The world religion of Islam, meaning in Arabic “submission to God” stands as the largest denomination of all the faiths of the world (with an estimated 935 million Muslims (1990) throughout the world).  The most recently developed of the three major monotheistic Western religions (including Judaism and Christianity) it was founded in the 7th century AD in association with Muhammad (570–632), who is accepted by his followers to have been the last in a succession of prophets of which Jesus preceded him.  As is the case with Buddhism and Christianity, the culture of Islam is international in scope, though unlike these religious/ philosophical forms Islam’s culture retains the form of its origins with the Arabic peoples of the Middle East.

The Arabic peoples throughout ancient and medieval history became merchants and nomadic raiders, and creators of city-states, while integrating the aspects of the various peoples with whom they came in contact.  Residing at the crossroads of many different classical empires and cultures, they were influenced by Mesopotamians, Jews, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Persians.  With the rise of Islam, however, Arabic culture dominated much of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia through the exportation of the religion of Muhammad.  Dissimilar to Christianity and Buddhism was Islam’s success in replicating and exporting Arabic culture is due to its use language of the Arabic language that has fundamentally remained the same since the 7th-century origins of Islam.  And unlike Islam, Christianity does not use the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus, and rarely do Buddhists use the Pali language that Gautama Buddha spoke.

Yet almost every Muslim from the 7th century to the 21st century use the same Arabic words uttered by the Prophet Muhammad in their daily prayers.  Arabic makes Islamic scripture absolute; there is no dispute within Islam over its interpretation, since its recording at the time of, or within a decade or to of Muhammad’s lifetime.  Buddhism and Christianity on the other hand, have suffered great differences in interpretation and revisions made to their sacred writings throughout their histories, which each began long after the deaths of Jesus and Gautama Buddha.

Muhammad:

Born into the dominant Kuraish (Quraysh) tribe of Mecca as the son of Abdallah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and his wife Amina, Muhammad was orphaned as an infant and was thus raised by his uncle, Abu Talib.  The Kuraish tribe became the most powerful tribe in Arabia after acquiring the Kaaba in the 5th century AD.

The Kaaba:

The Kaaba (meaning “cube” in Arabic) is a stone structure covered with black cloth that is sacred to Islam.  Pilgrims to the site prayerfully circle the cubic structure and kiss the black stone (meteorite) that is located in one of the corners of the Kaaba.  The Kaaba antedates Islam, and in pre-Islamic Arabia it was the most important polytheistic shrine that contained images of various and important Arabic gods.  The Kaaba thus became an important object of pilgrimage in pre-Islamic Arabia.

According to Islamic tradition, the Kaaba is supposed to have been created by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham and Noah’s progeny.  Originally opposing Muhammad, the Kuraish tribe changed this stance to strongly support him once he retained the Kaaba as an object of Islamic ritual pilgrimage, and thereby a source of revenue.  The ruling families of Jordan, Morocco, and Yemen claim to be the descendants of the Kuraish tribe.

At the age of 24, Muhammad married Khadija, a wealthy widow much older than him.  He remained married only to her while she remained alive, but after her death, he married nine wives (polygyny).  At the age of 40 Muhammad began receiving visions inside a cave at Mt. Hira, north of his home.  These visions involved Muhammad’s conversations with God who identified himself as Allah, the one and only true god, who commanded Muhammad to preach a doctrine of submission to God and service to humanity.

Emphasizing the unity of humanity through the “umma” or “nation” of Islam (both a Medieval and modern notion), its basic tenets are codified in the arkan ad-din or “Five Pillars” or requirements of each Muslim that include the following:

1. Shahadah: the avowal that there is no god but God, (Allah) and that Muhammad is his messenger.

2. Salah: the recitation of the five ritual prayers performed daily while facing the direction of the Kaaba at Mecca.

3. Zakat: (zakat means “purification” in Arabic) and involves a kind of Qur’anic religious tax referred to as the giving of alms.

4. Sawm: the fast during the lunar month of Ramadan, wherein everyone performs a fast during the daylight hours.

5. Hajj: the pilgrimage to the Kaaba at Mecca.

 

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1. In every thought and action, people must surrender to Allah.

2. People and nations will be judged for accepting or rejecting God’s prophets; heaven or hell awaits them after the final judgment.

3. Equal rights for all men and women are affirmed in the Qur’an (actual situations of gender separation and inequality are manifestations of localized, extra-Qur’anic traditions).

4. Medieval Islam called for the unification of its members irrespective of secular associations (or nation-states); moreover, Islam recommended for the universal establishment of theocracy.

a. In Medieval Islam there was no separation of church and state; the caliph (Arabic for “successor”) is the ruler of both.

b. Muhammad generally condemned party affiliations, though party development soon emerged as a major aspect of Islamic imperial government.

5. Though all devotion is addressed to Allah, there was deep devotion directed also toward Muhammad; Christian and Jewish prophets from Adam to Jesus, as well as “extra-Biblical prophets,” are recognized.  Saints and angels are recognized as intercessionary entities (especially in Sufism), while devils, known as “jinn” are deemed to be evil opponents to the good of God.

6. Religious duties include:

a. earnest prayer

b. required almsgiving (zakat) and voluntary acts of charity (sadaqa)

c. compassion for those persons who owed debts; usury and gambling were widely condemned in Medieval Islam.

d. Alcohol and the consumption of pork were forbidden; meat could be consumed if animals were ritually slain.

From the time that Allah commanded him to preach, Muhammad worked to fulfill that calling, while continuing to receive revelations; many of these prophecies became preserved in the Qur’an, sacred book of Islam.  The changes called for by Muhammad were met with contempt, especially in Mecca, where a significant attack on the polytheistic religion of Arabia could threaten the revenues that this city depended on from the annual pilgrimages to visit the Kaaba.  As hostilities to Muhammad mounted throughout Arabia, his only sanctuary was the city of Yathrib (later renamed Medina, the “City of the Prophet”), where he was forced to flee in September of 622.  The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina is referred to as the hegira (from Arabic hijra, meaning “to break off relations”).

The Muslim calendar begins on July 16, 622 in commemoration of this event (measured according to the Muslim lunar year of 360 days).  Historic events after this date are often followed by “A.H.” in the same way that the European calendar uses “A.D.”  Having become the city’s ruler, Muhammad set up a theocratic state at Medina that he hoped would become an example for government for the world.  The spoken traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (Sunna) and stories of his are contained in the Hadith, that is deemed second in importance only to the Qur’an.

The Hadith is divided into two sets of books.  Each of these sets correspond with the two main (and opposing) groups in Islam, the divisions of Sunni (the successor to the primary Islamic state of Muhammad) and Shiite (shiat Ali, or the “party of Ali,” (the son-in-law of Muhammad) who was supposedly the Prophet’s successor).

At Medina, along the main trade route from Mecca to the north, Muhammad expanded an Islamic empire that threatened the economic well being of Mecca.  After the defeat the superior Meccan forces by Muhammad’s small army at Badr, the Prophet won the attention and admiration of much of Arabia.  Despite a later defeat, Islam flourished because widespread conversions resulted in increased support that allowed Islam to rapidly expand west to Ethiopia and east to Persia.  Since Muhammad asserted that he was the successor to Jesus, he falsely assumed that Christian Europe and Jews everywhere would receive and embrace his new religion.

Muhammad and the Jews:

Medina had a sizable and influential Jewish population that refused to pay allegiance to Muhammad and his religion.  After a lengthy series of disputes Muhammad seized all Jewish property in Medina and initiated a military campaign against Jews in Arabia, taking their city at the oasis of Khaibar in 628.

Muhammad and Christian Europe:

Muhammad sent missionaries (legates) to Europe where they were not welcomed, causing Muhammad to become distrustful of Christians.  In 629 Muhammad made a symbolic return to Mecca, and the following year he launched an invasion of the city which fell to his forces without mounting a defense.  When the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 a successor (caliph) was chosen to resume his role (though Muhammad’s status as prophet was not continued).

 

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The succession of the first of a series of (elected) Caliphs follows:

1. Abu Bakr (573–634); this militaristic caliph was responsible for the early spread of Islam outside Arabia.

2. Umar (or Omar: 581–644); under the rule of Umar, Muslim generals conquered Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia to create an Islamic empire.  He was assassinated by a non-Arab slave.

3. Uthman (or Othman: 574–656) of the powerful Umayyad family, Uthman became the son-in-law of Muhammad.

The Umayyads:

a. The Umayyads were a powerful pre-Islamic ruling family that fell from power with the expansion of Islam.

b. Having made an agreement with Muhammad in 630, they maintained their economic power, eventually rising to prominence in Islamic circles.

c. In 661 they returned to power as the first Islamic dynasty, ruling until 750), and moved their capital to Damascus, Syria, where they interacted economically with the Byzantine Empire.

d. The Umayyads were the principle opponents to Ali (the fourth Caliph) and his sons.

e. The Abassids removed the last Umayyad Caliph (Marwan II from power in 750)

Under Uthman’s command, the Islamic Empire expanded to include the island of Cypress and Bactria (former Greek kingdom in northern Afghanistan).  Uthman was assassinated inside his home by Muslim opponents.

4. Ali (598–661: the son-in-law of Muhammad, and the husband of his daughter, Fatima (616–633); her mother was Khadija).  One of Muhammad’s greatest devotees, Ali was the son of Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet.  Shiite Islam asserted that Ali was chosen by Muhammad himself as his rightful successor, and thus recognizes him as the first Caliph.  Ali was assassinated by opponents (who included Muhammad’s third (and favorite) wife Aishah (614–678); she was the daughter of Abu Bakr).  Ali and his son Husayn are the Shiite’s most important martyrs.

The Islamic Empire in Western Europe (8th – 15th centuries):

In Western Europe, the Germanic tribes that occupied most of the continent after the fall of the Roman Empire began to lose their grip on the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th century.  The constant inner dissension of the Visigothic occupiers of Iberia and a subsequent rift with the Latin Church in Rome resulted in a political weakness in the region that prepared the way for an Arab and Berber (North African) invasion from Africa that occurred in 711.  The Muslim advance in Western Europe was halted by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours (732) in western France.  Retreating to south of the Pyrenees, the Muslim army established themselves in Spain and Portugal.  Iberia became an extension of the vast 8th-century Islamic Empire.

The Muslim domination of Iberia lasted from 711 until 1031, but afterward they remained viable participants in Iberian culture until they were forced out of Spain in 1492.  Spanish Muslim economic and cultural centers included Córdoba, Seville, and Granada.  The Muslim period of Spanish history is divided into three parts:

1. 711 – 1031; the Conquest of Iberia and the concentration of Islamic power under the Caliphate of Córdoba.  By 750, with the fall of the Umayyad Dynasty throughout the lands of the Islamic Empire, Spain became the only Umayyad stronghold (through the late 10th century), where, nearly three centuries later, their successors, Almohad Caliphate, struggled to maintain its hold on the territory against Christian reconquerors.

2. 1031 – 1276; Reconquest (Reconquista) of Iberia by Christian forces, beginning in the north, and working its way south.  The political separation of the caliphate from the rest of the Islamic Empire and its center at Baghdad helped encourage the Reconquest.  The Spanish Reconquest mentality (that produced American conquests in the sixteenth century) came out of this process.

3. 1276 – 1492; the final expulsion of Muslims from Spain, after a lengthy period of southern isolation.

The cultural unification enabled by Islam through its requirements of devotion and deference to authority, allowed for the creation of an Islamic Empire that stretched from Iberia to India, within a century of Islam’s emergence.
By the 13th century, Islamic mysticism as developed in Sufism allowed Islam even greater territorial expansion, becoming a great impetus for the spread of Islam.

 

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Supposedly influenced by Christian gnosticism, monasticism, as well as Hindu and Buddhist mysticism, Sufism emerged during the early, formative 8th century of Islam’s history.  Simply put, Sufism calls for a focus on God’s love as the only manner of worship.  Orthodox Muslim clerics generally opposed Sufism by the 9th century, but beginning in the 10th century, Sufism became widely accepted.

By the 13th century (beginning in Baghdad, Iraq), stages of initiation were part of the creation of Sufi orders, and idea borrowed from Persian philosophers.  Sufism thus carried Islamic (and thus Arabic) cultural traditions through throughout most of the African continent, as well as Southeast Asia (including Indonesia and the Philippines).

The Mongol Empire:

The 13th century also witnessed the rapid and sweeping expansion of the Mongol Empire under Jenghiz Khan (1167–1227) that conflicted with Muslims initially, but soon converted to Islam.  Originally named Temu-jin, Jenghiz Khan consolidated the Mongol tribes into a confederation that expanded to become one of the greatest empires in history.  By 1260 the sons of Jenghiz Khan ruled four separate regions (khanates) of the Mongol Empire as follows:

1. Persian Khanate

2. Jagatai Khanate (Turkistan east of the Caspian Sea and Afghanistan).  Jagatai Khan ruled this vast territory with his younger brother Ogadai Khan.  After the death of Ogadai in 1241 and Jagatai in 1242, family factions that included the heirs of Tule Khan (another younger brother) fought over the region.

Tamarlane:

By the 14th century, the Muslim-Mongol conqueror Tamarlane (Timur leng (“Timur the lame”: 1336–1405), who claimed to be a descendant of Jenghiz Khan, used a Turkish and Mongol army to unite the rival factions and create a united empire centered at Samarkand (Uzbekistan).  Tamarlane built an empire that stretched from Mesopotamia through Iran, and east to Delhi in India, where he slaughtered more than 80,000 people and build pyramids out of their skulls.

3. Kipchack Khanate (Empire of the Golden Horde); created by Batu Khan in Russia, that overthrew the Kumans 1245, but later perpetuated their system of trade between Venice Italy and eastern Asia.

4. Great Khanate (China, Manchuria, and Korea); this was the kingdom of Kublai Khan (1215–1294: the grandson of Jenghiz Khan) who defeated China’s Sung Dynasty between 1273 and 1279 (see below), to found the Yüan Dynasty of Medieval China.

a. The Sung Dynasty (960–1279) came to power by consolidating the warring states and subduing their warlords that undermined the T’ang Dynasty (618–907).

b. The cosmopolitan city of Kaifeng (in Henan Province, northeastern China) was the northern capital of the Sung Dynasty until 1126.

c. The Yüan Dynasty (1271–1368) was finally brought down by messianic religious rebels.  Among these rebels was a former Buddhist monk named Chu Yüan-chang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

Ming Dynasty:

i. Seven remarkable naval voyages were organized under the Ming Grand Eunuch (a Muslim) named Zheng He between 1405 and 1433 to explore and colonize India, the southern Middle East and the East Coast of Africa.

Kublai Khan adopted the name Yüan for himself when he invaded China in 1271.

Kublai Khan led numerous failed campaigns against Japan, Burma, Vietnam, and Indonesia.  Despite these military failures in the south, Kublai Khan nevertheless attained the required “mandate of heaven” in China by revitalizing China’s economy and infrastructure through expanded canal, granary, and road construction and repairs.  Under the Khan, Chinese roads increased trade with Persia, Turkistan, and Russia; it was at this time that Chinese technological knowledge, including the use of the compass, gunpowder, and printing, were acquired by Europeans.

Personally inclined toward Tibetan Buddhism, Kublai Khan became a patron and promoter of Chinese arts and cultural refinements, and based his government at his city of Cambuluc that he built between 1260 and 1290.   Beijing (meaning “northern capital”) became the Chinese name for this city.  It was during the reign of Kublai Khan that Marco Polo and other European travelers and traders (1254–1324) visited Beijing (Polo first arrived at Beijing in 1275).

Marco Polo developed a warm friendship with Kublai Khan, who employed the Venetian explorer as an emissary to various parts of China, India, and Southeast Asia.  For three years Polo ruled the Chinese city of Yangchow.  In 1292 Marco Polo served as escort for the wife of the Khan of Persia before returning to Italy in 1295.

 

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