RELG 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Hajj, Abbasid Caliphate, Dhimmi
21 Jul 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Islam is aniconic: no image of divine, but you can show the body. Who will lead the people: caliph- leader by election, imam a religious leader. Caliph has religious prestige but not prophet. Conflict when decided there would be a caliph to lead muslims. People thought a blood descendant of muhammad should lead. 4th caliph is ali- cousin and son in law of muhammad, blood relative: charismatic, some argued muhammad had designated him. The party of ali- supporters of ali: in arabic- shiat-u-ali. 2 kinds of muslims: sunni- liked leadership by caliph, shia- those who thought muslims should be led by muhammad. Except in iran it"s 85% shia, 15% sunni. 688 ce- usain leads rebellion (ali"s son) is killed and defeated in battle of. Umayyad empire then abbasid empire: abbasid about 500 years long. A lot of muslims in india, work out b/w hindu. Abbasids eventually overrun: center was baghdad, educational system, science, literature, mosques.
