Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives by Chase Robinson

After one year of reading (not listening in audible but reading the fine print hardcover), I feel sad that the book is finished for me yesterday - Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives: The First 1,000 Years. This is written by distinguished historian of Islam Professor Chase F. Robinson and published in 2016. I haven't found many books in English that describe major Islamic figures in the last one and half millennia. Something that came close was written by Badr Azimbadi named Great Personalities in Islam, which I finished 3 years ago. But the quality of Chase Robinson's work is nowhere near comparable with any other books of similar category I can think of. My friend Nody first told me about this book when she shared with me a youtube video Professor Robinson's conversation with Sarah Chayes. After watching it, I immediately ordered the book and started reading when it arrived. It's been a pleasure to see the diversity Islam brought to the world over a long period of time through some of the well-known and unknown figures in this book. The book has been organized by describing the lives of 30 persons picking a few from each century, ordered by their year of death. The 30th character in this book dies in 1524. I wish a follow up of this book is written for the last 5 centuries as well, perhaps picking another 10 lives?

Here are the biographies touched in this book.

Part 1: Islam & Empire (600-850)

• (1) Muhammad- the Prophet (632)
• (2) Ali - cousin, caliph and forefather of Shi'ism (661)
• (3) A'isha - wife of the Prophet - (678)
• (4) Abd al-Malik - engineering of the caliphate (705)
• (5) Ibn al-Muqaffa - translator and essayist (759)
• (6) Rabia al-Adawiyya - renunciant and saint (801)
• (7) al-Mamun - caliph-patron (833)

Part 2: The Islamic Commonwealth (850-1050)

• (8) Arib - courtesan of caliphs (890)
• (9) al-Hallaj - the Truth (922)
• (10) al-Tabari - traditionalist rationalist (923)
• (11) Abu Bakr al-Razi - free thinking physician (925 or 935)
• (12) Ibn Fadlan - intrepid envoy (fl. tenth century)
• (13) Ibn Muqla - vizier, scribe, calligrapher? (940)
• (14) Mahmud of Ghazana - conqueror and patron (1030)
• (15) al-Biruni - catalog of nature and culture (c. 1050)

Part 3: A Provisional Synthesis (1050-1250)

• (16) Ibn Hazm - polemicist, polymath (1064)
• (17) Karima al-Marwaziyya - hadith scholar (1070)
• (18) al-Ghazali - Renewer of Islam (1111)
• (19) Abu al-Qasim Ramisht - merchant millionaire (c. 1150)
• (20) al-Idrisi - cosmopolitan cartographer (1165)
• (21) Saladin - anti-Crusader hero (1193)
• (22) Ibn Rushd (Averroes) - Aristotelian monotheist (1198)

Part 4: Disruption & Integration (1250 - 1525)

• (23) Rumi - Sufi poet (1273)
• (24) Rashid al-Din - physician, courtier and global historian (1318)
• (25) al-Hilli - paragon of Shi'ism ascendant (1325)
• (26) Ibn Taymiyya - stubborn reactionary (1328)
• (27) Timur - sheep-rustler, world-conqueror (1405)
• (28) Ibn Khaldun - social theorist and historian (1406)
• (29) Mehmed II - conqueror and renaissance man (1481)
• (30) Shah Ismail - esoteric charismatic (1524)

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In his last lecture in Memphis moving to Houston, Dr. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi reminds us about what a great leader was our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Very inspiring!

Five times Prayer in Qur'an

At the time of the Messenger of Allah (saws), there were five prayers prayed in the Mosque at five different times. The Quranic aayats regarding the timing of prayers are as follows:

Chapter 11, Surah Hud ayaat 114: Establish the Salat at the two ends of the day and in the early part of the night. (implies fajr, magrib and isha)

Chapter 2, Surah Baqarah ayaat 238:  Take great care of your Prayers, especially of the middle Prayer and stand before Allah like devoted servants. (implies asr) 

Chapter 17 Bani Israel ayaat 78:  Establish the Salat from the declining of the sun to the darkness of the night and be particular about the recital of the Quran at dawn for the recital of the Quran at dawn is witnessed. (implies asr, magrib and fajr)

Chapter 30 Surah Rum ayat 17-18:  So, glorify Allah in the evening and in the morning; praise is due to Him alone in the heavens and the earth: and (glorify Him) in the afternoon and at the declining of the day. (implies fajr, magrib, dhuhr and asr)

Chapter 50 Surah Qaf ayat 39-40:  Therefore, O Prophet (saws), bear with patience whatever they say, and keep up glorifying your Lord with his praise, before sunrise and before sunset. And glorify Him again in the night and also when are free from prostrations. (implies fajr, dhuhr, asr, isha and tahajjud)

The prayer timings in the Quran are implied and thus if the above ayaats are read together, they clearly point towards the 5 obligatory fard prayers. A point to note when reading and understanding the Quran is that we must see how the Prophet (saws) understood and implemented the aayaats. The Prophet (saws) and all his companions prayed 5 times. Prayer was such a thing that it happened 5 times a day in front of thousands of people and thousands of people witnessed the timings and related them in their narrations. In times of extreme rain and travel, the Prophet (saws) did join sometimes the dhuhr/asr and also the magrib/isha prayers according to one tradition, but on a regular basis, he always led the congregation on the allotted 5 different times.Five times Prayer in Qur'an

100 Instructions From Quran

1. Do not be rude in speech (3:159)
2. Restrain Anger (3:134)
3. Be good to others (4:36)
4. Do not be arrogant (7:13)
5. Forgive others for their mistakes (7:199)
6. Speak to people mildly (20:44)
7. Lower your voice (31:19)
8. Do not ridicule others (49:11)
9. Be dutiful to parents(17:23)
10. Do not say a word of disrespect to parents (17:23)
11. Do not enter parents’ private room without asking permission (24:58)
12. Write down the debt (2:282)
13. Do not follow anyone blindly (2:170)
14. Grant more time to repay if the debtor is in hard time (2:280)
15. Don’t consume interest (2:275)
16. Do not engage in bribery (2:188)
17. Do not break the promise (2:177)
18. Keep the trust (2:283)
19. Do not mix the truth with falsehood (2:42)
20. Judge with justice between people (4:58)
21. Stand out firmly for justice (4:135)
22. Wealth of the dead should be distributed among his family members (4:7)
23. Women also have the right for inheritance (4:7)
24. Do not devour the property of orphans (4:10)
25. Protect orphans (2:220)
26. Do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly (4:29)
27. Try for settlement between people (49:9)
28. Avoid suspicion (49:12)
29. Do not spy and backbite (2:283)
30. Do not spy or backbite (49:12)
31. Spend wealth in charity (57:7)
32. Encourage feeding poor (107:3)
33. Help those in need by finding them (2:273)
34. Do not spend money extravagantly (17:29)
35. Do not invalidate charity with reminders (2:264)
36. Honor guests (51:26)
37. Order righteousness to people only after practicing it yourself(2:44)
38. Do not commit abuse on the earth (2:60)
39. Do not prevent people from mosques (2:114)
40. Fight only with those who fight you (2:190)
41. Keep the etiquettes of war (2:191)
42. Do not turn back in battle (8:15)
43. No compulsion in religion (2:256)
44. Believe in all prophets (2:285)
45. Do not have sexual intercourse during menstrual period (2:222)
46. Breast feed your children for two complete years (2:233)
47. Do not even approach unlawful sexual intercourse (17:32)
48. Choose rulers by their merit (2:247)
49. Do not burden a person beyond his scope (2:286)
50. Do not become divided (3:103)
51. Think deeply about the wonders and creation of this universe (3:191)
52. Men and Women have equal rewards for their deeds (3:195)
53. Do not marry those in your blood relation (4:23)
54. Family should be led by men (4:34)
55. Do not be miserly (4:37)
56.Do not keep envy (4:54)
57. Do not kill each other (4:92)
58. Do not be an advocate for deceit (4:105)
59. Do not cooperate in sin and aggression (5:2)
60. Cooperate in righteousness (5:2)
61. ’Having majority’ is not a criterion of truth (6:116)
62. Be just (5:8)
63. Punish for crimes in an exemplary way (5:38)
64. Strive against sinful and unlawful acts (5:63)
65. Dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine are prohibited (5:3)
66. Avoid intoxicants and alcohol (5:90)
67. Do not gamble (5:90)
68. Do not insult others’ deities (6:108)
69. Don’t reduce weight or measure to cheat people (6:152)
70. Eat and Drink, But Be Not Excessive (7:31)
71. Wear good cloths during prayer times (7:31)
72. protect and help those who seek protection (9:6)
73. Keep Purity (9:108)
74. Never give up hope of Allah’s Mercy (12:87)
75. Allah will forgive those who have done wrong out of ignorance (16:119)
76. Invitation to God should be with wisdom and good instruction (16:125)
77. No one will bear others’ sins (17:15)
78. Do not kill your children for fear of poverty (17:31)
79. Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge (17:36)
80. Keep aloof from what is vain (23:3)
81. Do not enter others’ houses without seeking permission (24:27)
82. Allah will provide security for those who believe only in Allah (24:55)
83. Walk on earth in humility (25:63)
84. Do not neglect your portion of this world (28:77)
85. Invoke not any other god along with Allah (28:88)
86. Do not engage in homosexuality (29:29)
87. Enjoin right, forbid wrong (31:17)
88. Do not walk in insolence through the earth (31:18)
89. Women should not display their finery (33:33)
90. Allah forgives all sins (39:53)
91. Do not despair of the mercy of Allah (39:53)
92. Repel evil by good (41:34)
93. Decide on affairs by consultation (42:38)
94. Most noble of you is the most righteous (49:13)
95. No Monasticism in religion (57:27)
96. Those who have knowledge will be given a higher degree by Allah (58:11)
97. Treat non-Muslims in a kind and fair manner (60:8)
98. Save yourself from covetousness (64:16)
99. Seek forgiveness of Allah. He is Forgiving and Merciful (73:20)
100. Do not repel the petitioner/beggar (93:10)