The Rise and Spread of Islam

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The Rise and Spread of Islam
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Why Important???

• Islam spread quickly to become one of the worlds
  most popular religions
• Remains so to this day
• Muslim merchants played a crucial role in trade
  and cultural diffusion

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Geography

• Origins Arabian Peninsula
• Mostly desert
• Cities on coasts or near an oasis, thrived on
  trade
• Mecca and Medina most important
• Bedouin tribes controlled caravan routes between
  cities
• Nomadic, clans based on kinship

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Pre-Islamic Arabia

• Polytheistic religion, animistic
• Some Jewish and Christian influence
• Strong familial ties
• Polygamy
• Some allowed women multiple husbands (polyandry)
• Women enjoyed more freedom than those among
  neighboring cultures (Byzantine Empire and
  Persians)
• Many Bedouin tribes were matrilineal
• Women not secluded or veiled
• Poetry main form of artistic expression
• No written language among Bedouin tribes

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Rise of Islam

• By 500s, Arabia was fragmented
• Rivalry among Bedouin
• Christianity and Judaism increased in influence
• Religious disunity
• Prophets began to call for unity among the Arabs
• Believed a common religion was needed

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Muhammad

• Born around 570
• Grew up with fathers relatives
• Educated to be a merchant
• Moved to Mecca as an adolescent
• Heavily influenced by monotheistic religion
  (Judaism and Christianity)
• 610 received revelation from Allah
• Believed his revelation was the final word of god
• Foundations of new religion Islam
• Beliefs and teachings recorded in the Quran

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Muhammad

• Teachings unpopular in Mecca at first
• Fled to Medina
• became skilled politician and spiritual leader
• Islamic community became known as umma
• Muhammads teaching quickly spread
• Unified the people of Arabia

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Teaching of MuhammadTenets of Islam

• Muslim follower of Islam
• 5 Pillars of Islam
• Acceptance of Allah as one true god and Muhammad
  as his prophet
• Prayer 5 times daily in direction of Mecca
• Fasting during day-light hours of Ramadan
• Charity for the less fortunate
• Hajj- pilgrimage to Holy Land

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Beliefs of Islam

• Islam
• Is monotheistic
• promotes equality of all believers in the eyes of
  God
• Encourages charity for the poor
• Belief in judgment in the afterlife (paradise or
  hell)
• Islam was an appealing religion that spread
  quickly

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Caliphate

• 632 death of Muhammad
• Uncertainty about leadership in Muslim community
• Some renounced faith due to lack of leadership
• Caliph political and religious successor of
  Muhammad
• Some wanted Ali (Muhammads first cousin) to take
  over
• Others felt Abu Bakr (Muhammads father-in-law)
  would be better

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Umayyad Caliphate

• Abu Bakr of the Umayyad clan became caliph (from
  632-634)
• Began to standardize the Islamic faith, oversee
  compilation of the Quran, reassert Muslim
  authority among the Arabs
• Temporary peace
• 656 Civil War erupted after assassination of the
  3rd caliph (Uthman)
• Those who supported Umayya clan won (661)
• Conflict created a major division among the
  Muslim community

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Sunni-Shia Split

• Sunni Muslims supported the Umayyad clan
• Believed the first 3 caliphs had been accurately
  chosen
• Shia (Shiite) Muslims supported Ali to be
  caliph
• Believed the first 3 caliphs were unfairly chosen
• The Sunni-Shiite conflict still continues to
  this day.

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Umayyad Caliphate

• 632-750, Umayyad ruled over an Arab Empire
• Capital in Damascus, Syria
• Major Features
• Arabic as official language
• Use of gold silver coins as currency
• Muslims enjoyed highest social position
• Only pay taxes for charity received share of
  wealth from caravans
• Most people were dhimmi (non-Muslim)
• paid the bulk of taxes
• Very little attempt to convert non-Muslims
• Est. major area of influence in Jerusalem

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Umayyad Caliphate

• Gender/Family under Umayyad
• Muhammad taught respect for women, saw marriage
  as important social institution
• Denounced adultery, forbade female infanticide
• Saw men women as equals in eyes of Allah
• Under Umayyad, men allowed 4 wives
• Women allowed only 1 husband
• Veiling not practiced
• Women involved in various occupations (law,
  commerce, scholars)

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Abbasid Caliphate

• 750-1258
• 750 Umayyad overthrown during rebellion
• Abbas took over and established the Abbasid
  Caliphate
• Capital at Baghdad
• Abbasid was a Golden Age for Islam
• Court-life, literature, learning

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Abbasid Caliphate

• Increase in converts during the Abbasid
• Missionary work to promote conversion
• Urban expansion
• Baghdad became a cultural center and economic hub
• Trade boomed
• Trade routes across the Sahara and throughout the
  Mediterranean and Indian Ocean
• Use of lateen (triangular) sails on ships known
  as dhows
• Extensive trade increased wealth
• Reinvested or used to build Mosques, public
  buildings, religious schools, hospitals (Muslims
  were unsurpassed in their medical expertise at
  the time)

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Arabian Dhowtrade ship
Lateen (triangular) sails
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Abbasid Caliphate

• Cities were filled with artisan and craft shops
• Unskilled labor performed by slaves
• Slavery was not a hereditary condition
• Non-Muslims, usually captives from Africa
• Quran forbids enslavement of Muslims, Jews,
  Christians, or Zoroastrians

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Islamic Law Sharia

• Over time, Muslim scholars developed an Islamic
  law code
• Sharia
• Legal stability and common moral code
• Followed to varying degrees

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Islamic Learning

• Muslim scholars preserved classical works from
  the Greek and Hellenistic period
• Adopted the Indian Numeral system spread it
• Made advances in algebra and trigonometry
• Architecture became a form of artistic expression
• Mosques with elaborate mosaics inside
• Elaborate palaces for entertaining the elite

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Dome of Rock- Jerusalemhttp//en.wikipedia.org/wi
ki/Dome_of_the_Rock
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Declining Position of Women

• During the Abbasid, the position of women began
  to decline
• Harems very popular
• Legends of harems with thousands of concubines
  and eunuchs
• Veiling and seclusion became popular
• Only slave women allowed to appear in public
  unescorted
• However, women did have some rights
• Own property, right to divorce and remarry, right
  to testify in court, and the right to go on hajj

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Decline of Abbasid Caliphate

• By mid-800s Abbasid began to lose power
• Internal unrest (Sunni-Shiite conflict)
• Courtly excess became a financial drain
• Sunni-Shiite conflict
• Revolts by non-Muslims and Turkish slaves
  (Mamluks)
• Abbasid also faced outside pressures
• Seljuk Turks (nomadic group) seized territory to
  create the Seljuk Sultanate
• Crusaders
• Mongol Invasion
• Abbasid eventually fell in 1258

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Muslim Conquests under the Umayyad and Abbasid

• Muslims began to engage in campaigns against
  neighboring empires
• To gain wealth and glorify their religion
• Seized territory from Byzantine Empire
• Territorial gains in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia,
  Spain, Algeria, Morocco
• Iberian Peninsula became a hub of leaning and
  culture within Europe

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Spread of Islam

• Islam spread quickly
• Aided by trade
• Expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa, the Swahili
  Coast of East Africa, parts of Europe and Asia
• More on this later!!!