The Rise of Islam

The Rise of Islam

----A.D. 624-800----

In A.D. 604, Pope Gregory the Great died. At this time, the Byzantine Roman empire was the strongest empire in the world. However, many people were unhappy about Byzantine rule. Why? Because the Byzantine Roman emperors both heavily taxed people of the empire and firmly punished heretics. Eventually, the Persian Empire invaded the Byzantine Empire. They sacked Jerusalem and spread as far as Chalcedon (Asia Minor). The war waged on for 10 years; finally the Byzantine Roman emperor Heraclius made the Chosroes, the Persian king, surrender in 628. Meanwhile, a man was living in Mecca (Arabia). His name was Muhammad. He traveled often, because he was in the caravan business. In these travels, he developed a strong monotheistic faith. He thought that the God of Abraham should become the same God that his people worshipped. When he was in his late thirties, Muhammad started to have trances where he claimed to hear “divine voices.”

--- A.D. 610. ----

---Month of Ramadan---

Muhammad claimed one night to have heard “tinkling of bells and a voice saying with authority, “write!”” He asked what he should recite, and the voice told him of Allah and his nature and actions. Muhammad reportedly memorized and recited every word this voice spoke to him. Muhammad claimed that the meaning of this revelation was that a new faith should be proclaimed by himself to his countrymen and to the entire world. All men were to submit to Allah’s will. This is why his religion was called Islam. This means “submission.” All people who submitted were called Muslims.

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However, the people of Muhammed’s home town of Mecca were angry at him for trying to change the basis of their faith (get rid of their many gods and replace them with one). They drove him out in A.D. 622. He fled to the nearby city of Medina. Around this time was when he started to be called “the Prophet.” Because they threw him out, Muhammad called for “jihad” (holy war) against Mecca. In 624, the Muslims destroyed the Meccans at the Battle of Bedr. The conquered city of Mecca finally agreed to accept Islam.

--- A.D. 632 ---

Muhammad died in 632. His followers bickered over who should be his caliph (successor). Of course, they often disagreed. Their arguments, however, were often very bloody. Finally, they chose a man: Caliph Omar. Under him, Islam began to expand beyond Arabia’s borders. Over the next century, Muslim armies conquered the following:

1. Persia.

2. Syria.

3. Palestine.

4. Egypt.

5. North Africa.

6. the Iberian Peninsula.

This is a huge expansion!!

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Eventually, the last remaining grandson of Muhammad ascended the throne: Caliph Ali.

His reign was quite short; he was assassinated. His son Husayn then stepped up and was promptly assassinated as well. This was the beginning of the political/religious movement called the Shiat Ali. Since then, Islam has been split in two parts:

1. the “legitimate, loyal” and “traditional” believers

2. the “partisans.” (The Shiites)

a. Shiites were the descendants of Caliph Ali and his followers.

The Umayyad family (the assassinators of Caliphs Ali and Husayn) then took the throne.

Their reign produced lots of Islamic culture (drawn from Greek and Christian traditions). This culture was continued by the next set of caliphs, the Abbasid caliphs, who transferred their capital to Baghdad, Mesopotamia, and built a beautiful palace there. Baghdad was so richly built that it was called “Islam’s Byzantium.” The Abbasid family’s reign lasted 5 centuries.

As the 8^th century dawned, the future looked grim indeed for the Christian empire.

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One Islamic caliph, Caliph Suleiman, sent an army of 100,000 men under his brother, Maslama, to attack Constantinople. The governor of Antolia, Leo, convinced Maslama to stop his advance and to place himself, Leo, on the throne as emperor of Constantinople. Leo did indeed become emperor, but then turned on the Muslims. Maslama laid siege to Constantinople, but Emperor Leo broke the siege and forced the Muslims to withdraw.

711 A.D.

Muslim forces, under the victorious Muslim general, Emir Tarik, defeated the Christian forces at the southern tip of Iberia, at a place called La Janda. The Muslims went on to conquer most of the Iberian Peninsula, excepting Asturias. Here, a small Christian kingdom formed a resistance to the Muslims. This group’s actions marked the beginning of the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of Spain. It would last almost 800 years.

Away in the Frankish kingdom, a leader arose named Charles Martel, “the Hammer.” Charles Martel sent missionaries to convert the Germanic tribes in the east. St. Boniface, one of these missionaries, converted many tribes, and also built abbeys and churches throughout Germany.

732 A.D.

Finally, the huge Muslim army poured into the Frankish lands. However, at the Battle of Tours, the “Hammer” came down hard. The entire Muslim army was crushed and swept away by Charles Martel and his outnumbered army.

Charles Martel

Monasteries in Britain and Ireland kept the writings of the Church fathers and of the ancient world. The scholars of these lands included St. Bede the Venerable and Alcuin, who actually founded a school in the very court of the Emperor Charlemagne.

Charles Martel’s son, Pepin the Short, was crowned king of the Franks after he finally dethroned the last Merovingian king. St. Boniface himself acted as the pope’s representative and crowned Pepin. Pepin’s son, Charles the Great, succeded his father as king of the Franks. Charles the Great, also known as Charlemagne, fought many wars. They included a 32-year war against the Saxons, another war against the Lombards, and a shorter war against the Muslims in northern Spain. However, aside from being a warrior, Charlemagne was a reformer, politically speaking, who brought prosperity, learning, and peace to his country. Not only was he king, but Charlemagne was also a protector of the Church; the Holy Roman Emperor. He was crowned as such on Christmas Day, 800. This event marked the establishment of Christendom in the West.

Charlemagne

What’s the significance of this in regards to virtue?

Well, Islam can symbolize unvirtuousness. Christendom is virtuous living.

When Islam rose and got the upper hand, virtue and its place in society fell.

Starting in A.D. 800 with the reign of Charlemagne, Christendom planted its roots back into culture and strove (and is still striving today) to reestablish virtue in our world.

This is what we should be helping to do today, and what we should promote…Virtuous Family Discipleship.