Period Of Banu

Umayyah
(661 to 750A.D)
 Contents
 Introduction
 Background
 List Of Umayyah Rulers
 Expension Of The Umayyah Empire
 Victories Of Umayyah's Army
 Umayyah’s Success
 Challenges To Success
 Umayyah’s Government
 Language
 A common Coinage
 Decline of Umayyah Dynasty
 Unrest
 The Abbasids
 Introduction
Banu Umayyah means “Sons of Umayyah”. The Umayyah
government was established after caliphate. Banu Umayyah
ruled from A.D 661-750. In the pre-islamic period, they were
Prominent clan of Meccan tribe of Quraysh, who was descen-
dant of Abd Shams. The first ruler of Banu Umayyah was Ha-
zrat Muawiya(R.A).
 Background

 Abu-Sufyan accepts Islam on “Fatah-e-Makah” and

then his son Hazrat Ameer Muawiya (RA) laid the
foundation of Umayyad dynasty.

 In the period of khulfa e rashideen Umayyad's

performed great deeds. During the time of Hazrat
Umer (RA) ,Hazrat Ameer Muawiya (RA) became
the governor of Damascus , In the time of Hazrat
Usman Ghani, Hazrat Ameer Muawiya (RA) was
became the governor of the whole province of Syria.
 After the martyrdom of Hazrat Usman (RA) in 35th
hijri , Hazrat Ameer Muawiya (RA) raised his voice
for the retribution of usman (RA) and became
independent from the central government.

 After the battle of siffin , the Muslim state was divided

into two parts. Half of the khilafat remained with
Hazrat Ali (RA) and half remained in the hands of
Hazrat Ameer Muawiya(RA)
 List Of Umayyah Rulers
Name A.H A.D
Muawiya I 41-60 661-680
Yazid I 60-64 680-683
64
Muawiya II 64-65 683-684
Marwan I 65-86 684-685
Abd al- Malik 86-96 685-705
Al-Walid I 96-99 705-715
Sulayman 715-717
 Name A.H A.D

Umer II 99-101 717-720

Yazid II 101-105 720-724
Hisham 105-125 724-743
Al Walid II 125-126 743-744
Yazid III 126 745
Ibrahim 126 745
Marwan 126-132 744-750
 The Expansion Of The Empire

 When the Umayyah’s took power in A.D661 the

Empire’s eastern boundary extended into Persia and
pushed the border further into Central Asia.
 The expansion began with hit and run raids attacking
the cities of Bukhara and Smarkland both major
trade cities of the region(located in modern
Uzbekistan).
 Victories Of Umayyah Army
 Hit and run raids soon turned into organized campaigns
for conquest which allowed them to control most of
Central Asia by 700’s.
 By 710 they controlled North Africa from the Nile to
the liberian Peninsula.
 By 711 they moved North across the Mediterranean Sea
into the liberian Peninsula(modern nations of Spain and
Portugal).
 Umayyah’s Success
The Umayyah’s ruled successfully for a while:
 Expanded into vast area of land.
 They build Mosques(Dome Of The Rock).
 Allowed their people to bring their problems and
consulted advisers about their policies.
 Had a postal service.
 Arabic replaced Greek and Persian as language of the
captured territory.
 Umayyah Government
 In order to control the vast territory the Umayyah's
patterned their government on the bureaucracy used in
the lands they won from the Byzantine Empire.
 The bureaucracy allowed the Umayyah's to control the
entire empire from the capital, Damascus.
 The caliphs appointed Emirs, or governors, to rule the
outlying provinces.
 Language
 The population of the Umayyah empire was very diverse
which was the challenge in uniting the population.
 Abd al-Malik ,who became caliph in 685, declared
Arabic as the language of the government for all Muslim
lands.
 A Common Coinage
 Trade was another issue the Umayyah’s faced.
 In 700 Abd al-Malik further unified the empire by
introducing a common coinage.
 The coins helped spread acceptance of islam and the
Arabic language.
 Commerce was also made easier.
 The Decline Of The Umayyah’s

Umayyah’s started to neglect the rules of Islam.

They did not base their laws on the Quran.
Built lavish palaces outside of the towns where they spent
their time hunting, drinking, or dancing surrounded by
beautiful women, poets and musicians.
Each Umayyah caliph named his relative as a successor
before he died. This was creating a ruling family.
Some more reasons of their decline are as under.
 Abusive activities
 Increasing jizia
 Suni Shia Conflict
 Descrmination with non Arabs
 Capture of public treasurey
 Indulgence in luxuries
 Bad administration
 Internal Feuds
 Incapable Rulers
 Religious Scholars
 Unrest
 The followers of Umayyah were not happy with them
 Jews and Christians became unhappy because they did
not like paying the more taxes than the Muslims.
 Persians did not like the substance treatment.
 Umayyah soldiers no longer wanted to fight they had
become comfortable with their lives and family.
 The Abbasids

the Abbasids gained support from other Muslims who

opposed the Umayyah’s .
 By 750 the combined forces devised a plan to overthrow
the Umayyah’s.
 According to some historians, the Abbasids invited the
Umayyah’s leaders to a meeting to talk about peace. At
the meeting the Umayyah’s were murdered.
 The Islamic Golden age
• The golden age was during the Abbasid historical period
beginning in the mid-8th century lasting until the Mongol
conquest of Baghdad in 1258.
• It was led under caliph Harun Rashid.
• During the reign of Harun al-Rashid Baghdad was the
world center of knowledge, wealth and international
significance.
• Two factors that laid down the foundation of this period.
• Collection and translation of knowledge.
• Sponsoring of scholars.
• Discussion of viewpoints.
 Catalysts for success
There are many reasons for the success of the Islamic
civilization during this period most notably is:
• The principles and ideals of Islam was practiced.
• Tolerance and respect for the contributions of ethnic and
religious minorities.
• Islam unified the tribes of Arabia.
• Islam was attractive to the conquered.
• It was easy to become Muslim.
• Preaches equality (people could move up in society).
 Mathematics
• Islam made major strides in the field of
algebra, geometry and trigonometry.
• They used to solve practical problems.
• Contributions can be traced to Al-
Khwarizmi in the 9thcentury.
• He introduced the fundamentals of
algebra.
• Most revolutionary contribution was the
Muhammad Bin Musa Al-
development of numbers and the Khwarizmi (780-850)

discovery of zero (sifr).

 Scientific method
• Scientific method was first developed
in the Muslim world, where significant
progress in methodology was made.

• The most important development of the

scientific method was the use of
experimentation and quantification.

• Muslim scientists translated Greek

classics and made far-reaching advances
in many fields.
 Advances in medicine
• In the field of medicine the Muslims laid down the
foundations of many sub areas of medicine.
• Both preventative and remedial aspects of medicine was
researched and developed.
• Al-Razi, a 9th century Persian physician, made the first
major Muslim contribution to medicine when he
developed treatments for smallpox and measles.
• Another physician Ibn-e-sina composed over 276 works
and the most prominent is Qanun-fe-al-tibb (Cannon
of medicine).
• Muslims also made advances in the treatments of
cataracts (main cause of blindness during old age).
 Philosophy
• Al-Farabiand other early Muslim
philosophers tried to find rational
arguments for the existence of God.
• Theologians, led by Al-Ghazali,
defended religion by pointing out
contradictions and limitations to
human reason.
• Ibn Rushd(Muslim scholar),
responded to Al-Ghazali'sargument by
urging philosophers to use reason to
reach genuine knowledge of the truth,
independent of revelation.
 Translation
• The Abbasid encouraged translation from pre-Islamic
languages, particularly Middle Persian, Greek, and Syriac.

• This was necessary for two reason.

1.to understand the texts.
2.Make further research and development.

• This activity provided a channel through which older

thought could enter and be reoriented by Islamic societies.
 Architecture and engineering
• Islamic architecture is distinct in terms of its unique
architectural elements and ornamentations.

• Calligraphy, an essential aspect of written Arabic,

developed in manuscripts is often incorporated in
architectural designs.

• Muslims also contributed to the field of engineering by

inventing gears, cranks, pistons and pumps.

• These tools was later incorporated into machinery

developed during the European-based industrial
revolution.
 The decline of Islamic civilization
(golden age)
• The decline of the golden age came as a result of a decline in
adherence to Islam as an ideology.
• Ideological decline can be attributed to:
• Infusion of philosophical ideas from Greek, Persian and
Indian civilization.
• Abandoning of ijtihad.
• Neglecting the study of the Arabic language.
• Political, cultural and missionary intervention from the
west.