Introduction to Islam

The Month of Ramadan

• The Islamic calendar is lunar, so Ramadan dates change yearly.
• Muslims fast from first light to sunset during Ramadan.
• Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan fasting.
• "Ramadan karim" or "Ramadan mubarak" are common greetings.

Meaning of Islam

• "Islam" is the religion, and "Muslim" describes its followers.
• Islam means "submission" to the will of God.

Allah

• Allah is the Muslim name for the one and only God.

Muhammad

• Muhammad was born in Arabia (c. 570-632 CE).
• He is considered the Messenger of God and the Prophet of Islam.
• Muslims regard him as a mortal chosen by God to lead humankind.
• He is not worshipped.

The Quran/Koran

• The Quran is believed to be the word of God as revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
• It is part of the same scriptural tradition as the Torah and Gospels.
• The Quran is not Muhammad's sayings or teachings.

Sunna of the Prophet

• The Quran is the word of God, not Muhammad.

Sunna

• Sunna refers to the words, deeds, and customs of Muhammad.

Hadith

• Hadith are verified reports of Sunna.

The Five Pillars of Islam

• al-Shahāda: profession of faith
• al-Ṣalāh: daily prayers
• al-Ṣawn: fasting in Ramadan
• al-Zakat: alms for the poor
• al-Ḥajj: pilgrimage to Mecca

The Six Articles of Faith

• al-Tawḥīd: belief in the Oneness of God
• al-Malā'ika: belief in the Angels
• al-Kutub: belief in the Books of God
• al-Anbiyā': belief in all the Prophets
• al-Ākhira: belief in Judgement & Afterlife
• al-Qadar: belief in Divine Decree

Jihad

• Jihād means "to strive" or "to struggle."
• The Quran mentions "striving in the path of God" and against infidels.

The Rashidun Caliphs

• Muhammad did not name a successor.
• Abu Bakr al-Sadiq: r. 632-634
• Umar b. al-Khattab: r. 634-644
• Uthman b. Affan: r. 644-656
• Ali b. Abi Talib: r. 656-661
• From 661 onward, caliphates were ruled by dynasties.

The Umayyad Caliphate

• 656-661 CE: Civil war (Fitna) split the Muslim community.
• 661 CE: The last Rashidun was assassinated, and the first Umayyad caliph took power and moved the capital to Damascus.
• 661-732 CE: Conquests continued.
• 661-750 CE: The Umayyad Caliphate was based in Damascus.

'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan

• Caliph from 685-705 CE.
• He ended the 2nd Fitna and brought peace.
• He expanded the empire in North Africa and Central Asia.
• He built the Dome of the Rock (691-2).
• Introduced Islamic coinage.
• Arabic became the official language, speeding Arabization and Islamization.

Abbasid Chronology

• 750-945: "Golden Age" of the Abbasid caliphate.
• 945-1258: Abbasid caliphs became figureheads.
• 1258: Mongol invasion.
• 1258-1517: Abbasid caliphate in Cairo was symbolic.

al-Mā'mūn (r. 813-833)

• 809-813: 4th Fitna, a civil war against his half-brother al-Amīn.
• Briefly made a Shi'i Imam his successor.
• Established the "Bayt al-Ḥikma" or "House of Wisdom."
• Favored rationalist Mu'tazila over traditionalists.
• The Mihna (833-847) was a failed attempt to enforce proper faith.

al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861)

• Religion was part of his political strategy.
• Ended the Mihna and supported theology based on hadith.
• He persecuted Shi'ites, destroying shrines and forcing leaders to live in Samarra.
• Persecuted Christians & Jews, which was popular with common Muslims.

Reasons for Abbasid Decline

• The empire was too large.
• Overly powerful generals & governors.
• Religious & political dissent.
• Ethnic divisions.
• Weak caliphs.
• Palace intrigue.
• Rising power of bureaucrats & military.

The Shī'ī-Sunnī Divide

• The core issue: leadership of the umma after Muhammad.
• Shi'ites believed only the Prophet's family should lead.
• Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 661) was the cousin & son-in-law of the Prophet.
• Before the 10th century, the divide was blurry.

The 10th-Century Shi'ite Challenge

• Shi'ite Fatimid armies took North Africa and founded a counter-caliphate and occupied Egypt & then the Levant.
• Shi'ite Buyid armies took Baghdad & promoted Shi'ite scholarship which demoted the Abbasids to figurehead status.

The Saljuq Empire (ca 1055-1092)

• The Saljuqs were originally Turkic people from Central Asia.
• They adopted Islam in the 10th century.
• The leader of the Saljuqs took the title of sulṭān.
• Sultans supported the Abbasid caliphs.
• The center of Saljuq power was Iran, but acquired control over Iraq and parts of Syria and Anatolia.
• Key Sultans: Tughril Beg (r. 1040-1063), Alp Arslan (r. 1063-1073), and Malikshah (1073-1092).

Niẓām al-Mulk

• A vizier who ruled from 1063-92.
• Established the Niẓāmiyya madrasa system, with its main center in Baghdad (1065-1067).
• It taught Ash'arī theology to defend Sunnism against Ismā'īlism.
• He was assassinated by a Nizārī Ismā'īlī.

The Assassins

• A branch of Ismaili Shi'ites (Nizari branch ).
• They had a small but devoted following in mountain fortresses.
• Fida'in warriors often went on suicide killing missions.
• They were enemies of the Saljuqs, Ayyubids, Mongols, & Crusaders.
• The word "assassin" may come from Arabic ḥashāshīn meaning "hashish addicts."

Mamluks

• Slave soldiers primarily of Turkish origin in Egypt.

The Byzantine Empire

• The eastern half of the Roman Empire survived and became Christian.

Ethnic Groups on Edges of Byzantine Empire

• Turkic peoples: Avars, Khazars (Jewish), Saljuqs
• Slavic peoples: Rus, Bulgars
• Others: Armenians, Georgians, Kurds, Arabs

Emperor Justinian

• The last great Roman emperor before Islam.
• His general Belisarius re-conquered much of old Roman Empire in Africa & Italy.
• Justinian Code: consolidation & simplification of Roman law.

The Sassanian Empire

• Multi-ethnic but ruled by a Persian elite.
• Sponsored Zoroastrianism but tolerated other religions.
• The main rival was the Roman/Byzantine Empire.
• 602-628: Fought a devastating war against Byzantines.

Heraclius

• 600s: The Eastern Roman Empire was near collapse.
• 610: H. made himself emperor.
• 622: H. set out to re-conquer Jerusalem.
• 627: H. defeated Persian Sassanians.
• 630: Brought the True Cross back to Jerusalem, but in 632, Arab-Muslim armies began conquering Byzantine territories.

Leo III the Isaurian

• From Syria and spoke Arabic and Greek.
• Saved the empire militarily from civil war & Muslim invasion.
• He forged alliances with Bulgars and Khazars against Muslims, as well as marriage alliances with the Avars.
• Introduced iconoclasm, leading to civil war.

Iconoclasm

• Icons are images of holy people & events.
• Icons were easy to confuse with idols.

Basil II the Bulgar Slayer

• Arranged marriage & alliance with Vladimir of Kiev in 989.
• Expanded the Byzantine Empire through war.
• Defeated the Bulgarian tsar in 1014.
• Tried to ally with Rome & Germans.

Byzantium & the Crusades

• Relations between the Greek and Latin Churches worsened.
• 1054: The Great Schism split the Greek & Latin Christian Churches.
• 1071: The Battle of Manzikert resulted in the loss of Anatolia to Saljuq Turks & a major Byzantine defeat.
• 1080s: Byzantium asked the Catholic Church for help against Turkish Muslims.
• 1096-7: Crusaders arrived and clashed with Byzantines.
• Relations continued to deteriorate until 1204.

Alexius I Comenus

• Restored order to the Byzantine Empire after 50 years of chaos.
• Reversed the trend of defeat after Manzikert in 1071.
• Fought against Saljuq/Seljuk Turks and sought help from the Latin Church, which began the Crusades.

Anna Comnena

• Daughter of Alexius I.
• Deeply involved in Byzantine politics.
• Forced into a convent where she composed her Alexiad.
• An important source of information for Byzantine history of the Crusades.
• Shaped the historical perception of her father.

The Slavic Peoples

• Slavs live in Central, Eastern, & Southern Europe.
• They had no written language before the 900s.

Christianity & the Slavic Peoples

• Byzantine missionaries spread faith & established ties between Byz. & Slavs.
• The translation of the Bible into Slavonic led to a written language & literacy.

Vladimir I (d. 1015)

• 972-980: consolidated rule from Ukraine to the Baltic.
• 987: Converted to Christianity and forced all his subjects to convert.
• This caused emotional & historical ties between the Greek & Russian Churches.

St. Augustine (d. 430) & The City of God

• Augustine was a N. African Latin/Catholic Christian philosopher.
• His Confessions & City of God were widely read and provided a philosophical basis for medieval political order.
• He wrote about the City of God (the Church) vs. the City of Man (Rome).

Popes

• Heads of the Roman Catholic Church. Believers see them as God's representatives on Earth.

Cardinals

• High-ranking archbishops.

Archbishops

• Chief bishop who held a lot of power during the Middle Ages.

Bishops

• High-ranking priests who oversee several churches.

Priests

• Oversee one church or parish.

Monks and Nuns

• Usually live in convents; some perform functions similar to priests.

Laity

• Non-clerics.

Sacraments

• Rites performed for religious purposes, to gain salvation.
• Only certain people (priests) can perform sacraments.
• Examples: baptism, penance, communion, marriage/holy orders, last rites.

Monasticism

• Devotion of one's life to imitation of a spiritual exemplar.

Hermitic vs. Cenobitic Monasticism

• Individual vs. communal monasticism.

Monastery

• A place where communities of monks live lives of devotion to God in isolation from the outside world.

Arian Christianity in Europe

• Stresses the monotheistic aspects of Christianity.
• Arian put God (the Father) in the forefront
• Vandals, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, & other barbarian tribes were Arian Christians.

Clovis & The Franks

• Franks lived in Roman Province of Gaul (France).
• Frankish King Clovis (d. 511) adopted Roman Catholic Christianity ca 496.
• Church support gave Clovis legitimacy, and Clovis's support gave the Church military protection.
• St. Gregory of Tours (d. 594) wrote History of the Franks who described Clovis as "new Constantine".

The Franks & The Merovingian Kings

• Clovis's Merovingian Dynasty ruled most of western Europe from 476-750 CE.
• They were Christian but also violent tribal warlords.

St. Boniface

• A Benedictine monk & missionary who converted pagan German tribes to Christianity.

The Saxon Wars

• Franks wanted to force Saxons to surrender & embrace Christianity, but the Saxons didn't want to convert.
• 782: Massacre at Verden: Franks executed 4500 Saxon leaders.

Charlemagne

• A successful warrior king.
• He kept his kingdom together & built it into a small empire.
• He fought Muslim Arabs/Berbers in the west & pagan Avars in the east.
• He was a patron of scholarship & art.
• The Pope made him "emperor of Romans" in 800 CE.

The First Crusade

• 1099 CE, Jerusalem fell the Christian crusaders. This was the only successful crusade.

Monastic Rules

• Monks & nuns vowed to live according to strict rules, including renunciation of property & obedience to the abbot.
• St. Benedict and St. Scholastica (both d. ca 547 CE) were founders of European monasticism.
• Monastic life led to the founding of religious orders, like the Benedictine Order.

Fighting Monks

• Military monastic orders were, in theory, fighting monks.
• They lived according to monastic rules like poverty, chastity, and obedience.
• They formed a Christian standing army in the Holy Land.
• They gained wealth & power through donations & bequests.

St. Bernard of Clairvau

• Born into an aristocratic family.
• Founded the Cistercian Abbey at Clairvaux in France.
• A Christian mystic, he wrote a monastic rule for Templars.
• He was the main propagandist for the 2nd Crusade to the Holy Land.

The Second Crusade

• Failed to recapture the Crusader state of Edessa from the Turks.

The Third Crusade

• (1189 - 1192) Led by King Richard the Lionhearted to recapture the city of Jerusalem from Islamic forces led by Saladin; failed in the attempt.

Richard the Lionheart

• King of England 1189-99 and parts of France.
• Fought vs. his father & brothers.
• Went on Crusade right after claiming the English throne (left Europe 1190).
• Took Acre in July 1191 & defeated Saladin at Arsuf in Sept. 1191.
• Came close to Jerusalem but never attacked.
• Made a 3-year truce with Saladin.

King John

• Richard's adventures cost England a lot of money, and King John I got stuck with the bill.
• King taxed barons, barons taxed common people, & no one was happy.
• He is part of current versions of the Robin Hood legend.
• Feudal barons forced John to establish laws that defined the rights of the ruler & the ruled.
• Magna Carta is the ancestor of the US Bill of Rights & Constitution.

The Fourth Crusade

• Diverted into a battle for Constantinople and failed to recapture Jerusalem causing damage to the Byzantine Empire

The Sixth Crusade (of Frederick II)

• Frederick II was the Holy Roman Emperor.
• Wars in Europe kept him from the Crusade.
• He finally went to the Holy Land in 1228.
• Negotiated the surrender of Jerusalem to Christians.
• Christian fundamentalists & local Crusader elites undid his work.
• Jerusalem was back in Muslim hands by the end of 1244.

The Seventh Crusade

• This was led by Louis IX of France, same as the 5th Crusade

Theology: Catharism or Albigensianism

• Dualistic with good & evil forces.
• God is good & the Devil is evil.
• The Good is spiritual & immaterial.
• The Evil is physical & material.
• The Devil created all matter & controls all matter = the material world is bad.

Pope Innocent III

• (c. 1160-1216) was one of the most powerful and influential popes in history
• He exerted influence over the Christian regimes of Europe.
• He called upon Christian forces to begin The Fourth Crusade.