Following at the Battle of Uhud in 625, it is said that after killing Hamzah ibn Abdu l-Muṭṭalib, his liver was consumed by Hind bint ‘ Utbah ( the wife of Abû Sufyan ibn Harb one of the commanders of the Qurayš army ) who later reportedly converted to Islam and became the mother of Muawiyah I founder of the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate.

Unrest continued in the Second Fitna, but Muslim rule was extended under Muawiyah to Rhodes, Crete, Kabul, Bukhara, and Samarkand, and expanded in North Africa.

The first minaret was constructed in 665 in Basra during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I. Muawiyah encouraged the construction of minarets, as they were supposed to bring mosques on par with Christian churches with their bell towers.

Most historians consider Caliph Muawiyah ( 661 – 80 ) to have been the second ruler of the Umayyad dynasty, even though he was the first to assert the Umayyads ' right to rule on a dynastic principle.

Salamis was finally abandoned during the Arab invasions of the 7th century CE after destructions by Muawiyah I.

Muawiyah I ( ; 602 – 6 May 680 ) was the first Caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty.

However when Ali was appointed the fourth and final Rashidun Caliph, he expelled Muawiyah from the Governorship.

Muawiyah refused to obey Ali, and had some level of support from the Syrians in his rebelliousness, amongst whom he was a popular leader.

Ali called for military action against Muawiyah, but the reaction of the political classes in Medina was not encouraging, and thus Ali deferred.

Muawiyah thus established the Umayyad Caliphate, which was to be a hereditary dynasty, and governed from Damascus in Syria instead of Medina in Arabia.

Muawiyah bin Abi-Sufyan was born in Hejaz ( 602 CE ) into the Banu Umayya sub-clan of the Banu Abd-Shams clan of the Quraysh tribe.

Some scholars hold the view that Muawiyah was the second of the two to convert, with Abu Sufyan convincing him to do it.

Muawiyah has a few rare virtues given to him by Prophet Mohammad, he was one of the prophet's clerks

Ali then turned towards Syria, where Muawiyah was in open opposition.

Muawiyah proposed a cease-fire which Ali agreed to and it was decided to end the conflict through peaceful talks.

When Alī was assassinated in 661, Muawiyah, as commander of the largest force in the Muslim Empire, had the strongest claim to the Caliphate.

In the year 661, Muawiyah was crowned as caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem.

He was succeeded by his son Yazid I. Muawiyah had held the expanding empire together by force of his personality, through personal allegiances, in the style of a traditional Arab sheikh.

According to Shi ' a doctrine, this was a clear violation of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali, in which Muawiyah said he would not make his son his successor.

Muawiyah had a personal library collection ( bayt al-hikmah ) that was enlarged by his successors " throughout the Umayyad period.

He was also widely regarded as a tyrant and usurper by both Shia Arabs and Persians, who despite being ruled by Sunni Arabs and their vassals for centuries, ultimately found the egalitarian Shia creed more palatable than the oppressive, Arab-supremacist tribal rule of Muawiyah.

When the tide of the battle was turning in Ali's favor, Muawiyah stalled Ali's troops by raising the Qur ' an on the tip of a bloody spear as a sort of " holy book shield " against attack by Muslims.

He reached the Danube and while the Byzantine capital Constantinople was besieged by Muawiyah I, Caliph of the Arabs ( 674 – 678 ), he and his people settled in the Danube delta, probably on the now disappeared Peuce Island.

A narration also tells that the Prophet prayed to God in favor of Muawiyah: " Allahumma ( O Allah ) guide him and guide people by him.

Muawiyah also established the Umayyad caliphate which was a centralized monarchy.

Hasan was distressed, understanding that the engagement of Muslims in a battle against each other would mean a loss of many: Muawiyah also had his concerns about being forced into a battle and sent two men from the Banu Quraish to negotiate a settlement.

Muawiyah arranged for his son Yazid I to be appointed caliph on his death, which came in 680.

Following the revolt, Gennadius fled to Damascus and asked for aid from Muawiyah, to whom he had paid tribute for years.

The Conquest of Mecca while overwhelming for the Umayyads for the time being, further fueled their hatred towards the Hashmites ; this would later result in battles between Muawiyah I and Ali and then killing of Husayn ibn Ali along with his family and a few friends on the orders of Yazid ibn Muawiyah at the Battle of Karbala.

However, after the turmoil occurred they would say, ‘ Name for us your narrators .’ So the people of the Sunnah would have their hadith accepted and the people of innovation would not .” The turmoil referred to is the conflicting ideologies of the Kharijites and extreme Shias that had emerged at the time of the third khalifas Uthman ibn Affan's assassination and the social unrest of the Kharijites in opposition to the succeeding rulers, Ali and Muawiyah.

Muawiyah became a scribe for Muhammad, and during the first and second caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar, fought with the Muslims against the Byzantines in Syria.

Muawiyah I is a reviled figure in Shia Islam for several reasons.

Muawiyah fought a protracted campaign against Ali, allegedly seeking justice for the assassinated caliph Uthman Ibn Affan.

Many Sunni Muslim historians view Muawiyah as a companion of Muhammad, and hence worthy of respect for this reason, and a few Sunni Muslims take great issue with the Shi ' a criticism and vilification of him.

According to Shi ' a view, Muawiyah opposed Ali, out of sheer greed for power and wealth.

Muawiyah is alleged to have killed many of Muhammad's companions ( Sahaba ), either in battle or by poison, due to his lust for power.

Muawiyah killed several historical figures, including the Sahaba Amr bin al-Hamiq, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr Malik al-Ashtar, Hujr ibn Adi ( to which the families of Abu Bakr and Umar condemned Muawiyah for, and the Sahaba deemed his killer to be cursed ) and Abd al-Rahman bin Hasaan ( buried alive for his support of Ali ).

This sort of act is widely regarded as blasphemy and desecration of God's word, and Shia scholars condemn Muawiyah for it, arguing such a practice would today be condemned by Sunni Muslims just as much as Shia Muslims.

Muawiyah I ordered for public curses of Ali and his major supporters including Hasan and Husayn.

Yazid was the Caliph as appointed by his father Muawiyah I and ruled for three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE.

Later he was challenged by Muawiyah I, the governor of Levant and the cousin of Uthman, who refused Ali's demands for allegiance and called for revenge for Uthman.