Islamic History Podcast

2-19: Ali and Basra

Talhah and Zubair pledged allegiance to Ali ibn Abi Talib on the condition that he find and punish those responsible for murdering Uthman. But after several months, not much progress had been made. In fact, many of those who were known opponents of Uthman, were now working with Ali. Because of this, many of the influential companions did support him. One of those who did not support Ali was the Prophet's widow, Aisha. She had cobbled together a force with the intention of punishing Uthman's killers. Talhah and Zubair joined her, and before long, Aisha had almost 3000 men under her command. But things quickly spiraled out of hand and Aisha found herself facing off against Ali ibn Abi Talib. This monumental battle would go down in history as one the most damaging and significant in Islamic history. After the show is over, be sure to visit the Show Notes page. You'll find various links, articles, and videos related to this episode. The Show Notes are available at: IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Camel Here's some of what you'll find: Transcript for this episode This week's book recommendation Audio of one of my past khutbahs You can support the Islamic History Podcast by doing one (or more) of the following: Give a monthly pledge on Patreon Subscribe on iTunes Share with your friends and family You can do it all at the Show Notes page: IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Camel

2-18: Ali And Aisha

Ali's Caliphate was already in trouble. The Umayyah clan was suspicious of him. Muawiyyah refused to acknowledge his leadership. There were gangs of bandits were roaming through Medina. And many companions refused to support him. And to make things worse, Aisha, the Prophet's widow, was stirring things up in Mecca. Aisha was outraged that Uthman's killers were still on the loose in Medina. She decided to take matters into her own hands. She rallied the people of Mecca and organized a group to find those responsible for killing Uthman. These two figures, Ali and Aisha, are the most divisive figures in Islam. Sunni and Shiite both love and respect Ali, but the Shiites hold him to a much higher degree than Sunnis. Aisha is a different story altogether. Sunni Muslims adore Aisha, but Shiites hate her. They accuse her of rebelling against Ali and attempting to overthrow him. After the show is over, be sure to visit the Show Notes page. You'll find various links, articles, and videos related to this episode. The Show Notes are available at: IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Ali1 Here's some of what you'll find: Transcript for this episode This week's book recommendation Nasheed of the Week video My recent khutbah You can support the Islamic History Podcast by doing one (or more) of the following: Give a monthly pledge on Patreon Subscribe on iTunes Share with your friends and family You can do it all at the Show Notes page IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Ali1  

2-17: Uthman and Murder

For several years, there had been a low level of discontent in the Muslim empire. While most of the inhabitants were happy, there were a significant number who were not. Caliph Uthman had already spoken to his governors to try to get a handle on what was happening. Though they had many ideas, no one came up with a decision to fix the problem. So Uthman decided to hold another meeting, but this everyone was invited. He hoped to speak with the malcontents directly and see what was happening. The meeting was successful in that Uthman was managed to defend his decisions and found out why so many people were disaffected. He even agreed to several of their demands. Unfortunately, some of them would not be satisfied until Uthman was completely out of the picture. There's more to this show than just this single episode. Visit the show notes page for more links, articles, and videos related to this episode. Show notes for this episode are available at IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman5. Here's some of what you'll find: Transcript for this episode Link to this week's book recommendation Video to this week's favorite Nasheed You can support the Islamic History Podcast by doing one (or more) of the following: Give a monthly pledge on Patreon Subscribe on iTunes Share with your friends and family You can do it all at the Show Notes page IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman5.  

2-16: Uthman and the People

Many people mark the beginning of Uthman's troubles with the loss of the Prophet's rings.
But things really got bad for Uthman when he lost the support of the esteemed companion, Ammar ibn Yasir.
The antagonism against Uthman was growing in three main locations: Egypt, Kufah, and Basrah. The rest of the empire was calm and had no problems with his administration.
No matter how what Uthman did, he could not get to the bottom of their malcontent. These mysterious complaints against have led some to believe a nefarious individual was behind everything.
However, the reality was much more mundane. There were simply many people who did not agree with the way Uthman did things. Uthman was an old man and allowed trusted members of his family to run the government.
Unfortunately, when things went bad, it was Uthman who took all the blame
Show notes for this episode are available at IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman4
Here's some of the things you'll find:
Transcript for this episode
Links to various related episodes
Video to this week's favorite Nasheed, "Happy" by Omar Esa.
You can support the Islamic History Podcast by doing one (or more) of the following:
Become a sponsor
Subscribe on iTunes
Share with your friends and family
You can do it all and more at the Show Notes page IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman4

2-15: Uthman and The Quran

One of the most troublesome spots in the Muslim world was the Iraqi city of Kufah. The people were fickle, restless, and never satisfied with their governor. Uthman had to change their governor no less than three times. Uthman's popularity took another hit during the Hajj of 649. Seemingly inconsequential actions had major repercussions. But the most important event during this period was the one that would bring the most benefit. Upon discovering the message of the Quran was in danger of being diluted and fractured, Uthman took immediate stops to reverse this trend. What came out of this was a standard, official compilation of the Quran that remains to this day. But even this great achievement came with its problems. Ultimately, it was just another chance for Uthman's opponents to gripe about him. The fun doesn't end when the podcast does. Visit the Show Notes page for more links, articles, and videos related to this episode Show notes for this episode are available at IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman3 Here's some of the things you'll find: Transcript for this episode A link to the article "Do You And Your Muslim Spouse Speak the Same Language?" by Subhanah Wahhaj. Video to this week's favorite Nasheed, "Jannah" by Deen Squad. You can support the Islamic History Podcast by doing one (or more) of the following: Give a monthly pledge on Patreon Subscribe on iTunes Share with your friends and family. You can do it all at the Show Notes page IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman3

2-14: Uthman And Abu Dharr

Uthman has been accused of often appointing his family members to high positions. And in many instances that was true. But some of his appointments were still very good, even if they were related to him. An example of that is Muawiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan. In addition to finding favor with the Prophet of Islam, Muawiyyah was a competent governor of Syria. One of his earliest successes was the building of the first Muslim navy. But he would run into trouble when another companion, Abu Dharr, begins to criticize the way some Muslims lived. Abu Dharr was not one to hold his tongue; not even for the governor of Syria nor for the Caliph. When Abu Dharr's speech begins to rub people the wrong way, Uthman has to make some changes. Unfortunately, he was unaware how those changes would damage his reputation. Show notes for this episode are available at IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman2 Some things you'll find interesting in the show notes are: Transcript for this episode "Married Almost 10 Years!" By Subhanah Wahhaj Video for favorite Nasheed of the week, "Muslim Queen" by Deen Squad. Please support the Islamic History Podcast by doing one (or more) of the following: Give a monthly pledge on Patreon Subscribe on iTunes Share with your friends and family You can do it all at the show notes page IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman2

2-13: Uthman And Egypt

Uthman Ibn Affan has always been compared to others. Both during his lifetime and after, he has been compared to the Caliph that came before him and the one that would come after him. There are many factors that contributed to his popularity among a small segment of the Muslim society. Some of them were based on decisions that Uthman made. But some things were out of his control, such as: Not as many conquests as before Minority Muslim Arabs ruling over a conquered, non-Muslim people. Economic strain from entitlements established by Umar Ibn Al-Khattab. Still, there were some decisions that Uthman made that make us pause. One of his most questionable decisions was replacing a popular and successful general like Amr Ibn Al-As with Ibn Abi Sarh. It did not help that Ibn Abi Sarh had once betrayed Prophet Muhammad. And the fact that he was Uthman's cousin just made things even worse. Show notes for this episode are available at IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman1 Please support the Islamic History Podcast by doing one (or more) of the following: Give a monthly pledge on Patreon Subscribe on iTunes Share with your friends and family You can do it all at the show notes page IslamicLearningMaterials.com/Uthman1  

2-12: Assassination And Election

We're back!
After a long hiatus, we discuss the assassination of Umar ibn Al-Khattab and the choice of Uthman as the 3rd Caliph of the Muslim world.
Show notes available at islamiclearningmaterials.com/election

2-11: Nihavand And Caltrops

By 641, the Muslims had captured most of the Southwestern part of the Persian Empire.
This area contained the best and most fertile lands and would be modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, and parts of northwestern Iran.
As mentioned previously, Umar had grown weary of all the fighting and was grateful for their current holdings.
However, the Persian pride was wounded and they couldn't accept a peace treaty with the Muslims.
Emperor Yesdijird made his base in Nihavan and began to build another army to attack the Muslims.
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2-10: Alexandria And Fustat

The Muslims arrived at Alexandria in July 641 It was perhaps the most magnificent and biggest city they've encountered so far Alexandria was founded by the Greek general Alexander the Great and is named after him In Arabic it is called Al-Iskandariyah Alexander meant for it to be a great center of Hellenistic culture However Alexander left the city under the command of one of his generals soon after founding it. Then he went back on the warpath and never came back At one point, it was the second most important city in the world after Rome; if Rome was like NYC then Alexandria was like London Alexandria linked the Greek and Roman parts of Europe with and Arabia and Asia Continue Reading....