2. Topics
Hereditary elections.
Expansion of the
caliphate into one of
the biggest empires.
Taxation and
administrative policies.
Arabic as the official
language of the
empire.
Al-Andalus.
Caliphate of Cordoba
(peaceful diplomacy,
religious tolerance, and
cultural flourishing).
Dom of the Rock in
Jerusalem and the
Umayyad Mosque in
Damascus.
3. The
Umayyads
• The first Muslim dynasty (handing down power from father to
son), defined how an Islamic Empire would be ruled.
• Lack of descent from Muhammad.
• 661 – 750 CE -> early Islamic community was transformed
into the most powerful empire of the day.
• Mistreatment of non-Arab Muslims led to the collapse of the
Empire.
• Map of the Empire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYefB4pqanw
4. The beginnings
• The Umayyad clan was originally against Muhammad’s preaching, as the richest family
in Mecca they were afraid of changes.
• The family converted to Islam after Muhammad’s forces marched on Mecca (627CE).
• Muawiya, first Umayyad ruler, son of Abu Sufyan, became the governor of Syria
(replacing his older brother Yazid, who died of the plague).
• Muawiya turned Syria into his own power base and was launching successful attacks
against the Byzantines, his power extended when Uthman (his uncle) succeeded Umar
as the 3rd caliph.
• Uthman was assassinated (by Muslims who were angry at his concentration of power
in the hands of fellow Umayyads) and was succeeded by Ali.
5. First Fitna
• Ali refused to hand the Uthman’s assassins to Muawiya.
• Muawiya refused to recognize Ali as caliph and Ali demanded that Muawiya give up the
governorship of Syria.
• The conflict turned into a civil war (Fitna).
• Ali defeated Aisha (Muhammad’s widow) and other prominent Muslims at the Battle
of the Camel (Basra) but was unable to defeat Muawiya at the Battle of Siffin in Syria.
• Ali and Muawiya agreed to arbitrate.
• Soon after Ali was assassinated and Muawiya convinced his son Hasan to give up any
claim to the caliphate and retire from public life.
• Muawiya became caliph in 661 CE
6. Muawiya’s
government
• Attempt at centralized government.
• Administrative center was moved from Medina to Damascus.
• Christians, mostly former Byzantine officials, were given positions in the government.
• They adopted Byzantine financial and administrative systems in the provinces they
governed.
• Muawiya set up for more conquests. His goal was Constantinople, he launched the first
Arab siege of the city.
• Muawiya never succeeded in his Constantinople conquest, the Byzantines were helped by
an invention called Greek fire. Muawiya was defeated and needed to agree to pay annual
subsidy to the city.
• Muawiya died in 680 CE.
7. First caliphs
Rashidun Caliphate (632-661)
1 Abu Bakir (father-in-law)
2 Omar (father-in-law) assassinated
3 Uthman (son-in-law) assassinated
4 Ali (first cousin, son-in-law) assassinated
----
5 Hassan (grandson) abdicated
Umayyad Caliphate (661-750)
6 Muawiyah
10 Abd al Malik
… 19
8. Second Fitna
- Muawiya broke the convention by naming his son Yazid his successor, starting the first
Islamic dynasty.
- Many Muslims saw the hereditary election as something wrong. Next leader should be
either chosen by the community or should be from Muhammad’s family.
- Hassan’s younger brother, Hussein, started the rebellion against Yazid, which the later put
down with the massacre at Karbala.
- After Hussein’s death another Umayyad’s enemy emerged: Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (son of
one of Muhammad’s companions), who claimed to be the legit caliph.
- Yazid sent troops to besiege Mecca, where Ibn al-Zubayr had his base, but didn’t manage to
take over the city (during the bombardment Kaaba was severely damaged).
- Yazid died soon after and was succeeded by his son, Muawiya II, who wasn’t a strong leader
and who abdicated the throne.
- The throne was taken by Marwan, from a separate branch of the Umayyad clan. His wasn’t
a strong leader either and wasn’t able to stop the second civil war (second fitna).
9. Abd al-Malik
- Marwan’s son, believed to be the most important Umayyad caliph.
- A strong leader who consolidated the Umayyads and strengthened the Empire.
- He defeated the Shiites in Iraq (the guerillas which were still looking for revenge after
Hussein’s death) and he took over Mecca (Ibn al-Zubayr was killed at the last stand at
the Kaaba). The Umayyads gained a firm control over the caliphate.
- During his reign, the caliphate broke from following the ways of its Byzantine and
Persian predecessors, and instead developed its own unique character that would
define Islamic states from then on.
10. Abd al-Malik’s
reforms
- Emphasized the importance of Islam to the state, and claimed the role of leader of
Muslims, as well as leader of the empire.
- Used state money to build mosques and constructed one of the most important
building in Islam – the Dome of the Rock.
- Arabic became the primary language of the empire, Arabic replaced Greek in Syria and
Egypt.
- First coins with Islamic motifs on them (previously, the caliphate was using Byzantine
and Persian models). The new coins had inscriptions which read that the Islamic
Empire was not a continuation of Byzantine or Persian rule, but a new state based on
Islam.
- After the Second Fitna he solidified control of Iran and Iraq. In 695CE Carthage was
captured, the crown jewel of Byzantine North Africa.
- Islam was the center of the state.
11. The Dome of the
Rock
- It’s not a mosque but a monument built upon the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem. It was where the Jewish Temple stood until it was
destroyed by the Romans.
- It’s the spot where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to
heaven.
- It was most likely a pilgrimage site, since Kaaba was for some time
in the hands of Ibn al-Zubayr.
- It may have been built to overshadow the Christian Church of the
Holy Sepulcher and to dominate Christianity and Judaism in
Jerusalem.
- It’s decorated with verses from Qur’an which directly rebut
Christian beliefs (There is no god but God alone, without partner).
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCXjQHFQF14
12. Expansion after
Abd al-Malik
- His son, Al-Walid, started the invasion of Western Europe, by crossing the Straits of
Gibraltar in 711CE and entering Spain.
- The Umayyads defeated the Visigoths in Spain (a Germanic tribe which had taken Spain
from the Romans) and successfully integrated the new lands into the caliphate.
- Tha Umayyad caliphate became the largest empire so far in history, with lands ranging
from Spain to the borders of modern-day China.
13.
14. Damascus Mosque
- Built in 715CE.
- The 4th holiest side in Islam.
- The largest and oldest mosque in the world.
- Built on a Christian basilica dedicated to John
the Baptist (honored as prophet by both
religions).
- It’s believed by Muslims that Jesus will return to
this place before the End of Days.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty3ArPL1yF
g
15. Decline of the
Umayyads
- Al-Walid was succeeded by his brother Sulayman (715CE), who began the Second Arab
Siege of Constantinople, which lasted for over a year. The Islamic forces were
eventually forced to give up. This would be the last attempt by the Arabs to conquer
Byzantium.
- Sulayman was succeeded by his cousin, Umar II, the last great Umayyad caliph. He
continued Abd al-Malik efforts to integrate Islam into the state: exempted new
converts to Islam from paying the jizya tax, treated kindly the mawali (non-Arab
converts to Islam), built bridges to the Shiites by ending the public coursing of Ali, and
he avoided luxuries, giving instead money to the poor.
- After Umar II (only 3 years in power) a series of less capable rulers followed. They
didn’t continue his policies, the empire was still in crisis after the failure of the Second
Arab Siege of Constantinople and the Islamic invasion of France was crushed by the
Franks under Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732CE.
16. Third Fitna and the
Abbasid Revolution
- Another civil war against the Umayyads started in 744CE, mainly in the eastern lands
(former Persia).
- Main reasons of discontent:
-> Arabs in Iran felt overlooked by the government in Damascus.
-> Only Muslim Arabs were first-class citizens. Mawali (converts) had an inferior status.
The largest group of mawali was the Persians.
-> There were also many Shiites in the eastern part of the empire, the believed the
Umayyad caliphate was illegitimate (because it didn’t descent from Muhammad).
- All these groups came together under Abdul ‘Abbas as-Saffah (from Muhammad’s uncle,
Abbas, line).
17. The Abbasid
Revolution
- The Abbasids under as-Saffah marched west and met Marwin II at the Battle of the
Zab.
- Marwin was defeated and killed, as-Saffah captured Damascus and was proclaimed the
new caliph. He invited the remaining members of the Umayyad family to a feast and
had them slaughtered.
- Only one member of the Umayyad dynasty, Abd al-Rahman, escaped. He made it to
Spain and declared al-Andalus independent from the Abbasids. The Umayyad family
would continue to rule Islamic Spain until the 11th century.
- The Abbasids started their own dynasty and the golden age of Islamic civilization
started.
