The Rise of Islam

Pre Islamic Arabia to the

Coming of the Sultans

By:
Maria Sony
Mohd Arham Hussain
Monjima Kar
Muskan Rajan
Nabila Ansari
Ojasvi Chugh
Pamngaihlun Guite
Parvati Nair
Pauline Awungshi
Pre Islamic Arabia
The pre Islamic phase of Arabia is very important. It was during this period that we
can see the beginning of various aspects that are to gain importance during the later
periods. There is the rising importance of Mecca, increase in long distance trade and
the introduction of monotheistic beliefs like Christianity and Judaism into a largely
polytheistic community.
Before going into the details a general overview of Arabia during the pre- Islamic
time period is necessary. The primary communities remained powerful while the ur-
ban, religious and royal institutions remained less dominant. There was no hierarchy
above the clan or tribe and these communities had their own religious, social and po-
litical functions and individual leaders as well. Their economy was mainly pastoral
characterized by the Badawah lifestyle. The Arabian region had harsh climate as well
and a difficult to navigate terrain. Agriculture and settled life was possible in very
few areas while the rest was characterized by the presence of nomadic pastoralists.
The pre- Islamic Arabians were Pagans compared to the largely monotheistic believ-
ers of the imperial region.
Arabia was historically occupied by the Bedouins, who lived in small communities.
They were mainly pastoralists and camel herders as the harsh terrain of the area did
not allow them have a settled life as agriculturalists. Their society consisted of fami-
lies further divided into clans and tribes on the basis of their group solidarity or Asi-
biya. This solidarity encouraged bravery and selflessness within the tribe. They were
self-sufficient people who considered themselves as complete polities and recognized
no external authorities. They had their own rules, codes as well as leaders. The
Shaykh led each clan and they were usually selected by the elders from the prominent
families and they were required to act in accordance with the interests of the elders as
well as the clan members.
The Bedouins were migratory pastoralists. They moved throughout the peninsula in
search of pasturage. During winters they settled near the desert reserves and with the
beginning of rainy season moved towards spring reserves. They settled on higher
grounds near villages and oases during summertime doing small scale barter trade
with these village communities for animal products, grains, weapons etc. Another
very important aspect of their economic life was Ghazu or the acquisition raids. It
was a way of life and a means of livelihood whereby during scarcity the tribesmen
would regularly invade their neighbor’s territory, hoping to carry off camels, cattle or
even slaves.
As for the religious aspect of their life, the Bedouins were animists and polytheists
who believed that all natural objects and events were living spirits. Their world was
also comprised of jinns and demons who had to be controlled and defeated by magic.
They worshipped their ancestors, moon and star gods and gods in the form of stones
and trees placed in protective sanctuaries. It is also worth noting that the Bedouins
did not believe in afterlife, hence were focused on this world.
However one very important fact is that it was not religious beliefs that tied the Bed-
ouins together but rather it was tribal connections. Tribe and not any religious deity
was of supreme value to them, tribe was their identity. They developed various codes
and laws for themselves out of which Muruwah was a very important one.
Muruwah was a chivalric code, it meant courage, patience and endurance, it con-
tained a dedicated determination to avenge any wrong done to the group, to protect
its weaker members and to defy the enemies. Above all a tribesman had to be gener-
ous and share his livestock and food. The tribe was taught to live in unselfish ways
and traces of these codes could be seen in Muhammad’s teachings and the way he
preached.
The Bedouins had largely lived isolated from the rest of the regions. Arabia itself was
quite isolated until the 6th century, from where it started being exposed to external in-
fluences. The balance of power between the desert interior and the large-scale socie-
ties on the periphery were quite variable. Only Mecca stood against the trend towards
social and political fragmentation due to this imbalance in Arabia. However Mecca’s
importance rose due to beginning of long distance trade through Arabia. Earlier trad-
ers from India, East Africa and Yemen used to avoid Arabia because of its harsh and
difficult to navigate terrain. But a special saddle invented by the Bedouins that ena-
bled the camels to carry heavier loads changed this scenario. Now instead of avoiding
Arabia, foreign merchants trading in luxurious items began to take their items
through the Steppes and Mecca became a station for these north-bound caravans. The
area was already holy to the Bedouins and as its popularity arose, the Meccan Kaba
became a collective area for worship and attracted pilgrims from all over Arabia. It
also became a sacred repository and a site for annual pilgrimage. There were fairs at
Mecca during the pilgrimage season at which disputes were arbitrated and debts re-
solved along with trading activities between the various tribes. These annual events
gave the tribes a sense of common identity and gave Mecca a very important position
in much of Western and Central Arabia. These activities focused the worship of the
tribal natives upon common cults and it standardized the language and customs of the
natives and newcomers. Hence Mecca gave a purpose, a sense of common identity
and an all-around Centre for the Arabians from where its importance surges during
the coming periods.
It was into such a situation that new Monotheistic beliefs such as Christianity and Ju-
daism were introduced. As there was an increase in long distance trade the Arabians
were exposed to other alien cultures, beliefs and ideas. It is believed by the historians
that these new beliefs were introduced into Arabia by foreigners especially foreign
merchants and traders along the trade routes. When long distance trade and other as-
sociated commercial activities increased, it set the individuals free from the traditions
of their clans and allowed them to experiment with new values and ideas. It began
with the introduction of these religions and prepared the people’s mindset to accept
other forms of religion even completely different ones like the monotheistic religions.
There was also a lack of strong central authority in Arabia with the overwhelming in-
fluence of outsiders, the peninsula was in a fragile state. It was into this world that
Muhammad was born, introduced new ideas and beliefs, preached Islam and became
the Prophet.

Geography of Arabia
The vast region of Arabia is divided into five provinces on the basis of geographical
features and climatic conditions. Out of these, Hijaz, Najd, Yemen, Hadramaut and
Uman are important in the history of the Muslim world. Mecca, Medina and Taif are
the three chief towns of Hijaz. Northern Arabia is a large tract less desert land of Ara-
bia. About one third of the country is covered by sandy deserts. The largest portion of
this desert area is known as al- Dahna, which lies in the middle of the southern part of
Arabia. The southern portion of Arabia which consists of Yemen, Hadramauth and
Uman, is thickly populated and celebrated for its commerce and agriculture. This is
the most fertile region of the whole of the Arabian Peninsula.
The dry wastes of the deserts without shade or shelter are scorched by the direct and
intense sun rays. The hot wind intensified heat that blew across the country. There are
some rains in the coast lands, but the rainfall is scanty in the interior parts of country.
There is no river but during the rains the torrents flow for short times and then be-
come dry. No rain water reaches the sea. The same is absorbed in land, which makes
oases where cultivation is undertaken. The oases are scattered and are separated from
one another by deserts and high lands.
The channels of rivers which remain dry for a greater part of the year are known as
wadis” (channels that is dry except rainy season) and serve as caravan routes. Wadi al
Hunnah which connects Arabia with Mesopotamia and wadi al sirhan, which con-
nects Syria with Arabia are the principal wadis. Though Arabia is surrounded by wa-
ter on all sides except the north, it has practically no river worthy of mention. If there
is any it is not navigable. The small streams which exist here and there make the
strands fertile, rainfall is scanty but where there is water the land is remarkably fertile
for the production of coffee, indigo, dates, vegetables and fruits.
The vast desert area and the availability of domesticated camels, the ships of the de-
sert led them to the arena of caravan trade. The caravans were generally composed of
camels, the most frugal and patient companions of man in arid lands, the only vehicle
of transportation in the desert; without which the desert could not be conceived of as
a habitable place. The part which the camel has played in the economy of Arabian
life is indicated by the fact that the Arabic language includes some one thousand
names for the camel in its numerous breeds and stages growth, a number rivalled
only by the number of synonyms used for ‘sword’13. The Caliph Umar is quoted as
having said, “the Arab prospers only were the camel prospers”. Hence the Bedouin
was described as the parasite of the camel”.
W.M. WATT’S ARGUMENT
The second half of the first millennium AD witnessed a remarkable increase in the
world trade. Trade was transformed in nature from a low volume high value trade to
bulk trade in a variety of commodities of daily consumption. This trade, which spread
over the five different economic regions of Europe, West Asia, India, South East Asia
and China was necessitated by two major factors. Firstly some communities or re-
gions had a technological advantage which others lacked; for example silk and porce-
lain technology of China. Secondly geographical determinants of production such as
spice production of Indonesian islands, pepper production of Malabar and Java and
incense production of Arabia.
The Scottish scholar William Montgomery Watt argues that in the days of Muham-
mad, Mecca had become a wealthy city. Watt argues additionally that the Quraysh
benefited economically from the strategic location of their city, since Mecca “stood at
the cross-roads of routes from the Yemen to Syria and from Abyssinia to Iraq.” The
Quraysh, by his telling, dominated “most of the trade from the Yemen to Syria—an
important route by which the West got Indian luxury goods as well as South Arabian
frankincense”. To Mecca, therefore, the nomad came for goods brought from the four
points of the compass by caravan. Originally the Meccans themselves were probably
only middlemen and retailers and not the importers and entrepreneurs who organized
caravans. But by the end of the sixth century A.D. they had gained control of most of
the trade from the Yemen to Syrian important route by which the West got Indian
luxury goods' as well as South Arabian frankincense. Al-Ta'if was a rival of Mecca in
commercial matters, but Mecca clearly had the stronger position.
The growth of the city as a trading centre came about through the existence there of
a.haram or sanctuary area, to which men could come without fear of harassment.
This was due to the presence of the Kaaba, a shrine of idolatry of the pre Islamic reli-
gion practiced by the Bedouins. The annual pilgrimage brought throngs of devotees
to the city leading to economic exchanges, which led to the promotion of business.
Also, since the city and the shrine were considered sacred, unnecessary violence was
prohibited. The well of Zamzam, which was also considered sacred, was in the cus-
tody of the Prophet and his ancestors for a long period. This made mecca an ideal and
safe space to promote trade
The leading men of Mecca in Muhammad's time were above all financiers, skilful in
the manipulation of credit, shrewd in their speculations, and interested in any potenti-
alities of lucrative investment from Aden to Gaza or Damascus. In the financial net
that they had woven not merely were all the inhabitants of Mecca, but many notables
of the surrounding tribes also. The Qur'an appeared not in the atmosphere of the de-
sert, but in that of high finance.
The Meccan leadership also helped form a suitable backdrop for the prophet to
preach Islam. A great part of the strength of Mecca lay in the ability of its leaders to
form a common mind and to soft-pedal petty rivalries for the sake of the common
good. Arab democracy was less egalitarian than Athenian. Every member counted for
one and no one for more than one, but somehow or other, the Arabs had found a way
of deciding which members were the notable members of a clan who should attend
the meetings of the Senate. The Meccan mala' was much wiser and more responsible
body than the Athenian ecclesia, and consequently its decisions were more often
made on the solid merit of men and their policies and not on specious rhetoric that
could make the worse appear the better cause. On the other hand, while the Athenians
at their best recognized moral principles and would approve of a man primarily be-
cause he was honest and upright, the Meccans were more anxious that a man should
have practical skill and be an efficient leader.

Tribal solidarity is an essential for survival in desert conditions. A man requires the
help of others both against the forces of nature and against his human rivals. The
tribal groupings doubtless existed before men took to the desert, and did not come
into being there, but the importance of solidarity was certainly enhanced by desert
conditions. Up to a point the larger the group, the more powerful it is and therefore
the more successful; but beyond a certain point it is difficult for the group to act as a
unit, and there is consequently a tendency for it to break up. Thus the tribes are not
permanent entities, but are constantly either increasing and breaking up or else dwin-
dling away. Thus, the prophet’s security, which was ensured by his tribe was a very
important factor in his propagation of Islam, as it ensured that he would not be at-
tacked by his opponents, due to the fear that they should come and avenge his death.).
This conception of the Arabs as a single people, with the corollary of their distinct-
ness from other peoples (and superiority to them), came to be of considerable im-
portance during Muhammad's Medinan period, as he came within sight of a greater
degree of political unity among the Arabs than had been attained by any of the great
leaders of pre-Islamic times.
Yet, what is most important is the rise of a different kind of identity which can be un-
derstood by the rise of an interesting new phenomenon in Mecca- the appearance of a
sense of unity based on common material interests. It was this again that led to the
forgetting of rivalries and the formation of a 'coalition government' after the defeat at
the battle of Badr. The significance of this is that it marks a weakening of the bond of
kinship by blood, and reveals the opportunity for establishing a wider unity on a new
basis, and thus was a fertile ground for a religion based on brotherhood and common
beliefs, for a religion like Islam . In the rise of Mecca to wealth and power we have a
movement from a nomadic economy to a mercantile and capitalist economy. By the
time of Muhammad, however, there had been no readjustment of the social, moral,
intellectual, and religious attitudes of the community . These were still the attitudes
appropriate to a nomadic community for the most part . The tension felt by Muham-
mad and some of his contemporaries was doubtless due ultimately to this contrast be-
tween conscious attitudes and the economic basis of their life .

The nomadic virtue of fidelity in the keeping of trusts is certainly important, for a
certain minimum level of business integrity is necessary in order to inspire that confi-
dence which oils the wheels of trade; yet trade and generosity are incompatible, as
the trader has the aim of increasing his fortunes and not social merit through charity.
In the Mecca of Muhammad's prime , men had eased to think much of honour. Hon-
our was bound up with the traditional morality of the desert, and much of that had be-
come irrelevant in Mecca. Instead they thought of increasing their own wealth and
power. It was in supreme wealth that they found the meaning of life. Wealth gave a
man power. To increase one's wealth and power became the great aim in life, not
only for the few very rich men in Mecca, but also for the great majority of the popu-
lation who aped them from a distance much similar to the desires of roman slaves to
own slaves once they became free. Those who had some success in achieving this
aim became filled with a pride in wealth ' that soon merged into presumption' or an
exaggerated conception of the capacity of man. This appears to have been the reli-
gious position at Mecca when Muhammad began to preach.
While there may have been no grinding poverty, the gap between rich and poor was
widening. Dr Watt points out that in the early days Islam was essentially a movement
of young men, its supporters being people about the middle of the social scale who,
becoming conscious of the disparity between them and those at the top, were begin-
ning to feel that they were under-privileged. It can be clearly understood how Islam
used the economic and social inequalities of mecca to make its message relevant
among the masses, and how Mecca in turn was an ideal space for the rise of Islam .
To conclude, we can say that only a few can disagree with the well rounded and ho-
listic propositions W. M . Watt provides for the importance of Mecca in the rise of Is-
lam. In this regard, the Marxist label attached to him feels unjustified, especially for
espousing such a coherent and undogmatic approach. While some would state that
there was greater importance of the revealed scriptures of the Christians and Jews,
and thus advocate islam could have risen independent of the economic factors, giving
it a secondary rather than a primary cause. Nevertheless, we cannot understand Islam
without understanding the social and political contexts that led to its rise, and there-
fore bringing into importance the economic factors that would impact these.

Meccan trade: Patricia Crone’s Hypothesis

Patricia Crone was a leading historian on Islam. Her hypothesis on the rise of Islam
sought to refute earlier historians like Watts and Lammens. The earlier historians pin-
pointed the role of trade and especially that played by Mecca to have led to the rise of
Islam. These theories necessarily see Mecca to have been the hub of trade in Arabia.
They see it as a transit along the incense routes that traded incense, perfumes and
spices from India and Africa to the Byzantine and Persian empires. Crone seeks to
counter the argument of Mecca being the trading centre and in turn also comments
that trade played no part in the Islam’s emergence. She alludes the rise of Islam not to
materialist understandings of history but as an attempt to unite the whole of Arabia
against the imposing foreign influence. In doing so, Crone also downplays the signifi-
cance of the Prophet Muhammad.
Three routes, namely, (a) Mecca to Basra (b) Yemen to Mecca (c) Abyssinia to
Mecca across the Red Sea are said to have been instrumental in trade and of Mecca’s
importance as a transit point. As the Gulf Route was abandoned due to constant in-
fighting and dangers of pirates, Incense Route crossing through Mecca was adopted.
These routes helped Mecca be at the centre of trade and it grew in its trading capac-
ity. However, Crone argues that Mecca was never at the centre of Incense route nor
did the route pass through Mecca. The notion of Mecca being the resting place of the
traders, she says, is wrong. Mecca would have been midway between the two end
points of the route and such could not be a natural resting zone for a two month jour-
ney on caravan.
Crone observes that by the 6th Century CE the significance of the Arabian spices im-
ported by Greco Roman world diminished. Frankincense, myrrh, cancamum, tarum,
ladanum and sweet rush began to get produced within the Roman world itself. Aloe
and cinnabar were imported by sea while cinnamon and cassia were from East Africa.
Thus, these observations lead Crone to comment that the import of goods to the Byz-
antine Empire did not require travelling on the overland Incense route which clears
away earlier claims of a busy and bustling overland route. She denies Lammen’s
view that south Arabia traded in silk exports to the Byzantine Empire by the overland
and justifying lack of evidence for this.
It was earlier a huge claim that Mecca traded in silver. However Crone questions this
by ob serving that there were no mines in and around Mecca nor any wood that could
be used to smelt the silver. In fact, silver was mined in Najd and Yemen which under
Persian control.
Crone then observes that there was no extravagant trade in Mecca, if not any. Meccan
trade may have been in very humble goods like leather, arms and grains. These prod-
ucts became useful at that time and certainly not luxury goods.
According to her, the Quraysh were travelling merchants. It was that the Quraysh had
traded already before they occupied Mecca. The Quraysh had been trading in the 2nd
century CE and had settled in Mecca two centuries later. Thus, Mecca was not im-
portant to the establishment of trade as Watt used to argue. The other myth of Mecca
being a pilgrimage fair is also questioned by her. She looks at a certain famous list of
pre-Islamic pilgrimage fair and does not find Mecca out of the sixteen mentioned.
Crone instead argues that the trade of Quraysh and Mecca has to be distinguished.
The Quraysh had been trading communities long before they had settled in Mecca
and thus it had played no role. They had two trading centres. One, in the north As-
syria of Ummayyads and the second in the south with Hashimites. The Quraysh
would make two journeys in the summer and winter season to Yemen and Assyria re-
spectively and exchange humbler items for food grains which was an important sub-
sistence food for them. The Quraysh were highly dispersed handling good in the pen-
insular Mecca. Mecca here played no importance to the trade professed by the
Quraysh. Mecca was not even a centre that the Quraysh used for their base. In fact,
they were highly dispersed and the role of Mecca could just have been a place from
where many were recruited and organised.
Thus, Crone proves that Mecca played no role in the trading network in Arabia.
Since, the earlier argument was based on the assumption that Mecca had been a trad-
ing centre which created socio-economic disparities in the town, Crone intervenes to
prove this myth wrong. Thus, now by having demonstrated that no trade was not
there in Mecca, she concludes that Mecca must then also have not played any signifi-
cant role. She says that the society remain unaffected and there were no changes in
the social structure. Instead, people were only too comfortable in the existing tribal
and traditional society. In fact, the coming of the Prophet questioned and destabilised
their traditional society. Arabia was inhabited by many tribes, referred to as the Bed-
ouin tribe and they had varied religious and kinship ties. These were many polytheis-
tic groups often antagonist among themselves. Their social structure was character-
ised by minor trade in humble items and there were often hostile relations of quarrels
and fights among the different tribes. When the Prophet came, he attempted to unite
all these different tribes into a single monotheistic identity. This disturbed the origi-
nal framework of the society and there was thus initial resistance to the rise of Islam.
Uniting under one identity here meant giving away the different deities and gods that
were worshipped by the Bedouin community. Thus, their hostility within the commu-
nity was asked to be given away. However, Crone says that the religion was accepted
by the different tribes and all of Arabia gradually. She tries to place the reason why it
was accepted by hostile tribal groups that had to give up their traditional mode of life.
The Bedouin communities must have seen the benefits that Islam brought with it to
the people. The religion was not just a tool for spiritual change but also for a political
and social change. Islam was beneficial to the people as it was a religion that sancti-
fied expansion of the land under them militarily.
Crone thus sees Islam as a much important invention in the 6th Century that was
needed in the political scenario of Arabia. She invokes the Nativist model to explain
the situation that need a political change. Arabia was surrounded by the Byzantine
Empire, the Persian Empire, the Lakkhanids and Ghassanids. Arabia was thus pushed
down politically by these foreign influence surrounding them. Islam gave them a way
out to unite and gain a separate identity from the alien forces of the empires that op-
pressed Arabia. This was a primitive reaction to foreign influence and suppression.
Primitive reaction was in the sense that the people lacked political organisation. Islam
offered them just this. Crone observes that in the Nativist model that has been spotted
throughout history, in different times, had been first characterised by a traditional so-
ciety that had been oppressed under the influence of many antagonistic communities
each carrying their own beliefs. At around this time, there always is an event or inter-
vention that comes in history wherein the community gets united under a single iden-
tity. This identity could be united under a person who brings the sayings of the God
and claims to be a direct link to Him. The Prophet Muhammad was just one such per-
son who claimed to be the Messiah of the people. Crone says that the original aim
had been to unite Arabia under Islam. Thus, she concludes that there was no individ-
ual role as such that was played by Mecca or the Prophet Muhammad. The rise of Is-
lam could have been in any other place in Arabia and the person claiming to be the
messenger of God could also have been anyone else and that they were so, was by
chance and is of meagre importance. Instead the reason for rise of Islam was due to
the changes needed in the political structure of Arabia.
Crone’s theory destroys the earlier arguments made by Watts and Lammens and con-
siders their arguments to be biased in the Marxist understanding. The Marxist under-
standing put too much importance to trade in Arabia to prove a society that had wide
socioeconomic gap between its people. They saw the rise of Islam as a necessary re-
action to counter the richer section of the society. Crone, however counters this un-
derstanding of the rise of Islam and places it on the foreign influence. She necessarily
sees Islam as a result of the ‘burst of Arab nationality.’ The background of general
frustration of the people living under foreign influence could be summed up when
Mughira bin Shuba, a close confidante to the Prophet Muhammad, explains to a Per-
sian commander that, “Other men trampled us beneath their feet while we trampled
no one. Then God sent a Prophet among us and one of His promise was that we
should conquer and overcome these lands.”
Thus, Patricia Crone’s theory refutes the myth of trade and heavy traffic in Mecca in
the pre Islamic scenario and effectively denies the role of Mecca in creation of Islam.

Muhammad in Mecca and the Rise of the Umma

Sources
The sources of our knowledge of the Prophet’s life are abundant. However, the three
main sources that one may use to study the history of the rise of Islam are as follow:
1. The Quran - the Quran is the Muslim scripture believed by Muslims to have been
revealed by God through the angel Gabriel to Muhammad. It is considered the di-
rect revelation of God’s word and will, the ultimate source of Muslim belief. In
the Muslim view, the Quran is the final revelation and supersedes the previous
Jewish and Christian dispensations.
2. The Hadith - the sayings of the Prophet are a second source. In the Muslim view
these are Muhammad’s own inspired utterances as opposed to Quranic utterances.
This deals mainly with ritual, moral and other religious matters.
3. The third principal source of the Prophet’s life is the biography compiled by Ibn
Ishaq on the basis of oil tradition and partial written accounts and then edited and
revised by Ibn Hisham.

Background
Muhammad was born into the clan of Hashim, one of the most distinguished family
groups in Mecca. His great grandfather had been the first merchant to engage in inde-
pendent trade with Syria and Yemen and the clan had the privilege of providing the
pilgrims with water during hajj. However, recently Hashim had fallen on hard times.
Muhammad’s father ‘Abdullah died before Muhammad was born and his mother
Aminah was in such strained circumstances that the only Bedouin woman who was
willing to be his wet nurse came from the poorest tribes in Arabia. He lived with her
family till he was six years old.

Shortly after returning to Mecca, his mother died. Muhammad was taken in by his
uncle Abu Talib who was the sayyid (chief) of the Hashim clan and was greatly re-
spected in Mecca. Abu Talib was very fond of his nephew and helped with Muham-
mad’s education. Muhammad was instructed in martial arts, he was a skilled archer,
and a competent swordsman. His uncle Abbas, a banker, was able to get Muhammad
a job managing caravans on the northern leg of the journey to Syria.

When Muhammad was about 25 years old his luck changed on meeting Khadijah bint
al-Khuwaylid, a rich widow, from the clan of Asad, who asked him to take a caravan
into Syrian for her. Muhammad conducted the expedition so competently that Khadi-
jah was impressed and proposed marriage to him.

Revelation
About the year 610, Muhammad received his first revelations. The first words re-
vealed to him were the opening five lines of sura (chapter) 96. In the early years the
content of these revelations was the vision of a great, just God, Allah who would on
the day of judgement weigh every man’s works and consign him to bliss or damna-
tion. The early revelations emphasised the fear of the last judgement, piety and good
works and warnings against neglect of duties and heedlessness of the final day of
reckoning. Opposed to the worship of God and fear of the last judgement were were
presumption, pride in human powers and attachment to things of this world. This was
the false pride of the Meccans, which led them to the sin of avarice- neglect of alms-
giving and the poor. In addition to preaching these ideas, Muhammad instituted ritual
prayer.

The revelation in the Quran bore important similarities to Christianity and Judaism.
For Muhammad the revelations came from the same source. Christian parallels are
evident in the articulation of Muhammad’s vision of the last judgment. Similar details
were found in the preachings of itinerant Syrian monks and missionaries at the fairs
of Arabia. Idea similar to Judaism are also prominent in the Quran. Yet Muhammad’s
inspiration and language in which it was couched were original.

For three years after the revelation, Muhammad remained a private man coming to
terms wit the message of God. He related his experiences to his family and friends
and the force of his inspiration and the compelling language in which it was clothed
persuades them to believe that his visions were indeed divine revelations. A small
group of people gathered around him to hear and recite the Quran. These were the
first converts and they included his wife Khadijah, Abu Bakr and Ali.

The Umma
The term Umma is derived from the word ‘amm’ (the root) which means ‘to aim at’
or ‘to intend to’. Hence, ordinarily, it means the people who ‘intend to’ follow a
leader or a religion. It is to be noted that the Quran has employed the term umma for
the believers, as well as, non-believers and that the prophet had followers at Mecca
just before his migration to Medina, fulfilling the obligations of the sharia. So, it is
incorrect to say that the concept of umma emerged only after Muhammad’s migration
to Medina or that the umma was territorial in nature in the beginning and later on be-
came universal.

The beginning of the seventh century A.D. was an epoch of disintegration The Arabs
had become a prey to moral degradation, which had provided an opportunity to the
surrounding domineering powers of the age to strike directly against their very exist-
ence. That is why, the Prophet soon after launching his mission of transforming the
pagan world, warned first the Quraysh of their miserable plight.

When Muhammad began to openly preach his new faith. It directly posed a threat to
the economic and political stature of tribal aristocracy of the Quraysh. They protested
the new dispensation and opposed Muhammad and his companions economically and
politically.The abhorrence of idolatry by the Prophet was objected to, on the grounds
that it had direct bearing upon their ancestral customs, power, prestige and influence.
Hence, they resisted the Prophet with all means and measures—threats, promises, in-
sults and offers of worldly honors and gain—to induce and reduce him in abandoning
his course of action. The Prophet remained firm and committed to his mission.

Spiritual Integration

The chief vehicle for achieving spiritual integration was the acceptance of Islam that
is in fact belief in the unity of God and the prophet-hood of Muhammad. By its very
nature, the unity of Muslims was ideological, transcending all considerations of race,
colour, clan, language, etc. A universal brotherhood of people bound them together,
nothing else but of the consciousness of commonality of faith and morality. For or-
dering human relations and realizing unity with God, the institution of salat (prayer)
was made obligatory, soon after the call of Muhammad to prophethood.

The members of this umma considered the fellow-faithful as belonging to one family,
that is, the family of Allah regardless of one’s social status. Thus the clans or tribes to
which the Muslims belonged before Islam were of no avail. He who embraced Islam
had to forget all his tribal and clannish affiliations.

The early verses of the Quran revealed at Mecca, insisted on wealth and family—the
things that counted much and conferred a high social status in the jahiliyya (ignorant
or pagan world)—would be of no avail when people would come before Allah on the
Day of Judgment. Such injunctions and moral teachings of the new faith exercised a
unifying and integrating influence on the character of members of the emerging
umma. The consciousness of fraternal belongingness, created first at Mecca, was
meant primarily for achieving spiritual integration, though it led to social and eco-
nomic integration. It must, however, be kept in mind that Islam does not sacrifice the
body (physique) on the altar of the soul. It, therefore, laid equal emphasis on the ma-
terial well-being of the individual along with spiritual uplift.

Economic Integration
The Meccan verses of the Quran and the relevant hadiths indicate exploitation of
poor by rich, and that wealth and family counted the most, conferring on the member
a high social status. The institution of the Hilf al- Fudul (Compact of the Virtuous),
for redressing the growing injustice done to the Bedouins, small businessmen and the
destitute, supports this contention. It was in a milieu characterized by such economic
and social conditions in Mecca that Muhammad began to preach the new message. It
had, therefore, to pay equal attention to the economic aspect of the individual’s life.

It must, however, be made clear that there was a fundamental difference between the
approaches of the Qurayshite aristocracy and that of the Prophet of Islam. As the for-
mer tended to modify the current economic system to the benefit of sectional interests
and the latter manoeuvred to reform it to the interests of the community at large.
Therefore, one of the ways in which Islam tried to eliminate exploitation was the in-
sistence on spending money for public good to please Allah (infaq fi sabil Allah). The
Meccan verses of the Quran urge Muslims to spend their surplus wealth for the cause
of Allah. It is important to note that one of the malpractices of the pre- Islamic Arabia
was usury (riba), the most repressive weapon, which had wiped out social equality
and mutual cooperation. Islam, therefore, condemned it at the outset.

The condemnation and abhorrence of the unethical commercial practices and eco-
nomic exploitation in any form was tended to integrate the new spiritual commu-
nity—the umma. In order to strengthen the bonds of unity against the bitter opposi-
tion of the Quraysh, the Prophet was determined to establish an egalitarian society in
which exploitation of any kind and in any form must be eliminated. This could be
done by inculcating definite and different values, for instance feeding the poor, per-
suasion of the rich to spend on the poor and the needy and to pay zakat [amount of
wealth to paid on accumulated wealth as a trust of God], abstaining from oppressing
the orphans, driving away the beggars and shunning niggardliness. The rich section
of the umma was asked to spend their surplus wealth on the poor. The institution of
zakat did not aim at creating a class of beggars, looking for the surpluses of others.
What Islam aimed at was the equal distribution of wealth and prevention of concen-
tration in few hands and families.

Social Integration

The circumstances under which the Prophet launched the grand mission of Islam
were detrimental to the social structure of the Arabs. The pre-Islamic society suffered
from evils that had shaken the very foundations of the social framework.
Below is the reproduction of relevant portions of the speech made by Iafar bin abi-
Talib, in the court of the King of Abyssinia on the migration of Muslims, which
would illustrate the point:

“O King! We were uncivilized people, worshipping idols, eating carrion, committing

abominations, breaking natural ties, treating guests badly, and our strong devoured
the weak. Thus we were until God sent us the Apostle. He commanded us to speak the
truth, be faithful to our engagements, mindful of the ties of kinship and kindly hospi-
tality. He forbade us to commit abominations and to tell lies and to devour the prop-
erty of orphans, to vilify chaste women.”

This reflects the troublous times and the Prophet’s endeavours to reconstruct the so-
cial framework on the basis of fraternisation, cooperation and social justice. It may be
observed that the Quran regards the social troubles of the time as due to a wrong atti-
tude, namely, reliance on wealth and political power and control of resources. Great
stress was, therefore, laid on spending wealth in the way of Allah and practicing gen-
erosity so as to bring social harmony in the umma.

The Prophet devised certain ways and means in the light of the teaching of the Quran.
One of these measures was the institution of mu`akhat [brotherhood]. This was done
in order to ensure social justice. This equality was not meant for men only but women
also enjoyed it. After the emergence of the Muslim umma, women were no more at
the whims and mercy of men. Equality and brotherhood were, therefore, regarded not
only essential features of the umma but a pre-condition of the Islamic faith. A major
step was taken towards the abolition of the institution of slavery. Slavery was com-
pletely prohibited and slaves were freed masters of their fats. It is to be noted that the
basis of this social brotherhood was not kinship but religion of Islam.

Failure at Mecca

The sources at our disposal suggest that the core of tribalism in the pre-Islamic social
and political structure was a relationship of blood. There were, however, other tribes
as well who had attached themselves to these tribes through confederation (hilf), con-
tract (aqd) or neighborhood (jar) for protection.

But members of the umma did not recognise kinship but the belief in the Oneness of
Allah and the Prophethood of Muhammad . Members of different clans and tribes,
united under the banner of Islam, owed their allegiance not to their tribes or clans but
to the ideals of Islam.
Despite the initial success of Muhammad’s religious movement it did not gain sup-
port of any of the great merchants. Two reasons may be suggested for their subse-
quent hostility. They may have felt that Muhammad was criticising business practices
which they deemed essential to the successful conduct of commercial operations, and
more generally have resented the Quranic attitude to the values by which they lived.
In the second place they may have felt that ordinary people think he had superior wis-
dom, so that, should he ever aspire to become a ruler of Mecca, he would have much
popular support . Whatever thoughts may have been most prominent in the minds of
particular men, the great merchants as a whole certainly came to be opposed to Mu-
hammad.

They tried to get the clan of Hashim to bring pressure to bear on him to stop preach-
ing but honour perhaps combined with interest in opposing monopolies, led the chief
of the clan, his uncle, to continue to give him support. Even when the whole clan was
subjected to boycott, it went on supporting Muhammad.

The situation changed for worse about 619 with the death of Abu Talib. He was suc-
ceeded by another one of Muhammad’s uncle Abu Lahab who was prospering com-
mercially and had close business relationships with some of the great merchants. At
first, Abu Lahab merely threatened to withdraw protection from Muhammad if he
went on preaching his religion. We hear of Muhammad making approaches to vari-
ous nomadic tribes, and then visiting the town of Ta’if in hopes of finding a base
there.

This visit was a disastrous failure and on his return Muhammad was unable to enter
Mecca until he found the chief of another clan willing to give him protection.

It was under these circumstances that in the summer of 620, Muhammad journeyed
from Mecca to Medina and this journey is referred to as the Hijra.

Medinah & The Unification of Arabia

(620CE – 632CE)

In the year 622 CE, around 70 Muslim households made the perilous journey from
Mecca to Yathrib, an agricultural settlement some 300 miles away. They did this to
escape the constant persecution they faced at the hands of the Quraysh, their own
tribe. This was not a decision made overnight, the Prophet had been considering es-
caping Mecca once his protector Abu Talib had passed away. A man without a pro-
tector was a vulnerable man in tribal Arabian society, this was because someone
could kill him with absolutely no consequences, and nobody would avenge him. The
Prophet had to look for a new protector, and so he went about preaching his message
to people hoping someone would take an interest and pledge to protect him. It was in
the Hajj of 620 that someone gave him a chance, six pagan headmen from Yathrib
were making the pilgrimage to the Ka’bah and they saw in the Prophet a charismatic
leader who could bring peace to their town. Yathrib, unlike Mecca, was not one uni-
fied town, it was a patchwork of hamlets that were all inhabited by a different tribe
and individually fortified. Each tribe would attempt to assert its dominance over
another to become the chief tribe in the area. Some Jewish tribes were also residents
of Yathrib, they would often support one pagan tribe over another in this struggle for
dominance. By the time the Prophet approached these men, the situation had
worsened. Two tribes: the Aws and the Khazraj were involved in a bitter rivalry, and
both sides saw terrible bloodshed. The men from Yathrib took a gamble, they
undermined the authority of the Quraysh and invited the Prophet to Yathrib to act as
an arbitrator (hakkam). They felt he would make an impartial judge since he was nei-
ther a Pagan nor a Jew.

The Prophet gave Yathrib a new name, he called it “Medinah” which translates to
‘The city’, he called the people of Medinah the ‘Ansar’ which meant ‘helpers’. The
migration to Medinah was difficult on the ummah. The Muslims had left their tribe,
and this was a major problem, a person’s identity was based on the tribe he/she be-
longed to. Now they had to forge a new identity for themselves, to counter this issue
the Prophet began a system of 'brothering’ wherein he would group a helper and a
Muslim hoping they would form a bond of friendship and look past their tribal identi-
ties. The Muslims could no longer make a living, being Meccans they were traders
and financiers, and there were no opportunities for trade in an agricultural settlement
like Medinah. The Prophet decided that the ummah must engage in the old tradition
of the ghazu and conduct raids against Quraysh caravans. The initial raids were un-
successful, but they grabbed the attention of the Quraysh who made detours to avoid
an ambush. In March of 624CE the Muslims sacked a very large caravan at Nakhla
which agitated the Quraysh, a week later the Quraysh sent an army of 1,000 men to
confront an ambush that the Muslims had set for a caravan at the well of Badr.

Badr is a turning point in Islamic history, the Muslims had 300 men
and were greatly outnumbered by the Pagan army. Yet they emerged victorious, the
battle ended with several of the Quraysh’s chiefs and top commanders dead, while
there were only 14 casualties on the Muslim side. Badr had brought the Prophet im-
mense fame, it was no small task for the ummah to have ousted the Quraysh. Conver-
sion to Islam became popular in Medinah and the Muslims were no longer a minor-
ity, several of the Aws and Khazraj became Muslims and as Muslims they could not
attack one another. The Prophet made good on his promise to restore peace to Medi-
nah. However, this attracted the ire of the Jewish tribes who had previously enjoyed a
position of importance in the region. Ever since the Prophet had become the arbitra-
tor, their position had been undermined and nobody approached them for support an-
ymore. The Qaynuqa, a powerful Jewish tribe was at odds with the Muslims because
they had set up their own market and were handing out loans with no interest. The
Qaynuqa previously had a monopoly when it came to controlling the market and
providing financial assistance, eventually they rose in rebellion and barricaded them-
selves in their fortified hamlet asking their Pagan allies to help them in their fight
with the Prophet. The Prophet initially attempted to contain the conflict and to solve
it diplomatically, but once negotiations broke down, the Muslims besieged the
Qaynuqa hamlet. The Prophet banished the Qaynuqa and they left Medinah for Khay-
bar, a settlement to the north where they drummed up support for the Quraysh.

The Meccans wanted to avenge their defeat at Badr, and the Prophet knew that they
would inevitably attack Medinah. The recent conflict with the Qaynuqa had left the
Muslims exhausted, and another Jewish tribe, that of the Nadir was becoming in-
creasingly hostile. Ibn Is’haq alleges that the Nadir met a Meccan headman in secret
and told him about the city’s defences. On the 11th of March 625CE, an army of
3,000 Meccans marched on Medinah. They camped by the hillside of Uhud while the
Muslims barricaded themselves in the city. The Jewish tribes and their pagan allies
withdrew their support, and the ummah was on its own. The prophet and several other
commanders advised their men to fight with caution, but the recent victory at
Badr had emboldened some of the youth who charged into battle. The Muslim were
cut down by the Meccan cavalry and suffered a bitter defeat. The Prophet realised
that the ummah must consolidate its power if it is to take on Mecca. In Medinah the
situation worsened, the Nadir rose in rebellion and they too were besieged and exiled,
the Jewish opposition in Khaybar grew day by day. The Prophet countered this by
raiding Quraysh caravans extensively and allying with any who were opposed to the
Quraysh.
Slowly the ummah regained its presence, and once more in 627CE, the Qurash de-
cided to lay waste to Medinah. The Jewish tribe of Qurayzah betrayed Medinah and
joined the invading army. This time the Muslims were prepared. Salman-al-Farsi a
recent Persian convert told the Prophet how the Persians would dig a trench around a
settlement to render an enemy’s cavalry useless. In the dead of night around eighty
people, including the Prophet himself, dug a trench around Medinah. This was an im-
portant ideological development in Islam, the Meccans were proud people who be-
lieved shovelling earth was the duty of a slave, but the Prophet stressed on the princi-
ple of equality in Islam and by digging the trench himself showed them that labour
does not reduce a man’s respect. The Quraysh were astonished, they could not figure
out how to attack the city. Whenever a warrior got close to the trench, he would face
a volley of arrows fired at him from the settlement. They kept the siege going for
around 60 days, after which they gave up and went home. This forfeiture of the
Quraysh brought the Prophet immense respect among the other tribes, though one
question remained. What was to be done with the Qurayzah? They had irked their old
allies by betraying them during a war, nobody in Medinah stood to support them. The
Qurayzah were besieged and though they asked to be exiled like the tribes before
them, they were all executed. Treachery is a serious offense in tribal Arabia, and even
the Qurayzah’s pagan allies supported their execution.

With the victory at the Battle of the trench, the Prophet decided that it was time to
make peace with Mecca. He felt that a war would only tear the Arabs apart, and that a
diplomatic solution was necessary. He declared that he would be making the hajj in
628CE, around a thousand Muslims donned the white robes of pilgrims and accom-
panied him. The Quraysh decided to attack the defenceless pilgrims during their jour-
ney, but the Prophet managed to evade these attacks and made it to the sanctuary of
Mecca. He forced the Quraysh to sign a treaty with him, and although this was ini-
tially an unpopular move, the Arabs were impressed by his statesmanship and con-
version to Islam became an irreversible trend.
The Quraysh violated the treaty in 630CE by attacking one of the Prophet’s tribal al-
lies, but by now the ummah had become very powerful. The Prophet marched to
Mecca with a massive army 10,000 men, and the Quraysh being the pragmatic people
they were, surrendered to him. The Prophet took Mecca without shedding a drop of
blood.
Soon the settlements of Tai’f followed and in matter of ten years, the Prophet had
united all of Arabia.
The Rashidun Caliphs
After the death of Prophet Muhammad on June 632, there was a huge issue regarding
the right to succeed the Prophet and it created a political vacuum. He had taught that
he was the last of the long line of prophets sent by God to show the right path to hu-
manity. He was not only a Prophet but also religious leader of the Muslims and head
of the newly founded Arab state. His teachings which were supposed to be the word
of Allah, comprised the Quran which were to guide his followers in all aspects of life.
He had left no generally acknowledged successor, someone had to take charge of the
state and guide the religious community, and this led to fierce conflict which divided
the believers and often involved serious doctrinal differences between different
groups.

There were three groups which claimed the right to succeed. Firstly, the Meccan mu-
hajirun or ‘emigrants’. They were the earliest followers of the Prophet, and the ansar
or Madinese ‘helpers’ who were the strong supporter of Muhammad. They believed
that succession should belong to them as they had been the first to accept Islam and
stood by the Prophet during the most difficult phase of his career. The second group
which is known as the ‘legitimists’ or alids , argued that succession should take place
within the family of Muhammad. Since the Prophet didn’t have a direct male heir, Ali
who was the son-in-law of the Prophet was favored to succeed him. Finally, there
were the aristocracy or the Quraysh particularly the Umayyad, who were the ruling
tribe of Mecca at the time of the birth of the Prophet.

Under these pressures the rule of Caliphate went through several phases

1)The Rightly Guided Caliphs (632-61)

2)The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750)

2)The Abbasid Empire (750-945)

Khalifa literally means successor and it implies to ‘successor of Muhammad’.

Khalifa became the main title for the religious leader of the Muslim and the
head of the state founded by Muhammad. It was a period of great achievement
and many changes in the political formation was encountered.

We will now talk about the first Rashidun Caliph, Abu Bakr. He governed
from 632 - 634. He was acknowledged as the caliph by taking the oath of alle-
giance, the baya which was to formalize the accession of all succeeding ca-
liphs. He was one of the first converters to Islam, a dedicated follower of Mu-
hammad who accompanied him from Mecca to Medina at the time of Hijra.
Abu Bakr was a gracious and diplomatic leader. He sat beside the Prophet as
he talked to leaders of various clans and could make friends easily from those
clans.

He was responsible in preventing the break-up of the Islamic community fol-

lowing the Prophet’s death. The unity so valued by Islam, both of faith and
within the Muslim community was protected and safe-guarded by Abu Bakr’s
short, though quite turbulent period as a caliph. Bakr’s first action as a caliph
was to send the army to Syria under Usama ibn Zayd’s command to suppress
the rebel tribes of Hijaz and Najd. They were not arguing the singularity of Al-
lah but refused to pay zakat and some other taxes to Medina. Abu defeated
them and insisted that they had not just submitted to a leader but joined the
Muslim religious community of which he was the new head. This was known
as the Ridda Wars.

Scholars believed the Quran was compiled shortly after the Prophet’s death un-
der the guidance of Abu Bakr. He collected the pieces of the Holy Quran to-
gether since many Muslims who had memorized the Quran from the lips of the
Prophet, had died in the battles which later became a definitive text. He also
used his riches for freeing Muslim slaves from their pagan masters, helping the
poor and equipping the muhajiruns with weapons required for war.

He maintained the tradition of the Prophet and had set the Muslim community
on the road to expansion. Under his leadership, the conquest of Arabia was al-
most completed and the conquest of Syria began. Abu Bakr died on 634 and
buried in Medina.

Umar Ibn Al-Khatab became the second rightly guided caliph. Abu Bakr
nominated Umar to his successor. He governed from 634-644. Umar called
himself ‘amir al-muminim’ (the commander of the faithful). He gave emphasis
on the need to order ummah and on the energies spent on raiding had to be
properly sorted so that the unity of ummah would be preserved and to control
the law and order.

Under Umar’s leadership, the Islamic empire grew at an unprecedented rate,

taking Mesopotamia and parts of Persia from the Sassanids and taking Egypt,
Palestine, Syria, North Africa and Armenia from the Byzantines achieving a
series of astonishing victories. The use of camels and the religious movement
of the Arabs were an additional factor which contributed to their success.

Umar purposefully created institutions to distribute the booty of the Islamic

conquests and the manner in which new Islamic cities were organized created
incentives for tribesmen to convert to Islam and remain loyal. They created
mechanisms of common knowledge dissemination that made it easy to see how
many other tribesmen had converted to Islam. A mosque or governor’s palace
were established in order to keep Muslim community together, they would be
in much stronger position to defend from enemies. And also, to facilitate the
urban settlement and the establishment of a centralized fiscal system capable of
extracting resources from conquered people without exploiting them.

The diwan system of stipend was first introduced by Umar in 636 to organize
the pay of the Arabs armies, established a register for fighting forces, and set
the treasury in order. This explains Umar’s intention to stimulate the soldier’s
zeal to continue the conquest. The diwan system was perhaps most useful as a
tool for Islamic elites to manipulate the incentives of Arab tribesmen to remain
loyal to Islam and punish possible defectors. The diwan in these early years
was essentially a system by which stipends or pensions were paid to Muslim
Arabs who participated in the conquests and emigrated to join the garrison
towns in the new provinces. A diwan was established in each of the garrison
towns including Basra, Kufa and Fustat. Highest stipends or ata were given to
those providing special service to Islam. This system of basing an individual’s
rank in the diwan on seniority in Islam continued until the end of the Umayyad
period. The institutional arrangement required further Islamic conquest and ex-
pansion because the money distributed was through the conquered lands.

Umar was assassinated in 644 by a Persian slave in Medina and there seems to
have been no political motivation behind it. Umar was the real builder of the
Arab empire. During his ten years as a caliph, he made a huge contribution to
the Islamic society.

After the death of Umar, Uthman Ibn Affan became the third rightly guided
caliph. He governed from 644 until 656. Uthman was an early convert to Islam
and frequently served as Muhammad’s secretary. He was well known for using
his wealth to benefit charities. Sunnis hold Uthman in high regard. Although he
is not exempt from criticism for favoring his relatives, he was loyal to the prin-
ciple that God was sovereign and ruled according to the Quran. He was intro-
duced to Islam and gained intricate knowledge about it from the Prophet. He
narrated 146 traditions directly from the Prophet himself and was one of the
few people who were able to write down Quran. He became a reference point
for those trying to know the rituals of worship. He understood and was able to
instruct others in the rituals of ablution, prayer and other Islamic obligations.

Uthman was elected as the caliph by the committee or shura of six members
appointed by Umar before his death. Some argued that he was ‘the most com-
petent statesman’ since Sunnis believed that the caliph should be the best
among them. Umar’s first action as leader was to assure the people that he
would guide them according to the way of the Prophet and Caliphs Abu Bakr
and Umar ibn Al Khattab. Uthman was turning 70 when he became leader of
the Muslims and for many years, he had refrained from the pleasures of this
life in order to seek nearness to God. After setting a tone of piety and concern
for Muslims would be the hallmark of his reign.

Uthman turned his attention to giving direction to the governors and the Mus-
lim armies.To the governors Uthman expressed his desire for them to serve the
people, and never to exploit them. He sent prominent companions of Prophet
Muhammad, as his personal deputies to the provinces to scrutinize the conduct
of officials and the condition of the people. Uthman reminded the armies to
follow the clear guidelines set down by Umar and asked them never to forget
that they were defending the believers.

Extensive conquests were made during the reign of Uthman, including parts of
Spain, Morocco, and Afghanistan. Uthman was also the first Caliph to organ-
ize a navy. He reorganized the administrative divisions of the Muslim Cali-
phate, expanded, and initiated many public projects. In order to strengthen his
control, he appointed many of his kinsman as governors.

Uthman knew the Quran by heart and had intimate knowledge of the context
and circumstances relating to each verse. The Quran had been gathered during
the time of Abu Bakr and was in the safekeeping of Prophet Muhammad’s wife
Hafsah. Uthman took possession of the originals and ordered some of the most
trusted companions to make careful copies, and he insisted the use of only one
version of the sacred text in the garrison towns and in the empire
Uthman reigned for 12 years and the first six years were the time of relative
tranquility and peace, however the last years of his reign were marred by inter-
nal conflict and pockets of rebel trying to cause havoc throughout the Cali-
phate. In 656, Uthman was assassinated by a group of Arab soldiers in his own
house, he was defenseless and unarmed.

Ali Talib was acknowledged as the fourth rightly guided caliph after the death
of Uthman, and he governed from 656-661. Ali had grown up in Muhammad’s
household and became the son-in-law when he married the Prophet’s daughter,
Fatima. He spent his childhood emulating the noble character of the Prophet
and his youth learning the details of Islam. Ali grew into a noble warrior and
wrote inspiring letters to his officers preaching the necessity of justice and the
importance of dealing with subjects compassionately.

All Muslims respect his piety, however, and he is an important figure within
the mystical (Sufi) branch of Islam where he is often cited as a link in the initi-
ated chain (silsilah) that each Sufi master’s traces back to Muhammad. He is
especially remembered for his strong conviction that inner piety must be ex-
pressed externally in just acts and in compassion for the disadvantaged. Ali is
also a figure around whom Muslims unite, a reconciling figure who forces
moves towards the mutual recognition of different legal schools in Islam.

The small community of Muslim immigrants in Medina, the Muhajirun, were

at first extremely poor. They had no land, no houses, and lived on the charity
of the Medinans who had converted to Islam (the Ansar) or 'helpers'. They
hired themselves out for labor and as the Muslims community grew stronger
engaged in military action against their Meccan opponents. Ali shared in all the
labor and hardships of the community. Ali first distinguished himself as a war-
rior in 624 C.E., at the Battle of Badr, the first armed conflict in which Mus-
lims were involved. He defeated the Banu Umayyad champion Walid ibn Utba
as well as many other Meccan soldiers, and Muhammad publicly praised him
for his outstanding work.

The first act of his caliphate was to put down a rebellion led by Talha and al-
Zubayr, who were urged on by Aisha, Muhammad's widow who was also re-
lated to them. Both men, having persuaded Ali to accept office, were now up-
set that they had not been rewarded governorships; but the stated reason for the
revolt was Ali's failure to avenge Uthman's murder. The rebel army was de-
feated at the Battle of Camel at Basra. It was known as Battle of the Camel
 because Aisha, who rode the troops watched the fighting from the back of her
camel. The two generals were killed, and Aisha was captured and escorted with
all respect to Medina, where she was given a pension. This civil war was also
known as The first Fitna. It ended in 661 when Ali was assassinated by
Muawiya, the governor of Syria. The death of Ali brings to an end of the Ra-
shidun caliphate and the reign of Umayyad caliph began headed by Muawiya.

The four Rightly Guided Caliphs were also known as the ‘orthodox’ or the pa-
triarchal. caliph of the Islamic tradition. Their constant efforts has helped to
continue one of the world’s great cultural and spiritual traditions which would
not have survived. Despite their differences, almost all Muslims believed that
they should be governed by a single caliph despite of its vast geographical di-
versity so as to keep a common religion and a common culture.

The Umayyad Caliphate

Even when Ali was caliph, his authority hadn’t been accepted by the people of Syria,
where Muawiya held the position of governor. Some Shiites favoured Ali’s eldest
son, Hasan, for the position of caliph, but an agreement between Hasan and Muawiya
(after which Hasan avoided any sort of political involvement) allowed Muawiya to
come to power. The latter was a kinsman of Uthman, and so he also had an agenda to
avenge the death of Uthman. Ever since the days of the conflict between Muawiya
and Ali, the Muslim community has been split into three politico-religious sects – i)
The followers of Muawiya, which soon found many adherents, became the Sunnis,
not because they were more attached to the sunna than others, but because they
claimed to uphold correct and orthodox theory and practice. ii) The followers of Ali
became the Shiites (also called Shiis or Shi’a), and their doctrine is usually known as
Shi’ism. iii) The Khawarij (also known as Kharijites), too, evolved a doctrine of their
own, usually called Kharijism.
Muawiya shifted the capital to Damascus in Syria, thus initiating the period of the
Umayyad caliphate (661 to 750). With the accession of Muawiya, a new era began –
the head of the state became more conscious of his position as the ruler of an empire,
and was determined to make everyone (his co-religionists as well the conquered peo-
ples) realize his authority. To achieve this, he began to set a distance between himself
and the people. He surrounded himself with a court, instituted ceremonial practices,
and appeared at public prayer on Fridays escorted by guards. Muawiya began a process
of transforming the caliphate into a monarchy of sorts. It is important to keep in mind,
here, that the Arabs were traditionally rather averse to the idea of ‘kingship’. Muawiya
expanded the military and administrative powers of the state, and resumed the con-
quests in North Africa and Eastern Iran. He also attempted to build up the revenues of
the state – from private incomes, from confiscated Byzantine and Sasanian crown
lands, and from investments in irrigation. He was closely devoted to Quranic princi-
ples, and also accorded religious freedom and personal rights to the dhimmis (non-
Muslims living in an Islamic state). Despite his policies, he faced a lot of resentment
from the Iraqis, where the death of Ali was still a fresh memory.
Muawiya accentuated the evolution of government towards a greater freedom of deci-
sion, and took a broader view of the question of making laws. Under his successors, an
increasing secularization of the government can be noticed. The word ‘secularization’
here does not mean that the Umayyad regime was a secular government – religion was
still the basic criterion for discrimination between subjects. However, most Muslims
perceived the Umayyad era as not a caliphate but a ‘kingdom’; they felt that it had
betrayed the theocratic spirit of the early days of Islam, and in contrast with the demo-
cratic tendencies of Arab society, had established an autocratic form of government.
Muawiya managed to convince the notables of the empire to recognize his son, Yazid,
as his successor, but this was strongly opposed by not the just the Iraqis but also those
Umayyads who had been excluded from power by Muawiya. Muawiya’s innovation
was followed by all the caliphs who came after him, and this enabled the Umayyads to
retain power for 90 years. The same system was introduced in the Muslim states which
came into being within the territories or on the margins of the caliphate. After
Muawiya’s death in 680, the Shiites once again put forth the claim of Ali’s family and
announced their support for Ali’s younger son, Husayn, who had some support in
southern Iraq (mainly Kufa). Husayn led a small band of followers to face the Umayyad
army, and a battle took place in Karbala near Kufa, at the end of which Husayn and his
party was massacred. Husayn came to be seen as a martyr by all those who opposed
the shape that the caliphate was taking, and his martyrdom became a powerful religious
symbol for Shiites. His death is commemorated every year as a period of mourning
during the month of Muharram i.e the month in which the battle of Karbala took place.
During his brief reign, Yazid dealt with numerous uprisings, and faced strong opposi-
tion from not the just the Shiites and the Kharijis, but also from several sections of the
people of Mecca and Medina (the Holy Cities). He passed away in 683, and was suc-
ceeded by his adolescent son Muawiya II, but he, too, died after a few weeks. Soon
after this, a civil war broke out again, and lasted till 690. The second Arab civil war
was marked by widespread factional conflict among Arab groups.
As the centre of political power had shifted towards Syria, Arabia had become increas-
ingly marginalized. There were several factors that contributed to the progress of Syria;
such as the system of administration (which was modelled on the well-tried Byzantine
system), the high degree of civilization reached by the Arabs who had immigrated into
the territory before the days of Islam and were consequently orderly and used to a
centralized government, and the peaceful relations that existed between the native pop-
ulation and the Arabs who had arrived with the conquest. The transfer of the capital to
Damascus also aroused the envy of Iraqis, and the motive to do away with the Syrian
hegemony was a cause of various uprisings. Muawiya tried to maintain order in Iraq
by appointing men of outstanding ability to be governors of Kufa and Basra.
When Muawiya II died, Marwan became the most prominent member of the family.
He had earlier served as chief advisor to the caliph Uthman. Several Muslims were
averse to having another Umayyad on the throne, however, Marwan was acknowledged
as the caliph in the Damascus, with the support of the Yamani tribes who had helped
to drive away his main opponents (the Qaysis).
Marwan died in 685 and was succeeded by his son, Abd-al Malik, who too enjoyed the
support of the Yamani tribes. From the very beginning of his reign, he was confronted
with problems, particularly in Iraq – where Muawiya’s large scale agricultural pro-
grammes had been a major source of discontentment. A bigger issue was that of the
mawali – non-Arab Muslims – who felt as though they were being treated as second
class citizens because of the numerous taxes that had been imposed on them.
Abd-al Malik began a policy of administrative and political centralization, which in-
volved the development of a standard Arabic coinage. Up to this time, coinage had
been purely regional, but now for the first time, there was a distinctive Islamic coinage
– gold and silver coins engraved with Quranic phrases. Moreover, there was also an
Arabization of the administration – all administration in any part of the empire was to
be conducted in Arabic, thus pushing languages like Greek, Pahlavi, and Persian out
of the picture and eliminating regional differences. Under Abd-al Malik, monumental
building activity also took place. Jerusalem was appropriated as a holy place for Islam,
and the Dome of the Rock (known as the earliest great monument of Islamic architec-
ture) was built on the site of the ancient Hebrew temple. As a result of his policies,
dhimmis began to settle in garrison towns and started learning Arabic.
After his death in 705, Abd-al Malik was succeeded by his son al-Walid, under whom
the Umayyad state reached the limit of its geographical expansion. An Islamic state
was established as far west as Spain. Al-Walid instituted a system of poor relief and
public charity in Syria, and began several building projects - an example being the great
Umayyad mosque in the centre of Damascus. After his death in 715, Al-Walid was
succeeded by his brother, Sulayman, who had been the governor of Palestine. How-
ever, he had an untimely death and his reign only lasted two years. His succession was
managed by his advisor, who had managed to convince him, just before his death, to
nominate his cousin, Umar, as his successor.
The increasing frequency of conversions influenced the policies of caliphs and gover-
nors. Even though the early caliphs did not encourage conversion, large numbers of
non-Muslims embraced the faith of their conquerors. This was probably due to eager-
ness to come nearer to their new masters, and definitely to share the advantages that
the latter enjoyed (such as certain tax exemptions). However, non-Arab converts
(mawali) didn’t receive the same treatment as the Muslims of long standing, and over
time, resorted to agitation. They became a valuable asset for the opposition, and usually
found people in pietist circles who agreed with them. Thus, the mawali problem was a
constant worry for the government.
In Islamic tradition, Umar is seen as a complete contrast to the other rulers of his fam-
ily, since he was determined to amend the measures of his predecessors and reintegrate
the Muslim community. He actively encouraged conversions instead of regarding them
with distrust. He attempted to reform the financial administration - by accepting the
mawali claim that all active Muslim soldiers, Arab or not, were entitled to equal pay,
and also accepted the tax equality of all Muslims. He admitted that the dhimmis had
been mistreated and sought to improve their status, though he still forbade them from
building new churches. He also intended to keep a close eye on provincial administra-
tion, and appointed governors whom he believed to be competent. He attempted to
conquer Constantinople but failed, and after that he forbade any foreign wars and ad-
ventures. The downside was that his policies led to a loss of revenue for the state.
Umar, too, had an untimely death in 720, and his successor, Yazid, was more inter-
ested in music and sport than the day-to-day business of government and he was pre-
pared to let the governors of the provinces have their own way. After a reign of 4 years,
Yazid passed away in 724, and was succeeded by his much more able brother, Hisham.
Not much is known about his early career other than that the 19 years of his reign were
among the most peaceful of the entire Umayyad century, at least as far as internal op-
position was concerned. The main problems he faced were to do with external inva-
sions and financial exhaustion of the state. The external threats; namely in the Caucasus
area, North Africa, and Khurasan; were defeated, but at a considerable cost in money
and manpower. To improve the financial situation, Hisham adopted a harsh fiscal pol-
icy, which brought him the reputation of being a greedy man.
Following Hisham’s death in 743, the last phase of Umayyad rule was little more than
a succession of rebellions due to the general discontent. Almost all the movements
against the Umayyads were guided by a certain ideology. This ideology stated the ne-
cessity of returning to the right observance of the Qur’an and the sunna. Most oppo-
nents of the regime felt that all Muslims ought to enjoy the same rights, irrespective of
their origin or the date of their conversion. As for the dhimmis, they ought to be treated
justly.
The last of the Umayyads was Marwan II, who had been the governor of Armenia and
Azerbaijan and was a tough military veteran. He was proclaimed caliph in Damascus
on 744, even though he had limited support –a small part of the Syrian elite. Marwan
was determined to press ahead with the conquest of Iraq, even though he had troubles
in Armenia where his governor had been deposed by his rivals. Meanwhile, a rebellion
had been building up in Khurasan – led by Abu Muslim, an agent of the Abbasids (the
descendants of the Prophet’s paternal uncle). The rebels accused the Umayyads of be-
traying true Islam; at the same time, they pressed for reforms, whereby privileges
would be abolished. Abu Muslim established himself in the Khurasani capital at Marv,
and drove out the Umayyad governor. The support of alienated members of the Umay-
yad family played a major role in the triumph of the rebels in Iraq. The rebel army
occupied Kufa, and a rival caliph, Abbas al-Saffah (an Abbasid), was declared caliph.
Subsequently, Marwan was defeated at a battle by the Abbasid armies in 750 – effec-
tively breaking Umayyad power. He attempted to flee to Egypt and later to North Af-
rica, but was killed by his rival armies. The various reasons for the fall of the Umayyad
caliphate will be explored in the following sections.

Abbasids (750-1258 CE)

The Abbasid Dynasty, also known as ‘the blessed dynasty’ by its supporters, was the
third dynasty of Islam. It imposed its authority on the Islamic Empire in 750 CE and
lasted for about 500 years. The Abbasids claimed to inaugurate a new era of justice,
piety and happiness. Though they lasted till 1258 CE, they enjoyed supreme power
for only a century after which some scholars claim that they played the role of mere
figureheads.

Before talking about the Abbasids in relation to the rise of Islam, it is important to
discuss some important points which help in a better understanding of the ‘core’ of
Islam. There are 3 main phases of Islam- the beginning of Islam which we see in 610
CE when Prophet Muhammad began preaching his revelations publicly, the expan-
sion of Islam which is seen thereafter and is manifested by the increase in the number
of converts to Islam over a larger area as well as achievements of the Islamic empires
and finally the maturity and decline of Islam. During the era of the early Abbasids
known as ‘The Golden Era of Islam’, Islam achieved glory in almost every known
field of human endeavor and succeeded in creating and consolidating the ideological,
theological and material foundations of its religious and administrative institutions.
The horizons of Islam expanded over a larger territory and there was a greater partici-
pation of non-Arabs. Thereafter, during the reign of the later Abbasids, Islam reached
its stage of maturity and began to decline which ultimately lead to the end of the dyn-
asty.

It is also important to note that the 2 main sources of Islam- Quran (the sacred text)
and the Hadids (the sayings ie ‘sunna’ and doings of Allah) are extremely crucial to
understanding the ‘core’ of Islam. It was the Hadids which were orally transmitted by
transmitters called the ‘lim’ and thus subject to various interpolations. Major events
in the life of the Prophet were remodeled retrospectively or even invented in order to
suit the political needs of a particular group. On the basis of this, we see a mystic le-
gitimacy of the Abbasids being formulated. Ali b. ‘Adballah Abbas was made to pos-
sess Ilm ie esoteric knowledge which indicate that the first Abbasid caliphate will
come from the village of Humaymah and his name will be Abdallah. Another tradi-
tion was that the prophet himself informed his uncle al- Abbas that the caliphate will
pass to his descendants. As a result of this, the intellectuals and the ‘ulama’ devel-
oped a hostile approach towards the Abbasid propaganda which was seen as a result
of a bloody strife that disintegrated the Islamic community.

One needs to also draw attention to the issue of legitimacy. Prophet Muhammad had
not left behind a definite order of succession following his death- atleast there is no
document or definite proof to indicate this. As a result, there was a continuous strug-
gle for power whereby different groups such as the Alids, Shi’is,Ummayads and Ab-
basids tried to proclaim themselves to power on the basis of their relationship to the
Family of Prophet. In order to enter the struggle for power, the Abbasids needed le-
gitimacy. They created such legitimacy by identifying themselves with an existing
movement, namely a faction of the Alid shi’ia which was associated with the name of
Muhammad al-Hanafiyyan, a son of ‘Ali b. After Muhammad b. Hanafiyyah’s death,
his shi’ia rights transferred its allegiance to his son, Abu Hashim, and hence became
known as Hashimiyya. It rested on the firm foundation of activity which the Hash-
imiyyah itself had created. When the Abbasids took over the leadership of the move-
ment, it was at a low ebb following the suppression of Mukhtar b. Abu ‘Ubayd’s re-
volt in Kufah in 687. Therefore they took to an existing movement to use it for their
own personal purposes and acquired legitimization against the Ummayads and Alids.
Its sovereigns, all members of the Muhammed family, proclaimed that they alone had
been designated to lead the community; all of them endevoured to show, by means of
the throne-names which they adopted, that they had the blessing of divine support.

The Abbasid movement possessed two essential elements of every revolution- 1) It

had a preparatory phase in accordance with the ideological principles and 2) the stage
of armed revolt which in this case was successful. This conception of a 2 stage revo-
lution was well demonstrated by the use of the term ‘da’wah’. The common idea of
these two terms was that the movement repeated the genuine call of pure, original Is-
lam of the Prophet. It symbolized the ideological core of the Abbasid movement.
This ideology argued that the disunity, the constant state of strife, fitnah within the
Islamic community were the outcome of abandoning the Prophets original teachings
of his Sunnah. They saw the Ummayads as the cause and effect of evil in the Islamic
community. The greatest strength of the movement was Khurasan which had a large
Arab population and military strength. It also acted as a frontier and active front
against the enemies of Islam-Iranians and Turks. Abu Muslim played a vital role in
gathering an army from Khurasan and also getting assistance from the local mawali.
The Khurasan army mobilized by Abu- Muslim was instrumental in ousting the Um-
mayads from power and the last Ummayad Caliph- Marwan II was killed in Egypt.

Though the Abbasids had won support by carefully presenting themselves in shi’ia
light, once in power they shed this religious camouflage and showed that they were
determined to make the caliphate an absolute monarchy in the traditional agrarian
way. The Abbasids projected themselves as upholders of correct behavious based on
the Sunna. All those who confirmed to the Sunna were called the Sunnis. Eventually
this came to be different from the Shi’is. Marshall Hodgson remarks that the when
the term Sunna is used to differentiate between the Shii’s and Sunnis, there is an ele-
ment of inaccuracy because it is wrong to think that the Shi’is do not follow the
Sunna. It is only that they have their own traditions, some of which are different from
the Sunna accepted by the majority of the muslims, such as the ayatollah.

The Abbasids were intent on differentiating themselves from their Umayyad prede-
cessors, though they still had a lot in common.Abbasid leadership was also dynastic
and centralized. However, they changed the social hierarchy by constructing a more
inclusive government in a more cosmopolitan capital city, Baghdad. It appears the
climate, the ease with which it could be provisioned and its strategic advantage ap-
pealed to him. With its easy access to major trade routes, river transport and agricul-
tural goods from the Fertile Cresent, Baghdad prospered. Agricultural productivity
was expanded with efficient canal systems in Iraq and commerce flourished with de-
velopment of trade. The production of textiles, papermaking, metalworks, ceramics
and armaments was encouraged. It is important to note that many scholars regard the
founding of Baghdad as having a deeper symbolic significance whereby al- Mansur
tried to present himself as a ruler in the tradition of the Sassanid and their Hellinistic
predecessor.

The distinction between Arab Muslims and non-Arab Muslims diminished as appar-
ent during the reign of al-Saffah, the first caliph, and subsequent rulers .We also see
Persian culture exerting a greater influence on the Abbasid court from the reign of al-
Mansur onwards. Under the Abbasids, Islamic art and culture flourished. Religious
scholars, called ulema developed more defined religious institutions and took on judi-
cial duties and developed systems of law. The four major schools of law which devel-
oped were the Hanafis, Maliks, Shaduus and Hanabalis. These laid the foundation of
a complex Islamic state.

It was also during Abbasid rule that many people converted to Islam for a multitude
of reasons including sincere belief and avoiding paying taxes levied on non-Muslims.
The Dhimmi is a legal qualification of Christian and Jews living under Muslim rule
in Medieval Islam. The contract of protection ‘dhimma’ ensured the preservation of
persons, property, an autonomous community life and private law. In exchange dhim-
mis had to pay taxes, accept subordination to Muslim rule and maintain several re-
strictions on religious practices. During the time of the Abbasids , a tougher policy of
isolating the people of dhimma, excluding them from administration and imposing re-
strictions on clothes and religious signs was implemented. As a result, the number of
converts to Islam increased in order to avoid these restrictions. Abbasids relied on
Sunni Arabs, Muslim Persians, and Turks to maintain their rule. We see the Abbasid
culture, thereby spreading over the Abbasids’ vast territory and also beyond the ex-
tents of the empire in Central Asia and Africa

Harun al-Rashid was one of the most important Abbasid caliphs. By the time of al-
Rashid, the transformation of an absolute monarchy was complete. There was sym-
bolism like courtiers kissing the ground when they came into his presence and execu-
tioners standing behind him to show he was the final arbitror of justice and had the
power to decide between life and death of a person. We see his wife, Zubaida and
mother Khurasan exercising significant political power. Under al-Rashid the
Barmakids acted as tutors in the court of the caliph. It seems they may have sought to
improve the conditions of the people and also may have been in favour of an attempt
of compromise which would have made it possible for the Abbasids and Alids to be
reconciled. This move shocked the representatives of traditional Islam.
The concept of Mu’tazilism which developed during the time of al-Rashid was very
important. It was based on 5 principles which enable its members to regard them-
selves as an entity, manifested not only as a theological movement for the defence of
Islam against foreign doctrines but also as a faction which put forward an original so-
lution of political problems by emphasizing the pre-eminance of leaders of the com-
munity and the qualities which were expected from him. His doctrine of the created
Quran also made it possible to restrict the part played by the religious teachers, who
at that time regarded themselves as the sole interpreters of the text.

Al-Rashid was succeded by al-Mamun. Al- Mamun who was occupied in preserving
unity and peace of the empire, had not given up in his attempts to reconcile the two
hostile groups who divided the Islamic community. It was apparently in order to give
the Islamic community a basic doctrine acceptable to all that he undertook to impose
Mu’tazilism, while at the same time taking various measures designed to win the fa-
vour of the Shi’is. He founded the ‘House of Wisdom’.
After the breach with Baghdad he took the title of inam, which the caliphs had no
longer borne officially since the successful ‘Abbasid Revolution’ and he identified
his policy with a religious propaganda (da’wa).

This was followed by a civil war of accession between al-Mamun and al-Amin that
lasted from 809 to 833. Their exploits were commemorated in a body of poetry that
survives until the present day. The attackers finally won and the new Caliph Mutasim
(833-845 BC) moved the capital to Samarra north of Baghdad.During the 9th century
the Abbasid army came to rely more and more on the Turkish army, some of whom
were slaves and some free. A military caste separate from the rest of the population
gradually developed. In Khurasan, the Tahirids did not establish an independent dyn-
asty but moved the province in the direction of a seperate Iranian
government. As various members of the Abbasid family fought one another over the
caliphate, rulers in egypt took advantage of the growing disarray and sometimes anar-
chy within the central government at Samarra to extend their own power. The Zanj
rebellion around Basra in southern Iraq in 869 was a major threat to Abbasid author-
ity. The Zanj were African slaves who had been used as plantation workers in south-
ern Iraq, the only instance of large scale slave labor for agriculture in the Islamic
world. Other non-slave workers joined the rebellion led by Ali ibn
Muhammad. Ali ibn Muhammad was killed fighting in 833 and the able Abbasid mil-
itary commander, Abu Ahmad al-Muffaq, whose brother served as caliph, finally suc-
ceeded in crushing the rebellion.

Under caliph Al- Muqtadir (908-932 CE) the capital was returned to Baghdad where
it remained until the collapse of the Abbasid dynasty. By 10th century any aspirant to
the caliphate needed the assistance of the military to obtain the throne. The army be-
came the arbiters of power and the caliphs were mere ciphers. A series of incompe-
tent rulers led to widespread rebellions and declining revenues while the cost of
maintaining the increasingly Turkish army remained high. By the time the dynasty fi-
nally collapsed, it was virtually bankrupt. In 945 a shi’ian Persian, Ahmad ibn Buya
took over Baghdad and established the Buyid dynasty that was a federation of politi-
cal units ruled by various family members. A remnant of the Abbasid family, carry-
ing the title of caliph, moved to Cairo where he was welcomed as an exile with no au-
thority over either religious or political life. By the 11th century, the Abbasid empire
was taken over by nomadic people from Central Asia, the Turks. The Turks in turn
were displaced by the Mongols. Abbasid rule finally came to an end with the capture
of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258 CE.

The Coming of The Sutans

While the heydays of Islam had lapsed, we cannot in any way think that this was as
far as its reach would extend. Having briefly covered the decline of the Abbasids, one
need not look further than Harun al- Rashid’s death to figure out who would carry on
the expansion of the Islamic empire and how this would lead to its continual rise even
after the eventual disintegration of the domain of the caliph.

Who were to replace the caliph as the supreme overlords of the Islamic state? As one
might conclude from the topic stated above, it was the Sultans. The word Sultan, ac-
cording to the Quran, was a moral or spiritual authority. It was only later that the term
came to denote political or governmental power and from the 11th century was used
as a title by Muslim sovereigns. The popular ruler of the Ghaznavid Dynasty[1],
Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) was the first ruler to be called sultan by his contem-
poraries and under the Seljuks of Anatolia and Iran it became a regular title. Over the
next five centuries the office of sultan would become an alternative to caliph. Before
delving into how the sultans rose to power, it becomes necessary to briefly touch
upon the topic of the Abbasid decline and the eventual rise of the Emirs[2]

Political divisions and religious diversity were already apparent by the reign of the
third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi. Along with the Shi’i rebellion against the Abbasid
rule, disputes regarding succession also arose. It was then that one of the most fa-
mous of the Abbasid caliphs, Harun al-Rashid, succeeded to the throne after the as-
sassination of his older brother. Under Harun, the Abbasid court continued its reputa-
tion for luxurious living. Beginning with Harun and continuing in subsequent reigns,
powerful ministers (Emirs) began to usurp the authority of the caliphs. Then after the
9th century, the process of political fragmentation within the Abbasid Empire accel-
erated.

In 945 C.E. the Buyids of Persia captured Baghdad and reduced the Abbasid rulers to
puppets, while actual administration was in the hands of Buyid sultans. They acted
almost as an interlude between the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Seljuk Em-
pire. At that point in time, the Ghaznavids ruled Iran as appointed defenders of the
caliph. A Baghdadi scholar (Al-Mawardi) explained why it was necessary for the ca-
liphs power to be delegated in order for the Ummah’s security to be maintained, He
might have hoped that the Ghaznavids would expand enough to replace the uninvited
Shi’ite Buyids. However it was not the Ghaznavids who appeared in

Baghdad but rather the migratory pastoralist Seljuk Turks who replaced the Buyids as
masters of Baghdad in 1045 C.E.

The Oxus was believed to be the traditional boundary between civilization and barba-
rism in Western Asia, between Iran and Turan. A Persian legend, versified in Fir-
dawsi’s great epic: The Shah-namah, told of the heroic battles of the Iranians against
the Turanian king (Afrasi- yab), who was at last hunted down and killed in Azerbai-
jan. The Turkish tribes were in political disarray, and were never able to oppose a
unified resistance to the Arabs. So from the ninth century onwards it is seen that the
Turks had began to enter the Caliphate, not in mass, but as slaves or adventurers serv-
ing as soldiers. They thus infiltrated the world of Islam as the Germans did the Ro-
man Empire. The Caliph Mu'tasim (833-842) was the first Muslim ruler to surround
himself with a Turkish guard.

The Seljuk Turks created a huge empire that stretched from western China to the
Mediterranean and

included modern-day Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Turkey, Arme-
nia, Azerbaijan and parts of Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Palestine. The Seljuks
emerged at a time when the Baghdad caliphate was weak and the Muslim world was
in chaos.

” And for this he stated various reasons:

1. It added a third nation, after the Arabs and Persians, to the dominant races of
Islam

2. It prolonged the life of the moribund Caliphate for another two hundred years

3. It tore Asia Minor away from Christendom and opened the path to the later Ot-
toman
invasion of Europe

4. It put an end to the political domination of the Arabs in the Near East and by
posing a
grave threat to the Christian Powers, it impelled the Latin West to undertake
the remarkable counter-offensive of the Crusades.

The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started
primarily to secure control of holy site considered sacred by both groups. By the end
th
of the 11 century, Western Europe had emerged as a significant power in its own
rights, thought it still lagged behind other Mediterranean civilization, such as that of
the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Empire of the Middle East and North Africa.
However, Byzantium had lost considerable territory to the invading Seljuk Turks. In
1095, the Pope called on Western Christians to take up arms to

The Seljuk Turks were nomadic horsemen who converted to Islam and recognized
the Abbasid caliph. They eventually went on to usurp power from the Abbasids, em-
brace their culture and conquered much of Central Asia and the Middle East. They
were named after one of one their early leaders and converted as a group to Islam
through the efforts of Arab missionaries. J.J. Saunders wrote in his book ‘A History
of Medieval Islam’- “The entry of the Seljuk Turks into Western Asia in the second
half of the eleventh century forms one of the great epochs of world history.

This marked the beginning of the Crusades. The first Crusade (1096 C.E. to 1099
C.E.) resulted in the division of Palestine and Syria into a chain of Crusader king-
doms. Later Crusades were less successful and posed little threat to Muslim rulers.
The crusades in their own way contributed to the dispersion of Islamic influence as
they increased European exposure to Islamic culture and civilization. The West was
able to obtain from the Muslim world much of Greek learning. Westerners benefited
from Muslim advances in science and medicine. Luxury clothes produced in the Mid-
dle East made their way into European markets.

Around 1220, a new wave of Nomadic Invasions acted as the final nail on the coffin
of the Caliphate. The Mongols were pagan, horse-riding tribes of the northeastern
steppes of Central Asia. Under Genghis Khan, they smashed the Islamic kingdoms on
the eastern borders of the Islamic world in the first decades of the 13th century. Un-
der Hulagu Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan ), the Mongol hordes destroyed the
center of Islamic civilization and captured Baghdad in 1258. The Mamluk armies of
Egypt finally halted the westward advance of the Mongols, but Baghdad was never
able to reestablish itself as the capital of the Islamic world. The Mongols murdered
the last Abbasid caliph , Al-Musta'sim Billah, and thus ended the inordinate domina-
tion of the Caliphate.

Brief: The Coming of the Sultans to South Asia

The process of converting some of the peoples of India to Islam began in the 7th cen-
tury. Until then, invaders of India had been absorbed into Indian civilization and con-
verted to Hinduism or Buddhism. Islamic missionaries to India represented a chal-
lenge to traditional Indian society and religion. Islam stressed monotheistic exclusiv-
ity and social equality before Allah, ideas that were totally foreign to Indian concepts
of caste and tolerance. So in the first stages of Muslim entry into India, conflict be-
tween religious beliefs was most common, but over time peaceful interaction between
Hindus and Muslims became more normal.

Mahmud of Ghazni, a Turkish ruler of Afghanistan, initiated the second stage of

Muslim conquest in South Asia and by the 13th century, Islamic dynasties ruled
much of northern India. Under the Delhi sultanate, large Muslim enclaves were estab-
lished in northern India. Sufi mystics and traders carried the new religion to other ar-
eas of India. Most of the Indian converts to Islam came from Buddhist groups, which
saw some similarities in the religious practices of the Sufi, and from low-caste
groups. Low-caste social groups, including untouchables, were drawn to Islam by the
promise of social equality. Some converts may have sought to escape the Islamic tax
on non-believers. Little progress was made in converting the masses of the Hindu
population, which continued to regard Muslims as foreign outcastes. By the end of
the Sultanate period, attempts to compromise the religious differences between Islam
and Hinduism met with resistance from both religions. Hindus became increasingly
intolerant of Muslim practices, while the Islamic Ulama stressed the differences be-
tween Muslims and Hindus. Despite the creation of a sizable Muslim population in
India, Hindus retained an overwhelming majority within the population of South
Asia.

Brief: The Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia

From India, Islam spread along trade routes to Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia was a
transfer point for goods moving from Chinese civilization to Islam. So trading con-
tacts, not conquest, provided the means for the expansion of Islam into Southeast
Asia. The first areas to be converted were ports on the northern coast of Sumatra
from which the religion spread to Malaya. Muslim traders from India carried Islamic
culture into the islands and trading centers of Southeast Asia. With the collapse of the
Buddhist trading empire of Srivijaya[3] on the Strait of Malacca during the 13th cen-
tury, the way was opened for more direct Islamic penetration of the region.

Herbert George Wells once said: “ [...] Isla mic teachings have left great traditions for
equitable and gentle dealings and behavior, and inspire people with nobility and tol-
erance. These are human teachings of the highest order and at the same time practica-
ble. These teachings brought into existence a society in which hard-heartedness and
collective oppression and injustice were the least as compared with all other societies
preceding it....Islam is replete with gentleness, courtesy, and fraternity.”

While beautifully put and seemingly indubitable, one must keep in mind that though
Islam facilitated the civilization of nomadic peoples of central Asia and Africa, sev-
eral developments pointed to weaknesses that later proved serious detriments in the
contest with European civilization. For instance, Political divisions granted opportu-
nities for European expansion in the Middle East, while the growing conservatism of
the Ulama made the Islamic world less receptive to technological and scientific ad-
vances in other civilizations. That being said, we must give it due credit and
acknowledge that although political centralization ended during the Abbasid period,
Islam continued to serve a significant role as the connective link between the various
cores of Eurasia till long after.

[ 1] The Ghaznavid : Sebüktigin (ruled 977–997), a Sāmānid Turkic slave governor

in Ghazni in the Afghan mountains, made himself independent of his masters as their
central power declined. His eldest son, Maḥmūd, expanded into Būyid territory in
western Iran and further expanded the influence of the Ghaznavid Dynasty.
[2] Emir: A Muslim military commander or local chief.

[3] Srivijaya empire was a maritime and commercial kingdom that flourished be-
tween the 7th and the 13th centuries, largely in what is now Indonesia. Srivijaya’s
power was based on its control of international sea trade.

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