Abd al-Malik
Abd al-Malik was the fifth Umayyad caliph who ruled from 685 to 705 AD. He is known for centralizing the administration of the Islamic empire, standardizing coinage, and constructing the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Abd al-Malik's reign marked a significant shift in the governance and cultural identity of the Islamic world.
7 Key excerpts on "Abd al-Malik"
eBook - ePubReligious Scholars and the Umayyads
Piety-Minded Supporters of the Marwanid Caliphate
- Steven Judd(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Much of this attention has focused on the reign of ‘Abd al-Malik (r. 65/685–86/705), whose role in shaping both the faith and the empire has been increasingly appreciated. Recently Chase Robinson and Fred Donner have both argued that ‘Abd al-Malik played a crucial role in defining the religion. 47 Their efforts offer a welcome alternative to the vision of the Umayyads as godless kings by emphasizing their roles in establishing the faith. However, they are largely limited to the discussion of ‘Abd al-Malik and his opponents and offer no new understanding of the later Marwānid period. At the same time, the focus of these studies is on the broad strokes of religious development and on the influence of particular caliphs. They do not examine the role of scholars in the caliphal enterprise to define the faith. Indeed, individual religious scholars are rarely mentioned by either author. Consequently, even in these welcome new analyses the perceived separation between the scholarly community and the political elite remains intact. The chapters that follow shift the focus from the caliphs to the scholars who supported them and extend the discussion of Umayyad influence on the development of Islam beyond ‘Abd al-Malik into the later Umayyad period. A close examination of the role of religious scholars during the Umayyad period will demonstrate that the long-assumed dichotomy between godless caliphs and pious scholars in untenable. Just as the scholarly community was not unified in its notions of proper doctrine and piety, so too it was not uni-fied in its opposition to the Marwānids. As subsequent chapters will show, a substantial community of scholars supported the Umayyads and the doctrines ascribed to them. In addition, the following chapters will demonstrate that, while we cannot know with certainty what religious scholars of the Umayyad period thought, it is possible to reconstruct their ideas through a careful reading of available sources...
eBook - ePubThe First Dynasty of Islam
The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750
- G. R Hawting(Author)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 5 ‘Abd al-Malik and al-Hajjaj After Marwan’s accession to the caliphate in 684 all of the remainder of the Umayyad caliphs were descended directly from him. It is remarkable that his son ‘Abd al-Malik (caliph 685–705) was himself succeeded in the caliphate by no fewer than four of his own sons, the succession of the brothers continuing down until 743 and being interrupted only by the brief caliphate of their cousin ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (717–20). 1 ‘Abd al-Malik’s immediate successor was his eldest son al-Walid I (705–15) and his rule seems hardly differentiated from that of his father, for, almost from the time when the civil war ended until shortly before the death of al-Walid, the dominant figure in the sources is the governor of Iraq and viceroy of the east al-Hajjaj (governor 694–714). Like his predecessor Ziyad, we tend to hear more about him than about the caliphs in Syria and he thus serves to give a unity to the period of ‘Abd al-Malik and al-Walid. This period, although not without its problems for the government, was in some ways the high point of Umayyad power, witnessing significant territorial advances both in the east and the west and the emergence of a more marked Arabic and Islamic character in the state’s public face. Before discussing the period following the civil war, however, there are some developments in the earlier part of ‘Abd al-Malik’s caliphate which need to be noted. First, the grip of the Marwanids on the caliphate was tightened. At the meeting which discussed the future of the caliphate before Marj Rahit in 684 the Marwanids had not been the only branch of the Umayyad family in contention, and acceptance of Marwan seems to have been secured only at the price of guarantees regarding the future right of succession of some of the other contenders. The claims of the surviving members of the family of Yazid b. Mu‘awiya may have been sidestepped by Marwan’s marriage to Yazid’s widow Fakhita...
eBook - ePubIslam
A Concise Introduction
- Neal Robinson(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Whereas the first four Caliphs had been ‘Caliphs of the Messenger of God’, the Umayyads styled themselves ‘Caliphs of God’ and understood this to mean that they were viceroys appointed by him. They adopted many of the administrative and courtly practices of the Byzantines, and under them the empire expanded westwards to incorporate North Africa and Spain, and eastwards as far as the Indus valley. The Abbasids (750–1258) A revolution which began in Khurasan, in eastern Persia, and was backed by disgruntled non-Arab peoples in the conquered territories, as well as by the supporters of Ali's descendants, led to the overthrow of the Umayyads. They were replaced by the Abbasids, a dynasty who belonged to the Hashim clan and claimed descent from Abbas, one of the Prophet's uncles. In 762, al-Mansur, the second Abbasid Caliph, founded Baghdad as his new capital. It was built on a circular plan probably as a symbolic representation of the world. The positioning of a mosque and palace in the centre indicated the Caliph's role as cosmocrator. For three hundred years the arts and sciences flourished under Abbasid patronage and there were important developments in theology and jurisprudence which gave Islam its classical form. Apart from the almost immediate loss of Spain, the borders of the empire at first remained virtually static, but from the middle of the ninth century onwards the empire began to disintegrate. Before long, the Caliph's effective political control extended barely beyond Iraq; the other territories were either lost to rival dynasties or were ruled by ‘Sultans’ (an Arabic word which simply means ‘holders of power’) who owed only nominal allegiance to Baghdad. From 945 until the twelfth century the Caliphs were little more than puppets in the hands first of the Buyids, who were Shiites, and then the Seljuks, who were staunch Sunnis...
eBook - ePub- Pierre Cachia(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The heightening of the separation between the ruler and the subjects, however, was probably not due to the assumption of the title of caliph, but to his general success and prosperity. Sheer pressure of administration would contribute to the change, just as it had forced some of the later Umayyad caliphs of Damascus to think of modelling themselves in part on Persian imperialism. It is thus not surprising that in the last years of his reign 'Abd-ar-Rahmān III is said to have been more autocratic. Little need be said about the reign of 'Abd-ar-Rahmans son, al-gakam II (961-76), with the throne-name of Al-Mustansir bi-Tlah. The structure of centralised power created by his father remained intact, and so both internally and externally the situation of al-Andalus continued to be much as it had been. An attempt by the kingdoms of Leon, Castile and Navarre to assert their independence was defeated by an army under Ghālib in 975—the same general who, as already noted, had begun to restore Umayyad influence in North Africa. In internal affairs the jurists appear to have become more important, but the whole question of the jurists is difficult and will have to be looked at more fully later. When al-IJakam II died in 976 the power of the Umayyad dynasty and the prosperity of their kingdom were still at their zenith, and there was little to presage the sudden decline after the year 1000. MAP 2. Main trade routes and products in Spain in the Middle Ages 2. The Economic Basis After this brief description of the more obvious events of the reigns of 'Abd-ar-Rahrnan III and his son, it is time to look at some of the broader questions raised...
eBook - ePubMuslim Spain and Portugal
A Political History of al-Andalus
- Hugh Kennedy(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In the early years of al-Nāṣir's reign the monarchy had been proactive: the Caliph had led campaigns and traversed the country on the way to the ṣā'ifa, meeting local leaders and consolidating his influence. Under al-Hakam all this seemed unnecessary. Cordoba was the centre of power and patronage. Local leaders came to the Caliph to receive commands, investitures and presents. The dazzling ceremonies which marked the great festivals of the Muslim year, the 'Īd al-Aḍḥā and the 'Īd al-Fiṭr, were occasions when the Caliph could entertain and dispense patronage. This style of attractive monarchy, unique in western Europe, was a product of wealth and stability and of a government in which a literate and numerate bureaucracy could collect taxation on a regular and systematic basis. But there were potential problems. The Caliph had become very isolated. Access to the royal court, the only source of political power, could be controlled by a small number of palace officials. Under a strong and experienced ruler like al-Ḥakam, this caused no problems, but a youthful and uncertain caliph could easily be manipulated and managed. This was to be the fate of al-Ḥakam's successor. The caliphate in Mediterranean society The prestige of the caliphate extended beyond its frontiers. Despite the defeat at Alhandega, the caliphate overshadowed the Christian states to the north both militarily and economically. In the early part of his reign, "Abd al-Raḥmān III was confronted by powerful monarchs, notably Ramiro II (930-51), the victor of Alhandega. After Ramiro's death, however, the kingdom was beset by succession disputes, in which the Muslims intervened to their own advantage, and rivalry with the growing power of Castile under its dynamic Count Fernan Gonzalez (923-70), hero of history and legend...
eBook - ePubSpiritual Purification in Islam
The Life and Works of al-Muhasibi
- Gavin Picken(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Thus, al-Muḥāsibī lived through the reign of eight ʿAbbāsid caliphs. 1. Muḥammad b. al-Manṣūr, ‘al-Mahdī’ (r. 158/775–169/785) Due to the determination, energy, political acumen and renowned frugality of his father, al-Mahdī inherited an empire that was stable, powerful and richly endowed. Consequently, al-Mahdīis remembered as being generous in comparison with his father and he used the state’s substantial wealth to improve relations with the ʿAlids, by offering them generous stipends and esteemed positions. Seen as a religious ruler due to his building of mosques and patronising of the pilgrimage, al-Mahdī is also remembered for his persecution of those with anti-Islamic tendencies known as zindīq s. At the political level, his reign is also a period in which the ‘clients’ mawālī continue to come to prominence and there is a continuation of the expansion of the new secretarial class of civil servants known as the ‘ kuttāb ’, who helped define the administration’s bureaucracy. 9 2. Mūsā b. al-Mahdī, ‘al-Hādī’ (r. 169/785–170/789) With his reign being so short and with the sources comparing him unfavourably with his brother Hārūn, al-Hādī is a difficult figure to assess. Despite this, we are given the impression that he was determined, forceful and on occasion hasty and ill-tempered. In many ways his reign was a reaction to his father’s, as he reversed his policies regarding the ʿAlids and attempted to limit the influence of both the mawālī and, consequently, the kuttāb. His greatest aim, however, was to remove his brother Hārūn from the succession and replace him with his own son Jaʿfar but his life was cut short in suspicious circumstances and considerable court intrigue. 10 3. Hārūn b. al-Mahdī, ‘al-Rashīd’ (r...
eBook - ePub- Mary Hollingsworth, Giulio Carlo Argan(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Completed 691. This symbol of the new power of Islam was built on the supposed site of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, Isaac, a place of religious significance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Development of the Mosque New religions invariably need new places of worship, and the mosque had different requirements from those of the pagan temple and Christian church. Islam is a simple religion, a deliberate departure from the hierarchical structure of Christian orthodoxy. Teachers, not priests, play the central clerical role, and there are no liturgical processions or altars before which to pray. Mosque design reflected these differences, being characterized by large open spaces covered for protection from the elements. A niche, or mihrab, is placed prominently in the qibla wall, which marks the direction of Mecca, toward which Muslims face during prayer. The power of Islam was expressed in the size of the mosques and the splendor of their decoration, which, following Muhammad’s condemnation of idolatry, avoided figural representations. The basic format was established early and changed little, reflecting the inherent conservatism of Islam. Abd al-Malik’s successor, al-Walid I (r. 705–715), turned his attention to the capital of the Umayyad Dynasty, Damascus. His Great Mosque, built on the site of a temple of Augustus and a cathedral to Saint John the Baptist, was another example of Islamic triumphalism. It continued many of the traditions of the earlier buildings, most notably in its reuse of classical columns, marble inlay, and acanthus scroll decoration. But the scale of the structure and the richness of the glass mosaics rivaled the churches of the Byzantine Empire and deliberately invoked the new power of the Caliphate. Luxury and the Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad caliphs also adapted classical and Byzantine architecture for secular buildings. They had acquired enormous wealth through conquest, which encouraged a luxurious and pleasure-loving lifestyle...
