HY 101 Dr James Mixson Chapter 2 The stress falls upon the religious as opposed to the social economic or political Gordon 16 Umma Muhammad s following in Medina indicates 1st Muslims constituted fullest expression of human religious life society was defined as its devotion to One God determination to do His will Ridda campaigns Wars of Apostasy were a series of military campaigns launched by the Caliph Abu Bakr against a rebel Arabian tribes during 632 and 633 AD just after Muhammad died There was a mix of diplomacy and force Abu Bakr s approach was to treat outlying tribes as subject to Medinan authority o Pg 25 27 goes into detail the tactics Abu Bakr took to rebel against Arabian tribes and how they compared to his successor Umar For example He forbade them from participating in the campaigns of expansion and to ensure their submission he held hostage members of each tribe His successor Umar Ibn al Khattab took a different tack reversing the overall policy soon after assuming office 634 He is reported to have freed the prisoners and to have invited their tribes to participate alongside those allied to Medina In military terms the step was momentous Medina was now assured of greater numbers of fighters This helps explain the conquest of the Near East the second and more significant achievement of the Rashidun caliphs Gordon 25 o Umar known in sources as al Faruq one who distinguishes truth Harsh leader demanding Opposed the Prophet before deciding to embrace his cause Supported Abu Bakr Credited for Arab Islamic conquests Sent Arab Islamic tribal forces against Byzantine and Sasanid Empires Leading these forces were two men Amur ibn al As 663 Khalid ibn al Walid 642 Both men had opposed Muhammad until sensing the tide had turned in the Prophet s favor they converted to Islam Rise of Arab Islamic naval strength was a blow to Byzantines Mid 7th Century Arab Islamic forces controlled regions stretching from Egypt across Syria Iraq into central Iran o Result radical redrawing of political map cultural religious transformation of Near East o Pp 27 29 go into detail about challenges of this new era Under Umar s reign o Was more feared than loved at first by the Muslims after Abu Bakr stepped down o Divided the empire of Arabia into two provinces Mecca and Medina o Disciplined those who became disordered appointed police forces to keep civil order etc o Mostly adopted the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare o Persia was obtained by Arab Islamic empire and in 644 Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave this led to internal upheaval that distracted the attention of Arab Islamic society from the conquests and state reform Gordon 30 After Umar s death o shura Muslim leadership search process small elite group worked together to find a worthy candidate to take Umar s place o Uthman ibn Affan was who the shura chose o Uthman gave more power to the Umayyad s and less to the Quraysh which eventually led to revolt and the assassination of Uthman in his own house A group of rebel Muslims believed he had altered the words of the Qur an o Civil war was struck