“Raja’ bin Haywa was a minister, advisor, and guardian of the workers of the Umayyads and their children.”

(Ibn Abd Al-Hakam Al-Masry in his book “The Biography of Omar Ibn Abdul-Aziz”)

The martyrdom of the third Caliph, Dhul-Nourin, Uthman Ibn Affan, the Umayyad in the year 35 AH/655 CE, and the ascension of the fourth adult caliph, Ali Ibn Abi Talib al-Hashemi - may God be pleased with him-, marked the beginning of five years of strife, wars and internal conflicts between a group that saw the priority of establishing security, restoring calm and obedience to the new caliph. And then retribution for the killers of Othman due to the strength of their tribes and the mixing of people on that day, and at the head of these was the Caliph Ali bin Abi Talib and his cousin Abdullah bin Al-Abbas - may God be pleased with them both - and another group saw that the survival of these killers in the city under the Caliph’s eye, hearing and sight is impossible. Silence about him, and at their head are Muawiyah, Aisha, Talha and Al-Zubayr bin Al-Awwam - may God be pleased with them -.

The nation was divided, and the necks of sedition erupted, and Muslims joined together at that time, until Ali - may God be pleased with him - was martyred in his chapel at the hands of Ibn Muljim in Ramadan in the year 40 AH / 660 AD, and the banner after him was carried by his son Al-Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Talib (d. 49 AH) - may God be pleased with him May God be pleased with him - who was supported by all the people of Iraq and a section of the Arabian Peninsula in his endeavor to succeed his father, and to reunite the nation after the dispute between Ali and Muawiyah - may God be pleased with them both - but al-Hasan realized the betrayal of the people of Kufa to him, and the balance of power tilted towards the people of Syria and Muawiyah, so he preferred He takes the path of diplomacy and negotiations, and for the nation to unite instead of falling into a cycle of killing and blood, so he deposed himself, and he and his brother al-Husayn - may God be pleased with them both - and his great supporters from among the Companions and their sons and the people of Iraq Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan - may God be pleased with him - in the year 41 AH, called the Year of the Community. , provided that the matter is referred to a shura to the nation after his death.

Thus, the Umayyad Caliphate State was established, and Muawiyah became the Caliph of this nation, so their state lasted in the Sufyani and Marwani branches for a period of ninety-one Hijri years, equivalent to ninety or eighty-nine AD (41-132 AH/661-750AD), during which fourteen of them took over the caliphate, the first of them Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan, the last of whom is Marwan bin Muhammad bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan.

The Umayyads faced many serious challenges and problems with the rise of Muawiyah, so if Hassan bin Ali abdicated and the nation united under his banner, a group of this nation, the Kharijites, were not satisfied with the political settlement that had taken place, and the Byzantines, on their part, took advantage of these events and re-attacked the frontiers and at sea. The Mediterranean, a challenge that the Umayyads succeeded in facing, and they resumed conquests in the East and the West, as well as their success in achieving internal security and social justice, distributing gifts and other files.

However, this success at the level of domestic and foreign policy was not made by the Umayyads alone. In the end, they were a ruling family that relied on men from the nation who worked in the shadows as advisors and founders of the "deep state", and were able to provide advice and guidance, and they supervised with remarkable success on many critical issues. at that time.

And at the top of the pyramid comes from these people, Rajaa bin Haywa, the Palestinian Canadian, the jurist and a veteran politician, to whom the Umayyads gave their confidence and weight. So who is Raja’ bin Haywa?

And how did he manage, over time, to become - without exaggeration - the head of the deep state of the Umayyads?

What are the most prominent files that he supervised?

Raja’ bin Haywa bin Jarwal bin Al-Ahnaf bin Al-Samt Al-Kindi was born in the city of Beisan, which belongs to “Jund / the province of Jordan” at the time, then he moved to Palestine and settled in Jerusalem until his death. 18 AH), and Muadh referred to his father by teaching him the Qur’an, which indicates that Raja’ was born a few years before Muadh’s death, and his grandfather Jrul bin Al-Ahnaf Al-Kindi was one of the companions who recognized the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - and he narrated a hadith from him.

[1].

After learning the Noble Qur’an and memorizing it in Bait Al-Maqdis, Raja took the sciences of jurisprudence and hadith from the hands of many companions, such as Ubadah ibn Al-Samit Al-Ansari and Umm Al-Darda’. He says: “I have seen three things like them: Muhammad bin Sirin in Iraq, Al-Qasim bin Muhammad in the Hijaz, and Raja’ bin Haywah in the Levant.”[2]

But what is remarkable is that Raja’ did not see - as did the rest of the scholars of Syria and their ascetics at the time - that asceticism is limited to performing the obligatory and supererogatory actions, suppressing desires, turning away from pleasures and encouraging the afterlife. The reason is that Rajaa joined the Byzantine jihad, and worked in the Umayyad offices, such as the Diwan of Messages (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)[3].

Raja’ bin Haywa was close to the Umayyads since the time of Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan, and it seems that this relationship began since before Muawiyah’s caliphate when he was governor of the Levant. In the hadith, “Whoever God wants good for, He gives him understanding of the religion.”

[4].

After the transfer of the Umayyad Caliphate to the Marwani House beginning in 64 AH / 683 AD at the hands of Marwan bin Al-Hakam the Umayyad (d. 65 AH), Raja became one of those close to this family because of what they saw in him of integrity, knowledge and wise involvement in the administrative affairs of the state, and his relentless quest to unite the banner of the nation after it was divided Once again, between the companion Abdullah bin Al-Zubair bin Al-Awwam - may God be pleased with him - (died 73 AH) and Abdul Malik bin Marwan (d. 86 AH), Rajaa chose to be on the side of the Umayyads according to his appreciation of the circumstances and his reading of the reality at the time.

It is remarkable that Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan before his caliphate was one of the seven famous jurists and scholars of Medina from the generation of the great followers. Despite this, Raja’ was talking about Abd al-Malik bin Marwan “for his abundance of knowledge,” as al-Dhahabi tells us in “The Life of the Flags of the Nobles”; Hence, we realize that Rajaa bin Haywa’s relationship with the Marwani House, as his relationship with the Sufyani House in the past, was based first on the scientific connection before the political, and at that time when science, religion and politics overlapped more closely than today.

For this reason, Rajaa bin Haywa worked as a diplomatic mediator in the war of the Umayyads and Zubayrs. Abdullah bin Al-Zubayr bin Al-Awwam and his brother Musab in the Hijaz and Iraq were working to expand at the expense of Abdul Malik bin Marwan in the Levant and Egypt, and they remained in wars and skirmishes that lasted ten years, and one of The great followers of Musab bin Al-Zubayr in Iraq, who is Zufar bin Al-Harith Al-Kalabi, leads some of these confrontations, so Abd Al-Malik bin Marwan sent Raja bin Haywa to Zufar to invite him to obey him and enter into his alliance [5].

However, the most important and greatest thing that Rajaa bin Haywa did was his assignment by Abdul Malik bin Marwan to supervise the construction of the Dome and the Rock Mosque in the sanctuary of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Between 66-72 AH / 685-691 AD, when he finished building it and saved one hundred thousand gold dinars (approximately 25 million dollars) from its expenses, he wrote to the Caliph Abd al-Malik informing him of this. The amount for their great effort to complete this project, but they refused, saying: “We are more deserving of increasing our women’s jewelry in addition to our money.” [6] So Abd al-Malik ordered them to melt this gold and cast it on the Dome of the Rock!

With this abstinence from looking at public funds, along with his successful diplomacy, he won the trust of Abdul Malik bin Marwan, who appointed him as treasurer of the houses of money (Minister of State Finance), and with that assigned him the task of raising his son Suleiman bin Abdul Malik (d. 99 AH), Then Abd al-Malik sent him, accompanied by his brother Bishr ibn Marwan, when Iraq appointed him as his advisor, and ordered him to lead the people in prayer, so he was a trusted advisor, and at the same time he was meeting with the scholars of Iraq, taking from them and taking from him, as he was appointed as an advisor to the governor of Egypt and my brother Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, and raised his stature with the ruling Umayyad dynasty, and it was his opinion not to kill the participants in the armed revolution of Ibn al-Ash’ath, which is one of the most dangerous revolutions in Iraq against the Umayyad state, so Abd al-Malik took his opinion and pardoned them, and for this great status he was taken by the sons of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan after their father “Minister” And an advisor and evaluator (supervisor) on their workers and their children” [7].

Al-Waleed bin Abdul-Malik bin Marwan (86-96 AH) took him as a close advisor, but Suleiman bin Abdul-Malik (96-99 AH), who was Raja bin Haywa’s sheikh, teacher and teacher in the stage of boyhood and fatwa, made him in a high position until he conquered the whole state Al-Ya’qubi, the historian, says: “Raja’ bin Haywa was the most dominant over Suleiman bin Abdul-Malik,” and Al-Dhahabi described him as “was a minister to Suleiman bin Abdul-Malik” [8]. Al-Dhahabi also describes him as “the role model and the just minister”[9].

And with his work as a minister and advisor, he dominated the politics of Caliph Suleiman bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan; Raja was referring to him with the opinion that would benefit the public good, and make it easier for people with their religious and worldly affairs. He and the jurist Abdullah bin Mohab had a great enmity, and despite that he praised him and supported him in assuming the position of judge, saying: “And if I were given the choice between being carried to my pit (my grave) ) And between what was assigned to Ibn Mawhib, I chose to be carried to my hole. He (the questioner) said: “People claim that you are the one you indicated. He said: Believe that I only looked at the public and did not look at him.”[10]

Because of this eloquent position and great stature, Suleiman did not deviate from his opinion in the general policy of the Umayyad state, and almost did not make a decision without his advice, even when Suleiman on his deathbed, Raja bin Haywa referred to him as the most religious and honest people in the Umayyad state to succeed him, which is Omar bin Abdul Aziz Ibn Marwan, cousin of Suleiman, prior to his living brothers Yazid, Hisham, Saeed, Muslim and others, Ibn Abdul Hakam al-Masri (d. 214 AH) says in “The Biography of Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz”: “So Raja’ indicated to him Omar (bin Abdul Aziz), and he repaid him his opinion. Solomon’s opinion agreed with that, and he said, “I will make a contract in which Satan does not have a share.”[11]

Suleiman bin Abdul-Malik wrote his will for his successor and sealed it and gave it to Rajaa bin Haywah, then he called his family and his brothers, so they pledged allegiance to the book of the will while it was sealed, then when Suleiman died, Raja took the sealed will and announced the pledge of allegiance in the mosque, then opened the will and announced the succession of Omar bin Abdul Aziz.

And she combined Raja’ and Omar before the caliphate “friendship and companionship in their rituals and worship”[12], so Omar made him the head of his advisors, and appointed him to head the Diwan of Messages, and he would not deviate from his opinion if he consulted with him.

Omar bin Abdul-Aziz used to see Raja’ of credit, position and great rank, and one day, Raja’ came to Omar, and the lamp understood that it would be extinguished (extinguished), so he (Raja’ bin Haywa) stood up to him to fix it, and Omar swore to him that they should sit, and Omar got up and fixed it, “he said: I said to him: He said: O Commander of the Faithful, do you stand up? He said: I rose while I was Umar, and I came back while I was Umar”[13]!

Perhaps this special relationship between Rajaa and the successors of the House of Marwani;

Abd al-Malik, his son al-Waleed, Suleiman, and his nephew Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz, made historians describe him as “the ascetic of the Umayyads, and the ruler by his order in their state.” Ibn Kathir described him as “a minister of truth for the Umayyad caliphs,” characteristics that confirm the events of history, some of which we have reviewed.

For this very reason, the later of some of the Umayyad caliphs, led by Yazid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan (101-105 AH / 719-723 AD), reprimanded him, especially after the killing of his cousin, Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz by poison in the year 101 AH / 719 AD, according to the most likely opinions. The narrator and historian Ibn al-Jawzi saw this, saying: “He used to accompany the Caliphs of Banu Umayyah, and he enjoined them to do good.

And Al-Dhahabi agrees with him, who says: “Raja’ bin Haywa was of great rank with Suleiman bin Abdul-Malik and Omar bin Abdul Aziz, and God performed good deeds on his hands, then after that he was delayed, so he accepted his affair”[14].

Raja Ibn Haywa, then, took care of his personal affairs, foremost of which is science. Until his death in 112 AH / 730 AD, he remained one of the most famous scholars and preachers of Jerusalem, Palestine and the Levant as a whole, and the most reputable of them, but his political role was crucial in the Umayyad state, so that we can describe him as a leader The Umayyad deep state, the guide of its compass for several decades, and there is no doubt that his departure from politics in the last ten years of his life had a negative impact on the course of this state.

Twenty years did not pass since his death until the Umayyad state fell in the Levant in the year 132 AH / 750 AD without a return!

__________________________________________________

Sources:

[1] Ibn al-Atheer: The Lion of the Forest, p. 331.

[2] Ibn Asaker: History of Damascus.

[3] Raja' bin Haywa al-Kindi and his role in public life, p. 261.

[4] Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra, Fourth Layer, p. 111.

[5] Ibn Asaker: History of Damascus 18/104.

[6] Shams al-Din al-Minhaji: Ithaf al-Khassa with the virtues of al-Aqsa Mosque 1/242

[7] Ibn Abd al-Hakam: The Biography of Omar Ibn Abd al-Aziz, p. 123.

[8] Al-Dhahabi: History of Islam 45/158.

[9] Biographies of the Nobles 4/557.

[10] Al-Fusawi: Knowledge and History 2/369, 370.

[11] Ibn Abdul Hakam: The Biography of Omar bin Abdul Aziz, p. 33.

[12] Ibn Abd al-Hakam: The Biography of Omar, p. 123.

[13] Al-Safadi: Al-Wafi died 70/14.

[14] Al-Dhahabi: Biography of the Nobles 5/335.