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The Arab Empire and Its Successors
SECTION 2
I.
Creation of an Arab Empire
a. After the death of Muhammad, his
successors organized the Arabs and set in
motion a great expansion.
i. constant tension over choosing who
should rule the empire
ii. the lack of a named successor or a male
heir created problems of succession.
iii. Muhammad had daughters, but in a
male-oriented society they would not be
accepted as leaders.
II. Abu Bakr
a. Muhammad’s father-in-law, Abū Bakr, was
named Muhammad’s successor
b. Islamic Empire expanded
c. The Quran permitted jihad, which was the
justification for expansion.
d. Soldiers carried the belief that Muslim
warriors were guaranteed a place in paradise
if they died in battle.
III. Umayyad Dynasty
a. The two caliphs following Abū Bakr were
assassinated.
i. In 656 Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali,
became caliph. He too would be
assassinated after five years of rule.
b. In 661 the governor of Syria, General
Mu'āwiyah became caliph. He was known
for using force only when necessary.
c. Established the Umayyad dynasty and
moved the capital from Madinah to
Damascus in Syria
d. Islam was split into two groups. The Shia
Muslims accept only the descendants of Ali
as the true rulers of Islam. Sunni Muslims
accepted the Umayyads as the rulers of
Islam.
IV. Abbasid dynasty
a. Non-Arabs resented the increasingly corrupt
government of the Umayyad rule.
b. In 750, Abū al-′Abbās overthrew the
Umayyad dynasty and set up the Abbasid
dynasty.
c.
The Abbasids moved the capital to Baghdad
on the Tigris River.
d. The golden age of the Abbasid caliphate
occurred with the rule of Hārūn al-Rashīd
e. Financial and political corruption weakened
the empire, and the provinces of the empire
began to break away.
V. The Mongols
a. The violent invasion of the Mongols destroyed
the old Islamic Empire established by the Arabs
and created a new center of Islamic civilization
in Cairo, Egypt.
b. The Mongols were a pastoral, horse-riding
people.
c. These nomadic warriors were destructive and
attempted to create terror to prevent people from
fighting back.
d. Led by leaders such as Ghengis Khan and Kublai
Khan
e. The Mongols captured Persia and Mesopotamia,
ending the Abbasid dynasty. The Mongols
destroyed schools, libraries, mosques, and
palaces.
f. Over time, the Mongols settled in the conquered
areas and converted to Islam.