Modern Islamic History: How much do you know?

  First impression they say lasts longer. The first impression most people have regarding “Islam” or “Muslim” is that of conflict, oppression or terrorism; so much that the President of a first world country claims “Islam is in crisis.” Helping most people seal their conviction is the rampage global terrorism, Middle Eastern wars and legacies of some dictators. Non-Muslim see Islam as savage, synonymous to violence. Some Muslims find themselves cornered, constricted in disentangling Islam from the violence and savagery ascribed to it. This leaves them in a dilemma often with one of three options: dissociate themselves from Islam, join the caucus spotlighting Islam as the center of chaos, or retreating to a defensive pose whenever their faiths are quizzed. 

In an attempt to offer an alternate imagery to the presumptuous image of modern Islam, I will tell in a series of articles the history of modern Islam. What roles Islam played in the grand scheme of things? What roles were made to appear Islamic? What roles were played by external influences (the west and her allies)? By offering this other side of the tale, I hope non-Muslims will begin to form a mental distance between Islam and violence. And the Muslims will begin to better understand how to disentangle their faiths from the savage imagery that is being presented. After all, the more a man knows about the past, the more he understands the present and the better he prepares for the future.

It is only ideal to begin this series with the Ottoman empire, the beginning of modern Islamic civilization. The Ottoman empire can be seen as the gateway between two worlds; antiquated and modern Islamic world. It was one of the mightiest and longest ruling empire – arguably the longest ruling – the world ever witnessed.  It lasted for more than 600years, reigning at its zenith over three continents; Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa. In this series, I will discuss what the Ottoman empire symbolized for the Islamic world; the roles it played in the early 20^th century; the factors that led to its decline; and most importantly, the role and impact of the Europeans carving up the Ottoman Empire (the acclaimed sick man of Europe).

After the end of the Ottoman empire, what remained was vacuum filled with anarchy. This shaped the fate of the Muslim world till this day. It is relevant to understand the different forces at play, bending and shaping this fate. What roles Europeans played in making this fate which hunts this world till this day? Would the outcome have been any different if the game of chess played were without prejudice or selfishness? It is also very significant to explain and try to understand the impact of European colonisation on Islamic civilisation – this is often forgotten or even not as known as Africa colonisation. It would have been important to detail the auctioning of Palestine off to Israel but this will sway the series off into a whole different direction. More series than can be catered will be required to present a clear picture of the selloff; we will need to travel as far back as King David historical time, then all the way to the 1917 Balfour declaration, and modern Israel encroachment.

After anarchy and chaos came peace and prosperity. The Arab world became revolutionised with the discovery of oil in 1930s’. In the midst of the turmoil, the Arab world found her political footing. We will consider the role oil discovery played in this development. It will be worthy to note how oil made the desert camel herder politicians sitting at global tables. We will also consider how this shaped the interactions and the policies of the Europeans with this part of the continent considered to be in ruins after the collapse of the Ottomans. Importantly, we will discuss the deal of the millennium, the petrol dollar; what were its impacts.

After the discovery of oil and global recognition of the Arabian world, came some important actors who will change the fate of their nations, the Arabian world and the globe at large. These actors were to be called different names over the years. Some will call them: Comrades, Liberators, Head of States, Dictators, Oppressors and/or many more. Many are not likely to know much about them, and the only imagery likely to stick is the easily justified and the commonly presented by the media. In these series, we will discuss what were their initial vision for the regions they governed; how they interacted with their people; how the West interact with them; why were they given their renowned labels; and what their achievements were. This will require us to take a short detour into the lives of Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Ben Ali and Housni Mubarak.

It is almost impossible to separate the lives of the aforementioned personalities from the chaos that followed. The chaos flowed in rapid successions. It started with the renowned 9/11 attack, then the Afghanistan invasion, Iraq invasion and some later years invasion of Libya. Almost everyone remembered the 9/11 attack, many even remembered what they were doing that day. The legacies of the attack caused a ripple in time, ushering formation of a new world order. The war on terror project was central to this novel development. Despite many knowing the details of the attack, not many can tell the details between “I hear you loud and clear, the people who did this will soon hear us” and the Afghanistan invasion. Who was really responsible for the attack? What were the evidences tying Osama Bin Laden to 9/11? Should Afghanistan have been invaded? Or could justice have been served without two decades of futile bloodbath?

The 9/11 attack allowed for the creation of the war on terror project. Everyone had to choose a side. For President Bush and America, you are either with us or with the enemy. The enemy never fully defined; just a few misplaced policies and you find yourself labeled with the enemy. This enabled justification for subsequent invasions; the invasion of Iraq and the invasion of Libya. We will detail what happened before the invasion of Iraq and what happened after; what were the justification given for the invasion; and was the invasion justified under international laws. We will consider similar instances for the invasion of Libya.

The series will be concluded by detailing the major Islamic terror groups. What are they? What are their objectives? What functions do they serve? Whose bid did they serve, Islam or others? We will consider the influence of the various invasions on creating this modern-day terrorism – Al Qaida and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. After all, people only know of this Islamic terror groups, they often do not know much about their inception. How were they created? Who provided the habitat for their creation? And how come for decades they have evaded the world strongest militaries that uprooted nation states in months?

Adiat Tijani