Development of Islam after Muhammad witnessed the organisation of his ideas into a system. Since Prophet Muhammad was a preacher, it was left to his followers to codify and systematise his ideas. Islam came into being surrounded by religions with developed theologies so its own thought grew, stimulated by converts who brought into their new faith developed ideas derived from their former religion, and by discussions with Christians and others. Some of the ideas thus introduced into Islam had to be turned out later. The Holy Quran and tradition often speak of God as if He were a man. `When God created the world He wrote with His hand for Himself, `My mercy precedes My anger.`
It is often difficult, if not impossible, to separate the religious from the political. A political quarrel between Ali and the governor of Syria was the occasion of one phase of development of Islam. Ali claimed to succeed Muhammad because he was related to him but consented to submit his claim to arbitration. Some of his adherents said that this was an infringement of the sovereignty of God, who was the only judge (whose judgement was given by success or failure in war), and came out (Kharaja) against him, hence the Khariji sect came into being. They held that Ali had not done his duty as the head of the state and finally came to these conclusions- it is lawful to depose the Imam, the head of the state, and further, that any pious Muslim, even a black slave may be the ruler, contradicting the general idea that he must be an Arab of the tribe of Quraish. The Kharijis went on to claim that they were the only Muslims. This raised the question- what was a Muslim. The Kharijis said that the child of Muslim parents was not a Muslim till it was old enough to accept the faith on its own responsibility, that a Muslim was one who upheld the Khariji creed by word and deed, i.e. by the sword, that there are no venial sins for all sin is rebellion against God and leads to hell, and that faith without work is dead, rather, does not exist. They also raised the problem of what happened to children who died before they could accept Islam. Not all Kharijis accepted these conclusions in their extreme form but all regarded themselves as the elect of God.
Some urged that men have no right to judge one another and God is the only judge, He looks on the heart so that faith is all that counts. They set faith above deeds. This attitude was in part a reaction against the Kharijis and in part acquiescence in the rule of the Umayyads who were called ungodly by the strictest Muslims. They held that anything was better than a breach of the unity of Islam. These people took it for granted that the children of Muslims were Muslims.
The claims of the descendants of Ali to leadership were a cause of unrest and extravagant ideas were often associated with them. Many of them were foreign to Islam. Some believed that Ali after his death was in the clouds, the thunder was his voice and the lightning his whip. He would return to earth to fill it with righteousness as it is now full of injustice. Some thought that a son of Ali, whose mother belonged to the tribe of Hanifa and was no relative of the Prophet, was hidden on a mountain in Arabia, miraculously guarded and fed till he should return and restore all things. The idea of Imam is here combined with that of Mahdi who will come before the Resurrection and the Judgement. Twenty-six descendants of Ali were held to be Imam at different times and several men, who had no connection with him, claimed to inherit this office from one or other of them. These men stood outside Islam but are symptoms of the great religious excitement which flourished during the second century of Islam`s history. The prominence of women in some of these movements is a striking fact.
Some of the ideas which found acceptance among the followers are - there are two Gods, the greater in heaven, the lesser on earth. God is light in the form of a man and the letters of the alphabet are as the number of his limbs. The first thing to be created was the shadow of Muhammad. The word shadow seems to be used for what was called later the light of Muhammad. Ritual practices, heaven, and hell were interpreted as persons. The family of Muhammad was heaven. There are always two Imams, one speaking and one silent. The Imams are God. God makes his abode in every beautiful form. God was manifested in five persons, in Muhammad, his daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons. Opposed to these are five evil contraries and they are the greater for only through their evil is goodness known.
In Syria and Iraq other forces were at work. At an early date most Muslims believed that God was the absolute ruler of the world. Perhaps under Christian influence some questioned this belief and affirmed the freedom of man`s will. They were called Qadaris, from a root meaning power, arrangement. Either because they questioned God`s arrangement of human affairs or affirmed man`s power to live his own life. Some of them suffered martyrdom but they were soon merged in a later school, the Mutazili. Now ideas from Greek philosophy penetrated into Islam and terms like substance and accident became familiar. It became necessary to systematize ideas about the Quran. It was the word of God. God without a word was unthinkable so the Quran must be eternal and uncreated. It is probable that the Quran was the starting point for another doctrine- that of the divine attributes. As God is alive and knows, He must have life, power, knowledge, and speech. His speech is the word, the Quran. This is eternal so the other attributes are also eternal, and, like the Quran, have a being somehow apart from God.
Thus the development of Islam after Muhammad saw it pass through a number of phases and interpretations, which was the prime reason for the rise of the numerous sects within the religion.
