Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik

There are few details in the medieval sources about the first thirty years of Sulayman's life.[1] He was probably born in Medina around 675.[1] His father, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, belonged to the Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe, while his mother, Wallada bint al-Abbas ibn al-Jaz', was a great-granddaughter of Zuhayr ibn Jadhima,[2] a prominent 6th-century chieftain of the Arab tribe of Banu Abs.[3] Sulayman was partly raised in the desert by his Banu Abs kinsmen.[4]

At the time of his birth, the Caliphate was ruled by Sulayman's distant cousin, Mu'awiya I,[5] who had founded the Umayyad ruling dynasty in 661.[6] Following the deaths of Mu'awiya I's successors, Yazid I and Mu'awiya II, in 683 and 684, respectively, Umayyad authority collapsed across the Caliphate and most provinces recognized the Mecca-based caliph, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.[7][8] The Umayyads of Medina, including Sulayman, were consequently expelled from the city and became refugees in Syria,[1] where the family was supported by loyalist Arab tribes.[9] These tribes elected as caliph Sulayman's grandfather, Marwan I, and formed the "Yaman" confederation in opposition to the Qaysi tribes, which dominated northern Syria and the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) and gave their allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr.[10] By 685, Marwan had retaken control of Syria and Egypt.[11] He was succeeded by Abd al-Malik, who reconquered the remainder of the Caliphate by 692.[12]

Administrative divisions of Islamic Syria. Sulayman was governor of the military district of Filastin (Palestine).

At an unknown point, Abd al-Malik made Sulayman governor of Jund Filastin (military district of Palestine), a post Abd al-Malik formerly held under Marwan.[1][13] Sulayman's appointment to the district followed successive stints by the caliph's uncle Yahya ibn al-Hakam and half-brother Aban ibn Marwan.[14] In 701, Sulayman led the Hajj pilgrimage caravan to Mecca.[1] Before Abd al-Malik died in 705, he nominated his eldest son, al-Walid I, as his successor to be followed by Sulayman.[1] He remained governor of Palestine throughout al-Walid's reign, which lasted until 715.[1][15] His governorship likely brought him in close contact with the Yamani chieftains who dominated the district.[16] He established a strong relationship with Raja ibn Haywa al-Kindi, a local, Yamani-affiliated, religious scholar who had previously supervised Abd al-Malik's construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.[16] Raja became Sulayman's tutor and senior aide.[16]

Sulayman further cultivated ties with the opponents of al-Walid's viceroy over Iraq and the eastern parts of the Caliphate, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf,[16] whose considerable influence over al-Walid was resented by the heir apparent.[17] In 708, he gave refuge to the Muhallabid family and its head, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, who had been dismissed from the governorship of Khurasan by al-Hajjaj and later became a fugitive when he escaped the latter's prison.[1][16] To placate the consequent anger of al-Walid, Sulayman offered to assume the unpaid fine al-Hajjaj had imposed on Yazid and sent the latter and his own son, Ayyub, in shackles to the caliph with a letter pleading for the Muhallabids' pardon, which the caliph granted.[17][18] Yazid became a close confidant of Sulayman, who held him in "the highest regard".[19] According to a report by the historian Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), "Yazid ... stayed with him [Sulayman], teaching him how to dress well, making delicious dishes for him, and giving him large presents".[19] Yazid remained with Sulayman for nine months or until al-Hajjaj died in 714 and highly influenced and prejudiced him against al-Hajjaj.[20][21]

Foundation of Ramla

Ramla (pictured in 1895, photographer unknown) was founded by Sulayman at the start of the 8th century and became the capital of his caliphate

During his governorship, Sulayman founded the city of Ramla as the seat of his administration.[1][22][23] Ramla remained the capital of Palestine through the Fatimid period (10th–11th centuries),[24] having replaced the Muslims' original capital at Lydda,[1][22] Sulayman's original residence in Palestine.[25] In founding the new city, Sulayman was motivated by personal ambition and practical considerations.[26] The location of Lydda, a long-established and prosperous city, was logistically and economically advantageous, but Sulayman established his capital outside of the city proper.[23] According to the historian Nimrod Luz, this was likely due to a lack of available space for wide-scale development and agreements dating to the Muslim conquest in the 630s that, at least formally, precluded him from confiscating desirable property within the city.[26] In a tradition recorded by the historian Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari (d. 1347), Sulayman's requests for parcels in the middle of Lydda were refused by a determined, local Christian cleric. Infuriated, he attempted to have the cleric executed, but was dissuaded by Raja, who instead proposed building a new city at a superior, adjacent site.[27] The historian Moshe Sharon holds that Lydda was "too Christian in ethos for the taste of the Umayyad rulers", particularly following the Arabization and Islamization reforms instituted by Abd al-Malik.[25] According to al-Jahshiyari (d. 962), Sulayman sought a lasting reputation as a great builder following the example of his father and al-Walid, founder of the Great Mosque of Damascus.[28] The construction of Ramla was his "way to immortality" and "his personal stamp on the landscape of Palestine", according to Luz.[29] In choosing the site, Sulayman utilized the strategic advantages of Lydda's vicinity while avoiding the physical constraints of an already-established urban center.[30]

Remains of the White Mosque in Ramla (pictured in 2014) built by Sulayman and his cousin and successor Umar II

The first structure Sulayman erected in Ramla was his palatial residence,[30] which dually served as the seat of Palestine's administration (dīwān).[31] At the center of the new city was a congregational mosque, later known as the White Mosque.[32] It was not completed until the reign of Caliph Umar II (r. 717–720).[33] From early on, Ramla developed economically as a market town for the surrounding area's agricultural products and a center for dyeing, weaving and pottery. It was also home to a high proportion of Muslim religious scholars.[34] Sulayman built an aqueduct in the city called al-Barada, which transported water to Ramla from Tel Gezer, about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) to the southeast.[35] Ramla superseded Lydda as the commercial center of Palestine.[31] Many of Lydda's Christian, Samaritan and Jewish inhabitants were moved to the new city.[36] Although the traditional accounts are in agreement that Lydda almost immediately fell into obscurity following the founding of Ramla, narratives vary about the extent of Sulayman's efforts to transfer settlement to Ramla, with some holding that he only demolished a church in Lydda and others that he demolished the city altogether.[22] Al-Ya'qubi (d. 839) notes the caliph razed the houses of Lydda's inhabitants to force their relocation to Ramla and punished those who resisted.[37][38] In the words of al-Jahshiyari, Sulayman "founded the town of al-Ramla and its mosque and thus caused the ruin of Lod [Lydda]".[28]

Jerusalem, located 40 kilometers (25 mi) southeast of Ramla,[39] remained the region's religious focal point.[40] According to an 8th-century Arabic source,[41] Sulayman ordered the construction of a number of public buildings there, including a bathhouse, at the same time that al-Walid was developing the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif).[27] The bathhouse was used for ablution by Muslims worshipping at the Dome of the Rock.[41] Sulayman is further credited by an anonymous 13th-century Syriac chronicler for building arches, mills and gardens in Jericho, but these were later destroyed by floods.[42] He also maintained an agricultural tract near Qutayfa in the environs of Damascus that was called "al-Sulaymaniyya" after him.[4]

Silver dirham minted in Surraq during the reign of Sulayman, 716/17 CE

Sulayman died in Dabiq in between the two sieges of Constantinople, in September 717.[1] Elias of Nisibis put the date at 20 September or 21 September, while Abu Mikhnaf puts it at 23 September or 24 September.[47] He fell ill after returning from the Friday prayers and died a few days later.[66]

Following the death of his full brother and potential successor, Marwan al-Akbar, in 715/16, Sulayman designated his eldest son Ayyub as his successor.[67] That this occurred is partly corroborated by an ode from the contemporary poet Jarir:

The Imam, whose gifts will be hoped for, after the Imam [Sulayman], is the chosen successor, Ayyub ... You [Ayyub] are the successor to the merciful one [Sulayman], the one whom the people who recite the Psalms recognize, the one whose name is inscribed in the Torah.[67][lower-alpha 1]

Ayyub predeceased the caliph in early 717,[68] dying from the so-called ṭāʿūn al-Ashrāf ("plague of the Notables"), which afflicted Syria and Iraq;[69] the same plague may have the cause of Sulayman's death.[70] On his deathbed, Sulayman considered nominating his other son Dawud, but Raja advised against it, citing that Dawud was away fighting in Constantinople and that it was unclear if he was still alive.[66] Raja ultimately counseled Sulayman to choose his paternal cousin and adviser, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, describing him as a "worthy, excellent man and a sincere Muslim".[66] To avoid potential intra-dynastic strife between Umar and Sulayman's brothers, Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik was appointed Umar's successor.[66] Sulayman's nomination of Umar over his own brothers defied the general assumptions among the Umayyad family that the office of the caliph would be restricted to the household of Abd al-Malik.[71] Raja was chosen to execute Sulayman's will and secured allegiance to Umar from the caliph's brothers, with the threat of force following their protestations at being bypassed.[72] According to Eisener, Raja's personal connections to the traditional Muslim reports about Sulayman's nomination of Umar render Raja's role in the succession arrangements as "likely ... exaggerated".[68] According to Shaban, Sulayman nominated Umar because he was the contender "most sympathetic to his policies".[71]

According to Eisener, it is challenging "to form an appropriate picture of Sulayman's reign", due to its short length.[1] Shaban concurs, writing "His reign was very short and will permit more than one interpretation. This is why he is such an ambiguous figure for the historian."[71] Shaban noted that the "importance of Sulayman's reign does not seem to have been realized" due to the medieval sources' "overwhelming emphasis" on the reign of his successor, Umar II.[73] Eisener and Shaban agree that Sulayman generally maintained the expansionist policies of al-Walid and Abd al-Malik, though Shaban highlights that he sought to further integrate non-Arabs into the military hierarchy.[1][71] While Shaban and Kennedy emphasize Sulayman's championing of the Yaman faction and opposition to the Qays,[71] Eisener views his provincial and military appointments as motivated by a desire to consolidate his control over the Caliphate, by installing loyalists in positions of power, their factional affiliation notwithstanding.[1]

In the panegyrics of Sulayman's contemporary poets al-Farazdaq and Jarir, Sulayman is viewed in messianic terms as the "rightly-guided one" sent to restore justice after a period of oppression. This may have been connected to the approaching centennial of the hegira and the associated Muslim hopes for the conquest of Constantinople during his reign.[68] Sulayman was known to lead a licentious life and the traditional sources hold that he was gluttonous and promiscuous.[74] Al-Ya'qubi describes him as "a voracious eater ... attractive and eloquent ... a tall man, white, and with a body that could not bear hunger".[75] Despite his lifestyle, his political sympathies laid with the pious, chiefly evidenced by his deference to Raja's counsel.[76] He also cultivated ties to the religious opponents of al-Hajjaj in Iraq, was financially generous toward the Alids (the closest surviving kinsmen of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), and installed as governor of Medina Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Ansari, a member of the city's pious circles, despite his family's role in the fatal rebellion against the early clansman and patron of the Umayyads, Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656), revenge for whom had served as an ideological rallying point and foundational event for the Umayyad dynasty.[77]

Among Sulayman's wives was Umm Aban bint Aban,[78] a granddaughter of al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As, the father of Marwan I: she bore him Ayyub.[67] Another of his Umayyad wives was Umm Yazid, a granddaughter of Caliph Yazid I and sister of the future pretender to the caliphate, Abu Muhammad al-Sufyani.[79] Sulayman was also married to Su'da bint Yahya, a granddaughter of Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, who was a senior companion of Muhammad and an early Muslim leader.[80] From his wife A'isha bint Asma bint Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith, a member of the prominent Qurayshi clan of Banu Makhzum, he had two sons.[81] From one of his ummahat awlad (slave concubines who bore children; singular umm walad), Sulayman had his son Dawud.[67]

Sulayman had fourteen sons.[67][lower-alpha 2] The oldest son to survive him was Muhammad, who was twelve years old at the time his father's death.[83] Sulayman's sons remained in Palestine and maintained strong ties with the district's Yamani tribal nobility.[84][85] The Arab tribes which formed Palestine's garrison were committed to the family and in 744, unsuccessfully attempted to install its head, Sulayman's son Yazid, as caliph.[84] The funeral for another of his sons, Abd al-Rahman, was held in Ascalon.[86] His son Abd al-Wahid served as governor of Medina and Mecca in 747 for Caliph Marwan II (r. 744–750).[87] Sulayman's property in Palestine remained in the possession of his family until the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad dynasty in 750.[84]

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