ՙAbd al-Malik

Islamic caliph (r. 685-705)

  • Born: 646 or 647
  • Birthplace: Medina, Arabia (now in Saudi Arabia)
  • Died: 705
  • Place of death: Damascus (now in Syria)

ՙAbd al-Malik solidified the Islamic Empire under the Marwanid Dynasty through his victory in the second fitna, or Islamic civil war. This victory ensured the continued rule of the Marwanids, a branch of the Umayyad family. He also introduced the first Arabic coinage, established Arabic as an official language, and oversaw the construction of the Dome of the Rock.

Early Life

ՙAbd al-Malik (ahb-dewl mah-LIHK) was the son of Marwān ibn al-Hakam (r. 684-685) during the reign of ՙUthmān ՙAffān (r. 644-656), the third caliph. Following the first fitna, the Umayyad family took control of the caliphate, and Mu՚āwiyah (r. 661-680) became the caliph. The Umayyads had been a large, powerful family well before their conversion to Islam. Under Mu՚āwiyah, Marwān was appointed the governor of the Hijaz, an area formerly the center of Islam, which included Mecca and Medina. ՙAbd al-Malik was born in Medina, and received the education and lifestyle that resulted from being a governor’s son and member of a powerful Arab family. This education was due to the nature of Umayyad society, which consisted of “not so much a nation as a hereditary social caste which one could enter by birth” (according to Bernard Lewis in The Arabs in History, 1993).

Following the death of Mu՚āwiya in 680, a second civil war broke out over the succession. Mu՚āwiya had secured the succession of his son, Yazīd (r. 680-683). Followers of ՙAlī (r. 656-661), the fourth caliph, disputed the succession. This struggle was the second fitna.

In 680, Yazīd massacred ՙAlī’s son, al-Ḥusayn, and some of his followers at Karbala. This inspired a revolt in Medina. While putting down this revolt in the Hijaz, Yazīd died. Following Yazīd’s death in 683, Marwān and ՙAbd al-Malik moved from Medina to Damascus. The son of Yazīd, Mu՚āwiyah II, became caliph but soon died, and his death fractured the entire Islamic world into competing factions. Two Arabian tribes, the Qays and the Kalb, both supported contenders for the caliphate. Marwān was supported by the Kalb and Ibn al-Zubayr was supported by the Qays. Marwān was victorious and became caliph in 684. He then negotiated to ensure that one of his sons, either ՙAbd al-Malik or ՙAbd al-ՙAzīz, was appointed his successor. In 685, Marwān died of plague, and ՙAbd al-Malik became caliph. On his ascension, this Islamic world was divided into three main factions: ՙAbd al-Malik controlled Syria, Ibn al-Zubayr controlled the Hijaz, and al-Mukhtar controlled Iraq. ՙAbd al-Malik was forced to reunite the Islamic world.

Life’s Work

For the first two years of his reign, ՙAbd al-Malik concerned himself with securing his center of power. He struggled with the Byzantine Empire for control of northern Syria and also struggled to contain Zufar, who led the Qays and was allied with Ibn al-Zubayr. Other revolts in Syria were from separate members of the Umayyad family. In 689, ՙAmr ibn Saՙid al-Ashdaq, the head of another branch of the Umayyads, led a revolt in Damascus. ՙAbd al-Malik brutally suppressed this revolt by killing ՙAmr ibn Saՙid, supposedly under a truce flag.

During ՙAbd al-Malik’s struggle for control of Syria, al-Zubayr’s brother Musՙab, the governor of Iraq, managed to defeat al-Mukhtar and establish control over most of Iraq in 687. Musՙab then concentrated on his struggle with the Kharijites, a rival faction that would acknowledge only the authority of a caliph they selected. In 691, while Musՙab was mainly occupied with the Kharijites, ՙAbd al Malik advanced into Iraq with his army. The caliph first offered to let Musՙab keep the governorship of Iraq, but Musՙab refused. Musՙab was killed in battle that October. ՙAbd al-Malik then established control over Iraq and continued to suppress opposition such as the Kharijites. The Kharijites were completely driven out of Iraq under ՙAbd al-Malik. ՙAbd al-Malik then sent his general, al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf, to deal with al-Zubayr. Al-Ḥajjāj, known for his brutality, advanced on Mecca, where al-Zubayr was based. The resulting seven-month siege led to the destruction of the Kaaba. Al-Ḥajjāj managed to defeat al-Zubayr in late 692, and then, in two years as governor of the region, managed to suppress all opposition. ՙAbd al-Malik had now secured control over the majority of the Islamic world. Following this unification, ՙAbd al-Malik renewed his struggle against the Byzantine Empire.

Following the solidification of the Islamic world, ՙAbd al-Malik made significant reforms in the government and administration of the empire. Under ՙAbd al-Malik, the beginnings of a standing army were created. Also, service in the army became a way to advance one’s career. ՙAbd al-Malik’s general and eventual governor of Iraq, al-Ḥajjāj, came from humble origins and gained his position through military skill. Also, ՙAbd al-Malik is credited with changing the official language of the administration to Arabic. Traditionally, the Arabs had assimilated the languages of the previous administrations of the areas they conquered; Greek, Coptic, and Persian were used in various parts of the region. Additionally, the provincial administrations were standardized, although they remained under the local governors’ control. This governmental centralization took time; however, it was a significant break from previous Arab traditions.

ՙAbd al-Malik instituted the first Arabic coinage. As with the administrative languages, the Arabs had previously adapted existing, mainly Byzantine, coinage for commerce. According to some accounts, ՙAbd al-Malik began minting Arabic coins called dinars in Kufic script in response to changes in Byzantine coinage. These changes were made because of a reported dispute with the Byzantine emperor. However, the change in Byzantine coinage probably was more a result of changes made a few years later. The coins were originally minted in Damascus and later in the Hijaz. Because of their high concentration of precious metal, they replaced the lesser quality Byzantine coins rapidly. Additionally, ՙAbd al-Malik began a process of fiscal reforms. The economic reorganization coupled with the establishment of a centralized bureaucracy was the beginning of a transformation from a coalition of tribes to a true empire.

The most dramatic example of this transformation during ՙAbd al-Malik’s reign was the construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, completed sometime in the 690’s and built on the rocky outcropping called the Temple Mount, where the caliph ՙUmar I is believed to have entered the city during the Muslim conquest. The building was funded by seven years’ worth of revenues from Egypt, ՙAbd al-Malik’s richest province. There are several explanations for why ՙAbd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock. Tradition says that it was to replace the Kaaba as the destination of the pilgrimage (hajj) during the struggle with al-Zubayr. This reason would allow ՙAbd al-Malik to gather revenues from the hajj as well as increase his legitimacy as the rightful caliph. This explanation, however, has generally been discarded.

During the second fitna, four opposing factions jointly made the pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca, and during the siege of Mecca, ՙAbd al-Malik’s army requested entry to the city for a pilgrimage. Additionally, by trying to usurp Mecca as the center of the Islamic world, ՙAbd al-Malik would have lost legitimacy, instead of gaining it. Others believe the dome was built to demonstrate the legitimacy of Islamic culture. The region around Jerusalem was predominantly Jewish and Christian, with grandiose temples and churches. The dome’s shape was unique to Muslim buildings, and it more closely resembled Christian architecture. Regardless of ՙAbd al-Malik’s original motives, the Dome of the Rock was a significant architectural achievement, and it demonstrated the ongoing transformation of a unified civilization between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The Dome of the Rock also has important historical significance in regard to Islam as a religion. The inscriptions on the inside of the building are the earliest datable Qur՚ānic texts, and they provide the first reference to the religion of Muḥammad as “Islam.”

Significance

The reign of ՙAbd al-Malik marked a significant transitional point in Islamic history. For the previous sixty years, the Middle East had seen the rise of Islam and the subsequent conquest of most of the region. The organization of this conquest was mostly tribal, with little centralization. During ՙAbd al-Malik’s reign, he managed to defeat several factions vying for control of this empire, unifying it once again. Concurrent with unification, he also began the long process of transforming a collection of tribal conquests into a centralized civilization. Instead of adapting the bureaucracy and currency of previous or neighboring empires, he instituted the Arab language as the official language of government and began minting Islamic coins. A result of this centralization was the creation of a standing army and the resulting, albeit small, amount of social mobility through martial skill. This change meant that instead of seasonal campaigns in areas near their home, armies were stationed or deployed from North Africa to Iraq and were units designed to control and expand the empire.

Finally, ՙAbd al-Malik solidified the caliphate as a dynastic monarchy. ՙAbd al-Malik had four sons who later became caliphs, and the only interruption of this was by a cousin, ՙUmar bin ՙAbd al-ՙAzīz (r. 717-720). While all Umayyad caliphs after 685 were descendants of Marwān, ՙAbd al-Malik was the true founder of the Marwanid Dynasty. The Umayyad family became the first dynasty of Islam, and through the success of ՙAbd al-Malik, the Marwanid branch dominated the empire. ՙAbd al-Malik turned the Islamic Empire into a true imperial empire.

The significance of this unification and transformation was seen by the success of the Islamic Empire during and following ՙAbd al-Malik’s death. Under ՙAbd al-Malik’s son and successor al-Walīd (r. 705-715), the Umayyads conquered Spain and built the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Initial military probes into India were also conducted. The conquest into Europe continued until the Battle of Tours in 732, which halted the Muslim advance. Finally, the Islamic Empire became a major world center of science and the arts during a time when Western Europe was still in the Dark Ages.

The Umayyad Caliphs, 661-750

  • Caliph

661-680

  • Mu՚āwiyah I (Mu՚āwiyah ibn Abī Sufyna)

680-683

  • Yazīd I

683

  • Mu՚āwiyah II

684-685

  • Marwān I

685-705

  • ՙAbd al-Malik

705-715

  • al-Walīd I

715-717

  • Sulaimān

717-720

  • ՙUmar II

720-724

  • Yazīd II

724-743

  • Hishām

743-744

  • al-Walīd II

744

  • Yazīd III

744

  • Ibrāhīm

744-750

  • Marwān II

Bibliography

Flood, Finbarr Barry. The Great Mosque of Damascus: Studies on the Makings of an Umayyad Visual Culture. Boston: Brill, 2001. Examines the visual culture, including architectural elements, of the Umayyads and the empire’s far-reaching cultural influences. Illustrations, extensive bibliography, and index.

Goitein, Shelomo Dov. “The Historical Background of the Erection of the Dome of the Rock.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 70, no. 2 (April-June 1950). This article discusses the various explanations for the construction of the Dome of the Rock as well as details the significance of the building.

Hawting, G. R. The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate A.D. 661-750. New York: Routledge, 2000. Provides an excellent historical narrative of the Umayyad caliphate’s development into a dynasty. Includes excellent genealogical tables and a good explanation of the tribal organization and history of the Arabs. Maps, bibliography, index.

Lewis, Bernard. The Arabs in History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Provides a general, narrative overview of the Arabs and their historical significance, with a concentration on social and economic history. Focuses mostly on the social, everyday impact of historical events.

Raby, Julian, and Jeremy Johns, eds. Bayt-al-Maqdis: ՙAbd al-Malik’s Jerusalem. New York: Oxford University Press, for the Board of Faculty of Oriental Studies, 1992-1999. Vol. 1 in a two-volume set that explores the architecture of al-Malik and the history of religious architecture in the city of Jerusalem. Part of the Oxford Studies in Islamic Art series. Some text in French. Bibliography.