Outline Lecture Eight—Islamic Civilization—Dar al-Islam

Key Points today 1) Internal socio-political and sectarian turmoil plagued the Islamic empires from 8th to 12th century; yet, this was also a period of incredible cultural, artistic, and intellectual achievements for Muslims. 2) Political and religious fragmentation did not impede the cultural unity of what Muslims recognized as Dar al-Islam—“The Abode of Islam”

I) The Islamic Network a) Political Fragmentation i) Regions with de facto independence from Abbasids ii) Fatimids in Egypt by early 10th century iii) Umayyads in al-Andalus (Spain) by early 10th century (1) Abd al-Rahman III declared himself Khalifa in 912 b) Cultural Cohesiveness i) Infrastructure for communication and commerce ii) Network of Islamic cities (1) Amsars—e.g. Kufa, Samarra, Basra, etc. (2) Capitals of caliphates with several hundred thousand inhabitants (a) Abbasid Baghdad under Harun al-Rashid (786-809) (i) Cultural flowering and economic prosperity (b) Cordoba under Ibd al-Rahman III (912-961) (i) Andalusian city built to match Baghdad in opulence and splendor (c) Cairo under the Fatimids (i) Great Mosque of al-Azhar (Show images) (ii) Trained generations of ulamas and qadis

II) Development of an Orthodox Tradition a) Sunni Orthodoxy i) Followers of the sunna or “well-trodden traditions” of the Prophet ii) Adhered to the religious authority of ulamas and qadis (1) Ulamas—religious scholars, not organized clergy (a) “One who possesses ilm (knowledge)” (2) Qadis as judges arbitrated according to their understanding of the Shari’a iii) Conservative role of madrasas—theological centers by 10th century b) Orthodoxy Through the Shari’a—the “path” i) Sources of authority for the Shari’a ii) Potential for contention (1) E.g. Controversial “fatwas” on contentious matters

III) Women in Early Islam a) Disclaimer on generalizations i) Islam not “a monolithic religious-cultural phenomenon” b) Patriarchy and the Shari’a i) Examples of persistent institutional inequalities c) New Restrictions placed on Women i) Leila Ahmed’s Women and Gender in Islam (1) From Judaism—segregation in worship (2) From Persia—the veil (a) Purdah—confinement of women to the home ii) Trans-cultural customs of controlling women’s sexuality “for the preservation of chastity and the reproduction of sons for the husband’s family”

IV) The Legacy of Islamic Culture a) Compatibility of Faith and Learning i) Religious piety and scientific learning seen as separate enterprises ii) “Falsafa”—religiously-sanctioned pursuit of science and philosophy (1) Greatly facilitated advances in the sciences and medicine iii) Enlightened cosmopolitanism b) The West’s on-going cultural war against Islam i) The persistence of the crusader mentality ii) Waves of Islamophobia throughout the West iii) Islam in the Western media