fix and editing the paper

Abbasid Caliphate and Their Effects on Islamic Religion Abstract This paper looks at the impact of Abbasid Caliphate on the Islamic religion, its propagation and interaction with different cultures. The period started with Abbasid Revolution that overthrown Umayyad Dynasty. From the history, it is apparent that Islamic world enjoyed its golden period during the rule of Abbasid Dynasty. It grew its understanding about science and nature tremendously, embarked on building healthy relations with non-Arab countries, and developed an attitude of building a global community of believers. Introduction Abbasid Caliphate is seen as the Golden Age of Islam by historians due to its smooth, peaceful administration, flourishing trade and advances in scientific knowledge. Abbasid Dynasty came to power in the eighth century after overthrowing Umayyad Dynasty when the later acquired significant hatred from Muslim world due to its discriminating policies against foreigners and recent Muslim converts (Shaban, 1979). Abbasids struggled with a mission to gain power so they could bring a culture of harmony and develop a global community of believers irrespective of their race, language, color. In the beginning, they despised the hereditary dynasty that was apparent in Umayyad Dynasty. Their growth to power was also aided by their relationship with the Prophet Mohammad. After they acquired power, they introduced new administrative tools to establish law and order in their territory. New information collection programs were executed that enabled the central government to detect issues in distinct areas (Tritton, 1970). An important step taken by Abbasids was the transfer of Islamic capital away from Damascus which was near to Mecca to Baghdad that was closer to Persian territory. Early Abbasid Caliphate is marked with significant growth in knowledge and wisdom. The Arabic language flourished and became the central knowledge to share scientific ideas and theories (Kennedy, 1986). To begin with, Islamic territory was at its largest when Abbasids gained control. The dynasty’s tolerance to foreigners and their intellectual interaction with different cultures led to increased differences in ideology in distant areas of its Islamic rule. These controversies developed and the control of Abbasid Dynasty, first challenged by Umayyad descendant, Abd al-Rahman, in Spain, was challenged again first by Fatimid Family and then by local governors who gradually working towards independent governments (Lapidus, 2002) . Causes of Abbasid Revolution The first Caliphate period started from the death of Mohammed in 632 CE and lasted for 29 years up to 661 CE. During this period, Islamic territory was ruled by four companions of Prophet Mohammed and had blood or marriage relation with all four of them. After the assassination of the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muawiyah, who already ruled Egypt and Syria, took the title of caliph. He was the first of Umayyad Dynasty to rule Muslim world (Hawting, 2000). Following the death of last great Umayyad caliph, Umar ibn al-Aziz, the Umayyad Caliphs were weak and incapable rulers. Weakness within the rulers led to third Fitna. The third Fitna or third Muslim civil war broke in 744 which resulted in the assassination of Abd al-Malik. This war strengthened the prospects of rebellion. The rebellion was fueled by Arab Muslims who lived in Iran. As the Umayyad Dynasty was inclined towards Arab regions and non-Arabs were considered as a lower cast, the tension among non-Arab Muslims and the ruling force increased. This tension was more apparent in eastern lands, or former Persian Empire, as Persians were directly affected by this Arab / non-Arab discrimination (Styleshout, 2015). Abbasids denied such division of Muslims and rose to liberate Islamic world from such classes. They got the trust of non-Arab Muslims, Shiites sect who considered Caliphate as a right of only of the family of Mohammed, and those Muslims who were against the hereditary dynasty. After overthrowing Umayyad Dynasty, Abbasids murdered almost all members of Umayyad family to end the chances of rebellion. However, a member of Umayyad family, Abd Al-Rahman, escaped towards Spain and established his rule their which history knows as Second Umayyad Caliphate (Safran, 2001). This was the first disintegration of the Muslim world that resulted when Abbasid Caliphate took control. Public Administration The change that resulted from the decline of Umayyad Dynasty at the hands of Abbasids represented a lot more than a mere change of faces. The practices, ideals, and policies all underwent a remarkable turnaround. Umayyad Dynasty mostly represented the Arabs, with the help of whom they were ruling the Muslim world. On the other hand, Abbasid Dynasty was the ruling force that represented non-Arab Muslim world which was a majority. However, in most of their ruling style, they were not different from Umayyad Rulers who claimed to prioritize God’s Will but in reality pursued their interests. They adopted the lavish style of ruling and living from their predecessors, established new levels of officials, and distanced themselves from the general public. Historians note that Abbasid ruling policies were far more efficient and just than those of Umayyad Dynasty. They offered the first form of Islamic bureaucracy that resulted from a combination of Islamic ways of Governance and Persian politics. One of the remarkable qualities of Abbasids was the establishment of court etiquettes. They gathered power in the hands of the court. The army also served on the basis of rulings given by the court. Abbasids established new institutions. With assistance from Persian way of governance, Abbasids the establishes a system of Wazarat. This system helped the Caliph in smoothly managing the state affairs (Gillani and Tahir, 2014). The center of the government mostly offered autonomy and independence to remote areas and provinces. They let the local people practice their religions and laws. Governors were appointed who collected taxes on behalf of Caliphate and managed the affairs of their areas with a certain level of autonomy. In the case of disturbances and anarchy only, the central government used to intervene and manage the issue. Law and order situation was maintained by these governors. However, a system of information was established that oversaw the situation of peace over an area and reported to the central ruler on a timely basis. This system helped the caliphate to maintain an air of accountability on behalf of these rulers. Equality among Arabs and Non-Arabs During the Abbasid reign, non-Arab Muslims were given equal status to the Arab Muslims. They were given significant positions in administration, government and politics. The huge taxes they were made to pay during the reign of Umayyad Dynasty were elevated. Abbasid Caliphs did not discriminate between new Muslims and Muslims by birth. This environment of harmony encouraged a huge number of non-Muslims to embrace Islam. In later years of their rule, Abbasids began incorporating bought slaves in their army. These slaves have varied ethnicities and were able to get promoted and gather force within the army. Sometimes these soldiers rose to such positions that civilians and other military officials became accountable to them. Varied races of these soldiers, later on, weakened the army by spreading animosity and hostility among soldiers. They also gained enough power to rule the empire with Caliph only acting as their representative. Treatment of Non- Muslim Subjects The non-Muslims that resided under the Caliphate had to pay the tribute which was deemed as compensation for their security of lives and property. They were, otherwise, free in practicing their religion and their laws. Moreover, they were forbidden to preach their religion to Muslims and were asked to lower voice of their prayers in their churches. In addition to these restrictions, they had to pay certain services to Muslims. For example, they were asked to show Muslims way and to keep Muslim travelers as guests for up to three days. They were also warned against harming a Muslim life, property or religion. They were asked to refrain from helping any enemy of Muslims through their finances or through spying on Muslims (Tritton, 1970). Flourishing Research and Knowledge As Abbasids moved the capital of caliphate to Baghdad, they transformed this newly established city into a center of knowledge and research. Arabic became the central language in which all research and theories were translated. Scholarly works from different areas of the world were explored and translated into this language. The vastness of knowledge kept within this language increased its depth and scholars throughout the world used it because of its ease and completeness in the relation to terms and ideas. This resulted in reliance of researchers on the Arabic language to express their ideas and propagate them. Baghdad, being the center of Muslim world became the home of all this research and knowledge production cycle. Scholars from all over the world traveled to this center to share their ideas or to learn new ideas and gain knowledge (Lyons, 2010). Abbasid Caliphate focused on nourishing knowledge creation and education as a way to sustain glory of Islam. This is apparent in the increase in the number of Madrassas and colleges in the Muslim world. New libraries were established and education was made accessible to ordinary people. Thousands of books were translated from other languages into Arabic and scholars and philosophers were formed. This interaction gave depth to the culture of Baghdad. It accumulated the fine lifestyle of Chinese, Spain, North Africa and Asia, absorbed technologies from them and developed a high standard of living. Causes of Decline During the second and third Caliphate of Islam, the Muslim territories widened a lot. Muslim rule grew to include Asia and most part of North Africa. The management of this large territory was difficult and the center faced anarchy and rebellion from remote areas every other day. With time governors gained power and began refusing to pay taxes. The claims of independence from remote areas were apparent from the very early years of Abbasid Caliphate. We can see that Abd Al-Rahman was the first Muslim leader who broke away from Muslim Caliphate that was ruling the Muslim world at that time and established his own caliphate in Spain. Morocco was the second in claiming independence after Spain and was followed by Tunisia and Egypt. Another reason for the decline of Abbasid Dynasty was the quest for Caliphate among different candidates. The candidates for caliphate would start a civil war at the expense of lives and wealth of their subject at the death of the previous caliph. This weakened economic state in the Muslim world and increased hostility among different races of Muslims. In order to keep their army in full power, the competing candidates for caliphate employed bought slaves in it. These slaves represented different non-Arab races. With time, these slaves gained higher ranks in the military and became more powerful than many civilian and military authorities. As this situation progressed, these slaves, or Mamluks, took control of the government and Caliph only acted as their representative. These weaknesses of Caliphate along with natural disasters which were common from the very establishment of the city, Baghdad, welcome external forces to attack the center of Caliphate. As a result, in 1258, Mongols from eastern Asia invaded the city. They destroyed the city, killed the then caliph, Al-Mustasim, and destroyed its knowledge and cultural heritage in the form of books, libraries, artwork, irrigation system and buildings. Most of its scholars, artists, researchers, religious personalities were killed in this attack. The city was robbed of its resources to rebuild their lives. The city fell to Mongols ruling which was centered in Tabriz (Kotapish and Webb, 2000). Muslim World at Large At the time of Abbasid Caliphate, Muslims ruled the biggest area of the world. they governed the states of North Africa, Spain, and Asia. They had centered knowledge and wisdom in their language, lifestyle, and literature. They were influential from the start of Abbasid Caliphate. Most of the territories ruled by caliphate at that time were brought under control by previous caliphates but early Abbasid Caliph did a good job in keeping them obedient. The Muslim world, however, saw many different situations during this period. They went from initial glory to separation of states from the empire. The situation among different religions became tense and the world prepared for big wars. Although the Abbasid Dynasty claimed to rule the Muslims according to the laws and principles set by the God, the overall morality of Muslims declined. The Caliphate failed to integrate believers on a global level in a single set of beliefs. Interaction with different cultures not only brought in the vastness of knowledge, it also exposed the Muslim world with practices of religions other than Islam. Different areas represented different interpretations of teachings of Islam that resulted from the mingling of Islamic values with local cultures. Excessive autonomy given during Abbasid Caliphate resulted in the formation of a number of Muslim rules around the world. The global community of believers divided into innumerable sects on the basis of their beliefs, practices, cultures and races. This resulted in a weakened Muslim nation or set of nations. Muslims fell into traps of luxurious lifestyle and moved away from the core teachings of their religion. Their focus turned on to interrogating beliefs which were irrelevant to their success in this life and thereafter. Muslim rulers’ interaction with Greek and Roman ideologies raised many issues on the nature of different elements of Islamic belief system. The inconsistencies among these evolving beliefs paved the path for various anarchies that played a significant role in division among Muslims. This Dynasty started ruling the Muslim world at a time when it was at its largest. It had best armies and its economy was rapidly developing. It reigned for about a century with according to rights that were bestowed upon them as caliphs. However, with time their focus turned from being Muslim first to monarch first and their initial glory dimmed. Later on, they lost their sovereignty and external forces made use of their internal conflicts and took control of most part of Muslim world. References Gilani, Aftab, and Mohammad Tahir. “The Administration of Abbasids Caliphate: A Fateful Change in the Muslim History.” Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences 8.2 (2014): 565–571. Print. Hawting, G R. The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate, AD 661-750. 2nd ed. London: Taylor & Francis, 2000. Print. Kennedy, Hugh. The Early Abbasid Caliphate: A Political History. London: Croom Helm, 1986. Print. Lapidus, Ira M. A History of Islamic Societies. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print. Lyons, Jonathan. The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2010. Print. Safran, Janina M. The Second Umayyad Caliphate: The Articulation of Caliphal Legitimacy in Al-Andalus. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 2001. Print. Shaban, M. A. The ’ Abbasid Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Print. Styleshout. HIST101: Ancient civilizations of the world. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2016. Tritton, A S. The Caliphs and Their Non-Muslim Subjects: A Critical Study of the Covenant of ʻUmar. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 1970. Print.