Tutorial - 02

State and Society in the Central Islamic Lands

Submitted by: Srishti Kashyap

Submitted to: Prof. Najaf Haider
Enrollment no.: 23/ 61/ HH/ 110
Semester: IV
Course: M.A Ancient History
Topics: The Establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate was
a major turning point in the history of Early Islam.

Introduction

The establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 CE marked a watershed moment in the
history of early Islam. Arising from the chaos of the first civil war (fitna), the Umayyads
redefined Islamic political authority by transforming it from a largely consensual and
charismatic leadership model into a centralized, dynastic monarchy.1 This change was not
merely administrative; it entailed deeper shifts across ideological, social, and religious
domains, evidenced by the processes of Arabization and Islamization that unfolded during
Umayyad rule. As Gerald R. Hawting emphasizes, the Umayyads presided over the
transformation of a prophetic community into an imperial order, laying the institutional and
ideological foundations of Islamic civilization.
The Umayyad caliphate represents a significant stage in the formative period of Islam and
one that is regarded as controversial by modern scholars. The complexity of this subject
stems from the nature of the early Islamic sources, which are not contemporaneous to the
events they purport to describe. Besides the question of the reliability of the sources,
scholars of the Umayyad caliphate face other obstacles. The materials available on the
Umayyads were composed during the Abbasids Period.2 Hence, the construction of the
Umayyads’ historical memory was greatly inspired by an Abbasid ideological agenda that
manipulated authors’ historical objectives. Modern scholars, therefore, have to resort to
more effective methodologies and strategies for a better understanding of the Umayyad
period. Hawting observes that Umayyads are often portrayed as impious, worldly rulers who
1 Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to
the Eleventh Century, 3rd ed. (London: Routledge, 2015), 75.
2 Gerald R. Hawting, The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750, 2nd ed.
(London: Routledge, 2000), 1–3.
prioritized dynastic power over Islamic ideals.3 Thus, he cautions historians against
accepting these sources at face value and advocates for a more critical, source-oriented
approach that recognizes the layering of ideological bias. This essay critically examines the
extent to which the Umayyad Caliphate represented a major turning point in the political,
religious, and socio-cultural history of early Islam.

Background
After the Prophet’s death, the first challenge facing the Muslim community was how to select
his successor. The election of Abu Bakr as caliph marked the beginning of the caliphate, but
it also highlighted the absence of a clear succession mechanism. The Ridda Wars (632–634
CE), in which Abu Bakr’s forces subdued rebellious tribes, underscored the fragile unity of
the nascent Muslim community. These campaigns were not only military in nature but
ideological, they reasserted loyalty to Medina's leadership, reinforcing the idea that the
community's unity was a sacred imperative tied to divine guidance. Subsequent caliphs
Umar, Uthman, and Ali continued this consolidation process, but growing dissent eroded the
fragile consensus. The assassination of Uthman in 656 CE and the ensuing First Fitna
revealed that unity was no longer self-sustaining; it required institutions, enforcement
mechanisms, and increasingly, ideological justification for rule. These developments showed
that a charismatic, religiously guided leadership model was no longer sufficient to maintain
order across a vast and diverse empire.

Towards the end of the civil war with Ali, Muawiya orchestrated a grand accession ceremony
in Jerusalem4, a carefully calculated and symbolically potent gesture that marked the
consolidation of Umayyad authority and the beginning of a new political era. By selecting
Jerusalem a city revered by Jews and Christians and historically significant within the
Byzantine imperial framework, he aimed to present himself not only as the legitimate Islamic
leader but also as a successor to the regional imperial legacy. The event also acknowledged
the pivotal role played by the Syrian Arab tribes, especially those from the former Roman
frontier zones, whose allegiance had been instrumental to Muawiya’s victory during the First
Fitna. 5These tribes, already integrated into Byzantine military structures, were now elevated
to the forefront of the new Islamic state, enjoying enhanced political influence, financial
benefits, and a central role in governance. An eyewitness account describes the ceremony
as being “primarily for the Arabs,” highlighting the emerging ethnic exclusivity that
characterized the Umayyad vision of statehood, in which Arab identity and tribal loyalty
became the foundations of imperial legitimacy.

At its peak, the Umayyad Empire spanned from the Iberian Peninsula in the west, covering
present-day Spain and Portugal (known as Al-Andalus), to the Indus River in the east,
encompassing regions of Afghanistan and Central Asia. In North Africa, their domain
extended over territories like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, where they
solidified their power through military conquests and the spread of Islam. The Arabian
Peninsula, the origin of Islam, was the core of the empire, with the cities of Mecca and
Medina holding great religious and cultural significance. Additionally, the Umayyads

3 Ibid,
4. Andrew Marsham, The Umayyad Empire (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020), 92–93.
5 Ibid- 94
expanded into Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and large portions of the former Persian Empire,
which included parts of Iran.

Umayyad Caliphate- State and Administration

One of the most visible transformations introduced by the Umayyads was the shift from a
semi- elective model of leadership to dynastic succession. 6Under the Rashidun caliphs, the
pledge of allegiance functioned as a mechanism of political consensus. Muawiya departed
from this tradition by nominating his son Yazid as his successor, thereby transforming the
caliphate into a hereditary institution. This move, unprecedented in Islamic history, redefined
the office of the caliph and recalibrated the nature of political legitimacy. Modern scholars,
including Fred Donner, argue that this marked a significant shift in the caliphate’s character
from a community-guided leadership to one based on dynastic power and centralized
control.
Muawiya’s rise to power illustrates the consolidation of a pragmatic political order built upon
tribal alliances, military strength, and administrative efficiency. His authority stemmed less
from religious or prophetic association and more from his ability to restore order, command
loyalty from Syrian tribes, and secure revenue from strategically important provinces. As
Hawting notes, Muawiya’s legitimacy in the eyes of his contemporaries rested more on his
capacity to enforce peace and stability than on piety or theological purity. In a period marked
by civil strife, this emphasis on pragmatic governance resonated with Arab tribal elites, who
increasingly depended on the caliphate for patronage and protection.
The geographic relocation of the capital from Medina to Damascus under the Umayyads
also signaled a fundamental shift in the center of Islamic power. While the first four caliphs
are associated with Medina or Kufa, the Umayyad choice of Damascus as their capital
reflected their orientation toward empire-building. It positioned the caliphate closer to the
Byzantine administrative and military infrastructure and to the eastern Mediterranean political
landscape. This move, coupled with a more hierarchical structure of governance, allowed the
Umayyads to institutionalize mechanisms of control through provincial governors, a fiscal
bureaucracy, and the use of military force.
As scholars like Donner have noted, the Umayyad period saw the development of core
institutions that mark the existence of a functioning state. These included a centralized
military, administrative bureaucracy, judiciary, and mechanisms for taxation and record-
keeping. While such structures began to form during the Prophet’s later years in Medina and
expanded under the Rashidun, they were formalized and expanded under the Umayyads.
7
For instance, military governance evolved from tribal alliances to a standing army with paid
soldiers and organized garrisons. Specialized forces like the shurṭa (elite troops/police) and
ḥaras (caliphal bodyguards) emerged, while the barīd became a critical tool for state
surveillance and communication. The appointment of provincial governors (wulāt) and
financial officers (ʿummāl) allowed for efficient tax collection and population control, often
supported by regional censuses.
The centralization of administrative control under Abd al-Malik marked a major leap in
bureaucratic sophistication, including the Arabization of administrative languages and the
standardization of coinage. In The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, Kennedy

6 Stephen Humphreys, Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan: From Arabia to Empire (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006),
98-101.
7 Fred M. Donner, “The Formation of the Islamic State,” in The Articulation of Early Islamic State
Structures, ed. Fred M. Donner (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999), 1–2.
underscores the significance of Abd al-Malik's reforms in transforming the Umayyad
Caliphate into a more centralized and bureaucratic entity. He concurs with Hawting on the
pivotal role of al-Ḥajjāj in enforcing these reforms, particularly in the eastern provinces.
Kennedy also emphasizes the symbolic importance of the new Islamic coinage and the
Arabization of the administration in consolidating Umayyad authority.
However, Crone provocatively argues that the caliphate, as it developed under the
Umayyads, was not a continuation of prophetic leadership but rather a monarchical regime
modeled on Sasanian and Byzantine traditions. She sees the Umayyad dynasty as
essentially "a secular Arab monarchy draped in Islamic legitimacy". 8While the early Muslim
community idealized a leadership based on religious merit and community consensus, the
Umayyads seized power through tribal militarism, and their authority increasingly depended
on dynastic succession, military coercion, and centralized bureaucracy, not religious
qualification.

Islamization and Arabization

While the Umayyad state consolidated political power, it simultaneously initiated a complex
process of religious and cultural transformation. The Islamization of society already
underway by the end of the Rashidun period accelerated during Umayyad rule. The shift
from the early Believers' movement, which was initially inclusive of pious monotheists
including Christians and Jews, to a more exclusive identity centered on Muslims, occurred in
this period.
The distinction between Islamization and Arabization was first clearly articulated by Becker,
who emphasized the interaction between Arab Muslims and the diverse populations they
governed. These twin processes were mutually reinforcing but conceptually distinct:
Islamization referred to the spread and deepening of religious adherence, while Arabization
involved the adoption of Arabic language and culture.
Hawting importantly argues that the Umayyad period was not only a time of political
centralization but also a formative era in the shaping of Islam as a religious tradition. The
development of Sunna (the tradition of the Prophet) as an authoritative source of Islamic law
began under the Umayyads, especially in the legal and theological circles of Kufa. The
ʿulamāʾ (religious scholars), who emerged during this period, began to define what would
become Sunni orthodoxy. Their articulation of the Sunna alongside the Qur’an laid the
groundwork for the Islamic legal and theological traditions that followed.
At the same time, significant religious schisms crystallized during this period. The First Civil
War gave rise to the Sunni-Shia and Khariji split. Shiʿism, rooted in loyalty to Ali and his
descendants, and Kharijism, a purist and often radical reaction to perceived moral failures of
rulers, both emerged as responses to Umayyad legitimacy. These sects developed
distinctive doctrines, especially in Iraq, in opposition to the dynastic and often secular nature
of Umayyad rule. Thus, while the Umayyads contributed to the consolidation of Islamic
governance, their reign also catalyzed the theological debates and sectarian divides that
would shape Islamic history for centuries.
Under the Umayyads, Arabic increasingly became the lingua franca of the region. Before the
conquests, the imperial administrations of Persia and Byzantium used Persian, Greek,
Coptic, etc. Initially Muslim governors continued these languages. But in the late 7th and

8 Patricia Crone, Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1980), 27
early 8th century Abd al-Malik and al-Ḥajjāj launched an “Arabisation of the diwan”.9 By the
690s coins were minted with Arabic inscriptions, and caliphal decrees began being written in
Arabic. Hawting notes that by ca. in 700 AD, Arabic had become the official language of the
government in Syria and Iraq, and gradually across the caliphate. This did not happen
instantly; non-Arab scribes were sidelined and the bureaucracy was “become more
centralised and uniform”. The changeover in border provinces came only by the end of the
Umayyad era, but the direction was set.
Under the Umayyads, coinage reform became a powerful tool for asserting centralized
authority. ʿAbd al-Malik’s monetary reforms included the Arabization of coins and the
addition of Qurʾanic slogans like “bismillah”, signaling a fusion of state and religious
legitimacy. These changes reflected the regime’s intent to embed Islamic symbolism in
public life, conveying both administrative uniformity and ideological messaging. The use of
Islamic slogans and Qurʾanic phrases on coins, and the replacement of Christian symbols
like the cross, signal a growing ideological sophistication. These material artifacts served as
tools of ideological messaging, projecting both political legitimacy and religious authority.
Public works such as the construction of the Dome of the Rock and the Umayyad Mosque in
Damascus, as well as planned marketplaces and bathhouses, were more than urban
development; they were expressions of caliphal sovereignty and religious identity.

Culturally, new Arabic literary forms flourished, and the prestige of Arab tribes was enshrined
in the state ideology. Umayyad elites often claimed descent from Quraysh or other tribal
lines to legitimize power. New cities or garrisons for Arab settlers, extending Arab society
outward. Umayyads resisted mass conversion, especially of non-Arabs, because it would
undermine the fiscal basis of the state. Converts were exempt from the jizya tax levied on
non-Muslims, and this disincentivized the caliphal administration from encouraging
conversion. Newly converted non-Arabs found themselves clients of Arab patrons and often
assimilated into Arabic culture (intermarriage, patronage networks). 10Donner notes that the
state was not interested in universalising Islam until late in the Umayyad period or even the
Abbasid era. The uneven process of Islamization under the Umayyad also reflects the idea
of Ira M. Lapidus, which criticises the “unity thesis”; that is the long held notion that Islam
inherently merges religion and state into a single undifferentiated authority.

Conclusion
The emergence of the Umayyad Caliphate signified not merely a change in leadership but a
profound reconfiguration of Islamic political, religious, and social structures. It marked the
transformation of Islam from a charismatic, community-based movement into a
bureaucratically administered, territorially expansive empire. This shift was not accidental; it
was a deliberate response to the realities of governing a vast and diverse polity. The
Umayyads institutionalized dynastic monarchy, centralized governance, and a new imperial
ideology rooted in Arab identity and Islamic symbolism. These developments constituted a
turning point in Islamic history, laying the foundation for Islamic civilization as an imperial
phenomenon.

9 Gerald R. Hawting, The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750, 2nd ed.
(London: Routledge, 2000), 13-17.
10 Fred Donner, ed., The Expansion of the Early Islamic State (Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1998),
introduction.
References:
Bacharach, Jere L. “Signs of Sovereignty: The Shahāda, Qurʾanic Verses, and the Coinage
of ʿAbd al-Malik.” Muqarnas 27 (2007): 1–30.

Crone, Patricia. Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Donner, Fred M. Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 2010.

Donner, Fred M. “The Formation of the Islamic State.” In The Articulation of Early Islamic
State Structures, edited by Fred M. Donner, 1–24. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999.

Hawting, Gerald R. The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750. 2nd
ed. London: Routledge, 2000.

Kennedy, Hugh. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the
Sixth to the Eleventh Century. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, 2015.

Lapidus, Ira M. “State and Religion in Islamic Societies.” Past & Present 151 (1996): 3–27.

Marsham, Andrew. The Umayyad Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020.

Humphreys, Stephen. Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan: From Arabia to Empire. Oxford: Oneworld,
2006.