Just as Muhammad had groomed Ali for ruling the Muslim umma after himself...

Just as Muhammad had groomed Ali for ruling the Muslim umma after himself, Umar groomed Muawiya for the same purpose. Muawiya had heard Umar denouncing the mode of election of Abu Bakr to khilafat as “an unprémeditated affair,” one from the “evil effects” of which God had saved the Muslims. Therefore, when he became khalifa, he gave a burial to the method by which Abu Bakr was elected khalifa.

He abolished the elective systemthus putting an end de jure to the institution which had been deprived of its power de facto by Abu Bakr himself when he designated Umar as his successor instead of leaving the choice of a leader to the Muslim umma . Muawiya demolished the house built by Abu Bakr and Umar in a reversal of ideology. Muawiya's rise to power signalized the spectacular failure of the “Islamic” or rather of the Saqifa democracy.

Charles Yost “Democracy is not a matter of sentiment, but of foresight. Any system that doesn't take the long run into account, will burn itself out in the short run.” (The Age of Triumph and Frustration). The Saqifa democracy didn't take the long run into account, and burned itself out in the short run, and out of its ashes sprang Muawiya the son of Hinda into super-stardom! Just as Abu Bakr had inaugurated the al-Khilafat er-Rashida , Muawiya inaugurated monarchy, and founded a dynasty.

On the ruins of the al-Khilafat er-Rashida , he reared the edifice of the empire of the Umayyads. His political philosophy rested upon long-range, sequential and coherent strategy. Ninety years later, Muawiya's empire folded up. On the debris of his empire, the Abbasis reared the edifice of their empire. Abbasis also inaugurated dynastic rule, and their political philosophy also rested upon long-range, sequential and coherent strategy, and they ushered in the “Golden Age” of the Arabs.

The Golden Age of any nation symbolizes peace and prosperity. The Golden Age of the Arabs might have brought prosperity to some people but it did not necessarily bring peace to the Muslims. Even when the Abbasi power was at its zenith, their empire did not have any real peace. G. E. Von Grunebaum Religion too was the motivation of the uprisings which repeatedly convulsed the Abbasi empire.

Even under the first Abbasids, who held power firmly, not a year passed without rebellion of some kind, large or small. (Classical Islam - A History 600-1258, p. 88, 1970). Warfare inside the Dar-ul-Islam was a norm, and it was expected that wars would take place.