Khawarij
A brief of the situation in Khorasan
has been given above. We will now discuss the Khawarij factor. They observed
the civil wars and weaknesses in Islamic territories and used these situations
to assist them in their revolt. The Khawarij of Khorasan chose Dhahak bin Qais
Shebani as their leader. Dhahak attacked Kufa and occupied it and Abdullah bin
Umar bin Abdul Aziz had to retreat from Kufa and go to Wasit. Sulaiman bin
Hisham, defeated by Marwan bin Mohammad, joined Dhahak bin Qais. That of course
added to Dhahak's overall strength. Dhahak then invaded Mosil. There Marwan bin
Mohammad’s son, Abdullah bin Marwan, faced him with only 7000 soldiers while
Dhahak had one hundred thousand fighters, and with this army he surrounded
Abdullah bin Marwan. Marwan, Abdullah's father received this information and
turned his attention to his son's predicament. After a fierce battle, Dhahak
was killed and the Khawarij chose Sayeed bin Bahdal as their leader but he was
also killed. Then they made Sheban bin Abdul Aziz their new leader. Marwan sent
Yazid bin Hubaira towards Kufa. He went there and turned out all the Khawarij
from that city. On the other side, Sheban bin Abdul Aziz, taking all the Khawarij
with him, went towards Iran. There he joined Abu Muslim as has been mentioned
above and was killed in 130 A.H. The Hijaz, Yemen and Hadramawt (ancient South
Arabian kingdom that occupied what are now southern and southeastern Yemen and
part of the present-day Sultanate of Oman) also saw rebellions and Abu Hamza
Mukhtar bin Auf Azdi raised the flag of rebellion and Abdullah bin Yahya, the
ruler of Hadramawt joined him. Abu Hamza first captured Madinah and then moved
towards Syria, Marwan bin Mohammad deputed Ibn Atya Sadi to confront him and
they met at Wadi Qura. Abu Hamza was killed in the battle. Ibn Atya then
proceeded to Yemen and confronted Abdullah bin Yahya who was ready to face him
a battle ensued and it resulted in Abdullah bin Yahya's death. Ibn Atya cut off
his head and sent it to Marwan. At the time Marwan bin Mohammad was at war with
Dhahak Khwarji near Mosil, a letter written by Imam Ibrahim and addressed to
Abu Muslim Khorasani was intercepted and given to Marwan. It contained
instructions that included, "Don't spare even a single Arab or a
descendent of an Arab. The natives of Khorasan who have embraced Islam will
stand us in good stead. We should rely on them more". The letter also
revealed that Banu Abbas had spread the net of conspiracy against Banu Umayyah
for quite a long time and Imam Ibrahim whose center of operations was at Hamima
in Balqa was the engineer of these plots.
Marwan bin Mohammad after reading
the letter ordered his ruler in Balqa to arrest Imam Ibrahim and send him to
the caliph. So, Imam Ibrahim bin Mohammad along with several members of his
family was caught and sent to caliph Marwan as captives. They were put in jail
at Harran. Along with Imam Ibrahim Sayeed bin Hisham bin Abdul Malik and his
two sons, Uthman and Marwan, Abbas bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik, Abdullah bin
Umar bin Abdul Aziz and Abu Muhammad Sufyani were also imprisoned. In a matter
of days an epidemic broke out in Harran and Imam Ibrahim, Abbas bin Waleed and
Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz died from the disease.
Sayeed bin Hisham along with the
other prisoners killed the jailer, broke open the jail door and escaped. The
inhabitants of Harran caught the escaping prisoners and killed them. Abu
Mohammed Sufyani did not escape from jail with the others. He was released by
Marwan bin Mohammad after he returned defeated from Zab river battle. Imam
Ibrahim left his will at the time of his arrest and imprisonment that after his
death his brother Abdullah bin Mohammad, popularly known as Abus Abbas Saffah
would be his successor. He also willed that Abul Abbas Saffah should not stay
in Balqa but in Kufa. Imam Ibrahim, before his arrest, had directed that Abu
Muslim Khorasani should be as their officer to comply with this order and then
Imam Ibrahim sent Qahtaba bin Shabeeb to Abu Muslim with a black flag to revolt
and capture Khorasan. Abdullah bin Mohammad Saffah along with his family
settled in Kufa in accordance with the will of his brother.
Abu Muslim brought under his control
the whole of Khorasan between 130 A.H. and 131 A.H. Then he sent Qahtaba bin
Shabeeb with an army towards Kufa. Kufa was captured and then the oath at the
hand of Abul Abbas Saffah Abdullah bin Mohammad followed. Upon receiving this
news Marwan bin Mohammad left Harran with 120,000 warriors and marched towards
Kufa. The confrontation between his army and Saffah's army under the command of
his uncle Abdullah bin Ali took place adjacent to the Zab River. If Marwan bin
Mohammad's army had the desire to fight, it could have easily defeated Abul Abbas
Saffah's army. However in the midst of the battle at the point that Marwan had
forced the greater portion of Abdullah bin Ali’s army into retreat and there
was no doubt left that Marwan would be victorious, the greater portion of
Marwan's army refused to attack and continue the fight as if their purpose was
to cause his defeat.
Abdullah bin Ali, finding himself on
the verge of defeat and deciding to risk everything, attacked with a selected
group of men. None of Marwan's leaders came forward to meet this last desperate
challenge. Marwan tempted them with rewards and special favors but without
response. Then he poured all his treasure on to the battlefield and told them
to attack and after killing the weakened enemies, they could distribute it
among themselves. The army failed to follow his orders and became engrossed in
looting the exposed valuables and even those few who were still fighting left
the battle and also began looting. Shocked at this disorder and chaos Marwan
sent his son, Abdullah to stop the looting. As soon he reached where they were
looting the treasure, they began to flee and left Marwan with only a few
persons. Marwan was disillusioned with the disloyalty and disobedience of his
army and escaped. He arrived in Mousil where the people taunted him for his
defeat. He realized the futility of staying there and went to Harran where his
nephew Abbas bin Yazid bin Mohammad was the Governor. Marwan was defeated on
Saturday 11 Jamad-al-Thani 132 A.H. along side of the Zab River. He had stayed
at Harran for 20 days when he heard of Abdullah bin Ali’s approach and he
immediately left for Hims. When Abdullah bin Ali reached Harran, its Governor
Abbas came out in black clothes and holding a black flag to receive him and
took the oath for Saffah’s caliphate at his hands. Abdullah bin Ali granted him
pardon. When Marwan reached Hims, the citizens at first showed their obedience
and respect but when they realized his military weakness, they prepared to
revolt and fight him. Marwan left Hims after three days. The citizens of Hims
wanted to rob him of his valuables. Marwan first tried to argue with them and
make them see reason but they did not give up their attempts to overpower him
and he fought with them and made them withdraw.
From Hims Marwan went to Damascus.
Its governor was his cousin Waleed bin Muawiya bin Marwan bin Hakarn. He did
not stay there he only induced the governor to fight against the opponents of
Banu Umayyah, he went to Palestine and stayed there hoping to lead a life of
silence and retirement.
In Harran Abdullah bin Ali, after
pulling down the jail where Ibrahim bin Mohammad had been in captivity, moved
towards Damascus. On the way his brother Abdus Samad bin Ali whom Saffah had
sent to help him with a body of 8000 soldiers, arrived. Then he, after taking
the oath from the people of Harran, went to Damascus via Qansareen and Balbak
and laid siege to it. After a short siege he entered Damascus on Wednesday 5
Ramadan 132 A.H. by force and blood flowed in its streets.
Its governor Waleed bin Muawiya was
killed in the confrontation. After the massacre and victory Abdullah bin Ali
stayed there for 15 days and then went to Palestine. He had just arrived at the
Palestine border when he received a letter from Abdullah bin Saffah asking him
to send his brother Saleh bin Ali in pursuit of Marwan. Marwan left Palestine
and went to Arish (town in the northeastern section of the Sinai Peninsula),
then to the Nile River and then to Said. Saleh continued the pursuit and camped
at Fustat (this was the earliest Arab settlement in Egypt south of modern
Cairo) from there he sent a division of his army in search of Marwan. By
chance, Saleh’s soldiers came across Marwan's cavalry.
Marwan’s horsemen were already in
low spirits and frustrated they did not fight and fled away and a few of them
were also captured. When they were interrogated, they revealed Marwan's
location, informing them that he was at Boseer. The officer of Saleh's division
Abu Aun thought it best to launch a night attack on Marwan for he knew that to
face him would not be easy and they attacked as planned. Surprised at the
sudden attack, Marwan came out of his house. A soldier was laying in wait for
him attacked him with a spear. He fell down and one of his men said, "The
Amir al-Muminin is dead." Hearing it Abu Aun and his men rushed to him and
cut off his head and sent it to Abul Abbas Abdullah Saffah.
This occurred on 28 Dhul Hijjah 132
A.H. corresponding to 5 August 750 AD and with it came to end the Caliphate of
Banu Umayyah and began the Caliphate of Banu Abbas. Following Marwan's death
his sons Abdullah and Obaidullah, fled to Ethiopia. The Africans did not grant
them safe passage and they killed Obaidullah and Abdullah escaped to Palestine
and began to live there in hiding. During the Caliphate of Mahdi, the governor
of Palestine arrested him and sent him to the court of Mahdi and he put him
into prison.
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