European Journal of Social Sciences ISSN 1450-2267 Vol.25 No.4 (2011), pp. 579-589 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc.

. 2011 http://www.europeanjournalofsocialsciences.com

The Islamic Military Force and Its Role in Expanding the Islamic Civilization
Wan Norhasniah Haji Wan Husin Department of Nationhood and Civilization, Centre for Liberal and Language Studies National Defence University of Malaysia, Sungai Besi Camp, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia E-mail: wanhasniah@yahoo.com Tel: +603-90514449; Fax: +603-90514958 Abstract The stature of civilization in any country depends much on its development and societys ethics. Its sustainability is not just reflected by its achievements in science and technology, but also its supremacy in defence and military. History has proven that among the factors that led to the spread of religion and Islamic knowledge to Western Europe were largely due to the Islamic military power and the armys determination in establishing a bigger political territory. This is similar with the Western ideologies throughout the world, as it was factored by its military superpower. Hence, the objective of this study is to analyse the extent of the role of military power in spreading the Islamic civilization to the occupied territories and its role in strengthening religion, culture, language, and politics. A survey on previous studies has shown that no research had focused on this aspect. Therefore, to accomplish the objective of the study, text analysis was done by reviewing previous research focusing on the aspects of the military forces and civilization. The analysed result finds that a systematic and strong military force plays a significant role in strengthening the establishment of a civilization.

Keywords: Islamic army, Defense, Islamic civilization and military

1. Introduction
This study aims to analyze the role of the military in spearheading the growth of Islamic civilization. Based on previous study on militarys role, most researchers were inclined in discussing the role of defense and army, but no further research was made to link the aspects with the development of civilization, especially Islamic civilization. Most articles on the Islamic army focused on war history and strategies, as written by Afzalur Rahman, Muhammad as a Military Leader and Mahmood Shith Khattab, entitled Al-Rasul al-Qaid. Both discussed the role of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) as a military leader and the principles of war based on the Quran. Meanwhile, in Al-Qital fi al-Islam, Ahmad al-Nar highlighted upon the types of war in Islam. There are also a number of writings on the construction and development of civilization written by renowned Islamic scholars, such as the writing by Ibnu Khaldun in al-Muqaddimah that discusses the characteristics of civilized society and their transformation from leading a barbaric life to an organized life that consists of family institutions, society, administration and education. Meanwhile, in Ali Ibrahims Al-Tarikh al-Islami al-Am and Ahmad Shalabys Al-Mausuah al-Tarikh al-Islam wa al-Hadharah al-Islamiyyah, the focus is more on the historical development and Islamic civilization. However, there are also scholars who tried to link the armys role in cultivating ethnic unity and developing a nation as propagated by Huntington in The 579

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) Clash of Civilizations and The Remaking of World Order. Analysis shows that the absence of a strong military presence in Islamic nations is the reason they do not have a core state to depend on if they were attacked. This is in stark contrast with Western nations as they could rely on America as the World Police; who has the power to that could resolve many conflicts, such as the religions animosity in Palestine, as well as to help in defending states that share a similar religion. Even though the discussion does not focus much on the militarys role in developing civilization, it delves more into the conflicts between ethnics, which is an effect of clashes with traditional civilizations. Hence, this article will study the issue from a new angle that analyses the role of the defense system and the military in building and empowering a civilization. The study is important as the results show that a civilizations superiority is not just dependant on the roles of its rulers and intellects; but also due to the military power in opening the frontiers of knowledge through the expansion of an empire, and total obligation towards defending the country.

2. Defense and Civilization Concepts

The concept of defense refers to the need of a country in preserving and protecting its strategic interests to secure the countrys safety and peace internally and internationally. From the Islamic point of view, defending the society from harm was founded upon the five basic principles protecting ones religion, soul, mind, heredity and wealth or assets (Mahmud Shaltut, 1983: 385). They have the aims of curbing brutality, oppression, victimization and upholding justice. The Western concept of defense was also similarly based upon the intentions of providing safety towards self, society, and state from the threats of enemy, and protecting the society from oppression and discrimination. A nations defense depends highly on the military system adopted as the objective is to control and conquer other countries, whether due to geopolitical or economic reasons; or even to spread religion, ideology or policies practiced (Mohd Khairuddin, 2008: 2). In fact, a civilization would remain as long as it is supported by a strong dynasty, empire or government. On the other hand, civilization has a huge scope that covers every aspect of human development. It encompasses culture, history, political institution, economy, science, political interests, defense and military system; that reflect the process of developing humanity from nil towards a more civilized way of life. The bottomless width of the scope has allowed researchers to explore civilization based on studies that would be discussed in this paper. Thus, there are scholars that define it is as a transformation from the feudal form of judiciary towards a more systematic military rule to educate and control the public. Through it, a new form of concept is infiltrated into the societys way of life to ensure that the civilizations positive values could be practiced (Mazlish, 2004: 14). Civilization also encompasses the history of humanity within a long era. During the process, each civilization experiences a long journey that undergoes several stages the era of emergence, improvement, interaction, pinnacle, decline and ruin. The downfall is usually due to either a lack of new findings that could be explored, internal conflicts, deterioration of religious values or the weakness of the state capitals administration system (Ibnu Khaldun, 1958: x-xii; Quighley, 1961: 5159; Toynbee, 1934: 60-61). Among the systems that fall within the jurisdiction of administration is the organization of a states defense and military. The important aspect of civilization such as language, religion traditions and culture, political, economy and social institutions would be better protected and secured when a dynasty or empire had a systematic military organization and equipped with high technology weaponry. All the elements are safeguarded by each member of the society as they form the foundations of their identity (Huntington, 1962: 43). This can be seen when Islam succeeded in expanding its empire to Andalusia and Sicily. The systematic Islamic civilization and strength had managed to penetrate Western European nations between the 7th to 12th A.D. A similar scenario took place when Western European nations like Britain, Spain and Holland expanded their dominance to the South East Asia region through their military might. The western lifestyle was therefore prevalent in 580

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) the political, judiciary, educational, economics and social systems of the colonized regions (Carolina, 2001: 15-17). Defense, army and civilization strongly complemented each other as the strength of a civilization depends a lot on the political system and military organization of a nation. When a nations armed forces become the foundation of the expansion of civilization, it is linked to war, and forms a nations source of development and power. History shows that the American civilization was built upon war and the American Revolution had spawned the American race. Its civil war founded American, the World War I bore the American identity and World War II produced the American volunteers or peace Corps and elicited discrimination. In fact, the 42nd President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton confirmed the need for the next revolution to re-unite its ethnic community as a result of threats from the Hispanic immigrant community. They were deemed as a threat to the American Principles that was based upon the elements of Western Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) element as the national policy (Huntington, 2005: 18 and 260). A similar scenario was witnessed in the changes in Western Europes political culture. The French Revolution was the drive to effect changes in its socio-political and socio-economy of the French community after being under 200 years of undemocratic rule of the monarchy. It was the beginning of the movement in the development of nation-building of Western Europe where the feudal system was replaced with a democracy system. The church power was reduced and logical and substitute with practical ideologies (Mettam, 1974: 5152; Cobban, 1965: 56 dan 106). To determine a civilizations sustainability, every dynasty, empire or nation must have a strong defense system, organized military and complete war weaponry. The stress upon defense and military aspects is to maintain peace and to protect a nation from any enemies threat. A nations military strength depends a lot on technology available because it helps to determine a nations strategic interests were not threatened (Pearton, 1973; Tsipis, 1985). For instance, the downfall of ancient Egypt civilization was due to its preference in using weapons made of bronze, compared to enemies that relied on steel weapons. The supremacy of steel weapons contributed to the success of the Greek armys in defeating the thousands of Persian army. The Greek were also equipped with steel coats for defense. Politically, the domination over a new territory would be easy if the targeted region did not have strong armed forces. Southeast Asias developing nations in the 19th Century, like Burma, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, were easily dominated when they were colonized by the Western Europe superpowers, due to failure in establishing strong armed forces. Through a strong military system, Western civilization was imposed upon other nations. What took place in the founding of the Islamic civilization, was due to not only its sacrosanct and justice, but also Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) character in leading the Islamic army.

3. The Defense System and the Militarys Role in Building the Islamic Civilization
3.1. The Concept of Defense and Army in Islam The military is a major element of a nations strength as it safeguards the peace and stability of a nation from the threat of enemies, or from internal conflicts. In Islam, the role of the army is not confined to protecting the nations peace, but they are also tasked with the role of spreading the religion of Islam to the conquered people (Ahmad Nar, 1969). Even though Islam legalizes the spread of Islam through war, but the stress is more on reaching truce and maintaining peace. In fact, Islam calls upon the Muslims to practice cooperation and tolerance when interacting with their own community or with others, without discriminating the race, or ethnic, or with non-Islamic communities of the same race. The call for war would only be made if there were any invasion upon the religion or oppression towards the Islamic community such as embargo on the

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European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) implementation of its rulings. Islam is also against syirik1 practices such as the acts of statue worshipping, exalting man to the status of God, and the act of revering supernatural forces. In fact, Islam strongly outlaws slavery. The Islamic community is expected to safeguard their religion, self, family and community from being victimized (Taufiq Ali Wahbah, t.t: 36). Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory (al-Hajj: 39) The call from the verse led to the establishment of an Islamic defense and military system. However, the use of war to spread the religion was often perceived negatively by Western orientalis and the Christian missionary. They labeled Islam as a terrorist religion that spread through the tip or eye of the sword (New Straits Times, 8 February 2006). This perspective is inaccurate as war took place in the early days of the Islam civilization in order to protect their territory from the threat of attacks from the Quraisy in Mecca (Ahmad Nar, 1969). Meanwhile, the expansion of the Islamic empire to Spain, Western Europe and Africa was not with the mission to force the conquered people to embrace Islam, but with the mission of expanding its political territory. Similar situations were witnessed among non-Muslim forces, as seen during Napoleon Bonapartes Egypt colonization in 1798 from the Uthmaniyyah army; which had paved the way for Christian missions to spread the teachings of Christianity in Egypt (Esposito, 1991). The British military army had also practiced a similar modus operandi when they conquered South East Asia. The Christian missions spread Christian subtlety through the establishment of English schools, as what happened in Malaya during their divide-and-rule policy (Chelliah, 1940, 36-45). However, Islam was not threatened as the preachings took place in peace as Islamic teachings were against any form of force, as stated in the sacred al-Quran: There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing (al-Baqarah: 256) Under the Islamic defense system, the army was organized as the wall of defense for Muslim and non-Muslim communities (kafir Dhimmi2). The concept of military is jundullah, that is Allahs army, as stated in the al-Quran that means, Indeed, We have given you, [O Muhammad], a clear conquest (al-Fath: ayat 7) The Islamic army had some specific traits, which included a strong bond to Allah the Almighty God, by being pious and highly religious. With this bond, the faith towards Allah would control their spirits, which led to the birth of conscience and compassion to spread the Islamic teachings that overcame their fear for enemies. This level is categorized as sincere jihad3 in the path of Allah SWT. As long as they placed their ultimate devotion and faith towards the Almighty, all traits of outlawed such as suppression, injustice, hatred and slander that could lead to fights amongst the Islamic army or with the enemy; could be prevented. With such faith, they too could face any form of threat and torture from the enemy, spiritually or physically. The high level of tolerance and strong spirit of brotherhood were the main factors that led to success of the Islamic army in defeating their enemies. The success could be seen in various battles in the early Islamic era, such as in the battles of Badar, Ahzab, Hunayn and during the opening of the City of Mecca. A similar situation was witnessed during the reign of
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Syirik is the same as shirk in Arabic. The word, shirk, has a literal meaning of 'sharing'; man is forbidden to share his or her worship of Allah with that of any other creatures, and to ascribe partners to Allah as sharers of His Divinity. The most serious syirik is to think that Allah has a son and a wife or to make pictures or statues of Him. Kafir Dhimmi is non-Muslim community who lived in a Muslim community and they are not to be contended Jihad is the Arabic for what can be variously translated as struggle, effort, to strive, or to fight, depending on the context. The term jihad can refer to the spiritual exercise of opposing the lower self. This is referred to as the greater jihad since people spend their entire lives struggling against the base desires within them that can harm both themselves and those around them. Jihad also can be referred as armed struggle against an enemy from the outside for it includes constant struggles within both oneself and one's own society.

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European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) Sayidina Umar bin Al-Khattabs r.a. The Islamic army was sent to battle with the Roman army and they almost faced defeat, however, when Umar sent reminders for his army to heighten their spiritual force by practicing more repentance and abandoning sins. The soldiers responded by intensifying their faith and strong sense of jihad to Allah the Almighty. With such intense faith, the army managed to conquer a part of the Roman Empires territory And surely, only Our army will be victorious (al-Saffat: 173) In addition to having strong faith and bond with Allah the Almighty, one else needs to be a devoted Muslim before one can be enlisted into the Islamic armed forces. This aspect was emphasized as it was the main aim of the Islamic army to spread the religion. The inclusion of non-Islamic community was not welcomed, as it could threaten their defense system, especially in their integrity in defending the religion (Ahmad Nar, 1969: 17). Hence, non-Islamic communities were only given the chance to be involved with the army as paid mercenaries, and were not bound by Islamic ethics, as long as they were honest in defending the sovereignty of the Islamic state in facing the enemies. However, when the principle was excluded, there were opinions that the non-Islamic status in the military was just the means of providing financial support in aid of the defense system for the state (Abu Ala al-Maududi, 1969: 280). Another factor was that army personnel must have come of age, or baligh, and had the ability to differentiate the good and the bad aspects in life. There was no discrimination against women to become a part of the army, as long as they did not go against the Islamic teachings (Mahmood Shith Khattab, 1958; 31). To determine that the Islamic teachings were fully adhered by the military, it was important that the appointment of the armys general was based upon ones religious status, meaning that he must be highly pious and made his decisions upon the tenets of Islam that are based on the alQuran or al-Sunnah (Haron Din, 1985: 419-420). The armys was accountable to defend the society and state from the threats of enemy. Apart from that, the army was entrusted with the task to administer the non-Muslims welfare, and guaranteed them the freedom to practice any faith (Mustafa Talas, t.t: 130). This was done to ensure both the Muslim and the non-Muslims communities lived in harmony. Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided. (al-Nahl: 125) The Islamic military emphasized on two policies; to weaken the enemy, and to protect the position of Islam as a religion. These policies are parallel with their main intention which is to strive in safeguarding the holiness of Islam. Therefore, Islam totally forbids the army from torturing, brutalizing, and suppressing the enemy. To prevent discrimination, some regulations were outlined when interacting with captured enemies. Restrictions were established against backstabbing, killing and hurting children, women and the elders; cutting down fruit trees and burning of date trees; and killing livestock without reason (Muhamad Farj, t.t: 466). The installation of these principles had attracted a large number of non-Muslim to embrace the religion, akin to what took place when Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) first migrated to the city of Mecca. Other than that, the Islamic military also aimed to restore the strained relations among the Islamic community. They managed to stop its capability in stopping the civil war between Saiyidina Ali bin Abi Talib r.a. and Saidatina Aisyah r.a. in the Jamal battle. The call is reflected in the verse from al-Quran which means, And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two (al-Hujurat: 9) The Islamic military was also required to fight the factions that opposed Islam like apostasy, fake prophets, and the one who that betrayed the treaty made with the Muslims. These issues were given priority as to protect the sovereignty of Islam. 583

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment (al-Maidah: 33) Overall, the expansion of the Islamic empire was not for the purpose of controlling resources, or enslaving the people, but for the sake of spreading the teachings of Islam. By expanding the Islamic empire to new territories in the gulf region or in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia had strengthened the Islamic civilization became stronger. The supremacy of the empire was due its implementation of Islamic principles that were fair and just. In fact, many scholars were of the opinion that without Islam, it was impossible for the people of Arab, Persia, Turk, Spain and Malay descent to experience great success, until the religion reached their shores (Hitti, 1970). 3.2. The Militarys Role in the Progress of the Islamic Civilization The military played a big role in building and reinforcing the progress of the Islamic civilization. The expansion of the Islamic civilization was not just due to the sacrosanct nature of the teachings, but also due to the strategies, war tactics and characteristics displayed by Prophet Muhammad SAW. The process of spreading Islam in the early stages took place in Medina that later stretched to the Arab realm and beyond, to Africa and Europe, hence today Muslim population makes up two-third of the worlds total population. The history of Islamic defense and military began with the first revelation received by Prophet Muhammad SAW at the Hira Cave, which called upon him to spread the teachings of Islam to humanity. To fulfill the calling, the Prophets duty was not confined to spread the teaching or lead the Muslims, but also as the Head of the military. With the formation of the first Islamic state in Madinah in 622M, the effort to establish a defense and military system was proposed by the Prophet. The primary goal was to defend the community from the threats of attack from non-Muslim enemies such as the Jewish tribes of Quraidzah, Qainuqa, Nadhir and Arabic communities who worship statues, as well as to strengthen and expand the influence of Islamic teachings. It was upon these factors that the defense and military system were given priority. The effort was intensified with the revelation of the Quranic verse that calls for war if it was the best solution in protecting the Islamic community. As a result, the permission to go to battle if they were threatened by non-Muslim enemies was enacted in the Medina Treaty (Sahifah Madinah) under the 18th Act (Hamidullah, 1975: 5)every attack by the enemies is also an attack towards the whole citizens. During the era of Prophet Muhammad SAW, the military organization was not formed officially. The societys participation was voluntary, as seen in the Badar and Uhud battles. Calls to join the army were made without any force, as the aim of the battle was to defend themselves from the attack of the Quraisy in Mecca. To ensure the reinforcement of the military organization and defense strategies, Prophet Muhammad SAW implemented a few methods, such as by forming rows or al-Saff, in order to arrange the army more systematically. Each row had between ten to 10,000 armies, with the front lines of army bearing spears and shields, while the back rows were formed of archers. Both of these lines of armies were led by men that carried the Islamic flags (Mahayudin Haji Yahya, 1984: 43). The Prophet also applied different tactics during battles, such as the tactic of self-defense used in the Ahzab and Taif battles. The tactic came to fruition as a result of the continuous suffering that the Muslims had to endure as a result of food rations and rigid controls by the enemy. Meanwhile, the second tactic was not to chase and attack the enemy. The method was introduced as it was not the Muslims practice to torture the weak enemy or attack them aggressively, but more towards protecting Islam. In fact, the action is outlawed in Islam as it is not only cruel, but could also incite hatred from the non-Muslim enemies which might result in weakening Islams stance as a peaceful and harmonious religion (Afzalur Rahman, 1980: 44, 825-826). With the high tolerance displayed by the Prophet, many 584

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) prisoner-of-wars embraced Islam as their faith. Meanwhile, a number were asked to teach the Medina children to learn how to read and write. To reinforce unity among Muslims, the spirit of brotherhood was instilled between the Aus and Khazraj tribes, by naming them as the Ansar community (defenders of Islam). The Ansar community later formed pacts with the Muhajirin community, the migrants from Mecca. Islamic civilization was strengthened and further spreaded through the building of mosques as the centre of administration, education, social relations. The role of military had led to the spread of Islamic civilization to various political regions in the Arab realm, and not just confined to the city of Medina. As the army general and Islamic leader, the Prophet had launched 27 army troops and sent 74 army generals to lead expeditions in expanding the Islamic empire before his death (Mazhar Siddiqui M. Yasin, 1982: 139; Mahmood Shith Khattab, 1958; 51-52). Generally, the appointment of a war general was based upon his capabilities in using weapons, ability to defeat enemies, and contributions to the society and religion. It was never based upon family ties, tribe, status or descendance (Mazhar Siddiqui M. Yasin, 1982: 159). Among the battles that succeeded in expanding the elements of Islamic civilization to the conquered political territories were the battles of Badar, Uhud, Ahzab, Muktah, and the opening of the city of Mecca, Hunayn and Tabuk. Through the military, the scope in developing an Islamic civilization and culture was intensified through the roles of the preachers. To further spread the Islamic culture, schools and mosques were built in the conquered territories (Ahmad Shalaby, 1980: 296-354). Under the Khulafa al-Rasyidin4 administration that began with the rule of Saiyidina Abu Bakar al-Siddiq r.a, the Islamic civilization was fortified through the formation of two military wings that carried different roles. The first wing was tasked with the role of expanding the Islamic empire outside the Medina city state, like when Abu Sufian was sent to Damsyiq and Shurahbil al-Hasanah was sent to Jordan with the mission of spreading the teachings of Islam. Even with the strong resistance from the Roman empire that also aimed to widen its territory, the threat was handled successfully through strategic war tactics put into place by the renowned Muslim warrior, Khalid bin al-Walid. Secondly, it involved the efforts of bolstering the internal affairs of the city state of Medina. Among them were the efforts to eliminate the movement of fake prophets, apostates and internal revolts that could threaten the safety of the public. The Caliph managed to overcome them by dispatching his most trusted and disciplined warriors, like Khalid bin al-Walid, Amru al-As, Ikrimah Abu Jahal, Syurahbil al-Hasanah, Muhajjir Umayyah, Huzaifah Muhsin, Khalid bin Saad and al-Ala al-Hadrami (Ali Ibrahim, t.t: 226242). During Saidina Umar bin al-Khattab r.as era, Islam became more powerful and expended its empire even further. It was the result of his studies at repositioning the defense and military system. Among the changes made was the official acknowledgement of the military post as a job with a fixed income, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the Military Department (Diwan al-Jund). The department was tasked with the duties of managing military affairs, like enlisting soldiers, and classifying them as either part-time or permanent soldiers. Many facilities were made available to the permanent soldiers, except ownership of land. It was to avoid them from settling in a place so that they would concentrate fully on their military career. Meanwhile, the part-time soldiers were categorized as reserved soldiers or hired mercenaries. This group was allocated a specific living province, with the intention of making it easy for them to be called to war when the need arose. He also built a military base, and introduced military trainings with the aim of producing soldiers that were disciplined, welltrained, and religious. Other than that, he managed to bolster some warring methods by forming the horseback battalion, and increasing the reserves for weapons and armaments. With a stronger military organization, the Islamic empire continued to flourish to the extent that it threatened the territories ruled by Rome and Persia (Iran). In fact, many new regions were opened, like Syam (Syria), Palestine and Egypt (Ali Ibrahim Hassan, t.t: 226-242). Through the military, there
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It refers to the administration and leadership by the apostles of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h); Saidina Abu Bakar alSiddiq r.a, Saidina Umar al-Khattab r.a, Saidina Umar al-Affan r.a and Saidina Ali Abi Talib.

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European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) was better opportunity for Muslim preachers to spread the teachings of Islam, and led to the acceptance of the Islamic civilization by many sectors of society in the conquered regions. It also provided Saidina Umar al-Khattab r.a with the opportunities of developing the new territories by improving the political system, economy and agricultural, bolstering the military system and setting up the education system (Syed Omar Syed Agil, 1998). The emphasis upon tolerance and avoidance of suppression and cruelty were the major foundations of his administration which he insisted upon his followers; Be reminded that I do not appoint you to be a dictator upon the people. I entrusted ypu as a leader so that you can lead by examples. Bestow them with their right and deny them not (Ibn Taymiyyah, 1988) During Saidina Uthman al-Affan r.as rule, changes in the military field was not prominent as he merely continued with what was set in motion by his predecessors. Meanwhile, during the reign of Saidina Ali bin Abi Talib, al-Kudus, a system of coordinating the army was introduced. The system was in place until the era of the Abbasiyyah government in Baghdad. During Saidina Ali r.as reign, Islamic civilization did not flourish well, as many internal conflicts took place. Among them were civil wars like the Jamal battle between Saidina Ali r.a and Saidatina Aisyah r.a, and the Siffin battle where Muawiyyah bin Abu Sufyan r.a. revolted against Saidina Ali r.a. Hence, the armys role then was concentrated towards stamping out internal conflicts and clashes among the Muslims. The ensuing conflicts culminated with the assassination of Saidina Ali r.a at the hands of Abdul Rahman bin Maryam (Ahmad Shalaby, 1980: 461). Islam continued to spread during the period of the Umayyah caliphate in Damsyiq and the Abbasiyyah caliphate in Baghdad. During the Umayyah caliphate period, especially under the rule of Muawiyyah bin Abu Sufyan r.a, the military department was made more invincible as he focused on the aspects of self-defense and war strategies. He introduced the armed forces that were made up of foot warriors and horseback soldiers. Every 1000 soldiers were led by a Lieutenant (al-Qaid), while the ten Lieutenants that commanded 10 000 soldiers, were under the leadership of a Commander. Strategies were designed to prepare the armies for threats from Rome, Persia or Egypt empires. However, the political regions under the ruling of the Rome and Persian empires were undefeated as they were also equipped with strong naval forces. Hence, Muawiyah took the steps to form a naval wing in order to strengthen the Islamic military. While being a Syrian governor, he had once volunteered to Caliph Umar r.a to head the naval army. However, he was refused as the Caliph thought that they were lack with naval expertise and it might threaten the safety of the Islamic soldiers. With the establishment of the wing, the Roman Empire in Constantinople was conquered, which allowed the Islamic civilization to expand beyond the Cyprus isles. During the Abbasiyyah caliphate period in Baghdad, the Islamic armys strength intensified with the addition of more Muslim converts. The soldiers included the official soldiers who were on a permanent payroll, and volunteer soldiers, formed by farmers and rural folks. To avoid conflicts and improve the states defense, a breakdown of duties was decided upon ones ethnicity and interest. As a result, the Persians were more keen to become foot soldiers known as al-Musyah, while the Arabs were keen to be archers and horseback soldiers known as al-Harbiyyah (Ali Ibrahim, t.t: 575-576). Even though the spread of Islam and the expansion of the Islamic empire was quite limited during this period due to internal conflicts, such as civil wars and clashes for the throne; but with the strength of the navy batalion during the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rasyid, a few territories around the Mediterranean sea were re-conquered by the army, like the Rhodes, Crete and Cyprus territories. During Caliph al-Makmums reign, the success in capturing the Sicily Isles had resulted in a rapid development of Islam which produced many Muslim intellectuals in science and technology (Hassan Ibrahim Hassan, 1986: 65). The dominance of Islamic civilization was more pronounced after the army managed to enter the Western European block by conquering the Iberia Peninsular and Andalusia that took place during

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European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 25, Number 4 (2011) the period of the Umayyah caliphate in Damsyiq. It was also during the period that Islam expanded rapidly in the east through the Abbasiyyah caliphate rule in Baghdad (Thomson, 1996). Before Islam, Andalusia was under the rule of the Christian Visigoth army. The strong commitment to spread the teachings of Islam had influenced the Caliph to send the army, due to the strategic location of the region which was connected to Europe. Under the leadership of General Tariq bin Ziyad, 7,000 soldiers crossed the Gibraltar Sea into the Iberian Peninsula and faced the fully equipped 100,000 Visigoth army. However, the serious internal conflicts among the Jews and Christian soldiers of the Visigoth army in squabbling for the leadership had weakened them in the battle. The situation provided an easy passage for the Islamic army to win the war (Inan, Muhammad `Abd Allah, 1960; Thomson, 1996). The victory was partly contributed by the Muslim armys strong sense of unity, patience, and jihad, as claimed by Tariq bin Ziyad, O my brothers, the ocean is right behind you where as the enemy is facing you, where shall you flee? What you possess is mere humility and sincerity. The enemies are mightily empowered whilst you are without protection apart from your swords, without resources apart from the one you seized from the past enemies. Therefore, comrades defend your souls in the name of Allah (Salim `Abd al-`Aziz, 1985) The conquest of Andalusia had led to the opportunity for the Islamic army to expand the empire to Cordova and Toledo, two political territories that later became the centre of Islamic intellectual development. The rulers continued to maintain their close ties with preachers and mullahs, who influenced them in administering the nation based on Islamic rules and laws. During Caliph Abdul Rahman al-Dakhilis reign, Islam was made stronger through the construction of the Cordova mosque and libraries. Meanwhile, during the rule of Al-Hakam II, the first university was established in Andalusia, which was followed by his funding of educational activities of every field. It was estimated that 600 mosques and 50 hospitals were built during his rule (Thomson, 1996). Thus, other than the strength of the military, wise rulers were also responsible in determining the superiority of Islamic civilization (al-Mawardi, t.t). A close tie between the Muslim intellectuals with the rulers contributed to the advancement of various branches of knowledge. For example, Ibnu Rushdi was encouraged by Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1160-1199) to rewrite the Aristotle philosophies to make it easier for societys all walks of life to comprehend, be it the Muslim or non-Muslim communities. Continuous encouragement from the ruler had allowed him to reach the pinnacle in his quest for knowledge, which made him a well-known figure in his respected field. His wisdom and ability were displayed through his eloquent dialogues with the Jewish and Christian philosophers in defending the principles of Islam. He was also evenly skilled in medical sciences, and became a reference for many Western intellectuals. Ibn Khaldun was also a renowned and influential scholar in the fields of culture and sociology, and he had written seven volumes of the al-Ibar kitab. His wisdom had led to his appointment as a judge in Egypt by the Caliph (Thomson, 1996). When an administration did not discriminate against ethnic and religion, it resulted in the development of modern knowledge like Mathematics, Physics, Algebra, Astronomy, Science and Medicine. This led to the birth of many intellectuals such as Maimonides who was a Jewish theologies, and Thomas Aquinas, a wise Christian philosopher. The eminence of the intellectuals in dominating the field of knowledge had encouraged the non-Muslim community to learn the Arab language and assimilated with its culture. As a result, the Mozarab community was born, that were made up of Christian intellectuals who could fluently converse and write in Arabic. They also had a strong interest in the lifestyle of the Arabs that they had adopted in their daily routines. In fact, their fluency in Arabic had led to the translation of the Bible into the Arabic language. The stature of knowledge in Andalusia had lured many delegations from North Africa, France, German and Constantinople to visit the place.

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4. Conclusion
It is evident that the establishment of the Islamic civilization which was centralized in Medina had led it to become part of a world civilization, as a result of the Islamic armys success in spreading the culture to the conquered territories. The dominance of Islamic civilization was prominent with the establishment of the principles of justice, equality, and brotherhood that were founded upon the devotion towards Allah the Almighty which attracted many non-Muslim communities to embrace the religion as their faith. Therefore, a strong and strategic defense and military system play a huge role in determining a powerful state and development of civilization. Thus, countries that are weak and lack a systematic defense and high-technological weaponry need to beef up on these areas. The conflicts around the world, and clashes of different civilizations could easily crush a weak civilization if they do not possess a strong military.

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