Stearns, Chapter 11. Bedouin Social organization = clans Shaykhs, slave families, rivalries ...
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Transcript of Stearns, Chapter 11. Bedouin Social organization = clans Shaykhs, slave families, rivalries ...
The Pre-Islamic World
Bedouin Social organization = clans Shaykhs, slave families, rivalries Constant fighting Mecca dominated by Umayyad clan Medina is disputed territory Women have status and don’t wear veils Why does Islam flourish here?
Muhammad
Muhammad Khadijah 610- revelations Quran Umayyads plot against him – why? Flees Mecca to Medina Hijra – flight (622) Treaty in 628 with Quraysh
The new religion offers society… Monotheism Umma Ethical system Zakat Universal Elements…. Five pillars Ramadan Hajj
The idea of a caliphate
Term combining the ideas of a leader, successor, and deputy (of the Prophet)
Abu Bakr was the first caliph; 2 years Muslim teaching maintained that there is
no distinction between the temporal and spiritual domains; social law is a basic strand in the fabric of comprehensive religious law.
Abu Bakr led many assaults; Ridda Wars
Abu’s successors
Umar, Uthman, Ali Caliphate becomes an ‘institution’ Umar began conquests outside Arabia Prohibited Arabs from assuming
ownership of conquered territory Collected taxes from non-Arabs;
remained the minority (language) Did not try to convert the conquered
Uthman (644-656)
Asserted the right of the caliph to protect the economic interests of the entire umma
Publication of the definitive text of Qur’an Armies consisted of Muslim Arabs Introduce Arabic as official language Distinctive Muslim coinage; new order Accused of nepotism; appointed power
positions to family Assassinated in 656
Ali
Refused to punish the soldiers that killed Uthman
Umayyads reject Ali’s claim to the throne Warfare erupts; Ali’s experience gives
him the upper hand Battle of Siffin; accepts mediation Mu’awiya (Uthman’s cousin) proclaimed
caliph in Jerusalem Ali was assassinated a year later
Sunni and Shi’a split
Sunnis backed the Ummayad Shi’a were supporters of Ali Over the years differences have
compounded
Umayyad Dynasty
Mu’awiya switched capital to Damascus (Syria)
Reached from Spain to central Asia (biggest since the Romans)
‘Arab conquest state’ Muslim Arabs only taxed for charity Muslim warrior elite kept isolate Intermarriage meant a loss of taxes
Converts in the Umayyad Age
Mawali Still had to pay taxes; Received no share of
the ‘booty’ Couldn’t get good gov’t positions; Not
members but ‘clients’ Frustrated by the royal elaborate caliphal
court The hajib, or chamberlain, resisted access
to the caliph, who now received visitors seated on a throne surrounded by bodyguards
Umayyad Decline and Fall
Royal harems ‘aloof’ in their pleasure gardens and
marble palaces Soldiers in Iran began to resent orders
from Damascus Marched under the banner of ‘al-Abbas’,
Muhammad’s uncle in 747 Shi’a and Mawali all help in the defeat Umayyad are slaughtered (p 253)
Abbasid Empire
New capital in Iraq Gradually became more ‘Sunni’ although
Shi’a continued to support them. Why? Bureacrats, servents and slaves Wazir – chief administrator, royal
executioner Integration of new converts; mass
conversions Growth of merchant class, urban
expansion, dhows, guilds, slaves often rose to power