MLS 610B-81
Spring 2003

WEEK 2: Monday, January 27.
Early Islamic Caliphates & the Crusades
Basic features of the Islamic faith:
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· The five pillars of Islam:
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Sunna (“tradition, custom”) & Hadith (“sayings”):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Shia-Sunni Split:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In 656 a mutinous Arab tribe assassinated Uthman, the third Caliph.  Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law was chosen as successor, but his appointment was protested by Muawiyah, the powerful ruler of Syria at the time and a member of Uthman’s clan.  Ali was assassinated in 661, an act that eventually led to the split between Shias and Sunnis in Islam:
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The Crusades:
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The Crusaders ruled territory in the Islamic realm (Jerusalem—which they conquered in 1099—Antioch, Edessa, etc.) for several centuries.  They did not, however, greatly alter the Islamic culture of this area.  In 1187 Saladin, King of Egypt and Syria, raised an army of Muslims that “liberated” or re-conquered Jerusalem.