АНТРОПОЛОШКА СКИЦА ХАРАЊА КУГЕ У СВЕТУ ИСЛАМА ОД 7. ДО 19. ВЕКА
ANTHROPOLOGIC SKETCH OF PLAGUE RAGING IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD, FROM VII TO XIX CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: This study presents in the introductory part the ecological characteristics of the contagious disease of plague, which produced irreversible demographic and civilization effects on the mankind by causing massive deaths during two outbreaks, i.e. during first two pandemics or worldwide visitations, early in the 6th and 14th centuries AD. Further, it gives the eco-historical background of the plague that was raging over the Islamic world from the 7th to the 19th century, which was primarily caused by the spread of that world towards Central Asia. There were located huge areas of the primary ancient foci of the disease, which were physically activated first of all by islamization of that region followed by significant urbanization and migrations, and then, from the 11th 755 to 13th century – by the Mongolian turbulence. The Mongolian expansion, which turned the steppe of primary focus into a really mobile network, infected and made endemic primarily the Islamic world, which was conquered and devastated by Mongolians. However, it also caused the second plague pandemic, due to commercial contacts between Europeans and the East, thus bringing the contagious disease into Western Europe where within the first outbreaks of the so-called "Black Death", by the mid-14th century, at least one quarter to one third of population was killed. This disaster caused brutal and ambiguous transitions of Western Europe, which progress and development were encouraged by the increased economic power of survivors, followed with the increase of labour price and of course the freedom of mind of the Renaissance – created after unprecedented massive deaths, which thoroughly shook former omnipotence of the Christian dogma. Unlike it, the Islamic dogma survived the attack of the pestilence because during the first pandemic, which lasted from the 6th to 8th century, it had already declared the disease as God's will and mercy for Muslims, thus binding the hands of Muslims to carry out feasible material protection, and that was in the past only cleanliness of whatever kind and isolation from the sick. This work presents how European Muslims during "the Black Death", when the disease apparently proved itself to be transferable, they were forced to maintain the illusion of the rightful faith in traditional beliefs that the contagion was the work of God, although they realized it was material. In this way the work shows the price the Islamic dogma had paid to survive massive deaths caused by "the Black Death", and moreover, how different approaches to the disease by Christians and Muslims had influenced West Europeans to thoroughly change their hygienic habits for better whilst the Islamic world did not do that since they though the pestilence was the will of God and therefore did not require any instititional adjustment. This produced an enormous difference in plague-related infectiveness between the Christian world and the Islamic world, which was

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