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Mu'awiya ibn Yazid ( ar, معاوية بن يزيد, Muʿāwiya ibn Yazīd; 664 – 684 CE), usually known simply as Mu'awiya II was the third Umayyad
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
. He succeeded his father
Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...
as the third caliph and last caliph of the
Sufyanid The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
line in the
Umayyad dynasty Umayyad dynasty ( ar, بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ, Banū Umayya, Sons of Umayya) or Umayyads ( ar, الأمويون, al-Umawiyyūn) were the ruling family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of Al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the ...
. He ruled briefly in 683-684 (64 AH) before he died.


Early life

Mu'awiya was the son of
Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...
and an unknown mother from the Kalb tribe. She is often confused with Umm Hashim Fakhita bint Abi Hashim, mother of Mu'awiya's half-brother
Khalid ibn Yazid Khālid ibn Yazīd (full name ''Abū Hāshim Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān'', ), 668–704 or 709, was an Umayyad prince and purported alchemist. As a son of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I, Khalid was supposed to become ca ...
.


Reign

Before Yazid I died, he had the ''
bay'ah ''Bayʿah'' ( ar, بَيْعَة, "Pledge of allegiance"), in Islamic terminology, is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. ''Bayʿah'' is sometimes taken under a written pact ...
'' made to his son Mu'awiya. Mu'awiya succeeded his father in
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
in 64 AH (November 683 CE), at an age of somewhere between 17 and 23. He was supported by the Kalb tribe, but his authority was likely only recognised in
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
and southern Syria, with
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...
claiming the caliphate from his base in the
Hejaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...
. Mu'awiya's reign would have lasted for about 20 days to 4 months, but likely no more than 2 months. Given the short span of time, few events were possible, and some of those transmitted may be unreliable political and sectarian fabrications. These include: *Being a member of the
Qadariyya Qadariyyah ( ar, قدرية, Qadariyya), also Qadarites or Kadarites, from (), meaning "power"); was originally a derogatory term designating early Islamic theologians who rejected the concept of predestination in Islam, ''qadr'', and asserted t ...
, resulting from the belief that Mu'awiya abdicated before his death. *Denouncing his predecessors' tyranny and injustice towards the
Alids The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inclu ...
. *Having the kunya ''Abu Layla'' ("Father of Layla"), a name often applied to weak persons. This was suspicious because he had no children. *Abdication before his death, originating from later Marwanid propaganda. What does seem certain, is that Mu'awiya continued his father's policy and remitted a third of the taxes. During his reign, Mu'awiya suffered from ill health and so had to stay in the Umayyad palace (') in Damascus. His adviser
Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri Abū Unays (or Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān) al-Ḍaḥḥak ibn Qays al-Fihrī () (died August 684) was an Umayyad general, head of security forces and governor of Damascus during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I, Yazid I and Mu'awiya II. Though long ...
took care of practical affairs.


Death and legacy

It is unclear how Mu'awiya died, although
jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...
and a plague have been named as causes. Since he had no children and either refused or was not given the opportunity to appoint a successor, the campaigns against
Ibn al-Zubayr's revolt Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...
came to a complete stop. Umayyad power temporarily collapsed until
Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya ( ar, links=no, مروان بن الحكم بن أبي العاص بن أمية, Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayya), commonly known as MarwanI (623 or 626April/May 685), was the fo ...
took back control. In his ''al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya'',
Ibn Arabi Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , 'Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influenti ...
claimed that Muawiyya II was a spiritual Pole (''Ghawth'') of his time and one of the few in history having such a spiritual degree combined with a temporal power, like the
Rashidun Caliphs , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of t ...
and
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ( ar, عمر بن عبد العزيز, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz; 2 November 680 – ), commonly known as Umar II (), was the eighth Umayyad caliph. He made various significant contributions and reforms to the society, and ...
."Parmi les Pôles, il en est dont l'autorité se manifeste et qui détiennent le Califat extérieur, de même qu'en vertu de leur degré spirituel ils détiennent la lieutenance ésotérique. Tel fut le cas de Abû Bakr, de 'Umar, de 'Uthmân, de 'Alî de Al Hasan, de Mu'âwiyah Ibn Yazîd, de 'Umar Ibn 'Abd Il 'Azîz et de Al Mutawakkil " (translation: There are Poles whose authority is manifest and who hold foreign Caliphate, and that according to their spiritual degree they hold esoteric authority to. Such was the case with Abû Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthmân, 'Alî, Al Hasan, Mu'âwiyah Ibn Yazîd, 'Umar Ibn 'Abd Il 'Azîz and Al Mutawakkil) ''Le Sceau des Saints'', trans.
Michel Chodkiewicz Michel Chodkiewicz (13 May 1929 – 31 March 2020) was a French author and a scholar of Sufism, especially Akbarian teaching. Biography Chodkiewicz was from the Chodkiewicz family, a noble family of the Polish aristocracy who settled in Fra ...
,
Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...
, Paris 1986, .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muawiya 02 660s births 680s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 7th-century Umayyad caliphs 7th-century rulers in Asia 7th-century rulers in Africa 7th-century deaths from plague (disease)