Islamic History Series It's not my intention to spend a lot of future entries on individual caliphs, because that would take forever and because, from this point on, there aren't a lot of caliphs who warrant that much space. But Harun al-Rashid does. If there's one caliph from the Abbasid period who epitomizes what the … Continue reading Islamic History, part 22: the Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid (786-809)
Category: islamic history
Islamic History, part 21: The Abbasids take over (750-786)
Islamic History SeriesWell, it's been a while since I had time to put one of these together. Sorry about that. Trying to eke out some freelance work and desperately looking for a regular gig kind of saps your will for big projects, I find.Aside from lacking the time to undertake another chapter of this series, … Continue reading Islamic History, part 21: The Abbasids take over (750-786)
Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History Series before you read this, first read part I As I said earlier, the Umayyads were able to operate on a religious level in their claim on authority primarily because they were the symbolic embodiment of the communal unity that Muhammad had established decades earlier. What it meant to be a "Muslim" still … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
Islamic History Series (this got really out of control long, so I split it into two pieces; part II is here) The Arabic word dawlah means "state" in modern parlance, and prior to the rise of the modern nation-state it was often used to describe dynasties. Its root (dawala) is a verb that means "to … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
Islamic History, Part 18: the conquest of Iberia (711-759)
Islamic History Series In contrast the decline of the Umayyad Dynasty in Syria, a period that I'm sure was as confusing for you to read about as it was for me to write about (imagine living through it), the conquest of Spain is considerably more straightforward, and takes place at a time when the rest … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 18: the conquest of Iberia (711-759)
Islamic History, Part 17: the later Umayyads (705-750)
Islamic History Series The Umayyads didn't have a very long run as top muckety-mucks in the Islamic World, less than a century even, if we start their dynasty with the beginning of Muʿawiyah I's reign in 661 (and I'm not sure how you could start it any earlier). When you look at the list of … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 17: the later Umayyads (705-750)
Islamic History, Part 16: the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik (685-705)
Islamic History Series So the messy fallout of two civil wars (or two halves of the same civil war, if you prefer) is behind us, and now we come to probably the most important of the Umayyad caliphs, ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwan, who took the throne after the death of his father in 685. ʿAbd … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 16: the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik (685-705)
Islamic History, Part 15: the Second Fitna (680-692) and, finally, some stability
Islamic History Series Early Islamic history is a mess. And here I don't mean that the study of early Islamic history is a mess, although it is, as we've already talked about. But even if we just stick to the traditional narrative, we are now approaching a half-century since the death of Muhammad and already … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 15: the Second Fitna (680-692) and, finally, some stability
Islamic History, Part 14: Muʿawiyah’s Caliphate (661-680) and the Onset of Dynastic Rule
Islamic History Series We can actually close off our first mini-period in Islamic history at this point. Isn't that exciting? See, the first four Caliphs--Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali--are collectively known in later Islamic historiography as the Rashidun Caliphs, from the Arabic word rashid, which means "rightly-guided" or "righteous." This is an incredibly loaded … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 14: Muʿawiyah’s Caliphate (661-680) and the Onset of Dynastic Rule
Islamic History, Part 13: Ali’s Caliphate (656-661) and the First Fitna
Islamic History Series Before you read this one, please read part 12 of the series, on Ali and his accession to the Caliphate. Ali's record as Caliph is incomplete, to say the least. He reigned for a mere 5 years, and most of that time was occupied by answering the many direct challenges that were … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 13: Ali’s Caliphate (656-661) and the First Fitna
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 