Social and Political Structures
Carl Ernst
Introduction to Islamic Civilization
Aristotle’s “Circle of Politics” (p. 41) [manuscript in British Library]
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Aristotle’s Circle of Politics (p. 41)
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Outline of Egger
1. Frontiers and Identities
2. City and countryside
3. Conversion to Islam
4. Issue of authority
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A premodern “Muslim Commonwealth”
After fall of Arab Empire, no single ethnic group dominated
Inevitable fragmentation caused by debates over monotheistic religious issues
Arabic language and shared religious traditions create commonalities in spite of linguistic and cultural differences
The 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 empires
Strait of Gibraltar: border or highway?
Power of empires vanished with distance from cities
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Sea frontiers
Muslim settlements and trade on East African coast
Swahili language -- Bantu lingua franca with Arabic influence
Mediterranean 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 powers
Jihad 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 identities
Example: 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 1258
What 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 passports
Ease of travel between Muslim realms
Common problem of bandits outside protected cities
Government for security and taxes, not enforcing laws over a territory
Law defined as personal rather than territorial
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Slavery in Muslim regions
Consider legal, but not natural
Prohibited for Muslims and protected peoples (Christians, Jews, etc.)
Slavery not imposed as punishment
Primarily for domestic or military purposes, not agriculture or mining
Main slave markets: Africa, Slavic regions, India
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Aspects of slavery
Freeing slaves recommended in Islamic law
Concubines and children freed after owner’s death
Slave armies as powerful military institutions
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Ethnicities
Arabs
Berbers in North Africa
Turks
Persians and Persian literature
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2. City life
As many Muslim cities as Chinese cities
Shared features of mosque, central market, bath houses, canals, cemeteries
Services handled by neighborhood institutions, charitable trusts
Urban associations of “youths” as militias or gangs
Priority 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 villages
Problem of abusive tax farming
Nomadic incursions and suffering of peasants
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3. Conversion to Islam: Muslims as minority
Persistence of non-Muslim elites
Lack of incentive for conversion of villagers
Mountainous regions also preserve local religious groups (example: Chitral)
Occasional discrimination against Jews and Christians are milder than Christian anti-Semitism
Irregular enforcement of restrictions
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Muslims as majority after 1300Dhimmi tax and social mobility as motives for conversion
Decline of Caliphal power made life harder for Christians
Increasing nomadism eroded landowning and merchant patronage of monasteries
What 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 irrelevance
Symbolic 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 authority
Increasing importance of religious scholars (`ulama’)
Simultaneous and related importance of Sufi saints
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Outline
1. Frontiers and Identities
2. City and countryside
3. Conversion to Islam
4. Issue of authority
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