126 • 8 ISLAMIC CIVILIZATIONspread to Central Asia, Anatolia, southeastern Europe, India, Indonesia, and
Africa south of the Sahara. From the eleventh century to the nineteenth, Su-
fism dominated the spiritual life of most Muslims. Brotherhoods and sister¬
hoods of mystics, also called Sufi orders, arose throughout the umma,
providing a new basis for social cohesion. The Safavid dynasty, which ruled
Persia from 1501 to 1736, began as a Sufi order. Sufism also held together
the warrior ghazis who founded the Safavid dynasty's better-known rival,
the Ottoman Empire. The Safavids were Shi'is, and the Ottomans Sunnis;
indeed, both of the main branches of Islam could accommodate Sufism.
Review of Muslim Divisions
Let us review the bases of division in Islam. The first is political: After
Muhammad died, should the leaders have been chosen by the umma or
taken from the male members of his household? The second, overlapping
somewhat with the first, is legal: Which rite or system of jurisprudence can
best guide the conduct of individual and communal Muslim life? The
third raises theological issues: To what extent can people apply reason to
expressing or debating Islamic beliefs? Is God responsible for human ac¬
tions, or is each person accountable for what he or she does? The fourth
can be termed spiritual: To what degree should Islamic practice include
mysticism, or the search for hidden meanings not contained in outwardly
tangible aspects of religion? Do not treat the resulting sectarian divisions
as watertight compartments. For instance, an eleventh-century Egyptian
could be a Sunni Muslim adhering to the Maliki rite and to Ash'ari's theol¬
ogy, and practicing Sufism within a mystic brotherhood, even while being
ruled by the Shi'i Fatimids.
CONCLUSIONThe social, cultural, and intellectual life of early Islam was so rich and var¬
ied that it defies brief description. The Muslim peoples of the Middle East
drew on their own pre-Islamic traditions and those of the various civiliza¬
tions that they encountered, many of which had been flourishing for cen¬
turies. They absorbed the customs and ideas that fit with their basic belief
in the unity of God and the mission of Muhammad. The others they re¬
jected. Over many centuries and under many dynasties they went on devel¬
oping and enriching this multifaceted civilization, through trade and
manufacturing, the spoken and written word, the erection of imposing