Islam in Asia
Encyclopedia
Introduction
IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
began in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
in the 7th century during the life of its prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
(SallaAllaho Allayhi Wasalaam)number of adherents of Islam has lived in Asia and specially South and Middle-east Asia since the beginning of Islamic history. Islam said to have arrived in Manipur (Northeast India) in 615 AD via Chittagong coast in the age of silk route (both onland and by sea) trades when Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqas (b.594-d.674 AD) and other Sahabas namely Uwais al-Qarni (594-657), Khunais ibn Hudhaifa, Saeed ibn Zaid, Wahb Abu Kabcha, Jahsh, Jafar ibn Abu Talib preached there after sailing from Abyssinia in 615 and then the three Sahabas preached in China among the Hui Chi (now Hui Hui) in 616-17 AD where many embraced Islam. Islam also arrived in Kerala (Malabar), southern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
mainly in sea shore areas where according to local legends Arabs led by some Sahabas notably Malik bin Deenar preached there; a first mosque was built by him in 629 in Malabar. He was sent by a king of Chera kingdom
Chera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
who earlier went to Arabia and met Muhammad, and embraced Islam in the presence of Abu Bakr.
Islam was founded in Sind (Pakistan) in 711 AD. On the political development,Delhi Sultanate was established in 1208 AD.
Barmaks were probably the earliest of converts to Islam from South Asia. The family has its origin in a line of hereditary Hindu priests from North India and Kashmir. (The name comes from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
प्रमुख Pramukh, arabized to Barmak). Traditionally, Islamic historians considered the Barmakids to be Hindu or sometimes mistakingly Zoroastrian priests before converting to Islam.
The Barmakid family was an early supporter of the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
revolt against the Umayyads and of As-Saffah
As-Saffah
Abu al-`Abbās `Abdu'llāh ibn Muhammad as-Saffāh, or Abul `Abbas al-Saffah , was the first Abbasid caliph .As-Saffah was the head of one branch of the Banu Hashim, who traced their lineage to Hashim, a great-grandfather of...
. This gave Khalid bin Barmak considerable influence, and his son Yaḥyá ibn Khālid
Yahya ibn Khalid
Yahya ibn Khalid , yaḥyā bin ḫālid) was a member of the powerful Persian Barmakids family, son of Khalid ibn Barmak. Around 765, he was appointed to Azerbaijan by the Caliph Al-Mansur. Yahya's son Fadl ibn Yahya was born at Ar-Reiy, at the same time as Caliph al-Mahdi's son Harun...
(d. 806) was the vizier of the caliph al-Mahdi
Al-Mahdi
Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi , was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 158 AH to 169 AH . He succeeded his father, al-Mansur....
(ruled 775–785) and tutor of Hārūn al-Rashīd
Harun al-Rashid
Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph in Iraq. He was born in Rey, Iran, close to modern Tehran. His birth date remains a point of discussion, though, as various sources give the dates from 763 to 766)....
(ruled 786-809). Yaḥyá's sons al-Faḍl and Ja'far (767-803) both occupied high offices under Harun.
Many Barmakids were patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
s of the sciences, which greatly helped the propagation of Indian science and scholarship from the neighbouring Academy of Gundishapur
Academy of Gundishapur
The Academy of Gondishapur , also Jondishapur , was a renowned academy of learning in the city of Gundeshapur during late antiquity, the intellectual center of the Sassanid empire. It offered training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculty were versed in the Zoroastrian and...
into the Arabic world. They patronized scholars such as Gebir and Jabril ibn Bukhtishu
Jabril ibn Bukhtishu
Jabril ibn Bukhtishu, also written as Bakhtyshu, was an 8-9th century physician from the Bukhtishu family of Persian Nestorian physicians from the Academy of Gundishapur...
. They are also credited with the establishment of the first paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
in Baghdad. The power of the Barmakids in those times is reflected in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age...
; the vizier Ja'far appears in several stories, as well as a tale that gave rise to the expression "Barmecide feast".
Many of the early governors of the Caliphate were Barmakids. Khalid ibn Barmak built Mansura,Sindh and later Baghdad. His son was the governor of Azerbaijan.
.
A famous Hadith related to Asia
Hadith means the sayings of Muhammad. He dictated amongst others:- "I feel cool breeze from the side of al-Hind".
- "Seek knowledge even as far as China.(this is a fabricated Hadith)"
Current status
Islam is currently the largest religion in Asia. The total number of Muslims in Asia in 2010 was about 1 billion (25% of the total population). Asia is home to the largest Muslim population, with the Middle East (West/Southwest Asia), Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia being particularly important regions. 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
having the four largest Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
populations in the world. The spread of Islam outside of the Arabian peninsula and into other parts of the continent can be linked to the extensive trade routes connecting the Middle East to China. Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
traders exported their religion along with their goods.