Islam highlights

In the seventh century, the Arabic city of Mecca (or Makkah) experienced a flourishing economy deriving from the increase of trade (spice, incense, gemstones, silk) due to the war between Persia and Byzantium, a war that blocked other traditional trade routes and weakened both empires (a fact that will allow a better understanding of the dazzling expansion of Islam). This flowering promoted individualism and weakened family and clan ties, basis of the old social structure and culture, creating social unrest, disharmony, ethical weakness and personal insecurity. This is the context in which Islam appears, through Muhammad. Born in Mecca in 569 or 570, Muhammad belonged to the Hachim clan of the Quraysh tribe (or Quréish or Quraish, depending of the transcripts), which guarded the Ka'bah (a square 15 meter high temple, with a black basaltic rock incrassated in its oriental angle, where the gods of all clans and peoples were gathered, up to 360…). The Umayyad clan controlled commerce.

Muhammad’s father died fighting shortly before his birth and he lost his mother, Amina, when he was six years old. He was then protected by his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, but he died two years later and it was his uncle Abu Talib that took then care of Muhammad. When he was old enough he went to work on the trade caravans that left Mecca; he earned himself the surname Amin, the faithful, the reliable. Around 595 he married a wealthy widow for whom he worked, Khadidja, who may have been in her forties (although that may be a symbolic figure for maturity). They had two sons, who died young, and four daughters, including Zaynab. Khadidja was the only wife of Muhammad until she died, and she provided great material and psychological support to Muhammad; she became the first Muslim, the first one to accept the revelation transmitted to Muhammad. It was a happy marriage, and Muhammad always kept a great veneration for Khadidja.

Every month of Ramadan (the ninth of the year) Muhammad retired into a cave in the mountains of Hira, devoting the nights to prayer and reflection. In one of those nights of 611 he heard inside him the call to become a prophet. He went to explain this experience to his wife, and they went together to an old sage, a cousin of theirs, who told them it had to be a matter of Gabriel, the messenger of God. Shortly after, he started to preach what he saw very clearly in his heart. He spoke of unity around the faith in one only God, compassionate and merciful, of stopping the fratricide fights, of helping people in need, of not killing the new born baby-girls and of equality of rights among humans (including women, slaves, weak people, which should not be treated as objects or ill treated…).

Amid severe ideological and psychological tensions, Muhammad, raised in a "pagan" or "idolatrous" religious framework and in times he probably considered frivolous and thoughtless, formulated his beliefs in terms of a strict monotheism and a call to a consistent personal behavior that would allow properly dealing with the "last day", the final Judgment. Muhammad claimed against lightness, recklessness, negligence. Muhammad was not the first monotheist in the Arab world: he belongs to the tradition of the hanifs, people devoted to contemplation and the exclusive worshiping of Allah. What he does is to bring monotheism to hegemony, suppressing the numerous idolatric traditions of his time.

For Muhammad, humans should humbly follow God's will. This submission, donation, delivery, will become the name of Islam itself. And a muslim is the one who submits, who gives himself, that “delivers” himself to God, that makes God’s will, that commits to God. Muhammad accepted, with the reluctance and fear that prophets always feel, the task of talking to the people of his time and of his country about religious matters, namely, the need to place their lives in a different context than the purely materialistic one.

The first years were hard; he finds much resistance in his environment - especially among supporters of the "pagan", "idolatric" or "polytheist" local traditions, and above all in his own qurayxite tribe - and few join his proposals. People were much attached to their traditional gods such as Hubal, the god of thunder, rain and rainbows, al-Lat, the goddess of fertility, al-Uzza, goddess of love and fertility and Manat, god of luck and happiness that governs the destiny of men. His questioning of traditional ways of doing things and traditional beliefs was not welcome. He proposed a new community, the Ummah, which would leave behind the differences of tribe and clan. Muhammad received insults and threats, stool was put in front of his door, his preaching was interrupted, conspiracies against his life were organized, some tried to buy him in order to stop his preaching, but he stood firm in his mission.

In 619 or 620 his uncle Abu Talib and Khadidja died, and a few months later Muhammad married another widow, Sawda, and a six year old girl, Aisha (the marriage was consummated three years later); Aisha will be his favorite and the better known of his wives. She was the daughter of Abu Bakr, whom after Muhammad's death became the first caliph. Over the years, Muhammad will expand his harem up to nine wives, including Hafsa, widow and daughter of Umar, the future caliph, Umm Salama, Zaynab bint Jahsh, wife of his adopted son, the Jewish Safiyya bint Huyayy, wife of Kenana Ibn al-Rabi (executed covering his breast with embers after losing the battle of Khaybar), Umm Habiba or Maymuna bint al-Harith. Two months before his death Muhammad still had his turn with his wives, until it was suggested for him to stay in Aisha’s room. Lacking any adult son, his enemies, to insult him, called him abtar, or tailless, without offspring. In addition to the aforementioned Zaynab, at least two more daughters of Muhammad played a significant role: Umm Kultum, who married Uthman, the future caliph, in 624, and Fatima, who married Ali in 624 or 625.

Life in Mecca became difficult for Muslims, so some of them (about 70 families) migrated to the neighboring city of Yatrib, where they were welcome (before, around 615, there had been a curious migration of some Muslims to Abyssinia). In 622, when Muhammad was about fifty-three years old, he received an invitation of the citizens of Yatrib to go live and govern there, since the city suffered from severe internal rivalries and needed a strong leader. In exchange of adherence to Islam and a commitment to follow his decisions and defend him and his followers (the "Pledge of War"), Muhammad accepted to move to Yatrib, where he went with Abu Bakr, after eluding the efforts of the Meccans to prevent it. Later on, Yatrib will be called Medina, in fact Madinat al-Nabi (City of the Prophet) or Madinat al-Munawwira (the Shining City). Muhammad’s march towards Yatrib was the founding gesture of Islam, called "Hijra" (also Hijrat or Hegira). It is the starting point of Islamic chronology.

Just arrived to Yatrib, Muhammad builds the first mosque, to be opened in 623. He clashes with the Jewish community, which does not adhere to his views, but he shows himself as a notorious governor, adding to his prophetical dimension that of statesman. He lives in great simplicity, and in his administration of public affairs he wisely combines justice and piety, becoming someone with a capacity to exert an influence in others and lead them to behave with goodness. He properly confederates the tribes of the city and promotes order and spirit of cooperation, acquiring a reputation that will extend throughout Arabia. From Yatrib he directs a dazzling political and military expansion of Islam, beginning with the Battle of Badr (624) with the qurayshite tribe of Mecca. Muhammad becomes not only a religious and political leader but also a military one. He undertook several expeditions of conquest, reaching to unify most of the Arabian tribes around Islam. After complex negotiations, in 629 Muhammad can make again a pilgrimage to Mecca and in 630 he peacefully occupies it, cleaning the Ka'bah of idols. Mecca will be established as a place of pilgrimage for the entire Islamic world. Muhammad died in Yatrib in 632. He will be the last of the prophets, “the Seal of the Prophets”. He was buried next to the mosque he had built, known since then as Masjid al-Nabi (the mosque of the Prophet, which will become a model for other mosques).

A mosque (masjid) is a “very pure sacred space”, a large and clean construction with a sign in its walls, the mihrab, a kind of decorated incision (as if it wanted to go through the wall), indicating the qibbla, the orientation towards Mecca; it also has the minaret, the high and svelte tower from where the muetzin calls for prayer; collective prayers in the mosque are guided by an imam, “the one placed in front”, a person chosen by the community due to its knowledge of the Qur’an and because deserving respect and confidence.

The five central practices of Islam, beyond the habits and laws of every tribe and every people, are called the five pillars of Islam. As the hadiths (traditions of the Prophet) say: "Islam is witnessing that there is no other God than Allah and that Muhammad is the one sent by Allah (shahadah); it is to exert the prayer (salah); it is to pay the legal tax (zakat); it is fast (sawm) during Ramadan and make the pilgrimage (hajj) to the House of Allah, if possible". In other words:

- the recognition and manifestation that only God is God, that nothing is divine outside God (Allah) and that Muhammad is prophet, envoy or messenger of Allah (shahadah: “There is no other God than Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet”, “Ashhadu anna la ilaha il-la Allah wa anna Muhammad rasul Allah”). In fact, Allah means “the God”; God was Ilah (close to the Jewish Eloh), to which the definite article al is added in order to underline his uniqueness.

- the ritual prayer (salah), very brief, usually five times a day and orienting oneself towards Mecca. It is a good way to constantly maintain the reference to the presence of the divinity.

- the established alms, mandatory (zakat, approximately a 2,5 % of one’s wealth), destined to the poor and needed of the community (there is also a free alms, the sçadaqa).

- fast during Ramadan (sawm), sign of purification of the body and of sacrifice for the divinity. Neither water nor food, from sunrise to sundown.

- pilgrimage (hajj, “to go towards”) to Mecca, the place where God’s culminant revelation took place, once in a lifetime, but only for those having the physical, economical and other kinds of possibilities allowing to do it.

About twenty years after the death of Muhammad begins the collection of the content of his preaching, which will constitute the Qur'an or Koran (“recitation”; Muhammad was asked to “recite”). It is the sacred book of Islam, with its 114 chapters or sura, ordered by their length in decreasing order, except for the first sura, Al-Fatiha, “the opening”, the entrance door to the Qur’an:

“In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Praise be to God, The Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. You do we worship, and Your aid we seek.

Show us the straight way, the way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, Those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.”

The recitative character of the Qur’an makes extremely hard that its translations make justice to the Arab original, full of emotion, fervor and mystery (it is said that if Jesus is God incarnated, the Qur’an is God “made book”; it is also said that “the Qur’an is not about Truth, it is Truth”). This explains why Muslims prefer to learn Arabic than translating the Qur’an. It is a difficult text, more doctrinal than historic and essentially devoted to proclaim the unity, omnipotence, omniscience and compassion of God.

In the Qur’an 99 different ways to design God are used. They are of interest in order to see the polyhedral character of the divinity: 1. The Exceedingly Compassionate, The Exceedingly Beneficent, The Exceedingly Gracious (to all of humanity and all creatures) ( الرّحمان Al-Raḥmān) 2. The Exceedingly Merciful ( الرّحيم Al-Raḥīm) 3. The Sovereign (Al-Malik) 4. The Holy, The Divine, The Pure, The Purifier ( القدّوس Al-Quddūs) 5. The Peace, The Source of Peace and Safety ( السّلام Al-Salām) 6. The granter of security (Al-Mu'min) 7. The Controller (Al-Muhaymin) 8. The Almighty, The Invulnerable, The Honorable (Al-‘Azīz) 9. The Irresistible, The Compeller ( الجبّار Al-Ŷabbār) 10. The Majestic, The Supreme (لمتكبّرا Al-Mutakabbir) 11. The Creator (Al-Jāliq) 12. The Evolver, The Maker (Al-Bāri') 13. The Fashioner, The Shaper, The Designer (Al-Muṣawwar) 14. The Repeatedly Forgiving (Al-Gaffār) 15. The Subduer (Al-Qahhār) 16. The Bestower (Al-Wahhāb) 17. The Provider (Al-Razzāq) 18. The Opener, The Victory Giver (Al-Fattāḥ) 19. The All-Knowing, Omniscient (Al-‘Alīm) 20. The Restrainer, The Straightener (Al-Qābiḍ) 21. The Extender / Expander (Al-Bāsiṭ) 22. The Abaser, The Humiliator, The Downgrader (Al-Jāfiḍ) 23. The Exalter, The Upgrader (Al-Rāfi’) 24. The Giver of Honor (Al-Mu’izz) 25. The Giver of Dishonor (Al-Mudhill) 26. The All-Hearing (Al-Sāmi’) 27. The All-Seeing (Al-Baṣīr) 28. The Judge, The Arbitrator (Al-Ḥakam) 29. The Utterly Just (Al-‘Adl) 30. The Gentle, The Subtly Kind (Al-Laṭīf) 31. The All-Aware (Al-Jabīr) 32. The Forbearing, The Indulgent (Al-Ḥalīm) 33. The Magnificent (Al-‘Azīm) 34. The Much-Forgiving (Al-Gafūr) 35. The Grateful (Aš-Šakūr) 36. The Sublime (Al-‘Alī) 37. The Great (Al-Kabīr) 38. The Preserver (Al-Ḥafīẓ) 39. The Nourisher (Al-Muqīt) 40. The Bringer of Judgment (Al-‘asīb) 41. The Majestic (Al-Ŷalīl) 42. The Bountiful, The Generous (Al-Karīm) 43. The Watchful (Al-Raqīb) 44. The Responsive, The Answerer (Al-Muŷīb) 45. The Vast, The All-Embracing, The Omnipresent, The Boundless (Al-Wāsi’) 46. The All-Wise (Al-‘akīm) 47. The Loving (Al-Wadūd) 48. The All-Glorious, The Majestic (Al-Maŷīd) 49. The Resurrector (Al-Bā’ith) 50. The Witness (Al-Šahīd) 51. The Truth, The Reality (Al-Haqq) 52. The Trustee, The Dependable, The Advocate (Al-Wakīl) 53. The Strong (Al-Qawī) 54. The Firm, The Steadfast (Al-Matīn) 55. The Friend, Patron and Helper (Al-Walī) 56. The All Praiseworthy (Al-‘amīd) 57. The Accounter, The Numberer of All (Al-Muḥsī) 58. The Originator, The Producer, The Initiator (Al-Mubdi') 59. The Restorer, The Reinstater Who Brings Back All (Al-Mu’īd) 60. The Giver of Life (Al-Muḥyī) 61. The Bringer of Death (Al-Mumīt) 62. The Living (Al-Ḥayy) 63. The Subsisting, The Independent (Al-Qayyūm) 64. The Perceiver, The Finder, The Unfailing (Al-Wāŷid) 65. The Illustrious, The Magnificent (Al-Māŷid) 66. The One, The Unique (Al-Wāḥed) 67. The Unity, The Indivisible (Al-Aḥad) 68. The Eternal, The Absolute, The Self-Sufficient (Al-Ṣamad) 69. The All-Powerful, He Who is able to do Everything (Al-Qādir) 70. The Determiner, The Dominant (Al-Muqtadir) 71. The Expediter, He Who Brings Forward (Al-Muqaddim) 72. The Delayer, He Who Puts Far Away (Al-Mu'ajjir) 73. The First, The Beginning-less (Al-Awwal) 74. The Last, The Endless (Al-Ājir) 75. The Manifest, The Evident, The Outer (Al-Ẓāhir) 76. The Hidden, The Unmanifest, The Inner (Al-Bāṭin) 77. The Patron, The Protecting Friend, The Friendly Lord (Al-Wālī) 78. The Supremely Exalted, The Most High (Al-Muta’ālī) 79. The Good, The Beneficent (Al-Barr) 80. The Ever-Returning, Ever-Relenting (Al-Tawwāb) 81. The Avenger (Al-Muntaqim) 82. The Pardoner, The Effacer, The Forgiver (Al-‘Afuww) 83. The Kind, The Pitying (Al-Ra'ūf) 84. Owner of all Sovereignty (Māliku l-Mulk) 85. Lord of Majesty and Generosity (‘ū l-Ŷalāl wa-l-Ikrām) 86. The Equitable, The Requiter (Al-Muqsi’) 87. The Gatherer, The Unifier (Al-Ŷāmi’) 88. The Rich, The Independent (Al-Ganiyy) 89. The Enricher, The Emancipator (Al-Mugnī) 90. The Withholder, The Shielder, The Defender (Al-Māni’) 91. The Distressor, The Harmer, The Afflictor (Al-‘ārr) 92. The Propitious, The Benefactor, The Source of Good (An Nāfi’) 93. The Light (An-Nūr) 94. The Guide, The Way (Al-Hādī) 95. The Incomparable, The Unattainable, The Beautiful (Al-Badī’) 96. The Immutable, The Infinite, The Everlasting (Al-Bāqī) 97. The Heir, The Inheritor of All (Al-Wārith) 98. The Guide to the Right Path (Al-Rašīd) 99. The Timeless, The Patient (Al-Ṣabūr).

The successor of Muhammad will be his companion since the beginning and father of Aisha, Abu Bakr; he will be the first caliph (khalifah, “the one who follows”), completing the unification of the Arabian peninsula as a single community. The caliph succeeding Abu Bakr will be Omar (634-644), that will expand Islam to Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia, and the next one Uthman ibn Affan (644-656), of the Umayyad clan. The rapid territorial expansion of Islam after the Prophet's death was favored by two factors introduced by Islam that had as a consequence an excess population in Arabia: the end of tribal wars and the prohibition of infanticide, which mainly affected female infants. This expansion led to some bureaucratization of power and organizational stratification, which caused, on one hand, the need to establish orthodoxy and, on the other hand, the desire to give viability to a radical following of the message of the Prophet. Already under the rule of the Umayyad dynasty, with its capital in Damascus, established in 661, some of the last living companions of the Prophet lived retired in Mecca and Medina, far from power and maintaining a clear critical stance. Well known names among this generation of pious would be Abd ar-Rahman (son of Abu Bakr, the first caliph), Abd Allah ibn Umar (son of Umar, the second caliph), Abd Allah ibn Zubayr (son of Zubayr, companion of the Prophet, and Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr, the first caliph) and Aisha (wife of Muhammad and daughter of Abu Bakr).

Soon, and as part of the struggle for the Caliphate and the tension between Ali, cousin of Muhammad and husband of Fatima, and Abu Sufyan, a division of Islam into three main streams was established and still exists, with uneven sociological weight:

1) Sunnis, the mainstream, which in the first major political crisis for the seizure of power by the Umayyad Caliph accepted the fait accompli, preferring an unjust government to a generalized disorder; for them, the caliph, holy presence, had to belong to the qurayxite tribe. Nowadays they represent almost 90% of Muslims, grouped in four main jurisprudence schools: hanefit, maliki, xafii and hanbalite.

2) Shiites, from shiat Ali, partisans of Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, who claimed the caliphate after the death of Umar, the second caliph, but was displaced by the Umayyad Uthman. Supporters of Ali killed Uthman in 656 and finally Ali became caliph, but he was murdered by the khariyites, which ensured the purity in the interpretation of tradition. Shiites, who recognized as the sole authority the successors of Muhammad through Fatima and Ali, represented an Islam polarized by the spiritual aspect, while the Umayyad privileged the political aspect. Husayn, second son of Ali, was assassinated in Kerbala. Shiites are currently hegemonic in Iran and southern Irak.

3) Khariyites, "those who fight to defend the cause of God," the group more related to the initial community. They remained faithful to the Quranic idea that "authority belongs only to God," and that any good Muslim could be appointed as caliph. They were persecuted by the Umayyad, and some may have taken refuge in the city of Tahert, in North Africa, destroyed by the Berbers in 909, moving then to the Mzab. In 866 there was a khariyite rebellion in north Mesopotamia, suppressed in 896 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu’tadid. Apparently some remain in Oman and Zanzibar.

The explosive expansion of Islam derives from its offer of a new religion (simple and rational), a new language (rich and flexible Arabic) and a new social system (democratic, cohesive and fraternal). It was an acceptable proposal, adaptable to so distant places as Spain, Indonesia, Mongolia and North Africa.

It is hard to tell the significance of the notion of jihad in this rapid expansion of Islam, as well as in later terrorist phenomenon associated with Islam. For Islam, the earth is divided into two parts: Dar el Islam, the world of Islam, and Dar el Harb, the world of war, where there are no institutions capable of establishing peace and justice. There reign violence and injustice, exploitation and tyranny, religious oppression, usury, gambling, alcohol (there may be, however, non-Muslim countries where justice is respected, guaranteeing religious freedom and not attacking Islam; those do not belong to the world of war and Islam establishes peaceful relations with them). An effort is needed to fight the world of war (jihad, a term meaning "effort aimed at a target" and "war"). To live according to God's will is to fight, since good is in perpetual struggle against evil. The believer is supposed to participate in jihad, to be an activist, a fighter.

There are two kinds of jihad or "holy war." The first and foremost is aimed at fighting against one’s own bad inclinations, against passions (the permanent holy war of the believer against his selfishness and to follow the revealed divine prescriptions); it is the "great jihad" or "war for hearts". The second is, when this effort has a military nature, the "little holy war" to make the reign of Islam prevail, a reign that brings peace and justice, order and fairness. Not permitted, however, are the simple assault, the war of conquest or the war to impose religion by force. War is authorized in six circumstances: 1) against the enemies of God (those who threaten the existence of the community, those who persecute or oppress Muslims, and the polytheists, in fact, originally, the paganism of the Arabian Peninsula) 2) to keep the frontiers; 3) against the apostates; 4) against the secessionists; 5) against the bands that disrupt public security, and 6) against the monotheists that refuse to pay the due tax.


The believer cannot be carried away by violence, the thirst for domination, the desire for revenge, material interest, predatory lust. Islamic war is linked to a set of ideals: it must be fair in its purpose, defensive in its initiative, correct in its development, peaceful in its goal, humanitarian in the treatment of the vanquished. The combativeness of the Islamic warrior is induced by piety, and thus accompanied by magnanimity; it is necessary to be relentless with the oppressor, but not vindictive nor cruel.

The second Islamic political capital, after Medina, was Damascus, with the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), founded by the governor of Syria Abu Sufyan, but in 762 the capital moves to Baghdad, with the Abbasid dynasty (750-1285), causing the center of gravity of the empire to move to Iraq and Iran (the ancient Persian Sassanid Empire). In the IX, X and XI centuries the Islamic empire experiences a cultural effervescence, and Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba (where the Umayyad dynasty was maintained) become great centers of scholarship. Around 800 the Mu’tazilah school appears, where the Greek philosophical concepts are used to expose the Islamic doctrine. The unity of God is emphasized to the point of considering that the Koran was created and not eternal; they also upheld divine justice. The Mu’tazila were predominant until 850, and helped to introduce logical rigor in the intellectual debate. In 870 died Al-Bukhari, compiler of the words of the Prophet according to the tradition (hadith), supplement of the Qur'an and source of confirmation of the Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet). Al Ashar (873-935), originally a Mu’tazila, returned to orthodoxy in 912, claiming that the Qur'an was uncreated word of God, and that the text had to be considered a priority and interpreted literally (no metaphors or allegories, the literal text establishing the limits, that could be argued philosophically and rationally). No human free will, all human action is predestined by God, since he is omnipotent (though this omnipotence allows him to want to leave humans some room for action and responsibility, for which they will be rewarded or punished). Al Ashar established Islamic theological orthodoxy for long.

From the beginning of the Islamic expansion a gradual dominance of the political element over the religious element took place. The ascetic dimension was lost. Already during the Umayyad dynasty the Shiites, the Qadarites and the Khariyites complained. With the Abbasid dynasty power, wealth, luxury and ostentation became hegemonic. To the complaint for the situation was added a desire to delve into the dimension of the direct and real knowledge of God beyond what the jurists and theologians offered. In the eighth century this movement, called Sufism, spreads to Pasra, Khufa and Khorassan, and reaches Baghdad. The great poet Al-Halladj was crucified in 922. Junayd al-Bagdadi (tenth century) will say: “To be a sufi is to abandon worries and the worst of them all is oneself. While you are busy with yourself you are separated from Allah. The way towards Him has only one step: to go out from yourself.”

Then the great figure of Al Ghazali (1058-1111), a Sunni scholar, appears. He is interested by the philosophical problems in the line of Al Kindi (IXth century), Al Farabi (Xth century), Ibn Sina (Avicenna, XIth century) and Ibn Rushd (Averrois, XIIth century), but after a personal crisis he joins the field of the mystics, leaving Baghdad to carry an ascetic life in Mecca, seeking the purification of the heart that allows full identification with God. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries four major Sufi orders crystallized: the qadiriyyah, the suhrawardiyya, the shadhiliyya and the mawlaw’iyya (mevlevi), this last one founded by the great Persian poet Mawlana Rumi (d. 1273).

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries are politically unstable. Western Crusades are set for the conquest of Jerusalem, and Spain carried out the “Reconquista” (not culminated until 1492). Turkish Muslims occupy northern India, where many refugees will move after the Mongol invasion of Genghis Khan (fall of Baghdad in 1285, which led to the disintegration of the Islamic caliphate). Delhi and Cairo become the major Islamic centers, gathering both Sunnis and Sufis. In the thirteenth century Islam spreads to western and northern China, in the fourteenth century it reaches Malaysia and Indonesia, in the fifteenth century it reaches northern Nigeria and other spots in West Africa. This expansion is carried out both through Muslim retailers and merchants and through the political control of new territories by Muslim rulers. Persecution or violence are not usually used, the expansion is the result of the persuasion and appeal of the Islamic proposal. In the fifteenth century the Ottoman Turkish Sultans occupy Eastern Europe, especially the Balkans, once Constantinople was conquered in 1453. Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) further extended Islam from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. Ottoman rulers proclaimed themselves protectors of the Greek Church, being considered more tolerant than the Polish occupants had been; local populations soon converted quite freely to Islam.

The Ottoman Empire, the last Islamic Caliphate, with the Osman (or Othman, hence the term "Ottoman") dynasty, is the largest Muslim political reference during the late Middle Ages and the Modern Age. In fact, its military splendor ranges from Osman, in the early fourteenth century, to Suleiman, in the early sixteenth century, but in spite of its decay this empire will stay until the proclamation of the Turkish Republic by Atatürk in 1923.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Islam experiences the rise of renovation movements. In India they were initiated by thinker, writer and Sufi master Wali Allah of Delhi (1702-1762), whose sons translated the Qur'an into Urdu. There was also a movement of renewal in East Bengal from 1820, initiated by Shariat Allah, who proposed to fulfill religious duties faithfully and regularly, to eliminate practices added by Hindu influence, to purify Islam of Sufi practices and influence, to introduce economic reforms oriented to reduce inequalities of wealth, contrary to the spirit of Islam, and to restore Muslim political power in Bengal, which had fallen under British rule. In India there was also, however, an Islamic movement conciliatory with Western culture, with interesting figures such as Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), who despite his generous spirit and liberal positions proposed the political separation between the Muslim India and Hindu India, and Jamal al-Din al Afghani (1839-1897). Poet and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal (1873-1938), who had studied in Cambridge and Germany and received the influence of Bergson, Nietzsche and Rumi, will become the spiritual founder of Pakistan.

In Saudi Arabia renovation movements were initiated by al-Wahhab (1703-1792), founder of Wahhabism; the current dynasty that rules Saudi Arabia belongs to this movement. Wahhabism seeks to remove the superstitious practices and moral relaxation from Islam, as well as contributions made by Sufism, to focus on the Quranic origins. It rejects the additions to Islam during the medieval period and attempts to reformulate Islamic belief and practice in terms of modern thought and civilization. It also attempts to restore Muslim governments in areas occupied by European powers.

In Egypt the renewal dynamics were initiated by Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), who also had one foot in the Islamic tradition and the other in modern knowledge; he was in favor of the cooperation between faith and reason. He had an influence in the appearance of the salafiyya fundamentalist movement, which was developped by Rashid Rida (1865-1935), making it closer to Wahhabite puritanism.

Currently, the Islamic world can be characterized by a set of features:

- It maintains its traditional large regional area of influence.

- It keeps the close link between religion and politics.

- The tension between Sunnis and Shiites persists, which has led to events like the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the current war in Syria and Iraq.

- It continues to experience a high degree of political division (in contrast to the claim of radical groups for a new Caliphate).

- It sees a strong presence of radical movements (Al Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic State), with great verbal radicalism and use of terrorism.

- Embedded in the center of its territory is the State of Israel, with which it has fought several wars.

- It experiences an unstable situation in Afghanistan, after a long period of successive wars and the permanent tension between tribes and with the Taliban.

- It experiences serious tensions with different groups in East and West Africa.

- It has gained a significant geo-economic importance thanks to oil and gas.

- There are strong migrations from North Africa to Europe, from Pakistan to Europe, from Turkey to Germany.

- It has reached a certain presence in the US African American community.

- It has recovered public presence in the former Soviet Islamic republics.

- It develops tensions in western China (Xinjiang).

- It is difficult to crystallize a distinct and independent European Islam. It is not easy to reconcile Islam with Western modernity (with secondary but visible issues as the veil, the ban of pork and alcohol, Ramadan...).

- In recent times Islam has experienced dynamics of political change ("Arab springs"), with uncertain results. The articulation of Islam and democracy is an open question.