Chapter 2: The expansive realm of Islam

Islam- means submission and being obedient to the rule and will of Allah

Islam is a monotheistic religion

Muslim- one who has submitted and has faith in Allah

Influences

• early islamic beliefs were influenced by Jewish and Christian traditions

• early muslim society reflected nomadic and mercantile Arabian societies

• over time they got their inspirations from other societies like the Persian, Greek and Indian societies

• even though they had influence from other societies, they thoroughly transformed the cultural traditions they absorbed

Dar-al-Islam- the house of islam, refers to lands under islamic rule

A Prophet and His World

Islam arose from the Arabian peninsula and reflected the social and cultural conditions of its homeland

the nomadic bedouin occupied Arabia for a millennia even though most of the peninsula was covered in deserts and agriculture was only possible on the well watered areas of the peninsula like Yemen and Medina

the bedouin kept herd of sheep, goats and camels and move across deserts to find grass and water for their animals

They organized themselves in family and clan groups where an individual and their families can depend on their larger kinship in times of need

The bedouin had a strong sense of loyalty to their clan and guarded it with determination

Arabia also figured prominently in long distance trade networks. They used:

• Ports

  • persian gulf

  • arabian sea

  • red sea

• Traveled overland by camels to Palmyra and Damascus

Arabia became the link between China and India in the east and Persia and Byzantium in the west

Trade passing through the peninsula made Mecca a stopping point for caravan traffic

Muhammad and his message

Muhammad’s early life

The prophet Muhammad (570-632C.E) was born in 570 to a reputable family of merchants in Mecca but he lost both his parents by the time he was six

He was raised by his grandfather and uncle and worked for a widow called Khadija whom he married in 595 which helped him gain prominence in the Meccan society

by the age of 30, he established himself as a merchant

in the Arabian society people had different religious and cultural traditions

most Arabs were polytheistic and there were also large communities of Jewish and Christian Arabs

Muhammad’s Spiritual Transformation

When Muhammad was 40, he went through a profound spiritual experience which left him with the convictions that there was one true god, Allah and he:

• ruled the universe

• would bring his judgement on the world

• rewards the righteous

• punishes the wicked

His messages from Allah were delivered by the archangel Gabriel and instructed him to explain his views to others so he started to propose his beliefs to his family and close friends and gradually other people showed interest in his message

In 620 an expanding minority of Mecca’s citizenry had joined his circle

The Quran

Originally Muhammad presented his revelations orally but as the community grew his followers wrote down texts of his teaching and devout followers compiled the texts and issued them as the Quran- the holy book of Islam

The Quran became:

• Muhammad’s understanding of Allah and his relation to the world

• the authority for Islamic religious doctrine and social organization

Other sources also provided moral and religious guidance for the community with the Hadith being the most important one

Muslim scholars used the Hadith as a guide for interpreting the Quran

Before Muhammad and the Quran, The Ka’ba in Mecca was one of the many religious sanctuaries recognized by the Arabs

People traveled to this place and traded in the surrounding towns so much to the point where commercial fairs were established in the pilgrimage seasons

There was an argument made that claimed that Mecca was the hub of extensive transRegional trade routes that joined the ports of Yemen with the Byzantine and Sasanian empires but historians pushed back saying the only sources that make this claim are made by Arabs and the no non-Arabic sources have risen that prove this theory

Mecca was outside of the trade routes and visiting it would’ve required a detour but, Mecca also had the Ka’ba and other sanctuaries that were important to Arabs and pilgrims

Ka’ba- a universal cube shaped shrine that was believed to house all deities of pre-Islamic Arabia

Even though Arab historians exaggerated the amount of transRegional trade that was occurring in Mecca, regional trades did happen there and it was wholly dependent on the Ka’ba

Muhammad’s Migration to Medina

Conflict at Mecca

The growing influence Muhammad had on the community caused a conflict which majorly centered around religion with the elites (wealthy merchants) in Mecca

Causes for conflict:

• Muhammad’s instance of Allah being the only God was seen as offensive to the may polytheistic people of Mecca

• Muhammad saying that greed was one of the wickedness that Allah would punish threatened the position of the elites

• Muhammad's attack on idolatry economically threatened those who owned and ran shrines to deities with the Ka’ba being the largest one

When tensions reached their peak, the ruling elites of Mecca began to persecute the prophet and his followers

The Hijra

The persecution got so bad which caused some of Muhammad's followers to flea to Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia)

Muhammad staying in Mecca until 622 but he too fled with his followers to Yathrib, a trading city 214 miles north of Mecca

Muslims called their new home Medina- the city of the prophet

Muhammad's move to Medina also known as the Hijra serves as the standing point of the official Islamic calendar

The Umma

In Mecca, Muhammad lived within the established rules of the community and focused on the moral and religious aspects of his religion but, in Medina his followers needed guidance in practical as well as spiritual affairs

Muhammad organized his followers into a community called the umma- community of the faithful, and gave them a comprehensive legal and social code.

Thing Muhammad did in the Umma:

• led them in prayers and in battles with the enemies

• looked after their economic welfare by organizing commercial ventures and by launching raids against caravans from Mecca

• provided relief for orphans, widows and the poor

• made almsgiving(giving food or money to poor people) a prime and moral virtue

The Seal of Prophets

Muhammad’s understanding of his religious missions expanded in his years in Medina

His religious beliefs/ things he did:

• Muhammad was the seal of the prophets- the final prophet that Allah would reveal his message to humankind

• He accepted the autority of earlier Jewish and Christian prophets like:

  • Abraham

  • Moses

  • Jesus

• He held Hebrew scriptures and the Christian New Testament in high esteem

• He accepted his predecessor's monotheism

• Allah was the same omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent deity as the Jew’s Yahweh and Christian’s God

• The message given to him by Allah offered a more complete revelation of Allah compared to Judaism and Christianity

The Establishment of Islam in Arabia

Muhammad's Return to Mecca

While they stayed in Medina, Muhammad and his followers ultimately planned to return to Mecca because it was their home and the leading city of Arabia

In 629, they arranged an annual pilgrimage to the Ka’ba with the authorities but they were not satisfied with the short visit

In 630, Muhammad and his followers attacked and conquered Mecca and forced the elites to adopt Muhammad's faith

They also imposed a government dedicated to Allah

They destroyed shrines to other deities and replaced them with mosques. They also denied that the Ka’ba was the home of the deity but they kept the cube as a housing symbol of Mecca’s greatness and allowed only the faithful to approach it

In 632, Muhammad led the first islamic pilgrimage to the Ka’ba establishing the hajj

Muhammad and his followers launched campaigns against other towns and bedouin clans and by the time of Muhammad's death they had most of Arabia under their control

The Five Pillars of Islam

The foundation of islam consists of obligations known as the five pillars of Islam

1. Acknowledge that Allah is the only God and Muhammad is his prophet

2. Pray to Allah daily while facing Mecca

3. Fast during the day in the month of Ramadan

4. Contribute alms of the relief of the weak and poor

5. If you’re financially and physically able, undertake a hajj and make a pilgrimage to Mecca

Jihad

Some muslims have taken jihad as an additional obligation

Jihad literary means suffering but it has been interpreted in many ways like:

• a call on muslims to struggle against ignorance and unbelief by spreading the words of Islam

• a physical struggle obligating muslims to take up a sword and wage war against unbelievers who threaten Islam

• spiritual and moral obligations on Muslims requiring them to combat bad habits and evil

Islamic Law: The Sharia

Other than the five pillars, Islam has a holy law known as the sharia which offers a detailed guidance on proper behavior in almost all aspects of life like:

• Marriage and family life

• Inheritance

• Slavery

• Business and commercial relationships

• Political authority in dar al-islam

• Crime

The sharia got its inspiration from the Quran and early historical accounts of Muhammad's life and teachings

The sharia has been interpreted differently with different islamic societies but in all cases it became something more than a religious doctrine. It became a way of life complete with social and ethical values derived from islamic religious principles

The Expansion of Islam

Since Muhammad made no provision for a successor, his death led to a division in the umma when it came to a selection of a new leader

Many of the conquered towns and bedouin clans renounced islam, reasserted their independence and broke free from Mecca’s control

But after a short period of time groups that made up the Islamic community went on military expansions that spread Islam outside Arabia and laid a foundation for the rapid growth of Islam

The Early Caliphs and the Umayyad Dynasty

The Caliph

Shortly after Muhammad’s death, his advisers selected Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s closest friends and devout followers to serve as Caliph-deputy

Abu Bakr and future caliphs led the umma not as prophets but as lieutenants, chief judges, religious leaders and military commanders

With the caliphs guidance the ummas attacked the bedouin clans that renounced islam and compelled them to recognize Islam and the rule of the caliph within one year after Muhammad’s death

The Shia

Immediately after Muhammad's death, the umma community had a disagreement on who to choose as Muhammad’s successor which led to the emergence of the Shia sect- the most important alternative to the form of Islam observed by majority of Muslims known as Sunni islam.

The Shia originated from their support for Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son in law, and his dependents to be appointed caliphs

Ali was a candidate for caliph when Muhammad died but Abu Bakr had more support so he ended up being the caliph

Ali ended up being the fourth caliph (656-661) but his enemies assassinated him while he was praying in a mosque and killed many of his relatives and imposed another person as caliph

Supporters of Ali formed the Shia party and struggled to return the caliphate to the line of Ali

Even though they were persecuted, the Shia survived and strengthened their party by adopting doctrines and rituals that were different from the Sunnis- traditionalists who accepted the legitimacy of early caliphs

Believers of Shia for example believed that descendants of Ali were sinless, flawless and divinely appointed to rule the Islamic community. They also advanced the interpretations of the Quran to support their beliefs

The Shia served as a source of support for those who opposed the policies of Sunni leaders. It was an alternative of the Sunni

The Expansion of Islam

In the centuries after Muhammad's death, Islamic armies ranged beyond their boundaries and carried their religion and authority to the byzantine and sasanian (Persian) territories and beyond

Muslim armies were effective because:

• their leaders previously competed in tribal groups into a powerful state unified by their alliance to Islam

• they attacked at a moment when the byzantine and sasanian empires were exhausted from previous conflicts with each other

• they waited for the empires to face internal uprisings by overtaxed peasants and oppressed ethnic and religious minorities between 633 and 637

Timeline of Expansion

633-637:

• Byzantine Syria

• Palestine

• took most of Mesopotamia from the Sasanian

640:

• Byzantine Egypt

• North Africa

651:

• toppled the Sasanian dynasty / Persia

711:

• the Hindu kingdom of Sind in northwest India

711-718:

• northwest Africa

• most of the Iberian peninsula

• threatened the Frankish kingdom in Gaul

mid 8th century:

• India and central Asia in the east to northwest Africa and Iberia in the west

The rapid Islamic expansion led to difficult problems when it came to governance and administration with one being the selection of caliphs

In the early decades of Islam after Muhammad's death, Arab clans negotiated amongst themselves and appointed the first four caliphs by personal differences caused disputes which led to the rise of factions and parties

The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750) [Member of Sunni Islam]

After the assassination of Ali, the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty solved the problem of succession temporarily

The Umayyad ranked among the most prominent of the Meccan merchant clans and they used their reputation and alliances to bring stability to the community

Despite their association with Mecca, the Umayyads established their capitals at Damascus, a commercial city in Syria, and its central location enabled them to maintain better communication with the still expanding Islamic empire

The Umayyads had a tightly centralized rule and showed the favor to their fellow Arabs which caused administrative problem

They ruled the dar al-Islam as conquers

Their policies reflected their interests in the Arab military and Aristocracy

They appointed members of the elite as governors of conquered land and distributed the wealth they collected among their privileged class

Policy toward Conquered Peoples

This policy caused high moral among Arab conquerers but caused discontent among other religious and ethnic groups conquered by the Umayyad empire

Religions in the Umayyad empire:

• Muslim

• Christian

• Jews

• Zoroastrians

• Buddhists

Ethnicities in the Umayyad empire:

• Arabs

• Bedouin

• Indians

• Persians

• Mesopotamians

• Greeks

• Egyptians

• Nomadic Berbers in North Africa

the Arabs allowed conquered people especially Christians and Jews to observe the Islamic religion

The Umayyad imposed a special head tax called the Jizya on those who didn’t convert to Islam. But those who converted didn’t enjoy the same access to wealth and government positions which were reserved for the members of the Arab military aristocracy

This caused deep resentment among the conquered people and led to instability of the Umayyad rule

Umayyad Decline

In the beginning of the 8th century, the Umayyad caliphs became more and more alienated from other Arabs because :

• their devotion to luxurious living instead of focussing on competent leadership like the Ummas

• their casual attitudes towards Islamic doctrines and morality which caused scandal among devout Muslims

By midcentury, the Umayyad not only faced resistant from the Shia but also from the discontent concurred people and the disappointed Arab and Muslim military leaders

The Abbasid Dynasty

Abu al-Abbas

Rebellion in Persia led to the end of the Umayyad dynasty and the chief leader of the rebellion was Abu al-Abbas - a descendant of Muhammad's uncle

Although he was Sunni Arab he quickly allied with Shias and Muslims who weren’t Arabs. His most devout supporters were converts from Persia who resented the Umayyad favoritism

During the 740s, Abu al-Abbas’s group rejected Umayyad authority and took control of Persia and Mesopotamia

In 750 his army shattered Umayyad forces in a huge battle and afterward he invited the remaining members of the Umayyad clan to a banquet using reconciliation as a lure then arrested and slaughtered them bringing the Umayyad dynasty into an end

Abu al-Abbas then founded the Abbasid dynasty which became a primary authority in dar al-Islam until the mongols took over in 1258

The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258)

The Abbasid dynasty was different from the Umayyads in the sense that:

• Abbasids were more cosmopolitan

• Abbasids didn’t show any special favor to the Arab military aristocracy

• The Abbasids weren’t a conquering dynasty

• Other ethnic groups had positions of power and wealth alongside Arabs

Even though they weren’t a conquering dynasty, they sparred with the byzantine empire and clashed with nomadic people from central Asia frequently

In 751 they defeated a Chinese army at the Talas River near Samarkand in the Battle of Talas River

Battle of the Talas River

• It ended the expansion of the Tang dynasty into central Asia

• Opened the door for Islam to spread among Turkish people

Just barely did the Abbasid expand their empire through conquest but the Dar al-Islam continued to grow during the dynasty even tho the caliphs had little to do with it

In the 9th and 10 century, Islamic forces from Tunisia had naval expeditions throughout the Mediterranean conquering Crete, Sicily and the Balearic Islands and seized territories in Cyprus, Rhodes, Sardinia, Corsica, southern Italy, southern France

Muslim merchants introduced Islam to southern India and sub-saharan Africa

Abbasid Administration

Instead of conquering new lands, the Abbasids mainly focussed on administering the empire that they already inherited

Making a government that can administer things like linguistic, ethnic and cultural groups was a challenge because:

• The Arabs didn’t have a form of government that was larger than city states before Muhammad

• The Quran didn’t have instructions on how to handle the administration of a huge empire

• The Umayyad practice of favoring aristocrats had proven to be a failure

Abu al-Abbas took inspiration from long standing Mesopotamian and Persian techniques of administration to make policies and built cities to oversee affairs and organized their territories through regional governors and bureaucracies

Baghdad

Central authority of the Abbasid court was in Baghdad (modern capital of Iraq), a city that the early Abbasid caliphs constructed

By building a new capital to replace the Umayyad capital in Damascus helped associate the Abbasids with the cosmopolitan societies of Mesopotamia

Baghdad was surrounded by 3 round walls and at the heart of the city was the caliph’s green domed palace

In the Abbasid provinces governors represented the caliph and implemented his political and financial policies

Learned officials like the Ulama- people with religious knowledge and Qadis- judges set moral standards and resolved issues

The Ulama and Qadis were NOT priests because Islam doesn’t recognize priests as religious specialists

The Ulama and Qadis had formal education on the Quran and Sharia

The Ulama develop public policies in accordance with the Quran and Sharia but the Qadis heard cases and made decisions based on the Quran and Sharia

The Qadis were influential officials who helped ensure the widespread observance of Islamic values

The Abbasid caliphs also established a standing army and bureaucratic ministries in charge of taxation, finance, coinage and postal services

The Abbasids also maintained a great network of roads the the Islamic empire inherited from the Sasanids

Harun al-Rashid

The high profit of the Abbasid empire came in the reign of Harun al-Rashid (786-809)

In the late 8th century, the Abbasids lost power in provinces far from Baghdad but stayed strong enough to bring tax revenues from most of the empire

Baghdad became the center of banking, commerce, crafts and industrial production

According from stories, Harun al-Rashid:

• provided support for artists and writers

• gave lavish gifts to his favorite artists

• distributed money to the poor and common classes by tossing coins onto the Baghdad streets

• sent an elephant and a collection of presents to Charlemagne who ruled the Carolingian empire of western Europe

Abbasid Decline

Soon after the reign of Harun al-Rashid, the empire entered a period of decline

Civil war between Harun’s sons damaged Abbasids authority and disputes over succession rights became reoccurring in the dynasty

Provincial governors took advantage of the civil conflict by acting independently outside the caliphs power. Instead of implementing imperial policies, they built local bases of power and in some cases they broke off from the Abbasid empire

Popular uprisings and peasant rebellions further weakened the empire

As a result of their difficulties, Abbasid caliphs became a mere figurehead before the Mongols extinguished the dynasty in 1258

In 945, members of a Persian noble family took control of Baghdad and established their clan as the power behind the Abbasid throne

Later on Baghdad fell under the control of the seljuq turks, a nomadic people from central Asia who also invaded the Byzantine empire

In response to rebellions, the Baghdad authorities allied with Seljuqs who began to enter the Abbasid society and converted to Islam in about the mid 10th century

By the mid 11th century the Seljuqs took control of the Abbasid empire

In the 1050s they took control of Baghdad and expanded their rule to Syria, Palestine and Anatolia in the upcoming decades

They retained their authority until the arrival of the Mongols

The Seljuq sultan- Chieftain or ruler was the true source of power in the Abbasid empire

Economic and Society of the Early Islamic World

In the dar al-Islam peasants tilled the lands as their ancestors had done for centuries while manufacturers and merchants supported a thriving urban economy

The creation of large empires had a dramatic economic implications

The Umayyads and Abbasids created a zone if trade, exchange and communication going from India to Liberia

New Crops, Agricultural Experimentation and Urban Growth

As soldiers, administrators, diplomats and merchants traveled throughout dar al-Islam, they found plants, animals and agricultural techniques unique to the empire’s various regions

They introduced useful crops to other regions

The most impoertant transplants came from:

• India, Persia

• Southwest Asia

• Arabia, Egypt

• North Africa, Spain

• The Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Crete, Sicily and Sardinia

They included crops like:

Staple crops

• Sugarcane

• Rice

• New varieties of Sorghum and Wheat

Vegetables

• Spinach

• Artichoke

• Eggplants

Fruits

• Orange, Lemon, Lime

• Banana

• Coconut

• Watermelon

• Mango

Industiral crops

• Cotton

• Indigo

• Henna

Effects of New Crops

The effects of the crops into the western region of the Islamic world had multiple effects like

• a more enriched diet

• increased quantities of food

• extended the growing season

• cotton made the textile industry thrive

• Indigo and Henna became dyes used in manufacturing

Agricultural Experimentation

Travel and communication in dar al-Islam also encouraged experimentation with agricultural methods

Cultivators focused more on irrigation, fertilization, crop rotation and outlined their findings in hundreds of agricultural manuals

Copies of the works survived in manuscripts that circulated throughout the Islamic world

The combined effect of new crops and improved agricultural techniques supported the rapid and stable economic growth throughout dar al-Islam

Urban Growth

Increased agricultural production led to the rapid growth of cities in all parts of the Islamic world from India to Spain

All the cities had markets that supported artists, craftsmen and merchants

Most of the cities were important centers for industrial production specifically textiles, pottery, glassware, leather, iron and steel

A new industry appeared in Islamic cities during the Abbasid era: paper manufacturing

Chinese craftsmen have been making paper since the 1st century but the technology never left the Chinese territory until the 8th century

Paper was a cheaper and easier writing material which made it popular throughout the Islamic world

Paper made it easier to keep administrative and commercial records and made it possible for books and treaties to be spread in large quantities

By the 10th century mills produced paper in Persia, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Egypt and Spain and soon spread to western Europe

The Formation of a Hemispheric Trading Zone

Islamic society drew much of its prosperity from commerce and by the time of the Abbasid caliphate detailed trade networks linked all regions of the Islamic world and joined it to a larger hemispheric economy

Overland Trade

When the Abbasids overran the Sasanian empire, Muslim conquerers brought blooming trading cities of central Asia under the control of dar al-Islam

Towns like Merv, Bukhara and Samarkand made it possible for Muslim merchants to trade over the revived silk roads network extended from China to the Mediterranean and they were able to take advantage of the extensive road networks originally built during the ancient times by authorities in India, Persia and the Mediterranean

The Umayyad and Abbasid maintained these roads that they inherited

The roads provided great routes for military forces and admin officials traveling through dar al-Islam as well as highways for merchants, missionaries and pilgrims

Travel along the roads was speedy and efficient

Camels and Caravan

Overland trade occurred mostly by camel caravan

Even though camels can be hard to manage, they endure the rigorous desert travel much better than other animals. Camels can also carry heavy loads

In the early centuries camel saddles were manufactured and spread throughout Arabia, north Africa, southwest Asia and central Asia

Camels were the favorite beasts of burden in deserts and after camel transportation became really common, cities built and maintained caravanserials- inns offering lodging for caravan merchants as well as food, water and care for their animals

Maritime Trade

Innovations in nautical technology created a steady increase of maritime trade in the Red Sea, Persian gulf, Arabian sea and Indian ocean

Arab and Persian marines borrowed the compass from Chinese inventors and used it to guide them on the high seas

From south east Asia and India they borrowed the lateen sail which increased a ship’s maneuverability

From the Mediterranean they borrowed the astrolabe, an instrument used to calculate longitude and latitude

With all the new technologies Muslim and Persian marines ventured around

In the 12th century a Persian merchant named Ramist of Siraf went on a huge long distance venture that amassed a huge fortune and with his earnings he outfitted the Ka’ba with Chinese silk cover and founded a hospital and religious sanctuary

Banks

Banking also stimulated he commercial economy of the Islamic world

Banks had operated since antiquity but Islamic banks in the Abbasid dynasty conducted business in a much larger scale and had a large scale of services

They:

• lent money to entrepreneurs

• served as brokers for investments

• exchanged different currencies

They established multiple branches and honored letters of credit known as Sakk which made it possible for people to draw a letter of credit in one city and cash it out in another

The Organization of Trade

Trade also benefitted from the techniques of business organization

Increased volume of trade made it possible for entrepreneurs to refine their methods of organization

Usually Islamic businessmen referred not to go on solo ventures because the individual could be financially ruined if their cargo got stolen by pirates

Abbasid entrepreneurs pooled in investments as a group so they could distribute their risks

During the Abbasid caliphate many entrepreneurs went on joint endeavors

As a result of improved transportation, transportation, banking services and techniques of business organization, long distance trade flourished in the early Islamic world

Items acquired from different countries

• China- silk, ceramics

• India- spices, aromatics

• Byzantine empire- jewelry, textiles

• West Africa- salt, steel, copper, glass, gold, slaves

• East Africa- slaves, animal skins

• Russia /Scandinavia- animal skins, fur, honey, amber, slaves, timber, livestock

The economy and trade of the Abbasid empire established communication throughout most of the eastern hemisphere

Al-Andalus

The prosperity of Islamic Spain known as al-Andalus shows the effects of long distance trade in the Abbasid era

The governors of al-Aldalus were Umayyad and refused to recognize the Abbasid dynasty so they styled themselves caliphs in their own right instead of being a subject to Abbasid

Even though the Abbasid and al-Andalus had tension, the people of al-Andalus actively participated in the commercial life of the Islamic world like going on a Hajj

The Changing Status of Women

Before Muhammad, Arabia had a patriarchal society but woment had rights not accorded to women un other lands. For example:

• women could inheiret property

• divorce their husbands on their own will

• engage in business ventures

Muhammad’s first wife managed a successful commercial business

In some aspects the Quran enhanced the security of women in the society

It outlawed infanticide- killing an infant and provided dowries that went to the bride

The Quran said that women were honorable individuals who were equal to men in the eyes of Allah with their own rights and needs

The Quran and Women

For the most part the Quran and Sharia reinforced male dominance and recognized descent through the male line and guaranteed proper inheritance

They highly emphasized purity and to ensure the legitimacy of heirs, they subjected women to live under the strict control of male guardians

Teaching said that men should treat women with sensitivity and respect but the Quran and Sharia permitted men to take up to 4 wives even though women could have one husband

Veiling of Women

When Islam spread to the Byzantine empire it encountered a tradition that was rapidly adopted such as the veiling of a woman

Social and familly pressures pushed high class women to veil themselves

As a sign of modesty upper class women also covered their faces and went outside only in the company of servants

The Quran provided specific rigths for women over the centuries however legal scholars interpreted the book in a way that would limit those rights and increases the emphasis of male authority in the Islamic law

Islamic cultural exchanges

Ever since the 7th century, the Quran served as the cornerstone of the Islamic society

The Quran established Arabic as a flexible and powerful medium of communication

Muslims til this day believe that the translations of the Quran don’t hold the same power as the original

In the era of Islamic expansion, Muslim missionaries spread the message of Allah and provided instruction in the Qurans teachings. They also usually permitted a continued observance of Pre-Islamic traditions

The formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition

Muslim theologians looked into the Quran, stories about Muhammad’s life and other sources of Islamic doctrine in their efforts to make guidelines that were appropriate for their society

The body and civil and criminal law embodied in the Sharia provided the mean of cultural unity for the different lands of the Islamic world

Islamic law didn’t erase the differences but provided a common cultural foundation that facilitated dealings between people of various lands

Promotion of Islamic Values

Ulama, qadis, missionaries and muslim traders helped bridge differences between cultural traditions and spread Islamic values through dar al-Islam

The qadis brought the values of the Quran and Sharia into the lives of peoples living far from the birthplace of Islam

Formal educational institutions also promoted Islamic values. Many mosques provided an elementary education and religious institution

By the 10th century institutions of higher education known as madrasas had begun to appear and 2 centuries later these institutions were in the major cities of the Islamic world

Muslim rulers supported madrasas

Sufis

Among the most effective Islamic missionaries were mystics known as Sufis, a community that included men and women

The term Sufi came from the patched woolen garments favored by the mystics

Sufis didn’t deny Islamic doctrines and had an education in Islamic theology and law but they also don’t find formal religious teachings meaningful

They concerned themselves with the fine points of the doctrine

many of the 9th century sufis became popular because of their devotion a d eagerness to their fellow human beings

Al-Ghazali

One of the most important of the early Sufis was the persian therologian al-Ghanzali(1058-1111) who argued that human reasons were too frail to understand Allah and couldn’t explain the mysteries of the world

He also believed that only through devotion and guidance from the Quran can people appreciate the power of Allah

Sufi missionaries

Sufis were effective because they emphasized devotion to Allah above the mastery of the doctrine and encouraged people to revere Allah in their own ways

The sufis lived holy lives which won them respect of the people to whom they preached. They also tolerated the observance of pre-Islamic customs

Islam and the Cultural traditions of Persia, India and Greece

Translators and Travelers

Muslims learned about different cultural traditions in many ways

• the abbasid dynasty invited foreign scholars to their land and sponsored translations of literacy and scientific works from Greek, Latin and Sanskrit to Arabic and Persian languages

• Muslims as well as Christians and Jewish and Zoroastrian translators had a massive library of foreign knowledge available to Muslims

• Muslim merchants, missionaries and travelers compiled geographic information

• Muslim geographers drew maps, atlases, sea charts and general descriptions of the world known to them

Persian Influence on Islam

• Administrative techniques

• Ideas of Kingship

• Literary works (persian was the principal language of literature, poetry, history and political reflection

Rubaiyat- famous poetry of Oman Khayyam that was later translated by Edward Fitzgerald

Arabian knights

The thousand and one knights

Indian Influences on Islam

• math, science, medicine

• Hindi numerals later known as arabic numerals

• Algebra, trigonometry, geometry

• Astronomy

Greek Influence on Islam

• Philosophy, Science, Medicine

• Plato and Aristotle

Ibn Rushd- an important islamic philosopher whose contributions were appreciated by many European scholars, followed Aristotle’s beliefs, influenced the development of Scholasticism- harmony between christian and Aristotelian beliefs

• Later on greek inspiration of philosophy decreased but didn’t fully disappear

• Algebra, Geometry, Astronomy, Geography

• Anatomy, Physiology