Reinterpreting al-Walid b. Yazid.

• Author: Judd, Steven

Al-Walid b. Yazid (r. 125-126/743-744) is arguably the most vilified member of the Umayyad dynasty. He had the distinction of being the last universally recognized Umayyad caliph, since none of his successors--Yazid b. al-Walid, who deposed him in 126/744, Yazid's brother and successor Ibrahim, and Marwan b. Muhammad, who sought to avenge al-Walid--gained widespread obedience. Despite the obvious flaws of his detractors and other contemporaries, it was al-Walid who became the caricature of Umayyad depravity, impiety, and licentiousness. Later Arabic sources often used al-Walid to represent the evils of his age, amplifying his faults while overlooking his contributions to the development of early Islamic thought. Modern scholars have, for the most part, been content to accept uncritically the image of al-Walid presented in the sources. A closer reading of these sources, however, reveals that behind the often salacious details of al-Walid's deviance lies a more complex and influential leader who represented both the culmination of Umayyad conceptions of religious authority and the starting point for later 'Abbasid political theory.

The pages that follow offer a reevaluation of al-Walid and his influence on the formative period of Islamic thought, underscoring his importance and illustrating the pitfalls of selectively accepting caricatures of the Umayyads in later Arabic sources. To begin, an examination of the traditional view of al-Walid in the Arabic historical sources and of the manner in which their perspective has been incorporated into modern works on early Islamic history is essential. This is followed by a careful examination of al-Walid's influence on early Islamic religious doctrine that highlights the sophistication of his religious thought. Next, al-Walid's well-publicized vices must be explored and placed in their proper Umayyad context. Consequently, the impetus behind opposition to his rule must then be reconsidered. Finally, al-Walid's impact and the implications of his complicated character for modern historians will be examined.

THE TRADITIONAL IMAGE OF AL-WALID B. YAZID

The principal Arabic sources for information about al-Walid b. Yazid, namely, al-Tabari's Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-l-muluk, al-Baladhuri's Ansab al-ashraf, and Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani's Kitab al-Aghani, present slightly different images of al-Walid. (1) They share two traits in common, however. All present al-Walid as a deviant (though the details of his deviance vary), and all rely almost exclusively on al-Mada'ini as their source for material about al-Walid's reign and his demise. Their manipulation of al-Mada'ini to suit their own narrative ends illustrates the degree to which historians who portrayed themselves as mere compilers shaped the material they assembled. It is also a reminder of how crucial al-Mada'ini's works must have been and how much more complete modern visions of early Islamic history might be if his writings were extant. I have offered a thorough discussion of these authors' manipulation of al-Mada'ini elsewhere, and will provide only a brief summary here. (2)

In general, al-Tabari minimizes al-Walid's moral failings and focuses instead on his clumsiness in managing tribal rivalries. He presents al-Walid as a victim of tribal feuds that were exploited by members of the Umayyad aristocracy. (3) Al-Baladhuri chooses the opposite approach and emphasizes the extent of al-Walid's moral depravity and the popular objection to his behavior. (4) Al-Isfahani also emphasizes al-Walid's immorality, but only because it provides the impetus for much of his prolific poetry. (5) While it is clear that al-Baladhuri condemns al-Walid's behavior, al-Isfahani revels in it, at least implicitly. All three authors portray al-Walid negatively, but they do so in slightly different ways, despite their reliance on the same source.

Later historians predominantly followed al-Tabari's interpretation of al-Walid, though they typically did so in a more abbreviated fashion. Even Ibn 'Asakir, who almost never relied on al-Tabari for the Umayyad period, included a lengthy quotation in his biography of al-Walid. (6) As the discussion below will illustrate, there are alternatives to the al-Tabari/al-Mada'ini narrative, but they are deeply hidden and appear only in much later sources.

Modern scholars have been content to accept the image of al-Walid as a troubled deviant who either ignored his duties as caliph or harnessed his power exclusively for the pursuit of pleasure and/or revenge. This rather simplistic portrait of al-Walid is compatible with the sources from which it is drawn and is remarkably consistent in modern works on the Umayyads. In The Arab Kingdom and Its Fall, the first comprehensive Western history of the Umayyads, Julius Wellhausen relied heavily on al-Tabari, as his portrait of al-Walid reflects. He dwelt on al-Walid's bad behavior and his apparently lack of seriousness, and also emphasized his cruelty to his foes. (7) He allowed no possibility that al-Walid might have played a positive role. Instead, he summarized his character as follows: "On the whole, Walid II only played with his power. ... He was distinguished by a foolish, frothy sense of power." (8) Francesco Gabrieli offered a somewhat different interpretation of al-Walid, in part because he complemented his reliance on al-Tabari with extensive citations from al-Isfahani. The result is Gabrieli's portrayal of al-Walid as a tragic figure who was severely damaged by his dysfunctional relationship with his uncle and predecessor Hisham b. 'Abd al-Malik, whose long reign al-Walid greatly resented. (9) While Gabrieli tried to offer some explanation for al-Walid's shortcomings, he still accepted the conclusion that al-Walid was a hopeless drunk who cavorted with singing girls and poets and who lacked the basic competence to rule the empire. In his analysis of Umayyad poetry, Regis Blachere acknowledged al-Walid's artistic influence, but also labeled him as indifferent to religion and dominated by his love of pleasure, women, and wine. (10) Dieter Derenk, who added al-Baladhuri to his repertoire of sources, presented basically the same image of al-Walid. (11) Robert Hamilton, in the most recent work specifically dedicated to al-Walid, followed suit, describing al-Walid as being "as ill-equipped for the office [of caliph] as could be imagined: a pleasure-seeking idler, weak in will, uninterested and incompetent in public affairs, and irresolute even in pursuit of his own pleasure." (12) Robert Hillenbrand amplified this assessment; in addition to noting that al-Walid was "indifferent to orthodox religion," he called him "the most dedicated playboy of the age," and even speculated about his "somewhat schizophrenic personality." (13) G. R. Hawting, while underscoring the complex forces at work in bringing down the Umayyads, described al-Walid as "a fluent poet with a reputation for loose living and lack of respect for Islam." (14) Hugh Kennedy simply dismissed al-Walid as "negligent." (15) Modern scholarship as a whole has discarded al-Walid as a disastrously flawed figure who suffered from alcoholism, impiety, incompetence, or some fatal combination thereof.

While the Arabic sources offer plenty of material to confirm that al-Walid was morally challenged and that his reign ended in disaster, there is also ample evidence to present a more sophisticated image of al-Walid. Simply accepting the salacious stories about him as evidence of his general inadequacy creates a distorted picture of al-Walid's reign and the reasons for his demise. A closer reading of the sources makes clear that al-Walid was intellectually gifted and that he had a well-developed vision of his role as caliph, which he buttressed with solid theological foundations.

His actions in the immediate aftermath of Hisham's death suggest that he had a firm grasp of the steps he needed to take to consolidate power and that he had planned to ensure that his rivals did not outmaneuver him. He had agents in place to seize the treasury and to confine potential foes. (16) He then arranged for increases in stipends and for provisions to be made for the poor and infirm. (17) While these actions do not stand out as extraordinary, they are not the actions of a man who did not take his duties seriously. Al-Walid clearly had adequate mechanisms in place to orchestrate his rise to power, despite opposition. Indeed, later rulers in the 'Abbasid era would pursue precisely the same policies to secure smooth caliphal transitions. Even before Hisham's demise, al-Walid's actions reveal both his intellectual rigor and his clear conception of the nature of caliphal power, as the discussion below will illustrate.

AL-WALID'S INFLUENCE ON RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE

Despite his alleged indifference to matters of religion, al-Walid was actually quite prolific in his discussions of religious matters, at least by Umayyad standards. While his predecessor Hisham provided patronage for prominent religious scholars, such as al-Zuhri (d. 124/742) and al-Awza'i (d. 157/774), and sought their advice on matters of state and religious policy, the sources preserve scant references to Hisham's own views on key issues, despite his long reign and his reputation for stern piety. By contrast, al-Walid appears to have been less reserved in expressing his own religious views. His letter designating his sons as his successors, analyzed in detail by Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds, is the longest, most thorough exposition on the khalifat Allah doctrine extant from the Umayyad era. (18) Al-Walid's letters protesting Hisham's efforts to remove him from the line of succession include significant religious material as well. (19) Some of his voluminous poetry also addresses theological topics. A careful reading of these sources, as well as numerous shorter comments that appear in al-Tabari and other sources, makes it possible to reconstruct al-Walid's religious...