Islam in History

This was initiated in Arabia where, within a period of 23 years, the religious oppression which had prevailed there under the Quraysh, was brought to an end forever. In those days, there were two great powers in the neighbourhood of Arabia—the Sassanid and the Byzantine empires. These were two of the greatest bastions of the politically coercive system of ancient times. Their perpetuation meant the consolidation of this manner of governance and it was only their extinction which could put an end to it. However the believers launched these campaigns against the empires in defence. The aggression had been initiated by these empires themselves. This oppression soon bore fruit during the rule of the second caliph, Umar Faruq. During his caliphate, the light of these two despotic empires was forever extinguished. The French historian, Henri Pirenne, has rightly observed that, if the Arab Muslims of the seventh century had not liquidated the Sassanid and Byzantine empires, mankind might never have been freed from tyranny, and the world might never perhaps have witnessed the age of human freedom with its sweeping intellectual revolution. Abdullah ibn Umar, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and son of the second caliph, observed on one occasion: “we fought according to the Quranic injunction to end fitna, religious persecution, until fitna was abolished from the face of the earth forever.” (Sahih al-Bukhari) This means that fitna, or the ancient political coercive system, had been dealt a severe blow during the period of the pious caliphate itself but, like many other major historical revolutions, this new phase only very gradually reached its culmination.