We come to the word “Caliph” (literally “successor”), the caliph was the temporal leader of the Islamic

community and was also considered, in general terms, to be a religious leader, or imam .

Due to the fact that Muhammad had several daughters but no son, after the death of Muhammad, a number of
his closest followers selected to be the leader of the Islamic community.
From 632-661, Arab had four Caliph:
The first Caliph who helped spread Islam was Muhammed's father-in-law, Abu-Bakr

The second Caliph was named Umar, another father-in-law of Muhammed.

The third Caliph was a member of the Umayyad family. His name was Osman (or Uthman)

The fourth Caliph was Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin

These 4 Caliph used Muslim as an ideological weapon to enhance Arab society and process the conquest
policy to outside Arab’s borderland.
The Byzantine and Sassanian Empires were the first to feel the strength of the newly united Arabs, now
aroused to a peak of zeal by their common faith. In 636, the Muslims defeated the Byzantine army on
the Yarmuk (yahr-MOOK) River, north of the Dead Sea. Four years later, they took possession of the
Byzantine province of Syria. In 640, they conquered Cairo. To the east, the Arabs defeated a Persian
force in 637 and then went on to conquer the entire empire of the Sassanids by 650. In the meantime,
the rest of Egypt and other areas of North Africa were also brought under Arab authority .

History Debate:

Historians have proposed various explanations, ranging from a prolonged drought on the Arabian
Peninsula, to the use of the Arabian camel as an instrument of war, to the desire of Islam’s leaders to
channel the energies of their new converts. Others have suggested that the Byzantine Empire had been
weakened by a plague epidemic that had not affected the desert regions farther to the east. Still
another hypothesis is that the expansion was deliberately planned by the ruling elites in Mecca to
extend their trade routes and bring surplus-producing regions under their control. Whatever the case,
Islam’s ability to unify the Bedouin peoples certainly played a role. Although the Arab triumph was made
substantially easier by the ongoing conflict between the Byzantine and Persian Empires, which had
weakened both powers, the strength and mobility of the Bedouin armies with their much-vaunted
cavalry should not be overlooked. Led by a series of brilliant generals, the Arabs assembled a large,
highly motivated army whose valor was enhanced by the belief that Muslim warriors who died in battle
were guaranteed a place in paradise. This is clearly a case where the multitudes had been inspired by a
message and were prepared to carry that message to the ends of the earth.
The Rise of the Umayyads

661, Muawiya giành thắng lợi trong cuộc chiến tranh giành quyền lực,
và được các quý tộc bầu làm Caliph, và xưng là Muawiya đệ nhất

Hủy bỏ chế độ bầu cử Caliph, thành lập chính quyền chuyên chế và lập ra triều Omeyyad (661-750)
chuyển kinh đô đến Damacus
Sau khi ổn định tình hình, triều Omeyyad tiến hành bành trướng lãnh thổ.
At the beginning of the eighth century, new attacks were launched at both the western and the eastern
ends of the Mediterranean world .Arab armies advanced across North Africa, displacing Byzantine rule
and conquering the Berbers, a primarily pastoral people living along the Mediterranean coast and in the
mountains in the interior. Although resistance continued for years, the local inhabitants were eventually
converted to Islam

Muslim fleets also attacked several islands in the eastern Mediterranean. Then, around 710, Arab forces,
supplemented by Berber allies under their commander, Tariq (tuh-REEK), crossed the Strait of Gibraltar
and occupied southern Spain (thus the modern name of the Rock of Gibraltar—Jebel Tariq, or “Tariq’s
Mountain”). The Visigothic kingdom, already weakened by internecine warfare ), quickly collapsed, and
by 725, most of the Iberian Peninsula had become a Muslim state with its center in Andalusia . Seven
years later, an Arab force, making a foray into southern France, was defeated by the army of Charles
Martel between Tours and Poitiers. For the first time, Arab horsemen had met their match against a
disciplined Frankish infantry. Some historians think that internal exhaustion would have forced the
invaders to retreat even without their defeat at the hands of the Franks, the Germanic people who had
established a kingdom in what is now France. In any event, the Battle of Tours (or Poitiers) would be the
high-water mark of Arab expansion in Europe.

Arab power also extended to the east, consolidating Islamic rule in Mesopotamia and Persia and
northward into Central Asia.

But factional disputes continued to plague the empire. Many Muslims of non-Arab extraction resented
the favoritism toward Arabs shown by local administrators. In some cases, resentment led to revolt, as
in southern Iraq, where Ali’s second son, Hussein, disputed the legitimacy of the Umayyads and incited
his supporters—to be known in the future as Shi’ites to rise up against Umayyad rule in 680. Hussein’s
forces, many of whom were migrants from Persia, were defeated, and with the death of Hussein in the
battle, a schism between Shi’ite and Arab Muslims had been created that continues to this day.
Umayyad rule created resentment, not only in Mesopotamia but also in Persia, where Arab migrants
began to replace local aristocrats in position of influence, and in North Africa, where Berber resistance
continued, especially in the mountainous areas south of the coastal plains. According to critics, the
Umayyads may have contributed to their own demise by their decadent behavior. One caliph allegedly
swam in a pool of wine and then imbibed enough of the contents to lower the level significantly. Finally,
in 750, a revolt led by Abu al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad’s uncle, led to the overthrow of the
Umayyads and the establishment of the Abbasid dynasty (750–1258) in what is now Iraq.
The Abbasids

The Abbasid caliphs brought political, economic, and cultural change to the world of Islam. While
seeking to implant their own version of religious orthodoxy, to be known as Sunni, or “the law,” they
opened schools—known as madrasas—to popularize their teachings. They also tried to break down the
distinctions between Arab and non-Arab Muslims. All Muslims were now allowed to hold both civil and
military offices. This change helped open Islamic culture to the influences of the occupied civilizations.
Some Arabs began to intermarry with the peoples they had conquered. In many parts of the Islamic
world, notably North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, most Muslim converts began to consider
themselves Arabs. In 762, the Abbasids built a new capital city at Baghdad, on the Tigris River far to the
east of the Umayyad capital at Damascus. The new capital was strategically positioned to take
advantage of river traffic to the Persian Gulf and also lay astride the caravan route from the
Mediterranean to Central Asia. The move eastward allowed Persian influence to come to the fore,
encouraging a new cultural orientation. Under the Abbasids, judges, merchants, and government
officials, rather than warriors, were regarded as the ideal citizens.

Instability and Division

Nevertheless, an element of instability lurked beneath the surface. The lack of spiritual authority may
have weakened the caliphate and given impetus to potential rivals, and disputes over the succession
were common. At Harun’s death, the rivalry between his two sons, Amin and al-Ma’mun, led to civil war
and the destruction of Baghdad. As described by the tenth-century Muslim historian al-Mas’udi,
“Mansions were destroyed, most remarkable monuments obliterated; prices soared. . . . Brother turned
his sword against brother, son against father, as some fought for Amin, others for Ma’mun. Houses and
palaces fueled the flames; property was put to the sack.”4 Wealth contributed to financial corruption.
By awarding important positions to court favorites, the Abbasid caliphs began to undermine the
foundations of their own power and eventually became mere figureheads. Under Harun al-Rashid,
members of his Hashemite clan received large pensions from the state treasury, and his wife Zubaida
(zoo-BY-duh) reportedly spent huge sums while shopping on a pilgrimage to Mecca. One powerful
family, the Barmakids, amassed vast wealth and power until Harun al-Rashid eliminated the entire clan
in a fit of jealousy. The life of luxury enjoyed by the caliph and other political and economic elites in
Baghdad seemingly undermined the stern fiber of Arab society as well as the strict moral code of Islam.
Strictures against sexual promiscuity were widely ignored, and caliphs were rumored to maintain
thousands of concubines in their harems. Divorce was common, homosexuality was widely practiced,
and alcohol was consumed in public despite Islamic law’s prohibition against imbibing spirits.

The process of disintegration was accelerated by changes that were taking place within the armed forces
and the bureaucracy of the empire. Given the shortage of qualified Arabs for key positions in the army
and the administration, the caliphate began to recruit officials from among the non-Arab peoples in the
empire, such as Persians and Turks from Central Asia. These people gradually became a dominant force
in the army and administration. Environmental problems added to the regime’s difficulties. The Tigris
and Euphrates river system, lifeblood of Mesopotamia for three millennia, was beginning to silt up.
Bureaucratic inertia now made things worse, as many of the country’s canals became virtually unusable,
leading to widespread food shortages. The fragmentation of the Islamic empire accelerated in the tenth
century.

The Seljuk Turks

 In the eleventh century, the Abbasid caliphate faced yet another serious threat in the form of the Seljuk
(SEL-jook) Turks. When the nomadic Xiongnu Empire fell apart early in the first millennium CE (see
Chapter 3), Turkicspeaking people in the area gradually migrated westward into Xinjiang and Central
Asia. Some of them converted to Islam in the process. Eventually, one group, known as the Seljuk Turks,
began to serve as military mercenaries for the Abbasid caliphate, where they were known for their
ability as mounted archers. Moving gradually into Persia and Armenia as the Abbasids weakened, the
Seljuk Turks grew in number until by the eleventh century, they were able to occupy the eastern
provinces of the Abbasid Empire. In 1055, a Turkish leader captured Baghdad and assumed command of
the empire with the title of sultan (“holder of power”). While the Abbasid caliph remained the chief
representative of Sunni religious authority, the real military and political power of the state was in the
hands of the Seljuk Turks. The latter did not establish their headquarters in Baghdad, which now entered
a period of decline.

By the last decades of the eleventh century, the Seljuks were exerting military pressure on Egypt and the
Byzantine Empire. In 1071, when the Byzantines foolishly challenged the Turks, their army was routed at
Manzikert (MANZ-ih-kurt), near Lake Van in eastern Turkey, and the victors took over much of the
Anatolian peninsula. In dire straits, the Byzantine Empire turned to the west for help, setting in motion
the papal pleas that led to the crusades (see next section). In Europe, and undoubtedly within the
Muslim world itself, the arrival of the Turks was initially regarded as a disaster. The Turks were viewed
as barbarians who destroyed civilizations and oppressed populations. In fact, in many respects, Turkish
rule in the Middle East was probably beneficial. After converting to Islam, the Turkish rulers temporarily
brought an end to the fraternal squabbles between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims while supporting the
Sunnis. They put their energies into revitalizing Islamic law and institutions and provided much-needed
political stability to the empire, which helped restore its former prosperity. Under Seljuk rule, Muslims
began to organize themselves into autonomous brotherhoods, whose relatively tolerant practices
characterized Islamic religious attitudes until the end of the nineteenth century, when increased
competition with Europe led to confrontation with the West. Seljuk political domination over the old
Abbasid Empire, however, provoked resentment on the part of many Persian Shi’ites, who viewed the
Turks as usurping foreigners who had betrayed the true faith of Islam. Among the regime’s most feared
enemies was Hasan al-Sabahh (hah-SAHN al-SAH-bah), a Cairo-trained Persian who formed a rebel
group, popularly known as “assassins” (guardians), who for several decades terrorized government
officials and other leading political and religious figures from their base in the mountains south of the
Caspian Sea. Like their modern-day equivalents, the members of the terrorist organization known as al-
Qaeda, Sabahh’s followers were highly motivated and were adept at infiltrating the enemy’s camp to
carry out their clandestine activities. The organization was finally eliminated by the invading Mongols in
the thirteenth century.