Chapter 8 The Rise of Islam 600-1200 Notes - Quia

Chapter 8

The Rise of Islam 600-1200

Notes

AP World History

I. The Origins of Islam

A. The Arabian Peninsula Before Muhammad– 1. Most Arabs were settled

people, but nomads were responsible for caravan trade that connected Arabia with the Byzantine and Sasanidcivilizations.

– 2. Nomads were polytheistswho worshipped natural forces and celestial bodies.

– 3. Mecca was a caravan city and a cult center that attracted nomads to worshipthe idols in the Ka’ba.

B. Muhammad in Mecca– 1. Received

revelations from Allah in 610.

– 2. Message was that there is one god, Allah, and that all who submitted to him would go to paradise and those who did not would go to hell.

– 3. Considered the final revelations, superceding the earlier revelations of God to Noah, Moses, and Jesus.

C. The Formation of the Umma(unified community)– 1. Fled from Mecca to Medina to form

the community of believers (hijra).– 2. Medina developed into the core of the

Islamic state.– 3. Abu Bakr took over the leadership of

the umma.– 4. He saw that Muslim authority was

established over the Arabs and he oversaw the compilation and organization of the Qu’ran in book form.

– 5. Civil war broke out between the third caliph’s clan Uthman, and Muhammad’s first cousin and son-in-law Ali. The Umayya forces won and established the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.

– 6. These disagreements led to the development of the 3 sects of Islam; Sunni(Umayyad) (more of, capable ruelrs), Shi’ite(Ali, direct descendants), and Kharijite sect.

D. Islamic Beliefs

1. Montheistic

2. Followers of Islam are Muslim

3. Allah (God) said he (Muhammad) shall be the last messenger

4. Words from Muhammad written down in the Koran (Qu’ran)

5. Shares common history with Christianity and Judaism– Jesus just a prophet

6. Salvation won through submission to the will of God which is achieved by following the Five Pillars of Islam– A. confession of faith

– B. prayer 5x/day

– C. charity to the needy

– D. fasting during the month-long Ramadan

– E. pilgrimage to Mecca at least once during one’s lifetime

7. all people equal before God

II. The Rise and Fall of the Caliphate,

632-1258

A. The Islamic Conquests, 634-711– 1. Caliphate ruled by a religious leader called a

caliph making it a theocracy– 2. First wave of conquest took Syria, Egypt and

the Sasanid Empire.– 3. In the 7th and 8th centuries Tunisia, Spain,

Algeria, Morocco, and Sind (Pakistan/India)were taken. Never able to get a foothold in Europe

– 4. Reason for conquests come down to the talent of the Muslim leaders and the structure of Arab society.

– 5. Arab forces were organized into regular, paid, armies that were kept in military camps and garrison towns so they did not overrun the countryside.

B. The Umayyad and Early Abbasid Caliphates, 661-850– 1. Founded by Yazid, son of

Mu’awiya

– 2. The Umayyads ruled over an Arab, not Muslim empire and ruled their territory through the established Byzantine and Sasanid Apparatus.

– 3. Moved their capital to Damascus, Syria A. Made Arabic official language,

gold and silver coins standardized monies, those not Muslim were forced to pay a tax

– 4. Dome of the Rock is built on Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Muhammad’s meeting with God)

– 5. Rebellions overthrew the Umayyads and the Abbasids came to power and ruled the Caliphate until 1258.

– 6. Abbasid provided renewed religious leadership which was derived from the Sasanids.

– 7. Baghdad was the center of Abbasid culture

– 8.Golden Age saw an acceleration of the rate of conversion of non-Muslim peoples and literature, learning, coinage of silver and gold, translation of Greek and secular Arab poetry thrived under their leadership.

– 9. Defeat T’ang China to control Silk Road

C. Political Fragmentation 850-1050– 1. Abbasid power began to

decline because the caliphs found it impossible to control their vast territory.

– 2. Difficulty of transportation and communications.

– 3. Dissatisfaction of the non-Muslim provincial populations with a political and economic system that was centered in Baghdad.

– 4. Slave troops known as Malmuks took over the government during the late 9th

century and held it until 945 when the Iranian Shi’ite Buyidstook control.

– 5. Other groups began to gain power such as the Samanids in Bukhara and the Fatimids in Egypt.

– 6. In Spain the Umayyadsheld control over a diverse population and saw substantial urbanization, introduction of citrus crops, a diverse irrigated, agricultural sector, and a florescence of Muslim and Jewish intellectual activity.

– 7. However, there was continuity with the strong sense of religious identity preserved by the religious scholars, the ulama.

The Alhambra

D. Assault from Within and Without 1050-1258– 1. The Seljuk Turks, took

advantage of the weakness of the Abbasids to establish the Suljuk Sultanate.

– 2. They ruled a territory from Afghanistan to Baghdad and took Anatolia from the Byzantines in 1071.

– 3. Turkish depredations, the deterioration of the Tigris-Euphrates irrigation system, insufficient revenue, and insufficient food resources led to the collapse of the city of Baghdad.

4. The Crusades (military campaigns to take over the Holy Land and convert to Christianity) also put some pressure on the Islamic lands, but the Muslims were able to unite under Saladin and drove the Christians out. However, Saladin’s descendants were not able to restore unity and order to the Islamic world and it was hit by another Turkish invasion in1250 and by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.

5. Eventually defeated by Mongols

PBS: Islam – Empire of Faith

Golden Age

–57 min – 1h15

The Crusaders

III. Islamic Civilization

A. Law and Dogma– 1. Shari’a was Islamic law.

– 2. The most important source of the law was the traditions of the Prophet(sunna) as revealed in reports(hadith) about his words or deeds.

– 3. The Shari’a held that all Muslims are brothers and sisters and shared the same moral values.

– 4. minimizing ethnic and political divisions

B. Converts and Cities– 1. People found that the best

way to learn about Islam was to move to the wealthy, expanding urban areas where the population was concentrated.

– 2. Cities provided an expanding market for agricultural and manufactured products and contributed to an increase in trade.

– 3. In medicine and astronomy Muslim scholars surpassed the work of the Greek and Hellenistic civilizations and developed far more advanced skills and theories than those of Christian Europe

C. Islam, Women, and Slaves– 1. Women were veiled and

secluded.– 2. Women’s rights included the

right to inherit and own property, to retain it in marriage, right to divorce, to remarry, to testify in court, and to go on pilgrimage.

– 3. Biggest fear centered around Muhammad’s young wife A’ishaillustrate what Muslim’s feared most about women; infidelity and meddling in politics.

– 4. Islam did not permit homosexuality.

– 5. Were not permitted to enslave their fellow Muslims, Jews, Christians, or Zoroastrians except when taken as prisoners of war.

D. The Recentering of Islam–1. During the 12th and 13th

centuries the madrasas(religious colleges) and the Sufi brotherhoods developed.

–2. Sufi brotherhoods were mystic fraternities whose members sought union with God through rituals and training.

–3. Also provided members with spiritual guidance and rules for everyday life.

Crash Course Islam

IV. Comparative Perspectives

A. Similarities Between Sassanid and Roman Empires

– 1. Both empires forged strong relations between the ruler and the dominant religion.

– 2. Citizens began to identify themselves more with religion than ruler.

– 3. Allowed Muhammad to begin commanding both political and religious loyalty.

B. Comparing Local and Universal Islam

–1. The concept of ummaunited all Muslims in a universal community.

–2. New religious institutions such as the madrasas and Sufi brotherhoods also provided a sense of community for Muslims as they carried Islam into new regions.