The Umayyad caliph Marwan ibn al-Hakam (r. 64-65/684-685) is the subject of great controversy in Islamic narrative sources. There is general agreement on the basic facts of his life and career, but--as with so many other figures of the first half-century of Islam--his character and, in particular, his legitimacy as caliph have been debated. Some reports in the narrative sources emphasize Marwan's knowledge of religious law (fiqh) and the Qur'an, while many others denigrate him as a libertine or as the architect of an oppressive and essentially "un-Islamic" regime. The figure of Marwan is thus enmeshed in intense polemic (particularly between the Umayyad family and the family of 'Ali and their respective backers), and on the basis of the narrative sources it is difficult for the modern researcher to decide where the truth lies in the flurry of charges and counter-charges, idealizations and vilifications. We are not quite completely at the mercy of the narrative sources, however; although we lack almost entirely any true documents dealing with Marwan that could shed a more sober light on his character and beliefs, the genealogical information provided about Marwan's family offers some important clues on these matters. The paper analyzes this onomastic information to show that, in fact, Marwan seems to have been an early, ardent champion of what we now call Islam. Although he was born and raised in the more ecumenical monotheistic "Believers' movement" begun by Muhammad, Marwan seems to have been one of the first to emphasize the centrality of the Qur'an and the figure of the prophet Muhammad as hallmarks of the community to which he belonged. He thus played a central role in generating the gradual emergence, from the matrix of the Believers' movement, of Islam as a distinct religious confession, marked most fundamentally by this dual focus on the Qur'an and Muhammad as prophet.

This paper examines the cultural appropriation of Beirut, a town on the margins of the Empire, and its integration into the nascent Islamic cultural landscape within the context of the sacralization of the Umayyad maritime frontier. Two processes demarcate this phenomenon. The first is the development of the rib? and its application to Beirut and other Syrian frontier towns. The second process, and the primary concern of this paper, is that of the implantation of 'sacred figures', both real and fictitious, such as ascetics and holy warriors in the liminal space between the Muslims and Byzantines. In the case of Beirut, narratives of early ascetic figures such Abs al-Dard a (d. 32/652) and Salm)n al-Fariss (d. 35/655-6 or 36/656-7) and later wandering ascetics such as Sacsd b. Abs Sa d al-Maqbar (d.126/743) and Ibr(h.m b. Adham (d. 161/777-8) in Beirut's landscape mark the transformation of Beirut from a late antique town into a 'sacred' Islamic one-a transformation culminating with the arrival of the pious scholar aAbd al-Ra mhn b. uAmr al-Awz-A (d. 157/774). This is not to deny the historicity of the presence of these pious individuals in the town. Indeed, Beirut, a frontier town hiding in the shadow of the Lebanon mountains but still geographically close to the Umayyad center, did attract jihod seekers, dissidents and other trouble makers such as the Qadarite rUmayr b. Hanir (d. 127/744) and the controversial exegete Muq2til b. Sulaymen (d. 150/767). Nonetheless, the remembrance and inclusion of these individuals in the historical narrative is seen here as an integral part of the wider process of the elaboration and creation of an Islamic landscape in Syria during the Umayyad period.

For over 20 years 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Marwan (r. 65-86/685-705), the heir to the Umayyad house and half-brother of the caliph 'Abd al-Malik (r. 65-86/685-705), served as the amir of Egypt. Although classical Muslim sources say little about the Nile Valley during his reign, scholars have generally assumed that at the end Second Muslim Civil War in 71/691 Egypt was incorporated into the caliphal state via the centralizing reforms of 'Abd al-Malik. However, after examining both Muslim and Coptic sources, as well as documentary and archaeological evidence, this paper attempts to demonstrate that Egypt remained largely outside the purview of the caliph for the entirety of 'Abd al-'Aziz's reign. It will be argued that throughout the late 7th and early 8th centuries 'Abd al-'Aziz ruled as an independent amir who was little concerned with the reforms of the caliph- he instead chose to pursue his own state vision. Through a combination of marriage alliances, military appointments, capital investment and patronage, 'Abd al-'Aziz created a power base from among the South Arabian tribes of Egypt that was loyal to his own personage, and not the caliph. He built upon the sense of communitas that existed among these tribes and redirected their group solidarity towards the founding of an autonomous Egyptian polity under his own suzerain. In tandem with this tribal policy, 'Abd al-'Aziz, like the Byzantines before him, incorporated the vast network of Egyptian churches and monasteries into his administration, thereby expanding his tax base, enhancing his administrative capabilities and providing legitimacy for his rule in the eyes of the Coptic population. In presenting this combination of evidences, the goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the character of 'Abd al-'Aziz's administration differed from the "Islamic state" of caliph, in that he ruled autonomously with the combined legitimacy of a tribal leader, urban patrician, and church patron.

The idea of a "piety-minded" opposition to Umayyad rule has been central to most analyses of religious development during the Umayyad period since M. Hodgson coined the term nearly four decades ago. The Umayyads are typically portrayed as godless kings who were merely opportunistic in their religious engagements. Even the "God's caliph" theory rests on the Umayyads themselves devising an absolutist doctrine with little or no input from reputable religious scholars. This paper is part of my continuing effort to debunk this image of the Umayyads. While some pro-Umayyad scholars, particularly al-Zuhri and al-Awza'i, have received increasing attention in recent years, Umayyad supporters in Iraq have largely been ignored. This paper examines the lives, careers and doctrinal views of al-Sha`bi (d. ca 103/721) and Abdallah b. 'Aun (d. 151/768), who were influential pro-Umayyad scholars in Kufa and Basra respectively. I argue that even in Kufa and Basra, traditionally seen as hotbeds of intellectual opposition (pious and otherwise) to the Umayyads, there was a substantial base of pro-Umayyad scholars with whom the opposition sparred. This discussion offers a more complex view of these major intellectual centers and suggests that the concept of a "piety-minded" opposition is defective, since there were equally "piety-minded" and influential regime supporters in these major centers. A discussion of al-Sha`bi and Ibn 'Aun's influence on future generations of scholars, in Iraq and beyond, suggests that these Umayyad supporters may have been more influential on the development of Islamic thought than were their "piety-minded" opponents.