The Expansive Realm of Islam - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Expansive Realm of Islam

Chapter

13Slide2

I: A Prophet and His World

Arabian Peninsula:

harsh environment

, Bedouins (nomadic herders, clan-based, polytheistic), long-distance trade (sea -> camel caravan)Link between India/China and Persia/ByzantineMecca was important stopover for caravansSlide3

I: Muhammad and His Message

Born 570 in Mecca to a merchant family

Married Khadija

Influenced by Judaism and Christianity610: spiritual experience (message from God via Gabriel)= Allah would reward the righteous and punish the wickedBy 620: built up a following in Mecca650: Followers wrote texts of teachings ->

Quran = authority on Islamic doctrine and social organizationSlide4

I: Muhammad’s Migration to Medina

Popularity -> conflict with non-Muslim elites over monotheism and ideas about greed

Also, threat to shrine owners

622: fled to Medina (= the hijra – beginning of Muslim calendar)Provided legal and social codes, economic aid, political leadership for the Umma

Accepted earlier prophets, texts, and God of Jews and ChristiansSlide5

I: The Establishment of Islam in Arabia

630: conquered Mecca, replacing shrines with mosques (except

Ka’ba

)632: pilgrimage to Ka’Ba (the Hajj); had conquered most of ArabiaSlide6

I: The Five Pillars of Islam

Foundations (beliefs shared by all Muslims):

One god (Allah) and prophet (Muhammad)

Daily prayer facing MeccaFasting during RamadanAlms to the weak and poorHajj to Mecca Slide7

I: Jihad and Sharia

Jihad: struggle (against vice/evil, against unbelief/ignorance, against unbelievers who threaten Islam)

Considered an obligation by some

Sharia: Islamic law inspired by the Quran and Muhammad’s teachingsCovers more than religion: marriage, business, political authority, family life, etc.Slide8

II: The Expansion of Islam

Umma

disagreed over who should take over after Muhammad’s death

Abu Bakr became caliph (=deputy): political, judicial, military, and religious leaderEffective military expansion: Byzantine and Sasanid lands, Northern Africa, Iberian peninsula -> huge empireSlide9

II: The Expansion of Islam (cont.)

Problem: disagreement over succession -> schism in Islam

Shia sect: believed Ali and descendants should serve as caliph

Sunni: caliphs selected by powerful Arab clansSlide10

II: The Umayyid

Dynasty

661-750 CE: Prominent

Meccan merchant clanCreated alliances, built power -> stabilityCapital = Damascus (Syria) due to central locationTightly centralized rule, favor to fellow Arabs, esp. aristocrats-> unhappy conquered ethnic/religious groups (forced to pay

jizya

to practice their religions)

Plus, Muslims (esp. Shia) disliked lavish living of

UmayyidSlide11
Slide12

II: The Abbasid Dynasty

-> 740: rebellion in Persia led by Abu-Abbas

750: defeated

Umayyids in battle, founding a new dynasty (ruled until 1258)Differences: more cosmopolitan (non-Arabs gained wealth and power), not expansionistic (but, did fight Byz, C. Asian nomads, and Tang)Slide13

II: The Abbasid Dynasty (cont.)

Difficult to rule due to size, diversity, and lack of precedent -> adopted Mesopotamian and Persian techniques (policy, capital cities, regional governors and bureaucracy

)

Capital = BaghdadUlama (scholars) set moral standards and

qadis

(judges) resolved disputes in local communities -> insured observance of Islamic values

Standing army

Bureaucracy for taxation, finance, coinage, postal system, Persian road systemSlide14

II: Abbasid Decline

Internal problems: succession disputes, governors began acting independently, uprisings/revolts

945: puppet rulers (by Persian nobles)

Seljuk Turks migrated in, converted, allied with AbbasidsBy mid 1000s, Turks controlled Abbasid empireSlide15

III: Economy and Society of the Early Islamic World

Economy: agriculture (rural) and manufacturing and trade (urban)

Empire -> zone of trade, exchange, and communication from India to IberiaSlide16

III: New Crops, Agricultural Experimentation, and Urban Growth

Introduced new crops and techniques into different regions (esp. from India – sugarcane, rice, citrus, bananas, cotton, etc.)

-> strengthened economy, varied diet, more food availability -> urban development

Dar al-Islam cities flourished (markets, manufacturing [textiles, pottery, paper])Islamic society valued merchantsSlide17

III: The Formation of a Hemispheric Trading Zone

Overland trade: revived and maintained Silk Roads

Expanded use of camel caravans and caravanserai

Maritime trade: using compass (China), lateen sail (SE Asia/India), and astrolabe (Greeks), traveled throughout Indian Ocean BasinBanks: loans, brokered investments, exchanged currency, creditBetter transportation + expanded banking + refined business organization = flourishing long distance trade

(Sahara – salt for gold and slaves, E. Africa - slaves and skins, Russia – furs, honey, amber, slaves)Slide18

III: Al-Andalus

= Islamic Spain, conquered by Berbers in 700s

Continued to be governed by

Umayyids (caliphs)Participated in Islamic economyCrops -> urban growth and businessesElaborate capital at Cordoba (lighted roads, free schools, huge mosque, big library)Slide19

III: The Changing Status of Women

Patriarchal, but women had some rights (property inheritance, divorce, business)

Quran helped: outlawed infanticide, dowries, equality of all before Allah

But, reinforced male domination: patrilineal, tight control over women’s lives, polygyny, veiling (from Byz. and Sasanids = sign of modesty), chaperones Women’s rights decreased with contact with patriarchal Mesopotamian, Persian, and E. Med. societiesSlide20

IV: Islamic Values and Cultural Exchanges

Focus on Arabic language and tradition

Taught conquered peoples Islamic teachings, but allowed pre-Islamic practices

Muslim intellectuals drew from Persian, Indian, and Greek cultureSlide21

IV: The Formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition

Sharia law unified empire

Ulama

(in mosque schools) and qadis (in courts and public life) bridged differences and spread Islamic valuesMadrasas – institutes of higher learning; supported by rulers to recruit literate and learned students to admin. positionsSlide22

IV: Sufis

Islamic mystics and missionaries

Did not follow formal religious teachings; sought deeper spiritual awareness

Pious, asceticGave sermons, passionate singing, spiritual dancing to achieve heightened state of emotionDistrusted by Islamic theologians, but spread Islam (esp. in Persia and India)Slide23

IV: The Hajj

= pilgrimage to the

Ka’ba

in MeccaEncouraged by Abbasids to increase cultural unity (built inns, policed roads, gifts to shrines)Slide24

IV: Islam and the Cultural Traditions of Persia, India, and Greece

Learned about other cultures in several ways:

1. Abbasid dynasty supported acquisition of knowledge (foreign scholars)

2. sponsored translation of literary and scientific works (from Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit)3. merchants, missionaries, and travelers compiled geographic information (maps, atlases, charts, general descriptions)

Absorbed, combined with “others’ thought”, built upon them -> flowering of intellect and scholarshipSlide25

IV: Persian Influences

Political

: Administrative techniques, ideas of kingship (wise and benevolent, but absolute)

Cultural: literary – used Persian language in lit., poetry, history Esp. Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, and The

Arabian NightsSlide26

IV: Indian Influences

Math

: numerals (allowed development of algebra, geometry, trig.)

Science: astronomical calculationsMedicine: treatments for specific illnesses, antidotes for poisonSlide27

IV: Greek Influences

Philosophy

: translations of Plato and Aristotle

Esp. Ibn Rushd: tried to harmonize Islamic teachings with Aristotle; known in W. Europe as Averroes (influences scholasticism)After 1200s, more emphasis on pure Islamic phil.Math (reasoning), science (astronomy), and medicine (anatomy and physiology)