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Ghazwa E Hind

July 11, 2019 by Admin Leave a Comment

Ghazwa-e-Hind

Ghazwa-e-Hind is a prophecy that is mentioned in some “good” hadiths predicting a great battle in India between Muslims and Hindus, resulting in a conquest of the whole Indian sub-continent by Muslim warriors. The conquest is supposed to occur before the end-times and create an Islamic caliphate resembling the social order that existed at the time of Prophet Muhammad(P.B.U.H) by imposing sharia.

What is ghazwa?

According to majority of Muslim scholars and sects such as shia and sunni (which mainly includes brelivi sect) and all others who believe in life of Prophet(P.B.U.H) after his death, says that ghazwa is a holy  war in which Prophet(P.B.U.H) himself or spiritually participated in the war is called Ghazwa. And the war or battle in which Prophet(P.B.U.H) didn’t participate but force was sent by Prophet(P.B.U.H) is called Sariha. But minority of scholar  who didn’t believe in life of Prophet(P.B.U.H) didn’t accept these definition they says that these definations are derived later ghazwa can called to any battle either Prophet(P.B.U.H) participated or not. According to their weak argument they says that why Ghazwa moutha was called ghazwa although Prophet(P.B.U.H) didn’t participated in it but opposite side says that in that battle Prophet(P.B.U.H) participated spiritually because in that battle Prophet(P.B.U.H) was sitting in Madinah and saying they martyr my zaid(R.A) , they martyr my jayfar(R.A), they martyr my Abdullah bin riwah(R.A) and now leadership of battle is in the hand of one sword of Allah. These are words of Prophet(P.B.U.H) while he was sitting in madinah and see the battle which was 100s miles far.

Prophecy about ghazwa-e-hind:

1) Narrated by Hazrat Abu huraira(R.A) “when the time of battles start then Allah will arise force from mawalis who in true sense sustain the government of Imam mehdi (A.S)”

2) Narrated by Abdullah bin haris (R.A) from Ibne maja (R.A)“ troops will arise from east and they will sustain the government of Imam Mehdi(A.S) ”

Now there are three Muslim countries in east of Saudia Arab which are Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Among these three states Pakistan is states that fulfill all the requirements that are predicted in Hadith.

As coming events are casting their shadows before…you’ll see that soon Islam will be empowered again by any of these or by combination of these countries.

3) From al mustarad al hakim  narrated by syedna  subhan(R.A) that Prophet(P.B.U.H) said” when you black flags coming from khurasan welcome them, because inside them there will be caliph of Allah (S.W.T) Mehdi ”

Area of khurasan includes Iran, Afghanistan, malakand agency of  Pakistan and other Muslim states that are separated form Russia.

4) Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) said “There are two groups of my ummah whom Allah free from fire of hell, the first one is that  who participate in Ghazwa-e-hind and second those who participate in group of Isa ibn marium(A.S) ”.

5) Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said” Armies carrying black flags will come from Khurasan, no force can compete them till they’ll be settled in aeliya (Jerusalem)  ”

6) Armies carrying black flags will come from Khurasan, India would become part Khursan no power will be able to stop them and they and later India would become fully Islamic state later Allah would grant success to those warriors, as far as they would bring their kings by dragging them in chains. And Allah would forgive those warriors (by the Blessing of this Great War). And when those Muslims would return, they would find Isa Ibn Maryam [Jesus] in Syria.

After all these prophecies I would to discuss about the person without whom it will incomplete to discuss about end of the time or final battle or ghazwa-e-hind.

NOOR U DIN KNOW AS HAZRAT NEMAT ULLAH WALI(R.A)

From 31 provinces of Iran there is one province in southeast called Karman and in the middle of its famous city Mehaan there is a glorious tomb of the person named as Noor u din and he was famously known as Hazrat Nemat Ullah Shah wali(R.A) who died in 1431 A.D  at the age of 105 years. He belong to the family of Imam mosa kazim (A.S). He learn Quran from syed jalal u din and learn  ilm-e-kalaam from sheikh shams u din maki (R.A) and he lived in makkah 7 years after then he travel towards Iran, Afghanistan, Persia, Syria, Samarkand, Tabraiz, Multan, Kashmir. He lived in caves during summer and during that period thousands of people see his miracles. Hazrat nemat ullah shah wali (R.A) left this world about 600 years ago but his predictions about future was true word by word which is unbelievable and is in form of persian stanza. In which he told the names of kings of subcontinent that came from 100 years to 700 years after his death. For example he gave the name of king taimur 200 years before his birth and like wise names of sikandar and Ibrahim lodhi and mughal emperor like babur, hamayun, sher shah suri, akbar, Jahangir, shah jahan and he also mention the arrive of Britishers

Some time he use words like “He will born” or” I am seeing”

Ghazwa E Hind Prediction

Some of unbelievable predictions that came true are as below:

  1. 350 years before zahir u din babar came into power he predicts that ”king of Kabul, babar will be the emperor of sub continent”
  2. Another prediction is that the king  hamayun will met an accident after that a person sher shah will appear.
  3. About king Jahangir he said that ”when he moves toward darul baka his son shah jahan will born ”.
  4. 600 years before the decline of dehli empire by nadir shah, he also predicted this incident. In 1739 nadir shah invaded subcontinent and killed hundred thousand of people for two month and once in anger his soldier killed 1.5 lac people in only 12 hours.
  5. He also predicted guru nanak in era of babur, he said that a person named nanak will appear in babur’s era, many people will follow him and he become will become famous.
  6. He also give prediction about both world’s war which are absolutely correct.
  7. He said that after world war britisher’s become and they will left subcontinent willingly but they will left an unsolved issue which will take many life.
  8. He also mention Dhaka fall incident in such a way that ”for Muslims their land will be seized smaller”
  9. He also predicted 1965 Pak indo war and said that after 17 days of battle by the blessing of Allah, ghazi’s of Islam win the war after blood shed.
  10. And for now a days he said that people will give respect to criminals.
  11. And for future he said that after that incident(no one knows which incident) Hindus will attack on Muslims with their fury and the invisible help will came from north east to win the war and then from turkey, Iran, Saudia Arabia and central Asia people will came to help willingly then Turkey, Iran and china will also unite and help in conquering India and in this war blood shed will be at its peak that river attock will flow thrice with blood of non-Muslims.
  12. And about  world war 3 he said that like hind west will also go for destruction and then war loser Japan and Germany will stand against or with Russia and in this war most dangerous missiles will be used.
  13. According to Hazrat Nemat ullah shah wali suddenly during days of hajj Imam mehdi(A.S) will appear and this news will become famous all over the world. After that dajjal will appear from city asfahan and for his killing Hazrat Isa(A.S) will come from sky.

About  in 2000 stanza of Nemat ullah shah wali(R.A) give prediction about future but today we only have about 350 stanzas of nehmat ullah shah which cover about 1000 years of predictions.

And then Hazrat Nemat ullah Shah wali(R.A) said “oh nemat ullah shah be quite don’t reveal the secrets of Allah”

“Nemat Ullah is sitting in a corner and I am seeing everything”.

Filed Under: Islamic History Tagged With: ghazwa e hind hadith, ghazwa e hind prediction, ghazwa hind

Istihsatn / Juristic Preference in Islamic Law

July 10, 2019 by Admin Leave a Comment

ISTIHSAN

Istihsan, which is also known as juristic preference, played an important role in the Islamic Legal reasoning. It basically depends on the contribution of a judge’s opinion into those matters that were not already discussed by the Holy Quran or Sunnah but were resolved with veritable interpretation of the versus of the Holy Quran and Hadees; followed to avoid hardships and secure ease of both the parties while deciding cases. It also played a pre-eminent role in the Intellectual heritage of Islamic law. Back then, people used to rely on Qiyas (analogy) which sometimes caused hardships, at those certain events Istehsan was applied in order to eradicate the problem. Although this term has been used from the very beginning but no technical definition exists.

The judiciary whether it is Muslim or non-Muslim uses istehsan to provide judgments as close to perfect as possible. Different laws and norms exist but with the evolving technologies the problems are evolving too, so to get rid of such problems we need to find modern solutions to it. While dispensing great judgments it is difficult to find laws or provisions that lead to the case’s exact nature, in the aforesaid cases judges depend entirely on istehsan to benefit the parties of the suit and reveal unseen justice that leads to a different but righteous understanding of law that we ordained by the Law-giver.

Concept of the term istehsan can be traced back to the time of revelation. In regards to its conceptual application, it cannot be said whether istehsan was implemented as a source of judiciary during the lifetime of Prophet (Peace be Upon Him), because the sources of legislation were confined to Holy Qur’an, Sunnah and personal opinion with the permission of competent authority for legislation. Maudh Bin Jabal’s answer to Prophet (P.B.U.H) could be an early signifier for the use of the term ‘Istehsan’. A small narration below shows how Prophet (P.B.U.H) tested Maudh’s ability to reason. Upon being inquired by the Prophet (P.B.U.H) that what he will do if he does not find any guidance in Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, Maudh answered, he will do his best and spare no pains. Prophet (P.B.U.H)’s objective was to teach his companions whom he appointed as judges to use their understanding and discretion in formulation correct and accurate judgments, he wanted to prove that criticial thinking was essentials in deriving close to perfect judgments that would not harm any person. The utmost importance of personal opinion is evident at the Battle of Badr – as a conceptual matter not a judicial term. Before the battle Prophet (P.B.U.H) decided a particular position for his army to settle and fight against the enemies which one of his companions thought to be unsuitable and upon inquiring if the place was chosen by revelation or chosen by Prophet (P.B.U.H) on his own judgment he suggested a more suitable place, his act of suggesting and personal interpretation gained credence and was also appreciated by the Prophet (P.B.U.H). In a nutshell, it can be said that the use of discretion and personal interpretation lead to the subsequent use of Istehsan.

The formation of the concept of Istehsan first took place in the earliest days of Islam, the founder of this term were the most prominent Hanafi jurists Abu Yousuf and Al-Shaybani. However, it was first introduced by Noman Ibn Sabit Abu Hanifa, the founder of Hanafi School of Thought. There’s no universally accepted definition devised for it.

WHAT IS ISTEHSAN?

It literally means to prefer or deem or consider something better. Istehsan is an Arabic term which means ‘to approve’ or ‘to sanction’. In Islamic law it is called juristic discretion, which means for determining the best solution a jurist uses his own judgment for a religious problem that cannot be solved by simply citing sacred texts.

Istihsan is not liberated from Shariah, it is integral part of Shariah. It is an important branch of Ijtihad, and has played a note worthy role in adaptation of islamic law to the transforming needs of the society. This as a concept is more related to Equity in western law. However based on natural law we have Equity in Western law. Istihsan is originally based on divine law. It is an important branch of ijtihad. Moreover, it is the provider for Islamic law with paramount means to encourage adaptability and growth and can be utilized for diverse purposes.

Hanafi jurist Abul Hasan al Karkhi describes Istihsan as a doctrine which enables the departure from settled antecedent cases in consideration of a distinct verdict for a stronger logic. The Maliki jurists are more privy to Istislah (consideration of public interest) than Istihsan. They ratify Istihsan as more or less identical to Istislah or as a part of Istislah.

Criticisms on Istehsan

Al-Shafi’i beheld the application of juristic preference as a unorthodox taking over of God‘s exclusive right as the lawgiver of Islamic law. It has been asserted that this opinion of Al-Shafi’i revolves more around the linguistic context of the term comparatively than its technical connotation, though modern cognition regards Shafi’is remarks as an explicit criticism of the technical meaning.  Sarakhsi identifies that some jurists have censured Istihsan on the footings that the Qiyas (analogy) is being sacrificed for personal opinion, something that is illicit in Islam. He disproves this understanding as beyond comprehensible, as no jurist would ease off an authority for something that do not have any evidence.

Al-Shafii has criticized Istihsan on the grounds of Quranic verses. However, these verses are not absolute on Istihsan. Al-Ghazali has invalidated Istihsan but declared that Shafii’s acknowledgement of Istihsan established on details from the Quran and the Sunnah. Al-Amidi ( a Shafii jurist) has stated that Al-Shafii also rhad recourse to Istihsan. Modern jurists have settled that the essential validity of Istihsan is beyond doubt.

Istihsan and its recognition in Modern world

First of all, it remains to be determined what accurately is meant by the phrase ‘injunctions of Islam’. The Constitution does not construe this term and no superior court has ever considered interpreting this term. The Council, while affirming its statement of opinion in its Annual Report of 1986 on the ‘Shariat Bill’ approved by the Senate, defined shariat as: ‘Shariat means the rules of Islam as enunciated in the Holy Quran and Sunnah’.  Still, the Report does not suggest any characterization of the ‘injunctions of Islam’. It, however, adjoins an explanation to the definition of ‘shariat’:

The following sources may be attributed to for the written descriptions of the injunctions of Islam:

a) The Sunnah of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) ;
b) The conduct of the Companions of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) ;
c) Ijma (consensus of Muslim jurists) ; and
d) The statements and opinions of the jurists(Juristic Preference or Istihsan).

Istihsan in Islamic law must not be puzzled with ‘equity’ of English jurisprudence. Recorded as actually having happened, English ‘common law’ relied upon the long established customs and, as it was not made to be substituted in order to meet the interests of contemporary ages, it declined and was incapable to comply with the public demand for lawfulness and fairness. People to a greater extent believed that the law was incompetent for their requirements.  People initiated pleading the king. The ruler or king, being the ‘Fountain of Justice,’ would compensate the injustice utilizing his own ‘discretionary authority for the establishment of justice. As more people entrusted the king for justice, he handed over some certain powers of the ‘use of discretion’ to Lord Chancellor who would carry out justice on the king’s behalf. As the difficulty increased still further, special courts had to be established in several domains of the area of the rule. They were to be acknowledged as ‘Chancery Courts’, and then later ‘Equity Courts’. The persistent usual procedure of these courts influenced to the advancement of their own distinctive laws which were referred to as ‘principles of equity’. These were comprised of many unique principles and methods of doing things. The significant fact to contemplate here is that the idea for the composition of these courts was the recurrent deline of common law.

Islamic law, in different circumstances, came up against a situation comprising of such problems. Thinking of qiyas with common law and Istihsan together with equity entails that the jurists of that time departed from the settled rule of Islamic law, thinking it was too binding, and alternatively came up with a ‘better’ and more impartial rule, by using the fundamentals of natural justice; and that this series of action to achieve fair and just result was called Istihsan because it was an enhancement upon the initial rule. If this is legitimate, then Shafi‘i jurists were correct to denounce it and form the opinion: ‘Whoever exercises Istihsan annexes the function of the Lawgiver’.

The Hanafis, who accept Istihsan as an authentic mean of deriving legal rules, recognize it a tool for the purpose of safeguarding peace and avoiding systematic constancy within the law. If something seems to be forbidden in the consideration of the accustomed principles of law, but has been particularly sanctioned by one of the texts, the Hanafis take the stance that it is allowed as a special case to the general principle. They use this formula: ‘forbidden under qiyas but permitted under istihsan’ for this objective. Exceptions to the general principles are made on the footings of the text, consensus, requirement or some other ‘camouflaged principle’.

EXAMPLE OF ISTIHSAN

Oral testimony is the approved pattern of evidence in Islamic Law. The Muslim jurists consider that the unambiguous testimony of a witness in front of the judge without negotiator is the ultimate way of exploring the truth. The question arises, whether one should entirely stand firm on oral testimony at a time when up-to-date methods, such as photography, audio and video recording, laboratory analyses, etc., provide equitably, if not more, dependable means of revealing the truth. Alternating to istihsan would ratify these new techniques. The intention of Shariah is to establish proof or evidence, unveil the truth and provide justice and not to produce oral testimony.

Conclusion

The concept Istihsan is adopted for the easement of the people around the world. We see many examples of it in our lives. This concept has its own pros and cons depending on how people utilize it. Around the world we see that judiciary in given some ‘discretionary powers’ that are more or less related to this very idea. The use of such powers gives right to the decision maker to judge in favor of both the alleged and victim, in order to prevail justice and spare no pain to any of them. Modern problems need modern solutions, binding ourselves to certain sources as Holy Quran and Sunnah will sometimes not lead to any solution therefore keeping in mind the rules laid down by the Almighty Allah the competent authorities form a just opinion. On the other those who intend to misuse this concept can mould the provisions in the name of istihsan for the sake of their benefit.

Filed Under: Islam Laws Tagged With: islamic law, istehsan, juristic preference

Hadith as Source of Islamic Law

May 18, 2019 by Admin Leave a Comment

Hadith as Source of Islamic law

Hadith is primary source of law among Muslims. It is considered 2nd to Quran. More importantly, hadith as source of Islamic Law is accepted by all sects of Islam. First of all we have to understand what hadith is.

Hadith

Word hadith/hadis is an Arabic word, which is derived from word hadis which means new thing, discussion or speech. Hadith is saying or doing of Holy Prophet (S). There are three common types of hadith these are:

Hadith-e-Qooli

These are saying of Holy Prophet (S). For example He prohibited Muslims from drinking alcohol. 

Hadith-e-Faali

These are doing of Holy Prophet (S). For example : He the method He has adopted in offering prayers .

Hadith-e-Taqreri

These are something that is happening before Holy Prophet (S) and He remains silent on it. He neither has approved it nor He has prohibited it .

Now we shall consider what law is.

Components of Hadith

There are two main parts of hadith :

Maatin

Is main important part of hadis, which contains original text or wording of hadis .

Isnaad

It is that part of hadis which contains chain of narrators. With help of this authenticity or weakness of hadis is determined.

Compilation of Hadith

There are three periods of compilation of hadis :

  • Period of Holy Prophet (S) and Companions (1-100 A.H)
  • Period of Successors and Successors of Successors (101-200 A.H)
  • Period after Successors and Successors of Successor (201-300 A.H)

First Period

Period of Holy Prophet (S) and Companions (1-100 A.H)

Some non believers argue that Arabs did not known reading and writing when Islam spread in them and hence no hadis are written during period of Holy Prophet (S). But it is not true although majority of Arabs did not know about writing and but some people are still educated at that time. Many things are written at time of Holy Prophet (S) like Sulaalah Nama Hudabia, Messaca Madina, letters to become Muslim to kings of different states.

Although it is true that Arabs did not like writing but on other side many companions use to wrote hadis and many Saahifa were came into existence. Among these Saahefa Abu Hurara, Saahefa-e-Ali, Saahefa-e-Ayesha, Saahefa-e-Sadica are good examples.

Second Period

Period of Successors and Successor of Successor (101-200 A.H) :

In second century after Higrat, hadis were properly being written down. Students of companions started writing books of hadis. Which includes books of the Imam Zhari of Madina, Imam Mahkol of Sham, and, Abu Hanifa wrote “Kitab-ul-Isaar”. In Madina Imam Malik wrote “Moota”, Imam Sufan wrote “Jamaa”.

Third period

Period after Successors and Successors of Successors  (201-300 A.H) :

In third century after Higrat propagation in Islam is more than in previous period. Non Arabs also began to write Hadis of Holy Prophet (S), the writers of hadis are increased to a great extent. In this period fake hadis ( naauz-billah ) are begin to be reported. To test different hadis whether it is authentic or not, different principles were laid down. In this period different department were discovered like Ilam Isma-ur-Regal, Ilam Jrah-e-Tadial etc. In this also six most authentic book of hadis “ Sahah Sitta” were written, upon saith of hadis written in this book almost all Aliams were agreed. These books include :

  • Sahih Bukhari
  • Sahih Muslim
  • Jaamy Termizi
  • Sunan al Nisai
  • Sunan abi Dawood
  • Sunan abna Maja

These are most authentic books of hadis among sunni school of thought.

Law

Law in its common meanings means rules and regulations. It is something which determines rights and duties. Law tells us what to do and what not to do; it will ultimately lead in welfare of our society. Law aims to provide justice. It eye of law every person is equal whether rich or poor.

Hadith as Source of Law

Being Muslim we know that it is hadith after Quran which tells us what to do and w hat not to do. What is for welfare of us. Holy Prophet laid down what are rights and duties of a person, after beginning of revelation. All these things which hadith describes are now a modern law mostly followed in Muslim countries and also to some extent in non Muslim countries. In simple words we may say that almost all hadith is law.

Hadith is pratical example of Quran which is complete code of conduct. It covers almost all the aspects of life. It gives solution to problems in every field of life.  

Why we follow hadith

To believe in hadith of Holy Prophet (S) is first and foremost essential requirement of being or becoming a Muslim. Not only we have to believe on it but also we have to follow them also. Because it is order of Allah Almighty whose explanation is as follow:

Follow Allah and His Prophet (S).

Another place in Quran Allah Almighty said whose explanation is as follow:

He, who follows Holy Prophet (S), follows Allah. 

Another place in Quran Allah Almighty said whose explanation is as follow:

And life of Holy Prophet (S) is complete guidance for you.       

Why we follow hadith as source of law in Pakistan

In Pakistan hadith is considered as source of law because Islam is its state religion and it is also written in preamble of constitution of 1973 of Pakistan that no law is made contrary to Islam. If in a case any such law is passed it is made null and void by Islami Nazariyati Council.  Hadith is followes by all Muslims and all school of thoughts.

In general, the difference between Shi’a and Sunni collections is that Shia give preference to hadiths credited to the Prophet’s family and close associates (Ahl al-Bayt), while Sunnis do not consider family lineage in evaluating hadith and sunnah narrated by any of twelve thousand companions of Muhammad. It is valid in every age of life. Scope of hadith is very wide; it goes on increasing and will never end.

Author: Hamasul-Faraz is student of LLB in Islamia University of Bahawalpur.


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Filed Under: Islam Laws Tagged With: hadith, hadith kinds, hadith source, source of islamic law

Aamul Feel or Waqia e Feel in Urdu

March 14, 2017 by Admin Leave a Comment

Aamul Feel or Waqia e Feel in Urdu

Waqia e Feel is an important incident in Islamic History. Waqia e feel is also known as Aamul feel. It happened before the birth of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Abraha was the Governor General of Yemen. He constructed a large “Kaleesa” because he wanted that people come to his “Kaleesa” for Haj instead of Kaaba in Mecca. Upon failure, he invaded Mecca with large army to destroy Kaaba. His army had 9 or 11 elephants. Meccans were defenseless and ran to the hills because they don’t have power to fight with this Army. When The Army reached Mecca, Allah Sent small birds with stones in their bills. They dropped the stones on Army of Abraha and the army was destroyed.

In this post you can read about the complete Waqia e Feel in Urdu language.

Waqia e Feel Islamic History

The above mentioned details of Aamul Feel are taken from the book “Al Raheeq ul Makhtoom”, which is considered as one of the best books on Seerat e Nabi.

Filed Under: History, Urdu

Ulema In Islam, Meaning & Definition

March 7, 2017 by Admin Leave a Comment

Ulema In Islam, Meaning & Definition

Literally “those who have knowledge” or “those who know” (singular alim, plural ulama_). The term is most widely used to refer to the scholarly class of Muslim societies, whose main occupation is the study of the texts that make up the Islamic Tradition (religious sciences such as Quran, hadith, Quranic commentary, jurisprudence, and theology, but also the applied sciences such as medicine, biology, astronomy, and mathematics). Members of the ulema class have also been called upon to act as advisors to rulers, or as qadis (judges) implementing the law (sharia) within Muslim societies. The authority of the ulema class in defining doctrine and right practice within Islam has been immense in Muslim history.

Historical Background

In the early period (7th–9th centuries C.E.), a separate class of scholars concerned with the elaboration of knowledge (ilm) took some time to develop. Most historians date the emergence of a scholarly class to the early years of the Umayyad period, when Islamic doctrine was much debated. Debates concerning the constituent elements of faith (iman), or predestination (qadr), as well as the transmission of hadith (from the Prophet or other notable figures) and legal doctrine (fiqh) were the principal intellectual concerns of the emerging scholarly class. Many of the ulema also, it appears, participated in the opposition movements to the Umayyad caliphate.
Some viewed them as deviating from true Islam in their leadership of the Muslim empire, and wished to put forward a more sophisticated religio-intellectual criticism of the Umayyad’s. It was, however, in the Abbasid period that the ulema began to gain both political influence and popular respect, as Abbasid caliphs and their wazirs sponsored institutional schools in which scholars could develop the intellectual foundations of Islam. It was early in this period that the ulema, with the support of some caliphs, became interested in the Greek tradition of philosophy and science, and works in languages other than Arabic began to be translated. These translations mark the beginnings of the incorporation of the applied sciences into the curriculum of learning, to complement the religious sciences, in which the ulema were already considered expert.

Ulema Class & Muslim World

Once established, the ulema class became a fundamental element of Muslim societies. The expansion of the Muslim world, incorporating many different cultures and traditions, did not obviate the need for a scholarly class whose primary functions were to maintain the intellectual tradition and provide religious and scientific guidance to the population. Their fortunes waxed and waned depending on the receptivity of the dynasties to religious influence, but the vast majority of Muslim societies, both past and present, have included a class of scholars, usually given the generic name ulema.
The authority of the ulema in matters of doctrine and law has been definitive. The ulema themselves, though, have been divided on many issues, and hence should not be viewed as a unified group with common aims and intentions. An example of this division can be seen in the famous Inquisition, (mihna) from 829 onwards, when one group of scholars (the Mutazilis) persuaded the Abbasid caliph to persecute (and declare as heretics) scholars who did not adhere to the doctrine of “the created Quran.”

Taqlid & Muqallids

The authority and respect demanded by the ulema has usually been justified on the simple basis of a practical division of labor. Not all members of society have the time, the skills, or the inclination to dedicate their lives to the study necessary to determine right doctrine and practice. Hence, it is argued, a class of society that dedicates itself to this task should be instituted, and since these matters affect each individual’s fate (both in this world and in the afterlife), the guidance of this class is of paramount importance. In the area of legal matters, this attitude was enshrined in the theory of taqlid, whereby the Muslim community is divided between scholars and those who follow the rulings of the scholars (typically called the muqallids).
Apart from this practical justification for the ulema’s authority, scholars also turned to the Quran. Q. 4:59 states “Obey God, the Prophet and those in authority amongst you.” Many Sunni scholars argued that “those in authority” probably refers to the ulema (some also included the political rulers in the category). Similarly, Q. 16:43: “Ask the people of remembrance if you do not know” was interpreted by Sunni scholars as exhorting the people to submit in matters of knowledge to the ulema. There were also convenient hadiths, traced back to the prophet Muhammad, which could be used to establish the ulema’s status. For example, the well-known words attributed to the Prophet, “The ulema are the inheritors of the Prophets,” was interpreted as implying that in religious authority, the ulema were given the responsibility of announcing the message of Islam to the community. Although there were many scholars whose individual charismatic power is well attested, their authority was ultimately based on learning. The ulema deserved this respect, not because of lineage, or familial connections, or even because of individual piety and religiosity. Rather, the ulema were due respect because of they had undergone a particular type of training and education that elevated their understanding of religious matters above the ordinary populace. It was on this basis that the institution of the ulema became an indispensable part of Muslim culture.
In Muslim history, however, the respect due to the ulema did not translate into political power. Most scholars who wrote on the relationship between political power and religious authority accepted that the ulema were advisors who aided the ruler in the maintenance of the religion.

Al Ghazali & his theory about Sultan

Al-Ghazali (d. 1111), for example, argued that the sultan should “exercise coercive power and have authority because the sultan is the representative of God,” whereas the ulema were appointed by the sultan and given the responsibility of enacting the law.
This theory of the dependence of the ulema upon the ruler for their practical authority in society reflected the relationship of the Sunni ulema with political power in historical terms. During the Ottoman Empire the ulema became an increasingly structured class of society, headed by the mufti, who advised the sultan on both religious and political issues, headed the judiciary, and controlled the religious education system in the empire. The situation was not dissimilar in the Indian Mogul Empire.
Al-Ghazali’s influential formulation of the sultan-ulema relationship can be informatively contrasted with the views of Shi_ite groups. Some Shi_ite groups, particularly the Isma_ilis in the medieval period, saw religious authority and political power conjoined in an individual, who was given the title imam. The need for a class of religious scholars who advised the imam was reduced, since the imam was, himself, blessed in a mystical manner with knowledge of doctrinal and legal matters. Twelver Shi_ites also placed an imam at the apex of the ideal political system, but believed that the imam had gone into hiding (ghayba). Since there was no ideal political leader other than this missing imam, Twelver Shi_ites were greatly concerned with the issue of community authority. A theory of “delegation” (niyaba) was therefore needed. The Twelver Shi_ites recognized a succession of Twelve Imams after the death of the Prophet. Only the first of these, Imam _Ali, had succeeded in gaining political power, and the last ofthese had gone into hiding. Reports from a number of these Twelve Imams were interpreted to indicate that the imams had delegated leadership of the community to the ulema in the absence of the Imam.
In works of fiqh, one sees a gradual expansion of the ulema’s role in areas that, in early Twelver Shi_ism, were seen as the prerogative of the Imam. This position faced a serious challenge when the Safavid mystical order came to power in Iran in 1501. The first Safavid Shah, Isma_il, declared Twelver Shi_ism to be the state religion. Jurists either devised means whereby the shah might be considered a legitimate ruler, despite the absence of the true ruler (the imam) or they rejected association with the Safavids and maintained the ultimate authority of the ulema.
The debate over the role of the ulema in the life of the Muslim community has become more acute in the modern period. In Twelver Shi_ism, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini argued that the ulema should rule the Muslim community until the return of the Hidden Imam, a theory he had the opportunity to put into practice following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. In the modern Sunni Muslim world, on the other hand, one can recognize a variety of trends. Many Sunni Muslim governments have used members of the ulema to brand their government as religious in a manner reminiscent of the medieval period. In the revivalist movements, however, one sees a reaction against the ulema, who often are characterized as obscurantist and pedantic, worrying about matters of religious technicalities, rather than the more important issues of preserving Muslim identity in the face of non-Muslim imperialism. The popularist commentaries on the Qur_an of, for example, Sayyid Qutb or Abu l-A_la_ Maududi, represent a rejection of the ulemas and an exhortation to “the people” to approach the divine text without the encumbrance of the scholarly tradition of learning.
This rejection of the ulema’s authority in matters of religion is likely to increase as literacy and the availability of foundational texts of Islam become more widespread in the Muslim world. In some Muslim countries, however, one sees the re-emergence of the ulema as active political agents, working for change. Two examples of this are Saudi Arabia and Morocco. In the recent past, Saudi ulema have challenged the concentration of power in the person of the king and his royal family. Attempts continue to be made to diffuse this power to a larger body, within which the ulema would play a larger role. In Morocco, legal scholars such as Muhammad _Allal al-Fasi have been at the forefront of the modernization of Islamic law. Al-Fasi and others are responsible for the production of an intellectual movement in which the shari_a is considered more responsive to the needs of a society changing under the influence of new technology and science.
The ulema have, then, at different times been loathed and loved by the political establishment. However, their participation in the institutions of power remains an essential component of any Muslim political system wishing to call itself “Islamic.”

Filed Under: Islamic Info

Tafsir – History of Tafsir or Interpretation of Quran

July 27, 2016 by Admin Leave a Comment

Tafsir

Tafsir refers to Quranic exegesis. Tafsir claims to “clarify” the divine word, which serves to make the text “speak” to current social, moral, legal, doctrinal, and political conditions. Through their interpretive strategies, exegeses have struggled to make the Quranic text more accessible to believers, and more applicable to changing environments.

Origin of Tafsir

The emergence of the word tafsir as both a process and a literary genre is unclear. The word tafsir appears only once in the Quran (25:33), suggesting that no formal science of interpretation was established early in the Islamic tradition. Traditionally, tafsir can be traced back to Muhammad. However, within hadith collections, only a small amount of tafsir is ascribed to the Prophet; much of the early exegesis is attributed to one of his companions, Abdallah ibn Abbas. During the first three centuries of Islam, the words tawil and tafsir were used interchangeably to mean “interpretation of the Quran,” and many authors employed either one of these terms (or none at all) to describe their exegetical enterprises. For example, Ibn Ishaq (d. 768), in his biography of the Prophet (Sirat rasul Allah), surrounds his citing of scripture with contextual detail, which serves to explain many vague, ahistorical Quranic passages; however, his activity was never formalized or labeled as tafsir. Other early exegetical works focus on explicating legal issues or theological rhetoric, such as Muqatil ibn Sulayman’s (d. 804) Tafsir khams mia aya min al-Quran, and Ibn Qutayba’s (d. 889) Tawil mushkil al- Qur_an (respectively), but again, each author uses a different term to describe his activities. After the tenth century, a gradual distinction was drawn between tawil, which came to refer to exegesis based upon reason or personal opinion, and tafsir, which relied on hadith reports going back to Muhammad and his early companions. Throughout history, individual tafsir works emphasize either opinion or tradition, but sometimes rely on both.

With the rapid expansion of Islam, problems arose in non- Arabic speaking communities with regard to the Quran and its translation and interpretation, which called for more formalized exegetical commentary that extended beyond the words of Muhammad or his companions. During the time of the successors, schools of tafsir evolved within distinct geographical regions: Mecca, Medina, and Iraq, along with their corresponding exegetical “specialists” (mufassirun). The justification for the development of tafsir schools rests on Qur_an 3:5–6, which lays out two categories of Quranic verses: clear (muhkamat) and unclear (mutashabihat). The role of the exegete (mufassir) is to reiterate what is already “clear” and to clarify what is “unclear.” Much debate arose concerning what passages fell into either of these categories, as well as to what extent finite human reason could be relied upon to make such determinations. The resolution of this debate served to shape tafsir works (and continues to do so) on into the twenty-first century.

Typology of Tafsir

Generally, tafsir works emphasized four types of issues that required systematized interpretive efforts: linguistic, juristic, historical, and theological. Linguistic efforts focus on the meaning of a word, where to put in punctuation and pauses, the case endings of words, or the rhetorical presentation of information: Why are entire sentences or phrases repeated again and again? A juristic accent stresses what is to be taken as the general or specific application of a command, or what verses were to be abrogated by others. Questions of abrogation (naskh) rely heavily on those tafsir that deal specifically with the occasions of the revelation (asbab al-nuzul), that is, those tafsir that embed a historic Quranic passages within a progressive timeline. Without the exegetical efforts that contextualize specific Quranic passages, the legal tradition, in particular the theory of abrogation, would have no firm basis from which to operate. Theologically oriented tafsir engage such problems as predestination versus free will, the nature of God, or the infallibility of the prophets. Many tafsir works revolve around a single issue; others are composite in nature.

Tafsir studies can be divided roughly into six groups based on discrete literary and methodological features: classical, mystical, sensual, Shiite, modern, and fundamentalist. Classical tafsir emerges with full force in the fourth century of Islam, typified by the work of Abu Jafar Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923), whose Jami al-bayan an tawil ay al- Quran (The collection of the explanation of the interpretation of the Quran) presents a seemingly objective collection of hadith reports that originated with the Prophet and his Companions. Other classical exegetes include Mahmud ibn _Umar al-Zamakhshari (d. 1144), who looked to Arabic poetry as a valuable source for his linguistic and literary interpretation of the Quran. His work engages both the rhetorical and theological aspects of Qur_anic exegesis. Fakhr al-Din Razi (d. 1210) surveys a whole range of debates in his commentary, in particular the differences between the Ashari and the Mutazili theologians. The Mutazalis, for example, argued that irrational passages could be interpreted to make sense through metaphorical (tawil) interpretation. Other exegetes defend the legal views of one school of law or another in their works, such as Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1200), who  supports the Hanbali tradition, or Abu _Abdallah al-Qurtubi(d. 1273), who backs the Malikis. In these examples, commentaries further a variety of theological, legal, or political agendas through formal explication of Quranic passages.

Mystical (Sufi) tafsir favors allegorical interpretation of scripture. Sufi exegetes suggest there are two possible readings of the Quran: the literal (zahir), and the allegorical (batin). They are most interested in allegorical readings, which often counter growing orthodox interpretations. Generally, Sufis are concerned with establishing an intimate relationship with the divine, and look to those Quranic verses that reveal his hidden nature in gnostic fashion. These inner meanings of scripture are accessible only to those who grasp it through intuitive knowledge (gnosis), rather than the intellect (grammatical, rhetorical, legal, and discursive interpretation). Sufi exegesis privileges seemingly random verses in the Quran rather than presenting a symbolic reading of the entire work. Oftentimes Sufi interpretations extract a single sentence from the Quran, give it an allegorical reading, and then use that reading to decipher a whole pattern of non textual symbols through which the inner nature of God is revealed. The relationship between the sign and the signified is not always apparent to the non-Sufi reader, who may expect a more systematized set of interpretative strategies. For example, Quranic references to Muhammad’s “night journey” (al-isra_;17:1), a journey that is taken quite literally by classical exegetes, is treated metaphorically by Sufis, who cast it as a model for one’s ascent along the Sufi path that requires a stripping away of the self so only the divine remains. Sufis understand the anthropomorphic statement in the Quran about God seating himself upon his throne (7:54) to mean God metaphorically setting himself over the heart of Muhammad. Some of the well-known collections of Sufi tafsir includeSahl ibn _Abdallah al-Tustari’s (d. 986) Tafsir al-Tustari (Exegesis of al-Tustari) and Muhyi al-Din ibn al-_Arabi’s (d. 1240) Tafsir Ibn al-_Arabi (Exegesis of Ibn al-_Arabi).

Sufis further interpret the Quran through their emphasis on the recitation of certain Quranic passages (dhikr), and their calligraphic art. Generally, Quranic recitation makes a written text a living text (for Sufis and non-Sufis). The words themselves do not lie static on the page, but rather resound in everyday existence, collapsing ordinary time into sacred time: the moment when God first uttered his revelation to the Prophet; when mystics directly encounter their God. And, just as the mystic finds hidden meanings within the written word, so too does he see the calligraphic form of particular words allowing for deeper reflection upon the dual meanings of their shapes and sounds. The calligraphic form of “Muhammad” or “Husayn” allows one to reflect not just on the word that signifies the person, but on the person’s true qualities and intimate relationship with the divine. These oral and visual forms of tafsir serve to extend the written document into the realm of direct sensual experience.

Shiite tafsir

Shiites are primarily concerned with establishing a line of divinely ordained, infallible leaders (imams) who stem from the Prophet’s family, starting with _Ali, who was the first in a series of twelve. Shiites, like Sufis, rely heavily on the distinction between literal and allegorical readings of the Quran to support their understanding that the concept of the imam (along with the necessity of blood descent for true leaders of the Islamic community) is rooted in and validated by the Quran. For example, the cryptic Quranic statement that likens a good word to a good tree (14:24) is understood by Shiites to refer specifically to the Prophet and his family.

Contrarily, a corrupt word likened to a corrupt tree (14:26) points to the immoral Umayyads, whom Shiites view as usurpers of their rightful leadership. As is the case with Sufis, the connection between the sign and the signified is not readily apparent to those who do not accept Shiite theology. In their interpretive efforts, the Shia move beyond symbolic interpretations to favor textual variants of the Quran that validate their imamate doctrine, including one reference where Sunnis read “umma” (community), and Shia read “a’imma” (imami leaders). Some of the major Shiite tafsir include Abu Jafar al-Tusi’s (d. 1067) al-Tibyan fi tafsir al- Qur_an (The explanation in interpretation of the Quran), and Abu al-Tabarsi’s (d. 1153) Majma al-bayan liulum al-Quran (The collection of the explanation of the sciences of the Quran).

Modern tafsir refers to twentieth-century interpretation. The aim of modern tafsir is to understand the Quran in light of reason, rather than tradition; to strip the Quran of any traces of superstition or legend; and to use the Quran as a source to justify its own claims. Generally, modern exegetes try to make the text more readily accessible to the common person who faces the challenges of modernity in a postcolonial environment where past tradition no longer seems applicable to current concerns. Modern tafsir works differ from classical works in that they no longer focus on issues of grammar, rhetoric, law, or theology, but privilege more immediate social, political, moral, and economic concerns of the day. However, they are similar in that they strive to make the divine word more accessible to those who believe. A major modern work is Muhammad _Abduh’s (d. 1905) “Tafsir al-manar” (The beacon of interpretation), which calls for a rational approach to applying the Quran to modern dilemmas. _Abduh elaborates on the Quranic passage that suggests the taking of four wives is really an impossibility, due to the fact that a man could never treat them all equally (4:129), and argues that such polygamous relationships cause harm to spouses and children. Modernists like _Abdu locate the moral core of the text, and then use their rational capabilities to extend that general moral injunction to a variety of modern issues.

Future Trends in Tafsir

The study of fundamentalist tafsizr is still in its early stages. Many fundamentalists interpret the Quran according to their own political and theological agendas, with little regard for traditional modes of systematic exegesis. For example, in Fi zilal al-Quran (In the shadow of the Quran), Sayyid Qutb (d. 1960), spokesperson for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, denies the established Islamic tradition that jihad is a defensive act of war, and determines that jihad is incumbent upon all Muslims as they abolish corrupt political and religious regimes. In the early twenty-first century, Usama bin Ladin also bypasses the traditional understanding of jihad by reinterpreting the definition of a defensive attack to include the mere occupancy of sacred Muslim lands by foreign powers, or the sheer presence of anti-Islamic values in those lands, such as promiscuity or usury. Like many modernists, bin Ladin searches for the general intent of the Quran—as opposed to traditional statements—and then seeks to apply that general intent to specific political and religious crises. For example, bin Ladin bypasses traditional theories of abrogation of an earlier by a later verse to select and privilege those Quranic verses that most closely support his military goals, in particular verses that urge believers to slay idolaters (9:5) and to smite the necks of disbelievers (47:4). Unnamed members of al-Qaida describe the hijackings of the planes that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City on 11 September 2001 as a kind of sacrificial ritual sanctioned by the Quran. In each of these examples, the fundamentalist exegete discards tradition in favor of his own personal charisma, which ultimately gives him the authority to “interpret the Quran by the Quran.” In each type of tafsir, the Quran is made eternally pliable to offer numerous interpretative solutions to Muslims as they confront changing political, economic, doctrinal, moral, and scientific conditions.

Filed Under: Islamic History

Salafiyya Movement in Islam – Who are Salafi Muslims

July 24, 2016 by Admin Leave a Comment

Salafiyya

Salafiyya is the name given to those who follow the ideas and practices of the righteous ancestors (al-salaf al-salih). This “salafi” approach rejects later traditions and schools of thought, calling for a return to the Quran and the sunna as the authentic basis for Muslim life. The salafi approach emphasizes the application of ijtihad (independent, informed judgment) and rejects taqlid (adherence to established precedents and conformity with existing traditional interpretations and institutions).

The “righteous ancestors,” or salaf, are usually considered to be the first three generations of Muslims, including the immediate companions of the Prophet. Because of the closeness of these salaf to Muhammad, later Muslims regarded the former’s transmissions of the Prophet’s traditions, their informed practice as believers, as having special authority. Major figures in the definition of the salafi perspective and approach are Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), the founder of the Hanbali School, and Ahmad ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328).

The fundamental concern of modern Salafiyya, who recognize that Muslim power and influence is in decline relative to the West, is the relationship between Islam and modernity.

The goal of the movement is to make Islam a dynamic force in the contemporary world. The modern Salafiyya invoked the classic themes: a call for a return to the Quran and the sunna, a rejection of the medieval authorities (taqlid), and an affirmation of the necessity of independent, informed thinking (ijtihad). In the modern context, this involved an emphasis on the compatibility of reason with revelation, and of Islam with modern science. It also entailed a call for moral social reform.

However, by the end of the twentieth century, the term Salafiyya also came to be applied to extremist movements that advocated violent jihad against existing regimes and social orders, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and that did not adhere to a rigid and literalist understanding of the Quran and sunna. This new Salafiyya often differed from the time honored salafi approach of Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Taymiyya by rejecting independent analysis (ijtihad).

Among those involved in the definition and establishment of the modern Salafiyya, the best-known are Jamal al-Din al- Afghani (1839–1897) and Muhammad  Abduh (1849–1905). Abduh created the broad intellectual foundations for modern Salafiyya. First in exile and then as Grand Mufti of Egypt, he shaped the thinking of generations of Muslim intellectuals.

The theological core was an emphasis on tawhid, which is the assertion of the singleness of God and the comprehensive unity of God’s message. Tawhid was the basis for showing the compatibility of Islam with modern science and revelation with modern reason. Consistent with the earlier Salafiyya, Abduh advocated the informed, independent analysis of the Quran and sunna.

The new Salafiyya did not involve direct opposition to European imperial rule over Muslims. Rather, it saw internal Islamic reform as the first priority, and the key to the implementation of its goals was education and scholarship. Abduh provided the inspiration for many educational reforms and al-Manar, the journal published by his follower and associate, Rashid Rida (1865–1939), was read throughout the Muslim world. Following Abduh’s death, Rashid Rida became the most visible international articulator of Salafi thought, becoming active in organizing Pan-Islamic congresses and, after the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924, in working for the establishment of a modern Arab caliphate. He came to view the efforts of Abd al-_Aziz Ibn Saud to create a state in the Arabian Peninsula based on the puritanical reform traditions of the Wahhabiyya as representing an important manifestation of the reforms necessary for all Muslim societies.

Other important Salafi-modernist movements developed in the late nineteenth century, sometimes relatively independently and sometimes in close coordination with the group around Abduh. In South Asia, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–1898) emphasized the importance of understanding nature as a reflection of God’s revelation in his teachings, and established the Mahomedan Anglo-Oriental College (which later became Aligarh Muslim University). As the Russian Empire completed its conquest of Muslim areas in the nineteenth century, another Islamic modernist movement, “Jadidism,” developed there under the leadership of Isma_il Gasprinskii (1851–1914). He created a new school curriculum for Muslim children, and his journal, Tarjuman, was important in creating a modern, cohesive sense of identity among Muslims living in Russia.

Many movements throughout the Muslim world were directly inspired by the Abduh tradition, and were in communication with it. In North Africa, Salafis organized movements like the Association of Algerian Ulema under Abd al- Hamid Ibn Badis (1889–1940). Salafi intellectuals and organizations became important parts of Muslim life in Syria and Iraq as well, and in Egypt and many other parts of the Muslim world. In Southeast Asia, the Shi_a Imami, which became one of the largest organizations in the Muslim world, was formed in 1912 to advocate specifically Salafi-style reform, especially through education.

Throughout the twentieth century, individuals and groups built on and developed the modernist Salafi traditions in many different directions. In South Asia, the work of Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) provided a critical synthesis of modern and Islamic thought in his book, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, and other works. At the same time, he worked for the creation of Pakistan. Some forms of nationalism were presented in Salafi form, as in the development of the Dustour Party in Tunisia and the drive toward liberal nationalism in Egypt in the first half of the century.

Later, Mahmud Shaltut (1893–1963), as shaykh of al-Azhar  University, confirmed the Abduh tradition at the heart of the Islamic scholarly establishment, and scholars like Fazlur Rahman (1919–1988) further developed modernist methodologies in historical and philosophical studies. By the end of the twentieth century, the term Salafi came to be applied to a very different type of Islamic revivalism. When an ideology of violent jihad against existing Muslim societies and secular modernity developed, it started with a Salafi-style call for a return to the purity of faith exemplified by the righteous ancestors. As this message was developed by later activists, however, the emphasis was placed on militant action, rather than on intellectual effort. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the term was widely applied to advocates of violent jihad. Terrorists like those who destroyed the World Trade Center, along with Usama bin Ladin and his organization, al-Qaida, are called Salafi, as are militants throughout the Muslim world. The older style of Salafi modernism was also significant at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The intellectual content of curricula in Islamic schools and international Islamic universities around the world reflects much of the tradition of Abduh, while organizations like the Muhammadiyya in Indonesia remain a significant part of political and social life.

Filed Under: Islamic History

The Dome of the Rock

December 15, 2015 by Admin Leave a Comment

The Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock (Ar. Qubbat al-Sakhra), a large octagonal building in Jerusalem commissioned by the Umayyad caliph _Abd al-Malik in 692 C.E., is the earliest major monument of Islamic architecture to survive. Muslims today consider it the third holiest shrine in Islam, after the Kaaba in Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. Its age and its sanctity, along with its visibility and extraordinary decoration, make it a major monument of world architecture and one of the most important sites in Islam.

The Dome of the Rock is set over a rocky outcrop near the center of the large esplanade known in Arabic as al-Haram al- Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), which was once the site of the Jewish Temple, the traditional religious center of Jerusalem.

The building is a large low octagon divided internally by an arcade into two octagonal ambulatories encircling a tall cylindrical space measuring approximately 20 meters (65 feet) in diameter. A high wooden dome, whose metal roof is plated with gold, spans the central space and covers the rock.

The Dome of the Rock pic

The glory of the building is its decoration. Above a high dado of quartered marble, the exterior and interior walls were once entirely covered in a mosaic of small cubes of colored and gold glass and semiprecious stones. In the sixteenth century the mosaics on the exterior were replaced with glazed tiles, themselves replaced in the twentieth century, but the mosaics on the interior stand much as they did when they were put up in the late seventh century. They depict a vast program of fantastic trees, plants, fruits, jewels, chalices, vases, and crowns. A long (about 250 meters, or 820 feet) band of Arabic writing in gold on a blue ground runs along the top of both sides of the inner octagon. The text is largely Quranic phrases and contains the earliest evidence for the writing down of the Quran. It ended with the name of the patron, the Umayyad caliph _Abd al-Malik (replaced in the ninth century by that of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma_mun), and the date of construction.

In form, materials, and decoration, the Dome of the Rock belongs to the tradition of late Antique and Byzantine architecture that flourished in the region before the coming of Islam. The domed, centrally planned building was a typical form for a martyrium, and the Dome of the Rock is similar in plan and size of dome to the nearby Holy Sepulcher, the building (also raised over a rock) that the emperor Constantine had erected in the fourth century to mark the site of Christ’s burial on Golgotha. Other Christian buildings erected in the area in the eighth century, notably the Church of the Nativity in Bethelem, show a similar use of marble and mosaics, perhaps executed by the same team of mosaicists.

Despite its antecedents and even its workmen, the Dome of the Rock is clearly a Muslim building, commissioned by a Muslim patron for Muslim purposes. Its mosaic decoration, notably its inscriptions in Arabic and its lack of figural representation, immediately distinguishes it from contemporary Christian buildings in the area. It was not intended as a place for communal prayer; that function was fulfilled by the nearby Aqsa Mosque. Rather its domed octagonal form suggests a commemorative function, though its exact purpose is unclear.

Already in the ninth century several alternative explanations for its construction were proposed. One author suggested that _Abd al-Malik had commissioned the Dome of the Rock to replace the Ka_ba, which had fallen into enemy hands. This explanation, however, is simplistic and undermines one of the five central tenets of Islam, though the building could have functioned (and does today) as a secondary site of pilgrimage. Another explanation, also current from the ninth century, associates the building with the site of Muhammad’s mi_raj, his miraculous night-journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and back. However, the Qur_anic inscriptions around the interior of the Dome of the Rock, the only contemporary source for explaining the building’s purpose, mention neither of these subjects. Rather, they deal with the nature of Islam and refute the tenets of Christianity. The inscriptions suggest that the building was intended to advertise the presence of Islam. Together with the traditional identification of the rock as the place of Adam’s burial and Abraham’s intended sacrifice of his son and of the esplanade as the site of Solomon’s Temple, the inscriptions suggest that the Dome of the Rock was meant to symbolize Islam as the worthy successor to both Judaism and Christianity.

The Dome of the Rock continued to play an important role long after it was built. The Abbasids, who succeeded the Umayyads, restored it several times, and the Fatimids restored it in the eleventh century after the dome collapsed in the earthquake of 1016. The Crusaders considered it Solomon’s Temple itself and rechristened the building Templum Domini. Saladin, the Ayyubid prince who recaptured Jerusalem for the Muslims in 1187, had the building rededicated as part of his campaign to enhance the city’s sanctity and political importance. The Mamluks, rulers of Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1517, had the wooden ceilings of the ambulatory and the central dome restored. The Ottoman sultan Suleyman (r. 1520–1566), whose name is the Turkish form of Solomon, ordered the building redecorated as part of his program of embellishing the holy cities of Islam. It was restored six more times in the twentieth century and has become a popular icon of Islam, decorating watches and tea towels and replicated in miniature models made of motherof- pearl and plastic. The first great monument of Islamic architecture, it has taken on a new life as the symbol of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.

Filed Under: Islamic History

East Asian Culture and Islam – A Brief History

December 12, 2015 by Admin Leave a Comment

EAST ASIAN CULTURE AND ISLAM

Within the field of Islam in East Asia, the major developments and most lasting influences between Islam and the indigenous peoples have taken place in China, where Muslims traders first settled in the early decades of the hijra. This early interest in China as a destiny for Muslim travelers is reflected in the famous hadith, “seek knowledge, even unto China.” Despite centuries of relative isolation from the rest of the Islamic world, the Muslims in most regions of China have managed to sustain a continuous knowledge of the Islamic sciences, Arabic, and Persian. Given extended periods of persecution combined with periods of intense government efforts to legislate adoption of Chinese cultural practices and norms, that Islam should have survived, let alone flourished, is an extraordinary historical phenomenon. Although some scholars have attributed the survival of Muslim communities in China to their ability to adopt Chinese cultural traditions, when asked themselves, Chinese Muslims usually attribute their survival to their strong faith and God’s protection.

In the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), a period of extreme political violence and chaos when Muslims together with other minority groups were persecuted, Muslim communities throughout China actively sought to reclaim their religious identity and revive Islamic education.

Islam and East Asian Culture pic

In addition to repairing and rebuilding mosques returned to them after the revolution, Muslim communities have also pooled their resources to build new mosques and Islamic schools. These schools are filled with students of all ages, including the elderly, who after decades of government control are anxious to study Islam and Arabic. More recently a growing number of Chinese Muslims are pursing advanced Islamic studies at international Islamic centers of learning. Although there are now Muslims present in virtually every region of China, there have undoubtedly been many communities that were either completely destroyed during government military campaigns, or that simply assimilated to the point of dissolution. One interesting example of a community that came to the brink of complete assimilation, only to be revived for political reasons, was documented by an anthropologist in the early 1980s. In Quanzhou (known as Zaytun in the Arabic sources), a city located along China’s southeast coast, a large clan existed whose members had so assimilated to local customs as to be completely indistinguishable from the local Han Chinese. They took part in the full range of traditional religious practices, many of which had to do with  honoring one’s ancestors. They knew nothing of Islam, ate pork, and drank alcohol. There was one slight difference though: During the annual sacrifices made to one’s ancestors, when preparing food to offer ceremoniously to their ancestors, they would not include pork or alcohol. This tenuous connection to their ancestors (Muslim traders and officials who had first settled in this region in the early years of the hijra) was called upon in 1981 when this extended family sought government recognition as one of the officially recognized minority groups. As they had the genealogical records to prove their descent from Muslims, they were able to change their status from Han Chinese to Hui (Chinese Muslim).

Mosques and Calligraphy

Mosques and the calligraphy within them have also served as an interesting barometer of the waxing and waning of traditional Chinese influences on the development of indigenous Chinese Islamic traditions.

Although no mosques dating back to the pre-Mongol period have survived, it is assumed that mosques during this  period reflected the architecture of the immigrant Muslims who built them, as they were required to live in special districts separate from the general population. By the Ming period in the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, however, there was significant pressure for Muslims to outwardly conform to Chinese traditions. The Huajue mosque in Xian, which dates back to the Ming period and has survived down to the present, is an exquisite example of how Chinese Muslims were able to incorporate traditional Chinese motifs,  decorative arts, and temple architectural styles into the structureand decoration of mosques. In this mosque, as in most others in China, Arabic calligraphy is interspersed with carvings and paintings of traditional Chinese images of flowers, fruit, mythical animals, and Chinese calligraphy. The rooftops are protected by small animal figures along the ridges of roof tiles, and the minarets take the form of pagodas. In addition, the Arabic calligraphy is a highly stylized form that differs from region to region and reflects local calligraphic traditions that have evolved in relative isolation over centuries. However, in recent years, in part as a result from pressure from outside funding sources and the growing number of Chinese Muslims going overseas for the hajj and to study, many communities have torn down these traditional mosques and replaced them with ones believed to be more “authentic.” Over the past twenty years untold numbers of mosques dating back centuries have been destroyed. Nevertheless, in some parts of China in recent years, there has been a growing movement among Chinese Muslims to protect their unique architectural traditions.

Local Celebrations

As there are Muslims communities in every part of China with their own histories and local traditions it would be difficult to generalize about the ways in which Islamic practices have been influenced by other local Chinese traditions. However, by looking at local celebrations of _Id al-Fitr and the Maulid (birthday of the prophet Muhammad) one can gain some sense of the variety of ways in which these interactions have developed. For example, in Yunnan province in southwest China, Muslim communities spread throughout the region. Many are direct descendants of Sayyid _Ajall Shams al-Din, a Muslim from Bukhara, who served as an  official under the Mongol Yuan dynasty and settled in Yunnan at the end of the thirteenth century. Seven centuries later, during the annual celebrations of _Id al-Fitr, after communal prayers at the mosque, Muslims from different areas travel to the site of Sayyid _Ajall’s grave where special prayers are held.

First there are readings from the Qur_an, then the tomb is swept and cleaned (reminiscent of the traditional Chinese Qingming festival held once a year when Chinese go to the graves of their ancestors, sweep and clean the area and then make food offerings), and then the accomplishments of Sayyid _Ajall are retold. In conclusion, a special service is held to honor the hundreds of thousands of Muslims killed during the Qing dynasty, and the hundreds killed more recently in this area during the Cultural Revolution.

In another region of Yunnan, a group of Muslim villages spread out over a vast plain have developed there a way of celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, which allows them to  reassert their ties to one another. Every year the Mawlid is celebrated in the fall over a period of two months beginning with the end of the major harvests. Each village is assigned a weekend when it will host all the other villages in a Mawlid celebration. Although the dates clearly are not connected with the Islamic calendar, their tradition allows them to share their bounty with their neighboring Muslim communities and strengthen their networks.

Meanwhile, in northwest China, the decision of when to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday is influenced not by seasonal harvests, but rather by the desire to offer younger Muslims an alternative activity during the widely and elaborately celebrated Chinese New Year. In recent years local Muslim religious leaders in Xian have considered scheduling celebrations of the Prophet’s birthday to coincide with the festivities surrounding the Chinese New Year.

The Role of Women

Another example of how local histories and traditions within the diverse communities of Muslims in China have evolved  over the centuries can be seen in the roles of women in different communities. In central China there is a long tradition of active involvement by women in both Islamic education and religious leadership. Not only is there a long  history of women imams in this region, there is also a tradition of separate women’s mosques. In northwest China, however, women have tended not to play an active leadership role within Muslim communities, and usually they do not pray in the mosques with the men. According to Muslims in other parts of China, these attitudes in the northwest toward women are the result of the Muslims adopting local Chinese views, which are considered quite chauvinistic. In southwest China, however, women play an active role within Muslim communities and are also widely credited with insuring the survival of the Muslim population in the aftermath of a brutal massacre that took place in the 1870s. In most mosques men and women pray side by side with a half curtain dividing the prayer hall. Although over the centuries many Chinese Muslim women adopted the custom of footbinding, historically and down to the present, the Muslim community has not adopted the widespread practice of female infanticide. In conclusion, although maintaining their religious beliefs and practices over the centuries has been a continual challenge, Muslims in China have always been confident of their identities as both Muslims and Chinese. Although some Western scholars have presumed that these identities were somehow inherently antagonistic if not mutually exclusive, the survival of Islam in China belies these assumptions. Islamic and Chinese values have both proven to be sufficiently complementary and dynamic to allow for the flourishing of Islam in China.

Filed Under: Islamic History

Islam in East Asia – How Islam spread in China, Japan& Korea

December 12, 2015 by Admin Leave a Comment

Islam in East Asia

Islam has spread to all parts of East Asia, a region that features  some of the world’s major centers of Islamic influence.

Islam in China

With a Muslim population conservatively estimated at twenty million, China today has a larger Muslim population than most of the Arab countries of the Middle East, and yet few scholars have concentrated on this unique community located at the far reaches of the Muslim world. Of China’s fiftyfive officially recognized minority peoples (China’s majority ethnic group is known as Han Chinese), ten are primarily Muslim: the Hui, Uighur, Kazak, Dongxiang, Kirghiz, Salar, Tajik, Uzbek, Bonan, and Tatar. The largest group, the Hui, are spread throughout the entire country, while the other nine live primarily in the northwest.

As a result of the extensive sea trade networks between China and Southwest Asia dating back to Roman times, there have been Muslims in China since shortly after the advent of Islam. Small communities of Muslim traders and merchants survived for centuries in cities along China’s southeast coast, the most famous settlements being Canton and Quanzhou (Zaitun in the Arabic sources). During the first several centuriesthere was limited intermixing between the Muslim traders  and the local Chinese population. It was not until the thirteenth century with the establishment of the Mongolian Yuan dynasty (1278–1368) that thousands of Muslims from Central and Western Asia were both forcibly moved to China by the Mongols as well as recruited by them to assist in their  governance of their newly acquired territories. Although some of the higher-ranking Muslim officials may have been able to arrange marriages with women from their places of origin, it is generally assumed that most of the soldiers, officials, craftsmen, and farmers who settled in China during this early period married local women. Despite centuries of intermarriage, the Muslims who arrived at this time were able to establish communities that have survived with many of their cultural and religious traditions intact down to this day.

Islam during Ming Dynasty 

During the early part of the Ming period (1368–1644), the emperor Yongle ordered Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch from Yunnan in southwest China, to lead a series of massive navalexpeditions to explore the known world. In all, between 1405 and 1432, seven major expeditions were launched involving hundred of Chinese vessels and thousands of tons of goods and valuables to be traded throughout the southeast Asian  archipelago, the Indian Ocean, and as far as the east coast of Africa. The success of these trading expeditions was no doubt in part due to Zheng He’s religion and his ability to interact with many of the Muslim rulers and merchants encountered along the way. However, shortly after the death of the Yongle emperor, China’s cosmopolitan and international initiatives gave way to a period of conservatism and the redirection of imperial resources toward domestic issues and projects. During this period numerous laws were passed requiring “foreigners” to dress like Chinese, adopt Chinese surnames, speak Chinese, and essentially in appearance become Chinese.

Despite these restrictions and requirements, the Muslims of China continued to actively practice their faith and pass it on to their descendants. By the end of the Ming dynasty there were enough Chinese Muslim intellectuals thoroughly educated in the classical Confucian tradition that several scholars developed a new Islamic literary genre: religious works on Islam written in Chinese that incorporated the vocabulary of Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist thought. These texts, known as the Han Kitab, were not apologist treatises written to explain Islam to a non-Muslim Chinese audience, but were rather a reflection of the degree to which the Muslims of China had become completely conversant in intellectual traditions of the society in which they lived. Moreover, as more and more Chinese Muslims lost their fluency in Arabic and Persian, it became clear that in order to insure that future generations of Muslims were able to have a sophisticated understanding of their faith, religious texts had to be written in Chinese.

The linguistic challenges of transliterating Arabic and Persian religious terms and proper names into Chinese also facilitated the blending of Chinese and Islamic principles as Chinese Muslim authors sought to create new Chinese terms to replace Arabic and Persian ones. Several of these terms are striking in their ability to use traditional Chinese characters to reflect fundamental Islamic concepts: God is translated as zhen zhu, or “the true lord”; Islam is qingzhen jiao, or “the pure and true religion”; the five pillars of Islam become the five constants, wu chang; and the prophet Muhammad is known as zhi sheng, or “utmost sage.”

Islam in East Asia map

Islam during Qing Dynasty

In 1644, the Qing dynasty was established, marking the beginning of a period of unparalleled growth and expansion, both in terms of territory and population. Travel restrictions  were lifted, and the Muslims of China were once again allowed to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and study in the major centers of learning in the Islamic world. During this period several Hui scholars studied abroad and upon their return they started a movement to revitalize Islamic studies by translating the most important Islamic texts into Chinese and thus making them more accessible.

Despite the opportunities for travel and study that arose during this period, the Qing dynasty also represented a period of unparalleled violence against the Muslims of China. As reform movements led by Muslims who had studied overseas spread, conflicts arose between different communities.

In several instances the government intervened, supporting one group against another, leading to an exacerbation of the conflict, outbreaks of mass violence and the eventual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, and several rebellions.

In southwest China, it was the growing number of Han Chinese migrants moving into areas where Muslims had lived for centuries that led to violent conflicts. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, China experienced a massive population explosion resulting in millions of Han Chinese moving into the frontier regions. As more immigrants moved into Yunnan province along the southwest frontier, there were increasing clashes with the Hui who had settled there in the thirteenth century and whose population is estimated to have been one million. In a series of disputes between newly arrived Han migrants and Hui who had lived there for centuries, local Han Chinese officials (who themselves were not local residents), repeatedly decided to support their fellow Han Chinese against the local residents. Fighting escalated and eventually a Chinese Muslim leader led a rebellion and in 1856 established an independent Islamic state centered in Dali, in northwest Yunnan. The state survived for almost sixteen years, and the Muslims worked closely together with other indigenous peoples. Eventually, however, the Chinese emperor ordered his troops to concentrate their efforts on destroying it. The massacres that ensued wiped out the majority of Muslims in Yunnan. Some fled to nearby Thailand, and their descendants still live there, while others fled to Burma or neighboring provinces. Estimates of those killed range from 60 to 85 percent, and more than a century later, their population has still not recovered its original number. Another consequence of the rebellion was a series of government regulations severely restricting the lives of Muslims.

In the aftermath of the rebellions, the first priority of the survivors was to pool their resources, rebuild their mosques, and open Islamic schools. Having lost most of their material possessions, they were clearly determined not to lose their religious legacy. This period saw renewed contact with other centers of learning in the Muslim world and the establishment of schools that concentrated equally on secular and religious education.

The collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 was followed by a period of unrest and warlordism. After the rise of the Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party, a civil war ensued, in which both parties sought the support of the nation’s largest minority groups with promises of religious freedom and limited self-government. Many of the Muslims chose to support the Communists, and in the initial period of the People’s Republic of China, the Muslim minority peoples enjoyed a period of religious freedom. However, during subsequent political campaigns, culminating with the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), the Muslims of China found their religion outlawed; their religious leaders persecuted, imprisoned, and even killed; and their mosques defiled, if not destroyed. During this period all worship and religious education were forbidden, and even simple common utterances such as insha_allah (God willing), or al-hamdulillah (thanks be to God) could cause Muslims to be punished. Despite the danger, Muslims in many parts of China continued their religious studies in secret.

In the years immediately following the Cultural Revolution, the Muslims of China lost no time in rebuilding their devastated communities. Throughout China, Muslims began slowly to restore their religious institutions and revive their religious activities. Their first priority was to rebuild their damaged mosques thereby allowing communities to create a space in which they could once again pray together, but also so that the mosques could reassert their role as centers of Islamic learning. Over the next two decades mosques throughout most of the country organized classes for not only children and young adults, but also for older people who had not had the opportunity to study their religion. Beginning in the late 1980s and continuing to the 1990s Islamic colleges have also been established throughout most of China. Within China, when asked how to explain the recent resurgence in Islamic education, community members cite two main reasons: a desire to rebuild that which was taken from them, and the hope that a strong religious faith would help protect Muslim communities from the myriad of social problems presently besetting China in this day and age of rapid economic development. Chinese Muslims studying overseas reiterate the need to equip themselves and their communities for their future in a state that seems to be ideologically adrift.

Islam in Korea

In some respects, the history of Islam in Korea mirrors that of China, but more as a faint reflection than as a comparable historical phenomenon. Little archaeological evidence has survived but it is commonly believed that some of the Muslim sea traders who regularly traveled to the southeast coast of China also made it as far as Korea. Arabic geographers note the existence of al-Sila, a country beyond China, and it is believed that this name is derived from the Korean dynasty Silla (668–935). Although there is some archaeological evidence of goods from Western and Central Asia being found in ancient tombs in Korea, it is not known if they were brought there directly or acquired by Korean traders in China, which had much more extensive sea and land trading routes with the rest of Asia. During the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1278–1368), Korea also fell under the control of the Mongol empire. As they had a policy of recruiting tens of thousands of men from Central and Western Asia to help them in administering their newly acquired territory, it is probable that some of these Muslims ended up serving in Korea, and that many of them settled there. However, it appears that over the centuries those who settled completely assimilated to Korean society and culture.

It was not until the modern period that Muslims returned to Korea. Beginning in the 1920s, thousands of Muslims escaping the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia fled overland through Korea, and many settled there before being forced to leave in the 1940s. The next group of Muslims who arrived were Turkish soldiers sent under United Nations auspices during the Korean War. Several soldiers settled in Korea, establishing the first mosques in Seoul, Pusan, and Taegu. Today the fledging community of Muslims living in Korea is made up of some converts, but primarily recent Muslim immigrants from South Asia.

Islam in Japan

Although Muslim traders had sailed the seas off the coast of Japan for centuries, there is no known evidence of any Muslim communities settling in Japan until the early part of the twentieth century, when of the thousands of Muslims who fled Russia in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, several hundred were granted asylum in Japan. Many were settled in Kobe and Tokyo, which became the sites of Japan’s first two mosques, built in 1935 and 1938. In the years leading up to the Second World War, the Japanese military government became increasingly interested in encouraging scholarship on Islam as part of its policy to portray itself as a protector of Islam to the Muslim communities of China and southeast Asia. As Japan invaded neighboring countries under its “Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere” campaign, it justified its actions in part as a plan to safeguard all of Asia from Western imperialism, but also to protect Islam.

At present there are an estimated 100,000 Muslims living in Japan, the overwhelming majority of which are immigrants from South Asia and Iran; only a few thousand are Japanese who have converted. Scholarly research on the Middle East and Islam has developed tremendously since the early 1980s, with several research centers at major universities around the country.

Filed Under: Islamic History

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