Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi () was a senior provincial governor for the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

. His policies during his tenure as governor of Iraq in 738–744 deepened the

Qays–Yaman rivalry The Qays–Yaman rivalry refers to the rivalry between the tribal factions of Qays–Mudar and the Yaman. The history of the rivalry centers mainly within the armies and administrations of the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries, but p ...

and were one of the main factors in the outbreak of the civil war of the

Third Fitna The Third Fitna (), was a series of civil wars and uprisings against the Umayyad Caliphate. It began with a revolt against Caliph al-Walid II in 744, and lasted until 747, when Marwan II emerged as the victor. The war exacerbated internal tensi ...

, during which he was executed.

Biography

A member of the Thaqif tribe, he was related to the powerful governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi, who was a first cousin of his father. In 725–738 he served as governor of the

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, where he suppressed a

Kharijite The Kharijites (, singular ) 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 conflict with his challeng ...

rebellion, killing its leader, Abbad al-Ru'yani. According to one tradition, he was responsible for the death of the traditionist

Wahb ibn Munabbih Wahb ibn Munabbih () was a Yemenite Muslim traditionist of Dhamar (two days' journey from Sana'a) in Yemen. He was a member of Banu Alahrar (Sons of the free people), a Yemeni of Persian origin. He is counted among the Tabi‘in and a narrato ...

during his tenure there. His brother Qasim also served as governor of the Yemen in the 740s. In 738, Caliph

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

(r. 724–743) appointed Yusuf to the governorship of Iraq, replacing the longtime governor, Khalid al-Qasri. The reasons behind this move are obscure; Khalid certainly was taken by surprise by the arrival of his replacement, and Yusuf immediately imprisoned Khalid and his sons, and tortured his predecessor to extract his wealth, a practice common during hand-overs of governorships at the time. Khalid was released after 18 months, but when Caliph Hisham died in 743 and was replaced by

al-Walid II Al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 70917 April 744), commonly known as al-Walid II, was the eleventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 743 until his assassination in 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Birth and background Al-W ...

(r. 743–744), the latter sold Khalid back to Yusuf for 50 million ''

dirham The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...

s''. Yusuf again tortured him until Khalid died in late 743. Yusuf was also responsible for confronting and suppressing the

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

of the Alid

Zayd ibn Ali Zayd ibn ʿAlī (; 695–740), also spelled Zaid, was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, and great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib. He led an unsuccessful revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate, in which he died. The event gave rise to t ...

in 740 at

Kufa Kufa ( ), 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, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

. Not coincidentally, Yusuf's residence during this tenure was

al-Hira Al-Hira ( Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient Lakhmid Arabic city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. The Sasanian government established the Lakhmid state (Al-Hirah) on the edge of the Arabian Desert ...

rather than Kufa, which was until then the usual residence of the governor. Himself a "fanatical

Qays Qays ʿAylān (), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the ea ...

i", Yusuf was largely responsible for the exacerbation of the

and, according to Khalid Yahya Blankinship, "nearly completed the total breakdown in the ability of the two groups to live in peace in the same state". His appointment marked the shift from a Yamani prevalence under Khalid al-Qasri to a Qays/Mudar dominance, as Yusuf dismissed Khalid's appointees, whom he often mistreated and tortured, and appointed men of Qaysi background in their stead. Yamani hostility deepened further with the handover, murder and death of Khalid al-Qasri, whom the Yamanis had by now come to regard as their champion. The Yamani opposition, in which Khalid's sons played a prominent role, coalesced around

Yazid III Yazid ibn al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 701 – 3/4 October 744), commonly known as Yazid III, was the twelfth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 744 until his death months later. Birth and background Yazid was the member of the influential Umayyad d ...

, a son of

al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...

(r. 705–715). In April 744, Yazid and his supporters entered

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and overthrew al-Walid II, who was soon killed near

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

. Yazid III sent the Kalbi Mansur ibn Jumhur to replace Yusuf in Iraq. Yusuf fled to the Balqa, but was soon captured and imprisoned in Damascus along with al-Walid II's sons. As the civil war widened and the pro-Qays

Marwan II Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan (; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by a Third Fitna, civil war, and he was the l ...

advanced on the city, Yusuf and al-Walid's sons were killed (late 744 or early 745) by Khalid al-Qasri's son

Yazid Yazīd (, "increasing", "adding more") is an Arabic name and may refer to: Given name * Yazid I (647–683), second Umayyad Caliph upon succeeding his father Muawiyah * Yazid II (687–724), Umayyad caliph * Yazid III (701–744), Umayyad caliph ...

, on the orders of

Sulayman ibn Hisham Sulaymān ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (; ) was an Arab general, the son of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (). He is known for his participation in the expeditions against the Byzantine Empire as well as his prominent role in the c ...

References

Sources

* * * * {{Authority control 745 deaths 8th-century Arab people Umayyad governors of Iraq People of the Third Fitna Umayyad governors of Yemen 8th-century executions by the Umayyad Caliphate Banu Thaqif 8th century in Yemen