How Did the Islamic Empire Disintegrate

Question

Examlex · Accepted Answer

The Answer is The Islamic Empire was united only for a very short time after the death of Muhammad.In 644,the caliph Umar died and was replaced by a member of the Umayyad dynasty,a family that had initially resisted Muhammad.Some opposed the new caliph and supported Ali,Muhammad's son-in-law.This was the beginning of the Sunni-Shiite split in Islam that still exists today.Shiite Muslims argued that only descendents of Ali and Muhammad's daughter Fatima should be allowed to rule the emerging Muslim world.The Sunnis supported the Umayyads and a wider range of possible leaders.
After some initial rivalry,the Umayyad dynasty emerged victorious and led the caliphate until 750,when a new group,the Abbasids,challenged their authority.In 750,the Abbasids led a successful rebellion that forced the Umayyads to retreat to Spain,the furthest edge of the Islamic world.Relations between the two rivals remained cordial,but cold.
The Abbasids ruled from Baghdad for centuries,but after 1000 the agricultural base of much of the dynasty's wealth in Mesopotamia was impoverished by climate and other ecological crises and by a slave revolt.Tax revenues were also declining as rulers of individual provinces of the empire became to take more for themselves.The expenses of the Abbasid army and civil service became too great to fully maintain them.At the same time,regional rulers were becoming more powerful.In 909,the Fatimids,a Shiite group,took control of North Africa from the Abbasids.By 970,they had conquered Egypt.Another Shiite group,rivals of both the Fatimids and the Abbasids,attacked the Abbasid capital of Baghdad in 927 and Mecca itself in 930.The Abbasids hung on to power,but they were significantly weakened.They were finally conquered by the Mongols in 1258,leaving the Fatimids in place in Egypt and a new Muslim power emerging in Persia.
In Spain too,the united territories of the Umayyad dynasty were breaking down.By the mid-ninth century,Christian kingdoms were taking over parts of the Umayyad territory.In other parts,Umayyad control fragmented and many small Muslim states were created.
Certainly by the twelfth century,the hope of a single,united Islamic caliphate was shattered.In part,these fissures represent political rivalries.However,they also reflect intolerance of religious difference within Islam.

How Did the Islamic Empire Disintegrate

Essay

Correct Answer:
Verified

How Did the Islamic Empire Disintegrate

Essay

Correct Answer:VerifiedShow Answer

Correct Answer:
Verified