Roots Of Nationalism In The Muslim World by Shabir Ahmed

Many attempts have been made in the 1300 years of the Islamic rule to quell the might and the power of the Islamic State.

During the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw), the mushrik (polythiest) Quraysh tried to militarily defeat the Muslims. This is evident from the many battles that took place such as the battle of Badr in 624, the battle of Uhud in 625 and the battle of Ahzab in 627. Various Jewish tribes who often allied with the Quraysh, made a number of attempts to destroy the unity of the Muslims, but their attempts were also futile.

The once mighty Persian and the Roman Empires also challenged Islam during the time of the Prophet (saw) and the Sahabah. Examples of these were the Battle of Mu’tah in 629, Ajnadayn in 634, Yarmuk in 636 and Qadisiyyah in 637. Instead of defeating the Islamic State, the Persians and the Romans themselves were defeated and they became part of the Islamic State. Khalid bin Walid led the conquest of the regions of southern Syria and Iraq in 633, Damascus and northern Syria fell in 635, followed by Egypt and Persia in 639 and 640 respectively. The conquests continued, the regions of Libya were taken in 647, and Cyprus was taken in 649 by sea-warfare under the command of Mu’awiyah. Finally, the conquest of north-west Africa was completed in 670 and Spain and Sind were taken in 711 and 712 respectively.

The Christian states launched a series of crusades from Europe starting in the 11th Century. These expeditionary wars to conquer of the Islamic State followed the call of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clarmont in 1095. Although the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, and created a Christian kingdom with Godfrey of Boulogne as Prince, it was retaken by the Muslims under the command of Salah ud-Din Ayubi in 1187 in the battle of Hitten, when the Crusaders were finally defeated.

The Mongols started their campaign against the Islamic State in 1218, eventually ransacking Baghdad in 1258, but they too failed, although they killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the process. However, within a very short period these invaders accepted Islam and became part of the Islamic State, and took Islam back to the East. This encounter did not drastically effect stance of the Islamic State.

The Russians also came and went but the Islamic State stood majestically on the pillars of Haq (truth). The might of the Kuffar never dented the Islamic State.

Industrialised Europe tried various forms of military campaigns, but it too failed to achieve its objective of conquering the Islamic State by force, although the major European powers did manage to invade some parts of the Muslim land such as India and Egypt. However, the main body of the State was still left untouched.

It is therefore evident from history, that despite these attempts by the Kuffar, the Muslims could not be militarily defeated. This was due to the fact that the Muslims always fought on the basis of Islam. They understood very well the concepts of ajal and rizq - that is - that life, death and provisions are in the hands of Allah (swt), so they never feared for their lives. Once Khalid bin Walid, who was given the title Saif-Allah (the sword of Allah), said to his opponent in one battle, “These people with me love death the way you love life.” This was enough to terrify the enemy. Also, the courage shown by the mujahideen on the battlefields could never be matched by the non- Muslims. There is a narration that in the Battle of Khandak, one Muslim lost his leg.

Seeing that he did not have a sword in his hand, this mujahid picked up his leg and struck a kafir with it, killing the kafir in the process. Attitudes and immense courage, bravery, valor and determination as displayed in these example, truly made the Islamic forces invincible in the enemies’ eyes.