Introduction
Several elements are responsible for sustaining an enduring feeling of community among Muslim peoples under successive Islamic dynasties and rulers. With the mission of the Prophet Mohammed and his relocation to Medina, the Islamic civilization was established (Goldschmidt & Boum, 2015). Up until the fifth century, Muslims brought this Islamic civilization to a close by following the Prophet, the Imams, and the Qur’anic teachings, which were the main elements guiding this community. Islamic culture declined as a result of attacks by the Crusaders, the Mongols, the collapse of Andalusia, and internal issues within the Islamic world, but it recovered under the Safavids, the Ottomans, and the Gurkhanis of India.
Discussion
During the Umayyad period, between 661 and 750, there was an increasing focus on kinship to the Prophet as a standard of legitimate leadership (Goldschmidt & Boum, 2015). This was probably done to make up for the Umayyads’ lack of sbiqah as a result of their late conversion to Islam. Between 680 and 685, there were three Umayyad emperors, and it took the succeeding one, Abd al-Malik, approximately 20 years of military conquest to reestablish control over the Umayyad capital of Damascus (Zaid, 2021). Therefore, the prophet’s leadership remained to be an important element of the Islamic civilization.
Conclusion
The role of the ulama during the high caliphate was significant. An early school of thought in Islamic history revolved around the concept of mysticism, aiming for perfection, or Ihsan of worship. Asan al-Bar (642–728 AD), one of the first Muslim intellectuals, was one of the first to explain how to feel God’s remoteness and closeness (Zaid, 2021). Since the ulama were in charge of interpreting religious law, they asserted that their authority surpassed that of the government. The Shaykh al-Islm was at the top of the Ottoman ulama system.
References
Goldschmidt, J. A., & Boum, A. 2015. A concise history of the Middle East. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
Zaid, W. 2021. Hidden caliphate: Sufi saints beyond the Oxus and Indus. Harvard: Harvard University Press.