HISTORY OF ISLAM

 History of Islam involves the history of the Islamic faith as a religion and as a social institution. The evolution of Islam has impacted the political, economic, and military history of an enormous geography. The concept of the Islamic world is useful in observing the different periods of Islamic history; similarly useful is an understanding of the identification with a quasi-political community of believers, or ummah, on the part of Islam's practitioners down the centuries. Islamic culture encourages identification with the ummah, and this principle has influenced the behavior of a number of players in history. The history of Islam is closely tied to the political, economic, and military.

A century after the death of Hazrat Muhammad S.A.W., an extended from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Central Asia in the east. The subsequent empires of the Umayyads, Abbasids, the Fatimids, the Mughals, the Safavids, and Ottomans were among the largest and most powerful in the world. The Islamic civilization gave rise to many centers of culture and science and produced notable scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, doctors, nurses and philosophers during the Golden Age of Islam. Technology flourished; there was much investment in economic infrastructure, such as irrigation systems and canals; and especially, the importance of reading the Qur'an produced a comparatively high level of literacy in the general populace.

Later, in the eighteenth century and nineteenth century, many Islamic regions fell under the tutelage of European imperial powers. After the First World War, the remnants of the Ottoman empire were parcelled out as European protectorates. Although affected by various ideologies such as communism, during much of the twentieth century, the Islamic identity and the dominance of Islam on political issues have arguably increased during the early twenty-first century. The fast-growing Western interests in Islamic regions, international conflicts and globalization have changed the influence of Islam on the world of the twenty-first century.

According to the traditionalist view, the Qur'an began with revelations on Hazrat Muhammad's( S.A.W.) divine revelations in AD 610. The verses of the Quran were written down and memorized during his life. Makkah was conquered by the Muslims in the year AD 630. In 628 the Makkan tribe of Quraish and the Muslim community in Madina had signed a truce called the Treaty of Hudaybiyya beginning a ten-year period of peace, which was broken when the Quraish and their allies, the tribe of 'Bakr', attacked the tribe of 'Khuza'ah', who were allies of the Muslims. Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. died in June 632. The Battle of Yamama was fought in December of the same year, between the forces of the Rashidun Calipha Hazrat Abu Bakqr and Musailima.

At the beginning of the 7th century a tribe which would recognize themselves as subjects of some terrestrial supra tribal political authority, a "king", risked to lose its honour. However, this seems not to be applicable to the authority of another type, the "celestial" one. At the mean time the early 7th century evidences the merging of the Arabian tradition of prophecy and the Arabian Monotheist "Rahmanist" tradition which produced "the Arabian prophetic movement". The Monotheist "Rahmanist" prophets appear to have represented a supra tribal authority just of the type many Arab tribes were looking for at this very time, which seems to explain to a certain extent those prophets' political success

After Hazrat Muhammad S.A.W. died, a series of Caliphas governed the Islamic State: Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique,Hazrat  Umar,Hazrat  Usman andHazrat Ali Ali. These first Caliphas are popularly known as the "Rashidun" or "rightly-guided" Caliphas in Sunni Islam. After the Rashidun, a series of Caliphates were established. Each caliphate developed its own unique laws based on the sharia. There were at times competing claims to the Sunni caliphate, and the Imams of Ismaili Shi'a Islam, descended from Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Muhammad S.A.W. through his daughter Hazrat Fatima, set up their own caliphate which ruled the Fatima Empire.

The gains of the Ummayad empire were consolidated upon when the Abbasid dynasty rose to power in 750, with the conquest of the Mediterranean islands including the Balearics and Sicily. The new ruling party had been instated on the wave of dissatisfaction propagated against the Ummayads, cultured mainly by the Abbasid revolutionary, Abu Muslim. Under the Abbasids, Islamic civilization flourished. Most notable was the development of Arabic prose and poetry, termed by The Cambridge History of Islam as its "golden age". This was also the case for commerce and industry (considered a Muslim Agricultural Revolution), and the arts and sciences (considered a Muslim Scientific Revolution), which prospered, especially under the rule of Abbasid caliphs al-Mansur (ruled 754 — 775), Harun al-Rashid (ruled 786 — 809), al-Ma'mun (ruled 809 — 813), and their immediate successors.

Abbasid Caliphate and contemporary states and empires in 820.

Baghdad was made the new capital of the caliphate (moved from the previous capital, Damascus) due to the importance placed by the Abbasids upon eastern affairs in Persia and Transoxania. It was at this time however, that the caliphate showed signs of fracture and we witness the uprising of regional dynasties. Although the Ummayad family had been killed by the revolting Abbasids, one family member, Abd ar-Rahman I, was able to flee to Spain and establish an independent caliphate there in 756. In the Maghreb region, Harun al-Rashid appointed the Arab Aghlabids as virtually autonomous rulers, although they continued to recognise the authority of the central caliphate. Aghlabid rule was short lived, as they were deposed by the Shiite Fatimid dynasty in 909. By around 960, the Fatimids had conquered Abbasid Egypt, building a new capital there in 973 called "al-Qahirah" (meaning "the planet of victory", known today as Cairo). Similar was the case in Persia, where the Turkic Ghaznavids managed to snatch power from the Abbasids. Whatever temporal power of the Abbasids remained had eventually been consumed by the Seljuq Turks (a Muslim Turkish clan which had migrated into mainland Persia), in 1055.

During this time, expansion continued, sometimes by military warfare, sometimes by peaceful proselytism. The first stage in the conquest of India began just before the year 1000. By some 200 (from 1193 — 1209) years later, the area up to the Ganges river had been conquered. In sub-Saharan West Africa, it was just after the year 1000 that Islam was established. Muslim rulers are known to have been in Kanem starting from sometime between 1081 to 1097, with reports of a Muslim prince at the head of Gao as early as 1009. The Islamic kingdoms associated with Mali reached prominence later, in the 13th century.

During the Abbasid reign, Baghdad became one of the greatest cultural centers of the world. Abbasid caliphas Harun al-Rashid and Al-Mamun were great patrons of arts and sciences, and enabled these domains to flourish. Islamic philosophy also developed as the Shariah was codified, and the four Madhabs were established and built. This era also saw the rise of classical Sufism. The greatest achievement, however, was completion of the canonical collections of Hadith of Sahih Bukhari and others.

Regional powers

The Abbasids soon became caught within a three-way rivalry of Arabs, Persians and the immigrant Turks. In addition, the cost of running a large empire became too great. The political unity of Islam began to disintegrate. The Emirates, still recognizing the theoretical leadership of the caliphs, drifted into independence, and a brief revival of control was ended with the establishment of rival caliphates. Eventually the Abbasids ruled as puppets for the Buwayhid emirs. During this time, great advancements were made in the areas of astronomy, poetry, philosophy, science, and mathematics.

The Fatimids had their origins in Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria). The dynasty was founded in 909 by Abdullāh al-Mahdī Billah, who legitimised his claim through descent from Hazrat MuhammadS.A.W. by way of his daughter Fātima -al-Zahra and her husband ˤAlī ibn-Abī-Tālib, the first Shīˤa Imām, hence the name al-Fātimiyyūn "Fatimid".

Abdullāh al-Mahdi's control soon extended over all of central Maghreb, an area consisting of the modern countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, which he ruled from Mahdia, his newly built capital in Tunisia.

The Fatimids entered Egypt in the late 900s, conquering the Ikhshidid dynasty and founding a new capital at al-Qāhira(Cairo) in 969. The name was a reference to the planet Mars, "The Subduer", which was prominent in the sky at the moment that city construction started. Cairo was intended as a royal enclosure for the Fatimid caliph and his army, though the actual administrative and economic capital of Egypt was in cities such as Fustat until 1169. After Egypt, the Fatimids continued to conquer the surrounding areas until they ruled from Tunisia to Syria and even crossed over into Sicily and southern Italy.

Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak North Africa, Sicily, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, the Red Sea coast of Africa, Yemen and the Hejaz. Egypt flourished, and the Fatimids developed an extensive trade network in both the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Their trade and diplomatic ties extended all the way to China and its Song Dynasty, which eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during the High Middle Ages.

Unlike other governments in the area, Fatimid advancement in state offices was based more on merit than on heredity. Members of other branches of Islam, like the Sunnis, were just as likely to be appointed to government posts as Shiites. Tolerance was extended even to non-Muslims such as Christians and Jews, who occupied high levels in government based on ability.[citation needed] There were, however, exceptions to this general attitude of tolerance, most notably Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

The Arabs, under the command of the Berber General Tarik ibn Ziyad, first began their conquest of southern Spain or al-Andalus in 711. A raiding party led by Tarik was sent to intervene in a civil war in the Visigothic kingdom in Hispania. Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar (named after the General), it won a decisive victory in the summer of 711 when the Visigothic king Roderic was defeated and killed on July 19 at the Battle of Guadalete. Tariq's commander, Musa bin Nusair quickly crossed with substantial reinforcements, and by 718 the Muslims dominated most of the peninsula. There are some later Arabic and Christian sources that present an earlier raid by a certain Ṭārif in 710 and also, the Ad Sebastianum recension of the Chronicle of Alfonso III, refers to an Arab attack incited by Erwig during the reign of Wamba (672–80). The two reasonably large armies may have been in the south for a year before the decisive battle was fought.

The rulers of Al-Andalus were granted the rank of Emir by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I in Damascus. After the Abbasids came to power in the Middle East, some Umayyads fled to Muslim Spain to establish themselves there. By the end of the 10th century, the ruler Abd al-Rahman III took over the title of Emir of Córdoba(912-961). Soon after, the Umayyads went on developing a strengthened state with its capital as Córdoba. Al-Hakam II succeeded to the Caliphate after the death of his father Abd ar-Rahman III in 961. He secured peace with the Christian kingdoms of northern Iberia, and made use of the stability to develop agriculture through the construction of irrigation works. Economical development was also encouraged through the widening of streets and the building of markets. The rule of the Caliphate is known as the heyday of Muslim presence in the peninsula.

The rule of the Umayyad Caliphate collapsed in 1031 due to political divisions and civil unrest during the rule of Hicham II who was ousted because of his indolence. Al-Andalus then broke up into a number of mostly independent states called taifa kingdoms (Arabic, Muluk al-ṭawā'if; English, Party kingdoms). The decomposition of the Caliphate into those petty kingdoms would then weaken the power of the Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula vis-à-vis the Christian kingdoms of the north. Some of the taifas such as that of Seville would consequently be forced to enter into alliances with the Christian princes and pay tributes in money to Castille.

Beginning in the 8th century C.E. the Christian kingdoms of Spain had begun the Reconquista aimed at retaking Al-Andalus from the Moors. In 1095, Pope Urban II, inspired by the perceived holy wars in Spain and implored by the eastern Roman emperor to help defend Christianity in the East, called for the First Crusade from Western Europe which captured Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli and Jerusalem. The Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem emerged and for a time controlled many holy sites of Islam. Saladin, however, restored unity within the Umma by defeating the Fatimids, and was then able to put an end to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 C.E. Other crusades were launched with at least the nominal intent to recapture the holy city and other holy lands, but hardly more was ever accomplished than the errant looting and occupation of Christian Constantinople, leaving the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire severely weakened and ripe for later conquest. However, the crusaders did manage to weaken Muslim territories preventing them from further expansion into Christendom.

In 1250 C.E., the short-lived Ayyubid dynasty (established by Saladin) was overthrown by slave regiments, and a new dynasty—the Mamluks—was born. The Mamluks, who were Turkic, soon expanded into Palestine, expelled the remaining Crusader states and repelled the Mongol attempt to invade Syria (see Battle of Ain Jalut). Thus they united Syria and Egypt for the longest period of time between the Abbasid and Ottoman empires (1250–1517).