The Arab Empire and Its
Successors
Creation of an Arab
Empire
 Muhammad’s death posed a problem because he had not
named a successor and didn’t have a male heir.
 His closest followers selected Abu Bakr as his successor.
 In 632 Bakr was named Caliph.
Arab Conquest
 Abu Bakr was able to suppress political and religious
uprisings, uniting the Muslim world.
 The Quran permitted fair, defensive warfare as Jihad,
“struggle in the way of God”.
 At Yarmuk, in 636, the Arab army defeated the Byzantine
army, and four years later took control of Syria.
 By 650, the Arab Empire had grown to include Egypt and
other parts of northern Africa, and the entire Persian Empire.
Arab Rule
 After the death of Abu Bakr, there was no clear
successor, and a number of caliphs were assassinated.
 In the conquered territories, the Arab administrators
were tolerant.
 Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their
religions.
 Those who didn’t convert to Islam only had to be loyal to
Muslim rule and pay taxes.
The Umayyad Empire
 In 661, the general Mu’awiyah became caliph.
 He moved to make the office of caliph, called the
caliphate, hereditary.
 This established the Umayyad dynasty.
 Mu’awiyah moved the capital of the Arab Empire from
Madinah to Damascus in Syria.
 The Arab Empire expanded into southern Europe in the
West and western Asia to the border of the Byzantine
Empire.
Continued…
 As a result, the Arab Empire would be influenced by
Byzantine and Persian culture.
 Because the empire was so vast it was difficult to rule
from a capital so far away.
 A revolt led by Hussein in present day Iraq led to a split
of Islam into two groups.
 Shia – descendants of Ali as the true rulers.
 Sunni – didn’t agree with Umayyad rule, but accepted
them as caliphs.
Abbasid Dynasty
 Overthrew the Abbasid dynasty and lasted from 750 to
1258.
 Abbasid Empire moved the capital to Baghdad.
 Abbasid caliphs encouraged charity and supported artists
and writers.
 A shortage of qualified Arabs for key positions in the
army and civil service led to non-Arab people coming to
power.
 Eventually the Muslim Empire split politically.
Seljuk Turks
 Seljuk Turks were nomads from central Asia who were
hired as nonnative soldiers.
 In 1055 a Turkish leader captured Baghdad and took
control of the empire under the title of Sultan, “holder
of power”.
The Crusades
 Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked the Christian states
of Europe for help.
 Europeans agreed and a series of crusades began in
1096.
 Saladin made himself sultan of Egypt in 1169 and took
the offensive against the Christians.
 Saladin and his forces invaded and conquered Jerusalem
in 1187.