The Rise of Islam
Arabia in Late Antiquity
 Struggle between Sasanian Empire (Persian,
Zoroastrian) and Byzantium (Christian)
 Kingdom of Axum is a client state of Byzantium
 Pre-existing struggles between Christians and
polytheists in Arabia before the birth of Muhammad
Muhammad
 Spiritual awakening in 610 CE
 Member of Quraysh tribe in Mecca
 Journey to Medina in 622 CE
 Religious community (umma)
 Conquest of Mecca in 630 CE
 Dies in 632
Kaaba
The early Caliphate
 First four rightly guided Caliphs (rashidun) (to 661 CE)
 Abu Bakr; ‘Umar; ‘Uthman; ‘Ali (all related to
Muhammad)
 Ridda wars
Expansion of Islam to c.
650
Umayyad caliphate (661 –
750)
 Period of spectacular military success. Islam stretched from
Punjab to Spain.
 Caliphs cannot claim direct ties of blood to the Prophet.
 Conflict between ‘Ali and Mu’awiya. Ali successful in 656
but struggles to assert himself.
 Kharijites (seceders).
 Fitna (strife)
Expansion of Islam to c.
750
Legitimacy of rulers
 Kharijites - piety and standards of behaviour
 Alids, later Shi’ites -- legitimacy comes from descent
from the prophet.
 Umayyads - legitimacy comes from consensus of
community of Believers (jamaa)
 Religious scholars (‘ulama)
 Taxation of mawali (clients of Arab tribes)
Golden dome of Karbala
Dome of the Rock
Abbasid caliphate
 In 750 Umayyads were overthrown by a Shi’ite revolt from
Khurasan in north-eastern Iran.
 Capital moved from Syria to Baghdad in 762 CE.
 The Abbasids have a bad press from early Islamic historians
 More inclusive than Umayyads
 Development of bureaucracy
 Iqta (right to collect taxes instead of taking a salary).
Mamluks
 From 9th C. the Abbasids replace the army that brought
them to power with Turkish slave soldiers (mamluks or
ghulams) brought from central Asia
 Esp. under caliph al-Mu‘tasim (r. 833–42)
Abbasids and ‘ulama
 Al-Ma’mun (r. 813 – 33) tries to subject ‘ulama to an
inquisition (mihna)
 Mihna abandoned under al-Mutawakkil in 848
End of Abbasid rule
 By mid 10th century Abbasids are controlled by Shiite
Buyids in Iraq. Buyids are invaders from northern Iran.
 This period sees split between Sunni and Shiite Muslims
which lasts until the present.
 Building of libraries and law schools (madrasas)
 Sunnis assemble collection of hadiths
 Development of four schools of Islamic legal thought
(madhabs)