Plague in the Sham in Islamic Civilization (from the Beginning to the End of the Umayyads Period)

Zeinab Karimi; Shokrollah Khakrnd; Masoumeh Dehghan

doi:10.18502/ijme.v16i22.15958

Zeinab Karimi Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Education. Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies. Allameh Tabataba'i University. Tehran. Iran.
Shokrollah Khakrnd Associate Professor and Faculty Member of Shiraz University, Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
Masoumeh Dehghan Associate Professor and Faculty Member of Shiraz University, Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijme.v16i22.15958

Keywords: Plague, Amvas, Sham, Islamic civilization, Contagious diseases, Umayyads.

Abstract

The spread of epidemic diseases has always been one of the important issues in the scope of Islamic civilization The history of the plague epidemic dates back to ancient times So that the outbreak of the plague known as Justinian Plague in the late ancient period and its transfer to the Islamic period Muslims in the conquered lands Facing new issues Therefore, plague is one of the deadliest infectious diseases In the geographical scope Islamic civilization has been that in the early Islamic centuries It has caused damage to the social, economic and even intellectual and cultural structure of the Islamic society The land of sham has been one of the most plague-prone regions of Islamic civilization that repeatedly and consecutively And it happened with many injuries. This research aims to investigate the plague in the Sham region during the Umayyad period (661-749AD) Also, examine the reasons for its occurrence and the beliefs surrounding the plague in this region. The investigations of this research show The geographical location of the sham, its Mediterranean climate, and the location of the sham on the trade routes And the resulting changes It has been influential in the occurrence and spread of the plagueThe occurrence of the plague has also had important and interesting effects on the world view of Muslims. So that the plague was not considered an epidemic but as a result of divine mercy or divine punishment.