The Second Civil War

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The Second Civil War

• Islamic History the First 150 Years

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Session Plan

• Marwan the Emergence of Abd al-Malik
• The Revolt of al-Mukhtar
• Abd al-Malik Victorious

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Section I Marwan the Emergence of Abd al-Malik
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Marwan

• We have encountered Marwan ibn al-Hakam during
  previous sessions
• He was a senior member of the Umayyad clan and
  had been particularly influential during the
  caliphate of Uthman
• By the time he became caliph, Marwan was an old
  man (aged 63)
• Unsurprisingly therefore, perhaps, he died after
  a few months in office
• No doubt mindful of Yazids difficulties, Marwan
  appointed his son Abd al-Malik as heir and his
  brother Abd al-Aziz as heir after him
• Marwans aim here was presumably to provide
  stability
• With Marwans death, Abd al-Malik became the
  caliph in 63AH
• Abd al-Malik is one of the most important Umayyad
  rulers and thus we will look at his reign in more
  detail next week

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Umayyad Resurgence

• With the resolution of internal difficulties,
  Marwan and Abd al-Malik were able to turn their
  full attention to the war against Ibn al-Zubayr
• After Marj Rahit, Emessa, Palestine and Qinnasrin
  quickly joined Marwan
• Egypt was also taken by Marwanid forces shortly
  after this point
• However, in Iraq the situation was somewhat more
  complicated
• Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad was sent by Marwan to attack
  Iraq
• As an incentive, Ubaydullah was promised the
  governorship and allowed to sack Kufa
• Syrian factionalism
• Qudaa (southerners) Qays (northerners)
• This became immensely important later on

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Revolt in Iraq

• Iraq at this time was in a state of complete
  turmoil
• Musab ibn al-Zubayr was the nominal governor of
  the province, holding it for his brother
• Despite this, Kufa was on the point of rebellion
• There were also a number of Kharijite groups in
  the area
• In short, navigating our way through this maze
  will take us off track
• As such, I propose to only look at the main
  events
• Those interested in understanding this period in
  more detail should consult the following works
• J. Wellhausen The Arab Kingdom and its Fall (old
  and dated, but still useful)
• G. Hawting The First Dynasty of Islam (a useful
  introduction and in the Lifelong Learning
  Library)
• A.A.A. Dixon The Umayyad Caliphate 65-86/684-705
  a Political Study (very detailed, good account of
  Mukhtars revolt, but not for the faint hearted)

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Section II The Revolt of al-Mukhtar
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Al-Mukhtar

• Al-Muktar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi (to give him
  his full title) from the large and important
  Thaqif tribe
• The Thaqif tribe based primarily at Taif in the
  southern Hijaz
• Generally speaking, al-Mukhtar has had a very
  negative press, both then and now
• Despite this, his family were committed
  supporters of Ali
• His father was killed at the Battle of the Bridge
  during the conquest of Iraq, whilst his uncle had
  been governor of al-Madain for Ali
• Al-Mukhtars house was used as Muslim ibn Aqils
  base in his brief sojourn in Kufa
• Mukhtars revolt was an important episode for a
  number of reasons
• However, the details are very uncertain and too
  complex for our purposes here
• So, here is a very potted history

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Ya Li Tharat Husayn

• The Tawwabun (or the Penitents)
• Those people in Kufa who felt they had abandoned
  Husayn in his hour of need
• Led by Sulaiman ibn Surad
• Battle of Ain al-Warda
• The Penitents slain, almost to a man
• However, their ideas are important and thus it is
  worth looking at some of these briefly

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Ya Li Tharat Husayn

• Now we have been afflicted by the length of our
  lives and by exposure to all types of trials. We
  ask of our Lord that He does not make us one of
  those to whom He will one day say, Did We not
  give you long life so that whoever would be
  admonished might be admonished therein? And the
  warner came to you? 3534 Also, the Commander
  of the Faithful Ali said, The life in which
  God grants forgiveness to the son of Adam is
  sixty years, and there is not a man among us who
  has not reached that term. We were enamoured of
  self-justification and praising our party until
  God put our best men to the test and found us
  sham on two of the battlefields of the son of our
  Prophets daughter. Before that, we had received
  his letters and his messengers had come to us
  offering forgiveness, asking us to help him again
  in public and in private. But we withheld
  ourselves from him until he was killed

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Ya Li Tharat Husayn

• We did not help him with our hands, argue on
  his behalf with our tongues, strengthen him with
  our wealth or seek help for him from our clans.
  What will be our excuse for our Lord and at the
  meeting with our Prophet when his descendent, is
  loved one, his offspring and his issue has been
  slain among us? No, by God, there is no excuse
  unless you kill his murderer and those who
  assisted him or unless you are killed while
  seeking that. Perhaps our Lord will be satisfied
  with that, for I have no security against His
  punishment after meeting HimThis is what I have
  to say. I ask Gods forgiveness for me and for
  you
• (Tab. 2.498)

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Ya Li Tharat Husayn

• Mukhtars main claim was twofold
• Revenge for Husayn
• Deputy of Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya
• His revolt was at first successful, taking
  control of Kufa, Basra and much of Iraq
• He was then joined by Ibrahim ibn Malik
  al-Ashtar, a committed follower of Ali
• At the Battle of the Khazir, Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad
  is defeated and killed, thus Mukhtar was able to
  publicly claim he had avenged Husayn
• Internal revolts in Kufa, coupled with invasions
  by Umayyads and Zubayrids soon end Mukhtars
  revolt and he is eventually killed
• This results in yet more oppression at Kufa,
  particularly this time of the mawali

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Al-Mukhtar the Mawali

• Al-Mukhtars treatment of the mawali was one of
  the most significant aspects of his political
  programme
• To understand his ideas a little better, it is
  worth looking at the mawali more closely
• The word mawla (mawali is the plural) is a varied
  term, which for our purposes here means
  freedman, associate or retainer
• Originally, the term was used to describe
  ex-slaves who were still tied to their former
  masters
• A mawla would thus be affiliated to the tribe of
  his master
• During the course of the conquests, mawla came to
  mean non-Arab Muslim who would be affiliated
  upon conversion to an Arab tribe
• The mawali were often treated differently by Arab
  Muslims in a number ways
• They were often still made to pay the jizyah
  (poll tax) and other taxes which, according to
  the Quran, they should not have paid
• This caused discontent and al-Mukhtar consciously
  played to this, offering complete equality

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Mukhtar and the Mahdi

• Consequently, the mawali of Kufa (and Iraq in
  general) joined Mukhtar on mass
• After he began to lose, he relied on the mawali
  to an ever greater extent
• This exacerbated his difficulties with the ashraf
  (or tribal elite)
• The sources also report a number of unusual
  religious activities associated with Mukhtars
  mawali
• Some of them are said to have carried an empty
  chair into battle and called it the Throne of
  Ali
• They are also said to have used it like the
  Israelites used the Ark of the Covenant
• Al-Mukhtar said, Nothing has existed among
  past communities but that its like will exist in
  this community. Among the Children of Israel
  there was the Ark, in which there was a remnant
  of what the family of Moses and the family of
  Aaron left behind. Among us, this is lie the Ark.
  Uncover it! When they removed its draperies, the
  Sabaiyyah followers of Abdullah ibn Saba, or
  extremists stood up, raised their hands and
  shouted God is great three timesPresently,
  someone said, Behold, Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad is
  encamped with the Syrians at Bajumayra. So they
  took the Chair out on a mule. It was covered
  seven men held it on its right and seven on its
  left (Tab. 2.704)

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Mukhtar and the Mahdi

• This provoked sharp criticism
• Asha Hamdans critical verse
• I bear witness against you that you are
  Sabaiyyah
• O picked troops of polytheism shirk, I know
  you well!
• I swear that your Chair is no Sakinah cf. Quran
  2248,
• even if cloths have been draped over it
• And that it is not like the Ark among us, even
  if
• Shibam, Nahd and Kharif walk around it
• (Quoted in Tab. 2.704-705)
• Sakinah means tranquillity Shekinah is the
  cognate Hebrew term, denoting the divine presence
  on earth
• Although the sources are uniformly hostile, it is
  also reported that Mukhtar claimed to receive
  divine inspiration himself
• It is claimed that he saw the Archangel Gabriel
  (though it is also said that he did not hear him
  speak)
• Hard to know what to make of such claims
• That the newly converted mawali (and Yemeni
  Arabs) brought their own religious traditions
  with them seems uncontroversial
• But the claim for Mukhtar could merely be
  malicious slander, or else it could reveal an
  authentic piece of information

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Mukhtar and the Mahdi

• Although these things are certainly interesting,
  perhaps the most important aspect of Mukhtars
  religious ideas was that of the Mahdi
• Mahdi simply means rightly guided
• However, it came to refer to the messianic
  deliverer, who would restore justice to the world
  immediately prior to the Apocalypse
• Although the term is used prior to this point, it
  does not seem to have this usage
• Mukhtar claimed that he had revolted in the name
  of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya (Alis third son,
  but not by Fatima)
• He claimed that ibn al-Hanafiyya was the
  messianic deliverer who would avenge the Shia and
  restore their rightful place
• Although, as the passage I have given you from
  Ibn Sad shows, ibn al-Hanafiyya himself was
  lukewarm in his support of Mukhtar, this claim
  was to be repeated throughout Shiite history

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Mukhtar and the Mahdi

• Furthermore, after the deaths of Ibn al-Hanafiyya
  and Mukhtar, their followers began to claim that
  Muhammad had not died
• He was said to be alive, in a miraculous sense
  cf. the Quranic idea of Jesus
• He was believed to be in a state of occultation
  (ghayba) on a mountain near Medina
• The partisans of Ibn al-Hanafiyya later became
  known as the Kaysaniyya
• This are said to have been named after one
  Kaysan, the mawla leader of Mukhtars guard
• Leadership of this group passed to Muhammads
  son, Abu Hashim, who we will meet again
• This concept of ghayba later became a key
  doctrine of a wide number of other Shii groups
  generally considered extreme (ghulat)
• The main Twelver Shia branch (of Iran) believe
  that their last Imam, Muhammad ibn Ali
  al-Askari, is in occultation and will return as
  the Mahdi
• Political defeat hopes for restitution,
  vengeance and victory are transferred to
  eschatological time

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• Questions?

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Section III Abd al-Malik Victorious
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Assault on Mecca

• Although he had initially been widely recognised,
  with Abd al-Maliks accession and Mukhtars
  revolt, Ibn al-Zubayrs authority began to fade
  away
• With Mukhtars revolt crushed, Abd al-Malik
  marched into Iraq and defeated Musab ibn
  al-Zubayr
• Abd al-Malik then sent his general Hajjaj ibn
  Yusuf al-Thaqafi to lay siege to Mecca once again
• al-Hajjaj is a famous character from this period,
  whom we will meet again next week
• He bombarded Mecca, again damaging the Kaba
• And, in 692 CE Mecca fell to his direct assault
• Ibn al-Zubayr, at this point aged 70, died in the
  fighting
• His death thus left Abd al-Malik in control of
  the Muslim empire
• However, the Muslim state had been thrown into
  turmoil through these events and badly needed
  stability

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Abd al-Malik Victorious

• Abd al-Malik was able to provide the necessary
  stability
• He ruled for 20 years (685-705CE)
• His reign saw crucial religious, political,
  social and economic developments
• As such, we will look more closely at his reign
  next week
• However, to prepare, I suggest you read through
  Ibn Sads biography, which I have given you
• Also, read I. Lapdius summary of Abd al-Maliks
  period in the first reading pack I gave you
• As his reign is important in a number of ways, so
  we will look more closely at it next week

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Consequences

• The Second Civil War, or fitna, was a critical
  period in early Islamic history
• This was for a number of reasons
• Umayyad dominance, though reasserted by Abd
  al-Malik, had been shown to be challengeable the
  later Umayyad dynasty thus has to face numerous
  revolts against its authority Abd al-Malik thus
  had to walk a very narrow path
• Mecca and Medina had both been eclipsed
  politically thus although both were important
  religious centres, they ceased to be decisive in
  political matters after this point
• The Shiat Ali had begun to develop into a
  particular religious movement, despite its
  origins as a political faction the later
  Umayyad period would see this development go
  still further
• The Mawali had begun to become a force to be
  reckoned with in Muslim life during the later
  Umayyad period, calls for their fair treatment
  grew increasingly loud
• This period saw a number of important religious
  developments the death of Husayn, Mukhtar, the
  neutral group and others all grew out of this
  period
• Tribal factionalism the Qudaa and Qays divide
  began to spread throughout the Muslim empire,
  creating division