The Umayyad Caliphate And The Ottoman Amic Golden Age

At the intersection of Africa, Asia and Europe lies a place where ideas are spread and goods are exchanged. It is the birthplace of numerous religions, such as Islam. This historic region is called the Middle East and it is home to many cultures, religions and ethnicities. Throughout the years, there were numerous regimes that controlled this vast region and this paper will analyze which regime, out of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Umayyad Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire, best managed the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity of the Middle East. After careful consideration and research, the Abbasid Caliphate managed the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity of the Middle East more effectively than the Umayyad Caliphate and the Ottoman

The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This regime was founded by a Muslim named Mu’awiya. He made several key contributions to the empire such as building a navy and instituting a hereditary rule for the government which allowed his son Yazid to succeed him. One of Muawiya’s goals during his tenure was to eliminate the influence of Christianity. Hence, the conquest of Constantinople was at the top of his agenda. At the time, there was no doubt that the Byzantine capital was the fortress of Europe and a sanctuary for Christians. Muawiya prepared an army to attack Constantinople by land and sea. Unfortunately the invasion was very unsuccessful. The Byzantine defenses severely injured the Muslim army and navy. Not only that, the Muslims suffered from diseases such as hunger, fever and smallpox during the conquest. When Muawiya's son Yazid was informed by the diseases and starvation of his people, he said “I don’t care about their diseases by the time I lay against pillows here before my wife and I am at ease in her arms.” When Muawiya heard this news, he made Yazid go to the war and fight alongside the soldiers and share their misery. Yazid was unsuccessful in conquering the city and Abu Ayub Ansari, a great companion of Muhammad was killed in the battle.

Ironically, Muawiya’s wife was a Christian and influenced her husband’s decision making towards people of her religion (Haidari). As a result, one can assume that those who lived outside of the caliphate were seen as hostiles and the ones who lived in the region received fair treatment. Another caliph who ruled the Umayyad Empire was Abd al-Malik. He was a well-educated man and a capable ruler who was able to solve many political problems that impeded his rule. His contributions include making Arabic the official language, centralizing state control and initiating Arabization and Islamization. This allowed Arab and Islam cultures to spread, giving the Middle East more diversity. Now there were some groups of people who were opposed to the Umayyads new way of doing things. A group called the Shia believed that the Caliph should come from the line of Ali. The Khariji believed that the Caliph should be selected on the basis of merit. Due to the covenant of Umar II, The mawali (non-Arab Muslims) resented the new restrictions placed upon them such as having to wear special clothing and not being able to ride horses or camels. As time