The essay I've written below was from way back when I was a sophomore. It covers the Arab bedouins, arrival of Islam and Muhammed, Ummayad and Abbasid dynasties, diffusion of Islam to other civilizations, and the inevitable downfall. This was for a unit assignment and basis for one of the discussions about patterns of civilizations held in my world history class. You could say that the exhibited patterns can relate to the international societies present today. Plus. . . there was something about the Middle East that got me totally enamored by their history and culture, amongst other civilizations such as China and India. <3
Change Over Time - Middle East and North Africa
Dominant over other contemporary civilizations technologically, commercially, and politically (equal to that of classical China), the Arab empires would've been exemplary to the world presently, but this failure lied at the root of any civilization's collapse: human nature. Incompetency in leadership acted as a catalyst over generations and all other factors of decline fall into place like a chain reaction of dominoes. Following the pattern of intermittent civilizations, the Arab empires of the Middle East began with times of hardship and ended as remnants of what was imperialism.
Nomadic bedouins were the primordial basis of Arab society including their dependency on oases as a vital source of water and poetic culture of animism. Their land was inhospitable, filled with clans pitted against each other for control over pasturage and cyclic vengence for the death of beloved family members. Disunity disdained with constant violent outbreaks continued until the word of God delivered by Muhammed became cultivated into Arab society. Political leaders of Meccas saw Muhammed as a threat, driving him out to flee from persecution and accepting the invitation to mediate in Medina. His forces' victory against the Quraysh ambush won the allegiance of bedouin tribes, but his death in 633 left his followers in contention, disputing over his religious succession. Then they were united by the Ummayad clan. Islam's inclination to basic spiritual union gathered Arabs in unity through an ethical system and the uniting elements of the five pillars, such as zakat (charity to the poor) and the mystifying spiritual bind to each individual of the umma (Islamic community) in the hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca).
A new empire rose from the warrior elite sovereign of the Ummayad clan, reuniting followers of Islam and Muhammed torn apart from the disputes over caliph succession and resolving internal conflicts; united again, the Arabs' newfound strength propelled them to conquer foreign lands and claim it as their own. Sassanids were poorly prepared for oncoming Arabs and the Byzantines were resilient, but weakened by their frontiers. Bountiful booty from conquered lands were divided amongst Ummayad bureaucrats and military recruits; however, as the quantity began to diminish, it was the leaders' treasury for the taking. Futhermore, mawali's exclusion from the umma meant deprivation of privileges such as tax exemptions and even a share of the booty. Not only were the Ummayads exuding their luxurious greed, succession disputes arose from temporary relief and led to the empire's downfall.
Triumphant Abbasid campaigns emerged over fallen leaders, made possible by their promises including mass tax exemption for all mawalis (non-Arab converts to Islam) in vast lands under their reign, which was idealistic, foolish, and quixotic at most. New territory gains made the Abbasid's hold over much larger range of lands difficult, considering delayed communications and travel in accordance to the time period. Women's subjugation intensified due to urban expansion and commercial growth with the rise of merchant classes; as the ever lustful 'succubus' creatures they are to men, women were required to wear harem veils, 'masking their seduction' with the exception of concubines possessing neoplatonic beauty. Without the use of a writing system, Arabs had no other method to record and interpret knowledge outside of their world. Muslim incursions into India during a previous dynasty acquired number systems and mathematical properties, drawing them into explorations of mathematics and science. Many Indians displayed tolerance towards their Muslim leaders because of their Hindu ethics of acceptance and treatment as "dhimmis" ("people of the book"). Trades to Southeast Asian parts and influences of Sufi ascetics bridged connections through accommodations of Islam with the local traditions to appeal potential converts and also the link expanded the Arab's role in the international framework by adding more trade contacts. Before the arrival of Islam and other religions in North Africa, many of the regions within the continent were stateless and spiritually connect to nature by animistic traditions. Although most of the population in Sudanic states did not convert, Islam reinforced the governing powers of rulers such as that of Mali and Sundiata. Songhay won its freedom from Mali, then substantiated a government based on ideologies of Islam. Women in Sudanic states were not secluded, and many were matrilineal societies; they could walk in public unveiled and even young girls ran around naked in Jenne. Islamic amalgams present in North Africa and other parts of Africa involved those societies into the international network but Arab decline phased them out of the interlocking global web.
The ultimate decay of the Abbasids by nomadic Seljuk Turks and assaults of the Islam world by Chinggis Khan, continued by Hulegu, set aside a place for the Ottoman Turks' power vacuum; their repulsion for their repugnant Arab predecessors hindered promotions of their culture, including trade. Cycles of corrupted, greedy, gluttonous, incompetent leaders replaced by promising new candidates abruptly gets slashed by intervening factors exploiting the weaknesses of the civilization. If not for the series of causes and effect within the Middle East, cultures may not have been diffused as effectively nor even facilitated throughout a global scope.
Source:
Stearns, Peter N., Michael Adas, Stuart B. Schwartz, and Marc J. Gilbert. World Civilizations: the Global Experience, Third Edition, AP* Edition. 3rd ed. Longman Group, 2006.
