ISLAM

a geographical perspective

Topics

Symbolism Sacred places Origins and diffusion Impacts of colonialism

Some flags of Islamic countries What seem to be the dominant

colors and motifs? Green was the color of

Muhammad’s robe The crescent moon was a symbol of

Constantinople, “borrowed” when it was conquered in 1453 and renamed Istanbul

The five-pointed star represents the five pillars of Islam

1. Confession of faith in Allah and no other god as well as belief in the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad

2. Ritual worship of Allah 5 times a day3. Charity and concern for the needy4. Avoidance of food, drink and sex

during daylight hours for the month of Ramadan

5. Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca once in one’s life)

Islam

Islam means “submission” (to the will of Allah) Shares many roots with Judaism and Christianity

including stories of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus

Islam’s sacred places mosques Mecca Medina Jerusalem

a mosque in Yemen

Istanbul’s Blue Mosque

http://www.mccullagh.org

a mosque in N.W. China

What seems to be an important color in Islam?

Parts of a mosque

Minarets are landmarks and places from which a muezzin (or loudspeaker) calls people to prayer

Sahn is a courtyard or open hall for prayer

Mihraab is a recessed niche pointing toward Mecca the focal point of the mosque the point toward which prayers

are directed the point at which the person

leading prayers stands

Parent Teacher Association, Islamic Association of Greater Detroit: http://www.ptaiagd.org/

Jerusalem (under stormy skies!)

Jerusalem A sacred place for three religions A place of conflict general: the way of the cross

(Christian) foreground

Mount of Olives, Jewish burials background

ruins of the city of David and west wall of the temple mount (believed by Jews to be the remaining wall of Solomon’s original temple, also called the “wailing wall”)

Dome of the rock (gold) believed by Muslims to be where Muhammad ascended to Heaven and by Jews to be where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac

Mecca

Pilgrims circumambulate the Ka’ba, a cube encased in silk containing a black stone

What is the Ka’ba?

For Muslims it is the qibla, the point toward which people must face when praying, and they believe it was built into the structure by Abraham and Ishmael

The first qibla was Jerusalem, but this was changed during Muhammad’s life, perhaps due to a rift between Muhammad and the Jews in Medina

Non-Muslims generally explain it as a meteorite which was worshipped before the time of Muhammad, as part of pre-Islamic animist beliefs of the region

Origins

Muhammad (570-632) sought end to feuding between nomadic Bedouins and merchant

dynasties of cities replaced family-centered social order with a more harmonious

community Qur’an: Muslims believe this is the word of Allah (unless translated

from Arabic) revealed to Muhammad, while teachings of previous prophets (including Jesus) are corruptions of the word of God

Worldview dar al-Islam (means “house of submission”) parts of the world under

Islamic control dar al-Harb (means “house of war”) parts of the world controlled by non-

believers/infidels

Diffusion

Under Muhammad the western part of the Arabian peninsula (incl. Mecca and Medina) were brought under Islam)

Under the Caliphs (his successors), Islam expanded very rapidly across the entire southern half of the Roman Empire’s territory, as well as areas under control of Sassanid Empire to the east.

Combination of military conquest and tax policy. Those who did not surrender to Muslim forces were forced to pay rent on their land whereas those who surrendered maintained ownership of their land

Islam Today

Interesting aspects of this map

Massive expansion between 630 and 700 Replacement of Christianity and Judaism (as the

dominant religion, though never a complete exclusion) in the Middle East

Far reaches of Islamic diffusion: Iberian peninsula (Spain & Portugal) by 900 Indonesia by 1200 (via Islamic seagoing traders) Land route to China (Xian) by 1000

Although Arabic dominates, Muslims speak many languages including Iranian, Turkic, various Indian languages, and Indonesian

“Things are looking better”

Both the Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire had losing their grip and had tried to maintain control by waging war and committing atrocities on local populations

Both Empires had been extravagant and demanding

The new Islamic rulers brought peace to people exhausted with conflict and exploitation

The Ottoman Empire (1300-1917)

Note: Core in Anatolia (Turkey) area of earliest

control hearth of Ottoman

culture Replacement of

Orthodox Christianity in its core (Constantinople falls in 1453)

Islamic Influences in Europe

Muslim components of the population in the Balkans: Bosnia & Kosovo, Bulgaria, and Albania

Many Arabic words were carried into Spanish e.g. wadi (Arabic for river)

shows up in Guadalajara

Carving up the Ottoman Empire

Sykes-Picot Agreement(or “carving up the spoils”) British agitated for uprising against the Ottoman Empire, then broke

promise to support self-rule Secret agreement (1916) between the British and the French

Britain would control areas roughly comprising Jordan, Iraq and a small area around Haifa

France would control southeastern Turkey, Northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon

France & Great Britain were left free to draw state boundaries within these areas

International then British control over the area which later came to be called “Israel” and which was predominantly Muslim at the time

Later expansion of the Sykes-Picot agreement Russia would control Armenia and parts of Kurdistan Italy would control certain Aegean islands and a sphere of influence

around Izmir in southwest Anatolia. The Italian presence in Anatolia as well as the division of the Arab

lands was later formalized in the Treaty of Sevres in 1920.

Sunni vs. Shiah

Shiah

Sunni

Sunni

Sunni

Doctrinal dispute centers around the legitimacy of the first three caliphs

Sectarian conflict in Iraq

Sunnis cooperated with British colonial rule, acquired power and remained dominant under regime of Saddam Hussein (except for the Kurds, which were Sunnis but were persecuted by Saddam)

violent resistance is coming from the Sunnis, who feel they have lost out with Saddam’s fall

US administration is currently banking on Shiite and Sunni-Kurd support

Conflict in Israel Dark Orange: territory designated as Jewish by the UN in 1947

Medium Orange: territory gained by Israel in war with Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Transjordan (Jordan) by 1949

Yellow: territory controlled by Israel since 1967 (Gaza largely released from Israeli control in 2005)

Israel’s territorial gains seen by Arabs as a result of European and American assistance of Israel

Conflict in Jammu & Kashmir

Kashmir has been the key to the dispute between India and Pakistan since their formation at the time of independence from the British in 1947

Each newly-formed country claimed Kashmir as a part of its territory

The area is separated by a Line-of-Control (LOC or cease-fire line) East of LOC lies the vale of Kashmir,

Jammu and Ladakh which are administered by India

West of LOC lies “Azad [Free] Kashmir” controlled by Pakistan

SUMMARY

The Islamic world is a culture region Its global distribution is mainly the result of a rapid 7th century

diffusion out of the Arabian peninsula aided by conquest and tax policy, then subsequent trading activities up to the 1600s

The Islamic region is internally divided by sect (Sunni vs. Shiah) and language Muslims speak many languages but Arabic is numerically

dominant and is the language of the Qur’an The conflicts within the Islamic world and at its

boundaries are partly due to European colonialism in the wake of World War I, and subsequent external involvement in the rest of the 20th century external involvement (mainly British and US) has exacerbated

tensions between different religious groups