The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750

by G.R. Hawting

The standard work on this complex period in Arab history is available once again with the addition of a new introduction by the author which examines recent significant contributions to scholarship in the field.

Genres: History, Islam, Nonfiction, Middle East, Religion

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1986

Reviews

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 3 out of 5]

Läsning 2: Vid omläsning noterar jag att det är en bok som är ganska ojämn vad gäller beskrivningarna av olika regeringar. Detta är inte orimligt, men boken är väl trunkerad vad gäller de mindre blodiga ledarna.

Läsning 1: En kort genomgång av Umaaya-dynastin och dess efterspel. Boken visar hur lite jag kan om tidigislamisk historia. Det jag trodde var en fringe-position, att frånvaron av källor kring Umayyas uppkomst och år innan erövringen av Jerusalem var så grov att man ifrågasätter hela narrativet kring Islams uppkomst, tas på tillräckligt stort allvar för att konstatera att en introduktionsbok inte kan gå in på ämnet. Det boken tar upp är det källbekräftade.

[Aamer Mogul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very brief historic overview of Umayyad state. Umayyad state's understanding forms to understand the Abbasid state and other predecessors as well as the era reflects on massive cultural revolution as Islam entered non-Arab lands. It was pretty turbulent period as rivalries sewed during Umayyad period have effectively divided Muslim world into two divisions that are Sunni AND Shiasim. The racism phenomena against Non- Arab which still shines particularly in cultural aspects is pretty explicit described and make one understands the historic aspects behind it. Overall, a very informative book

[dija]

alevel history trauma right here. but islamic history was my best and favourite unit so

[Mark Rossiter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This history by G R Hawting (School of Oriental and African Studies, London) of the Umayyad Dynasty, who seized power in 661 after Ali, the last of the Rashidun (“rightly-guided” caliphs, the immediate successors to the Prophet), was murdered, and who reigned from Damascus amid various uprisings and rebellions until they were overthrown in 750, checks all the right boxes in terms of facts and details. All the players are here, with their tribal affiliations and cross-alliances, and (in so far as is known) where they lived and when and where they met in battle. This makes, especially towards the end, as the tensions became more bitter and the fighting more frequent, for a hotpot of more-or-less interchangeable black-and-white names vibrating and colliding and bouncing off each other, without any sense of who they really were beyond the affiliations of their equally abstruse tribal alliances. So now I know, with some allowance for impenetrability, what happened, but I don’t really understand who these people were, how they lived, what they were about, or what they achieved. It would have been nice, for example (the text is only 119 pages) to have learned something about art or architecture or lifestyles ; as it is, such massive accomplishments as the Dome of the Rock (which gets a couple of sentences for the value as a source text of the inscriptions on its dome) or the Ummayad Mosque are barely even mentioned. No doubt the author was hampered by the poverty of the source material, but even so, something less dry surely must remain to brighten up these 89 years?

So, concise bare bones informational value, yes; otherwise, this is a really boring book.

[Mohamed El-Mahallawy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hawting here isn't explaining that era of Islam and its events as much he is raising questions, that he can't understand!!
There's not a page without throwing the word "ambiguous"!!!
In many cases that seems "ambiguous" to him, it's only just a different culture that he can't understand or even believe that there are other people in another part of the world who think, feel, trust and believe in a way that he can't understand the circumstances that led to them, the nature and the features of the place and the religion that they happened to grow on.

[Aisha Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever wondered what happened after the end of Rashidun Caliphate - who were the next caliphs/leaders? How were they elected? What was the political scenario like? Were the leaders in line with the previous "Rightly-Guided caliphs" or their ideologies and practices were different?

If you wish to understand the period of almost a 100-years, following right after the death of the Prophet and the 4 companions-caliphs - a period that strengthened the foundations of Muslim conquests and expansion, then The First Dynasty of Islam provides the briefest yet comprehensive account of all significant events that you need to know related to it.

The book discusses the 3 Civil Wars; split of Muslim community into 3 categories: Sunni, Shia and Kharijites; Non-Arabs choosing to become Muslims; attempts to bombard Mecca; face-off with Yazid's army and martyrdom of Husayn and his clan (very briefly); hierarchy in governance; Muawiya's position in Muslim tradition and secular history; beginning of the compilation and writing of traditions, and emergence of religious scholars as authority; building of the Dome of the Rock; and the fall of Umayyads and rise of the Abbasids.

All in all, informative and easy to follow!

[Shantia · Rating 4 out of 5]

جرالد هاوتینگ نگاه خاص و باریک بینانه ای به تاریخ اسلام دارد. نه به قول خودش در راه ونزبرو رفته است و نه راه مونتگونری وات. تاریخ را انتقادی می نویسد و سوالهای بسیار مهمی می پرسد. برای بعضی جواب دارد و به جواب بعضی ها هنوز نرسیده است.
کتاب خوبی است هرچند متفاوت از کتابهای تاریخ سلسله ها است.
برای من نکته مبهم و تاریک این دوران(امویان)، نقش مردم و زندگی عادی و روابط با اشغالگران است. اینکه چه کار می کردند، چه نگاهی به جنگ های داخلی آنها داشتند!!! که البته در این کتاب جوابی برای سوالهایی از این شکل وجود ندارد.

[Shane Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dry and hard to follow at times...though that may be my fault and not the authors!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As all the major reviews say this book is intended for undergraduate students and is an introduction to Middle Eastern studies. It is great for people who want a basic understanding of the Umayyad Caliphate in an easy to read, user friendly manuscript. Hawting is from time to time unnecessarily wordy and the argument could be made that he misinterprets some of his sources (Crone), but the books is an easy read and contains much interesting information.

[AskHistorians]

There is, unfortunately, a dearth of particularly good survey works on the reign of the Umayyads, largely stemming from the fact that they are all quite dated. Hawting's is among the best introduction to the first dynasty of Islam, however, and very much worth a read for a general overview of the period from 661-750CE.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly dense, informative book on the Umayyad caliphate of early Islam. It has everything you want to know, but it throws a whole lot of Arabic names and dates and complicated relationships at you and it takes considerable patience to get through it and understand it.