Islam's Divisions

The Tribe has always been an important concept in Arabian and Islamic history, creating divisions among its dwellers and followers. How has this caused problems in the history of Islam?

In the lifetime of Muhammud he constantly strived to make the Islam religion a religion of one, to be whole and when Muhammud died that kind a fell apart. Islams a religion did not fall apart, but the way they went about spreading the religion was not a good thing. After forcing tribes to take up the Islamic religion by means of threatening them to pay money or practice, the Islamic wasn't truly one anymore. Once Muhammad died, Caliphates rose up and there became a new way of passing down rule; this was the first big division in the Islamic world; authority. With Muhammud and the Patriarchal Caliphs intergrated themselves with the Islamic community, and their religion was founded on an unprecedented egalitarianism. After the death of Muhammud, tribes became a big issue, because not all the tribes that were under Islamic rule actually chose to be. They were forced by the new rulers in the Umayyad Dynasty to take up Islam as a religion. It created tension and division between the tribes, leaving Islam to really not be a community and a closely followed religion. It led to war and violence, if certain tribes didn't agree with the Islamic religion and didn't agree to pay the rulers, they would be severely punished.

Life in the Islamic world at first seemed great, it seemed to blossom quite rapidly and become an engaging religion. But when constants (Muhammud) weren't there to look to anymore, a division happened and the Islamic history changed into something quite threatening and violent. It changed into something completely different (I think) than what Muhammud wanted to create.

Blog 9: How has the religious history of Indua influenced India's tradition of non - violence?

In the country of India their are two main religions: Hinduism and Buddhism. Both of these religions are based on being one with yourself and God and prospering to be a good person and do good deeds. They focus on being peaceful and non - violent. Mohandas Gandhi considered to be the father of his country, India; influenced many people with his philosophies. He studied Hinduism and Buddhism and combined certain aspects to create his philosophy of life. He grew up in a household, the youngest child of his father's 4th wife, his father being a minister chief and his mother closely following religion. His mother was a big influence on his beliefs which inevitably influenced all of India. He grew up in a household that worshipped the Hindu god Vishnu; the main beliefs were to be non - violent and believe that everything in the universe is eternal. So, Gandhi carried out some of these beliefs and added some of his own throughout his life and was greatly respected and listened to because of them. He had many protests on what he thought was right but never thought that war was the solution. He was a great and powerful influence on the people, their religions, the way they think, and how they go about their day. The religious history of India has obviously influenced India's tradition of non - violence since part of their religion is to go about their day being the best they can and striving to be one with themselves and to do good in the world, leaving the result that India is a peaceful place.

Migration

Can migrations have a positive impact on the people and or land receiving immigrations?

Yes, migrations can have a positive impact on the people and land recieving it. With migration comes trade and exchange. When people move from one area/culture to another they bring along everything that they had or knew with them. So they bring their own culture, techniques, tools, weapons, ideas and knowledge to the empires they are migrating to. The positive impact migration had on empires is that they retained information they didn't know from people who migrated from other cultures/empires. And the end result to that was cultures being mixed and information on weapons, war, and trade was shared. When the first colonists came to North America from europe they brought along their relegion, culture, industrial knowledge and new ideas in general. It impacted America dramatically and changed the culture of the native americans.

#6 Greek Philosophers

1. Pick one of the quotes from Socrates ("The Words of Socrates") and agree or disagree: question Socrates! 

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."

I agree with this quote, I have found this to be true in the past with my own self. I have always wanted more things, I can't help it. But my point is it that if you are never happy with what you have then you will never be happy. If you constantly keep getting stuff and keep wanting more than you will never learn to appreciate the good things in life.

2. Read Plato's definition of the "Nature of Justice" and the "Ideal Republic." What is justice to Plato?

Basically Plato believed that being just was obeying, without restraint your higher authorities and your individual self (emotions,spirit,bodily appetites,intellect,etc.).

3. What do you think about Plato's ideal republic (What are positive elements of it? Negative)?  

I think that having a structure is a good thing, so that it doesn't fall apart, that you have rules to follow and obey. But I think that you don't have any freedom and you basically do as your told or else. It doesn't sound like the best method and idea for running a civilization.

4. What is your vision of an ideal state or republic?

I think democracy is the way to go. Everyone has a voice, so I believe that everyone should be able to use it. I feel like everyone should be on even ground, and be open to new ideas.

5. The Allegory of the cave argues that the only thing standing in the way of knowledge is our insistence that the visual universe is reality. What does this mean? 

It means that we have known things our whole life to be a certain way, we trust that, and believe that that is its only purpose, nothing more nothing less. It means that we don't open our minds enough to think about things in another way than we were taught. It means that we are narrow minded and that we aren't allowing our minds to think in other maybe brilliant ways.

4.

#5 Sparta vs. Athens

1. If you were a young teenage girl of the citizen class, in which city-state would you rather live? Why?

    I would want to live in Sparta. Spartan women were much more free to do what they want. Athenian women were confined to their husbands house's to do spinning, weaving, and other domestic arts. Spartan women were taught how to read and write and they could participate in sports, all of which Athenian women could not do. Athenian women were kept at home, when Spartan women were allowed to own there own property. The only thing that I don't like about the thought of being a Spartan women is that they are seen as baby makers. That was there one goal in life, to make strong healthy babies. But besides that overall women sound like the get a lot more freedom and respect in Sparta.

2. If you were a slave which would you rather live? Why?

   It depends. If you are talking about me choosing between Sparta and Athens specifically being a women slave, then I would probably pick Sparta. Sparta's women slaves had few rights, but were more independent in Sparta then anywhere else in Greece. But if we were just talking in general, then I would pick Athens because they were less harshly treated than in most Greek cities. Athenian slaves sometimes were given important roles but, Athenian slaves were allowed to be killed by there owners. And women had no rights and were rarely seen outside of the house. But I think overall I would want to live in Sparta because they were not allowed to be in the military, they only did nonmilitary work.

3. If you were a boy in the citizen class, in which would you rather live? Why?

   I would want to live in Athens. Athenian boys were taught reading, writing, mathematics, music, poetry, sport, and gymnastics. The amount of years that they were taught depended on how wealthy your parents were but besides that it sounds pretty decent. In Sparta they take you away at the age of seven and trained in the art of warfare. They were dedicated to the state until age 30 and after that continued to fight in the military until they were 60. In Athens they were taught for a long time about deep stuff other than fighting and only had 2 years of military training. 

4. If you were a young soldier which would you rather live? Why?

   Like I said before, in Athens the military seems way less of a big deal. In Sparta they have boys train for the military starting at the age of 7 and you are forced to be in the military until you are 60. The Athenian men have to go into military training for only 2 years. 

5. If you were a very wealthy person of the citizen class, in which would you rather live? Why?

   I would want to live in Sparta. Its simple in the Spartan society upper classes had all the power and privilege. Whereas Athenian citizens were all equal, so no one had the higher authority. Of course you would want to be a wealthy person who had power and control over things not a wealthy person who is equal with everyone else. 

6.    I feel that Athens is the best place to live. I think that I would rather want to live in a democratic society, not just politicians would attend assemblies but everyone would,  Athens was said to be the birthplace of democracy. They weren't as narrow minded as the Spartans that only had war on their mind. Athenians enjoyed the luxuries of life and focused more on culture, art, literature, etc. When the Spartans stuck to the basics of life and focused mainly on war and healthy babies. 

   The education in Athens was way better too. They were able to learn from the ages 5- 14 and sometimes 5-18 and then went to train for the military. In Sparta they take the boys away at 7 to train and they get less of an overall education. 

   I like the atmosphere of Athens better, it seems less harsh and more free to do what you want, overall a better place to grow up. It seems like it is a lot less controlling then Sparta where it seems like your whole life is planned out for you when your born, that is if you are a strong baby, because if your not they will kill you. Athens is a place of spirit, culture, and choice, that is why I think Athens is a better place to live.

   

   

#4

New ideas in politics and philosophy tend to emerge in social, political, and/or economic stress.

How can this be exclaimed?

Well I think that new ideas tend to emerge when we are in times of need, or are in a stressful situation. I mean there is no point for people or civilizations or communities etc. to come up with new ideas when they are not forced to, there is no purpose. So for example there is President Bush who was in office at the time of 9/11 made the decision to go to war in Iraq. Wether or not that was the right decision he still went along with his idea thinking it would be a good idea and would help our "civilization" out, America. Leaders are constantly trying to up there status and become better by bettering there civilization, so there are plenty of bad ideas but there has to be a few good ones in the mix. Right now everything in America has gone bad, stock markets are crashing, the dollar is going down, houses aren't selling for very much at all and as in overall America is in the dumpsters right now. But hopefully Obama will become our new president and plenty of new, great ideas will emerge. Wrapping this up, when civilizations or people in general are in distress or harm they find ways to make there situation better trying to create a more stable and safe environment.

#3 True or False?

Population growth the most significant development of the Classical Period. True or False?

I think that population growth is an extremely significant development, but I don't think that it is the most important one. I think that the networks of exchange also played a huge part in the development of the Classical Period and the development of today for that matter. I think that they both worked together to hand in hand to create more complex societies and cultures. The network of trades were able to spread goods so that towns and cities would become more unified, making possible for empires to form. Population growth then was able to continue intensifying and was able to build great armies because of the network of trading, they were able to have new tools and learn new ways of warring. Also the trading of food and domesticated animals played a big part in the population growth, they were able to share different foods and animals making there resources supple and allowing there kingdoms to grow in population. If you could grow or supply more food (calories) per acre then you can have more people per acre, allowing the land to fill up and become more dense. Then when the cities and empires grew denser more and more people were living in close proximity with animals which led to diseases, which led to immunity, which led to longer life expectancy, which also led to more population growth. But without the network of exchange the population growth could not succeed, they worked together to become two of the most important developments of the Classical Period.