Muhallab's Death and His Will
Muhallab was shocked at his son
Mughira's death. He did not live long after he arrived back in Merv. In the
later months of 82 A.H., he died of a disease in Merv. His valor, good nature
and loyalty were well known. His character was never involved in a breach of
trust, disloyalty or rebellion. He thought it essential to obey and comply with
the orders of the Amir of the time. At the time of his death he made his son
Yazid the Governor of Khorasan and the other son the Imam (leader) of the Salat
(prayer). He called all his sons to him and exhorted them saying:
"I want you to fear Allâh and
treat your relatives kindly, for these acts prolong life, increase wealth and
offspring. I warn you against giving up the fear of Allâh and kind treatment
for their renunciation leads to Hell, causes disgrace and decreases offspring.
It is compulsory for you to obey the Amir and agree with the Muslims. It is
fitting that your actions be better than your words. Avoid answering
impulsively and safeguard your tongue from a slip, for a man can controls the
slip of the feet but the slip of the tongue ruins him. Give the people their
dues because this just and equitable action is better than sitting and
gossiping in the morning and in the evening and talking uselessly. Don't be
deceived by flatterers, prefer generosity to miserliness, revive goodness and try
to do good, be active and alert in war and for this valor is necessary. When
there is a confrontation, destiny or death falls from heaven. If the man is
prepared to act and acts cleverly, he achieves success. If he gets nervous, he
fails but Allâh's Order dominates all. Make the recitation and learning of the
Qur'ân, the application of the 'Sunnah', and respect for the pious compulsory
for yourself. Avoid talking unnecessarily at meetings."
Hajjaj
bin Yusuf and Abdur Rahman bin Mohammad
It has been mentioned above that in
78 A.H., Hajjaj had deputed Muhallab and Obaidullah bin Abi Bakra as governors
of Khorasan, and Sajistan and Sindh respectively. Sindh and Sajistan had
continuously been under attack by the Hindus from the east and by the Turks and
the Mongols from the north. Hence, Hajjaj gave Hamyan bin Adi an active, agile
and well-armed division of an army and stationed them at Kerman (city,
provincial capital, and province in southeastern Iran) with the instructions to
help the Governors of Sajistan and Sindh when needed. Obaidullah bin Abi Bakra
arrived in his province and became busy with its affairs. Hamyan bin Adi,
seeing a big army under his command at Kerman, rebelled and instead of helping
Obaidullah, started attacking his province. When informed, Hajjaj sent Abdur
Rahman bin Mohammad bin Ash'ath to discipline Hamyan bin Adi. Abdur Rahman
defeated and drove him away and after staying for a few days at Kerman
returned. It has been mentioned above that the king of Turkistan named Ratbeel
had made peace with the Muslims by promising them to pay taxes. When Obaidullah
came, he continued to pay him the taxes but then prepared to rebel against him.
Ratbeel controlled Badakhshan, Kafiristan and Afghanistan up to Tibet.
Obaidullah invaded his territory. He fled and lured Obaidullah into following
him and took him to a place where the journey was very arduous. Finally, the
Muslims were surrounded inside the passes of a very mountainous area. Many were
killed. Shuraih bin Hani was also killed there. Those who returned, were in a
very miserable condition. When Hajjaj was informed of the destruction of the
army, he reported to Abdul Malik and sought his permission to invade Ratbeel's
territory. Abdul Malik granted the permission and Hajjaj took twenty thousand men
from Kufa and twenty thousand infantry from Basra and made Abdur Rahman bin
Mohammad bin Ash'ath the commander of these veteran armies. Meanwhile news
arrived of the death of Obaidullah bin Abi Bakra in Sajistan.
Hajjaj granted Abdur Rahman
credentials and a certificate of Governorship of Sajistan and sent him to
invade Ratbeel's territory When Abdur Rahman arrived there with the Islamic
forces and Ratbeel was informed of it, Ratbeel was extremely nervous but could
do nothing about it. Abdur Rahman began to conquer his country and took care to
depute guards near passes and valleys as he moved forward. In short, he
conquered half of his country and postponed a further advance until the
following year. He informed Hajjaj of the victory by letter and also told him
that the rest of the country remained to be conquered which would be done the
following year so that he could consolidate his position and manage the affairs
of the conquered territory efficiently and the army could also be refreshed.
Hajjaj was very angry when he read
the letter. He at once ordered him to continue his advance, slay Ratbeel's
soldiers in captivity and pull down their forts. He had written a second and
third letter of the same content before the first one reached him. In the third
letter he said: "If you obey my order, good; if you disobey, deem yourself
dismissed and your brother Ishaq bin Mohammad bin Ash'ath will be the commander
of the army." Those three orders reached Abdur Rahman one after another.
Abdur Rahman read them and called the army together and made the following
speech:
"I had decided our present
strategy after consulting you that we would manage the conquered territories of
the Turks and after fortifying ourselves and completing the required
preparations, we would conquer the rest of the territory the following year.
However, Hajjaj writes to us to fight with them without making any further
delay. He does not care for your fatigue and the necessity of your
recuperation. This is the same country where our brothers were destroyed. I am
also your brother and a man like you. If you are ready, fight and move forward.
I am also with you."
Hearing the speech, all the Kufans
and Basraites flew into a rage and said in one voice, "We won't obey
Hajjaj." All bin Wasia said, "Hajjaj is Allâh's enemy. Dismiss him
and take the oath with Abdur Rahman bin Ash'ath bin Rabia." All
unanimously cried out, "Yes, yes. We all agree to it." Abdur Rahman
stood up and asked them, "Let us go and turn Allâh's enemy Hajjaj out of
our city." Hearing it, all rushed to take the oath at his hands and all
took a pledge that they would not rest until Hajjaj was expelled from Iraq. At
that same time, Abdur Rahman sent word to Ratbeel and an agreement for peace
was at once signed on the condition that if they succeeded in the expulsion of
Hajjaj, all taxes on Ratbeel's territory would be excused. If Hajjaj won,
Ratbeel would prevent Hajjaj's soldiers from entering his country and fight
against him.
The army therefore left the
conquered territory and returned to Iraq. When Hajjaj was informed about it, he
wrote to Abdul Malik about the gravity of the situation and requested him to
send an army to help him. Abdul Malik did accordingly. When Muhallab came to
know the details, he wrote to Hajjaj in support: "Let the Iraqis return
home but for the time don't do anything with them in the least."
Hajjaj did not appreciate his
advice; he actually came to harbor an ill feeling against the Iraqis in his
heart. He misunderstood Muhallab and Hajjaj felt that Muhallab being the
governor of Khorasan, might also have been their adviser and was sympathetic to
them. When Abdul Malik's army arrived, Hajjaj took it and moved beyond Basra,
and arrived at Tustar (in Khuzestan, an Iranian province at the top of the
Arabian Gulf) and sent ahead a division. Abdur Rahman had also come nearer. His
soldiers defeated and routed Hajjaj's soldiers and put a good number of them to
death.
Thus compelled Hajjaj returned to
Basra and turned to a place named Zawia. Abdur Rahman entered Basra directly.
The Basraites took the oath at his hands. Hajjaj recalled Muhallab's advice and
then realized that what he had written was quite right. The Basraites were sick
of Hajjaj's strictness and all were bent on annulling Abdul Malik's caliphate
and fighting with Hajjaj.
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