Introduction to Islam and Middle Eastern Conflict: The Arab Conquests and the Rashidun (632-661)

In 632, Muhammad died. The umma didn’t really need any more revelations, but the Muslim community still needed some kind of leader. Abu-Bakr, the best friend of Muhammad and the father of his favorite wife Aisha, was the obvious choice.

Despite Abu-Bakr’s succession of the Prophet, Muslim tribes started breaking up. Zakat (alms-giving) was “no longer required since [Muhammad] was dead,” writes one scholar, “which threatened the unity of the umma.” To avoid these dangers of chaos, Bakr sent his best generals to force rebellious tribes to rejoin. This marginally settled down the quarrels. His better idea was to direct the Bedouin’s combative tendencies away from each other and instead towards the northern territories of the Byzantine (Roman) and Sasanid (Persian) empires. Now, instead of tearing each other down, the Muslims worked as brothers in arms.  It wouldn’t be long and Islam would be threatening the largest empires in the world.

Indeed, no one in 625 would have guessed that Meccan Arabs brandishing swords and camels would be ruling the entire Middle East. But from the time of Muhammad’s death until 661, Persia (Iran), Syria (Palestine), and massive chunks of Egypt were conquered under the Rashidun (first four caliphs). By the turn of the first millennium, the spread of Islam was so great that it alarmed the entire world, eventually leading to the First Crusade in 1099 which was declared by Pope Urban II.

How on earth did the Muslims gain so much land so quickly? Generally speaking, there are three reasons. First, the Muslims chose their battles carefully. They recognized their advantages of having both horse (for speed) and camels (for distance), not to mention their familiarity with the desert landscape. Sand storms also often worked in their favor. Second, their opponents were already weakened. The Sasanid and Byzantine empires had already wasted their resources on each other in multiple battles. The Muslims came on the scene after the Romans and Persians were exhausted. In the words of one historian, “The sudden collapse of Sasanid Persia, after having been master of Egypt, Syria, and much of Arabia as recently as 625 caused a vacuum that the Arabs were quick to fill.” Third and finally, the spread of Islam was great because of social and religious discontentment. One scholar recounts, “the subjected peoples, especially those under Byzantine rule in Syria and Egypt, were discontented…The disgruntled Syrian and Egyptian Christians viewed the Muslim Arabs as liberators from the Byzantine yoke and often welcomed them…Likewise, the Jews, numerous in Palestine and Syria, chose Muslim indifference over Byzantine persecution.”

Abu-Bakr died in 634. Umar I became the second caliph of Islam, and “was shrewd enough to see that Arab tribes…might rebel when they were not fighting.” He set up the diwan, which was a register that carefully divided the spoils for members of the umma. It ensured that every person got their share of plunder, whether a widow of Muhammad or an Arab soldier.

More changes in government and society were underway. After the Rashidun conquests of 632-661, taxes started going to Medina instead of Constantinople. Additionally, it was hard to know how to work with non-Arab converts to Islam. After all, Muhammad was God’s messenger to the Arabs. To iron out this problem, the community conferred honorary Arab status on any non-Arab male convert by making him a client member of an Arab tribe. These converts were called the mawli (mawla in singular).

The challenge, of course, wasn’t simply getting along with the racially different mawli (i.e. Persians). The challenge for Islamic government and society was that “the mawli soon outnumbered Arabs living in such towns as Basra and Kufa. How ironic, considering that those cities had been set up to keep the Arabs from being corrupted by Persian civilization.”

Umar set up an electoral committee to choose the third caliph of Islam. This committee, or shura, is often cited by some Muslim scholars to show that early Islam was democratic. In any case, Uthman (644-656) was the next to lead the world of Islam.

Unlike Muhammad and Abu-Bakr, Uthman was a weak leader. Granted, Uthman successfully introduced Islam to the Chinese during an envoy in 650. But, “Uthman’s mistake was to continue Umar’s policies in a more complex time, without having Umar’s forceful character. Perceiving this, the Muslims in Iraq’s garrison towns began plotting against him.”

One of his more foolish decisions was to pick one version of the Qur’an and declare it authoritative. Many copies of the Qur’an were in circulation during this time. And in the same way modern day “King James Onlyists” believe the “Authorized Version” 1611 King James Bible is the only true word of God, so Uthman said one particular version was the only true Word of Allah. Consequently, Uthman burned all the other Qur’ans that had variant readings. Since many Muslims were used to those variant editions, this bold decision infuriated many Muslim poets.

Uthman also failed to follow through with conquests. After years of conquering, Islamic Arabs were used to the adrenaline rush of conquering foreign lands and the joys of fresh booty. As such, they “bewailed the lost opportunities for booty,” and started plotting against the third caliph.

Thus, the rebellion against the caliphate consisted of Muslim elders in Medina, Qur’an reciters whose Qur’ans were burned, and bored tribal Arabs who missed the days of war and plunder. The revolt started in 655 in the city of Kufa. Within a year the riot reached Medina. The rebels eventually burst into Uthman’s house and killed him “as he sat with his wife, reciting from the Qur’an.”

Five days later, Ali became the fourth caliph (and also the first “imam”). Ali was the son of Muhammad’s uncle, the first male convert to Islam, and also the husband of Muhammad’s daughter Fatima. He was a very generous and pious man, but an unfortunately weak leader, just like Uthman. And like Uthman, Ali faced internal challenges from the Muslim community.

Muhammad’s closest associates, Talha and Zubayr, along with Muhammad’s wife Aisha, all considered Ali unfit to rule because he didn’t try to protect Uthman. Although this might initially seem like a valid charge, it was a rather strange accusation since no one really liked the third caliph.

Regardless of the legitimacy of the quarrel, this conflict between Muhammad’s associates and Ali came to a head at the Battle of the Camel. Ali decisively killed Talha and Zubayr, thus ending the first ever Muslim vs. Muslim battle in history. In 657, Uthman’s cousin, whose tribe was outraged at Uthman’s murder, waged war against Ali’s forces. But this particular battle, the “Battle of Siffin,” ended in a truce. Those who resented the truce broke off from Ali’s army and became known as Kharijites, which means “those who leave.” (Kharijites represent one of the three major factions of Muslims in the world today, with Sunni and Shi being the two other.)

In 661, Ali was murdered by a Kharijite seeking revenge. This officially ended the Islamic Rashidun, the period of the first four caliphs.  The Ummayad governor of Syria, Mu’awiya, became Ali’s successor, thus beginning the next phase in the history of Islam: the Ummayad dynasty.

Mu’awiya, like Talha, Zubayr, and Aisha, discredited Ali for allowing Uthman to be murdered. But more importantly, Mu’awiya had the rare ability to refrain from using force unless it was absolutely necessary. As Mu’awiya himself said, “I never use my sword when my whip will do, nor my whip when my tongue will do.” Mu’awiya was a Meccan merchant much like Muhammad was in his earlier years. He converted to Islam in 630 after Mecca was captured, and proved to be a superb leader, even laboring to establish the first Muslim navy. Since he chose to stay in Syria, the Muslim capital moved (again) from Medina to Damascus. Interesting though, that Mu’awiya was residing in Jerusalem when he claimed his caliphate.

As the former governor of Syria, Mu’awiya adopted more modern systems of government for the Muslim community. This imperial and bureaucratic administration alienated Muslims who cherished the original culture and setting of Muhammad’s life. These changes would also cultivate the soil for his future rejection by one of Muhammad’s grandsons.

Mu’awiya’s son Yazid took the throne by his father’s request. Yazid was a fabulous warrior, but also a heavy drinker. He was hated by many during the second fitnah, that is, the second Muslim civil war.  This fitnah was fought between two Islamic confederations: the southern Kalbs and the northern Qays. Yazid favored his own tribe over the Qays.

Muhammad’s grandson Husayn died fighting against the Umayyads in 680. The so called “martyred” descendents of Muhammad – those of Ali and Husayn – “vowed never to recognize the Umayyads as legitimate caliphs. They came to be called Shi’at Ali (the party of Ali), from which came the name Shi’ites, or Shi’is. From Iraq they spread throughout the empire, wherever Muslim’s sought a pretext to defy Umayyad rule. Today the Shi’is make up the second largest Muslim sect.”

The Sunnis, however, accepted the ruling Ummayad dynasty. Sunni Islam represents the largest branch of Muslims in the world today.