The Early Caliphate: The Rashidun Caliphate or Rightly Guided Caliphs.
The
great political problem was the dynastic succession of the early Islamic
empire. There were early rivalries
between the Ansaris, those who were based in Medina and the areas into
which Islam expanded, and the Muhājirūn, the original companions of
Muhammad, who had allegiances with the Quraysh in Mecca. This rivalry led to disagreements over the
selection of leadership of the umma.
The
first choice for succession was Abū Bakr who was chosen over the Prophet’s
cousin and son-in-law, ‘Ali b. Abu
‘Ali Ṭalib. The title of Caliph or khalīfa
(the full title is khalīfat rasūl Allāh, - successor to the Apostle
of God) was granted to the first four
leaders known collectively as the Rashidun Caliphate, or the rightly guided
caliphs. Abū Bakr was the father-in-law
of Muḥammad through the marriage of Aisha.
Abū Bakr soon approved an expedition that had been planned to invade
Syria. This laid the foundation for expansion outward from the Arabian
peninsula.
Abu Bakr and the Ridda Wars
After the
prophet Muhammad's death in 632 CE / 10 AH, the initial choice of a successor
to leadership of the Muslim community was given to Muhammad's father-in-law, Abu Bakr. He would be called the khalifa or caliph, the "successor." One of the first political problems
confronting Abu Bakr was the refusal of
some former allies to refuse to pay a
new tax that had been implemented by the Prophet Muhammad. Interestingly, in some sources this was
referred to as a poor tax, but in other sources or This led to a series of
military campaigns in which Abu Bakr defended Medina and sought to enforce the
payment of this new tax. This led to the
"Ridda Wars" that affected Western Arabia during his reign (Donner,
2008, p. 30).
Expansion into Syria (633-636)
Abu Bakr also
ordered the expansion into Syrian territory and as ealy as 633 CE / 2 AH,
Muslim armies were entering the Syrian frontier. It is at the Battle of Yarmuk in 636 CE, that
we find the description by al-Waqidi in
his Futuh al-Sham (Conquest of Syria), of Khawla bint Al-Azwar’s heroic deeds
as a woman soldier, in which she leads her fellow women in an escape from a
Byzantine prison camp, and later fights her way through the Byzantine army
lines to help free her husband in the fight leading to Damascus.
The Second Caliph Umar (ruled from 634-644)
Abu Bakr died
only two years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. The next caliph ‘Umar was selected by Abu Bakr’s will ‘Umar who completed the
conquest of Syria and an early expansion into Iraq and Iran where Muslim forces
attacked the Sassanian armies. By about
639 CE, Muslim armies had also crossed the Sinai peninsula into the Nile Delta,
and by 642 they had conquered or controlled most of Egypt, including the town
of Fustat (later renamed as Cairo). As
in Syria, there were few battles for Egypt, and it is likely that the Muslim
system of rules and ethics that favored trade, markets and an expanded sense of
community and equal recognition of its members favored its ease of expansion
and acceptance. Another common
historical explanation for the success of the spread is the zeal and
charismatic appeal of the new Muslim community and the believers in spreading the
message of Islam. Among the policies
instituted by ‘Umar was his tolerance for other religions, and his stipulation
that they could retain their religious practice if they paid a special tax
known as the Jizya tax. This
combined with the military organization and pragmatic policies of the new
Muslim community probably account for the success of the early Muslim
expansion.
Umar's
assassination by a Persian slave led to another problem of succession and in
standing with precedent Uthman was chosen.
He was another relative of the Prophet Muhammad, an early convert to
Islam, and member of the original Meccan community and member of the Quraysh
tribe. Uthman's role as part of the
early emigrants who fled to Abyssinia or Ethiopia in around 615 CE, is interesting. Ibn Ishaq states that he was successful as a
merchant there but was called back to support the fledgling Muslim community
back in Mecca, where he returned to lend his support.
Taxation and Revenue for the early Muslim State:
It is also
during this period we find the beginnings of a Bayt al-Mal (an institution for
revenues) that was used to collect taxes derived from the following
sources.
Kharaj: a tax on agricultural land.
Jizyah: was a tax on non-Muslim subjects or dhimmis.
Ushr: was a religious tithe or contribution that
Muslim landowners would pay, at a lower rate than non-Muslims. This obligation
was in addition to the customary Zakat or charitable contribution that
Muslims were expected to make. Together these helped to finance the treasury of
the new state.
Another type of
tax was levied on trade from other countries, especially areas outside of
Muslim control. This seems to have been
a reciprocal tax as Muslim merchants were often charged fees or a tax when they
sold or traded goods in those countries.
A Chronology of The Rightly-Guided Caliphs (“Rashidun”): The First Four Caliphs
We’ve
reached the half-way point of the Rashidun caliphate – so let’s take quick look at their years of rule and order
of succession:
Abu Bakr (632-34)
‘Umar (634-44)
‘Uthman (644-56)
‘Ali (656-61)
Figure 8 Geneaological Chart of Prophet's Family and Rashiddun
Caliphs
Uthman 3rd Caliph 644-656 CE
Umar's
assassination by a Persian slave led to another problem of succession and in
standing with precedent Uthman was chosen.
He was another relative of the Prophet Muhammad, an early convert to
Islam, and member of the original Meccan community and member of the Quraysh
tribe. Uthman's role as part of the
early emigrants who fled to Abyssinia or Ethiopia in around 615 CE, is
interesting. Ibn Ishaq states that he
was successful as a merchant there but was called back to support the fledgling
Muslim community back in Mecca, where he returned to lend his support.
It
is 'Uthman who is credited with ordering the compilation of the Quran.
'Uthman,
the third caliph was assassinatedin
656 at his house in Medina following a protest siege by dissidents over
grievances that began over policies in the newly acquired lands of Egypt.
Caliph Ali (ruled 656-661) The Fourth and Last of the Rashiddun Caliphs
Ali’s
succession to the Caliphate was a natural choice for those seeking appointment
of a caliph who had been a close companion of the Prophet as well as being his
son-in-law. However, Ali’s choice of
siding with those who were seeking settlements of the Islamic community in
Iraq, led him to favor locating a new capital at the new town of Kufa in Iraq.
Almost immediately Ali was faced with dissent from numerous fronts. When he sought to negotiate with the Damascus
based Muslim community, this seemed to have alienated a number of Iraqi based
Muslims who dissented. These dissenters
were later to called and recognized as the Kharijites, or (outsiders),
so-called because they did not accept the appointment of the Caliph on the
basis of lineage or family ties, as in the case of Ali, nor claims to be
related to or from the Quraysh in the Hejaz.
For the Kharijites, it was important to select the new Caliph on the
basis of character and proven moral and observant practices and belief, in
other words on virtue. This created
difficulties with the Muslim community that had expanded into Syria and
Damascus, as well as those who remained back in the Hejaz in Arabia. Finally, the fourth Caliph, Ali was
assassinated in 661, when the outbreak of a civil war, called the First Fitna
over the expansion into the lands of Iraq and the settlement of Kufa in Iraq,
led to serious confrontations. It was a
Kharijite, from a group of dissenters in
the region of Iraq who assassinated Ali in 661.
Umayyad Damascus Expansion of Islam into Egypt, North Africa and Andalusia in Spain
With
the assassination in Iraq of the Fourth Caliph Ali (ruled 656-661 CE), by a
Kharijite dissenter , Muawiya became the main leader of the Muslim community
and established what is called the Umayyad dynasty at its capital in
Damascus. The Umayyads ruled from about
660 to 750 in Damascus until the Abbasids overpowered them. Thereafter, a faction of Umayyads survived
and ruled in Andalusian Spain.
The
shift of the capital to Damascus signaled a major shift in the socio-economic
base of the young Islamic state, for Syria was a predominantly agricultural
region that was more integrally located within the crossroads of Mediterranean
and Mesopotamian cities, produce and trade.
With a higher population base, it also meant a greater source of
revenues and a stronger base for the state and society.
On
the origins of Islam, various approaches are taken. The Islamic conquests are
also interpreted in several ways, some emphasize the movement of Arab armies
fused with Islamic values (Kennedy,
2007, pp. 363-375). The Caliphate represents a central and
culminating period for studies of early Islamic history. The Dome of the Rock (Haram al-Sharif) and
the Great Mosque of Damascus were prominent symbols of the architectural splendor of
the Umayyad Dynasty and the spread of Islam and Arab culture from the 1st/7th
century to the 2nd/8th Century. After the rise of Islam as a major religion
and the establishment of the early Caliphate, we find the establishment of the
Umayyad Dynasty as Islam’s first empire.
The First Fitna or Civil War: Sunni and Shia: Religious Sectarian Groups as a Historical Problem
The
First Fitna or Civil War (656-661) arose from the problems of succession
following the Third Caliph Uthman’s assassination after an uprising in Kufa in
Iraq that year. Upon his death Ali
became the 4th caliph. Ali’s
rise to the caliphate led ot the first civil war in the new community. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (ruled 656-61) was of the
Quraysh tribe and was a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and married to his daughter
Fatima. However he was opposed by
Uthman’s family and supporters who disputed the validity of ‘Ali’s
election. When ‘Ali relocated the
capital to Kufa in Iraq it created a conflict for the power base remaining
behind in Medina and the Hejaz. While
‘Ali established his base in the new center of Kufa, an opposition camp arose
at Basra to its South. After ‘Ali
defeated the Basra opposition a new opposition movement from Damascus led by
the Syrian governor Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, a relative of the late Uthman led
a march against ‘Ali’s forces. While
‘Ali agreed to a negotiated truce at the Battle of Siffin, a few months later
he was murdered in 661 while at prayer in Kufa.
This first civil war or fitna is also viewed as ending the first
phase of expansion based around the charismatic leadership that characterized
the Rashiddun Caliphs (Donner, 2008, p. 41). The collective sense of mission that early
Muslims experienced was compromised by struggles within the Arab community,
between a Meccan based or derived elite and those in the new lands who sought
greater share in power. The murder of
the third Caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan in 656 opened up a fissure or split among
the Muslim community. Although the
Muslim insitutions were intact, these rivalries over succession between the
‘Ali the Fourth Caliph and Mu’awiya who opposed them led to a division of
military forces.
Thereafter
Mu’āwiya ibn Abī Sufyān (ruled 661-680) claimed power and relocated the capital
to Damascus in Syria which begins the Umayyad Dynasty (Hourani,
2002, p. 25).
Of
the early caliphs, it is Mu’āwiya who ruled 661-680, and ‘Abd al- Malik ibn
Marwān, who ruled from 685-705, had the longest reigns in this period in which
the development of an Islamic state and empire is formed. x
The history of
the Shiite branch of Islamic practice arises from the problem of succession
following the Prophet Muhammad’s death.
Those who followed the succession through Muawiya and the Umayyad
Dynasty based in Damascus were opposed
by two other groups of Muslims who were based in the East in Iraq.
For much of the
remainder of Islamic history, there is less evidence of confrontation between
Sunni and Shia. Although Muslim visitors
to each other’s area of practice may have voiced or held their own preferences
and opinions, such differences did not lead to open clashes or violence. Instead for most of Islamic history there
exists a tolerance of coexistence between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Much of this
changed in the last decades of the 20th century, where the war
between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s led to open conflict and for the plight of
Shi’ite communities in Iraq who were singled out for retaliation by Saddam
Hussein’s regime following the 1991 Gulf War.
This separation between Sunni and Shia was accelerated and spread in the
last several decades where the system of rivalry between Shia governed Islamic states like Iran have
competed with Sunni oriented Arab governments. The current crisis of the civil war in Syria
comes to mind as a reflection of this problem as the Syrian regime favors the
privileging of minority Alawi and Shi’ite groups against Sunni proponents.
The Second Fitna or Civll War and the Origins of the Sunni-Shi’ia Schism
While
Mu’awiya established his new Umayyad dynasty in Damacus, there was still a
major political challenge and potential shift in regional power that came from
the Kharijites and ‘Ali’s family who remained based in Iraq and sought the reestablishment
of the caliphate. The Kharijites were a
dissident group that had withdrawn their support for ‘Ali after his negotiation
of the truce at Siffin in 661. The
Kharijites sought a degree of autonomy in both political power and in theology
and had a base of support in and around Basra in Southern Iraq. The Kharijites held that only the Imam or
Caliph should be chosen based on virtue, not family relations. This probably put the Kharijites at odds with
both the new Umayyad dynasty in Syria and the remnants of ‘Ali’s family and its
supporters who were based at Kufa. In
about 685 Husayn the second son of ‘Ali
was killed in a fight at Karbala in Iraq.
Husayn’s death there is commemorated as the Day of Ashura by followers of Shii’sm, the shi’at ‘Ali or devoted followers of the late
Caliph.
Umayyad Consolidation to 750 AD
The
rapid westward spread of Islam from Arabia into Egypt, the entire span of North
Africa and into Andalusia in Spain is one of the remarkable transitions of
history. Very few outright battles were
needed during this expansion from the late 7th to mid 8th
century. The Umayyads based
themselves in the Eastern Mediterranean, around the key cities of Jerusalem and
Damascus, both important trading and commercial cities in the Byzantine Empire
that preceded the rise of Islam. This
expansion represented a geographic shift in Islamic and Arab culture moving
beyond its core in the Hijaz region of Arabia.
While the message of Islam brought an important religious message and
ideology, it also was convenient to the development of a moral system and
ethical values convenient to the merchant and agrarian based economies of the
Eastern and Southern Mediterranean (Islamic Art
in the Mediterranean, 2000, p. 15). This has been developed further in the
studies by Mahmood Ibrahim and others (Ibrahim, 1990) (Rodinson, 1966).
Following
the defeat of ‘Ali’s descendants and supporters, the Ummayyads consolidated
their base of power in Syria and the Levant.
They developed a system of domain over agricultural lands in which the
state and the elite claimed control in a manner similar to that which the
Romans and Byzantines had asserted before them.
The system of preferential or lower tax rates for Muslims also prevailed
and provided incentive for growing support over time from newly converted
Muslims. As occurred in the early years
of the Rashiddun Caliphate, the tolerant policy toward non-Muslims allowed for
a system of cooperation and relative stability in towns and cities under
Umayyad rule.
Under
the rule of ‘Abd al-Malik (ruled 685-705) the Umayyad Caliphate or Dynasty
expanded from its capital in Damascus.
‘Abd al-Malik is credited with ending the Second Civil War or Fitna
by force. His reign inaugurated
administrative reforms to create a centralized empire, including a regular
army. Arabic became the official
administrative language as well as the language of religious practice and
institutions. The Umayyads also
established a state with recognized institutions of finance and administration
with a regulated currency. It was during
this successor, Caliph Al-Walid I, (ruled 705-715) that the Great Mosque of
Damascus was begun.
