1. The Expansive Realm of Islam* *

2. Muhammad and His Message
Born about 570 C.E. to merchant family in Mecca
Orphaned as a child
Marries wealthy widow ca. 595 C.E., works as merchant
Familiarity with paganism, Christianity and Judaism as practiced in Arabian peninsula * *

3. Muhammad’s Spiritual Transformation
Visions, ca. 610 C.E.
Archangel Gabriel
Monotheism – Allah
Attracts followers in Mecca * *

4. The Quran Record of revelations received during visions
Committed to writing ca. 650 C.E. (Muhammad dies 632 C.E.)
Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith * *

5. Conflict at Mecca
Muhammad’s monotheistic teachings offensive to polytheistic pagans
Economic threat to existing religious industry
Denunciation of greed was affront to local aristocracy * *

6. The Hijra Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina) 622 C.E.
Year 0 in Muslim calendar
Organizes followers into communal society (the umma)
Legal, spiritual code
Commerce, raids on Meccan caravans for sake of umma * *

7. The “Seal of the Prophets”
Muhammad – the final prophet
Accepted the authority of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus
Held in high esteem Hebrew scriptures and the Christian New Testament
Muhammad had been entrusted a more complete revelation, one that communicated Allah’s plan for the world * *

8. Muhammad’s Return to Mecca
Attack on Mecca, 630 C.E.
Conversion of Mecca to Islam
Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques
Ka’ba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca
Approved as pilgrimage site * *

9. The Ka’ba * *

10. The Five Pillars of Islam
No god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet
Daily prayer
Fasting during Ramadan
Charity
Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) * *

11. Muslims at Prayer * *

12. Jihad “Struggle” “Holy war” Against vice Against ignorance of Islam
Against unbelievers who threaten Islam * *

13. Islamic Law: The Sharia
Codification of Islamic law
Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools of analysis
Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of human activity * *

14. The Caliph No clear to successor to Muhammad identified
Abu Bakr chosen to lead as caliph
Led war against villagers who abandoned Islam after death of Muhammad * *

15. The Expansion of Islam
Highly successful attacks on Byzantine, Sasanid territories
Difficulties governing rapidly expanding territory * *

16. The Expansion of Islam, 632-733 C.E.* *

17. The Shia Disagreements over selection of caliphs
Ali passed over for Abu Bakr
Served as caliph C.E., then assassinated along with most of his followers
Remaining followers organize separate party called “Shia”
Traditionalists: Sunni * *

18. Shi’ite Pilgrims at Karbala* *

19. The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 C.E.)
From Meccan merchant class
Brought stability to the Islamic community
Capital: Damascus, Syria
Associated with Arab military aristocracy * *

20. Policy toward Conquered Peoples
Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes discontent
Limited social mobility for non-Arab Muslims
Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims
Umayyad luxurious living causes further decline in moral authority * *

21. The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 C.E.)
Abu al-Abbas, Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, non-Arab Muslims
Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia
Defeats Umayyad army in 750 C.E.
Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred them * *

22. Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty
Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively Arab)
Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial expansion
Content to administer the empire they had inherited
Dar al-Islam
Growth through military activity of autonomous Islamic forces * *

23. Abbasid Administration
Persian influence
Court at Baghdad
Influence of Islamic scholars
Ulama and qadis sought to develop policy based on the Quran and sharia * *

24. Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809 C.E.)
High point of Abbasid dynasty
Baghdad center of commerce
Great cultural activity * *

25. Abbasid Decline Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid
Provincial governors assert regional independence
Dissenting sects, heretical movements
Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian nobility
Later, Saljuq Turks influence; sultan real power behind the throne * *

26. Economy of the Early Islamic World
Spread of food and industrial crops
Trade routes from India to Spain
Western diet adapts to wide variety
New crops adapted to different growing seasons
Agricultural sciences develop
Cotton, paper industries develop
Major cities emerge * *

27. Formation of a Hemispheric Trading Zone
Historical precedent of Arabic trade
Dar al-Islam encompasses silk routes
Ice exported from Syria to Egypt in summer, tenth century
Camel caravans
Maritime trade * *

28. Banking and Trade Scale of trade causes banks to develop
Sakk (“check”)
Uniformity of Islamic law throughout dar al- Islam promotes trade
Joint ventures common * *

29. Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)
Muslim Berber conquerors from north Africa take Spain, early eighth century
Allied to Umayyads, refused to recognize Abbasid dynasty
Formed own caliphate
Tensions, but interrelationship * *

30. Changing Status of Women
Quran improves status of women
Outlawed female infanticide
Brides, not husbands, claim dowries
Yet male dominance preserved
Patrilineal descent
Polygamy permitted, polyandry forbidden
Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice * *

31. Formation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition
Islamic values
Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam
Establishment of madrasas
Importance of the hajj
Sufi missionaries
Asceticism, mysticism
Some tension with orthodox Islamic theologians
Wide popularity * *

32. Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) Major Sufi thinker from Persia
Impossibility of intellectual apprehension of Allah, devotion, mystical ecstasy instead * *

33. Cultural Influences on Islam
Persia
Administration and governance
literature
India
Mathematics, science, medicine
“Hindi” numbers
Greece
Philosophy, especially Aristotle
Ibn Rushd/Averroes ( ) * *