By Qasim Hersi Farah (Ph.D.) 

In retrospect, during the decade of 750 A.D, Islam grew too fast by spreading to almost all the neighbors of the Middle East and reached half of Europe, half of Far East Asia, the Indian sub-continent, and the majority of the African nations. Then, more than half of the countries that, in the past two centuries, united as the former Soviet Union of Russia transformed from local traditional faiths to Islam, and their educated persons became the leaders of all the Muslims, including those of the Arabian Peninsula. This expansion brought a multicultural lifestyle, where integration, interaction, intermingling, social assimilation, and quick social unity took place as they were already encouraged in Islam. The first Islamic community was built by the amalgamation and assimilation of immigrants from Macca city, led by Messenger himself, and the hosted Madini denizens. The Madinians warmly welcomed those who were chased away from their children, wives, houses, hometowns, properties, and businesses in Mecca.

In the history of Islamic society, the foundation of the statehood system was established in the form of democratic political power sharing. The leadership of the first state consisted of seven men, each originating from one of the regional states. The most renowned two were Abdullah Bin Salol, who was a Jewish man from Palestine/ Israel land, and Bilal Ibn Ribaha, who originated from the coastal zone of the Horn of Africa, specifically from today’s Somalia. For further explanation, let us mention some of these non-Arab leading companions of the Messenger who played a significant role in spreading and defending Islam. 

Horn of African Members: 

1. Bilal ibn Rabah: Bilal was the first Minister of Information as he was the first person to announce the believers for the prayer – Adhan. He was originated from the former Abyssinia, particularly from the Somali community.

2. Wahshi ibn Harb was a lady who originated from the former great Abyssinia. She assigned herself to become the Prophet’s bodyguard. She succeeded in killing the strongest enemies of Islam, such as Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib in the Battle of Uhud, Musaylima in the Ridda Wars. 

3. Umm Ayman (Barakah): She was also one of the most active and productive military and police members. On top of that, she was a role model for the rest of the mothers by giving a significant upbringing to her children, who were Usama ibn Zayd and Ayman ibn Ubayd. 

4. Ayman ibn Ubayd, son of Umm Ayman and half-brother of Usama ibn Zayd: Ayman was killed fighting in the Battle of Hunayn. 

5. Sumayyah bint Khabbat: She was among the first group of women who embraced Islam, and she was killed by the polytheistic Banu Makhzum because of her faith (The Champions’ of the True Faith, by Farid Adel, Section: Sumayyah bint Khayyat). 

Egyptians 

1. Maria al-Qibtiyya was one of the earliest believers and followers of the Messenger. She became the most vigorous activist who volunteered for the Islamic missions. Then, she became a mother of one of the Prophet’s three sons named Ibrahim. 

2. Sirin -Maria al-Qibtiyya’s sister – was among the volunteers of the Prophet’s companions, and she was married to Hassan ibn Thabit, who was one of the best Arab poets of the time (Jamal M. Ahmed, “Islam in the context of contemporary socio-religious thought of Africa “, Al-Abhath Quarterly Journal, vol. 20, no 2,juin 1967, p. 13-15). 

Jewish 

1. Abdullah ibn Salam: was a renowned Rabbi but reverted to Islam in a few years. Besides being a famous Islamic propagator, he was also one of the most skilled and strategist military officers who played a significant role in the defense of the newly established Islamic government. 

2. Mukhayriq was another famous Rabbi who inhabited Madina. He was among the Jewish members who embraced Islam when the Messenger and many of his disciples moved into Madina city. Typically, as Abdullahi ibn Salman, Mukhayriq served in the Islamic system both as a teacher, preacher, and defender. Both of them were among the high-ranked military officers who fought alongside prophet Muhammad in the Battle of Uhud. 

3. Safiyya bint Huyayy was one of the tireless volunteers and then one of the Messenger’s wives. 

4. Rayhana was also one of the Messenger’s wives. 

(Perumal is the first king to accept Islam at the hands of Prophet Muhammad”. The Siasat Daily. 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2022-01-15. 

Persians 

1. Salman al-Farsi – He was born as a Zoroastrian in Persia but embarked on a long and continuous journey (away from his homeland) in search of the truth. He ultimately reached his destination in Arabia, where he finally met with the Messenger and accepted Islam after all his 

questions were answered, and he became convinced. He served as an administrator, adviser, and military strategist. He was the first person to build modern and sophisticated trenches in the Battle of the Trench, which ultimately resulted in a defeat for the forces of the enemies of the Muslims. 

2. Fayruz al-Daylami – A member of Al-Abnāʾ in Yemen, who was sent out by Prophet Muhammad to defeat Aswad Ansi, who claimed prophet-hood in Yemen. 

3. Munabbih ibn Kamil – He was a Persian knight. He had two sons, who were both Islamic scholars. 

4. Salim Mawla Abu-Hudhayfah – He was a highly respected and valued Muslim (among his fellow Muslims) who died while fighting against the forces of Musaylimah during the Wars of Apostasy. Umar ibn al- Khattāb suggested he would have designated Salim as his successor to the Caliphate. (Sahabi e Rasool Hazrat Baba Ratan Hindi India | PDF”. Scribd. Retrieved 2022-01-15). 

Roman 

1. Al-Nahdiah embraced Islam while she was a slave but refused to abandon her new faith even after being tortured and persecuted by her slave master. She was later freed from slavery. 

2. Lubaynah, converted to Islam while she was a slave but refused to abandon her new faith even after being persecuted. She was later freed from slavery. 

3. Umm Ubays, converted to Islam while she was a slave, but refused to abandon her new faith even after being tortured and persecuted by her pagan slave-master. She was later freed from slavery. She was the daughter of Al-Nahdiah. 

4. Harithah bint al-Muammil (Zunayra) – who reverted to Islam while she was a slave but refused to abandon her new faith even after being persecuted to such a severe extent that she lost her eyesight. She was later freed from slavery. Umm Ubays was her sister. 

5. Suhayb, the Roman –a former slave in the Byzantine Empire who became a companion of Muhammad and a member of the early Muslim community. He served as the Caliphate’s caretaker and the Muslims’ imam in prayer. (Wikipedia, Free Encyclopedia. https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_non- Arab_Sahabah. September 13, 2023). Many other non-Arab members of the Prophet’s companions played significant roles in the government’s sectors of administration, defense, economics, development, health, and dissemination of monotheism. Among the most notable persons were Jaban Al-Kurdi and Khabbab Ibn Al- Aratt. Following that multicultural and multiracial system, but uni-faith, Prophet Mohamed (Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH) became the head of the Islamic State, where under his leadership, the state was a thoroughly all-inclusive one. In the state’s capital city, Madina, several local 

faiths existed and practiced without fearing harassment or interference. For instance, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Pagan, Star Worshippers, Moon Worshippers, Sun Worshippers, Stone Worshippers, Mountain Worshippers, and many more Beans and other minor religious-traditional and political sects coexisted by living side by side in Madina and its surroundings 

There, the coalition and colleagues-based culture became the norm and the milestone of today’s numerous Islamic states and nations that do not even recognize one another by face, background, color, culture, custom, and attitude, but only by the practice of Islamic ordainments and ritual worship activities. They created a new phenomenon of Islamization based on a Muslim multicultural society, of which each traces his background to a different nation. Allah revealed several Qur’anic verses supporting social integration and praised the act of community interaction based on positive objectives built by multiple communities. That is why the Prophet and his military men and women devoted themselves to defending their homeland and faith when attacked by the polytheists and other enemies without attempting to aggravate others. Hence, sufficient evidence is that the Prophet and his companions had never waged or partaken in a war, except that the battlefield was taking place inside or on the outskirts of Madina city (Al-Watan. July 4, 2020). 

The top ten most known battle fields took placed under the leadership of the Messenger were: Badar, Uhud, Khandaq, Khaybar, Fat-hi, Hunain, El-marisi’i, Bani Quraitha, and T’aif. Historians mention several other minor conflicts but cannot be categorized as battle-field because they were unexpected conflicts. Indisputably, during that time, the enemies of Islamic Monotheism were recurrently attacking the Messenger and his followers, of whom the majority were the same people that they previously chased away from Mecca and forced them to take refuge in Madina. But the reaction of the Messenger and his followers was limited to 

self-defense, which was only taking place in or around their capital city. 

In the history of the Islamic world, approximately 90 of the Muslim leaders who ruled the great Islamic Empire were men who originated from Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkestan, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, and the Turkish empires who ruled all Muslims for the most prolonged period (Coulson, N. (2017) stated: “Within the span of a century, the Islamic empire had embraced a great complexity of races, cultures, and religions; Its political dominion had spread over territories as different as those which were formerly subject to the highly developed civilizations of Byzantine and Persian rule. . . . Nor Islam (Muslims) were free from internal political troubles in this period when disputes concerning the right of succession to leadership produced a period of civil war, a series of revolts, and the formation of political factions hostile to the central power. Such a power would be rapidly moving background of momentous historical course determined the course of legal development during the first century of Islam”. 

There, it seems that each community was interested in their new relatives’ cultures, customs, and even what the reverted 

people used to believe in before Islam. All these forms of cultural exchanges and amalgamations inadvertently resulted in religious discussions and interfaith practices, which led Muslims to adopt many additional dogmas borrowed from Christianity, Judaism, and various ancient pagan-based faiths. Since that era, true Muslim scholars have tried to distinguish pure Islamic teachings from innovative and additional teachings. To this date, they branded them as “Israelites”, which means “the wrong tales inherited from the old Judaism.” However, the sincere Muslim scholars were badly defeated by the so-called Muslim scholars who spread tattle-tales instead of the Qur’an. That is what transformed the Islam of mercy and justness into Islam of mercilessness and injustice. 

The vast majority of the Christian and Jewish people who lived in and around the Middle East accepted Islam willingly, while those who refused it were required to pay a taxation payment system called ‘jizya’. This payment is all about governmental taxation collected to ensure the public/ private security. The system guarantees Non-Muslims to continue practicing their faith openly and without hesitation. Unlike Non-Muslims, those who accepted Islam are required to pay a taxation system called ‘zakat.’ That means in the Muslim states where all the governmental administrations and the citizens’ dealings are based on the Islamic lifestyle, Muslim citizens must pay zakat instead of national taxation, and non- Muslim citizens must pay jizya instead of zakat. The difference between the terms jizya and zakat is limited to the wording/naming and the collection policy. Otherwise, they are equal in terms of amount to pay, time to pay, the procedure to pay, who is required to pay, who is exempted from payment, and the purpose of its payment. 

In this case, it seems that some ancient Muslim military men misunderstood the meaning of jizya, which means ‘government taxation by structuring it as looting. Indeed, jizya saved today’s Christian and Jewish communities who survived and prospered in the overpopulated Muslim countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Philistine, and others. Muhammad Asad defined and explained jizya as “satisfaction” because it is collected to defend the citizens’ lives, lands, properties, dignities, and existence. As a second face, it is collected to bring the government in a position of being able to maintain providing public services such as building and renovating public infrastructures, giving out social welfare, and establishing foreign relationships.