Episode 20: Succeeding the dynast

Just because Mu’awiya held supreme power within the caliphate didn’t mean he thought his will was absolute. He had displayed a keen understanding of tribal politics during his rise to power, painstakingly building a strong network of support to challenge for and win the title of caliph. He deployed all his foresight, cunning, and ruthless pragmatism to make sure he was succeeded by his son Yazid. 

Glossary

• Al Mughyira bin Shu’ba: I was surprised at how many narrations blame this dahiya for planting the idea of dynasty in Mu’awiya’s head. The story is pretty cartoonish too: Mu’awiya is allegedly annoyed at al Mughyira for being unresponsive for a while, and writes him letter to Kufa telling him that he was relieved of duty and had to report to Damascus at once for a sort of debriefing. So the clever dahiya takes his time getting there, and when Mu’awiya gets into the groove of upbraiding him for being so lackadaisical he says “I was only late cause I was preparing something I thought the caliph would find pleasing” His interest piqued, Mu’awiya asks what that could be, and is so blown away when he’s told that Kufa was almost ready to accept Yazid as their next caliph that he practically begs al Mughyira to return to the city as its governor. The whole thing is couched like a clever joke, but it is out there.
• Al Akhtal: his real name was Ghayth bin Ghawth al Taghlibi, and he was from a Christian Mesopotamian Arab tribe. His poetry is considered a perfect example of the sort nomadic tribes delighted in, and he was the most famous and celebrated poet of his time. 
• Abdulrahman bin Khalid ibn il Walid: the great general son of the even greater general was around 50 when he died of poison. I think he was the only military figure to be eliminated by Mu’awiya and I find his assassination to have been excessive, but maybe Mu’awiya couldn’t risk splitting the loyalty of the Syrian troops.
• Al Hassan: the eldest son of Ali bin Abu Talib and leader of the Hashemites resided in Medina through most of Mu’awiya’s reign, and despite staying out of politics he retained his image as a figure of opposition to the Umayyads because of his clan’s history. There are several different versions of the story of his demise, as there are various ones about his life. Some pro-Umayyad accounts insist that al Hassan used to frequent Mu’awiya’s court, where he was favored by the caliph who truly bore him no grudge, and was saddened by news of his death. Others claim that al Hassan was a sort of firebrand opposition figure, often skewering Marwan, the governor of Medina, with his sharp wit. So it’s fair to say that his life following his father’s assassination is quite controversial.
• Jad’a bin il Ash’ath: al Hassan’s wife who many sources allege poisoned him for some sort of worldly reward, presumably from the caliph himself. She’s also the daughter of the Yemeni tribal lord who sort of ruined the fourth caliph’s chances at sealing a decisive victory against Mu’awiya at Siffin.
• Marwan ibn il Hakam: you remember Marwan, right? He was Othman’s younger cousin and right-hand man, who many narrations indirectly implicated in the third caliph’s fall through his being an unhelpful influence on Othman during an especially sensitive crisis. As governor of Medina he led the annual pilgrimage a number of times, and his prominent position helped him grow his influence within his clan.
• Sa’id ibn il ‘As: Othman’s half brother was another distinguished Umayyad who served as governor of Medina for many years.
• Sa’id ibn Othman: the one son of Othman who had real political ambitions appears in our sources suddenly, and he disappears just as abruptly. His lineage and military conquests in the East would have made him a strong contender for Umayyad support if he had survived the wrath of the proud sons of Sogdian nobles whom he’d enslaved.
• Abdullah ibn il Zubayr: the son of al Zubayr bin ‘Awwam was in his early 60’s at this point, and despite his father never having been caliph, he was the Qurayshi who posed the largest threat to Mu’awiya’s plans for succession. He represented himself as a successor of his father’s quest to return the matter of who becomes caliph to the precedent set by Omar, by which elders from each Qurayshi clan would pick one of them to lead the umma. This had natural appeal to the many clans who were resentful of the outsized influence wielded by their Umayyad kin.