1. Slide Show by Dr. A.S. Hashim
Benu Umayya
Slide Show by Dr. A.S. Hashim

2. Umayya Dynasty (لأُمَوِيُّون‎‎أ, or بَنُو أُمَيَّة)
The Umayya clan had first come to power under the third Khalifa, Uthman ibn Affan,
but Banu Umayya regime was founded by Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, who was:
long-time governor of Syria, and it was:
after the end of the First Muslim Civil War.
Syria remained Banu Umayya’s main power base thereafter, and
Damascus was their capital.

4. The Dynasty Benu Umayya Banu Sufyan Banu Marwan Mu’awiya I Yazid I
Mu’awiya II ibn Yazid
Banu Marwan
Marwan ibn Hakam
Abdul Malik ibn Marwan
al-Walid I ibn Abd al-Malik
Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik
And seven other rulers

5. Mu’awiya Ibn Abu Sufyan
Upon the death of his brother Yazid in 640,
Mu'awiya was appointed governor of Damascus by the Khalifa Omar and
gradually gained mastery over other areas of Syria.
By 647 Mu'awiya had built a Syrian tribal army strong enough to repel a Byzantine attack and
in subsequent years to take the offensive against the Byzantines in campaigns that resulted in the capture of Cyprus (649) and Rhodes (654) and
a devastating defeat of the Byzantine navy off the coast of Lycia in Anatolia (655).
At the same time, Mu’awiya periodically dispatched land expeditions into Anatolia.
All these campaigns, however, came to a halt with the accession of Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib to the Khilaafah, when a new and decisive phase of Mu’awiya’s career began.

6. Mu'awiya at the Palace

7. Muslims and Christians
Mu'awiya's wife Maysun (Yazid's mother) was a Christian.
She was Mu'awiya's favorite
Later she was divorced and sent to her Christian tribe (Taghlub) along with Yazid
Yazid was brought up in a Christian environment.
The relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were stable in this time.
Banu Umayya were involved in frequent battles with the Christian Byzantines.
Syria, had remained largely Christian like many other parts of the empire.

8. Cursing Ali Requirement

9. Tomb of Mu’awiya

11. Dynasty of Banu Umayya
Muawiya I ibn Abu Sufyan 28 July 661 – 27 April 680
Yazid I ibn Mu'awiya 27 April 680 – 11 November 683
Mu'awiya II ibn Yazid11 November 683– June 684
Marwan I ibn al-Hakam June 684– 12 April 685
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan12 April 685 – 8 October 705
al-Walid I ibn Abd al-Malik 8 October 705 – 23 February 715
Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik 23 February 715 – 22 September 717
Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz 22 September 717 – 4 February 720
Yazid II ibn Abd al-Malik 4 February 720 – 26 January 724
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 26 January 724 – 6 February 743
al-Walid II ibn Yazid 6 February 743 – 17 April 744
Yazid III ibn al-Walid 17 April 744 – 4 October 744
Ibrahim ibn al-Walid 4 October 744 – 4 December 744
Marwan II ibn Muhammad (ruled from Harran in Jazira)4 December 744 – 25 January 750

12. The Dynasty Banu Umayya Banu Sufyan Banu Marwan Mu’awiya I Yazid I
Mu’awiya II ibn Yazid
Banu Marwan
Marwan ibn Hakam
Abdul Malik ibn Marwan
al-Walid I ibn Abd al-Malik
Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik
And seven other rulers

13. Banu Marwan
Abd al-Malik succeeded in consolidating Umayya rule, and proceeded with a series of administrative reforms including:
the conversion of the bureaucracy from Greek to Arabic, and
the minting of new currency.
This consolidation set the stage for the renewal of territorial expansion in Asia and Africa under
Walid I (705–15), and
the increased military pressure against Byzantium under Suleiman (715–17).
Omar II (717–20) attempted to reverse the course of tribal-based politics in an effort to restore the Islamic political ideal of transcending partisanships.

14. Abdul Malik: Ka’ba damaged

15. The Byzantine Currency
The Byzantine emperor was threatening:
to withdraw the dominant Byzantine currency, thus sabotage the Islamic Ummah
unless concessions were made by the Muslims, (which were unacceptable).
Until now the currency in the Muslim world had been predominantly the Byzantine currency.
Abdul Malik the Khalifa sends for Imam al-Baaqir to solve the crisis (the currency problem facing the nation).

16. Al-Baaqir solves the currency problem Orientalists call it a Stroke of Genius.
Stop dealing with the Byzantine currency,
Build Muslim currency (coins) instead,
Inscribe on one side La Ilaaha Illa Allah,
Inscribe on the other side Muhammad Rasool Allah,
Stamp the edge of the coin with the date and locality, and
Have special scales to weigh the gold currency pieces to make sure its accurate worth.

17. Imam Al-Baaqir and the Currency

18. Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi
In 707, Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik renovated the mosque of the Prophet (pbuh).
It took three years for the work to be completed.
Raw materials were procured from the Byzantine Empire.
The area of the mosque was almost doubled.
The mosque was reconstructed in a trapezoid shape with a length of ft.
For the first time, minarets were built in Medina as al-Walid constructed four minarets around it.

19. Mawaali and Demise of Banu Umayya
The expansion of the Islamic empire led to
the emergence of a substantial class of non-tribal Muslims (Mawaali),
who became the base from which anti-Umayya movements drew their supporters.
The most notable of these movements was the Abbasi,
which eventually succeeded in toppling the last Umayya Khalifa, Marwan II, in 750.
A branch of the Umayya family, led by Abdul Rahman al-Dakhil, was able to reach Cordoba and
to reestablish Umayya rule (780–1031) in Muslim Spain.

20. Hisham Castle

21. The Muslim Conquests Banu Umayya continued the Muslim conquests,
incorporating the Caucasus,
Transoxiana,
Sindh,
the Maghreb and
the Iberian Peninsula (Andalus) into the Muslim world.
At its greatest extent, the Khilaafah covered 11,100,000 km2 (4,300,000 sq mi) and 62 million people (29% of the world's population).

22. Muslim Expansion

23. The new Expansion Blundering
Devotees of Ali to far away land (Thukhoor)
Sample of 30,000 girls uprooted from the western front:
To be sold as slaves
Or be used as concubines
Not knowing about Islam or Islamic Culture
Not knowing of the local language or customs
Some given as gifts to the authorities.

24. Banu Umayya Rule
Banu Umayya Rule was very racist and secular by nature and extremely cruel especially towards the Shi’a.
At the time, the taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by most Muslims.
The Christian and Jewish population still had autonomy;
their judicial matters were dealt with in accordance with their own laws and by their own religious heads or appointees  
Non-Muslim religious groups (still a majority in times of the Umayya Khilaafah) were allowed to practice their own religion.
The welfare state of both the Muslim and the non-Muslim poor started by Omar ibn al Khattab had also continued, financed by the Zakat tax levied only on Muslims.

25. Banu Umayya Administration
Prominent positions were held by Christians,
some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments.
Outstanding among them was Sergio the Roman and John of Damascus.
The employment of Christians was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria.
This policy also boosted Mu'awiya's popularity with the Christians and solidified Syria as his power base.

26. Economy: Coin at Mu’awiya’s time
Byzantine

27. Al-Masjid Al-Umawi
The Umayya Mosque site has housed sacred buildings for thousands of years,
in each incarnation transformed to accommodate the faith of the time.
An ancient Aramaic temple dedicated to the god Hadad is the oldest layer of architectural use to be uncovered on archeological expeditions.
During the Roman period, the Temple of Jupiter occupied the space.
This edifice was transformed to a church in the fourth century.
This church was expanded to form the Cathedral of St. John, situated on the western side of the older temple.

28. Al-Masjid Al-Umawi
After the Islamic conquest of Damascus in 661, during the reign of Mu'awiya, the Muslims shared the church with the Christians.
The Muslims prayed in the eastern section of the ancient temple structure and the Christians in the western side.
This collective use continued until Walid ibn Abdul Malik's reign, when the prayer space became inadequate
both in terms of capacity and
the need for an architectural monument to represent the new religion.
The Khalifa negotiated with Christian leaders to take over the space, and in return al-Walid promised
that all the other churches around the city would be safe,
with the addition of a new church dedicated to the Virgin granted to the Christians as compensation.

29. Al-Masjid Al-Umawi

30. Al-Masjid Al-Umawi

31. Head of Imam Husain in Al-Masjid Al-Umawi

32. Topography: Al-Masjid Al-Umawi

33. Building Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa
Took 7 years to build
Cost all income from Egypt over a period of 7 years
Destroyed by earthquake on two occasions
Was rebuilt by the ruling dynasties
Final form by the Fatimi Khalifa Ali al-Zahir

34. Al-Masjid al-Aqsa: (المسجد الاقصى‎‎)
Al-Aqsa Mosque (المسجد الاقصى‎‎) is the third holiest site in Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Whilst the entire site on which the silver-domed mosque sits,
along with the Dome of the Rock,
seventeen gates, and
four minarets, was itself historically known as the Al-Aqsa Mosque,
Muslims assert that Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey.
Muhammad (pbuh) led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the emigration, when God directed him to turn towards the Ka`ba.

35. Al-Aqsa Mosque: (المسجد الاقصى‎‎)
The mosque was originally a small prayer house built by Omar the second Khalifa,
but was rebuilt and expanded by the Umayya Khalifa Abdul Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705 CE.
The mosque was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 746 and rebuilt by the Abbasi Khalifa al-Mansoor in 754.
His successor al-Mahdi rebuilt it again in 780.
Another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033,
but two years later the Fatimi Khalifa Ali al-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present day.

36. Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa

37. Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa

38. Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa

39. Highlights of Banu Umayya
Banu Umayya sole criterion for honor and dishonor was their intense enmity and excessive hatred for Muhammad (pbuh) and the members of his household, (Ali, Fatima, al-Hasan and al-Husain).
They sought nearness to those who opposed the Prophet, accorded them high positions and grants so that they enjoyed favors and respect among the populace.
They sought to denigrate, fabricate defects, falsify reports that denied the superiority and merits of anyone who used to love the Prophet (pbuh) and would defend him.

40. Mu'awiya versus the Shi’a
Initially, Mu’awiya was engaged in consolidating his own position by lavishly bribing amenable persons and killing or at least confiscating the properties of those who were even suspected to sympathize with Ali.
Mu'awiya removed the names of the Shi'a from the citizenship registers.
He stopped the state pensions to any one suspected to be a Shi'a.
He ordered that the testimony of anyone suspected to be a Shi'a should not be admitted in evidence.

41. Sample of Mu'awiya versus the Shi’a
In his rule of about half a century, Mu’awiya laid a solid foundation for the extreme hatred toward Imam Ali (a.s.) and anybody even remotely linked or sympathetic to him.
In the course of time, the Shi'a along with their Imams inherited the legacy of blind persecution by their opponents.
The Abbasi gained power on the basis of a popular and widespread perception that Banu Umayya were usurpers of Power and that the Khilaafah rightly belonged to Ali and his offspring.
After gaining power, the Abbasids became much crueler out of the unfounded fear that if not persecuted, the Imams would wrest the power from them.

42. The downfall of Banu Umayya
The downfall of Banu Umayya was largely due to:
their racism, repression, and tyranny
and also due to their nomination of successors within the life period of the working Khalifa.
The Abbasi also committed the same blunders
and they never cared to change their attitude and conduct.” 
The precedent of nominating the successor was set by Abu Bakr when he nominated Omar as his successor, and the example was scrupulously followed by Mu’awiya and his successors. 

43. Highlights of Banu Umayya’s Rule

44. Banu Umayya Toppled

45. Banu Umayya: Fleeing to the West

46. Banu Abbas replace Banu Umayya

47. Taking Refuge in Spain

48. Al-Andalus

49. Khilaafah of Cordoba

50. Muslim Rule in al-Andalus

51. Banu Abbas Take Over

52. Finally, Read Surah Al-Asr together
I swear by the time,
وَالْعَصْرِ
Lo! man is a state of loss,
إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ
Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ

53. Thank you and may Allah Bless you.
Be in Allah’s Care
Thank you and may Allah Bless you.
Dr. A.S. Hashim