The Two Exile Kings of Islamic History
Great adversity and loss can have a profound impact on a person. Depending on the individual, their character and personality, the circumstances, and the environment and the people around them, such events can reveal who a person truly is, build on that character and personality, and create historic epics that are sometimes overlooked. Two such stories can be found in Islamic history.
Turmoil in the Ummah
During the second Hijri century, the Muslim world witnessed several internal wars, uprisings, revolts, and unrest. A series of succession wars were fought among the Umayyad Dynasty, other Caliphate claimants rose up, tribal uprisings sprung up, and Shia, Ibadi, and Kharijite revolts occurred.
This series of events would become known as the Third Fitna, and would eventually culminate in the Abbasid Revolution and the end of the Umayyad Caliphate in 132 AH.
Idris I: Founder of Morocco
The abdication of al-Hassan ibn Ali and the death of al-Hussain, about eight decades before this story, did not spell out the end of the reign of the descendants of the fourth Caliph.
Following the success of the Abbasid Revolt, a great-grandson of al-Hassan would flee persecution, rise out of obscurity, and establish a kingdom and dynasty in the Ummah’s western frontier.
The Battle of Fakh
As the Umayyad Caliphate was collapsing, descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib launched several revolts for their claim on the Caliphate. These revolts continued into the early days of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Al-Hussain ibn Ali al-Abid, the great-great-grandson of al-Hassan ibn Ali, led his revolt in Medina after a series of conflicts between him and the Abbasids that grew into a violent rivalry. The initial uprising, which began in and around the al-Masjid al-Nabawi, failed, and al-Hussain left for Mecca.
New supporters joined al-Hussain on his journey and swore allegiance to him. In the meantime, the Abbasids were mobilizing their men on the outskirts of the Holy City. All of this occurred during the Season of the Hajj Pilgrimage, a season that includes some of the al-Ashhur al-Hurum: The Sacred Months in which aggression and fighting (except in defense) are explicitly prohibited.
The two camps clashed and skirmished until they met at the Valley of Fakh. There, al-Hussain was defeated and killed and his head was carried as a warning against any future uprisings.
The birth of a dynasty
Among those who took part in al-Hussain ibn al-Hassan ibn al-Hassan’s uprising and the Battle of Fakh was his second uncle, Idris ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hassan.
As the Abbasids began purging the region from those who partook and supported the revolts, Idris fled westward. Along his journey, he met with sympathizers in Egypt, who sent him off to al-Maghrib, present-day Morocco.
Idris arrived in Tangier, where he received support and allegiance from Amazigh (Berber) tribes in the area. He then proceeded to Volubilis. From there, he established his kingdom and expanded it till it reached Tlemcen (northwest Algeria) in the northeast. He also founded the city of Fez, which would serve as the Idrisid capital and is now considered a cultural and spiritual capital of Morocco.
Idris’s reign was short-lived, lasting less than four years. It is believed that, when Harun al-Rashid, the fifth Abbasid Caliph, saw Idris’s kingdom expand eastward toward the Abbasid borders, he sent emissaries who succeeded in poisoning him.
A story that began with a failed revolt and a family fleeing the wrath of the Abbasids ended with the creation of a dynasty that would last nearly two centuries and rule over much of modern Morocco and portions of modern Algeria at its peak.
Abd al-Rahman I: The Hawk of Quraish
When the Abbasid revolt succeeded, and the Umayyads and their supporters were being purged throughout the lands, it would have been logical to assume that was the end of the Umayyad Dynasty and their pages in history had come to an end.
But one Umayyad prince would go on a long treacherous journey from Damascus, through Abbasid-controlled territory, till he arrived in al-Andalus.
The long escape
Abd al-Rahman ibn Muawiyah ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik was the grandson of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, whose death sparked a war of succession and led to the Third Fitna and the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate in the eastern regions of the Muslim Ummah.
Upon the success of their revolt, the Abbasids began hunting down remnants of the Umayyad Dynasty . Abd al-Rahman and his family began their daring escape from Damascus. They first traveled eastward toward the Euphrates, and continued south along the river.
One story suggests that Abbasid horsemen were closing in on them, so Abd al-Rahman and those with him jumped into the river to swim to the other side. Abd al-Rahman’s brother, Yahya, was struggling. The Abbasid men called out to them, promising to show mercy if they were to return. Believing that promise and preferring that fate over drowning, Yahya swam back; only to be killed as his brother, Abd al-Rahman, watched.
Abd al-Rahman and the few who remained with him continued west, traveling in disguise and ever watchful and cautious. From the Euphrates, they traveled through the Levant and Egypt and continued westward till he reached Sabtah (Ceuta) approximately 35 years before Idris’s arrival in Tangier.
Abd al-Rahman’s next step was to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and arrive in al-Andalus.
Rise to power and rebirth of a dynasty
Before arriving in the Iberian Peninsula, Abd al-Rahman sent emissaries to gauge the potential support he would gain among the generals and commanders of the different armies in the region.
At the time, al-Andalus was also facing internal conflict, with tensions rising between various factions, and the arrival of Abd al-Rahman presented a threat to the power of the ruling emirs who were prepared to do anything necessary to maintain their own reign.
Through political maneuvers, diplomacy, and war, Abd al-Rahman defeated his rivals, solidified his position as the ruler of al-Andalus, and re-established the Umayyad Dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula.
Crucibles: The furnaces of life and societies
Replacing a nation
The early second century AH was a time of great turmoil and conflict in Islamic history. Uprisings, revolts, and power struggles brought a once-powerful Umayyad Dynasty to its knees. It would have been easy for pessimists at the time to write it all off as the beginning of the end of the relatively young Ummah.
However, out of that testing time, three new Muslim nations emerged, breathing new life into regions and countries that were beginning to falter.
This serves as a reminder that, when the main objectives and principles of faith and governance are sidelined or abandoned, kingdoms, nations, and dynasties are not immune to being replaced.
Life from death. Light from darkness. Hope in despair.
Idris I and Abd al-Rahman were on the run and faced possible death as Abbasids gave them chase. They traveled across the length of the North African coast amid violent conflicts throughout the region.
And, in the face of these insurmountable odds, they established their own dynasties, became independent rulers, and led armies of their own to conquest.
No matter what challenges and tests God burdens you with, it will always be within your capacity, and it will allow you to either learn or grow.
فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
Indeed, there is ease with hardship
Most certainly, there is ease with hardship
(Quran: 94:5–6)
