Uthman ibn Hayyan al-Murri

Uthman ibn Hayyan al-Murri (Arabic: عثمان بن حيان المري‎) was an 8th-century provincial governor and military commander for the Umayyad Caliphate. He served as the governor of Medina from 712 or 713 to 715.

Career

A member of the Banu Murra, Uthman was appointed over Medina during the reign of al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 705–715) after being recommended to the caliph by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the powerful governor of Iraq.[1] During his administration Uthman took harsh measures to crack down on anti-Umayyad elements in the city and punished a number of individuals who were suspected of engaging in sedition. He particularly took action against a large group of Iraqi emigres whose presence in Medina had caused the city to develop a reputation as a center of political dissent, forcibly deporting them back to al-Hajjaj in neck collars and threatening to demolish the homes of any Medinese who were caught providing shelter to them.[2] At the urging of several Medinese citizens he also issued an directive to expel singers and adulterers from the city in an effort to clamp down on corruption, but following the intercession of a local notable he changed his mind and rescinded the order.[3]

Uthman's term as governor lasted until 715, when he became a target of the new caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik's campaign to remove his predecessor's political appointees from power. In June of that year Sulayman dismissed Uthman in favor of the chief qadi of Medina, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm, and additionally sent instructions to have him flogged.[4] This act made Uthman deeply resentful of Abu Bakr, and after Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik became caliph in 720 he petitioned that an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his flogging be opened, which led to Abu Bakr himself receiving the hadd punishment from the new governor of Medina Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Dahhak.[5] The feud between Uthman and Abu Bakr continued at least until 721/2, when Abd al-Rahman was ordered to effect a reconciliation between the two men.[6]

Uthman later served as a military commander on the Byzantine frontier, and was a leader of the 722 and 723 summer expeditions against the Byzantines.[7]

Notes

1. Hinds 1990, pp. 202-03, 206, 214, 217; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, p. 347; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, pp. 311–12; McMillan 2011, pp. 104–05; Landau-Tasseron 1993, p. 629. Both al-Tabari and Khalifah ibn Khayyat report that Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm served as acting governor until Uthman's arrival.
2. Hinds 1990, pp. 202-03, 206-09; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, p. 347; McMillan 2011, pp. 104–05. According to al-Ya'qubi, Uthman was appointed to Medina by the governor of Mecca, Khalid ibn Abdallah al-Qasri, with instructions to expel the Iraqis from Medina, while one of al-Tabari's sources claims that he was not appointed as governor until he had completed dealing with the Iraqis and dissidents.
3. Kilpatrick 2003, p. 253.
4. Powers 1989, pp. 3–4; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, p. 353; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 317; McMillan 2011, v. 24: pp. 110-11. According to al-Ya'qubi, the formal charges that led to his flogging were for the consumption of wine and the leveling of an accusation against Abdallah ibn Amr ibn Uthman ibn Affan.
5. Powers 1989, pp. 105-07; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, p. 375.
6. Powers 1989, p. 167.
7. Blankinship 1994, pp. 119, 313; Al-Ya'qubi 1883, p. 378; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, pp. 328, 330.

References

• Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994). The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7.
• Hinds, Martin, ed. (1990). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXIII: The Zenith of the Marwānid House: The Last Years of ʿAbd al-Malik and the Caliphate of al-Walīd, A.D. 700–715/A.H. 81–95. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-721-1.
• Khalifah ibn Khayyat (1985). al-'Umari, Akram Diya' (ed.). Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed (in Arabic). Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah.
• Kilpatrick, Hilary (2003). Making the Great Book of Songs: Compilation and the Author's Craft in Abu l-Faraj al-Isbahani's Kitab al-aghani. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 978-0-203-22061-0.
• Landau-Tasseron, Ella (1993). "Murra". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 628–631. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
• McMillan, M.E. (2011). The Meaning of Mecca: The Politics of Pilgrimage in Early Islam. London: Saqi. ISBN 978-0-86356-437-6.
• Powers, Stephan, ed. (1989). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXIV: The Empire in Transition: The Caliphates of Sulaymān, ʿUmar, and Yazīd, A.D. 715–724/A.H. 96–105. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0072-2.
• Al-Ya'qubi, Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub (1883). Houtsma, M. Th. (ed.). Historiae, Vol. 2 (in Arabic). Leiden: E. J. Brill.