Islamic History: the First 150 Years

The Caliphate of Mu`awiya

Essays and Assignments

Essay titles Text based assignment Deadline: 14th August 2006

Session Plan
1. 2. 3. 4. A Brief Recap Mu`awiya Triumphant The Rule of Mu`awiya Arranging the Succession

Section I: A Brief Recap

Recap
As these are arguably the most important years in Islamic history, a short recap is in order Muhammad left no unequivocal instructions regarding leadership of 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 Ali his rightful place In some senses, the debate regarding the nature of leadership is the key issue The debate turns increasingly violent as we reach the end of the period Umar, Uthman and Ali all die violent deaths The impact of the conquests

Section II: Mu`awiya Triumphant

Mu`awiyah Triumphant

1.

With Alis assassination in 40AH (661CE) at Kufa, Mu`awiya 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 make peace, 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 Mu`awiya (or else is already present in the region) There are several divergent accounts of the subsequent events in the sources Tabari (in his usual manner) offers several different reports: al-Zuhri (an important early historian): Hasan intended to make peace with Mu`awiya and one commander who did not agree was dismissed; the other (Abdullah ibn Abbas) wrote to Mu`awiya asking for safe conduct and money (Tab. 2.1)

Mu`awiyah Triumphant
2. Uthman ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Khuzai: Hasans commander rumoured dead, causing panic; Hasans tent plundered; alMukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi intended to sell Hasan to Mu`awiya (Tab. 2.2-3) 3. `Awanah: similar to 2; Hasan reveals his peace plan to his close relatives and there is an argument about it; Hasans commander resigns and they accept Mu`awiya (Tab. 2. 3-4) 4. al-Yaqubi: Hasans force commanded by Ubaidallah ibn Abbas, who then joins Mu`awiya for a large bribe; Hasans tent ransacked when news of his peace initiatives becomes known (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

Mu`awiyah Triumphant
Forming an opinion about what actually happened thus difficult At any rate, Hasan sues for peace and comes to an arrangement with Mu`awiya In 41AH (661CE), Mu`awiya 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 Mu`awiya had Hasan poisoned Leadership of the Bani Hashim then passed to Husayn ibn Ali Although we will encounter Husayn again in the next session, during this period he holds to his brothers treaty

Section III: The Rule of Mu`awiya

Source Perspectives
As we have seen, when exploring the sources for early Islamic 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 related matters Other matters, considered somewhat peripheral to our sources, 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

Mu`awiyas Powerbase
Wealth As we saw last week, the Umayyad family owned vast wealth This was primarily based upon land and as such, the Umayyad clan held wide estates throughout Muslim territory They were also arguably the most mercantile clan of the Quraysh tribe and even before Mu`awiyas reign they had wide business contacts 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 equipped military 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 Mu`awiya the Syrian jund were also very well paid Mu`awiya had been governor of Syria for a long time, since being appointed by Umar He had thus had ample opportunity to ensure the provinces firm loyalty

Mu`awiyas Powerbase
The Hilm of Mu`awiya Mu`awiya was renowned for the quality of hilm This term means approximately forbearance, tact, or perhaps even skill Hilm is the quality of the successful traditional Arab Sheikh: someone who could get their own way through a combination of diplomacy, tact, shrewdness and argument In a very broad sense, comparisons with Julius Caesars clemency (clementia) are perhaps not too wide of the mark Mu`awiya 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 hair binding me to my fellow men I let it not break. If they pull I loosen, and if they loosen I pull Mu`awiya was thus able to perform a delicate balancing act between the different power groups in the emerging Muslim empire

Mu`awiyas Powerbase
Tribal Support The picture of Mu`awiya that emerges from the sources is one of a master diplomat He certainly made extensive use of these skills in his dealings with the various Arab tribes A full account would be too detailed for our purposes However, Mu`awiya used monetary support and other means to ensure that he received and kept the support of most of the large Arab confederations He also used arranged marriages as a means of cementing important tribes to his regime He thus married an important member of the large tribe of Kalb

Mu`awiyas Powerbase

Bureaucratic 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 civil servants These officials allowed him to draw on the vast experience of Roman and Persian 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 Muslim empire This can be seen in the production of very early Muslim coinage As we saw previously, the earliest coins were either copies or re-used Byzantine and Sassanid issues Using this coinage allowed him to create a degree of much needed economic stability

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 a diplomat 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 a prostitute in Mecca Despite this, Ziyad seems to have been an intelligent and resourceful person 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 the wider Umayyad clan

Ziyads Opening Speech

A famous speech Beware of night-prowling too, for no prowler will be brought to me but I shall shed his bloodBeware also of the summoning of the Jahiliyyah, for I shall cut out the tongue of anyone I find appealing to itWhoever drowns folk, I shall drown; whoever burns folk, we shall burn; whoever breaks into a house, we shall break into his heart; and whoever breaks up a grave, I shall bury him aliveThere have been hatreds between me and some folks, but I put all that behind meIndeed, if I should know that one of you was overcome with incurable hatred toward me, I would not expose him nor disclose him unless he shows [it] to me openly. If he does, I shall not argue with himI swear by God that I have many [potential] victims among you, so let every man among you beware lest he be among them (Tab. 2.76)

Discontent
As is perhaps to be expected, Mu`awiyas ascendancy did not meet with universal approval Much of Iraq still supported the Alid family, whilst there were a number of Kharijite groups scattered throughout the province Thus in 51AH (672CE), one of Alis closest supporters, Hujr ibn `Adi, 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 under Mu`awiyas order, Ziyad altered the Kufan political structure Previously, each tribe at Kufa had appointed its own leaders Ziyad arranged the tribes into 4 quarters and appointed its leaders himself He undertook a similar measure at Basra (though here they were divided into fifths) This measure had two effects The government could appoint (and thus remove) local tribal leaders at will The tribal nobility had to confirm to Muawiyas government in order to retain their position

Iraq Under Ziyad

Furthermore, the most rebellious elements of Kufa and Basra were 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 Persia and was the effective border Beyond this, there were a number of small principalities, such as at Bukhara Then, beyond them, lay the Turkish empire and the Tang dynasty 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 relatively quiet After Ziyads death, his son Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad is appointed governor of Iraq

The Byzantine Wars

Mu`awiya continued to war against Byzantium Although conflict had not really ceased since the early conquests, under Mu`awiya we see the emergence of regular campaigns The last remaining stronghold on the mainland at Arwad fell Cyprus, Rhodes and Crete were also attacked Regular annual attacks into eastern Anatolia (modern Turkey) In 668, Yazid ibn Mu`awiya laid siege to Constantinople In 674, Mu`awiya again laid siege to the city, which this time also included a naval blockade Constantinople remained under siege for approximately 7 years Byzantine North Africa was also attacked from Egypt Uqbah ibn Nafi overran modern Libya and Tunisia, founding his provincial capital near Carthage (al-Qayrawan)

Questions?

Section IV: Arranging the Succession

The Succession
As Mu`awiya 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 of power 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 dancing girls and pet monkeys! Mu`awiya is then said to have invited deputations from the provinces to Damascus and to have praised his sons virtues in front of them Taking the hint, these provincial leaders then demanded to pay homage to Yazid Mu`awiya then attempted to secure Medinan acquiescence by travelling to the city in person, at the head of 1,000 horsemen

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 said
At other times, when I speak in the pulpit, I permit everyone to say against my speech what he will; but him who contradicts me today a sword shall silence (quoted in Wellhausen, 143)

The men were then marched directly to the mosque

These four men, without whom no decision can be made, have paid homage to Yazid; so do ye also pay homage! (ibid)

All four are thus said to have remained silent through fear

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 were deeply unpopular Generally speaking, our sources feel that this act marked a radical break with previous practice From this point onwards, so our sources argue, the Muslim state descends into hereditary kingship (or mulk in Arabic) Moreover, this act also brought barely latent tensions to the surface And, in many ways, Yazids accession marks the effective beginning of the second civil war However, we will explore this in greater detail in the next session