Al-Walīd ibn ʿUtba ibn Abī Sufyān () (died 684) 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 ...

ruling family member and statesman during the reigns of the

caliphs

Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

() and

Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (; 11 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death in November 683. His appointment by his father Mu'awiya I () was the first ...

(). He served two stints as the

governor of Medina In early Islamic history, the governor of Medina () was an official who administered the city of Medina and its surrounding territories. During the era of the Rashidun, Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates, the governor was generally appointed b ...

in 677/78–680 and 681–682. He was dismissed during his first term for failing to secure oaths of allegiance from

Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd a ...

and other senior Muslim figures who opposed Yazid's accession. After his relocation to

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

Second Fitna The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve y ...

, he was imprisoned in 684 for proclaiming his support for continued Umayyad rule and condemning the anti-Umayyad caliph

Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (; May 624October/November 692) was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the Umayyads from 683 until his death. The son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma bint Abi Bakr, and grandson of ...

. He was freed shortly after by his kinsman

Khalid ibn Yazid Khālid ibn Yazīd (full name ''Abū Hāshim Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān'', ), 668–704 or 709, was an Umayyad prince and purported alchemist. As a son of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I, Khalid was supposed to become ca ...

and the pro-Umayyad

Banu Kalb The Banu Kalb () was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert and steppe of northwestern Arabia and central Syria. It was involved in the tribal politics of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontiers, possibly as early as the 4th century. ...

tribe.

Life

Al-Walid belonged to the Umayyad clan and was a son of

Utba ibn Abi Sufyan Utba ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harb () was a member of the Umayyad ruling family and served as the Umayyad governor of Egypt in 664–665, during the reign of his brother, Caliph Mu'awiya I (). Life Utba was a son of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb of the Ban ...

and thus a paternal nephew of Caliph

(), founder of the

Umayyad Caliphate 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 member o ...

centered in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

.Howard 1990, p. 2, note 8. He may have led the annual

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 October 676. According to the early Muslim historian

al-Waqidi Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Waqid al-Aslami () ( – 207 AH; commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: ; c. 747 – 823 AD) was an early Arab Muslim historian and biographer of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, specializing in his military ...

(died 823), Mu'awiya appointed al-Walid governor of Medina in September/October 677, while according to another 8th-century historian Abu Mash'ar, he was appointed in August/September 678. He replaced his Umayyad cousin, Marwan ibn al-Hakam. He led the Hajj again in September 678. According to the accounts of the early Muslim historian

al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...

(died 892), al-Walid had a reputation for drinking and was involved in intra-dynastic disputes over power in the caliphate from the beginning of his career. Mu'awiya nominated his own son,

, as successor in a move unprecedented in Islamic history. When Yazid acceded in 680, he charged al-Walid with securing the oaths of allegiance to him from

al-Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd a ...

and Abd Allah ibn Umar, all of whom had earlier refused to recognize Mu'awiya's nomination of Yazid.Vaglieri 1971, p. 607. Accordingly, al-Walid invited Husayn and Ibn al-Zubayr to the governor's palace in Medina, which aroused both of their suspicions; Ibn al-Zubayr fled to Mecca, while Husayn agreed to meet al-Walid accompanied by his retinue of clansmen and ''

mawali ''Mawlā'' (, plural ''mawālī'' ), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the te ...

'' (non-Arab clients or freedmen). Al-Walid informed Husayn of Mu'awiya's death and demanded the oath of allegiance to Yazid. Husayn suggested his recognition of Yazid, to be legitimate, should be made in public, to which al-Walid agreed. Instead, al-Husayn managed to delay his public recognition for two days, allowing him to escape to Mecca. Marwan ibn al-Hakam pressed al-Walid to respond with force, but al-Walid was not willing to take violent measures against Husayn as he was a grandson of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

.Vaglieri 1971, p. 608. Meanwhile, al-Walid had sent horsemen to pursue Ibn al-Zubayr, but they were unable to reach him. Al-Walid's lax approach led to his dismissal by Yazid in June 680 and replacement by another Umayyad, Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-As. Al-Walid was reappointed governor of Medina at the beginning of the Hajj on 21 August 681. He led the Hajj that year and the next year, in August 682.Howard 1990, p. 188. Al-Walid was unsuccessful in his efforts to subdue Ibn al-Zubayr, who had launched a revolt against the Umayyads from his base in Mecca.Howard 1990, p. 197. While al-Walid led the Hajj on behalf of the Umayyad authorities in 682, Ibn al-Zubayr led his own followers, as did the

Kharijite The Kharijites (, singular ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challeng ...

leader

Najda ibn 'Amir al-Hanafi Najda ibn Amir al-Hanafi (; ) was the head of a breakaway Kharijite state in central and eastern Arabia between 685 and his death at the hands of his own partisans. His emergence formed part of the Second Muslim Civil War and the faction he led sto ...

. According to the accounts recorded in the history of

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

, in an apparent ploy, Ibn al-Zubayr subsequently sent a letter to Yazid in which he referred to al-Walid as a "stupid man who does not direct us to a straightforward situation" and suggested he should appoint a more amiable governor that Ibn al-Zubayr would in turn cooperate with. Yazid agreed and appointed al-Walid's cousin Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sufyan in his place as governor. The Umayyads of the

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

, where Mecca and Medina are located, were expelled and relocated to Syria as the rebellion against Umayyad rule escalated. The successive deaths of Yazid and his son and successor, Caliph

Mu'awiya II Mu'awiya ibn Yazid ibn Mu'awiya (; –684), commonly known as Mu'awiya II, was the third Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 683–684. He succeeded his father Yazid I as the third caliph and last caliph of the Sufyanid line in the ...

, in 683 and 684 left a leadership void in Syria and precipitated the collapse of Umayyad authority throughout the caliphate.Hawting 1989, pp. 49–51. Al-Walid had led the funeral prayers for Mu'awiya II.Bosworth 1993, p. 268. The Umayyads' governor in

al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri (; died August 684) was an Umayyad general, head of security forces and governor of Damascus during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I, Yazid I and Mu'awiya II. Though long an Umayyad loyalist, after the latter's death, ...

, secretly supported Ibn al-Zubayr's suzerainty, but withheld openly recognizing him due to the strong presence of the Umayyads and their supporters in the city and vicinity of

. Ibn Bahdal, a leader of the pro-Umayyad

tribe, sent a letter condemning Ibn al-Zubayr and proclaiming support for continued Umayyad rule with one of his tribesmen, a certain Naghida or Na'isa, for al-Dahhak to read during the Friday prayers. When al-Dahhak refused to publicly read the letter, Naghida read it aloud, for which he was censured by al-Dahhak. Al-Walid then openly declared his support for Naghida's statement and was followed by members of the Banu Kalb and the

Ghassanids The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian state, Christian kingdom unde ...

who were in attendance. Al-Walid was imprisoned by al-Dahhak, but freed by Yazid's sons Khalid and Abd Allah and their maternal kinsmen from the Banu Kalb.Hawting 1989, p. 52. The eldest surviving Sufyanid, al-Walid may have intended to claim the mantle of succession, but died, possibly of plague, in 684.

References

Bibliography

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