after going through the link you gave to the wiki article i am even more convinced that islam is nothing but a political system that sprang up as an attempt to clone the Roman church's great success at intertwining government and "religious" looking activities.
they use a systematic conquer and commit strategy.
they dictate specific behaviors.
they create a homogeneous court system.
they have a militant philosophy of expansion.
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Islamic law covers all aspects of life, from broad topics of governance and
foreign relations all the way down to issues of daily living.
The Qur'an and Sunnah also detail laws of
inheritance,
marriage,
restitution for injuries and murder, as well as rules for
fasting,
charity, and
prayer. However, the
prescriptions and
prohibitions may be broad, so their application in practice varies.
Islamic scholars, the
ulema, have elaborated systems of law on the basis of these broad rules, supplemented by the hadith reports of how Muhammad and his companions interpreted them.
[86]
The formative period of Islamic jurisprudence stretches back to the times of the early Muslim communities. In this period, the theoretical concerns of the jurists associated with more pragmatic issues of authority and teaching: there had yet to be any crystallization and universality in the application of legal principles.
[89] This eventually did occur, with the coming of early Muslim jurist
ash-Shafi'i, who codified the basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence in his book "
ar-Risālah", detailing the four aforementioned roots of law, while specifying that the primary Islamic texts (i.e. the Qur'an, and verified statements of Muhammad) be understood according to objective rules of interpretation as derived from scientific study of the Arabic language.
[90]
Islamic etiquettes practiced by Muslims include saying
bismillah ("in
the name of God") before eating and drinking and then using the right hand for the purpose, greeting with "
as-salamu `alaykum" (peace be unto you), saying
Alhamdulillah ("praise be to God") when
sneezing and responding with
yarhamukallah (may God have mercy on you), and similarly saying the
Adhan (prayer call) in the right ear of a
newborn and the
Iqama in their left.
Muslims, like Jews, are restricted in their diet.
Jihad is literally
struggle in the way of God and is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it occupies no official status as such.
[101] Within the realms of
Islamic jurisprudence, jihad usually refers to military exertion against non-Muslim combatants.
Although
some Islamic scholars have differered on the implementation of Jihad, there is consensus amongst them that the concept of jihad will always include armed struggle against persecution and oppression.
Despite the military successes of the Muslims at this time, the political atmosphere was not without controversy. With Umar assassinated in
644,
the election of Uthman as successor was met with gradually increasing opposition.
[113] He was subsequently accused of
nepotism,
favoritism and of introducing reprehensible
religious innovations, though in reality the motivations for such charges were economic.
[113] Like Umar, Uthman too was then assassinated, in
656. Ali then assumed the position of caliph, although tensions soon escalated into what became the
first civil war (the "First Fitna") when numerous companions of Muhammad, including Uthman's relative
Muawiyah (who was assigned by Uthman as governor of Syria) and Muhammad's wife
Aisha, sought to avenge the slaying of Uthman. Ali's forces defeated the latter at the
Battle of the Camel, but the
encounter with Muawiyah proved indecisive, with both sides agreeing to arbitration. Ali retained his position as caliph but had been unable to bring Mu'awiyah's territory under his command
In the early 16th century, the Shi'ite
Safavid dynasty assumed control in Persia under the leadership of
Shah Ismail I, upon the defeat of the ruling
Turcoman federation
Aq Qoyunlu (also called the "White Sheep Turkomans") in
1501. The Ottoman sultan
Selim I quickly sought to repel Safavid expansion, challenging and defeating them at the
Battle of Chaldiran in
1514. Selim I also deposed the ruling Mamluks in Egypt, absorbing their territories into the Ottoman Empire in
1517.
.
