Islamic Economics: A Short History

CHAPTER FOUR

THE DYNASTIC CALIPHATES

THE UMAYYADS AND THE REFORMS

(661 A.C.–750 A.C.)

Introduction

The period under examination in this chapter is a particularly inter-
esting period for various reasons. First, the period marked the change
of the Islamic caliphate to a dynastic system; second, it witnessed a
move toward Islamic urbanisation on a large scale; third, the period
witnessed a further expansion of the political borders of the Islamic
state which led to a substantial increase in the size of trade, and
fourthly, during that time the Islamic state reformed monetary pol-
icy and streamlined the administrative system. The Umayyad period
seemed to have paved the way for the development advances in the
Abbasìd caliphate that followed.

The Caliphate and the Dynasty

No sooner had the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph Ali been assassi-
nated in 661 than Mu"awiyah, who established himself as the head
of the province of Greater Syria, al-Sham, declared himself the new
head of state. Before long, al-Œassan, the older son of the Caliph
Ali, who was regarded by Ali’s followers as his spiritual successor,
abdicated. The lack of a similar military support to that of Mu"awiyah,
a desire to prevent a further bloodshed and perhaps less inclination
towards politics, persuaded al-Œassan to retire.
The ascension of the Umayyads to power marked a dramatic
change in the system of the caliphate: the transfer of the caliphate
from an elective into a hereditary system. The mastermind behind
the change was Mu"awiyah, the founder of the Umayyad state (Al-
̨abarì). Without denying the right of Muslims to elect their own
caliph, Mu"awiyah introduced his son, Yazìd, to the Muslim com-
munity as his legitimate successor claiming that while this would