The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
The Qur’an —The Prophet’s Miracle
~ 76 ~
The fall of the Umayyad dynasty in the second
century Hijrah posed a great threat to the Arabic
language. The Umayyads had been a purely Arab
dynasty. Strong supporters of Arab nationalism,
they took their promotion of Arabic literature and
language almost to the point of partiality. Their
capital was situated in Damascus, in the Arab
heartland. In their time, both the military and the
civil administration were controlled by Arabs. Now
the Abbasids took over the reins of power. Since it
was Iranian support that had brought the caliphate
to the Abbasids, it was inevitable that the Iranians
should maintain a strong influence on their
administration. This influence led to the capital
being moved to Baghdad, on the threshold of
Persia. The Abbasids gave the Iranians a free hand
in affairs of government, but looked down on the
Arabs and their civilization, and made conscious
efforts to weaken them, unlike the Umayyads who
had always preferred Arabs for high posts. With the
wane of pro-Arab favouritism, Iranians, Turks,
Syrians, Byzantine and Berber elements were able to
gain control over all affairs of society and state.
Marriages between Arabs and non-Arabs became
commonplace. With the mixing of Aryan and
