CHAPTER 6: ISLAMIC CIVILIZATIONS
6A- THE ORIGINS OF ISLAM
Islam is a one of the world’s major monotheistic religions. It began in the early 7th century. Islam comes from the word “al-silm” and “istaslama” which means peace and surrender. The god in Islam is referred to as Allah, which in Arabic means “the god” or “the deity”. A person who is believe and practices the religion of Islam is called a Muslim. It’ founder was the Prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad lived from 570-632. He was born in Mecca into a middle class family in a powerful tribe of nomadic herders and successful merchants. His father died before he was born, and his mother died when he was only six years old. He was raised by an adopted family into his adult life. Muhammad worked as a merchant for several years on the trade routes between Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. He met a wealthy widow named Khadija who hired him to protect her caravans on the trade routes and they eventually married.
When Muhammad was 40 years old he began hearing voices and seeing visions of divine angels. To better understand these visions he would go to Mount Hira and meditate. On one such journey in 610, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that there was only one god, Allah, and he had chosen him as a prophet. Muhammad believed he was the last and greatest in a series of prophets along with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
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Muhammad would continue to have these revelations and began preaching his message. He soon gained many followers however, his belief in only one god upset the people who worshiped many gods. They were afraid that Muhammad’s teachings would upset the pagan gods that protected their trade.
In 622, Muhammad, his family, and his followers became persecuted for their beliefs and had to flee Mecca. The flight from Mecca to Medina is called the Hijra. They were welcomed into the city of Medina and were able to freely practice their religion. There the first mosque was built and he and his followers would pray towards Mecca.
At this time the pagans in Mecca tried to go to war with the Muslims in Medina. After several battles the Muslims defeated the pagans, and in 629 Muhammad returned to Mecca with 1500 converts and took control of the city. Over the next 2 years most of the Arabian Peninsula converted to Islam. Muhammad died in 632 as the effective leader of Islam and ruler of Southern Arabia.
6B- THE GROWTH AND SPREAD OF ISLAM
With over 1.5 billion followers in over 232 countries, Islam has grown to be one of the world’s largest religions. Many Muslims live in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The growth and spread of Islam began when the Prophet Muhammad began sharing his divine revelations and spreading messages he received from Allah (god). He and his followers were persecuted and had to flee to the neighboring city of Medina in 622. There he and his followers were welcomed and the faith grew. After much conflict they were able to return to Mecca in the year 630 and it became the center of Islam. After Muhammad’s death in 632, the teachings of Islam spread rapidly to many people and places in the Middle East.
The period following Muhammad’s death is known as the Rashidun Caliphate that lasted from 610-750. During this empire a Muslim administration and government was established and ruled the Middle East. The Caliphate was governed by The Righteous Caliphs, or spiritual leaders. By 644, these four leaders helped Islam spread and grow far and beyond the Middle East through conquests of major cities like Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. North and Western parts of Africa were also conquered effectively taking control over much of the Byzantine and Persian territory. The third Caliph Uthman created a version of the Quran that became standardized and widely used throughout the Islamic world in newly established schools that taught the Arabic language and Islamic studies. This was also a period in which hundreds of mosques were built throughout the empire.
After the death of the last caliph in 661, the Umayyad Caliphate took control of the empire and ruled until 750. Historians regard this caliphate as the most powerful and expansive of the caliphs. The Umayyad Caliphate grew the Islamic Empire to its peak and expanded its control from the Middle East to parts of Asia, India, Northern Africa and parts of Europe. The growth of Islam in these areas helped unite nomadic people into a more unified culture by creating common currency, making Arabic the official language, and standardizing measurements. This led to a “Golden Age” during the Abbasid Dynasty which came to power by overthrowing the Umayyad in 750. During this period science, math, astronomy, medicine and literature flourished. Libraries and schools were built and arts and architecture thrived. This period lasted to 1258.
6C: THE BELIEFS OF ISLAM: THE 5 PILLARS OF ISLAM
Many people practice religion because it creates a sense of community and belonging among those who share the same faith. Religions have certain practices that create a strong sense of community throughout the world. The Five Pillars of Islam are rules that every Muslim practices creating a strong feeling of membership of the worldwide Muslim community.
The first pillar of Islam is called Shahadah or The Declaration of Faith. The shahada is the most basic expression of Islamic beliefs. It simply states that “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.” When a Muslim recites this they accept it as true and will follow all of the commitments of Islam. To become a Muslim, a person must recite this three times with complete sincerity in front of witnesses.
The second pillar of Islam is Salat or Prayer. Muslims are expected to pray five times a day while facing Mecca. In Islamic countries there is a public call to prayer which sets the day. This ritual is over 1400 years old and practiced by millions of Muslims across the world.
Zakat-charity or almsgiving is the third pillar of Islam. Muslims believe that they are meant to share their wealth with those less fortunate in their community of believers. Each year Muslims are expected to give 2.5% of their wages to charity. This giving is a form of worship and self-purification. This practice frees them from clinging to possessions and greed.
Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan is called Sawm and it is the fourth pillar of Islam. Ramadan occurs in the 9th month in the Islamic calendar. Ramadan lasts for 30 days. For the first 29 days Muslims are expected to fast giving up food or drink from dawn till dusk. They view Sawm as obedience to God and learn self-discipline to become spiritually stronger.
The last of the five pillars of Islam is Hajj in which all Muslims, who are able, are required to make the pilgrimage, to Mecca and surrounding holy sites at least once in their lives. This ritual promotes the bonds of Islam and occurs once a year where every Muslim gathers together in Mecca to praise Allah before the Kaaba, a shrine in the great Mosque in Mecca. The Hajj occurs in the 12 month of the Islamic calendar.
6D: THE EARLY CALIPHS AND DYNASTIES OF ISLAM
After the Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, died in 632 the Muslim government called the Caliphate became the leader of the Islamic Empire. The first 4 caliphs are known in Islamic history as the Rashidun Caliphate, meaning the “Rightly Guided Caliphs”. They were all closely related to Muhammed and were known for their leadership and Muslim piety. During their reigns, despite the challenges and instability they had to deal with, the caliphate grew from being a purely Arabian power, into the largest empire up to that point in world history covering territory from Egypt in the West to Persia in the East.
The first of the Rashidun Caliphate was Abu Bakr, and led from 632-634. Abu Bakr was known as “The Truthful”. He successfully stopped rebellions in the region and firmly established the Caliphate as the ruler of the region. The second caliph was Umar ibn al-Khattab who ruled from 634-644. He greatly expanded the Islamic Empire and successfully took control of the Middle East and neighboring regions such as Egypt, Syria, and North Africa. The third caliph was Uthman from 644-656 who established an the official holy book of Islam, the Quran. The last caliph was Ali ibn Abi Talib who ruled from 656-661 and was known for his wisdom and speeches.
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Ali was assassinated in 661 and shortly after the The Umayyad Dynasty took control of the Islamic Empire. Under this dynasty, the empire expanded rapidly to include parts of Northern Africa, Western India, and Spain. At its peak, it was one of the largest empires in the history of the world. The Umayyad unified the empire through several efforts such as making Arabic the official language and establishing common money and system of measurement.
6E: THE SUNNI- SHI'A SPLIT
Like many major religions such as Christianity and Judaism, Islam experienced a division among its followers. This division began after the Prophet Muhammad died. Many Muslims believed that the leader of Islam should be someone in Muhammad’s family. Others believed that leadership should fall to the person who was deemed by the elite of the community to be best able to lead the community. This disagreement created a division between Muslims and resulted in two different groups called Sunni and Shi'a.
The majority of Muslims in the world base their religion on Sunni Islam. The Arabic word Sunni means “one who follows traditions of the Prophet”. After Muhammad’s death, many Muslims believed that the successor should be someone chosen by the elite members of the community. They eventually chose Muhammad’s close friend and advisor Abu Bakr as the first caliph of the Islamic community.
Muslims who believe that leadership should stay within Muhammad’s family are known as Shiite, or Shi'a. The Arabic word “Shi'a” is a shortened word for “Shia-t-Ali” which means the Party of Ali. Shi'a make up a majority of Muslims in Iran, but represent a minority of Muslims worldwide. This was a result of the rise of the Safavid dynasty to power in the 16th century that made the Middle East a stronghold for the Shi'a. Shiites believe that the rightful successor of Muhammad should have been his cousin and son-in-law Ali. Shiites follow divinely appointed leaders called Imams.
Shiites highly worship Imams and believe that they are sinless and their authority comes from Allah. Sunnis do not support the Imam and do not believe in a birthright or privileged class of leaders. They believe that leadership and trust is given and taken by the people. In addition to differences in leadership, Sunnis and Shi'a Muslims differ on their traditions and religious practices as well. Sunni Muslims base their religion on the testimonies of Muhammad’s close companions, but Shi'a Muslims do not believe in the traditions written by the early caliphs and follow verses and texts that come from the prophet’s family.
Although there are differences in some aspects of their practice of Islam, Sunni and Shi'a Muslims share the most fundamental beliefs and articles of Islamic faith such as the God Allah, the five Pillars of Islam, and belief in the Qu’ran as their holy book.
6F- ISLAMIC GOLDEN AGE ACHIEVEMENTS
During the Abbasid Caliphate, the Islamic Empire greatly contributed to advancements in many fields, including literature, philosophy, science, medicine, mathematics, and art. This period is known as the Islamic Golden Age and lasted from 790 - 1258.
During this period, Islamic culture placed high importance on education. The first public universities were founded in Baghdad, where philosophy and literature were studied.
Arab storytellers collected works from diverse sources and wrote many forms of literature such as poetry, history, theology, philosophy, and fables. Most famous was a collection of Arab folk tales called “One Thousand and One Nights”.
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Muslim scholars translated and preserved the work of Ancient Greek philosophers. Two philosophies came out of this period, Falsafah which was logic based on Greek philosophy, mathematics, and physics and Kalam, which is the explanation and rationale of Islamic religious beliefs.
Doctors studied Greek and Indian works and added to their ideas about medicine. There were hospitals in all of the major cities. Islamic medicine developed important medical treatments, including a way to surgically treat eye cataracts. Their ancient book of medicine is called “The Canon of Medicine” which was used as a reference throughout the Islamic empire and Europe for centuries.
Islamic scientists built on the work of their Greek and Indian counterparts. They used astronomy for navigation, creating a calendar, and for religious practices like finding the direction of Mecca for prayer.
They built observatories to study the sky and invented the quadrant and astrolabe. The astrolabe is like a handheld model of the universe that can help astronomers identify planets and stars. It was also used by explorers to determine latitude on the seas.
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Greek, Indian, and Chinese mathematics were also studied, including geometry and trigonometry. Islamic mathematicians pioneered the study of Algebra and helped establish it as a separate field of mathematics.
Indian numerals were adopted and popularized by the Persian mathematician Al-Khwārizmī. They became known as the Arabic numeral system and subsequently spread across the globe through trade. Further innovations included the use of a forerunner to the modern bank check.
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Religious leaders forbade artists from depicting God or human figures in religious art. Instead of using these figures, Islamic artists created intricate patterns and designs such as arabesque (leaves and flowers), tessellations (geometric patterns), and calligraphy (the art of beautiful handwriting). These can be seen on different forms of art such as ceramics, paintings and mosaics. Persian, Arab, and Indian artists excelled at painting miniature works for book illustrations.
6G- THE RISE OF THE TURKS
The rise of the Turks began with nomadic tribes of warriors that gained power in new regions. By the 9th century the Islamic Empire was weakening under the division and conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. As a result, many regions created their own identities and empires began to form. One group of Turkic nomadic warriors from central Asia called the Seljuks, gradually migrated towards Arab and northern Persian territory. They were the first tribe to accepted Islam and gained the trust of people in the region. They were excellent warriors and highly skilled at combat on horseback and with bows. They provided protection to rising empires and were used in Arab and Persian armies. Over time the Turks would gain more power and eventually take control over different regions.
By the 11th century the Seljuks occupied and conquered Iran, Syria, and Palestine. They established the Seljuk Empire by creating an elaborate bureaucratic hierarchy that provided the foundation for governmental administration. However, the empire was experiencing internal conflict and division and eventually split. A powerful Seljuk tribe came to power and established the Sunni Muslim controlled state called The Sultinate of Rum. It was established in the part of Anatolia which had been conquered from the Byzantine Empire by the Seljuk Turks. It reached the height of its power during the late 12th and early 13th century when it succeeded in taking Byzantine, key ports on the Mediterranean, and Black Sea coasts.
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In 1095, the First Christian Crusade was launched to help remove the Seljuk Turks from Anatolia. This was part of a larger goal to reclaim holy land taken during Muslim conquests. During the first crusade from 1095-1099, the fractured states of the Seljuks were more concerned with unifying their own territories and gaining control of their neighbors than with cooperating against the crusaders. Hence, the Seljuks lost a lot of land in the first crusade. In the Second Crusade, from 1147-1148, the Seljuk Turks defeated the Holy Roman Emperor to retake the Country of Edessa. The Sultanate of Rum continued to rule Anatolia but was eventually overthrown by the Mongols in 1243.