The Muslim Golden Age - Lessons From History

The Muslim Golden Age

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was born in 571 C.E., in the predominantly pagan environment of Makkah, and started his mission around 610 C.E at the age of forty. After an exhausting and onerous struggle that spanned 23 years, the domination of Islam was established throughout the Arabian peninsula. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had started the process of expansion, or export, of the Islamic Revolution into the neighboring countries before his death in 632 C.E. This expansion continued unabated during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (RAA), when the Banu Isma‘el or the Ummiyeen gushed forth like a mighty flood, and in less than a quarter of a century Iran, Iraq, Syria Palestine, Egypt, as well as a major part of North Africa came under their rule. These were the days of pure, authentic, and pristine Islam.

After  a  brief  respite  due  to internal strife during the Caliphate of Ali (RAA), the process started again during the Umayyad era, and, within a short span of time, new lands were conquered  that  extended  up  to  Turkestan,  Afghanistan,  and Sindh in the east, and included the entire North Africa and parts of Europe in the west. Spain was vanquished, and the Muslim armies reached even up to the heart of France. However, with the passage of time, the zeal of establishing the Just Social Order of Islam had started to diminish, and the element of Arab Imperialism began to dominate the Muslim conquests.

The supremacy of the Muslims reached its zenith during the  8th,  9th  and  10th  centuries  C.E.,  when  initially  the Umayyads and then the Abbasids held the leadership of Islam as well as that of the Muslims. Strictly speaking, however, only the Umayyad era represents the true domination of pure Arab rule, as the Abbasids were generally infected and spoiled by Persian influences. Still, during this period, Banu Isma‘el were in ascendancy over a big chunk of land, and their culture, civilization, arts, sciences, and religion were dominant. The first three hundred years can therefore be described as the golden era of the Muslim history.

At  this  juncture,  a  point  of  contrast  between  the Muslims and the Jews becomes apparent. That is, while the first phase  of  rise  for  the  Muslims began during the life time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the corresponding period for the Jews could not start until about three hundred years after the death of Prophet Musa (AS). The reason for this difference is that the establishment of Islam as a politico-socio-economic system was achieved, at least within the boundaries of Arabian Peninsula, by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his devoted Companions  (RAA).  On  the  other  hand  the  Israelites,  by refusing to fight for the Promised Land, had brought the revolutionary process to a halt. Hence the delay of three hundred years.

Source:Lesson from History (Book) by Dr. Israr Ahmad

Two of a Kind - Lessons From History

Two of a Kind

The rationale behind going through all these details of Jewish history is to be able to see our faces in their mirror. Both the Muslims and the Jews claim to be the followers of a holy messenger of Almighty Allah (SWT), and both were endowed with Divine Scriptures. This in itself constitutes a significant common factor, meaning that the two are essentially similar communities.  According  to  a  tradition  that  appears  in Jame‘ Tirmidhi, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said: “My Ummah will undergo and experience all those conditions which were experienced by the Children of Israel, just as a shoe resembles its pair.” The parallelism between the history of Muslims and that of Jews is indeed amazing. A comparative study of their past reveals that, like the Israelites, we Muslims have  also  undergone  two  phases  of  rise  and  two  phases  of decline,  as  alluded  to  by Prophet  Muhammad  (SAW)  in  the above prediction.

What follows, therefore, is an outline of the history of Muslims vis-à-vis their rise and decline over the last fourteen centuries, and this will clearly demonstrate the points of resemblance between the Jews and Muslims.

The principal reason, however, for presenting this comprehensive yet brief chronological sketch of our past is two fold: First, as far as “rise” is concerned, we need to fully appreciate our past grandeur and glories, so that our younger generations can be motivated to recapture that lost greatness and to try and revive this half-dead tiger that was once the Muslim Ummah. Second, with reference to “decline,” we need to clearly understand that Allah’s Justice is the same for everyone, and His laws are permanent and immutable. The manner in which He treated  the  previous  Muslim  Ummah  —  the  Jews  —  was repeated in His dealings with us. When we indulged in the same sins and crimes as were committed by the Jews, we received the same punishment as was given to them.

To begin with, we need to have in our minds a rough idea  of  the  geography of  Muslim world.  For  the  purpose of description, the Muslim world can be seen as consisting of three sections. That is, the center or the heart of Muslim world, which is made up of the Arabian peninsula in the south and Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor in the north; the right wing, which extends from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asian republics to Malaysia and Indonesia in the Far East; and finally the left wing, which includes the whole North Africa and, in the good old days, extended even upto Spain.

Source:Lesson from History (Book) by Dr. Israr Ahmad

The Second Era of Decline - Lessons From History

The Second Era of Decline

In 63 B.C Pompey, after taking over the old Sleucid Empire of Syria, turned towards Jerusalem. Thousands of Jews were killed during the three month long siege of the Holy City, and by the time the Roman army broke through the walls of Jerusalem, they were killing each other in confusion.

The Romans abolished the Maccabean dynasty and appointed Antipater as their puppet ruler. But soon after Julius Caesar’s murder in 44 B.C, Antipater was poisoned and a civil war ensued in Palestine with different groups vying for dominance. To restore order, the Romans nominated a clever Jew named Herod as their viceroy to rule the Israelites. Herod reigned for the next 33 years by patronizing the Jewish religious hierarchy on the one hand, and propagating the Greco-Roman culture and showing his faithfulness to Caesar on the other hand. In order to demonstrate his loyalty to Judaism, he ordered a reconstruction of the second Temple. The result was the largest and most magnificent building complex of the ancient world. At the same time, the moral degeneration of the Jews continued and reached its lowest ebb during the reign of Herod.

After Herod’s death, his kingdom was divided among his three sons: (a) Archelaus became the ruler of Smaria, Judeae, and northern Edom, but was replaced in 6 C.E. by a Roman governor; (b) Antipas became the head of Galilee and Jordan in northern Palestine; whereas (c) Philip ruled the land between river Yermuk and Mt. Hermon

It is significant to note that during all those years of indirect Roman  rule,  the  Jews  had, in general, enjoyed full religious autonomy. The Romans would obviously intervene in matters of political or military nature, but the everyday administration of justice and local affairs — like the Sanhedrin court in Jerusalem — were left wholly to the Jewish officials responsible for applying the Mosaic Law.

It was this Jewish court, Sanhedrin, that convicted God’s last  messenger  to  the  Children  of  Israel  —  Jesus  Christ  or Prophet Isa (AS) — of blasphemy, and requested death sentence from   the   Roman   governor   Pontius   Pilate.   The   collective rejection of Prophet Isa (AS) by the Israelites was not a minor crime  in  the  sight  of  Almighty  Allah  (SWT)  —  as  he  was Allah’s Rasool, or envoy. This time Divine punishment appeared in the form of Roman armies, and the Holy City was destroyed for the second time.

The Romans had appointed Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, to rule the territories that were once under Herod himself. Soon afterwards, a serious protest against the Romans led to an open Jewish revolt in 66 C.E., which neither King Agrippa II nor the Roman procurator was able to contain. The Romans retaliated with full military might, ultimately leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. by the armies of General Titus. The loss of life among the Jews was incredibly high, as 133  thousand  are  reported  to  have  been  killed  in  Jerusalem alone. Thousands were made slaves, starved to death, or killed in Roman amphitheaters. Herod’s Temple was burned and completely demolished.

Emperor Hadrian later built a new Roman colony, called Aelia Capitolina, over the desolate ruins of Jerusalem. However, the Jews were banished from their Holy City and were not allowed to re-enter for the next half a millennium.

As mentioned before, the advent of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the 7th century C.E. constituted a golden opportunity for the Jews to escape from the wrath of God the Almighty. They,   however,   not   only   rejected   the   Prophethood   of Muhammad (SAW) as a community, but also earned the unenviable reputation of being the worst enemy of Islam and Muslims. As a result, their second era of decline has continued till the present, and they remained, to this date, a condemned and disgraced people. We shall return to this topic after a while.

Source:Lesson from History (Book) by Dr. Israr Ahmad