Gender Relations

The era of the Umayyad Caliphate was fundamental in the formation of gender relations, which later on became the prototype for Islamic civilization.

Patrilineal society

When Ziyad bin Abihi/Abu Sufyan ordered to record witnesses against the activities of the Shi’a Ali of the town, one person among the list of possible witnesses was Shaddād bin Mundhir bin Ḥārith bin Wa’lah al-Dhuhli. He used to be called ibn Buzay’ah (his mother’s name).  Ziyad said, “This one does not have a father to whom he is related. Omit him from the list of witnesses (meaning he is not a reliable witness). Ziyad was then told that Shaddad was the brother of Ḥudayn and the son of Mundhir.  Ziyad ordered for him to be put down in his father’s name, and he was.  Shaddad heard about it and said, “Woe onto me for the son of the adulteress! [that it Ziyad]. Wasn’t his mother better known than his father?  By Allah, he is only related to his mother, Sumayyah.” ²

The takeaway of the story – the Arab Muslim society of the Umayyad Caliphate was patrilineal.  If someone was unable to give his father’s name with confidence, he was considered inferior and second-grade.

Male political head of the family

The man was the head of a typical Arab Muslim family.  He was usually the sole breadwinner. Many historical incidences of that time point towards the fact. One of the wives of a resident of Kufa was more beautiful than the others. She commanded her husband’s attention and love. Due to her status in the eyes of her husband, she could dare to argue with him. The man joined the Tuwwabun movement and announced his intention to go to war, leaving his family. The only person who could argue with him was his beautiful wife. She argued with him about the future of the family and the children and who would look after them if he died in the war. ³

Women lacked the authority to make independent decisions on significant family matters without the consent of their husbands. An illustrative incident involves Ubaydullah bin Ziyad seeking refuge in Basrah. Faced with a threat, he approached a companion to arrange a hiding place, leading them to the companion’s paternal cousin, whose husband, Mas’ud, was away.

Ubaydullah offered a substantial sum, a hundred thousand dirhams, to the wife for permission to stay in her house. She adamantly refused, citing concerns about angering Mas’ud. The companion intervened, persuading her to accept the money and leaving the matter to him. Upon Mas’ud’s return, his wife disclosed everything, resulting in his furious reaction, seizing her by the head.

Ubaydullah and the companion, emerging from the chamber, clarified that they already had been granted protection, ultimately pacifying Mas’ud. ⁴ This incident highlights that while women had the right to provide input, the ultimate decision-making authority rested with the man.

Certainly, a man’s decisions were not beyond questioning. An illustrative example is the incident involving a Kufan soldier who kept Husayn bin Ali’s severed head in his house’s bathtub for a night. His wife, deeply disturbed by this, refused to share a bed with him indefinitely. In response, he called upon another wife to accompany him for the night. ⁵ The angry wife remained true to her words. When the police of Mukhtar al Thaqafi raided that house in connection with murder of Husayn, the soldier hid in the latrine. The police asked the wife where he was. The wife told the police officer loudly that she did not know, however, she quietly pointed towards the latrine. The officers killed him on the spot. ⁶

We find many examples of differences between a wife and her husband in wake of death of Husayn bin Ali.  Mālik bin Nusayr took Husayn’s silk cloak to his house.  His wife said to him, “Have you brought plunder from the son of daughter of the Apostle of Allah into my house?  Take it away from me.” ⁷ In all these instances woman dared to differ because she believed she was religiously right.

Women made independent decisions if their husbands did not have any objection. Sa’id bin Jubayr, one of the Qurra who was killed by Hajjaj, was named Sa’id by his mother. ⁸ We know some instances where a husband and his wife differed from each other in naming their child. The name proposed by the wife was accepted. ⁹

Actually, men did not behave like stern bosses.  They behaved like team leaders. They did their best to keep their wives happy. Once Umm Ayyūb, Ziyad bin Abihi/Abu Sufyan’s wife told him she had a desire to see an elephant. Ziyad took her to show an elephant at a city gate. Since then the gate got its name ‘bāb al fīl’. ¹⁰ Caliph Yazid bin Abdul Malik was known to grant numerous gifts to his wife Su’dah. Su’dah was a descendent of Uthman bin Affan and was particularly sensitive towards the needs of Caliph Yazid. ¹¹

Descent from the mother

Like pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the Arab Muslims of the Umayyad Caliphate hated being called as the son of their mother only. Complaining about the contemptuous behavior of one of his subordinates by the name of Sa’īd bin ‘Amr al Ḥarashī, Umar bin Hubayrah the governor of Iraq in 722 CE told that Sa’id called him ibn Nas’ah and in turn he called Sa’id ibn Busrah.  ¹² Mukhtar al Thaqafi got so offended when hostile people called him ‘ibn Dawmah’ that he claimed that they intended to reproach him by the name of his mother. ¹³ The implied meaning of calling a person by the name of his mother was that his only parent who could be established beyond doubt was his mother.

Yet Arab Muslims did not mind if their mother was mentioned after the acknowledgement of their father. It was particularly true if the mother belonged to a prestigious family.  Such a scenario enhanced the nobility of the Arab Muslims. Thus, Abdullah bin Zubayr had no objection when people said publically that he had prestigious parents from both sides. He was the son of Zubayr bin Awwam and was related to Abu Bakr through his mother. ¹⁴ Similarly, Ali bin Abdullah felt proud when people mentioned that he was Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib and his mother was Zur’a bint Mishrah bin Ma’dīkarib, one of the four kings of Kinda. ¹⁵

Respect for mother

Nobody else was more respectful on earth in the eyes of an Arab Muslim than his chaste mother. Mothers knew it and sometimes used their moral authority for public good.  When hostilities erupted between Abdul Malik bin Marwan and Amr bin Sa’id, the people of Damascus knew they would have to side with either.  A woman of Kalb came to them with her children and wept to them, asking why they would slay themselves for the rulers of Quraysh. The Kalbs disengaged from each other. Amr and Abdul Malik entered into a truce agreement. Amr allowed Abdul Malik entrance into Damascus and Abdul Malik gave him the promise of safety. ¹⁶

Polygamy

Polygamy was the norm for Arab Muslims of the Umayyad Caliphate.  It is particularly true about the rich and affording. The poor were more likely to practice monogamy. Monogamy might not be out of choice but out of financial constraints. We do not know much about the family structure of the Mawlas but one can assume that the Mawlas of Iranian descent practiced polygamy if they could afford it.

The polygamous families of the Umayyad Caliphate faced internal rifts that are pathognomonic of such a social structure. Usually, the children of one wife teamed up against those of others.  Muhallab bin Sufrah was the successful lieutenant governor of Khorasan. He was weary of infighting among his children. At his death bed, he advised, “When the sons of a single mother fall out with one another, what hope is there for the sons of co-wives?! Incumbent upon you are obedience and [respect for] the collective body”. ¹⁷

The number of wives never exceeded four, even if the husband was the master of the whole country. Archaeological evidence from the ruins of Qasr Mashatta shines light on this fact.

Four separate living quarters in Mshatta Palace.¹⁸

Large family

The aim of polygamy was not to have multiple sex partners. There were many other ways for that. The purpose of polygamy was to produce many offspring. The more sons, the richer a person was. When Yousuf bin Umar left Iraq for Syria after his dissolution, he was accompanied by sixty of his children, both male and female. ¹⁹ They were only those who were with him. We are unsure of how many were living separately. The number gives us a clue to the size of the family of a rich affording person. Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas had twenty-two sons. ²⁰ If we add a similar number of female children, the sum would be similar to that of Yousuf bin Umar. Female infanticide was gone.  Female children were equal in number to male children. Yousuf bin Umar was a governor and rich. Ali bin Abdullah was a petty commander in the armed forces and less affluent than a governor.

Children were not only from the four wives but also from concubines. The combined number of Caliph Walid I’s sons at the time of his death was seventeen. ²¹ This means Walid I had a similarly big family as those of Yousuf bin Umar or Ali bin Abdullah. Astonishingly, the number of sons Hisham bin Abdul Malik had was only ten. ²² How come? Hisham was as affording as Walid I. The only explanation could have been that Hisham did not prefer large family. He must have practiced family planning. It could have bene in two forms, both taking fewer concubines and using contraception.  It is known that Hisham was a miser. ²³  Family planning suits his personality. It is also evident from an anecdote. Once Ali bin Abdullah met Hisham. He complained to Hisham about his large family and big personal debts. Ali must have been hopeful for a governmental handout. Hisham made fun of his large family and then advised him to wait for his elder son to attain maturity. ²⁴

Limitations of marriage

Muslim bin Aqil bin Abu Talib had a son by the name of Abdullah who died with Husayn bin Ali at Karbala. Abdullah’s mother was Ruqayia bint Muhammad.  Muhamad was in turn the son of Sa’id bin Aqil bin Abu Talib, brother of Muslim bin Aqil.  This means that Muslim had married the granddaughter of his brother Sa’id. ²⁵ Arabs and Mawlas followed the limitations of a marriage that Islam had prescribed. They considered the Zoroastrian marriages between close family members as incest and spared no chance to taunt them for this. ²⁶

Gender roles

The society of the Umayyad Caliphate prescribed gender roles seriously. Mus’ab killed Mukhtar’s wife after his defeat because she did not wish to talk bad about Mukhtar.  A poet said about this incident.

A thing most amazing in my eyes
is the killing of a fair-skinned, free, graceful-necked woman

they killed her though she had committed no crime
what a noble victim she was!

killing and fighting have been ordained for us
but for young women the dragging of skirts. ²⁷

The poet is very clear.  He was shocked at the execution only because the victim was a female.  He argued that killing and fighting is only for men. Women had to drag their skirts.

Actually, the society of the Umayyad Caliphate considered the participation of women on the battlefield a complete taboo. Abdullah bin Umayr of Kalb and his wife were residents of Kufa.  Both decided to join Husayn bin Ali at Karbala. Both were excited at getting a chance of jihad against ‘polytheists’. Husyan was in dire need of soldiers. Still, he allowed only men into his ranks. He advised the wives to join the women in the camp.  Ultimately, the husband was killed fighting along with Husayn. The wife ended up being a prisoner of war. ²⁸  Probably such a strict taboo stemmed from the duty of men to protect women.²⁹

Many passages in historical sources delineate the separate roles of genders in society.  When Mukhtar al Thaqafi and his companions were entrapped in the governor’s house of Kufa, the women brought food, dainties and water for them over which they used to throw their garments to hide. They left their homes intending to go to the great mosque for prayers or to see their female relatives or their kin. Mus’ab’s soldiers interrogated the women at the barricades around the palace.  Once, they caught three women who were intending to take food for their husbands.  They took them to Mus’ab.  Mus’ab turned them back without harming them. ³⁰

In 720 CE, under the governorship of Sa’id Khdhaynah and the caliphate of Yazid bin Abdul Malik, the Bahilah tribe had its own fortress in the Soghdia district of Khorasan in which one hundred families lived. One of the great Turk dihqans by the name of Kūrṣūl wanted to marry a Bahili woman, a resident of the fortress. He sent a proposal of marriage, but she refused. He raised an army in the hope of capturing the inhabitants of the fortress and seizing that woman.  The inhabitants of the fortress had no intention to hand over the woman to Kursul under threat.  They knew the weak Umayyad governor would take weeks to send any reinforcement. They sued the Turks for peace for forty thousand Dirhams and gave the Turks seventeen men as hostages. The purpose was to gain time. Many other dihqans of the area had sided with Kursul.  The Arab authorities only raised four thousand volunteers to rescue the inhabitants. They were so demotivated that most of them absconded on the way and only seven hundred remained.  The Turk Khaqan, the King of Qiyy sided with the Arabs and sent three hundred men as well as the news that the Kursul party had killed the Arab hostages. By the time the Arab reinforcement reached the fortress, they heard the news that the inhabitants of the fortress had sent the women to their deaths so men might fight until death. The Arab reinforcements hurried, had a fierce fight against the Turks, and rescued all inhabitants of the fortress, including the women. One woman, while being rescued, controlled the horse of an Arab soldier who had asked her to come on the back of his horse with him and he grabbed her son in his arms. She was a better horse rider than the men were. A poet said this: Had (the Banu) Yabrū’ not protected your women; people other than you would have made use of their days of purity.³¹, ³² Horse riding was a male domain.  If a woman could ride better than the men in an emergency situation, she must have received some training.

What happened to working women?

Hajjaj bin Yousuf sent a male physician to nurse the wounded commander Jazl. ³³ Historical sources don’t mention any female physicians in the Umayyad Caliphate.  Nursing and medicine were two professions during the early Islamic period that gave employment to Arab women.

Women have never been absent from the workforce.  Their ratio kept changing. It appears that fields that offered employment to women shrank in number during the Umayyad Caliphate.  They still worked in the entertainment industry and probably at farms. With the way some women transmitted historical traditions, it is possible that they worked in the field of religious teaching.  The number of women participating in the workforce might have drastically dropped, especially in urban areas, due to a decrease in employment opportunities. It could have been the other way around as well.  More and more women did not need to work because their husbands had the capacity to look after them.

Powerful women

We find some powerful women in the Umayyad Caliphate. Some were powerful due to their relations to powerful men. ‘Ātika bint Yazid bin Mu’awiya bin Abu Sufyan was closely related to ten Umayyad caliphs. Mu’awiya I was her grandfather, Yazid I was her father, Marwan bin Hakam was her father in law, Walid, Sulayman, and Hisham were sons of her husband; Yazid II was her own son, Walid bin Yazid was her grandson, and Yazid bin Walid was her husband’s grandson. ³⁴ Some women achieved power.  Hind bint Muzaniyyah and Laylā bint Qumāmah were two Kufan women who became opposition figures.  The Shi’a Ali men would gather at their residences to plan schemes against the government. ³⁵ However, such women are few and can be counted on fingers.

Women soldiers

One day, during the siege of Wasit by Dahhak bin Qays the Khariji in 745 CE, one soldier of Wasit by the name of Mansur bin Jumhur came out of the city gate to engage with the Kharijis.  Mansur had already killed a number of the Kharijis in previous encounters, including Alqamah who was known for his bravery. That day a person from the Khariji side came forward, seized the bridle of Mansur’s horse and shouted, “You sinner! Answer to the Commander of Faithful!”  (meaning the Khariji leader). Mansur cut off the reins of his horse while they were still in that person’s hand and got away.  Later on, when Mansur accepted Kharijism and ate with them, they were curious who had killed Alqamah. Mansur boasted that it was he. The Kharijis called out to Umm al ‘Anbar.  A most beautiful woman came out of them.  “May Allah shame your sword wherever you mention it,” she told Mansur, “By Allah, it did nothing, and save nothing.”  Mansur realized that the person who had seized the bridle of his horse was this woman.  She actually wished to be killed instantly so she could attain martyrdom, Mansur ruined her plans.  Mansur requested Dahhak to marry her to him. Dahhak told that she had a husband. ³⁶, ³⁷  Despite existing taboos of a woman’s participation in battle, certain women fought in battles. They wore men’s dresses and could not be recognized as women during their participation.

The only women who are known to have participated in battles were the wives of the Kharijis.  Khalifa states that a woman from Banu Shayban was more grief-stricken than any other because her father, her brother, her husband, her mother, and her paternal and maternal aunts were killed by Dahhak in the battle between Marwan II and Dahhak at Mosul in 746 CE. Her eyes never ceased to flow with tears.  No one saw her laughing or smiling.  She composed a poem:

Youths who sold themselves
and, by the Lord of Ka’ba, were not defrauded.

They pursued the pleasure of their Lord
when religion and law had died.

this people attained what they sought
Allah’s blessing unprecedented!³⁸

The Kharijis were in a do or die situation.  It appears that they brought their women to the battlefield so they could die along with men instead of being captured after the men’s death.  We do not find a single woman who participated in the battle without accompanying her husband.

Women accompanied to battlefield

Arab Muslims maintained the ancient Arab tradition of taking their wives to the battlefield.  Always the commander took his wives. When Maslamah bin Abdul Malik invaded Ammuriya, he took his wives with him; and other men of his army did the same. ³⁹  “Banu Ummayah used to do that in order to infuse enthusiasm in the enemy by making them jealous of their harem”, insists Baladhuri. ⁴⁰ They would take their wives on border raids as well, where the intention was to grab money and return to the point of safety within the border.  Salm bin Ziyad, the lieutenant governor of Khorasan, took his wife to the campaign against Samarkand. She was pregnant at the time and bore a child during the raid.  Salm named his son Ṣughdi in relation to the area they were in. ⁴¹ The wives at the battlefield did not participate in the action., Still they endangered their lives. Sometimes they perished on perilous roads. In the example of Maslamah mentioned earlier, some women fell down the foot of the mountains when the army passed through a narrow mountainous road (‘akabat Baghrās).  The reason for falling was that the women were still mounted in their carriage while the men were on foot. After a few deaths, Maslamah ordered the women to come out of the carriages and walk like men. It was decades after, during the Abbasid period, when the government widened that road and built a stonewall at its edge to support the slope. ⁴²

Capturing women during war

When Hajjaj ordered Ubaydullah bin Bakrah to invade Zunbil’s land, the instructions were in detail. “Plunder his land, raze his fortresses, kill his fighting men, and take his women captive”, the order said. ⁴³ Capturing the women of the defeated was a norm in the Middle East. It was not limited to the Muslims. Others did the same. ⁴⁴

Having sex with the women captured during the war was not considered rape. It was lawful sexual intercourse.

The concept of capturing women stemmed from a widespread social belief that protecting his woman was the duty of a man. ⁴⁵  If he was weak enough, there was no harm in abducting his woman.

Losing a woman to the enemy as a result of defeat in the war was certainly not an honourable situation for a man. ⁴⁶

Neither was it pleasant for the woman.⁴⁷  Being captured in war was such a disgrace for a woman that she was afraid of such incidents during wartime. ⁴⁸ Both Muslim and non-Muslim men were willing to accept their women back in marriage if it could happen. A woman did not lose her chastity in the eyes of her husband if she had sexual intercourse with another man after being captured in war. ⁴⁹

In the case of Muslims, they made sure that the paternity of the child born out of such sexual intercourse was documented and the father took responsibility for feeding that child. ⁵⁰

The people of the Middle East had some idea that a disease could be transmitted from a woman to a man. Tabari reports that a Muslim soldier got elephantiasis due to sexual intercourse with a woman who was captured from Balkh in 705 CE. According to Tabari’s report, said soldier died of this ailment. ⁵¹ Such knowledge did not prevent anybody from sexual engagement with captured women.  They considered this risk as a normal part of their lives.

Allotting the politically significant woman to the leader of the winning party was an Iranian tradition. When Bahram V annihilated the Turk Khaqan, he captured the first lady, Khatūn and made her his concubine. ⁵² The People of the Rashidun Caliphate did not classify the captured women into different categories. They distributed them among the soldiers without any distinction. This was not the case with the people of the Umayyad Caliphate. They had adopted the Iranian tradition. They regarded the captive women belonging to the defeated ruler as noble or superior. They presented such women only to the rulers and elite of the Umayyad Caliphate. A daughter of a patrician of Armenia was captured during the war. She was specifically allotted to the commander of the Muslim army. ⁵³ When Qubayba bin Muslim came to know that a woman captured in Khorasan was actually a descendant of Yazdegerd, the last Sasanian king, he discussed her future with his armed colleagues. They all agreed and they presented her to Caliph Walid bin Abdul Malik. ⁵⁴

Capturing a Muslim woman

The Muslims did not capture a Muslim woman during a war. It was illegal. ⁵⁵ That is the reason nobody touched the wives of Ubaydullah bin Ziyad after his defeat and death in Mosul. Her sister took her home, though the winners had looted the camp and taken into possession anything of value. ⁵⁶ After defeating the rebels of Ash’ath in Khorasan, Yazid bin Muhallab took into custody thirteen women. He did not keep them in captivity but rather sent them to their homes in Iraq carefully. ⁵⁷

However, as the society of the Umayyad Caliphate deteriorated during the later decades and lawlessness prevailed, we find examples of Muslim women being captured. When the Syrian troops reached Qandabil to arrest the Muhallab family, Marwan bin Muhallab made his way towards the women. Mufaḍḍal bin Muhallab asked him what was he going to do. Marwan said that he was going to slay them to avoid them falling into the hands of sinners. Mufaddal argued with him about whether he would slay his sisters and women of his household. He convinced Marwan that the women were not in any danger and not to slay them. When the women and children reached Maslamah bin Abdul Malik, the governor of Iraq, he swore that he would sell them. Jarraḥ bin Abdullah (ex-lieutenant governor of Khorasan for Umar bin Abdul Aziz) bought all of them symbolically to relieve his master of his oath, without paying a single penny. Only nine boys were sent to Yazid bin Abdul Malik who ordered them to be executed by beheading. ⁵⁸

Sometimes, Muslims did not capture non-Muslim women if they were the concubines of Muslims as a goodwill gesture. ⁵⁹

Mainstream Muslims did not consider the women of the Khariji rebels as Muslim. They would force them into slavery. In the last battle against Qatari, the government forces captured fifteen Arab women from Qatari’s camp, all comely and pleasing to the eye. ⁶⁰ The same is true for the Kharijis. Actually, the Kharijis initiated capturing Muslim women into slavery, stating that they were non-Muslims. When the Kharijis raided Basrah during Caliph Abdul Malik’s time, they captured the wife of the commander of the Umayyad Caliphate’s army. They put her on auction for the highest bidder to buy her. ⁶¹.

Special status of women

The Muslim society of the Umayyad Caliphate granted a special status to women because they did not participate in battle. The physical handling of a woman, even if she was considered non-Muslim, was an act of cowardice. The army of the Umayyad Caliphate captured a few women of the Kharijis after their defeat. A soldier was taking all of them to his commander. He killed one of the women on his way. He had to explain his position in an enquiry as to why committed the act. He was cleared only when he convinced the enquiry that he had to kill her in self-defense. ⁶²

The mishandling of a free woman was actually alien to Arab culture until Mu’awiya took over.  When ‘Amr bin Ḥamiq of the Khuza’a tribe escaped Kufa during crackdown on Hujr bin Adi and his companions, Mu’awiya arrested his wife. Ya’qubi notes that this was the first incident of a woman being arrested for a crime of a man. ⁶³

The mishandling of a woman stirred sentiments of revenge. Mukhtar al Thaqafi had created the same scene that Mu’awiya had done previously. Mukhtar arrested the wife of Ubaydullah bin Hurr the dacoit, who had left his wife behind in the safety of Kufa after he had left the urban lifestyle for robberies. Mukthar’s aim was to pressure Ubaydullah bin Hurr into surrendering to the police.  An angry Ubaydullah bin Hurr composed a poem:

They destroyed my house and led my wife off
To their prison – the Muslims are my witnesses.

They have her no time to tie her veil.
O the marvel! Will fate avenge me?

I am not Ibn al Ḥurr, if I do not surprise them
The armored horsemen who attack like lions.⁶⁴

Expression of emotions

The woman was responsible for the expression of family emotions. Only women lamented the death of Husayn bin Ali at Medina. ⁶⁵ It does not mean the men of Banu Hashim did not feel sorrow, but they kept a stern face.  Actually, one woman of Banu Abdul Muttalib wept and mourned the death of Husayn in Medina on the return of his family by coming out of her house, untying her hair and putting her cap on her head. ⁶⁶ Emotive expressions came out of women in any situation of distress. When the police surrounded a house where a fugitive was hidden, the daughters started weeping. ⁶⁷

The way women expressed sorrow for death was culturally determined. The gestures performed and dialogues uttered on such occasions were predictable. Interestingly, an Arab soldier was killed in tribal warfare in Balkh. A few women wept for him in the street. One of them was his daughter.  The daughter wailed while crying, “O father, would that I knew who struck you.” A passerby was the soldier of victorious Arab army.  He said, “I did.” ⁶⁸

Soft ambassador of the family

The man was the political head of the family. He handled all difficult relations with other families. Women handled the gentler relations with the consent of the husband. On most occasions, it was the wife whom other people gave a gift, though the aim of act was to improve relations with the head of the family. ⁶⁹ The exchange of gifts, and hence goodwill, took place between the wives of Nasr bin Syar and Harith bin Surayj when Harith returned from his self-exile. ⁷⁰

Feminine virtues

Obviously, a sought after virtue in a woman was her beauty.  Look at a few couplets composed by A’shā Hamdān in 684 CE:

There showed herself to us, slim, narrow of waist,
graceful of hips, full in the bottom,

Elegant and beautiful, a young girl whose youth
is like the morning sun smiling between the clouds.

When the clouds and their shadows cover her,
A small part of her still shows and she jealously guards what still shows.⁷¹

However, physical beauty was a generic virtue that was appreciated in any woman, whether she was a wife, concubine or even a passerby. ⁷² The real virtue of a woman which would attract a man to marry her was her chastity.

Denouncing the execution of an innocent woman at the hands of police Abdur Rahman bin Hassan bin Thabit says:

The killing of a young woman pleasing of mien, modest,
Refined in character, disposition, and lineage;

Did the people not marvel at the killing of a free woman,
Chaste of religion, praiseworthy of manners:

A woman of leisure, a believer free
From blame, slander, doubt, or lying?⁷³

A chaste woman commanded the respect of any man. The veil was her symbol of chastity and no man of good standing in society would dare depriving a chaste woman of her veil. ‘May no chaste woman ever lay off her veil in my household’, prays Ibn Hurr the dacoit in one of his poems. ⁷⁴

Even disputing the chastity of a woman who was otherwise known to be chaste was unacceptable. One of the newly recruited soldiers of Hajjaj shouted at the Kharijis ‘you sons of whores’ during a battle with them in 695 CE. The Kharijis were more offended by the words than they were by the Hajjajs’ swords and lances. They asked, ‘What excuse do you have for Allah to slander our mothers?’ The moderate ones among the newly recruited soldiers answered, ‘‘This is just talk by some foolish youth among us, by Allah, and we neither like it nor consider it acceptable.’ The regular government troops also had to apologize for such wordings of their comrades in arms. ⁷⁵

The worst verbal insult to any man was doubting the chastity of his mother. Muslim men did it so regularly that it became a standard swearing word. Just before his murder, the murderer called Qutayba bin Muslim ‘a son of adulteress.’ ⁷⁶ Uttering such words were not without any repercussions.  Sa’id bin ‘Amr al Ḥarashi was under the thumb of the governor of Iraq Umar bin Hubayrah who had dismissed him in 722 CE and had imprisoned him and tortured him.  Before his dismissal, Harashi had called governor Umar by his mother’s name and in turn, governor Umar had called Harashi by his mother’s name. Now, governor Umar sent one of his subordinates by name of Ma’qil to the jail just to give these words to Harashi, ‘“O Ibn Nas’ah [Harishi’s mother]! Your mother entered and was sold for eighty mangy she goats. She was with the shepherds, who came to her one after the other as if she were the riding animal of someone who is constantly coming and going. Do you consider her equal to bint Ḥārith bin ‘Amr [mother of governor Umar].” ⁷⁷ Years later, when the governor of the province had changed, Harishi brought a case of slander against Ma’qil. Ma’qil was punished by flogging under ḥadd law.  He was also declared an unreliable witness in any future court case. When Ma’qil was receiving flogs and Harishi was a bystander, Ma’qil repeated his words. Khalid, the governor of that time, ordered the repeating of his hadd punishment. The judge intervened and took the stand that a criminal could not be punished twice for the same crime. ⁷⁸ A court case after utterance of abusive word about chastity of a mother was not an isolated example. It was quite common. Ya’qubi reports that Sulayman bin Abdul Malik dismissed Khalid bin Abdullah, the governor of Mecca and got him flogged for slandering a woman of Quraysh. ⁷⁹

Muslim society expected all women to be chaste. Yet, society believed that free married women were reliably chaste while slave girls were not. While abusing the soldiers of Bakr bin Wail, Qutayba bin Muslim taunted that they were like slave girls who did not ward off sexual advances. ⁸⁰

The concept of chastity was not attached to the female gender alone.  Men were expected to be chaste too. This virtue of a man counted towards his good curriculum vitae. When Hisham bin Abdul Malik was looking for an appropriate lieutenant governor for the troubled district of Khorasan, he not only wished for experience and sensibility in the potential candidate but also chastity. ⁸¹

Arrangement of marriage

Arranged marriages were the order of the day. Usually, the parents of the woman negotiated her marriage, especially in the case of her first marriage. The same was true for men but sometimes the men negotiated their own marriage with the parents of the women.  When Zayd bin Ali reached Kufa to lead the rebellion in 739 CE, he married a woman. She was the daughter of Abdullah bin Abi ‘Anbas of Azd. Her mother, Umm ‘Amr bint Ṣalt, was of Shi’a persuasion.   When Umm Amr heard of Zayd’s presence in Kufa, she went to greet him. She was a corpulent, good-looking, fleshy woman who was already getting on in years. She spoke eloquent Arabic.  Zayd was immensely impressed by her and asked about her lineage. Satisfied by that, he offered marriage. She gently refused, saying that she was old, though Zayd was under the impression that she was a young woman. Then she offered her daughter. She claimed that the daughter was more beautiful, more corpulent, finer than the mother in coquettishness, whiter and better looking. The mother claimed that the daughter was more eloquent in Arabic than she was. Zayd said that he would not have any objection to marrying her. He arranged a meeting with her, came to her, and contracted a marriage with her. Tabari reports that Zayd was madly in love with his new wife. ⁸²

Zayd had to propose the marriage to the mother of the woman. Once the mother was agreeable, Zayd dealt with the woman directly. Asking for the hand of a woman from her parents was the norm. When the question of the women of Luwātah arose, Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz asked the Muslim masters of those women to either ask for the hand of each woman from her father or return her to her original family. The background of the incident is that Luwatah were Berber nomads.  They were scattered in the desert west of Egypt and south of Barqah up to Ifriqiya. ⁸³ During Futuhul Buldan, Amr bin As had compelled them to sell their children and wives to pay the jizya due on them. They had been doing this since then. During Umar bin Abdul Aziz’s tenure, certain religious scholars objected, stating that the practice conflicted with the tenets of Islam.  They believed that the Luwatah people should be considered technically slaves who have now converted to Islam and hence should not be compelled to pay jizya by selling their family members.  Umar bin Abdul Aziz agreed.  He ordered the owners of the Luwatah women to either marry them or send them back for free.⁸⁴

Generally, it was the man or his family who proposed marriage. Most marriage contracts materialized after the free and informed consent of the woman or her family.  Occasionally, the powerful threatened a woman into marriage. Such tactics were, anyhow, immoral and illegal. The state protected women under such circumstances. ‘Abdur Rahmān bin Ḍaḥḥāk bin Qays of the Fihr clan of Quraysh was governor over Medina. He proposed marriage to Fatima bint Husayn bin Ali. She refused gently, saying that she already had kids to raise.  Abdur Rahman threatened to implicate her eldest son Abdullah bin Hasan in a wine-drinking case and flog him if she refused. Fatima complained to Caliph Yazid bin Abdul Malik through the military register in Medina. In a tantrum of rage, Yazid dismissed Abdur Rahman, ordered his torture, and fined him four hundred thousand dirhams. ⁸⁵, ⁸⁶

The rejection of a marriage proposal by the woman’s party on unreasonable grounds was an open insult to the man. Powerful men did not force the woman into marriage but sometimes tried to harm her family. Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik had asked Yazid bin Umar bin Hubayrah (later on the last Umayyad governor over Iraq) for the hand of his daughter for Hisham’s son Mu’awiya. Yazid refused. Hisham kept the grudge. After some time, hot words passed between Yazid bin Umar and Walīd bin Qa’qā’. Hisham instigated Walid bin Qa’qa’ to beat Yazid and incarcerate him. ⁸⁷

We do not know with certainty that a Muslim woman was permitted to only marry a Muslim. A Khariji stated that the governor of Iraq allowed the marriage of Muslim women to non-Muslims. ⁸⁸ This could have been the reality or simply the vilification of one politician to the other politician. As the news reached us in the form of a political charge sheet, it is apparent that even if this happened it was not attested by the society as normal.  Interestingly, Tabari reported an incident in which a Turk dihqan by name of Kursul sent a marriage proposal to an Arab Muslim woman living in a fortress in the Sughdia district of Khorasan. She refused. ⁸⁹ Again, in this incident, we see that a Muslim woman refused to marry a non-Muslim man and her community supported her despite the odds. Still, one can argue that marriage of Muslim woman with a non-Muslim man was not impossible. Otherwise why would have Kursul sent a marriage proposal?

Muslim men had access to concubines and the right to get children from them. Yet marriage, with a free woman was necessary for a good social standing. Before a battle between the forces of lieutenant governor Yazid bin Muhallab and the rebels of Abdur Rahman bin Ash’ath, a soldier taunted his opponent:

No free-born women will weep for him, only hired wailing women,
The spotted and the black among them will be weeping over him. ⁹⁰

An age gap between the spouses was not a big issue. Zayd bin Ali was an adult person by the time he married a young nymph in Kufa. His daughters were married and he lived in Kufa with his sons in law by that time. ⁹¹

Marrying widow of brother

The ancient Arab tradition of marrying the widow of the brother survived.  Rayṭa bint ‘Ubaydallah was married to Abdullah bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan. He died, widowing her. His brother, Hajjaj bin Abdul Malik, married her. Probably, this particular marriage was a token arrangement because Abdullah did not consummate the marriage and divorced her when a suitable marriage proposal became available. ⁹²

Political marriages

Political marriages are as old as politics. Social scientists suspect political advantages out of many marriages of pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabs. ⁹³ Marwan’s marriage to the mother of Khalid bin Yazid is the first documented example of a political marriage in Islam. The purpose of the marriage from Marwan’s point of view was not to get more children. The purpose was to be the stepfather of Khalid bin Yazid. ⁹⁴

While tensions were high between Nasr bin Sayyar and Kirmani in 744 CE in Khorasan, Nasr offered to marry his sons and daughters with those of Kirmani to resolve the dispute. ⁹⁵

Rituals of marriage

The marriage ceremony was a simple affair for pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabs. After the completion of the marriage contract in the presence of witnesses, the man and woman consummated the marriage. Then, the man hosted a feast for their family and friends. It appears that new ceremonies were popular with the Arab population during the Umayyad Caliphate.  One of them was that women used to wear henna to decorate themselves for their men.  An Arab soldier died in on the battlefield in Khorasan. His slave girl exclaimed, “How long shall I prepare henna such as this for you when you are dyed with blood?” ⁹⁶

Divorce

Divorce was not very popular among early Muslims though it was readily acceptable. ⁹⁷ Somewhere during the the Umayyad Caliphate, divorcing a wife became a social stigma for a husband. A clue to such social change comes from time of Governor Mus’ab bin Zubayr. He compelled some of his Ashraf to divorce their wives as retaliation against them. ⁹⁸ Clearly, divorcing a wife was such an insult that a ruler would use it as a punishment.  The theme continued throughout the length of the Umayyad Caliphate. Men would vow to divorce their wives if they failed in achieving a target. ⁹⁹ Rulers would take oaths from their subordinates, vowing to divorce their wives if they disobeyed. ¹⁰⁰

Bagnall suggests, after studying divorce and inheritance laws and the practices of Roman Egypt, that liberal divorce laws coincided with less property exchange at the time of marriage and strict divorce laws coincided with extensive property exchange at the time of marriage. ¹⁰¹ Marriage was too expensive for a man in the Umayyad Caliphate to break it easily. Still, we do not know the exact reasons behind this change in the society. It could be the high rates of mehr, scarcity of free women, a combination of both or something else.

It does not mean divorce vanished from the Muslim culture. We can trace divorces during the Umayyad Caliphate for a variety of reasons. When a Kufan joined Husayn bin Ali’s camp at Karbala, he divorced his wife preemptively to relieve her of any suffering that she would potentially bear due to her husband’s involvement in opposition politics. ¹⁰² Hajjaj bin Yousuf divorced his wife because she had sympathies with her brother who was a political opponent of Hajjaj and had been tortured by him. ¹⁰³ Caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan divorced his wife Aisha when he came to know that she was mentally retarded. ¹⁰⁴

A rich Muslim man had multiple wives. Divorcing one of them did not break his family apart.  The woman, on the other hand, lost her family if she got divorced.  In this sense, a divorced woman was in a disadvantageous position. Probably, society also perceived a divorced woman as incapable of building satisfactory relations with her husband. A divorced woman might have had to face more difficulty in remarriage as compared to a widow. That is a reason getting divorce was insulting for her family of origin. Influential people could mastermind the divorce of a woman just to insult her original family. Junayd bin Abdur Rahman, the deputy governor of Khorasan, married Fāḍilah bint Yazid bin Muhallab. At that time, Yazid bin Muhallab was under government tyranny. Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik flickered with anger at his action of Junayd. Hisham probably expected that Junayd would understand the nuances and would avoid marrying the daughter of a person who was not in the good books of the Caliph. Hisham dismissed Junayd from governorship. Hisham was bent upon harming Junayd further but Junayd died of natural causes in the meanwhile. ¹⁰⁵ ‘Umārah bin Ḥuraym was a petty government officer in Khorasan. He married the widowed Fadilah after three years.  Asad bin Abdullah, the then lieutenant governor of Khorasan, pressured Umarah to divorce her.  Initially, Umarah resisted the demand but he was forced to bend in the face of threats of physical harm to him. The divorce to Fadilah overjoyed the government party. A low ranking government officer remarked, “‘Umārah is the champion of the Qays and its lord.  Fāḍilah is no more splendid than he.” That is to say, she was not nobler than he was. ¹⁰⁶

Remarriage of a woman

Pre-Islamic Arab society had no problem with the remarriage of a widow. The same applied to early Muslims. The situation essentially remained unchanged in the Umayyad Caliphate.  However, a new concept that remarriage was not the best option for a widow had started appearing in Arab Muslim society. Zayd bin Ali bin Husayn brought a court case against his cousin, ‘Abdullah bin Ḥasan bin Ḥasan bin Ali bin Abu Talib.  The arguments between the two parties got dirty during the proceedings. Abdullah reminded Zayd that he was the son of an Indian slave girl while Abdullah was the son of a free Arab woman. Zayd retaliated that his mother was patient after the death of her master. She never crossed her threshold while Abdullah’s mother was not patient. Though Zayd had to apologize later for his loose talk and Fatima bint Husayn bin Ali, Abdullah’s mother, forgave Zayd, the new concept was noted. A son of an Indian woman considered the remarriage of a widow unethical. ¹⁰⁷

In laws had to look after

The family of the origin of a woman had to remain overall responsible for her wellbeing.  Whenever her husband was not able or available to care for her, the original family of the woman stepped in. Nu’man bin Bashir’s wife Na’ila was from Kalb. After Nu’man was killed, the men of Kalb took charge of Na’ila and her children. ¹⁰⁸ We also find people taking help and refuge with their maternal uncles as their birthright in case of any trouble.¹⁰⁹

Completely unrelated men adopted orphaned children only if no one from the paternal or maternal sides were available. When Sa’id bin Aslam was killed, Hajjaj bin Yousuf took his son, Muslim bin Sa’id, and raised him together with his own children, providing him with an excellent education. ¹¹⁰

Mortality rate of childbirth

Depicting the uncertainties of the third Arab civil war a poet of Khorasan by name of Ḥārith bin Abdullah says:

The people see in this situation only
all kinds of unknown hazards.

Like the whickering of a young she-camel or the cry of a woman in labor whose child has become stuck fast
around whom stand her midwives.¹¹¹

Sudden death during childbirth was a stark reality of life. The first childbirth was particularly dangerous. Zayd’s wife died during her first childbirth. ¹¹²

Men had high mortality rates in wars and industrial work.  Women’s mortality rate during childbirth must have balanced the gender proportion in the society.

Father’s relations with sons

Psychologists tell us that certain relations are inherently easy and others are difficult.  Relations between male and female sexual partners are the most difficult. Relations between a father-in-law and daughter-in-law are generally genial, while the mother-in-law is universally notorious in these regards.  Citation.  Father-son relations are variable. Fathers are generally proud of their sons but an age comes when sons act rebelliously towards their fathers.

Once a young man compelled his father to change his decisions by threatening him of committing suicide. ¹¹³ Similarly, once a father had to offer the gift of an orchard to his son for rejecting his Khariji views. ¹¹⁴

Despite the occasional difference of opinion between a young son and the father, father-son relations were generally those of pride and love. Sons were thoroughly obedient to their fathers.  During the Battle of Defile in Samarkand, Ḥayyān bin ‘Ubaydullah bin Zuhayr dismounted from his horse in his father’s view to give his horse to his brother Abdul Malik. The father advised the son, “O Ḥayyān! Hurry to your brother, for he is but a youth, and I fear for him.”  Hayyan refused. The father said, “O my little son, if you are slain in this state of yours, you will be slain disobedient.” (Meaning he would not obtain martyrdom). Hayyan went back to the place where he had left his brother and the horse to help him.  ¹¹⁵

Concubines and slave girls

Concubines were not wives. They were considered private property. When the Muslim Arabs fought against each other, they spared capturing the wives of their opponents after their defeat.  However, they did not mind capturing the concubines. Mus’ab bin Zubayr had ordered the demolition of a house of a Sharif in his capacity as the governor of Iraq. Mus’ab seized whatever he could find in the house including a slave girl. That slave girl later bore a son to Mus’ab. ¹¹⁶ The problem was that unlike inanimate objects of wealth, the slave women could feel and think. Sometimes, they imprisoned them temporarily before the allocation of a new master for them. When Umayyah imprisoned Bukayr, he also imprisoned his concubine ‘Ārimah. After the execution of Bukayr, Umayyah gave Arimah to Baḥīr, who had carried out Bukayr’s execution. ¹¹⁷

Concubines were humans and sometimes they developed an emotional relationship with their masters. Yazid bin Muhallab had an Arab concubine belonging to Juhaynah. She had given birth to a son for Yazid. Yazid was so kind to her that he used to pay her money equal to the salary of one thousand soldiers. The relationship was known publicly. ¹¹⁸

Muslim bin Uqba, the commander of the Syrian army invading Hejaz, died issueless.  He bequeathed all his property to the people of Ḥawrān except a small portion that he gave to his concubine. ¹¹⁹, ¹²⁰

The passionate relationship with her master could put a concubine in an influential position if her master was a powerful man. The Arab slave-girl of Yazid bin Muhallab was influential in this way. An ordinary soldier of Yazid’s army a clue for a secret path to reach the fortress of Wajāh, where the Gorgani army had fortified themselves and where Yazid was besieging without any fruit for seven months. The soldier demanded money for divulging the route and Yazid promised to pay. The soldier demanded a confirmation of the promise of payment from the mouth of the slave-girl before he would trust the words of Yazid. ¹²¹, ¹²²

Some slave girls were rich due to the kind behavior of their masters. Rā’iqah was a slave girl of Khalid bin Abdullah, the governor of Iraq. She was rich enough to buy an extravagant ruby for herself. ¹²³

The most renowned and most talked about romance was between Caliph Yazid bin Abdul Malik and his concubine Ḥabābah. Yazid would open his heart frankly to her. Once he said to Hababah, “Let me fly.” Hababah asked, to whom would you entrust the Muslim community with? ¹²⁴ Then. Hababah got sick and Yazid shed tears publicly. When Hababah died, Yazid was visibly disturbed.  His brother Maslamah bin Abdul Malik advised Yazid not to do any public service for seven days. Maslamah’s recommendation was out of concern that Yazid would look like a fool to the public if they saw him sobbing for a concubine. ¹²⁵  We do not know what was so special about those concubines that won the hearts of their masters.  Rich and powerful men, like Caliph Yazid bin Abdul Malik, had access to a large number of youthful beauties from all over the world.  The beauty of a particular woman might not be the trigger of the emotionally charged relationship. Probably, her strong feminine traits made her more attractive than others.  Hababah was known to possess a number of feminine skills. She was an avid singer and Yazid liked her songs. ¹²⁶

Like any other human, some slave girls felt humiliated if their master failed to protect them. This could have been especially true in the cases when emotion-laden relations existed between the concubine and the master. When Mus’ab bin Zubayr was defeated and knew he was going to be killed, a Syrian soldier entered his camp and took out his slave girl. She shouted, “Alas my humiliation.” Mus’ab looked at her and then paid no further attention to her. ¹²⁷

A concubine was not a strong component of a man’s honour that he was bound to protect and defend. Somewhere during the era of the Umayyad Caliphate, sharing a concubine with other male friends became fashionable. When Yazid bin Muhallab was staying with Sulayman bin Abdul Malik, they became friends (or probably political allies). Both shared whatever gift the other received half-and-half. This included slave girls. Sulayman used to send his slave girl to Yazid after she came to the end of her purity. Walid, the caliph, objected to it, calling Sulayman ‘inimical to his family’, but Sulayman did not heed his words.  (Apparently, there was no law to prevent such practices, except morality.). ¹²⁸ Presenting one’s concubine to a guest became a standard of hospitality among the rich elite. ¹²⁹

One possible role of a slave girl was prostitution. Tabari mentioned that a slave girl served her master as well as other men. ¹³⁰ A comparatively poor master might find it profitable to earn income by selling the sexual services of his slave girl.

Freeing a slave was a pious deed. ¹³¹  We hear of male slaves being freed by their masters. An Arab commander by the name of Rabi’ bin Ziyad campaigned in Quhistan. He was accompanied by his slave Farrukh and his slave-girl Sharīfah.  On gaining success in the campaign, Rabi’ freed Farrukh but he did not free Sharifah. ¹³² One explanation for such behavior could be that a male slave had the chance to earn a livelihood and start a family. A female slave did not have any chance of earning a livelihood and starting a family. The master considered her his liability.

It appears that keeping concubines did not generate jealousy in the wives. Wives were conscious of the inferior status of a concubine. It was Yazid bin Abdul Malik’s wife, Su’dah, who bought Hababah and presented her to Yazid as a surprise gift. Yazid had bought once Hababah but had to return her to her previous owner after receiving rebuke from his elder brother Sulayman. Since then, Yazid expressed a passionate craving for Hababah. ¹³³

The law of the Rashidun Caliphate, that a slave-girl becomes automatically free at the death of her master if she had given birth to a child for her master, lingered on in the Umayyad Caliphate.  She was free to marry after the death of her master.  We come across a woman by the name of Ṭaw’ah in Kufa. She was the umm walad of Ash’ath bin Qays. Ash’ath’s death freed her.  She then married Asīd al Ḥaḍrami and bore him a son. ¹³⁴

Children of concubines

The children of concubines were present in pre-Islamic Arab society. However, they were not a significant part of the society. The children of concubines were so numerous after Futuhul Buldan that they constituted a large portion of Arab Muslim society. Society saw them as somewhat inferior.  They had to prove themselves, sometimes using religion. Zayd bin Ali bin Husayn was the product of a concubine. He litigated his cousin to claim his share of the property.  The cousin argued that Zayd should not get any share because he was the son of an Indian concubine. Zayd argued that being the son of a slave girl did not diminish a person’s rights.  Isma’il was the son of a slave girl and he obtained more than a property. ¹³⁵ The rights of a son of a concubine came under consideration again at the court of Caliph Hisham. Zayd bin Ali had gone to Hisham’s court to plead his case of property.  During the proceeding, Hisham suspected that Zayd considered himself as worthy of the caliphate as Hisham. Hisham snubbed Zayd, saying that he could never obtain the caliphate because he was the son of a slave girl.  “O Commander of Faithful”, Zayd humbly asked permission to answer and went on, “Nobody is closer to Allah nor more exalted in rank with Him than a prophet whom He has sent. Isma’il was amongst the best of the prophets and was the ancestor of the best of them, Muhammad.  Isma’il was the son of a slave girl and his brother was born of a pure woman, just as you were; but God chose Isma’il in preference to his brother and caused the best of mankind to come forth from him and no one disputes that. A man whose ancestor was the Prophet of Allah should not therefore be ignored whoever his mother was.” ¹³⁶ The idea that a child of a concubine was not a full member of the family hounded such children quite often. Once Abdullah bin Zubayr commented about Muhammad bin Hanifiyah that the latter was the son of a slave girl from Banu Hanifa. Hence, he should not get angry if Ali was insulted because it was the function of the descendants of Fatima. ¹³⁷

Most of the animosity against the children of concubines appeared to stem from their claim to the name and property of their father. Tabari notes an incident whereby the son of a concubine was sold into slavery by his own brother. His only fault was that he was the son of a concubine. ¹³⁸

Despite all odds, the children of concubines advanced rapidly. They started attaining positions of authority, like high-ranking government officers or military commanders. Ultimately, the day came when the son of a concubine became the caliph of the Muslim Ummah. He was Yazid bin Walid. ¹³⁹

Utility of slave girls

Whenever an Islamic source mentions a slave girl in the Rashidun Caliphate, it notes a child born out of the slave-master relations.  The main purpose for keeping slave girls was to increase the numerical strength of the family.

This purpose changed during the Umayyad Caliphate. Tabari mentions a slave girl by the name of ‘Āliyah.  At least four masters kept her over time. When she ended up in the Caliph’s palace, her name changed to Ḥabābah, which sounds more voluptuous. Tabari does not note any pregnancy from any of her masters, though he mentions her beauty, her desirability, and her singing skills. ¹⁴⁰ This is indirect evidence that Aliyah’s masters used contraception during sexual intercourse with her. Her job was to give sexual pleasure and not children. Actually, Aliyah started her long journey of being sold and resold from the slave market in Mecca, which was organized during the Hajj season. Obviously, the sale and resale of a woman was possible only while she was not a mother. Otherwise, her master would have to keep her for life, according to the law of the country. They were girls like Aliyah who were offered to friendly guests as sexual escorts.

Islamic sources document many men born out of master-slave relationships during the Umayyad Caliphate. Mothers could not be sold in the open market. It means certain slave girls qualified to produce the next generation, while others were sex slaves. The question is what made a slave girl worthy of reproduction. No definite answer is known. Probably her family background, educational level, or occupation of her previous husband helped her in attaining this status.

Slave girls are also known to have done household chores. They used to cater inside homes, for example, serving water to men. ¹⁴¹ Their masters used to send them outside the house to shop for groceries. ¹⁴² One can assume that these girls were not as pretty as those who aroused the masters sexually or not as noble as those who bore children to their masters.  One can further assume that doing household chores and grocery shopping was beyond the honour of a full wife who was a free woman.

Rich Muslim men had multiple slave girls. They also had at least four wives. It is unlikely that they could adopt the same policy towards each of them, even if they used aphrodisiacs. One can assume that they chose all of the wives and a few noble concubines for reproduction. They reserved a few charming women to fulfill their erotic desires. That left the rest of the ugly, non-noble, or old slaves for household chores. Less affluent men had fewer slave girls. They might have had to combine all the functions of a slave girl into each one present in their household.

Honour killing

Generally, we do not hear of honour killing in the society of the Umayyad Caliphate. Yet such incidents have happened which could be considered precursors of honour killings. The Kharijis captured the wife of Commander Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah and presented her in the market to be sold to the highest bidder. A man belonging to the tribe of Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah was present at the occasion. He felt so undignified that he killed the poor woman. Later on, when he met the family of the woman, the family said, “By Allah, we do not know whether we should praise you or blame you.” ¹⁴³

Womanizers

Hajjaj bin Yousuf was the master of abusive words.  He calls one prisoner of war from the Rebellion of Commons a ‘philanderer.’ ¹⁴⁴ Tabari also describes the fervor for sexual intercourse in a negative sense.  Emphasizing his point that the public mood varied in line with the habits of a ruler, he announces that people talked about buildings and construction during Walid bin Abdul Malik’s tenure. People talked about the recitation of the Qur’an, the memorization of the Qur’an, and fasting outside Ramadan during Umar bin Abdul Aziz’s time.  Along the same lines, people talked about coupling and slave girls during Sulayman bin Abdul Malik’s time, whom Tabari labels as an enthusiast of sexual intercourse. ¹⁴⁵ Now, the question remains: what was wrong with sexual intercourse? Sex with multiple partners and slave girls was legal for men.  A hint towards the solution of the riddle comes from a poem. Around 720 CE, the armies of the Umayyad Caliphate were on the back foot in Khorasan. They were defeated in one battle. Satirizing the defeated soldiers, the poet taunts:

You advanced towards the enemy by night playing with a concubine
with your penis drawn and your sword sheathed.  ¹⁴⁶

So, Arab Muslims did not mind having multiple sexual partners. What they loathed was using all their time and energy to find new partners and frequently changing them to the extent of neglecting other duties and responsibilities.

Veil and segregation of genders

Tabari notes that after the battle of Karbala, Zaynab bint Ali came out of the camp to talk to Umar bin Sa’d, the commander of the opposing army. At that time, the soldiers of the Umayyad Caliphate saw her face.¹⁴⁷ Zaynab must have crossed forty by that time. One can argue that she was too old to wear a veil.  There were younger women in the camp as well.  Tabari notes that Umar bin Sa’d arrested all of the women present in the camp.  They passed by the dead bodies of their loved ones, shrieked with sorrow and tore at their faces. The soldiers of the opponent forces present on the site saw their faces and one of them commented on their beauty. ¹⁴⁸ Tabari further laments that when the womenfolk of Husayn bin Ali reached the presence of Yazid bin Abu Sufyan, everyone saw their faces. ¹⁴⁹ By describing these events in detail, Tabari is attracting our attention to a social fact of the land.  Noble women were expected to wear a veil covering their faces whenever they were in public. This was irrespective of their ages. The expectation came from the society as a whole and not specifically from their husbands.  Noble women had an internal wish to wear a veil and felt embarrassed if deprived of it.

A husband could exempt his wife from covering her face with a veil under certain circumstances.  Once Ziyad bin Abihi/Abu Sufyan went to see Mughira bin Shu’ba in his house. Mughira allowed his wife, Umm Ayyub bint ‘Umarah bin ‘Uqbah, to sit in front of Ziyad. Mughira commented, “You will not be concealed from Abu l Mughira [meaning Ziyad].”  After the death of Mughira, Ziyad married her.  She was still young.¹⁵⁰

There is ample evidence of a new trend in the Umayyad Caliphate. This was the segregation of genders inside the home.  We do not find such a custom in the Rashidun Caliphate.  The segregation of genders inside a home can be traced to as early as the caliphate of Yazid bin Mu’awiya. When the women of Husayn bin Ali’s camp reached Yazid’s presence and Yazid finished arguing with them, he moved them into an isolated house. There, they met the women of the family of Mu’awiya who lamented the death of Husayn with them. ¹⁵¹ The new social norm persisted. Governor Yousuf bin Umar reached his native town of Balqā’ secretly after losing power in Iraq. Caliph Yazid III wished to apprehend him, sending his police force after him. The police searched his house thoroughly but did not find anything. Then, they entered the women’s quarters. They found Yousuf sitting with his wives and daughters wearing women’s clothing. ¹⁵²

The practice of segregating genders within households is believed to have emerged alongside the construction of large palaces, where such separation was feasible. However, even in smaller homes, the women maintained a certain distance from male members during routine activities.

During Muslim bin Aqil’s canvassing for Husayn in Kufa, he sought accommodation and approached a woman named Ṭaw’ah. Upon greeting her, Muslim requested water, but she, uncomfortable with him sitting at her door, insisted he leave, warning against such behavior in the future. Muslim then revealed his identity and plight, prompting Ṭaw’ah to invite him inside.

Her son, Bilal, was not home at the time. Ṭaw’ah brought Muslim into her house, arranging a carpet in an unused bedroom for him. She offered him food, though Muslim found himself unable to eat. Notably, she concealed the incident from her son until he returned, revealing it to Bilal only after obtaining a promise of secrecy. ¹⁵³. The small house had two rooms. The woman did not use the room in which Muslim stayed; instead, her son Bilal likely used it. If we keep on the same line, one can assume that segregation of genders inside the house was impossible for those who lived in a one-roomed house. The extent of the segregation of genders inside the home was directly proportionate to the wealth of a family.

The entrance of any man inside the house without the explicit permission of the head of the family was unacceptable to Muslim Arabs. After the death of Zayd bin Ali, Governor Yousuf ordered a house-to-house search in Kufa to look for the wounded. He likely intended to trace the surviving sympathizers of Zayd. For this purpose, the police entered the houses and brought the women out into the courtyard of the house while the police went around the inner apartments looking for the wounded. The action was so insulting to the inhabitants that it instigated a local poet by the name of Abu Juwayriyah to write a satirical poem. ¹⁵⁴

The veil was not limited to women. Sometimes, men also wore them. When Ubaydullah bin Ziyad reached Kufa to take charge of the governor he was veiled, along with some nobles of Basrah. People mistook him for Husayn bin Ali and said ‘greetings, son of the daughter of the Apostle of Allah.” ¹⁵⁵

Despite the segregation of the genders, their interaction in formal settings continued. Dialogue between Zaynab bin Ali and Ubaydullah bin Ziyad is well known. ¹⁵⁶ Zaynab was under arrest at that time. She did not have any options but to talk to Ibn Ziyad. Yet other examples of interactions between the genders in formal settings have survived. A woman by the name of ‘Ātikah bint Malāt had transmitted a tradition to a man by the name of Yahya. Yahya told the tradition to his son Muhammad who later transmitted it to Umar al Waqidi. The tradition stated that Atikah had married several husbands. One of them was killed in the rebellion of Abdullah bin Mu’awiya from the Umar bin Abdullah side. ¹⁵⁷ Actually, female transmitters of historical traditions were prevalent. Mulaykah bint Yazīd, the wife of Ash’ath, is credited to have transmitted the report of his death. ¹⁵⁸

The interaction between a male Muslim and a non-Muslim woman could take place but, again, it was in a formal setting. When the king of Farghana agreed to the conditions of the truce with Nasr bin Sayyar in 739 CE, his mother was in charge of his affairs. He sent his mother to Nasr for the signing of the deal. During the deal signing procedure, the mother chatted with Nasr about the Arab’s internal politics. ¹⁵⁹

Female genital manipulation

We are not one hundred percent certain that female genital manipulation was a practice of Arab Muslims living in the Umayyad Caliphate. Historical sources mention it as a passing idea.  Hisham bin Abdul Malik had friction with Walid bin Yazid. Once Walid had a verbal quarrel with Hisham where he was rude to Hisham. During the heat of the argument, Hisham’s uncle called Walid the “son of an uncircumcised woman.” ¹⁶⁰ The tradition leaves no doubt that the society was aware of such practices. It is still possible that a small portion of society practiced it. However, the mention of female genital manipulation to insult the listener indicates that the practice was frowned upon by the mainstream culture.

Inheritance

The husband and wife kept their property separate from each other. While Walid II’s camp was being looted, the father of his daughter-in-law appealed to the looters to keep hands away from the belongings of his daughter. ¹⁶¹ The wife transmitted her property to her descendants independent of her husband. Umar bin Abdul Aziz inherited a piece of land from his mother. ¹⁶²

The husband and wife were a team, anyhow. The wife could not neglect the needs of her husband in case of dire circumstances. When Muhallab bin Yazid owed a lot of money to the government and was not in a position to pay, it was his wife, Khayrah al-Qushayriyyah, who rescued him. Khayrah sold her jewelry to pay off the debt of her husband. ¹⁶³

When discussing inheritance, a distinct form deserves consideration – the inheritance of the family name rather than material wealth. An illustrative incident involves Mu’awiya bin Abu Sufyan taunting Abdullah bin Amir about his death. Mu’awiya’s focus was not on Abdullah’s material possessions but on the continuation of his family name. Mu’awiya emphasized that Abdullah’s legacy would cease to exist due to the absence of a male heir.¹⁶⁴

Premarital sex

The marriage of a woman at the onset of sexual maturity acted as a deterrent against premarital relations for her. However, the concept of premarital sex did permeate the realm of poetic imagination. This is evident in the verses crafted by an anonymous poet during the oath of allegiance to Nasr bin Siyyar in 744 CE:

Our allegiance to you was not a passing whim
to be rescinded at the earliest opportunity.

Like a young girl who rushes to meet her (intended) husband
before her fingers had been dyed.

And who was unveiled by the bridegroom before the marriage contract had been drawn up
and who therefore encountered him with aversion.¹⁶⁵

Illicit sex

Arab poets of the Umayyad Caliphate were reserved in describing their extra-marital affairs.  See the following verses composed by Ka’b al Ashqari of the Azd tribe, a soldier of Muhallab’s army fighting in Kerman against the Kharijis in 696 CE:

Ḥafṣ! Traveling has taken me far from you,
And I have been sleepless, my eyes sore from wakeful nights

Despite your gray hairs, Ka’b, you have been hooked by a girl;
Gray hairs usually keep idle fancies at bay.

Do you still retain the commitment she made?
Or, now that she is far away, is the tie severed?

I have been hooked by a girl who lives at the top of al- Ṭaff
In an upper chamber, beyond many doors and rooms,

Fleshy in the shoulders, and so full in the hips
That when she gets up to walk away, they almost stay behind.

I have left behind, on the banks of the two Zābīs
A home of hers where nomad and settled alike find good fortune.

And I have chosen an abode with a clan that pleases me,
Among whom there are still select men if you choose them.¹⁶⁶.

In the poem, the poet leaves the nature of his relationship with the woman ambiguous, but contextual clues suggest that she might be his girlfriend. The suspicion arises when a gray-haired soldier has to depart from the garrison town for the border area, and he fears that their connection is severed. This concern would not be applicable if she were a wife or slave. The explicit and sensual description of her beauty aligns more with the conventions poets use when portraying their girlfriends, as opposed to wives. During this period, Arabic poets often focused on the facial beauty of their wives, whereas the emphasis on the figure, as noted in the poem, is more indicative of a romantic involvement. The mention of her residing behind numerous doors and rooms further suggests a relationship that extends beyond the confines of a marital arrangement.

Illicit sex definitely occured in the Muslim society of the Umayyad Caliphate. When a group of people of Balkh did not join Muslim bin Sa’id, the deputy governor of Khorasan, in his campaign across Oxus in 724 CE he said, “I am not leaving behind anything more worrisome to me than a group of people who stay behind, with perfumed necks, leaping from behind walls on the women of those out fighting for their faith.” ¹⁶⁷

Illicit sex was performed secretly. It never gained the status of normality in the Umayyad Caliphate. Lamenting on the conditions of Basrah, Governor Ziyad says, “The city does not have any censors to restrain the seducers from prowling at night.” ¹⁶⁸

Most of the women involved in consensual illicit sex were slaves. Tabari calls a slave girl of Mecca ‘Sallāmah of Qass’.  Tabari does not give further details. A later source, Ibn Athīr tells the whole story. Sallamah had a love affair with the renowned Meccan jurist and Qur’an reciter, Abdur Rahman bin Abdullah.  Abdur Rahman was also known as Qass (‘the priest’) because of his great piety. This Sallamah later became the sweetheart slave-girl of Caliph Yazid bin Abdul Malik. ¹⁶⁹

Rented sex was available in the Umayyad Caliphate. Governor Ziyad admitted that there were brothel houses in Basrah and that weak women were being snatched in broad daylight. ¹⁷⁰ We know that the women who provided such services were slave-girls.  We do not know with certainty who the clients were. Probably, they were the men who could not afford to own a slave-girl or newly grown-up men who could not yet afford a wife.  The presence of brothel houses was a social evil in the eyes of citizens of the Umayyad Caliphate, as is obvious from the words of Governor Ziyad. He included their presence among many other vices that the society suffered when he took governorship. Yet, it does not appear to be illegal.  We do not hear of any government action taken against brothels. The masters of slave-girls had a right to use them in whichever way they wanted and one of them was to force them into prostitution.¹⁷¹

The law against illicit sex

A thorough review of sources does not show any case of rape in the Umayyad Caliphate, whereby a man forced a woman to engage in sex with him against her explicit refusal and without documenting it. The only type of illegal sex that has survived in sources was whereby a man and woman were not supposed to engage in sexual relations but they did with mutual consent.

The decision of Caliph Umar bin Khattab’s court in one such case had taken out teeth of the law against this crime. ¹⁷² The Umayyad Caliphate had to make its own law because this kind of sex was unacceptable to the people. One landmark case has survived in historical accounts that sheds light on the new law.

Around 702 CE, Governor Hajjaj bin Yousuf assembled a levy from the Kufan Division, intending to deploy them to Khorasan. The levy set up camp at Hammam Umar, just outside Kufa, in readiness for the forthcoming campaign. Among the soldiers, there was a young man from Asad, a Kufa resident recently married to his paternal cousin’s daughter.

In a daring move, the young man stealthily slipped away from the camp to spend a night with his bride in Kufa. To his surprise, someone vehemently knocked on their door shortly after he arrived home. His wife, quick-witted and familiar with the nightly disturbances caused by a drunk soldier from the Syrian Troops, assured her husband that she had already reported the issue to the Shaykhs among his companions. She informed him that they were aware of the problem. Despite the potential danger, the husband decided to confront the intruder.

Upon opening the door, the husband locked it behind him, leaving only the wife visible to the Syrian soldier. She skillfully played along, creating a facade of hospitality. Encouraged by her apparent cooperation, the soldier declared, “Your time has come.” At that critical moment, the husband reappeared and swiftly dealt a fatal blow, decapitating the intruder. The husband, leaving for the camp at the morning call to prayer, instructed his wife to inform the Syrian’s family to retrieve the body after the Morning Prayer.

Subsequently, the Syrian soldier’s family filed a murder case in Hajjaj bin Yousuf’s court, with ‘Anbasah bin Sa’īd assisting in preparing the verdict. Summoning the wife to present her side, Hajjaj’s court dismissed the case after hearing her account. The court told the slain soldier’s family, “Bury your relative. He has been killed by Allah [and is headed] for hell fire; there will be no retaliation and no blood money.” ¹⁷³

The case gives us a deep insight into the law of the Umayyad Caliphate pertaining to illicit sex.  The husband had the right to kill a man whom he suspected was involved in illicit sex with his wife. Circumstantial evidence was enough for the court to acquit the husband of murder charges in such cases. In this particular case, the wife saved her life by convincing the husband of her innocence.  If the husband would have seen the Syrian soldier inside the house before husband’s entrance into the house, he may have killed the wife as well. This means stoning to death was obsolete in the Umayyad Caliphate. This punishment might still be part of legal code but never carried out. Married men and women could perform illicit sex with co-operation, but at risk of their lives.

Doubtful paternity

If illicit sex existed in the Umayyad Caliphate, doubtful paternity should have co-existed. This was exactly the motive behind the murder of Salīt bin Abdullah bin Abbas in Syria. The mother of Salit brought a complaint to the court of Caliph Walid bin Abdul Malik that Ali bin Abdullah had killed his brother, Salit. The mother maintained that Ali bin Abdullah had buried the dead body in his personal garden and had built a marker (dukkān) over the spot. Walid arrested Ali bin Abdullah. During the proceedings of the murder case, Ali told the court that he did not recognize Salit as his brother. He considered Salit his slave. He further said that his father, Abdullah bin Abbas, had doubted the paternity of Salit and had told the family that Salit was not his son. Abdullah bin Abbas was generous with Salit though. He had willed a share of his property to Salit on the condition that Salit never marries (so the property could not go into descendants of Salit). Ali bin Abdullah did not plead guilty to the murder charges. He took the position that he had not killed Salit. Instead, he insisted that his slaves had carried out the act, probably at the order of Ali bin Abdullah. The court gave Ali bin Abdullah a lenient punishment of exile to a nearby town. ¹⁷⁴ The case gives clarity to certain practices in the Umayyad Caliphate. The motive for the murder did not stem from any doubt regarding paternity.  The motive for the murder was the persistent demand of an individual, born out of suspected illicit relations, to inherit from his socially recognized father.  A man could doubt paternity of his son but there were no options available to him. No laws existed in the country to help a man out in such scenario. It is enough to explain the strict segregation of genders and the keeping of a vigilant eye on wives.

Third gender

The allocation of a separate portion of a house for women among the rich and affording Arab Muslims led to another tradition: the hiring of a eunuch as a servant. ¹⁷⁵  The role of a eunuch involved unrestricted access to all parts of the household, including both male and female quarters. Their neutrality allowed them to navigate freely in such spaces. In 744 CE, Muslim bin Dakhwān went to see governor Marwan bin Muhammad in Khilat.  Marwan was in his women’s quarters.  He sent a eunuch to receive Muslim. The eunuch body searched Muslim and then led him to the women’s quarters to the presence of Marwan. ¹⁷⁶, ¹⁷⁷

Abdul Malik sent the severed head of Ash’ath to a female relative of Ash’ath by the hand of a eunuch. ¹⁷⁸ Nasr bin Sayyar, the deputy governor of Khorasan, had a eunuch who used to tell the potential visitors to wait in case Nasr was asleep in the women’s quarters. ¹⁷⁹

There are hints that eunuchs had other functions as well. Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik went for the pilgrimage. Al Abrash took along some mukhannaths (effeminate man who is neither entirely male nor female), who had guitars with them. Hisham said, “Imprison them and sell their possessions” – Hisham was not aware of what their goods were – “and put the proceeds in the treasury.  If they mend their ways, return the money to them.”  ¹⁸⁰

Certain people of the Umayyad Caliphate were of the male gender but some of their traits were feminine. People ridiculed them. In 720 CE, Maslamah bin Abdul Malik, the governor of Iraq, appointed his son in law Sa’id bin Abdul Aziz as the deputy governor of Khorasan. He wore dyed clothes and sat on dyed cushions. His hairstyle was that of a woman. When the kinglet of Abghar visited him for formal introductions, he was confused. The people asked the kinglet afterwards about how the new governor looked. He answered, ‘he is a Khudhaynah, whose hair style resembles that of Sukaynah.”  ‘Khudhaynah’ meant ‘wife of a dihqan’. The lieutenant governor was known by this name all over. It made him weak in the eyes of the Turks and they were eager to defeat him. ¹⁸¹, ¹⁸².

Striping naked – extreme insult

Arab Muslims were conscious of the exposure of body parts to public. Stripping somebody naked in front of others was the most insulting punishment, even worse than public flogging.  Once, Lieutenant Governor Muhallab bin Yazid punished his junior officer by the name of Ḥurayth bin Quṭbah with thirty lashes after striping him naked in public for a minor disobedience. Hurayth exhibited such distress when being striped that Muhallab thought that he must have leprosy. Later, Hurayth commented in private that Muhallab should have given him three hundred lashes instead of stripping him. Hurayth did not forgive the insult.  He vowed to kill Muhallab at a given opportunity. Actually, he charged two of his slaves (ghulām) with the task. One of them adamently refused to be part of scheme. The other leaked the plan to Muhallab. Hurayth stopped visiting Muhallab and feigned to be in pain from the flogging. Muhallab tried to pacify Hurayth by sending him messages through third persons that he considered Hurayth his son and he would have punished his own son in that way to discipline him. Hurayth rejected the conciliatory tone, saying that the fact on ground was that Muhallab did not trust him, and now he did not trust Muhallab. Ultimately Hurayth, left the jurisdiction of Muhallab along with his family and servants (shākiriyyah – derived from Farsi Chākar). ¹⁸³

It does not mean exposing body parts was insulting in all situations. It was insulting only if somebody was forced to do it. A Khariji man was going to kill his maternal cousin. The cousin’s mother, the aunt of the killer, bared her breasts and appealed to the killer to spare the life of her son on the basis of the blood ties of milk. ¹⁸⁴ Here, the exposure was at the time of distress.  It was voluntary and a symbolic message to the murderer that the woman was like a mother to him and she could show him her bare breasts.

Inferior gender

Recurrent wars and fights to protect the right to live was the order of the day.  As women did not participate in these activities, they were considered inferior in this aspect.

When the people of Medina turned against Yazid bin Mu’awiya and he raised an army before the battle of Harrah, Yazid recited:

Inform Abu Bakr [Ibn Zubayr] when the army gets ready
When the army reaches Wadi l-Qura

Do you think it is an assembly of women? ¹⁸⁵

The women themselves shared the view. When Ahnaf refused to take any action against the Yaman – Rabi’ah alliance in Basrah, a woman of Tamim came to him with an incense burner.  She ridiculed him to look after the burner because he behaved like a woman. Ahnaf said in a burst of anger, “A woman’s arse is more suitable for the incense burner.”  Tabari defends Ahnaf, saying that he was known for his subtlety (ḥilm). Afterwards, no one heard such course language from his mouth again. ¹⁸⁶

Society expected women to protect their modesty more than it expected from men. Resultantly, women were supposed to have sex only if needed. An Arab Muslim man recommended to spare the life of a prominent prisoner of war. One of the Arab’s companions taunted, “Use him as a stud for your daughters!” ¹⁸⁷

People had opinions about the articles used by women. Cursing his enemies, Husayn bin Ali says Allah would humiliate them so ‘they will be more humiliated than a rag used by a slave girl for her menstrual blood’. ¹⁸⁸

Summary

Briefly, the trends in gender relations, which started among the Muslims of the Umayyad Caliphate, prevailed throughout the history of Islam in the medieval ages. They started changing only in modern times.

1. Photographer unknown.
2. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987), 142
3. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989) 125.
4. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),22.
5. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 164
6. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 35.
7. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 153, 154
8. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 213.
9. Abdul Malik named his son Mansūr as an omen to his triumph over Mus’ab bin Zubayr. However, Aisha bint Hisham, the mother of the son named the child Hisham after her father and Abdul Malik did not oppose that. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),2.)
10. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987), 31. Baladhuri thinks it happened before Umm Ayyub’s marriage, when she lived with her father. (Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri. Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 447.)
11. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 196.
12. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 186.
13. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 102.
14. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 228.
15. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1040.
16. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 157.
17. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 31, 32.
18. Photographer unknown.
19. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 201.
20. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1040.
21. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1001, 1002
22. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1048.
23. See above.
24. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1041
25. For the relations see: Khalifa Ibn Khayyat, Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Umayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel, (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), 97, year 96.
26. See for such a taunt: Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al-Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989) 169, 170.
27. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 963, 964. AND Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 111
28. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 129, 131
29. Protecting a woman was part of Arab muru’ah.  An Arab man left his daughter at the mercy of the Kharijis and fled during the Khariji’s raid.  Another man, not known to the women, fought to protect them until he was wounded and the Kharijis left thinking that everybody, including the men and women, was dead. The women considered the latter man noble while their own father was considered a coward. The latter man visited their family afterwards and befriended them   He was a righteous worshipper. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 126.)
30. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 101, 102
31. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),152 – 157.
32. Qiyy is an unknown location.
33. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),65.
34. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018),1026
35. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 98.
36. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. John Alden Williams (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985), 19.
37. It is worth noting that she did not use veil when she came in front of men who were eating that time, including Dahhak and Mansur. A veil was woman’s formal dress that she used on occasions.
38. Khalifa Ibn Khayyat, Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Umayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel, (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), P 277, year 128.
39. Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri.  Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 258, 259.
40. Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri. Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 258, 259
41. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 188.
42. Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri. Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 258, 259.
43. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 183.
44. During the siege of the Arab town of Kamarjah in 728 CE, Khaqan was overall in charge of the Turk forces. A prince of Ṭāraband asked for his permission to go into the besieged town and fight. Khaqan forbade him because of the dangers involved.  The prince then said, “Give me two Arab girls as slaves, and I will go out against them.” Upon hearing this, the Khaqan permitted him. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 58.). Karamjah and Taraband both are unknown locations.  Some people believe that Taraband is modern Tashkent.
45. When Ubaydullah bin Ziyad was going to kill Ali bin Husayn in Kufa, Ali argued if he were killed then who would accompany the women to Damascus, which was the proper Islamic way? (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 167).  Once a commander of the Umayyad Caliphate’s army by the name of Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah ran for his life, leaving his wife. The opponents captured his wife and put her for sale. The incident became the talk of the town. Poets taunted Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah for his cowardice.  A poet wrote about why Abdul Aziz did not die as a martyr honorably defending his wife rather than running away. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 206)
46. In one incident in Khorasan, the Banu Yabru tribe helped an Arab group in avoiding capitulation at the hands of non-Muslim Turks.  A poet said on this:

    Had (the Banu) Yabru.’ Not protected your women
    people other than you would have made use of their days of purity. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),152 – 157.)

47. Qutayba bin Muslim defeated and executed Nizak.  Then he seized his wife. When Qutayba was going to consummate his new concubine, she said to him how stupid he was that he expected she would warm him after he had killed her husband and taken away his kingdom. Qutayba set her free, allowing her to go wherever she wished.  (Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 994, 995.)  Being captured was unpleasant even for slave girls. When Qutayba bin Muslim was slain, he was with a Turk slave girl originally from Khwarazm. She fled. Later Yazid bin Muhallab captured her. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 21).
48. When a truce was signed and the Turks lifted the siege of Kamarjah in 728 CE, the Arab civilian population refused to leave the castle unless the Turks disappeared from the scene arguing, “ We do not like to leave while the Turks have not yet gone, nor do we trust them not to threaten any of the women, at which the Arabs would get angry, and this would return to the same kind of war we were (just) in.  (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),61.). A Turk leader offered millions for his life after being captured by Qutayba bin Muslim.  Qutayba still executed him saying, “no Muslim woman will ever be frightened by you.”  (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 136, 137. )
49. See an example of a Buddhist woman being returned after getting pregnant by a Muslim soldier who had captured her. The woman’s husband accepted back his wife but did not accept the product of her conception. The Muslim soldier affirmed that he was willing to take care of the child soborn. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al-Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990),129.) See another example of a Muslim woman being returned to her husband after being captured in war. The capturing party had sexual intercourse with the women because one of them was pregnant. In this case, the woman belonged to a mainstream Arab Muslim and the capturer was a Khariji.  (Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 974).  We have anecdotes where non-Muslims captured Muslim Arab women but Muslims accepted them back after a while. One of the conditions of such between Arab commander Harishi and the defeated people of Soghdia in 721 CE was that the Sughdian would return the previously captured Arab Muslim women.  (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 174.)
50. Muslims captured a woman from Balkh in a campaign in 705 CE. Later on, a peace agreement between the foes stipulated the return of captured women. When this woman was going to be returned to her husband, she claimed that she was pregnant by the Arab soldier to whom she was allotted. The Arab soldier was on his deathbed.  He wrote a testimony that whatever was in her womb should be returned to him after delivery. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990),129.)
51. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990),129.
52. Abū Ḥanīfah Aḥmad bin Dāwūd al-Dīnawri, al-Akhbār al-Ṭiwāl, ed. Vladimir Guirgass, (Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1888), 59.
53. Khalifa Ibn Khayyat, Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Umayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel, (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), P 158, year 84.  AND Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri.  Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 322.
54. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 195.
55. When Nasr bin Sayyar left Merv under the pressure of war from his opponent Harith bin Surayj, he did not have time and means to take his wives along. They were nervous.  He reassured his wives that Harith bin Surayj would protect them. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. John Alden Williams (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985), 39.)
56. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990),80, 81.
57. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 56.
58. Khalifa Ibn Khayyat, Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Umayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel, (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), P 205,206, Year 102.  AND Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1027, 1028. AND Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),145, 146
59. During the battle of Jamajim, the rebel army reached the Syrian camp and captured thirty slave girls and concubines. They then let them go. Hajjaj said to let the rebels protect their women. If the rebels had not returned the Syrians’ women, Hajjaj would not return the rebels’ women after their triumph. The next day, the rebels again reached the Syrian camp and captured eighteen women. They again let them go. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 38).
60. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 162
61. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 200
62. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 162.
63. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 910
64. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 139
65. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 178
66. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 77.
67. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987), 133
68. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 105.
69. See an example: Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 68, 69
70. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 264, 265.
71. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989) 157.
72. This virtue carried more weight in deciding to buy a concubine. When the Kharijis put a captured Arab woman on auction, her bidding reached an unbelievably high level only because she was beautiful. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 200).
73. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 112, 113
74. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 142
75. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 43
76. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 22.
77. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),186.
78. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 187
79. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1005.
80. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 12.
81. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 190
82. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 22.
83. D. J. Mattingly, “The Laguantan: A Libyan Tribal Confederation in the Late Roman Empire”, Lybian Studies 14 (1983): 96 – 108.
84. Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri.  Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 353, 354
85. (Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1029. AND Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),180, 181, 182. Forty thousand dinars
86. Fatima bint Husayn must be a mature woman by that time because the incident took place in March of 723 CE and Husayn died in October of 680 CE, about forty-three years ago. Obviously, Abdur Rahman’s intention was not to get children out of this marriage. Either he wanted to become a relative of the Banu Hashim or he misread the government policy of pressurizing Banu Hashim. Yazid bin Abdul Malik had increased the pressure on the Banu Hashim and had annulled all the concessions granted to them by Umar bin Abdul Aziz. However, he maintained the policy of the Umayyads to treat the women of the Banu Hashim respectfully.
87. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. John Alden Williams (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985), 194.
88. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 156.
89. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 152 – 157
90. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 55
91. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 22.
92. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 10220.
93. One example of a political marriage comes from pre-Islamic Bahrain. Al-Jārūd, famous from the Ridda Wars, was a prominent tribal leader of the Abdul Qays. He married his sister to Muka’bir, an agent of Khosrow in Bahrain, to gain political influence. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 176.)
94. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989) 161
95. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 224.
96. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),159.
97. See above.
98. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 176, 177.
99. See for example: Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 63.
100. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 18.
101. Roger Bagnall, “Church, State, and Divorce in Late Roman Egypt.” In Florilegium Columbianum: Essays in honour of Paul Oskar Kristeller, ed. K. –l. Selig and R. Somerville, (New York: Italica, 1987): 41 – 61.
102. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 86
103. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 157.
104. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 2.
105. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 102.
106. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 164.
107. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 8, 9, 10, 11.
108. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 63
109. See for an example: Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 37
110. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 187.
111. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 224.
112. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 22.
113. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 64
114. Khalifa Ibn Khayyat, Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Umayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel, (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), 133, Year 75
115. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 74.
116. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 178
117. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 173.
118. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 37, 56
119. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 222, 223
120. Hawran was a district of Syria, to the south of Damascus.
121. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 56.
122. Wajah is unknown location.
123. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 82.
124. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),194.
125. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 196.
126. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 196.
127. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 186.
128. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 163.
129. When goverGovernoruf bin Umar lost power in Iraq, he was not sure about his future.  He took shelter with ‘Amr bin Muḥammad bin Sa’īd bin ‘Āṣ, a prominent Umayyad of Kufa.  ‘Amr observed that Umar kept a proud face but was scared.  ‘Amr brought a valuable slave girl to Umar and said, “She will warm you up and calm you down.” (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 199, 200, 201). Similarly, when an envoy of Governor Abdullah bin Umar came to Merv, he arrived cold. Lieutenant Governor Nasr wrapped him in garments, ordered hospitality, and two slave girls for him.  (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 264.)
130. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),191.
131. An Arab master of a slave not only freed him at the time of his death but also gave him a portion of his property (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),92.)
132. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987), 164.
133. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 194.
134. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 51
135. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),8, 9, 10, 11.
136. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),12,13.
137. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 960.
138. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 92.
139. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. R. Stephen Humphreys (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 78.  AND   Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 195.
140. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 194 -196
141. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 37
142. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),153.
143. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 200
144. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990),66
145. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 221.
146. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),161
147. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 160
148. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 164
149. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 170).
150. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987), 31
151. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 172
152. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 202.
153. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 52
154. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 49.
155. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 18
156. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 165, 166
157. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 260.
158. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 78.
159. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 34, 35
160. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1047.
161. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 161.
162. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1021.
163. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 180.
164. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987), 224
165. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 212.
166. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 155.  Taff was a transition zone between the southern Euphrates valley and the desert to the west. Yaqut Mu’jam III 539 f.  Zabis is probably a district of south Mada’in named after the Zabi canal.
167. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Khalid Yahya Blankinship (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 14.
168. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: the State University of New York Press, 1987), 79.
169. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 194.  AND ibn Athīr in Kāmil V 122 – 23. See also Aghani (Beirut) VIII, 33 6ff.
170. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XVIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael G. Morony (Albany: the State University of New York Press, 1987), 79.
171. Ḥubbah, the well-known society girl of Medina who was active in the Rashidun Caliphate, lived in the early decades of the Umayyad Caliphate. She must have been old by that time. She was in Medina at the time of the death of Mus’ab bin Zubayr. When Caliph Abdul Malik came for pilgrimage later, she approached Abdul Malik and blamed him for killing his fellow tribesman. Abdul Malik replied that whoever tastes war, finds its taste bitter.  (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 186, 187.).  Worth noting is that only Hubbah could criticize Abdul Malik publicly.
172. See above.
173. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 70, 71.
174. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1001.
175. Historical sources mention eunuchs as servants. (Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),73.). It remains uncertain whether they were individuals who had been enslaved and subsequently subjected to castration, resulting in their status as eunuchs.
176. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 217.
177. Allowing a person in the women’s quarter was a kind of respect shown to him. It meant the head of the house did not doubt the intention of the guest and believed in his integrity.
178. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 81.
179. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 208.
180. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXVI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Carole Hillenbrand (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989),80.
181. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIV, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. David Stephan Powers (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 152.
182. Abghar was a district of Samarkand. Yaqut Mu’jam I 74
183. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXIII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 29 – 31.
184. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXII, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Everett K. Rowson (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 45.
185. Khalifa Ibn Khayyat, Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Umayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel, (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), P 101, Year 63
186. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 31, 41
187. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XXI, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 65
188. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. XIX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 82