Islamic Theocracy

From Heterodontosaurus Balls

This article is about the ideology. For the religion itself, see 🟢 Islam.

Islamic Theocracy, or Muslim Theocracy, also known as Islamism, is a 🟢 culturally right, 🟢 authoritarian and economically variable ideology. 🟢 Political aspects of 🟢 Islam are derived from the 🟢 Qur'an, the Sunnah (the sayings and living habits of 🟢 Muhammad), Islamic 🟢 history, and elements of political movements in the Islamic world.

Unlike many other 🟢 religions and their 🟢 theocratic counterparts, Islamic Theocracy and Islam are deeply intertwined down to the foundational bits, as the original Islam does indeed advocate for a theocracy, and Muhammad himself was a 🟢 warlord.

Islamic Theocracy is known to promote 🟢 peace when he are outnumbered by opposition forces (such as 🟢 pagans and 🟢 Hindus), but 🟢 wages war when he gets a powerful army or is no longer outnumbered.

Islamic Theocracy is what is known as an "Islamic country". This is not to be confused with "Muslim country", which refers to a country with majority Muslim population, while not necessarily ruled by Sharia law.

History

The 🟢 history of the Islamic Theocracies could be summed up with six stages:

  1. 🟢 City-state (622-632)
  2. 🟢 Imperial (632-c. 750)
  3. 🟢 Universal (c. 750-c. 900)
  4. 🟢 Decentralization (c. 900-c. 1500)
  5. 🟢 Fragmentation (c. 1500-1918)
  6. 🟢 Nation states (1918-)

Three Caliphates

The first Islamic Theocracy was founded in 622, known as the 🟢 First Islamic State (Medina Islamic Government), which was ruled by 🟢 Muhammad himself. During the leadership of Muhammad, the Medina Islamic Government conquered much of 🟢 pre-Islamic Arabia. After Muhammad died in 632, the State would be transformed into a Caliphate, with 🟢 Abu Bakr became the first Rightly Guided (🟢 Rashidun) Caliph. The Rashidun Caliphate would expand in pretty much all directions, spreading the 🟢 Islamic religion far and wide.

After the collapse of the Rashidun Caliphate in 661, the 🟢 Umayyad Caliphate was created and became the first Islamic theocracy under 🟢 dynastic rule. The Umayyads expanded Islamic clay even further and are remembered for conquering Iberia with the helps of the 🟢 Berbers and 🟢 Moors in the 720s. The declining Umayyad Caliphate was overthrown by the 🟢 Abbasid Caliphate in 750, who claimed legitimacy through descent from Muhammad's uncle 🟢 Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. Abbasid shifted the center of Islamic rule eastward, founding their capital at 🟢 Baghdad in 762. Under early Abbasid rule, Islamic Theocracy reached his 🟢 intellectual and 🟢 administrative height, overseeing the 🟢 Islamic Golden Age. While the Abbasid Caliph remained the supreme 🟢 religious authority, real 🟢 political power increasingly shifted to 🟢 viziers, 🟢 military commanders, and 🟢 regional governors.

Alongside the Abbasid Caliphate, there were a few split-off caliphates as well. Most notably was the 🟢 Caliphate of Córdoba which existed in Muslim Iberia for a few hundred years, starting in 756. This caliphate eventually collapsed into multiple smaller Islamic states in 1031. This weakened the Islamic presence in Iberia and led way for the 🟢 Catholics to crusade south and forcefully destroy the Islamic presence in the region, retake Iberia and reestablish Catholic authority in what is known as the "Reconquista".

By the 9th and 10th centuries, Abbasid authority weakened, leading to the fragmentation of Islamic theocratic rule. Several semi-independent Islamic states emerged that still recognized the Caliph in name but ruled autonomously, including the 🟢 Aghlabids, 🟢 Tulunids, and 🟢 Samanids. At the same time, rival Islamic theocracies appeared, most notably the 🟢 Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171), an 🟢 Isma'ili Shi'a theocracy that ruled North Africa and later Egypt, founding 🟢 Cairo as his capital and directly challenging Abbasid 🟢 Sunni legitimacy.

In 1258, the Abbasid Caliphate was effectively destroyed when 🟢 Mongol forces sacked Baghdad, ending the era of the classical three caliphates. Although a 🟢 symbolic Abbasid Caliphate was later maintained in Cairo under 🟢 Mamluk protection that lasted until 1517, real 🟢 theocratic power had shifted to Islamic sultanates that ruled in the name of Islam and combined religious authority with military kingship.

Ottoman Caliphate

In 1517, the 🟢 Ottoman Empire destroyed the 🟢 Mamluk Sultanate plus the 🟢 Abbasid Dynasty, taking on the title of "caliphate" and thus was also referred to as the "Ottoman Caliphate" (though some people suggest the Empire and Caliphate are different entities for some reason). Ottoman's claim to 🟢 caliphal legitimacy was strengthened by his control of the holy cities of 🟢 Mecca and 🟢 Medina, as well as his role as defenders of 🟢 Sunni rule against both European 🟢 Christian powers and the 🟢 Safavid Persian Empire, who promoted 🟢 Shia rule. The long Ottoman-Safavid rivalry effectively divided the Islamic world along Sunni-Shia lines.

The Ottomans were considered the head of Islam for centuries, especially after the 🟢 Persian Empire fell into disarray in 1736, leaving the Shias without an effective leader. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ottomans went on a long period of decline, officially collapsing in 1922 in the aftermath of their defeat in World War I. The Ottoman Caliphate would be officially dissolved two years later, with the title of "Caliphate" now going to, well, nobody.

Middle East Cold War

After the fall of the 🟢 Ottoman Empire, most of Arabia was conquered by 🟢 al-Saud, the ruling family of 🟢 Nejd. They went about conquering 🟢 Shammar, a pro-Ottoman clan in the north, and 🟢 Hejaz, a pro-🟢 British kingdom in the west. After these conquests, they established the 🟢 Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, which was recognized by the 🟢 League of Nations as the 🟢 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a few years later.

Meanwhile, Persia was still collapsing. In 1925, the 🟢 Sublime State of Persia was dissolved and the 🟢 Imperial State of Persia was founded. In 1979, Persia collapsed due to the Iranian Revolution. In his place, the 🟢 Islamic Republic of Iran was formed. Iran and Saudi Arabia became natural enemies as Iran represented 🟢 Republicanism and 🟢 Shia Theocracy, whilst Saudi Arabia represented 🟢 Monarchism and 🟢 Sunni Theocracy. This resulted in a cold war in the Middle East between the two over who was the rightful leader of the Islamic world.

Arab Spring

The Arab Spring began in late 2010 and rapidly spread across much of the Arab world, revolts sprung up to depose 🟢 dictators and 🟢 monarchs all over the Middle East due to 🟢 economic hardship, 🟢 corruption, 🟢 political repression, and lack of representation. Governments were challenged in countries across North Africa and the Middle East, leading to the overthrow of several long-standing rulers.

These revolts alarmed 🟢 Saudi Arabia, who feared instability and the spread of 🟢 republican movements that could threaten his 🟢 absolute monarchy. In contrast, 🟢 Iran generally supported revolutionary movements, hoping to expand his influence and gain ideological allies. However, this pattern was not universal. In 🟢 Syria and 🟢 Iraq, Iran supported the existing governments while Saudi Arabia backed opposition forces.

Although some governments fell, many uprisings either failed or descended into prolonged instability. By December 2012, the Arab Spring had largely subsided, leaving behind a deeply unsettled region.

Arab Winter

Following the Arab Spring, mass violence occurred throughout the Islamic world. Civil wars raged, instability widespread, humanitarian crises increased, and the state authorities of several countries collapsed. Power vacuums allowed armed groups and 🟢 jihadist movements to expand.

The most notable outcome was the rise of the 🟢 Islamic State, which seized large portions of 🟢 Syria and 🟢 Iraq and declared a new 🟢 Caliphate in 2014, though this claim was rejected by nearly all Muslim governments and scholars. ISIS was gradually defeated by regional and international forces, losing most of his territory by 2017.

In 2021, the withdrawal of 🟢 US coalition forces from 🟢 Afghanistan led to the rapid collapse of the Afghan government. The 🟢 Taliban retook control of the country and reestablished the 🟢 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, once again placing much of the nation under a strict form of Islamic governance.

Trivia

  • In most Islamic theocracies, 🟢 Jews, 🟢 Christians and other non-Muslims have to pay the jizya 🟢 tax for protection, as commanded in the 🟢 Quran.

Relationships

Halal

Shubhah

Haram

  • 🟢 Zionism - YOU ARE THE REASON FOR THE CONFLICTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND YOUR ACTIONS TOWARDS THE FAITHFUL ARE COMPARABLE TO 🟢 HIM, BY 🟢 ALLAH 🟢 ISRAEL WILL CEASED FROM THE MAP!!! some Muslim countries recognize you and have positive relations with you, but they still support 🟢 Palestine
  • 🟢 Crusadism - NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU DID DURING MIDDLE AGES! HOW DARE YOU PUSH BACK AGAINST MY 🟢 IMPERIALISM?! BY 🟢 ALLAH IF YOU ATTACK AGAIN, I SHALL COVER MY BLADE IN YOUR BLOOD! 🟢 Cultural exchange and 🟢 trade? Eh, why not.
  • 🟢 State Atheism - BLASPHEMY!
  • 🟢 Kemalism (after 1923) - WHY DID YOU HAVE TO ABOLISH ME‽
  • 🟢 Black Nationalism - My 🟢 slaves. I will castrate you so you can't reproduce in my land!
  • 🟢 Sikh Theocracy - 🟢 Kafir made to resist my 🟢 Empire! So what if I killed your people? HOW DARE YOU NOT SELL HALAL MEAT IN YOUR SHOP! PREPARE TO BE HARASSED AND HAVE YOUR CARS DESTROYED!!!
    • Worry not, my peace-loving citizen! I will put this 🟢 Islamophobe behind bars!
  • 🟢 LGBT Movement - Let's check what the 🟢 Quran says. Well… off to 🟢 execution you go!

How to draw

Flag with Islamic symbolism

Fun fact: the star and crescent did not originate from 🟢 Islam, but rather 🟢 pre-Islamic Arabian Paganism. 🟢 Muhammad did not use it. However, many Islamic designs have adopted it as a symbol of Islam, and it became institutionalized under the 🟢 Ottoman Empire.

  1. Draw a ball.
  2. Fill it with green.
  3. On the middle of the ball, draw a crescent moon facing right and a star in between the thin ends of the moon in yellow.
  4. Add the eyes and you are done!
Color Name HEX
Green #296609
Yellow #FDC82F
  • Concepts for Religion-Theocracy design differences
    Concepts for Religion-Theocracy design differences

Notes

  1. ↑ A poster titled "Halâskârân-ı İslâm" (Saviors of Islam) published during the War of Independence in 🟢 Türkiye 1919 depicted various commanders such as 🟢 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as saviors of Islam. Other commanders depicted as saviors are as follows:
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