Stalin of the Arabs - Hajjaj bin Yusuf Al-Thaqafi
Yasir Qadhi: Tyrant of the Ummayads
Universally despised. Ruthless. Loyal.
Labeled as a “mass murderer” by the Prophet ﷺ himself.
Asma says,
“The Prophet ﷺ warned us of a liar and a mass-murderer from the tribe of Thaqīf. As for the liar, we've already seen him, and as for the mass-murderer, I have no doubt that it is you.”
Thereafter, Hajjaj stood up and did not reply.
Lineage
His life trajectory wasn’t always headed in this direction. At least not by lineage.
Well, he was from Taif, as is evident by his last name Al-Thaqafi. But his maternal grandfather Urwa bin Masud (R) has some distinctions. For one, the Prophet ﷺ even said Urwa resembled Isa (A). So, he was beautiful. Hajjaj has some good-looking genes! But Urwa wasn’t just beautiful. He was a hero. The first convert in Taif. And their first martyr as well. The city residents promptly assassinated him after he delivered the athan. This is what they did to their own cheiftain. Urwa mistakenly thought his status among his people would protect him from their bigotry. It was a fatal mistake.
For a man with such a short life after conversion, it is surprising that Urwa has narrated hadith. But yes, in fact, he has. His hadith are actually from his interactions with the Prophet (S), before he converted. They are well-known. Because Urwa was the lead negotiator for the Quraysh at Hudaibiya. If you want to learn more about this fascinating Companion, click here.
Hajjaj’s father was a Quran teacher. In Taif. Where the standards were high, because Abdullah bin Abbas (R) was teaching there. This is also probably why Hajjaj loved the Quran.
By all accounts, Hajjaj came from a good family. At any hand, this is a warning for those who think their lineage will save them.
Chaos is a ladder
Despite family history and expectations, Hajjaj did evolve into a sociopath. was born in 661 CE, almost 30 years after the Prophet ﷺ passed away. As a young man, he was determined to pursue opportunity. In today’s world, you go to America. In the world of the Ummayads, you go to Damascus. And that’s what Hajjaj did.
With opportunity in mind, he joined the secret police, taking the role of a government thug. And his brutality was evident even in his 20s. Yasir Qadhi doesn’t go in much detail. An ambitious man, he rose up the ranks quickly.
Warring against Abdullah bin Zubair
To Hajjaj’s credit, he was unambiguously ambitious. He begged the Ummayad caliph for the responsibility of taking out Abdullah bin Zubair (R). And he earned that role.
You see, Abdullah bin Zubair was the main rival to the throne of the Ummayads. Abdullah’s status was undisputable among the ranks of the Companions. Abdullah’s capital was in Makkah. Any war campaign in Makkah would involve casualties against the people of Makkah. And what sacrilegious fool would dare bear that responsibility?
Mind you, none of this bothered Hajjah. He sieged Makkah for 6 months. Even Hajjis couldn’t leave. Mass starvation spread. His catapults destroyed some of the walls of the Kaabah.
And then he offered amnesty for anyone who abandoned Abdullah bin Zubair. During Abdullah’s last days, Abdullah would see his most loyal supporters leave the city in droves. No food, no hope, and seemingly no other choice for many who had families to feed.
His armies killed Abdullah, and then Hajjaj pegged the body of Abdullah on to a post for weeks. The message was a haunting lesson, that not even respected Companions could escape the sword of the Ummayad.
Now contemplate, that Abdullah was the first child born after the Prophet ﷺ made Hijrah. Hajjaj was only 31 years old, and Abdullah was around twice his age — 62 years old. Hajjaj wasn’t just a sociopath. He was an irreverent sociopath.
Blundering Madinah
A job “well done”, the Ummayad caliph rewarded Hajjaj with governorship of Madinah in 692 CE. Actually, it wasn’t just Madinah. It was the whole Hejaz — which included Madinah, Makkah, and Yemen.
Ambition aside, Hajjaj was lazy in prayer. He would come late. He wouldn’t pray properly. Keep in mind, in this unfortunate time, the rulers used to lead the salat. And that role was never his forte. The people of Madinah weren’t happy.
Sometimes you just have to see what fits. And the Ummayad caliph thought Hajjaj was more fit for taking care of hotbed Iraq. Ominously, the caliph was right.
Heavy hand in Iraq
With a legendary sermon, Hajjaj entered Iraq in 694 CE. He wasn’t just the dog of the Ummayad. He was the fist.
He gathered the people in the main masjid. And promptly threatened them in a speech recorded in history books. The first thing he said — “I see dead people”. No, I am not dramatizing.
“O people of Iraq, if I tell you to leave from one door, and you leave from another, your blood is halal in my eyes.” He went on to say, “I don’t know whips. I don’t know jails. I only know the sword.” And Hajjaj wasn’t bluffing. Although he was hated, the people of Iraq ended up being subservient.
Civil war
Imagine being so hated, that you spark a revolution. That’s Hajjaj. Widespread dissent led to the most serious threat the Ummayad dynasty had faced. One of the generals of the Ummayads — Ibn Ashath — attempted a coup d'état in 700 CE. These subversive soldiers were loved by Iraqis, and supported by virtually every major Islamic scholar in Iraq, including Anas bin Malik (R).
Wars aren’t won with roses. And the coup ended up a total failure. Initially, there were high hopes for the mutiny. Most of the mainstay Ummayad army was preoccupied in North Africa. But Hajjaj outmaneuvered the rebels. Two battles later, the rebellion had collapsed.
Three years later, Ibn Ashath was captured, and he committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. I rather suspect, he wasn’t keen on meeting Hajjaj. And worst, thousands of Quran and Hadith scholars were also wiped off the Earth.
Irreverent to the end
Hajjaj had a particularly bad habit. He would mock the dead. And he would mock major Companions. He cursed Ali (R). He taunted Anas bin Malik (R) and Asma bint Abu Bakr (R).
The last man he executed was Saeed bin Jubair — a major Quran scholar. What was Saeed’s crime? He had participated in Ibn Ashath’s revolt. After the collapse of the rebellion, Saeed had fled to Makkah. A fugitive at-large. Captured a decade later.
Saeed wasn’t even offered time to do his last prayer, which was against the custom of the era. For that matter, even today in America’s death row, people are offered a final meal. Its just human decency.
The last conversation between Hajjaj and Saeed was one for the history books. The dialogue included a dua for Hajjaj to meet a similar fate. A month later, Saeed’s dua was accepted. Hajjaj died.
Realizing Saeed’s dua was his curse, Hajjaj would lament on his last days, “Woe to me, I wish I didn’t kill Saeed.”
Lasting legacy
Before we devolve into slurs on this man’s mental competence, you can find good in evil men. And Hajjaj was no exception.
Hajjaj was never involved in the temptations that bring down most men. He never womanized. He never rank alcohol. He never gambled. Throughout his entire life.
His lasting legacy was that he enforced the standardization for the Utmani script of the Quran. He spent personal money to publish a better copy of the Quran. This was the first copy with calligraphy within it.
Unlike Yazid, he was a capable person. Hajjaj and the Ummayad caliph were the first rulers in Islam’s history to establish a currency. Prior to them, the Muslim world was using Byzantine and Sassanian coins.
His armies brought Islam to Central Asia and modern-day Pakistan. He avenged the rape of Muslim women by foreign pirates, by sending an Iraqi army into Karachi. Led by his nephew — Muhammad bin Qasim. Who else could the hated Hajjaj trust but his own family? The Ummayads never shied from nepotism.
His ego was too big to allow Islam get disgraced on his watch. He was Islam’s disgrace.
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