Book Review [141] : The Shade Of Swords

I am fascinated by history of Islam and perhaps i have read more books on Islam than on Hinduism and every book adds a different layer to my understanding of Islam. 

'The Shade of Swords' by M J Akbar is a high quality work on history of Islam and its impact on modern world. 

The book covers in great details the story of Prophet, his companions and story of the rise of Islam.

The revelation came to Prophet in Mt Hira through Gabriel in 611 AD. Khadija (wife of Prophet) was the first convert to Islam. She is called mother of believers. Ali was the second convert, he was 10 year old boy then. He is called Lion of Islam. Abu Bakr was third, he was praised by Prophet for his purity and who would be Prophet’s only companion during the emigration. The fourth was a free man, Zayd.

The Muslim calendar begins with the migration of Prophet from Mecca to Medina (Hijra, 622 AD) along with his devoted companion Abu Bakr who would later become his father in law when Prophet married his daughter Aisha.

The Quraysh tribe dominated the Mecca and they did not like the faith propagated by Muhammad So they sent an army of 900 to 1000 men to defeat Prophet. Prophet had 300 men and he prayed to Allah that if Muslims perished today that Allah wont be worshiped anymore. Muslims believed that miracle occurred and Angels in white turbans fought for Prophet and they defeated their enemy in the Battle of Badr (17^th day of Ramadan). It was a divine intervention. Battle of Badr (624 AD) became part of Islamic inspiration.

The spirit of Jihad entered Islam at Badr. It is a spirit that inspires among believers heroism beyond the bounds of reason. It is the holy war, the war of righteousness, the struggle against tyranny. There are two kinds of Jihad – Jihad al Akbar i.e. the greater jihad this is the war against the enemy within i.e. against one’s own weakness. The Jihad al Asghar is the lesser Jihad and it is fought on the battlefield.

Abu Sufyan became the main leader of Quraysh tribe after battle of Badr. His wife, Hind, had always hated Prophet and the loss of her father and two sons at Badr had increased her bitterness. Prophet made a pact with Jews and Pagans through a convenant. It assured equality and commitment of mutual assistance in the event of any community being attacked. Abu Sufyan established contact with one of the three Jewish tribes and won it over to his side.The Quraysh army headed for Medina with 3000 men and with Abu Sufyan and Hind. Hind had promised herself that she would eat the liver of Hamza, the great Muslim warrior and uncle of the Prophet. Jewish did not honour the convenant as they said they would not fight on Sabbath (i.e Saturday). Prophet had 1000 men and from these 300 men deserted him on the morning of the battle. These were called Munafiqeen or the hypocrites. Muslims were defeated in the battle and Muhammad was wounded but he was saved. The Quraysh won this battle but not the war. The Muslim bodies were mutilated. Hind tore out liver of Hamza and tasted it. The acts of mutilation blackened the prestige of Quraysh. The battle was fought on Saturday.

Prophet entered Mecca leading 10,000 fully armed Muhajirs and Ansars in 630. By then Abu Sufyan had become Muslim. Hind accepted Islam at last. Prophet went to Kaaba and circled it 7 times, found 360 idols and all idols were broken and burnt. All the pictures were erased except two – Jesus and Mary.

Prophet Mohammad died in 632 AD.  After the death of Prophet, many Muslims deserted Islam. At his deathbed Prophet said that no two religions should be left on the Arabian Peninsula. In Islam an Apostate is worse than an infidel.

Three factions emerged almost immediately after the death of Prophet. One consisted of the original Medinaites, called the Ansar. The second were the Mujahir, from the original 72 who had emigrated with Prophet from Mecca. The third group believed that succession should only go to the Prophet’s family represented by Fatima and Ali. The fourth group, the aristocracy led by Abu Sufyan held its peace for the moment. The consensus emerged for Abu Bakr. He adopted the title of the Caliph of the Prophet of Allah. There were only two Caliphs of Allah – Adam and David. The Rashiduns were Caliphs of the Prophet of Allah. Abu Bakr was succeeded by Umar and Usman. Both were assassinated. 

The elders chose Ali as caliph after Usman. But he was challenged by Usman’s kin, the Ummayads. The governor of Syria, Muawiya, Hind’s son, charged Ali with instigating the murder of Usman. Ali shifted his capital from Medina to Kufa in Iraq to meet this threat. He also had to face a Muslim army led by Aisha. Ali defeated Aisha’s army in the famous battle of Camel at Basra in 656 AD, this is called first Fitna or first civil war. He faced Muawiya in Syria in 657. The fight ended in a compromise. The followers of Ali were not happy with the compromise and one of the followers (Kharijites) killed him during Ramadan prayers on Friday in 661. Ali was buried in Najaf. Hasan succeeded his father Ali as Caliph but was challenged by Muawiya. He abdicated his Caliphate in favour of Muawiya for the sake of Ummah. Hasan signed the Hasan–Muawiya treaty with Muawiyah. The treaty said that Muawiyah would name no successor during his reign but let the Islamic world choose their successor afterward. Muawiya broke this treaty by appointing his son Yazid as his successor. Hasan was poisoned in 670, he was succeeded by his brother Husayn.

Yazid was brutal and greedy. Husayn did not give his allegiance to Yazid and was going to Kufa from Media on the way he was ambushed at Karbala. In the heat of the month of Muharram in 680 AD his 3000 strong forces surrounded and massacred Husayn, his family and his small band of companions at Karbala. Husayn was with his family and had just 72 armed followers.  Yazid’s general Ubaydallah brought him the severe head of Husayn. This made the schism between Shia and Sunni unbridgeable. A Shiite named Mukhtar took revenge when he defeated and decapitated Ubaydallah at the same place where Husayn had fallen.

 

In June 750 Abul Abbas, a descendant of Prophet and general of Ummayads invited 80 Ummayads nobles to his home for dinner and slaughtered them all except Abdur Rahman. Abdur Rahman escaped and established Ummayad dynasty at Cordoba in Spain. The capital moved from Damascus to Baghdad whose construction was completed in 766 AD. There were significant achievements in the fields of scholarship. There were over a hundred bookshops in Baghdad at the end of 9^th century at a time when there were none in London or Paris. The Abbasids have the dubious distinction of harassing the four great Islamic jurists -  Abu Hanifa (d 767), Malik ibn Anas (d 795), Muhammad as Shafi (d 826) and Ahmed ibn Hanbal (d 855). All four were prisoned. Mongol Hulagu Khan came to Baghdad in 1258 and taunted Caliph Al Mustasim with verses from Quran where Allah warns Muslims of the price of pride – humiliation and calamity. Baghdad was destroyed and Caliph was killed.

Crusades

Crusades began officially on 25^th Nov 1095 when Pope Urban I addressing knights, laymen, clergymen granted remission of all sins to anyone who joined the holy war against Muslims. The Crusaders defeated the Seljuk Turks who were threatening Byzantine and created two principalities, Edessa and Antioch. They reached at the walls of Jerusalem in 1099. The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in the holy month of Ramazan in 1099 and massacred Muslims and Jews, male and female for three days. 10,000 Muslims who were in Al Aqsa mosque were slaughtered. Jews attained the same fate.

 In 1187 Saladdin (Kurdish ruler of Syria and Egypt) gave the call for Jihad. He defeated the King Guy of Jerusalem in a hard fought battle in 1187 close to Galilee. The True cross was seized by Saladdin. The assault on Jerusalem began on 26^th Sept 1187. The siege lasted for 7 days. The defenders had one trump card – the holy places. The threat to destroy the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa softened Saladdin. In 1098 Muslims in Jerusalem debated a similar option but chose not to touch the churches before the Crusaders came and slaughtered them. A deal was made the Christians would pay ransom of 10 gold pieces for each man, 5 for a woman and 1 for a child and leave. On 2^nd Oct 1187 Saladdin entered Jerusalem. Not a single Christian was killed. He invited Jews back to the city. He allowed Eastern Christians to live in the city.

Caliph Umar also took the city Jerusalem in 637 AD and no blood was shed after its surrender. He refused to offer Namaz in the Church of Holy Sepulchre as he thought Muslims would then convert it into a Mosque. He passed an order that no Muslim should ever pray at this Church or ever build a Mosque here.

The third Crusade was launched when Richard the Lionheart landed in 1191. Saladdin sent a summon for Jihad against this crusade. Richard fought with Saladdin for 18 months. When Richard lost his horse in one such battle against Saladdin, Saladdin arranged a horse for him as a King as great as him should not fight on foot. Richard retreated in July 1192 after his abortive crusade. Saladdin died in March 1193. Money was borrowed to pay for his funeral for he had no wealth of his own. Europe was expelled from the Levant in 1291, when the last outpost of the Franks, the fortress of Acre, fell to the Egyptians.

Christians completed Reconquista of Spain by capturing Granada in 1492. It took 700 years. It removed all Muslims and Jews from Spain. Those who stayed were converted. Spain’s Jews found shelter in Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople on 29^th May 1453. He rode on a white horse towards Cathedral of Hagha Sophia, mother of all churches, built in 6^th century. The cathedral was converted into a Mosque. He was only 20 years old. He transformed slaves and created the ‘Janissaries’. The young boys were captured and converted to Islam and trained. A chosen few would become Janissaries. This was the elite palace guard. Jews found refuge in Ottoman empire. In 1914, 22% of Constantinople was Orthodox Christians, 25% Armenians and 4% Jewish. Selim I (1512-20) conquered Egypt by defeating Mamluks in 1517. The Sheriff of Mecca handed over him the keys of Kaaba. With this the holy cities of Islam came under his control. He was succeeded by his son Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66). He took Belgrade in 1521 and Rhodes in 1522. Vienna was within his sight.

The Janissaries revolted against the reforms of Mahmud II who began to Europeanize the army in 1826. The revolt of Janissaries was crushed. 6000 were executed and 5000 exiled. The 19^th century was a decline for Ottomans. Serbia became free by 1830, Greece by 1833. Kemal Ataturk abolished the Caliphate in March 1924. This ended the last great Muslim Empire.

Prophet had once said “Search for Knowledge from the cradle to the grave". This book is a great treasure and an awesome read. I could not leave this book even for an hour and started reading on Dussehra and finished on Muharram. 

Highly Recommended (9/10)