Aqabah
A
place just outside of Mecca, in Mina where the first Muslims from Madinah
pledged allegiance to the Prophet in the year 621 C.E. A similar meeting took
place the next year when more Muslims from Yathrib pledged their allegiance to
the Prophet.
Ayat-ul-Kursi
It is
called the throne of the Quran.
Badr
The
first full military confrontation between the Muslims and the enemies of Allah.
The battle took place between the Muslims and the Quraysh of Mecca in the
second year of Hijrah (624 CE). Even though the Muslims were outnumbered, the
final result was to their favor.
Hadith Qudsi
The
Hadith Qudsi are hadith's in which the Prophet says the Allah says so and so.
The meaning of the these Hadith was revealed to the Prophet but he put them in
his own words, unlike the Quran which is the word of Almighty Allah and the
Prophet conveyed it exactly as it was revealed to him.
Hajj
Means
effort.
Hanif
People
who during the time of jahiliyyah rejected the idolatry in their society. These
people were in search for the true religion of Prophet Abraham.
545: Birth
of Abdullah, the Holy Prophet's father.
571: Birth
of the Holy Prophet. Year of the Elephant. Invasion of Makkah by Abraha the
Viceroy of Yemen, his retreat.
577: The
Holy Prophet visits Madina with his mother. Death of his mother.
580: Death
of Abdul Muttalib, the grandfather of the Holy Prophet.
583: The
Holy Prophet's journey to Syria in the company of his uncle Abu Talib. His
meeting with the monk Bahira at Bisra who foretells of his prophethood.
586: The
Holy Prophet participates in the war of Fijar.
591: The
Holy Prophet becomes an active member of "Hilful Fudul", a league for
the relief of the distressed.
594: The
Holy Prophet becomes the Manager of the business of Lady Khadija, and leads her
trade caravan to Syria and back.
595: The
Holy Prophet marries Hadrat Khadija. Seventh century
605: The
Holy Prophet arbitrates in a dispute among the Quraish about the placing of the
Black Stone in the Kaaba.
610: The
first revelation in the cave at Mt. Hira. The Holy Prophet is commissioned as
the Messenger of God.
613: Declaration
at Mt. Sara inviting the general public to Islam.
614: Invitation
to the Hashimites to accept Islam.
615: Persecution
of the Muslims by the Quraish. A party of Muslims leaves for Abyssinia.
616: Second
Hijrah to Abysinnia.
617: Social
boycott of the Hashimites and the Holy Prophet by the Quraish. The Hashimites
are shut up in a glen outside Makkah.
619: Lifting
of the boycott. Deaths of Abu Talib and Hadrat Khadija. Year of sorrow.
620: Journey
to Taif. Ascension to the heavens.
621: First
pledge at Aqaba.
622: Second
pledge at Aqaba. The Holy Prophet and the Muslims migrate to Yathrib.
623: Nakhla
expedition.
624: Battle
of Badr. Expulsion of the Bani Qainuqa Jews from Madina.
625: Battle
of Uhud. Massacre of 70 Muslims at Bir Mauna. Expulsion of Banu Nadir Jews from
Madina. Second expedition of Badr.
626: Expedition
of Banu Mustaliq.
627: Battle
of the Trench. Expulsion of Banu Quraiza Jews.
628: Truce
of Hudaibiya. Expedition to Khyber. The Holy Prophet addresses letters to
various heads of states.
629: The
Holy Prophet performs the pilgrimage at Makkah. Expedition to Muta (Romans).
630: Conquest
of Makkah. Battles of Hunsin, Auras, and Taif.
631: Expedition
to Tabuk. Year of Deputations.
632: Farewell
pilgrimage at Makkah.
632: Death
of the Holy Prophet. Election of Hadrat Abu Bakr as the Caliph. Usamah leads
expedition to Syria. Battles of Zu Qissa and Abraq. Battles of Buzakha, Zafar
and Naqra. Campaigns against Bani Tamim and Musailima, the Liar.
633: Campaigns
in Bahrain, Oman, Mahrah Yemen, and Hadramaut. Raids in Iraq. Battles of
Kazima, Mazar, Walaja, Ulleis, Hirah, Anbar, Ein at tamr, Daumatul Jandal and
Firaz.
634: Battles
of Basra, Damascus and Ajnadin. Death of Hadrat Abu Bakr. Hadrat Umar Farooq
becomes the Caliph. Battles of Namaraq and Saqatia.
635: Battle
of Bridge. Battle of Buwaib. Conquest of Damascus. Battle of Fahl.
636: Battle
of Yermuk. Battle of Qadsiyia. Conquest of Madain.
637: Conquest
of Syria. Fall of Jerusalem. Battle of Jalula.
638: Conquest
of Jazirah.
639: Conquest
of Khuizistan. Advance into Egypt.
640: Capture
of the post of Caesaria in Syria. Conquest of Shustar and Jande Sabur in
Persia. Battle of Babylon in Egypt.
641: Battle
of Nihawand. Conquest Of Alexandria in Egypt.
642: Battle
of Rayy in Persia. Conquest of Egypt. Foundation of Fustat.
643: Conquest
of Azarbaijan and Tabaristan (Russia).
644: Conquest
of Fars, Kerman, Sistan, Mekran and Kharan.Martyrdom of Hadrat Umar. Hadrat
Othman becomes the Caliph.
645: Campaigns
in Fats.
646: Campaigns
in Khurasan, Armeain and Asia Minor.
647: Campaigns
in North Africa. Conquest of the island of Cypress.
648: Campaigns
against the Byzantines.
651: Naval
battle of the Masts against the Byzantines.
652: Discontentment
and disaffection against the rule of Hadrat Othman.
656: Martyrdom
of Hadrat Othman. Hadrat Ali becomes the Caliph. Battle of the Camel.
657: Hadrat
Ali shifts the capital from Madina to Kufa. Battle of Siffin. Arbitration
proceedings at Daumaut ul Jandal.
658: Battle
of Nahrawan.
659: Conquest
of Egypt by Mu'awiyah.
660: Hadrat
Ali recaptures Hijaz and Yemen from Mu'awiyah. Mu'awiyah declares himself as
the Caliph at Damascus.
661: Martyrdom
of Hadrat Ali. Accession of Hadrat Hasan and his abdication. Mu'awiyah becomes
the sole Caliph.
662: Khawarij
revolts.
666: Raid
of Sicily.
670: Advance
in North Africa. Uqba b Nafe founds the town of Qairowan in Tunisia. Conquest
of Kabul.
672: Capture
of the island of Rhodes. Campaigns in Khurasan.
674: The
Muslims cross the Oxus. Bukhara becomes a vassal state.
677: Occupation
of Sarnarkand and Tirmiz. Siege of Constantinople.
680: Death
of Muawiyah. Accession of Yazid. Tragedy of Kerbala and martyrdom of Hadrat
Hussain.
682: In
North Africa Uqba b Nafe marches to the Atlantic, is ambushed and killed at
Biskra. The Muslims evacuate Qairowan and withdraw to Burqa.
683: Death
of Yazid. Accession of Mu'awiyah II.
684: Abdullah
b Zubair declares himself aS the Caliph at'Makkah. Marwan I becomes the Caliph'
at Damascus. Battle of Marj Rahat.
685: Death
of Marwan I. Abdul Malik becomes the Caliph at Damascus. Battle of Ain ul Wada.
686: Mukhtar
declares himself as the Caliph at Kufa.
687: Battle
of Kufa between the forces of Mukhtar and Abdullah b Zubair. Mukhtar killed.
691: Battle
of Deir ul Jaliq. Kufa falls to Abdul Malik.
692: The
fall of Makkah. Death of Abdullah b Zubair. Abdul Malik becomes the sole Caliph.
695: Khawarij
revolts in Jazira and Ahwaz. Battle of the Karun. Campaigns against Kahina in
North Africa. The' Muslims once again withdraw to Barqa. The Muslims advance in
Transoxiana and occupy Kish.
Islam and Muslims
The
name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm and Salam which means
peace. Salam may also mean greeting one another with peace. One of the
beautiful names of God is that He is the Peace. It means more than that:
submission to the One God, and to live in peace with the Creator, within one's
self, with other people and with the environment. Thus, Islam is a total system
of living. A Muslim is supposed to live in peace and harmony with all these
segments; hence, a Muslim is any person anywhere in the world whose obedience,
allegiance, and loyalty are to God, the Lord of the Universe.
Muslims and Arabs
The
followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims are not to be confused with
Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks, Persians, Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians,
Indonesians, Europeans, Africans, Americans, Chinese, or other nationalities.
An
Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an atheist. Any person who adopts
the Arabic language is called an Arab. However, the language of the Qur'an (the
Holy Book of Islam) is Arabic. Muslims all over the world try to learn Arabic
so that they may be able to read the Qur'an and understand its meaning. They
pray in the language of the Qur'an, namely Arabic. Supplications to God could
be in any language. While there are one billion Muslims in the world there are
about 200 million Arabs. Among them, approximately ten percent are not Muslims.
Thus Arab Muslims constitute only about twenty percent of the Muslim population
of the world.
Allah the One and the
Only God
Allah
is the name of the One and Only God. Allah has ninety-nine beautiful names,
such as: The Gracious, The Merciful, The Beneficent, The Creator, The
All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The Lord of the Universe, The First, The Last, and
others.
He is
the Creator of all human beings. He is the God for the Christians, the Jews,
the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the atheists, and others. Muslims
worship God whose name is Allah. They put their trust in Him and they seek His
help and His guidance.
Muhammad
Muhammad
was chosen by God to deliver His Message of Peace, namely Islam. He was born in
570 C.E. (Common Era) in Makkah, Arabia. He was entrusted with the Message of
Islam when he was at the age of forty years. The revelation that he received is
called the Qur'an, while the message is called Islam.
Muhammad
is the very last Prophet of God to mankind. He is the final Messenger of God.
His message was and is still to the Christians, the Jews and the rest of
mankind. He was sent to those religious people to inform them about the true
mission of Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.
Muhammad
is considered to be the summation and the culmination of all the prophets and
messengers that came before him. He purified the previous messages from
adulteration and completed the Message of God for all humanity. He was
entrusted with the power of explaining, interpreting and living the teaching of
the Qur'an.
Source of Islam
The
legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Hadith. The Qur'an is the exact
word of God; its authenticity, originality and totality are intact. The Hadith
is the report of the sayings, deeds and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad. The
Prophet's sayings and deeds are called Sunnah. The Seerah is the writings of
followers of Muhammad about the life of the Prophet. Hence, it is the life
history of the Prophet Muhammad which provides examples of daily living for
Muslims.
Some Islamic Principles
A. Oneness of God: He
is One and the Only One. He is not two in one or three in one. This means that
Islam rejects the idea of trinity or such a unity of God which implies more
than one God in one.
B. Oneness of mankind: People
are created equal in front of the Law of God. There is no superiority for one
race over another. God made us of different colors, nationalities, languages
and beliefs so as to test who is going to be better than others. No one can
claim that he is better than others. It is only God Who knows who is better. It
depends on piety and righteousness.
C. Oneness of Messengers and
the Message: Muslims believe that God sent different messengers
throughout the history of mankind. All came with the same message and the same
teachings. It was the people who misunderstood and misinterpreted them. Muslims
believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail, Jacob, Moses, David, Jesus, and
Muhammad. The Prophets of Christianity and Judaism are indeed the Prophets of Islam.
D. Angels and the Day of
Judgment: Muslims
believe that there are unseen creatures such as angels created by God in the
universe for special missions. Muslims believe that there is a Day of Judgment
when all people of the world throughout the history of mankind till the last
day of life on earth, are to be brought for accounting, reward and punishment.
E. Innocence of Man at Birth: Muslim
believe that people are born free of sin. It is only after they reach the age
of puberty and it is only after they commit sins that they are to be charged
for their mistakes. No one is responsible for or can take the responsibility
for the sins of others. However, the door of forgiveness through true
repentance is always open.
F. State and Religion: Muslims
believe that Islam is a total and a complete way of life. It encompasses all
aspects of life. As such, the teachings of Islam do not separate religion from
politics. As a matter of fact, state and religion are under the obedience of
Allah through the teachings of Islam. Hence, economic and social transactions,
as well as educational and political systems are also part of the teachings of
Islam.
Practices of Islam
God
instructed the Muslims to practice what they believe in. In Islam there are
five pillars, namely:
A. Creed (Shahada): The
verbal commitment and pledge that there is only One God and that Muhammad is
the Messenger of God, is considered to be the Creed of Islam.
B. Prayers (Salat): The
performance of the five daily prayers is required of Muslims.
C. Fasting (Saum): Fasting
is total abstinence from food, liquids and intimate intercourse (between
married couples) from dawn to sunset during the entire month of Ramadan.
D. Purifying Tax (Zakat): This
is an annual payment of a certain percentage of a Muslim's property which is
distributed among the poor or other rightful beneficiaries.
E. Pilgrimage (Hajj): The
performance of pilgrimage to Makkah is required once in a life time if means
are available. Hajj is in part in memory of the trials and tribulations of
Prophet Abraham, his wife Hagar and his eldest son Prophet Ishmael.
Other Related Aspects
A. Calendar: Islamic
practices are based on the lunar calendar. However, Muslims also use the
Gregorian calendar in their daily religious lives. Hence, the Islamic calendar
includes both the common era and the migration (Higra) year of the Prophet of
Islam from Makkah to Madinah in the year of 623 C.E.
B. Celebrations (Eid): Muslims
have two celebrations (Eid); namely, Eid of Sacrifice and Eid of Fast-Breaking.
The Eid of Sacrifice is in remembrance of the sacrifice to be by Prophet
Abraham of his son. The Eid of Fast-Breaking comes at the end of the month of
fasting, Ramadan.
C. Diets: Islam
allows Muslims to eat everything which is good for the health. It restricts
certain items such as pork and its by-products, alcohol and any narcotic or
addictive drugs.
D. Place of Worship: The
place of worship is called Mosque or Masjid. There are three holy places of
worship for the Muslims in the world. These are: Mosque of Kaaba in Makkah,
Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in Madinah, and Masjid Aqsa, adjacent to the
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. A Muslim may pray any where in the world whether
in a Mosque, a house, an office, or outside. The whole world is a place of worship.
It is preferable that Muslims pray in a congregation, however, he/she may pray
individually anywhere.
E. Holidays: The
holy day of the Muslims is Friday. It is considered to be sacred and the Day of
Judgment will take place on Friday. Muslims join together shortly after noon on
Friday for the Friday congregational prayer in a Mosque. A leader (Imam) gives
a sermon (Khutba) and leads the congregational prayer.
F. Distribution of Muslims
in North America: There are approximately five million Muslims in
North America and are distributed in its major cities such as New York,
Detroit, Boston, Toledo, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Cedar
Rapids (Iowa), Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Windsor,
Winnipeg, Calgary, and others.
G. Contributions in North
America: Muslims
are not established in North America. Sears Tower and the John Hancock
buildings in Chicago were designed by a Muslim chief architect, originally from
Bangladesh. Muslims have established academic institutions, community centers
and organizations, schools and places of worship. They live in peace and
harmony among themselves and among other groups of people in the society. The
rate of crime among Muslims is very minimal. Muslims in North America are
highly educated and they have added to the success of American scientific and
technological fields.
The
Muslims of the early period of the Islamic era were pioneers in medicine,
chemistry, physics, geography, navigation, arts, poetry, mathematics, algebra,
logarithms, calculus, etc. They contributed to the Renaissance of Europe and
world civilization.
Non-Muslims
Muslims
are required to respect all those who are faithful and God conscious people,
namely those who received messages. Christians and Jews are called People of
the Book. Muslims are asked to call upon the People of the Book for common
terms, namely, to worship One God, and to work together for the solutions of
the many problems in the society.
Christians
and Jews lived peacefully with Muslims throughout centuries in the Middle East
and other Asian and African countries. The second Caliph Umar, did not pray in
the church in Jerusalem so as not to give the Muslims an excuse to take it
over. Christians entrusted the Muslims, and as such the key of the Church in
Jerusalem is still in the hands of the Muslims.
Jews
fled from Spain during the Inquisition, and they were welcomed by the Muslims.
They settled in the heart of the Islamic Caliphate. They enjoyed positions of
power and authority.
Throughout
the Muslim world, churches, synagogues and missionary schools were built within
the Muslim neighborhoods. These places were protected by Muslims even during
the contemporary crises in the Middle East.
The Meaning of Islam
ISLAM is derived from the Arabic root
"SALEMA": peace, purity, submission and obedience. In the religious
sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law.
Everything
and every phenomenon in the world, other than man is administered TOTALLY by
God-made laws i.e. they are obedient to God and submissive to His laws i.e.
they are in the STATE OF ISLAM. Man possesses the quality of intelligence and
choice, thus he is invited to submit to the good will of God and obey His law
ie. become a Muslim. Submission to the good will of God, together with
obedience to His beneficial law, i.e. becoming a Muslim is the best safeguard
for man's peace and harmony.
Islam
dates back to the edge of Adam and its message has been conveyed to man by
God's Prophets and Messengers including Abrahim, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.
Islam's message has been restored and enforced in the last stage of the religious
evolution by God's last Prophet and Messenger Muhammad.
The
word Allah in the Arabic language means God, or more accurately The One and
Only Eternal God, Creator of theUniverse, Lord of all lords, King of all kings,
MostCompassionate, Most Merciful. The word Allah to mean God is also used by
Arabic speaking Jews and Christians.
Articles of Faith
Allah, the One and Only God
A
muslim believes in ONE GOD, Supreme and Eternal, Infinite and Mighty, Merciful
and Compassionate, Creator and Provider. God has no father nor mother, no sons
nor was He fathered. None equal to Him. He is God of all mankind, not of a
special tribe or race.
God is
High and Supreme but He is very near to the pious thoughtful believers; He
answers their prayers and help them. He loves the people who love Him and
forgives their sins. He gives them peace, happiness, knowledge and success. God
is the Loving and the Provider, the Generous, and the Benevolent, the Rich and
the Independent the Forgiving and the Clement, the Patient and the
Appreciative, the Unique and the Protector, the Judge and the Peace. God's
attributes are mentioned in the Quran.
God
creates in man the mind to understand, the soul and conscience to be good and
righteous, the feelings and sentiments to be kind and humane. If we try to
count His favours upon us, we cannot, because they are countless. In return for
all the great favours and mercy, God does not need anything from us, because He
is Needless and Independent. God asks us to know Him, to love Him and to enforce
His law for our benefit and our own benefit and our own good.
Messengers and Prophets of
God
A
Muslim believes in all the Messengers and Prophets of God without any
discrimination. All messengers were mortals, human beings, endowed with Divine
revelations and appointed by God to teach mankind. The Holy Quran mentions the
names of 25 messengers and prophets and states that there are others. These
include Noah, Abrahim, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Their message
is the same and it is Islam and it came from One and the Same Source; God, and
it is to submit to His will and to obey His law; i.e., to become a Muslim.
Revelations and the Quran
A
Muslim believes in all scriptures and revelations of God, as they were complete
and in their original versions. Allah, the Creator, has not left man without
guidance for the conduct of his life. Revelations were given to guide the
people to the right path of Allah and sent down to selected people, the prophet
and messengers, to convey it to their fellow men.
The
message of all the prophet and messengers is the same. They all asked the
people of their time to obey and worship Allah and none other. Abrahim, Moses,
David, Jesus and Muhammad who were revealed their own book of Allah, were sent
at different times to bring back straying human being from deviation to Right
Course.
The
Quran is the sacred book of the Muslims. It is the last book of guidance from
Allah, sent down to Muhammad, peace be upon him, through the angel Jibraeel
(Gabriel). Every word of it is the word of Allah. It was revealed over a period
of 23 years in the Arabic language. It contains 114 Surahs (chapters) and over
6000 verses.
The
Quran deals with man and his ultimate goal in life. Its teachings cover all
areas of this life and the life after death. It contains principles, doctrines
and directions for every sphere of human life. The theme of the Quran broadly
consists of three fundamental ideas: Oneness of Allah, Prophethood and life
after death. The success of human beings on this earth and in the life
hereafter depends on obedience to the Quranic teaching.
The
Quran is unrivalled in its recording and prservation. The astonishing fact
about this book of Allah is that it has remained unchanged even to a dot over
the past fourteen hundred years. No scholar has questioned the fact that the
Quran today is the same as it was revealed. Muslims till today memorize the
Quran word by word as a whole or in part. Today, the Quran is the only
authentic and complete book of Allah. Allah is protecting it from being lost,
corrupted or concealed.
The Angels of Allah
There
are purely spiritual and splendid beings created by Allah. They require no food
or drink or sleep. They have no physical desires nor material needs. Angels
spend their time in the service of Allah. Each charged with a certain duty.
Angle cannot be seen by the naked eyes. Knowledge and the truth are not
entirely confined to sensory knowledge or sensory perception alone.
The Day of Judgement
A
Muslim believe in the Day of the Judgement. This world as we know it will come
to an end and the dead will rise to stand for their final and fair trial. On
that day, all men and women from Adam to the last person will be resurrected
from the state of death for judgement. Everything we do, say, make, intend and
think are accounted for and kept in accurate records. They are brought up on
the Day of Judgement.
One
who believe in life after death is not expected to behave against the Will of
Allah. He will always bear in mind that Allah is watching all his actions and
the angles are recording them.
People
with good records will be generously rewarded and warmly welcomed to Allah's
Heaven. People with bad records will be fairly punished and cast into Hell. The
real nature of Heaven and Hell are known to Allah only, but they are described
by Allah in man's familiar terms in the Quran.
If
some good deeds are seen not to get full appreciation and credit in this life,
they will receive full compensation and be widely acknowledged on the Day of
Judgement. If some people who commit sins, neglect Allah and indulge in immoral
activities, seem SUPERFICIALLY successful and prosperous in this life, absolute
justice will be done to them on the Day of Judgement. The time of the Day of
Judgement is only known to Allah and Allah alone.
Qadaa and Qadar
A
Muslim believes in Qadaa and Qadar which related to the ultimate power of Allah.
Qadaa and Qadar means the Timeless Knowledge of Allah and His power to plan and
execute His plans. Allah is not indifferent to this world nor is He neutral to
it. It implies that everything on this earth originates from the one and only
creator who is also the Sustainer and the sole source of guidance.
Allah
is Wise, Just and Loving and whatever He does must have a good motive, although
we may fail sometimes to understand it fully. We should have strong faith in
Allah and accept whatever He does because our knowledge is limited and our
thinking is based on individual consideration, whereas His knowledge is
limitless and He plans on a universal basis. Man should think, plan and make
sound choice, but if things do not happen the way he wants, he should not lose
faith and surrender himself to mental strains or shattering worries.
The Purpose of Life
A
Muslim believe that the purpose of life is to worship Allah. Worshipping Allah
does not mean we spend our entire lives in constant seclusion and absolute meditation.
To worship Allah is to live life according to His commands, not to run away
from it. To worship Allah is to know Him, to love Him, to obey His commands, to
enforce His laws in every aspect of life, to serve His cause by doing right and
shunning evil and to be just to Him, to ourselves and to our fellow human
beings.
Status of Human Being
A
Muslim believes that human being enjoys an especially high ranking status in
the hierarchy of all known creatures. Man occupies this distinguished position
because he alone is gifted with rational faculties and spiritual aspirations as
well as powers of action. Man is not a condemned race from birth to death, but
a dignified being potentially capable of good and noble achievements.
A
Muslim also believes that every person is born muslim. Every person is endowed
by Allah with spiritual potential and intellectual inclination that can make
him a good Muslim. Every person's birth takes place according to the will of
Allah in realization of His plans and in submission to His commands. Every
person is born FREE FROM SIN. When the person reaches the age of maturity and
if he is sane, he become accountable for all his deeds and intentions. Man is
free from sin until he commits sin. There is no inherited sin, no original sin.
Adam committed the first sin, he prayed to Allah for pardon and Allah granted
Adam pardon.
Salvation
A
Muslim believes that man must work out his salvation through the guidance of
Allah. No one can act on behalf of another or intercede between him and Allah.
In order to obtain salvation, a person must combine faith and action, belief
and practice. Faith without doing good deeds is as insufficient as doing good
deeds without faith.
Also,
a Muslim believes that Allah does not hold any person responsible until he has
shown him the Right Way. If people do not know and have no way of knowing about
Islam, they will not be responsible for failing to be Muslim. Every Muslim must
preach Islam in words and action.
Acceptance of Faith
A
Muslim believes that faith is not complete when it is followed blindly or
accepted unquestioningly. Man must build his faith on well-grounded convictions
beyond any reasonable doubt and above uncertainty. Islam insures freedom to
believe and forbids compulsion in religion (one of the oldest synagogues and
one of the oldest churches in the worlds is in Muslim countries).
A
Muslim believes that the Quran is the word of Allah revealed to prophet
Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel. The Quran was revealed from Allah on
various occasions to answer questions, solve problems, settle disputes and to
be man's best guide to the truth. The Quran was revealed in Arabic and it is
still in its original and complete Arabic version until today. It is memorized
by millions.
A
Muslim also believes in a clear distinction between the Quran and the
Traditions (called Hadits) of the Prophet Muhammad. Whereas, the Quran is the
word of Allah, the Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (hadits i.e.: his teachings,
sayings, and actions) are the practical interpretations of the Quran. Both the
Quran and the Hadits of Prophet Muhammad are the primary sources of knowledge
in Islam.
Application of Faith
God
has laid down for a Muslim four major exercises of faith, some are daily, some
weekly, some monthly, some annually and some are required as a minimum of once
in a lifetime. These exercises of faith are to serve man's spiritual purposes,
satisfy his human needs and to mark his whole life with a Divine touch. These
major exercises of faith are:
Prayer (Salah)
Praying,
to the Creator on a daily basis, is the best way to cultivate in a man a sound
personality and to actualize his aspiration. Allah does not need man's prayer
because He is free of all needs. Salah is for our benefit which are
immeasurable and the blessings are beyond imagination.
In
salah, every muscle of the body joins the soul and the mind in the worship and
glory of Allah. Salah is an act of worship. It is a matchless and unprecedented
formula of intellectual meditation and spiritual devotion, of moral elevation
and physical exercise, all combined.
Offering
of salah is obligatory upon every Muslim male and female who is sane, mature
and in case of women free from menstruation and confinement due to child birth.
Requirements of salah: performing of ablution (Wudu), purity of the whole body,
clothes and ground used for prayer, dressing properly and having (or declaring)
the intention and facing the Qiblah; the direction of the Ka'bah at Mecca.
Obligatory Salah: Five
daily salahs, the Friday's noon congregation salah and the funeral salah.
Highly recommended salah: Those
accompanying the obligatory salah and the two great festival salahs.
Optional salah: Voluntary
salah during the day and night.
Times of Obligatory Salah:
1.
Early Morning - after dawn and before sunrise.
2.
Noon - after the sun begins to decline from its zenith until it is about midway
on its course to set.
3.
Mid-afternoon - after the expiration of the noon salah time until sunset.
4.
Sunset - immediately after sunset until the red glow in the western horizon
disappears.
5.
Evening - after the expiration of the sunset salah until dawn.
Salah
should be offered in its due time, unless there is a reasonable excuse. Delayed
obligatory salah must be made up. In addition to the prescribed salah, a Muslim
expressed gratitude to God and appreciation of His favours and asks for His
mercy all the time. Especially at times of, for example: childbirth, marriage,
going to or rising from bed, leaving and returning to his home, starting a
journey or entering a city, riding or driving, before or after eating or
drinking, harvesting, visiting graveyards and at time of distress and sickness.
Fasting
Fasting
is abstaining completely from eating, drinking, intimate sexual contacts and
smoking from the break of dawn till sunset. It is a matchless Islamic
institution which teaches man the principle of sincere love to God. Fasting
teaches man a creative sense of hope, devotion, patience, unselfishness,
moderation, willpower, wise saving, sound budgeting, mature adaptability,
healthy survival, discipline, spirit of social belonging, unity and brotherhood.
Obligatory
fasting is done once a year for the period of the month of Ramadan; the ninth
month of the Islamic year. Recommended fasting every Monday and Thursday of
every week, three days in the middle of each Islamic month, six days after
Ramadan following the Feast Day and a few days of the two months before
Ramadan. Fasting of Ramadan is a worship act which is obligatory on every adult
Muslim, male or female if he/she mentally and physically fit and not on a
journey. Exception: women during their period of menstruation and while nursing
their child and also in case of travel and sickness.
Charity Giving (Zakah)
Charity
giving is an act of worship and spiritual investment. The lateral meaning of
Zakah is purity and it refers to the annual amount in kind or coin which a
Muslim with means must distribute among the rightful beneficiaries. Zakah does
not only purifies the property of the contributor but also purifies his heart
from selfishness and greed. It also purifies the heart of the recipient from
envy and jealousy, from hatred and uneasiness and it fosters instead good-will
and warm wishes for the contributors.
Zakah
has a deep humanitarian and social-political value; for example, it frees
society from class welfare, from ill feelings and distrust and from corruption.
Although Islam does not hinder private enterprise or condemn private
possession, it does not tolerate selfish and greedy capitalism. Islam adopts a
moderate but positive and effective course between individual and society,
between the citizen and the state, between capitalism and socialism, between
materialism and spiritualism.
Zakah
is paid on the net balance after paying personal expenses, family expenses, due
credits, taxes, etc. Every Muslim, male or female who at the end of the year is
in possession of the equivalent of 85 g of gold (approx. $1400 in 1990) or more
in cash or articles of trade, must give Zakah at minimum rate of 2.5%. Taxes
paid to government do not substitute for this religious duty. Contributor
should not seek pride or fame but if disclosing his name and his contribution
is likely to encourage others, it is acceptable to do so.
The
recipient of Zakah are: the poor, the needy, the new Muslim converts, the
Muslim prisoners of war (to liberate them), Muslim in debt. Also employees
appointed to collect Zakah, Muslim in service of research or study or
propagation of Islam, wayfarers who are foreigners in need of help.
The Pilgrimmage (Hajj)
It is
a pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in a lifetime and it is obligatory upon
every Muslim male and female who is mentally, physically and financially fit.
It is the largest annual convention of faith on earth (in 1989: 2.5 million).
Peace is the dominant theme. Peace with Allah, with one's soul, with one
another, with all living creatures. To disturb the peace of anyone or any
creature in any shape or form is strictly prohibited.
Muslim
from all walks of life, from every corner of the globe assemble in Mecca in
response to the call of Allah. There is no royalty but loyalty of all to Allah,
the Creator. It is to commemorate the Divine rituals observed by the Prophet
Abrahim and his son Ishmael, who are the first pilgrim to the house of Allah on
earth; the Ka'bah. It is also to remember the grad assembly of the Day of
Judgement when people will stand equal before Allah.
Muslims
go to Mecca in glory of Allah, not to worship a man. The visit to the tomb of
Prophet Muhammad at Madena is highly recommended but not essential in making
the Hajj valid and complete.
Islam is a Code of Life
It is
a Muslim belief that Muhammad's mission was for the whole world and for all the
time; because:
Its
universality has been clearly confirmed by the Quran (Surah 7: verse 158, 6:19,
34:28, 81:27).
It is
a logical consequences of the finality of his prophethood. He had to be the
guide and the leader for all men and for all ages.
Allah
has provided, through him, a complete code which is to be followed, and this in
itself supports the concept of finality, because without completeness, the need
for other prophets would remain.
It is
a fact that during the last 1400 years no man has arisen whose life and works
bear even the slightest resemblance to that of a prophet. Nor has anyone
presented a book which could be remotely considered a divine communication.
Still less has there been a man to claim legitimate authority as a law-giver
fro mankind.
The
mission of Muhammad, as well as of other prophets who brought the universal
message of Islam, does not end with the announcement of the message. He has to
guide the people by explaining to them the implications of the Islamic creed,
the morale code, the divine injunctions and commandment, and the form of
worship that sustains the whole system. He has to exemplify the faith so others
can pattern their participation in the evolution of Islamic culture and
civilization. The believers must grow under his guidance into an organized
community so that Allah's word will prevail over all other words.
1. Spiritual Life: prayer
(salah), fasting, charity giving (zakah), pilgrimage (hajj), love for Allah and
His Messenger, love for truth and humanity for the sake of Allah, hope and
trust in Allah at all times and doing good for the sake of Allah.
2. Intellectual Life: True
knowledge based on clear proof and indisputable evidence acquired by experience
or experiment or by both. The Quran points to the rich sources of knowledge in
the whole universe. Islam demands faith in Allah on the basis of knowledge and
research and leaves wide open all field of thought before the intellect to
penetrate as far it can reach.
3. Personal Life: purity
and cleanliness, a healthy diet, proper clothing, proper behaviour, and good
healthy sexual relations within marriage.
4. Family Life: A
family is a human social group whose members are bound together by the bond of
blood ties and/or marital relationship and nothing else (adoption, mutual
alliance, common law, trial marriage...etc.). Marriage is a religious duty on
all who are capable of meeting its responsibilities. Each member of the family
has rights and obligations.
5. Social Life: Man
is ordained by Allah to extend his utmost help and kindness to other family
members, relations, servants and neighbours. No superiority on account of
class, colour, origin or wealth. Humanity represents one family springing from
the one and the same father and mother. The unity of the humanity is not only
in its origin but also in its ultimate aims.
6. Economical Life: Earning
one's living through decent labour is not only a duty but a great virtue as
well. Earning is man's private possession. The individual is responsible for
the prosperity of the state and the state is responsible for the security of
the individual. The Islamic economic system is not based on arithmetical
calculations alne but also on moral and principles. Man comes to this world
empty-handed and departs empty-handed. The real owner of things is Allah alone.
Man is simply a trustee.
7. Political Life: The
sovereignty in the Islamic State belongs to Allah; the people exercise it by
trust from Him to enforce His laws. The ruler is only an acting executive
chosen by the people to serve them according to Allah's law. The State is to
administer justice and provide security for all citizens. Rulers and
administrators must be chosen from the best qualified citizens. If an
administration betrays the trust of Allah and the people, it has to be
replaced. Non-Muslim can administer their personal life of marriage, divorce,
foods and inheritance according to the Islamic law or to their own religious
teachings. They may pay Zakah or a different tax tributes "Jizyah".
They are entitled to full protection and security of the State including
freedom of religion.
8. International Life: Man
has a common origin, human status and aim. Other people's interests and right
to life, honour and property are respected as long as the right of Muslim are
in tact. Transgression is forbidden. War is only justified if the state
security is endangered. During war, destruction of crops, animals and homes,
killing non-fighting women, children and aged people are forbidden.
Introduction
Islam
is a religion based upon the surrender to God who is One. The very name of the
religion, al-islam in Arabic, means at once submission and peace, for it is in
submitting to God's Will that human beings gain peace in their lives in this
world and in the hereafter. The message of Islam concerns God, who in Arabic is
called Allah, and it addresses itself to humanity's most profound nature. It concerns
men and women as they were created by God--not as fallen beings. Islam
therefore considers itself to be not an innovation but a reassertion of the
universal truth of all revelation which is God's Oneness.
Prophets
his
truth was asserted by the prophets of old and especially by Abraham, the father
of monotheism. Islam reveres all of these prophets including not only Abraham,
who is the father of the Arabs as well as of the Jews, but also Moses and
Christ. The Prophet and Messenger of God, Muhammad--may peace and blessings be
upon him, his family and his companions, was the last of this long line of
prophets and Islam is the last religion until the Day of Judgement. It is the
final expression of the Abrahamic tradition. One should in fact properly speak of
the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, for Islam shares with the other
Abrahamic religions their sacred history, the basic ethical teachings contained
in the Ten Commandments and above all, belief in the One God. And it renews and
repeats the true beliefs of Jews and Christians whose scriptures are mentioned
as divinely revealed books in Islam's own sacred book, the Quran.
Quran
For
Muslims, or followers of Islam, the Quran is the actual Word of God revealed
through the archangel Gabriel to the Prophet of Islam during the
twenty-three-year period of his prophetic mission. It was revealed in the
Arabic language as a sonoral revelation which the Prophet repeated to his
companions. Arabic became therefore the language of Islam even for non-Arab
Muslims. Under the direction of the Prophet, the verses and chapters were
organized in the order known to Muslims to this day. There is only one text of
the Quran accepted by all schools of Islamic thought and there are no variants.
The
Quran is the central sacred reality of Islam. The sound of the Quran is the
first and last sound that a Muslim hears in this life. As the direct Word of
God and the embodiment of God's Will, the Quran is considered as the guide par
excellence for the life of Muslims. It is the source of all Islamic doctrines
and ethics. Both the intellectual aspects of Islam and Islamic Law have their
source in the Quran. Perhaps there is no book revered by any human collectivity
as much as the Quran is revered by Muslims. Essentially a religion of the book,
Islam sees all authentic religions as being associated with a scripture. That
is why Muslims call Christians and Jews the "people of the book".
Throughout
all its chapters and verses, the Quran emphasizes the significance of knowledge
and encourages Muslims to learn and to acquire knowledge not only of God's laws
and religious injunctions, but also of the world of nature. The Quran refers,
in a language rich in its varied terminology, to the importance of seeing,
contemplating, and reasoning about the world of creation and its diverse
phenomena. It places the gaining of knowledge as the highest religious
activity, one that is most pleasing in God's eyes. That is why wherever the
message of the Quran was accepted and understood, the quest for knowledge
flourished.
Prophets of Islam
The
Prophet of Islam is loved and revered by Muslims precisely because he was
chosen by God to reveal His Word to mankind. The Prophet Muhammad is not
considered to be divine but a human being. However, he is seen as the most
perfect of human beings, shining like a jewel among stones. He was born in 570
A. D. in one of the most powerful tribes in the Arabia of that time, for it had
guardianship over the Ka'bah in Makkah. An orphan brought up by his grandfather
and later by his uncle, the young Muhammad displayed exceptional virtue as a
trustworthy individual whom members of various tribes would invite to act as
arbitrator in their disputes.
Early Years
At
that time the Arabs followed a form of idolatry, each tribe keeping its own
idols at the Ka'bah, the cubical structure built originally by Abraham to
celebrate the glory of the One God. But the monotheistic message of Abraham had
long become forgotten among the general population of the Arabian peninsula.
The young Muhammad, however, was a believer in the One God all of his life and
never participated in the idolatrous practices of his tribe.
Angel Gabriel
When
forty years old, during one of the retreats which he made habitually in a cave
on top of a mountain outside Makkah, Muhammad first saw the archangel Gabriel
who revealed God's Word to him, the Quran, and announced that Muhammad is the
messenger of God. For the next thirteen years he preached the Word of God to
the Makkans, inviting them to abandon idolatry and accept the religion of
Oneness. A few accepted his call but most Makkans, especially those of his own
tribe, opposed him violently, seeing in the new religion a grave danger to
their economic as well as social domination based upon their control of the
Ka'bah. But the Prophet continued to call the people to Islam and gradually a
larger number of men and women began to accept the faith and submit themselves
to its teachings. As a result, persecution of Muslims increased until the
Prophet was forced to send some of his companions to Abyssinia where they were
protected by the Christian king.
Early days of Islam
The
Makkan period was also one of intense spiritual experience for the Prophet and
the noble companions who formed the nucleus of the new religious community
which was soon to spread worldwide. It was during this period that God ordered
the direction of prayers to be changed from Jerusalem to Makkah. To this day
Jerusalem remains along with Makkah and Madinah one of the holiest cities of
Islam.
Migration
In 622
A. D. the Prophet was ordered by God to migrate to Yathrib, a city north of
Makkah. He followed the Divine Command and left with his followers for that
city which henceforth was known as "The City of the Prophet" (Madinat
al-nabi) or simply Madinah. This event was so momentous that the Islamic
calendar begins with this migration (hijrah).
In
Madinah, the Prophet established the first Islamic society which has served as
the model for all later Islamic societies. Several battles took place against
the invading Makkans which the Muslims won against great odds. Soon more tribes
began to join Islam and within a few years most of Arabia had embraced the
religion of Islam.
Victory at Makkah
After
many trials and eventually successive victories, the Prophet retumed
triumphantly to Makkah where the people embraced Islam at last. He forgave all
his former enemies and marched to the Ka'bah, where he ordered his companion
and cousin 'Ali to join him in destroying all the idols. The Prophet
reconstituted the rite of pilgrimage as founded by Abraham. The Prophet then
returned to Madinah and made another pilgrimage to Makkah. It was upon
returning from this last pilgrimage that he delivered his farewell address.
Soon he fell ill and after three days died in 632 A. D. in Madinah where he was
buried in the chamber of his house next to the first mosque of Islam.
Sunnah
The
practices and traditions (Sunnah) of the Prophet which includes his sayings
(Hadith) became the guide for Muslims in the understanding of the Quran and the
practice of their religion. The Quran itself asserts that God has chosen in the
Prophet an example for Muslims to follow. Besides this emulation of the Prophet
in all aspects of life and thought, his sayings were assembled by various
scholars. Finally they were codified in books of Hadith where the authentic
were separated from the spurious. The Sunnah has always remained, after the Quran,
the second source of everything Islamic.
Islamic Religion
According
to a famous saying of the Prophet Islam consists of five pillars which are as
follows: affirmation of the faith (shahadah), that is, witnessing that La ilaha
illa'Llah (There is no divinity but Allah) and Muhammadun rasul Allah (Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah); the five daily prayers (al-salat) which Muslims
perform facing Makkah; fasting (al-sawm) from dawn to sunset during the month
of Ramadan; making the pilgrimage to Makkah (al-hajj) at least once in a
lifetime if one's financial and physical conditions permit it; and paying a 2
1/2% tax (al-zakat) on one's capital which is used for the needs of the
community. Muslims are also commanded to exhort others to perform good acts and
to abstain from evil. Ethics lies at the heart of Islamic teachings and all men
and women are expected to act ethically towards each other at all times. As the
Prophet has said, "None of you is a believer until you love for your
brother what you love for yourself."
As for
faith according to Islam (al-iman), it means having faith in God, His angels,
His books, His messengers, the Day of Judgment and God's determination of human
destiny. It is important to understand that the definition of al-iman refers to
books and prophets in the plural thus pointing directly to the universality of
revelation and respect for other religions emphasized so much in the Quran.
There is also the important concept, al-ihsan or virtue, which means to worship
God as if one sees Him, knowing that even if one does not see Him, He sees us.
It means to remember God at all times and marks the highest level of being a
Muslim.
Islamic Law
Islam
possesses a religious law called al-Shari'ah in Arabic which governs the life
of Muslims and which Muslims consider to be the embodiment of the Will of God.
The Shari'ah is contained in principle in the Quran as elaborated and
complemented by the Sunnah. On the basis of these principles the schools of law
which are followed by all Muslims to this day were developed early in Islamic
history. This Law, while being rooted in the sources of the Islamic revelation,
is a living body of law which caters to the needs of Islamic society .
Islamic
laws are essentially preventative and are not based on harsh punishment except
as a last measure. The faith of the Muslim causes him to have respect for the
rights of others and Islamic Law is such that it prevents transgression from
taking place in most instances. That is why what people consider to be harsh
punishments are so rarely in need of being applied.
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--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.
Characteristics of
Islamic Civilization
slam
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.
Brief History of Islam
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.
Caliphates
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.
Islamic History after
Mongol 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.
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.
Integration of pre Islam
Sciences
As
Islam spread northward into Syria, Egypt, and the Persian empire, it came face
to face with the sciences of antiquity whose heritage had been preserved in
centers which now became a part of the Islamic world. Alexandria had been a
major center of sciences and learning for centuries. The Greek leaming
cultivated in Alexandria was opposed by the Byzantines who had burned its
library long before the advent of Islam. The tradition of Alexandrian learning
did not die, however. It was transferred to Antioch and from there farther east
to such cities as Edessa by eastern Christians who stood in sharp opposition to
Byzantium and wished to have their own independent centers of learning.
Moreover, the Persian king, Shapur I, had established Jundishapur in Persia as
a second great center of learning matching Antioch. He even invited Indian
physicians and mathematicians to teach in this major seat of learning, in
addition to the Christian scholars who taught in Syriac as well as the Persians
whose medium of instruction was Pahlavi.
Once
Muslims established the new Islamic order during the Umayyad period, they
turned their attention to these centers of learning which had been preserved
and sought to acquaint themselves with the knowledge taught and cultivated in
them. They therefore set about with a concerted effort to translate the
philosophical and scientific works which were available to them from not only
Greek and Syriac (which was the language of eastern Christian scholars) but
also from Pahlavi, the scholarly language of pre-Islamic Persia, and even from
Sanskrit. Many of the accomplished translators were Christian Arabs such as
Hunayn ibn Ishaq, who was also an outstanding physician, and others Persians
such as Ibn Muqaffa', who played a major role in the creation of the new Arabic
prose style conducive to the expression of philosophical and scientific
writings. The great movement of translation lasted from the beginning of the
8th to the end of the 9th century, reaching its peak with the establishment of
the House of Wisdom (Bayt alhikmah) by the caliph al-Ma'mun at the beginning of
the 9th century.
The
result of this extensive effort of the Islamic community to confront the
challenge of the presence of the various philosophies and sciences of antiquity
and to understand and digest them in its own terms and according to its own
world view was the translation of a vast corpus of writings into Arabic. Most
of the important philosophical and scientific works of Aristotle and his
school, much of Plato and the Pythagorean school, and the major works of Greek
astronomy, mathematics and medicine such as the Almagest of Ptolemy, the
Elements of Euclid, and the works of Hippocrates and Galen, were all rendered
into Arabic. Furthermore, important works of astronomy, mathematics and
medicine were translated from Pahlavi and Sanskrit. As a result, Arabic became
the most important scientific language of the world for many centuries and the
depository of much of the wisdom and the sciences of antiquity.
The
Muslims did not translate the scientific and philosophical works of other
civilizations out of fear of political or economic domination but because the
structure of Islam itself is based upon the primacy of knowledge. Nor did they
consider these forms of knowing as "un-lslamic" as long as they
confirmed the doctrine of God's Oneness which Islam considers to have been at
the heart of every authentic revelation from God. Once these sciences and
philosophies confirmed the principle of Oneness, the Muslims considered them as
their own. They made them part of their world view and began to cultivate the
Islamic sciences based on what they had translated, analyzed, criticized, and
assimilated, rejecting what was not in conformity with the Islamic perspective
Mathematical Sciences and
Physics
The
Muslim mind has always been attracted to the mathematical sciences in accordance
with the "abstract" character of the doctrine of Oneness which lies
at the heart of Islam. The mathematical sciences have traditionally included
astronomy, mathematics itself and much of what is called physics today.
Astronomy
In
astronomy the Muslims integrated the astronomical traditions of the Indians,
Persians, the ancient Near East and especially the Greeks into a synthesis
which began to chart a new chapter in the history of astronomy from the 8th
century onward. The Almagest of Ptolemy, whose very name in English reveals the
Arabic origin of its Latin translation, was thoroughly studied and its
planetary theory criticized by several astronomers of both the eastern and
western lands of Islam leading to the major critique of the theory by Nasir al-Din
al-Tusi and his students, especially Qutb alDin al-Shirazi, in the 13th century.
The
Muslims also observed the heavens carefully and discovered many new stars. The
book on stars of 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi was in fact translated into Spanish by
Alfonso X el Sabio and had a deep influence upon stellar toponymy in European
languages. Many star names in English such as Aldabaran still recall their
Arabic origin. The Muslims carried out many fresh observations which were
contained in astronomical tables called zij. One of the acutest of these
observers was al-Battani whose work was followed by numerous others. The zij of
al-Ma'mun observed in Baghdad, the Hakimite zij of Cairo, the Toledan Tables of
alZarqali and his associates, the ll-Khanid zij of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
observed in Maraghah, and the zij of Ulugh-Beg from Samarqand are among the
most famous Islamic astronomical tables. They wielded a great deal of influence
upon Western astronomy up to the time of Tycho Brahe. The Muslims were in fact
the first to create an astronomical observatory as a scientific institution,
this being the observatory of Maraghah in Persia established by al-Tusi. This
was indirectly the model for the later European observatories . Many
astronomical instruments were developed by Muslims to carry out observation,
the most famous being the astrolabe. There existed even mechanical astrolabes
perfected by Ibn Samh which must be considered as the ancestor of the
mechanical clock.
Astronomical
observations also had practical applications including not only finding the
direction of Makkah for prayers, but also devising almanacs (the word itself
being of Arabic origin). The Muslims also applied their astronomical knowledge
to questions of time-keeping and the calendar. The most exact solar calendar
existing to this day is the Jalali calendar devised under the direction of
'Umar Khayyam in the 12th century and still in use in Persia and Afghanistan.
Algebra
As for
mathematics proper, like astronomy, it received its direct impetus from the
Quran not only because of the mathematical structure related to the text of the
Sacred Book, but also because the laws of inheritance delineated in the Quran
require rather complicated mathematical solutions. Here again Muslims began by
integrating Greek and Indian mathematics. The first great Muslim mathematician,
al-Khwarazmi, who lived in the 9th century, wrote a treatise on arithmetic
whose Latin translation brought what is known as Arabic numerals to the West.
To this day guarismo, derived from his name, means figure or digit in Spanish
while algorithm is still used in English. Al-Khwarazmi is also the author of
the first book on algebra. This science was developed by Muslims on the basis
of earlier Greek and Indian works of a rudimentary nature. The very name
algebra comes from the first part of the name of the book of al-Khwarazmi,
entitled Kirah al-jahr wa'l-muqabalah. Abu Kamil al-Shuja' discussed algebraic
equations with five unknowns. The science was further developed by such figures
as al-Karaji until it reached its peak with Khayyam who classified by kind and
class algebraic equations up to the third degree.
Geometry
The
Muslims also excelled in geometry as reflected in their art. The brothers Banu
Musa who lived in the 9th century may be said to be the first outstanding
Muslim geometers while their contemporary Thabit ibn Qurrah used the method of
exhaustion, giving a glimpse of what was to become integral calculus. Many
Muslim mathematicians such as Khayyam and al-Tusi also dealt with the fifth
postulate of Euclid and the problems which follow if one tries to prove this
postulate within the confines of Eucledian geometry.
Trigonometry
Another
branch of mathematics developed by Muslims is trigonometry which was
established as a distinct branch of mathematics by al-Biruni. The Muslim
mathematicians, especially al-Battani, Abu'l-Wafa', Ibn Yunus and Ibn
al-Haytham, also developed spherical astronomy and applied it to the solution
of astronomical problems.
Number Theory
The
love for the study of magic squares and amicable numbers led Muslims to develop
the theory of numbers. Al-Khujandi discovered a particular case of Fermat's
theorem that "the sum of two cubes cannot be another cube", while
alKaraji analyzed arithmetic and geometric progressions such as:
1^3+2^3+3^3+...+n^3=(
1+2+3+...+n)^2.
Al-Biruni
also dealt with progressions while Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid al-Kashani brought
the study of number theory among Muslims to its peak.
Physics
n the
field of physics the Muslims made contributions in especially three domains.
The first was the measurement of specific weights of objects and the study of
the balance following upon the work of Archimedes. In this domain the writings
of al-Biruni and al-Khazini stand out. Secondly they criticized the
Aristotelian theory of projectile motion and tried to quantify this type of
motion. The critique of Ibn Sina, Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdadi, Ibn Bajjah and
others led to the development of the idea of impetus and momentum and played an
important role in the criticism of Aristotelian physics in the West up to the
early writings of Galileo. Thirdly there is the field of optics in which the
Islamic sciences produced in Ibn al-Haytham (the Latin Alhazen) who lived in
the 11th century, the greatest student of optics between Ptolemy and Witelo.
Ibn al-Haytham's main work on optics, the Kitah al-manazir, was also well known
in the West as Thesaurus opticus. Ibn al-Haytham solved many optical problems,
one of which is named after him, studied the property of lenses, discovered the
camera obscura, explained correctly the process of vision, studied the
structure of the eye, and explained for the first time why the sun and the moon
appear larger on the horizon. His interest in optics was carried out two
centuries later by Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi and Kamal al-Din al-Farisi. It was
Qutb al-Din who gave the first correct explanation of the formation of the
rainbow.
Medical Sciences
The
hadiths of the Prophet contain many instructions concerning health including
dietary habits; these sayings became the foundation of what came to be known
later as "Prophetic medicine" (al-tibb al-nabawi). Because of the
great attention paid in Islam to the need to take care of the body and to
hygiene, early in Islamic history Muslims began to cultivate the field of
medicine turning once again to all the knowledge that was available to them
from Greek, Persian and Indian sources. At first the great physicians among
Muslims were mostly Christian but by the 9th century Islamic medicine, properly
speaking, was born with the appearance of the major compendium,
Rhazes
Anatomy Smallpox Antiseptic Psychosomatic Medicine
The
Paradise of Wisdom (Firdaws al-hikmah ) by 'Ali ibn Rabban al-Tabari, who
synthesized the Hippocratic and Galenic traditions of medicine with those of
India and Persia. His student, Muhammad ibn Zakariyya' al-Razi (the Latin
Rhazes), was one of the greatest of physicians who emphasized clinical medicine
and observation. He was a master of prognosis and psychosomatic medicine and
also of anatomy. He was the first to identify and treat smallpox, to use
alcohol as an antiseptic and make medical use of mercury as a purgative. His
Kitab al-hawi (Continens) is the longest work ever written in Islamic medicine
and he was recognized as a medical authority in the West up to the 18th century.
The Canon of Medicine and
Meningitis
The
greatest of all Muslim physicians, however, was Ibn Sina who was called
"the prince of physicians" in the West. He synthesized Islamic
medicine in his major masterpiece, al-Qanun fi'l tibb (The Canon of Medicine),
which is the most famous of all medical books in history. It was the final
authority in medical matters in Europe for nearly six centuries and is still
taught wherever Islamic medicine has survived to this day in such lands as
Pakistan and India. Ibn Sina discovered many drugs and identified and treated
several ailments such as meningitis but his greatest contribution was in the
philosophy of medicine. He created a system of medicine within which medical
practice could be carried out and in which physical and psychological factors,
drugs and diet are combined.
Pulmonary Circulation
After
Ibn Sina, Islamic medicine divided into several branches. In the Arab world
Egypt remained a major center for the study of medicine, especially
ophthalmology which reached its peak at the court of al-Hakim. Cairo possessed
excellent hospitals which also drew physicians from other lands including Ibn
Butlan, author of the famous Calendar of Health, and Ibn Nafis who discovered
the lesser or pulmonary circulation of the blood long before Michael Servetus,
who is usually credited with the discovery.
Gynecology
As for
the western lands of Islam including Spain, this area was likewise witness to
the appearance of outstanding physicians such as Sa'd al-Katib of Cordoba who
composed a treatise on gynecology, and the greatest Muslim figure in surgery,
the 12th century Abu'l-Qasim al-Zahrawi (the Latin Albucasis) whose medical
masterpiece Kitab al-tasrif was well known in the West as Concessio. One must
also mention the Ibn Zuhr family which produced several outstanding physicians
and Abu Marwan 'Abd al-Malik who was the Maghrib's most outstanding clinical
physician. The well known Spanish philosophers, Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Rushd, were
also outstanding physicians.
Islamic
medicine continued in Persia and the other eastern lands of the Islamic world
under the influence of Ibn Sina with the appearance of major Persian medical
compendia such as the Treasury of Sharaf al-Din al-Jurjani and the commentaries
upon the Canon by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi. Even after
the Mongol invasion, medical studies continued as can be seen in the work of
Rashid al-Din Fadlallah, and for the first time there appeared translations of
Chinese medicine and interest in acupuncture among Muslims. The Islamic medical
tradition was revived in the Safavid period when several diseases such as
whooping cough were diagnosed and treated for the first time and much attention
was paid to pharmacology. Many Persian doctors such as 'Ayn al-Mulk of Shiraz
also travelled to India at this time to usher in the golden age of Islamic
medicine in the subcontinent and to plant the seed of the Islamic medical
tradition which continues to flourish to this day in the soil of that land.
Major Hospitals
The
Ottoman world was also an arena of great medical activity derived from the
heritage of Ibn Sina. The Ottoman Turks were especially known for the creation
of major hospitals and medical centers. These included not only units for the
care of the physically ill, but also wards for patients with psychological
ailments. The Ottomans were also the first to receive the influence of modem
European medicine in both medicine and phammacology.
In
mentioning Islamic hospitals it is necessary to mention that all major Islamic
cities had hospitals; some like those of Baghdad were teaching hospitals while
some like the Nasiri hospital of Cairo had thousands of beds for patients with
almost any type of illness. Hygiene in these hospitals was greatly emphasized
and al-Razi had even written a treatise on hygiene in hospitals. Some hospitals
also specialized in particular diseases including psychological ones. Cairo even
had a hospital which specialilzed in patients having insomnia.
Pharmacology
Islamic
medical authorities were also always concemed with the significance of
pharmacology and many important works such as the Canon have whole books
devoted to the subject. The Muslims became heir not only to the pharmacological
knowledge of the Greeks as contained in the works of Dioscorides, but also the
vast herbal phammacopias of the Persians and Indians. They also studied the
medical effects of many drugs, especially herbs, themselves. The greatest
contributions in this field came from Maghribi scientists such as Ibn Juljul,
Ibn al-Salt and the most original of Muslim phammacologists, the 12th century
scientist, al-Ghafiqi, whose Book of Simple Drugs provides the best descriptions
of the medical properties of plants known to Muslims. Islamic medicine combined
the use of drugs for medical purposes with dietary considerations and a whole
lifestyle derived from the teachings of Islam to create a synthesis which has
not died out to this day despite the introduction of modem medicine into most
of the Islamic world.
Nature History and
Geography
The
vast expanse of the Islamic world enabled the Muslims to develop natural
history based not only on the Mediterranean world, as was the case of the Greek
natural historians, but also on most of the Eurasian and even African land
masses. Knowledge of minerals, plants and animals was assembled from areas as
far away as the Malay world and synthesized for the first time by Ibn Sina in
his Kitab al-Shifa' (The Book of Healing). Such major natural historians as
al-Mas'udi intertwined natural and human history. Al-Biruni likewise in his
study of India turned to the natural history and even geology of the region,
describing correctly the sedimentary nature of the Ganges basin. He also wrote
the most outstanding Muslim work on mineralogy.
Botany and Zoology
As for
botany, the most important treatises were composed in the 12th century in Spain
with the appearance of the work of al-Ghafiqi. This is also the period when the
best known Arabic work on agriculture, the Kitab al-falahah, was written. The
Muslims also showed much interest in zoology especially in horses as witnessed
by the classical text of al-Jawaliqi, and in falcons and other hunting birds.
The works of al-Jahiz and al-Damiri are especially famous in the field of
zoology and deal with the literary, moral and even theological dimensions of
the study of animals as well as the purely zoological aspects of the subject.
This is also true of a whole class of writings on the "wonders of
creation" of which the book of Abu Yahya al-Qazwini, the 'Aja'ih
al-makhluqat (The Wonders of Creation) is perhaps the most famous.
Geography
Likewise
in geography, Muslims were able to extend their horizons far beyond the world
of Ptolemy. As a result of travel over land and by sea and the facile exchange
of ideas made possible by the unified structure of the Islamic world and the
hajj which enables pilgrims from all over the Islamic world to gather and exchange
ideas in addition to visiting the House of God, a vast amount of knowledge of
areas from the Pacific to the Atlantic was assembled. The Muslim geographers
starting with al-Khwarazmi, who laid the foundation of this science among
Muslims in the 9th century, began to study the geography of practically the
whole globe minus the Americas, dividing the earth into the traditional seven
climes each of which they studied carefully from both a geographical and
climactic point of view. They also began to draw maps some of which reveal with
remarkable accuracy many features such as the origin of the Nile, not
discovered in the West until much later. The foremost among Muslim geographers
was Abu 'Abdallah al-Idrisi, who worked at the court of Roger II in Sicily and who
dedicated his famous book, Kitab al-rujari (The Book of Roger) to him. His maps
are among the great achievements of Islamic science. It was in fact with the
help of Muslim geographers and navigators that Magellan crossed the Cape of
Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. Even Columbus made use of their knowledge in
his discovery of America.
Chemistry
The
very name alchemy as well as its derivative chemistry come from the Arabic
al-kimiya'. The Muslims mastered Alexandrian and even certain elements of
Chinese alchemy and very early in their history, produced their greatest
alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan (the Latin Geber) who lived in the 8th century.
Putting the cosmological and symbolic aspects of alchemy aside, one can assert
that this art led to much experimentation with various materials and in the
hands of Muhammad ibn Zakariyya' al-Razi was converted into the science of
chemistry. To this day certain chemical instruments such as the alembic
(al-'anbiq) still bear their original Arabic names and the mercury-sulphur
theory of Islamic alchemy remains as the foundation of the acid-base theory of
chemistry. Al-Razi's division of materials into animal, vegetable and mineral
is still prevalent and a vast body of knowledge of materials accumulated by
Islamic alchemists and chemists has survived over the centuries in both East
and West. For example the use of dyes in objects of Islamic art ranging from
carpets to miniatures or the making of glass have much to do with this branch
of learning which the West learned completely from Islamic sources since
alchemy was not studied and practiced in the West before the translation of
Arabic texts into Latin in the 11th century.
Technology
Islam
inherited the millenial experience in various forrns of technology from the
peoples who entered the fold of Islam and the nations which became part of Dar
al-Islam. A wide range of technological knowledge, from the building of water
wheels by the Romans to the underground water system by the Persians, became
part and parcel of the technology of the newly founded order. Muslims also
imported certain kinds of technology from the Far East such as paper which they
brought from China and whose technology they later transmitted to the West.
They also developed many forms of technology on the basis of earlier existing
knowledge such as the metallurgical art of making the famous Damascene swords,
an art which goes back to the making of steel several thousand years before on
the Iranian plateau. Likewise Muslims developed new architectural techniques of
vaulting, methods of ventilation, preparations of dyes, techniques of weaving,
technologies related to irrigation and numerous other forms of technology, some
of which survive to this day.
Man and Nature
In
general Islamic civilization emphasized the harmony between man and nature as
seen in the traditional design of Islamic cities. Maximum use was made of
natural elements and forces, and men built in harmony with, not in opposition
to nature. Some of the Muslim technological feats such as dams which have
survived for over a millenium, domes which can withstand earthquakes, and steel
which reveals incredible metallurgical know-how, attest to the exceptional
attainment of Muslims in many fields of technology. In fact it was a vastly
superior technology that first impressed the Crusaders in their unsuccessful
attempt to capture the Holy Land and much of this technology was brought back
by the Crusaders to the rest of Europe.
Architecture
One of
the major achievements of Islamic civilization is architecture which combines
technology Treatises on natural and art. The great masterpieces of Islamic architecture
from the Cordoba Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem to the Taj Mahal
in India, scientists were often display this perfect wedding between the
artistic illustrated with detailed principles of Islam and remarkable
technological know-how. Much of the outstanding medieval facilitate teaching of
the architecture of the West is in fact indebted to the techniques of Islamic
architecture. When one views the Notre Dame in Paris or some other Gothic
cathedral, one is reminded of the building techniques which travelled from
Muslim Cordoba northward. Gothic arches as well as interior courtyards of so
many medieval and Renaissance European structures remind the viewer of the
Islamic architectural examples from which they originally drew. In fact the great
medieval European architectural tradition is one of the elements of Western
civilization most directly linked with the Islamic world, while the presence of
Islamic architecture ean also be directly experienced in the Moorish style
found not only in Spain and Latin America, but in the southwestern United
States as well.
Influence of Islamic
Science and learning on 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.
Aftermath of colonial rule
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 Reassertion
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.
Kaaba
The
Ka'ba is the place of worship which God commanded Abraham and Ishmael to build
over four thousand years ago. The building was constructed of stone on what
many believe was the original site of a sanctuary established by Adam. God
commanded Abraham to summon all mankind to visit this place, and when pilgrims
go there today they say 'At Thy service, O Lord', in response to Abraham's
summons.
Quran
The
Quran is a record of the exact words revealed by God through the Angel Gabriel
to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). It was memorized by Muhammad (SAW) and then
dictated to his Companions, and written down by scribes, who cross-checked it
during his lifetime. Not one word of its 114 chapters, Suras, has been changed
over the centuries, so that the Quran is in every detail the unique and
miraculous text which was revealed to Muhammad (SAW) fourteen centuries ago.
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.
