Birth And Consolidation Of Islam - History

BIRTH AND CONSOLIDATION OF ISLAM AND ITS SPREAD TO INDIA Aneeqa M. Karu IX A 1

INTRODUCTION 

The founder of Islam Prophet Mohammed was born in Mecca (Arabia) in 570 A.D.



His father died before his birth so was brought up by his uncle.



Occupation of tradesman brought him in contact with both Christians & Jews.



Though considering Abraham & Jesus as Prophets of God, did not adopt either of the religion



It is a place inhabited by many tribes which was mostly a desert no forest, very little vegetation.

ARABIA: THE LAND, ITS PEOPLE AND THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 

Sparsely populated & thinly cultivated.



People led a life of constant struggle with nature.



They had never bowed to a foreign conqueror.



Jawaharlal Nehru says “mountains and deserts breed hard people who love their freedom and are not easily subdued.”



They had no central government; each tribe has its own rules & system of government.

 People

living in clans and families often quarreled with other clans and tribes.

 Just

two important towns - Mecca and Medina.

 Before

the rise of Islam people used to follow the faiths Jewish, Christians, nature worship, star worship, etc.

 People

were filled with many superstitions & believed in magic & ghosts.

 Mecca

- tribes used to assemble during certain months & worshipped a huge black cube - Kaaba which was supposed to have been given by the angel Gabriel to Abraham.

People praying at Mecca during Hajj

BIRTH OF ISLAM  Prophet

Mohammed used to spend a lot of time in prayer and meditation.

 He

proclaimed a new religion when he was 40 years old.

 He

announced that his new religion called Islam had been revealed to him by God & this God had chosen him to be the last & the greatest of all his prophet.

The King standing inside the cube

 He

 Since

 The

 People

called upon people to give up their idols & accept that “there is but one God Allah.” first to accept his teachings were his wife, his cousins, his uncle & a few of others who knew him very well.

 He

converted some 14 people in 3 years.

he preached against the idols there was a loud protest against him.

became enraged, so he left Mecca & went to Medina to expound his religion.  His journey from Mecca to Medina is called Hijira which took place in the year 622 AD.

 The

 Before

 Prophet

 Later

Muslim Calendar begins from here.

Mohammed won thousands of converts at Medina.

the death of the Prophet in 632 AD. , Islam had taken firm root in Arabia. the people of Mecca also embraced Islam.

The dome of Medina

TEACHINGS OF ISLAM  According

to the Arabic language Islam means “submission to the will of Allah (the God)”

 The

Quran is the book in which are found the teachings of Islam.

 So,

Quran is the holy book of Muslims in which Allah by sending Gabriel had made Prophet to write.

Kaaba

SOME OF THE CHIEF BELIEFS OF ISLAM ARE AS FOLLOWS : 



1. There is but one God & Mohammed is his Prophet.

2. A true Mohammedan is expected to pray five times a day - just before sunrise, just after noon, before sunset, just after sunset, & when the day has closed.



3.The followers of Islam should give alms to poor esp. during Ramazan.



4.They should make the pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in their lifetime.



5.They should fast from sunrise to sunset.

The king & Musharr af exiting the Kaaba

 6.A

Muslim is required to abstain from strong drink altogether, should respect his parents & do justice to all.

 He/She

should also follow rules laid down regarding marriage, divorce & sharing-out the family property.

 7.Islam

speaks of the Day of Last Judgement, when all persons shall receive the reward of their earthly deeds.

The Holy Kaaba

CONSOLIDATION OF ISLAM  Prophet

Mohammed’s successors were known as Caliphs or Khalifas.

 The

 When

 They

he died, he was succeeded by Abu Bekr, who had high organizing abilities & a high character.

Arabs became united into a nation for the first time under his leadership. overran Syria & Palestine.

 Abu

Bekr died in 634 AD. & his work was carried out by his successor , Omar, the brother-in-law of Prophet Mohammed.

 Before

he died in 643 AD. Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Babylon & Assyria (modern Iraq), Persia (Iran) & Egypt had been conquered.

 In

636 the Arab army had won a famous victory over a much larger Persian force.

 Under

the successors of Khalifa Omar the Arabs went on advancing both in the East and the West.

 East

- Herat & Kabul (Afghanistan) & reached the river Indus & Sindh.

 West

- whole Africa.

 Early

in the 8 century they crossed into Spain. th

 General

Tariq landed near Gibralter, opening the whole country to Arabs.



This frightened the people of W. Europe.

A

great Coalition was formed to fight the Arabs.

 Charles

Martel, a German king, was the leader of this Coalition & he defeated Arabs in the Battle of Tours in 732 AD.

 Thus

“the Arabs lost the empire of the world when almost in their grasp.”

 Although

they invaded Italy also, but were finally expelled from there.

REASONS FOR CALIPHS’ VICTORIES & CONSOLIDATION OF ISLAM  These

notable successes & the Consolidation of Islam can be attributed to many factors.

 1.

Islam was a much simpler religion than the Christians faith of those times.



In Islam there was no priesthood, no images, no elaborate rituals. Its simplicity attracted the simple desert folk.

 2.

Islam had filled the Arab race with selfconfidence & energy. It woke up the Arabs who for long ages had lived a sleepy existence.

 3.

The dynasty had ruled Persia & the neighbouring countries was weakened.

 The

empire they had build up was tottering. The old Roman-Greco civilization had also ended.  Thus both the empires - Roman Empire in the West & Persian empire in the East were in the bad shape.  They could not face the fury of the advancing Arabs.

THE CALIPHATE  After

the death of Khalifa Omar a Meccan named Othman was appointed as his successor.

 He

was murdered by Ali’s supporters in 656 AD.

 Ali

then became a Khalifa (Caliph) for a short while.

 Ali

too was murdered & some time later his son Hessian, along with other persons in his family, were massacred on the plain of Karbala.

 The

Muslims, esp. the Shiahs, mourn the killings year after year in the month of Moharram.

 The

Caliphate then went to Omayyand dynasty to which Othman belonged.

 The

Capital was shifted to Damascus in Syria.

 In

749 AD. the Caliph belonging to the above mentioned dynasty was removed by force & a new dynasty (belonging to the Prophet’s uncle Abbas) came to power.

 Later

the Capital was again shifted from Damascus to Baghdad (Iraq).

 The

Caliphate of Baghdad reached its climax under Harul-alRashid(786-809 AD.)

 But

 All

 The

these countries went out of the fold of Arab empire.

 In

Egypt there was not only an independent government.

a separate Caliph (Khalifa) & for some time the Egyptian Caliph ruled over North Africa also. Turks made themselves masters of the eastern provinces.

 In

1058 AD. the Khalifa of Baghdad surrendered all his political powers.

 Now

he was only the Religious Head of the Faithfuls.

 The

political power passed entirely into the hands of the rulers of respective states.

IMPACT OF ISLAM ON ART, ARCHITECTURE AND LITERATURE 



The Arabs were “fanatical warriors,” but the should not be regarded as mere conquerors. In the words of H.A. Davies, “during the 5 centuries following the death of Mohammed his followers evolved a civilization much superior to anything which existed in Europe at that time.”

ARCHITECTURE 

The Arabs developed their own architecture which, though simple, was imposing indeed.



The Great Mosque at Cordoba (Spain), the Alhambra at Granada (Spain) & a few other mosques & palaces are remarkable examples of the skill of Arab architects.

The Mosque at Cordoba

The Mosque at Cordoba

 Their

architecture was characterized by bulbous domes, the arches and beautiful minars and minarets.

 Their

caravans of camels went to India and China and their ships went to the Persian Gulf and even to the countries around the Baltic Sea.

TRADE, COMMERCE & CRAFTS  The Arabs carried on an extensive trade in cotton, silk and woolen fabrics.

LEARNING & LITERATURE  They were patrons of learning.

 The

Mosque in Kairouan (N. Africa)

 They

founded universities at Baghdad (Iraq), Cairo (Egypt), & Cordoba (Spain).

 Their

literature was made known to us through the Rubaiyat composed by Omar Khayyam and the ‘Arabian Nights.’

 It

is as collection of 1001 famous stories such as Ali Baba & 40 thieves, Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp.

 Many

significant achievements were made in the fields of astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics & medicine.

 Europe

is indebt to Arabs for the Arabic numerals.

 At

a time when people in Europe believed that the Earth was the center of Universe, the Arabs thought it possible that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

SPREAD OF ISLAM TO INDIA  The

 In

 Later

 Their

new Islamic culture was introduced in India by the Arabs, who entered India as traders. made their settlements on the western coast of India.

Gujarat they received liberal protection from the Hindu rulers and the Zamorin of Calicut patronized the Arab traders. trade began to flourish & they acquired landed property & followed their religion freely

Their early conquests  In

the beginning of the 8th century AD., the Arabs under Mohammed-binQasim conquered the Indian territories of Sindh & Multan.

 Sindh

was conquered in 712 AD. & early in 713 AD. fell the ancient town of Multan.

 There

was no central authority in India during those days & the rulers of frontier town failed to cooperate with one another when they were in danger .

 These

victories were short-lived because of the death of Mohammed-binQasim in 716 AD.

 But

the Arabs could have a really intimate knowledge of Indian astronomy, numericals & other branches of knowledge which, according to Havell, they carried to Europe.

MAHMUD OF GHAZNI’S EXPEDITION  Towards

the close of the 10th century AD. The Turks under Sabuktigin, who was a slave & now a king of Ghazni, invaded the frontier of India.



Although he suffered severe military reverses, in the end he was successful in capturing Peshawar.



He raided many temples cities : Kangra in 1009, Mathura in 1018, Kanauj in 1019, Gwalior in 1022 & Somnath in 1025.



Sabuktigin died in 997 AD. & was succeeded by his son Mahmud.



He carried away India’s rich treasures to his country.



Mahmud of Ghazni made 17 expeditions & penetrated into the very heart of India.



He exposed to the Muslim world the political & military weaknesses of the Indian kingdoms & opened the way to further Muslim conquest.

 Mohammed

Ghazni

FOUNDATION OF THE MUSLIM EMPIRE IN INDIA 

In fact, the foundation of the of the Muslims empire in India was led by Mohammed Ghori.



He then went back to Ghazni, leaving Qutubud-din Aibak in charge of his territories in India.



His first invasion was direct against Multan in 1175 AD.



In 1194 he led an army to fight Jai Chand, the ruler of Kannauj & the neighbouring regions.



In 1192 he defeated Prithviraj Chauhan, the ruler of vast territories from Ajmer to Delhi.



He returned to Ghazni.



During his absence Qutub-ud-din had to quell many revolts & disturbances in India.







He thus justified the confidence which his master had placed in him.

He also under took a number of petty expeditions.



Mohammed Ghori was stabbed to death in 1206 AD. He had no son.

He captured Aligarh, Badayun, Bundelkhand, & Khajuraho & one of his generals, Md.-bin -Bakhtiyar Khilji, conquered Bihar & parts of Bengal.



In India, he was succeeded by Qutub-uddin Aibak, the founder of the so-called Slave Dynasty.

THANK YOU