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Religious Scholars and the Umayyads: Piety-Minded Supporters of the Marwanid Caliphate
Religious Scholars and the Umayyads analyzes legal and theological developments during the Marw?nid period (64/684--132/750), focusing on religious scholars who supported the Umayyads. Their scholarly network extended across several generations and significantly influenced the development of the Islamic faith. Umayyad q?do? s, who represented the intersection of religious authority and imperial power, were particularly important.This book challenges the long-standing paradigm that the emerging Muslim faith was shaped by religious dissenters who were hostile to the Umayyads. A prosopographical analysis of Umayyad-era scholars demonstrates that piety and opposition were not necessarily synonymous. Reputable scholars served as q?do? s, tutors and advisors to Umayyad caliphs and governors. Their religious credentials were untarnished by their association with the Umayyads and they appear prominently in later hoad?th collections and fiqh works.This historiographical study demonstrates that excessive reliance on al-Toabar?'s chronicle has distorted the image of the Umayyads. Alternatively, biographical sources produced by later hoad?th scholars reveal a rich tradition of Umayyad-era religious scholarship that undermines al-Toabar?'s assumptions. Offering a better understanding of early Islamic religious development, this book is a valuable resource for students and researchers in the fields of Islamic history, Islamic legal studies and Arabic historiography.
198 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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February 25, 2026
While it may be easier to simply accept later Abbasid, Shiite narratives—and, for that matter, anyone who has an axe to grind against the Umayyads—a more critical view of the sources allows for a change in perception when viewing this “godless,” “impious” dynasty, which has been marginalized and maligned by its enemies due to the absence of primary Umayyad records to challenge the prevailing historiography. And while many of the accusations and grievances put forth against Islam’s first dynasty are valid—to quote just a few:
1) Karbala
2) The Siege of Mecca
3) The Sack of Medina
4) Alid persecution
5) Arab/Umayyad superiority
6) Harsh taxation
7) An extravagant and lavish lifestyle, devoid of the simplicity of the early caliphs
8) Muawiya opposing Ali
9) Letting Hajjaj and Ziyad loose on the people
10) Allegedly poisoning the second caliph’s son and the Prophet’s grandson
11) Killing the first caliph’s son and grandson
—they should not be used as evidence to throw them under the bus.
Despite being from the earliest generations of Islam, their influence on Islam isn't studied enough and is often glossed over - save for their futuhs-, with most scholars viewing the Abbasids as the starting period for the codification of Islamic tradition, when in fact the roots lay in the Umayyad era, with Umayyad scholars playing a critical role. In the introduction of the book itself, Judd mentions a number of contemporary books that study the formation of Islamic law and their respective authors, showing how all of them pay little to no attention to the Umayyads, save for one or two—and even then, not sufficiently or in detail. In all these books, the inception of Islamic legal philosophy, thought, and jurisprudence begins with the Abbasids.
When the black flags of the Abbasids entered the Levant, the Umayyad stronghold, the Syrians were confused by the Abbasids claim that they were from the Prophet’s household, as they had believed that Banu Umayyah was from the Prophet’s household (Ahl al-Bayt), thus blurring the lines between Banu Hashim and Banu Umayyah. One cannot help but wonder: if that is the case—if they truly saw themselves as heirs of the Prophet and the first three caliphs—then they must have done something on the religious side to bolster such claims during their time as caliphs. They did, though this book does not cover the legal development. This work does not provide detailed legal case studies or reconstruct the jurisprudence of Umayyad qadis—their rulings, fatwa questions, or doctrinal development—something I was hoping it would. Nonetheless, it offers a look into how the scholars of the Umayyad era held governmental posts without having their names besmirched due to their association with the Umayyads. These pious scholars, though serving under a dynasty that later narratives vilified, were not themselves tainted by association. There seem to be no accounts of criticism or dissent against these men despite their employment (some did not accept any salary) under the Umayyads. This reflects the degree of respect they commanded within the community. This goes against the old-school orientalist theory that Umayyad-era scholars worked hard to collect hadiths in order to protect the true faith from what they saw as the political schemes of the “evil” Umayyads, who supposedly did not care about their religion and sought to use it merely to maintain power.
Apart from the biographies of five such ascetic and pious scholars—al-Shabi, al-Zuhri, Abdallah ibn Awn, al-Awzai, and Sufyan al-Thawri—who can be considered pro-Umayyad, Judd traces the connection between them and the wider network of Umayyad-era qadis in major cities such as Damascus, Medina, Egypt, Kufa, and Basra.
The amount of power the qadis wielded in each city differed. The role of the qadi in this period is unique for a number of reasons. First, they carried out their duties with independence and autonomy—independence that, over the centuries, became increasingly restricted. The power dynamics between the governor and the qadi were not subservient in nature. Rather, the qadi was able to carry out his duties with a level of defiance and impunity that could go against the governor’s interests or orders. There are also cases in which the caliph played an important role in appointing and dismissing a qadi, showing the level of interest the ruler had in the office instead of merely relegating the task to his governors. The caliphs did not interfere with the actual functioning of the qadiship unless they were brought into the matter—either when the qadi sought their advice or when the case involved official corruption or attempts to intimidate or circumvent the qadi. That being said, Yasin Dutton, in his book, "origins of Islamic law", does mention that Umayyad caliphs and governors played an active role in matters of law. Muawiya, Marwan ibn al-Hakam (during his governorship), Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz did act as fuqaha in their own right at times. Sometimes their ijtihad and judgment were accepted by scholars, and at other times they were rejected.
The qadi was also not relegated solely to that one post; at times, he could carry out other positions as well, such as overseeing the shurta, the bayt al-mal, and even being the one implementing punishments when necessary. For the vast majority of them, the place where they conducted their cases was a corner in the masjid or even on the street. The scholars of this era were also unique because this was a time before caliphal or sultanate-sponsored institutions of learning were established. This meant that their pursuit and study of knowledge were conducted using their own time and dime, not facilitated by any government. This can only be understood as a true sign of their pious nature.
1) Karbala
2) The Siege of Mecca
3) The Sack of Medina
4) Alid persecution
5) Arab/Umayyad superiority
6) Harsh taxation
7) An extravagant and lavish lifestyle, devoid of the simplicity of the early caliphs
8) Muawiya opposing Ali
9) Letting Hajjaj and Ziyad loose on the people
10) Allegedly poisoning the second caliph’s son and the Prophet’s grandson
11) Killing the first caliph’s son and grandson
—they should not be used as evidence to throw them under the bus.
Despite being from the earliest generations of Islam, their influence on Islam isn't studied enough and is often glossed over - save for their futuhs-, with most scholars viewing the Abbasids as the starting period for the codification of Islamic tradition, when in fact the roots lay in the Umayyad era, with Umayyad scholars playing a critical role. In the introduction of the book itself, Judd mentions a number of contemporary books that study the formation of Islamic law and their respective authors, showing how all of them pay little to no attention to the Umayyads, save for one or two—and even then, not sufficiently or in detail. In all these books, the inception of Islamic legal philosophy, thought, and jurisprudence begins with the Abbasids.
When the black flags of the Abbasids entered the Levant, the Umayyad stronghold, the Syrians were confused by the Abbasids claim that they were from the Prophet’s household, as they had believed that Banu Umayyah was from the Prophet’s household (Ahl al-Bayt), thus blurring the lines between Banu Hashim and Banu Umayyah. One cannot help but wonder: if that is the case—if they truly saw themselves as heirs of the Prophet and the first three caliphs—then they must have done something on the religious side to bolster such claims during their time as caliphs. They did, though this book does not cover the legal development. This work does not provide detailed legal case studies or reconstruct the jurisprudence of Umayyad qadis—their rulings, fatwa questions, or doctrinal development—something I was hoping it would. Nonetheless, it offers a look into how the scholars of the Umayyad era held governmental posts without having their names besmirched due to their association with the Umayyads. These pious scholars, though serving under a dynasty that later narratives vilified, were not themselves tainted by association. There seem to be no accounts of criticism or dissent against these men despite their employment (some did not accept any salary) under the Umayyads. This reflects the degree of respect they commanded within the community. This goes against the old-school orientalist theory that Umayyad-era scholars worked hard to collect hadiths in order to protect the true faith from what they saw as the political schemes of the “evil” Umayyads, who supposedly did not care about their religion and sought to use it merely to maintain power.
Apart from the biographies of five such ascetic and pious scholars—al-Shabi, al-Zuhri, Abdallah ibn Awn, al-Awzai, and Sufyan al-Thawri—who can be considered pro-Umayyad, Judd traces the connection between them and the wider network of Umayyad-era qadis in major cities such as Damascus, Medina, Egypt, Kufa, and Basra.
The amount of power the qadis wielded in each city differed. The role of the qadi in this period is unique for a number of reasons. First, they carried out their duties with independence and autonomy—independence that, over the centuries, became increasingly restricted. The power dynamics between the governor and the qadi were not subservient in nature. Rather, the qadi was able to carry out his duties with a level of defiance and impunity that could go against the governor’s interests or orders. There are also cases in which the caliph played an important role in appointing and dismissing a qadi, showing the level of interest the ruler had in the office instead of merely relegating the task to his governors. The caliphs did not interfere with the actual functioning of the qadiship unless they were brought into the matter—either when the qadi sought their advice or when the case involved official corruption or attempts to intimidate or circumvent the qadi. That being said, Yasin Dutton, in his book, "origins of Islamic law", does mention that Umayyad caliphs and governors played an active role in matters of law. Muawiya, Marwan ibn al-Hakam (during his governorship), Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz did act as fuqaha in their own right at times. Sometimes their ijtihad and judgment were accepted by scholars, and at other times they were rejected.
The qadi was also not relegated solely to that one post; at times, he could carry out other positions as well, such as overseeing the shurta, the bayt al-mal, and even being the one implementing punishments when necessary. For the vast majority of them, the place where they conducted their cases was a corner in the masjid or even on the street. The scholars of this era were also unique because this was a time before caliphal or sultanate-sponsored institutions of learning were established. This meant that their pursuit and study of knowledge were conducted using their own time and dime, not facilitated by any government. This can only be understood as a true sign of their pious nature.
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