Abd al-Malik (Umayyads)

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Abd al-Malik (with kufiya and sword) on one of his dinars

Abū l-Walīd ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ( Arabic أبو الوليد عبد الملك بن مروان; * 646; † October 4, 705 in Damascus ), also Abdalmalik , was one of the most important caliphs of the Umayyads . He ruled from 685 to 705. ʿAbdalmalik was a son of the caliph Marwān ibn al-Hakam and ʿĀ'ischa, the daughter of the Umayyad Muʿāwiya ibn al-Mughīra. In 692 he built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem .

Early years

'Abdalmalik experienced as a child the murder of 'Uthmān with and was Mu'awiya Secretary of Dīwān in Medina . After he had distinguished himself militarily at sea against the Byzantines, he lived in Medina and received there from his father half of the extensive lands of Fadak for his maintenance. He married a woman from the Qaisite tribe of the ʿAbs-Ghatafān, who bore him five children, including the later caliphs al-Walīd (born 668) and Sulaimān (born 674). When the Umayyads were expelled from Mecca by insurgents in 683, he left the city with his father, but returned there with the Syrian army and informed their commanders, Muslim ibn ʿUqba, about the defenses of Medina.

As a caliph

After the death of his father in the spring of 685, ʿAbd al-Malik was made caliph. The oath of allegiance took place in Rajab 65 (= February / March 685). The Hejaz , Iraq , Fars , Khorasan and the adjacent areas were in the hands of ʿAbdallāh ibn az-Zubair at that time .

Securing Syria

First, ʿAbd al-Malik dealt with securing the rule of the Umayyads in Syria , Palestine and Egypt . He had to struggle with considerable difficulties, as there were several devastating plague epidemics (685–686 and 688–690) as well as famines (686/7) and Byzantine attacks on Syria in the first years of his government. In Qarqīsiyāʾ at the mouth of the Chabur in the Euphrates, the Qaisite Arab Zufar ibn al-Hārith had entrenched himself. When ʿAbd al-Malik attempted to conquer Iraq in the summer of 689, a cousin of his, ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd al-Ashdaq, rose in Damascus , so that he was forced to return to Syria.

Restoration of the empire

The Dome of the Rock built by ʿAbd al-Malik, at that time still without faience decoration

A peace treaty with Byzantium and the suppression of the al-Ashdaq revolt made it possible for ʿAbd al-Malik in 690 to address the problems in Jazira and Iraq. In the summer / autumn of 690 he conquered Qarqīsiyāʾ; He then moved to Nisibis , where there were 2,000 followers of al-Muchtār ibn Abī ʿUbaid , who regarded Muhammad ibn al-Hanafīya as the rightful imam , and besieged them until they joined his claim to imamate.

From Nisibis the caliph went down the Tigris via Mosul to achieve the decisive victory in Jumada l-ula 72 (October 691) near Maskin over Mus überab ibn az-Zubair , who ruled Iraq for his brother ʿAbdallāh ibn az-Zubair. In the same year Abd al-Malik began the construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and sent an army under the command of al-Hajjaj ibn Yūsuf to the Hijas, which stormed Mecca. ʿAbdallāh ibn az-Zubair was killed on 17 Jumada l-ula 73 (October 4, 692). This restored the unity of the caliphate and secured the Umayyads' claim to leadership.

Great power politics

Under Abd al-Malik the absolute power of rule of the caliph began to prevail. In particular, family members were appointed as governors in the provinces, which at the same time were more closely controlled by the central power in Damascus . The expansion of the postal system also served to strengthen the central administration . In addition, Arabic was introduced as the language of the office and the Persian and Byzantine coins previously in circulation were replaced by coins with an Arabic-Islamic legend. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yūsuf was sent to Iraq as governor in 694 and ruled the entire eastern part of the empire from there.

At that time, Christians who were familiar with the effective late Roman administrative practice were still active in the administration of the caliphate. Some of them held high-ranking posts, such as the influential Sarjun ibn Mansur and his son, who later became known as John of Damascus . Both maintained good contacts with Abd al-Malik, who, however, had Christians largely removed from the administration around 700. Now only Muslims should hold high positions.

The strengthening of the caliph's power enabled a resumption of Muslim expansion. So after 700 Hassan ibn an-Numan finally succeeded in subjugating the Maghreb against the fierce resistance of the Berber tribes . With the administrative reforms of Abd al-Malik, the prerequisites for the further expansion of the Umayyad state were created.

A significant event in ʿAbd al-Malik's later reign was the uprising of the Kindite Ibn al-Aschʿath, which is dated to the year 81 dH (= 700/701 AD). Ibn al-Ashʿath was eventually betrayed by his former ally Rutbīl and lost his life. His severed head was sent to Al-Hajjaj in the year 84 dH (= 703 AD). He sent it on to ʿAbd al-Malik, who in turn passed it on to his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān in Egypt. ʿAbd al-Malik himself died on 10th Shawwal 86 (= 4th October 705) in Damascus.

Sons

ʿAbd al-Malik had 16 sons: al-Walīd, Sulaimān, Marwān the elder, Yazīd, Marwān the younger, Muʿāwiya, Hischām, Bakkār, al-Hakam, ,Abdallāh, Masaddlama, ʿAnbasa, Muhammad, and Saʿaddjādād. Four of them, al-Walīd , Sulaimān , Yazīd and Hishām , later ruled as caliphs themselves.

Pseudepigraphic literature

In later Islamic literature, various letters are passed down that contemporaries such as al-Hasan al-Basrī and Abdallah ibn Ibad are said to have addressed to ʿAbd al-Malik. However, these letters are all classified as pseudepigraphic in research today .

literature

Arabic sources
  • Al-Masʿūdī : Kitāb at-Tanbīh wa-l-išrāf . French Translation by B. Carra de Vaux. Imprimerie Nationale, Paris 1896. pp. 404-410. Digitized
Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Al-Masʿūdī: Kitāb at-Tanbīh , p. 404.
  2. ↑ See Rotter 165.
  3. ↑ See Rotter 120.
  4. ↑ See Gibb 76.
  5. ↑ Cf. Al-Masʿūdī: Kitāb at-Tanbīh , p. 404.
  6. ↑ Cf. Gibb 76b.
  7. ↑ See Rotter 167.
  8. ↑ See Rotter 210.
  9. ↑ See Rotter 215.
  10. ↑ See Rotter 212-218.
  11. ↑ Cf. Al-Masʿūdī: Kitāb at-Tanbīh , p. 406.
  12. ↑ Cf. Al-Masʿūdī: Kitāb at-Tanbīh , pp. 407-409.
  13. ↑ Cf. Ibn Abī s-Surūr Ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ar-Rūḥī: Kitāb Bulġat aẓ-ẓurafāʾ fī ḏikrā tawārīḫ al-ḫulafāʾ . Ed. MZ ʿAzab. Cairo 2001. p. 57.
  14. ↑ See Robinson 106-113 and Michael Cook: Early Muslim dogma. A source-critical study. Cambridge 1981. pp. 51-67.
predecessor Office successor
Marwan I. Umayyad Caliph
685–705 		Al-Walid I.
personal data
SURNAME Abd al-Malik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES عبد الملك بن مروان (Arabic); ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān (DMG); Abdalmalik
BRIEF DESCRIPTION fifth Umayyad caliph (685–705)
DATE OF BIRTH 646
DATE OF DEATH 4th October 705
Place of death Damascus