The Islamic Historical Narrative on Plagues

Introducing the narrative on early Islamic plagues that occurred during the Umayyad caliphate throughout the 6^th and 7^th century CE.

With the world currently facing a global epidemic, I thought it would be interesting to revive the historical narrative of outbreaks in early Islamic society. However, when looking at historical narrative, it is essential to be critical of the literary sources provided. As an example, the most literary narrative on early Islamic history was published during the Abbasid caliphate (750 – 1258 CE), when paper imported from the east became mostly available. Meaning, that whatever narrative you read on the Rashidun (632 – 661 CCE) and the Umayyad caliphates (661 -750 CE), know that they are an outcome of a different time. As such, traces of bias, fabrication, or possible misconception is not at all rare in this situation. This article will provide a brief example of challenging the narrative while giving an overview of epidemics during early Islamic society.

Before I delve into the past, I would like first to clarify the terminology used in historical sources. There are two Arabic words present in most sources that define an outbreak or epidemic. The first word is ṭā‘ūn (طاعون) and the second is wabā (وباء). Ṭā‘ūn was used to identify outbreaks which were usually accompanied by the swelling of the lymph nodes, inflammation, and black patches under the skin. With the advent of modern-day science, we were able to discover that such symptoms match a strain of bacteria known as the bubonic bacteria[1]. Thus, ṭā‘ūn is only about a bacterial outbreak, similar to the black death which occurred in the 14^th century. The word ṭā‘ūn is derived from two words, ṭaʿana (طعن: to stab) and jinūn (جنون: a spirit). It is a combination of these two words that victims of ṭā‘ūn used to express their pain as being stabbed by jinn or an unseen spirit due to the symptoms of severe blisters and rashes that would accompany the invisible plague[2].

One the other hand, the word wabā is used as a generic term of an outbreak such as pestilence, or epidemic. While the origin of the word is uncertain, the form of contamination could mean anything from plague to smallpox. Unlike ṭā‘ūn which causes affliction directly to the human body, wabā is also defined as the quickness of death through the corruption of one’s environment or the human body[3]. As such, wabā can encompass various forms of catastrophes such as smallpox, measles, or even droughts and floods. According to medieval Arabic treatises “Every ṭā‘ūn is a wabā, but not every wabā is a ṭā‘ūn”[4]. It is like saying that every plague is an epidemic, but not every epidemic is a plague. If we were to look at Covid-19 as an example, it would be considered a wabā since its neither a bacterial strain nor share similar symptoms.

During the 90-year rule of the Umayyad caliphate (661 CE – 750 CE), there were approximately nineteen ṭawa‘īn, six of which were known as ṭā‘ūn jārif (severe plagues). The table at the end of the article indicates all the various ṭawa‘īn and the year they occurred. One of the most severe epidemics which occurred was ṭā‘ūn al-Basra. That ṭā‘ūn broke out in the city of Basra in 683 CE, which lasted for three days. According to the sources, on each day there were approximately 70,000 deaths, totaling to 210,000 casualties in only three days. Another example is ṭā‘ūn Ibn al-Zubaīr which occurred in the year 688 CE. It’s been recorded that people who survived this ṭā‘ūn have lost up to 40 family members in one day[5].

While the Umayyad caliphate was inflicted with constant plagues throughout its rule, it is interesting to note that outbreaks came at an almost halt right after the accession of the Abbasid caliphate in the year 750 CE. While minor plagues occurred during the Abbasid Caliphate, the region did not experience a severe epidemic until the black death in the 14^th century. One way of explaining this halt in plagues has to do with the exaggeration and possible partialities of history. Catastrophes such as plagues are usually portrayed as a punishment from God. The establishment of the Abbasid caliphate saw an immense decline in plague outbreaks, thus possibly justifying God’s appeasement to them, vis-à-vis the Umayyads who were invariably portrayed as being punished by God. It’s also been found that Abbasid writers such as al-Ṭabarī (d. 923 CE) sometimes exaggerate Umayyad catastrophes to indirectly warn contemporary caliphs not to trail the same mistakes as the previous caliphate[6]. By showing that a certain governor adopted a specific policy which in turn led to a plague outbreak in the same year may indicate an indirect desire to deter contemporary lawmakers from following the same path.

However, regardless of whether nineteen plagues did occur or not, it is without a doubt possible that due to the rapid expansion of the caliphate in its earlier years and exposure to various climates and people, plague outbreaks of this nature were viable. The Umayyad caliphate brought together people and established trade routes from modern-day Iran to the Iberian Peninsula. With the advent of an increasingly interconnected world, it is no surprise that disease and epidemics are only natural to occur more often.

Appendix

Table showing all the plagues I could find from primary sources which occurred during the Umayyad caliphate (661 CE – 750 CE).

* – Severe plague (Ṭā‘ūn jarif)

References

[1] S.J. Borsch, The Black Death in Egypt and England: A Comparative Study (Texas: University of Texas Press, 2005). p. 4.

[2] Lawrence Conrad, “Tāʿūn and Wabāʾ Conceptions of Plague and Pestilence in Early Islam,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 25, no. 3 (1982). p. 274.

[3] Conrad, “Tāʿūn and Wabāʾ Conceptions of Plague and Pestilence in Early Islam.”p. 275

[4] B. Shoshan, “WABA,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Encyclopaedia of Islam (Brill, 2019).

[5] Aḥmad ʻAbd al-Munʻim ʻAdawī, al-Ṭāʻūn fī al-aṣr al-Umawī (Doha, Qatar: Markaz al-ʻArabī lil-Abḥāth wa-Dirāsat al-Siyāsāt, 2018). p. 109.

[6] Steven Judd, “Medieval explanations for the fall of the Umayyads,” Leiden: Brill  (2010). p. 90.