The History of Islam - Essay Example

Teacher History of Islam Islam is a religion that originated in Mecca and Medina in the 7th century C.E. Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad as an expression of his surrender to Allah. Such, Islam as a word meant to surrender or to submit to Allah. The Holy Writings of Islam is The Quran where the sacred text of Allah’s revelation to Prophet Muhammad’s was written to be taught to Muslims. Islam is a monotheistic religion that believes in true God who is Allah. There are two divisions with the tradition of Islam which are the Sunni and Shi’a which claims different methods of exercising religious authority. There are five fundamental practices of Islam required among the Muslims, the followers and believers of Islam. These are the profession of Islamic faith, prayer, charity or zakat, fasting and hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca (of which Muslims are encouraged to make one pilgrim to Mecca at least once in their lifetime). Muslims are known for their devotion to Allah for they commit to pray five times a day and they gather is Mosque to worship Allah. Origin of Islam The followers of Islam believe that Islam already existed since the time of Adam. it is believed however by non-Muslims to have originated in Mecca and Medina through Prophet Muhammad. Islam expanded to the world in the 7th century and transformed nomadic people in desert into major players of world civilization and Prophet Muhammad was at the helm of that transformation. Prior to advent of Islam in the 7th century, Arab people lived on the Arabian Plate on the south of Hedjaz as nomads which Prophet Muhammad belonged. Prophet Muhammad began receiving revelations about The Holy Quran in 610 beginning when he was forty years old. Thus, Muhammad’s death in 632 was a major blow to the then nascent Islamic community. The Muslims however responded to this challenge by establishing the institution of Caliphate that would ensure the perpetuity of historical Islam (Ahmed). After the death of Prophet Muhammad, his friend Abu Bakr who was the first adult who embraced Islam became the first caliph. He was succeeded by Umar after two years who became caliph for a decade. During Umar’s caliphate, Islam burst extensive from east to west conquering Persian empire, Syria and Egypt and importantly the capture of Jerusalem (Barkati.net). After Umar’s caliphate, Uthman succeeded him and assumed the caliphate for 12 years. Islam continued to expand during this time and was the one who was responsible for distributing the definitive text of the Holy Quran to reach all the realms of Islamic world. Ali then followed him who was known for his literary genius as well as his bravery in battle. Ali’s death marked the end of the rule of the “rightly guided” caliphs that started with Abu Bakr, then with Umar and finally with Ali. After the rule of the rightly guided caliphate, the Umayyad caliphate followed suit in 661 and was to rule the Islamic world for a century. During this time, the capital of Islam was moved from Medina to Damascus. Islamic conquest continued to expand during this time extending from western borders of China to western France. It also included North Africa, Spain Sind and Transoxiana in the East. During this time also, the foundation of the social and legal institutions of Islam were established (Barkati.net). The Umayads were succeeded by the Abbasids and again moved the capital of Islam to Baghdad. During this time, Islam was in its Renaissance as it became the center of learning and culture. It became as the center of the civilization of the world during that time as old texts of scholars such as Aristotle, Plato, Euclid and other thinkers were translated into Arabic to be studied extensively. The Abbasids caliphate lasted for more than 500 years until their power eventually faded and reduced to figurative heads because military power were then held by sultans and princes. When the Mongol ruler Hulagu captured Baghdad in 1258, the Abbasid caliphate finally ended as well as the great city of Baghdad together with its precious libraries. The fall of Baghdad to the Mongol ruler Hulago and along with it is the destruction of Islamic learning was not the biggest blow to Islam. It was the Holy War or Crusade that brought the biggest challenge to Islam for it directly confronted Islam by force by the crusaders from the west. It begun in 1095 whe the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus I sought the help of the pope to send in help to keep the Seljuk Turks at bay. The council of the Church responded in November 1095 with a decree of using war to advance its religious fervor not only to ward off the increasing presence Muslim caliphate but also to retake the Holy Land. Since then, the idea of a crusade begun to mount. The call for a crusade gained momentum with the sermon of Pope Urban the II in a religious gathering at the Clermont, France in November 27, 1095 where called for arms to reclaim the Holy Land. The call to arms was “a war answering God's command, authorized by a legitimate authority, the pope, who by virtue of the power seen as vested in him as Vicar of Christ, identified the war's object and offered to those who undertook it full remission of the penalties of confessed sins and a package of related temporal privileges, including church protection of the family and property” (Tyrman 30). Those who will die in battle was to be regarded as martyrs and could expect eternal salvation as the crusade is considered as a response of vow made to God (Riley-Smith 9). There were many crusades launched against the Muslims but the bloodiest and most brutal crusade was the first crusade launched in 1095 that captured Jerusalem in 1099. The capture of Jerusalem proved to be fatal for the Muslims for all inhabitants were killed including the elderly and children that it was reported blood reached ankle deep. During this time, government in the Islamic world was focused on warding the crusaders off its land and was successfully able to do so in 1187 under the leadership of Saladin where he crushed the Crusaders armies at Hattin, near Lake Tiberias. He reconquered Jerusalem and the greater part of the Crusaders territories leaving the Crusaders to hold only Tyre, Tripoli and Antioch. The Ottoman Empire and its decline The crusade, despite of its unbridled determination and fierceness did not reduce the size and faith of the Islamic world. It was the decline the Ottoman Empire that affected the Islamic world because along with its decline was also the decline of the expansion and even loss of traditional Islamic strongholds. Among the Arabs, the Ottoman Empire was the most dominant as it rose to power by the series of conquests that did not only expand its territory but also its military might. The Ottoman Empire, begun its succession of conquests with its reunification by Muhammad I, followed by Murad II and Muhammad II that led to the conquest of Varna and capture of Constantinople that made the Ottoman Empire as the oldest surviving empire of Europe within a century and a stronghold of Islam. The Ottoman Empire holds a special place in the history of Islam because it was the last empire that adopted a Pan-Islamic policy that united the Islamic World after the crusade. But just like any great civilization, the Ottoman Empire too underwent a stage of gradual decline. The Ottoman Empire rose to power by the series of conquests that did not only expand its territory but also its military might. The Ottoman Empire, begun its succession of conquests with its reunification by Muhammad I, followed by Murad II and Muhammad II that led to the conquest of Varna and capture of Constantinople that made the Ottoman Empire as the oldest surviving empire of Europe within a century with Islam as its unifying factor(Rahme 31). The old Ottoman Empire however declined and became as the Turkey that we know today after it allied with Germany in the First World War and along with it the disintegration of Islamic states. Prior to its dissolution attempts were made to improve its state in reconstituting its own political system but the reforms instituted were just too late to save the old Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire decline begun with the series of war beginning with the invasion of Islamic Egypt and Syria by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 to 1801. The intervention of the French, Russian and British due to the advances and occupation of Muhammad Ali Pasha’s army in Anatolia and Syria also precipitated its decline as it has grown weaker due to the war. This led to the Tsar Nicholas of Russia in the Protocol of London in 1841 to assess that the Ottoman Empire’s downfall is already imminent. European leaders however were concerned how will the Ottoman Empire’s collapse will pose to the general peace. Such they made an attempt to maintain the Ottoman State so as not to cause instability in their region. They agreed to maintain its integrity by “reversing the potentially devastating results of war at the negotiating table and, in 1856, admitting the Ottoman state into the “Concert of Europe” (Quataert 56). Thus the European consensus then was to keep Ottoman state intact despite its weak stature as an attempt to maintain it as a viable state. Reforms and initiatives were made to save the Ottoman Empire but failed. Both the external initiatives of the European leaders to maintain the territorial integrity of Ottoman and the Empire’s initiative to reform itself through Tanzimat however did not reverse Ottoman’s decline because the reforms instituted just came in too late. Even with the adoption of the Constitution of 1876 to westernize the institutions of the Ottoman Empire and the holding of elections and the establishment of its parliament on March 19, 1877 (which was later dissolved by the Sultan on February 14, 1878 along with the Constitution) did not reverse its decline. And together with its decline is also the decline of Islam as it disintegrated into individual states losing Islam’s stronghold in Europe. Present day Islam At present, Islam’s strong presence is only in Middle East and some parts of Asia (Indonesia and Malaysia) and Africa. While it may not be as dominant as it was during the days of caliphs, Islam is still considered as one of the major religions the world. Works Cited Ahmed, Nazeer. "History of Islam." History of Islam. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. . Nawwab, Ismail. "A Brief History of Islam (part 1 of 5): The Prophet of Islam." - The Religion of Islam. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. . Quataert, Donald. “The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922”. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York. 2005 Riley-Smith, Jonathan. Crusades, Christianity and Islam. (Columbia University Press USA, 2008), 9,10,12. Tyerman, Christopher. Fighting for Christendom. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, , GBR 2008), 26-28, 30. "World of Islam." History of Islam. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. Rahme, Joseph G. “Namik Kemal's constitutional Ottomanism and non?Muslims”, Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 10.1(1999):23-39 Ali, A. Yusuf. An English interpretation of the Holy Quran. New York: Lushena Books, 2001 Read More