Page 219 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

1038 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

The Prophet’s Mission

Ibn Ishaq (d.c. 768) was the first writer to take
the stories about the Prophet Muhammad and
conceptualization of the Muslim polity and its gover- weave them into a narrative. In this extract from
nance. At the very least, it created an ideal against which Ibn Ishaq’s Biography of the Messenger of God,
the performance of later governments could be measured Muhammad’s mission and covenant is described.
and criticized for failing to live up to it.
When Muhammad the apostle of God reached
By the middle of the eighth century, however, the
the age of forty God sent him in compassion to
umma had a legitimate caliphate based in Baghdad and
mankind,“as an evangelist to all men.” Now God
a counter-caliphate in Muslim Spain. By the next century,
had made a covenant with every prophet whom
lesser rulers by the title of sultan or emir had emerged,
he had sent before him that he should believe in
often ruling their territories with some measure of auton-
him, testify to his truth and help him against his
omy. By the eleventh century, political theorists started to
adversaries, and he required of them that they
acknowledge these changed realities and recognized the
should transmit that to everyone who believed in
possibility of having more than one ruler for the Muslim
them, and they carried out their obligations in that
polity, provided that at least a large body of water sepa-
respect. God said to Muhammad, “When God
rated them.
made a covenant with the prophets (He said) this
The office of the caliph survived many vicissitudes of
is the scripture and wisdom which I have given
fate. It became greatly diminished in the wake of the
you, afterwards an apostle will come confirming
Mongol depredations in Baghdad in the thirteenth cen-
what you know that you may believe in him and
tury but enjoyed a resurgence under the Ottomans in the
help him.” He said, “Do you accept this and take
sixteenth century.The Ottomans circulated the story that
up my burden?” i.e. the burden of my agreement
the last Abbasid caliph (the Abbasids ruled from 749/
which I have laid upon you.They said,“We accept
750 to 1258, with their capital in Baghdad) had trans-
it.” He answered, “Then bear witness and I am a
ferred the title of the caliphate to them and thus they
witness with you.” Thus God made a covenant
were entitled to assume the office themselves. The last
with all the prophets that they should testify to his
Ottoman caliph was deposed in 1924 by the Republican
truth and help him against his adversaries and
Turks, who abolished the caliphate.
they transmitted that obligation to those who
The caliph, as at least the titular head of the world-
believed in them among the two monotheistic
wide Muslim polity, manifested the symbolic unity of the
religions.
Islamic realm. And despite the diversity of cultures and
Ishaq, I. (1955). Biography of the messenger of God (p. 104). Lahore, Pakistan:
languages in different parts of the Islamic world that Oxford University Press.
were often politically autonomous, there was indeed a
unity in terms of shared religious observances, social cus-
toms, and a distinctive way of viewing the world. The because they adhered to the religion of Islam.The inhab-
term Islam refers not only to the religion but to a civi- itants of the Islamic world did (and do) subscribe to cer-
lization with a specific yet varied constellation of values. tain common Islamic civilizational values and ideas,
Islamic civilization was (and largely remains) multicul- however, such as charity, hospitality, and patronage of
tural, multiethnic, and multireligious. Not only Arabs, learning, which created (and creates) a sense of group
but Persians, Indians, Africans, Chinese, Malays, and solidarity and a shared identity.
others have been an integral part of it, as have Jews and
Christians, in addition to Muslims. We call the civiliza- Dar al-Islam
tion and its world Islamic because all these people lived The world of Islam was also conceived of in specifically
(and continue to a certain extent to do so) under the territorial terms, especially by the medieval jurists. They
aegis of various Islamic administrations, not necessarily coined the term dar al-Islam, referring to the “abode” or