Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
AN EXAMINATION OF AL-HAJJAJ B. YUSUF
AL-THAQAFPS MAJOR POLICIES
Z. I. OSENI
Evidently, al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqaff (661-7U
C.E.) was more than a mere army general. He was a
controversial figure and probably the most famous
viceroy under Umayyad administration (661-750 C.E.).
He was extremely harsh to his opponents to the extent
that he is often depicted in Arab writings as a bloodthirsty ruler and a sadist of the first order. In this paper,
an attempt is made at highlighting some of his major
achievements. outside the realm of military adventurism.
Without trying to hold brief for the Umayyad governor,
the facts are presented and interpreted as they are.
A BRIEF NOTE ON AL-HAJJAJ'S LIFE
Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqaff was born in al-Ta'if
of poor parents about the year 661 C.E.1 He grew up as
a student of the Qur'an under his father, Yusuf. As a
small boy, he worked for a while in a tannery in his home
town and later joined his father in teaching little
children.2 During the turbulent years that greeted the
death of Mu'awiyah I (d. 680), the founder of the
Umayyad Dynasty, al-Hajjaj joined the army. His fame
rested on his absolute loyalty to the Umayyad house and
his devotion to the service of 'Abd al-Malik in particular.5
The latter had succeeded his father in 685 C.E. at a time
when a large part of the Arab empire was under the rule
of 'Abdullah b. al-Zubayr. After the reconquest of Iraq
which culminated in the murder of Mus,lab b. al-Zubayr,
the Umayyad Caliph sent al-Hajjaj to Makkah to liquidate
'Abdullah b. al-Zubayr in 692 C.E.11 Al-Hajjaj marched
on Makkah immediately and bombarded the Ka^bah with
stones from the mountain Abu Qubays. Ibn Zubayr who
had sought refuge in Ka'bah was eventually killed.5 By
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
this action, al-Hajjaj removed the greatest threat to the
Umayyad rule.
As a reward, al-Hajjaj was made governor of the
Hijaz, Yemen, and Yamamah. After a two-year rule, he
was sent to govern Iraq and the East-an area which was
the most turbulent in the empire. In early 695, he
stormed Kufah and began his reign of terror. It was really
a reign of terror, but when viewed against the Iraqis5
hate of the Umayyads, their belligerence and fickleness,
one is obliged to consider the governor's severity with
some sympathy. Afterall, such severity is a lesser evil
than anarchy and lawlessness.6 Some of the
insurrections he had to crush included those of the
Kharijites, Ibn Jarud and 4Abd al-Rahman b. al-Ash'ath.7
Al-yajjaj descended heavily on the Iraqi malcontents and
massacred them, thanks to the constant reinforcements
which he received from Syria when necessary.8
ATTITUDE TOWARDS ISLAM AND CONTRIBUTION
TO
ARABIC AND ISLAMIC CULTURE
Al-Hajjaj's extreme severity in treating his subjects
notwithstanding, he was a Muslim, and normally his
attitude towards religion, especially Islam, affected the
manner in which he ruled Iraq and the East. He led the
congregational prayer himself as the Chief Imam. On
Fridays he addressed the congregation in a pious tone,
admonishing the Iraqis to eschew evil deeds and to obey
the Umayyad government. In this manner, he regarded
the Umayyad Caliphate as God's own Caliphate.9 In one
of such sermons, he says inter alia "O People, to abstain
onself from what God forbids is easier than (being
compelled) to exercise patience in God's punishment".10
As a devout Muslim, he abstained from superstition and
fanaticism in the practice of Islam, and was never moved
by the endless controversial dialectics of theologians of
the various political camps.11
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
Besides personal profession of Islam, al-Hajjaj
helped to improve Arabic orthography to facilitate the
reading of the Qur'an. At the time of his taking over the
Governorship of Iraq in 695, Arabic orthography was still
at its rudimentary stage of development. It was made up
of consonants alone with hardly any satisfactory vowel
marks. To compound the situation there were many
identical consonants without any diacritical points or
other marks to differentiate between them. The result
was that many non-Arabs and the new generation of
city-dwelling Arabs who were not well versed in the
Arabic language made serious mistakes in the reading of
the Qur'an. It is true that the scripture was recorded in
the Prophet Muhammad's life-time, compiled into a
volume during the reign of Abu Bakr, and further
redacted and circulated in Caliph 'Uthman b. Affan's
reign. But, as has been noted, the Arabic orthography at
the time created problems for people. It was difficult to
differentiate between Arabic letters like
To facilitate the reading of the Qur'an therefore,
there was a dire need to supply marks to distinguish
between the letters. First, witnessing the incorrect
reading of the Qur'an, one Abu '1-Aswad al-Du'alT alBasrf (d. 688) had to supply some vowel marks in Arabic
language. By this effort, he was able to reduce serious
grammatical errors which were increasingly becoming a
cause for concern among the intellectuals of the time. AlDu'alt represented fathah (the vowel 'a*) with a dot in a
colour different from the colour of the ink in which the
material was written. Dammah (the vowel V) was
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
represented by a dot in front of a letter while a dot under
a letter represented the kaMak (the vowel (i). In addition
the nasal sound (al-qkunnah] was represented by two
dots.11
The scanty inflectional marks Introduced by alDu'air were not enough to solve the problem of
mispronunciation of written Arabic. So al-Hajjaj
commissioned one of his scribes named Nasr b. 'Asim
al-LaythT to supply the diacritical points to distinguish
between indentical letters.14 A second version of the
story, however, says that Nasr b. 'Asim al-Laytht and
Yahya b. Ya’mar (d. 129/747) were the ones entrusted
with the responsibility of supplying the consonantal
marks of differentiation. *5 This source also claims that
the job was completed not later than the year 757. 695
when Yahya b. Ya*mar was sent to Khurasan by alHajjaj for detecting a minor grammatical error in the
viceroy's speech.16 Al-Hajjaj was one of the few people
of his time who hardly committed solecism in their
speeches and writings; but when Yahya, a brilliant
philologist, discovered one or two instances when the
governor made mistakes, the latter cleverly appointed
the former a judge of Marw, the KhurasariT capital - a
case of subtle banishment from Iraq.17 A third version of
the story mentions Yahya b. Ya'mar and the famous
ascetic, al-Hasan al-BasrT (d. 110/729), the scholars
whom al-Hajjaj charged with the responsibility of
supplying the marks.18
The third stage in the improvement of Arabic
orthography was the supply of maddah (mark of
prolonging a vowel) shaddah (mark of doubling a
consonant), hamzah (the gluttural stop), -iukun (a mark
of absence of a vowel), and wasl. (a mark of eliding a
gluttural stop, especially in the a/ (the) of definiteness).
The Arab/Islamic society had to wait till the 8th century
to get the above items supplied. It was Khali b. Ahmad
al-Farahfdi (d. 786) who supplied them. He is the one
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
who put most of the marks in their present shape. Khalil
was a creative scholar, for he is also remembered today
as the father of Arabic lexicography and Arabic
prosody.19
It is also related that al-Hajjaj was the one who
divided the Qur'an into thirty equal parts called ajza'
(singular, juz') 20 to facilitate the reading. This division is
recognized ail over the Islamic world. To this day,
Muslims who read over the Qur'an as a matter of routine
every month, read a part (juz) everyday.
Athough the story of the supply of vowels and
consonantal marks to the Arabic language has many
versions, one fact which stands clear is that al-H.ajjaj b.
Yusuf's name is always cited in connection with this
achievement. This is a testimony to his reform capability
and the use in which he put his knowledge of the Qur'an
acquired in his youth in al-Ta'if.21 By his foresight,
pragmatism, seriousness, and sagacity he was able to
improve Arabic orthography and provide a uniform mode
of reading the Qur'an in particular and any Arabic
material in general. He made this new orthography the
authoritative one and forbade other variant manners of
reading the Qur'an which were enunciated by the
scholars in Iraq, the most prominent of which was Ibn
Mas'ud's version.22 Perhaps, the viceroy's action was a
reaction to the cynical attitude of some of the scholars of
Iraq to the viceroy's commendable reform. They forbade
the adoption of his innovation as regards the text of the
Qur'an 2 3. In the end, it was al-Hajjaj 's will that
prevailed.
Significant too, was al-Hajjaj's introduction of the
Mamil to grace the rites of the pilgrimage to Makkah.
The Mahmil or mahmal according to T.P. Hughes, is
a covered litter borne on a camel from Cairo and
Damascus, to Makkah, as an emblem of royalty at the
time of the pilgrimage.
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
It is said that Sultan Az-Zahir Baybars, King of
Egypt, was the first who sent a Mahmal with the caravan
of pilgrims to Makkah in A.D. 1272 but that it has its
origin a few years before his accession to the throne...24
This is one of the many stories about the
introduction of the mamil to the ceremonies of the
pilgrimage. However, ancient Islamic sources such as alMadfun by Ibn Qutaybah (p. 274.) and at-K.anz atMad$u.n by al-Suyuti (p. 68) states that it was al-Hajjaj
who first initiated the practice of sending the mahmil to
Makkah. In the modern times, however, the WahhabT
rulers of Saudi Arabia have abolished the mahmil as it is
regarded by them as "a relic of heathenism",25 not in any
way sanctioned by Islam. There is at least one occasion
on which they intercepted a caravan which accompanied
a mahmtL26 It should be noted that puritanism and a
return to the unalloyed, pristine principles of Islam are
the mainstay of Wahhabism*7; therefore, one should not
be surprised at the Wahhabis' abolition of the makmil.
THE MINTING OF ARABIC COINS
Sequel to the consolidation of the Caliph 'Abd alMalik's grip on the Arab empire, he settled down to
initiate reforms of far-reaching effect. In 695, the Caliph
began his monetary reforms and struck new Arabic coins
for the first time in the history of Islam. Al-Hajjaj followed
suit and minted pure Arabic coins first at Kufah and later
at Wasit, his new capital. The officer in charge of the
work was a Jew called Sumayr; hence the coins were
sometimes referred to as al-sumayriyyah
The viceroy did not spare anyone who attempted
to produce counterfeits. He also punished workers at the
mint for any fault in
Production .2 9 To him, high quality was an object
which must be sought at all cost.
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
The new Umayyad silver coins were similar to the
last Sasanid ones which they replaced. The crescent,
the star and “Blissmillah” (In the Name of God) were
imprinted on their margins. One side of the early silver
coins bore "the Prophet's blessing" while the other side
had the legend "Lillah" (Unto God)10. In addition to the
name of God, al-Hajjaj's coins in Iraq and the East bore
his own name.31 He carried out this policy with the tacit
approval of the Caliph Abd al~Malik; for none of the
sources consulted in this research show any indication
of disapproval from the Caliph.
As was usual with the Iraqi populace who never
saw anything good in al-Hajjaj's actions, many of their
theologians expressed their disapproval of the
governor's coins, and claimed that the money "might fall
into the hands of unbelievers".32 Yet they forgot that the
Sasanid currencies which the Muslims had been using
since the conquest of Iraq had been coins minted by
"unbelievers". Now that a Muslim viceroy had minted
Arabic coins with the name of God inscribed on them,
they resented the attempt and called the coins afdarLahvn at-tnaktdkah (loathsome dirhams).33
Nevertheless, in spite of the unwarranted criticism of the
coins by the theologians, al-Hajjaj's coins circulated well
and helped to stabilize the economy of the eastern
provinces of the Umayyad empire.34
AGRICULTURAL AND LAND POLICIES
The viceroy knew how devastating the effect of
famine could be on the people and therefore evolved
significant agricultural and land policies. He implemented
these policies vigorously and made the Mawali.35 toil
hard for the survival of the economy.
Agriculture was a very important factor in the
growth of the Umayyad empire. Consequently, al-Hajjaj
showed a keen interest in this occupation and ensured
its development. This interest is glaring iri the interview
which the viceroy once had with an Azdl bedouin farmer
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who came from 'Umman. The governor asked him about
the best crop in the land. The farmer replied that the best
crop was the one with a thick stalk, widespread foliage,
big grains and long ears. The viceroy then asked him
about the best type of grape. Without hesitation the
'UmanT farmer replied that the best grape was the one
with a thick base, a fresh stem, and a large bunch.
Asked further what the best type of dates was, the
farmer replied that it was the one wijh a thick rind, a
small nut, and a thin back."36
In an age that was far less scientific than the
modern era, the fear of a devoted ruler like al-Hajjaj of
the consequences of famine made him send progress
reports about rainfall in Iraq to his sovereign in
Damascus. In one of such reports, al-Hijjaj told the
Caliph 'Abd al-Malik that after his last letter to the Caliph,
there had not been any rain in Iraq except a light shower
which could not wet the ground properly. He gave a vivid
picture of the suffering of fanners in Iraq and the fear of
famine. The viceroy then gave the information about a
heavy down-pour which took place during the weekend
preceding the writing of the said report. As a result of the
intensity of the rain, farmers in Iraq had a cause to thank
God for the blessing. In concluding the report, the
viceroy said, "Praise be to God Who sent down His rain
and spread His mercy after they had lost hope; He is the
Protector, the Praise -worthy. Greetings"37
The viceroy constructed canals in the lower
Euphrates and Tigris to drain marshes. By this action, he
reclaimed fertile land suitable for agriculture. Wherever
an embankment broke down, he got it repaired as
quickly as possible -regardless of whatever it cost him."
The governor was strict in land matters, for he
knew that land was the first and major factor in
agricultural practice. He gave uncultivated hectares of
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
land to some worthy Arabs such as Qutaybah b.
Muslim's brother, Bashshar as fiefs.39
In order to ensure a steady flow of Kharaj (land
tax), he took a decision which is wrong from the Islamic
point of view, and he was vehemently criticised for it.
The MatooS felt that as Muslims they had to pay only the
Zakah (poor rate). They resented the viceroy's policy
which envisaged that the treasury would soon become
empty as a result of the acceptance of Islam by the
conquered non-Arab peoples in thousands, if nothing
was done to stem the tide. As a measure dictated by the
economic situation in his domain, al-Haijaj imposed the
khafiaj (land tax) on the MawalT, thus disregarding their
new status as Muslims. Thus it became obvious that the
non-Arab Muslims could not be treated by the Umayyad
rulers as the compeers of their Arab counterparts.
The Mawali, soon discovered that they could not
evade this tax. Al-Hajjaj called them Barbarians, drove
them out of the cities to which they had migrated in large
numbers, and sent them back to their fields.40 He got the
names of their villages branded on their hands for easy
identification.41 They were made to till the land as before,
and pay the land tax which sometimes amounted to one
fifth of their total crops harvested from the land in
addition to the poll tax (jizyah).42 When the farmers
complained that, as a result of years of war, the land had
become desolate, the viceroy forbade them from
slaughtering their cattle so that they could thereby
preserve the animals for ploughing and probably supply
the manure required in the farms.43
Al-Hajjaj's oppressive attempt to drive the Mawair
back to their farms ultimately occasioned resentment
and indignation, and proved unworkable.44 One can
understand why the Mawali. joined other forces to
destroy the Umayyad regime in 750.
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW CAPITAL,
WASIT
As a result of the constant intrigues of the Iraqis,
especially in the two main cities of Basrah and Kufah, alHajjaj decided to build a new capital in the area about
the year 702. His choice fell on a spot midway between
Kufah, Basrah and Ahwaz. Hence he named the town
"Wasit:" (a medial town). 45
The governor built this fortified capital in order to keep
the majority of his Syrian troops detached from the
rebellious Iraqi population. Ostensibly, he built the town
so as to save the people from encroachment on the part
of Syrian’ troops 46 whom the Iraqis hated because they
were veritable representatives of the 'oppressive* regime
of Banu Umayyah. The city was built on the west bank of
the river Tigris. The eastern side was formerly occupied
by a town called Kaskar-known in Aramaic sources as
"Kashkar". The viceroy destroyed many towns and
villages and used their doors and other materials in
building Wasit.47
The construction of the city began with a mosque,
beside which the government house was built. The
house had a high dome known as al-qabbat at-KkadKd'
(the Green Dome). The city's roads to the neighbouring
towns had large gates. Al-Hajjaj also built a mighty jailhouse known as at-VwaA.** The city was surrounded by
a ditch and two walls. In all, the viceroy spent an
estimated amount of 43 million d&ikamA on the project.
This amount, according to Bahshal, was up to the total
amount realized from land tax in Iraq for five years.49
The western part of the town was a fortified garrison
which no one could enter except through the city gates.
The governor did not allow strangers to pass a night in
the new city. By sunset those who came to transact their
business in the city had to leave and the city's
inhabitants who had gone out had to return. Moreover,
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the governor did, not allow any outsider to enter the city
without a pass. There were sentries at each gate.50
The city was beautiful and had a better climate
than Basrah. According to al-Dinawart, Iraqis used to
visit the place for pleasure; hence there were many inns
in it. In the field of learning, the city produced many
erudite scholars such as Bahshal al-Wasiti (d. 292/905)
51 al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ibn al-JawzT, and Ibn al-Athir.52
Ibn Battutah described the people of Wasit in the 14th
century C.E. as the best in Iraq. He said that many of the
scholars in the town learned the Qur'an by heart, and
that they read it with excellent intonation. Consequently,
according to him, outsiders thronged to the town to study
the Qur'an.53
After al-Hajjaj's death, the town continued to
expand until it became one of the major centres of the
Islamic world. This expansion further enhanced the
density of the population of the Tigris - Euphrates
Basin.54 Wasit continued to be the most important city in
Iraq throughout the Umayyad era. It was, however, overshadowed during the 'Abbasid period by Baghdad and
Samarra, though it did not lose its military importance in
the southern and middle parts of Iraq. When al-Mansur
started the construction of Baghdad, he removed the
gates of Wasit and used them. He also imitated al-Hajjaj
in the construction of a central mosque, a palace, and a
green dome. Wasit is considered today as one of the
most important monuments of Islam in Southern Iraq.55
The people of Wasit were proud of the mosque
and dome of al-Hajjaj. When the light-houses fell in
497/1104, the people of Wasit wept and lamented in
such a manner that surpassed mourning a dead person,
according to Ibn al-JawzT.56 Wasit, suffered greatly at
the hands of the Mongols when they destroyed Baghdad
in 656/1258. Hulagu descended on the city with his army
and pillaged, massacred, and enslaved the inhabitants
327
Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
of the town. Furthermore, Wasit suffered at the hands of
Timur Lank in 795/1394, a man who destroyed its
monuments, the great mosque, the government palace,
and the Green Dome.57
Over the centuries, the waters of the Tigris had
receded and the river had changed its course near
Wasit; it flows at present by the town of al-'Amarah.
Wasit and the neighbouring towns consequently shrank
and were later deserted by the inhabitants from the early
part of the 12th century A.H./l8th century C.E.58 The
town is now in ruins. Excavation work started at the site
in the Autumn of 1939 and continued till 1942.59
CONCLUSION
An attempt has been made in the foregoing
discussion to evaluate the reform policies of al-Hajjaj b.
Yusuf al-Thaqaff, the prominent Umayyad governor whoin spite of his ruthlessness in dealing with his subjectsmade significant contribution to the Arab and Islamic
culture.
It has been established that notwithstanding his
severity and other weaknesses, al-Hajjaj was a devout
Muslim. He led Muslims in prayer as an Imam and
believed that obeying him and his Umayyad over-lords
was tantamount to obedience to God and His Apostle,
Muhammad. Under his direction the Arabic orthography
was improved to facilitate the reading of the Qur'an. To
the present writer, this is the greatest achievement of alHajjaj. He also made the pilgrimage to Makkah more
buoyant and colourful by the introduction of the Mahmil
though the latter has been abolished by the puritanical
Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia.
Al-Hajjaj, as we have noted, also carried out
monetary reforms by minting purely Arabic money like
his sovereign, the Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik. Their coins were
the first purely Arabic/Islamic coins in history. In the
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Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
realm of agriculture, the viceroy introduced reforms to
enhance food production for the people. But by so doing,
he made the Mawali bear the burden and compelled
them to pay taxes which Islam does not sanction. Thus
economic expediency forced him to disregard
Islamic laws in imposing the poll tax and land tax on
the Mawali
Finally the construction of a new capital, named
Wasit, is one of the most lasting achievements of alHajjaj. Though the town is now in ruins, it constitutes one
of the oldest Islamic monuments in Iraq today. All in all,
al-Hajjaj's achievements do testify to his greatness, as
an Arab figure in the Umayyad era. Very few Caliphs
could boast of what he attained in his life. He was
extremely ruthless in treating his enemies; but his
benefits he bestowed on the Umayyad society were far
greater than could be claimed by some other ruthless
governors and army commanders of the Umayyad
period. Herein lies his special place in Arab history.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1
A Dietrich, "Al-Hadjdjadj ibn Yusuf" in The.
Encyclopaedia o£ 1-i/am.
New Edition, Vol. III. (Leiden; E.J. Brill, 1970)
p. 40. Henceforth
this work will be referred to as E.I.
2
'Abd al-Latif Shararah, A/-Hajjaj Taqhtyat
of-' Alab. (Beirut: Dar
al-Makshuf, 1950), p. 81; 'Amr ibn Bahr, alJahiz, AP-Bayan wa
y.-Tabtjln, Vol. 1, 3rd Edition (Cairo; Maktabat alKhkniji and Beirut:
Maktabat al-Hilal, 1968), p. 202.
3
Shararah, op. CAt.r p. 87, Mahmud Taymur, Ibn
Jafa. (Cairo: Dar alMa'arif, 1965), pp. 13-25.
4
Muhammad ibn Jartr al-TabarT, Taiikh aPRu&u/ wa 'f-Mu/ufe ed.
329
Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
Muhammad Abu '1-Fadl IbrahTm. (Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif,
1964), p. 174.
5
Al-TabarT gave details of al-Hajjaj's march
on Makkah and the
various incidents which took place. Ibid, pp. 187-92.
6
See Al-Hajjaj's speechss on this issue in Ibn
'Abd-Rabbihf, A 'Iqd
at-fa ud, Ed. Karam al-BustanT, Vol. xv. (Beirut,
Matba'at al-Manahil,
1953), PP. 129-32.
7
See Dietrich, op. tit., p. 40; P.K. Hitti, Hitf.oiif
oi thL AiabA, 10th
Edition. (London, Macmillan, 1970), p. 208;
L.V. Vaelieri, "Abd
al-Rahman ibn al-Ash'ath", E.I. New Edition, Vol. 1, pp.
715-19- See
also M. Al-Faruque,"The Rebolt of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn
al-Ash'ath. Its
Nature and Causes," Wamn. Stud&A, vol. 25, 3(1986)
289-304.
8
Ibid., p. 717.
9
See Ibn 'Abd-Rabbihl, op. xv, pp. 125-26.
10
See al-Jahiz, op. cit., vol. II, p. 303.
11
Dietrich, op. cit., p. 42.
12
Prior to the introduction of dots to
distinguish between these identical letters, it was
extremely difficult to comprehend fully the
import of any written text as many ways of reading and
interpreting
it were possible.
13
Muhammad HaqqT al-NazilT, Kkazinat alAssar Jalilat al-adhkan. af-Adhka. (Cairo, 'Abd alHamid Ahmad Hanafr, 1286/1869), p.
14.
Ibid., p. 14
15
Sabah 'Abbas Salim, 'lsa Ibn althagati:Nahwuhu min khilah Qira’atihi 1st Edition.
(Baghdad, Dar al-Tarbiyah, 1975), p. 20.
16
Ibid., p. 20.
330
Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
17
T.P. Hughes, Pictwnaiy o4 Warn. Revised
Edition. (Lahore, The Book
House, 1964), p. 686.
18.
Ibid., p. 686.
19.
See Hitti, op. cx£, p. 242.
20.
Al-Nazill, op. cit., p. 14.
21.
For more details on al-HajjSj's role in the revision
of Arabic Orthography, see Ibn Khallikan, Waiayat afA^an wa An6as Abna' al-2amS.n, ed. Ihsan *Abbas, Vol.
II. (Beirut Dar al-Thaqafah, 1971), p. 32.
22.
Dietrich, op. ctf., p. 41.
23- Hughes, op. c&., p. 686.
24.
Ibid., p. 306.
25- Hitti, op. cit, p. 136; Ahmad (A1T alQalqashandi, Subk aP-AAha'fc
Stna'af aJL-lMka.', Vol. 1, (Cairo, Wizarat alThaqafah wa ' 1-Drshad
al-Qami, 1936), p. 428.
26. Hughes, op. Ct., p. 307.
27. For details on the WahhabTs, see Cambridge.
HJAtoiy of, Lsfem; Tfte Ce.nhat I4&mc Land. Vol. I,
edited by P.M. Holt, A.K.S. Lambton and B. Lewis.
(London, C.U.P., 1970), pp. 380-1; Hitti, op. ct., pp. 74041.
28.
Dietrich, op, cot., p. 41.
29.
Ibid., p. 41.
30.
A. Levy, The. Soow£ Sttutctu/ie. of IVam.
(London, Cambridge University Press, 1969) p. 304.
31.
Ibid., p. 304. One side of the coin bore Surat-f
(Chapter; 112 of the Qur'an). See al-Qalqashandf, op.
ut., I, p. 424.
32.
Dietrich, op. cit., p. 41.
33Ibid., p. 41; Al-QalqashandT, op. c#., 1, p. 42434.
Dietrich, op. cit, p. 41.
35.
The Mawali singular, mawla) were clients who
were non-Arab Muslims under the protection of powerful
Arab tribes. As Muslims they deserved to be treated with
their Arab counterparts. But al-Hajjaj would not do this.
331
Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
For more on the Wawd^c see Hitti, op. CA£., pp. 218-19,
232-3336.
Al-Jahiz, op. cit, vol. II, p. 146.
37.
ibid Vol. IV, pp. 99-100.
38.
Dietrich, op. cxf., p. 41.
39.
Ibid., p. 41.
40.
Ibid., p. 41.
41.
Levy, op. cit., p. 58.
42.
Ibid., p. 58. When the Basran scholars saw this
they wept over the disregard of Islamic regulations on
the part of al-Hajjaj. See Ahmad Amm, fayi , al- islam
10th Edition. (Beirut, Dar al-Kitab al-'ArabT, 1969)' p. 92.
43.
Dietrich, op. cit, p. 41.
44B. Lewis, Tfce faab* -in HJAtoty, 4th Edition,
(London, Hutchinson University Library, 1968), p. 77.
45.
Dietrich, op. Cit., p. 41. The governor built the city
after seeking the permission of the Caliph. See Aslam
ibn Sahl al-Razzaz al-WasitT Bahshal, T&ukh WaMt ed.
Gurguis 'Awwad. (Baghdad, Matba'at al-Ma'arif,
1387/1967), p. 43.
46.
Dietrich, op. cit., p. 41.
47.
Bahshal, op. cit., p. 23.
48. Ibid., pp. 23-25; Naji Ma'ruff al-Madkkal ft. Taukh
al-Hadaiat af-'Arabiyyah 5th Edition. (Baghdad, Matba'at
Wizarat al-Tarbiyah, 1965), p. 220.
49.
Bahshal, op. cit., p. 22; Naji Maruf, Wadaris.
(Baghdad, Matba'at al-Irshad, 1966), 98.
50.
Ibid., p. 8.
51.
The author of TaiAkh WdMt referred to in notes
45, 47 and 49 is the one mentioned here. His book,
according to Awwad, was the first history work to be
written on Wasit, and, in fact, one of the first on the cities
of Islam. See Bahshal, op. cit., p. 9.
52.
Ma'ruf, Madotti..., op.cit., p. 9.
53. Ibid., p. 9, quoting Ibn Battutah, Rtkfah, p. 183;
Bahshal
op. cit., pp. 25-26.
54
Ma'ruf, Madaris.., op, cit, p. 10.
55
Idem., Ai-MadkhaL.., op. cit., p. 221.
56
Idem., M-Madkhat..., op. cit., p. 221.10
332
Islamic Studies , 27:4 (1998)
57
58
59
Ibid p 11
Idem., M-Madkhat..., op. cit., p. 221.
Idem., Madaris..., op. cit., Bahsal, op cit pp 27-28.
333