Khalifa wa Bani Umayya walitawala kwa takriban karne moja, kuanzia kifo cha Khalifa wa mwisho miongoni mwa Makhalifa Waongofu (‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib) mwaka 661 BK, na kupanda madarakani kwa mwanzilishi wa nasaba ya Bani Umayya, Khalifa Mu’aawiyah ibn Abee Sufyaan, hadi Khalifa wa mwisho wa Bani Umayya karibu katikati ya karne ya nane BK.

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.

Kipindi hicho kiliwekwa alama ya machafuko makubwa ya kijamii; Ummah uligawanyika katika madhehebu na makundi mbalimbali; ukhalifa uligeuzwa kuwa ufalme; mambo mengi mapya yaliingizwa, baadhi yake yakiwa ni Haramu; na maulamaa walikataa kuhudhuria majlisi za makhalifa, bali walikimbilia maeneo ya pembezoni ili kuepuka migogoro na mkanganyiko.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