Zofar
bin Harith and Abdul Malik
The siege of Qarqisa has already
been narrated. Obaidullah bin Zeyad and the other chiefs failed to subdue Zofar
bin Harith and in every attack the Syrians suffered defeat. Now when Abdul
Malik bin Marwan turned to Iraq with his army, he gave an army to Aban bin Oqba
bin Abu Mu'ait, the governor of Hims, and sent him ahead before his own
departure. The purpose was to defeat Zofar bin Harith. Aban arrived and began
the fight. Abdul Malik arrived there with a huge army before the battle had
rendered any result. He laid siege to Qarqisa. Zofar bin Harith ordered his son
Hudhail to attack the Syrians and not to return before the fall of Abdul
Malik's tent. Hudhail obeyed his father and launched such a fierce attack that
he succeeded in felling Abdul Malik's tent and returned safely. When Abdul
Malik realized that it was not going to be easy to win Qarqisa and subdue Zofar
bin Harith, he sent a message to him, "I give safety and pardon to you and
your son. Take whatever post you like."
Zofar bin Harith replied, "I
agree to compromise with you provided you don't press me to take the oath for a
year and you do not demand any help from me against Abdullah bin Zubair."
The agreement was about to be written when Abdul Malik received news that four
towers of the city's gate had been razed to the ground therefore he refused to
compromise and ordered the attack to continue. However, it proved fruitless and
Zofar bin Harith forced Abdul Malik's army to retreat. Abdul Malik sent the
message again, saying that he was ready to agree to all his conditions. Zofar
bin Harith said, "I won't take the oath for anyone as long as Abdullah bin
Zubair (رضي الله عنه) is living. Further,
I want your promise that my troops will not be subjected to any interrogation
or revenge."
Abdul Malik accepted all his
conditions wrote the agreement and sent it to him. Despite this Zofar bin
Harith did not go to Abdul Malik because the case of Amr bin Sayeed was known
to all. Ultimately, Abdul Malik sent the Prophet's staff he had with him to
Zofar bin Harith. Zofar bin Harith kept this staff as a guarantor and went to
Abdul Malik. Abdul Malik made him sit by his side on the throne and honored him
and had his son Muslim bin Abdul Malik married to Zofar bin Harith's daughter.
Freeing himself from the problems of Qarqisa he moved towards Mus'ab bin
Zubair, the outcome of that advance has been narrated above.
The
News of Mus'ab bin Zubair's Death in Makkah
When the news reached Abdullah bin
Zubair (رضي الله عنه) in Makkah that his
brother, Mus'ab bin Zubair, was betrayed and treacherously killed and all of
the territories of Iraq went under the domination of Abdul Malik bin Marwan, he
gathered all the Makkans and addressed them as follows:
You should know that Allah does not
dishonor him who is on the right path though alone, and does not honor him
whose supporter is the Satan though he has many supporters. And you should know
that news has come from Iraq that makes me sad and happy, news of Mus'ab bin
Zubair's death has come. I am happy because his death amounts to his martyrdom.
I am sad because parting with a loyal friend at a time of crisis gives a
burning pain, which every friend would feel. A man of good sense accepts it
patiently and unwaveringly. Who was Mus'ab? He was one of the slaves of Allah
and one of my supporters. Let it be known to you that the Iraqis are very
disloyal and great hypocrites. They bartered the profit gained from Mus'ab for
a petty price. If Mus'ab was slain, his father, brother and son who were all
very gentle and pious were also slain. By Allah, we shall not die in bed as the
descendents of Abul-Aas are dying (This is in reference to Abdul Malik's father
Marwan bin Hakarn. Abul Aas was the grandfather of Marwan). By Allah, none of
them was killed on the battlefield either in the days of ignorance or after the
coming of Islam. We are used to dying from the wounds of spears and swords.
Brothers, beware, the world has been taken as a loan from the Magnificent
Emperor whose kingdom is eternal and whose territory doesn't perish. If the
world comes to us, we shall not take it as the low, the deviated and the
disgraced do and if it turns its back on us and escapes, we shall not weep over
it as the weak, the destitute and the senseless do. This is what I wanted to
tell you and I beg forgiveness of Allah for you all.
Abdul
Malik and Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه)
After bringing Iraq under his
domination, Abdul Malik sent Urwah bin Anif with six thousand men to Madinah
with the instructions to halt outside of the city and not to enter it unless he
received another order from him. Harith bin Hatib bin Ma'mar was the Governor
of Madinah who was appointed by Abdullah bin Zubair. Hearing of Urwah's
approach, Harith left the city. Urwah encamped outside the city for a month
without touching or disturbing anything, then he went back to Abdul Malik in
Damascus and Harith returned to Madinah.
Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه) had sent Sulaiman bin Khalid as the
Governor of Khaibar and Fadak. Abdul Malik bin Marwan gave Abdul Malik bin
Harith bin Hakam four thousand soldiers and ordered him to conquer the Hijaz.
He encamped in Wadi Al-Qura and from there he sent Ibn Qamqam with a division
of the army to Khaibar with the instructions to launch a night attack on
Sulaiman. Sulaiman was caught and killed and Ibn Qamqam stayed at Khaibar.
Hearing the news of the invasion of
the Hijaz, Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه)
dismissed Harith bin Hatib from the governorship of Madinah and appointed Jabir
bin Aswad bin 'Auf Zuhri in his place. Jabir reached Madinah and sent Abu Bakr
bin Abu Qais with a regiment of six hundred soldiers to Khaibar. In the battle
that ensued, Ibn Qamqam suffered a defeat and fled. Some of his troops were
killed on the battlefield and some escaped.
When Abdul Malik bin Marwan received
the news, he sent Tariq bin Amr as the commander of the Hijaz expedition. He
further instructed him to halt between Wadi Al-Qura and 'Eila' and try his best
to stop the Governors of Ibn Zubair (رضي الله عنه)
from advancing and capturing any more territory, and stamp out the movement
against him there before it succeeded. Tariq did accordingly. He sent a strong
army towards Khaibar. In the skirmish that followed, Abu Bakr bin Abu Qais
along with two hundred soldiers was killed. Tariq stayed at Khaibar. Jabir bin
Aswad received the news and sent two thousand soldiers from Madinah to face
Tariq. The clash took place near Khaibar. Tariq was victorious and killed all
the captives and the wounded.
Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه) dismissed Jabir bin Aswad from the
governorship of Madinah and appointed in his place Talha bin Abdullah bin Auf
known as Talhat-un-Nida. After that, the state of Khaibar was annexed to Abdul
Malik bin Marwan's caliphate and Talha bin Abdullah continued to govern Madinah
on behalf of Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه).
No clash worth mentioning took place between them because Abdul Malik's
attention was centered on Iraq and Iran.
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