The Arabs gradually became corrupted as a result of their unprecedented power and wealth. The simple, frugal, and almost self-denying life style of the early Muslims slowly disappeared, giving way to the luxurious and hedonistic trend that is the hallmark of all worldly rulers. Due to their materialistic and this worldly ambitions, the faith and religious enthusiasm of the Arabs faded away, leading ultimately to their political decline. Although clear signs of their hollowness and exhaustion remained shrouded for quite some time, it became increasingly obvious by the 10th century that the Arabs were reaching their senility.
During the 11th century, Arab decline and decadence became severe enough to create a power vacuum in the heart of the Muslim world. This attracted tribes from the North East, i.e., the Kurds and the Seljuk Turks, to the center of the Muslim land. These tribes, after embracing Islam, strengthened their hold in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. This led to the infusion of fresh and energetic blood into the ailing Muslim Ummah. It was during this period that Afghan tribes started invading the Indian subcontinent, paving the way for the establishment of Muslim rule in India.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Arabs experienced their first taste of Divine punishment, and the words of the Qur’an “We sent against you Our creatures full of martial might who ransacked your cities” were fulfilled once again. Previously, the Jews were destroyed by the Assyrians from the North and then by the Babylonians from the East. History was repeated when the Arab Muslim were devastated first by the Crusaders from the North, and then by the Mongols from the East.
The Christian Europe launched a series of attacks, in order to recapture Jerusalem from Muslims, after Pope Urban II had declared a Holy War in 1096 to liberate the city from “infidels.” Wave after waves of rusaders invaded the Muslim territories for the next two hundred years. During one of their initial attacks, the rusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099, violating the sanctity of Al-Aqsa mosque. The Christian warriors, in their extreme religious frenzy, went completely berserk after this conquest. Such wholesale butchery took place in Jerusalem that it embarrasses the Western historian even today.
The Holy City remained under Christian rule for a period of 88 years, as the decrepit Umayyads were no longer capable of launching an offensive. Finally, the fervent and zealous elements from among the non-Arab nations under Salahuddin Ayyubi (1137-1193), an Egyptian ruler of Kurdish descent fought successfully against the Crusaders and brought Jerusalem again under the Muslim rule in 1187. The real extermination of the Arabs, however, was still to come. Genghis Khan (1162-1227), after uniting the Mongol tribesmen, had already established a ruthless and powerful army that plundered North China, Turkestan, Transoxania, Afghanistan, and Persia. After Genghis Khan’s death, his empire was divided among his sons and grandsons. The fierce Mongol warriors, however, continued to advance further east, towards the heart of Muslim land. The destruction of the romantic city of Baghdad in 1258 was brutally thorough, as most buildings were razed to the ground. For a period of forty days, the conquerors continued to massacre the inhabitants, even pregnant women were not spared. Dead bodies in street and market places were too numerous to be properly buried, leading to uncontrollable epidemics of disease which further added to the death toll. The whole social and economic framework collapsed, along with the rich traditions of culture and learning. With the execution of Mu‘tasim Billah, the already flickering lamp of the Abassids Caliphate was also extinguished.
The fall of Baghdad was not only the last episode in the first manifestation of Divine punishment to the Muslims, but it also constituted the coupe de grâce for the Banu Isma‘el, as Almighty Allah (SWT) sacked them from the leadership of the Muslim world. The following Qur’anic words came true, at least regarding the Arabs:
If you turn away, then Allah will bring other people in your place, who will not be like you.
(Muhammad 47:38)
Life After Death
The Arabs were too severely crushed to stop the roaring and raging storm of Mongol invaders. It was the Mamluke ruler of Egypt — Saifuddin Kutuz (Al-Malik Al-Muzaffar) who defeated them for the first time in 1260, thereby shattering the myth of Mongol invincibility. After him, Ruknuddin Baybras inflicted several defeats on the Mongol armies, forcing them out of Syria. In this way, at least the western wing of the Muslim world was saved from destruction.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, however, the center of the Muslim land was presenting a desolate and hopeless picture. The situation there was a repetition of what had happened to Jerusalem in the 6th century B.C., when Prophet Uzair (AS) was overwhelmed with grief and had, according to the Qur’an, said to himself, “how shall God bring this city to life after its death?” (Al-Baqarah 2:259). But despite the widespread devastation and degradation, just as the Israelites had risen again, so did the Muslim, and the words of the Qur’an “Then we gave you a chance against them, and strengthened you with wealth and children, and increased your number” (Al-Isra 17:6) were fulfilled once again.
There was, however, a significant departure from the pattern set by the Jewish history. The previous Muslim Ummah was composed of a single race, and therefore their renaissance had to take place exclusively from within that race. There was no such limitation in the case of the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and, as a result, the process of her revival was accomplished by the efforts of a number of non-Arab nations.
Almost miraculously, the barbaric Mongols themselves started to embrace Islam, and this provided the Muslim world with powerful defenders and guardians. Similarly, the Temurid and Ottoman Turks also converted to Islam, the former laying down the foundations of a strong Muslim dominion in India and thereby strengthening the eastern wing, and the latter establishing themselves initially in Asia Minor and then founding the Great Ottoman Empire.
The terms “Turkey” and “Ottoman Empire” are often treated as synonyms, although present-day Turkey constituted only a small part of that largest of all modern states which extended into Asia, Europe, and Africa. The capital of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman empire, Constantinople, was conquered by Muhammad II in 1453 and became the Ottoman capital. The Turks were then able to establish their domination over the whole east Europe, and also accepted the challenging and stupendous task of protecting and leading the heart of the Muslim land, including North Africa. Moreover, the institution of the Caliphate was revived and the lost greatness of the Muslims was recaptured in its totality, although this was achieved by the efforts of the Turks and not by those of the Arabs. The Ottoman empire reached its zenith under Selim I and his son Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, when the Turk armies advanced through the Balkans and Hungary into Austria, and later in 1683 when they again reached up to the gates of Vienna.
Second Period of Decline
The period between 1350 and 1600 is characterized by the revival of cultural and scientific development in Europe, usually referred to as “Renaissance.” It is an undeniable historical fact that this movement was triggered under the influence of the achievements of the Muslims with regard to science and scientific knowledge. The Middle Ages were, for the Christian Europe, a period of intellectual stagnation; during this period, on the other hand, the development of the scientific and inductive method among the Arab Muslims was leading to unprecedented advancement in astronomy, physics, geology, botany, medicine, and mathematics. During the time when the Christian Europe was lost in the night of ignorance, we find that Greek, Indian, and Persian sciences were being taught in the universities of Muslim Spain, attracting scholars from all over Europe. In this way, the light of reason and science reached and started to illuminate the darkness that was mediaeval Europe.
Unfortunately, the development of science and technology in Europe coincided with the downfall in Muslim political power. By now the Arab rule in Spain established by Abdur Rahman in 750 C.E. was in decay. Muslim Spain, therefore, became the first target of European imperialism, culminating in the fall of its last stronghold, Granada, in 1492. Today, 500 years after the decline of Muslim rule, all the magnificent architecture of the Umayyads is still standing. Muslims and the Muslim culture, however, have completely vanished from modern Spain, as if they had never existed there. Weakness, as they say, is indeed a capital crime.
In the 15th century, Prince Henry of Portugal ordered to find a sea route to India. Various expeditions were only partly successful, until Vasco da Gama became the first European explorer to finally reach India by sea, in 1497, by traveling northwards after going around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. European Imperialism, which was as yet unable to colonize the Muslim lands in Asia because of the deterrence provided by the strong Ottoman Empire, was now in a position to launch her offensive through sea route. What followed was an onslaught of Portuguese, Dutch, British, and French traders-cum conquerors, who, from 16th to 19th centuries, continued to occupy various Muslim states, exploiting all human and natural resources to their fullest. Moreover, just as the Jews were strongly influenced during the period of Greek and Roman rule by the language, culture, life-style, values, and ideas of their rulers, so were the Muslims.
By now the Ottoman Empire was in serious disarray, resulting from injustices by those in authority, decline in morality, widespread corruption, and, worst of all, lethargy and stagnation of the intelligentsia. The power vacuum created by the weakening Turks was an open invitation for the Western Imperialism to subjugate the heart of the Muslim world. And, indeed, they were only glad to oblige.
The beginning of the 20th century turned out to be the starting point for the second phase of decline in the heart of Muslim world. Thus, the British Intelligence masterminded the Arab revolt against the Turks during World War I, resulting in the segmentation of the great Ottoman Empire. Numerous smaller states were created in the Middle East and north Africa, which came under direct or indirect control of different European powers. In this way, a prediction of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) came true, i.e., “There will come a time when nations of the world will invite one another to invade and exploit you, just as a person calls upon
his guests to the feast” (Abu Dawood).
The second phase of Muslim decline reached its lowest ebb during the first quarter of the present century, when the whole of Muslim world was enslaved by the forces of Western Colonialism. Then, in 1967, the Arabs received their most ignominious defeat at the hands of a cursed nation, when the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque was violated for the second time, and the Holy City was captured by Israeli army. In this the words of the Qur’an “When the time of the second prediction came, (We roused against you another people) to ravage you, and to enter the Temple as they had done the first time, and to destroy utterly what they conquered” (Al-Isra 17:7) were fulfilled once again.
The most tragic and lamentable aspect of this history is the fact that the Western Imperialism had succeeded in destroying Muslim unity and their esprit de corps. Although Muslims were never a single political entity after the decline of the Umayyads, they still remained thoroughly connected and unified because of their common beliefs and life-style. However, the seeds of racial prejudice and nationalistic chauvinism planted by the Western Imperialism in the beginning of the 20th century not only weakened that sense of brotherhood and ultimately led to the winding up of Caliphate, but are still producing their bitter fruits in the form of our growing disharmony.
This malignant trend of fragmentation along ethnic, territorial, and linguistic lines has resulted in the carnage suffered by the Turks at the hands of their Arab brethren, and the massacre and utter humiliation suffered by non-Bengali Muslims at the hands of their Bengali brethren in what was then East Pakistan. The insanity of fratricide, according to the Qur’an, is one of the manifestations of Divine punishment:
Say: “He has power to send you retribution form the skies above, or the earth beneath your feet, or confound you with divisions among you, and give one the taste of the vengeance of the other.” (Al-An‘aam 6:65)
So far we have examined the similarities between the Jewish and Muslim histories vis-à-vis their two phases of rise and two phases of decline. In this context, the events of the 20th century are especially significant in that they represent for both the Jews and the Muslims the unfolding of the third and final stage of their respective histories.
Note that although “rise” and “decline” are essentially opposite and contradictory concepts, both of these processes are usually found simultaneously during the greater part of the history of a particular culture- civilization. In other words, both the phenomena of “rise” and “decline” may be found operating side by side, although in due course of time one of these trends gradually weakens and disappears, and the other one becomes dominant.
It is apparent to any careful observer that the Jews have continued to suffer the floggings of Divine punishment in the present century the Holocaust during the Second World War being a case in point just as they have been suffering for the last two thousand years. Simultaneously, however, they are also undergoing a process of revival, as exemplified by the establishment of the state of Israel. In the same way, the second phase of decline for the Muslims has continued in the present century prominent examples of which include the termination of Ottoman Empire, abolition of the Caliphate, the Six-Day War of ‘67, the humiliating fall of East Pakistan, and the devastation of Iraq in the Gulf War but, at the same time, powerful currents of revival and regeneration are also visible, as epitomized by Islamic activism throughout the world.
According to the predictions of the Qur’an and Hadith, the process of Muslim re-awakening and revitalization is going to continue, culminating not only in the renaissance of Islam as a moral and spiritual ideal, but also in the establishment of the Islamic System of Social Justice over the entire globe. On the other hand, the revival among the Jews is going to be evanescent and short-lived, and their continuing decline, in due course of time, will overshadow their apparent “rise,” ultimately leading to their final and total extermination. Moreover, the beginning of the domination of Islam and the annihilation of the Jews will be temporally coincidental. The relevant predictions in the Qur’an and Hadith will be discussed later in this book. At the moment we shall consider the dynamics and details of the revival among the Muslims.
The most significant point to note in this respect is that the revival of the Muslim Ummah is not a simple and linear process; rather it has numerous aspects and various dimension. There are a number of devoted individuals, as well as associations, parties and organized groups, which are working diligently in different ways for Islamic revival. Although their efforts may sometime appear to be mutually conflicting, the fact remains that all of them are actually reinforcing each other vis-à-vis the overall movement for revival. Moreover, this mission of the renaissance of Islam and revitalization of the Ummah is not going to be completed in ten or twenty years; rather, it is a slow and patient ascent from one rung of the ladder to the next. Each and every step in this upward movement is worthy and crucial in its own right. It is possible for the work done by one’s predecessors to appear trivial or even misplaced and misguided when viewed from a higher level. However, the significance and value of the contributions of the past generations cannot be easily disparaged or denied, keeping in view the specific requirements and limitations of the time and circumstances in which they were carried out. Finally, while the importance of charismatic personalities is certainly undeniable, in the final analysis they are of less value as compared to organized groups and parties. These associations, in turn, tend to lose their unique significance within the larger umbrella of particular movements, and, finally, all the different movements coalesce in the all-embracing process of revival and regeneration, which is of ultimate importance.
First Stage of Revival
Strictly speaking, Islam and Muslims are two completely distinct entities, and, as such, the independence of Muslim territories from direct Western occupation should have nothing to do with the revival of Islam. However, if we are to consider this issue from a realistic perspective instead of a purely theoretical and idealistic one, the whole situation appears quite different on the ground. For all practical purposes, the future of Islam is inexorably linked with Muslim nations as they exist today, and both of them though theoretically unrelated are in reality dependent upon each other.
Thus, the achievement of independence and self-determination by different Muslim nations actually constitutes the first stage in the revival of Islam. Although Western domination is still very much present in the form of our intellectual, cultural, and financial enslavement, the whole Muslim land except Palestine and Kashmir has, by the grace of Almighty Allah (SWT), succeeded in gaining freedom from direct foreign rule. Since the efforts for Islamic revival are likely to face comparatively less opposition and resistance in a country governed by Muslims as compared to the one ruled by a colonial power, it can be rightly claimed that the various movements for independence actually represented an initial stage in the process of Islamic Renaissance.
However, if it is objected that these struggles for liberation were led by people who were not, in most cases, practicing Muslims, then a saying of the Holy Prophet (SAW) can explain this phenomenon. According to this prophetic saying, which is reported by Imam Bukhari, Almighty Allah (SWT) sometimes chooses irreligious and grossly impious people for the service of Islam. Indeed, His plans are highly precise, yet mysterious and subtle.
We know that various regional and ethnic sentiments were invoked in order to mobilize the masses in the course of these movements for independence. Again, strictly speaking, these slogans had absolutely nothing in common with Islam. However, the degree of emotional attachment and intellectual devotion of the Muslims with Islam was certainly not strong enough for it to become the basis for a dynamic and effective movement. Under these circumstances, therefore, the use of nationalistic slogans in such movements can be justified to a large extent. In principle, it can be said that such methods are permissible only when they are used on a temporary basis as a matter of pure expediency and not adopted as a permanent policy. In countries where such sentiments were aroused to get rid of foreign rule, it is imperative that after the achievement of political autonomy the true Islamic spirit of Muslim unity and brotherhood be cultivated.
In this respect, the Pakistan Movement stands out as a unique and exceptional phenomenon. If the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent were to struggle against the British Raj by forming an alliance with non- Muslims on the basis of Indian Nationalism, then there was certainly enough justification to do so (and this is exactly the principle that was adopted by Jami‘yat Ulama-e-Hind). However, what actually happened was that the overwhelming majority of Muslims based their political struggle under the leadership of Muslim League upon the concept of Muslim Nationhood and the Two-Nation Theory, the basis of which was neither racial or linguistic unity, nor a common homeland, but was founded upon the religious beliefs and heritage of the Muslims. This means that today there is nothing to justify the partition of British India and nothing to legitimatize our separate existence except Islam itself. It also means that Pakistan is already a step ahead of all other Muslim states by virtue of her very genesis and raison d’ être in Muslim nationhood.
One of the most important factors which caused the Indian Muslims to define and organize themselves in terms of their religion was the prejudice and intolerance of the Hindu majority. Also, the fact that the Hindus had a burning desire to settle their old score with Muslims, and to “avenge their thousand years long humiliation,” was an open secret. The ambition on the part of the Hindus to annihilate the Muslims caused the latter to wake up pretty quickly, and, in this way, the Hindus themselves paved the way for Islamic Renaissance, albeit unwittingly. Moreover, it must be kept in mind that the Indian Muslims already had an unmatched devotion and passion for Islam and the Muslim Ummah, as epitomized by their massive and emotional reaction at the abolition of Caliphate. Last, but not the least, was the personality of Allama Iqbal (1877-1938), whose poignant and moving poetry played a central and decisive role in awakening and invigorating the Indian Muslims from their appalling lassitude and apathy.
Second Dimension
The liberation of the Muslim states from the yoke of Western Colonialism was only the first stage in the ongoing process of Islamic revival. We now turn to the second dimension of this process, which is the role of traditional and orthodox religious scholars or Ulama. Numerous organizations of these Ulama, belonging to various schools of thought, are actively pursuing the mission of serving Islam and Muslims along the lines of their own particular methodology. In this respect too, the Indian subcontinent enjoys an outstanding and unparalleled superiority in that the grip of the Ulama over the masses and the popular support for the orthodox Islam in this part of the world is unmatched in the entire Muslim Land. Even the Arabian peninsula, which was dominated by the effects of the reformist movement of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab (1703-1792) up to the middle of the present century, is now too far behind the Indian subcontinent in this regard.
The reason for this phenomenon is not at all difficult to discern. A versatile and unique figure like Shah Waliyullah of Delhi (1703-1762) is not to be found anywhere else in the Muslim world during the last three hundred years. His momentous efforts in shifting the focus of Muslims away from trivial legalities and back to the original sources of Islamic faith and knowledge the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith as well as his intellectual exposition of Islamic thought and philosophy are certainly unparalleled achievements. It was Shah Waliyullah’s pioneering work that had led to the enhancement of the respect for religion and religious scholars in the Indian subcontinent.
However, we must keep in mind that the main thrust of the efforts of our Ulama is directed only towards safeguarding and preserving the dogmatic, ritualistic, and institutional structure of Islam. As regards fulfilling the requirements and demands of reviving Islam in the present Westernized milieu, and re-establishing the ascendancy of the politico-socio-economic system of Islam, they are often unaware of even the existence of such a need. Therefore, the services of the Ulama can be seen as a continuation of the efforts of previous reformers of Islam, in that their efforts like the services of present-day Ulama were mainly focused on defense rather than on revival. Our noble ancestors were justified in narrowing down their fields of activity because the cultural and legal system of Islam was still very much intact in those days, and the predominant need of their time was merely to preserve the religious faith in its original form and to defend it against alien influences. As a result, all our past reformers concentrated their energies in the academic fields, or, at the most, in the moral and spiritual purification of common Muslims. None of them tried to launch any organized political or militant movement, as Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had set strict restrictions on such a rebellion against Muslim rulers. According to the popular interpretation of some Ahadith, as long as the Shari‘ah was being enforced and no flagrant violation of Islam was being committed, it was not considered permissible to revolt even if the rulers are themselves wicked and oppressive. Therefore, as soon as the situation changed, and non-Muslims started to conquer and occupy Muslim territories, the reformist efforts quickly turned into armed struggles. Prominent examples of this phenomenon include the MujahiDeen movement of Sayyid Ahmed Shaheed (1786-1831) in India, the Sanussi movement in Libya started by Sayyid Muhammad Ibn Ali As-Sanussi (1787-1859) and its struggle against Italian occupation up to 1932, and the Mahdist movement initiated by Muhammad Ahmad (1844-1885) that resisted the British invasion in Sudan.
It is obvious that, even today, our traditional Ulama are following in the footsteps of earlier reformers who had worked under completely different conditions. In other words, traditional Muslim scholars have, in general, restricted themselves and their abilities within a rather narrow circle of activity, which is essentially defensive rather than revivalist. Moreover, even the task of defending Islamic doctrines is not being properly done by the Ulama, as they are, more often than not, completely out of touch with developments in contemporary philosophical, social, and scientific thought. Imam Ghazzali (1058-1111) and Imam Ibn Taimiyyah (1263-1328) were able to defeat the onslaught of Greek Philosophy and Aristotelian logic only after a careful and deep study of these invading ideas. Similarly, in order to deal with the modern ideologies that are seeking to destroy the foundations of Islamic faith, we need first to clearly discriminate between what is and what is not against the spirit of the Qur’an. Afterwards, we need to refute that part of the invading ideologies which is in opposition to the Qur’anic spirit, and to accept and incorporate the part that is in accordance with its spirit into a new and contemporary exposition of Islam. Unfortunately, this is not being done by our religious scholars.
The role of the Ulama today, instead of being that of an engine capable of propelling the ship of Islam forward, is actually nothing more than that of a heavy anchor which prevents the ship from drifting away in any wrong direction. Although, under the present circumstances, even this is a commendable and substantial service, the fact remains that this is by no means enough.
Another aspect of the activity of our Ulama that needs correction is their unusually strong emphasis on sectarian matters. A serious stagnation of thought along with dogmatism has set in ever since the practice of Ijtihad was done away with. The religious seminaries and Ulama of every sect are therefore spending most of their time and energies in defending and propagating their particular brands of dogma and ritual, often insisting that any variation in such matters is nothing short of apostasy. Such narrow-mindedness has exacerbated the evil of sectarianism and the resulting intolerance among the masses has led to a dangerous trend towards sectarian militancy.
One very important movement that has originated from the School of Deoband, the great theological seminary in India, is that of the Tablighi Jama‘at, which has succeeded in causing a massive religious mobilization among the Muslims. Tablighi Jama‘at has made headway in focusing the attentions of a big section of the Muslim population towards the renewal of faith. However, the overwhelming majority of the people who are being influenced by the Tablighi Jama‘at are simple folks, untouched by the atheistic and materialistic philosophies of the West, and who already have a dormant inclination towards religious and moral virtue. Despite this limitation, the movement of the Tablighi Jama‘at certainly occupies an important position within the larger process of Islamic Renaissance, in relation to its effort for the regeneration of faith among the masses.
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