The Spread of Islam
Friday, September 5, 2008
From the oasis cities of Makkah and Madinah in the Arabian
desert, the message of Islam went forth with electrifying speed.
Within half a century of the Prophet's death, Islam had spread to three
continents. Islam is not, as some imagine in the West, a religion of the sword
nor did it spread primarily by means of war. It was only within Arabia,
where a crude form of idolatry was rampant, that Islam was propagated by
warring against those tribes which did not accept the message of God--whereas
Christians and Jews were not forced to convert. Outside of Arabia
also the vast lands conquered by the Arab armies in a short period became
Muslim not by force of the sword but by the appeal of the new religion. It was
faith in One God and emphasis upon His Mercy that brought vast numbers of
people into the fold of Islam. The new religion did not coerce people to
convert. Many continued to remain Jews and Christians and to this day important
communities of the followers of these faiths are found in Muslim lands.
Moreover, the spread of Islam was not limited to its
miraculous early expansion outside of Arabia. During
later centuries the Turks embraced Islam peacefully as did a large number of
the people of the Indian subcontinent and the Malay-speaking world. In Africa
also, Islam has spread during the past two centuries even under the mighty
power of European colonial rulers. Today Islam continues to grow not only in
Africa but also in Europe and America
where Muslims now comprise a notable minority.
General Characteristics of Islam
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.
Global Religion
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.
A Brief History of Islam
The Rightly guided Caliphs
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.
The Caliphate
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.
North Africa And Spain
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.
After the Mangol Invasion
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.
Ottoman Empire
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.
Persia
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 fommally in the 19th century. Persia
itself fell into tummoil 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.
India
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.
Malaysia And Indonesia
Farther east in the Malay world, Islam began to spread in
the 12th century in northem 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.
Africa
As far as Africa is concemed, 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.
Islam in the United States
It is almost impossible to generalize about American
Muslims: converts, immigrants, factory workers, doctors; all are making their own
contribution to America's
future. This complex community is unified by a common faith, underpinned by a
countrywide network of a thousand mosques.
Muslims were early arrivals in North America.
By the eighteenth century there were many thousands of them, working as slaves
on plantations. These early communities, cut off from their heritage and
families, inevitably lost their Islamic identity as time went by. Today many
Afro-American Muslims play an important role in the Islamic community.
The nineteenth century, however, saw the beginnings of an
influx of Arab Muslims, most of whom settled in the major industrial centers
where they worshipped in hired rooms. The early twentieth century witnessed the
arrival of several hundred thousand Muslims from Eastem Europe: the first
Albanian mosque was opened in Maine in 1915; others soon
followed, and a group of Polish Muslims opened a mosque in Brooklyn
in 1928.
In 1947 the Washington Islamic Center was founded during the
term of President Truman, and several nationwide organizations were set up in
the fifties. The same period saw the establishment of other communities whose
lives were in many ways modelled after Islam. More recently, numerous members
of these groups have entered the fold of Muslim orthodoxy. Today there are
about five million Muslims in America.
Aftermath of the Colonial Period
At the height of European colonial expansion in the 19th
century, most of the Islamic world was under colonial rule with the exception
of a few regions such as the heart of the Ottoman empire, Persia,
Afghanistan, Yemen
and certain parts of Arabia. But even these areas were
under foreign influence or, in the case of the Ottomans, under constant threat.
After the First World War with the breakup of the Ottoman empire, a number of
Arab states such as Iraq became
independent, others like Jordan were
created as a new entity and yet others like Palestine, Syria
and Lebanon
were either mandated or turned into French colonies. As for Arabia, it was at
this time that Saudi Arabia
became finally consolidated. As for other parts of the Islamic world, Egypt
which had been ruled by the descendents of Muhammad Ali since the l9th century
became more independent as a result of the fall of the Ottomans, Turkey was
turned into a secular republic by Ataturk, and the Pahlavi dynasty began a new
chapter in Persia where its name reverted to its eastern traditional form of
Iran. But most of the rest of the Islamic world remained under colonial rule.
Arab
It was only after the Second World War and the dismemberment
of the British, French, Dutch and Spanish empires that the rest of the Islamic
world gained its independence. In the Arab world, Syria
and Lebanon became independent at the
end of the war as did Libya and the
shaykdoms around the Gulf and the Arabian Sea by the
1960's. The North African countries of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria had to
fight a difficult and, in the case of Algeria, long and protracted war to gain
their freedom which did not come until a decade later for Tunisia and Morocco
and two decades later for Algeria. Only Palestine did not
become independent but was partitioned in 1948 with the establishment of the
state of Israel.
India
In India Muslims participated in the freedom movement
against British rule along with Hindus and when independence finally came in
1947, they were able to create their own homeland, Pakistan, which came into
being for the sake of Islam and became the most populated Muslim state although
many Muslims remained in India. In 1971, however, the two parts of the state
broke up, East Pakistan becoming Bengladesh.
Far East
Farther east still, the Indonesians finally gained their
independence from the Dutch and the Malays theirs from Britain.
At first Singapore was part of Malaysia
but it separated in 1963 to become an independent state. Small colonies still
persisted in the area and continued to seek their independence, the kingdom
of Brunei becoming independent as
recently as 1984.
Africa
In Africa also major countries with large or majority Muslim
populations such as Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania began to gain their
independence in the 1950's and 1960's with the result that by the end of the
decade of the 60's most parts of the Islamic world were formed into independent
national states. There were, however, exceptions. The Muslim states in the Soviet
Union failed to gain their autonomy or independence. The same
holds true for Sinkiang (called Eastem Turkestan by Muslim geographers) while
in Eritrea and
the southern Philippines Muslim independence movements still continue.
National States
While the world of Islam has entered into the modern world
in the form of national states, continuous attempts are made to create closer
cooperation within the Islamic world as a whole and to bring about greater
unity. This is seen not only in the meetings of the Muslim heads of state and
the establishment of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries) with its own
secretariat, but also in the creation of institutions dealing with the whole of
the Islamic world. Among the most important of these is the Muslim World League
(Rabitat al-alam al-Islami ) with its headquarters in Makkah. Saudi
Arabia has in fact played a pivotal role in
the creation and maintenance of such organizations.
Revival and Reassertation of Islam
Muslims did not wish to gain only their political
independence. They also wished to assert their own religious and cultural
identity. From the 18th century onward Muslim reformers appeared upon the scene
who sought to reassert the teachings of Islam and to reform society on the
basis of Islamic teachings. One of the first among this group was Muhammad ibn
'Abd al-Wahhab, who hailed from the Arabian peninsula
and died there in 1792. This reformer was supported by Muhammad ibn al-Sa'ud,
the founder of the first Saudi state. With this support Muhammad ibn 'Abd
al-Wahhab was able to spread his teachings not only in Arabia
but even beyond its borders to other Islamic lands where his reforms continue
to wield influence to this day.
In the 19th century lslamic assertion took several different
forms ranging from the Mahdi movement of the Sudan
and the Sanusiyyah in North Africa which fought wars against European
colonizers, to educational movements such as that of Aligarh
in India aiming
to reeducate Muslims. In Egypt which,
because of al-Azhar University,
remains to this day central to Islamic learning, a number of reformers appear,
each addressing some aspect of Islamic thought. Some were concerned more with
law, others economics, and yet others the challenges posed by Western civilization
with its powerful science and technology. These included Jamal al-Din
al-Afghani who hailed originally from Persia
but settled in Cairo and who was
the great champion of Pan-Islamism, that is the movement to unite the Islamic
world politically as well as religiously. His student, Muhammad 'Abduh, who
became the rector of al-Azhar. was also very influential in Islamic theology
and thought. Also of considerable influence was his Syrian student, Rashid
Rida, who held a position closer to that of 'Abd al-Wahhab and stood for the
strict application of the Shari'ah. Among the most famous of these thinkers is
Muhammad Iqbal, the outstanding poet and philosopher who is considered as the
father of Pakistan.
Reform Organizations
Moreover, as Western influence began to penetrate more
deeply into the fiber of Islamic society, organizations gradually grew up whose
goal was to reform society in practice along Islamic lines and prevent its
secularization. These included the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-muslimin) founded
in Egypt and with branches in many Muslim countries, and the Jama'at-i Islami
of Pakistan founded by the influential Mawlana Mawdudi. These organizations
have been usually peaceful and have sought to reestablish an Islamic order
through education. During the last two decades, however, as a result of the
frustration of many Muslims in the face of pressures coming from a secularized
outside world, some have sought to reject the negative aspects of Western
thought and culture and to return to an Islamic society based completely on the
application of the Shari 'ah. Today in every Muslim
country there are strong movements to preserve and propagate Islamic teachings.
In countries such as Saudi Arabia Islamic Law is already being applied and in
fact is the reason for the prosperity, development and stability of the
country. In other countries where Islamic Law is not being applied, however,
most of the effort of Islamic movements is spent in making possible the full
application of the Shari'ah so that the nation can enjoy prosperity along with
the fulfillment of the faith of its people. In any case the widespread desire
for Muslims to have the religious law of Islam applied and to reassert their
religious values and their own identity must not be equated with exceptional
violent eruptions which do exist but which are usually treated sensationally
and taken out of proportion by the mass media in the West.
Education and Science in the Islamic World
In seeking to live successfully in the modern world, in
independence and according to Islamic principles, Muslim countries have been
emphasizing a great deal the significance of the role of education and the
importance of mastering Western science and technology. Already in the 19th
century, certain Muslim countries such as Egypt,
Ottoman Turkey and Persia
established institutions of higher learning where the modem sciences and
especially medicine were taught. During this century educational institutions
at all levels have proliferated throughout the Islamic world. Nearly every
science ranging from mathematics to biology as well as various fields of modern
technology are taught in these institutions and some notable scientists have
been produced by the Islamic world, men and women who have often combined
education in these institutions with training in the West.
In various parts of the Islamic world there is, however, a
sense that educational institutions must be expanded and also have their
standards improved to the level of the best institutions in the world in
various fields of leaming especially science and technology. At the same time
there is an awareness that the educational system must be based totally on
Islamic principles and the influence of alien cultural and ethical values and
norms, to the extent that they are negative, be diminished. To remedy this
problem a number of international Islamic educational conferences have been
held, the first one in Makkah in 1977, and the foremost thinkers of the Islamic
world have been brought together to study and ponder over the question of the
relation between Islam and modern science. This is an ongoing process which is
at the center of attention in many parts of the Islamic world and which
indicates the significance of educational questions in the Islamic world today.
Influence of Islamic Science and Learning Upon the West
The oldest university in the world which is still
functioning is the eleven hundred-year-old Islamic university
of Fez, Morocco,
known as the Qarawiyyin. This old tradition of Islamic learning influenced the West
greatly through Spain.
In this land where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived for the most part
peacefully for many centuries, translations began to be made in the 11th
century mostly in Toledo of Islamic works into Latin often through the
intermediary of Jewish scholars most of whom knew Arabic and often wrote in
Arabic. As a result of these translations, Islamic thought and through it much
of Greek thought became known to the West and Western schools of learning began
to flourish. Even the Islamic educational system was emulated in Europe
and to this day the term chair in a university reflects the Arabic kursi
(literally seat) upon which a teacher would sit to teach his students in the
madrasah (school of higher learning). As European civillization grew and
reached the high Middle Ages, there was hardly a field of learning or form of
art, whether it was literature or architecture, where there was not some
influence of Islam present. Islamic learning became in this way part and parcel
of Western civilization even if with the advent of the Renaissance, the West
not only turned against its own medieval past but also sought to forget the
long relation it had had with the Islamic world, one which was based on
intellectual respect despite religious opposition.
Conclusion
The Islamic world remains today a vast land stretching from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, with an important presence in Europe and America,
animated by the teachings of Islam and seeking to assert its own identity.
Despite the presence of nationalism and various secular ideologies in their
midst, Muslims wish to live in the modern world but without simply imitating
blindly the ways followed by the West. The Islamic world wishes to live at
peace with the West as well as the East but at the same time not to be
dominated by them. It wishes to devote its resources and energies to building a
better life for its people on the basis of the teachings of Islam and not to
squander its resources in either internal or external conflicts. It seeks
finally to create better understanding with the West and to be better
understood by the West. The destinies of the Islamic world and the West cannot
be totally separated and therefore it only in understands each other better
that they can serve their own people more successfully and also contribute to a
better life for the whole of humanity.
posted by imherejustforu @ 2:23 AM
http://liveableworld.blogspot.com/2008/09/spread-of-islam.html
