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Khālid b. ʿAbdallāh al-Qasrī (d. 126/743) served as the Umayyad governor of Mecca either during the reign of ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 65–86/685–705), al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 86–96/705–15), or Sulaymān b. ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 96–9/715–7). He later served as governor of Iraq, and viceroy over the entire eastern portion of the Umayyad empire for most of the reign of Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 105–25/724–43). Details of his service in both of these important posts are poorly preserved and, in many cases, …

Abū Ayyūb Maymūn b. Mihrān (40–117/660–735) was an early Islamic religious scholar who resided most of his life in Raqqa, in al-Jazīra (Upper Mesopotamia). He was born in Kufa in 40/660–1 to parents who were mawālī (clients to patrons; sing. mawlā). His mother was reportedly a freedwoman from either the Banū Naṣr b. Muʿāwiya or the Azd, and his father was probably a mawlā of the Banū Naṣr. Little information is preserved about Maymūn’s youth or early education. He seems at some point to have travelled to Baṣra to meet al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728), but, wi…

Abū ʿAmr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAmr al-Awzāʿī (88–157/707–74), an influential Syrian legal scholar and theologian, was born in or near Baalbek, in present-day eastern Lebanon. His nisba is derived either from the name of the Damascus suburb of al-Awzāʿ where he lived much of his life, or from his purported descent from the Yemeni tribe of al-Awzāʿ. Al-Awzāʿī's father died when he was quite young, after which he moved to Beirut with his mother. From Beirut he eventually travelled, possibly with an uncle, to al-Yamāma, where he was enrolled in the dīwān, indicating that he was compensated f…

ʿUmar b. Hubayra (d. between 105/724 and 107/726) was an Umayyad military leader who served as governor of Iraq during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Yazīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 101–5/720–24). He is generally described as a fierce partisan of the Qays tribal bloc, though his initial success as a military leader came during the reign of ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (r. 99–101/717–20), whom modern historians consider to be pro-Yemeni. Feuds between these two vaguely-defined tribal blocs often serve as explanations for conflicts in early Islamic history. He first appears in the sources as l…

Maʿbad b. ʿAbdallāh b. ʿUkaym al-Juhanī (executed c.80/699) was a Basran religious thinker who was associated with the Qadarī doctrine of human free will (qadar). While he was ultimately condemned as a heretic, for a time he enjoyed a good reputation in Basra and was trusted by the Umayyad authorities. Al-Ḥajjāj b. Yūsuf (d. 95/714), governor of the East, recommended him to the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 65–86/685–705) as an emissary to the Byzantine emperor. Maʿbad also tutored one of the caliph’s sons. He may also have…

Ibrāhīm b. al-Walīd was one of nineteen sons of the Umayyad caliph al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik (al-Walīd I, r. 86–96/705–15). Neither his birth year nor the identity of his mother, an umm walad (slave who gave birth to her master’s child) who may have been a Berber, is known. The sources are silent about him until his participation in the revolt led by his half-brother Yazīd b. al-Walīd (d. 126/744) that overthrew the caliph al-Walīd b. Yazīd (al-Walīd II, r. 125–6/743–4), whose murder precipitated the disintegration of the Umay…

Abū Muḥammad Aḥmad Ibn Aʿtham al-Kūfī is known largely for his Kitāb al-futūḥ (“Book of conquests”), an early narrative of the Islamic conquests. Biographical sources offer little information about him. Yāqūt (d. 626/1229) labels him a Shīʿī and a weak muḥaddith (transmitter), a description copied by al-Ṣafadī (d. 764/1363) and Ibn Ḥajar (d. 852/1448) (al-Safadī, 6:256, Ibn Ḥajar, 1:138). He is credited with three written works. In addition to the Kitāb al-futūḥ, he also wrote a Kitāb al-taʾrīkh (“Book of history”), which is described as a continuation (dhayl) of his Futūḥ that exten…

Yazīd b. ʿUmar b. Hubayra (d. 132/750) was an Umayyad general often associated with the Qays tribal bloc. Like his father, ʿUmar b. Hubayra (d. between 105/724 and 107/726), he served as governor of Iraq. Both he and his father are often referred to as Ibn Hubayra in the sources. Yazīd had a complicated relationship with the Umayyad caliphs. He rejected overtures from Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 105–25/724–43), who wanted Yazīd to marry the daughter of his son Muʿāwiya b. Hishām (d. c.120/728), who …

ʿAbdallāh b. ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 132/749–50), the son of the Umayyad caliph ʿUmar II (r. 99–101/717–20), does not appear in the historical sources until the third fitna (civil war), when he became a key supporter of Yazīd III b. al-Walīd (d. 126/744). Al-Ṭabarī reports that Yazīd named him governor of Iraq in 126/744, after having removed Manṣūr b. Jumhūr, who had alienated his subjects. Ibn ʿAsākir mentions that ʿAbdallāh b. ʿUmar was first appointed as governor of Basra, replacing Jarīr b. Yazīd, and was later giv…

Maʿbad b. Khālid Abū Zurʿa al-Juhanī (d. 72/691) was a relatively obscure Companion of the prophet Muḥammad who died in 72/691 at an advanced age of more than eighty years. He is remembered as an early convert to Islam and as one of the four men who carried the banner of the Banū Juhayna on the day of Mecca’s surrender to Muḥammad in 10/632. Ibn Saʿd (d. 230/845) notes that he accompanied the Companion Kurz b. Jābir al-Fihrī (d. 10/632) on his expedition against those who stole the Prophet’s milch ca…

Bishr b. al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik was one of the thirteen brothers of Yazīd b. al-Walīd who joined the revolt in 126/743–44 against al-Walīd II b. Yazīd, who had acceded to the throne the previous year and was killed in the uprising. Information about Bishr is sparse; neither his birth date nor his death date is recorded in any available source. His mother was an umm walad (slave who bore her master's child), and he appears to have had at least one full brother, Masrūr, with whom he appears in the sources. He reportedly led raids westward from Egypt in 94/713…

Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (b. 72/691, r. 105–25/724–43), was the tenth Umayyad caliph. His twenty-year reign marked the apogee of Umayyad territorial expansion and was characterised by sustained stability, in sharp contrast to the years that followed his death. Hishām was born in 72/691, his mother was ʿĀʾisha bt. Hishām b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhzūmī. Nothing has been preserved regarding his childhood and education. He reportedly led raids into Byzantine territory in 87/706, but did not otherwise make any a…

Abū l-Walīd Maʿn b. Zāʾida al-Shaybānī (d. 152/769) was a leader of the Shaybān tribe in Iraq who was noted for his military prowess. He first appears in the sources at the end of the Umayyad period (41–132/661–70) as a companion to Yazīd b. ʿUmar b. Hubayra (d. 132/750), the last Umayyad governor of Iraq. He fought against Khārijī rebels in Fars in 129/746, then joined Ibn Hubayra in defending Wāsiṭ against the ʿAbbāsids (132–923/750–1517) in 132/749. Some reports credit him with killing the ʿAbbās…

Abū Zurʿa ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAmr al-Dimashqī (d. 282/895) was born into a family of Damascene muḥaddiths, sometime before 200/815. Few details of his life are preserved. He apparently travelled with his father to Ḥimṣ and Rāmallāh in 211/826 and later travelled to other Syrian cities in order to pursue ḥadīth transmitters. He reportedly visited Egypt in 219/834 and probably visited Baghdad, Kufa, and Basra as well. He died in Damascus in 281/895. He was a noted muḥaddith, whose teachers included Ibn Ḥanbal (164–241/780–855), Yaḥyā b. Maʿīn (158–233/775–848), and a number…

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. al-Ḥajjāj b. ʿAbd al-Malik (d. 126/744) was an Umayyad prince who was married to a daughter of the caliph Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (d. 125/743). Al-Ṣafadī and Ibn ʿAsākir report that his mother was Rayṭa bt. ʿUbaydallāh b. ʿAbdallāh, making him a half-brother to the first ʿAbbāsid caliph Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Saffāḥ (d. 136/754). Other sources note only that his mother was an umm walad. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. al-Ḥajjāj is seldom mentioned in historical sources before he became involved in the third fitna, in which he supported the efforts of Yazīd b. al-Walīd (Yazīd III, re…

Ghaylān al-Dimashqī (fl. c.100/719) was a prominent leader of the Qadarī movement—whose adherents believed in human free will—in Umayyad Damascus, and he served in government positions, at least during the reign of the caliph ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (r. 99–101/717–20). His background and parentage are unclear. Reports name him Ibn Muslim, Ibn Yūnis, or simply Ibn Abī Ghaylān. His father appears to have been a mawlā (client) of the caliph ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (r. 23–35/644–56) and may have been of Coptic origin. The sources include no further information about Gha…

Jaʿd b. Dirham was an Umayyad-era heretic who was executed by Khālid al-Qasrī sometime during the latter’s reign as governor of Iraq (105–120/724–738), either in Kufa or in the provincial capital Wāsiṭ. Details about his activities, origins, and beliefs are both limited and tainted by later exaggerations and revisions. None of his writings or doctrinal statements survive. Jaʿd reportedly lived for a time in Damascus, but originated in either Khurāsān or Ḥarrān, in the Jazīra. He eventually fled fr…

Kulthūm b. ʿIyāḍ al-Qushayrī (d. 123/741) was an Umayyad notable and government official who served as amīr (governor) of Damascus during the reign of the caliph Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 105–25/724–43). He also led a large Syrian army on an expedition to suppress an Amzigh (Berber) revolt in the Maghrib (122–5/740–3). He is occasionally labelled al-Qasrī rather than al-Qushayrī, which is likely a scribal error, but could suggest confusion about his tribal affiliation. As a Qushayrī, he would have been part o…

Abū Thawr Ibrāhīm b. Khālid b. Abī l-Yamān al-Kalbī (d. 240/854) was a Baghdadi legal scholar (faqīh) and traditionist (muḥaddith) who may have founded his own school of law (madhhab) and was later associated with the spread of the Shāfiʿī madhhab. He died in 240/854, at approximately seventy years of age. Details of Abū Thawr’s life are vague. The sources indicate that he lived in Baghdad, where he met al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820) and other prominent scholars. Any travels he may have undertaken are not described, and we do not know how he sustained himself financially. The sources do indicate…

The Qadariyya was a loosely organised Islamic theological movement promoting the doctrine of human free will. The name Qadariyya, generally applied derogatorily, derives from the movement’s assertion that humans possess qadar, the capacity to determine their own actions. This use of the term contrasts with Qurʾānic references in which qadar is typically associated with God’s volition rather than that of humans. The Qadariyya first appeared in about 70/690, were most active during the late Umayyad period (c. 101–32/720–50), and were eventually …