The Rise and Spread of Islam

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The Rise and Spread of Islam
Saeed Tahseen titled Salah Aldeen Al-Aiubi.
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Desert TownThe Pre-Islamic Arabic World

• Arabian peninsula is shaped by bedouin culture,
  which emphasized
• Kin-related clans which formed larger tribes led
  by shaykhs
• Interclan rivalry for resources
• Women playing key roles and enjoying greater
  relative freedom
• A religion that blends animism and polytheism

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Towns Trade

• Arabian peninsula lies on the periphery of the
  classical world
• Bedouins live by herding cities develop further
  south (Mecca and Medina)
• Fierce competition and battles over oases and
  trade routes

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Muhammad and the Birth of Islam

• 7th century C.E., a new religion arose in the
  Arabian peninsula.
• Built on the revelations received by the prophet
  Muhammad, Islam won over many camel-herding
  tribes of the peninsula within decades.
• Islam united Arabs under an important ethical
  system.
• Islams beliefs and practices (including the five
  pillars) eventually made it one of the great
  world religions.

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• The archangel Gabriel brings the word of God to
  Muhammad. (Turkish poet - Siyer-i Nebi The Life
  of the Prophet, 1595.)
• Why are paintings like this not accepted in all
  Muslim societies?

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Birth of the Prophet MuhammadSiyer-i Nebi
The Life of the Prophet. Istanbul, 1594.What
scene does this painting resemble?What are the
differences?
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Persecution, Flight Victory
The Prophet and his companions advancing on
Mecca, attended by the angels Gabriel, Michael,
Israfil and Azrail.Siyer-i Nebi The Life of the
Prophet 1595.

• Muhammad gains a small following but it
  constantly threatened by the Umayyad
• Hijra to Medina creates a loyal core and the
  return to Mecca makes the new faith permanent

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What Islam Offers

• One god that transcends all clan rivalries
• End to vendettas and feuds under the umma
• An ethical system that heals social rifts
• A code of law to organize society
• An acceptance of the revelations in Judaism and
  Christianity which makes it easier for Islam to
  spread

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The Death of Muhammad

• Many bedouin reject Islam
• Conflict over succession
• Abu Bakr works to bring people back into the umma
• Conquests into the Persian and Byzantine empires
  garners wealth and spreads Islam
• Mourning of the Death of MuhammadSiyer-i Nebi
  The Life of the Prophet. Istanbul, 1595.

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The Expansion of Islam
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Umayyad Rule and the Sunni-Shia Split

• Conflict over successors leads to split, which
  remains to this day
• Umayyad settle internal disputes and pushed
  forward into central Asia, northwest India, and
  southwestern Europe.
• built an imperial administration with both
  bureaucracy and military dominated by a Muslim
  Arab elite.
• Sunnis believe the successor to Muhammad
  (caliph)should be chosen by Muslim community
• Shiites believe that only direct descendants
  should succeed Muhammad
• Sufis were missionaries who sought to communicate
  through rituals, poetry and meditation

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Converts and People of the Book.
Umayyad policy did not prevent interaction,
intermarriage, and conversion between Arabs and
their subjects. Most of the conquered peoples
were Dhimmis (people of the book). Included Jews
and Christians later Zoroastrians and Hindus.
Dhimmis had to pay taxes (jizya) but could
retain their own religious and social
organization. Shariah- provide laws for everyone
to live by (Qadis-judges)(Ulema- jurists)
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Family and Gender Roles

• Altered as the Muslim community(Umma) expanded.
  Initially, the more favorable status of women
  prevailed over the seclusion and male domination
  common in the Middle East.
• Quran stressed the moral and ethical dimensions
  of marriage. Adultery of both partners
  wasdenounced female infanticide was forbidden.
  Women could have only one husband,but men were
  allowed four wives, though all had to be treated
  equally.
• Muhammad strengthened womens legal rights in
  inheritance and divorce.
• Both sexes were equal before Allah

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Abbasid Era

• Focus on luxury and weakened military led to
  decline of Umayyad
• Abbasid clan wins power led to increased
  bureaucratic expansion, absolutism, and luxurious
  living

Malwiya Minaret
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Abbasid Policies

• Accepted Persian ruling concepts
• Large bureaucracy worked under the wazir, or
  chief administrator.
• Mawali were fully integrated into the Muslim
  community.
• Most conversions occurred peacefully

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Town and Country Commercial Boom Agrarian
Expansion
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Flowering of Islamic Learning

Before Islamno writing/knowledge of the outside
world. Receptive to the accomplishments of
conquered civs Islamic learning flourished in
religion, law, philosophy, sciences and
mathematics. Recovered and preserved the works
of earlier civs (Greeks) which was passed on to
the Christian world.
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Global Connections
From 600-1450 , the Arab world Unified under the
political Banner of the Caliphate, established A
golden age focused on tolerance And adoption
and adaption from the Classical world through the
continued Interactions across overland and
Maritime trading networks.

• Basis for the first global civilization
• Islam becomes one of the great universal
  religions.
• Arabs absorbed precedents from earlier
  civilizations.
• Muslims did the same in the arts and sciences,
  later contributing to other societies in Europe,
  Africa, and Asia.