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Mainstream Islamic law does not distinguish between "matters of church" and "matters of state"; the scholars function as both jurists and theologians. Currently no government conforms to Islamic economic jurisprudence; they all deal in usury and in government bonds.[120][121][122] Jihad Main articles: Jihad, Islamic military jurisprudence and List of expeditions of Muhammad Jihad means "to strive or struggle" (in the way of God). Jihad, in its broadest sense, is "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation". Depending on the object being a visible enemy, the devil, and aspects of one's own self (such as sinful desires), different categories of jihad are defined.[123] Jihad, when used without any qualifier, is understood in its military aspect.[124][125] Jihad also refers to one's striving to attain religious and moral perfection.[126] Some Muslim authorities, especially among the Shi'a and Sufis, distinguish between the "greater jihad", which pertains to spiritual self-perfection, and the "lesser jihad", defined as warfare.[127] Within Islamic jurisprudence, jihad is usually taken to mean military exertion against non-believer/non-Muslim/Muslim combatants who insulted Islam. The ultimate purpose of military jihad is debated, both within the Islamic community and without. Jihad is the only form of warfare permissible in Islamic law and may be declared against illegal works, terrorists, criminal groups, rebels, apostates, and leaders or states who oppress Muslims.[128][129] Most Muslims today interpret Jihad as only a defensive form of warfare.[130] Jihad only becomes an individual duty for those vested with authority. For the rest of the populace, this happens only in the case of a general mobilization.[129] For most Twelver Shias, offensive jihad can only be declared by a divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community, and as such is suspended since Muhammad al-Mahdi's[131] occultation in 868 AD.[132] History A panoramic view of Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina, Hejaz region, today's Saudi Arabia, the second most sacred Mosque in Islam Main articles: History of Islam and Spread of Islam Muhammad (610–632) Main articles: Muhammad and Muhammad in Islam See also: Early social changes under Islam In Muslim tradition, Muhammad (c. 570 – June 8, 632) is viewed as the last in a series of prophets.[133] During the last 22 years of his life, beginning at age 40 in 610 CE, according to the earliest surviving biographies, Muhammad reported revelations that he believed to be from God conveyed to him through the archangel Gabriel (Jibril). The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his companions.[134] During this time, Muhammad in Mecca preached to the people, imploring them to abandon polytheism and to worship one God. Although some converted to Islam, Muhammad and his followers were persecuted by the leading Meccan authorities. This resulted in the Migration to Abyssinia of some Muslims (to the Aksumite Empire). Many early converts to Islam, were the poor and former slaves like Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi. The Meccan elite felt that Muhammad was destabilising their social order by preaching about one God, racial equality and in the process giving ideas to the poor and their slaves.[135][136][137][138] After 12 years of the persecution of Muslims by the Meccans and the Meccan boycott of the Hashemites, Muhammad's relatives, Muhammad and the Muslims performed the Hijra ("emigration") to the city of Medina (formerly known as Yathrib) in 622. There, with the Medinan converts (Ansar) and the Meccan migrants (Muhajirun), Muhammad in Medina established his political and religious authority. A state was established in accordance with Islamic economic jurisprudence. The Constitution of Medina was formulated, instituting a number of rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish, Christian and pagan communities of Medina, bringing them within the fold of one community — the Ummah.[139][140] The Constitution established: the security of the community, religious freedoms, the role of Medina as a sacred place (barring all violence and weapons), the security of women, stable tribal relations within Medina, a tax system for supporting the community in time of conflict, parameters for exogenous political alliances, a system for granting protection of individuals, and a judicial system for resolving disputes where non-Muslims could also use their own laws. All the tribes signed the agreement to defend Medina from all external threats and to live in harmony amongst themselves. Within a few years, two battles were fought against the Meccan forces: first, the Battle of Badr in 624, which was a Muslim victory, and then a year later, when the Meccans returned to Medina, the Battle of Uhud, which ended inconclusively. The Arab tribes in the rest of Arabia then formed a confederation and during the Battle of the Trench besieged Medina intent on finishing off Islam. In 628, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed between Mecca and the Muslims and was broken by Mecca two years later. After the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah many more people converted to Islam. At the same time, Meccan trade routes were cut off as Muhammad brought surrounding desert tribes under his control.[141] By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless Conquest of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 (at the age of 62) he united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity.[142] Caliphate and civil war (632–750) The Great Mosque of Kairouan, established in 670 in Kairouan, Tunisia, represents one of the best architectural examples of Islamic civilization.[143] Further information: Succession to Muhammad, Muslim conquests and Battle of Karbala With Muhammad's death in 632, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community. Abu Bakr, a companion and close friend of Muhammad, was made the first caliph. Under Abu Bakr the Muslims expanded into Syria after putting down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".[144] The Quran was compiled into a single volume at this time. His death in 634 resulted in the succession of Umar ibn al-Khattab as the caliph, followed by Uthman ibn al-Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Hasan ibn Ali. The first caliphs are known as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn ("Rightly Guided Caliphs"). Under them, the territory under Muslim rule expanded deeply into the parts of the Persian and Byzantine territories.[145] When Umar was assassinated by Persians in 644, the election of Uthman as successor was met with increasing opposition. The standard copies of the Quran were also distributed throughout the Islamic State. In 656, Uthman was also killed, and Ali assumed the position of caliph. After the first civil war (the "First Fitna"), Ali was assassinated by Kharijites in 661. Following a peace treaty, Mu'awiyah came to power and began the Umayyad dynasty.[146] These disputes over religious and political leadership would give rise to schism in the Muslim community. The majority accepted the legitimacy of the three rulers prior to Ali, and became known as Sunnis. A minority disagreed, and believed that only Ali and some of his descendants should rule; they became known as the Shia.[147] After Mu'awiyah's death in 680, conflict over succession broke out again in a civil war known as the "Second Fitna". The Umayyad dynasty conquered the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Narbonnese Gaul and Sindh.[148] Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests.[149][150] Since the Constitution of Medina, Jews and Christians continued to use their own laws in the Islamic State and had their own judges.[80][81][82] The descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib rallied discontented non-Arab converts (mawali), poor Arabs, and some Shi'a against the Umayyads and overthrew them with the help of the general Abu Muslim, inaugurating the Abbasid dynasty in 750.[151] Abbasid era (750–1258) The Muslim Caliphate, 750 CE. During this time, the Delhi Sultanate took over the Indian subcontinent. Religious missions converted Volga Bulgaria to Islam. Many Muslims also went to China to trade, virtually dominating the import and export industry of the Song Dynasty.[152] The major hadith collections were compiled during the early Abbasid era. The Ja'fari jurisprudence was formed from the teachings of Ja'far al-Sadiq while the four Sunni Madh'habs, the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi'i, were established around the teachings of Abū Ḥanīfa, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Malik ibn Anas and al-Shafi'i respectively. Al-Shafi'i also codified a method to establish the reliability of hadith.[153] Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir completed the most commonly cited commentaries on the Quran, the Tafsir al-Tabari in the 9th century and the Tafsir ibn Kathir in the 14th century, respectively. Philosophers Al-Farabi and Avicenna sought to incorporate Greek principles into Islamic theology, while others like Al-Ghazali argued against them and ultimately prevailed.[154] Caliphs such as Mamun al Rashid and Al-Mu'tasim made the mutazilite philosophy an official creed and imposed it upon Muslims to follow. Mu'tazila was a Greek influenced school of speculative theology called kalam, which refers to dialectic.[155] Many orthodox Muslims rejected mutazilite doctrines and condemned their idea of the creation of the Quran. In inquisitions, Imam Hanbal refused to conform and was tortured and sent to an unlit Baghdad prison cell for nearly thirty months.[156] The other branch of kalam was the Ash'ari school founded by Al-Ash'ari. Some Muslims began to question the piety of indulgence in a worldly life and emphasized poverty, humility and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Ascetics such as Hasan al-Basri would inspire a movement that would evolve into Tasawwuf (Sufism).[157] Beginning in the 13th century, Sufism underwent a transformation, largely because of efforts to legitimize and reorganize the movement by Al-Ghazali, who developed the model of the Sufi order—a community of spiritual teachers and students.[158] This era is sometimes called the "Islamic Golden Age".[159] Public hospitals established during this time (called Bimaristan hospitals), are considered "the first hospitals" in the modern sense of the word,[160][161] and issued the first medical diplomas to license doctors.[162][163] The Guinness World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine, founded in 859, as the world's oldest degree-granting university.[164] The doctorate is argued to date back to the licenses to teach in Muslim law schools.[165] Standards of experimental and quantification techniques, as well as the tradition of citation,[166] were introduced.[167] An important pioneer in this, Ibn Al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method and often referred to as the "world’s first true scientist".[168][169] The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes today.[166] The data used by Copernicus for his heliocentric conclusions was gathered and Al-Jahiz proposed a theory of natural selection.[170][171] Rumi wrote some of the finest Persian poetry and is still one of the best selling poets in America.[172][173] Legal institutions introduced include the trust and charitable trust (Waqf).[174][175] The first Muslims states independent of a unified Muslim state emerged from the Berber Revolt (739/740-743). In 930, the Ismaili group known as the Qarmatians unsuccessfully rebelled against the Abbassids, sacked Mecca and stole the Black Stone, which was eventually retrieved.[176] The Mongol Empire put an end to the Abbassid dynasty in 1258.[177] Fall of Abbasids to end of caliphate (1258–1924) The Battle of Nicopolis (1396) became one of the earliest victories of the Ottoman Empire against Crusader European powers. Islam spread with Muslim trade networks and Sufi orders activity that extended into Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Malay archipelago.[178][179] The Ottomans challenged European powers on land and sea, and reached deep into Central Europe at the Siege of Vienna (1529). Under the Ottoman Empire, Islam spread to Southeast Europe, Crimea, and the Caucasus.[180] The Muslims in China who were descended from earlier immigration began to assimilate by adopting Chinese names and culture while Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.[181][182] The Muslim world was generally in serious political decline starting the 1800s, especially relative to the non-Muslim European powers. This decline was evident culturally; while Taqi al-Din founded an observatory in Istanbul and the Jai Singh Observatory was built in the 18th century, there was not a single Muslim country with a major observatory by the twentieth century.[183] The Reconquista, launched against Muslim principalities in Iberia, succeeded in 1492 and Muslim Italian states were lost to the Normans. By the 19th century the British Empire had formally ended the last Mughal dynasty in India.[184] The Ottoman Empire disintegrated after World War I and the Caliphate was abolished in 1924.[185][186] The majority Shia group at that time, the Zaydis, used the Hanafi jurisprudence, as did most Sunnis.[187][188][189] The Shia Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of Iran.[190] The ensuing mandatory conversion of Iran to Twelver Shia Islam for the largely Sunni population also ensured the final dominance of the Twelver sect within Shiism over the Zaidi sect, the largest group amongst the Shia before the Safavid Dynasty, and the Ismaili sect.[191] A revival movement during this period an 18th-century Salafi movement led by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab in today's Saudi Arabia. Referred to as Wahhabi, their self designation is Muwahiddun (unitarians). Building upon earlier efforts such as those by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, the movement allegedly seeks to uphold monotheism and purify Islam of what they see as later innovations. Their zeal against idolatrous shrines led to the desecration of shrines around the world, including that of Muhammad and his companions in Mecca and Medina.[192][193] In the 19th century, the Deobandi and Barelwi movements were initiated. Modern times (1924–present) Further information: Iranian revolution and Islamic revival Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through economic migration. Many Muslims migrated as indentured servants, from mostly India and Indonesia, to the Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the Americas.[194] The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling its Muslim population between 1869 and 1914.[195] Muslim immigrants, many as guest workers, began arriving, largely from former colonies, into several Western European nations since the 1960s. New Muslim intellectuals are beginning to arise, and are increasingly separating perennial Islamic beliefs from archaic cultural traditions.[196] Liberal Islam is a movement that attempts to reconcile religious tradition with modern norms of secular governance and human rights. Its supporters say that there are multiple ways to read Islam's sacred texts, and stress the need to leave room for "independent thought on religious matters".[197] Women's issues receive a significant weight in the modern discourse on Islam.[198] Secular powers such as Chinese Red Guards closed many mosques and destroyed Qurans and Communist Albania became the first country to ban the practice of every religion.[199][200] In Turkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments and headscarves were, as well as in Tunisia, banned in official buildings.[201][202] About half a million Muslims were killed in Cambodia by communists whom, it is argued, viewed them as their primary enemy and wished to exterminate them since they stood out and worshipped their own god.[203] Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani, along with his acolyte Muhammad Abduh, have been credited as forerunners of the Islamic revival.[204] Abul A'la Maududi helped influence modern political Islam.[205] Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood advocate Islam as a comprehensive political solution, often in spite of being banned.[206] In Iran, revolution replaced a secular regime with an Islamic state. In Turkey, the Islamist AK Party has democratically been in power for about a decade, while Islamist parties are doing well in elections following the Arab Spring.[207] The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of Muslim countries, was established in 1969 after the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.[208] Piety appears to be deepening worldwide.[209][210][211] In many places, the prevalence of the Islamic veil is growing increasingly common [212] and the percentage of Muslims favoring Sharia laws has increased.[213] With religious guidance increasingly available electronically, Muslims are able to access views that are strict enough for them rather than rely on state clerics who are often seen as stooges.[210] Some organizations began using the media to promote Islam such as the 24-hour TV channel, Peace TV.[214] Perhaps as a result of these efforts, most experts agree that Islam is growing faster than any other faith in East and West Africa.[215][216] Denominations The distribution of Sunni, Shia, and Ibadi branches of Islam. An overview of the major schools and branches of Islam. Main article: Islamic schools and branches See also: Shia–Sunni relations Sunni Main article: Sunni Islam The largest denomination in Islam is Sunni Islam, which makes up 75%–90% of all Muslims.[9] Sunni Muslims also go by the name Ahl as-Sunnah which means "people of the tradition [of Muhammad]".[217][218] These hadiths, recounting Muhammad's words, actions, and personal characteristics, are preserved in traditions known as Al-Kutub Al-Sittah (six major books). Sunnis believe that the first four caliphs were the rightful successors to Muhammad; since God did not specify any particular leaders to succeed him and those leaders were elected. Sunnis believe that anyone who is righteous and just could be a caliph but they have to act according to the Qur'an and the Hadith, the example of Muhammad and give the people their rights. The Sunnis follow the Quran, then the Hadith. Then for legal matters not found in the Quran or the Hadith, they follow four madh'habs (schools of thought): Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi'i, established around the teachings of Abū Ḥanīfa, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Malik ibn Anas and al-Shafi'i respectively. All four accept the validity of the others and a Muslim may choose any one that he or she finds agreeable.[219] The Salafi (also known as Ahl al-Hadith (Arabic: أهل الحديث; The people of hadith), or the pejorative term Wahhabi by its adversaries) is an ultra-orthodox Islamic movement which takes the first generation of Muslims as exemplary models.[220] Shia Main article: Shia Islam The Shia constitute 10–20% of Islam and are its second-largest branch.[10] While the Sunnis believe that a Caliph should be elected by the community, Shia's believe that Muhammad appointed his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as his successor and only certain descendants of Ali could be Imams. As a result, they believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first Imam (leader), rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr, Uthman ibn al-Affan and Umar ibn al-Khattab. Shia Islam has several branches, the largest of which is the Twelvers, followed by Zaidis and Ismailis. Different branches accept different descendants of Ali as Imams. After the death of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq considered the sixth Imam by the Twelvers, and the Ismaili's, the Ismailis started to consider his son Isma'il ibn Jafar as the Imam and the Twelver Shia's (Ithna Asheri) started to consider his other son Musa al-Kazim as their seventh Imam. While the Zaydis consider Zayd ibn Ali, the uncle of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, as their fifth Imam. Other smaller groups include the Bohra and Druze,[221] as well as the Alawites and Alevi. Some Shia branches label other Shia branches that do not agree with their doctrine as Ghulat. Sufism Sufi whirling dervishes in Istanbul, Turkey Main article: Sufism Sufism (Tasawwuf) is a mystical-ascetic approach to Islam that seeks to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God.[222] By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.[223] However, Sufism has been criticized by the Salafi sect for what they see as an unjustified religious innovation.[224][225] Hasan al-Basri was inspired by the ideas of piety and condemnation of worldliness preached by Muhammad and these ideas were later further developed by Al-Ghazali in his books on Sufism. Sufi-majority countries include Senegal, Chad and Niger.[226] Other denominations Ahmadiyya is an Islamic reform movement (with Sunni roots) founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad[227] that began in India in 1889 and is practiced by over ten million[228] Muslims around the world. Non-denominational Muslims are Muslims who do not restrict their religious affiliation to any particular branch of Islam. The Ibadi is a sect that dates back to the early days of Islam and is a branch of kharijite. Unlike most Kharijite groups, Ibadism does not regard sinful Muslims as unbelievers. Mahdavia is an Islamic sect that believes in a 15th-century mahdi, Muhammad Jaunpuri The Quranists are Muslims who generally reject the Hadith. Yazdânism is seen as a blend of local Kurdish beliefs and Islamic Sufi doctrine introduced to Kurdistan by Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir in the 12th century. There are also black Muslim movements such as the Nation of Islam (NOI), Five-Percent Nation and Moorish scientists. Demographics World Muslim population by percentage (Pew Research Center, 2009). Main articles: Muslim world and Ummah See also: List of countries by Muslim population A comprehensive 2009 demographic study of 232 countries and territories reported that 23% of the global population, or 1.57 billion people, are Muslims. Of those, it is estimated over 75–90% are Sunni and 10–20% are Shia[13][217][229] with a small minority belonging to other sects. Approximately 57 countries are Muslim-majority,[230] and Arabs account for around 20% of all Muslims worldwide.[231] The number of Muslims worldwide increased from Between 200 million in 1900 to 551 million in 1970,[232] and tripled to 1.57 billion by 2009.[citation needed] The majority of Muslims live in Asia and Africa.[233] Approximately 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.[234][235] In the Middle East, non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the most populous Muslim communities.[236] Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has approximately 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population).[237][238][239][240] However, data provided by the San Diego State University's International Population Center to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims.[241] Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries,[242] and is slowly catching up to that status in the Americas, with between 2,454,000, according to Pew Forum, and approximately 7 million Muslims, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in the United States.[13][243] Culture The front of the Nur-Astana Mosque in Astana, Kazakhstan. Nur-Astana Mosque is the country's largest mosque. Main article: Islamic culture The term "Islamic culture" could be used to mean aspects of culture that pertain to the religion, such as festivals and dress code. It is also commonly used to denote the cultural aspects of traditionally Muslim people.[244] Finally, "Islamic civilization" may also refer to the aspects of the synthesized culture of the early Caliphates, including that of non-Muslims,[245] sometimes referred to as 'Islamicate'. Architecture Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Main article: Islamic architecture Perhaps the most important expression of Islamic art is architecture, particularly that of the mosque (four-iwan and hypostyle).[246] Through the edifices, the effect of varying cultures within Islamic civilization can be illustrated. The North African and Spanish Islamic architecture, for example, has Roman-Byzantine elements, as seen in the Great Mosque of Kairouan which contains marble and porphyry columns from Roman and Byzantine buildings,[247] in the Alhambra palace at Granada, or in the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Art Detail of arabesque decoration at the Alhambra in Spain. Main article: Islamic art Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people (not necessarily Muslim) who lived within the territory that was inhabited by Muslim populations.[248] It includes fields as varied as architecture, calligraphy, painting, and ceramics, among others. Making images of human beings and animals is frowned on in many Islamic cultures and connected with laws against idolatry common to all Abrahamic religions, as 'Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood reported that Muhammad said, "Those who will be most severely punished by Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers" (reported by al-Bukhaari, see al-Fath, 10/382). However this rule has been interpreted in different ways by different scholars and in different historical periods, and there are examples of paintings of both animals and humans in Mughal, Persian and Turkish art. The existence of this aversion to creating images of animate beings has been used to explain the prevalence of calligraphy, tessellation and pattern as key aspects of Islamic artistic culture.[citation needed] Calendar Main article: Islamic calendar The formal beginning of the Muslim era was chosen to be the Hijra in 622 CE, which was an important turning point in Muhammad's fortunes. The assignment of this year as the year 1 AH (Anno Hegirae) in the Islamic calendar was reportedly made by Caliph Umar. It is a lunar calendar with days lasting from sunset to sunset.[249] Islamic holy days fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, which means that they occur in different seasons in different years in the Gregorian calendar. The most important Islamic festivals are Eid al-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الفطر) on the 1st of Shawwal, marking the end of the fasting month Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha (عيد الأضحى) on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah, coinciding with the pilgrimage to Mecca.[250] Criticism Main article: Criticism of Islam Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy.[251] Later there appeared criticism from the Muslim world itself, and also from Jewish writers and from ecclesiastical Christians.[252][253][254] Objects of criticism include the morality of the life of Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam, both in his public and personal life.[254][255] Issues relating to the authenticity and morality of the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book, are also discussed by critics.[256][257] Other criticisms focus on the question of human rights in modern Islamic nations, and the treatment of women in Islamic law and practice.[258][259] In wake of the recent multiculturalism trend, Islam's influence on the ability of Muslim immigrants in the West to assimilate has been criticized.[260] |
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