Abd al-Malik

Abd al-Malik: Umayyad Dynasty

To get an idea of where Abd al-Malik fits into the Umayyad dynasty, let's take a look at this family tree, which goes back to Umayya.

Fig. 1 - Umayyad family tree.

Abd Al-Malik, shown here in red, was the son of Marwan I, who rose to become caliph during the Second Fitna. This made Abd al-Malik a Marwinid (named after Marwan's line of descent).

However, Marwanids only became caliphs later during the Umayyad dynasty. The first Umayyad to become caliph was Uthman (shown in yellow on the right side of the family tree). After Uthman, Muawiya I was the next Umayyad Caliph (shown in yellow on the left side of the family tree). Muawiya, his son, and grandson, who became caliphs, were known as Sufyanids because they descended from Abu Sufyan, Muawiya's father. The Marwinids came to power after the Sufyanids died out with Muawiya II.

Abd al-Malik's Early Life

Abd al-Malik was born in 644 to Marwan in the city of Medina. He devoted himself to Islam and spent time with religious scholars in Medina.

In 656, Abd al-Malik saw his kinsman, Caliph Uthman, assassinated in Medina. He then became a naval commander. When his father Marwan I became caliph, he became one of his father's closest advisors in the Umayyad capital of Damascus.

By the time Abd al-Malik came to rule the caliphate, he had significant experience in religion, warfare, and politics. This was to stand him in good stead, and he became one of the Umayyad dynasty's most influential caliphs.

Caliph Abd al-Malik

Abd al-Malik's reign splits into two phases: the civil war years (685-692) and the Islamisation of the caliphate years (692-705). Let's look at each of these in turn.

Civil War Years (685-692)

Abd al-Malik became the caliph of Egypt and Syria in 685 when his father Marwan I died. However, this was during the Second Fitna, meaning that many others claimed to be caliphs and held territory in other parts of the Islamic world.

Abd al-Malik's main rival was Zubayr, who had been proclaimed caliph in the Hejaz region. Another rival was Mukhtar, who wanted a member of the Prophet Muhammad's family to become the next caliph. Mukhtar held most of Iraq.

However, before Abd al-Malik even got to ride out to war against these two rivals, he had to put down several local revolts within his own territories of Syria, Egypt, and Palestine. During this time, Zubayr managed to kill Mukhtar, meaning that the only two contenders left for the caliphate were Zubayr and Abd al-Malik. Once he had quelled opposition in his own region, Abd al-Malik attempted to invade the Hejaz region to defeat Zubayr in 689. This first attempt failed because he had to return to put down yet another local revolt in his own capital, Damascus.

Abd al-Malik finally managed a successful campaign against Zubayr in 692. He besieged Mecca for six months, after which his forces killed Zubayr. This victory made Abd al-Malik the sole ruler of the Islamic Caliphate, and he reunited the Islamic community once more.

The Islamisation of the Caliphate Years (685-692)

Between 685 and 692, Abd al-Malik reigned as caliph over the whole of the Islamic caliphate's territories. He sought to restore the Believers' original agenda to the Muslim world and introduced the following policies to Islamise the empire:

• Campaigns of conquest against Byzantine territories to expand God's law to new countries.

• Creation of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

• The order to kill all pigs in Syria and Mesopotamia.

• Redefinition of the term 'Muslim' from meaning all monotheists (including Christians and Jews) to only monotheists who believed in the Prophet Muhammad.

• An increased focus on the Prophet Muhammad in important documents.

• Elevation of the Qur'an from being an equal revelation to the Torah and the gospels to having a higher status than either of these texts.

• Development of new coins which had Qur'anic verses printed on them.

• New prayer rituals, including a set direction for prayer.

• Anti-trinitarian rhetoric.

Fig. 2 - The Mamluk Qur'an.

These policies were undoubtedly politically motivated in that they helped to boost Abd al-Malik's legitimacy and unite the caliphate after a period of civil war. Still, it would be reductionist to see these policies as purely political. Religion was also core to Abd al-Malik's identity and motivation.

Another fundamental change brought about by Abd al-Malik was the Arabisation of the empire. Before then, "Arab" wasn't a national identity; it was more of a linguistic community. Abd al-Malik, however, ordered that all administration be done in Arabic, and Arabic became a political identity held by the ruling classes of the Umayyad dynasty.

The final significant reform brought about by Abd al-Malik was the centralisation of the empire's bureaucracy. He believed that the Sufyanid line failed to maintain power because Muawiya had such a decentralised system, in which local leaders kept a great deal of autonomy in exchange for loyalty to the empire. Therefore, Abd al-Malik centralised the administrative system under Arab control. This became the model for all future Muslim states during the medieval era.

Abd al-Malik: Coinage Reform

Abd al-Malik introduced an overhaul of the coinage system in one of his most effective Islamisation policies.

Before his reign, the caliphate had used coins almost identical to the Byzantine and Sasanian coins - sometimes with a slogan like 'There is no god but God.' Most of these coins had images inscribed, such as a cross or a temple.

Fig. 3 - New coins issued by Abd al-Malik.

So, how did Abd al-Malik completely redesign these coins?

• He eradicated all images so that the coins were distinctive in having only inscriptions on them.
• All coins had to have the double shahada on them and Qur'anic verses.
• The verses chosen were anti-trinitarian, reinforcing the Muslim community's difference from other monotheists. One such anti-trinitarian example that came up a lot on coins was the following:

The impact of the coinage reform was to create a standardised iconography for the Islamic empire and to boost the legitimacy of Abd al-Malik's rule since it linked his image with that of a pious believer.

Abd al-Malik: Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is Islam's oldest surviving religious building. Although historians know that it was built during Abd al-Malik's reign, there is a fierce debate about why and when exactly Abd al-Malik commissioned this fantastic monument.

Fig. 4 - The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Some believe that he built it early during the Second Fitna. During this period, ibn al-Zubayr held Mecca. Some historians think Abd al-Malik created the Dome of the Rock to serve as an alternative destination for pilgrimages so that his people wouldn't have to travel into his rival's territory.

Others believe it was created as a sort of 'victory monument' - a sign to Christians and Jews in Jerusalem that Islam was here to stay in a city so important to these two faiths. One piece of evidence that supports this view is the fact that the Dome of the Rock is full of anti-trinitarian inscriptions, indicating that it was deliberately created to distinguish Islam from other monotheistic religions. Another piece of evidence is that it was built on the site of the second temple of Judaism, thus representing a physical imposition of a Muslim holy site over a Jewish one.

Abd al-Malik: Accomplishments

So, overall, what did Abd al-Malik accomplish as caliph? Several of his key achievements include:

1. The reunification of the Muslim world under one recognised leader once more after a brutal civil war.
2. The creation of the postal service as part of his administrative reform.
3. The creation of a distinctive Muslim coinage.
4. The building of the Dome of the Rock monument.
5. The creation of a permanent, organised Syrian army.
6. Definition of Islam as we know it today: A religion focused on the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, and a state guided by rulers who were successors to Muhammad, rather than a more general group of believers who followed the teachings of Muhammad.
7. Creation of the first centralised Islamic state in the way we know it today.

Islamic studies professor Chase Robinson argues:

Fred Donner argues: