Muhammad Night Journey.

Muhammad Night Journey.

Muhammad Final Sermon.

Muhammad refers Christians and Jews as “people of the Book”. He says he is the final prophet to bring the final message.

West Asia Part 7: The Coming of the Prophet

Achaemenid Persians created the high functioning imperial system. These Achaemenids were conquered by Alexander the Great. This leads to the Hellenistic Period (323-330 BCE). This period means Greek. The Seleucids (Persia) pop up around 312-63 BCE. The Ptolemies (Egypt) pop up around 305-330 BCE. Oriental means West Asia and Despots means a king that rules with a heavy hand (Oriental Despots). Mystery Cults. You pick one god and dedicate your life with one god by creating a personal relationship. Many Hellenistic kings see themselves as divine and superior to everybody else. They wore crowns, had gold vests in their hair.

The Great Rivalry of Antiquity: Rome and Parthian Persia

Native Persians called Parthians. In 27 BCE, Augustus becomes the emperor. We still have a lot of Greek speakers. In the late 20s CE, a new Jewish sect appeared which is Christianity. In the early 40s CE, Christianity spread to the rest of the Roman population. Initially Christianity was illegal in Rome. By the early 300s, Christianity was legalized. By the end of the 400s, Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire. In 395 CE, Rome splits into West and East. The head of the church is the emperor of Rome. Constantine of Nicea was responsible for legalizing Christianity. The Huns invaded the Western empire. In the year 476 CE, the Western empire falls. The Eastern Empire is urban civilization. In the East, Greek culture never went away. The Romans themselves spoke Greek. The Byzantine Empire was the new name for the Eastern Roman Empire. They are really a Greek Empire. The Parthians were overrun by the Sassanid Empire (native Persians).

The Byzantines and the Sassanid

Emperor Justinian. He took all the Roman Law and created the Code. This code can be consistently applied throughout the empire. Persians are Zoroastrian.

Pre-Islamic Arab Religion

The way polytheistic worked was that each tribes were divided into clans then into sub-clans (families). Mecca housed the Kaaba. The Kaaba Stone is a black rock. The Kaaba housed idols of each clan. The Quraysh clan gets rich because Mecca is a central area of Arabic polytheism. It becomes a trade center.

Muhammad Ibn Abdullah 570-632 CE

610: Experienced first revelation from God (Allah)

-The Qu’ran is recitations of his revelations

622: The Hijra

– forced to flee from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina)

– Established the Ummah in Medina – community of believers

Allah and The Canaanite God El comes from the same root. Quraysh has issue of money. Muhammad was chased out and moves to Medina and sets up the Ummah. The Muslims faced Jerusalem while praying. Allah told Muhammad to face Mecca while praying. In 360 CE, Muhammad conquers Mecca. Islam was an Abrahamic religion. The Qur’an means the recitation. When he comes back to Mecca in 630, he leaves the rock and says the rock was put there by Abraham. He is inventing something new. He is reuniting the Judeans under a single god.

The five pillars of Islam

1. The Shahada: “There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
2. Salah: Pray five times a day facing the Ka’aba in Mecca.
3. Zakat: Pay charity to the poor.
4. Sawm: Fasting (sunrise to sunset) on the 9^th month of the Islamic year (Ramadan).
5. Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime if able.

Muhammad ßàConfucius

Reading p.237-244

Bedouins were the most impor- tant political and military force in the region because of their toughness, solidarity, fighting traditions, pos- session of horses and camels, and ability to control trade and lines of communication. Mecca became the economic and cultural center of western Arabia, in part because pilgrims came to visit the Ka’ba, a temple containing a black stone thought to be a god’s dwelling place. Muhammad’s roots were in this region.

Muhammad was orphaned at the age of six and brought up by his paternal uncle. As a young man, he became a merchant in the caravan trade that crisscrossed the Arabian desert. Later he entered the service of a wealthy widow, Khadija, and their subsequent marriage brought him financial security. Muhammad was extremely pious and devoted to contemplation. At about age forty, in a cave in the hills near Mecca where he was accustomed to praying, Muhammad had a vision of an angelic being who commanded him to preach the revelations that God would be sending him. Muhammad began to preach to the people of Mecca, urging them to give up their idols and to submit to the one indivisible God. After his death, scribes organized the revelations jotted down by followers or memorized into chapters. In 651 they published the version of them that Muslims con- sider authoritative, the Qur’an (kuh-RAHN). Muslims revere the Qur’an for its sacred message and for the beauty of its Arabic language.

Hadith (huh-DEETH), collections of the sayings of or anecdotes about Muhammad. ances behind each revelation.

The Qur’an prescribes a strict code of moral behav- ior. A Muslim must recite the profession of faith in God and in Muhammad as his prophet: “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet.” A believer must also pray five times a day, fast and pray during the sacred month of Ramadan, make a pilgrim- age (hajj) to the holy city of Mecca once during his or her lifetime, and give alms to the Muslim poor. These fundamental obligations are known as the Five Pillars of Islam.

Islam forbids alcoholic beverages and gambling. It condemns usury in business—that is, lending money and charging the borrower interest — and taking advan- tage of market demand for products by charging high prices. Muslim jurisprudence condemned licentious behavior by both men and women and specified the same punishments for both. (By contrast, contempo- rary Frankish law punished prostitutes but not their clients.)

P.241-244

Reading p. 255-261

15 Minute History: Islam’s First Civil War Podcast

Lecture 11/02/2017

Title: West Asia Part VIII – The Arab Empires

Ali was made Rashidun caliph in Arabia. He was made caliph by those who assassinated hia predecessor, Uthman. Uthman was part of the Umayyad clan. This clan was probably the most powerful clan of the Quraysh tribe. The head of the Umayyad clan dies and is passed on to Mu’awiyah. This guy wanted vengeance and it was his right. This guy was the governor of Syria (this was part of the Byzantine Empire and had mercantile activity). Aisha is the one of the widow’s of Muhammad was on Mu’awiyah’s side. Ali reigned from 656-661 CE. The entirety of his reign was called First Fitna. Ali agrees arbitration. You don’t choose if you are going to be caliph.

The Ummayad Caliphate 661-750 CE

Mu’awiyah moves his power base from Damascus to Medina. The Caliphate stays in the Ummayad family. Mu’awiyah solidifies power into his family (which is not what Muhammad preaches). As soon as Ali’s kids get older then they should be caliph. In 680, Mu’awiyah dies.

Husayn is one of Mu’awiyah’s sons. This guy claims to be the caliph. He makes the claim in a place called Karbala. The Umayyad family raises an army and starts marching. Husayn and his family are slaughtered because his army doesn’t show up. With the death of Husayn, a new religious faction appears and is called the Partisans of Ali. This is Shia or Shiite. This is also known as the second Fitna. It starts in Karbala and it lasts throughout the 680s. The Shiite’s is the minority group of Islam. They stage a few revolts in the 680s. They don’t want to be with other Muslims. The Shiites start writing their own Hadiths after the second fitna. They were hanging out with the daughter of Ali. The Shiites start to add other holy sites like Karbala (to remember how we failed the prophet Husayn’s family). The Shiite faith is going to have a family who will revere. They see Ali, Husayn as saints. They have this guilt of not taking care of things. They develop a different tradition of relationship called Imam. They believed that there are people with a special connection with God like Muhammad. They call these people Imam (for Shiites this is the descendants of Muhammad and Ali). One sect is Sunni. They are caretakers of Mosques. Shiites will follow the Fatwa. This is a religious ruling by an individual in the Shiite Faith. The Imam’s die out. The Shiite’s have a tradition of following a religious leader. Islamic preachers pop up on the Shiite side and are called Ayatollah. These are Shiite leaders that come after the Imam’s die off. There are multiple Ayatollah’s. The Shiite’s follow a religious leader who was a descendant of Muhammad. The Sunni’s discuss Muhammad’s sayings. The group of Shiite’s are called Seveners. There is also a group called Twelvers. The twelvers thought that there are more Imam’s. Both of the seveners and twelvers believe that the last Imam disappeared (went to a different dimension). They believe he will someday come back as a Mahdi. This means “the Messiah”. The Mahdi will return in the Eastern side and will bring a black flag. The Shiite’s break into different sects over time. They listen to the Imam’s. The rest of Muslims follow Hadith’s which is the Sunna. This is just the Sunni Hadith’s. This is a collection of the stories of Muhammad. There is no such thing as Sharia law. There are different versions of Sharia Law. The Sunni’s have four major schools of thought. Shiite’s moved to Persia during the Umayyad Caliphate away from Damascus. The Umayyad’s struggled. Berbers.

Unionßà Division

You can go ahead and serve your god as long as you pay taxes ßà you can go ahead and drink as you want

Ruling class (Social system of the Umayyad Caliphate)

The Arabs were the ruling class. The Umayyad’s have a strict social system. The next group was Mawali (people who converted to Islam who aren’t Arab). Dhimmi (Zimmi), these were people of the book (Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians). You have to pay a yearly tax to practice your religion which was called the jizya. They also had to wear distinctive clothing to separate religious groups. Kafir’s are people who believe in polytheism. They were generally captured and turned into slaves or just killed. The Kafir’s came from Central Asia (Turks) and the vast majority of Kafir’s came from Africa. The Umayyad’s were close to killing of Christianity. In 711, they invaded Iberia and conquered it in seven years. In 718, they invaded France. In 732, at the Battle of Tours, the French rally behind Charles Martel. This guy defeats the Muslim and this saves Christianity. The Mawali outnumber the Arabs.

Abbasid Conquests

The Abbasid’s are descendants of Muhammad’s uncle. They move to Persia. These people are Sunni. In 730-740, they start making alliances with different Mawali families. They outline (became friends) with a guy named Abu Muslim (used to be Zoroastrianism who converted to Islam). Abu Muslim went to East Persia and unfurled the black banner. He is the general for the Abbasid’s. He conquers quickly. By 748, he had taken Damascus. In 750, the last Ummayad caliph was killed. There was a surviving member of the Umayyad and ran to Spain, he set up the Emirate of Cordoba. He called himself an Emir (duke). He is saying that he is separate from the caliphate. In 1000, the Christians start the Reconquista. In 1492, they defeat the last of Muslims. In 762, the Abassids found a new caliphate city. Baghdad was built. This was the end of the unified Umma caliphate. They talk about dar-al Islam (the land of Islam).

Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258

They establish themselves as a Sunni caliphate. The Shiites takeover. In 755, Abu Muslim was believed to pretend to be Islam and eventually convert the whole capital to Zoroastrianism. So he was killed by the Abbasids. They were tolerant rulers. They had different points of view. Arab and Persia mix to create the Muslim culture. Islamic poetry expands during the Abbasid caliphate. It is an increasing patriarchal system. They were fond of scholars.

Mawali

Dhimmis often lived and worked together.

Dar-al Islam

kafir

Terms

Hadith – a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad that, with accounts of his daily practice (the Sunna), constitute the major source of guidance for Muslims apart from the Koran.

Fatwa – a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority.

Consensus – agreement.

Ijma – a religious ruling/debate based on consensus of all Sunni scholars.

-Difference between Sunni’s and Shiites

Karbala and Mecca

-Fatwa

-five pillars of Islam

Sunni’s need consensus

Lecture 11/07/2017

West Asia: Part VIII The Arab Empires

Mamluk live privileged lives. They are loyal and are owned by the Caliph. The Fatimid Dynasty claimed to be descendants of the prophet. By 969, they conquered Egypt. Between 861 and 945, the Abbasids were underneath the thumb of Mamluk generals. In 945, another Persian clan the Buyid Persian clan protecting their Abbasids from the Mamluks. The Islamic Golden Age – first 300 years (8^th-11^th centuries). Urban culture flourished. They were very clean and safe. This was a period of explosion of scientific knowledge. Most of it came out of Baghdad. The “House of Wisdom”. It translates works of Aristotle and Plato. They created the astrolabe. Tradition was emphasized over reason. Greek philosophy is “continually asking questions”.

The Mu’tazilites. This translates as “to separate oneself from”. They are Sunni Muslims. They don’t want Ijma to be the last statement.

Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111) was a philosopher who can speak five languages. He said that the problem with Mu’tazilites is that math is the problem. The problem is that math always work. The Turks come in and invade. The Mongols come in and kill a lot of the Abbasids.

Europe Part IV The Medieval Period

The Fall of Rome

Christianity went from being a small European group to being the official religion of Rome by the 300s. Under Constantine, the church had been unified. A bishop was autonomous in his community. He held and read the scripture. They were all in communion with each other. These bishops would talk to each other. These bishops were excommunicated. Trinitarians are people who believe there is one god with three parts. The Arians believed that there was God the father and that there is a son named Jesus who is another God. The council of Nicaea. Constantine sides with the Trinitarians. The Arians do not have support of the emperor. The primarily work with people like Germans. There are people under bishops called patriarchs. Patriarch of Constantinople and Patriarch of Rome. The emperor is at the head of Christianity. It is the official religion of Rome. Rome split into two. Western Rome spoke Greek. Eastern Rome was urban. Western Rome was less urban and they spoke Latin. Germanic people and Celtic people lived in France. The emperor in the West were losing power. Germanic folk came in and either settled or invaded. The invaders were the Goths. The Xiongnu made their way over the Eurasian Steppe. Germans were being pushed into Rome by the Huns. Eastern Rome was the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines are able to pay for more soldiers. In 410 CE, the Romans send a letter to the emperor. In 410 CE, the Goths attacked the West and sacked the city of Rome. In 452, Huns are on their way to sack Rome again to take over Rome. In 452, the Roman emperor sends 3 diplomats to talk to Attila. The third guy who was the bishop of Rome, Leo I. The Vandals (another Germanic tribe) sacked Rome. A Gothic king kicked the last Western Roman Emperor off his throne. The Western Empire is gone since 476 BCE.

The Franks and their Carolingian Dynasty

Clovis converted to Christianity. In 710, the Vysagoths were conquered in Spain. In 732 CE, Charles Martel defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours. By the mid-700s, the bishop of Rome is trying to deal with Germanic invaders. Bishop of Rome sends a later to the Franks. Charles the Great was the grandson of Charles Martel and became king of the Franks in 768. He wanted to return the Roman Empire in Europe. He also wanted to convert everyone to Christianity. He forced conversion. If you get caught practicing your old religion, you are killed on the spot. In the year 800, the pope crowned Charlemagne the emperor of Rome.