Lost Islamic History PDF

LOST ISLAMIC HISTORY  FIRAS ALKHATEEB Lost Islamic History Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation from the Past HURST & COMPANY, LONDON First published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 41 Great Russell Street, London, W...

LOST ISLAMIC HISTORY  FIRAS ALKHATEEB Lost Islamic History Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation from the Past HURST & COMPANY, LONDON First published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 41 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3PL © Firas Alkhateeb, 2014 All rights reserved. Printed in India Distributed in the United States, Canada and Latin America by Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America The right of Firas Alkhateeb to be identified as the author of this publication is asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. A Cataloguing-in-Publication data record for this book is available from the British Library. 978-1-84904-397-7 paperback eISBN 978-1-84904-528-5 This book is printed using paper from registered sustainable and managed sources. www.hurstpublishers.com For the most important people in my life, my mother Sanaa, my wife Hadeel, and my sister Huda.  In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful “If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise.” Prophet Muhammad  CONTENTS 1. Pre-Islamic Arabia 2. The Life of the Prophet 3. The Rightly Guided Caliphs 4. The Establishment of the Muslim State 5. Intellectual Golden Ages 6. Upheaval 7. Al-Andalus 8. The Edge 9. Rebirth 10. Decline 11. Old and New Ideas Bibliography  1 PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA The dry, mountainous landscape of the Hijaz is not an environment that gives much life. Situated in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula, this land can be described with two words: dry and hot. In the summer, temperatures regularly rise to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with little precipitation. Further east, endless sand dunes mark a landscape devoid of greenery or permanent settlements. Yet it was from this harsh landscape that, in the early 600s, a new movement emerged; one that would change the course of history in the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. Geography The Arabian Peninsula covers an area of over 2 million square kilometers in the southwestern corner of Asia. Situated between Asia, Africa and Europe, the land is unique in its connection with all three continents of the Old World. Despite its position, it has been mostly ignored by outsiders. The Ancient Egyptians chose to expand into the Fertile Crescent and Nubia rather than venture into Arabia’s deserts. Alexander the Great passed by it in the 300s BCE on his way to Persia and India. The great Roman Empire attempted to invade the peninsula through Yemen in the 20s BCE, but could not adapt to the harsh landscape and thus failed to annex the region. One could hardly blame outsiders for ignoring the Arabian Peninsula. Its dry climate is barely hospitable, even for the nomads who live there. Monsoon winds bring seasonal rains to the southern coast of the peninsula in the autumn, but these are stifled by the quickly rising landscape and never make it deep into Arabia’s deserts. Similarly, rains from the Mediterranean Sea barely touch upon the northern extremities of the Arabian Desert. The result is that the vast majority of the peninsula remains dry year-round. Parched riverbeds known as wadis run throughout the land, yet they are barely recognizable as rivers. When clouds gather and rains fall, they become gushing and powerful waterways, essential for the growth of the seasonal flora that manages to bloom in this dry land. Once the wet season is over, however, the wadis return to their usual, dry state, useless as sources of water. More reliable are the oases—small fertile spots surrounded by the vast expanse of the desert. They were capable of serving host to small communities, or as waypoints for travelers, but were hardly enough to sustain an advanced and large society. The Arabs Civilizations tend to be greatly shaped by the environments in which they develop, and the Arabs are no exception. Everything about the life of the Arab was based around the harsh environment in which he lived. Due to the desert’s inability to support settled civilization, the Arabs were constantly on the move in search of fertile land for their flocks. One theory of the etymology of the label “Arab” even posits that the word itself comes from a Semitic root meaning “wandering” or “nomadic”. The Arabs would spend the summer months around whatever oases or wells they could rely on year after year, trying to make supplies and water last by living on the bare minimum. After months of enduring the summer heat, they would migrate to the south, near Yemen, where rain fell in the autumn and fertile land appeared for their herds. The rain-fed pastures gave their flocks of sheep, goats and camels enough food to live off through the winter months as they pitched their tents and temporarily settled. By the time the rains stopped and the dry season began again in the spring, the Arabs returned to their oases and wells to wait out another summer. This harsh cycle had been the norm for the nomadic Arabs since time immemorial, and it remains in place for the Bedouin Arabs who still live in Arabia’s deserts. In pre-Islamic Arabia, hospitality was of such importance that a guest at the home of an Arab was guaranteed at least three days of total security and protection before he would even be questioned about why he was there. This tradition was further reinforced by the Prophet, who stated that a guest has the right to be hosted for three days. The desert was not a place to be alone. With so many threats to the survival of the Arabs, community cooperation was essential. Reliance on relatives was the first line of defense against famine and the heat that constantly threatened survival. Families were expected to share resources and shelter, and the concept of pure individualism was strongly frowned upon. As such, the family (and by extension, the tribe) served as the most important unit within Arab society. Groups of families travelled together and were considered a qabilah, or clan. Several clans would constitute a tribe, led by a tribal leader called a shaikh. Tribal identity and belonging were vital in the pre-Islamic world. Belonging to a tribe brought protection, support and economic opportunities. Tribes would go to battle to defend one of their own, and tribal warfare was unnervingly common before the arrival of Islam. Competition over grazing lands and flocks regularly brought tribes into devastating wars which could last years and extract a heavy human toll on the participants. For the Arabs, struggle was a constant, against both man and nature. In a tribal, nomadic society like this, artistic expression becomes difficult. The resources and time necessary to complete great sculptures and paintings like the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece were almost non-existent. Yet the natural human desire to search for beauty could not be extinguished by the desert sands. Instead it took on a new form: language. Perhaps more than any other language in the world, Arabic itself is a form of artistic expression. Word and sentence structure is fluid, creating many different ways for a person to express the same idea. Poetry thus naturally became the de facto art of Arabia; long, epic poems glorifying tribes and heroism in war were their greatest works of art. The finest poets were revered celebrities in every way. Their words were memorized by the masses and repeated for generations. The seven most magnificent pre-Islamic poems were known as the mu’allaqat, meaning “the hanging ones”. They were so called because they were hung on the walls of the Ka’ba in Mecca, or alternatively because they were hung in the hearts of all Arabs due to their reverence for the poetic medium. Despite being an advanced literary society, writing was rare in the Arabian Peninsula. While a written form of the language did exist by the 500s, it was rarely learned. Memorization was enough for the Arabs, who were capable of learning poems that were thousands of lines long by heart so they could repeat them to future generations. Memorization would prove to be a vital skill once Islam arrived in the peninsula in the 600s. When it came to religion, the pre-Islamic Arabs were almost exclusively polytheistic. Islamic tradition holds that the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son, Isma‘il (Ismael), built the Ka‘ba in the valley of Mecca in ancient times as a house of worship for one God. The Ka‘ba was built as a plain rectangular building on a foundation set by the first man—Adam. From this shrine, Isma‘il was able to preach the monotheistic message to the Arabs, who adopted him as one of their own. Over the centuries, however, the progeny of Isma‘il distorted his monotheistic teachings. Stone and wood idols were carved to represent attributes of God. Later, they would go on to represent separate gods entirely. By the time of the Prophet Muhammad, there were 360 gods in the Ka‘ba. The message of Ibrahim and Isma‘il was not entirely lost on the Arabs, however. The two prophets were still revered figures in the minds of the Arabs and even some of their basic teachings still held weight in this society. They certainly believed in the God of Ibrahim and Isma‘il, called Allah in Arabic. But they believed he was one among many different gods, represented by the idols. This belief system was far removed from the strict monotheism those two prophets had preached, and reflected influence from Sumerian religions to the north. Isolated Christian and Jewish communities existed within the Arabian Peninsula and also revered the prophets, but that was where their similarities ended. The sparse monotheists of Arabia tended to avoid complete assimilation with the polytheistic Arabs, instead creating their own insular communities. Arabia’s Neighbors In spite of being deep in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, far from more advanced civilizations, the Arabs were not completely isolated from their neighbors. The Romans had become a regional superpower along the northern borders of the peninsula in the early decades CE. By putting down numerous Jewish revolts in the province of Syria Palaestina, the Romans stamped their control on the area. For the Bedouin Arabs, this meant the presence of a wealthy and strong trading partner to the north. Merchants regularly traversed the western part of the peninsula from Yemen in the south to Syria in the north, trading goods that came from places as far away as India and Italy. The Romans were content to remain in the more hospitable and familiar lands of the Fertile Crescent and let the nomadic Arabs carry on the trade with more distant lands. To the northeast of Arabia lies the Iranian Plateau. The rise of the Sassanid Dynasty in Persia in the 200s CE ushered in a centuries-long struggle between the Romans and Persians, which would have its effects on the Arabs. The border between the two great Empires fluctuated, but was generally in the Syrian Desert, in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Both the Romans and the Persians attempted to gain the upper hand by using Arab tribes (usually ones that had converted to Christianity) as proxies. Keen to use this conflict to their own benefit, two Arab tribal confederations developed into client states for the great powers. The Ghassanids founded a kingdom in what are now the modern countries of Jordan, Syria and Palestine, where they served as a buffer for the Roman Empire. Similarly, the Lakhmids controlled southern Mesopotamia and served the Persians. Both Arab kingdoms were greatly influenced by their overlords, who spent heavily on keeping their vassals well equipped in the face of the enemy. Yet the constant warfare between the two sides would slowly wear down all four parties. By the early 600s, the Romans and Persians were exhausted by decades of warfare and were weakening behind a façade of militaristic power. The Ghassanids and Lakhmids too felt the stress of war, as they were mere pawns in this constant conflict. Most Arab tribes, however, avoided the external conflict between the two imperial powers. They were more interested in carrying on a profitable trade with the two warring Empires than helping to decide the winner. To the south of the peninsula was the powerful Kingdom of Aksum in Abyssinia, modern Ethiopia. Based high in the Abyssinian mountains, Aksum was a powerful trading state that connected inland African kingdoms, the Indian Ocean sea routes and the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. As a crossroad for trade, it had considerable influence on Arab merchants, who dealt with the Aksumites in Yemen. Like Rome, Aksum was a Christian empire that had tension with Persia on numerous occasions. Control of trade routes running through Yemen was a constant source of friction, as both sides sought to turn local leaders into vassals. In the increasingly globalized world of the early 600s, the Arabs were aware of their neighbors and became affected by events outside the Arabian Peninsula. Being at a crossroads of three powerful states meant being aware of international politics and having the skill to use rivalries to their advantage. Yet despite their precarious location, the Arabs were safe in the depths of the desert. They called their peninsula jazirat al-Arab, meaning “the island of the Arabs” due to how isolated its inhabitants were. This isolation proved to be greatly beneficial. The harsh environment meant that none of the surrounding states could invade and occupy Arab lands. The Arabs’ traditional cycle of wandering and their way of life was mostly unaffected by regional politics and wars. In this protected environment a movement would rise in the early 600s that would have huge implications for the surrounding states, and eventually the entire world. It would change the destiny of the Arabs forever, building on and using their unique abilities and doing away with the negative cultural traits that kept them as wandering, warring nomads. Geography, climate, culture and politics together all led to the perfect environment in which Islam could rise to become a world power faster than any other movement, religion, or empire in world history. It would sweep out of the deserts of Arabia into the battered Roman and Persian Empires, conquering territories and assimilating diverse peoples, creating an empire that stretched from Spain to India by the early 700s— the world’s largest at the time. This exponential growth in power and civilization would have been unfathomable to the Arabs of the early 600s, who were struggling to survive. Yet all it took was the arrival of a man who came with a revolutionary message and a promise to the Arabs of a new destiny, one beyond the sands of Arabia: Muhammad.  2 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET The Prophet Muhammad was born in the town of Mecca around the year 570 CE. He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan, a subset of the Quraysh tribe that controlled Mecca—the trading and religious center deep in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. About eighty kilometers inland from the Red Sea, it benefitted greatly from the north-south trade routes that connected the Romans in the north and Yemen in the south. Yet, Mecca was far detached from both these places. Hundreds of kilometers of desert surrounding the valley town allowed it to develop independent of any foreign control or influence. Mecca was at once both internationally connected and isolated. But when it came to religion, Mecca was a focal point for the entire Arabian Peninsula. It was the location of the Ka’ba and the annual pilgrimage that attracted Arabs from all over the peninsula. So while Mecca was far away enough to elude imperial control by the Byzantines or Persians, it was central enough to have a major impact on the Arab people. Both of these characteristics would play a major role when Islam began to spread. Early Life Muhammad’s early life was marked by hardship and loss. His father, ‘Abdullah, died before his birth while on a trading mission in the town of Yathrib, north of Mecca. His mother, Aminah, died when he was six, leaving his respected grandfather, ‘Abd al-Muttalib to care for him. Two years later, his grandfather also died and Muhammad came to live with his paternal uncle, Abu Talib. Despite belonging to the wealthy tribe of Quraysh, Muhammad did not grow up amid riches. His status as an orphan and his belonging to the clan of Banu Hashim— considered an inferior branch of Quraysh—meant he was not a part of the ruling class. He did, however, accompany his uncle on numerous trading missions to Syria in his childhood, inaugurating him into the age-old nomadic tradition of the Arabs. His reputation as an honest trader led to him being known by two nicknames: as-Sadiq and al-Amin, meaning the truthful and the trustworthy. He was thus respected by the Quraysh, and he was regularly trusted with money and business transactions, acting as an arbiter in many cases. By his twenties, Muhammad was an accomplished merchant, working as an agent for a wealthy widow named Khadijah. Eventually, his reputation as an honest and reliable man caught the attention of his employer, and when he was twenty-five, Khadijah proposed to Muhammad, who accepted, despite being several years her junior. Although being surrounded by a polytheistic idol-worshipping society, the young Muhammad did not get involved in the religion of the Quraysh. The original monotheistic message of Ibrahim and Isma‘il was a faint memory to most Arabs, but it still held weight for a few, known as the hunafa‘ (singular hanif), meaning “monotheists”, who refused to accept the hundreds of stone and wood gods. Muhammad was one of them. Instead of engaging in the idol worship so rampant in society, Muhammad chose seclusion. He made a habit of retreating to a cave atop a mountain about five kilometers from the center of Mecca, where he would sit in silence and reflect on the society and religion that surrounded him in Mecca. The First Revelations According to Islamic tradition, in 610, while sitting in the cave he had come to many times before, Muhammad experienced something new. An angel suddenly appeared to him in the cave, commanding him, “Read!” He responded that he did not know how. Like most people in Mecca, Muhammad was illiterate. Again, the angel demanded he read. Again, Muhammad responded that he was unable to. A third time, the angel demanded he read, and for a third time, Muhammad responded that he was unable to. The angel then recited to him the first verses of the Quran to be revealed: Recite in the name of thy Lord who created He created man from a clot of blood. Recite; and thy Lord is the Most Bountiful, He who hath taught by the pen, Taught man what he knew not. (Quran 96) He repeated the words after the angel, who then informed him that he is Jibreel (Gabriel), an angel sent by the one God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Shaken and scared, Muhammad rushed home, not knowing what to make of the encounter. He was comforted by Khadijah, who believed his account of the encounter in the cave. She asked her cousin, who was familiar with Jewish and Christian scriptures, what this could mean. When he heard of what happened, he immediately accepted Muhammad as the messenger of his time, like Moses and Jesus before him. Consoled by his wife and her cousin, Muhammad accepted his mission as the Messenger of God, and his life as the Prophet began. The first person to hear of Muhammad’s prophethood and accept it was Khadijah, who can be said to have converted immediately upon his return from the cave. He soon began to invite those closest to him to this new religion. His closest companion, Abu Bakr, his young cousin, ‘Ali, and his house-servant, Zayd, all respected and trusted Muhammad, and thus immediately accepted him as a prophet. They began to inform those closest to them, and slowly the number of people who accepted Muhammad began to grow. The first attempts at proselytizing were covert. Mecca was, after all, a polytheistic society, and the idea of one God replacing the numerous idols in the Ka’ba would no doubt be seen as a threat. Thus, the early months and years of Islam were marked by the development of a secret, hidden group, fearful of society’s reaction to them, but submitting to the ideas of this new religion. They were called Muslims, meaning “submitters”. The word Islam itself, from which Muslim derives, denotes submission to God and His will. “Woe to every scorner and mocker. Who collects wealth and continuously counts it. He thinks his wealth will make him immortal. No! He will surely be thrown into the Fire.” – Quran 104:1–4 At the same time, the core ideas of Islam began to take shape through continuing revelations, which would be shared throughout the community. Strict monotheism, far different from the prevailing religion of Mecca, was the core theme. According to Muhammad, there was only one God. The idols worshipped by the Meccans were nothing more than useless statues of stone and wood, and were incapable of bringing benefit to anyone. The verses also warned of a Day of Reckoning, when all souls would be brought before God to account for their deeds. Those who believed in God and did good deeds would enter an eternal Heaven as a reward. Those who did not would have a place in Hell and would be eternally tormented. But Islam was not just concerned with theology and life after death. The early verses also denounced social ills that were prevalent in Mecca. With increasing prosperity from the trade routes, distinct social classes developed. The wealthy would use their money to fund more caravans that would in turn bring them more wealth. A poor person, meanwhile, continued to be marginalized, doubly so if they did not belong to a powerful clan. The Quran declared such disregard for the poor as detrimental to the establishment of a just social order, and worthy of punishment in the Hereafter. It would be years until the rules regarding society would be laid down, but from early on, it was clear that Muhammad had come not just to change people’s religious beliefs, but also society itself. The early revelations repeated these themes numerous times. The verses and chapters revealed in Mecca, which are found towards the end of the Quran, tended to be short and to the point. This worked well for the nascent Muslim community, which was still unknown to the rest of the city. When around fellow believers, the Muslims would discuss the latest revelations among themselves and teach each other. When around non-Muslims, they had to hide their conversion and beliefs. After all, these new ideas would threaten the established social order of Mecca. Social, economic and tribal equality flew directly in the face of the wealthy and powerful members of Quraysh. Social revolution is rarely welcomed by those in positions of power. Even if Muhammad had not advocated any change in society, the new beliefs alone were a threat to the economic and social position of the polytheists. Because of the Ka’ba, Mecca was a religious center for Arabs throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Once a year, Arabs would travel to Mecca for a pilgrimage and to honor the hundreds of idols kept around the Ka’ba. This meant big business for the Quraysh. Trade was a natural by-product of the pilgrimage: with people from so many distant lands in the same place at the same time, a natural market evolved which made Mecca a religious, economic and political focal point of Arabia. And as the facilitators of this trade, the Quraysh stood to make huge profits. Muhammad’s message, however, denied the importance of the idols, emphasizing the unity of God. Without idols, there would be no pilgrimage. With no pilgrimage, there would be no business. This was not a scenario that was pleasing to the Quraysh, and the early followers of Muhammad knew that. For this reason, there could be no mention of this new religion around the leaders of the tribe. The Muslim community was still small and weak enough that it could not yet come into open ideological conflict with those in positions of power. Especially considering the fact that most of the early converts were those who were considered the lowest class of society. Slaves, servants, and the poor made up a large proportion of the early Muslim community, attracted by the equality of all people before God and the egalitarian nature of the new religion, where wealth and social status did not determine a person’s worth. Persecution Eventually the size of the Muslim community became too large for the rest of Quraysh to ignore. Previously the Muslims had been able to perform their prayers together in a secluded area on the outskirts of the town. But as their prayer groups grew larger, the chances of them being seen increased. That is exactly what happened as a group of praying Muslims were seen by a group of idol- worshippers, whose immediate reaction was to ridicule the Muslims and their prayer. At first the Quraysh were content to view the small community as an abnormality to be mocked, until they realized the gravity of these new ideas. Monotheism, social justice, equality, and submission to the rule of God were all threatening theories to the Quraysh. In the eyes of many leading members of Quraysh, the solution was to rid themselves of this new religious and social movement by getting rid of the source: Muhammad. But Arab society still had structure and rules. Although Muhammad was an orphan, he was still under the protection of his uncle, Abu Talib, who was the leader of the Banu Hashim clan of Quraysh. Abu Talib himself refused to accept Islam, but his dignity and respect for Arab social customs demanded that he protect his nephew. Furthermore, age-old Arab customs dictated that if Muhammad was killed, his clan would have permission to go after his killers, and thus civil war could break out on the streets of Mecca. So Muhammad himself could not be harmed, but the protection that he enjoyed was not extended to his followers, many of whom were not protected by any clan or family. The Quraysh decided to threaten and persecute them, in the hopes of discouraging others from joining the new religion. Muslims were thus regularly harassed and deprived of the same rights as polytheists in Mecca. While Muhammad himself had protection, he was powerless to stop the oppression of his followers. Quraysh also took steps to prevent the spread of the new religion outside of Mecca. A group of Muslim refugees who escaped to Abyssinia were promised protection by its Christian king, the Negus. The Quraysh sent emissaries after them, hoping to convince the king to give up his protection and send the Muslims back to Mecca to be persecuted. When the Negus heard Muhammad’s cousin Ja’far recite verses from the Quran about Islamic beliefs regarding Jesus and Mary, he refused to forsake his fellow monotheists, and the Quraysh had to go back to Mecca without the refugee Muslims. But even if Muslims had not escaped to distant lands, Islam could still spread beyond Mecca. Thousands of Arabs visited the city each year, and if some of those visitors heard Muhammad’s message and saw Quraysh’s inability to stop his unorthodox ideas, the status of Quraysh as one of the leading tribes in the peninsula would begin to wane. Alternatively, the visitors would believe Muhammad, accept his religion, and take it back to their homelands, spreading Islam outside of Mecca, and making it harder to stop. All of this led to the extreme measures taken by the Quraysh. In 617, approximately seven years after the first revelations, the Quraysh decided to implement an all-out boycott on Muhammad’s clan, Banu Hashim, to whom many Muslims belonged. No one was to enter into any business transactions with them, nor marry anyone to a member of the clan. They were even forced into exile in a barren valley just outside of Mecca. This had disastrous humanitarian effects on the Muslim community. Persecution brought hunger, social isolation and economic woes to the Muslims, and even the non-Muslims who happened to be part of Banu Hashim, such as Abu Talib. The few Muslims not belonging to Banu Hashim, such as Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman did all they could to supply the persecuted group by circumventing the boycott’s rules, although at great personal loss. The boycott was draining on the entire Muslim community, those belonging to Banu Hashim as well as other clans. In the end, the boycott was ineffective in persuading Muhammad to discontinue his preaching, and it was thus ended after just over a year of enforcement. Despite Quraysh’s efforts, more people continued to accept Islam. The boycott also revealed the strength of ties in the young community, as those not a part of Banu Hashim were still willing to sacrifice their wealth and safety to help their brothers and sisters that were being persecuted. Here, one of the core concepts of Islam—that loyalty to the religion transcended loyalty to a tribe or family—was on full display. The boycott was not without its effects, however. Years of being denied food and access to shelter, coupled with physical abuse, took a toll on the Muslims. The persecution probably played a role in the death of the Prophet’s wife, Khadijah, in 619. She had been the first convert and had stood by Muhammad through the adversity he had faced at the hands of Quraysh. The emotional support she provided in the early years was indispensable for the Prophet, encouraging him to continue in the face of persecution. The loss was a huge one on Muhammad, but it was not the only loss he had to deal with. Soon afterwards, his uncle who had protected him, Abu Talib, became ill and died. Although he did not accept Islam, he endured persecution like the rest of Banu Hashim and never gave up protection of his nephew. Beyond being another emotional loss for Muhammad, the death of Abu Talib had huge implications for the Muslim community. Without a strong leader, there was little to protect Muhammad and the rest of the Muslim community from the leaders of Quraysh, who were becoming bolder in their attacks on the Muslims, verbally as well as physically. Despite his love for the city of Mecca, Muhammad decided to try to find another city that would accept him and give him more freedom to preach his religion than the Quraysh did. The natural choice was Ta’if, a town ruled by the tribe of Thaqif, sixty-five kilometers to the southeast of Mecca. He rode out to Ta’if and met with the three brothers who led the tribe. They unequivocally rejected his proposal that they accept Islam and refused to grant him any form of protection. To make matters worse, on his way out of the city and back to Mecca, a crowd of people from Ta’if gathered to pelt him with stones and insults, leaving him bloodied by the time he was safely out of range of the city. Islamic tradition holds that he was visited by the angel Jibreel, who asked the Prophet if he would like him to destroy the city of Ta’if between two mountains as punishment for their treatment of the Messenger of God. The Prophet replied in the negative, stating that he hopes perhaps one of their descendants would one day be a believer. This event would play a huge role in the spiritual connection between Indian Muslims and the Prophet in later centuries. After losing his family’s support, being rejected by neighboring tribes, and watching his own followers persecuted for their faith, Muhammad recognized that a radical change was necessary if Islam was to survive at all. The opportunity for such a change came from an oasis town 300 kilometers north of Mecca, Yathrib. The two main tribes of Yathrib, Aws and Khazraj, were engaged in a perpetual struggle for power that turned deadly in the 610s. Further exasperating the problem, numerous Jewish tribes also lived in Yathrib and had trouble coexisting with the local Arabs. Muhammad’s reputation as a trustworthy and reliable man was already well-known in Yathrib, and it was in 620 when numerous notables from the town travelled to Mecca to seek his emigration to Yathrib to serve as their leader and a mediator of their disputes. Muhammad accepted their offer and encouraged his followers in Mecca to make the journey with him, where the oppression of the Quraysh was absent. Muhammad himself was one of the last to leave Mecca in 622, when he journeyed with his close friend Abu Bakr, barely eluding Quraysh’s plans to have him murdered before he could leave. In Yathrib, which was soon renamed al-Medina al-Munawwarah (the radiant city), officially known as “Medina” (the city), Muhammad would find security, and the ability to spread Islam away from Quraysh’s opposition. Medina The Prophet’s flight from Mecca was known as the hijra, meaning “the emigration”. It marked a turning point in early Islamic history and is used to this day as the beginning of the Islamic calendar. No longer was the Muslim community a marginalized group and Muhammad a social outcast. The Muslim community would now turn Medina into the first Muslim state, and Muhammad into its leader. The example set by the Prophet in his ten years in Medina would inspire hundreds of years of Muslim politics, social order, and economics. But life in Medina was certainly not without challenges. Chief among them was the new mix of emigrants from Mecca, known as the Muhajirun, and the original residents of Medina, the Ansar. The Muhajirun were not a single cohesive unit. None of the clans of Mecca converted entirely, so the community of emigrants represented a diverse group of people, on their own without the protection of a clan or tribe. In contrast, the Ansar belonged to either Aws or Khazraj, the two embattled tribes of the oasis. Furthermore, there were numerous individuals who belonged to neither group, immigrants from lands as far away as Africa, Persia, and the Byzantine Empire. For many Muslims, where their loyalties should lie was a major question. In response, the Prophet made clear that the old pre-Islamic ideas of loyalty were outdated. Instead, they were superseded by loyalty to the Umma, the Muslim nation. In the eyes of Muhammad, it did not matter if a Muslim hailed from Quraysh, Aws, Khazraj, or even the Jewish tribes. Once they accepted Islam, they were part of a new community of brotherhood based on shared belief, not shared ancestry.  “The Jews … are one community with the believers. To the Jews their religion and to the Muslims their religion. [This applies] to their clients and to themselves with the exception of anyone who has done wrong or committed treachery, for he harms only himself and his family.” – The Constitution of Medina Muhammad’s new political and social order in Medina came to be codified in a text known as the Constitution of Medina. The Constitution detailed that, under Muhammad’s authority, Medina would operate as a state based on Islamic law. The Umma was to operate as one political unit. Furthermore, Muhammad would act as the city’s ultimate arbitrator. Old Arab customs regarding revenge and honor in the face of injustice were eliminated in favor of a structured justice system based on Islamic law. The Constitution gave the oasis’s Jews freedom to practice their religion, but they had to recognize the political authority of Muhammad over the city and join the common defense in the case of an attack from Quraysh. Muhammad’s nascent political entity in Medina would serve as the model Islamic state for centuries of Muslim governments, particularly with regards to the treatment of non-Muslim minorities. The nature of the continuing revelations changed to match the change in circumstances for the Muslim community. Verses and chapters revealed to Muhammad in Medina tended to be longer than the ones from Mecca, detailing things such as forms of worship, taxation, inheritance, and relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. The Quran provided the generalities of how a Muslim society should operate, and where necessary, Muhammad explained the precise details. His words and actions, known as the hadith, were a vital source of guidance and law, second only to God’s revelation itself. But the Quran was not only concerned with law and social order. Many of the Medinese verses described the stories of earlier prophets. Stories of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus were all described in great detail to Muhammad’s followers, making very clear that Muhammad was simply the last in a long line of prophets, and that his message is no different from theirs. Much of this was aimed at the Jewish community of Medina. On the surface, they shared much in common with the Muslims. They were both monotheistic in a land known for polytheism, they both revered the same prophets, and early on in Muhammad’s prophethood, they both prayed towards Jerusalem. As a result, some of Medina’s Jews accepted Muhammad as a prophet and converted to Islam. Jewish scriptures speak of a Messiah, and to them, Muhammad was that promised man. But many more rejected Muhammad. Judaism is unique, in that belief and ethnicity were tied to the concept of a Chosen People. Muhammad’s message of egalitarianism and the unity of all Muslims regardless of ethnicity challenged some of the main ideas the Jews believed in. Some probably genuinely believed he was a prophet, but the fact that he was not a Hebrew was problematic for those who followed Jewish theology strictly. The divide between a Jewish community that believed themselves to be specially chosen by God and a Muslim community that advocated the unity of all people would develop into serious tensions between the two faith groups. The Battles The Prophet’s hijra to Medina did not mean the end of conflict with the Quraysh. The Muhajirun were still bitter at their treatment by their fellow clansmen in Mecca and the Ansar were eager to punish those who had oppressed their new brothers in Islam. But the Muslim community had not yet been given permission to fight by the Prophet. Warfare is, of course, a serious endeavor, especially in the Arabian Peninsula where complex rules regarding honor and vengeance had reigned for centuries. Furthermore, the Quran itself testifies to the sanctity of life and the egregiousness of unjustly taking one. The Muslim community was thus hesitant to act militarily against Mecca, despite the years of oppression they faced at the hands of the Meccans. But that changed early on in Muhammad’s time in Medina. He proclaimed to his followers a new revelation from God, which stated “Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they are wronged. And indeed God is competent to give them victory. [They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right—only because they say, ‘Our Lord is Allah’” (Quran 22:39–40). These new verses made clear to Muhammad’s followers that war was permissible, even obligatory, when Muslims were being oppressed. They also signaled an important aspect of Islam’s role in the world: that this religion was not just a set of beliefs about the unseen, but a complete way of life that encompassed everything from prayer rituals to foreign relations to theology. Like they did with other instructions given in the Quran, the Muslim community of Medina was eager to show their worth and follow this new command. The opportunity came in 624 when the Muslim community mustered a small army of around 300 men to intercept a caravan belonging to Quraysh that was passing by Medina. The Muslims were unable to reach the caravan, but ended up meeting a much larger Qurayshi force that had been sent to protect the caravan. At the Battle of Badr, about 100 kilometers southwest of Medina, the Muslims had their first opportunity to physically fight their former oppressors. Despite being outnumbered, the Muslim army, commanded by the Prophet’s uncle, Hamza, managed to rout the Meccans, taking numerous prisoners. The Battle of Badr was of monumental importance for the new community at Medina. It established the Muslims as a real political and military force, while simultaneously lowering the prestige of Quraysh in the eyes of the rest of the Arabs. The Quraysh were of course not willing to allow such a humiliating defeat to go unpunished. The next year an even larger Meccan army was assembled, with the aim of harassing Medina enough to lower Muhammad’s newfound prestige and call into question his ability to protect his followers. The army camped out a few kilometers north of the city, in the shadow of the imposing Mount Uhud, where they could harass the rural farms surrounding Medina. As part of the Constitution of Medina, Muhammad had vowed to protect the city and its inhabitants, and was thus compelled to organize a fighting force to go out and confront the Meccans. There was, however, a group within the city that opposed his plan, believing that their best bet was to leave the rural farmers to fend for themselves and keep the army inside the city to defend it. They were joined by two of the Jewish tribes of the city, who refused to go out to Uhud to battle a superior force. Muhammad was thus forced to march out to Uhud with a considerably smaller army than he anticipated. The results of the battle were disastrous for the Muslims. The Meccans, led by the brilliant Khalid ibn al-Walid—who would later convert to Islam and lead Muslim armies into Syria—managed to rout the Muslims from the battlefield up onto the slopes of Uhud. Hamza, the hero of Badr, was killed in the fighting and his body mutilated by the Quraysh. Muhammad himself was at one point surrounded along with a small group of Muslims by the Meccans and was injured in the hand to hand combat that followed. The Quraysh, having defeated the Muslim army in battle and believing they had done enough to damage Muhammad’s reputation, retreated back to Mecca. The Battle of Uhud did not manage to end Islam or the Prophet’s authority in Medina as the Quraysh had hoped, although it did sow seeds of tension between Medina’s Muslims and the Jews, most of whom had refused to honor the terms of the Constitution and join the battle. It was becoming clear that neither the Muslims nor the Quraysh were going to be able to decisively defeat the other on the battlefield. Both sides thus resorted to trying to gain support among the numerous Arab tribes of the region, each hoping to tip the scales against the enemy. The Meccans in particular hoped to gain the support of Medina’s Jewish tribes, which seemed willing to dislodge the Prophet from their midst. Five years after the Prophet’s hijra, the Meccans besieged the city of Medina from the north, and sought the help of one of Medina’s Jewish tribes, the Banu Qurayza, who lived on the southern outskirts of the city. It was a calculated gamble for the Jews. The siege looked promising, and by joining with the Quraysh, they could wipe out Muhammad and his followers for good. As it happened, however, the Meccans and their Jewish allies were unsuccessful. Muhammad, advised by a Persian immigrant named Salman, ordered the construction of a trench around the city to thwart the Meccan siege. The Battle of the Trench, as it was called, was a disastrous failure for the Quraysh, who failed to even dent the power of Muhammad in the city. But it was even worse for the Banu Qurayza. They had broken the terms of the Constitution, and thus were liable to be punished according to its terms. An arbitrator assigned to the case ruled against the subversive tribe, ordering that the men who had taken part in the siege be executed while the women and children exiled from the city. Muhammad was setting an important standard with his handling of the Jews of Medina. He made clear that Islamic law had no problem with the presence of non-Muslims living within a Muslim state. For years Medina’s Jews had been tolerated. But when they failed to live up to existing agreements and threatened the security of the Islamic state, punishment had to be doled out. Like everything he did, Muhammad’s example in dealing with Banu Qurayza would set the precedent for hundreds of years of Muslim relations with non-Muslims. Victory With his position in Medina secured, Muhammad could finally deal with Quraysh on an equal level. Confident in the stability of the Muslim state and inspired by a recent revelation that promised impending victory, Muhammad set out in 628 with an army of 1,500 towards Mecca. But this was not an army intent on war. They were clothed in the simple two-garment outfit of pilgrims, and only carried travelling swords. No armor, no cavalry and no banners of war were brought along. Muhammad hoped to gain access to Mecca and the Ka’ba peacefully in order to conduct a pilgrimage. He camped just outside the borders of Mecca, at Hudaybiyyah, waiting for permission from Quraysh to enter the sacred grounds. The Meccans, no doubt baffled by the audacity of the Muslims, just six years after their escape from Mecca, had a difficult decision to make. If they allowed Muhammad and his followers to enter Mecca, they would look weak to other Arab tribes, unable to prevent a barely-armed force from entering their city. On the other hand, their main role in Mecca was to facilitate the pilgrimage for anyone, a duty they took very seriously. In the end, they negotiated a treaty with Muhammad. They agreed to vacate Mecca for three days to allow Muhammad and the Muslims to complete the pilgrimage—the following year. Muhammad would have to return to Medina that year without having visited his hometown. Furthermore, a truce was agreed to. Mecca and Medina (and their affiliated tribes) would refrain from fighting for ten years. Some Muslims were clearly discontented by the terms of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, having hoped for immediate access to Mecca or even a complete conquest of Quraysh. But the treaty provided a welcomed respite from conflict that gave Muhammad the ability to expand Islam far beyond Medina. Now without the threat of internal dissent and external invasion, he had the freedom to send missionaries throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and even beyond, into the Byzantine and Persian Empires in the north. Bedouin tribes converted en masse, allying themselves with the Prophet. Even Meccans began to convert. Khalid ibn al-Walid and ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, two of Quraysh’s greatest military commanders, left Mecca and joined Muhammad in Medina in the years after Hudaybiyyah. The treaty had failed to give the Muslims immediate control of their holiest site, but it allowed Islam to grow exponentially throughout Arabia, much to the dismay of the hardliners in Mecca, who just a few years earlier hoped to end Islam. Furthermore, the sanctity of the truce was not completely fulfilled. Just two years after its signing, a tribe allied with Quraysh launched a surprise attack against a tribe allied with Muhammad just outside the borders of Mecca. This constituted a breach of the treaty, which had promised a total peace for ten years. With the treaty now voided, Muhammad could call upon his newfound allies throughout the peninsula in a new expedition aimed for Mecca. This time, however, they would not be travelling as peaceful pilgrims. Muhammad was finally in a position of power. Thousands of Muslims from all over the peninsula were now at his command, bound by alliances and conversions to join his army whenever called upon. At this point, the people of Mecca knew there was no way they could militarily defeat the Prophet. It was Mecca versus dozens of tribes, all united together for the first time in the history of the Arabs. Attempted negotiations between Muhammad and the Quraysh ended in failure, and in early 630, his army of over 10,000 Muslims—brought together from all corners of Arabia—marched on the holy city. Most Meccans realized that resistance was futile. With the exception of some minor skirmishes, Muhammad’s army entered Mecca bloodlessly. His triumphant return to his birthplace was seen by his followers as the final victory of Islam over polytheism, of truth over falsehood. The hundreds of idols surrounding the Ka’ba were destroyed, making the sanctuary a place for Muslim worship dedicated to one God. For many in Mecca, including the leader of the Quraysh, Abu Sufyan, this complete conquest was a sign that their idols were in fact no more than crude sculptures of stone and wood. They submitted to Muhammad, the man they had oppressed, chased out of the city, and gone to war with. Muhammad, in turn, proved to be a lenient conqueror. Most Meccans were left unharmed, a remarkable gesture for a people accustomed to brutal tribal wars that showed no mercy. Once again, Muhammad was setting the example that his prophethood marked the beginning of a new era with new rules and customs. The pre-Islamic period of jahiliyyah, meaning ignorance, would forever be left behind. Muhammad’s return to Mecca is remarkable if only because of the circumstances of his life in the preceding years. Just eight years after his escape in the middle of the night from his oppressors, Muhammad returned to his hometown as a victorious leader with an army of thousands. In Mecca, he had gone from a trusted merchant, to an undesirable rebel against polytheism, to a distant enemy, to the benevolent conqueror of his native land. No doubt his rapid accession to power and his ability to break down old tribal rivalries under the banner of unity in Islam were seen as miraculous and signs of his prophethood by many. The Muslims of that era, including those who had suffered through the early years of oppression in Mecca and the ones who only converted upon the city’s conquest, thus believed there was something special about Islam. It was guided and protected by God, in their eyes, and they were on a special mission to spread this true religion to the rest of the world. This mindset would play a major role in the way Muslims viewed themselves on the world stage throughout their history. The End of the Prophethood By the time of the Conquest of Mecca, Muhammad was about sixty years old, an old man by the standards of his time. Through his sayings and the continuing revelations of the Quran, the tenets of Islam had been formalized, covering everything from articles of belief, to instructions for worship, to guidelines for Islamic governance. A new social order had been inaugurated, one that left behind tribalism and nationalism in favor of Islamic unity under divine laws. Muhammad codified this in his last sermon, where he declared that “You all descended from Adam and Adam was created from dirt. The most noble in the sight of God is the most pious. No Arab is superior to a non-Arab except by their God-consciousness.” His religious and social message was intertwined with a political one that forged a united Muslim empire that spanned the entire Arabian Peninsula, the first time in history that all the Arabs had been united. He even managed to make some inroads among the tribes living on the southern edges of the Byzantine and Persian Empires, an accomplishment that would not go unnoticed by those two great empires, who would soon take the rapid spread of Islam very seriously. After his conquest of Mecca, Muhammad returned to his adopted hometown of Medina. He had, after all, promised to lead the Muslim Umma from that oasis eight years earlier when Aws and Khazraj invited him. Here, he began to make preparations for a Muslim community that would continue long after his death. He spoke increasingly about the obligations of a true believer, the preservation of the Quran and his example. In early 632, he journeyed to Mecca for a final pilgrimage, the hajj. He spoke to thousands of his followers, all equally dressed in simple white robes regardless of their financial status, reminding them of the equality of all people. He cautioned his followers to avoid oppression, treat women with respect and love, and leave behind the old tribal rivalries that had been the bane of Arab civilization for centuries. His Farewell Sermon summarized his prophethood: it was a complete revolution in every sense. In the eyes of his followers, a new order was dawning upon the world, one that would be based upon God’s law and inspired by the example of Muhammad. After the pilgrimage, Muhammad returned to Medina, where the foundation was laid for the continued expansion of Islam. Learned men were sent to distant provinces such as Yemen and the eastern edge of Arabia to teach the recently converted the basics of Islam. Medina, the community in closest contact with the Prophet, would operate as a hub of knowledge about Islam, serving to educate the rest of the Muslim world, even after the Prophet. A military expedition was prepared to trek north against the Byzantines. The Islamic ethics of war, which would guide hundreds of years of Muslim armies, were reiterated. According to Islamic belief, Muhammad’s role was to serve as a messenger for God, delivering God’s word, the Quran, and acting as a model for Muslims. After twenty-three years of acting as a prophet of God, his mission was complete. The Quran was finalized and recorded on scraps of parchment, leather, and bone, but more importantly memorized completely by many of Muhammad’s Companions. The pre-Islamic tradition of memorizing long poems gave the Arabs the ability to maintain and ensure the preservation of Islam’s holy book. Narrations of Muhammad’s actions and sayings were also given due importance, and spread throughout Arabia by word of mouth. According to Islamic tradition, one of the final verses of the Quran revealed to Muhammad stated, “Today I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as your religion” (Quran 5:3). Muhammad fell ill in the early summer of 632. He experienced debilitating headaches and a fever, and was soon unable to walk without the help of his cousin ‘Ali and his uncle Abbas. When he was unable to lead the five daily prayers in the mosque, he appointed his close friend and companion, Abu Bakr, to lead them in his place. He spent his final days in the house of his wife Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr. From a wall adjoining the home to the mosque, he was able to watch the Muslim community follow his instructions to worship God, even in his absence. It was no doubt an emotional time for his followers, who had been with him through the difficult days in Mecca, the fierce battles against Quraysh where he established his authority, and his triumphant bloodless conquest of Mecca. They had looked to Muhammad for guidance and leadership in all aspects of life. His increasing talk of death, and the fact that he was now unable to even rise up to lead them in prayer played heavily on the hearts of the Muslim community. His final days were spent resting in his home, with his head in the lap of his wife Aisha. Close family members and friends visited, hoping to see some signs of recovery in their leader. But one of the central aspects of Islam was uncompromising monotheism. Muhammad preached that only God is divine; all other creatures, whether they were animals, humans, or even angels would experience death, according to Islamic belief. Thus while they were prepared for his passing, recognizing that Islam would indeed continue after him, Muhammad’s followers, deeply emotionally invested in this man that had led them out of the era of pre-Islamic polytheism and tribal warfare, could not imagine life without him. On 8 June 632, with his head on Aisha’s lap and his followers gathered in the mosque hoping to hear of his recovery, the first era of Islamic history, spanning the twenty-three years of prophethood, ended as the Prophet Muhammad breathed his last.  3 THE RIGHTLY GUIDED CALIPHS The death of the Prophet caused an emotional outpouring in the streets of Medina. The Muslims had a very difficult time dealing with the fact that their prophet was no longer with them, with some initially refusing to believe the news. But the death of Muhammad also brought questions of leadership to Medina. For over twenty years, Muhammad had led the Muslim community both politically and spiritually. His direct connection with God meant that society was guided by divine power in accordance with a divine plan. Now that that connection was no more, what would happen to the society that Muhammad had established? Specifically, who would lead the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet? Before Muhammad was even buried, a group of leading figures from among the Meccan emigrants and the people of Medina gathered to answer the question of leadership. Disagreements between the groups about who should be given authority over the young Muslim state could threaten to divide the community indefinitely. There may have even been some proposals for a two- state solution—one led by a Medinese and one by a Meccan. In the end, ‘Umar nominated Abu Bakr to be the political leader of a unified Muslim state based in Medina. Abu Bakr was the natural choice. After Khadijah, he was the first person to accept Muhammad as a prophet and convert to the new religion. He had been with Muhammad during his flight from Mecca. He was even appointed by Muhammad to lead the prayers in the Prophet’s Mosque in the final days of his life. Yes, he was from the people of Mecca, but no one—neither the Muhajirun nor the Ansar—could dispute his qualifications. Abu Bakr Abu Bakr took the title of Khalifat-ul-Rasul, meaning Successor of the Messenger of God—shortened as khalifa (caliph)—in 632. The caliph was not a new prophet. Islamic scripture is clear that Muhammad was the final prophet and no more would come after him. Rather, the caliph’s role was to act as a political leader, following the example set forth by Muhammad in his time as the leader of Medina. Thus, the caliph was expected to be someone who is an adept leader, capable of efficiently managing the affairs of the Muslim state, as well as someone who can preserve the religion of Muhammad and inspire people to follow it to the best of their abilities. Abu Bakr’s example in doing so would serve as the precedent for later caliphs of how to fulfill these roles. Establishing continuity with the political goals of Muhammad, Abu Bakr dispatched an expeditionary force to southern Syria to battle with the Byzantines in retaliation for an earlier confrontation between the two sides. The expedition showed that the Muslim Umma’s political goals would not stop because of the Prophet’s death. But it was not as important as a growing threat coming from the sandy desert to the east of Medina. There, the various Bedouin tribes that had recently converted to Islam began to rebel. Their logic was simple: they pledged allegiance to Islam at the hands of Muhammad, and since Muhammad had now passed, that oath held no weight. Perhaps another reason for their desire to break away from Abu Bakr’s government in Medina was the traditional Arab dislike for organized government. For centuries, the Arab tribes had roamed free, without a central government dictating their actions or demanding taxes. They may have begrudgingly accepted such an arrangement under Muhammad, but they would certainly not accept it under Abu Bakr. Coupled with their hatred for organized government was the appearance of numerous people claiming to be prophets themselves, chief among them a man by the name of Musaylima— known as Musaylima the Liar in later historical sources. “Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy’s flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone” – Abu Bakr’s warfare rules, dictated to his army The refusal of these tribes to pay the zakat tax, an important pillar of Islam, combined with their acceptance of new prophets led Abu Bakr to declare that they had left the fold of Islam and constituted a threat to the religion itself. If groups could decide what aspects of Islam they chose to accept, or could declare themselves prophets and adapt the religion to whatever suited them, the sanctity of Islam itself could be lost amid hundreds of versions. No doubt the examples of previous peoples that were mentioned in the Quran who had altered God-given religion to suit their needs came to Abu Bakr’s mind. Those people were reprimanded by God and would be punished on the Day of Judgment for their sins, a fate the pious among the Muslim community desperately sought to avoid. As a result, military action had to be taken by Abu Bakr. He appointed Khalid ibn al-Walid as the commander of an army to be sent east to crush the rebel movement. Khalid was well-known throughout the Arabian Peninsula. He had not lost a single battle he had fought in, both before and after conversion to Islam. His familiarity with desert warfare and mastery of cavalry made him the obvious choice to lead the expedition. After successfully defending Medina from any possible attacks by the rebels, Khalid led the army eastward to where numerous rebelling tribes were based. Musaylima’s forces were no match for the military ability of Khalid: the rebels were routed and Musaylima was killed in battle. One by one, armies loyal to the caliphate spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, calling tribes back to Islam and battling against those who continued to rebel. By 633, the Wars of Apostasy were over, and the entire Arabian Peninsula was once again united as a Muslim state. Islam had survived its first political challenge, born out of the questions of loyalty to Islam and its political leadership after the Prophet. The Wars of Apostasy set an important precedent regarding the future of the Muslim world. First, the conflict showed that the spiritual unity of Islam was of paramount importance. Deviations and false prophets would not be tolerated. According to Islamic belief, previous nations that had been called to monotheism and deviated from God’s laws were given the benefit of additional prophets sent to straighten them out. The finality of Muhammad’s message meant no more prophets would be coming to fix the errors of deviant Muslims. There could be no room for error in keeping Islam as authentic as it was during Muhammad’s life. Khalid’s military expedition showed that the Muslim world was even ready to take up arms to protect the Divine message of Islam. Second, the political unity of the Muslim world was ensured for the time being. There was only room enough for one leader of the Muslim world. The Arabian Peninsula was situated between two world powers—the Byzantines and the Sassanids. If they were to survive in the international arena, unity was necessary. The Wars of Apostasy confirmed that there would be only one Muslim state—the caliphate—under one Muslim leader—the caliph. Third, and perhaps most important, the authority of the central government was confirmed. To the Arab tribes, unity and acceptance of a central government based hundreds of kilometers away was a foreign idea. The Wars of Apostasy set the tone that subsequent Islamic history would be (ideally) a break from the nomadic, decentralized past of the Arabs. The Arabs were entering a new era in their history, and their government had to reflect it. Besides reinforcing the continuity of the Islamic state, Abu Bakr’s time as caliph was significant for the preservation of the Quran in written form. During the Prophet’s life, numerous secretaries were assigned to write down new revelations of the Quran as they came to him. These manuscripts were not compiled into a bound book, but rather existed as fragments scattered throughout Medina. Arabia was, after all, an oral society, and few people could read and write. The written pieces of the Quran were not as important as its the memorization word for word. During Abu Bakr’s caliphate, ‘Umar suggested that all the various manuscripts be collected, checked against the memories of reliable Companions for accuracy, and stored in a central location, just in case the unlikely scenario that all those who had the Quran memorized would die out. Despite his initial hesitance to do something that the Prophet himself had not done, Abu Bakr went along with the plan and a collection of the Quranic manuscripts was assembled in Medina. Abu Bakr’s caliphate lasted a mere two years—from 632 to his death in 634. In those two years he managed to stabilize the Muslim state after the death of the Prophet and prime it to take advantage of weakening imperial powers to the north. His two years set the precedent for what role a caliph plays in Muslim society and the continuation of Muslim belief after the death of the Prophet. The last precedent that Abu Bakr set was through the nomination of his successor. Rather than choose a relative of his to lead his community after his death—as had been tradition in Arab society before Islam—Abu Bakr chose someone whom he believed was most qualified and capable of handling the job of the caliph. While on his deathbed, he nominated ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab as his successor. ‘Umar Like Abu Bakr, ‘Umar was an early convert to Islam. He accepted the religion at the hands of the Prophet in Mecca before the Hijrah, and was with him at all the major battles and events in Medina. There could be no doubting his credentials to lead the Muslim state, and based on Islamic tradition, there appears to have been no disagreement regarding his succession to office. This kind of stability in governance and succession would be sorely missed later in Islamic history. Unlike Abu Bakr, ‘Umar did not have to deal with questions of political stability or the continuity of the religion. The entire Arabian Peninsula was united under his command. The massive military effort that spread throughout the peninsula in the Wars of Apostasy gave the Muslim state the confidence and skills to begin thinking seriously about territorial expansion to the north. Furthermore, the traditional Arab way of life that was confined to the Arabian Peninsula was no longer feasible. For centuries, Arabs had survived through the continual raiding of rival tribes and the subsequent spoils of war. Now that the vast majority of Arabia was Muslim, such raids on neighboring tribes meant contravening Islamic law. The Prophet had spoken on numerous occasions about the entire Muslim population being one Umma, or nation. It was inconceivable that that nation would go on through history in constant conflict with itself. Partly to remove chances of inter-Islamic conflict, and partly to provide security to the few Arab tribes that were converting to Islam within Byzantine and Sassanid borders, the Muslim armies turned north, where their greatest conquests would come. Raids into Sassanid-controlled Mesopotamia already began during the last year of Abu Bakr’s life, and continued once ‘Umar took power. At first, ‘Umar and other leading Muslims probably did not foresee these raids turning into permanent conquests. But a devastating war between the Byzantines and Sassanids that lasted from 603 to 628 left the imperial powers weak and unable to hold off waves of Arab Muslims arriving at their borders. The fertile lands of Mesopotamia and Syria were ready to fall; all that was needed was an organized assault by the Muslims. This would be a new type of war, however. Unlike the campaigns of destruction that the two empires had waged, the Muslim calls for war were combined with the calls for justice and social harmony consistent with the message of Muhammad. When Abu Bakr sent out the first armies, he ordered his forces to secure the safety of women, children and the elderly; to leave monks in their monasteries unmolested; and even to refrain from destroying crops. These rules could not have been more different from what the Arabs engaging in these conquests were used to before Islam. But Muhammad’s movement had been revolutionary from the start. Old ideas, traditions and ways of life had to give way to a new order, and that extended to warfare. Armies were simultaneously sent into Syria and Mesopotamia in 633. Khalid ibn al-Walid, fresh off his victories in the Wars of Apostasy led the detachment headed towards the Persians. Meanwhile, Yazid, the son of Abu Sufyan, led the armies sent to Syria, where he quickly managed to defeat a Byzantine force near Gaza. For the Byzantines, the surprising loss indicated this could turn out to be not a routine raid, but a full-scale invasion. Emperor Heraclius ordered the imperial army to mobilize and prepare to crush the Arabs before they were able to consolidate their victory. The Medina government was aware that this was a possibility, and Khalid was ordered to immediately leave Iraq, where he had already had some success, and travel across the waterless Syrian desert to reinforce the armies there. The combined Muslim forces met the Byzantines at the Battle of Ajnadayn about thirty kilometers west of Jerusalem, where the Muslim armies completely routed the imperial force under the command of the emperor’s own brother. The remaining Byzantine troops in southern Syria retreated to the well-fortified cities of Jerusalem, Caesarea and Gaza, leaving the victorious Muslims free to roam the countryside of Palestine. The Muslim armies under the command of Khalid moved north and laid siege to the ancient city of Damascus, which fell in September 635. The treaty he forged after the city capitulated was intended to allay the fears of the locals. In it, ‘Umar promised that their lives, property and religion would be safeguarded from any harassment, so long as a tribute to the Muslim government was paid. This set the tone for the fighting—that it was aimed at the Byzantine government and army, not the civilians. With such guarantees, there would be a much lower chance of rebellions by the Syrian population, which was essential considering that a relatively small Bedouin force was now beginning to occupy a large and diverse province in Syria. The loss of Damascus caused the Byzantine emperor to assemble an even larger force, with the hopes of sending the Arabs back into the deserts for good. Khalid knew his raiding force was no match for the bulk of the imperial army and decided to withdraw south, stalling the inevitable climactic battle between the two sides. Eventually, Heraclius’ army caught up with the Muslim force at Yarmuk, along the border of present-day Jordan and Syria, in the summer of 636. The Byzantine force was much larger, better equipped and better trained. But morale was low as numerous rivalries and quarrels caused friction in the ranks. Taking advantage of this and the familiarity the Arabs had fighting in rough terrain, the Muslim force decisively defeated the Byzantines. The Byzantine army was chased off the battlefield and ceased to be an effective fighting force capable of any military action. Emperor Heraclius was forced to concede defeat in Syria, as he had neither the soldiers nor the money to hold off the Muslim invasion. Cities throughout Syria fell one by one, all of them given terms similar to the ones given to Damascus by Khalid ibn al-Walid. By 638, the conquest of Syria was complete. From there, the fight against the Byzantines continued in Egypt, which fell relatively quickly, by 642. Two of the Byzantine Empire’s most valuable and prosperous regions had fallen into the hands of a people they had scarcely considered important enough to recognize before Islam. In 70 AD, the Roman Empire exiled Jews from Jerusalem. It was not until the Muslim conquest in 637 that they were allowed back to the Holy City. Within a few years, Syria had gone from a land firmly under the control of Byzantine empire to a province of the growing Muslim empire. For the victorious Muslims, the conquest must not have seemed that surprising. After all, they believed that God was on their side so long as they adhered to the religion that He sent down through Muhammad. The examples of Badr and the Conquest of Mecca from the time of the Prophet proved to them that victory was possible in the face of overwhelming odds with God’s help. For the Byzantines, the loss of Syria was simply the first domino to fall in the final decline of the successor to the Roman Empire. Imperial armies would never again march through Christianity’s Holy Land, nor would they ever again reap the economic benefits of this fertile region. For the locals living in Syria, however, the Byzantine loss did not have much of an impact on daily life. Churches continued to operate, peasants farmed land, and trade caravans passed through as they had before. To help sort out the civil administration of the region, ‘Umar personally travelled from Medina to Syria. One of his first actions in the country was to relieve Khalid ibn al-Walid of his post. This no doubt shocked everyone, including Khalid himself. Among the many possible reasons for forcing Khalid into retirement, Muslim historians in the past tended to settle on ‘Umar’s desire to remind the Muslim armies that God, not Khalid, was the reason for their victories. If the Muslims could sustain their streak of battlefield victories without one of the greatest generals of all time, it would serve as proof for those with weak faith of the divine guidance and help for their mission. When it came to governorship of the new province, ‘Umar appointed Mu‘awiya, the son of the Meccan aristocrat Abu Sufyan. He hailed from the wealthy and powerful Umayyad family, which had a major role in the administration of Quraysh before Islam. That lineage of governance would serve Mu‘awiya well in turning Syria from a new province to the economic and political heart of the Muslim world over the next twenty years. While ‘Umar was in Syria, he personally attended to the surrender of Jerusalem in 637. He was given a guided tour of the city by the Patriarch Sophronius, an Arab Christian who had risen to become one of the leading figures of the Greek Church in Jerusalem. The terms of the treaty that was signed with the leaders of Jerusalem was similar to others put in place throughout Syria. What is unique about the Muslim conquest here, however, is that the new governors of Jerusalem allowed Jews to come to the city to worship for the first time in over 500 years. Islamic scripture holds the Christian and Jewish religions in special esteem, calling them “The People of the Book”. It would not have made sense in Islamic law to allow the Christians freedom to visit their holy sites in Jerusalem while upholding the Byzantine laws preventing Jews from doing so. This precedent of freedom and religious pluralism was based on Muhammad’s Constitution of Medina, which ‘Umar was of course intricately familiar with. Yet while acknowledging the rights Christians and Jews had in Jerusalem, ‘Umar was keen to send the message that this city also belonged to Islam. According to Islamic belief, this was the city to which Muhammad travelled in his miraculous Night Journey from Mecca, where he prayed on the site of the house of worship built by his fellow prophet Solomon and then ascended to Heaven. There could be no minimizing the importance of Jerusalem in the Islamic tradition, and with this in mind, ‘Umar set about cleaning the Temple Mount, which the Romans and then Byzantines had let fall into disuse. Upon the Mount he erected the first version of the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. After the fall of Syria, the attention of the caliph went back to the Sassanid Empire, which had been mostly ignored since Khalid was ordered to move his armies to Syria. ‘Umar appointed another veteran of Arab warfare who fought with the Prophet, Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, to lead the Muslim armies into Mesopotamia. Despite initial setbacks due to the Arab inability to deal with war elephants, Sa‘d’s army managed to defeat the Persians at the Battle of Qadisiyya in late 636. The battle saw significant spoils fall into Muslim hands, much of it forwarded to Medina for distribution according to Islamic law, and the temporary defeat of the Sassanid army. If the Muslims really wanted to hold Iraq, however, they would have to take Ctesiphon, the Sassanid capital. Ctesiphon was not a well-defended city; it lay on the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, about sixty kilometers north of the ancient city of Babylon. After a siege that lasted about two months in early 637, the imperial city fell to the Muslim forces. The entire Tigris-Euphrates plain was now firmly under the control of the Muslim armies, with the Sassanid emperor and his government fleeing into the Persian highlands. Despite the string of impressive victories, ‘Umar forbade his army from pursuing the Sassanids outside of Iraq. In Mesopotamia the land was familiar enough to the Arab tribesmen that traditional military tactics proved useful. In the Iranian Plateau, the Arabs would be unfamiliar with the terrain and could be decisively defeated. Furthermore, the native population there was entirely Persian, unlike in Iraq, and resistance from both the Sassanid army as well as the locals could be expected. The royal standard of the Sassanids was captured at Qadisiyya and taken to Medina. Rather than keep it as a symbol of Islam’s victory over Persia, ‘Umar ordered that it be destroyed and its jewels and gold be sold to feed the poor. ‘Umar’s time as caliph is noteworthy not just for his military conquests, but also his administration over conquered territories. One of the most impressive aspects of the conquests and subsequent incorporation of them into the Muslim empire was the fact that life barely changed for most inhabitants of the conquered lands. The Byzantine and Sassanid armies and aristocratic class left as the Muslims moved in, but the local populations remained untouched. There were only two main changes in the lives of the conquered people. The first was who they paid their taxes to. Whereas previously they had paid taxes (oftentimes oppressively high taxes used to fund the ongoing wars) to the governments in Constantinople and Ctesiphon, now they paid a tribute, in accordance with Islamic law, that was forwarded to Medina. In most cases, this tribute did not exceed the previous taxes, and oftentimes was much less. For an everyday citizen, lower taxes are usually good news, regardless of who collects it. The second major change was the religious tolerance given to certain groups. Monophysite Christians, who differed from the ruling Greek Orthodox on matters of the nature of Christ, were allowed to practice their religion in Syria, a welcome change from the oppressive nature of the Byzantine government. Jews were similarly relieved of official oppression and were allowed to go back to their holiest city, Jerusalem, to worship. In the former Sassanid lands, Nestorian Christians saw increased religious freedom, as the ruling Zoroastrians had routinely restricted their freedoms on suspicions of being secretly allied with the Christian Byzantine Empire. Tensions of course still existed between religious groups, especially since the settled Christians of the Fertile Crescent probably resented the rule of nomadic Semites from the desert, but overall, the egalitarian nature of Muhammad’s message helped usher in an era of religious tolerance that had mostly been absent in the Middle East previously. In economic terms, the conquests brought unimaginable wealth to the relatively simple Arabs. Thousands of silver and gold coins and valuable gems flowed from conquered lands, particularly Iraq, into Medina as part of the spoils of war. In keeping with the precepts of Islamic law, the spoils were considered to belong to the entire Muslim community and were divided among members of the Umma, from the earliest converts to Islam to the newest non-Arabs to accept the religion. A huge boom in economic activity ensued in Mecca and Medina, with new houses being built regularly and huge estates being established to provide continued economic growth after the conquests ended. For the first time in Islamic history, immense wealth came into the hands of a Muslim government. Through ten years as the caliph of the Muslim world, ‘Umar had taken the young Muslim state from a desert-based raiding society to a regional power. This rapid expansion coupled with social stability is proof of his incredible capabilities as an administrator and leader, and he has thus gone down as one of the most successful rulers in Islamic history. His reign came to a sudden end in 644 when he was murdered in Medina by a Persian slave who had a personal grudge against the charismatic leader. While on his deathbed, ‘Umar appointed a council of six well-respected leaders of the community of Medina to choose his successor from among themselves. They chose ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, another early convert to Islam, who unlike Abu Bakr and ‘Umar came from the Umayyad clan of Mecca and was a very wealthy and powerful man before accepting Islam. No doubt seeing the success of ‘Umar’s policies, ‘Uthman promised to follow in ‘Umar’s footsteps and uphold the same practices as the deceased caliph, which led to his appointment in late 644. ‘Uthman ‘Uthman’s descent from an aristocratic family played a huge role in his decisions as caliph. The Umayyads had ample experience in administration dating back to the days before Islam, and ‘Uthman relied on that experience in his personnel decisions. His cousin Mu‘awiya was already the governor of Syria, and was doing an admirable job in transitioning that province from a frontier territory to the backbone of the Muslim state. ‘Uthman proceeded to appoint his foster brother, ‘Abdullah ibn Sa‘d, as governor of Egypt, hoping that Umayyad lineage would serve Egypt as well as it did Syria. Other cousins of his were appointed in Iraq, where they led raids into the Persian homeland, slowly conquering the rest of the Sassanid Empire. There were some allegations of nepotism for the first time in Islamic history, although they do not seem to have been serious enough to hamper the efforts and capabilities of the expanding Muslim state. During ‘Uthman’s caliphate, a Muslim embassy was sent to China to establish diplomatic relations between the caliphate and the Tang Dynasty. Continuing in the footsteps of ‘Umar and his emphasis on the military, ‘Uthman ordered the construction of the first naval fleet in Muslim history, intended to thwart any Byzantine counterattacks. Governors in Syria and Egypt relied heavily on the expertise of the local Christians in building sea-faring vessels. Christians who had formerly been under the sovereignty of the Byzantine Empire seem to have showed enthusiasm in their work for their new Arab governors, especially considering that many of them belonged to the Coptic Church and other Christian denominations that were not recognized by the Byzantines. The Muslims’ willingness to treat them better than the Byzantines must have played a huge role in their loyalty to the caliphate. The result of this was peaceful civil society, and security from external threats, as a Byzantine fleet attempting to recapture Alexandria in 646 was thwarted by Christian sailors in the employ of the caliphate. Besides simply defending its borders, the Muslim empire was able to expand its influence in the Mediterranean, capturing Cyprus and Crete, and raiding as far away as Sicily. Military success also continued on land, as Mu‘awiya led his powerful Syrian army into Armenia against Byzantine rule. The mountainous terrain of Anatolia, coupled with its mainly Greek population, meant a natural border between the Byzantines and the Muslims developed around the modern border of Turkey and Syria. Further east, Muslim armies continued to push into the Persian heartland, under the command of another of ‘Uthman’s relatives, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Aamir. The conquest of the rest of the Sassanid Empire was not as rapid as the conquest of Iraq. Here the society was more homogeneous and connected to the Sassanid government. As a result, the war exacted a heavier toll on the Muslim armies. Still, the completeness of the Muslim victory at Qadisiyya during the caliphate of ‘Umar had essentially sealed the fate of the Sassanid Empire. It was simply a matter of time and effort to subdue the rest of the empire. Sassanid Emperor Yazdegerd was never able to fully replace the army he lost in 642, and over the following ten years, the Sassanids were constantly on the defensive. By 650, the Iranian Plateau was secured, and by 651, Khurasan was taken. That same year, the last Sassanid king was found while on the run and executed. Within a decade the Muslim armies had pushed from Iraq to the River Oxus, reaching the edges of Central Asia. For ‘Uthman, leading a rapid military expansion like ‘Umar did not result in the same popularity as the second caliph. Trouble began to fester as discontent with his administrative policies, particularly his appointment of fellow Umayyads, began to take shape. Coupled with this, the slowing conquests (in comparison to ‘Umar’s rapid expansion) meant less booty made its way into Medina, resulting in economic stagnation. ‘Uthman’s popularity was certainly not as high as his two predecessors, but it would be a stretch to assume a massive revolution was brewing that would remove him from power. Instead, it was a small band of soldiers who would bring violent and chaotic change to the Medinese government. In 656, a group of soldiers from Egypt came to Medina to protest directly to the caliph regarding his policies and the division of spoils between the army and the civil government in Egypt. He listened to both sides of the dispute and promised to take steps to solve the problems equitably. On their return to Egypt, the soldiers intercepted a letter supposedly written by the caliph to the governor of Egypt ordering their execution. They returned to Medina and besieged ‘Uthman in his own house. Despite the mortal danger he was in, ‘Uthman refused to order that the people of Medina arm themselves and fight the rebels, and even prevented his cousin Mu‘awiya from sending a force from Syria to protect him, lest blood be shed in the city of the Prophet. Many of the remaining Companions of Muhammad opposed this mutiny, but were powerless to stop it. Martial law reigned in Medina and its residents could only watch in horror as the rebels eventually forced their way into ‘Uthman’s house and murdered him as he sat reading his copy of the Quran. The caliph was dead, and with him so was the unity of the Muslim world. ‘Ali As the kingmakers of Medina, the rebels sough to appoint a new caliph themselves. ‘Ali was the natural choice, as he was the most respected Companion still alive, and was related to the Prophet in two ways—as a cousin and son-in- law. ‘Ali, holding onto the unwavering honor and justice that many of the closest Companions were known for, initially refused to be appointed by people who had rebelled against the caliphate. He was eventually persuaded by other leading figures in Medina that he was the most qualified and best equipped to bring back peace to the Muslim world. As it turned out, however, no personality would be able to manage the crisis that the Muslim world stood at the precipice of. ‘Ali’s most pressing problem was dealing with the murderers of ‘Uthman. There was popular sentiment in favor of punishing the rebels. Mu‘awiya even insisted that he would not pledge allegiance to the new caliph until steps were taken to punish the people who killed his cousin. But ‘Ali, being as pragmatic as his predecessors, knew that to punish them would likely lead to his own assassination, as the rebels still controlled Medina. This would in turn force the Muslim world into a downward spiral of bloodshed that he was keen to avoid. Instead, he moved his capital to Kufa, in the fertile plain of Iraq, where support ran high for the embattled caliph. Many in Medina were disheartened by his resistance to bringing the rebels to justice, and soon a force gathered with the intention of convincing ‘Ali to punish them. Led by two fellow Companions, Talha and Zubayr, and aided by the Prophet’s widow Aisha, the army departed for Iraq to confront ‘Ali. It is difficult to judge the intentions of ‘Ali and his political opponents in their preparations for the coming conflict. On both sides there were people who were close to the Prophet and must have been aware of the severity of fighting among Muslims. Yet both sides believed themselves to be entirely correct in their ijtihad, or independent reasoning, regarding the correct course of action in dealing with the rebels. For ‘Ali, punishing them was not politically feasible as he believed the best solution was to move on and attempt to reunify the Umma. For his opponents, reunification was impossible without fixing wrongs and sending the message that the caliphate could not be violated as it was during the siege of ‘Uthman. Both arguments probably had elements of truth in them, but the political divisions that came from ‘Uthman’s death were too big for even the Companions to solve. Disunity was inevitable. Eventually, in 656, the supporting armies of the opposing ideas met at a field near Basra, in southern Iraq. Some members of the opposition, including Talha and Zubayr, met with ‘Ali before the battle, hoping to avoid bloodshed. A tentative peace treaty was agreed upon by the leaders of the opposing sides, who were loath to see fighting between Muslims just over twenty years after the Prophet had been laid in his grave. Less pious-minded extremists on both sides still urged the soldiers to come to blows with each other, despite the negotiations of their leaders. In the confusion, the two armies finally collided, each believing the other side had started the fighting. The Battle of the Camel, as it came to be known, was indecisive, with both sides taking on heavy losses. Talha and Zubayr were both killed in the mayhem. ‘Ali and Aisha escaped the battle unharmed but were disheartened at the first battle between Muslims in history. Aisha retired back to her home in Medina, accompanied along the way by a military escort for her protection, appointed by ‘Ali. She dissociated herself from politics until her death in 678. Despite this bloodshed, ‘Ali’s hold on the caliphate was still not secure. Mu‘awiya had remained neutral in the conflict between ‘Ali and the dissenters from Medina, but continued to withhold his allegiance until ‘Ali punished his cousin’s murderers. ‘Ali could not effectively govern while one of the most powerful governors of the Muslim world did not submit to his authority, but he still held onto his position that punishing the rebels was not a priority and was not feasible in any case. This time, to prevent further bloodshed, he agreed to meet with Mu‘awiya to settle their dispute through arbitration. The two sides met at a site midway between Iraq and Syria, their respective bases of support, in 658. Exactly what happened at the negotiations and their outcome is difficult to judge through the fog of history, but it seems that the arbitrators favored a solution that remove both ‘Ali and Mu‘awiya from power and resulted in the election of a new caliph. When results of the arbitration were announced to the opposing sides, a group of ‘Ali’s supporters decried the results. Declaring, “Decision belongs to God alone!” and refusing to accept the legitimacy of the arbitration itself, the group condemned ‘Ali for allowing his political fate to be decided by mere humans capable of error. Their extreme political position morphed into an extreme religious position, in which they deemed any sinning human to be an unbeliever. After separating from the main body of ‘Ali’s supporters, they were given the name Khawarij (or Kharijites) meaning “the ones who left”. The Kharijites went on to terrorize the Iraqi countryside, battling against anyone who disagreed with their fanatical positions. Meanwhile, ‘Ali, who had rejected the results of the arbitration as being invalid, decided that his former supporters who had now become the first in history to secede from accepted Islamic theology could not be allowed to go about with their reign of terror. He assembled his army and confronted the opposition in the summer of 658, where the main body of Khariji support was destroyed. The movement continued in a more clandestine form, with the aim of removing both ‘Ali and Mu‘awiya. An attempt to assassinate Mu‘awiya in Damascus by the Kharijites was unsuccessful, but they succeed in killing ‘Ali. As he prayed the dawn prayers at the mosque in Kufa, an assassin stabbed the caliph, bringing his turbulent reign to a violent end. The caliphate fell to the only man left in the Muslim world with widespread support and the capabilities to be an effective leader: Mu‘awiya.  4 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MUSLIM STATE The death of ‘Ali at the hands of the Kharijis and the rise of Mu‘awiya to the caliphate marks the end of the era commonly referred to as the “Rightly Guided Caliphs”. The nature of Muslim government and society fundamentally changed during the nineteen years of Mu‘awiya’s rule from 661 to 680. Coming to power at a time when disunity and chaos reigned from Egypt to Iran, Mu‘awiya’s political skill and competence helped prevent the Muslim world from falling into total anarchy—from which it may never have risen. Yet at the same time, some of his policies and actions were controversial, and formed the basis for some of the biggest divisions in the Muslim world today. His reign marks the beginning of the Umayyad Caliphate, when succession to the position became hereditary and stayed in the Umayyad family until 750, when it was replaced by another old family of Mecca, the Abbasids. Mu‘awiya Despite the attempts at arbitration, a real solution to the dispute between ‘Ali and Mu‘awiya never took shape, and the last years of ‘Ali’s caliphate were marked by de facto division between the realms of Mu‘awiya and ‘Ali. With the death of ‘Ali, however, Mu‘awiya was free to extend his control over the areas formerly loyal to ‘Ali and reunify the Muslim world under his command. Indeed, he was probably the only man at the time that had enough support to manage such a monumental task. He was incredibly popular in Syria, a province he had looked after as governor for twenty years before the start of his caliphate, and Syrian army formed the backbone of his military. He was not without enemies, however, particularly in Iraq, where popular opinion was in favor of the caliphate being inherited by ‘Ali’s son, Hasan. Ever the pragmatic statesman, Mu‘awiya had no desire to plunge the Muslim world into further warfare over leadership. So instead of mobilizing the army to violently crush the opposition, he negotiated a deal with ‘Ali’s son in which Hasan would give up any claims to leadership and retire to a life of worship and scholarship in Mecca. Desire among some for rule by the house of ‘Ali remained, although under the surface, and it never materialized into a real threat to the reign of Mu‘awiya.  The Dome of the Rock Mosque was built in the late 690s as part of the al- Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem. Its design is largely Byzantine, and was partly engineered by Christians. The caliph also relied upon negotiation and deal-making with other potential opponents. In many ways, Mu‘awiya ruled like an Arab tribal leader from pre- Islamic Arabia, using family relations, an unwritten code of honor and gifts to get his way politically. Having been a youth in Mecca who saw how his father led Quraysh, these old traditions were no doubt ingrained in his political persona. At the same time, however, Mu‘awiya began to change the caliphate into something new: a monarchy. He was the first caliph to sit on a throne and the first to pray in an enclosed area in the mosque, protecting him from possible assassins. He no longer followed in the modest and simple footsteps of the first four caliphs. Instead, royalty and court culture became a part of the caliphate as it had been part of the Roman and Sassanid Empires. For the first thirty years after the death of the Prophet, the caliph was simply a first among equals, and numerous anecdotes survive of the asceticism of those first four leaders, such as ‘Umar being mistaken for a commoner or refusing the service of bodyguards. Mu‘awiya was the bridge between the simple caliphate that came before him and the monarchy that succeeded him. He would walk in the markets of Damascus in his patched clothing as enormous and elaborate mosques were built by his architects. As part of his overall program to de-emphasize political divisions among Muslims, Mu‘awiya chose to focus on expanding the borders of the caliphate. Reminiscent of ‘Umar, who focused on outward expansion after the infighting of the Wars of Apostasy, Mu‘awiya sent armies to continue the war against the Byzantine Empire by land and sea. The important islands of Rhodes and Crete in the Aegean Sea were occupied by the navy first established under ‘Uthman. Buoyed by these victories, the Muslim armies were, for the first time, able to lay siege of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. The legendary city had been a prize since the earliest days of Islam, when the Prophet promised that eventually a Muslim army would conquer that distant and seemingly impenetrable city. As Muslim armies approached the city for the first time in 674, fulfilling that promise seemed to be within reach. From 674 to 678, the Umayyad armies laid siege to the city’s massive walls, but lacked the manpower or technology to conquer the city. Among the casualties of the siege was the elderly Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a notable Companion of the Prophet who lodged Muhammad in his home when he arrived in Medina. He was buried near the walls of Constantinople, and almost 800 years later would become a mythic legend for the Ottoman armies that eventually managed to overcome Constantinople’s walls.  Expansion also continued in North Africa, where the Byzantines stil