Spoke 7: The Biblewheel and The 7th Century
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Yazid I Breaks the Oath of Allegiance
The Hebrew word for oath is shebuah which is derived from shaba, which means to swear and the number 7. And Muawiyah I (Umayyad caliphate) swore to give the Caliphate back to Hassan the eldest son of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and of Ali.
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Yazid I Breaks the Oath of Allegiance
The Hebrew word for oath is shebuah which is derived from shaba, which means to swear and the number 7. And Muawiyah I (Umayyad caliphate) swore to give the Caliphate back to Hassan the eldest son of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and of Ali.
H7621 - shĕbuw`ah
שְׁבוּעָה
- oath, curse
- oath
- attesting of innocence
- curse
- oath (of Jehovah)
Root Word (Etymology)
Pass part of שָׁבַע (H7650)
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H7650 - shaba`
שָׁבַע
- to swear, adjure
- (Qal) sworn (participle)
- (Niphal)
- to swear, take an oath
- to swear (of Jehovah by Himself)
- to curse
- (Hiphil)
- to cause to take an oath
- to adjure
Root Word (Etymology)
A primitive root
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Yazid I
Yazīd ibn Mu‘awiya Caliph in Damascus | |||||
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Arab-Sasanian Drachm of Yazid I
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2nd Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate | |||||
Reign | 26 April 680 – 11 November 683 | ||||
Predecessor | Mu'awiya I | ||||
Successor | Mu'awiya II | ||||
Born | 647 (AH 26)[1] | ||||
Died | 11 November 683 (14 Rabi ul-Awwal AH 64)[1] (aged 36) | ||||
Issue | Mu'awiya II Khaled Atikah | ||||
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House | Sufyanid | ||||
Dynasty | Umayyad | ||||
Father | Mu'awiya I | ||||
Mother | Maysun bint Bahdal al-Kalbiyya al-Nasrania (The Christian)[1] |
Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya (Arabic: يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان; 647 – 11 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad caliphate (and the first one through inheritance). Yazid was the caliph as appointed by his father Muawiyah I and ruled for three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE. Yazid is infamous for killing Husain ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, along with his family and companions; attacking the city of Medina; and attacking the city of Mecca and destroying the Kaaba.[2]
Rise to power
Yazid's father, Muawiyah, had signed a treaty with Hasan ibn Ali, where Muawiya promised that, among other conditions, Muawiya would give the caliphate back to Hasan when Muawiya died; and if Hasan died before Muawiya, then the caliphate would go to Hasan's brother, Hussein ibn Ali, upon Muawiya's death. However, Muawiya broke that promise and all of the others that he made in the treaty, and he gave the caliphate to Yazid upon his death.[3]
The Sunni scholar Sheikh Abdallah Saleh Farsy wrote in his book Maisha ya Sayyidnal Husayn that "Yazid's succession was established by force and contrary to the wishes of the people."[4][5]
After the death of Hasan, Muawiya commanded the people of Syria to accept Yazid as his successor. After that, he ordered Marwan ibn Hakam, then the governor of Medina, to force the people of Medina to accept Yazid as Muawiya's successor. Marwan did not agree with Muawiya's choice; after letting Muawiya know how he felt, Muawiya removed Marwan from his post as governor. Marwan went to Syria and threatened to carry out a coup against Muawiya; Muawiya consoled Marwan with "soothing words," gave him a large amount of money, and appointed pensions for him and his relatives. Marwan returned to Medina and carried out Muawiya's order of forcing the people of Medina to accept Yazid.[6][7]
Oath of allegiance
Upon succession, Yazid asked governors of all provinces to take an oath of allegiance to him. The necessary oath was secured from all parts of the country. Hussain ibn Ali and Abdullah ibn Zubayr refused to declare allegiance. Yazid sent Marwan, a soldier in his army, to assist in this task.[8][9] An early historical account of the issue of obtaining bai'ah ( bait ) (pledge of allegiance) by Yazid I was chronicled by the 9th century CE historian Al-Tabari who recorded that Yazid's only concern, when he assumed power, was to receive the oath of allegiance from the individuals who had refused to agree with Muawiyah's demand for this oath of allegiance for his son Yazid. Muawiyah had summoned the people (i.e., the Islamic shura or council) to give an oath of allegiance to him that Yazid would be his heir. Yazid's concern was to bring their attitude (of this refusal) to an end. Yazid's paternal first cousin Waleed bin Utbah bin Abu Sufyan was the governor of Madinah, where Husayn bin Ali and the Hashimite family resided as did Abdullah ibn Zubayr. Yazid had sent his fellow Umayyad kinsman, Marwan bin al-Hakam (who served as a vizier to Muawiyah and now to Yazid), to Waleed bin Utbah bin Abu Sufyan with the following message written on parchment:[10]
When summoned by the governor of Madinah, Waleed bin Utbah, Husayn bin Ali answered the summons. However, Abdullah ibn Zubayr did not. When Husayn bin Ali met Waleed and Marwan (who was present) in a semi-private meeting at night, he was informed of the late Caliph Muawiyah's death and Yazid's accession to the caliphate. When asked for his pledge of allegiance to Yazid, Husayn responded that giving his allegiance in private would be insufficient, such a thing should be given in public. Waleed agreed to this, but Marwan interrupted demanding that Waleed imprison Husayn and not let him leave until he gives the pledge of allegiance to Yazid. At this interruption, Marwan was soundly upbraided by Husayn who then exited unharmed. Husayn bin Ali had his own retinue of armed supporters waiting nearby just in case a forcible attempt was made to apprehend him. Immediately following Husayn's exit, Marwan emphatically admonished his kinsman Waleed, the governor of Madinah, who in turn rebutted Marwan, justifying his refusal to harm Husayn ibn Ali by stating "that on the Day of Resurrection a man who is (responsible) for the blood of Al-Husayn (will weigh) little in the scale of God." As for Abdullah ibn Zubayr, he had left Medina at night heading for Mecca. In the morning Waleed sent men after him, a party of eighty horsemen under the command of a retainer of the Banu Umayyah. They pursued Ibn al-Zubayr but did not catch up with him, so they returned. As for Husayn ibn Ali, Tabari records that he too left for Mecca shortly after, without having sworn any oath of allegiance to Yazid.[11]
Uprising of Husain ibn Ali
Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, along with many other prominent Muslims, not only disapproved of Yazid's nomination for caliph (or leader of Islam) but also declared it against the spirit of Islam as Yazid was oppressive and unjust. While the nomination issue was deliberated upon in Medina, Abdullah ibn Zubayr went with Hussain to Mecca because some prominent Muslims thought that Mecca would be the best base for launching a campaign to build up public opinion against Yazid's nomination. However, before any significant work could be done, Muawiyah died, and Yazid took over the reins of government.[citation needed]
Kufa, a garrison town in Iraq, had been Ali's capital, and many of his supporters lived there. Hussain ibn Ali received letters from Kufa expressing its offer of support if he claimed the caliphate. As he prepared for the journey to Kufa, Abdullah ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Abdullah ibn Abbas argued against his plan, and if he was determined to proceed to Kufa, asked him to leave women and children in Mecca, but Hussein rejected their suggestions. On the way to Kufa, he received the report of Muslim ibn Aqeel's death at the hands of Yazid's men and that the Kufans had changed their loyalties to Yazid, pledging support to him against Husayn and his followers.[citation needed]
Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad, governor of Basrah, executed one of the messengers and warned the citizens to avoid the insurgency. He sent a message to Hussein, at instruction of Yazid, stating, "You can neither go to Kufa nor return to Mecca, but you can go anywhere else you want." Despite the warning, Hussein continued towards Kufa and during the trip, he and many members of his family were killed by Yazid and Ibn Ziyad army at the Battle of Karbala. So Yazid was also involved in the killing of Hussein. As he ordered Ibn Ziyad to kill Hussein if he does not give oath of allegiance to Yazid.[citation needed]
Many Sahaba, the most prominent being Abdullah ibn Zubayr, refused to give their oath of allegiance to Yazid, as they saw it as a usurpation of power and not the proper way of choosing a caliph by the Shura.[12]
Revolt of Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr
When Husayn was killed in Karbala, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr started an insurgency in the Hejaz (Mecca and Medina) and the Tihamah. Upon hearing this, Yazid had a silver chain made and sent it to Mecca with the intention of having Walid ibn Utbah arrest Ibn al-Zubayr with it.[13] Umayyad forces tried to end the rebellion by invading the Hejaz in 683. Medina was taken after the Battle of al-Harrah, the Tihamah was invaded and siege was laid to Mecca. Yazid's sudden death in 683, however, ended the campaign and threw the caliphate into disarray and civil war.
Setbacks
During the caliphate of Yazid ibn Muawiya, Muslims suffered several military setbacks. In 682 CE, Yazid restored Uqba ibn Nafi as the governor of north Africa and Uqba won battles against the Berbers and Byzantines.[8] Uqba then marched westward towards Tangier and then marched eastwards the Atlas Mountains.[9]
With cavalry numbering about 300, he proceeded towards Biskra, where he was ambushed by a Berber force. Uqba and all his men died fighting, and the Berbers launched a counterattack and drove Muslims from north Africa.[14] That was a major setback for the Muslims, as they lost supremacy at sea and had to abandon the islands of Rhodes and Crete.
Death
Yazid was killed by his own horse after it lost control, or maybe it was some intestinal disease[citation needed]. Yazid died at the age of 36 (age 37 in Hijri-Lunar calculation) after he had ruled for three years. He was succeeded by his son Muawiyah II. Yazid was buried in Damascus.
Historical evaluation
Some scholars regard Yazid as a just, noble, religious and administratively efficient ruler and that his nomination by his father Muawiya as caliph was proper.[15] Notable contemporaries such as Ibn Abbas and Muhammad bin Hanfia regard Muawiya's nomination of Yazid as sincere and proper as Muawiya genuinely believed that Yazid had the qualifications of being the leader of Muslims.[16]
Muslim tradition regards Caliph Yazid I as a tyrant who was responsible for three major actions during the Second Fitna that were considered atrocities: the death of Husayn ibn Ali and his followers at the Battle of Karbala, considered a massacre; the aftermath of the Battle of al-Harrah, in which the troops of Yazid's general, Muslim bin Uqbah al-Marri, pillaged the town of Medina; and the burning of the Kaaba during the siege of Mecca, which was blamed on Yazid's commander Husayn ibn Numayr.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
That view was summed up with the following evaluation of Yazid by a scholar from the Abbasid era:
- He was strong, brave, deliberative, full of resolve, acumen, and eloquence. He composed good poetry. He was also a stern, harsh, and coarse Nasibi. He drank and was a reprobate. He inaugurated his Dawla with the killing of the martyr al-Husayn and closed it with the catastrophe of al-Harrah. Hence the people despised him, he was not blessed in his life, and many took up arms against him after al-Husayn such as the people of Madînah - they rose for the sake of Allâh -[25]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazid_I
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