Muslim Rulers Since Muhammad Established

Muslim Rulers Since Muhammad

Muhammad established not only the Muslim religion, but also the first Muslim government -- a tribal association, really, though it was unusual because it was not formed along blood ties. Since Muhammad's death, perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been at least some disagreement between Muslims as to who should rule and how they should go about doing it. Sometimes these differences have been grudgingly accepted, but other times they heave led to strife and even all out war. An examination of the way in which different Muslim rulers have led their people since the time of Muhammad's death provides some insight into this situation.

Mohammad had been the two-fold leader of his followers; first, he was respected and revered as the mouthpiece of God, speaking God's words directly as a prophet. He was also the executive and judiciary leader, using his own ideas and logic to rule in many instances. It is not surprising, then, that disagreement broke out after his death. Some of his followers believed that Ali, Mohammad's cousin, was the God-chosen ruler of the Muslims, while others turned to Mohammad's father-in-law. Ali's followers became what are known today as the Shiite Muslims, while those who sided with Muhammad's father-in-law Abu Bakr became the Sunnis. The Sunnis elected their leader, or caliph, through a committee of elders, believing in the hadith that said Muhammad's people would never agree in error. This only lasted for the first three caliphs, however, and then disagreements among the Muslims multiplied and grew worse, leading to a loss of power among the caliphs. Though they remained officially in charge of the realm and the religion, the people with the true political power were the military leaders known as the sultans. Caliphates became removed from the people, and wisdom and knowledge flourished for a period of intellectual freedom and allowance.

This freedom included interpreting the haditha into sharia, or Islamic law, but in the tenth century Sunni leaders declared the gates of knowledge closed, and the sharia complete. The Arabic empire still flourished, however, despite the persecution of various heresies including the mystical branch of Islam, Sufism. Strangely, religious tolerance was also ostensibly part of Muslim belief and practice in government, but apparently this did not extend to warping or blaspheming the Muslim religion itself. The Arab empire was eventually overrun by Mongols, but instead of ending Islamic rule this actually extended and complicated it.