Upon the death of the Prophet, Abu Bakr,
the friend of the Prophet and the first adult male to
embrace Islam, became caliph. Abu Bakr ruled for two years
to be succeeded by 'Umar who was caliph for a decade and
during whose rule Islam spread extensively east and west
conquering the Persian empire, Syria and Egypt. It was 'Umar
who marched on foot at the end of the Muslim army into
Jerusalem and ordered the protection of Christian sites. 'Umar
also established the first public treasury and a
sophisticated financial administration. He established many
of the basic practices of Islamic government.
'Umar was succeeded by 'Uthman who ruled
for some twelve years during which time the Islamic
expansion continued. He is also known as the caliph who had
the definitive text of the Noble Quran copied and sent to
the four corners of the Islamic world. He was in turn
succeeded by 'Ali who is known to this day for his eloquent
sermons and letters, and also for his bravery. With his
death the rule of the "rightly guided" caliphs, who hold a
special place of respect in the hearts of Muslims, came to
an end.
The Caliphate - Umayyad
The Umayyad caliphate established in 661
was to last for about a century. During this time Damascus
became the capital of an Islamic world which stretched from
the western borders of China to southern France. Not only
did the Islamic conquests continue during this period
through North Africa to Spain and France in the West and to
Sind, Central Asia and Transoxiana in the East, but the
basic social and legal institutions of the newly founded
Islamic world were established.
Abbasids
The Abbasids, who succeeded the Umayyads,
shifted the capital to Baghdad which soon developed into an
incomparable center of learning and culture as well as the
administrative and political heart of a vast world.
They ruled for over 500 years but
gradually their power waned and they remained only symbolic
rulers bestowing legitimacy upon various sultans and princes
who wielded actual military power. The Abbasid caliphate was
finally abolished when Hulagu, the Mongol ruler, captured
Baghdad in 1258, destroying much of the city including its
incomparable libraries.
While the Abbasids ruled in Baghdad, a
number of powerful dynasties such as the Fatimids, Ayyubids
and Mamluks held power in Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The
most important event in this area as far as the relation
between Islam and the Western world was concerned was the
series of Crusades declared by the Pope and espoused by
various European kings. The purpose, although political, was
outwardly to recapture the Holy Land and especially
Jerusalem for Christianity. Although there was at the
beginning some success and local European rule was set up in
parts of Syria and Palestine, Muslims finally prevailed and
in 1187 Saladin, the great Muslim leader, recaptured
Jerusalem and defeated the Crusaders.
North Africa And Spain
When the Abbasids captured Damascus, one
of the Umayyad princes escaped and made the long journey
from there to Spain to found Umayyad rule there, thus
beginning the golden age of Islam in Spain. Cordoba was
established as the capital and soon became Europe's greatest
city not only in population but from the point of view of
its cultural and intellectual life. The Umayyads ruled over
two centuries until they weakened and were replaced by local
rulers.
Meanwhile in North Africa, various local
dynasties held sway until two powerful Berber dynasties
succeeded in uniting much of North Africa and also Spain in
the 12th and 13th centuries. After them this area was ruled
once again by local dynasties such as the Sharifids of
Morocco who still rule in that country. As for Spain itself,
Muslim power continued to wane until the last Muslim dynasty
was defeated in Granada in 1492 thus bringing nearly eight
hundred years of Muslim rule in Spain to an end.
After the Mangol Invasion
The Mongols devastated the eastern lands
of Islam and ruled from the Sinai Desert to India for a
century. But they soon converted to Islam and became known
as the Il-Khanids. They were in turn succeeded by Timur and
his descendents who made Samarqand their capital and ruled
from 1369 to 1500. The sudden rise of Timur delayed the
formation and expansion of the Ottoman empire but soon the
Ottomans became the dominant power in the Islamic world.
Ottoman Empire
From humble origins the Turks rose to
dominate over the whole of Anatolia and even parts of
Europe. In 1453 Mehmet the Conqueror captured Constantinople
and put an end to the Byzantine empire. The Ottomans
conquered much of eastem Europe and nearly the whole of the
Arab world, only Morocco and Mauritania in the West and
Yemen, Hadramaut and parts of the Arabian peninsula
remaining 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 Westem European powers and later Russia, the power
of the Ottomans began to wane. But they nevertheless
remained a force to be reckoned with until the First World
War when they were defeated by the Westem nations. Soon
thereafter Kamal Ataturk gained power in Turkey and
abolished the six centuries of rule of the Ottomans in 1924.
Persia
While the Ottomans were concerned mostly
with the westem front of their empire, to the east in Persia
a new dynasty called the Safavids came to power in 1502. The
Safavids established a powerful state of their own which
flourished 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 Afghan invasion of 1736 put an end to
Safavid rule and prepared the independence of Afghanistan
which occured fommally in the 19th century. Persia itself
fell into tummoil until Nader Shah, the last Oriental
conqueror, reunited the country and even conquered India.
But the rule of the dynasty established by him was
short-lived. The Zand dynasty soon took over to be
overthrown by the Qajars in 1779 who made Tehran their
capital and ruled until 1921 when they were in turn replaced
by the Pahlavis.
India
As for India, Islam entered into the land
east of the Indus River peacefully. Gradually Muslims gained
political power beginning in the early 13th century. But
this period which marked the expansion of both Islam and
Islamic culture came to an end with the conquest of much of
India in 1526 by Babur, one of the Timurid princes. He
established the powerful Mogul empire which produced such
famous rulers as Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan and which
lasted, despite the gradual rise of British power in India,
until 1857 when it was officially abolished.
Malaysia And Indonesia
Farther east in the Malay world, Islam
began to spread in the 12th century in northem Sumatra and
soon Muslim kingdoms were establishd in Java, Sumatra and
mainland Malaysia. Despite the colonization of the Malay
world, Islam spread in that area covering present day
Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Phililppines and southern
Thailand, and is still continuing in islands farther east.
Africa
As far as Africa is concemed, 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 and Somaliland becoming gradually both
Arabized and Islamized. West Africa felt the presence of
Islam through North African traders who travelled with their
camel caravans south of the Sahara. By the 14th century
there were already Muslim sultanates in such areas as Mali,
and Timbuctu in West Africa and Harar in East Africa had
become seats of Islamic leaming.
Gradually Islam penetrated both inland
and southward. There also appeared major charismatic figures
who inspired intense resistance against European domination.
The process of the Islamization of Africa did not cease
during the colonial period and continues even today with the
result that most Africans are now Muslims carrying on a
tradition which has had practically as long a history in
certain areas of sub-Saharan Africa as Islam itself.
Islam in the United States
It is almost impossible to generalize
about American Muslims: converts, immigrants, factory
workers, doctors; all are making their own contribution to
America's future. This complex community is unified by a
common faith, underpinned by a countrywide network of a
thousand mosques.
Muslims were early arrivals in North
America. By the eighteenth century there were many thousands
of them, working as slaves on plantations. These early
communities, cut off from their heritage and families,
inevitably lost their Islamic identity as time went by.
Today many Afro-American Muslims play an important role in
the Islamic community.
The nineteenth century, however, saw the
beginnings of an influx of Arab Muslims, most of whom
settled in the major industrial centers where they
worshipped in hired rooms. The early twentieth century
witnessed the arrival of several hundred thousand Muslims
from Eastem Europe: the first Albanian mosque was opened in
Maine in 1915; others soon followed, and a group of Polish
Muslims opened a mosque in Brooklyn in 1928.
In 1947 the Washington Islamic Center was
founded during the term of President Truman, and several
nationwide organizations were set up in the fifties. The
same period saw the establishment of other communities whose
lives were in many ways modelled after Islam. More recently,
numerous members of these groups have entered the fold of
Muslim orthodoxy. Today there are about five million Muslims
in America.
