Can anyone tell me about the empire resulting from the spread of Islam, as known as the Empire of Faith?

Question

Assalamu'alaikum.

I am a Muslim but I don't know too much about the Empire of Faith. It was an actual empire, right?

My 12th grade Ancient History assignment has to be about an empire in ancient times, and the reasons for its downfall. I chose the Islamic Empire.

If anyone can tell me some information they know about the empire and some sources related to it, it'll be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

As-salamu alaykum to you too.

There have been several Muslim Empires in history. Maybe its because I am not a Muslim, but I don't know which you mean by the Empire of the Faith. I think you are referring to the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid Caliphates, referring to them as a single Empire, though they are usually considered different and distinct. You are right, they were all Empires, though they existed not in ancient times but in the medieval ages.

The first three caliphates existed for a long time and there is a lot of information about them. I suggest you find a few good books on them, or at least check out wikipedia. But I'll give you a bried outline.

After the death of Mohammad, his successors, Abu Bakr being the first, led invasions into the Persian Empire and the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The Persians and Byzantines had been at war for centuries, and had exhausted each other. Therefore the Arabs easily defeated them, conquered the Persians, and took Palestine, Syria, and Egypt from the Byzantines.

The first four Caliphs who ruled over this newly formed Empire were known as the Rashidun Caliphs, but after the First Islamic Civil War, the Umayyad Caliphs came to power, turning the Caliphate into a hereditary dnasty. They made Damascus the capital and expanded the empire further, all the way to Spain in the West and India to the East.

The Abbasid family, however, who claimed direct descent from Mohammad, rebelled, and defeated the Umayyads at the battle of the Zab. Thus the Abbasids came to power, and made Baghdad the new capital, shifting the center of the Empire to the east. The Umayyads stayed in control only of Spain. The Abbasid Empire saw the height of Islamic civilization at the time, and Baghdad became the foremost city in the world.

However, over the years the power of the Abbasids declined. Their authority waned, and many areas threw off their control. The Turks took power in all but name, and then came the Crusades, and the loss of Egypt to the Fatamids. The Abbasid Caliphate was finally destroyed in 1258 when the Mongols captured and destroyed Baghdad and killed the Caliph.

After that, the title of Caliph was not taken up again until the Ottoman Empire, which was a very different Empire.