ʿUmar ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik () () 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

Arab–Byzantine wars The Arab–Byzantine wars or Muslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between multiple Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire. The Muslim Arab Caliphates conquered large parts of the Christian Byzantine empir ...

and the governor of

Jund al-Urdunn Jund al-Urdunn (, 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 its capital was Tiberias throughout its r ...

(district of Jordan) during the reign of his father

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 ...

(). 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

caliph

and one of his slave concubines. Al-Walid appointed Umar governor of

(the military district of the

iver Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...

Jordan; e.g. modern southern Lebanon, northern Israel and northern Jordan). He was the commander of the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

in November 707. In 710/11, Umar led an expedition against

Byzantine 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 the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

territory alongside his uncle

Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik (, 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 several campaigns against the Byzantine Empire ...

. As governor of Jordan, Umar questioned Peter of Capitolias, who was made a Christian saint, at some point before his adjudication and execution by al-Walid. Representing the interests of Marwanid (Umayyad ruling house) princes who were negatively affected by Caliph

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 ...

's () economic policies, which reversed al-Walid'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. Umar is recorded by the sources as being in a lawsuit in 738/39 with the future

Alid The Alids are those who claim descent from Ali ibn Abi Talib (; 600–661 CE), the fourth Rashidun caliph () and the first imam in Shia Islam. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The main branches are the ...

rebel leader

Zayd ibn Ali Zayd ibn ʿAlī (; 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 Caliphate, in which he died. The event gave rise to t ...

, which was settled by Caliph

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

. He is recorded again having a legal dispute, this time with his 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 ...

(), over a slave girl seized by the caliph. According to the historian

al-Ya'qubi ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer. Life Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a fam ...

(d. 897), Umar led the tribes of Jordan against his half-brother, Caliph

Yazid III Yazid ibn al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 701 – 3/4 October 744), commonly known as Yazid III, was the twelfth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 744 until his death months later. Birth and background Yazid was the member of the influential Umayyad d ...

() during the

Third Muslim civil war The Third Fitna (), was a series of civil wars and uprisings against the Umayyad Caliphate. It began with a revolt against Caliph al-Walid II in 744, and lasted until 747, when Marwan II emerged as the victor. The war exacerbated internal tensi ...

. Umar may have patronized the construction of the Khirbat al-Minya palace near the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

, according to Jere Bacharach. Umar is mentioned in numerous Arabic inscriptions found in the

Syrian Desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

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 Al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; died 655/56), was the father of the founder of the Marwanid line of the Umayyad dynasty, Marwan I (), and a paternal uncle of Caliph Uthman (). He was known as a staunch opponent of the Islamic prophet Muhamma ...

(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 Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

(the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

). There, the founder of the emirate, Habib's distant cousin

Abd al-Rahman I Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (; 7 March 731 – 30 September 788), commonly known as Abd al-Rahman I, was the founder and first emir of the Emirate of Córdoba, ruling from 756 to 788. He established the Umayyad dynasty in al-Andalus, ...

, appointed him governor of Toledo and granted him properties around Cordoba, Cabra, Rayyu (

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

and

Archidona Archidona is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is the center of the comarca of Nororiental de Málaga and the head of the judicial district that bears its name. ...

) and Porcuna. 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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *{{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 Arab people People of the Third Fitna Sons of Umayyad caliphs Umayyad people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Umayyad governors of Jordan