The coming of the
Prophet Mohammed, saw the commencement of Islam and its spread around Arabia,
today's Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman. At his death in 632 AD, Islam had been
instituted in the whole of Saudi Arabia. Caliphs ruled the region (Caliphate)
for period of over 600 years. The Caliphate expanded over this period from
Arabia to as far as Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Libya, Egypt etc. by
conquering territories.
Between 1206 and
1279, the Caliphate was invaded by the Mongols of the far Eastern Asia taking
over most of the lands already captured by the Islamic Caliphates up to Turkey.
The Islamic caliphate then shrunk to almost its original size as at the death
of Prophet Mohammed.
Out of the ruins of
the Islamic Caliphates, amidst the rule of the Mongols, arose another Islamic
Caliphate from the Turkish tribe of Oghuz led by Osman. Osman fought the
Mongols and recaptured lands formed the captured Islamic Caliphate including
the Arabia. The new Caliphate was known as the Ottoman Empire (Caliphate).
The Ottoman Empire
expanded up to India, fighting its way to expand the Islam and ruled in
accordance to the Islamic injunctions. The Empire prospered in trade, ship
building, garments making etc. They became the most powerful nation on earth at
that time for centuries. (They were like America of today).
The continuous expansion
of their empire continued up to Europe including parts of Bulgaria, Macedonia,
Albania, Romania, Greece, Serbia, Ukraine, Italy, Hungary etc. This expansion
into Europe angered the Europeans as people of different religion and culture
are were taking over their lands.
The first major
offensive against the Islamic Empire was at the battle of Vienna when they
attempted to take it over. They were attacked by the Christian army and they
suffered a major defeat. The Defeat of the Ottomans in Vienna was the beginning
of the fall of the empire as many other European nations were also taken away
from the Ottomans. One of the major setbacks of the Ottomans faced was the
quick decline of their economy as European nations flooded their markets with
cheaper alternative goods leading to fall of their industries and a decline of
the economy. They could not even afford to maintain their army to gain more
territories or to defend existing ones. Their territory shrunk tremendously.
During the 1st world
war, the Ottomans allied with the Germany, Russia etc. against the France,
Britain etc. On the loss of the war by the Ottomans and its allies, the
remaining lands of the ottomans were shared amongst the winner nations. In
1922, the Ottoman Empire finally collapsed and Turkey became a republic.
During the rule of
the Ottomans over the Arabs, there were no issues because they were of the same
religion and they upheld the values of Islam. However, during the 1st world
war, the Super Powers had promised the Arabs that they would give them back
control of their lands if they supported the fight against the Ottomans. They
did. This support led to the weakening of the Ottomans in the war.
On winning the war
however, the Arabs were denied control of the land; also, the Jews had been
promised part of Palestine without the Knowledge of the Arabs. On the
assumption of control of the region by the Europeans, the Arabs had the
following concerns:
1. European control
of their resources e.g. oil which was discovered in 1908.
2. The infiltration
of their cultures by a foreign non-Islamic culture
3. The
"shame" of being led by a Kafir (an infidel). Etc.
These and others led
to the creation of small armed resistance groups in the region the first of
which was the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt founded in 1928.
Because Islam was
imported to Nigeria from the region, the same sentiments were shared by the
Muslims in Nigeria. The sentiments still live with us til date.
Conclusion:
We must all be aware
that the fight in the Middle East was more of an economic and supremacist
(political) fight and had very little to do with religion. Today, both faiths
have continued to engage in combats with the various sentiments of the Middle
Easter war with the Europeans. The earlier we know that it is not our fight,
the better we become. Christians and Muslims had lived under the Ottoman Empire
in peace and we can also live in peace today.
______________________
Datong, Dominic
Gwaman
Conflict, Security
and Development Expert
dgdatong@gmail.com
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