The Caliphs

Sulayman’s underwhelming time in charge ended with a twist, and Omar ibn Abdulaziz proved to be a real surprise. The famously pious Umayyad had a vision for the umma, and he used his new position to impose an order unseen since the early, predynastic days of the caliphate. Although he is not covered in much detail, our sources roundly praise him for his courageous reforms and religious character courageous reforms.

Glossary

Ali ibn il Husayn ibn Ali bin Abi Talib: Ali Zainulabidin was the only (adult) male survivor of the Hashemite massacre at Karbala. He was too ill to take part in the fighting and the 21 year old was spared, as was his 4 year old son Mohammad. Many pro-Umayyad accounts exaggerate the grace with which Yazid received them in Damascus, trying to blame Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad for the travesty and portray the caliph as having been respectful of the prophet’s clan. Zainulabidin was the first Hashemite who returned to his clan’s clerical roots. He delved into religious studies deeper than any around him, earning his moniker, best of the worshippers. He died aged 53, and was succeeded by his son Mohammad as leader of the Hashemite clan. “Constantine”: by this point the emperor of Byzantium was a Leo III, a leader who would come to be known as a restorer of Byzantine power. He rose to power in a coup just before Sulayman’s siege of Constantinople, and his defense of the capital against Sulayman’s bungling invasion came just in time to save the empire from what would have surely been a mortal blow. While the caliphate was the more powerful of the two powers in terms military might and overall resources, Leo did well to keep his armies together, mainly by keeping them in fortifications and avoiding pitched battles. Still, it worked, and the Byzantines weren’t the pushovers they were back in Abdulmalik and Walid’s time.

Suleiman is one of the least documented caliphs in our sources. His short reign proved popular despite its lack of achievement: all he did was live large, reward his close supporters, and punish his opponents. This was somehow enough for him to be remembered positively, if at all.

If Walid’s reign was the zenith of Umayyad power, then his succession marked an inflection point through which we begin to see some cracks which may have been there all along. Leaving his governor of Iraq and the East unchecked led to great discontent, and different rifts within the umma positioned themselves on either side of the growing divides. Before too long, these differences became a formidable problem for the state.

Although Abdulmalik was an incredibly tough act to follow, his successor was bequeathed an unassailably powerful position. The caliphate was ascendant, and its frontier armies were so capable and efficient that they expanded its domain to unmatched extents practically autonomously. Narrations about these years are filled with raids, conquests, and tribute in our sources, surpassing even the near-miraculous period when the Arabs bested both bordering empires.

Having exhausted the many rebellions against his unpopular governor, we can finally turn our attention to assessing Abdulmalik’s leadership and the results of his many deeply influential policy changes. He’s remembered overwhelmingly positively in our sources despite these many upheavals, and we’ll try and get into why that was before touching upon the ever-sensitive matter of succession.

Having securely established his position in Syria, Abdulmalik relied on his dependable governor al Hajjaj to keep the Iraqis in line. Ruling them with an iron fist unsurprisingly led to more rebellions than calm, and despite the many thwarted movements we discussed last time it seems like the East remained a diffident and dangerous land. Our sources have a lot to say about Iraq and the lands to its East during Abdulmalik’s reign.

Abdulmalik’s adept handling of the second fitna revealed him to be a shrewd mover and shaker with a disposition suitable for leadership. He did more than emulate those who came before him, he enacted changes that pushed the caliphate further into statehood and away from its roots as a tribal confederacy, cementing his family’s supremacy in the process.

The second fitna revealed the unprecedented level of division within the umma, divisions which only grew as the civil conflict ground on for a decade. Under Abdulmalik’s leadership, the Umayyads managed to slowly grow their power until they found themselves in a position to challenge for the umma’s leadership once again.

Before we can continue our discussion of the struggle between Abdulmalik and Ibn il Zubayr, we need to step back and survey the complicated situation in Iraq. Deep divisions made its cities difficult for either leader to claim, especially considering the significant Hashemite sympathies in Kufa which now had no outlet following the clan’s massacre. The situation was dangerous and volatile, but presented the perfect conditions for one especially innovative and ambitious local leader.

The umma spiraled further into disorder and civil war after the sudden death of the caliph and the subsequent collapse of Umayyad authority. Ibn il Zubayr’s candidacy was transformed from an unlikely proposition to a victory by default as he became the last man standing. Despite being the only Qurayshi vying for leadership, the umma was too fractured to coalesce behind one man yet, and the fires of disunity had yet to burn out.