Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid (; died 728/729) was an

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

prince, commander in the

wars War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

against the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, and governor of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

during the reign of his father, Caliph

al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...

(). The most prominent of al-Walid's sons, his father attempted to install him as his successor, but was unsuccessful. After the death of al-Walid's brother, Caliph Sulayman (), Abd al-Aziz made a failed bid for the caliphate, his maternal uncle,

Umar II Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (; February 720) was the eighth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 717 until his death in 720. He is credited to have instituted significant reforms to the Umayyad central government, by making it much more efficient and ...

(), having succeeded to the office beforehand.

Birth and background

Abd al-Aziz's mother was

Umm al-Banin Fāṭima bint Ḥuzām (), better known as ʾUmm al-Banīn (), was a wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun caliph () and the first Shia Imam. She belonged to the Banu Kilab, a tribe within the Qays confederation. Umm al-Banin marr ...

, a daughter of al-Walid's paternal uncle, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan. He was regarded by his father as "the , the most forceful personality, amongst his sons", according to the historian C. E. Bosworth. Al-Walid appointed Abd al-Aziz governor of

Jund Dimashq ''Jund Dimashq'' () was the largest of the sub-provinces (''ajnad'', sing. '' jund''), into which Syria was divided under the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties. It was named after its capital and largest city, Damascus ("Dimashq"), which in the Umayya ...

(military district of

Commander in the Arab–Byzantine wars

Abd al-Aziz led his first campaign against the Byzantines in

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

in 709, when he captured a fortress, although his uncle Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik led the main raid of the year afterwards. In 710 he led the main Umayyad attack, although under the auspices of Maslama as commander-in-chief for the Byzantine front, and in 713 he led an attack against the frontier fortress of Gazelon.

Attempts at caliphal succession

In 714/715, Abd al-Aziz's father attempted to reverse the succession arrangement, by which the throne would pass to his brother Sulayman, in favour of Abd al-Aziz. In addition to various officials and poets in al-Walid's court, Abd al-Aziz gained the support of the powerful viceroy of the eastern half of the Caliphate,

al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi (; ), known simply as al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (), was the most notable governor who served the Umayyad Caliphate. He began his service under Caliph Abd al-Malik (), who successiv ...

, who died in 714, the governor of

Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

Qutayba ibn Muslim Abū Ḥafṣ Qutayba ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ Muslim ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī (; 669–715/6) was an Arab commander of the Umayyad Caliphate who became governor of Khurasan and distinguished himself in the conquest of Transoxiana during the reign o ...

, and a prominent Alid of

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, Zayd, the son of

Hasan ibn Ali Hasan ibn Ali (; 2 April 670) was an Alids, Alid political and religious leader. The eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Hasan briefly ruled as Rashidun caliphate, Rashidun caliph from January 661 unt ...

, who was a father-in-law of al-Walid. The prominent Arabic poet Jarir promoted his succession in verse:

To ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz are raised the eyes of the flock, when the shepherds made their choice
His merits call attention to him, when the state's tent pole and the heavens fall.
The possessors of authority from
Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...
said, 'The pledge is incumbent upon us when the race is run,' And they considered ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz to be the successor to (the) covenant; they have not acted wrongfully in that, nor done evil.
Let it slide in its entirety to him,
Commander of the Faithful () or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Islamic community. Name Although etymologically () is equivalent to English "commander", the wide variety of its historical and modern use allows for a ...
, if you so wish.
For the people have already stretched out their hands and the veil has gone.
And if they were to make the pledge of allegiance to you as successor to (the) covenant, then justice would be established and the building would be in balance.

Despite significant support for Abd al-Aziz, al-Walid was unable to impose his will and Sulayman succeeded him. When Sulayman died in northern Syria in 717, Abd al-Aziz intended to claim the throne in Damascus, but upon learning that his maternal uncle,

had been chosen as caliph, he presented himself before him and acknowledged his rule. According to the account of the historian al-Waqidi (d. 823), during their encounter Umar informed Abd al-Aziz that he would not have disputed his accession, to which Abd al-Aziz replied: "I would not like anyone else but you to have taken over the office". Abd al-Aziz died in AH 110 (728/729 CE). During the reign of Abd al-Aziz's cousin, Caliph

al-Walid II Al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 70917 April 744), commonly known as al-Walid II, was the eleventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 743 until his assassination in 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Birth and background Al-W ...

(), there were proposals to nominate Abd al-Aziz's son, Atiq, as the caliph's successor. Al-Walid II nominated his own sons, al-Hakam and Uthman, instead, which led to the intra-Umayyad Third Muslim Civil War.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid 7th-century births 720s deaths Umayyad people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Sons of Umayyad caliphs Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate Umayyad governors of Damascus Arab generals 8th-century Arab people