Mohammed and the Rise of

Islam
 600’s A.D.
 loss of much of the Eastern Roman Empire
 to a new religious and political power
– Islam
Middle East, ca. 600 A.D.
Islam
 Bedouin Arab named Mohammed
 born ca. 570 A.D.
 Merchant family, Hasimites
 Qurayshis tribe, who dominate Mecca
– controlling much of the religious pilgrim trade
 raised by relatives
-father and mother died by age six
-raised by an impoverished uncle
Mohammed
 formal education ?? We don’t know
– Normally only the Poets of the Tribes could
read and write
 commercial agent for a wealthy widow
– Khadijah
– supervising caravans from Mecca, north to
Jerusalem
– contact with both Jews and Christians
Mohammed, con’t
 He seems to have made an impression on his boss,
because of his reputed honesty
– married her and retired from commerce
– to devote himself to religion
– and to making society more fair and equitable
Mohammed, con’t
 monogamous until his wife died
 eventually married nine wives and had
assorted concubines
 last marriage at 53 to Aishah, daughter of a
friend
 wives: widows of friends or political marriages
• Women alone is such a world were very vulnerable
Origins of Mohammed’s
Teachings
 periods of unconsciousness are indicated:
explanations
– revelations from Allah by holy trances, spoken to by Gabriel
– epilepsy or a similar neurological disorder?
– mental illness or hallucinations ?
 Mohammed’s explanation:
– revelations from God
– Very unpleasant and painful for him
The Quran
 Record of revelations received during
visions
 Committed to writing c. 650 CE, compiled
(Muhammad dies 632)
– Under the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan
 Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith
Nature of Revelations
 diverse
 social, agricultural, medical, military,
astronomical, etc.
Historical Origins of His Ideas
 Arab polytheism
 Hanifism: a belief in one God traced to Abraham, by
tradition
 Judaism
 Christianity: Orthodox, Nestorian, Arianism
 Manichaeism: a mixture of Zoroastrianism,
Christianity, Judaism, and so forth
Beginning of His Ministry
 at about age 40, after a number of revelations
 began to preach publicly
 continued to receive revelations until death
– usually related to current problems or concerns
– Religious, political, social, economic
Early religious career
 not particularly successful
 threatened the social, political, and religious
structure, with his doctrine of social equity
 threatened the economic basis of Mecca as a center
of religious pilgrimage
 particularly the Black Rock
– sacred to the chief deity of the Arabs
 run out of town, or at least encouraged to leave
– Went to the desert with his family and lived for about a year
The Hijra
 flight from Mecca, to Yathrib (Medina)
-tradition: invited by the Jews of Medina
 622 A.D.
 beginning of the Islamic calendar
 forms the umma (community)
 welcomed, then resisted
 Mohammed becomes an absolute theocrat
Muhammad’s Return to Mecca
 Attack on Mecca, 630 -- jihad
 Conversion of Mecca to Islam
 Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques
– Ka’aba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca
– Approved as pilgrimage site
Jihad
 holy war against Mecca
 ten year blockade
 a deal was made
The Deal
 Mecca preserved as a holy city and place of
pilgrimage
– to preserve the economic prosperity
 the Ka’aba preserved as the central shrine
– idols and icons destroyed
– story of its origins emphasized the role of
Abraham in its placement
– pilgrimage as an act of faith, at least once in your
life
The Ka’aba in Mecca
The Religion: the Koran (Qu’ran)
 the Koran (Qu’ran): contains much of Mohammed
recounting of Allah’s teachings
 written down by his followers after his death
– from notes and memories, on “stones and
parchments”
 Short: 114 chapters
– arranged from longest to the shortest
– not by subject or chronologically
– length is the criterion of order for the text
The Koran, con’t
 some “Old” and “New” Testaments stories
– but sometimes the story seems a bit different to
Jews and Christians
 parables and fables
 political polemic and prophecy
 “non-religious” subjects
– not dissimilar to Jewish and Christian scriptures in
some ways
Five Pillars of Islam
 uniqueness of God
– ‘There is no god, but God….’
 prayer five times a day
 observe the month of Ramadan
 give alms to the poor
 pilgrimage to Mecca
– If possible, once in your life
Additional teachings
 dietary laws
 no gambling or drinking
 no sexual irregularities, as defined by tradition and
custom
 no faulty weights or usury
 no infanticide
 elaborate rules concerning inheritance and property
 improvement in the status of women and children
Changing Status of Women
 Qu’ran 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
Similarities to Judaism and
Christianity
 monotheism (defined a bit differently)
 insistence on the responsibility of human beings
 final judgment and rewards
 angels and spirits
 practice of virtues: truthfulness, compassion, etc.
Differences
 an emphasis on compassion and mercy
 alms giving moderate
 heaven conceived a bit differently
 no priests or sacramental system
 easy conversion: the Shahadah
– ‘There is no God by Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.’
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
– This is the basis the idea of an “Islamic
republic” for instance
Expansion of Islam
 early victories
 backsliders (tribes) punished
– Apostasy = treason = death
 assaults on:
– the Byzantine (Roman) empire
– the Persian empire
Spread of Islam
 Dome of the Rock,
Temple Mount Jerusalem
Victories
 Syria: 635 A.D.
 Palestine: 636 A.D.
 Persia: captured in one battle
– expansion into India
– expansion to the borders of China
 Egypt: help by local Christians
 North Africa: the Berbers
Expansion, con’t
 Spain 711-720 A.D.
 Battle of Tours: October 732 A.D.
– Charles Martel
 Siege of Constantinople: 717-718 A.D.
– Leo III
– Greek fire
 beginnings of Christian reconquest of
former Roman/Christian territory
Reasons for success
 exhaustion of Rome and Persia
– End of a 400 year war
 nationalist sentiments in Egypt and Syria
 arguments among Christian factions
 speed and size of Moslem armies
 simplicity and uncomplicated nature of Islam
 acceptance of the Old and New Testament
– People of the Book
Consequences of Expansion
 loss of the oldest and most central lands of
Christendom
 aided the ascendancy of the bishop of Rome
 virtual collapse of Zoroastrianism as a major religion
 radically altered the balance of power between the
Roman Empire and the East
 disruption of the Mediterranean economic community
Early Problems
 Succession ?
– Mohammed had no surviving male children
– Daughter: Fatima
– Son-in-law: Ali, child of his uncle
 generated a permanent split in the
Islamic community
– Sunnis
– Shi’as
Sunnis
 considered themselves the “orthodox” followers of
Mohammed
 consider the Shi’as to be “dissenters”
 issue: who leads after Mohammed ??
 the Caliph (or “leader”)
 went successively to followers
-Abu Bakr, then Oman
-then Uthman and
The Shia
 Disagreements over selection of caliphs
 Ali passed over for Abu Bakr
 Served as caliph 656-661 CE, then assassinated
along with most of his followers
 Remaining followers organize separate party called
“Shia”
– Traditionalists: Sunni
Abu Bakr
 not particularly popular with the Muslim
community
 allowed raid, then invasions of
Byzantine and Persian territory
 subjugated any dissident elements or
tribes
 disposed of any “new prophets”
Success = strain
 success introduced luxury and change
– From original caliphs to the Umayyad caliphs
 new ideas and new ethnic groups
– with their own customs and heritage, to try to
assimilate
 rise of a sort of “revivalist element”
– Islam had strayed from its original path and purity
– Muslims were being led back to paganism
– caliphs were becoming idle, corrupt, tyrants
Uthman: the third Caliph
 murdered: warfare broke out
 Ali: cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed
 originally passed over as too young
 contested the succession
 Uthman supported by the Umayyad clan
– early enemies of Mohammed
– refused to accept Ali’s claims
Umayyeds
 successful in the war
 Ali assassinated in 661 A.D.
– by the Kharijites
 beginning of the Umayyed dynasty
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
Sunnis
 accepted the legitimacy of early caliphs
 “Sunni” : from an Arabic word
– “usage” or “custom”
– implies: “precedent”
Shi’as
 accepted Ali
 word means: “party”, “faction”,
“following”
Factions
 Sunni and Shi’as dominant
 originally political
– Eventually the differences became
dogmatic in emphasis
 Shi’as become a party of religious
dissent
Perceptions
 Sunni: conservative, in favor of the
“status quo”
– consensus is the guiding principle
 Shi’as: defenders of the oppressed,
critics of privilege and power
– obedience is required only as long as it can
be forced, and no longer
Umayyed empire
 Atlantic Ocean to India
 Syria: center of the Islamic World
 eventually displaced by the Abbasids
– an Arab family claiming decent from
Mohammed
The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258
CE)
 Abu al-Abbas Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, non-Arab
Muslims
 Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia
 Defeats Umayyad army in 750
– Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred
them
– Only Spain remains Umayyad
– North Africa is disputed territory, ultimately
Fatamid
Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty
 Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively
Arab)
 Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial
expansion
 Dar al-Islam
 Growth through military activity of autonomous
Islamic forces
Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty
 Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not
exclusively Arab)
 Militarily competent, but not bent on
imperial expansion
 Dar al-Islam
 Growth through military activity of
autonomous Islamic forces
Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809
CE)
 High point of Abbasid dynasty
 Baghdad center of commerce
 Great cultural activity
Abbasid Decline
 Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid
 Provincial governers assert regional independence
 Dissenting sects, heretical movements
 Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian
nobility
 Later, Saljuq Turks influence, Sultan real power
behind the throne
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
Cultural influences on Islam
 Persia
– Adminstration and governance
– literature
 India
– Mathematics, science, medicine
• “Hindi” numbers
 Greece
– Philosophy, esp. Aristotle
– Greek medicine
Cultural Importance of Islam
 Development of these received
influences
 Distribution throughout the Muslim world
 Introduction and reintroduction of these
ideas to medieval Europe
– Through Spain
– Spanish Jews