Deck 10: E: The Worlds of Islam Afro-Eurasian Connections 600-1500

Question 1

Historical Analysis: What unique features united the Islamic world? What unifying features found in Chinese or European civilizations were not essential to the definition of the Islamic world?

Answer 1

•Unique features include a common commitment to Islam,participation in networks of trade and exchange that spanned Islamic civilization,and international networks of educational institutions and Sufi brotherhoods.Nonessential features include political unity on the scale of China,the heritage of a single classical civilization,and relatively uniform social and cultural traditions.

Question 2

Why did certain areas experience a more thorough process of Islamization than other areas?

Answer 2

•Anatolia should be identified as an example of thorough Islamization.
•India,West Africa,and/or Spain should be identified as areas where Islamization was less thorough.
•A discussion of Islam in Anatolia should identify the following to explain the more thorough process of Islamization:
oThe population was 90 percent Muslim.
oThere was a comparatively small population in Anatolia,with the Turkic-speaking peoples comprising a larger proportion of the population than in India.
oThe destruction of the Byzantine state and church left a void easily filled by the new Muslim rulers.
oThe promise of material rewards and high office made conversion to Islam an attractive option.
oThe monotheism of Islam resonated with Christian subjects.
•A discussion of Islam in India should highlight the differences between Islam and Hinduism as a way to explain the less thorough process of Islamization in India:
oThe population was 20 to 25 percent Muslim.
oReligious exclusivity and radical monotheism of Islam versus inclusiveness and polytheism of Hinduism.
oMuslim notion of equality of all believers versus hierarchal basis of caste system.
oSexual modesty of Muslims versus open eroticism of Hindu art.
•A discussion of Islam in West Africa should note that Islam mostly affected rulers and the urban elite,with people in the countryside continuing to practice local traditions:
oRulers did not enforce strict adherence to Islamic law.
oAfrican religions persisted in the countryside.
•A discussion of Islam in Spain should note the brevity of Muslim rule in Spain and the strength of Christianity in the rest of Europe:
oThe Christian reconquest of Spain beginning in 1200 led to the forced emigration of Muslims.
oChristian Europe only sought the secular aspects of the Muslim legacy in Spain.

Question 3

Identify the different traditions that have developed within Islam,and explain the basis of those differences.

Answer 3

•Sunni Islam:
oCaliphs selected by the Islamic community were the rightful political and military leaders.
oReligious authority rests with the ulama.
oAdvocated maintaining the established order.
•Shia Islam:
oDescendants of Ali and his son Husayn should be the leaders of the Islamic community.
oReligious authority rests with imams.
oIts followers considered themselves an embattled minority.
oElements of martyrdom and messianism more pronounced.
•Sufism:
oRepresented mystical dimension of Islam
oEmphasized direct and personal experience of the Divine
oRenounced the material world
oCritical of the legalistic and scholarly traditions of orthodox Islam
oAccommodated local beliefs and practices and created a popular or blended form of Islam
•Sikhism:
oIncorporated elements of Hinduism (karma and rebirth)into Islam (monotheism)

Question 4

Historical Comparison: In what ways were the experiences of women in the Islamic world similar to those of their counterparts in China during the Song and Tang dynasties?