Page 206 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

islam 1025

the messenger of Allah.” Praying (salat) is the second pil- the Islamic calendar. This calendar is based on a lunar
lar. Praying involves performing five prescribed prayers year of approximately 354 days or twelve lunar months.
daily.The third pillar (zakat) is taking the responsibility During the next ten years most of the people in the
to contribute alms to provide assistance to the poor in Arabian Peninsula became Muslims or were allied in
the community. Undertaking the fast during the month some way with the new Islamic community. The defeat
of Ramadan is the fourth pillar. The fifth pillar is per- and conversion of Mecca was an important step in this
forming the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least one time process.The shrine of the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure
during the believer’s lifetime, if possible. Each of the pil- at the center of Mecca, was purified of polytheistic relics
lars is a responsibility for the individual believer, and no and recognized as the altar of Abraham. In the pre-
priesthood or clergy is required to fulfill any obligation. scribed prayers Muslims were to face the Kaaba (for a
Although “striving in the path of God” (jihad) is an ex- short time they faced Jerusalem), and the building
pected part of the life of faith for Muslims, jihad defined became the center of pilgrimage rites.The basic founda-
as “holy war” is not one of the Five Pillars of Islam. tions of the Islamic belief system and the Islamic com-
munity were laid.
The Formation of
Community and Faith The Era of the Caliphs
Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 CE. He was The Islamic community was dynamic by the time of
part of an active merchant community that was involved Muhammad’s death in 632 CE. Some confusion existed
in trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterra- about the transition to a community without Muham-
nean Sea. In addition to being a commercial center, Mecca mad. The majority of the community accepted the idea
was a religious center with a shrine that housed impor- that the successor (khalifah or caliph) to Muhammad as
tant religious relics from many of the tribes in the region. leader would be one of his close companions,Abu Bakr.
Muhammad’s own family was influential in both religious A minority within the community came to believe that
and commercial activities, but his father died before he the idea was an error and argued that the first successor
was born, and his mother died when he was still young. should have been the son-in-law and cousin of Muham-
As a young man he gained a reputation for reliability and mad, Ali. In later tradition this minority group came to
married a prosperous widow, Khadija, whose affairs he be identified as the faction (Shiah) of Ali (Shiites), where-
managed. His life was transformed when he experienced as the majority were called “Sunni” (those who follow the
his first revelations around 610 CE. Sunnah or precedents of the community).
The Meccan belief system at that time was basically The first four caliphs were all close associates of
polytheistic, but Meccans were familiar with Christianity Muhammad, and their rule is identified by Sunni Mus-
and Judaism. Muhammad preached a message of strict lims as the era of “the Rightly-Guided Caliphs” (632–
monotheism and soon aroused the opposition of the Mec- 661 CE). Under their leadership Islamic armies con-
can merchant elite.After many struggles he and his small quered all of the Sasanid empire and most of the Middle
community of followers moved to Yathrib, a neighboring Eastern territories of the Byzantine empire.Through these
oasis community whose leaders invited Muhammad to conquests the Islamic community became the heir of the
come and be the arbitrator and judge in its disputes.The great imperial traditions of Persia and Rome as well as
oasis became known as “Medina” or “the city [Medina] of the Middle Eastern monotheistic traditions. In structure
the Prophet.” This migration in 622 CE is called the and administrative practices the emerging caliphate
“Hijra” and marks the beginning of the Islamic commu- resembled the older empires that had been conquered.
nity as a distinct entity. Muslims date the years of the The political history of the Islamic community during
Islamic era from the Hijra, with 622 CE being year 1 in the early centuries involves the rise and fall of dynasties