Yazid b. Mu'awiya: Difference between revisions

According to some sources, Yazid born in 26 AH,<ref>Ṭaqūsh, ‘’Dawlat-i umawīyān’’, p. 61.</ref> his father was Mu'awiya b. Abu Sufyan and his mother was Maysun bt. Bahdal.<ref>Dhahabī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Islām’’, vol. 5, p. 270; Ziriklī, ‘’al-Aʿlām’’, vol. 7, p. 329.</ref> His mother was a Bedouin, who married Mu'awiya and went to [[Damascus]]. But soon, she couldn't live in Damascus and so Mu'awiya divorced her, she returned to the desert. At this time, Yazid was either an infant or not yet born.<ref>Dhahabī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Islām’’, vol. 5, p. 271; Ziriklī, ‘’al-Aʿlām’’, vol. 7, p. 339.</ref> Yazid spent his early childhood with the tribe of Maysun,<ref>Ṭaqūsh, ‘’Dawlat-i umawīyān’’, p. 61.</ref> whose people were of the tribes of Huwwarin (in [[Hums]] area) with a [[Christian]] or [[polytheist]] background before Islam. They also had literary and poetic inclinations.<ref>Ṭaqūsh, ‘’Dawlat-i umawīyān’’, p. 61.</ref> Some believe that growing up under the influence of these formerly Christian converts influenced Yazid and accounts for his later support for Christians and especially Christian poets, for hiring Christian consultants at his court, and for his peace agreement with Europeans.

He had some children including Khalid, [[Mu'awiya b. Yazid|Mu'awiya]], Abu Sufyan and 'Abd Allah. His wives were Fakhta, Umm Kulthum and Umm Miskin.<ref>Ṭabarī, ‘’Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk’’, 1352 Sh, vol. 7, p. 3123.</ref>

After ruling for three years and eight months, Yazid died on [[Rabi' I 14]], ([[64 AH]]/683) at the age of 38<ref>Balādhurī, ‘’Ansāb al-ashrāf’’, vol. 5, p. 354.</ref> and was buried in Huwwarin. It is reported that when [[Abbasids]] took Damascus, disinterred him.<ref>Nuwayrī, ‘’Nahāyat al-arab’’, vol. 22, p. 33.</ref>

It has been said that the cause of his death was that he had put his monkey on a wild running donkey; Yazid himself was chasing the donkey while being drunk and riding on a horse until he fell off and broke his neck.<ref>Balādhurī, ‘’Ansāb al-ashrāf’’, vol. 5, p. 287.</ref>

Some people mentioned that the cause of his death was too much drinking.<ref>Ibn ʿAsākir, ‘’Tārīkh madīnat Damascus’’, vol. 65, p. 397.</ref> Some others say that he died of pneumonia.

In many sources, Yazid has been introduced as an immoral and corrupt person.<ref>See: Ibn ʿAsākir, ‘’Tārīkh madīnat Damascus’’, vol. 65, p. 397; Ibn Athīr, ‘’al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh’’, vol. 4, p. 127.</ref> [[Baladhuri]] considered him the first caliph who openly drank wine, kept women singers and players with himself and made dogs and roosters fight for his own pleasure.<ref>Balādhurī, ‘’Ansāb al-ashrāf’’, vol. 5, p. 297.</ref> He had a monkey called Aba Qays and gave it wine and laughed at its actions.<ref>Faqīhī, "Banī Umayya dar tārīkh", p. 34.</ref>  

Some believe that the beliefs of Maysun's tribe who converted to Islam from the Christianity influenced the formation of his personality during his growth.<ref>Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, ‘’al-Aghānī’’, vol. 17, p. 301.</ref> They mentioned Christian advisers such as [[Sir John]] and Akhtal Nasrani in his court and his peace with Eastern Romans as evidences for this. Most historical sources have mentioned that he was a poet and also was profligate and drunkard.<ref>Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, ‘’al-Aghānī’’, vol. 17, p. 301.</ref>

"Give me a cup of wine to satiate my bones. Then, return and give [[Ibn Ziyad]] such a cup, whom is my confidant and trustee; and my caliphate was established by him."<ref>ʿAbbāsābādī, ‘’Pazhūhishī sizā’’, p. 92.</ref>

Historians have reported that when Mu'awiya sent Yazid with the army of Islam toward Rome, the army went forth and were afflicted with pox and fever, but Yazid stayed back with his wife on the way and made himself busy with drinking and composed a poem, "fever and pox the army received and I have no worries, when in the abbey of Maran I lean on the couch beside Umm Kulthum."<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī’’, vol. 2, p. 160.</ref>

According to historical reports, when Mu'wiya decided to appoint Yazid as the crown prince, [[Ziyad b. Abih]] told him, "Yazid is a weak person who loves hunting more than being a [[caliph]] and he is not suitable for it."<ref>Ṭabarī, ‘’Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk’’, vol. 5, p. 302-303.</ref> To show a valiant figure of Yazid, Mu'awiya sent him to Rome with the army of [[Muslims]] in [[52 AH]]<ref>Balādhurī, ‘’Ansāb al-ashrāf’’, vol. 5, p. 86; Yaʿqūbī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī’’, vol. 2, p. 160.</ref> and also gave him the [[management of hajjis]] to prevent him from drinking and to decrease criticisms about him.<ref>Ṭaqūsh, ‘’Dawlat-i umawīyān’’, p. 61.</ref> He postponed taking people's allegiance for Yazid until after the [[martyrdom]] of [[Imam al-Hasan (a)]].<ref>Ṭaqūsh, ‘’Dawlat-i umawīyān’’, p. 34.</ref>

In the [[Peace Treaty of Imam al-Hasan (a) with Mu'awiya|peace treaty]] of [[Imam al-Hasan (a)]], it was mentioned that Mu'awiya should not appoint a [[successor]] for himself and must leave choosing of the caliph to Muslim community. After the martyrdom of Imam al-Hasan (a), Mu'awiya did not respect the peace treaty and ordered his governors and agents to praise Yazid and send groups from big cities to give allegiance to him.<ref>Balādhurī, ‘’Ansāb al-ashrāf’’, vol. 5, p. 86; Yaʿqūbī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī’’, vol. 2, p. 160.</ref> People of [[Medina]] opposed to the allegiance more seriously than other cities.<ref>Ibn Athīr, ‘’al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh’’, vol. 3, p. 250.</ref> Mu'awiya gave gifts to the poets who were against Yazid and changed their ideas.<ref>Ibn Athīr, ‘’al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh’’, vol. 3, p. 503.</ref> He also travelled to Medina to take allegiance of people,<ref>Ṭabarī, ‘’Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk’’, 1352 Sh, vol. 7, p. 2867.</ref> but he could not force Imam al-Husayn (a), [[Abd Allah b. Zubayr]] and [[Abd Allah b. Umar]] and [[Abd al-Rahman]] to give allegiance to Yazid.<ref>Ṭabarī, ‘’Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk’’, 1352 Sh, vol. 7, p. 2867.</ref>

After the death of Mu'awiya, Yazid became the ruler.<ref>Ṭabarī, ‘’Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk’’, 1352 Sh, vol. 7, p. 2904.</ref> He was the first person who reached caliphate by the appointment of his father in a hereditary manner contrary to the tradition of previous caliphs.<ref>Ṭaqūsh, ‘’Dawlat-i umawīyān’’, p. 32.</ref> According to historical sources, Yazid suppressed any objection during his rule.<ref>Masʿūdī, ‘’Murūj al-dhahab’’, vol. 3, p. 67.</ref> On the first day, he wrote a letter to the governor of Medina and informed him of the death of Mu'awiya and ordered him to force [[Husayn b. Ali (a)]], Abd Allah b. Umar, [[Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr]] and Abd Allah b. Zubayr to give allegiance and to behead anyone who refused.<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī’’, vol. 2, p. 177.</ref>

The short reign of Yazid was a period of great unrest, in which he tried to mercilessly extinguish any disagreeing current. Social and political freedom at his time was so limited. [[al-Mas'udi]] wrote, "The conducts of Yazid was the same as those of [[Pharaoh]]; rather, Pharaoh was more just than him among his people and more fair to the elite and masses".<ref>Masʿūdī, ‘’Murūj al-dhahab’’, vol. 3, p. 68.</ref> Yazid in the first year of his rule, killed [[al-Husayn (a)]] and the [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] of the Prophet (s);<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī’’, vol. 2, p. 253.</ref> in the second year, he disrespected the sanctuary of the [[Messenger of God (s)]] in [[Medina]], and made it permissible for his soldiers to do what they wanted with its people;<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī’’, vol. 2, p. 253.</ref> and in the third year, he attacked [[Ka'ba]] and burned it.<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ‘’Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī’’, vol. 2, p. 253.</ref>

The oppression and crimes that Yazid committed during his short reign marked the beginning of a series of uprisings and revolts against the [[Umayyad]] dynasty, and finally overthrew it.<ref>Ṭaqūsh, ‘’Dawlat-i umawīyān’’, p. 75.</ref>

According to sources, when Yazid reached the power, ordered the governor of Medina, "force [[al-Husayn (a)]] to give [[allegiance]] and if he (a) refuses, send me his head." Imam al- Husayn (a) did not give allegiance to Yazid and went to [[Mecca]] with his family and some of [[Banu Hashim]]. People of [[Kufa]] sent many letters to Imam (a) and invited him to Kufa; so, Imam (a) moved toward Kufa. Yazid appointed [['Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad]] as the governor of Kufa and he could make people give up supporting Imam (a). After Kufis broke their promise, Imam (a) went toward [[Karbala]]. On [[Muharram 10th]], he (a) encountered the army of [['Umar b. Sa'd]] who was appointed as the commander.

In this battle, Imam al-Husayn (a) and his children, his brother [['Abbas (a)]], 17 people of Banu Hashim and more than 50 of his companions were martyred. After the battle, the horsemen of Yazid's army trampled the bodies of the martyrs, attacked the tents of surviving ones, took anything which were left as booty and set fire to the tents. Due to illness, [[Imam al-Sajjad (a)]] could not fight and survived. He (a) and Lady [[Zaynab (a)]] together with other women and children were taken captives by the army of Kufa; who put the heads on spears and took them with the captives to Kufa to 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad and from there to [[Syria]] to Yazid.

When the [[Captives of Karbala|captives]] entered Syria, Yazid ordered to decorate the city. He also ordered to decorate the palace and summoned famous personalities of Syria. He put the head of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] in a golden basin in front of the eyes of the captives and hit it with a whip and repeated this poem of Ibn Zaba'ri, "how good was that if some of the great ones from my tribe who were killed in the [[battle of Badr]] were now alive to see the griefs of the tribe of [[Khazraj]]. They would then rejoice and say, 'Thank you O Yazid! Banu Hashim only played with the power, while, no news or [[revelation]] had come."

There is a hadith from [[Imam al-Rida (a)]], that Yazid put the head of Imam (a) in a basin and put a food table over it. Then, he and his companions began eating and drinking [[beer]]; then, they replaced that table with a [[chess]] table and began playing chess. When Yazid made a good move in the game, drank beer and poured the remaining beer beside the basin on the ground. [[Yahya b. Hakam]] objected to this behavior of Yazid, but Yazid punched him on the chest. [[Abu Barza Aslami]] objected too, and Yazid ordered to throw him out of the gathering. It can be understood from historical and hadith sources that first, Yazid placed the captives in roofless ruins which were known as [[ruins of Syria]]. After the speeches of [[Imam al-Sajjad (a)]] and Lady [[Zaynab (a)]], the captives were moved to a house near the palace of Yazid.

Yazid's rule led to increasing dissatisfaction of the people of [[Hijaz]], which was due to his policies that did not pay attention to [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]]. This situation gradually led to a crisis. In order to alleviate the situation, the young governor of Medina, 'Uthman b. Muhammd b. Abi Sufyan, sent a group of Medinan nobles to [[Damascus]], so that Yazid takes reconciliatory measures by honoring them.

Many of Medinan elites and nobles, including [['Abd Allah b. Hanzala]] and his sons, 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr, and Mundhir b. al-Zubayr, were in that group. Upon their arrival in Damascus, the group received many gifts from Yazid. However, Yazid committed inappropriate actions in the presence of the group, which offended them greatly. When the group returned to Medina, they openly cursed Yazid and talked about his immoral character, and thus an unrest broke out.

Following the unrest in Medina, Yazid wrote a threatening letter to the people of Medina, but the letter only intensified the unrest and led to the beginning of a revolt. Yazid sent an army of twelve thousand men to Medina with [[Muslim b. 'Uqba]] as its commander. When they reached Medina, They gave a three-day ultimatum to the people to stop the revolt and pay [[allegiance]] to Yazid again. But the people refused and the battle started, which led to the defeat of the Medinans and the killing of thousands of people and looting the city by the soldiers of Yazid for three days. This incident happened in [[63]]/683.

 

About the same time when the people of Medina revolted against Yazid, [['Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr]] and his companions took control of [[Mecca]]. So after the [[battle of Harra]], the Syrian army moved towards Mecca to defeat Ibn al-Zubayr. The Syrian army besieged Mecca, and during the siege they attacked the city using catapults. As a result of these attacks, [[Ka'ba]] was damaged and burned. The siege lasted until the news of Yazid's death reached his army.

During the reign of Yazid, due to internal conflicts, the expansion of [[Muslim]] territories stopped. Yazid put aside confrontational policies with European Christians; he even retreated from some of the lands that had been conquered at the time of [[Mu'awiya]]. He summoned his soldiers from [[Cyprus]] in return for money. He commanded Yazid b. Janada to destroy the Muslim fortress in Arwad Island and come back to [[Syria]], and summoned his forces from Rhodes. However, in [[61]]/680-1, he sent Malik b. 'Abd Allah al-Khath'ami to war with Romans; a war which was later called the Battle of Syria. In the East, Sogdia and [[Bukhara]] were conquered. In Africa, some conquests took place by 'Uqba b. Nafi'.

The [[Event of Karbala]] during the rule of Yazid made him one of the most hated individuals in the view of [[Shi'a]]. Shi'a considered Yazid deserved to be [[cursed]] and regarded denouncing him and other enemies of the [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] among the essential beliefs of their school of thought. In Shi'a [[hadith]] sources, there are hadiths from the [[Prophet (s)]] and the Ahl al-Bayt (a) in which Yazid and the murderers of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] are cursed. In [[Ziyarat 'Ashura]], there is a statement which curses all [[Umayyad caliphs]]. Moreover, in the famous version of Ziyarat 'Ashura, the phrase, "O God, curse Yazid, the fifth [of them] and curse 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad" explicitly curses Yazid.

Some [[Sunnis]] including [[Ahmad b. Hanbal]], Dhahabi, Ibn 'Imad Hanbali, Ibn Jawzi and Ibn Khaldun believe in cursing Yazid. Ibn Khaldun claims that all [[Muslims]] agree on [[dissipation]] of Yazid. In ''al-Radd 'ala al-muta'assib al-'anid al-mani' min dhamm Yazid'', Ibn Jawzi, the Sunni scholar, has discussed the reasons for cursing Yazid and says that in addition to breaking the sanctity of the sanctuary of the [[Prophet (s)]] (Medina), Yazid killed [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] against the order of the Prophet (s) for [loving] him, and even afterwards, disrespected his head and also his family.

Some other Sunnis including [[Ghazzali]] do not consider cursing any Muslim, including Yazid, permissible. Some others say that the [[martyrdom]] of Imam al-Husayn (a) was made by the order of [[Ibn Ziyad]] and because of the relationship Yazid had with Imam al-Husayn (a) and they were both from [[Quraysh]], Yazid was not happy with fighting and killing him. Taftazani too says that Yazid deserved to be [[cursed]], but in order to avoid extension of cursing to other [[companions of the Prophet (s)]], he should not be cursed.

* The material for this article is mainly taken from {{ia|[[:fa:یزید بن معاویه|یزید بن معاویه]]}} in Farsi Wikishia.

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