the caliphate of muawiya

7/29/2019 The Caliphate of Muawiya

1/25

The Caliphate of Mu`awiya

Islamic History: the First 150 Years


2/25

Essays and Assignments

Essay titles

Text based assignment

Deadline: 14th

August 2006


3/25

Session Plan

1. A Brief Recap

2. Mu`awiya Triumphant3. The Rule of Mu`awiya

4. Arranging the Succession


4/25

Section I: A Brief Recap


5/25

Recap As these are arguably the most important years in Islamic history,

a short recap is in order

Muhammad left no unequivocal instructions regarding leadershipof the Muslim community after his death

Abu Bakr: Khilafat Rasul Allah

Umar:Amir al-Mumineen

Uthman: Khilafat Allah ?

Ali: Amir & Imam This historical order valorised by Sunni tradition as the period of

the Rightly Guided Caliphs

Seen very differently by the Shia as repeated attempts to deny Alihis rightful place

In some senses, the debate regarding the nature of leadership isthe key issue

The debate turns increasingly violent as we reach the end of theperiod

Umar, Uthman and Ali all die violent deaths

The impact of the conquests


6/25

Section II: Mu`awiya Triumphant


7/25

Muàwiyah Triumphant With Alis assassination in 40AH (661CE) at Kufa, Muàwiya

becomes the most significant political force

His forces proceed towards Iraq and encamp at Maskin Hasan ibn Ali is elected caliph/imam in Kufa

Hasan said to have made the following stipulation:You must be totally obedient, make peace with whom I makepeace, and fight whom I fight (Tab. 2.5)

Felt to be equivocal and an indication that he intended to give in A force from Kufa is sent to meet Muàwiya (or else is already

present in the region)

There are several divergent accounts of the subsequent eventsin the sources

Tabari (in his usual manner) offers several different reports:1. al-Zuhri (an important early historian): Hasan intended to makepeace with Muàwiya and one commander who did not agreewas dismissed; the other (Abdullah ibn Abbas) wrote toMuàwiya asking for safe conduct and money (Tab. 2.1)


8/25

Muàwiyah Triumphant2.Uthman ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Khuzai: Hasans commander

rumoured dead, causing panic; Hasans tent plundered; al-

Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi intended to sell Hasan toMuàwiya (Tab. 2.2-3)

3. Àwanah: similar to 2; Hasan reveals his peace plan to hisclose relatives and there is an argument about it; Hasanscommander resigns and they accept Muàwiya (Tab. 2. 3-4)

4. al-Yaqubi: Hasans force commanded by Ubaidallah ibnAbbas, who then joins Muàwiya for a large bribe; Hasanstent ransacked when news of his peace initiatives becomesknown (Yaqubi 2.254f.)

Differences important

al-Zuhri said to have been an Umayyad supporter Yaqubi a Shiite sympathiser

Abdullah ibn Abbas and the Abbasids

This may well account for the differences in their respective

accounts


9/25

Muàwiyah Triumphant Forming an opinion about what actually happened thus

difficult

At any rate, Hasan sues for peace and comes to anarrangement with Muàwiya

In 41AH (661CE), Muàwiya enters Kufa

His opponents are either bribed or threatened into

accepting his rule He thus becomes the caliph

Hasan holds to his agreement until his death in 49AH

Shia sources believe that Muàwiya had Hasan poisoned

Leadership of the Bani Hashim then passed to Husaynibn Ali

Although we will encounter Husayn again in the nextsession, during this period he holds to his brothers treaty


10/25

Section III: The Rule of Mu`awiya


11/25

Source Perspectives

As we have seen, when exploring the sources for earlyIslamic history, we have to account for a wide range of

perspectives Thus far, we have looked at the impact of the Sunni-Shia

divide upon our sources

However, this is only one aspect

Our sources focus mostly on Iraq, Medina and relatedmatters

Other matters, considered somewhat peripheral to oursources, receive much less treatment

Reasons?

Many of our key writers from Iraq During the Abbasid period, when most of these sources

written, Iraq was the capital (Baghdad)

The Shia impact at Kufa

This is particularly prominent during Mu`awiyas reign


12/25

Muàwiyas Powerbase

Wealth

As we saw last week, the Umayyad family owned vast wealth

This was primarily based upon land and as such, the Umayyadclan held wide estates throughout Muslim territory

They were also arguably the most mercantile clan of the Qurayshtribe and even before Muàwiyas reign they had wide businesscontacts

The Syrian Army (ahl al-Sham) For the entire Umayyad period (some 100 years), the army of the

Syrian provinces was the most powerful and well equippedmilitary force in the entire Muslim empire

Furthermore, given their closeness to the Byzantine border, the

Syrian army was both fully trained and generally, expertly led Under Muàwiya the Syrianjundwere also very well paid

Muàwiya had been governor of Syria for a long time, since beingappointed by Umar

He had thus had ample opportunity to ensure the provinces firmloyalty


13/25

Muàwiyas Powerbase

The Hilmof Muàwiya

Muàwiya was renowned for the quality ofhilm

This term means approximately forbearance, tact, orperhaps even skill

Hilm is the quality of the successful traditional Arab Sheikh:someone who could get their own way through acombination of diplomacy, tact, shrewdness and argument

In a very broad sense, comparisons with Julius Caesarsclemency (clementia) are perhaps not too wide of the mark

Muàwiya is reported to have made the following statement:

I apply not the lash where my tongue suffices, nor my

sword where my whip is enough. But if there be one hairbinding me to my fellow men I let it not break. If they pull Iloosen, and if they loosen I pull

Muàwiya was thus able to perform a delicate balancing actbetween the different power groups in the emerging Muslimempire


14/25

Muàwiyas Powerbase

Tribal Support

The picture of Muàwiya that emerges from thesources is one of a master diplomat

He certainly made extensive use of these skills inhis dealings with the various Arab tribes

A full account would be too detailed for ourpurposes

However, Muàwiya used monetary support andother means to ensure that he received and kept thesupport of most of the large Arab confederations

He also used arranged marriages as a means ofcementing important tribes to his regime

He thus married an important member of the largetribe of Kalb


15/25

Mu`awiyas PowerbaseBureaucratic Infrastructure

Upon his accession, Mu`awiya moved the capital to Damascus (where it

remained throughout the Umayyad dynasty) His control of Syria also brought him the services of a large number of

former Byzantine and Sassanid civilservants

These officials allowed him to draw on the vast experience of Roman andPersian bureaucracy

He was thus able to develop and effective bureaucratic structure very

quickly Greek remained the language of government in the former Roman lands

throughout his reign

Similarly, Persian was the lingua franca of the eastern half of the Muslimempire

This can be seen in the production of very early Muslim coinage

As we saw previously, the earliest coins were either copies or re-usedByzantine and Sassanid issues

Using this coinage allowed him to create a degree of much neededeconomic stability


16/25

Iraq Given this emphasis, our sources concentrate mostly upon Mu`awiyas

governors of Iraq

Two main personalities Mughira ibn Shuba

A colourful character; companion of Muhammad and something of adiplomat

Ziyad ibn Abihi

Another colourful character

His name is interesting and means Ziyad the son of his father

In other words, his father was not clearly known as his mother was aprostitute in Mecca

Despite this, Ziyad seems to have been an intelligent and resourcefulperson

Had a particular renown for public speaking and eloquence Mu`awiya later adopted him into his own family, declaring that they

both shared the same father (Abu Sufyan) (Tab. 2.69)

This elevated Ziyad into the higher echelons of the Umayyad family

However, it has to be said that he was not universally accepted by thewider Umayyad clan


17/25

Ziyads Opening Speech

A famous speech

Beware of night-prowling too, for no prowler will be broughtto me but I shall shed his bloodBeware also of thesummoning of the Jahiliyyah, for I shall cut out the tongueof anyone I find appealing to itWhoever drowns folk, Ishall drown; whoever burns folk, we shall burn; whoever

breaks into a house, we shall break into his heart; andwhoever breaks up a grave, I shall bury him aliveTherehave been hatreds between me and some folks, but I put allthat behind meIndeed, if I should know that one of youwas overcome with incurable hatred toward me, I would not

expose him nor disclose him unless he shows [it] to meopenly. If he does, I shall not argue with himI swear byGod that I have many [potential] victims among you, so letevery man among you beware lest he be among them(Tab. 2.76)


18/25

Discontent As is perhaps to be expected, Muàwiyas ascendancy did not meet with

universal approval

Much of Iraq still supported the Alid family, whilst there were a numberof Kharijite groups scattered throughout the province

Thus in 51AH (672CE), one ofAlis closest supporters, Hujr ibn Àdi,attempted to revolt

The rebellion was small and easily overwhelmed

Hujr was executed and was thus later viewed as an early Shiite martyr

This is perhaps why, presumably underMuàwiyas order, Ziyad alteredthe Kufan political structure

Previously, each tribe at Kufa had appointed its own leaders

Ziyad arranged the tribes into 4 quarters and appointed its leadershimself

He undertook a similar measure at Basra (though here they weredivided into fifths)

This measure had two effects

The government could appoint (and thus remove) local tribal leaders atwill

The tribal nobility had to confirm to Muawiyas government in order to

retain their position


19/25

Iraq Under Ziyad

Furthermore, the most rebellious elements of Kufa and Basrawere sent east to aid in the conquest and settlement of

Khurasan (Tab. 2.81) Khurasan is broadly speaking eastern Iran and western

Afghanistan

Khurasan was the eastern most province of Sassanid Persiaand was the effective border

Beyond this, there were a number of small principalities, suchas at Bukhara

Then, beyond them, lay the Turkish empire and the Tangdynasty of China

Ziyad also undertook a renovation of the main mosque of Kufa

(Tab. 1.2492) Generally speaking, Ziyads approach was effective and

despite some discontent, the province remained relativelyquiet

AfterZiyads death, his son Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad is appointed

governor of Iraq


20/25

The Byzantine Wars Muàwiya continued to war against Byzantium

Although conflict had not really ceased since the early

conquests, under Muàwiya we see the emergence ofregular campaigns

The last remaining stronghold on the mainland at Arwad fell

Cyprus, Rhodes and Crete were also attacked

Regular annual attacks into eastern Anatolia (modernTurkey)

In 668, Yazid ibn Muàwiya laid siege to Constantinople

In 674, Muàwiya again laid siege to the city, which this timealso included a naval blockade

Constantinople remained under siege for approximately 7years

Byzantine North Africa was also attacked from Egypt

Uqbah ibn Nafi overran modern Libya and Tunisia, foundinghis provincial capital near Carthage (al-Qayrawan)


21/25

Questions?


22/25

Section IV: Arranging the Succession


23/25

The Succession As Muàwiya grew older, he began to arrange for the succession

The sources almost universally report that he had long planned

to appoint his son Yazid To this end, he first consulted with the venerable elite of Medina

They approved of his attempt to ensure a smooth transfer ofpower

However, they did not approve of his son and rioted

Although we will look more closely at Yazid in the next session,the sources almost universally portray him as a dissolute playboy

Indeed, he is said to have had a particular penchant for dancinggirls and pet monkeys!

Muàwiya is then said to have invited deputations from theprovinces to Damascus and to have praised his sons virtues infront of them

Taking the hint, these provincial leaders then demanded to payhomage to Yazid

Muàwiya then attempted to secure Medinan acquiescence bytravelling to the city in person, at the head of 1,000 horsemen


24/25

The Succession His main targets were as follows:

Husain ibn Ali

Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr Abdullah ibn Umar

Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr

In other words, the sons of the most important companions

of Muhammad All four men again repudiated Mu`awiyas idea

At which, he is reported to have saidAt other times, when I speak in the pulpit, I permit everyone to sayagainst my speech what he will; but him who contradicts me today asword shall silence (quoted in Wellhausen, 143)

The men were then marched directly to the mosqueThese four men, without whom no decision can be made, have paidhomage to Yazid; so do ye also pay homage! (ibid)

All four are thus said to have remained silent through fear


25/25

The Succession Mu`awiya died in 60AH (680CE) and Yazid became caliph

Although Mu`awiya was in many ways a successful ruler,his attempts to appoint his son Yazid as his successor weredeeply unpopular

Generally speaking, our sources feel that this act marked aradical break with previous practice

From this point onwards, so our sources argue, the Muslimstate descends into hereditary kingship (ormulkin Arabic)

Moreover, this act also brought barely latent tensions to thesurface

And, in many ways, Yazids accession marks the effectivebeginning of the second civil war

However, we will explore this in greater detail in the nextsession

the caliphate of muawiya

Documents