THE ORIENT AGAINST THE OCCIDENT: RISE AND SPREAD OF ISLAM, 622-1058 A.D.
[1]
130. ARABIA AND THE ARABS
THE ARABIAN PENINSULA
Arabia, a vast peninsula between the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and
the Red Sea, forms the link between Asia and Africa. It is connected with
Asia by the arid plains extending northward to the Euphrates; with Africa,
by the equally arid isthmus of Suez. Though the country is more than one-
third the size of the United States (excluding Alaska), it has never
supported a large population. The interior, except for occasional oases,
is a desert, inhabited only by wandering tribes. Along the southern and
western coasts, between the mountains and the sea, the soil is generally
fertile, the climate temperate, and the rainfall sufficient. Here the
chief cities and towns are located.
INHABITANTS OF ARABIA
The original home of the Semites is believed to have been Arabia. Some
Semitic peoples appear to have migrated northward to Babylonia and Syria,
while others crossed the Red Sea to Abyssinia. Physically, the Arabs are
an attractive people, with well-shaped, muscular figures, handsome,
bronzed faces, brilliant, black eyes, and all the organs of sense
exquisitely acute. Simple and abstemious in their habits, they lead
healthy lives and often reach an extreme yet vigorous old age.
THE BEDOUINS OF THE DESERT
The Bedouin Arabs, by which name the nomadic inhabitants of the desert are
known, claim Ishmael, the son of Abraham and half-brother of Isaac, as
their ancestor. The life which they lead in the Arabian wilderness closely
resembles that of the Hebrew patriarchs, as described in the Old
Testament. The Bedouins are shepherds and herdsmen, continually moving
with their sheep and camels from one pasturage and water-hole to another.
Their virtues--hospitality to the stranger, generosity, faithfulness to
the ties of kinship--are those of a nomadic, barbarian people. Such also
are their vices--love of fighting and plunder, revengefulness, and
impatience of restraint. Nothing like a settled government is known to
them. The only tribal authority is that of the chief, or "sheik," who,
because of his birth, courage, or wealth, has been chosen to the
leadership. This description of the Bedouins to-day applies equally well
to them in the age of Mohammed, during the sixth century.
[Illustration: MECCA
The chief sanctuary of Mecca is the building called the Kaaba, which lies
in the center of a vast courtyard surrounded by a colonnade. The Kaaba is
here seen covered with a heavy black cloth renewed each year. Pilgrims
enter the courtyard, walk slowly around the Kaaba seven times--seven is a
holy number in Islam--and kiss the sacred black stone fixed in the walls
of the structure. The stone is now broken into pieces, which are kept
together by a silver setting. The Kaaba has been rebuilt several times
since the days of Mohammed, but it still preserves the old form of a
heathen temple.]
THE SEDENTARY ARABS
The Arabs who settled along the southern and western coasts of the
peninsula had reached in the sixth century a considerable degree of
civilization. They practiced agriculture and carried on a flourishing
trade across the Red Sea and even to distant India. Between these
sedentary Arabs and the Bedouins raged constant feuds, leading to much
petty warfare. Nevertheless the hundreds of tribes throughout the
peninsula preserved a feeling of national unity, which was greatly
strengthened by Mohammed's appearance on the scene.
ARABIAN HEATHENISM
The city of Mecca, located about fifty miles from the Red Sea, was a
commercial metropolis and the center of Arabian heathenism. Every year the
Arab tribes ceased fighting for four months, and went up to Mecca to buy
and sell and visit the famous sanctuary called the Kaaba. Here were three
hundred and sixty idols and a small, black stone (probably a meteorite),
which legend declared had been brought from heaven. The stone was
originally white, but the sins of the people who touched it had blackened
it. Although most of the Arabs were idolaters, yet some of them recognized
the "Unknown God" of the Semites, Allah, the Creator of all things. Arabia
at this time contained many Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians, who helped
to spread abroad the conception of one God and thus to prepare the way for
a prophet of a new religion.
131. MOHAMMED: PROPHET AND STATESMAN, 622-632 A.D.
EARLY LIFE OF MOHAMMED
Mohammed, [2] born at Mecca about 570 A.D., belonged to the tribe of the
Koreish, who had long been guardians of the sacred Kaaba. Left an orphan
at an early age, the future prophet was obliged to earn his own living. He
served first as a shepherd on the hillsides of Mecca. This occupation,
though lowly, gave him the love of solitude, and helped to nourish in his
soul that appreciation of nature which later found expression in so many
of his utterances. While still a youth he became a camel-driver and twice
crossed the deserts with caravans to Syria. Doubtless he made many
acquaintances on these journeys and picked up much useful information.
Mohammed, however, did not receive a regular education; it is doubtful
whether he could read or write. His marriage, when about twenty-five years
of age, to a rich widow, named Khadija, brought him wealth and
consideration. For some time, henceforth, he led the life of a prosperous
merchant of Mecca.
[Illustration: A LETTER OF MOHAMMED
A letter, probably in the handwriting of Mohammed's secretary, addressed
to the governor of Alexandria. The seal is inscribed "Mohammed, the
prophet of God."]
MOHAMMED'S VISIONS
Mohammed seems always to have been a deeply religious man. As he grew
older, his thoughts more and more centered on spiritual themes. He could
not reconcile the gross idolatry of the Arabs with that belief in the
unity of God which he himself had reached. In his distress he would
withdraw into the wilderness, where he spent much time in fasting and
solitary vigils, practices perhaps suggested to him by the example of
Christian hermits. [3] During these lonely hours in the desert strange
scenes passed before his eyes and strange voices sounded in his ears. At
first Mohammed thought that evil spirits possessed him, but Khadija
encouraged him to believe that his visions were a revelation from another
world. One day, so he declared, God's messenger, the archangel Gabriel,
appeared to him and bade him preach a new religion to the Arabs. It was
very simple, but in its simplicity lay its strength: "There is no god but
God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God."
THE HEGIRA, 622 A.D.
The prophet made his first converts in his wife, his children, and the
friends who knew him best. Then, becoming bolder, he began to preach
publicly in Mecca. In spite of Mohammed's eloquence, obvious sincerity,
and attractive personality, he met a discouraging reception. A few slaves
and poor freemen became his followers, but most of the citizens of Mecca
regarded him as a madman. Mohammed's disciples, called Moslems, [4] were
bitterly persecuted by the Koreish, who resented the prophet's attacks on
idolatry and feared the loss of their privileges at the Kaaba. Finally
Mohammed and his converts took refuge in Medina, where some of the
inhabitants had already accepted his teachings. This was the famous Hegira
(Flight of the prophet). [5]
LATER LIFE OF MOHAMMED
At Medina Mohammed occupied a position of high honor and influence. The
people welcomed him gladly and made him their chief magistrate. As his
adherents increased in number, Mohammed began to combine fighting with
preaching. His military expeditions against the Arab tribes proved to be
very successful. Many of the conquered Bedouins enlisted under his banner
and in 630 A.D. captured Mecca for the prophet. He treated its inhabitants
leniently, but threw down all the idols in the Kaaba, After the submission
of Mecca most of the Arabs abandoned idolatry and accepted the new
religion.
DEATH OF MOHAMMED, 632 A.D.
Mohammed did not long enjoy his position as uncrowned king of Arabia. He
died in 632 A.D., at Medina, where he was buried and where his tomb is
still visited by pious Moslems. His followers could scarcely believe that
their great prophet had gone away from them forever. They were ready to
worship him as a god, until old Abu Bekr, Mohammed's father-in-law,
rebuked them with the memorable words: "Whoso worshipeth Mohammed, let him
know that Mohammed is dead; but whoso worshipeth God, let him know that
God liveth and dieth not."
MOHAMMED'S CHARACTER
The character of Mohammed has been variously estimated. Moslem writers
make him a saint; Christian writers, until Mohammed's recent times, have
called him an "impostor." We know that he was a man of simple habits, who,
even in the days of his prosperity, lived on dates, barley bread, and
water, mended his woolen garments, and attended to his own wants. He was
mild and gentle, a lover of children, devoted to his friends, and
forgiving toward his foes. He seems to have won the admiration of all with
whom he came in contact. We know, too, that Mohammed was so deeply
impressed with the consciousness of his religious mission that he was
ready to give up wealth and an honorable position and face for years the
ridicule and hatred of the people of Mecca. His faults--deceitfulness,
superstitiousness, sensuality--were those of the Arabs of his time. Their
existence in Mohammed's character should not prevent our recognition of
his real greatness as a prophet and as a statesman.
132. ISLAM AND THE KORAN
FORMATION OF THE KORAN
The religion which Mohammed preached is called Islam, an Arabic word
meaning "surrender," or "resignation." This religion has its sacred book,
the Koran ("thing read" or "thing recited"). It contains the speeches,
prayers, and other utterances of Mohammed at various times during his
career. Some parts of the Koran were dictated by the prophet to his
disciples and by them were written out on skins, leaves of palm trees,
bones, and bits of parchment. Many other parts remained at first only in
the memory of Mohammed's followers. Soon after his death all the scattered
passages were collected into one book. Since the middle of the seventh
century the Koran, every word of which the Moslems consider holy, has
remained unchanged.
[Illustration: A PASSAGE FROM THE KORAN
From a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.]
RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS OF THE KORAN
The doctrines found in the Koran show many adaptations from the Jewish and
Christian religions. Like them Islam emphasizes the unity of God. The
Moslem cry--"_Allah Akbar!_" "God is Great!"--forms its cardinal
principle. Like them, also, Islam recognizes the existence of prophets,
including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, but insists that Mohammed was the
last and greatest of the prophets. The existence of angels and demons is
recognized. The chief of the demons, Iblis, bears some resemblance to the
Jewish Satan and the Christian Devil. The account of the creation and fall
of man is taken, with variations, from the Old Testament. The description
of the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and the division of
the future world into paradise and hell, the former for believers in
Islam, the latter for those who have refused to accept it, seems to have
been based on Persian and Jewish ideas. These borrowings from other
religions facilitated the spread of Islam among eastern peoples.
OBSERVANCES OF ISLAM
The Koran imposes on the faithful Moslem five great obligations. First, he
must recite, at least once in his life, aloud, correctly, and with full
understanding, the short creed: "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is
the prophet of God." Second, he must pray five times a day: at dawn, just
after noon, before sunset, just after sunset, and at the end of the day.
In every Mohammedan city the hour of prayer is announced from the tall
minaret of the mosque by a crier (_muezzin_). Before engaging in prayer
the worshiper washes face, hands, and feet; during the prayer he turns
toward Mecca and bows his head to the ground. Third, he must observe a
strict fast, from morning to night, during every day of _Ramadan_, the
ninth month of the Mohammedan year. [6] In this month God presented the
Koran to Gabriel for revelation to the prophet. Fourth, he must give alms
to the poor. Fifth, he must, "if he is able," undertake at least one
pilgrimage to Mecca. The annual visit of thousands of pilgrims to the holy
city helps to preserve the feeling of brotherhood among Moslems all over
the world. These five obligations are the "pillars" of Islam.
ORGANIZATION OF ISLAM
As a religious system Islam is exceedingly simple. It does not provide any
elaborate ceremonies of worship and permits no altars, pictures, or images
in the mosque. Islam even lacks a priesthood. Every Moslem acts as his own
priest. There is, however, an official, who on Friday, the Mohammedan
Sabbath, offers up public prayers in the mosque and delivers a sermon to
the assembled worshipers. All work is suspended during this service, but
at its close secular activities are resumed.
MORAL TEACHINGS OF THE KORAN
The Koran furnishes a moral code for the adherents of Islam. It contains a
few important prohibitions. The Moslem is not to make images, to engage in
games of chance, to eat pork, or to drink wine. This last prohibition has
saved the Mohammedan world from the degradation and misery which alcohol
has introduced into Christian lands. To Mohammed strong drink was "the
mother of all evil," and drunkenness, a sin. The Koran also inculcates
many active virtues, including reverence toward parents, protection of
widows and orphans, charity toward the poor, kindness to slaves, and
gentle treatment of the lower animals. On the whole it must be admitted
that the laws of the Koran did much to restrain the vices of the Arabs and
to provide them with higher standards of right and wrong. Islam marked a
great advance over Arabian heathenism.
133. EXPANSION OF ISLAM IN ASIA AND EGYPT
ISLAM SPREAD BY THE SWORD
Mohammed, as we have learned, did not scruple to use the sword as a means
of spreading his new religion among the idolatrous Arab tribes. By thus
following up preaching with force, he subdued the greater part of Arabia.
The prophet's methods were adopted by his successors. Within a century
after Mohammed's death, they carried the doctrines of Islam over a large
part of the civilized world and founded an Arabian Empire.
ISLAM AS A RELIGION OF CONQUEST
Islam was a religion of conquest. It proclaimed the righteousness of a
"holy war," or _jihad_, against unbelievers. It promised rich booty for
those who fought and won, and paradise for those who fell. The Arab
soldier, dying on the battlefield, expected to be carried away by bright-
eyed maidens to a garden of delight, where, reclining on soft cushions and
rugs, he was to enjoy forever an existence of sensual ease. "Whosoever
falls in battle," so runs a passage in the Koran, "his sins are forgiven,
and at the day of judgment his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of
angels and cherubim."
ISLAM AS A POLITICAL FORCE
The sudden creation of the Arabian power must not be understood, however,
as solely a religious movement. Pride and greed, as well as fanaticism,
drove the Arabs forward on their conquering career. Long before Mohammed's
time Arabia had been in a state of unrest. Its warlike tribes, feeling a
sense of their superiority to other peoples, were eager to overrun the
rich districts of western Asia, much as the Germans had overrun western
Europe. Islam strengthened the racial pride of the Arabs, united them into
one nation, and gave them an effective organization for world-wide rule.
ARAB CONQUESTS IN THE EAST, 632-642 A.D.
The most extensive conquests of the Arabs were made within ten years after
Mohammed's death. During this time the Moslem warriors, though poorly
armed, ill-disciplined, and in every battle greatly outnumbered, attacked
with success the two strongest military powers then in the world--Rome and
Persia. From the Roman Empire in the East they seized the provinces of
Syria and Palestine, with the famous cities of Damascus, Antioch, and
Jerusalem. [7] They took Mesopotamia from the Persians and then, invading
Iran, overthrew the Persian power. [8] Egypt also was subjugated by these
irresistible soldiers of the Crescent.
TREATMENT OF THE CONQUERED PEOPLES
According to the strict teaching of the Koran, those who refused to accept
Islam were either to be killed or to be reduced to slavery. As a matter of
fact, the Arabs treated their new subjects with marked liberality. No
massacres and no persecutions occurred. The conquered peoples were allowed
to retain their own religions, on condition of paying ample tribute. In
course of time, however, many of the Christians in Syria and Egypt and
most of the Zoroastrians [9] in Persia adopted Islam, in order that they
might acquire the rights and privileges of Moslem citizens.
LATER ARAB CONQUESTS
The sweeping conquests of the decade 632-642 A.D. were followed in later
years by a further extension of the boundaries of the Arabian Empire. In
the remote East the Arabs sent their victorious armies beyond the Oxus and
Indus rivers to central Asia and India. They captured the island of
Cyprus, annexed parts of Armenia and Asia Minor, and at length threatened
to take Constantinople. Had that city fallen, all eastern Europe would
have been laid open to invasion.
[Illustration: Map, EXPANSION OF ISLAM]
SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 716-717 A.D.
The first attempts on Constantinople were made by sea and were repulsed,
but during the years 716-717 A.D. the city had to face a combined attack
by a Moslem navy and army. The eastern emperor, Leo the Isaurian,
conducted a heroic defense, using with much effectiveness the celebrated
mixture known as "Greek fire." This combustible, probably composed of
sulphur, naphtha, and quicklime, was poured or hurled on the enemy's ships
in order to burn them. "Greek fire," the rigors of an uncommonly severe
winter, and timely aid from the Bulgarians at length compelled the Arabs
to beat a retreat. Their failure to take Constantinople gave the Roman
Empire in the East another long lease of life.
[Illustration: NAVAL BATTLE SHOWING USE OF "GREEK FIRE"
From a Byzantine manuscript of the fourteenth century at Madrid. "Greek
fire" in marine warfare was most commonly propelled through long tubes of
copper which were placed on the prow of a ship and managed by a gunner.
Combustibles might also be kept in tubes flung by hand and exploded on
board the enemy's vessel.]
134. EXPANSION OF ISLAM IN NORTH AFRICA AND SPAIN
NORTH AFRICA SUBDUED
Though repulsed before the impregnable walls of Constantinople, the Arabs
continued to win new dominions in other North Africa parts of the
Christian world. After their occupation of Egypt, they began to overrun
North Africa, which Justinian, little more than a century earlier, had
reconquered from the Vandals. [10] The Romanized provincials, groaning
under the burdensome taxes imposed on them by the eastern emperors, made
only a slight resistance to the Moslem armies. A few of the great cities
held out for a time, but after the capture and destruction of Carthage
[11] in 698 A.D., Arab rule was soon established over the whole extent of
the Mediterranean coast from Egypt to the Atlantic.
ARABS AND BERBERS
Islam made in North Africa one of its most permanent conquests. After the
coming of the Arabs many of the Christian inhabitants appear to have
withdrawn to Spain and Sicily, leaving the field clear for the
introduction of Arabian civilization. The Arabs who settled in North
Africa gave their religion and government to the Berbers, as the natives
of the country were called, and to some extent intermingled with them.
Arabs and Berbers still comprise the population of North Africa, though
their once independent states have now been absorbed by European powers.
[12]
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN BEGUN, 711 A.D.
With North Africa in their hands the Moslems did not long delay the
invasion of Spain. In 711 A.D. an army of Arabs and Berbers, under their
leader Tarik, crossed the strait which still bears his name [13] and for
the first time confronted the Germans. The Visigothic kingdom, [14]
already much enfeebled, proved to be an easy prey. A single battle made
the invaders masters of half of Spain. Within a few years their hosts
swept northward to the Pyrenees. Only small districts in the northern part
of the Spanish peninsula remained unconquered.
THE MOSLEM ADVANCE IN GAUL
The Moslems were not stopped by the Pyrenees. Crossing these mountains,
they captured many of the old Roman cities in the south of Gaul and then
advanced to the north, attracted, apparently, by the booty to be found in
Christian monasteries and churches. In the vicinity of Tours they
encountered the great army which Charles Martel, the chief minister of the
Frankish king, [15] had collected to oppose their advance.
BATTLE OF TOURS, 732 A.D.
The battle of Tours seems to have continued for several days. Of its
details we know nothing, though a Spanish chronicler tells us that the
heavy infantry of the Franks stood "immovable as a wall, inflexible as a
block of ice" against the desperate assaults of the Moslem horsemen. When
the Franks, after the last day's fighting, wished to renew the struggle,
they found that the enemy had fled, leaving a camp filled with the spoils
of war. This engagement, though famous in history, was scarcely decisive.
For some time afterward the Moslems maintained themselves in southern
Gaul. It was the Frankish ruler, Pepin the Short, who annexed their
possessions there and drove them back across the Pyrenees to Spain. [16]
135. THE CALIPHATE AND ITS DISRUPTION, 632-1058 A.D.
THE FOUR "ORTHODOX" CALIPHS, 632-661 A.D.
Only eighteen years after the battle of Tours, the Arabian Empire was
divided into two rival and more or less hostile parts, which came to be
called the Eastern and Western caliphates. The title of caliph, meaning
"successor" or "representative," had first been assumed by Mohammed's
father-in-law, Abu Bekr, who was chosen to succeed the prophet as the
civil and religious head of the Moslem world. After him followed Omar, who
had been one of Mohammed's most faithful adherents, and then Othman and
Ali, both sons-in-law of Mohammed. These four rulers are sometimes known
as the "Orthodox" caliphs, because their right to the succession was
universally acknowledged by Moslems.
OMMIAD CALIPHS AT DAMASCUS, 661-750 A.D.
After Ali's death the governor of Syria, Moawiya by name, succeeded in
making himself caliph of the Moslem world. This usurper converted the
caliphate into a hereditary, instead of an elective, office, and
established the dynasty of the Ommiads. [17] Their capital was no longer
Medina in Arabia, but the Syrian city of Damascus. The descendants of
Mohammed's family refused, however, to recognize the Ommiads as legitimate
caliphs. In 750 A.D. a sudden revolt, headed by the party of the Abbasids,
[18] established a new dynasty. The Abbasids treacherously murdered nearly
all the members of the Ommiad family, but one survivor escaped to Spain,
where he founded at Cordova an independent Ommiad dynasty. [19] North
Africa, also, before long separated itself from Abbasid rule. Thus the
once united caliphate, like the old Roman Empire, split in twain.
THE ABBASID CALIPHS, 750-1058 A.D.
The Abbasids continued to reign over the Moslems in Asia for more than
three hundred years. The most celebrated of Abbasid caliphs was Harun-al-
Rashid (Aaron the Just), a contemporary of Charlemagne, to whom the Arab
ruler sent several presents, including an elephant and a water-clock which
struck the hours. The tales of Harun-al-Rashid's magnificence, his gold
and silver, his silks and gems, his rugs and tapestries, reflect the
luxurious life of the Abbasid rulers. Gradually, however, their power
declined, and in 1058 A.D. the Seljuk Turks, [20] recent converts to
Islam, deprived them of their power. A Turkish chieftain, with the title
of "King of the East and West," then took the place of the Arabian caliph,
though the latter remained the religious head of Islam. He lost even this
spiritual authority, just two centuries later, when the Mongols from
central Asia overran the Turkish dominions. [21]
BAGDAD
The Abbasids removed their capital from Damascus to Bagdad on the banks of
the middle Euphrates. The new city, under the fostering care of the
caliphs, grew with great rapidity. Its population in the ninth century is
said to have reached two millions. For a time it was the largest and
richest city in the Moslem world. How its splendor impressed the
imagination may be seen from the stories of the _Thousand and One Nights_.
[22] After the extinction of the Abbasid caliphate, its importance as the
religious and political center of Islam declined. But memories of the
former grandeur of Bagdad still cling to it, and even to-day it is
referred to in Turkish official documents as the "glorious city."
EXTINCTION OF THE ARABIAN EMPIRE A MISFORTUNE
It was a very great misfortune for the eastern world when the Arabian
Empire passed under the control of rude Asiatic peoples. The Turks
accepted Islam, but they did little to preserve and extend Arabian
civilization. The stagnant, non-progressive condition of the East at the
present time is largely due to the misgovernment of its Turkish
conquerors.
136. ARABIAN CIVILIZATION
THE ARABS AS ABSORBERS OF CIVILIZATION
The great Moslem cities of Bagdad, Damascus, Cairo, and Cordova were not
only seats of government for the different divisions of the Arabian
Empire; they were also the centers of Arabian civilization. The conquests
of the Arabs had brought them into contact with highly developed peoples
whose culture they absorbed and to some extent improved. They owed most to
Persia and, after Persia, to Greece, through the empire at Constantinople,
In their hands there was somewhat the same fusion of East and West as
Alexander the Great had sought to accomplish. [23] Greek science and
philosophy mingled with the arts of Persia and other Oriental lands.
Arabian civilization, for about four centuries under the Ommiad and
Abbasid caliphs, far surpassed anything to be found in western Europe.
AGRICULTURE
Many improvements in agriculture were due to the Arabs. They had a good
system of irrigation, practiced rotation of crops, employed fertilizers,
and understood how to graft and produce new varieties of plants and
fruits. From the Arabs we have received cotton, flax, hemp, buckwheat,
rice, sugar cane, and coffee, various vegetables, including asparagus,
artichokes, and beans, and such fruits as melons, oranges, lemons,
apricots, and plums.
MANUFACTURING
The Arabs excelled in various manufactures. Damascus was famous for its
brocades, tapestries, and blades of tempered steel. The Moorish cities in
Spain had also their special productions: Cordova, leather; Toledo, armor;
and Granada, rich silks. Arab craftsmen taught the Venetians to make
crystal and plate glass. The work of Arab potters and weavers was at once
the admiration and despair of its imitators in western Europe. The Arabs
knew the secrets of dyeing and they made a kind of paper. Their textile
fabrics and articles of metal were distinguished for beauty of design and
perfection of workmanship. European peoples during the early Middle Ages
received the greater part of their manufactured articles of luxury through
the Arabs. [24]
COMMERCE
The products of Arab farms and workshops were carried far and wide
throughout medieval lands. The Arabs were keen merchants, and Mohammed had
expressly encouraged commerce by declaring it agreeable to God. The Arabs
traded with India, China, the East Indies (Java and Sumatra), the interior
of Africa, Russia, and even with the Baltic lands. Bagdad, which commanded
both land and water routes, was the chief center of this commerce, but
other cities of western Asia, North Africa, and Spain shared in its
advantages. The bazaar, or merchants' quarter, was found in every Moslem
city.
GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE
The trade of the Arabs, their wide conquests, and their religious
pilgrimages to Mecca vastly increased their knowledge of the world. They
were the best geographers of the Middle Ages. An Abbasid caliph, the son
of Harun-al-Rashid, had the Greek _Geography_ of Ptolemy [25] translated
into Arabic and enriched the work with illuminated maps. Arab scholars
compiled encyclopedias describing foreign countries and peoples,
constructed celestial spheres, and measured closely the arc of the
meridian in order to calculate the size of the earth. There is some reason
to believe that the mariner's compass was first introduced into Europe by
the Arabs. The geographical knowledge of Christian peoples during the
Middle Ages owed much, indeed, to their Moslem forerunners.
EDUCATION
Schools and universities flourished in Moslem lands when Christian Europe
was still in the "Dark Ages." The largest institution of learning was at
Cairo, where the lectures of the professors were attended by thousands of
students. Famous universities also existed in Bagdad and Cordova. Moslem
scholars especially delighted in the study of philosophy. Arabic
translations of Aristotle's [26] writings made the ideas of that great
thinker familiar to the students of western Europe, where the knowledge of
Greek had all but died out. The Arabs also formed extensive libraries of
many thousands of manuscripts, all carefully arranged and catalogued.
Their libraries and universities, especially in Spain, were visited by
many Christians, who thus became acquainted with Moslem learning and
helped to introduce it into Europe.
CHEMISTRY AND MEDICINE
The Arabs have been considered to be the founders of modern experimental
science. They were relatively skillful chemists, for they discovered a
number of new compounds (such as alcohol, aqua regia, nitric acid, and
corrosive sublimate) and understood the preparation of mercury and of
various oxides of metals. In medicine the Arabs based their investigations
on those of the Greeks, [27] but made many additional contributions to the
art of healing. They studied physiology and hygiene, dissected the human
body, performed difficult surgical operations, used anaesthetics, and
wrote treatises on such diseases as measles and smallpox. Arab medicine
and surgery were studied by the Christian peoples of Europe throughout the
later period of the Middle Ages.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF CORDOVA
The great mosque of Cordova, begun in the eighth century, was gradually
enlarged during the following centuries to its present dimensions, 570 by
425 feet. The building, one of the largest in the world, has now been
turned into a cathedral. The most striking feature of the interior is the
forest of porphyry, jasper, and marble pillars supporting open Moorish
arches. Originally there were 1200 of these pillars, but many have been
destroyed.]
MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY
The Arabs had a strong taste for mathematics. Here again they carried
further the old Greek investigations. In arithmetic they used the so-
called "Arabic" figures, which were probably borrowed from India. The
Arabic numerals gradually supplanted in western Europe the awkward Roman
numerals. In geometry the Arabs added little to Euclid, but algebra is
practically their creation. An Arabic treatise on algebra long formed the
textbook of the subject in the universities of Christian Europe. Spherical
trigonometry and conic sections are Arabic inventions. This mathematical
knowledge enabled the Arabs to make considerable progress in astronomy.
Observatories at Bagdad and Damascus were erected as early as the ninth
century. Some of the astronomical instruments which they constructed,
including the sextant and the gnomon, are still in use. [28]
ROMANCE AND POETRY
In prose and verse there are two Moslem productions which have attained
wide popularity in European lands. The first work is the _Thousand and One
Nights_, a collection of tales written in Arabic and describing life and
manners at the court of the Abbasids. The book, as we now have it, seems
to have been composed as late as the fifteenth century, but it borrows
much from earlier Arabic sources. Many of the tales are of Indian or
Persian origin, but all have a thoroughly Moslem coloring. The second work
is the _Rubáiyát_ of the astronomer-poet of Persia, Omar Khayyam, who
wrote about the beginning of the twelfth century. His _Rubáiyát_ is a
little volume of quatrains, about five hundred in all, distinguished for
wit, satirical power, and a vein of melancholy, sometimes pensive,
sometimes passionate. These characteristics of Omar's poetry have made it
widely known in the western world. [29]
ARCHITECTURE
Painting and sculpture owe little to the Arabs, but their architecture,
based in part on Byzantine and Persian models, reached a high level of
excellence. Swelling domes, vaulted roofs, arched porches, tall and
graceful minarets, and the exquisite decorative patterns known as
"arabesques" make many Arab buildings miracles of beauty. Glazed tiles,
mosaics, and jeweled glass were extensively used for ornamentation. From
the first the Arab builders adopted the pointed arch; they introduced it
into western Europe; and it became a characteristic feature of Gothic
cathedrals. [30] Among the best-known of Arab buildings are the so-called
"Mosque of Omar" at Jerusalem, [31] the Great Mosque of Cordova, and that
architectural gem, the Alhambra at Granada. Many features of Moorish art
were taken over by the Spaniards, who reproduced them in the cathedrals
and missions of Mexico and California.
[Illustration: CAPITALS AND ARABESQUES FROM THE ALHAMBRA
One of Mohammed's laws forbidding the use of idols was subsequently
expanded by religious teachers into a prohibition of all imitations of
human or animal forms in art. Sculptors who observed this prohibition
relied for ornamentation on intricate geometrical designs known as
arabesques. These were carved in stone or molded in plaster.]
137. THE INFLUENCE OF ISLAM
GROWTH OF ISLAM
The division of the Arabian Empire into rival caliphates did not check the
spread of Islam. The Turks and Mongols during the Middle Ages carried it
to the uttermost regions of Asia and throughout southeastern Europe. Some
parts of the territory thus gained by it have since been lost. Spain and
the Balkan peninsula are once more Christian lands. In other parts of the
world, and notably in Africa and India, the religion of Mohammed is
spreading faster than any other creed. Islam to-day claims about two
hundred million adherents.
[Illustration: THE FOUNTAIN OF THE LIONS IN THE ALHAMBRA
The most remarkable feature of the Alhambra is the Court of the Lions. It
measures 116 feet in length by 66 feet in breadth. A gallery supported on
marble columns surrounds the court. In the center is the Fountain of
Lions, an alabaster basin resting on the backs of 12 marble lions.]
THE BENEFITS OF ISLAM
The growth of Islam is evidence that it meets the needs of Asiatic and
African peoples. Its simple creed--the unity of God, man's immortal soul,
and material rewards and penalties in a future life--adapt it to the
understanding of half-civilized peoples. As a religion it is immeasurably
superior to the rude nature worship and idolatry which it has supplanted.
The same is true of Islam as a system of morality. The practice of the
virtues recommended by the Koran and the avoidance of the vices which that
book condemns tend to raise its adherents in the moral scale.
TREATMENT OF WOMEN
From the moral standpoint one of the least satisfactory features of Islam
is its attitude toward women. The ancient Arabs, like many other peoples,
seem to have set no limit to the number of wives a man might possess.
Women were regarded by them as mere chattels, and female infants were
frequently put to death. Mohammed recognized polygamy, but limited the
number of legitimate wives to four. At the same time Mohammed sought to
improve the condition of women by forbidding female infanticide, by
restricting the facilities for divorce, and by insisting on kind treatment
of wives by their husbands. "The best of you," he said, "is he who behaves
best to his wives." According to eastern custom Moslem women are secluded
in a separate part of the house, called the _harem_. [32] They never
appear in public, except when closely veiled from the eyes of strangers.
Their education is also much neglected.
SLAVERY
Slavery, like polygamy, was a custom which Mohammed found fully
established among the Arabs. He disliked slavery and tried in several ways
to lessen its evils. He declared that the emancipation of Moslem slaves
was an act of special merit, and ordered that in a war between Moslems the
prisoners were not to be enslaved. Mohammed also insisted on kind
treatment of slaves by their masters. "Feed your slaves," he directed,
"with food of that which you eat and clothe them with such clothing as you
wear, and command them not to do that which they are unable to do." The
condition of Moslem slaves does not appear to be intolerable, though the
slave traffic which still exists in some parts of Africa is a disgrace to
Islam.
STUDIES
1. On an outline map indicate the Arabian Empire at its widest extent.
Locate the more important cities, including Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem,
Damascus, Bagdad, Cairo, Alexandria, Granada, Cordova, and Seville.
2. Define the following: Kaaba; Islam; Koran; and caliph.
3. How did the geographical situation of Arabia preserve it from being
conquered by Persians, Macedonians, or Romans?
4. Why had the Arabs, until the time of Mohammed, played so inconspicuous
a part in the history of the world?
5. Mohammed "began as a mule driver and ended as both a pope and a king."
Explain this statement.
6. How does Mohammed's career in Mecca illustrate the saying that "a
prophet is not without honor save in his own country"?
7. What resemblances may be traced between Islam on the one side and
Judaism and Christianity on the other side?
8. Did religion have anything to do with the migrations of the Germans?
How was it with the Arabs?
9. Contrast the methods of propagating Christianity in Europe with those
of spreading Islam in Asia.
10. Why is the defeat of the Moslems before Constantinople regarded as
more significant than their defeat at the battle of Tours?
11. Compare the eastern limits of the Arabian Empire with those of
Alexander's empire (maps facing pages 124, 376).
12. Show that the Arabian Empire, because of its geographical position,
was less easily defended than the Roman Empire.
13. Locate on the map facing page 376 the following commercial cities in
the Arabian Empire: Samarkand; Cabul; Bokhara; Mosul; Kairwan; Fez;
Seville; and Toledo.
14. Can you suggest any reason why the Arabs did little in painting and
sculpture?
15. What are some of the best-known stories in the _Thousand and One
Nights_?
16. Discuss the justice of this statement: "If our ideas and our arts go
back to antiquity, all the inventions which make life easy and agreeable
come to us from the Arabs."
17. "From the eighth to the twelfth century the world knew but two
civilizations, that of Byzantium and that of the Arabs." Comment on this
statement.
18. Show that Islam was an heir to the Graeco-Oriental civilization.
19. Can you suggest any reasons why Islam to-day spreads among the African
negroes more rapidly than Christianity?
20. How does Islam, by sanctioning polygamy and slavery, hinder the rise
of women and of the working classes?
FOOTNOTES
[1] Webster, _Readings in Medieval and Modern History_, chapter vi, "The
Teachings of Mohammed."
[2] The earlier spelling was Mahomet.
[3] See page 352.
[4] From the Arabic _muslim_, "one who surrenders himself" (to God's
will). During the Middle Ages the Moslems to their Christian enemies were
commonly known as Saracens, a term which is still in use.
[5] The year 622 A.D., in which the Hegira occurred, marks the beginning
of the Mohammedan era. The Christian year 1917 A.D. nearly corresponds to
the Mohammedan year 1336 A.H. (_Anno Hegirae_).
[6] Feasting during the nights of this month is allowable.
[7] See page 333.
[8] See page 219, 332.
[9] See page 54, note 1.
[10] See page 330.
[11] See page 245.
[12] Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis belong to France; Tripoli, to Italy.
[13] Gibraltar = _Gibal al Tarik_, "the mountain of Tarik."
[14] See pages 244-245.
[15] See page 306.
[16] For Charlemagne's Spanish conquests, see page 309.
[17] So called from a leading family of Mecca, to which Moawiya belonged.
[18] So called from Abbas, an uncle of Mohammed.
[19] This was at first known as the emirate of Cordova, but in 929 A.D. it
became the caliphate of Cordova. See the map facing page 308.
[20] See page 333.
[21] See page 485. Descendants of the Abbasids subsequently took up their
abode in Egypt. Through them the claim to the caliphate passed in 1538
A.D. to the Ottoman Turks. The Sultan at Constantinople still calls
himself caliph of the Moslem world. However, in 1916 A.D. the Grand Sherif
of Mecca, a descendant of Mohammed, led a revolt against the Turks,
captured Mecca and Medina, and proclaimed Arab independence. Should the
European war end in favor of the Allies, the caliphate will undoubtedly go
back to the Arabs.
[22] Popularly called the _Arabian Nights_.
[23] See page 126.
[24] The European names of some common articles reveal the Arabic sources
from which they were first derived. Thus, _damask_ comes from Damascus,
_muslin_ from Mosul, _gauze_ from Gaza, _cordovan_ (a kind of leather)
from Cordova, and _morocco_ leather from North Africa.
[25] See page 133.
[26] See page 275.
[27] See page 131.
[28] Many words in European languages beginning with the prefix _al_ (the
definite article in Arabic) show how indebted was Europe to the Arabs for
scientific knowledge. In English these words include _alchemy_ (whence
_chemistry_), _alcohol_, _alembic_, _algebra_, _alkali_, _almanac_,
_Aldebaran_ (the star), etc.
[29] The translation of the _Rubáiyát_ by Edward Fitzgerald is almost an
English classic.
[30] See page 564.
[31] See the illustration, page 471.
[32] The Athenians had a similar practice. See page 257.