the abbasìd’s golden age 209economic prosperity and a style of life to which Muslims were never
accustomed. Muslims, mostly the Bedouin inhabitants of the Arabian
Peninsula as we recall from the first chapter, found themselves exposed
to the two greatest civilizations in the world at that time and to a
lifestyle the Bedouin would never have dreamed of. The imitation
of the Persians’ and Byzantines’ life style, with all the comfort it had
with it, was difficult to resist.
Nothing was un-Islamic; the argument was no doubt maintained,
in benefiting from the bounties that God had bestowed on Muslims
after the great conquests and in indulging oneself in the comfort that
was brought by His will. But that was not acceptable to some. It
added to the image of exorbitant extravagance the luxurious type of
life with which the Umayyads surrounded themselves within the royal
court and in their personal life. Against the majority of Muslims who
must have enjoyed the new comfort which the new era had brought
to their life, a minority stood to express grave concern. To this
minority the new style of life represented a drift from the Islamic
norms and ideals and that was in contrast with the ascetic model
proclaimed in the teachings of Islam. Islam, as we recall from the
previous chapter, is not against the enjoyment of life as long as this
is within the level of moderation. With a royal court that was not
dissimilar to that of the Persians or the Byzantines, the principle of
moderation, at least to this minority of Muslims, seemed to have
been violated. With the memories of the ascetic lifestyle of the
Rashidìn still fresh in mind, the contrast between the Rashidìn soci-
ety, or the society of Medìnah, and that of the Umayyads was too
sharp to remain unnoticed.
The danger, it seemed, lay in the perception that such a new
opening to luxury may lead to a break away from the basic spirit
of Islam; a matter which had lain in the minds of sincere Muslims
and devoted Ulama". The recent schism in the Muslim community
resulting from the dispute over the caliphate and the growing bit-
terness of the Shì"ah over the loss of the caliphate and their readi-
ness to amass the blame over the Umayyads must have fuelled the
resentment further.
However, the resentment was not taking a political uprising against
the Umayyads; that came later with the Shì"ah’s uprising and claim
to the caliphate. Rather, it was taking an inward direction towards
the inner self in an endeavour to purify it and return the self to the
puritan teachings of Islam. Having resigned politically to accepting