HY 101 Dr James Mixson Chapter 3 pg 32 Great Fitna trial temptation first period of civil war to beset the Islamic community brought on mainly by debate over Uthman s leadership Ali Talib o New caliph after Uthman who took support of the group of Muslims who opposed Uthman s reign including those who assassinated Uthman o This created a class difference because Uthman s supporters were still great in number and ready to seek vengeance because of their loyalty to their caliph o Muawiyah I wanted Ali to punish the rioters who had killed Uthman Muawiyah I was the leader of the tribe of loyal Uthman followers who left when Talib came to caliph power Syrian tribal armies constituted the other main support of Muawiya s state Gordon 37 o Ali Talib wanted to exert authority over Muawiyah mainly because he had been elected as the Caliph and all the authority should have been completely vested in him o Muawiyah raised the cry for vengeance for the blood of Uthman Muawiyah tribe pp 37 o Practiced traditional tribal based form of governance o Developed certain state offices o Controversially Muawiya appointed his son Yazid as his successor which was unpopular decision to many in Arab Islamic society because he ignored the process of shura candidates to the office were chosen through open debate Taking a pause Three broad movements pp 38 o Kharijis o Shi a Didn t stress family or tribal origins for leadership Former slaves could even run for office Shi at Ali the followers or partisans of Ali claimed that only members of the Prophet s family and specifically descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib could claim legitimate rule over Islamic society Ali Talib s death 661 led many Shi is to transfer allegiance to al Hasan or al Husayn both Talib s sons o Proto sunnis 90 of Muslims made up proto sunnis commitment of teachings of Muhammad and the Qur an ambiguous stance to the caliphate Second Civil War pp 40 o Muawiyah sparked a second civil war by giving his son Yazid the power the civil war continued after his death in 683 and led into transfer of rule from Mu awiya s line to the Marwanids a second branch of the Umayyad house o Civil war ended with the caliphate in the hands of the Marwanids named after Marwan ibn al Hakam Marwan suddenly died and Abd al Malik took over Abd al Malik o Policies represented a shift to a centralized and increasingly authoritarian state pp 44 Detailed more on pages 42 44 o Muslims didn t think he deserved to be caliphate o Pg 42 45 to read more about his reign o Currents of opposition began to uprise o Hisham last Umayyad ruler during and after his reign civil war broke loose o Corruption was rampant among Umayyad governors Umayyad armies suffered debilitating defeats in Caucasus Central Asia and North Africa o No agrarian based empire could hope to survive without a stable and motivated military pp 45 o Anti Umayyad feelings circuated Abbasid Revolution o Gained a proto Shi i following in Iraq o Banu Hashim authority over the umma belonged to the chosen one from the family of the prophet or Banu Hashim o Abu Muslim s role was crucial to their success He launched the final open stage of revolt by unfurling black banners the symbol of revolt and soon the official color of the Abbasid caliphate pp 47 He was arrested by the Umyyads but undeterred he appointed his friend Abu al Abbas also known as Al Saffah to carry out the final destruction of the Umayyad clan and suppressed its Syrian based supporters Supporters of Ali ibn Abi Talib pro Alid groups protested loudly against Banu Hashim Abbasids ruling the caliphate when the Alid family could claim direct descent The pro Alid or Shi i and the non Shi i groups disliked one another Eventually there was a deep division in Islamic political and religious affairs between the Shi is and the non Shi is after the Abbasid Revolution pg 45 48