Caliphate
When Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik passed
away, Raja bin Haiwa went to the mosque at Dabiq. He gathered all of the Banu
Umayyah and all who were related to the army and who were then present. He had
the sealed decree of the heir apparent in his hands. He informed them of the
Caliph's death and took the oath on the sealed decree again. Then he opened it
and read it to them. Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik had written.
"From the slave of Allâh, Amir
Al-Muminin, Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik, to Umar bin Abdul Aziz. I hereby nominate
you after me and then Yazid bin Abdul Malik after you, to be the heir apparent.
The people should listen and obey and fear Allâh and avoid creating dissension
among themselves so that others may not feel tempted to overpower you.
Having heard the royal letter,
Hisham bin Abdul Malik said that he would not take the oath with Umar bin Abdul
Aziz (رحمه الله). However, Raja bin Haiwa courageously and
sternly answered, "I shall cut off your head". Hisham became silent
when he heard this. Abdul Malik's descendents took the will and decree as a
deprivation of their privileges but the people in general liked Umar bin Abdul
Aziz as Caliph and did not want anybody else. Because Yazid bin Abdul Malik was
made the heir apparent after Umar bin Abdul Aziz (رحمه
الله) his descendants were somewhat satisfied that after Umar bin
Abdul Aziz's (رحمه الله) the caliphate would
come into their family again. When Raja read Sulaiman's will, Umar bin Abdul
Aziz was uttering إنا لله و إنا إليه راجعون,
To Allâh do we belong and to Him is our return, (Editors note: In Islam, this
statement is advised to be read when a calamity befalls someone). When he heard
his name he kept sitting and was virtually rooted to his place. Raja grabbed
him by his hand and lifted him up and made him sit on the pulpit. He first
called Hisham bin Abdul Malik to come and take the oath. He obeyed. Then others
followed suit with pleasure and no one raised any objection or protest. After
the taking of the oath was completed, Umar bin Abdul Aziz led the funeral
prayer for Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik. When the burial services were finished,
they brought a horse from the royal stable for him. He said that his personal
mule was sufficient for him. So, he rode on his mule to go to his tent. They
wanted to take him to the royal palace. He said "Ayyub bin Sulaiman's
family members are there. As long as they are there, I shall live in my
tent" After the oath of caliphate, he made a speech:
"He praised Allâh and said, O
people! There is no Book after the Qur'an and there is no Prophet after
Mohammed (صلى الله عليه وآله
وسلم). I am not going
to initiate anything new but I am supposed to complete (what has been left
incomplete). I am not a mubtadi (initiator) but a muttabi (follower) and I am
by no means better than you. Yes, my load is heavier. One who runs away from a
tyrannical king, can not be a tyrant himself, remember obedience to any
creature against the divine commandments is not lawful.
When he was returning from the
funeral of Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik, his slave said to him "You look
sad". He said, "If any body has a right to be grieved today, it is
me. Is it a light burden? Before I am asked to explain the written register of
my actions, I will have to give the people their dues". When he finished
the oath for caliphate and the funeral service and entered his house, his beard
was wet with tears. His wife, becoming alarmed, asked him whether he was well.
He said, "How can I be well? The burden of the entire Ummah (community)
has been put around my neck. I have been overburdened with the naked, the
hungry, the sick, the oppressed, the travelers, the captives, the children, the
old, and the poor with large families. I am weeping for the fear of being asked
to render accounts and my possible failure to do so on the Day of
Reckoning".
After becoming caliph, he said to
his wife, Fatima bint Abdul Malik "Deposit all your jewelry in the bait al
mal (treasury) or I shall part with you because I don't like that you, your
jewelry and I should live under the same roof". His wife sent all her jewelry
including an invaluable pearl, which Abdul Malik had given to his daughter, to
the treasury.
When Yazid bin Abdul Malik succeeded
to the caliphate following Umar bin Abdul Aziz's death, he asked Fatima bint
Abdul Malik to take back her jewelry if she willed. She replied that she had
deposited her jewelry in the bait al mal (treasury) willingly and that it was
impossible for her to take them back after Umar bin Abdul Aziz.
Abdul Aziz bin Waleed was not
present at the time of Sulaiman's death nor did he know anything about the oath
for the caliphate of Umar bin Abdul Aziz. Upon hearing of Sulaiman's death, he
decided to claim the caliphate and took an army and he went to Damascus. When
he reached there and was told about Umar bin Abdul Aziz's caliphate, he came to
him without any inhibition and took the oath and said that he did not know that
people had taken the oath at his hand. Umar bin Abdul Aziz said “Had you been
interested in taking the governance and caliphate, I would never have stood in
your way or fought against you rather I would have evaded it and sat at
home." Abdul Aziz bin Waleed said, "By Allâh, I don't think anybody
else other than you deserves it."
Immediately after becoming caliph
Umar bin Abdul Aziz (رحمه الله) issued instructions
that from that time nobody should talk badly of Ali (رضي
الله عنه). Until that time Banu Umayyah had been abusing Ali (رضي الله عنه) and in the Friday khutba (sermon) they
never hesitated in cursing and reproaching him.
He took Hajjaj bin Yusuf Thaqfi to
be a tyrant. Therefore, during Sulaiman's regime he had dismissed all the
governors and associates who toed Hajjaj's line. He regarded Yazid bin
Muhallab, the Governor of Khorasan, as a bad person. He knew that he did not
send the taxes to the treasury after their collection. He therefore sent for
him. When he came, he invented excuses in respect of the taxes. He said to him
"This is the wealth of the Muslims. How can I excuse it?". He
therefore dismissed him and put him into prison in the fort of Halab and sent
Jarrah bin Abdullah Hakmi as the Governor of Khorasan in his place. He recalled
Maslama bin Abdul Malik and his soldiers who had been continuously busy
fighting the Romans and besieging Constantinople. They were exhausted and
shattered. After short time, he received a complaint against Jarrah bin
Abdullah that he was sending liberated slaves on jihad without salary and
collecting khiraj (taxes on revenue from land or the work of slaves) even from
the dhimmin (non Muslims who have paid the jizya and have the right to
protection and are not expected to pay another type of tax). Upon hearing the
complaint he sent him the order: "Excuse the jizya of those who make
Salat" (Editors note: The jizya is applied to non Muslims but apparently
the governor was not convinced of the sincerity of the new Muslims' Islam and
therefore continued to collect the jizya, which is the protection tax on non
Muslims that excludes other taxes and releases those who pay it from military
duty. The caliph was telling the governor that the discerning point is the
prayer, in other words if someone was praying like a Muslim he should be
considered a Muslim and free from paying the jizya).
As soon the people heard this order,
they began to embrace Islam in group after group, Jarrah bin Abdullah Aslami
was not satisfied with the new converts sincerity. He tested them on the basis
of circumcision [Editors note: The governor instead of seeing if the new
Muslims made their obligatory prayer checked to see if they were circumcised.
Cireumcision is a strongly recommended in Islam but is not considered
absolutely necessary.] When Umar bin Abdul Aziz received this news, he wrote to
Jarrah, "Allâh sent Mohammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
as a da'yi (one who invites the people to Allâh) not as a Khatin (one who
circumcises)". He then had him recalled to Damascus. Jarrah left Abdur
Rahman bin Naim as his deputy and presented himself at the court of the Caliph.
Umar bin Abdul Aziz (رحمه الله) said, "When did you leave Khorasan?"
He said, "In the month of Ramadan" He said: "He who calls you an
oppressor is right. Why did you not stay there and wait until the end of the
month of Ramadan?"
Then he appointed Abdur Rahman bin
Naim as the Amir of defense and Salat and Abdur Rahman Qushairi as the
collector of taxes.
Attacks were launched against the
Muslims in Azerbaijan and they were plundered. Umar bin Abdul Aziz gave an army
to Ibn Hatim Bahli and sent him there. He went and punished them suitably and
restored respect for Islamic rule. It was during his regime that the Sindhis
and their kings embraced Islam willingly and Islam was propagated there
extensively. He sent an army with provisions and weapons to Spain. He had some
victories against the Romans also.
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