The “fearsome
reputation” of the Mongols is known throughout most of the world today. There are so many accounts of the Mongol
conquests and illustrations of Mongol warriors.
The Mongols were extremely nomadic peoples of Inner Asia who drank the
milk and ate the flesh of their horses.
The horse was the major source of travel and food for the Mongols and
held extreme importance within their nomadic tradition. The Mongols never practiced agriculture or
farming and possessed no understanding of farming. Of course there is no proper discussion of
the Mongols without mentioning the leader of the Mongols-Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan was the great ruler and
conqueror who greatly expanded the Mongol territory. Genghis was concerned with breaking down the
tribal structure of the Mongol peoples in order that the military, or army, be
the main focus of loyalty. He attempted
to create a disciplined fighting force in which serving in the army was
mandatory. The Mongols used terror to
plunder these cities and literally “take over.” “Blind obedience to the orders
of the Great Khan was expected from everyone.”
In addition to being great warriors and extremely nomadic, the Mongols
had a very interesting relationship with religion.
The religion associated with the Mongols
almost always is Shamanism. The Shaman is the “chief religious specialist” of
the Inner Asian world. The Shaman is
important to the conversion narrative of Inner Asia. Despite his importance, he is seen as a
“loner.” The role of the Shaman and Shamanism
itself is very spiritualistic. Despite
the spiritualistic role, the Mongols seemed to be interested in communal life
and “communal well being.” Is this what
facilitated the encounter of the traditions of Islam and that of the
Mongols? Islamization is difficult to
understand in the context of Inner Asia.
Islam has a strict set of rules.
There are rulings for everything and many Muslims view Islam to be a
“way of life” or culture. So, it becomes
extremely difficult to mix tradition, Mongol tradition especially, with the tradition
of Islam. In order to be successful in
Islam as a Mongol convert, it was necessary to give up some of the traditions
and customs of the Mongols, like drinking for instance. This does not mean that religion was not
important to the Mongols because it was.
There were debates concerning religion and choosing the best religion
for the community and many people converted to Islam and even other religions
outside of Shamanism.
It
is very interesting though because the dynamics of Mongol tradition and society
did not necessarily lend its way to Islam in some ways. Genghis Khan wanted to be seen as the
absolute authority and “he could not afford to tolerate challenges to his
authority.” In Islam, men should not
blindly follow other men but that they should obey Allah and make their decisions
based on the what is right according to Qur’an and Sunnah. Another interesting aspect concerning the
interplay of Mongol and Islamic tradition is the drinking component. In Islam there is not drinking. However, in Mongol tradition this was
big. In Islam, if you are intoxicated,
your prayers will not be accepted for 40 days which is an extreme
detriment. There were many Mongols who converted
to Islam, but did not give up or sacrifice the drinking that was still so much
apart of Mongol tradition. Perhaps to
the Mongols, religion was important and they possessed a desire to see the
truth. But they were too immersed in
their own tradition and culture as Mongols to completely immerse themselves
into a somewhat different way of life despite their belief in the religious
doctrine. One final point of interest is
the discussion of Islam as a “change of heart” or a “change of state.” Deweese believes that the name “Muslim,” one
who submits to the will of Allah, is very important and enough for the one to
say I am Muslim in Inner East Asia. In
my opinion, the word Muslim is very important and it does have a powerful
meaning. However, there needs to be a
change of heart. A change of heart
cannot be necessarily seen. But, it can be seen in some extent through ones
actions. If Islam is in your heart,
there would be no question of sacrificing drinking and gambling and acts that
are prohibited in Islam. The Mongols
seemed to view religion as a change of state and this may be why it was so easy
for them to go back and forth. But
religion was still important to them…right?
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