ISLAM AND THE WORLD SUMMARY

CHAPTER 4: MUSLIM DECADENCE:

Key points from this chapter:

• The Muslims declined due to a lack of wise leadership, separation of religion and state and pursuit of worldly pleasures, which affected other aspects of governance too

• The Crusades and Mongol invasions are examples of Muslim decline

• Many revivals were attempted, such as that of Zangi, Nur Ad-Din, Salahuddin, the Ottomans, the Mughals and more (May Allah SWT accept all their efforts)

Chapter four speaks about the decline of the Muslims and the reasons for it. It also gives certain case studies and attempted revivals. The summary of the fourth chapter will be split into three sections. The first section will zone in on the reasons for their decline, the second will look at the case studies of Muslim decadence mentioned by the author, whilst the third will look at case studies of Muslim revivals and why they did not last long.

The era of Muslim Glory ended, and their authority and power declined for several reasons. One of the main reasons for this was the lack of wise leadership. A significant reason for the rise of the Muslims in the first place was that they had spent decades building their character and were ready to assume world leadership. However, those who came after the Rashidun Caliphate did not possess these qualities and “were not able to wear down the pagan attitudes and habits of their race”.13 This led to the rulers neglecting their religious duties and focusing purely on political and administrative matters. This shows that an essential characteristic of the early leaders was missing among later leaders. The author writes, “the Caliphs, not being proficient or interested enough in religion, addressed themselves solely to political and administrative matters and disregarded their religious duties.” 14 This led to a separation of religion and state which is the second reason for the decline. The separation led to the significance of the scholars decreasing in the Muslim world. As a result, many revolted against their leaders, whereas other scholars began to withdraw into religious establishments quietly. The absence of scholars led to increased moral depravity, and “the Muslims settled down to a life of ease and pleasure.”15 Even the non-Muslims attributed the decline of the Muslims to their decreasing regard for their faith. They then started to lag behind Europe in terms of technology and education. While Europe was rapidly advancing, the Muslims neglected secular sciences and gave more significance to religious sciences, but even this was very low. Subsequently, Muslim expansion also decreased, and they began losing much of their territory. Therefore, it is clear that the Muslims began to decline after the demise of the Rashidun Caliphate. Although the decline may not have been apparent, it is clear that the foundations for their decline were laid when the Umayyad Caliphate rose to power.

The author mentions various case studies that show the decline of the Muslims. He first mentions the conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of the Crusaders in 1099, saying that it “exposed the rot that had started in Muslim lands”. There was a lot of disunity and infighting between the Muslims as they all competed to be the flag bearers of Islam. The Muslims were also caught up in the pleasures of the current life and many of the other defects mentioned in the above paragraph. Another atrocity the Muslims faced was the Mongol invasions. Millions of Muslims were massacred again due to disunity and the lack of wise leadership. Although the author does not mention this, many historians have persuasively argued that if the Muslims had wise leaders, as seen in the earliest generations, they would have likely avoided these atrocities. it is clear that the calamities the Muslims faced were indeed due to their own decadence.

The author also mentions certain revival efforts by individual figures and empires. The first efforts he mentions are the ones by Zangi, his son Nur a-Deen Zangi followed by his successor Salahuddin al-Ayyubi. All three fought the Crusaders passionately and spent many decades uniting the Muslims under one banner. Their efforts finally saw fruit when Salahuddin united much of the Muslim world and liberated Jerusalem in 1187. However, as with earlier case studies, those who followed him did not have the same zeal and religious dedication, so the Muslims returned to their state of decadence. Another Muslim revival mentioned by the author is the Ottomans. They rose to power shortly after the Mongol Invasion of Baghdad and went on to rule large parts of the world. They had the essential characteristics such as vigour and a crusading zeal. They were also nomadic and so were free from “lazy and voluptuous habits”.16 Furthermore, they had great military strength, so were seen as ideal protectors of the Muslim world. However, they also began to fight against each other whilst giving in to temptations and luxury. As a result, they lagged behind Europe and also declined. The Safavids and Mughals were also large superpowers, but they had too many weak leaders and isolated themselves from the outside world, so they declined. One may argue that the Mongol conversion to Islam was also an attempted revival. However, the Mongols were not seen as ideal rulers as they “had just stepped out of a barbaric condition”17 and “were greatly lacking in the qualities of the Islamic Imamah”.18 From this, we can see that although there were certain revival efforts, the works of these individuals and empires did not last long because they lacked the qualities of the earliest Muslim leaders.

To conclude, the Era of Muslim Glory ended when the Muslims began to lose touch with their faith and lost the equilibrium between material and spiritual attachment that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ instilled in his Companions. The atrocities they faced were of their own making, as they strayed away from the path of their forefathers. Furthermore, the effects of successful revivals lasted only a short time because their successors lacked the qualities seen in their forefathers. All these defects show that the Muslims themselves were responsible for their decadence.