Succession
of Waleed and Sulaiman
Abdul Malik remained engrossed in
the thought of how to dismiss his brother Abdul Aziz from being the heir
apparent and install his own sons in his place. The task was not simple because
there was always the risk of inviting opposition from the people at large. When
he received the news of Abdul Aziz's death, Abdul Malik found an easy
opportunity to see his wish fulfilled. In Ramadan 86 A.H. therefore, he issued
commands to all his Governors and Administrators of the Provinces to take the
oath for Waleed and Sulaiman on the night of Eid ul Fitr (the holiday following
the fasting of Ramadan), that being the first day of Shawwal. The oath was
taken on the fixed day in all the territories for the succession of both Waleed
and Sulaiman.
The administrator of Madinah was
Hisham bin Ismail Makhzumi. When he asked the inhabitants of Madinah to take
the oath, all obeyed but Sayeed bin Musayyib refused. Hisham had him caught and
lashed, and after he took him in publicity, threw him into prison. When Abdul
Malik found out about it, he wrote Hisham a letter saying: "You have
committed a mistake in dealing harshly with Sayeed bin Musayyib, because the
latter harbors neither animosity nor opposition nor hypocrisy. Such a person
should not have been hurt."
The
Death of Abdul Malik bin Marwan
After taking the oath for Waleed and
Sulaiman, Abdul Malik did not live more than a month. He died of a disease on
Thursday the 15th of Shawwal 85 A.H. corresponding to 19 October 705 A.C. Abdul
Malik lived for 13 years 3 months and 23 days following Abdullah bin Zubair's
martyrdom and that was the period of his caliphate. At the time of his death,
he called his sons and exhorted them saying: "I want you to keep fearing
Allâh for it is the fear of Allâh that is the best adornment and the best
refuge. Your elders ought to have affection for the youth and the youth should
respect the elders. Always honor the opinion and counsel of the Muslims and
avoid opposition because these are the jaws with which you chew and these are
the teeth with which you bite. Accommodate the wise for they deserve it."
Then he mentioned things, which have
been recorded before in the introductory chapter on Abdul Malik. After that, he
breathed his last. Then the people took the oath at Waleed bin Abdul Malik's
hands. Abdul Malik had 15 or 16 sons and several daughters. Among his wives
were the daughters of Yazid bin Muawiya, the daughter of Ali (رضي الله عنه) and the daughter of Abdullah bin Jafar (رضي الله عنه). Waleed and Sulaiman were born of Walada
bint Abbas.
Summary
Abdul Malik bin Marwan was one of
the most famous and fortunate caliphs of the Banu Umayyah. He succeeded in the
amalgaMotion of the entire Islamic world with a strong center. He removed the
dissention that was created following Uthman's martyrdom and re-established the
Islamic government. He adopted stern and violent measures to do this work and
in the way of an excuse, he used to say: "If Abu Bakr Siddiq (رضي الله عنه) and Umar bin Khatab (رضي الله عنه) had to face such ignorant and headstrong
people, they would have done what I have done." Abdul Malik made the
government of Banu Umayyah firmly rooted, which had become quite uncertain and
weak.
Abdul Malik combined in his nature
strictness, wisdom and truthfulness. We have to appreciate his courage and
determination. The major blunder he committed was that he gave Hajjaj more
power and authority than he deserved and Hajjaj employed his tyrannical
measures to the full. But such an error is possible to be committed by a ruler
who wants his government to be firmly established and stabilized.
It was Obaidullah bin Zeyad, Hajjaj
bin Yusuf Thaqfi and Muhallab bin Abi Sofra who were responsible for the series
of successes of Abdul Malik. During his regime, the Muslims conquered many
countries and their bickering and internal conflicts vanished one by one. On
the basis of his achievements during his 13 year long caliphate, he is regarded
as one of the most popular and successful caliphs. He was also a grand and
powerful caliph. He ranks high in respect of knowledge and virtue. From the
viewpoint of valor and military skill, he is counted as one of the brave and
well-known generals. At the juncture of his death, we have come out of a
tempestuous age and entered one that may be characterized as peaceful and
serene.
Waleed
bin Abdul Malik
Abul Abbas Waleed bin Abdul Malik
bin Marwan was born in 50 A.H. and at the age of 36, following his father’s
death, he sat on the throne as caliph. Since he was brought up in a pampered
way, he was deficient in studies and lacked knowledge and virtue. After the
funeral of his father he went to Central Mosque and delivered a sermon saying:
"O people! No one can push the
man into the rear that Allâh pushes to the forefront and no one can push the
man to the forefront that Allâh pushes into the rear. Death was in the ancient
knowledge of Allâh which He has made inevitable for all the prophets and the
righteous, Allâh has made the responsible of this "Ummah" (community)
a man who makes up his mind to discipline the criminals treat the men of virtue
and righteousness mildly and maintain the limits of the Shariah (system of
Islamic law). He has a mind to perform Hajj, declare Jihad (literally:
struggle; In Islam it means fighting or struggling in the way of Allah) on the
borders and to keep attacking the enemies of the religion. He wants neither to
be lazy nor to exceed the limits in this matter. O people obey the caliph and
maintain unity among the Muslims. The man who disobeys will see his head broken
and he who keeps silent will die of his own disease".
The people then took 'bai'yat', (the
oath of allegiance) for the caliphate at his hands. After he became the caliph,
he maintained the status quo by retaining Hajjaj in a place of authority.
Hajjaj appointed Qutaiba bin Muslim Bahli, the Administrator of Rayy, as the
Governor of Khorasan in place of Mofaddal bin Muhallab. Qutaiba bin Muslim
conquered the territories up to China and Turkistan. In the west Musa bin
Nusayr, the Governor of Africa, extended the Islamic conquest through Morocco
into Spain. Waleed’s brother Maslama bin Abdul Malik won many cities and forts
from the Romans.
Mohammed bin Qasim bin Thaqfi who
was Hajjaj’s nephew and son-in-law conquered the Sindh and India. Waleed
appointed his cousin Umar bin Abdul Aziz the Governor of Madinah Munawwara. He
had the Mosque of the Prophet reconstructed under Umar bin Abdul Aziz’s
supervision. He incorporated the Prophet’s wives' rooms into the mosque and
expanded it. The Roman Emperor also sent precious stones and experienced masons
as gifts to Waleed. Waleed did a significant amount of welfare work. He built
new roads, opened new schools in villages and towns, constructed inns, dug wells,
started hospitals and made arrangements for peace and security of the
travelers. Madinah lacked a canal so he had one dug and thus removed the
suffering of Madinah. He started homes for the destitute. He cared very much
for redressing the public grievances and providing them relief of all kinds.
During his regime the chain of conquests continued. No internal feud or
rebellion worth mentioning broke out. The series of victories reminded the
people of the days of Umar bin Khatab (رضي الله عنه).
Waleed fixed the allowance for the poor Fuqaha (plural of faqih: man learned in
knowledge of the science of applying the system of Islamic law known as fiqh,
and by virtue of his knowledge can give a legal judgment, fatwa) and Ulama
(plural of Alim, a scholar, particularly in the sciences of Islam) so high that
they became well off and happy. He introduced useful rules and regulations for
the welfare of the people. Waleed dismissed Hisham bin Ismail Makhzumi and
appointed Umar bin Abdul Aziz the Governor of Madinah. Immediately after taking
office, Umar bin Abdul Aziz selected ten scholars from among the fuqaha of
Madinah. He began to execute the duties of governor in accordance with the
counsel and advice of the consultative body he formed known as the Majlis
as-Shoora consisting of the ten selected scholars. By allowing the members of
the Majlis as-Shoora to share in the government he set such an excellent
example for the other government officials that the people of Madinah wrote
letters of thanks and blessing to Waleed for appointing Umar bin Abdul Aziz as
Governor.
It was after Waleed bin Abdul
Malik's succession to the throne that Hajjaj accused Yazid bin Muhallab and his
brothers of embezzling. In 87 A.H., Maslama bin Abdul Malik attacked the Roman
lands via Masisa and captured the forts of Laulaq, Akhram, Bules and Qamiqam.
In 88 A.H., Jarsumah and Tawanah were conquered. In 89 A.H., Maslama bin Abdul
Malik and Abbas bin Waleed invaded Roman territory. A massive Roman army faced
them but the Muslims defeated it on all fronts and forced them to retreat. The
Muslims conquered the forts of Soriya, Ardoliya, Omuriya, Harqula, and
Qamruliya. That same year Maslama bin Abdul Malik invaded the Turks near
Azerbaijan and conquered many forts and cities. In the same year the islands of
Mayorca and Minorca in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain were also
taken into possession. In 90 A.H., Abbas bin Waleed captured five strong forts
in the territories of Soriya.
In 91 A.H., Waleed dismissed his
uncle Mohammed bin Marwan from the governorship of Jazirah (Island: The region
lies between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and is bounded on the south by a
line running between Takrit and Anbar. It is the northern reaches of
Mesopotamia, now making up part of northern Iraq and extending into eastern
Turkey and extreme northeastern Syria) and Armenia and deputed his own brother
Maslama bin Abdul Malik instead. The Muslims declared a jihad on the Turks
through Azerbaijan and continued to conquer territory up to Babol (northern
Caspian Sea). That year the forts of Nasf, Kush and Shoman were conquered by
the Muslims.
In 92 A.H., Maslama bin Abdul Malik
conquered three forts and banished the inhabitants of Sarsina to Roman
territory. That same year Debal was conquered in Sindh. The same year also saw
the conquest of Karkh, Barham, Baja, Baiza, Khawarzim and Sabad.
In 93 A.H., Maslama bin Abdul Malik
and Waleed’s sons, Abbas and Marwan, invaded the Roman territory and captured
the forts of Sabitala, Hanjara, Masha, Hisnul Hadeed, Ghazala, and Maltia.
In 94 A.H., Abbas bin Waleed and
Abdul Aziz bin Waleed conquered Antakia and Ghazala respectively, that same
year Waleed bin Hisham Moiti Murooj al-Hamam and Yazid bin Abi Kabsha continued
conquering Soriya respectively. That very year Kabul, Farghana Shash, and Sindh
were conquered.
In 95 A.H., when the inhabitants of
Heraqla found the Islamic forces busy on other fronts they rebelled, Abbas bin
Waleed conquered it again. That same year, Mauqan Madinatul Bab were conquered.
In 96 A.H., Tus (ancient city that
is an offshoot of Meshed in Eastern Iran) and the adjoining territories were
conquered. If all the battles and wars that were fought in Waleed bin Abdul
Malik’s times are recorded in detail several volumes of this concise book would
not suffice to cover Waleed’s regime alone. Therefore, keeping brevity in view,
the feats of a few famous and victorious generals of Waleed’s times are
recorded as a reference so that the readers of this book may feel ease in taking
stock of the condition of Waleed bin Abdul Malik’s regime and that of the
Islamic world. Maslama bin Abdul Malik is one of the victorious generals of
Waleed’s times whose conquests have found mention above. Now read the
conditions and circumstances of some of the other generals.
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