The Arab Empire & It’s Successor Chapter 6-2 632-750

Creation of an Empire After Muhammad's death, their was a leadership gap as to who should be the man in charge of Islam. Traditionally, it would be handed down to his son, but Muhammad had only daughters. In a culture where the man was viewed as superior to women, it was impossible for one of his daughters to take charge. After Muhammad passed his followers chose Abu Bakr to be their leader. Abu Bakr was Muhammad's Father-in-law. He was given the title of Caliph, which means successor to Muhammad.

Arab Conquest Islam under the leadership of Abu Bakr began to grow. Abu Bakr was able to bring together large numbers of Arabs under his guidance using conversion to Islam as the main tool. Muslims were aggressive in forcing people to join their religion. The Quran states that violence is permitted as long as it’s a “struggle in the way of God” Following Abu Bakr’s death control of Islam again became an issue. Disagreement led to the next 2 caliphs after Abu Bakr being assassinated.

The Umayyad Dynasty In 661 C.E. Mu’awiyah, a rival to the position of Caliph to Ali. He also created an official office for the caliph known as the Caliphate. One of the first things Mu’awiyah did was move the capital of the empire to Damascus in Syria from Medina in the Arabian Peninsula. Mu’awiyah was less violent than some other caliphs. He is known for saying “I never use my sword when my whip will do, nor my whip when my tongue will do.

The Umayyad Dynasty Under the Umayyad Dynasty the Islamic empire continued to grow. It expanded at both ends of the territory,(East & West) converting thousands to Islam along the way. New territories acquired during the expansion include Northern Africa, and then into western Europe. By 725 C.E. all of Spain had converted to Islam and a capital was established in Cordoba. Expansion was not an easy venture. Resistance was met along the way as the came in contact with the Byzantine empire (The old eastern half of the Roman empire)

Islam Divided As different people from different ethnic backgrounds converted to Islam, many of these non-Arabs felt that the Umayyad favored Arabs over the other ethnic groups. This division among the ethnic groups led to a revolt led by Ali’s second son, Hussein. Hussein's forces were defeated, but this revolt led to Islam breaking into 2 sects, Shia & Sunni. Shia- Shia Muslims only accept Ali’s descendants to be the true rulers of Islam, or Caliph. Sunni – Sunni Muslims believe that the Umayyad’s to be the true rulers of the Islamic movement even though many of them disagreed with the way the ran the empire.

The Abbasid Dynasty In 750, with more & more non-Arabs becoming upset with the Umayyad’s reign, a movement began led by a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, Abu al-Abbas. Al-Abbas’ revolution was successful and his dynasty’s reign would last for almost 5 centuries. Under Abbasid rule the capital was again moved, this time to Baghdad in modern day Iraq. Located between the Tigris & Euphrates, this allowed for easier trading, which made the empire wealthier.

Seljuk Turks & the Crusades After the decline of the Abbasid dynasty a power struggle began as to who should rule Islam. A war eventually broke out in Baghdad by 2 of Al-Abbas’ descendants. This led to the lack of a strong leader to led the Islamic empire. A group of non-Arabs known as Turks gained influence within the Islamic empire. The Turks eventually took Baghdad, although they still felt the Abbasid caliph to be the leader of Islam, they the Turks held all the political & military authority over Baghdad. They gave their leader the title of Sultan which means “ holder of power.”

The Crusades The main rival to Islam was still the Byzantine empire. After the Turks repeatedly defeated the Byzantines, the Byzantines turned to Christian Europe for help. Islamic forces invaded Jerusalem , which was a Christian territory at the time and defeated the Christian armies there. This continual fighting led to mistrust between Christians & Muslims for years to follow.

Mongols The Mongols were a group of nomadic people from Asia who gradual took over the entire Asian continent. Seeking to continue their expansion they now pushed in to Islamic territory. Mongols were not Muslims and really weren't religious. They eventually took over Baghdad and ended the Abbasid caliphate in 1258. Once they took over Baghdad they burned the city to the ground and ruled over the territory. Eventually many Mongols intermarried & converted to Islam. They began rebuilding the cities they destroyed