Background of Islamic Faith
In the VII century BC most of Arabia was a desert inhabited by tribes of nomadic Bedouins. However, on the fertile lands along the shores of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean were scattered permanent settlements, from where originated caravan routes across the sands to the cities of Syria and Mesopotamia (now Iraq). Due to the caravan trade, there flourished rare oases along the trade routes, including the small towns of Mecca and Medina, which in the history of Islam were destined to play a key role.
Prophet Mohammad was born in Mecca, in the family of camel driver. Upon losing his parents at an early age, he was engaged in the caravan trade serving wealthy widow Khadija. In the age of about 20 years, he married his mistress, who by that time was twice widowed. After some time, his habit of wandering around in the surrounding mountains bore fruit. He began to see visions, in which he talked with the angel Dzhabrail. His commandments he wrote in poems that were included in the ancient part of the holy book of Islam, the Koran (Qur'an). In its final form, the Quran consists of 114 revelations, sent down to the prophet within 22 years. Meanwhile, Mohammad began to preach, claiming that there was only one almighty and omniscient God, Allah, and the way to salvation was through complete submission to His will. Submission – in Arabic "Islam" – became the name of the new faith and its followers were called Muslims or "submissive".
In Mecca, Mohammad gathered a small group of followers, which included the immediate family, but his teaching was not supported in native Mecca. After all, for its wealth the city was obliged to crowds of pilgrims who came to worship the Kaaba – temple dedicated to the 360-odd gods and spirits, whom the latter-day prophet declared false (DenBoer 15). The situation became so dangerous that in 622 Mohammad and his followers left Mecca. The traditional date of his flight, known as the Hijra, later came to be considered the first day of the first year of a new Islamic calendar.
Mohammad found refuge in neighboring Medina, where he quickly gained credibility as a mediator in the arguments and began to attract new adherents. Ultimately, the people of Medina acknowledged him to be the prophet of God and committed under his command several military expeditions to Mecca. After the fall of Mecca in 630, Mohammad returned to his homeland as a ruler, destroyed the 360 idols in the Kaaba and dedicated the temple to Allah.
Election of Successor
Initially, the closest associates of the Prophet managed to coordinate candidacy of Caliph (successor), and from that time, there began the era of the victorious Arab conquests. Warring tribes now united under the banner of Islam and turned out to be a worthy rival of then two great powers in the Middle East - Christian Byzantium and Persia (Iran), where the Sassanian dynasty was ruling and religion of Zoroastrianism dominated.
Spread of Islam
The first trips outside Arabia began under the Caliph Abu Bakr (632-34), but the decisive successes in conquests were achieved by Caliph Omar (634-44). In 635Damascus fell, and a year later the great Arab general Khalid ibn al-Walid routed the Byzantine army at the Battle of Yarmuk and drove it out of Syria. The Arabs invaded Mesopotamia occupied by the Persians, and in 642 captured Iran itself. Fall of Alexandria in the same year capped the conquest of Egypt, which has become a springboard for further hikes across North Africa.
In the new Muslim empire that engulfed many different peoples and regions and where there ruled tribal warlords, it was not long to wait for internal strife. The third Caliph Uthman (644-56) was killed and succeeded by Ali, the cousin and son in law of Mohammad. But Ali's caliphate (656-61) was marred by tribal and religious strife that led to the Civil War and the murder of the Caliph. This time supporters of the killed one refused to recognize the next Caliph Mu'awiya and declared themselves "Shia" (group, sect). Subsequently, the conflict escalated into a final split between the Sunni majority and a few Shia sect. Although at the various points of Islamic history there appeared other sects, but the Sunni and Shia to this day, remain a major watershed in Islam.
With the death of Ali ended the classic or orthodox caliphate period. When Muawiyah (661-80) became caliph he was rather a secular monarch or emperor with residence in the great capital (Damascus, Syria), who passed his title son or next of kin and ruled through a centralized bureaucratic system, where there were recruited experienced officials of non-Arab origin (DenBoer 55).
Single State
Muawiyah became the founder of the first dynasty of caliphs - Umayyad, although it was able to finally establish itself only after a 30-year civil war with the Caliph Abd al-Malik (685-705). With the restoration of internal order, there resumed the external expansion of Islam. In the east, Muslim troops seized Central Asia up to modern Tashkent, conquered Sindh and southern Punjab (now Pakistan). In the west, capturing the entire coast of North Africa, the Arabs crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and invaded Spain. In 718, the Muslim army crossed the Pyrenees and reach the center of France, where it was finally stopped in a battle with the army of the Franks under Tours (732). This battle marked the end of the promotion of the Arabs to Europe.
The Islamic world as a single state with no barriers to trade from Spain to India, under the Umayyads reached the highest peak. Unlike other conquerors, the Arabs willingly took over the useful experience from the conquered peoples, adapting to their needs the system of rule of Byzantium and Persia, the experience of battles on land and sea, as well as art and science. The Arabs are quite tolerant of other faiths, especially of the "people of Scripture" - Jews and Christians, who shared with Muslims the general biblical tradition. According to Islam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus) were true prophets, whose works were completed by Mohammad. However, the non-Muslim peoples of the new empire state paid taxes, from which Muslims were exempt, which ultimately contributed to the retreatment of many of them to Islam (Hourani 208). Since any translation of the Qur'an from the original Arabic were banned, Muslim converts quickly learned the language, and as a result, the Arabs and the peoples they conquered gradually merged into a single community. Hence, the Arab became known as any person who speaks Arabic, and almost the entire Islamic world share a common faith, language and culture.
However, the same religious tolerance served as one of the causes of the fall of the Umayyad dynasty. The neglect of their duty by the Umayyad to convert the subjects to Islam was causing more and more outrage. All this religious excitement along with the dissatisfaction of the Arabs of Mesopotamia and Iran with the authorities of Damascus became the ground for rebellion raised in 747 by the descendant of the Prophet's uncle, Abu al-Abbas. In just three years, he overthrew the Umayyads who were mercilessly slaughtered. The only surviving member of this family was Abd al-Rahman, who fled to Spain and founded an independent dynasty that flourished for nearly 300 years (DenBoer 108). Abbasid dynasty left Damascus and built a new capital in Baghdad, Mesopotamia, which soon turned into a huge city with a million of people. Now the center of the Abbasid Caliphate moved to more affluent eastern regions, where the Persian influence became even more obvious. In this period was driven circulation of infidels in Islam, and Islam-Arab character of the Caliphate was still more vivid in expression. In the end, only Iran, despite the adoption of Islam, retained its own language Farsi and cultural identity.
Brilliant Civilization
Islam entered a new stage of development, in which it not only continued to learn from other cultures, but also created its own great civilization. Caliph al-Mansur founded the House of Knowledge, where scholars translated the ancient Greek writings on philosophy and medicine and mastered Indian mathematics, including the Arab figures, which we use to this day. Islamic thinker Avicenna has become one of the most influential philosophers and medical authorities of the Middle Ages. In Europe, his treatises enjoyed wide popularity. Mathematician al-Khwarizmi was a pioneer of the algebra (the name itself comes from the Arabic language), and the great Persian Omar Khayyam differed by rare combination of talents of mathematician, astronomer and poet.
Art and literature reached the highest peaks. In cities, there were shining domes of mosques and palaces with walls decorated with glazed tiles. Masters created amazing metalwork and pottery covered with intricate patterns of plant motifs, interlacing lines and elegant Arabic script. Along with precious placers of poetry throughout Asia by word of mouth there were passed folk tales that have become a real decoration of the Islamic world, and eventually entered the collection of classic fairy tales "Thousand and One Nights" (in the West it is called "Tales of the Arabian Nights"). Islamic science and culture for many centuries was far ahead of Christian Europe, who had learned from Arab sources, many scientific, philosophical, mathematical and medical knowledge, including the secret of papermaking (Hourani 56). The flowering of Islamic civilization continued, despite the fact that less than a century later huge uncontrollable Abbasid caliphate began to disintegrate. Making the East basis of their power, they soon lost control of North Africa, where in the new capital Cairo, there established the Fatimid dynasty (909 -1171).
Works Cited
DenBoer, J. T. History of philosophy in Islam. Routledge, 2013.
Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples: Updated Edition. Faber & Faber, 2013.
