Editing Caliphate (section)

== Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) ==
{{Main|Umayyad Caliphate}}
[[File:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|The caliphate, 622–750 {{legend|#a1584e|Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632}} {{legend|#ef9070|Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphs, 632–661}} {{legend|#fad07d|Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750}}]]
Beginning with the Umayyads, the title of the caliph became hereditary.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_m14NlQQMYC&pg=PA129 |last=Cavendish |first=Marshall |title=Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures |chapter=6 |page=129 |year=2010 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7926-0}}</ref> Under the Umayyads, the caliphate grew rapidly in territory, incorporating the [[Caucasus]], [[Transoxiana]], [[Sindh]], the [[Maghreb]] and most of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] ([[Al-Andalus]]) into the Muslim world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harari |first=Yuval Noah |title=Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind |publisher=Penguin Random House |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-09-959008-8 |location=London |page=244 |translator-last=Harari |translator-first=Yuval Noah |author-link=Yuval Noah Harari |translator-last2=Purcell |translator-first2=John |translator-last3=Watzman |translator-first3=Haim |translator-link=Yuval Noah Harari |translator-link3=Haim Watzman}}</ref> At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 5.17&nbsp;million square miles (13,400,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), making it the [[largest empire]] the world had yet seen and the [[List of largest empires#Empires at their greatest extent|seventh largest ever to exist]] in history.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn 'Abd-al Malik and the collapse of the Umayyads |first=Khalid Yahya |last=Blankinship |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-7914-1827-7 |page=37}}</ref>

Geographically, the empire was divided into several provinces, the borders of which changed a number of times during the Umayyad reign.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}} Each province had a governor appointed by the caliph. However, for a variety of reasons, including that they were not elected by [[Shura]] and suggestions of impious behaviour, the Umayyad dynasty was not universally supported within the Muslim community.<ref>{{Cite book |title=World Religions |url=https://fscj.pressbooks.pub/worldreligions/front-matter/world-religions/ |chapter=History of Muhammad |chapter-url=https://fscj.pressbooks.pub/worldreligions/chapter/history-4/ |publisher=Florida State College |location=Jacksonville |year=2017 |access-date=22 October 2023 |archive-date=22 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222190741/https://fscj.pressbooks.pub/worldreligions/front-matter/world-religions/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Some supported prominent early Muslims like [[Zubayr ibn al-Awwam]]; others felt that only members of Muhammad's clan, the [[Banu Hashim]], or his own lineage, the descendants of Ali, should rule.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE) |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-umayyad-caliphate-661-750-ce |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org |archive-date=27 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027180017/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-umayyad-caliphate-661-750-ce |url-status=live}}</ref>

There were multiple rebellions against the Umayyads, as well as splits within the Umayyad ranks (notably, the rivalry between [[Qays and Yaman tribes|Yaman and Qays]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Qays/Mudar and Yaman |url=https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/islamiccivilizations/8025.html |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=www.brown.edu |archive-date=27 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027175520/https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/islamiccivilizations/8025.html |url-status=live}}</ref> At the command of Yazid son of Muawiya, an army led by Umar ibn Saad, a commander by the name of Shimr Ibn Thil-Jawshan killed Ali's son [[Hussein ibn Ali|Hussein]] and his family at the [[Battle of Karbala]] in 680, solidifying the [[Shia-Sunni split]].<ref name="The Economist-2013" /> Eventually, supporters of the Banu Hashim and the supporters of the lineage of Ali united to bring down the Umayyads in 750. However, the ''Shi‘at ‘Alī'', "the Party of Ali", were again disappointed when the [[Abbasid dynasty]] took power, as the Abbasids were descended from Muhammad's uncle, [[‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib]] and not from Ali.<ref name="BritannicaAbbasids">{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2023-10-09 |title=Abbasid caliphate|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Abbasid-caliphate |access-date=2023-10-11 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815061941/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Abbasid-caliphate |url-status=live}}</ref>