JANUARY 19 A Lesson from History

JANUARY 19 A Lesson from History The Abbasids wrested control of the Islamic Empire from the Umayyads in 750, and Baghdad replaced Damascus as the seat of the caliphate. Ill-equipped for this gigantic task, they had sought the support of Iranians, and it was through the latter’s active military involvement that the Abbasids came to power. But the support given by the Iranians was neither short-lived nor without repercussion. It inevitably resulted in the Iranians making deep inroads into Muslim society and politics. While government policy under the Umayyads had focused on Arabization, with Islamization in its wake, now, under the Abbasids, it turned to Persianization as a result of the Iranian influence. This gave rise to a great number of problems, not the least of which the Caliphate’s change of orientation. In the words of a historian: ‘Under the Abbasids the caliphate entered a new phase. Instead of focussing, as the Umayyads had done, on the West—on North Africa, the Mediterranean, and relations with southern Europe—the caliphate now turned eastward.’(1/7) The seriousness of this situation will be realized if we think for a moment that had the Abbasids succeeded fully in their campaign, against Umayyads, the brilliant chapter of Islamic history known as ‘Muslim Spain’ would never have existed. Not only did the Abbasid Caliphs give less attention to the western countries, but they also became the deadliest foes of those who were intent on the expansion of Islam. The Abbasids began killing each and every individual belonging to the Umayyad family. Had the conquest of Spain not been made under the Umayyads, and had the Umayyad prince, Abdur Rahman ad-Dakhil, not succeeded in saving his life and finding a refuge in Spain, the chapter of Islam’s entry into Europe and Muslim Spain would perhaps never have been written. A somewhat similar situation developed in India when the Mughal King, Humayun, was defeated by Sher Shah Suri, and thus deprived of the throne of Delhi from 1540 to 1555. During this period he fled to Iran to seek help from the