Religious And Political Decentralization Of The Islamic World In The Middle Ages Essay Example

is no concept of clergy whatsoever, and every individual is termed as equal yet however rulers turned their heads toward defense, foreign affairs, treasury and other matters of the state and left religious matters to religious people. Thus was the beginning of the Islamic clergy. This created a gap between the head of the state and the clergy, the head of the state only dealt with stately affairs while the clergy was free to do what it wanted with religious rituals and duties.

Apparently this hole caused the single centralized authority to be divided into religious and political wings where the clergy used its new found powers to misguide Muslims in the name of religion into doing whatever they deemed necessary. Thus in regard to this factor the decentralization of Islam can be due to political mismanagement after the first Caliphs in the early 8th century. Soon after the establishment of the clergy as a separate faction, independent reasoning and liberty was shunned. This was a single factor that killed off independent thought and all sciences that manifested from it.

Taqleed (acceptance of any religious fact from a higher learned individual rather than asking for proof of that fact) became a common point seen in most Muslims. Thus basically all forms of reasoning, liberty of thought and questioning were seen as blasphemy in the eyes of the Islamic clergy. Tolerance for different ideas faded and philosophical thought was abandoned. Furthermore the attack of Mongols devastated universities, libraries and hospitals never to be made again. Thus the Muslim world was plunged into illiteracy never to be prompted again to rise above all others due to fragmentation, mismanagement and

abolishment of free thought.