Al Jazeera’s three-part series explains the Islamic State

By Meha Mathur

The brutality that the Islamic State has inflicted upon those who do not adhere to its world view has done much harm to Islam. In 2014, IS forces butchered male Yazidis and enslaved their women. Their  occupation of the world heritage site of Palmyra and execution of senior octogenarian archaeologist Khaled al-Assad who had striven to preserve the site clearly signaled how narrow an understanding of Islam the IS has. Any individual or community that does not conform to that interpretation has to be killed.

The Islamic State strives to rebuild the Caliphate, which had ceased to exist in 1924. It announced Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as its new Caliph and aims to bring back to its fold the territories that the Caliphate once ruled along the Mediterranean.

While Islam did spread as a result of conquests, was violence the prevailing characteristic of the Caliphate? Al Jazeera, through its three-part series titled Caliph, strives to clear many misconceptions. For example: When Islamic armies conquered much of West Asia and reached Jerusalem, the second Caliph, Omar, made an unusual gesture to the Christian population. He refused to enter their church, saying that if he entered it to offer Namaz there, it would set a trend and his Muslim brethren would continue to do that, and the church would pass out of Christians’ hands. Omar offered his prayers outside the church and a mosque came up on the spot later. A copy of the pledge that Omar made to the Christians is on display at the mosque. It reads: “This is an assurance of peace and protection given by the servant of Allah… for their lives, property, church and crosses as well as the sick and the healthy and all its religious community.” It was a large-hearted gesture that the city can be shared by all communities.

Earlier, Omar’s predecessor and the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, had set the agenda of expansion, challenging the mighty Sassanids of Persia and Byzantines of the Eastern Roman Empire. But his instructions were to preserve, not to destroy and not to hurt women, elderly and people at places of worship. “It’s as if he was writing the Geneva Convention,” says Saleh Az-Zanadiqa, Professor of Islamic History, University of Jordan.

Genesis of Caliphs

Caliph means successor, deputy. While it was difficult to come close to the spiritual and political authority that Mohammad had, the need for a Caliph—a successor—arose upon his death in 632 because it was vital that Islam should grow. For that, a leader was needed, says Georges Corm, Lebanese economist and historian.

As the series brings forth, much of the history of Islam is about succession struggles, clan loyalties and human frailties. Upon Mohammad’s death, the first dispute that arose was who should be his successor. Would it be one of his clan members who had made the arduous journey from Mecca to Medina when Mohammad’s tribes in Mecca had turned against him? Or would it be citizens in Medina (called the al-Ansar, the supporters), who, after all, had welcomed him to their city? Clan sentiments prevailed as Abu Bakr, a close associate and father of Mohammad’s youngest wife Aisha, was proclaimed the first Caliph.

But then, why was Abu Bakr chosen over Mohammad’s dear disciple, Ali? Ali was married to Fatimah, daughter of Mohammad and his eldest wife, Khadijah. Devoted to Mohammad and his cause, he had ably assisted Mohammad in spreading the word of Allah. Just three months before his death, Mohammad had made the following proclamation:

O People

Of whom-so-ever

I had been Master

Ali here is to be his Master

O Allah

Be a supporter of who ever supports him

And an enemy of who ever opposes him

And divert the truth to Ali

It’s difficult to interpret this proclamation in any other way than Mohammad declaring his successor. But for centuries, Sunnis and Shias have fought over whether Mohammad wanted Ali to be his successor. The majority Sunni population has chosen not to read any meaning regarding his successor in this proclamation.

The series glosses over the role of Aisha in denying Ali that title for long. But another source—After the Prophet, a book by Lesley Hazleton—describes how, as Mohamamd lay on his death bed, Aisha ensured that Ali was kept out of any succession plan. Ali finally took over as the fourth Caliph (the first four Caliphs being called Rashidul or “The Rightly Guided Caliphs”) but was killed in 661 by those who were dissatisfied with his leadership.

In fact, jealousies, enmity and one-upmanship, besides contradictory notions of leadership, caused much bloodbath and intrigue, including the Karbala episode when Ali’s son Hussain and his followers were killed.

Dissensions within rival groups finally led to three separate Caliphates by the mid 10^th century.

The Quraysh clan, in which Mohammad was born, was subdivided into the Hashemites (Mohammad’s line) and Ummayads. Umayyads, who were bitter that the birth of a prophet had increased the importance of Hashemites, got antagonized and established their own Caliphate. Their spread was westward and they consolidated their hold in Spain. A line of Fatimids, proclaiming allegiance to Fatima (Mohammad’s daughter, spread in Egypt and much of North Africa). Abbasids, who were also from the broader lineage as Mohammad and Ali, established their hold over West Asia.

Of conquests and culture

The audacious victory march of Caliphs, their taking on the mighty empires of the times, the westward move to Europe, and the capture of Constantinople (Istanbul, which was considered the biggest prize catch for Islam), are all narrated through elaborate maps and images in the series. Scholars of Islam have been interviewed extensively to trace the history of Caliphate. These include Amira Bennison, reader in the history and culture of Maghrib at the University of Cambridge, John Tolan, professor of history at University of Nantes, Konrad Hirschler, faculty, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and Fathi al-Bahri from the Tunisian National Institute for Heritage, among others.

But the spread of Islam was not only about conquests, military moves and garrison towns. The second part of the series describes the cultural flowering under Abbasids. Abbasids provided much stability in the region, and under them, Baghdad emerged as a center of trade, cultural growth and scientific quest, and contributed in large measure to the European Renaissance.

In the 14^th century, the Ottoman Turks, who called themselves Sultans, laid claim to the title of Caliph. With this, the title of Caliph went to non-Arabs for the first time. After the World War, it was the Muslims in Turkey, inspired by nationalistic ideology, who terminated the title of Caliph and abolished the Sultanate. Thus, considerations other than religion have played a role in the institution of the Caliphate.

Today, a majority of Muslims share the disgust and anguish of others at the violence perpetrated by the IS. In trying to revive the Caliphate, does the IS have a broad-based support of Muslims?Caliph claims that Baghdadi doesn’t have broad-based consensus to hold on to the title.

Caliph does not touch upon the Shariat, the Hadith and the crux of what Islam has to say vis-à-vis other religions, diversity and peaceful co-existence. Its interpretation of Islam is primarily through the conduct of its Caliphs—which is largely in a political realm. It’s for Muslims to draw right inferences from their Caliphs’ acts and to apply them to the needs of the 21^st century.