The Rise and Spread

Of Islam

Aim: How did Islam become a uniting and dividing force in the

Arabian world?

Muhammad

• Born in 570 C.E.• Raised in Mecca, a center of worship to

polytheistic nomadic pilgrims (the Kaaba).• 610 experienced a revelation that he believed

was from Gabriel which continued for many years.

• Introduced to Allah.• Merchants (ruling class in Mecca) were angered

by the prospect of losing the pilgrims’ business b/c of Muhammad.

• Muhammad fled to Medina in 622 C.E. (hijrah)

http://math.arizona.edu/~hermi/kaaba.jpg

THE KAABA

• Muhammad organized his believers into a community (the umma).

• 630 he returned to Mecca, captured the city, and destroyed the idols.

• Islam- means submission to God’s will.

After Muhammad’s DeathMUSLIM HOLY BOOKS

• Quran (650 C.E.)

• Shariah (moral law)

• Hadith (Muhammad’s sayings)

From the Hadith: " The strong man is not the one who is strong in wrestling, but the one who controls himself in anger ."

Fordham.edu

The Five Pillars of Faith

1.Shahadah – Profession of Faith -most important Pillar and is the foundation of all Muslim beliefs and practices

2.Salat – Ritual Prayer 5 times a day-Arabic language is used and is Universal language-Mosque is the place of worship, call to prayer by Muezzin from Mosque’s minaret

3.Zakah – Tax on the Community (giving Charity)4.Saum – Fasting during Ramadan-Islam uses lunar calendar, date of Ramadan is always changing by Gregorian Calendar-Creates nearness to Allah

5.Hajj – Pilgrimage to Mecca -Once in a lifetime for all Muslims who can afford to go-Creates strong Muslim community

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam.htm (call to prayer)

Islam is a universal religion (it is open to anyone). Q: Why do you think Islam, like Christianity, appealed to women and the poor?

The Split in Islam

• Caliph- religious and secular leader• Abu-Bakr became the first caliph after the death

of Muhammad (he was one of the original followers)

• When the third caliph (Uthman of the Umayyad family) was assassinated, Ali, the son in law of Muhammad was appointed caliph.

• Controversy: Should the caliph be the strongest member of the tribe (Sunni) or a descendent of Muhammad (Shiite)?

The Umayyad Caliphate (661 C.E.-750 C.E.)

• After the assassination of Ali the Umayyad family came to power in the Islamic world.

• Capital was in Damascus, Syria.

• Soldiers dedicated to Islam.• Bureaucratic structure.• All cultures were tolerated as

long as they obeyed laws, paid taxes, and did not revolt.

• Arabic became the language of business, law, and trade.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/caliphate/umTerritory.html

Major Achievements of the Abbasid Caliphate

• Originally supported by Shiites but became more accepting of Sunnis too.

• Converts could advance in society• Increase in trade (China)• Learning of Greeks, Romans, and

Persians preserved• Spread of Arabic numerals to

Western Europe• Algebra, geometry, trigonometry• Astrolabe (measured position of

the stars) improved. • Optic surgery, human anatomy

studied• Detailed maps of the world

produced• Calligraphy, arabesques (design)

used on pottery

• The use of images was forbidden (idolatry), geometrical shapes used instead

• Minarets (towers) topped mosques

• Great literature (i.e. The Arabian Nights) produced

• Sufis (mystics) began missionary work to spread Islam

• House of Wisdom built in Baghdad in 830, translated Greek and Persian texts into Arabic.

• Dar al-Islam refers to the areas that share a common Muslim culture as the basis of their society. This became one of the most powerful influences by the end of the 15th century.

The Abbasid Caliphate at its height

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abba/hd_abba.htm

Muslim trade 1000 C.E.

• Carpets, linen, brocade, ceramics from Abbasid Empire

• Silk and porcelain from China

• Rubies, silver, dyestuffs from India

• Trinkets and slaves from the Byzantine Empire

Cairo- A Major Center of Trade

• Cairo (Founded 969 C.E. as Al-Qahira)• Commercial center between Europe, Middle

East, and Africa• Part of Islamic caliphates• Islamic social structure• Center of intellectual life

•Seljuk Turks conquered it in 1168

Decline of the Abbasid Caliphate

• Vast Empire• High taxes• Leaders became less popular• Independent kingdoms began to arise, local rulers called

themselves “sultans” (i.e. in Persia)• Alliance between the Persian sultanate and Seljuks.• 13th century- Abbasid dynasty ended when Mongol

invaders executed the Abbasid caliph.

Major Effects of the Spread of Islam

• 711 Berbers from North Africa conquered the Iberian peninsula.

• The advance into Europe was stopped at the Battle of Tours (732).

• Caliphs preserved Greco-Roman culture.• Caliphate of Cordoba built an impressive library

and offered free education in Muslim schools.• Umayyad Caliphate moves to Spain when

Abbasids overthrow them• Spanish art and architecture reflected Muslim

styles.

Front view mihrab, Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

• Originally built in 784-786 by the Umayyad ruler Abd ar-Rahman I

• Extended in the 9th and 10th centuries

• Christian cathedral in 1236 (won by Ferdinand III of Castille)

http://www.infocordoba.com/spain/andalusia/cordoba/photos/mosque_2/pages/mosque_interior_106_jpg.htm

MUSLIM ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

• TRADE• Large trading networks across empire

(750-1350)• Established partnerships• Sold goods on credit• Formed banks to establish different

kinds of currency

• MANUFACTURING• Heads of guilds regulated prices,

weights, and measurements, monitored quality

• Steel swords produced in Damascus• Leather goods produced in Cordoba• Carpets produced in Persia

• AGRICULTURE• Muslim farmers grew sugarcane,

cotton, medicinal herbs, fruits and vegetables.

• These were sold in world markets.

• The Seljuk takeover of Jerusalem caused the Crusades in 1095.

• Islam spread to Northern India (modern day Pakistan)(Delhi Sultanate) and held control from 1206-1526.

• Muslims were not popular with many Indians.• Some Buddhists and Hindus of lower castes

found Islam appealing.• Islam spread from conversion and commerce in

South and Southeast Asia (not really from war).• Successful conversion in the islands of the

Pacific. Hinduism and Buddhism continued to be popular, but (i.e. in Malaysia and Indonesia) Islam was accepted.

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/id.html

The Spread of Islam

To Africa

BANTU MIGRATION

Encarta

The Bantu Migration

• Around 2000-1000 BCE the Bantu people migrated and lived in most of sub-Saharan Africa.

• Their population grew and resources were becoming scarce, and they had to repeat their migration.

Nok sculpture(Nigeria 500 BC-200 AD)

Encarta

Bantu Achievements

• Around 1000 BCE the Bantus produced iron tools which helped them to clear land for farming.

• Around 500 CE the cultivation of bananas (which came to Africa via Indian Ocean trade).

• The population increased from 3.5 million in 400 BCE to 22 million in 1000 CE.

• The Bantu culture provided a basis for African indigenous languages and religions today.

• Islam had reached parts of North Africa (including Egypt) in the 600s and 700s.

• Over the next few hundred years it spread through the Sahara and to sub-Saharan Africa.

• Islam was brought to Africa by Arab traders.

historyteacher.net

Q: How does that map show that more than simply goods weremoved to and throughout the Africa?

THE SILK ROAD

http://www.chinahighlights.com/map/images/ancient_silk_road_map1.gif

“The Silk Road” is a special term which describes the trade route between the Central Asia and China. In ancient times, Chinese people transported silk, tea and other products to exchange for horses with small kingdoms in west of China. The famous explorer Marco Polo opened this trade route to the Middle East, Western Europe and North Africa. Over time the Silk Road became one of the most important trade route linking China and Europe. The route is no longer used for international trade but much history and many stories of the happenings on the Silk Road remain.

• Cities that sat along trade routes thrived.• Melaka (port city in Malaysia)• Hangzhou• Samarkand (Uzbekistan)• Baghdad• Kilwa• Venice• Timbuktu

Trade in Africa

Northward-• Slaves• Salt• Ivory• Animal skins

Southward-• Glass• Metalwork• pottery

TIMBUKTU

• Founded in the 1000s by Tuareg nomads• Later incorporated into the Mali and then

Songhay empires• Located near the main trade routes across the

Sahara and close to the flood plain of the Niger River

• Important city in the trading of gold and slat• Many Muslims there went on the hajj• Important center of Islamic culture-mosques,

palaces, and a university.

Mansa Musa

• http://www.history.com/classroom/unesco/timbuktu/mansamoussa.html

Long Distance Trade

• The Silk Road linked Eurasia through trade.

• The Indian Ocean linked China, Southeast Asia, India, Arabia and East Africa through trade.

• The Mediterranean Sea linked Europe with the Muslim world and Asia.

THE RISE OF EAST AFRICAN CITY-STATES

• Since ancient times, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, and Indian traders came to the east coast of Africa.

• 600s- Arab and Persian merchants set up Muslim communities. Bantu speaking people migrated there and adopted Islam

• Other immigrants (including Indonesian) migrate to East Africa as well.

• By 1000 port cities like Mogadishu and Kilwa were thriving.

• The blend of Arabic and Bantu cultures gave rise to a new language, Swahili (written in Arabic script)

SWAHILI

http://www.lmp.ucla.edu

THE MYSTERIOUS DECLINE

• By 1500 Zimbabwe was in decline.

• Did excessive farming caused soil exhaustion?

• Civil War?

• Decline of trade?

NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE.

IBN BATTUTA

Ibn Battuta was a Muslim scholar born in Tangier in North Africa in the year 1304. He traveled widely in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and left rich accounts of his journeys. In 1331 he traveled down the East Coast of Africa. In 1352 he crossed the Sahara and traveled to the Niger River in West Africa. His date of death is uncertain. Various sources give it on dates between 1354 and 1377.

Ibn Battuta's Account of Mogadishu

Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) visited the East Coast of Africa. He visited Mogadishu, which he described as “a town of enormous size. Its merchants are possessed of vast resources; they own large numbers of camels, of which they slaughter hundreds every day [for food], and also have quantities of sheep. In this place are manufactured the woven fabrics…which are unequalled and exported from it to Egypt and elsewhere.”

http://www.hist.umn.edu

Mogadishu, as seen by the sea

unesco.org

Welcome to Mogadishu!

Upon arrival in Mogadishu harbor, it was the custom for small native boats… to approach the arriving vessel, and their occupants to offer food and hospitality to the merchants on the ship. If a merchant accepted such an offer, then he was obligated to lodge in that person's house and to accept their services as sales agent for whatever business they transacted in Mogadishu. According to Battuta, "there is profit for them [local people] in this custom."

wcupa.edu

THE REMAINS OF GREAT ZIMBABWE

Great Zimbabwe, the largest ruins in Africa, covers almost 1,800 acres. Sited on an open wooded plain surrounded by hills, the ruins comprise the vast Great Enclosure complex, and on a nearby kopje the Hill Complex, a veritable castle of interlocking walls and granite boulders, while all around in the valley lie a myriad other walls. The ruins feature an array of… herringbone and many other intricate patterns in its walls, and the astonishing fact is that despite the dry-stone technique used in Great Zimbabwe's construction (no mortar binds the stone blocks), the complex has endured for seven centuries. The complex, which wealthy Shona-speaking cattlemen built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, may have housed as many as 40,000 people at its height.

[Zimbabwe, Globetrotters Travel Guide, London: New Holland Publishers, 1994, 97.]

THE GREAT ENCLOSURE

postcolonialweb.org

HILL COMPLEX (TOP)

postcolonialweb.org

INSIDE THE WALLS

postcolonialweb.org

VIEW THROUGH ENTRANCE GATE

postcolonialweb.org

• Q: Why did Europeans in the 19th century speculate that the walls

• of Great Zimbabwe were built by either the Arabs, ancient

• Phoenicians, Romans, Hebrews?

BUT THEY WERE WRONG!

• Archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson's excavations in 1932 proved that the structures of Great Zimbabwe were less than 1000 years old…

• And built by Africans.

BUT THINGS HAVE CHANGED…

TANZANIA THEN…

The ruins of a palace at Kilwa Kisiwani,An island off of the Southern coast of Tanzania

news.bbc.co.uk

EFFORTS TO PRESERVE KILWA (1981)

Added to the List of World Heritage in Danger:

The remains of two great East African portsadmired by early European explorers are situated on two small islands near the coast. From the 13th to the 16th century, the merchants of Kilwa dealt in gold, silver, pearls, perfumes, Arabian crockery, Persian earthenware and Chinese porcelain; much of the trade in the Indian Ocean thus passed through their hands.

unesco.org

• https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tz.html

AND NOW…