Islamic tradition views Muhammad (c. 570 – June 8, 632) as the
seal of the prophets and sent by God to the rest of mankind.
[211][46] During the last 22 years of his life, beginning at age 40 in 610
CE, according to the earliest surviving biographies, Muhammad reported receiving revelations that he believed to be from God, conveyed to him through the
archangel Gabriel while he was meditating in a cave.
[46][46]Muhammad's
companions memorized and recorded the content of these revelations, known as the
Quran.
[212]
During this time,
Muhammad in Mecca preached to the people, imploring them to abandon polytheism and to worship one God. Although some converted to Islam, the leading Meccan authorities persecuted Muhammad and his followers. This resulted in the
Migration to Abyssinia of some Muslims (to the
Aksumite Empire). Many early converts to Islam were the poor, foreigners and former slaves like
Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi who was black. The Meccan élite felt that Muhammad was destabilising their social order by preaching about one God and about racial equality, and that in the process he gave ideas to the poor and to their slaves.
[213][214][215][216]
The Constitution established:
- the security of the community
- religious freedoms
- the role of Medina as a sacred place (barring all violence and weapons)
- the security of women
- stable tribal relations within Medina
- a tax system for supporting the community in time of conflict
- parameters for exogenous political alliances
- a system for granting protection of individuals
- a judicial system for resolving disputes where non-Muslims could also use their own laws and have their own judges.[219][220][221]
All the tribes signed the agreement to defend Medina from all external threats and to live in harmony amongst themselves. Within a few years, two battles took place against the Meccan forces: first, the
Battle of Badr in 624—a Muslim victory, and then a year later, when the Meccans returned to Medina, the
Battle of Uhud, which ended inconclusively.
The Arab tribes in the rest of Arabia then formed a confederation and during the
Battle of the Trench(March–April 627) besieged Medina, intent on finishing off Islam. In 628, the
Treaty of Hudaybiyyahwas signed between Mecca and the Muslims and was broken by Mecca two years later. After the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah many more people converted to Islam. At the same time, Meccan trade routes were cut off as Muhammad brought surrounding desert tribes under his control.
[222] By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless
conquest of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 (at the age of 62) he had united the
tribes of Arabia into a single religious
polity.
[223]
The earliest three generations of Muslims are known as the
Salaf, with the companions of Muhammad being known as the
Sahaba. Many of them, such as the largest narrator of hadith
Abu Hureyrah, recorded and compiled what would constitute the
sunnah.
Caliphate and civil strife (632–750)
With Muhammad's death in 632, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community.
Abu Bakr, a companion and close friend of Muhammad, was made the first
caliph.
[46] Under Abu Bakr, Muslims put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the
Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".
[224] The Quran was compiled into a single volume at this time.
When Umar was assassinated by Persians in 644,
the election of Uthman as successor was met with increasing opposition. The standard copies of the Quran were also distributed throughout the Islamic State. In 656, Uthman was also killed, and
Aliassumed the position of caliph. This led to the
first civil war (the "First Fitna") over who should be caliph. Ali was assassinated by
Kharijites in 661. To avoid further fighting, the new caliph
Hasan ibn Alisigned a
peace treaty, abdicating to
Mu'awiyah, beginning the
Umayyad dynasty, in return that he not name his own successor.
[227] These disputes over religious and political leadership would give rise to schism in the Muslim community. The majority accepted the legitimacy of the first four leaders and became known as Sunnis. A minority disagreed, and believed that only Ali and some of his descendants should rule; they became known as the Shia.
[228]Mu'awiyah appointed his son,
Yazid I, as successor and after Mu'awiyah's death in 680, the "
Second Fitna" broke out, where
Husayn ibn Ali was killed at the
Battle of Karbala, a significant event in Shia Islam.
Sunni Islam and
Shia Islam thus differ in some respects.
[229]
The first Muslim states independent of a unified Islamic state emerged from the Berber Revolt (739/740-743).
Classical era (750–1258)
Al-Shafi'i codified a method to determine the reliability of hadith.
[241] During the early Abbasid era, the major
Sunni hadith collections were compiled by scholars such as
Bukhari and
Muslim while major
Shia hadith collections by scholars such as
Al-Kulayni and
Ibn Babawayh were also compiled. The
Ja'fari jurisprudence was formed from the teachings of
Ja'far al-Sadiq while the four Sunni
Madh'habs, the
Hanafi,
Hanbali,
Maliki and
Shafi'i, were established around the teachings of
Abū Ḥanīfa,
Ahmad bin Hanbal,
Malik ibn Anas and
al-Shafi'irespectively. In the 9th century, al-Shafi'i provided a theoretical basis for Islamic law and introduced its first methods by a synthesis between proto-rationalism of
Iraqian jurisprudence and the pragmatic approach of the
Hejaz traditions, in his book
ar-Risālah.
[242] However, Islamic law was not codified until 1869.
[243] In the 9th century
Al-Tabaricompleted the first commentary of the Quran, that became one of the most cited commentaries in
Sunni Islam, the
Tafsir al-Tabari. During its expansion through the
Samanid Empire, Islam was shaped by the ethno-cultural and religious pluralism by the
Sogdians, paving the way for a
Persianized rather than
Arabized understanding of Islam.
[244]
Some Muslims began to question the piety of indulgence in a worldly life and emphasised poverty, humility and avoidance of
sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Ascetics such as
Hasan al-Basriwould inspire a movement that would evolve into Tasawwuf (Sufism).
[245]
By the end of the 9th century, the
Ismaili spread in
Iran, whereupon the city
Multan became target by
activistic Sunni politics.
[246] In 930, the Ismaili group known as the
Qarmatians unsuccessfully rebelled against the Abbassids, sacked Mecca and stole the Black Stone, which was eventually retrieved.
[247]
While the Abbasid Caliphate suffered a decline since the reign of
Al-Wathiq (842–847) and
Al-Mu'tadid(892–902),
[275] the
Mongol Empire put an end to the Abbassid dynasty in 1258.
[276] During its decline, the Abbasid Caliphate disintegrated into minor states and dynasties, such as the
Tulunid and the
Ghaznavid dynasty. The Ghaznavid dynasty was an Islamic dynasty established by Turkic slave-soldiers from another Islamic empire, the
Samanid Empire.
[277]
Two
Turkish tribes, the
Karahanids and the
Seljuks, converted to Islam during the 10th century, who are later subdued by the
Ottomans, who share the same origin and language. It is important to note, that the following Islamic reign by the Ottomans was strongly influenced by a
symbiosis between
Ottoman rulersand
Sufism since the beginning. According to Ottoman historiography, the legitimation of a ruler is attributed to
Sheikh Edebali. Accordingly, he interpretated a dream of
Osman Gazi as God's legitimation of his reign.
[278] The
Mevlevi Order and the
Bektashi Order had close relation to the sultans.
[279] The Seljuks played an important role for the revival of Sunnism, then Shia increased its influences. The Seljuk militar leader
Alp Arslanfinancially supported sciences and literature and established the
Nezamiyeh university in
Baghdad.
[280]
During this time, the
Delhi Sultanate took over northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Religious missions converted
Volga Bulgaria to Islam. Many Muslims also went to
China to trade, virtually dominating the import and export industry of the
Song dynasty.
[281]
Pre-Modern era (1258–18th century)
Islam spread with Muslim trade networks, Sufi orders activity and conquests of the
Gunpowder Empires that extended into
Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the
Malay archipelago.
[282][283]Under the
Ottoman Empire, Islam spread to Southeast Europe.
[284] Throughout this expanse, Islam blended with local cultures everywhere, as illustrated when the prophet Mohammed showed up in Hindu epics and folklore.
[285] Conversion to Islam, however, was not a sudden abandonment of old religious practices; rather, it was typically a matter of "assimilating Islamic rituals, cosmologies, and literatures into... local religious systems."
[286] The Muslims in China who were descended from earlier immigration began to assimilate by adopting Chinese names and
culture while
Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.
[287][288]
The Turks incorporated elements of
Turkish Shamanism into their new religion and became part of a new Islamic interpretation,
[289] although Shamanistic influences already occurred during the
Battle of Talas (752). Strikingly, Shamans were never mentioned by
Muslim Heresiographers.
[290] One major change was the status of woman. Unlike Arabic traditions, the Turkic traditions hold woman in higher regard in society.
[289] Turks preserved this status of woman even after conversion to Islam. Further, the Turks must have found striking similarities between the Sufi rituals and Shaman practises.
[289] However, the influence of Turkish belief was not limited to Sufism, but also to Muslims who subscribed an orthodox version of Islam in
Anatolia,
Central-Asia and
Balkans.
[289] As a result, many (formerly) Shaman traditions were considered as genuine Islamic by average Muslims.
[289] Many shamanistic beliefs, such as the belief in sacred nature, trees and animals, and foreign
nature spirits, even remained today.
[291]
The majority and oldest group among Shia at that time, the
Zaydis, named after the great grandson of Ali, the scholar
Zayd ibn Ali, used the Hanafi jurisprudence, as did most Sunnis.
[292][293][294] The Shia
Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of
Iran.
[295] The ensuing mandatory
conversion of Iran to Twelver Shia Islam for the largely Sunni population also ensured the final dominance of the Twelver sect within Shiism over the
Zaidi and
Ismaili sects.
[296] Nader Shah, who overthrew the Safavids, attempted to improve relations with Sunnis by propagating the integration of Shiism by calling it the Jaafari Madh'hab.
[297]
In the
Indian Subcontinent, during the rule of
Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji in
Bengal, the Indian
Islamic missionaries achieved their greatest success in terms of
dawah and number of converts to Islam.
[298][299] The
Delhi Sultanate, founded by
Qutb-ud-din Aybak, emerged as India's first Islamic power, well noted for being one of the few states to repel an attack by the
Mongols[300] and enthroning one of the few female rulers in
Islamic history,
Razia Sultana.
[301] The wealthy Islamic
Bengal Sultanatewas subsequently founded, a major global trading nation in the world, described by the Europeans to be the "richest country to trade with".
[302] The
Mughal Empire was founded by
Babur, a direct descendant of
Tamerlane and
Genghis Khan. The empire was briefly interrupted by the
Suri Empirefounded by
Sher Shah Suri, who re-initiated the
rupee currency system.
[303] The Mughals gained power during the reign of
Akbar the Great and
Jahangir. The reign of
Shah Jahan observed the height of
Indo-Islamic architecture, with notable monuments such as
Taj Mahal and
Jama Masjid, Delhi, while the reign of his son
Aurangzeb saw the compilation of the
Fatwa Alamgiri (most well organised
fiqh manuscript) and witnessed the peak of the
Islamic rule in India. Mughal India surpassed
Qing China to become the world's largest economy, worth 25% of world GDP,
[304][305][306][307] the
Bengal Subah signalling the
proto-industrializationand showing signs of the
Industrial revolution.
[308]After Mughal India's collapse,
Tipu Sultan's
Kingdom of Mysore based in
South India, which witnessed partial establishment of
sharia based economic and military policies i.e.
Fathul Mujahidin, replaced Bengal ruled by the
Nawabs of Bengal as
South Asia's foremost economic territory.
[309][310] After the
British Raj, the
Nizams of Hyderabad remained as the major Muslim princely state until the
Annexation of Hyderabad by the modern
Republic of India.
[311]
In Islamic scholasticism,
Ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328) worried about the integrity of Islam and tried to establish a theological doctrine to purify Islam from its alleged alterings.
[312] Unlike his contemporary scholarship, who relied on traditions and historical narratives from early Islam, Ibn Taymiyya's methodology was a mixture of selective use of hadith and a literal understanding of the Quran.
[312][313] He rejected most philosophical approaches of Islam and proposed a clear, simple and dogmatic theology instead.
[312] Another major characteristic of his theological approach emphazises the significance of a
Theocratic state: While the prevailing opinion held that religious wisdom was necessary for a state, Ibn Taymiyya regarded
political power as necessary for religious excellence.
[312] He further rejected many hadiths circulating among Muslims during his time and relied only on
Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim repeatedly to foil
Asharite doctrine.
[313][314] Feeling threatened by the
Crusaders as well as by the
Mongols, Ibn Taymiyya stated it would be obligated to Muslims to join a physical
jihad against
unbelievers. This not only including the invaders, but also the
hereticsamong the Muslims, including
Shias, Asharites and "philosophers", who were blamed by Ibn Taimiya for the deterioration of Islam.
[315] Nevertheless, his writings only played a marginal role during his lifetime. He was repeatedly accused of blasphemy by
anthropomorphizing God and his disciple
Ibn Kathir distanced himself from his mentor and negated the anthropomorphizations,
[316] but simultaneously adhered to anti-rationalistic and hadith oriented methodology of his former mentor.
[317] This probably influenced his exegesis on his
Tafsir, which discounted much of the exegetical tradition since then.
[318][319] However, the writings of Ibn Taimiyya became important sources for
Wahhabism and 21st century
Salafi theology[315][312][313] just like
Tafsir Ibn Kathirbecame highly rewarded in modern Salafism.
[320]
Modern era (18th – 20th centuries)
The Muslim world was generally in political decline starting the 1800s, especially relative to the non-Muslim European powers. This decline was evident culturally; while
Taqi al-Din founded an observatory in
Istanbul and the Jai Singh Observatory was built in the 18th century, there was not a single Muslim-majority country with a major observatory by the twentieth century.
[321] The
Reconquista, launched against Muslim
principalities in
Iberia, succeeded in 1492. By the 19th century the
British Empire had formally ended the Mughal dynasty in India.
[322] In the 19th century, the
Deobandi and
Barelwimovements were initiated.
During the 18th century
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab founded a military movement opposing the
Ottoman Sultanate as an illegitimate rule, advising his fellows to return to the principles of Islam based on the theology of
Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
[323][324] He was deeply influenced by the works of Ibn Taymiyya and
Ibn al-Qayyim and condemned many traditional Islamic practises, such as visiting the
grave of Muhammad or
Saints, as sin.
[324] During the 18th century, he formed an alliance with the
Saud family, who founded the
Wahhabi sect. This revival movement allegedly seeks to uphold monotheism and purify Islam of what they see as later
innovations. Their ideology led to the desecration of shrines around the world, including that of
Muhammad and his companions in Mecca and Medina.
[325][326] Many
Arab nationalists, such as
Rashid Rida, regarded the Khalifat as an Arabic right taken away by the Turks. Therefore, they rebelled against the Ottoman Sultanate, until the
Ottoman Empire disintegrated after
World War I and the
Caliphate was abolished in 1924.
[327] Concurrently
Ibn Saud conquered
Mekka, the "heartland of Islam", to impose Wahhabism as part of Islamic culture.
[328]
The
Barelwi movement,founded in
India, emphasises the primacy of
Islamic law over adherence to Sufi practices and personal devotion to the prophet Muhammad.
[331] It grew from the writings of
Ahmed Raza Khan,
Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi,
Shah Ahmad Noorani and
Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi in the backdrop of an intellectual and moral decline of Muslims in British India.
[332] The movement was a mass movement, defending popular
Sufism and reforming its practices, grew in response to the
Deobandi movement.
[333] The movement is famous for the celebration of
Mawlid and today, is spread across the globe with followers also in
Pakistan,
South Africa,
United States, and
United Kingdomamong other countries.
[334]
Postmodern times (20th century–present)
Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through economic migration. Many Muslims migrated as indentured servants, from mostly India and
Indonesia, to the
Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the Americas.
[335] The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in
sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling its Muslim population between 1869 and 1914.
[336] Muslim immigrants began arriving, many as
guest workersand largely from former colonies, in several Western European nations since the 1960s.
There are more and more new Muslim intellectuals who increasingly separate perennial Islamic beliefs from archaic cultural traditions.
[337] Liberal Islam is a movement that attempts to reconcile religious tradition with modern norms of secular governance and human rights. Its supporters say that there are multiple ways to read Islam's sacred texts, and they stress the need to leave room for "independent thought on religious matters".
[338] Women's issues receive significant weight in the modern discourse on Islam.
[339]
Secular powers such as the Chinese
Red Guardsclosed many mosques and destroyed Qurans,
[340]and
Communist Albania became the first country to ban the practice of every religion.
[341] About half a million Muslims were killed in
Cambodia by communists who, it is argued, viewed them as their primary enemy and wished to exterminate them since they stood out and worshipped their own god.
[342] In
Turkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments, and headscarves were banned in official buildings, as also happened in
Tunisia.
[343][344]
Religiosity appears to be deepening worldwide.
[350][351][352] In many places, the prevalence of the
hijab is growing increasingly common
[353] and the percentage of Muslims favoring Sharia has increased.
[354] With religious guidance increasingly available electronically, Muslims are able to access views that are strict enough for them rather than rely on state clerics who are often seen as stooges.
[351]
It is estimated that, by 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world, "driven primarily by differences in fertility rates and the size of youth populations among the world's major religions, as well as by people switching faiths."
[355] Perhaps as a sign of these changes, most experts agree that Islam is growing faster than any other faith in
East and West Africa.
[356][357]
