The Ummayad family is related to the prophet Muhammad* by the common ancestor 'Abd Manaf Ibn Qusai, who had two sons, Hashim and Abd Shams. Hashim would go on to found the clan of Banu Hashim (Muhammad's* clan) and Abd Shams's son, Ummaya would be the founder of the Ummayad dynasty

The Banu Hashim and the Banu Abd Shams were two very powerful clans in the Quraysh and in the beginning, the Ummayads (Banu Abd Shams) and the Hashemites (Banu Hashim) weren't at good terms with each other. This was reflected when Abu Sufyan (grandson of Ummaya) constantly waged war against the Muslims as a main Meccan general (in the years of the Meccan-Muslim wars).  

However Abu Sufyan converted to Islam and became a leading Muslim general (may Allah be pleased with him). Abu Sufyan fought with the prophet* in the siege of Ta'if, where he lost one his eyes and by the year 636CE he lost his other eye in battle at Yarmouk. By his later life Abu Sufyan became a prominent and respected leader in the Rashidun Caliphate, responsible for the city of Najran. Abu Sufyan had two notable sons, Yazid and Mu'awiyah, who both held the position of governors of Syria (Mu'awiyah after Yazid died of the plague). Abu Sufyan's son Mu'awiyah would be the most notable Ummayad in history for he would rise to become the first non-sahaba (companion of the prophet) Caliph.

During the final years of Abu Sufyan's life his prominent son Mu'awiyah enjoyed the life of being a leader in the prospering Ummah, he experienced plenty of wars with the Roman on the front line in Syria and that experience would help him in a future war he would have to fight vigorously in. A war that would end the Rahidun rule and bring Mu'awiyah and the Ummayads to power.  

In the year 656, Mu'awiyah's cousin and rightly guided Caliph, Uthman Ibn Affan was murdered and this spun the foundations of a web of fitna that would consume the Caliphate for 5 years. The shura (council of representatives) had to elect a Caliph after the fateful murder of Uthman and it was decided that Ali Ibn Abi Talib, nephew of Muhammad*, should be elected. 

Immediately opposition arose at the election of Ali to power, initially Ali didn't want to rule, but the masses insisted that he become leader so Ali listened and did. However, opposition arose due to the fact Ali suspiciously (to many) didn't lead any investigation and made little effort to find the murderers of Uthman ibn Affan. Many demanded the murderers of Uthman to be subject to the law, and with Ali's negligence of these people, normal people wanted justice became rebels. For five years the First Fitna was to rage on.

The first opposition came from the widow 'Aisha bint Abu Bakr, Muhammad's* preferred wife. She and two other leading rebels Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Zubayr ibn al Awwam set up an army and fought Ali's forces, the main battle of 'Aisha uprising was the Battle of the Camel.  There was at least 10,000 casualties by the city of Basra, Iraq and Ali won a decisive victory against the rebels. 'Aisha was captured and confined to house arrest.

The second large opposition came from Muawiyah, leader of the Ummayad house and as I said cousin of Uthman ibn Affan. He rounded up his forces from his province of Syria (he was governor) and he finally met Ali's armies at Siffin, Syria. Mu'awiyah had some 120,000 men and Ali about 90,000. The two colossal armies faced each other for 100 days without fighting, Ali tried to urge Muawiyah's surrender however Muawiyah refused. On 657CE July 26th, after a few skirmishes, the armies finally collided, Muslim against Muslim, for the first time, some 70,000 casualties were reported in total and the battle ended with an arbitration. The two day battle was one of deadliest ever seen on Muslim territory, Muawiyah retreated to Damascus and Ali to his capital Kufa. 

Ali's forces began to deteriorate as his coalition fell apart and he fought another war with the Kharijites. Mu'awiyah took advantage of the situation and conquered farther territory, along with Syria and Egypt he held important parts of the Rashidun Caliphate. By 661, after years of suffering as a leader and with his support running at an all time low, Ali was assassinated. This was not Mu'awiyah's doing but the extremist Kharijites who used to be allies with Ali, they can be known as the first extremists to begin following a very distorted and rather disturbing form of Islam with violence and trouble-making at the centre of their ideology. The Kharijites would re-appear in the year 740 among the Berber's of North Africa and cause an end to Muslim expansion in Europe and almost destroy the Caliphate.

Muawiyah reunited the Caliphate and was proclaimed the Caliph in 661 and a shameful and un-Islamic period in the heart of the Ummah came to an end. For 19 years Muawiyah ruled and repaired the wounds of the Ummah. He creating an effective bureaucracy across the massive muslim nation and involved the Christians and the Jews in the running of the empire, reflecting the tolerance in Islam. Muawiyah successfully bolstered communications in the Caliphate and ruled from his centralized capital at Damascus, the Caliph's court could not be rivaled, he conquered further and brought many allies to the Caliphate, as opposed to enemies.

Under Muawiyah with the help of his generals Islam extended its reach farther West into North Africa (modern Libya and Algeria) and Farther East into Samarkand and Bukhara (Uzbekistan) and Kabul (Afghanistan). His rule is generally related with positivity as he brought more security, wealth and territory to the Ummah. 

In 680, Muawiyah died and controversially designated his son Yazid as his successor, therefore creating a dynasty, which is not the true ways of the Caliphate. A leader is elected due to his competence not by his blood. Even though in Islam dynasties shouldn't exist that's the way the Muslim World would be ruled as such from that day and on, Muawiyah's clan the Ummayads would rule for another spectacular 70 years after his death. However many still did not like the fact the shura did not elect their own leaders and wanted democracy.

Under the rule of the son of Muawiyah, Yazid, a man named Ibn al Zubair teamed up with the son of Ali ibn abi Talib and publicly began rallying support to overthrow Yazid and bring the power to Ali's family (the 'supposed' family that should rule). In 680, Ibn al Zubair, who lived in Medina went to Mecca, remaining strong to his cause, he advised Husayn, son of Ali, to come with him. However Husayn ibn Ali pushed on and went to Iraq, Kufa to amass an army of supporters. In Kufa, the ex-capital city of Ali's Caliphate, Husayn found plenty of help and support and raised a group of 72 people. 

Yazid knew of the threat of Husayn all along, he surely remembered what had happened before his father came to power, he knew the followers of Ali were dangerous and he believed they should've been destroyed. So without hesitation he responded to Husayn's little group in Kufa with an army of 4000 and this led to the Battle of Karbala. Yazid's forces invaded the camp of Husayn after blockading water and using other submission tactics, Husayn refused to give in to Yazid and accept Ummayad power. Therefore Yazid's army wiped out most of the 72 men, many of whom were relatives of the Prophet* and Hashemites. Husayn himself was killed, however 'Abdallah ibn al Zubayr back in Mecca was not pleased and was planning more revolts.

'Abdallah ibn al Zubayr was involved with the Kharijites in Basra, Iraq and an anti-Ummayad group in Medina and Mecca. Ibn al Zubayr attempted to annex these areas (including Mecca) and Yazid responded with hostility. He sent an army to lay siege to the Kharijites in Basra, Medina and Mecca. During the siege of 683, Yazid died and his son succeeded him, Muawiyah II.

Ibn al Zubayr held on to Mecca and became regarded among the masses as the possible next leader. Nonetheless, many ignored Muawiyah's Caliphal claim in Syria. Although just as the Ummayads seemed to be falling apart, another descendant of Ummaya (the founder of the dynasty), the ex-governor of Medina before Abdallah Ibn al Zubayr kicked him out appeared in Syria with many supporters to his anti-Zubayr stance. This Ummayad was called Marwan, he had a strong personality and eventually replaced the ignored Muawiyah II as ruler of the Ummayad dynasty and Caliph in Damascus.

As Marwan was from another branch of the Ummayad clan, he rise to power shifted power in the whole clan. From the Sufyanids (descendants of Abu Sufyan, father of Muawiyah) to the newly Marwanids (descendants of Marwan). By 684 the Muslim World regarded Ibn al Zubayr as Caliph and Marwan began to change that by re-conquering Egypt for the Ummayads and most of Syria and Iraq. When his son Abd al Malik replaced him after his death, he finally put an end to Ibn al Zubayr's revolt everywhere except the Hejaz. In 692, Abd al Malik sent the general al Hajjaj bin Yusuf to destroy Ibn al Zubayr's forces and kill him. With success the Second Fitna ended and the Islamic Empire was re-united under Ummayad rule. 

Abd al Malik, son of Marwan, would rule for an enlightened 20 years. As we know from the previous chapter he ended the Second Fitna and killed the rebel Ibn al Zubayr, but that wasn't the zenith of his rule. He continue fighting the battered Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) whom the Muslims first started colliding with back in 629. By 692, Abd al Malik began minting currency, a decision which would thrust the Muslim Word commercially and economically forward and also saw to it that the official language of his whole empire be arabic. His decisions provoked hostility from the Byzantines and in 692, Abd al Malik's armies faced Emperor Justinian II's armies in the Battle of Sebastopolis. The Roman army was mainly comprised of Slavs numbering around 30,000 and due to their inhuman mistreatment by the Romans, most of them defected to the Muslim side in the battle, giving the Muslims yet another great victory.   

 The  Caliphate included most of the Middle East, Asia Minor, Persia, Central Asia up to the fringes of Tang China and Transoxania, Sind (Pakistan) and a North Africa as far West as Tripoli. Even though Abd al Malik was the leader of the largest and vastest territory on the planet he continued thriving for Islam and conquering farther. In 695, he advanced farther into North African Byzantine and conquered Carthage. His general Hasan ibn al Nu'man oversaw that the North African plans went smoothly and that Carthage be protected and repelled Byzantine attacks. By 698, with all the battles that raged in and around its walls, Carthage was in ruins. Therefore Hasan ibn al Nu'man founded the village Tunis for his arab army to settle, his armies became popular and the support of the native people were with him after seeing the hospitality of Islam. The conquered lands of North Africa, compromising of Egypt, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia by 700 were called the province of Ifriqiya (Africa). 

Abd al Malik's legacy on the Caliphate not only was the reforms he made by introducing arabic everywhere and creating currency, but he also strengthened the Postal System and solidified communications, he repaired the Ka'aba which had been damaged during the Second Fitna and he built the famous Dome of Rock in Jerusalem. Abd al Malik ibn Marwan died in 705 after leading a prosperous Caliphate for 20 years.

 The successor to Abd al Malik was his son Walid, who ruled from 705-715. Under Walid ibn Abd al Malik, the Caliphate continued to expand farther East and farther West, the great Ummayad mosque that still stands as one of the biggest structures in Damascus today was built and his generals maintained order and conquered Iberia (711). Al Walid's reign was generally affluent until the situation in 715 between Tarik ibn Zayad, Musa ibn Nusayr and his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al Malik who planned on succeeding him. 

Sulayman ibn Abd al Malik took power in 715 after his brother died of natural causes. The new Caliph deposed of the two generals that conquered Iberia (see topic of Islamic Iberia...). Then Sulayman, who was reckless and power hungry, gave little significance to the conquering of Europe in the West instead raised one of the largest armies seen in the world since the times of the Roman-Persian superpower wars to invade the centre of Rome's legacy, Costantinople. As Sulayman contemplated on how to enter the impregnable capital of Byzantium, an army of 80,000 men and 1800 ships was raised. By 717, the battle for Costantinople begun.

However, the Graeco-Romans were immune to the Muslim navy and destroyed them with a special weapon the Muslim navy hadn't known of, a weapon consisting of a fire bomb. As the navy fell, the massive army tried to enter a heavily protected city with three layers of wall. After a few months Sulayman ibn Abd al Malik realized it was hopeless and gave up the siege. If such an army had been used to in Western Europe across the Pyrenees, well the occident wouldn't exist, only a large orient.

The cousin of Sulayman ibn 'Abd al Malik would reign for a short three years, his name was Umar ibn 'Abd al Aziz. He had many of the attributes Caliphs in Islam should have and that's why he was loved by the masses, he lived a simple life, gave all his Caliphal possessions to the people, along with palaces and treasure, he also pacified the nation and re-enforced Islam's laws and principles. He even said that I will step down if my people are unhappy with my reign, which is how Islamic democracy is, he died after three peaceful years in 720.

Yazid ibn 'Abd al Malik (Yazid II) expanded the Caliphate farther north into the Caucasus, north of Azerbaijan. He also ruled and didn't very effectively handle them while many revolts occurred, especially in al Andalus. During his reign the Abbasids began harboring their power for the major revolution yet to come. Yazid was known to listen to a wizard who told him if he banned all christian icons he would rule for 40 years, however he died the same year he passed that un-Islamic law, we should tolerate all religions.

A lot happened under Hisham's effective rule, he replaced his brother Yazid and made reforms that greatly pushed the Caliphate ahead.

He oversaw the first invasion of Frankland (France) in 732 and the world defining Battle of Poitiers, near Lyon. He crushed all the revolts within the empire and introduced more strict  Islamic reforms. He raided the Byzantine army ceaselessly and conquered chunks of their territory.

Besides conquering, Hisham created an artistic revolution and a boom of knowledge. He translated many ancient masterpieces into arabic for the masses and encouraged art with subsidies. Hisham was also known for building many schools throughout the vast Muslim World. 

In 740, Hisham kept the Caliphate together and unified after the large Berber and Kharijite revolt that shook the Caliphate's western realm. Generally, Hisham oversaw conquest, prosperity and riches, education and peace in the Caliphate, he was the last Ummayad to rule with such effectivity and affluence. He was also the last of the late 'Abd al Malik's sons to rule. The tide began to turn on the Ummayads after the death of Hashim ibn 'Abd al Malik.

Four Caliphs would rule in seven years after Hashim ibn 'Abd al Malik died. Walid II, nephew of Hisham, who was a drunk and immoral leader who was killed in early 744. The cousin that replaced Walid II was called Yazid ibn al Walid, he died after a very short rule in late 744. Ibrahim ibn al Walid was chosen to rule but he abdicated in even later 744. Finally the last Ummayad Caliph in Damascus was Marwan II, who ruled for 6 years until 750.

Marwan II would spend his rule resisting revolts calling for the now inevitable overthrow of the Ummayads. The Abbasids a large group supported by many was led by the descendants of the Banu Hashim, back to simple rivalry, and these Muslims from northeastern Persia advanced quickly and wanted power. The Abbasids, whom you can read about in our topic written of them, were led by Abu al'Abbas As-Saffah and with the support of most in the Caliphate, who were weary of the Ummayads internal disputes, instability and corruption among some, he advanced on Damascus.

In 750, the Battle of Zab between the Ummayads and the Abbasids left the Ummayads devastated. The Abbasids eventually entered Damascus and had Marwan II killed in his hiding place in Egypt along with most of the massive Ummayad clan. One Ummayad however got away, the prince of the Sufyan house and grandson of Hashim ibn 'Abd al Malik, his name was 'Abd al Rahman, the man who was to bring the Ummayads to Iberia. 

In the year 750, Islam's history separates in two. One part heads to Iberia, where 'Abd al Rahman would create an amirate that would change the world. Another part stays in the East in a newly created to-be city called Baghdad, where the Abbasids would also leave a huge mark on the world.

Continue Islamic history with The Abbasids and the Islamic Golden Age....