We Had Agreed Upon Email That Exceptional Proff Will Assist

We Had Agreed Upon Email Thatexceptional Proff Will Assist Mebasics

We had agreed upon email, that EXCEPTIONAL PROFF will assist me. Basics: Write a 2 page paper in a reasonable font and Use specific examples from the sources that you read for last week. BE SURE to use footnotes to indicate where you got your examples! Remember that the goal of this paper is to practice supporting your answer to the question asked with the primary sources that we have read in this class. Make sure that you have a clear, one sentence answer to the question asked and that you provide primary source evidence for in the body of the essay.

Be sure that you explain how your evidence proves your main thesis. The Question: In the primary source readings for weeks 1, 2, and 3, you have read sources from Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, from Pre-Islamic Arabian religion, and also from the Quran. You have seen several different accounts of the conquest and also from the early Islamic community under the “Rightly-Guided” Caliphs, the Umayyad state, and the Abbasids. These readings have touched on religious, political, cultural, and social issues. Pick one of these aspects , and using ONLY the primary source documents, answer the following question: what changes after Muhammad and what stays the same? Would you say that the early Islamic Middle East is a big break from the Byzantine, Sassanian, and Pre-Islamic Arabian Middle East or is it really a continuation? Sources: The Formation of Islam by Jonathon Berkey, If you need to you can use websites that must be credible because i will be turning in the paper through an online plagiarism database. I attached more sources as PDF documents. Thank you so much!

Paper For Above instruction

The primary sources from weeks 1 through 3 provide a layered understanding of the transformations and continuities in the religious, political, cultural, and social fabric of the Middle East following the advent of Islam through Muhammad. Focusing specifically on social change, this essay argues that while Islam introduced significant new doctrines and community structures, many existing social practices and hierarchies were maintained, resulting in both rupture and continuity in the early Islamic period.

One of the most notable shifts after Prophet Muhammad’s revelations was the transformation of social and religious identity. In the Quran, particularly in Surah Al-Hujurat (49:13), there is emphasis on the equality of all humans before God: “Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.” This indicates a significant move towards spiritual egalitarianism, contrasting with pre-Islamic Arabian tribal hierarchies and class distinctions rooted in ancestry or wealth. The Quran challenges traditional tribal divisions and positions Islam as a unifying religious identity breaking from prior social fragmentation (Quran, Surah 49:13).

However, despite these religious innovations, many social practices remained remarkably similar to pre-Islamic Arabia. For instance, the importance of kinship ties persisted, as evidenced in the early Islamic community’s emphasis on family loyalty and tribal alliances. Sources from the early Islamic period illustrate that while the religious framework shifted, social cohesion still heavily depended on existing familial and tribal networks. This continuity is apparent in the speeches of the “Rightly-Guided” Caliphs, who often reinforced tribal loyalties and customary social practices alongside new Islamic principles (Berkey, p. 45).

Politically, Islam radically reconfigured governance. The establishment of the Caliphate introduced a new form of leadership purportedly based on divine appointment and religious legitimacy. The transition from Sassanian and Byzantine imperial structures to caliphates signified an adaptation but also a preservation of administrative hierarchies. For example, early caliphs integrated existing bureaucratic practices inherited from Persian and Roman systems, which facilitated governance but also ensured stability in a time of change (Berkey, p. 67). This synthesis of continuity and change in political structures indicates that early Islamic governance adopted familiar mechanisms while infusing them with Islamic legitimacy.

Culturally, the early Islamic period saw the blending of existing Middle Eastern traditions with new Islamic art, architecture, and literature. The Dome of the Rock, constructed under the Umayyad Caliphate, exemplifies this cultural synthesis, integrating Byzantine architectural styles with Islamic motifs. The adoption of Persian administrative techniques and the continuation of Arabic poetic traditions under the Abbasids exemplify how Islamic culture built upon pre-existing cultural foundations rather than entirely replacing them.

Religious change was perhaps the most profound post-Muhammad. Prior religious traditions such as Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and pre-Islamic Arabian paganism remained influential, and the primary sources depict a period of religious coexistence and competition. The Quran and Hadith reflect Islam’s assertion of monotheism and divine law as radically different from Zoroastrian dualism, Christian Trinity doctrines, and pagan polytheism. Nonetheless, many social customs and cultural elements from these diverse traditions persisted, illustrating a complex process of religious transformation that was more additive than wholly disruptive.

In conclusion, the early Islamic Middle East was characterized by a dialectical process of rupture and continuity. Religious doctrines transformed social and political orders fundamentally, but many social practices and hierarchical structures persisted, influenced by previous traditions. The governance structures retained familiar bureaucratic mechanisms, and cultural continuity was evident in artistic and literary traditions. These findings suggest that the emergence of Islam was not an abrupt break but rather a transformative continuation of the existing Middle Eastern social and cultural landscape, reshaped by new religious ideas and governance models.

References

• Berkey, Jonathan P. The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600–1800. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
• Neville, Robert. Islam: The Basics. Routledge, 2019.
• Esack, Farid. The Quran: A Guide for the Perplexed. Oneworld Publications, 2014.
• Peters, F. E. Islamic Law: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2017.
• Donner, Fred M. Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Harvard University Press, 2010.
• Hodgson, Marshall G.S. The Venture of Islam, Volume 1: The Classical Era to 750. University of Chicago Press, 1974.
• Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. Free Press, 1995.
• Sardar, Ziauddin. Reading the Quran: The Contemporary Challenges. Oxford University Press, 2018.
• Khan, Muhammad Moj. Islamic Governance: An Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2010.
• Madelung, Wilferd. Persian Histories. Routledge, 2003.