The Worlds of Islam

Chapter 9How Islam became the dominating

religion of the 3rd Wave Era

Food for Thought:

• Islam in the 21st Century = read the quote from Malcolm X – what does he reveal in his pilgrimage to Mecca? What world events have occurred in the 20th and 21st century that has painting a negative image of Islam amongst Americans?

Growth of Islam from 600 – 1600:

• expansive – encompass Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Chinese culture and Buddhism – anchor in East Asia, Christianity in Europe, Islam in the Afro-Eurasian world

The Birth of a New Religion

• The Rise of Religions compared to one another = Confucianism and Daoism established from China, Hinduism and Buddhism established from India, Greek philosophy in the Mediterranean region, Zoroastrianism from Persia.

• Christianity and Islam emerged from the margins, from small regions. Christianity in remote part of Roman empire, Islam along cities and deserts of the Arabian peninsula

The Homeland of Islam

i. Geography of the Arabian Peninsula = • Arabian Peninsula – nomadic Bedouins• Highlands of Yemen and Interior mountain –

sedentary village-based agriculture• Northern and Southern regions – small

kingdoms• Location to important trade routes - connect

Indian Ocean to Mediterranean – rise to cities

ii. Bedouins

= nomads in central of Arabian Peninsula. Herded sheep and cattle in seasonal migrations. Fierce, independent, fueds, variety of gods, ancestors, spirits

iii. Mecca

• = Kaaba = Quraysh = Mecca was the site of the Kaaba – the most religious shrine in Arabia, destination for many pilgrims. Mecca’s dominant tribe – Quraysh – controlled access to the Kaaba – taxed the local trade that accompanied the pilgrimage season. Mecca became home to people of all wealth – outlaws, exiles, foreign merchants, but power was in hands of the few ruling Quraysh

•

Proximity to the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire =

• Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians lived amongst the Arab. Connection of Allah – called Yahweh – Jewish name for High God, Allah/Yahweh only God

The Messenger and the Message

• i. Muhammad = • Muhammad Ibn Abdullah – 570 – 632 C.E., born in

Mecca to a Quraysh family, lost parents, became shepherd

• Like Jesus and Buddha, had a powerful religious experience – he was Allah’s messenger to the Arabs – bring them scripture in their own language – Muhammad’s revelations were recorded in the Quran, Muhammad same line as Jesus, Abraham, and Moses

ii. Quran

= became the sacred scriptures of Islam, the very words of God, core of Islamic faith, intended to be recited, monotheistic – Allah the only God, all-powerful creator – good, just, merciful, compassionate, caring, invitation to return to the old and pure religion of Abraham – that Jews, Christians, and Arabs had deviated

iii. Primary objective• Submission to Allah, achieve a God-conscious

life in the world, spoke against hoarding wealth, exploiting the poor, corrupt business, abuse of women, demanded social justice

• 1. Solidarity, 2. Equality, 3. Concern for the poor

• Challenged ancient polytheism

iv. Umma

• = community of all believers, replace ethnic, tribal, or racial identities, women too had an equal place spiritually, Umma bound by belief versus territory, language, or tribe

v. The 5 Pillars of Islam = • 1. No God but Allah• 2. ritual prayer – 5x a day• 3. Almsgiving – give generously to the poor• 4. month of fasting during Ramadan• 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca - Hajj

• The 6th Pillar…• 6. Jihad – “struggle” – authorized armed

struggle against the forces of unbelief and evil – this is a huge issue of controversy in today’s society

The Transformation of Arabia

• i. Attraction to Islam = • lower-class dependents, freed slaves, and

member of poorer class – attraction against the Quraysh

ii. Resistance from the Quraysh

• = dislike Muhammad because of his social reform, end to corrupt business, viewed Muhammad as disloyal to his own tribe…so Muhammad moved to Yathrib, known as Medina

iii. Yathrib = Medina = city of the Prophet

• = Muhammad moved the capital to Yathrib – Medina – to excape the Quraysh

• Membership of belief vs birth• Usury was outlawed – tax-free markets – mandatory payment to

support the poor• Independent movement from Judaism – at one point had followers

face Jerusalem, but when some Jewish groups allied with Muhammad’s enemies, Muhammad exiled and enslaved or killed Jews – switch prayer direction to Mecca.

• 630 return to Mecca – purge the Kaaba, Kaaba become the shrine dedicated to Allah

iv. Islam compared to Christianity =

• Islam from the beginning was a state, not a separate entity like the Christian church and state

• Islam did not give rise to a separate religious organization – no teachers, religious scholars, prayer leaders had a prestigious religious role over others

• Sharia – laws that regulated every aspect of life “path to water” • Had roots in Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism, Islam

became independent in which it spread throughout the3 3rd wave civilizations

• Ability to bring peace to the warring tribes of Arabia

Crash Course

• Islam

War, Conquest, and Tolerance • i. Spread of Islam after Muhammad’s Death = • Arab Empires defeated the Sassanid Empire by 644, Byzantium

lost the southern ½ of its territories – Islam spread • Prevent expansion of Chinese culture to the West

• ii. Motives driving the creation of the Arab Empire = • Trade routes• Wealthy agricultural regions• Individuals found expansion to give wealth and social promotion

War, Conquest, and Tolerance

• iii. Idea of “Believers” = • Umma – everyone can believe

• iv. Dhimmas = • protected by law, but second class citizens

• v. Jiyza = • can keep own religion, but have to pay a special tax

Conversion• i. Social Conversion = • Cultural identity bound with Allah, monotheism, cleansing and ritual prayer,

fasting, divine revelations, idea of heaven and hell• • ii. Those who didn’t convert = • Berbers of N. Africa – Christian• Some Persian Zoroastrians fled to avoid Muslim rule• • iii. Case of Persia – “Islamized” without “Arabizing” =• 80% of Persian became Muslim• Still speak Persian language of Farsi (spoken today in Iran)• Kept Persian cultural identity = keep art, traditions, culture, but embraced

Muslim religion

Diversions and Controversies

• i. Caliph = • Successor to Muhammad as the political ruler of the

umma

• ii. 1st Four Caliphs = The Rightly Guided Caliphs (632-661)

• “companions of the Prophet”• Selected by the Muslim elders of Medina• Leads to division of the Muslim World – led to civil war

Sunni VS Shia• iii. Sunni VS Shia = • Sunni – believe that that caliphs were rightful political and military

leaders, selected by the Muslim community• Shia – believe leadership should come from blood relative – the line of

Ali and his son Husayn – relatives of Muhammad• Sunni emerged as the larger community – religious scholars known as

ulama, advocated established order• Leaders of the Shia – imamas – Shia saw themselves as the minority,

defenders of the oppressed• Shia continued to split further• • Caliphs transformed from Arab chiefs to absolute monarchs – came into

incredible wealth

Dynasties• iv. The First Dynasty - The Umayyad Family = 661-750• expanded Arab empire• Capital in Damascus, Syria• Problems…Shia viewed as illegitimate, non-Arabs resented their

second class status, against lavish living of the Umayyad• Overthrow in 750, the Abbasids took over• • v. The Abbasids = • lacked political unity• ended with the Mongol takeover in 1258• Islamic world divided and ruled by Persian or Turkish military

dynasties

Sharia

• vi. Sharia = • The body of Islamic Law – blueprint for Islamic

society – guidance for prayer, ritual cleansing, marriage, divorce, inheritance, slaves, political life

• Debates among the Ulama creation of 4 schools for Sunni and other schools for Shia

• Living as a Muslim meant following the sharia

Sufi

• v. Sufis = • represented Islams mystical dimension – renounce

material world, meditation of Quran, chant, music and dance – interior life

• Sufism = tame ego and achieve spiritual life with Allah

• Widely popular by the 9th and 10th centuries

• Spiritual practices an element of popular Islam

Women and Men• i. Spiritual Level = • Men and women were equal

• ii. Social Terms – Marriage = • viewed women as inferior and subordinate – “Men have

authority over women”• Quran – mix of rights and restrictions for women – infanticide

forbidden, women control property, dowries, rights of inheritance

• Marriage was a contract, cannot be captured• Only one husband, but husband can have multiple wives

Women and Men

• iii. Women under Umar and Mansur =• Umar = women pray at home• viel and secluded• position of women became more limited• remove women from public• • Mansur = carried separation even further =

building separate bridge for women to cross

Women and Men• iv. Other Signs of Patriarchy = • -killing women if violate sexual taboos• Hadiths – spoke of the evils of women• Adam and Eve interpretation – blamed Eve for the fall of Adam

• v. View of Women in relation to Sufi practice = • Sufi allowed for greater role of women vs main stream islam• Sufi within Shia allowed for women to be teachers – mullahs• Women could interact with other women at bath houses.

The Case of Spain

• Biggest Islamic encounter with Christianity• Spain conquered by Arab and Berber forces – early 8th

century• Often portrayed as a place of harmony between

Muslim rulers and Christian and Jewish peoples• Spain’s agricultural economy was the most prosperous

in Europe – capital of Cordoba – one of the largest cities in the world – Christians, Jews, and Muslims all contributed to the growth and wealth of the city = astronomy, medicine, arts, architecture, literature

The Case of Spain• Elites of society and different faiths would socialize• By 1000, 75% had converted to Islam – remaining Christians

learned Arabic and veiled their women• Christianity never dissolved – second class Christians lost

tolerance by the late 10th century – Cordoba broke into rival states

• Under the rule of al-Mansur – 981-1002 – no longer tolerant of Christians, turned to persecution of the Christians

• Social life also changed – Muslims avoided contact with Christians

The Case of Spain• Christians intensified their re-conquest of Spain after 1200

and gained strength• Isabella and Ferdinand, catholic monarchs, took Grenada in

1492 – the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula• Christian triumph, Muslim catastrophe• Muslims were forced to emigrate after the conquest – Spain

no longer tolerant of other religions – Jews and Muslims• Christian churches replaced mosques, use of Islamic art and

architecture• Spain experienced a religious reversal