Changes in the Government of Islam ••• 63Mu'awiya ibn-abi-Sufyan
M
u'awiya (602-680) was the founder of the Umayyad dynasty. The
Umayyads were the dominant clan in Mecca; they did not associate with
Muhammad's followers. In fact, Mu'awiya did not accept Islam until the city
surrendered to the Prophet in 630. Once converted, he was fully accepted by
Muhammad and for awhile served as his scribe. The second caliph, Umar, ap¬
pointed Mu'awiya governor of Syria, a position at which he excelled.
In June 656 the third caliph, Uthman, was murdered in Medina. His succes¬
sor was Ali, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law. After suppressing the rebellion
led by Aisha and two early companions of the Prophet, Ali decided that to main¬
tain loyalty in the provinces he would have to replace the governors appointed
by his predecessors. This led to a confrontation with Mu'awiya, who refused to
resign from his post. Their confrontation was intensified by the fact that Uth¬
man had been Mu'awiya's first cousin. Mu'awiya demanded that Ali produce the
assassins or he would himself be considered an accomplice in the crime.
This struggle between the two men followed a convoluted path, which at
times led their armies onto the battlefield and at others led them to attempt
arbitration. In the end, Ali was assassinated by a disgruntled Kharijite in 661,
and Mu'awiya then became Islam's next caliph.
Mu'awiya's success rested on the base he had built in Syria, where he proved
to be a shrewd and strong governor. There he ruled successfully for twenty
years, making Syria a prosperous province. Its people repaid him with loyalty.
Mu'awiya skillfully molded the local Arab tribes into the best-trained and
equipped army in the Muslim world and built Islam's first navy. Mu'awiya
chose to stay in Syria even after winning the caliphate. Thus, Damascus re¬
placed Medina as the capital of the growing Islamic empire.
Mu'awiya's reign broke with the past in other ways as well. As the empire
rapidly expanded, the caliph faced serious internal dissension that challenged
his rule. The key to Mu'awiya's success was his ability to innovate. Unlike his
predecessors, who relied on a more traditional, personal, and collaborative
style of governing, Mu'awiya adopted a more imperial, bureaucratic adminis¬
tration that reflected the existing practices of the Byzantine and Persian states
defeated by the Muslims. The result was a government and court life that often
alienated those who cherished the practices of the Prophet and his compan¬
ions. Later, the worldliness of the Damascus court would scandalize devout
Muslims coming from Arabia.
All this tarnished Mu'awiya's reputation among later Muslim historians. Many
of them favored the cause of Ali (Shi'ism) or were influenced by the very nega¬
tive accounts written for the Abbasid rulers who later overthrew the Umayyads.
Nonetheless, it is clear that Mu'awiya was a great innovator and a shrewd wielder
of power. He probably saved the young Muslim state from chaos following the
death of Ali and set it on a stable administrative path leading to a greater empire.