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islam from the beginning to 1300 date 2002 the spread of islam to southeast asia the spread of islam to various parts of coastal india set the stage for its further expansion to island southeast asia as we have seen arab traders and sailors regularly visited the ports of southeast asia long before they converted to islam initially the region was little more than a middle ground where the chinese segment of the great euroasian trading complex met the indian ocean trading zone to the west at ports on the coast of the malayan peninsula east sumatra and somewhat later north java goods from china were transferred from east asian vessels to arab or indian ships and products from as far west as rome were loaded into the emptied chinese ships to be carried to east asia by the 7th and 8th centuries a.d sailors and ships from areas within southeast asia particularly sumatra and malaya had become active in the seaborne trade of the region southeast asian products especially luxury items such as aromatic woods from the rainforests of borneo and sumatra and spices such as cloves nutmeg and mace from the far end of the indonesian archipelago had also become important exports to both china in the east and india and the mediterranean area in the west these trading links were to prove even more critical to the expansion of islam in southeast asia than they had earlier been to the spread of buddhism and hinduism as the coastal trade and shipping of india came to be controlled from the 8th century onward increasingly by muslims from such regions as gujarat and various parts of south india elements of islamic culture began to filter into island southeast asia but only in the 13th century after the collapse of the far-flung trading empire of shrivijaya which was centered on the straits of malacca between malaya and the north tip of sumatra was the way open for the widespread proselytization of islam with its great war fleets shrivijaya controlled trade in much of the area and was at times so powerful that it could launch attacks on rival empires in south india indian traders muslim or otherwise were welcome to trade in the chain of ports controlled by shrivijaya since the rulers and officials of shrivijaya were devout buddhists however there was little incentive for the traders and sailors of southeast asian ports to convert to islam the religion of growing numbers of the merchants and sailors from india with the fall of shrivijaya the way was open for the establishment of muslim trading centers and efforts to preach the faith to the coastal peoples muslim conquests in areas such as gujarat and bengal which separated southeast asia from buddhist centers in india from the 11th century onward also played a role in opening the way for muslim conversion the pattern of conversion as was the case in most of the areas to which islam spread peaceful and voluntary conversion was far more important than conquest and force in spreading the faith in southeast asia almost everywhere in the islands of the region trading contacts paved the way for conversion muslim merchants and sailors introduced local peoples to the ideas and rituals of the new faith and impressed on them how much of the known world had already been converted muslim ships also carried sufis to various parts of southeast asia where they were destined to play as vital a role in conversion as they had in india the first areas to be won to islam in the last decades of the 13th century were several small port centers on the northern coast of sumatra from these ports the religion spread in the following centuries across the strait of malacca to malaya on the mainland the key to widespread conversion was the powerful trading city of malacca whose smaller trading empire had replaced the fallen shrivijaya from the capital at malacca islam spread down the east coast of sumatra up the east and west coasts of

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malaya to the island of borneo and to the trading center of demak on the north coast of java from demak the most powerful of the trading states on north java the muslim faith was disseminated to other javanese ports and after a long struggle with a hindu buddhist kingdom in the interior to the rest of the island from demak islam was also carried to the celebes tha spice islands in the eastern archipelago and from there to mindanao in the southern philippines this progress of islamic conversion shows that port cities in coastal areas were particularly receptive to the new faith here the trading links were critical once one of the key cities in a trading cluster converted it was in the best interest of others to follow suit in order to enhance personal ties and provide a common basis in muslim law to regulate business deals conversion to islam also linked these centers culturally as well as economically to the merchants and ports of india the middle east and the mediterranean islam made slow progress in areas such as central java where hindu-buddhist dynasties contested its spread but the fact that the earlier conversion to these indian religions had been confined mainly to the ruling elites in java and other island areas left openings for mass conversions to islam that the sufis eventually exploited the island of bali where hinduism had taken deep root at the popular level remained largely impervious to the spread of islam the same was true of most of mainland southeast asia where centuries before the coming of islam theravada buddhism had spread from india and ceylon and won the fervent adherence of both the ruling elites and the peasant masses sufi mystics and the nature of southeast asian islam the fact that islam came to southeast asia primarily from india and that it was spread in many areas by sufis had much to do with the mystical quality of the religion and its tolerance for coexistence with earlier animist hindu and buddhist beliefs and rituals just as they had in the middle east and india the sufis who spread islam in southeast asia varied widely in personality and approach most were believed by those who followed them to have magical powers and virtually all sufis established mosque and school centers from which they traveled in neighboring regions to preach the faith in winning converts the sufis were willing to allow the inhabitants of island southeast asia to retain pre-islamic beliefs and practices that orthodox scholars would clearly have found contrary to islamic doctrine pre-islamic customary law remained important in regulating social interaction while islamic law was confined to specific sorts of agreements and exchanges women retained a much stronger position both within the family and in society than they had in the middle east and india local and regional markets for example continued to be dominated by the trading of small-scale female buyers and sellers in such areas as western sumatra lineage and inheritance continued to be traced through the female line after the coming of islam despite its tendency to promote male dominance and descent through the male line perhaps most tellingly premuslim religious beliefs and rituals were incorporated into muslim ceremonies indigenous cultural staples such as the brilliant javanese shadow plays that were based on the indian epics of the brahmanic age were refined and they became even more central to popular and elite belief and practice than they had been in the pre-muslim era muhammad prophet of islam into this environment at mecca was born a man who would change completely the religious political and social organization of his people muhammad c 570-632 came from a family belonging to the koraysh his early years were difficult because of the deaths of both his parents and his grandfather who cared for him after his parents loss he was raised by his uncle abu talib a prominent merchant of mecca his early years

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were spent helping his uncle in the caravan trade even as a young man muhammad came to be admired by his fellow meccans as a sincere and honest person and earned the nickname al-amin the trustworthy when he was about twenty years old he accepted employment by a wealthy widow khadija whose caravans traded with syria he later married khadija and took his place as a leading influential citizen of the city muhammad s marriage to khadija was a long and happy one and produced two sons who both died as infants and two daughters of whom the younger fatima is best known a description of muhammad and probably a very accurate one has been preserved in the sira the traditional biography of the prophet he is described as a handsome large man with broad shoulders black shining eyes flecked with brown and a fair complexion his personality was reserved and gentle but he was a man of impressive energy he walked quickly and always seemed to make it difficult for his friends to keep up with him although he was a popular companion an energetic businessman and a responsible husband and father muhammad was a very introspective man often he would escape from the society which he considered too materialistic and irreligious and spend long hours alone in a cave on nearby mount hira in these hours of meditation muhammad searched for answers to the metaphysical questions that many thoughtful arabs were beginning to explore muhammad s meditations many times produced nearly total mental and physical exhaustion during one such solitary meditation muhammad heard a call that was to alter the history of the world muhammad s first communication from heaven came in the form of a command recite in the name of your lord who created all things who created man from a clot of blood recite and your lord is most bounteous who teaches by the pen teaches man that which he would not have otherwise known koran 96:1-5 the arabic word for recitation or reading is qur an and the collected revelations given to muhammad are known to us as the koran the revelations that continued to come over the next twenty years were sometimes terse and short at other times elaborate and poetic the early revelations did not immediately convince muhammad that he was a messenger of god in fact his first reaction was fear and self-doubt during his depressions brought on by fears over the source and nature of his revelations he sought the comfort and advice of khadija as the revelations continued muhammad finally became convinced that the message he was receiving was the truth and that he had been called to be a messenger of divine revelation he came to think of himself and his mission as one similar to prophets and messengers who had preceded him in announcing the existence of the one god allah allah the god was the same god worshiped by the christians and jews but allah had now chosen muhammad to be his last and greatest prophet to perfect the religion revealed earlier to abraham moses the hebrew prophets and jesus the religion muhammad preached is called islam which means surrender or submission to the will of god the followers of islam are called muslims the term muslim refers to one who submits to god s law muhammad s message and early followers at first muhammad had little success in attracting followers in mecca the early message muhammad brought to the arabs was one of sternness and strength that allah was one and majestic all-powerful and demanding of the faith of his followers furthermore allah demanded that his followers be compassionate ethical and just in all their dealings in the name of allah the most beneficent the

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most merciful by the night as it enshrouds by the day as it illuminates by him who created the male and female indeed your affairs lead to various ends for who gives of himself and acts righteously and conforms to goodness we will give him ease but as for him who is niggardly cleaning himself self-sufficient and rejects goodness we will indeed ease his path to adversity nor shall his wealth save him as he perishes for guidance is from us and to us belongs the last and first 92:1-14 muhammad was able to win the early support of some of his relatives and close friends his first converts were his wife his cousin ali and abu bakr a leading merchant of the koraysh tribe who was highly respected for his integrity abu bakr remained the constant companion of the prophet during his persecution and exile and later became the first caliph leader of islam but opposition to muhammad s message was very strong especially from mecca s leading citizens many thought muhammad was a poor poet attempting to pass on his own literary creations as the word of god others believed him to be possessed by demons muhammad s strong monotheism worried those residents of mecca who obtained their income from the pilgrims to the kaaba most of muhammad s early converts were among the poorest of the city s residents and mecca s leading citizens feared social revolution since muhammad was himself a member of the koraysh tribe its leaders first tried to convince abu talib to persuade his nephew to stop preaching next they tried to bribe muhammad himself with the promise of a lucrative position in tribal affairs when such offers were rejected actual persecution of muhammad s converts began and a commercial and social boycott of the prophet s family was attempted during this time abu talib and khadija both died and muhammad s faith and resolution was greatly tested but inspired by the spirit and example of earlier prophets such as abraham and moses who were also tested and persecuted muhammad persevered in his faith and continued his preaching the hijrah to the north of mecca is the city of medina which was then called yathrib the residents of medina were more familiar with monotheistic beliefs perhaps because of the jewish community in residence there they also had no dependence on the revenues from a pagan site of pilgrimage as the meccans had some pilgrims from medina saw in muhammad a powerful and influential leader and invited him to come to medina to settle differences among rival factions muhammad sent some of his followers from mecca to take up residence in medina in order to escape persecution muhammad and abu bakr were the last to leave when it became known that the koraysh intended to kill the prophet they were followed but escaped the story goes by hiding in a narrow cave whose entrance was quickly covered by a spider s web the web convinced koraysh that the cave had been abandoned for a long while the hijrah or migration from mecca to medina often transliterated as hegira took place in september 622 the event was such a turning point in the history of islam that the year is counted as year one of the islamic calendar in medina the prophet met with entirely different circumstance than in his birthplace his leadership turned medina madinat al nali or the city of the prophet into the leading center of power in the arabian

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peninsula the community at medina muhammad was received in medina as a leader and a spiritual visionary he and his followers set about the establishment of a genuine community or ummah free of pressure and persecution the community at medina included a number of jewish and christian families whom muhammad tried to convert his efforts were successful with some jewish residents but the jews who did not choose to accept muhammad s faith were allowed to continue their way of life since they were also held to be people of the book to whom allah had made himself known through earlier prophets the care of the community at medina was of grave concern to muhammad many of those who followed the prophet to medina were without work and necessary food was sometimes obtained by plundering the caravans passing medina on the way to mecca also muhammad and his followers became steadily more agressive in their attempts to win converts to islam the word jihad meaning struggle was applied to the early efforts of the ummah to win converts and strengthen its own recruiting military encounters with the pagan opponents of islam began in 624 with the battle of bedr muhammad defeated the stronger koraysh army of mecca and the victory reinforced the resolve of the new religion s followers succeeding battles established the muslims as the dominant force in arabia and finally a truce with mecca was arranged under which the muslims could visit the holy shrines in the city return to mecca in 629 muhammad returned with his followers to take control of the city of mecca and to cleanse the kaaba of pagan idols the temple itself together with the black stone was preserved as the supreme religious center of islam the mecca to which all devout muslims are to attempt to make a pilgrimage during their lifetimes muhammad urged his old enemies and unbelievers to accept islam and become part of the ummah by 632 almost all of the arabian peninsula had accepted islam and muhammad had even sent ambassadors to the neighboring byzantine and persian empires to announce the new religion and encourage converts clearly muhammad did not look upon islam as only a religion of the arabs and certainly sought converts other than the residents of the arabian peninsula the death of muhammad muhammad died on june 8 632 in medina he succumbed to a fever probably induced by the great strains brought on by constant campaigns for new converts and the unrelenting demands for his attention muslims at first refused to accept his death but were reassured by abu bakr who recited this verse from the koran muhammad is only a messenger many are the messengers who have died before him if he dies or is slain will you turn back on your heels 3 144 on the day of muhammad s death the question of leadership of the faithful was solved by the democratic election of abu bakr who became the prophet s first successor or caliph from the arabic khalifa abu bakr was not looked upon as a prophet muhammad was seen as the last and the greatest of allah s messengers the caliph was regarded as the head of the islamic ummah the significance of muhammad to the birth and growth of islam is impossible to overestimate the prophet and his message inspired his followers to create and work for

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the betterment of a society united by the islamic faith tribal loyalties were replaced by faith in the one god who chose to speak to his people in their own language through a messenger who was also one of their own soon after muhammad s death his followers and companions many of whom were scholars and teachers began to collect and codify his teachings and actions the result of their efforts was the hadith or reports of the activities and sayings of muhammad the hadith has become an important source of values and ethical paths of behavior for the islamic world the sunnah the custom or practice of the prophet is grounded in the hadith and serves as a pattern for a model way of life to be imitated by the faithful sunni islam is thus based on imitation of the prophet s behavior as a proper goal for a meaningful life 85 percent of the modern world s muslims are sunni the islamic faith and law islam places great emphasis on the necessity of obedience to god s law in addition to faith the koran is the fundamental and ultimate source of knowledge about allah and the proper actions of his followers this holy book contains the theology of islam in addition to the patterns of ethical and proper conduct to which a muslim must subscribe among the beliefs outlined in the koran there are some basic concepts which are held in common by the islamic community as fundamental to the faith the koran muslims believe that the koran contains the actual word of god as it was revealed to muhammad through divine inspiration the revelations to the prophet took place over a period of more than twenty years before muhammad s death many of these messages had been written down in order to be preserved muhammad himself began the work of preservation and abu bakr the first caliph continued the process by compiling revelations which up to that time had been memorized by the followers and passed on by word of mouth a complete written text of the koran was produced shortly after muhammad s death with particular care taken to eliminate discrepancies and record only one standard version this version was then transmitted to various parts of the new islamic empire and used to assist in the conversion of unbelievers the text of the koran has existed virtually unchanged for fourteen centuries the koran was intended to be recited aloud much of the power of the koran comes from the experience of reciting listening and feeling the message it was in this manner that muhammad converted his followers the koran is never to be translated from the arabic for worship because the followers of islam had to learn the koran in arabic the spread of islam created a great amount of linguistic unity arabic replaced many local languages as the language of daily use and the great majority of the muslim world from morocco to iraq is still arabic-speaking in addition the koran remains the basic document for the study of islamic theology law social institutions and ethics the study of the koran remains at the heart of all muslim scholarship from linquistics and grammatical inquiry to scientific and technical investigation the tenets of islamic faith monotheism is the central principle of islam tahwid means the unity or oneness of god there is no other god but allah and this belief is proclaimed five times daily as the believers are called to prayer with these words god is most great i testify that there is no god but allah i testify that muhammad is the messenger of allah come to prayer come to

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revelation god is most great there is no god but allah allah is the one and only god unapproached by other divinities and unlike all others in the strength of his creative power all life in fact all creation is the responsibility of allah alone his nature is described in many ways and by many names one of the most beautiful as light allah is the light of the heaven and the earth his light is as a niche wherein is a lamp the lamp is in a glass the glass is as it were a shining star the lamp is kindled from a blessed tree an olive neither of the east or the west whose oil would almost glow forth of itself though no fire touched it light upon light allah guided unto his light whom he will and allah speaketh to mankind in allegories for allah is knower of all things this lamp is found in houses which allah hath allowed to be exalted and that his name shall be remembered therein therein do offer praise to him at noon and evening 24:35 islam also recognize the significance and contributions of prophets who preceded muhammad from the beginnings of human history allah has communicated with his people either by the way of the prophets or by written scriptures lo we inspire thee as we inspired noah and the prophets after him as we inspired abraham and ishmael and isaac and jacob and the tribes and jesus and job and jonah and aaron and solomon and as we imparted unto david the psalms 4:164 twenty-eight such prophets are mentioned in the koran as the predecessors of muhammad who is believed to have been the last and greatest of all of allah s messengers muhammad is given no divine status by muslims even though he was the one chosen to proclaim allah s message of salvation in its perfected form and final revelation in fact muhammad took great care to see that he was not worshiped as a god the creation of the universe and all living creatures within it is the work of allah harmony and balance in all of creation was ensured by god in addition to humans and other creatures on the earth angels exist to protect humans and to pray for forgiveness for the faithful jinn are spirits who may be good or bad and forces known as the unseen exist on a level unknown to humans men and women are given a special status in the pattern of the universe since allah has endowed them with the ability to know and react to him better than any living creatures they can choose to obey or to reject allah s will and deny him allah s message includes the belief in a day of resurrection when people will be held responsible for their actions and rewarded or punished accordingly for eternity geographic imagery played an important role in the prophet s description of heaven and hell both are depicted in a manner that calls forth an immediate reaction from people living in the desert those who have submitted to allah s law the charitable humble and forgiving and those who have preserved his faith shall dwell in a garden of paradise resting in cool shades eating delectable foods attended by fair ones with wide lovely eyes like unto hidden pearls and hearing no vain speech or recrimination but only peace peace this veritable oasis is far different from the agonies of the desert hell that awaits the unbelievers the covetous and the erring cast into a pit with its scorching

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wind and shadow of black smoke they will drink boiling water and suffer forever the five pillars islam is united in the observance of the five pillars or five essential duties which all muslims are required to perform as they are able these obligations are accepted by muslims everywhere and thus serve to further unite the islamic world the first obligation is a simple profession of faith by which a believer becomes a muslim the simple proclamation shahada is repeated in daily prayers belief in the one god and emulation of the exemplary life led by his prophet are combined in the profession of faith prayer salat is said five times a day when muslims are called to worship by the muezzin caller to prayer who leads the recitation of the faithful from atop the minaret of the mosque masjid or place of prostration during prayer muslims face mecca and in so doing give recognition to the birthplace of islam and the unity of the islamic community prayer can be given alone at work at home or in the mosque a muslim is required to give alms zakat to the poor orphans and widows and to assist the spread of islam the payment of alms is not considered to be a charitable activity but rather a social and religious obligation to provide for the welfare of the ummah muslims are generally expected to contribute a percentage usually 2.5 percent of their total wealth and assets annually in alms muslims are requested to fast siyam during the holy month of ramadan the ninth month of the islamic calendar from sunrise to sunset adult muslims in good health are to avoid food drink and sexual activity finally muslims are called to make a pilgrimage hajj to mecca at least once in his or her lifetime in the twelfth month of the islamic lunar calendar the focus of the pilgrimage is the kaaba in the grand mosque of mecca the hajj once again emphasizes the unity of the islamic world community and the adherence to islamic law no matter where a muslim may reside islamic law it is not possible to separate islam from its law because law in the muslim community is religious by its nature islam is a way of life as well as a religion and at its heart is the sharia or path the law provided by allah as a guide for a proper life the sharia gives the believers a perfect pattern of human conduct and regulates every aspect of a person s activities islamic law is considered to be established by god and therefore unquestionably correct god s decrees must be obeyed even if humans are incapable of understanding since the sharia is greater than human reason islamic law then permeates all aspects of human conduct and all levels of activity from private and personal concerns to those involving the welfare of the whole state family law is set forth in the koran and is based on much earlier arabic tribal patterns of development islamic law emphasizes the patriarchal nature of the family and society marriage is expected of every muslim man and woman unless physical infirmity or financial inability prohibits it muslim men can marry non-muslim women preferably christians or jews since they too are people of the book but muslim women are forbidden to marry non-muslim men the koran had the effect of improving the status and opportunities of women in islam as opposed to the older and traditional arabic patterns of conduct women can contract their own marriages keep and maintain their own dowries and manage and inherit property the koran allows muslim men to marry up to four wives but polygamy is not required cowives must be treated with equal support and affection many modern-day muslims interpret the koran as encouraging monogamy the practice of polygamy may have arisen

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in order to provide protection and security in early islamic society when women outnumbered men because of the toll of constant warfare for islamic society as a whole the law is considered to be universal and equally applied islamic law is considered to be god s law for all humankind not only for the followers of islam in addition to its theology islam offers to its believers a system of government a legal foundation and a pattern of social organization the islamic ummah was and is an excellent example of a theocratic state one in which all power resides in god in whose behalf political religious and other forms of authority are exercised in fact there is not even the combination of church and state in islam because there is no church or religious organization the role of the state is to serve as the guardian of religious law also a characteristic of islam is the principle of religious equality there is no priesthood no intermediaries between people and god there are leaders of worship in the mosques as well as the ulema a class of learned experts in the interpretation of the koran but they are all members of the secular community the spread of islam the islamic state expanded very rapidly after the death of muhammad through remarkable successes both at converting unbelievers to islam and by military conquests of the islamic community s opponents expansion of the islamic state was an understandable development since muhammad himself had successfully established the new faith through conversion and conquest of those who stood against him immediately after the prophet s death in 632 abu bakr as the first caliph continued the effort to abolish paganism among the arab tribes and also to incorporate arabia into a region controlled by the political power of medina united by their faith in god and a commitment to political consolidation the merchant elite of arabia succeeded in consolidating their power throughout the arabian peninsula and began to launch some exploratory offensives north toward syria expansion under the first four caliphs during the reigns of the first four caliphs 632-661 islam spread rapidly the wars of expansion were also advanced by the devotion of the faithful to the concept of jihad muslims are obliged to extend the faith to unbelievers and to defend islam from attack the original concept of jihad did not include agressive warfare against non-muslims but holy war was sometimes waged by muslims whose interpretation of the koran allowed them such latitude jihad was directly responsible for some of the early conquests of islam outside of the arabian peninsula the islamic cause was also aided by political upheavals occurring outside of arabia the muslim triumphs in the near east can be partly accounted for by the long series of wars between the byzantine and persian empires earlier byzantine victories had left both sides exhausted and open to conquest moreover the inhabitants of syria and egypt alienated by religious dissent and resenting the attempts of the byzantine empire to impose christianity on the population were eager to be free of byzantine rule in 636 arab armies conquered syria the muslims then won iraq from the persians and within ten years after muhammad s death subdued persia itself the greater part of egypt fell with little resistance in 640 and the rest shortly afterward by the end of the reigns of the first four caliphs islam had vastly increased its territory in the near east and africa the new conquests of islam were governed with remarkable efficiency and flexibility the centralization of authority typical of military organization aided in the incorporation of new peoples unbelievers in the conquered territories became increasingly interested in the new religion and accepted islam in great numbers in addition to the obvious power of the religious message of islam the imposition of a personal tax on all non-muslims

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encouraged many to become converts contrary to exaggerated accounts in western europe of the forceful imposition of islam upon conquered peoples jews and christians outside of arabia enjoyed toleration because they worshiped the same god as the muslims many non-muslims participated in the islamic state and prospered financially and socially islam was and remains one the most effective religions in removing barriers of race and nationality apart from a certain privileged position allowed arabs distinctions were mostly those of economic rank in the early days of conquest the new religion converted and embraced peoples of many colors and cultures this egalitarian feature of islam undoubtedy aided its expansion arab domination under the umayyads the first three caliphs of islam were chosen in consultation with the elders and leaders of the islamic community and a pattern was established for selecting the caliph from the karaysh tribe of mecca the fourth caliph ali who was the son-in-law of muhammad was devoted to islam and convinced that leadership of the islamic community should remain in the family of the prophet the followers of ali were later called shii or shiites after shiat-u-ali or party of ali and believed that the first three caliphs had been usurpers to legitimate power ali and his followers were opposed first by muslims under the leadership of muhammad s widow aisha daughter of abu bakr and later by the forces of muawiyah the governor of syria and a relative of the third caliph in 661 muawiyah proclaimed himself caliph made damascus his capital and founded the umayyad dynasty which lasted until 750 thus the caliphate became in fact although never in law a hereditary office not as previously a position filled by election umayyad military campaigns of conquest for the most part were highly successful the umayyad navy held cyprus rhodes and number of aegean islands which served as bases for annual seaborne attacks on constantinople from 674 to 678 with the aid of greek fire constantinople was successfully defended and the arab advance was checked for the first time westward across north africa however the umayyad armies had much greater success the berbers a warlike nomadic people inhabiting the land between the mediterranean and the sahara resisted stubbornly but eventually converted to islam the next logical expansion for islam was across the strait of gibraltar into the weak kingdom of the visigoths in spain the governor of muslim north africa sent his general tarik and an army across the strait into spain in 711 seven years later the kingdom of the visigoths completely crumbled the muslims advanced across the pyrenees and gained a strong foothold in southwest france where they carried out a major raid to explore the possibility of a further northward advance however they were defeated by charles martel near tours in 732 in a battle which together with their defeat by the byzantine emperor leo iii in 718 proved decisive in halting their northward expansion into europe meanwhile the muslims had been expanding eastward into central asia and by the eighth century they could claim lands as far as turkestan and the indus valley the mainstay of umayyad dynastic power was the ruling class consisting of an arab military aristocracy who formed a privileged class greatly outnumbered by non-arabic converts to islam egyptians syrians persians berbers and others many of these converted peoples possessed cultures much more advanced than that of the arabs and the economic and cultural life of the arab empire came to be controlled by these non-arab muslims mawali because they were not arab by birth they were treated as second-class citizens high government positions were closed to them they paid higher taxes than arabs and as soldiers they received less pay and loot than the arabs resentment grew among the non-arabic muslims who objected to their lesser status as a violation of the islamic laws of equality eventually the resentment of the mawali helped bring about the downfall of the umayyads.

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[see expansion of islam the expansion of islam to 750 ad shia movement against the ruling group this resentment also found expression in the religious sphere where large numbers of non-arabic muslims joined the sect known as the shia which had been forced from power on the accession of the umayyads the shia continued to regard ali and his descendants as the rightful rulers of the islamic community and believed that in every age a messiahlike leader would appear and that he must be obeyed the shia also rejected the sunna the body of later tradition concerning muhammad that was not contained in the koran they insisted on the koran as the sole and unquestioned authority on the life and teachings of the prophet though originally an arab party the shia in time became a general islamic movement that stood in opposition to the ruling arabic dynasty the shia evolved into one of the two major groups in islam the majority called sunni because they were the orthodox perpetrators of muhammad s sunna or tradition upheld the principle that the caliph owed his position to the consent of the islamic community the numerical superiority of the sunni muslims has continued to this day conclusion in this chapter we have examined the origins and meteoric development of islam both the religion and the community the great power of muhammad s teachings enabled the creative but fragmented arab tribes to unify and expand across three continents in an astoundingly brief period during the reigns of the first four caliphs and the century of the umayyad dynasty 661750 great strides were made in annexing new territories and peoples but the umayyad dynasty was based on a ruling hierarchy of arabs and the resentment that set the abbasid dynasty 750-1258 on a new throne in baghdad during the early abbasid period islam reached the high point of its geographical expansion and cultural achievements extending from spain across three continents to east asia unparalleled prosperity evolved from a combination of successful trade industry and agriculture but the muslims were not able to maintain an integrated empire despite a religious unity which still exists politically the empire broke up into smaller muslim states the muslims were especially gifted in science literature and philosophy muslim intellectual life was in large part the product of a genius for synthesizing varying cultures and the diffusion of this knowledge was a tremendous factor in the revival of classical learning and the coming of the renaissance in europe ironically while the arts and learning were beginning to thrive in the west islamic civilization itself declined various reasons have been advanced for this phenomenon including the influx of semibarbarous peoples into islamic lands intellectual inflexibility resulting from rigid adherence to the koran s sacred law and the despotic and eventually corrupt rule of such muslim dynasties as the ottomans in turkey who destroyed most progressive political and economic movements islam remains a powerful force in the world today its believers encompass the most highly educated scholars and unscholared peasants the islamic community likewise is made up of leading industrialized societies as well as nations just emerging from colonialism the message of faith and the unity of communalism under islam are powerful influences which will continue to play a part in world politics islam has begun its fifteenth century as one of the world s most influential religious and social forces present-day

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islam still derives great meaning from the teachings of muhammad and the community he and his disciples constructed the power of the ancient message still plays a dominant role in the modern world the coming of islam to south asia the pattern of political fragmentation that had left the much-reduced abbasid caliphate vulnerable to nomadic invasions was also found in the regions of south asia to which islam spread during the centuries of abbasid decline as in the islamic heartland internal political rivalries left openings for nomadic warrior bands to raid the towns and villages on the outer frontiers of the subcontinent when the indigenous indian lords failed to patch up their differences in order to effectively repel these incursions more powerful foreign rulers and ever larger armies descended upon the subcontinent first to raid and pillage but soon with the intention of conquering and settling as they had been since ancient times the fertile and heavily populated river valleys and irrigated plains of west and central india were tempting targets for nomadic chiefs in search of booty or displaced lords in search of a strong base on which to anchor their kingdoms all through the millennia when a succession of civilizations from harappa to the brahmanic empire of the guptas developed in the subcontinent foreigners had entered india in waves of nomadic invaders or as small bands of displaced peoples seeking refuge invariably those who chose to remain were assimilated into the civilizations they encountered in the lowland areas they converted to the hindu or buddhist religion found a place in the caste hierarchv and adopted the dress foods and life-styles of the farming and city-dwelling peoples of the subcontinent this capacity to absorb peoples moving into the area owed much to both the strength and flexibility of india s civilizations and the fact that they usually enjoyed a higher level of material culture than peoples entering the subcontinent as a result the persistent failure of indian rulers to unite in the face of aggression on the part of outsiders meant periodic disruptions and localized destruction but not fundamental challenges to the existing order all of this changed with the arrival of the muslims in the last years of the 7th century a.d with the coming of the muslims the peoples of india encountered for the first time a largescale influx of bearers of a civilization as sophisticated if not as ancient as their own they were also confronted by a religious system that was in many ways the very opposite of their own hinduism the predominant indian religion at that time was open tolerant and inclusive of widely varying forms of religious devotion from idol worship to meditation in search of union with the supernatural source of all creation islam was doctrinaire proselytizing and committed to the exclusive worship of a single transcendent god in contrast to the egalitarianism of islam which proclaimed all believers equal in the sight of god hindu beliefs did much to validate the caste hierarchy which rested on the acceptance of inborn differences between individuals and groups and the widely varying levels of material wealth status and religious purity these differences produced thus where the faith of the invading muslims was religiously more rigid than that of the absorptive and adaptive hindus the caste-based social system of the great majority of the indigenous peoples was much more compartmentalized and closed than those of the muslim invaders with their emphasis on mobility and the community of believers because growing numbers of muslim warriors traders holy men and ordinary farmers and herders were able to enter and settle in the subcontinent extensive interaction between invaders and the indigenous peoples was inevitable in the early centuries of the muslim influx conflict often involving violent clashes between the two predominated but there was also a good deal of trade and even religious interchange between them as time passed peaceful if wary interaction became the norm muslim rulers employed large

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numbers of hindus to govern the largely non-muslim populations they ruled mosques and temples dominated different quarters within indian cities and hindu and muslim holy men strove to find areas of agreement between their two faiths tensions remained and periodically they erupted into communal rioting or sustained warfare between hindu and muslim lords from the 11th century aowever islam became a major force in indian history islam added further layers of richness and complexity to indian civilization and some of its most enduring channels to the peoples and cultures of neighboring lands north india on the eve of the muslim invasions in the years after the collapse of the gupta empire at the end of the 5th century the heads of numerous regional dynasties aspired to restore imperial unity in north india but until harsha in the early 7th century all imperial ambitions were frustrated by timely alliances of rival lords that checked the rise of a single and unifying power center harsha was the second son of one of these rival kings who through a series of wars had carved out a modest domain in the panjab region to the southeast of the indus river system upon his father s death in 604 harsha s elder brother ascended the throne he was soon killed some accounts say treacherously murdered by the agents of a rival confederation of kings centered in bengal although still a youth harsha agreed to accept the imperiled throne and was soon at war with the kingdoms of bengal the young king proved skillful at forging alliances with other rulers who were the enemies of those in the bengali confederation he also was a talented military commander soon after ascending the throne he won a series of battles that both revenged the murder of his brother and led to a great increase in the territories under his control within a matter of years he had pieced together the largest empire india had seen since the fall of the gupta dynasty over a century earlier harsha s empire at the height of his power harsha ruled much of the central and eastern gangetic plain but his empire was a good deal smaller than that of the guptas he beat the bengali lords in battle but was unable to control their lands on a sustained basis and his attempts to expand into southern india were unsuccessful harsha also never conquered most of the indus valley to the northwest of his original kingdom or the region to the south called rajputana which was divided into a patchwork of tiny kingdoms dominated by a proud and fierce warrior elite thus though he was one of the most powerful rulers india was to know from the time of the guptas until the establishment of the delhi sultanate in the 13th century harsha s conquests fell far short of uniting even the northern regions of the indian subcontinent the wars that dominated the early years of harsha s reign gave way to a long period of peace and prosperity for his empire content with his early conquests and too greatly feared by rival rulers to be attacked harsha turned his considerable energies to promoting the welfare of his subjects like ashoka he built roads and numerous rest houses for weary travelers established hospitals and endowed temples and buddhist monasteries in many cases harsha personally supervised the building of these public works projects and he frequently toured the provinces of his empire to inquire about the condition and needs of his subjects a chinese pilgrim named xuan zang who visited the buddhist shrines of india during harsha s reign wrote that as the king toured the provinces he would hold audiences for the common people in a special pavilion that was set up alongside the main roads judging from xuan zang s account the prosperity of the gupta age had been largely restored during harsha s reign this was particularly the case in large towns such as the capital kanauj which had formidable walls palatial homes and beautiful gardens with man-made tanks or pools some of the artistic creativity of the gupta age was also revived during harsha s long reign the ruler was an author of some talent who wrote at least three sanskrit plays and he befriended and generously

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patronized philosophers poets artists and historians though he was probably a hindu devotee of the god shiva in his early years harsha was tolerant of all faiths and increasingly attracted to buddhism his generous patronage of buddhist monasteries and the buddhist monkhood attracted pilgrims like xuan zang if xuan zang s account can be trusted harsha came close to converting to buddhism in the last years of his life he sponsored great religious assemblies which were dominated by buddhist monks and religious rituals and prohibited eating meat and putting an end to human life his lavish patronage of the buddhists led on one occasion to a brahmininspired assassination attempt which appears only to have strengthened his preference for buddhist ceremonies and beliefs despite his favoritism however buddhism was clearly in decline monasteries were large and wealthy but monastic discipline was lax and most monks had little contact with the populace at large much like a hindu god the buddha was the object of cult veneration and a variety of corrupt practices had crept into popular worship buddhist centers would prove vulnerable targets for muslim raiders and in some areas a substantial portion of the dwindling numbers of buddhist lay believers would soon convert to islam political divisions and the first muslim invasions harsha died without a successor in 646 and his kingdom was quickly pulled apart by ambitious ministers seeking to found a new dynasty of their own though hindu culture flourished in both north and south india in the centuries after harsha s death as evidenced by the great temples that were constructed and the works of sculpture literature and music that were produced no paramount kingdom emerged political divisions in the north and west-central regions of the subcontinent proved the most significant because they left openings for a succession of invasions by different muslim peoples the first and the least lasting muslim intrusion which came in 711 resulted indirectly from the peaceful trading contacts that had initially brought muslims into contact with indian civilization since ancient times arab seafarers and traders had been major carriers in the vast trading network that stretched from italy in the mediterranean to the south china sea after converting to islam these traders continued to frequent the ports of india particularly those on the western coast an attack by pirates sailing from debul in sind in western india on ships owned by some of these arab traders prompted hajjaj the viceroy of the eastern provinces of the umayyad empire to launch a punitive expeditior against the king of sind an able arab general muhammad ibn qasim who was only 17 years old when the campaign began led over 10,000 horse and camel-mounted warriors into sind to avenge the assault on arab shipping after victories in several fiercely fought battles and successful sieges of the great stone fortresses that stood guard over various parts of the arid and thinly peopled sind interior muhammad ibn qasim declared the region as well as the indus valley to the northeast provinces of the umayyad empire soon after the territories haddbeen annexed to the umayyad empire a new caliph who was a bitter enemy of hajjaj came to power in damascus he purged hajjaj and recalled and executed his son-in-law muhammad ibn qasim though the personnel of the ruling arab elite shifted as a result the basic policies established by muhammad ibn qasim were followed by his umayyad and abbasid successors for several centuries in these early centuries the coming of islam brought little change for most of the inhabitants of the indian subcontinent in fact in many areas

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local leaders and the mass of the populace had surrendered towns and districts willingly to the conquerors who offered the promise of lighter taxation and greater religious tolerance the arab overlords decided to treat both hindus and buddhists as protected people of the book despite the fact that their faiths had no connection to the bible the book in question this meant that though they were obliged to pay special taxes non-muslims enjoyed the freedom to worship as they pleased and to maintain their temples and monasteries as in other areas conquered by the arabs most of the indigenous officials and functionaries retained their positions which did much to reconcile them to muslim rule the status and privileges of the brahmin castes were also respected virtually all the arabs who made up only a tiny minority of the population lived in the cities or special garrison towns because little effort was expended in converting the peoples of the conquered areas they remained overwhelmingly hindu or buddhist and initially at least displayed scant interest in the beliefs or culture of their new overlords indian influences on islamic civilization though the impact of islam on the indian subcontinent in this period was limited the arab foothold in sind provided contacts by which indian learning could be transmitted to the muslim heartlands in the middle east as a result islamic civilization was enriched by the skills and discoveries of yet another great civilization of particular importance was indian scientific learning which rivaled that of the greeks as the most advanced of the ancient world hindu mathematicians and astronomers traveled to baghdad after the abbasids came to power in the mid-8th century their works on algebra and geometry were translated into arabic and their instruments for celestial observation were copied and improved upon by arab astronomers most critically arab thinkers in all fields began to use the numerals that hindu scholars had devised centuries earlier because these numbers were passed on to the europeans through contacts with the arabs in the early middle ages we call them arabic numerals today but they originated in india because of the linkages between civilized centers established by the spread of islam this system of numerical notation has proved central to two scientific revolutions the first in the middle east which was discussed previously and a second more sustained and fundamental transformation first in europe and subsequently in much of the rest of the world from the 16th century onward in addition to science and mathematics indian treatises on subjects ranging from medicine to music were translated and studied by arab scholars indian physicians were brought to baghdad to run the well-endowed hospitals that the christian crusaders found a source of wonderment and a cause for envy on a number of occasions indian doctors were able to cure arab rulers and high officials whom greek physicians had pronounced beyond help indian works on statecraft alchemy and palmistry were also translated into arabic and it is believed that some of the tales in the arabian nights were based on ancient indian stories indian musical instruments and melodies made their way into the repertoires of arab performers and the indian game of chess became a favorite of both princes and ordinary townspeople arabs who emigrated to sind and other muslim-ruled areas often adopted indian dress and hairstyles ate indian foods and rode on elephants as the hindu rajas kings did in this era additional arab colonies were established in coastal areas such as malabar to the south and bengal in the east these trading enclaves would later provide the staging areas from which islam was transmitted to island and mainland southeast asia.

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