Islam Origin and History Lecture PDF

ISLAM Origin and History Lecture Subjective Perspective ▪ Islam has a founding figure: The Prophet Muhammad (570 - 632 CE) ▪ Muhammad lived around Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula. ▪ He worked in a trading caravan that his father owned. ▪ He often travelled through villages controlled by Jews and C...

ISLAM Origin and History Lecture Subjective Perspective ▪ Islam has a founding figure: The Prophet Muhammad (570 - 632 CE) ▪ Muhammad lived around Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula. ▪ He worked in a trading caravan that his father owned. ▪ He often travelled through villages controlled by Jews and Christians (and also pagans). ▪ There were numerous communities of Jews, Christians, and pagans (polytheists) living in the Arabian peninsula. ▪ Mecca contained a well-known pagan shrine that people often visited on pilgrimage. ▪ Muhammad’s family was pagan. ▪ Muhammad was said to be illiterate. This means he couldn’t read or write. Map of the Arabian Peninsula This is a map of important sites on and around the Arabian Peninsula from approximately 600 CE. Muhammad is visited by Gabriel ▪ In 610 CE Muhammad is visiting a cave near Mecca. ▪ The angel Gabriel visits him and tells Muhammad that Allah has a message for him. ▪ Gabriel is the same angel that visits Mary to tell her about Jesus. ▪ Typically, this angel’s name is spelled Jibril in English from the Arabic. ▪ Allah wants to give him a new message to bring to the people of the world. ▪ Allah is the Arabic name for God. ▪ Gabriel tells Muhammad that earlier messages of Allah have been corrupted for various reasons. ▪ Allah wants Muhammad to memorize the message word-for-word. ▪ This is to avoid any possible corruption or confusion. ▪ Gabriel gives this message to Muhammad in Arabic (a Semitic language). ▪ This is the language that Muhammad speaks so it is obvious why this language was used. Muhammad receives further messages ▪ Between 610 - 630 CE Muhammad is given many more messages from Allah through Gabriel. ▪ They are not always in the same cave, or even around Mecca. ▪ Muhammad receives some messages while living in Medina. ▪ Muhammad can’t write so these messages are not written down. ▪ Instead, the messages are all memorized by Muhammad. ▪ Muhammad tells these messages to others. ▪ He begins to gain followers. The first of which is his wife. ▪ These messages are later written down by others near the end of Muhammad’s life or just after his death. ▪ These written messages become the Qur’an. ▪ The Qur’an is the sacred holy book of Islam. ▪ It is the literal word of Allah. ▪ There are 114 different messages in Qur’an called suras. Objective Perspective ▪ Muhammad did live and founded Islam. ▪ However, we obviously cannot confirm his meetings with Gabriel. ▪ There is also some suspicion that he was not fully illiterate as is claimed. ▪ A man who ran his father’s trade caravan would likely known how to record business transactions and keep inventory. ▪ This required some minimal writing and reading abilities. ▪ However, it seems likely that he could not read or write at a high enough level to write full prose or create works of literature. ▪ Also note that he often came into contact with Jews and Christians in his travels. ▪ Here are the things we do know about his life. ▪ In 622 CE, Muhammad had a decent following around and in Mecca. ▪ However, many of the people living in Mecca are still pagan and it still holds a pagan shrine. Medina and Mecca ▪ He is forced to move from Mecca to Medina where his followers and teachings were more readily accepted. ▪ This is called the Hegira (flight). ▪ In just a few short years he gains many new followers. ▪ They number in the 10’s of thousands. ▪ In 628 CE Muhammad attempts to return to Mecca with several thousand followers. ▪ He had received the message from Allah that commanded the Hajj. ▪ Mecca refuses entry but a truce is signed. ▪ Muhammad returns to Medina. ▪ However, the truce is quickly broken. ▪ At the end of 629 CE Muhammad attacks Mecca with thousands of followers. ▪ Mecca surrenders to Muhammad without much bloodshed. Cleansing of the Ka’ba ▪ Muhammad cleanses the Ka’ba (pagan shrine) of its idols. ▪ Muhammad claims that the Ka’ba (former pagan shrine) was originally an alter built by Abraham (Ibraham). ▪ The alter was built in order to sacrifice Ishmael. ▪ There was a large stone at the center, and this was the alter of Abraham according to Muhammad. ▪ The claim in Islam was that the Ka’ba was originally monotheistic but was defiled by pagan worship. ▪ This is why it is a “cleansing” because it removes the pagan idols from a site of monotheistic worship. ▪ The objective perspective would claim that the Ka’ba was always a site of pagan worship from deep pre-historic times and did not become monotheistic until Muhammad. Ka’ba Today This is a picture of the Ka’ba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The Ka’ba itself is the building at the center of the mosque. It is covered in a black silk shroud that has been pulled up here to reveal the stone structure underneath at the bottom. Muhammad’s Death ▪ Ka’ba is considered the holiest site in all of Islam. ▪ Muhammad now controls Mecca and Medina and has about 50,000 followers. ▪ Muhammad dies in 632 CE after a short illness. ▪ He is buried in Medina. ▪ Today his burial site is called the Green Dome and is the second holiest site in Islam. ▪ The Green Dome has three tombs and a spot for a fourth. ▪ After his death there is a fight for political power. ▪ This begins the period of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Green Dome in Medina The Green Dome contains the tomb of Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and Umar. It has a fourth tomb ready for Jesus, when he dies. Rightly Guided Caliphs ▪ A caliph is a leader in Islam. There are four of these leaders. ▪ Abu Bakr (632-640 CE) is the first Caliph. ▪ Under his rule Islam continues its expansion both in numbers and in territory. ▪ Umar is the second caliph (640-644 CE). ▪ He expands the territory of Islam further north into Iraq/Iran. ▪ He completes the task of having the messages of Allah given to Muhammad written down. ▪ Thus, just 12 years after the death of Muhammad, all the elements of the Qur’an are now in place. ▪ Uthman (644-656 CE). ▪ He finalizes the structure of the Qur’an. ▪ He also continues the expansion of Islam. ▪ He is assassinated but we are not sure by who? ▪ Ali (son-in-law of Muhammad) becomes the fourth caliph (656–661 CE). ▪ He is married to Fatimah (daughter of Muhammad). ▪ Shia is the form of Islam that believes that Ali should have always been the successor of Muhammad. ▪ Sunni Islam is the version of Islam that agrees the four caliphs were all legitimate and this is why they are the Rightly Guided Caliphs. ▪ Ali continues the expansion of Islam. Ali is also killed. Map of early Islamic Expansion This is a map shows the Muslim controlled areas during the Rightly Guided Caliph period. Later Dynasties in Islam ▪ Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE). ▪ Several Caliphs during this period and the family is related to Ali. ▪ Move the political capital to Damascus. ▪ This was a practical move because Damascus was more centrally located and had a large population. ▪ Great increase in number of followers of Islam and a small increase in the size of the territory. ▪ Abbasids Dynasty (750-1258 CE) gains control. ▪ They move the political capital to Baghdad. ▪ One of the longest ruling Islamic dynasties. ▪ They really appreciated scholarly learning, arts, and culture. ▪ They make Baghdad a center of learning and within 100 years in the world’s leading location to scholarly work. ▪ Major advances in the sciences (astronomy, medicine, mathematics, philosophy, translated many Greek and Latin texts into Arabic). Islamic Golden Age ▪ The Abbadids bring about an Islamic Golden Age that lasts from 800-1250 CE. ▪ Avicenna (980-1037 CE). ▪ He was a great philosopher and medical doctor. ▪ He was a close follower of Aristotle. ▪ Averroes (1126-1198 CE). ▪ He lived in Spain and moved to North Africa in his later life. ▪ He was close friends with Maimonides. ▪ He was a philosopher and theologian. ▪ He advocated for the strong use of Greek philosophy in order to better understand Islamic theology. ▪ Al Ghazali (1058-1111 CE). ▪ He wrote the “Folly of the Philosophers.” ▪ He argues that Islam does not need Greek philosophy. It just needs the Qur’an. ▪ Abbasids dynasty comes to an end in 1258 CE. ▪ Baghdad is sacked by the Mongol Horde in 1258. ▪ Baghdad is now controlled by Mongols who are not Muslim. ▪ This ends the Islamic Golden Age. Map of the Mongol Empire This is a map shows the extent of the Mongol empire in 1294 CE. It still is the largest contiguous empire (by land area) to ever exist. Crusades ▪ The Christian Crusades ▪ There are four major ones. ▪ Three of them that make it to the Holy Land, which is controlled by Islam. ▪ Attempts by Christians to regain control of the Holy Land away from Muslim rule. ▪ The first two are able to recapture Jerusalem and put it under Christian control. ▪ Jerusalem is the site of the Dome on the Rock, which is the third holiest site in Islam. ▪ Christians lose control of Jerusalem permanently in 1178 CE. ▪ They lose Jerusalem to the great Muslim general Saladin (1138-1193 CE). ▪ The crusades did greatly weaken the power of the Abbasids. ▪ This is why they are able to be conquered by the Mongol horde in 1238 CE. Map of the Christian Crusades This is a map shows the four major Christian Crusades attempt to take back the Holy Land from Muslim control. Islam after the Mongol Invasion ▪ Many Mongol rulers convert to Islam. ▪ They keep control of Islamic areas with this tactic and even expand into new locations. ▪ They move into Northern India and bring Islam with it. ▪ These are the Mughals (Mughal dynasty). ▪ They are sometimes rather brutal. ▪ From 1375 – 1725 the Mughals control most of Northern India. ▪ One of the Mughal rulers builds the Taj Mahal. ▪ Ottomans (1320-1920) control most, if not all of Turkey. ▪ In 1453, the Ottomans conquer Constantinople and rename it Istanbul. ▪ Muslims control Turkey even to this day. ▪ The Ottomans are only defeated in WW1 by the British. ▪ However, Turkey remains strongly Muslim even today. Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal, a mausoleum in Agra, India, was built in the 1600s by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial and mausoleum for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Wahhabism ▪ In Saudi Arabi during the mid-1700’s a new, radical form of Islamic theology develops from the Sunni tradition. ▪ Sunnis represent a large majority of Muslims today. ▪ The other major form of Islam is called Shia. ▪ Wahhabism is the name of this radical Sunni theology. ▪ A fundamentalist approach to Sunni Islamic theology. ▪ They are strict followers of Islamic law, which is called sharia. ▪ They advocate for a very literal interpretation of the Qur’an. ▪ This is what makes this fundamentalists. ▪ This is the main form of Islamic theology in Saudi Arabia today. ▪ But, Wahhabism has much less influence outside of the Arabian peninsula. ▪ However, since Saudi Arabia contains Mecca and Medina, Wahhabism is still quite influential. Mystical Islam ▪ Sufism is a mystical form of Islam. ▪ It came into being around 1100 CE about the same time that Kabbalah develops in Judaism. ▪ Recall that mysticism means an attempt to form a special bond or relationship with God usually through deep meditative practice. ▪ Sufism is the smallest branch of Islam today. ▪ It has only several million followers because it has been repressed but this is still more followers than Kabbalah has in Judaism. ▪ Far more than the number of Christian mystics. ▪ One prominent group of Sufis are called the Whirling Dervishes and they live in Turkey. ▪ Sufism is an attempt to join with Allah through spiritual revelation. ▪ Rumi (1207-1273 CE). ▪ He is the poet of love. Whirling Dervishes Mevlevi dhikr; Mevlevis are sometimes known as Whirling Dervishes. Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is in the background.