The arab civilization -
Arabs were nomadic people living the desert life. Nobody was interested in them. They were not interested in anyone else. The arba clans would live a tough life and fight among themselves. They were however, great travellers. Before Islam was introduced (technically Islam was introduced by Pr. Abraham, it was revived by Pr. Muhammad. As u know Islam is the youngest religion, and our scripure acknowledges Pr. Adam, Noah,Abraham, Moses, Isah (jesus) as our prophets too.), the arabs were also a superstitious lot, steeped in darkness, with many malpractices like female infanticide, etc. (Being a muslim myself, you should excuse some bias on my side :-D)
Then Pr. Muhammad preached his religion. The arabs fired with this new message and zeal, went on to spread their religion. Islam's message of equality and brotherhood had great appeal to the oppressed citizens of the neighbourng countries and hence, the arabs won wars in many places effortlessly. That was the greatness of a single person who enlightened the whole nation. The arabs are credited to be first ones to have scientific thinking. Infact, contrary to current status of the religion where questioning is considered kufr, in those days, questioning was encouraged. The first word to be revealed in Koran was Iqra which means read in Arabic. Emphasis was on gaining knowledge or Ilm rather than accepting the dogma. Therefore, renaisance came to Arab 1000 yrs before the european renaisance.
Anyway, returning to the history, this era was an age of development of science, art and culture. Arabs on their mission of conquest stopped at Sindh near India. In Europe, they were stopped at Tours in France. The arabs however, later adapted themselves to the luxurious life of the rulers. They were no longer the nomads of Arabia. But they still fought petty battles within themselves. However, their empires were still much more civilized and advanced than the other european empires of the time, which were still oppressed.
Then the warriors of Central Asia, the Seljik turks, converted to Islam. These tribes were an uncivilized lot compared to the arabs of the time. They became the new face of Islam. It seems that the custom of purdah was adapted by these turks. They were more or less barbaric and destroyed cities and did not encourage art and culture to flourish. I think it was around this period that Islam started being rigid. The free-thinking that was encouraged in the religion started by the Prophet was prohibited in the reign of the Turks and the current status of Islam to a large extent can be credited to these tribes who were illiterate in the first place and spread the distorted version of the religion to the nations they conquered. Same with Mahmud of Ghazni, who in the name of Islam, plundered and massacred in India for mercenary reasons. I wouldnt call him a muslim!
When I read this, I so much wished that I should have been born in the era of the Prophet. The religion then was at its height of brilliance. Women were encouraged to study. In fact, women held administrative positions in Prophet's days! Islam gave equal rights to the women. Their property and marital rights are still much advanced in this age. Its another issue that the rights in this age are manipulated by men. Triple talaq is not allowed in the religion. It has its stipulations though they are ignored by the men AND the "learned" men. Same with polgamy etc etc.
Somebody else who was very impressive to me was Chenghiz Khan ( he was not a muslim). Unlike other great conquerors who started young, he started his career when he was 50+. He won wars through strategy and organisation.
Isnt it interesting to read history this way? Whole centuries are described in a chapter. So one doesnt go into the minor details of the trials and tribulations of the people. Their day-to-day living, on this large a scale, becomes a story for the future generation. What story will I leave behind for my future generation? Will they say naani did this... did that... ? :-D I hope they are interested :-D
Arabs were nomadic people living the desert life. Nobody was interested in them. They were not interested in anyone else. The arba clans would live a tough life and fight among themselves. They were however, great travellers. Before Islam was introduced (technically Islam was introduced by Pr. Abraham, it was revived by Pr. Muhammad. As u know Islam is the youngest religion, and our scripure acknowledges Pr. Adam, Noah,Abraham, Moses, Isah (jesus) as our prophets too.), the arabs were also a superstitious lot, steeped in darkness, with many malpractices like female infanticide, etc. (Being a muslim myself, you should excuse some bias on my side :-D)
Then Pr. Muhammad preached his religion. The arabs fired with this new message and zeal, went on to spread their religion. Islam's message of equality and brotherhood had great appeal to the oppressed citizens of the neighbourng countries and hence, the arabs won wars in many places effortlessly. That was the greatness of a single person who enlightened the whole nation. The arabs are credited to be first ones to have scientific thinking. Infact, contrary to current status of the religion where questioning is considered kufr, in those days, questioning was encouraged. The first word to be revealed in Koran was Iqra which means read in Arabic. Emphasis was on gaining knowledge or Ilm rather than accepting the dogma. Therefore, renaisance came to Arab 1000 yrs before the european renaisance.
Anyway, returning to the history, this era was an age of development of science, art and culture. Arabs on their mission of conquest stopped at Sindh near India. In Europe, they were stopped at Tours in France. The arabs however, later adapted themselves to the luxurious life of the rulers. They were no longer the nomads of Arabia. But they still fought petty battles within themselves. However, their empires were still much more civilized and advanced than the other european empires of the time, which were still oppressed.
Then the warriors of Central Asia, the Seljik turks, converted to Islam. These tribes were an uncivilized lot compared to the arabs of the time. They became the new face of Islam. It seems that the custom of purdah was adapted by these turks. They were more or less barbaric and destroyed cities and did not encourage art and culture to flourish. I think it was around this period that Islam started being rigid. The free-thinking that was encouraged in the religion started by the Prophet was prohibited in the reign of the Turks and the current status of Islam to a large extent can be credited to these tribes who were illiterate in the first place and spread the distorted version of the religion to the nations they conquered. Same with Mahmud of Ghazni, who in the name of Islam, plundered and massacred in India for mercenary reasons. I wouldnt call him a muslim!
When I read this, I so much wished that I should have been born in the era of the Prophet. The religion then was at its height of brilliance. Women were encouraged to study. In fact, women held administrative positions in Prophet's days! Islam gave equal rights to the women. Their property and marital rights are still much advanced in this age. Its another issue that the rights in this age are manipulated by men. Triple talaq is not allowed in the religion. It has its stipulations though they are ignored by the men AND the "learned" men. Same with polgamy etc etc.
Somebody else who was very impressive to me was Chenghiz Khan ( he was not a muslim). Unlike other great conquerors who started young, he started his career when he was 50+. He won wars through strategy and organisation.
Isnt it interesting to read history this way? Whole centuries are described in a chapter. So one doesnt go into the minor details of the trials and tribulations of the people. Their day-to-day living, on this large a scale, becomes a story for the future generation. What story will I leave behind for my future generation? Will they say naani did this... did that... ? :-D I hope they are interested :-D
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