Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah is Cursed, Not Blessed

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

On this contention that Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah is blessed because of his expedition to Constantinople, it must be stated that there is more than enough evidence from Hafizh ‘Imad ad-Din Abu al-Fida’ Isma’il ibn ‘Umar ibn Katsir (r.a.) and elsewhere that Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah first led an army there in 52 AH, the year Sayyidina Abu Ayyub Khalid ibn Zayd al-Answari (r.a.) passed away.  By that time, Sayyidina Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan (r.a.) had already sent sixteen expeditions.  Another version of the hadits said it would be the first army to enter, or to conquer Constantinople.  That honour, then, belongs to the Ottoman ruler, Sultan Mehmet II (r.a.), in 1453 CE. 

Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (r.a.) stated, in his Musnad, that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Whoever harms the people of Madina with oppression has harmed God Himself and the Curse of God, the angels, and all the people will be upon that person, and God shall not accept from that person, a single good deed or act on the Day of Resurrection.’” 

Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari (r.a.) recorded that Sayyidatina ‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr (r.a.) stated that she heard from Sayyidina Sa’d ibn Mu’adz (r.a.) that he heard the Prophet (s.a.w.) state, “The one who harms the people of Madina will be completely annihilated just as surely as salt dissolves in water.” 

Imam ‘Asakir ad-Din Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (r.a.) also narrated a hadits of similar meaning, with the variation, “Verily, the one who approaches the people of Madina with the intent to harm them will be melted in Hellfire just as lead is melted.” 

There is absolutely no difference in opinion about the fact that Yazid harmed the people of Madina, enslaved its population, slaughtered its inhabitants, and plundered the city, following the Battle of al-Harrah in 683 CE.  This incident arose when several of the people of Madina went to Damascus to see Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah after Sayyidina Husayn ibn ‘Ali (r.a.) had been killed.  At his court, they witnessed him drinking wine, and behaving lewdly.  As a result, when they returned to Madina, they openly cursed him, rebelled against his authority and expelled his governor, ‘Utsman ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Sufyan.  They stated, “We have returned from the presence of a man who has no religion, a drunkard who abandons prayer!” and gave their allegiance to Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn Hanzhalah (r.a.). 

Sayyidina ibn Hanzhalah (r.a.) declared to the people, “Verily, we have not rebelled against Yazid until we feared that God would Rain Down His vengeance from the heavens.  This is a man who engages in forbidden sexual union with mothers, daughters and sisters, drinks wine, abandons prayer and murders the descendants of the prophets.” 

When news of this reached Yazid, he sent a large Syrian army against Madina under the leadership of his general, Muslim ibn ‘Uqbah al-Murri.  He ransacked the city of Madina for three days, murdered Sayyidina ibn Hanzhalah (r.a.) and massacred the notables of the city.  For three whole days, his army subjected the city to a sack, plundering its wealth and raping its women.  According to Shaykh Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Sa‘d (r.a.), Marwan ibn al-Hakam incited Muslim ibn ‘Uqbah against the people of Madina.  When Yazid learned of this, he expressed his gratitude to Marwan, elevated his position and was very beneficent towards him.