The Middle East: 700–711 CE

Public Health and Welfare under Al-Walid I

Foundations of Medical Care and Quarantine

The early eighth century sees notable advancements in public health and medical care within the Umayyad Caliphate. Between 706 and 707, the sixth Umayyad caliph, Al-Walid I, establishes the first documented Islamic hospital in Damascus. Significantly, Al-Walid mandates the quarantine of patients suffering from leprosy, ordering their isolation within dedicated hospital wards to prevent the spread of disease.

This pioneering practice of compulsory hospital quarantine for leprosy patients sets an enduring precedent. Similar practices will persist in the Muslim world until at least the fifteenth century, notably until the Ottomans construct a dedicated leprosy hospital in Edirne in 1431.

Extensive Public Works and Social Welfare

Caliph Al-Walid’s reign (705–715) is also distinguished by unprecedented public works and welfare programs, financed largely by revenues derived from the expansive Umayyad conquests and effective taxation. Throughout this era, Al-Walid, supported by his brothers and sons, embarks on extensive infrastructure projects:

• Construction of way-stations and wells along vital roads across Syria, improving trade and travel.

• Implementation of street lighting in major cities, enhancing urban life.

• Major land reclamation initiatives, including extensive irrigation networks and canal systems, significantly boosting agricultural productivity.

These efforts are accompanied by innovative social welfare measures, such as financial assistance programs for impoverished citizens and the provision of specialized servants to aid the handicapped. While these welfare programs are primarily concentrated in Syria, they nonetheless set a precedent for state responsibility towards vulnerable populations within the Caliphate.

Thus, the period from 700 to 711 CE under Caliph Al-Walid I marks a significant evolution in public health and social welfare, reflecting the growing sophistication and administrative capacity of the Umayyad state.

The mandatory hospital quarantine of special groups of patients, including those with leprosy, starts early in Islamic history.

Between 706 and 707 the sixth Umayyad caliph, Al-Walid I, builds the first hospital in Damascus and issued an order to isolate those infected with leprosy from other patients in the hospital.

The practice of mandatory quarantine of leprosy in general hospitals will continue until the year 1431, when the Ottomans build a leprosy hospital in Edirne.

Incidents of quarantine will occur throughout the Muslim world, with evidence of voluntary community quarantine in some of these reported incidents.

Al-Walid inaugurates public works and social welfare programs on a scale unprecedented in the history of the Caliphate.

The efforts are financed by treasure accrued from the conquests and tax revenue.

Throughout his reign, the caliph and his brothers and sons will build way-stations and dig wells along the roads in Syria and install street lighting in the cities.

They invest in land reclamation projects, entailing irrigation networks and canals, which drive agricultural production.

Welfare programs include financial relief for the poor and servants to assist the handicapped, though this initiative is limited to Syria.

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan has pursued an extensive and successful policy of Arabization of the administration of the Umayyad empire, making Arabic the official state language.

The financial administration of the empire has been reorganized, with Arabs replacing Persian and Greek officials; and a new Arabic coinage has replaced the former imitations of Eastern Roman and Sassanian coins.

Communications have also improved with the introduction of a regular post service from Damascus to the provincial capitals, and architecture flourishes.

Shortly before 'Abd al-Malik's death, the question of succession becomes acute.

His brother, 'Abd al-'Aziz, governor of Egypt, had been designated by their father to succeed 'Abd al-Malik.

Against the advice of his courtiers, 'Abd al-Malik has begun to take steps to exclude his brother from succession in favor of his own children.

He has tried to pressure 'Abd al-'Aziz to renounce his claims but without success.

Luckily for 'Abd al-Malik, 'Abd al-'Aziz dies in May 705, leaving 'Abd al-Malik free to name three of his own children to succeed him, al-Walid, Sulayman, and Yazid.

'Abd al-Malik dies in Damascus shortly thereafter and is succeeded without difficulty by his eldest son, al-Walid.

Under 'Abd al-Malik and his sons, the Umayyad caliphate will reach its peak.

Al-Walid I commissions the construction of a mosque on the site of the imperial cathedral of Damascus in 706.

Prior to this, the cathedral was still in use by the local Christians, but a prayer room (musalla) for Muslims had been constructed on the southeastern part of the building.

Al-Walid, who personally supervises the project, has most of the cathedral, including the musalla, demolished.

The construction of the mosque completely alters the layout of the building.

The new house of worship is meant to serve as a large congregational mosque for the citizens of Damascus and as a tribute to the city.

In response to Christian protest at the move, al-Walid orders all the other confiscated churches in the city to be returned to the Christians as compensation.

The Middle East: 712–723 CE

Expansion, Governance, and Cultural Consolidation under the Umayyads

Umayyad Expansion into Central Asia and South Asia

The early eighth century is marked by vigorous expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate. Under Caliph Al-Walid I and his successors, Arab armies push far beyond traditional frontiers, extending Islamic influence deeper into Central Asia, reaching regions like Transoxiana and the fringes of the Indian Subcontinent. In 712, the young general Muhammad ibn Qasim captures Sindh (in present-day Pakistan), significantly extending Muslim authority into South Asia for the first time.

Administration and Infrastructure

Under Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik (715–717) and his successor Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (717–720), the Umayyads emphasize consolidating their vast territories through administrative reform. Known for his justice and piety, Umar II implements fiscal fairness, reducing taxes on non-Arab Muslims and promoting conversions to Islam through equitable governance. His brief rule is remembered for stabilizing the empire and reinforcing Islamic institutions.

Cultural and Religious Developments

During this period, the Umayyad court continues to patronize literature, architecture, and religious scholarship, laying foundations for a flourishing Islamic culture. In Damascus, monumental architecture such as the Great Umayyad Mosque, completed in 715, symbolizes the dynasty's authority and religious devotion, becoming a cornerstone of Islamic cultural identity.

At the same time, scholars and theologians at major centers like Basra and Kufa engage in intense theological debates, laying critical groundwork for Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. This period thus witnesses both significant territorial expansion and the deepening of Islam's cultural and religious roots across the Middle East and beyond.

Three major mosques are constructed during the rule of the Umayyad prince al-Walid I at Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus.

Qutayba ibn Muslim, who in 704 had been granted the governorship of Khorasan (now part of Iran) and thus come to command a large standing army of about fifty thousand Arab troops, has used his military expertise in numerous campaigns to expand Umayyad dominion over the territories to the north and east.

Taking advantage of Qutayba's absence in the south, the inhabitants of Samarkand had overthrew their ruler Tarkhun due to his passive stance towards the Arabs, and installed the prince Ghurak in his stead.

As Qutayba prepares to march against Samarkand during the winter of 711/712, he receives envoys from the king of Khwarizm (the Khwarizmshah).

Khwarizm had been previously subdued in the mid-690s by Umayya ibn Abdallah, but as soon as his forces departed, the Khwarizmshah had renounced the treaty, and subsequent efforts by Yazid ibn al-Muhallab against Khwarizm had failed.

The Khwarizmshah, whose name is given as Jigan or Chigan by Bal'ami, faces a rebellion by his younger brother Khurrazadh and a powerful rival, the king of Khamjird, and asks Qutayba for help, offering recognition of the Caliphate's suzerainty, money, livestock and the payment of tribute in exchange.

Qutayba, after announcing that he would head for Sogdia, advances with his troops in a lightning campaign to the Khwarizmian capital Hazarasp.

His brother Abd al-Rahman defeats and kills Khamjird's troops in battle and takes 4,000 prisoners, who are then executed.

Khurrazadh and his followers are also captured and executed.

The Khwarizmians, however, rebel shortly after Qutayba's departure and kill the Khwarizmshah.

Qutayba replaces the governor, Iyas ibn Abdallah ibn Amr, with his own brother Abdallah ibn Muslim, but the revolt persists until, after the capture of Samarkand, a strong force under al-Mughir ibn Abdallah could be sent to subdue the region.

The local Afrighid dynasty is left in place, with Askajamuk II, the son of Azkajwar II, as the new Khwarizmshah, but the conquest of Khwarizm is accompanied by great brutality: the eleventh-century Khwarizmian scholar al-Biruni compares the events with a barbarian sack, as the Arabs proceed to massacre most of the upper classes who had fomented the revolt, and destroy a great many objects of Khwarizmian culture, including manuscripts.

Qutayba initially turns towards Merv after leaving Khwarezm, for his army had grown weary and demanded an end to the campaign.

During the march, however, Qutayba suddenly turns the army around towards Samarkand.

The Sogdians have disbanded most of their forces, and the Arabs, reinforced with levies from Bukhara and Khwarezm, are able to brush aside the local resistance and advance straight to the city itself and lay siege to it.

Ghurak and the inhabitants of the city resist the Arabs with determination, and call upon the rulers of Shash (Tashkent) and the Ferghana Valley for aid.

The ruler of Shash indeed sends a strong army to aid them, but it is ambushed and destroyed by the Arabs.

The news of this arrives at the time where the Arab siege weapons had effected a breach in the city walls, forcing Ghurak to sue for peace.

Qutayba initially grants surprisingly lenient terms: the payment of an annual tribute and the provision of an auxiliary corps as with Bukhara and Khwarezm, as well as the construction of a mosque inside the city and the celebration of prayers there by the Arab army.

Once inside the city however, Qutayba proceeds to occupy and garrison it.

One of his brothers (accounts differ between Abd al-Rahman and Abdallah) is left as governor, and orders are given prohibiting any non-Muslim access to the city citadel.

Ghurak and his retinue leave the city and founded a new town, Farankath, further to the north.

Qutayba’s treachery has enabled him to bring most of Transoxiana under his tentative control, but it also considerably tarnishes his prestige among the Sogdians.

Emperor Philippikos Bardanes is an advocate of the Monothelite heresy, the belief in a single will of Christ.

Even before entering Constantinople, he had ordered the picture of the Third Council of Constantinople (which had condemned Monothelitism in 680) to be removed from the palace and the names of those the council had condemned restored.

Patriarch Cyrus refuses to support the new policy and is deposed and replaced by the more compliant deacon John VI, a member of his own sect, early in 712.

Among the first acts of the new emperor is the summoning of a conciliabulum of Eastern bishops, which abolishes the canons of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

In response, the Roman Church refuses to recognize the new Emperor and his patriarch.

In foreign policy, the reign of Philippikos is disastrous.

The Bulgarians, taking advantage of the disorders in the empire, raid through Thrace and plunder as far as the vicinity of Constantinople in 712.

When Philippikos transfers an army from the Opsikion theme to police the Balkans, the Umayyad Caliphate under Al-Walid I makes inroads across the weakened defenses of Asia Minor.