CAUSES OF SCHISMS IN EARLY ISLAM
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This research paper deals with the causes of the factional strife and schismatic movements which bedeviled efforts to forge and maintain the unity and authority of great Islamic empire which was created during the first two hundred years of the Islamic movement. During his lifetime, the Prophet Muhammad through his inspired leadership was able to forge a consensus in the cities of Medina and Mecca for the creation of an Islamic religious state which superseded family, clan and tribal ties. However, after his death in 632 A. D. under the rule of his Arabia-based successors and the Umayyad and early Abbasid Caliphates, fratricidal struggle and conflict based on a host of political, economic and religious factors undermined that unity, which led to its ultimate destruction. Immediate Succession and Ridda Upheavals Before Muhammad formed his theocratic state, Kennedy says that "despite [their] common language and ethnic homogeneity, the Arabs had no central political organization and administration" (25). By the force of his personality, the Prophet had replaced "the most vital bond of Arab relationship, that of tribal kinship [with] a new bond, that of faith" (Hitti 40). The story of the Arab Empire during the next 200 years was in large part one of faction-ridden struggle. Kennedy says the Arabs' quarrels were mainly over "who should be caliph and what powers was he to have and who should constitute the elite of the Islamic state" (87).
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sed to recognize Ali as caliph. Ali agreed to a truce with
Mu'awiya, but in doing so lost the support of the Kharijis, who withdrew their support from Ali. Later, the Kharijis, operating from their guerrilla bases in southern Iraq and the Gulf, were a thorn in the side of many subsequent caliphs. According to Kennedy, they "thought they were only true Muslims in a world where Islam had become too easy and had become exploited by vested interests who had no understanding of the religion" (Kennedy 79-80). After Ali was assassinated by a Khariji in 661, Mu'awiya became caliph.
Opposition to Umayyad Rule
The removal of the capital to Damascus marked the end to the period in which the Empire was ruled by Rashidin or Patriarchal caliphs from Arabia and "confirmed the power of the great Arabian tribes as opposed to the early Muslim elite" (Lapidus 58). Mu'awiya (661-680) used a mixture of force and hilm (finesse) to quell opposition but he faced plenty of it. He formed the first centralized administration which was needed to govern the vast empire he inherited and expanded. Kennedy says he was opposed by "people who resented the whole idea of a strong and effective government" (87). Thereafter, Islam was subject to a deep division
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Approximate Word count = 1603
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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