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THE STORY OF ISLAM PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Susan Meredith | 64 pages | 31 May 2007 | Usborne Publishing Ltd | 9780746077658 | English | London, United Kingdom The Prophet Muhammad and the Origins of Islam | The Metropolitan Museum of Art Highly persianized empires built by the Samanids , Ghaznavids , Ghurids made significant developments. The Islamic Golden Age gave rise to many centers of culture and science and produced notable polymaths , astronomers , mathematicians , physicians and philosophers during the Middle Ages. By the early 13th century, the Delhi Sultanate conquered the northern Indian subcontinent , while Turkic dynasties like the Sultanate of Rum and Artuqids conquered much of Anatolia from the Byzantine Empire throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. In the 13th and 14th centuries, destructive Mongol invasions and those of Tamerlane Timur from the East, along with the loss of population in the Black Death , greatly weakened the traditional centers of the Muslim world, stretching from Persia to Egypt , but saw the emergence of the Timurid Renaissance and major global economic powers such as West Africa 's Mali Empire and South Asia 's Bengal Sultanate. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, most of the Islamic world fell under the influence or direct control of European " Great Powers. The Oil boom stabilized the Arab states of the Persian Gulf , making them the world's largest oil producers and exporters, which focuses on free trade and tourism. The following timeline can serve as a rough visual guide to the most important polities in the Islamic world prior to the First World War. It is necessarily an approximation, since rule over some regions was sometimes divided among different centers of power, and authority in larger polities was often distributed among several dynasties. For example, during the later stages of the Abbasid Caliphate , even the capital city of Baghdad was effectively ruled by other dynasties such as the Buyyids and the Seljuks , while the Ottomans commonly delegated executive authority over outlying provinces to local potentates, such as the Deys of Algiers, the Beys of Tunis , and the Mamluks of Iraq. The study of the earliest periods in Islamic history is made difficult by a lack of sources. Differing views about how to deal with the available sources has led to the development of four different approaches to the history of early Islam. All four methods have some level of support today. Nowadays, the popularity of the different methods employed varies on the scope of the works under consideration. For overview treatments of the history of early Islam, the descriptive approach is more popular. For scholars who look at the beginnings of Islam in depth, the source critical and tradition critical methods are more often followed. After the 8th century, the quality of sources improves. In particular, the sources covering the Sasanian realm of influence in the 6th century are poor, while the sources for Byzantine areas at the time are of a respectable quality, and complemented by Syriac Christian sources for Syria and Iraq. Islam arose within the context of Late Antiquity. According to tradition, the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca around the year Most likely Muhammad was "intimately aware of Jewish belief and practices," and acquainted with the Hanif. These inspirations urged him to proclaim a strict monotheistic faith , as the final expression of the prophetic tradition earlier codified in Judaism and Christianity; to warn his compatriots of the impending Judgement Day ; and to castigate social injustices of his city. In Yathrib, where he was accepted as an arbitrator among the different communities of the city under the terms of the Constitution of Medina , Muhammad began to lay the foundations of the new Islamic society, with the help of new Quranic verses which provided guidance on matters of law and religious observance. These leaders are known as the " Rashidun " or "rightly guided" Caliphs in Sunni Islam. They oversaw the initial phase of the Muslim conquests , advancing through Persia , Levant , Egypt , and North Africa. Although the office of caliph retained an aura of religious authority, it laid no claim to prophecy. Umar improved administration of the fledgling empire, ordering improvement of irrigation networks and playing a role in foundation of cities like Basra. To be close to the poor, he lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the Bayt al-mal , [42] [43] [44] a welfare institution for the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years under the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century and continued through the Umayyad period and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced child benefit for the children and pensions for the elderly. Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, who lived as religious minorities and were taxed while Muslims paid "Zakat" to finance the Byzantine—Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. Since the Constitution of Medina , drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad , the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws and had their own judges. In , Umar appointed Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan as the governor of Syria after the previous governor died in a plague along with 25, other people. Early Muslim armies stayed in encampments away from cities because Umar feared that they may get attracted to wealth and luxury, moving away from the worship of God, accumulating wealth and establishing dynasties. When Umar was assassinated in , Uthman ibn Affan second cousin and twice son-in-law of Muhammad became the next caliph. As the Arabic language is written without vowels, speakers of different Arabic dialects and other languages recited the Quran with phonetic variations that could alter the meaning of the text. When Uthman ibn Affan became aware of this, he ordered a standard copy of the Quran to be prepared. Begun during his reign, the compilation of the Quran was finished some time between and , and copies were sent out to the different centers of the expanding Islamic empire. After Muhammad's death, the old tribal differences between the Arabs started to resurface. Each wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic State to be in their area. As Uthman ibn Affan became very old, Marwan I , a relative of Muawiyah, slipped into the vacuum, becoming his secretary and slowly assuming more control. When Uthman was assassinated in , Ali ibn Abi Talib , a cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, assumed the position of caliph and moved the capital to Kufa in Iraq. Muawiyah I, the governor of Syria, and Marwan I demanded arrest of the culprits. Marwan I manipulated every one and created conflict, which resulted in the first civil war the "First Fitna". Ali was assassinated by Kharijites in Six months later in , in the interest of peace, Ali's son Hasan , made a peace treaty with Muawiyah I. In the Hasan—Muawiya treaty , Hasan ibn Ali handed over power to Muawiya on the condition that he would be just to the people and not establish a dynasty after his death. He was killed in the Battle of Karbala the same year, in an event still mourned by Shia on the Day of Ashura. In , Arab armies conquered Kabul , [71] and in pushed into the Maghreb. The Umayyad dynasty or Ommiads , whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams , the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph, ruled from to Although the Umayyad family came from the city of Mecca , Damascus was the capital. Muawiyah I moved his capital to Damascus from Medina , which led to profound changes in the empire. In the same way, at a later date, the transfer of the Caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad marked the accession of a new family to power. As the state grew, the state expenses increased. Additionally the Bayt al-mal and the Welfare State expenses to assist the Muslim and the non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled, increased, the Umayyads asked the new converts mawali to continue paying the poll tax. The Umayyad rule, with its wealth and luxury also seemed at odds with the Islamic message preached by Muhammad. The Bayt al-mal, the Welfare State then continued under the Abbasids. Muawiyah beautified Damascus, and developed a court to rival that of Constantinople. He expanded the frontiers of the empire, reaching the edge of Constantinople at one point, though the Byzantines drove him back and he was unable to hold any territory in Anatolia. Sunni Muslims credit him with saving the fledgling Muslim nation from post- civil war anarchy. However, Shia Muslims accuse him of instigating the war, weakening the Muslim nation by dividing the Ummah , fabricating self-aggrandizing heresies [82] slandering the Prophet 's family [83] and even selling his Muslim critics into slavery in the Byzantine empire. According to Shi'a doctrine, this was a clear violation of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali. Uqba won battles against the Berbers and Byzantines. Uqba and all his men died fighting. The Berbers attacked and drove Muslims from north Africa for a period. Under the rule of Yazid I , some Muslims in Kufa began to think that if Husayn ibn Ali the descendant of Muhammad was their ruler, he would have been more just. He was invited to Kufa but was later betrayed and killed. Imam Husain's son, Imam Ali ibn Husain , was imprisoned along with Husain's sister and other ladies left in Karbala war. Due to opposition by public they were later released and allowed to go to their native place Medina.