The Empire of Ghana

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Muslim geographers and historians have provided excellent records of Muslim rulers and peoples in Africa.  Among them are Al-Khwarzimi, Ibn Munabbah, Al-Masudi, Al-Bakri, Abul Fida, Yaqut, Ibn Batutah, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Fadlallah al-’Umari, Mahmud al-Kati, Ibn al Mukhtar and Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di.  Islam reached the Savannah region in the 8th Century C.E., the date the written history of West Africa begins.  Islam was accepted as early as 850 C.E.  by the Dya’ogo dynasty of the Kingdom of Tekur.  They were the first Negro people who accepted Islam.  Trade and commerce paved the way for the introduction of new elements of material culture, and made possible the intellectual development which naturally followed the introduction and spread of literacy.

Eminent Arab historians and African scholars have written on the empires of Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and Kanem Bornu.  They document famous trade routes in Africa - from Sijilmasa to Taghaza, Awdaghast, which led to the empire of Ghana, and from Sijilmasa to Tuat, Gao and Timbikutu.  Al-Bakri describes Ghana as highly advanced and economically a prosperous country as early as the eleventh century.  He also discusses the influence of Islam in Mali in the 13th century and describes the rule of Mansa Musa, whose fame spread to Sudan, North Africa and up to Europe.

Spread of Islam in West Africa

Islam reached the Savannah region in the 8th Century C.E., the date the written history of West Africa begins The Muslim-Arab historians began to write about West Africa in the early 8th century.  The famous scholar Ibn Munabbah wrote as early as 738 C.E., followed by Al-Masudi in 947 C.E.  As Islam spread in the Savannah region, it was quite natural that commercial links should also come to be established with North Africa.  Trade and commerce also paved way for the introduction of new elements of material culture, and made possible the intellectual development which naturally followed the introduction and spread of literacy, and for which parts of the Sudan were to become famous in the centuries to come.  In the Kingdom of Tekur, situated on both banks of the Senegal, Islam was accepted as early as 850 C.E., by the Dya’ogo dynasty.  This dynasty was the first Negro people who accepted Islam.

It was for this reason that Muslim-Arab historians referred to Bilad al-Tekur as ‘The Land of the Black Muslims.’  War-jabi, son of Rabis, was the first ruler of Tekur in whose reign Islam was firmly established in Tekur and the Islamic Shari’ah system was enforced.  This gave a uniform Muslim law to the people.  By the time the Al- Murabitun of Almoravids began their attack on Tekur in 1042 C.E., Islam had made a deep impact on the people of that area.  Al-Idrisi in 1511 described the Tekur Country as ‘secure, peaceful and tranquil.’  The capital town of Tekur was also called Tekur which had become center of commerce.  Merchants used to bring wool to sell there from Greater Morocco and in return, took with them gold and beads.

We have enough documents about the history of this region since it was known to the Arab historians as the Bilad al-Sudan, the land of the Blacks.  In the medieval period, the most well-known empires that grew there are known until our day: The empires of Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and Kanem Bornu.  Eminent Arab historians have written about the glories of these lands, notable among whom are Al-Bakri, Al-Masudi, Ibn Batutah and Ibn Khaldun.  Besides these scholars, there were local scholars whose works have come down to us.  As for example Tarikh al-Sudan, the History of the Sudan, by Al-Sadi and Tarikh al-Fattash by Muhammad al-Kati.

There were famous trade routes, like the one from Sijilmasa to Taghaza, Awdaghast, which led to the empire of Ghana, and another from Sijilmasa to Tuat, Gao and Timbikutu.  There were others which connected the present Nigeria with Tripoli via Fez to Bornu and Tunisia with Nigeria via Ghadames, Ghat, and Agades to Hausa land.  These routes had made all the above mentioned places famous trade centers.  These centers of trade invariably became centers of Islamic learning and civilization.  New ideas came through visiting traders in the field of administrative practices.  We shall study briefly the expansion of Islam in each of the ancient empires of Western Sudan.

Islam in the Ancient Empire of Ghana

Al-Bakri, the Muslim geographer, gives us an early account of the ancient Soninke empire of Ghana.  His Kitab fi Masalik wal Mamalik (The Book of Roads and Kingdoms) describes Ghana of 1068 as highly advanced.  Economically, it was a prosperous country.  The King had employed Muslim interpreters and most of his ministers and treasurers were also Muslims.  The Muslim ministers were learned enough to record events in Arabic and corresponded, on behalf of the king, with other rulers.  “Also, as Muslims, they belonged to the larger body politic of the Islamic world and this would make it possible to establish international relations.”

Al-Bakri gives the following picture of Islam in Ghana in the 11th century:

The city of Ghana consists of two towns lying on a plain, one of which is inhabited by Muslims and is large, possessing 12 mosques one of which is congregational mosque for Friday prayers: each has its Imam, Muezzin and paid reciters of the Quran.  The town possesses a large number of jurists, consults and learned men

The Population of Muslims

Islam is a global religion, and as we learned in the previous article it is no longer confined to those countries we think of as Arabic or Asian.  Close to 1.6 billion people across the globe identify as Muslim.  Growth projections paint a picture of unprecedented growth, faster than the world population growth.  2011 statistics tell us that 74.1% of the world’s Muslims live in the 49 countries in which Muslims make up a majority of the population.  More than a fifth of all Muslims (23.3%) live in non-Muslim-majority countries in the developing world, and about 3% of the world's Muslims live in more-developed regions, such as Europe, North America, and Australia.  Where in fact do these 3% of Muslims come from?

Immigration and conversion account for a large percentage of Muslims living in predominantly western countries.  Governments tend to keep strict immigration records however religious affiliation is not always recorded.  Conversion statistics are notoriously unreliable but do reveal that the number of people converting to Islam is also experiencing a high growth rate.  From across the globe and from various sources, both Muslim and non Muslim, government and nongovernmental, we have collected and collated statistical data in an effort to present a clear picture of how Muslim growth rates are proceeding into the second decade of the 21^st century.

Let us begin in Australia.  According to the 2006 census, 1.7% of the Australian population identified with Islam, this represents a population growth of 20.9% on the 2001 count – only Hinduism (55.1%) and “no religion” (27.5%) had bigger percentage jumps in the same five-year period.  Where did this 20% growth rate come from? Apparently 36% were born in Australia, the majority claiming Lebanese, Turkish or broadly defined Arab ancestry.  Other immigration source countries include the predominantly Muslim Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh.  However, approximately two-fifths of Australia’s Muslims live in Melbourne, and originate from over 70 countries.  There are no reliable statistics for conversions to Islam but mosques across Australia report that conversions take place frequently.

A report published in January 2011 by the Washington-based Pew Research centre  suggests  Muslim numbers in Australia will increase by 80 percent, compared with 18 per cent for the population overall, growing from 399,000 at present to 714,000.  This is due first to higher reproduction rates - Muslim families typically have four or more children, while other Australians have one or two - and, second, to migration from Muslim majority countries such as mentioned above.

The estimates of how many Muslims live in Europe vary wildly, depending on where the statistics are from.  It is made even more difficult by the fact that they are the largest religious minority in Europe, and Islam is the fastest growing religion.  As would be expected Europe’s Muslim population are ethnically and linguistically diverse and Muslim immigrants in Europe hail from a variety of Middle Eastern, African, and Asian countries.  Converts are a tiny subset of the Muslim population, but their numbers are growing.  Studies in Germany and France have each estimated around 4,000 conversions a year in Europe or their respective countries.

In Germany, the estimated 4,000 converts each year, can be compared with an annual average of 300 in the late 1990s, still, less than 1 percent of Germany’s 3.3 million Muslims are converts.  A report by France’s domestic intelligence agency, published by Le Figaro, estimated last year  that there were 30,000 to 50,000 converts in France.  The bulk of French Muslims are French citizens, and Islam is France’s second highest ranked religion.

Muslims are a minority in the United Kingdom, making up 2.7 per cent of the country's total population of some 60 million people.  The number of converts to Islam is, as expected very difficult to either predict or find hard data about.  One British newspaper however, the Independent, reports that the number of Britons converting to Islam has nearly doubled in the past decade, despite the fact that the UK has witnessed a rise in Islamophobia.  This is according to a comprehensive study by inter-faith think tank Faith Matters.

Previous estimates have placed the number of Muslim converts in the UK at between 14,000 and 25,000, but this study suggests that the real figure could be as high as 100,000, with as many as 5,000 new conversions each year.  By using data from the Scottish 2001 census - the only survey to ask respondents what their religion was at birth as well as at the time of the survey - researchers broke down what proportion of Muslim converts there were and then extrapolated the figures for Britain as a whole.

In the United states of America, according to the Pew Research Centre, roughly two-thirds (65%) of adult Muslims living in the United States were born elsewhere, and 39% have come to the U.S.  since 1990.  A relatively large proportion of Muslim immigrants are from Arab countries, but many also come from Pakistan and other South Asian countries.  Among native-born Muslims, slightly more than half are African American (20% of U.S.  Muslims overall), many of whom are converts to Islam.

As is the case in Europe and Australia, researchers say getting accurate estimates of converts to Islam is the most difficult challenge of all.  Data on conversion from another religion to Islam is virtually non-existent, and what estimates exist are based on conversion rates to other faiths that may not apply to the Muslim experience.

Statistics about converts to Islam are much easier to find in Arabian Gulf countries where Islamic Cultural Centres keep meticulous records.  For instance in Dubai, Huda Khalfan Al Kaabi, head of the New Muslims Section in the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) said, 1,365 people converted to Islam from January to June 2009 as compared to 878 over the same period in 2008.  Observing that 3,763 expatriates from 72 countries had converted to Islam in an 18 month period, Al Kaabi said most of them were from the Philippines, Russia, China and India.

Globalisation has contributed to the spread of Islam around the world, either by immigration or conversion.  Borders are more fluid than ever before and many people are able to make clear decisions about where they want to live and what religion they want to follow.  With or without hard statistical data it is possible to see clearly that across the globe people are converting to Islam in large numbers.  Islam is a global religion, no longer based on ethnicity or nationality.

Education for all

“Read!  In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists).  He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).  Read!  And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught by the pen, He has taught man that which he knew not.” (Quran 96:1-5)

The first word of Quran revealed to Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, was read.  Read in the name of your Lord.  God asks the believers to read, seek knowledge, contemplate the universe and its wonders, and give thanks.  Consequently, from day one Islam has encouraged literacy and education.  Throughout Quran, God repeatedly emphasises the importance of education.

“God will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge.” (Quran 58:11)

“And be not in haste (O Muhammad) with the Quran before its revelation is completed to you, and say, “My Lord!  Increase me in knowledge.” (Quran 20:114)

From its inception, Islam has encouraged learning.  It fosters scientific inquiry; open learning circles; the use of community resources; peer review; problem solving approaches; story telling and free education.  The importance of learning is highlighted by the fact that Prophet Muhammad established education as an integral part of Islam.

Prophet Muhammad established the first Knowledge Sessions at  Dar’ul Arqam.  He would sit in the mosque after prayers, his companions gathered around him, teaching them about the foundations of Islam, the importance of morality and most importantly the Oneness of God.  Prophet Muhammad taught the students in his knowledge sessions verses of Quran and he sent Quran teachers to communities outside Mecca and Medina.

Memorising and understanding the Quran was, and still is the most important subject in Islamic education, followed by learning and memorising the traditions of Prophet Muhammad.  These traditions are transmitted via a chain of narration that guarantees their authenticity, in much the same way that reference lists and bibliographies are used today to guarantee honesty in scholarship.

The teachers closely followed the traditions of Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him.  They  sat on the ground with their pupils seated in a semi circle in front of them.  Beside the teacher would be his most trusted and learned student, transcribing all that was said.  Education in Islam grew rapidly from small learning circles to schools attached to mosques.  Within a short time, larger schools and universities began to spring up all over the Islamic Caliphate.

As the Caliphate expanded, the Prophet’s method of teaching spread.  Gathering and transmitting Quran and Islamic knowledge was considered a praiseworthy occupation.  Kuttabs (learned men) and mu’allams (teachers) were found in every Islamic city and village.  Ibn Hawqal on his visit to Sicily claimed to have counted about 300 elementary teachers.  Jubayr b. Hayya, who was later to be an official and governor in the early Islamic Caliphate was a teacher in a school in Taif.  Islamic personalities such as al-Hadjadd and the poet’s al-Kumayt and al-Tirimmah are said to have been schoolmasters.

The most renowned and well-respected scholars considered it an honour to teach.  Ibn Muzahim (d. 723CE ) exegist, traditionist and grammarian, is said to have had a school in Kufa attended by more than 3000 children.  In order to supervise all his pupils he  rode up and down between the rows of children on a mule.

Other subjects began to be added to Islamic education.  There were classes in Islamic manners, Islamic law and jurisprudence, mathematics, grammar and medicine, agriculture, ethics, civics, economics, and history.  The teachers, their assistants and their students all took education very seriously.  The method of one teacher is described in the following passage.

“He went several times over the passage from the law book; revised it with the students after they had committed it to memory; called attention to the divergent rulings of Imams Malik and Abu Hanifa in particular, and sometimes of others and to the reservations of the text.  He then quoted the proof texts, then he set forth analogous cases in very clear language, repeating them in different words till they sank into the students minds.”

The mosques and schools were generally charitable foundations.  Literacy and education was encouraged so vigorously that no pupil was turned away.  Lack of money did not mean lack of education.  Remarkable similarities exist between procedures established in early Islamic institutions and educational facilities today.  There were prizes for proficiency, poetry, and oratory contests; examinations were conducted, and degrees granted.

A famous educator was Ibn Sina (known in the west as Avicenna) who was a thinker, doctor, and teacher.  In the 10^th century CE, he wrote medical textbooks that were used as primary medical references for more than 800 years.  Ibn Sina developed curriculums and theories of education able to stand the tests of time.

He emphasized the need for children to learn the Quran, poetry, devoutness and ethics.  But he also did not ignore a child’s need for play, movement, and diversion.   He thought the overall aim of education was the physical, spiritual, and moral growth of each individual.  He thought of education as a way of preparing children to make a lasting contribution to their society.

Although unlettered, Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, understood the importance of  literacy and education.  He inspired his followers to seek knowledge and pass that knowledge on to others.  He taught the importance of memorising Quran and acting upon the knowledge it conveys.  He encouraged his followers to look for the signs of God’s magnificence in the world around them.  To love God one has to know Him, Knowing Him comes by understanding the splendour of the world He created.  Knowledge is the key to loving our Creator and worshipping Him in the best way.

Seeking Knowledge

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Islam is a religion that is concerned with literacy.  When the Quran was revealed the first word was  iqra – read, learn, understand.  In a cave, outside Mecca, the angel Gabriel squeezed Prophet Muhammad’s chest and demanded that he read.  Unable to read or write the Prophet replied, “I cannot read”.

“Read!  In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists).  He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).  Read!  And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught by the pen, He has taught man that which he knew not.” (Quran 96:1-5)

Prophet Muhammad never learned to read or write but he did understand the importance of literacy.  Although the majority of Arabs at the time were illiterate, they possessed a powerful and eloquent love of words.  Arabs were masters of the spoken word – poetry, story telling, and memorising genealogies.  Encouraging literacy was a natural progression.  

Muslims believe that the words of the Quran are the literal words of God, and preserving them was always of paramount concern.  From the earliest days of Islam, the Prophet’s companions began to write down the words of the Quran.  They were written on bark, bone, animal skins, and even stones.    This ushered in a new era of literacy.

Many of the first Muslims were poor, without position or prestige in Meccan society, or were slaves.  Islam offered them a chance of equality and respect.  Prophet Muhammad wisely understood that his new nation would have a better chance of surviving, and thriving, if its followers were literate and well educated.

After the battle of Badr, the first battle against the Meccan oppressors, the fledgling Muslim army took seventy prisoners.  Prophet Muhammad knew that most of the prisoners  were literate and he offered freedom to those who taught ten Muslims to read and write. 

The new Muslims began to understand the importance of implementing Quran’s guidance into their lives.  Then, just as now, literacy allowed the believers to look at the world around them and  contemplate the wonders of creation, and the magnificence of The Creator.  The believers read Quran to be come closer to God.  They seek knowledge in order to strengthen their faith.  They implement that knowledge in order to worship God, with true submission and certainty. 

“And that those who have been given knowledge may know that it (this Quran) is the truth from your Lord, so that they may believe therein, and their hearts may submit to it with humility.  And verily, God is the Guide of those who believe, to the Straight Path.” (Quran 22:54)

In his traditions that were painstakingly recoded by Muslim scholars, Prophet Muhammad encouraged his followers to seek knowledge.  He said that if someone followed a path in pursuit of knowledge, God would make his path to Paradise easy.  He also said that knowledge was one of three good deeds that continued even after death. 

Human beings have minds and intellect.  We also have the power of reasoning and the free will to accept or reject knowledge.  God created human beings with the tools for acquiring knowledge.  He  taught the father of humankind, Adam, the names of everything.  Adam was taught language skills, and how to apply knowledge, make plans and decisions, and achieve goals.  We, the children of Adam, have inherited these skills in order that we can exist in the world and worship God in the best manner.

“He taught Adam all the names of everything.”  (Quran 2:31)

“And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts, that you might give thanks (to God).”  (Quran 16:78)

The pursuit of knowledge is important in Islam.  Prophet Muhammad encouraged his followers to attend learning classes, and he sent teachers of Quran to the outlying tribes and far away cities.  He sat with his followers and taught them the principles of Islam, and he listened attentively, often with tears running down his face, to their recitation of Quran.  Prophet Muhammad said the best of his followers were those who learnt the Quran and then taught it to others. 

The first Muslims established schools for teaching and learning Quran and Islamic sciences.  Islam was practiced secretly for fear of  persecution,  however a school was established in the house of a man by the name of Akram.  Even now in the 21^st century, across the Islamic world, students attend schools named Darul Akram (The house of Akram) in memory and recognition of the first Islamic school.

Islam holds knowledge, education, literacy, and intellectual pursuits in high regard.  Throughout Islamic history, there are countless instances of the establishment of schools and universities, and libraries and think tanks.  Muslims established theories of education, wrote curriculums, pursued literature and art, and took the concept of seeking knowledge to new heights.  In part three we will look at theories of education and the establishment of schools and centres of learning.

Books in Baghdad

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Baghdad was hit by a series of explosions.  The city raked by violence.  Baghdad equals chaos, death, and destruction.  Baghdad is a city screaming in pain and dying in the smokescreen.  As we watch the tangled mess on our television screens, it is hard to imagine that Baghdad was once a great seat of learning.  Baghdad and books have been synonymous for hundreds of years.  Bookshelves line family homes and booksellers line the streets of Baghdad.  Even now, amidst the rubble and pandemonium the residents of Baghdad shop for books.  “It is an old disease in Iraq – people spend their money on books, not on food,” jokes an Iraqi translator for NBC News.

In the period, that western history has come to call the Dark Ages, the love affair between Baghdad and books began.  In a time when churches across Europe felt themselves fortunate to have a library consisting of several books, there was a street in Baghdad lined with more then 100 shops, each selling books, stationary, or both.  Across the western world, literacy was restricted to the rich or religious authorities, but in Baghdad, the people had access to more then 30 libraries.

Within 200 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad, the small Islamic nation grew into an Empire that stretched from North Africa to Arabia, from Persia to Uzbekistan and pushed onwards to the frontiers of India and beyond.  Around 750CE Baghdad, the city built on the banks of the Tigris River was established as the capital of the Islamic empire.  Its location connected it to countries as far away as China, and Baghdad soon became not only the political and administrative centre but also the hub of culture and learning. 

Men and women from all parts of the Empire flocked to Baghdad and brought with them knowledge from the far corners of the known world.   

Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Zoroastrians, and even people from other more obscure faiths lived in Baghdad.  Books began to symbolise life of Baghdad.  The streets were alive with authors, translators, scribes, illuminators, librarians, binders, collectors, and sellers.  However, these people from such diverse backgrounds need to be connected.  Arabic developed as the language of scholarship and the connection was established.

The works of Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Plutarch among many others were translated into Arabic.  Jewish philosophers used Arabic translations of Greek philosophical works to write their own treatise and essays.  When Europe began to emerge from the Dark Ages into a period of enlightenment, they relied on books written in Arabic to redeem and reclaim the foundations of the Western empire.

Many of the original books translated in Baghdad were lost or destroyed in their home countries, and remained only in their Arabic translations.  The scholars of Baghdad were responsible for preserving classical works from the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians and even translated classics from Persia, India and China.  These great works were then translated from Arabic back into languages such as Turkish, Persian, Hebrew, and Latin. Catholic theologian, Thomas Aquinas made his famous integration of faith and reason after reading Aristotle’s philosophy in a translation by Baghdad scholars.

The scholars of Baghdad not only collected and synthesised the great works, they added to the body of knowledge.  They opened up new fields of scholarship, such as celestial mechanics, and introduced the world to algebra and geometry.  A Baghdad scholar produced an ophthalmology textbook, believed the world’s first medical book containing anatomical drawings.  It was the definitive work in both the east and west, and was used for more than eight centuries.

As Baghdad transformed itself into a centre of learning Caliph, Harun Al Rashid, and his son, al-Mamoon, opened one of history’s most renowned think tanks, Bayt al Hikmah, or the House of Wisdom.  The scholars at the House of Wisdom, unlike their modern counterparts, did not "specialize.”  Al-Razi was a philosopher and a mathematician as well as a physician, and al-Kindi, wrote on logic, philosophy, geometry, calculation, arithmetic, music, and astronomy.  Among his works were such titles as The Reason Why Rain Rarely Falls in Certain Places, The Cause of Vertigo, and Crossbreeding the Dove.

The historian al-Maqrizi described the opening of the House of Wisdom in 1004 CE.  “The students took up their residence.  The books were brought from [many other] libraries ... and the public was admitted.  Whosoever wanted was at liberty to copy any book he wished to copy, or whoever required to read a certain book found in the library could do so.  Scholars studied the Quran, astronomy, grammar, lexicography and medicine.  The building was, moreover, adorned by carpets and all doors and corridors had curtains, and managers, servants, porters, and other menials were appointed to maintain the establishment.”

Books have always played a role in the life of Baghdad.  In 11^th century CE Baghdad ,  a manuscript “... was about the size of the modern book, containing good quality paper with writing on both sides, and bound in leather covers”.  An average bookshop contained several hundred titles including the Quran and commentaries on the Quran, languages and calligraphy, Christian and Jewish scriptures, histories, government works, court accounts, pre-Islamic and Islamic poetry, works by various schools of Muslim thought, biographies, astronomy, Greek and Islamic medicine, literature, popular fiction, and travel guides (to India, China, Indochina).

Today, as the bombs explode around them and their world falls into an abyss, the people of Baghdad hold on to their literary heritage.  Amongst the rubble, the booksellers ply their trade and the citizens of Baghdad make choices between reading and eating.  This however is not surprising for Islam has a long tradition of literacy.  The first word of Quran revealed to Prophet Muhammad was iqra – read, learn, and understand  In part two we will go on a journey of discovery to see what the Quran and the authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad say about literacy and seeking knowledge.

The Caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan

Election of Uthman

Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam, was stabbed by a Persian slave Abu Lu’lu’ah, a Persian Magian, while leading the Fajr Prayer.  As Umar was lying on his death bed, the people around him asked him to appoint a successor.  Umar appointed a committee of six people to choose the next caliph from among themselves.

This committee comprised Ali ibn Abi Talib, Uthman ibn Affan, Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf, Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, Az-Zubayr ibn Al-Awam, and Talhah ibn Ubayd Allah, who were among the most eminent Companions of the Prophet, may God send His praises upon him, and who had received in their lifetime the tidings of Paradise.

The instructions of Umar were that the Election Committee should choose the successor within three days, and he should assume office on the fourth day.  As two days passed by without a decision, the members felt anxious that the time was running out fast, and still no solution to the problem appeared to be in sight.  Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf offered to forgo his own claim if others agreed to abide by his decision.  All agreed to let Abdur-Rahman choose the new caliph.  He interviewed each nominee and went about Medinah asking the people for their choice.  He finally selected Uthman as the new caliph, as the majority of the people chose him.

His Life as a Caliph

Uthman led a simple life even after becoming the leader of the Islamic state.  It would have been easy for a successful businessman such as him to lead a luxurious life, but he never aimed at leading such in this world.  His only aim was to taste the pleasure of the hereafter, as he knew that this world is a test and temporary.  Uthman’s generosity continued after he became caliph.

The caliphs were paid for their services from the treasury, but Uthman never took any salary for his service to Islam.  Not only this, he also developed a custom to free slaves every Friday, look after widows and orphans, and give unlimited charity.  His patience and endurance were among the characteristics that made him a successful leader.

Uthman achieved much during his reign.  He pushed forward with the pacification of Persia, continued to defend the Muslim state against the Byzantines, added what is now Libya to the empire, and subjugated most of Armenia.  Uthman also, through his cousin Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, the governor of Syria, established an Arab navy which fought a series of important engagements with the Byzantines.

Of much greater importance to Islam, however, was Uthman's compilation of the text of the Quran as revealed to the Prophet.  Realizing that the original message from God might be inadvertently distorted by textual variants, he appointed a committee to collect the canonical verses and destroy the variant recensions.  The result was the text that is accepted to this day throughout the Muslim world.

Opposition and the End

During his caliphate, Uthman faced much of hostility from new, nominal Muslims in newly Islamic lands, who started to accuse him of not following the example Prophet and the preceding caliphs in matters concerning governance .  However, the Companions of the Prophet always defended him.  These accusations never changed him.  He remained persistent to be a merciful governor.  Even during the time when his foes attacked him, he did not use the treasury funds to shield his house or himself.  As envisaged by Prophet Muhammad, Uthman’s enemies relentlessly made his governing difficult by constantly opposing and accusing him.  His opponents finally plotted against him, surrounded his house, and encouraged people to kill him.

Many of his advisors asked him to stop the assault but he did not, until he was killed while reciting the Quran exactly as the Prophet had predicted.  Uthman died as a martyr.

Anas ibn Malik narrated the following:

“The Prophet once climbed the mountain of Uhud with Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman.  The mountain shook with them.  The Prophet said (to the mountain), ‘Be firm, O Uhud! For on you there is a Prophet, an early truthful supporter of mine, and two martyrs.’” (Saheeh al-Bukhari)

The Caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar

With the death of Muhammad, the Muslim community was faced with the problem of succession.  Who would be its leader?  There were four persons obviously marked for leadership: Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq, who had not only accompanied Muhammad to Medina ten years before, but had been appointed to take the place of the Prophet as leader of public prayer during Muhammad’s last illness; Umar ibn al-Khattab, an able and trusted Companion of the Prophet; Uthman ibn ‘Affan, a respected early convert; and ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.  There piousness and ability to govern the affairs of the Islamic nation was uniformly par excellence.  At a meeting held to decide the new leadership, Umar grasped Abu Bakr’s hand and gave his allegiance to him, the traditional sign of recognition of a new leader.  By dusk, everyone concurred, and Abu Bakr had been recognized as the khaleefah of Muhammad.  Khaleefah - anglicized as caliph - is a word meaning “successor”, but also suggesting what his historical role would be: to govern according to the Quran and the practice of the Prophet.

Abu Bakr’s caliphate was short, but important.  An exemplary leader, he lived simply, assiduously fulfilled his religious obligations, and was accessible and sympathetic to his people.  But he also stood firm when some tribes, who had only nominally accepted Islam, renounced it in the wake of the Prophet’s death.  In what was a major accomplishment, Abu Bakr swiftly disciplined them.  Later, he consolidated the support of the tribes within the Arabian Peninsula and subsequently funneled their energies against the powerful empires of the East: the Sassanians in Persia and the Byzantines in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.  In short, he demonstrated the viability of the Muslim state.

The second caliph, Umar - appointed by Abu Bakr - continued to demonstrate that viability.  Adopting the title Ameer al-Mumineen, or Commander of the Believers, Umar extended Islam’s temporal rule over Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Persia in what, from a purely military standpoint, were astonishing victories.  Within four years after the death of the Prophet, the Muslim state had extended its sway over all of Syria and had, at a famous battle fought during a sandstorm near the River Yarmuk, blunted the power of the Byzantines - whose ruler, Heraclius, had shortly before refused the call to accept Islam.

Even more astonishingly, the Muslim state administered the conquered territories with a tolerance almost unheard of in that age.  At Damascus, for example, the Muslim leader, Khalid ibn al-Walid, signed a treaty which read as follows:

This is what Khalid ibn al-Walid would grant to the inhabitants of Damascus if he enters therein: he promises to give them security for their lives, property and churches.  Their city wall shall not be demolished; neither shall any Muslim be quartered in their houses.  Thereunto we give them the pact of God and the protection of His Prophet, the caliphs and the believers.  So long as they pay the poll tax, nothing but good shall befall them.

This tolerance was typical of Islam.  A year after Yarmook, Umar, in the military camp of al-Jabiyah on the Golan Heights, received word that the Byzantines were ready to surrender Jerusalem.  Consequently,  he rode there to accept the surrender in person.  According to one account, he entered the city alone and clad in a simple cloak, astounding a populace accustomed to the sumptuous garb and court ceremonials of the Byzantines and Persians.  He astounded them still further when he set their fears at rest by negotiating a generous treaty in which he told them: “In the name of God ...  you have complete security for your churches, which shall not be occupied by the Muslims or destroyed.”

This policy was to prove successful everywhere.  In Syria, for example, many Christians who had been involved in bitter theological disputes with Byzantine authorities - and persecuted for it - welcomed the coming of Islam as an end to tyranny.  And in Egypt, which Amr ibn al-As took from the Byzantines after a daring march across the Sinai Peninsula, the Coptic Christians not only welcomed the Arabs, but enthusiastically assisted them.

This pattern was repeated throughout the Byzantine Empire.  Conflict among Greek Orthodox, Syrian Monophysites, Copts, and Nestorian Christians contributed to the failure of the Byzantines - always regarded as intruders - to develop popular support, while the tolerance which Muslims showed toward Christians and Jews removed the primary cause for opposing them.

Umar adopted this attitude in administrative matters as well.  Although he assigned Muslim governors to the new provinces, existing Byzantine and Persian administrations were retained wherever possible.  For fifty years, in fact, Greek remained the chancery language of Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, while Pahlavi, the chancery language of the Sassanians, continued to be used in Mesopotamia and Persia.

Umar, who served as caliph for ten years, ended his rule with a significant victory over the Persian Empire.  The struggle with the Sassanid realm had opened in 636 at al-Qadisiyah, near Ctesiphon in Iraq, where Muslim cavalry had successfully coped with elephants used by the Persians as a kind of primitive tank.  Now with the Battle of Nihavand, called the “Conquest of Conquests,” Umar sealed the fate of Persia; henceforth it was to be one of the most important provinces in the Muslim Empire.

His caliphate was a high point in early Islamic history.  He was noted for his justice, social ideals, administration, and statesmanship.  His innovations left an all enduring imprint on social welfare, taxation, and the financial and administrative fabric of the growing empire.