5. Always remember to respect our Notable Imams from both the past and the present – The Scholars

have done much for this deen and we are not in a position to disrespect any of them. The Prophet said: "He is not of us who does not show mercy to the youth and respect to the elders and knows the rights of the scholars." (Reported by Al-Tirmidhi) Faqheeh says… Ibn ‘Abbas said, Do not speak of a matter if the matter isn’t yours, until you find therein a place for your words. Do not argue with a foolish or with a forbearing, for the forbearing will defeat you and the foolish will despise you. Never mention your [Muslim] brother in his absence with anything other than what you would like him to mention you with in your absence. When you do something, do it in the manner of someone you knows for a surety will be rewarded for his righteousness and be taken for his faults. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 97

Stage 6 Era of Taqleed (blind following) Stagnation and Decline (656H-1342H/1258CE-1924CE) Geographical and Political Preview This stage started when the Mongols entered Baghdad in 656H and it went all the way until recent times; therefore, this is the longest stage in the history of Islamic Law, and it is divided into three periods. In 656H / 1258CE, the Mongols invaded the Muslim lands, sacked Baghdad, and completely destroyed the Abbasid Khilafah. Thus, the Muslims lost the universal leadership and were now reduced to various smaller states. Until this time, the central Khilafah had always been in the hands of the Arabs, beginning with The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and the Sahabah, and then continuing with the Umayyads, the Abbasids and even in Al-Andalus. After the downfall of the Abbasid Khilafah, other ethnicities and groups started vying to claim the Khilafah even though RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wa Sallam said, "leadership should remain in the hands of the Quraysh" This was mandated in order to ensure that the hearts of the Muslims would be together, because the Arabs would only submit to the Quraysh, and therefore, the Muslims would be able to gather around Qurayshi leadership. Now, if people from Arab countries and ethnicities want support, they refer to themselves as Sayyids, the Ashrafs: meaning close in relationship to The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him); from his lineage. When an individual is recognized as being a Sayyid, people are inclined to provide great support, even blindly. By following one who is believed to be related to the Prophet, the people are comforted and have a sense of security, peace and acceptance. Today, there are movements in the world that claim that if there were one Khalifah all the problems of the Muslims would be solved. However, the concept of one Khilafah was gone since the assassination of Uthman. Since the time of Uthman, there has always been two or more individuals claiming the Khilafah but even though the Muslims had more than one state, they always acknowledged the Khalifah in Baghdad until its collapse. Although establishing the Khilafa is something we should strive for, there are doubts as to whether it is even possible to establish a Khilafah before the Day of Judgment. Even when the Mahdi comes to lead the believers, the goal of establishing the Khilafah may not materialize, although our ummah will follow him. Therefore, although Khilafah is something we should seek, it should not be our only concern as Muslims, nor will it necessarily solve all of our problems. First Period: From the sacking of Baghdad until the fall of Muslim Spain 656H – 897H / 1258CE – 1491CE Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 98

• Political Disorder This period was marked by great political disorder and instability. The Muslims were fighting for power; for the Khilafah. This situation resembled the time when the Attaturk Khilafah was cancelled in 1926CE; political disorder was rampant and the central universal leadership was lost. After the cancellation of the Attaturk Khilafah, the Muslims started fighting for Khilafah, specifically two groups: Al-Saud in Saudia Arabia and the Hashmiyin in Jordan and Iraq. The great-great-grandfather of the crown prince of Jordan eventually announced himself as the Khalifah, and then more fighting erupted. Although the Muslims did not have complete consensus on one Khalifah since the assassination of Uthman, the widespread political turmoil across the Muslim lands distinguished this first period from all other circumstances the Muslims had previously known. Muslims lost Spain in 1492CE when the kingdom of Grenada was surrendered to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. However, it took centuries for Muslims to disappear from Spain. In this stage, forced conversions to Christianity took place so the Muslims had to practice Islam in secret; this greatly affected the Fiqh in this region. Then, in 1614, there was a massive expulsion of more than 300,000 Muslims from Spain to North Africa where they were received as refugees. In this period, the Ottomans emerged as a new state in the east. When they became Muslim, the Ottomans wanted to contribute to the Muslim land so they started going North towards Central Asia, the Russian areas, Turkey, and Europe. They eventually conquered Constantinople as well as the state of the Church. The Mamluk state also emerged in Egypt at the same time and wanted to take the Khilafah. They began fighting the Ottomans in ash-Sham, but eventually lost. Also, in Iran, after the king became Shi’a, he enforced the Shi’a doctrine on Iranians in the region. This created more political disorder between the Ottomans in the North and the Shi’a in the South, and it kept the ‘ulema’ occupied with recruiting support for the Ottomans against the Shi’ite threat. • Eruption of domestic wars and Decentralization of the State In North Africa, many of the smaller Islamic states were fighting each other. One such state was AlMurabiteen. The Umayyads began losing power in Spain, and small principalities called at-Tawa’if started forming. Then, at-Tawa’if started fighting against each other in an effort to establish one universal rule in Spain. Some of at-Tawa’if tried to seek help from Al-Murabiteen. Al-Murabiteen was a rising Islamic state in Morocco. Morocco was in North Africa and directly south of Spain. Al-Murabiteen who were Sunni and possibly Ahl al-hadith, tried to help the Muslims in Spain and prevent them from being wiped away. Yusuf ibn Tashfeen was the leader of the Murabiteen at the time. AsSaahib ibn Abbad was the leader of Southeast Spain and he had called on Ibn Tashfeen for help. His ministers warned him that Ibn Tashfeen might love the land so much that he would not want to leave. Ibn Tashfeen replied:
 را ا 
ا  را از "To breed camel (for Ibn Tashfeen) is much more better than to breed pigs (for the Christians from the North)"1 1 http://www.hewad.org/viewtopic.php?t=885&sid=901d1e5856691fb9ef54c20aed1079d7 Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 99

Yusuf ibn Tashfeen fought the Christians in Spain and was successful in holding the Christians back for some time. He did leave Spain to go back to North Africa but later he came back to fight again and succeeded in wiping out all the principalities and creating an extension of Al-Murabiteen in Al-Andalus. This lasted for decades until Al-Muwahhideed from the Berber came and took power from Al-Murabiteen in North Africa and thus Spain. Al-Muwahhideen had some deviant beliefs, but they were able to rule Spain for another 200 years until they lost to the Christians from the North. The Muslims were then pushed further and further south to one small place, Grenada, until they finally lost Grenada in 1492 CE and were eventually removed from Al-Andalus. Until this day, if you go to the museums in Madrid, you will see banners of Al-Muwahhideen for when they lost the battle. The defeat of Al-Muwahhideen marked a radical change for the remnants of Muslims that remained in Spain. Muslims in Spain were persecuted to force them to convert to Christianity, and efforts were made to prevent them from practicing their religion. In response to these changing conditions, Andalusi Fiqh changed drastically; for example, the Fuqaha’ declared that just looking at the wall would be enough for tayammum and that Salaah could even be performed while walking in the marketplace, if the intention was there. When the Muslims in Spain eventually lost contact with the outside world they essentially went underground in order to preserve their culture and faith. A new language even evolved; al-Ajamiyyah. This language consisted of writing Spanish with the Arabic letters. However, when the Muslims were wiped out completely, this language was lost as well. Second Period: From the conquest of Constantinople until the start of the European invasion 857H-1214H/1453CE-Around 1800CE • The rise of the Ottoman Empire Although, the Muslims lost Spain by this period, they were gaining ground in the east: Europe. During this period, the Ottomans had gained power and were the strongest among the Muslims so they started expanding into Europe, coming from the east and proceeding westward. It seemed as though the Ottomans were trying to reach Spain to provide aid to the Muslims but were not able to do so. The Mamluks did not want conflict with Spain while fighting the Ottomans, so they established a peace treaty with Spain and concentrated their efforts on fighting the Ottomans. There was a fatwa given from North Africa that instructed the Muslims to leave Spain. However, Muslims were prevented from leaving Spain by the ruling body. This spawned the birth of piracy. The first pirates were Muslims and their goal was to extradite Muslims who were banned from leaving Spain. In one night, Muslim pirates from North Africa went to Valencia in South Spain and helped over 700 Muslims families escape. The pirates also tried to regain what they lost in Spain. These pirates are contrary to the predominant view people have of pirates today. • The Mamluk state of Egypt Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 100

The Ottomans eventually defeated the Mamluk state and thereafter announced themselves as the central Khilafah. Although the Europeans referred to the Ottoman expansion as "Ottoman Imperialism" and as an empire occupying the Muslim lands, this was an attempt to portray the Ottomans as pressuring the Arabs, and as an occupying force. In actuality, this is far removed from the truth. • The Launch of the European Expeditions The Europeans wanted to get to the wealth of the Muslims in India and China; however, they wanted to avoid going through Muslim lands (i.e. using the Silk Route) because this required the Europeans to pay taxes which were of great benefit to the Muslims. Columbus proposed that the earth was round and requested support to make an expedition around the world. This was initially rejected by many Europeans who thought that the earth was flat. However, Columbus managed to convince Isabella and Ferdinand. Most of Columbus’ crew comprised of Moors (Muslim inhabitants of the western Mediterranean and Western Sahara) because Muslims did not believe that the world was flat as did the Europeans. Muslims have known the world was round long before Columbus because of what Allah subhaanahu wa ta'aala says in the Qur’an. Eventually, Columbus reached America, "discovered" the New World, and called the inhabitants "Indians" because he thought he had reached India. The Europeans also tried to find water routes to India. They tried to go around Africa and as they proceeded, they established colonies along the Atlantic water route. Vasco Da Gama found Ibn Majid at the Cape of Africa, and Ibn Majid helped Da Gama get to IndiaIbn Majid provided assistance simply for the purpose of sharing knowledge. With the establishment of the colonies, the European expedition started so that they may secure the routes to India and other places. When the Europeans founded the Suez Canal, they started taking advantage of it by going around the world and coming to the Muslim world from the other side. Although the Europeans had avoided the Muslim lands for a long time, they eventually were able to gain control of the Mediterranean after the Ottomans lost to the Europeans. The Third period: From the beginning of European colonialism until the fall of the Islamic Khilafah 1214H-1342H/1800CE-1924CE • The European colonialism era In this period, the Ottoman’s began to lose power and the Europeans became the strongest power in the world so they started to go after the weak nations and eventually took over the Muslim countries. The Muslim lands were ripped apart one by one until the central Khilafah was taken. Indonesia was occupied by the Europeans for 300 years, and many other Muslim countries were also occupied for years, but the Europeans could not take the Khilafah. Once the Muslim rule was ripped from the Central Khilafah, the Euorpeans jumped on Turkey during the First World War. Then they proceeded to attack the Muslim lands from all sides: Africa, Philippines, etc. • The First World War and the Fall of the Ottoman Empire Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 101

During the First World War, the Ottomans allied with the Germans and Italians but they lost to the Europeans. After the war, France and England came together and divided the Muslim lands with a pen and a ruler; all natural/ethnical borders were disregarded. This created a lot of division among Muslims who, to this day, are fighting over borders; for example Yemen and Saudia Arabia, Qatar and Yemen, Egypt and Sudan, etc. Characteristics of this Stage