History of Islam

Answer:

The term Islamic Empire is more often stated as "Islamic State".

Here is why there is supposed to be an Islamic state:

God gave the Torah to Moses. This was the first time in history that God delivered to a nation of people (Israel) a complete code of law for the running of a nation of believers. The Torah, like the Qur'an, is a constitution for the maintenance of a nation. There are laws governing everything - birth, death, marriage, divorce, diet, dress, economics and even warfare.

Israel was SUPPOSED to live by the Law of Moses, and be as an example to all other nations. Fourteen centuries after Moses, the Jews were pretty much astray from what Moses had intended. So God sent Jesus in order to annouce to Israel that God was now going to give His Law to a new nation. That is what Jesus says in the parable of the landowner.

So when God gave the Qur'an to Muhammad, He established a new nation - a final nation - living under God's Law.

Now it is the Muslims who hold in their hands God's constitution. Other nations are man-made. Whether Capitalist, Communist, or any other form of government, they are all man-made and are all misguided in many ways.

It is the Islamic Nation that is burdened with the task of establishing God's Law on Earth. Afterall, Muhammad is the Messenger of the Covenant who brought the Kingdom of God on Earth that Jesus said was coming after him.

570 CE Birth of Muhammad. c. 610 CE Muhammad receives first vision in a cave near Mecca. c. 610-22 CE Muhammad preaches in Mecca. 622 CE Hijira - Muhammad and followers flee to Medina.

Islamic calendar (AH, Anno Hegirae) begins. 624 CE Muslims successfully attack Meccan caravans at Badr. 625 Muslims are defeated by Meccans at Uhud. 630 Muslims capture Mecca. Ka'ba is cleansed, pilgrimage rites are Islamicized, tribes of Arabia vowallegiance to Muhammad 632 Death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr chosen as caliph. 632-33 Wars of ridda (apostasy) restore allegiance to Islam 633 Muslim conquests (Futuhat) begin. 633-42 Muslim armies take the Fertile Crescent (Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia), North African coast, parts of Persian and Byzantine Empires c. 650 Caliph Uthman has the Qur'an written down. 656 Uthman is murdered; Ali becomes fourth caliph. 657 Battle of Siffin. Mu'awiya, governor of Syria, claims the caliphate. 659 Arbitration at Adruh is opposed by Ali's supporters. 661 Ali is murdered; Mu'awiya becomes caliph. Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate (661-750). 680 Death of Husayn marks beginning of the Shi'at Ali ("party of Ali") or Shi'a sect. 685-705 Reign of Abd al-Malik. Centralization of administration - Arabic becomes official written language (instead of Greek and Persian) and Arab coinage is established. late 600s Ruling classes in East and West Africa convert to Islam. 700-800s Groups of ascetics and mystics begin to form 710 Arab armies enter Spain from North Africa. 732 Muslim empire reaches its furthes extent. Battle of Tours prevents further advance northwards. 747 Revolt defeats the Umayyads. 750 Abu l'Abbas becomes caliph in Iraq 754 Baghdad (Madinat al-Salam, "city of peace") becomes the new capital of the Abbasid empire. 755 Abd ar-Rahman founds an Umayyad Dynasty in Cordoba, Spain. 765 Division within Shi'ites - majority are the modern Imamiyya (Twelvers) who co-exist with Abbasid caliphs; minority are more extreme Isma'iliyaa (Seveners). 786-809 Reign of Harun ar-Rashid, best known through the stories of The Thousand and One Nights. 800s Written collections of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) are compiled. Sicily comes under Muslim rule. 813-33 Reign of Ma'mun. Theological controversy over whether the Qur'an is created or uncreated and eternal. Center for translation of texts from Greek to Arabic founded in Baghdad. 869-883 Uprisings of black slaves (Zanj) are eventually defeated. 908 First Fatimid caliph in Tunisia. 928 Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman III declares himself caliph in Cordoba. 940 Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth imam, disappears. Twelvers still await the future return of the "Hidden Imam." 945 The Buyids (Persian) invade Baghdad and take power from caliph. 969 Fatimids gain power in Egypt and attack Palestine, Syria, and Arabia. Cairo (Al-Qahira, "the victorious city") is founded. 980-1037 Life of Avicenna, Iranian physician and Aristotelian philosopher. 996-1021 Reign of Fatimid al-Hakim. Hamza ibn Ali forms basis of esoteric Druze religion. late 900s West Africa begins to convert to Islam 1030 Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba defeated by the Christian Reconquista. 1055 Seljuk Turks take Baghdad; Abbasids now only nominal rulers. 1000s Reconquista takes more of Spain, Sicily falls to the Normans, Crusader kingdoms are briefly established in Palestine and Syria. 1071 Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert. 1090 Hasan-i Sabbah takes Alamut in the Persian mountains, the Assassin sect forms around him. 1099 Christian Crusaders take Jerusalem. 1100-1200s Sufi orders (turuq) are founded. 1126-98 Life of Averroës, Muslim philosopher from Cordoba who sought to integrate Islam with Greek thought. 1171 Fatimid power ends in Egypt with the conquests of Saladin. 1174 Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt and Syria. 1193 Death of Saladin; most of Crusader states have returned to Islam. 1200s Assassins wipes out by the Mongols. Indian rulers in Delhi take title of Sultan. Spanish mystic Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) flourishes. 1221 Genghis Khan and the Mongols enter Persia. 1241 Mongols take the Punjab. 1258 Mongols capture Baghdad; city is sacked and caliph is killed. End of Abbasid caliphate. 1281-1324 Reign of Uthman (Osman), who founds the Ottoman Empire. Muslim merchants and missionary Sufis settle in SE Asia. mid-1300s Ottomans capture Bursa and Iznik and move into Europe. 1366 Capital of Ottoman Empire moved from Bursa to Adrianople. late 1300s Ottomans take control of the Balkans. 1400s Islam reaches the Philippines. 1453 Mehmet Fatih (rules 1451-81) conquers Constantinople. The two halves of the Ottoman Empire are united and the sultan becomes Byzantine emperor. 1492 Castile and Aragon capture Granada. All Muslims (and Jews) expelled from Spain. 1501 Isma'il (1487-1524) claims to be the Hidden Imam and is proclaimed Shah (king) of Persia. Twelver Shi'ism becomes official religion of Persia. 1516 Ottomans conquer Syria and Egypt. 1517 Ottomans control Mecca and Medina. 1520-66 Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent; Ottoman Empire reaches its zenith. Hungary and coastlands of Algeria and Tunisia come under Ottoman rule. 1526 Babur (Mongolian) seizes the Delhi sultanate and takes control of northern India. 1556 Akbar founds the Mughal dynasty in northern India. 1600-1700s Venetians, Habsburgs, and Russians divide European Ottoman lands between them. 1625 Java comes under rule of Muslim kingdom of Mataram. 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz confirms first substantial losses of Ottoman Empire in Europe. 1700s Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab rejects Sufism and all innovation (bid'a). Founds what becomes the Saudi Arabian kingdom. Hindus regain power from Mughals in northern India. 1738 Mughal empire invaded by the Afghans. 1779 Afghans ousted by Qajar dynasty, which rules Persia until 1925. 1798 Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. 1805 Muhammad Ali becomes governor of Egypt, which becomes independent of the Ottomans, gains control of western Arabia and extends into the Sudan. 1807-76 Tanzimat period. Ottoman Empire undergoes extensive program of modernization ingovernment, law, and medicine. 1830 Greece regains independence from Ottomans. 1850s Non-Muslim Ottoman citizens granted equality with Muslims. 1858 Last Mughal in India is deposed and India comes under British rule. 1876-1908 Reign of Abd al-Hamid II; autocratic and religiously conservative period in Ottoman rule. 1878 Congress of Berlin recognizes independence of Balkan states previously under Muslim rule. 1882-1952 Egypt occupied by the British. 1908-18 Last decade of Ottoman rule. Rise of nationalistic "Young Turks." More liberal policies develop. 1912 Founding of Islamic Union (Sareket Islam), a modernizing movement in SE Asia. 1918 Fall of Ottoman Empire. League of Nations grants Britain mandatory status over Palestine and Iraq, and France over Lebanon and Syria. 1923 Republic of Turkey established. Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) is first president. 1927 Tablighi Jamaat reform movement founded in India. 1928 Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brothers) founded in Egypt. 1941 Jamaat-i Islami reform movement founded in Lahore, India. 1945 Indonesia becomes independent republic. 1945-60s Islam spreads to the West with mass migrations from Asia, Africa, and India. 1947 Pakistan founded as an Islamic nation. Islam becomes a minority religion in India. 1957 Independent Malayan state established with Islam as the official religion but guaranteed tolerance. 1960s Familes from SE Asia and North Africa emigrate to Europe and the Americas.

The last companion (sahabi) of the prophet Muhammad (saw) to die among his close companions was Anas bin Maalik (ra), he was the last living companion who closely accompanied the prophet and fought alongside him in battles but there were many other lesser companions who saw and believed in Muhammad (saw) without to accompany him frequently like the Muhajireen and the Ansar.

Anas bin Maalik was asked when he was the last living companion of the Prophet (saw),

"Is there anybody left from the sahabah of the Messenger of Allah (saw)?" he said: "from his sahabah, there are none, but from those who saw the Prophet (saw) from the bedouin, there are many."Who is a Sahabi?

من اجتمع بالنبي صلّى الله عليه وسلّم، أو رآه مؤمناً به، ومات على ذلك

Who met Allah's Messenger or saw him in state of Imaan, and died with Imaan.

If someone believed in Allah's Messenger but did not meet with him or saw him then he is not classified as a Sahabi(like Najashi, the king of Abyssinia or Uwais al-Qarni from Yemen).

The last Sahabi to leave this world would be 'Isa (Peace be upon him). This is because 'Isa (Peace be upon him) saw Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in state of Imaan, while he was alive. That happened on the day of Israa' (the night travel) and Ma'iraj (Ascension). He met Allah's Messenger twice:

[1] When Muhammad (Peace be upon him) led the Salah in Masjid ul Aqsa, and all the Prophets followed him.

[2] When Muhammad (Peace be upon him) met him on the second heaven.

Adh-Dahabi says:

عيسى بن مريم عليه السلام نبي وصحابي فإنه رأى النبي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وسلّم عليه فهو آخر الصحابة موتا(تجريد أسماء الصحابة ـ الذهبي 1/432 )

"'Isa, the son of Maryam, Peace be upon him, is a Prophet and a Sahabi because he saw Allah's Messenger (i.e. on the night of Ma'iraj), and he greeted him, so, he would be the last amongst Sahaba to die (when he comes back to this world)"

Ibn Hajr agreed with Adh-Dahabi in his book الإصابة في تمييز الصحابة (4/761).

So, 'Isa (Peace be upon him) fulfills the definition of a Sahabi, and would be the last Sahabi to leave this World, and Allah has chosen him for this unique duality: A Prophet and a Sahabi. Praise be to Allah, He does what He wills and chooses whom He wills.

Next, other than 'Isa (Peace be upon him) who was the last Sahabi to leave this world. The Islamic Empire had stretched to a vast portion of the globe at that time, so in various parts of the empire people would value the remaining Sahaba, and historians have mentioned the last Sahabi in various parts of the empire. Abu Tufail 'Amr ibn Wathila al-Leethi was the last one to die in Makkah and over-all.

Makkah:

ابو طفيل عمرو ابن واثله الليثى

He saw Allah's Messenger in the the Last Hajj (Hijjat ul Widaa'). He was young at that time, and he was asked, how your love for him was at that time. He replied, "Like the love of mother of Musa for Musa". Abu Tufail 'Amr ibn Wathila al-Leethi (May Allah be Pleased with him) was amongst Sh'iaan e 'Ali.

Death: Abu Tufail 'Amr ibn Wathila al-Leethi (May Allah be Pleased with him) died after 100 Hijri. Historians have mentioned three different narrations for his death: 100 Hijri, 107 Hijri or 110 Hijri. He died in Makkah. Adh-Dahabi says the correct opinion is that he died in 110th Hijri.

Ibn 'Asakir quotes a narration in Tareekh Madinah Damishq:

آخر من مات من أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على وجه الأرض عامر أبو الطفيل بن واثلة وكان يقول ما بقي على وجه الأرض أحد يقدر يقول أنه رأى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم غيري مات بمكة سنة مائة

"The last one to die from the companions (Sahaba) of Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) on the face of the earth is 'Aamir Abu Tufail bin Wathila and he used to say, 'No one is left on the face of the earth who can say: I saw Allah's Messenger, save me'. He died in Makkah in 100 Hijri"

Ibn-Hibban quotes a narration in Ath-Thiqaat :

عامر بن واثلة أبو الطفيل المكى أدرك ثمان سنين من حياة رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ومات بمكة سنة سبع ومائة وهو آخر من مات من أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم بمكة وهو من بنى كنانة

"'Aamir bin Wathila Abu Tufail al-Makki got 8 years from the life of Allah's messenger, and he died in Makkah in the year 107th Hijri, and he was the last one from the companions (Sahaba) of Allah's Messenger to die in Makkah, and he was from Bani Kinanah"

Basrah:

As for other parts, the last sahabi to die in Basrah (part of present day Iraq) was:

انس بن مالك

He is one of the major narrators of hadith. He was ten years old when Allah's Messenger entered Madinah and he used to serve him. He participated in many Ghazawaat and was a participant of Bai'at ur Ridwan. He remained as Imam of Salah in Basra for about 40 years.

Death: Anas bin Malik (May Allah bed pleased with him) died at the age of 103 in 93rd Hijri in Basrah. Some historians mention his dead in 91st Hijri. Adh-Dhabi says the correct opinion is of 93rd Hijri.

Madinah:

The last Sahabi to die in Madinah is:

سهل بن سعد الساعدى

His father was a sahabi, Sa'd bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him), who died in the times of Allah's Messenger. He has narrated many ahaadith.

Death: Sahl bin Sa'd as-Saa'dee died in Madinah in 96th Hijri when he was 100 years old. According to Al-Waqidi he died in 91st Hijri. Adh-Dahabi says many have quoted his death in 91st Hijri.

جابر بن عبدالله ابن عمرو بن حرام

Ibn-Sa'd has quoted in his Tabqaat that Jabir bin 'Abudllah bin 'Amr bin Haram al-Ansaari (May Allah be pleased with him) was the last to die in Madinah, amongst the Sahaba. He witnessed the Second Ba'iah of 'Aqabah and he was also present in Ba'iat ur Ridwan. And Adh-Dhahabi says when he died he was the last one to witness Ba'iah of 'Aqabah. He has narrated many ahaadith. His father was a Sahabi who attained Shahadah in the battle of Uhud. He participated in the battle of Ahzaab and some narrators mention he was from amongst those who witnessed Badr. Al-Waqidi has mentioned a narration from him where he says he participated in sixteen ghazawaat with Allah's Messenger.

Death: Ibn Sa'd narrates that he died in 77th Hijri and he was 84 years old then, and he was the governor of Madinah at that time. Al-Waqidi mentions his death in 78th Hijri. Adh-Dhahabi says he was 94 years old when he died.

Ash-Shaam

The last Sahabi to die in Ash-Shaam (present day Syria, Jordan, Palestine etc.) was:

عبد الله بن بسر بن أبي بسر المازني

He has narrated very few ahadith and they are found in Sahah e Sitta. He was amongst those who opened the Island of Qabras in times of Uthman (May Allah be pleased with him).

Death: 'Abudllah bin Basr bin Abi Basr Al-Maazni (May Allah be pleased with him) died in Hams at the age of 100 in 94thHijri according to al-Waqidi or 88th Hijri according to ibn 'Asakir.

أبو أمامة الباهلي

Ibn Abdul Barr has mentioned Abu Umamah al-Bahili (May Allah be pleased with him) to be the last sahabi to die in ash-Shaam. Many scholars have narrated from him. Adh-Dhahabi says it is narrated that he participated in Ba'iah ur Ridwan.

Death: He died in 81st or 86th Hijri, and he was more than 80 years old.

Kufa

The last Sahabi to die in Kufa (part of present day Iraq) was

عبد الله بن أبي أوفى

Adh-Dahabi says that he was present in Ba'it Ar-Ridwaan. His father was also a Sahabi. He has narrated many Ahadith.

Death: According to al-Waqidi he died in the year 86th Hijri and he was blind at that time. Adh-Dahabi says he died in 88th Hijri and he was near 100 years of age at that time.

Egypt

The last Sahabi to die in Egypt was

عبد الله بن الحارث بن جزء أبو الحارث الزبيدي

He witnessed the opening of Egypt in times of 'Umar bin al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) and stayed there till his death.

Death: Narrations mention his death to be in 85th or 86th or 87th Hijri, Adh-Dhahabi says that 86th Hijri is the correct opinion.

Few scholars have narrated that many Sahabi Jinns existed many years later. According to one Syrian Sufi Scholar the last Sahabi died near Euphrates 70 years back from now, and he was a Jinn.

والله اعلم بالصواب

References to the above mentioned dates and names can be found in:

[1] الطبقات الكبرى - ابن سعد

[2] للحافظ الذهبى سير أعلام النبلاء

[3] تاريخ مدينه دمشق - ابن عساكر

[4] البدايه و النهايه - ابن كثير

The main factor militarily speaking would have to be how the Byzantine and I believe Sassanid and later Abassid Persian empires had beaten each other silly, and both were badly weakened. Prior to the rise of Islam, the Beduin of Arabia had no imperialistic ambitions. At the time, also, most of the population was not Beduin, most Arabs were concentrated in the cities of Mecca and Medina, and the surrounding towns.

Even though the Beduin were formidable warriors as they trained in warfare from the moment they could pick up a weapon (the boys), the Byzantine and Persian empires both had superior technology. The Byzantine empire, at least for about 300 years of its total 1,000 years of life, was the greatest power in Europe, however after its 300 years were over, it began a slow and steady decline from constant fighting against Persia. In fact, Byzantium was history repeating itself; at Thermopylae, as is commonly known throughout the world now, Leonidas, his Spartans, and 1,000 thespians stopped a force of Persians from invading Europe. During Byzantine times fast forwarding several hundred years later, Leonida's place was taken by Belisarius, also a Greek. Twice, the Greeks saved our sorry behinds from the Persians, TWICE, or at least all of us a part of, or influenced by western culture. The Franks and later on the Teutons, both descendants of the Goths, showed their gratitude by burning down the surrounding towns of Byzantium and raping the women. The rest of Europe was no match for the Persian war machine, not in Leonida's time, and certainly not in Belisarius' time.

When two evenly matched superpowers enter into a brawl, usually things get ugly, in fact during the centuries and decades of warfare that occured between the Byzantines, and the Sassanid and Abassid Persian empires, what is now Iraq was unlivable. The population lived in miserable poverty, and virtually every male was a soldier. In fact, it was their squable with the Byzantine empire, and I believe humiliating defeats handed to them by Belisarius, which over time caused the Sassanid empire to collapse, and so, from Sassanid to Abassid there was a sort of changing of the guard. Even though Byzantium kept a stable government, their territories were badly reduced, pretty soon the only lands they held were the eastern mediterranean and parts of the levant. The reason that, culturally speaking, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel and Jordan share cultural similarities, has to do with the Byzantine empire, as Byzantium held those lands. Greece, culturally speaking, had a much greater impact on the eastern mediterranean and Levant, than it did on the rest of Europe. Even though historians in the west say that Greece was the craddle of western democracy, culturally speaking Greece is NOTHING like the west. The culture of Greece, is much closer actually to that of Latin America, Italy and Spain, than it is to that of, say, Britain, Germany, and the Scandinavian circle the culture of the United States in fact, is more northern European, than it is Greek.

Whatever the case, even in a weakened state, the Byzantine empire was a formidable military machine by the standards of the time, thanks in large part to the Cataphracti. The Cataphracts were military units that were the precursors to what would become the European knight, in fact, for all intents and purposes the Cataphracts WERE knights, even though their armor was different. Armor that covered a man head to toe was not invented in Europe, it was in fact invented in Persia I believe during the Abassid period to defeat the Cataphract, it was made specifically for that purpose in mind. The Cataphract however, proved to have greater mobility; Cataphract armor concerned itself only with covering the vital areas with plate armor. See, armor in that time period was layered; first, it was the soldier's "uniform," over it, they wore light chain mail, but only over the vital areas, that is the torso, the crotch, and the head, would they were metal plating. Naturally they also used metal bracers on their forearms for archery purposes.

A cataphract was trained in horseback riding, archery, fencing, and roman shield interlocking formations. Unlike the shields of the western Roman empire which were rounded, I believe Cataphract shields were rectangular shaped, that way they could be used both for forming a shield wall, as well as using the edge of a shield as a weapon if necessary. Additionally, they were trained in the use of the spear both for plowing someone while charging them from on top of the horse, throwing it from horse back, or, doing an old time phalanx formation Roman or Spartan style. If the enemy started fleeing, they would simply drop their shields and spears, arm themselves with their bow and arrow and, well, mow them down. The Cataphracts were a fearsome sight during the early mideval period, highly versatile, and trained with brutal Roman style discipline. In fact, even though largely ignored by western history texts, the Cataphracts were probably the best soldiers in human history.

No other type of soldier except the Samurai of Japan, which did not come until much later, were as versatile or as well trained as the Cataphracts. Those guys were every bit as tough as the Spartans whom, being Greek themselves they admired naturally, and sought to emulate, but as much as they respected the Spartans the Cataphracti vowed they would not repeat the Spartan mistake of over specializing. Even though badly outnumbered by the Persians, and sometimes even suffering attacks from Beduin raiders, the Cataphracts more than held their own. Now, this is the reason why the Cataphracts can be considered to be the best soldiers ever;

1) To the north, they dealt with barbarian Slavic tribes, the ancestors of eastern Europeans, and later on Russians, were largely nomadic savages and sometimes settled. A roving tribe eventually settled down and created the Khazar empire, but it was short lived; they ticked off both Byzantines and Persians, and having been attacked by both, they were destroyed no one knows who finished them off. Highly likely it was probably the Persians as they are geographically closer.

2) To the west they had, well, the rest of Europe, which, because of the fall of the Roman empire, the descendants of the Goths, still ticked off over the way the Roman empire treated them when they were fleeing the Huns, were constantly clawing at Byzantium's walls.

3) To the east, they had the stronger-than-ever Persian empire, who outnumbered them, and possessed better technology.

So, general Belisarius was in fact fighting a three front war to DEFEND Byzantium, and he was told by his emperor "I need you to reconquer some of 'Rome's' lands." Byzantium was in no position to be conquering anyone, let alone survive, and every general/professor at West Point military academy here in the U.S. will tell you "you do not fight a two front war." Belisarius and his cataphracts, were fighting a THREE front war. No other empire in human history has repeated that feat. The reason Byzantium eventually fell, was because constant war eventually wore down its economy, and it was relatively easy prey for the likes of General Khalid. Trust me on this, it did not take a prophet to be able to predict the eventual fall of the Byzantine empire. The reason the Cataphracts can be considered the best soldiers ever, is because like the Romans, they trained almost constantly, like the Spartans they had their own code of ethics which would later evolve into the Knight's chivalric code of honor, but unlike the Romans or Spartans, every single one of them was what the situation needed them for. Every single one was an archer, a horseman, a spear horseman, a horse archer, a part of a phalanx formation, they basically did everything.

To put it into perspective; imagine a modern army where every single soldier was a helicopter and jet fighter pilot, a sailor able to operate any part of a modern day vessel, above surface or submarine, they were also a medic, and in addition, they could also do under water demolition like the SEALS. Far as the country fighting such an army, welcome to your worst nightmare. It sounds too incredible to be true, but it is; the Cataphracts were trained in all aspects of warfare, they had to be because attacked literally on all sides, and with limited numbers and limited population, they had to resort to universally trained soldiers. A country that produced children with high I.Q.'s would be very dangerous; the higher the I.Q., the faster a person learns, and the faster they learn, the greater the odds they can train universally trained soldiers. Warfare in the 21st century will not be dominated by the country with the most manpower, technology, or even nuclear weapons, the edge in warfare will go to the country capable of fielding armies where the soldiers know everything there is to know about modern war in other words, modern Cataphracts. Specialized units have weaknesses, units trained in everything have little to know weaknesses at all, if they train hard and long enough.

Even in a weakened state tough, general Khalid never made it all the way to Byzantium, as fighting so close to the city was a suicide mission. Indeed, even in the modern western world, throughout the whole of the western world the name "Constantinople" evokes a feeling that the city was indeed very powerful in its time. But hey, expect no less from the Greeks; the reason Constantinople was as powerful as it was, was the effective application of Greek logic and philosophy to defend their city. See, the Arabs were not fools; even though they did not do as good a job, they too pretty soon began fielding armies of soldiers trained to, well, do everything. Even with "not as good a job" though, that was more than enough to conquer the whole of North Africa, and later on a good 80% of Spain.

To the east, they took Persia, and thus far the only general to have repeated Khalid's feat of destroying two empires was Genghis Khan, however of the two Genghis Khan was better. Yes, its true, Khalid was never beaten but see, he smashed two weakened empires, Genghis Khan smashed China and Persia, when both of these were strong. If someone shot Mike Tyson in the knee with a shotgun, the age that he is now, and I beat the tar out of him I'm sorry but, that's nothing to brag about. That is the logic behind my criticism of general Khalid.

Aside from being in a weakened state, these factors contributed to the growth of the Islamic empire;

1) The use of Beduin raiders. Like I said, the Beduin learn how to fight the moment they can hold a weapon, so all available males have a lifetime of training. Muhamad's achievement was in uniting the tribes, and focusing their energies towards empire building, rather than being at each other's throats. When the Beduin are united, there are few armies on earth that can stop them. Far as weaponry is concerned, they have always kept up to date, and I have even heard some Beduin tribes are armed with rocket launchers and anti aircraft missiles. However that is not what makes them dangerous; among the Arabs, Beduin marksmanship has become the stuff of legend. They have to be good marksmen, because that is how they survive in the desert part of their survival is hunting game that can only be shot from long distances. The Beduin are experts at long range shooting; in Afghanistan, some of Bin Laden's battle hardened Saudi soldiers, some of whom are Beduin, had American forces crapping themselves. There are many horror stories of shots coming from 500 yards away, sometimes 1,000 yards, and people getting their heads blown off. See, part of the reason the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) invests so much on snipers, is because IDF soldiers are well aware of the marksmanship skill of the Beduin, so as a counter attack measure many of their special operatives live entirely in the desert as part of their training.

2) Islam is basically a war religion; praying in a mosque, is like marching. Drill Sargeants around the world use marching to instill discipline, Islam uses prayer. Dictatorships use propaganda to brainwash the population, Islam uses the Koran. Additionally, that it allows polygamy, four wives and as many concubines as a man can afford, and what can be afforded is won through warfare, and, well, no worries about morale, or numbers. You have an army that is constantly drilling, constantly being brainwashed, and constantly multiplying. And, their prophet also said "seek learning, unto China." To the Arabs China was the end of the earth, so what Muhamad's famous quote meant, was to seek knowledge from every single corner of the earth so, you have an endlessly multiplying army, that has no motivation or discipline issues, that is constantly being brainwashed, and constantly absorbing knowledge. Scary isn't it? See, therein lies the reason why it the empire expanded so quickly, in the mideval world, it was the perfect army. The real reason, now this is my own personal analysis, Khalid joined Muhamad, even though Khalid had Muhamad on the run, was not out of inspiration to join Islam, but out of fear. Do not forget that Khalid was a general, and part of being a general, is having a tactical mind. Because Khalid saw through Muhamad's plan, what he felt was not respect, but fear. Better to be the right arm of the devil, than in his path. And surely enough, the Quraish that did not join Muhamad's little movement (not so little now), ended up dead. Khalid knew that even having him on the run, Muhamad would eventually recover, his army would only get bigger, and I think he realized he was fighting a hopeless fight, so he joined him. However though, Israel does not have that option; Islam's main weakness, is that its way of thinking lacks adaptability and flexibility and more crucially still, creativity. Islam destroys the creative mind; following an Islamic path in life, a man or woman may become a scientist or mathematician, but as far as developing the creativity and thinking necessary to advance either of those fields, Islam does not do that because it restricts a person's mind at every turn. In other words on paper, Islam seems like the perfect warfare religion, problem is, its only the perfect religion for war in Muhamad's time, in modern times its lack of flexibility means that any army of Islam thrown at whatever country, will end up cannon fodder, little more than bullet sponge. The Beduin are only able to win, because of constant squables among themselves in other words plenty of experience fighting, which forces a man to adapt; among the Arabs the Bedu are notoriously lax compared to their city counterparts with regards to Islam, because their minds are not so restricted, they will do whatever works to win a fight.

How do you fight a constantly brainwashed, endlessly multiplying enemy? What makes Islam dangerous, is the fact that its a religion; see Nazism is a political thought process. Brain washing through politics only goes so deep, brain washing through religion though, goes deeper still. Furthermore, as a demonstration of the power of brainwashing, endlessly repeating messages, is Latin America, the countries with large populations of native Americans. The general thinking in Latin America in those countries is, if you are part native American, you are not worth as much as a European in fact, racist sociopaths in the country constantly remind people of native American ancestry who have food to eat, and clothes to wear, to be "grateful." White people though, NEVER have to be grateful, for anything, only people of large portion native American ancestry have to be grateful. What does that tell you? Take time to think about that; despite generations of poverty and misery that mentality has created, it persists. Therein, lies the power of brainwashing; even if a person's life is miserable as a result of their thought patterns, precisely because such thought patterns are so deeply ingrained, the behavior will never stop, not until conscious effort is taken to well, program the mind with something else. Lucky for Latin America, their problem is easily fixed but what happens when the brain washing in question is a RELIGION? See, no matter how much misery, no matter how much suffering it causes, a message repated too many times, over too many years, will make it so that a person will stubornly hold on to that belief system simply because it is how their brain was programmed. No matter how much poverty, misery, and suffering and corruption there is to be found in Islamic countries, because religion goes deepest into a man or woman's mind, the thinking will never stop. Worse yet, you can not live life without some sort of ethical guidance; as much suffering as religion causes, moral confusion, moral ambiguity, causes even greater suffering indeed, the reason Buddhism spread in China, is because Daoism is a labyrinth of various belief systems that if you tried to study all of them, you'd go insane. With Daoist thought its best to keep it strictly Meng Tzu, and Lao Tzu, and Kong Fu Tze with a grain of salt, the ultra basic stuff, and not go beyond that. Because Buddhism is clear regarding what must be done, and there is no moral confusion and clearly defines good and evil while teaching its adherents not to be judgemental, many east Asians use that as a moral compass.

When morality is mixed in with tyranical ways of thinking, said tyranical ways of thinking are not readily discarded. Here is an example;

"honor thy father and they mother."

Is a mother to be honored, if she is a teenager who left her new born baby in a dumpster?

See, orthodox Judaism doesn't address that; even though people don't ask to be born, Judaism holds the mentality "we are your parents, and we can treat you however we want."

Should people be born, just to satisfy our own lusts? Should said people born out of such lusts be tyranized their entire lives?

See, despite the suffering of millions of people as a result of that commandment, it persists, hence, why brain washing through religion is so dangerous. The rapid growth of Islam, is rooted in how deeply it goes into the minds of its victims. Islam is kind of like the "Las Plagas" of Resident Evil 4; once it infects the host, its impossible to kill the plaga without killing the host if it has matured too much.

Lucky for me, I have my Hand Cannon (Greek logic), and my anti plaga laser (Daoist thought).

later.