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ISLAMIC EMPIRE and DISINTEGRATION (3 of 5)

Umar II changed the policy of previous caliphs and sought to put the empire on a Muslim rather than a strictly Arab basis. He accepted the fundamental equality of all Muslims, Arab and non-Arab and promulgted new laws to that end.

Many Arabs themselves had been changing from a tribal and clan orientation to a more urban or cosmopolitan outlook. They were mingling with non-Arabs. Arabs in what had been conquered territories were abandoning their old role as occupation soldiers and taking civilian occupation while those who had converted to Islam were adopting the Arab language. That how it was in what had been garrison centers now becoming cities, while elsewhere in the Muslim empire populations remained bound to their ancient heritages.

Umar II, meanwhile, wanted peace. He withdrew Islam's forces from around Constantinople. He discouraged raids against peaceful nations and made peace with all he could. He believed that he and other Arab leaders should live up to Islamic ideals. He disbanded his harem and began practicing frugality. Umar tried to address economic grievances. He made his wife give her jewelry to the public treasury. He supported assimilation between Muslim Arabs and those from conquered lands who had converted to Islam, believing that Islam should bind the empire together. And he attempted reconciliation with the Shia .

His fervor for Islam and his new policy of integration had a downside for Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians who had not converted to Islam. He urged them to convert despite the loss this would be in tax revenues. And those who would not convert he left with restrictions. Christians and Jews would not be allowed to hold public office. They were to be prohibited from wearing turbans and would be required to wear clothing that identified them as Christians or Jews. They could ride only packhorses and had to ride without a saddle. They could erect no new places of worship. And Jews were ordered to cut their forelocks.