Yazid III
| Yazid ibn Walid | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate | |||||
| Reign | 17 April 744— 4 October 744 | ||||
| Predecessor | Walid ibn Yazid | ||||
| Successor | Ibrahim ibn al-Walid | ||||
| Born | 701 | ||||
| Died | 4 October 744 (aged 43) | ||||
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| Dynasty | Umayyad, Marwanid branch | ||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
| Yazid ibn Walid ibn Abd al-Malik |
Yazid ibn al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik or Yazid III (701 – 25 September 744) (Arabic: يزيد بن الوليد بن عبد الملك) was an Umayyad caliph. He reigned for six months, from April 15 to October 3 or 4, 744, and died in that office.
Yazid was the son of a Persian princess who had been given as a concubine to Caliph al-Walid I.Al-Tabari quotes a couplet of Yazid's on his own ancestry:
Tabari further records descriptions of Yazid as being tall and handsome.
During the reign of his cousin al-Walid II, Yazid spoke out against Walid's "immorality" which included discrimination on behalf of the Banu Qays Arabs against Yemenis and non-Arab Muslims, and Yazid received further support from the Qadariya and Murji'iya (believers in human free will). Yazid slipped into Damascus and deposed Walid in a coup, following this up with a disbursement of funds from the treasury.
According to Yazid's own account, Yazid sent Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Hajjaj to meet Walid at al-Bakhra'. 'Abd al-Aziz offered to set up a tribal assembly (shura) to decide the future of the realm. Walid rejected this offer and attacked, by which action he lost his life. Yazid had Walid's head hoisted "on a lance and paraded around Damascus"; Yazid then imprisoned Walid's sons 'Uthman and Hakam, whom Walid had designated as his heirs.
On accession, Yazid explained that he had rebelled on behalf of the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Prophet, and that this entailed ensuring that the strong not prey upon the weak. He promised "to engage in no building works, squander no money on wives or children, transfer no money from one province to another" without reason, "keep no troops on the field too long", and not to overtax the ahl al-dhimma; instead, he would eschew discrimination and would make his payments on time. He promised abdication if he failed to meet these goals, and held in principle to al-amr shura - to an elected caliphate.
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