Remainder+of+Middle+East

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Abbasaid Empire


The Abbasid Empire was started after the fall of the Umayyads in the Battle of the River Zab in 750. During the time of their rein the Islamic Empire Islam became a universal religion as it spread through the Middle East, North Africa, and Euro-Africa. With the empire containing so many mawali it was only fitting that soon they would be converted into Muslims. **Factoring in the fact that those who were converted were treated as though they always Muslims, they were exempt from paying head tax, had better opportunities of furthering their education and launch careers as administrators and judges. These combined reasons were why the religion of Islam spread through the Abbasid Empire.** The Abbasid empire rose with the growth of their trade in the Islamic world. With the invention of the dhows, goods were carried from different ports and provided provisions to different cities in empires to make a tidy profit as well. the money is then redistributed into the community as large donations were given to hospitals. Thus trade tied in with religion as the pillar of Islam is charity which it what donation was. Along with trade came the the urbanization of the Islamic empire. Islamic cities grew with the wealth of the empire. They established domestic water systems that produced public baths, drinking fountains, and public toilets. There were cities dumps, cemeteries, and a place to worship near the main gates. The suburbs were outside the city walls and the Muslims were able to increase the birth rate and life expectancy, As more people were converted to the Islamic faith the cities streets and the neighborhoods separated by ethnicity just like cities today.

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Architecture was one of the things that Abbasid Empire was known for. Usually the Muslims drew the mosque designs first as shown in the upper left corner of the glogster. they started with the simple design of the floor plan and then proceeded to add the columns and artistic values.This helped them refine their drawing and as time went on this design was embellished and elaborated till the drawings became depictions of vast mosques as shown in the upper right. In the larger cities the vast mosques now came with columns and arches and domes. Muslims took parts of Greek or Roman temples and even Christian churches formed the core or foundation of major mosques (example of syncretism). The pinnacle of the symbol of mosque were the Dome of the Rock. It was one of the Muslims greatest achievements and holiest sites. the dome symbolized the foundation or the heart of Muslim faith. It is where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Issac. It is also the place where Muhammad ascended into Heaven with the angel Gabriel.Inside the huge mosques there were signs of artistic showmanship.In the bottom center there is a picture of a Qibla wall where art has been integrated into the walls so in a way art and religion are interwined.

In the Abbasid Empire grew and spread rapidly from the the incorporation of the other religions such as Christianity and Judaism. not only did they do joint ventures together which allowed the trading of cultures and ideas but they also Christian theology and philosophy became part of Islamic theology and mysticism and. Also Jewish "sculptural, prophetic, ritual, and legal precedents were absorbed into Islamic law" and there work of of the writing of the Greeks helped Muslims translate it into Arabic and disperse throughout the empire. As a result as Islam urbanized many cities and areas. They incorporated the Islam faith and with the help of syncretism it spread Islam even more. In the end before the the great Abbasid empire fell, Islam was received remarkably well.Throughout the whole empire the Islamic faith converted many because of the advantages that it offered in economical, political and social standings. As to though who remained in their Christian or Judaism faith they still respected what the Islamic faith stood for.


 * -black = how Islam spread?**
 * - green= Growth of trade in the Islamic world **
 * red violet= urbanization of Islam﻿ **
 * purple= examples of sycretism and Islam **
 * dark blue= reaction to Islam **

- a history of Islamic societies book http://books.google.com/books?id=I3mVUEzm8xMC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=abbasid+empire+and+syncretism&source=bl&ots=0Vz2Z3ChrI&sig=DQ-DaJY_lHzwHby1kqQHANhE6CI&hl=en&ei=JlnPTOjmA4H58Ab3yMiyAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=abbasid%20empire%20and%20syncretism&f=false -wikipedia Dome of Rock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_of_the_Rock