Lecture 11—The Formation of Islamic Civilization 622945 AD
Origins and Early Development:
The Setting: By 600 AD, Byzantium / Rome had been confronting the Sasanids /
Parthians for centuries (ever since the first century BC!). In the wake of a final
exhausting conflict (606-27), Byzantium would be crippled and the Sasanids
destroyed by a new power based in Arabia: Islam. Byzantium and the Sasanids
had kept the nomads of the desert in check by recruiting border kings as vassals.
Southern and Western Arabia were home to urban civilizations of various
religions. Mecca was a major caravan stop, home to the Ka'ba, where the idols of
many desert tribes were collectively enshrined. The main source of cultural unity
was the Arabic language.
Religion of the Cities: Most Arabs were pagans, but some were Jews or
Christians. The cities were where Islam first took root. The empire they would
build was based on urban culture and settled communal life, not tribal conflict.
Muhammad (570-632) and the Qur'an: He grew up in one of the commercial
families of the old Meccan tribe of Quraysh. He married a wealth Meccan
businesswoman / widow named Khadija (died 619), but he felt discontent with his
life and the idolatry, worldliness, and lack of social conscience around him.
Around age 40, he felt God calling him to warn his fellow man to repent. He
believed the Archangel Gabriel passed him revelations (qur'an) to pass on in
Arabic to his people.
The Message: Muhammad attacked the worship of false gods and
cruelty to orphans and the poor. All would be judged for their sins at the
end of time. Muhammad called upon his listeners to repent and submit to
the will of Allah (the one true God). Submission (Islam) to God's will is
the proper state of man. A Muslim is one who submits to the Will of God;
all creatures but Man instinctively serve God; only men may choose to
obey or defy Allah.
The Prophets: Muhammad saw himself as the last of the prophets of the
Abrahamic religions, the line stretching from Abraham to Jesus, the seal
of the prophets. His job was to fix the damage done by past errors
recorded by those who had distorted the message of the earlier prophets.
He carried through monotheism to its logical end point—demanding all
submit to God's will.
Rocky Start: At first, few but Mohammed's wife and family were willing
to listen to him. His preaching threatened the income of Mecca's leaders
from pagan pilgrims to the Ka'ba and their financial practices. However,
he built up a reputation as a holy man, so when prosecution grew too
fierce, the inhabitants of Yathrib, an agricultural oasis 240 miles to the
north, home to five squabbling tribes (3 Jewish) invited him to come
arbitrate and he accepted, leaving for the north. He left in July 622; this
trip became known as the emigration or Hegira and became the starting
point for the Islamic calendar, commemorating the formation of the
Islamic community—the Umma.
Medinan Consolidation: Muhammad soon built his own band of
followers in Yathrib, which came to be known as al-Medina, the city of
the prophet, through a mixture of wise judgements and successful raid
leadership. During this time, the major Islamic practices took shape:
abstention from alcohol and pork, modesty and honesty, improved
treatment of women's property and marriage rights, regulation of marriage
and divorce, daily prayers towards Mecca, ritual cleansing before prayer,
and the development of the "Five Pillars of Islam"
1. Shahada: The Creed: "There is no god but God and
Muhammad is God's prophet"
2. Salat: Prayer
3. Sawm—Fasting during the Month of Ramadan
4. Zakat—Almsgiving to the Poor
5. Hajj—Pilgrimage
Rising Power of Muhammed: Those peoples who submitted to
Muhammad were allowed to continue to practice their own faith inside
their community, if they were of the Abrahamic traditions, "the People of
the Book". Muhammed now conqured Mecca, but treated it mercifully,
setting a tradition. In his last years, his followers became the heart of a
pan-Arabian tribal confederation, bound by his many marriages and
personal allegiance to him, submission to God and membership in the
Umma.
Women in Early Islamic Society: The Qur'an improved the status of women,
which admittedly wasn't very hard, given pre-Islamic women in Arabia had
virtually no rights and were basically property. It guaranteed them the right to
decide who she would or would not marry and control of her own dowry and the
right to inherit, own and manage property, as well as blocking female infanticide.
Men retained more power and authority, however. The Qur'an allowed (but didn't
command) polygamy, made men the head of families, and commanded modesty
of men and women, which has often lead to veiling and seclusion of women.
(Neither is commanded by the Koran.)
Early Islamic Conquests: Muhammed left no clear heir, leading to a power
struggle that resulted in the rise of Abu Bakr (632-4 AD), the most senior of his
Meccan converts, to become Caliph (Successor). The Arabian tribes revolted, but
were forced back into line. He was followed by Umar (634-44 AD) and Uthman
(644-56 AD), who now struck out to conquer the rest of the world. During Umar's
reign, the Islamic empire grew at an unprecedented rate, taking Mesopotamia and
parts of Persia from the Sassanids (effectively ending that empire), and taking
Egypt, Palestine, Syria, North Africa and Armenia from the Byzantines. Many of
these conquests followed watershed battles on both the western and eastern fronts.
The Battle of Yarmūk, fought near Damascus in 636, saw a small Muslim army
defeat a much larger Byzantine force, permanently ending Byzantine rule south of
Asia Minor. A Muslim army achieved victory over a larger force in the Battle of
al-Qādisiyyah (c. 636), near the banks of the Euphrates River. During the course
of the battle, Muslim general Sa'ad bin Abu Waqqas soundly routed the Sassanid
army and killed the Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād. In 637, after a prolonged
siege of Jerusalem, the Muslims finally invaded the city. By 643, Moslems
control Egypt, the Fertile Crescent, and most of Iran. By 651, they had swept
across half of North Africa (Libya) and crushed the Sasanid Dynasty, slaying its
last king. Ali, a relative of Muhammed, was the last of the first group of Caliphs,
reigning from 656-661, but his rule was torn by civil war, and he was overthrown
by the founder of the Umayyad dynasty, Mu'awiya (661-680 AD), whose power
was based in Syria. Ali's surviving followers were the root of what would
become Shi'ite Islam, as they believed the Umayyads and later dynasties were
illegitimate. They believed the line of Ali were the rightful Caliphs, a series of
leaders who would become known as the Imams.
The Umayyad Dynasty (661- 750 AD)'s Conquests: In following decades,
Moslem forces consolidated control of Iran, pushed into the Mediterranean,
attacked Byzantium and Anatolia, overran northwestern Africa, pushed into Spain
(conquered 710-716), reached the Indus River (710 AD), and finally were turned
back in France at Tours (732 AD).
Factors of Success: Islam emerged just as Byzantium and the Sasanids were
utterly exhausted from decades of recent warfare and centuries of older struggle.
Secondly, the Islamic vision of community had a powerful appeal and aided
assimilation of conquests. Religious zeal and booty both drove Arab tribesmen to
battle. Further, the Moslem leadership was top-notch and many subject nations
were ready for new masters to escape religious persecution.
The New Islamic Order
The Problems in Conquest: The Ummah transcended Arabian tribal identities—
but how could it deal with the rulership of non-Moslems? This was the problem
to be solved under the Four Righteous Caliphs and the Umayyad dynasty.
The Caliphate: The first Caliphs were chosen by election by the elders in a
manner similar to tribal leaders. The system broke down, leading to civil war in
Ali's time, followed by hereditary rule. But the Umayyad dynasty struggled to
establish the legitimacy of the early rulers. By the time of the second dynasty, the
Abbasids (750-1258 AD ), the instituition had become a monarchy, though many
Moslems weren't so happy with it. The Abbasids reflected the discontent of
Moslem converts with Arab rule and shifted the center of power east to
Mesopotamia. Like the Umayyad, they were largely worldly leaders who in time
became decadent and lost control of the empire to their own mercenary captains.
(And to rebels, starting with the takeover of Spain by an escaped member of the
Umayyad dynasty in the 8th century AD.)
The Ulama: The ulama were the religious scholars who rose to interpret the
Qur'an and traditions about Muhammed. They also developed a standarized
vocabulary and grammar for Arabic and improved on Arabic script. They drew
their authority through a line of succession of scholars stretching back to the
earliest Umma, the Companions of Muhammed.
Shar'ia: By the ninth century, they set out the system of shar'ia (divine law),
rooted in the Qur'an, older law traditions, and traditions about Muhammed and the
righteous Caliphs. By Umayyad times, the Ulama emerged as a distinct group,
greatly respected but not a formal clergy. They served as major leaders because
Caliphs wanted their sanction to build public support for their actions.
The Umma: Islam had a universal message and all could convert, though nonArabs, especially in the early years, were regarded as second-class Muslims. The
Islamic army was organized by tribes and Arabs kept themselves aloof from their
subjects. Many converts attached themselves to an Arab tribe as a client; their
disgruntlement helped bring the Abbasids to power. Two different idealistic
views of the Umma arose in the 600s-800s. Both failed to secure a dominant
position and a third centrist view emerged.
The Kharijites: These people (the "seceeders") left Ali's camp during the
656-61 civil war because he compromised with his enemies. They
espoused total equality of believers and strict adherance to the Qur'an.
Anyone committing a strong sin should be thrown out; the 'best' Muslim
should lead. They opposed both Umayyad and Abbasid and survive today
in Oman and North Africa.
The Shi'a: Those who supported Ali and his line in the civil war without
becoming Kharijite were the Shi'a (from Shi'at Ali, 'partisans of Ali').
Shi'ites believe Muhammed designated his blood-kin Ali as his imam
("successor"). Over the centuries, many pretenders to the Caliphate
claimed this blood tie and the Shi'ites track lines of succession (one
division between Shi'ites is how long this now extinct line lasted.) They
also stressed the idea that the imams possessed divinely granted special
knowledge. True Muslims must suffer in this dark age, but in time, the
Mahdi ("guided one") will come to save the world in a messianic age and
to judge it. Only in Iran since 1500 have the Shi'ites been able to
dominate any region enough to have their own state.
The Centrists: The Sunni (followers of the sunna, traditions, laid down
by the Prophet and the Qur'an) emerged as the dominant force in Islam,
divided into competing sects. They put communal solidarity and
maintenance of the Islamic polity ahead of adherence to theological texts
and propositions.
1. The Umma is a theocratic entity, a state under God's law, the
Shar'ia. The Qu'ran, Muhammed's precedents, and the
guidance of the Ulama are the source of religious authority.
2. The Caliph has absolute temporal power to protect and expand
the Umma, but his religious knowledge is no different from
any other Muslim.
3. Only God knows the heart, so anyone who professes there is no
god but God and Muhammed is his Messenger should be
considered a Muslim in good standing despite past sins.
The High Caliphate (692-833 AD):
The Abbasid State (750-1258 AD): The Abbasids moved the capital to
Baghdad, on the Tigris, in 762 AD, ending Arab supremacy in the Umma. They
originally drew upon Iranians and Arabs from Northern Iran, but later switched in
the ninth century to the heavy use of slave soldiers (Mamluks), mostly Turkish in
origin. The officers of these men increasingly took over the Caliphate, alienating
the common man from the Caliphate.
Society: As time passed, many provinces became partly to entirely independent,
but except for Egypt, most continued to maintain the unity of the umma by
recognizing the Caliph's theoretical authority if not in practice. Gradually, the
subject people's became Islamicized by the 12th century AD. There was less need
for political unity to maintain the Umma.
Decline: In 756, the last of the Umayyads had taken control of Spain; in 929,
they claimed the title of Caliph. In 801, Tunisia became independent. In 969, the
Fatmids took control of Egypt. In the east, various areas passed in and out of
independence. In 945-1055, the Buyid clan largely dominated the Caliphs
through their Mamluk army. From 1055 to the fall of the Caliphate in 1258 AD,
the Seljuk Turks controlled weak puppet Caliphs.
"Classical" Islamic Culture: The time of the early to mid-Abbasid empire was a time
of great prosperity and of cultural performance.
Intellectual Tradition: The Moslems became heirs to centuries of Greek
philosophical traditions. They also had contact with India and China's intellectual
traditions as well; it was a time of insatiable thirst for knowledge. Greek and
Sanskrit works were translated into Arabic and the Arabs took up the Hindu
system of numbering known now to Europeans and Americans as 'Arabic
numerals'. This knowledge would pass to Europe in the 12th to 13th centuries,
during the Crusades.
Language and Literature: Moslems also developed their own literature in
Arabic. A genre known as adab, "manners" literature arose—essays and didactic
literature to teach proper behavior. Poetry built upon past Arabic traditions,
especially the ode. History and biography flourished, in part in order to help
establish the lines of transmission of hadith, traditions about Muhammed and his
followers, whose legitimacy depended on the reliability of lines of transmission.
Art and Architecture: A classical art style crystalized around 1000 AD.
Moslem art drew on older models in new ways and found many ways to decorate
with geometric figures as Moslems were forbidden to depict human beings so as
to avoid idolatry. An element of Islamic art usually found decorating the walls of
mosques, the arabesque is an elaborative application of repeating geometric
forms that often echo the forms of plants and animals. The choice of which
geometric forms are to be used and how they are to be formatted is based upon the
Islamic view of the world. To Muslims, these forms, taken together, constitute an
infinite pattern that extends beyond the visible material world. To many in the
Islamic world, they in fact symbolize the infinite, and therefore uncentralized,
nature of the creation of the one God (Allah). Furthermore, the Islamic Arabesque
artist conveys a definite spirituality without the iconography of Christian art. The
translation of Euclid's geometry into Arabic was a major impetus behind this
style.