The First Dynasty of Islam: the Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750
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The First Dynasty of Islam The period 661–750 AD was a crucial one for the history of Islam and the Middle East. The territories conquered by the Muslims in the Middle East, north Africa and Spain were ruled from Syria by a succession of caliphs belonging to the Umayyad family, the first caliphal dynasty to emerge in the history of Islam. Under their rule the region began a process of transformation which eventually led to the emergence of Islam, both as a religion and as a culture, in its classical form. The First Dynasty of Islam provides a succinct and accessible introduction to the Umayyad period. An introductory chapter discusses the importance of the era as a whole, with further chapters examining • the Umayyad family and its rise to the Caliphate • the Sufyanids • the second civil war • ?bd al-Malik and al-Hajjaj • the development of factionalism and the problems of Islamisation • the third civil war and the caliphate of Marwan II • the overthrow of the Umayyad caliphate The first edition established itself as a balanced and approachable text for undergraduates and others interested in the early history of Islam. This second edition, with an expanded and up-to-date bibliography, will prove even more useful to its intended readership. G.R.Hawting is Senior Lecturer in the History of the Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The First Dynasty of Islam The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750 Second edition G.R.Hawting London and New York First published 1986 by Croom Helm Ltd Second edition published 2000 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. © 1986, 2000 G.R.Hawting All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-415-24073-5 (Pbk) ISBN 0-415-24072-7 (Hbk) ISBN 0-203-13700-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-17692-8 (Glassbook Format) Contents Conventions vii Abbreviations ix Glossary xi Figures and Maps xiii Foreword to the Second Edition xix Preface and Acknowledgements xxi Chapter 1 Introduction: The Importance of the Umayyad Period and its Place in Islamic History 1 Islamisation 1 Arabisation 9 The Umayyads in Muslim Tradition 11 Chapter 2 The Umayyad Family and its Rise to the Caliphate 21 The Background of the Umayyads 21 Mu‘awiya’s Acquisition of the Caliphate 24 Chapter 3 The Sufyanids 34 Organisation and Administration of the Caliphate 34 Events and Personalities of the Sufyanid Period 40 Chapter 4 The Second Civil War 46 Chapter 5 ‘Abd al-Malik and al-Hajjaj 58 Changes in Government and Administration 61 Al-Hajjaj in Iraq 66 Chapter 6 The Development of Factionalism and the Problems of Islamisation 72 The Family of al-Muhallab and the Development of Factionalism 73 ‘Umar II and the Mawali 76 Hisham and Khalid al-Qasri 81 vi Contents Chapter 7 The Third Civil War and the Caliphate of Marwan II 90 Walid II 90 Yazid III 94 Marwan II 96 Chapter 8 The Overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate 104 The Muslims of Khurasan 105 The Army 107 The ‘Abbasids and the Hashimiyya 109 The Umayyad Collapse 115 Appendix 1 A Note on the Sources 120 Appendix 2 Modern Developments in the Study of and Attitudes to Umayyad History 123 Bibliographical Postscript to the Second Edition 129 Bibliography 139 Index 145 Conventions Dates Unless there is a particular reason for providing the Islamic, hijri date, all dates are AD. References In the notes to the text, given at the end of each chapter, references are usually to the name of the author or editor and a short form of the title of the work. Full titles, together with date and place of publication, are provided in the bibliography. See the list of abbreviations for the titles of journals, etc. Transliteration A full scholarly transliteration is not provided in the text but the bibliography and index are translit-erated. The bibliography reproduces the various methods of transliteration used by the authors cited. My transliteration follows the system of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, with the few modifications customary in works in English. On the whole, readers without any Arabic will safely ignore the transliteration symbols, but may wish to note the following: ‘ = the Arabic letter ‘ayn, a guttural sound produced by constricting the larynx; ’ = the hamza, a glottal stop like the tt in the Cockney pronunciation of butter; vowels are short unless they have a macron (¯) over them; ibn (abbreviated to b. in the middle of a name) = ‘son of’; B. (abbreviation of Banu) = ‘descendants of’, ‘family of’, ‘clan of’, ‘tribe of’, as appropriate. vii Abbreviations AIEOr. Annales de l’Institut des Études Orientales AIUON Annali, Istituto Universitario Orientate di Napoli AJSL American Journal for Semitic Languages and Literatures BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift CMedH Cambridge Mediaeval History EI1 Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st edition EI2 Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition GS I.Goldziher, Gesammelte Schriften IC Islamic Culture IJMES International Journal of Middle East Studies IOS Israel Oriental Studies IQ Islamic Quarterly Isl. Der Islam JA Journal Asiatique JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JESHO Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society JSAI Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam JSS Journal of Semitic Studies MW Muslim World PPHS Proceedings of the Pakistan Historical Society ix x Abbreviations Rend. Linc. Rendiconti dell Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche RH Revue Historique RHR Revue de l’Histoire des Religions RO Rocznik orientalistyczny RSO Rivista degli studi orientali SI Studia Islamica WI Die Welt des Islams ZA Zeitschrift für Assyriologie ZDMG Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft Glossary* amir ‘commander’; an army leader and/or governor of a province amir al-mu’minin ‘Commander of the Believers’; a title of the caliph ashraf leading members of the leading families among the Arab tribesmen barid the system of communications between the provinces and the caliphal court bay‘a the pledge of allegiance given to a caliph, heir apparent, or contender for power dar al-islam the regions under Muslim government in contrast to the dar al-harb (‘house of war’) da‘wa ‘call’, ‘propaganda’; the movement which prepared the way for the ‘Abbasid takeover of the caliphate dinar the gold coin dirham the silver coin diwan the register of individuals entitled to pay or pension from the government; a government department fils the copper coin fiqh the theory of Islamic law (not the law itself, the shari‘a) fitna conflict within the Muslim community, especially that between ‘Ali and Mu‘awiya hajj the pilgrimage to Mecca in the month of Dhu’l- Hijja xi xii Glossary imam a) the supreme head of the Muslims, particularly used in this sense by the Shi‘ites b) a prayer leader in a mosque c) an honorific title applied to a religious scholar jizya a tax, in the classical system a poll tax (tax on individual persons) jund ‘army’; a military district khalifa ‘deputy’; the caliph kharaj a tax, in the classical system a land tax khutba a speech; in the early period any speech of importance delivered by a figure of authority, especially the caliph or governor; eventually developing into the sermon delivered at the mid- day prayer service in the mosque on Fridays majus ‘Magian’; in the strict sense Zoroastrians but used more widely for followers of religions other than Judaism or Christianity to whom the Muslims wished to grant some toleration mawla ‘client’; a non-Arab who has accepted Islam; a follower of an important individual salat the ritual, five times daily, prayer service of Islam shurta a small force used by the governor or other authority to keep order sunna ‘accepted usage or practice’; eventually identified with the Sunna of the Prophet, the usage of Muhammad which Sunni Islam accepted as being, together with the Koran, the main source of authority for its law ‘ulama’ the religious scholars of Islam wali’l-‘ahd the heir apparent * The meanings given are those usually applicable in this book. In other contexts the words may have other meanings. Figure 1: The ‘Northerners’ Figure 2: The ‘Southerners’ Figure 3: The Umayyads Figure 4: The Other Descendants of ‘Abd Manaf Foreword to the Second Edition In spite of some significant developments in our understanding of aspects of the history of the Umayyad caliphate in the fifteen years or so since this book was first published, readily accessible introductions to the period for undergraduates and interested non- specialists remain few. This book was generally well received by reviewers and has proved useful for its intended readership. Since it has been out of print for some time and in any case was available only as a (rather expensive) hardback, it has now been decided to reissue it in paperback. The opportunity has been taken to correct a few errors (for pointing out which I am grateful to reviewers) and to add a postscript surveying some of the important work relevant to the Umayyad caliphate which has appeared since the first edition in 1986.