AP World HistoryThe Islamic World

Presentation Outline

1)Mohammed and the origins of Islam

2)The split in Islam: Shi’a vs. Sunni

3)The expansion of Islam under the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE)

4)Decline of the Umayyad Caliphate

5)Rise of the Abbasid Caliphate(750-1258)

6)Decline of the Abbasid Caliphate

1) Mohammed and the Origins of Islam1) Mohammed and the Origins of Islam

Muslims are strict monotheists.

They believe in the Judeo- Christian God, which they call Allah.

Muslims believe that the Torah and the Bible, like the Qur’an, is the word of God.

Peoples of the BookPeoples of the Book

Abrahamic Religion: Judaism, Christianity, Islam

The Prophetic Tradition

The Prophetic Tradition

Adam

Noah

Abraham

Moses

Jesus

Mohammed

The Origins of the Qur’an

The Origins of the Qur’an

Mohammed received his first revelation from the angel Gabriel in the Cave of Hira in 610.

622 Hijrah Mohammed flees Mecca for Medina. * The beginning of the Muslim calendar (1 A.H.)

Mohammed’s revelations were compiled into the Qur’an after his death in 632 CE

The Qur’anThe Qur’an Muslims believe it contains the word of God.

114 suras (chapters).

In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful.

Written in Arabic.

The MosqueThe Mosque The Muslim place of worship.

By the time of Mohammed’s death in 632 Islam had spread throughout most of the Arabian Peninsula

2) The split in Islam: Shi’a vs. Sunni

• After Muhammed's death in 632 Abu Bakr was appointed the leader or caliph of Islam

• This created a division among Muslims• Sunni Muslims believe that the most capable Muslim

should be elected or appointed caliph by the community

• Shi’a Muslims believe that only a direct spiritual descendant of Mohamed can be the leader of the Islamic World

• Both Shi’a and Sunni accept all the basic tenets of Islam

This division in Islam persists today

Ali: Shi’a spiritual leader- considered the direct successor of Mohammed

Abu Bakr: First Islamic Caliph and chosen successor after Mohammed- considered first Sunni leader after Mohammed

3) The expansion of Islam under the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE)

Geography of the Caliphate•Mesopotamia•North Africa•Spain•Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia•Northwest India•Dominated eastern Mediterranean Sea•Capital at Damascus

Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem built by the Umayyad- today a site of dispute between religious Jews and Muslims

Islamic Expansion

Subjects

• Only Muslim Arabs first-class citizens could share in booty (conquered wealth)

• Local populations converted to Islam (Mawali). What was motivation?

• Non-Arab Muslims faced discrimination - inferior

• Number of conversions to Islam during the reign of the Umayyad was low

Family and Gender

• Islam under Muhammad stressed family and equality of women

• Women had some freedom under Umayyads - pursued wide range of occupations

• Rising Arab urbanization = decline of women’s rights

• Persian custom of seclusion / harem was adopted Concubines in Umayyad

Harem

4) Decline and Fall of the Umayyad Caliphate

• Umayyad became soft and corrupt due to its increasing wealth and power

• Warrior lifestyle declined• Decadent living sparked revolts• Umayyads wiped out• Grandson of Umayyad caliph

escaped to Spain - founded Caliphate of Cordoba

5) The rise of the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258CE)

• Abbasids turned on Shi’a allies who helped to remove the Umayyads.

• Built centralized state- absolute power• Capital at Baghdad• Revenues were collected in the form of

tribute and taxes

The Abbasids

• Caliphs placed themselves above Islamic law

• Rulers called themselves “Shadow of god on Earth” Divine rule?

• Caliphs became remote from people

• New emphasis on conversions

• Malawi gained equality with Arab Muslims

• Persians became powerful force in Abbasid court

Commerce and Urbanization

• Wealth and status of merchant and landlord class grew

• Muslims and Tang China became engines behind revival of world trade

• Technology - Arab Dhows & lateen (triangular) sails

• Business partnerships between Muslims, Christians, and Jews common (Sabbaths)

The Astrolabe

Arab invention which aided navigation

Commerce and Urbanization

• Increase in handicraft production (furniture, carpets, glass, etc)

• Guild associations formed

• Wealthy landed elite formed called Ayan

• Many farmers were tenants, sharecroppers, or migrant laborers

• Towns flourished despite political instability A shop in a bazaar

Slavery

• Unskilled labor done by slaves - some brutality

• Slaves could gain freedom and/or serve in positions of power

• Most drudge labor slaves were Zanj slaves (non-Muslim Africans)

• Beautiful / educated slaves prized

• Slave women had more freedom than Muslim women

Zanj Slaves

Slavery

• Caliph had up to 4,000 slave concubines

• Most slaves from Balkans, Central Asia, and Sudanic Africa

• Word “slave” derived from “Slav”

A caliph and his concubine

Women

• Women increasingly subjugated to men (harem / veil)

• Women from lower classes worked to help support family

• Rich women had no outlets

• Marriage age at puberty (legal age= 9)

Purdah: wearing of the veil and seclusion

It was believed that women were sex maniacs that men had to be ‘protected’ from.

Religious Trends

• Religious scholars (ulama) became increasingly reactionary

• Sufi movement- wandering mystics- factor in spread of Islam Whirling Dervish – Sufi

whirls himself into trance-like state

6) Decline of the Abbasid Caliphate

• Shi’ite revolts plagued Abbasids

• Decadent living strained revenues

• Problem of succession• Court corruption- wives,

concubines, ministers, eunuchs, courtesans, etc

• Increasing influence of Persian ministers over caliphs

• Harun al-Rashid – most famous caliph

• Rashid’s death resulted in civil wars over succession

• Successors created bodyguard of slave mercenaries - Turks (70,000)

• Turks became power behind throne- murdered and replaced caliphs. Muslim Praetorian Guard?

• Turkish mercenaries became violent force in Muslim society- source of constant riots

• Expense of putting down Turks, paying other mercenary forces, construction projects caused financial crisis

• Villages placed under rule of mercenaries in lieu of payment

A Turkish warrior

• Pillaging led to destruction / abandonment of villages

• Irrigation structure collapsed• Peasants fled, died, or turned to banditry• Loss of territory as regions split from

Abbasid rule• Buyids of Persia (breakaway region)

captured Baghdad- caliphs became puppets (945 CE)

Seljuk Turks

• Buyid control broken in 1055 by Seljuk Turks

• Turkish military rulers ran empire in name of caliphs

• Turks crushed Byzantine army and opened Anatolian Peninsula to settlement

• Fought against Christian Crusaders

End of the Caliphate

• Mongol assaults on Muslim Persia by Chinggis Khan

• Hulegu (grandson) completed conquest of Baghdad in 1258

• Last Abbasid caliph executed• Mongols turned back by Mameluk Turks

(rulers of Egypt)• Islamic center of gravity shifted to

Cairo, Egypt