In Muslim tradition, Muhammad (c. 570 – June 8, 632) is viewed as the last in a series of law bearing prophets.[156] During the last 22 years of his life, beginning at age 40 in 610 CE, according to the earliest surviving biographies, Muhammad reported revelations that he believed to be from God conveyed to him through the archangel Gabriel (Jibril). The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his companions.[157]
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, Muhammad and his followers were persecuted by the leading Meccan authorities. This resulted in the Migration to Abyssinia of some Muslims (to the Aksumite Empire). Many early converts to Islam, were the poor and former slaves like Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi. The Meccan elite felt that Muhammad was destabilising their social order by preaching about one God, racial equality and in the process giving ideas to the poor and their slaves.[158][159][160][161]
After 12 years of the persecution of Muslims by the Meccans and the Meccan boycott of the Hashemites, Muhammad's relatives, Muhammad and the Muslims performed the Hijra ("emigration") to the city of Medina (formerly known as Yathrib) in 622. There, with the Medinan converts (Ansar) and the Meccan migrants (Muhajirun), Muhammad in Medina established his political and religious authority. A state was established in accordance with Islamic economic jurisprudence. The Constitution of Medina was formulated, instituting a number of rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish, Christian and pagan communities of Medina, bringing them within the fold of one community — the Ummah.[162][163]
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, and a judicial system for resolving disputes where non-Muslims could also use their own laws. 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 were fought against the Meccan forces: first, the Battle of Badr in 624, which was 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 besieged Medina intent on finishing off Islam. In 628, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was 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.[164] 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 united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity.[165]
§Caliphate and civil strife (632–750)
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Dome of the Rock built by Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan; completed at the end of the Second Fitna.
Further information: Muslim conquests, First Fitna and Second Fitna
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. Under Abu Bakr the Muslims expanded into Syria after putting down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".[166] The Quran was compiled into a single volume at this time.
His death in 634 resulted in the succession of Umar ibn al-Khattab as the caliph, followed by Uthman ibn al-Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib andHasan ibn Ali. The first caliphs are known as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn ("Rightly Guided Caliphs"). Under them, the territory under Muslim rule expanded deeply into the parts of the Persian and Byzantine territories.[167]
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 Ali assumed the position of caliph. After the first civil war (the "First Fitna"), Ali was assassinated by Kharijites in 661. Following a peace treaty, Mu'awiyah came to power and began the Umayyad dynasty.[168]
These disputes over religious and political leadership would give rise to schism in the Muslim community. The majority accepted the legitimacy of the three rulers prior to Ali, 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.[169] After Mu'awiyah's death in 680, conflict over succession broke out again in a civil war known as the "Second Fitna".
The Umayyad dynasty conquered the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Narbonnese Gaul and Sindh.[170] Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests.[171][172] Since the Constitution of Medina, Jews and Christians continued to use their own laws in the Islamic State and had their own judges.[82][83][84]
The descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib rallied discontented non-Arab converts (mawali), poor Arabs, and some Shi'a against the Umayyads and overthrew them with the help of the general Abu Muslim, inaugurating the Abbasid dynasty in 750.[173]
§Classical era (750–1258)
During this time, the Delhi Sultanate took over 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.[174]
The major hadith collections were compiled during the early Abbasid era. The Ja'fari jurisprudence was formed from the teachings of Ja'far al-Sadiq while the four SunniMadh'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'i respectively. Al-Shafi'i also codified a method to establish the reliability of hadith.[175] Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir completed the most commonly cited commentaries on the Quran, the Tafsir al-Tabari in the 9th century and the Tafsir ibn Kathir in the 14th century, respectively. Philosophers Al-Farabi and Avicenna sought to incorporate Greek principles into Islamic theology, while others like Al-Ghazali argued against them and ultimately prevailed.[176]
Caliphs such as Mamun al Rashid and Al-Mu'tasim made the mutazilite philosophy an official creed and imposed it upon Muslims to follow. Mu'tazila was a Greek influenced school of speculative theology called kalam, which refers to dialectic.[177] Many orthodox Muslims rejected mutazilite doctrines and condemned their idea of the creation of the Quran. In inquisitions, Imam Hanbal refused to conform and was tortured and sent to an unlit Baghdad prison cell for nearly thirty months.[178]
The other branch of kalam was the Ash'ari school founded by Al-Ash'ari. Some Muslims began to question the piety of indulgence in a worldly life and emphasized poverty, humility and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Ascetics such as Hasan al-Basri would inspire a movement that would evolve into Tasawwuf (Sufism).[179]Beginning in the 13th century, Sufism underwent a transformation, largely because of efforts to legitimize and reorganize the movement by Al-Ghazali, who developed the model of the Sufi order—a community of spiritual teachers and students.[180]
The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by Al-Idrisi in 1154, one of the most advanced ancient world maps. Al-Idrisi also wrote about the diverse Muslim communities found in various lands.
This era is sometimes called the "Islamic Golden Age".[181] Public hospitals established during this time (called Bimaristanhospitals), are considered "the first hospitals" in the modern sense of the word,[182][183] and issued the first medical diplomas to license doctors.[184][185] The Guinness World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine, founded in 859, as the world's oldest degree-granting university.[186] The doctorate is argued to date back to the licenses to teach in Muslim law schools.[187] Standards of experimental and quantification techniques, as well as the tradition of citation,[188] were introduced. An important pioneer in this, Ibn Al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method and often referred to as the "world's first true scientist".[189][190] The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes today.[188] The data used by Copernicus for his heliocentric conclusions was gathered and Al-Jahiz proposed a theory ofnatural selection.[191][192] Rumi wrote some of the finest Persian poetry and is still one of the best selling poets in America.[193][194] Legal institutions introduced include the trust and charitable trust (Waqf).[195][196]
The first Muslims states independent of a unified Muslim state emerged from the Berber Revolt (739/740-743). 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.[197] The Mongol Empire put an end to the Abbassid dynasty in 1258.[198]
§Pre-Modern era (1258–20th century)
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By the medieval era most of the countries on the Silk Road were Muslimmajority.
Islam spread with Muslim trade networks and Sufi orders activity that extended into Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Malay archipelago.[199][200] The Ottomans challenged European powers on land and sea, and reached deep into Central Europe at the Siege of Vienna (1529). Under the Ottoman Empire, Islam spread to Southeast Europe, Crimea, and the Caucasus.[201] 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.[202][203]
The Muslim world was generally in serious 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 country with a major observatory by the twentieth century.[204] The Reconquista, launched against Muslim principalities in Iberia, succeeded in 1492 and Muslim Sicily was lost to the Normans. By the 19th century the British Empire had formally ended the last Mughal dynasty in India.[205] The Ottoman Empire disintegrated after World War I and the Caliphatewas abolished in 1924.[206][207]
The majority Shia group at that time, the Zaydis, used the Hanafi jurisprudence, as did most Sunnis.[208][209][210] The Shia Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of Iran.[211] 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 sect, the largest group amongst the Shia before the Safavid Dynasty, and the Ismaili sect.[212]
A revival movement during this period an 18th-century Salafi movement led by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab in today's Saudi Arabia. Referred to as Wahhabi, their self designation is Muwahiddun (unitarians). Building upon earlier efforts such as those by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, the movement allegedly seeks to uphold monotheism and purify Islam of what they see as later innovations. Their zeal against idolatrous shrines led to the desecration of shrines around the world, including that of Muhammad and his companions in Mecca and Medina.[213][214] In the 19th century, the Deobandi and Barelwi movements were initiated.
§Modern times (20th century–present)
Further information: Islamic revival
This map shows the 1979 demographic distribution of Muslimswithin the former Soviet Union as a percentage of the population by administrative division.
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 theAmericas.[215] 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.[216] Muslim immigrants, many as guest workers, began arriving, largely from former colonies, into several Western European nations since the 1960s.
New Muslim intellectuals are beginning to arise, and are increasingly separating perennial Islamic beliefs from archaic cultural traditions.[217] Liberal Islam is a movement that attempts to reconcile religious tradition with modern norms of secular governance andhuman rights. Its supporters say that there are multiple ways to read Islam's sacred texts, and stress the need to leave room for "independent thought on religious matters".[218] Women's issues receive a significant weight in the modern discourse on Islam.[219]
Secular powers such as Chinese Red Guards closed many mosques and destroyed Qurans and Communist Albania became the first country to ban the practice of every religion.[220][221] About half a million Muslims were killed in Cambodia by communists whom, it is argued, viewed them as their primary enemy and wished to exterminate them since they stood out and worshipped their own god.[222] InTurkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments and headscarves were, as well as in Tunisia, banned in official buildings.[223][224]
Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani, along with his acolyte Muhammad Abduh, have been credited as forerunners of the Islamic revival.[225] Abul A'la Maududi helped influence modern political Islam.[226] Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood advocate Islam as a comprehensive political solution, often in spite of being banned.[227] In Iran, revolution replaced a secular regime with an Islamic state. In Turkey, the Islamist AK Party has democratically been in power for about a decade, while Islamist parties did well in elections following the Arab Spring.[228] The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of Muslim countries, was established in 1969 after the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.[229]
Piety appears to be deepening worldwide.[230][231][232] In many places, the prevalence of the Islamic veil is growing increasingly common[233] and the percentage of Muslims favoring Sharia laws has increased.[234] 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.[231] Some organizations began using the media to promote Islam such as the 24-hour TV channel, Peace TV.[235] Perhaps as a result of these efforts, most experts agree that Islam is growing faster than any other faith in East and West Africa.
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