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Islam: An Historical Perspective
Islam began when man's career on earth began---more precisely at
the time of man's creation and his descent. Allah created Adam
and Eve and enjoined them to worship Him and live a life of
obedience to the Divine Will.
Allah is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and of human
beings. Man must turn to Him for sustenance and guidance. The
very word Islam means obedience to God. In this respect, Islam
is man's natural religion---the only natural course is for man
to look towards Him for guidance.
The day Adam and Eve were sent down to live on earth, Allah told
them that they were His servants and He was their Master and
Creator. He told them and mankind that the best course was for
them to follow His guidance, to obey His orders and to refrain
from what He had forbidden. God said to them that He would be
pleased if they obeyed Him and in turn He would reward them. If,
however, they did not heed His commands, He would be displeased
and would punish them. This was the simple beginning of Islam.
Adam and Eve invited their children to follow the Islamic way of
life. They and their children and their later generations
followed the teachings of Islam as propounded by Prophet Adam
(peace be upon him) for quite a long period of time. It was only
later on that certain people began disobeying Allah. Some of
them began worshipping other gods of their own making, some of
them regarded themselves as gods, while a few others even
declared their freedom to do as they pleased--defying God's
orders. This is how kufr (disbelief) came into being. Its
essence lies in refusal to worship God--pursuing the path of
defiance to the Creator.
When kufr (disbelief) began to increase and multiply it affected
the life of society in a number of ways. Exploitation,
oppression, viciousness and immorality emerged in different
forms. Life became intolerable. Allah then appointed some
righteous people to preach the Message of Truth among the
wrongdoers, invite them to the Right Path and convert them to
God-fearing people--worshipping and obeying God Alone. In short,
they were asked to perform a mission--to make people righteous
and true Muslims. These noble people entrusted with this great
mission were called Prophets or Messengers of Allah. Allah sent
these Prophets to different nations and countries. All of them
were honest, truthful, and people of noble character. All of
them preached the same religion--Islam. To mention a few
names--Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. All of them were the
Prophets of God and thousands of them were, over the centuries,
sent into the world to guide mankind.
In the history of the last few thousand years, one can see the
recurrent arrival of Prophets whenever kufr(disbelief) increased
and assumed menacing proportions. The prophets tried to stop the
tide of disbelief and invited people towards Islam. Some people
adopted the Islamic way of life, but others rejected it. The
people who followed the Prophets became Muslims and, after
learning higher ethical and moral disciplines from them, began
to preach and spread nobility and goodness. Having forgotten the
teachings of Islam, later generations of Muslims themselves
gradually sank into disbelief. Whenever such a situation arose,
God sent a Prophet or Messenger to revive Islam. This continual
arrival of Messengers of God continued for thousands of years.
In the course of those long years, Islam was revived by those
Prophets, who restated the Message forgotten by their people. At
long last God sent the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who
revived Islam in such an outstanding fashion that it still
exists today and will continue to exist (God willing), till
eternity.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born in 571 C.E. in
the now famous city of Arabia called Makkah. Islam had no
following in Arabia at that time nor did it have any following
anywhere else in the world. Although the traces of teachings of
the earlier Prophets could be found among a few pious people who
tried to worship one and only one God and live a life of
obedience to Him, the true religion of God was lost in a maze of
paganism and pantheism. The pure worship of God, unadulterated
by shirk (worship of false gods), was nowhere to be found. Moral
values had lost their grip and people were indulging in all
sorts of lax behavior and wickedness. Such was the situation in
Arabia as also in the whole world at the close of the sixth
century when God decided to send the Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) as His last Messenger. He spent forty years of his
life as a patient observer in the city of Makkah. Everyone
respected him for his noble qualities of head and heart. But
they were not aware that this man was destined to become the
world's greatest leader.
During the early years of his life, the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) felt very much grieved to see the gross immorality
of the world of his time. There was exploitation of man by man.
There was injustice and tyranny. He was grieved and anxious, but
was somewhat silent as he, too, was unable to devise a remedy
for the ailing humanity of the day. At long last, God chose him
as His Messenger. When he attained the age of forty, God
entrusted him with the Mission of spreading Islam, the true
religion of God, the religion of peace and justice, by means of
the Revelations which we now know as the Quran.
Having been appointed as the Messenger of God, the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) started to communicate God's
Message to his people in Makkah. He began by inviting them to
worship none but God--their sole Creator and Master. People in
general opposed him and tried to prevent him from spreading
Islam. He, however, continued his work with unflinching
determination and dedication. As a result, many honest people
gathered round him. They became his staunch supporters. The
teachings of the Messenger of God spread slowly but surely
outside his native Makkah to Arabia at large. Those who had a
reputation for honesty and moral excellence began to accept the
Faith, while opposition to them came from many ignorant people
and vicious quarters. This continued for thirteen years. There
was a gradual breaking of new ground. Islam was gaining a
following all over Arabia. This is one side of the story. On the
other hand, the defenders of the old order, people with vested
interests and steeped in ignorant customs were hardening their
opposition to Islam. Whenever new converts to Islam were
presented, they were abused, humiliated, beaten, tortured,
expelled and even put to death. Nevertheless, they remained firm
and steadfast. At last the Makkah elders devised a plot to
assassinate the Messenger of God in order to nip the Islamic
movement in the bud. When affairs reached that pitiful state,
God ordered His Messenger to leave Makkah and migrate to Madinah.
Having learned that the Prophet was planning to migrate from
Makkah, its leaders expedited their plans to murder him on his
journey outward. However, their disgraceful conspiracy could not
succeed. The Prophet arrived at Madinah safe and sound. This is
the most famous migration (hijrah) in the history of Islam. The
Muslim calendar begins from that day, the years being numbered
"After Hijrah" ( A.H.).
Madinah, a city some 450 kilometers from Makkah, was growing as
a centre for Islam. A number of people had already been
converted to the new faith. Islamic teachings were winning new
supporters every day. Leaders of the two major tribes of Madinah
had accepted Islam and were ready to sacrifice their lives and
property for the cause of Islam. At this point, the Prophet
started planning to move to Madinah.
As soon as the Prophet settled in Madinah, the new Muslims
started to flock into the city from the four corners of Arabia.
This further strengthened the new centre. Islam was no longer a
persecuted religion; it was able to obtain a firm foothold and
was provided with the historic opportunity to establish an
Islamic State and society. This constitutes the most important
development of the post-Hijrah period. The leaders of Makkah,
the defenders of the old order, did not miss the significance of
this change. They realised that a new model was being set up,
which would be a challenge to the way they were running their
society. This caused great anxiety amongst them. They decided to
crush this rising force while it was still in its infancy. For
they believed that it would be easy to crush the Muslims while
they were few and far between and lacked a centralized power.
Now things were changing. Muslims were concentrating at one
place and organizing a new society with its own government. The
prospects of annihilating such a state, once it was firmly
entrenched, looked remote to them. The unbelievers feared that
if the Muslims were allowed to gain momentum they would become a
great power. Consequently they hurried to band themselves
together with a view to eradicating the embryonic Islamic
government at Madinah. The Makkah leaders lost no time in
issuing a clarion call to their kith and kin and to all
supporters of the old order in neighboring towns and all over
Arabia to rally round them to form a force which could crush the
Muslims. They formed a band of cavalry which invaded Madinah and
its environs time and again with all their military might. They,
however, could not defeat the Prophet and his loyal supporters.
In spite of all efforts on the part of the unbelievers, Islam
continued to spread in Arabia. The good, honest folk continued
to forsake kufr (disbelief) and come into the fold of Islam.
Eventually, Islam gained a crowning success when the Prophet
entered victoriously into Makkah--once the stronghold of kufr.
This all happened within eight years of the establishment of the
Islamic State of Madinah. No sooner had Makkah submitted to the
Islamic forces than the remaining hostile groups of unbelievers
of Arabia began to surrender. Within the next year, the whole of
Arabia accepted Islam and the Muslims established a powerful
government over an area consisting of some twelve hundred
thousand square miles.
Arabia had the most singular government of the time, based as it
was on the principle of the sovereignty of God and the
vicegerency (Khilafah) of man. The law of the land was Islamic.
The administration of the state lay in the hands of the honest
and pious people. The country had no trace of violence,
oppression, injustice or immorality. Peace, justice, truth and
honesty reigned supreme everywhere. Many of the people of the
country had come to possess the highest moral attributes because
they were honest in worshipping God and obeying Him.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) changed the character
of Arabian life in a short period of only twenty-three years. He
instilled in the people a spirit that helped to serve the cause
of Islam. They set out with the great mission of spreading Islam
throughout the whole world. The Prophet passed away at the age
of sixty-three, after completing the greatest mission of all
time.
The Companions of the Prophet took up the mission of the Prophet
after his death. They traveled to distant lands to spread the
Islamic teachings. They succeeded wherever they went. Obstacles
that stood in their way in spreading Islam were all surmounted.
Islam became so strong in such a short while that no one dared
try to stop its growth. The Muslims were spread out from India
to Spain. They changed the face of the globe. The entire
population of the countries they visited were so much impressed
by their good example and noble behavior that they began to
enter quickly into the fold of Islam. Wherever the Muslims went,
they took their highest moral attributes with them--so much so
that immorality and injustice dissolved in their presence. They
transformed Godless people into God-conscious people and gave
them the Light of Knowledge and strength of character. They
changed their way of life so that virtue and goodness could
prevail. The entire social climate was reformed and remoulded.
The hands of the oppressors were held and a reign of justice and
fair play established. This was the greatest achievement in the
history of mankind.
The Companions of the Prophet rendered yet another great service
to mankind. This consisted in memorising the Quran and
preserving it in its original form as it was revealed to the
Prophet. They wrote down the Quran word for word and did not
miss even a mark in its Arabic orthography. Today, we are most
fortunate in having the Quran exactly as it was revealed to the
Prophet, written and read in the same language and in the same
diction as it was written and read in the time of the
Prophet--about 1,400 years ago.
Another important aspect of their work was to preserve and
communicate to posterity the most detailed account of the
Prophet's life, speeches, instructions, commands, morals and
behaviour. These accounts by the Prophet's Companions are
grouped together under the all-embracing title of the Sunnah of
Hadith (Traditions of the Prophet). This is the greatest record
ever preserved about the life and activities of a man and is a
great blessing to every generation. For even after a lapse of
1,400 years after the Prophet's death, people can still see and
hear his teachings as the Companions of the Prophet saw and
heard them during his lifetime. Now anybody can approach hadith
literature and find out the Islamic point of view on any
subject. He can learn how to become obedient to God and what
type of man is liked by God.
The Quran and the Hadith are things of greatest importance to a
Muslim. With their preservation and security (God has promised
to secure and preserve them), Islam is protected for all time to
come. In the days before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him), Islam was forgotten again and again after being revived,
owing to lack of the necessary care regarding the preservation
and security of the earlier Revealed Books and the details of
the lives of their Prophets. This was the reason why, after
every Prophet, generations following forgot the real teachings
and drifted towards a life devoid of good morals and norms of
behaviour. But Islam, as revived by the Prophet Muhammad, is
bound to last for ever because the Book of God and the
traditions of the Prophet are both secure and preserved in their
original purity.
The Islamic way of life can be revived and reconstructed again
and again with the help of the Quran and the traditions if ever,
God forbid, the freshness of its true spirit wanes. The world no
longer requires any new Prophet to revive Islam to its pristine
glory. It is enough to have among us the learned people who know
the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet and who are able to
apply their teachings to their own lives and stimulate others to
adopt and apply them in their lives as well. This is how the
stream of Islam will continue to flow, refreshing the eternal
thirst of mankind.
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