ISLAM
The region of origin of the pre-Islamic Arab populations is the Arabian peninsula, a territory consisting for the most part of a large desert with few oases scattered in the immense sea of land and sand. An exception to this type of environment is the southern coastal strip of the peninsula, the current Yemen , which, thanks to the influence exerted by the monsoons coming from the Indian Ocean, was favorable to the development of populations of permanent farmers.
The rest of the peninsula, on the other hand, saw the development of a society characterized by nomadism and pastoralism. and from raids (hostile therefore to permanent farmers).
The figure of the nomadic farmer is indicated by the term Bedouin , from the Arabic badawi : desert dweller . The Bedouins were organized into tribes, placed under the leadership of an elected chief, the sayyid , and each of them was regulated on the basis of the sunna , the set of customs transmitted orally.
Alongside the Bedouins, the caravan merchants also lived in the desert , through which Arabia came into contact with external civilizations, and therefore with other religions and cultures.
Bedouins and Merchants held the dominance over peasants and artisans as, due to the dangers associated with traveling in such a hostile environment, they were the only ones to carry arms .
From a political point of view, pre-Islamic Arabia was completely disintegrated, divided into territories that governed themselves in mutual respect for their autonomy.
Muhammad
Mohammed was born in Mecca , in 570 AD approximately, in the year called " of the elephant ", From a secondary branch of the very important Meccan tribe of the Quraish , guardian of the sanctuary of Mecca , where the "black stone" (today transformed into the main object of Islamic worship) and various deities were venerated, including " Hubal ”, Which had become so important that it was simply said“ Allah ”(“ The God ”), and who will become the unique god of Muhammad .
Not much is known about his life, most of the news has reached us thanks to the work of his major biographer, al-Tabari , who lived between the 9th and 10th centuries, then over two centuries later .
The religious environment in which the Prophet lived was the Bedouin one , in which many deities were worshiped .
The Mecca it was the center of Arabia, a very important commercial center and also a religious center where all the gods of the peninsula they were worshiped with particular rites; during a month of pilgrimage all the Arab tribes gathered there to worship their gods, to buy and sell and shop, and to compete in poetry contests.
Mecca was therefore a commercial, religious, political and social.
Mohammed he probably worked as a camel driver or merchant until the day he married Khadija , a rich widow considered among the holy women of Islam, and thanks to her wealth she was able to abandon her business and devote herself to meditation and religious reflection.
On the night between 26 and 27 of the month of Ramadan (according to the Arab lunar calendar) of 610 AD, while wandering alone in the desert, he is said to have received the vision of archangel Djibril (Gabriel) who would have urged him to become a messenger of the only god, Allah . Such a night, known as Night of Destiny , marks the birth of the Islamic religion.
When, after the revelation, he began to preach the absolute supremacy of Allah on all other faiths, Muhammad he made enemies in the class of Bedouins and merchants who feared losing their privileges.
The clan's response is very harsh and takes the form of an attempt to assassinate Mohammed who, warned in time of the plot, flees the city on July 16, 622 AD with his followers.
This episode is known as Hegira ('Escape' in Arabic), and marks year zero of the Islamic calendar .
Mohammed and his loyalists finally arrive at the oasis of Yatrib , which will change its name to Medina , from the Arabic Madinat-al-Nabi , that is' the city of the Prophet '.
His stay in Medina it will last 7 years. In Medina is the absolute leader of the city.
Political, religious, military and judicial power are in his hands.
This concentration of power in the hands of Muhammad , who presented his "earthly" government as the fulfillment of Allah's will led to the conception that political, military and power judicial are expressions of religion .
An essential concept in Islam, which rejects the secular state.
The conflict with the Meccans will pass through continuous armed clashes for the control of the territory and of the caravan routes, until 629 AD. a large group of Medinesi, who went to Mecca on pilgrimage, will take control of the city, arms in hand.
The Quraysh they will therefore be forced to capitulate and embrace the Islamic religion, establishing an alliance with Muhammad , meanwhile returned to Mecca , through a series of marriages between Medinesi and Meccans and becoming part of the Umma . Their example will soon be followed by many other tribes, until almost all of the Arabian peninsula passes under the banner of Islam and Mohammed.
The Prophet dies in 632 AD without having prepared a succession mechanism and, therefore, leaving the Islamic world in a condition of great uncertainty.
THE CALIPHATE
The Arabic term khalifa designates, in the Koran , Adam himself, as “ vicar "Of God on earth (2, 30) and the kingly-prophetic authority of David (38, 26). The designation of a substitute for the Prophet - not
provided for by any provision of the latter, shows how the need was felt to give continuity to the work begun by Muhammad giving him a successor: his function would obviously no longer have been that of transmitting revelation, but rather of safeguarding the unity of the newborn Islamic Community (Umma) and its fidelity to divine teachings and to the example of the founder . [/ fusion_text] [fusion_text] After the death of Muhammad the problem of succession sparked disputes that resulted in the division into two factions:that of the Sunni and that of the Shiites .
The Shiites claimed Ali , cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad , who was later named fourth Caliph following the appointment of three personalities who took over from Muhammad: Abu Bakr , Omar and Othman .
The first caliph elected by the community was Abu Bakr , one of the closest disciples to Muhammad . He remained in office for only 2 years, during which he dealt tenaciously with the polytheism still in force in the Arab territories.
Islamic power increased dramatically, especially with Omar , who took the place of Abu Bakr in 634 AD and dealt with the conversion to Islam Arab territories under the control of the Persians and the Byzantines, which had weakened each other after fighting to the limit for about 100 years.
After Omar , was named caliph Othman , from the Umayyad dynasty .
Othman he is famous not only for having further expanded Arab dominions, but for another great religious work:having put the Koran into writing , that is the precepts that before then had been handed down by Mohammed only by voice.
Othman he was mysteriously killed by a hitman. It was rumored that Ali was responsible for his death , relative of Muhammad to which Abu Bakr was preferred after the death of the prophet.
Ali took advantage of Othman 's death to win the favor of the Islamic community and be elected caliph. His election again divided the community into those who supported him and those who instead accused him of murder by siding with the Umayyads .
On the death of Ali the office of Caliph it was no longer obtained by election, but by inheritance:in fact, the Umayyad family inherited the power .
As a consequence, there was the move from the capital of the Empire to Damascus and, gradually, the organization of an absolute monarchy that reigned over a very large territory thanks to the subdivision of this territory into five Vice-realms governed by a Caliph Prince .
During the rule of the Umayyads , the subjugated peoples lived a period of great prosperity, as the Arabs brought great culture and innovations. In addition, they did not demand conversion to Islam from the subjugated peoples, but only the tribute of a tax.
Only Constantinople resisted domination, and in particular two sieges, through the use of Greek dust to produce fire, and, especially during the second battle, the help of the Bulgarians and Christians.
The Arab peninsula itself experienced a period of great prosperity: the postal service was established, the first Arab currency was minted and Arabic became the language of official public documents.
This expansion continued until the defeat by the Franks which resulted in the replacement of the ruling family with that of the Abbasids . The new ruling family moved the capital from Damascus in Baghdad and completed the expansion to Southern Italy .
class =”” id =””] [fusion_text] In less than forty years , like a tidal wave, Muslims take over Syria , from Egypt , of Iran and the Maghreb , destroying the most venerable civilizations. In the following century they will also reach India .
The common denominator of the conquest is to be found in the military superiority of a very mobile light cavalry operating in a largely autonomous manner.
Compared to the infantry of the Indians or the heavily armored knights of the Byzantine and Sassanid armies, the invaders, coming from the desert, give another rhythm to the war, conceived essentially as " long-range raids ". Combining the warlike traditions of the nomads and the religious fanaticism that now animates them, Muslim expansion thus disrupts the world order inherited from antiquity.
Historically, the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258 AD it was certainly perceived in the Islamic world as a sort of real "Apocalypse". Later, despite formal "passages" of the caliphal title first to the Mamluks of Egypt and then to the Ottomans , in fact, a true universal caliphate was not reproduced.
The Islamic push was taking Europe in a pincer. In the west, the thrust died spontaneously. Contrary to popular belief, Carlo Martello he only clashed with some band of marauders. It was actually the Eastern Roman Empire ("The Byzantine Empire") to stem the Islamic thrust for centuries, preventing the pincer from closing and saving Europe from Islamization.