Umayyad dynasty. (part III of the Grand Mosque of Damascus)

The period concerning us is 661 – 750. But before going directly to this period it will be worthwhile to know in short the history of Islam empires till Umayyad.

After the death of Mohammed Islam was ruled by four men called the Rightly Guided Caliphs or the righteous Caliphs. It was after the murder of the last of these Caliphs that Islam started to move in various directions
After the prophet Mohammed, the next Caliph was Abu Bakar (Mohammed's Father-in-law) (573-634) the next was Umar (634-644), Uthman (644-656), and the last Rightly Guided Caliph Ali (Mohammed's Son-in-law) (656-661).
The death of Ali split Islam into two directions, the son of Ali, Husayn guided Muslims under the premise that the leader of Islam must be a blood descendent of Ali, who was Mohammed's family. These people are seen today as Shiite Muslims. The other leader was Mu'awiyah, he was the first leader of the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750). According to Philip Khuri Hitti, scholar of Islam, Mu'awiyah’s Islam was considered of convenience rather than conviction.  These people are called Sunni because they believe any Muslim can lead the faith.
Mayyad dynasty ist he first great Muslim dynasty, who were not closely related to Mohammed, to rule the Empire of the Caliphate (ad 661–750). Umayyad rule was divided between two branches of the family: the Sufyānid (reigned 661–684), descendants of Abū Sufyān, and the Marwanid (reigned 684–750), Marwān I and his successors.