Social and Political Structures

Carl ErnstIntroduction to Islamic Civilization

Outline 1. Frontiers and Identities2. City and countryside3. Conversion to Islam4. Issue of authority

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A premodern “Muslim Commonwealth”

After fall of Arab Empire, no single ethnic group dominatedInevitable fragmentation caused by debates over monotheistic religious issuesArabic language and shared religious traditions create commonalities in spite of linguistic and cultural differencesThe rise of new states did not impede commercial and cultural exchange

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1. Frontiers Difference between nation-state with borders and porous premodern empiresStrait of Gibraltar: border or highway?Power of empires vanished with distance from cities

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Sea frontiersMuslim settlements and trade on East African coastSwahili language -- Bantu lingua franca with Arabic influenceMediterranean trade between Italian cities and Fatimid Egypt

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Indian ocean currents

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Land frontiers – but what is Jihad?

Egger overstates the role of jurists in legislating jihad as state duty – often just a retrospective religious justification of normal warfare legal distinction between Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb (abode of war) did not correspond to political realities of clients with Christian powersJihad as a symbol of ethical struggle, frequently invoked for political purposes

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Problems in defining boundariesAndalus and Anatolia as frontiers of constant raiding, shifting identitiesExample: El Cid (overly romanticized as a champion of Christianity versus Islam)Turkish ghazi raiders “rationalized their raids as a religious act,” visit Christian shrines in actuality, anyone (including Greek Christians) who showed up with a horse and weapons could join, no questions asked!

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Fact checking on “Jihad in the sharia” (page 235)

“it is offensive to conduct a military expedition against hostile non-Muslims without the Caliph’s permission.”Ibn al-Naqib, author of this text, died in 1368.The caliphate was extinguished in 1258What conclusions can you draw about the validity of this legal text as a description of political reality and “fluid loyalties”?

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Before the age of passportsEase of travel between Muslim realmsCommon problem of bandits outside protected citiesGovernment for security and taxes, not enforcing laws over a territoryLaw defined as personal rather than territorial

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Slavery in Muslim regionsConsider legal, but not naturalProhibited for Muslims and protected peoples (Christians, Jews, etc.)Slavery not imposed as punishmentPrimarily for domestic or military purposes, not agriculture or miningMain slave markets: Africa, Slavic regions, India

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Aspects of slaveryFreeing slaves recommended in Islamic lawConcubines and children freed after owner’s deathSlave armies as powerful military institutions

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Ethnicities ArabsBerbers in North AfricaTurksPersians and Persian literature

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2. City lifeAs many Muslim cities as Chinese citiesShared features of mosque, central market, bath houses, canals, cemeteriesServices handled by neighborhood institutions, charitable trustsUrban associations of “youths” as militias or gangsPriority of private space in Islamic law needs to encroachment on streets

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Mosque of Damascus

Ablution fountain

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Market in old city of Jerusalem

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Ottoman cemeteries

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Countryside and villagesProblem of abusive tax farmingNomadic incursions and suffering of peasants

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3. Conversion to Islam: Muslims as minority

Persistence of non-Muslim elitesLack of incentive for conversion of villagersMountainous regions also preserve local religious groups (example: Chitral)Occasional discrimination against Jews and Christians are milder than Christian anti-SemitismIrregular enforcement of restrictions

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Muslims as majority after 1300Dhimmi tax and social mobility as motives for conversionDecline of Caliphal power made life harder for ChristiansIncreasing nomadism eroded landowning and merchant patronage of monasteriesWhat is “conversion”? A personal or community decision? Muslim assimilation to local cultures (Persia)

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4. Issues of authority: breakdown caliphate

Theoretical concept of caliphate in Rules of Governance by al-Mawardi (d. 1058): an idealized extension of the religious scholars as political authority, despite political irrelevanceSymbolic role of Caliph two certificates of “appointment”

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Persistence of a ghost

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Coin minted in India (1350) with name of deceased caliph (earlier, in Sanskrit!)

Filling the void of authorityIncreasing importance of religious scholars (`ulama’) Simultaneous and related importance of Sufi saints

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Outline 1. Frontiers and Identities2. City and countryside3. Conversion to Islam4. Issue of authority

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