Shabīb ibn Yazīd ibn Nuʿaym al-Shaybānī () (646/47 – 697/98) was the leader of the

Kharijite The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the c ...

rebellion against the

Umayyad Caliphate 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 th ...

in central

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

between 696 and his death in 697/98.

Life

Origins and early career

Shabib was born in September/October 646 or 647.Zettersteen, p. 164. He was the son of a

Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...

n emigrant to

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

, Yazid ibn Nu'aym. They hailed from the

Banu Shayban The Banu Shayban () is an Arab tribe, a branch of the Bakr ibn Wa'il group. Throughout the early Islamic era, the tribe was settled chiefly in the Jazira, and played an important role in its history. History In the pre-Islamic period, the Shayb ...

tribe, specifically the clan of Banu Muhallam ibn Dhuhl. Yazid participated in the frontier raids against the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

under the command of Salman ibn Rabi'a al-Bahili. During one of the raids, he married a woman who bore him a son, Shabib. The latter was apparently raised in Mosul or the nearby village of Satidama. Shabib fought against the

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

of the region as a member of the Muslim army, and for a time received a regular stipend, which was later terminated during the reign of Caliph Abd al-Malik () because he did not respond to a call to arms.

Revolt

There is little information about the Kharijite beliefs of Shabib, but his revolt against the Umayyads, who had reasserted control over

by 691, was the object of fascination for medieval Muslim and Christian historians, which depict him as a "fearless guerrilla leader", according to the modern historian

Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen (18 August 1866 – June 1, 1953) was a Swedish professor and orientalist. Biography Zetterstéen was born at Orsa in Dalarna, Sweden. He began his studies at Uppsala University in 1884, became a Ph.D. and docent o ...

. Though other early Muslim sources dispute it, the account of

Abu Mikhnaf Lut ibn Yahya ibn Sa'id ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdi ( ar, لوط ابن يحيٰ ابن سعيد ابن مِخنَف الأزدي, Lūṭ ibn Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdī), more commonly known by his '' kunya'' (epithet) Abu Mikhnaf ( ar, أ ...

holds that Shabib began his career with the Kharijites as a soldier in the army of the Kharijite ascetic Salih ibn Musarrih, and succeeded him when the latter was slain in the village of al-Muddabaj in September 695. Shabib led the remnants of Ibn Musarrih's army, which mostly consisted of Banu Shayban tribesmen, through Mosul and central Iraq, defeating Umayyad forces at

Nahrawan The Nahrevan Canal (Persian: کانال نرهوان) was a major irrigation system of the Sassanid and early Islamic periods in central Iraq, along the eastern banks of the Tigris and the lower course of the Diyala River. Created in the 6th centu ...

and

Khanaqin Khanaqin ( ar, خانقين; ku, خانەقین, translit=Xaneqîn) is the central city of Khanaqin District in Diyala Governorate, Iraq, near the Iranian border (8 km) on the Alwand tributary of the Diyala River. The town is populated ...

before attacking Kufa with 200 of his fighters. Afterwards, in March 696, he won battles against the Umayyad generals Za'ida ibn Qudama and Uthman ibn Qatan al-Harithi at the villages of Rudhbar and al-Batt, both located along the southern edge of the Mosul plains. In mid-696, after three months of back-and-forth fighting, Shabib and 600 of his men took over

al-Mada'in Al-Mada'in ( ar, المدائن, , ; ) was an ancient metropolis situated on the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq. It was located between the ancient royal centers of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and was founded by the Sassanid Empire. The city's na ...

in central Iraq, defeating Attab ibn Warqa al-Riyahi. At this point, the Kharijites threatened Kufa, one of the main garrison centres of Iraq. However, a thousands-strong Syrian army under

Sufyan ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi Sufyan ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi al-Asamm ( ar, سفيان بن الأبرد الكلبي, Sufyān ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbī al-Aṣamm; ) was a general of the Umayyad Caliphate who served under caliphs Mu'awiya II (), Marwan I () and Abd al-Malik (). He ...

was deployed and decisively defeated Shabib outside the city. Shabib withdrew and fought a skirmish in Anbar, before proceeding with the remainder of his men through Jukha,

Kirman Kerman is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. Kerman or Kirman may also refer to: Places *Kirman (Sasanian province), province of the Sasanian Empire * Kerman Province, province of Iran ** Kerman County *Kerman, California People * Jo ...

and

Ahwaz Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is home ...

. As he attempted to escape his Syrian pursuers, he drowned in the

Dujayl Canal The Dujayl Canal was a medieval irrigation canal providing water to Baghdad. Originally it brought water from the Euphrates, but by the end of the 10th century its connection to that river had silted up, and a new connection was dug to the Tigris ...

while trying to cross it. This occurred in 697 or 698, depending on the source.

Legacy

Shabib's son, Suhari, later launched a rebellion against the Umayyad governor of Iraq,

Khalid al-Qasri Khālid ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Qasrī (; died 743) was an Arab who served the Umayyad Caliphate as governor of Mecca in the 8th century and of Iraq from 724 until 738. The latter post, entailing as it did control over the entire eastern Caliphate, mad ...

, in 737 and Kharijite risings in

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, ...

and the environs of Mosul continued intermittently throughout the Umayyad and early

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

periods.

References

Bibliography

* *{{EI2 , article=Shabīb ibn Yazīd , last=Zetterstéen , first=K. V. , authorlink=Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen , volume=9 , pages=164–165 646 births 697 deaths Banu Shayban Iraq under the Umayyad Caliphate Kharijites People from Mosul Rebellions against the Umayyad Caliphate 7th-century Arabs