How did the Umayyads govern Arabia from Damascus?

The Umayyad caliphs, who ruled their vast empire from Damascus, governed the Arabian Peninsula by appointing governors to oversee three primary regions: the Hejaz, Yemen, and Oman. While the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina remained the spiritual capitals of Islam, they were no longer the political center of the empire under Umayyad rule.1

To maintain control, the Umayyads occasionally designated other areas, such as Bahrain, Al-Ḥasā, and Najd, as regional centers of power. Their administration was characterized by a firm, sometimes harsh, approach to dissent. For instance, when a rival claimant to the caliphate, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, established himself in the Hejaz, the Umayyads responded with military force, besieging Mecca and capturing Medina to suppress the rebellion.1

Despite these political tensions, the Umayyads invested in the region by developing irrigation in the Hejaz and lavishly supporting and rebuilding the Holy Cities, including the mosque in Medina. Ultimately, however, the unity that early Islam had brought to the peninsula was challenged by the rise of sectarian divisions and tribal rivalries that eventually contributed to the dynasty's collapse in 750.1