Islamic Civilization Essay Example

Islamic Civilization Essay Example Islamic Civilization Essay Islamic Civilization Essay Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Islamic Civilization There exist different sources that deal with conquests occurring in the Arabic setting. One journal in particular serves to give a description of the maghazi campaigns of prophets and their companions. The article â€Å"The Historical Islam† by Piero Scaruffi gives a systematic survey of the various cities and countries of the former Islamic nation with al-Baladhuri being its inspiration. al-Baladhuri was an Arabic historian famous for his detailed accounts of the Arab empire formation. The major preoccupation characteristic defining this source comes through how a region or city was conquered. Upon reading this historical source, I found it relevant to forward the argument that this source is informative and comprehensive in its account on Islamic civilization. This source provides the means used to conquer cities, regions, and the strengths behind Arabic conquest success. Primarily, Baladhuri’s account on Arab conquests gives a detailed insight on the Islamic civiliza tion and the key implications behind conquests. Establishing Arab rule around 712 A.D was preceded by several efforts aimed at penetrating a number of regions. According to al-Baladhuri, the unifying Islam ideology, facilitated by the skillful employment of novel and traditional means of consolidation, ultimately resulted to the emergence of new states under Muhammad. These qualities enabled the Arabs of this period to exert dominance more effectively compared to tribal groups of the previous Arab isthmus. Instead of the previously existing fragmentation in the Arabia political system, where the various tribal groups competing among themselves for local dominance, the outcome was a relatively unified, centralized polity that managed to integrate a number of these tribes and eventually transforming them into functional parts of the entire system. In particular, this amalgamation of the Arabian ethnic groups into one Islamic state ultimately set the stage for preceding conquests. The state consolidation process that started with Muhammad continued unaltered throughput the entire Islamic conquest period. As under Muhammad, every Islamic tribal group becomes incorporated into the nation in the process of the conquest period. They were administered by a Quraysh agent who collected taxes due from the tribe as well as supervising it. Islamic tribes residing beyond the Arabian Peninsula became gradually subjected to the new state of Islamic civilization in the later conquest phase of the Fertile Crescent. In addition, they were also subjected to reducing taxes similar to their Arabian counterparts during the Muhammad careers. Similarly, the continued progress of tribal incorporation may be factually viewed as members of Islamic tribal groups being subjected to recruitment into Islamic armies and trained to fight on a number of fronts in the conquest period. Agents representing the tribes sent contingents from their respective groups. As they advanced forward, the assembled core forces were able to add more recruits as they crossed through various tribes’ territories and could contact their supporters who were strategically placed at the wells and the centers they passed through. The recruited troops were not a mere horde that wandered aimlessly headed for the Fertile Crescent. Instead, they were specially organized contingents of an effective army whose general movements and objectives were developed by the ruling elite. The Islamic conquests brought forward a weighty influence on the general world history course and the Near East. Apart from creating social and political conditions across its conquests, the Arab movement carried with it the Muslim faith to vast regions. This movement therefore represented the practical start point of the great civilization evolution of medieval Islam coupled with the end of the world of antiques. For a period, the Arab conquests ultimately influenced the political patterns that dominated the Near East; and that this was the basis of Arabia’s power, and implemented it effectively in dominating old political and cultural systems in Iran, Fertile Crescent, and Egypt. As the conquest period was ending, the struggle for dominance was imminent as an elite engaged in conflict regarding which tribe should gain supreme rule. According to al-Baladhuri, this issue had already plagued the First Civil War through a struggle between the Umayya and other Quraysh branches. With these kinds of conflicts, it implied that the ruling elite were successively reduced to limited leadership. It is fundamental to note the later year debates over who was appropriately fit to head the Islamic group of people emerged from a simple Arabian formulation. The arguments put forward maintained that groups with rivalry among the elite increasingly rested on genealogy considerations. On the other hand, groups that did not have affiliations to the elite and wished access to rule relied in proper Islam behavior and importance of virtuous as justifications for wielding power. In conclusion, Piero Scaruffi provides an informed analysis of the Islamic civilization and the issues that came along with the Arabic conquest. al-Baladhuri maintains that the unifying Islam ideology, facilitated by the skillful employment of novel and traditional means of consolidation, ultimately resulted to the emergence of new states under Muhammad. The integration of every Muslim tribe into the nation in the process of the conquest period was the main catalyst behind the rapid progress of the Arabic conquest. However, as it ended, conflicts were imminent as different Arabic tribes endeavored to acquire the elite status.