The lecture series covers a range of topics, including ancient history, cultures, and religions.
Session 9 focuses on Islam, including its origins and expansion.
Upcoming sessions will explore topics such as America before 1453, contacts in the Old World and Indian Ocean, heritage, and curation.
There's a midterm exam scheduled in person, and a final exam at the end of the semester.
Agenda: Islam
The session will cover the emergence and spread of Islam as a new world religion.
Reading assignment: Zoroastrian law.
Assignment/deadline: Sign up for oral exam.
Upcoming: National Museum Asian African American tickets.
The session includes time for settling in, attendance, a global history lecture, a break, primary source analysis, and a seminar.
Global History Presentation
Surprising Lives of Ancient Women, presented by Yaroslava, Yana, and Ander.
Assumptions about Islam
What is Islam?
Which geographical region is associated with it?
How is it defined?
Are there problems with this definition?
"Middle East" is a New Term
The term "Middle East" emerged in the late 19th century due to increased political, academic, and economic interest in the region.
In 1904, the American State Department used this term.
Before the 18th-19th centuries, the region was frequently referred to as the Orient.
Some define the region as the Near East.
The use of these terms is considered Eurocentric.
What is What?
Traditionally, the Near East includes Turkey, Egypt, and the Fertile Crescent.
The Middle East stretches wider, including Iran and parts of North Africa, especially the Arabian Peninsula.
There is no academic consensus on the geographical "borders" of the Middle East.
Present Inhabitants
Arab Middle East: Where Arabic is the official language.
Turkey: Majority Turks, but also other minority ethnic groups (Kurds, Laz, Azeri, Jews, Armenians, Circassians, Iranians, etc.); official language is Turkish.
Iran: Majority Iranians who speak Persian (an Indo-European language).
Historical Meanings - Words Change Meanings Over Time
"Arab" used to refer to the Bedouin population of the Near East.
"Iran" was revived (as an idea) by the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925 – 1979) to do away with the connotations of Persia in the nation-building process.
Pahlavi: ancient script of the Sassanian Empire (Middle Persian, replaced by Arabic script but still used by Zoroastrians).
"Turk" used to be a derogatory term that referred to uncultured peasants of Anatolia.
Among the People and Places Considered…
Where and by whom was Islam established?
The Arabs
According to legend, Arabs are traced back to Isma’il (son of Abraham and Egyptian maid, Haga).
Inhabited pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula and shared socio-linguistic commonalities with Semitic-speaking peoples (e.g., the Hebrews, Assyrians, Arameans, Amhara of Ethiopia).
Hijaz: prominent cultural and economic region.
Mecca: location of Kaaba or “cube” the holiest place in the peninsula—this place protected relics and images.
The Arabian Peninsula: Geographic and Social Features
Deserts, a fertile strip (Hijaz), and Yemen.
The peninsula: limited resources, camel and sheep pastoralism, trade.
Most fertile region: Hijaz, center of trade.
Exports to Levant by caravans of camels through Mecca and Yemen to the East Mediterranean, including fruit trees and essential grains.
Imports: Textiles and olive oil.
Culture
People lived in small tribes, family and relative groups.
Oral traditions (subsequently receive alternative artistic depictions).
Main cultural activity: poetry (Qasida).
Values: Courage, hospitality, protection of the weak, revenge, loyalty, generosity, sexual prowess.
Contemporary knowledge on pre-Islamic Arabia passed from 9 – 10th century.
Pre-Islamic Arabia: Religious Features
Gods and goddesses, idols.
Islam did not come from local faiths (though it did absorb them, e.g., pilgrimage and sartorial practices).
Inspired by pre-existing monotheistic religions and traveled through trade.
Mecca and the Quraysh clan played a fundamental role.
Mecca
The Kaaba/Cube: a place of holy pilgrimage.
House of God, built by Abraham and son Ismail.
Black stone of celestial origins - given to Abraham by Gabriel.
Guarded by the Quraysh.
Place of monotheistic (e.g. Christian) and pagan images, relics, and icons.
Shelter from war and persecution.
Other local features integrated: Arabic and the importance of tribal and clan affiliations.
Features @ Beg. of the 7th C.
A fragmented, urbanizing, society.
Economic activity through market towns.
Security through tribal and clan affiliations.
Decline of regional powers, familiarity with monotheistic discourse.
The Rise of a World Religion
Muhammad (570 – 632)
Establishes a monotheistic religion with a tight link between temporal and spiritual power.
“Rashidun”
Abu Bakr (632 – 634); est. the Caliphate of God.
Umar ibn Al-Khattab (634 – 644).
Uthman ibn Affan (644 – 656).
Ali ibn Abu Talib (656 – 661).
Second convert.
Sunni- Shi‘i split.
Umayyads (661 – 750).
Abbasids (750 – 1258).
The Founder, Prophet Muhammed (570-632 CE)
Born in Mecca to the Hashemite tribe.
Orphaned at 6.
Raised by grandfather and uncle (Abu Talib).
Wife: Khadijah (1st convert).
Fifteen years senior.
Businesswoman (hired him to help with caravans).
Contact with monotheistic discourse (Christianity and Judaism) upon traveling to Syria for caravan work.
The Revelations
Revelations (610).
Instructed to “recite” by Archangel Gabriel while in a cave.
Word of God – revelations become Quran.
So a new world religion is born.
Conversions: Khadija, Ali, Abu Bakr (influential and gains more followers).
Spread from merchant elites, to men of influence in lesser clans, to the socially marginalized and foreigners.
An Abrahamic Faith
Grew from a Judeo-Christian tradition.
Muhammad didn’t claim to establish a new religion.
Last of the messengers of God, beginning with Hebrew prophets and through Jesus.
Other religions deviated, the Bible was distorted over time.
God sent Gabriel to bring humanity back on the Sirat-i Mustakim.
Definitions
Islam: “submission."
Muslim: "one who submits (to God)"
The Fundamentals
Once in Medina, Mohammed set up a new tribe, the Islamic one, with 5 pillars:
Shahada: Faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophet, Mohammad.
Salat: Daily prayers (X5).
Zakat: Almsgiving, mutual obligations and duties to the community.
Swam: Fasting—humility in front of God, a reminder of what it means to be poor and hungry.
Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca (depending on means).
General thoughts on these?
Expansion
Public preaching of the Quran c. 613; spoke against traditional pagan gods.
Most of early converts at the local level, beyond immediate circle: the poor.
As more followers grew in number, the more opposition they encountered from those with established authority:
Mohammed under the protection of uncle (Abu Talib) and the Hashim clan of the Quraysh.
Despair and personal sorrow: death of wife and Abu Talib in 619.
Year 1 (622 CE) - Lunar
Opposition against Muslims became too intense in Mecca.
622: Muhammad invited by a delegation to Medina to settle a tribal dispute over a shared oasis—fertile spot, with water, in a desert.
Muhammad and followers migrated to Medina—the hijra (to move; to migrate).
Local converts in Medina came to be known as helpers, the ansar.
What is the “umma” ?
Umma: community of believers that dominated the social and political life in Medina
Helped Muhammad institutionalize Islam by prophet with the help of the ansari .
Later identifies the transnational community of believers.
Muhammad’s roles in Medina
Religious leader.
Political leader.
Judicial leader (e.g. laws based on Quran’s morals and ethics).
Legislator, working with majlis (parliament) and elders, to enact laws.
Military leader.
Conquest of Mecca (632)
Battles with Quraysh of Mecca (hostile to Muhammad).
Practical considerations: fight over ideology or threats to profits, or both?
Major Battles in 624 (Badr), 625 (Uhud), 627 (Khandaq) : Muhammad and followers defeat Meccans and seize caravans.
A truce: Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, 628.
Muhammad entered Mecca after the Quraysh broke terms, in 630.
The city surrendered, Kaaba cleansed of idols.
The Umma in 632 CE Muhammad’s Achievements:
Able to spread Islam rapidly (filled power vacuum of Persian and Byzantine empires).
Both weakened with continuous disputes, especially over Mesopotamia.
Most of Arabia converted in lifetime.
New social solidarity (asabiyah).
Authority based on religion (vs tribal status).
Internal peace due to the acceptance of jihad as only possible cause of raiding.
Over-aching unit leaves room for potential future disputes.
Texts, Laws, Principles
Quran—sacred book, word of God, dictated to Muhammad by Gabriel.
Hadith—a collection of sayings, traditions and practices in and of Muhammad’s daily life (apart from the Quran).
Sharia: Laws developed in conformity with principles and teachings.
Quran: Zooming In
114 Chapters, “Surahs”
Most begin with “Bismillahirrahmanirraheem” – “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
+6,236 verses, “Ayat”
30 sections, “Juz”
Non-chronological.
Begins with longer ones, ends with shorter ones.
Meccan or Medinan (revealed before or after the hijra).
Arabic – argued to be untranslatable.
God has 99 names.
Primary Source Deliberation
Third chapter of Quran
Imran: Maryam’s father (Maryam: Isa’s mother).
Who is Maryam? Who is Isa?
Miracles, battles with Meccans (Badr, victorious; Uhud, defeated).
What is the effect?
The Arab Conquests
Minimum assimilation and intervention in the reigns of the first five rulers - conversion linked to clientelism and access to clan benefits.
The time of Muhammad (622-632)
“The Rashidun” (632-661)
Umayyad (661-750)
Rashidun: Rightly-Guided Caliphs
Muhammad did not formally appoint a successor—a khalifa, in Arabic
Married to A’isha (marriage of political alliance), Abu Bakr’s daughter.
Shura (consultation) among early Muslim community vowed allegiance to Abu Bakr (image).
Abu Bakr brought stability and rule by consent to Islamic government.
Died two years after the Prophet.
Umar (r. 634-644)
Umar, friend of Abu Bakr, elected by majlis.
Dynamic and uncompromising leader with a powerful military background
Capitalized on jihad (not made a pillar by Muhammad).
Military troops received majority of loot from conquest (4/5), the rest went to the poorest members of society.
Major Conquests
Jihad against the Roman and Sasanian Empires.
Notable Roman defeats in Palestine (634), Yarmouk, between Jerusalem and Damascus (636), then Antioch, Aleppo, Jerusalem (wouldn’t return till Crusades).
After Byzantine defeat: attention to Sasanians (defeated at Battle of Qadisiya, 636).
Conquest of Egypt (639-641).
Success: superior military tactics, local discontent with existing rule, appeal of doctrine.
Jizya and Toleration
Conquests bring people under the fold of Islam, not all are Muslims.
Jizya: tax on the dhimmi.
Preferred by Coptic Christian in Egypt and Jews in Alexandria to persecution under Orthodox Christianity because it comes with toleration.
Protection and toleration:
Pact of Umar (c.637)
Alliances: Syrian Orthodox Church collaborated with Muslims against Byzantines.
Discontent under Uthman (r. 644-656)
Second cousin, son-in-law, companion, “the Possessor of two lights” (married to Muhammed’s daughters) ; third of the Rashidun
Religious but weak ruler; government began to disintegrate.
Nepotism and financial mismanagement
E.g., Medina gets disproportionate revenues, discontent over privileged status of earlier converts.
Assassinated by a 656, succeeded by Ali.
Ali (600-661 CE)
Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; among first converts; last Rashidun caliph and first imam (Shia doctrine).
First Civil War: Battle of Camel (656)
Ali vs. forces of Prophets’ widowed wife Aisha and her allies' army.
Very significant, influential, and revered figure in early Islam.
Pretext: failure to bring Uthman’s assassins to justice.
Ali emerges as victorious, accepted as legitimate in Basra and Egypt (not Syria).
Ali, Internal Strife, Challenge of Leadership
Battle of Siffin (657): upper Euphrates. Opposition to Ali from Mu’awiya (Syria’s Umayyad governor).
Ali favored arbitration but soldiers departed, saying negotiation reduces the role of God.
Divisions deepen; Ali stabbed by dissidents (Kharijites) in 661 @ Grand Mosque of Kufa during morning prayer (dies).
Son, Hasan, forced to abdicate: Mu’awiya accepted Caliph, except by partisans (Shia).
Muawiya to the Umayyad Caliphate
Umayyads end elections; position hereditary.
Crystallized Sunni-Shia split.
Battle of Karbala (680): Ali’s supporters call on Hasan’s brother, Hussayn, to revolt against the Umayyads.
Husayn massacred with his supporters, 10 Muharram, Ashura.
Shia opt for quietism and later fractionalize.
Still a minority (10-15%).
Umayyads, the First Muslim Dynasty (661-750)
Some facts:
First Islamic currency and Arabization (especially of administration) c. time of Abdul Malik (685-705).
Expand Muslim (mostly peacefully) reach all the way across North Africa and to Spain.
The Abbasid Revolution
Abbasids trace origins to Muhammad’s uncle, Abbas and the Hashemite clan.
Revolution beg. in Persia (743) grew enough to challenge and overthrow and massacre Umayyads (750).
Except those under Abdulrahman, who established the Umayyads of Spain, escape via Egypt and North Africa.
Capital moved from Damascus to Baghdad.
Ushered in the “Golden Ages” of Islam.
“When Baghdad Ruled the World”
Baghdad: largest city in the world (half a million).
Major economic center along Silk Road.
Agricultural development (rice, cotton, sugar from India; citrus from China).
Unity of Arab and Persian traditions and cultures, and then some.
Translation of Greek, Persian, Sanskrit, Chinese works.
Biographies of the prophet and poetry (contradictions, e.g., Abu Nuwas, among the greatest poets of the era), Aristotelian thought.
Regional diplomacy (image of al-Mamun sending an envoy to Byzantine emperor): ambassadorships governing relations with Byzantines.
Military
Tribal armies replaced by Mamluks under Caliph Al-Mu'tasim (833-842).
Non-Arab slave soldiers and mercenaries (usually Turkic).
Loyal, proud caste of soldiers, elite bodyguards of caliphs.
Eventually attain power.
Political Fragmentation During the Golden Age
Relative Muslim unity 🡪 changes and challenges c. late- 9th cent
Multiple dynasties seeking legitimacy:
Opposing the Abbasids and attempting to conquer Baghdad.
Seeking religious sanctification by Abbasids for conquests.
Timeline of Empires and Dynasties
Sasanian Empire (224-636)
Byzantine Empire (about 330-1453)
Umayyad Caliphate (661-750)
Spanish Umayyads (756-1031)
Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258)
Samanids (819-1005)
Seljuqs of Iran (about 1040-1196)
Almoravids and Almohads (about 1062-1147; 1130-1269)
Seljuqs of Rum (1081-1307)
Ilkhanids (1206-1353)
Nasrid kingdom (1232-1492)
Mamluks (1250-1517)
Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)
A Mamluk like Ahmad ibn Tulun (835-884)
Ahmad ibn Tulun (835-884) a Circassian mamluk.
Sent to Egypt to strengthen it
Founded schools, hospitals, and mosques.
As Bagdad got weaker, Tulun secured power and raised army of mamluks.
Egypt initially grew independent with Tulunids (but absorbed by Abbasids).
The Fatimids (909-1171)
Fatimids declared under Abdullah al-Mahdi
Self-proclaimed Mahdi (spiritual and worldly leader).
Ismaili Shia and claimed descent from Ali, but the people ruled were largely Sunni.
Capital of caliphate est. in Cairo
Substantial reach across N. Africa.
Fatimids established al-Azhar, Egypt’s largest Mosque and a center of learning.
The Mongol Invasions
Occurred during thirteenth century.
Most devastating: sack of Baghdad.
Loss of cultural, scientific, literary treasures.
Political fragmentation.
End of Islamic Golden Age.
Room for the emergence of other Muslim Empires.
Conflict and Co-Existence
Non-Muslims as people of the book, a history of peaceful coexistence as well as marginalization and conflict.
Cultural hierarchies, e.g., outlawing of wine under al-Hakim (991-1021) didn’t just target Christians and Jews (think, Abu Nuwas).
The greatest conflict between Islam and Christianity: not a result of local tension, but the arrival of non-local Christians, in the form of the Crusades (will return to in “Medieval Contacts: Old World”).
Primary Source Presentation
Meditations, by Yaroslava, Martin, Oliver
Secondary Source Analysis
Who is the author? Do you trust this author?
What is the publication platform? Is it a legitimate academic source?