Episode 22: The second fitna

The umma spiraled further into disorder and civil war after the sudden death of the caliph and the subsequent collapse of Umayyad authority. Ibn il Zubayr’s candidacy was transformed from an unlikely proposition to a victory by default as he became the last man standing. Despite being the only Qurayshi vying for leadership, the umma was too fractured to coalesce behind one man yet, and the fires of disunity had yet to burn out.

Glossary

• Abdallah ibn il Zubayr: the son of ibn il Zubayr was the perfect figure for the opposition to unite behind. He was not only an elder of Quraysh and active participant in his father’s previous rebellion against the fourth caliph, but he was also the grandson of the first caliph, and famously the first muslim baby born in Medina. This descent made him acceptable to those who longed for pious leadership, and those insistent on Quraysh’s right to rule. 
• Mus’ab ibn il Zubayr: one of Abdallah’s many younger brothers, he is admired across our sources almost uniformly. He comes off as dour in most narrations, but in a cool way somehow.
• Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad: Yazid’s governor of Kufa and Basra, he went from being the most powerful man in Iraq to a highly-prized target. As if his reputation for brutality wasn’t bad enough, he was now widely considered to be the one most responsible for the death of al Hussain bin Ali and the massacre of his clan.
• Ibn Bahdal: Hassan ibn Malik ibn Bahdal al Kalbi was the leader of the Kalb and the Qahtani alliance.
• Zufar: Zufar bin Harith al Kilabi was Ibn Bahdal’s Adnani counterpart. Their tribe names are similar, but Kalb and Kilab were two unrelated tribes apparently. He fled from Qinsarin to Qirqasiya and continued to lead his alliance from the town’s fortified castle.
• Marwan ibn il Hakam: what a journey, no? All the way from banished by the prophet to caliph. It’s strange how the tone of narrations about Marwan shifts in our sources. He is portrayed so odiously back in the 640-50’s, meanly in the 60’s when he’s bullying al Hasan and doing Mu’awiya’s bidding, then cleverly and even admirably when he’s pushing back against the caliph’s influence in the clan. There are so many narrations about Marwan I left out, like how he once scared Mu’awiya by showing up at his court in full battle dress, or that his Qur’anic recitation was considered the best in all the umma. There’s a story where he kills his own niece because her rebellious behavior brought shame to the clan. It’s crazy.
• Abdulmalik ibn Marwan: the eldest son of Marwan was clearly being groomed to succeed him, both within the family and beyond. Because of Abdulmalik’s future it is difficult to determine what is accurate, but there are several narrations already saying that Marwan would use his son as an advisor, and trusted him instinctively. He is credited with both alerting Yazid of the persecution of the Umayyads in Medina, and for helping the Syrian armies understand and defeat the defenders of the city. 
• Al Ashdaq: you haven’t heard about the son of Sa’id ibn il ‘As because he doesn’t come up too much before his father’s death. He seems to have been a fine heir, because he was admired enough to keep the family united behind a single figure. Keep in mind, I use family as a sub-unit within a clan, so there were several families vying for power within the Umayyad clan.