By
Sejin Paik
Susan Park

What time period was your civilization around?
• After assassination of Ali
• (661~759 C.E.)

What life was like before your civilization took over? In other words what proceeded you?
• 4 Arab caliphates after Muhammad’s death,
Umayyad was one
• Muhammad  Umar  Uthman  Muawiyah 
Umayyad dynasty
• Umayyads were sunnis = did not like Muhammad
Ali
• Sudden rise of empire = success of spreading religion
– 2 decades after successor died, tensions rose
• Rejected Ali’s claims

How did Islam effect your civilization
(point out both the positives and the negatives)?
1. How did environment effect your civilization before and after the introduction of Islam?
2. Did your civilization expand their empire?
How did they do it (war, trading, spread of religion)?
3. What was your economy based on? How did
Islam change it?

How did environment effect your civilization before and after the introduction of Islam?
• The Umayyad dynasty was after the religion of
Islam spread, so there is not actually a "before”
Islam
• After the Umayyad dynasty rose, the dynasty's geographic features helped to improve the society.
• The capital of Umayyad was at Damascus, a commercial city in Syria, which was also a central location that helped to maintain communication with other Islamic empires.

Did your civilization expand their empire? How did they do it (war, trading, spread of religion)?
• Military conquest & Political domination (by having caliphs)
• They enlarged the Islamic Empire dramatically
(positive)
– expanded as far as northern Africa and Spain, where they ruled the southern Iberian peninsula from the city of Cordoba
• Intensified conflicts with the Byzantine and
Persian Empires (negative)
– attacked Byzantine capital of Constantinople --> failed to overthrow that regime

What was your economy based on?
How did Islam change it?
A. BEFORE
B. AFTER

• Politically: under Damascus in Syria
• People decided to live in Syria after the murder of Uthman
• Lived under a bureaucracy
• Arab conquest state
• Made army + imperial administration
• No forced taxes
• ONLY MUSLIN + ARAB PPL WERE FIRST CLASS CITIZENS
• However, they tried to isolate the Muslim warrior elite so they wouldn’t interact with non-Muslims
– Non + Muslim interaction= intermarriage
– Intermarriage=conversion

• People started converting to Islam voluntarily even if they knew they would get benefit economically and socially by converting
• Muslim converts were not treated GREAT
• Had to pay taxes
• Accepted only as “clients of the powerful Arab clans”
(134)
• Because there were so many converts the “dhimmi,” which is the greater population, the Muslims landlords tolerated the dhimmi, but the dhimmi still had to pay tax, etc. which helped the people accept Arab rule

What developments and changes of social structure took place when
Islam came into control?
• When Islam became more dominant over the society, the Umayyads started to be more strict towards those who did not believe in Islam. For example, they would start giving special taxes called Jizya to those who did not convert to Islam.
• Also, other than discrimination to the people who did not believe in Islam, not very many people enjoyed wealth and positions of authority because the society was exclusively for members of the Arab military aristocracy.

What lead to the eventual downfall of your civilization?
• As the Shia's began to rise in power
• In a battle for control of the empire against the forces of
Abu al-abbas, Umayyad was defeated
• Umayyad caliphs became alienated even from other Arabs
• Devoted themselves inreasingly to luxurious living rather than to zealous leadership of the umma
• Scandalized devout Muslims by their casual attitudes toward Islamic doctrine and morality
• By midcentury faced resistance from Shia faction
• Discontent of conquered peoples throughout their empire
• Rebellion in Persia

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