March to the Holy Land - Part 4

 

Arab Land

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ established the Islamic state in Medinah. After his passing, the baton of leadership was given to Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) as the first Caliph of the Muslims. The caliphate expanded far and wide during the reign of Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him). He was followed by Uthman and then Ali (Allah be pleased with them). It was after this that the next caliph, Mu’awiyah appointed his son, Yazeed, to succeed him. This gave rise to the Umayyad dynasty. They were eventually ousted and replaced by the Abbasid dynasty. Alongside came the Fatimid dynasty, and, for a short while, the Mamluks. The Ottoman empire was the last to hold the caliphate which was abolished with their demise.

You may have your own view of the Ottoman Empire. The debate is not about the religiosity or the beliefs of the Ottomans. Unless you wish to declare them Non-Muslim, a heavy call, then that argument is different. However, they had the caliphate and that was enough for Muslims. It was the goal of the Western powers and the Czar-led Russia to destroy the Ottoman empire and more importantly, the Caliphate. Their meddling in the affairs of the Ottomans led to Sultan Abdul Hamid II to be deposed. While the Ottomans were already reeling from the constant barrage from these foreign powers, the final blow really was the deposing of Sultan Abdul Hamid. The few years it survived beyond him was largely just the last breathes of the empire. Two things happened then. The Ottomans made the mistake of entering World War I. Having already stirred the flames of rebellion in Arab lands, the Ottomans entering the war gave the British more reason to continue on this path and with greater vigour.

Read into it what you will, but your lineage means nothing by Allah, but rather it is your Allah-consciousness. One of the Arabs who rebelled was Sharif Hussein, a descendant of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Perhaps rebellion is one thing, but to enter into an alliance with the British and then kill your fellow Muslims, is quite another thing. This is how the Arab states effectively became colonies of the West. Sure, they have independence and sovereignty for all to see, but I will leave it to you to make sense of it, if only looking the current Middle Eastern situation. The few blanks to be filled in: The Sykes Picot agreement took precedence over any agreement that Hussein had with the British. Palestine was lost and placed under British rule for the establishment of a Zionist state. The British also had an arrangement with the Al-Saud family. The result, Sharif Hussein ended up in Trans-Jordan (now Jordan) where his son, Abdullah, was given temporary rule by the British. Sharif’s other son, Faizal, eventually became king of Iraq. Weird story that. Abdul-Aziz bin Saud took over the Hejaz and proclaimed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The bottom line is that the hand that fueled the flames that lead to the demise of the Ottoman Empire and the Caliphate, is very much still exerting influence in that region. Now, going back to the Balfour declaration and the Sykes-Picot agreement, where is the Arab agreement? With whom were these agreements and what exactly did/does it contain?

 See next:         https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2025/06/march-to-holy-land-part-5.html

     

See previous:  https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2025/06/march-to-holy-land-part-3.html