Crossroads: The Islamic Tradition

(CRD 33)

"Crossroads” is a comparative journey that will take you to a pinnacle moment of Western culture for five weeks, and then to a paired episode from a contemporaneous non-Western culture for another five weeks. Every course will be richly illustrated with slides of art, architecture, and archaeology; and one great book from the world’s best literature, philosophy, or religious thought will be the primary reading for each segment. We invite you to join us on our journey.

The Islamic Tradition

In 622 CE, Muhammad fled Mecca for Medina. There he created an entirely new and revolutionary Muslim community. By 630, his followers were strong enough to take over Mecca, which then became the political and ideological center of the Muslim world. Two years later Muhammad died. The new faith might have died with him were it not for the foresight of his immediate successors, the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. Under their leadership, Islamic theology and practice were established, the Koran assumed its present form, and the Caliphate imposed its rule from the Pyrenees to the Himalayas. By the late 8th century ce, in spite of various political and theological setbacks, the Caliphate emerged as the world’s largest and most powerful empire. Faith, commerce, and scholarship were its driving forces. Pilgrims from across the Muslim world traveled to Mecca. Merchants from Cordoba and Cairo, Baghdad and Bukhara traded silks, spices, and textiles. Scholars exchanged information — artistic, philosophical, scientific, technological — and founded universities in all major urban centers. A new and vital Pan-Arabic culture had emerged. Its theology, its aesthetics, and its values would profoundly influence the future civilizations of Europe and South Asia.

See also: Crossroads: Late Antiquity and the Church

Edward Steidle, Lecturer in English

Edward Steidle joined Stanford’s English faculty in 1984. His area of specialization is medieval art and literature. He is currently working on comparative approaches to the study of ancient European, Asian, and Central American cultures. He also leads travel groups to historic sites in Italy and the Aegean.