Discover Islamic Art Biography
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1- THE EMERGENCE OF UMAYYAD SCHOLARSHIP
The Umayyad Arab-Islamic Empire
Islamic science arose in South-West Asia and Egypt. According to Toynbee, this area remained the heart of the whole world, the Oikoumene, for about four thousand years before Islam. With the rise of Islam, and under the Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, the area consolidated its position and remained the heart of the civilized world. With the conquest of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt, the Islamic empire inherited the Sassanian and the Byzantine Empires and with them all the ancient civilizations.[3]
The Prophet started the message of Islam in Mecca and Medina, and the call for Islam triumphed during his lifetime in Arabia. Abu Bakr was elected as the first caliph in 11/632. `Umar succeeded him from 13/634 until 23/644. Within a few years during Abu Bakr's and `Umar's caliphates, the Muslim Arabs conquered Syria, Iraq, Iran and Egypt. During Abu Bakr's time the Arabs defeated the Byzantines at the battle of Ajnadin in Palestine in 13/634. In 13/635, Damascus opened its gates for the victorious Arab army. The decisive victory over the Byzantines in Syria was achieved at the battle of al-Yarmuk in 15/636. Jerusalem surrendered in 17/638 and Caesarea in Palestine, the last fortified post, fell in 19/640.
In Iraq the Arab conquest was progressing in a parallel path. The major victory of the Arabs over the Persians took place at al-Qadisiyya in 16/637. The Arabs took over the capital al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon) and drove the Persian army outside the frontiers of Iraq. The fate of Persia was decided at the battle of Nahawand in 21/642 after which all Persian lands surrendered.
As soon as Syria came under Arab rule, the Arab armies were directed to Egypt. The main Byzantine army was defeated at Heliopolis in 20/640. The conquest of Egypt was achieved without much difficulty. Alexandria, the capital, surrendered in 22/642.
The conquest of Syria, Egypt, Iraq and the Persian territories was achieved during 'Umar's caliphate and he can thus be considered the real founder of the Arab-Islamic Empire.
With the rise of the Umayyad caliphate the Arab-Islamic conquests entered their second phase. Within twenty years between 73/692 and 94/712 the Umayyads added North Africa, Spain, Sind and Transoxania to the Arab-Islamic Empire. They, in effect, doubled the size of the Empire, and before the end of their period a major portion of the world, as known then, became part of the Arab-Islamic caliphate.[4]
Historians tried to give various reasons for this spectacular victory which was achieved by the Arab armies. Among these are the exhausting and weakening effects of the wars between the Sassanian and the Byzantine empires.[5] But whatever military or economic factors are cited, the main factor indeed was Islam itself and the deep faith and zeal of its followers to spread its message to the world at large. This desire to carry the message of Islam created an international empire and resulted in confirming Islam as an international religion, and in ultimately creating an international culture which had a deep influence on the course of human civilization.
Pre-Islamic roots of civilization
The first phase of the conquests united the lands of the ancient civilizations, the valleys of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates along with the other countries in the area. Here the first civilizations in history arose and developed, and in this same area Islamic civilization arose, flourished and reached its Golden Age. In the new Arab-Islamic Empire the various elements of the Syriac, Hellenistic and Persian civilizations were blended together and formed a fertile compost out of which Islamic civilization grew and blossomed. The old fire was not yet extinguished in its original hearth when the Arabs conquered South-West Asia and Egypt; and with the rise of the Arab-Islamic Empire the fire started to kindle again with vigour at the hands of the Arabs, the new Muslim converts and the Arabized population of the region .[6]
It is not accidental that Islamic science arose and flourished in Iraq, Persia, Syria and Egypt. The first beginnings of science and technology in history took place in this area and from thence were diffused east and west. The Sumero-Akkadian civilization is estimated to have started about the fifth millennium BCE, and the Egyptian in the fourth.
The irrigation systems in Mesopotamia and in the Nile Valley were the mainstay of all pre-Islamic civilizations; and the industrial and technical skills in the cities in such products as textiles, leather, glass, metalworking items and armaments were unmatched. Here the trades and crafts were developed and were handed over from one generation to the other, and so the inherent skills were deeply rooted in the urban societies.
The same can be said about science and culture in general. Science started to develop with the onset of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. This tradition continued uninterrupted.
The Hellenistic civilization was principally a Near Eastern one which flourished in this same area; and until the eve of the Arab conquests, Iraq had been the power-house of the Sassanian empire, and Syria and Egypt of the Roman empire and then of Byzantium.[7]
Because Islamic civilization had Islam as its motive force and Arabic as its language, some historians considered this civilization to be based on the pre-Islamic civilization of Arabia only. This led them to consider the Syriac, Hellenistic and Persian cultural elements as `foreign' elements in Islamic civilization.[8] Islamic civilization is however the civilization of all the peoples who became part of the new society. It had its roots in all the pre-Islamic civilizations of the same area. Besides Islam and Arabic, Syriac, Persian and Greek cultural elements, formed the ancestral traditions of most of the Muslim population. Thus the history of pre-Islam includes that of Arabia and of the lands extending from the western Mediterranean to the Oxus or wherever Islam was established.
The Arab rulers did not disrupt daily life in the conquered areas. The civil administration was maintained, the crafts, trades, industries and agriculture continued as before. Even the original cultural and religious institutions maintained their activities without interruption. The conversion to Islam and to Arabic developed with the passage of time and took a natural course. This policy helped Islamic civilization to have its roots deeply embedded in a fertile soil.
Non-Muslim centres of learning during Umayyad Caliphate
The lands which were incorporated into the Umayyad Caliphate during the first century of Islam possessed ancient centers of learning. By the time the Arabs established their rule, these centers of learning had already moved from Athens to Alexandria and, from thence to Antioch, Edessa and Nisibis. It is also important to know that some esoteric aspects of the Graeco-Alexandrian heritage had also found fertile soil in the cult of the Sabaens of Harran who had developed their metaphysics on the foundation of the Hermetic-Pythagorean ideas of Alexandria and on the Babylonian and Chaldean traditions.
By the time the Arabs arrived in Syria, the Syriac-speaking Christian community had developed characteristic features of its own. In contrast to the Hellenized Christianity of the coastal areas, which used Greek Scriptures, the indigenous Semitic population used Syriac for divine worship. Moreover, Syriac Christianity was more monastic in its general practices than the Hellenized church. In 363 CE the provinces of the Roman Empire east of the Tigris fell to Sassanians and the Syriac Christian community to the east was cut off from the Byzantine Empire and hence from the influences of Antioch or Constantinople.
In addition to Alexandrian Hellenism, the intellectual heritage of Persians and Indians became simultaneously available to the Arabs. During the Sassanid period, the Persian king Shapur I had established a school at Jundishapur where Persian and Indian scholars were active. By the seventh century, this school had integrated the Greek, Persian and Indian sciences and was perhaps unsurpassed in medicine and astronomy.
Muslim centres of learning during the era of the first four caliphs and the Umayyad Caliphate
Arabic and Islamic sciences started to form with the appearance of Islam and the completion of the Qur'an. We can consider the period of the first four caliphs, `the Well-Guided Caliphs' (al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun) (11-41 /632-661), and of the Umayyad caliphate (41-133/661-750), to be the periods in which the foundations of Islamic sciences were laid. During these two periods the message of Islam was successfully launched and the Islamic Empire reached its final frontiers. These are the periods which witnessed the formation of the new Islamic society and the conversion of the peoples of the old empires to Islam and to Arabic.
Medina was the seat of government during most of the period of the first four caliphs. Here most of the Companions of the Prophet (al-Sahaba) lived, and here Islamic sciences were initiated. Here also most scholars of that period completed their studies in Hadith (Tradition), fiqh (jurisprudence), tafsir (commentary on the Qur'an), and history. Another school arose in Mecca, second in importance to that of Medina.
After the conquests, a number of the Companions of the Prophet left Medina for the new Islamic lands and they formed the nucleus of the new schools which were established in these lands. Basra was the oldest school to be established outside Arabia, and Kufa followed shortly after. Both Basra and Kufa were newly built Arab cities which gained prominence in the history of early Islamic culture.
Basra can be considered the crucible where all the elements of Islamic culture were fused. It was established during 'Umar b. al Khattab's caliphate between 14/635 and 17/638 in a strategic location where sea and land communications meet. It was on the edges of Arabia, Persia and Iraq. It started as a camp for Arab armies for the eastern conquests and developed later into an administrative capital for Khurasan and some eastern provinces. During the eighth and early ninth centuries Basra became a great city with an estimated population of between 200,000 and 600,000. In that period it became an international centre for finance, commerce and culture. Basra therefore possessed all the factors favourable for the rise and the flourishing of culture. It was located in the heart of the most populated and the richest parts of the Islamic Empire. It was a meeting place for all ethnic elements of the empire. A fusion of these elements in Basra was the starting point for the rise of Islamic sciences and culture.
Kufa was established one or two years after Basra on `Umar's orders. `Ali chose it as his capital. It was also of great importance because of its geographical position in Iraq, the richness of which was noted above. Kufa became an important centre for a cultural movement and was the rival of Basra in this respect. When the seat of the caliphate moved to Damascus during the Umayyads, the new capital also became an important cultural centre, in addition to Medina, Mecca, Basra and Kufa.
During this first period, the philosophical and rational sciences were still active, to a certain extent, in their original sites in Alexandria, Jundishâpûr, and in the schools of northern Syria.
In this first period the new society in the above cultural centres was in the formative stage, and the foundations of Arabic, religious, philosophical and rational sciences were being laid.
The beginnings of Arabic and religious sciences
Immediately after the death of the Prophet in 12/633, Abu Bakr asked Zayd b. Thâbit to collect the Qur'ân and to record it, and in 30/650-651, on the orders of `Uthman, Zayd completed the final edition which has remained in use ever since. The recording of the Qur'an was an event of great historical significance because it heralded into human culture a new language which was destined to remain the international language of science for several centuries.
The importance which the new language assumed due to the spread of Islamization and Arabization among non-Arabs led to the appearance of Arabic grammar. It is reported that Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali (fl. 89/688) was the first to lay the foundations of this science in Basra.
Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi (d. 96/714) was instrumental in developing the school of Basra and he is said to have introduced into Arabic the consonantal points and vowel marks.
Al-Khalil b. Ahmad (d. 170/786), another scholar from Basra, compiled al-'Ayn, which was the first dictionary in the Arabic language. He also developed Arabic prosody. His pupil Sibawayh (d. 179/795), who was of Persian origin, wrote the first systematic presentation of Arabic grammar in al-Kitab (literally: The Book). Sibawayh was a typical scholar from the new Arabic-Islamic generation which replaced the pre-Islamic communities.
Muslim scholars started at an early date the study of the Qur'an and thus the sciences of readings and interpretation developed. In addition to the Qur'an, scholars paid great attention to the sayings of the Prophet and thus began the science of Hadith (Tradition). The Qur'an and Hadith formed the basis on which fiqh (jurisprudence), and Usul al-din (Fundamentals of Islam) were developed. All these new religious sciences were studied in the schools of Medina, Mecca, Basra, Kufa and Damascus.
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Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
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Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Discover Islamic Art Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
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