Growth of Islamic Society

1. Growth of Islamic Society Unit 2: The Post-Classical Age, 600-1450 Part II – Reconstruction of Society

2. The Median Caliphate • The Problem of Succession • Abu Bakr (leader of prayers- companion and fourth convert) and Companions • Ali (cousin and adopted son of Muhammad, husband of Fatima, second convert) and Abbas (uncle of Ali and the Prophet) • The Median Caliphate(successor/representative) • Abu Bakr (r. 632-634) • ‘Umar (Omar ibn al-Khattab) (r. 634-644) • ‘Uthman (Ummayyad clan) (r. 644-656) • Ali (r. 656-661) • The Sunni-Shiite split

3. Islamic Divide

4. Succession: Abu Bakr (632-34) • 632 Muhammed died without warning • Abu Bakr elected Caliph (deputy, successor). Friend and early convert. • Ali, son in law to Muhammed was passed over: Too young • Bakr worked and led the movement. • Success: Ridda Wars: fought off Bedouin led by other Charismatic leaders.

5. Islam Spreads • Bakr continued the Arab unification process • Recognized the weakness of the Persian/Byzantine Empires • They were at constant war with one another • Began to take Byzantine territory • Christians and Jews respected: people of the book • Social restrictions, extra taxes • Some Christians saw Muslims as liberators

6. Uthman (644-54) • From the old Umayyad family. Former Meccan enemies of Muhammed now converted! • Codification of the Qu’ran: Variants destroyed • 651 Expansion deep into Sassanian territory (Persia) • 654 Uthman assassinated.

7. Division and Schism • Ali’s supporters name him Caliph • The Ummayyads rejected him • Ali refuses to prosecutes the assassins Ummayads later declare an open vendetta against him • Mecca vs Medina Clan tensions • Syrian and Iraqi factions • N/S Arabian tribal tensions

8. Hasan • Retired for 19 years to enjoy the good life • When Mu’awiya died, he went to Mecca with several followers expecting to be named Caliph. • But the Umayyads appointed a new caliph, who surrounded Ali with an army. • 679 Hasan led a great suicide charge. His head was sent to the capital. • This would result in the Sunni-Shi’ite split

9. But expansion continued.... • 674: Besieged Constantinople • 700: Umayyads ruled from N. Africa almost to China: An empire! Why? • Surplus of military energy and religious zeal and well qualified generals • Weakness of the Byzantium and Persian states, and their poor rule over provinces.

10. Sunnis vs. Shias • Sunnis90% of IslamRecognize 4 caliphs as legitimateNo Iman • Shiites10% of Muslims (mainly in Persia, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan)recognize only Ali and blood relatives as successorsImans: infallible, divinely guided, leaders of the faithGreen turbans: indicate a blood relative of the ProphetCult of Martyrdom

11. The Umayyad Dynasty

12. Expansion under the Umayyads • Late 7th century: Islam spread to Asia • 8th century: Spread to India, N. Africa, Spain • Threatened France, but Islamic armies were turned back by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours (also called Poitiers) in 732 • Islam dominated the Mediterranean from Spain to central Asia

13. Growth of Islam, 1200

14. The Spread of Islam

15. Umayyad Rule • Arab conquest state, ruled by an Arab elite • Army comprised of slave soldiers. Often not allowed to convert. • Muslim/Arab warrior elite ruled provinces • Rejected assimilation of converts • Kept governments intact, but staffed them with Muslims • Capital now Damascus

16. At first blocked by Byzantine & Sassanid

17. Defeat at Byzantium • 717: Caliph Suleiman wanted to end the Christian empire once and for all. • Attacked Constantinople with 80,000 troops and a strong naval force. • Emperor Leo III beat off the attack. Besieging armies suffer through a cold winter • 718: Must of the Muslim fleet destroyed by Greek Fire. Suleiman fled. • Leo III retook Asia Minor. Byzantium will last 500 years more.

18. Greek Fire - exact composition unknown composition include such chemicals as liquid petroleum, naphtha, burning pitch, sulphur, resin, quicklimeand bitumen, along with some other "secret ingredient".

19. Umayyad Decline • Series of weak self-indulgent rulers • c. 750. The Merv Revolt • 50,000 Persian warriors settled in E. Iran • converted to Islam, fought in battles, but earned little booty • resented corrupt rule from Baghdad • When Umayyads sent troops to the area, revolt broke out!

20. Islam Under the Umayyads

21. The Abbasid Revolt • Revolt spread through the eastern provinces • Resented Arab rule: the Mawali • Marched under the Black Abbasid banner • Abu al-Abbas, Muhammed’s uncle’s g.g. grandson • Alliance with Shi’ite factions • 750: defeat the Umayyad caliph in the Battle of the River Zab

22. The End of the Umayyads • Abu al-Abbas wanted to end the Umayyad family. • Murdered all surviving members at a feast of reconciliation • One escaped, the grandson of the last Umayyad caliph, and fled to Spain • He established the Cordoba Caliphate. It lasted until 1492 CE

23. The Abbasid Dynasty

24. The World and the Abbasids Map

25. The Early Abbasids • Capital: Baghdad: Arabic court language • Influenced by the Near East idea of divine kingship: “Shadow of God on Earth” • Lots of court pomp and ritual • When the caliph appeared in public, his executioners were with him! • Bound by Shari’a : Islamic law but not enforced

26. Abbasid Wine Bowl

27. Abbasid Glass Work

28. Abbasid Government • Caliph ruled with large, complex bureaucracy • Manned by Persians and Mawali • Some aspects of universalism • Diverse people united by Arabic language and Islam • End of wars of expansion

29. Society Under the Abbasids • Long Distance Trade with Banking and Letters of Credit along the Silk Road trade • Key: Export of Mesopotamia agriculture, Nile Agriculture, sheep, date palm. • East Asian crops spread westward, including rice, sugar cane. • Slave state: Many Africans working S. Iraq salt mines, or in military

30. Industry • Textile Making • Rug Weaving: High Art Armenia, Bokhara • Chinese trade. Learned paper making • Perfumes, medicines, cosmetics, art in ceramics, metals • Imported Indian “0” developed algebra and trigonometry

31. Intellectual Life • Translated Greek and Roman classical works • Philosophy, science, astronomy, geography, math • No interest in mythology, drama or poetry • Preserved and made additional contributions • Worked particularly with Aristotle’s work

32. Abbasid Mosque in Nayin

33. Medicine • al Razi (865-925) (Rhazes) • 20 volume medical encyclopedia • Translated into Latin 1270 • Printed in Europe 1486 onwards • “On the Fact that even Skilled Physicians Cannot Heal All Diseases” • “Why Frightened Patients Easily Forsake even the Skilled Physician”

34. Other Thinkers • al-Biruni (973-1056) • Geography, Travels in India • al-Kindi(d.870) • reconciled Islam with Neoplatonism • al Farabi (d.950), IbnSina (Avicenna d. 1036), IbnRushd (Averroes d. 1198) • All Islamic scholars of Aristotle

35. Abbasid Caliphate

36. The Islamic Empire

37. Trends Towards Decentralization • Eventually turned against their Shi’ite allies and other factions • Large empire lent itself to regionalism • Numerous violent harem conspiracies and civil wars followed by more stable rulers • Utilized slave armies of Africans, Slavs and Berbers that eventually became a political force known as Mamluks