Nomadic-pastoralist peoples have had a dramatic impact on world history on several occasions. Generally speaking, their impact has been destructive and short-lived. The Arab conquests, from 632 onwards, of the Middle East and North Africa brought about certain consequences. Alone among other nomad warriors, the Arabs brought with them a dominant religion, Islam, and this in its train contributed a written language of high culture and, later, of administration. Arabic had become a language of religion and government, as well as the spoken vernacular of almost the entire population from the Zagros Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. There are few events that have affected world history as profoundly as the battles and expeditions between 632 and 720, and everyone lives with those consequences at the present day. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the death of Islam was very possible. The Arab conquests were remembered merely as one of the history’s more improbable “might-have-beens”. It may easily have been the end, if not for the decisive action taken by the early Muslim leadership, notably by the first two caliphs (or successors of the Prophet). Like Muhammad
The internal view of Muslim historians was that God supported the Islamic faith and aided in its spread. The external, especially European, view was that the Muslim concept of jihad, or struggle, was the key element. Today, few historians emphasize religious zeal alone but rather point to a combination of the Arab’s military advantages and the political weaknesses of their opponents. Equally important are the military strength and tactics of the Arabs. For example, rather than scattering as landlords of peasant farmers over conquered lands, Arab soldiers remained together in garrison cities, where their Arab ethnicity, tribal organization, religion, and military success set them
The spread of the Islamic faith throughout the eastern world occurred due to the presence of Muslim cities. Iba Jubayr, a Spanish Muslim traveler and geographer, loves the city of Damascus as the type of paradise on earth (Doc 1). Among many Muslim cities, Damascus is a center of the Islamic faith and greatly contributed to the spreading of the Islamic faith. The Umayyad Caliphate based the Islam core in Damascus and the city’s power reached its highest point. Though Iba Jubayr provides a sufficient observation upon Damascus, his opinions were hidden due to his occupation. Being a traveler and geographer, Iba Jubayr was exposed to many various environments, some harsher than others. As a result, Jubayr’s opinion may have been wrong because a city that is nice such as Damascus can easily be viewed as a paradise on earth when compared to an extremely poor and suffering city. Even though Jubayr’s opinion is incorrect, Damascus is still an important element in the spreading of
...y by compiling a summary of Islamic history, and, by doing so, creates a complete Islamic history that can go toe to toe with European history. As a result, his argument stands to be thorough, suggesting that Islamic history indeed plays a role in today’s international world
The failure of defensive development in Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia had a large and long-lasting effect on the Muslim world. The original goal of the reforms was to end European intervention, revive the weakening empires, and to be on equal standing with Europe. Yet, all three empires over-utilized the wealth and knowledge of Europe, leading to their ultimate demise. The empires wished to impose reforms in the military, economics, education, and law which the region had not experienced previously. This resulted in backlash, violence, and division within the empires eventually leading to bankruptcy, ironically, to those which they wished to separate themselves.
Cobb, Paul. "Introduction." Ibn Munqidh, Usama. Book of Contemplation Islam and the Crusades. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. xv-xlii.
According to Amin Maalouf, “It seems clear that the Arab East still sees the West as a natural enemy. Against that enemy, any hostile action-be it political, military, or based on oil-is considered no more than legitimate vengeance. And there can be no doubt that the schism between these two worlds dates from the Crusades, deeply felt by the Arabs, even today, as an act of rape” (Amin Maalouf). When reflecting on The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, this quote always sticks out as the most powerful piece of Maalouf’s work. As a growing college student this quote brings harsh reality to the world I live in. I believe as you grow through life, you become more and more aware of the world around you through education. In order to be aware you must be educated; The Crusades Through Arab Eyes has done just that by opening my eyes to a world and viewpoint I have never before considered.
Hilāl, ʻAlī Al-Dīn. Islamic Resurgence in the Arab World. New York, NY: Praeger, 1982. Print.
Crusades. The. This increased contact created a direct cultural diffusion that would hurt the Muslims in time. These Crusaders would learn the local language and learn words such as Alchemy, Algebra and Zenith that had never been created in the Languages spoken by the crusaders. Also, from being in the Middle East for so long, crusaders learned of new sciences created by the Muslims such as Chemistry and Astronomy.
Today, the modern world has been greatly influenced by Muslims. Muslims are very intelligent people and created and invented many achievements. In ninth century Arabia, Muslims contributed: Intellectual, Cultural, and Economic advancements that have impacted the world long term.
Throughout his life, the Prophet Muhammad proved to be exceptionally adept at uniting diverse groups, negotiating a series of alliances and loyalty arrangements that spanned religious, tribal, ethnic, and familial lines (Berggren 2009). Among other things, this ability enabled Muhammad to forge a shared identity and found a nascent Islamic state from a diverse and even heterogeneous community (Rahman 1982; Ernst 2003, pp. 87-93). This diversity proved to be both a source of strength and conflict for Islam, and following the death of Muhammad early Islamic communities engaged in extensive debates not only about the nature of his teachings or how to carry his legacy forward, but also about the terms that should be used to define his authority. Although this debate produced a colorful array of movements within the tapestry of early Islamic civilization, this essay offers a critical examination of two particularly distinct perspectives on the nature of prophetic authority: namely, those articulated
The Islamic tradition, as reflected in Naguib Mahfouz’s Zaabalawi, has over the course of history had an incredible impact on Arab culture. In Mahfouz’s time, Islamic practices combined with their political relevance proved a source of both great power and woe in Middle Eastern countries. As alluded to in Zaabalawi, Mahfouz asserts the fact that not all Muslims attain religious fulfillment through this common tradition, and other methods outside the scope of Islam may be necessary in true spiritual understanding.
“Islamization was a process not an event and it still continues as Islam seeks deeper roots and greater influence.” (Ricklefs et al., 2010)
While some of the enormous discrepancies between Babur’s Islam and James Scurry’s Islam can be ascribed to differences in age and role, the strongest cause of such dissimilarities is a very similar political instability. Admittedly, Babur’s position as conqueror and Scurry’s status as prisoner are the obvious differences that inform their vastly different experiences. Although centuries lay between Babur’s victories and Scurry’s capture, both times were dominated by insecurity and warfare. Local rulers in both eras turned to Islam as a justifying cornerstone of their regimes, and as a tool and rallying cry against their enemies. It is this particular guise of Islam, as political instrument, that ultimately gives us Babur’s privileged piety and Scurry’s painful conversion.
Since its first introduction and application to archaeology in the late-nineteenth and early- twentieth century during the classic evolutionary ideology era where it was heavily utilized to establish the human origin of prehistoric artifacts (Shelley 1999), analogy has always held a central role in archaeological thought. While in archaeological thought it functions on the base of broad and generalized comparisons that are documented across many cultural traditions; in anthropological practice as a whole, analogy is the reasoning based on the notion that if two things are comparable in some values then they must be comparable in other values. It refers to the structure which describes and attempts to explain the cultural processes Although ethno-archaeology has been under severe criticism since the late-1980s it can nevertheless be useful to archaeologists. Hole’s 1979 work is a success story of ethnoarchaeology whereby his usage of ethnography on the Baharvand—Iranian pastoral nomadic group—shows the beneficial aspects of using ethno-archaeology. His work had aimed to help explain the issues of distinguishing nomads archaeologically, and consequently allow the assessment of the role carried out by the pastoral nomads in the Near Eastern prehistory.
The Arabian Peninsula was a changing land in the early seventh century. With the foundation of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE) began to consolidate his rule in the Hijaz region around his center of power in Madinah. With the young Islamic rule gaining momentum, it seemed as if there would be no stopping it from gaining more power and spreading, that is until Muhammad's death in 632 CE. With his passing, we see the tribes once ruled by Muhammad and the Banu Quraysh try to break off and return to their own rule now that there was no leader for the community of believers (umma). Despite some initial scramble, it was Abu Bakr (r. 632-34 CE) who was named the first Caliph, or Deputy of God, and began to lead the Islamic community.
Fear, instilled into our brains through violence and driven by a leader with a purpose. The rise of Islam is driven by fear, whether it be the fear of damnation through the divine or by the violence others bestow upon us. Gordon says, “History has shown repeatedly that ideas can provide powerful motivation for extraordinary deeds.” (11) Muslims are masters of using this fear/violence to make their religion dominant; Muhammad’s use of violence to spread the Muslim religion, how Muslim diplomacy leads to violence, and how it shaped our modern day views on the Muslim religion for the worse. In this paper, I want to show why the use of fear along with Muslim violence made Islam grow and expand at such a rapid rate.