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Islam spread quickly to become one of the world’s most popular religions
– Remains so to this day
Muslim merchants played a crucial role in trade and cultural diffusion

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previe ws/942/663946.JPG
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Origins: Arabian
Peninsula
Mostly desert
Cities on coasts or near an oasis, thrived on trade
– Mecca and Medina most important
Bedouin tribes controlled caravan routes between cities
– Nomadic, clans based on kinship http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=5769&rendTypeId=4

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Polytheistic religion, animistic
– Some Jewish and Christian influence
Strong familial ties
Polygamy
– Some allowed women multiple husbands (polyandry)
Women enjoyed more freedom than those among neighboring cultures (Byzantine Empire and Persians)
– Many Bedouin tribes were matrilineal
– Women not secluded or veiled
Poetry main form of artistic expression
– No written language among Bedouin tribes

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By 500’s, Arabia was fragmented
– Rivalry among Bedouin
– Christianity and Judaism increased in influence
 Religious disunity
Prophets began to call for unity among the
Arabs
– Believed a common religion was needed

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Born around 570
– Grew up with father’s relatives
Educated to be a merchant
– Moved to Mecca as an adolescent
 Heavily influenced by monotheistic religion (Judaism and
Christianity)
610: received revelation from Allah
– Believed his revelation was the final word of god
Foundations of new religion: Islam
– Beliefs and teachings recorded in the Qur’an (Koran)

http://theinsanityofthesane.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/quran1.jpg

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Teachings unpopular in Mecca at first
– Fled to Medina
 became skilled politician and spiritual leader
– Islamic community became known as umma
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Muhammad’s teaching quickly spread
– Unified the people of Arabia

http://spicetrader.net/immortal/mecca-medina.png

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Muslim: follower of Islam
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5 Pillars of Islam
– Acceptance of Allah as one true god and
Muhammad as his prophet
– Prayer 5 times daily in direction of Mecca
– Fasting during day-light hours of Ramadan
– Charity for the less fortunate
– Hajj- pilgrimage to Holy Land

http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/saudi_arabia/grand_mosque_mecca_soudi_arabia_photo_2.jpg

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Islam:
– Is monotheistic
– promotes equality of all believers in the eyes of God
– Encourages charity for the poor
– Belief in judgment in the afterlife (paradise or hell)
Islam was an appealing religion that spread quickly

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632: death of Muhammad
– Uncertainty about leadership in Muslim community
– Some renounced faith due to lack of leadership
Caliph: political and religious successor of
Muhammad
– Some wanted Ali (Muhammad’s first cousin) to take over
– Others felt Abu Bakr (Muhammad’s father-in-law) would be better

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Abu Bakr of the Umayyad clan became caliph
(from 632-634)
– Began to standardize the Islamic faith, oversee compilation of the Qur’an (Koran), reassert Muslim authority among the Arabs
– Temporary peace
656: Civil War erupted after assassination of the
3 rd caliph (Uthman)
– Those who supported Umayya clan won (661)
– Conflict created a major division among the Muslim community

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Sunni Muslims supported the Umayyad clan
– Believed the first 3 caliphs had been accurately chosen
Shi’a (Shi’ite) Muslims supported Ali to be caliph
– Believed the first 3 caliphs were unfairly chosen
The Sunni-Shi’ite conflict still continues to this day.

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632-750, Umayyad ruled over an Arab Empire
– Capital in Damascus, Syria
Major Features
– Arabic as official language
– Use of gold & silver coins as currency
– Muslims enjoyed highest social position
 Only pay taxes for charity & received share of wealth from caravans
– Most people were dhimmi
– paid the bulk of taxes
(non-Muslim)
– Very little attempt to convert non-Muslims
– Established major area of influence in Jerusalem

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Gender/Family under Umayyad
– Muhammad taught respect for women, saw marriage as important social institution
 Denounced adultery, forbade female infanticide
 Saw men & women as equals in eyes of Allah
– Under Umayyad, men allowed 4 wives
 Women allowed only 1 husband
– Veiling not practiced
– Women involved in various occupations (law, commerce, scholars)

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750-1258
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750: Umayyad overthrown during rebellion
– Abbas took over and established the Abbasid
Caliphate
Capital at Baghdad
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Abbasid was a “Golden Age” for Islam
– Court-life, literature, learning

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Increase in converts during the Abbasid
– Missionary work to promote conversion
Urban expansion
– Baghdad became a cultural center and economic hub
Trade boomed
– Trade routes across the Sahara and throughout the
Mediterranean and Indian Ocean
– Use of lateen (triangular) sails on ships known as dhows
– Extensive trade increased wealth
 Reinvested or used to build Mosques, public buildings, religious schools, hospitals (Muslims were unsurpassed in their medical expertise at the time)

Lateen (triangular) sails http://www.mikewashburn.com/frcamp/dhow.jpg

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Cities were filled with artisan and craft shops
– Unskilled labor performed by slaves
 Slavery was not a hereditary condition
 Non-Muslims, usually captives from Africa
– Qur’an(Koran) forbids enslavement of Muslims, Jews,
Christians, or Zoroastrians

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Over time, Muslim scholars developed an
Islamic law code
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Shari’a
– Legal stability and common moral code
 Followed to varying degrees

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Muslim scholars preserved classical works from the Greek and Hellenistic period
Adopted the Indian Numeral system & spread it
– Made advances in algebra and trigonometry
Architecture became a form of artistic expression
– Mosques with elaborate mosaics inside
– Elaborate palaces for entertaining the elite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_of_the_Rock

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Where Muhammad ascends to Heaven
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City of David (Temple Mount). Housed the
Arch of the Covenant
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Solomon’s Temple built by Herod the Great

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During the Abbasid, the position of women began to decline
– Harems very popular
 Legends of harems with thousands of concubines and eunuchs
– Veiling and seclusion became popular
 Only slave women allowed to appear in public unescorted
However, women did have some rights
– Own property, right to divorce and remarry, right to testify in court, and the right to go on hajj

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By mid-800’s Abbasid began to lose power
– Internal unrest (Sunni-Shi’ite conflict)
– Courtly excess became a financial drain
– Sunni-Shi’ite conflict
– Revolts by non-Muslims and Turkish slaves (Mamluks)
Abbasid also faced outside pressures
– Seljuk Turks (nomadic group) seized territory to create the Seljuk Sultanate
– Crusaders
– Mongol Invasion
Abbasid eventually fell in 1258

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Muslims began to engage in campaigns against neighboring empires
– To gain wealth and glorify their religion
Seized territory from Byzantine Empire
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Territorial gains in: Syria, Egypt, Tunisia,
Spain, Algeria, Morocco
– Iberian Peninsula became a hub of learning and culture within Europe

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Islam spread quickly
– Aided by trade
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Expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa, the
Swahili Coast of East Africa, parts of
Europe and Asia
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More on this later!!!