Abd al-Malik b. Marwan: Difference between revisions

| title = 'Abd al-Malki b. Marwan

| caption = 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan's tomb in [[Bab al-Saghir cemetery]], Damascus

'''ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān''' (Arabic:{{ia|عبدالملک بن مروان}}) (b. [[26]]/646 - d. [[86]]/705) was the fifth [[Umayyad]] caliph who came to power in 65/684-85, after the death of his father, [[Marwan b. al-Hakam]]; he ruled for 21 years. In that time Muslims were suffering from a lot of internal issues, also Rome was a constant threat to Muslims. As 'Abd al-Malik was a capable ruler, he managed to overcome the issues and he suppressed the oppositions by force, tricks, and violence. [[Ka'ba]] was partly destroyed in that time due to local conflicts. He appointed [[al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi]] as the governor of [[Kufa]] who put [[Shi'as]] under severe pressure. [[Imam al-Sajjad (a)]] was living in the time of 'Abd al-Malik's [[caliphate]]. Imam (a) suggested him to mint coins which became the first currency for Muslims. 'Abd al-Malik passed away at the age of 60 or 61, he is buried in [[Damascus]].

'Abd al-Malik memorized the [[Qur'an]] and he was interested in religious teachings before he become the caliph. He had discussions and a close relationship with [[hadith]] scholars and [[jurists]] in [[Medina]]. He was regarded as a vitreous and religious man among people. 'Abd al-Malik was also called "Hamamat al-Masjid" (the pigeon of mosque). However, when he came to power, he refused to obey Islamic and ethical values. It is said, he was reciting the Quran when he was told that he became the caliph. Then he left immediately and said: "Now you (Qur'an) and I are departed and it will be the last time I see you."

When [[Marwan b. al-Hakam]] set out for [[Egypt]] in 65/684-85 to suppress the riots, he appointed 'Abd al-Malik to be a caliph. Marwan passed away in [[Ramadan]] in that year, and people of [[Damascus]] took oath of allegiance to 'Abd al-Malik.<ref>Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, ''al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya'', vol.8, p.260.</ref> When he came to power, Muslims' territory was in chaos and Umayyad dynasty was in decline.

* A group of [[Banu Umayya]] who disagreed with [[caliphate]] of 'Abd al-Malik and considered themselves worthy of caliphate. 'Amr b. Sa'id b. al-'As was the most important one, who was promised to be appointed as the Crown Prince by 'Abd all-Malik and then he was killed after a while.

'Abd al-Malik also managed to suppress the movement of Mardaites with similar strategy.<ref>Ibn Athīr, ''Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh'', vol.2, p.304. </ref>

Zubayrids became influential in different Islamic territories. [[Iraq]] was ruled by [[Mus'ab b. al-Zubayr]] and [[Hijaz]] was ruled by [['Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr]]. Before 'Abd al-Malik take any military action against Zubayrids he applied other strategies:

* 'Abd al-Malik sent letters to commanders of Mus'ab b. al-Zubayr's army in Iraq and encouraged them to join him. As a result in the battle near the Tigris River in 72/691-92 'Abd al-Malik managed to defeat Mus'ab easier. Mus'ab was killed and his army was scattered over the place. Consequently Zubayrids were not able to stand against 'Abd al-Malik any more in [[Iraq]].

* 'Abd al-Malik also did not allow people of Syria to travel to [[Mecca]] to perform [[hajj]] rituals, as they were influenced by propaganda spread by Zubayrids. According to [[al-Ya'qubi]]: "People complained about prohibition of performing hajj rituals, and 'Abd al-Malik replied, as Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri narrated from [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]], you should go on a pilgrimage on three mosques, [[al-Masjid al-Haram]], [[al-Masjid al-Nabawi]], and [[al-Masjid al-Aqsa]]. Today al-Masjid al-Aqsa is equally important as al-Masjid al-Haram. [[Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri]] also narrated: "The rock were Jews sacrificed on, is rock were Prophet Muhammad (s) ascended to [[heaven]] in the night of [[Mi'raj]]." 'Abd al-Malik also ordered to build a dome on that rock and they provided curtains on it and assigned servants for the place. They told people to perform hajj rituals there, which continued in Umayyad era.

Azariqa, led by [[Nafi' b. Azraq]] used the weak condition of Umayyads and took control of [[Basra]] but people refused to take oath of allegiance to him. Then he moved to [[Ahvaz]] with his supporters and attacked a number of cities. Eventually he was killed in his attack to Basra in 65/684-85.<ref>Ibn Athīr, ''Al-Kāmil'', vol.4,p.194.</ref>

Sufriyya Kharijites, led by [[Salih b. Masrah]] attacked [[Kufa]] from north of [[Mosul]]. After years of conflicts and battles they were defeated and suppressed by al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol.8, p.8.</ref>

Najd b. 'Amir al-Hanafi also led a group of Kharijites, they moved to [[Bahrain]] and its neighboring regions in 65/684-85 where they started to attack [['Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr]] and 'Abd al-Malik. They were eventually surrounded and suppressed by 'Abd al-Malik.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol.7, p.462.</ref>

In the early days of 'Abd al-Malik's [[caliphate]], the king of Roma broke the peace treaty with Muslims and attacked Muslims' territory.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol.6, p.150.</ref> 'Abd al-Malik realized the danger of Romans and decided to pay tax to them; he promised to pay a thousand Dinar every week.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol.6, p.150.</ref> However, when 'Abd al-Malik managed to suppress internal disputes and uprisings, he launched an attack to Roman Empire and conquered large parts of their territories, as a result the peace treaty was violated.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Futūḥ al-buldān'', p.188.</ref>

Expanding Muslims territory in Africa became a political strategy in the time of 'Abd al-Malik's rule. In 65/685 'Abd al-Malik sent an army led by al-Zuhayr b. Qays al-Balawi to Africa. Al-Zuhayr managed to break the alliance between Berbers and Roman Emperor but he was killed in the battle against Romans.

In 74/693-94 'Abd al-Malik appointed al-Hasan b. al-Nu'man al-Ghassani as the governor of Muslims' territory in Africa. He conquered northern regions of Africa and defeated the Romans who took control of those regions. Ibn al-Nu'man recaptured Carthage from Romans and Berber and expanded his territory up to Atlas Mountains.

Meanwhile Zenata and Urasi tribes led by a woman named Kahina (or Dihya) brought serious problems for al-Hasan b. Nu'man. Muslims army was at first severely defeated by Berbers, but later Ibn al-Nu'man attacked Kahina and killed her; as a result all of her supporters accepted to obey him.

According to one narration, Romans tried to capture Carthage back from Muslims by means of navy soldiers which was resisted and defeated by al-Hasan. After some time he ordered to demolish the whole city to end their aspiration to recapture it. However they built a new city called Tunisia in eastern region.<ref>Al-Yāqūt al-Ḥimawī, ''Muʿjam al-buldān'', vol.2, p.61.</ref>

Administrations were managed by [[Mawalis]] and 'Ajams (non-Arabs), as a result the official language of administrations and organizations were non-Arabic; they were different based on their local region. In some places Iranians were using Persian language and in some regions Roman and Egyptian were using their own languages.

As all Umayyad caliphs emphasized on Arabicization and humiliation of other languages and races, 'Abd al-Malik made huge efforts to appoint Arab administrators so that non-Arabs were dismissed from administrations.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', p.192.</ref> In the first step, 'Abd al-Malik changed administrations system and then he Arabicized them. Then he changed the currency of Muslim territory; these actions were called the movement of Arabicization.<ref>Ibn al-Ṭiqṭaqī, ''Al-Fakhrī'', p.123.</ref>

In his rule, 'Abd al-Malik ordered to train Arab office employees to replace Roman and Iranian ones. One of the problems of the time was presence of different languages between different classes of society which brought difficulties in sending letters, registering trades as they needed a common language.<ref>Ibn Khaldūn, ''Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn'', vol.1, p.467.</ref> This problem brought contradictions and disorder in administration of caliphate. As a result, 'Abd al-Malik ordered to Arabicize all the administrations and he himself supervised the process.<ref>Ibn Khaldūn, ''Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn'', vol.1, p.303.</ref> After some years Arabic became the official language in Muslim territory replacing other languages in administrations.

'Abd al-Malik realized lack of independent currency in Islamic territory which was subsequent monetary system of other systems including Roman's; he considered it as a disadvantage.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Futūḥ al-buldān'', p.237.</ref> In addition, having different currencies plus Iranian and Roman currencies brought disorder in commercial trades. Therefore, he ordered to mint coins in 74/693-4. Also Islamic dirham and dinar were minted since 84/703 which was the first independent currency in Islamic world.<ref>Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ''Al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa'', p.316.</ref>

Before the caliphate of 'Abd al-Malik, Muslims used Romans and Sassanid coins for their commercial trades; commonly Roman's. It is said, 'Abd al-Malik was the first one who ordered to mint Islamic coins. As it is narrated, when 'Abd al-Malik wrote letters to Roman kings, he started the letters with the names of [[Allah]] and [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] which was criticized by the Roman king, he wrote back to 'Abd Allah and warned him if he continues staring his letters with those names, he would order to mint coins with curse words on Prophet (s) on them. [[Imam al-Sajjad (a)]] suggested 'Abd al-Malik to mint Islamic coins, then he ordered to build mints in 84/703 to coin Islamic dirham and dinar. According to ''[[A'yan al-Shi'a]]'' [[Imam al-Baqir (a)]] suggested 'Abd al-Malik to mint coins.<ref>Amīn, ''Aʿyān al-Shīʿa'', vol.1, p.654.</ref>

In the time of [[Battle of Harra|revolution of Medina]], people banished all the [[Banu Umayya]] members from the city, but [[Imam al-Sajjad (a)]] provided shelter for the wife of [[Marwan b. al-Hakam]], the daughter of [['Uthman b. 'Affan]], in his house and welcomed her as well. It made 'Abd al-Malik to have an optimistic attitude toward Imam al-Sajjad (a). He also consulted with Imam (a); mintage of coin was one of the suggestions introduced by Imam (a). However, later 'Abd al-Malik treated Imam al-Sajjad (a) differently. He ordered to arrest Imam (a) and bring him to the capital of his caliphate.

Appointing [[al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf]] as the governor of [[Iraq]] is regarded among the most important political and military actions 'Abd al-Malik taken; he was a fierce enemy of [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]]. Defeating [[Zubayrids]] and conquering [[Medina]] made al-Hajjaj a key person to 'Abd al-Malik. Consequently he was ruling over [[Hijaz]] and later took control over [[Iraq]] and [[Khorasan]] as well. He treated his oppositions and people severely and violently in Iraq which made him notoriously known in historical proverbs and stories.

Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf ruled over [[Kufa]], the capital of Shi'a revolutions, for almost twenty years and killed or imprisoned ten thousands of Shi'as. According to historical reports, When al-Hajjaj wanted to deliver a speech in mosque, he sat for a while and suddenly stood and said: "People of Iraq, By God I see heads like ripe fruits which are ready to be cut, and I will cut them; I see blood flouting from turbans and beards."<ref>Ibn al-ʿIbrī, ''Tārīkh mukhtaṣar al-duwal'', p.112.</ref> He treated people of Iraq and Iran so harshly that the whole area went to silence and all the uprisings were severely punished and suppressed.

'Abd al-Malik followed his fathers' steps in appointment of crown prince. He decided to release his brother, 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Marwan from crown prince and asked people to take oath of allegiance to his sons al-Walid b. 'Abd al-Malik and Sulayman b. 'Abd al-Malik as the crown princes.

Qubaysa b. Dhu'ayb prevented him and said: "Do not take an action which starts a disturbance. Maybe 'Abd al-'Aziz dies and you will get rid of him." One night he informed 'Abd al-Malik of his brother's death. Then 'Abd al-Malik appointed his son, 'Abd Allah b. 'Abd al-Malik as the governor of [[Egypt]] and his other son al-Walid and Sulayman as the crown princes. He sent letters to all the cities and accordingly people took oath of allegiance to them.<ref>Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol.5, p.183.</ref>

'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan eventually died in [[Damascus]] in [[Shawwal 15]], 86/[[October 13]], 705 at the age of 60 or 65.<ref>Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol.5, p.182.</ref> He ruled for 21 years.