ISLAMIC CIVILISATIONS

EARLY DEVELOPMENTS  less 200 years from not existing to being the religious and political principal of one of the largest empires in the world

EARLY SITUATION tribal Quraysh living in Mecca Arabian peninsula => polytheisme kept cult statutes of gods in the Kaaba

KAABA It has been reconstructed several times It used to be open to everyone Used to get flooded There are two kaabas! The Black Stone is broken It's not supposed to be a cube shape

monotheisms like Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism northern part of Arabia: sandwiched between Byzantine Empire and Persian Sassanian Empire Islam = radical reforming religion Muhammad = final prophet to bring people back to the one true religion worship of, and submission to, a single and all- powerful God EARLY SITUATION

Quran acknowledges Abraham and Moses and Jesus as prophets much less narrative the written record of the revelations Muhammad received the actual word of God major themes: monotheism & taking care of those who are less fortunate than you

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM 1 SHAHADAH or the profession of the faith: There is no god but god and Muhammad is God’s prophet

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM 2: SALAT, or ritual prayer five times a day dawn noon afternoon sunset late evening

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM 3 SAWM month-long fast during the month of Ramadan

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM 4 ZAKAT non-poor Muslims are required to give a percentage of their income to the poor

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM HAJJ pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims must try to fulfill at least once in their lives, provided they are healthy and have enough money

SUPPLEMENTARY SACRED TEXTS Judaism + Talmud Christianity + lives of saints Islam + HADITH = a collection of sayings and stories about the Prophet

SHARIA a body of law numerous interpretations

UMMAH community of believers trumped all other ties, including tribal ties

QURAYSH controlled pilgrimage trade in Mecca => monotheism => economical disaster 622 force Muhammad and followers out of Mecca => to Yithrab = Medina Hijra => marks year 0 in the Islamic calendar

BEGINNING OF AN EMPIRE Muhammad severed the religion’s ties to Judaism, turning the focus of prayer to Mecca Islamic community => empire or church? Muhammad: important prophet and a good general 630 Islamic community took back Mecca destroyed idols in kabaa Islam was available to everyone from the moment of its founding => Islam: powerful political and religious force

AFTER MUMAMMAD 632 Muhammad dies Muhammad = final prophet, the revelation of the Quran would continue to guide the ummah caliph = political leader 1 st caliph Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law 4 th caliph Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law divide between the two of the major sects of Islam: Suuni and Shi’a

SUNNI vs SHIA (some differences...) Sunni Shia followersSunnisShiites, Shi'i meaning of name"well-trodden path" or "tradition""party" or "partisans" of Ali current adherents940 million120 million percentage of total Muslims90%10% primary locationsmost Muslim countriesIran, Iraq, Yemen did Muhammad designate a successor? noyes true successor of the Prophet Abu Bakr, father of the Prophet's favoured wife, 'A'ishah (elected by people of Medina) 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatimah (designated by the Prophet) qualifications for ruler of Islamtribe of the Prophet (Quraysh); later, any qualified rulerfamily of the Prophet current leadersimamsmujtahids identity of imamshuman leaders infallible manifestations of God and perfect interpreters of the Qur'an

Abu Bakr & Ali ibn Abi Talib Abu stabilized the community after Muhammad’s death recording the Quran in writing started military campaigns against the Byzantine (plague) and Sassanian Empires (weak) finally Ali becomes leader leads to a civil war Uthman’s tribe becomes the ruling dynasty followed by the Abbasids

IN SHORT a small group of people an area of the world with few natural resources => created one of the great empires of the world and also one of its great religions Muslims were great conquerors started an explosion of trade and learning saved many of the classical texts that form the basis of the “Western Canon” paved the way for the Renaissance much of the world between Spain and the Indus River wasn’t Arabized, most of it was Islamized 5 times a day millions of people turn toward Mecca