Samson, Steven Alan

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Liberty UniversityDigitalCommons@LibertyUniversityFaculty Publications and Presentations Helms School of Government2008Christopher Catherwood: A Brief History of theMiddle East Study GuideSteven Alan SamsonLiberty University, ssamson@liberty.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubsPart of the Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Political Science Commons, and thePublic Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Helms School of Government at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For moreinformation, please contact scholarlycommunication@liberty.edu.Recommended CitationSamson, Steven Alan, "Christopher Catherwood: A Brief History of the Middle East Study Guide" (2008). Faculty Publications andPresentations. Paper 164.http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs/164CHRISTOPHER CATHERWOOD: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST STUDY GUIDE, 2008 Steven Alan Samson  CHAPTER FOUR:   MUHAMMAD AND THE DAWN OF ISLAM  Study Questions  1. Arabia and the Life of the Prophet  Identify some of the early Arab civilizations.  What are some  of the likely religious influences on Muhammad’s thinking?  What was the political situation around 600 AD?  How did Islam develop?  What was the hijra (Hegira) and what role does it still play?  Who were Muhammad’s successors?   Rashdun=Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman, Ali.  (66-70)  2. The Evolution of the Quran  How do the Medina and Mecca passages of the Quran (Koran) differ?  What are sharia and fiqh?  What is the language of the Quran and how is it organized (arrangement of suras)?  What are the Hadith?  The sunna?  How did Muhammad differ from Abraham and Jesus?  How does the Quran differ historically and doctrinally from Christianity and Judaism?  (70-75)  3. Islam’s Five Pillars and Jihad  What are the five pillars (Shahadah=profession of faith, Salat=ritual prayer, Zakat=alms-giving, Sawm=fasting during Ramadan, Hajj=pilgrimage to Mecca)?  What are some of the disagreements over the meaning of jihad?  What was the view of Ibn Taymiyya?  (75-76)  4. Islam: Wider Issues  Why is so little known about Muhammad?  Why is speculation dangerous, especially in the Muslim world?  What are some of the controversies of recent years?  What is it about practice of Islam that makes it difficult for Muslims to live under non-Islamic rule?  (76-81)   Review  Muhammad   Monophysites   hijra Fatima    Ali    caliphs Rashidun    Quran    sharia fiqh    Hadith    sunna five pillars   jihad  CHAPTER FIVE:  THE GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAM  Study Questions  1. Sunni and Shia  Ali was the fourth Caliph, the last Rashidun, and the first Imam.  Why is this significant for the split between the Sunni majority and the Shiite minority?  What two unjust defeats (at Najaf and Karbala), from the Shiite view, mar the leadership succession?  Why is martyrdom a major part of Shiite thinking?  What is Twelver Shiism?  Who are the Ismailis?  What is an Ayatollah?  Why does ijtihad (interpretation) give Shiites more flexibility?  How does the Shiite mentality differ from that of the Sunni?  What did Abd al-Malik accomplish?  What role was played by the Berbers in the spread of Islam?  Who stopped the Muslim advance into Europe and when?  What and where was Al-Andalus (where a branch of the Umayyad dynasty survived)?  How was the Abbasid dynasty founded?  [The Umayyads were massacred; the capital moved from Damascus and Baghdad was built to house it].  What made the caliphates of Harun al-Rashid and his son Mamun so outstanding during the Golden Age of Islam?   (82-89)  2. From the Arab Renaissance to Fatimids and Turks  What intellectual role was played by Arab physicians and philosophers, such as Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averröes (Ibn Rushd)?  What were some of the Arab contributions to mathematics and astronomy?  What were some possible reasons for the end of the Golden Age?   Who were the Buyids?  The Mamluks?  The Fatimids?  The Khazars?  The Seljuk Turks?  Who sought to control Palestine during the 130 years before the Crusades?  Review  Twelver Shiism   Ismailis (Fiver Shiite)  Ayatollah cult of martyrdom  Abd al-Malik         Berbers Charles Martel   Battle of Tours (Poitiers) Andalus Umayyads   Abbasids   Baghdad Harun al-Rashid  Ibn Sina   algebra Mamluks   Fatimids   Seljuk Turks  CHAPTER SIX:  MANZIKERT, CRUSADERS, MONGOLS  Study Questions  1. Manzikert  What were some of the short-run and long-run consequences of the Byzantine defeat at Manzikert (1071)?  What were some of the later consequences for the Balkans?  What else happened to the Byzantines in 1071?  2. The Crusades  When Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem in 638, why was he warmly welcomed by Jews and Christians?  What happened to the Jews and Christians of the Arabian peninsula?  What are dhimmis?  [They also had to pay the jizya tax for the privilege of toleration].  How and when did the Crusades originate?  What were some of the motivations at work?  [The practice of primogeniture in family law was a factor].  How did the Frankish knights behave?  What and where was the Albigensian Crusade?  What were the Crusader states?  Identify the chief Christian orders of chivalry.  Who was Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubid [not Abbuyid] dynasty, and what were his accomplishments?  When did Crusader rule come to an end?  (98-104)  3. The Crusades: Effects and Interpretations  Although Catherwood is impressed by the 461 year gap between the loss of Jerusalem and its recapture, arguments based on historical precedent are always hazardous.  The Scotch-Irish claim close to as many years of residence in Ireland.  The Germans lived in Russia about as long until forced out after WWII.  The 11C Papal Revolution sought to restore the Church back to its earlier autonomy under Gregory the Great.  What makes the Fourth Crusade so memorable?  What was the Latin Empire?  What made the Crusades more of a sideshow even in their day?  What then was the real epic struggle over the Dar-al-Islam (House of Islam)?   Why do the Crusades really matter in our time?  (104-08)  3. Mongols  When did the Mongols reach the Middle East?  Who was Prester John?  William of Rubruk?  Who and where were the Nestorians?  When was Baghdad destroyed?  What spared the Middle East?  How did the Mamluks take over?  Why can the political decline of the Islamic empire be traced back to this period?   How was Islam itself changing, as witness the career of the Hanbali scholar, Ibn Taymiyya?  What happened to the Mongol Il-Khans?  What innovation by Ibn Taymiyya has caused much political mischief by likening unrighteous Muslims (apostates) to infidels belonging to the Dar-al-Harb [House of War].  What is the intellectual genealogy from Ibn Taymiyya to al-Qaeda?  (108-16)  Review  Battle of Manzikert  Sultan Alp-Arslan  Caliph Omar capture of Jerusalem  dhimmis   expulsions from Arabia   Pope Urban   motives for the Crusades Albigensian Crusade   Simon de Montfort  Godfrey of Bouillon  Kingdom of Jerusalem Templars   Hospitallers   Saladin     Fourth Crusade   schism within the Caliphate Dar al-Islam    Perceptions of the Crusades Napoleon’s capture of Egypt Hulagu Prester John   William of Rubruk  Nestorians    Marco Polo   Mamluks   Ibn Taymiyya Il-Khans   Dar al-Harb   Sayyid Qutb ijtihad  CHAPTER SEVEN:  THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: THE TRUE STORY OF AN ISLAMIC SUPERPOWER  Study Questions  1. Imperial Expansion in Europe and Asia  How did the Ottoman Empire originate?   How did the Ottomans expand their territory?  What were the short-term and long-term consequences of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and the Battle of Nicopolis (1396)?  How were the Ottoman Empire nearly toppled, as well as Egypt’s Mamluk regime?  Why were they spared?  Sultan Murad’s successor Bayezid I [not II] was captured by Timur (Tamerlane) and probably committed suicide, which led to a bloody succession crisis with Mehmed I gradually eliminating his brothers (1402-1413).  Please note that here are errors and inconsistencies on pages 121-22.  How did the Mughal Empire in India originate?   How did Constantinople fall in 1453 and what were some of its consequences?  Hagia Sophia, converted into a mosque, was turned into a museum in the 1930s.  How did Selim expand the empire and when did he claim the caliphate?  What did the Protestant Reformation owe to the Ottomans?  The two sieges of Vienna (1529 and 1683) appear to have been partially conflated.  The earlier siege took place in 1529 but the croissants may not have been rolled out at that time despite the story on page 124.  What made the Battle of Mohacs in 1526 so important?  Why did Transylvanian Protestants prefer Turkish rule?  (117-24)   2. Problems in East and West  What was the character of the Safavid dynasty that Ismail establish over Persia?  I what ways did it reflect older rivalries?  What is the significance of Don John’s victory at Lepanto in 1571?  How did Shah Abbas change the character of the region?  Who were the Grand Viziers?  [The correspond somewhat to the majordomos of the Frankish kingdom and the shoguns of Japan].  Devşirme, or more commonly devshirme (not dervishme), was the Ottoman “blood tax” established by Sultan Murad I (who was killed at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389) to create a caste of dependable administrators and warriors.  Christian boys (but not Jews or Armenians), primarily from the Balkans, were conscripted before adolescence, converted to military (Janissaries and other corps).   The practice of “tax-farming” used by the sultanate recapitulated a common earlier Roman practice.  The late Roman Empire even made some offices hereditary to ensure greater accountability and make sure that the taxes were collected (any shortfall had to be raised by the provincial officials).  The second Siege of Vienna was one of the great events of the last millennium.  Two months after it began, Poland’s King Jan III Sobieski (elected in 1674) led his heavy cavalry (the Hussars) into battle on September 12, broke the siege, and defeated the Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa at the gates of Vienna.  The Hörnchen (croissant) is the crescent-shaped roll created to celebrate the victory that saved Western civilization.  After that, the empire began its long decline.  What was significant about the treaties of Carlowitz (1699), Passarowitz (1718), and Küçük Kaynarca (Kuchuk Kaynarji, 1774)?  The millet system of community-based law gave Russians the right to intervene on behalf of Orthodox subjects; later the French were given the right to intervene on behalf of other Christians.  What is meant by the Eastern Question?  The independence of Greece, Crimean War, the carving off of Ottoman territories by Britain, France, Russia, Austria, and others represent some of the actions and confrontations that grew out of it.  (124-30)  3. Wahhabi Islam  What is the intellectual ancestry of Wahhabism and how did it become such a powerful religious force in Arabia?  How do Wahhabis regard jihad?  (130-34)  4. The Nineteenth Century: Western Expansion, Ottoman Retreat  Who was Mehmet Ali?  By the way, at one point he massacred the Wahhabis.  What was the chief threat to the Ottoman Empire in the early part of the nineteenth century?  What finally doomed the Ottomans?  Who were the Young Turks (CUP)?  The Young Turks took control of the Empire in a 1913 coup.   The war minister and chief leader, İsmail Enver (Enver Paşa or Pasha), who admired Germany, arranged the German-Turkish alliance that brought the Ottoman Empire into the First World War in October 1914, but he proved to be an ineffective commander and strategist.  Later Enver collaborated with the Bolsheviks, sought to restore Ottoman territories from Russian control, pursued his pan-Turkic dreams (Turanism), and was killed in a Russian attack at Dushanbe (Tajikistan) in 1922. By contrast, Mustapha Kemal (Atatürk), who was the Turkish commander at Gallipoli, was a nationalist who later founded the new state of Turkey.  (134-45)  5. The Decline of the Ottoman Empire: Orientalism and After  Who is Bernard Lewis and what does he believe “went wrong” with the Middle East?  How did Edward Said rebut his argument?  What did Said mean by “Orientalism?”  How has their dispute been drawn into the American culture wars?  (145-53)       Review  Osman    Battle of Kosovo  Murad I Bayezid I   Battle of Nicopolis  Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) Mughals   fall of Constantinople  Hagia Sophia Charles V   siege of Vienna, 1529   Suleiman the Magnificent Safavid dynasty   Shah Abbas   Don John Battle of Lepanto  Grand Viziers   Koprulu dynasty devshirme   Treaty of Carlowitz  Treaty of Passarowitz Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca millet system   Eastern Question Abd al-Wahhab   al-Saud clan   jihad syncretism   Crimean War   Young Turks (CUP) Edward Said   Orientalism   Bernard Lewis  CHAPTER EIGHT:  FALL OF THE OTTOMANS AND THE BIRTH OF A NEW MIDDLE EAST  Study Questions  1. Turkey’s Choice  What are some of the disasters that can be attribute to the demise of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the Caliphate?  What circumstances led to its demise?  What diplomatic blunder was made by Winston Churchill?  What other factors might have worked in the Empire’s favor even after it sided with Germany?  What is wrong with the view of the Desert Revolt propagated by T. E. Lawrence?  (154-58)  2. War Against the Ottomans: Gallipoli and Iraq  Although Gallipoli is usually regarded as a military disaster, what might have been gained had it succeeded?   Who was Mustapha Kemal?  What happened at Kut?  As for the genocide, more than one million Armenians were killed in 1915 and another million expelled.  (158-63)  3. Carving Up the Middle East: the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration  What two major problems did the British face?   Who are the Hashemites?  What was Sharif Hussein’s dream?  Why did the British Raj in India differ with authorities in London and Cairo?  What was Italy promised for switching sides?  What were some of the promises the British made and with whom?  What happened as a result of the overthrow of the Tsarist regime in Russia?  Why did Lloyd George want Mosul?  (163-74)  4. The Arab Revolt and Its Aftermath  What were the provisions of the Treaty of Sèvres?  What were some of the adverse consequences of Mustapha Kemal’s uprising and victories?   How was Iraq created?  Who were the winners and losers from all these events?  (174-82)   5. New Rulers, New Dynasties: Turkey, Iran, Arabia  What were some of Kemal Ataturk’s reforms?   How was Saudi Arabia created?  How did Sharif Hussein play into Ibn Saud’s hands?  What changed with the Treaty of Lausanne?  What happened to the Arab world?  (182-88)  Review  Winston Churchill  Desert Revolt   T. E. Lawrence Gallipoli   Mustapha Kemal  Kut Armenian genocide  Suez Canal   Sultan’s fatwa Sharif Hussein   Britain’s two voices  bribing Italy Sir Mark Sykes   Sykes-Picot agreement  Henry MacMahon Lord Curzon   Alfred Balfour   Lord Rothschild (David) Lloyd George  Treaty of Sèvres  Michel Aflaq Ba’ath Party   Gertrude Bell   Feisal creation of Iraq   Abdullah   Ataturk’s modernization program Kemal Ataturk    Qajar dynasty   Abdul Aziz al-Saud (Ibn Saud) Nejd    Hijaz    Treaty of Lausanne    how the Arab and Turkish worlds differed   culture of shame  

Christopher Catherwood: A Brief History of the Middle East Study Guide

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