The history of Islam
The caliphs
After Muhammad came the four caliphs Sunnis call rightly guided, then the Umayyad dynasty (661-750) and the Abbasids (from 750). Three of the first four were assassinated.
The four
Abu Bakr (632-634) crushed the tribes that left Islam or refused zakat after Muhammad's death, in the ridda wars. Umar (634-644) led the great conquests and was assassinated by a Persian slave. Uthman (644-656) issued the standard Quran and was killed by rebels in Medina. Ali (656-661) fought the Battle of the Camel against Aisha and others, and the Battle of Siffin against Mu'awiya, before being murdered by a Kharijite.
The dynasties
Mu'awiya founded the Umayyad caliphate in Damascus (661-750). The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (completed 691/692); its inscriptions, among the earliest dated Quranic texts, address Christians directly and declare that God has no son. The Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads in 750 and ruled from Baghdad.
يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلْقَىٰهَآ إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ ثَلَٰثَةٌ ٱنتَهُوا۟ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ إِنَّمَا ٱللَّهُ إِلَٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥٓ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًا 171
171O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three" - Cease! (it is) better for you! - Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.
Quran 4:171 (Pickthall) · context
Sources
- Earliest source al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari (SUNY Press, 40 vols., 1985-2007).
- Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates (3rd ed., Routledge, 2016).
- Oleg Grabar, The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem (Princeton, 1996), on the Dome of the Rock inscriptions.