The Spread of Islam
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--where as 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 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.
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 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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