logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2021
29m 3s

Episode 16: Reconquering the umma

ZAYD
About this episode
Divisions within the community only grew as the struggle between its two main parties persisted, almost pushing the goal of reuniting the umma out of the realm of possibility. This episode charts the evolution of this civil war, the disintegration of the norms islam had recently instilled in the Arabs, and the re-emergence of old tribal forces as part of a n ... Show More
Up next
Mar 2021
Episode 17: The end of an era
The first four leaders of the umma were collectively bestowed with the honorific "the rightly guided caliphs". They were all close companions of the prophet, and their reign was succeeded by the beginnings of imperial rule. Taking the time to appreciate this disconnect is vital a ... Show More
28m 10s
Mar 2021
Episode 18: Mu’awiya bin Abi Sufyan
It is one of the sharper ironies of Islamic history that the clan which had led the resistance to the young religion went on to found its first dynasty. Umayyad influence swelled under the third caliph, but Mu’awiya was the one to formalize it as the foundation of a dynasty. The ... Show More
25m 53s
Apr 2021
Episode 19: Umayyad glory
The same skills which propelled Mu’awiya along his relentless rise to the top of the caliphate helped him rule the Arabs unlike any man had managed to until then. Our sources contrast his reign to what came before it sharply, and it is worth reflecting on how they began to recogn ... Show More
29m 9s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2020
Outside/In: War of the Worlds
The Sunni-Shia divide is a conflict that most people have heard about - two sects with Sunni Islam being in the majority and Shia Islam the minority. Exactly how did this conflict originate and when? We go through 1400 years of history to find the moment this divide first turned ... Show More
37m 10s
May 2022
S2E1 - A Matter of Faith
<p>Is diversity a problem, or a blessing?</p><p>For centuries, the Ottoman Empire was arguably the most diverse polity in the history of the world. But as the Ottoman crescent began to wane, the pressures of modernity forced the High Porte to reevaluate the benefits of its hetero ... Show More
50m 50s
Sep 2022
SE2E3 - The Bloody Birth of the Arabs pt 1
<p>In 1860, two communities in Mount Lebanon - who had coexisted for centuries - found themselves barreling toward a head on collision. With a clarity afforded by almost two centuries of hindsight, this episode explores the many ways in which this head-on clash was manufactured i ... Show More
41m 52s
Apr 2019
War Of The Worlds
The Sunni-Shia divide is a conflict that most people have heard about - two sects with Sunni Islam being in the majority and Shia Islam the minority. Exactly how did this conflict originate and when? We go through 1400 years of history to find the moment this divide first turned ... Show More
33m 53s
Jun 2022
S2E2 - The Tanzimat
<p>The Tanzimat reforms stretched from 1839 to 1876. In that time, the Ottoman empire engaged in a centralization campaign that completely altered the relationship between the Ottoman government and its subject population.</p><p>This episode picks up where we left off in season 1 ... Show More
50m 15s
Mar 2021
Ep 2 pt 1 of 3 - The Dawn of Ottoman Jerusalem
<p>This episode is part one of a three part series covering early Ottoman Palestine (16th - 18th centuries).</p><p><br></p><p>In the 16th century a new power came to rule over Palestine. From the onset, this new dynasty would face unique challenges as it worked to rule the Muslim ... Show More
57m 45s
Nov 2021
Vol 4 Ep 4 - The Great Seljuk Empire
<p>1037 – 1194 - From humble beginnings in the lands of the Oghuz Turks, Seljuk traveled east to become Islamised and start a movement which would conquer the lands of the Middle East and directly permanently influence the politics of Eurasia and religion.</p> 
56m 51s