The College and the Mosqueand

The Friends of God

HIST 100711/1/13

Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233)

• Kurdish historian• Worked under Salah al-Din• “The Complete

History”• Tatars – Turkic

people, fought in the Mongol army

Scenes from the movie “Mongol”

Islam after the Caliphate

• End of the Caliphate = End of idea of unified umma

• Foreign rule (Turks, Circassians, and Mongols) = break with connection to the Prophet and Quraysh

• Inter-communal violence (Seljuq blood tanistry, Mamluk assassinations, Mongol violence) = constant fitna

The Madrasa• Islamic school, more like a college• Teaches Islamic sciences (`Ulum al-din)

– Kalam – Theology– Fiqh – Jurisprudence– Philosophy– Sufism - Mysticism– Physical sciences– Medicine– History– Art and Literature

• Knowledge andpersonal behavior Madrasa al-Halawiyya, Aleppo, Syria

Built by Nur al-Din

The Madrasa• Mosque – where teaching takes place• Boarding house for students and teachers• Private libraries• Tombs of important scholars• Public fountains• Financed by the community• Waqf – charitable endowment Masjid-i Jami`-i, Isfahan, Iran

Originally a Seljuq construction

Madrasa and Madhhab• Study circles become Schools of Law• Madhhabs build madrasas to centralize learning• Establish a means for certifying Islamic scholars• Curriculum focused on intensive study with an individual teacher• Receipt of an ijaza (diploma) Jami` al-Qarawiyyin, Fez, Morocco

Opened in 859, oldest continually operatinguniversity in the world.

Politics of the Madrasa

• Seljuqs – build madrasas in every major city to promote Sunnism– Nizam al-Mulk and the Nizamiyyah

• Zengids – Nur al-Din funds new madrasas, especially in Damascus

• Ayyubids – New madrasas in Egypt to promote Sunnism

• Mamluks – build madrasas to enforce Islamic identity

Politics of the Madrasa• State hires and appoints religious scholars, teachers, and judges.• Mufti – jurisconsult• Fatawa – legal opinion from a mufti• Support of all Sunni madhhabs• Dar al-hadith: State sponsored schools of hadith scholarship

– Not associated with single madhhab– Provides basics of religious study

Ulu Cami, Diyarbakir, TurkeySeljuq construction

Politics of the Madrasa• In Syria and Egypt, preservation of Arab status• Turks go to the army• Persians go to the bureaucracy• Arabs go to the madrasa• Control over admission to preserve status• While state makes appointments, madrasa education is required Madrasa al-nuriyya al-kubra, Damascus

Madrasa attached to tomb of Nur al-Din

Educating the Sultan

• “Command the good and forbid the evil”• Silsila – Chain of authority– Legacy of the transmitted teachings of the Prophet

• Religious tradition + political pragmatism• al-Ghazali (d. 1111) – Inculcate in every Muslim

true belief, true piety, and true practice• Authority of the caliphs exercised by the

sultans power

Mirrors for Princes

• Traditional Persian advice literature• Instruct through stories of past kings (good and bad)• Justice comes from a just ruler• Nizam al-Mulk, Siyasatnama• al-Ghazali, Pandnama (Book of Council)• Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (?)

Philosopher Kings

• Muslim commentaries on Plato and Aristotle• Ideal state and ideal ruler comes from rational

contemplation of the divine reality.• al-Farabi (d. 950): The only person qualified to rule is one who knows truth and how to actualize it.– An actual philosopher-prophet-prince– State ruled in accordance with laws set down by an original philosopher-prophet

Sufism

• Mystical or experiential Islam• Piercing the veil• Non-sectarian• suf – wool, simple wool cloaks of ascetics• tasawwuf – to purify• shaykh – master• tariqa – path• khanaqas – Sufi lodges

“Whirling Dervishes” of the Mevlana Sufi Order

Near Eastern Mysticism and Asceticism

• Early Muslims attracted to Christian ascetics• Desert Fathers• St. Simeon Stylites (d. 459)• Merkabah – Jewish mysticism focused on divine visions• Kabbalah – 12th century Jewish mystical movement• Christian Monasticism

Sufism

• Sufi masters develop practices and doctrines• Dhikr – remembrance of God• Muraqaba – repetition of God’s names• Visitation and pilgrimage• 10th-13th centuries – following coalesce around Sufi masters• Development of Sufi institutions

Sufism and Poetry

• Intense love of God• Reflected in love poetry• Double meaning?• Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273)– Persian poet– Mathnawi– Founder of Mawlana Sufi Order