Yazid I
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Yazid Ibn Muawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyan' (July 23, 645 - 683) (Arabic: يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان) was the second Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty of Caliphs. He ruled from CE 680 to 683. He is also notable as an object of Shi'a Muslim animosity; they reject his legitimacy and condemn his role in the Battle of Karbala which resulted in the death of Husayn ibn Ali.
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[edit] Accession to the caliphate
The issue of succession to the caliphate had proved divisive in the past (see Succession to Muhammad). The caliph Muawiyah I took the controversial step of breaking with the Arabian and Islamic tradition of shura, consultation by the leading men of the community to choose the new leader. He founded the first Islamic dynasty by directly designating his son Yazid to succeed him. Muawiyah did attempt to observe the outward forms of shura by requiring his subjects to "choose" his son and swear allegiance to him in his own lifetime. Yazid was duly proclaimed caliph upon his father's death. However, he faced immediate opposition from other Muslims who rejected the dynastic principle and those who supported the claims of different lineages.
[edit] Battle of Karbala
Yazid was first opposed by the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Husayn bin Ali. Husayn was the son of the assassinated former caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. His older brother, Hasan ibn Ali, had briefly claimed the caliphate as well. (Hasan had agreed to a settlement and retired in favor of Muawiyah). Husayn, as a descendant of Muhammad, had a strong claim to the caliphate in the eyes of many Muslims. The Muslims of Kufa in Iraq, which had been the stronghold of Ali, assured Husayn that they would support him if he bid for the caliphate. Based on this support, Husayn decided to march against Yazid. He started from Mecca and headed towards Kufa.
Husayn neared Kufa and found that he had thoroughly overestimated his support in the city, which was held fast against him. A detachment from Yazid's army, several thousand men led by ‘Umar ibn Sa’d, barred his way to the city and then pursued him when he veered away. Husayn's small group was surrounded, cut off from its water supplies, and then defeated by the enemy forces. Shi'a Muslims claim that Husayn had only seventy-two men under his command, in addition to women and children; they also say that Husayn and his men performed miracles of bravery and defiance during this battle. However, Husayn and his men were all killed, and the women and children taken prisoner.
[edit] Revolt in Arabia and death of Yazid
Other Arabs, who were used to choosing leaders by consultation rather than heredity, refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid. A sanction of companions of the prophet Muhammed, including Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Abdullah ibn Umar, opposed Yazid's position as Caliph. Abdullah bin Zubayr claimed the caliphate for himself and launched an insurgency in the Hejaz, the former heartland of the Islamic empire. Yazid sent armies against him in 683. Medina was captured and Mecca was besieged. During the siege, the Kaaba was damaged, reportedly causing significant ill feeling among the inhabitants of Mecca as well as many Muslims throughout the Islamic empire. The siege ended when Yazid died suddenly in 683 CE. The exact place of Yazid's burial is unknown. He was briefly succeeded by his son, Muawiya II.
[edit] Assessments of Yazid
[edit] Non-religious view of Yazid
Although presented in many sources as a dissolute ruler, Yazid energetically tried to continue his father's policies and retained many of the men who served him. He strengthened the administrative structure of the empire and improved the military defenses of Syria, the Umayyad power base. The financial system was reformed. He lightened the taxation of some Christian groups and abolished the tax concessions granted to the Samaritans as a reward for aid they had rendered in the days of the early Arab conquests. He also paid significant attention to agriculture and improved the irrigation system of the Damascus oasis.
[edit] Shi'a view of Yazid
For Shi'a Muslims, Yazid is the consummate villain, who will always be remembered for his murder of Husayn and persecution of his family. He is said to have been fond of wine and the company of courtesans, and completely careless of his religious duties.
The events at Karbala figure prominently in Shi'a thought, and many Shi'a Islamist movements liken their causes to Husayn's struggle against Yazid. Leaders of the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi government frequently drew such comparisons. The 10th of Muharram (also known as Aashurah), the Islamic calendar date on which the Battle of Karbala occurred, is commemorated as a day of mourning by Shi'a Muslims around the world. Shi'a rituals on Aashurah usually involve public processions during which Shi'a Muslims curse Yazid and recite poems commemorating Husayn and his death. Shi'as around the world refer to Yazid as "the tyrant" and often add the word Lanatullah (which means May God's curse be upon him) after his name.
[edit] Sunni view of Yazid
There is no Sunni consensus on the nature of Husayn's opposition to Yazid's rule and Yazid's culpability in Husayn's death. Some scholars have claimed that Husayn opposed Yazid's ascension to the Caliphate but did not actively revolt against him, and that Husayn's killing was ordered not by Yazid but by the Umayyad governor of Iraq, Ubaidallah ibn Ziyad[citation needed]. Others have refrained from taking a position on the matter, claiming that although Husayn's death was a tragic and unfortunate event, the evidence on exactly how it occurred and who bears responsibility is too inconclusive to merit judgment. This view is mainly taken by those who are concerned to maintain the reputation of Muawiyah as a wise and legitimate caliph. They do not wish to question Muawiyah's choice of his son as his successor. However, some others have joined the Shi'a position, cursing Yazid and denouncing him as an illegitimate ruler. Generally, for every Muslim, the killers of Husayn are villains.
[edit] Was Yazid the sixth or seventh caliph?
A handful of Sunni scholars such as Ibn al-'Arabi[1] and Al-Bayhaqi[2] consider Hasan ibn Ali to be a legitimate caliph occupying the fifth title designation, after his father Ali bin Abu Talib and before Muawiyah I. Under this scenario, Yazid I would be the seventh rather than sixth caliph. However, this is a minority opinion, and most chronologies, both Sunni and among Western academia, do not count Hasan, and number Yazid as the sixth.
If Hasan is counted, Yazid I would be the seventh rather than sixth caliph.
Al-Suyuti did not include Yazid in his list of the twelve successors to the prophet, but did include Hasan.
- "We see that from the twelve, four are the Righteous Caliphs, then Hasan, then Mu'awiyah, then Ibn Zubayr, and finally 'Umar bin 'Abd al-'Aziz. They are eight. Four of them remain. Maybe Mahdi, the Abbasid could be included as he is an Abbasid like 'Umar bin 'Abd al-'Aziz was an Umayyad. And Tahir 'Abbasi will also be included because he was a just ruler. Thus two more are yet to come. One of them is Mahdi, because he is from the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)."[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Ibn al-'Arabi, Sharh Sunan Tirmidhi 9:68-69
- ^ Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqa Vol 19
- ^ Al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa, Vol 12.
Hawting, G.R., The First Dynasty of Islam: the Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750, Second edition, Routledge, 2000, ISBN 0-415-24073-5 or ISBN 0-415-24072-7
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Muawiya I |
Caliph 680–683 |
Succeeded by Muawiya II |
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
