In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire

The Arab Empire

Muhammad

The Prophet of Islam.

Abu Bakr (632–4)

According to Muslim tradition, the first of the

Rashidun

—the “rightly guided” Caliphs.

Umar I (634–44)

Warrior leader and mighty ascetic.

Uthman (644–56)

Heir to Umar as leader of the Arab Empire, and the man responsible, according to Islamic tradition, for the compilation of Muhammad’s revelations into a single book. An Umayyad.

Ali (656–61)

Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.

Yazid

Umayyad general who took a leading role in the conquest of Syria.

Mu’awiya (661–80)

Brother of Yazid, governor of Syria, and rival of Ali for control of the Arab Empire.

Yazid I (680–3)

The son and heir of Mu’awiya. Alternately idolised as a man of the people and loathed as a drunken playboy.

Husayn

Muhammad’s youngest and favourite grandson.

Marwan I (684–5)

Uthman’s half-brother: a smooth operator.

Abd al-Malik (685–705)

Marwan’s son: the Arab Empire’s equivalent of Constantine.

Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr

Venerable Companion of Muhammad, and Abd al-Malik’s principal rival in the second civil war for control of the Arab Empire.

Mus’ab

Brother of Ibn al-Zubayr, who entrusted him with the pacification of Iraq.

Mukhtar

Nicknamed the “Deceiver” by his enemies, he led a revolutionary movement in Iraq against the regime of Ibn al-Zubayr. He owned a holy chair.

Al-Hajjaj

Nicknamed “Little Dog.” Abd al-Malik’s principal and most brilliant lieutenant.

Walid I (705–15)

Son and heir of Abd al-Malik who built the great mosque of Damascus.

Suleiman (715–17)

Son of Abd al-Malik and heir of Walid who sponsored the second siege of Constantinople.

Maslama

Son of Abd al-Malik and commander in charge of the expedition against Constantinople.

Ali ibn Bakkar

Warrior-scholar.

Abu Ishaq

Warrior-scholar.

Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak

Warrior-scholar.

Umar II (717–20)

Nephew of Abd al-Malik and sufficiently pious to be recognised by subsequent Islamic tradition as an authentic Caliph—the only Umayyad to be granted that honour.

Hisham (724–43)

Last of Abd al-Malik’s sons to become Caliph.

Walid II (743–4)

Abd al-Malik’s great-nephew, and a renowned playboy, whose murder precipitated a third bout of civil war.

Marwan II (744–50)

Last of the Umayyad Caliphs.

Abu Muslim

An enigmatic Abbasid-sponsored rebel who led a revolt in the far east of the Caliphate that culminated in the overthrow of the Umayyads.