Islamic Conquests

1
Islamic Conquests and Integration into the Near
East
2
The Conquerors Arrive

• 628 CE Persian governor of Yemen converts to
  Islam
• 636 Syria conquered
• 642 Iran fully subdued
• 650 Merv in central Asia captured
• 711 Sind and Andalusia invaded
• 751 Muslims meet the armies of the Tang Chinese
  at Talas in Central Asia
• 758-Muslims raid Canton and become regular
  residents in Chinese ports
• 846 Muslims sack Rome map

3
What Drove the Conquests?

• Ecological Thesis?
• Nationalist Thesis?
• Accidental Thesis?
• Faith and Money
• Radical new faith united Arab tribes and inflamed
  spirits jihad in Gods path in the Days of
  God.
• Spoils of War Umar establishes the diwan, a
  list that divides the spoils of conquest up among
  the armies according to seniority in conversion
• Question of Centralization centralized on a
  strategic but not tactical level

4
Why were the Islamic Conquests so Successful?

• 602-628 Byzantine-Sassanian War exhaustion
• 6th Century had seen population decline and
  scarcity of resources in the NE in general
• Religious tension 632 forced conversion of Jews
• Highly stratified society of Near East vs.
  egalitarian Islam?
• Islam as laymans version of Nestorian
  Christianity? What about Monophysites and
  Zoroastrians?
• Belief and a Will to Power

5
Islam and Taxes the Religion of the Conquerors

• Muslim Isolation
• Misr/Amsar garrison cities
• Laws for non-Muslims religious freedom, separate
  dress, no weapons
• Non-Muslims Taxes
• The jizya (poll tax) is compensation for
  religious freedom but no charity tax!
• In the 690's the Syrian Nestorian John of Phenek
  writes about Arab occupation all they want is
  taxes, no interest in religion of masses
• Result Conversion is Slow
• In Iraq in 800 CE, only 18 Muslim
• Majority of Egypt is not Muslim until the 11th
  century

6
Conversion to Islam

• Mawali the clients
• Under the Umayyads they are not given full rights
  as Muslims until about 720 CE
• Do people really know what Islam is?
• No Quran teachers in Naysabur until the 3rd or
  4th generation
• 728 CE order given to head of taxation in
  Samarqand that jizya exemption to be given only
  to Muslims who are circumcised (ie. as opposed to
  those who had converted and not done this)

7
Where Does Islam Fit?

• Jerusalem center of prophecy, destination of
  Muhammads Night Journey and first Muslim
  direction of prayer
• The Dome of the Rock built by Abd al-Malik in
  692 on the Temple Mount
• Abrogates Judaism
• Rejects Christianity

8
Leadership and Authority

• Succession to Muhammad religious and/or
  political authority?
• Caliph khalifat Allah or khalifat Rasul
  Allah Vicegerent of God or Successor to the
  Prophet
• Ridda Wars is Islam over with Muhammad?
• The Partisans of Ali
• First Civil War 656-660
• Aisha and Co. (defeated at Battle of the Camel
  by Ali in 656)
• Muawiya and the Umayyads
• Ali and his partisans (face-off with Ali at
  Siffin in 657)
• The Kharijites the first radicals (defeated by
  Ali, assassinate him)
• Second Civil War 680-692
• The Umayyads under Yazid and the Marwanid House
• Zubayrids (led by the Companion Abdallah b.
  al-Zubayr d. 692)
• Kharijites
• The Radical Shiites the Kaysaniyya and the
  notion of an infallible ruler