This content is protected against AI scraping.
A lot of people, when asked what they would do if they had access to a time machine, reply that they would go back and kill Hitler. And fair enough I suppose, though Stalin would also be an excellent target…and Chairman Mao. However, after listening to a very interesting programme on Radio 4 today I’d opt for Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Bakr.
Who? You might ask because their names are probably not that widely known…though they should be given they are indirectly responsible for the deaths of an awful lot of people. More than Hitler, Stalin and Mao combined, easily.
Why? Because they were responsible for the continuation of Islam into modern times. Had it not been for them it would probably just have died out as the Arabian tribes all dispersed and went their separate ways just as they had before Muhammad came along and united them all.
Here’s what happened:
Muhammad died in 632AD (our calendar) but failed to name a successor to the head of Islam. Prior to his death he had managed to bring together all the warring tribes of the Arabian Peninsular together under his banner. This was no easy task. In fact, when they heard that the great prophet had jumped aboard his winged horse and galloped (flapped?) off to join his, quite frankly, vicious master, they were all about to return to their old ways. In fact the rumblings of dissent were quite loud and threatening.
Up steps a fellow by the name of Umar ibn al-Khattab who was a pretty good friend of Muhammad. He saw that the boss was dead and looked around at the possible options for succession. There was Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin and Abu Bakr one of Muhammad’s numerous fathers-in-law.
According to the programme I was listening to, Ali, being the closest male family member, had to remain with the body. Umar realised there was very little time to waste if they wanted to maintain control over the Arab Tribes so he grabbed hold of Abu Bakr and raced off to the front of the gathered tribes.
The heads of the tribes were a bit argy bargy but a few of them called for Umar to lead them. But Umar was too canny for that. He pushed Abu Bakr forward and told them they should follow him under the flag of Islam. And they did.
Abu Bakr only lasted another three years and was then replaced by Ali but the damage had already been done. The Arab Tribes had been placated and remained a unified force which embraced Islam from that day forth never to shake their beliefs again. Okay there was the three way split between Sunni, Shia and something called Khawarij but they are all Moslems…kind of like Catholics, Protestants, Presbyterians, Baptists, Americans, etc all being different flavours of Christian.
So, obviously if someone could go back in time it would need to be to the day of Muhammad’s death. The person needs to be outside his lean-to and wait for Umar and Abu to emerge. Then kill them both. Quickly and decisively.
What would happen next would save an awful lot of aggression down through the ages as the Arab Tribes became all flustered and left Medina to live their lives in sandy obscurity…until the importance of oil was discovered of course.
What a different world we would live in.
