Historical Development of the Religion and Evolutionary Changes - Essay Example

Inserts His/her Inserts Inserts Grade Monday, November 23rd, 2009 Islam Introduction This research paper basically explains the historical development of Islam and the changes Islam faced over time, that is, the period of evolutionary change. After completely understanding the origin, history and background of Islam, we discuss the central concepts, beliefs, ethical structure and ideas which Islam follows. After, we will move to the future of Islam. Examine if further development of the religion is possible. Historical Development of the Religion and Evolutionary Changes The history of Islam is very extensive and we will have to travel through a period of more then 12 centuries to discover the historical development of the religion. Before the Prophet Mohammad was sent by Allah as the last messenger, the 7th century in Mecca comprised of tribal nomadic Arab people who lived in deserts, in tents or in mud/sand houses. They were socially related to each tribe as in blood relations and they were divided in small families called clans. Politically, the Arabs in the 7th century has no proper written laws, they just use to choose a Sheikh through consensus and then they used to accept all the decisions their Sheikh made for them and they strictly had to follow the customs and traditions of their tribes1. Their religion during those days was Polo theism as they were somewhere in their minds aware of the existence of Allah but they had deviated from the right path and were creating deities with Allah. Quran refers to them as “Jahilyah Arab”2. The concept of Polo theism during the 7th century was that the Arab nomads thought that the deities they had created had some kind of a link between them and the Allah they had lost. The deities they had created were substances like rain, fire, trees and so on. These Arabs thought that rain and trees brought about farming and agricultural surplus for them; they were their Gods as these substances had very strong/powerful benefits for them3. At this time, the Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) was also in Mecca and he was greatly worried about the social moral order of the Arabs and he used to meditate and contemplate in the Cave Hira about the social and political issues. He also worked for the restoration of justice in the society. During this time, that is, the 610 A.D. the Prophet (P.B.U.H) had just turned 40 years old and Allah sent him the first revelation through Angel Gabriel, which asked the Prophet to read in the Name of Allah. Then the Second revelation was received, Surah Al-Ikhlas, which brought guidance towards social reforms in Arabia. It stated that the social moral order should be based on Allah’s laws and not man-made laws. The Social reforms had to be based on gaining knowledge from the creation of humanity. After receiving the revelations, the Prophet (P.B.U.H) began working on the mission of Allah by preaching the teachings of the revelations but he received extreme opposition from the Quraish tribe, who refused to accept the existence of Allah. The main reason of their rejection was that it was a social blow to their honor as they were the custodians of the idols in the Ka’abah. They knew that if they accepted the Existence of Allah and His Prophet Mohammad, then they would lose the custodianship and honor they had in the Meccan Community. Secondly, the acceptance of Islam would also be an economic blow for the Quraish because if they accepted Allah then the idols and deities they had created would have to be demolished, which would reduce the economic activity and trade in the region due to which they would lose the economic benefits/surplus. To avoid these social and economic disadvantages, the Quraish Tribe started severe persecution towards the early converts to Islam, which were largely the oppressed class, who had been deprived of justice and rights but Islam gave them a hope4. At this point, the Quraish decided to boycott the Prophet’s Clan of Banu Hashim by forcing them to go out of Mecca into the open desert with tents. Due to this torture and persecution, Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) asked 16 of the newly converted Muslims to migrate to Habsha with Caliph Usman (R.A) and his Wife Ruqaiyah. Islam advanced more and more and by the 622 A.D., the Mecca Ayahs were revealed by Allah to change the characteristics the people of Arabia so that they could lead their lives according to the teachings of Islam. 622 A.D. was also the migration year, the Prophet with his followers migrated to Medina to get away from the harsh persecutions of the Quraish. At the time, the Prophet Mohammad and his Muslim Followers migrated to Medina; two tribes existed over there, which were Aus and Khazraj, who had invited the Prophet to come to Medina to solve their wars/conflicts and to bring peace. The Prophet was known as the Peace Maker as he was famous for solving wars and creating peace between tribes. Another reason why the Prophet Mohammad could easily migrate to Medina was that it was his mother’s city so he had relatives there and thirdly, the people of Medina were very impressed by the personality of the Prophet and as they took Mecca as their rival city, they wanted the leader of Mecca to come to their city and help them as well. The Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) had to face matter of dealing with the internal and external security of Medina and for this he made an agreement called Meesaq-e-Medina between the Muslims and the various tribes in Medina. In this agreement, the Jews were given full liberty with respect to their religion, their laws, their social customs and economic activities. The Meesaq-e-Medina agreement included two ways for the internal and external security of Medina, which are as follows: 1. Mobile Defense was developed, which consisted of a small group of Muslim soldiers, who used to roam around and protect their territory. 2. Static Defense was developed, which consisted of all the citizens of Medina, that is, the Arabs, Jews and pagans. The Static defense meant that in case a huge war takes place in Medina, then all the citizens will have to participate in order to save their city. The Prophet developed Static Defense as the last resource as he knew that all the citizens were not soldiers. Then came the Second Year of Hijrat (624 A.D.) in which the Medina Ayahs were also revealed by Allah to the Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) to guide Muslims about community building. In this same year, the Battle of Badr took place between the Medina Muslims and Quraish. It was a type of a Mobile Defense, where small group of Muslim nomads were keeping a look at the protection against Medina. The plan was that when the Quraish would come with their trading goods and cross an oasis near Medina, at that time the Muslims would attack them and takeover the trading goods and wealth. But this plan could not be successfully implemented because the Quraish had spies due to which they knew about the attack in advance and came prepared for the war themselves. Therefore, the battle took place and the Muslims won. The main objectives of this battle were: 1. Firstly, the Muslims were living together as a community for the first time in Medina and they literally had no resources or wealth. So they went for the battle to create economic survival opportunities for themselves. 2. Secondly, the Muslims wanted to gain political supremacy. Then, came the 3rd year of Hijrat, in which the Battle of Uhad took place in which the Muslims lost and they realized that they had to get more disciplined. After that came the Battle of trench, in which the Muslims were besieged but after 27 days of siege. Allah helped the Muslims by a miracle that the weather suddenly became very harsh with severe cold winds due to which the tents of the Meccans were completely destroyed, their fires burnt out, rain and sand hitting them. Devastated by the sudden change of weather, they ran back to Mecca, which led to the victory of the Muslims. Then, in the 6th Year of Hijrat, that is, 628 A.D. The Prophet (P.B.U.H) decided to travel to Mecca with his followers to perform their first Islamic Umrah. But the Quraish did not let the Prophet and the Muslims to enter Mecca and stopped them at a place near Mecca, called Hudaibiyah. Dialogue was held between the Muslims and the Quraish at Hudaibiyah and thus, the Treaty of Hudaibiyah was signed, which included three conditions: 1. Muslims would go back right now without performing Umrah. 2. They would be allowed to come next year to perform Umrah with prior permission. 3. Thirdly, this treaty would end the rivalry between Muslims and the Quraish5. After that in the 9th year of Hijrat, that is, 630 A.D the Conquest of Mecca took place in which the Prophet and his followers were successful in making the Quraish and Meccans surrender and they after that the Prophet with his followers performed Hajj, the pilgrimage. By this time, Islam was expanding rapidly in the Eastern Europe, Persia and Ethiopia. During this period, the Prophet fell ill and before his death, he gave his last sermon in which he emphasized on universal brotherhood as every man is created from a pair. He asked the Muslims to be united and to be socially bonded to each other6. Secondly, Prophet emphasized on the social reforms and social setup of the Islamic society, in which the slaves and women were to be given their rights. Thirdly, in his last sermon the Prophet gave instructions on the economic reforms and last of all, he asked all his followers to follow the five pillars of Islam in order to complete their true faith in Allah. The five pillars of Islam are namely, Tauheed (belief in the Oneness of Allah), 5 prayers, Zakat, The Holy month of Ramadan and the Pilgrimage (Hajj). After the demise of the Prophet, Caliph Abu Bakr who was the Father in law of the Prophet, became the first successor and defeated the Persian and Byzantine empires at various. wars. Then, Caliph Omar became the Second Caliph, who was successful in completing the initial growth of Islam. By this time, the Byzantine and Persian Empires had extensively suffered from their own tribal struggles and wars and they did not have a powerful and well-organized army like the Muslims. The Arab Muslims quickly conquered Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt and Persia and in 640 A.D. Caliph Omar took over Jerusalem and then he passed away in 644 A.D. After this, Caliph Usman was appointed as the third Caliph, Islam extensively prospered under his rule and then he was murdered by 656 A.D. Caliph Usman’s death brought Caliph Ali as the fourth successor, who moved the Islamic Empire from Medina to Kufa. Caliph Ali fought many battles but then he was murdered as well and the Islamic Caliphate was once again moved under Mu’awiya, who was the founder of the Umayyad Dynasty. By the 8th Century, various diversities of law had arised and caused confusion in the minds of the Muslims. Therefore, the unification of the Islamic laws started with the development of different study centers/ institutions. Four main study centers were developed, one in Medina, as I was the oldest law-making society with Arab nomadic people. Second institution was established in Damascus. Third institution was developed in Basra where Persian law existed. And the most important and fourth institution was developed in Kufa. By the 9th Century, Four fiqahs of the Sunni sect emerged under Imam Abu Hanifa, Malik Ibn-e-Anas, Mohammad Al- Shafi and Ahmed Ibn-e-Hunbal and one fiqah emerged of the Shia sect under Imam Abu Jaffar. Meanwhile, the Umayyad Dynasty had moved to Damascus with Caliph Mu’awiya and by the by the 12th Century, the Umayyad Dynasty was defeated by the Byzantines and the Muslims took over and the Abbasid Dynasty came in place, which expanded Islam from the Arabian Peninsula to cover all of North Africa, Mesopotamia, and Central Asia in a very short period. The whole civilization at this time of Persians, Romans and Byzantines was politically a Muslim Monarchy. The Romans by this time had expanded towards Spain and the Persians advanced towards Iraq, Iran and Central Asia, while the Byzantines had moved towards Turkey and Eastern Europe. This period is also referred to as the Golden Age of Islam. Right after the Golden Age, the fall of the Abbasid Dynasty came and the Caliphate Empire of Muslims broke which resulted in Ottomanism in Turkey, Safavids in Egypt and Mongols in India. The Ottoman Empire was the last Muslim Empire and it greatly flourished after defeating many countries at wars and Islam expanded throughout the World but by the 1922, Kemal Ataturk, the last Caliph of Turkey abolished the Caliphate and began the modernization of Turkey. Central Ideas and Ethical Structure The Central ideas and teachings of Islam revolve around the Quran and the Hadith (Sayings of the Prophet Mohammad). The belief in Quran and Hadith further revolves around Emaan (Faith in Allah) and Amaal (Acts), the two Arabic words. These both are so closely linked to each other that without the Emaan, the Amaal would be useless, that is, without the faith, the acts will be useless. Islam guides all Muslims to build a true and strong faith in Allah and then to act according to the teachings of Allah and His Prophet. If we do not do so, our faith will deviate to the wrong path and we will perform wrong actions due to which we can get extreme punishments for our wrong deeds on the Day of Judgment7. The Ethical structure and the Central Ideas/beliefs of Islam are based on the six articles of faith, which are as follows: 1. Tauheed, belief in the Oneness of Allah. This is the most basic and essential article of faith because without the firm belief that there is no God but Allah, Islam is incomplete. 2. The belief in Angels. All Muslims believe in the existence of angels and that they are made out of light and each as a different task to perform assigned by Allah. For Instance, Angel Gabriel brought the revelations of Allah to all Prophets even to Prophet Mohammad. While two other angels Kiraaman and katibeen have the responsibility to record the misdeeds and good deeds of the Muslims. One records the good deeds and the other records the bad deeds. 3. The third article of faith is the belief in all of the holy books revealed by Allah. The Torah which was sent to Moses, the Psalms sent to David, the Gospel sent to Jesus and the Quran sent to Mohammad. Muslims believe that Quran is the final message sent down to mankind which has not been distorted with time like the other books because Allah Himself guarded the Holy Quran from getting distorted with time as the Quran says. It is essential that Muslims believe in all the Prophets sent down by Allah from Adam to Mohammad8. 4. The 5th article of faith is the belief in the Life Hereafter and in the Day of the Judgment. Every Muslim is well aware that they will be accountable to Allah on the Day of Judgment for their deeds. Higher bad deeds/actions would lead them towards the punishment of hell. 5. The last belief of Islam is the Divine Creed, which is main aspect of Islam. Divine Creed means unlike human beings, Allah is not limited to anything, He power over everything even time. God is the knower and Doer of all things9. Future of Islam Today, the future of Islam seems at stake because once again a lot of enemies have risen against Islam. We can clearly see that Turkey is allying itself with Israel and Jordan against the Muslim world by being a NATO and European Community member. Muslims have consistently persecuted by Turkey. Turkey even had the courage to challenge the Muslims and Allah by making Hijab and the Beard illegal especially in schools and public offices. Not only this, Turkey even had the audacity to close down Islamic/Quranic schools and even imprisoned certain Muslim believers, politicians and businessmen10. Since the time the Prophet received the first revelation, Islam has been facing many enemies. Even with so many difficulties and persecution, Islam has never gotten weak and that is because of the strong faith of its followers in Allah. Allah has always helped Muslims and Islam through miracles due to which Islam can never fall weak. The teachings Islam has provided in the Holy Quran are universal and the life of the Prophet Mohammad of Allah are never going to lead the Muslims towards the wrong path. Islam has expanded immensely since the 7th Century and today even in the 21st Century Islam is spreading through out the world. If we see the future of Islam, in terms of globalization then we will find that the neo-liberal economic policy no longer holds any Islamic approach. Today, the Islamic Political Programs contain no message regarding the laws of its society and Islamic teachings have been lost to the global scheme. But the concept of Post Islamism has found two prominent interpretations today. Firstly, intensive intellectual efforts are being made to liberate the Islamic discourse from its Islamic chains and to construe a cultural Islam in which the values of globalization (free market, media interlocks, civic rights, rule of law and civil society) are solidly implanted. Thus, the Prophetic tradition of Hadith (Sunnah) and the teachings of the Quran are been given extreme attention today so that a new ethical institution reflecting the post modern world may be derived from them. Works cited Armstrong, K.A history of God.Wiley, 2002 Emerick, Y.2002.The Space Age and the Future of Islam, Wiley. Jahanbakhsh, F. Islam, Democracy and Religious Modernism in Islam, Leiden Brill, Wiley. McDowell, J. & Don, S. Handbook of Todays Religions, Twelfth Printing, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003. Schulze, R. h. A Modern History of the Islamic World, I.B. Tauris Publishers.2001. Read More