The Central Islamic Lands - NCERT

1 77 AS we enter the twenty-first century, there are over 1 billionMuslims living in all parts of the world. They are citizensof different nations, speak different languages, and dressdifferently. The processes by which they became Muslimswere varied, and so were the circumstances in which theywent their separate ways. Yet, the Islamic community has itsroots in a more unified past which unfolded roughly 1,400years ago in the Arabian peninsula. In this chapter we aregoing to read about the rise of Islam and its expansion over avast territory extending from Egypt to Afghanistan, the corearea of Islamic civilisation from 600 to 1200. In thesecenturies, Islamic society exhibited multiple political andcultural patterns. The term Islamic is used here not only inits purely religious sense but also for the overall society andculture historically associated with Islam. In this society noteverything that was happening originated directly fromreligion, but it took place in a society where Muslims andtheir faith were recognised as socially dominant.

2 Non-Muslimsalways formed an integral, if subordinate, part of this societyas did Jews in understanding of the history of the Central Islamic landsbetween 600 and 1200 is based on chronicles or tawarikh(which narrate events in order of time) and semi-historicalworks, such as biographies (sira), records of the sayings anddoings of the Prophet (hadith) and commentaries on theQuran (tafsir). The material from which these works wereproduced was a large collection of eyewitness reports (akhbar)transmitted over a period of time either orally or on authenticity of each report (khabar) was tested by acritical method which traced the chain of transmission (isnad)and established the reliability of the narrator. Although themethod was not foolproof, medieval Muslim writers were morecareful in selecting their information and understanding themotives of their informants than were their contemporariesin other parts of the world. On controversial issues, theyreproduced different versions of the same event, as they foundin their sources, leaving the task of judgement to theirreaders.

3 Their description of events closer to their own timesis more systematic and analytical and less of a collection ofakhbar. Most of the chronicles and semi-historical works are 2022-2378 THEMES IN WORLD HISTORYin Arabic, the best being the Tarikh of Tabari (d. 923) whichhas been translated into English in 38 volumes. Persianchronicles are few but they are quite detailed in their treatmentof Iran and Central Asia. Christian chronicles, written inSyriac (a dialect of Aramaic*), are fewer but they throwinteresting light on the history of early Islam. Besideschronicles, we have legal texts, geographies, travelogues andliterary works, such as stories and evidence (fragmentary pieces of writing,such as official orders or private correspondence) is themost valuable for writing histories because it does notconsciously refer to events and persons. It comes almostentirely from Greek and Arabic papyri (good foradministrative history) and the Geniza records. Someevidence has emerged from archaeological (excavationsdone at desert palaces), numismatic (study of coins) andepigraphic (study of inscriptions) sources which is of greatvalue for economic history, art history, and for establishingnames and histories of Islam began to be written in thenineteenth century by university professors in Germany andthe Netherlands.

4 Colonial interests in the Middle East andNorth Africa encouraged French and British researchers tostudy Islam as well. Christian priests too paid close attentionto the history of Islam and produced some good work,although their interest was mainly to compare Islam withChristianity. These scholars, called Orientalists, are knownfor their knowledge of Arabic and Persian and criticalanalysis of original texts. Ignaz Goldziher was a HungarianJew who studied at the Islamic college (al-Azhar) in Cairoand produced path-breaking studies in German of Islamiclaw and theology. Twentieth-century historians of Islam havelargely followed the interests and methods of have widened the scope of Islamic history by includingnew topics, and by using allied disciplines, such aseconomics, anthropology and statistics, have refined manyaspects of Orientalist studies. The historiography of Islamis a good example of how religion can be studied withmodern historical methods by those who may not share thecustoms and beliefs of the people they are studying.

5 During 612-32, the Prophet Muhammad preached the worship of asingle God, Allah, and the membership of a single community of believers(umma). This was the origin of Islam. Muhammad was an Arab bylanguage and culture and a merchant by profession. Sixth-centuryArab culture was largely confined to the Arabian peninsula and areasof southern Syria and Mesopotamia.*Aramaic is alanguage related toHebrew and has also beenused in Arabs were divided into tribes* (qabila), each led by a chief whowas chosen partly on the basis of his family connections but more forhis personal courage, wisdom and generosity (murawwa). Each tribehad its own god or goddess, who was worshipped as an idol (sanam) ina shrine. Many Arab tribes were nomadic (Bedouins), moving from dryto green areas (oases) of the desert in search of food (mainly dates) andfodder for their camels. Some settled in cities and practised trade oragriculture. Muhammad s own tribe, Quraysh, lived in Mecca andcontrolled the main shrine there, a cube-like structure called Kaba, inwhich idols were placed.

6 Even tribes outside Mecca considered theKaba holy and installed their own idols at this shrine, making annualpilgrimages (hajj) to the shrine. Mecca was located on the crossroadsof a trade route between Yemen and Syria which further enhanced thecity s importance (see Map p. 82). The Meccan shrine was a sanctuary(haram) where violence was forbidden and protection given to all and commerce gave the nomadic and settled tribesopportunities to communicate with one another and share their beliefsand customs. Although the polytheistic Arabs were vaguely familiarwith the notion of a Supreme God, Allah (possibly under the influenceof the Jewish and Christian tribes living in their midst), their attachmentto idols and shrines was more immediate and 612, Muhammad declared himself to be the messenger(rasul) of God who had been commanded to preach that Allah aloneshould be worshipped. The worship involved simple rituals, such asdaily prayers (salat), and moral principles, such as distributingalms and abstaining from theft.

7 Muhammad was to found acommunity of believers (umma) bound by a common set of religiousbeliefs. The community would bear witness (shahada) to the existenceof the religion before God as well as before members of other religiouscommunities. Muhammad s message particularly appealed to thoseMeccans who felt deprived of the gains from trade and religion andwere looking for a new community identity. Those whoaccepted the doctrine were called Muslims. Theywere promised salvation on the Day of Judgement(qiyama) and a share of the resources of thecommunity while on earth. The Muslims soonfaced considerable opposition from affluentMeccans who took offence to the rejection oftheir deities and found the new religion athreat to the status and prosperity of 622, Muhammad was forcedto migrate with his followers to s journey from Mecca (hijra) wasa turning point in the history ofIslam, with the year of his arrival inMedina marking the beginning of theMuslim calendar.*Tribes are societiesorganised on the basisof blood Arab tribes weremade up of clans orcombinations of largefamilies.

8 Unrelatedclans also merged tomake a tribe individuals(mawali) becamemembers through thepatronage of prominenttribesmen. Even afterconverting to Islam, themawali were nevertreated as equals bythe Arab Muslims andhad to pray in Central Islamic LANDSA thirteenth centurypainting from AjaibulMakhluqat depictingthe artist s imaginationof the Archangel Gabriel(Jibril) who broughtmessages toMuhammad. The firstword he spoke was recite (iqra) fromwhich has come theword quran . In Islamiccosmology, angels areone of the threeintelligent forms of lifein the Universe. Theother two are humansand THEMES IN WORLD HISTORY The survival of a religion rests on thesurvival of the community of believers. Thecommunity has to be consolidated internallyand protected from external and protection requirepolitical institutions such as states andgovernments which are either inherited fromthe past, borrowed from outside or createdfrom scratch. In Medina, Muhammadcreated a political order from all threesources which gave his followers theprotection they needed as well as resolvedthe city s ongoing civil strife.

9 The umma wasconverted into a wider community to includepolytheists and the Jews of Medina underthe political leadership of consolidated the faith for hisfollowers by adding and refining rituals(such as fasting) and ethical principles. Thecommunity survived on agriculture andtrade, as well as an alms tax (zakat). Inaddition, the Muslims organisedexpeditionary raids on Meccan caravansand nearby oases. These raids provokedreactions from the Meccans and caused abreach with the Jews of Medina. AfterPilgrims at the Kaba, illustration from a fifteenth-century Persian series of battles, Mecca was conquered and Muhammad s reputationas a religious preacher and political leader spread far and now insisted on conversion as the sole criterion formembership of the community. In the harsh conditions of the desert,the Arabs attached great value to strength and solidarity. Impressedby Muhammad s achievements, many tribes, mostly Bedouins, joinedthe community by converting to Islam. Muhammad s alliances beganto spread until they embraced the whole of Arabia.

10 Medina became theadministrative capital of the emerging Islamic state with Mecca as itsreligious centre. The Kaba was cleansed of idols as Muslims wererequired to face the shrine when offering prayers. In a short spaceof time, Muhammad was able to unite a large part of Arabia undera new faith, community and state. The early Islamic polity, however,remained a federation of Arab tribes and clans for a long time. After Muhammad s death in 632, no one could legitimately claimto be the next prophet of Islam. As a result, his political authoritywas transferred to the umma with no established principle ofsuccession. This created opportunities for innovations but alsocaused deep divisions among the Muslims. The biggest innovationwas the creation of the institution of caliphate, in which the leaderof the community (amir al-muminin) became the deputy (khalifa) ofthe Prophet. The first four caliphs (632-61) justified their powerson the basis of their close association with the Prophet andcontinued his work under the general guidelines he had twin objectives of the caliphate were to retain control over thetribes constituting the umma and to raise resources for the Muhammad s death, many tribes broke away from theIslamic state.