Chapter 6: The Islamic Civilization

Introduction

As a world religion and a civilization, Islam stretched from one end of the globe to the other under the control of first the Arabs, then the Persians and later the Turks. All of these cultures created a classical Islamic civilization. In the 13th century, both Africa and India became great centers of Islamic civilization. Soon after, Muslim kingdoms were established in the Malay-Indonesian world, while Muslims flourished equally in China. Islamic civilization has two basic principles: oneness of Allah and oneness of humanity. Islam does not allow any racial, linguistic or ethnic discrimination; it stands for universal humanism.

The Prophet Mohammed received a message from Allah, through the Angel Gabriel. As he told the message to others in Mecca he found many followers. For over a decade Hz. Mohammed helped the people of Medina organize as a society. His influence brought peace and success to a town that had been struggling with disunity. Finally, after more than ten years, Hz. Mohammed returned to Mecca with 1,500 of his followers. Hz. Mohammed became the spiritual and political leader of Mecca. After Hz. Mohammed died, the Islamic Empire expanded rapidly. The timing of the birth of Islam was ideal. The Islamic Civilization was able to quickly become an empire that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to just east of China, and from the Persian and Indian Oceans to north of the Black Sea in less than 100 years.

Islam and the Islamic Civilization actually brought the cultures of China and the vast steppe, desert, and mountains of Central Asia, as well as the colors and flavors of India to Africa and Europe. It was Islam, not Greece, nor Rome, nor the later maritime empires of Portugal, Spain, England or France, which facilitated global trade by connecting the cultures of the “Silk Road” with those of the West.

Islam as a religion remained an important global force. It is the second largest religion in the world, is currently the fastest growing religion in the world, and it is dominant in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

The Origin of the Islamic Civilization

In the time just before the Prophet Mohammed, the Arabian Peninsula was populated with polytheistic Semitic people. The Arabs of the region believed in the same stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, but they had become interested in others’ gods over the years. People were living mostly in towns, but many were still nomadic. By the time Hz. Mohammed was born, Mecca had long been a popular destination for pilgrimage. The Ka’aba, and its Black Stone, was in Mecca. There were 360 idols in the Ka’aba, each representing a different deity. This made Mecca a popular tourist destination, attracting people from all over the region.

Two main empires controlled the world to the east and the west of Mecca. In the west the Byzantine Empire, was based in Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire continued the regional dominance of the Roman Empire in the name of Christianity. In the years shortly before the Prophet was born, the Byzantine Emperor reorganized all military and administrative functions and made Greek the official language; a major change from the Latin that had been in place since the Roman Empire.The empire to the east of Mecca was the Sasanian Empire, or Persian Empire. The Sasanian Empire lasted for over 400 years on the eastern border of the Byzantine Empire, and was able to take over much of the territory west of Greece when it collapsed. This gave the Sasanian Empire its greatest size just before the beginning of Islam. The Byzantine and Sasanian Empires fought for many years. By the end of this conflict between the years of 602 - 628, fought mostly at the distant borders of both empires, both sides were exhausted. They were running out of money and people.

Mohammed was born in 571. His clan was one of the less influential families in the powerful Quraysh tribe. A different clan of the same tribe became important a few decades after the Prophet’s death. Their descendants would lead the Omayyad Caliphate in one form or another, for several hundred years, ensuring the success of the initial expansion of the Islamic Empire. Then, the Abbasid Caliphate ruled until the time of the Ottoman Empire.

Difficult early life of Mohammad had a lifelong impact on Mohammed’s thoughts. His uncle, Abu Talib, taught Mohammed the trading business. He often travelled with his uncle on journeys and learned everything, from driving the camels, to managing the finances. Thanks to his hard work and honest nature, Mohammed earned the title alAmin, or “trusted one.” With age and experience, Mohammed developed diplomacy. More and more people came to him to settle disputes, to act as a judge. He worried about fighting among tribes, social injustice, and discrimination against women. A common practice at the time of Mohammed was to kill young girls if food or water was hard to find. The Qur’an specifically says this is wrong. He began to travel to a nearby cave at Hira to meditate on these challenges. On more than one occasion the Angel Gabriel (Cebrail) visited Hz. Mohammed at the cave. The Prophet’s experience in the cave at Hira began a miraculous journey. Because at Hira, the words of Allah were delivered to the Prophet by Gabriel (Jibrail / Cebrail). These is called the divine Revelations (WahyVahiy). The visits to Hira, which often lasted several days, changed Hz. Mohammed from a hard working, trusted leader who was often looked to by his community to help settle disputes, into a teacher of spirituality who was the direct messenger of Allah. The product of the divine Revelations is the Qur’an. The messages in the Qur’an came to the Prophet Mohammad gradually over the course of many years. The 114 chapters (Surahs) of the Qur’an contain more than six thousand verses. Muslims believe that the verses themselves, when recited in Arabic, are holy.

During the time of Mohammed, the Khalifate expanded to include nearly all of modern-day Saudi Arabia. By the end of the Rashidun Khalifate, less than 30 years after the death of Mohammed, the territory included the land between Eastern Turkey and Afghanistan on the western and eastern borders, and the Caucuses and Egypt and Libya on the northern and southern borders. By 750 CE, at the end of the Omayyad Khalifate, the empire stretched from Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan in the east to Morocco and Portugal in the west and included all of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, most of Turkey, and everything in between.

At first, Mohammed preached the Revelations to his family and friends, like his wife Khadija (Hatice) his cousin Ali and Abu Bakr (Ebu Bekir), his friend. Revelations were about the faithful individual living in accordance with Allah. Then the message to condemn idolatry came to Mohammed and most things changed. The Meccan leaders, from the same Quraysh tribe that Mohammed’s clan came from, recognized the Muslims as a fringe group. Mohammed’s teachings were attracting larger numbers of financially and socially needy people; the city leaders began to see Mohammed as a threat. As the Revelations continued, specific attacks on the Meccan power structure began. Finally, after three years of Revelations, Hz. Mohammed was commanded by Allah to become more publicly visible in his preaching.

Open hostility toward the followers of Islam in Mecca led Mohammed to instruct his followers to take refuge in Ethiopia in 614. The Prophet Mohammed and his followers discussed their religion with the king who then agreed to shelter them. The Qurayshi leaders announced a boycott of the Hashim clan unless they would turn against Mohammed. For three years all interaction with the Prophet and his family was banned, and the Hashim family members were all placed under arrest in their home area just outside the city. Finally, some of the Qurayshi leaders felt that this ban was wrong. Consequently, Mohammed and his family were again able to interact in Mecca. During the time, Mohammed was struggling to let more people hear the call from Allah. Around this time, he met a group from Medina in which life was difficult. Soon after that meeting, in 621, a group came from Medina to speak with Mohammed about their difficulties. This led to the First Pledge of Aqaba, which was the promise of those who came to see the Prophet Mohammed to embrace Islam, and to introduce their family members to the call of Islam. By 622, most families in Medina were Muslim. The visit that year from Medina to Mecca included 75 Muslims. This was the critical first step that would lead to the Islamic empire. The Hijrah (Hicret) took place in 622 and was the second exodus of the Muslim community from Mecca. This event strengthened Mohammed’s transition from preacher to leader.

The leaders of Mecca understood the growing threat in Medina. One of them came up with the plan that several men from different clans should all attack Mohammed together, so that the Hashim would not try to avenge Mohammed’s death against just one clan, starting a civil conflict. Mohammed and the others travelled for several days and finally arrived at Qubaa, a small town near Medina, where Mohammed built the first mosque. When he arrived at Medina, he began work on the second mosque immediately. Before the mosques, prayer had been a personal experience. The call to prayer (ezan) became an important symbol of the freedom to assemble and worship. The mosque also served as a school, a function in Islamic society that would be central to the success of Islam. The mosque also served as a shared meeting place and as an office for the administration of the local society. All of these functions are the foundational aspects of a civilization.

Hijrah was completed it was decided that September 23rd. 622 would be the beginning date for the Muslim calendar. Starting on this day the name of Yathrib was changed to Madinat-un-Nabi, or the city of the Prophet; Medina. The Constitution of Medina, written in 622, listed the shared responsibilities of the tribes of Medina to maintain peace. It allowed anyone to practice any religion without persecution. It also detailed how negotiations were to be handled, including who needed to be present to ensure fairness. It talked about women’s rights, taxation, and even the specifics about relationships among Muslims as well as those between Muslims and non-Muslims. The most important feature of the Constitution of Medina was that it stated that ties of religion are stronger than those of family. This enabled the creation of the Islamic Ummah, or community, with a reduced risk of resistance by a particular tribe. All Muslims were considered equal. This community strength is a key to the success of the Islamic Civilization. The Constitution detailed the rights of nonMuslims. This was important for the future of the Islamic Empire. Medina was home to a large number of Jewish families. There was a critical need to incorporate their existence into the Constitution. For the next several hundred years, Jews would thrive under Muslim rule. The Omayyad and the Abbasid Khalifates even allowed Jews to serve in the ranks of the political elite. All of Mohammed’s progress in Medina led to more persecution of Muslims back in Mecca. It had been 13 years since the first Revelations in the cave and during this time Mohammed had preached pacifism. It was time for Mohammed and his followers to fight for their beliefs. In Mecca the dominant figure in the city leadership was Abu Sufyan. He knew that the Bedouin tribes were beginning to show signs of allegiance to Mohammed and Allah’s message and that Medina was becoming more Muslim each day. Sufyan was forced to send messengers to Medina to establish a truce. After some negotiation, the Truce of Hudaybiyyah was signed. This treaty proclaimed that there would be no fighting between Mecca and Medina for 10 years. It also said that Mohammed could visit Mecca immediately and his people on pilgrimage to the Ka’aba. Islam spread rapidly. In the two years after the signing of the truce the number of Muslims more than doubled.

The Quraysh broke the truce by attacking a tribe that was in alliance with the Prophet and killing them all in the sanctuary at Mecca. Abu Sufyan immediately travelled to Medina. When he heard the news of the killing of the faithful in Mecca, Mohammed called upon all physically able Muslims in Medina. The Quraysh were overwhelmed. The great size of the Islamic army made the victory swift and nearly bloodless. The people of Mecca were in fear for their lives but the Prophet Mohammed immediately declared peace and amnesty. After the victory in Mecca, the Prophet Mohammed had all of the idolaters’ objects removed from the inside of the Ka’aba. The Declaration of Immunity, delivered in the same year as the victory in Mecca, said that in the next year only Muslims would be allowed to make the pilgrimage to the Ka’aba, with an exception for any non-Muslims who had a treaty with the Muslims and had never supported anyone who fought against those same treaties.

In the tenth year of the Muslim calendar the Prophet Mohammed set off from Medina with tens of thousands of Muslims to perform the pilgrimage. This trip was his last and is referred to as the “Pilgrimage of Farewell.” He reminded them of the duties of a good Muslim. He also reminded them that one day they would meet Allah, who would judge each of them based on how they had lived their lives.

Important Features of Islamic Civilization

Islamic civilization has five main characteristics. Monotheistic faith is characterized by submission to the will of Allah and service to humankind. It is a civilization with a universal dimension. It is an open civilization. It is a well-balanced civilization. It will last as long as Islam exists.

The global civilization created by Islam activated the minds and thoughts of its populations. As a result, the Arabs became leaders in science and learning. For nearly one thousand years Arabic was the official language of scholarly work throughout the Islamic Civilization. Between the 7th and 12th centuries, Islam became the center of a brilliant civilization and of a great scientific, philosophic, and artistic culture. Contributions in medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, mathematics, physics and philosophy helped bring the Renaissance with its revival of sciences. Islamic civilization dominated much of the southern and western hemisphere between 10th and 16th centuries. With the rise of industrial age and the beginnings of colonialism, Islamic civilization suffered a serious setback.

While Europe was struggling with the Dark Ages, and a feudal system that failed to develop wealth for any but the most privileged families regardless of merit, the Abbasid Khalifate expanded the iqta system that encouraged these soldier/landowners to maximize the productivity of their land.

Important Developments in the Timeline of the Islamic Civilization

The Islamic movement inherited an Arab society that had not gone beyond the city-state structure. There had been no written law, no constitution. Particularly in Medina there was no governing authority either hereditary or elected. There was no financial system nor any police or army. There was no concept of territorial governance or defense. After his arrival in Medina, Mohammed ratified the Constitution of Medina which is the first written civil and political law spelling out the religious autonomy and freedom. Briefly, the Constitution laid down the principles of defense and foreign policy; organized a system of social insurance.

The first four leaders who followed Mohammed are known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs; Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali. We see some very significant developments during that time, such as governing the people through the consultation, establishment of the moral order, rule of law, constitutional order, etc.

The Umayyad Caliphate, established in 661 CE and lasted for about one hundred years with the new capital Damascus, continued to the conquests through North Africa to Spain and France in the West and to Sind, Central Asia in the East and legal institutions of the civilization became more advanced.

After the Umayyad, The Abbasids moved the capital to Baghdad where was the center of arts and sciences for the entire world and contained two greatest universities, the Nizamiyah and the Mustansiriyah. A sophisticated banking system was established during the Abbasid dynasty with branches as far away as China. Countless libraries and bookstores were also established. When Hulagu (Halaku Khan), the Mongol ruler, captured Baghdad, in 1258 CE, the Abbasid Caliphate ended.

The Crusades were very important for Islamic Civilization’s relationship with the West. The purpose of these Crusades was to recapture the region, especially Jerusalem, for Christianity. In 1187 CE, Saladin [Salahuddin] Ayubi, the great Muslim leader, recaptured Jerusalem and defeated the Crusaders. The Seljuks originated from the Oghuz Turks, who in the 9th century lived at the edge of the Muslim world on the Kazakh Steppe. Around 985 CE, Seljuk converted to Islam.

The Seljuks expanded rapidly, raiding towns throughout Persia. They finally faced a decisive battle in 1040 CE and became the regional power for Persia and Central Asia in the Abbasid Khalifate. Within a few years the Seljuk leader had expanded his control to Baghdad. It was at this time that the Seljuk leader was granted the title Sultan by the Abbasid Khalifa. The Battle of Manzikert was a clear victory of the Seljuks over the Byzantine Empire on August 26, 1071, was the first major step for Anatolia to become Turkish. By 1194 the Empire had collapsed and became no more than a collection of selfgoverning states.

When the Abbasids captured Damascus, one of the Umayyad princes went to Spain and established an Umayyad princedom, beginning the golden age of Islam in Spain. Cordoba became the capital and Europe’s greatest city at the time, for population and culture. In North Africa, various local dynasties held power and The Sharifids, who still rule today, followed the Berbers in the 13th century.

Mongol invasion and especially the destruction of Baghdad mean the end of the Golden Age of Islam. Some Mongols converted to Islam and were called the IlKhanids. After them, The Timurids got the control in the area in 14th. century.

Then the Turks rose to power and ruled over the whole of Anatolia and parts of Europe. In 1453, Mehmed II (the Conqueror) captured Constantinople, putting an end to the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans conquered much of Eastern Europe and nearly the whole of the Arab world with only Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen and the parts of the Arabian Peninsula left outside the new empire for six hundred years. In 1923 CE Kemal Ataturk gained power and declared Turkey a secular Republic, ending six centuries of Ottoman rule.

While the Ottomans were concerned mostly with the western front of their empire, in Persia to the east the Safavid dynasty came to power in 1502 CE. Art and literature blossomed during this period. Isfahan, the capital, became one of the most beautiful cities with its blue tiled mosques and beautiful houses.

In India Islam entered to the 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 CE by Babur, one of the Timurid princes.

Farther east in the Malay world, Islam began to spread in the 12th century in northern Sumatra. Muslim kingdoms were established in Java, Sumatra, and the mainland Malaysia.

Islam entered eastern Africa early in the Islamic period, but remained confined to the coast for some times. Only Sudan and Somaliland became Arabized and Islamized. West Africa felt the presence of Islam through north African traders who traveled south of the Sahara. By the 14th century, there were already Muslim princedoms in such areas as Mali and Timbuktu in western Africa. Harare in eastern Africa became centers of Islamic learning.

Contributions of the Islamic Civilization to Knowledge and Science

Islam lays equal stress on scientific and philosophical knowledge. Islam is a religion based upon knowledge for it is ultimately knowledge of the Oneness of Allah, combined with faith. The Qur’an is calling on man to use intellect, to think, to investigate and to discover the truth. The truth according to the Qur’an is none other than worshipping Allah. The Sunnah also shows the importance of and emphasis on knowledge: “Seek knowledge even if you have to go to China.”

Every traditional Muslim city had public and private libraries and some cities like Cordoba and Baghdad had libraries with over 400,000 books. Scholars were held in the highest esteem in Islamic society. As Islam spread northward into Syria, Egypt and the Persian Empire, it learned of the sciences of ancient times. Alexandria, in Egypt, had been a major center of science and learning for centuries. Once Muslims established the new Islamic order, during the Umayyad period, they turned their attention to the preservation of the centers of knowledge. The philosophical and scientific works were translated from Greek, Syriac and Sanskrit. The reason for this huge effort was to enable the Islamic world to understand and use the philosophies and sciences of ancient times in its own community. Important philosophical and scientific works of Aristotle, Plato, the Pythagorean school, Greek astronomy, mathematics and medicine were all translated into Arabic. Important works of astronomy, mathematics and medicine were translated from Sanskrit.

It can be summarized the Muslims’ contributions as fallows; medical science, astronomy, geography, navigation, chemistry, decimal system, algebra, introduction of paper and gunpowder to the West, textiles, agricultural products, universities machinery.