Brief History: 661-1258

The Umayyad Dynasty was the first great Muslim dynasty to rule the empire, Saudi Arabia included, during the time period of 661-750. Abu-Sufyan was the leader of the Umayyads, , he and his tribe had iniitally rejected Islam, later converting around 627. He and his family became active administrative members under Muhammad and his successors. After the murder of Uthman who was the third caliph there emerged a struggle for power. Muawiyah gained success over Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, and named himself the first Umayyad Caliph. This is what ultimately led to the split in Islam between the Sunni and the Shi'ite. The Umayyad Dynasty went on to conquer other countries, but eventually fell as most dyanasties do, around 750. With their collapse, the Abbasid dynasty went on to continue their religion and maintenance of their Holy City

Citation: ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. "http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/613719/Umayyad-dynasty" (accessed on June 1st, 2009)