The Structure of Daʿva, as the Means to Convey the Message

The discriminative policies of the Umayyads paved the way for social changes in Islamic territories. Their deterministic and monopolistic ideas were not acceptable to Islamic communities made up of diverse cultural and intellectual groups. Instead, they provided the ground for the reproduction of opposing structures and creating fundamental changes.

Even though the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate was formed in response to widespread protests against the Umayyad Caliphate structure, its character was linked to the Umayyad Caliphate with the reproduction of its existing structures. The ʿAbbāsid use of already existing resources in the political structure of Islam and its invitation to agents who had been restricted during the Umayyad period but who were able to alter the power structure provided the ground for the formation of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate. In their effort to gain power, the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate ultimately marked an important chapter in Iran's social change.

The ʿAbbāsids were not the only opponents of the Umayyads nor the sole claimants of power. The Khārejis, ʿAlawites, and ahl-e zemme (non-Muslims who lived under Muslim leadership) who had already paid a heavy price for a change in the power structure, comprised the other main groups of Umayyad opponents. However, the ʿAbbāsids, with a deliberate plan, used the structural resources of the opponents of the Umayyads only when the Umayyads were about to collapse.