Episode 36: Hisham and the Arabs

It took Hisham two decades to undo the damage his half-brothers had wrought upon the umma with their careless administration. It took his successor Walid ibn il Yazid less than two years to wreck things beyond repair. While it was almost entirely his fault that things fell apart ...  Show more

Yazid III’s successful coup against Walid II blew up the tribal feud. Syrian unity had long undergirded Umayyad power in Syria and from there, the entire caliphate; it had now been torn asunder in bloody warfare. Even when the clan finally had someone strong enough to make a play ...  Show more

In this episode, we explore the fragile balance of power during the later years of the Umayyad Caliphate under Caliph Hisham ibn Abdul Malik. Between 112–114 AH (731–733 CE), the empire faced crushing defeats on nearly every frontier. Yet Hisham refused to abandon his policy of c ...  Show more

The Battle of Siffin and the Arbitration Agreement marked one of the most pivotal and heartbreaking moments in early Islamic history, as the Muslim Ummah faced a deep internal divide. This episode explores the administrative reorganization led by Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, includi ...  Show more

Uthman Ibn Affan has always been compared to others. Both during his lifetime and after, he has been compared to the Caliph that came before him and the one that would come after him. There are many factors that contributed to his popularity among a small segment of the Muslim so ...  Show more

To Heraclius the Arabs were a backward people living in a desert wasteland. The Arabs he knew were an unsophisticated lot in constant conflict with each other, just barely eking out an existence under the unforgiving desert sun. The Arabs were not a military threat let alone a mi ...  Show more