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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 leaming.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 is only in
understanding each other better that they can serve their own people more
successfully and also contribute to a better life for the whole of humanity.
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