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Islam, A World Civilization
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[Master Table of Contents]
Contents
"Thus We have appointed
you a middle nation, that you may be witnesses upon mankind." (Quran,
Surah [2:143])
Islam was destined to become
a world religion and to create a civilization which stretched from one
end of the globe to the other. Already during the early Muslim
caliphates, first the Arabs, then the Persians and later the Turks set
about to create classical Islamic civilization. Later, in the 13th
century, both Africa and India became great centers of Islamic
civilization and soon thereafter Muslim kingdoms were established in
the Malay-Indonesian world while Chinese Muslims flourished throughout
China.
Islam is a religion for all people from whatever race or background they might
be. That is why Islamic civilization is based on a unity which stands
completely against any racial or ethnic discrimination. Such major
racial and ethnic groups as the Arabs, Persians, Turks, Africans,
Indians, Chinese and Malays in addition to numerous smaller units
embraced Islam and contributed to the building of Islamic
civilization. Moreover, Islam was not opposed to learning from the
earlier civilizations and incorporating their science, learning, and
culture into its own world view, as long as they did not oppose the
principles of Islam. Each ethnic and racial group which embraced Islam
made its contribution to the one Islamic civilization to which
everyone belonged. The sense of brotherhood and sisterhood was so much
emphasized that it overcame all local attachments to a particular
tribe, race, or language--all of which became subservient to the
universal brotherhood and sisterhood of Islam. The global
civilization thus created by Islam permitted people of diverse ethnic
backgrounds to work together in cultivating various arts and sciences.
Although the civilization was profoundly Islamic, even non-Muslim
"people of the book" participated in the intellectual activity whose
fruits belonged to everyone. The scientific climate was reminiscent of
the present situation in America where scientists and men and women of
learning from all over the world are active in the advancement of
knowledge which belongs to everyone. The global civilization created
by Islam also succeeded in activating the mind and thought of the
people who entered its fold. As a result of Islam, the nomadic Arabs
became torch-bearers of science and learning. The Persians who had
created a great civilization before the rise of Islam nevertheless
produced much more science and learning in the Islamic period than
before. The same can be said of the Turks and other peoples who
embraced Islam. The religion of Islam was itself responsible not only
for the creation of a world civilization in which people of many
different ethnic backgrounds participated, but it played a central
role in developing intellectual and cultural life on a scale not seen
before. For some eight hundred years Arabic remained the major
intellectual and scientific language of the world. During the
centuries following the rise of Islam, Muslim dynasties ruling in
various parts of the Islamic world bore witness to the flowering of
Islamic culture and thought. In fact this tradition of intellectual
activity was eclipsed only at the beginning of modern times as a
result of the weakening of faith among Muslims combined with external
domination. And today this activity has begun anew in many parts of
the Islamic world now that the Muslims have regained their political
independence.
Upon the death of the Prophet,
Abu Bakr, the friend of the Prophet and the first adult male to
embrace Islam, became caliph. Abu Bakr ruled for two years to be
succeeded by 'Umar who was caliph for a decade and during whose rule
Islam spread extensively east and west conquering the Persian empire,
Syria and Egypt. It was 'Umar who marched on foot at the end of the
Muslim army into Jerusalem and ordered the protection of Christian
sites. 'Umar also established the first public treasury and a
sophisticated financial administration. He established many of the
basic practices of Islamic government. 'Umar was succeeded by 'Uthman
who ruled for some twelve years during which time the Islamic
expansion continued. He is also known as the caliph who had the
definitive text of the Noble Quran copied and sent to the four corners
of the Islamic world. He was in turn succeeded by 'Ali who is known to
this day for his eloquent sermons and letters, and also for his
bravery. With his death the rule of the "rightly guided" caliphs, who
hold a special place of respect in the hearts of Muslims, came to an
end.
Umayyad
The Umayyad caliphate established in 661 was to last for about a century.
During this time Damascus became the capital of an Islamic world which
stretched from the western borders of China to southern France. Not
only did the Islamic conquests continue during this period through
North Africa to Spain and France in the West and to Sind, Central Asia
and Transoxiana in the East, but the basic social and legal
institutions of the newly founded Islamic world were established.
Abbasids
The Abbasids, who succeeded the Umayyads, shifted the
capital to Baghdad which soon developed into an incomparable center of
learning and culture as well as the administrative and political heart
of a vast world. They ruled for over 500 years but gradually their
power waned and they remained only symbolic rulers bestowing
legitimacy upon various sultans and princes who wielded actual
military power. The Abbasid caliphate was finally abolished when
Hulagu, the Mongol ruler, captured Baghdad in 1258, destroying much of
the city including its incomparable libraries. While the Abbasids
ruled in Baghdad, a number of powerful dynasties such as the Fatimids,
Ayyubids and Mamluks held power in Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The
most important event in this area as far as the relation between Islam
and the Western world was concerned was the series of Crusades
declared by the Pope and espoused by various European kings. The
purpose, although political, was outwardly to recapture the Holy Land
and especially Jerusalem for Christianity. Although there was at the
beginning some success and local European rule was set up in parts of
Syria and Palestine, Muslims finally prevailed and in 1187 Saladin,
the great Muslim leader, recaptured Jerusalem and defeated the
Crusaders.
When the Abbasids captured Damascus, one of the Umayyad princes
escaped and made the long journey from there to Spain to found Umayyad
rule there, thus beginning the golden age of Islam in Spain. Cordoba
was established as the capital and soon became Europe's greatest city
not only in population but from the point of view of its cultural and
intellectual life. The Umayyads ruled over two centuries until they
weakened and were replaced by local rulers. Meanwhile in North
Africa, various local dynasties held sway until two powerful Berber
dynasties succeeded in uniting much of North Africa and also Spain in
the 12th and 13th centuries. After them this area was ruled once again
by local dynasties such as the Sharifids of Morocco who still rule in
that country. As for Spain itself, Muslim power continued to wane
until the last Muslim dynasty was defeated in Granada in 1492 thus
bringing nearly eight hundred years of Muslim rule in Spain to an end.
The Mongols devastated the eastern lands of Islam
and ruled from the Sinai Desert to India for a century. But they soon
converted to Islam and became known as the Il-Khanids. They were in
turn succeeded by Timur and his descendents who made Samarqand their
capital and ruled from 1369 to 1500. The sudden rise of Timur delayed
the formation and expansion of the Ottoman empire but soon the
Ottomans became the dominant power in the Islamic world.
From humble origins the Turks
rose to dominate over the whole of Anatolia and even parts of Europe.
In 1453 Mehmet the Conqueror captured Constantinople and put an end to
the Byzantine empire. The Ottomans conquered much of eastem Europe and
nearly the whole of the Arab world, only Morocco and Mauritania in the
West and Yemen, Hadramaut and parts of the Arabian peninsula remaining
beyond their control. They reached their zenith of power with Suleyman
the Magnificent whose armies reached Hungary and Austria. From the
17th century onward with the rise of Westem European powers and later
Russia, the power of the Ottomans began to wane. But they nevertheless
remained a force to be reckoned with until the First World War when
they were defeated by the Westem nations. Soon thereafter Kamal
Ataturk gained power in Turkey and abolished the six centuries of rule
of the Ottomans in 1924.
While the Ottomans were concerned mostly with the westem front of their empire,
to the east in Persia a new dynasty called the Safavids came to power
in 1502. The Safavids established a powerful state of their own which
flourished for over two centuries and became known for the flowering
of the arts. Their capital, Isfahan, became one of the most beautiful
cities with its blue tiled mosques and exquisite houses. The Afghan
invasion of 1736 put an end to Safavid rule and prepared the
independence of Afghanistan which occured formally in the 19th
century. Persia itself fell into turmoil until Nader Shah, the last
Oriental conqueror, reunited the country and even conquered India. But
the rule of the dynasty established by him was short-lived. The Zand
dynasty soon took over to be overthrown by the Qajars in 1779 who made
Tehran their capital and ruled until 1921 when they were in turn
replaced by the Pahlavis.
As for India, Islam entered into the land east of the Indus River peacefully.
Gradually Muslims gained political power beginning in the early 13th
century. But this period which marked the expansion of both Islam and
Islamic culture came to an end with the conquest of much of India in
1526 by Babur, one of the Timurid princes. He established the powerful
Mogul empire which produced such famous rulers as Akbar, Jahangir, and
Shah Jahan and which lasted, despite the gradual rise of British power
in India, until 1857 when it was officially abolished.
Farther east in the Malay
world, Islam began to spread in the 12th century in northern Sumatra
and soon Muslim kingdoms were establishd in Java, Sumatra and mainland
Malaysia. Despite the colonization of the Malay world, Islam spread in
that area covering present day Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern
Phililppines and southern Thailand, and is still continuing in islands
farther east.
As far as Africa is
concerned, Islam entered into East Africa at the very beginning of the
Islamic period but remained confined to the coast for some time, only
the Sudan and Somaliland becoming gradually both Arabized and
Islamized. West Africa felt the presence of Islam through North
African traders who travelled with their camel caravans south of the
Sahara. By the 14th century there were already Muslim sultanates in
such areas as Mali, and Timbuctu in West Africa and Harar in East
Africa had become seats of Islamic learning. Gradually Islam
penetrated both inland and southward. There also appeared major
charismatic figures who inspired intense resistance against European
domination. The process of the Islamization of Africa did not cease
during the colonial period and continues even today with the result
that most Africans are now Muslims carrying on a tradition which has
had practically as long a history in certain areas of sub-Saharan
Africa as Islam itself.