The Caliphate of Mu`awiya

1. The Caliphate of Mu`awiya Islamic History: the First 150 Years

2. Essays and Assignments • Essay titles • Text based assignment • Deadline: 14th August 2006

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

4. Section I: A Brief Recap

5. 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

6. Section II: Mu`awiya Triumphant

7. Mu`awiyah Triumphant • With Ali’s 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)

8. Mu`awiyah Triumphant 2.Uthman ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Khuza’i: Hasan’s commander rumoured dead, causing panic; Hasan’s tent plundered; al-Mukhtar 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; Hasan’s commander resigns and they accept Mu`awiya (Tab. 2. 3-4) • al-Yaqubi: Hasan’s force commanded by Ubaidallah ibn Abbas, who then joins Mu`awiya for a large bribe; Hasan’s 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

9. 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 brother’s treaty

10. Section III: The Rule of Mu`awiya

11. 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`awiya’s reign

12. Mu`awiya’s 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`awiya’s 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 province’s firm loyalty

13. Mu`awiya’s 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 Caesar’s 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

14. Mu`awiya’s 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

15. Mu`awiya’s 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

16. Iraq • Given this emphasis, our sources concentrate mostly upon Mu`awiya’s governors of Iraq • Two main personalities • Mughira ibn Shu’ba • 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

17. Ziyad’s Opening Speech • A famous speech… ‘Beware of night-prowling too, for no prowler will be brought to me but I shall shed his blood…Beware also of the summoning of the Jahiliyyah, for I shall cut out the tongue of anyone I find appealing to it…Whoever 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 alive…There have been hatreds between me and some folks, but I put all that behind me…Indeed, 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 him…I 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)

18. Discontent • As is perhaps to be expected, Mu`awiya’s 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 Ali’s 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`awiya’s 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 Mu’awiya’s government in order to retain their position

19. 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, Ziyad’s approach was effective and despite some discontent, the province remained relatively quiet • After Ziyad’s death, his son Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad is appointed governor of Iraq

20. 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)

21. Questions?

22. Section IV: Arranging the Succession

23. 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 son’s 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

24. 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`awiya’s 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

25. 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, Yazid’s accession marks the effective beginning of the second civil war • However, we will explore this in greater detail in the next session