In the previous article, we tackled the rebellion which was led by Mohammed bin Abu Hudhayfah. It took place in Egypt, aiming at dethroning the caliph who had refused to abdicate. Yet, caliph Uthman was killed in 656. He was succeeded by Ali bin Abu Talib who ordered that all the proconsuls appointed by Uthman be deposed, which led to splitting the Arabs into factions. Moreover, war broke out between Ali and Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufyan. He was killed in 660 and succeeded by al-Hassan who gave up the caliphate to Mu’awiyah.
Caliph Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufyan
Mu’awiyah was born at al-Khayf, Mecca. Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq assigned him the leadership of the army during the tenure of his brother Yazid, after which he became proconsul of Jordan. This took place during the tenure of Omar bin al-Khattab. Mu’awiyah took over the entirety of the Levant during the tenure of Uthman bin Affan, but was deposed by Ali bin Abu Talib, which ignited war between them. After Ali’s death, his son, al-Hassan gave up the caliphate to Mu’awiyah to spare blood. Thus, it was passed to Umayyad dynasty after Mu’awiyah had been proconsul of the Levant for twenty years.
At the beginning of Mu’awiyah’s tenure, Farwa bin Nawfal al-Ashja’y instigated the people of Kufa against him. So, he wrote them a message, asking them to kill Farwa, “I shall not protect you, unless you rid me of him.” So, the people of Kufa killed him, after which Mu’en bin Abdullah rebelled against the caliph. So, al-Mughira arrested him, but took no action, preferring that Mu’awiyah decide. So, Mu’awiyah told al-Mughira to ask Mu’en if he accepted Mu’awiyah caliph; but Mu’en answered in the negative. So, al-Mughira killed him. Also an Abu Mariam rebelled against the caliph. Al-Mughira sent over men who got killed him.
After Mu’awiyah had become caliph, he started conquering more countries, especially the ones dominated by the Roman Empire. Thus, he sent crusades to them. Uqba bin Nafi’ conquered Ghadamis which is one of the important centers in African Sahara. Likewise, Abdul Rahman bin Samra conquered Sistan, while Rashid bin Omar raided Sindh. Uqba conquered Sudan, then Kura. Ruwayfi’ bin Thabet conquered Tunisia.
Wars between the Arabs and Romans were fierce. So much so that Mu’awiyah prepared a great army led by Sufyan bin Awf and sent it to Constantinople. The army besieged the city. At that time Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who had witnessed the Battles of Badr, Uhud and Siffin, died. The Arabs attacked Constantinople, but were defeated by the Romans. During that siege, the Arab army suffered from hunger and disease. Yazid bin Mu’awiyah penned a poem on that occasion, saying that he did not care for what the army was suffering from. When this information reached Mu’awiyah, he sent him to the battlefield to help Sufyan. Yet, they could not conquer the city. The armies retracted to the Levant. Historians maintain that this was the first time the Arabs fail to conquer a country.
The Umayyad era in Egypt started with Amr bin al-‘As’ tenure. He handled the country’s affairs until his death in 664, on the Eve of Lesser Bairam. He was buried in Muqattam.
Abdullah bin Amr
After Amr’s death, Mu’awiyah assigned his son the affairs of Egypt. Historians have different opinions regarding this issue. Some of them maintain that Mu’awiyah assigned Abdullah the country’s affairs, while others say that Amr named him his successor. Likewise, historians have different opinions regarding the length of Abdullah’s tenure: for some assert it was two years, while others say it was only a few months.
Utbah bin Abu Sufyan
After deposing Abdullah bin Amr, Mu’waiyah assigned his brother Utbah the affairs of Egypt, making Uqba bin Amer al-Juhani his successor. Utbah’s tenure endured for a year. After his death, Uqba bin Amer took over. At that time, the caliph wanted to dominate the sea in order to combat the Romans and get ready for conquering Constantinople. So, he asked Uqba to lead an Egyptian fleet and conquer Rhodes that he might dominate the sea. Later, Mu’awiyah deposed Uqba, and appointed Mu’awiyah bin Hudayj in his stead. Some references assert that he assigned Muslima bin Mukhalad. Mu’waiyah bin Hudayj ruled Egypt for about three years. Then, Muslima bin Mukhalad took over.
Muslima bin Mukhalad
Muslima was the first proconsul to handle Egypt and Africa together. He had participated in the conquest of Egypt. Muslima was an adept politician. He was fair. He took care of agriculture, industry, and architecture in Egypt. Moreover, he was kind to Copts. He allowed them to build a church in Fustat, behind al-Qantara. Likewise, he built a Nilometer, a workshop for constructing ships, built and restored mosques.
During Muslima’s tenure, Abdul Rahman bin Uthman bin Rabi’a al-Thaqafi (aka. bin Um Hakim who is Mu’awiyah’s sister) was assigned the affairs of Kufa. He was cruel to its people. So, they rebelled and ousted him. Subsequently, he returned to his uncle, Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufyan, who wanted to assign him the affairs of Egypt. On his way, he met Mu’awiyah bin Hudayj who told him to return to uncle, refusing that he rule Egypt. He told him, “Go back to your uncle. You shall not do to them what you did to the people of Kufa.”
Abdul Rahman could not go to Egypt. He returned to the caliph. Bin Hudayj followed him and spoke to Mu’awiyah, telling him that he refused Abdul Rahman’s ruling Egypt. On the other hand, Um Hakim did not welcome him. He told her, “Calm down, Um Hakim. You were not successful in your marriage. Neither did you beget good children. You wanted your corrupt son to rule Egypt that he might do to us what he did to the people of Kufa. But God did not want this to happen, for should this happen, he would treat us as badly as slaves.”
Muslima remained in office until his death during the tenure of caliph Yazid bin Mu’awiyah.
Caliph Yazid bin Mu’awiyah
The caliph had already assigned al-Mughira bin Shu’ba the affairs of Kufa. Yet, no sooner had al-Mughira arrived than he heard that Mu’awiyah wanted to depose him and appoint Sa’id bin al-‘As in his stead. So, he decided to meet the caliph and apologize for not accepting this assignment. When al-Mughira saw Yazid, he told him, “You are one of the best, most sensible and knowledgeable of Muslim tradition (sunnah) and politics of the caliph’s sons. I wonder why he hesitates from naming you his successor.” Yazid told his father of what al-Mughira had said. So, Mu’awiyah met al-Mughira and discussed the matter with him. Al-Mughira answered that he wanted to spare the state from fighting and bloodshed for the sake of sovereignty, as was the case after Uthman’s death. Here another story starts. Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
