Chapters 6, 7, & 8Cultural

Pre-IslamAgain culture of violence

◦Strong dependence on and loyalty to one’s family

◦Survival depended on it◦War◦Ones honor depended on respect ◦Code of chivalry◦Revenge◦Weakened them as a society

Religion Before Muhammad

The clans blended animism and polytheism◦Met the needs of their individual clan

Allah:◦Quraysh tribe’s supreme god◦Ka’ba was used as a religious place for

multiple godsMaterial culture

◦Not highly developed because they had to concentrate on survival

◦Oral poetry

IslamStarted very small

◦Muhammad was very respected so it helped to get his message out

Universal elements◦Monotheism◦Highly developed legal code◦Egalitarianism◦Strong sense of community

IslamUnifying being Arab wasn’t

enoughIslam provided a religion that was

distinctly Arab◦equal to other religions◦But also different

No intermediaries between the individual and God

◦The umma transcended only tribal boundaries

ConquestBefore Islam

◦Men proved themselves as warriors by fighting the other clans and killing

Now there wasn’t infighting so what to do?◦Conquest as the answer◦They were still fighting and killing

but it was other people not Muslims Problem solved

Conversion change over time

Originally they didn’t want to convert people, ◦it would mean they had to share

their Booty (Umayyads)Once the Umayyads fell the

Abbasids encouraged conversion Islam was spreading

◦Merchants traded in Southeast Asia◦New lands decided they wanted it

What cultural achievements did the Abbasid empire make???

New techniques in investigation

New technology Preserving learning of

Ancient civilizations 2 discoveries in

chemistry◦ Creation of objective

experiment◦ Al-razi’s scheme of

classifying all material substances into 3 categories Animal, vegetable, mineral

Best hospitals in world Telescopes and

anatomy advances Muslim scientists work

on optics and bladder ailments

Made world’s best maps Introduced into Islamic

world and Europe many basic machines and techniques◦ Paper making◦ Silk weaving◦ Ceramic firing

What influence did India have on Islam? Hindu scholars introduced Arab scholars to their

numeral system Indian algebra and geometry were translated into

Arabic for Islamic use Indian physicians, brought to Baghdad to run

hospitals cured many Islamic officials Indian statecrafts were translated into Arabic for

Islamic use The Indian game of chess traveled to the Arabic

people Arabs who immigrated Indian areas, adopted Indian

dress and hairstyles, and ate Indian food Arab colonies in India provided staging areas for Islam

to spread to parts of Asia

Who were the Sufi and why were they important? The Sufi’s were wandering mystics

◦ They hoped for personal union with Allah◦ There goal was this relationship◦ They will be responsible for some of the spread of Islam during

the Abbasids Later in the Abbasids the Suffist movement will bring a

lot of vitality within Islam Included both Sunni and Shi’a manifestations in its

various guises Some Sufis gained reputations as great healers and

miracle workers Led militant bands that tried to spread Islam to

nonbelievers Used ascetism or bodily denial to find Allah

◦ Meditation, songs, drugs and ecstatic dancing was also used to find Allah

Africa common themes Culture – Similar language base – Bantu

◦Comes along with some shared cultural characteristics, but should not be interpreted as creating uniformity

Religion - Similar early religious beliefs & practices◦Animism, as well as belief in a creator deity◦Ancestor worshipExistence of magic and need to combat it (priest class)

Similar to W. Europe

◦Moral and legal foundation for society

Religion - Influence of Major Religions

Introduced through trade rather than missionary work

Religious Divisions:◦ North-Eastern Africa becomes Christian

Ethiopia and Nubia

◦ Northern (Ifriqiya), Western (Maghrib), and South-Eastern (Zenj)Africa becomes Muslim Ghana – 10th century Songhay – 11th century Mali – 13th century

Syncretism◦ Fusion of Islam with animistic/pagan traditions

Bantu again (I said it was important)

We have talked about the Bantu◦ These are a group of people

who migrated throughout Africa.

◦ We can follow their process by following their language

◦ This is also one of the reasons there are so many languages in Africa today About 500 different languages Swahili is one of them Cultural diffusion

◦ We also see a spread of ideas and technology

Nubia and EthiopiaChristian States

◦The people were unhappy with Byzantine Christians and welcomed Islam

Nubia resisted Muslim incursions until the 13th century

Ethiopia retained Christianity even with the increasing pressure from Muslims and a growing Muslim population

Islam spread from here into Somalia

Ghana cultureThe animism rulers converted to

Islam◦Still maintained some of their old

beliefsMuch of the population did not

convert to IslamLarge heterogeneous population

(small ethnic core)

MaliMansa Musa: Most famous of

Sundiata Successors◦First Mali king to pilgrimage to Mecca ◦Clear social divisions under Mansa

SundiataMuslim EmpireRulers supported Islam

◦Built Mosques and encouraged prayer

◦5 pillars helped to keep order Islam spread throughout the area

SonghayCreated a unique brand of Islam

◦A fusion of Islam and local spiritual beliefs

Islam spread through ◦merchants who joined the local

community◦Intermarriage

Rulers were generally Muslim but the population was generally not Muslims

Central African StatesMostly beyond the influence of

IslamKongo converted to Christianity Art: weaving, pottery,

blacksmithing

Swahili StatesAlmost all rulers and merchants were

MuslimsIslamicized trading cities developed as a

result of contacts with trading partners from Arabia, Persia, India, and China

Islam provided a universal set of ethics and beliefs that made their maritime contacts easier

Shared language Mosques were buildRoyal courts