Christians in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries often referred to Christendom’s chief rival as “the infidel Turk.” Why not “the infidel Arab”?
When a person like St. Ignatius Loyola (d. 1556), founder of the Society of Jesus, thought of what he could do for the Church of his day, toward the top of his list was the desire to convert “the Turk.” He and many other devout Catholics would have liked nothing more than to make pilgrimage to the Holy Land, then in the hands of the Ottoman Empire. From the late-eleventh through the sixteenth centuries, that empire had gradually supplanted virtually all of what had been the Byzantine empire, a name given to a region that had continued to refer to itself as the Roman Empire until its demise in 1453. The story of how the people called Turks came to dominate nearly the whole of the Mediterranean world—and all of western Islamdom—is intriguing and a fine example of the dynamic quality of the history of Islam. But for sixteenth-century Europeans, Arabs were “ancient history” and no longer posed a serious threat of Mediterranean domination.
THE BROADER ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE
Who are Sunni Muslims?
About eighty to eighty-five percent of the world’s Muslims consider themselves Sunni. Their historic patrimony derives directly from the Prophet himself as institutionalized in the caliphate. Sunni tradition has been embodied in most of the regimes that have held political power from Morocco to Indonesia, since the early Middle Ages until early modern times. The ideal of the caliph, legitimate successor to Muhammad, as the spiritual as well as temporal ruler of all Muslims, has survived largely as a distant dream since the Mongols destroyed Baghdad in 1258. And since the last Ottoman sultan fell from power in the 1920s, virtually no Muslim ruler has been even nominally regarded as a universal ruler. Some Muslims still entertain the possibility of a resurgence of the caliphate, but that is definitely a minority view.
Who are Shi’i Muslims?
Various Shi’i communities have been identifiable since at least the eighth century. Among the principal features that distinguish Shi’i from Sunni tradition is the belief that a legitimate successor to leadership, called imam (ee-MAAM), must be designated by his predecessor and belong to the family of the Prophet. According to ancient Shi’i belief, Muhammad did designate his cousin Ali, but Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman managed to usurp power and prevent Ali from assuming his rightful place. Around the middle of the eighth century a split developed over who would be the seventh imam. One group continued to pledge its loyalty to a man named Ismail, who had just died, even though Ismail’s father, the seventh imam Jafar, appointed a replacement when Ismail died. The faction that stayed with Ismail came to be called the Ismailis, or Seveners, since their line of imams ended then. There are now at least two major branches of Seveners, one of which looks to the Aga Khan as its spiritual leader. The larger group of Shi’ites in the eighth century believed the legitimate line of imams extended to a twelfth and ended when that imam went into concealment until his expected return at the end of time. Twelver Shi’ites are by far the majority community, constituting nearly all of Iran’s and more than half of Iraq’s people.
Who are the Bohras? Any connection with the Khojas? And where do the Nizari Ismailis fit in this picture?
Bohras belong to a community based largely in the Indian state of Gujarat with roots in medieval Ismaili Shia history. As early as the eleventh century, Ismaili converts had migrated from Egypt to India. During a schism within that community, many Ismailis then in India switched their allegiance to a Yemeni teaching authority. But that was only the beginning of a continuing history of division, for groups of Bohra Ismailis peeled off to form new sub-communities over the next several centuries. Now there are many groups, the largest being the Da’udis, Sulaymanis, Aliyahs, and Jafaris, mostly centered in India. Another important branch of the Ismaili community is known as Khojas (from a Persian word for teacher or exemplary figure, khwajah). They trace their origins to a fourteenth-century missionary among a community of Indian converts from Hinduism, Pir Sadr ad-Din. His legacy represents a fascinating chapter in the history of Muslim-Hindu relations in India. Khoja Ismailism’s relationship to other Islamic communities and its complex internal development are especially significant. Some Khojas have historically identified themselves as Sunni Muslims, others as Twelver Shia, and still others as Nizari followers of the Aga Khan. In modern times, however, the majority of Khojas have come to identify themselves as Nizaris, altogether distinct from Twelver Shi’ism. Leaders of the global community have been known by the title Aga Khan since the late nineteenth century. Today Nizaris live in small community networks internationally, as do less numerous pockets of Ismailis.
Who are the Alawis?
In its original meaning, the term Alawi (or Alawite) referred to any Muslims with a special relationship to Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law Ali—in particular, members of any of a dozen or more communities otherwise known generically as the Shia. In current usage with respect to the Middle East, however, the term refers to a population descended specifically from a follower of the eleventh Shi’i imam (a spiritual guide of the “twelver” Shia who died in 873). That follower was Muhammad ibn Nusayr, who initially portrayed himself as a spokesperson of that imam, Hasan al-Askari. But when he went so far as to teach that Hasan was in fact divine, the imam renounced him. Ibn Nusayr nonetheless developed a following who lived mostly in the mountainous region crossing the borders of Turkey and Syria. In 1922, their status morphed into the Alawi community now associated with the ruling family of Syria, when the occupying French proclaimed a political entity called the Alawi Regime. Thus elevated to the status of a sort of proxy power over Syria under the French mandate, the Alawi community eventually became further politically empowered by joining in considerable numbers the Arab socialist Baath party that took control of the region in the 1940s.
Do the Alawis profess any distinctive beliefs?
In spite of their historical links to Shi’ism, with many still claiming to believe in Shi’i principles, the Alawis are theologically and religiously quite idiosyncratic—so much so that Sunni thinkers long ago labeled them “exaggerators.” Like all Shia communities they observe the martyrdom of Husayn. Like “Twelver” Shia, they believe in an unbroken line of twelve imams, and like all Muslims they profess faith in one God. Some, however, still maintain that God has become incarnate seven times, the last being in the form of Ali himself. Needless to say, at this juncture Alawis and mainstream Muslims part company. Among other beliefs and practices, Alawis make unique theological associations between Husayn and Christ and celebrate various Christian feasts, with special attention to John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene; and some even celebrate Mass, but feature Ali as the divine illumination shone forth in the wine offered by Christ at the Last Supper. Some Alawis are still known by the name Nusayri.
Are the Druze people related to Islam in any way?
During the early eleventh century a ruler, al-Hakim (d. 1021), of the Fatimid dynasty—a type of Sevener Shi’ites—did not argue when his followers began to claim that he was divine. Among al-Hakim’s supporters was a Turk named Darazi. Even after Darazi died and his former arch-rival claimed that he himself was the true spokesman of al-Hakim, the name of Darazi would live on in the word “Druze.” Fatimid Ismaili doctrine had long shown very esoteric tendencies in interpreting the role of its seven imams, and a similar esoterism remains a hallmark of Druze teaching. A collection of letters attributed to al-Hakim form the core sacred literature of the very closed and secretive communities, which now, for the most part, inhabit Lebanon, Syria, and the northern occupied West Bank of Palestine. Their esoteric teachings about al-Hakim, along with notions of reincarnation and other decidedly non-Islamic themes, leave them very much outside the fold of Islam.
A group of Druze men from Majdal Shams, Israel, are seen in this photo from 2009. The number of Druze people worldwide exceeds one million, with the vast majority residing in the Middle East.
While those of the Baha’i faith are said to have historical connections with Islam, is it true members don’t