A Short History of the World by Christopher Lascelles

followed the Sunna, or way of the Prophet, while the followers of Ali launched Shi’at’Ali, or the party of Ali, thereafter known as the Shiites.  
    Upon Muhammad’s death Abu Bakr became caliph, or righteous heir, and determined that all Arabs in the Arabian peninsula acknowledge the leadership of the Muslim community, even if this should come about by force. He achieved his goal in an incredibly rapid two years. Having brought the tribes together, he directed them against outside enemies, and so began a bold series of campaigns from Dar al-Islam, or the ‘House of Islam’ into Dar al-Harb, or the ‘House of War’.
    The Arab armies offered comparatively easy terms to those they defeated, especially to Jews and Christians, whom they termed ‘people of the Book’ and whom they permitted to worship freely. They also did not demand that people convert to Islam; Muslims were not required to pay taxes so this meant that a larger number of converts equalled less tax revenue, not more. Essentially, as long as people accepted the sovereignty of the Arabs and paid taxes, they could continue to govern themselves. Many of the conquered had also been oppressed by their previous rulers which meant that in many instances the invading armies were welcomed with open arms.  
    When the third caliph, Uthman, was murdered 22 years after the death of Muhammad, the followers of Ali saw this as a chance to proclaim Ali as caliph. However, Ali was assassinated and his son, Hasan, was persuaded by the existing Umayyad line to renounce his claims to the leadership. Having done so, Hasan was poisoned. His brother, Husayn, set out to seek power – an act that subsequently ended in his murder and the massacre of his followers, and exacerbated the split between the Sunnis and the Shiites.
    Over the next hundred or so years, Damascus, in present-day Syria, became the Islamic world’s capital, presided over by the Umayyad clan, under whose leadership Muslims conquered vast tracts of land. To the east, Muslim armies successfully invaded Sassanid Persia and Central Asia, and gradually gained followers as far as India. To the west, in AD 711, a small army of northern African Berbers under Arab leadership and motivated by the promise of booty, invaded the Visigoth territory of Spain and went on to conquer most of the Iberian peninsula within a decade. From that point on Spain became known as Al-Andalus – a peculiar hybrid of barbarian, Christian, Jewish and Islamic culture. The top of the Rock of Gibraltar, known then by its Latin name, Mons Calpe, was renamed after the Moor general, Tariq, as ‘Jabl Tariq’ (the Hill of Tariq), from where we get the name Gibraltar. It would take seven centuries for the Muslims to be driven off the peninsula entirely.  
    For many years the Islamic armies seemed unstoppable. A turning point in their expansion into north-west Europe came only in AD 732, when the king of the Franks, Charles Martel, otherwise known as ‘Charles the Hammer’, and a coalition of troops under his leadership, defeated an Umayyad invading army near Poitiers in France. While there is disagreement as to the size of this invading army, world history may have turned out very differently indeed had it not been defeated.

    The Fall of the Umayyad Dynasty (AD 750)
    Around that time things weren’t going too well for the Umayyads in Damascus either. With the wealth that the Umayyad Empire generated through trade and conquest came a decadent lifestyle that alienated the vast majority of its subjects and led to mounting opposition. Complaints had begun to be aired that the booty of conquest was being held in Damascus and not being disseminated to the men who carried out the actual fighting. Finally, the Umayyad Dynasty was dominated by Arabs while there was demand for an Islamic rule where all Muslims would be equally represented.
    This disquiet offered a great opportunity for the non-Arab Muslim and Shiite dissenters to encourage an