other man’s • Meddling in politics: fear of real power for women • Fear of women’s sexuality: veiling and seclusion to remove source of temptation AND separate worship (sex-segregated mosques)

16. Slavery • Not allowed for “people of the book” unless POW • Not hereditary • Converting often meant freedom • Most slaves women

17. Architecture • inspired by Muhammad’s first house • Generally have: • Minaret • Arabesque features, e.g. arches

18. Arabesque arch

19. Courtyard (Sahn)

20. Ablution fountain

21. Mihrab in Qiblah wall

22. Minbar

23. Dome

24. Mosque in Mecca

25. The Arts • Images forbidden • Geometric patterns as art • Script as art • Persian culture blended, became special sub-set

27. The Sciences • Exceptional intellectual culture developed in urban centers • Preserved work of Greeks and other Hellenistic peoples • Adopted elements of Indian thought: • Decimals • Numerals • Inoculation • The concept of Zero CONTRIBUTED UNIQUELY – esp. areas like Baghdad

28. Beni-Isquen Algerian Mosque

29. DjinguereBer Mosque Timbuktu

30. Kutubiyya Mosque Morocco

32. Mosque -- Timbuktu

33. Hagia Sophia (formerly Christian)

34. Al Hambra (Spain)

35. Al Hambra (Spain)

36. Al Hambra (Spain)

37. Dome of the Rock (Israel)

38. The Kaaba -- Mecca

39. Samarqand