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Lexi Gassman

Roher

SHY 340 75

21 March 2019

Midterm Exam

The Middle East is a geographical region that extends from Egypt to Afghanistan.

It is a complex civilization that through studying gives insight into the beliefs, customs,

and lifestyles of early inhabitants. Various groups of people had roles in the

development of the Middle East. The Arabs, Persians, and the Ottomans were three

groups that had a significant influence on the Middle East. With these different groups of

people came different cultures, government, and religions. Multiple things helped to

shape the Middle East, geography and resources included. The Middle East may have

been developed into something completely different without these things.

Arabs are people who live in the Middle East. Their ancestors are those who

spoke Semitic languages. They typically organized themselves into clans and tribes that

would migrate to new lands together. Arabs had an extremely important role in the

development of the Middle East. They were the ones who ended the Hellenistic ages in

the Middle East. The greatest empires of the Middle East were humbled by the Arab

warriors for Islam. Two of the great caliphal dynasties were the Umayyads and the

Abbasids, both who had great Arab leaders. There was a shift of power between the

people during the High Caliphate which resulted in the growth of Islamic civilization.

When Arabs were in control, trade grew which brought people of diverse languages,

religions, cultures, and places together. This enhanced the diversity of the Middle East
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substantially. One extremely well know Arab was the great prophet of Islam,

Muhammed. In 610 CE Muhammed was visited overnight by an angel. The angel told

him that he was the messenger of God to the Arab people. Through Muhammed the

Qur’an was given to the people via Angel Gabriel. The Qur’an is a book that contains

laws, stories, and pieces for guidance. The Qur’an is still used today in the Islamic

religion for worship and guidance.

Persia was one of the mightiest empires of the Middle East. During the

Achaemenid dynasty, Persia ruled over a large number of ethnic and religious groups

that stretched from the Indus to the Nile river. The Persians were very tolerant of the

different beliefs and practices of their people provided that they paid their taxes to the

Achaemenid kings, followed laws, and sent their sons to the Persian army. Their empire

set a pattern that was followed by most multicultural dynastic states. Persians were

often placed in high positions in the army and government, to replace the Arabs and

various Persian bureaucratic families came into power. Persian art influenced

architecture, sculpture, painting, and textile designs from Europe to China, including the

Middle East. Both the East and West adopted the architectural ideas like reinforced

corners, shaded courtyards, and bas-relief murals from Persia. Persian was the

principle language of literature, poetry, history, and political reflection. Which is clearly

seen in the literary works from the Abbasid dynasty.

The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman I, but it was his son, Orhan, that

laid the foundation for the empire after Osman died. He transformed it into an expanding

empire with administrative and financial practices that were described by the

Byzantines. The empire influenced the way that governments have evolved. He was
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also able to expand the military capacity by supplementing his ghazi horsemen with

mercenary troops. A peak in Ottoman rule was in 1453 Mehmet II was able to do what

rulers since Mu’awiya had tired, he was able to siege the walled city of Constantinople.

Constantinople was converted into the new Ottoman Empire capital, which soon

became richer than it ever had been. The Ottoman Empire became the greatest empire

since the early caliphate. The empire laid the foundation for tolerance of various

religions which Is seen today in the Islamic world.

The Middle East is one example of a culturally diverse place. The first people in

the civilization, 10,000 years B.C., were very smart and able to develop skills for the

challenging environment in which they lived. They were able to learn how to use the

river to help grow crops. Subsistence farming and settlement were used as survival

strategies. People of this time were able to make ovens were built for making pottery,

various tools were made from bronze, and create alphabets that were used for sending

messages and keeping records. Often times they would travel in tribes because survival

in the harsh environments by themselves was not easy. Each tribe was governed by a

council of men who represented the various clan members of the tribe. Arabs in pre-

Islamic times had many gods.

After Muhammad, most Arabs started to practice Islam and became known as

Muslims. Muslims view their law as having four-five sources: the Qur’an, Muhammad’s

sunna, analogy, census of the umma, and judicial opinion (only some). The Qur’an and

Muhammad’s sunna are the only concrete sources. Umar, Mu’awiya, and Abd al-Malik

are considered the founding fathers of the Islamic government. Abd al-Malik took power

in 685. He laid the basis for an absolutist caliph that was modeled after the traditions of
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the kings of the ancient Middle East as opposed to the Arab tribe, shaykhs. Al-Malik

made a Muslim coin so that Muslims could stop depending on the money of the

Byzantines and Persians Two different Islamic branches are the Sunni and the Shi’a,

both who had very different legal systems.

The legal systems for the Sunni are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali. The

largest, Hanafi rite, grew under the Abbasid support in Iraq and relies on the consensus

and judicial reasoning as sources. The Maliki rite grew in Medina and relied heavily on

the Prophetic hadiths that circulated there. The Shafi’i rite developed in ninth-century

Egypt as a synthesis of the Maliki and Hanafi systems but it puts more importance on

analogy. The Hanbali rite rejected analogy, consensus, and judicial opinion as sources.

The differences between the four are minor except in rituals. Shi’a legal system relied

on the Qur’an, the sunna, analogy, and consensus. Where the Sunni and Shi’a Muslims

differ is over the authenticity of certain statements by Muhammad, specifically if he

wanted Ali as his successor. The biggest difference between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims

is that most Sunni rites are not allowed reinterpretation of the Shari’a and in Shi’ism the

imams can interpret the law.

Sufism became a movement during the second century. Sufism is the path into

the nature of things and to God. While some Muslims rejected Sufism as a perversion of

Islam others made it essential to their faith. Sufis searched to uncover the meaning that

is hidden from human reason and our senses. In Islam the way to uncover this truth is

through communicating with God in various ways like fasting, mediation, and vigils. It

allowed Islam to absorb customs from different religions without damaging doctrines
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they considered essential. From the eleventh-nineteenth centuries, Sufism was the

dominated spiritual life of Muslims.

In Islamic society family was a central part of the society. There were arranged

marriages that were chosen by the parents or oldest relative of the possible couple.

Marriage between cousins was preferred to ensure that property stayed within the

family. Parents would discipline their children harshly and expected great obedience.

Sons would usually learn their father’s trade and girls would usually work along-side

their husbands or in domestic industries.

Another group of people that was prominent in the Middle East were the Turkic

people. Many Turkic people started as nomadic shepherds who rode horses and carried

their goods on camels. Eventually some settled and became traders and farmers. The

root of their religion was centered around shamans. Shamans were wizards who healed

the sick, talked to the dead, and recited tribal lore. Most Turkic people eventually

became Muslim, though their Islamization was a gradual process that varied between

tribes.

The Ghaznavids and the Seljurks were two Turkish dynasties. The Ghaznavid

rulers were able to turn managed to parlay the iqta`, that was gotten from the Samanids,

into a big empire that at its peak covered all of Afghanistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran, and

areas of northern India. The Seljuks were very talented rulers, the sultan at the peak of

their power ruled all of Syria, Iraq, Persia, and parts of Anatolia and Central Asia. The

Seljuk helped to transform the Middle East with the entry of Turkic tribes from Central

Asia, restoring the Sunni rule in southwest Asia, spreading Persian culture, regulation

the iqta`, and developing mosque-school.

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The Middle East is not an area with plentiful resources. The resources that are

found there like sand, limestone, and other building materials were used for various

buildings and structures. The challenging environment of the Middle East made people

smart and able to learn how to adapt. They were able to harness the river to help grow

crops. Surface and underground water systems became a huge part of the

environmental landscape.

The geography of the Middle East created a large amount of diversity. The

geography ranged from mountains, planes, deserts, and river valleys. The people who

lived in these different areas had very different lifestyles which created diversity. This

diversity has led to cultural and religious differences that often times caused conflict.

The conflict usually resulted in war and violence, which can still be seen in the Middle

East today. The location of the Middle East has resulted in traders as well as invaders

entering from Africa, Europe, and Central Asia. In the past 4,000 years the Middle

Eastern has not had a lull in the outside pressures and influences.

The Middle East would not be what it is today without the foundation that was

laid. The Arabs, Persians, and Ottomans all helped to develop the Middle East, each in

their own way. These groups brought different cultures, government, and religions into

the Middle East, making it a very diverse area. Geography and resources have also

helped to develop the Middle East into what it is today. All these things are equally

important because without them, who knows what the Middle East would have

developed into in Today’s world.