Chapter 2

Caliphate of Banu Umayyah ( Second Phase) 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 Allah pushes to the forefront and no one can push the man to the forefront that Allah pushes into the rear. Death was in the ancient knowledge of Allah which He has made inevitable for all the prophets and the righteous, Allah 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 The History of Islam matter. 0 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 Mufaddal 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 sonin-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 (= .1.il ._,..;:,J. 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 Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) 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 an, Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) _When Qutaiba reached Akhroon and Shoman, their kings agreed to obey and pay him the taxes and made peace with him. He sent his brothers Saleh to Farghana and he returned to Merv. Saleh conquered Kashana Darasht and Akhshakeet in the land of Farghana.

In 87 A.H., Qutaiba invaded Bukhara. The Turks in the area put up a defense of the territory but in vain. The Islamic forces collected a large amount of spoils of war. In 88 A.H., the inhabitants of Safad and Farghana revolted and making the Chinese king's sister's son their leader had gathered a huge army of two hundred thousand and came to face Qutaiba. He fought and defeated them and returned to Merv. In 89 A.H., the chiefs of Bukhara Kush, Nasf and Safad jointly rebelled.

They were also defeated unconditionally and compelled to surrender. In 90 A.H. Durdan, the king of Bukhara and the king of Saf~d and the Turkish chiefs of the surrounding territories were prepared to rebel but Nizak Turkhan, the prince of Badghais remained loyal to the Muslims. Qutaiba, taking Turkhan with him, moved towards Bukhara, the Turks fought bravely. They at first vanquished the local vanguard but when the Islamic forces steadied and attacked, they captured the Turkish positions. The Turk's leader and his son were wounded and escaped and the Muslims scored a major victory.

Tarkhoon, the king of Safad agreed to pay the Jizya annually and Qutaiba returned to Merv. (Jizya: A tax paid by non-Muslims living under an Islamic Government. Since the non-Muslims are. exempt from military service and taxes imposed on Muslims, they must pay this tax to compensate. It guarantees them security and protection. If the State cannot protect those who paid jizya, then the amount they paid is returned to them.) As soon as he returned to Merv, Nizak arrived in Tukharistan (now part of northern Afghanistan) and revolted. Then Asbahand, the king of Balkh, Bazan the king of Mardarood, the Prince of Talqan, Fayarab, the Prince of Jurjan and the king of Kabul jointly hatched a conspiracy and expelled Qutaiba' s Governor.

Qutaiba sent his brother Abdur Rahman bin Muslim with an army of twelve thousand with the instructions to encamp at Yardqan. With the end of winter, Qutaiba sent some armies to Nishapur (modern: Neyshabur, 50 kilometers west of Meshed) and led a multi pronged attack against the rebels. As a result, they were punished in proportion to their crime and all of them agreed to remain loyal and The History of Islam pay the Jizya. In this campaign, the fort of Samangan was captured and annexed to the Islamic territory. Nizak was caught an9 killed. The king of Jurjan was pardoned and allowed to remain king in his own country.

In brief, the Turkish chiefs rebelled repeatedly and they were defeated each time by Qutaiba until the idea of rebellion left their minds. In 92 A.H. Ratbeel, who has been mentioned in the previous pages, intended to revolt but when Qutaiba arrived in his territory with his army Ratbeel begged for forgiveness and paid the Jizya. In 93 A.H., Qutaiba won the land of Khwarizm, took a promise from its king to pay the legitimate taxes and then returned the country to him. When Qutaiba was capturing Khwarizm, the natives of Safad saw that the former was at a great distance from them expelled Qutaiba's governor and rebelled against him. Qutaiba sent the booty from Khwarizm to Madinah, and he himself with an army rushed towards Safad with terrific speed.

Having heard Qutaiba's arrival the inhabitants of Safad requested the Chinese emperor to help them and he sent his veteran generals and princ;es for their defense. The Turks prepared to defend the fort of Samarkand. Qutaiba came and began to the fight. Several bloody battles were fought. The son of the Chinese emperor was killed. The fort was brought under Muslim control by virtue of their strength and thousands of Turks were put to death.

Heavy taxes were imposed on them and the leaders of the revolt who were arrested were sent to Hajjaj. Among the captives was a woman who was a descendent of Yazdegerd (who was the child ruler of Persia at the time of its fall to the Muslims). He sent the woman to Waleed bin Abdul Malik who married her. She gave birth to his son Yazid. After coming back to Merv, Qutaiba_,appointed Mughira bin Abdullah the Governor of Nishapur. In 94 A.H., the inhabitants of Shash seem to be ready to revolt, Qutaiba asked the rules of Bukhara Kush, Nasf and Khwarizm for help.

All responded and an army of ten thousand soldiers was collected. Qutaiba encamped at Khajand and sent the army to Shash led by the leaders of the above-mentioned forces. Shash was conquered and Qutaiba returned to Merv while he was returning he was informed of Hajjaj's death. At that time, the Muslims occupied all the territories up to Kashgar and had established Islamic rule firmly over all of Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Turkistan. He sent a delegation to the Chinese emperor under the leadership of Habira bin Mashmarj Kilabi with the message. "Accept Islamic rule or the horses of the Islamic warriors will run over China" .

Mohammad bin Qasim During the time when the Muslims marched victoriously out of Arabia, the Sindh was ruled over by a Buddhist king. When the Iranian empire was shattered to pieces at the hands of the Muslims, many Iranian chiefs fled to the Sindh, Turkistan and China and were engaged in preparing for war against the Muslims. Some others embraced Islam and began to lead happy lives in their countries. It was by sheer chance that when the Sectional and family rivalries between Banu Hashim and Banu Umayyah increased, the Iranians were also reminded of their own age-old national rivalry and they began to take part in the conspiracies hatched by Abdullah bin Saba and other hypocrites. These conspiracies and the civil wars among the Muslims breathed new life into the plans of those Iranians who were in exile in Sindh, Kabul, China, and Tibet and among those who were engaged in preparing to fight the Islamic forces. This is one of the reasons that the Muslims had to face hardships repeatedly in Kufa, Basra, Iran and Khorasan.

Because Sindh was nearer to Basra and Kufa and it touched the ranian border, the refuge of choice for many of the subversive Iranians was the Sindh. The king of Sindh seeing the flood of Islamic ictories was very unhappy and employed all possible strategies to elp the Iranians re-establish their ancient kingdom. The last king of ran collected several armies and fought with the Muslims a number f times after the battle of Nahavand (the decisive battle that marked he conquest of Iran). In all those battles, the army of Sindh always llied themselves with the king of Iran. When the Iranian emperor as killed, the king of Sindh annexed the bordering provinces of ranian and the vanquished Iranians surrendered Kerman and aluchistan to him willingly so that they might not be occupied by he Muslims and they might continue to enjoy the privilege of the upport of the king of Sindh. 11 these considerations made it imperative for the Muslims to launch The History of Islam an attack on the king of Sindh and to force him to cut off aid to the Iranian subversives .. However, before the Musli!11s could occupy Iran and Khorasan completely during the caliphate of Uthman bin Affan ( = 11 ,?

J), the internal feuds in the heartlands of the Islamic territories broke out and no attention was paid to the Sindh, or to any other critical military site. Amir Muawiya,(= 11 '-"" J) after freeing himself from internal disruptions, turned his attention to the foreign lands and it was during his regime that the first efforts were made to regain the Iranian territory annexed by the king of Sindh. In that connection, a few skirmishes took place with his army but then the internecine wars re-started during Yazid's regime and consequently the Muslims did not fulfill their military priorities abroad. During Abdul Malik's regime, the Muslims again did not have an opportunity to pay attention to foreign campaigns. Hajjaj who was the governor of the eastern countries considered it more strategic to contain Ratbeel the Governor of Afghanistan and Badakhshan than to attack the Sindh simply because Ratbeel was the greater danger to the Islamic province of Khorasan. Therefore, his attention remained centered on Ratbeel.

Hajjaj's Governor Qutaiba achieved continued success in disciplining the rebels in the territories extending all the way to China. Sindh was the only country where the Muslims still had a security situation that was pending. However, before the Muslims could take an initiative on this important work, the king of Sindh himself challenged them virtually inviting an invasion of his country. The following are the details of the king of Sindh's fateful error. It is said that a few Muslims traders died in Sri Lanka in the course of their business expedition. The Sri Lankan king decided to use the presence of the orphans and the widows of these traders on the island to attract the kindness and the attention of Hajjaj bin Yusuf and Caliph Waleed bin Abdul Malik to himself.

The Sri Lankan king had heard the legendary news of Muslim victories. He was overawed by their successes and had been· in search of an opportunity and a way to express and pay his respect to the new and dominant nation in the region. He therefore sent the orphans and the widows on his own ship with an escort of some of his most trusted men to Hajjaj. Many invaluable' gifts to Hajjaj and the Caliph Waleed also were sent Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) accompanying them with the hope that the orphans and the widows would appreciate his good and kind gesture and applaud him before Hajjaj. The boats left Lanka and sailed towards the Arabian Gulf along the coast. They intended to land in the Gulf and travel to Kufa in order to return the families of the traders and present the gifts to Hajjaj.

A storm over took them on the way and they were forced to take shelter in the port of Debal. There the soldiers of Dahir, the king Jof Sindh, looted the boats and made the passengers their captives. When Hajjaj was informed, he wrote to the king that those boats were ,on the way to him and so he should punish the looters suitably and send him the passengers along with all the goods that were !confiscated. The King gave a very proud and impertinent reply. Hajjaj immediately sent Abdullah Aslami along with six thousand soldiers to :Sindh. Abdullah was killed while fighting the king of Sindh and the jexpedition met with failure.

Next, Hajjaj sent another commander !named Budail. He also went there along with six thousand soldiers and 1he was martyred while fighting against the king. !Hajjaj was distressed to hear this news. He then sent Mohammad bin !Qasim his nephew and son-in-law, a youth only 17 years old, along !with six thousand Syrian troops. This time he chose Syrian troops to !accompany Mohammed bin Qasim because 1-Iajjaj suspected that the [Iraqi and the Iranian soldiers were in league with the Sindhis. !Mohammed bin Qasim first captured the province of Makran (coastal area that is part of modern Iran and Pakistan), which was under the occupation of the Sindhis. Then he came to Debal and conquered it and next moved towards Niroon and Brahminabad. Not only Iranian subversives but also many Arabs who had rebelled against the caliph had fled and taken refuge with King Dahir in Sindh.

This was another reason why the invasion of the Sindh was inevitable. King Dahir fought against the Muslim forces but was killed. Then Mohammed bin Qasim started conquering the cities of Sindh one after another until all of Sindh and Multan came under his occupation. During the conquest of Sindh, Hajjaj kept his attention concentrated on Mohammed bin Qasim. He ~ent for news and gave instructions daily. Mohammed bin Qasim proved himself to be an extremely benevolent and merciful victor who was concerned about the general The History of Islam welfare of the people.

The equality, humility and generosity that this young victor displayed are rarely found anywhere in the annals of world history. He had completed the conquest of Multan when he received the news of Hajjaj's death but he continued his series of conquests and by 96 A.H., he had brought all of Western India from Surat to Kashmir under his control. Hajjaj bin Yusuf Thaqfi Hajjaj has.continually been mentioned throughout the previous pages. Immediately after Waleed bin Abdul Malik's succession to the throne, Hajjaj removed Yazid bin Muhallab and Habib bin Muhallab from the Governorship of Khorasan and Kerman respectively and put them into prison he also imprisoned their sons too. Yazid along with his brothers fled from the jail and went to Waleed bin Abdul Malik's brother Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik in Palestine where he was the administrator. Hajjaj wrote a letter to Waleed complaining against Yazid bin Muhallab but on the recommendation of Sulaiman, Waleed did not punish Yazid bin Muhallab o-i: his brothers.

Hajjaj's hard temperament had harassed the Iraqis to the extent that many of them, after getting tired of him, fled from Iraq and settled in Makkah and Madinah where Umar bin Abdul Aziz was the Governor. He treated them kindly. In. 93 A.H., Umar bin Abdul Aziz wrote a letter to Waleed complaining about Hajjaj and that he had put Iraq through a long period of persecution. He also complained that Hajjaj had also crossed the limits by perpetrating atrocities against the people of Iraq. When Hajjaj came to know of these complaints he sent a letter to Waleed making a counter complaint against Umar bin Abdul Aziz saying that most of the trouble makers and hypocrites wanted in Iraq go to Umar bin Abdul Aziz and he creates hurdles in their arrest. This will prove very harmful for running of our administration.

It is only proper that you should remove him from the Governorship of the Hijaz." Waleed removed Umar bin Abdul Aziz from the Governorship of Hijaz and appointed Khalid bin Abdullah and Uthman bin Hebban as the governors of Makkah and Madinah. Immediately after assuming power, Khalid turned all the Iraqis out of Makkah and also threatened those who had rented out their houses to them. Sayeed bin Jubair was one of those who migrated to Makkah in order to escape from Hajjaj's atrocities. Sayeed Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) bin Jubair's only fault was that he had supported Abdul Rahman bin Ash' ath. It was not an ordinary fault in Hajjaj' s eyes. Khalid arrested him and sent him to Hajjaj who killed him.

Sayeed bin Jubair was killed for no fault of his and his was not the only case of its kind but Hajjaj put many saintly and pious people to death mercilessly. Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik was expecting to become caliph after Waleed bin Abdul Malik because Abdul Malik made Sulaiman his heir-apparent after Waleed and took the oath from the people for it. Waleed wanted to make his own son Abdul Aziz the heir-apparent and deprive his brother Sulaiman. He had spoken about it to his deputies separately. Hajjaj and Qutaiba appreciated the idea but the others warned him saying, "There is a great danger of this action causing fitnah (Arabic: evil disorder) among the Muslims." That same year in 95 A.H. in the month of Shawwal and after ruling in Iraq for twenty years Hajjaj died. At the time of his death, he appointed his son Abdullah bin Hajjaj the Governor of Iraq.

Waleed bin Abdul Malik retained all the Governors that had been appointed by Hajjaj in their respective posts. Musa bin Nusayr Just as Hajjaj was the Governor of the eastern territories, similarly the Governor of the western territories during Waleed bin Abdul Malik's regime was Musa bin Nusayr whose headquarters was Qairwan. A few persons from Spain called on the strongest and ' most distinguished man of North Africa and complained to him against their King Roderick's atrocities and requested him to invade Spain and like Morocco annex it to his territory. Musa thought over their request for a few days. Then he sent a slave of his with four boats and 400 soldiers on board to the Spanish coast to get a first hand understanding of the situation. At the same time, he requested permission from the caliph Waleed to invade Spain.

The caliph granted it and the 400 soldiers returned safely. In 92 A.H., Musa gave 7000 soldiers to his liberated slave, Tariq bin Zeyad to invade Spain. At that time, Tariq was the Governor of Tangier in Morocco. He along with his men boarded their boats and , ,!' The History of Islam after crossing the straits of Gibraltar landed on the coast of Spain and moved north. The Spanish king Roderick along with a one hundred thousand man army array~d themselves to fight with him. The two forces clashed on the bank of a small river near Janda Lagoon adjoining Sidonia_ city in Ramadan 92 A.H.

Ouly 711 C.E.). The fight continued ferociously for eight days. At last, on the eighth day, 28 Ramadan 92 A.H., Roderick was killed by Tariq and the Christian army fled away. That same year the king of Sindh, Dahir, was killed by Mohammad bin Qasim. After his initial victory, Tariq found it far easier to conquer the cities of Spain and marched ahead conquering city after city. When Musa bin Nusayr was informed of the major victory they had achieved, he wrote to Tariq to stop any further advance and await his arrival.

However, it was very difficult for Tariq and his valiant soldiers to put a stop to their conquests. Finally, Musa along with 18,000 soldiers reached Spain in the latter part of Ramadan 93 A.H. and conquered the entire peninsula up to the Pyrenees Mountains. After taking control of the eastern part of Spain Musa wrote to Waleed, "We have conquered the whole of Spain. Now allow me to go to Constantinople via Europe while conquering the European lands from Spain to Constantinople and I will visit you after the conquest of Constantinople" However, Waleed bin Abdul Malik wrote to Musa to come to him along with Tariq via Africa after making some one Governor in Spain. Had Musa been permitted to go ahead it was not difficult at that time for him conquer the whole of Southern Europe. Anyway, Musa, in compliance with the Caliph's order, deputed his son Abdul Aziz as the Governor in Spain, entrusted Morocco to his second son Abdul Malik and made his third son Abdullah his deputy in Qairwan, which was the headquarters of North Africa.

After making the proper arrangements, he left for Damascus. On the day he arrived in Damascus, the caliph Waleed died. Death of Waleed bin Abdul Malik Waleed wanted to prevent his brother from succeeding to the throne and tried to replace him by his own son but in vain. Had he lived a few days more he would have probably succeeded. Due to these efforts by .Waleed to take the caliphate from his brother, Sulaiman i Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) became hostile to the leaders who had supported Waleed and also to those whom Waleed loved. The results of this hostility proved extremely disastrous for the future of the Islamic world.

Waleed after ruling as Caliph for nine years and eight months died at Dairmaran in Syria on 25 Jamad ath-Thani 96 A.H. (25 February 815 CE) leaving behind nineteen sons. During his caliphate, Sindh, Turkistan, Bukhara, Samarkand, most of the cities and forts of Spain and Asia Minor and several islands were annexed to the Islamic territory. His caliphate marked an epoch of internal peace, comfort and prosperity for the Muslims with a vast expansion of territory. With the exception of Umar bin Khatab's caliphate, none of the previous caliphates experienced such a great age of major and significant conquests. When Waleed died, his brother Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik was at Ramla, in Palestine.

Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik Sulaiman was younger than his brother Waleed by four years. The oath for caliph was done at his hand on Jamad ath-Thani 96 A.H. after Waleed's death. Hajjaj and Qutaiba were unanimous with Waleed in deposing Sulaiman and as Qutaiba bin Muslim supported Hajjaj and Waleed, they were the targets of his hatred. Hajjaj had died before Sulaiman came into power and Qutaiba the Governor of Khorasan was the staunchest supporter of Waleed that remained alive. Qutaiba had a feeling how he would be treated during this caliphate. The Murder of Qutaiba When Qutaiba bin Muslim Bahli heard of Waleed's demise and Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik's succession to the throne, he assembled all the leaders and army of Khorasan and suggested that they should refuse to recognize Sulaiman's caliphate.

A sizable number of soldiers in Qutaiba's army consisted mainly of the tribe of Banu Tamim. The leader of the Banu Tamim was named Waki. When Waki understood the situation, he began to take the oath on behalf of Sulaiman. Gradually the news spread among all the soldiers and all tribes rallied round Waki. Qutaiba tried his level best to make them listen to him but in vain. They actually started becoming rude to him openly.

Qutaiba was joined and supported by his brother's sons and relatives, finally the The History of Islam soldiers started looting and burning his things. His relatives wanted to protect his tents but they all were killed and Qutaiba falling wounded and unconscious to the ground had his head cut off at once. Eleven men including his brothers and sons were killed. From among his brothers Umar bin Muslim survived because his mother came from Banu Tamim. Waki sent Qutaiba's head and ring to Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik. Qutaiba bin Muslim was a great conqueror and a popular chief from Banu Umayyah.

Such a death of such a chief was very sad indeed. He acted imprudently in opposing the caliph of the time, Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik can not be accused of Qutaiba's murder. Death of Mohammed bin Qasim The greatest charge that can be leveled against Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik in respect to Mohammed bin Qasim is that if the caliph hated Hajjaj, he should not have extended it unnecessarily to include his relatives. It is unfortunate that Sulaiman considered Mohammed bin Qasim worthy of execution. Mohammed bin Qasim was a wise, brave gentle and pious youth. As a young man, he excelled Rustam and Alexander in the size of his conquests of Sindh and India and proved himself ,5,uperior to Nausherwan the Just in matters of imparting justice arid loving the people.

He had never done anything against Sulaiman, except be the relative of the hated Hajjaj. Even after Hajjaj's death, he continued to conquer new territory. His army was fond of hip. and obeyed him completely and this is the greatest proof of the fact that he was a highly capable general. It is possible that if Muhammad bin Qasim, whose beginning as a youth was so magnifice1Jt, had been trained and his services utilized, he could have conquered the whole of the Asian continent up to China and Japan for Sulaiman. Overwhelmed with a deep seeded hatred of all those connected to Hajjaj and Waleed, Sulaiman sent Yazid bin Abu Kabsha as the Governor of Sindh with instructions to send Mohammed bin Qasim back as a captive. Sulaiman's order was a great discouragement and it destroyed the spirit of all the efficient and victorious commanders.

No shame for a caliph or a king is greater than the fact that he, instead of honoring and rewarding his commanders for their grand and praiseworthy achievements and feats should catch and throw them into jail. The History of Islam Yazid bin Muhallab escaped from jail and joined Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik in Palestine, who was at that time the Governor there. It has also been recorded that at the time of his death, Hajjaj had made his son Abdullah bin Hajjaj the Governor of Iraq in his place and Waleed bin Abdul Malik authorized it. Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik dismissed Hajjaj's son Abdullah as one of his first orders of business and appointed Yazid bi(\ Muhallab. Yazid knew that if he put too much pressure on the people in collecting taxes, he would lose his reputation and if he adopted measures that were too lenient, he would lose respect in Sulaiman's eyes. He persuaded Sulaiman to appoint Saleh bin Abdur Rahman for the collection of taxes and the rest of the administrative and military affairs would be his responsibility as the Governor of Iraq.

Sulairrian did not think Yazid's request was strange because he knew that Hajjaj had accused Yazid of embezzlement of Government funds and had put him into prison. Therefore, Saleh bin Abdur Rahman was recruited as the finance officer and was sent to Iraq ahead of Yazid bin Muhallab who followed as Governor. When Yazid reached Kufa, he fell out with Saleh and his presence became a point of contention for Yazid. During this period, news came that Qutaiba bin Muslim had been killed in Khorasan. Yazid preferred the Governorship of Khorasan because he and his father had once been Governors there. Sulaiman in accordance with Yazid's wishes gave him the certificate of Governorship for Khorasan and also left Iraq under him.

Yazid recruited his deputies in Kufa, Basra and Wasit separately. He himself set out for Khorasan. Immediately after arriving there, he invaded Qahistan and then Jurjan and entered into compromise with the rebel chiefs there after collecting fines and taxes from them. The Jurjanis revolted again and Yazid attacked and killed 40,000 Turks in the battle, he laid the foundation stone of the city of Jurjan with his own hands and appointed Jahm bin Dhukhr Ju'fi as the Governor. Prior to that, Jurjan did not have a city it was a hilly region with many small villages. Yazid populated this city, which came to be known as Jurjan.

He then captured Tabristan and installed a Governor there. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Maslama bin Abdul Malik In 97 A.H., Maslama bin Abdul Malik conquered Razakhia. In 98 A.H., a Roman commander named Alqaun came to Sulaiman's court and induced him to conquer Constantinople. He sent his son Dawood and brother Maslama to Constantinople with an army and Maslama as the commander. He laid a siege to the city. When the Islamic army reached the vicinity of the siege, Maslama asked each of his soldiers to take a handful of grain and deposit it near the army's headquarters.

When the grain was collected near the end of the siege, it was piled so high it looked like some hills. He had houses of clay and stone built for the soldiers and ordered them to cultivate the land and the fields ripened. To meet the daily consumption of food they also raided the area for grain. Th~,, inhabitants of the city were concerned to see the siege continuing with such a firm determination and courage. When a year had passed, the Romans sent secr~t messages to Alqaun the Roman commander and offered him half of the territory if he could get the Muslims to raise the siege. He agreed.

Then he advised Maslama, "If you set your store of grains and fields on fire, the Romans will think that now the Muslims are going to launch a final. and decisive attack. Out of fear they will probably hand over the city to you and thus without loss of life it will be easily captured." Maslama believed his words and fell into his trap. Though the Romans had already sent word to Maslama to take the Jizya at the rate of one tenth per head and raise the siege he had rejected it. If the siege had continued, there is little doubt that it would have resulted in a victorious conquest. However, Allah had not ordained for the Muslims to capture and occupy Constantinople at this time. Maslama burned the stored grain and all the grain fields.

The Romans were extremely pleased to see this foolish act and it encouraged them to fight. The Muslims soon felt the crisis of c\ food shortage. Then Alqaun with all his supporters deserted the Islamic forces and joined the Romans. When Maslama had left Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik he was camping at Dabiq and from there he used to send help of all kinds to him. At this juncture, the stored grains and ripened fields had been reduced to ashes and Sulaiman was not able to manage the supply of provisions due to the advent of winter and this led to starvation._They The History of Islam began to starve to death because food could not be procured by raiding parties in the adjoining areas because of the severity of the winter. When a Roman commander, named Borjohn, who was the Governor of the city of Saqalia, saw the critical condition of the Muslims he invaded them with a huge army.

Maslama fought and defeated him and captured the city. At this time, news came of Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik' s death. Morals and Habits of Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik was a man of eloquence. He was fond of justice and liked jihad. He had made Umar bin Abdul Aziz his advisor and minister. This is the main reason that Sulaiman cultivated good habits.

During the period of Banu Umayyah a bad custom came into vogue, they offered their salah (obligatory prayer) in the last part of the time for the prayer. Sulaiman put an end to that harmful custom and began to do it at the beginning of the time for each prayer, which is the correct method. He hated singing and the playing of musical instruments and had it banned. He was very handsome. He was a healthy and voracious eater. Once he ate 70 pomegranates, a large amount of raisins a six month old goat and half a dozen chickens and was able to digest it all.

Succession Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik had made his son, Ayyub, his heirapparent but when Ayyub fell ill at Abaq, he consulted Raja bin Haiwa regarding his successor. First Sulaiman mentioned his, son Dawood. Raja bin Haiwa said, "He is engaged in th~ siege of Constantinople and is at war with the unbelievers. No news has come from there for a long period. Allah knows better whether he is living or dead. Moreover, the distance is also long.

I can not advise you to declare such a man the heir apparent." Then Sulaiman referred to his younger son. Raja bin Haiwa said that he was still of a tender age and unfit to stand the burden of the caliphate. Then Sulaiman asked him as to whom he shciuld make his successor. Raja bin Haiwa said "As a pious, pure, noble man interi=sted in the welfare of the Muslims, it is expected of you that you should make your cousin, Umar bin Abdul i Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Aziz (.\,1 ..__.,J), your heir-apparent for none better than he is available. Also as your Prime Minister he has the most experience in the matter of ad...-n.inistration" . Sulaiman agreed to this saying, "I also regard him as the best man.

I am afraid that my brothers, the other sons of Abdul Malik may not agree and stand against him". Raja bin Haiwa said "After making Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.\,1 v-J the caliph, leave a will that Yazid bin Abdul Malik will succeed him". Sulaiman appreciated and accepted the idea and after writing the declaration of caliphate for Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.\,1 .__.,..)) he sealed it. Then he put it into an envelope and sealed it too and giving it to Raja bin Haiwa he said, "Go out and showing this envelope, tell the pe9ple that the Amir alMuminin has chosen the man who will be the next caliph and has also written a declaration that the oath should be taken in the name of the man whose name this envelope contains." When Raja bin Haiwa went out and read it to the people, they said that they would not take the oath until they knew his name. Raja bin Haiwa retun:ed and explained t? Sulaiman, he said that the city magistrate and the police should be called to take the oath from the people and cut off the heads of those who disobeyed.

Hearing that all took the oath without any further hesitation. When Raja bin Haiwa was returning to the palace after taking the oath, he came across Hisham bin Abdul Malik. He said to him "I am afraid Amir al-Muminin might have deprived me. If my fears are correct, please tell me -so that I may make arrangemeots for myself". Raja bin Haiwa said, "The Amir Al-Muminin has given me a sealed envelope. He has kept it a g~arded secret.

What can I tell you?" As he continued on, he met Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.\,1 v-J), He said, "I am very afraid that Sulaiman might have written my name. If you know, please tell me so that I may try to evade this trouble and rid myself of this burden". Raja gave him the same reply, which had already given to Hisham bin Abdul Malik. Death of Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik In 98 A.H., Sulaiman left Damascus with an intention of making jihad, he sent an army towards the front. He stayed at Dabiq and continued working on the success of the expedition. Therefore, it may be said The History of Islam that he died in that state of jihad itself.

He died on Friday the 10th of Safar 99 A. H. at Dabiq adjacent to Qansareen (one of the five original provinces that the conquering Arabs divided greater Syria into, now northern Syria). He was 45 years old. He ruled for two and three quarter years. During his caliphate, the Muslims gained victories and occupied many lands. Activities against the Islamic laws were stopped.

Hajjaj's Governors were dismissed wherever they were found because they were inclined to be like Hajjaj and perpetrated atrocities on the people. However, it is understood that the treatment that was meted out to Mohammed bin Qasim (.1>1 .. -J was a gross mistake committed by Sulaiman. Among his most praiseworthy and greatest feats is the fact that he made Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.1>1 ·-··) his successor. Compared to this virtuous act, all of Sulaiman' s errors and mistakes may easily be pardoned and so it appears that he deserves praise. Umar bin Abdul Aziz ( k, 4.2-J) Abu Hafs, Umar bin Abdul Aziz bin Marwan bin Hakam is considered the fifth caliph among the Khulafa ar-Rashideen (The rightly guided caliphs). He is also known as Khalifa as-Saleh (the capable or authentic caliph).

Most of the scholars among the Muslims say that the Khulafa ar-Rashideen are five: Abu Bakr (= .1>11,S'""J), Umar (= .1>1 ";), Uthman (~ .1>1 ~J), Ali(= .1>1 \,S'""J) and Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.1>1 ... ,-). Umar bin Abdul Aziz's father Abdul Aziz bin Marwan was the Governor of Egypt. Umar bin Abdul Aziz was born in 62 A.H. His mother was Umar bin Khatab's grand daughter that is, Asim bin Umar bin Khatab's daughter. His father was supposed to succeed Abdul Malik bin Marwan as caliph but he died in Abdul Malik's lifetime and so he did not become the caliph. Umar bin Abdul Aziz had a ' scar on his face because a horse had kicked him while he was a child.

Umar bin Khatab (~ 11 ~J) used to say" There will come a descendent of mine with a scar on his face. He will fill the earth with justice and righteousness." That was why when the horse kicked him and he began to bleed, his father continued to mop his face and say, "If you are the one spoken about with the scar, you are fortunate." lbn Sad says that Umar bin Khatab used to say "I wish that I might have found the times of my scarred son who would fill theworld with Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) justice and righteousness after being full of tyranny". There was a scar on the face of another grandson, Bela! bin Abdullah bin Umar, so it was thought that it might apply to him. However, when Umar bin Abdul Aziz ( :.1 ,.,-J became caliph, everyone came to know that Umar bin Khatab meant him. Prior to it, some people used to say that the world will not come to an end so long as Umar's ideal caliph had not become the ruler. Umar bin Abdul Aziz's father sent him to Madinah when he was a child.

He was trained there. His life was spent in the company of the learned legal scholars of Madinah. It was from them that he learned theology. He enjoyed such a high status in knowledge and virtue that had he not been the caliph he would have been counted among the religious scholars and been recognized as a great imam. His father had sent him to Obaidullah bin Abdullah in Madinah and it was under his tutelage that he was trained. Zaid bin Aslam has narrated on the authority of Anas ("--"' .1,1 ~J) "After the Prophet(~ ) we have never performed our salah (obligatory prayers) in a way that resembled the Prophet's salah except the salah we made behind Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 v·J.

Zaid says, "He used to do ruku (bowing) and sijda (prostration) fully but did not make delay in qiyam (standing) and qaood (sitting). Someone asked Muhammad bin Ali bin Husain about Umar bin Abdul Aziz. He said "He is najib (highborn) among Banu Umayyah and will rise as a single nation on the Day of Judgment" . Before becoming caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz wore showy and costly clothes. However, after becoming caliph he adopted the life style of a poor in his food and clothing. Maimoon bin Mehran says that many well known scholars used to live in his company as students.

Mujahid says "We went to Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 .... ~)) with the intention that he would learn something from us but after corning to him we had much to learn from him". When his father Abdul Aziz bin Marwan died, he was present in Madinah. At the news of his death, Abdul Malik bin Marwan called him to Damascus and married his daughter Fatima to him. When Waleed became caliph after Abdul Malik's death, he placed him as the Governor of Madinah. He therefore remained in power from 86 A.H. to 93 A.H. He performed Hajj several times as Amir al-Hajj (leader of The History of Islam the pilgrimage).

During the period of his governorship of Madinah, all the scholars and learned Muslims used to gather round him. He had set up a council of legal scholars in Madinah and used to dispose of the affairs of expeditions in consultation with them. Because of Hajjaj's complaint, Waleed dismissed him from the governorship of Madinah and called him to live in Syria. When Waleed wanted to depose his brother Sulaiman from the succession and put his own son in his place, Hajjaj and Qutaiba seconded his proposal but other leaders disliked it. The first man who openly and vehemently opposed Waleed was Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ..... ). Because of this, Waleed threw him into prison.

He remained there for three years and was released on some one's recommendation. Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik was highly obliged to him for his sacrifice. That is why when Sulaiman became Caliph, he selected him as his Prime Minister and left in his will for him to be caliph after his death. 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 Allah, 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 Allah 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 (11 •.• ·-J. 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 Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Caliph and did not want anybody else. Because Yazid bin Abdul Malik was made the heir apparent after Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ..... -J his descendents were somewhat satisfied that after Umar bin Abdul Aziz's (11 -.,,..J the caliphate would come into their family again. When Raja read Sulaiman's will, Umar bin Abdul Aziz was uttering Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) 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 dhimmis (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 Sa/at" (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 very strongly recommended in Islam but is not considered absolutely necessary.] When Umar bin Abdul Aziz received this news, he wrote to Jarrah, "Allah sent Mohammad (~ ) as a da'yi (one who invites the people to Allah) not as a Khatin (one who circumcises)". He then had him recalled to Damascus. Jarrah left Abdur Rahman bin Nairr{ as his deputy and presented himself at the court of the Caliph. Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ,.,-J said, "When did you leave Khorasan?" He said, "In the month of Ramadan" He said: "He · The History of Islam 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 Nairn as the Amir of defense and salah 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 lbn Hatim Bahli and sent him ther:e. 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. Causes of Banu Umayyah's Displeasure During their caliphate and rule, Banu Umayyah had taken possession of the best of selected lands and villages beyond what they deserved. This led to the deprivation of other Muslims but as they were the rulers, no one dared raise a voice in protest. When Umar bin Abdul Aziz became caliph, he first had the jewelry of his wife, considered undeserved by him, taken out of his house and sent to the treasury. Then he gathered Banu Umayyah and said: The Prophet (~) owned the orchard of Fadak with its income he (~) used to maintain the children of Banu Hashim and helped arrange marriages for their widows. Fatima hint Muhammad (4------"- 11 Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) 'You want me to make you the commanders of armies or the overnors of some territories.

Remember, I don't want the floor of y house made impure with your feet. Your condition is highly pitiable. I can not make you the masters of my piety and the business of the Muslims." They said "Do we not deserve any right or virtue due to your kinship?" He said, "In this matter I don't find even an iota of difference between you and any other Muslim." After the Klzilafat ar-Rashideh (the rightly guided Caliphate) the glory of democracy had disappeared and the same type of autocracy in government was discernable that was the hallmark of the governments of Caesar and Kisra. Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.iii v-J) tried to restore the lost glory of Islamic democracy and similarities to the administrations of Abu Baker Siddiq(= .&1 _,.;,J) and Umar bin Kha tab ( = 11 _,.;, )) began to resurface and remind the people of these great times. As Banu Umayyah· suffered heavy losses during his caliphate and the assets they occupied illegally were taken back and the high status, pomp and grandeur they enjoyed during their rule in comparison with other tribes, started changing into equality and impartiality, all of them began to consider Umar bin Abdul Aziz's caliphate to be highly detrimental to their interests. They were compelled to accept and appreciate his piety and purity of nature just as others were but Banu Umayyah regarded his presence as a deadly poison for their clain and tribe.

Once Banu Umayyah, in order to save their property, made a plan. They went to Umar bin Abdul Aziz's paternal aunt Fatima bint Marwan and requested her to recommend them to him. He respected her very much. She came and made her recommendation for Banu Umayyah. He explained to her in the same way he had told the leaders of Banu Umayyah. She felt compelled to admit "I did come to you to convince you on the insistence of your brethren.

However, since you cherish such pure and noble thoughts, I don't like to say anything more." Having said that she went back and said to Banu Umayyah "You established relations with the grand daughter of Umar bin Khatab ('---"' 11 ._,--;,)) and now his blood is present in your descendents". I I i f I I !, The History of Islam Virtues and Habits Hakam bin Umar says that one day he was with Umar bin Abdul Aziz (...'iii vJ and the stable-keeper came and demanded the expenses for the stable. He said to him. "Take all these horses to the cities in Syria and sell them at any price and give the money in the path of Allah . For me my mule is enough." Zuhri says that Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.i.1 ,_.,-J asked Salim bin Abdullah through a letter as to Umar bin Khatab's (-= .i.1 .,?;) way regarding Sadaqa (charity). He replied adding at the end "If you follow Umar bin Khatab (-= .&1 .,?.,) in treating people, you will get a greater status than he before Allah." When Umar bin Abdul Aziz was made caliph and the people took the oath at his hands, he began to weep and said "I have a great fear for myself" .

Hammad said, "Please declare how much love you have for dirhams and dinars?" Umar bin Abdul Aziz (...'iii.___.-;) said, "Not a bit". Hammad said," Then why are you worried? Allah will help you." Hanifa bin Sayeed bin Aas said to Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.i.1 .. -;)."All the caliphs before you used to give us rewards. However you, after becoming caliph, put a stop to that, I have some land and if you permit, I would like to take something from it in order to maintain my family somehow." He said, "Whatever you get from hard labor, is yours". Then he further said, "Remember death often for if you are in trouble, you will get pleasure and if you are in pleasure, you will not find it lessened." Some Governor wrote to him that the forts and roads of their cities were in urgent need of repair and so would he kindly send them money for their repair. He wrote back that immediately after going through the letter they should set out to build forts of justice in their cities and purify the roads by removing oppression from them.

Ibrahim Sakuni (-= .&1 .,?;) says that Umar bin Abdul Aziz used to say, "When I came to know that lying is a vice, I have never done so since then" Wahb bin Munabbih says that if there is a Mahdi to be born in this ummat (community), he is Umar bin Abdul Aziz. Mohammad bin Fadala relates that Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Aziz passed by an ascetic who lived on an island. The ascetic saw him and went to him though he had never gone to anyone before and began to say to him, "Do you know why I have come to you?" He replied in the negative. Then he said "Simply because you are the son of a righteous and just imam (leader)." Malik bin Dinar ('-"' .1,1 ~J) relates that when Umar bin Abdul Aziz became caliph, the shepherds began to ask. "Who has become the caliph? Now the wolves do not harm our goats" Musa bin Ayum says, "We used to graze our goats in Kerman.

The wolves used to move along with our goats but they did not harm them. One day it so happened that a wolf took away a goat. I cried out, "The righteous caliph must have died today" . When information on the matter was sought after, it transpired that on that same day Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.1,1...,.. J) expired. Waleed bin Muslim says that an inhabitant of Khorasan had a dream that someone asked him to take the oath when a scarred man of Banu Umayyah became caliph.

He therefore made queries about each caliph. When Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.iii ...,..J) became caliph, he had a dream three nights in succession that the same person was telling him to go and take the oath. At that, he left Khorasan and took the oath at Umar bin Abdul Aziz's hand. Habib bin Hind Aslami says that Sayeed bin Musayyib (.iii ...,..J) said to him, "There are three caliphs. They are Abu Bakr(= .1,1 Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) to punish anybody, he used to keep him in custody for three days as a precautionary measure so that he might not punish him in a state of anger or in haste. He said "Whenever I gave to my self anything of its choice, it willed something better." Umar bin Muhajir says that his daily wages was fixed at 2 dirhams and his lamp stand was made of three sticks with clay on them.

Once he asked his slave to heat water for him. The slave went and brought it by heating it in the royal kitchen. When he came to ~ow where it came from, he sent firewood worth a dirham to replace it. It was his custom that so long as people kept sitting by him and talking about affairs of state, he kept the lamp of the treasury burning and when they left, he put it out and lit his own lamp.· The caliphs had a hundred sentinels and city magistrates in regular attendance of them. When he became caliph, he said to them, "For my safely destiny and death are sufficient, I don't need you. But even if any one of you wants to live with me, he would be given ten dinars a month and if he does not like it, he is at liberty to go and live with his family" Umar bin Muhajir says that once he wanted to eat pomegranate.

A relative of his sent some to him. He praised him very much and said to his slave, "Convey my greetings to the man who has sent it to me and then give them back to him and tell him that his gift reached the man concerned." The slave said to him, Amir Al-Muminin your close relative has sent it to you. What is the harm in accepting it? The Prophet (~) used to accept gifts". He said," those were gifts for him (~) but for me it is a bribe." He did not have anyone whipped except a man who had abused Amir Muawiya(= 11 ',>"'))- When he reduced the expenditure of his family, the members complained. He said, "My wealth is not sufficient to continue your previous expenditures.

As for baitul mal (the treasury), you have as much right to it as any other Muslims has." Yahya Ghassani states that when Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 .... ,-J appointed him Governor of Mosul, he saw that thefts were very common there. He informed him and wanted to know whether he should pass judgment on the basis of evidence or on that of his personal opinion or intuition. He ordered that in every case taking evidence was essential. If truth did not reform The History of Islam them, Allah would never reform them. He complied with the orders and consequently Mosul turned into the cleanest and safest place. Raja bin Haiwa says that one day when he was sitting with Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ... -), the lamp went out.

His slave was sleeping there. He wanted to wake him up but Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ~ ,) prevented him from doing so. Then the narrator wanted to light the lamp himself but he said "It is a discourtesy to give trouble to a guest." Then he himself got up, put oil into the lamp, lighted it and resumed his seat, and said "I am the same Umar bin Abdul Aziz as before, lighting the lamp did not affect my status" Ata relates that Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ....... .,) used to gather legal scholars at night and discussed death and doomsday with them causing him to weep so much as if there was a dead body in front of him. Abdullah bin Ghabra says that one day Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ....... .,) urged the people in his khutba (sermon), "O people! Reform your internal affairs and your external affairs will automatically be reformed and corrected. Act for the world hereafter and attend to this world in proportion to its need and remember that death has eaten up your ancestors".

He used to say, "Follow the pious ancestors for they were superior to you both in character and knowledge." When his son Abdul Malik died, he began to eulogize him. Maslama said, "Why do you praise him?" He said, "It should be seen whether the deceased was praise worthy in my eye6 alone or in the eyes of others too, for in the eyes of a father the son is always commendable and so his act is unreliable." Osama bin Zaid's daughter visited him. He welcomed her and sat down respectfully before her. He gave her whatever she asked for. Once his relatives said that, they would draw Amir AI-Muminin's attention to them through wit and humor. So several persons assembled and went to him.

One of them said something good humouredly and the others supported him. Umar bin Abdul Aziz (~1 ....,.._;) said, "You have assembled over a very unworthy thing which will result in animosity. It is better to learn the Qur' an and the traditions of the Prophet~ and ponder over the meaning of them". Yahya Ghassani states that he forbade the caliph Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik from killing a certain'. Kharij and advised him to keep him in captivity until he became penitent. Sulaiman called the Kharij and Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) asked him to speak what he wanted.

He said, "O corrupted one and the son of corruption ask what you want to ask." Sulaiman said, "I am helpless due to Umar bin Abdul Aziz's opinion," Then he called Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.11 ._...)) and asked him to hear what this person had said. The Kharij repeated his words. Sulaiman said, "Now tell me what do you say about this man?" Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.11 .... ,-J was silent for some time and then said "O Amir Al-Muminin, abuse him too as he has abused you." Caliph Sulaiman said, "No it is not proper." So, he ordered his execution and he was executed. When he left, he came across Khalid the city magistrate on the way. He said, "You gave sage counsel to Amir Al-Muminin that he should abuse the Kharij as he had abused him however, I was afraid that the Amir Al-Muminin would order your execution." Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.11 ... -J asked whether he would have cut off his head, had he been ordered to do so. Khalid replied in the affirmative.

When Umar bin Abdul Aziz (.11 ..... ~J) became caliph, Khalid came and stood near him as usual. He ordered Nm to put his sword down and consider himself dismissed. Then he called Amr bin Mahajir Ansari, appointed him the city magistrate and said that he had often seen him reciting the Quran and performing his salah at such a place as none could have seen him. He used to say, "He who kept away from disputes, anger and temptations, received salvation." Somebody advised him to be alert and cautious in the matter of taking food so that he would not be poisoned. He said "O Allah! If I fear anything except the Day of Reckoning that You have promised, don't keep me safe from it." Once he said "O people!

Fear Allah and don't wander in search of livelihood. The allotted livelihood whether buried in a mountain or in the land must reach you." Azhar states that he saw him reading the Friday sermon wearing a shirt with patches. Once he made Amr bin Qais Sakuni the commander of the army of Saifa and at the time of departure said, "Listen to the pious there and forgive the wicked. Don't start slaying them as soon as you arrive there and become notorious later on but be moderate so that they might not forget your status and keep wanting to listen to you." Jarrah bin Abdullah, the Governor of Khorasan, wrote to him that the people there were very rough and they would not be disciplined i I' i The History of Islam without the sword. He wrote back in reply that it was a lie that they could not be straightened out without the sword. Justice and giving the people their dues are things that automatically reform the people.

So these two things should be propagated amongst them. Saleh bin Jubair relates that some times he told him something and he got angry. Once it was mentioned with reference to a book that people should fegr a king's displeasure and when his anger cools down, then they should go before him. After hearing that he said, "Saleh, I allow you not to apply this restraint in my respect." Dhahbi says that during Umar bin Abdul Azi.z's regime a man named Ghailan denied the destiny. He called him and urged him to be penitent. He told him that had he gone astray he would guide him then.

He (11 "''.J) prayed "O Allah! If this man is truthful, it is good and chop off his hands and feet if he is a liar." Saying this he released him. Ghailan stuck to his faith and continued to propagate it and caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik caught him and cut off his limbs and sent him to the executioner for his crime. Once Banu Marwan gathered at Umar bin Abdul Aziz's door and said to his son, "Go and tell your father that until now all the caliph's had been endowing us with land and other rewards but you have deprived us of all these things after becoming caliph." His son conveyed the message to him. He (11 ,_, .. J asked his son to tell them that his father said.

"~ ( y. ...,.,1~ ..,i; ~ .:.,1 _jL,cl _:/' (I fear, if I disobey my Lord, have the Penalty of a Mighty Day) [Q.6:15.] Khawarij After reading the conditions up to this point it is clear that the mischief of the Khawarij continued unabated and at no time was it stamped out. Whenever a powerful caliph took the throne, they waited and watched silently and whenever they had an opportunity, they came out onto the field. Iraq and Khorasan had been the center of the Khawarij for all their intrigues and rebellions and it was there that their plots were hatched and reared as will be evident from the following events. Anyway the Khawarij sometimes openly and sometimes secretly remained busy with their seditious activities. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) When Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 , ___ .,,) became caliph and the people knew of his nobility and piety, the Khawarij too were ashamed to see his virtue and courtesy and they decided not to undertake any revolutionary steps against the authority of such a pious caliph as Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 '-")) and better to postpone all their activities while a caliph with such angelic traits was present. Therefore, during his caliphate they did not take up arms against him.

Once they revolted in'Khorasan. He wrote to the Governor there that unless they killed someone no step should be taken against them but keep him of informed of all their activities. Then he (11 v-.,) wrote a letter to the chief of the Khawarij. I have come to know that you have stood up in support of Allah and the Prophet (~ ) but in this respect we are supposed to do it more than you do. Come and discuss and debate with us. If we are justified, join us, if you are justified, we shall join you." After reading the letter, the chief of the Khawarij sent two of his most clever followers for the debate.

They came and debated with Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 •-•'J. The Khawarij said, "Your ancestors, Banu Umayyah were unbelievers and cursing them is obligatory." Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 .__.-..)) said, "You have never cursed even Pharaoh though he was an unbeliever. Don't take cursing to be essential. How can they be labeled as unbelievers who believed in Tawhid and the Risa/ah (Message) and practiced the pillars of Islam?" The result of the debate was that one of the Khawarij renounced his group and joined the general Muslim population. The rest of the Khawarij kept silent and suspended all their activities. Death It has been mentioned previously that Banu Umayyah were extremely displeased with Umar bin Abdul Aziz because their lands, property and wealthwhich they had taken over, were confiscated and no further illegal gratifications were given by his government.

Finally, their patience wore thin and they planned to murder him. Murdering him was not a tough job for he never kept bodyguards nor did he take precautions in matters of eating and drinking. The best way of removing him, they thought, was by poison, therefore, they allured his slave and made him their accomplice and he poisoned Umar bin The History of Islam Abdul Aziz (11 •----•'). After he was poisoned, he became aware of it. When the pain became excruciating, the people advised him to take an antidote. He said that at the time of my poisoning if some body had said that I could get well by touching the lobe of my ear, I would not have touched it." Mujahid relates that once he (11 ...---J) asked him what the people said about him (11 ._....J), He replied that they believed that a spell was cast OR him.

He replied that he was not charmed, and that he knew at once when he was administered poison. Then he called his slave who had poisoned him. When he came, he said to him, "Alas! You have poisoned me. What tempted you to do so"? He said that he was given one thousand dinars plus a promise of liberty.

He (.iii .... , J) asked him to bring those dinars to him. He brought them to him. He had them deposited in the bait al mal (treasury) at once and ordered the slave to run away, so that he-might not be seen any longer. Obaid bin Hassan (11 ...---J) says that when his end came and the pain of death started, he asked the people to leave him alone and everybody went out. Maslama bin Abdul Malik and his wife Fatima bint Abdul Malik remained standing at the door. They heard him say, "Bismillah (In the Name of Allah), Please come.

These faces are neither of men nor jinn", and then he recited the verse: ~~ 13 1;G ~J ~ ~\11 ~ I~ 0J~;. ~ ::r-+iJ ~ ~~~\ ~\JJ I ~ } , - , ('· - " ~ That House of the Hereafter We shall give to those who intend not high-handedness or mischief on the earth: and the End is (best) for the righteous.

When no more voices were audible, they both entered and found him dead. He died on the 25th of Rajab 1 OlA.H. at Dairsaman in Hims after remaining Caliph for two years five months and four days. When Imam Hasan Basri ( 11 ...---J) was informed of his death, he said, "Alas! The best man in the world has died'; . Qatada says that Umar bin Abdul Aziz wrote a note to Yazid bin Abdul Malik that read, "In the name of Allah who is most Beneficent and most Merciful. This is from the slave of Allah Umar bin Abdul Aziz to Yazid bin Abdul Malik.

Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) After greeting with peace, I praise Allah except Him there is no~ther God. I write this letter to you in a state of great torment. I know that I will be questioned about the period of my rule and the questioner is the Master of the world and the hereafter. It is not possible for me to hide any act of mine from Him. If He is pleased with me, I receive salvation otherwise I will be ruined. I ask Him to forgive me by His grace, protect me from the punishment of hell and, being pleased, give me paradise.

You must fear Allah and make allowances for the people. You will also not live long in this world after I die." Children and Wives He left three wives and eleven sons. His wife Fatima bint Abdul Malik was as gentle and pious as she was a Caliph's daughter, a Caliph's sister and a Caliph's wife. She lived a life of abstinence. His sons Ishaq, Yaqub, Musa, Abdullah, Bakr, Ibrahim were born of his wives and the rest Abdul Malik, Waleed, Asim, Yazid, Abdullah, Abdul Aziz and Rayyan were born of slavegirls. His son Abdul Malik resembled his father in many respects.

He often said, "My son, Abdul Malik, inspires me with good deeds and prayers" but he died in his lifetime. The inheritance that he left came to a sum of 21 dinars. Some of it was spent on his burial and the rest was distributed among his sons and daughters. Abdur Rahman bin Qasim bin Mohammad bin Abu Bakr says that Umar bin Abdul Aziz (11 ..,..~) left eleven sons and Hisham also left eleven sons. Umar bin Abdul Aziz's sons received one dinar each in inheritance and Hisham bin Abdul Malik's sons inherited from their father a sum of one million dirhams each. The narrator saw one of Umar bin Abdul Aziz's sons giving away 100 horses for jihad and one of Hisham's sons was found taking charity from the people.

A Glance at Umar bin Abdul Aziz's Administration Umar bin Abdul Aziz's period as caliph like Abu Bakr's (= 11 ~~) was very short. But just as Abu Bakr Siddiq's regime was very important and invaluable, similarly Umar bin Abdul Aziz's was very precious for the world of Islam. Banu Umayyah's rule had created in the people a love for worldly prosperity, ego and power, this made them I '!'': i ' The History of Islam indifferent to the hereafter. Umar bin Abdul Aziz's caliphate in a very short time removed those evils and inclined them to spiritualism and righteous deeds. His greatest achievement was that he set the Islamic caliphate on the model of the rightly guided caliphs and restored the style of government of Abu Bakr Siddiq and Umar bin Khattab (.'iii ~ J ~) to the world. He hated repression and tyranny perpetrated by a Caliph.

By establishing liberty and peace in the world, he wanted every individual to profit from their human rights. He did not want even an atheist to feel compelled. He even gave the Khawarij opportunities to give vent to their feelings. He wanted to see the status of the Caliph of the Muslims established but only to the extent that justice was maintained. Even if a.criminal verbally abused a Caliph, the most the Caliph could do would be to retaliate in like manner, in other words his retaliation should not go beyond verbally abusing the criminal. He never wanted his subordinates to agree to his proposals without reference to lslamic law.

He regarded a Caliph not as the ruler but as an affectionate father of the Muslims. In short, whatever we have seen during the regimes of Abu Bakr Siddiq (~ .'iii~.;) and Umar bin Khattab ('-"' .'iii ~ J) all the essentials were also apparent during Umar bin Abdul Aziz's administration. It can justifiably be said that with Umar bin Abdul Aziz's death, the rightly guided caliphate came to an end. During the period of his caliphate, many people embraced Islam willingly. These large numbers of converts have not been found in the time of other caliphs although only a few military expeditions were fought in his time. His authority extended from Sindh, Punjab, Bukhara, and Turkistan in the east to Morocco, Spain and France in the west.

People enjoyed absolute peace everywhere although the Islamic domain was vast in size. During his administration, new roads were made, schools and hospitals were built in every state. The world has never seen the prevalence of true justice to such a degree again. Because of the peoples' awareness of this, his death was mourned not only in the houses of the Muslims but also the Christians and Jews were found even more distressed. The Christian clergy in their monasteries and churches ruefully mourned saying that justice, the one who established it and its protector has left the world. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Umar bin Abdul Aziz put an end to the distinction of Shia, Sunni and Khawarij.

Until the present, there is no one who harbors any ill feeling against him from ~ny sect. The opportunity is there for everyone to think and reflect over the fact that whoever follows Islam most closely becomes most beloved by all. His personality was the embodiment of what Islam is, the people of all religions.responded to it. The closer a ruler comes to living Islam in its reality the greater the response from his people. The life of Umar bin Abdul Aziz was an example of this. The Europeans hold Abu Bakr .JJ;,, Umar bin Khattab .iJ;, Umar bin Abdul Aziz, Nuruddin Zangi and Salahuddin Ayyubi in great reverence due to their nobility, wisdom and graciousness.

They should also reflect on how close they followed Islam and that all their qualities were totally dependent on this single fact. They were true Muslims and they tried to follow Islam both in letter and spirit. We know that Umar bin Abdul Aziz was the ruler of the greatest empire in the world at the time and we also find him giving the Friday sermon from the pulpit wearing a patched shirt, as students of history we can be justly astonished. What kind of sense of duty and responsibility can there be in a man who had lived in great comfort and luxury but after assuming the office of caliph was reduced to skin and bones within a two and a half year period? Yazid bin Abdul Malik Abu Khalid Yazid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan sat on the throne as caliph in accordance with the will of his brother Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik. When he acceded to the throne, he said, "I need Allah more than Umar bin Abdul Aziz." Hence, he followed his footsteps for forty days.

When Banu Umayyah saw that even after Umar bin Abdul Aziz no solution to their problem was forthcoming, they tried to induce Yazid bin Abdul Malik to adopt a pro-Banu Umayyah policy. All such efforts proved futile before Umar bin Abdul Aziz but Yazid bin Abdul Malik was not Umar bin Abdul Aziz. After a bit of effort he was swept off his feet. The details of how it happened follow. Forty white haired bearded men came to his palace and stood witness that whatever he as caliph did, he would not be held accountable nor would he be punished in hell. The plan met with instant success.

His ignorance led The History of Islam him slowly and gradually to decadence until he began to drink wine and take drugs like Yazid I. He was the first caliph who openly drank wine and wasted his time in singing and playing on musical instruments. Banu Umayyah. then had many opportunities for exploitation. They imposed themselves upon the caliph's court and squashed all the amendments and reformations interfering with their capturing lands and property illegally and they were worse in matters of justice. The downfall of the caliphate of Banu Umayyah started with Umar bin Abdul Aziz's death. This was the time when Banu Abbas and Hashimites had a golden chance of maneuvering against Banu Umayyah.

Mohammad bin Yusuf, Hajjaj bin Yusuf Thaqfi's brother, had during his regime, levied a new tax on the Yemenis which Umar bin Abdul Aziz during his caliphate abolished and fixed a one tenth tax and said, "Compared to the fixation of this tax I would prefer not to receive even a single dirham of tax from Yemen." When Yazid bin Abdo! Malik became caliph, he wrote to the governor of Yemen that he must collect the old tax that was originally imposed by Muhammad bin Yusuf from the Yemenis however displeased they might become. Yazid's uncle Mohammad bin Marwan, the governor of Azerbaijan, died at that same time and he sent brother, Maslama bin Abdul Malik, as governor in his place. It has been recorded earlier that Umar bin Abdul Aziz interned Yazid bin Muhallab for embezzling from the taxes of Jurjan. He remained in jail until he heard that Umar bin Abdul Aziz was poisoned by Banu Umayyah and he had very little chance of surviving. There had been an estrangement between Yazid bin Muhallab and Yazid bin Abdul Malik since the time of Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik.

When Yazid.bin Muhallab came to know that Umar bin Abdul Aziz's life was in mortal danger and Yazid bin Abdul Malik was to succeed him, he heavily bribed those guarding him and fled so that Yazid bin Abdul Malik would not have a chance to take revenge on him. He fled from the jail and went towards Basra. While fleeing, he sent a note to Umar bin Abdul Aziz that said, "If I had been sure you would survive, I would never have escaped from your punishment. However, fearing that Yazid bin Abdul Malik will kill me mercilessly after you, I am Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) fleeing from here." The note reached Umar bin Abdul Aziz when he was at the point of death. Having read the letter he said, "O Allah! If Yazid bin Muhallab has run away to cause harm to the Muslims, punish him for he has cheated me.

When Yazid bin Abdul Malik became caliph, he briefed the governor of Basra named Adi bin Artat about Yazid's flight and asked him to arrest his family. Adi arrested his sons, Mofaddal and Marwan, and threw them· into prison. Meanwhile Yazid bin Muhallab arrived in Basra. The Basraites supported him and so Adi was forced to escape from Basra. Yazid bin Muhallab occupied Basra and extended his rule up to Ahwaz and founded a kingdom with a large army. He induced the Iraqis into believing that declaring a Jihad on the Syrians was better than fighting the Turks. [Editors note: The Turks referred to here are not the Turks of modern day Turkey but the Turkic tribes from the areas north of present day Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan until and including parts of modern day China.

These Turkic tribes were not Muslim at the time, so to declare jihad on Syrians who were Muslims and forgo jihad on the Turkic tribes who were non-Muslims without very exceptional circumstances is not sanctioned by Islam.) Imam Hasan Basri opposed it but the people, fearing that Yazid bin Muhallab would kill him, compelled him to keep quiet. Yazid led the army to Kufa. Yazid bin Abdul Malik came to know about the invasion and sent his brotner Maslama Abdul Malik with an army. A bloody battle took place and both sides fought bravely and heroically. Finally, Yazid bin Muhallab and his brother Habib were killed on the battlefield and Maslama bin Abdul Malik was victorious. When the rest of the descendents of Muhallab were informed of the death of Yazid and Habib and the defeat of the army, they escaped from Basra and set out towards the east by boat.

A regiment was sent after them and there was a confrontation between them at Qandabeel. The whole of Muhallab's family, except two children Abu Arba bin Muhallab and Uthrnan bin Mofaddal, were killed. After the battle, Yazid bin Abdul Malik made Maslama bin Abdul Malik the governor of Iraq and then in place of the latter he fixed Amr bin Hubaira as the Administrator of Iraq. When the inhabitants of The History of Islam Safad and Samarkand took arms against him, Amr bin Hubaira deputed Sayeed Harshi as the Amir of Khorasan and sent him to Khorasan with an army. He went there and punished them. There was a rebellion in Khazar (covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia and in their early history up to the Caucasus) and Armenia.

The people there took reinforcements from the people of Qabehaq and invaded the Muslims and put to death the greater part of the Islamic army. After the defeat, they went to Yazid bin Abdul Malik in Damascus. Yazid gave an army to Jarrah bin Abdullah Hakami who went there and waged a battle in which the Muslims defeated them. Jarrah continued his march onwards and captured new territories. Their leaders surrendered to him and the entire region came under the occupation of the Muslims. Abdur Rahman bin Dhahak had been governing the Hijaz since Umar bin Abdul Aziz's time.

He remained at that post for three years and at that time wanted to marry Husain bin Ali's~ grand daughter. He sent the message to Fatima bint Husain ~ , the bride's mother. She refused. He then threatened that he would accuse her son of drinking wine and have him lashed. She sent a complaint to Yazid bin Abdul Malik. Yazid flew into a rage when he heard about it, and immediately wrote a letter to Abdul Wahid bin Abdullah Qasri in his own hand informing him that he appointed him the governor of Madinah and so he should go to lbn Dhahak at once and depose him and collect forty thousand 'dinars' from him as a fine and torture him so much that his cries should be audible to him (the caliph) although he was at rest in his bed in Damascus.

The envoy delivered the letter to Abdul Wahid. Abdul Wahid took charge of the governorship of Madinah and began to torture Dhahak. The people were not pleased with Dhahak and so after his dismissal satirical poems were composed about him. Abdul Wahid treated the Madinaites well. Everyone was pleased with him and Abdullah bin Urnar's sons, Qasim and Salim, were advisors in all his activities. Ibn Dhahak's dismissal and Abdul Wahid's appointment took place in Shawwal 104 A.H.

As mentioned earlier, Sayeed Huraishi was the Administrator of Khorasan. After a short time, Ibn Hubaira dismissed Huraishi and put Muslim bin Sayeed bin Aslam bin Zara Kalabi in charge of Khorasan. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) lbn Hubaira continued to govern throughout Yazid bin Abdul Malik's administration. Yazid bin Abdul Malik had made his brother Hisham bin Abdul Malik and after him his own son Waleed bin Yazid the heir-apparent. After ruling for four years and one month Yazid bin Abdul Malik died on 25 Shaban 105 A.H. at the age of 38 and then Hisham bin Abdul Malik succeeded him in keeping with Yazid's will. Hisham bin Abdul Malik Abu!

Waleed Hisham bin Abdul Malik was born in 72 A.H. His mother was Aysha bint Hashim bin Ismail Makhzumi. When Yazid bin Abdul Malik died, Hisham was in Hims. A messenger went there with news of Yazid's death, his staff and ring. Hisham left Hims and came to Damascus and took the oath for his caliphate. Following his accession Hisham bin Abdul Malik dismissed lbn Hubaira from the governorship of Iraq and replaced him by Khalid bin Abdullah Qasri by conferring on him the certificate of governorship.

It has been mentioned above that Muslim bin Sayeed was appointed the administrator of Khorasan. He invaded the Turks and remained at war with them until the end of 105 A.H. he defeated them and collected the taxes due from them. Events in Khorasan In 106 A.H. Muslim bin Sayeed collected a large army with the purpose of Jihad and went to Bukhara and Farghana to punish the rebels. The Chinese leader helped the Farghanaites. Many bloody battles were waged between the Chinese leader and Muslim bin Sayeed leading ultimately to the Chinese leader's defeat and the capture of many important leaders of the Turks by the Muslims.

That same year. the caliph in Damascus, Hisham bin Abdul Malik, wrote a letter to Khalid bin Abdullah asking him to depose Muslim bin Sayeed from the governorship of Khorasan and to send his brother Asad bin Abdullah Qasri to take his place. Khalid bin Abdullah therefore gave to his brother Asad bin Abdullah the certificate of governorship of Khorasan and sent him. Muslim bin Sayeed handed over the i ! I I The History of Islam governorship of Khorasan willingly. When Khalid bin Abdullah sent his brother Asad bin Abdullah as the ruler of Khorasan, he had sent Abdur Rahman bin Nairn as his deputy. Immediately after taking over the administration of Khorasan, Asad bin Abdullah launched attacks on Herat and Ghowr (modern Ghowr in west-central Afghanistan) .

The Muslims collected large amounts of spoils of war there. In those battles, Nasr bin Sayyar and Muslim bin Ahwar achieved renown. After a very short time Asad bin Abdullah displayed such a strong personal nature that he made the people worried and terrified. He had Nasr bin Sayyar lasHed a hundred times, had Abdur Rahman's head shaved and then sent them to his brother Khalid bin Abdullah saying that they were accomplices in a conspiracy to murder him. ' In the same way, he used to abuse the people of Khorasan and dealt harshly with them. When caliph Hisham was informed of it, he wrote to Khalid bin Abdullah to depose Asad bin Abdullah from the governorship of Khorasan.

Then of his own accord he sent Ashras bin Abdullah Aslami as the governor of Khorasan and informed Khalid accordingly. When Ashras arrived in Khorasan, he pleased all with his kind treatment and good behavior. From there in 110 A.H. he sent Abu Saida Saleh bin Zareef and Rabi bin Imran Tamimi to Samarkand and Mawaraunnahr (between the Amu [Oxus] and Syr rivers in modern Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan) with a view to convincing the inhabitants of the qualities of Islam and bring them on the right path by making them aware of the evils of Shirk. Rebellions were common in those territories and Islamic rule was maintained by the point of sword. Ashras prescribed the best remedy, the people were educated in Islam and then converted to it. That naturally removed the evils from their lives and then their understanding removed the danger to Islamic rule.

The result of this form of invitation to Islam was that people began to enter Islam in large numbers. When the people started embracing Islam, the revenue from Jizya that was collected from the Dhimmis came down. [Editors Note: Jizya: A tax paid by non-Muslims living under an Islamic Government. Since the non-Muslims are exempt from military service and taxes imposed on Muslims, they must pay this tax to Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) compensate. It guarantees them security and protection. If the State cannot protect those who paid jizya, then the amount they paid is returned to them. Dhimmis: non-Muslims who have paid the jizya and have the right to protection and are not expected to pay another type of tax.] When the Dhimmis began to convert to Islam the revenue was reduced, Hasan bin Umar Taha, the Revenue Officer of Samarkand, wrote a letter of complaint to Ashras bin Abdullah Aslami, the governor of Khorasan.

Ashras replied, "Most of them might have converted to Islam only for the sake of avoiding the Jizya and they may not have converted from the core of their hearts. Please see if they have been circumcised and make their salah (obligatory prayer) in which case they should be excused from paying the Jizya, otherwise collect it from the rest of them despite their claim that they are Muslims." Ashras actually disapproved of this method but Khalid and Hisham desired that the converts should be dealt with strongly . On the receipt of this reply from Ashras, Hasan bin Umar Taha hesitated in its compliance simply because it was against Islamic Shariah (legal code). Ashras dismissed him and sent Hani ibn Hani in his place retaining his previous posts of the governorship and military commander of Samarkand. Hani came and began the collection campaign. Abu Saida stopped the converts from paying Jizya and forbid Hani to collect it.

Hani wrote to Ashras that they had accepted Islam and had built mosques and so how could he collect Jizya from them. He received the reply that he must collect it from those who used to pay it regardless if they had embraced Islam or not. In view of the situation, Abu Saida collected seven thousand converts and taking them encamped a few miles away from Samarkand to fight. Since he was justified, many Muslim leaders parted with the army of Samarkand and went to him in support of the converts. When Ashras realized the situation, he dismissed Hani from the governorship of Samarkand and deputed Mahshar bin Muzahim Sulami in -his . place. Mahshar reached Samarkand, called Abu Said and his associates on the pretext of reconciliation and imprisoned them and then sent-them to Ashras.

The converts selected Abu Fatima as their chief. Finally, those Muslims were exempted from paying the The History of Islam Jizya, when their unity and collective power declined, they began to be dealt with harshly and humiliated in different ways. The consequences of these actions were disastrous. Those who had embraced Islam, turned apostate and rebelled and prepared to fight they requested the leader of the Chinese to help them. The Chinese emperor came with a large army and started a series of battles against the Muslims. Ashras himself came to fight and both armies fought heroically many Muslims and Turks were killed and finally, it ended in reconciliation.

At this point, let us reflect on the commonly held concept that Islam was spread by the sword. We should pause and think whether the Muslims in general used the sword for the propagation of Islam or did a few foolish rulers among them use the power of the sword to stop it from spreading. In 111 A.H., Hisham bin Abdul Malik dismissed Ashras while he was at war with the Turks and·samarkandis and replaced him by Junaid bin Abdur Rahman bin Omar bin Harith bin Kharja bin Sanan bin Abi Harsa Murri. When Junaid arrived in the capital city of Merv, he did not find Ashras, who was in the field, but his deputy Khattab bin Mehraz Sulami. He stayed there for a day and then marched to Mawaraunnahr leaving Mahshar bin Muzahim Sulami in Merv and took Khattab with him. He along with Ashras defeated the Chinese leader and the inhabitants of Bukhara and returned to Merv at the end of 111 A.

H. Then he deputed Qatan bin Qutaiba bin Muslim to Bukhara, Waleed bin Qaqa Absi to Herat and Muslim bin Abdur Rahman Sahli to Balkh but after a few days, he dismissed Muslim bin Abdur Rahman and put Yahya bin Zabya in charge of Balkh. In 112 A.H., Junaid sent Amara bin Maryam with an army of eighteen thousand fighters and Ibrahim bin Bassam with ten thousand warriors from another side to Tukharistan and its capital, Balkh (now part of northern Afghanistan) in order to discipline the rebels. He also started preparing to go there. When the Turks found out these armies were headed in their direction, they made the Chinese leader their Commander-in-chief and gathered a huge army and invaded Samarkand. At that time the governor of Samarkand was surah bin Aljabr.

He informed Junaid that The Chinese leader was marching Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) towards Samarkand with a large army and he should send him reinforcements at once. Mahshar bin Muzahim advised Junaid that he should march towards Samarkand with a minimum of fifty thousand soldiers because fighting the Turks would not be an easy task. Because his army was decimated and he had only a small number of soldiers left with him, so he was advised not go to Samarkand. Junaid heaved a sigh and said, "How is it possible that my brother surah bin Aljabr is in trouble and I should remain sitting here waiting to collect fifty thousand soldiers?" Saying this, he set out for Samarkand. When the Chinese leader and the Turks were informed that Junaid himself was on way to Samarkand, they left a small army to continue the siege of Samarkand and intercepted him on the way and they began to fight. Junaid and his handful of friends fought so bravely and heroically that the Turks were confounded.

Some of the Muslims fighters were killed while the dead bodies of the Turks started to pile up. The number of the Turkish and Chinese soldiers was very large. Keeping the mountain at his back Junaid pushed them to the rear and made the Turks retreat. Finally, at the instance of his commanders surah bin Aljabr in Samarkand was informed, "We are fighting at a short distance from you. Gather your courage and come out of Samarkand and join us, you should advance along the canal and attack the Turks from the opposite flank." surah bin Aljabr set out but contrary to the directions given to him he changed course with the result that he quickly became surrounded by the Turks and many of his soldiers were killed. Because of this Junaid was denied any reinforcements.

Finally, the Muslims launched more fierce attacks and put the Turks and fhe Chinese leader to rout. He sent a detailed report through a fast messenger to Hisham bin Abdul Malik in Damascus. The Caliph ordered the governors of Kufa and Basra each to send a force of ten thousand armed men to Junaid. He asked Junaid to continue fighting and that he was sending twenty thousand soldiers, thirty thousand spears and thirty thousand swords to reinforce him from Kufa and Basra. The message reached Junaid in Samarkand and' he remained at his post. After only a few days, he heard that the Chinese leader who had fled from Junaid was thinking of attacking Bukhara and was gathering an ! : The History of Islam army.

Bukhara was governed by Qatan bin Qutaiba. Junaid was afraid that Qatan might meet the same fate that surah had met in Samarkand so he left Uthman bin Abdullah with four hundred cavaliers and arranged all of the necessary provisions for him. Then along with his women and children and the necessary supplies, he left Samarkand and moved towards Bukhara. The confrontation between him and the Chinese leader took place at Kominia near Towees on the first of Ramadan 112 A.H. Junaid was victorious, he found the way ahead clear and tontinued to Bukhara. Once again, he had to fight the Turks on the way and defeated them.

Finally, he entered Bukhara and at that time the armies of Kufa and Basra also arrived there. By constantly inflicting defeat on the Turks, he established peace in Khorasan. When he had established security in Khorasan, he married Fadila bint Yazid bin Muhallab. The Caliph, Hisham bin Abdul Malik, had a strong dislike against the Muhallab family and when he received the news of the marriage, he was displeased and dismissed Junaid from the governorship of Khorasan. He sent Asim bin Abdullah bin Yazid Hilali with the certificate of governorship of Khorasan, to replace him. While Asim was traveling to Khorasan, the condition of Junaid who suffered from dropsy worsened.

The day he entered Merv, Junaid had died on the previous day. Asim upon arrival to Khorasan, dismissed all the governors appointed by Junaid and appointed his own. Harith bin Shuraih Banu Abbas had started a series of secret maneuvers to establish their caliphate and destroy that of Banu Umayyah in 100 A.H. when Umar bin Abdul Aziz 11 '°'') was Caliph. These conspiracies were conceived and carried out with great care and wisdom. A few particular Hadiths (statements) of the Prophet ~ were given much publicity and some were fabricated expediently. To some statements, a few sentences were added and all of them were designed to convince the masses that the Islamic Caliphate was destined to come to Banu Abbas very soon.

Since the insurgent parties had been using Banu Hashim's claim to caliphate and the illegal capture of power of Banu Umayyah as a weapon, these factors were exaggerated and manipulated. For this Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) particular mission specially qualified persons were pressed into service. Banu Umayyah, in their intoxication of power never attached much importance to these ploys nor did they think it necessary to stamp them out nor did they like to involve themselves in the investigation of these types of secret intrigues. In parallel with the Abbasids, the Fatimids and Alawiites also had been carrying on similar manipulations and conspiracies for a long time and all of these conspiracies had been nurtured in Khorasan because the atmosphere there was most suitable for them. Harith bin Shuraih, the chief of the well-known tribe of Azd in Khorasan was captivated with the ideas of the Alawiites and the Fatimids. In 116 A.H., he wore black clothes and invited people to the Quran and Sunnah and to pledge themselves to Imam Rada, arriving in Faryab, he started the mission. [Editor's note: Black was the color of the Abbasids therefore it indicated opposition to the Umayyahs.

Invitation to the Book and Sunnah refers to the Qur' an and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad ~- These are unassailably correct and all Muslims agree on them and every political activist knows the people will support such a platform. The oath of allegiance to Imam Rada however, was the political objective of Harith bin Shuraih. Four thousand dedicated people gathered round him. He led the army towards Balkh, which at that time was ruled by Nasr bin Sayyar. He came out with ten thousand soldiers to fight but was defeated. Harith bin Shuraih captured Balkh, deputed Sulaiman bin Abdullah bin Hazim there and marched towards Jurjan.

He easily occupied it and then moved towards Merv. In Merv Asim bin Abdullah wanted to persuade the people to gather and fight but Harith bin Shuraih had won them to his side through secret corre~pondences. Harith had gathered sixty thousand people around him that included the well known chiefs of Azd and Tamim and the large land owners of Faryab and Taliqan. Asim bin Abdullah had made all possible preparations to repel the attack. Harith invaded Merv with great courage but just at the time the battle began four thousand people of the Azd and Tamim tribes deserted him and joined Asim' s army. That The History of Islam resulted in the lessening of the fighting spirit of Harith's troops but the battle continued on unabated.

Harith eventually had to retreat and Asim did not pursue them. When Asim reached Rahban and encamped there, he had a cavalry of only three thousand men that remained wit[) him. Harith then steadied himself and began to fortify and build up his captured territory and put it on a war footing. When informed of the situation Hisham bin Abdul Malik from Damascus asked Asim to explain, the latter repJied that because Khorasan's authority was directly linked to the caliph's court delay was caused in sending news and receiving reinforcements on time. It was therefore appropriate, he argued, that just as the province of Khorasan was once under Iraq, similarly it should be brought under Iraq again, so that help from both Basra and Kufa could arrive in time. Hisham appreciated the idea but dismissed him from the governorship of Khorasan and wrote to the governor of Iraq Khalid bin Abdullah Qasri to make his brother Asad bin Abdullah the . governor of Khorasan.

When Asim became aware of his dismissal and of the new arrangements, he reconciled with Harith bin Shuraih and said to him, "Come and let us write a missionary letter to him and invite him to follow the Book and the Sunnah. If he refuses we will jointly try to oppose him." But the reconciliation did not last long nor did it bear fruit. Both disagreed on some point and the disagreement escalated to the extent that they began fighting against each other. In the battle, Harith was defeated and most of his supporters were arrested and killed by Asim. Asim wanted to please Hisham bin Abdul Malik with the victory but Asad bin Abdullah had almost reached there with the certificate of governorship and as soon as he arrived, he arrested Asim This happened in 117 A.H., immediately after taking control of Khorasan, Asad began to take back the cities of Khorasan from Harith. He captured Balkh and then turned to Termiz (city jn southern Uzbekistan).

In brief, he remained at war with Harith and the Turks for two years. Harith's condition deteriorated considerably and he along with a few followers of his, continued to search for a place to take refuge. In 119 A.H., two important Chinese leaders were killed Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) while fighting against the Islamic army and the chain of Asad' s victories crossed Turkistan and reached western China. In Rabia al-Awwal 120 A.H., Asad died in Balkh. At the time of his death, he declared Jafar bin Hanzala Nahrwani to be his deputy who remained at this post for four months. After that in Rajab, Nasr bin Sayyar was made the governor of Khorasan.

That same year, 1. 20 A.H. the enemies of the Iraqi governor, Khalid bin Abdullah complained to Hisham bin Abdul Malik against him with the result that the he was dismissed and replaced by Yusuf bin Umar Thaqfi. While Yusuf did not indulge in vices and performed the obligatory religious duties he was at the same time merciless and foolish. When Nasr bin Sayyar took over the governmental responsibilities he first tried to stop the unjust practice of the collecting the Jizya from the converts. He was able to put an end to it and an immediate impact was seen, Islam started spreading among the Turks very rapidly. Cities of Khadar and Armenia Hisham bin Abdul Malik appointed Jarrah bin Abdullah Hakami the governor of Armenia. In 111 A.H.

Jarrah, making Jihad from the side of Taflees e~tered Turkistan and after capturing the famous city of Baiza, he returned. In 112 A.H., the Turks arrayed their joint armies and attacked the Islamic territory. Jarrah came out to face them. Both fought at the plain of Ardabil (town in northwestern Iran, 38 miles from the Caspian Sea). The Muslims were outnumbered and Jarrah met his martyrdom fighting b'ut not before making his brother Hajjaj bin Abdullah Hakami his deputy. Jarrah's death encouraged the Turkmen and the Turks in their intoxication of victory advanced near to Mosil.

When the news reached the capital of Damascus, Hisham bin Abdul Malik called Sayeed Huraishi and said to him, "Jarrah fled after being defeated." Sayeed said, "Jarrah feared Allah more than running away after defeat. He could not tolerate the shame of defeat at the hands of the Turks plus flight. I think he met his martyrdom." Hisham said, "What should be done now?" Sayeed said, "Please send me there with only forty men and keep sending forty men daily, also send orders to The History of Islam all the governors and administrators to extend reinforcements to me if need be." Hisham liked the idea and Sayeed set out with forty men. They met Jarrah's defeated comrades on the way. Sayeed took them with him and wherever he passed by tribes of Muslims, he induced them to join the Jihad. In this way, people continued to join him everywhere.

At Khalat, he fought the Turks. After a fierce battle, the Turks suffered a defeat and the Muslims captured a large amount of spoils of war. Then Sayeed encamped at Barzgha. The Turks had besieged Warsan. Sayeed informed the people of Warsan of the arrival of the Islamic forces and threatened the Turks to either lift the siege or face them. The Turks were terrifiedand they raised the siege and left.

Sayeed entered Warsan and then continued to advance up to Ardabil and encamped there. He was informed that an army of ten thousand Turks was encamping at a distance of eight miles from there and they had five thousand Muslim captives with them. Sayeed attacked at night, killed all ten thousand Turks and freed the Muslim captives. He set out for Bajarwan while a spy informed him that another army of Turks was encamping near by. Sayeed led a night attack there also and freed all the Muslim captives after killing all the Turks. Jarrah's sons and other members of his family were among the captives, the Turks then rallied again and prepared a large army and fought with the Muslims at Zarand.

The Turks had to retreat after a fierce battle. Trying to recover some of their losses, they again prepared for a confrontation and retaliation and assembled along the side of Began River. Sayeed arrived and started the fight. Many Turks were killed _and of those who escaped most were drowned in the river. Following the victory Huraishi returned to Bajarwan and encamped there and sent the good news of his victories to Caliph Hisham with the fifth part of the spoils of war. Hisham then recalled Huraishi to Damascus and sent his own brother Maslama bin Abdul Malik with the documents of governorship to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Turks again rallied after Sayeed's departure. They prepared a huge army with a vast amount of weapons and provisions. Maslama was a veteran commande~ and a brave person. It was not out of cowardice but out of shortage of men and a good estimation of the Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) enemies strength that he moved the Muslims' weapons, provisions, women and children to Derbent (city in Dagestan republic in southwestern Russia) to avoid the risk of them being captured by the Turks. During his one and a half or two-year rule, he treated the Turks in Armenia kindly, which helped to discourage them from revolting against the Muslims. Following Maslama's arrival at Derbent, Marwan bin Mohammad bin Marwan who was in Maslama's army, left and went to Damascus.

He complained to Hisham about Maslama stating that he dealt with the Turks in Armenia and Azerbaijan with great leniency, which encouraged them to revolt and when he was expected to fight them, he retreated and returned to Derbent. He claimed that if the caliph provided him with 120,000 warriors and sent him there, he would straighten out the problem with the Turks completely. Hisham bin Abdul Malik agreed to his request and gave him the number of warriors he asked for and sent him to the cities of Khadar and Armenia. Meanwhile Maslama became sick and died in Derbent. When the Turks saw such a huge army with Marwan, they lost their nerve and surrendered. Marwan as he had said, completely corrected the situation and restored peace in the entire region of Armenia and Khadar.

Hisham sent Marwan to Armenia in 114 A.H. Caesar of Rome During Hisham bin Abdul Malik's regime, the Muslims defeated Caesar's army repeatedly. Summer and winter armies had been reserved in the north for launching attacks since Amir Muawiya's times. Those summer and winter armies continued to invade Constantinople and Caesar's territories and because of this constant onslaught, the Romans were overawed by the Muslims. In Hisham's time princes like Muawiya bin Hisham, Sayeed bin Hisham, Sulaiman bin Hisham, Maslama bin Abdul Malik, Marwan bin Mohammad, Abbas bin Waleed all led attacks on them. Famous commanders like Abdullah Batta! and Abdul Wahab bin Bakht were known to the Romans and feared by them.

The Romans suffered great losses at the hands of the Muslims and failed to achieve any major victory against them. Abdullah bin Oqba's feats in Spain were sufficient to keep the European Christians and the Christian kings fearful at the mention of i I The History of Islam the name of the Muslims. Peace was also restored in the Hijaz and Yemen. Zaid bin Ali The treatment that was meted out to Husain bin Ali bin Abi Talib .;,. at Karbala and to Abdullah bin Zubair ~ in Makkah by the government of the Banu Umayyah and after that the policy that was adopted by Hajjaj and Ibn Zeyad in the Hijaz and Iraq, all combined to terrify and silence the Arab tribes of the Hijaz and Iraq. Moreover, their acquisition and use of wealth created such a negative impression on the masses that it gave rise to ill feelings ultimately leading to the gradual disappearance of sincerity and sympathy for Banu Umayyah. Hisham's 20-year rule was outwardly an age of peace.

In his time, there were no tyrants like Hajjaj and Ibn Zeyad in Iraq and the Hijaz. Banu Hashim were repeatedly reminded of their own ruin and Banu Umayyah's successes. They considered those who were not taking extraordinary advantages of the government directly to be their sympathizers. The fear and awe they had inspired also vanished. In this atmosphere~ Banu Hashim made up their mind to pull down Ba~m, Umayyah's government and establish their own. They had been watching and gaining experience.

Since the administrations of Uthman bin Affan ~ and Ali bin Abi Talib ~, they felt that strategy and planning was more effective than swords in changing governments. Therefore, secret planning, conspfracies and subversive activities were started on a large scale. The work was simultaneously begun by two families of Banu Hashim. The descendents of Ali bin Abi Talib and the descendents of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib began their struggles separately. The struggles made by the Abbasids will follow later. At present mention is being made about the struggles of the Alawites or Fatimids.

It has been mentioned above that Hisham bin Abdul Malik deputed Yusuf bin Umar Thaqfi as the governor of Iraq. During his regime in 122 A.H. Zaid bin Ali bin Husain bin Ali bin Abi Talib began to take the oath from the people secretly. As the popularity of Banu Umayyah due to reasons mentioned above had declined so much, Zaid bin Ali was highly successful in the matter of taking the oath and 15,000 Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) people took the oath at his hands in Kufa. Imam Abu Hanifa was one of the supporters of Zaid bin Ali. [Editor's note: Imam Abu Hanifa is the founder of one' of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence that are universally accepted by Muslims.] Those who watched and understood the past historical developments advised Zaid bin Ali not to revolt but to wait for some time, he did not act upon their counsel and he revolted in Kufa. Yusuf bin Umar Thaqfi tried his best to put it down and the parties clashed.

Just as the Kufans had betrayed Husain bin Ali .:t,, and Musab bin Zubair, similarly they betrayed Zaid bin Ali. When the time for using swords and displaying valor came, they started cross arguing like students. They said to him, "First tell us what is your opinion about Abu Bakr Siddiq(= 11 Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) outskirts of Balqa and from there, he made publicity for his movement in the other Islamic countries. After a short time, he appointed 12 deputies and sent them to spread their message to all the Islamic countries and they met with success everywhere. In 102 A.H. or according to another narration in 104 A.H. Abu Mohammad Sadiq, along with some influential persons of Khorasan who agreed with his mission, came to Mohammad bin Ali.

It was during that time that Mohammad bin Ali came with his 15 day old son and said to them, "This will be your chief". (That child later came to be known as Abdullah Saffah and became the first Abbasid caliph). Then Bukair bin Mahan who was in Sindh with Junaid, visited Kufa and met Abu Mohammad Sadiq. He invited Bukair and he accepted at once. These events occurred in 105 A.H. In 107 A.H.

Bukair who was the responsible officer in charge of the movement in Iraq and Khorasan, sent Abu Ikrama, Abu Mohammad Sadiq, Mohammad Khaneen, and Ammar Ebadi to Khorasan for advancing the cause of the caliphate of the Abbasids, Asad Qasri was the Governor of Khorasan at that time. He came to know by chance that some persons were asking people to support the caliphate of the Abbasids. He had all of them arrested and killed. Only Ammar managed to escape and informed Bukair. Bukair sent the details to Mohammad bin Ali who replied, "Thank Allah! Your missionary work and struggles have proved successful and fruitful.

Now you should await your own death's too". In 118 A.H., Bukair made Ammar bin Zaid the chief of the supporters of Banu Abbas and sent him to Khorasan. He went there and introduced himself as Kharash. He preferred sympathy with Banu Abbas to even prayer and fasting and said to the people, "Far superior to fasting and prayer is the struggle to establish the caliphate of Banu Abbas and keep it a guarded secret and save it from exposure". Hearing about these statements Mohammad bin Ali expressed his displeasure with him. When the Governor of Khorasan, Asad Qasri, became aware of Kharash' s activities, he had him arrested and killed.

Mohammad bin Ali was annoyed at the weak faith of the Khorasanis. After which, an influential delegation from Khorasan came to him and begged to be excused for their weakness. Mo~ammad bin Ali made one of them his deputy and sent them back to Khorasan. He gave them some wooden staffs, which symbolized The History of Islam power and authority. In 124 A.H., Mohammad bin Ali died in captivity. He made his son Ibrahim his successor at the time of his death and left a will for hi~ deputies and disciples to recognize Ibrahim bin Mohammad bin Ali as their leader and obey him.

Bukair paid a visit to Ibrahim and received instructions from him, then set out to Khorasan to communicate to the people there the news of Mohammad bin Ali's death and the succession of his son as their leader. Bukair reached Khorasan and after collecting the people of the same mind, informed them of the situation and gave them instructions. The supporters of Banu Abbas brought the little cash they had and deposited it with him. Bukair went back to Imam Ibrahim with the money and in 124 A.H., Ibrahim sent Abu Muslim to Khorasan. The details about Abu Muslim and Imam Ibrahim and the future situation of the movement will be narrated later on. The state of Hisham bin Abdul Malik's caliphate has already been narrated in brief.

According to Yazid bin Abdul Malik's will, Waleed bin Yazid was the heir-apparent after Hisham. However, Hisham wanted to depose Waleed and make his own son his successor. The noblemen and leaders of the government were not willing to accept it and he did not succeed in his aim. The attempted dismissal of Waleed created enmity between Hisham and Waleed . On 6 Rabi-al-Thani 125 A.H. after running the caliphate for nineteen and a half years Hisham bin Abdul Malik died. Waleed bin Yazid bin Abdul Malik Abu!

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. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) 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 ) ! The History of Islam 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. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) 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. The History of Islam 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 (.w- .iii.,?;)'' and then he sat down to read the Quran.

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. Yazid bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik Abu Khalid Yazid bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan bin Hakam is also known as Yazid the III and 'Yazid Naqis' (Yazid the reducer).

He was called by this name because he slashed the salaries of the army. When Waleed bin Yazid had taken over as Caliph, he had increased the salaries by ten 'dirhams'. When Yazid became Caliph, he abolished the increment and restored the previous pay scale that was used by caliph Hisham. After becoming Caliph, Yazid gathered the people and said, "Waleed was a disbeliever and therefore he was assassinated. Now I shall treat you well. You will get your salaries on time.

No one will be given any land until I fortify the borders of the Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Islamic territories and fill the cities with justice and righteousness. I shall not keep watch at my door so that everyone may have easy access to me". After that, he took the oath for his brother Ibrahim bin Waleed and Abdul Aziz bin Hajjaj bin Abdul Malik to succeed after him. When the inhabitants of Hims learned that Waleed bin Yazid was assassinated, they took up arms and made Yazid bin Khalid bin Yazid bin Muawiya their leader and set out for Damascus to avenge Waleed's death. Yazid bin Waleed gave an army to Sulaiman bin Hisham bin Abdul Malik for defense. He first made a proposal for reconciliation to the inhabitants of Hims and when they refused, he began to fight them.

The consequence was.that Yazid bin Khalid was caught and the rebels of Hims were killed in large numbers and the rest ran away from the battlefield. When the Palestinians received the news, they also revolted. They made Yazid bin Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik their leader and when the Jordanians heard, they enthroned Mohammad bin Abdul Malik as their king and joined the Palestinians. The forces of the Palestinians and Jordanians moved jointly to Damascus. Waleed had already won the people of those places to his side but since it was an issue of the Caliph's assassination, they were enveloped by a strong wave of sympathy for the murdered Caliph and hatred against the present one. This was not surprising when we see a criminal executed although he is guilty our previous hatred and loathing for him dissipates.

The office of the caliph is a cherished one and any foul play connected to it brings a negative reaction and because of these factors the Jordanians and Palestinians revolted. Hearing about the advancing army, Yazid deputed Sulaiman bin Hi.sham with a large army to discipline and correct them. Sulaiman defeated them all and forced them to obey Lhe nc , -diph. After suppressing these revolts in Syria, Yazid dismissed Yusuf bin Umar as the Amir of Iraq and Khorasan and replaced him with Mansoor bin Jamhoor. Yusuf did not officially hand over the authority to him instead he left for Damascus covertly. As soon as he arrived in Damascus, Yazid bin Waleed arrested him and he died in captivity.

Mansoor reached Kufa and released all the prisoners Yusuf had jailed The History of Islam and sent his own brother as the Governor of Khorasan. Nasr bin Sayyar did not allow him entry into Khorasan and before the issue was settled, Yazid bin Waleed dismissed Mansoor and replaced him by Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz and sent him to Iraq, not even two months had elapsed between the appointment of Mansoor and his replacement by Abdullah. Mansoor officially handed over the responsibilities of Amir to Abdullah and went to Syria. Abdullah bin Umar appointed Nasr bin Sayyar governor of Khorasan. At that time, the state of Yamamah was governed along with the province of Iraq. Sometimes Yamamah was annexed to the Hijaz and at other times to Iraq.

The inhabitants of Yamamah had proclaimed their independence during Yusuf bin Umar's regime by expelling Ali bin Muhajir, the Governor of Yamamah. They were still independent and nothing could be done to bring them under the central government's rule. When Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz took over as the Amir of Iraq and appointed Nasr bin Sayyar the Governor of Khorasan, Jadi bin Kermani Azdi revolted against him. Jadi was in fact an Azdi but because he was born in Kerman, he was known as Kermani. Because Nasr had declared his independence as ruler of Khorasan and then was appointed to the post of Governor he seemingly was rewarded for his rebellion, so Jadi felt resentment. He said to his friends, "They are falling into mischief.

Choose your own leader for your work". Nasr bin Sayyar and Kermani had disagreed in the past and there was resentment still lingering between them. For starting this new problem, Nasr arrested him and put him into jail on 27 Ramadan 126 A.H. Kermani remained there for a few days and then managed to escape. He was able to immediately gathered 3000 men. Nasr appointed a military commander to humble and discipline him.

However, the people intervened and stopped the fight and brought about reconciliation between them. That resulted in Kermani visiting Nasr who exhorted him to remain confined to his house. After a few days, Kermani wanted to revolt again. Several times they were ready to fight and then became reconciled. Finally, it was agreed that Kerrnani should leave Khorasan and go to Jurjan. During the days when Nasr and Kermani were constantly disputing the situation turned very dangerous, Nasr had the apprehension that Kerrnani might call Harith bin Shuraih from Turkistan and strengthen Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) himself.

Harith bin Shuraih has already been mentioned. He had been in Turkistan for 12 or 13 years. Therefore, Nasr sent Muqatil bin Hayani Nabti to bring Harith to him. He sent letters to Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz in Kufa and to Yazid bin Waleed in Damascus expressing his opinion of the possible danger from Harith and requested for documents of safe passage and permission to call him to Khorasan. Letters guaranteeing his security came from both the places. Harith left Turkistan and arrived in Khorasan where Nasr entertained him splendidly and lodged him at Marwrood.

He fixed 50 dirhams as his daily allowance and said to him, "Choose the state and you will be made the Governor there". Harith said, "I don't want material benefits or power. I am interested in bringing into practice the Book and the Sunnah (practical application of the Quran and the methods of the Prophet !i). I became sick of atrocities and I left these cities now after 13 years you have recalled me to them". Nasr was silent upon hearing this. Harith then sent word to Kermani, "If Nasr bin Sayyar is acting upon the Book and the Sunnah I shall fight against his enemies and support him and if he fails to act accordingly, I shall join you provided that you too promise to act upon the Book and Sunnah".

Then Harith drew the tribe of Tamim and others to his command and within a few days, 3,000 people took the oath for his leadership. This was the situation in Khorasan. In Armenia, Marwan bin Mohammad bin Marwan and in Jazira, Abduh bin Riyah Ghassani were the Amirs. When Waleed bin Yazid was killed, Abdu Ghassani left Jazirah (Literally: 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 went to Syria.

Marwan bin Mohammad's son, Abdul Malik, finding the province of Jazirah deserted, captured it and then sent his agents to various places and wrote to his father, Marwan bin Mohammad bin Marwan, "This is a big opportunity please stand up and avenge Waleed's death". Yazid bin Waleed had hardly become free from the uprisings in Hims, Jordan and Palestine, when he received the news of Marwan's revolt. Because the situation was highly critical for Yazid he wrote to The History of Islam Marwan, "If you take the oath at my hands I shall give you the authority over all the states of Jazirah, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Mosil and send you the certificate making you the Amir". Marwan bin Mohammad took the oath from Yazid, and as promised, Yazid sent him the documents making him the Amir. Marwan then began to rule over the Provinces mentioned, previously he was the ruler of Armenia alone but now he was made the Amir of all territories up to Mosil. Yazid bin Waleed, popularly known as Yazid Naqis (the reducer) was not bad from the view point of his morals and merits but he did not live long and after ruling for about six months, he died of plague on 20 Dhul Hijja 126 A.H. at the age of 35.

Ibrahim bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik Abu lshaq Ibrahim bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik took over as caliph after his brother Yazid Naqis in keeping with his will. All the people did not take the oath from Ibrahim. Some continued refusing to do so. When Marwan bin Mohammad bin Marwan, the Amir of Armenia, heard of Yazid's death, he advanced towards Damascus with his army. First, he arrived at Qansareen (one of the five original provinces that the conquering Arabs divided greater Syria into, now northern Syria). After capturing it, he moved towards Hims.

The situation in Hims was strange. The inhabitants of Hims had not taken the oath with Ibrahim. Because of this the Syrian army from Damascus under the command of Abdul Aziz bin Hajjaj bin Abdul Malik, the commander of Ibrahim, was besieging Hims. When Abdul Aziz heard Marwan bin Mohammad was approaching, he raised the siege and went to Damascus. When Marwan arrived in Hims, the inhabitants of Hims took the oath without any hesitation. When Ibrahim was informed of it, he sent Sulaiman bin Hisham with an army of 120,000 to fight with Marwan.

Marwan had 80,000 soldiers only. Before the fight, Marwan sent the message that read, "We give up our claim to Waleed binYazid's blood. Simply release his sons Hakam and Uthman whom Waleed had made his heirs apparent". Sulaiman bin Hisham turned down the request and the battle began. Sulaiman suffered a crushing defeat after getting his 17,000 men killed. Marwan took the oath for Hakam and Uthman and moved towards Damascus.

In Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Damascus Ibrahim and his advisors agreed to murder Hakam and Uthman and that is how they did. Marwan entered Damascus as the victor and Ibrahim and Sulaiman fled from Damascus towards Tadmur (ancient Syrian city, now in south-central Syria). Marwan found 'the dead bodies of Hakam and Uthman and was extremely aggrieved. He performed the funeral prayer and buried them and then put the question to the people, "Whom do you want to be made your Caliph"? They all unanimously took the oath with Marwan bin Mohammad bin Marwan bin Hakam. That occurred on Monday 24 Safar 127 A.J--1.

Marwan granted pardon to Ibrahim and the latter willingly renounced his claim to the caliphate in favor of Marwan bin Muhammad. Historians differ on Ibrahim's caliphate. Some consider him to be a caliph and some do not because his caliphate was not recognized all over the Islamic world and he also abdicated. His caliphate whatever it may be considered lasted for only two months and a few days. Marwan bin Mohammad bin Marwan bin Hakam Marwan bin Mohammad is the last of the caliphs of the Banu Umayyah dynasty. Historically he is sometimes referred to as Marwan IL The caliph was known for his patience because the days of his caliphate were passed in waging many battles and he proved himself very forbearing and enduring.

Marwan bin Mohammad lived at Harran instead of Damascus. He invited (the deposed caliph) Ibrahim from Tadmur and fixed him a salary. On 1 Shawwal Marwan received news that the inhabitants of Hims were fully prepared to take arms and that the Arab tribes from the adjoining areas had joined them. As soon as he heard the news, he took his forces and rushed towards Hims. Ibrahim and Sulaiman also accompanied him. They reached Hims on 30 Shawwal.

They found the city gates closed. Marwan's officer shouted, "Why have you broken your oath with the ' Amir alMuminin?" The city dwellers said, "We have not broken it. We are obedient and still firm on the oath". Then they opened the city gates and Marwan's men entered it. There were several factions in Hims, those opposed to him fought with Marwan and he defeated them. He pulled down about 300 yards of the city wall and leveled it to avoid another siege.

He took the oath from the citizens. He was still in the The History of Islam city when he received news that the citizens of Ghota had chosen Yazid bin Khalid as their leader, invaded Damascus and besieged its Governor. Marwan sent 10,000 soldiers to the help the Governor. The army arrived and the fight between them began. Marwan's army fought from outside and the people of Damascus fought from within. The Ghota people were defeated.

Yazid bin Khalid was killed and his head was cut off and sent to Marwan. Immediately after the suppression of the uprising Thabit bin Nairn gathered the Palestinians and laid siege to Tabria. It was then ruled over by Waleed bin Muawiya bin Marwan bin Hakam. Marwan at once sent his commander Abu! Warda to put down the rebellion. Immediately after his arrival, the Taberians came out of the city and fought.

The Palestinians were defeated. Abu! Warda caught Thabit bin Naim's three sons and sent them to Marwan. Marwan appointed Ramahis bin Abdul Aziz Kanani as the ruler of Palestine. He searched for and arrested Thabit bin Nairn and sent him to Marwan who chopped off his and his son's hands and feet and crucified them. After these events, the situation stabilized and Marwan bin Mohammad took the oath for the succession of his sons Abdullah and Obaidullah at Dair Ayyub and they married Hisham bin Abdul Malik's daughters.

Then he invaded Tadrnur because they were still claiming independence. They were forced to surrender and take the oath. Then he sent Yazid bin Umar bin Hubairah to Iraq to expel Dhahak Shebani Khawarji who had occupied Kufa. He stayed at Qarqisa in order to keep sending reinforcements from the rear. Before this, Sulaiman bin Hisham had encamped at RuSaffah (near present day Baghdad) to take rest. A large number of Syrians whom Marwan had sent to Iraq under the command of Yazid bin Umar bin Hubaira left him and went to Sulaiman bin Hisham and requested him to accept the caliphate.

Sulaiman accepted it and taking them with him moved towards Qansareen. From there, he wrote letters to the different Syrian groups to which they responded and Syrians from all directions rallied round him and formed a big army. When Marwan heard about it, he ordered Yazid bin Umar bin Hubaira to halt and then he himself left Qarqisa and moved to face Sulaiman. Marwan and Sulaiman arrayed their forces outside of Qansareen at Hanaf and Marwan's forces defeated Sulaiman and forced him to escape. The captives from Sulaiman's men were slain. Sulaiman bin Hisham's son and Hisham bin Abdul Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Malik's maternal uncle Khalid bin Hisham Makhzumi were killed on the battlefield.

Sulaiman fled to Hims, gathered more armed forces and repaired the city walls. Marwan arrived at Hims and there was a fierce battle. Marwan surrounded Hims and continued the siege for about six months. Eighty catapults constantly kept launching stones. Becoming helpless, the citizens of Hims begged for pardon and Sulaiman escaped to Tadmur. Finishing the siege of Hims, Marwan set out for Kufa to fight with Dhahak Khawarji.

Yazid bin Umar bin Hubaira went to Kufa and defeated Dhahak Khwarji. Dhahak reordered his army and Yazid bin Umar defeated him again and entered Kufa. The Khawarij rebelled several times but they were defeated each time. Yazid bin Umar bin Hubaira occupied Iraq and sent Nasr bin Sayyar to Khorasan as the Governor after he took the oath for Marwan bin Mohammad. As mentioned above, Harith bin Shuraih was present in Khorasan and the number of his men kept increasing day by day. He knew that he was granted pardon and security by Yazid bin Waleed and not by Marwan bin Mohammad.

The Governor of Kufa, Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz had also granted him pardon but not the present Governor of Kufa, Yazid bin Umar bin Hubairah. Therefore, Harith announced his opposition to them. Nasr bin Sayyar argued with him on this point very much but he did not see reason. Finally, war became inevitable. The flames of war engulfed the streets of the capital city Merv. From the other side of Khorasan, Kermani in Kerman had become very powerful.

Nasr bin Sayyar sent for Kermani with grave misgivings because his doubts about his loyalty were not clarified. Kermani prepared himself for opposition to both sides. In short, the three of them, Kermani, Harith and Nasr assembled at Merv with their armies. All of them were equally powerful and all of them had different goals in their hearts. None of them had sympathy for the other. At last, Harith and Kermani joined together and defeated Nasr and expelled him from Merv.

After a few days, they fought with each other, which resulted in the death of Harith and Kermani captured Merv in 128 A.H. When Harith was killed, Nasr collected Harith's soldiers and started sending armies against Kermani. Battles were waged and in almost all the confrontations, Nasr's commanders The History of Islam were defeated. At last, Nasr, taking a big army, went to Merv. The two sides made fortifications and a chain of battles began. The battles continued and neither side was able to subdue the other.

Abu Muslim Khorasani, who finds mention in the coming pages, found the situation advantageous and collected an army, he entered into correspondence with Nasr and Kermani separately. He wrote to Nasr, "Imam Ibrahim (the leader of the Abbasid movement) has sent me some instructions about you and I think you will be benefited by them". Then he wrote the same type of letter to Kermani, "I am your sympathizer and Imam Ibrahim has written to me to help you in your time of need". He gave instructions to the messengers bearing the letters to show the letter addressed to Nasr, to those tribes which sympathized with him, and to show the letter, addressed to Kermani to those tribes who were Kermani's sympathizers. The aim was to win the sympathy of all the tribes. Similarly, he managed to gain the sympathy and support of the Khawarij by clever means.

Abu Muslim Khorasani arrived with his army and encamped in between the fortifications of Kermani and Nasr. Both sides failed to guess whom he would support or oppose. The next day Abu Muslim sent word to Kermani, "I shall fight with Nasr from your side". Kermani was highly pleased. When Nasr came to know about it he wrote to Kermani, "Abu Muslim wants to harm you cleverly. Don't come into his snare.

We should forget our differences and fight against him". Kermani agreed to Nasr's suggestion. The next day a meeting between the two was arranged. Kermani came out with 200 men to meet Nasr whose men taking the opportunity killed them. Kermani' s son Ali came running to Abu Muslim for support and Kermani's and Abu Muslim's armies under the command of Ali and Abu Muslim attacked Nasr. Nasr was defeated.

He fled and hid himself in a house. Abu Muslim and Ali captured Merv. Ali bin Kermani wanted to take the oath at Abu Muslim's hand but the latter said," At present maintain the status quo. We shall do whatever is proper when the Imam's order comes". Nasr escaped from Merv and began to gather forces. Abu Muslim and Ali bin Kermani lived together.

Abu Muslim persuaded the chief of the Khawarij Shehan bin Abdul Aziz Khwarji to join him because Nasr was inimical to the Khawarij. Ali bin Kermani joined Abu Muslim because he wanted to avenge his father's death. Nasr Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) sent word to the Khawarij leader in order separate him and Abu Muslim, saying that Abu Muslim was a Shiite. In brief, the Khawarij split with Abu Muslim, Kermani's son also left him. All these four groups, Abu Muslim, Sheban Khawariji, Ali bin Kermani and Nasr were wandering here and there in Khorasan all looking for an opportunity against the other. Nasr and Abu Muslim were more clever and more farsighted than the others.

Consequently, Abu Muslim had an opportunity and murdered Sheban Khawariji and Kermani's son one after the other in 130 A.H. In 131 A.H., Nasr fell ill and died at Rayy and that left Abu Muslim with no rivals remaining in Khorasan. Khawarij A brief of the situation in Khorasan has been given above. We will now discuss the Khawarij factor. They observed the civil wars and weaknesses in [slamic territories and used these situations to assist them in their revolt. The Khawarij of Khorasan chose Dhahak bin Qais Shebani as their leader.

Dhahak attacked Kufa and occupied it and Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz had to retreat from Kufa and go to Wasit. Sulaiman bin Hisham, defeated by Marwan bin Mohammad, joined Dhahak bin Qais. That of course added to Dhahak's overall strength. Dhahak then invaded Mosil. There Marwan bin Mohammad's son, Abdullah bin Marwan, faced him with only 7000 soldiers while Dhahak had one hundred thousand fighters, and with this army he surrounded Abdullah bin Marwan. Marwan, Abdullah's father received this information and turned his attention to his son's predicament.

After a fierce battle, Dhahak was killed and the Khawarij chose Sayeed bin Bahdal as their leader but he was also killed. Then they made Sheban bin Abdul Aziz their new leader. Marwan sent Yazid bin Hubaira towards Kufa. He went there and turned out all the Khawarij from that city. On the other side, Sheban bin Abdul Aziz, taking all the Khawarij with him, went towards Iran. There he joined Abu Muslim as has been mentioned above and was killed in 130 A.H.

The Hijaz, Yemen and Hadramawt (ancient South Arabian kingdom that occupied what are now southern and southeastern Yemen and part of the present-day Sultanate of Oman) also saw rebellions and Abu Hamza Mukhtar bin Auf Azdi raised the The History of Islam flag of rebellion and Abdullah bin Yahya, the ruler of Hadramawt joined him. Abu Hamza first captured Madinah and then moved towards Syria. Marwan bin Mohammad deputied Ibn Atya Sadi to confront him and they met at Wadi Qura. Abu Hamza was killed in the battle. Ibn Atya then proceeded to Yemen and confronted Abdullah bin Yahya who was ready to face him a battle ensued and it resulted in Abdullah bin Yahya's dealh. Ibn Atya cut off his head and sent it to Marwan.

At the time Marwan bin Mohammad was at war with Dhahak Khwarji near Mosil, a letter written by Imam Ibrahim and addressed to Abu Muslim Khorasani was intercepted and given to Marwan. It contained instructions that included, "Don't spare even a single Arab or a descendent of an Arab. The natives of Khorasan who have embraced Islam will stand us in good stead. We should rely on them more". The letter also revealed that Banu Abbas had spread the net of conspiracy against Banu Umayyah for quite a long time and Imam Ibrahim whose center of operations was at Hamima in Balqa was the engineer of these plots. Marwan bin Mohammad after reading the letter ordered his ruler in Balqa to arrest Imam Ibrahim and send him to the caliph.

So, Imam Ibrahim bin Mohammad along with several members of his family was caught and sent to caliph Marwan as captives. They were put in jail at Harran. Along with Imam Ibrahim Sayeed bin Hisham bin Abdul Malik and his two sons, Uthman and Marwan, Abbas bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik, Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz and Abu Muhammad Sufyani were also imprisoned. In a matter of days an epidemic broke out in Harran and Imam Ibrahim, Abbas bin Waleed and Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz died from the disease. Sayeed bin Hisham along with the other prisoners killed the jailer, broke open lhe jail door and escaped. The inhabitants of Harran caught the escaping prisoners and killed them.

Abu Mohammad Sufyani did not escape from jail with the others. He was released by Marwan bin Mohammad after he returned defeated from Zab river battle. Imam Ibrahim left his will at the time of his arrest and imprisonment that after his death his brother Abdullah bin Mohammad, popularly known as Abu! Abbas Saffah would be his successor. He also willed that Abu! Abbas Saffah should not stay in Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Balqa but in Kufa.

Imam Ibrahim, before his arrest, had directed that Abu Muslim Khorasani should be as their officer to comply with this order and then Imam Ibrahim sent Qahtaba bin Shabeeb to Abu Muslim with a black flag to revolt and capture Khorasan. Abdullah bin Mohammad Saffah along with his family settled in Kufa in accordance with the will of his brother. Abu Muslim brought under his control the whole of Khorasan between 130 A.H. and 131 A.H. Then he sent Qahtaba bin Shabeeb with an army towards Kufa. Kufa was captured and then the oath at the hand of Abul Abbas Saffah Abdullah bin Mohammad followed. Upon receiving this news Marwan bin Mohammad left Harran with 120,000 warriors and marched towards Kufa.

The confrontation between his army and Saffah' s army under the command of his uncle Abdullah bin Ali took place adjacent to the Zab River. If Marwan bin Mohammad's army had · the desire to fight, it could have easily defeated Abu! Abbas Saffah's army. However in the midst of the battle at the point that Marwan had forced the greater portion of Abdullah bin Ali's army into retreat and there was no doubt left that Marwan would be victorious, the greater portion of Marwan's army refused to attack and continue the fight as if their purpose was to cause his defeat. Abdullah bin Ali, finding himself on the verge of defeat and deciding to risk everything, attacked with a selected group of men. None of Marwan's leaders came forward to meet this last desperate challenge.

Marwan tempted them with rewards and special favors but without response. Then he poured all his treasure on to the battlefield and told them to attack and after killing the weakened enemies, they could distribute it among themselves. The army failed to follow his orders and became engrossed in looting the exposed valuables and even those few who were still fighting left the battle and also began looting. Shocked at this disorder and chaos Marwan sent his son, Abdullah to stop the looting. As soon he reached where they were looting the treasure, they began to flee and left Marwan with only a few persons. Marwan was disillusioned with the disloyalty and disobedience of his army and escaped.

He arrived in Mousil where the people taunted him for his defeat. He realized the futility of staying there and went to The History of Islam Harran where his nephew Abbas bin Yazid bin Mohammad was the Governor. Marwan was defeated on Saturday 11 Jamad-al-Thani 132 A.H. along side of the Zab River. He had stayed at Harran for 20 days when he heard of Abdullah bin Ali's approach and he immediately left for Hims. When Abdullah bin Ali reached Harran, its Governor Abbas came out in black clothes and holding a black flag to receive him and took the oath for Saffah's caliphate at his hands. Abdullah bin Ali granted him pardon.

When Marwan reached Hims, the citizens at first showed their obedience and respect but when they realized his military weakness, they prepared to revolt and fight him. Marwan left Hims after three days. The citizens of Hims wanted to rob him of his valuables. Marwan first tried to argue with them and make them see reason but they did not give up their attempts to overpower him and he fought with them and made them withdraw. From Hims Marwan went to Damascus. Its governor was his cousin Waleed bin Muawiya bin Marwan bin Hakam.

He did not stay there he only induced the governor to fight against the opponents of Banu Umayyah, he went to Palestine and stayed there hoping to lead a life of silence and retirement. In Harran Abdullah bin Ali, after pulling down the jail where Ibrahim bin Mohammad had been in captivity, moved towards Damascus. On the way his brother Abdus Samad bin Ali whom Saffah had sent to help him with a body of 8000 soldiers, arrived. Then he, after taking the oath from the people of Harran, went to Damascus via Qansareen and Baibak and laid siege to it. After a short siege he entered Damascus on Wednesday 5 Ramadan 132 A.H. by force and blood flowed in its streets. Its governor Waleed bin Muawiya was killed in the confrontation.

After the massacre and victory Abdullah bin Ali stayed there for 15 days and then went to Palestine. He had just arrived at the Palestine border when he received a letter from Abdullah bin Saffah asking him to send his brother Saleh bin Ali in pursuit of Marwan. Marwan left Palestine and went to Arish (town in the northeastern section of the Sinai Penins!fla), then to the Nile River and then to Said. Saleh continued the pursuit and camped at Fustat (this was the earliest Arab settlement in Egypt south of modern Cairo) from there he sent a Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) division of his army in search of Marwan. By chance, Saleh's soldiers came across Marwan's cavalry. Marwan's horsemen were already in low spirits and frustrated they did not fight and fled away and a few of them were al.so captured.

When they were interrogated, they revealed Marwan's location, informing them that he was at Boseer. The officer of Saleh's division Abu Aun thought it best to launch a night attack on Marwan for he knew that to face him would not be easy and they attacked as planned. Surprised at the sudden attack, Marwan came out of his house. A soldier was laying in wait for him attacked him with a spear. He fell down and one of his men said, "The Amir al-Muminin is dead." Hearing it Abu Aun and his men rushed to him and cut off his head and sent it to Abul Abbas Abdullah Saffah . This occurred on 28 Dhul Hijjah 132 A.H. corresponding to 5 August 750 AD and with it came to end the Caliphate of Banu Umayyah and began the Caliphate of Banu Abbas.

Following Marwan's death his sons Abdullah and Obaidullah, fled to Ethiopia. The Africans did not grant them safe passage and they killed Obaidullah and Abdullah escaped to Palestine and began to live there in hiding. During the Caliphate of Mahdi, the governor of Palestine arrested him and sent him to the court of Mahdi and he put him into prison. The Reign of Marwan bin Mohammad Marwan bin Mohammad was the last caliph of Banu Umayyah. So, he is generally regarded as the man responsible for the ruin of the caliphate of Banu Umayyah. However, the real causes of its ruin were created by his predecessor's negligence long before his caliphate.

The duration of Marwan's caliphate was slightly less than six years and he never had a single day of peace during the entire period. He spent the entire reign of his caliphate on horseback. His hard work, bravery, and firmness can not be measured easily because he was given a realm that suffered from an incurable disease. Had he acceded to the throne earlier, he could have delayed the downfall of the caliphate of Banu Umayyah for some time however, in his time he failed to counteract the shortcomings of Banu Umayyah's government The History of Islam and Banu Abbas's conspiracies. Marwan was not a man of a high mental caliber and wisdom to have been able to breathe new life into a government that was struggling to survive. His whole life was spent in disputes and battles.

During his reign, only swords shined over the Islamic World and no one had any rest. Nor was there time to make Jihad against the infidels. During his reign, Muslim blood was spilled on an unprecedented scale. Marwan was born in 70 A.H. or 72 A.H. while his father Mohammad bin Marwan was the governor of Jazirah. His mother was a slave from Kurdistan. She was owned by Ibrahim Ushtar.

Mohammad bin Marwan took her in battle and it was from her that Marwan was born. A Synopsis of Banu Umayyah's Caliphate 1The internal feuds and secret conspiracies that started from the second half of Uthman bin Affan's .l'_.;, caliphate ended with Amir Mu'awiya ~ being recognized as the caliph and Banu Umayyah's caliphate being founded. The greatest cause for the ruin of the caliphate of Banu Umayyah and a stigma being attached to the world of Islam began at the hands of the founder of the Banu Umayyah dynasty, Amir Muawiya ~ making his son Yazid, the heir-apparent established hereditary succession. The epidemic of succession started in such a virulent form that the Muslims have not been able to rid the1nselves of it until now. The consequence of his action was that the just and beneficial social equality that was established by Islam was destroyed and it was replaced by family rule, which has always been a curse for mankind. Among the Banu Umayyah dynasty Amir Muawiya ~, Abdul Malik bin Marwan and Waleed bin Abdul Malik occupy a distinctive place in respect to their conquests of territory and the quality of their statecraft.

Then followed Umar bin Abu! Aziz .._.... J 11 who was a unique caliph in the dynasty. His caliphate was based on the era of the rightly guided caliph's Abu Bakr As-Siddiq ~ and Umar bin Khattab .t,;,. Because he was absorbed with the religion and doing things for Allah's sake, he did not resemble any caliph of Banu Umayyah in any way. Though his period of caliphate was very short, it uplifted the status of the caliphate and despite all kinds of objectionable and condemnable activities the caliphate of Banu Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Plzase) Umayyah occupies a place of pride by virtue of Omar bin Abdul Aziz .'ii,,__,..

J· Hisham bin Abdul Malik was a caliph who can be put into the same category with the three other distinctive caliphs just mentioned. Not even 10 years passed after Hisham bin Abdul Malik and the magnificent dynasty of Banu Umayyah collapsed and was leveled with its foundations destroyed. Except for the five caliphs mentioned the rest of Banu Umayyah's caliphs were debauched, cowardly, unconcerned and devoid of sense and foresight. They were not fit to be the supreme leaders of a vast empire like the caliphate of Banu Umayyah. Islam had put an end to music and drinking but the caliphs of Banu Umayyah, restored these destructive habits, which continue even to this day among the Muslims. 2One of the crimes on the record of Banu Umayyah worth mentioning is that Islam had eliminated the discrimination of families and tribes and united them into a single brotherhood and a single tribe of believers. Banu Umayyah revived the prejudice and discrimination of the tribes and provided the impetus to bring back the fervor of nationalism of the days of ignorance.

They reminded the Arabs of their forgotten habits and the Muslims began to prefer nation and tribe to Islamic brotherhood. That which they recreated brought about their ultimate destruction, by the Alawis and the Abbasids exploiting the instrument of family discrimination and it provided the method for the ruin of Banu Umayyah. 3In order to establish and strengthen their rule and caliphate Banu Umayyah never hesitated in perpetrating atrocities on people and even utilizing murder as a political solution. The most famous and efficient Amirs, governors, agents and lieutenants of provinces and states were those who most mercilessly killed people and employed the strictest measures of discipline. They adopted a policy of oppression under compulsion in order to maintain their authority but ultimately the same policy caused their downfall because the popular sympathy and support went out of the people's hearts due to living in constant terror. 4Banu Umayyah was undoubtedly famous and a leader tribe among the tribes of Quraish in Arabia. The tribe produced people that were more talented than their contemporaries in matters of counseling and J The HistonJ of Islam planning and understood the principles of the government and statecraft better than the other tribes. The tribe had acquired these traits even before the advent of Islam.

However, it did not make them invulnerable to a political misfit being born into their tribe. If the custom of succession was not followed and the choice of the caliph was confined only to the tribe of Banu Umayyah, if the Muslims chose the better and the most qualified from among them, it would have been an injustice and a mistake but in that case the condition of the Caliphate of Banu Umayyah would not have worsened so much and the worfd,-of Islam would not have suffered such a great loss. If this had been their way, the caliphate of Banu Umayyah probably would have prolonged its term and the grievances the people had against them might not have developed in the destructive manner that we have recorded. 5-Banu Umayyah had superiority over other Arab tribes in respect of their ability to formulate and implement secret planning, conspiracies and deceptions, which their caliphate was based upon and temporarily strengthened by. It is the irony of fate that they were destroyed by their own methods. The Banu Hashim defeated them with their own techniques although the Banu Hashim were their disciples in these matters. This was due to the devastating intoxication with power and wealth, which completely blinded them and made them neglectf~l of their own security.

The evil practice of succession only added to their ignorance and carelessness even more. 6Besides the things mentioned above, Banu Umayyah had some qualities, which were rarely seen after them and their successors did not incorporate them into their form of governance. For instance, the caliphate of Banu Umayyah extended the conquests of the rightly guided Caliph's to the far corners of the world. They conqaered China in the East and up to the Atlantic Ocean in the West, the entire civilized world of their time was under their control. It was during their empire that Islam reached the distant islands of the oceans, the sands of the African continent and the plains of India. Islamic rule had spread everywhere in the world having one center and one capital. After Banu Umayyah the Muslims rarely had a chance to conquer new territories virtually the conquest of new lands Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) ended with them.

Only the government was maintained and after them even a single Islamic center was gone, separate governments were formed and established and among them, the caliphate of the Abbasids was the largest. 7During the caliphate of Banu Umayyah, the Arabs enjoyed the pride and position of victors. The Arab morals, the Arabic language, the Arab culture and the Arab customs and fashions were dominant everywhere. However, after Banu Umayyah non-Arabs of conquered nations began to enjoy the privilege of ruling over the Arabs and refused to recognize the Arab's virtues, qualities and their greatness of conquest. 8The Khawarij, Shia and other groups were born before the reign of Banu Umayyah, yet they faced these challenges using as the basis of thei,r religious and legal arguments only the Quran and the Hadith. Except for the Book and the Sunnah, they never recognized anything else to be qualified for judgment. Later, many groups among the Muslims were born which diminished the importance of the Book and the Sunnah and accepted as sufficient the sayings and the personal judgment in legal matters of their saints, religious teachers, Imams and institutional scholars. That was why during the caliphate of Banu Umayyah the attention of the Muslims was always centered on the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet ~ - Then followed the indifference to and carelessness with the Qur' an and the evil increased to such an extent that in our times today it is not regarded as essential for a religious scholar to have read and understood the Quran with meditation and contemplatim1. 9During the time of the rightly guided caliphs, success and victory were measured in relation to eliminating 'Shirk' (to associate anything as a partner with Allah) and deviation and bringing people to Tawhid (affirmation of the Oneness of Allah) and the worship of Allah and the religion of Islam as their way of life.

Wealth and material prosperity and grandeur had no value. However, during the caliphate of Banu Umayyah, wealth and pageantry came to be regarded as a sign of success and the money of the bait al-ma/ (Islamic treasury) began to be spent on those who could prove useful and a source of strength for the caliphate and the authority of The History of Islam the dynasty of Banu Umayyah. Those who were not likely to help them or those whom they did not think it necessary to keep good relations with were treated indifferently and denied their rights. This evil practice increased in the later caliphates even more and selfishness and internal rivalry and animosity continued increasing among the general Muslims in the same proportion. 10In the beginning of Islam and during the rightly guided caliphate, the Muslims' lives were very simple and their necessities of life were very limited. During the reign of Banu Umayyah, the use of luxuries began and the martial life style that they originally prided themselves on began to disappear by degrees. Beautiful clothes, magnificent buildings and luxuries began to be used as necessities of life and in the same proportion the models of Abu Bakr ~ and Umar bin Khattab 4'i, dwindled.

The efforts of Banu Umayyah's Rivals The consequence of the rivalry that was created between Banu Hashim and Banu Umayyah after the martyrdom of Uthman bin Affan .4-,, and the apparent renunciation of the caliphate by Imam Hasan ~ after Ali bin Abu Talib .4-,, was that Banu Umayyah overpowered Banu Hashim militarily and administratively. To take over of the caliphate by Banu Umayyah after the battles of Jamal and Siffin and the confrontations with the khawarji posed such a loss to Banu Hashim that they had felt their inability to get the caliphate and were not able to use power to retake it. However, the accession of Yazid to the caliphate after Amir Muawiya .:ffe and the innovation of hereditary succession was in terms of Islam an obvious major flaw that made Banu Umayyah vulnerable. Therefore, Imam ~usain ~ took the daring step of trying to retake the caliphate despite the advice of his sympat!1izers, which resulted in the disaster of Karbala. Amir Muawiya's weak successor Yazid and Yazid's wicked governor Ibn Zeyad with his despicable actions were not only deterrents to Banu Hashim but they also damaged the popularity of the authority of Banu Umayyah and encouraged and emboldened the masses to express their opposition to them. That resulted in _the efforts of lbn Zubair ~ - When the misfortune of Ibn Zubair ~ occurred, the holder Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) of the power and authority of Banu Umayyah was a strong man.

He not only regained the power lost to [bn Zubair ruthlessly but also instilled terror and fear in the people even more. A! this point, there was no opportunity for the Banu Hashim to use their swords to regain power. So they adopted another course of action, in the heat of their anger over the injustices vindictiveness took over their strategy. They utilized the techniques displayed by Abdullah bin Saba and his followers, which had caused them to suffer the losses of Siffin and Azrah. Among the Banu Hashim, only two families had the character of leadership, one the descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib ~ and the other the descendants of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib ~- Ali~ was the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law and Abbas ~ was his uncle. These two families were considered from the Prophet's family and their greatness and leadership was universally recognized.

Since Ali~ had faced hardship directly at the hands of Banu Umayyah, the Alawiites were more emotional than the Abbasids. Similarly, Imam Husain's martyrdom caused even more emotional feelings among the Fatimids than in the Alawiites and so they were more intent on taking revenge. · The Alawiites had two groups, one that thought that Imam Husain ~ deserved the caliphate and the other, which felt that Mohammad bin AI-Hanafia was the most deserving. The third group was the Abbasids. The most powerful group was the Fatimids or Husaniites because after Karbala they had more popular sympathy. Secondly, due to their being the descendants of Fatima hint Muhammad ?JI$ they commanded the most respect and love. The second group after them was of Mohammad bin Al-Hanafia followed immediately by the Abbasids later on the Fatimids were also divided into two groups, one which supported Zaid bin Ali Husain and were called Zaidiites and the other which took the oath from Ismail bin )afar Sadiq and were known as the Ismailies.

The abovementioned groups were inimical to Banu Umayyah and friendly to those supporting the Prophet's family. You have read above about the deaths qf Zaid bin Ali bin Husain and his son Yahya as well as the efforts of Mohammad bin Al-Hanafia and the actions taken by Mukhtar in Kufa. Whenever the Alawiites had an opportunity, they never missed the chance to revolt but they often met with failure. The Abbasids continued to take lessons from the Alawiites' activities and The History of Islam their consequences. They continued to make efforts against Banu Umayyah with great care and foresightedness. All three groups adopted the same policy to convert the people to their own beliefs covertly and take the oath from them secretly until they were able to gain enough power to face and defeat Banu Umayyah.

To see this mission fulfilled they sent their missionaries to different provinces and states, secretly preached the function of love for the Prophet's family, exposed the negative qualities in Banu Umayyah's government and told them that it was the Prophet's family alone who deserved the caliphate and the authority to govern. This propaganda work was started with great care, diligence and determination. It had started from the reign of Abdul Malik bin Marwan and all the three groups were aware of the activities of the others. Since they had a common enemy, they had no rivalry or enmity against one another. lf they stumbled over a secret of the other, they tried their best not to betray or expose it. They had separate agents and deputies but they were instructed to avoid using inflammatory words in their preaching which could bring them into opposition with one of the other groups. For instance, instead of declaring the greatness and virtues of Abbas or Mohammad bin Al-Hanafia or Imam Zainul Abedeen, they used the common expression "the Prophet's family" and by so doing, they tried their utmost to prove themselves worthy of the caliphate.

They never opposed one another and they even went to the extent to consider it lawful to help and sympathize with the Khwarij. In the passion of their opposition to Banu Umayyah, they considered the Khwarij, as allies when it was expedient. From the very beginning, the Khwarij called Banu Umayyah unbelievers and always tried to harm them and even though they were just as inimical to Ali ~ and his descendants, it served their purposes at times to ally themselves with the Khwarij. In these secret missions of propagation, the Alawiites were always too hasty and they did not do their job efficiently. Because of this, the caliphs of Banu Umayyah had constant information on the activities and intrigues of the Alawiites and they had many opportunities to take deterrent action against them. However, they remained in the dark about the conspiracies of the Abbasids and so the Banu Umayyah were able to score successes against the Alawiites but not the Abbasids.

Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Besides the above-mentioned plans, the Abbasids took another precaution also. They did not make a large city like Madinah, Makkah, Kufa, Basra or Damascus their headquarters. They chose as their capital and the center of all their activities a little known village, Hamimah, which was a land grant by Banu Umayyah and was located between Damascus and Madinah and despite being so near to Damascus, it was safe from the attention of the caliphs and governors of Banu Umayyah. The efforts and conspiracies of the Alawiites were always being exposed, and they continued to be killed because of them. However, Banu Abbas were safe from such harm and the development of their plans moved ahead moderately. Their progress speeded up when Mohammad bin Al-Hanafia joined Banu Abbas and formed a consolidated group.

When Abu Hashim bin Mohammad declared to his followers at the time of his death that Mohammad bin Ali Abbas at-Hamimah should be their new leader. He emphatically exhorted those who had been trying to capture the caliphate for Banu Hashim to continue their efforts under the command of Mohammad bin Ali and recognize him as the one in command. When such a formidable group of the Alawiites joined the Abbasids, the latter started making efforts with greater courage and regularity and most of the increased power was controlled by the Abbasids. Mohammad bin Ali Abbasi was the leader of that very formidable group. When he died in 124 A.H., his son Imam Ibrahim succeeded him. Imam Ibrahim based the movement on broader and more consistent principles and assigned well chosen missionary personnel for specific regions and spread, in an orderly and well organized way, the network of his movement in the Islamic provinces like Iraq, Khorasan, Persia, Syria, and the Hijaz.

Fortunately, Imam Ibrahim came across a man who shouldered the entire responsibility of taking the mission to a speedy success. That man was Abu Muslim Khorasani. Imam Ibrahim had made Abu Muslim Khorasani the leader of the missionaries of Iraq and Khorasan and ordered them to work under him and obey him. He had been in correspondence with Abu Muslim and kept him informed of all his intentions. This had the benefit that Imam Ibrahim did not have to correspond with each deputy directly. After his death his brother, Abdullah bin Saffah succeeded him who The History of Islam was prudent and wise like Imam Ibrahim.

When Abu Muslim's ability and power were about to produce tangible results, Abu Muslim increased his activities and took hold of power in Khorasan. Banu Umayyah came to know about Imam Ibrahim and the Abbasids movement after Abu Muslim had already imposed his control over Khorasan. That was the proper time for the emergence of the movement. The Abbasids did not suffer any losses or meet with failure because by the time they were known to Banu Umayyah they already had established themselves. After Imam Ibrahim's death, Abu Muslim began to gain power in Khorasan and the symptoms of Banu Umayyah's downfall and ruin had begun to manifest themselves. Banu Abbas's and the Alawiites's supporters and accomplices in their stratagem gathered in a house to select their officers in Dhul Hijjah 130 A.H. on the eve of Hajj in Makkah.

The problems under discussion were how to bring about Banu Umayyah's fall, the exact plan of how to take the caliphate from their possession, how to achieve final success quickly and who should be made the next caliph. The meeting was attended by Abu! Abbas Abdullah Saffah's brother Abu Jafar Mansoor in addition to a few noblemen from the descendants of Ali ;,I;;,. The people present in the meeting supported the idea that Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Hasan bin Ali known as Nafse Zakia (literally the pure soul) should be the new caliph and he was chosen unanimously. It was a very critical occasion because the joint efforts made by the supporters of Ali ;,I;;, and those of Banu Abbas were responsible for weakening Banu Umayyah's Sultanate along with the occupation of Khorasan by Abu Muslim. Had the meeting created dissension between Banu Abbas and the Alawiites at the meeting a wave of discord would have traveled immediately from Makkah to the end of Khorasan and trying to correct such a situation would have caused losses and the caliphate of Banu Umayyah, which was nearly dead could have come back to life again.

However, Abu Jafar Mansoor's intelligence and cleverness did not allow him to contradict the choice of the Alawiites, the result of the meeting was that Ali's ~ supporters became more active and their efforts proved very helpful to the Abbasids. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Abu Muslim Khorasani Abu Muslim's name was Ibrahim bin Uthman bin Bash-Shar. He was an Iranian by race and was said to be from the descendants of Barzechamhar. He was born in Isfahan. His parents had settled in a village adjacent to Kufa. When his father Uthman died, he was seven years old.

His father left instructions in his will for his son to be brought up and tutored by Isa bin Musa Sarraj. Isa brought him to Kufa. Abu Muslim learned saddle making from Isa and lived with him in Kufa. Isa bin Musa traveled to Khorasan, Jazirah and Mousil to sell his saddles and his business always kept him on a journey and in contact with all levels of society. It was believed by the authorities that he was a deputy of Banu Hashim and the Alawiites. Other members of his family were also suspected and the governor of Kufa, Yusuf bin Omar, imprisoned Isa bin Musa and his cousin, Idris bin Ma' gal and their uncle Asim bin Yunus Ajali.

Khalid Qasri the former governor has also inmate at the same prison. Abu Muslim used to go to the jail to visit Isa bin Musa. Many of the inmates had been imprisoned for activities against Banu Umayyah and there were those who had come to hate Banu Umayyah for being imprisoned by them. Among this group were some captives who were actually the deputies of Banu Abbas or Banu Fatima and Abu Muslim was moved by their statements. Very soon, he won their confidence and became one of their supporters. By chance, Qahtaba bin Shabeeb who used to propagate Abbasid ideology to the inhabitants of Khorasan was· leaving for Hamimah.

He met those captives of Kufa and was informed that Isa's and Asim' s servant Abu Muslim was a very clever and worthy fellow. He invited Abu Muslim to accompany him with the permission of Isa and theyleft for Harnimah together. He presented Abu Muslim to Imam Ibrahim, Ibrahim said to Abu Muslim "What is your name?" Abu Muslim said, "My name is Ibrahim bin Uthman bin Bash-Shar." Imam Ibrahim said, "No your name is now Abdur Rahman." From that time, he came to be known as Abdur Rahman. It was Imam Ibrahim who gave him the Kunya Abu Muslim and borrowed Abu Muslim from Qahtaba bin Shabeeb. This was to establish an alias for Abu Muslim, which eventually replaced his real name. The History of Islam [Editors note: In Arabic it is endearing to refer to a man by the title of "father of" followed by the name of his first son.

This is also applicable to a woman and she is entitled "mother of" and the name of her first son. In Arabic, this is known as kunya and has no English equivalent.] For a few days, Abu Muslim remained in the service of Imam Ibrahim and the Imam studied his nature and ability. Then the Imam arranged a marriage with the daughter of one of his famous deputies Abu Najm Imran bin Ismail. Abu Najm was one of those who were dedicated to bringing the Islamic caliphate to the descendants of Ali ~ - The intended benefit from the marriage of Abu Muslim was to solidify the connection and get the support of Ali's followers and prevent any weakness in the relation of the two groups. After making these arrangements, Imam Ibrahim sent Abu Muslim to Khorasan and informed all the missionaries and deputies that he made him the administrator of all the territories of Khorasan and that all must follow him in the work of Banu Hashim. The well-known and active deputies of Khorasan who had been working since the time of Mohammad bin Abbasi, Imam Ibrahim's father, were as follows: Sulaiman bin Katheer, Malik bin Haithan, Zeyad bin Saleh, Talha bin Zuraiq, and Omar bin Ayun.

All of them belonged to the tribe of Khaza'a. Qahtaba bin Shabeeb bin Khalid bin Sadan was related to the tribe of Tai. Abu Uyaina, Musa bin Kab, Lahaz bin Qareet, Qasim bin Majashi, and Aslam bin Salam were from the tribe of Tamim. Abu Dawood Khalid bin Ibrahim Shibai, Abu Ali Harwi also known as Shibi bin Tahman, and Abu Najm Imran bin Ismail... When Abu Muslim arrived in Khorasan, Sulaiman bin Kaseer sent him back due to his young age. All these deputies were old, matured and experienced.

They thought it inexpedient and unwise to make a man of such a young age to be their officer and superintendent of their secret activities. When Abu Muslim reached Khorasan, Abu Dawood Khalid bin Ibrahim Shibai had gone towards Mawaraunnahr (between the Amu [Oxus] and Syr rivers in modern Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan) for some work. When he returned to Merv and read Imam Ibrahim's letter, he asked the people about Abu Muslim. His friends told him that Sulaiman bin Katheer had turned him back on account of his Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) young age and that he would not be able to perform the required work and that he would put them and all who were engaged in the work of propagation into trouble. Abu Dawood assembled all the deputies and said," Allah endowed the Prophet ~ with the knowledge of the highest level. His family members are the inheritors of that knowledge.

His family members are the repositories of that knowledge and they are the successors of the Prophet ~- Have you any doubt?" The audience said, "No." Abu Dawood said, "Why did you let doubts creep in? The Imam must have considered the situation and tested this man and then sent him to us." When they heard him, they regretted having sent Abu Muslim away. Immediately a man was sent after him and he brought Abu Muslim back. All recognized him as the custodian and superintendent of their mission and began to obey him. As Sulaiman bin Katheer had sent him back at first, Abu Muslim was a bit displeased with him. Abu Muslim spread out all the deputies in the various cities and began to strengthen their movement all over Khorasan.

In 129 A.H., Imam Ibrahim wrote to him to see him on the eve of Hajj that year so that he might receive proper instructions regarding propagating their doctrine. He also asked him to bring Qahtaba bin Shabeeb and all funds and goods collected with him. It is.important to note that the time of Hajj was ideally suited for such secret conspiracies. People from all over the world come for Hajj. No one has the chance to suspect others and the conspirators found it very convenient for meetings and deliberations so they never missed the Hajj. Abu Muslim along with the other deputies and Qahtaba bin Shabeeb left for Makkah to see Imam Ibrahim.

When he reached Qaumas, he received a letter from the Imam asking him to return to Khorasan and if he had not left Khorasan, he should stay there and no longer conceal his propagation he should do it openly and he should collect those who had taken the oath and begin the use of power. Immediately after reading the letter, Abu Muslim returned to Merv and Qahtaba bin Shabeeb, with all money and material left to go to Imam Ibrahim. He took the road to Jurjan and on the outskirts of town, he sent for Khalid bin Barmak and Abu Aun. They came with money and provisions at once and they all proceeded to the Imam. When Abu Muslim received the permission to make the propagation openly and use his power for territorial gains, it was during the time The History of Islam of the constant battles between Kermani and Nasr bin Sayyar in Khorasan. As has been mentioned above Abu Muslim collected his men and pitched his tents between Kermani and Nasr bin Sayyar.

At last Kermani was killed and his son Ali bin Kermani joined Abu Muslim. Abu Muslim expelled Nasr from Merv and occupied it. But after staying there for a few days, he left Merv for another part of Khorasan. Nasr bin Sayyar wrote a letter to Marwan bin Mohammad, the caliph in Damascus, for reinforcements. Marwan bin Mohammad was at the time at war with Dahhak bin Qais Khwarji and could not spare any troops. It was during this period, that Imam Ibrahim's letter, which he sent to Abu Muslim asking him to kill all the Arabic speaking people in Khorasan including Nasr and Kermani, was intercepted.

It was presented to Marwan II. That was the first information that Banu Umayyah had about the conspiracy of the Abbasids. Marwan wrote to the governor of Balqa to go and arrest Imam Ibrahim at Hamimah. He was arrested and put in jail as has been mentioned above. When Abu Muslim started the work of calling and telling the people openly in Khorasan, the Khorasanis rushed to him in crowds. With the beginning of 130 A.H., Abu Muslim started taking the oath from the people for following the Book of Allah and 'Sunnah' of the Prophet ~ and obedience to Ahle-Bait.

Kermani, Sheeban Khwarji and Nasr bin Sayyar were angry with him for this action. But as they were engaged in the warfare, they could not harm him. Following Kermani's death his son Ali bin Kermani, took over the leadership of his father's group while Abu Muslim also gained much power. Nasr bin Sayyar and Sheeban Khawarji were equally powerful as was stated previously. In Khorasan there were the four powers. Abu Muslim wanted to draw Sheeban Khwarji towards himself and induced lbn Kermani to go to him.

Nasr bin Sayyar wanted to reconcile with Sheeban Khawarji so that he might be free to fight with Abu Muslim. But Abu Muslim manipulated through Ali bin Kermani in order to prevent them from reconciling with each other. When they failed in their attempt to reconcile, Abu Muslim, found the situation advantageous and sent Nasr bin Nairn with a group to Herat. Nasr bin Nairn reached Herat and captured it while the governor of Herat Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) was unprepared and expelled Isa bin Ma'qal Huraishi, Nasr bin Sayyar's governor. When Yahya ibn Nairn bin Hubairah heard this news, he called on lbn Kermani and said to him, "Compromise with Nasr. If you do so, Abu Muslim will be ready to fight with him and will spare you.

And if you do not come to terms with Nasr, Abu Muslim will make peace with him and be ready to fight with you." Yahya Shebani at once wrote to Nasr, "We want to make peace with you". Nasr immediately agreed to it as it coincided with his own strategy that he had tried to implement with lbn Kermani's father. Abu Muslim drew the attention of Ali bin Kermani who was the partner of Sheehan Khwarji, to the previous treachery of Nasr saying, "Nasr bin Sayyar is your father's killer." The point of this was to bring ibn Kermani back to the side of Abu Muslim and avoid him making a pact with Nasr Sayyar. Ali bin Kermani parted with Sheehan Khawarji at once, and started fighting against him. Abu Muslim arrived to help lbn Kermani. On the other side Nasr bin Sayyar was ready to fight in support of Sheeban Khwarji.

It was a very strange situation all the four fighting groups followed different ideologies and doctrines but in keeping with what ever opportunity presented itself and the proper time each one of them was busy planning to annihilate the third by winning the favor of the other two. In the meantime, there were many sympathizers of Ali 4, in Khorasan and they all joined Abu Muslim. Abdullah bin Muawiya bin Abdullah bin Jafar bin Abi Talib had taken the oath for the caliphate from the inhabitants in Kufa, but following Abdullah bin Omar bin Abdul Aziz's victory they left Kufa along with some of the people from Kufa and went towards Maclain. Then they turned towards the mountainous territories and captured them and occupied Halwan, Qaumas, Isfahan and Rayy. They made Isfahan their stopping point. In 128 A.H., they brought Shiraz under their contro~.

When Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah became governor of Iraq, he sent an army to fight with Abdullah bin Muawiya. They fought near Istakar (located about 32 miles northeast of Shiraz in the region ·,. of Faras in southwestern Iran). Abdullah bin Muawiya was defeated. Many of his men were killed. Mansoor bin Jarnhoor fled towards Sindh. He was chased but escaped.

The men arrested from among Abdullah bin Muawiya's army included Abdullah bin Ali bin The History of Islam Abdullah bin Abbas who was released by the governor of Kufa, Yazid bin Omar. Abdullah bin Muawiya ran away and went to Abu Muslim for help because he was a well-wisher of the Prophet's family. He went from Shiraz to Kerman and from there he went to Herat. At Herat Abu Muslim's governor Nasr bin Nairn, arranged his lodging and then informed Abu Muslim of his arrival. Abu Muslim wrote back saying that he should kill Abdullah bin Muawiya and release his two sons. So, Nasr bin Nairn acted accordingly.

With the beginning of 130 A.H., all the above-mentioned four powers started clashing with one another. At last, Ali bin Kermani and Abu Muslim defeated Nasr bin Sayyar and Sheeban Khwarji and captured Merv. Abu Muslim went to the Amir's palace and took the oath from the people there and delivered a sermon. Nasr, after losing the battle went to Nishapur via Sarkhas and Tus. Ali bin Kermani began to live with Abu Muslim and followed him blindly. Abu Muslim sent word to the defeated Sheeban Khwarji camped near Merv to take the oath at his hands.

Then Sheeban Khwarji went to Sarkhas and the group of Bakr bin Wail rallied to him. When Abu Muslim heard about it, he ' sent a unit of his army to Sarkhas. A clash took place and Sheeban was killed. Abu Muslim then sent his deputies Musa bin Kab and Abu Dawood Khalid bin Ibrahim to Abyuraw and Balkh respectively. Both scored victories. Abyuraw and Balkh were brought under occupation.

Then he recalled Abu Dawood and made Yahya bin Nairn the administrator of Balkh. Zeyad bin Abdur Rahman Qasri who was the governor of Balkh on behalf of Banu Urnayyah went to Tirrniz after his defeat at the hands of Abu Dawood entered into correspondence with Yahya Ibn Nairn and won him to his side. He collected Muslim bin Abdur Rahman Bahli, Isa bin Zarah Sularni, the rulers of Takharistan and Mawarannahr, the inhabitants of Balkh and Tirmiz and taking Yahya bin Nairn along with his men, left to fight with Abu Muslim. All unanimously agreed and took a pledge to fight with the holders of black flags the symbol of Banu Abbas. Mugatil bin Hayyan Nabti was included in the army. Abu Muslim grasped the situation and sent Abu Dawood to Balkh again.

The two sides clashed along side of the river at a little distance from Balkh. Muqatil bin Hayyan Nabti was accompanied by Abu Sayeed Qurashi. The rear guard of the army was kept fully armed so Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) that the enemy would not attack them from behind. When the battle was in the full swing, Abu Sayeed Qurashi whose army was the rear guard and whose flag was also black by coincidence wanted to engage the enemy and decided to advance. When he moved up with his army, those on the front line forgot that a flag of theirs was also black and as soon as they saw Abu Sayeed's flag, they thought that Banu Abbas had defeated the rear guard and their army was moving ahead victoriously. This caused a panic and the front line troops ran off the battlefield.

Many of them were drowned in the river and died. This freak occurrence resulted in a victory for Banu Abbas and Zeyad and Yahya took Tirmiz and Abu Dawood occupied Balkh. After the victory Abu Muslim recalled Abu Dawood from Balkh and deputed Nasr bin Sabih Muzani as its ruler. As recorded above, Ali bin Kermani lived with Abu Muslim. His brother Othman bin Kermani was also with him. Abu Dawood counseled Abu Muslim that it was essential to separate the two brothers from each other.

Abu Muslim liked the idea and so he sent Othman bin Kermani as the ruler of Balkh and when he reached Balkh, he made Farafza bin Zahir his deputy. Othman bin Kermani along with Nasr bin Muzani, went to Marwarood. This news prompted Muslim bin Abdur Rahman Bahli to take the Egyptians with him and attack Balkh, which he captured it by force. When Othman and Nasr Muzani received this information, they left Marwarood and returned to Balkh. Their arrival instilled fear in Abdur Rahman's men and they evacuated Balkh at night. Nasr Muzani from one side and Othman from the other side invaded Balkh.

Nasr's soldiers did not interfere with the evacuating army but Uthman bin Kermani started to fight them as they fled after being defeated. Many were killed and Balkh escaped being lost to the Abbasids by a very thin margin. When they heard this news Abu Muslim and Abu Dawood counseled with each other and Abu Muslim went to Nishapur and Abu Dawood came back to Balkh. Abu Muslim was accompanied by Ali bin Kermani. He murdered Ali bin Kermani on the way to Nishapur. Abu Dawood in keeping with the counsel he had made with Abu Muslim captured Balkh, forced Abdur Rahman to flight and murdered Uthman bin Kermani.

In this way, they settled the issue of the two brothers. You have read above that The History of Islam Imam Ibrahim had first sent for Abu Muslim and then stopped him and asked him to make his propagation openly. Abu Muslim had sent Qahtaba bin Shabeeb with money and goods. Qahtaba met Imam Ibrahim and presented the money and goods. Imam Ibrahim sent a flag through him and asked him to go from Makkah to Khorasan. He himself returned to Hammiah.

He was arrested soon after his arrival there. Qahtaba went to Abu Muslim with the flag and Abu Muslim put it with the vanguard and made Qahtaba its leader. Before the end of 130 A.H., he occupied the greater part of Khorasan and removed all his enemies. After killing Ali bin Kermani, Abu Muslim returned to Merv and sent Qahtaba towards Tus along with the military leaders like Abu Aun Abdul Malik bin Yazid, Khalid bin Barmak, Uthman bin Naheek and Khazim bin Khuzaima. The inhabitants of Tus fought back but suffered defeat. Qahtaba massacred them mercilessly.

Then he made preparations for leading an attack on Tamim bin Nasr who was at Suzqan. Tamim bin Nasr was killed along with his 3,000 men. Qahtaba entered the city and ordered a general massacre and deputed Khalid bin Earmark to collect the booty. Then he intended to go to Nishapur where Nasr bin Sayyar was staying. Nasr fled from there to Qaumas. Qahtaba captured Nishapur in the beginning of Ramadan 130 A.H. and stayed there up to the end of Shawwal.

From Kufa Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah sent reinforcements to Nasr bin Sayyar under the command of the governor of Kufa, Nabata bin Hanzala. Nasr bin Sayyar did not stay long at Qaumas. He left for Jurjan. Nabata bin Hanzala along with his army reached Nasr bin Sayyar. Qahtaba left Nishapur and marched towards Jurjan in the beginning of Dhul Qadah. When Qahtaba's men heard of the arrival of Nabata bin Hanzala along with a huge Syrian army at Jurjan, they were terrified.

Qahtaba made an emotional speech to them, saying, 'Imam Ibrahim has predicted that you will face a huge army and be victorious over it." It encouraged the soldiers. At last, there was a battle. Nabata bin Hanzala was killed along with his 10,000 men. Qahtaba achieved a grand victory. He cut off Nabata bin Hanzala's head and sent it to Abu Muslim. This battle was fought in the month of Dhul Hijjah 130 A.H.

Qahtaba occupied Jurjan and killed 30,000 of its citizens. After defeat in Jurjan, Nasr bin Sayyar went towards Khawarurrai. The governor there was Abu Bakr Aqili. When Yazid bin Hubairah was Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) briefed on the situation, he sent a huge army under the command of lbn Ghaleef to reinforce Nasr bin Sayyar. Qahtaba sent his son, Hasan bin Qahtaba from Jurjan to Khawarurrai. He sent another army from the rear under the command of Abu Kami! and Abul Qasim Sahrz bin Ibrahim and Abu!

Abbas Marwzi to help Hasan. When they reached the vicinity of Hasan's army, Abul Kami! parted with his men and joined Nasr and informed him of the activities of Hasan's army. At last, they fought and Hasan bin Qahtaba suffered a crushing defeat. Nasr sent the booty and the good tidings of victory to Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah. This occurred in Muharram 131 A.H. While Nasr's messengers were leaving with the spoils of war and the news of victory Ibn Ghaleef, Nasr's ally was approaching with his army.

They met outside of Rayy and lbn Ghaleef took the valuables and the letter and camped there. Nasr did not approve of Ibn Ghaleef taking the valuables and the letter that was supposed to go to their superior Yazid bin Omar. Nasr decided to go to Rayy, lbn Ghaleef along with his army marched towards Hamadan but latter on he turned to Isfahan. Nasr on the night of 10 Muharram in 132 A.H. entered the Governor's headquarters at Rayy and captured it. Abu Muslim's arrival in Nishapur caused Nasr bin Sayyar's departure, he went to Rayy and stayed there for two days and on the third day, he became sick. As soon as he felt sick, he left Rayy and went to Sada immediately after his arrival he died, it was the 121h of Rabia Awwal 131 A.H.

After his death, his men went to Hamadan, in west-central Iran. The ruler of Rayy was Habib bin Yazid Nahshali. When Qahtaba bin Shabeeb left Jurjan he took his army to Rayy, after Nasr's death, Habib bin Yazid and the Syrians who were with him left Rayy without fighting. Qahtaba, who was fighting on behalf of the Abbasids, occupied Rayy and confiscated the wealth and belongings of its citizens. Most of those who escaped Rayy went to Hamadan where Nasr Sayyar's men had gone. Qahtaba sent his son Hasan to Hamadan but they avoided Hamadan and went to Nahawand.

Hasan reached Nahawand and laid siege to it. In 129 A.H., Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah, who was fighting on behalf of the Umayyahs, sent his son Dawood bin Yazid along with Amir bin Sabarah to battle against Abdullah bin Muawiya and they went up to Kerman fighting. They were encamped at The History of Islam Kerman with a large army. When Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah was informed of Nabata bin Hanzla's death, he wrote to Dawood and lbn Sabarah and asked them to go ahead and fight against Qahtaba. Both left from Kerman having increased their already large army and arrived at Isfahan. Qahtaba deputed Muqatil bin Hakeem to face them.

He was camped at Qum. Having heard that Hasan bin Qahtaba had besieged Nahawand, south of Hamadan, lbn Sabarah made up his mind to save it. He decided to take on Muqatil and moved forward to fight against him. When the two armies clashed, Qahtaba' s soldiers fought so bravely that lbn Sabarah's soldiers were defeated and lbn Sabarah himself was kil1ed. This occurred in the month of Rajab 131 A.H. Qahtaba sent the news of the victory to his son Hasan.

He stayed at Isfahan for twenty more days and then went to Hasan and joined the siege. For three months, the citizens of Nahawand remained besieged. At last, it was captured and many of the inhabitants were put to death. Then Qahtaba sent Hasan to Hal wan, which was easily captured. He then sent Abu Aun Abdul Malik bin Yazid Khorasani to invade the city of Zor. The administrator of the city was Uthman bin Sufyan.

Abdullah bin Marwan bin Mohammad controlled the vanguard. Abu Aun and Uthman continued to fight until the end of Dhul Hijja finally Uthman was killed and his army lost the battle. Abu Aun Abdul Malik occupied the city of Mousil. When Amir bin Sabarah was killed. Dawood bin Yazid fled to his father. When Dawood bin Yazid told his father, Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah, the details of the defeat he gathered a large army and Caliph Marwan bin Mohammad also sent Hausrah bin Sohail Bahli to help him.

Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah along with Hausrah bin Sohail reached Halwan. Meanwhile, Qahtaba also moved towards Halwan and crossed the river Tigris near Anbar, (an ancient Mesopotamian town located on the left bank of the Euphrates River in central Iraq.) Yazid bin Omar turned towards Kufa and sent Hausrah with 15,000 soldiers to move to Kufa also. Qahtaba crossed the river Euphrates from the Anbar side on 8 Muharram 132 A.H. At the time, Yazid bin Omar bin Hubariah was camped at a distance of 23 miles from the mouth of the Euphrates. His men advised him to go to Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) Khorasan instead of Kufa and Qahtaba would of necessity give up his intention of going to Kufa and follow them. Yazid bin Omar did not agree to the opinion and crossed the Tigris near Madain and both the armies began to move along either side of the Euphrates.

Qahtaba crossed it at a place where the water was not deep. A fierce battle was fought. Yazid bin Omar bin Hubiarah's army suffered a defeat but Qahtaba was killed. When he was wounded, he ordered that the caliphate of Ali's supporters must be established in Kufa with Abu Salma as its 'Amir'. Hausrah, Yazid and Nabata fled to Wasit. Qahtabah's army chose Hasan bin Qahtaba as its leader.

When the news reached Kufa, Mohammad bin Khalid Qasri collected all the supporters of Ali ~ and revolted. After receiving this news, Hausrah returned from Wasit to Kufa and besieged Mohammad bin Khalid in the Governor's headquarters of Kufa. At this point Hausrah' s men· accepted the invitation of the Abbasids and began to abandon him. Being compelled by these events, he went back to Wasit. Mohammad bin Khalid informed Qahtaba of the incident and of his occupation of the Governor's headquarters. Hasan bin Qahtaba entered Kufa, took Mohammad bin Khalid with him, visited Abu Salma and they selected Abu Salma as the Amir of Ali's supporters and took the oath with him.

Abu Salma sent Hasan bin Qahtaba towards Wasit to fight with Ibn Hubairah and made Mohammad bin Khalid the governor of Kufa. Then Abu Salma sent Humaid bin Qahtaba towards Madain. Ahwaz in southwestern Iran was ruled over by Abdur Rahman bin Omar bin Hubairah. He fought with Bassam. Abdur Rahman lost and fled to Basra where Muslim bin Qutaiba Bahli was the ruler. After defeating Abdur Rahman, Bassam sent Sufyan bin Muawiya bin Yazid bin Muhallab to take over Basra.

Muslim came out victorious. He kept Basra under his occupation until he received the news of Yazid bin Omar's death, upon hearing this news h_e evacuated Basra. Mohammad bin Jafar found the way clear and captured it. After a few days Abu Malik Abdullah bin Osaid Khazai reached Basra on behalf of Abu Muslim. Abu! Abbas Saffah publicly took the oath for his caliphate from the people and deputed Sufyan bin Muawiya as the governor of Basra.

At the time of Imam Ibrahim's death, the following members of his The History of Islam family were present at Hamimah: Abu! Abbas Abdullah Saffah, Abu Jafar Mansoor and Abdul Wahab. These three were Imam Ibrahim's brothers. Then there were Mohammad bin lbrahim, Isa bin Musa, Dawood, Isa, Saleh, Ismail, Abdullah, and Abdus Samad. The last being Imam Ibrahim's uncle. Before his arrest, Imam Ibrahim had made his brother Abu] Abbas Abdullah Saffah his successor and at the time of his death, he ordered him to go to Kufa and live there.

In accordance to the will of Imam Ibrahim, Abul Abbas Abdullah Saffah left Hamimah along with the above-mentioned members of his family and went to Kufa. When he reached Kufa, Abu Salma had already established his rule firmly in Kufa. Abu Salma was Imam Ibrahim's deputy and superintendent of the movement there. However, since then all his attempts were directed towards making Ali's descendents the caliph. Qahtaba bin Shabeeb also was in favor of the same. Since Abu Hashim bin Mohammad (the leader of the descendants of Ali ~ ) had left a will that Mohammad bin Ali Abbasi (the leader of BarlU Abbas at the time of Abu Hashim) should be recognized as the leader of his group, he could not decide what to do.

When he received the news that Abu! Abbas was approaching with the supporters of Ali~ he came up to Hamam Ayun to receive him and lodged him at Waleed bin Sad's house and kept it as a guarded secret from all of the supporters of Ali ~ and the commanders of the army for forty days. Abu Salma wanted somebody from among the descendants of Abi Talib to be made caliph and the oath be taken for him. But Abu Jaham who was from among the supporters of Ali~ disagreed with him. He felt that by declaring their caliphate by the descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib ~ they could be deprived of the caliphate and the people might recognize Abul Abbas as the caliph. Had Abul Abbas not come to Kufa in accordance to Imam Ibrahim's will, Abu Salma might have possibly succeeded in making the descendants of Abu Talib the caliph.

Abu Salrna did not want the people to know about the arrival of Abu! Abbas and become attracted towards him. So meanwhile Abu Salama wrote a letter to Imam Jafar Sadiq bin Imam Baqar bin Imam Zainul Abedeen bin Husain bin Ali requesting him to come to Kufa and be the caliph. He replied in the negative. Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) By chance, the people came to know about Abu! Abbas Saffah' s arrival in Kufa.

Now there were two kinds of people in Kufa. One group who wanted the caliphate for the descendants of Abbas ~ and the other who wanted it for the descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib ,t.,. The Abbasids began to throng about Abul Abbas Saffah. The supporters of Ali ~ also began to visit him. When the people were informed that Abu Salma, the governor of Kufa, known as the minister for the Prophet's family had not fulfilled the conditions of playing host to Abu! Abbas Abdullah Saffah, many of Ali's supporters became supporters of Abdullah Saffah.

His presence in Kufa won popular attention and sympathy to himself. Ultimately on 12 Rabia Awwal Friday 132 A.H. corresponding with 30 October 749 AD, the people assembled, took Abu! Abbas Abdullah Saffah from his residence and brought him to the Governor's headquarters. Abdullah Saffah then came to grand mosque, made a sermon, led the Friday congregational prayers and ascended the pulpit and made another sermon and took the oath from the people. His sermon was very eloquent and instructive. He proved himself worthy of the caliphate and promised to increase their stipends and then praised the Kufans.

After this sermon Abdullah Saffah's uncle Dawood climbed up to the pulpit and delivered a lecture and praised the caliphate of Banu Abbas in well-expressed words, condemned Banu Umayyah and said to the people, "As Amir al-Muminin Abdullah Saffah suffers from fever and pain in the limbs today, he could not speak much. Pray for him." Then Abdullah Saffah went to the Governor's headquarters and his brother Abu Jafar Mansoor continued to take the oath from the people on his behalf in the mosque until late at night. Abdullah Saffah then visited Abu Salama's tent. Abu Salma took the oath no doubt but he was not happy that the oath and the caliphate went to the Abbasids in his heart. Abdullah Saffah handed over deputyship of the adjoining areas of Kufa to his uncle Dawood and sent his other uncle Abdullah bin Ali to help Abu Aun and his nephew Isa bin Musa to help Qahtaba who lay besieging Ibn Hubairah in Wasit and Tamimi bin Jafar bin Tamim bin Abbas to help Hama'd bin Qahtaba in Madain. In this way, he dispatched and deputed his leaders everywhere.

Abu Muslim was present in Khorasan and was purging it of all the enemies of the Abbasids. When Abu! Abbas became caliph and came to Kufa, The History of Islam he consulted Abu Muslim on all important issues and acted as he advised. This was a very critical and dangerous time in the Islamic world. Wars and feuds had broken out in every province and state. It was very difficult to subdue Yazid bin Omar bin Hubairah in Wasit.

On the other side Marwan bin Mohammad, the Umayyah caliph, was in power in Syria. There was chaos in the Hijaz. The condition of Egypt was also bad. The movement of the Abbasids had no influence in Spain. Umayyah leaders were in power in Jazirah and Armenia and were ready to rise up against the Abbasids and Khorasan was not fully under control. The Abbasids could not establish their government in Basra either.

Hadramaut, Yamamah and Yemen were also no better. As soon as Abdullah Saffah took over as caliph, there appeared dissension among the descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib.:;. also known as the Alawis, who were partners until then. They were surprised and aggrieved at the ascension of the Abbasids because they expected their own caliphate to be established. The responsibility and credit of this great success by the Abbasids rested on the last will and testament of Mohammad bin Hanafia's son Abu Hisham Abdullah, which he bequeathed at the time of his death in favor of Mohammad bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas. This final testament led the Kisanya sect of the supporters of Ali ~ to form a belief that Mohammad bin Hanafia was the Imam after Ali bin Abi Talib~-Then followed his son Abu Hisham Abdullah, then Mohammad bin Ali Abbasi, his son Imam Ibrahim and finally Abdullah Saffah, the present Imam. Thus, a large section of the supporters of Ali parted with the other Aliwiites and joined the Abbasids, and the Alawiites or the Fatimids did not have a chance to stand in opposition to the Abbasids and they suffered distress an anxiety over their predicament.

When Marwan bin Mohammad the last caliph of Banu Umayyad, was killed, Habib bin Murrah, the governor of Balqa came out holding a white flag. Aqil of Qansareen also rose up though he had already taken the oath for Abdullah bin Ali Abbasi. The citizens of Hims also joined him. Then the governor of Armenia Ishaq bin Muslim Aqili, also stood in revolt against the Abbasids. To put down all the rebellions Abdullah Saffah sent his leaders and relatives and they Caliphate of Banu Urnayyah (Second Phase) succeeded by degrees. However, Yazid bin Omar bin Hubariah was still in occupation of Wasit and no leader was able to defeat him.

Compelled by this situation, Abu }afar Mansoor and Abdullah Saffah made peace with him and as part of the terms he was ready to take the oath. However, Abu Muslim from Khorasan wrote to Abdullah Saffah saying, "Yazid bin Omar's existence will remain a danger you should kill him." So, Mansoor Abbasi killed him by treachery and eliminated the danger. Now Abu Salama alone survived in Kufa and apparently, there was no excuse for murdering him because the Abbasids in the beginning did not want to oppose the supporters of Ali ~ openly. Abu Salama's deta_iled record was sent to Abu Muslim in order to get his opinion. He replied back that he should be put to death at once. Reading this Abdullah Saffah at the instance of his uncle, Dawood, wrote to Abu Muslim.

"If we kill him, we run the risk of open opposition and rebellion from Abu Salama's supporters and the supporters of Ali ~- Please send some one from there to kill Abu Salama." Abu Muslim deputed Murad bin Anas to kill Abu Salama. Murad came to Kufa and one day while Abu Salma was going somewhere, he struck him with his sword so powerfully that he immediately fell dead and Murad escaped. It was rumored that some Khwarij killed Abu Salama. After the murder, Abu Muslim similarly had Sulaiman bin Katheer killed. He is the same Sulaiman bin Katheer who had rejected Abu Muslim when he first arrived in Khorasan as Imam Ibrahim's chief deputy. In short, Abu Muslim had everybody who opposed him murdered.

Massacre of Banu Umayyad by Abbasids The nation or dynasty that claims the Islamic Caliphate as their hereditary right is suffering from a gross misunderstanding and does an injustice to themselves and the Muslims in general. If Banu Umayyah wanted to retain the Islamic rule in their own community or family, they were unjustified. If Banu Abbas or Banu Hashim took it as a matter of their right, they were also wrong and unjust. But as people in the world think unjustifiably so, they take for granted the continuation of the right of succession in government and its authority too. So, if a man snatches by force his right from a usurper, he often i j, ,· The History of Islam takes resort to murder and violence. However, the way such murders and violence were justified by Banu Abbas in respect to Banu Umayyah, is unprecedented.

Yes, if semi~historical stories are to be relied upon by going beyond the historical age, Bukht Nassar had murdered Bani Israel (children of Israel i.e., Jews) mercilessly and audaciously and wanted to end their existence on the surface of the globe. But we see that Bani Israel still survives in the world today. More than this, the Aryans in India perpetrated all kinds of atrocities on the non-Aryans but the forests of the Himalayas and the Vindhya chal range in northern India, and the sands of Rajasthan in northwestern India kept them covered and the Shudra community of the Hindus form a remarkable part of the Indian population even today (Shudras were, non-Aryan cultivators, who came under the domination of the Aryans and in many cases were enslaved). The Aryans of India were the Iranians and Khorasanis. The Khorasani commanders of the Abbasids persuaded the Abbasids to use such violence and cruelty in killing Banu Umayyah that all other stories of atrocities pale in comparison. From the study of conspiratorial activity all over the world, it emerges that for those who want to make their conspiracy a success it is necessary to commit limitless killing, bloodshed, oppression and cruelty to instill terror in the population to eliminate opposition.

In this history of Islam, we also have constantly found proof of this fact. Taking the Islamic caliphate from the family of Banu Umayyah was not a crime but to give it to another family in similar fashion was certainly not a m~tter of credit. Islam and the world of Islam could not have benefited from it. Therefore, Banu Abbas committed shameful deeds, bloodshed and slaughter to accomplish such a task. A short account of the massacre resorted by Abu Muslim, Qahtaba bin Shabeeb and other deputies in the name of the Prophet's family, in the cities of Khorasan has been given in the above pages. Imam Ibrahim had written to Abu Muslim in his last letter emphatically not to spare even a single Arabic speaker in Khorasan.

He meant by that the Arab tribes in Khorasan which supported Banu Umayyah and lived there as royalty. The inhabitants of the city who were non-Muslims and could have been converted to support the Umayyahs were killed by Abu Muslim. Consequently those Arab tribes which reached Khorasan in Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Second Phase) large numbers and were succeeding in turning the country's language and society into Arabic were all put to death and the Arabic factor which was influencing the whole country suddenly lost its power and died. That was how the Iranian language, culture, society and morality which were dying, got a new lease of life and Iran and Khorasan which could have been Arab countries like Egypt turned into Persian countries again. Abu Muslim himself was a Khorasani and Iranian by race and for him there was no job more interesting and enjoyable than killing the Arabs. National prejudice which Islam had uprooted completely emerged during the reign of Banu Umayyah again and it was through the y.se of this national bigotry and discrimination between tribes that Banu Umayyah had rendered all Arab tribes specifically Banu Hashim helpless.

When the others knew that a certain person belonged to Banu Umayyah, they looked at him with fear. As soon as they got better of Banu Umayyah, they spent all their energy in securing themselves from this dange/ and fear. They made up their mind to exterminate them from the face of the earth. When Abdullah Saffah's uncle Abdullah bin Ali entered Damascus on 5 Ramadan 132 A.H., he ordered a general massacre. When the last Umayyah caliph Marwan bin Mohammad was killed in Egypt, the most important duty the Abbasids had, was the extermination of Banu Umayyah. Some Umayyads also joined Banu Abbas in pulling down the high palace of the caliphate of Banu Umayyah and lived with the victorious Abbasids with honor.

So, the destruction of the seed of Banu Umayyah completely was not possible. However, Abu Muslim was prepared to undertake this task nonetheless. He wrote to Abdullah Saffah and the leaders of the Abbasids repeatedly to kill any individual of Banu Umayyah no matter how sympathetic or how much of a supporter he might be. The orders were carried out no doubt however there were some persons who in large numbers had joined the Abbasids against the Umayyah caliph and helped them in critical situations. Human propriety and nobility prevented them from killing these helpers. Abu Muslim sent bribes and instructions to the poets and courtiers who frequented the courts of the Abbasi caliphs and commanders to recite poems, and talk to incite the Abbasids against Banu Umayyah so that they would continue to hunger for revenge and murder.

That resulted in driving the Abbasids to capture The History of Islam and kill all the Banu Umayyah. Saffah had Sulaiman bin Hisham bin Abdul Malik killed in the open court at once after being incited by the recitation of such a poem though Sulaiman was a friend and supporter of Saffah. During the days when Abdullah bin Ali was in Palestine, he was taking a meal beside the river of Abi Fatras 80 or 90 persons of Banu Umayyah were dining with him. Meanwhile Shibi bin Abdullah arrived and he started reading poems containing the condemnation of Banu Umayyah, details of the murder of Imam Ibrahim and finally instigation to kill Banu Umayyah. Abdullah bin Ali, Abdullah Saffah's uncle at once ordered their execution. His servants began to kill them.

Some of them were killed instantly while others were severely injured but still alive. Abdullah bin Ali had all the dead and wounded placed side by side and had his servants make their bodies into the dining surface for the food. Then the meal was served on top of them and he along with all his friends ·sat and ate. They were eating while under the food those who had not yet died were moaning, they continued eating until the injured died from their wounds. The list of the murdered included Mohammad bin Abdul Malik, Mu'izz bin Yazid, Abdul Wahid bin Sulaiman, Sayeed bin Abdul Malik, Abu Obaidah bin Waleed bin Abdul Malik. Some say that the deposed caliph Ibrahim was also among them.

In Damascus, the same Abdullah bin Ali bin Abbas had the graves of the caliphs of Banu Umayyah dug up. A skull was taken out of Abdul Malik's grave. Nothing came out of Amir Muawiya's grave. Some graves produced limbs and the rest had turned into dust. When Hisham bin Abdul Malik's grave was dug up, the tip of his nose was gone otherwise his entire body was intact. Abdullah bin Ali had his dead body lashed, hung and then had it burned having the ashes blown away by the wind.

Abdullah Ali's brother Sulaiman bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas killed a group of Banu Umayyah in Basra and had their dead bodies thrown on the road and forbade their burial. Dogs continued to eat them for a long time. Abdullah bin Ali's other brother, Saffah 's uncle Dawood bin Ali, captured and killed every Umayyah in Makkah, Madinah and the entire Hijaz until nothing remained of Banu Umayyah. In short, all over the territory it was proclaimed that wherever a member of Banu Umayyah was found, he should be put to death at once. Just as people leave their houses to Caliphate of Banu Umayyah (Se~pnd Phase) hunt wild animals, similarly they used to go out of their houses to kill the members of Banu Umayyah until they could not find refuge in any house, village or city. The Abbasids went on searching for them and killing them for years.

Abu Muslim had the job in Khorasan done more effectively and audaciously. He killed not only Banu Umayyah but also those who had ever supported Banu Umayyah or did them any service. Those who managed to escape from the general massacre went to other places, disguised themselves, changed their names and places of origin and went pass the Islamic borders. The provinces and states of Khorasan witnessed the general massacre in its most horrible form, all the Banu Umayyah and all the tribes sympathetic to them, escaped to Sindh, Mount Sulaiman and Kashmir and took refuge there. Those who had changed the names of their tribes also crossed the Islamic borders, because they could not find peace within the jurisdiction of the Abbasids authority. It is said that the descendants of these runaway Arab tribes who came to Sindh, Kashmir, and the Punjab are still to be found in India unaware of their Arab blood because their ancestors had changed their names and professions.

One person from among the Banu Umayyah, Abdur Rahman bin Muawiya bin Hisham, escaped from becoming the prey of the Abbasids. He arrived in Spain via Egypt and Qairwan. As Spain was comparatively free from the influence of the Abbasids and the supporters of Banu Umayyah were found in large numbers there, he occupied it immediately after his arrival and founded a separate rule and caliphate, which the Abbasid caliphs always viewed with envy yet were unable to harm it.