Syria was a province of the Byzantinian Empire, the population by majority MONOPHYSITES, Christians refusing to believe in trinity, the
dominant doctrine; the Byzantinian administration tried to force it on the christians of Syria and Egypt. Another problem was overtaxation.
Iraq was a province of the Neo-Persian Empire (Sassanid Dynasty) which had their capital at Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia (= Iraq). The
dominant religion was Zoroastrianism, but there were christian (Nestorian) and Jewish communities in the country. High taxation after
long, economically disastrous wars also a problem here.
Arabia was largely desert country, inhabited by BEDOUINs, pastoral nomads also heavily engaged in trade, with CARAVANs; the major
pack animal was the CAMEL. There were trade cities at OASEs such as MECCA and YATHRIB (= Medina; Medina just means "city" in
Arab). The Arab word for market is SOUK or BAZAAR.
Mecca and Medina were located along a major trade route, connecting the Mediterranean with South Arabia and, by ship, further with
India; pepper and silk were among the goods traded here.
Mecca was also a religious center; it's major attraction was the KAABA, containing a huge black meteorite. There were over 300 altars
in the Kaaba, surrounding the meteorite, where various deities were worshipped.
B.) Muhammad and Early Islam
Muhammad married a rich widow and thus gained control of one of Mecca's major trading houses, called ISLAM. Soon, he began to
have revelations and told others what he had been told. He demanded all the other altars to be removed and only ALLAH revered; Mecca's
city council regarded him a troublemaker and banned him from town (622).
Soon he was invited to enter Medina (Yathrib) where two factions were fighting over control of town. He was able to mediate and soon was
regarded PROPHET. A MOSQUE was built, where religious service was held every FRIDAY. Muhammad preached correct lifestyle; his
followers meanwhile raided caravans belonging to Meccan houses. In 632 Mecca invited Muhammad back in; the Meccans converted to
Islam (HIJRA). It is year one of the Muslim calendar.
A Muslim has to obey 5 rules : (1) cleanliness, (2) pray 5 times a day, (3) give alms to the poor, (4) visit Mecca once in his life (HAJJ),
(5) keep fasting during the RAMADAN. The SHARIA is the Islamic law code. It is draconic; theft is punished by hacking off the hand.
Orthodox Muslims believe that man may not alter the law as it was given to mankind by god; it is valid law in a number of Muslim countries.
Muslims have a strong belief in justice and honesty.
Muhammad's words were only written down under the Caliphs; the KORAN is the Muslim world's holy book. They do accept the new
testament and the old testament as holy scripts. In case of conflict, the Koran, as the last revelation of god, is definitive.
Islam tolerates book religions such as Christianity and Judaism. Christians and Jews living under Muslim rule have to pay an extra tax,
the PER CAPITA TAX or head tax. And next to mosks MINARETS are built, towers (higher than the church towers) from where the MUEZZIN
calls when it is time to pray. Islam is strictly MONOTHEISTIC. Islam does not openly search to convert people, but permits conversion if
based on genuine will. They regard Islam as the ultimate truth.
Muslims are forbidden to drink ALCOHOL (which is an Arab word) and are permitted to have 4 legitimate wives. This, actually, was a statute
introduced by Muhammad to guarantee economic security to the many widows left behind by men who died in battle.
C.) The Caliphate
With the return to Mecca in 632, most of the Arab peninsula was under Muslim control. The Muslim armies now began with the conquest of
SYRIA, Egypt - the local population regarded the Arabs as liberators; only the Byzantinian armies had to be defeated. Then Persia was
conquered, in a very bloody war. The Muslims regarded Zoroastrianism as worship of the devil, and exterminated that religion in Persia
(refugees brought it to India, were the Parsee minority still adheres to it). Unfortunately, almost all Persian historical records were also
destroyed.
Muhammad had died in 632; he was followed by the closest of his followers, Abu Bakr, Othman, Umar and Ali, called the CALIPHS. The
followers of Ali believed that he, as muhammad's son-in-law, was the only rightful successor; they are called the Shi'at Ali or the Shiites.
The family or Umar did not believe in Ali being the correct Caliph; it is the beginning of the SUNNITE branch of Islam. Mu'awia, the Sunnite
Caliph, succeeded, establishing his capital in DAMASCUS; his dynasty is called the UMAYYADS. They were succeeded by the ABBASIDS,
with capital BAGHDAD.
Islamic expansion continued. Carthago fell in 695, Spain in 711; in that year the Arab armies reached the Indus river, in 750 they fought a
battle with the Chinese.
The lands conquered, except Spain and mediterranean islands, were permanent gains for Islam. Yet the unity of the Islamic world soon
broke up, fragmentizing more and more.
Of major cultural importance was the FATIMID DYNASTY, who established themselves in Egypt (CAIRO), where they founded the AL AZHAR
UNIVERSITY.
D.) Turks and Mongols
As the Romans employed Germanics in their armies, only to lose control of them, so did the Caliphate with a pastoral border people, the
Turks from Central Asia.
In 1071 a Turk army defeated the Byzantinians in the BATTLE OF MANZIKERT which opened Anatolia to their raids.
Soon afterward, the CRUSADERS arrived in the Near East, to stay for 200 years (1196-1291). More dangerous were the MONGOLS : Hulagu
Khan raised Baghdad to the ground in 1258 - it was said to be the world's largest city, the city of the tales of the Arabian nights.
The OTTOMAN TURKS in 1453 took Constantinople and early in the 16th century united most of the Muslim world under their rule - except
Morocco, Iran and the lands further east.
The Ottoman Empire was multiethnic (although Turks played the dominant role), but strictly Islamic. The Turks forced the christian and
Jewish communities to pay a tax in boys, who would then be educated in Turkish language as ardent supporters of the SULTAN; most of
them would become JANISSARIES (elite soldiers). The Ottomans had an excellent artillery.
The Ottoman Empire lasted until World War I. In the 19th century it lost a number of provinces, but it held on to Arabia.
E.) Arabs and Colonialism
Ever since the crusades Muslims and Christians regarded each other with scepticism, more often than not as enemies. In 1830 France
began with the conquest of Algeria, meeting determined resistance. France established a protectorate over Tunisia in 1881, Britain over
Egypt in 1882. The MAHDI REVOLT in the Sudan showed how unwilling Muslims were to accept any non-Muslim ruling over them.
During World War I the Arabs of Hijaz rebelled against Ottoman rule. They contributed to the defeat of the Turks and were treated as allies;
yet Britain took Iraq, Jordan and Palestine, France Syria and Lebanon.
They were not happy with their territorial gains, as the Arabs were resisting foreign rule. The British permitted Jewish immigration into
Palestine, as the BALFOUR DECLARATION of 1917 had promised. When the British left Palestine in 1948, two almost equally strong
communities - the (immigrant) Jews and the Arabs - faced each other, armed and hostile.
The present borders of Arabia and North Africa are, at least partially, a legacy of colonialism. France and Britain influenced higher
education and administration in their colonies.
Colonialism contributed to the partition of the Muslim world; in 1918, a united Arabian kingdom was an alternative.
F.) Decolonisation; Recent History
Egypt became independent in 1922/1952, Iraq in 1930, Syria/Lebanon in 1941, Libya in 1951, Morocco, Tunisia in 1957, Algeria, after a bloody
insurgence, in 1962, South Yeman (Aden) in 1966.
A charismatic Arab leader of the period of early independence was GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, one of the leaders of the NON-ALIGNED
MOVEMENT.
Hejaz, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan never were under colonial rule. SHAH REZA PAHLEVI of Iran, educated in Switzerland, was
perceived by many as an imperialist; in 1979 his rule was toppled by the ISLAMIC REVOLUTION, which established a democracy guided
by a theocracy; in Iran since the 16th century the SHIITES dominate.
TURKEY, after having witnessed the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and after having defended Anatolia against an attempt to partition it,
underwent a systematic MODERNIZATION under President KEMAL ATATURK. Turkey is a SECULAR REPUBLIC, has replaced the Arabic by
the Latin alphabet, separated religion and state, emancipated women.
The recent history of the Near East is marked by OIL found in the 1930es (OPEC took control of the fixing of the oil price in 1973, causing the
OIL CRISIS) and of the ongoing conflict over Palestine.
In 1948, Palestine had been partitioned into a Jewish and an Arab State; immediately war broke out which resulted in an Israeli victory, a
reduction of the Palestinian part of Palestine, and a wave of refugees. Further wars (1966, 1973) ended with Israeli victories and an
aggravation of the refugee problem.
Attempt to negotiate a peace began in 1973. The border question with Egypt is resolved; the Palestinian question is still open.
The Israeli-Arab conflict was, for a time, integrated into the COLD WAR, when the USSR supported the Arabs and the USA Israel. Since
the 1970es Egypt turned pro-western.
Dissent between Islamic states - the first and second GULF WAR (Iraq-Iran 1980-1988) and the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation
(1991) for a time overshadowed the conflict over Palestine.
This page is part of World History at KMLA Last revised on September 18th 2001
