Blog #10

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?

The Tribe in Arabian and Islamic history has caused problems in the history of Islam because it has caused many wars and uprisings within the religion and empire of Islam. Under the control of the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali), the empires were calm and there was unity and strong connections between the peoples of Islam. However, with some of the successors such as Abu'l-'Abbass and Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, these close connections between the caliphs and the rest of society vanished. Instead, they separated themselves from the general population which resulted in the anger and confusion of some Muslims. Another problem with tribes was that many tribes were opposed to each other's beliefs according to religion, military, etc. For example, many devout Muslims extremely disagreed with the beliefs of the Umayyads. The 'Abassids, the Kharjites, and the followers of 'Ali all believed "that the spirit of Islam had been betrayed by the secular-minded Umayyads." Many disputes occured amongst different tribes because of power issues or disagreements which eventually led to the collapse of some of these tribes/empires.

Blog #9

How has the religious history of India influenced India’s tradition of non-violence?

I think that the religious history of India has influenced India's tradition f non-violence because they were very opposed to any form of violence. We can even see this in the fact that Hindus were vegetarians because they did not want to kill animals (a form of violence). Mohandas Gandhi also played a very important role in the outcome of India's non-violence. During Gandhi's explorations, he received a lot of embarrassment and insults were thrown at him constantly. These insults lead Gandhi to realize that he would not accept social injustice as part of society in South Africa. Mohandas Gandhi also worked for months to get the Natal Legislative Assembly to allow Indian's to vote; Gandhi fought for their independence. We can also see that Gandhi was opposed to violence because when he was assaulted in Durban in 1897, Gandhi refused to let the people who assaulted him get prosecuted. Gandhi was not interested in money, or violence against other regions, but rather, what he thought was right. In 1924, Gandhi fasted for three weeks in order to get people to turn against violence. Gandhi was able to defeat many peoples and get tons of people in jail without using violence to defeat them. Gandhi instilled non-violence into his people, and one of the three major revolutions of the 20th century that he made was of violence. Gandhi wrote a book as well, called Hind Swaraj, part of which was about the rejection of violence.

All of Mohandas Gandhi's work for the installation of non-violence in ancient India are why India is generally opposed to violence. If it hadn't been for Gandhi's ideals on violence, I don't think that India would at all be the same place it is today.

Sources: http://www.search.eb.com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/eb/article-22632

Blog Entry #7

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

Migrations can have a positive impact on the people and land receiving the immigrants because new ideas and trade can be spread throughout the new area. The increase of population as well is a positive effect because with the growth of lands, comes the growth of trade routes. Language, religion, ideas and arts were transferred and exchanged with the newcoming of the immigrants. The cities and manufacturing companies grew as well. I think that the main positive impact was the spread of new ideas and religion/customs because with these changes, more inventions and technilogical advances were created. The different ideas of the immigrants and the inhabitants of the land weaved together to create new ideas. These new ideas are what helped to create the world and make it the way it is today.