1. Chapter Eight: Islam

3. Muhammad and the Birth of Islam
Muhammad born in Mecca (570)
Fatima, piety and purity
Revelations of God through Gabriel
From Mecca to Medina - Hegira (622)
Ka’bah
Islam: “submission to God”

4. Five Pillars of Islam Recitation of the Muslim act of faith
Obligation of prayer
Charity
Fasting during Ramadan
Pilgrimage (Hajj)

5. Fig. 8.4 Muslim pilgrims circumnavigating the Ka’bah

6. Practices of Islam No pork, alcohol Male circumcision
Polygamy acceptable
Usury forbidden
Observation of feast days
Simplicity and asceticism
Rapid growth and spread of religion

7. Sufism Sunni and Shi’a traditions Sufism = mystical dimension of Islam
Sheyks and disciples
Retirement in poverty
Piety and repentance
Sufi tariqas in North Africa, Egypt

8. Islamic Architecture Functions of Islamic mosques Large gathering area
Community gathering centers
Large gathering area
Minbar
Mihrab
Fountains

9. Islamic Architecture: The Dome of the Rock
Caliph Abd al Malik
Temple Mount, Jerusalem
Octagonal building, golden dome
Roman+Byzantine architecture
Lavish mosaics
Qur’anic verses
Uncertain original functionality

10. 8.5 The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Israel, late 7th century
8.5 The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Israel, late 7th century. (Image © Yoram Lehmann/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

11. Islamic Architecture: Mosque of Damascus
Lavish interior decoration
Marble
Byzantine mosaics

12. 8.7 The Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria

13. 8.8 Mosaic decoration on the façade of the Great Mosque of Damascus, Syria

14. Islamic Architecture: Mosque in Córdoba
Muslim capital in Spain
Rival of Great Mosque of Damascus
al-Hakam II
Constantinople artisans, workmen
17 tons of tesserae
Survived the Reconquista

15. 8.10 Central Dome of the Mosque of Cordoba, Spain
8.10 Central Dome of the Mosque of Córdoba, Spain, mid-10th century. (Image © age fotostock/SuperStock)

16. 8.9 The hypostyle prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain
8.9 The hypostyle prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain, 8th–10th centuries

17. Islamic Architecture The Great Mosque of Samarra The Alhambra
Court of the Lions
Friday Mosque, Isfahan
The Conversion of Hagia Sofia

18. Islamic Literature The Qur’an
Central text of Islam
Collation of Muhammad’s oral revelations
114 chapters (sûras)
Written in Arabic
Cannot be translated
Source of unifications for all Muslims
Memorization and recitation
Qur’an, Hadith, Sharia

19. Islamic Literature The Thousand and One Nights Omar Khyyam (1048-1131)
Schererazade
Tales are erotic and edgy
Luxurious prose and lyric poetry
Omar Khyyam ( )
Rubaiyat – quatrain
Versed in scientific disciplines
Openly challenged Islamic views

20. Islamic Literature Sufi Writers
Rabia ( )
Aphorisms, poems, meditations
Focus on the love of God
“possess nothing…except Allah”
Rumi ( )
Persian poems (rhyming couplets)
Discourses on mystical experiences
Recitation and movement (dervishes)

21. Islamic Arts Calligraphy
“Beautiful writing”
Kufic (characteristic form)
Decorative feature of mosques
Abstract, geometric designs with text
No depictions of divinity
Arabesque
No narrative scenes

22. 8.16 Kufic styles

23. Islamic Arts Mosaics Ceramics Fiber Arts
Decorate exteriors and interiors of Islamic buildings
Ceramics
Decorated with calligraphy
Fiber Arts
Carpets

24. The Culture of Islam and the West
Abbasid Dynasty
Caliph Al-Ma’mun’s “House of Wisdom”
Translations of Greek texts
Advances in mathematics, medicine
Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Uqlidisi, Alhazan
Moses Maimonides, Jewish physicians

25. The Culture of Islam and the West
Exchange of goods / ideas
Quality swords, silk (damask), coffee
Windmills
Lexicon contributions
Al-Ghazali
The Incoherence of the Philosophers
Averröes
“He of the Great Commentary”
The Incoherence of Incoherence

26. Chapter 8: Discussion Questions
In what ways are the Five Pillars of Islam similar to the basic tenets of Christianity? Explain the similarities and differences between the two religions.
What role did Islamic culture play in the tradition of Western literary (and, thus, philosophical) thought? What circumstances facilitated this contribution?
To what must we attribute the slow movement of ideas from their Islamic origins to the Western world? Does the Western canon today, in your opinion, assign adequate notoriety to those non-Western advanced thinkers? What are the implications of recognizing the origin of a technology? Explain.