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The Rise of Islam (Preaching and Understanding (A religion of victory (A…
The Rise of Islam
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Sources
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Local Christian sources
Regional, remorseful and resentful - local and biased, Islam splits up locations
Distant narratives - distant, less detailed but more objective
The Qu'ran - Western secular scholarship used to be suspicious but now evidence that the Qu'ran was fixed very early on - consistent across ages, decent reflection of what was originally put down
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How?
Unstoppable army - Frederick Donner (?) - spent lives fighting, adapted to conditions, can handle desert
Considerable military manpower all over in Arabia - client states that had been fighting the empire's battles for them - had fought in armies they were fighting against, know how they work, how tactics in deserts work
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Religious conviction - win for God, believe they can
Surrender or suffer strategy - cities so disconnected can be taken in turn - if they surrender no casualties, kill everyone otherwise
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Background
In 610 Islam did not exist - by 720 it controlled all of Persia, 1/2 Roman empire and a lot besides
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Arabia
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Lots of different types of land and people, from desert nomadic to agricultural urban
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Also religiously varied - many Christian and Jewish groups, some Zoroastrian and "pagan"
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The 'Arab' question - linguistic term, Arabian peninsula - linguistically, religiously and ethnically plural and fluid
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What Was Special
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Army difficult to beat - Byzantine occasionally turn them back, Persia even less
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Steamroller
Must have appeared that God was on the side of the Muslims due to progress - how else can their success be explained
Enemies - has God left them, punishment for sins
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Mecca and Muhammad
Mecca = trading city, owes importance to routes
Sanctuary site
Kaaba, sacred black stone - constitutes safe space where conflict is not allowed - can meet, negotiate and trade
The Quraysh
Maintained Kaaba - large family, rarely united
Mohammed is a member
When he has visions from 610 he is thrown out of the city - causing disruption, is exiled in 622 - leave to go to Medina
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Effects
Not much settlement except in Syria, Irag and Yemen
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In more distant areas - only tribute maintained e.g. Armenia, Georgia - makes a pact, doesn't have Islamic governors - were they part of the Islamic world?
Evident in coinage - small changes in coinage, keep tax stable - some Islamic changes to coin in Persian areas
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Cities thriving as economic centers - happens before Islam but Islam may speed it up - joining areas up to trade routes - associate Islam with success, conversion ensues
Economy in what was left on the Roman empire suffered- Whitton - less coins, less pottery
Fitna
First fitna in 650s - issues of succession, disagreement over next caliph
680s another fitna - expensive civil war, 3 sided at one point
Abd-al Malik champion of 'real' Islam - less structures of accommodation e.g. local governors allowed to continue - no humans on coins, just scripture now -more formalized Islam under 1 caliph
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Byzantium
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Are religiously split both anciently and recently - doctrine split, new one created by attempting to resolve older one
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