ʿUmar ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik () () was an
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
prince, commander in the
Arab–Byzantine wars and the governor of
Jund al-Urdunn
Jund al-Urdunn ( ar, جُـنْـد الْأُرْدُنّ, translation: "The military district of Jordan") was one of the five districts of Bilad al-Sham (Islamic Syria) during the early Islamic period. It was established under the Rashidun and ...
(district of Jordan) during the reign of his father
al-Walid I (). He may have patronized the
Umayyad desert palaces of
Khirbat al-Minya in modern Israel and
Qasr Kharana in modern Jordan.
Life
Umar was a son of the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
caliph
al-Walid I, who appointed him governor of
Jund al-Urdunn
Jund al-Urdunn ( ar, جُـنْـد الْأُرْدُنّ, translation: "The military district of Jordan") was one of the five districts of Bilad al-Sham (Islamic Syria) during the early Islamic period. It was established under the Rashidun and ...
(the military district of Jordan; e.g. modern southern Lebanon, northern Israel and northern Jordan). He was the commander of the Hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valle ...
in November 707. In 710/11, Umar led an expedition against
Byzantine territory alongside his uncle
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik
Maslama ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ( ar, مسلمة بن عبد الملك, in Greek sources , ''Masalmas''; – 24 December 738) was an Umayyad prince and one of the most prominent Arab generals of the early decades of the 8th century, leading severa ...
. As governor of Jund al-Urdunn, Umar apparently questioned
Peter of Capitolias, who was made a Christian saint, at some point before his adjudication and execution by al-Walid I.
Representing the interests of Marwanid (Umayyad ruling house) princes negatively affected by Caliph
Umar II
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ( ar, عمر بن عبد العزيز, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz; 2 November 680 – ), commonly known as Umar II (), was the eighth Umayyad caliph. He made various significant contributions and reforms to the society, and ...
's () economic policies, which reversed al-Walid I's liberal distribution of war spoils among members of the ruling family, Umar wrote a letter to the caliph; in it he accuses the caliph of abandoning his predecessor's policies, accusing them of oppression and detesting their descendants, to which the caliph responded by alleging the Umayyads abandoned the correct path by misusing public funds, illicitly shedding blood and ruling tyrannically. He is recorded by the sources being in a lawsuit in 738/39 with the
Alid rebel leader
Zayd ibn Ali
Zayd ibn Zayn al-Abidin ( ar, زيد بن زين العابدين; 695–740), also spelled Zaid, was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, and great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib.
He led an unsuccessful revolt against the Umayyad Caliph ...
, which was settled by Caliph
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, هشام بن عبد الملك, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; 691 – 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743.
Early life
Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrat ...
. He is recorded again having a dispute with his cousin, Caliph
al-Walid II
Al-Walīd ibn Yazīd (709 – 17 April 744) ( ar, الوليد بن يزيد) usually known simply as Al-Walid II was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 743 until his assassination in the year 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.
...
() over a slave girl seized by the caliph. According to the historian
al-Ya'qubi (d. 897), Umar led the tribes of Jund al-Urdunn against his half-brother Caliph
Yazid III
Yazīd ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (701 – 3/4 October 744) ( ar, يزيد بن الوليد بن عبد الملك) usually known simply as Yazid III was the twelfth Umayyad caliph. He reigned for six months, from April 15 to October 3 or ...
() during the
Third Muslim civil war.
Umar may have patronized the construction of the
Khirbat al-Minya palace near the
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest f ...
, according to
Jere Bacharach. Umar is mentioned in numerous Arabic inscriptions found in the
Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert ( ar, بادية الشام ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, Semi-arid climate, semi-desert and steppe covering of the Middle East, incl ...
palace of
Qasr Kharana in modern Jordan, about 60 kilometers east of Amman. The inscriptions attest to visits by the prince at the beginning of the 8th century. The names of his sons Abd al-Malik and Abd Allah are each mentioned at least once in the inscriptions as well. The palace likely served as a resting place between Syria and Mecca.
Descendants
Umar was dubbed "the stallion of the Banu Marwan (the Marwanids)" or "the stud of the Banu Umayya (the Umayyads)" for his numerous marriages and his fathering of some sixty sons. Among his wives was Umm Abd Allah bint Habib, a granddaughter of
al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As (Umar's paternal great-great-grandfather) with whom he had his son Abd al-Malik. Abd al-Malik's son Habib escaped the massacre of the Umayyad family at Nahr Abi Futrus in the aftermath of the
Abbasid Revolution of 750 and established himself in the
Umayyad emirate in
al-Andalus (the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
). There, the founder of the emirate, Habib's distant cousin
Abd al-Rahman I, appointed him governor of
Toledo and granted him properties around
Cordoba,
Cabra,
Rayyu (
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populou ...
and
Archidona) and
Porcuna
Porcuna is a village and municipality in the province of Jaén in Andalusia, Spain, 42 km from Jaén and 50 km from Córdoba. The primary occupation of the 6,990 inhabitants is olive growing. The main tourist attractions are the tower ...
. His descendants were an influential family known as the Habibi clan. Umar's sons Isa and Hafs also relocated to al-Andalus. Descendants of Abd al-Malik and Isa are named by the sources as members of the Umayyad elite in al-Andalus up to the late 10th century.
References
Bibliography
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*{{cite book , last1=Uzquiza Bartolomé , first1=Aránzazu , editor1-last=Marín , editor1-first=Manuela , title=Estudios onomástico-biográficos de Al-Andalus: V , date=1994 , publisher=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , location=Madrid , isbn=84-00-07415-7 , pages=445–462 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTvD7V9qbUIC&pg=PA446 , chapter=Otros Linajes Omeyas en al-Andalus , language=Spanish
8th-century Arabs
People of the Third Fitna
Sons of Umayyad caliphs
Umayyad people of the Arab–Byzantine wars
Umayyad governors of Jordan