Chapter 13

The Expansive Realm of Islam

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Muhammad and His Message

Born about 570 C.E. to merchant family in Mecca

Orphaned as a child
Marries wealthy widow ca. 595 C.E., works as
merchant
Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and
Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula

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Muhammads Spiritual
Transformation

Visions, ca. 610 C.E.

Archangel Gabriel
Monotheism Allah
Attracts followers in Mecca

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The Quran

Record of revelations received during visions

Committed to writing ca. 650 C.E. (Muhammad
dies 632 C.E.)
Tradition of Muhammads life: hadith

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Conflict at Mecca

Muhammads monotheistic teachings offensive to

polytheistic pagans
Economic threat to existing religious industry
Denunciation of greed was affront to local
aristocracy

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The Hijra

Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 C.E.

Year 0 in Muslim calendar

Organizes followers into communal society

(the umma)
Legal, spiritual code
Commerce, raids on Meccan caravans for sake of
umma

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The Seal of the Prophets

Muhammad the final prophet

Accepted the authority of Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus
Held in high esteem Hebrew scriptures and the
Christian New Testament
Muhammad had been entrusted a more complete
revelation, one that communicated Allahs plan
for the world
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Muhammads Return to Mecca

Attack on Mecca, 630 C.E.

Conversion of Mecca to Islam
Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques

Kaba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca

Approved as pilgrimage site

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The Kaba

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The Five Pillars of Islam

No god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet

Daily prayer
Fasting during Ramadan
Charity
Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)

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Muslims at Prayer

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11

Jihad

Struggle

Against vice
Against ignorance of Islam

Holy war

Against unbelievers who threaten Islam

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Islamic Law: The Sharia

Codification of Islamic law

Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools of
analysis
Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human
activity

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The Caliph

No clear to successor to Muhammad identified

Abu Bakr chosen to lead as caliph
Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam
after death of Muhammad

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The Expansion of Islam

Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sasanid

territories
Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory

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The Expansion of Islam, 632-733 C.E.

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The Shia

Disagreements over selection of caliphs

Ali passed over for Abu Bakr
Served as caliph 656-661 C.E., then assassinated
along with most of his followers
Remaining followers organize separate party
called Shia
Traditionalists: Sunni

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Shiite Pilgrims at Karbala

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The Umayyad Dynasty

(661-750 C.E.)

From Meccan merchant class

Brought stability to the Islamic community
Capital: Damascus, Syria
Associated with Arab military aristocracy

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Policy toward Conquered Peoples

Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes

discontent
Limited social mobility for non-Arab Muslims
Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims
Umayyad luxurious living causes further decline
in moral authority

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The Abbasid Dynasty

(750-1258 C.E.)

Abu al-Abbas, Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, nonArab Muslims

Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia
Defeats Umayyad army in 750 C.E.

Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred them

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Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty

Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not

exclusively Arab)
Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial
expansion
Content to administer the empire they had
inherited
Dar al-Islam
Growth through military activity of autonomous
Islamic forces
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Abbasid Administration

Persian influence
Court at Baghdad
Influence of Islamic scholars
Ulama and qadis sought to develop policy based
on the Quran and sharia

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Caliph Harun al-Rashid

(786-809 C.E.)

High point of Abbasid dynasty

Baghdad center of commerce
Great cultural activity

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Abbasid Decline

Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid

Provincial governors assert regional independence
Dissenting sects, heretical movements
Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian
nobility
Later, Saljuq Turks influence; sultan real power
behind the throne

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Economy of the Early Islamic World

Spread of food and industrial crops

Western diet adapts to wide variety

New crops adapted to different growing seasons

Trade routes from India to Spain

Agricultural sciences develop

Cotton, paper industries develop

Major cities emerge

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Formation of a Hemispheric Trading

Zone

Historical precedent of Arabic trade

Dar al-Islam encompasses silk routes

Ice exported from Syria to Egypt in summer, tenth

century

Camel caravans
Maritime trade

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Banking and Trade

Scale of trade causes banks to develop

Sakk (check)

Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar alIslam promotes trade

Joint ventures common

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Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)

Muslim Berber conquerors from north Africa take

Spain, early eighth century
Allied to Umayyads, refused to recognize
Abbasid dynasty

Formed own caliphate

Tensions, but interrelationship

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Changing Status of Women

Quran improves status of women

Outlawed female infanticide

Brides, not husbands, claim dowries

Yet male dominance preserved

Patrilineal descent
Polygamy permitted, polyandry forbidden
Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice

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Formation of an Islamic Cultural

Tradition

Islamic values

Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam

Establishment of madrasas
Importance of the hajj

Sufi missionaries

Asceticism, mysticism
Some tension with orthodox Islamic theologians
Wide popularity
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Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)

Major Sufi thinker from Persia

Impossibility of intellectual apprehension of
Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy instead

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Cultural Influences on Islam

Persia

Administration and governance

literature

India

Mathematics, science, medicine

Hindi numbers

Greece

Philosophy, especially Aristotle

Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-1198)

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