Islam Arabs Successful Spreading Throughout the Greater Middle East Gulf

Islam/Arabs

Muhammad appointed no successors and had no sons, only his son-in-law Ali. In fact, under Islam there could never be another prophet after Muhammad since his revelation was considered to be the true and final word of God. Instead, the Arab tribal leaders elected Abu-Bakr as kalifa (caliph) on the grounds that he was one of the first converts to Islam outside of the Prophet's family. His policy was to unite the Arabs in a jihad against the Byzantine Romans and Persian Sasanids, and in a very short time, "the mightiest empires in the Middle East…were humbled by the Arab warriors for Islam" (Glouldschmidt and Davidson, 2009, p. 53).

Short Summary

Within 100 years, the Arab-Islamic Empire had conquered a truly vast territory, from Spain to the borders of China, and come close to taking over all of Europe. For the Arabs, this was the Golden Age of science, medicine, philosophy and mathematics, to which they still look back longingly after centuries of being humiliated and controlled by other imperial powers. Over time, though, their empire fragmented and divided, and thus left itself open to conquest by other powers.

Main Body

Arab armies were very small, often under 1,000 men, yet they benefitted from expert use of their camels and horses, and efficient exploitation of the desert climate and terrain. They fought battles of ground of their own choosing, and often surprised their enemies by attacking from behind dust storms. Many years of warfare between the Persians and Byzantines had also "depleted the resources and manpower of both" (Goldschmidt and Davidson, p. 56). Nor could they any longer afford to maintain their mercenaries, who then defected to the other side in hopes of greater opportunity for plunder and looting. In addition, Egyptian Copts and Syrian Jacobites were alienated from the Greek Orthodox Church for theological reasons, and regarded the Arabs as liberators from oppressive Byzantine rule. Indeed, the Copts handed over Egypt without a fight in 640.

Muawiyya, the governor of Syria, was the first Umayyid caliph, who relocated the capital from Mecca to Damascus. In general, the Umayyid caliphate was never "well regarded by traditional Islamic historians," although under these rulers the Arab Empire expanded to North Africa and Spain, and come close to conquering all of Europe (Catherwood, 2011, p. 87). Under the leadership of Tariq, the Arab-Berber armies crossed into Spain in 711 and had completed the conquest of the Vandal kingdom by 730. For a brief time, the Muslims occupied southern France until Charles Martel defeated them at the battle of Tours in 732, which turned out to be "one of the most important battles in history" (Catherwood, p. 94). Had the outcome been different, Europe might well have turned out to be just an extension of an Arabic-speaking Muslim empire, with consequences for history which are impossible to calculate. In Spain, the caliphate of the Umayyid dynasty founded by Adb'al Rahman was one of the jewels of the Islamic world.