Mallory Shofi

Global 1H
Ms. Dejulio
Feb. 18 2015

Dynasties of Islam

Umayyad leaders changed traditional Muslim rule. For example, Muawiya modeled his
governments organization on the Byzantine Empires. Also, Muawiya further changed
traditional Muslim governance by identifying his son, Yazid, as his successor, instead of leaving
that decision up to the respected elders of the community. Then came Hussein, and Hussein
refused to take an oath of loyalty to Yazid and the Umayyad Dynasty. The Muslim community
had never supported such an action. Abd al-Malik, an eastern leader transformed Muslim lands
into a unified empire. All of these leaders of the Umayyad Dynasty changed so much in the
Muslim community.
Abd al-Malik is known as the greatest Umayyad ruler because in his 20 years that he
reigned, he transformed Muslim lands into a unified empire. He made Arabic the common
language, constructed mosques, and unified the coinage of the empire. All of this benefited the
Muslim community, and in the past, the leaders were more negatively affecting the community.
He ensured successful trade and extended the borders of the Umayyad dynasty greatly. All of
these successes Abd al-Malik did for the Muslim community help to prove why he is known as
the greatest Umayyad ruler.
The 9th and 10th centuries of the Abbasid Dynasty are considered the Islamic Golden age
because great expansion, trade, intellectual achievements, scientific discoveries, and growth in
everything occurred during these centuries. Creativity flowed and was at its highest point in this
time frame. Persians, Arabs, Indians, and Egyptians shared their knowledge, the muslim army
was victorious, they learned about paper, and developed the numbering system we use today. All
of these examples would determine why the 9th and 10th centuries of the Abbasid Dynasty are
considered the Islamic Golden age.
The factors that influence the decline and eventual fall of the Abbasid Dynasty are for
one, the Abbasid dynasty depended on regional governs for military control and collection of
taxes, which eventually was known to be a weak system. After that, the Seljuks gradually took
control of Baghdad, and from that point on the empire was ruled in the name by the Abbasids,
but in practice by the Seljuks. These events messed up what could have stayed as a golden age
for many more years.

Muslim Spain was similar to the dynasty of the Abbasids because of the knowledge that
was learned during the time such as medicine, architecture, and intellectual advances. It was
different from the Abbasids because the leader of Muslim Spain, Abd al-Rahman, gave most
power to Arab Umayyads, and enforced Islam as the official religion and the Abbasids were
more of a mixture of cultures.
Muslim Spain was similar to the dynasty of the Umayyads because their leaders had
similar names, Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Rahman. Both leaders saw unification as an important
factor for a dynasty to prosper. The two dynasties are different though because Muslim Spain
didnt vary as much in leadership as the Umayyads did.