Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices

2. Islam in History

2 Islam in History The Caliphate Serious differences arose within the Islamic community immediately after Muhammad’s death in 632. The critical issue was the designation of a political successor only, since a religious successor to Muhammad, the “seal”of the prophets, was unthinkable. While Muhammad’s closest kinsmen were preparing his body for burial, one faction insisted that the Prophet had designated no successor and that therefore they were free to elect a leader. Another faction insisted that the Prophet had designated "Ali, his cousin and son-in-law, to succeed him. Muhammad’s preference at the time of his death may have been general knowledge, but several of his highly respected companions prevailed upon the Medinese to elect a single leader from among two of Muhammad’s fathers-inlaw . The aging Abu Bakr was chosen. "Ali and his kinsmen were dismayed, but for the sake of unity they agreed to accept the decision. Abu Bakr became the ¤rst caliph (Arabic for “successor”) and survived for two years,632–634.This leadership was maintained by three succeeding caliphs, "Umar (634–644), "Uthman (644–656), and "Ali (656–661), after which the of¤ce of the caliphate devolved upon two powerful dynasties who claimed descent from Muhammad and the Quraysh tribe: the Umayyad dynasty (661– 750) and the "Abbasid dynasty (750–1517). The Ottoman Turks then assumed the of¤ce of the caliphate and retained it until its abolition in 1924.1 The First Four Caliphs (632–661) The ¤rst four caliphs, in crushing the power struggles that followed the death of Muhammad, were at ¤rst able to conceal internal disunion, but this only produced a festering schism that persists even now. Ad hoc solutions to the question of the caliphate ¤nally plunged the neophyte Islamic community into civil war, which left a legacy of permanent political divisions. Consolidating both the political hegemony and the religious heritage inherited from Muhammad proved dif¤cult from the beginning. Abu Bakr’s ¤rst task was to discipline rebel tribesmen who reasoned that their allegiance to Muhammad and their obligation to pay an alms tax ended with their leader’s death. The success of his action against the rebels led Abu Bakr next to organize and direct several military campaigns against Roman Syria, all of which were spectacularly successful. On his deathbed in 634 Abu Bakr nominated as his successor "Umar, another father-in-law of Muhammad and also a member of the Quraysh clan. "Umar improved on the precedents set by Abu Bakr, particularly in the areas of political administration and military organization. During his ten-year reign, Islamic conquest and expansion outside Arabia spread into territories controlled by both the Persian Empire and the Roman Empire.2 His military expeditions into the Roman Byzantine Empire led to the conquest of Syria in 636, Jordan and Israel (Palestine) in 638, and Egypt in 642. At the same time his campaigns against the Persian Empire gave him control in 637 of the territory now known as Iraq and of the Iranian plateau in 642. "Umar’s plans for further conquest came to an abrupt end when he was stabbed to death in 644 by a Persian slave. But by then he had ¤rmly established the foundation of an Islamic state—one which would express both Arab culture and Islamic characteristics. He had also devised two policies, one for the conquered non-Muslim people and the other for the victorious Muslim Arabs. The former were to pay taxes in return for protection and for the freedom to maintain their separate cultural and religious identity. The latter were to occupy newly constructed quarters supported by the taxes of the former. "Umar’s death marked the end of the ¤rst phase of Islamic territorial conquest , and a period of consolidation and civil war followed. Again, the choice of a new caliph became a point of dispute between two contenders: "Ali and "Uthman. Six of Muhammad’s leading companions were appointed to elect a new caliph.The choice of leadership fell on "Uthman,one of several sons-in-law of Muhammad and a member of the Umayyad. Again "Ali and his supporters conceded defeat, but this time discontent within the Islamic community against Caliph "Uthman’s rule was general. From the very beginning "Uthman instituted policies that antagonized many devout Muslim tribes. First, he placed Meccans, particularly relatives and members of his own family, in key positions such as provincial governorships to strengthen and control the Islamic state...