Al-Ula continued in the Caliphs era as mere transit area for the Islamic armies heading for the North as a source of supplies and equipments. The Kharaj (tribute on land) of its palms and crops provided to the Central Bank in Madinah like Khaibar, Tayma, Fedek and other tribes. In 661 AD, It became under Muawiya ibn Abi Safian (may Allah be pleased with him) rule when the headquarters of the Islamic caliphate was moved from Madinah to Damascus. It continued playing its role as a mere transit point for convoys and troops and as a mail route among Damascus, Madinah, Makkah and Yemen. Al-Ula has also become the service center for pilgrims coming from the Levant, Egypt and new Islamic countries.

The most important historical events in that era in general and in 686 AD in particular was Sulaiman ibn Abdul Malik’s pilgrimage to Makkah taking with him Musa bin Nusair who was exceeded eighty years old and died on the way to Makkah. The death occurred in Al-Ula where he was buried in the vicinity of a mountain that still bears his name. On the top of this mountain, there is an Islamic ancient castle called “Umm Nasser Castle”. Sources indicate that Al-Ula and Al-Qura Valley became notorious in the era of the Ommawiya Caliphate of its many poets and singers including Hakam Al Wadi, Makin El-Athary, Ibn Al-Mawla, Ibn Aisha and many others.

In 767 AD, Al-Ula became under Abbasiya Caliphate when the capital relocated from Damascus to Baghdad. It continued to play its role as a center for convoys of pilgrims, mail and armies heading for Madinah, Makkah and Yemen. Al-Ula did not have any significant role in making significant events during the Abbasiyan State that lasted until 1162 AD i.e. 395 years approximately. That period witnessed various conditions ranging between stability, economic, political prosperity, negligence and political turmoil. At the end of the rule of the Abbasids where in the absence of State authority, life returned to the community of the tribe and clan until the beginning of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1165 AD when the entire Arabian Peninsula and other Muslim countries were subject to the authority of the Ottoman Caliphate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Al-Ula enjoyed Ottoman State care where regular schools, Sharia Court, municipality and gendarmerie (police) were established. The old town was formed early in that era when Al-Ula witnessed the most important events in its history after a long lethargy i.e. the establishment of Hejaz Railway Station in the era of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Unfortunately, that great project was at the end of the Ottoman Empire, which continued almost 800 years. The First World War started and the Ottoman State divided into small states and Al-Ula was subject during that period to the rule of Rashid Dynasty that was loyal to the Ottomans.

Nearly 1914, Sharif Hussein announced himself as sultanate over Hejaz and Makkah. Al-Ula was under the rule of Al-Ashraf with the assistance of British, Lawrence of Arabs. Their rule of Al-Ula lasted for nearly ten years. Al-Ula in that time was populated-farmland town that had its economic weight. It was rank after Makkah and Madinah in terms of economics, population and importance in Hejaz region. Then, it was subject to the Saudi rule in 1924 after Madinah and areas around it.

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