Chapter 9 Flashcards
Arabian peninsula
Fiercely independent clans & tribes
Birth of Islam
Unlike most religions/cultures it emerged from a marginal region
Arabia had important east-west trade routes
Mecca (became major center), Kaaba (shrine), qurYsh
Arabia was __________ area
Sedentary, agricultural
Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism spread among the Arabs
Identified Allah w/ Yahweh
Revelations recorded in
Quaran
New teachings
- Monotheistic
- Muhammad as “seal of prophets”
- Return to old pure religion of Abraham
- Need to create new society of social justice -equality & care for others (umma)
Core message summarized in 5 pillars of Islam
Prayer 5x a day
Fasting
General giving
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Jihad
“Struggle” sometimes called sixth pillar
Greater jihad -personal spiritual striving
The transformation of Arabia
- Muhammad attracted a small following
- Rapid expansion throughout Arabia
- military success through alliances
- large scale conversion
Fundamental differences between births of Christianity and Islam
- Islam didn’t grow up as persecuted minority
- Islam did not separate church from state
- Muhammad was a religious, political, and military leader
- Islam did not have
- seperate religious organization
- professional clergy
- distinction between religious and civil law
Sharia
One law for everything
Making of Arab empire
- Arab grew to include all parts of Rome, byz, Persian, & Indian civs
- Arabic culture and language spread widely
- Islam as the new 3rd wave civilization
War and conquest of the Arab empire
- Arabic conquest was a continuation of long term raiding
- New Level of political organization
- Pit weakened the Persian and byz empires
War and conquest limited the Arab expansion
- Took one half of Byzantine
- Conquered Spain, attacked France
- Arabs crushed Chinese army
Reasons for Arabic expansion
- Economic: capture trade routes & agricultural regions
- Ind Arabs sought wealth and social pattern
- Communal: conq helped hold the umma together
- Religious: brought riotous government to conq.
Jizya
Special tax paid by non-Muslims so they could practice their own religion
Conversion to Islam:
Initial conversions for many were _____________ conversions
Social
No deep spiritual change
Conversion:
Islands kingship to Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism ___________
Made it attractive
State provided incentives for conversion
- Earliest coverts were slaves and POW
- Converts didn’t pay the jizya
- Islam favored commerce
- Social climbers were helped by conversions
There were some resistance to conversions
Berbers in Africa, some Spanish, etc
Divisions in the Islamic world
- Central problem: who would serve as a successor to Muhammad
- Sunni and Shia split of Islam
Caliph
Successor to Muhammad
Sunni
- caliphs as rightful political & military leaders chosen by Islamic community
Shia Muslims
- leaders should be blood relatives of Muhammad
Sunni & Shia conflict
- started out as political turned to religious
- frequently revolted
- developed idea that defeated leaders
Overtime caliphs became
Absolute monarchs
& hereditary leaders
Islamic law addressed most aspects of
Social & religious life
Sufis
Mystics seeking direct experience w/Divine
Women and men in early Islam
- Spiritually women and men were equal but socially women were subordinate especially in marriage
- played public role in early Islam
Quaran helped women in some ways
Consent to marriage
Right to own property
Etc
growing restrictions of women
Under Abbasids
- veiling and seclusion
- lower class no luxury of seclusion
Hadiths developed more negative images of women
.
Arab empire disintegrated politically by 10th century
Islamic civ flourished and expanded
Islam and the case of India
- Turkic speaking invaders brought Islam to India
- emergence of Muslim communities
- 20-25% of Indians converted to Islam
- many Hindus served as Muslim leaders
Deep Muslim and Hindu division
- Monotheism vs polytheism
- equality of believers vs caste system
Islam and the case of Anatolia
- Turks invaded Anatolia (same time as India)
- major destruction
- 90% of pop was Muslim
- Sufis replaced Christian institutions
- freer life for women persisted
Islam and the case of West Africa
- Islam came peacefully with traders, not conquest
- Islam spread mostly in urban centers
- provided links to Muslim trading networks
- several west African cities became Islamic centers
- no sig Arab immigration
Islam and the case of Spain
- Arab conquered most of Spain
- Islam didn’t overwhelm Christianity
- most adopted Arabian culture not religion
- religious toleration (broke down)
– Muslim ruled region limitation on Christianity
-
Islam as a new civilization
- Islam civ held together by Islam practice & beliefs
- system of education
- Sufism
Islamic world immense arena of exchange of goods, technology, and ideas
- valued commerce
- exchange of agricultural products & practices b/w regions
- diffusion of technology
- exchange of ideas
- Persian beaurocratic practice
- Ancient Greek texts
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