North Africa/Southwest Asia 2: Islam and Conflict
I.
II.
Defining the Region
A. African Atlantic shore (Morocco)  steppes of inner Asia
B. crossroads: Europe, Asia, Africa
World of Islam
A. source region of 3 major religions: Islam, Judaism, Christianity
B. Muhammad
1. born 570 AD in Mecca
2. Hijra (flight to Medina) June 16, 622 AD
C. Tenets of Islam
1. Sharia - Islamic law criminal code
2. sources of teachings
a. Koran/Qur’an
b. hadith
3. Five Pillars of Islam - devout Muslims
a. shehada - profession of faith
b. salat - praying obligatory 5 times/day
c. zakat - almsgiving
d. fast of Ramadan
e. hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca
f. jihad - 6th “pillar”
D. 2 major factions of Islam:
1. Shiites
a. Shiites worldwide ~15% of Muslims
b. Iran
2. Sunni
a. Sunni worldwide ~85% of Muslims
b. rising fundamentalism
3. Sunni v. Shiite - Iraq
E. Women and Islam
1. veiling
a. “hijab” – any woman’s dress that follows Islamic principles
b. Egypt's loss in 1967 Six-Day War
c. Iran's theocratic revolution
d. range of cloaking
e. women’s attitude toward cloaking
2. baad: traditional practice of trading young girls as method of settling disputes
3. sexual conduct
a. strict Islamic states: death penalty for adultery
b. honor killings
F. impact of Islam varies by country
1. Saudi Arabia (Sunni)
2. Turkey (secular)
3. Afghanistan (Sunni) - Taliban
4. Pakistan
G. Islam around the world
1. 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide (2010 Pew Center)
2. 90% live east of Karachi (Pakistan)
H. Islam today/tomorrow -- fundamentalist religion and democracy
N Africa/SW Asia 2: Islam and Conflict - p. 1 of 2
III.
IV.
I. Kamala Khan – Marvel Comics’ Muslim American super hero
J. Frontline video: The Road North
World of Conflict
A. arbitrary borders
B. regional conflicts
1. Israel and Arabic neighbors
a. UN partition Palestine/created Israel May 14, 1948 – Jewish homeland
b. war  territory gain/loss
c. Palestinians
d. Fatah (secular nationalist) v. Hamas (Islamist)
e. the wall
f. Israeli settlements
g. Palestinian statehood
h. Gaza-Israeli war 2014
i. terrorists or freedom fighters?
2. Iran
a. Shah Pahlavi
b. Ayatollah Khomeini - 1979 Islamist revolution
c. fundamentalist Shiite
d. “Axis of Evil”
e. nuclear agreement
3. Afghanistan
a. ultra-orthodox Sunni
b. the Great Game: Walkan Corridor
c. USSR’s “Vietnam” 1979-89
d. Taliban 1996
e. “graveyard of empires”
f. Taliban 2015
4. Iraq
a. artificial state
1) rival factions: Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds
2) Sunni dominate
b. Iraq-Iran War: 1980-1990
1) capitalize on turmoil
2) Sunni/Shiite; Arab/Persian; secular/Islamist
c. 1991 Gulf War - Desert Storm
d. Iraq War 2003
1) “Axis of Evil” ~ Saddam Hussein
2) WMD
5. Kurdistan: Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria
a. political pawns
b. Kurds in Iraq
c. Syria: opportunity?
Arab Spring
1. 2011 – “Jasmine Revolution” Tunisia
2. Egypt
3. Libya
4. Syria
5. ISIS
6. the region – what now? What does democracy look like?
N Africa/SW Asia 2: Islam and Conflict - p. 2 of 2