The Arabian Nights

Brief History of Medieval Islam2000 BCE: Semitic people migrate from Mesopotamia to Arabian Peninsula400-300 BCE: Records of Arabs trading with the Greeks and later the Romans610-620 AD: Muhammad founds Islam after hearing the angel Gabriel800 AD: Abbasid caliphs rule all of Western Asia and much of the southern Mediterranean from their city of Baghdad (setting for The Arabian Nights stories)1453 AD: Beginning of the Ottoman Empire (date of earliest surviving manuscript of The Arabian Nights)

Dome of the Rock, First Masterpiece of Islamic Architecture,

Jerusalem, 692 AD

Major Islamic Beliefs 650-1500

Belief in one God, Allah

Moses, Jesus and Muhammad are all holy men, prophets

Five Pillars of Wisdom

God is the one God; there are no othersPray directly to God five times a day, facing toward the holy place of Mecca (the Salat)Give charity to the needy (Zakat, the poor’s dues)Fast during Ramadan, the holy month, from dawn to sunset; celebrate during Eid, when you must forgive other people and especially remember the poorPerform the Haj once in your lifetime

Other Major Beliefs

Islam means “submission in peace”Its tenets are revealed in

Scriptures revealed before Muhammad's birthThe Koran (Qur’an)

The prophets are the messengers of GodLife on earth is short, but heaven and hell are of infinite durationEverything that happens on earth is controlled or destined by God; all events are part of his plan and man must submit

Islam’s AchievementsExtended rights to all individuals, even women and childrenDiscouraged slaveryMade state responsible for the needs of all its citizensEncouraged the acquisition and propagation of knowledge

ScienceMedicineAstronomyMathematicsBooks became readily available through mass production of paper: literacy rose

“For five centuries after Muhammad, the Muslims dominated the world both culturally and militarily as completely as Europe and America have done for the last two hundred and fifty years.”

--Sir John Glubb, The Life and Times of Muhammad

The Arabian NightsCompiled during the height of the Abbasid Golden Age (750-1258)

Ruled from BaghdadAbsolute monarchyHighly centralized bureaucracyEstablished the office of vizier as chief officer of the bureaucracy

Stories come from Persia, Arabia, India, and ChinaThey reflect the Islamic World from Spain, across North Africa to Cairo, across the Arabian peninsula, up to Damascus and Baghdad, north to Samarkand, across Afghanistan, down to India, and beyond

Harun al-Rashid

The fifth Abbasid Caliph, some of whose exploits are detailed in The Arabian NightsHis vizier was Jafar, who accompanies him in the talesHarun’s palace was the most elaborate ever built for a caliph and his forays among his subjects to check on their wellbeing led to his becoming a literary character after his death

Themes and Ideas in the Arabian Nights

Stories and StorytellingIslam as a central belief systemRace, Class and Gender negotiationsKings and their powerForgiveness vs. RevengeDestiny vs. Free WillHow does a person live a good life?What is the nature of justice?