The Abbasid Caliphate - Essay Example

Abbasid caliphs Caliphate refers to an Islamic in the early Islamic society. The societies had a supreme leaderentitled a caliph. Caliphs were both religious and political leaders of Caliphate believed to have direct relations with Prophet Muhammad. The societies enjoyed peace stability and development owing to the ability of the caliphs to unite the entire society through both religion and political legislations. In fact, earlier caliphates were democracies ruled by either Mohamed’s first cousins or his disciples effectively organized under the leadership of popular institutions of justice, fairness and religious uprightness under the direction of both the Islamic laws and the medina constitution. The Abbasid Caliphate was such rulers in early Islamic societies located in central Middle East. The dynasty organized its government in the central Middle East and headquartered its government in the modern day Baghdad in Iraq. Abbasid Caliphate ruled as the third of the Islamic caliphates after Muhammad, they were descendants of prophet Muhammad’s youngest uncle known as Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The dynasty ruled for more than a century as the children succeeded their fathers in fostering a dynasty that managed to develop a strong and cohesive Islamic society. The longevity of the dynasty portrays the effectiveness of the Caliphate’s leadership abilities and there devotion to the development of strong dynasties. The Abbasid caliphate first based their government in Kufa a region they fortified and used to unite the region. however, as successive caliphs came into power, caliph Al-Mansur, one of the most succcesful of the caliphs who ever ruled transferred the headquater to Baghdad in a bid to enhance the stability of the government. Al-Mansur thus become among the most successful caliphs owing to his charisma. He developed a society that stood the test of time providing successive caliphs with a society that was easy to govern (Bradley and Wango 67). Among the factors that led to the rise of Abbasid caliphate was their position in the Islamic faith. Islam was a fundamental factor that led to the unification of societies in the Middle East and parts of Northern Africa. The faith underscored the need for unity and peaceful coexistence. Adherents of the faith thus believed in the doctrines of the faith and infused the religion in every factor of the society including governance. As direct descendants of Prophet Muhammad, the Abbasids thus had an easier time influencing the populace owing to their direct relations. They therefore embodied the faith and presented the society with an opportunity to sustain the influence of the holy prophet. Additionally, after arising to power, the Abbasids concentrated in fortifying their rule in the region. They upheld peaceful coexistence with their neighbors a feature that influenced Al-Mansur’s decision to relocate the headquarters to Baghdad since non-Muslims continued to infiltrate their eastern neighbors. Relocating the headquarters would therefore minimize conflicts thereby resulting in a strong peaceful society that in deed lasted for more than a hundred years. Born soon after the Abbasid family relocated from Hejaz to Muhammad, a great grandson to Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, Al-Mansura exhibited charisma as he championed for the development of a unified society. His reign began in Dhu al-Hijjah 136 AH and ended in Dhu al-Hijjah 158 AH thereby covering twenty-two years a period within which he sought to develop a strong and formidable society (Kennedy 43). He relocated the headquarters of the dynasty from Kufa to Baghdad when he founded the imperial residence known as Madinat as-Salam, the city of peace, which later became the center of Baghdad. His success a rose from myriad of factors including both his charisma and luck, the death of his brother passed the mantle of leadership to him though he had to compete against his other cousin, Abdallah ibn Ali for the throne. He successfully defeated him in the race thereby forming the government. As a leader, among his preliminary roles was to organize for the assassination of Abu Muslim, a man who had control over the regions of Iran and Transoxiana. With the murder of Abu, Al-Mansur increased the scope of his leadership thereby concentrating on unifying the society a feature that contributed to both his long tenure and his the success he enjoyed while in rule. The assassination of Abu Muslim sought to end power struggles that had begun owing to the old hero’s weakening health. By assassinating him and taking over the regions he had previously ruled, Al-Mansur thus thwarted the ambitions of the likes of Isa ibn Musa who harbored ambitions of succeeding both Abu Muslim and Al-Mansur himself. Al-Mansur further implicated him on cases of corruption thereby obtaining legitimacy to assassinate him with the view of riding the society of corrupt leaders. The caliph had effective ways of dealing with opposition arising from the vast region (Crone and Hinds 22). Just as he dealt with Abu Muslim and ibn Musa, Al-Mansur found ways of eliminating internal competition thereby ensuring that he received corporation with everyone during his tenure. He appointed leaders who reported to him thereby increasing his reach in the vast society. He was an adorable caliph whose primary objective was to unite the people under religion and to foster the lineage of his great grandfather who was related to Prophet Muhammad. He vouched for the development of stringent Islamic laws to govern the society most of which contributed to his long tenure since he used such to earn more loyalty from the populace. Al-Mansur fostered the development of the dynasty in several ways. He appreciated the Persians thereby opening up the territory for trade with the outsiders. As trade between the dynasty and her neighbors intensified, the dynasty prospered owing to increased economic might thereby facilitating the development of specialization in the dynasty. This increased the demand that had existed on education before. In order to counter the rising demand for education, the caliph encouraged the development of literature. Under the leadership of Al-Mansur, the dynasty intensified the relationship that had existed between the Islamic world and her Persian neighbors. The caliph encouraged the introduction of Persian literature and scholars in the society thereby increasing the literacy levels. The infiltration of the Persian in the dynasty served to improve the literacy level of the Muslims thereby contributing to the spread of both knowledge and the religion (Donner 112). With the ability to read and write, the Muslims developed their own literature including different versions and adoption so the holy Quran a feature that facilitated the spread of the religion in the region. Through the intensified interaction with the Persians, Shuubiya, a literary movement hat vouched for the appreciation of Persian art, culture and literature emerged in the Islamic world. The cultural movement influenced the development of new dialects that would foster communication between the two societies (Masudi 23). AL-Mansur pioneered the intense interaction with the Persians as a way of developing his community; he succeeded as he did not only intensify trade in the community but also pioneered the development of knowledge in the society. The society learned elitist ways from the Persians following the infiltration of Persian literature, art and culture in the Islamic society a feature that would later motivate the Muslims to develop their own cultures and strive to preserve such in their own languages. Such motivations resulted in the emergence of Arab-Persian dialogues that would later intensify the interaction between the two societies. Besides the intense relationship with the Persians, Al-Mansur extended the dynasties reach to the Chinese a feature that would later increase the society’s growth owing to the intensification of commercial activities with her neighbors. While the intensification in trade among other interactions with the neighboring communities sought to increase the economic power of the society, the charismatic Al-Mansur used such to fortify his leadership in the region (Jairus 67). By interacting with his neighbors and portraying himself as friendly, the caliph minimized external aggression as he had witnessed in the past especially with her eastern Jewish neighbors. As he moved his headquarters to Bagdad, the caliph appeared to vow that he would not aggrieve any of his neighboring communities. The move worked as he had anticipated, as he would later have support from all his neighbors including the Persians and the far-flung Chinese. In 1756, the caliph sent more than four thousand Arab troops to fight alongside the Chinese against the An Lushan in the An Shi Rebellion. The Chinese won the battle and intensified their support to the caliph as they increased commercial relations with the dynasty. Ironically, the caliph succeeded in converting most of his non-Muslim neighbors into Islam. Most of his critics had believed that by intensifying interaction with the non-Muslim neighbors, the caliph would erode the cultures of the society by attracting more non-Muslims into the society. However, this would not materialize since instead of losing their faith, most of his friends converted into Islam owing to his friendly nature and the support he would readily provide whenever any of his neighbors such as the Chinese would request. Additionally, the development of literature in the society coupled with the increase in the literacy in the society increased the spread of Islam since the Muslims would easily carry their messages in the form of writings and drawing thereby distributing them as they converted their neighbors. The size of the dynasty, which had existed peacefully with minimal internal aggression owing to Al-Mansur’s charisma especially in conflict resolution, was a factor that earned him more friends. The caliph readily accepted refugees of war most of who readily converted to Islam in order to enjoy the peace that had existed in the vast society that had a single religion. The greatest determinant of the interactions of people in a country is the government. The modern day governments in Egypt are secular. This implies that the laws and their electoral process does not favor any religious dictates thereby resulting in a secular society. However, the nature of the composition of the government gives dominance to Islam a feature that therefore influences their creation of the society. Additionally, the traditional leaders and government of the region were conservative Muslims who sought to develop a religious society and therefore safeguarded such doctrines in their creation of governance structures (Khadduri 41). To achieve this, they employed different tactics including the use of violence and warfare such as the jihads to ensure adherence to the dictates of the faith in the region. With time, the Abbasid leadership in the vast Islamic region in the Middle East became minimal and was reduced to ceremonial religious functions. However, as the discussion above portrays, the rule had myriad benefits key among which included the development of Baghdad. Baghdad remained a cultural and religious center and has remained an influential city in the Islamic society to this day. Caliph Al-Mansur personally ensured that Baghdad gained all the glory it enjoyed even after the demise of the Abbasid leadership in the region. The caliph portrayed the city as a peaceful home to the royalty and used the strategic placement of the city to cement the expansive society. From Baghdad, he would easily access other parts of the dynasty besides being far withdrawn from possible foes especially from the eastern boarder most of who were Jews. Baghdad thus enjoyed peace, stability and growth especially during the golden age of Islam that would sadly later end with the complete demise of the Abbasid leadership in 1258 when Mongols took over the city. Additionally, the Abbasid leadership succeeded in gaining control over Mesopotamia among other eastern territories in the region increasing the size of the dynasty while spreading the Islamic faith further to such territories. Works cited Bradley, Smith and Wango, Weng. China: a history in art. New York: Harper & Row, 1927. Print. Crone, Patricia and Hinds, Martin. Gods Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Print. Donner, Fred McGraw. The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1981. Print. Jairus, Banaji. "Islam, the Mediterranean and the rise of capitalism", Historical Materialism 15 (1), p. 47-74, Brill Publishers, 2007. Print. Kennedy, Hugh, When Baghdad Ruled The Muslim World, Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2004. Print. Masudi, The Meadows of Gold, The Abbasids, transl. London and New York: Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone, Kegan Paul, 1989. Print. Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. London: Vintage, 2007. Print. Read More