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The Islamic Civilization

A Study of the Faith / Empire / Culture

Mecca / Makkah

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Isolated Peninsula

Southwestern = Fertile

Remainder = Arid Plains / Desert

Agriculture along the coastal areas

Bedouin Tribes / Nomadic / Sheikh

Crossroads of trade – Oasis

•Towns emerge•Makkah / Mecca

•Kaaba•Polytheistic

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Byzantine Empire

Vs.

Sassanian (Persian) Empire

• Byzantines struggle against the expansion of the Sassanians

• Struggle for Jerusalem (Real First Crusade)

• Weaken each other militarily• Neither really dominates the area of the

Arabian Peninsula

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Mohammed

Born 570 – Mecca

•Orphaned•Lives with uncle•Become a Merchant•Travels throughout the Middle East•Marries Khadija (15 yrs older)•Influenced by Christianity and Judaism

The Flight of Mohammed

Hijrah (Hegira)

•Start of the Islamic

Calendar – 622 A.D.

•Medina Compact

•Political Capital of Islam

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During Mohammed’s Life After Mohammed’s Death

Expansion of Islam

Mohammed

Enters Mecca

– 630 A.D.

Kaaba

becomes place

of worship tied

to Abraham

Mohammed

dies at Medina

in 632 A.D.

Fought to re-establish power of

“Rightly Guided Caliphs”

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The Kaaba

Exterior

Interior

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Islam = “Submission to the Will of God”

Koran / Quran (“Recital”)

Written in Arabic

Final authority in matters of faith and lifestyle

•God’s messages revealed to Mohammed

•Old Testament Stories

•Specific Rules

•Alcohol

Shari’ah

•Quran / Sayings of Mohammed

•Islamic moral principles

•Public / Private Life

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Building the

Islamic Empire

through military

conquest

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The Spread of Islam

The Early

Islamic Warrior

1111

Expansion of Islam

Caliph = “Successor”

Mohammed left no clear line of succession

Rightly Guided Caliphs (Rashidun Caliphs) -- 632 A.D. – 661 A.D.

•Four immediate successors of Mohammed

•All knew, lived, followed Mohammed

Abu Bakr (632 – 634)

Father-in-Law,

Died Naturally

Omar (634 – 644)

Appointed by Abu

Bakr, Assassinated

Othman (644 – 656)

Elected by peers,

Assassinated

Ali (656 – 661) Cousin

and son-in-law

(Fatima),

Assassinated

“jihad” begins

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Islam Fragments

661 Death of Ali --- Muawiyah (Governor of Syria)

Husayn (Ali’s son later killed in battle – 680 A.D.)

Establishment of the Umayyad Dynasty (661 – 750 A.D.)

•Damascus established as capital city instead of Medina

•Greatest Period of Islamic Expansion

Divisions in the Islamic Faith Emerge

Umayyad’s

Political Leaders

Sunni Muslims

90% in the World

Fatimah – Mohammed’s Descendants

Religious Leaders

Shiite Muslims

10% in the World

Further divided into smaller sects

Settle in North Africa (Fatimid's)

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Continues Dynasty in

Spain

Emirate / Caliphate of

Cordoba

(756 – 1031)

The Umayyad

Dynasty in Power

661 – 750 A.D.

•Spread Arabic Language

•Minted 1st Arabic Currency

•Built Roads

Overthrown in 750

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The

Umayyad

Political

World

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Expansion into Europe (Spain)

711 – 714 A.D.

Defeat the Catholic Visigoths

Internal Civil War

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Prince Eudes (Aquitaine) Meets (S.W. Paris) with Charles Martel (732)Old Enemies – Warns about the Advance of the Muslims

Notice Absence

of Stirrups!)

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Arab / Muslim Expansion into Europe

Charles Martel

& Eudes Meet

732 A.D.

Arab Raids

into France

714 - 731

Summer

732 A.D.

Franks = 20 – 30,000 Troops

Arabs = 15 – 20,000 Troops

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Muslim Raiding Party Advances past Poitiers, France

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1919

Key

Turning

Point

2020

Major fight at

Muslim Camp

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Death of Abd al-Rahman / End of Muslim

Efforts for Expansion into Western Europe

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2222

Muslim Forces

Retreat at the

Death of their

Leader

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Muslim Focus on Spain Begins

Eight Centuries

711 – 1492

Distinct Culture

Combination of Europe / N.

Africa / Middle East

Cordoba / Cordova

Umayyad Capital

70 Libraries – 500,000 books

Granada

Alhambra

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Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba

“al-Andalus” (Andalusia)

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Exterior of the

Cordoba

Cathedral

European

Features

Islamic

Features

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Traditional

Catholic

Church

Interior

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Combination

of Islamic

Architecture

and

European

Gothic

Islamic Features

Catholic Features

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Rise of the Abbasid Dynasty 747 – 750 A.D.

•Baghdad becomes capital of the Islamic Empire

•Islamic Culture emerges as being distinct and unique

•Height of Islamic Culture reached under early Abbasid rulers

•Abbasid dynasty rules 750 – 1258

Dissatisfaction with Umayyad's

•Discrimination among non-Arabs / Others

•Shiite opposition join

•Rebel in areas to east – Iraq / Persia

Descendant of Mohammed comes to power

•Baghdad becomes new Abbasid capital

•Tigris River

•Trade Routes

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Height of Islamic Culture

Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786 – 809)

Baghdad Flourishes

Corresponds with Charlemagne

•Charlemagne sent illuminated manuscripts & bales of furs

•Harun al-Rashid sent fabrics, perfumes and an elephant named Abu-

Lababah (“Father of Intelligence”)

Baghdad center of trade routes – Population

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Abbasids live in luxurious surroundings

•Begin to become corrupt over time.

Women lose much of their freedoms – veiled, secluded

Lose control over North Africa and Spain

Rely on Seljuk Turks as Mercenaries – 1055 – Seljuk’s assume control

•Abbasid Ruler becomes a figurehead

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Will control nearly

all of North Africa

Internal Divisions / Will

Face the Crusades

Fall to Ayyubid Dynasty /

Rise of Saladin

Fatimid’s Emerge in North Africa

and Egypt

Rule 909 – 1171

Cairo is capital city

Shiite Islam

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Ayyubid Dynasty

Saladin

Fight the Crusaders

Eventually recapture the

areas taken by the

Europeans during the

Crusades (1099 – 1291)

Face a new

threat – the

Mongols

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Persian Muslims set up cities – Samarkand -- Tamerlane

Mongol Advance from the East

Baghdad sacked and destroyed in 1258

•Muslim world is shattered

Mongols continue advance to the west

“Tomb of

the King”

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Mamluks of Egypt Halt Mongols

•Horse Archers

•Similar Tactics

•Only Mongol Defeat

•Save Islam for Middle East?

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The Islamic Culture Develops

Role of Men and Women in Society (Distinct)

Women: Lives revolved around family (1 of 4 Wives)

Some other roles available – Scholarship / Arts

Men: Politics / Military / Business

Responsible for family – treat women fairly

Education: Boys (age 7) – Mosque schools (small costs)

Madrasas (Theological schools) -- Select become leaders

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Agriculture:

Irrigation / Fruit Orchards

Trade:

Crossroads

Bazaars / Marketplaces / Urban Centers

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Damascene

Jewelry

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4343

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House of Wisdom -- Baghdad

Ma’mun – 830

Intellectual Center – Research / Science

Translation of earlier literature – Greek / Persian / Indian

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Cultural - Scholarship

Mathematics: Arabic Numerals – India

Chemistry & Medicine: al-Razi / Classify Substances

Ibn Sina / “Canon of Medicine”

Art and Architecture: Calligraphy / Elegant Handwriting

Arabesques / Geometric Designs

Literature: Omar Khayyam / “Rubaiyat”

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Cultural - Scholarship

Literature: Omar Khayyam / “Rubaiyat”

19th Century Loose English Translation

"A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,

A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou

Beside me singing in the Wilderness--

Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"

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Cultural - Scholarship

Mathematics: Arabic Numerals – India

Chemistry & Medicine: al-Razi / Classify Substances

Ibn Sina / “Canon of Medicine”

Art and Architecture: Calligraphy / Elegant Handwriting

Arabesques / Geometric Designs

Literature: Omar Khayyam / “Rubaiyat”

Arabian Nights Tales

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Cultural - Scholarship

Mathematics: Arabic Numerals – India

Chemistry & Medicine: al-Razi / Classify Substances

Ibn Sina / “Canon of Medicine”

Art and Architecture: Calligraphy / Elegant Handwriting

Arabesques / Geometric Designs

Literature: Omar Khayyam / “Rubaiyat”

Arabian Nights Tales

Philosophy & History: Averroes (Ibn-Rushd) & Moses Maimonides

Correspondence with St. Thomas Aquinas?

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Examples of Islamic Architecture