Unit 1 Ch 14

expansive realm of islam

bedouin

nomadic peoples in arabia

loyal family/clan groups

Muhammad Ibn Abdullah’s early life

born about 570 in Mecca, orphaned, married wealthy widow, worked as merchant

Muhammad’s spiritual transformation

~610 started getting visions from Gabriel about Allah

Muslim beliefs

Allah - 1 and only god

Muhammad is the last prophet so he got the full story

“seal of the prophets” = last prophet

many shared beliefs with Jews + Christians + Zoroastrians

Quran

compiled in early 650s, written versions of Muhammad’s revelations

hadith

saying by Muhammad and accounts of his deeds

conflict in Mecca between Muhammad and the ruling elites

Allah = only god, offensive to polytheistic Arabs

greed = moral wickedness. not taken well by rich elites

idolatry = economic threat

Ka’ba

large black rock, originally dwelling to a polytheistic God

Muhammad said it was a symbols of mecca’s greatness

now islam’s holy site

Hijra “migration” 622 marks beginning of Islamic calendar

Muhammad fleeing Mecca to Medina

Umma

islamic community w/ legal + social code

Muhammad’s return to Mecca 629

629 - visit to mecca (small pilgrimage - umrah)

630 - attacked and conquered mecca

forced elites to adopt Islam, imposed Islamic gov

destroyed pagan shrines, built mosques

first Hajj 632 to Muhammad's death

first Hajj led by muhammad to the ka’ba

Muhammad and followed launched campaigns united most of arabia

Muhammad died in 632

5 pillars of islam

1. Allah is the only god + Muhammad is his prophet

2. pray to Allah daily while facing Mecca

3. fast during Ramadan

4. almsgiving

5. hajj

jihad

1. struggle - combat vice and evil

2. struggle against ignorance and unbelief and seeking converts

sharia

islamic law, emerged after Muhammad’s lifetime

covers all parts of life

effects of Muhammad's death

towns and Bedouin clans that recently joined went back to their old ways

abu bakr waged war and got these people back

Caliph

“deputy”

no more prophets b/c Muhammad was the “seal of prophets”

head of state for Islamic community, chief judge, religious leader, military commander

Abu Bakr

First caliph

causes of rapid expansion of Islam territory into Byzantine and Sasanid territories

Muslim armies strong b/c doing god’s work = salvation

also byzantine and Sassanid tired from fighting each other and internal uprisings

where did Islamic territory expand to between 633 and 718

muslim forces seized Byzantine Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia (from Sasanids)

conquered Egypt + NW Afr

Conquered Hindu Sind (NW India)

crossed Strait of Gibraltar to conquer Iberia

Issues with rapid Islamic expansion

difficulty governing

hard to choose caliph

first four caliphs negotiated between powerful Arab clans

disagreements led to factions and clan loyalties

Shia vs Sunni (Islam Sects)

Sunni - majority of Muslims “traditionalists”, accepted legitimacy of early caliphsSu

Shia - most important and enduring alternative

Shia supported supported Ali (and fam) as first caliph instead of Abu Bakr

Ali

Shia “leader”

fourth caliph (served 656-661)

assassinated while praying in mosque 😳😢

Shia specific

observed holy days in honor of their own leaders+martyrs

taught that Ali and his descendants were divinely appointed to rule

slightly diff interpretation of Quran

Umayyad Dynasty (661-750)

est after assassination of Ali

most prominent of Mecca merchant clans

brought stability to Islam world

capt: damascus, syria

Umayyad issues

Favored fellow arabs

mostly allowed people to worship their own religion (esp other abrahamic religions) except also had jizya

Jizya

special head tax on those who weren’t islam

Umayyad Decline

begin in early 8th cent

caliphs devoted to luxury instead of umma

rebellions lead by Abu al-Abbas, won, est Abbasid Empire in 750

Abu al-Abbas

descendant of Muhammad’s uncle, Sunni

Abu al-Abbas taking down the Umayyads

allied with Shia and Muslims who weren’t Arabs esp Persian converts

740s- rejected Umayyad authority seized Persia + Mesopotamia

750- shattered Umayyads in giant battle

killed Umayyads at banquet he hosted

dar al-Islam

house of islam

where the Islamic rulers ruled

Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258) and how they differed from Umayyads

cosmopolitan - didn’t have bias towards Arabs

not a conquering dynasty, ruled what they got from Umayyads

dynasty still grew but mostly from autonomous forces and merchants

Battle of Talas River at Samarkand

(image shows Samarkand)

Abbasids won ending Tang’s expansion into central Asia

allowed Islam to spread to Turkish

Abbasid Capital

Baghdad (modern Iraq capt)

round protected by walls

Ulama and Qadis

ulama - people w/ religious knowledge, scholars developing laws

qadi - judges

both had formal edu emphasized study of Quran and Sharia

extremely influential

Abbasid Rule

standing army, bureaucracy ran taxes, finance, coinage, postal services

maintained roads from Sasanids

Harun al-Rashid (rule: 786-809)

high point of Abbasid

Baghdad: flush w/ wealth

• center of banking, commerce, crafts, industry

• metropolis - several hundred thousand people

supported artists+writers, distributed money to poor

elephant to Charlemagne

Abbasid decline

Harun al-Rashid’s sons fought civil war

provincial governors got more power, uprisings, rebellions

Abbasid caliphs became figureheads for long time

• 945 Persian nobles seized control of Baghdad and held effective power

• then Seljuq Turks held power

  • Seljuq Sultan had power for 2 centuries

mongols extinguished dynasty in 1258

Umayyad and Abbasid empires and trade in dar al-Islam

created zone of trade from India to Iberia

econ stimulus thru out dar al-Islam

new crops spread thru dar al-Islam

soldiers, admins, diplomats, and merchants traveled thru out dar al-Islam and introduced new crops

few ex: sugarcane, rice, new types of wheat + sorghum

assorted veggies and fruits

industrial crops: cotton, henna, and indigo

effects of new crops

richer, varied diet

new crops = growing season longer (new crops good with heat) = more food = more people

agri improvements

irrigation, fertilization, crop rotation recorded in agri manuals

= more productive agri = econ growth

urbanization

food up = people up = urbanization

big cities emerge with flourishing arts + crafts people

new industry emerged = paper knowledge came from china

• led to records, books, treatises

formation of hemispheric trade

revived silk roads from China to Med sea

used good inherited roads for trade + poli + mili + pilgrimages

camels 🐫

great for desert travel, carry heavy loads

maritime trade

Chinese magnetic compass!!

lateen sail - triangular

astrolabe

Islamic / Abbasid Banks

conducted lots of business, lent money, brokers, exchanged currencies, sakk

sakk

checks basically

why were group investments used

less risk, easier to absorb losses

abbasid empire traded all over the hemisphere

north to Russia, W & E Afr, SE Asia, Med Basin etc.

maintained thru good banking, transportation, banking, and business

Al-Andalus (place not person)

Islamic Spain

Muslim Berber conquerors from N Afr

Umayyads who refused to recognize Abbasid dynasty, had their own caliphs

Capt: Cordoba thriving

women’s status

arab women originally had decent rights

• could own property, divorce, business

early Quran provided some freedom to women, later Quran became harsher on women’s rights 🫤

men = 4 wives

when Islam got to Byzantine and Sasanid they adopted their patriarchal traditions like veiling

Arabic Quran

only definitive and reliable scripture, translations not as powerful

very very important

madrasas

higher edu Islamic schools

SUFIS !!!!!!!!

pious, ascetic, mystical, spiritual emphasis

very, very popular - kind, tolerant

not very popular with traditional Muslim theologians

emphasized devotion over doctrine

allowed people to keep aspects of traditional religions

Al -Ghazali

early Sufi, Persian

human reason couldn’t understand Allah, you just needed to be devoted

persian influence on Islam

took persian admin, lit, poetry, history, and poli

Rubaiyat - book of Persian poems by Omar Khayyam

Indian influence

math, science, and medicine

Hindi numerals became “arabic” numerals to Euros

greek influence

appreciated plato + aristotle

Ibn Rushd (1126-1198) qadi in Seville

• liked Aristotle, used it to shape Islamic philosophy

• heavy influence on natural reason