Arab Empire

The “Arab Empire ” or “Islamic Arab Empire” is closely linked to the expansion of Islam and constituted a state that dominated much of the Asian continent, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula between the 7th and 13th centuries. Indeed, their unity was possible thanks to the legitimacy that Muhammad and his Caliphs enjoyed vis-à-vis the Arab tribes and conquered peoples.

Key Features

Until the beginning of the 7th century, Arabia consisted of about 300 Semitic tribes, among which the nomadic Bedouin and the Quraysh tribes of the coastal region stood out.

However, with the unification of the Arabian Peninsula under the religious aegis, the Arab peoples acquired a form of social and political cohesion based on a Theocratic Monarchy, which merged economic, social, political and military elements to make their expansionism viable, based on the precepts of the Koran. , the holy book of the Muslims, to maintain their harmony.

Therefore, it is worth mentioning that many peoples converted to Islam, given that Muslims paid less taxes.

Another notable feature is that the Arabs controlled the most important trade routes and dominated trade in the Mediterranean Sea. Consequently, Mecca was considered the sacred capital of the empire and the main center of religious and commercial convergence.

The caliphs, successors of Muhammad, held military, political and sometimes religious power. Thus, they expanded the empire's territories and absorbed the cultures of the dominated peoples. Now, the Arabs were the main responsible for the preservation of Greco-Roman knowledge, among them, that of Aristotle.

From a cultural point of view, the areas of literature stood out, with the production of works such as “As minas do rei Salomão, The thousand and one nights and Ali Baba and the forty thieves ” and Treatises on Medicine and Sciences. The architectural aspects of palaces and mosques are also well known in the West, decorated with illustrative arabesques.

See also:Byzantine Empire

Historical Context:Summary

The Arab Empire has as its cornerstone the prophet Mohammed, born in Mecca in the mid-570s. His pilgrim life in the caravans of trade allowed him to come into contact with different tribes and cultures, on which he based himself to create Islam, the religion that practically united all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, in 610, the prophet would have founded the religion of Mohammed, called Muslim or Islamic.

In turn, in 622, Muhammad would have immigrated from Mecca to Medina, in what became known as the Hegira. From there, a new form of government emerged, the Umma and the process of expansion and conversion of the Arabian Peninsula tribes begins. Subsequently, expansionism continues towards the Northwest and East, fighting the Byzantine and Persian empires.

With the death of the prophet in the year 632, the unification movement of Arabia breaks through the borders of the peninsula and, until the year 750, expands its territories greatly.

Finally, it is worth highlighting the action of the Caliph Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad's fathers-in-law, who ruled after the death of his son-in-law and declared the Holy War for the conversion of non-Muslims and fostered the expansion of the Empire.

His successor, Umar Ibn Al-Kattab, ruled between 644 and 656, when he expanded imperial territory over Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Persia. In turn, Uthman Ibn Affan, succeeds him in 644 and, during his caliphate, conquers Persia, and much of Asia Minor and North Africa.

However, ideological differences lead to the assassination of the monarch by Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, creating a split in the Empire that divides it between Shias, who believe that only the prophet's family could rule; and the Sunnis, who believed that divine revelation had already been given by Muhammad, hence the caliph could not therefore be a spiritual leader.

Thus, due to the civil wars that fragmented the Arab Empire into several caliphates, at the end of the 14th century, the imperial configuration was no longer the same, so that the Empire no longer existed.