Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad: Difference between revisions

‘Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad b. Abih (Kufa 33 – 67 AH) was the famous Umayyad commander, the governor of Kufa at the time of the tragedy of ‘Ashura and one of the key persons in the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a) and his companions. ‘Ubayd Allah was the governor of Basra, but after the chaotic situation in Kufa in 60 AH, Yazid appointed him to the governorship of Kufa keeping the governorship of Basra as well and assigned him with the task of suppressing the uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a). Due to his role in the tragedy of Karbala, ‘Ubayd Allah is among the most hated figures before Shia.

Abu Hafs, ‘Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad b. Abih was born of a mother called Marjana who later married the Iranian Shiruya and ‘Ubayd Allah grew up in his house. It is said that was the reason why he could not pronounce some Arabic letters perfectly. Some have attributed Ibn Ziyad sarcastically to his mother and called him Ibn Marjana which refers to his illegitimate birth and in some sources, he has clearly been mentioned as infamous and adulterous.

His father, Ziyad b. Abih was among Umayyad commanders and rulers who was known for his brutality in suppressing revolts in Islamic regions. There were also different opinions regarding who was the father of Ziyad and no one know who it was. Therefore, he was called as Ibn Abih (meaning “the son of his father”). It is said that Abu Sufyan considered Ziyad a result of his act of adultery with Sumayya and thus Mu’awiya called Ziyad his brother.

They say that he was very cruel, merciless and atrocious and some biographers have mentioned him as “Jabbar” [i.e. “oppressive”], as he demonstrated extraordinary brutality in suppressing Khawarij in Basra. This characteristics of ‘Ubayd Allah made him successful in wars with non-Muslims.

There is no information about political positions and activities of ‘Ubayd Allah when he was young; however, according to researchers, apparently he has not been away from governmental affairs in ruling territory of his father, Ziyad b. Abih who was the governor of Kufa and Basra. After the death of Ziyad, Mu’awiya appointed ‘Ubayd Allah as the governor of Khurasan.

=== The Time of Mu’awiya ===

‘Ubayd Allah had an important role in the victories of east and north east of Iran at the time of Mu’awiya. After Mu’awiya became the governor of Khurasan, for the first time crossed Amu Darya river, took over the cities of Ramithan, Nasaf and Baykand near Bukhara and hustled Qabaj Khatun, the rich queen of Bukhara and Turk army away.

In 55, 56 or 57 AH, Mu’awiya removed ‘Ubayd Allah from governorship of Khurasan and appointed him as the governor of Basra instead of ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Amr b. Ghilan.

In Basra, ‘Ubayd Allah encountered unrest provoked by Khawarij which peaked in 58 AH and he suppressed it with extraordinary brutality and killed many people.

After the death of Mu’awiya in 60 AH, Yazid wanted to remove ‘Ubayd Allah from Basra, but apparently tense political situations of Basra and Kufa did not let him do so. With the beginning of the uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a) and sending his representative, Muslim b. ‘Aqil to Kufa, Yazid appointed ‘Ubayd Allah, whose cruelty in suppressing revolts was famous, also as the governor of Kufa. It is said that Yazid appointed ‘Ubayd Allah following the consult of his Christian consultant, Sergiu b. Mansur to encounter the uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a).

==== ‘Ubayd Allah in Kufa ====

In 60 AH, people of Kufa agreed to make allegiance with Imam al-Husayn (a) and expected coming of Imam (a) to Kufa. Ibn Ziyad entered the city while he had covered his face and people thought that it was Imam al-Husayn (a) and welcomed him, but soon found that it had been ‘Ubayd Allah. The first action for ‘Ubayd Allah was to search for the representative of Imam al-Husayn (a), Muslim b. ‘Aqil.

According to Ya’qubi, Hani b. ‘Urwa knew Ibn Ziyad from the past and was sick when he entered the city. He guessed that ‘Ubayd Allah will come to visit him, thus made an appointment with Muslim b. ‘Aqil to kill ‘Ubayd Allah. In another version, Sharik b. A’ur, one of the chiefs of Shia in Kufa became sick in the house of Hani and made an appointment with Muslim b. ‘Aqil to kill Ibn Ziyad upon his coming to visit Sharik b. A’ur. However, since Hani was not happy with killing in his house, Muslim refused to do so and Ibn Ziyad survived it.

According to Tabari, shortly after entering Kufa, Ibn Ziyad could find the hiding place of Muslim through trickery. Then, he invited Hani to Dar al-Imara and imprisoned him and after a short time, arrested Muslim as well and killed both of them and sent their heads to Yazid.

After threatening and bribing the people of Kufa, ‘Ubayd Allah sent Hurr b. Yazid Riyahi to Imam al-Husayn (a) and ordered him to stop Imam (a) and also prevents him from camping where there is water. Then, he also sent ‘Umar b. Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas with an army to Karbala.

‘Umar b. Sa’d was already appointed by ‘Ubayd Allah as the governor of Rey and was about to move towards Rey, but Ibn Ziyad missioned him to take the allegiance of Imam al-Husayn (a) with Yazid or fighting him and when ‘Umar asked ‘Ubayd Allah to excuse him from doing so, Ibn Ziyad conditioned ‘Umar’s appointment to his encounter with Imam al-Husayn (a).

After speaking with Imam al-Husayn (a), ‘Umar b. Sa’d informed Ibn Ziyad that Imam al-Husayn (a) wanted to return and thus there is no need to war.  

Seemingly, Ibn Ziyad first became happy to hear this news, but then Shimr b. Shi al-Jawshan advised him not to accept peace; so, Ibn Ziyad wrote to ‘Umar b. Sa’d that either takes the allegiance of Husayn (a) and sends him to Kufa or fights him and if he does not wants to fight with Imam (a), leaves the command of the army to Shimr.

After the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a), Ibn Ziyad ordered that they capture the rest of his family and take them to Kufa. Entering of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) to Kufa in chain led to events which are mentioned in different sources, including the encounter and argument of Ibn Ziyad with Lady Zaynab (s) and her answers to Ibn Ziyad which made great effects in the gathering.

Among the events of Kufa at that time was taking the pure head of Imam al-Husayn (a) to the court of Ibn Ziyad. According to historical sources, he hit the teeth and lips of Imam al-Husayn (a) with the stick he had in his hand and disrespected Imam (a). Zayd b. Arqam, one of the companions of the Prophet (s) who was in gathering, cried and said, “take that stick off the lips of Husayn (a)! I swear by God that I saw many times that the Prophet (s) kissed those lips.” ‘Ubayd Allah became angry and said, “May God make you cry! What do you cry for? For the God-given victory?! By God I swear that if you were not old and I did not know you have lost your mind, I would behead you!” When Zayd heard this, left the meeting.

After the Ahl al-Bayt (a) entered Kufa, they were taken to the palace of ‘Ubayd Allah. According to historical sources, ignoring ‘Ubayd Allah and his gathering, Lady Zaynab (s) entered and sat in a corner while she was wearing ragged clothes. ‘Ubayd Allah asked him three times, “Who are you?” but she (s) did not answer. Then, someone in the audience said, “It is Zaynab (s), daughter of Ali (a).” As if furious of Lady Zaynab’s (s) disregarding him, ‘Ubayd Allah derisively said, “thanks to God who exposed you and revealed your lying.”

Lady Zaynab (s) said, “Thanks God who honored us by His Prophet (s) and cleansed us from any impurity. That who is sinful will be exposed and that who makes mischief is the liar and that is not us.”

Ibn Ziyad said, “did you see what God did to you?”

Lady Zaynab (s) said, “From God, I saw nothing but the good. God had willed martyrdom for our family and they courageously rushed towards their place of sacrifice. God will soon gather you before them to be trialed at His court; then, you will see for whom is felicity and happiness. O son of Marjana! May your mother mourns for you!”

Ibn Ziyad became angry and wanted to kill Lady Zaynab (s), but he was stopped by intervention of ‘Amr b. Hurayth and said, “God soothed my heart with killing of your rebellious brother and other rebels and adherents of your family.”

Lady Zaynab (s) said, “By God, I swear that you murdered my elder, cut my branches and pulled up my root. If soother of your heart is in these, then you have relieved.”

Ibn Ziyad said, “She composes rhythmic patterns like her father and talks in poetry.”

After the tragedy of ‘Ashura, ‘ubayd Allah remained as the governor of Kufa and Basra using force and subjugation, however his rule became unstable after the death of Yazid b. Mu’awiya. According to Tabari and Abu ‘Ali Miskawayh, after the death of Yazid, ‘Ubayd Allah made a speech, the eve of which he had bribed the elders of Basra. After the speech, they raised and asked for continuation of his rule, but soon afterwards, people turned their back on him and went for making allegiance with ‘Abd Allah b. Zubayr.

When ‘Abd Allah b. Zubayr reached power in Medina so that even some parts of Sham accepted his caliphate and even Marwan b. Hakam went to Hijaz to make allegiance with him, Ibn Ziyad met Marwan in Bathaniyya and stopped him from doing so and promised him that if he claims for caliphate, he himself will support Marwan. So, Marwan returned, Ibn Ziyad went to Damascus and deceived Zahhak b. Qays who had taken the allegiance of people with Ibn Zubayr and threw him out of the city and took the allegiance of people with Marwan. In the battle between the adherents of Marwan with Zahhak b. Qays in Marj Rahit near Damascus in which Zahhak was defeated, Ibn Ziyad was the commander of the horsemen of Marwan.

In the rule of Marwan, ‘Ubayd Allah was also in Damascus. Tawabin led by Sulayman b. Surad Khuza’i raised to take revenge on Imam al-Husayn (a). Marwan b. Hakam sent Ibn Ziyad from Damascus to fight against them and promised him the rule of Iraq in the condition of defeating them. ‘Ubayd Allah was informed of the death of Marwan (65 AH) when he arrived in Jazira, but he continued his advance. Sulayman b. Surad set up his camp in ‘Ayn al-Warda and sent Musayyib b. Najba Fazari to fight ‘Ubayd Allah in advance and he defeated Shurahbil b. Dhi al-Kila’ who was sent to battle by ‘Ubayd Allah. Ibn Ziyad sent Hasin b. Namir to fight against Sulayman. Hasin was defeated very soon, but Ibn Ziyad backed him with his army and a bloody battle began in ‘Ayn al-Warda (towards the end of Jumada al-awwal 65 AH). Sulayman and his companions were defeated and killed.

Ibn Ziyad, then tried to dominate the cities of Jazira who previously made allegiance with Ibn Zubayr and did not go to Iraq where Mukhtar Thaqafi had raised to take revenge on Imam al-Husayn (a) from Umayyads. However eventually, he attacked Mosul which was controlled by the forces of Mukhtar .Adherents of Mukhtar withdrew towards Tikrit and informed Mukhtar of the Ibn Ziyad’s attack; so, Mukhtar sent an army to fight Ibn Ziyad. The army of Mukhtar defeated the army of Ibn Ziyad. (Dhu a-Hijja 10, 66 AH)

After the victory of the army of Mukhtar, Ibn Ziyad himself with an army and Mukhrar pulled back. Mukhtar who actually sought to kill Ibn Ziyad and others who had any role in the tragedy of Karbala, sent Ibrahim b. Malik Ashtar with an army to fight the army of Ibn Ziytad. Ibrahim who wanted to reach Ibn Ziyad before his coming to Iraq, reached the army of Sham in the bank of Khazir river near a village called Barbitha 5 parasangs [around 28 km] from Mosul. In a fierce battle between the armies of Iraq and Sham, Ibn Ziyad was defeated (Muharram 67 AH) and Ibn Ziyad together with his soldiers were killed. According to a narration from Abu Mikhnaf, apparently Ibrahim b. Ashtar himself killed Ibn Ziyad in a hand-to-hand fight.

== View of Shia towards Ibn Ziyad ==

The action of Ibn Ziyad towards Imam al-Husayn (a) and making of the tragedy of ‘Ashura made ‘Ibn Ziyad notorious and hated and aroused the fury of many Muslims, especially the people of Kufa towards him; in such a way that according to some historical sources, ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Afif Azudi rose up in the middle of the speech of Ibn Ziyad and addressed him and Yazid with bitter swearing. TI is even said that his mother Marjana reprimanded ‘Ubayd Allah so much. Due to his role in the tragedy of ‘Ashura, ‘Ubayd Allah is among the most hated figures of the Islamic history before Shia. His name has been mentioned in some famous Ziyarat including the Ziyarat of ‘Ashura where he has been cursed.