Abu Umayya Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-As al-Umawi (Arabic:أَبُو أُمَيَّة عَمْرِو بْنِ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْعَاصِ الأُمَوِيّ,romanized: Abū Umayya ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ al-Umawī; died 689/90), commonly known asal-Ashdaq (Arabic:الأشدق), was a member of theUmayyad dynasty, general and a contender for thecaliphal throne. He served as the governor ofMedina in 680, during the reign of CaliphYazid I (r. 680–683) and fought off attempts by theZubayrids to conquer Syria in 684 and 685 during the reign of CaliphMarwan I (r. 684–685). The latter removed Yazid I's sonKhalid and al-Ashdaq from the line of succession in favor of his own sonsAbd al-Malik (r. 685–705) andAbd al-Aziz. Al-Ashdaq's attempted coup against Abd al-Malik in 689 ended with his surrender and his execution by Abd al-Malik.
Amr was the son of theUmayyad statesmanSa'id ibn al-As and Umm al-Banin bint al-Hakam, the sister of another Umayyad statesman,Marwan ibn al-Hakam.[1] He was nicknamedal-Ashdaq ('the Widemouthed').[2] When Sa'id died in 679, al-Ashdaq became the leader of this branch of the Umayyad clan.[3] At the end of the reign of CaliphMu'awiya I (r. 661–680), he was governor ofMecca but was then appointed the governor ofMedina at the accession of CaliphYazid I (r. 680–683). When the Umayyads were driven out of Mecca during the revolt ofAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr in 682, al-Ashdaq was ordered by Yazid to send an army against the Zubayrids in the city. Al-Ashdaq appointed Ibn al-Zubayr's brother, Amr, to lead the expedition, but the force was defeated and Amr was executed by Ibn al-Zubayr. Toward the end of 683, al-Ashdaq was dismissed.[4] Yazid died and was succeeded by his sonMu'awiya II. The latter was ill and died a few months later, causing a leadership crisis in the Umayyad Caliphate, during which most of its provinces recognized Ibn al-Zubayr as caliph.
When the pro-UmayyadArab tribal nobility ofSyria, chief among them the chief of theBanu Kalb, elected Marwan ibn al-Hakam as caliph at theJabiya summit of 684, it was stipulated that Yazid's then-young sonKhalid would succeed Marwan, followed by al-Ashdaq.[4] The latter commanded the right wing of Marwan's army during theBattle of Marj Rahit later that year, in which the Umayyads scored a resounding victory over the pro-ZubayridQaysi tribes of Syria.[5] Al-Ashdaq took part in Marwan's expedition to wrest control of Egypt from its Zubayrid governor in 685. After the Umayyad victory, al-Ashdaq proclaimed Marwan's sovereignty from the pulpit of themosque in the provincial capitalFustat.[6] Afterward, he was dispatched by Marwan to stave off an invasion ofPalestine byMus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, who tried to conquer Umayyad Syria in Marwan's absence.[4][6] He then joined Marwan and took up residence in the Umayyad capital ofDamascus.[6] Marwan was wary of al-Ashdaq's ambitions to the caliphate, particularly due to their close kinship (Marwan was both a maternal uncle and paternal relative of al-Ashdaq) and his popularity among the Syrian Arab nobility. Marwan resolved to void the leadership bids of al-Ashdaq and Khalid by having his own sonsAbd al-Malik andAbd al-Aziz, in that order, recognized by the Syrian nobility as hischosen successors.[4]
Abd al-Malik succeeded his father in late 685. He was suspicious of al-Ashdaq, as the latter did not relinquish his caliphal claims and viewed Abd al-Malik's accession as a violation of the arrangements reached in Jabiya. When the caliph left Damascus on a military campaign against Zubayrid-heldIraq in 689, al-Ashdaq took advantage of his absence to launch a revolt, seize the city and declare his right as sovereign. This compelled Abd al-Malik to abandon his campaign and address al-Ashdaq's rebellion. In the ensuing standoff in Damascus between their supporters, Abd al-Malik offered al-Ashdaq amnesty in return for his surrender, to which al-Ashdaq obliged. Abd al-Malik remained distrustful of al-Ashdaq and had him summoned to his palace in Damascus, where he executed him in 689/90.[4]
Al-Ashdaq's sons Umayya, Sa'id, Isma'il and Muhammad and daughter Umm Kulthum were all born to al-Ashdaq's wife Umm Habib bint Hurayth[7] of theBanu Udhra tribe.[6] The sons reconciled with Abd al-Malik after the latter's victory over the Zubayrids in 692.[8] Sa'id, who had participated in his father's revolt, subsequently migrated to Medina, then toKufa.[9] He is later reported to have visited the court of the Umayyad caliphYazid II in 724.[9] Isma'il, who had also participated in his father's rebellion, lived in ascetic seclusion near Medina into the beginning of theAbbasid period (post-750) and the Umayyad caliphUmar II (r. 717–720) reportedly considered appointing him his successor for his reputed piety.[10] Amid the persecution of the Umayyad family in the aftermath of theiroverthrow by the Abbasids in 750, Isma'il was spared execution by the Abbasid governor of MedinaDawud ibn Ali.[11]
From his wife Sawda bint al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, the sister of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, al-Ashdaq had his sons Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Aziz and daughter Ramla. He was also married to A'isha bint Muti, the sister ofAbd Allah ibn Muti from theBanu Adi clan of Quraysh, who had his sons Musa and Imran. From his Kalbite wife Na'ila bint al-Furays he had a daughter, Umm Musa.[7] The latter was married to a son of Yazid I,Abd Allah al-Uswar.[12] He also had children from twoummahat awlad (slave concubines), one of whom bore his sons Abd Allah and Abd al-Rahman and the other his daughter Umm Imran.[7]
