APWH 1.2: Dar-al-Islam

The Context

  • Dar-al-Islam translates → “House of Islam“

  • It describes when Islam spread from the Middle East to southwestern Europe, South Asia, and North Africa

  • Arab Muslim empires declined and new Turkic Muslim empires rose

Abrahamic Religions

  • The following were monotheistic:

    • Believed in 1 god

Judaism

  • Ethnic religion of Jews

  • Came from the Middle East

  • Led to the rise of Christianity & Islam

Christianity

  • Created by a Jewish prophet aka Jesus Christ

    • Jesus claimed to be the messiah that the Jews were waiting

    • After the Romans crucified him, his message of salvation spread everywhere

  • At first, Christians were a persecuted minority, but eventually took over the Roman Empire

Islam

  • Preached by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th CE

  • Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was a trader

    • Islamic states became prosperous b/c wealth was alright while Jesus didn’t promote trade

Abbassid Caliphate (8th CE)

  • Ethnically Arab

  • Replaced Umayyad Caliphate

  • They were in power during the Islamic Golden Age

  • 1200s - Fragmented, collapsing → new Islamic Empires

New Islamic Empires

  • Contrary to popular belief, Turkic people made up most of new Islamic Empires

    • In the beginning, Arabs ran the Islamic Empire, but by 1200s, Turkic Muslims rose up

    • Turkic Muslims were good warriors and set up their rival empires

Seljuk Empire

  • 11th CE in Central Asia

  • Pastoral people who were brought by the Abbassids as military forces to expand the empire and culturally integrate their empire by force

  • 1200s: Seljuks claimed more political power as the Abbasids lost their footing

  • Extremely good warriors

Mamluk Sultanate

  • Replaced the Ayyubid Sultanate

  • Salahuddin of the Ayyubid Sultanate needed more laborers for his state → he enslaved fierce Turkic warriors aka the Mamluks

  • After Salahuddin died, his sultans were incompetent → perfect time for Mamluks to take over power

Delhi Sultanate

  • Ruled over the Indian population for over 300 years

  • Established via military force

Continuities of Muslim Empires

  • The military continued to be in charge of administration

  • Implemented Shari’a law

    • Code of laws established from Qu’ran

How Islam Spread

  • Military Expansion

    • Ex. Delhi Sultanate]

  • Merchant Activity

    • Trade encouraged others to convert

    • Ex. Other places in Africa converted after North Africa converted

  • Muslim Missionaries aka Sufis

    • Sufism was a form of Islam that emphasized mystical experience

Innovations & Transfers

Mathematics

  • Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi: Muslim Mathematician

    • Developed trigonometry to understand how planets and stars moved

    • Nicolas Copernicus would later use his math to prove the heliocentric theory

House of Wisdom

  • Established in Baghdad during the Golden Age of Islam

  • An intellectual hub where scholars from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions talked about theology, philosophy, and the natural sciences

  • Worked as a library; Scholars translated/preserved Greek texts

    • The translated works and commentaries were used to form the Renaissance in Europe