Bani Umayyah berkuasa selama kurang lebih satu abad, dari wafatnya khalifah Al-Khulafa' Ar-Rasyidin yang terakhir (‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib) pada tahun 661 M hingga naiknya pendiri dinasti Umayyah, Khalifah Mu’aawiyah ibn Abee Sufyaan, sampai khalifah Umayyah yang terakhir sekitar pertengahan abad kedelapan M.

The Umayyads were in power for approximately one century, extending from the death of the last of the Righteous Caliphs (‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib) in 661 CE and the ascendancy of the founder of the Umayyad dynasty, Caliph Mu’aawiyah ibn Abee Sufyaan, until the last of the Umayyad caliphs around the middle of the eighth century CE.

Periode tersebut ditandai dengan keresahan sosial yang besar; umat terpecah ke dalam berbagai aliran dan golongan; kekhalifahan berubah menjadi kerajaan; banyak praktik baru diperkenalkan, sebagian di antaranya haram; dan para ulama menolak untuk duduk dalam majelis para khalifah, bahkan mereka melarikan diri ke daerah-daerah pinggiran untuk menghindari konflik dan kekacauan.99

The period was marked by great social unrest; the Ummah divided into various sects and factions; the caliphate was converted into a kingship; many new practices were introduced, some of which were Haraam; the scholars refused to sit in the audiences of the caliphs and in fact fled to outlying areas to avoid conflict and confusion.99

Sejauh menyangkut Hukum Islam dan perkembangan madzhab-madzhab, masa ini patut dicatat karena tiga kecenderungan utama. Pertama, terjadi peningkatan yang nyata dalam jumlah ijtihad yang diberikan oleh para ulama, karena ijma' menjadi semakin sulit dicapai setelah para ulama tersebar ke wilayah-wilayah terpencil dari kekhalifahan.

So far as Islamic Law and the evolution of Madh-habs are concerned, this period is noteworthy for three main trends. In the first place, there was a notable increase in the number of Ijtihaads given by scholars, since Ijmaa’ became more and more difficult following the dispersal of scholars to outlying areas of the caliphate.

Kedua, riwayat-riwayat hadis menyebar luas dan semakin banyak kecenderungan untuk memalsukan hadis. Terakhir, periode ini menandai upaya pertama untuk membukukan fikih, yang bertujuan melestarikan ijtihad para Sahabat. Pada periode inilah pula para ulama hukum Islam pertama kali terbagi ke dalam mazhab-mazhab pemikiran yang cukup jelas, dan menetapkan berbagai madzhab yang pada periode berikutnya dipersempit menjadi empat mazhab besar.

Secondly, the narrations of Hadeeth became widespread and there was an increasing tendency towards fabrication of Hadeeth. Finally, the period marked the first attempts at compilation of Fiqh, which was aimed at preserving the Ijtihaads of the Sahaabah. It was in this period too that scholars of Islamic Law first divided into fairly clearcut schools of thought, establishing various Madh-habs which in later periods were reduced to four major ones.