The Pre-Islamic Middle East

Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr took over leadership of the umma as the successor (caliph) of Muhammad. Abu Bakr faced two main tasks: standardization of the Islamic religion and consolidation of the Islamic state. Abu Bakr successfully re-established Muslim authority over the Arabs and oversaw the compilation and organization of the Quran in book form.

The prominent effect Islam had on Muslims everyday thoughts and actions, portrays how essential the impact of God was in social and governmental relations. Muslim religion was influenced by both the Christians and Jews. Under the guidance of Muhammad the Prophet, Islam became both a meaningful faith and way of life. Unlike just simply “adding” a church like the Christian religion, Islam society was expected to be governed. Their political and religious views and decisions had to be intertwined as one, proving the effect Islam had on everyday lives. For example, the history book The Making of The West, had written, “Arabs had long been used to

Mid seventh century Islam, also know as the golden age was a time of innovation, trade, and success. Why was this the Golden age above all other times? Well that’s easy. The golden age was the time when Islam established one of its biggest empires in History, which would later go on to succeed in all fields from math, to law, to industry etc (Doc 1, pg. 11). The biggest components of this great success, though would probably be the advancements in Math, Science and Trade. The new things that people were able to discover using simple math and science not only benefited peoples simple knowledge, but it benefitted the country as a whole. Math and Science were something that not everyone had access to, but since Islam did it benefited trade as well, which would later become what connected all of humanity.

Osman Bey: The founder of the dynasty that continued in unbroken succession until the dissolution of the empire. He was chief of a band of semi-nomadic Turks who migrated to northwestern Anatolia.

About 90 percent of Egyptians are Islamic. Most of them are Sunni Muslims. The other 10 percent is christian. Early Islam was spreading wildly throughout the Middle East. The spread of Islamic as well as economic and social factors fueled this expansionism. By the end of the Islam’s first century, Islamic armies had reached far into North Africa and eastward and northward into Asia. Among those first countries Egypt.

The modern university does manifest itself in the Islamic world. The Golden Age of Islamic culture traces its roots back to the modern university. Throughout Islamic history, education was a point of pride and a field Muslims have always excelled in. The Islamic world was rich, diverse, and creative. Muslims became founders of the most major accomplishments in the world which later leads to western and world civilizations. The Muslims were most advanced in many fields such as mathematics, art, medicine, literature, and astronomy. It also led the way into the development of libraries and universities.

Every empire that has ever been created constantly evolves. They will grow or they will diminish. Many empires cease to exist and some even start over under a different name. Throughout history, faith and religion have been at the core of almost every successful empire. There are a lot of factors that play into their faith. Two of the greatest empires to ever exist were the Ottoman and Safavid Empire. The Ottoman Empire was so large that it spanned from the Iranian frontier in the east to Algeria. One of the central values that contributed to both empire’s success was religion: Islam specifically. Religion was key to their successes because it not only united people of all different religious backgrounds, but it also played a central role in the millet system, which was implemented by Suleyman the magnificent.

The Bedouins originally revolted against Islam but were later defeated and converted. Once they became muslims they helped spread islam through their trading and aided in the expansion of the islamic world through war.

The Islamic Golden Age was a time of development and change. This period lasted from 632 to 1258 CE. It began with the death of Muhammad and ended with the Mongols invading Baghdad. During the time between these two major events, many things were invented and discovered, and many wars took place.

If you had the choice of being a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew living in the Middle East, which would be your first choice? The Middle East is home to three key religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, which all face conflicts with each other that affects the Middle East region in many ways. All three of these religions were developed and established within the Middle East before sporadically spreading worldwide. (Religion: Three Religions) All three of these religions are traced back to father Abraham so Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are considered “Abrahamic religions”. (Religion: Three Religions) Judaism is dated to be the “oldest surviving monotheistic religion arising in the eastern Mediterranean in the second millennium”. (Religion:

The Middle East before 1492(and now) is home to many Muslims. It was located in the same area as today, so in between Asia and Africa and south of Europe. It still was an arid climate.

From the 7th century to the end of the 13th century there were two Islamic golden ages. In the first Golden Age, society is being integrated in all dimensions, political, social, and moral, under the aegis of Islam, during this Golden Age (Lapidus 14). During the second Golden Age the state, religious institutions, differentiated political, and religious elites become divided during this Golden Age (Lapidus 13). Muhammad, not an immense influence to start out, had a strong political and economic influence during the Islamic Golden Age, because he, being not only a prophet, but the political leader of southern Arabia.

The Middle East is a region contains countries from Africa and Europe. Some of the countries included are Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Syria (pg 416). This is a pretty big span of countries with different types of lifestyles, including religions and food. The main religions in the Middle East are Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Each religion is unique in its own sense and has certain foods that are associated with it.

Early religions have been studied very extensively, and continue to be a predominant topic among many scholars and historians. This could be due to the fact that there are so many different types of religious, and each religion having their own written guidelines, but yet most are very closely related. Whither looking at primary sources or secondary, one thing is for sure, and that is that the early religions can often be confused due to their closeness in nature. This Bibliographic essay will hopefully be helpful when sorting through information in order to write an exceptional paper.

Throughout this passage, I will compile how the scholars of the Arabo-Islamic sources, dating from the 8th century to the 11 century, portrayed the others [ Non-Muslim] through the notion of stereotyping, and thus composing exclusivist prejudices on the other communities, rather than looking at the pluralistic-common things that both cultures rendered. In Ibn Fadlan’s expedition source, he called the Rus, “the Russian,” who were encamping on the side of the Itil river, “God’s dirtiest creatures on earth.” Relying his rhetoric on their communal- hygienic traits in washing, eating, or even after reaching their sexual enticement (orgasm). Correspondingly, various Arabo-Islamic chronicles manifested the Byzantine women only via the institution of concubinage, in which Nadia el-Cheikh responds: Most of the Arabo-Islamic sources, dating from the 8th century to the 11 century, were all written by men who failed in taking the accounts of women different roles in society. Leaving, thus, an inadequate record of women’s past.