Chapters 6, 7, & 8
Cultural
Pre-Islam
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Again culture of violence
◦ Strong dependence on and loyalty to one’s
family
◦ Survival depended on it
◦ War
◦ Ones honor depended on respect
◦ Code of chivalry
◦ Revenge
◦ Weakened them as a society
Religion Before Muhammad
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The clans blended animism and polytheism
◦ Met the needs of their individual clan
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Allah:
◦ Quraysh tribe’s supreme god
◦ Ka’ba was used as a religious place for multiple
gods
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Material culture
◦ Not highly developed because they had to
concentrate on survival
◦ Oral poetry
Islam

Started very small
◦ Muhammad was very respected so it helped
to get his message out
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Universal elements
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Monotheism
Highly developed legal code
Egalitarianism
Strong sense of community
Islam
Unifying  being Arab wasn’t enough
 Islam provided a religion that was
distinctly Arab

◦ equal to other religions
◦ But also different
 No intermediaries between the individual and God
◦ The umma transcended only tribal boundaries
Conquest
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Before Islam
◦ Men proved themselves as warriors by
fighting the other clans and killing

Now there wasn’t infighting so what to
do?
◦ Conquest as the answer
◦ They were still fighting and killing but it was
other people not Muslims
 Problem solved
Conversion change over time

Originally they didn’t want to convert
people,
◦ it would mean they had to share their Booty
(Umayyads)
Once the Umayyads fell the Abbasids
encouraged conversion
 Islam was spreading

◦ Merchants traded in Southeast Asia
◦ New lands decided they wanted it
What cultural achievements did the
Abbasid empire make???
New techniques in
investigation
 New technology
 Preserving learning of
Ancient civilizations
 2 discoveries in chemistry

◦ Creation of objective
experiment
◦ Al-razi’s scheme of classifying all
material substances into 3
categories
 Animal, vegetable, mineral
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Best hospitals in world
Telescopes and anatomy
advances
Muslim scientists work on
optics and bladder ailments
Made world’s best maps
Introduced into Islamic
world and Europe many
basic machines and
techniques
◦ Paper making
◦ Silk weaving
◦ Ceramic firing
What influence did India have on
Islam?
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Hindu scholars introduced Arab scholars to their numeral system
Indian algebra and geometry were translated into Arabic for Islamic
use
Indian physicians, brought to Baghdad to run hospitals cured many
Islamic officials
Indian statecrafts were translated into Arabic for Islamic use
The Indian game of chess traveled to the Arabic people
Arabs who immigrated Indian areas, adopted Indian dress and
hairstyles, and ate Indian food
Arab colonies in India provided staging areas for Islam to spread to
parts of Asia
Who were the Sufi and why were
they important?

The Sufi’s were wandering mystics
◦ They hoped for personal union with Allah
◦ There goal was this relationship
◦ They will be responsible for some of the spread of Islam during
the Abbasids
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Later in the Abbasids the Suffist movement will bring a lot of
vitality within Islam
Included both Sunni and Shi’a manifestations in its various
guises
Some Sufis gained reputations as great healers and miracle
workers
Led militant bands that tried to spread Islam to nonbelievers
Used ascetism or bodily denial to find Allah
◦ Meditation, songs, drugs and ecstatic dancing was also used to
find Allah
Africa common themes

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Culture – Similar language base – Bantu
◦ Comes along with some shared cultural
characteristics, but should not be interpreted as
creating uniformity
Religion - Similar early religious beliefs & practices
◦ Animism, as well as belief in a creator deity
◦ Ancestor worship
Existence of magic and need to combat it (priest
class)
 Similar to W. Europe
◦ Moral and legal foundation for society
Religion - Influence of Major Religions
Introduced through trade rather than missionary
work
 Religious Divisions:

◦ North-Eastern Africa becomes Christian
 Ethiopia and Nubia
◦ Northern (Ifriqiya), Western (Maghrib), and South-Eastern
(Zenj)Africa becomes Muslim
 Ghana – 10th century
 Songhay – 11th century
 Mali – 13th century

Syncretism
◦ Fusion of Islam with animistic/pagan traditions
Bantu again (I said it was important)

We have talked about the Bantu
◦ These are a group of people who
migrated throughout Africa.
◦ We can follow their process by
following their language
◦ This is also one of the reasons
there are so many languages in
Africa today
 About 500 different languages
 Swahili is one of them
 Cultural diffusion
◦ We also see a spread of ideas and
technology
Nubia and Ethiopia

Christian States
◦ The people were unhappy with Byzantine
Christians and welcomed Islam
Nubia resisted Muslim incursions until the
13th century
 Ethiopia retained Christianity even with
the increasing pressure from Muslims and
a growing Muslim population
 Islam spread from here into Somalia

Ghana culture

The animism rulers converted to Islam
◦ Still maintained some of their old beliefs
Much of the population did not convert
to Islam
 Large heterogeneous population (small
ethnic core)
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Mali
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Mansa Musa: Most famous of Sundiata
Successors
◦ First Mali king to pilgrimage to Mecca
◦ Clear social divisions under Mansa Sundiata
Muslim Empire
 Rulers supported Islam

◦ Built Mosques and encouraged prayer
◦ 5 pillars helped to keep order

Islam spread throughout the area
Songhay

Created a unique brand of Islam
◦ A fusion of Islam and local spiritual beliefs

Islam spread through
◦ merchants who joined the local community
◦ Intermarriage

Rulers were generally Muslim but the
population was generally not Muslims
Central African States
Mostly beyond the influence of Islam
 Kongo converted to Christianity
 Art: weaving, pottery, blacksmithing

Swahili States
Almost all rulers and merchants were
Muslims
 Islamicized trading cities developed as a
result of contacts with trading partners from
Arabia, Persia, India, and China
 Islam provided a universal set of ethics and
beliefs that made their maritime contacts
easier
 Shared language
 Mosques were build
 Royal courts
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