after the rule of the rightly

7/31/2019 After the Rule of the Rightly

1/8

After the rule of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, Islamic

civilization continued to spread

under the control of various Muslim caliphates. Duringthe early Muslim caliphates,

first the Arabs, then the Persians and the Turks

contributed to classical Islamic

civilization. Subsequently, both Africa and India

became great centers of Islamic

civilization. Thereafter, Muslim kingdoms were

established in the Malay-Indonesian

world, while the Chinese Muslim population expanded

throughout China..

tablished in 661C.E, lasted for about a, esThe umayyad

century. During this time Damascus became the capital

of an Islamic world that stretched from the western

borders of China to southern France. The Islamic

conquests continued during this period through

Northern Africa to Spain and France in the West, and to

China and Central Asia in the East. What's more, the

basic social and legal institutions of the newly founded

Islamic world were established. For example, the

Umayyads made Arabic the common language and also

made common coinage. Common coinage made

commerce easier and gave the Muslims a sign of power.


2/8

They also developed a postal system. Furthermore, the

Umayyads strenghtened their army, especially the navy.

When their rule ended, the Muslim rule, for the first

time, was divided into two. The Abbasids took over the

main flank and transferred their capital to Baghdad. The

Umayyads were left undisturbed with their sovereignty

in Spain. The Muslim rule continued in Spain for nearly

eight hundred years with Cordoba as the capital, which

became Europe's greatest city not only in population,

but also from the point of view of its cultural and

intellectual life.

The Abbasid CaliphateDuring the 500-year Abbasid rule, which started in

750C.E., the Muslim State was at the peak of its glory

and prosperity. Creative scholarship and research

flourished across the Muslim world. The scholars in the

major cities opened up new frontiers of knowledge

which later directly influenced the European

Renaissance.

While the Abbasids ruled in Baghdad, a number of

powerful dynasties such as the Fatimids, Ayyubids and

Mamluks held power in Egypt Syria and


3/8

Palestine According to Zahoor (1999:7), "The most

.important event in this" area, as far as the relationship

between Islam and the Western world was concerned,

was the series of crusades declared

by the pope and supported by various European kings "

One of maim purposes of the Crusades was to recapture

the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem for Christianity.

Although there was some success at the beginning and-

local European rule was set up in parts of Syria andPalestine, the Muslims finally prevailed and in

1187C.E., Salahuddeen, the great Muslim leader,

recaptured Jerusalem and defeated the Crusaders

The Mongol Invasion

In 1258C.E. at the end of the Abbasid rule, the

Mongols destroyed Baghdad, Consequently the

Mongols eventually took control over the eastern

lands of Islam and ruled from the Sinai Desert to India

for a century. However, they soon reverted to Islam

They were in turn succeeded by Timur and his

descendants who made Samarqand their capital and

ruled from 1369C.E. to 1500C.E. The sudden rise ofTimur delayed the formation and expansion of the

ottoman empire but son the ottoman became the

dominant power in the Islam world .

The Ottoman Empire-

From humble origins, the Turks rose to dominate the

whole of Anatolia and even parts of Europe. In 1453C.E.Mehmet the Conqueror captured Constantinople and


4/8

put an end to the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans

conquered much of Eastern Europe and nearly all of the

Arab world, only Morocco and Mauritania in the West

and Yemen, Hadramaut and parts of the ArabianPeninsula remained beyond their control. They reached

their zenith of power with Suleyman the Magnificent,

whose armies reached Hungary and Austria. From the

17th century onward with the rise of Western European

powers and later Russia, the power of the Ottomans

began to decline Nevertheless, they remained a strong

force until the First World War when they were

defeated by the Western nations. Soon thereafter,

Kamal Ataturk gained power in Turkey and abolishe the

six centuries of rule of the Ottomans in 1924C.E

Persia

While the Ottomans were concerned mostly with the

western front of their empire, to the east in Persia, a

new dynasty called the Safavids came to power in

1502C.E. The Safavids established a powerful state of

their own that lasted for over two centuries and

became known for the flowering of the arts. Their

capital, Isfahan, became one of the most beautiful cities

with its blue-tiled mosques and exquisite houses ..

The Ottoman Empire-From humble origins, the Turks rose to dominate the

whole of Anatolia and even parts of Europe. In 1453C.E.

Mehmet the Conqueror captured Constantinople and

put an end to the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans

conquered much of Eastern Europe and nearly all of the

Arab world, only Morocco and Mauritania in the West

and Yemen, Hadramaut and parts of the Arabian


5/8

Peninsula remained beyond their control. They reached

their zenith of power with Suleyman the Magnificent,

whose armies reached Hungary and Austria. From the

17th century onward with the rise of Western Europeanpowers and later Russia, the power of the Ottomans

began to decline Nevertheless, they remained a strong

force until the First World War when they were

defeated by the Western nations. Soon thereafter,

Kamal Ataturk gained power in Turkey and abolishe the

six centuries of rule of the Ottomans in 1924C.E

Persia

While the Ottomans were concerned mostly with the

western front of their empire, to the east in Persia, a

new dynasty called the Safavids came to power in

1502C.E. The Safavids established a powerful state of

their own that lasted for over two centuries and became

known for the flowering of the arts. Their capital,

Isfahan, became one of the most beautiful cities with its

blue-tiled mosques and exquisite houses

Malaysia and Indonesia

Farther east in the Malay world, Islam began to spread

in the 12th century in northern

Sumatra and soon Muslim kingdoms were established

in Java, Sumatra and

mainland Malaysia. Despite the colonization of the

Malay world, Islam spread in that


6/8

area covering present day Indonesia, Malaysia, the

southern Philippines and

southern Thailand, and is still continuing to spread tomany islands farther east.

Africa

Regarding Africa, Islam entered into East Africa at the

very beginning of the Islamic period, but remained

confined to the coast for some time. Only the Sudan andSomaliland gradually developed a large Arab population

with Islam as the major religion. West Africa felt the

presence of Islam through North African traders who

traveled with their camel caravans south of the Sahara.

By the 14th century there were already Muslim

sultanates in such areas as Mali , and Timbuktu in WestAfrica and Harare in East Africa, which all had become

seats of Islamic learning. Islam eventually penetrated

both inland and southward. Islam continues to spread in

Africa

even today.

Aftermath of the Colonial Period

At the height of the European colonial expansion in the

19th century, most of the Islamic world was under

colonial rule. It was only after the Second World War

and the dismemberment of the British, French, Dutch

and Spanish empires that the rest f the- Islamic world


7/8

gained its independence. By the end of the 1960's C.E.,

most of the Islamic world was formed into independent

national states..

The Pursuit of Islamic Unity

While the world of Islam has entered into the modern

world in the form of national states, continuous

attempts are made to develop closer cooperation within

the Islamic world as a whole and to bring about greater

unity. This is seen not only in the meetings of theMuslim heads of state and the establishment of the QIC

(Organization of Islamic Countries), but also in the

establishment of institutions dealing with the entire the

Islamic world. Among the most important of these

institutions is the Muslim World League (Rabitat Alalam

Alislami) with its headquarters in Makkah.

Conclusion

Bari (2002:3) candidly states, "Fourteen hundred years

ago Islam challenged the world full of oppression,

injustice and perversion. It liberated human beings from

the slavery of their own creation. It built a society on the

basis of love, compassion, equality and freedom. Can

the same Islam, with its unadulterated message and

uncompromising principles, withstand the challenge of

life in modern times? It all depends on the conviction

and commitment of its followers." The problem today is

not a conflict between Islam and modern science, or

between Islam and reason. The problem which Islam


8/8

faces today is how to carry out its mission along with the

presence of other religions and to combat the present

materialistic madness, which aims to suppress the

ambitions of the soul and to convert the human being

into an animal, knowing no religion save that of the

stomach and the body. May Allah guide us to the

purification of our hearts in the pursuit of Islamic unity

to make His religion victorious on earth once again.

Ameen!!!

after the rule of the rightly

Documents