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The genocide lasted decades. Historians said that the
world had never seen murder and destruction on such a massive scale.
Millions died and those left alive often longed for death. People openly
wondered whether the light of Islam would be forever extinguished. But the
course of history changed through some of God's most unassuming servants.
Tartar Hordes
In the 13th century, a tidal wave of devastation swept
over the Muslim world. City after city, region after region disintegrated
amidst a storm of iron and fire. The death toll was incredible:
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Nishapur 1,747,000 dead
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Baghdad 1,600,000 dead
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Herat 1,600,000 dead
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Samarkand 950,000 dead
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Merv 700,000 dead
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Aleppo 50,000 dead
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Balkh completely destroyed
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Khiva completely destroyed
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Harran completely destroyed
Baghdad was often described as the jewel of the world. For
six long weeks this jewel cracked and shattered under the ferocious might
of the Tartar hordes. The rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates ran red with
blood. Women who had observed modest and chaste lives were savagely
assaulted and raped. Five centuries' worth of knowledge, accumulated from
every literate civilization and contained in the world's largest
libraries, was reduced to ashes. Many of humanity's greatest centers of
education, commerce, and culture became nothing more than killing fields.
The architect of this colossal avalanche of death was
Genghis Khan. His barbaric legions were triggered into a 40-year bloodlust
through the folly of the Muslim ruler Muhammad Khwarizm Shah. Once a
powerful and mighty monarch, Khwarizm Shah ordered the execution of Mongol
caravans that came to trade within his kingdom. When Genghis Khan sent a
delegation of envoys to lodge a formal protest, Khwarizm Shah executed
most of them. These two inhuman acts were avenged at the cost of millions
of innocent lives.
Pathetic Spiritual State
The Tartar Holocaust began in 1218 CE, six centuries after
the death of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). It
moved westward from Mongolia across Central Asia and the Persian Gulf,
southward toward Delhi and northwest to Budapest and Moscow. People as far
away as Sweden shuddered at the thought of a Mongol invasion. Muslims were
so overawed by the Mongols' power that one Mongol could kill over a
hundred Muslims and none would dare defend himself. In Arabic, a proverb
sprang up which meant that if someone tells you that the Mongols have
suffered a defeat, don't believe him.
On the eve of the Mongol invasion, the spiritual state of
the Muslim world was pathetic. Corruption, disunity, and materialism were
rampant. Khwarizm Shah was not the only example of insufferable
leadership. The Abbasid caliph Al-Musta`sim was reportedly pleased to hear
of the collapse of Khwarizm Shah's empire because of his personal dislike
for the monarch. Before the Mongols reached Baghdad, the caliph's advisors
had convinced him to seriously scale back the army. The city was in no way
prepared to withstand what lay in store for it.
And yet Islam did not die. Genghis Khan, who proclaimed
himself as the Scourge of God, who delighted in the rape of conquered
women, could not exterminate the Muslim Ummah. Within a generation the
tide had begun to turn in Islam's favor. Baghdad was destroyed by
Genghis's grandson Halaku, but his great-grandson Berek became a Muslim.
In fact, Berek withdrew his forces from Halaku's army after the fall of
Baghdad, which act contributed to the first defeat the Mongols suffered
against the Muslims during the battle of `Ayn Jalut in 1260. The aura of
the Mongols' terrifying invincibility was broken. Three years later Berek
himself would defeat Halaku's forces in the Caucasus region. Those who
tried to destroy Islam became its protectors.
Ordinary People
The role that ordinary Muslims played in this miraculous
recovery cannot be ignored. The entire Ummah owes a debt of gratitude to
those men and women who never forgot the centrality of their faith or the
importance of sharing it with others. Berek or Baraka Khan was introduced
to Islam by two unknown merchants. Their efforts eventually led Islam to
reach Russia and Eastern Europe.
If the Tartars are regarded as part of Islam's universal
brotherhood today, one can thank the efforts of unsung heroes like Jamal
Ad-Deen. The vast Mongol empire was divided among the various descendants
of Genghis. In certain parts of the empire, the Mongols regarded Muslims
as no better than animals while Christianity or Buddhism was expected to
become the official state religion. But the sincerity of ordinary
believers like Jamal was to outshine all else.
Jamal was a Persian who was traveling through the Middle
Kingdom, or Chaghatay Khanate, which was known for its animosity toward
Muslims. With his small band of travelers, he mistakenly traveled through
the game preserves of the Mongol prince Tuqluq. Jamal was arrested and
brought before Tuqluq. In his anger the prince told Jamal that a dog was
worth more than a Persian. Jamal replied, "Yes. If we did not have
the true faith, we would indeed be worse than dogs." Tuqluq was
struck by the reply. He inquired what Jamal meant by "the true
faith." When Jamal explained the message of Islam, Tuqluq was
convinced. He asked Jamal for some time to unite the fractured Middle
Kingdom and then he would proclaim his faith.
Jamal returned home and later fell ill. As he was dying,
he instructed his son Rasheed to remind the prince of his promise when he
became king. When Tuqluq ascended the throne, Rasheed set out to meet him.
An ordinary person had little access to royalty and after many efforts,
Rasheed risked his life to enact a plan. He called out the Adhan at Fajr
nearby the royal compound. He was brought before the king and there
Rasheed invited him to fulfill his promise. On that very morning Tuqluq
Timur Khan, king of the unified Middle Kingdom, became a Muslim.
Death and destruction are ravaging Baghdad once more. The
innocent victims of this injustice must not be forgotten. We owe it to
them to follow in the footsteps of the Final Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him), in the footsteps of ordinary believers like Jamal and
Rasheed Ad-Deen and share Islam with each and every human being. The
beauty of our characters and our sincere conduct need to be the beacons
that attract those around us to this divinely prescribed system of life.
True, it is Allah alone Who guides; it is also true that Allah does not
change the condition of a people until they change what is within
themselves. For us to do anything less would be to disgrace those who are
dying before our very eyes.
Sources
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Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Saviours
of the Islamic Spirit
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Amir Ali, A Short History of
the Saracens
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Masudul Hasan, History of
Islam
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