The religion of Islam was present on modern Spanish soil from 709 until 1614 beginning with Arab rule and ending with the expulsion of the Moriscos of Al-Andalus. By the time ‘Abd al-Rahman reached Spain, the Arabs from North Africa were already entrenched on the Iberian Peninsula and had begun to write one of the most glorious chapters in Islamic history. After their forays into France were blunted by Charles Martel, the Muslims in Spain...

The Umayads were the first Muslim dynasty — that is, they were the first rulers of the Islamic Empire to pass down power within their family. According to tradition, the Umayyad family (also known as the Banu Abd-Shams) and Muhammad [saw] both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, and they originally came from the city of Mecca. Muhammad [saw] descended from Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from...

With the death of Muhammad [saw], the Muslim community was faced with the problem of succession. Who would be its leader? There were four persons obviously marked for leadership: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq [ranhu], who had not only accompanied Muhammad [saw] to Medina ten years before but had been appointed to take the place of the Prophet as leader of public prayer during Muhammad’s last illness; ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab [ranhu], an able and...