Islamic Civilization, 600-1300

Professor Toby Liang

Department of History, National Taiwan University

Course description Islam is one of human civilizations great religions. There are more than one billion
Muslims living all over the world today. Politics in the Middle East and the broader
Islamic world play important roles in international relations. For these and many
other reasons it is crucial to have an understanding of the history of Islamic
societies.

This course covers the first half of Islamic history from 600 to 1300 C.E. At the
beginning of this period, Arab Muslims established a new religion and empire at the
intersections of religions: Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian faiths and the
crossroads of empires: Roman and Sasanian states in the Middle East. Within in this
context, we will study the construction of Muslim empires and the dynamics of life
in Islamic societies during the classical and medieval periods. The course concludes
in the 1300s, a pivotal moment when Islamic societies had to find a response to
Turkish, Latin Christian (Crusader), and Mongol invasions that contributed to the
fragmentation of Islamic civilization. By studying early Islamic history, we can
witness the construction of such a major civilization from its very origins.

The period we study has received an enormous amount of attention over the last few
years. Todays Islamists and their opponents all look to the Prophet Muhammad and
the community he established as an ideal and true representation of Islam to be
copied or even reestablished. Contrary to seeing the past from such ideological
perspectives, we will approach the study of early Islam from a historical
perspective. We will examine the historical circumstances that led to the
establishment of a new faith, why peoples adopted these beliefs, and how Muslims
shaped new societies.

This course will examine a variety of historical topics:

Course objectives The life of the Prophet Muhammad
The division of the Muslim community into Sunni, Shii, and other sects
(religious groups)
The lives of women and diverse ethnic and religious communities
Literary and material culture
The spread of the faith to Asia, Africa, and Europe
The interrelationship and friction between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism

1
 This course will study a variety of historical concepts:
The nature and functions of premodern empires
The nature and effects of diversity in human experience
The nature and effects of decentralization in human experience
Encounters between mobile and sedentary societies
Evolution and development of social structures

This course will help students develop a variety of skills:

The ability to read, write, and converse in English
Analyze and interpret original sources in English translation

Week 1 Introduction to the course

Week 2 The World of Late Antiquity in the Mediterranean Basin and Arabian Peninsula

Week 3 Muhammad and the birth of Islam

Week 4 The Rashidun Caliphs, expansion and the first fitna

Week 5 The Umayyad Caliphate

Week 6 The Abbasid Caliphate

Week 7 Arabic: The Language of God

Week 8 Sunnism and Orthodoxy

Week 9 Shiism and Heterodoxy

Week 10 Sufism, Philosophy, and Science

Week 11 Muslims, Christians, and Jews

Week 12 Art and literature

Week 13 Fragmentation, Invasion, Restoration