World Religions Assignment

Islam

Teachings, Expansions, and Divisions of Islam

Part I- Expansions and Divisions

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Shura Mohammed would often consult with members of the community for advice on governmental actions, alliances, etc, usually in the Mosque of Medina. He would allow free talk, and would often concur with the majority opinion. This process was called Shura, or the Tradition of Consultation.

This formed the basis of the representative political structure in Islam. 2

The Caliphs

A Shura was held to select Mohammed's successor.

Mohammed had spoken in general terms as to the functions of a successor. He was to be elected, and the leader would remain as long as he abided by the tenets of Islam.

An Islamic govt would consist of a caliph, and a representative council that could override or remove the caliph if he overstepped his bounds.

This khalifa, or deputy (often translated as successor), it was soon decided, should be Mohammed’s old friend and close companion, Abu Bakr.

He is said to have said in his acceptance speech:

O people, I have been chosen to be your leader, even though I’m no better than any of you. If I do right, help me. If I do wrong, correct me.   There was some dissent. Most importantly, Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophets cousin, who had been making funeral arrangements, thought he should have been at the meeting. Some of his supporters thought he had more right to rule as a close relative of the Prophet. This is the first sign of a dispute that would result in a 1400 year split in the Muslim umma. But for now, Abu Bakr was the Caliph. He was the first of the caliphs of the 30 year Khulafa ar Rashidah,

The Period of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. 3

Umar and Uthman

• Umar was voted in after Abu Bakr died after two years. He fought many battles with Byzantium and Persia. He forbade forced conversions, and gained the title Commander of the Faithful (amir al-mu ‘minin).

• Killed after ten years by a Persian assassin. • Uthman continued the conquests, and collected the

Koran into an authorized edition, and built a navy.

• Not the best administrator, there was much corruption.

• Assassinated in 656.

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Ali (ruled 656-661)

• After Uthman died, Ali finally became caliph. But there were many rebellious governors in Iraq, Egypt, and Syria. Ali, being cautious, delayed investigating Uthman’s assassination—but this was misinterpreted as not wanting to bring the slayers to justice. He also revoked many of Uthman’s appointments. Partisans of Uthman, especially the Umayyads from Mecca, began to rally against him.

• Medina was far away from many of the new conquests, so Ali moved the capital to Kufa, a garrison city on the desert edges of Iraq.

• Aisha and several other Meccans raised a hue and cry against Ali, and went to Basrah to organize a revolt. At the Battle of the Camel, all of Aisha’s guards were killed, but she was allowed to return to Medina to live a long life.

• • These disputes were painful and familial. The Prophet’s family members—all of

them—are respected by Muslims as the People of the House.

• But like Abraham’s family, they were human and imperfect.

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Ali continued

• Things got even worse for Ali than having to fight his family members. • The Governor of Syria refused to step down as requested. Mu’awiya was a nephew of

Uthman, and had policy disputes regarding Arab emigration to various parts of the Muslim Empire.

• The periods of civil wars is called the fitna, , Arabic for “controversy or turmoil.” • Mu’awiya signed an unfavorable peace treaty with the Byzantines to protect his rear, and

went to war with Ali.

• Neither of the armies wanted to fight, and one battle was stopped by hanging pages of the Koran on spear points. Negotiations to hold a new shura broke down, and war continued.

• Some of Ali’s followers got mad at him for even trying to negotiate, and formed a radical group called the Kharajites.

• • In 661, a Kharajite assassin stabbed Ali just after morning prayers, killing him. • • The political /religious system Mohammed had tried to set up was also dead.

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The beginnings of the Shi’a-Sunni split

Ali’s partisans were called the Shi’a, and this was the beginning of Islam’s greatest split. All Muslims recognize Ali as a great Muslim and religious guide and adviser. Shi’ites consider him to be an infallible, divinely guided imam, or leader.

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Muslim Expansion After the Wars of the Riddah, the Muslim Empire expanded rapidly, destroying Persia, and conquering much of the Byzantine

Empire, and conquering Spain. The expansion finally stopped in 732 at Tours in northern France.

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Dhimmis

Non-Muslims who were Christians or Jews were granted protected status as Peoples of the Books. In Iran, Zoroastrians were included. Those who held protected status were called dhimmis.

Dhimmis could practice their religion, but could not proselytize or build new houses of worship—they could repair old ones. They had to wear distinctive clothing, treat Muslims with respect and deference, and since they did not have to pay the zakat Muslims paid, they were subject to a poll tax known as jizya, and a land tax for some. They could not bear arms, ride horses, or serve in the military. But, since the Arabs lacked much knowledge of bureaucracies in the early years, many served in high government positions in the early years. Later on, they became ethnic minorities.

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India In some areas, polytheists were treated badly, and the Central Asian invaders of India tried to kill the polytheist Hindus until they realized there were just too many. It was eventually decided that since Hindus did have sacred books, they should also be treated as Peoples of the Book and made dhimmis. In the Mughal Empire, a Muslim empire which ruled India for several centuries, while many became Muslims, many did not. The Empire made so much money from the dhimmi tax that they discouraged conversion!

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Umayyad Dynasty

As we have seen, caliphs were supposed to be selected via consultation, the formation of a committee or shura. But Mu’awiya, who ruled in Damascus, founder of the Umayyad Dynasty, decreed he would be followed by his son Yazid.

Yazid was both a drinker of wine and lived a wastrel lifestyle—both of which were forbidden in Islam. Also, people were supposed to be chosen on merit, not birth. This, to many people, was NOT a caliph. Many Muslim historians have contemptuously called the Umayyad dynasty the Arab kingdom. A king, they believe, is only a human tyrant, but a caliph is one who rules as deputy of God’s apostle (Mohammed) and in a sense is a deputy of God himself.

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The Tragedy at Karbala and the Shi’ite Movement

The Ummayad dynasty was criticized for ruthlessness and worldliness, and for being hereditary.

In Iraq, relations with the Syrian-based dynasty worsened. Many wished to be governed by Husayn, the son of Ali and Fatima and the grandson of the Prophet. Husayn, seeking to become the rightful Muslim leader, headed toward Kufa, where the Partisans of Ali, the Shi’a, lived. Near Karbala, his entire party was ambushed and the men killed and the women and children put in bonds (680).

The horrified reaction to the Tragedy at Karballa marks the true beginning of the Shi’ite movement. Husayn was hailed as a martyr, Imam, and prototype for God’s redemption at the end of history. A “passion play” each year among the Shi’a commemorates the Tragedy—the ta’ziya.

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The Shia-Sunni Split

• The Tragedy at Karbala actually brought new members into the Shia, who wished the Prophet’s descendants would rule. Many non-Arabs joined the group. The Shia wanted the people to return to the egalitarian system of the early umma. The Shia stressed universalism and egalitarianism. The movement was both religious and idealistic.

• In time, the Shia began to argue that certain interpretations of the Qu’ran belonged only to the Prophet’s family. They exalted leaders as great Imams, who are in ways continuers of prophecy.

• • The split was originally mainly political and perhaps dynastic, but the Shia’s soon became

a major separate group, often persecuted, and with many commemorations of massacres and assassinations. The majority of Muslims are called the Sunni, or the Tradition.

• Persia was for a time ruled by a Shia dynasty and it contains the largest amount of today’s Shias. Sizable communities may be found in South Iraq, Lebanon, and other regions.

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The Abbasids

The Shi’a were not the only opponents of the Umayyad.

In the northeast of the Empire, in Khorasan a revolutionary movement called the Abbasids arose. They were named after an uncle of the prophet. They argued that only by means of a caliph from the Prophet’s house could the umma resume its godly course. The Shia joined with them.

Then the Abbasids introduced Abu Muslim as the future leader of the Umma. He was a mawla—a non Arab convert, and he was said to be acting in the name of the Prophet’s house for someone whose name would be figured out later. At Merv he raised the Black Flag of Revolution, and by 750 the Umayyads were defeated (though one prince escaped to Spain and led an Umayyad dynasty there).

The Abbasids now controlled the bulk of the Empire, and control was handed to members of the Prophets family. Al Mansur killed Abu Muslim to ensure total control.

The Shi’ites were pushed aside, and the Abbasid Umma was mainly Sunni. Rather than restoring the equality and brotherhood the early umma was supposed to have, they came to resemble Persian shahs, not rightly guided caliphs.

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The Golden Age of Islamic Civilization

If a disappointment from a political/religious point of view, in many ways, the Abbasid Dynasty was a time of cultural contributions. It has been called the Golden Age of Islamic Civilization.

Among the contributions and institutions that were developed and perfected:

Jurisprudence and Law

Systematic theology

Philology, grammar and rhetoric

Greek style philosophy

Philology and grammar were important to the study of the Qur’an.

Beautiful writing—belles letters or adab, was practiced, as well as poetry. Persian literature also flourished.

Perhaps the most important work of this time was the Arabian Nights, translated for Western audiences in the nineteenth century.

These were the tales of Aladdin and his lamp, of Sinbad the Sailor, and of genies.

To the right—Sheharazade , from Arabian Nights

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Islamic Science

Great progress was made in science, mathematics, and medicine. Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, wrote a treatise on medicine that was used into the 18th century in Europe. Theologian and philosophers would influence medieval Christian scholastics. Averroes (Ibn Rushd) (to the right) was an Aristotlean logician who was particularly influential.

The Abassids were at their height about 800, the same time as Charlemagne.

Harun al Rashid exchanged envoys and gifts with Charlemagne. He is said in the Arabian Nights to have prowled the streets of Baghdad with some companions, dressed as a commoner to root out corruption.

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Baghdad The Abbasid capital was at the newly built city of Baghdad, built near the site of ancient Babylon. It was a cosmopolitan world of many people. As the scene of much of the Arabian Nights, it lives in memory as a land of wonder, flying carpets, and genies.

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Islamic Art The Prophet is said to have said: God is beautiful, and He loves beauty.

But, Islam prohibits idolatry, so therefore painting or drawing people or even animals that appear too lifelike is forbidden. Even drawings of the Prophet are forbidden, though many were made in Central Asia or Persia until a few centuries ago.

Artists have thus used abstract or geometric designs to avoid the prohibition.

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Calligraphy Perhaps because of the prohibition on most drawing, calligraphy has become a major art form in much of the Muslim world

The Bismillah Shahada

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Muslim Spain Spain was highly advanced, and ruled by the Umayyad prince. They had streets lit by oil lamps, hospitals, universities, and libraries. Jews prospered and Muslim rule there has been called the Golden Age of the Jews. Eventually however, the Dynasty’s rule was replaced by about 20 smaller states, and by 1492, the land was conquered, Jews and Muslims expelled or killed.The Inquisition sought out Muslims. Spanish culture, language, architecture were all influenced by the Muslims.

Above—The Great Mosque at Cordoba

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The Crusades

The Crusades were discussed in an earlier class.

They were a shattering experience for the Muslims, and they never forgot. The Crusaders slaughtered many Muslims and even Christians—they couldn’t tell the difference—in the Levant. Eventually, Saladin defeated the Franks, and by 1192—about a century after the First Crusade began —took back Jerusalem.

To this day, the memory of the Crusades poisons relations between the faiths. ISIS and other jihadists, as well as non-violent radical Islamists, often call Westerners Crusaders in protests and writings.

It is not meant as a compliment.

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