Islam
known as Sunnis. A minority disagreed, and believed that Ali was the only rightful successor;
they became known as the Shi'a. After Mu'awiyah's death in 680, conflict over succession
broke out again in a civil war known as the "Second Fitna". Afterward, the Umayyad dynasty
prevailed for seventy years, and was able to conquer the Maghrib and AlAndalus (the
Iberian Peninsula, former Visigothic Hispania) and the Narbonnese Gaul} in the west as well
as expand Muslim territory into Sindh and the fringes of Central Asia. While the MuslimArab
elite engaged in conquest, some devout Muslims began to question the piety of indulgence in
a worldly life, emphasizing rather poverty, humility and avoidance of sin based on
renunciation of bodily desires. Devout Muslim ascetic exemplars such as Hasan alBasri
would inspire a movement that would evolve into Sufism.
annaabi.ee 
