A Brief History of Islam
Before Islam, the Arabian Peninsula was a region torn by centuries of tribal warfare. Before the birth of Muhammad, its people were aware of both Jewish and Christian faiths, yet they embraced neither. They were, however, painfully aware that their God, Allah, had never sent them a revelation or a prophet of their own.
Early Islam
Some Arabs that encountered Jews and Christians began to feel that God had left them out of His divine plan because they had not received a revelation that spoke specifically to them. However, all of that changed on the 17th night of Ramadan in the year 610 CE when Muhammad (570–632) received his first revelation. While sleeping in a mountain cave, he was visited by the angel, Gabriel that commanded that he recite (igra).
The summons to his mission as a prophet is known in Islam as Laylat Al Qadr (the Night of Power). Like so many prophets before him, Muhammad did not think he was worthy. The word of God had been spoken for the first time in the native Arabic language and the holy book would be called the Koran (the Recitation). Four the remaining twenty-two years of his life, Muhammad continued to receive revelations.
Muhammad was one of the most astonishing historical figures in world history. Born Muhammad ibn Abdullah in Mecca around 570 CE, he was orphaned at the age of two and was raised by his uncle Abu Talib. He married a rich widow named Khadijah and together they had four daughters: Umm Kulthum, Ruqayah, Zainab, and Fatimah. Khadijah was the first convert to Islam, and as a result, she is highly revered.
Muhammad’s leadership can be divided into two periods: The Mecca years (610–622) and the Medina years (622–632). It was in 622 that a small community of Muslims migrated from Mecca to Medina. This is known as Hijrah and marks the turning point in the development of Islam.
The year, 622, is the first year of the Muslim calendar. Although, Mecca is the holiest city within Islam, Medina and Jerusalem (where Muhammad ascended to heaven on his Night Journey) are also sacred to Islam. During his lifetime, he was able to communicate a religious vision that united not only his people but people around the world. The religious scholar Karen Armstrong in her book Muhammad explains:
If we view Muhammad as we do any other important historical figure, we would surely consider him to be one of the greatest geniuses the world has known. To create a literary Masterpiece, to found a major religion and a new world power are not ordinary achievements. But to appreciate his full genius we must examine the society into which he was born and the forces which he contended. When he descended from Mount Hira to bring the Word of God to the Arabs, Muhammad was about to attempt the impossible…….. Yet, Muhammad set out to make the Arabs achieve this major change in a mere twenty-three years!
Although Muhammad was an extremely charismatic and gifted person, he never professed to be a god in any way but rather, the Messenger of God. Nor did he profess to perform miracles such as raising people from the dead. Even though his name is perhaps the most popular in the world, the religion does not bear his name and he is subordinate to the Koran and Islam.
Muslims believe that the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in a series of chapters (suras) and organized according to length with the longest first and the shortest last. The shorter suras are from the Mecca years. It was in 630 that Muhammad led his forces against Mecca and from 630 to 632 the remaining tribes of Arabia accepted Muhammad’s mission and the Islamic faith. The life and achievements of Muhammad would change the lives of Muslims forever and leave an engrained mark on human history for centuries after his death.
The holy book that he left, the Koran, is the fruit of Islam that nourishes nearly a billion people every day. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, is a monotheistic religion that claims Abraham as its primogenitor through his son Ismael. Most scholars agree that the Jewish and Christian faiths had a profound influence on Islam; and Muslims refer to them as People of the Book. Many of the Prophets of the Old Testament are in the Koran, e.g., Adam, Noah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah, and John (the Baptist); and Christians would be surprised to find how many times Jesus (Isa) and Mary (Maryam) are mentioned in the Koran. Moreover, the Koran contains a chapter, 19, Surah Maryam, that is named after Mary. The Following are used as sources for guidance within Islam:
Koran (Qur’an): The Word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad
Hadith: Authenticated sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
Ijma: A consensus among Islamic scholars
Qiyas: Analogical reasoning
Ijtihad: Continual scholarly interpretation
There are five things or pillars that are incumbent upon every Muslim:
1) Shahadah: I testify that there is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God
2) Salat: Prayer (five times a day in the direction of Mecca)
3) Zakat: Charity
4) Sawm: Fasting (observed during the month of Ramadan)
5) Hajj: Pilgrimage. (once in a lifetime on a Pilgrimage to Mecca)
The following are among the top sacred sites to all Muslims:
The Kaaba Masjid al-Haram (Toward which Muslim should face when praying anywhere in the world)
Masjid al Nabii (The Prophet’s House)
Masjid al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock
The following are important to the Shi’a community:
Karbala (the place where Imam Hussain the grandson of the prophet was martyred)
Najaf (The first Imam of the Shi’a tradition is buried here)
From the early days in Medina, Islam was built around the notion of a religious community marked by universal faith; an affirmation in a single God and that Muhammad was His messenger. A body of Islamic law, the Sharia, based on the Koran and the interpretations of the Prophet’s law text and sayings, was established and upheld by a religious body known as the Ulema. Armed which such laws and convictions, in relatively a short time, Islam was able to usher in one of the largest empires in history. The influence of Islam had spread as far in a few decades as Christianity had in as many centuries.
By 636 CE, only four years after the death of Muhammad, the Byzantines were forced to retreat from Syria and the Muslims became established in the Levant. In 641 CE, Egypt was under their control and a decade later parts of Persia. By the end of the eighth century, the Arabs had reached Spain to the west and India in the east.
The early history of Islam could be broken down into crucial periods. The first is known as the four “Rightly Guided Caliphs (successors) Al-Khulafa-ur Rashidun” who ruled from 632- 661 CE. This is followed by the Umayyad caliphs (661-750 CE) with their capital at Damascus, the Abbasids (750–1258) with the center of their dynasty located in Baghdad, culminating with the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922) centered in Turkey.
Rightly Guided Caliphs
The first of the “Rightly Guided Caliphs” was Abu Bakr (570–634) an early follower, closest companion and father of one of Mohammad’s wives. He ruled for two years during which he instituted the collection of the Koran to be put in written form. The next caliph was Umar (Omar). He conquered Damascus in 635 and Jerusalem in 637, both from Syria in the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire.
It was Umar who established the basic practices of the Islamic government. Uthman (574- 656) succeeded Umar and he initiated the compilation of the text that became the Koran as revealed to the Prophet. Uthman ruled for twelve years and was assassinated. He was succeeded by Ali a blood relative of Mohammad. Ali was known for his eloquent sermons and his bravery and he is constantly revered in-text particularly among the Sufis and the Shi’ites branches. Out of the first Four Caliphs three of them were assassinated, Uthman, Umar, and Ali. In fact, “assassin” is one of the words that come to us from Arabic.
Many Westerners and non-Muslims tend to think of Islam as a monolithic religion. Islam, however, is divided into various sects with different ideologies and interpretations of the Koran.
It was after the death of Mohammad, that the seeds which would ultimately splinter Islam were first planted. Abu Bakr and Umar, both companions of the Prophet from the early days in Medina, felt that they possessed the vision and the experience to follow in the footsteps of Mohammad.
Some Muslims, however, believed that power should remain within the family of the Prophet. Muhammad’s closest blood relative was Ali who was also married to Muhammad’s daughter Fatima. Together they had two sons, Hasan and Husayn. The family of the Prophet was a constant source of opposition from the inception of the early caliphates. The selection of Ali as Caliph exposed the schism within the Muslim community regarding a legitimate successor.
Since Mohammad left no male heirs, the ascension based on blood rite was always a matter of contention. With Ali being tied to Mohammad by blood, many Muslims thought that he was the rightful heir. As a result of the ongoing friction, a civil war ensued and Ali, who the Shi'ites regard as the first Imam, was assassinated.
Many Muslims thought that Ali’s son, Husayn (626–680), and the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad should succeed him which led to more civil war and the murder of Husayn and his immediate family by the Umayyad caliph Yazid in 680. This was a seminal event in the history of Shi’ism and Islam because the death of Husayn took on an aura of martyrdom. The town of Karbala where Husayn was killed developed into one of the holiest shrines of Shi’ism.
Over the decades following the death of Ali and his son, Shi’ism evolved. They believed that Ali was the first Iman selected by Mohammad and that each Iman from the first to the twelfth has been selected. They also believe that Twelfth Iman went into hiding and this led to the belief in the Hidden Iman, who would someday return to administer justice. Thus, Shi’ism is based on the Ali tradition and his family, and likewise, the Sunni tradition is based on the rightful rule of the Umayyad caliphate. This is the source of the friction between Shi'ite and Sunni that has lasted centuries and still rages today.
Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)
With the death of Ali and his son Husayn, the Syrian governor Muawiya becomes the fifth caliph and establishes the Umayyad caliphate. With this caliphate, Damascus became the political center while Mecca remained, as it still does today, the spiritual center of Islam. It was from this caliphate that the Dome of the Rock was built, and the Islamic Empire continued to expand from North Africa to Spain and France in the West to Sind Central Asia in the East. However, from such strife, two fashions of Islam emerged. The Shi’ites are the minority Muslim community and are based primarily in Iran and parts of Iraq. It is worthy to note that it was the Safavid Empire of Iran that established Shi’ism as the state religion in Iran led by the Ayatollah.
It was a result of conquests in northern Africa during the Umayyad caliphate that the Moorish conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was achieved in 711 CE. The face of Islam was slowly changing as more non-Arabs were converted. This caused many to question not only the power of the Umayyad caliphate but also its religious conviction which eventually led to rebellion along both ethnic and religious lines.
Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258)
The Abbasids, taking their name from one of Muhammad’s relatives and allying with Shi’ites eventually replaced the Umayyad caliphate in 750 CE. However once in power, the dominant faction of the Abbasid caliphate was Sunni and its capital moved from Damascus to Bagdad. Although this is considered as one caliphate, in reality, it was composed of several caliphates united under the banner of Islam, yet distinct in its practices and culture perhaps best exemplified by the cultures in Spain, Persia and Turkey that later became the Ottoman Empire which lasted until the end of World War I.
It was at the battle of the River Zab that the Abbasid era began with the defeat of the Umayyad army. The Abbasid caliphate was by far the greatest political power of the Islamic world. Often referred to as the Golden Age of Islam, it is as significant to world history as the Roman Empire although it is far less known. The empire stretched from Tunisia to India, leaving a vast influence that is prominent today. It was a continuation of the caliphate established by Abu Bakr after the death of the Prophet Mohammad.
It was the Abbasid Dynasty that had the greatest influence on Europe. During its long history, it would splinter into small dynasties with local control, it was from this dynasty in Moorish Spain that shined its bright light over Europe during its Dark Ages. It is not a coincidence that European nations on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) were the first to emerge from the shadows of the Dark Ages. Within 130 years after the death of Muhamad, the Islamic empire spread from Gibraltar to the Indus delta and had penetrated Europe and China by land and by sea.
During the Abbasid Dynasty, The House of Wisdom was established in Bagdad. Well before there was an Italian Renaissance, there was a Muslim Renaissance not of art but math and in science. Muslims scholars consolidated, Greek, Persian, Indian and Chinese knowledge into a cohesive package of which Europe was the chief beneficiary. Gunpowder, the compass and advanced sails all entered Europe via the Muslims.
It was through the Muslims that the Greek classics were reintroduced to Western Europe. Much of the works of Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, Ptolemy, Euclid, Hippocrates and other prominent thinkers of Greek antiquity were all rendered in Arabic making the language the Lingua Franca of the philosophical and scientific world of Europe.
As a result, words such as algebra, alcohol, alchemy, admiral, arsenal, azimuth, zenith, guitar, chemistry, syrup, zero, orange, sofa, nadir, lemon, ginger, sesame, coffee, giraffe, cotton, mask, rice, atlas, camel, and so forth are of Arabic origin. Modern Spanish contains thousands of words derived from Arabic.
In Moorish Spain, Jews, Christians and Muslims studied together and were free to exchange ideas. Muslim learning centers in Spain were emulated in Italy. Furthermore, the Muslim Renaissance set the stage for European exploration and the establishment of universities in Europe. Muslim scientists were the masters of the sky, introduced Arabic numbers (0–9), Algebra and Trigonometry to Europe, along with advancements in Medicine, Chemistry and Physics. For example, Roger Bacon (1220–1292) was greatly influenced by Islamic scientists. His translations and commentaries led to Isaac Newton’s interest to read Al-Haytham and to synthesize his great work on Optics. Newton also used mathematics first developed by Islamic mathematicians to develop Calculus.
Mongol Invasion
The Abbasid rule ended in 1258 when the Mongols invaded parts of the Muslim world. They conquered all of Persia and Iraq. This was not a peaceful conquest with thousands of Muslims slaughtered. The House of Wisdom was destroyed along with its tremendous library of books. For a period Islam was outlawed, however, true to the power of Islam the Mongols eventually converted to the faith and became known as the Il-Khanids. They restored the mosques, reopened schools and adopted the culture. They even extended the Muslim world into parts of India and southern Russia.
Although Arabic was the language of the Prophet and the lingua franca of the Islamic world, the Muslim world was a cosmopolitan mixture of people of all races, colors and ethnicities that spoken dozens of languages all united under the banner of Islam. Although often misunderstood in the West, and sometimes lurks in the shadows of Jihad; Islam is a religion that promotes peace, the arts and science.
After the invasion of the Mongols, the unitary Muslim state was dismembered and from the 13th century onward several large Muslim states competed among themselves. Among them were the Persian Empire, The Mamlukes of Syria and Egypt, the Mughals of India along with Muslim states in Africa and Southeast Asia most noted is Indonesia which further testifies to the wide geographical spread of the Islamic World before Columbus. When the Roman Empire collapsed, it fell upon the shoulders of Christianity and it also opened the door for Islam to flourish.
The Ottoman Empire (1299–1922)
The Ottoman Empire rose from the humble origins of the Turks. Osman Ghazi was born in 1258, the same year Baghdad was destroyed by the Mongols. After Baghdad fell to the Mongols, the Seljuks declared an independent Sultanate in east and central Asia Minor. Osman died in 1326, after having laid the foundation for an empire that lasted for 600 years — from the age of expansion until the end of World War I. In his honor, all future sultans of the empire were girded with the sword of Osman when they took power.
Constantinople was the heart of the Byzantine Empire and it became the capital of the Ottoman Empire when it was conquered in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II and renamed Istanbul(the city of Islam). Suleiman the Magnificent completed the task of transforming the previously Byzantine city of Constantinople into Istanbul, a worthy center for a great Turkish and Islamic empire
The Ottoman Empire was successfully ruled by a single family for centuries. It reached its height under Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520–66). It expanded to cover the Balkans and Hungary, and reached the gates of Vienna. It included: Turkey, Egypt, parts of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Hungary, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Arabia and much of the coastal strip of North Africa. When the Ottoman Empire finally fell, it changed the dynamics of the Middle East for a century. No longer a power in the region, European nations divided it and Israel was established.
The Muslim influence on the world, particularly in science and mathematics, is often overshadowed by the Crusades and European expansion. Fourteen Nighty-two is remembered as the year that Columbus discovered America, but it was also the year that the Moors were expelled from Europe after centuries of domination.
Without the Islamic influence, it is doubtful that the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment would have occurred. Religion was a central part of European expansion. In this regard, and others, Christianity and Europe followed in the footsteps of Islam. In recent times, however, Islam has been viewed as a bellicose religion. Notwithstanding, history attests to the fact that Islam is no more barbaric than Christianity. Often overlooked is how Muslims greet each other: ”As-Salam Alaikum” which means ( May Allah’s peace, mercy and blessing be upon you ) which is responded by the greeting,”Wa-Alaikum-as-Salaam” (“and upon you the Peace”).
