Discuss the portrait of al-Hajjaj Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discuss the portrait of al-Hajjaj - Essay ExampleAlthough al-Hajjaj is commonly considered a villain notorious for his relentless brutality, the portrait we obtain from the primary texts is not that simple and transparent, instead, the texts create a complicated flick of the province governor illustrated in various situations. Thereby, ambiguities in portrayal can be explained by sealed bias in attitude of the texts authors towards the governor.Many scholars assert that the commander was an extremely brutal and cruel governor, who caused legion(predicate) deaths and imprisonments in the course of his life. This assumption finds its confirmation in the texts, where we put on that the commander is believed to be liable for a hundred and twenty thousand executions (Schroeder, p. 229). Many other situations described in the text provide usher of al-Hajjajs bad temper and brutality after defeating Ibn Zubayr in Mecca, al-Hajjaj is told to have killed and gibbeted him in the street. In a similar way, while coming to Kufa, he immediately executed the old man, who sprang on the corpse of Othman. Furthermore, we see numerous mentions of Hajjajs nasty character in the narratives, for instance, that of Ubayd son of Abu Mukhariq, who calls the commander a fearsome attain (Schroeder, p.220). However, despite nasty character and brutality, which became his most famous feature, the commander seems to possess reason and a clear of mercy in his nature, as it can be traced in the sources. For instance, as Hajjaj is in need of sapiential advise concerning the inheritance, he eventually rules according to the fairest of options he is told to have given each heir an disturb third of the inheritance. This fragment was told by al-Shabi, whose figure is rather controversial in terms of his relation to the Umayyads. Shabi probably supported the rebellion in Kufa, then fled to Khurasan and later returned to the Umayyad court willing to serve in the administration. Here,