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. His mother Maysun, was Christian. He ruled from CE 680 to 683. He is notable as an object of Muslim criticism; Shias 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] Youth, Including Siege of Constantinople
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari records under the year A.H. 49 (February 9, 669-January 1, 670) during the reign of Muawiya I, a number of forces, including one under Yazid struck at Constantinople. This First Arab siege of Constantinople was a naval assault lasting through the years 670-677. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari was also among the notables accompanying Yazid. This journey marks an important event in the life of young Yazid (27 at that time), as he became one promised paradise according to one Hadith.This however is now being refuted by prominent sunni scholars like M.A. Qadeer and others that it was the eighth epedition and not the first one that Yazid was a part of and that he was hesitant to go for it and was forced by his father.
They relate that 'Umair bin Al-Aswad Al-Anasi told him that he went to 'Ubada bin As-Samit while he was staying in his house at the sea-shore of Him with (his wife) Um Haram. 'Umair said. Um Haram informed us that she heard the Prophet saying, "Paradise is granted to the first batch of my followers who will undertake a naval expedition." Um Haram added, I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Will I be amongst them?' He replied, 'You are amongst them.' The Prophet then said, 'The first army amongst' my followers who will invade Caesar's City will be forgiven their sins.' I asked, 'Will I be one of them, O Allah's Apostle?' He replied in the negative." Volume 4, Book 52, Number 175 Narrated Khalid bin Madan
Al-Tabari under A.H. 51 (January 18, 671-January 7, 672) states that Yazid was the one who led the pilgrimage that year. There is a disagreement in al-Tabari's sources as to whether Mu'awiyah or Yazid led the pilgrimage in the preceeding year.
[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 of the community to choose the new leader. He founded the first Islamic hereditary 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 the Muslims, those who rejected the dynastic principle outright, who came to be known as Sunnis, and those who supported the claims of the prophetic lineage through Ali, who became known as the Shia.
[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. 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, on October 10, 680, defeated by the enemy forces. Muslims, both Shi'i and Sunni, 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 group of companions of the prophet Muhammed (Sahaba), including Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Abdullah ibn Umar, opposed Yazid's position as Caliph. Abdullah bin Zubayr launched an insurgency in the Hejaz, the heartland of the Islam, where Mecca and Medinah are. Yazid sent armies against him in 683. Medina was captured and Mecca was besieged. During the siege, the Kaaba was damaged, reportedly causing significant resentment, even hatred, 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 believed to be at a place in Damascus which become a steelfactory in the present day. He was briefly succeeded by his son, Muawiya II.
[edit] Assessments of Yazid
[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 as fundamental 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 Ashura), 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[citation needed] to Yazid's rule and Yazid's culpability in Husayn's death. Some[attribution needed] 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[attribution needed] have refrained from taking a position on the matter, claiming that although Husayn's death was a tragic and unfortunate event, which showed how quickly the Muslim community deteriorated after the death of the Prophet, the evidence on exactly how it occurred and who bears responsibility is too inconclusive to merit judgment. This minority sunni view is mainly taken by those[attribution needed] 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, although they do not legitimize Yazid himself. However, most others have joined the Shi'a position, cursing Yazid and denouncing him as not only an illegitimate ruler but a non-Muslim. The majority view thus considers Yazid as illegitimate, indulgent, and criminal ruler, who was not only the first dynastic ruler, but directly or indirectly responsible for the killing of the descendants of the Prophet of Islam. In essense, thus, the Sunni view differs little from the Shi'i view, although some Sunni scholars have seen acts of cursing and demonization as bad, not because Yazid is not deserving of curses, but because it taints the soul and serves little purpose. Imam al-Ghazzali, thus, was reported to have said, 'Praising Husayn is better than cursing Yazid'.
[edit] Bibliography
- Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari History vol. 18 "Between Civil Wars: The Caliphate of Mu'awiyah," transl. Michael G. Morony, SUNY, Albany, 1987; v. 19 "The Caliphate of Yazid b. Mu'awiyah," transl. I.K.A. Howard, SUNY, Albany, 1990
- John Bagot Glubb The Empire of the Arabs, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1963
- 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.
