Umayyads

Question #2 for the HIST 18 midterm exam is:

2. The Umayyads played a major role in the expansion of Islam. What did they accomplish, and why were they so important for the spread of the Islamic faith?

The Umayyad dynasty is the Islamic dynasty that ruled from 661-750 (see Encyclopedia of the Orient). They were the dynasty that ruled after the Prophet and the Rightly Guided Ones had passed away. They were the ones who advanced the interests of the Arabs into ever-widening arenas, and who absorbed into the Islamic community the lands and peoples and religions of so many other Middle Eastern states. In fact, it can be said with confidence that they are the dynasty that extended the reach of the Islamic Empire, that solidified its institutions, and that united its diverse population at a time when it needed it most . Truly, they are the most important of the Islamic dynasties, if survival and strength are considered. And indeed they should be, for survival was most assuredly at stake during those first few decades of the emergence of the Muslim faith, and strength was needed to overcome the enemies and obstacles that challenged the community. From this point of view, the Umayyads were resoundingly successful.


Yet the Umayyads have not been well regarded over the course of time. As the article on the caliphs continues: "Most Muslims regard the Umayyads as less admirable than both the Rashiduns and the later Abbasids." Why? Well, the short answer might be this: "The Umayyads got their power through military action, a fact that influenced their religious legitimacy strongly through the 90 years during which they held power." Yet surely that is not the whole answer, for much good was also achieved. Why is there such a mis-match, then, between the accomplishments of the Umayyads, and the regard with which they're held? To answer this conundrum, one one look at what ARE their accomplishments, and answer the question asked: Why were the Umayyads so important for the spread of the Islamic faith?

It is to these questions, then, that I shall return. Perhaps tomorrow (in the test arena), or perhaps at a later date. Suffice to say for now, a study of the Umayyad dynasty holds the key to the question of how Islam spread so easily, and why there is such an ambivalent and/or conflictual response from the world at large towards the followers of Muhammad.

Written 7:20pm 10/30/06