Third Fitna (Saracen Jihad)

The Third Fitna was a period of instability and war in the Umayyad Caliphate, which included the many Umayyad civil wars and the larger Abassid Revolt, which would later lead to the collapse of the Umayyads as rulers of the Muslim Caliphate. Roughly occurring between 744–750/752, the Third Fitna was marked with a series of turbulent successions and crises as Umayyad rulers fought against each other, and against rebel factions and rival families, including the Abassids. Beginning with the death of Caliph Hisham in 747, the period would not end until the overthrowing of the Umayyads by the Abbasids.