Page:A General Sketch of Political History from the Earlist Times.djvu/146

134 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES subsequently arose a great disruption in the Moslem world, which split into the two sects of the Fatimites or Shiites and Mohammed t ^ ie Sunnites. At the time the prophet's nomina- succeeded by tion, if such it was, was discarded. The suc- Abu Bekr. cessor or kaliph chosen was Abu Bekr, one of Mohammed's earliest converts and most loyal followers. After the capture of Mecca, Arabia in general had declared its adherence to the new prophet. Several new prophets, however, now arose ; and to crush these was the first business of the kaliph and his captain Khaled. This done, the great project was taken up of propagating the faith by the sword. The Moslem principle was simple. It offered three alternatives : conversion, tribute, or battle. Abu Bekr himself Omar. lived only two years longer, but he had already secured the succession to Omar, who may perhaps be called the real hero of Islam. While Mohammed was establishing himself in Arabia, the Emperor Heraclius had been hurling back the advance of the Persians. It was against Persia that Omar directed his first energies. After a fierce contest the Persian Yesdigerd was driven from the throne, and the Saracen or Arabian dominion Advance of was carried far beyond the Tigris. Heraclius islam. could not repeat the great effort which had routed the Persians, and Syria was absorbed piecemeal. Egypt was no better able than Syria to resist the conquerors. At the close of 641 it was in effect conquered when the great city of Alexandria fell, to be replaced as the capital of Egypt by a new city which we know as Cairo. These astonishing successes were mainly due to the great organising abilities of Omar, who left the fighting to his subordinates, while he built up the structure of the new empire. But when Omar died dissensions arose. The arms of the Saracens met with continued success as they advanced in Africa, thrust into Asia Minor, and established a fleet in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, the new kaliph, an old man, made himself extremely unpopular with the rigid group of Mohammed's original followers by putting forward a revision of the Koran, the sacred book of the Mohammedan doctrine.