Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri
Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri (Template:Lang-ar) was an eighth-century governor of Medina (720–723) and Mecca (721/2–723) for the Umayyad Caliphate.
Career
Abd al-Rahman was the son of al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, a Qurayshite leader of the Qays tribes who was killed at the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684.[1] He himself was appointed governor of Medina at the beginning of the caliphate of Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 720–724), and was additionally given jurisdiction over Mecca in 721 or 722. He was also selected by Yazid to lead the pilgrimages of 720, 721 and 722.[2]
As governor, Abd al-Rahman was unpopular with Medina's notables due to his refusal to consult with the city's prominent citizens, and he was accused of treating its old elites, the Ansar, in a contemptuous manner. He had a particularly tense relationship with his immediate predecessor, the Ansari Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm, and eventually had Abu Bakr flogged after receiving instructions from the caliph to open an investigation into the ex-governor's treatment of Uthman ibn Hayyan al-Murri.[3] He also dismissed Abu Bakr's qadi Abu Tuwalah Abdallah ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Ansari from office, replacing him with Salamah ibn Abdallah al-Makhzumi instead.[4]
Abd al-Rahman's governorship came to a sudden end in 723 as a result of his pursuit of Fatimah bint al-Husayn, the granddaughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib, when he attempted to force her into marriage by threatening to whip her eldest son if she refused. Fatimah countered by filing a complaint with Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik, who angrily responded by dismissing him from his posts, levying a fine of forty thousand dinars against him, and ordering for him to be tortured such that the caliph could "hear him screaming" from his residence in Syria. Upon learning of the pronouncement against him, Abd al-Rahman attempted to place himself under the protection of the caliph's brother Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik, but Yazid refused to give him a reprieve and he was eventually sent back to Medina for the punishment to be carried out. As a result of his sentence he became destitute and was later reported to be seen begging on the streets of Medina.[5]
Notes
- ^ Dietrich 1965, p. 90.
- ^ Powers 1989, pp. 105, 126, 165, 167; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, pp. 375, 377; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, pp. 325, 327, 328, 332, 334; Ibn 'Asakir 1996, pp. 439 ff.; McMillan 2011, p. 120. According to Al-Mas'udi 1877, p. 60, the only pilgrimage that he led was that of 721.
- ^ Powers 1989, pp. 105–07, 182; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, p. 375; McMillan 2011, p. 121.
- ^ Powers 1989, p. 105; Waki' n.d., p. 148. Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 334 calls him Maslamah ibn Abdallah.
- ^ Powers 1989, pp. 179–182; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, p. 375; Ibn 'Asakir 1996, pp. 442 ff.; McMillan 2011, p. 120.
References
- Dietrich, A. (1965). "Al-Dahhak b. Kays al-Fihri". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume II: C–G. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 89–90. OCLC 495469475.
- Ibn 'Asakir, Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Hibat Allah (1996). al-'Amrawi, 'Umar ibn Gharama (ed.). Tarikh Madinat Dimashq, Vol. 34 (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Khalifah ibn Khayyat (1985). al-'Umari, Akram Diya' (ed.). Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed (in Arabic). Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Al-Mas'udi, Ali ibn al-Husain (1877). Les Prairies D'Or, Tome Neuvième (in French). Ed. and Trans. Charles Barbier de Meynard and Abel Pavet de Courteille. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - McMillan, M.E. (2011). The Meaning of Mecca: The Politics of Pilgrimage in Early Islam. London: Saqi. ISBN 978-0-86356-437-6.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Powers, David S., ed. (1989). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXIV: The Empire in Transition: The Caliphates of Sulaymān, ʿUmar, and Yazīd, A.D. 715–724/A.H. 96–105. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0072-2.
- Waki', Muhammad ibn Khalaf ibn Hayyan (n.d.). Akhbar al-Qudat (in Arabic). Beirut: 'Alam al-Kutub. OCLC 957287781.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Al-Ya'qubi, Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub (1883). Houtsma, M. Th. (ed.). Historiae, Vol. 2 (in Arabic). Leiden: E. J. Brill.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)