Siege of Mecca (692)

Coordinates: 21°25′00″N 39°49′00″E / 21.4167°N 39.8167°E / 21.4167; 39.8167
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Siege of Mecca
Part of the Second Fitna

Mecca was attacked with catapults from a nearby mountain
DateMarch–October/November 692
Location
Mecca
21°25′00″N 39°49′00″E / 21.4167°N 39.8167°E / 21.4167; 39.8167
Result Umayyad victory
• Death of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
• End of Second Fitna
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
Commanders and leaders
Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
Tariq ibn Amr
 Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr †
Abd Allah ibn Muti †
Abd Allah ibn Safwan †
Strength
2,000–5,000[1] >10,000[2][note 1]

The siege of Mecca (

caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan besieged and defeated his rival, the caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr in his center of power, the Islamic holy city of Mecca
.

After the death of Caliph

Ka'ba, which had been damaged by the bombardment, was rebuilt according to its original plan from the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
.

Background

With the death of the first Umayyad caliph,

Muawiyah II whose authority was restricted to parts of Syria.[8]

The withdrawal of Ibn Numayr left Ibn al-Zubayr in control of the

Iraq and killed Mus'ab at the Battle of Maskin in October 691.[14] As a result, Ibn al-Zubayr lost control of most of his territory[15] and was confined to the Hejaz.[13] Even there, he lost Medina to Abd al-Malik's mawlā Tariq ibn Amr, who had earlier defeated a 2,000-strong Zubayrid army and taken control of the city.[16]

Siege

After defeating Mus'ab, Abd al-Malik sent his general

Ta'if instead of going directly to Mecca.[18] He arrived in Ta'if in January 692[19] and sent several detachments to the plain of Arafat and defeated Ibn al-Zubayr's followers in skirmishes.[20] Negotiations with Ibn al-Zubayr failed, prompting Hajjaj to request reinforcements from Abd al-Malik and ask permission to attack Mecca.[21] Abd al-Malik granted permission and ordered Tariq ibn Amr, who held Medina, to reinforce Hajjaj at Mecca.[22]

Hajjaj besieged Mecca on 25 March 692 and reinforcements under Tariq ibn Amar arrived a month later.

tawaf (the circumambulation of the Ka'ba), Hajjaj directed catapults to fire on the Ka'ba itself.[17] According to historian Abd al-Ameer Dixon, however, only the part of Ka'ba which had been altered by Ibn al-Zubayr (see Aftermath) was targeted.[25] A sudden thunderstorm provoked fears of divine wrath among his soldiers and they stopped the bombardment. Hajjaj convinced them that the thunderstorm was a natural phenomena, and if they considered it an omen, it should be taken as a sign of victory. The bombardment was then resumed.[23] The deteriorating situation in the city and Hajjaj's promise of amnesty encouraged some ten thousand defenders,[note 2] including two of Ibn al-Zubayr's sons, to surrender.[17][26]

Ibn al-Zubayr went to his mother asking her advice on whether to submit to Hajjaj. She persuaded him to fight, citing his old age and the sacrifices of the people who had died fighting for him. He attacked Hajjaj, accompanied by his youngest son and a few remaining followers,

gibbet.[29] The date is variously reported as 4 October[30][31] or 3 November.[31]

Aftermath

hatīm into it.
Hajjaj restored it to the pre-Zubayrid plan, which persists to this day.

Ibn al-Zubayr's death marked the end of the civil war, and the Caliphate was united under Umayyad leadership. The year was called the "Year of Unity".[2] Hajjaj was appointed governor of the Hejaz, Yemen (southwestern Arabia) and the Yamama (central Arabia).[17]

The Ka'ba, which had been damaged by the bombardment—several walls had been cracked by catapult stones—was rebuilt.

hatīm, following a tradition that Muhammad had wished to do so. He also added an additional doorway to the building; the original had only one.[7] On the orders of Abd al-Malik, Hajjaj demolished the Ka'ba and rebuilt it to its original plan from Muhammad's time.[32] The Ka'ba survives in this form to date.[7]

According to Baladhuri, Abd al-Malik regretted his instructions to Hajjaj later in his life, and wished he had left the Ka'ba in the form in which it had been rebuilt by Ibn al-Zubayr.[32] He had been shocked by the burning of the Ka'ba during the 683 siege. The bombardment and subsequent demolition of the Ka'ba on his orders damaged his reputation,[33] and contributed to the anti-Umayyad sentiment in the Muslim historical tradition.[34] Nevertheless, supporters of the Umayyads applauded the restoration. A contemporary poet wrote:

"You restored the house of God as it was at the time of the Prophet, you corrected what the sons of al-Zubair had corrupted."[25]

Notes

  1. Zuhra would have supported Ibn al-Zubayr, and the total number of his supporters would have been only a few hundred.[3]
  2. ^ According to Rotter, majority of those who surrendered were the common people of the city, because the defenders, according to him, would have numbered only a few hundred.[3]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Kennedy 2001, p. 33.
  2. ^ a b Dixon 1971, p. 139.
  3. ^ a b c Rotter 1982, p. 239.
  4. ^ Donner 2010, pp. 177–178.
  5. ^ a b Hawting 2000, pp. 47–48.
  6. ^ Wellhausen 1927, p. 165.
  7. ^ a b c Wensinck & Jomier 1978, p. 319.
  8. ^ Donner 2010, pp. 181–182.
  9. ^ Donner 2010, p. 182.
  10. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 48.
  11. ^ Donner 2010, pp. 182–183.
  12. ^ Donner 2010, p. 183.
  13. ^ a b Donner 2010, p. 186.
  14. ^ Donner 2010, pp. 186, 188.
  15. ^ Wellhausen 1927, p. 197.
  16. ^ Dixon 1971, pp. 135–136.
  17. ^ a b c d e Dietrich 1971, p. 40.
  18. ^ Dixon 1971, p. 137.
  19. ^ Rotter 1982, p. 238.
  20. ^ Fishbein 1990, p. 207.
  21. ^ Dixon 1971, pp. 136–137.
  22. ^ Wellhausen 1927, p. 199.
  23. ^ a b Fishbein 1990, p. 225.
  24. ^ Fishbein 1990, p. 208 n.
  25. ^ a b Dixon 1971, p. 138.
  26. ^ Dixon 1971, pp. 138–139.
  27. ^ a b Fishbein 1990, p. 232.
  28. ^ McAuliffe 1995, p. 230, note 1082.
  29. ^ Gibb 1960, p. 55.
  30. ^ Fishbein 1990, p. 225 n.
  31. ^ a b Gibb 1960, p. 54.
  32. ^ a b Hitti & Murgotten 1916, p. 75.
  33. ^ Dixon 1971, p. 21.
  34. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 11.

Sources

  • Dietrich, A. (1971). "Al-Had̲j̲d̲j̲ād̲j b. Yūsuf". In
    OCLC 495469525
    .
  • Dixon, Abd al-Ameer A. (1971). The Umayyad Caliphate, 65-86/684-705: (a Political Study). London, England: Luzac.
    ISBN 9780718901493
    .
  • ISBN 9780674050976
    .
  • Fishbein, Michael, ed. (1990). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXI: The Victory of the Marwānids, A.D. 685–693/A.H. 66–73. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
    ISBN 978-0-7914-0221-4
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  • ISBN 0-415-24072-7
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  • ISBN 978-0-7914-1895-6
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  • Rotter, Gernot (1982). Die Umayyaden und der zweite Bürgerkrieg (680-692) (in German). Wiesbaden: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft.
    ISBN 9783515029131
    .
  • OCLC 752790641
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  • Wensinck, A. J. & Jomier, J. (1978). "Ka'ba". In
    OCLC 758278456
    .
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