The document provides background information on the origins of Islam through the life and teachings of Mohammed. It discusses that Mohammed was born in 570 AD in Mecca to a merchant family. He began receiving revelations in his 40s and preached monotheism, emphasizing social justice. Opposition forced him to flee to Medina in 622, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar. By 630, he conquered Mecca and established it as the center of Islamic pilgrimage. After his death, Islam expanded rapidly under the Rashidun caliphs before the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties took control of the Islamic empire.

1. Mohammed and the Rise of Islam
 600’s A.D.
 loss of much of the Eastern Roman Empire
 to a new religious and political power
– Islam

2. Middle East, ca. 600 A.D.

3. Islam
 Bedouin Arab named Mohammed
 born ca. 570 A.D.
 Merchant family, Hasimites
 Qurayshis tribe, who dominate Mecca
– controlling much of the religious pilgrim trade
 raised by relatives
-father and mother died by age six
-raised by an impoverished uncle

4. Mohammed
 formal education ?? We don’t know
– Normally only the Poets of the Tribes could
read and write
 commercial agent for a wealthy widow
– Khadijah
– supervising caravans from Mecca, north to
Jerusalem
– contact with both Jews and Christians

5. Mohammed, con’t
 He seems to have made an impression on his boss,
because of his reputed honesty
– married her and retired from commerce
– to devote himself to religion
– and to making society more fair and equitable

6. Mohammed, con’t
 monogamous until his wife died
 eventually married nine wives and had
assorted concubines
 last marriage at 53 to Aishah, daughter of a
friend
 wives: widows of friends or political marriages
• Women alone is such a world were very vulnerable

7. Origins of Mohammed’s
Teachings
 periods of unconsciousness are indicated:
explanations
– revelations from Allah by holy trances, spoken to by Gabriel
– epilepsy or a similar neurological disorder?
– mental illness or hallucinations ?
 Mohammed’s explanation:
– revelations from God
– Very unpleasant and painful for him

8. The Quran
 Record of revelations received during
visions
 Committed to writing c. 650 CE, compiled
(Muhammad dies 632)
– Under the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan
 Tradition of Muhammad’s life: hadith

9. Nature of Revelations
 diverse
 social, agricultural, medical, military,
astronomical, etc.

10. Historical Origins of His Ideas
 Arab polytheism
 Hanifism: a belief in one God traced to Abraham, by
tradition
 Judaism
 Christianity: Orthodox, Nestorian, Arianism
 Manichaeism: a mixture of Zoroastrianism,
Christianity, Judaism, and so forth

11. Beginning of His Ministry
 at about age 40, after a number of revelations
 began to preach publicly
 continued to receive revelations until death
– usually related to current problems or concerns
– Religious, political, social, economic

12. Early religious career
 not particularly successful
 threatened the social, political, and religious
structure, with his doctrine of social equity
 threatened the economic basis of Mecca as a center
of religious pilgrimage
 particularly the Black Rock
– sacred to the chief deity of the Arabs
 run out of town, or at least encouraged to leave
– Went to the desert with his family and lived for about a year

13. The Hijra
 flight from Mecca, to Yathrib (Medina)
-tradition: invited by the Jews of Medina
 622 A.D.
 beginning of the Islamic calendar
 forms the umma (community)
 welcomed, then resisted
 Mohammed becomes an absolute theocrat

14. Muhammad’s Return to Mecca
 Attack on Mecca, 630 -- jihad
 Conversion of Mecca to Islam
 Destruction of pagan sites, replaced with mosques
– Ka’aba preserved in honor of importance of Mecca
– Approved as pilgrimage site

15. Jihad
 holy war against Mecca
 ten year blockade
 a deal was made

16. The Deal
 Mecca preserved as a holy city and place of
pilgrimage
– to preserve the economic prosperity
 the Ka’aba preserved as the central shrine
– idols and icons destroyed
– story of its origins emphasized the role of
Abraham in its placement
– pilgrimage as an act of faith, at least once in your
life

17. The Ka’aba in Mecca

18. The Religion: the Koran (Qu’ran)
 the Koran (Qu’ran): contains much of Mohammed
recounting of Allah’s teachings
 written down by his followers after his death
– from notes and memories, on “stones and
parchments”
 Short: 114 chapters
– arranged from longest to the shortest
– not by subject or chronologically
– length is the criterion of order for the text

19. The Koran, con’t
 some “Old” and “New” Testaments stories
– but sometimes the story seems a bit different to
Jews and Christians
 parables and fables
 political polemic and prophecy
 “non-religious” subjects
– not dissimilar to Jewish and Christian scriptures in
some ways

20. Five Pillars of Islam
 uniqueness of God
– ‘There is no god, but God….’
 prayer five times a day
 observe the month of Ramadan
 give alms to the poor
 pilgrimage to Mecca
– If possible, once in your life

21. Additional teachings
 dietary laws
 no gambling or drinking
 no sexual irregularities, as defined by tradition and
custom
 no faulty weights or usury
 no infanticide
 elaborate rules concerning inheritance and property
 improvement in the status of women and children

22. Changing Status of Women
 Qu’ran improves status of women
– Outlawed female infanticide
– Brides, not husbands, claim dowries
 Yet male dominance preserved
– Patrilineal descent
– Polygamy permitted, Polyandry forbidden
– Veil adopted from ancient Mesopotamian practice

23. Similarities to Judaism and
Christianity
 monotheism (defined a bit differently)
 insistence on the responsibility of human beings
 final judgment and rewards
 angels and spirits
 practice of virtues: truthfulness, compassion, etc.

24. Differences
 an emphasis on compassion and mercy
 alms giving moderate
 heaven conceived a bit differently
 no priests or sacramental system
 easy conversion: the Shahadah
– ‘There is no God by Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.’

25. Islamic Law: The Sharia
 Codification of Islamic law
 Based on Quran, hadith, logical schools
of analysis
 Extends beyond ritual law to all areas of
human activity
– This is the basis the idea of an “Islamic
republic” for instance

26. Expansion of Islam
 early victories
 backsliders (tribes) punished
– Apostasy = treason = death
 assaults on:
– the Byzantine (Roman) empire
– the Persian empire

27. Spread of Islam

28. Dome of the Rock,
Temple Mount Jerusalem

29. Victories
 Syria: 635 A.D.
 Palestine: 636 A.D.
 Persia: captured in one battle
– expansion into India
– expansion to the borders of China
 Egypt: help by local Christians
 North Africa: the Berbers

30. Expansion, con’t
 Spain 711-720 A.D.
 Battle of Tours: October 732 A.D.
– Charles Martel
 Siege of Constantinople: 717-718 A.D.
– Leo III
– Greek fire
 beginnings of Christian reconquest of
former Roman/Christian territory

31. Reasons for success
 exhaustion of Rome and Persia
– End of a 400 year war
 nationalist sentiments in Egypt and Syria
 arguments among Christian factions
 speed and size of Moslem armies
 simplicity and uncomplicated nature of Islam
 acceptance of the Old and New Testament
– People of the Book

32. Consequences of Expansion
 loss of the oldest and most central lands of
Christendom
 aided the ascendancy of the bishop of Rome
 virtual collapse of Zoroastrianism as a major religion
 radically altered the balance of power between the
Roman Empire and the East
 disruption of the Mediterranean economic community

33. Early Problems
 Succession ?
– Mohammed had no surviving male children
– Daughter: Fatima
– Son-in-law: Ali, child of his uncle
 generated a permanent split in the
Islamic community
– Sunnis
– Shi’as

34. Sunnis
 considered themselves the “orthodox” followers of
Mohammed
 consider the Shi’as to be “dissenters”
 issue: who leads after Mohammed ??
 the Caliph (or “leader”)
 went successively to followers
-Abu Bakr, then Oman
-then Uthman and

35. The Shia
 Disagreements over selection of caliphs
 Ali passed over for Abu Bakr
 Served as caliph 656-661 CE, then assassinated
along with most of his followers
 Remaining followers organize separate party called
“Shia”
– Traditionalists: Sunni

36. Abu Bakr
 not particularly popular with the Muslim
community
 allowed raid, then invasions of
Byzantine and Persian territory
 subjugated any dissident elements or
tribes
 disposed of any “new prophets”

37. Success = strain
 success introduced luxury and change
– From original caliphs to the Umayyad caliphs
 new ideas and new ethnic groups
– with their own customs and heritage, to try to
assimilate
 rise of a sort of “revivalist element”
– Islam had strayed from its original path and purity
– Muslims were being led back to paganism
– caliphs were becoming idle, corrupt, tyrants

38. Uthman: the third Caliph
 murdered: warfare broke out
 Ali: cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed
 originally passed over as too young
 contested the succession
 Uthman supported by the Umayyad clan
– early enemies of Mohammed
– refused to accept Ali’s claims

39. Umayyeds
 successful in the war
 Ali assassinated in 661 A.D.
– by the Kharijites
 beginning of the Umayyed dynasty

40. Policy toward Conquered Peoples
 Favoritism of Arab military rulers causes
discontent
 Limited social mobility for non-Arab
Muslims
 Head tax (jizya) on non-Muslims
 Umayyad luxurious living causes further
decline in moral authority

41. Sunnis
 accepted the legitimacy of early caliphs
 “Sunni” : from an Arabic word
– “usage” or “custom”
– implies: “precedent”

42. Shi’as
 accepted Ali
 word means: “party”, “faction”,
“following”

43. Factions
 Sunni and Shi’as dominant
 originally political
– Eventually the differences became
dogmatic in emphasis
 Shi’as become a party of religious
dissent

44. Perceptions
 Sunni: conservative, in favor of the
“status quo”
– consensus is the guiding principle
 Shi’as: defenders of the oppressed,
critics of privilege and power
– obedience is required only as long as it can
be forced, and no longer

45. Umayyed empire
 Atlantic Ocean to India
 Syria: center of the Islamic World
 eventually displaced by the Abbasids
– an Arab family claiming decent from
Mohammed

46. The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258
CE)
 Abu al-Abbas Sunni Arab, allied with Shia, non-Arab
Muslims
 Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia
 Defeats Umayyad army in 750
– Invited Umayyads to banquet, then massacred
them
– Only Spain remains Umayyad
– North Africa is disputed territory, ultimately
Fatamid

47. Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty
 Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively
Arab)
 Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial
expansion
 Dar al-Islam
 Growth through military activity of autonomous
Islamic forces

48. Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty
 Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not
exclusively Arab)
 Militarily competent, but not bent on
imperial expansion
 Dar al-Islam
 Growth through military activity of
autonomous Islamic forces

49. Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809
CE)
 High point of Abbasid dynasty
 Baghdad center of commerce
 Great cultural activity

50. Abbasid Decline
 Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid
 Provincial governers assert regional independence
 Dissenting sects, heretical movements
 Abbasid caliphs become puppets of Persian
nobility
 Later, Saljuq Turks influence, Sultan real power
behind the throne

51. Formation of an Islamic Cultural
Tradition
 Islamic values
– Uniformity of Islamic law in dar al-Islam
– Establishment of madrasas
– Importance of the Hajj
 Sufi missionaries
– Asceticism, mysticism
– Some tension with orthodox Islamic
theologians
– Wide popularity

52. Cultural influences on Islam
 Persia
– Adminstration and governance
– literature
 India
– Mathematics, science, medicine
• “Hindi” numbers
 Greece
– Philosophy, esp. Aristotle
– Greek medicine

53. Cultural Importance of Islam
 Development of these received
influences
 Distribution throughout the Muslim world
 Introduction and reintroduction of these
ideas to medieval Europe
– Through Spain
– Spanish Jews