Political History of Islam

This article outlines the history of the politically significant interactions between Islam and the rest of the world, particularly what is now considered "the west".

Muhammad

Muhammad was born around 570 AD in Mecca, which at the time was a key site for an annual pagan pilgrimage, during which warring tribes declared a truce. The pagan Kaaba shrine held 360 idols f tribal pagan deities. There were also significant numbers of Jews and Christians in the area. Although a relatively barren area, it lies about 1000km south of the birthplace of western farming civilisation in modern day Iraq, which occurred about 10000 years earlier. Muhammad was orphaned at an early age, raised by his tribe, and became a relatively succesful trader.

Muhammad received his first revelation in 607 and began preaching publicly in 610. His early teachings were more peaceful and tolerant than his later teachings, reflecting his weak position in Mecca. He and a small band of followers migrated to Medina in 622 after facing persecution in Mecca. This persecution resulted from Muhammad revealing verses that condemn polytheism and idol worship, as well as love of wealth (a significant declaration in a city built on trade). Muhammad's own tribe were the guardians of the pagan Kaaba, so his denunciation of their religion would have been particularly insulting to them, as well as being a risk to their income. An additional story relates that Muhammad recieved verses acknowledging three pagan Goddesses, and that this helped to reconcile him with the Meccans. However, he later recanted them as "satanic" verses. Most orthodox Islamic interpretations reject this authenticity of this particular story. In 619, leadership of Muhammad's own tribe was inherited by a tenacious enemy of Muhammad, and his tribe removed its protection of Muhammad (which took the form of the promise of blood vengence for tribal members). Muhamme dinitially tried to gain protection in Taif, another prominent city.

Muhammad negotiated his way into a position of authority in Medina, which until then had no centralised political authority and was deeply divided. This was based on Muhammad's status as a neutral outsider. They were also jelous of Mecca's religious importance and hoped to gain power over the city with Muhammad's help. Muhammed created a constitution of sorts between 8 Medina clans and the new Muslim arrivals. There is no evidence of the other parties actually agreeing to the constitution, and the text implies acceptance of Muhammed as God's messenger. The constitution does not mention the three large Jewish tribes of Medina (Watt - Islam and the integration of society, p20), leading some scholars to believe that it dates from after Muhammed expelled them. The constitution specifically emphasised blood money and ransom payments, enshrined freedom of religious beliefs, and established women as second class citizens who were entirely at the mercy of the tribal group they belonged to. It declared Medina as a sacred place where the blood of people who were party to the treaty may not be spilled. The constitution also compels non-Muslims to participate in Islamic religious wars. In 624, Muhammad proclaimed that Muslims should face Mecca rather than Medina while praying.

Medina was an agricultural oasis. Although Mecca was barren, it had grown into the wealthiest town in the region through trade. In Medina, Muhammad revealed Koranic verses permitting his followers to rob Meccan caravans. They became very successful at this. They also ransomed prisoners captured in ensuing battles with forces sent by Mecca to protect the caravans. Muhammad also killed many prisoners, but generally released the poor ones for no charge. Koranic verses from this period focus on political issues, such as how to divide spoils of war.

Muhammad's success lead to rapid conversions by pagans. Embittered by this, two pagans composed poetry that mocked Muhammad. They were killed by Muslims, with Muhammad's blessing.

Hostility towards Jews

In Mecca, Muhammad's attitude towards Christians and Jews was initially very positive, but their unwillingness to convert to Islam soured the relationship. It went rapidly downhill in Medina. Muhammad initially proclaimed several ordinances to win over the numerous and wealthy Jewish population. These were soon rescinded as the Jews insisted on preserving the entire Mosaic law, and did not recognize him as a prophet because he was not of the race of David. There were three large Jewish tribes in Medina when Muhammad arrived. The first to fall victim to Muhammad were the Banu Qaynuqa, who were wealthy artisans and traders with close links to Mecca, and who posed a political threat to Muhammad. Anecdotally, a Banu Qaynuqa goldsmith assaulted a Muslim woman, causing her to be stripped naked. He was killed by a Muslim, which sparked a series of revenge killings. Under the constitution, Muhammad's role was supposedly to resolve this conflict using the tradition of blood money and to protect religious freedom. However, having been strengthened by a recent military victory over Meccan traders, Muhammad sought to consolidate his power. Muhammad gathered the tribe in the market and addressed them as follows:

"O Jews, beware lest God bring on you the like of the retribution which he brought on Quraysh. Accept Islam, for you know that I am a prophet sent by God. You will find this in your scriptures and in God's covenant with you."

The Quraysh were Muhammad's tribe from Mecca, and the retribution is a reference to his recent military victory over them. Here, Muhammad clearly abandons his promises under the constitution of Medina, which was the initial basis of his authority. Muhammad besieged them until they surrendered, then expelled them from Medina. A muslim who convinced Muhammad not to slaughter them, and then argued that they ought be allowed to stay in anticipation of an attack from Mecca has forever been dubbed the leader of the hypocrits. This was also the first time that Muhammad's Islamic state took 20% of the spoils of war. Following this was a second major battle with the Meccans, which the Muslims lost.

There were now two large Jewish tribes in Medina. Muhammed assassinated the chief of one of them (the Banu-Nadir), who had written erotic poetry about Muslim women, then expelled them about a year later. As the Muslims did not defeat the Banu-Nadr militarily (they were even allowed to take some possessions) Muhammed claimed 100% of their remaining possessions on behalf of God. Following this, Muhammed attempted to prevent his enemies from uniting against him, by attacking smaller Arab groups one at a time with overwhelming force.

The next time the Meccans attacked, Muhammad built a trench around parts of Medina open to cavalry attack. The Meccan siege was a failure and the Meccans returned home. During the siege, the Meccas attempted, but failed, to negotiate an alliance with the last of the three large Jewish tribes in Medina - the Banu Qurayza. After the battle, Muhammed laid siege to the Banu Qurayza, who surrendered unconditionally. Muhammed slaughtered every male in the tribe who had reached puberty, with the exception of a small few who converted to Islam. Between 600 and 1000 men were executed in a single day. The women and children were enslaved. Today, Muslims cite the failed negotiations with the Meccans, or alleged attacks by the Banu Qurayza, or claims that the Banu Qurayza violated the constitution of Medina (despite it not even mentioning them) as justification for the genocide. Instead of acknowledging the "convert or die" choice given to the Jews, modern Muslims spin this incident as Muhammed showing mercy to any Jews who agreed to cease hostilities towards Muslims and re-enter the constitution of Medina.

Muhammed then went on to attack and defeat the Jewish community of Kaybar, where many of the Banu Nadir had sought refuge. Under the terms of their surrender, Muhammed took possession of all of their lands as a collective possession of his Islamic state, and required them to provide 50% of their annual produce as a tax.

Hostility towards Pagans

Muhammad's hostility towards jews was largely born of their reluctance to accept him as both a political and religious leader. Pagans tended to convert to Islam the most readily and Muhammed wa sinitially tolerant of them in order to facilitate this. As his power grew, Muhammad became increasingly aggressive towards pagans also.

In AD 628, Muhammed and 1400 Muslims travelled to Mecca with sacrificial animals in order to demonstrate to them that Islam is an Arabic religion. He negotiated the right of Medinese Muslims to travel to Mecca for pilgrimage to the pagan shrine of the Kaaba. The peace treaty involved a cessation of hostilities and an agreement by Muhammed to return any Meccans who converted to Islam without permission. It was during this truce that Muhammad attacked the Jewish community of Kaybar and sent letters to many foreign rulers asking them to convert. Two years later, in AD 630, he marched on Mecca with 10 000 men and captured it with minimal casualties. He destroyed all the pagan statues and paintings in and around the Kaaba.

That same year, Muhammed had a military victory against the Hawazin. He then marched north with thirt thousand men, half of whom returned home on the second day. It was at this time that Muhammad received many verses damning Muslims who were reluctant to engage in warfare on behalf of the Islamic state.

Muhammed then ordered the destruction of all pagan idols in eastern Arabia. Muhammed ordered several wars with the specific purpose of killing pagans and destroying their religious monuments.

The last city in western Arabia to fall to Muhammed was Taif. Here again Muhammed decided to give them the stark choice of convert to Islam or die. He also ordered the men to destroy their statues of the goddess Allat.

Many bedouins, as well as the Banu Thaqif, submitted to Muhammed to avoid being attacked, and also to share in the spoils of war.

In 632, Muhammed elivered a speech commanding Muslims to abandon many old traditions and pledges in acknowledgement of the new Muslim community.

Women's rights

Muhammed never tried to abolish slavery. He bought, sold and owned his own slaves. Women made up the bulk of Islam's slaves, and the owners were permitted to have sex with them. Modern Muslims often make a distinction between sex slaves and "slaves that you can have sex with", in order to differentiate Muhammed's practice from modern sex trafficking for the purpose of prostitution.

In the 632 speech, Muhammed also cemented the inferior status of women in Islam. Muhammad asked his male followers to "be good to women, for they are powerless captives (awan) in your households. You took them in God's trust, and legitimated your sexual relations with the Word of God, so come to your senses people, and hear my words ..." He told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness.

Muhammed's favourite wife, the child bride Aisha, was accused of adultery for which Muhammed imposed the death penalty. Muhammed recieved a revelation that she was innocent of the charge, and thereafter insisted on four eye-witnesses (or a confession) to adultery charges. Muhammed married Aisha when she was six years old, and she is regarded as the "mother if Islam" because of her status as Muhammed only virgin bride. According to Aisha, Muhammed first has sex with her when she was 9 years old. It is unlikely that Aisha had even reached puberty at this stage. Contrary to frequent claims by Muslims who wish to introduce an older age of consent under Islamic law, puberty is actually delayed in the harsh conditions experienced at the time, and there is not a single statement in Islamic literature stating that she had reached puberty.

Muhammed had 13 wives in total, 11 of them from after the migration to Medina. There is however some ambiguity as to whether two of them were wives or concubines. Muhammed's first marriage was to an older, wealthy widow whom he married prior to his career as a religious leader. This was a monogomous marriage until her death. Muhammed's other wives were the widows of men Muhammed and his Muslims had killed, the widows of slain Muslims, or were married for political reasons.

Quran (4:34) - "Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great." Contemporary translations sometimes water down the word 'beat', but it is the same one used in verse 8:12 and clearly means 'to strike'.

Quran (38:44) - "And take in your hand a green branch and beat her with it, and do not break your oath..." Allah telling Job to beat his wife (Tafsir).

Sahih Bukhari (72:715) - A woman came to Muhammad and begged her to stop her husband from beating her. Her skin was bruised so badly that it is described as being "greener" than the green veil she was wearing. Muhammad did not admonish her husband, but instead ordered her to return to him and submit to his sexual desires.

Sahih Bukhari (72:715) - "Aisha said, 'I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women'" Muhammad's own wife complained of the abuse that the women of her religion suffered relative to other women.

Sahih Muslim (4:2127) - Muhammad struck his favorite wife, Aisha, in the chest one evening when she left the house without his permission. Aisha narrates, "He struck me on the chest which caused me pain."

Sahih Muslim (9:3506) - Muhammad's fathers-in-law (Abu Bakr and Umar) amused him by slapping his wives (Aisha and Hafsa) for annoying him. According to the Hadith, the prophet of Islam laughed upon hearing this.

Abu Dawud (2141) - "Iyas bin ‘Abd Allah bin Abi Dhubab reported the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying: Do not beat Allah’s handmaidens, but when ‘Umar came to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and said: Women have become emboldened towards their husbands, he (the Prophet) gave permission to beat them." At first, Muhammad forbade men from beating their wives, but he rescinded this once it was reported that women were becoming emboldened toward their husbands. Beatings in a Muslim marriage are sometimes necessary to keep women in their place.

Abu Dawud (2142) - "The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife." The authenticity of this verse is characterized as daif (weak), however, a similar verse from Sunan Ibn Majah 3:9:1986 is said to be hasan (sufficient).

Abu Dawud (2126) - "A man from the Ansar called Basrah said: 'I married a virgin woman in her veil. When I entered upon her, I found her pregnant. (I mentioned this to the Prophet).' The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: 'She will get the dower, for you made her vagina lawful for you. The child will be your slave. When she has begotten (a child), flog her'" A Muslim thinks he is getting a virgin, then finds out that she is pregnant. Muhammad tells him to treat the woman as a sex slave and then flog her after she delivers the child.

Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 969 - Requires that a married woman be "put in a separate room and beaten lightly" if she "act in a sexual manner toward others." According to the Hadith, this can be for an offense as petty as merely being alone with a man to whom she is not related.

Kash-shaf (the revealer) of al-Zamkhshari (Vol. 1, p. 525) - [Muhammad said] "Hang up your scourge where your wife can see it"

Muhammed died in 632, having brought the entire Arabian peninsula into his Islamic state. On his death, Aisha's father Abu Bakr became leader after being chosen by a small group called the Ansar. Many Muslims thought the role should have gone to a relative of Muhammed. Abu Bakr had to put down several rebellions from groups who had joined the Islamic state claiming only allegiance to Muhammed, as well as from other leaders claiming to be prophets. Abu Bakr was successful in forcing them to resubmit to Islam.

Curiously, Muhammed had few descendants. His first wife produced four daughters and two sons, who died in childbirth. Three of the daughters died before Muhammed. The other, Fatimah, is considered by some to be Muhammad's only daughter. A son to another wife died at the age of two. Fatimah's descendants are respected by Muslims, especially the Shiah. his favourite wife, Aisha, worked to cement his legacy through the Koran.