Editing Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:The Early Muslim Conquests 630s to 820s.svg|thumb|upright=1.7|alt=A map of northern Africa, southern Europe and western and central Asia with different color shades denoting the stages of expansion of the caliphate|A map depicting the expansion of the Caliphate. The areas highlighted in pink depict territorial expansion during Abd al-Malik's reign]]

Abd al-Malik is considered the most "celebrated" Umayyad caliph by the historian [[Julius Wellhausen]].{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=223}} "His reign had been a period of hard-won successes", in the words of Kennedy.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}} The 9th-century historian [[al-Yaqubi]] described Abd al-Malik as "courageous, shrewd and sagacious, but also{{nbsp}}... miserly".{{sfn|Biesterfeldt|Günther|2018|p=986}} His successor, al-Walid, continued his father's policies and his rule likely marked the peak of Umayyad power and prosperity.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=58}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2002|p=127}} Abd al-Malik's key administrative reforms, reunification of the Caliphate and suppression of all active domestic opposition enabled the major territorial expansion of the Caliphate during al-Walid's reign.{{sfn|Dixon|1971|p=198}} Three other sons of Abd al-Malik, [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik|Sulayman]], [[Yazid II]] and [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik|Hisham]], would rule in succession until 743, interrupted only by the rule of Abd al-Aziz's son, [[Umar II]] ({{reign|717|720}}).{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=58}} With the exceptions of the latter and [[Marwan II]] ({{reign|744|750}}), all the Umayyad caliphs who came after Abd al-Malik were directly descended from him, hence the references to him as the "father of kings" in the traditional Muslim sources.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=223}} The [[Emirate of Córdoba|Umayyad emirs]] and [[Caliphate of Córdoba|caliphs]] who ruled in the Iberian Peninsula between 756 and 1031 were also his direct descendants.{{sfn|Robinson|2005|p=124}} In the assessment of his biographer [[Chase F. Robinson]], "Mu'awiya may have introduced the principle of dynastic succession into the ruling tradition of early Islam, but Abd al-Malik made it work".{{sfn|Robinson|2005|p=124}} {{Transliteration|ar|[[Amir al-Mu'minin|Amīr al-muʾminīn]]}} (commander of the faithful) is the most referenced formal title of Abd al-Malik in coins, inscriptions and the early Muslim literary tradition.{{sfn|Crone|Hinds|1986|p=11}}{{sfn|Marsham|2018|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Anjum|2012|p=47}} He is also referred to as {{Transliteration|ar|khalīfat Allāh}} ([[caliph]] of God) in a number of coins minted in the mid-690s, correspondence from his viceroy [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]] and poetic verses by his contemporaries [[al-Akhtal]], [[Jarir ibn Atiya|Jarir]] and [[al-Farazdaq]].{{sfn|Crone|Hinds|1986|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Marsham|2018|p=7}}

[[File:Umayyad dynasty under Abd al-Malik.png|thumb|left|upright=1.95|alt=A schematic diagram of the Umayyad ruling family during the caliphate of Abd al-Malik|Family tree of the [[Umayyad dynasty]] during the reign of Abd al-Malik, whose reliance on his family was unprecedented in the Caliphate's history.]]

Abd al-Malik's concentration of power into the hands of his family was unprecedented; at one point, his brothers or sons held nearly all governorships of the provinces and Syria's districts.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=221–222}}{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=30}} Likewise, his court in Damascus was filled with far more Umayyads than under his Sufyanid predecessors, a result of the clan's exile to the city from Medina in 683.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=167, 222}} He maintained close ties with the Sufyanids through marital relations and official appointments, such as according Yazid I's son Khalid a prominent role in the court and army and wedding to him his daughter A'isha.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=222}}{{sfn|Ahmed|2010|p=118}} Abd al-Malik also married Khalid's sister [[Atikah bint Yazid|Atika]], who became his favorite and most influential wife.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=222}}

[[File:Khan Hathrura Milestone by order of Caliph Abd al-Malik.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A milestone, found at Khan al-Hathrura near [[Jericho]], produced on Abd al-Malik's orders on the road between Damascus and Jerusalem]]

After his victory in the civil war, Abd al-Malik embarked on a far-reaching campaign to consolidate Umayyad rule over the Caliphate.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=85}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}} The collapse of Umayyad authority precipitated by Mu'awiya I's death made it apparent to Abd al-Malik that the decentralized Sufyanid system was unsustainable.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=85}} Moreover, despite the defeat of his Muslim rivals, his dynasty remained domestically and externally insecure, prompting a need to legitimize its existence, according to Blankinship.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=28}} Abd al-Malik's solution to the fractious tribalism which defined his predecessors' caliphate was to centralize power.{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=77}} At the same time, his response to the Byzantine–Christian resurgence and the criticism of Muslim religious circles, which dated from the beginning of Umayyad rule and culminated with the outbreak of the civil war, was to implement [[Islamization]] measures.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=28}}{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=78}} The centralized administration he established became the prototype of later medieval Muslim states.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=85}} In Kennedy's assessment, Abd al-Malik's "centralized, bureaucratic empire{{nbsp}}... was in many ways an impressive achievement", but the political, economic and social divisions that developed within the Islamic community during his reign "was to prove something of a difficult inheritance for the later Umayyads".{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=90}}

According to Wellhausen, government "evidently became more technical and hierarchical" under Abd al-Malik, though not nearly to the extent of the later Abbasid caliphs.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=220–221}} As opposed to the freewheeling governing style of the Sufyanids, Abd al-Malik ruled strictly over his officials and kept interactions with them largely formal.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=221}} He put an end to the provinces' retention of the lion's share of surplus tax revenues, as had been the case under the Sufyanids, and had them redirected to the caliphal treasury in Damascus.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|pp=72, 76, 85}} He supported al-Hajjaj's policy of collecting the [[jizya|poll tax]], traditionally imposed on the Caliphate's non-Muslim subjects, from the {{Transliteration|ar|mawālī}} of Iraq and instructed Abd al-Aziz to implement this measure in Egypt, though the latter allegedly disregarded the order.{{sfn|Crone|1994|p=14, note 63}} Abd al-Malik may have inaugurated several high-ranking offices, and Muslim tradition generally credits him with the organization of the {{Transliteration|ar|[[barid|barīd]]}} (postal service), whose principal purpose was to efficiently inform the caliph of developments outside of Damascus.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=64}} He built and repaired roads that connected Damascus with Palestine and linked Jerusalem to its eastern and western hinterlands, as evidenced by seven [[milestone]]s found throughout the region,{{sfn|Sharon|1966|pp=368, 370–372}}{{sfn|Sharon|2004|p=95}}{{sfn|Elad|1999|p=26}} the oldest of which dates to May 692 and the latest to September 704.{{sfn|Bacharach|2010|p=7}}{{efn|The milestones, all containing inscriptions crediting Abd al-Malik for the road works, were found, from north to south, in or near [[Fiq, Syria|Fiq]], [[Samakh, Tiberias|Samakh]], [[Monastery of St. George of Choziba|St. George's Monastery of Wadi Qelt]], Khan al-Hathrura, [[Bab al-Wad]] and [[Abu Ghosh]]. The milestone found in Samakh dates to 692, the two milestones at Fiq both date to 704 and the remaining milestones are undated.{{sfn|Sharon|2004|pp=94–96}} The fragment of an eighth milestone, likely produced soon after Abd al-Malik's death, was found at [[Ein Hemed]], immediately west of Abu Ghosh.{{sfn|Cytryn-Silverman|2007|pp=609–610}}}} The road project formed part of Abd al-Malik's centralization drive, special attention being paid to Palestine due to its critical position as a transit zone between Syria and Egypt and Jerusalem's religious centrality to the caliph.{{sfn|Sharon|1966|pp=370–372}}{{sfn|Sharon|2004|p=96}}

===Institution of Islamic currency and Arabization of the bureaucracy===
[[File:Gold dinar of Abd al-Malik 697-98.png|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=The obverse and reverse of a gold-colored coin inscribed in Arabic|A [[gold dinar]] of Abd al-Malik minted in [[Damascus]] in 697/98. Abd al-Malik introduced an independent Islamic currency in 693, which initially bore depictions of the caliph before being abandoned for coins solely containing inscriptions]]

A major component of Abd al-Malik's centralization and Islamization measures was the institution of an [[Islamic coinage|Islamic currency]].{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=28}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=85}} The Byzantine gold {{lang|la|[[solidus (coin)|solidus]]}} was discontinued in Syria and Egypt,{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=28}}{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=77}} the likely impetus being the Byzantines' addition of an image of Christ on their coins in 691/92, which violated Muslim [[Aniconism in Islam|prohibitions on images of prophets]].{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}} To replace the Byzantine coins, he introduced an Islamic gold currency, the [[gold dinar|dinar]], in 693.{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=77}}{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=28, 94}} Initially, the new coinage contained depictions of the caliph as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community and its supreme military commander.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=28}} This image proved no more acceptable to Muslim officialdom and was replaced in 696 or 697 with image-less coinage inscribed with Qur'anic quotes and other Muslim religious formulas.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=28, 94}} In 698/99, similar changes were made to the silver [[dirham]]s issued by the Muslims in the former [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian Persian]] lands in the eastern Caliphate.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}} Depictions of the Sasanian king were consequently removed from the coinage,{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}} though Abd al-Malik's new dirham retained its characteristically Sasanian silver fabric and wide flan.{{sfn|Darley|Canepa|2018|page=367}} 
 
[[File:Glass weight of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|alt=The obverse of a bluish green-colored glass piece inscribed in Arabic|A glass [[coin weights|coin weight]] bearing the name of "the Servant of God, Abd al-Malik, Commander of the Faithful", minted in Damascus]]

Shortly after the overhaul of the Caliphate's currency, in circa 700, Abd al-Malik is generally credited with the replacement of [[Greek language|Greek]] with [[Arabic]] as the language of the {{Transliteration|ar|dīwān}} in Syria.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=28, 94}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=63}}{{sfn|Duri|1965|p=324}} The transition was carried out by his scribe [[Sulayman ibn Sa'd al-Khushani|Sulayman ibn Sa'd]].{{sfn|Sprengling|1939|pp=212–213}} Al-Hajjaj had initiated the Arabization of the [[Middle Persian|Persian]] {{Transliteration|ar|dīwān}} in Iraq, three years before.{{sfn|Duri|1965|p=324}} Though the official language was changed, Greek and Persian-speaking bureaucrats who were versed in Arabic kept their posts.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=219–220}} The Arabization of the bureaucracy and currency was the most consequential administrative reform undertaken by the caliph.{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=77}} Arabic ultimately became the sole official language of the Umayyad state,{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}} but the transition in faraway provinces, such as Khurasan, did not occur until the 740s.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|pp=63–64}} According to Gibb, the decree was the "first step towards the reorganization and unification of the diverse tax-systems in the provinces, and also a step towards a more definitely Muslim administration".{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=77}} Indeed, it formed an important part of the Islamization measures that lent the Umayyad Caliphate "a more ideological and programmatic coloring it had previously lacked", according to Blankinship.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=95}} In tandem, Abd al-Malik began the export of papyri containing the [[shahada|Muslim statement of belief]] in Greek to spread Islamic teachings in the Byzantine realm.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}} This was a further testament to the ideological expansion of the [[Arab–Byzantine wars|Byzantine–Muslim struggle]].{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}}

The increasingly Muslim character of the state under Abd al-Malik was partly a reflection of Islam's influence in the lives of the caliph and the chief enforcer of his policies, al-Hajjaj, both of whom belonged to the first generation of rulers born and raised as Muslims.{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=77}} Having spent most of their lives in the Hejaz, the theological and legal center of Islam where Arabic was spoken exclusively and administrative offices were held solely by Arab Muslims, Abd al-Malik and his viceroy only understood Arabic and were unfamiliar with the [[Arameans|Syrian]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Greek Christian]] and Persian [[Zoroastianism|Zoroastrian]] officials of the {{Transliteration|ar|dīwān}}.{{sfn|Sprengling|1939|pp=193–195}} They stood in stark contrast to the Sufyanid caliphs and their governors in Iraq, who had entered these regions as youths and whose children were as acquainted with the native majority as with the Arab Muslim newcomers.{{sfn|Sprengling|1939|pp=193–195}} According to Wellhausen, Abd al-Malik was careful not to offend his pious subjects "in the careless fashion of [Caliph] Yazid", but from the time of his accession "he subordinated everything to policy, and even exposed the Ka'ba to the danger of destruction", despite the piety of his upbringing and early career.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=215}} Dixon challenges this view, attributing the Abbasid-era Muslim sources' portrayal of Abd al-Malik's transformation in character after his accession and the consequent abandonment of his piety to their general hostility to Abd al-Malik, whom they variously "accused of being a mean, treacherous and blood-thirsty person".{{sfn|Dixon|1971|p=21}} Dixon nonetheless concedes that the caliph disregarded his early Muslim ideals when he felt political circumstances necessitated it.{{sfn|Dixon|1971|p=21}}

===Reorganization of the army===
Abd al-Malik shifted away from his predecessors' use of Arab tribal masses in favor of an organized army.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}}{{sfn|Robinson|2005|p=68}} Likewise, Arab noblemen who had derived their power solely through their tribal standing and personal relations with a caliph were gradually replaced with military men who had risen through the ranks.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}}{{sfn|Robinson|2005|p=68}} These developments have been partially obscured by the medieval sources due to their continued usage of Arab tribal terminology when referencing the army, such as the names of the tribal confederations Mudar, Rabi'a, Qays and Yaman.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}} According to Hawting, these do not represent the "tribes in arms" utilized by earlier caliphs; rather, they denote army factions whose membership was often (but not exclusively) determined by tribal origin.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}} Abd al-Malik also established a Berber-dominated private militia called al-Waḍḍāḥiya after their original commander, the caliph's {{Transliteration|ar|mawlā}} al-Waddah, which helped enforce the authority of Umayyad caliphs through the reign of Marwan II.{{sfn|Athamina|1998|p=371}}

Under Abd al-Malik, loyalist Syrian troops began to be deployed throughout the Caliphate to keep order, which came largely at the expense of the tribal nobility of Iraq.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}} The latter's revolt under Ibn al-Ash'ath demonstrated to Abd al-Malik the unreliability of the Iraqi {{Transliteration|ar|muqātila}} in securing the central government's interests in the province and its eastern dependencies.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}} It was following the revolt's suppression that the military became primarily composed of the Syrian army.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}} Consecrating this transformation was a fundamental change to the system of military pay, whereby salaries were restricted to those in active service. This marked an end to the system established by Caliph [[Umar]] ({{reign|634|644}}), which paid stipends to veterans of the earlier Muslim conquests and their descendants.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}} While the Iraqi tribal nobility viewed the stipends as their traditional right, al-Hajjaj viewed them as a handicap restricting his and Abd al-Malik's executive authority and financial ability to reward loyalists in the army.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}} Stipends were similarly stopped to the inhabitants of the Hejaz, including the Quraysh.{{sfn|Elad|2016|p=331}} Thus, a professional army was established during Abd al-Malik's reign whose salaries derived from tax proceeds.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}} The dependence on the Syrian army of his successors, especially Hisham ({{reign|724|743}}), scattered the army among the Caliphate's multiple and isolated war fronts, most of them distant from Syria.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=236}} The growing strain and heavy losses inflicted on the Syrians by the Caliphate's external enemies and increasing factional divisions within the army contributed to the weakening and [[Abbasid Revolution|downfall of Umayyad rule]] in 750.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=236}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=30}}

===Foundation of the Dome of the Rock===
[[File:Jerusalem DomeoftheRock J65.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=An octagonal, multi-colored building, the upper trim of which is inscribed in Arabic, topped by a golden-plated dome|The [[Dome of the Rock]] (''pictured in 2015'') in [[Jerusalem]] was founded by Abd al-Malik in 691/92]]

In 685/86 or 688, Abd al-Malik began planning the construction of the [[Dome of the Rock]] in Jerusalem.{{sfn|Elad|1999|pp=24, 44}} Its dedication inscription mentions the year 691/92, which most scholars agree is the completion date of the building.{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=424–426}}{{sfn|Elad|1999|p=45}} It is the earliest archaeologically attested religious structure to be built by a Muslim ruler and the building's inscriptions contain the earliest [[epigraphic]] proclamations of Islam and of Muhammad.{{sfn|Johns|2003|p=416}} The inscriptions proved to be a milestone, as afterward they became a common feature in Islamic structures and almost always mention Muhammad.{{sfn|Johns|2003|p=416}} The Dome of the Rock remains a "unique monument of Islamic culture in almost all respects", including as a "work of art and as a cultural and pious document", according to historian [[Oleg Grabar]].{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}

[[File:Jerusalem-2013(2)-Temple Mount-Dome of the Chain (south exposure).jpg|thumb|left|upright=.9|alt=A gray metal-domed octagonal structure decorated with tiles of different colors and geometric designs, supported by dark stone columns with beige-colored capitals|Abd al-Malik also erected the [[Dome of the Chain]] (''pictured in 2013''), which is adjacent to the Dome of the Rock]]

Narratives by the medieval sources about Abd al-Malik's motivations in building the Dome of the Rock vary.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}} At the time of its construction, the caliph was engaged in war with Christian Byzantium and its Syrian Christian allies on the one hand and with the rival caliph Ibn al-Zubayr, who controlled Mecca, the annual destination of Muslim pilgrimage, on the other hand.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=425–426}} Thus, one series of explanations was that Abd al-Malik intended for the Dome of the Rock to be a religious monument of victory over the Christians that would distinguish Islam's uniqueness within the common [[Abrahamic]] religious setting of Jerusalem, home of the two older Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}} The other main explanation holds that Abd al-Malik, in the heat of the war with Ibn al-Zubayr, sought to build the structure to divert the focus of the Muslims in his realm from the Ka'aba in Mecca, where Ibn al-Zubayr would publicly condemn the Umayyads during the annual pilgrimage to the sanctuary.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=425–426}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}} Though most modern historians dismiss the latter account as a product of anti-Umayyad propaganda in the traditional Muslim sources and doubt that Abd al-Malik would attempt to alter the sacred Muslim requirement of fulfilling the pilgrimage to the Ka'aba, other historians concede this cannot be conclusively dismissed.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=425–426}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}}

While his sons commissioned numerous [[Umayyad architecture|architectural works]], Abd al-Malik's known building activities were limited to Jerusalem.{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=28}} As well as the Dome of the Rock, he is credited with constructing the adjacent [[Dome of the Chain]],{{sfn|Elad|1999|p=47}} expanding the boundaries of the [[Temple Mount]] (Haram al-Sharif) to include the [[Foundation Stone]] around which the Dome of the Rock was built and building two gates of the Temple Mount (possibly the [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|Mercy Gate]] and the [[Gates of the Temple Mount#Triple Gate|Prophet's Gate]]).{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=28}}{{sfn|Elad|1999|pp=25–26}} Theophanes, possibly conserving an original Syro-Palestinian [[Melkite]] source, reports that Abd al-Malik sought to remove some columns from a Christian shrine at [[Gethsemane]] to rebuild the Ka'aba, but he was dissuaded by his Christian treasurer, [[Sarjun ibn Mansur]] (the father of [[John of Damascus]]), and another leading Christian, called Patrikios, from Palestine, who successfully petitioned Emperor Justinian II to supply other columns instead.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=[https://www.degruyter.com/view/PMBZ/PMBZ11095 'Abd al-Malik (#18/corr.)]}}{{sfn|Mango|Scott|1997|p=510, note 5}}