Description
The speaker begins with an outline of the demographics of Muslims in the world and then moves to a discussion on the idea of “civilization”. From there he introduces the main topic and focuses on two significant historical periods of Muslim history after the Prophet (S): the early united caliphate and the medieval synthesis of Islam. For the first period, Dr. Blankinship covers the various Muslim conquests as Islam spread outside the Arabian Penninsula. Thereafter, he discusses the controversy of the nature of Jesus among Christians living in Egypt and Syria under the Roman Empire and how this facilitated the coming of Islam into these lands. For the second period, some major events are analyzed such as the triumph of the Shi’ahs and the Mongals respectively, the “gunpowder” empires, the expansion of Islam into Spain, the opening of India through the conversion of the Buddhists, and the Turkish diaspora throughout the world. A great resource for Muslims and non-Muslims alike! Other topics discussed: the Bedouins of Arabia, the rapid conversion of the Berbers, the collapse of the Ummayid dynasty, the spread of Islam and the issue of compelling people to believe, Muslim slavery in the history of Islam, the different sources of authority in Islam, the Iranian Revolution, and Saddam Hussein. Recorded at the Dar al Islam Teachers’ Institute seminar.