Developments in Dar al-Islam Notes

Developments in Dar al-Islam (c. 1200-1450)

Introduction

  • Islam spread rapidly from Arabia after Muhammad's death in 632 through military actions, merchants, and missionaries.
  • Islamic leaders often showed tolerance to Christians, Jews, and others who believed in a single god.
  • The Abbasid Empire had the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, a renowned center of learning where scholars traveled to study.
  • The Islamic community helped transfer knowledge throughout Afro-Eurasia.
  • After the Abbasids declined, they were replaced by other Islamic states.

Invasions and Shifts in Trade Routes

  • The Abbasid Empire faced challenges in the 1100s and 1200s:
    • Conflicts with nomadic groups in Central Asia.
    • Confrontation with European invaders.
Egyptian Mamluks
  • Arabs purchased enslaved people (Mamluks), often ethnic Turks from Central Asia, as soldiers and bureaucrats.
  • Mamluks had more opportunities for advancement.
  • In Egypt, Mamluks seized control and established the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517).
  • They prospered by facilitating trade in cotton and sugar between the Islamic world and Europe.
  • The Mamluk's power declined when the Portuguese and other Europeans developed new sea routes for trade.
Seljuk Turks
  • The Central Asian Seljuk Turks, who were Muslims, challenged the Abbasids.
  • Starting in the 11th century, they conquered parts of the Middle East, extending their power almost to Western China.
  • The Seljuk leader called himself sultan, reducing the Abbasid caliph to chief Sunni religious authority.
Crusaders
  • The Abbasids allowed Christians to visit holy sites in and around Jerusalem, but the Seljuk Turks limited this travel.
  • European Christians organized Crusaders to reopen access.
Mongols
  • The Mongols attacked the Abbasid Empire and conquered the remaining empire in 1258, ending Seljuk rule.
  • They were stopped in Egypt by the Mamluks.
Economic Competition
  • The Abbasids connected Asia, Europe, and North Africa through trade routes, many of which passed through Baghdad.
  • Trade patterns shifted northwards, and Baghdad lost its central place in trade, leading to a loss of wealth and population.
  • The infrastructure in Baghdad fell into decay, as canals were not repaired and farmers could not provide enough food.

Cultural and Social Life

  • The Islamic world fragmented politically, with new states adopting Abbasid practices but being ethnically distinct.
  • Later Islamic states were shaped by Turkic peoples, such as the Mamluks, Seljuks, and the Delhi Sultanate.
  • By the 16th century, three large Islamic states had roots in Turkic cultures: the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid Empire, and the Mughal Empire.
  • These Islamic states formed a cultural region, facilitated by trade, the use of shariah (Islamic law), and universities in Baghdad, Córdoba, Cairo, and Bukhara.
Cultural Continuities
  • Islamic scholars followed Muhammad's advice to seek knowledge, learning from many cultures.
  • They translated Greek literary classics into Arabic, preserving the works of Aristotle and other Greek thinkers.
  • They studied mathematics texts from India and transferred the knowledge to Europeans.
  • They adopted paper-making techniques from China, which were then passed on to Europeans.
Cultural Innovations
  • During the "golden age" in Baghdad, scholars made significant achievements.
  • Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) contributed to astronomy, law, logic, ethics, mathematics, philosophy, and medicine.
    • He built the most advanced observatory, producing accurate astronomical charts.
    • He studied the relationship between the sides and angles of a triangle, laying the groundwork for trigonometry.
  • Medical advances and hospital care improved in cities like Cairo, with doctors and pharmacists requiring licenses to practice.
  • Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is known for his historical accounts and is considered a founder of historiography and sociology.
  • 'A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah (1460-1507) was a Sufi poet and mystic and may be the most prolific female Muslim writer before the 20th century.
    • Her works describe her journey toward mystical illumination.
Sufism
  • Sufis emphasized introspection over intellectual pursuits, seeking truths beyond learning.
  • Sufism may have emerged as a response to the perceived luxury of the Umayyad Caliphate.
  • Sufi missionaries played a vital role in spreading Islam, adapting to local cultures and traditions and incorporating local religious elements.
Commerce, Class, and Diversity
  • Commerce helped to power the golden age of natural and moral philosophy and the arts.
  • Islamic society esteemed merchants due to Muhammad's background and the revival of trade on the Silk Roads.
  • Merchants were expected to maintain fair dealings and give to charity.
  • In non-Arab areas of Islamic expansion, non-Arabs faced discrimination, which gradually faded in the 9th century.
  • Soldiers were forbidden to own conquered territory, allowing life in the countryside to remain relatively unchanged, though people paid tribute to Islamic caliphs.
Slavery
  • Islam allowed slavery but prohibited enslaving other Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians.
  • Slaves were often imported from Africa, Kievan Rus, and Central Asia.
  • The institution of hereditary slavery did not develop, and many slaves converted to Islam and were freed.
  • Slave women could serve as concubines and had more independence than legal wives.
  • They were allowed to dance or perform musically before unrelated men and could earn money to buy their freedom.
Free Women in Islam
  • Some practices associated with Islam, such as women covering their heads and faces, were common cultural customs before Muhammad.
  • Hijab is a term referring to dressing modestly or a specific type of covering.
  • Women could study and read but not in the company of unrelated men.
Muhammad's Policies
  • Muhammad raised the status of women.
  • He treated his wives with love and devotion.
  • He insisted that dowries be paid to the future wife rather than her father.
  • He forbade female infanticide.
  • Muhammad's first wife was educated and owned her own business, setting a pattern for recognizing women's abilities.
The Status of Women
  • Islamic women generally enjoyed a higher status than Christian or Jewish women.
  • They were allowed to inherit property and retain ownership after marriage.
  • They could remarry if widowed and receive a cash settlement if divorced.
  • Under some conditions, a wife could initiate divorce.
  • Women could practice birth control.
  • Women's testimony in court was worth half that of a man.
  • The rise of towns and cities in Islamic-ruled areas resulted in new limitations on women's rights.
  • The veil and the harem symbolized the new status of women.

Islamic Rule in Spain

  • The Umayyads ruled in Spain longer than in the Middle East, invading from the south in 711 after defeating Byzantine armies in North Africa.
  • Córdoba was designated as their capital.
Battle of Tours
  • In 732, Islamic military expansion into Western Europe was halted at the Battle of Tours against Frankish forces.
  • Most of the continent remained Christian, but Muslims ruled Spain for seven centuries.
Prosperity Under Islam
  • Like the Abbasids in Baghdad, the Umayyad rulers in Córdoba fostered a climate of toleration among Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
  • They promoted trade, allowing Chinese and Southeast Asian products to enter Spain and Europe via ships called dhows.
    • Dhows had long, thin hulls that were excellent for carrying goods.
Cultural and Scholarly Transfers
  • Islamic Spain (al-Andalus) became a center of learning.
  • Córdoba had the largest library in the world at the time.
  • Ibn Rushd (Averroes) wrote influential works on law, secular philosophy, and the natural sciences.
  • Muslims, Christians, and Jews influenced one another, with Ibn Rushd's commentaries on Aristotle influencing the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.
  • Maimonides developed a synthesis of Aristotle's reasoning and biblical interpretation, influencing Christian philosophers like St. Thomas Aquinas.
  • Islamic scholarship and scientific innovations, along with knowledge transferred from India and China, laid the groundwork for the Renaissance and Scientific Revolution in Europe.
  • The making of paper, developed in China and taught to Europeans by Muslims, was vital for spreading ideas.