Islam in History and in Egypt
Islam has been a major religion for centuries. It has spread far and wide and is prevalent in many countries throughout the world. Although not always a majority religion, Islam does its part to stay relevant and its believers are strong in their beliefs, rituals, and traditions. Islam is based on the teachings and revelations that came about by its founder the prophet Muhammad. In the 6th century Muhammad was born in the town of Mecca in modern day Saudi Arabia. Orphaned as a child, he quickly was adopted by the tribe in which he lived as an honorary family member to them all. Beyond this Muhammad had a great interest in disputes, politics, and problem solving which was unique and bizarre for people in that day. Muhammad later in his life began to receive revelations from God, which in the end resulted in the creation of the Qur’an.
The Qur’an is the principle book of Islam for which the faith is based. The Qur’an is composed of a number of unique stories that, although not told in the traditional beginning, middle, and end style that many are familiar with today, combine to form one masterpiece of lessons, rules, and morals. Other miracles, such as the angel Gabriel coming to visit Muhammad, are also used in determining what Muslims believe and how they live their lives. Beyond what is said in the Qur’an, Muslims also live their lives based on how Muhammad and his wives did. Muhammad is the perfect example for which Muslims should live their lives, and the Qur’an is a perfect work sent from God with the only flaw that it is open to human interpretation. Muhammad later in his life also was required to use force to take over the town of his birth, Mecca, in order to protect himself and his follows, rid Mecca of its false idols, and assist in the spread of Islam. After Muhammad’s death, Muslims ran rampant and began conquering cities in the name of spreading the Islamic faith. The spread was far and wide throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Part of this conquest spread to Egypt where a band of four thousand soldiers of the Muslim faith went to take over and spread Islam. The Caliph ‘Umar, the believed to be successor of the religion of Islam, decided that he would stop the attack on Egypt fearing that an army of only four thousand could not capture such a large country. However, by the time the news of his decision had arrived the army had already crossed over into Egypt and thus decided to continue with their siege. The Muslim army fought their way through many cities and many guard stations. With each place they went to they found heavy resistance from the people, guards, and army of Egypt. Before their siege on the city of Babylon, they requested from the Caliph that he send more soldiers to their aid, which he had already done. With reinforcements numbering four thousand, the Muslim army continued to conquer city after city until finally arriving in Alexandria. After a brutal battle, Alexandria fell and with it Egypt.
Egypt under Muslim rule began to take on a different form of conquest that many other religions and many other nations had not seen before. Instead of forcing Islam on the people they actually accepted and respected the current religions that presided in Egypt, including that of Christianity. Christians were allowed to excuse themselves from military service and were left free to observe their religion without any interference from the invading Muslims. In accordance with the rules of conquest, the Muslim army also took their share of wealth but did it with respect and without hatred of their conquest. They were also well regarded for not committing any act of plunder or spoliation. For these reasons the people of Egypt received them with admiration and respect. Beyond simply invading Egypt, Muslims also gained control through their religious zeal, the difficulty of the previous leaders had of maintaining a large country, and through politics. From this point on Egypt went through periods of conquering which fluctuated between Muslim leaders and leaders of other nations. However, the Islam faith spread and remained prevalent throughout time.
The republic of Egypt has recognized Islam as the state religion since 1980. With about 80 million Muslims making up 94.7% of Egypt’s population, it’s easy to see the influence of Islam everywhere. Because Islam is so huge in Egypt, it’s common for religion to mix in with politics. In fact, after WWI many religious political parties started up, the most well-known being the Muslim Brotherhood. After WWII some religious parties earned the reputation of being radical, willing to do anything to achieve their religious goals including violence. Eventually the factions broke up into three types, the first being military based factions wanting to politically oppose the Egyptian government. The second type of factions wanted to withdraw from society and focus on creating a parallel society based on Islamic views. The final and largest group of factions were considered moderate and cooperated with the government.
Many of the religious political parties, also known as Islamists, in Egypt do not like the idea of a non-Muslim in charge of the government due to the sixty day war in 1967 with Israel, which resulted in Egypt’s defeat. Many of the religious groups attributed this humiliation to 150 years of foreign intrusions in their government and an affront of the “true Islamic community” Some religious groups wanted to restore the “true supremacy of Islam.” This lead to some radical Muslims committing acts of violence against non-believers and impious Muslims, even the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was assassinated in October 1981 by Islamists. But even though some political religious groups have committed acts of violence in the past, according to a mid-1980s survey, 96% of Muslims in Egypt at the time supported political Islam.
Many Islamists used various ways of achieving their agenda, but most of, or all Islamists are concerned with Islam’s role in the changing of Egyptian society in the late twentieth century. Many Islamists have spent political efforts to include Shariah into the country’s legal code. In 1985 the people’s assembly, who was made up of multiple Islamists including some from the Muslims Brotherhood, voted to initiate a procedure for the gradual application of Shariah into law. And to this day many Islamists move to make reforms to reject foreign influences and to create the “true Islamic community in Egypt.
The Qur’an is the principle book of Islam for which the faith is based. The Qur’an is composed of a number of unique stories that, although not told in the traditional beginning, middle, and end style that many are familiar with today, combine to form one masterpiece of lessons, rules, and morals. Other miracles, such as the angel Gabriel coming to visit Muhammad, are also used in determining what Muslims believe and how they live their lives. Beyond what is said in the Qur’an, Muslims also live their lives based on how Muhammad and his wives did. Muhammad is the perfect example for which Muslims should live their lives, and the Qur’an is a perfect work sent from God with the only flaw that it is open to human interpretation. Muhammad later in his life also was required to use force to take over the town of his birth, Mecca, in order to protect himself and his follows, rid Mecca of its false idols, and assist in the spread of Islam. After Muhammad’s death, Muslims ran rampant and began conquering cities in the name of spreading the Islamic faith. The spread was far and wide throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Part of this conquest spread to Egypt where a band of four thousand soldiers of the Muslim faith went to take over and spread Islam. The Caliph ‘Umar, the believed to be successor of the religion of Islam, decided that he would stop the attack on Egypt fearing that an army of only four thousand could not capture such a large country. However, by the time the news of his decision had arrived the army had already crossed over into Egypt and thus decided to continue with their siege. The Muslim army fought their way through many cities and many guard stations. With each place they went to they found heavy resistance from the people, guards, and army of Egypt. Before their siege on the city of Babylon, they requested from the Caliph that he send more soldiers to their aid, which he had already done. With reinforcements numbering four thousand, the Muslim army continued to conquer city after city until finally arriving in Alexandria. After a brutal battle, Alexandria fell and with it Egypt.
Egypt under Muslim rule began to take on a different form of conquest that many other religions and many other nations had not seen before. Instead of forcing Islam on the people they actually accepted and respected the current religions that presided in Egypt, including that of Christianity. Christians were allowed to excuse themselves from military service and were left free to observe their religion without any interference from the invading Muslims. In accordance with the rules of conquest, the Muslim army also took their share of wealth but did it with respect and without hatred of their conquest. They were also well regarded for not committing any act of plunder or spoliation. For these reasons the people of Egypt received them with admiration and respect. Beyond simply invading Egypt, Muslims also gained control through their religious zeal, the difficulty of the previous leaders had of maintaining a large country, and through politics. From this point on Egypt went through periods of conquering which fluctuated between Muslim leaders and leaders of other nations. However, the Islam faith spread and remained prevalent throughout time.
The republic of Egypt has recognized Islam as the state religion since 1980. With about 80 million Muslims making up 94.7% of Egypt’s population, it’s easy to see the influence of Islam everywhere. Because Islam is so huge in Egypt, it’s common for religion to mix in with politics. In fact, after WWI many religious political parties started up, the most well-known being the Muslim Brotherhood. After WWII some religious parties earned the reputation of being radical, willing to do anything to achieve their religious goals including violence. Eventually the factions broke up into three types, the first being military based factions wanting to politically oppose the Egyptian government. The second type of factions wanted to withdraw from society and focus on creating a parallel society based on Islamic views. The final and largest group of factions were considered moderate and cooperated with the government.
Many of the religious political parties, also known as Islamists, in Egypt do not like the idea of a non-Muslim in charge of the government due to the sixty day war in 1967 with Israel, which resulted in Egypt’s defeat. Many of the religious groups attributed this humiliation to 150 years of foreign intrusions in their government and an affront of the “true Islamic community” Some religious groups wanted to restore the “true supremacy of Islam.” This lead to some radical Muslims committing acts of violence against non-believers and impious Muslims, even the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was assassinated in October 1981 by Islamists. But even though some political religious groups have committed acts of violence in the past, according to a mid-1980s survey, 96% of Muslims in Egypt at the time supported political Islam.
Many Islamists used various ways of achieving their agenda, but most of, or all Islamists are concerned with Islam’s role in the changing of Egyptian society in the late twentieth century. Many Islamists have spent political efforts to include Shariah into the country’s legal code. In 1985 the people’s assembly, who was made up of multiple Islamists including some from the Muslims Brotherhood, voted to initiate a procedure for the gradual application of Shariah into law. And to this day many Islamists move to make reforms to reject foreign influences and to create the “true Islamic community in Egypt.