Strayer 11: Islam, a portable faith

29/12/2012

Sorry I didn't get this up before the break. To make it up to you, I'll answer a couple of big picture questions below and offer you a comparison question.

Analyze the similarities and differences between the affects and practice of Islam in India and one of the following:
West Africa
Anatolia
Spain

You probably had that figured out already, huh?

BP1: What distinguished the first centuries of Islamic history from the early history of Christianity and Buddhism? What similarities and differences characterized their religious outlooks?

Islam differed distinctly from Christianity and Buddhism because its founder was not only a religious figure but also a political and military leader. (Huge)

Also, from the start the Islamic community was established as as a state. (No separation of church and state here!)

There were some similarities in their religious outlooks: all three religions were founded by single historical figures who had powerful religious experiences; all three provide a clear path to salvation; and all three proclaim the equality of all believers.

However, Islam’s conception of monotheism was stronger than that of Christianity (holy trinity);

... and each religion was shaped in part by the cultural traditions in which it emerged. Duh!

BP2: How might you account for the immense religious and political/military success of Islam in its early centuries?

Me? How would I account for it? Well, as an historian, not a religious leader...

It's like this dudes; for the first time a shared faith (um, Islam) allowed the newly organized state to mobilize the military potential of the entire Arab population. Powerful. No dying on the cross or wandering around begging here.

The Byzantine and Persian empires were weakened by decades of war with each other and by internal revolts. The two empires also underestimated the Arab threat. "Terrible he rode alone..." (See the period page if that didn't make sense.)

Merchant leaders of the new Islamic community wanted to capture profitable trade routes and wealthy agricultural regions. And they did.

Individual Arabs found in military expansion a route to wealth and social promotion. I'll be bringing my scimitar to class as a means of insuring leaning in January.

Expansion provided a common task for the Arab community, which reinforced the (fragile) unity of the Islamic umma.

Arabs were motivated by a religious dimension, as many viewed the mission of empire in terms of jihad, bringing righteous government to the peoples they conquered. Sound familiar?

Islam experienced success in attracting converts: Muhammad’s religious message was attractive to many, while Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians could find familiar elements of their own faiths in Islam.

Conquests called into question the power of old gods, while the growing prestige of the Arab Empire attracted many to Allah. This is a point the Mongols will make later too: "If your God is powerful, why did 'he' let us conquer you? Just saying."

Although forced conversions were rare, living in an Islamic-governed state provided a variety of incentives for claiming Muslim identity. I mean hey, if everyone on the block is doing it, right? Merchants found in Islam a religion friendly to commerce and in the Arab Empire a huge and secure arena for trade, people aspiring to official positions (you know, politicians) found conversion to Islam an aid to social mobility.

I'm looking forward to reading your posts!

54 Comments

Bingham

30/12/2012 08:02:23

I'm just testing to make sure comments are open again. Go ahead, just pretend I'm not here...

Victoria Wren

30/12/2012 12:21:19

Thanks for the BPQs! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas :)
I'll try to get a MQ in a few minutes :D

Victoria Wren

30/12/2012 13:03:01

In what ways did the early history of Islam reflect its Arabian origins?

•Islam drew on an older Arab (original Arabic, conveys nothing less than the very presence of the divine) identification of Allah with Yahweh (possibility that Allah/Yahweh was the only God), and Arab self-identification as children of Abraham (return to the old and pure religion of Abraham)

•The Quran denounced the prevailing social practices of an increasingly prosperous Mecca and sought a return to the older values of Arab tribal life (return to the old and pure religion of Abraham), like the sharing of goods amongst tribes.

•The message of the Quran also rejected the Arab tribal and clan structure, which was prone to war, feuding, and violence. Instead, the Quran sought to replace this structure with the umma (need to create a new society of social justice, equality, and care for others), the community of all believers.

Christina Hong

2/1/2013 07:36:36

Not sure if this would also fit, but I also had:

•The Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, was located next to the Sassanid Empire. As a result, it began to house Zoroastrians whose monotheistic ideas began to influence Muslims, some of who began to reject the existence of lesser gods.

Christina Hong

2/1/2013 07:37:48

I think it adds on to what you put in the first bullet.

Bingham

2/1/2013 08:13:48

Yeah, it fits... good add on!

Victoria Wren

30/12/2012 13:03:44

How does the core message of Islam compare with that of Judaism and Christianity?

•Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, is monotheistic (believing that there is only one god). Allah as the only God, the all-powerful Creator, good, just, and merciful

•As “the Messenger of God,” Muhammad presented himself in the line of earlier prophets—Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and many others.

•It was not so much a call to a new faith as an invitation to return to the old and pure religion of Abraham from which Arabs, Jews, and Christians alike deviated.

•Like the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament, the Quran demanded social justice and laid out a prescription for its implementation.

•Like Christianity, Islam develops a reward and punishment system for the "wicked" of this world, heaven and hell

Bingham

31/12/2012 05:13:37

Scary solid!

Christina Hong

2/1/2013 14:34:30

And here's what I have for differences.

•Islam scorned the Christian notion of the Trinity
•submission required the creation of a whole new society, unlike Christianity/Judaism, where submission was an individual act
•Muslim women had an honored an honored and spiritually equal place in umma, the ideal society
•Muhammad, the Muslim equivalent of Jesus, was regarded as a messenger rather than a savior

Christina Hong

2/1/2013 14:45:19

oh oops, I typed 'an honored' twice. how embarrassing. D:

Emily Sherman

5/1/2013 04:53:30

One other thing I found was that Islam had the 5 Pillars of Faith, which is very similar to the Jewish and Christian 10 Commandments.

Steffannie Alter

30/12/2012 18:23:12

In what ways was the rise of Islam revolutionary, both in theory and in practice?

The Islamic community replaced the previous Arabian tribal structure with one in which membership was a matter of belief rather than birth. Muhammad outlawed usery, established tax-free markets, and implemented mandatory payments to support the poor. Muhammad therefore not only acted as a religious figure but a political one as well. Islam had no separate political and religious organizations or distinction between religious and civil law. In addition, unlike Christianity, there was no clergy in Islamic society to act as a mediator.

Bingham

31/12/2012 05:29:56

Yes, and no distinction between religious law and civil law.

To editorialize a little, I think we should note here that this is the power of Islam, and the power of any state structure that unifies nationalistic ideas with religious ideas. It's a powerful brew, one we see several times in history. However, with apologies to my Muslim friends, it's a dangerous brew. It relies on the goodness of people like the Prophet (may Allah bless him) and al-Ghazali and ...
“In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.” ~ Rumi

Christina Hong

3/1/2013 15:04:14

I also had:
•teachers, religious scholars, prayer leaders, and judges within an Islamic legal system did not have the religious role that priests held within Christianity
•brought peace to the warring tribes of Africa
•sharia regulated every aspect of life (?)

Christina Hong

4/1/2013 12:52:45

What accounts for the widespread conversion to Islam?

•major elements of Islam such as monotheism, ritual prayer, cleansing ceremonies, fasting, divine revelation, the ideas of heaven and hell, and final judgment were familiar to Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians
•unlike Buddhism and Christianity, Islam had always been associated with the sponsorship of a powerful state
•conquest challenged the authority of old gods
•converts within the Arab Empire could avoid the jizya, a tax imposed on non-Muslims
•in Islam, merchants found a religion friendly to commerce and found the Arab Empire a secure arena for trade
•people aspiring to official positions found conversion to Islam an aid to social mobility

•resistance among the Berbers of North Africa
•a small group of Spanish Christians publicly insulted the Prophet
•some Persian Zoroastrians fled to avoid Muslim rule

Jeremiah Pratt

5/1/2013 05:21:54

A note that I think is important to all you forum-readers:

It is important to keep the ideas of Islam and Arab separate in your mind. As Strayer clearly states, areas like Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan "Islamized" without "Arabizing". Don't get the two confused.

Bingham

5/1/2013 06:02:56

Great point Jeremiah. Remember our guest lecturer from the Mid-East Policy Institute last year? It also reminds me of de Blij's assertion that Japan was able to industrialize with out anglicizing or westernizing.

Christina Hong

5/1/2013 01:26:58

Oh wow, I just realized that this question is really similar to BPQ2.

Bingham

5/1/2013 01:59:37

Yeah, I didn't realize that either until I read your post!

Christina Hong

5/1/2013 03:21:08

Why was Anatolia so much more thoroughly Islamized than in India?

•difference in demographic balance- Anatolia's population of 8 million vs. India's 48 million
•more Turkic-speaking peoples settled in Anatolia, giving them a much greater cultural weight than in India
•disruption of Anatolian society was far more extensive- massacres, enslavement, famine, and flight led to a sharp decline in the native population
•centralized Byzantine civilization in Anatolia became leaderless and dispirited, while India was better able to handle external invasion because of their initial lack of political/religious establishment
•Turkish rulers of Anatolia built a new society that welcomed converts and granted them material rewards and opportunity for high office
•cultural barriers were less severe; common monotheism of Christianity and Muslim respect for Jesus and Christian scriptures
•Sufi teachers began to think of the two religions as different versions of the same faith
•Sufis established schools, mills, orchards, hospices, and rest places for travelers, replacing the remnants of Christian Anatolia

Kat M

5/1/2013 04:08:35

I wasn't too sure about this one but decided to give it a shot because it got skipped.

Why were Arabs able to construct such a huge empire so quickly?
-They had a state of their own with a centralized command that could mobilize the military potential of the entire Arab population
-The Byzantine and Persian empires viewed them as a nuisance rather than a threat, so I supposed they didn't put too much emphasis on defending themselves from the Arabs
-I kind of made this connection so correct me if it's wrong, but could the Jizya (special tax placed on "protected subjects" or dhimmis to freely practice their religion) also be a factor in their spread? It was a substitute for military service, but many dhimmis served in the highest offices on the Muslim side. Would the tax mixed with help from people of different religions be a factor?
-Also I think it's important to mention that the Arabs explained their success by saying that it was God's work and that it was their mission to bring their conquered empires "righteous rule"

Christina Hong

5/1/2013 05:10:54

I also added that the Byzantine and Persian empires were weakened by decades of war and internal revolt, increasing their vulnerability to outside attacks.

and I'm not quite sure if this would also fit, but
•Chinese defeat in the Battle of Talas River made it possible to convert Central Asia's Turkic-speaking people to Islam and stopped further expansion of China to the west

I think the connection you made better justifies the widespread conversion to Islam, rather than the making of the actual empire. A good connection though! =D

Bingham

5/1/2013 06:14:24

I think Christina's point about the jizya (what a word!) is on point, but I too like the way you are making connections!
Yeah, and you guys are missing the "merchant factor" (my quotes cause I just made that up, I think). Arabs (and the Prophet) were a largely merchant society, and nothing is better for business my friend that capturing trade routes and wealthy regions. The influence of this class has to be considered as part of the answer.
Also, individual Arabs saw conquest as a road to riches and social mobility, and...
there's nothing like a common task (conquering) to keep that umma hanging together!

Christina Hong

5/1/2013 06:36:02

Oh, so their motives would also be considered contributors to the Arab Empire's fast construction?

Jessica Stevens

7/1/2013 14:51:35

@Christina: the widespread conversion to Islam is part of the building of the empire, no? Because of the Islamic way, from what I understood, of not putting distinctions between religious and political life, the widespread conversion to Islam would also be related directly to the building of the political and RELIGIOUS empire, so Kat's connection would still be valid.

I feel it also important to point out that they operated on both land and sea, making it possible to spread along to North Africa, Spain and Southern France.

Christina Hong

7/1/2013 15:09:01

Yea, I definitely agree that the widespread conversion to Islam was what fueled the creation of the Arab Empire. I just feel that the point regarding the jizya didn't directly factor into it. To me, it was more like:

jizya --> conversion --> empire

rather than

jizya --> empire

if that made any sense

Jeremiah Pratt

5/1/2013 05:27:28

What is the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam?

Sunni

•Held that the caliphs were rightful political and military leaders, selected by the community.
•Religious authority in general emerged from the community.

Shia

•Felt that leadership in the Islamic world should derive from the line of Ali, a blood relative of Muhammad.
•Invested a much larger amount of religious authority in their leaders; could interpret the Quran and the wishes of Allah.
•For much of time, viewed themselves as the minority opposition
•Various failed armed revolts led to a concept of martyrdom, epectation that defeated leaders weren't dead. (Messianic element)

Bingham

5/1/2013 06:21:49

Gotta keep an eye on those messianic types! Troublemakers I tell you!

Jeremiah Pratt

5/1/2013 05:34:38

In what ways were Sufi Muslims critical of mainstream Islam?
•Saw the worldly success of Islamic civilization as a distraction and deviation from the purer spirituality of Muhammad's time.
•Renounced the material world, meditated on the Quran.
•Critical of scholarly and legal practices of the sharia. Didn't think that dumb stuff did nothing to bring believers into God's presence, yo.
•Charted their own path to god

Bingham

5/1/2013 06:26:22

Yep, and this is a bit nuanced, but by the time the Sufi's got really popular, there were a lot of bad examples of governance in Islam's history - corruption, a little too much of the good life among some leaders - not really religious I suppose.

You should expand on "charted their own path to God". It's a touch vague.

Kat M

5/1/2013 07:38:48

How did the rise of Islam change the lives of women?
(I sorted them into good and bad pretty much and tried to determine whether each factor is good or not based on the point of views of the women... so if something strange pops up in the good I swear I'm not evil and don't send angry mobs my way)

Good-
-They were given control over property
-They were granted rights of inheritance, though at half the rate of their male counterparts
-Marriage now required consent on both sides
-Women could sue for divorce now but not as easily as men
-The Sufi allowed a greater role for women
-Teachers who were women were equal to teachers who were men
-Some women were allowed to become literate

Bad-
-infanticide was forbidden
-could no longer have multiple husbands
-polygamy was allowed, though it was far more regulated (the limit was 4 wives and each had to be treated equally, virtually requiring monogamy)
-men were allowed to have sexual relations with consenting female slaves (if she were to have a child it would be free)
-Women in upper classes were more restricted
-women prayed separately in mosques, standing by a man
-Under the rule of the second caliph, Umar, women were offered to pray at home
-veiling and seclusion in the ruling classes became standard
-women of higher class had separate quarters in the house from which they could not emerge unveiled.
-A separate bridge for women was built to cross the Euphrates
-It was legal to kill women who violated sexual taboos
-Female circumcision was allowed
-They were considered a threat to men and social stability
Also the story of Adam and Eve is important, because at first the story was written without placing the blame on Eve and women in general for Adam's sinning, but was later rewritten.

Bingham

5/1/2013 08:23:55

Um, don't look now, but there's an angry mob outside your house! They're chanting something about the role of women in society? Just kidding! But your answer needs a little cleaning up, and because I'm no chauvinist, I don't mind doing a little cleaning.

I like your idea about good and bad, that's a good way to organize, but I think anther way to do it is to look at what the Quran says (theory) and what really happened (practice).

So, the Quran with regard to women: It banned female infanticide, (this should have been in your "good" list) gave women the right to own property and granted them rights of inheritance (as you pointed out), defined marriage as a contract between consenting parties(got that), granted the right to sue for divorce under certain circumstances, and regulated polygyny (you can make your own call on that, I suspect some women would be cool with having more than one dude around, especially in a society that allows polygamy!). It also allowed men to have sexual relations with consenting female slaves (but I'm going to guess that "consenting" has a pretty loose definition for a female slave).

Now, as the Arab Empire grew in size, the position of women became more limited. Women started to pray at home instead of in the mosque (I think that could go in either good or bad depending on a woman's POV), and veiling and seclusion of women became standard practice among the upper and ruling classes, with special areas within the home becoming the only place where women could appear unveiled (and I think we have to be careful here, to a western woman, veiling, etc. would be a negative, but I've met more than one Muslim woman who considers the apparel of western women to be degrading and disrespectful, objectifying women; and personally, I kind of agree, then again, maybe veiling goes too far?). So this seclusion was less feasible for lower-class women. These new practices came much more from established traditions of Middle Eastern cultures than from the Quran, but they soon gained a religious rationale in the writings of Muslim thinkers. So there you go.

The horrible stuff you mentioned like clitorectomy and honor killings are nowhere in the Quran or the Hadiths ( traditions about the sayings or actions of Muhammad (may Allah bless him), which became an important source of Islamic law) - I'm pretty sure, but those things have become associated with Islam unfortunately.

Negative views of women (you alluded to this, but I think you need to be more explicit), presenting them as weak, deficient, and a sexually charged threat to men and social stability, showed up in the Hadiths.

Good points about the Sufi side, and literacy. Literacy is important for the obvious reasons, but it also means that they could socialize in some kind of school setting. Thy same is true of the Haj and other pilgrimages, it allowed women an opportunity to interact with other people (mostly other women granted) outside their family.

You mentioned teaching, but that was only in Shi'a where women teachers are referred to as "mullah", just as men are. Maybe a small thing, but significant - remember, little things are big, right?

Great point about the Garden of Eden story!

Christina Hong

5/1/2013 08:27:00

Under 'good', I'd also add that a number of women played visible public roles in early Islamic times.

Christina Hong

5/1/2013 08:29:38

whoa, nevermind.
I hadn't refreshed from last time, so I didn't see that reply you posted there, Bingham.

Bingham

5/1/2013 12:50:47

Absolutely, beginning with the very influential Khadija.

Mish

5/1/2013 18:17:16

So (this is my first time posting on the blog!!! Yay!!!),
I was musing about this question and it seemed appropriate for this chapter, so take pity on this first time WHAP blog user, k?

What similarities and differences can you identify in the spread of Islam to India, Anatolia, west Africa, and Spain?
India
-Islam was brought here by militant Turkish warrior groups who conquered parts of India
-was at first violent by vandalizing institutions of other religions
-Islam later converted people through the use of "god filled men" known as Sufis who were more spiritual and related more to the native people
-Sufis were more accepting of the local gods so they didn't object as strongly to the local's traditions
-the sharp differences between Islam and Hinduism kept Islam a separate religion and was not assimilated into Hindu culture like other religions brought to India
-but, like in Sikhism, occasionally religious ideas blended
-Islam maintained a status as a minority
Anatolia
-also subject to Turkish Islamic invaders
-Smaller population than India, so the impact was stronger
-christian institution was disintegrating allowing for Islam to take over
-due to similar monotheistic ideas, Islam was more widely accepted
-missionaries built schools, hospices, orchards, and the like which helped anatolians ease into the religious and political takeover
-gender equality, which was an idea donated by the Turkish pastoral culture was more widely accepted.
West Africa
-much more peaceful and voluntary than India or Anatolia due to a lack of established permanent government
-brought originally by Muslim traders rather than Islamic Sufi missionaries or conquering Turks.
-was established for its stable government rather than philosophical ideals
-People felt drawn to the idea of a comforting single god rather than local spirits and gods
-built schools teaching Islam
-offered a link to Muslim traders
Spain
-Islam was seen as a vibrant civilization that appealed to catholic Europe due to its harmonious relationships with people of other religions which was important because Spain had a large Jewish and Christian population
-Spain was drawn to the educational views of Islam
-Islam allowed for social relationships between people of different faiths in the upper class which led to influential people converting to Islam
-later, Islam became more intolerant of different faiths and persecuted non-Muslim people, which led to the un-harmonious establishment in later Spanish Islamic culture

Thank ya, thank ya very much. Hold the applause, but do get back to me on stuff I got wrong or just overall comments and thank you mr. Bingham because this is the hardest I've studied for your class in a long time and I'm uber-proud of myself. You were right, the blog is a useful tool and I thank you for making me realize that I feel proud of myself when I study hard.

Steffannie Alter

6/1/2013 00:45:45

Mish, I think that sorting it by region is a good way to categorize the information, but since the question asks for a comparison, what I did after organizing by region was try to find common topics to individually compare or contrast. I likely missed some since this spans four regions and I was looking for themes that appeared in all/most of them, but here's what I got when trying to organize it this way:

-Islam spread to India, Anatolia, and Spain partially by force while it came to West Africa through Islamic traders.
-In India and Anatolia, Sufis facilitated conversions, but Sufi's didn't play much of a role in West Africa until the eighteenth century.
-In India, West Africa, and Spain, Islam became one of many practiced faiths while it became the dominant religion in Anatolia.
-Islam displaced Christianity in Anatolia while the opposite later occurred in Spain.

Mish

6/1/2013 01:11:43

Wow. Your answer was much shorter than mine. Compare. Compare, compare, compare. And deep read. I need to remember to do these things.

Mish

6/1/2013 01:14:05

Thank you for your advice, Steffannie. I'll remember to do that next time.

Bingham

6/1/2013 07:11:59

This is such good advice! I hope everyone reads it.

Bingham

6/1/2013 04:44:53

Weird, I replied to this on my phone, but it didn't post. Good for you Mish, you are taking the right attitude in to this. I heard a guy over the break, referring to America generally say, "we don't need Prozac, we need a plan!" My life experience is that you can work your way out of any stress, and that's what you are doing.
This post shows you are doing the close reading and now it is fixed because you organized it in the post. While I was reading it, I thought the same thing that Steffannie did, where are the similarities, the direct comparisons? She addressed that beautifully below. Thanks Steff!

Bingham

6/1/2013 04:45:35

Er, above?

Christina Hong

6/1/2013 14:36:30

What makes it possible to speak of the Islamic world as a distinct and coherent civilization?

•unlike Christian priests who stood between the believer and God, the ulama served as judges and interpreters of Allah
•ulama served as preservers of the sharia, passing on the core teachings of Islam
•teaching of madrassas involved the memorization of texts and was largely conservative, seeking to preserve an established body of Islam
•system of education created by the ulama served to draw together Muslims
•common texts shared widely across the world of Islam
•world of Islam spanned from Indonesia to West Africa
•disciples of shaykhs (Sufi teachers) valued highly the chain of transmission by which teachings and practices had come down from earlier practices
•in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Sufis began to organize in a variety of larger associations, some limited to particular regions or chapters throughout the Islamic world
•Qadiriya order began in Baghdad but spread widely throughout the Arab world and into sub-Saharan Africa
•Sufi orders were significant in the frontier regions of Islam, because they followed conquering armies or traders into Central and Southeast Asia, India, Anatolia, West Africa, and elsewhere
•Sufi religious ideas, institutions, teachings, and practices spanned the Islamic world
•Sufi devotees made pilgrimages to the distant tombs of famous teachers
•many thousands of people, from kings to peasants, made the grand pilgrimage to Mecca each year, gaining a sense of umma
•claims of local identities based on family, clan, tribe, ethnicity, or state never disappeared
•Sufis accommodated elements of local belief and practices and encouraged the growth of a popular blended Islam

Kat M

7/1/2013 13:46:57

Sorry if I'm completely wrong in asking this, but do all of those points answer the actual question? Again, sorry if I'm poking around in a good solid answer.

Christina Hong

7/1/2013 14:12:41

Yea, I actually wasn't too sure about some of these, but I added them just in case. Which ones are you referring to?

Christina Hong

6/1/2013 23:14:08

In what ways was the world of Islam a "cosmopolitan civilization"?

My answer for this one was kind of long, so someone please let me know if some of these aren't relevant!

Involvement in trade
•commerce valued within Islamic teaching; Muhammad was a trader, and pilgrimage to Mecca and urbanization fostered trade
•Muslim merchants were prominent players in the Mediterranean Sea, along the revived Silk Roads, across the Sahara, and throughout the Indian Ocean basin
•Arab and Persian traders had established a commercial colony in Canton in southern China, linking the Islamic heartland with Asia's giant economy

Agricultural products and practices
•Muslim conquest of northwestern India opened the Middle East to a substantial supply of crops that had been domesticated long before in South and Southeast Asia. Some of these subsequently found their way into the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
•cotton, sugarcane, and development of intensified agricultural techniques contributed to increased food production, population growth, urbanization, and industrial development characteristic of the Muslim Middle East in early Abbasid times

Technology
•ancient Persian techniques for acquiring water by drilling into the sides of hills spread across North Africa as far west as Morocco
•Muslim technicians improved the rocket, first developed in China
•papermaking techniques entered the Abbasid Empire from China in the eighth century

Ideas
•Islam drew heavily on Jewish and Christian precedents
•Persian became the primary literary language of elite circles
•scientific, medical, and philosophical texts from ancient Greece, the Hellenistic world, and India were translated into Arabic, providing a significant boost to Islamic scholarship and science
•in 830, Abbasid caliph al-Mamun established the House of Wisdom in Baghdad to serve as an academic center for research and translation
•stimulated by Greek texts, a school of Islamic thinkers (Mutazalites) questioned the credibility of Islam, arguing that reason was the "surest way to truth".

Science and scholarship
•using Indian numerical notation, Arab scholars developed algebra as a novel mathematical discipline
•a remarkable tradition in medicine and pharmacology was built based upon earlier Greek and Indian practices
•treatments such as using mercury ointment for scabies emerged from Arab doctors
•the first hospitals, traveling clinics, and examinations for physicians and pharmacologists developed in the Islamic world
•an enormous body of Arab medical scholarships entered Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, where it remained for many centuries
•also, p. 327

Elizabeth Martinsen

7/1/2013 04:37:56

The test at the end of the week is going to be an essay, correct?

Christina Hong

7/1/2013 09:23:08

It looks like our Strayer 11 summative has been moved to Monday! :O

Bingham

7/1/2013 05:19:27

Maaaaaaybe

Christina Hong

7/1/2013 09:13:01

(yes)

Kat M

7/1/2013 11:59:42

Thanks Bingham! I like how you organized it more. I thought the infanticide might be in the "bad" column for the women because now they had to actually take care of unwanted children. I guess I was unsure because I don't know why they would kill children in the first place... but mainly I wanted to ask,
Do the people of these religions believe that people of other religions are following the same god? Maybe in a different form? Or do they think that everyone has their own god? Hm.

Bingham

7/1/2013 12:18:43

Ah, great question, because that is the central issue. The great leaders, like Ahkbar, who we'll meet in the next unit believed exactly that. Of course the answer is not simple, some do and some don't. But history shows us that when civilizations have a "golden age" it comes in a period of religious tolerance. Think of the American founding fathers, they understood, from their enlightenment education that tolerance is the key to political, social and economic success. When societies become dogmatic and intolerant, collapse follows. The early history of Islam is often one of toleration, but that has changed in many places. Just watch the news. But Islam is not alone, certainty the western Christian history is full of intolerance: think of the conquistadors and the inquisition!

Bingham

7/1/2013 12:49:08

As for infanticide, we are talking here about female infanticide. More common than most people realize. Remember our China one child policy discussions last year? This tragedy of the human story is a real motivation for me as an educator. It burns in my heart that women have been so marginalized and abused as our species has crawled out of the darkness. Our history is a history of misogyny, and that has to change if we are to become truly "civilized". After spring break i wast to introduce you to Benazir Bhotto, a woman who challenged the dark side of Islam and died for democracy in Pakistan just a few years ago. And Ahn Song Su Chi who is doing the same in Burma. Tbe world desperately needs more women like them!

Kat M

7/1/2013 13:18:35

Definitely! I'm glad that you are educating us about topics like that.

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Strayer 11: Islam, a portable faith

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