Chapter 9 and 10

Chapter 9

The Birth of New Religion

• Nomadic Arabs (Bedouins)
• Lived in independent clans and tribes
• Valued bravery, group loyalty, hospitality
• Praised gods, ancestors, and nature spirits
• Muhammad - trader that traveled, overwhelming religious experience
• Islam community rapidly extended its reach throughout Arabia
• Growing numbers of people converting
• Arabian Peninsula

The Making of an Arab Empire

• Arabs migrating beyond their homelands
• Divided by differences of culture, class, politics, gender, and religious understanding
• Spreading to Spain and India
• Believers' movement
• Social conversion - movement from one religiously defined social community to another
• Not an easy process
• Persia - 80% made the transition to a muslim religious identity
• Companions of prophet - first four caliphs
• Controversial question about the relationship between men and women
• "Men have authority of women"
• Negative views on women

Islam and Cultural Encounter: A Four-Way Comparison

• The case of India
• The case of Anatolia
• The case of West Africa
• The case of Spain

The World of Islam as a New Civilization

• Abbasid Dynasty declined
• Ulama - International elite
• External threats and internal conflicts towards Islamic Community
• Exchange of goods, technology, food products, and ideas
• Ecological change
• House of Wisdom

Chapter 10

Christian Contraction in Asia and Africa

• Asian Christianity
• African Christianity

Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past

• Contraction of Christian faith and societies
• No clear starting point
• Housing Egypt, Greece, Syria, and Anatolia
• Political authority remained tight
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity having a pervasive influence
• Military known as Greek Fire
• Religion reflected the region's cultural diversity

Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse

• Reciprocal ties between superior and subordinate
• The birth of christianity in leaders - Buddha
• High Middle Ages
• Holy Roman Empire - Germans
• Economic and Technological changes in China - Silk Production
• Religious opportunities for women - operating outside of monastic life
• Expansion in European Civilization

The West in Comparative Perspective

• Politics
• Reason and Faith - emerging