Chapter 6 – The First Global Civilization: The Rise and Spread of Islam

1. Desert and Town: The Pre-Islamic Arabian World

A. Introduction
I. Geography – unlikely birth of religion – inhospitable desert
II. Bedouin – nomadic culture dominant
a. Some towns – Mecca/Medina – merely extensions of Bedouin life
1. Safety of trade routes determined success of cities
2. People linked to kinship
3. Culture
i. Focus on clan and family
ii. language and religion
b. Some coastal trading towns
B. Clan Identity, Clan Rivalries, and the Cycle of Vengeance
I. Organization
a. kin-related clans group with others to make tribes
1. Only congregate for war, severe crisis
2. Conditions force you to rely on clan – kicked out equals death
3. Life regulated by councils
i. shayks – leaders of the tribe/clan
A. has large herds, several wives, many
children/retainers
ii. Ideas of shayks enforced by warriors
II. Conflict over pastureland/watering holes
a. Need to defend one’s honor
b. One man’s slight could lead to huge conflict followed by revenge
c. Constant conflicts led to weakened empire
C. Towns and Long-Distance Trade
I. Small communities of traders emerge
II. Some northern cities become trade links
a. Mecca dominates – mountainous region – controlled by Umayyad clan
of Quraysh tribe
1. Mecca has Ka’ba – focus of bazaars
i. Obligatory truce brought rival groups together
b. Medina – to the north – wells and springs
1. Unlike Mecca, run by five competing families – 2 bedouin, 2
Jewish
i. These divisions later help with formation of Islam
D. Marriage and Family in Pre-Islamic Arabia
I. Women greater freedom
a. Key economic roles – milking camel, weaving cloth, raising children
b. not covered or secluded
c. wrote poetry
d. Able to have multiple partners
e. Lineage matrilineal
II. men still had more rights
a. Earn status through war/battle
b. Creation of cities leads to stratification leads to male dominance
c. Men only polygamy
 E. Poets and Neglected Gods
I. Sparse resources – art and architecture didn’t flourish
II. Poetry/oral history main method of sharing stories
a. Theme – heroic clans, warriors
III. Gods – polytheistic and animism
a. But…how many really believed
b. One tribe, Quraysh believed had one god named Allah
1. but not prayed to, sacrificed to initially

2. The Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam

A. Early life of Muhammad

I. Born into prominent clan of Quraysh tribe
a. Father and mother die, raised by uncle and prominent grandfather
b. Made caravan trips with Abu Talib – exposed to Christian/Jewish faiths
II. Early 20s worked as a trader for Khadijah – later wife
a. saw inequity of classes
b. saw class rivalries
c. saw tension between clans as some, Umayyads, got rich through
commerce
d. saw monotheistic religions
1. Many prophets during this time period pushed for monotheism
III. 610 – first revelation from Gabriel
a. Wrote Allah’s words in Qur-an
B. Persecution, Flight and Victory
I. Seen as threat – Umayyad in Mecca
a. Threat to wealth and power
b. Threatened Ka’ba role, no longer center of commerce?
II. One clansmen Ali, finds way for him to sneak out to Medina in 622
a. Medina ideal location – caught up in clan conflict
b. Muhammad invited in to resolve disputes
c. Wisdom as political leader won him new converts
III. Umayyad send out attacks on Muhammad
a. Muhammad proves himself as strong military leader
b. Finally Umayyad surrender, let Muslims visit Ka’ba
c. 10,000 converts enter city, destroy idols, Mecca inhabitants convert
C. Arabs and Muslims
I. Why attractive to Arabs
a. Form of monotheism that belonged to no single tribe
b. Equal of other monotheistic faiths
c. Allowed no intermediaries, priests
d. End to vendettas, feuds – united
e. Single, supernatural authority
f. Turned violence against selves into violence against others
g. Ethical system to live lives
1. zakat – charity tax for poor
2. Wealthy forbidden from overtaxing poor
h. All aspects of life regulated to prepare for Judgement Day
D. Universal Elements in Islam
I. Why attractive to others outside of Arab world
 a. uncompromising monotheism
b. highly developed legal codes
c. egalitarianism
d. strong sense of community
e. most aspects similar to that of Judaism and Christianity
1. Accepted older teachings, Muhammad just most recent divine
instructions
II. Five Pillars
a. No god but Allah
b. Pray five times a day facing Mecca
c. fast during Ramadan
d. Zakat for those in need
e. Hajj - pilgrimage to Ka’ba to worship Allah

3. The Arab Empire of the Umayyads

A. Initially, it looked like Islam might fail with Muhammad’s death

I. Some renounced faith
II. Other argued over secession
B. Foreign expeditions took minds off of internal problems
I. Rather easily beat neighbors
a. courage
b. military prowess
c. religious zeal
d. weakness of border empires
II. New lands/people ruled by Arab elite
C. Consolidation and Division in the Islamic Community
I. Muhammad gave no procedure for appointing successor – leader – caliph
a. Ali – cousin and son-in-law too young
b. Abu Bakr – earliest follower, closest friend
1. courage, warmth, wisdom
2. Knew genealogy of tribes – alliances
3. Ridda Wars – defeated Bedouin tribes, brought under power of
Islam
II. Initially just raided for booty
a. raids showed weakness of empires
b. many residents tired of being merely vassals and frontier
guardians for Persians/Byz
D. Motives for Arab conquest
I. Unity of faith gave them common cause
II. Pent-up energy from warrior people
III. booty – “bread and dates”
IV. not driven by desire to win converts – avoided mass conversions
a. wanted tax money – that’s the key – need to keep people not Muslim
E. Weaknesses of the Adversary Empires
I. Sasanian Empire of Persia
a. Autocratic emperor manipulated by aristocrats
b. Zoroastrianism – religion of emperor ignored by common people
c. Delayed too long to realize threat, eventually fled east and were killed
II. Byzantine Empire – stronger adversary
 a. defection of their own frontier Arabs
b. Muslim invaders got support from Christians from Syria and Egypt
1. Copts and Nestorians would rather be taxed less
c. Muslims triumphed in early battles, would continue siege for centuries
F. The Problem of Succession and the Sunni-Shi’a Split
I. Frustration over
a. Centuries of personal animosities
b. Who would control booty from victories
c. Spark to conflict – murder of third caliph Uthman
1. Uthman from Umayyad clan – remember the guys who wanted
to assassinate Muham
II. Ali – remember – the son-in-law of Muhammad
a. Regains thrown – doesn’t punish assassins – war’s on
b. Ali’s forces were winning, but he decides on mediation at Battle of Siffin
1. Makes him look weak, he loses some people from his side
2. 660 Mu’awiya – Umayyads claim he is new caliph from
Jerusalem
i. Ali assassinated shortly after
ii. Son Husayn tries to regain power, but is abandoned by
Iraqis and killed
c. And now we have a feud
III. Sunnis vs Shi’a
a. Backers of Umayyads vs. backers of Ali
b. Caliph goes through dominant clan vs. caliph goes through
descendants of Muhammad
G. The Umayyad Imperium
I. Moves East and West
a. Runs into conflict with Buddhism in East
b. Goes into Spain and eventually stopped by Charles Martel at Poitiers in
732 in West
II. Capital moved to Damascus, Syria – Arab/Muslim aristocracy ruled over non-
Arabs/Muslims
a. Tried to keep Muslims separate
1. Part of military elite, moved to garrison towns
2. Don’t want to lose taxes – remember Muslims can’t tax Muslims
H. Converts and “People of the Book”
I. Well…the guys didn’t like being separated, and started intermarrying
a. Mawali – Muslim converts still had to pay taxes
1. Some even had to pay jizya – a surtax for nonbelievers
i. Oddly enough, not that many people converted…
hmmm…I wonder why
b.Dhimmi – “People of the Book” – basically everyone else in the empire
who believed in another religion other than Islam
1. Muslim lords tolerated other religions for taxes
I. Family and Gender Roles in the Umayyad Age
I. Position of women actually pretty good, don’t confuse w/ life in Persian Empire
a. Muhammad stressed importance of marriage, fatherhood – adultery
illegal
b. Husband can marry up to four wives, but must be able to support them
all
 c. Got rid of infanticide, gave more property rights to women
d. Many of women some of his strongest early followers – wife for
instance
1. Helped compile Qur’an, some even went along on campaigns
e. Veiling isn’t mentioned, but one woman even said why cover, Allah
made me this way
J. Umayyad Decline and Fall
I. Umayyad caliph’s growing addiction to luxury and soft living
a. Stopped fighting wars, built palaces – revolts start around empire
II. Merv – don’t be scared by the name, but this is where the revolution begins
a. 50,000 warriors had married local women – identified with region
b. Rarely given share of booty
c. Annoyed at Umayyad elite
d. Annoyed that the Umayyads were sending in new troops
e. Marched under the Abbasid party banner
1. Joined with the mawali – non-Arab converts
2. Coalition of the willing defeated Umayyad caliph at Battle on the
River Zab
3. Invited the rest of the Umayyad family to a nice little get
together
i. Wrapped them in carpets and slaughtered them
ii. Hunted down the rest
iii. One guy made it out - Caliphate of Cordoba – in exile

4. From Arab to Islamic Empire: The Early Abbasid Era

A. Abbasids less tolerant of Shi’ism sects

B. Pushed for centralized, absolutist imperial order
I. Jeweled thrones
II. Expanded number of bureaucrats
a. Appointed a wazir – chief administrator – guy in charge of getting stuff
done
b. Royal executioner – guy in charge of getting bloody stuff done
c. Able to collect revenue from far corners of empire, though further away
harder
C. Islamic Conversion and Mawali Acceptance
I. Toward end of Umayyad period, already starting to accept
a. No longer dividing up booty
II. Under Abbasid – mawalis given equal footing to first generation
a. No longer have to pay head tax for being non-Muslim
b. Open to administrative careers – public life
1. Even conquered Persians took on a greater role
D. Town and Country: Commercial Boom and Agrarian Expansion
I. Merchant class wealth and social status improves – trade a priority
a. Afro-Eurasian trading resumes after Rome/China let it die
b. Created super cool ships called dhows
c. Muslims worked with Jews, Christians – trade never stops – no
Sabbath conflicts
II. Products – luxury products for elites
III. Money reinvested in companies
 a. Share given to charity
b. Created mosques, religious schools, baths, rest houses for weary
c. Hospitals – best medical care in the world
IV. Increased handicraft production
a. furniture, glassware, jewelry, tapestries/carpets – you know you’ve
heard of Persian rugs
1. workers had some rights – formed guilds, owned tools,
V. Slaves do garbage jobs
a. Urban is better – could actually work your way to freedom
b. Rural/mining – oftentimes left to non-Muslim captures
VI. Landed elite emerges – ayan – both old money and new money (warriors)
D. The First Flowering of Islamic Learning
I. Previously illiterate – ignorant of outside world
a. Allows them to be open-minded, accept styles and approaches and
creativity of the conquered
II. First priority – preserving classical texts of Greece, Mediterranean, Mid East
a. W/out Muslim and Jewish scholars – much of classical knowledge
would be lost
b. Traded ideas – Indian number system