Waleed bin Yazid’s Downfall and the Decline of Umayyad Rule

Waleed bin Yazid bin Abdul Malik

Abul Abbas Waleed bin Yazid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan bin Hakam was born in 90 A.H. His mother was Hajjaj bin Yusuf Thaqfi's niece and Mohammad bin Yusuf's daughter. He was quite young at the time of Yazid bin Abdul Malik's death. From the beginning of his adulthood, his conduct was not good. He was notorious for his indulgence in sin, immorality and debauchery. This was the main reason of Hisham's intention of deposing him, which was justified. However, the opposition of short sighted noblemen and leaders did not allow him to succeed in his intention and Waleed bin Yazid succeeded Hisham bin Abdul Malik. Waleed bin Yazid's regime marked the opening of the door of ruin for the caliphate of Banu Umayyah Immediately after accession to the throne Waleed bin Yazid began to take revenge on his opponents. Some lost their salaries, some were thrown into jail and some were killed. Sulaiman bin Hisham caught hold of his brother and had him lashed and his beard shaved off and publicly exposed. He made several of Yazid bin Hisham's and Waleed bin Abdul Malik's sons captives. In brief, with his succession the first thing he did was to turn his entire family into his enemies. Then he arrested the Governor of Madinah Hisham bin Ismail Makhzumi's sons and the ex-Governor of Iraq, Khalid bin Abdullah Qasri and handed them over to Yusuf bin Umar, the Governor of Iraq, who tortured those noblemen to death.

In the first year 125 A.H., of Waleed bin Yazid's caliphate he took the oath from the people for his sons Uthman and Hakam. Though the practice of taking the oath for the heir apparent had been in practice for many years and the people had become accustomed to this form of oath, no one took the oath for those boys willingly and it left much resentment in the hearts of the people.

Waleed refused to keep his misdeeds to himself he offended the people with openly drinking and he made public his wrong beliefs and thoughts. He not only drank wine but he committed adultery. All these things discouraged the Governors of the provinces and territories very much. Whoever took the oath of obedience did it out of fear. Real support and sympathy vanished from the hearts of all.

In the very first year of his caliphate 125 A.H., he brought Khorasan under Iraq and dismissed the Governor of Khorasan Nasr bin Sayyar. Nasr received from Waleed bin Yazid as well as from Yusuf bin Umar, the Governor of Iraq, the orders of his dismissal asking him further to go to the capital, Damascus, at once and present the accounts of the province.

Division of Provinces During Banu Umayyah's Regime

At this point, it is essential to understand how the caliphate of Banu Umayyah divided all the Islamic territory into administrative provinces. One Amir or deputy of the State was appointed for each province. He enjoyed absolute royal power in his province and appointed his own Governors in the states of his province. There were large provinces like Hijaz, Iraq, Jazirah, Armenia, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Andalusia (Spain) and Khorasan. The Hijaz included Makkah, Madinah, Taif and Yemen. Sometimes Yemen was taken from under the Hijaz's control and considered a separate province and its governor was appointed by the caliph. Syria included Jordan, Hims, Damascus and Qansareen. North Africa sometimes was included with Egypt and sometimes it was separated from Egypt and considered as an independent province and the Governor for Qairwan (North Africa) was appointed by the court of the caliph.

Similarly sometimes Spain was separated and its Governor was appointed by the Caliph himself and sometimes it was brought under the Amir of Qairwan and included in the province of North Africa. In that case, the Amir of Qairwan used to appoint the Governor in Spain by his own authority. The same was the case with Iraq and Khorasan, that is, Khorasan was sometimes segregated as a Province and its Governor or Amir was appointed by the caliph and sometimes it was annexed to the province of Iraq. In that case, the ruler of Khorasan was appointed by the Governor of Iraq. The Amirs in the provinces and governors in their states had absolute power. However, sometimes the Revenue Officers responsible for collecting the taxes were appointed by the caliph independently. Officers appointed in this way were not considered to be working under the ruler of the Province or state. However, the head of the armed forces of the Province and the one responsible for the maintenance of law and order was always the Amir of the Province or the governor of the state concerned. As in the case of the Revenue Officers sometimes, even the magistrate or head judge was sent by the caliph's court but the leader of the prayer was always the Amir or the governor. The leadership and military head were inter-related. Later on, the leadership of the prayers and governorship of the Provinces were segregated although the sermon of the Friday prayer remained the prerogative of the Amir or governor of the Province or state who was also the military Commander.

When Nasr bin Sayyar received the order of his dismissal, he first intended to obey it but then decided not to leave Khorasan and he proclaimed his independence.

In order to maintain the chain of events one incident must be mentioned here. Before Nasr had received the orders of his dismissal and when he still recognized the caliphate of Waleed bin Yazid, he received the order that he should arrest and send Yahya bin Zaid bin Ali bin Husain bin Ali bin Abi Talib to Damascus. Yahya bin Zaid was staying in Balkh following his father's death. Nasr had Yahya bin Zaid imprisoned. Waleed bin Yazid ordered that Nasr should send Yahya to him. Nasr released Yahya and ordered him to go to the Caliph in Damascus. Yahya left but turned back and returned to Khorasan. A large number of his followers rallied round him. Nasr sent an army to fight against them and Yahya was hit by an arrow in the forehead and died from the injury just like his father and all his comrades were slain. This happened at Jurjan in 125 A.H. Yahya's head was sent to Waleed and his dead body was hung on a cross, which remained there for seven years. It was Abu Muslim Khorasani who later took it down. Not only had the atrocities Waleed bin Yazid perpetrated on the people already incensed them but also his cousins whom he had tyrannized began to move against him. His cousin Yazid bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik in particular worked against him. Yazid bin Waleed was considered to be one of the very gentle and pious members of Waleed bin Yazid’s dynasty. He therefore began to expose the caliph's unlawful activities and very soon, many came to agree with him. On his mission, he received the support not only of the leaders of the army and the Amirs of the Provinces but also of the family of the Caliph. The result was that all took the oath at Yazid bin Waleed’s hands secretly and thus the larger part of the Syrian army joined him. He left Damascus and stayed at at a village a little distance from Damascus and from there he sent his agents to all the Islamic territories to inform them of the misdeeds and sinful acts of Waleed bin Yazid and mobilize their opinion against Waleed bin Yazid and for Yazid bin Waleed. This was the first time that Banu Umayyah and the royal family were disunited and split up, the opposition grew so strong that secret conspiracies and deceit were resorted to. Consequently, the condition of Waleed's authority deteriorated and Yazid's authority was enhanced. Yazid bin Waleed’s brother Abbas bin Waleed, disapproved of what Yazid was doing and wanted to stop his brother from rebelling. It was due to his opposition that compelled Yazid to leave Damascus and seek another place to live at.

Yazid was satisfied about his position in all respects and fixed Friday 27 Jamad-al-Thani 126 A.H. for the uprising. He entered Damascus after the night prayer and arrested the city magistrate and then captured the government arsenal. Waleed did not have any prior information about the rebellion and its preparations. When he realized what was transpiring he became nervous and confused and could do nothing. He sat down and closed the doors of the palace. The inhabitants and people living in the adjoining areas began to arrive and take the oath from Yazid bin Waleed openly. Waleed wanted to leave Damascus and go to Hims but Yazid besieged Waleed in the palace of Noman. Waleed’s comrades fought desperately. Abbas bin Waleed, Yazid’s brother, left Damascus with a group of warriors to support Waleed and oppose Yazid but Mansoor bin Jamhoor arrested him on the way and presented him before Yazid bin Waleed. When Waleed bin Yazid realized there was no way out, he said, "This is the same type of day that befell Uthman bin Affan (رضي الله عنه)" and then he sat down to read the Qur'an. Yazid's men scaled over the palace walls, entered it and cut off his head. Mansoor bin Jamhoor took it to Yazid bin Waleed. Yazid said, "Let it be displayed in public and then sent to his brother Sulaiman bin Yazid" and it was done accordingly. Waleed, after being caliph for a year and three months, was killed on 28 Jamad-al-Thani 126 A.H. and the same day Yazid bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik acceded to the throne. The suffering caused by this civil war among the Banu Umayyah continued to bring about misfortunes and ultimately lead to its extermination.