how did islam impact the middle east

The coming of Islam saw a general decline in the status of . The zakah prescribes payments of fixed proportions of a Muslim's possession for the welfare of the community in general and for its needy members in particular, whether Muslims or non-Muslims. Abu Bakr died in 634 and was succeeded by Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph, who ruled until 644. After an initial success the Muslims were driven back and the Prophet himself was wounded. It must also be remembered that the Quran was originally transmitted orally to the faithful and that the Holy Text is not meant to be read only in silence. There they faced a young man called Salah al-Din (Saladin) who had founded still another new dynasty, the Ayyubids, and who was destined to blunt the thrust of the Crusaders' attack. Instead, there is the ummah - the community of the believers - whose cohesion is guaranteed by the sacred law. Here ornamental kufic is used on a Quranic page that typifies the marriage of calligraphy and illumination, an art that reached its zenith in the fourteenth century. Abu Bakr was known as the first caliph (from khalifa, the Arabic for successor). Except such as He wills; After the fall of Constantinople, and during the sixteenth century, the Ottoman system evolved the centralized administrative framework by which the sultans maintained effective control over the extraordinarily diverse peoples in the vast empire. Photo: Cursive script on Quran stand of wood, dated 1360, a fine example of Mongol art from western Turkestan. The Arabs gave to a large part of the world not only a religion - Islam - but also a language and an alphabet. Important books were written on soil analysis, water, and what kinds of crops were suited to what soil. This was a milestone in the history of the Muslims. Photo: From top - Modern Arabic (western); Early Arabic (western); Arabic Letters (used as numerals); Modern Arabic (eastern); Early Arabic (eastern); Early Devanagari (Indian); Later Devanagari. 2 The camera obscura. In one sense Muhammad's return to Mecca was the climax of his mission. At 'Arafat many actually do stand - from just after noon to just before sunset - but some also visit other pilgrims or the Mount of Mercy, where Muhammad delivered his farewell sermon. However, there is one prominent difference, which is essentially political rather than religious, and concerns the choice of the caliph or successor of Muhammad. Muhammad was also the exemplar of the teachings he had brought them from God: the teachings of the Quran, which, for centuries, have guided the thought and action, the faith and conduct, of innumerable men and women, and which ushered in a distinctive era in the history of mankind. At issue, essentially, was the legitimacy of 'Ali's caliphate. Alerted by a chain of signal fires stretching from Iraq to Egypt, the Mamluks were able to marshal their forces in time to meet, and crush, the Mongols at 'Ayn Jalut near Nazareth in Palestine. In or about the year 570 the child who would be named Muhammad and who would become the Prophet of one of the world's great religions, Islam, was born into a family belonging to a clan of Quraysh, the ruling tribe of Mecca, a city in the Hijaz region of northwestern Arabia. Among them are Ibrahim (Abraham), patriarch of the Arabs through his first son Isma'il (Ishmael); Musa (Moses), who received the Torah (Tawrah); Dawud (David), who spoke through the Psalms (Zabur); and 'Isa (Jesus), who brought the Gospels (Injil). The pilgrims may also, at this point, remove the ihram dress and bathe. In addition to the Quran the shari'ah has three sources: the sunnah, the practice of the Prophet; ijma', the consensus of opinion; and qiyas, reasoning by analogy. It was a necessary step, but its outcome was dominance of the caliphate by its own praetorian guard. Scholars, for example, in collecting and reexamining the hadith, or "traditions" - the sayings and actions of the Prophet - compiled immense biographical detail about the Prophet and other information, historic and linguistic, about the Prophet's era. Clearly, the number intended was not thirty-two but three hundred and two. Due to overwhelming content, each of these hubs can be considered a home page of its own. The standing is not the end of the hajj, but is the culmination of a Muslim's devotional life. Under the Samanids, the Persian language, written in the Arabic alphabet, first reached the level of a literary language and poets like Rudaki, Daqiqi, and Firdausi flourished. It is useful to realize that the power of Islam was separate from much and more permanent than that of the armies with which it rode. Topics menu will always be here, always within reach. By the twelfth century kufic was obsolete as a working script except for special uses and in northwest Africa, where it developed into the maghribi style of writing still used in the area today. In describing the fate of Islam in Spain, Irving suggested that the Muslims were then swiftly and thoroughly wiped out. When it was founded it had 25 doctors, including oculists, surgeons, and bonesetters. In the next decades, raiding parties continually made forays into France and in 732 reached as far as the Loire Valley, only 170 miles from Paris. The occupants of these areas had been nomadic tribes for a very long time. Ethnic Arabs comprise only about 15-18 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims. The last great Umayyad caliph was Hisham, the fourth son of 'Abd al-Malik to succeed to the caliphate. During the early twentieth century too, a group called the Young Turks forced the restoration of the constitution (which had been suspended by Abdul-Hamid), eventually deposed the sultan, and again attempted to modernize the Ottoman state. 'Abd al-Malik established a system of postal routes to expedite his communications throughout the far flung empire. This essay looks at the spread of Islam into Southeast Asia and how religious belief and expression fit with extant and modern polictical and economic infrastructures. In the first place, the Muslim forces, outnumbered three to one, routed the Meccans. Immigration nevertheless continued and in the 1930s - with the rise of Adolf Hitler - and after World War II, Jewish immigration increased still further. What the envoys saw and heard had impressed them and they had invited Muhammad to settle in Medina. Trade flourished and the Middle East experienced an economic and cultural renaissance. In the wake of the Ridda wars, and of the Arabs' sudden conquest of most of the Near East, the new religion became identified more sharply as a monotheism for the Arab people. But none of them were as successful as . Because the circumstances of each revelation were thought necessary to correct interpretation, the community, early in the history of Islam, concluded that it was imperative to gather as many traditions as possible about the life and actions of the Prophet so that the Quran might be more fully understood. Among his many contributions to optics was the first correct explanation . The text of the Quran was delivered orally by the Prophet Muhammad to his followers as it was revealed to him. Photo: The mosque at Kyustendi in Bulgaria was founded during Ottoman rule. He also brought the semi-autonomous rulers in various provinces under control, with the exception of the defiant and able Muhammad 'Ali in Egypt. Margari Hill, Stanford University January 2009 available in PDF format ( 1.14 MB ). Again, however, the effects were temporary and the empire continued to lose territory through rebellion or foreign intervention. Islam, major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century ce. Muslims believe that their sacred text, the Quran, is the absolute word of God as it was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. Influences on Islamic medicine. The surahs themselves are of varying length, ranging from the longest, Surah 2, with 282 verses, to the shortest, Surahs 103, 108, and 110, each of which has only three. The opinions expressed herein, through this post or comments, contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessarily those of IslamiCity. The early advance of Islam went hand in hand with military expansion - whether it was the motivation for it is difficult to tell, although one recent book suggests that Islam certainly facilitated the growth of Muslim power. To keep the Arab Muslims from quarreling, the next caliph, Omar, launched the Muslim conquests: Syria was conquered around 636, Egypt 641, Mesopotamia and the Persian Empire, 650. A year after Yarmuk, 'Umar, in the military camp of al-Jabiyah on the Golan Heights, received word that the Byzantines were ready to surrender Jerusalem and rode there to accept the surrender in person. But he also stood firm when, in the wake of the Prophet's death, some tribes renounced Islam; in what was a major accomplishment, Abu Bakr swiftly disciplined them. Photo: The sun rises over Jabal al-Rahmah, the Mount of Mercy, where Muhammad in his farewell sermon told the assembled Muslims, "I have delivered God's message to you and left you with a clear command: the Book of God and the practice of His Prophet. One of the most moving acts of faith in Islam, the hajj is, for those Muslims who can get to Mecca, the peak of their religious life, a moment when they satisfy a deep yearning to behold at least once the Ka'bah - the House of God and the physical focus of a life time of prayer. So renowned were Ottoman calligraphers, in fact, that a popular saying was that "The Quran was revealed in Mecca, recited in Egypt, and written in Istanbul." In the same period, the Arab countries themselves, voluntarily and pragmatically, continued to adopt Western techniques, forms, and to some extent concepts. Most pilgrims also attempt to kiss, touch, or salute the Hajar al-Aswad, the Black Stone of the Ka'bah, a fragment of polished stone revered as a sign sent by God and a remnant of the original structure built by Abraham and Ishmael. This is a great article i ever seen Ma.Shaa.Allah. Extending from Central Asia to the Byzantine marches in Asia Minor, the Seljuk state under its first three sultans- Tughril Beg, Alp-Arslan, and Malikshah- established a highly cohesive, well-administered Sunni state under the nominal authority of the 'Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad. The Arabs did not surrender easily; al-Andalus was their land too. They recovered, however, and later, under the leadership of a new sultan, Murad II, besieged Constantinople for the second time. There were four persons obviously marked for leadership: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, who had not only accompanied Muhammad to Medina ten years before, but had been appointed to take the place of the Prophet as leader of public prayer during Muhammad's last illness; 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, an able and trusted Companion of the Prophet; 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, a respected early convert; and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. Soon everyone concurred and before dusk Abu Bakr had been recognized as the khalifah of Muhammad. In the forefront was Saudi Arabia, the heartland of Islam, and the site of the momentous events which initiated Islamic history fourteen centuries ago. It seems apparent that Syriac also had some influence on its development. Many also make the sa'y or running, a reenactment of a frantic search for water by Hagar when she and Abraham's son Ishmael were stranded in the valley of Mecca until the Angel Gabriel led them to water in the Well of Zamzam. This process got under way as the office of the Grand Vizier gradually assumed more power and indifferent sultans began to neglect administration. Civilization both in the East and the West was visited by a destructive plague which devastated nations and caused populations to vanish. Nevertheless, the decline continued. Umar found himself the ruler of a large unified state, with an organised army, and he used this as a tool to spread Islam further in the Middle East. The Turkish defeat in the First World War (in which the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany and the Central Powers) finally discredited the Young Turks, however, and paved the way for the success of a new nationalist movement under the leadership of an army officer named Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." But he also introduced much needed reforms. The first important step in the establishment of this empire was taken in 1326 when the Ottoman leader Orhan captured the town of Bursa, south of the Sea of Marmara, and made it his capital. With great difficulty, the task was carried out and the first complete manuscript compiled from "bits of parchment, thin white stones - ostracae - leafless palm branches, and the memories of men." The religious leader, in turn, was responsible to the sultan or his representatives for such details as the payment of taxes. Three times Muhammad pleaded his inability to do so, but each time the command was repeated. In the cities, Arab intellectuals debated whether modernization or a return to their roots would be the more effective path to the removal of foreign dominance and, consequently, to independence. One of its most famous scholars was Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Ishaq's father - known to the West as Joanitius - who eventually translated the entire canon of Greek medical works into Arabic, including the Hippocratic oath. In . Ibn Ishaq, one of the earliest biographers of the Prophet, says it was at about this time that Muhammad sent letters to the rulers of the earth - the King of Persia, the Emperor of Byzantium, the Negus of Abyssinia, and the Governor of Egypt among others - inviting them to submit to Islam. To cement social bonds further, Islam has instituted zakat al-fitr, an obligatory levy in the form of provisions or money for the poor, so that they can share in the joy of 'Id al-Fitr. By occupying Constantinople, the capital of their Christian allies, in the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders achieved what the Arabs had been trying to do from the early days of Islam. As an effect of the Crusades, the Muslim's distrust in the Europeans increased. Values section on the other hand is very special. But politically the signs of decay were already becoming evident. On the next day they proceed en masse to 'Arafat, even farther outside Mecca, and pray and meditate in what is the central rite of the pilgrimage: "the standing" - a few precious hours of profound self-examination, supplication, and penance in which, many say, a Muslim comes as close to God as he can, on earth. Byzantine and Sasanian Empires. Calligraphy - the art of "beautiful writing" -continues to be something that is not only highly prized as ornament and decoration but is immensely practical and useful as well. Establishment of a national home did not imply a Jewish state, the commission said. The important office of wazir or vizier, chief counselor, may well have developed from Sassanid models. Although there are imams, who lead prayers and deliver sermons, there are no priests or ministers. In the years following 861, the Turks made and unmade rulers at will, a trend that accelerated the decline of the central authority. This section is more for the technologically minded. The Constitution of Medina - under which the clans accepting Muhammad as the Prophet of God formed an alliance, or federation - dates from this period. As the Muslims were not completely defeated, the Meccans, with an army of ten thousand, attacked Medina again two years later but with quite different results. The major rites of the hajj begin on the eighth day of Dhu al-Hijjah when, with thunderous cries of "Labbayk!" During this period scribes began the modification of the original thick and heavy kufic script into the form employed today for decorative purposes, as well as developing a number of new scripts derived from the more cursive naskhi. Photo: Hajjis spend one night camped at Muzdalifah between 'Arafat and Mina. Photo: Facing al-Gharbiyah, the western minaret, a muezzin at the Umayyad Mosque calls believers to prayer. Called Banu Musa - "the sons of Musa" - these three men, Muhammad, Ahmad, and al-Hasan, devoted their lives and fortunes to the quest for knowledge. As the pilgrims have now completed much of the hajj, Muslim men now clip their hair or shave their heads and women clip a symbolic lock to mark partial deconsecration. It is also used in Kashmir and in some places in the Malay Peninsula and the East Indies, and in Africa it is used in Somalia and down the east coast as far south as Tanzania. They collected and corrected previous astronomical data, built the world's first observatory, and developed the astrolabe, an instrument that was once called "a mathematical jewel." Fatimid merchants traded with Afghanistan and China and tried to divert some of Baghdad's Arabian Gulf shipping to the Red Sea. Tamerlane died on his way to conquer China, and his empire melted away. 8. One day, as he sat in the cave, he heard a voice, later identified as that of the Angel Gabriel, which ordered him to: Recite: In the name of thy Lord who created, Created man from a clot of blood. Yet it is, in the deeply personal terms of a Muslim, something more as well. Photo: Pilgrims at the climax of their hajj, "standing" before God at 'Arafat near the spot where Muhammad delivered his farewell sermon. Although rigorous, however, the fast, by Quranic injunction, also admits of a warm compassion. Iran's attempts to spread a populist notion of political Islam regionally and globally . Turkish tribes, driven from their homeland in the steppes of Central Asia by the Mongols, had embraced Islam and settled in Anatolia on the battle lines of the Islamic world, where they formed the Ottoman confederation. Realizing that the original message from God might be inadvertently distorted by textual variants, he appointed a committee to collect the canonical verses and destroy the variant recensions. The Muslim community spread through the Middle East through conquest, and the resulting growth of the Muslim state provided the ground in which the recently revealed faith could take root and flourish. The Alhambra was begun in 1238 by Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar who, to buy safety for his people when King Ferdinand of Aragon laid siege to Granada, once rode to Ferdinand's tent and humbly offered to become the king's vassal in return for peace. The first verses were revealed to him in or about 610, and the last revelation dates from the last year of his life, 632. Architectural monuments spanning a thousand years bear witness to the spread of Islam. In sum, modernization has not been entirely synonymous with Westernization. Photo: The basmalah is here written in ornamental "floriated" kufic (above) and in naskhi (below). This established a precedent for the treatment of subject peoples during the later conquests. This is not really a type of script in itself but consists of a text in one of the standard scripts such as naskhi worked into a pattern in which one half is a mirror image of the other. When Europe found a new route to India - thus eliminating the traditional transshipment of goods through the Arab regions of the empire, revenues began to fall, triggering inflation, corruption, administrative inefficiency, and fragmentation of authority. This is not to say that the Muslims were not brave and that the conviction that they were doing Allah's will was not significant: it clearly was. To a large part of the hajj, but its outcome was dominance of the caliphate some... Sacred law between how did islam impact the middle east and Mina established a system of postal routes to expedite communications. 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