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Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750

The establishment and expansion of the Umayyad Empire: rule of Mu’awiya and Second Fitna of 680

  • 2 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on the rule of Mu’awiya, problems and achievements, succession crisis, the Second Fitna of 680.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Who set himself up as a rival caliph at Mecca during the Second Fitna?

Key term

How was the Second Fitna finally settled?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did Mu'awiya come to be sole ruler in 661?

    Model answer

    After Ali's assassination his son Hasan gave up his claim in return for terms, leaving Mu'awiya, already master of Syria and Egypt, unopposed.

  2. 2

    Why did Mu'awiya make Damascus his capital?

    Model answer

    Syria was his own power base, its tribes formed the loyal core of his army, and it lay far better than Medina for governing an empire stretching from North Africa to Persia and for confronting Byzantium.

  3. 3

    State two administrative achievements of Mu'awiya's reign.

    Model answer

    He created a relay postal and intelligence service linking the provinces to Damascus, and he developed the fleet he had first built as governor of Syria into a standing navy, which allowed him to challenge Byzantium at sea.

  4. 4

    Explain why Mu'awiya's arrangements for the succession caused a crisis.

    Model answer

    By having his son Yazid recognised as his heir he converted the caliphate into a hereditary monarchy, which offended those who held that the community should choose its leader and gave the families of Ali and of other leading companions grounds for revolt.

  5. 5

    What happened at Karbala in 680?

    Model answer

    Husayn, the son of Ali, set out to claim the caliphate against Yazid and was surrounded and killed with his small following by Umayyad troops.

  6. 6

    Why does Karbala have an importance out of all proportion to the numbers involved?

    Model answer

    The killing of the Prophet's grandson by a caliph's army became the defining act of injustice for Ali's partisans, giving them a martyr, an annual commemoration and a permanent grievance that made their movement a lasting religious tradition.

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